Middle District of Florida

Tampa, FL – The Department of Justice today announced more than $139 million in grant funding through the department’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) COPS Hiring Program (CHP). The awards provide direct funding to 183 law enforcement agencies across the nation, allowing those agencies to hire 1,066 additional full-time law enforcement professionals. In the Middle District of Florida three agencies were awarded funding totaling $3,250,000.

“We are committed to providing police departments with the resources needed to help ensure community safety and build community trust,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “The grants we are announcing today will enable law enforcement agencies across the country to hire more than 1,000 additional officers to support vitally important community oriented policing programs.”

The following agencies in the Middle District of Florida received awards:

• City of Fort Myers - $1,750,000
• City of Tampa - $1,250,000
• Putnam County - $250,000

CHP is a competitive award program intended to reduce crime and advance public safety through community policing. CHP provides funds directly to law enforcement agencies to hire new or rehire additional career law enforcement officers, thereby increasing their community policing capacity and crime prevention efforts. Of the 183 agencies awarded grants today, approximately half will use the funding to focus on building legitimacy and trust between law enforcement and communities; 41 agencies will seek to address high rates of gun violence; 21 will focus on other areas of violence; and 19 will focus CHP resources on combating hate and domestic extremism or supporting police-based responses to persons in crisis. The complete list of awards can be found here.  

Since its creation in 1994, COPS has invested more than $14 billion to advance community policing, including grants awarded to more than 13,000 state, local and Tribal law enforcement agencies to fund the hiring and redeployment of more than 135,000 officers. CHP, COPS’ flagship program, continues to be in demand today: In FY21, COPS received 590 applications requesting nearly 3,000 law enforcement positions. For FY22, President Biden has requested $537 million for CHP, an increase of $300 million.

To learn more about CHP, please visit https://cops.usdoj.gov/chp-award. For additional information about the COPS Office, please visit https://cops.usdoj.gov/.  

The COPS Office is the federal component of the Department of Justice responsible for advancing community policing nationwide. The only Department of Justice agency with policing in its name, the COPS Office was established in 1994 and has been the cornerstone of the nation’s crime fighting strategy with grants, a variety of knowledge resource products, and training and technical assistance. Through the years, the COPS Office has become the go-to organization for law enforcement agencies across the country and continues to listen to the field and provide the resources that are needed to reduce crime and build trust between law enforcement and the communities served.

Jacksonville, Florida – Chief U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Corrigan has sentenced Sean Corey McKenzie (31, Jacksonville) to more than 22 years and 6 months in federal prison for attempted production of child sex abuse images.  McKenzie was also ordered to serve a 20-year term of supervised release and to register as a sex offender.

McKenzie had pleaded guilty on May 3, 2021.

According to court documents, based on an ongoing investigation, FBI agents had reason to believe McKenzie had used an online account to upload child pornography to a private chat room in a particular social media application (app).  On March 15, 2021, the agents conducted an interview of McKenzie at his residence in Jacksonville, Florida.  During the interview, McKenzie admitted to using this social media app and, specifically, to using his account to request minor females take “nude” photos of themselves.  McKenzie also admitted that the photos were sexually explicit.  McKenzie stated, when he was on the app, he sought out chat rooms with names that suggested minor children would be present.  During a search of McKenzie’s cellular phone, FBI agents discovered online conversations McKenzie had with minor children on the same app. 

On March 24, 201, FBI agents conducted a second interview with McKenzie, showing him a recording of one of those online conversations with a minor child.  In that conversation, which took place from January 4, 2021 to February 22, 2021, McKenzie solicited the child to produce and send him photos of the child engaging in sexually explicit conduct. McKenzie admitted to engaging in the conversation.

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

This is another case was 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.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “resources.

Jacksonville, Florida – U.S. District Judge Marcia Morales Howard has sentenced Andrew Christian Hammock (48, Boca Raton) to 18 years and 8 months in federal prison for attempting to entice a minor to engage in sexual activity and for attempting to produce visual depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Hammock was also ordered to serve a 6-year term of supervised release, to register as a sex offender, and to forfeit the cellphone that he used to commit these offenses. When he committed these offenses, Hammock was serving as a police officer with the City of Margate (Florida) Police Department. 

Hammock was found guilty by federal jury on June 25, 2021.

According to court documents, during February and March 2020, Hammock used a social media application to send more than 4,700 private online messages to an individual whom he believed was a 14-year-old girl but was actually an undercover FBI agent. After learning her purported age, Hammock told the “child,” “bet you look amazing in a bikini,” and asked the “child” about her sexual experience. Hammock acknowledged the risk he was taking by talking to the “child,” telling her that he could get in trouble for talking to her because she is under 18 and he is not.

Hammock assured the “child” he was trustworthy and a protector and sent the “child” photos of himself wearing his police uniform. He repeatedly told the “child” he was aroused talking to her and that he wanted to help the “child” have her first orgasm. Hammock also repeatedly requested the “child” to take and send him graphic photos of her genitals. 

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, along with the City of Margate Police Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Kelly S. Karase and Ashley Washington.

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.

Ocala, Florida – Ashley Renea Hilligoss (37, Citrus Springs) has pleaded guilty to producing photos depicting a minor child being sexually abused. She faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in federal prison and a potential life term of supervised release. A sentencing date has not yet been set.

Hilligoss had been indicted on June 22, 2021.

According to court documents, Hilligoss took sexually explicit photographs of a minor female and sent them to another individual using the internet. FBI agents later searched an encrypted online file storage account belonging to the receiving individual and recovered copies of these photos. When interviewed by law enforcement, Hilligoss admitted to taking and sending the photographs of the child.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Ocala Resident Agency. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney William S. Hamilton.

This case was 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 United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), 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 Eric James Templeton (33, St. Petersburg) to 15 years in federal prison for attempting to entice and meet a 5-year-old child for sex. Templeton was also ordered to serve a 15-year term of supervised release, to register as a sex offender, and to pay $11,700 in restitution. 

Templeton had pleaded guilty on March 9, 2021.

According to court documents, from May 19 through May 21, 2020, Templeton engaged in online chats and text messaging with an individual whom he believed to be the mother of a 5-year-old child. During those conversations, Templeton indicated to the “mother” (actually an undercover Homeland Security Investigations agent) his desire to meet and sexually abuse the child. On May 21, 2020, Templeton agreed to meet the “mother” and her child for that purpose. Templeton arrived at the meeting location in Tampa and was arrested by HSI agents. A search of Templeton’s person revealed that he was carrying a bottle of lubricant and two lollipops.

“Thanks to the partnership between HSI special agents and the Pasco Sheriff’s Office, this child predator will now be behind bars,” said HSI Tampa Assistant Special Agent in Charge Micah McCombs.

This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Erin Claire Favorit.

This case was 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.  

Ocala, Florida – United States District Judge Roy B. Dalton, Jr. has sentenced Devonne L. Walker (36, Lady Lake) to 25 years in federal prison for conspiracy to distribute controlled substances.

Walker had pleaded guilty on July 28, 2021.

According to evidence presented at the sentencing hearing, Walker was the leader and organizer of a drug conspiracy in Lake County that imported more than 100 kilograms of methamphetamine, over 50 kilograms of cocaine, over 1 kilogram of heroin, and over 50 kilograms of marijuana. Between 2018 and 2019, Walker directed the activities of his accomplices in Phoenix, Arizona, to ship parcels containing illegal narcotics to Florida. Once they arrived, Walker controlled the distribution of the drugs to other dealers in the Middle District of Florida.

Walker was arrested in Leesburg on June 25, 2021, by deputies from the Lake County Sheriff’s Office. At the time of his arrest, Walker had in his possession a stolen firearm, more than 260 grams of methamphetamine, over 80 grams of fentanyl, as well as a small amount of marijuana and cocaine.

Two of Walker’s co-conspirators were charged in the same case. One has pleaded guilty and is pending sentencing while the other is pending trial in January 2022. Another co-conspirator, who was charged separately, has pleaded guilty and is awaiting sentencing.

This case was investigated by Drug Enforcement Administration, with support from the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, the U.S. Postal Service Inspection Service, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and Homeland Security Investigations. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael P. Felicetta.

Orlando, Florida – Acting United States Attorney Karin Hoppmann announces the unsealing of an indictment charging Keith Ingersoll (45, Orlando) and James Adamczyk (64, Orlando) for their roles in an over $12 million fraud scheme and conspiracy. Ingersoll and Adamczyk are each charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, twenty counts of wire fraud, and nineteen counts of money laundering. Ingersoll is also charged with one count of aggravated identity theft. Ingersoll and Adamczyk are facing up to 20 years in federal prison for the conspiracy count and each wire fraud count, and up to 10 years in federal prison for each money laundering count. Ingersoll also faces a minimum mandatory of 2 years in federal prison for the aggravated identity theft count.

According to the

indictment , Ingersoll, Adamczyk, and others obtained more than $12 million from a victim. Specifically, the conspirators falsely represented that the funds provided by the victim would be used as refundable deposits for specific real estate transactions, that they would be held in escrow by an attorney or by an attorney as an escrow agent and, that the funds would be returned to the victim upon request. In fact, the funds were sent to two conspirators who were not licensed attorneys: a suspended attorney and, after the suspended attorney died, Adamczyk.  Rather than retain the funds as had been promised, the suspended attorney and Adamczyk diverted portions of the funds for their own personal benefit and transferred other funds to Ingersoll.

As part of the conspiracy, Ingersoll, Adamczyk, and other conspirators provided the victim with real estate purchase contracts and other documents that were not executed by the owners of the properties but that contained forged signatures or were executed using the names of fictitious individuals and that falsely represented the entities that owned the properties. Ingersoll, Adamczyk, and other conspirators also falsely claimed that specific entities and individuals had expressed interest in purchasing the real estate but those potential buyers did not exist, had never been contacted about purchasing the real estate, or had declined to pursue a transaction. When the victim requested a return of some of the funds, Ingersoll and Adamczyk provided false excuses why the funds could not be returned, including false claims that Adamczyk was not allowed to leave Costa Rica due to having COVID-19 and that Adamczyk needed to be at the bank in person to return the funds to the victim. Ingersoll, Adamczyk, and other conspirators spent the proceeds received as a result of their fraud on themselves and for their own personal benefit, including for luxury car rentals, travel, and adult entertainment.

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 United States Secret Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office. It will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg, Jennifer M. Harrington, and Amanda Daniels.

Tampa, Florida – Acting United States Attorney Karin Hoppmann announces the unsealing of two indictments in connection with an international enterprise based in Florida that operated subscription-based sexually exploitative “child modeling” websites. Plamen Georgiev Velinov (48, Sofia, Bulgaria) is charged with conspiring to advertise and distribute child pornography in connection with the Florida-based enterprise. Anthony Lee Kendall (55, Mossyrock, WA) is charged with money laundering and money laundering conspiracy in connection with his laundering of approximately $1 million for the enterprise.

Arrests of Defendants Velinov and Kendall

Velinov was arrested yesterday in Sofia, Bulgaria by officers from Bulgarian National Investigative Service and the Sofia Metropolitan Police at the request of the United States. Kendall was arrested yesterday in Washington.

If convicted, Velinov faces a minimum mandatory penalty of 15 years’ imprisonment for conspiring to advertise child pornography, a minimum 5 years’ imprisonment for conspiring to distribute child pornography, and a total maximum penalty of 50 years’ imprisonment for both offenses. The indictment also notifies Velinov that the United States intends to forfeit more than $434,000 in assets that are alleged to be traceable to proceeds of the offenses. If convicted, Kendall faces up to 20 years in federal prison for each count of the five-count money laundering charges in the indictment. The indictment also notifies Kendall that the United States intends to forfeit $944,678 in assets that are alleged to be traceable to proceeds of the offenses.

According to court documents, Velinov assisted with directing and controlling the foreign functions 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. Velinov helped maintain and update the Newstar Websites. Kendall performed financial functions essential to the Newstar Enterprise. Kendall fraudulently opened payment processing, merchant, and bank accounts for the Newstar Enterprise and facilitated, conducted, and concealed monetary transactions involving approximately $1 million in revenue from the Newstar Websites. Kenneth Power (deceased at 58, of Weston), was a principal member of the Newstar Enterprise who directed and controlled its operations. Patrice Eileen Wilowski-Mevorah (53, of Tampa) and Mary Lou Bjorkman (58, of Lutz) recently pleaded guilty to laundering money for the Newstar Enterprise. Kenneth Power’s wife, Tatiana “Tanya” Power (41, of Weston), is currently pending trial on money laundering charges in connection with the Newstar Enterprise. Other members of the Newstar Enterprise resided in Europe.

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; 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, sentence pending

20 years’ imprisonment

Anthony Lee Kendall

8:21-cr-358-SCB-TGW

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

Indicted, pending trial

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; the Republic of Moldova, Office of the Prosecutor General and National Inspectorate of Investigations; International Legal Assistance Center (IRC), North-Holland Unit; the Cantonal Police (Berne); and the Czech Republic, Supreme Public Prosecutor’s Office, Czech Police. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs and Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development, Assistance and Training (OPDAT) provided investigative 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.

Orlando, Florida – U.S. District Judge Roy B. Dalton, Jr. has sentenced Laquan De’Shay Jones (23, Apopka) to seven years in federal prison for possessing fentanyl with the intent to distribute it and for possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. The court also ordered Jones to forfeit the firearm and ammunition that he was carrying as part of the offense. 

Jones had pleaded guilty on August 18, 2021.

According to court documents, deputies from the Orange County Sherriff’s Office arrested Jones on an active felony warrant for a violation of probation.  During the arrest, agents recovered a loaded Glock pistol from Jones’s vehicle. In the trunk of the vehicle deputies located a duffle bag inside of which were multiple small plastic bags of white powdered fentanyl, cutting agents (chemicals), containers, a scale, and other drug paraphernalia, such as a blender and playing cards bent in half. The total amount of fentanyl was determined to be almost 15 grams. Jones admitted to being a fentanyl dealer. 

Jones was previously convicted of multiple felony offenses, including accessory after the fact to a first-degree felony, resisting an officer, burglary, attempted burglary, and trespassing. 

This case was investigated by the Orange County Sheriff’s Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney John Gardella.

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.

Jacksonville, Florida – A federal jury has found Fan Yang (36, Jacksonville) guilty of conspiring with his co-defendants Ge Songtao (51, Nanjing, People’s Republic of China) and Yang Yang (36, Jacksonville) to violate U.S. firearms laws, making false written statements to federally licensed firearms dealers during the purchase of two firearms, and making false written statements as part of a security clearance background investigation. Fan Yang faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in federal prison. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for March 16, 2022. 

Yang initially was indicted on October 31, 2019, and then subsequently charged by a superseding indictment on November 19, 2020. 

According to evidence presented at trial, Yang is a Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy, trained in anti-submarine warfare. As a Naval Flight Officer, he flew in the back of the Navy’s P-8 Poseidon, a land-based patrol aircraft, and operated sensors and coordinated tactics.

Prior to becoming a commissioned naval officer, Yang formed a relationship online with Ge Songtao, a citizen of the People’s Republic of China. Photographs admitted at trial showed that the two eventually met in person in 2013, while Yang was in Navy flight training in Pensacola. In 2016, while Yang was stationed in Jacksonville, Yang recommended that Ge Songtao hire Yang’s wife, Yang Yang, as an employee of Shanghai Breeze Technology Co. Ltd., Ge Songtao’s company headquartered in Shanghai, China. That company purchased in the U.S. and exported to China maritime equipment designed for law enforcement and military missions.

From the time that she was hired, Yang Yang received more than $300,000 in payments from Shanghai Breeze, its creditors, and Ge Songtao’s executive assistant and co-defendant, Zheng Yan. The money was used to pay Yang Yang’s salary, Shanghai Breeze’s expenses in the U.S., and for goods that Ge Songtao ordered the Yangs to purchase. The funds were frequently routed through the Yangs’ family business, BQ Tree LLC.

In 2017 and again in 2018, acting on Ge Songtao’s instructions, Fan Yang purchased two handguns for him, specifically a Sig Sauer 9mm pistol and a Glock 9mm pistol. Ge Songtao reimbursed the Yangs for both purchases and had the Sig Sauer pistol engraved with his initials – “G.S.T.” – and the phrase “Never Out of the Fight.” Each time he purchased a firearm, Fan Yang completed a Firearms Transactions Record (known as ATF Form-4473) on which he falsely represented that he was purchasing the firearm for himself, rather than for Ge Songtao.

The evidence at trial showed that although Ge Songtao employed Yang’s wife, had been to the Yangs’ home, and had paid for the Yangs to travel and visit him, Fan Yang consistently hid their relationship from the Navy. Then in January 2019, while assigned as an instructor at the Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance Weapons School in Jacksonville, Yang completed and signed a background questionnaire as part of the renewal of his top secret security clearance. That questionnaire (called an SF-86 or e-QIP) required the disclosure of a variety of information, including any close or continuing contact with foreign nationals. Yang failed to disclose the extent of his contacts with Ge Songtao, and hid that he had maintained a bank account in China, sometimes worked for his family business, BQ Tree LLC, and possessed an expired Chinese passport.

On November 2, 2020, Ge Songtao pleaded guilty to conspiring to submit false export information through the federal government’s Automated Export System and to export special forces maritime raiding craft and engines to China fraudulently, and attempting to export that equipment fraudulently, in violation of U.S. law.  On July 14, 2021, he was sentenced to three years and six months years in federal prison.  On September 15, 2020, Yang Yang pleaded guilty to the same two charges to which Ge Songtao had pleaded guilty, and on December 9, 2020, was sentenced to a time-served sentence or the equivalent of approximately 14 months’ imprisonment. On August 13, 2020, co-defendant Zheng Yan pleaded guilty to conspiring to submit false export information and to export the raiding craft and engines fraudulently, in violation of U.S. law, and on March 31, 2021, was sentenced to a time-served sentence or the equivalent of approximately 6 months’ imprisonment and 11 months’ home-detention.

This case was investigated by the FBI, the U.S. Naval Criminal Investigative Service, the U.S. Department of Commerce – Bureau of Industry and Security, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Michael J. Coolican and Kirwinn Mike, as well as Heather Schmidt, Senior Trial Attorney, Counterintelligence and Export Section, U.S. Department of Justice.

Orlando, FL – U.S. District Judge Carlos E. Mendoza today revoked the supervised release of Jason Moriarty (38, Orlando) and sentenced him to six years in federal prison to be followed by a lifetime term of supervised release. Moriarty was arrested on August 23, 2021, and has been detained pending this final hearing. 

Moriarty was found guilty on November 15, 2021.

According to court documents, on July 21, 2004, Moriarty was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison and a lifetime term of supervised release for attempting to receive, receiving, and possessing with the intent to sell material containing images of children being sexually abused, attempting to possess and possessing material containing images of child sex abuse, and receiving and possessing with the intent to distribute an obscene image depicting the sexual abuse of a minor. On July 1, 2021, Moriarty began his supervision after his release from federal prison.

On August 13 and 14, 2021, following his release from prison, Moriarty accessed the internet through a computer at the public library, in violation of his supervision terms. During an interview, Moriarty admitted he had accessed the internet and confirmed he took photos using his cellphone which he later deleted. A forensic review of Moriarty’s phone revealed that it contained more than 400 images of child erotica. Several images also depicted children being “kidnapped,” tied up, or bound by duct tape. Moriarty also possessed a photo depicting a kidnapping kit.

This case was investigated by the United States Probation Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Beatriz Gonzalez.

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, FL – U.S. District Judge Susan C. Bucklew has sentenced Diego Fernando Cardona Lozano (46, Cali, Colombia), also known as “El Doctor” and “Pomada,” to 17 years and 6 months in federal prison for conspiring to import cocaine into the United States and conspiring to commit international money laundering. The court also ordered Cardona Lozano to forfeit approximately $1.4 million, which are traceable to proceeds of the offense. 

Cardona Lozano had pleaded guilty on December 20, 2019.

According to court documents, Cardona Lozano was the leader of a transnational criminal organization that used the port of Buenaventura, Colombia, to distribute thousands of kilograms of cocaine worldwide and launder drug proceeds from other countries back to Colombia through the Black Market Peso Exchange. The organization concealed cocaine within legitimate shipping containers bound for ports of entry worldwide by obtaining shipping manifests to identify particular destinations where associates could retrieve the cocaine with the assistance of corrupt port employees and officials. More than 2,000 kilograms of cocaine were seized in Colombia, Mexico, and Costa Rica in connection with this conspiracy. In addition, money laundering activities carried out in North America, Australia, and the Netherlands were tied to the organization.

This case was investigated by the Panama Express Strike Force, a standing Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) comprised of agents and analysts from the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s 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 principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt, and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking and money laundering organizations and those primarily responsible for the nation’s drug supply. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Dan Baeza.

Jacksonville, Florida – Juan Carlos Arteaga (58, Conroe, TX) today pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud. He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison. Arteaga has agreed to pay at least $779,687 in restitution to the victims of his offenses. A sentencing date has not yet been set.

According to the plea agreement, from at least March 2018 through at least January 2019, Arteaga, a former resident of Jacksonville, held himself out as someone who could provide customers with heavily discounted travel arrangements for both domestic and international travel. He acted as a travel agent for clients throughout Florida and the United States. Despite operating as a de facto travel agent, Arteaga was not a licensed travel agent. 

Arteaga solicited friends, business contacts, acquaintances, and referrals from those individuals to purchase sham travel arrangements from him, including but not limited to domestic and international airfare, hotel rooms, and tickets to amusement parks. Arteaga used some of the funds he obtained from victims to purchase travel arrangements for others, which delayed discovery of the scheme since it appeared that the money victims paid was being used to purchase the travel they had requested. Arteaga also used some of the proceeds from the scheme for his personal enrichment, including his mortgage payment, short term loans, credit card and cable bills, grocery purchases, nursing home expenses, and withdrawing large amounts of cash. 

Two of the victims of Arteaga’s scheme were P.C. and A.C., who were longtime friends of Arteaga.  In 2018, P.C. and A.C. began talking to Arteaga about a trip around the world through Road Scholar, Explore the World by Private Jet. P.C. and A.C. had successfully booked other travel arrangements in the past with Arteaga and had vacationed with Arteaga and his wife numerous times. Arteaga said that the Road Scholar trip would cost approximately $100,000, but if P.C. and A.C. paid him by the next day, Arteaga could get them the trip for $60,000. Arteaga instructed A.C. and P.C. to pay him $20,000, broken into five check payments, and to wire the $40,000 balance to him. A.C. and P.C. wired $40,000 to Arateaga. 

In August 2018, P.C. heard from some friends that their trips with Arateaga had not been booked. A.C. then called Road Scholar and learned that their trip had not been booked. Road Scholar also advised they did not any provide discounts, including to travel agents. After discovering the trip was a sham, A.C. and P.C. confronted Arteaga who said that he had not yet booked their trip because he was concerned about P.C.’s health. However, neither P.C. nor A.C. had raised P.C.’s health as a reason for delaying the Road Scholar trip and they were not interested in postponing the trip. 

As with other victims in his scheme, Arteaga did not use any of the funds he had received from A.C. and P.C. toward any trip with Road Scholar. Instead, he used the money to make travel arrangements for other victims and for himself, as well as to repay other travel victims.

This case was investigated by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Ashley Washington.

Tampa, Florida – A federal jury has found Frank Anthony Pezzuto (73, Venice) guilty of transmitting in interstate commerce three separate threatening communications to injure certain members of Congress. Pezzuto faces a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison. A sentencing date has not yet been set.  

Pezzuto had been indicted on September 22, 2020.

According to evidence presented at trial, Pezzuto made three threatening phone calls from his home in Venice, Florida to certain congressional offices in Washington, D.C. The first call took place on January 25, 2020, when Pezzuto left a voicemail at Congressman E.S.’s office in which he said that he was coming to kill E.S. Pezzuto subsequently left a voicemail at Congressman A.S.’s office on January 30, 2020, stating that he was a worker for MS-13 and that MS-13 was coming to cut off A.S.’s head. Then, on February 3, 2020, Pezzuto called Congresswoman I.O.’s office and stated to the person who answered the phone: “tell her I’m going to kill her today.”

Each time Pezzuto made these threatening calls, he used his cellphone but concealed his phone number. United States Capitol Police were able to identify Pezzuto as the caller and confirm that the calls had been routed through a cell tower near Pezzuto’s home in Florida.

This case was investigated by United States Capitol Police. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Patrick Scruggs and Risha Asokan.

WASHINGTON – The Justice Department has filed a complaint under the False Claims Act against Professional Compounding Centers of America Inc. (PCCA), a Houston-based company that sells active pharmaceutical ingredients and other products and services to compounding pharmacies. The complaint alleges that PCCA reported fraudulent and inflated Average Wholesale Prices (AWPs) for its ingredients that bore no relationship to the actual prices at which it sold those ingredients to its pharmacy customers, thereby causing those pharmacies to submit inflated compound prescription claims to TRICARE, the federal health care program providing insurance for active duty military personnel, military retirees and military dependents.

Compounding pharmacies purchase ingredients for use in compound drugs from ingredient suppliers such as PCCA, which establish and report AWPs for their ingredients to pricing compendia used by federal health care programs and commercial health insurance companies. TRICARE determines the level of reimbursement for compound prescription claims based in part on the reported AWP for each of the ingredients in a compound drug. The complaint alleges that PCCA knowingly established and reported AWPs for its ingredients that were greatly inflated above their actual selling prices. For example, in 2014, PCCA typically sold the chemical Fluticasone Propionate to its top customers for between approximately $135 and $197 per gram, but it reported an AWP for that ingredient of $3,630.90 per gram – approximately 18 to 27 times the actual selling price. That same year, PCCA typically sold the ingredient Resveratrol to its top customers for under $2 per gram but reported an AWP of $818.68 per gram, more than 400 times the actual selling price of the ingredient. 

“The fraudulent reporting and marketing of drug prices to solicit business will not be tolerated,” said Deputy Assistant Attorney General Michael D. Granston of the Justice Department’s Commercial Litigation Branch in the Civil Division. “We will continue to hold accountable those who take improper advantage of federal health care programs.”  

“We diligently investigate fraud on the federal healthcare system, especially where it impacts our veterans and their families,” said U.S. Attorney Ashley Hoff of the Western District of Texas. “We will continue to guard the system so patients receive the care they deserve and federal taxpayer dollars are not wasted.”

“The practices we confront today in this case created a major threat to the viability of the TRICARE program, a critically important public healthcare program that serves the needs of our military,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Karin Hoppmann of the Middle District of Florida. “This effort demonstrates our district’s resolve in the struggle against fraud schemes that prey on the nation’s military personnel and their families.”

“As the investigative arm of the Department of Defense Office of the Inspector General, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS) will aggressively pursue all allegations of fraud perpetrated against the Department of Defense,” said Special Agent in Charge Michael C. Mentavlos of the DCIS Southwest Field Office. “DCIS will continue to partner with the Defense Health Agency and the Department of Justice to hold companies like PCCA accountable for their actions, protect the TRICARE program and recover valuable taxpayer resources.”

The complaint alleges that PCCA marketed its inflated AWPs, the resulting profit potential and compound formulas containing high AWP ingredients as inducements to pharmacies to purchase PCCA ingredients. PCCA’s actions caused its pharmacy customers to submit tens of thousands of false and fraudulently inflated compound prescription claims containing PCCA ingredients to TRICARE, costing the program hundreds of millions of dollars in excess reimbursement.

The complaint also alleges that PCCA offered additional inducements to pharmacy customers, such as annual all-inclusive travel packages, in exchange for ingredient purchases and purchase commitments. 

The United States filed its complaint in a lawsuit originally brought under the qui tam or whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act by Peter Hueseman. Hueseman was formerly a part owner and pharmacist at a pharmacy that purchased compound ingredients from PCCA. Under the act, a private party can file an action on behalf of the United States and receive a portion of any recovery. The act permits the United States to intervene in such lawsuits, as it has done in this case.  The qui tam case is captioned United States ex rel. Hueseman v. Professional Compounding Centers of America, Inc., No. 5:14-cv-212 (W.D. Tex.).  In November 2019, the United States reached settlements with Freedom Pharmaceuticals Inc., and Pharmacy Services Inc., which were also defendants in this matter. See https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/compound-ingredient-supplier-fagron-holding-usa-llc-pay-2205-million-resolve-allegations.

The investigation of this matter was the result of a coordinated effort between the Civil Division’s Commercial Litigation Branch (Fraud Section) and the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Western District of Texas and Middle District of Florida, with assistance from DCIS, FBI, the United States Postal Service Office of Inspector General, the Department of Labor Office of Inspector General, and the Drug Enforcement Agency.

The United States’ intervention in this matter illustrates the government’s emphasis on combating healthcare 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 matter is being handled by Fraud Section Attorneys Sanjay Bhambhani, Danielle Sgro and Nathan Green and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mary Kruger, John Deck, and Collette Cunningham. 

The claims in the complaint are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.

The Justice Department has filed a complaint under the False Claims Act against Professional Compounding Centers of America Inc. (PCCA), a Houston-based company that sells active pharmaceutical ingredients and other products and services to compounding pharmacies. The complaint alleges that PCCA reported fraudulent and inflated Average Wholesale Prices (AWPs) for its ingredients that bore no relationship to the actual prices at which it sold those ingredients to its pharmacy customers, thereby causing those pharmacies to submit inflated compound prescription claims to TRICARE, the federal health care program providing insurance for active duty military personnel, military retirees and military dependents.

Compounding pharmacies purchase ingredients for use in compound drugs from ingredient suppliers such as PCCA, which establish and report AWPs for their ingredients to pricing compendia used by federal health care programs and commercial health insurance companies. TRICARE determines the level of reimbursement for compound prescription claims based in part on the reported AWP for each of the ingredients in a compound drug. The complaint alleges that PCCA knowingly established and reported AWPs for its ingredients that were greatly inflated above their actual selling prices. For example, in 2014, PCCA typically sold the chemical Fluticasone Propionate to its top customers for between approximately $135 and $197 per gram, but it reported an AWP for that ingredient of $3,630.90 per gram – approximately 18 to 27 times the actual selling price. That same year, PCCA typically sold the ingredient Resveratrol to its top customers for under $2 per gram but reported an AWP of $818.68 per gram, more than 400 times the actual selling price of the ingredient. 

“The fraudulent reporting and marketing of drug prices to solicit business will not be tolerated,” said Deputy Assistant Attorney General Michael D. Granston of the Justice Department’s Commercial Litigation Branch in the Civil Division. “We will continue to hold accountable those who take improper advantage of federal health care programs.”  

“We diligently investigate fraud on the federal healthcare system, especially where it impacts our veterans and their families,” said U.S. Attorney Ashley Hoff for the Western District of Texas. “We will continue to guard the system so patients receive the care they deserve and federal taxpayer dollars are not wasted.”

“The practices we confront in this case created a major threat to the viability of the TRICARE program, a critically important public healthcare program that serves the needs of our military,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Karin Hoppmann for the Middle District of Florida. “This effort demonstrates our district’s resolve in the struggle against fraud schemes that prey on the nation’s military personnel and their families.”

“As the investigative arm of the Department of Defense Office of the Inspector General, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS) will aggressively pursue all allegations of fraud perpetrated against the Department of Defense,” said Special Agent in Charge Michael C. Mentavlos of the DCIS Southwest Field Office. “DCIS will continue to partner with the Defense Health Agency and the Department of Justice to hold companies like PCCA accountable for their actions, protect the TRICARE program and recover valuable taxpayer resources.”

The complaint alleges that PCCA marketed its inflated AWPs, the resulting profit potential and compound formulas containing high AWP ingredients as inducements to pharmacies to purchase PCCA ingredients. PCCA’s actions caused its pharmacy customers to submit tens of thousands of false and fraudulently inflated compound prescription claims containing PCCA ingredients to TRICARE, costing the program hundreds of millions of dollars in excess reimbursement.

The complaint also alleges that PCCA offered additional inducements to pharmacy customers, such as annual all-inclusive travel packages, in exchange for ingredient purchases and purchase commitments. 

The United States filed its complaint in a lawsuit originally brought under the qui tam or whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act by Peter Hueseman. Hueseman was formerly a part owner and pharmacist at a pharmacy that purchased compound ingredients from PCCA. Under the act, a private party can file an action on behalf of the United States and receive a portion of any recovery. The act permits the United States to intervene in such lawsuits, as it has done in this case. The qui tam case is captioned United States ex rel. Hueseman v. Professional Compounding Centers of America, Inc., No. 5:14-cv-212 (W.D. Tex.). In November 2019, the United States reached settlements with Freedom Pharmaceuticals Inc., and Pharmacy Services Inc., which were also defendants in this matter. See https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/compound-ingredient-supplier-fagron-holding-usa-llc-pay-2205-million-resolve-allegations.

The investigation of this matter was the result of a coordinated effort between the Civil Division’s Commercial Litigation Branch (Fraud Section) and the U.S. Attorneys' Offices for the Western District of Texas and Middle District of Florida, with assistance from DCIS, FBI, the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General, the Department of Labor Office of Inspector General, and the Drug Enforcement Agency.

The United States’ intervention in this matter illustrates the government’s emphasis on combating healthcare 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 matter is being handled by Fraud Section Attorneys Sanjay Bhambhani, Danielle Sgro and Nathan Green and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mary Kruger, John Deck, and Collette Cunningham. 

The claims in the complaint are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.

Tampa, Florida – U.S. District Judge Virginia M. Hernandez Covington has sentenced Michael Nolan (48, Tampa) and Richard Epstein (29, Aurora, CO) for their roles in a conspiracy to defraud federal health benefit programs, Medicare and the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs (“CHAMPVA”). 

Nolan was sentenced to six years and six months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release. Epstein was sentenced to five years and three months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release. As part of their sentences, the court also entered a money judgment against each defendant in the amount of $2.1 million and $3 million, respectively, which were proceeds of the conspiracy. Noland and Epstein were also ordered to pay restitution, jointly and severally with each other and other conspirators, in the amount of $29,020,304. 

Nolan and Epstein each had pleaded guilty on July 31, 2020.

According to court documents, from around October 2016 through around April 2019, Epstein and Nolan ran a telemarketing company in Tampa called REMN Management LLC that targeted the elderly to generate thousands of medically unnecessary physicians’ orders for durable medical equipment (“DME”) and cancer genetic testing (“CGx”). Epstein and Nolan also created and operated Comprehensive Telcare, LLC, a “telemedicine” company through which they illegally bribed physicians to sign the orders regardless of medical necessity. Epstein and Nolan then illegally sold the signed physicians’ orders to client-conspirators for use as support for false and fraudulent claims submitted to Medicare and CHAMPVA. The conspiracy resulted in the submission of at least $134 million in fraudulent claims to the federal health benefit programs, resulting in approximately $29 million in payments.

The investigation and prosecution of the case were a joint effort between the Middle District of Florida and the Department of Justice - Criminal Division, Fraud Section, Health Care Fraud Unit, as part of nationwide actions known as Operation Brace Yourself and Operation Double Helix. The operations targeted ongoing schemes, such as the conspiracy described above, in which DME companies, laboratories, and marketers were paying illegal bribes through “telemedicine” operators to secure signed physicians’ orders for DME and CGx, which were then used as support for fraudulent, illegal claims submitted to Medicare and other federal health benefit programs.

“These significant sentences and restitution of over $29,000,000 to our nation’s critical healthcare system – Medicare – are a result of law enforcement’s unified efforts to hold the perpetrators of one of the largest healthcare fraud schemes in history accountable for their crimes,” said Special Agent in Charge Omar Pérez Aybar of U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General.

“We are all victims of these corrupt individuals because they cheated the taxpayer funded Medicare system,” said FBI Tampa Division Special Agent in Charge Michael McPherson. “Health care fraud investigations are given high priority within the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division.  Because this abuse impacts us all, protection of these federal health benefit programs is a shared responsibility which can be accomplished with the support of an engaged community willing to bring health care fraud to the attention of law enforcement.”

“Today’s sentence properly holds these defendants accountable for their fraudulent actions and reflects the magnitude of the crime committed against CHAMPVA and Medicare,” said Special Agent in Charge David Spilker of the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General’s Southeast Field Office.  “The VA OIG’s continued oversight of VA’s multiple healthcare programs, including CHAMPVA, is one of the agency’s highest priorities. We thank our outstanding law enforcement partners for their efforts in this joint investigation.”

"The significant prison terms and financial penalties will hopefully bring some closure to those victimized by Nolan and Epstein,” said IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge Brian Payne. “They preyed on the elderly and military veterans to subject them to unnecessary medical testing and to use unnecessary medical equipment for their own financial gain. We will continue to investigate these con artists and hold them accountable.”

This case was investigated by U.S. Department of Health and Human Services – Office of Inspector General, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Veterans Affairs – Office of Inspector General, and the Internal Revenue Service –Criminal Investigation, Tampa Field Office. The criminal case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Tiffany E. Fields, Jay G. Trezevant, James A. Muench, and Department of Justice Trial Attorney Gary A. Winters.

Jacksonville, Florida – U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Corrigan has sentenced Daniel Summers (69, St. Augustine) to 21 months in federal prison for mail fraud.  As part of his sentence, the court also ordered Summers to pay $486,874.11 in restitution and, separately, entered a forfeiture money judgment against him in the amount of $739,910, the proceeds of the fraud scheme.

Summers had pleaded guilty on April 29, 2021.

According to court documents, Summers owned a Jacksonville-based company called Realty E Vest, a/k/a IHT Realty Group, which operated an internet crowdfunding investment platform for real estate development projects. Summers also owned E Vest Technology, which sought to develop and license the Realty E Vest crowdfunding platform to others seeking to manage their own crowdfunding efforts. Individuals invested in projects by wiring funds to Realty E Vest, where the funds were supposed to be held in escrow until the project met its crowdfunding goal.  If a project failed to meet its goal, Summers promised to return the investors’ funds. 

When several Realty E Vest crowdfunding projects failed to fully fund, Summers intentionally kept the investors’ money and misappropriated it to fund the ongoing operations of his companies, including paying employee salaries. Summers gave these victims the illusion that they had successfully invested in these projects by paying investors purported investment returns for the failed projects via mailed checks or wire transfers. Summers also repaid the investments of some victims who had complained after learning the crowdfunding projects had failed to fund.  However, the money funding these payments was not derived from the real estate developers or any legitimate investment activity; instead, it was derived from victims’ principal investments in other crowdfunding ventures and equity investments Summers solicited in E Vest Technology.         

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney David B. Mesrobian.

Tampa, Florida – Taphonie Prince (25, Brandon) has pleaded guilty to two counts of brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence. He faces a minimum mandatory penalty of 14 years, and up to life, in federal prison. A sentencing date has not yet been set. Prince’s criminal history includes prior state court convictions for burglary and robbery.

According to the plea agreement, in the early morning hours of November 23, 2018, Prince entered the Circle K convenience store located at 2820 U.S. Highway 301 South in Riverview and pointed a handgun at a store employee. He demanded that she give him all the money in the store’s cash register. Prince took the money, a total of $50, and forced the employee to the back of the store before he fled the scene.

Late in the evening on December 12, 2018, Prince committed the second armed robbery. He entered the BP gas station convenience store located at 6459 U.S. Highway 301 South in Riverview and pointed a gun at a store employee and demanded all the money in the register. Fearing for his life, the store employee complied, handing Prince approximately $200. Despite his compliance, Prince struck the store employee with his gun. He then ordered the victim to move to the back of the store and fled the scene.

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael M. Gordon.

Jacksonville, FL – James Sweat (60, Jacksonville) has pleaded guilty to stealing an item from the mail while employed by the United States Postal Service (USPS). Sweat faces a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison. A sentencing date has not yet been set.

According to the

court documents , Sweat worked as a Rural Carrier Associate in the Baldwin Station in Jacksonville. The Station Manager suspected that Sweat might be stealing cash and gift cards from the mail and notified the USPS - Office of Inspector General to investigate. On June 4, 2021, agents caught Sweat stealing $60 from a greeting card. Sweat admitted that he had been stealing cash from the mail for about a month and estimated that he had opened approximately 100 items of mail and stolen approximately $1,000.

This case was investigated by the United States Postal Service - Office of Inspector General. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Frank Talbot.

Orlando, Florida – U.S. District Judge Carlos E. Mendoza has sentenced Jethro Jerome Arthur (47, Bahamas) to two years in federal prison for illegal reentry into the United States after deportation. 

Arthur had pleaded guilty on August 25, 2021.

According to court documents, on April 14, 2021, Arthur was arrested in Brevard County on state felony criminal charges (possession of a firearm by a convicted felon; trafficking in heroin, cocaine, and MDMA; and possession with intent to sell various controlled substances) and found to be present in the United States without legal authorization. In 1998, Arthur was convicted of possessing cocaine with the intent to distribute it. Arthur had previously been convicted on two occasions for illegal reentry to the United States after deportation, in 2005 and 2015, and had been deported from the United States to the Bahamas on three occasions.

This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ICE-ERO). It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer M. Harrington.

Tampa, Florida – U.S. District Judge Thomas P. Barber has sentenced Donald Max Ingram (70, Illinois) to five years in federal prison for possessing and viewing images of children being sexually abused as he traveled onboard a commercial flight to Florida. The court also ordered Ingram to forfeit the electronic devices used in the commission of the offense, serve a lifetime term of supervised release, and register as a sex offender. As part of his sentence, the court also ordered Ingram to pay $3,000 in restitution to the victims of the offense.

Ingram had pleaded guilty on May 18, 2021.

According to court documents, on September 14, 2020, Ingram was on board a domestic flight to Florida when another passenger observed Ingram viewing child sex abuse material on his cellphone. The passenger alerted law enforcement when the plane landed at St. Pete – Clearwater International Airport. Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office deputies assigned to the airport detained Ingram and requested assistance from the FBI. During an interview, Ingram admitted that he had used his cellphone to access and view child sex abuse images and consented to a search of his phone. A subsequent forensic analysis of Ingram’s cellphone revealed that he possessed 59 images depicting children being sexually abused. Some of the images depicted children younger than 12 years old. 

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation with assistance from the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Lisa M. Thelwell.

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, FL - A federal court in Florida ordered a Tampa-area pharmacy shut down and prohibited two of its employees from ever owning, managing or operating any business where controlled substances are dispensed.

Pursuant to an agreed consent judgment and permanent injunction filed in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, the court enjoined WeCare Pharmacy, its pharmacist owner Qingping Zhang, pharmacy technician Li Yang and a related corporate entity, L&Y Holdings LLC, from ever owning, managing or operating any business where controlled substances are dispensed. The order also requires the permanent closure and dissolution of WeCare Pharmacy.

The

consent decree resolves a civil complaint the government filed earlier this year alleging that the defendants repeatedly dispensed opioids in violation of the Controlled Substances Act. The complaint alleged that over a period of several years, the defendants dispensed highly addictive and highly abused prescription opioids while ignoring “red flags” — that is, obvious indications of drug diversion and drug-seeking behavior. U.S. District Judge Mary Scriven, who entered the order, previously granted the government’s request for a temporary restraining order shortly after the case was filed.

“Pharmacists and those who own and operate pharmacies have a duty to ensure that controlled substances are distributed lawfully,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “The Department of Justice will continue to work with its partners to ensure that business owners and medical professionals handling controlled substances do not violate the Controlled Substances Act.”

“Failure to comply with professional standards and protocols while dispensing controlled substances places the public at risk of harm and is a violation of the law,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Karin Hoppmann for the Middle District of Florida. “We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to enforce the law against those engaged in harmful practices, to keep our citizens safe.”

“Pharmacies have an obligation to ensure controlled substances are dispensed in accordance with the law," said Acting Special Agent in Charge La Verne Hibbert of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Miami Field Division. “When they ignore that obligation, it contributes to the widespread misuse and abuse of prescription opioids that devastate our communities. The DEA Miami Field Division remains committed to working with our law enforcement partners to ensure the health and the safety of our communities.”

The investigation was conducted by the DEA.

The case was handled by Trial Attorneys Scott Dahlquist and Thomas Rosso of the Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch and Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean P. Keefe for the Middle District of Florida.

A federal court in Florida ordered a Tampa-area pharmacy shut down and prohibited two of its employees from ever owning, managing or operating any business where controlled substances are dispensed.

Pursuant to an agreed consent judgment and permanent injunction filed in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, the court enjoined WeCare Pharmacy, its pharmacist owner Qingping Zhang, pharmacy technician Li Yang and a related corporate entity, L&Y Holdings LLC, from ever owning, managing or operating any business where controlled substances are dispensed. The order also requires the permanent closure and dissolution of WeCare Pharmacy.

The consent decree resolves a civil complaint the government filed earlier this year alleging that the defendants repeatedly dispensed opioids in violation of the Controlled Substances Act. The complaint alleged that over a period of several years, the defendants dispensed highly addictive and highly abused prescription opioids while ignoring “red flags” — that is, obvious indications of drug diversion and drug-seeking behavior. U.S. District Judge Mary Scriven, who entered the order, previously granted the government’s request for a temporary restraining order shortly after the case was filed.

“Pharmacists and those who own and operate pharmacies have a duty to ensure that controlled substances are distributed lawfully,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “The Department of Justice will continue to work with its partners to ensure that business owners and medical professionals handling controlled substances do not violate the Controlled Substances Act.”

“Failure to comply with professional standards and protocols while dispensing controlled substances places the public at risk of harm and is a violation of the law,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Karin Hoppmann for the Middle District of Florida. “We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to enforce the law against those engaged in harmful practices, to keep our citizens safe.”

“Pharmacies have an obligation to ensure controlled substances are dispensed in accordance with the law," said Acting Special Agent in Charge La Verne Hibbert of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Miami Field Division. “When they ignore that obligation, it contributes to the widespread misuse and abuse of prescription opioids that devastate our communities. The DEA Miami Field Division remains committed to working with our law enforcement partners to ensure the health and the safety of our communities.”

The investigation was conducted by the DEA.

The case was handled by Trial Attorneys Scott Dahlquist and Thomas Rosso of the Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch and Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean P. Keefe for the Middle District of Florida.

Orlando, Florida – U.S. District Judge Roy B. Dalton has sentenced Justina Maria Holland – now known as Justina Maria Rummel – (36, Winter Springs) to eight years in federal prison and ordered her to pay $1,161,185.64 in restitution.  Holland had previously pleaded guilty to mail fraud, wire fraud, access device fraud, aggravated identity theft, false use of a Social Security number, and theft of government property. 

According to court documents, Holland was employed at a local business where she had access to the bank and credit accounts of the business and its owner. From March 2015 through June 2018, Holland used her position to embezzle more than $1 million from her employer and the employer’s owner. Holland’s scheme consisted of three parts:

First, Holland embezzled more than $300,000 by taking funds from various company checking and IRA accounts and by manipulating the company payroll system to receive additional salary payments.

Second, Holland engaged in more than $700,000 of credit card fraud by making unauthorized purchases using the victim’s credit cards, which she paid by making unauthorized transfers from her employer’s various bank accounts. Holland also opened a credit card account in the victim’s name by using his Social Security number and then used that card to make more than $196,000 in purchases for herself, including visits to a local theme park. Holland used her employer’s bank accounts to pay the bills for that credit card.

Lastly, Holland used her minor son’s Social Security number to obtain financing to purchase a BMW and a Porsche. Holland used funds from her employer to make some of the car payments for her vehicles.

Holland covered up her embezzlements by providing her employer with false spreadsheets    that concealed her spending, among other things.

During the time that Holland was working at the employer and embezzling funds, she received benefits through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), a program that supplements the food budget of needy families so they can purchase healthy food and move towards self-sufficiency. (Until 2008, SNAP was known as the Food Stamp Program.). SNAP is a federally funded, national program established by United States Department of Agriculture and administered in Florida by the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF). In her applications for public SNAP assistance, Holland falsely represented that she and her husband did not earn any income. From May 2012 to August 2016, Holland received over $23,000 in SNAP benefits. She would not have received any of those benefits had she not made those misrepresentations about her financial situation.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Seminole Financial Crimes Task Force, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of Inspector General, and the Florida Department of Financial Services, Division of Public Assistance Fraud. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Roger B. Handberg and Terry B. Livanos.

Tampa, Florida – U.S. District Judge Steven D. Merryday today sentenced Daniel Brooke (49, Winter Haven) to six months in federal prison, followed by two years of supervised release, for theft of government funds. As part of Brooke’s sentence, the court also ordered Brooke to pay $84,139 in restitution and entered a separate forfeiture money judgement against him in the amount of $84,139, the proceeds of the offense.

Brooke had pleaded guilty on August 11, 2021.

According to court documents, Brooke’s mother, R.B., was receiving Social Security benefits. Brooke served as R.B.’s representative payee and received benefit checks issued on her behalf by the Social Security Administration (SSA). R.B. passed away on May 11, 2016. Despite his responsibility to do so as representative payee, Brooke never reported R.B.’s death to SSA, causing SSA to continue issuing benefit checks on behalf of R.B. after her death. From June 2016 through March 2020, Brooke used the funds paid on behalf of R.B. for his own personal expenses. In total, Brooke knowingly and willfully stole approximately $84,000 in benefits to which he was not entitled.

This case was investigated by the Social Security Administration – Office of the Inspector General. It was prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Suzanne Huyler.

Tampa, Florida – A federal jury has found Jordan Jysae Pulido (27, Trinity) guilty of enticement and coercion of minor, traveling out of the country to engage in illicit sexual conduct, and transporting a minor into the United States to engage in sexual activity. The jury also found Pulido and his father, Roberto Santana Jimenez (62, Trinity), guilty of conspiracy to transport a minor into the country to engage in sexual activity. Pulido and Jimenez face a minimum mandatory of 10 years, and up to life, in federal prison. The sentencing hearings are scheduled for January 13, 2022.

Pulido and Jimenez were indicted on September 24, 2020.

According to testimony and evidence presented at trial, in September 2017, then 23-year-old Pulido met a 14-year-old child on an online social networking website. At the time, Pulido lived in Florida and the child resided in Croatia. Pulido began a teacher-student relationship with the child and promised to teach the child to play the guitar. After a few months of guitar lessons, Pulido began to pursue a romantic and sexual relationship with the child. For nearly a year, Pulido used the internet to entice and coerce the child to engage in sexual activity with him. During this time, Pulido and Jimenez planned Pulido’s trip to Croatia, and Pulido sought Jimenez’s advice on how to persuade the child to have sex with him when he (Pulido) traveled to Croatia. Jimenez coached Pulido on what to do and say to the child and communicated directly with the child about her relationship with Pulido in an effort to further persuade and coerce her.

On June 14, 2018, Pulido traveled from Florida to Croatia, proposed marriage to the child on her 15th birthday, and engaged in sexual activity with the child. In the month that followed, Pulido and his father conspired to transport and traffic the child from Croatia to Florida so that Pulido could engage in sexual activity with the child. On or about July 23, 2018, Pulido transported the child victim from Croatia to Florida for the purpose of engaging in sexual activity with the child. Agents with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement rescued the child victim from the Pulido/Jimenez family home in Trinity on August 12, 2018.

This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Pasco Sheriff’s Office, the Koprivnica-Križevac County Police Administration of the Republic of Croatia Ministry of the Interior Criminal Police, and the International Criminal Police Organization. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs provided substantial assistance. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Lisa M. Thelwell.

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 Ahmad Rashad Weston, a/k/a “Blood,” (42, St. Petersburg) to 17 years and 6 months in federal prison for conspiring to distribute 100 grams or more of a drug mixture containing heroin and fentanyl, as well as 500 grams or more of cocaine.

Weston had pleaded guilty on May 19, 2020.

According to court documents and evidence presented at his sentencing hearing, Weston served as the hub of a drug trafficking conspiracy that operated in the greater Tampa Bay area between at least August 2018 and November 2019. Law enforcement began the investigation by conducting 17 undercover hand-to-hand heroin purchases from co-defendant Quincy Turner. Further investigation determined that Weston, who had served more than five years in prison for a prior federal felony drug conviction, was Turner’s supplier. Between July and October 2019, law enforcement intercepted calls and text messages from Weston’s cellphone and established that Weston was responsible for distributing more than 18 kilograms of cocaine, over 161 grams of heroin, and over 89 grams of fentanyl and fentanyl analogues during just that three-month period. Ultimately, the investigation of Weston led to 11 other defendants being charged with federal drug trafficking crimes.

These cases were investigated by a multi-agency task force through the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF). 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. Agencies involved in this OCDETF operation include the Drug Enforcement Administration, the St. Petersburg Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael M. Gordon.  

Ocala, Florida – Acting United States Attorney Karin Hoppmann announces the return of an indictment charging Elizabeth Carol Wininger (68, Leesburg) with three counts of aggravated identity theft and one count of unauthorized use of access devices. If convicted on all counts, Wininger faces a maximum penalty of 16 years in federal prison.

According to court documents, between July 1, 2020, and February 28, 2021, Wininger engaged in a scheme to collect unemployment benefits using the identities of others without their knowledge or consent. As part of the scheme, Wininger attempted to steal more than $11 million in unemployment benefits in the victims’ names. She ultimately received more than $500,000 in payments.

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 U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the U.S. Department of Labor – Office of Inspector General, and the Leesburg Police Department. It will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney William S. Hamilton.

Ocala, Florida – Acting United States Attorney Karin Hoppmann announces the filing of a criminal complaint charging Perry Cleothas Gentry (60, Sorrento) with using a minor child to produce a video that depicted sexually explicit conduct. Gentry faces a minimum mandatory penalty of 25 years, and up to 50 years, in federal prison and a potential life term of supervised release. Gentry is a registered sex offender, having been convicted of a prior child sex offense in 1991.

According to court documents, Gentry was arrested on May 5, 2021, by the Lake County Sheriff’s Office for violating the requirements of his sex offender registration. A subsequent search of his cellphone revealed that he had created a video recording using an internal camera security system in his home. This video depicts Gentry exposing the genitalia of a 13-year-old boy in view of a camera located in Gentry’s bedroom that is aimed at his bed. After creating the video, Gentry uploaded a copy to his cellphone. Agents with the Department of Homeland Security were subsequently able to identify the child.

A complaint is merely a 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 Homeland Security Investigations. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael P. Felicetta.        

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.

Any person who was, or knows of someone who may have been, a possible child victim is urged to contact HSI at 1-866-DHS-2423 or the online tip form.

Jacksonville, Florida – Jerome W. Clampitt II (42, Saint Johns) has pleaded guilty to tampering with a consumer product, specifically, injectable fentanyl. He faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison. A sentencing date has not yet been set.

According to the

plea agreement , on January 30, 2020, Clampitt, a registered nurse, was working a night shift in the intensive care unit of a hospital in Jacksonville. A patient under Clampitt’s care was prescribed and receiving an intravenous dose of fentanyl, along with other medications for anesthesia. Two fellow employees saw Clampitt using a syringe to inject a substance into the device that dispensed fentanyl into the patient, when there was no medically valid reason for Clampitt to do so. Laboratory testing eventually determined that the patient’s dose of fentanyl had been diluted with saline. 

When interviewed by law enforcement officers, Clampitt eventually admitted that he had diverted drugs from patients at the hospital for personal use. During that interview, however, he denied diluting patient drugs with saline. 

An audit of hospital records showed multiple discrepancies in Clampitt’s handling of controlled substances during the time he worked for the hospital.  Investigators later learned that in 2019, a separate hospital had employed Clampitt and discovered discrepancies in its records that suggested he might have been diverting drugs for his own use. That hospital fired Clampitt after he refused to submit to a drug test.

As part of his guilty plea, Clampitt admitted that he knew that his activities resulted in one or more critically ill patients receiving diluted fentanyl, which lacked prescribed quantities of active medication necessary to control pain. Having been deprived of medically-necessary medication, such patients would endure pain and suffering and were exposed to increased risks of illness and death, stemming from, among other things, possible infection and respiratory, cardiovascular, and musculoskeletal complications. 

This case was investigated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Office of Criminal Investigations and the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael J. Coolican.

Tampa, Florida – Giovanni Gort (32, Tampa) has pleaded guilty to two counts of armed robbery and one count of brandishing a firearm in relation to a crime of violence. He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison for each armed robbery count and a minimum mandatory penalty of 7 years’ imprisonment for the firearm offense, to be served consecutive to the armed robbery counts. A sentencing date has not yet been set. 

According to the plea agreement, in the early morning of February 10, 2021, Gort entered a 7-Eleven convenience store on Hillsborough Avenue in Tampa. Gort pulled out a gun, pointed it at the store clerk, and said “give me everything you got. I be back to see you. If you say something, I’m going to come back and shoot you.” The clerk took $435 from her cash register and gave it to Gort, who then fled the scene. The clerk immediately reported the incident to law enforcement and stated she had never been so scared in her life.

Approximately 10 minutes later, Gort entered a 7-Eleven convenience store located on Memorial Highway in Tampa and said, “give me all your money, bro,” before ordering the two store clerks behind the counter at gunpoint. The clerks gave Gort approximately $100 in a plastic bag.  While they were collecting the money, the clerks saw Gort rack the slide of the gun. Keeping the employees at gunpoint while he backed out of the store, Gort then fled the scene.

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Shauna Hale and Craig Gestring.

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, Florida – Kenyari Devaughnte Brewton (26, Ocala), a former deputy with the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office, has pleaded guilty to two federal felonies: (1) making a materially false statement during the purchase of a firearm and (2) causing a federal firearms licensee to maintain false information in its official records. Brewton faces a maximum penalty of 15 years in federal prison. He will also be required to forfeit and/or abandon firearms and ammunition related to the offenses.

According to the plea agreement, between March 2, 2020, and April 26, 2021, Brewton purchased multiple firearms from a Marion County gun dealer, including two handguns and an AK-47 style pistol. While purchasing the firearms, Brewton certified on each ATF Form 4473 (Firearm Transaction Record) that he was the “actual transferee/buyer” of these guns. In actuality, he purchased the firearms on behalf of another person and never intended to keep them. Brewton also used his status as a law enforcement officer to obtain discount prices on some of the firearms.

Specifically, on April 26, 2021, Brewton purchased two Glock pistols (.40 and  9mm calibers). Six days later, on May 2, 2021, the .40 caliber Glock pistol was used by another person during a homicide in Marion County. That firearm was later recovered by the Ocala Police Department during a traffic stop involving four armed men with masks, gloves, and loaded firearms. A few weeks after the homicide, on May 30, 2021, during a DUI traffic stop in Lake County, the Fruitland Park Police Department recovered the 9mm Glock handgun in a glovebox next to $10,000 in cash.

A subsequent search warrant of Brewton’s cellphone revealed numerous text conversations between Brewton and the person for whom he had agreed to purchase the firearms. Brewton also admitted to federal investigators that he had “gotten caught up” in people asking him to buy firearms and in making a profit on the sales.

This case was investigated by the Ocala Police Department, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. 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.

Tampa, Florida – U.S. District Judge Charlene Edwards Honeywell has sentenced Sergio Antonio Hood (37, Tampa) to 21 years and 10 months in federal prison for possessing ammunition as a convicted felon, obstruction of justice, and attempted witness tampering. Hood is an Armed Career Criminal, which carries a minimum mandatory sentence of 15 years in federal prison. The court also imposed a consecutive sentence of 12 months’ imprisonment for Hood’s violation of federal supervised release based on the same underlying conduct.

A jury had found Hood guilty on June 8, 2021.

According to court documents, on October 27, 2019, one week after meeting and beginning a relationship with a woman, Hood showed up at her home near Ybor City. Finding the woman sitting in a parked car with a friend, Hood pushed his assault-style rifle through the open window, pointed it at the woman’s head, and fired. The bullet missed the woman and went through the other side of the car. At the scene, police officers found one spent 9mm bullet casing on the street. Hood was arrested on state charges the following day.

At the time of the shooting, Hood was on federal supervised release. As a result, he was transferred to federal custody to address his violations of the conditions of his supervised release. While in jail, Hood created a false alibi and asked a witness to testify falsely at a federal court hearing regarding those violations. He was subsequently indicted by a federal grand jury and charged with being a felon in possession of ammunition, obstruction of justice, and attempted witness tampering.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Tampa Police Department, with assistance from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Risha Asokan.

Tampa, Florida – U.S. District Judge Susan C. Bucklew has sentenced Leon Grant, Jr. (40, St. Petersburg) to 14 years and 2 months in federal prison for possession with the intent to distribute fentanyl, methamphetamine, and crack cocaine, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, and possession of firearms and ammunition by a convicted felon. The court also ordered Grant to forfeit the firearms and ammunition he had possessed.

Grant had pleaded guilty on July 27, 2021.

According to court documents, federal agents, along with state and local law enforcement agencies, investigated a series of credit union robberies committed in Hillsborough and Pinellas Counties in 2019. As part of the investigation, the Federal Bureau of Investigation obtained a search warrant for Grant’s home in St. Petersburg. On January 22, 2020, state and federal investigators searched Grant’s home and seized more than 36 grams of fentanyl, 26 grams of methamphetamine, and 35 grams of crack cocaine. Investigators also located three firearms and ammunition in Grant’s bedroom, including an AR-15 rifle and two pistols. Grant admitted he was a drug dealer and said he kept the firearms in his home for protection. Grant, having previously been convicted of multiple felonies, was prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition.

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

Jacksonville, Florida – United States District Judge Brian J. Davis has sentenced Wayne Dale Epps, Jr. (36, Jacksonville) to 12 years in federal prison for using the internet to attempt to entice a 12-year-old child to engage in sexual activity. Epps was also ordered to serve a life term of supervised release and to register as a sex offender.

Epps had pleaded guilty on June 10, 2021. 

According to court documents, on February 14, 2020, an undercover FBI agent who was posing online as the family member of a 12-year-old child was contacted by Epps using the screen name “ksaber2040.” Over the next several days, Epps and the undercover agent engaged in online conversation in which Epps expressed his desire to meet the “child.” Epps confirmed that he wanted to meet the “child” for sexual activity, stating “[t]his is a first for me I’m nervous but I’ve been wanting to try younger.” Epps provided the undercover agent with graphic details about how he intended to sexually abuse the “child.” He offered to use a “flavored condom” and requested pictures of the “child.”

On February 18, 2020, Epps drove to a prearranged location at a shopping center in Jacksonville to meet the “child” for sex and was arrested by FBI agents. During an interview, Epps stated that it was “possible that [he] would have followed through” and engaged in sex with the 12-year-old child, and further that he “should have never made that decision.”            

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Jacksonville. It was 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 – Today, the Justice Department announced the launch of the department’s new Combatting Redlining Initiative. Redlining is an illegal practice in which lenders avoid providing services to individuals living in communities of color because of the race or national origin of the people who live in those communities. The new Initiative represents the department’s most aggressive and coordinated enforcement effort to address redlining, which is prohibited by the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. 

“Lending discrimination runs counter to fundamental promises of our economic system,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “When people are denied credit simply because of their race or national origin, their ability to share in our nation’s prosperity is all but eliminated. “Today, we are committing ourselves to addressing modern-day redlining by making far more robust use of our fair lending authorities. We will spare no resource to ensure that federal fair lending laws are vigorously enforced and that financial institutions provide equal opportunity for every American to obtain credit.” 

“Enforcement of our fair lending laws is critical to ensure that banks and lenders are providing communities of color equal access to lending opportunities. Equal and fair access to mortgage lending opportunities is the cornerstone on which families and communities can build wealth in our country,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “We know well that redlining is not a problem from a bygone era but a practice that remains pervasive in the lending industry today. Our new Initiative should send a strong message to banks and lenders that we will hold them accountable as we work to combat discriminatory race and national origin-based lending practices.” 

“Discriminatory practices such as Redlining rend the fabric of our society by destroying one of our nation’s foundational principles – equal opportunity for all,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Karin Hoppmann for the Middle District of Florida. The deliberate denial of economic and housing opportunities to individuals based upon race, ethnicity, or nationality is strictly prohibited under the law. The U.S. Attorney’s Office works and will continue to work diligently, with its partners, to enforce our nation’s Fair Housing laws and to prosecute those who engage in criminal discriminatory practices.”

Redlining, a practice institutionalized by the federal government during the New Deal era and implemented then and now by private lenders, has had a lasting negative impact. For American families, homeownership remains the principal means of building wealth, and the deprivation of investment in and access to mortgage lending services for communities of color have contributed to families of color persistently lagging behind in homeownership rates and net worth compared to white families. The gap in homeownership rates between white and Black families is larger today than it was in 1960, before the passage of the Fair Housing Act of 1968.  

This Initiative, which will be led by the Civil Rights Division’s Housing and Civil Enforcement Section in partnership with U.S. Attorney’s Offices, will build on the longstanding work by the Division that seeks to make mortgage credit and homeownership accessible to all Americans on the same terms, regardless of race or national origin and regardless of the neighborhood where they live. The Initiative will: 

• Utilize U.S. Attorneys’ Offices as force multipliers to ensure that fair lending enforcement is informed by local expertise on housing markets and the credit needs of local communities of color. 

• Expand the department’s analyses of potential redlining to both depository and non-depository institutions. Non-depository lenders are not traditional banks and do not provide typical banking services, but engage in mortgage lending and now make the majority of mortgages in this country. 

• Strengthen our partnership with financial regulatory agencies to ensure the identification and referrals of fair lending violations to the Department of Justice. 

• Increase coordination with State Attorneys General on potential fair lending violations. 

Individuals may report lending discrimination by calling the Justice Department’s Housing Discrimination Tip Line at 1-833-591-0291, or submitting a report online. 

Jacksonville, Florida – U.S. District Judge Brian J. Davis has sentenced Deontres Javan Taylor (27, Jacksonville) to 24 months in federal prison for disaster assistance fraud involving Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) benefits. As part of the sentence, the Court also ordered Taylor to pay restitution to the United States in the amount of $8,083.19.  

According to court documents, on September 4, 2017, Taylor, while in Duval County, Florida, made an application for disaster assistance benefits to FEMA. In the application, he claimed that his primary residence in Jacksonville, Florida had suffered storm damage from Hurricane Irma. Taylor stated that storm surge flooded his residence and lightning caused a power surge which resulted in the residence losing power. As a result of these issues, Taylor claimed that he moved to a hotel and needed housing assistance. Based on the false statements made by Taylor in his application for disaster assistance benefits, FEMA paid $8,038.19 in benefits for Taylor. 

Further investigation determined that Taylor did not live at the residence listed in his benefits application since at least 2015, nor was he at that residence in any capacity when Hurricane Irma impacted the Jacksonville area. An inspection of the residence by FEMA also determined that it did not suffer storm surge damage or power loss as a result of Hurricane Irma.

“When criminals commit disaster relief fraud, they are victimizing all taxpayers, but more specifically, those directly impacted by the disaster,” said HSI Jacksonville Assistant Special Agent in Charge K. Jim Phillips. “HSI is proud of our partnership with the DHS, Office of Inspector General, in identifying and prosecuting those who attempt to thwart the integrity of the FEMA disaster assistance program.”

This case was investigated by the Department of Homeland Security - Office of Inspector General, with assistance from Homeland Security Investigations. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kevin C. Frein.  This case is part of the United States Attorney’s Disaster Fraud Task Force, which was announced in September 2017.

Members of the public who suspect fraud, waste, abuse, or allegations of mismanagement involving disaster relief operations, or believe they have been the victim of fraud from a person or organization soliciting relief funds on behalf of disaster victims should contact the National Disaster Fraud Hotline toll free at (866) 720-5721. A live operator is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Information may also be faxed to the Center at (225) 334-4707 or emailed to [email protected].  

Tampa, Florida – A federal jury has found Keon Moore (29, Tampa) guilty of possessing a firearm or ammunition as a convicted felon and possessing controlled substances with the intent to distribute them. Moore faces a minimum mandatory penalty of 5 years, and up to, 40 years in federal prison. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for January 6, 2022.

Moore had been indicted on June 4, 2020.

According to testimony and evidence presented at trial, Moore is a convicted felon who stored guns and drugs for use by himself and others, sold guns and drugs, and threatened violence to collect drug debts. In one of Moore’s private Facebook communications, a person to whom Moore provided drugs on consignment, but who failed to pay on time, begged Moore not to kill him via drive-by shooting over the $90 he owed.

The charges and trial revolved around a Public Storage unit rented by Moore, but used by at least one other adult male. After a drug-detecting dog alerted to Moore’s unit, law enforcement officers executed a search warrant of the unit. Inside the otherwise empty 50 square-foot unit, officers found seven guns, including two assault rifles; ammunition; approximately 45 grams of pure methamphetamine; 34 grams of cocaine, 53 grams of Eutylone, and 1.6 kilograms of marijuana, among other drugs; and a clothing item containing Moore’s DNA.

Moore is a previously convicted felon, including multiple state burglary and drug possession convictions. As such, he is prohibited from possessing a firearm or ammunition under federal law.

This case was investigated by the FBI, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Tampa Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael M. Gordon.

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.

Orlando, FL – A federal jury today found Davel Theodore Spady (35, Palm Bay) guilty of three counts of distribution of fentanyl and one count of possession with the intent to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl. For each of the distribution counts, Spady faces up to 20 years in federal prison. He faces a minimum mandatory of 5 years, and up to 40 years’ imprisonment, for the possession with the intent to distribute offense.

Spady had been indicted on May 5, 2021. 

According to evidence presented at trial, between February 18 and March 19, 2021, Spady sold fentanyl to a confidential source (CS) on three occasions from inside his vehicle in a parking lot. During one of the controlled purchases, Spady provided the fentanyl to the CS concealed inside a box of rice.

On April 14, 2021, the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) conducted a traffic stop of Spady’s vehicle as he was on his way to deliver 2 ounces of fentanyl to the CS. Later, during a search of Spady’s vehicle, FHP located a box of rice in the trunk with fentanyl concealed inside, similar to that provided during the previous controlled purchase.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the West Melbourne Police Department, and the Florida Highway Patrol. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Beatriz Gonzalez and Ranganath Manthripragada.

Jacksonville, Florida – Billy Micah Sermons (44, Jacksonville) has pleaded guilty to making a false statement to the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), a federal agency. Sermons faces a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison and payment of restitution to the federal government. A sentencing date has not yet been set.

According to the plea agreement, in May 2015, the Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) began investigating the business practices of Excel Components, LLC, a business involving Sermons and others. Excel conducted business with the federal government by contracting with the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA). These contracts involved supplying various items to be used by members of the United States military throughout the Department of Defense. As a result of their investigation, in September 2015, DLA debarred Sermons from contracting with the federal government due to his involvement with Excel and another business contracting with DLA, East Coast Machine and Tool LLC. DLA debarred Sermons until August 19, 2018.

Also, in May 2015, Sermons, using the identity of another individual, (Person #1), submitted or caused to be submitted a registration for Franklin Southern Manufacturing LLC (FSM) in SAM.GOV, a U.S. government-wide, online portal operated by the GSA. Entities register in SAM.GOV in order to do business with the federal government, to include contracting. Sermons successfully registered FSM in SAM.GOV to do business with the federal government. Thereafter, during the timeframe of his debarment and knowing that he was ineligible for the award of contracts by any federal agency, Sermons used the identity of Person #1 and FSM to circumvent the terms of his debarment. He did this in order to continue bidding on and obtaining federal government contracts involving the DLA. As part of the contracting process, on multiple occasions during his debarment, Sermons falsely certified or caused to be falsely certified within SAM.GOV that none of the principals at FSM were debarred, suspended, proposed for debarment, or declared ineligible for the award of contracts by any federal agency.  

This case was investigated by the U.S. General Services Administration - Office of Inspector General and the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, with assistance from the Defense Logistics Agency. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kevin C. Frein.

Jacksonville, Florida – U.S. District Judge Brian J. Davis has sentenced Lavern Lee Renninger (62, Zephyrhills) to 10 years in federal prison for attempted online enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity. Renninger was also ordered to serve a 20-year term of supervised release and to register as a sex offender. 

Renninger had pleaded guilty on July 19, 2021.

According to court documents, from March 3 through March 18, 2020, Renninger engaged in chats through an online classified advertising site and through text messaging with an individual he believed to be the mother of two children, ages 11 and 13. Unbeknownst to Renninger, the “mother” was an undercover law enforcement officer. During online conversation, Renninger provided the “mother” with graphic details of the sexual activity that he wanted to engage in with these children. Renninger said he had “90,000 visions of this” during a phone call with the “mother” of the children. During text conversations that he believed he was having directly with the children, Renninger detailed what he wanted to do to them sexually and stressed the importance of keeping their interactions secret. Renninger was arrested on March 18, 2021, when he traveled to meet the “mother” to engage in sexual activity with the children. 

“Child predators prey on our most vulnerable, our children,” said HSI Jacksonville Assistant Special Agent in Charge K. Jim Phillips. “HSI and our partners at the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office are now making sure he is held accountable for those crimes.”

This case was investigated by the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office and Homeland Security Investigations. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Ashley Washington.

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 – Acting United States Attorney Karin Hoppmann announces the unsealing of a criminal complaint charging Dominique Jade Dragan (28, Valrico) with cyberstalking. If convicted, Dragan faces a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison. He made his initial appearance in federal court on October 19, 2021, and ordered detained pending trial.

According to the

criminal complaint , from approximately January 2020 through July 2021, Dragan engaged in a course of conduct with the intent to harass and intimidate three victims. Using Instagram, Dragan cyberstalked, harassed, and threatened the victims with a series of continuous messages. He made specific threats to kill the victims, including by stating, “I can’t wait to hear the bones in your neck break,” “I’m gonna put a bullet in your forehead,” and “I can’t wait to murder you.” Dragan also included racially charged language and threatened the victims with violence if they reported him to law enforcement. Dragan’s conduct placed the victims in reasonable fear of serious injury and death.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Ilyssa M. Spergel.

A criminal complaint 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.           

Tampa, Florida – A federal jury has found Clifford Edward Albritton, III (44, Lakeland) guilty of conspiracy to possess 400 grams or more of fentanyl with the intent to distribute it and possession of 40 grams or more of fentanyl with the intent to distribute it. Albritton faces a minimum mandatory sentence of 10 years, and up to life, in federal prison. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for January 14, 2022.

Albritton had been indicted on August 4, 2020.

According to testimony and evidence presented at trial, in July 2020, Albritton arrived at a purported deal with his supplier, Donovan Holmes. Albritton had more than 300 grams of fentanyl and a scale hidden in his pants. Both men were subsequently arrested. Holmes, who testified at trial after previously pleading guilty, described how Albritton was a part of a larger fentanyl conspiracy encompassing multiple dealers. The sentencing hearing for Holmes is scheduled for October 28, 2021.

This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Tampa Police Department, and the Florida Highway Patrol. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Callan Albritton (no relation).

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.

Tampa, Florida – U.S. District Judge Virginia M. Hernandez Covington has sentenced Antoinette Thomas (32, Tampa) to three years in federal prison for access device fraud and aggravated identity theft. As part of her sentence, the court also ordered Thomas to pay $27,885.58 in restitution.

Thomas had pleaded guilty on June 21, 2021.

According to court documents, between February 1, 2016, and May 8, 2019, Thomas produced and used counterfeit access devices, such as component parts of multiple victims’ retail store credit accounts, with the specific intent to defraud the stores, credit card companies, and individuals. In doing so, Thomas knowingly used, transferred, and possessed the means of identifications of other real people without lawful authority. During this period, Thomas was captured several times on store surveillance video making fraudulent retail purchases using someone else’s store credit account.

Later, in July and October 2018, Thomas used the identity of another person to lease two apartments in Tampa. At the time, Thomas knew the person was a real person and that she did not have permission or authorization to use that person’s personally identifying information to lease the apartments.

In October 2019, law enforcement executed a federal search warrant at Thomas’s residence and recovered: a) multiple notebooks of handwritten personal identification information, including more than 100 sets of names, dates of birth, and Social Security numbers; b) information on multiple credit accounts held in the names of others, including several credit card numbers; and c) multiple fraudulent or fictitious documents including altered copies of Social Security cards, Florida identification cards, and pay stubs. Thomas’s fingerprints were on several of the pages of the notebooks containing victims’ information.

This case was investigated by the Tampa Police Department and the United States Secret Service. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Craig Gestring.

Orlando, FL – U.S. District Judge Paul G. Byron has sentenced Mikel Wayne Nunnally (44, Longwood) to 60 years in federal prison for using a minor child to produce sexual abuse images and videos. The court also sentenced Nunnally to a lifetime of supervised release and ordered him to register as a sex offender.

Nunnally had pleaded guilty on April 29, 2021.

According to court documents, between 2018 and 2020, Nunnally produced several videos that depicted a minor child engaged in sexually explicit conduct. In some of these videos, Nunnally can be seen as he sexually abused the child victim. Nunnally then distributed images and videos depicting this sexual abuse to others over the internet, including to an undercover law enforcement officer. Images from one of these videos showed Nunnally touching and digitally penetrating the child. Nunnally told the undercover officer that he had previously filmed the child victim in the bathroom and that he touched the child in a sexual manner whenever he could. Nunnally also stated that he sometimes gave the child victim pain pills mixed with sleeping pills to help facilitate his molestation of the child.

In December 2020, Nunnally was identified by law enforcement and interviewed by FBI agents. Nunnally admitted that he had used the child victim to produce the child sex abuse images and videos and had distributed these materials online. He also estimated that he had been filming his sexual abuse of the child victim for four or five years. 

FBI agents conducted a forensic review of two of Nunnally’s electronic devices and located 79 videos and 12 images depicting the sexual abuse of children on these devices. These videos and images depicted children who ranged from infants to teenagers. Some of this material depicted the sadistic abuse, bondage, and torture of the child victims.

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.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Chauncey A. Bratt.

Tampa, Florida – Corey Small (43, St. Petersburg) has pleaded guilty to interfering with commerce by robbery and to using and brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, as well as to conspiring to distribute cocaine and cocaine base, possessing a firearm after being convicted of a felony offense, and possessing, brandishing, and discharging a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, causing death by murder. He faces a maximum penalty of life in federal prison.  

Regarding the robbery and the use and brandishing offenses listed above, according to court documents, in 2014 Small robbed a dry-cleaning business in St. Petersburg. During the robbery, he pointed a gun at the clerk and stole $51.41.

Regarding the three other offenses listed above, which are unrelated to the 2014 crimes, court documents show that in 2018 Small conspired with an employee of a night club to sell cocaine for him. Later that year, the victim, who was a friend of the nightclub employee, attempted to persuade the employee to leave the club and stop selling drugs for Small. In response to this attempted interference with his drug business, Small argued with the victim and then shot him four times, killing him. Small, a previously convicted felon, was later arrested and found to be in possession of a firearm.

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Pinellas Park Police Department, the St. Petersburg Police Department, and the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Natalie Hirt Adams.

Tampa, Florida – Hao Kuo Chi (40, La Puente, CA) today pleaded guilty to conspiracy and computer fraud. He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison. A sentencing date has not yet been set.

According to court documents, for years Chi and others conspired to—and in fact did—gain unauthorized access to the Apple iCloud accounts of hundreds of individuals across the country. Using the online moniker “icloudripper4you,” Chi marketed himself as capable of hacking into iCloud accounts and stealing the content stored therein. Chi created email accounts for the purpose of impersonating Apple customer support representatives, and Chi’s conspirators sent Apple IDs and passwords of unsuspecting victims to these email accounts.

During the conspiracy, Chi hacked into more than 300 iCloud accounts belonging to victims from across the United States. Chi and his conspirators specifically sought out nude photographs and videos of young women, which the conspirators referred to as “wins.” Chi kept hundreds of thousands of stolen images for his personal collection and maintained a terabyte of cloud storage for this purpose. Chi also shared and traded these images with his conspirators, using a foreign-based, end-to-end encrypted email service. Some of those conspirators subsequently released the images into the public sphere.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Carlton C. Gammons.

Ocala, Florida – A federal grand jury has returned an indictment charging Wendell Doyle Goney (51, Mount Dora) with possessing a firearm as a convicted felon and destruction of aircraft. If convicted of both counts, Goney faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in federal prison. The indictment also notifies Goney that the United States intends to forfeit a rifle and ammunition allegedly used in the commission of the offenses. 

According to court documents, on July 11, 2021, deputies from the Lake County Sheriff’s Office responded to a burglary at a 10-acre business property in Mount Dora. Deputies deployed a law enforcement drone to assist with the outdoor search, only to have the drone destroyed by gunfire from a neighboring property. When deputies responded to that location, they confronted Goney, who acknowledged that he had just shot down the drone with a .22 caliber rifle. He claimed that drones had been “harassing” him. Goney also admitted to the deputies that he could not lawfully possess a firearm—he has 29 prior felony convictions in Florida. As a convicted felon, Goney is prohibited from possessing firearms and ammunition under federal law.

An indictment is merely an allegation and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty.

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Department of Transportation-Office of Inspector General, and the Lake County Sheriff’s Office. It will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Robert E. Bodnar, Jr.

Fort Myers, Florida – U.S. District Judge Sheri Polster Chappell has sentenced David Levon Massey (32, Cape Coral) to 20 years in federal prison for possessing fentanyl with the intent to distribute. Massey had pleaded guilty on July 7, 2021. 

According to court documents, in February 2020, Massey was released from federal prison after serving more than nine years for organizing a prescription pill distribution ring. Shortly after his release, law enforcement received several tips that Massey was again distributing drugs. In October 2020, during the execution of a search warrant at Massey’s residence, law enforcement officers recovered nearly 100 grams of fentanyl, two firearms, and thousands of dollars in cash.

This case was investigated by the United States Drug Enforcement Administration and the Cape Coral Police Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael V. Leeman.