Middle District of Florida

Tampa, Florida – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces that Tatiana Power (41, Weston) today pleaded guilty to a money laundering conspiracy related to a Florida-based international enterprise that operated subscription-based sexually exploitative “child modeling” websites. Power faces up to 20 years in federal prison.

According to court documents, Tatiana Power (also known as “Tanya Power”) helped run the financial affairs of the Newstar Enterprise—an internet-based business aimed at for-profit sexual exploitation of vulnerable children under the guise of “child modeling,” through a collection of websites called the Newstar Websites. Power did so as Vice President and part owner of Power Trading, Inc., a Florida corporation used to control, operate, and conceal the true nature of the Newstar Enterprise. From as early as 2009 through November 2019, Power served as Power Trading’s (and thus the Newstar Enterprise’s) “bookkeeper.” She oversaw Power Trading’s QuickBooks, filed its annual corporate registration documents, managed its bank accounts, paid salaries, helped wire money to foreign co-conspirators, and advised co-conspirators on how to evade law enforcement and conceal the true nature of monetary transactions. She routinely assisted in transferring money and making payments for the Newstar Enterprise. From January 2009 until November 2019, Power and her now deceased husband, Kenneth Power, made $2,211,651.89 in profit from the Newstar Websites.

The Newstar Enterprise and Status of Other Defendants

According to court documents, founded around 2005, the Newstar Enterprise built, maintained, hosted, and operated the Newstar Websites on servers in the United States and abroad. To populate the Newstar Websites with content, Newstar Enterprise members sourced, enticed, solicited and recruited males and females under the age of 18, some of whom were prepubescent, to use as “child models” for the Newstar Websites. Using the recruited child-victims, the Newstar Enterprise produced more than 4.6 million sexualized images and videos to distribute and sell on the Newstar Websites. Some of those images and videos, though non-nude, depicted minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. For example, images and videos sold on the Newstar Websites depicted children as young as 6 years old in sexual and provocative poses, wearing police and cheerleader costumes, thong underwear, transparent underwear, revealing swimsuits, pantyhose, and miniskirts. Most of the child-victims—recruited from Ukraine, Moldova, and other nations in Eastern Europe—were particularly vulnerable due to their age, family dynamics and poverty. Law enforcement officers have disabled the servers hosting the Newstar Websites.

The Newstar Enterprise maintained a membership list for subscribers and customers of the Newstar Websites, who originated from 101 nations across the world. Images in the websites’ galleries were freely available to the public to preview, but greater access and more content required purchasing a subscription. The sale of purported “child modeling” content on the Newstar Websites generated more than $9.4 million during the course of the conspiracy. To process, receive and distribute this money, Newstar Enterprise members fraudulently opened merchant and bank accounts in the United States and laundered proceeds using a bogus jewelry company. 

To date, six members of the Newstar Enterprise have been charged in connection with the Newstar Websites. The chart below shows the status of each case. 

Name

Case Number

Charge(s)

Status

Maximum Penalty

Tatiana Power

8:21-cr-244-MSS-AAS

Conspiracy to commit money laundering

Pleaded guilty, sentence pending

20 years’ imprisonment

Kenneth Power

8:21-cr-00032-SDM-AAS

Conspiracy to advertise child pornography; conspiracy to distribute child pornography

Defendant deceased; case dismissed

60 years’ imprisonment

Plamen Velinov

8:21-cr-342-VMC-SPF

Conspiracy to advertise child pornography; conspiracy to distribute child pornography

Indicted

50 years’ imprisonment

Patrice Wilowski-Mevorah

8:21-cr-00206-MSS-TGW

Conspiracy to commit money laundering

Pleaded guilty, sentenced to 5+ years in prison

 

Anthony Lee Kendall

8:21-cr-358-SCB-TGW

Conspiracy to commit money laundering; promotion money laundering; concealment money laundering

Defendant deceased

100 years’ imprisonment

Mary Lou

Bjorkman

8:21-cr-00227-SDM-AAS

Conspiracy to commit money laundering

Pleaded guilty, sentence pending

20 years’ imprisonment

The defendants have also been notified that the United States intends to forfeit a total of $9.4 million, which are alleged to be traceable to proceeds of the offenses, in addition to real property located in Florida.

These cases were investigated by Homeland Security Investigations in Tampa and the High Technology Investigative Unit of the Department of Justice Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), with substantial assistance provided by Homeland Security Investigations offices in Fort Lauderdale, Athens, and the Hague, U.S. Customs and Border Protection in Sofia, Bulgaria, as well as the IRS Criminal Investigation in Tampa.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Frank Murray of the Middle District of Florida and Trial Attorney Kyle Reynolds of the CEOS are prosecuting these cases.

This investigation benefited from foreign law enforcement cooperation and substantial assistance by the Republic of Bulgaria, Supreme Cassation Prosecution Office and National Investigation Service; International Legal Assistance Center (IRC), North-Holland Unit; and the Czech Republic, Supreme Public Prosecutor’s Office, Czech Police. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs provided investigative assistance and its Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development, Assistance and Training (OPDAT) provided capacity building assistance and mentoring.

An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal criminal law, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty.

Orlando, FL – A North Carolina man pleaded guilty yesterday to conspiring to defraud the United States by promoting a nationwide tax fraud scheme and assisting in the preparation and filing of false tax returns for the scheme’s participants. 

According to court documents, Mehef Bey, also known as Arthur Daniels, of Charlotte, promoted a scheme that involved recruiting clients and preparing false tax returns on their behalf by convincing them that their mortgages and other debts entitled them to tax refunds. Between 2014 and 2016, Bey and his co-conspirators held seminars across the country to publicize the scheme. As part of the scheme, Bey and his co-conspirators helped prepare and file tax returns for the participants, which collectively sought more than $64 million in refunds from the IRS. These tax returns falsely claimed that banks and other financial institutions had withheld large amounts of income tax from the participants, thereby entitling the clients to a refund. In reality, the financial institutions had not paid any income to or withheld any taxes from these individuals. To make the refund claims appear legitimate, however, Bey and his co-conspirators filed tax documents with the IRS that matched the withholding information listed on the tax returns, making it seem as if they had been issued by the banks.

As part of his plea, Bey admitted he and his co-conspirators charged their clients approximately $10,000 to $15,000 in preparation fees for each tax return. Although Bey personally received more than $1 million for his role in the scheme, he did not file tax returns for the years 2015 and 2016 to report this income. For 2014, Bey filed a false income tax return on which he claimed a tax refund that he was not entitled to receive. On this return, he also did not report his income from promoting the scheme. 

Bey also admitted he and his co-conspirators concealed their roles in the scheme by, among other things, indicating the false tax returns had been “self-prepared” and coaching the participants how to conceal the scheme from the IRS.

Bey’s sentencing will be scheduled for a later date. He faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison for conspiring to defraud the United States and three years in prison for each of the two counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation and filing of a false tax return. He also faces a period of supervised release, restitution, and monetary penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. 

Three of Bey’s co-conspirators – Iran Backstrom, Aaron Aqueron and Yomarie Febres – pleaded guilty last month for their roles in the same scheme.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Roger B. Handberg for the Middle District of Florida made the announcement.

IRS-Criminal Investigation is investigating the case.

Trial Attorneys Melissa S. Siskind, Kavitha Bondada, and Isaiah Boyd III of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Chauncey A. Bratt of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida are prosecuting the case.

Orlando, FL –United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces today that Central Medical Systems, LLC, Joan Harley, and Alan Trent Harley have agreed to pay the United States $600,000 to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act by participating in a scheme to defraud Medicare. 

The United States previously intervened in a civil whistleblower lawsuit against Central Medical Systems and Alan Trent Harley on January 18, 2018, and later filed an amended complaint adding Joan Harley, Arthur Wright, and Meddex Solutions, LLC, as defendants, alleging the defendants conspired to make false claims to the United States in violation of the False Claims Act.

The civil lawsuit and settlement relate to the submission of claims for wound care supplies sold by Central Medical Systems. According to the lawsuit, Alan Trent Harley would routinely change quantities of items while billing and manipulated orders in Central Medical Systems’ billing software. This allegedly resulted in Central Medical Systems seeking and receiving inflated Medicare payments for more expensive products than were provided to patients or for products that were never provided at all. 

The government’s suit also alleges that, after the United States intervened in the lawsuit, Central Medical Systems and Alan Trent Harley conspired with Joan Harley (his wife), Arthur Wright, and Meddex Solutions to fraudulently submit Central Medical Systems’ claims through Meddex Solutions in an attempt to bypass Medicare’s suspension of payments to Central Medical Systems.  

Alan Trent Harley pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud on November 30, 2020, and was sentenced to 15 months’ imprisonment. According to court documents in that criminal case, Harley co-founded Central Medical Systems in 1986. As president and sole active owner of the business, Harley was responsible for submitting claims to Medicare on behalf of Central Medical Systems. From at least 2011 through 2015, Harley knowingly defrauded the government of more than $870,000 by submitting fraudulent claims to Medicare. Although his employees provided him with accurate data about which wound care supplies were sent, and in what quantities, Harley frequently changed that data (with respect to both product type and quantities) before submitting claims to Medicare, in order to obtain fraudulently higher reimbursements from Medicare.

The United States previously entered into a civil settlement agreement with Arthur Wright and Meddex Solutions, effective June 1, 2021, under which they agreed to pay the United States $77,741.93, to resolve the False Claims Act allegations against them in this case.

“This is another example of our office’s commitment to prosecute those – individual or corporate – who seek to exploit Medicare for their personal gain, and at the expense to taxpayers,” said U.S. Attorney Roger B. Handberg for the Middle District of Florida. “We will continue to use all available resources at our disposal to pursue those who defraud our nation’s federal healthcare programs.”

“Health care professionals are required to follow Medicare rules and accurately bill for services provided. Fraudulently billing Medicare for personal gain cheats millions of people who fund the program and contributes to the soaring cost of health care,” stated Omar Perez Aybar, Special Agent in Charge with the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General.  “Working closely with our law enforcement partners, we will continue to pursue those who exploit government health care programs.”

The settlement resulted from a lawsuit originally filed in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida by Relator Jael Cancel. Ms. Cancel sued under the qui tam, or whistleblower, provisions of the False Claims Act that permit a private citizen to sue on behalf of the United States for false claims and to share in the recovery. The Act also allows the United States to intervene and prosecute the action. The United States intervened in this matter and litigated the case. Ms. Cancel will receive $144,000 of the proceeds from the civil settlement with Central Medical Systems, Alan Trent Harley, and Joan Harley.

The United States’ intervention in and settlement of this matter illustrates its emphasis on combating health care fraud. One of the most powerful tools in this effort is the False Claims Act. Tips and complaints from all sources about potential fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement, can be reported to the Department of Health and Human Services, at 800-HHS-TIPS (800-447-8477). 

This settlement resulted from a coordinated effort by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida and the HHS Office of Inspector General. Assistant United States Attorney Jeremy R. Bloor led the investigation.

The case is captioned United States ex rel. Cancel v. Central Medical Systems, LLC et al., Case No. 6:14-cv-512-ORL-28TBS. The claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.

Fort Myers, Florida – U.S. District Judge Thomas Barber has sentenced Bobby Louis Lesane, Jr. (37, Fort Myers) to 13 years in federal prison for possessing with intent to distribute fentanyl.

Lesane had pleaded guilty on September 10, 2021.

According to court documents, after Lesane was pulled over for a routine traffic stop in Fort Myers on October 29, 2020, a trained drug-detection police dog alerted to the scent of narcotics in Lesane’s car.  When officers searched Lesane’s car, they located a small hidden area underneath the driver’s floorboard that contained several bags of drugs, including more than 20 grams of a substance containing fentanyl.  Lesane was the driver and sole occupant of the vehicle.  

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Fort Myers Police Department, and the Drug Enforcement Administration.  It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Simon R. Eth.

Tampa, Florida – A federal jury has found Nicole Diaz (35, Tampa) guilty of conspiracy to distribute cocaine. She faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison. Her sentencing hearing is scheduled for March 2022.

Diaz had been indicted on September 4, 2019. 

According to testimony and evidence presented at trial, as part of the conspiracy, in 2018 Diaz’s co-conspirators used the U.S. Postal Service to ship multiple kilograms of high purity cocaine from various locations in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico to the Middle District of Florida and elsewhere. Knowing the unlawful purpose of the plan, Diaz allowed kilogram quantities of cocaine to be delivered to her address in Tampa, where she received those packages for further distribution on to various destinations in the United States.

This case was investigated by the Tampa Police Department, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and Homeland Security Investigations. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys John Cannizzaro, David W.A. Chee, and Jim Preston.

Jacksonville, Florida – Chief U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Corrigan has sentenced Timothy Wade Veres III (25, Jacksonville) to 10 years in federal prison for attempted online enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity. Veres has also been ordered to serve a 10-year term of supervised release and to register as a sex offender. The Court ordered Veres to pay $5,000 in restitution to a child victim depicted in sexually explicit images he had possessed, which Veres agreed to pay as part of his plea agreement.

Veres had pleaded guilty on August 19, 2021.

According to court documents, in January 2020 federal and local law enforcement conducted a joint undercover operation targeting individuals who were seeking to meet minor children on the internet for the purpose of engaging in sexual activity. On January 26, 2020, Veres used a particular chat application to make contact with an undercover federal agent who had assumed the online persona of a 13-year-old girl. During their online conversations, the “child” informed Veres of her age, and he discussed his desire to engage in sexual activity with the “child” when they met in person. Within five hours of first conversing with the “child” online, Veres traveled to meet the “child” for sex, where state and federal officers arrested him and found him in possession of condoms he had purchased on the way to the planned meeting location.  

This case was investigated by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, the Clay County Sheriff’s Office, and Homeland Security Investigations. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Ashley Washington.

It is another case brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

Jacksonville, Florida – Michael Lee Aurandt (50, Jacksonville) has pleaded guilty to two counts of distributing materials depicting the sexual abuse of children over the internet. He faces a minimum mandatory term of 5 years, and up to, 20 years in federal prison on each count and a potential lifetime term of supervised release. Aurandt was arrested on August 27, 2021, and was ordered detained pending trial. A sentencing hearing has not yet been scheduled.

According to court documents, several different offices of the Federal Bureau of Investigation began investigating Aurandt for uploading child sexual abuse materials to a chat application over the internet, including his October 2020 posting of videos and images, and his November 2020 uploading of more videos. FBI agents identified Aurandt as the source of these distributions through the internet protocol (IP) addresses from which he uploaded the materials.

On August 27, 2021, FBI agents executed a federal search warrant at Aurandt’s residence and arrested him later that day. During an interview, Aurandt admitted viewing and distributing child sex abuse materials using the chat app accounts previously identified by FBI. He stated he would create new accounts after his existing accounts were shut down for violating the chat app’s terms of service.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Ashley Washington.

It is another case brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

WASHINGTON – A Georgia man pleaded guilty today to conspiring to defraud the United States by promoting a nationwide tax fraud scheme to more than 200 participants in at least 19 states. He also pleaded guilty to helping others prepare and file false tax returns for individuals recruited to the scheme.

According to court documents, Iran V. Backstrom, also known as Shariyf Noble, of Milledgeville, was the main promoter of the scheme, which involved recruiting clients and preparing false tax returns on their behalf by convincing them that their mortgages and other debts entitled them to tax refunds. Between 2014 and 2016, Backstrom and his co-conspirators held seminars across the county to publicize the scheme. As part of the scheme, Backstrom helped prepare and file tax returns for the participants, which collectively sought more than $25 million in refunds from the IRS. These tax returns falsely claimed that banks and other financial institutions had withheld large amounts of income tax from the participants, thereby entitling the clients to a refund. In reality, the financial institutions had not paid any income to or withheld any taxes from these individuals. To make the refund claims appear legitimate, however, Backstrom and his co-conspirators filed tax documents with the IRS that matched the withholding information listed on the tax returns, making them appear as if they had been issued by the banks.

As part of his plea, Backstrom admitted he gave orders to others as part of the scheme. Several of his co-conspirators previously pleaded guilty for their roles in the scheme. Backstrom also admitted that he and his co-conspirators concealed their roles in the scheme by, among other things, indicating the false tax returns had been “self-prepared,” submitting false IRS forms designed to appear as if they were created by the participants’ financial institutions and coaching the participants how to conceal the scheme from the IRS. Backstrom further admitted he and his co-conspirators charged participants approximately $10,000 to $15,000 in fees for preparation of each tax return. Although Backstrom personally received approximately $1 million for his role in the scheme, he did not file tax returns for the years 2014, 2015 and 2016 to report this income.

Backstrom’s sentencing will be scheduled for a later date. He faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison for conspiring to defraud the United States and three years in prison for each of the seven counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation and filing of a false tax return. He also faces a period of supervised release, restitution and monetary penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. 

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and Acting U.S. Attorney Karin Hoppmann for the Middle District of Florida made the announcement.

IRS-Criminal Investigation is investigating the case.

Trial Attorneys Melissa S. Siskind, Kavitha Bondada and Isaiah Boyd III of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Chauncey A. Bratt for the Middle District of Florida are prosecuting the case.

A Georgia man pleaded guilty today to conspiring to defraud the United States by promoting a nationwide tax fraud scheme to more than 200 participants in at least 19 states. He also pleaded guilty to helping others prepare and file false tax returns for individuals recruited to the scheme.

According to court documents, Iran V. Backstrom, also known as Shariyf Noble, of Milledgeville, was the main promoter of the scheme, which involved recruiting clients and preparing false tax returns on their behalf by convincing them that their mortgages and other debts entitled them to tax refunds. Between 2014 and 2016, Backstrom and his co-conspirators held seminars across the county to publicize the scheme. As part of the scheme, Backstrom helped prepare and file tax returns for the participants, which collectively sought more than $25 million in refunds from the IRS. These tax returns falsely claimed that banks and other financial institutions had withheld large amounts of income tax from the participants, thereby entitling the clients to a refund. In reality, the financial institutions had not paid any income to or withheld any taxes from these individuals. To make the refund claims appear legitimate, however, Backstrom and his co-conspirators filed tax documents with the IRS that matched the withholding information listed on the tax returns, making them appear as if they had been issued by the banks.

As part of his plea, Backstrom admitted he gave orders to others as part of the scheme. Several of his co-conspirators previously pleaded guilty for their roles in the scheme. Backstrom also admitted that he and his co-conspirators concealed their roles in the scheme by, among other things, indicating the false tax returns had been “self-prepared,” submitting false IRS forms designed to appear as if they were created by the participants’ financial institutions and coaching the participants how to conceal the scheme from the IRS. Backstrom further admitted he and his co-conspirators charged participants approximately $10,000 to $15,000 in fees for preparation of each tax return. Although Backstrom personally received approximately $1 million for his role in the scheme, he did not file tax returns for the years 2014, 2015 and 2016 to report this income.

Backstrom’s sentencing will be scheduled for a later date. He faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison for conspiring to defraud the United States and three years in prison for each of the seven counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation and filing of a false tax return. He also faces a period of supervised release, restitution and monetary penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. 

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and Acting U.S. Attorney Karin Hoppmann for the Middle District of Florida made the announcement.

IRS-Criminal Investigation is investigating the case.

Trial Attorneys Melissa S. Siskind, Kavitha Bondada and Isaiah Boyd III of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Chauncey A. Bratt for the Middle District of Florida are prosecuting the case.

Orlando, Florida – U.S. District Judge Carlos E. Mendoza has sentenced Jose Manuel Gonzalez-Gonzalez (49, Kissimmee) to 10 years in federal prison for conspiracy to distribute one kilogram of fentanyl. The Court also ordered Gonzalez-Gonzalez to forfeit a vehicle used to facilitate the offense.  

Gonzalez-Gonzalez had pleaded guilty on October 7, 2021.

According to court documents, from November 2020 through February 2021, Gonzalez-Gonzalez communicated with a source working with the Drug Enforcement Administration. In November 2020, Gonzalez-Gonzalez agreed to sell two kilograms of heroin to the source, but that transaction was not consummated because he demanded a photograph of the $116,000 the source had agreed to provide. In February 2021, Gonzalez-Gonzalez again arranged to sell two kilograms of heroin to the source, this time agreeing to deliver the first of two kilograms before receiving $58,000 in payment. On February 2, 2021, Gonzalez-Gonzalez arranged for a conspirator, Miguel Angel Ramirez-Laboy (41 Kissimmee), to drive separately to Haines City to meet with the purported buyer with the kilogram of drugs in his vehicle. During that trip, law enforcement stopped Ramirez-Laboy and found him to be transporting 1004.9 grams of fentanyl. Fentanyl is added to heroin to increase its potency or to disguise it as highly potent heroin.    

Ramirez-Laboy pleaded guilty on August 16, 2021 and was sentenced to 24 months’ incarceration on October 19, 2021. 

This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, with assistance from the Florida Highway Patrol, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and Osceola County Investigative Bureau. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Dana E. Hill.

Orlando, Florida – U.S. District Judge Paul G. Byron has sentenced Jacquavius Smith (21, Orlando), a/k/a 9lokkNine and GlokkNine, to seven years and three months in federal prison for illegally possessing a short barreled semi-automatic rifle, possessing a handgun and ammunition as a convicted felon, and aggravated identity theft. The Court also ordered Smith to serve a three-year term of supervised release and to forfeit the firearms and ammunition related to the offenses. 

Smith had pleaded guilty on July 13, 2021.

According to court documents, the Orlando Police Department executed a search warrant at a residence where Smith was known to stay. During the search, officers found a short-barreled semi-automatic rifle with a large capacity magazine, a handgun with an extended magazine, and approximately 70 rounds of ammunition, all belonging to Smith. Because he had previously been convicted of multiple felony offenses, including burglary, grand theft, criminal mischief, and narcotics possession, federal law prohibits Smith from possessing a firearm or ammunition.

While awaiting trial on those charges, Smith stole a victim’s personal identification information and used it to obtain a fraudulent loan under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), a component of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) passed to provide assistance to businesses and individuals affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

After obtaining another search warrant, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office searched the residence where Smith was reportedly staying pending his trial. During that search, Smith was again found with a semi-automatic handgun and several rounds of ammunition. Smith also had in his possession 13 auto sears – devices capable of converting a semi-automatic firearm into a fully automatic firearm. 

This case was investigated by the Orlando Police Department, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys John Gardella and Amanda Daniels.

This case was prosecuted as part of the joint federal, state, and local Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Program, the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.

The PPP allows qualifying small businesses and other organizations to receive loans with a maturity of two years and an interest rate of 1%. PPP loan proceeds must be used by businesses on payroll costs, interest on mortgages, rent and utilities. The PPP allows the interest and principal to be forgiven if businesses spend the proceeds on these expenses within eight weeks of receipt and use at least 75 percent of the forgiven amount for payroll.  Anyone with information about allegations of fraud related to COVID-19, including the PPP or the CARES Act, can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.

Tampa, Florida – U.S. District Judge Virginia M. Hernandez Covington has sentenced Alicia Sheri Morgan (43, Tampa) to 15 months in federal prison for conspiracy to embezzle $906,109 from her employer. The Court also ordered Morgan to forfeit $373,126, which is traceable to proceeds of the offense. 

Morgan had pleaded guilty on August 23, 2021.

According to court documents, between May 2015 and May 2019, Morgan served as a finance supervisor for her employer. She exploited that role to embezzle $906,109 from the employer by causing the employer to issue approximately 300 checks to Morgan’s co-conspirators, whom Morgan falsely and fraudulently represented were vendors that had provided services to the employer and were, therefore, due payment. Specifically, Morgan drafted false and fraudulent invoices, check requests, and medical claim forms, indicating that the fake vendors (co-conspirators) had performed services and even met with medical patients. Through creation and submission of these false and fraudulent documents to her employer, Morgan caused the employer to issue payments to her co-conspirators. Morgan then diverted many of these payments into her personal bank account and a bank account she shared with one of the co-conspirators. Morgan used much of the ill-gotten money for her personal expenses.

This case was investigated by the United States Secret Service and the Clearwater Police Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer L. Peresie.

Fort Myers, FL – A federal jury has found Raynaldo Ray Quiroga (37, LaBelle) guilty of Hobbs Act robbery, brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence, possessing stolen firearms, and possessing a firearm as a convicted felon, related to an armed robbery of a pawnshop in LaBelle in May 2021. As a result, Quiroga faces a maximum penalty of life in federal prison.  His sentencing hearing is scheduled for March 21, 2022.

Quiroga had been indicted on July 14, 2021.

According to evidence presented at trial, Quiroga, a seven-time convicted felon, entered Capital Pawn in LaBelle on the morning of May 19, 2021, falsely impersonating a law enforcement officer by wearing a green sheriff’s deputy uniform, a black tactical vest, a badge, and a duty belt equipped with a firearm.  While in the shop, Quiroga brandished his firearm and zip-tied the store’s two employees before stealing six guns and fleeing the scene.  Law enforcement agents quickly identified Quiroga as a suspect and later found multiple pieces of evidence at his residence and in his car connecting him to the robbery. 

This case was investigated by the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Hendry County Sheriff’s Office, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  It is being prosecuted Assistant United States Attorneys Jesus M. Casas and Simon Eth.

This case is being prosecuted as part of the joint federal, state, and local Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Program, the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts.  PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime.  Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them.  As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.

Jacksonville, Florida – Shawn Andrew Wilson (47, Fernandina Beach) has pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine.  Wilson faces a minimum mandatory penalty of 5 years, and up to, 40 years in federal prison.

According to the plea agreement, on September 2, 2021, at approximately 2:00 a.m., in Jacksonville, Florida, Wilson was riding a motorcycle with the license plate folded up and not visible – a traffic violation.  When a police officer signaled him to stop, Wilson made a U-turn and appeared to pull over but then accelerated and fled, racing through a red traffic light and then crashing.  Officers then arrested Wilson and, during a subsequent search, found in his backpack a jacket, the linings of which concealed four plastic bags containing over 100 grams of methamphetamine.

Wilson committed this offense while serving a term of supervised release for a previous federal offense.  Specifically, in July 2019, a federal court convicted Wilson of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and sentenced him to 40 months’ imprisonment followed by a three-year term of supervised release, which term he began serving in April 2021.

This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.  It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael J. Coolican.

Tampa, Florida – A federal jury has found Victor Ricardo Grant (39, Brandon) guilty of possession of ammunition by a convicted felon. Grant faces a minimum mandatory sentence of 15 years, and up to, life in federal prison. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for March 4, 2022.

Grant was initially indicted on February 4, 2020, and a superseding indictment was filed on September 28, 2021.

According to testimony presented at trial, federal agents, along with Florida local law enforcement agencies, investigated a series of credit union robberies and carjackings committed in Hillsborough County and Pinellas County in 2019. As part of the investigation, the FBI obtained a search warrant for Grant’s residence in Brandon, Florida. The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office and federal investigators searched Grant’s home on January 22, 2020, and found approximately 400 rounds of 7.62 caliber ammunition inside backpacks in Grant’s bedroom closet and in the attic. All of the ammunition in the backpack in the attic was loaded in magazine clips for an AK-47 assault rifle; that backpack also contained ammunition drum magazines for that type of rifle. Because of his several prior felony offense convictions, federal law prohibits Grant from possessing ammunition.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office, the Pinellas Park Police Department, the St. Petersburg Police Department, and the Clearwater Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Michael Sinacore and Diego Novaes.

This case is being prosecuted as part of the joint federal, state, and local Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Program, the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts.  PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime.  Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them.  As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.

Ocala, FL – Senior United States District Judge John Antoon II has sentenced Wayne Grant, Jr. (28, Orlando) to 20 months in federal prison for receipt of a bribe by a public official.  Grant had pleaded guilty on September 7, 2021.

According to court documents, Grant worked as a corrections officer at the Coleman Federal Correctional Complex (FCC Coleman) in Sumter County. In December 2020, Grant agreed to smuggle methamphetamine into the prison for an inmate in exchange for money. Once federal authorities were notified, Grant unwittingly began communicating with an undercover agent to complete the transaction. Federal agents mailed approximately 70 grams of fake methamphetamine and $2,000 in money orders to Grant. Agents observed Grant retrieving the package from his post office box, and he subsequently deposited the money orders into his bank account. During his assigned shift on February 4, 2021, Grant smuggled the contraband into FCC Coleman and provided it to an inmate.

This case was investigated by the Department of Justice – Office of the Inspector General and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with assistance from the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Tyrie Boyer.

Jacksonville, Florida – A federal jury has found James Thomas Butler II (41, Jacksonville) guilty of production, attempted production, and possession of child sexual abuse materials. In 2001, Butler was convicted of attempted capital sexual battery and lascivious molestation of a minor, and he has since been registered and designated as a sexual predator. Because of his prior child sex convictions, Butler now faces enhanced penalties of not less than 25 years, and up to 70 years, in federal prison, and a potential life term of supervised release. His sentencing hearing has not yet been scheduled. 

According to court documents as well as evidence and testimony during the trial, on May 2, 2018, FBI agents and other law enforcement officers executed a federal search warrant at a residence in north Jacksonville where several sex offenders and sexual predators resided, including Butler. During an interview with law enforcement, FBI agents obtained a smart phone from Butler. A forensic examination of Butler’s phone revealed pornographic videos and images of a minor child that appeared to have been filmed using a camera concealed in the child’s bedroom. Through further investigation, law enforcement identified the child and the residence in Jacksonville where Butler had concealed the camera. On October 2, 2018, FBI agents and personnel executed a federal search warrant at this residence and also arrested Butler.

A search of the residence revealed that Butler had installed a tiny internet-enabled camera device in an air vent in the child’s bedroom and had wired the camera into the house’s electrical system through the attic. Butler was able to control this camera remotely using his smart phone, collecting videos and creating customized screenshots of the child. Butler’s smart phone contained at least 65 videos and 35 screenshots that depicted the child in the child’s bedroom.          

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, and the Duval County School Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney D. Rodney Brown.

This is another case brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc. 

Tampa, Florida – U.S. District Judge Mary S. Scriven has sentenced Robert Timon Lovett (50, Bradenton) to five years in federal prison for arson. 

Lovett had pleaded guilty on September 29, 2021.

According to court documents, on three consecutive dates in 2020 (December 25, 26, and 27), Lovett started a fire at a Publix store in Bradenton, Florida.  On December 26 and 27, Lovett actually entered the store and purchased the lighter fluid he used to start the fires, both of which he set while the store was open for business. The fire he set on December 26 caused significant heat damage to the back of the store.

Law enforcement officers apprehended Lovett on December 28, 2020, when he returned to the same Publix and again purchased lighter fluid. In a statement to law enforcement, Lovett admitted to starting the fires on each of the three preceding days.

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Charlie D. Connally.

Orlando Florida –U.S. District Judge Paul G. Byron has sentenced

Amanda Gailene Paul (38, Vero Beach) to 10 years and 10 months in federal prison for possessing with the intent to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine.

Paul had pleaded guilty on September 14, 2021.

According to the plea agreement, on or about November 3, 2020, at the direction of federal agents, a confidential source contacted Paul to purchase three pounds of methamphetamine. Prior to the delivery, investigators located Paul in her vehicle. A subsequent search of Paul’s vehicle revealed three individually packaged plastic bags containing approximately three pounds of methamphetamine.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Palm Bay Police Department, the City of Cocoa Police Department, and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Terry B. Livanos.

Orlando, FL – U.S. District Judge Paul G. Byron has sentenced Todd Engles (33, Orlando) to 50 years in federal prison for producing, distributing, and possessing child sexual abuse material. The Court also ordered Engles to serve a 15-year term of supervised release, register as a sex offender, and forfeit his smartphone.

Engles had pleaded guilty on September 8, 2021.

According to court documents and evidence presented during the sentencing hearing, Engles posed as a 15-year-old boy and contacted multiple young girls (usually between the ages of 9 and 13) on social media applications. Using this persona, Engles persuaded and enticed the child victims to engage in sexual conduct via live video stream and video recordings. Engles also participated in chat rooms dedicated to the sharing of child sexual abuse material and rape, where he often bragged about and instructed others on how to exploit young girls via the internet. During these chats, Engles distributed numerous videos and images of children, as young as infants, being sexually abused, and expressed in detail his desire to drug and rape children. Authorities conducted a forensic review of his smartphone and discovered more than 455 images and 148 videos depicting the sexual abuse of infants, toddlers, and prepubescent and pubescent children.

This case was investigated by the Orlando Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer M. Harrington.

This is another case brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

A federal court in Florida permanently enjoined on Friday three residents of Vietnam from operating a pandemic-related scam that targeted American consumers, the Department of Justice announced.

In a complaint filed in August 2020 in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, the government alleged that Thu Phan Dinh, Tran Khanh and Nguyen Duy Toan engaged in a wire fraud scheme designed to profit from the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the complaint, the defendants operated more than 300 websites that fraudulently purported to sell products in the United States that became scarce during the pandemic, including hand sanitizer and disinfectant wipes. Thousands of victims in all 50 states paid for items marketed through the websites, but received nothing. The complaint alleged that the defendants set up hundreds of email accounts and accounts with a U.S.-based payment processor to carry out the scheme and keep it hidden from law enforcement. The defendants also allegedly listed fraudulent contact addresses and phone numbers on the websites, which caused unaffiliated individuals and businesses in the United States to receive numerous complaint calls from victims who had been defrauded by the scheme.

After receiving information from American law enforcement, Vietnamese authorities conducted an investigation and arrested the defendants on local charges. 

“Scams that take advantage of the global pandemic to prey on American consumers are particularly egregious,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “The Department of Justice is committed to working with law enforcement partners in the United States and around the globe to stop anyone who would try to profit through this kind of conduct.”

“The final injunction entered in this civil case sends a strong message of our district’s commitment to ensuring that fraudulent, predatory practices will be confronted in this critically important area,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Karin Hoppmann of the Middle District of Florida. “We thank our partners at the Department of Justice’s Consumer Protection Branch, the Department of Homeland Security and Vietnamese law enforcement who assisted us throughout this effort.”

“HSI works tirelessly to disrupt and dismantle criminal networks around the world who are exploiting the global pandemic for their own personal financial gain,” said Special Agent in Charge John A. Condon of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Tampa. “This permanent injunction is the final step in ensuring these defendants can no longer take advantage of people.”

The civil enforcement action, filed in U.S. District Court in Tampa, Florida, is part of the Justice Department’s ongoing efforts to detect, investigate, and prosecute illegal conduct related to the pandemic. U.S. District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle granted the government’s motion for a default judgment and issued the permanent injunction, which extends a preliminary injunction that halted defendants’ scam and shut down the fraudulent websites.  

The action was brought based on an investigation conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s HSI, in coordination with the Vietnam Ministry of Public Security, Department of Foreign Relations and Hanoi Police.

The government was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Carolyn B. Tapie for the Middle District of Florida and Trial Attorney Kathryn A. Schmidt of the Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch.

On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. The Task Force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by, among other methods, augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes and sharing and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts. For more information on the department’s response to the pandemic and efforts to stop COVID-19 fraud, please visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus.

Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.

Additional information about the Consumer Protection Branch and its enforcement efforts may be found at www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch.  For more information about the United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida, visit its website at www.justice.gov/usao-mdfl. 

Tampa, FL – A federal court in Florida permanently enjoined on Friday three residents of Vietnam from operating a pandemic-related scam that targeted American consumers, the Department of Justice announced.

In a complaint filed in August 2020 in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, the government alleged that Thu Phan Dinh, Tran Khanh and Nguyen Duy Toan engaged in a wire fraud scheme designed to profit from the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the complaint, the defendants operated more than 300 websites that fraudulently purported to sell products in the United States that became scarce during the pandemic, including hand sanitizer and disinfectant wipes. Thousands of victims in all 50 states paid for items marketed through the websites, but received nothing. The complaint alleged that the defendants set up hundreds of email accounts and accounts with a U.S.-based payment processor to carry out the scheme and keep it hidden from law enforcement. The defendants also allegedly listed fraudulent contact addresses and phone numbers on the websites, which caused unaffiliated individuals and businesses in the United States to receive numerous complaint calls from victims who had been defrauded by the scheme.

After receiving information from American law enforcement, Vietnamese authorities conducted an investigation and arrested the defendants on local charges. 

“Scams that take advantage of the global pandemic to prey on American consumers are particularly egregious,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “The Department of Justice is committed to working with law enforcement partners in the United States and around the globe to stop anyone who would try to profit through this kind of conduct.”

“The final injunction entered in this civil case sends a strong message of our district’s commitment to ensuring that fraudulent, predatory practices will be confronted in this critically important area,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Karin Hoppmann of the Middle District of Florida. “We thank our partners at the Department of Justice’s Consumer Protection Branch, the Department of Homeland Security and Vietnamese law enforcement who assisted us throughout this effort.”

“HSI works tirelessly to disrupt and dismantle criminal networks around the world who are exploiting the global pandemic for their own personal financial gain,” said Special Agent in Charge John A. Condon of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Tampa. “This permanent injunction is the final step in ensuring these defendants can no longer take advantage of people.”

The civil enforcement action, filed in U.S. District Court in Tampa, Florida, is part of the Justice Department’s ongoing efforts to detect, investigate, and prosecute illegal conduct related to the pandemic. U.S. District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle granted the government’s motion for a default judgment and issued the permanent injunction, which extends a preliminary injunction that halted Defendants’ scam and shut down the fraudulent websites.  

The action was brought based on an investigation conducted by HSI, in coordination with the Vietnam Ministry of Public Security, Department of Foreign Relations and Hanoi Police.

The government was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Carolyn B. Tapie of the Middle District of Florida and Trial Attorney Kathryn A. Schmidt of the Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch.

On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. The Task Force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by, among other methods, augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes and sharing and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts. For more information on the department’s response to the pandemic and efforts to stop COVID-19 fraud, please visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus.

Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.

Additional information about the Consumer Protection Branch and its enforcement efforts may be found at www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch.  For more information about the United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida, visit its website at www.justice.gov/usao-mdfl. 

Tampa, Florida – U.S. District Judge Kathryn Mizelle has sentenced Kary Stevenson (47) and Corey Quinn (35), both of Tampa, for conspiracy to commit access device fraud and aggravated identity theft related to COVID unemployment insurance benefits. Stevenson was sentenced to 5 years and 10 months in federal prison and Quinn was sentenced to 7 years in federal prison. As part of their sentence, the court also ordered Stevenson and Quinn to pay $87,046 in restitution to the various state workforce agencies they defrauded.

Stevenson and Quinn had pleaded guilty on September 21, 2021.

According to court documents, from approximately May 2020 and continuing until August 12, 2020, Stevenson and Quinn obtained the personal identifying information of others and used that information to submit, or cause the submission of, false and fraudulent unemployment insurance (UI) claims to various state workforce agencies, in order to obtain UI benefits to which they were not entitled. These UI benefits were then transferred to bank accounts or loaded onto debits cards issued in the names of other persons. Stevenson and Quinn then used, or attempted to use, the fraudulently obtained debit cards to withdraw money from ATMs and to purchase items from retail establishments. The U.S. Department of Labor determined that Stevenson and Quinn submitted fraudulent UI claims seeking a total of over $1,000,000, but they only obtained $87,046 before they were caught.

In March 2020, the President signed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act and the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, which expanded states’ ability to provide UI for many workers impacted by COVID-19, including for workers who were not ordinarily eligible for benefits.

On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. The Task Force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by, among other methods, augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts. For more information on the Department’s response to the pandemic, please visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus

Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.

This case was investigated by the Department of Labor Office of Inspector General, the United States Secret Service, and the Tampa Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Gregory D. Pizzo and John Cannizzaro.

Orlando, FL – A Georgia woman pleaded guilty today to conspiring to defraud the United States by promoting a nationwide tax fraud scheme and preparing false tax returns for the scheme’s participants.

According to court documents, Yomarie Febres, 47, of Covington, prepared 77 false income tax returns that collectively sought more than $23.8 million in tax refunds from the IRS. Between 2014 and 2016, Febres’s co-conspirators held seminars throughout the country where they promoted the scheme and recruited clients to file false tax returns with the IRS by convincing them that their mortgages and other debts entitled them to tax refunds. Information was then collected from clients and provided to Febres for use in the preparation of false tax returns. The tax returns Febres prepared falsely claimed that banks and other financial institutions had withheld large amounts of income taxes from the clients, which entitled the clients to refunds. In reality, the financial institutions had not paid any income to or withheld any taxes from the clients. The false tax returns Febres prepared caused the IRS to pay out more than $15 million in fraudulent refunds to scheme participants. Febres concealed her role in the scheme by falsely reporting that all of the returns were “self-prepared,” when, in fact, she had created them.

As part of her plea, Febres admitted that her co-conspirators charged clients approximately $10,000 to $15,000 in fees to participate in the scheme. A portion of the fee – typically $500 per client – was paid to Febres for each tax return she prepared. Febres further admitted that she did not report on her 2014 and 2015 income tax returns the income she received for preparing these false returns. She also admitted to claiming false business losses on her personal tax returns.

Febres is scheduled to be sentenced at a later date. She faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison for conspiring to defraud the United States and three years in prison for aiding and assisting in the preparation of false tax returns. Febres also faces a period of supervised release, restitution and monetary penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Two of Febres’s co-conspirators are scheduled to go to trial in January 2022.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and Acting U.S. Attorney Karin Hoppmann for the Middle District of Florida made the announcement.

IRS-Criminal Investigation is investigating the case.

Trial Attorneys Melissa S. Siskind, Kavitha Bondada and Isaiah Boyd III of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Chauncey A. Bratt of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida are prosecuting the case.

Orlando, Florida – United States District Judge Paul G. Byron has sentenced Fred Lee White (41, Titusville) to 13 years in federal prison for receiving images over the internet that depicted child sexual abuse. White was also ordered to serve a 15-year term of supervised release and to register as a sex offender. 

White had pleaded guilty in September 2021.

According to court documents, the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office arrested White on May 28, 2020, for exposing himself to a 10-year-old child who lived in his neighborhood. Later, a neighbor found an unlocked electronic tablet that belonged to White and reported to law enforcement that the tablet contained several images that appeared to depict the sexual abuse of children. 

A forensic examination of White’s tablet revealed several videos White had recorded from an application on the tablet. The app was a social network service on which account holders can post livestream broadcasts of material recorded on electronic devices. Other users with accounts could choose to watch the broadcast and send real time comments and rewards to the broadcaster.  

Approximately 114 video recordings of the app were found on White’s tablet. The videos depicted children taking selfie-style videos of themselves, in various stages of undress, while White and other users were viewing the live broadcasts.  Some of the videos depicted minor girls exposing and sexually abusing themselves in return for rewards offered by those like White who were viewing the broadcasts.  

“Every time a predator shares child pornography it re-victimizes a young child,” said HSI Orlando Assistant Special Agent in Charge David Pezzutti. “Thanks to HSI and our law enforcement partnership with the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office, he will be held accountable for his crimes.”

This case was investigated by the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office and Homeland Security Investigations. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney John Gardella.           

This is another case brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

Orlando, FL -  A Florida man pleaded guilty today to conspiring to defraud the United States by promoting a tax fraud scheme to more than 200 individuals in at least 19 states. He also pleaded guilty to attempting to obstruct the IRS.

According to court documents, Aaron Aqueron of Clermont recruited clients to a nationwide tax fraud scheme by convincing them that their mortgages and other debts entitled them to tax refunds. Aqueron collected tax and financial information from these clients to send to co-conspirators,  who prepared tax returns and other tax documents to submit to the IRS. These tax returns falsely claimed that banks and other financial institutions had withheld large amounts of income taxes from the clients, and that the clients were entitled to a refund. In reality, the financial institutions had not paid any income to or withheld any taxes from the clients. In total, the tax returns filed by the clients sought more than $14.6 million in tax refunds and caused the IRS to actually pay out more than $7.6 million in refunds.

As part of his plea, Aqueron admitted he and his co-conspirators received fees from his clients ranging from $10,000 to $15,000 each. Aqueron further admitted he did not report on his 2015 individual income tax return the income he received from the scheme. Aqueron also personally filed false tax returns on which he fraudulently claimed that he was entitled to tax refunds. In response to one of these false tax returns, the IRS issued Aqueron a refund of $193,347.97.

Aqueron further admitted that he attempted to obstruct the IRS’s efforts to collect the tax refunds it  issued to his clients, pursuant to the fraud scheme. Aqueron and his conspirators coached clients on ways to obstruct IRS collection efforts. For example, after learning one client had begun to receive letters from the IRS about collections, Aqueron instructed the client: “Make sure you move money out of your name and out of the banking institutions and be smart.” Aqueron also attempted to obstruct IRS efforts to collect his own fraudulently-obtained refund, including by transferring money into a trust.

Aqueron is scheduled to be sentenced at a later date. He faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison for conspiring to defraud the United States and three years in prison for corruptly endeavoring to obstruct or impede the IRS. Aqueron also faces a period of supervised release, restitution, and monetary penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Aqueron’s conspirators are scheduled to go to trial in January 2022.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and Acting U.S. Attorney Karin Hoppmann for the Middle District of Florida made the announcement.

IRS-Criminal Investigation is investigating the case.

Trial Attorneys Melissa S. Siskind, Kavitha Bondada, and Isaiah Boyd, III of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Chauncey A. Bratt of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida are prosecuting the case.

Tampa, Florida – Sebastian Visicaro (62, Trinity) today pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering. He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison. A sentencing date has not yet been set.

According to the plea agreement, Visicaro used his real estate company, two shell companies, and bank accounts in the companies’ names to launder the proceeds of an international boiler room fraud scheme, which defrauded foreign victims via the sale of worthless investments. Visicaro used the companies and bank accounts to receive fraud proceeds, some of which victims wired directly into these accounts from overseas. More often, fraud proceeds from the victims were wired to United States-based accounts controlled by other conspirators and then later wired to accounts controlled by Visicaro. In such instances, Visicaro’s accounts served as “buffer” accounts, that is, secondary bank accounts used to transfer and conceal foreign victims’ money and avoid detection by banks.

In total, at least $500,000, and potentially as much as $1.5 million, in victims’ funds flowed into Visicaro-controlled accounts. Thereafter, at the direction of other conspirators, Visicaro wired most of the funds to accounts held by boiler room sales agents and co-conspirators at other financial institutions—thereby promoting the scheme, concealing the source of the proceeds, and hindering efforts to locate those proceeds. For his role in the conspiracy, Visicaro received a percentage of the amount of funds he helped to launder.

This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Rachelle DesVaux Bedke and David W.A. Chee. 

Fort Myers, FL - Marvin Harris, Jr., aka “Mesh” (23, Fort Myers), has pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute fentanyl, cocaine base, and cocaine.  He faces a minimum mandatory penalty of 5 years, and up to 40 years, in federal prison. A sentencing date has not yet been set.

According to court documents, Harris led a drug trafficking organization (DTO) operating in neighborhoods off of Palm Beach Boulevard in Fort Myers.  Harris recruited dealers to work for him and provided them with housing, which served as the main distribution points for the DTO.

On August 14, 2020, Harris was jailed for contempt of court in connection with a homicide investigation. He continued to run his organization while behind bars, enlisting his girlfriend, co-defendant Destiny Molina, to supply his dealers with drugs and collect the revenue generated by the business. Recorded phone calls between Harris and Molina captured him teaching her how to mix fentanyl with adulterants to increase the profit potential of his product along with other instructions necessary to keep his illegal enterprise afloat.

On October 15, 2020, the FBI executed simultaneous search warrants at Molina’s residence and Harris’s main drug house located on New York Drive in Fort Myers. Inside Molina’s residence, law enforcement recovered nearly $55,000 in cash, multiple pieces of expensive jewelry, more than 100 grams of fentanyl and cocaine, and a firearm. At the drug house, law enforcement found nearly $5,000 in cash, additional fentanyl and cocaine, and another firearm.

In connection with his guilty plea, Harris has agreed to forfeit his Mercedes-Benz automobile, $59,056 in seized cash, an 18k gold Datejust Rolex, and multiple gold “Cuban link” chains, all of which were traced to the proceeds of his DTO. Four other members of the conspiracy had previously pleaded guilty in connection with his case and are awaiting sentencing:

Name

Charge

Maximum Penalty

Destiny Molina

(20, Fort Myers)

Conspiracy to distribute controlled substances

5-40 years in prison

Bradly Griffin, aka “Jit”

(19, Fort Myers)

Conspiracy to distribute controlled substances

5-40 years in prison

Robert Rosado, aka “Drew”

(24, Fort Myers)

Conspiracy to distribute controlled substances; distribution of a controlled substance

5-40 years in prison

Fabian Kelly, aka “Bob”

(20, Fort Myers)

Conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance; possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense

Up to 20 years in prison, plus a consecutive 5 years in prison for firearms charge

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Fort Myers Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael V. Leeman.

WASHINGTON – The Department of Justice announced today that it has awarded more than $17.5 million in grants to support the Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Program. Funding will support efforts across the country to address violent crime, including the gun violence that is often at its core. In the Middle District of Florida, $546,480 was awarded to fund initiatives throughout the district.

The Bureau of Justice Assistance, part of the department’s Office of Justice Programs (OJP), will administer the 88 grant awards, which are being made to designated fiscal agents to support local PSN projects that work in partnership with U.S. Attorneys’ Offices.

“This latest Project Safe Neighborhoods grant is critical to addressing the violent crime threatening cities and towns all across our country,” said Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco. “Ensuring the safety of all Americans is the highest priority for the Department of Justice, but when it comes to violent crime, there is not a one-size-fits-all solution. We have to work closely with local public safety agencies as well as community organizations to craft individual strategies unique to each community’s needs. Programs like Project Safe Neighborhoods and the funding it provides allow us to do just that.”

“The U.S. Attorney’s Office continues its work with our excellent law enforcement and community partners, using a proven multi-faceted approach to reduce violent crime,” said Acting U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Florida Karin Hoppmann. “The awards announced today will greatly assist as we all strive to keep our communities safe.”

“Investing in our communities, supporting victims and building a justice system that both keeps people safe and earns their trust – these are mutually reinforcing goals that stand at the heart of Project Safe Neighborhoods,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Amy L. Solomon for OJP. “The Office of Justice Programs is pleased to join with our U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, and with jurisdictions across the country, as we work together to meet the challenges of crime and violence and achieve our shared aspirations of public safety and community trust.”

In May 2021, Attorney General Merrick B. Garland announced a new effort to reduce violent crime, including the gun violence that is often at its core. Integral to that effort was the reinvigoration of PSN, a two-decade old evidence-based and community-oriented program focused on reducing violent crime. The updated PSN approach, outlined in the department’s Comprehensive Strategy for Reducing Violent Crime issued by Deputy Attorney General Monaco, is guided by four key principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities and measuring the results of our efforts. The fundamental goal is to reduce violent crime, not simply to increase the number of arrests or prosecutions.

This fall, U.S. Attorney’s Offices across the country have enhanced their violent crime reduction efforts to ensure alignment with the department’s comprehensive violent crime reduction strategy. U.S. Attorneys’ Offices have engaged in outreach to law enforcement and other agencies and organizations serving communities to identify the most significant drivers of violence in their districts. Working together with a broad coalition of stakeholders, the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices are addressing the most pressing violent crime issues in their district to make our neighborhoods safer for all.

PSN programs are led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices in collaboration with local public safety agencies, community stakeholders and other agencies and organizations that work to reduce violent crime.

For a list of all grantees, please visit: FY21-Project-Safe-Neighborhoods-Awards.pdf

The Office of Justice Programs provides federal leadership, grants, training, technical assistance and other resources to improve the nation’s capacity to prevent and reduce crime, advance racial equity in the administration of justice, assist victims and enhance the rule of law. More information about OJP and its components can be found at  www.ojp.gov.

 

Ocala, Florida – Following eight days of trial in federal court, David Chappell Fey (57, Belleview) and Shari Lynn Gunter (58, Ocklawaha) have each been found guilty as charged for the murder of a government witness. The trial required special accommodations: a separate jury heard evidence for each defendant. In the end, each jury returned a guilty verdict on all four counts charged -- distribution of methamphetamine, conspiracy to murder a government witness, murder of a government witness, and conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and fentanyl causing death.

Prior to the start of trial, Fey pleaded guilty to an additional seven counts of distributing methamphetamine.

Fey and Gunter each face a mandatory penalty of life in federal prison. Sentencing is scheduled for April 22, 2022.

According to the evidence produced at trial, Fey and Gunter lived together in Summerfield, Florida, where they routinely distributed methamphetamine and other drugs. The 31-year-old victim, who was the mother of three children, was one of their customers.  She had agreed to cooperate with law enforcement and conducted a controlled buy of $40 worth of methamphetamine on January 19, 2016. After discovering that the victim was helping authorities, Fey and Gunter conspired to murder her to prevent her from acting as a witness against them.

Specifically, on April 5, 2016, Fey and Gunter made up a “hot shot”—a syringe containing a lethal amount of fentanyl and methamphetamine and provided it to the victim. When the victim injected herself, she immediately collapsed. Gunter then dragged the victim outside, kicked her in the head, and placed her in the passenger seat of her car. As the victim sat helpless in the vehicle, Fey and Gunter administered a second, fatal dose of fentanyl and methamphetamine, causing her death. They then drove her to a cemetery in Oxford, Florida, and staged the scene to look like an accidental overdose.

This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration with support from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, the Unified Drug Enforcement Strike Team, the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office, and the Clay County Sheriff’s Office. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Michael P. Felicetta and Tyrie K. Boyer.       

Tampa, Florida – U.S. District Judge Virginia M. Hernandez Covington has sentenced Jasmine Wynne (31, Ruskin) to 33 months in federal prison for conspiracy to commit bank fraud, aggravated identity theft, and theft of a postal key.

According to court documents, Wynne, a Postal Clerk with the United States Postal Service (USPS) at the St. Petersburg Retail Post Office location, conspired with others to defraud federally insured financial institutions. Wynne used her status and the special access she had as a USPS employee to open First-Class mail and to photograph personal identifying information (“PII”) and bank account information. Wynne then forwarded the photographs to co-conspirators for use in a bank fraud scheme. Wynne also photographed United States Passport applications that were processed at her post office location to gain applicants’ PII and bank account information. She then forwarded that information to co-conspirators.

In addition, Wynne used her position as a USPS employee to access and steal restricted postal arrow keys – special master keys that open USPS collection boxes, banks of mailboxes at apartment complexes, and any other mailbox keyed with an arrow lock. Wynne then provided the postal arrow keys to co-conspirators for use in the charged conspiracy. 

This case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Craig Gestring.

Tampa, Florida – U.S. District Judge Mary S. Scriven has sentenced Charles Poole (49, Hudson) to 17 years and 6 months in federal prison for possessing images depicting the sexual abuse of children. Poole was also ordered to serve a lifetime term of supervised release and to register as a sex offender.

Poole had been found guilty by a federal jury on July 9, 2021.

According to court documents, after an electronic service provider reported to the National Center of Missing and Exploited Children the upload and receipt of images depicting the sexual abuse of children by an account linked to Poole, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Investigations began an investigation. Agents executed a search warrant at Poole’s residence and seized electronic devices that contained images of child sexual abuse material, including young children and toddlers. A forensic examination of Poole’s cellphones revealed evidence of his desire to engage in incest. The investigation revealed that Poole groomed a 12-year-old child over an extended time and eventually sexually abused this child in tandem with this child’s mother. Poole also possessed photos that depicted his sexual assault of this child.

“A serial child predator will now be behind bars, making our communities safer for our most vulnerable,” said HSI Tampa acting Assistant Special Agent in Charge Jennifer Silliman. “This sentencing is the result of the strong law enforcement partnership between HSI and the Pasco Sheriff’s Office.”

This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and the Pasco Sheriff’s Office. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Ilyssa Spergel and Frank Murray.

This is another case brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

Fort Myers, Florida – U.S. District Judge Sheri Polster Chappell today sentenced Gerald Michael Abraham (76, Naples) to three years in federal prison for dispensing controlled substances (oxycodone and amphetamine) for no legitimate medical purpose. The court also ordered Abraham to forfeit the following items to the United States, which were proceeds of his illegal activities: a 2020 Acura NSX, a 2020 Porsche GT4, a 2021 Toyota Supra, a 2020 Chevrolet Corvette, a 2020 Aston Martin, a 2020 Nissan 370Z, a 2020 Chevrolet Camaro, two 2020 Ford Mustangs, $190,496.56 paid towards a 2021 Aston Martin, and $249,598.52 in cash.  

According to court documents, Abraham was a licensed psychiatrist who practiced in Naples, Florida. His clinic operated on a cash only basis, with patients paying $400 per visit.

In October 2019, the DEA began an investigation after receiving a tip that Abraham was illegally prescribing strong opioids to patients who had no need for the medication. Over the course of the next year, the DEA conducted 18 undercover patient visits to Abraham’s office, each time receiving prescriptions for oxycodone. Abraham ignored signs of drug abuse the undercover patients pretended to have and prescribed them oxycodone without ever examining them. Additionally, Abraham repeatedly increased the strength of the prescriptions simply because the patient asked him for more. In one instance, he prescribed an undercover patient oxycodone after telling him the medical paperwork “shows you are completely normal.”

The investigation also revealed that Abraham frequently prescribed Adderall to patients for no legitimate reason. Adderall is the brand name of a drug used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and contains amphetamine, a frequently abused controlled substance. On multiple occasions, law enforcement observed Abraham prescribe Adderall simply upon a patient’s request, without asking any questions or engaging in any examination justifying the prescription.

This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the United States Secret Service, with assistance from the Naples Police Department and the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael V. Leeman.  Assistant United States Attorneys Anita Cream and James Muench handled the forfeiture.

Jacksonville, Florida – Acting U.S. Attorney Karin Hoppmann announces the return of an indictment charging Michael Ray King (41, Jacksonville) with possessing images and videos depicting the sexual abuse of children. If convicted, King faces up to 20 years in federal prison and a potential lifetime term of supervised release. King was arrested by FBI agents on November 18, 2021.

According to court documents and information provided in open court, FBI agents executed a search warrant at King’s residence on November 18, 2021. During the execution of the search warrant, FBI personnel seized a computer hard disk drive that was connected to a gaming computer. A forensic review of this disk drive revealed that it contained at least 250 images and 50 videos depicting children being sexually abused.

An indictment is only an allegation and every defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney D. Rodney Brown.

This is another case brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

Tampa, Florida – A federal jury has found Barry Wayne Hoover (50, Tampa) guilty of theft of government funds and making a false statement to a federal agency. Hoover faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for March 2022.

Hoover had been indicted on January 30, 2020.

According to evidence presented at trial, Hoover, a veteran of the United States Navy, exaggerated the extent of his visual impairment in order to receive U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) disability benefits to which he was not entitled. Specifically, Hoover manipulated the results of subjective tests of his peripheral vision to reflect that he had only a five-degree visual field and was legally blind. The VA found that Hoover was 100% disabled based on those manipulated tests.

Additionally, during a recorded phone call, Hoover falsely stated to the VA that he is not able to drive himself, has someone drive for him, and had last driven a few months previously – but only down the street, for about three blocks, during daytime.

Despite his claimed limited peripheral vision and his statements to the VA, surveillance, video footage, social media posts, and other evidence showed Hoover had no such limitations – without assistance, he readily performed activities of daily life such as shopping and driving a car, in addition to operating a three-wheeled motorcycle, an ATV, and a boat.  Authorities also observed Hoover mowing his lawn, operating power tools such as a chain saw, hunting, fishing, and scuba diving, all also without assistance.  Expert testimony at trial established that an individual with the five-degree visual field Hoover claimed could not drive and would be reliant on a white cane to function in public.

As a result of his misrepresentations, Hoover received approximately $429,569.09 in VA benefits to which he was not entitled.

This case was investigated by the Department of Veterans Affairs – Office of the Inspector General. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Tiffany Fields and Special Assistant United States Attorney Suzanne Huyler.

A Florida woman was sentenced today to five years and three months in prison for engaging in a money laundering scheme in connection with an international, subscription-based, sexually-exploitative enterprise based in Florida that operated “child modeling” websites. As part of her sentence, the court also ordered her to forfeit $236,410.70.

Patrice Eileen Wilowski-Mevorah, 53, of Tampa, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering on July 6. According to court documents, Wilowski-Mevorah laundered at least $2.3 million for the company known as Newstar Enterprise, which operated for-profit websites (the Newstar Websites) depicting sexual exploitation of vulnerable children under the guise of “child modeling.”

According to court documents, Wilowski-Mevorah joined the Newstar Enterprise around 2009 and fraudulently opened payment-processing and bank accounts under the pretense of a phony jewelry company. For 10 years, she routinely used the phony company’s accounts to conceal criminal proceeds from the Newstar Websites and transfer those proceeds back to principal members of the Newstar Enterprise. Wilowski-Mevorah continued to launder money for the enterprise until November 2019, when law enforcement authorities executed several search warrants across the United States and simultaneously seized the Newstar websites’ servers in the United States and Europe. Law enforcement officers then disabled the servers hosting the Newstar Websites.

Founded around 2005, the Newstar Enterprise built, maintained, hosted, and operated the Newstar Websites on servers in the United States and abroad. To populate website content, Newstar Enterprise members sourced, enticed, solicited, and recruited males and females under the age of 18, some of whom were prepubescent, to use as “child models.” Using the recruited child-victims, the Newstar Enterprise produced more than 4.6 million sexualized images and videos to distribute and sell on their websites. Some of those images and videos, though non-nude, depicted minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. For example, images and videos sold on the Newstar Websites depicted children as young as 6 years old in sexual and provocative poses, wearing police and cheerleader costumes, thong underwear, transparent underwear, revealing swimsuits, pantyhose, and miniskirts. Most of the child-victims – recruited from Ukraine, Moldova, and other nations in Eastern Europe – were particularly vulnerable due to their age, family dynamics, and poverty.

The Newstar Enterprise maintained a membership list for subscribers and customers who originated from 101 countries. Images in the websites’ galleries were freely available to the public to preview, but greater access and more content required purchasing a subscription. The sale of purported “child modeling” content on the Newstar Websites generated more than $9.4 million during the course of the conspiracy. To process, receive, and distribute this money, Newstar Enterprise members fraudulently opened merchant and bank accounts in the United States and laundered proceeds using the bogus company. 

The chart below shows cases status for co-defendants also charged in the Middle District of Florida:

Newstar Enterprise Cases Status

Name

Case Number

Charge(s)

Status

Maximum Potential Total Penalty

Tatiana Power

8:21-cr-244-MSS-AAS

Conspiracy to commit money laundering; international promotion money laundering; concealment money laundering

Indicted, pending trial

 

100 years’ imprisonment

Kenneth Power

8:21-cr-00032-SDM-AAS

Conspiracy to advertise child pornography; conspiracy to distribute child pornography

Defendant deceased; case dismissed

60 years’ imprisonment

Plamen Velinov

8:21-cr-342-VMC-SPF

Conspiracy to advertise child pornography; conspiracy to distribute child pornography

Indicted, pending extradition

50 years’ imprisonment

Patrice Wilowski-Mevorah

8:21-cr-00206-MSS-TGW

Conspiracy to commit money laundering

Pleaded guilty, sentenced to five years’ and three months’ imprisonment

20 years’ imprisonment

Anthony Lee Kendall

8:21-cr-358-SCB-TGW

Conspiracy to commit money laundering; promotion money laundering; concealment money laundering

Indicted, defendant deceased

100 years’ imprisonment

Mary Lou

Bjorkman

8:21-cr-00227-SDM-AAS

Conspiracy to commit money laundering

Pleaded guilty, sentence pending

20 years’ imprisonment

The defendants have also been notified that the United States intends to forfeit a total of $9.4 million, which are alleged to be traceable to proceeds of the offenses, in addition to real property located in Florida.

Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; Acting U.S. Attorney Karin Hoppmann for the Middle District of Florida; and Special Agent in Charge John Condon of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Tampa made the announcement.

HSI Tampa and the High Technology Investigative Unit of the Department of Justice Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) investigated the case, with substantial assistance provided by HSI offices in Fort Lauderdale, Athens, the Hague, Dallas, Las Vegas, and Tacoma; U.S. Customs and Border Protection in Sofia, Bulgaria; IRS-Criminal Investigation in Tampa; and the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section (MLARS).

This investigation benefited from foreign law enforcement cooperation and substantial assistance by the Republic of Bulgaria, Supreme Cassation Prosecution Office and National Investigation Service; the Republic of Moldova, Office of the Prosecutor General and National Inspectorate of Investigations; International Legal Assistance Center (IRC), North-Holland Unit; the Czech Republic, Supreme Public Prosecutor’s Office, Czech Police and the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs. The Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development, Assistance and Training (OPDAT) provided technical assistance.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Frank Murray of the Middle District of Florida and Trial Attorney Kyle Reynolds of CEOS are prosecuting these cases.

An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Tampa, Florida – U.S. District Judge Mary S. Scriven today sentenced Patrice Eileen Wilowski-Mevorah (53, Tampa) to five years and three months in federal prison for her involvement in a money laundering conspiracy in connection with an international enterprise that was based in Florida and which operated subscription-based sexually exploitative “child modeling” websites. The court also ordered Wilowski-Mevorah to forfeit $236,410.70.

Wilowski-Mevorah had pleaded guilty on July 6, 2021.

According to court documents, Wilowski-Mevorah laundered at least $2.3 million for the Newstar Enterprise—an internet-based business aimed at for-profit sexual exploitation of vulnerable children under the guise of “child modeling,” through a collection of websites called the Newstar Websites. Wilowski-Mevorah joined the Newstar Enterprise around 2009 and fraudulently opened payment-processing accounts and bank accounts under the pretense of a phony jewelry company. For 10 years, she routinely used the phony company’s accounts to conceal criminal proceeds from the Newstar Websites and transfer those proceeds back to principal members of the Newstar Enterprise. Wilowski-Mevorah continued to launder money for the enterprise until November 2019, when law enforcement authorities executed several search warrants across the United States and simultaneously seized the Newstar websites’ servers in the United States and Europe. Law enforcement officers then disabled the servers hosting the Newstar Websites.

The Newstar Enterprise and Status of Other Defendants

According to court documents, founded around 2005, the Newstar Enterprise built, maintained, hosted, and operated the Newstar Websites on servers in the United States and abroad. To populate the Newstar Websites with content, Newstar Enterprise members sourced, enticed, solicited, and recruited males and females under the age of 18, some of whom were prepubescent, to use as “child models” for the Newstar Websites. Using the recruited child-victims, the Newstar Enterprise produced more than 4.6 million sexualized images and videos to distribute and sell on the Newstar Websites. Some of those images and videos, though non-nude, depicted minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. For example, images and videos sold on the Newstar Websites depicted children as young as 6 years old in sexual and provocative poses, wearing police and cheerleader costumes, thong underwear, transparent underwear, revealing swimsuits, pantyhose, and miniskirts. Most of the child-victims—recruited from Ukraine, Moldova, and other nations in Eastern Europe—were particularly vulnerable due to their age, family dynamics and poverty.

The Newstar Enterprise maintained a membership list for subscribers and customers of the Newstar Websites, who originated from 101 nations across the world. Images in the websites’ galleries were freely available to the public to preview, but greater access and more content required purchasing a subscription. The sale of purported “child modeling” content on the Newstar Websites generated more than $9.4 million during the course of the conspiracy. To process, receive, and distribute this money, Newstar Enterprise members fraudulently opened merchant and bank accounts in the United States and laundered proceeds using the bogus company. 

Other Newstar Enterprise members included Kenneth Power (deceased at 58, of Weston, FL), a principal member of the Newstar Enterprise who directed and controlled its operations; Mary Lou Bjorkman (58, Lutz) who recently pleaded guilty to laundering money for the Newstar Enterprise; Kenneth Power’s wife, Tatiana “Tanya” Power (41, Weston), who is awaiting trial on money laundering charges in connection with the Newstar Enterprise; and Anthony Lee Kendall (deceased at 55, Mossyrock, WA), who was recently charged with laundering approximately $1 million for the Newstar Enterprise.

The defendants have also been notified that the United States intends to forfeit a total of $9.4 million, which are alleged to be traceable to proceeds of the offenses, in addition to real property located in Florida.

“Wilowski-Mevorah was laundering money for a criminal enterprise that was sexually exploiting children.” said John Condon HSI Tampa Special Agent in Charge. “HSI is committed to working with our international law enforcement partners to bring anyone who targets or exploits innocent children to justice.”

These cases were investigated by Homeland Security Investigations in Tampa and the High Technology Investigative Unit of the Department of Justice Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), with substantial assistance provided by Homeland Security Investigations offices in Fort Lauderdale, Athens, and the Hague, U.S. Customs and Border Protection in Sofia, Bulgaria, as well as the IRS Criminal Investigation in Tampa.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Frank Murray of the Middle District of Florida and Trial Attorney Kyle Reynolds of the CEOS are prosecuting these cases.

This investigation benefited from foreign law enforcement cooperation and substantial assistance by the Republic of Bulgaria, Supreme Cassation Prosecution Office and National Investigation Service; the Republic of Moldova, Office of the Prosecutor General and National Inspectorate of Investigations; International Legal Assistance Center (IRC), North-Holland Unit; the Czech Republic, Supreme Public Prosecutor’s Office, Czech Police and the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs. The Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development, Assistance and Training (OPDAT) provided technical assistance.

An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal criminal law, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty.

Newstar Enterprise Case Statuses

Name

Case Number

Charge(s)

Status

Maximum Penalty

Tatiana Power

8:21-cr-244-MSS-AAS

Conspiracy to commit money laundering; international promotion money laundering; concealment money laundering

Indicted,

pending trial

100 years’ imprisonment

Kenneth Power

8:21-cr-00032-SDM-AAS

Conspiracy to advertise child pornography; conspiracy to distribute child pornography

Defendant deceased; case dismissed

60 years’ imprisonment

Plamen Velinov

8:21-cr-342-VMC-SPF

Conspiracy to advertise child pornography; conspiracy to distribute child pornography

Indicted, pending extradition

50 years’ imprisonment

Patrice Wilowski-Mevorah

8:21-cr-00206-MSS-TGW

Conspiracy to commit money laundering

Pleaded guilty, sentenced to 5 years, 3 months’ imprisonment

20 years’ imprisonment

Anthony Lee Kendall

8:21-cr-358-SCB-TGW

Conspiracy to commit money laundering; promotion money laundering; concealment money laundering

Indicted, defendant deceased

100 years’ imprisonment

Mary Lou

Bjorkman

8:21-cr-00227-SDM-AAS

Conspiracy to commit money laundering

Pleaded guilty, sentence pending

20 years’ imprisonment

 

Tampa, Florida – Joshua Maywalt (40, Tampa) has pleaded guilty to four counts of healthcare fraud, four counts of aggravated identity theft, one count of filing a false federal income tax return, and two counts of failing to file federal income tax returns. He faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison for each healthcare fraud count, a 2-year mandatory consecutive sentence on the aggravated identity theft counts, a maximum penalty of 3 years for filing a false income tax return, and a up to 2 years for each failure to file an income tax return offense. Through the superseding information, the United States also notified Maywalt that it intends to forfeit $2.2 million in funds and real property located at 5346 Northdale Boulevard, in Tampa, all of which are traceable to proceeds of his offenses.

According to court documents, Maywalt was a medical biller at a Clearwater company that furnished credentialing and medical billing services to its medical provider clients. In that capacity, Maywalt was able to access and utilize the company’s financial, medical provider, and patient information. Maywalt was assigned to a Tampa Bay area physician’s account (“Physician #1”) and was responsible for submitting claims to Florida Medicaid HMOs for services rendered by Physician #1 to Medicaid recipients. Maywalt abused his role as a medical biller by wrongfully accessing and utilizing the company’s patient information and Physician #1’s name and identification number, and using those to submit false and fraudulent claims to a Florida Medicaid HMO for medical services purportedly, but not actually, rendered by Physician #1. Maywalt then altered the “pay to” information associated with those claims so that the payments for the fictitious medical services were sent to bank accounts under his control.

Maywalt knowingly signed and filed a false federal income tax return for tax year 2019, substantially understating his income by reporting only his employment wages and not the substantial amounts he was depositing into his bank accounts as a result of his fraudulent activities. In addition, Maywalt failed to file federal income tax returns for 2017 and 2018 as required by the Internal Revenue Service. 

This case was investigated by the Department of Health and Human Services – Office of the Inspector General, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Florida Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, and the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Maria Guzman and Suzanne Nebesky.

Fort Myers, Florida – Roberto Armando Mimmo (60, Fort Myers Beach) has pleaded guilty to fraud in connection with a major disaster. Mimmo faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in federal prison. A sentencing date has not yet been set.

According to the plea agreement, on September 15, 2017, Mimmo applied for Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) assistance for his residence, a houseboat, located at 18600 San Carlos Boulevard, in Fort Myers Beach. Mimmo claimed he was residing at the houseboat at the time of Hurricane Irma (a federally declared disaster), and that the houseboat had sunk as result of damage caused by the hurricane. An investigation revealed the houseboat had sunk months prior to Hurricane Irma’s landfall, in December of 2016. As a result of Mimmo’s fraudulent representation, FEMA approved and issued Mimmo more than $35,000 in home repair and rental assistance.

This case was investigated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security – Office of Inspector General. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Trent Reichling.

Tampa, Florida – U.S. District Judge Charlene Edwards Honeywell has sentenced Daniel Santos (26, Dade City) to seven years and three months in federal prison for bank fraud and aggravated identity theft. As part of his sentence, the court also ordered restitution in the amount of $263,066.15, the proceeds of the bank fraud.

Santos had pleaded guilty on August 24, 2021.

According to court documents, from May 2016 through June 2018, Santos was involved in a bank fraud scheme that victimized at least 55 individuals and 21 financial institutions. Bank video surveillance captured Santos depositing fraudulent or altered checks into bank accounts and then withdrawing cash from the accounts before the banks discovered the checks were fraudulent. Through the scheme, Santos deposited $570,977.38 in fraudulent checks and received $263,066.15 in fraud proceeds. Santos had an extensive criminal history.   

This case was investigated by the Tampa Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys John Cannizzaro and Mandy Riedel.

Orlando, FL – U.S. District Judge Carlos E. Mendoza has sentenced Stacy R. Caruvana (47, Rockledge) to six months in federal prison for falsifying records with intent to obstruct and influence a federal investigation. The court further sentenced Caruvana to one year of supervised release.

Caruvana had pleaded guilty on June 11, 2021.

According to court documents, between May 2018 and May 2019, Caruvana attempted to frame a NASA employee to make it appear that he had harassed and threatened to kill her. First, Caruvana sent an “anonymous” letter to the NASA Office of Inspector General (OIG) falsely alleging that the NASA employee was engaged in various types of misconduct. In addition, Caruvana purchased a second cell phone and sent threatening text messages to her own cell phone from the second cell phone, following which she falsely reported to law enforcement that the threatening messages had been sent by the NASA employee. During the course of the ensuing NASA OIG investigation, Caruvana falsified emails purporting to be from the victim’s NASA email account to make it appear that he was threatening her, following which Caruvana submitted these falsified emails to a NASA OIG agent. Caruvana also made multiple statements to the NASA OIG agent in which she falsely claimed that the NASA employee was still calling and threatening her.  NASA OIG subsequently executed a search warrant at Caruvana’s residence.  Evidence from a computer at the residence showed that Caruvana had fabricated the emails that she sent to NASA OIG.

“I am extremely proud of the exceptional work by our agents and law enforcement partners in rooting out the malicious and damaging false claims made by the subject, and in doing so protecting the integrity of the agency and the NASA workforce,” said NASA OIG Central Field Office Special Agent in Charge Curtis Vaughn.    

This case was investigated by the NASA Office of Inspector General and the Rockledge Police Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Chauncey A. Bratt.

Ocala, Florida – Deveon Demond Jenkins (28, Ocala) today pleaded guilty to possessing a firearm as a convicted felon. He faces a minimum mandatory penalty of 15 years, and up to life, in federal prison.

Jenkins had been indicted on July 15, 2020.

According to court documents, on April 10, 2020, Jenkins was a passenger in the backseat of an automobile that Ocala Police Department officers stopped for a traffic infraction. After a K-9 signaled the presence of contraband in the car, officers searched the vehicle and discovered at Jenkins’s feet a firearm that they later determined was stolen. DNA testing and recorded jail telephone calls subsequently confirmed that Jenkins had been in possession of the firearm. Jenkins, who has 20 prior felony convictions, is prohibited from possessing firearms under federal law. His numerous prior convictions for the sale of drugs qualify him as an Armed Career Criminal for sentencing purposes.

This case was investigated by the City of Ocala Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Robert E. Bodnar, Jr.

This case is being prosecuted as part of the joint federal, state, and local Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Program, the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts.  PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime.  Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them.  As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.

Jacksonville, Florida – U.S. District Judge Brian J. Davis today sentenced Eddie “Macho” Martinez-Marquez (33, Kissimmee) to 10 years and 1 month in federal prison for conspiring to possess with the intent to distribute and to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine. As part of his sentence, the court also entered a money judgment of $500,000, the proceeds of the multi-kilo drug conspiracy.

Martinez-Marquez had pleaded guilty on June 3, 2021.

According to court documents, between December 2016 and August 2018, Martinez-Marquez led an organization that supplied cocaine to a co-conspirator in Jacksonville. The amounts varied, but Martinez-Marquez typically would supply one or two kilograms, twice per month, which the co-conspirator would then sell. As part of his plea agreement, Martinez-Marquez admitted that he had supplied at least 15 kilograms of cocaine. He charged $27,000 per kilogram, and at times, “fronted” the drugs to his co-conspirator, essentially supplying the drugs on credit.

This case was part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at www.justice.gov/OCDETF.

This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Florida Highway Patrol, and the North Florida High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael J. Coolican.

Tampa, Florida – U.S. District Judge Virginia M. Hernandez Covington has sentenced Nathaniel Quiles (37, Kissimmee) to 9 years and 4 months in federal prison for conspiracy to distribute 100 grams or more of heroin. The court ordered that the sentence be served consecutive to a State of Florida prison sentence of 15 years, which Quiles is currently serving.

Quiles had pleaded guilty to the federal charges on June 17, 2021.  

According to court documents, in 2017, deputies from the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office found Quiles in possession of 14 or more grams of heroin. The State of Florida charged Quiles with trafficking in heroin and the State Court placed him on house arrest pending trial. In 2018, a State Court jury convicted Quiles of the State trafficking offense and that Court sentenced him to prison.

The FBI was also aware Quiles was a heroin dealer in the Orlando area, and aware that he was responsible for distributing large quantities of heroin. While Quiles’ case was pending trial in State court, the FBI learned that he was owed payment for a previous delivery of 500 grams of heroin. Investigators used a confidential source to pay Quiles for the outstanding drug debt and to purchase an additional 100 grams of heroin. Quiles, who remained in his home during these transactions, used co-conspirators in the Orlando area and in Tampa to distribute the heroin and collect payments.

This investigation is the result of a partnership between the United States Attorney’s Office, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Tampa Police Department, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, the Florida Highway Patrol, and the Hillsborough County Medical Examiner’s Office. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael Sinacore.

This case was part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at www.justice.gov/OCDETF.

A federal jury convicted a Florida woman on Nov. 24 for fraudulently obtaining a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan guaranteed by the Small Business Administration (SBA) under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Keyaira Bostic, 32, of Pembroke Pines, obtained a PPP loan of $84,515 for her company, I Am Liquid Inc., based on false information about the company’s number of employees and average payroll, and based on false supporting tax and bank documents. Bostic also paid more than $21,000 to an alleged co-conspirator, James Stote, as a kickback for his assistance in preparing and submitting the fraudulent loan application. The evidence also showed that Bostic, in exchange for kickbacks, referred other co-conspirators to the scheme on whose behalf Stote submitted fraudulent PPP loan applications. Those loan applicants sought more than $3.3 million in fraudulent PPP loans and obtained nearly $2 million in PPP loan proceeds.

Bostic was convicted of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and wire fraud and three counts of wire fraud. She was found not guilty of bank fraud. She is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 3, 2022, and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for each count of conviction. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Stote was charged by information on Nov. 10 with wire fraud, bank fraud, and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. His case remains pending.

Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; Acting U.S. Attorney Juan Antonio “Tony” Gonzalez of the Southern District of Florida; Special Agent in Charge Michael J. De Palma of the IRS-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Miami Field Office; Special Agent in Charge George L. Piro of the FBI’s Miami Field Office; and Special Agent in Charge Amaleka McCall-Brathwaite of the SBA’s Office of Inspector General (SBA-OIG) Eastern Region made the announcement.

The IRS-CI, FBI, and SBA-OIG investigated the cases.

Trial Attorney Philip Trout of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney David Turken of the Southern District of Florida prosecuted the case.

The Fraud Section leads the Criminal Division’s prosecution of fraud schemes that exploit the PPP. Since the inception of the CARES Act, the Fraud Section has prosecuted over 150 defendants in more than 95 criminal cases and has seized over $75 million in cash proceeds derived from fraudulently obtained PPP funds, as well as numerous real estate properties and luxury items purchased with such proceeds. More information can be found at https://www.justice.gov/criminal-fraud/ppp-fraud.

On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. The Task Force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by, among other methods, augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts. For more information on the department’s response to the pandemic, please visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus.

Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.

An information is merely an allegation, and Stote is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Jacksonville, Florida – U.S. District Judge Brian J. Davis has sentenced Nicholas Stephen Woodyard (30, St. Augustine) to 10 years and 8 months in federal prison for distributing child sexual abuse materials, to be followed by a life term of supervised release. The court also ordered Woodyard to pay $5,000 in restitution to a victim of his crime. Nicholas Woodyard had pleaded guilty on March 5, 2021.  Co-defendant Patrick Woodyard (Nicholas Woodyard’s twin brother) was sentenced to 15 years and 8 months in federal prison December 2020, following his pleading guilty on August 28, 2020.  Both men had been indicted on March 4, 2020, for the distribution, receipt, and possession of images and videos depicting children being sexually abused.    

According to court documents, Homeland Security Investigations began investigating the internet upload of an image depicting the sexual abuse of a child. The image had been distributed from the Woodyard brothers’ residence in St. Augustine. Agents executed a search warrant and seized electronic devices that contained hundreds of files of child sex abuse materials, including videos of the sexual assault of a toddler-aged child. A forensic examination of one of these devices revealed Nicholas Woodyard’s efforts to secretly record his close family members while they were naked and his attempts and desires to engage in incest.

"Children are the most vulnerable victims, and predators such as this use extraordinary means and sophisticated deceptions to target and victimize innocent children across our communities,” said Homeland Security Investigations (Jacksonville) Assistant Special Agent in Charge K. Jim Phillips. "Thanks to the incredible work and dedication of our HSI special agents and our partners with the Clay County Sheriff’s Office and St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office, this predator will no longer have access to such victims.”

This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, working with the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office and the Clay County Sheriff’s Office. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kelly S. Karase.

This is another case brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

Tampa, Florida – U.S. District Judge Thomas P. Barber has sentenced Christopher Buonocore (35, Hicksville, NY) to 15 years in federal prison for cyberstalking multiple victims. As part of his sentence, the court also entered a restitution order of $164,295.01, payable to the victims of the offense.

Buonocore had pleaded guilty in January 2021.

According to court documents, over a seven-year period, Buonocore used fictitious phone numbers, text messages, and social media accounts to harass, intimidate, cyberstalk, and attempt to sextort six women, including a minor. Buonocore’s harassment campaign involved posting thousands of sexually explicit and nude images of the victims to the internet, as well as the victims’ personal identifying information, including phone numbers, addresses, and social media account identifiers. Buonocore also solicited individuals on the internet to contact and harass the victims, including, at times, enlisting those individuals to attempt to extort additional sexually explicit images from the victims (sometimes referred to as “sextortion”) and other times encouraging these individuals to rape a victim.

During the course of conduct, certain victims discovered that Buonocore was the source of the harassment and confronted him. Despite becoming aware of the emotional and psychological harm caused by his actions, Buonocore continued to engage in the same course of conduct.

“The victims in this case did not let fear silence them. They courageously came forward and worked with law enforcement to help bring this individual’s campaign of torment and terror to an end.  The FBI urges any victim of online threats to report the crime.  We have the resources and the commitment to investigate these cowardly acts,” said FBI Tampa Division Special Agent in Charge Michael McPherson.

Sextortion occurs when someone threatens to distribute another person’s private and sensitive material if they do not provide the perpetrator with sexually explicit images, sexual favors, or money. The perpetrator may also threaten to harm the victim’s friends or relatives by using information they have obtained from the victim’s electronic devices unless the victim complies with their demands. Cyberstalking and sextortion are serious crimes that are investigated and prosecuted, and victims’ identities can be shielded from the public. Anyone who has been the victim of cyberstalking or sextortion should contact the FBI at 1-800-CALL FBI (225-5324). More resources are available at https://www.fbi.gov/video-repository/newss-what-is-sextortion/view.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Lisa M. Thelwell.

Photo courtesy of U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Georgia David H. Estes, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia, speaks during a news conference Nov. 22, 2021, to announce indictments in USA v. Patricio et al, Operation Blooming Onion, a human trafficking investigation naming 24 defendants on felony charges including human smuggling and document fraud. With Estes are (from left) Katrina Berger, Special Agent in Charge of the Atlanta Office of Homeland Security Investigations; Michael Imperatrice, Resident Agent in Charge, Savannah HSI Office; Jessica Moore, Chief of the Criminal Investigation Division for the U.S. Department of State's Diplomatic Security Service; Rafiq Ahmad, Special Agent in Charge of the Atlanta Regional Office of the U.S. Department of Labor Office of Inspector General; Henry Deblock, Savannah Area Port Director for U.S. Customs and Border Protection; George "Will" Clarke, Supervisory Senior Resident Agent, FBI Savannah; John Britt, Savannah/Jacksonville Team Leader, U.S. Postal Inspection Service; David Lyons, U.S. Marshal for the Southern District of Georgia; Maj. Fred Cole, Chief Deputy of the Coffee County Sheriff's Office; and Capt. Marcus Dunlap, Coffee County Sheriff's Office. 

INDICTMENT: USA v. Patricio et al, Operation Blooming Onion: 521cr9.pdf

WAYCROSS, GA:  Two dozen defendants have been indicted on federal conspiracy charges after a transnational, multi-year investigation into a human smuggling and labor trafficking operation that illegally imported Mexican and Central American workers into brutal conditions on South Georgia farms.

The newly unsealed, 54-count indictment in USA v. Patricio et al. details felony charges resulting from Operation Blooming Onion, an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. The multi-agency investigation, led by Homeland Security Investigations and other federal agencies, spans at least three years, and the 53-page indictment documents dozens of victims of modern-day slavery while spelling out the illegal acts that brought these exploited workers into the United States and imprisoned them under inhumane conditions as contract agricultural laborers, said David H. Estes, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia.

“The American dream is a powerful attraction for destitute and desperate people across the globe, and where there is need, there is greed from those who will attempt to exploit these willing workers for their own obscene profits,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Estes. “Thanks to outstanding work from our law enforcement partners, Operation Blooming Onion frees more than 100 individuals from the shackles of modern-day slavery and will hold accountable those who put them in chains.”

“OCDETF Operation Blooming Onion maximized the expertise of multiple law enforcement agencies and leveraged analytical and coordination support from OCDETF’s International Organized Crime Intelligence and Operations Center (IOC-2) to target an international criminal organization engaged in human trafficking and visa fraud,” said OCDETF Director Adam W. Cohen. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office’s leadership of this multi-agency law enforcement effort positions us to disrupt and dismantle the operations of transnational criminal networks that pose the greatest threat to our communities and to the Nation.”

As described in the indictment, investigators from Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. Department of Labor, U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the FBI began investigating the Patricio transnational criminal organization in November 2018. The indictment alleges that in or before 2015, the conspirators and their associates “engaged in mail fraud, international forced labor trafficking, and money laundering, among other crimes,” fraudulently using the H-2A work visa program to smuggle foreign nationals from Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras into the United States under the pretext of serving as agricultural workers.

The activities took place within the Southern, Middle, and Northern Districts of Georgia; the Middle District of Florida; the Southern District of Texas; and Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and elsewhere. The conspirators required the workers to pay unlawful fees for transportation, food, and housing while illegally withholding their travel and identification documents, and subjected the workers “to perform physically demanding work for little or no pay, housing them in crowded, unsanitary, and degrading living conditions, and by threatening them with deportation and violence.”  

Exploitation of the workers included being required to dig onions with their bare hands, paid 20 cents for each bucket harvested, and threatened with guns and violence to keep them in line. The workers were held in cramped, unsanitary quarters and fenced work camps with little or no food, limited plumbing and without safe water. The conspirators are accused of raping, kidnapping and threatening or attempting to kill some of the workers or their families, and in many cases sold or traded the workers to other conspirators. At least two of the workers died as a result of workplace conditions. In the Southern District of Georgia, these activities were alleged to have taken place in the counties of Atkinson, Bacon, Coffee, Tattnall, Toombs and Ware as farmers paid the conspirators to provide contract laborers.    

The conspirators are alleged to have reaped more than $200 million from the illegal scheme, laundering the funds through cash purchases of land, homes, vehicles, and businesses; through cash purchases of cashier’s checks; and by funneling millions of dollars through a casino.

Then, as the continuing investigation into the conspiracy moved forward in late 2019, the indictment alleges that three of the conspirators attempted to intimidate and persuade a witness to lie to a federal grand jury and deny any knowledge of the illegal activities of the Patricio organization.

More than 200 law enforcement officers and federal agents from around the United States convened in the Southern District of Georgia to execute more than 20 federal search warrants at target locations.

Those indicted in USA v. Patricio et al. and their charges include:

• Maria Leticia Patricio, 70, of Nichols, Ga., charged with Conspiracy to Commit Mail Fraud; two counts of Mail Fraud; Conspiracy to Engage in Forced Labor; and Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering;
• Daniel Mendoza, 40, of Ruskin, Fla., charged with Conspiracy to Commit Mail Fraud; Conspiracy to Engage in Forced Labor; and Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering;
• Nery Rene Carrillo-Najarro, 56, Douglas, Ga., charged with Conspiracy to Commit Mail Fraud; Conspiracy to Engage in Forced Labor; 14 counts of Forced Labor; and Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering;
• Antonio Chavez Ramos, a/k/a “Tony Chavez,” 38, a citizen of Mexico illegally present in the United States, charged with Conspiracy to Commit Mail Fraud; Conspiracy to Engage in Forced Labor; four counts of Forced Labor; and Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering;
• JC Longoria Castro, 46, Vidalia, Ga., charged with Conspiracy to Commit Mail Fraud; Conspiracy to Engage in Forced Labor; four counts of Forced Labor; and Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering;
• Victoria Chavez Hernandez, 38, a citizen of Mexico illegally present in the United States, charged with Conspiracy to Commit Mail Fraud; Conspiracy to Engage in Forced Labor; and Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering;
• Enrique Duque Tovar, 36, of Axon, Ga., charged with Conspiracy to Commit Mail Fraud; Conspiracy to Engage in Forced Labor; nine counts of Forced Labor; and Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering;
• Jose Carmen Duque Tovar, 58, of Axon, charged with Conspiracy to Commit Mail Fraud; Conspiracy to Engage in Forced Labor; nine counts of Forced Labor; and Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering;
• Charles Michael King, 31, of Waycross, Ga., charged with Conspiracy to Commit Mail Fraud; Conspiracy to Engage in Forced Labor; and Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering;
• Stanley Neal McGauley, 38, of Waycross, charged with Conspiracy to Commit Mail Fraud; Conspiracy to Engage in Forced Labor; and Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering;
• Luis Alberto Martinez, a/k/a “Chino Martinez,” 41, of Tifton, Ga., charged with Conspiracy to Commit Mail Fraud; Conspiracy to Engage in Forced Labor; and Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering;
• Delia Ibarra Rojas, 33, of Lyons, Ga., charged with Conspiracy to Commit Mail Fraud; Conspiracy to Engage in Forced Labor; three counts of Forced Labor; and Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering;
• Juana Ibarra Carrillo, 46, of Alma, Ga., charged with Conspiracy to Commit Mail Fraud; Conspiracy to Engage in Forced Labor; and Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering;
• Donna Michelle Rojas, a/k/a “Donna Lucio,” 33, of Collins, Ga., charged with Conspiracy to Commit Mail Fraud; Conspiracy to Engage in Forced Labor; three counts of Forced Labor; and Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering;
• Margarita Rojas Cardenas, a/k/a “Maggie Cardenas,” 43, of Reidsville, Ga., charged with Conspiracy to Commit Mail Fraud; Conspiracy to Engage in Forced Labor; three counts of Forced Labor; Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering; and Tampering with a Witness;
• Juan Fransisco Alvarez Campos, 42, a citizen of Mexico illegally present in the United States, charged with Conspiracy to Commit Mail Fraud; Conspiracy to Engage in Forced Labor; and Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering;
• Rosalvo Garcia Martinez, a/k/a “Chava Garcia,” 33, of Haines City, Fla., charged with Conspiracy to Commit Mail Fraud; Conspiracy to Engage in Forced Labor; and Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering; and Tampering with a Witness;
• Esther Ibarra Garcia, 63, of Dade City, Fla., charged with Conspiracy to Commit Mail Fraud; Conspiracy to Engage in Forced Labor; three counts of Forced Labor; and Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering;
• Rodolfo Martinez Maciel, 26, a citizen of Mexico illegally present in the United States, charged with Conspiracy to Commit Mail Fraud; Conspiracy to Engage in Forced Labor; three counts of Forced Labor; and Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering;
• Brett Donavan Bussey, 39, of Tifton, Ga., charged with Conspiracy to Commit Mail Fraud; four counts of Mail Fraud; Conspiracy to Engage in Forced Labor; Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering; and Tampering with a Witness;
• Linda Jean Facundo, 36, of Tifton, charged with Conspiracy to Commit Mail Fraud; Conspiracy to Engage in Forced Labor; and Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering;
• Gumara Canela, 34, of Alma, charged with Conspiracy to Commit Mail Fraud; Conspiracy to Engage in Forced Labor; 14 counts of Forced Labor; and Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering;
• Daniel Merari Canela Diaz, 24, a citizen of Mexico illegally present in the United States, charged with Conspiracy to Commit Mail Fraud; Conspiracy to Engage in Forced Labor; and Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering; and,
• Carla Yvonne Salinas, 28, of Laredo, Texas, charged with Conspiracy to Commit Mail Fraud; Conspiracy to Engage in Forced Labor; and Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering.

The charges of Conspiracy to Engage in Forced Labor, and Forced Labor, each carry statutory penalties of up to life in prison, while the charges of Conspiracy to Commit Mail Fraud, Mail Fraud, Money Laundering Conspiracy, and Tampering with a Witness each carry statutory penalties of up to 20 years in prison. Each of the charges also include substantial financial penalties and periods of supervised release after completion of any prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.

Criminal indictments contain only charges; defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

The case was investigated under the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Operation Blooming Onion also is designated as a Priority Transnational Organized Crime Cases.

Agencies investigating Operation Blooming Onion include Homeland Security Investigations; U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Fraud Detection and National Security; the U.S. Department of Labor Office of Inspector General, and Wage and Hour Division; U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service; the FBI; the U.S. Postal Inspection Service; U.S. Customs and Border Protection; and the U.S. Marshals Service, with assistance from the Georgia National Guard; the Georgia Bureau of Investigation; the Georgia State Patrol; the Coffee County Sheriff’s Office; the Chatham County Sheriff’s Office; the Tattnall County Sheriff’s Office; the Bacon County Sheriff’s Office; and the Tift County Sheriff’s Office. The case is being prosecuted for the United States by Assistant U.S. Attorney and Human Trafficking Coordinator Tania D. Groover, and Assistant U.S. Attorney and Criminal Division Deputy Chief E. Greg Gilluly Jr., and Assistant U.S. Attorney Xavier A. Cunningham, Section Chief of the Asset Recovery Unit.

If you believe you have information about a potential trafficking situation call the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888. Anti-Trafficking Hotline Advocates are available 24/7 to take reports of potential human trafficking. All reports are confidential and you may remain anonymous. Interpreters are available.  The information you provide will be reviewed by the National Hotline and forwarded to specialized law enforcement and/or service providers where appropriate. 

Fort Myers, Florida – U.S. District Judge Thomas P. Barber has sentenced Richard James Bassett, Jr. (47, Fort Myers) to 18 years in federal prison for possessing a firearm as a convicted felon and for violating the conditions of supervised release from a prior federal drug conviction. Bassett had pleaded guilty on July 16, 2021.   

According to court documents, on November 14, 2019, law enforcement officers observed Bassett entering an apartment in Fort Myers, Florida, shortly before the officers executed a search warrant on that apartment.  Inside the apartment, officers observed Bassett standing in the kitchen area near a black and grey speckled backpack that he was seen carrying when he entered the apartment. Officers discovered quantities of different narcotics, including cocaine, in the kitchen area and found a loaded firearm in the backpack.  Subsequent forensic analysis of the firearm linked it to Bassett.

As a previously convicted felon, Bassett is prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition under federal law.

This case was jointly investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Fort Myers Police Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Trent Reichling.

This case is being prosecuted as part of the joint federal, state, and local Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Program, the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts.  PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime.  Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them.  As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.

Tampa, Florida – Acting United States Attorney Karin Hoppmann announces the unsealing of a 2019 indictment charging Piero Antonio Lubo-Barros, a/k/a “Nostradamus,” (41, Colombia, South America) with conspiracy to distribute large amounts of cocaine knowing and intending it to be imported into the United States. If convicted on all counts, Piero Antonio Lubo-Barros faces a maximum penalty of life in federal prison. 

According to court documents, beginning in approximately September of 2017, and continuing through 2019, Lubo-Barros organized a transnational criminal conspiracy that transported cocaine from Colombia to the United States, including Texas, California, Fort Lauderdale and Miami, Florida.

In April 2018, an indictment was returned in the Middle District of Florida charging Piero Antonio Lubo-Barros, and his co-conspirator, Gerardo Gomez-Lubo, with conspiracy to distribute cocaine. In January 2021, Lubo-Barros, who was living under an assumed identity, was arrested in Costa Rica.

Gerardo Gomez-Lubo was extradited from Panama to the United States in March 2021. 

An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal criminal law, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty.

This case was investigated by the Panama Express Strike Force, a standing Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) Strike Force comprised of agents and analysts from the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, and the U.S. Southern Command's Joint Interagency Task Force South. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs of the Department’s Criminal Division and Costa Rican authorities provided significant support with the defendant’s extradition. The U.S. Marshals Service also provided critical assistance by extraditing Lubo-Barros from Costa Rica to the Middle District of Florida.

This case was part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at www.justice.gov/OCDETF.

This case will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Diego F. Novaes.