Central District of Illinois
Press releases recorded for this federal judicial district.
Adams County Man Indicted on Child Pornography ChargesRead the Press Release
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – An Adams county, Ill., man, Skyler M. Durbin, 24, of Payson, appeared today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Tom Schanzle-Haskins for arraignment on child pornography charges. An initial trial date was set for June 4, 2019, before U.S. District Judge Sue E. Myerscough. Durbin was ordered to remain in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
A four-count indictment alleges that on Dec. 26, 2018, and on Jan 31, 2019, Durbin received and distributed images of child pornography (two counts) and that he possessed images of child pornography (two counts.)
If convicted, for each count of receipt and distribution of child pornography, Durbin faces a statutory penalty of a minimum 15 years to 40 years in prison. For possession of child pornography, Durbin faces statutory penalties of 10 to 20 years in prison.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Victor Yanz. The charges are the result of an investigation by the Adams County Sheriff’s Office and the Illinois Attorney General’s Office Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, in cooperation with the Adams County State’s Attorney’s Office.
Members of the public are reminded that an indictment is merely an accusation; the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
Owner of Former Springfield Medical Supply Business Sentenced to Two Years in Prison for Medicaid FraudRead the Press Release
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – A former Springfield, Ill., man whose business supplied incontinence products to Medicaid recipients, Kevin W. Schaul, was sentenced today for defrauding Illinois’ Medicaid program. U.S. District Judge Sue E. Myerscough ordered that Schaul, 53, currently of Augusta, Mo., serve 24 months in federal prison and pay restitution in the amount of $582,844. Schaul’s prison term will be followed by a three-year term of supervised release, with the first six months as home confinement. Schaul was ordered to report to serve his prison term on a date to be determined by the federal Bureau of Prisons.
On Aug. 30, 2018, Schaul pleaded guilty to five counts of health care fraud related to his business, Childrite Medical Supply, Inc., which he operated from a residence at 201 N. Natchez Trace, in Springfield, Ill. Childrite supplied incontinence products, such as diapers, pull-ups and underpads, to Medicaid recipients, specifically to special-needs adults and children. Medicaid paid Childrite approximately $2.3 million based on submitted claims. The Childrite corporation was involuntarily dissolved in October 2014.
Schaul admitted that from August 2009 through at least September 2013, he repeatedly submitted and caused false claims to be submitted to the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services for delivery of incontinence products. The false claims represented that products had been delivered to Medicaid recipients when no products were delivered or were not delivered in the amount claimed. Schaul used the fraudulent Medicaid payments for his personal use, including for clothing, food, entertainment, fuel, travel, mortgage payments and payments to a family member.
The charges were investigated by the Illinois State Police Medicaid Fraud Control Bureau and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General. The Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services, Office of Inspector General provided assistance in the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy A. Bass prosecuted the case.
Decatur Area Man Charged with Federal Child Sexual Exploitation, Possession of Child PornographyRead the Press Release
URBANA, Ill. – A Decatur, Ill., area man, Gary L. Boyle, 34, made his initial appearance in federal court today on child sexual exploitation and child pornography charges. During his appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Eric I. Long, in Urbana, Boyle waived his detention hearing and was ordered to remain in law enforcement custody. A preliminary trial date for the federal charges has been scheduled on May 7.
The indictment charges Boyle, of the 5400 block of West Main St., with seven counts of child sexual exploitation on Feb. 4, 2019, and one count of possession of child pornography on Feb. 21, 2019.
If convicted, the statutory maximum penalty for each count of child sexual exploitation is 30 years in prison; for possession of child pornography, the maximum penalty is 10 years in prison.
Boyle was arrested on Feb. 21, and charged by the Macon County State’s Attorney’s Office with multiple counts of sexual assault and abuse charges.
The federal case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Elly M. Peirson. The charges are the result of an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations, the Decatur Police Department, the Macon County Sheriff’s Office, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
Members of the public are reminded that an indictment is merely an accusation; the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
Jury Convicts Michigan Man for Trafficking Cocaine, Heroin from California to MidwestRead the Press Release
ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – Following trial last week, a jury deliberated for two hours before returning guilty verdicts on all counts against Omar Gutierrez-Valle, 30, of Michigan, for his role in a conspiracy to traffic heroin and cocaine. Chief U.S. District Judge Sara Darrow presided over the trial which began on March 11. The jury returned its guilty verdicts on March 14.
Over four days of testimony, the government presented evidence that Gutierrez-Valle was involved in a Mexico and California-based conspiracy to transport cocaine and heroin across the Mexican border into California and thereafter to the Midwest and elsewhere:
In January and February 2017, Gutierrez-Valle worked with an unnamed California coordinator to move a shipment of 10 kilograms of cocaine and one kilogram of heroin to the Midwest. The California coordinator had paid to illegally smuggle a Mexican national into the United States. To pay off his debt relative to being smuggled into the U.S., the coordinator told him that he was to help Gutierrez-Valle meet a courier in the Chicago area to receive a shipment of drugs. The coordinator brought the Mexican national from Los Angeles to Chicago via Amtrak and the coordinator returned to California, where he provided an over the road truck driver with the load of drugs.
On the day of the expected meeting and delivery, Feb. 26, 2017, the Illinois State Police stopped the truck driver in Henry County, Ill., for a motor vehicle safety inspection. The trooper discovered the 10 kilograms of cocaine and one kilogram of heroin in the truck. Police then arranged for the truck to proceed to the agreed delivery location, a truck stop off I-80 near LaSalle, Ill., where Gutierrez-Valle met the truck to receive the drugs.
Judge Darrow scheduled sentencing for Gutierrez-Valle on July 11, 2019. Gutierrez-Valle remains in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service since his arrest in May 2018.
At sentencing, Gutierrez-Valle faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years to life for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute at least five kilograms of cocaine and at least one kilogram of heroin.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Illinois State Police, Black Hawk Area Task Force, and Quad Cities Metropolitan Enforcement Group investigated the charges. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Don Allegro and Alyssa Raya are prosecuting the case.
Galesburg Man Sentenced to Prison for Straw Purchase of GunsRead the Press Release
ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – A Galesburg, Ill., man, Marvin Louis Davis, 28, has been ordered to serve four years in federal prison after admitting that he lied when he purchased multiple guns from a licensed firearms dealer in Galesburg. On Sept. 27, 2018, Davis pleaded guilty to providing a false address to the firearms dealer in April 2016, when he purchased eight handguns and one long gun. At the time of purchase, Davis, in fact, lived in a public housing complex where firearms are prohibited.
At sentencing, on March 5, 2019, before U.S. District Judge Sara Darrow, the government presented evidence that one of the guns Davis purchased was later recovered at the scene of an armed robbery in Peoria; another was recovered at the scene of a shooting in Peoria. Other firearms were in the possession of a convicted felon.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Galesburg Police Department and the Peoria MEG conducted the criminal investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alyssa Raya and Kevin Knight represented the government in the case prosecution.
Davis has been in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service since Jan. 11, 2019, when Davis’s pretrial release was revoked for violating his bond conditions.
Former Director of Child Food Program Sentenced to Prison for Defrauding USDA of More than $500,000, Filing False Tax ReturnRead the Press Release
ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – The former operations director of a Rock Island, Ill., child food program, Nora L. Steele, was sentenced today in federal court in Peoria, Ill., to nearly three years in prison for defrauding the government and filing a false tax return. Chief U.S. District Judge James E. Shadid ordered Steele, of Silvis, Ill., to serve a sentence of 33 months in prison. Judge Shadid ordered Steele to report to the U.S. Marshals Service in Davenport, Iowa, in two weeks, on March 12, to begin serving her sentence. In addition to the prison sentence, Steele was ordered to pay restitution to the U.S. Department of Agriculture in the amount of $515,617 and $10,128 to the IRS.
Steele served as the operations director for the Quad Cities Area Children’s Food Program (QCACFP) from its inception in February 2016 until she left the organization in June 2017. Prior to the creation of QCACFP, Steele had served in a similar capacity, since 2004, for an affiliated entity, Church of Peace, in Rock Island.
Church of Peace and later QCACFP provided summer and after-school meal services to at-risk children throughout the Quad Cities area. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service, reimbursed the program a set amount per meal served. On a monthly basis, QCACFP submitted requests for reimbursement to the State of Illinois, which in turn received funding from USDA to pay the reimbursement.
Meals were provided in conjunction with after-school learning or care programming, typically at elementary or junior high schools and were operated by YMCA or Spring Forward Learning. During the 2015-2016 and 2016-2017 school years, QCACFP provided meal services to 35 to 50 sites in the Quad Cities and Galesburg, Ill., communities each month.
According to court documents, Steele admitted that from August 2015 to June 2017, she submitted falsely inflated meal count forms for reimbursement. In some cases additional meals that were not served were added to counts of legitimate meals that were served to children. In other cases, Steele submitted fraudulent meal count forms when no meals at all were served at a particular location on a given day.
Among other things, the inflated reimbursement payments were used to fund Steele’s salary and salaries for Steele’s family members who performed nominal duties for the food program. Steele also set up a retirement account for herself that was fully funded by the food program and used the program’s credit card to make personal purchases from QVC, including a compact, foldable exercise bike which Steele categorized as uniforms.
In addition, Steele created and claimed fabricated mileage reimbursements that were not taxed or reported as income on Steele’s personal tax returns, for a total tax liability of $10,128. Steele consistently claimed to have driven approximately 1,500 miles for a monthly reimbursement of approximately $840 for work-related travel that she did not make. For the period of March 2016 through June 2017, Steele claimed work travel mileage reimbursement for more miles than the total mileage the vehicles belonging to Steele and her husband travelled during the same time period.
Assistant U.S. Attorney John K. Mehochko prosecuted the case on behalf of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of Illinois, Rock Island Division. The charges were investigated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of Inspector General; IRS, Criminal Investigation and the FBI Springfield Division.
Decatur Man Faces Multiple Charges of Sexual Exploitation of ChildrenRead the Press Release
URBANA, Ill. – A Decatur, Ill., man, Cornell D.A. Johnson, 22, appeared in federal court in Urbana today for arraignment on charges that he sexually exploited children and possessed child pornography. At today’s hearing, a trial date of April 29, 2019, was set for Johnson.
Johnson, of the 1100 block of East Division St., was previously arrested on Feb. 4, 2019, and charged by criminal complaint. At his initial court appearance, on Feb. 5, U.S. Magistrate Judge Eric I. Long ordered that Johnson remain detained in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
The five-count indictment, returned by the grand jury on Feb. 20, alleges that on four occasions between December 2018 and January 2019, Johnson exploited seven minors to get them to engage in sexually explicit conduct to produce graphic images and to send the images to him. Johnson is also charged with possessing child pornography when he was arrested.
The affidavit filed on Feb. 5, 2019, in support of the criminal complaint, alleges that Johnson impersonated a teenaged female and communicated with minors in several states using Facebook and Facebook Messenger to get the minors, aged four through 16, to send lewd and graphic images to him. According to the affidavit, Facebook detected that pornographic images of children had been uploaded and generated cybertip reports which were sent to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Using the cybertip information, law enforcement identified children in Alabama, Delaware, and Ohio and identified an email address allegedly used by Johnson, which was used to contact the children.
If convicted, the statutory maximum penalty for each count of sexual exploitation (four counts) is 30 years in prison; for possession of child pornography, the maximum penalty is 10 years in prison. Each of the five counts includes a potential fine of up to $250,000.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Elly M. Peirson. The charges are the result of an investigation by the Decatur Police Department; the Illinois Attorney General’s Office Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force; and, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations.
Members of the public are reminded that an indictment is merely an accusation; the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
St. Joseph Man Indicted on Child Pornography ChargesRead the Press Release
URBANA, Ill. – An initial trial date in March has been scheduled for a St. Joseph, Ill., man, William M. Bell, 39, who has been arrested and indicted on federal child pornography charges. Bell, a former information technology employee of Monticello, Ill., community unit school district 25, was arrested on Feb. 8, on charges returned by the grand jury on Feb. 5. The indictment had remained sealed pending Bell’s arrest. Following his arrest, Bell was ordered to remain in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service pending a detention hearing which was held this morning.
At today’s hearing, U.S. District Judge Harold A. Baker ordered Bell to remain detained in law enforcement custody. Trial for Bell is scheduled on March 5, 2019, before U.S. District Judge Sue E. Myerscough, in Springfield.
The indictment alleges that in July and August 2018, Bell used a computer or device to send visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, and in November 2018, that Bell possessed images of child pornography.
If convicted, the statutory penalty for each count of transportation of child pornography (two counts) is five to 20 years in prison, and a fine of up to $250,000; possession of child pornography carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison, and a fine of up to $250,000.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Elly M. Peirson. The charges are the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Champaign County Sheriff’s office, and the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force of the Illinois Attorney General’s Office.
Members of the public are reminded that an indictment is merely an accusation; the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
Ohio Man Sentenced to 35 Years in Prison for Sex Crimes Against Minor Girls in Multiple StatesRead the Press Release
ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – An Ohio man, Andrew J. Stone, was sentenced today to 35 years in prison for committing sex crimes against minor girls, specifically transportation of a minor for unlawful sexual activity and production of child pornography. Stone, 33, of Rocky River, appeared before U.S District Judge Sara Darrow in Rock Island. Judge Darrow ordered that Stone remain on supervised release for the remainder of his life following release from prison. Stone has remained in law enforcement custody since his arrest in Ohio in July 2017.
“Thanks to the hard work of our federal, state and local law enforcement partners, this dangerous predator is off the streets,” said U.S. Attorney John Milhiser. “We will continue to identify and prosecute those who prey on our children.”
Stone pleaded guilty to the charges on Oct. 17, 2018. According to court documents and admissions made in connection with his guilty pleas, Stone engaged in internet communications with a 15-year old girl who lived in Illinois. In December 2016, Stone traveled from Ohio to Illinois to meet the girl and then drove her to Iowa, where he and the girl engaged in sexual activity and Stone created video of the sexually explicit conduct. In addition, Stone admitted to illegal sexual activity with other minor girls in Illinois, Missouri, and Ohio. Further, Stone admitted that he caused the girls in those states and other girls in Iowa, Virginia, and Pennsylvania to create videos of themselves engaged in sexually explicit conduct and to send the videos to Stone.
The charges were investigated by the U.S. Secret Service, the Moline Police Department, Illinois State Police, and the Ohio Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Don Allegro.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
Bradley Chiropractor, Former Office Manager Guilty of Fraud, Tax ChargesRead the Press Release
URBANA, Ill. – A chiropractor who previously owned and operated the Bradley Chiropractic Clinic, located in Bradley, Ill., pleaded guilty today to wire fraud and failure to file tax returns. Joseph Mayotte, 72, of Kankakee, Ill., appeared in Urbana before Chief U.S. District Judge James E. Shadid. Mayotte’s trial had been scheduled to begin today with jury selection. Sentencing is scheduled on June 7, 2019. The clinic’s former office manager, Constance Leadingham, aka Connie, had previously pleaded guilty to bank fraud and filing false income tax returns and is scheduled to be sentenced on March 1, 2019.
Mayotte admitted that from January 2007 to October 2015, he executed a scheme to defraud Blue Cross / Blue Shield Insurance by submitting false billing claims. The false claims were typically made on behalf of patients for whom the clinic had not provided any services or were made in excess of the actual services provided. As a result, Blue Cross / Blue Shield paid the clinic more than $250,000 to which it was not entitled. Mayotte then used the money for his own benefit. In addition, Mayotte admitted that he failed to file federal income tax returns for tax years 2011 through 2014.
Leadingham, of Watseka, entered pleas of guilty on Nov. 28, 2017, to bank fraud and filing false income tax returns for tax years 2011, 2012, and 2013. Leadingham admitted that as the clinic’s office manager, she participated in the scheme by submitting fraudulent billing claims to the company. Leadingham then wrote checks payable to herself from the clinic’s checking account in addition to her salary. As a result, Leadingham obtained more than $380,000 to which she was not entitled. Further, Leadingham admitted that she did not disclose the additional income that she had fraudulently obtained from the clinic for her tax filings in 2011, 2012, and 2013.
The charges are the result of investigation by the FDIC Office of Inspector General; Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigations, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Eugene L. Miller and Timothy A. Bass represented the government in the case prosecutions.
The maximum statutory penalty for wire fraud is 20 years in prison; for bank fraud the penalty is up to 30 years in prison. The maximum statutory penalty is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes; sentences are determined by the court based on the advisory Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Owner of Gire Roofing Sentenced to Three Years in Prison for Visa Fraud; Harboring, Employing Illegal AliensRead the Press Release
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – U.S. District Judge Sue E. Myerscough today sentenced Edwin J. Gire, 47, owner of Gire Roofing, Inc., of Champaign, Ill., to three years in prison for visa fraud and for harboring and employing illegal aliens. In addition, Gire was ordered to pay a fine of $30,000, and to remain on supervised release for two years following his release from prison. The Bureau of Prisons will determine the date and facility where Gire is to self-report to begin serving his sentence.
Grayson Enterprises, Inc., Gire Roofing’s parent company, was sentenced to a three-year term of probation and ordered to pay a fine of $250,000.
In January 2018, Gire and Grayson Enterprises were convicted of visa fraud (four counts) and harboring illegal aliens (three counts) following a bench trial before Judge Myerscough. Gire had previously entered pleas of guilty to three misdemeanor counts of unlawful employment of aliens.
At today’s hearing, Judge Myerscough found that both Gire and Greyson Enterprises obstructed justice during the trial by committing perjury and providing false information to the court. The court found that as a result of the fraud, more than 100 fraudulent H-2B worker visas were issued to Gire Roofing from 2011 to 2014. To justify the number of H-2B worker visas requested, Gire provided multiple fraudulent roofing contracts, including contracts for work that customers never agreed to and contracts with forged signatures of the alleged customers or their representatives.
At trial, the court found that undisputed evidence proved that Gire knew or recklessly disregarded the fact that illegal aliens were allowed to live in a building owned by his company. Gire did this to make the aliens’ employment as roofers for Grayson Enterprises attractive despite the fact that Grayson Enterprises was paying them less than the applicable prevailing wage. By giving the aliens a place to live, the court found that Gire safeguarded the aliens from the authorities by making it more difficult for authorities to locate them.
The charges were investigated by the U.S. Department of State, Diplomatic Security Service; the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General; and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Eugene L. Miller and Matthew Weir represented the government in the case prosecution.
Carlinville Man to Serve 17 1/2 Years in Prison for Selling Ice Methamphetamine, 12 Guns Recovered, ForfeitedRead the Press Release
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – A Carlinville, Ill., man, Shawn Lee, 45, was sentenced on Feb. 1, 2019, to 17 ½ years (210 months) in federal prison for trafficking ice methamphetamine and possession of firearms, including an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense. At sentencing, District Judge Sue E. Myerscough determined that Lee was responsible for distribution of approximately 100 pounds (45 kilos) of ice methamphetamine over a period of 18 to 24 months prior to his arrest in March 2018.
Known as ice, this extremely addictive form of methamphetamine is produced by chemically distilling methamphetamine hydrochloride to a crystal or ‘ice’ form which is typically smoked. It is not made by local meth cooks; instead it is produced in Mexico and other countries and smuggled into the United States.
“These drugs, brought into our country, are destroying families,” said U.S. Attorney John Milhiser. “We will continue to identify and prosecute those who distribute these deadly substances in our communities.”
Lee, of the 100 block of E. Haig St., was ordered to serve 12 ½ years for the ice trafficking offense followed by a mandatory five years in prison for possession of firearms related to the underlying drug offense. Judge Myerscough ordered that Lee pay a fine of $20,000 to be paid with the transfer of a savings bond to the government prior to his transfer to the federal Bureau of Prisons. In addition, Lee agreed to the forfeiture of 12 guns and $20,170 in currency seized during the investigation. Lee’s federal sentence will be served concurrent to any sentence ordered for several pending unrelated cases in Macoupin county.
The charges are the result of investigation by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration; the Central Illinois Enforcement Group, the South Central Illinois Task Force; Carlinville Police Department; Illinois State Police; Jacksonville Police Department; and, the Macoupin County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Z. Weir represented the government in the case prosecution.
On July 30, 2018, Lee entered pleas of guilty to the offenses. According to court documents and statements made in court, law enforcement officers became aware that Lee was to receive a package of ice methamphetamine from a source in California on Jan. 23, 2018. On that date, officers observed Lee pick up a FedEx package from a home in Chatham, Ill., where he did not live. Officers subsequently stopped Lee’s vehicle and after an ISP K-9 alerted to the presence of drugs in the car, officers found 7.15 pounds (3.22 kilos) of ice methamphetamine and $20,170 in the car.
At Lee’s home in Carlinville, officers executed a search warrant on Jan. 23, 2018, and recovered 12 firearms, including the AR-15, and an assortment of other loaded guns including 22 caliber rifles and several handguns, five ounces (approximately 140 grams ) of ice, and paraphernalia used in selling drugs such as scales and baggies.
Lee has remained in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service since he was indicted and arrested in March 2018.
Peoria Bomb Squad Member Pleads Guilty to RICO Conspiracy; Gang Violence, Attempted Murder, Gun and Drug ChargesRead the Press Release
PEORIA, Ill. – A Peoria, Ill., man, Terry Moss, a member of the Bomb Squad street gang, today pleaded guilty to conspiring with other alleged gang members as an organized criminal enterprise to commit violent crimes. In addition, Moss, 23, aka “Lil Man,” admitted to attempted murder in aid of racketeering; use of a firearm in relation to a violent crime; and possession and distribution of crack cocaine. Moss appeared in federal court before Chief U.S. District Judge James E. Shadid. Sentencing for Moss is scheduled on Aug. 8, 2019.
Moss is one of the 15 men charged in June 2018 with federal racketeering conspiracy under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO). Trial for the remaining 14 defendants remains scheduled on June 10, 2019, before Judge Shadid. These defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
Under the RICO statute, a crime which carries a statutory penalty up to life, the defendants are charged with working as an organized criminal enterprise to achieve its objectives, including activities that affect interstate commerce. From 2013 to June 2018, members and associates of Bomb Squad allegedly engaged in acts of violence, including murder, attempted murder, assault with a dangerous weapon, arson, and drug trafficking. The enterprise used violence to protect itself, its members and associates from rival gangs and to protect the standing and reputation of Bomb Squad.
During his appearance in court today, Moss admitted that he was first exposed to Bomb Squad when he was approximately 13 years old. As a member of the Bomb Squad enterprise, on multiple occasions, Moss admitted he shot at rival gang members in Bomb Squad territory, including on June 27, 2017, when a bullet struck a rival gang member in the foot. Moss admitted he sold and helped others sell narcotics, including crack cocaine, and that he possessed guns, held guns for others and loaned guns to other gang members or associates.
At sentencing, Moss faces potential statutory penalties of up to life for the offense of RICO conspiracy; for violent crime in aid of racketeering (VICAR) attempted murder, the statutory penalty is up to 20 years in prison. Use of a firearm in a crime of violence carries a mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years in prison to be served consecutive to any other term of imprisonment. For possession with intent to distribute and distribution of crack cocaine, the maximum penalty is up to 30 years in prison.
The charges are part of the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Neighborhoods violent crime reduction strategy and an ongoing investigation by an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), a partnership of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies working together to identify, disrupt and dismantle drug trafficking organizations and violent street gangs.
U.S. Attorney John Milhiser reinforced the office’s commitment to working with partner law enforcement agencies to use and coordinate all necessary resources to combat violence in our communities. “Working with our state and local partners, we will target those individuals who choose to commit violent crime,” said U.S. Attorney Milhiser.
Law enforcement agencies conducting the investigation include ATF, the Peoria Police Department, and DEA, in coordination with the Office of Peoria County State’s Attorney Jerry Brady. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ron Hanna is coordinating the prosecution on behalf of the government in the Peoria Division, Central District of Illinois.
Texas Sex Offender Sentenced to 35 Years in Prison for 'Sextorting' Minors in Eight States; 28 Minors in Central IllinoisRead the Press Release
PEORIA, Ill. – A northeastern Texas man, Mark P. Barnwell, has been ordered to serve 35 years in prison for producing child pornography in 2016 and threatening minor victims in Illinois and seven other states while he was required to register as a sex offender. U.S. District Judge Joe Billy McDade sentenced Barnwell on Jan. 9, 2019, to 25 years for production of child pornography to be followed by 10 years for having committed the crimes while he was required to register as a sex offender. Barnwell was ordered to remain on supervised release for the remainder of his life after he completes the 35-year prison term.
According to court documents and admissions made in court, Barnwell, 36, lived in a shed behind a relative’s house in Whitehouse, Texas. Barnwell’s victims included minor-aged girls, including 28 from Central Illinois communities, and victims from California, Iowa, Mississippi, Nevada, Texas, Washington, and West Virginia.
Barnwell entered his pleas of guilty on Aug. 29, 2018. Barnwell admitted that while he was a registered sex offender, he exploited minors online by using false personas on Facebook. Barnwell controlled multiple female-presenting profiles which he used to contact female Facebook users, including minors, and advertised a modeling opportunity he claimed would pay up to thousands of dollars per photo shoot.
At Barnwell’s urging, the minors who accepted the offer then took, and sent to him, photographs which they believed were being produced for the purposes of a modeling portfolio. The minor victims believed they would be paid by cash, check, or direct deposit once they completed the modeling portfolio process. At Barnwell’s explicit direction, the photographs taken by the minors progressed from various stages of undress to sexually suggestive and/or sexually explicit photographs of themselves.
Once he obtained compromising images, Barnwell threatened to injure the minor victims’ reputations and embarrass them by posting their nude pictures online if they failed to comply with his demands for additional images. In total, Barnwell used this scheme to obtain nude photographs from 43 minor victims located in nine judicial districts across eight states.
In addition to the videos and images related to sexual exploitation of children on Barnwell’s devices, law enforcement authorities found multiple videos captured by Barnwell, including several where he filmed up women’s skirts in public or attempted to do so, and a large number of videos where Barnwell surreptitiously filmed women using public bathrooms. Authorities also discovered what is believed to be the hidden camera he used to capture the videos.
The charges are the result of a joint investigation by the U.S. Secret Service, the Peoria Police Department, and the Peoria County Sheriff’s Office. Vital assistance was provided by the United States Attorneys’ offices for the Central District of California, Southern District of Mississippi, District of Nevada, Eastern District of Texas, Northern District of Texas, Western District of Washington, Northern District of Iowa, and Southern District of West Virginia. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ronald Hanna and Katherine Legge of the Central District of Illinois, Peoria Division, and Trial Attorney William Grady of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS).
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
U.S. Attorney Milhiser Names New Leader for District's Criminal DivisionRead the Press Release
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – U.S. Attorney John C. Milhiser today announced his selection of Gregory M. Gilmore to serve as Chief of the Criminal Division for the Central District of Illinois. In this capacity, Mr. Gilmore will be responsible for oversight of criminal matters in the 46-county Central District.
U.S. Attorney Milhiser stated, “Greg brings his 24 years as a federal prosecutor to this important position as we work with our state and local partners to reduce violent crime in our communities.”
A career prosecutor, Mr. Gilmore, 52, of Springfield, has previously served in supervisory positions since joining the U.S. Attorney’s office in 1994, most recently as Chief of the district’s Civil Division from 2013 to 2015.
A CPA since 1989, prior to joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Mr. Gilmore worked for the FBI as an investigative specialist and as an auditor for a Chicago accounting firm.
Mr. Gilmore received his law degree in 1993 from DePaul University College of Law, Chicago.
Ford County Man Sentenced for Sexual Exploitation of Multiple ChildrenRead the Press Release
URBANA, Ill. – A 78-year-old Ford County, Ill., man, Toetim Cizmar, of Cabery, has been ordered to serve consecutive sentences that total 140 years in prison for sexual exploitation of multiple children. On Dec. 7, U.S. District Judge Sara Darrow ordered Cizmar to serve four consecutive 30-year sentences for sexual exploitation of a child followed by a 20-year sentence for possession of child pornography.
On June 23, 2017, Cizmar entered pleas of guilty to four counts of sexual exploitation of a child, involving three different children, aged three to six-years-old, from January through March 2014. Cizmar engaged in sexually explicit conduct with the children to produce visual depictions of the conduct. Cizmar also pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography images at the time of his arrest, in December 2016. Cizmar has remained in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service since his arrest.
According to court documents, Cizmar presented himself to friends and family as a “humble” and “kind” elderly man and “loving” father. The government argued, however, that the evidence showed Cizmar’s private personae is “a manipulative pedophile, who consumes children for his own sexual pleasure.” The government argued for a life sentence stating that Cizmar groomed young children and their parents by presenting himself as a man of faith who dedicated his life to being an educator and gaining unfettered access to their young children. The government argued that Cizmar directed the children’s games “toward his perverted sexual desires” and based on his lack of remorse, there is reason to believe that Cizmar will never be rehabilitated.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Elly M. Peirson prosecuted the case which was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Illinois State Police.
The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
Paxton Man Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison for Receipt, Possession of Child PornographyRead the Press Release
URBANA, Ill. – Chief U.S. District Judge James E. Shadid today sentenced Kenneth W. Slater, 32, of the 1000 block of S. Washington St., Paxton, Ill., to 10 years in federal prison for receiving and possessing child pornography. In addition, Slater was ordered to pay restitution to two separate victims of the offense for a total amount of $6,000.
On July 17, 2018, Slater entered a plea of guilty to both offenses as charged in the indictment, which was returned by the grand jury in February 2018.
Slater was arrested on Jan. 16, 2018, in Paxton, after being charged in a criminal complaint with the same offenses. During a court appearance on Jan. 19, 2018, Slater was ordered detained in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Elly M. Peirson represented the government in the prosecution. The charges were investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bloomington Police Department.
The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
Former Cable Show Hunter Indicted on Charges of Poaching DeerRead the Press Release
PEORIA, Ill. – A grand jury today indicted an East Peoria, Ill., man, who self-produced and starred in his own cable hunting show, on charges that he illegally killed more deer than permitted in Indiana. The indictment against Christopher Brackett, 41, whose program, “Fear No Evil,” aired on the Outdoor Channel, alleges that Brackett engaged in illegal hunting in 2013 by shooting and killing two bucks in Indiana and transporting one buck to Illinois. At the time of the alleged offenses, Indiana law allowed hunters with the appropriate permit to kill one antlered deer per season.
According to the indictment, Brackett filmed a hunt in December 2013 in southern Indiana for an episode of his show that featured him killing an 11-point deer which he nicknamed the “Unicorn Buck.” The indictment alleges that on Dec. 21, 2013, Brackett first shot and killed a smaller, eight-point buck before he shot the larger, 11-point buck. Brackett allegedly registered the “Unicorn Buck” with the state of Indiana under his license and transported it to Illinois. The “Unicorn Buck,” episode aired on the Outdoor Channel in the fall of 2014 with edited footage that did not show Brackett killing the first, smaller buck.
On Dec. 22, 2013, the day after both deer were shot, the indictment alleges Brackett purchased a second non-resident deer muzzleloader permit under his cameraman’s name and then registered the first, smaller buck with the permit purchased in the cameraman’s name.
The U.S. District Clerk of the Court will schedule the date for Brackett to appear for arraignment in federal court in Peoria, Ill.
If convicted, as charged, the statutory maximum penalty for each offense, conspiracy to violate the Lacey Act (count one) and a violation of the Lacey Act (count two), is up to five years in prison and fines of up to $250,000. Both offenses, as charged, are felony offenses.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Katherine Legge in the prosecution. The charges were investigated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service with the assistance of both the Illinois and Indiana Departments of Natural Resources.
Members of the public are reminded that an indictment is merely an accusation; the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
Champaign County Man to Serve 45 Years in Prison for Sexual Exploitation of ChildrenRead the Press Release
URBANA, Ill. – Chief U.S. District Judge James E. Shadid today ordered Joshua E. Lange, 40, of Tolono, Ill., to serve 45 years in federal prison for his sexual exploitation of children from September 2015 through January 2017.
On April 27, 2018, Lange entered pleas of guilty to the three counts of sexual exploitation of children as charged in the indictment returned by the grand jury in November 2017. Lange admitted that he used the minors to engage in sexually explicit conduct, while the minors were asleep, and produced videos and photographs in his basement of such conduct.
U.S. Attorney John C. Milhiser stated, “We will continue to work with our state and federal partners to identify these predators and bring them to justice.”
In a separate case, in Champaign County Circuit Court, Lange is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 13, 2018, for aggravated criminal sexual abuse. It was during the investigation of a criminal sexual abuse allegation that investigators discovered that Lange possessed images of sexually explicit conduct depicting at least three additional minors.
Lange has remained in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service since his arrest on Nov. 3, 2017.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Elly M. Peirson represented the government in the prosecution. The charges were investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the Champaign Police Department, and the Champaign County Sheriff’s Office, with the cooperation of the Champaign County States Attorney.
The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
Prison Sentences for Defendants in $1.8 Million Tax FraudRead the Press Release
PEORIA, Ill. –Senior U.S. District Judge Michael M. Mihm today sentenced the fifth and final defendant to prison for a tax fraud scheme that claimed more than $1.8 million in refunds from false tax returns.
On Oct. 30, Judge Mihm sentenced the leader of what the court described as a “remarkable conspiracy,” Clifton “Ty” Robinson, to 99 months (eight years, three months) in prison. Robinson’s sentence consists of 63 months for the fraud scheme to be followed by 36 months for aggravated identity theft charges to be served consecutive to the underlying offense.
In addition, Robinson, 44, and the four co-conspirators were ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $1.2 million to the IRS for refunds paid as a result of false income tax returns filed for tax years 2012, 2013, and 2014. As a result of more than 300 false returns filed, Robinson and others claimed more than $1.8 million in refunds. Of the $1.8 million claimed, approximately $1.2 million was paid by the U.S. Treasury.
Robinson, of Chicago, was convicted in May 2018, following a bench trial before Judge Mihm. The government presented evidence at trial that established that Robinson and others were responsible for filing false federal income tax returns. While some individuals knowingly provided their identifying information for use in preparing the false returns, others had no idea how their information had been obtained. Evidence also established that some individuals sold their dependents’ information to Robinson for use on other individuals’ tax returns. Robinson used other members of the conspiracy to obtain identifying information of others and to provide “safe” addresses for the returns. Refunds from the fraudulent returns were deposited to bank accounts and prepaid debit cards controlled by members of the conspiracy.
As identified by the IRS, the majority of the returns identified in the scheme exhibited similar characteristics including false information as to income, dependents, addresses, education and occupation.
The four co-conspirators charged pleaded guilty to their respective roles in the conspiracy to defraud the government. Each was ordered to pay the full amount of restitution together and separately with their co-defendants. The defendants were sentenced to prison terms by Judge Mihm as follows:
Brieanna Kinney-Bonner, 31, of the 1900 block of S. Griswold St., Peoria, Ill., sentenced today to 12 months and one day in prison;
Monique Bonner, 42, of the 1800 block of N. Manchin, Peoria, Ill., 26 months in prison;
Tawanda Davis, 37, of the 1700 block of N. New York Ave., Peoria, 22 months in prison; and,
Velma Robertson, 42, of La Grange, Ill., 16 months in prison. Bonner, Davis and Robertson were each sentenced on Sept. 4, 2018.
The charges were investigated by the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Darilynn Knauss, Segev Phillips, and Kate Legge represented the government in the prosecution.
Two Bloomington, Ill., Men Arrested, Charged with Conspiring to Distribute Crack CocaineRead the Press Release
PEORIA, Ill. – Raymone Stephens and Khalil Rhasad Hood, both of Bloomington, Ill., have been arrested and charged by criminal complaint with conspiring to distribute crack cocaine in the Bloomington area. Stephens, 30, of the 1100 block of Ekstam Dr., and Hood, 23, of the 700 block of Fairmont Dr., were arrested on Nov. 2, 2018, and made their initial appearance in federal court before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jonathan E. Hawley.
Judge Hawley today ordered Stephens to remain detained in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service. A detention hearing is scheduled on Nov. 8, for Hood. A preliminary hearing for both is scheduled on Nov. 16.
The complaint charges the men with conspiracy to manufacture and distribute more than 28 grams of crack cocaine. If convicted, the offense carries a statutory penalty of five years to 40 years in prison; if a defendant has one or more prior felony drug convictions, the penalty is 10 years to life in prison.
The charges are the result of an ongoing investigation by the Bloomington Police Department’s Vice Unit and the Drug Enforcement Administration. The Illinois State Police Tactical Response team, the U.S. Marshals Task Force, and the Bloomington Police Department’s Special Weapons and Tactics team assisted in the arrests and execution of related search warrants.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam W. Ghrist is representing the government in the prosecution in federal court in conjunction with the McLean County State’s Attorney’s Office.
Members of the public are reminded that a complaint is merely an accusation; each defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
Champaign Man Sentenced to Eight Years in Prison for Distribution, Possession of Child PornographyRead the Press Release
URBANA, Ill. – A Champaign, Ill., man, Jaime Breckenridge, 34, of the 2200 Block of S. First Street, was sentenced today on charges of distribution and possession of child pornography, as announced by U.S. Attorney John C. Milhiser, Central District of Illinois. U.S. District Chief Judge James E. Shadid ordered Breckenridge to serve 96 months (8 years) in federal prison. In addition, Breckenridge was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $3,000 to a victim of the offense.
On March 28, 2018, Breckenridge entered a plea of guilty to both offenses as charged in the indictment which was returned by the grand jury in September 2017.
Breckenridge was arrested on Aug. 5, 2017, in Marion, Ill., after being charged in a federal criminal complaint with the same offenses. During a court appearance on Aug. 7, 2017, before U.S. Magistrate Reona J. Daly, in Benton, Ill., Breckenridge was ordered detained in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Elly M. Peirson. The charges are the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
U.S. District Court Appoints John C. Milhiser U.S. Attorney for the Central District of IllinoisRead the Press Release
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- The U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois has appointed John C. Milhiser as U.S. Attorney for the Central District of Illinois pending his confirmation by the U.S. Senate. Mr. Milhiser began his new duties effective Oct. 31, 2018.
President Donald Trump nominated Mr. Milhiser in August 2018.
Mr. Milhiser, 48, served as the Sangamon County State’s Attorney since 2010. He began his legal career as an Assistant State’s Attorney in the office in 1997. After holding positions in the juvenile, civil and felony divisions, Mr. Milhiser entered private practice in 2003. He returned to the Sangamon County State’s Attorney’s Office in 2008 as the First Assistant State’s Attorney.
Mr. Milhiser served as the president of the Illinois State’s Attorneys Association from December 2017 until his appointment as U.S. Attorney. A proponent for specialized courts, Mr. Milhiser worked to establish a drug court, mental health court and veterans court during his tenure as State’s Attorney. A strong advocate for victims, Mr. Milhiser implemented a courthouse facility dog to assist victims of violent crime and sexual abuse.
Mr. Milhiser received his law degree in 1997 from the University of Illinois College of Law.
Election Officers Designated in Central District of IllinoisRead the Press Release
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – U.S. Attorney John C. Milhiser announced today the appointment of District Election Officers in the Central District of Illinois in connection with the Justice Department’s nationwide Election Day Program for the upcoming November 6, 2018, general election. Assistant U.S. Attorneys appointed to serve as election officers in each of the district’s four divisions include: Gregory M. Gilmore in the Springfield headquarters office; David H. Hoff in the Urbana branch office; Darilynn J. Knauss in Peoria; and, John K. Mehochko in Rock Island. District election officers are responsible for overseeing the district’s handling of complaints of election fraud and voting rights abuses in consultation with Justice Department headquarters.
The Department of Justice has an important role in deterring election fraud and discrimination at the polls, and combating these violations whenever and wherever they occur. The Department’s long-standing Election Day Program furthers these goals, and also seeks to ensure public confidence in the integrity of the election process by providing local points of contact within the Department for the public to report possible election fraud and voting rights violations while the polls are open on Election Day.
Federal law protects against such crimes as intimidating or bribing voters, buying and selling votes, impersonating voters, altering vote tallies, stuffing ballot boxes, and marking ballots for voters against their wishes or without their input. It also contains special protections for the rights of voters and provides that they can vote free from acts that intimidate or harass them. For example, actions of persons designed to interrupt or intimidate voters at polling places by questioning or challenging them, or by photographing or videotaping them, under the pretext that these are actions to uncover illegal voting may violate federal voting rights law. Further, federal law protects the right of voters to mark their own ballot or to be assisted by a person of their choice.
To respond to complaints of election fraud or voting rights abuses on Nov. 6, 2018, and to ensure such complaints are directed to the appropriate authorities, designated election officers will be available in each of the district’s four offices on Nov. 6, while the polls are open. Election officers may be reached by the public at the following telephone numbers:
Springfield: Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregory M. Gilmore, 217-492-4450;
Urbana: Assistant U.S. Attorney David H. Hoff, 217-373-5875;
Peoria: Assistant U.S. Attorney Darilynn J. Knauss, 309-671-7050; and,
Rock Island: Assistant U.S. Attorney John K. Mehochko, 309-793-5884.
In addition, the FBI will have special agents available in each field office and resident agency throughout the country to receive allegations of election fraud and other election abuses on Election Day. The local FBI office in the Central District of Illinois can be reached by the public at 217-522-9675.
Complaints about possible violations of the federal voting rights laws can be made directly to the Civil Rights Division’s Voting Section in Washington, DC, by phone at 1-800-253-3931 or 202-307-2767, by fax at 202-307-3961, by email to [email protected] or by complaint form at http://www.justice.gov/crt/complaint/votintake/index.php.
Rock Island Man Pleads Guilty to Hobbs Act RobberyRead the Press Release
ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – Sentencing is scheduled in February 2019 for Ronald T. Walker, 37, of Rock Island, Ill., who pleaded guilty on Oct. 19, 2018, to one count of robbery, in violation of the Hobbs Act, before U.S. District Judge Sara Darrow.
As part of his plea, Walker admitted that on Dec. 18, 2017, he arranged for the purchase from a drug dealer of a small amount of marijuana. Instead of purchasing the drugs, however, Walker stabbed his would-be drug dealer and took the marijuana by force. Walker’s assault was so vicious that the point of his knife was embedded in his victim’s skull for several months.
Robbery of drugs or drug proceeds, even illegal ones, constitutes a violation of the Hobbs Act, which criminalizes robberies affecting interstate commerce. Violators face up to 20 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, and up to three years of supervised release following any term of imprisonment. Additional, consecutive penalties are added if firearms are involved.
Walker’s sentencing is currently set for Feb. 19, 2019, before Judge Darrow. Walker has remained in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service since he was arrested and indicted on the federal charge in June 2018.
The charge is the result of an investigation by the Rock Island Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Donald B. Allegro and Kevin C. Knight are prosecuting the case.
Kane County Man Sentenced to 12 Years in Prison for $600,000 Bank Fraud, Aggravated Identity TheftRead the Press Release
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – U.S. District Judge Sue E. Myerscough today sentenced a Carpentersville, Ill., man, Keith JD Offord, to 12 years in prison for a bank fraud scheme that used identities stolen from the dark web to defraud businesses, including several Springfield businesses, of more than $600,000. Offord, 25, was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $600,549.
On Feb. 8, 2018, a jury convicted Offord for bank fraud and aggravated identity theft. Evidence presented by the government showed that from December 2013 to August 2015, Offord used others’ identities to create false identification documents which were used at retail stores to obtain credit accounts and to buy merchandise and gift cards. Among the businesses Offord defrauded were Bergner’s, Game Stop, and Sam’s Club in Springfield. Offord used more than 70 stolen identities, primarily of chiropractors, that he obtained from the dark web. Stolen identifiers included dates of birth, social security numbers, addresses, passwords to email accounts and mothers’ maiden names.
Offord has been in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service since Jan. 9, 2018, when U.S. Magistrate Judge Tom Schanzle-Haskins revoked his bond. The petition to revoke Offord’s bond alleged that Offord attempted to commit bank fraud on or about Nov. 1, 2017, when he attempted to obtain a loan to purchase a 2011 Jaguar XJ automobile. Offord allegedly presented false information to a credit union, including a fraudulent social security number which was assigned to an 11-year-old boy in Idaho, fraudulent employment and salary information, a fraudulent driver’s license, and fraudulent documents to confirm his address.
The Illinois State Police conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Gregory M. Gilmore and Matthew Z. Weir prosecuted the case.
Tazewell County Man Indicted on Charges of Receiving Child PornographyRead the Press Release
PEORIA, Ill. – A Tazewell county man, Eric Ingram, 30, of Washington, Ill., is scheduled to be arraigned in federal court on Oct. 31, 2018, on charges that he received child pornography on two occasions in July 2018. The grand jury returned the indictment charging Ingram on Oct. 16.
Ingram was previously arrested and charged in a federal criminal complaint on Oct. 4, 2018. During a court appearance on Oct. 10, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jonathan E. Hawley, Ingram was ordered detained in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
According to the affidavit filed in support of the complaint, Facebook, Inc. notified Washington Police Department officials in September of messages between Ingram and a 15-year-old minor that contained sexually explicit conduct. Facebook advised that it appeared Ingram was soliciting the content from the minor victim. Further, the affidavit alleges Ingram lived in close proximity to the minor victim and had discussed meeting in person in the Facebook messages.
If convicted, for receipt of child pornography, the statutory penalty for each count is five to 20 years in prison and up to lifetime supervised release upon release from prison.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Katherine Legge and Ronald Hanna. The charges are the result of a joint investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations and the Washington Police Department.
Members of the public are reminded that an indictment is merely an accusation; the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
Sex Offender Indicted on Federal Charges of Child Sexual ExploitationRead the Press Release
PEORIA, Ill. – A federal grand jury has charged Charles A. Hewitt, 47, of Creve Coeur, Ill., with enticement and exploitation of minor girls to engage in sexual acts. The indictment, returned on Oct. 16, alleges that Hewitt engaged in the sexual exploitation of three minor victims. At the time of the alleged offenses, Hewitt was required to register as a sex offender. Arraignment is scheduled on Oct. 31, 2018.
Hewitt was previously arrested and charged in a federal criminal complaint on Sept. 18, 2018. During a court appearance on Sept. 20, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jonathan E. Hawley, Hewitt was ordered detained in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
According to the affidavit filed in support of the complaint, at the time of the alleged offenses, from March 2017 through Sept. 18, 2018, Hewitt was required to register as a sex offender as a result of a 2014 conviction in Woodford county, Ill. Hewitt allegedly used the online social media application Skout.com to meet minors and solicit sexually explicit images from those minors. Hewitt allegedly used a false name, age, and profile pictures, appearing to others as a 15 year old male named “John.” According to the affidavit, Hewitt posed as John’s father, known as “Charlie” to message a minor victim and to discuss his plan to have sexual intercourse with her. It is further alleged in the complaint that Hewitt knew the minor victim was under the age of 18 years old and that he traveled from Peoria to a nearby town to meet a minor victim.
If convicted, as charged, the statutory maximum penalties for enticement (one count) and child sexual exploitation (two counts), as a repeat offender, is up to life in prison. The statutory penalty for committing the alleged offenses as a sex offender is 10 years in prison to be served consecutive to any term of imprisonment imposed for the underlying crime.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Katherine Legge. The charges are the result of a joint investigation by the U.S. Secret Service and the Peoria County Sheriff’s Office.
Members of the public are reminded that an indictment is merely an accusation; the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
Ohio Man Pleads Guilty to Child Sex Charges Involving Minors in Multiple StatesRead the Press Release
ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – Sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 14, 2019, for Andrew J. Stone, 33, of Rocky River, Ohio, who entered pleas of guilty today to charges of transportation of a minor for unlawful sexual activity and production of child pornography. Stone appeared before U.S District Judge Sara Darrow in Rock Island.
According to court documents and admissions made in connection with his guilty pleas, Stone engaged in internet communications with a 15-year old girl who lived in Illinois. In December 2016, Stone traveled from Ohio to Illinois to meet the girl and then drove her to Iowa, where he and the girl engaged in sexual activity and Stone created video of the sexually explicit conduct. In addition, Stone admitted to illegal sexual activity with other minor girls in Illinois, Missouri, and Ohio. Further, Stone admitted that he caused the girls in those states and other girls in Iowa, Virginia, and Pennsylvania to create videos of themselves engaged in sexually explicit conduct and to send the videos to Stone.
Stone was arrested in Ohio on July 28, 2017, and charged in a federal criminal complaint filed in the Central District of Illinois. The grand jury returned an indictment in August 2017. Subsequent investigation revealed the additional illegal sexual activity that Stone admitted in court today.
Stone has agreed to serve a sentence of 35 years (425 months) in prison recommended by the government, according to the plea agreement filed today.
The charges were investigated by the U.S. Secret Service, the Moline Police Department, Illinois State Police, and the Ohio Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Don Allegro.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
Kankakee Man Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison for Role in Armed Robbery of Champaign BusinessRead the Press Release
URBANA, Ill. – U.S. District Judge Sara Darrow has sentenced Randy Williams, 29, of the 300 block of North Rosewood, Kankakee, Ill., to 15 years in federal prison for his role in the armed robbery of a Champaign, Ill., Sprint store. Williams was sentenced on Oct. 15, 2018. In addition, Williams was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $32, 121.81, to the Sprint Store on North Prospect in Champaign, the victim of the offense. Williams has remained in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service since September 2017, when he was indicted by a federal grand jury. Williams will be transferred to the federal Bureau of Prisons to serve his sentence.
On June 14, 2018, Williams was convicted by a jury for his role as the getaway driver in the armed robbery of a Sprint Store, at 2706 N. Prospect Ave., in Champaign. At trial, the government presented evidence that a group of five robbers traveled to Champaign on July 28, 2016, held two customers and two employees at gun point while robbing the North Prospect Sprint store of its cellphones. The victims were bound by their wrists and ankles with zip-ties. According to trial testimony, Williams waited in the getaway vehicle while his two co-conspirators, Thomas James, and Andre Nunn went into the store.
On Dec. 28, 2017, U.S. District Judge Colin S. Bruce sentenced James to 19 years in prison for his role in the Champaign robbery and the robbery of a Circle K at 581 S. Indiana Ave., in Kankakee on Aug. 6, 2016. Another co-defendant, Jaevontae Williams, was sentenced to seven years (86 months) on July 28, 2018. Nunn is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 30, 2018.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Elly Peirson and Ryan Finlen prosecuted the case against Williams. The charges were investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Champaign Police Department, Kankakee Police Department, and Illinois State Police.
Trial Scheduled for Champaign Man Charged for Allegedly Trafficking Counterfeit Xanax, Money LaunderingRead the Press Release
URBANA, Ill. – A Champaign, Ill., man, Stephan Caamano, 23, appeared in federal court in Urbana today for arraignment on charges that he allegedly trafficked quantities of pills containing alprazolam, marked as ‘Xanax,’ and laundered proceeds of the alleged drug trafficking. Caamano, of the 1500 block of Glenshire Drive, appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Eric I. Long. Trial in the case is scheduled on Nov. 13, 2019, before U.S. District Judge Sara Darrow.
The superseding indictment returned by the grand jury on Oct. 2 alleges that from March 2017 to May 2018, Caamano trafficked quantities of pills containing alprazolam, marked as ‘Xanax,’ knowing it was not the drug Xanax manufactured by Pfizer. In addition, Caamano is charged with two counts of distribution of alprazolam, a Schedule IV controlled substance, and four counts of money laundering related to monetary transactions involving proceeds of the alleged drug trafficking. The charged transactions involved payment of Bitcoin in exchange for gold bullion on two occasions - April 12, 2017 and June 9, 2017; a wire transfer in the amount of $235,500 on or about July 31, 2017; and, the transfer of funds on Aug. 30, 2017, by personal check to a car dealership in the amount of $25,936.
Caamano was previously arrested and charged by complaint on May 29, 2018. Following Caamano’s initial appearance on the complaint, Judge Long ordered that Caamano undergo evaluation for competency. On Sept. 10, 2018, the court found Caamano competent to proceed and he was arraigned on two counts of distribution of alprazolam, charges returned by the grand jury in June. In addition, Caamano was ordered to remain detained in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
According to the affidavit filed in support of the criminal complaint, in December 2017, the investigation began when Customs and Border Protection agents contacted DEA agents after seizing items that were allegedly destined for delivery to Caamano at various addresses in California and in the Champaign, Ill., area. The items included pill press machines, machine parts and alprazolam.
The charges are the result of investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration, Springfield Resident Office; U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Homeland Security Investigations; the U.S. Postal Inspection Service; Champaign Police Department Street Crimes Unit and the Champaign County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Rachel E. Ritzer is prosecuting the case on behalf of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of Illinois.
If convicted, the maximum statutory penalty for each count of trafficking in a counterfeit drug (one count) and for money laundering (four counts) is 20 years in prison. For distribution of a controlled substance (two counts), the statutory maximum penalty for each count is five years in prison.
Members of the public are reminded that an indictment is merely an accusation; the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
Rock Island Felon to Serve Nine Years in Prison for Illegal Gun PossessionRead the Press Release
ROCK ISLAND, Ill. - Chief U.S. District Judge James E. Shadid today sentenced Gregory Michael Terronez, 31, of Rock Island, Ill., to 110 months (9 years, 2 months) in federal prison for illegal possession of a firearm by a felon. Terronez was ordered to remain on supervised release for two years following his release from prison. Terronez has remained in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service since he was arrested on Jan. 29, 2018.
On May 16, 2018, Terronez plead guilty to illegally possessing a Ruger LCR .38 Special revolver in November 2017. According to court documents, the gun’s serial number was obliterated. Terronez has four prior felony convictions, including convictions, one in 2010 and another in 2015, for distribution of cocaine. In support of its sentence recommendation, the government cited the defendant’s own admission that he has little employment history, other than as a drug dealer, and Terronez’s admission that after he was released from prison in May 2017, he supported himself by selling crack cocaine.
The case was investigated by the Rock Island Police Department and ATF. Assistant U.S. Attorney John K. Mehochko prosecuted the case in cooperation with the Rock Island County State’s Attorney’s Office.
Former Director of Child Food Program Pleads Guilty to Defrauding USDA of More Than $500,000, Filing False Tax ReturnRead the Press Release
ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – Nora L. Steele, the former operations director of a Rock Island, Ill., program that provided summer and after-school meals to at-risk children today waived indictment and plead guilty to defrauding the government of approximately $515,617, and filing a false tax return. Steele, 66, of Silvis, Ill., plead guilty to one count each of fraud and filing a false tax return in her appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jonathan E. Hawley in Rock Island. Sentencing has been scheduled on Jan. 17, 2019, before Chief U.S. District Judge James E. Shadid in Peoria.
Steele served as the operations director for the Quad Cities Area Children’s Food Program (QCACFP) from its inception in February 2016 until she left the organization in June 2017. Prior to the creation of QCACFP, Steele had served in a similar capacity since 2004 for an affiliated entity, Church of Peace, in Rock Island.
Church of Peace and later QCACFP provided summer and after-school meal services to at-risk children throughout the Quad Cities area. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service, reimbursed the program a set amount per meal served. On a monthly basis, QCACFP submitted requests for reimbursement to the State of Illinois, which in turn received funding from USDA to pay the reimbursement.
Meals were provided in conjunction with after-school learning or care programming, typically at elementary or junior high schools and were operated by YMCA or Spring Forward Learning. During the 2015-2016 and 2016-2017 school years, QCACFP provided meal services to 35 to 50 sites in the Quad Cities and Galesburg, Ill., communities each month.
In today’s hearing, and according to court documents, Steele admitted that from August 2015 to June 2017, she submitted falsely inflated meal count forms for reimbursement. In some cases additional meals that were not served were added to counts of legitimate meals that were served to children. In other cases, Steele submitted fraudulent meal count forms when no meals at all were served at a particular location on a given day.
Among other things, the inflated reimbursement payments were used to fund Steele’s salary and salaries for Steele’s family members who performed nominal duties for the food program. Steele also set up a retirement account for herself that was fully funded by the food program. Steele also used the program’s credit card to make personal purchases from QVC, including a compact, foldable exercise bike which Steele categorized as uniforms.
In addition, Steele created and claimed fabricated mileage reimbursements. Steele consistently claimed to have driven approximately 1,500 miles per monthly pay period for a monthly reimbursement of approximately $840 for work related travel that she did not actually make. For the period of March 2016 through June 2017, Steele claimed work travel mileage reimbursement for more miles than the total mileage the vehicles belonging to Steele and her husband travelled during the same time period. As a result of the fraudulent mileage reimbursement claims, Steele received $15,059 in 2015 and $19,282 in 2016 that was not taxed or reported as income on Steele’s personal tax returns, for a total tax liability of $10,128.
At sentencing, the statutory maximum penalty for mail fraud is 20 years in prison. For filing a false tax return, the penalty is up to three years in prison.
Assistant U.S. Attorney John K. Mehochko is prosecuting the case on behalf of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of Illinois, Rock Island Division. The charges are the result of investigation by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of Inspector General; IRS, Criminal Investigation and the FBI Springfield Division.
Former Mahomet Counselor Sentenced for Health Care FraudRead the Press Release
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – A California man, who previously provided counseling services at his home in Mahomet, Ill., has been ordered to serve 18 months in prison for submitting false billings to health care insurers. Christopher DiFilippo, aka “Kip,” 40, of Bakersville, Ca., was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $514,297 to various health care insurers. DiFilippo was also ordered to serve three years of supervised release following his release from prison, the first year of which shall be served as home confinement. He was ordered to self-report to the federal Bureau of Prisons within 60 days.
On May 11, 2018, DiFilippo waived indictment and plead guilty to an information that charged him with one count of health care fraud. DiFilippo, who became a licensed clinical social worker in 2009, started his own company, KD Counseling, in early 2012. DiFilippo counseled patients mostly on weekends or in the evening at his home in Mahomet until he moved to Texas in 2015, and later Florissant, Mo. Some counseling was done by phone or over Skype. DiFilippo admitted to submitting false billings to health care insurers from 2012 to 2017.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregory M. Gilmore represented the government at sentencing. The FBI and U.S. Postal Service, Office of Inspector General, conducted the investigation with the U.S. Department of Labor, OIG, Chicago Division and the Office of Personnel Management, OIG, Chicago division. Special investigative units of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois and Health Alliance Medical Plans provided special assistance in the investigation.
Texas Man Pleads Guilty to "Sextorting" Minors in IllinoisRead the Press Release
PEORIA, Ill. – Sentencing is scheduled in January 2019, for a Texas man, Mark P. Barnwell, 35, who pleaded guilty to producing child pornography in 2016 and threatening minor victims in Illinois and seven other states while he was required to register as a sex offender.
Barnwell, of Whitehouse, Texas entered guilty pleas in Peoria before U.S. District Judge Joe Billy McDade on Aug. 29. Sentencing is scheduled on Jan. 9, 2019.
According to admissions made in connection with his guilty plea, Barnwell, a registered sex offender, used false personas on Facebook and controlled multiple female-presenting profiles to contact female Facebook users, including minors, and advertised a modeling opportunity he claimed would pay up to thousands of dollars per photo shoot.
At Barnwell’s urging, the minors who accepted the offer then took, and sent to him, photographs which they believed were being produced for the purposes of a modeling portfolio. The minor victims believed they would be paid by cash, check, or direct deposit once they completed the modeling portfolio process. At Barnwell’s explicit direction, the photographs taken by the minors progressed from various stages of undress to sexually suggestive and/or sexually explicit photographs of themselves.
Once he obtained compromising images, Barnwell threatened to injure the minor victims’ reputations and embarrass them by posting their nude pictures online if they failed to comply with demands for additional images. In total, Barnwell used this scheme to obtain nude photographs from 43 minor victims located in nine judicial districts across eight states.
In addition to the material, including videos and images, relating to sexual exploitation of children discovered on Barnwell’s devices, law enforcement authorities also found multiple videos captured by Barnwell, including several where he filmed up women’s skirts in public or attempted to do so. Authorities additionally discovered a large number of videos where Barnwell surreptitiously filmed women using public bathrooms. The authorities also discovered what is believed to be the hidden camera he used to capture the videos.
The charges are the result of a joint investigation by the U.S. Secret Service, the Peoria Police Department, and the Peoria County Sheriff’s Office. Vital assistance was provided by the United States Attorneys’ offices for the Central District of California, Southern District of Mississippi, District of Nevada, Eastern District of Texas, Northern District of Texas, Western District of Washington, Northern District of Iowa, and Southern District of West Virginia. The matter is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ronald Hanna and Katherine Legge of the Central District of Illinois and Trial Attorney William Grady of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS).
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
Henry County Paving Company Owner Sentenced for Tax EvasionRead the Press Release
ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – A Galva, Ill., man, Tony L. Porter, has been sentenced to nearly four years in prison, (46 months,) for tax evasion. U.S. District Judge Sara Darrow sentenced Porter, 42, an owner of Porter Paving, on Aug. 24, 2018. In addition, Judge Darrow ordered Porter to pay $566,571 in unpaid taxes and interest to the IRS. Porter was ordered to report to the federal Bureau of Prisons on Oct. 1, 2018, to begin serving his prison sentence. Following his prison sentence, Porter was ordered to serve three years of supervised release.
On March 22, 2018, Porter plead guilty to tax evasion. According to court documents, Porter underreported or failed to report income he received from customers of his paving business in 2009, 2010, and 2011. Rather than deposit customers’ checks, Porter cashed the checks at the customer’s bank and failed to report the income on his tax returns. Porter failed to report income of $112,439 for 2009; $429,064 for 2010; and, $579,261 for 2011. As a result, Porter did not pay $384,206 in tax for the three years. With interest, the court ordered that Porter pay taxes and interest to the IRS in the amount of $566,571 for tax years 2009, 2010, and 2011.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Hilary W. Frooman prosecuted the case. The IRS, Criminal Investigation Division conducted the investigation.
Mercer County Man Sentenced to Seven Years in Prison for Felon in Possession of a GunRead the Press Release
ROCK ISLAND, Ill. - Chief U.S. District Judge James E. Shadid today sentenced a rural Mercer County, Ill., man, Steven Austin Adams, 27, to seven years in prison for illegal possession of a firearm by a felon. Adams was ordered to remain on supervised release for three years following his release from prison. Adams has remained in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service since he was arrested in July 2017.
On March 14, 2018, Adams, of Keithsburg, Ill., plead guilty to illegally possessing a Smith and Wesson .45 caliber pistol in March 2016. Adams admitted that he possessed the gun in connection with his drug trafficking activity. Agents seized the gun from Adams’ bedroom where it was located in close proximity to drugs and drug dealing paraphernalia such as scales and baggies. At the time Adams possessed the gun, he had a prior felony conviction for meth conspiracy in 2012 in Mercer County.
The case was investigated by the Mercer County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI Quad Cities Federal Gang Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorney John K. Mehochko prosecuted the case in cooperation with the Mercer County State’s Attorney’s Office.
Former Decatur Business Owner Sentenced to Five Years in Prison for Possession with Intent to Distribute Spice, K2Read the Press Release
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – U.S. District Judge Sue E. Myerscough today sentenced a former Decatur business owner, Noman Hizam, 37, to five years in prison for possession with intent to distribute synthetic cannabinoids, known as Spice and K2. Hizam, of Harristown, was further ordered to remain on supervised release for three years following his prison term. Hizam has remained in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service since his arrest in July 2016.
Hizam pleaded guilty to the charges on March 2, 2018. According to the factual basis in support of Hizam’s pleas of guilty, Hizam admitted that he was the intended recipient of a shipment of synthetic cannabinoids from New York in September 2014. A Decatur police detective intercepted the shipment when he stopped the Chevrolet Suburban on I-72 in Macon county. Inside the vehicle, the detective discovered two large trash bags that contained approximately 17.4 kilograms of synthetic cannabinoids packaged in 1,741 packets.
On May 10, 2016, DEA agents executed federal search warrants at Decatur businesses owned by Hizam, including the Handy Pantry, 3715 North Woodford St.; Cigar Outlet, 1247 E. Mound; and, Tobacco Express, 1101 N. Route 48. At the same time, Hizam was stopped in a vehicle and consented to the search of the vehicle. Officers located a plastic grocery sack in the vehicle’s center armrest that contained stacks of U.S. Currency. In addition Hizam had a bundle of U.S. Currency in his pants pocket. Officers also recovered keys for a storage locker unit. Following consent to search the storage unit at 2727 N. Woodford in Decatur, agents recovered approximately 300 packets of synthetic cannabinoids. Examples of the street names under which the synthetics are marketed, agents recovered packets labeled as Smacked Blueberry, Geeked Up; Scooby Snax Hydro; Scooby Snax Watermelon; Mr. Big Shot; Green Giant; Mind Trip; Scooby Snax Hypnotic, and others.
According to publicly disseminated DEA drug fact information, K2 and Spice are two of the many trade names or brands for synthetic cannabinoids which are human-made, mind-altering chemicals developed to mimic the effects of THC, the main active ingredient of marijuana. They are often marketed under the guise of “herbal incense” or “potpourri.” The synthetic cannabinoids are typically marketed in rectangular, heat-sealed packets with brightly colored wording and street names to appeal to a youthful crowd, such as “Scooby Snax,” “Mr. Happy,” California Dream,” “Hayz,” “AK47,” “OMG,” “Down2Earth,” etc.
The case against Hizam is related to a continuing task force investigation of the distribution of synthetic cannabinoids in Central Illinois. This task force, part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) program, is led by the DEA with the Illinois Attorney General Investigations; Illinois State Police; FBI; Decatur Police Department; Springfield Police Department; Illinois Department of Revenue; and IRS-Criminal Investigation. OCDETF is a Department of Justice program that supports multi-jurisdictional task forces of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies to conduct long-term and complex investigations and prosecutions of drug-related crimes. Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy A. Bass is prosecuting the cases on behalf of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of Illinois.
Sentencing Hearing Scheduled for Kankakee County Man Guilty of Bank Fraud Related to Construction LoansRead the Press Release
PEORIA, Ill. – Sentencing is scheduled on Dec. 6, 2018, for Daniel Ballard, 59, of Bourbonnais, Ill., for bank fraud related to construction loans. Ballard entered pleas of guilty to three counts of bank fraud on Aug. 13, before Chief U.S. District Judge James E. Shadid. Ballard was allowed to remain on bond pending sentencing.
On Aug. 13, Ballard admitted that between 2009 and 2012, he obtained multiple construction loan draws from the State Bank of Herscher by making false representations to Kankakee County Title Company claiming he had constructed one residence and remodeled another, when he had done neither. Instead, he used the fraudulently obtained money to attempt to finish construction of another residence at 3013 Stone Fence Drive in Kankakee, Illinois that was over budget.
At sentencing, the maximum statutory penalty for each of the three counts of bank fraud, is up to 30 years in prison and fines up to $250,000. Statutory penalties are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes, as sentencing is determined by the court based on the advisory Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Eugene M. Miller is prosecuting the case. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) Office of Inspector General conducted the case investigation.
A jury had previously convicted Ballard of all three counts of bank fraud in December 2016. In April 2018, however, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the district court’s June 2017 decision to vacate Ballard’s convictions. A new trial was scheduled on Aug. 20, 2018; however, the jury trial date has been vacated following Ballard’s plea, and the case is set for sentencing in December 2018.
Springfield Man Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison for Sex Trafficking Underage GirlsRead the Press Release
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – U.S. District Judge Sue E. Myerscough today ordered Calvin S. Williams, 35, of Springfield, Ill., to serve 20 years in prison followed by a term of 10 years supervised release. Williams, also known as “Cadillac Hustle,” “Cadillac,” “Caddy,” was also ordered to register as a sex offender.
Williams has remained in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service since his arrest in June 2016.
On Mar. 16, 2018, Williams entered a plea of guilty to sexual exploitation of children. Williams was charged by complaint in June 2016, and indicted on charges of sex trafficking minors, production of child pornography, and distribution and possession of child pornography in 2015 in Springfield.
The charges are the result of investigation by the FBI and Springfield Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew Z. Weir and Gregory M. Gilmore represented the government in the case prosecution.
Owner of Springfield Osaka Restaurant Indicted on Charges of Tax Evasion, StructuringRead the Press Release
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – A federal grand jury has returned an indictment that charges the owner of Springfield’s Osaka Japanese Restaurant, 1665 Wabash Ave., with filing false income tax returns and with structuring cash withdrawals to avoid detection by the Internal Revenue Service. The indictment charges Chu Chuk Cheung, 40, with two counts of filing false income tax returns and 10 counts of structuring.
The indictment alleges that for tax years 2012 and 2013, Cheung, the president and sole member of the board of directors, failed to report personal income he received from Osaka. The indictment alleges that Cheung failed to report personal income of approximately $376,976 for tax year 2012 and $145,958 for tax year 2013.
Cheung is also charged with structuring cash withdrawals from bank accounts under his control from Aug. 9, 2013 to Sept. 22, 2014, to evade Currency Transaction Reporting (CTR) requirements. Financial institutions are required to complete and file CTRs with the IRS for any currency transactions in excess of $10,000. To evade the CTR reporting requirement, Cheung allegedly obtained cash in amounts of less than $10,000, even when it meant withdrawing $9,000 one day and returning to the financial institution the next day to again withdraw $9,000 in cash.
The U.S. District Clerk of the Court will issue a summons for Cheung to make his initial appearance and arraignment on Aug. 29, 2018, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Tom Schanzle-Haskins.
If convicted, each count of filing a false income tax return carries a penalty of up to three years in prison, a $100,000 fine plus the costs of prosecution, and full restitution. For each count of unlawful money structuring, the penalty is up to 10 years in prison.
The charge is the result of an investigation by the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Hilary W. Frooman.
Members of the public are reminded that an indictment is merely an accusation; the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
Springfield Man to Serve 18 Months in Prison for Failure to Report $1.15 Million in Earnings on Tax ReturnsRead the Press Release
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – A Springfield, Ill., man, Gregg Harwood, has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for failing to report more than $1.15 million in earnings on tax returns filed for tax years 2008, 2009, and 2010. Harwood, 60, of the 700 block of Clipper Rd., formerly owned Thermionics, a corporation that manufactured hot / cold pain therapy products that were sold at major retailers and pharmacies across the U.S.
In addition to the prison sentence, U.S. District Judge Sue E. Myerscough ordered that Harwood pay a fine of $50,000, and serve one year of supervised release following the prison term, with the first six months of supervised release as home confinement. Harwood was also ordered to work 20 hours of community service per week while on supervised release.
On Feb. 6, 2018, Harwood waived indictment and pleaded guilty to an information that charged him with filing false income tax returns that failed to report income of more than $1.15 million for tax years 2008, 2009, and 2010. Beginning in November 2007, Harwood created various multi-level entities with no legitimate business purposes, which he used to divert and disguise income he received from Thermionics. Harwood used the resulting tax free income to support his personal lifestyle.
As provided in the plea agreement, today Harwood paid the amount due to the IRS, $447,528, and $250,000 to participants in Thermionics’ employee stock ownership plan.
Harwood remains on bond pending direction from the federal Bureau of Prisons as to the date and location to report to begin serving his prison sentence.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy A. Bass prosecuted the case. The Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division, and the U.S. Department of Labor, Criminal Division, investigated the charges.
Trial Date Set for Four Defendants Indicted on Meth Trafficking Charges in PanaRead the Press Release
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Trial has been scheduled on Aug. 3, 2018, for three Pana, Ill., defendants and a Missouri man charged with trafficking methamphetamine. Claudette Borders, 46; Jesse Stoldorf, 43, Randy Hammond, 39, all of rural Pana; and Raymond Toth, 60, of Cuba, Mo., were arraigned in federal court in Springfield on June 28.
The defendants were previously charged by complaint and arrested on May 24, 2018. Each of the four defendants has been ordered detained in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service. A federal grand jury returned the indictment against the four on June 20.
The indictment charges Borders and Stoldorf with one count of conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and one count of distribution of methamphetamine, which was obtained from Missouri, from their Pana home on May 3, 2018. Hammond is charged with one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine on May 22, 2018. Toth is charged with possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of meth on May 22, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
If convicted, the charges against Borders, Stoldorf, and Hammond carry statutory penalties of up to 30 years in prison. If convicted, the drug charge against Toth carries a statutory penalty of 10 years to life in prison. For possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug crime, the penalty is a mandatory five years in prison to be served consecutive to any sentence ordered for the underlying drug crime.
The charges are the result of an investigation by DEA and the Central Illinois Enforcement Group (CIEG) with the assistance of the Pana Police Department and the Christian County Sheriff’s Office. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Crystal Correa.
Members of the public are reminded that an indictment is merely an accusation; each defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
Central Wisconsin Man Charged with Impersonating Federal Officer in Knox County, Ill.Read the Press Release
ROCK ISLAND, Ill. -- Trial has been scheduled on Aug. 27, 2018, for a Central Wisconsin man charged with impersonating a U.S. Marshal. Jared Keith Fulk, 20, last known address Milladore, Wis., was arraigned on June 26, in federal court in Rock Island.
The indictment, returned on June 20, alleges that on May 16, 2018, Fulk impersonated a federal officer by representing himself as a U.S. Marshal to an individual.
Fulk has remained in law enforcement custody since he was arrested on May 16, by the Galesburg Police Department. Fulk waived a federal detention hearing and will remain in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service pending trial.
If convicted of impersonating an officer of the U.S. government, Fulk faces up to three years in prison.
The charge is the result of investigation by the Galesburg Police Department and the U.S. Marshals Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin C. Knight is prosecuting the case.
Members of the public are reminded that an indictment is merely an accusation; the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
Fifteen Alleged Members of Peoria Street Gang Charged in Federal RICO Indictment for Gang Violence, Murder, Attempted MurderRead the Press Release
PEORIA, Ill. – A federal indictment unsealed today charges 15 alleged members of the Peoria street gang Bomb Squad with organized violent gang activity including murder and attempted murder. The indictment alleges that those charged are participants in a racketeering conspiracy that has committed numerous shootings and acts of violence, including the April 8, 2018, murder of a rival gang member and a bystander, a Bradley University student.
U.S. Attorney John E. Childress; ATF Resident Agent in Charge Tom Dart, Springfield Field Office; Peoria Interim Chief of Police Loren Marion III; DEA Assistant Special Agent in Charge Glenn Haas, Chicago Field Division; Peoria County State’s Attorney Jerry Brady; and Peoria Mayor Jim Ardis made the announcement.
The indictment charges the defendants with federal racketeering conspiracy under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO). Under the RICO statute, the indictment alleges that from 2013 to the present, the defendants functioned as a criminal enterprise to achieve its objectives, including activities that affect interstate commerce. Members and associates of Bomb Squad allegedly engaged in acts of violence, including murder, attempted murder, assault with a dangerous weapon, arson, and drug trafficking. The enterprise used violence to protect itself, its members and associates from rival gangs and to protect the standing and reputation of Bomb Squad.
All of the 15 defendants named in the indictment are charged with one count of RICO conspiracy, an offense which carries a statutory penalty of up to life in prison, if convicted. Those charged include: Eugene Haywood, aka “Nunu,” 24; Raevaughn Rogers, aka “Lil Poppi,” 18; Kenwan Crowe, 19; Terry Moss, aka “Lil Man,” 23; Ezra Johnson, aka “Lil Wody,” 22; Jovan McCree, aka “Vano,” 36; Jahlin Wilson, aka “BD,” 21; Andre Neal-Ford, aka “Monkey Man,” 20; Lance Washington, 22; Torieuanno White, aka “T.A.,” 24; Sherman Williams, aka “Shady,” 26; Lloyd Dotson, 27; Keith Gregory, aka “Kilo,” 19; Mytrez Flora, aka “Trez,” 24; and Kentrevion Watkins, aka “Tutu,” 19.
Twelve of the defendants are also charged with one or more counts of Violent Crimes in Aid of Racketeering (VICAR) that include assault with a dangerous weapon and attempted murder, and with using firearms during the commission of a violent crime. In addition, the indictment includes charges of drug trafficking in marijuana, crack cocaine, and heroin, and possession of firearms by felons.
To further the conspiracy and achieve its objectives, the indictment alleges 46 overt acts in which gang members and associates engaged in murder, drug trafficking, witness tampering, arson, and robbery. Included among the overt acts alleged are the following:
- June 23, 2013, Haywood murdered Eric “Greedy” Brown, who he believed to be a rival gang member;
- July 15, 2013, Haywood, Flora, Dotson and deceased Bomb Squad leader Raheem Wilson, aka “Boosie,” conspired to shoot and murder Tyrann Chester, whom they believed to be supplying drugs to a dealer operating independently of Bomb Squad in Bomb Squad territory;
- May 12, 2016, Wilson robbed and shot unnamed victim during a dice game because he believed the victim was dealing drugs in Bomb Squad territory and not sharing the proceeds;
- June 13, 2016, McCree shot a .308 caliber rifle at a car he believed was occupied by rival gang members driving on Arago Street, in Bomb Squad territory. One of the bullets passed through the wall of a residence and struck an 11-year-old girl in the leg as she slept on a couch;
- Feb. 12, 2017, Moss attempted to set fire to the home of an individual he believed to be a rival gang member, in retaliation for the murder of deceased Bomb Squad leader Raheem Wilson, aka “Boosie;”
- Aug. 9, 2017, Williams, Crowe and other Bomb Squad members burglarized a house and stole a safe containing 12 guns which were then distributed to other Bomb Squad members;
- April 4, 2018, Johnson attempted to persuade a witness from testifying in a trial wherein Haywood is charged with shooting an individual with a firearm. When the witness refused to accept a bribe, Johnson threatened the witness;
- April 8, 2018, Watkins provided a juvenile Bomb Squad member with Crowe’s handgun which the juvenile then allegedly used to shoot and kill Anthony Polnitz and Nasjay Murry.
The indictment was returned by the grand jury on June 20, and sealed pending today’s arrests. ATF agents were assisted by the U.S. Marshals Service to make the arrests. Those arrested this morning are expected to make their respective initial appearances in federal court this afternoon. Five of the defendants already in state custody, in Peoria county for state cases or serving a sentence at the Illinois Department of Corrections, are expected to appear in federal court for their initial appearances later this week and early next week.
Members of the public are reminded that an indictment is merely an accusation; each defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
The charges are the result of an ongoing investigation by an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), a partnership of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies working together to identify, disrupt and dismantle drug trafficking organizations and violent street gangs.
Law enforcement agencies conducting the investigation include ATF, the Peoria Police Department, and DEA, in coordination with the Office of Peoria County State’s Attorney Jerry Brady. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ron Hanna is coordinating the investigation and prosecuting the case on behalf of the government in the Peoria Division, Central District of Illinois.
In addition, this case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a federal program designed to bring together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. The program was reinvigorated in 2017 as part of the Department of Justice’s renewed focus on targeting each community’s most violent criminals.
Three Jacksonville Residents Arrested, Charged with Possession, Conspiracy to Distribute MethRead the Press Release
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Three Jacksonville, Ill., residents made their respective initial appearances in federal court this morning after they were arrested on June 20, 2018. Nathaniel L. Stone, 40, of the 800 block of S. East Street; Jeremie D. Stone, 32, of the 1100 block of S. Diamond Street; and Amber R. Davis, also of the 1100 block of S. Diamond Street, are charged in a federal criminal complaint.
The complaint charges the three with conspiracy to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine, and possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine. In addition, Nathaniel Stone is charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm and possession of a firearm during and in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
At today’s court appearance, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Tom Schanzle-Haskins, Jeremie Stone waived detention and preliminary hearing and was ordered to remain detained in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service. Detention and preliminary hearings were continued and are scheduled for Nathaniel Stone on June 27. Amber Davis was released on her own recognizance.
The charges are the result of investigation by the Jacksonville Police Department, DEA, the Central Illinois Enforcement Group, the Morgan County Sheriff’s Office, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Z. Weir is prosecuting the case.
If convicted, for the offenses of conspiracy to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine and for possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine, the statutory penalty is 10 years to life in prison. For possession of a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking offense, the penalty is a mandatory minimum five years in prison to be served consecutive to any sentence ordered for the related drug offense. Possession of a firearm by a felon carries a statutory maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
Members of the public are reminded that a complaint is merely an accusation; each defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
Florida Man Charged with Defrauding Local InvestorRead the Press Release
PEORIA, Ill. – A federal grand jury today indicted Timothy Herman, 57, of Lake Mary, Fla., of defrauding a Peoria area victim of approximately $600,000.
The indictment alleges that Herman falsely represented to the victim that he had investment opportunities that would earn greater returns than could be earned from banks. Beginning in or about 2013, Herman represented that he had been in the garbage business for several years and had been very successful. Herman did not disclose that, in fact, in May 2013, he had notified his home mortgage holder that he had not received a paycheck since May 2012 and had depleted his savings.
The indictment alleges that Herman advised the victim that he would invest funds in a “Rewards Program,” which one of his companies was developing with Republic Services, a waste management company in Arizona. Herman represented that he was going to retire in two years and expected a $17 million payout at that time.
After Herman represented the profitability and safety of the funds, the victim loaned $200,000 to Herman’s company, Delta Direct. Herman allegedly transferred the funds amongst his various business accounts before transferring the funds to his personal account. As part of the scheme, Herman used the victim’s funds to make monthly payments to the victim as provided in the promissory notes. After receiving the monthly payments, the victim loaned more money to Herman over a period of time.
Instead of investing the funds as represented, the indictment alleges that from 2013 to December 2017, Herman used the victim’s funds to make payments to the victim, to make mortgage payments, to pay tax liens, to make marital settlement payments and to otherwise use the victim’s money for his personal use and benefit. Herman continued his deception and to conceal his fraudulent conduct, made false statements to others, including the victim and federal law enforcement agents.
The charges are the result of investigation by the FBI and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. Supervisory Assistant U.S. Attorney Darilynn J. Knauss is prosecuting the case.
The U.S. Clerk of the Court will schedule a date for Herman to appear for arraignment in federal court in Peoria.
If convicted, the statutory maximum penalty for each count of mail fraud (four counts) and wire fraud (nine counts) is 20 years in prison, and a fine of up to $250,000; for making a false statement, the maximum penalty is five years in prison.
Members of the public are reminded that an indictment is merely an accusation; the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
Alabama Computer Store Owner Charged in Fraud Scheme to Acquire, Sell Government Computers Intended for Schools, Nonprofit OrganizationsRead the Press Release
PEORIA, Ill. – An Athens, Alabama computer store owner has been charged with exploiting a government computer surplus program for his personal benefit. A federal grand jury today returned its indictment of Steven Mays, 50, of Athens, Ala.
The indictment alleges that from 2007 to late 2017, Mays engaged in a scheme to defraud “Computers for Learning,” a program administered by the General Services Administration. The CFL program facilitated the transfer of computers and related equipment owned by the federal government but excess to its needs, directly to schools and some educational nonprofit organizations at no cost.
Over the decade-long scheme, the indictment alleges Mays fraudulently obtained computer equipment at an original cost to the U.S. government of more than $22 million, which he sold at his Athens, Ala., computer company and on eBay.
The indictment alleges Mays created multiple CFL user identifications on behalf of Dwight Baptist Academy, a church school in Dwight, Ill. Mays allegedly represented to the school that the equipment he obtained through the program was “junk,” and that he would refurbish the equipment to make it useable by students at the school. Unbeknownst to the school, Mays acquired much more computer equipment in its name than was known to the school, and used that equipment to enrich himself.
To carry out the fraud scheme, Mays allegedly made false representations to GSA to request excess computer equipment. Mays enlisted others to pick up the equipment from the departments and agencies, and often had it transported to his computer store. Contrary to the conditions under which Mays acquired the computer equipment, he allegedly sold it at Mays Computer Company and on eBay. Some of the equipment was shipped to recyclers to obtain payment from the recyclers; other computer equipment was disposed of in dumpsters.
The investigation was conducted by the Offices of Inspectors General for GSA, the Department of Justice, the Environmental Protection Agency, NASA, the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Transportation, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. The case is being prosecuted by Supervisory Assistant U.S. Attorney Darilynn J. Knauss.
Mays will be issued a summons to appear in federal court in Peoria, Ill., for arraignment on a date to be determined by the U.S. Clerk of the Court.
If convicted, for the offenses of mail fraud (four counts) and wire fraud (one count), the statutory penalty is up to 20 years in prison. For the offenses of theft of government property (one count), and interstate transportation of stolen property, the statutory penalty is up to 10 years in prison.
Members of the public are reminded that an indictment is merely an accusation; the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
U.S. Attorney's Statement Regarding Additional Prosecutor Position to Fight Violent Crime in Central IllinoisRead the Press Release
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – U.S. Attorney John E. Childress issued the following statement upon Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ announcement today that the Department of Justice has allocated additional positions across the country to fight violent crime, including the addition of a prosecutor position in the Central District of Illinois:
“On behalf of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, I would like to thank the Attorney General for the additional resources dedicated to the protection of the citizens of Central Illinois,” stated U.S. Attorney John Childress. “With the help of our law enforcement partners, we will continue to work together to promote the safety and interests of those citizens.”
Colona Woman Sentenced to 3 1/2 Years in Prison for Tampering with a Federal WitnessRead the Press Release
ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – Charity Ann Engholm, 31, of Colona, Ill., was sentenced on May 24, to 42 months in prison for attempting to tamper and conspiring to tamper with a witness in a federal home invasion robbery case. U.S. District Judge Sara L. Darrow also ordered Engholm to serve a three-year term of supervised release following her prison sentence.
Following the arrests of Dalvent Jackson, Deaunta Tyler, and Ledell Tyler on Jan. 8, 2017, for a violent, shots-fired home invasion robbery in Rock Island, Jackson arranged for his girlfriend, Engholm, to approach one of the robbery victims in an attempt to convince the victim to renounce her identification of Jackson as one of the robbers. On Jan. 13, Engholm contacted the victim, offering to pay her $5,000 to renounce the identification. Instead of taking the money, the victim notified the police.
After Engholm initially was charged with state witness tampering offenses, she agreed to cooperate in the federal investigation of the home invasion robbery. However, in May 2017, having been released on bond from her state charges, Engholm fled to Chicago. Engholm then was charged in federal court with attempting to tamper and conspiring to tamper with a federal witness. She was arrested in Chicago on the federal charges on July 14, 2017, and held in custody. On Oct. 17, 2017, Engholm pleaded guilty to both charges.
Jackson, Deaunta Tyler, and Ledell Tyler were tried and convicted on federal robbery and firearms charges in November 2017. Jackson and Deaunta Tyler each were sentenced to 30 years in prison. Sentencing for Ledell Tyler is scheduled for June 29, 2018, in U.S. District Court in Rock Island.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Don Allegro, Ryan Finlen, and Kevin Knight. The charges were investigated by the Rock Island Police Department, and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.