Northern District of Georgia
Press releases recorded for this federal judicial district.
Dr. Jeffrey M. Gallups and Entellus Medical agree to pay $4.2 million to resolve False Claims Act lawsuit alleging kick-back arrangementsRead the Press Release
ATLANTA – Dr. Jeffrey M. Gallups (founder, owner, medical director and past-CEO of Milton Hall Surgical Associates (“MHSA”) a/k/a The Ear, Nose & Throat Institute) and Entellus Medical have agreed to pay approximately $3 million and $1.2 million, respectively, to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act by entering into unlawful kickback arrangements.
“Gallups abused his position by accepting unlawful kickbacks in exchange for directing MHSA physicians – often over their objections – to order devices or administer procedures and tests that were not medically necessary,” said U.S. Attorney Kurt Erskine. “In his role, Gallups was uniquely situated to benefit his community. Instead, he chose to put his personal financial interests above the interests of his colleagues and MHSA’s patients.”
“The Anti-Kickback Statute prohibits individuals who participate in federal health care programs from knowingly and willfully offering, paying or receiving any remuneration in order to encourage recommendation of any item covered under a federal health care program,” stated Derrick L. Jackson, Special Agent in Charge with the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General. “We will continue to pursue providers who engage in kickbacks or bill for baseless procedures.”
“The False Claims Act settlement in this case will be a deterrent to those who selfishly profit from dishonest medical treatment rather than upholding their oath as a health care provider to do what is best for their patients,” said Chris Hacker, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta. “The FBI and our partners will always make it a priority to protect companies and individuals from anyone who would seek to profit from false claims.”
"Georgia's Medicaid program relies upon the independent judgement of medical professionals to make appropriate treatment decisions for their patients. Financial relationships that undercut this independence diminish public trust and unnecessarily drive up health care costs for our citizens. We remain dedicated to working with our state and federal partners to maintain the integrity of public programs and protect taxpayers dollars,” said Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr
“Our trusted medical professionals who engage in kickback schemes to maximize profits undermine the integrity of our Department of Defense health care system,” stated Special Agent in Charge Cynthia A. Bruce, Department of Defense (DoD) Office of Inspector General, Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS), Southeast Field Office. “DCIS and our investigative partners will continue to protect DoD personnel and their dependents by holding companies accountable that engage in unlawful activities.”
Between 2014 and 2018, Gallups was a non-practicing physician, and devoted his time to acting as the CEO and medical director of MHSA, which employed approximately 12-18 physicians in various locations throughout North Georgia. The government alleges that Gallups controlled these physicians in his capacity as CEO and medical director of MHSA and directed these physicians, in exchange for the kickbacks described herein, to (1) utilize sinuplasty related medical devises exclusively from Entellus; as well as to (2) order toxicology and genetic testing from NextHealth.
First, with respect to Entellus and Gallups, it is alleged that Entellus provided Gallups several forms of remuneration, including cash payments and all-expense paid trips, in return for Gallups requiring MHSA physicians to use Entellus’s sinuplasty medical devices and increase the number of sinuplasty procedures conducted on MHSA patients.
Second, with respect to Gallups and a Dallas, Texas based medical laboratory called NextHeath, LLC (“NextHealth”), it is alleged that NextHealth made payments to Gallups in the form of supposed “commissions” in return for Gallups requiring MHSA physicians to order medical tests from NextHealth, regardless of medical necessity, and despite objections from MHSA physicians that such tests were not medically necessary.
Gallups/Entellus Kick-Back Scheme
Entellus is a medical device company that manufactures, inter-alia, products used to perform sinus surgery. The government alleges that Entellus provided kickbacks to Gallups to induce him to direct MHSA physicians to (1) utilize Entellus sinuplasty medical devices (as opposed to those of Entellus’ competitors); and (2) increase the volume sinus surgeries performed at MHSA, thereby increasing the number of supplies ordered from Entellus. On December 7, 2017, Entellus was acquired by Stryker Corporation (“Stryker”), and Stryker’s compliance personnel flagged and elected not to renew the consulting arrangement that existed between Entellus and Gallups. On September 21, 2000, Stryker agreed to pay $1.2 million to resolve claims arising from the alleged Gallups/Entellus kickback arrangement.
Gallups/NextHealth Kick-Back Scheme
The government alleges that, in or around January 2016, Gallups entered into a kickback arrangement with a now defunct medical testing laboratory called NextHealth, pursuant to which Gallups directed MHSA physicians to order toxicology and genetic tests from NextHealth, despite physician objections that the tests were not medically necessary. In return, NextHealth paid Gallups 50% of the revenue generated from such tests as “commissions.” The government contends the scheme ended in or around February 2017 due to increasing complaints from MHSA physicians that the tests were not medically necessary.
The civil settlement resolves claims brought under the qui tam or whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act by Myron Jones, M.D., who is a former physician-employee of MHSA. The False Claims Act permits private parties to sue for false claims on behalf of the United States and to share in any recovery. The qui tam case is captioned United States ex rel. Myron Jones, M.D., et al. v. Milton Hall Surgical Associates, LLC d/b/a The ENT Institute and a/k/a the Ear, Nose & Throat Institute, Jeffrey M. Gallups, M.D., et al., Civil Action. No. 1:17-cv-2472 (NDGA). Jones will receive approximately $614,000.00 from the settlement.
The claims resolved by this settlement are allegations only and there has been no determination of liability. With respect to the allegations concerning NextHealth, LLC, on October 21, 2021, before the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, Gallups pleaded guilty to health care fraud in case number 1:21-cr-00370.
This matter was investigated by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia, the Georgia Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services – Office of Inspector General, the Federal Bureau of Investigations and the Defense Criminal Investigative Service of the U.S. Department of Defense – Office of Inspector General.
The civil settlement was reached by Assistant U.S Attorney Paris A. Wynn and Georgia Assistant Attorney General James Mooney.
For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at [email protected] or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the home page for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia Atlanta Division is http://wwws.justice.gov/usao-ndga.
Atlanta man sentenced for Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) fraudRead the Press Release
ATLANTA – Brandon Ridge has been sentenced for obtaining a $160,000 fraudulent loan from the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”), a portion of which he then used to purchase a Range Rover.
“Ridge thought he could unjustly enrich himself by defrauding a program designed to support struggling businesses during an international pandemic,” said U.S. Attorney Kurt R. Erskine. “His sentence should serve as a warning to others that there are serious consequences for engaging in this type of fraud.”
“Ridge’s personal greed affects every tax paying citizen in this country and takes away from government funds intended to provide relief to small business and employees who desperately need it during this pandemic”, said Chris Hacker, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta. “This sentence serves as a message that the FBI and our federal partners remain vigilant during this pandemic to make sure funds provided by programs like PPP are used as intended.”
“It’s unfortunate that criminals continue to abuse the funds set aside to aid those impacted by the COVID-19 Pandemic. IRS-CI will continue to use our financial expertise to identify fraud, trace the funds, and bring the criminals to justice,” said IRS-Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge James E. Dorsey. “Hopefully the continued prosecution of individuals seeking to abuse funds intended to help those most impacted by the pandemic, will serve as a deterrent to others.”
According to U.S. Attorney Erskine, the charges and other information presented in court: The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (“CARES”) is a federal law enacted on March 29, 2020. It is designed to provide emergency financial assistance to the millions of Americans who are suffering the economic effects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. One source of relief provided by the CARES Act was the authorization of up to $349 billion in forgivable loans to small businesses for job retention and certain other expenses through the PPP. In April 2020, Congress authorized over $300 billion in additional PPP funding. Additional funding was authorized by Congress in December 2020.
The PPP allows qualifying small businesses and other organizations to receive loans with a maturity of two years and an interest rate of one percent. PPP loan proceeds must be used by businesses on payroll costs, interest on mortgages, rent, and utilities. The PPP allows the interest and principal to be forgiven if businesses spend the proceeds on these expenses within eight weeks of receipt and use at least 75 percent of the forgiven amount for payroll.
Ridge submitted two false PPP loan applications for his business, “Barking Rose Solutions,” requesting loan amounts totaling $449,917.50. The applications contained materially false information, including fabricated banking statements that inflated the company’s deposits and expenditures to make it appear that the company qualified for PPP relief. One of these loan applications was accepted and the defendant received $162,467.50 in fraudulent loan proceeds. The defendant then used the proceeds for his own personal benefit, which included purchasing a Range Rover.
Brandon Ridge, 37, of Decatur, Georgia, was sentenced to serve two years of incarceration, to be followed by three years of supervised release, and to forfeit his interest in the Range Rover and over $100,000 seized from his bank accounts. Ridge previously entered a plea of guilty to bank fraud. As part of his plea agreement, he agreed to forfeit his interest in the Range Rover as well as over $100,000 seized from his bank accounts.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Thomas J. Krepp and Tiffany R. Dillingham prosecuted the case.
On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. The Task Force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by, among other methods, augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts. For more information on the Department’s response to the pandemic, please visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus
Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.
For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at [email protected] or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.
Two Georgia men sentenced for using Dark Web to steal identities of elderly victimsRead the Press Release
ATLANTA – Durrell Tyler and DeShawn Johnson have been sentenced for access device fraud and aggravated identity theft related to their use of stolen identities to open accounts with credit card companies and various retailers.
“Criminals using dark net markets to steal identities wreak havoc on the lives of individuals and compromise the financial security of victims,” said U.S. Attorney Kurt R. Erskine. “While law enforcement is focused on investigating and prosecuting these individuals, citizens are reminded to be vigilant with their personal identifiable information.”
“These defendants motivated by greed targeted our most vulnerable population by seeking the identities of older individuals to violate their personal and financial well-being,” said Tommy D. Coke, Inspector in Charge of the Atlanta Division. “Postal Inspectors and our law enforcement partners will continue to work every day to protect our elderly neighbors from financial exploitation.”
“Those who operate in the shadows will be exposed to the light of justice,” said U.S. Secret Service Special Agent in Charge Steven R. Baisel. “Deplorable felons who purposely prey on elderly victims are among the worst criminals there are. We will work tirelessly to pull them from their hiding places.”
According to U.S. Attorney Erskine, the charges, and other information presented in court: Durrell Tyler and DeShawn Johnson purchased personal identifiable information (PII) from dark net markets and used the information to open credit accounts using the victims’ information. They then forwarded the phone lines, mailing addresses, and the emails of their victims to their control. This allowed Tyler and Johnson to impersonate victims with creditors and prevented victims from learning about the fraud.
Law enforcement began investigating Tyler after discovering that he attempted to forward the phone number of an elderly couple in Georgia who had been murdered. Search warrants at multiple homes in the Atlanta area used by Tyler and Johnson revealed the scope of their fraud. Law enforcement found mail for victims, fraudulent driver’s licenses in the name of elderly victims with Tyler’s picture, and PII for dozens of victims listed in phones, email accounts, and a handwritten notebook. Tyler and Johnson were each held accountable for more than $130,000 in actual and intended loss suffered by more than 75 victims around the United States. Targets of their scheme included elderly men and women who were repeat victims of identity theft.
The defendants have been sentenced by U.S. District Judge Steve C. Jones as follows:
- Durrell Tyler, 29, of Atlanta, Georgia, was sentenced to three years, ten months in prison for access device fraud, to be followed by two consecutive years imprisonment for aggravated identity theft. He was also sentenced to serve three years of supervised release and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $108,397.55. Tyler was convicted on these charges on May 14, 2021, after he pleaded guilty.
- DeShawn Johnson, 30, of Atlanta, Georgia, was sentenced to one year, six months in prison for access device fraud, to be followed by two consecutive years imprisonment for aggravated identity theft. He was also sentenced to serve three years of supervised release and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $66,097.55. Johnson was convicted on these charges on September 9, 2021, after he pleaded guilty.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and U.S. Secret Service.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Nicholas Hartigan, Tiffany Dillingham, and former Assistant U.S. Attorney Jolee Porter prosecuted the case.
For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at [email protected] or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.
Armed robbers of DeKalb County cell phone stores sentenced to federal prisonRead the Press Release
ATLANTA - Dontavious Matthews and Quentin Truley have been sentenced for committing an armed robbery of a cell phone store in Brookhaven, Georgia. Truley was also sentenced for committing an armed robbery of a cell phone store in Lithonia, Georgia, 11 days later.
“These defendants showed no regard for the lives of the customers and employees they held at gunpoint while committing these armed robberies,” said U.S. Attorney Kurt R. Erskine. “Due to the strong partnership of federal and local agencies through the Project Safe Neighborhood Program, these defendants were convicted of these violent crimes and will now serve significant sentences in federal prison.”
“Violent conduct like the armed robberies in this case will not be tolerated in our community,” said Chris Hacker, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta. “The FBI is proud to work with our local law enforcement partners in helping to convict these offenders at the federal level, where they face stiffer penalties and no opportunity for parole.”
“The successful prosecution of this case is a direct reflection of the hard work and dedication of the Peace Officers and Public Servants involved during the investigation,” stated Brookhaven Police Chief Gary Yandura. “We are very happy with the outcome of the court proceedings and hope that the victims in these cases find some peace knowing the offenders are off the streets.”
“The arrests and sentencing on this case is a great example of how collaboration between federal and local partners help solve cases and bring them to successful conclusions,” said Chief Mirtha V. Ramos, DeKalb County Police Department. “By working together, we can continue to make our communities safer one arrest at a time.”
According to U.S. Attorney Erskine, the charges and other information presented in court: On December 17, 2017, Matthews and Truley entered a cellular phone store in Brookhaven. A few minutes later, Truley pointed a gun at store employees while Matthews ordered everyone to the ground. Matthews then forced the store manager to go to the back room and open the safe. Truley held the employees and customers at gunpoint while Matthews emptied the safe of cell phones, and both defendants fled the scene. The robbery was captured on surveillance cameras and Truley and Matthews left their fingerprints at the store.
On December 28, 2017, Truley and an unknown accomplice entered a cellular phone store in Lithonia, brandished firearms, and ordered employees and customers to the ground. Truley then forced an employee to the back of the store to obtain cell phones from the safe. Unbeknownst to Truley, the store manager placed a tracker phone with the other stolen phones, which later led police to Truley hiding in some bushes at a nearby apartment complex.
Dontavious Matthews, 31, of Decatur, Georgia, has been sentenced to nine years, four months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $19,321. Matthews was found guilty by a jury of one count of Hobbs Act armed robbery on August 27, 2021.
Quentin Truley, 27, of Decatur, Georgia, was sentenced to 19 years and three months in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $40,400.91. Truley pleaded guilty on August 3, 2021, to two counts of Hobbs Act armed robbery and two counts of possession of a firearm during a crime of violence.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN). In keeping with the Attorney General’s mission to reduce violent crime, the Northern District of Georgia’s PSN program focuses on prosecuting those individuals who most significantly drive violence in our communities, and supports and fosters partnerships between law enforcement and schools, the faith community, and local community leaders to prevent and deter future criminal conduct.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with valuable assistance provided by the City of Brookhaven Police Department and the DeKalb County Police Department.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Leanne Marek and Michael Herskowitz prosecuted the case.
For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at [email protected] or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.
Woman pleads guilty to scamming SSA and FEMA out of hundreds of thousands of dollarsRead the Press Release
ATLANTA - Ivie Shevon Sajere pled guilty to a money laundering conspiracy that defrauded the Social Security Administration (“SSA”) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (“FEMA”) out of nearly $1,000,000. The conspiracy involved the false filing of thousands of online applications for SSA retirement benefits and FEMA disaster benefits using stolen personal information.
“This was a massive fraud that impacted two government agencies and harmed thousands of victims across the country,” said U.S. Attorney Kurt R. Erskine. “The defendant thought she could avoid detection because the scheme was so complex. She was wrong. Through the coordination with multiple federal law enforcement agencies, we were able to identify Sajere and bring her to justice.”
“Sajere and her co-conspirators, brazenly used the stolen personal information of innocent people and abused SSA’s online application process to defraud the government of nearly a million dollars,” said Gail S. Ennis, Inspector General for the Social Security Administration. “This guilty plea demonstrates the commitment we have to ensuring the integrity of SSA’s eServices and to work with our law enforcement partners to hold perpetrators accountable for their crimes. I appreciate the coordinated efforts of the Department of Homeland Security Office of the Inspector General, and U.S. Postal Investigation Services, and other law enforcement partners, in working with us to dismantle this conspiracy.”
“Funds fraudulently obtained from FEMA and the SSA deprive deserving recipients and communities truly in need,” said Dr. Joseph V. Cuffari, Inspector General for DHS’s Office of Inspector General. “This outcome and guilty plea speaks to the strength of the successful law enforcement partnerships between the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General, the Department of Justice, the Social Security Administration and the U.S. Postal Investigation Services.”
“In partnership with our law enforcement partners, we combined our investigative and legal resources to stop this fraudulent activity that affected numerous identity theft victims along with two government agencies that provide aid to those in need,” said Tommy D. Coke, Inspector in Charge of the Atlanta Division. “Postal Inspectors are dedicated to protecting the mail from all those who seek to use the mail system for illegal purposes and this case should serve as warning to anyone considering similar conduct that those actions will result in criminal consequences.”
According to U.S. Attorney Erskine, the charges and other information presented in court: Beginning in approximately June 2017 until September 2018, the defendant and her husband, Neville Sajere, both Nigerian nationals who engaged in marriage fraud in an unsuccessful attempt to become US citizens, participated in a money laundering scheme that defrauded nearly a million dollars from SSA and FEMA.
The scheme involved unknown individuals filing applications for Social Security retirement benefits and/or FEMA disaster relief benefits using stolen personal information. The individual victims whose personal information was stolen were often individuals highly acclaimed in their fields. It appears that these individuals were targeted because, even though they were of retirement age, they had not filed for SSA retirement benefits and did not need disaster benefit relief. Thus, the criminals had a better chance of getting the applications approved. Specifically, the victims included a movie director, an award-winning journalist, the daughter of a legendary movie director, and a highly esteemed academic.
Once an application was approved, the fraudsters directed that the funds be deposited onto a Green Dot debit card opened using other stolen personal information. As soon as the money was credited to the Green Dot debit card, the defendant generated payments through Square, Stripe and Paypal to Nevada Bridge TV, a Nigerian streaming service/television production company owned by the defendant’s husband; BAGMA, an African gospel award show business owned by the defendant’s husband; and Shevonz, a clothing store owned by the defendant.
Sajere pleaded guilty to one count of violating Title 18, United States Code, Section 1956(h) (conspiracy to commit money laundering.) She also agreed to pay $949,616.40 in restitution to SSA and FEMA.
Sentencing for Ivie Shevon Sajere, 37, of Suwanee, Georgia, is scheduled for March 8, 2022, at 10:30 a.m., before U.S. District Judge Timothy C. Batten Sr.
This case is being investigated by the Social Security Administration Office of the Inspector General, Department of Homeland Security Office of the Inspector General, and U.S. Postal Investigation Services.
Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Diane C. Schulman, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Samir Kaushal are prosecuting the case.
For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at [email protected] or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.
VA employee sentenced for stealingRead the Press Release
ATLANTA - Kevin Rumph, Jr., has been sentenced to prison for stealing medical supplies from the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs.
“It is disappointing when someone entrusted to help care for our veterans instead steals from them,” said U.S. Attorney Kurt R. Erskine. “As a veteran, Rumph should have been a compassionate servant, not a thief.”
“This defendant was held accountable for his role in a long-term fraud scheme in which he used his position at VA to selfishly enrich himself,” said Special Agent in Charge David Spilker of the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General’s Southeast Field Office. “The VA OIG will remain vigilant alongside our law enforcement partners ensuring that VA employees who would steal funds intended for the care of our nation’s veterans are investigated and prosecuted.”
According to U.S. Attorney Erskine, the charges and other information presented in court: Kevin Rumph, Jr., a U.S. Air Force veteran, was employed as a Purchasing Agent by the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) and had worked there since 2012. He worked in the VA’s Prosthetic Department at its Community Based Outpatient Clinic (CBOC) located in Fort McPherson, Atlanta, Georgia.
Rumph’s job duties included receiving prosthetic request forms and prescriptions from physicians, therapists, patients, and patient representatives, and reviewing those forms for proper documentation and justification of the items, services, and durable medical equipment being requested. Rumph prepared purchase orders for a wide variety of prosthetic and sensory aids devices, medical supplies, and durable medical equipment and coordinated the delivery of medical equipment and supplies through contracted providers utilizing his VA-issued purchase card.
In addition to his legitimate purchases for veterans’ health care needs, Rumph used his government-issued purchase card to make unauthorized purchases of Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) supplies from a supplier in Alabama. He then stole and sold the CPAP supplies to a vendor located in Ohio. CPAP supplies are medical products used to treat obstructive sleep apnea.
Between 2013 to 2021, Rumph made hundreds of unauthorized CPAP supply purchases costing the VA in excess of $1.9 million.Rumph, 41, of Fairburn, Georgia, was sentenced to two years, three months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $2,041,733.62. Rumph was convicted on these charges on August 16, 2021, after he pleaded guilty.
This case is being investigated by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Inspector General.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Huber, Deputy Chief of the Complex Frauds Section, prosecuted the case.
For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at [email protected] or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.
Georgia inmate sentenced for running a multi-million-dollar fraud scheme from state prisonRead the Press Release
ROME, Ga. - Damon Thomas Young, a/k/a Morgan Sylvia, has been sentenced for his fraud scheme to steal heavy equipment worth nearly $3 million from various dealers, while serving a 20-year state sentence as an inmate with the Georgia Department of Corrections.
“Young schemed to steal millions of dollars’ worth of heavy equipment while serving a sentence for assaulting a police officer,” said U.S. Attorney Kurt R. Erskine. “Inmates should not think that the crimes they commit from prison will go unpunished just because they are already incarcerated. As in this case, inmates who commit crimes from behind bars face additional federal prison time to be served after their state sentences end.”
“Young committed an elaborate fraud scheme continuing his criminal activity even while behind bars, and for that he will be further punished by serving time in the federal prison system without the opportunity for parole,” said Alex Santiago, Acting Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta. “The FBI would like to thank our state and local partners for all their hard work and persistence that will keep this criminal behind bars for a significant amount of time.”
“People committing crimes, even from behind bars, should not expect to escape accountability. The GBI continues to collaborate with federal and local partners to make sure these types of investigations lead to successful prosecution ,” said Vic Reynolds, Director, Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
“The use of contraband cell phones by inmates as a tool to continue carrying out crimes from behind the walls of our facilities will not be tolerated,” said Georgia Department of Corrections Commissioner Timothy C. Ward. “We are grateful to our law enforcement partners on every level for ensuring justice is served on this individual for his role in jeopardizing both the safe and secure operations of our facilities and the safety of the public.”
“We are very pleased that this matter has been brought to a successful conclusion through the combined efforts of our partners in state and federal government, and ourselves. This was a massive and complex investigation that required the best efforts of all the officers, agents and prosecutors assigned to the case. My congratulations to each investigative agency and to the U.S. Attorney's Office for all of their hard work,” Gordon County Sheriff Mitch Ralston.
According to U.S. Attorney Erskine, the charges and other information presented in court: Since 2010, Damon Thomas Young has been an inmate with the Georgia Department of Corrections, incarcerated first at Georgia State Prison in Reidsville, Georgia, and then at Hays State Prison in Trion, Georgia. Young is serving a 20-year state sentence for aggravated assault on a police officer and a 10-year sentence for violation of the Georgia Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. Young also has prior convictions for theft by taking, impersonating a public officer, arson, forgery, burglary and arson, and theft by deception. His maximum possible release date from state prison is June 16, 2030.
While serving his state prison sentence, in 2019, Young used a contraband cell phone to defraud, or attempt to defraud, multiple heavy equipment dealers out of equipment worth millions of dollars. Using the alias Morgan Sylvia and pretending to be a purchasing officer with AbbVie, a real biopharmaceutical company, Young ordered heavy construction equipment that he had delivered in and around Ranger, Georgia, where he and his family lived. He then put the equipment up for sale to buyers on Craigslist.
To carry out his fraud, Young called heavy equipment dealers, posed as Morgan Sylvia, a fictitious purchasing officer, and stated that he wanted to order some heavy construction equipment. Using the Sylvia alias, Young misrepresented that AbbVie needed the equipment because it was building a facility in Ranger. He ordered heavy equipment, such as wheel loaders, skid steer loaders, an excavator, a horizontal grinder, and dump trucks. Young communicated with the equipment dealers by phone, text, and email from prison. He fraudulently completed credit applications, purchase orders, sales contracts, and insurance documents and emailed them to the dealers as part of the scheme. He also emailed a fraudulent AbbVie corporate resolution document, purportedly signed by actual corporate officers of the company, but in truth he had forged the signatures on the document.
As part of his scheme, Young fraudulently ordered equipment worth over $2.8 million from six different equipment dealers. Most of the dealers caught the fraud before shipment, but Young was successful in acquiring four pieces of equipment worth over $500,000. He sold some of the stolen equipment online and used the proceeds to purchase two Chevrolet work trucks. The Gordon County Sheriff’s Office has since recovered all of the stolen equipment that was shipped.
Young, 39, of Ranger, Georgia, has been sentenced to seven years in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $30,000 to the online purchaser of the stolen equipment. The Court ordered that five years of the federal sentence must run consecutively to the state sentence that Young is currently serving. Young was convicted of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft on August 27, 2021, after he pleaded guilty.
This case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Gordon County Sheriff’s Office, Georgia Bureau of Investigation, and the Georgia Department of Corrections Criminal Investigations Division.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen H. McClain, Chief of the Complex Frauds Section, prosecuted the case.
For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at [email protected] or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.
Owner of tax preparation business and wife plead guilty to committing millions in COVID-19-related fraud and tax fraudRead the Press Release
ATLANTA - Tiyari Collins and Farah Collins, husband and wife, have pleaded guilty to defrauding the U.S. Small Business Administration (“SBA”) by obtaining approximately $1.9 million in fraudulent loans from the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) and Economic Impact Disaster Loan (“EIDL”) program. Tiyari Collins, who owned and operated Collins Financial Services Group, a tax-preparation business based in metro Atlanta, also pleaded guilty to filing thousands of fraudulent tax returns resulting in a loss of at least $3.8 million to the IRS.
“The fraud here is outrageous,” said U.S. Attorney Kurt R. Erskine. “Tiyrai Collins defrauded the federal government amid a historic pandemic. It is unconscionable that he and his wife stole from government programs designed to support small businesses and their employees struggling as result of COVD-19 pandemic.”
“These guilty pleas are a victory for the American taxpayers,” said IRS-Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge James E. Dorsey. “It’s unfortunate that criminals continue to abuse the funds set aside to aid those impacted by the COVID-19 Pandemic. IRS-CI will continue to use our financial expertise to identify fraud, trace the funds, and bring the criminals to justice.”
“The Collins family greedily lined their pockets with stolen government funds intended to provide relief to small businesses and employees during the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Chris Hacker, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta. “Their actions affect every tax paying citizen, in particular those who need help most. The FBI will make every effort to ensure federal funds are used as intended.”
According to U.S. Attorney Erskine, the charges and other information presented in court: The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (“CARES”) is a federal law enacted on March 29, 2020. It is designed to provide emergency financial assistance to the millions of Americans who are suffering the economic effects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. One source of relief provided by the CARES Act was the authorization of up to $349 billion in forgivable loans to small businesses for job retention and certain other expenses through the PPP. In April 2020, Congress authorized over $300 billion in additional PPP funding. Additional funding was authorized by Congress in December 2020.
The PPP allows qualifying small businesses and other organizations to receive loans with a maturity of two years and an interest rate of one percent. PPP loan proceeds must be used by businesses on payroll costs, interest on mortgages, rent, and utilities. The PPP allows the interest and principal to be forgiven if businesses spend the proceeds on these expenses within eight weeks of receipt and use at least 75 percent of the forgiven amount for payroll.
In addition to the PPP, Congress also expanded the SBA’s EIDL Program to provide small businesses with low-interest loans of up to $2 million prior to in or about May 2020 and up to $150,000 beginning in or about May 2020. The purpose of these loans was to provide vital economic support to help overcome the loss of revenue small businesses are experiencing due to COVID-19. Applicants seeking a loan under the EIDL program were also permitted to request and receive an advance of approximately $1,000 per employee, for an amount up to $10,000, which the SBA has generally provided while the loan application was pending.
Tiyari Collins submitted applications for six fraudulent PPP loans and five fraudulent EIDL loans between approximately May 1, 2020 and June 30, 2020, totaling more than $1.9 million. Farah Collins was involved in submitting four of these fraudulent applications and received approximately $365,000 in the fraudulently distributed PPP and EIDL funds.
In the fraudulent PPP and EIDL loan applications, the Collinses falsely represented, among other things, the company’s average monthly payrolls, the number of employees working for the relevant company, and the company’s revenues. The Collinses also submitted false tax returns in connection with several of these applications. Tiyari Collins paid another individual to prepare the fraudulent payroll reports that were submitted as part of the applications. For example, Tiyari Collins asked this individual to prepare a fraudulent payroll report showing total yearly wages to be approximately $850,000 for Collins Financial Services Group, LLC (“CFSG”) and to make up employees if necessary.
The Collinses owned or controlled the following entities that sought these fraudulent PPP and EIDL loans:
CFSG- Collins Investment Services Group, LLC
- Collins Platinum Car Services, LLC
- Fab Financial Business Solutions
- Tax Dragon Professional Network LLC
- T&F Investment Group
- Tiyari Collins Agency, LLC
The Collinses used the fraudulently obtained funds for unauthorized expenditures, including spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on luxury goods, personal credit card bills, and office furnishings.
After the fraud was discovered, federal agents were able to seize approximately $588,900 of the fraudulent proceeds.
Separately, Tiyari Collins, through his tax preparation business, CFSG, filed and caused to be filed thousands of fraudulent federal tax returns between approximately January 2015 and April 2020, resulting in over $3.8 million in losses to the IRS. Tiyari Collins inflated the refunds for his clients by, among other ways, fraudulently claiming they qualified for certain Form 3800 Business Credits and by filing fraudulent Schedule Cs to reduce his clients’ taxable income. CFSG’s clients never authorized Tiyari Collins to include this materially false information in their federal tax returns. Agents from the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation were able to detect and confirm this massive tax fraud, in part, with information provided by the IRS’s Scheme Detection Center, which had identified a pattern of suspicious returns that were connected to Tiyari Collins and his tax preparation businesses, by conducting an undercover operation, and with information obtained as a result of executing a federal search warrant at CFSG’s place of business in June 2020.
Tiyari Collins pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of aiding and assisting in the preparation of a false tax return. Farah Collins pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
Sentencing for Tiyari Collins, 38, and Farah Collins, 41, both of Atlanta, Georgia, is scheduled for March 15, 2022, at 9:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m., respectively, before U.S. District Judge William M. Ray II
This case is being investigated by the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation and Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alex R. Sistla and Thomas J. Krepp are prosecuting the case.
On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. The Task Force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by, among other methods, augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts. For more information on the Department’s response to the pandemic, please visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus
Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.
For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at [email protected] or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.
Home health agency to pay $4.2 million to settle False Claims Act allegationsRead the Press Release
ATLANTA – PruittHealth, Inc. and affiliated entities (“Pruitt”) have agreed to pay $4.2 million to resolve allegations that they submitted claims for home health services that were not covered by the Medicare and Medicaid programs, and that they failed to refund overpayments that they had received from Medicare and Medicaid in a timely manner.
“The Medicare and Medicaid programs depend on providers to submit only those claims that are eligible for reimbursement and to promptly notify the programs if they receive payments to which they are not entitled,” said U.S. Attorney Kurt R. Erskine. “Healthcare providers must not place their own financial well-being ahead of their duties under the Medicare and Medicaid programs.”
“When health care entities seek to boost their profits through improper billing, they undermine the trust taxpayers extend to the health care industry,” said Special Agent in Charge Derrick L. Jackson. “This settlement demonstrates the commitment that our agency and its law enforcement partners have to pursuing those who seek to improperly enrich themselves at the expense of federal health care programs.”
“When funds from programs like Medicare and Medicaid are not used as intended, taxpayers and people who are entitled to those funds suffer,” said Chris Hacker, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta. “This settlement is the result of the FBI’s commitment to work with our federal and state partners to ensure that federally funded healthcare programs are not abused by providers.”
Home health services consist of skilled care provided to homebound beneficiaries for the treatment of acute illnesses and injuries. As a result of widespread fraud in the submission of home health claims, Medicare and Medicaid began requiring referring physicians to certify in writing, after a face-to-face visit with the beneficiary, that the beneficiary was homebound and needed the skilled care. Medicare and Medicaid also require the physician to devise and sign a plan of care for the beneficiary.
The Government alleges that from January 1, 2011 through June 30, 2012, Pruitt knowingly submitted claims to Medicare and Medicaid for home health services that were not eligible for reimbursement because, among other things, they did not have the required face-to-face certifications or plans of care, and they did not document the beneficiary’s homebound status or need for the home health services. The Government further alleges that Pruitt learned that it had received payments for home health services to which it was not entitled, but failed to disclose its receipt of the overpayments, or refund the overpayments to Medicare and Medicaid in a timely manner.
In reaching its settlement with Pruitt, the Government took into account documents produced by Pruitt indicating that Pruitt subsequently took steps to improve its compliance with the home health requirements of the Medicare and Medicaid programs, including the retention of an outside consultant in January 2013 to conduct an audit of its home health claims, the implementation of a pre-bill review of home health claims between February 2013 and August of 2013, and the implementation of quarterly audits of its home health claims (with more frequent audits as needed) beginning in September 2013 through the present. Pruitt voluntarily produced the results of its 2013 audit to the Government during the investigation. Although the Government has taken these steps into consideration, this is not an indication or concession as to the sufficiency of these compliance measures.
This settlement resolves a lawsuit originally filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia by Tina Peery (the Relator) under the qui tam or whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act: United States ex rel. Tina Peery v. UHS-Pruitt Holdings, Inc., et al., No. 1:14-cv-01016-AT. Under the False Claims Act, private citizens may bring suit for false claims on behalf of the United States and share in any recovery obtained by the government. The Relator will receive over $700,000.00 from the settlement.
The claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.
This case was investigated by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, The Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Georgia Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
The civil settlement was reached by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Neeli Ben-David and Anthony DeCinque, as well as Georgia Assistant Attorney General Sara Vann.
For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at [email protected] or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.
Georgia man sentenced to more than eight years in prison for filing false liens against federal government officialsRead the Press Release
ATLANTA - Hakim Amal Archible has been sentenced for filing false liens against federal government officials, including former IRS Commissioner John Koskinen and former U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew.
“Harassing federal officials through the filing of false liens is serious criminal conduct,” said U.S. Attorney Kurt R. Erskine. “Congress enacted the retaliatory lien statute to address the problem of frivolous retaliatory liens, too often used by tax defiers and sovereign citizens to obstruct the tax laws and harass government employees.”
“TIGTA’s statutory mission includes investigating individuals who interfere with the lawful collection of taxes by filing frivolous liens against public officials,” said J. Russell George, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. “Attempts to interfere with IRS employees engaged in the performance of their official duties will be aggressively pursued. We appreciate the efforts of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in working with TIGTA to protect the integrity of Federal tax administration.”
According to U.S. Attorney Erskine, the charges and other information presented in court: In 2014 and 2015, while imprisoned in Henry County, Georgia, for unrelated crimes, Archible filed or attempted to file false liens against the real and personal property of government officials. Specifically, the testimony showed that on October 22, 2014, the IRS issued a letter to Archible informing him that he would be subject to a $5,000 penalty for taking a frivolous position in his 2013 tax return. Archible, aided and abetted by others, filed false UCC lien documents in the Fayette County Clerk’s Office that named IRS Commissioner John Koskinen as debtor and listed himself as the secured party creditor. In the documents, Archible indicated that Koskinen was responsible for the $5,000 tax penalty. He also had the UCC filing, and other IRS forms, mailed directly to the IRS.
On December 9, 2014, Archible, aided and abetted by others, filed UCC lien documents naming former U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew as the debtor and himself as the secured party creditor. While the collateral identified for the lien is nonsensical, the description of the subject real estate included, among other things, a $100 billion chargeback order. On August 5, 2015, Archible, aided and abetted by others, filed another false UCC lien against Jacob Lew, which named Secretary Lew as the debtor and Archible as the secured party. The collateral for the lien included, among other things, a $10 billion registered security.
In addition to the false liens filed against the federal governmental officials, Archible also filed false liens against local officials in Georgia, including the Chief Judge of Henry County Superior Court, and the former Clerk of Henry County Superior Court.
Witnesses testified that the lien filings are publicly available and can be accessed through an internet search. A court order is required to remove the liens from the public portal. The victims testified that they were concerned that these liens could affect their credit or their property and that they felt threatened and harassed by the conduct.
On July 2, 2021, a jury found Archible guilty of three counts of filing and attempting to file false and retaliatory liens against the real and personal property of certain employees of the federal government, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1521, and one count of obstructing the due administration of the IRS, in violation of 26 U.S.C. § 7212.
Hakim Amal Archible, 38, of Hampton, Georgia, was sentenced November 16, 2021, by U.S. District Judge Thomas W. Thrash, Jr., to eight years, nine months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release.
This case was investigated by the U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Angela Adams and Erin N. Spritzer prosecuted the case.
For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at [email protected] or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.
Six defendants indicted for fraud that included targeting elderly citizensRead the Press Release
ATLANTA – Vikas Mehta, Walter Valdivia, Pradip Parikh, Jaime Salas, Alpesh Patel, and Darash Shah have been indicted for wire fraud conspiracy, wire fraud, money laundering conspiracy, and money laundering.
“This case involves an alleged scheme to defraud victims — many of whom are elderly — out of their hard-earned savings,” said U.S. Attorney Kurt R. Erskine. “It is a particularly egregious type of fraud that is becoming an all-too-common occurrence. It involves dishonest individuals around the world, including in the United States, scaring good people with lies and then cheating them out of their money.”
“These indictments send a solid message that my office will continue to pursue perpetrators of these vicious Social Security-related imposter scams designed to target and harm vulnerable people, including the elderly,” said Gail S. Ennis, Inspector General for the Social Security Administration. “I thank the Transnational Elder Fraud Strike Force, Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Secret Service, Department of Homeland Security, and the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration criminal investigators for their significant efforts; additionally, I thank the many law enforcement agencies for their substantial contributions to this major investigation and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for prosecuting this case.”
According to U.S. Attorney Erskine, the charges and other information presented in court: The defendants allegedly participated in a conspiracy to defraud victims in the United States, many of whom are elderly. The conspiracy began with either robocall recordings purporting to be from a government agency or with emails purporting to be from legitimate companies. The robocall recordings and email messages provided callback numbers. When individuals called those numbers, they were connected to alleged scammers — some of whom were located in India. During these telephone calls, the scammer pretended either to work for the United States government or to represent a company.
When the scammer pretended to work for a government agency, the scammer would tell the victim that they were in some type of trouble. Oftentimes, they pretended to be a Social Security Administration employee, claiming that the victim’s Social Security Number was compromised in some way. The scammer would then tell the victim that they needed to pay money immediately, or, if they did not, they would be arrested. The scammer sometimes used actual Social Security Administration employees’ names to appear legitimate.
In those instances when the scammer claimed to work for a legitimate company, they reported that the victim was entitled to a company refund. The scammer often convinced the victim to download computer software that, unbeknownst to the victim, allowed the scammer to remotely access the computer. From there, the scammer manipulated the victim’s bank accounts to make it appear that, when attempting to refund the victim his or her money, the scammer “accidentally” refunded too much, and thus, the victim now owed a “debt” to the company. If the victim did not pay back this perceived debt, they would face certain consequences.
Once the scammer on the telephone scared the victims, the scammer would instruct the victim on how to pay money. Sometimes the scammer directed the victim to withdraw cash, package the cash in shipping boxes, and deliver the package as instructed. Other times, the individual on the phone would tell the victim to obtain gift cards and provide the redemption code on the back of the card. Oftentimes, the individual on the phone would tell the victim to wire money to a particular bank account; withdraw their money for cashier’s checks made payable to a specific company; or deposit cash directly into a specific company’s bank account.
To effect the alleged wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy, the named defendants — all of whom reside in the United States — allegedly created companies with various Secretaries of State offices and then opened bank accounts in the company’s names. These companies, however, did little to no legitimate business. Instead, their purpose was to receive and transfer victim funds. And it was into these bank accounts that the scammer on the phone instructed the victim to deposit their money.
Once the defendants had received the victims’ money, they allegedly laundered the fraud proceeds through their various accounts. The defendants and their companies are listed below:
- Vikas Mehta, 48, of Cliffside Park, New Jersey, created two companies: Snoopy Trust LLC and MVJ Holdings LLC.
- Walter Valdivia, 69, of Boca Raton, Florida, created Achieve Capital Group LLC and ACG Accounts Inc.
- Pradip Parikh, 63, of Valley Stream, New York, formed JDM Management Inc.
- Jaime Salas, 27, of Acworth, Georgia, formed Salas Construction LLC.
- Alpesh Patel, 37 of Louisa, Virginia, created Seven Points Agency LLC.
- Darash Shah, 22 of Boston, Massachusetts, formed Turtle Dove Holdings LLC.
Members of the public are reminded that the indictment only contains charges. The defendants are presumed innocent of the charges and it will be the government’s burden to prove the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.
Assistant U.S. Attorney J. Elizabeth McBath is prosecuting this case.
The Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General (SSA OIG) is investigating the case, with the assistance of: Federal Bureau of Investigation agents in Atlanta, New York, New Jersey, Florida and Virginia; U.S. Secret Service agents in Cleveland and Headquarters; Department of Homeland Security agents in Miami; and Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration agents in Chicago.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office and SSA-OIG would like to thank the following law enforcement agencies for their work in this case:
- Wood-Ridge Police Department (New Jersey);
- Lincoln Police Department (Lincoln, Nebraska);
- Conway Police Department (Conway, New Hampshire);
- Loveland Police Department (Loveland, Colorado);
- Stockton Police Department (Stockton, California);
- Ferndale Police Department (Ferndale, Michigan);
- City of Maplewood Police Department (Maplewood, Minnesota);
- Stafford County Sheriff’s Office (Stafford, Virginia);
- Pennington County Sheriff’s Office (Rapid City, South Dakota);
- New York Police Department (NYPD) (New York City, New York);
- Nassau County Police Department (Garden City, New York);
- Lake County Sheriff’s Office (Tavares, Florida);
- Polk County Sheriff’s Office (Benton, Tennessee);
- Smyrna Police Department (Smyrna, Georgia);
- Conway Police Department (Conway, Arkansas);
- Polk County Sheriff’s Office (Des Moines, Iowa);
- Columbus Police Department (Columbus, Ohio);
- Cobb County Sheriff’s Office (Marietta, Georgia);
- North Richland Hills Police Department (North Richland, Texas); &
- New Jersey Probation Division (Bergen County, New Jersey).
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is part of the Department of Justice Transnational Elder Fraud Strike Force. The Strike Force focuses on investigating and prosecuting defendants associated with fraud schemes that disproportionately affect American seniors. These include phone scams and computer-takeover scams.
The public should exercise caution with any caller who claims to be a government employee. Government agencies will never threaten you with immediate arrest or other legal action if you do not send cash, retail gift cards, prepaid debit cards, wire transfers, or Internet currency. They will also never demand secrecy from you in resolving a debt or any other problem. If you need to send a payment to the Social Security Administration, the agency will send a letter with payment options and appeal rights. If you or someone you know is age 65 or older and has been a victim of financial fraud, help is standing by at the National Elder Fraud Hotline: 1-833-FRAUD-11 (1-833-372-8311).
The public is reminded that gift cards are for gifts, not for payments. If a stranger purporting to be a legitimate company or government agency demands payment with a gift card, hang up or ignore the message. Anyone who demands payment by gift card is a scammer. Scammers use this method of payment because it is difficult to trace. Once you buy the gift card, scammers typically demand the number on the back of the gift card. That number lets the scammer immediately steal the money loaded onto the card. For more information, visit https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/paying-scammers-gift-cards.
For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at [email protected] or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.
Georgia man who laundered millions from online frauds sentenced to 13 years in federal prisonRead the Press Release
ATLANTA - Nnamdi Marcellus MgBodile has been sentenced to prison for bank fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy to commit bank fraud after being convicted at trial. For years, MgBodile opened and directed others to open fraudulent business bank accounts that received millions of dollars from various online frauds. He and others then laundered these funds to other accounts, including dozens of accounts overseas.
“MgBodile and his co-conspirators are representative of the transnational fraudsters who have had had a devastating impact on U.S. residents and businesses,” said U.S. Attorney Kurt R. Erskine. “The groups perpetrating these romance scams and business email compromise frauds target their victims indiscriminately and have caused billions of dollars of losses for victims in recent years.”
“As evidenced by the length of the prison sentence in this case, fraud is a heinous crime that can destroy people’s lives,” said U.S. Secret Service Special Agent In Charge Steven R. Baisel. “We will continue to aggressively investigate and bring to justice those who prey on the vulnerable.”
According to U.S. Attorney Erskine, the charges, and other information presented in court: Nnamdi Marcellus MgBodile opened and directed others to open fraudulent bank accounts in Georgia, New York, and California for sham companies that did not have physical premises, earn legitimate income, or pay wages to employees. MgBodile recruited at least five other individuals to open the fraudulent business bank accounts, including a former bank employee who he bribed to continue to open accounts even after others have been closed for fraud.
MgBodile used these fraudulent accounts to launder the proceeds of various fraudulent schemes, including a romance scam that defrauded a Virginia woman out of more than $5 million, and business email compromise (“BEC”) scams in which MgBodile and others attempted to defraud a Georgia company of nearly $350,000, and an Alabama company of more than $800,000.
Romance scams are a type of online fraud in which victims are targeted by individuals posing as potential paramours. The fraudsters create fake online dating profiles (often with photographs of attractive men or women) and use these fake personas to express strong romantic interest in the victims in order to trick them into sending money to them or their co-conspirators under false pretenses. Romance scams frequently target vulnerable individuals who possess significant financial assets, such as retired widows or widowers.
The evidence at trial showed that at the end of November 2017 a Virginia woman, who signatory authority over a sizable trust that had been established for her children, met a person (“James Deere”) through an on-line dating service. She was soon convinced that she was in a romantic relationship with “Deere.” Over the next month, the victim communicated via email with Deere, whom she believed had fallen for her. Deere said he wanted to start a life with her and was excited to live with her, but first had to resolve an investment opportunity—an opportunity that was totally fraudulent and fictitious.
Deere told the victim that he was a fund manager and he was on the verge of receiving a sizeable commission (“the funds”) for services provided to an unnamed client. Deere explained to the victim that he needed her to be his “representative partner” and have the Funds deposited into the victim’s bank account to avoid an alleged conflict of interest.
In January and February 2018, after luring the victim, “Deere” and conspirators started requesting via email that she pay various “fees” and “taxes” so that the funds could be released. Between approximately January 2, 2018 and February 12, 2018, and in response to representations made by “Deere” and others regarding the Funds, the victim made approximately twenty-five wire transfers totaling more than $5 million from the trust account into various bank accounts, of which $1.35 million was wired to accounts controlled by MgBodile. After the fraudulent funds hit the accounts controlled by MgBodile, they were then wired to other accounts controlled by MgBodile or overseas accounts in China and the Middle East.
BEC scams commonly involve an employee of a company who has been fooled into responding with email messages that appear to be, but are not, legitimate (“spoof emails”). At trial, the evidence showed that in March 2019, MgBodile and others attempted to defraud a Georgia company out of nearly $350,000 after the Georgia company received emails from what it believed was Oxford Finance, a company that had provided financing to the victim company. The emails fraudulently represented that the victim needed to wire Oxford Finance a quarterly payment rather than being drawn via an automated clearing house, typically referred to as an ACH. None of the emails purporting to be sent from Oxford Finance was actually sent by Oxford Finance. Rather, these “spoof emails” were sent from a domain, “oxfordfiinance.com,” which appeared to be Oxford Finance’s, but was not. Oxford Finance’s actual domain is “oxfordfinance.com” (only one “i" in finance). The emails also appeared to come from Oxford Finance because the purported sender is an actual employee of Oxford Finance and the email’s signature line contained Oxford Finance’s correct physical address
Nnamdi Marcellus MgBodile, 37, of Marietta, Georgia, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Michael Brown to 13 years in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release. He was charged by a federal grand jury in November 2019 with twenty counts of bank fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy to commit bank fraud. A federal jury convicted him of these charges on May 13, 2021 following an eight-day trial.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is part of the Department of Justice Transnational Elder Fraud Strike Force. The Strike Force focuses on investigating and prosecuting defendants associated with foreign-based fraud schemes that disproportionately affect American seniors. These include romance scams, phone scams, mass-mailing fraud schemes, and tech-support fraud schemes. For further information on these scams, see https://www.justice.gov/elderjustice/senior-scam-alert.
Members of the public are reminded that the indictment only contains charges. The defendant is presumed innocent of the charges and it will be the government’s burden to prove the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.
This case was investigated by the U.S. Secret Service.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Alex R. Sistla prosecuted the case.
For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at [email protected] or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.
Justice Department announces $139 million for law enforcement hiring to advance community policingRead the Press Release
ATLANTA – The Department of Justice today announced more than $139 million in grant funding through the department’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) COPS Hiring Program (CHP). The awards provide direct funding to 183 law enforcement agencies across the nation, allowing those agencies to hire 1,066 additional full-time law enforcement professionals. Funding totaling $827,258 was awarded in the Northern District of Georgia.
“We are committed to providing police departments with the resources needed to help ensure community safety and build community trust,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “The grants we are announcing today will enable law enforcement agencies across the country to hire more than 1,000 additional officers to support vitally important community oriented policing programs.”
“In our district, this means more officers on the beat and in the community working proactively to address the root causes of criminal and disorderly behavior, rather than simply responding to crimes once they have occurred,” said U.S. Attorney Kurt R. Erskine.
The City of Lithonia, Georgia, received an award of $827,258, in the Northern District of Georgia.
CHP is a competitive award program intended to reduce crime and advance public safety through community policing. CHP provides funds directly to law enforcement agencies to hire new or rehire additional career law enforcement officers, thereby increasing their community policing capacity and crime prevention efforts. Of the 183 agencies awarded grants today, approximately half will use the funding to focus on building legitimacy and trust between law enforcement and communities; 41 agencies will seek to address high rates of gun violence; 21 will focus on other areas of violence; and 19 will focus CHP resources on combating hate and domestic extremism or supporting police-based responses to persons in crisis. The complete list of awards can be found here.
Since its creation in 1994, COPS has invested more than $14 billion to advance community policing, including grants awarded to more than 13,000 state, local and Tribal law enforcement agencies to fund the hiring and redeployment of more than 135,000 officers. CHP, COPS’ flagship program, continues to be in demand today: In FY21, COPS received 590 applications requesting nearly 3,000 law enforcement positions. For FY22, President Biden has requested $537 million for CHP, an increase of $300 million.
To learn more about CHP, please visit https://cops.usdoj.gov/chp-award. For additional information about the COPS Office, please visit https://cops.usdoj.gov/.
The COPS Office is the federal component of the Department of Justice responsible for advancing community policing nationwide. The only Department of Justice agency with policing in its name, the COPS Office was established in 1994 and has been the cornerstone of the nation’s crime fighting strategy with grants, a variety of knowledge resource products, and training and technical assistance. Through the years, the COPS Office has become the go-to organization for law enforcement agencies across the country and continues to listen to the field and provide the resources that are needed to reduce crime and build trust between law enforcement and the communities served.
For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at [email protected] or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.
Gainesville men sentenced on federal arson charges for setting fire to police car parked at officer’s residenceRead the Press Release
GAINESVILLE, Ga. – Jesse James Smallwood, Delveccho Waller, Jr., Bruce Thompson, Judah Coleman Bailey, and Dashun Martin have been sentenced to prison for conspiring to commit arson of a City of Gainesville Police Department patrol vehicle.
“The defendants sought out and intentionally destroyed a police vehicle using the cover of legitimate peaceful protest,” said U.S. Attorney Kurt R. Erskine. “The criminal conduct of these defendants showed a reckless disregard for the safety of others.”
“The FBI Atlanta Field Office is committed to supporting our local and state law enforcement partners in an effort to maintain public safety in the communities we serve,” said Chris Hacker, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta. “We are not focused on peaceful protests, but instead concentrating on identifying, investigating and disrupting those individuals who are taking advantage of the protests to incite violence and engage in criminal activity.”
“We want our community to know we stand with them during their rights to peacefully protest. However, these defendants did not peacefully protest, rather, they took this opportunity to target one of our officers at his residence. This type of violence and destruction will not be tolerated in our community,” said Jay Parrish, Chief of Police, Gainesville Police Department.
According to U.S. Attorney Erskine, the federal charges, and other information: On the evening of June 1, 2020, the five defendants met in the parking lot of a pharmacy located near downtown Gainesville. The men were in the area to participate in a legitimate protest concerning the killing of George Floyd. Bailey brought a flare gun and cartridges to the pharmacy with him. While in the parking lot of the pharmacy, the five defendants discussed their knowledge of the location of a parked Gainesville Police Department patrol vehicle. They all agreed that they would drive to the location and someone would shoot the flare gun at the police car.
Smallwood drove the group to the apartment complex where the police car was parked. Upon arriving at the location, the defendants pulled masks and bandanas over their faces and left Smallwood’s car. Bailey approached the police vehicle and shot a flare inside the vehicle through the rear windshield, setting the vehicle on fire. The five defendants then fled the scene in Smallwood’s car. Shortly afterward, the group was arrested following a tip from a witness who saw the men and the vehicle they drove to go to and from the apartment complex.
U.S. District Judge Steve C. Jones sentenced the defendants for the offense of conspiring to commit arson as follows:
- Smallwood, of Gainesville, Georgia, was sentenced on November 16, 2021, to one year, nine months of imprisonment; Smallwood pleaded guilty on September 29, 2021;
- Waller, Jr., 23, of Gainesville, Georgia, was sentenced on August 26, 2021, to one year, nine months of imprisonment; Waller, Jr. pleaded guilty on May 13, 2021;
- Bailey, 21, of Gainesville, Georgia, was sentenced on June 30, 2021, to one year, nine months of imprisonment; Bailey pleaded guilty on March 25, 2021;
- Martin, 24, of Gainesville, Georgia, was sentenced on November 15, 2021, to one year, five months of imprisonment; Martin pleaded guilty on November 4, 2021; and
- Thompson, 23, of Oakwood, Georgia, was sentenced on August 26, 2021, to just over one year, two months of imprisonment; Thompson pleaded guilty on May 10, 2021.
All the defendants were ordered to serve three years of supervised release following the completion of their prison terms. The men were also ordered to pay the Gainesville Police Department $3,678.17 in restitution.
The FBI-Gainesville Field Office, the Gainesville Police Department, and the Gainesville Fire Department investigated the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Greg Radics prosecuted the case.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN). In keeping with the Attorney General’s mission to reduce violent crime, the Northern District of Georgia’s PSN program focuses on prosecuting those individuals who most significantly drive violence in our communities, and supports and fosters partnerships between law enforcement and schools, the faith community, and local community leaders to prevent and deter future criminal conduct.
For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at [email protected] or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.
Cyberstalker sentenced for child exploitation crimesRead the Press Release
ATLANTA - Emanuel Gray has been sentenced to prison for producing child pornography and cyberstalking two teenage girls he met online. After the girls broke off communications with him, Gray coerced them into sending sexually explicit photos and videos, and then retaliated against them when they refused to send him more.
“Gray stalked and threatened his victims after they rebuffed his demands,” said U.S. Attorney Kurt R. Erskine. “He terrorized these girls by threatening to post their photographs online if they did not comply. A jury has held Gray accountable for his inexcusable crimes, and he will now serve time in prison.”
“The facts of this case are disturbing but unfortunately all too common,” said Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta, Chris Hacker. “This sentencing sends a message to Gray and any other predators that the FBI will go to any length to bring child predators to justice. We would like to remind the community to remain vigilant with online relationships and to never send compromising images of yourself to anyone, no matter who they say they are.”
According to Acting U.S. Attorney Erskine, the charges and other information presented in court: Between May 2017 and November 2018, when he was arrested, Emanuel Gray targeted at least two teenage girls who he had met online through various social media apps, including Kik and Snapchat. While chatting online, the girls—who both testified at trial but did not know each other—sent sexually suggestive images and/or videos of themselves to Gray.
One of the victims, who was 14 at the time, testified after meeting Gray online they were in a “relationship” for a short time. After she decided to end the relationship, Gray harassed and threatened her until she sent more sexually explicit photos. Gray not only threatened her directly but attempted to “expose her” by posting explicit photos of her on her high school band's Facebook page. The other victim, who was 16 at the time, described being threatened and harassed by Gray in similar manner. Gray sent multiple messages to her high school band's Facebook page and created multiple fake Instagram accounts to “expose her” as well. Both girls also testified that Gray would instruct them on what to show and what to do, including demanding that they masturbate for him.
Emanuel Gray, 22, of Decatur, Georgia, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Steve C. Jones to 20 years in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release. Gray will also be required to register as a sex offender upon release from prison. He was charged with two counts of producing child pornography, two counts of cyberstalking, and one count of possession of child pornography. A federal jury convicted him of these charges on July 14, 2021.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with assistance from the Schulenburg, Texas and Villa Rica, Georgia Police Departments.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alex R. Sistla and L. Skye Davis, Deputy Chief of the Violent Crime & National Security Section, prosecuted the case.
This case is being brought as part of Project Safe Childhood. In February 2006, the Attorney General launched Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorney’s Offices around the country, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at [email protected] or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.
Mayor of Stonecrest and bookkeeper arraigned on federal charges relating to theft of COVID-19 relief fundsRead the Press Release
ATLANTA - Jason Lary, the Mayor of Stonecrest, Georgia, has been arraigned on federal charges of wire fraud, conspiracy, and federal program theft. The charges relate to a scheme to allegedly steal federal relief funds granted to Stonecrest to address the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic. Lania Boone, a bookkeeper for the entity hired by Stonecrest to disburse the relief funds, has also been arraigned on a federal charge of conspiring with Lary to steal relief funds.
“Lary allegedly abused the power and trust conferred on him as Mayor of Stonecrest to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars intended for COVID-19 relief,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Kurt R. Erskine. “Instead of providing aid to Stonecrest’s deserving citizens, Lary allegedly diverted funds for his own use, including to pay off his taxes and the mortgage on his lakefront home.”
“It is very troubling when an elected official, someone sworn to protect the community they serve, violates that oath by stealing relief funds intended to aid their community during a global pandemic,” said Chris Hacker, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta. “The allegations against Lary and Boone indicate an abuse of a position of trust and blatant disrespect for the law, which will not be tolerated by the FBI.”
According to Acting U.S. Attorney Erskine, the charges, and other information presented in court: In March 2020, the President signed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (“CARES”) Act into law in response to the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic. Under the CARES Act, the federal government distributed COVID-19 relief funds to individual Americans, federal agencies, and state and local governments, including $125 million to DeKalb County. The federal government permitted DeKalb County to further disburse these relief funds to its municipalities. In July 2020, the DeKalb County Board of Commissioners voted to disburse some of the relief funds to its municipalities, including a $6.2 million grant to Stonecrest.
Stonecrest was required to spend the relief funds in accordance with the CARES Act. In general, according to the Department of the Treasury, relief funds could “only be used to cover costs that – [were] necessary expenditures incurred due to the public health emergency . . . . and were incurred during the period that [began] on March 1, 2020, and [ended] on December 30, 2020.” Examples of eligible expenditures were medical expenses, public health expenses, and grants to small businesses to reimburse the costs of business interruption caused by required closures.
In September 2020, Jason Lary, the Mayor of Stonecrest, signed a resolution acknowledging these CARES Act requirements. The resolution also adopted a funding plan for most of Stonecrest’s relief funds. The plan provided $1 million to the Stonecrest Cares Program for mask distribution, COVID-19 education and testing, and other purposes. In practice, the Stonecrest Cares Program directed relief funds to churches and non-profit organizations in and around Stonecrest. The plan also provided $5 million to the COVID-19 CARES Act Small Business Program (“Small Business Program”).
Stonecrest did not disburse the $6 million allocated to the Stonecrest Cares Program and Small Business Program. Instead, the city contracted with Municipal Resource Partners Corporation, Inc. (“MRPC”) to provide accounting services and to disburse the relief funds as directed by Stonecrest. Before the contract was signed, Lary allegedly worked behind the scenes to assist MRPC, including by recruiting its CEO, opening its bank accounts, and ensuring that Lania Boone would be hired as MRPC’s bookkeeper.
In or about November 2020, Stonecrest published an application on its website for businesses to apply for relief funds under the Small Business Program. The application included the question, “are you willing to allocate 25% of your grant to marketing your business?” Hundreds of businesses applied for relief funds, but most of the applicants were rejected. From about November 2020, until in or about February 2021, Lania Boone signed dozens of checks on behalf of MRPC, directing millions of dollars of relief funds to individuals, businesses, churches, and non-profit organizations. Lary allegedly helped decide where the relief funds were directed.
Lary allegedly abused his position to devise and execute a scheme to steal relief funds after they were distributed by MRPC. First, Lary allegedly told churches that received relief funds under the Stonecrest Cares Program that they were required to contribute a portion of those funds for purposes identified by Lary.
For example, Lary presented a check for $150,000 in relief funds to “Church 1,” on the condition that $50,000 be given to a company called Real Estate Management Consultants, LLC (“REMC”). Lary allegedly did not tell Church 1 at this time that he actually controlled REMC. Lary allegedly falsely stated that the $50,000 would be used to assist with home repairs for people who could not afford them due to COVID-19. In reality, Lary allegedly used the money for his own purposes, including to pay off his outstanding federal, state and local tax liabilities.
As another example, Lary presented a check for $50,000 to “Church 2.” Later, a person acting on Lary’s behalf told Church 2 to contribute $4,500 of the relief funds to REMC, purportedly for rent assistance. Lary allegedly spent the money to pay his own property expenses and his dues to the Georgia Campaign Finance Committee.
In addition, Lary and others acting on his behalf allegedly solicited relief funds from businesses that received grants under the Small Business Program. Lary and others allegedly falsely claimed that the money would be each business’s “contribution” to Stonecrest-related marketing and advertising. But Lary and others asked that these “contributions” be given not to Stonecrest, but to entities called Visit Us, Inc., and Battleground Media, LLC. Lary allegedly did not tell the businesses that he controlled these entities.
In total, businesses were allegedly defrauded out of hundreds of thousands of dollars of relief funds. The relief funds deposited into the Visit Us and Battleground Media accounts were allegedly used by Lary to benefit himself and others. For example, Lary allegedly used relief funds held by Visit Us to pay for an associate’s political advertising.
Finally, Lary allegedly conspired with Lania Boone, MRPC’s bookkeeper, to steal relief funds before they were disbursed by MRPC. In January 2021, Boone allegedly used her access to one of MRPC’s bank accounts to wire transfer approximately $108,000 of relief funds to a mortgage servicing company. Lary and Boone allegedly knew the purpose of the transfer was to pay off the mortgage on a lakefront home owned by Lary. Around the same time, Lary allegedly directed approximately $7,600 in stolen relief funds to be paid by Visit Us for Boone’s son’s college tuition and rent.
Jason Lary, 59, of Stonecrest, Georgia, and Lania Boone, 60, of Decatur, Georgia, were each arraigned on a criminal information on November 10, 2021 before U.S. Magistrate Judge Regina D. Cannon. Members of the public are reminded that each criminal information only contains charges. The defendants are presumed innocent of the charges and it will be the government’s burden to prove the defendants’ guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.
This case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Trevor C. Wilmot is prosecuting the case.
For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at [email protected] or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.
Atlanta man sentenced for stealing veteran’s disability benefitsRead the Press Release
ATLANTA - William F. Dorsey Jr., has been sentenced to federal prison for embezzling over $150,000 from his father’s beneficiary account funded by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
“Stealing from a disabled veteran who is also his parent is shameful,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Kurt R. Erskine. “Our veterans served this country with honor, and we will aggressively investigate and prosecute those who seek to take advantage of them.”
“This sentence sends a clear message that the VA OIG will vigorously investigate those who steal from our nation’s Veterans with disabilities,” said Special Agent in Charge David Spilker of the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General’s Southeast Field Office. “The VA OIG will continue to ensure that Veterans with disabilities are not exploited for financial gain or greed.”
According to Acting U.S. Attorney Erskine, the charges and other information presented in court: On May 10, 2010, William Dorsey, Jr., signed a fiduciary agreement agreeing to manage his father’s benefit payments provided by the VA. His father, William Dorsey, Sr., is a 69-year-old disabled Vietnam Veteran diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease, Parkinson’s Disease, and dementia. According to medical records from the secure medical center where he resides, William Dorsey, Sr. is restricted to an adaptive chair, cannot communicate, and requires total assistance with his daily activities.
As part of the fiduciary agreement, William Dorsey, Jr., agreed to spend the VA funds only for the Veteran’s benefit, to never comingle funds, to never withdraw cash from the account, and to keep accurate records and receipts. However, by the time he was removed as fiduciary seven years later in May 2017, bank records showed that Dorsey, Jr. had violated all of these conditions. Financial records showed that Dorsey, Jr. spent thousands of dollars in disability benefits on himself, wrote checks from the Veteran’s account to himself, and retained over $100,000 in the Veteran's disability benefits after the VA removed him as the fiduciary.
William F. Dorsey, Jr., 44, of Atlanta, Georgia, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Eleanor L. Ross to one year and one day in prison to be followed by one year of supervised release and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $23,052.87. Dorsey was found guilty by a jury on July 21, 2021.
This case was investigated by the Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Inspector General.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Calvin A. Leipold, III and Irina K. Dutcher, and former Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott McAfee prosecuted the case.
For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at [email protected] or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.
Armed robber sentenced for attacking customers at and stealing opioids from multiple pharmaciesRead the Press Release
NEWNAN, Ga. - Anthony Lavell Williams, Jr. has been sentenced for perpetrating a string of armed robberies in Carroll, Catoosa, Chattooga, Cobb, and Hall Counties during which Williams assaulted pharmacy customers and forced employees to surrender cash and tens of thousands of opioids and amphetamines to him.
“Driven by greed, Anthony Williams terrorized our community and sought to profit off of the opioid epidemic,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Kurt R. Erskine. “This epidemic tragically claims many American lives every year. A multi-agency response at all levels of government and from every corner of this district has brought him to justice.”
“This sentence is a direct result of what good multi-jurisdictional partnerships and communication can accomplish,” said Chris Hacker, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta. “We are grateful for all the hard work by our partners that allowed Williams to be removed from the streets before he could commit any worse crimes or traumatize anymore innocent citizens.”
According to Acting U.S. Attorney Erskine, the charges and other information presented in court: Williams, while armed with a handgun, robbed five retail pharmacies between May 2020 and July 2020. Williams escaped with approximately $9,600 in cash and more than $183,000 of controlled substances. The pharmacies’ losses were eclipsed by the street value of the stolen drugs, which included but was not limited to nearly 44,000 doses of opioids and more than 5,700 tablets containing amphetamine.
Williams’s robberies were carefully planned and increasingly violent. During the May 7, 2020 robbery of a pharmacy in Powder Springs, Georgia, and the May 11, 2020 robbery of a pharmacy in Summerville, Georgia, Williams held store employees at gunpoint, forced them to empty cash registers, and then forced them to another part of the store while he escaped.
On June 4, 2020, Williams robbed a pharmacy in Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia. During the robbery, Williams threatened a pharmacist and ordered her to open a drug safe containing Schedule II controlled substances from which Williams pillaged very large quantities of oxycodone, hydrocodone, amphetamine, and morphine.
A month later, on July 5, 2020, Williams stole cash and more than $50,000 worth of Schedule II controlled substances from a pharmacy in Carrollton, Georgia. Williams took only the most dangerous narcotics, leaving other pharmaceuticals behind. He forced all of the employees and customers in the store to surrender their cell phones and lay on their stomachs in different areas of the store before fleeing.
On July 7, 2020, Williams walked into a pharmacy in Gainesville, Georgia, grabbed a customer at the front register by her hair, and forced the customer and cashier at gunpoint to go with him to the pharmacy at the back of the store. Williams made his victims abandon their cell phones, demanded “painkillers,” and forced them to unlock safes and load a backpack with drugs. Williams stole $1,820 in cash and approximately $30,000 of Schedule II narcotics.
Anthony Lavell Williams, Jr., 28, of Rome, Georgia, was sentenced by Chief U.S. District Judge Timothy C. Batten, Jr. to 12 years, 7 months in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $192,983.77 after pleading guilty to five counts of interference with commerce by robbery and armed robbery involving controlled substances. Williams pleaded guilty to these charges on August 3, 2021.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Carrollton Police Department, Gainesville Police Department, Fort Oglethorpe Police Department, Powder Springs Police Department, Summerville Police Department, Bartow-Cartersville Drug Task Force, and Rome Police Department with assistance from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and Rome/Floyd County Metro Task Force.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg prosecuted the case.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN). In keeping with the Attorney General’s mission to reduce violent crime, the Northern District of Georgia’s PSN program focuses on prosecuting those individuals who most significantly drive violence in our communities, and supports and fosters partnerships between law enforcement and schools, the faith community, and local community leaders to prevent and deter future criminal conduct.
For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at [email protected] or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.
Two Members of the Nine Trey Gangster Bloods Gang Plead Guilty to RICO ConspiracyRead the Press Release
Yesterday, two Georgia men and members of the Nine Trey Gangster national criminal organization pleaded guilty to Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organization (RICO) conspiracy.
The Nine Trey Gangsters (NTG) are a national gang that started in the prisons of New York as a subset of the United Bloods Nation and has since spread throughout the East Coast and Southeast. The NTG’s members and associates engage in acts of violence, including murder, assaults, robbery, firearms possession, witness tampering, obstruction of justice, drug trafficking, extortion, and other criminal activities. The NTG have a hierarchical structure and members throughout the country are subdivided into separate groups or “lines,” usually named after the gang’s leaders. Each NTG member has a specific rank within the gang or a specific line, and this rank comes with specific duties and responsibilities. Both of the defendants who pleaded guilty yesterday were part of the gang’s “fire” line and were responsible for planning attacks on rival gangs.
According to court documents, Khajavius Mitchell, aka KJ, 28, of Atlanta, held the rank of “fourth floor” in the gang’s hierarchy, and was responsible for assisting the superiors known as “fifth floors” in running the gang’s activity on a daily basis.
Devonta Marshall, aka Street Monsta, 27, of Atlanta, held the rank of “first floor” in the gang’s hierarchy and was responsible for overseeing the gang members without rank within a certain area.
Both pleaded guilty to count 1 of the second superseding indictment, charging them and nine others with RICO conspiracy for their involvement in planning, facilitating, and executing multiple acts of violence and participating in the gang’s drug trafficking activities. Mitchell and Marshall will be sentenced at a later date by U.S. District Court Judge Amy Totenberg and face a statutory maximum term of life in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Acting U.S. Attorney Kurt R. Erskine for the Northern District of Georgia, and Special Agent in Charge JC (Chris) Hacker of the FBI’s Atlanta Field Office made the announcement.
The FBI is investigating the case.
Anesthesia providers and outpatient surgery centers pay more than $28 million to resolve kickback and False Claims Act allegationsRead the Press Release
ATLANTA – Three anesthesia providers and several Georgia outpatient surgery centers, as well as their physician-owners and an administrator, agreed to pay more than $28 million to resolve allegations that they entered into kickback arrangements by paying and receiving payments for medications, supplies, equipment and labor as well as free staffing in exchange for the referral of patients.
“A physician’s health care decisions should be based solely on what is in the patient’s best interest, not what increases the physician’s bottom line,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Kurt R. Erskine. “There are significant consequences for healthcare providers who put their own financial well-being ahead of the well-being of their patients.”
“Paying or receiving kickbacks to secure taxpayer-funded healthcare payments – as alleged in this case – is illegal and corrupts the federal health care system,” said Derrick L. Jackson, Special Agent in Charge for the Office of Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. “We will continue to work diligently with our State and Federal law enforcement partners to protect government health programs and those they serve.”
“Medical providers who pay out or take kickback payments for referrals are taking advantage of patients and taxpayer funded healthcare programs,” said Chris Hacker, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta. “The FBI is proud of the role it played in this settlement and will continue to provide investigative assets and resources to ensure no one takes advantage of a fair system and undermines the public’s trust.”
Anesthesia providers typically depend on hospitals and outpatient surgery centers for their income. If an anesthesia provider can secure an exclusive contract for anesthesia services with a center, it is guaranteed a steady stream of patient referrals during the term of the contract. As a result, anesthesia providers compete aggressively for these contracts.
The Government alleges that between 2005 and 2015, Ambulatory Anesthesia of Atlanta, LLC (f/k/a Ambulatory Anesthesia of Atlanta, PC) (“AAA”) and Northside Anesthesiology Consultants, LLC (“NAC”) made payments for drugs, supplies, equipment and labor, and provided free staffing to a number of Georgia outpatient surgery centers in order to induce the centers to select AAA and NAC to be their exclusive anesthesia providers. The Government alleges that these arrangements were negotiated by Stanford Plavin, M.D. on behalf of AAA and NAC. The Government alleges that these arrangements violated the Anti-Kickback Statute, 42 U.S.C. § 1320a-7b(b), and caused the submission of false claims in violation of the False Claims Act, 31 U.S.C. § 3729, et seq.
The following individuals and entities have entered into settlement agreements with the Government (listed in alphabetical order):
• Ambulatory Anesthesia of Atlanta, LLC (“AAA”)
• Arif A. Aziz, M.D.
• Jean Calhoun
• Jay A. Cherner, M.D.
• David Finkelman, M.D.
• Alan M. Fixelle, M.D.
• DCA Diagnostics, L.L.C.
• The Endoscopy Center, LLC (Savannah)
• Endoscopy Consultants, LLC
• Gastrointestinal Specialists of Georgia, P.C.
• Georgia Endoscopy Center, LLC
• G.I. Diagnostics Endoscopy Center, L.L.C.
• Eugene H. Hirsh, M.D.
• A. Steven McIntosh, M.D.
• North Fulton Medical Center, Inc.
• Northside Anesthesiology Consultants, LLC (“NAC”)
• Northwest Georgia Orthopaedic Surgery Center, LLC
• Stanford Plavin, M.D.
• M. Thomas Riddick, M.D.
• Bruce A. Salzberg, M.D.
• Gary S. Simon, M.D.
• David N. Socoloff, D.O.
• United Surgical Partners International, Inc.
• Wellbrook Endoscopy Center, P.C.
This settlement resolves a lawsuit originally filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia by Kathleen Hartney-Velazco, M.D., Jan Kersey and Capitol Anesthesiology, P.C. (the Relators) under the qui tam or whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act. United States ex rel. Capitol Anesthesiology, P.C., et al. v. Stanford Plavin, M.D., et al., No. 1:11-cv-2513-SCJ. Under the False Claims Act, private citizens may bring suit for false claims on behalf of the United States and share in any recovery obtained by the government. The Relators have received over $4,700,000.00 from the settlement.
The claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.
This case was investigated by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General and the Georgia Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
The civil settlement was reached by Assistant U.S. Attorney Neeli Ben-David and Georgia Assistant Attorney-General Sara Vann.
For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at [email protected] or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.
University professor pleads guilty to possession of child pornographyRead the Press Release
ATLANTA - Daniel Deocampo, a former professor and dean at Georgia State University (“GSU”), has pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography. Images and videos of children as young as five years old, engaged in sexually explicit conduct, were among the items confiscated.
“Deocampo was caught brazenly using the university network to exploit children,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Kurt R. Erskine. “It is disturbing when we learn that an educator engages in this type of disgusting behavior. Possessing child pornography victimizes and abuses the children in the images each time they are disseminated.”
“Children portrayed in child pornography images are victimized each time those images are distributed or viewed, and this case is especially distressing because the suspect was a professor who worked with our youth,” said Chris Hacker, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta. “The FBI remains committed to protecting our children and is thankful for the law enforcement partnerships that make it possible to stop people like Deocampo from victimizing any more children.”
According to Acting U.S. Attorney Erskine, the charges and other information presented in court: In November 2020, Georgia State University's Cyber Security Department (“GSU Cyber Security”) alerted the FBI that an employee was accessing websites which appeared to contain child pornography through the university’s network.
Working together, the FBI and GSU Cyber Security identified Deocampo as the individual who had accessed multiple websites containing child pornography (or had links to other websites containing child pornography) from campus in November and December 2020. GSU Cyber Security also advised the FBI that Deocampo routinely accessed the university’s network from home. Based on that information, FBI determined that Deocampo was also accessing websites containing child pornography from his home on several days in late December 2020 and early January 2021.
Based on the foregoing, on January 6, 2021, the FBI executed search warrants at Deocampo's residence, as well as his GSU office and lab space. As a result of the search, agents recovered an Apple laptop belonging to Deocampo that contained more than 4,000 files of child pornography, including approximately 190 videos.
Daniel Deocampo, 48, of Avondale Estates, Georgia, pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography on November 3, 2021. Deocampo’s sentencing is scheduled for February 23, 2022 at 11:00 a.m. before U.S. District Judge Steven D. Grimberg.
This case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Georgia State University Police Department.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Alex R. Sistla is prosecuting the case.
This case is being brought as part of Project Safe Childhood. In February 2006, the Attorney General launched Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorney’s Offices around the country, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at [email protected] or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.
Mableton pharmacist found guilty of illegally dispensing and distributing controlled substancesRead the Press Release
ATLANTA - Thomas Ukoshovbera A. Gbenedio has been convicted by a federal jury of illegally dispensing and distributing controlled substances from his pharmacy.
“As a pharmacist, Gbenedio was trusted to appropriately dispense controlled substances,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Kurt R. Erskine. “His behavior fed into the continuing problem of addiction to powerful prescription opioids, which, unfortunately, continues to take a daily toll on many members of our community.”
“Removing and ultimately eliminating healthcare providers who unlawfully dispense pharmaceutical products for non-medical reasons is an important part of DEA’s mission,” said Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Atlanta Field Division Robert J. Murphy. “This pharmacist not only distributed copious quantities of opiate-based pills to scores of drug-seeking patients but collected large sums of money from this illegal practice. Gbenedio will no longer be able to commit such unlawful acts due to the hard work and dedication put forth by our federal, state and local law enforcement counterparts who made this investigation a success.”According to Acting U.S. Attorney Erskine, the charges and other information presented in court: Gbenedio was a licensed pharmacist who owned Better Way Pharmacy in Mableton, Georgia. An investigation into Gbenedio began after Georgia Drug & Narcotics Agency (GDNA) agents conducted a routine inspection at Better Way and noticed that several of Gbenedio's customers were driving long distances - including from Kentucky and Alabama - to get prescriptions filled at Better Way. Several of the prescriptions were for large quantities of highly addictive opioids, like oxycodone, and many of the prescriptions were purportedly from the same physician.
The investigation later revealed that the prescriptions being filled by Gbenedio between 2014 and 2016 were not real prescriptions; they were fake, forged, fraudulent, or otherwise illegal. Gbenedio charged his customers up to $1,000 to fill the illegal prescriptions for controlled substances.
After a two-week jury trial, Gbenedio was convicted of 70 counts of illegally dispensing and distributing controlled substances and one count of refusing an administrative inspection warrant.
Once the jury announced its verdict, Gbenedio was ordered to report to Probation for location monitoring. Instead of reporting, Gbenedio attempted to flee. He was apprehended at the Dallas-Fort Worth airport with the assistance of U.S. Marshals.
Sentencing for Thomas Ukoshovbera A. Gbenedio, 71, of Mableton, Georgia, is scheduled for February 7, 2022, at 10:00 a.m. before U.S. District Judge Thomas W. Thrash.
This case is being investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Angela Adams and Erin N. Spritzer are prosecuting the case.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Atlanta recommends parents and children learn about the dangers of drugs at the following web site: www.justthinktwice.gov.
For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at [email protected] or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.
Atlanta restaurateur sentenced for willful failure to remit payroll taxesRead the Press Release
ATLANTA - Shanga A. Hankerson, the former owner of the Gladys Knight’s Chicken and Waffles restaurant in Atlanta, Georgia, has been sentenced for willful failure to remit payroll taxes.
“Hankerson willfully disregarded his tax obligations for many years,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Kurt R. Erskine. “Payroll taxes fund social insurance programs, including Social Security and Medicare, and are a large source of revenue for the federal government. Employers who fail to comply with their legal obligations will be held accountable.”
“While ownership of a well-known restaurant in our community has its perks, it also comes with great responsibility,” said IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge James E. Dorsey. “Paying taxes is a way to give back to the community, but unfortunately Hankerson chose to use those funds for other means. This sentencing emphasizes that all employers, big and small, have equal responsibility to collect, report, and pay over their payroll taxes.”
According to Acting U.S. Attorney Erskine, the charges and other information presented in court: In 1997, Hankerson opened his first restaurant, Gladys Knight’s Chicken and Waffles, in Atlanta. Over the next several years, Hankerson expanded the concept to at least three other locations in northern Georgia and Washington, D.C. Hankerson was the sole owner of the businesses that operated the restaurants.
As an employer, Hankerson’s companies were required to withhold from employees’ gross pay Federal Insurance Contributions Act (“FICA”) taxes, which represent Social Security and Medicare taxes, and federal income taxes. Collectively, these withheld taxes are referred to as “payroll taxes.” Specifically, employers are required to file, one month after the conclusion of the calendar quarter, an Employer’s Quarterly Federal Tax Return, setting forth the amount of payroll taxes due.
An individual is responsible for collecting, accounting for, and paying over the payroll taxes if he or she has the authority required to exercise significant control over the employer’s financial affairs. As the sole owner, Hankerson was the responsible person, and he had the responsibility to collect, truthfully account for, and pay over payroll taxes due. From at least 2012 to 2016, Hankerson failed to fully remit over $1 million in payroll taxes due.
Shanga Hankerson, 45, of Atlanta, Georgia, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Michael L. Brown to serve two years in prison, one year of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution of $1,039,310.65. Hankerson was convicted on July 21, 2021, after he pleaded guilty.
This case is being investigated by the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Bernita B. Malloy prosecuted the case.
For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at [email protected] or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.
Former Clayton County police officer sentenced for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraudRead the Press Release
ATLANTA – Andre Jackson, who at the time of the offense was employed by the Clayton County, Georgia Police Department, has been sentenced for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud.
“It is reprehensible that a police officer would engage in behavior that violates the law,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Kurt R. Erskine. “Jackson’s actions showed he did not have respect for the very thing he swore to uphold.”
“A law enforcement officer’s responsibility is to serve and protect, not to conspire and steal,” said U.S. Secret Service Special Agent in Charge Steven R. Baisel. “Unfortunately, sometimes even those in positions of trust can be drawn to their baser instincts of greed.”
According to Acting U.S. Attorney Erskine, the charges, and other information presented in court: From approximately January 2015 through January 2017, while he was employed as a Clayton County, Georgia police officer, Jackson conspired with others to commit wire fraud and bank fraud. Jackson and his coconspirators recruited more than ten individuals with good credit—including some of Jackson’s fellow police department employees—to apply for loans to purchase luxury vehicles from automobile dealers in the Northern District of Georgia and the Southern District of Texas. Jackson and his coconspirators told the straw purchasers that they planned to sublease the vehicles to individuals who had significant incomes but poor credit. Jackson and his coconspirators also told the straw purchasers that one of Jackson’s coconspirators owned a car-leasing business, which would be responsible for servicing the vehicles, obtaining and paying for insurance on the vehicles, and paying the monthly loan payments. Jackson and his coconspirators promised to pay each straw purchaser as much as $5,000 for every loan they obtained.
Jackson and his coconspirators caused the straw purchasers to submit loan applications that contained false and fraudulent information concerning their income and employment.
For example, many of the loan applications falsely stated that the applicant was employed by either Alot Frontier Group, LLC or ARC Financial Group, Inc.—two bogus companies owned by Jackson. In addition, Jackson and his coconspirators knowingly and fraudulently executed and caused the straw purchasers to fraudulently execute sales agreements and loan documents, which certified to the lenders that the loan applicants would not sell, rent, lease, or transfer their interest in the vehicles without the lenders’ express written permission. When the sales transactions were completed, Jackson and his coconspirators took possession of the vehicles and then subleased the vehicles to third parties, contrary to the agreements that the straw purchasers had entered into with the lenders. Jackson and his coconspirators did not make the loan payments as required, and many of the straw purchasers defaulted on their loans.
Andre Jackson, 56, of Fayetteville, Georgia, was sentenced by Chief U.S. District Judge Timothy C. Batten, Sr. to three years, five months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release, and 120 hours of community service. Judge Batten also ordered Jackson to pay $1,011,989.87 in restitution and a special assessment of $100. Jackson was convicted on these charges on June 25, 2021, after he pleaded guilty.
This case was investigated by the U.S. Secret Service.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jeff Brown and Russell Phillips prosecuted the case.
For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at [email protected] or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.
Georgia woman sentenced for bribing former supervisor in the DeKalb County Tax Commissioner’s OfficeRead the Press Release
ATLANTA – Lesbia Lily Gonzalez Moreno has been sentenced for paying bribes to Gerald D. Harris, a former Supervisor in the DeKalb County Tax Commissioner’s Office, in exchange for Harris unlawfully registering vehicles.
“For months, Moreno paid bribes to illegally register vehicles without the necessary documentation,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Kurt R. Erskine. “This corruption betrayed the trust of our citizens in government and undermined public safety.”
“When citizens like Moreno pay bribes to public officials they are part of a crime that tarnishes every government official and betrays the trust of our citizens in those officials,” said Chris Hacker, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta. “Along with our federal, state and local law enforcement partners, the FBI is hopeful the punishment she receives will help restore the public’s trust.”
“Ms. Moreno is rightfully being held accountable for her actions. It is our hope her sentence will deter others from engaging in corruption and schemes to defraud the government and betray public trust,” said. Sherry Boston, DeKalb County District Attorney.
“The Georgia Department of Revenue was proud to assist our federal partners in the course of this investigation. The Department’s Motor Vehicle Division is responsible for motor vehicle tag and title processing and registration statewide. Our duties include ensuring that there is integrity throughout this process and so we will continue to work diligently with both our federal and local partners to enforce the law and maintain the public trust,” said Commissioner Robyn A. Crittenden, Georgia Department of Revenue.
According to Acting U.S. Attorney Erskine, the charges, and other information presented in court: the DeKalb County Tax Commissioner’s Office is an agency of DeKalb County, Georgia, responsible for billing and collecting property taxes, processing Homestead Exemptions, and collecting delinquent taxes. In addition, the Motor Vehicle Division of the DeKalb County Tax Commissioner’s Office handled all aspects of motor vehicle registrations, including: (a) managing the collection of motor vehicle taxes, (b) issuing vehicle tags and titles, and (c) processing vehicle registration renewals for citizens and businesses located in DeKalb County, Georgia.
From July 2017 to November 2019, Gerald D. Harris served as the Supervisor of Tax Tag Clerks for the DeKalb County Tax Commissioner’s Office. In that position, Harris oversaw the Tax Commissioner North Office’s clerks who processed motor vehicle registrations and renewals for customers. As a supervisor, Harris generally interacted with customers only if a dispute existed between clerks and customers. Similarly, based on his supervisory role, the Motor Vehicle Division did not issue Harris a cash drawer or a credit card terminal, nor was Harris responsible for processing transactions or payments with customers.
From at least May 2019 to November 12, 2019, Lesbia Lily Gonzalez Moreno repeatedly paid Harris bribe payments to register unlawfully vehicles for owners who did not present a valid Georgia driver’s license or identification card. Under state law, a vehicle owner cannot register a vehicle or receive a license plate unless they present a valid Georgia driver’s license or identification card at the time of application. Nevertheless, in exchange for bribe payments, typically $200 per vehicle, Harris unlawfully registered and obtained license plates for owners identified by Moreno. In many cases, Moreno paid bribes to register vehicles for people who presented only foreign identification documents. During this period, Moreno paid Harris more than $20,000 in bribe payments.
On July 14, 2020, Harris pleaded guilty to federal program bribery and blackmail, and was sentenced to two years in prison and three years of supervised release.
Lesbia Lily Gonzalez Moreno, 47, of Atlanta, Georgia was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Timothy C. Batten to one year, one month in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, after she pleaded guilty to the charge of honest services wire fraud on June 22, 2021.
The case was investigated by the FBI, DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office, Georgia Department of Revenue, and DeKalb County Tax Commissioner’s Office.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas Hartigan prosecuted the case.
For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at [email protected] or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.
200 kilograms of methamphetamine seized from Gwinnett County homeRead the Press Release
GAINESVILLE, Ga. - Almarud Duarte, David Garcia, Kevin Tello, and Eduardo Penaloza-Pacheco have been indicted for allegedly conspiring to sell methamphetamine by the kilogram. When law enforcement searched their residences, they seized approximately 200 kilograms of methamphetamine, the bulk of it coming from Garcia’s residence in Duluth.
“This case highlights the great work resulting from a partnership between federal law enforcement and state/local authorities,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Kurt R. Erskine. “We believe countless lives have been saved now that this meth is not plaguing our communities.”
“This is a significant amount of poison that will not make it into our communities, driving crime and violence,” said Special Agent in Charge Katrina W. Berger, who oversees Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) operations in Georgia and Alabama. “HSI and its law enforcement partners are committed to finding arresting and prosecuting everyone involved in this illicit trade.”
“Removing these four defendants from our streets for their alleged drug trafficking activity, immediately makes our communities safer,” said Chris Hacker, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta. “The FBI and our federal, state and local law enforcement partners work tirelessly to rid communities of dangerous drugs that threaten our citizens lives.”
“When investigations like these have such extraordinary outcomes, they make headlines, and rightly so,” said Hall County Sheriff Gerald Couch. “Drugs taken off the streets and criminals in jail can only make our communities safer. I do, however, want to commend our MANS Unit agents and assisting agencies for the extremely hard work they put into the case. Without these men and women, the headlines wouldn’t be possible.”
“The Georgia State Patrol will continue working collaboratively with our local, state, and federal partners in identifying and arresting people who purchase and distribute illegal drugs. This case represents teamwork among all the agencies involved and demonstrates law enforcement’s commitment to getting dangerous drugs off the streets of our communities,” said Lt. W. Mark Riley, Georgia Department of Public Safety, Georgia State Patrol.
According to Acting U.S. Attorney Erskine, the indictment, and other information presented in court: From May 2021 to August 2021, Almarud Duarte allegedly sold methamphetamine by the kilogram, shortly after obtaining the methamphetamine from Kevin Tello or David Garcia. On June 28, 2021, Eduardo Penaloza-Pacheco allegedly sold a kilogram of methamphetamine, shortly after obtaining the methamphetamine from Kevin Tello.
Almarud Duarte, 25, of Oakwood, Georgia, David Garcia, 40, of Duluth, Georgia, Kevin Tello, 26, of Lawrenceville, Georgia, and Eduardo Penaloza-Pacheco, 36, of Gainesville, Georgia, were indicted on October 26.2021. Members of the public are reminded that the indictment only contains charges. The defendant is presumed innocent of the charges and it will be the government’s burden to prove the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.
This case is being investigated by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Safe Streets Task Force, the Gwinnett Metro Task Force, the DEA, the Hall County Multi-Agency Narcotics Squad, and the Georgia State Patrol.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Keen is prosecuting the case.
This investigation is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Atlanta recommends parents and children learn about the dangers of drugs at the following web site: www.justthinktwice.gov.
For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at [email protected] or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.
Atlanta man arraigned on federal charges in connection with an international cyber-fraud schemeRead the Press Release
ATLANTA – Christian Akhatsegbe has been arraigned on federal charges of wire and computer fraud conspiracy, access device fraud, and aggravated identity theft related to a multi-million-dollar cyber-fraud scheme allegedly perpetrated through email phishing, credential harvesting, and invoice fraud. Emmanuel Aiye Akhatsegbe, who is believed to be residing in Nigeria, was also charged in the scheme.
“The scope of the defendants’ alleged fraudulent conduct is extraordinary,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Kurt R. Erskine. “The indictment in this case results from the tireless work of federal law enforcement and the valuable cooperation of corporate investigators and agency victims. These federal charges also serve as a reminder to those perpetrating cyber and fraud schemes, whether it be from Atlanta or any corner of the globe.”
“This case is an example of our persistent determination to hold criminals accountable no matter how sophisticated their cyber fraud or their geographic location,” said Chris Hacker, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta. “This indictment would not have been possible without the hard work and cooperation of our federal law enforcement and private sector partners. The FBI would like to remind businesses to remain diligently alert to potential email compromises and fraud schemes.”
According to Acting U.S. Attorney Erskine, the charges, and other information presented in court: Christian Akhatsegbe, Emmanuel Aiye Akhatsegbe, and their conspirators allegedly engaged in a scheme that involved sending phishing emails to victim companies and organizations in the United States and Europe, stealing employee access credentials, and then harvesting the credentials on computer servers. Some of the phishing emails contained a link to a webpage that was designed to resemble a login page for Microsoft Office but actually captured email account credentials. Using the stolen credentials, Christian Akhatsegbe, Emmanuel Aiye Akhatsegbe, and their conspirators then allegedly sent emails to other employees at the victim companies and organizations. The emails contained fake invoices that requested payment of hundreds of thousands of dollars into bank accounts connected to the conspirators.
As an example of this scheme, the indictment alleges that in November 2019, an employee of a company in the United Kingdom received a phishing email, which resulted in their credentials being logged, stolen, and later stored on a computer server that was allegedly accessed and maintained by Christian Akhatsegbe, Emmanuel Aiye Akhatsegbe, and their conspirators. Using the access credentials stolen from the employee, the conspirators allegedly sent an email to another employee of the company, which appeared to originate from one of the company’s vendors. The email attached a fraudulent invoice in the amount of $434,383.45 with wiring instructions to a bank in Hong Kong. The victim company later paid the fraudulent invoice and wired the funds to Hong Kong.
In another instance, in December 2019, using credentials stolen from a Massachusetts victim company employee, Christian Akhatsegbe, Emmanuel Aiye Akhatsegbe, and their conspirators allegedly sent an email to another employee of the company, which appeared to originate from one of the company’s vendors. The email attached a fraudulent invoice in the amount of $498,000 and requested that the victim send payment to a bank in Hong Kong. The victim paid the invoice, together with a second invoice in the same amount, wiring a total of $996,000 to a bank account in Hong Kong.
Christian Akhatsegbe, 35, of Atlanta, Georgia, and Emmanuel Aiye Akhatsegbe, 46, of Lagos, Nigeria, were indicted by a federal grand jury on October 26, 2021. Members of the public are reminded that the indictment only contains charges. The defendants are presumed innocent of the charges and it will be the government’s burden to prove the defendants’ guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.
This case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Valuable assistance has also been provided by Microsoft Corporation’s Digital Crimes Unit.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Herskowitz, Chief of the Cyber and Intellectual Property Crimes Section, is prosecuting the case together with attorneys from the Department of Justice, Criminal Division, Computer Crime & Intellectual Property Section.
For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at [email protected] or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.
Atlanta pharmacy to pay $4.6 million to settle False Claims Act allegations regarding compound medicationsRead the Press Release
ATLANTA – Curant, Inc., which owns pharmacies in Smyrna, Georgia and St. Petersburg, Florida, along with its owners and related entities, agreed to pay $4.6 million to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act by, among other things, charging the government far higher prices than the “usual and customary” prices charged to other patients.
“Pharmacies cannot overcharge government healthcare programs while offering cheaper prices to others, in violation of their payor agreements,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Kurt Erskine. “Such actions undermine efforts to protect government healthcare plans and keep costs lower.”
“The FBI is committed to protecting the health and safety of the American taxpayer,” said Chris Hacker, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta. “Healthcare providers that take shortcuts to increase their financial bottom line must be held accountable for improper and illegal billings that increase the cost of medical care.”
“This settlement serves as a warning to those companies and individuals who seek to take advantage of the Department of Defense (DoD) health care program,” stated Special Agent in Charge Cynthia A. Bruce of the DoD, Office of Inspector General, Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS), Southeast Field Office. “DCIS and our investigative partners are committed to fully investigating allegations of fraud, waste and abuse which jeopardize our military families’ precious healthcare resources.”
Curant Health Georgia LLC and Curant Health Florida LLC, which are owned by Patrick Dunham, Scott Zepp, Marc O’Connor, and Pankajkumar Patel (collectively “Curant”), dispensed compound pain creams and scar creams to TRICARE beneficiaries. TRICARE provides health insurance to members of the military and their families. In order to keep costs down, TRICARE prohibits pharmacies from charging more than their “usual and customary” price, which is defined as the retail price of the medication in a cash transaction. Despite this prohibition, the government alleges that between 2013 and 2015, Curant charged TRICARE a much higher price for its compound creams than it offered to its cash-paying patients.
The government further alleges that, between 2013 and 2015, Curant paid kickbacks to a third-party marketer to arrange for doctors to send prescriptions to Curant, it waived patient copayments in an effort to drive up its sales, it submitted claims to TRICARE for compound creams that were not medically necessary, and it failed to return overpayments that it had received from TRICARE once it learned of them.
This civil settlement resolves a lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia by Dennis Long, a former pharmacist at Curant’s Georgia pharmacy, under the qui tam, or whistleblower provisions, of the False Claims Act. United States ex rel. Long v. Curant Health Georgia, LLC, et al., Civil Action No. 1:19-CV-3954-AT. Under the False Claims Act, private citizens may bring suit for false claims on behalf of the United States and share in any recovery obtained by the government. Mr. Long will receive $805,000 from the settlement. Curant will also pay his attorney’s fees.
The claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.
This case was investigated by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, and the FBI.
The civil settlement was reached by Assistant U.S. Attorney Anthony DeCinque.
For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at [email protected] or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.
Three men charged following seizure of over 221 kilograms of methamphetamineRead the Press Release
ATLANTA - Jaime Cruz Duarte, Rito Armando Torres Gutierrez, and Antonio Penaloza Torres have been charged with federal offenses including conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
“The trafficking and production of methamphetamine - particularly in such a great quantity – threatens our community,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Kurt R. Erskine. “We and our federal, state and local law enforcement partners are working tirelessly to combat that threat and keep these dangerous drugs and the crime associated with them from ruining lives.”
“This seizure and the charges these methamphetamine dealers now face exemplifies the clear and present danger that poisonous drugs like ‘meth’ pose to our communities,” said the Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Atlanta Field Division Robert J. Murphy. “Because of the collective efforts between DEA and its law enforcement partners, these drugs are now off the streets and these defendants are facing prosecution.”
“The dangerousness of this type of methamphetamine production and distribution cannot be overstated,” said Dan R. Salter, Executive Director, Atlanta-Carolinas High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA). “The federal and local law enforcement officers that make up this task force are dedicated to stopping that danger and keeping this community safe from the criminal organizations that are involved in spreading this poison.”
According to Acting U.S. Attorney Erskine, the indictment, and other information presented in court: law enforcement officers first became aware of these defendants when Atlanta-Carolinas High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) DEA Agents and Task Force Officers arranged a controlled purchase of methamphetamine from a suspected drug broker.
On September 30, 2021, the broker directed an undercover officer posing as a drug buyer to an address in Ellenwood Georgia, where the undercover officer encountered Jaime Cruz Duarte. Duarte provided the officer with approximately one kilogram of methamphetamine. He was then observed returning to a nearby residence.
Shortly thereafter, Rito Armando Torres Gutierrez and Antonio Penaloza Torres were observed leaving the same residence. After further investigation the same day, investigators obtained and executed a search warrant for the residence.
Upon searching the residence, investigators discovered a methamphetamine conversion lab, and seized over 221 kilograms of methamphetamine in various stages of production throughout the house. Agents also seized a handgun from the residence. Evidence obtained from the house indicates that the defendants lived at the residence and were allegedly involved in the production and distribution of large amounts of methamphetamine and the transfer of money obtained through methamphetamine distribution to other members of the conspiracy in other locations including California and Mexico.
Jaime Cruz Duarte, 34, Rito Armando Torres Gutierrez, 22, and Antonio Penaloza Torres, 38, of Ellenwood, Georgia, were indicted on October 19, 2021. All three defendants have been federally detained pending trial. Members of the public are reminded that the indictment only contains charges. The defendant is presumed innocent of the charges and it will be the government’s burden to prove the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.
This case is being investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Atlanta-Carolinas High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Task Force.
Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Zachary S. Howard is prosecuting the case.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Atlanta recommends parents and children learn about the dangers of drugs at the following web site: www.justthinktwice.gov.
For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at [email protected] or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.
Rome-area drug traffickers sentenced for distributing deadly opioids that killed victimsRead the Press Release
ROME, Ga. - Shane Terhune has been sentenced for selling heroin to a young couple in July 2018, having admitted that his act of distribution resulted in the overdose death of the woman. This sentence follows the August 2021 sentencing of Cornelius Brown, who received a five-year term of imprisonment for distributing $150 worth of heroin. As part of his guilty plea, Cornelius Brown admitted that he also sold fentanyl in June 2018 that resulted in the death of a man who used the lethal drug.
“Terhune and Brown both profited by trafficking in deadly opioids that tragically ended two lives,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Kurt R. Erskine. “These dangerous narcotics are killing and catastrophically injuring users at unprecedented rates. This case and other recent cases demonstrate that opioid overdoses will be investigated and prosecuted as a federal priority and those who sell this poison will be held accountable for the death and suffering that it causes.”
“The life of a young lady abruptly ended when Shane Terhune sold her a deadly dose of heroin,” said the Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Atlanta Field Division Robert J. Murphy. “DEA and its law enforcement partners are committed to bringing to justice defendants like Terhune who pollute our streets with dangerous and deadly substances that cause immeasurable damage to our communities.”
“Our country has suffered the loss of literally thousands of citizens from the use and abuse of fentanyl and unfortunately Rome is not exempt. Law enforcement and the US Attorney’s office in North Georgia are committed to bringing justice to those preying on our communities,” said Dan R. Salter, Executive Director, Atlanta-Carolinas High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA).
According to Acting U.S. Attorney Erskine, the charges and other information presented in court regarding the sentencing of Shane Terhune: On July 6, 2018, officers with the Floyd County Police Department responded to a 911 call seeking medical attention for 25-year-old G.L., who died of a heroin overdose that night. The investigation revealed that earlier that afternoon, Terhune met G.L. and her fiancé on Oleary Lane near U.S. Route 411 in Rome and gave them a plastic bag containing heroin in exchange for cash. G.L. subsequently injected the heroin Terhune sold, causing her death. Terhune, who has a history of drug trafficking offenses, admitted to trafficking in heroin and acknowledged that the heroin he sold caused the victim’s death.
The charges and other information presented in court regarding the sentencing of Cornelius Brown: On May 31, 2017, Brown sold a clear plastic bag containing a substance that he knew to be heroin in exchange for $150 in Rome, Georgia. The following year, on the morning of June 25, 2018, Brown met an individual at a Circle K gas station in Rome, where Brown sold him a bag of powder that he knew contained a narcotic in exchange for cash. Upon purchasing the powder, the customer entered the Circle K bathroom, where he injected the drugs he purchased from Brown, resulting in his death. The substance Brown sold to the decedent was fentanyl, a dangerous opioid that caused the fatal overdose.
Shane Terhune, 41, of Rome, Georgia, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Steve C. Jones to fifteen years, eight months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release after pleading guilty to the charge of distributing heroin on July 2, 2021.
Cornelius Brown, 38, also of Rome, Georgia, was sentenced to five years in prison to be followed by ten years of supervised release after he pleaded guilty to the charge of distributing heroin on January 7, 2021.
These cases were investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the DEA Rome, Georgia Post of Duty, Atlanta-Carolinas High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Task Force, with valuable assistance by the Rome/Floyd Metro Task Force, the Rome Police Department, the Floyd County Sheriff’s Office, the Floyd County Police Department, and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) program, created by Congress with the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988, provides assistance to Federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies operating in areas determined to be critical drug-trafficking regions of the United States.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Irina Dutcher prosecuted the case against Shane Terhune. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Irina Dutcher and David O’Neal prosecuted the case against Cornelius Brown.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Atlanta recommends parents and children learn about the dangers of drugs at the following web site: www.justthinktwice.gov.
For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at [email protected] or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.
Last defendant sentenced in Gangster Disciples caseRead the Press Release
ATLANTA, Ga. – Lewis Mobley has been sentenced to federal prison for his role as an enforcer for the Gangster Disciples gang, including shooting a minor in the chest twice for interrupting the filming of a gang rap video.
“For decades, the Gangster Disciples have destroyed communities all across the United States. The gang’s criminal activity in Atlanta included the killing of innocent people, brazen shootings, and prolific drug-trafficking,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Kurt R. Erskine. “These horrific acts and the victims lost and injured will not soon be forgotten. Our community remains united and our law enforcement partners are committed to making sure this type of crippling criminal activity is met with our best investigative and prosecutorial effort. We understand that the sentences issued in this case will not mend the hearts of those who lost loved ones to the crimes of the Gangster Disciples, but we do believe they will make our community safer.”
“These sentences are a major achievement in our fight against gang violence,” said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. for the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “The Gangster Disciples have ravaged communities across the nation, but now dozens of their leaders and enforcers are off the streets thanks to the extraordinary devotion of our federal, state, and local law enforcement partners.”
“The Gangster Disciples have wreaked havoc in our neighborhoods for far too long with the drug trafficking, thefts, violent assaults and murders they have committed,” said Chris Hacker, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta. “Mobley is the last of many members of the ruthless gang to be sentenced as a part of this investigation by the FBI’s Safe Streets Gang Task Force and its state and local partners. We are all committed to dismantling these organized and violent criminal enterprises in order to make Atlanta and all of our communities safer for our citizens.”
“This investigation into the Gangster Disciples demonstrated the commitment on the part of the DeKalb County Police Department to ensure that our communities within DeKalb County remain a safe place to live, work and raise their families. Utilizing firearms to injure or intimidate others cannot be tolerated and there is no question that the public is safer today because of the hard work, dedication, and collaboration of all agencies involved in this investigation,” said DeKalb County Police Chief Mirtha V. Ramos.
“The convictions of Lewis Mobley and other defendants sends a resounding message to gang members around the country that gang activity will not be tolerated in Atlanta,” said Atlanta Police Chief Rodney Bryant. “The Atlanta Police Department is proud of the effort put forth by our investigators to bring these criminals to justice. The sentencing of these gang members proves the effectiveness of our law enforcement partnerships work.”
The Gangster Disciples are a national gang with roots in Chicago, Illinois, dating back to the 1970s, and are now active in at least 25 states. The Gangster Disciples brought money into the gang through, among other things, drug trafficking, robbery, carjacking, extortion, wire fraud, credit card fraud, insurance fraud and bank fraud. The gang protected its power and operation through threats, intimidation, and violence, including murder, attempted murder, assault, and obstruction of justice. It also promoted the Gangster Disciples enterprise through member-only activities, including conference calls, celebrations of the birthday of the Gangster Disciples founder, the annual Gangster Ball, award ceremonies, and other events.
The gang was highly structured, with a hierarchy of leadership posts known as “Positions of Authority” or “POAs.” Members were organized into different positions, including board members and governor-of-governors who each controlled geographic regions; governors, assistant governors, chief enforcers, and chief of security for each state where Gangster Disciples were active; and coordinators and leaders within each local group.
The gang strictly enforces rules for its members, the most important of which was “Silence and Secrecy” – a prohibition on cooperating with law enforcement. To enforce discipline among Gangster Disciples and adherence to the strict rules and structure, members and associates were routinely fined, beaten, and even murdered, for failing to follow rules.
At trial, the government presented evidence that the Gangster Disciples were responsible for 25 shootings from 2011 through 2015, including eight murders, multiple robberies, the extortion of rap artists to force the artists to become affiliated with the Gangster Disciples, fraud losses of over $450,000, and the trafficking of in large amounts of heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, illegal prescription drugs, and marijuana. Additionally, through trial and pleas, a total of 33 different firearms were forfeited.
In total, 38 defendants have been sentenced in the case, which a federal grand jury indicted on April 27, 2016, and then superseded to add defendants on Oct. 24, 2018. Convicted defendants include the highest ranks of Gangster Disciples leaders from Alabama, Colorado, Georgia, Kansas, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and California. Those sentenced by the Court include:
- Donald Glass, 31, of Decatur, Georgia, the leader of HATE Committee, a Gangster Disciples “enforcement team,” was sentenced to life plus ten years in prison after a trial jury found him guilty of RICO conspiracy and using a firearm to cause death.
- Lewis Mobley, 45, of Atlanta, Georgia, a Gangster Disciple enforcer, was sentenced to 40 years in prison after a trail jury found him guilty of RICO conspiracy, attempted murder in aid of racketeering, and using a firearm during that attempted murder.
- Shauntay Craig, 43, of Birmingham, Alabama, who held the rank of Gangster Disciples “Board Member,” was sentenced to 40 years in prison after pleading guilty to RICO conspiracy.
- Kevin Clayton, 48, of Decatur, Georgia, the chief enforcer of the Gangster Disciples in Georgia, was sentenced to 33 years in prison after a trial jury convicted him of RICO conspiracy.
- Alonzo Walton, 52, of Atlanta, Georgia, who held different position including overseeing the gang in Georgia, Florida, Texas, Indiana, and South Carolina, was sentenced to 32 years in prison after a trial jury found him guilty of RICO conspiracy, carjacking, and using a firearm in connection of that carjacking.
- Vertuies Wall, 45, of Marietta, Georgia, the leader of the Macon branch of the Gangster Disciples, was sentenced to 30 years in prison after a trial jury found him guilty of RICO conspiracy.
- Antarious Caldwell, 28, of Atlanta, Georgia, a Gangster Disciples HATE Committee member, was sentenced to 30 years in prison after a trial jury found him guilty of RICO conspiracy, robbery, and using a firearm in connection with that robbery.
- Mario Jackson, 39, of Jacksonville, Florida, the gang “governor” of Florida, was sentenced to 22 years in prison after pleading guilty to RICO conspiracy.
- Lawrence Grice, 32, of Bay City, Texas, the gang “overseer” for Texas, was sentenced to 21 years, 10 months in custody, after a trial jury found him guilty of RICO conspiracy and illegal drug distribution.
- Mangwiro Sadiki-Yisrael, 48, of Marietta, Georgia, who held different positions including gang “governor” of Georgia, was sentenced to 20 years in prison and ordered to pay $396,942.46 in restitution to victims based on his fraud conduct, after pleading guilty to RICO conspiracy.
- Damien Madison, 34, of Denver, Colorado, the gang “governor” of Colorado, was sentenced to 19 years, seven months, after pleading guilty to RICO conspiracy.
- Vancito Gumbs, 29, of Stone Mountain, Georgia, a member of the Gangster Disciples while at the same time serving as a police officer with the DeKalb County, Georgia Police Department, who provided sensitive information to the Gangster Disciples and claimed to be a hitman for them, was sentenced to 15 years in prison after a trial jury found him guilty of RICO conspiracy.
- Frederick Johnson, 44, of Marietta, Georgia, a Gangster Disciples member who sold drugs with other gang members, was sentenced to 12 years in prison after pleading guilty to RICO conspiracy.
- Antonio Ahmad, 39, of Atlanta, Georgia, the “chief of security” for senior gang leaders in Georgia, was sentenced to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to RICO conspiracy.
- Roy Farrell, deceased, of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, a former Gangster Disciples “board member,” was sentenced to 12 years, six months in prison after pleading guilty RICO conspiracy.
- Jeremiah Covington, 38, of Valdosta, Georgia, a local leader for the Valdosta region Gangster Disciples, was sentenced to 11 years, three months in prison after pleading guilty to RICO conspiracy.
- Dereck Taylor, 35, who provided security to Macon, Georgia gang leadership, was sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to RICO conspiracy.
- James Travis Riley, 40, of Coffeyville, Kansas, the gang “governor” of Kansas, was sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiring to distribute illegal drugs.
- Nicholas Evans, 32, of Newport Beach, California, was sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiring to distribute illegal drugs.
- Ronald McMorris, 39, of Atlanta, Georgia, a local leader of the Atlanta Gangster Disciples, was sentenced to nine years in prison and ordered to pay $10,345.00 in restitution to victims after pleading guilty to RICO conspiracy.
- Markell White, 48, of Atlanta, Georgia, a regional leader in Macon, Georgia, was sentenced to eight years, nine months in prison after pleading guilty to RICO conspiracy.
- Eric Manney, 38, of Atlanta, Georgia, a Gangster Disciples’ member who stored narcotics and multiple guns at his house, was sentenced to eight years, one month in prison after pleading guilty to RICO conspiracy.
- Terrance Summers, 48, of Birmingham, Alabama, the gang governor for Alabama, was sentenced to eight years in prison after pleading guilty to RICO conspiracy.
- Alvis O’Neal, 43, of Denver, Colorado, a drug trafficker for the Gangster Disciples, was sentenced to seven years, six months in custody after pleading guilty to RICO conspiracy.
- Condelay Abbitt, 37, of Hoover, Alabama, a Gangster Disciples member who transported illegal drugs for the gang, was sentenced to seven years, three months in prison after pleading guilty to RICO conspiracy.
- Adrian Jackson, 42, of San Jose, California, the national treasurer for the Gangster Disciples, was sentenced to seven years in prison after pleading guilty to RICO conspiracy.
- Charles Wingate, 31, of Conyers, Georgia, a local leader for the Gangster Disciples in Covington, Georgia who sold drugs with the gang, was sentenced to six years, nine months in prison after pleading guilty to RICO conspiracy.
- Quiana Franklin, 38, of Birmingham, Alabama, a Gangster Disciples’ member who stored drugs for gang leader Shauntay Craig, was sentenced to four years, nine months in prison after pleading guilty to RICO conspiracy.
- Anthony Blaine, 39, of Dallas, Georgia, a Gangster Disciples member who engaged in fraud for the gang, was sentenced to three years, five months in prison and ordered to pay $64,234.29 in restitution to victims, after pleading guilty to RICO conspiracy.
- Myrick Stevens, 32, of Madison, Wisconsin, a Gangster Disciples member who engaged in fraud for the gang, was sentenced to three years, five months in prison and ordered to pay $8,700.00 in restitution to victims, after pleading guilty to RICO conspiracy.
- Thomas Pasby, 47, of Cochran, Georgia, a Gangster Disciples member who engaged in fraud for the gang, was sentenced to two years, six months in prison and ordered to pay $83,918.56 in restitution to victims after pleading guilty to RICO conspiracy.
- Laderris Dickerson, 51, of Hartselle, Alabama, who orchestrated a carjacking with senior Gangster Disciples members, was sentenced to two years, six months in prison after pleading guilty to federal carjacking.
- Carlton King, Jr., 31, of Cochran, Georgia, a Gangster Disciples member who engaged in fraud for the gang, was sentenced to two years in prison and ordered to pay $5,897.88 in restitution to victims, after pleading guilty to RICO conspiracy.
- Michael Drummond, 54, of Marietta, Georgia, a Gangster Disciples member who engaged in fraud for the gang, was sentenced to two years in prison and ordered to pay $3,677.00 in restitution to victims, after pleading guilty to RICO conspiracy.
- Curtis Thomas, 44, of Cochran, Georgia, a Gangster Disciples member who engaged in fraud for the gang, was sentenced to one year, nine months in prison and ordered to pay $59,521.90 in restitution to victims, after pleading guilty to RICO conspiracy.
- Kelvin Sneed, 33, of Cochran, Georgia, a Gangster Disciples member who engaged in fraud for the gang, was sentenced to one year, six months in prison and ordered to pay $24,417.89 in restitution to victims, after pleading guilty to RICO conspiracy.
- Arrie Freeney, 37, of Detroit, Michigan, a Gangster Disciples member who engaged in fraud for the gang, was sentenced to one year, one day in prison and ordered to pay $25,641.36 in restitution to victims, after pleading guilty to RICO conspiracy.
- Denise Carter, 47, of Detroit, Michigan, a Gangster Disciples member who engaged in fraud for the gang, was sentenced to eight months of home confinement and three years of probation and ordered to pay $7,938.45 in restitution to victims, after pleading guilty to RICO conspiracy.
These cases were investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Marshals Service, The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), U.S. Postal Inspection Services, Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, the Federal Bureau of Prisons, Atlanta Police Department, Fulton County Sheriff’s Office, Clayton County Police Department, DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office, DeKalb Police Department, Georgia Dept. of Community Supervision, Georgia Dept. of Corrections, Gwinnett County Police Department, and the Marietta Police Department.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ryan Buchanan, Erin Spritzer, and Stephanie Gabay-Smith of the Northern District of Georgia, Principal Deputy Chief Kim S. Dammers, Trial Attorneys Conor Mulroe, and Hans Miller of the Justice Department’s Organized Crime and Gang Section prosecuted the case.
For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at [email protected] or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.
Last Defendant Sentenced in Gangster Disciples CaseRead the Press Release
Lewis Mobley, 45, of Atlanta, Georgia, was sentenced Tuesday to 40 years in prison for his role as an enforcer for the Gangster Disciples gang, including shooting a minor in the chest twice for interrupting the filming of a gang rap video.
“These sentences are a major achievement in our fight against gang violence,” said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. for the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “The Gangster Disciples have ravaged communities across the nation, but now dozens of their leaders and enforcers are off the streets thanks to the extraordinary devotion of our federal, state and local law enforcement partners.”
“For decades, the Gangster Disciples have destroyed communities all across the United States,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Kurt R. Erskine for the Northern District of Georgia. “The gang’s criminal activity in Atlanta included the killing of innocent people, brazen shootings, and prolific drug-trafficking. These horrific acts and the victims lost and injured will not soon be forgotten. Our community remains united and our law enforcement partners are committed to making sure this type of crippling criminal activity is met with our best investigative and prosecutorial effort. We understand that the sentences issued in this case will not mend the hearts of those who lost loved ones to the crimes of the Gangster Disciples, but we do believe they will make our community safer.”
“The Gangster Disciples have wreaked havoc in our neighborhoods for far too long with the drug trafficking, thefts, violent assaults and murders they have committed,” said Special Agent in Charge Chris Hacker of FBI's Atlanta Field Office. “Mobley is the last of many members of the ruthless gang to be sentenced as a part of this investigation by the FBI’s Safe Streets Gang Task Force and its state and local partners. We are all committed to dismantling these organized and violent criminal enterprises in order to make Atlanta and all of our communities safer for our citizens.”
“These gang members committed a number of heinous crimes including murder, and this sentence ensures the final defendant was held accountable for his actions,” said Assistant Director Calvin Shivers of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division. “This verdict shows the FBI is firmly committed to putting violent offenders behind bars and dismantling criminal enterprises across the country in order to make our communities safe from violent street gangs.”
In total, 38 defendants have been sentenced in the case, which a federal grand jury indicted on April 27, 2016, and then superseded to add defendants on Oct. 24, 2018. Convicted defendants include the highest ranks of Gangster Disciples leaders from Alabama, Colorado, Georgia, Kansas, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and California.
The Gangster Disciples are a national gang with roots in Chicago, Illinois, dating back to the 1970s, and are now active in at least 25 states. The Gangster Disciples brought money into the gang through, among other things, drug trafficking, robbery, carjacking, extortion, wire fraud, credit card fraud, insurance fraud and bank fraud. The gang protected its power and operation through threats, intimidation and violence, including murder, attempted murder, assault and obstruction of justice. It also promoted the Gangster Disciples enterprise through member-only activities, including conference calls, celebrations of the birthday of the Gangster Disciples founder, the annual Gangster Ball, award ceremonies and other events.
The gang was highly structured, with a hierarchy of leadership posts known as “Positions of Authority” or “POAs.” Members were organized into different positions, including board members and governor-of-governors who each controlled geographic regions; governors, assistant governors, chief enforcers and chief of security for each state where Gangster Disciples were active; and coordinators and leaders within each local group.
The gang strictly enforces rules for its members, the most important of which was “silence and secrecy” – a prohibition on cooperating with law enforcement. To enforce discipline among Gangster Disciples and adherence to the strict rules and structure, members and associates were routinely fined, beaten and even murdered, for failing to follow rules.
At trial, the government presented evidence that the Gangster Disciples were responsible for 25 shootings from 2011 through 2015, including eight murders, multiple robberies, the extortion of rap artists to force the artists to become affiliated with the Gangster Disciples, fraud losses of over $450,000, and the trafficking of large amounts of heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, illegal prescription drugs and marijuana. Additionally, through trial and pleas, a total of 33 different firearms were forfeited.
Those sentenced by the court include:
- Donald Glass, 31, of Decatur, Georgia, the leader of HATE Committee, a Gangster Disciples “enforcement team,” was sentenced to life plus 10 years in prison after a trial jury found him guilty of RICO conspiracy and using a firearm to cause death.
- Lewis Mobley, 45, of Atlanta, Georgia, a Gangster Disciple enforcer, was sentenced to 40 years in prison after a trail jury found him guilty of RICO conspiracy, attempted murder in aid of racketeering, and using a firearm during that attempted murder.
- Shauntay Craig, 43, of Birmingham, Alabama, who held the rank of Gangster Disciples Board Member, was sentenced to 40 years in prison after pleading guilty to RICO conspiracy.
- Kevin Clayton, 48, of Decatur, Georgia, the chief enforcer of the Gangster Disciples in Georgia, was sentenced to 33 years in prison after a trial jury convicted him of RICO conspiracy.
- Alonzo Walton, 52, of Atlanta, Georgia, who held different positions including overseeing the gang in Georgia, Florida, Texas, Indiana and South Carolina, was sentenced to 32 years in prison after a trial jury found him guilty of RICO conspiracy, carjacking and using a firearm in connection of that carjacking.
- Vertuies Wall, 45, of Marietta, Georgia, the leader of the Macon branch of the Gangster Disciples, was sentenced to 30 years in prison after a trial jury found him guilty of RICO conspiracy.
- Antarious Caldwell, 28, of Atlanta, Georgia, a Gangster Disciples HATE Committee member, was sentenced to 30 years in prison after a trial jury found him guilty of RICO conspiracy, robbery, and using a firearm in connection with that robbery.
- Mario Jackson, 39, of Jacksonville, Florida, the gang “governor” of Florida, was sentenced to 22 years in prison after pleading guilty to RICO conspiracy.
- Lawrence Grice, 32, of Bay City, Texas, the gang “overseer” for Texas, was sentenced to 21 years and 10 months in custody, after a trial jury found him guilty of RICO conspiracy and illegal drug distribution.
- Mangwiro Sadiki-Yisrael, 48, of Marietta, Georgia, who held different positions including gang “governor” of Georgia, was sentenced to 20 years in prison and ordered to pay $396,942.46 in restitution to victims based on his fraud conduct, after pleading guilty to RICO conspiracy.
- Damien Madison, 34, of Denver, Colorado, the gang “governor” of Colorado, was sentenced to 19 years and seven months, after pleading guilty to RICO conspiracy.
- Vancito Gumbs, 29, of Stone Mountain, Georgia, a member of the Gangster Disciples while at the same time serving as a police officer with the DeKalb County, Georgia Police Department, who provided sensitive information to the Gangster Disciples and claimed to be a hitman for them, was sentenced to 15 years in prison after a trial jury found him guilty of RICO conspiracy.
- Frederick Johnson, 44, of Marietta, Georgia, a Gangster Disciples member who sold drugs with other gang members, was sentenced to 12 years in prison after pleading guilty to RICO conspiracy.
- Antonio Ahmad, 39, of Atlanta, Georgia, the chief of security for senior gang leaders in Georgia, was sentenced to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to RICO conspiracy.
- Roy Farrell, deceased, of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, a former Gangster Disciples board member, was sentenced to 12 years and six months in prison after pleading guilty RICO conspiracy.
- Jeremiah Covington, 38, of Valdosta, Georgia, a local leader for the Valdosta region Gangster Disciples, was sentenced to 11 years and three months in prison after pleading guilty to RICO conspiracy.
- Dereck Taylor, 35, who provided security to Macon, Georgia gang leadership, was sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to RICO conspiracy.
- James Travis Riley, 40, of Coffeyville, Kansas, the gang “governor” of Kansas, was sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiring to distribute illegal drugs.
- Nicholas Evans, 32, of Newport Beach, California, was sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiring to distribute illegal drugs.
- Ronald McMorris, 39, of Atlanta, Georgia, a local leader of the Atlanta Gangster Disciples, was sentenced to nine years in prison and ordered to pay $10,345 in restitution to victims after pleading guilty to RICO conspiracy.
- Markell White, 48, of Atlanta, Georgia, a regional leader in Macon, Georgia, was sentenced to eight years and nine months in prison after pleading guilty to RICO conspiracy.
- Eric Manney, 38, of Atlanta, Georgia, a Gangster Disciples’ member who stored narcotics and multiple guns at his house, was sentenced to eight years and one month in prison after pleading guilty to RICO conspiracy.
- Terrance Summers, 48, of Birmingham, Alabama, the gang governor for Alabama, was sentenced to eight years in prison after pleading guilty to RICO conspiracy.
- Alvis O’Neal, 43, of Denver, Colorado, a drug trafficker for the Gangster Disciples, was sentenced to seven years and six months in custody after pleading guilty to RICO conspiracy.
- Condelay Abbitt, 37, of Hoover, Alabama, a Gangster Disciples member who transported illegal drugs for the gang, was sentenced to seven years and three months in prison after pleading guilty to RICO conspiracy.
- Adrian Jackson, 42, of San Jose, California, the national treasurer for the Gangster Disciples, was sentenced to seven years in prison after pleading guilty to RICO conspiracy.
- Charles Wingate, 31, of Conyers, Georgia, a local leader for the Gangster Disciples in Covington, Georgia who sold drugs with the gang, was sentenced to six years and nine months in prison after pleading guilty to RICO conspiracy.
- Quiana Franklin, 38, of Birmingham, Alabama, a Gangster Disciples’ member who stored drugs for gang leader Shauntay Craig, was sentenced to four years and nine months in prison after pleading guilty to RICO conspiracy.
- Anthony Blaine, 39, of Dallas, Georgia, a Gangster Disciples member who engaged in fraud for the gang, was sentenced to three years and five months in prison and ordered to pay $64,234.29 in restitution to victims, after pleading guilty to RICO conspiracy.
- Myrick Stevens, 32, of Madison, Wisconsin, a Gangster Disciples member who engaged in fraud for the gang, was sentenced to three years and five months in prison and ordered to pay $8,700 in restitution to victims after pleading guilty to RICO conspiracy.
- Thomas Pasby, 47, of Cochran, Georgia, a Gangster Disciples member who engaged in fraud for the gang, was sentenced to two years and six months in prison and ordered to pay $83,918.56 in restitution to victims after pleading guilty to RICO conspiracy.
- Laderris Dickerson, 51, of Hartselle, Alabama, who orchestrated a carjacking with senior Gangster Disciples members, was sentenced to two years and six months in prison after pleading guilty to federal carjacking.
- Carlton King Jr., 31, of Cochran, Georgia, a Gangster Disciples member who engaged in fraud for the gang, was sentenced to two years in prison and ordered to pay $5,897.88 in restitution to victims, after pleading guilty to RICO conspiracy.
- Michael Drummond, 54, of Marietta, Georgia, a Gangster Disciples member who engaged in fraud for the gang, was sentenced to two years in prison and ordered to pay $3,677 in restitution to victims, after pleading guilty to RICO conspiracy.
- Curtis Thomas, 44, of Cochran, Georgia, a Gangster Disciples member who engaged in fraud for the gang, was sentenced to one year and nine months in prison and ordered to pay $59,521.90 in restitution to victims, after pleading guilty to RICO conspiracy.
- Kelvin Sneed, 33, of Cochran, Georgia, a Gangster Disciples member who engaged in fraud for the gang, was sentenced to one year and six months in prison and ordered to pay $24,417.89 in restitution to victims, after pleading guilty to RICO conspiracy.
- Arrie Freeney, 37, of Detroit, Michigan, a Gangster Disciples member who engaged in fraud for the gang, was sentenced to one year and a day in prison and ordered to pay $25,641.36 in restitution to victims, after pleading guilty to RICO conspiracy.
- Denise Carter, 47, of Detroit, Michigan, a Gangster Disciples member who engaged in fraud for the gang, was sentenced to eight months of home confinement and three years of probation and ordered to pay $7,938.45 in restitution to victims, after pleading guilty to RICO conspiracy.
The FBI, U.S. Marshals Service, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), U.S. Postal Inspection Services, IRS-Criminal Investigation, the Federal Bureau of Prisons, Atlanta Police Department, Fulton County Sheriff’s Office, Clayton County Police Department, DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office, DeKalb Police Department, Georgia Dept. of Community Supervision, Georgia Department of Corrections, Gwinnett County Police Department, and Marietta Police Department investigated the case.
Principal Deputy Chief Kim S. Dammers and Trial Attorneys Conor Mulroe and Hans Miller of the Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Gang Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ryan Buchanan, Erin Spritzer, and Stephanie Gabay-Smith of the Northern District of Georgia prosecuted the case.
Former Georgia Insurance Commissioner sentenced to federal prisonRead the Press Release
ATLANTA – Former Georgia Insurance Commissioner Jim Beck has been sentenced to federal prison following his conviction for stealing more than $2,500,000 from the Georgia Underwriting Association (GUA).
“Former Commissioner Beck has been held accountable for taking advantage of his position of trust at the GUA, stealing millions of dollars from his employer, and then defrauding the IRS,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Kurt R. Erskine. “At the time he was charged with these offenses in 2019, he was the newly elected Georgia Insurance Commissioner. Thankfully, the FBI and IRS uncovered these crimes before Beck got the chance to do even more damage as a statewide public official.”
“Beck’s actions were full of greed and selfishness as he took complete advantage of his employer (GUA) and friends who held him in a high position of trust,” said Chris Hacker, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta. “This sentencing should serve as a warning that no matter how elaborate a scheme, the FBI and our partners will use all resources necessary to hold deceitful individuals accountable for their actions and bring them to justice.”
“Beck abused his position as the General Manager of Operations for the GUA while engaging in a series of fraudulent transactions devised to siphon funds from a worthwhile organization. IRS Criminal Investigation is proud to have assisted our partners in unraveling the fraud actions undertaken by Beck for his personal benefit,” said James E. Dorsey, Special Agent in Charge, IRS Criminal Investigation Atlanta Field Office. “Pooling the skills of each agency makes a formidable team as we investigate allegations of wrong-doing. This sentencing demonstrates our collective efforts to enforce the law and ensure public trust.”
According to Acting U.S. Attorney Erskine, the charges and other information presented in court: From January 2012 until Beck was sworn in as Insurance Commissioner on January 14, 2019, Beck worked as the General Manager of Operations for the GUA after being elected to that post by the GUA board of directors. GUA, located in Suwanee, Georgia, is an insurance association created as part of the Georgia Fair Access to Insurance Requirements (FAIR) law to provide high-risk property insurance to homeowners located throughout Georgia. In addition to premiums collected from its customers, GUA is also funded by issuing assessments to the association members, which include every insurer authorized to write any form of property insurance in Georgia.
While Beck served as General Manager of GUA, he also maintained controlling financial interests in two businesses known as Creative Consultants and the GA Christian Coalition. Beginning in 2013, Beck talked four associates—all of whom were either friends or family members--into forming four separate businesses that supposedly supplied necessary services, including residential property inspections and water damage mitigation, to GUA. Then, through an elaborate system of fraudulent invoicing which included producing false documentation and concealing the truth from his four associates, Beck regularly approved substantial GUA payments to the four companies. Beck then prepared fraudulent invoices from Creative Consultants and GA Christian Coalition for services that were never performed, and, at Beck’s direction, his four associates paid the fraudulent invoices from the money they had been paid from GUA. Between February 2013 and August 2018, Beck stole more than $2,500,000 from GUA.
Beck was also sentenced for his convictions on four counts of tax fraud for filing false federal income tax returns for the years 2014 through 2018. Beck's tax returns for those years were fraudulent because they substantially overstated business expenses and substantially understated business profits for Beck's Creative Consultants and GA Christian Coalition. The tax loss to the IRS was more than $350,000.
Jim C. Beck, 60, of Carrolton, Georgia, has been sentenced to seven years, three months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release, ordered to pay restitution in an amount over $2,619,000 and forfeiture of over $426,000, two pieces of real property and a $2,064.781.85 personal forfeiture money judgment. Beck was found guilty by a jury on July 22, 2021.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brent Alan Gray and Sekret T. Sneed prosecuted the case.
For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at [email protected] or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.
Father and daughter who sold stolen retail products online sentencedRead the Press Release
ATLANTA - Robert Whitley, and his daughter Noni Whitley, have been sentenced to federal prison for selling millions of dollars of stolen retail products through their online businesses, Closeout Express and Essentials Daily Discounts.
“These crimes impact not only the retailers, but every consumer,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Kurt R. Erskine. “Organized retail crime and other massive frauds have become more common through online platforms. We and our law enforcement partners will continue to seek out and prosecute these criminal enterprises.”
“The Whitley’s are now paying the price for inflicting financial harm to legitimate small businesses and consumers affected by those businesses losses,” said Chris Hacker, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta. “The FBI and our law enforcement partners are committed to working together to protect consumers and businesses from these types of crimes.”
“Postal Inspectors will continue to vigorously pursue individuals that are driven by their own insatiable greed and also demonstrate a blatant disregard for the economic impact that can occur,” said Tommy D. Coke, Inspector in Charge of the Atlanta Division. “This sentence is the culmination of a successful joint investigative effort to dismantle an ongoing retail crime ring and continue to ensure the integrity of the mail system.”
According to Acting U.S. Attorney Erskine, the charges and other information presented in court: Between approximately January 2011 and November 2019, Robert and Noni Whitley operated an organized retail crime operation (“ORC”) in Atlanta through several entities, including Closeout Express and Essentials Daily Discounts.
An ORC operation refers to a professional shoplifting, cargo theft, or retail crime ring, or other organized crime occurring in a retail environment. Robert Whitley was the owner and operator of Closeout Express. Noni Whitley worked with her father and helped operate and manage their ORC operation.
Closeout Express and Essential Daily Discounts operated from a warehouse and several residences in Atlanta. The defendants relied on “boosters”—who are essentially professional shoplifters—to steal specific retail products or categories of items, including over-the-counter medications (e.g., Prilosec, Nexium, Rogaine, and Claritin), shaving razors, oral care products, and health and beauty aids. The boosters stole these products from various retailers, national drugstore chains, and national supermarket chains throughout metro Atlanta, including CVS, Kroger, Publix, Target, and Walgreens. The boosters would typically bring the stolen product in large trash bags to Closeout Express’s warehouse in southwest Atlanta. Robert and Noni Whitley paid the boosters in cash for the stolen product. The investigation revealed that Robert and Noni Whitley paid dozens of boosters to steal product over the years.
Closeout Express sold the stolen retail products—at below retail or even wholesale cost—mainly online at its own websites and through various online e-commerce platforms, including the Amazon Marketplace, the Walmart Marketplace, and the Sears Marketplace. In exchange for a monthly fee or some percentage of the sales, these platforms permit third-party sellers to establish “online storefronts” to sell new or used products on a fixed-price online marketplace alongside these companies’ regular offerings. Closeout Express established “online storefronts” on each of these marketplaces to sell the stolen retail product. Specifically, Closeout Express operated an online storefront on the Amazon Marketplace from approximately January 2011 until July 2018. During that time, Closeout Express sold more than 140,000 items through this storefront. With respect to the Walmart and Sears Marketplaces, Closeout Express operated online storefronts beginning in September 2017 and December 2014, respectively. Through these two online storefronts, Closeout Express processed more than 30,000 orders.
In November 2019, after an investigation, law enforcement shut down the Whitleys’ operation. That month, the FBI and U.S. Postal Inspection Service executed multiple search warrants at Closeout Express’s southwest Atlanta warehouse and multiple residences connected to Robert and Noni Whitley. These locations had been used to sort, store, and process the stolen retail product (e.g., to “clean” the items of identifying information or anti-theft devices). Among other evidence of the ORC operation, agents recovered more than $1 million in stolen retail product.
While in operation, Robert and Noni Whitley sold stolen retail product valued at more than $6.1 million through Closeout Express and Essential Daily Discounts across the various e-commerce platforms. Robert Whitley and Noni Whitley also sold hundreds of thousands of dollars of stolen product through Essential Daily Discounts’ own website.
On October 5, 2021, the defendants were sentenced by U.S. District Judge J.P. Boulee, to the following:
- Robert Whitley a/k/a Mr. Bob, 70, of Atlanta, Georgia, was sentenced to five years, ten months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release. He previously pleaded guilty to one count of interstate transportation of stolen property.
- Noni Whitley, 47, of Atlanta, Georgia, was sentenced to five years in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release. She previously pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit interstate transportation of stolen property,
Both defendants were also ordered to pay $4,348,762.90 in restitution to the victim retailers.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and United States Postal Inspection Service.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Alex R. Sistla is prosecuting the case.
For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at [email protected] or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.
New Jersey-based trader admits to involvement in options trading schemeRead the Press Release
ATLANTA – Mark Melnick has pleaded guilty to a criminal information charging him with conspiracy to commit wire and securities fraud arising from a years-long scheme to manipulate the prices of short-term call options in large, publicly traded companies. Melnick is the second defendant to plead guilty for his participation in this scheme. In December 2020, Bart Ross also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire and securities fraud.
“Melnick and others involved in this scheme profited not because of their financial acumen, but simply by cheating,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Kurt R Erskine. “We will prosecute all forms of securities fraud, whether it involves defrauding investors, insider trading, pump-and-dump schemes, or the type of sophisticated market manipulation at issue here.”
“Fraudulently manipulating securities may seem like a harmless crime, but there are real victims and their lives changed because of it,” said Chris Hacker, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta. “The FBI is committed to working with our law enforcement partners to stop greed driven traders like Melnick from profiting illegally.”
According to Acting U.S. Attorney Erskine, the charges and other information presented in court: Between approximately October 2017 and January 2020, Melnick, Ross, and at least three other individuals, conspired to execute a scheme in which they traded securities—primarily short-term call options—in large, publicly traded companies (often Fortune 500 companies) based on materially false rumors about those companies that they generated and disseminated. These materially false rumors were intended to drive up the price of the securities (both the underlying stock and options).
Call options are essentially a contract that gives the options’ holder the right, but not the obligation, to buy shares of the underlying stock at a set price per share—the option’s strike price—on or before a set future date (the option’s expiration date). Generally, the holder of a call option benefits when the price of the underlying stock increases. Short-term call options are ones that generally expire within a week.
Ross, who was formerly a registered broker with FINRA, and the co-conspirators generated the rumors. The conspirators would often refine a proposed rumor by exchanging drafts among themselves using the Trillian instant messaging application. Melnick was a day trader and T3 Live Senior Trading Strategist. Melnick often provided a “technical evaluation” on whether a particular false rumor would be successful. After a rumor was formulated and finalized, one of the co-conspirators, identified as Individual-1 in the criminal information, was responsible for disseminating the rumor via Trillian to multiple accounts, which would in turn result in the false rumor being disseminated over one or more market subscription services, including Trade The News, TradeXchange, and Benzinga, as well as various Twitter accounts.
Before Individual-1 disseminated the rumor, Melnick, Ross, and the other co-conspirators would acquire a position in the publicly traded company that was the subject of the materially false rumor. The co-conspirators typically purchased short-term call options before (sometimes just minutes or seconds before) Individual-1 disseminated the rumor. The conspirators often (but not always) purchased short-term call options because the price of such options is more sensitive than the price of the underlying stock. It was therefore possible for Melnick and the others to earn a greater percentage return by trading short-term call options rather than the underlying stock. Melnick and the conspirators profited from their scheme by selling the options (or other securities) after they increased in price. They would typically sell off their positions shortly after the rumor was disseminated (and after the price of the option or underlying stock had increased). Melnick also had an agreement with Individual-1 to share a portion of his profits from the scheme with Individual-1.
Melnick executed at least 102 trades based on the generation and dissemination of false rumors, including in March and April 2018, when Ross traded short-term call options in Disney and Ben Franklin Resources, respectively. Overall, Melnick earned approximately $374,000 in profits from the scheme.
Mark Melnick, 41, of Marlboro, New Jersey, is scheduled to be sentenced December 16, 2021, at 9:30 a.m. before U.S. District Judge Leigh Martin May.
This case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation with assistance from the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alex R. Sistla and Thomas J. Krepp are prosecuting the case.
The SEC is investigating potential civil violations of the U.S. securities laws relating to above-described scheme. In connection with its investigation, the SEC filed a separate civil enforcement action and consent judgment against Melnick in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.
For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at [email protected] or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.
Armed felons charged under the U.S. Attorney and Fulton County District Attorney’s Offices’ enforcement operation targeting repeat violent offendersRead the Press Release
ATLANTA – Deuntrae Meshari Colley, Antonio Cooper, also known as “Antoine Cooper,” Dexter Hancock, Daeqwan Ray Jackson, also known as “Daequan Ray Jackson,” Donald Johnson, and Drashawn Mitchell, all convicted felons, have been charged with federal offenses, including possessing a firearm while being a convicted felon. These arrests resulted from coordination among federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies as part of an operation under the Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN) Program. This operation, named “Operation Phoenix Summer Surge,” focused on the arrest and prosecution of individuals who illegally used or possessed firearms in violation of federal law and are responsible for driving violence in the City of Atlanta.
“Federal law enforcement is building on strong partnerships with state and local law enforcement to focus on those individuals who are the drivers of violent crime in the City of Atlanta,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Kurt R. Erskine. “Through this district’s PSN program, and in collaboration with the Office of the Fulton County District Attorney, these partnerships helped to ensure that the individuals federally charged as part of this operation will remain in custody pending trial and be prevented from continuing to pose a danger to members of our community.”
“These convictions are an excellent example of how cooperation between federal, state and local law enforcement partners can make our community safer by bringing dangerous offenders to justice. We are cooperating closely with the Acting U.S. Attorney, ATF and other federal partners to make sure felons who break the law by possessing a firearm receive a substantial prison sentence,” said Fulton County District Attorney Fani T. Willis.
“Operation Phoenix Summer Surge is the continuation of a sustained, systematic, and coordinated law enforcement initiative begun in August 2020 to fight violent crime in the City of Atlanta,” said Chris Hacker, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta. “The FBI is committed to working together with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the Fulton County District Attorney and all of our federal, state and local partners to make these arrests because the threats we face are too diverse, too dangerous, and too all-encompassing for any of us to tackle alone.”
“ATF and our outstanding local, state and federal law enforcement partners have ensured the law-abiding citizens of this community are safer as a result of Operation Phoenix Summer Surge,” said Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, Atlanta Field Division Special Agent in Charge Ben Gibbons. “The law enforcement community has reduced a dangerous and pervasive threat to the local community of Atlanta by arresting these individuals.”
“Getting criminals off of our streets is a priority for the Atlanta Police Department. Our work with Operation Phoenix has proven time and time again that our partnerships are effective and making a difference,” said APD Chief Rodney Bryant. “Just knowing that these repeat offenders will be hold accountable for their actions, sends a strong message that we will find you and we will not tolerate criminal activity in our city.”
According to Acting U.S. Attorney Erskine, the charges and other information presented and alleged in court:
- On August 6, 2021, Atlanta Police Department (APD) officers encountered Deuntrae Colley, 38, of Atlanta, Georgia, who was wanted in connection with an aggravated assault. He attempted to flee from the officers and discard a backpack. Colley was apprehended and the backpack was searched, where they recovered a loaded .22 caliber revolver and a spent shell casing. Colley’s criminal history includes a robbery conviction and an incident in which he’s accused of shooting a man on MLK Drive on July 11, 2021. On September 7, 2021, a federal grand jury indicted Colley for the offense of possessing a firearm after having been convicted of a felony offense.
- On July 3, 2021, Dexter Hancock, 35, Atlanta, Georgia, was driving in the parking lot of Lenox Mall in Atlanta when he nearly collided with another motorist. Hancock pointed a loaded 9mm Taurus G2c handgun at the other motorist and members of the motorist’s family. APD officers responded to the scene and arrested Hancock. At the time of his arrest, Hancock was already on supervised release for a federal fraud offense and had been previously convicted of burglary and charged with possessing a weapon during the commission of a crime. On September 21, 2021, a federal grand jury indicted Hancock for the offense of possessing a firearm after having been convicted of a felony offense.
- On August 5, 2021, officers with the APD and Georgia State Patrol responded to a shooting that occurred on Cleveland Avenue in Atlanta. Officers on the scene encountered Daeqwan Jackson, 22, of Lithonia, Georgia, who appeared injured. Jackson informed the officers that he accidentally shot himself with a loaded Glock 30 .45 caliber firearm, loaded with a magazine, that he was carrying. While conducting a background check of Jackson, investigators discovered that recently, in 2019, Jackson was convicted of two counts of Robbery by Sudden Snatching. On August 9, 2021, Jackson was charged via a federal criminal complaint with the offense of possessing a firearm after having been convicted of a felony offense.
- On July 22, 2021, APD officers arrived at an apartment on Center Street in Atlanta in response to a 911 call from a woman who reported that someone had threatened her with a gun. The officers met with the victim and saw injuries to the victim’s left eye, mouth, and left jaw. The victim reported that Donald Johnson, 36, of Atlanta, Georgia, struck her in the left eye and mouth and later pointed a gun at her and threatened to kill her. The victim was subsequently hospitalized with a broken jaw. Johnson was eventually taken into local custody. APD officers recovered a loaded Smith and Wesson 38 Special revolver from a wooded area near the victim’s residence. The victim had reported to officers that they would find the gun in that area where Johnson attempted to hide it. At the time of his arrest, Johnson had been convicted of nine felony offenses and a misdemeanor offense of domestic violence. On August 24, 2021, a federal grand jury indicted Johnson for the offense of possessing a firearm after having been convicted of a felony offense.
- On May 12, 2021, APD officers, while on routine patrol in the New Town residential area in Atlanta, encountered Drashawn Mitchell, 26, of Atlanta, Georgia, who had an active warrant in Fulton County for committing a burglary while on probation. After initially resisting arrest, Mitchell was taken into custody. During a post-arrest search of Mitchell’s vehicle, the officers recovered a loaded Taurus G2C 9mm pistol, an extended 9MM magazine, a digital scale, and illegal drugs, including heroin and cocaine. On September 14, 2021, a federal grand jury indicted Mitchell for the offenses of drug trafficking and possessing a firearm in furtherance of that trafficking offense, and possessing a firearm after having been convicted of a felony offense.
- On November 28, 2020, an APD officer encountered Antonio Cooper, 35, of Atlanta, Georgia, at a supermarket in Atlanta. Cooper attempted to conceal a black Ruger 9mm pistol by tossing the firearm near an ATM machine in the store. Cooper’s prior criminal history includes 2020 convictions for aggravated assault and aggravated battery, and numerous drug trafficking offenses. On September 21, 2021, a federal grand jury indicted Cooper for the offense of possessing a firearm after having been convicted of a felony offense.
All of these defendants have been federally detained pending trial. Members of the public are reminded that the indictments only contain charges. The defendants are presumed innocent of the charges and it will be the Government’s burden to prove the defendants’ guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.
This operation was part of the district’s PSN program and led by the U.S. Attorney’s Office and Fulton County District Attorney’s Office. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime.
Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most serious violent crime problems in the community and to develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As a part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders, and supports and fosters partnerships between law enforcement and schools, the faith community, local community leaders, and locally-based prevention and reentry programs – all to prevent and deter future criminal conduct and to achieve sustainable reductions in crime.
These cases are being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Atlanta Police Department, and Georgia State Patrol.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Natasha Cooper, Stephanie Gabay-Smith, Lauren Macon, Amy Palumbo, Erin Sanders, and Erin Spritzer are prosecuting these cases.
For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at [email protected] or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.
Alabama man sentenced for impersonating a federal officerRead the Press Release
NEWNAN, Ga. - Jay Diamond, who has a criminal history with over 30 misdemeanor and traffic convictions, has been sentenced on two counts of false impersonation of a federal Air Marshal.
“Flashing a badge and impersonating a federal officer to gain a benefit puts the public and law enforcement officers at risk,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Kurt R. Erskine. “Instead of avoiding a speeding ticket, Diamond ended up with two federal felony convictions and time in prison.”
“Impersonating a law enforcement officer is a serious offense,” said Ronnie Tippett, Special Agent in Charge of DHS OIG’s Atlanta Field Office. “Our office is committed to safeguarding the public from scam artists and individuals seeking to benefit themselves such as Mr. Diamond’s attempt to pose as a Federal Air Marshal.”
According to Acting U.S. Attorney Erskine, the charges and other information presented at trial: On August 23, 2018, Jay Diamond was pulled over by a Troup County Deputy Sheriff for speeding on Interstate 185 in Troup County, Georgia. He was travelling 90 miles per hour in a 70 miles per hour zone. The entire traffic stop was captured on dash cam video.
During the traffic stop, Diamond immediately identified himself as an Air Marshal and a Senior Air Marshal and showed the deputy a fraudulent badge that contained the words “Senior Federal Air Marshal.” When asked for his actual law enforcement credentials, Defendant said he had left them at home.
The deputy believed that Diamond was pretending to be a law enforcement officer to avoid receiving a traffic citation. Diamond also said he had received the fake badge from former President Jimmy Carter, and he tried to show them a photo of himself with President Carter. Diamond’s story changed once he was arrested for falsely impersonating a law enforcement officer.
Diamond admitted that he had been overzealous in calling himself an Air Marshal and “should have just taken the ticket.”
On May 27, 2021, a federal jury returned guilty verdicts on both counts of the first superseding indictment after deliberating for approximately one hour and 30 minutes.
Jay Diamond, a/k/a Larry Allen Dilleshaw, 49, of Phenix City, Alabama, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Timothy C. Batten, Sr., to approximately one year and five months in prison to be followed by one year of supervised release, and 50 hours of community service. Diamond was initially charged on two counts of false impersonation of a federal officer.
This case was investigated by the Department of Homeland Security - Office of the Inspector General.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Miguel R. Acosta prosecuted the case.
For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at [email protected] or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.
Six members of the Nine Trey Gangster Bloods gang plead guilty to RICO conspiracyRead the Press Release
ATLANTA – In a series of pleas, six members of the Nine Trey Gangsters (NTG) national criminal organization pleaded guilty to Racketeer Influenced and Corruption Organization (RICO) conspiracy charges.
“Members of the Nine Trey Gangsters showed a shocking indifference to human life, both in carrying out planned acts of violence, and in distributing drugs, including methamphetamine, throughout Georgia,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Kurt Erskine. “While the gang offered members a sense of belonging and the opportunity to make money through illicit drug sales, it was those same members who were most often the targets of violence from the gang based solely on the whims of the gang’s leaders.”
“The Department will continue to bring to justice the leaders and most violent members of dangerous criminal enterprises like the Nine Trey Gangsters,” said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Removing those most responsible for the violence and drug dealing perpetrated by members and associates of violent street gangs like the Nine Trey Gangsters makes our neighborhoods and communities safer.”
“Members of Nine Trey Gangsters have plagued our streets with violence and drug trafficking for far too long,” said Chris Hacker, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta. “These pleas are an example of our commitment to dismantle organized, violent criminal enterprises. The community can rest assured these defendants won’t be on our streets for a very long time, thanks to the efforts of the FBI led Safe Streets Gang Task Force and its state and local partners.”
“As part of our commitment of ridding our facilities of criminal activity, we maintain a robust plan for identifying and managing those participating in gang activity from behind prison walls,” said Georgia Department of Corrections Commissioner Timothy C. Ward. “We appreciate the support and assistance of our law enforcement partners on every level, in our efforts to see that justice is being served on those who pose a threat to the safety of the public and the safe operations of our facilities.”
According to Acting U.S. Attorney Erskine, the charges and other information presented in court: The Nine Trey Gangsters are a national gang that started in the prisons of New York as a subset of the United Bloods Nation and has since spread throughout the East Coast and Southeast. The NTG are a criminal organization whose members and associates engage in acts of violence, including murder, assaults, robbery, firearms possession, witness tampering, obstruction of justice, drug trafficking, extortion, and other criminal activities, which took place in the Northern District of Georgia and elsewhere.
The Nine Trey Gangsters have a hierarchical structure their members throughout the country are subdivided into separate groups or “lines.” Each NTG member has a specific rank within the gang or a specific line, and this rank comes with specific duties and responsibilities. Each of the six defendants who pleaded guilty were part of the gang’s “Fire” line.
The following NTG gang members have pleaded guilty to count one of the second superseding indictment charging them and four others with RICO conspiracy:
Tyrone Clark, a/k/a “Tight Eye,” Joseph Riley, a/k/a “Joe Blow,” Gary Sartor a/k/a “G-Stacks,” and Patrick Caple a/k/a “Zoe,” all held the rank of “Fifth Floor” in the gang’s hierarchy, one of the highest ranks an individual can hold within a line of the gang. In those roles they were responsible for overseeing all of the members below them and reporting up to the gang’s national leadership.
- Tyrone Clark, a/k/a “Tight Eye,” Joseph Riley, a/k/a “Joe Blow,” Gary Sartor a/k/a “G-Stacks,” and Patrick Caple a/k/a “Zoe,” all held the rank of “Fifth Floor” in the gang’s hierarchy, one of the highest ranks an individual can hold within a line of the gang. In those roles they were responsible for overseeing all of the members below them and reporting up to the gang’s national leadership.
- Brandon Asberry a/k/a “B5,” held the rank of “Second Floor” in the gang’s hierarchy. In the role of Second Floor, Asberry was responsible for collecting dues form the gang’s members and overseeing the gang’s meetings or “nines.”
- Michael Jackson a/k/a “MJ,” held the rank of “Third Floor” in the gang’s hierarchy, where he was responsible for planning “wars” or conflicts with rival gangs and providing weapons to other NTG members.
Gary Sartor, Patrick Caple, and Michael Jackson were in Georgia Department of Corrections custody when they participated in the conspiracy.
Tyrone Clark, 40, of Marietta, Georgia, Joseph Riley, 37, of Atlanta, Georgia, Gary Sartor, 37, of Atlanta, Georgia, Patrick Caple, 56, of Glennville, Georgia, Michael Jackson, 27, of Chester, Georgia, and Brandon Asberry, 32, of Atlanta, Georgia have pleaded guilty to Count 1 of the Second Superseding Indictment, charging them and four others with RICO Conspiracy, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1962(d) for their involvement in planning, facilitating, and executing multiple acts of violence and participation in the gang’s drug trafficking activities, including the distribution of methamphetamine, marijuana and Xanax. Each defendant will be sentenced in the coming months by U.S. District Court Judge Amy Totenberg.
This case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation as part of their FBI Safe Streets Task Force with assistance from the Georgia Department of Corrections.
This effort is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.
For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at [email protected] or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.
Six Members of Nine Trey Gangster Bloods Gang Plead Guilty to RICO ConspiracyRead the Press Release
Last week, six members of the Nine Trey Gangsters (NTG) national criminal organization pleaded guilty to Racketeer Influenced and Corruption Organization (RICO) conspiracy charges.
According to court documents, the NTG is a national gang that started in the prisons of New York as a subset of the United Bloods Nation and has since spread throughout the East Coast and Southeast. The NTG is a criminal organization whose members and associates engage in acts of crime and violence including murder, assault, robbery, firearms possession, witness tampering, obstruction of justice, drug trafficking and extortion among other criminal activity.
“The Department will continue to bring to justice the leaders and most violent members of dangerous criminal enterprises like the Nine Trey Gangsters,” said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Removing those most responsible for the violence and drug dealing perpetrated by members and associates of violent street gangs like the Nine Trey Gangsters makes our neighborhoods and communities safer.”
“Members of the Nine Trey Gangsters showed a shocking indifference to human life, both in carrying out planned acts of violence, and in distributing drugs, including methamphetamine, throughout Georgia,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Kurt Erskine for the Northern District of Georgia. “While the gang offered members a sense of belonging and the opportunity to make money through illicit drug sales, it was those same members who were most often the targets of violence from the gang based solely on the whims of the gang’s leaders.”
“Members of Nine Trey Gangsters have plagued our streets with violence and drug trafficking for far too long,” said Special Agent in Charge Chris Hacker of the FBI’s Atlanta Field Office. “These pleas are an example of our commitment to dismantle organized, violent criminal enterprises. The community can rest assured these six defendants won’t be on our streets for a very long time, thanks to the efforts of the FBI-led Safe Streets Gang Task Force and its state and local partners.”
“As part of our commitment of ridding our facilities of criminal activity, we maintain a robust plan for identifying and managing those participating in gang activity from behind prison walls,” said Commissioner Timothy C. Ward of the Georgia Department of Corrections. “We appreciate the support and assistance of our law enforcement partners on every level, in our efforts to see that justice is being served on those who pose a threat to the safety of the public and the safe operations of our facilities.”
“These Bloods members terrorized communities by committing murders and robberies with no regard for human life,” said Assistant Director Calvin Shivers of the FBI Criminal Investigative Division. “Today’s convictions provide a measure of justice, and the FBI will continue to dismantle these criminal enterprises and protect communities from gang violence.”
The NTG have a hierarchical structure in which members throughout the country are subdivided into separate groups or “lines.” Each NTG member has a specific rank within the gang or a specific line, and this rank comes with specific duties and responsibilities. Each of the six defendants who pleaded guilty were part of the gang’s “fire” line.
The following NTG gang members, all of Georgia, pleaded guilty to count 1 of the second superseding indictment charging them and four others with RICO conspiracy:
- Tyrone Clark, aka “Tight Eye”; Joseph Riley, III, aka “Joe Blow”; Gary Sartor aka “G-Stacks”; and Patrick Caple, aka “Zoe,” all held the rank of “Fifth Floor” in the gang’s hierarchy, one of the highest ranks an individual can hold within a line of the gang. In those roles they were responsible for overseeing all the members below them and reporting up to the gang’s national leadership.
- Brandon Asberry, aka “B5,” held the rank of “Second Floor” in the gang’s hierarchy. In this role, Asberry was responsible for collecting dues form the gang’s members and overseeing the gang’s meetings or “nines.”
- Michael Jackson, aka “MJ,” held the rank of “Third Floor” in the gang’s hierarchy. He was responsible for planning “wars” or conflicts with rival gangs and providing weapons to other NTG members.
Clark, 40, of Marietta; Jackson, 27, of Chester; Caple, 56, of Glennville; and Riley, 37, Sartor, 37, and Asberry, 32, all of Atlanta, pleaded guilty to the RICO conspiracy charge for their involvement in planning, facilitating and executing multiple acts of violence and participating in the gang’s drug trafficking activities, including the distribution of methamphetamine, marijuana, and Xanax. Sartor, Caple and Jackson were in Georgia Department of Corrections custody when they participated in the conspiracy.
The defendants face a statutory maximum penalty of life in prison. Jackson, Riley and Clark are scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 1, 2022. The others will be sentenced in the coming months by U.S. District Court Judge Amy Totenberg in the Northern District of Georgia. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
This case is being investigated by the FBI as part of the Safe Streets Task Force, with valuable assistance provided by the Georgia Department of Corrections.
Trial Attorney Kristen Taylor of the Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Gangs Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys in the Northern District of Georgia are prosecuting the case.
U.K. citizen sentenced for trafficking firearmsRead the Press Release
ATLANTA – Jahziah Roy Lewis has been sentenced for conspiring to straw purchase firearms, possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number, exporting firearms outside the United States, and possession with intent to distribute marijuana.
“Lewis directed the straw purchase of the guns, had their serial numbers obliterated, and then smuggled them in household items with the intent of selling them abroad,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Kurt R. Erskine. “Our federal and international law enforcement partners were able to intercept some of the shipments before they were used in a crime. We will continue to aggressively prosecute those who buy firearms for others and unlawfully export them for illicit purposes.”
“The unlawful acquisition and trafficking of firearms is a serious crime that threatens our communities here and abroad," said Special Agent in Charge, Atlanta Field Division Ben Gibbons. “Obliterated firearms are hard to trace and that is what prohibited individuals are interested in. This investigation illustrates the dedication of ATF and its’ law enforcement partners to disrupt illegal firearm straw purchase schemes within the U.S. or anywhere firearm traffickers, like Lewis, choose to operate.”
“Firearms illegally exported from the United States to the Caribbean fuels violent crime, which directly impacts regional stability and U.S. national security interests,” said Ariel Joshua Leinwand, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Industry and Security’s (BIS), Office of Export Enforcement, who oversees BIS investigations in the Southeast. “This significant sentence should act a deterrent to those seeking to violate U.S. export and firearms laws. BIS and our law enforcement partners will continue to aggressively enforce export violations to combat illegal firearm exports.”
“Stopping the flow of illegal weapons prevents the spread of violence and crime in communities abroad,” said Special Agent in Charge Katrina W. Berger, who oversees Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) operations in Georgia and Alabama. “HSI is committed to preventing the spread of illegal goods and works with its law enforcement partners to bring to justice those violators.”
“The diversion of firearms to individuals who cannot legally possess them contributes to the cycle of gun violence that pose a direct threat to the safety and stability of various communities,” said Tommy D. Coke, Inspector in Charge of the Atlanta Division. “Postal Inspectors will continue to aggressively investigate and hold those accountable who maliciously utilize the U.S. mail system.”
According to Acting U.S. Attorney Erskine, the charges and other information presented in court: Between February 18, 2017, and May 14, 2020, Jahziah Roy Lewis, a citizen of the United Kingdom, and two accomplices, were involved in an international weapons trafficking conspiracy to purchase and illegally export approximately thirty-six firearms and drugs from the United States to the United Kingdom and the Caribbean via the U.S. Postal Service. Multiple firearms purchased in Georgia have been recovered in United Kingdom and St. Kitts are tied to various criminal networks abroad.
At the time of each purchase, Lewis’s co-conspirators completed paperwork in which they falsely claimed to be the actual buyers of the firearms when they knew that they were buying the guns for someone else (Lewis). Lewis then directed his accomplice to obliterate the serial numbers on the firearms. After the firearms were purchased, Lewis would sell the firearms abroad by directing his accomplices to conceal the firearms in everyday household items and export them abroad using false names on shipping labels.
On October 1, 2020, the same day the Indictment against Lewis’ co-defendants was unsealed, Lewis obtained an outbound ticket for a flight from the United States to the United Kingdom. Local law enforcement, however, intercepted Lewis at the Miami International Airport and arrested him on a criminal complaint before he was able to board his flight.
Jahziah Roy Lewis, 30, of Saint Kitts and Nevis, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Thomas W. Thrash to four years, nine months, to be followed by three years of supervised release.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Bureau of Industry and Security, the Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the United Kingdom National Crime Agency led the investigation in this case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Dash A. Cooper is prosecuting the case.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN). In keeping with the Attorney General’s mission to reduce violent crime, the Northern District of Georgia’s PSN program focuses on prosecuting those individuals who most significantly drive violence in our communities and supports and fosters partnerships between law enforcement and schools, the faith community, and local community leaders to prevent and deter future criminal conduct.
For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at [email protected] or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.
Three defendants sentenced for Smyrna’s largest methamphetamine seizure everRead the Press Release
ATLANTA - Alejandro Salazar-Gama, Miguel Salazar-Gama, and Arturo Acevedo have been sentenced for their roles in a drug trafficking conspiracy that involved nearly 40 kilograms of 100 percent pure methamphetamine.
“Methamphetamine trafficking breeds violent crime and threatens our community,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Kurt R. Erskine. “We and our law enforcement partners are working hard to combat the trafficking of methamphetamine into and through the Northern District of Georgia, and we will use every tool available stop it.”
“Methamphetamine poses a clear and present danger to our communities,” said the Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Atlanta Field Division Robert J. Murphy. “Because of the collaborative effort between DEA and its law enforcement partners, citizens of the Smyrna, Georgia community can sleep better at night knowing that these defendants will spend well-deserved time in federal prison.”
“This should be a shot across the bow to criminal elements intent on distributing their poison in our communities. Law enforcement agencies in North Georgia are united and determined in keeping our communities safe,” said Dan Salter, Director of the Atlanta-Carolinas High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA).
According to Acting U.S. Attorney Erskine, the charges and other information presented in court: On April 10, 2019, an undercover agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Atlanta-Carolinas High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program arranged via telephone to purchase 40 kilograms of methamphetamine at a business in Smyrna, Georgia.
At the time and place of the arranged meeting, defendant Alejandro Salazar-Gama met the undercover agent and agreed to bring the drugs to the parking lot to show the undercover agent before selling the drugs to the agent. Alejandro Salazar-Gama left the parking lot and returned about 40 minutes later. Shortly afterwards, a van arrived driven by defendant Arturo Acevedo with defendant Miguel Salazar-Gama as a passenger.
When the undercover agent went inside the van, he/she opened one of the boxes located inside the van and saw that the box contained methamphetamine. At that time, the City of Smyrna Police Department SWAT team surrounded the three defendants and arrested them. In total, the drugs weighed more than 39 kilograms and subsequently tested positive for methamphetamine at 100 percent purity. Law enforcement officers believe that this is the largest quantity of methamphetamine ever seized in the City of Smyrna.
The three defendants were sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Thomas W. Thrash Jr., to the following:
- Alejandro Salazar-Gama, 31, of Sandy Springs, Georgia, has been sentenced to 11 years, seven months in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release. Salazar-Gama was sentenced on June 17, 2020, after he pleaded guilty.
- Arturo Acevedo, 22, of Sandy Springs, Georgia, has been sentenced to 14 years in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release. Acevedo was sentenced on September 15, 2021, after he pleaded guilty.
- Miguel Salazar-Gama, 29, of Sandy Springs, Georgia, has been sentenced to three years in prison. Salazar-Gama was sentenced on September 15, 2021, after he pleaded guilty.
This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Atlanta-Carolinas High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program, and the City of Smyrna Police Department.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas N. Joy prosecuted the case.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Atlanta recommends parents and children learn about the dangers of drugs at the following web site: www.justthinktwice.gov.
For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at [email protected] or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.
Reality TV star sentenced for PPP fraud and for operating a multimillion-dollar Ponzi schemeRead the Press Release
ATLANTA - Maurice Fayne, who starred in Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta, has been sentenced to more than 17 years in federal prison for conspiracy and wire fraud related to a Ponzi scheme, and for bank fraud, and making false statements to a financial institution related a fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan application.
“Fayne planned to use the PPP program as a cover for his long-running Ponzi scheme,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Kurt R. Erskine. “The funds the program supplies serve as a lifeline to many businesses desperately trying to stay afloat during the pandemic, and unfortunately his fraud helped deplete those precious dollars.”
“This sentence should serve notice that the FBI and our federal partners will investigate anyone who misdirects federal emergency assistance earmarked for businesses who need it to stay afloat,” said Chris Hacker, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta. “We won’t tolerate anyone driven by personal greed to pocket American taxpayer money that should be going to those who need it.”
“Lying to gain access to SBA’s pandemic response programs is not without consequence,” said SBA OIG’s Eastern Region Special Agent in Charge Amaleka McCall-Brathwaite. “OIG will relentlessly pursue evidence of fraud against SBA’s programs aimed at assisting the nation’s small businesses struggling with the pandemic challenges. I want to thank the U.S. Attorney’s Office for its leadership and dedication to pursuing justice.”
According to Acting U.S. Attorney Erskine, the charges, and other information presented in court: From March 2013 through May 2020, Fayne ran a multistate Ponzi scheme that defrauded more than 20 people who invested in his trucking business. Fayne promised that he would use the investors’ money to operate the business. Instead, he used the money to pay his personal debts and expenses and to fund an extravagant lifestyle for himself. During the scheme, Fayne spent more than $5 million at a casino in Oklahoma.
In April 2020, Fayne submitted a $3.7 million PPP loan application to United Community Bank, falsely claiming that his trucking business had 107 employees and an average monthly payroll of $1,490,200. Fayne promised to use the PPP loan proceeds to retain workers and maintain payroll or make mortgage interest payments, lease payments, and utility payments related to his trucking business. Instead, Fayne used the PPP loan proceeds for improper purposes, including the following:
• $40,000 for past-due child support;
• $50,000 for restitution owed in a previous fraud case;
• $65,000 in cash withdrawals;
• $85,000 for custom-made jewelry;
• $136,000 to lease a Rolls-Royce;
• $230,000 to associates who helped him run a Ponzi scheme;
• $907,000 to start a new business in Arkansas.Maurice Fayne, a/k/a Arkansas Mo, 38, of Dacula, Georgia, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Mark H. Cohen to 17 years, six months in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $4,465,865.55 to the victims. Fayne was convicted on these charges on May 11, 2021, after he pleaded guilty.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Small Business Administration-Office of Inspector General.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Russell Phillips and Bernita Malloy prosecuted the case.
On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. The Task Force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by, among other methods, augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts. For more information on the Department’s response to the pandemic, please visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus
Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.
For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at [email protected] or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.
Justice Department announces investigation into conditions in Georgia prisonsRead the Press Release
ATLANTA – The Justice Department announced today that it has opened a statewide civil investigation into conditions of confinement of prisoners held in Georgia’s prisons.
“Individuals sentenced to prison in Georgia Department of Corrections facilities deserve to be treated humanely,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Kurt R. Erskine. “Our office is committed to ensuring state prisoners are safe while serving their sentences. We look forward to working cooperatively with the Georgia Department of Corrections to ensure the safety of all individuals in its prisons.”
“Ensuring the inherent human dignity and worth of everyone, including people who are incarcerated inside our nation’s jails and prisons, is a top priority,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The Justice Department’s investigations into prison conditions have been successful at identifying systemic constitutional violations and their causes, fixing those causes, and stopping the violations. We are investigating prison violence and abuse in Georgia’s prisons to determine whether Constitutional violations exist, and if so, how to stop them.”
“Prison conditions that enable inmates to engage in dangerous and even deadly activity are an injustice, jeopardizing the lives of detainees, staff members and other corrections personnel,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Peter D. Leary for the Middle District of Georgia. “Our local law enforcement and corrections partners, with whom we work with closely each and every day, are indispensable to our united goal of achieving a safer Georgia for all. Under the leadership of the department’s Civil Rights Division, we look forward to collaborating with our state partners to address our mutual concern for safety in the corrections system.”
“This investigation is an example of our office’s commitment to stamping out violence in our district, no matter where it is found, no matter who the victim is,” said Acting U.S. Attorney David H. Estes for the Southern District of Georgia. “We look forward to working with the State of Georgia, the Georgia Department of Corrections, the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice, and our counterparts in the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Northern and Middle Districts of Georgia to further our shared mission to keep correctional facilities safe for the sake of our community, the prisoners housed there and the dedicated staff who work there.”
The investigation will examine whether Georgia provides prisoners reasonable protection from physical harm at the hands of other prisoners. The department also will continue its existing investigation into whether Georgia provides lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex prisoners reasonable protection from sexual abuse by other prisoners and by staff.
The department has not reached any conclusions regarding the allegations in this matter. The investigation will be conducted under the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act (CRIPA). Under CRIPA, the department has the authority to investigate whether any violations of prisoners’ constitutional rights result from a “pattern or practice of resistance to the full enjoyment of such rights.” The department has conducted CRIPA investigations of many correctional systems, and where violations have been found, the resulting settlement agreements have led to important reforms.
The Special Litigation Section of the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division is conducting this investigation jointly with the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Northern, Middle and Southern Districts of Georgia. Individuals with relevant information are encouraged to contact the department via phone at (844) 401-3736 or by email at [email protected].
Additional information about the Civil Rights Division’s CRIPA investigations related to prisons and jails can be found here: https://www.justice.gov/crt/rights-persons-confined-jails-and-prisons.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Aileen Bell Hughes, Civil Rights Enforcement Coordinator, is handling this matter for the Northern District of Georgia.
For further information, please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at [email protected] or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.
Nigerian hacker and a repeat offender sentenced to federal prison for unemployment fraud and tax fraud schemeRead the Press Release
ATLANTA – Bamidele Muraina, a Nigerian national who hacked into tax preparation firms and filed fraudulent unemployment benefit claims and tax returns using stolen personally identifiable information, and Gabriel Kalembo, a previously convicted fraudster who laundered the fraudulent assets, have been sentenced to federal prison.
“These defendants stole funds from programs meant to assist American workers and families seeking to make ends meet during the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Kurt R. Erskine. “The collaborative efforts of our law enforcement partners were essential to disrupting a sophisticated network of criminals and bringing their leaders to justice.”
“The COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating effect on us all. The enterprise created by these serial criminals further victimized our citizenry by robbing them of financial resources that were intended to help them,” said Special Agent in Charge Steven Baisel, U.S. Secret Service Atlanta Field Office. “Thanks to our judicial system, justice has been served.”
“Bamidele Muraina engaged in a conspiracy to defraud the Employment Security Department of Washington State (“ESD-WA”) by filing dozens of fraudulent unemployment insurance (UI) claims in the names of identity theft victims who were not entitled to such benefits. As part of the same conspiracy, Gabriel Kalembo and his conspirators laundered the unlawfully obtained UI benefits from ESD-WA by purchasing and then later negotiating hundreds of money orders. We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners and state workforce agencies to protect the integrity of unemployment insurance benefit programs,” said Rafiq Ahmad, Special Agent in Charge, Atlanta Region, U.S. Department of Labor Office of Inspector General.
“The sentencing of the defendants should serve as a deterrent to all who intend to exploit the COVID-relief programs that were designated to assist those in need during the pandemic,” said Tommy D. Coke, Inspector in Charge of the Atlanta Division of the United States Postal Inspection Service. “Postal Inspectors will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to investigate anyone that steals federal funds to enrich themselves and have them held accountable under the law.”
“The conspirators not only stole from the government but also victimized individuals and private businesses in this case,” said IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge James E. Dorsey. “Recovering from ID theft often costs time, money, and stress for all parties involved. Thanks to successful partnerships with our agency counterparts and leveraging our financial expertise to serve and protect our communities from further harm.”
“These criminals shamelessly stole people’s hard-earned tax returns and money meant to help families during the pandemic, but thankfully they were exposed and are now facing justice,” said Special Agent in Charge Katrina W. Berger, who oversees Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) operations in Georgia and Alabama. “HSI and its law enforcement partners will continue to aggressively pursue those that seek to profit from these activities.”
According to Acting U.S. Attorney Erskine, the charges and other information presented in court: Bamidele Muraina was a Nigerian national residing in the metro Atlanta area at the time of his offenses. Between at least January 29, 2018 and continuing through approximately April 2020, Muraina hacked into multiple tax preparation and accounting firms located in several states, including a Brunswick, Georgia-based accounting firm. Muraina obtained access to the firms’ accounts with a national tax preparation program, stole personally identifiable information from their clients, and filed more than 275 fraudulent individual income tax returns in their names via the Internet. In total, Muraina’s fraudulent tax returns using stolen identities sought refunds from the IRS exceeding $2.6 million from 2018 through 2020.
Between May 9, 2020 and May 16, 2020, Muraina used stolen personally identifiable information from Washington residents to submit false claims for unemployment insurance benefits in Washington. Muraina’s false claims exploited a federal COVID-19 pandemic relief program created by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which expanded eligibility for unemployment benefits and provided an additional unemployment benefit of $600 per week. Based on Muraina’s fraudulent claims submitted in the names of approximately fifty Washington residents over a one-week span, the State of Washington issued more than $280,000 in unemployment benefits.
Muraina directed fraudulent funds from his unemployment benefits scheme and tax fraud scheme to be deposited into bank accounts set up by co-conspirators, including Gabriel Kalembo, who was convicted in 2017 of conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud in the Northern District of Georgia. Kalembo recruited Zambian nationals to travel to the United States on tourist visas to incorporate sham corporations in Georgia and open business bank accounts in the names of those corporations. After the fraudulent funds were deposited into those accounts, Kalembo laundered the funds by cashing money orders purchased with debit cards linked to the accounts.
Bamidele Muraina, 35, of Oyo, Nigeria was sentenced by U.S. District Judge William M. Ray II to five years and ten months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release, and he ordered Muraina to pay $561,125.62 in restitution.
Gabriel Kalembo, 33, of Atlanta, Georgia was sentenced by Judge Ray to four years and two months in prison to be followed by two years of supervised release, and he ordered Kalembo to pay $298,008.71 in restitution.
This case was investigated by the U.S. Secret Service, the Department of Labor Office of Inspector General, the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, the Department of Homeland Security-Homeland Security Investigations, and the United States Postal Inspection Service.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Nathan P. Kitchens, Chief of the Public Integrity and Special Matters Section, Sarah E. Klapman, and Lauren T. Macon are prosecuting the case.
Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.
For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at [email protected] or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.
College Park man pleads guilty to smuggling guns to BarbadosRead the Press Release
ATLANTA - Rashad Sargeant has pleaded guilty to unlawfully exporting firearms to Barbados. Together with co-defendant David Johnson, Sargeant shipped at least 30 guns to Barbados after obliterating the serial numbers of the firearms and packing them inside false compartments in boxes.
“Greed fuels the illicit firearms market with traffickers ignoring the violent consequences of helping to equip criminals with guns,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Kurt R. Erskine. “We remain steadfast in our efforts to curb gun-related violence in our communities and to prosecute firearms traffickers.”
“The unlawful acquisition and trafficking of firearms is a serious crime that threatens our communities here and abroad,” said Special Agent in Charge, Atlanta Field Division Ben Gibbons. “Obliterated firearms are hard to trace and that is what prohibited individuals are interested in. This investigation illustrates the dedication of ATF and its’ law enforcement partners to disrupt illegal firearm straw purchase schemes within the U.S. or anywhere firearm traffickers, like Sargeant, choose to operate.”
“Firearms illegally exported from the United States often end up in the wrong hands and are used to commit further criminal acts,” said Ariel Joshua Leinwand, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Industry and Security’s (BIS), Office of Export Enforcement, Atlanta Office. “BIS will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to aggressively enforce export violations and combat illegal firearm exports in the interest of public safety in the U.S. and overseas.”
“Disrupting the flow of illegal guns inevitably saves lives and reduces overall crime, so I’m glad we were able to stop Sargeant’s scheme to illegally export guns to Barbados,” said Special Agent in Charge Katrina W. Berger, who oversees Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) operations in Georgia and Alabama. “Cases like this highlight the great results that can be achieved when agencies work together to protect our communities.”
According to Acting U.S. Attorney Erskine, the charges and other information presented in court: Johnson recruited Shunquez Stephens and others, to unlawfully purchase guns from federally licensed firearms dealers. Stephens, and the other “straw purchasers,” made false statements to the licensed dealers by swearing that that they were purchasing the guns for themselves. Sargeant and Johnson would then take possession of the guns and use false identifications to mail the guns to Barbados through common carriers like UPS, FedEx, and DHL.
Rashad Sargeant, 27, of College Park, Georgia, pleaded guilty on September 2, 2021. Sentencing for Sargeant is scheduled for December 16, 2021, at 1:30 p.m., before U.S. District Judge William M. Ray II.
David Johnson, 31, of Belleville, Illinois, pleaded guilty on July 22, 2021. Sentencing is scheduled for November 4, 2021, at 1:30 p.m., before U.S. District Judge William M. Ray II.
Shunquez Stephens, 28, of Flowery Branch, Georgia, pleaded guilty for his role in this scheme on June 21, 2021. Sentencing is scheduled for September 22, 2021, at 11:00 a.m., before U.S. District Judge William M. Ray II.
This case is being investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, and the Bureau of Industry and Security.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Keen is prosecuting the case.
For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at [email protected] or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.
Serial robber sentenced for string of North Georgia robberiesRead the Press Release
GAINESVILLE, Ga. - Giovanni Annucci-Romero has been sentenced for a string of armed robberies in the cities of Gainesville and Cleveland, Georgia.
“The excellent coordination of federal and local law enforcement officers achieved the arrest and successful prosecution of this serial robber,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Kurt R. Erskine. “These partnerships are helping to ensure the safety of the citizens of our district at a time when violent crime is spiking.”
“Giovanni Annucci-Romero terrorized several communities,” said ATF Special Agent in Charge, Atlanta Field Division Ben Gibbons. “This sentence represents the seriousness of his crime. ATF and our law enforcement partners will continue to reduce violent crime by arresting criminals, such as Annucci-Romero, who terrorizes the communities in which law-abiding citizens live.”
“We are pleased with the convictions and knowing that these violent criminals have been removed from our communities,” said Chief Jeff Shoemaker, Cleveland Police Department.
“Partnerships in policing, the community and a comprehensive investigation played a key role in serving justice in this case. We are fortunate and thankful that no one was injured during this dangerous crime spree,” said Chief Jay Parrish, Gainesville Police Department.
“This outcome is a direct reflection of what good multi-jurisdictional teamwork and communication can accomplish. As a law enforcement leader, I continually strive to impress upon my employees the need to be proactive in everything we do and to remain alert at all times. The fact that our deputy was able to locate and stop Mr. Annucci-Romero within moments of his last criminal act serves as a testament to the fact that our deputies embrace their obligation to protect the citizens they serve,” said Habersham County Sheriff Joey Terrell.
According to Acting U.S. Attorney Erskine, the charges and other information presented in court: Annucci-Romero wielded two firearms, one in each hand, during robberies of a grocery store in Gainesville, and two gas stations, one in Gainesville, and one in Cleveland, Georgia. Annucci-Romero was arrested on May 23, 2020, shortly after he robbed the gas station in Cleveland.
Following the robbery, Cleveland police officers released a description of the robbery suspect’s vehicle. Moments later, a deputy with the Habersham County Sheriff’s Office stopped a vehicle that matched the description. Annucci-Romero was arrested in the vehicle after the deputy saw him sitting on the cash he had just stolen from the Cleveland gas station.
Giovanni Annucci-Romero, 24, of Gainesville, Georgia, was sentenced to ten years in prison to be followed by four years of supervised release and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $31,943. Annucci-Romero was convicted on these charges on May 19, 2021, after he pleaded guilty.
This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Cleveland Police Department, the Gainesville Police Department, and the Habersham County Sheriff’s Office.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Keen prosecuted the case.
For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at [email protected] or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.
Active-duty Sailor and his former Navy colleague are charged with conspiring to traffic guns from Georgia to New JerseyRead the Press Release
ATLANTA - Elijah Isaiah Boykin, an active-duty U.S. Navy Sailor, and Elijah Keashon Barnes have been indicted for unlawfully obtaining and transporting dozens of firearms that were later used in New Jersey-area crimes. Boykin and Barnes served together in the U.S. Navy until June 2020, when Barnes was discharged following his confinement for repeated violations of military law.
“Federal law prohibits the making of false statements and misrepresentations to licensed firearms dealers,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Kurt R. Erskine. “Individuals who use deception to buy guns intended for other people will face severe consequences, including imprisonment and the loss of valuable civil rights.”
“The unlawful acquisition and trafficking of firearms is a serious crime that threatens our communities here and abroad,” said ATF Special Agent in Charge, Atlanta Field Division Ben Gibbons. “This investigation illustrates the dedication of ATF and its law enforcement partners to disrupt illegal firearm straw purchase schemes within the U.S. or anywhere criminals choose to operate.”
According to Acting U.S. Attorney Erskine, the charges, and other information presented in court: Between April 2020 and August 2020, Elijah Isaiah Boykin purchased more than two dozen firearms from federally licensed firearms dealers in Georgia and Virginia. The total purchase price exceeded $17,000 and was spread over eight transactions. On each occasion, Boykin signed paperwork stating that he was the actual purchaser of the guns but paid using a credit card belonging to co-defendant Elijah Keashon Barnes.
Local law enforcement in and around Newark, New Jersey began to recover Boykin’s firearms shortly after they were purchased. One pistol was recovered in October 2020, when police officers in Newark conducted a traffic stop and arrested Barnes, who was wanted on a Virginia warrant for domestic assault and battery. The pistol was found in Barnes’s car. A few months later, Newark police officers recovered another gun that Boykin purchased. Forensic testing linked that second firearm to three separate shootings in Newark, including a violent mugging during which a victim was shot multiple times in the right leg.
To date, at least six firearms purchased by Boykin have been recovered in the city of Newark or a nearby township.
Elijah Isaiah Boykin, 25, of Palmetto, Georgia, and Elijah Keashon Barnes, 21, of Newark, New Jersey, were indicted by a federal grand jury on June 15, 2021 for conspiracy to make false statements, three counts of making false statements to federally licensed firearms dealers, and one count of unlawful transfer of firearm. On August 25, 2021, Boykin was arrested by Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) Agents at Naval Air Station Key West. Barnes was arrested the same day in Newark. The defendants will be arraigned at a later date in the Northern District of Georgia.
Members of the public are reminded that the indictment only contains charges. The defendants are presumed innocent of the charges and it will be the government’s burden to prove the defendants’ guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.
This case is being investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg, Firearms Trafficking Coordinator for the Northern District of Georgia, is prosecuting the case.
For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at [email protected] or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.
Violent felon charged with using stolen ID to purchase guns recovered from crimes scenes in multiple statesRead the Press Release
ATLANTA - Dawuan Na’jee Williams has been indicted on federal charges of making false statements to federally licensed firearms dealers, aggravated identity theft, and possession of firearms by a convicted felon.
“Convicted felons are prohibited from legally possessing and purchasing firearms under any circumstance,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Kurt R. Erskine. “Criminals who try to circumvent these restrictions by stealing and using the identities of law-abiding citizens will be prosecuted.”
“It is illegal for any convicted felon to possess a firearm,” said L. C. Cheeks Jr, Acting ATF Atlanta Special Agent in Charge. “These illegally purchased firearms will more than often be used in violent crimes and it is these types of guns that we need to get off our streets. ATF will continue to work with our Federal and State partners to improve safety in each and every community we serve.”
According to Acting U.S. Attorney Erskine, the charges, and other information presented in court: Dawuan Williams allegedly used a fraudulently obtained identification card bearing his photograph, but the name and date of birth of another person, to purchase dozens of firearms and large-capacity ammunition magazines in the metro Atlanta and North Georgia areas. Williams could not lawfully purchase the guns because he had been convicted previously of numerous felonies, including burglary, robbery, terroristic threats, kidnapping, aggravated battery, and criminal use of personal identification information.
Federal agents began investigating Williams’s purchases in May 2021, when police officers recovered from a Newark, New Jersey, crime scene a semiautomatic pistol that Williams allegedly purchased in Georgia just eight days earlier.
In July 2021, police officers recovered a second semiautomatic pistol from the scene of a shooting in Tallahassee, Florida. Federal agents traced this firearm to a Georgia purchase made with Williams’s identification card. A cellular telephone video taken around the time of the Florida shooting depicted the alleged shooter as a man of Williams’s race and complexion wearing a distinctive red baseball cap and red Gucci belt.
On July 20, 2021, federal agents searched a Jonesboro, Georgia, residence where Williams rented a room. In one of the bedrooms, agents recovered four firearms that had been purchased with Williams’s fake ID, empty firearm boxes for other firearms purchased with that ID, a red baseball cap, and a red Gucci belt. Williams was arrested that same day.
Dawuan Na’jee Williams, 39, of Jonesboro, Georgia. and Tallahassee, Florida, was arraigned before U.S. Magistrate Judge John K. Larkins III. He was indicted by a federal grand jury on August 17, 2021. He was arraigned August 26. 2021. Members of the public are reminded that the indictment only contains charges. The defendant is presumed innocent of the charges and it will be the government’s burden to prove the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.
This case is being investigated by the Atlanta, Georgia, and Newark, New Jersey, Field Divisions of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg, Firearms Trafficking Coordinator for the Northern District of Georgia, is prosecuting the case.
For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at [email protected] or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.
Two Georgia men sentenced for stealing millions from Synchrony BankRead the Press Release
ATLANTA - Franck Davidoff and Dwight Pearson have been sentenced after pleading guilty to a multi-million-dollar fraud scheme that resulted in a loss of over $2,000,000 to Synchrony Bank.
“These two defendants not only harmed the bank, but the pair also victimized countless businesses and individuals by stealing their information and posing as them to perpetrate a massive bank fraud scheme,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Kurt R. Erskine.“We warn others who might follow their example that this conduct will be prosecuted.”
“The defendants in this case deliberately defrauded scores of innocent citizens out of millions of dollars for their own personal gain,” said U.S. Secret Service Special Agent in Charge Steven Baisel. “With the help of our local law enforcement partners at the Duluth PD, we were able to successfully end their criminal enterprise.”
According to Acting U.S. Attorney Erskine, the charges and other information presented in court: From January 2017 until they were arrested in October 2018, Franck Davidoff and Dwight Pearson conspired to defraud Synchrony Bank in a complicated fraud scheme that netted them over $2 million. The scheme involved using stolen corporate information to open merchant bank accounts at Synchrony Bank.
Specifically, in June 2018, Davidoff and Pearson opened a merchant account with Synchrony Bank in the name “S&G Carpet Stores,” a real business that operates in the state of Florida and used S&G Carpet’s CEO’s information to open the account. At the time the account was created, the pair directed the bank to transfer any funds deposited into the S&G Carpet account into a separate merchant account opened in their own names.
The pair then established $600,000 worth of lines of credit for 57 individuals whose information they stole. The lines of credit appeared to be advance financing for large purchases from S&G Carpet. Once the money was deposited into the S&G Carpet account, it was immediately transferred to the secondary account. Davidoff and Pearson conducted this scheme multiple times using multiple businesses. They targeted businesses in Florida for the merchant accounts. They also targeted residents in a wealthy neighborhood in Florida to use for the fake lines of credit.
For this conduct, they were charged with a wire fraud conspiracy to defraud Synchrony Bank, 13 counts of wire fraud, and seven counts of aggravated identity theft. Each pled guilty to the wire fraud conspiracy and aggravated identity theft.
Franck Davidoff, 34, of Milton, Georgia, has been sentenced to six years, six months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $2,379,178.19. Davidoff was convicted of these charges on March 22, 2021, after he pleaded guilty.
Dwight Pearson, 49, of Johns Creek, Georgia, has been sentenced to seven years in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $2,379,178.19. Pearson was convicted of these charges on May 17, 2019, after he pleaded guilty.
This case was investigated by the U.S. Secret Service and the Duluth Police Department.
Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Diane C. Schulman and former Assistant U.S. Attorney Cassandra Schansman prosecuted the case.
For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at [email protected] or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.
Justice Department and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency Announce Actions to Resolve Lending Discrimination Claims Against Cadence BankRead the Press Release
ATLANTA – The Justice Department and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) announced coordinated actions to address allegations of lending discrimination by Cadence Bank, N.A. The Department’s Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia announced an agreement to resolve allegations that Cadence Bank, which is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, engaged in lending discrimination by “redlining” predominantly Black and Hispanic neighborhoods in the Houston, Texas, metro area. Under the department’s settlement, Cadence will invest over $5.5 million to increase credit opportunities for residents of those neighborhoods. “Redlining” is an illegal practice in which lenders avoid providing services to individuals living in communities of color because of the race, color, or national origin of the people who live in those communities.
“The Fair Housing Act and Equal Credit Opportunity Act are intended to provide equal treatment for all people in their pursuit of home ownership and financing. This case highlights the need for vigilance in addressing practices which treat certain communities unfairly, and has led to an agreement with Cadence Bank intended to improve the fairness of its business practices and to make remedial financial investments in the negatively impacted communities,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Kurt R. Erskine. “This office will continue in its efforts to eliminate housing and credit discrimination.”
“When banks fail to provide equal access to credit in communities of color, they violate our civil rights laws and they deprive people in those communities of the opportunity to build wealth,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Redlining is an illegal practice that has far-reaching consequences for people of color, their families and for the neighborhoods where they live. The Civil Rights Division will continue to enforce our nation’s fair lending laws to ensure that qualified applicants and borrowers can access credit and invest in their financial futures without facing unlawful barriers.”
“There is no place for discrimination in the federal banking system,” said Acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael J. Hsu. “The OCC will use the full force of our authority to correct fair lending violations with our supervisory and enforcement tools, including civil money penalties, cease and desist orders, and requiring restitution for customers harmed as a result of any discriminatory practices.”
Additionally, Cadence’s prudential regulator, the OCC, announced today that it has assessed penalties against the bank in the amount of $3 million related to the violations alleged in the department’s complaint. The department opened its investigation after the OCC referred the matter.
The Justice Department’s settlement will resolve a lawsuit filed today in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. In its complaint, the department alleges that Cadence Bank violated the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, which prohibit financial institutions from discriminating on the basis of race, color, or national origin in their mortgage lending services. Specifically, the complaint alleges that, from 2013 to 2017, Cadence engaged in unlawful redlining in the Houston area by avoiding predominantly Black and Hispanic neighborhoods because of the race, color, and national origin of the people living in those neighborhoods. The department also alleges that Cadence’s branches were concentrated in majority-white neighborhoods, that the bank’s loan officers did not serve the credit needs of majority-Black and Hispanic neighborhoods, and that the bank’s outreach and marketing avoided those neighborhoods.
Under the department’s settlement, which is subject to approval by the District Court, Cadence will invest $4.17 million in a loan subsidy fund for residents of predominantly Black and Hispanic neighborhoods in the Houston area, $750,000 for development of community partnerships to provide services that increase access to residential mortgage credit in those neighborhoods, and at least $625,000 for advertising, outreach, consumer financial education, and credit repair initiatives. The bank will dedicate at least four mortgage loan officers to majority-Black and Hispanic neighborhoods in Houston and open a new branch in one of those neighborhoods. Cadence will employ a director of community lending and development who will oversee these efforts and work in close consultation with the bank’s leadership. The bank will take these steps in addition to other fair lending measures it has already put in place.
Cadence Bank’s assets total over $18 billion. In addition to Texas, the bank has branches in Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, and Tennessee. Its mortgage lending in the Houston area accounts for approximately 40 percent of its total home mortgage business.
The department’s Civil Rights Division and the OCC have long been engaged in work that seeks to make mortgage credit and homeownership accessible to all Americans on the same terms, regardless of race or national origin, and regardless of the neighborhood where they live. In January 2021, President Biden reaffirmed the critical role of the federal government in addressing legacies of housing segregation and discrimination, declaring that it is the policy of this Administration to eliminate “racial bias and other forms of discrimination in all stages of home-buying and renting.” See Memorandum on Redressing Our Nation’s and the Federal Government’s History of Discriminatory Housing Practices and Policies, The White House (Jan. 26, 2021).
The Justice Department’s enforcement of fair lending laws is conducted by the Civil Rights Division’s Housing and Civil Enforcement Section. Additional information about the Section’s fair lending enforcement can be found at www.justice.gov/fairhousing. Individuals may report lending discrimination by calling the Justice Department’s Housing Discrimination Tip Line at 1-833-591-0291, or submitting a report online.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Y. Soo Jo is handling this matter for the Northern District of Georgia.
For further information, please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at [email protected] or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.