Middle District of Florida

Fort Myers, Florida – U.S. District Judge John L. Badalamenti today sentenced David Aaron Rockwell (45, Cape Coral) to five years in federal prison for wire fraud and bank fraud. As part of his sentence, the court also entered a money judgment of $1,018,000, the proceeds of his wire and bank fraud.

Rockwell had pleaded guilty on January 14, 2021.

According to court documents, Rockwell, a financial advisor, managed investment and retirement accounts for his clients. Beginning in October 2017, Rockwell began to defraud clients and misappropriated his clients’ funds for his own purpose. Rockwell also defrauded a federally insured bank when he applied for two lines of credit, totaling $700,000, in the names of his clients, without their knowledge or permission. Rockwell forged the clients’ signatures on the loan applications and pledged the clients’ assets as collateral for the loans, all without their knowledge or authorization. Rockwell used the funds that he had obtained from the loans for his own use and benefit. 

Furthermore, Rockwell persuaded another client to invest in low-income housing in Florida. However, once the client transferred approximately $400,000 to fund the investment, Rockwell used the money to pay his personal credit cards and to purchase a home.    

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Yolande G. Viacava.

Jacksonville, Florida – Acting United States Attorney Karin Hoppmann announces the return of an indictment charging eight individuals with conspiracy to distribute and to possess with the intent to distribute MDMA, also known as “ecstasy” or “molly”, and α‑Pyrrolidino­pentiophenone, also known as “alpha-PVP” or “flakka.” If convicted, each faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison. The indictment also notifies the defendants that the United States intends to forfeit property that was used to facilitate the offense or that is traceable to proceeds of the offense, including approximately $185,000 in cash, a 2015 BMW 550i, a 2015 Lexus IS 250, a 2013 Audi A8 L Quattro, a 2020 Ryker Rally Edition motorcycle, two Rolex watches, numerous pieces of jewelry, and five firearms.

The individuals charged in the indictment are: Kimberly Michelle Claridy Walker (44, Jacksonville); Neal Merrell Walker (50, Jacksonville); Marcus Antonio Peterson (35, Lake City); Ramone Lazai Astin (35, Jacksonville); Alfred Eugene Bell (36, Jacksonville); Mar’quez Maurice Mickler (20, Jacksonville); David Lee Geathers (24, Jacksonville); and Brandiesa Tylese Williams (24, Jacksonville).

According to the indictment and other court documents, the defendants were part of an armed drug trafficking organization that distributed illegal narcotics, primarily out of a “trap house” on 14th Street in Jacksonville, beginning in July 2018 and continuing until April 13, 2021, when six of the defendants were arrested. During the course of the conspiracy, the conspirators obtained kilogram quantities of the drugs, which were broken up into small amounts and re-packaged for sale to numerous individuals.

Bank account records and public documents reflect that on two occasions Kimberly Walker and Neal Walker, with the assistance of co-defendants, laundered approximately $98,000 through financial institutions from which they had obtained cashier’s checks to buy tax deeds for five properties in Jacksonville. Bank records also reflect that between June 13, 2019, and November 30, 2020, approximately $330,000 was deposited, almost entirely in cash, into an account in the name of a business entity owned by the Walkers.

An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has violated one or more of the federal criminal laws, 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 Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office, and the Lake City Police Department. It will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Arnold B. Corsmeier.

Fort Myers, Florida – U.S. District Judge Thomas P. Barber has sentenced Kyle William O’Brien (28, Estero) to 7 years in federal prison for using the internet to distribute images depicting the sexual abuse of children. O’Brien was also sentenced to a lifetime term of supervised release and was ordered to register as a sex offender.

O’Brien had pleaded guilty on December 26, 2019.

According to court documents, an individual that O’Brien had met through an online dating application (app) contacted the FBI after O’Brien had sent her images depicting the sexual abuse of children. The woman reported that after she had met O’Brien online on the dating app, the two met in person on February 1, 2019. During their visit, the woman saw O’Brien looking at and swiping through images on his cellphone that depicted the sexual exploitation and abuse of children. Later, O’Brien sent the woman an online message using the dating app to invite her to watch a child exploitation video on his television. O’Brien continued to send the woman messages, he also sent her child sex abuse images. 

On April 25, 2019, FBI agents executed a federal search warrant at O’Brien’s home and seized his cellphone. During an interview with law enforcement, O’Brien admitted sending child exploitation materials to the woman from his cellphone. A subsequent forensic examination of O’Brien’s cellphone revealed that the device had been used to search for images and videos depicting the sexual abuse of young children and also contained more than 100 hyperlinks to websites that hosted such materials.  

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Fort Myers Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Yolande G. Viacava.

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.

Jacksonville, Florida – U.S. District Judge Brian J. Davis has sentenced Charles Cornelius Smith (35, Jacksonville) to five years in federal prison for aggravated identity theft and conspiracy to commit bank fraud. The court also ordered Smith to pay restitution to the victims he had defrauded.

Smith had pleaded guilty on February 2, 2021.

According to court documents, Smith obtained the personal identification information, including the name, date of birth, and Social Security number of a victim. Using this information, Smith provided his co-defendant, Zipporan Carmel Peters, with a counterfeit South Carolina driver license using the name and identity of the victim, but with Peters’ photo on it. Smith then drove Peters to different branches of the Navy Federal Credit Union in Clay and Duval Counties. Using the victim’s identity, Peters made various fraudulent transactions involving the withdrawal of large amounts of cash and the purchase of multiple $500 gift cards, utilizing the victim’s account. Smith and Peters also visited multiple cellphone stores in Clay and Duval Counties and used the victim’s identity to obtain several thousand dollars’ worth of cellphones and accompanying merchandise.

Zipporan Carmel Peters is scheduled for trial on July 6, 2021.

“Technology has forever changed the way we do business, making every day financial transactions a prime target for fraud. This case should serve as a strong deterrent to those considering exploiting the identities of others to enrich themselves through fraud,” said Special Agent in Charge, Glen M. Kessler of the  U.S. Secret Service - Jacksonville Field Office.

This case was investigated by United States Secret Service (Jacksonville Field Office), the Clay County Sheriff’s Office, and the Orange Park Police Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kevin C. Frein.

Orlando, Florida – U.S. District Judge Wendy Berger today sentenced Matthew Zachariah Humphrey (26, Daytona Beach) to 11 years and 6 months in federal prison for conspiracy to distribute fentanyl and for possessing a firearm in furtherance of that offense. Humphrey’s co-conspirator, Janee Reve Najee Kelly (32, Daytona Beach) was sentenced to 8 years and 1 month in federal prison for the same charges.

Humphrey and Kelly had pleaded guilty on February 11, 2021, and December 8, 2020, respectively. 

According to court documents, Humphrey, Kelly, and others worked together to distribute heroin, fentanyl, and cocaine in the Daytona Beach area. On June 17, 2020, both Kelly and Humphrey were arrested in Daytona Beach. At the time of their arrests, Humphrey possessed cocaine, fentanyl, and a stolen, loaded firearm. Kelly possessed fentanyl and a firearm as well. Collectively, the two individuals possessed more than 88 grams of fentanyl. 

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with assistance from the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Daytona Beach Police Department, and the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Dana E. Hill.

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.

Jacksonville, Florida – Acting United States Attorney Karin Hoppmann announces the return by a grand jury of an indictment charging Derrick S. McCullough (31, Keystone Heights) with escape from federal custody.  If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison. 

According to the indictment, on March 29, 2021, McCullough escaped from custody at Keeton Corrections Residential Reentry Center, a halfway house in Jacksonville, Florida.  McCullough was confined to Keeton while serving the final portion of a sentence imposed in connection with a federal conviction for possessing a firearm as a convicted felon. 

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. Marshals Service and the Bradford County Narcotics Task Force.  It will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael J. Coolican. 

Orlando, Florida – Acting United States Attorney Karin Hoppmann announces that a federal jury has found Michael Craig Gorycki (50, Titusville) guilty of attempted enticement of a 13-year-old child to engage in sexual activity. Gorycki faces a minimum mandatory penalty of 10 years, and up to life, in federal prison and a potential lifetime term of supervised release. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for August 12, 2021. Gorycki has been detained since his arrest on August 7, 2020.

According to testimony and evidence presented at trial, in August 2020, Gorycki engaged in online chats with a Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) task force agent who was acting in an undercover capacity and posing as the father of a 13-year-old girl. During the online conversation, Gorycki expressed interest in meeting the father in order to gain access to and sexually assault his minor daughter.  Gorycki expressed in detail his intention to rape the child and teach her to perform a specific sexual act. Gorycki was arrested when he traveled to meet the father at a prearranged meeting place in Titusville so that he could have sex with the 13-year-old child.

This case was investigated by the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office and Homeland Security Investigations. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Emily C. L. Chang and John M. Gardella.

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.

Fort Myers, Florida – U.S. District Judge Sheri Polster Chappell has sentenced Edgar Vazquez (36, Fort Myers) to 11 years in federal prison for possessing with the intent to distribute more than 500 grams of cocaine. The court also ordered Vazquez to forfeit a firearm and ammunition that were involved in the offense. 

Vazquez had been found guilty by a jury on September 15, 2020.

According to evidence presented at trial, in September 2018, Vazquez was driving a vehicle on Colonial Boulevard in Fort Myers, when he was stopped by Lee County Sheriff’s Office deputies for committing a traffic infraction.  After a trained drug canine unit alerted to the presence of drugs in the vehicle, law enforcement conducted a search of the vehicle and recovered approximately 500 grams of cocaine from inside the vehicle. A subsequent search warrant was executed at Vazquez’s residence, where approximately 700 grams of cocaine, cash, and a loaded gun were seized from his bedroom.  

This case was investigated by the United States Drug Enforcement Administration and the Lee County Sheriff’s Office.  It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Simon R. Eth and David P. Sullivan.

Jacksonville, Florida – United States District Judge Brian J. Davis has sentenced Darius Jondi Edwards (42, Tampa) to four years and three months in federal prison for manufacturing counterfeit Federal Reserve notes and for violating his federal supervised release.

Edwards had pleaded guilty on January 25, 2021, and admitted that he had violated his federal supervision by again manufacturing counterfeit Federal Reserve notes.

According to court documents, in 2015 Edwards pleaded guilty in federal court in Jacksonville to charges he manufactured counterfeit Federal Reserve notes (i.e., counterfeit currency), that he and others passed throughout the Jacksonville area.  Edwards was sentenced to 33 months in federal prison, followed by 3 years of supervised release.

After his release from prison in October 2019, and while still on federal supervised release for those prior counterfeiting charges, the Pinellas Park Police Department arrested Edwards for possession of counterfeit currency and forging/making counterfeit bank bills. During the course of arresting Edwards at a hotel, law enforcement found him to be in possession of counterfeit currency, partially completed counterfeit currency, and computer media used to manufacture counterfeit Federal Reserve notes. Follow up investigation by the United States Secret Service determined that Edwards had purchased the computer media used to manufacture the counterfeit notes in Duval County and then transported the computer media to Pinellas County, where he manufactured the counterfeit Federal Reserve notes.    

This case was investigated by the Pinellas Park Police Department and the United States Secret Service Jacksonville Field Office. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kevin C. Frein.

Orlando, Florida – U.S. District Judge Roy B. Dalton, Jr. has sentenced Joseph Daniel Harrison (43, Melbourne) to 12 months and 1 day in federal prison for participating in a wire fraud conspiracy. Harrison had pleaded guilty on February 1, 2021.

According to court documents, between September 2018 and May 2020, Harrison acted as a “money mule” for individuals believed to be located overseas who were defrauding victims. Money mules are individuals who receive and move money obtained from victims of fraud. Harrison assisted in the fraud by receiving fraud proceeds in his personal and business bank accounts. Harrison then transferred most of the fraud proceeds to other members of the conspiracy, while keeping some funds for his own use. The types of fraud through which Harrison’s co-conspirators obtained the funds included COVID-19 related unemployment fraud on the State of Washington, email compromise fraud on a school district in Illinois, email compromise fraud on businesses in Maryland, Texas, and Virginia, and romance fraud on a victim in California.

The amount of fraud proceeds that were routed through bank accounts controlled by Harrison totaled $2,091,576.50.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States Secret Service. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Chauncey A. Bratt and Jennifer Harrington.

Fort Myers, Florida – U.S. District Judge Sheri Polster Chappell has sentenced Steven Thomas Baryla (39, Lehigh Acres) to 10 years in federal prison for possessing images and videos depicting the sexual abuse of children. Baryla was also sentenced to a lifetime term of supervised release and ordered to register as a sex offender.

Baryla had pleaded guilty on January 14, 2021. 

According to court documents, Baryla knowingly possessed child sexual abuse images and videos that he had obtained from the internet; he also accessed similar images depicting children engaged in sexually explicit conduct via social media applications such as Kik and Snapchat. On June 20, 2019, a search warrant was executed at Baryla’s residence where agents from Homeland Security Investigations recovered Baryla’s cellphone. Subsequent forensic analysis of Baryla’s cellphone revealed that it contained 106 images and 10 videos depicting children being sexually abused. The internet history of the cellphone showed certain internet search terms, including “best state for sex offenders to live 2017” and “registered sex offender name change.”  

In 2011, Baryla was convicted on federal charges of transporting child pornography in New Jersey. 

“Thanks to HSI special agents, this child predator will have a decade to think about his crimes,” said HSI Tampa Assistant Special Agent in Charge Michael Cochran.         

This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Yolande G. Viacava.

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.

Jacksonville, Florida – Jarrod Austin (33, Jacksonville) has pleaded guilty to making a false statement to a federally licensed firearms dealer. He faces a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison.

According to the plea agreement, Austin was subject to an injunction for protection against domestic violence that had issued by the Circuit Court of the Fourth Judicial Circuit in Nassau County on December 23, 2014. The injunction specifically prohibited Austin from possessing a firearm and federal law makes it a felony for anyone who is subject to an injunction against domestic violence to possess or purchase a firearm.

In August 2019, Austin tried to buy a firearm and was denied on the background check because of the injunction. Austin contacted the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) to dispute the denial and FDLE advised Austin that he was in fact prohibited from purchasing a firearm. On December 11, 2019, Austin went to a federally licensed firearms dealer in Jacksonville and again tried to purchase a firearm. Austin falsely stated on the ATF Form 4473 that he was not subject to an injunction, specifically a court order restraining him from harassing, stalking, or threatening an intimate partner. Austin was again denied on the background check and did not obtain a firearm.     

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Frank Talbot.

This case is part of Project Guardian, the Department of Justice’s signature initiative to reduce gun violence and enforce Federal firearms laws. Initiated by the Attorney General in the Fall of 2019, Project Guardian draws upon the Department’s past successful programs to reduce gun violence and enhances coordination of Federal, State, local, and tribal authorities in investigating and prosecuting gun crimes. For more information on Project Guardian visit www.justice.gov/projectguardian.

Fort Myers, Florida – U.S. District Judge Sheri Polster Chappell has sentenced Jamar Maurice James (31, Fort Myers) to 10 years in federal prison for possessing ammunition as a convicted felon in connection with a shooting at an apartment complex parking lot in Fort Myers.

James had pleaded guilty on January 13, 2021.

According to court documents, on February 17, 2020, at approximately 3:15 a.m. officers from the Fort Myers Police Department responded to a “ShotSpotter” alert at the Jones Walker Palm Gardens Apartments in Fort Myers.  ShotSpotter® is a gunfire locator or gunshot detection system that detects and conveys the location of gunfire or other weapons fire using a combination of sensors in a geographic area. When officers arrived, although they did not locate any injured persons or a gunman, they found six spent ammunition cartridge casings in the apartment complex parking lot.  A subsequent investigation revealed that James had discharged an AK-47 firearm in the parking lot of the complex and then fled the scene before law enforcement arrived.

James had previously been convicted of six felonies, including multiple prior convictions for possessing a firearm as a convicted felon. As a result, federal law prohibits him from possessing a firearm or ammunition. 

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

This case is part of Project Guardian, the Department of Justice’s signature initiative to reduce gun violence and enforce federal firearms laws. Initiated by the Attorney General in the fall of 2019, Project Guardian draws upon the Department’s past successful programs to reduce gun violence and enhances coordination of federal, state, local, and tribal authorities in investigating and prosecuting gun crimes. For more information on Project Guardian visit www.justice.gov/projectguardian.

Jacksonville, Florida – U.S. District Judge Brian J. Davis has sentenced James Allen Shook (49, Weeki Wachee) to 20 years in federal prison for attempting to entice or coerce a child to engage in sexual activity. The court also ordered Shook to serve a life term of supervised release and to register as a sex offender.

Shook had pleaded guilty on February 11, 2021.

According to court documents, on January 24, 2020, Shook posted an online classified ad stating that he was seeking “young horny girls” for sex, “first timers welcome!” and “all ages welcome!” On the same day, a special agent with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS), acting in an undercover capacity posing as a 13-year-old girl, responded to the ad. Despite learning that the “child” was 13, Shook arranged to travel to Clay County to engage in sex acts with the child. Shook also requested a nude photograph of the child and sent the child photographs of himself, including an explicit photo. Shook offered that the child could come live with him if she wanted. When Shook arrived at what he believed was the child’s home, he was arrested by Homeland Security Investigations special agents. 

In an interview with agents, Shook stated that he had a sexual interest in children and that he searches the internet daily for child sexual abuse images, that it arouses him, and that he had searched for sexually explicit materials depicting children as young as 2 years old. Shook also admitted that he had displayed his penis to underage girls in person hundreds of times. Shook has nine prior felony convictions in New Jersey for lewdness, including five for lewdness involving children under 13.

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

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

Tampa, FL – U.S. District Judge Steven Merryday has sentenced Diamond Hamilton (23, Tampa) to two years in federal prison for bank fraud and aggravated identity theft. Hamilton had pleaded guilty on February 17, 2021.

According to court documents, Hamilton was an employee of a federally insured credit union (Credit Union 1) in Tampa. In 2019, Hamilton and others engaged in a scheme to defraud the credit union by fraudulently obtaining money under the credit union’s control. To accomplish the scheme, Hamilton accessed bank account information of the Credit Union 1 victim account holders without the account holders’ knowledge or permission and added email addresses controlled by other conspirators in the scheme. Hamilton also added and/or changed online passwords associated with the victims’ accounts, then caused funds to be transferred from the victim account holders’ bank accounts to accounts controlled by her and other co-conspirators. Afterwards, the funds were subsequently withdrawn and shared amongst the conspirators.

This case was investigated by the Federal Housing Finance Agency – Office of Inspector General, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office. It was prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Chris Poor.

Tampa, Florida – U.S. District Judge Thomas Barber has sentenced Arsenio Dennis (31, Palatka) to 22 years in federal prison for robbery and brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence. The court also ordered Dennis to pay $46,236 in restitution, and to forfeit a firearm and ammunition that were seized during the investigation.

Dennis had pleaded guilty on February 17, 2021.

According to court documents, between August 2017 and March 2018, several pharmacies in the Middle District of Florida were robbed in a similar manner. The robbers wore disguises or other clothing to conceal their identity, used firearms to rob the pharmacists, took prescription opioids, and used local drug dealers to sell the pills. Investigators determined that several coconspirators had planned and committed the robberies, and Dennis was involved in at least three of them.

In August 2017, Dennis robbed pharmacies in Tampa and Lakeland. On both occasions, he entered the pharmacy, jumped over the counter, pointed a firearm at the pharmacist’s head and demanded opioids. He then took bottles containing prescription opioid pills and put them in a bag. Dennis ordered the pharmacists to lay on the ground and count to 1,000, then walked out of the store.     

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Tampa Police Department, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, the Apopka Police Department, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office, and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael Sinacore.

Ocala, Florida – Corey Andrew Carnegie (34, Ocala) has pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute narcotics, including 50 grams or more of methamphetamine and 28 grams or more of cocaine base. He faces a minimum mandatory penalty of 10 years, and up to life, in federal prison.

Carnegie had been indicted on September 2, 2020.

According to the plea agreement, on November 26, 2019, pursuant to a search warrant, law enforcement officers searched a vehicle that Carnegie had been driving and found nearly 900 grams of methamphetamine. During the execution of a search warrant of Carnegie’s cellphone, agents found evidence that Carnegie had been operating a marijuana grow operation at another residence. When that home was searched pursuant to a search warrant in December 2020, agents located numerous firearms and ammunition and nearly half a kilogram of powder cocaine. Agents also located the marijuana grow operation in a shed behind the home.

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Ocala Police Department, and the Marion County Sheriff’s Office. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney William S. Hamilton.

Jacksonville, Florida – Brian Christopher King (62, Interlachen) has pleaded guilty to transmitting communications in interstate commerce that contained threats to injure the person of another. He faces a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison. A sentencing date has not been set.

According to the plea agreement, in March 2020, King placed two telephone calls in one evening to a United States senator’s office in Washington, D.C. On both occasions, King left voicemails laced with profanity, threatening to cut off the senator’s head. Four days later, when interviewed by federal investigators, King agreed that it was his voice on a voicemail recording but denied any intent to travel to Washington or to harm anyone. 

An FBI agent reminded King that, in 2018, he had interviewed him in connection with a similar incident, and again cautioned King that threatening elected officials was a serious matter. At the conclusion of that interview, King was not arrested. Despite the agent’s warnings, King’s continued making threatening calls.  Specifically, in June 2020, King called a police department in California and stated that he had heard someone was going to cut the heads off a particular U.S. senator and a particular member of the House of Representatives.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Capitol Police, the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office, the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office, and the Daytona Beach Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael J. Coolican. 

Jacksonville, Florida – U.S. District Judge Brian J. Davis has sentenced Julian Salazar-Zavala (32, Jacksonville) to 18 months in federal prison for forcibly assaulting and resisting immigration officers during his arrest and being unlawfully present in the United States after having been previously deported.

Salazar-Zavala had pleaded guilty on February 4, 2021.

According to court documents and testimony, Salazar­ Zavala was the subject of an administrative arrest operation after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) learned that he was issued a traffic citation in Jacksonville after he had been deported from the United States in 2018. On the morning of September 22, 2020, officers from ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) followed Salazar-Zavala as he drove from his home to a gas station in Jacksonville, where he stopped at a gas pump. After Salazar-Zavala got out of his vehicle, the ERO officers approached him and told him that he was being placed under arrest for immigration violations and instructed Salazar-Zavala to place his hands on the gas pump so that they could detain him. After initially complying, Salazar-Zavala removed his hands from the pump, pushed the officers out of the way—knocking one into a parked car—and fled on foot. The officers pursued Salazar-Zavala into an adjacent parking lot, then followed him as he doubled back and entered the convenience store at the gas station.

While inside the convenience store, Salazar-Zavala continued to resist arrest, struggling with the officers, and urging bystanders to fight the officers and film them.  The officers eventually restrained Salazar-Zavala and placed him under arrest. Following his arrest, the officers confirmed that Salazar-Zavala was a citizen of Mexico who had been previously deported on December 27, 2018, and was unlawfully present in the United States.

“This criminal assaulted federal law enforcement officers who were working to keep our communities safe,” said Miami ERO Field Office Director Michael Meade. “He will now learn that lesson behind bars.”

This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Arnold B. Corsmeier.

Ocala, Florida – Senior United States District Judge John Antoon II has sentenced Xavier Sims (36, Ocala) to nine years and seven months in federal prison for possessing a firearm and ammunition as a convicted felon.

A federal jury had found Sims guilty on February 23, 2021.

According to testimony and evidence presented at trial, in February 2020, deputies from the Marion County Sheriff’s Office responded to a shooting at a residence. The victim and her three children had been sleeping when multiple gunshots hit their home. Sims, the victim’s ex-boyfriend, had threatened to “shoot up” her house earlier that day during an argument. Following the shooting, deputies observed Sims’s vehicle near the scene—he was the driver and sole occupant. During a search of the vehicle, deputies recovered a Glock .40 caliber pistol from the trunk along with 10 spent .40 caliber shell casings and 20 live rounds. Subsequent forensic analysis confirmed that the casings and a bullet fragment found at the scene of the shooting matched the firearm from Sims’s vehicle. DNA analysis also confirmed the presence of Sims’s DNA on the live .40 caliber rounds. Sims, a multi-convicted felon, is prohibited from possessing firearms and ammunition under federal law.

This case was investigated by the Marion County Sheriff’s Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Tyrie K. Boyer and Michael P. Felicetta.

This case is part of Project Guardian, the Department of Justice’s signature initiative to reduce gun violence and enforce federal firearms laws. Initiated by the Attorney General in the fall of 2019, Project Guardian draws upon the Department’s past successful programs to reduce gun violence and enhances coordination of federal, state, local, and tribal authorities in investigating and prosecuting gun crimes. For more information on Project Guardian visit www.justice.gov/projectguardian.

Fort Myers, FL – U.S. District Judge Sheri Polster Chappell has sentenced Chester “Chet” Risco (36, North Fort Myers) to 19 years and 7 months in federal prison for distributing methamphetamine. Risco had pleaded guilty to four counts of distributing the drug on September 1, 2020.

According to court documents, the Lee County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI began investigating Risco after receiving a tip that he had been distributing large amounts of methamphetamine in and around North Fort Myers. During the summer of 2019, a confidential informant working at the direction of law enforcement purchased 100% pure methamphetamine from Risco on four occasions. Further investigation revealed the scope of Risco’s drug dealing activities, which involved selling multiple ounces of methamphetamine and fentanyl weekly in Lee County until his arrest in March 2020. 

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Lee County Sheriff’s Office. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael V. Leeman.

Ocala, Florida – U.S. District Judge Roy B. Dalton Jr. has sentenced Gary Dewayne Martin (31, Fort McCoy) to 24 months in federal prison for possession of an unregistered silencer. The court also ordered Martin to forfeit the silencer and a .22 caliber semiautomatic rifle. Martin had pleaded guilty on January 6, 2021.

According to court documents, on September 20, 2019, deputies from the Marion County Sheriff’s Office were called to Martin’s residence. Witnesses said that Martin was walking around wearing body armor and wielding a shotgun, threatening to kill himself and others. Witnesses further stated that Martin had discharged his shotgun into a nearby campfire. While investigating the campfire, deputies found the shotgun, two spent shotgun shells, and a .22 caliber rifle with an attached homemade silencer secured to the barrel. The silencer was not registered as required by federal law. Pursuant to a risk protection order, deputies then searched the residence and seized a total of 37 firearms and large amounts of ammunition.

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Marion County Sheriff’s Office. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney William S. Hamilton.

This is another case prosecuted as part of the Department of Justice’s “Project Safe Neighborhoods” Program (PSN), which is a nationwide, crime reduction strategy aimed at decreasing violent crime in communities. It involves a comprehensive approach to public safety — one that includes investigating and prosecuting crimes, along with prevention and reentry efforts. In the Middle District of Florida, Acting U.S. Attorney Karin Hoppmann coordinates PSN efforts in cooperation with various federal, state, and local law enforcement officials.

Tampa, Florida – U.S. District Judge Thomas Barber has sentenced Marvin Lee Carter, Sr. (41, Tampa) to 20 years in federal prison for distributing fentanyl, which caused serious bodily injury. Carter had pleaded guilty on March 1, 2021.

According to court documents, Carter sold fentanyl to an acquaintance, who used the fentanyl and suffered an overdose. That same day, Carter also sold fentanyl to another individual. That individual and a co-worker both used the fentanyl and also overdosed. Law enforcement then executed a search warrant at Carter’s residence and found additional fentanyl. All three individuals who had used the fentanyl received medical attention and survived.

This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Tampa Police Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Randall Leonard.

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.

Jacksonville, Florida – Jasen Michael Anderson (29, Crescent City) has pleaded guilty to possessing images depicting the sexual abuse of children on his cell phone. He faces a minimum mandatory penalty of 10 years, and up to 20 years, in federal prison, a $250,000 fine, and a potential life term of supervised release.

According to court documents, on May 3, 2012, Anderson was convicted on federal charges for distributing and possessing child exploitation materials. After serving a seven-year prison sentence, Anderson was released and began serving a 10-year term of supervised release under the supervision of the United States Probation Office. During this period, Anderson was prohibited from using any computer device to access the internet without written approval of his probation officer, and was subject to any search by the Probation Office based on reasonable suspicion of evidence of a violation of any supervised release condition.

During an interview on March 16, 2020, Anderson admitted to his probation officer that he had accessed the internet using a cell phone and had searched for images of children on a particular Russian website. The probation officer then confiscated Anderson’s cell phone. During an initial manual examination of this device, no evidence of contraband images was discovered.   

In May 2020, Anderson met with his probation officer and admitted that he had accessed child sex abuse images over the internet using a second cell phone. This second phone was also seized by the probation officer. Anderson was subsequently arrested at his home by the United States Marshals Service based on violations of the terms of his supervised release. Forensic examination of his cell phones revealed that one of the devices contained 110 images depicting young children, including some as young as six years old, being sexually abused.    

This case was investigated by the United States Probation Office in Ocala and Tampa, the United States Marshals Service, and Homeland Security Investigations. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney D. Rodney Brown.

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

Orlando, Florida – Former Seminole County Tax Collector Joel Micah Greenberg (36, Lake Mary) today pleaded guilty to six federal offenses: sex trafficking of a child, illegally producing a false identification document, aggravated identity theft, wire fraud, stalking, and conspiracy. Each offense carries a separate penalty.  Greenberg faces maximum terms of imprisonment of 20 years for wire fraud, 15 years for illegally producing a false identification document, 15 years for conspiracy, and 5 years for stalking.  He also faces mandatory minimum sentences of imprisonment: of 10 years, and up to, life in prison for sex trafficking of a child, and of 2 years for aggravated identity theft.  Greenberg will be ordered to pay restitution to his victims in amounts to be determined at his sentencing. 

According to the plea agreement, Greenberg paid for commercial sex acts, including with an individual who was a minor for part of the time when Greenberg paid her to engage in those acts.  Greenberg had met the minor on an internet website and he engaged in commercial sex acts with her on at least seven occasions when she was under the age of 18.  Greenberg also introduced the minor to other adult men, who engaged in commercial sex acts with the minor in the Middle District of Florida.

On the day of his arrest and execution of a federal search warrant at his residence on June 23, 2020, Greenberg was found in possession of two fake drivers licenses in his wallet – each license contained the personal information of the victim but with Greenberg’s photograph.  Greenberg used his position as Tax Collector to facilitate the production of those fake drivers licenses.   

In addition, Greenberg used his position as Seminole County Tax Collector to embezzle and divert over $400,000 to benefit himself, including to purchase cryptocurrency, to operate a business that sold cryptocurrency mining machines, to mine cryptocurrency, and to purchase personal items, such as autographed sports memorabilia.

Greenberg also engaged in a course of conduct that caused and attempted to cause substantial emotional distress to a political opponent who worked in the Middle District of Florida, including by knowingly mailing false letters to the school where the employee worked. The letters claimed to be from an anonymous “very concerned student” of the school who claimed to know the school employee had engaged in sexual misconduct with a particular student.

After his federal arrest in June 2020, and while released on special conditions, Greenberg conspired with an employee of the Small Business Administration (SBA) and another individual to submit false claims to SBA for Economic Injury Disaster Loans, available under the CARES Act to businesses negatively affected by the COVID 19 pandemic.  Greenberg and the SBA employee conspired to submit loan applications for two of Greenberg’s businesses falsely claiming the businesses were operating prior to February 2020, when in fact the State previously had administratively dissolved both business and Greenberg only reinstated them to apply for the loans.  Greenberg and the SBA employee also conspired to apply for a third loan in Greenberg’s name.  The loan applications provided false information about the revenues and numbers of employees for the businesses.  As a result of the conspiracy, Greenberg received over $430,000, and he paid $16,000 of that to the individual who recruited him into the scheme, and $3,000 of it as a bribe to the SBA employee.

This case was investigated by United States Secret Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the U.S. Small Business Administration - Office of Inspector General, with assistance from the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office, the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office, and the United States Postal Inspection Service.  It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Roger B. Handberg and Jennifer M. Harrington.

Jacksonville, Florida – Antony Eugene Woody (33, Orange Park) has pleaded guilty to a federal charge of advertising images depicting the sexual abuse of children for sale using the internet. Woody faces a mandatory minimum penalty of 15 years, and up to, 30 years in federal prison, and a potential life term of supervised release. 

According to court documents, in February 2019, the FBI discovered that an online user named “imsoofreakyy” was using a particular social media application to offer child sex abuse images for sale on the internet. Meanwhile, the Clay County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) received a Cybertip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that the same user “imsoofreakyy” was using a particular email address to advertise images of children being sexually assaulted. CCSO detectives were able to identify this individual as Antony Eugene Woody, who resided in Orange Park. 

On March 22, 2019, CCSO officers and FBI agents executed a search warrant at Woody’s residence and made contact with him. During an interview with law enforcement, Woody admitted that he downloaded child sex abuse images from the internet, labeled these images with titles, prices, and his online contact information, and then re-posted them for sale using a social media app. Woody also admitted that online customers responded to his advertisements, that he would receive money for these sales using Venmo, and that he defrauded some of these customers by taking their money but refusing to send them the contraband images that they had purchased. Woody received at least $995 in profits from these sales through the Venmo app. A search of Woody’s cellular telephone revealed 33 videos and 40 images depicting the sexual abuse of children. Two of these images bore superimposed advertising language that was created and placed on them by Woody.        

This case was investigated by the Clay County Sheriff’s Office, the Westbrook (Maine) Police Department, the Broward County (Florida) Sheriff’s Office, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (Boston and Jacksonville), with the assistance of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.  It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney D. Rodney Brown.

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

Orlando, Florida – U.S. District Judge Paul Byron has sentenced Jeremy Kee Anderson (50, Minnesota) to 12 years and 7 months in federal prison for conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, and mail and wire fraud. Anderson had pleaded guilty on February 26, 2021.

According to court documents, Anderson led a conspiracy that defrauded more than 200 victims, most of them elderly, and who had invested a good portion of their life savings, out of more than $10.3 million through investments offered in connection with a company called Tri-Med Corporation. Anderson was founder and principal owner of Tri-Med Corporation. 

The investment scheme involved the alleged purchase of medical receivables by Tri-Med, and involved services that were provided to accident victims who were represented by personal injury attorneys. Payment of those medical receivables was supposed to be made from the proceeds of litigation or an insurance claim made against a general liability or automobile insurance policy. Each of the medical receivables was also supposed to be secured by a “Letter of Protection,” a letter that is provided by a patient’s personal injury attorney to a medical services professional as an incentive to provide services to a patient. The letter is a contract involving a patient, the patient’s attorney, and the medical services provider by which the patient and attorney agree to pay all or part of the total billed by the medical services provider from the proceeds of any pre-suit settlement, lawsuit settlement, or judgment that the patient may obtain.

To fund Tri-Med’s alleged purchases of medical receivables, Anderson and his conspirators solicited individuals to participate in an “investment program” in which investors’ money would be used by Tri-Med to buy medical receivables “backed” by letters of protection. As part of their solicitations, Anderson and his conspirators represented to investors that that their investments were safe and that investor funds would be held in a trust account that was controlled by an attorney. To assure investors that their investments were secure, Tri-Med claimed that it would transfer its interest in the letter of protection to the investor in a document called an “Assignment of Interest Certificate.” Those representations were false. 

Of the more than $17 million raised from over 200 investors, only approximately $2.7 million was ever transferred from Tri-Med to the attorney’s trust account. The vast majority of the funds raised from investors never made it to that account. Over $6.5 million was paid to the sales people and the operators of Tri-Med or was used by them to benefit themselves or pay business expenses, while approximately $2.3 million was paid as distributions to investors as “interest payments” to make them believe that their investments were profitable.  In fact, Tri-Med did not purchase enough medical receivables to secure the incoming investments, so it fabricated “Assignment of Interest Certificates.” The result was that more than 200 victims lost over $10.3 million in this scheme.

Anderson is the fourth person to be charged and sentenced as part of this conspiracy. Previously, the following individuals were charged and sentenced to federal prison terms for their roles in this conspiracy: Anthony Nicholas, Jr. (63, Hudson) received 11 years and 3 months and Eric Ager (78, Orlando) and Irwin Ager (84, Orlando) each were sentenced to 24 months’ imprisonment.

“The Secret Service, along with our many law enforcement partners, including the Florida Office of Financial Regulation, remains committed to bringing fraudsters such as Anderson to justice,” said U.S. Secret Service Special Agent in Charge Caroline O’Brien Buster. “To prey on our most vulnerable citizens is egregious, amoral and incredibly cruel. The Secret Service will not tolerate such crimes and will actively pursue justice, especially in these cases.”

This case was investigated by the United States Secret Service and the State of Florida’s Office of Financial Regulation. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Shawn P. Napier and Roger B. Handberg, III.

Orlando, Florida – U.S. District Judge Wendy W. Berger has sentenced Kavita L. Harack (35, Kissimmee), aka Kavita Harrack or Sara Harack, to 15 years in federal prison for two counts of wire fraud. The court also ordered Harack to forfeit the $604,637.25 in proceeds which she obtained as a result of the fraud, and to pay restitution to the victims of the offenses. In addition, the court ruled that Harack attempted to obstruct justice during her judicial proceedings by submitting fraudulent documentation to the U.S. Attorney’s Office and making multiple false statements to the court.

Harack had pleaded guilty on October 19, 2020.

According to court documents, in May 2017, Harack was hired to work in the Orlando office of a display services company as an accountant.  Between April 2018 and May 2019, Harack directed 74 fraudulent payments from the company to four bank accounts held in her or her husband’s name. Harack disguised the transfers to these personal accounts as vendor payments. After Harack was terminated by the display services company in May 2019, she was hired to work in the accounting department of a project design company in Orlando. Between July 2019 and December 2019, Harack directed four fraudulent payments from the project design company into two of her personal accounts, again disguising the transactions as vendor payments.

In total, between 2018 and 2019, Harack fraudulently paid herself $604,637.25 from accounts belonging to the display services and project design companies. Harack used those funds for personal expenditures, including the purchase of a home, home improvements, travel, retail purchases, restaurants, and beauty expenses.

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

Orlando, Florida – A federal jury has found Tauri Benjamin Rivas Nunez (22, Orlando) guilty of robbery and aiding and abetting the brandishing of a firearm. Rivas Nunez faces a maximum penalty of life in federal prison. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for July 28, 2021.

Rivas Nunez had been indicted on January 7, 2021.

According to evidence presented at trial, on August 10, 2019, Rivas Nunez and two others entered a T-Mobile store located at 5420 Deep Lake Road in Oviedo. Rivas Nunez placed an employee in a chokehold, while a co-defendant took another employee into a back room at gunpoint and ordered the employee to empty a safe containing cellphones and merchandise. Rivas Nunez removed money for the cash register and the three individuals ran from the store with the stolen items. Rivas Nunez was located immediately after the robbery at a home in Orlando. The stolen merchandise was recovered from the residence, along with the firearm used during the robbery.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office, and the Orange County Sheriff’s Office. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Daniel P. Jancha and Chauncey A. Bratt.

Tampa, Florida – U.S. District Judge Thomas P. Barber has sentenced Robert Boehme (64, Nokomis) to 27 years and 3 months in federal prison for receiving and possessing materials depicting the sexual exploitation of children. Boehme was also ordered to serve a 10-year term of supervised release and to register as a sex offender.

Boehme had pleaded guilty on December 7, 2020.

According to court documents, FBI agents detected several online requests to download child exploitation material over the internet and traced these requests to Boehme’s residence. When agents executed a federal search warrant at Boehme’s home, they caught Boehme as he was actively downloading child exploitation material over the internet. A forensic examination of Boehme’s computer revealed that he had amassed a collection of tens of thousands of images and videos depicting the sexual abuse of children.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Colin McDonell and Frank Murray.

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

Jacksonville, FL – A Florida man pleaded guilty today to attempting to provide material support and resources to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, also known as ISIS, a designated foreign terrorist organization since 2014.

According to court documents, Romeo Xavier Langhorne, 31, of St. Augustine, pledged his allegiance to ISIS at some point in 2014, knowing that ISIS was a designated foreign terrorist organization and that they engaged in acts of terrorism.

If convicted, Langhorne faces a maximum of 20 years in federal prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Throughout 2018 and 2019, Langhorne reaffirmed his support for ISIS on various social media accounts, as well as posted ISIS-produced videos to his YouTube account and participated in online chat rooms with like-minded individuals. In December 2018 and January 2019, Langhorne expressed in one of those chat rooms an interest in creating a video that would improve on existing videos demonstrating the making and use of a deadly explosive – triacetone triperoxide, also known as TATP.

In Feb. 2019, Langhorne began communicating with an undercover employee (UCE) with the FBI who was posing as someone working on behalf of ISIS. Langhorne told the UCE about his plans to create and disseminate an instructional video on making a TATP and sought the UCE’s assistance in creating the video. Langhorne told the UCE that, in order to ensure that the video was not removed from the internet by service providers, the video should include disclaimers advising that it was intended for educational purposes. However, Langhorne informed the UCE that his true purpose in making and distributing the video was to arm ISIS adherents and others with knowledge of how to make TATP and use it for terrorism-related purposes in support of ISIS. 

The FBI produced a video in accordance with Langhorne’s instructions, but – unbeknownst to Langhorne – it featured an inert chemical formula for TATP that would not produce an explosion. In Nov. 2019, the UCE provided versions of the TATP video to Langhorne, and Langhorne distributed the video by uploading it to a video-sharing website.

Langhorne was arrested at his residence in Roanoke, Virginia, on Nov. 15, 2019, pursuant to a criminal complaint, and ordered detained pending trial. While in custody, Langhorne admitted that he had “probably at some point” pledged allegiance to ISIS and Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who was the leader of ISIS from 2014 until his death on Oct. 26, 2019.  Langhorne admitted that he was the person who had communicated with the UCE and admitted that he had uploaded the TATP video to the internet.

The FBI Jacksonville Division and Northeast Florida Joint Terrorism Task Force are investigating the case, with support from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Border Patrol and the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Laura Cofer Taylor for the Middle District of Florida and Trial Attorney Andrew D. Sigler for the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section are prosecuting the case.

Orlando, FL – A federal grand jury in Orlando, Florida, returned an indictment April 21, 2021, charging residents of Florida, Georgia and North Carolina with promoting a tax fraud scheme.

According to the indictment, from 2013 to 2017, Iran Backstrom of Milledgeville, Georgia; Mehef Bey of Charlotte, North Carolina; Yomarie Febres of Atlanta, Georgia; and Aaron Aqueron of Clermont, Florida, allegedly conspired together and with others to promote a tax fraud scheme to more than 200 individuals in 12 states. The indictment alleges that the defendants recruited clients by falsely representing that the clients’ mortgages and other debts entitled them to tax refunds. To execute the scheme, the defendants and their conspirators allegedly prepared and caused clients to file tax returns that falsely claimed large amounts of income taxes had been withheld from the clients and paid over to the IRS, entitling the clients to tax refunds. According to the indictment, the defendants typically charged each client fees ranging from approximately $10,000 to $15,000 and did not report on their own tax returns any income generated from the scheme. 

The indictment further alleges that when the IRS discovered the fraud and attempted to recover the fraudulently obtained tax refunds, Aqueron encouraged clients to provide the IRS with false information and remove funds from their bank accounts in order to thwart the IRS’s collection efforts. As a result of the scheme, the defendants allegedly filed, and caused to be filed, with the IRS approximately $40 million in fraudulent claims for tax refunds

Backstrom, Bey, Febres and Aqueron are charged with conspiring to defraud the United States and aiding in the preparation of false tax returns. Aqueron is also charged with corruptly endeavoring to obstruct the due administration of the internal revenue laws.  

Backstrom, Febres and Aqueron are scheduled for their initial court appearances today before a U.S. Magistrate Judge for the Middle District of Florida. Bey will make an initial appearance at a later date. If convicted, each defendant faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison on the conspiracy charge and three years of prison on each count of aiding in the preparation of false tax returns. Aqueron also faces a maximum of three years in prison on the obstruction charge. In addition, the defendants face a period of supervised release, restitution and monetary penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

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

The IRS-Criminal Investigation is investigating the case.

Trial Attorneys Lauren Archer, Kavitha Bondada and Alexander Effendi of the Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen Gable of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Middle District of Florida are prosecuting the case.

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

Tampa, Florida – Joamary Rosario (30, Tampa) today pleaded guilty to knowingly and intentionally distributing a substance containing a mixture of heroin, acetyl fentanyl, and fentanyl to an individual who died as a result of using the substance. Rosario faces a minimum mandatory penalty of 20 years, and up to life, in federal prison. A sentencing date has not yet been set.

According to the plea agreement, on November 6, 2018, G.S. contacted Rosario, his regular drug dealer, and ordered 10 bags of heroin. Rosario agreed and a few hours later, she and her supplier delivered to G.S. at his hotel 10 bags of a mixture of heroin, acetyl fentanyl, and fentanyl. That night, G.S. used one bag of the drug mixture and died by overdose. The next day, G.S.’s friend discovered his body and called 911.

Law enforcement officers found the unused bags of drugs in G.S.’s hotel room, along with his cellphones. The officers discovered G.S.’s drug-related text messages with Rosario on one of the phones. Posing as G.S., the officers ordered more of the same drugs from Rosario. A few hours later, Rosario arrived at the hotel as planned and was arrested. Rosario had in her possession several bags of drugs, each containing heroin, acetyl fentanyl, and fentanyl mixed in the exact same proportions as the bags of drugs that Rosario had sold to G.S. the night before.

This case was investigated by the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office and Homeland Security Investigations. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael M. Gordon.

Fort Myers, Florida – U.S. District Judge Sheri Polster Chappell has sentenced Christopher Ted Duluk (32, Fort Myers) to seven years in federal prison for possessing images and videos depicting the sexual abuse of children. Duluk was also sentenced to a 15-year term of supervised release and ordered to register as a sex offender.

Duluk was found guilty after a bench trial on December 2, 2020.

According to court documents, the Lee County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO) began an investigation into Duluk for unlawfully impersonating a law enforcement officer and for using a government license plate. On December 10, 2019, deputies from the LCSO executed a search warrant on Duluk’s home and car and seized Duluk’s vehicle bearing a state tag, and a thumb drive that was in the trunk. During the subsequent search of the thumb drive, LCSO observed an image depicting child sexual abuse. A forensic analysis of the thumb drive revealed approximately 150 images and 150 videos depicting the sexual exploitation and abuse of children. 

On March 10, 2020, a search warrant was executed at Duluk’s residence. Law enforcement officers seized Duluk’s laptop computer and later identified approximately 90 videos of the sexual abuse and exploitation of children.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Fort Myers Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force, which includes the Lee County Sheriff’s Office. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Yolande G. Viacava.

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 return of a superseding indictment charging Marvin “MJ” Mitchell (36, St. Peterburg) and Christopher Hughes (43, Pinellas Park) with conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute heroin, crack cocaine, and fentanyl, which caused an individual’s death, as well as possession with the intent to distribute heroin, crack cocaine, and fentanyl. If convicted on all counts, Mitchell and Hughes each face a minimum mandatory sentence of 20 years, and up to life, in federal prison.

According to the

indictment , Mitchell and his co-conspirators, including Hughes, sold heroin, cocaine, and fentanyl. In June 2019, members of this conspiracy distributed narcotics to an individual who died. The Medical Examiner’s Office for Pasco and Pinellas Counties determined that the individual’s cause of death was fentanyl toxicity.

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 Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Pinellas Park Police Department, with assistance from the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office, and the Pasco and Pinellas County Medical Examiners’ Offices. It will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Diego F. Novaes.

Jacksonville, Florida – U.S. District Judge Marcia Morales Howard today sentenced Gregorio Jose Fuentes-Zelaya (27, Orlando) to 33 months in federal prison for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit tax fraud. The court also ordered Fuentes-Zelaya to pay restitution to the IRS in the amount of $5,766,286 and to an insurance company in the amount of $68,073. In addition, the court ordered Fuentes-Zelaya to forfeit his interest in $230,764 that was seized from two bank accounts. The court also entered a money judgment in the amount of $1,367,625, representing the proceeds of the wire fraud.

Fuentes-Zelaya had pleaded guilty on September 11, 2020. His co-defendant, Dennis Alexander Barahona, had pleaded guilty on March 29, 2021. His sentencing hearing has been scheduled for July 6, 2021.

According to court documents, Fuentes-Zelaya established shell companies that purported to be involved in the construction industry. He or his co-conspirators obtained workers’ compensation insurance policies in the name of the shell companies to cover a minimal payroll for a few purported employees. The conspirators then “rented” the workers’ compensation insurance to work crews who had obtained subcontracts with construction contractors on projects in various Florida counties. Fuentes-Zelaya or his co-conspirators sent the contractors a certificate as “proof” that the work crews had workers’ compensation insurance, as required by Florida law. By sending the certificate, the conspirators falsely represented that the work crews worked for their companies. Over the course of the scheme, Fuentes-Zelaya and his co-conspirators “rented” the certificates to hundreds of work crews.

The contractors issued payroll checks for the workers’ wages to the shell companies and the conspirators cashed these checks, then distributed the cash to the work crews after deducting their fee, which was typically about 6% of the payroll. During the period of the scheme, the conspirators cashed payroll checks totaling approximately $22,793,748, with their fees totaling approximately $1,367,625. Neither the shell companies nor the contractors reported to government authorities the wages that were paid to the workers, nor did they pay either the employees’ or the employers’ portion of payroll taxes – including Social Security, Medicare, and federal income tax. According to the IRS, the amount of payroll taxes due on wages totaling $22,793,748 was $5,766,286.

The scheme also facilitated the avoidance of the higher cost of obtaining adequate workers’ compensation insurance for the hundreds of workers on the work crews to whom Fuentes-Zelaya and his co-conspirators “rented” the workers’ compensation insurance. Had workers’ compensation insurance policies been purchased for a payroll totaling $22,793,748, the policy premiums would have totaled about $3,684,057. The policies that Fuentes-Zelaya and his co-conspirators purchased, and then “rented” out, were for estimated payrolls of $80,800 to $100,800. The insurance company issued those policies for premiums ranging from $15,206 to $31,268.

“This criminal stealthily concealed his business transactions behind numerous illegitimate companies, facilitating over $22.7 million in unlawful payroll payments, all while defrauding the U.S. insurance industry,” said HSI Jacksonville Assistant Special Agent in Charge K. Jim Phillips. “Thanks to the diligent work of HSI special agents and our law enforcement partners, he will not be able to take advantage of the significant criminal proceeds derived from these crimes.”

“Today’s sentencing of Gregorio Jose Fuentes-Zelaya is a reminder that payment of both individual and business taxes is an obligation, not a choice,” said Special Agent in Charge Brian Payne of IRS Criminal Investigation. “We recognize the detrimental consequences of evasion of employment tax. It results in the loss of tax revenue to the United States government, the loss of future social security and Medicare benefits for the employees, and it creates an uneven playing field among competing businesses. As our system of taxation depends on everybody paying their fair share, employment tax fraud will remain a top priority for the Special Agents of IRS-CI.”

This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation, and the Florida Department of Financial Services. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Arnold B. Corsmeier.

Fort Myers, Florida – U.S. District Judge Sheri Polster Chappell has sentenced Michael Torres (41, Arcadia) to 14 years in federal prison for distribution and attempted possession with the intent to distribute methamphetamine. The court also ordered Torres to forfeit $16,000 that was used in the offense.

Torres had pleaded guilty on September 22, 2020. 

According to court documents, in December 2019, Torres sold an undercover law enforcement officer in Arcadia two ounces of 100% pure methamphetamine for $950. However, when the coronavirus pandemic began, Torres’ typical sources of supply in the area dried up, and he looked elsewhere to secure a kilogram of methamphetamine. Ultimately, Torres agreed to buy one kilogram of “Ice,” a particularly pure form of the drug, from law enforcement.

On June 2, 2020, Torres met with the officer inside a restaurant in Punta Gorda and brought $16,000 in cash with him. As the two walked outside to complete the deal, Torres was arrested.

This case was investigated by the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office and the Drug Enforcement Administration. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael V. Leeman. Assistant United States James Muench handled the forfeiture.

Tampa, FL— In honor of National Police Week, Acting U.S. Attorney Karin Hoppmann recognizes the service and sacrifice of federal, state, local, and Tribal law enforcement. This year, the week is observed Sunday, May 9 through Saturday, May 15, 2021.

“This week is a time to honor our law enforcement officers who have made the ultimate sacrifice in service to our nation,” said Attorney General Garland. “I am constantly inspired by the extraordinary courage and dedication with which members of law enforcement act each day, putting their lives on the line to make our communities safer. To members of law enforcement and your families: we know that not a single day, nor a single week, is enough to recognize your service and sacrifice. On behalf of the entire Department of Justice, you have our unwavering support and eternal gratitude.”

“The Middle District of Florida joins the entire nation in honoring law enforcement officers across the country for their service and sacrifice in keeping our communities safe,” stated Acting U.S. Attorney Karin Hoppmann. “We recognize the commitment of our federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement partners who often place themselves in harm’s way to protect us at all times.  They, and their families, have our untiring support.”

In 1962, President Kennedy issued the first proclamation for Peace Officers Memorial Day and National Police Week to remember and honor law enforcement officers for their service and sacrifices.  Peace Officers Memorial Day, which every year falls on May 15, specifically honors law enforcement officers killed or disabled in the line of duty.  

Each year, during National Police Week, our nation celebrates the contributions of law enforcement from around the country, recognizing their hard work, dedication, loyalty, and commitment to keeping our communities safe. This year the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted law enforcement officers’ courage and unwavering devotion to the communities that they have sworn to serve.

During the Roll Call of Heroes, a ceremony coordinated by the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), more than 300 officers will be honored.  Based on data submitted to and analyzed by the National Law Enforcement Officer Memorial Fund (NLEOMF), of the law enforcement officers who died nationwide in the line of duty in 2020, nearly 60 percent succumbed to COVID-19. Here in the Middle District of Florida, seven officers died in the line of duty.  

Additionally, according to statistics reported by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) through the Law Enforcement Officer Killed and Assaulted (LEOKA) Program, 46 law enforcement officers died as a result of felonious acts and 47 died in accidents in 2020.  LEOKA statistics can be found on FBI’s Crime Data Explorer website. 

The names of the 394 fallen officers who have been added in 2020 to the wall at the National Law Enforcement Officer Memorial will be read on Thursday, May 13, 2021, during a Virtual Candlelight Vigil, which will be livestreamed to the public at 8:00 pm EDT. The Police Week in-person public events, originally scheduled for May, have been rescheduled due to ongoing COVID-19 concerns to October 13-17, 2021. An in-person Candlelight Vigil event is scheduled for October 14, 2021.

Those who wish to view the Virtual Candlelight Vigil on May 13, 2021, can watch on the NLEOMF YouTube channel found at https://www.youtube.com/user/TheNLEOMF. The FOP’s Roll Call of Heroes can be viewed at www.fop.net. To view the schedule of virtual Police Week events in May, please visit www.policeweek.org.

Tampa, Florida – Acting United States Attorney Karin Hoppmann announces the return of an indictment charging Clayton Everett Colborn (29, Wesley Chapel), also known as Jason Rich, with enticement and coercion of a minor to engage in sexual activity. If convicted, Colborn faces a minimum mandatory penalty of 10 years, and up to life, in federal prison, and a potential life term of supervised release. The indictment also notifies Colborn that the United States intends to forfeit his electronic devices and his Chevrolet Corvette, items that Colborn had used in the commission of this offense.

According to the indictment, in or around January 2020 and continuing through February 3, 2020, Colborn knowingly persuaded, induced, enticed, and coerced an individual under the age of 16 year to engage in sexual activity.

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 Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Ocoee Police Department, and the Pasco Sheriff’s Office. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Lisa M. Thelwell.

Anyone with information regarding Clayton Everett Colborn, also known as “Jason Rich,” should contact the Tampa Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation at 813-253-1000.

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.

Jacksonville, Florida – U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Corrigan has sentenced Robert Lee Martin (66, Orange Park) to 27 months in federal prison, followed by 10 years of supervised release, for possessing images and videos depicting the sexual abuse of children. 

Martin had pleaded guilty on February 6, 2020.

According to court documents, special agents from Homeland Security Investigations executed a federal search warrant at Martin’s home in November 2018, after receiving a cyber tip that an image depicting child sexual abuse had been uploaded over the internet from the residence. Martin was at the home and told the HSI agents that he has a problem and that he has been “fighting it forever.” Martin explained that he keeps a laptop computer at his friend’s house that he uses to “look at the stuff,” referring to child exploitation materials. Subsequent seizure and forensic examination of this computer revealed that it contained more than 700 images and 8 videos depicting minors being sexually abused, including very young children.

“This child predator is now securely behind bars and our community is safer as a result thanks to the law enforcement partnership between HSI Jacksonville and the Clay County Sheriff’s Office,” said HSI Jacksonville Assistant Special Agent in Charge K. Jim Phillips.

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

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

Jacksonville, Florida – Daniel Summers (68, St. Augustine) has pleaded guilty to mail fraud. He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison. A sentencing date has not yet been set. The United States is also seeking forfeiture in the amount of $744,910, the proceeds Summers obtained as a result of the fraud.  The amount of restitution due to victims will be determined at a later date.

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 actually 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 is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney David B. Mesrobian.

Orlando, Florida – U.S. District Judge Roy B. Dalton has sentenced Ricardo Silva De Oliveira (33, Orlando) to 31 months in federal prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release, for bank fraud and aggravated identity theft. In addition, De Oliveira was ordered to pay $190,530 in restitution.

De Oliveira had pleaded guilty on February 8, 2021.

According to court documents, De Oliveira and others installed approximately 80 credit card skimmers and multiple pinhole cameras on ATMs at various SunTrust Bank locations in Florida and Georgia.  Those devices captured, among other things, customers’ account numbers and personal identification numbers.  De Oliveira and his co-conspirators would then retrieve those devices and use the information from the skimmers and cameras to make unauthorized access devices (cloned cards). De Oliveira used those cloned cards causing the Bank and/or customers to lose a total of $190,530.

This case was investigated by the United States Secret Service. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Terry B. Livanos and Roger B. Handberg.

Tampa, Florida – U.S. District Judge Susan C. Bucklew has sentenced Eddie Quinones Santiago (38, Kissimmee) to 10 years in federal prison for conspiracy to distribute 100 grams or more of heroin, possession of 100 grams or more of heroin with intent to distribute, and possession of cocaine with intent to distribute.

Quinones Santiago had pleaded guilty on December 29, 2020.

According to court documents, Quinones Santiago was part of a drug trafficking organization (DTO) that sold heroin in the Central Florida area. Federal, state, and local law enforcement conducted a joint investigation into the DTO. Statements by coconspirators and recorded conversations identified Quinones Santiago as a member of the DTO who was responsible for distributing large quantities of heroin in Orlando and Tampa. As part of the investigation, law enforcement obtained search warrants and conducted searches of storage units, a residence, and a vehicle connected to Quinones Santiago. The searches revealed approximately 406 grams of heroin and 427 grams of cocaine in storage facilities controlled by Quinones Santiago and a coconspirator. Investigators also seized proceeds from Quinones Santiago’s drug trafficking, including approximately $332,000 in cash and $63,000 worth of jewelry.    

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Florida Highway Patrol, the Tampa Police Department, and the Apopka Police Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael Sinacore.

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

Jacksonville, Florida – U.S. District Judge Marcia Morales Howard has sentenced Tony Deshawn McFadden (29, Jacksonville) to nine years in federal prison for possessing a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking.

McFadden had pleaded guilty on January 15, 2021.

According to court documents, on August 18, 2018, officers with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office (JSO) were patrolling the area of Woodbine Street and Springfield Boulevard in Brentwood, as a result of a recent shooting near that location. JSO officers observed McFadden involved in what appeared to be drug activity. As the officers approached to investigate, McFadden ran and ignored instructions to stop. The officers chased McFadden into a convenience store where he threw down a Glock .40 caliber pistol and 3.3 grams of crack cocaine before they took him into custody.

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Beatriz Gonzalez, Laura Cofer Taylor, and Special Assistant United States Attorney Cyrus P. Zomorodian.

This case is part of Project Guardian, the Department of Justice’s signature initiative to reduce gun violence and enforce Federal firearms laws. Initiated by the Attorney General in the Fall of 2019, Project Guardian draws upon the Department’s past successful programs to reduce gun violence and enhances coordination of Federal, State, local, and tribal authorities in investigating and prosecuting gun crimes. For more information on Project Guardian visit www.justice.gov/projectguardian.

Orlando, Florida – U.S. District Judge Roy B. Dalton, Jr. today ordered Isis Baldwin (39, Ponciana) to pay $11,754.76 in restitution for making false statements to a federal agency. In addition, the court also sentenced Baldwin to three years’ probation and required her to perform 45 days of work duty at the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office Work Farm.

Baldwin had pleaded guilty on February 8, 2021.

According to court documents, Baldwin, a Social Security Administration (SSA) employee, applied for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits on behalf of her minor child. The application was approved by SSA, and Baldwin was appointed as the representative payee for her child’s benefits. In April 2019, SSA initiated a redetermination of continuing eligibility to determine whether Baldwin’s child remained eligible for benefits. During the redetermination inquiry, Baldwin made false statements to SSA. Specifically, Baldwin made material misrepresentations regarding her child’s living arrangements during an interview with an SSA employee. Baldwin subsequently submitted a statement to SSA in which she falsely represented that her child had moved to a different address. Baldwin also provided a falsified lease agreement in support of her false claim regarding her child’s new living arrangements.

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.

Orlando, Florida – A federal jury has found Xzavier Scholtens (20, Palm Bay) guilty of one count of transporting and one count of possessing child sex abuse material. Scholtens faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison and a lifetime term of supervised release for each offense. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for July 20, 2021.

Scholtens had been indicted on May 27, 2020.

According to testimony and evidence presented at trial, this case arose from an online undercover operation conducted by Homeland Security Investigations agents in McAllen, Texas. The operation targeted individuals who were using a particular online social media platform to trade or distribute child sex abuse images.    

On November 19, 2019, Scholtens sent an online message to one of the undercover agents and offered to “trade.” After a brief discussion, Scholtens sent a hyperlink that led to a cloud storage folder containing 12 videos.  These videos depicted the sexual abuse of children, ranging from infants to pubescent teenagers.

This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations in McAllen, Texas and Rockledge, Florida. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Emily C. L. Chang.

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.  

Jacksonville, Florida – Chief United States District Judge Timothy J. Corrigan has sentenced Columbus Donavan Jeffrey (44, Jacksonville) to 60 years in federal prison for photographing his sexual assaults of a child and distributing those pictures to others using the internet.  Jeffrey was also ordered to serve a lifetime term of supervised release, register as a sex offender, and pay $24,000 in restitution to child victims.

Jeffrey had pleaded guilty on December 10, 2020.     

According to court documents, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) received information from a company that hosts an online social messaging application (app). Specifically, on May 3, 2019, a user named “hideme1977,” subsequently identified as Jeffrey, used the app to upload several photos to the internet. These photos, taken by Jeffrey, depicted him sexually abusing an 11-year-old child. NCMEC referred this matter to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office (JSO) for investigation.  

On October 3, 2019, JSO detectives and other officers executed a search warrant at Jeffrey’s residence, where he admitted he had used the “hideme1977” user name on the app. JSO detectives were also able to identify and locate the child shown in the photos, who stated that Jeffrey had sexually abused the child on at least three separate occasions in 2019.

JSO conducted a forensic examination of Jeffrey’s cellphone which revealed: images of the same child being sexually abused by Jeffrey on two other dates in 2019; online messages showing Jeffrey used the internet to share the sexual assault photos with others; and that Jeffrey maintained a collection of 635 images and 57 videos depicting the sexual abuse of other minors, including several depicting the rape of infants and toddlers.  

“Predators who exploit innocent children are among the most evil criminals in society, and the acts committed by this defendant are among the most egregious that we have investigated.” said Rachel L. Rojas, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Jacksonville Division. “This case proves that the FBI Jacksonville Division is fully committed to holding child predators accountable for their actions, and we remain dedicated to ensuring that criminals like him cannot bring harm to the most vulnerable members of our communities ever again. We are thankful for the partnership of the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office in the relentless effort to seek justice for these victims. Be assured our work will not end here.”

This case was investigated by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with assistance from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys D. Rodney Brown and Kelly S. Karase.

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

Fort Myers, Florida – Elaine M. Levidow (60, Fort Myers) has pleaded guilty to five counts of wire fraud and one count of fraud involving Department of Education Financial Aid.  She faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison for each count of wire fraud and up to 5 years’ imprisonment for the financial aid fraud.  A sentencing date has not yet been set.

According to the plea agreement, beginning in approximately July 2017 and continuing through April 2019, Levidow devised and perpetrated a scheme to defraud the United States Department of Education of more than $90,000 in Title IV Federal Student Assistance (FSA), the primary federal loan and grant funds available to students attending college and career schools. The United States Department of Education requires that the Title IV funds be applied only to specific allowable charges, which include: tuition, mandatory fees, and room and board contracted by the participating institutions of higher education. 

As the owner and Chief Executive Officer of The Training Domain, Inc., located in Fort Myers, Levidow used a website to market her company as offering business software application courses to make individuals more employable. As a part of the scheme, Levidow knowingly enrolled students that did not have a high school diploma or GED certificate, making them ineligible to receive FSA funds, and she assisted them in applying for FSA funds. In one instance, Levidow knowingly enrolled a student who was a felon serving a life term in a Florida State prison, assisting him in obtaining FSA funds even though he was ineligible.

In other instances, Levidow applied for FSA loans on behalf of students without telling them, then caused those FSA funds to be wired to Training Domain even though it was not entitled to them. 

Levidow admitted to agents that she knew many if not all the students did not have a high school diploma or a GED, but she enrolled them anyway.  Further, she admitted that she staged a fictitious class, during an accreditation visit, with students who did not attend class and whom she paid to be there to make it appear she was actually holding classes.   

Further, although Levidow’s business, Training Domain, was represented to be an educational institution, she did not use FSA funds to pay for students’ tuitions since her business did not actually hold required classes.  Instead, Levidow used the  FSA funds to pay for her own personal expenses.

This case was investigated by The United States Department of Education, Office of Inspector General. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Yolande G. Viacava.

 

 

Jacksonville, Florida – A federal jury has found Paul Berkins Moise guilty of 14 counts of filing false returns on behalf of (unknowing) clients and 3 counts of filing false tax returns on behalf of himself. Moise faces a maximum penalty of three years in federal prison for each count. The United States will also seek restitution for the tax losses arising out of the fraud. Moise’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for August 9, 2021.

Moise had been indicted on February 6, 2019.

According to testimony and evidence presented at trial, Moise owned and operated a tax preparation business in Jacksonville. Between February 2013 and March 2017, Moise defrauded the IRS by filing returns for his clients in which he grossly inflated deductions for state and local sales taxes, unreimbursed employee expenses, and gifts to charity by cash or check.

For example, on one tax return, Moise claimed a sales tax deduction of $5,883 for a client who had a gross income of $43,476. In order for that client to claim a sales tax deduction that large, the client would have had to have made taxable purchases totaling $89,926 (including the tax) -- or more than twice the client’s claimed gross income.

Trial evidence also showed that Moise grossly underreported his own income on tax returns he filed for himself for the years 2013, 2014, and 2015. On his 2013 return, Moise reported $10,160 in income when he actually earned at least $83,848 that year. On his 2014 return, Moise reported $2,695 in income when he actually earned $252,652 that year. On his 2015 return, Moise reported $10,255 in income when he actually earned $234,936 that year.

This case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Arnold B. Corsmeier.

Orlando, Florida – U.S. District Judge Carlos E. Mendoza today sentenced Maxwell Garvice Johnson (29, Ormond Beach) to 30 years in federal prison for his involvement in a drug distribution conspiracy. The court also sentenced Robert Lee Hamilton, Jr. (36, Daytona Beach) to 20 years’ imprisonment. Johnson had pleaded guilty in February 2021. Hamilton had pleaded guilty in December 2020.

According to court documents, from April 3 through July 30, 2020, Johnson, Hamilton, and their conspirators worked to distribute methamphetamine, heroin, fentanyl-laced heroin, and cocaine in the Daytona Beach area. During the investigation, and in a series of searches and arrests, on July 30, 2020, law enforcement officers recovered and identified more than 2 kilograms of fentanyl-laced heroin, over 500 grams of cocaine, and at least 155 grams of methamphetamine that was being distributed by members of Johnson’s organization, as well as loaded firearms and tens of thousands of dollars in drug proceeds. The court ruled that both Hamilton and Johnson’s sentences reflected their leadership and managerial roles in the drug trafficking organization, their maintenance of multiple stash houses for drug distribution, and their possession of firearms.     

Eight of nine of the conspirators have pleaded guilty; seven have been sentenced as follows:

Defendant

Federal Prison Term

Maxwell Garvice Johnson

30 years

Robert Lee Hamilton, Jr.

20 years

Jeniver Sebastian Scott, Jr.

10 years

Dawnte Dequine Benjamin Davis

7 years, 8 months

Sharodd Solomon Favors

7 years

Jeremy Rashan Tarrand

5 years, 10 months

Felicia Mae Riley

1 year, 3 months

 

The court has delayed the sentencing of Shakia Flagler, who pleaded guilty on January 13, 2021. A final defendant, Gena Marie Walker, is scheduled for trial in July 2021. 

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with assistance from the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Daytona Beach Police Department, and the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Dana E. Hill.