Northern District of Illinois

CHICAGO — The former Chief Executive Officer of a suburban Chicago subprime auto lending company has been sentenced to four years in federal prison for participating in a pair of fraud schemes that resulted in approximately $67 million in losses. 

JAMES COLLINS was the CEO of Evanston, Ill.-based Honor Finance LLC.  From 2015 to 2018, Collins schemed with others to submit false information to a bank that had provided a $200 million warehouse line of credit to the company to fund its subprime loan portfolio.  The false information allowed Collins to avoid posting additional collateral while maintaining funding from the line of credit that the company otherwise might have had to return to the bank.  The false information also increased the amount of funding he received from a trust established by Honor and the bank to securitize thousands of loans in Honor’s portfolio and sell them as bonds to investors.  Collins selected certain vehicle loans for the trust that he knew were delinquent and not eligible to be included in the portfolio because money had already been advanced to those borrowers through improper accounting entries.  Collins hid the ineligibility of these loans from the bank, bond investors, and rating agencies.  As a result of the false representations and omissions regarding the line of credit and the trust, the bank lost approximately $62 million.

Collins also engaged in a separate fraud scheme that involved the misappropriation of approximately $5.3 million from Honor. Collins and his co-schemers established a shell company called LHS Solutions that they used as a middleman between Honor and a third-party supplier of GPS devices.  Instead of Honor buying the devices directly from the supplier, as it had previously done, Collins had LHS Solutions purchase the devices before selling them to Honor Finance at inflated prices, with Collins and the co-schemers keeping and using the difference.  Collins also diverted commissions from the sales of vehicle warranties that should have gone to Honor.

Collins, 55, of Evanston, Ill., pleaded guilty in 2023 to a federal mail fraud charge and stipulated to bank fraud.  On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Franklin W. Valderrama imposed the prison sentence and ordered Collins to pay approximately $67 million in restitution.

The sentence was announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI.  Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.  The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew Getter and Paige A. Nutini.

A co-defendant, Honor Finance’s former Chief Operating Officer ROBERT DIMEO, of Park Ridge, Ill., pleaded guilty in 2022 to a mail fraud charge.  DiMeo is awaiting sentencing.

CHICAGO — A suburban Chicago investment advisor has been indicted on federal fraud charges for allegedly swindling clients by soliciting them to invest in nonexistent business opportunities.

RALPH ROGERS III, also known as “Tres Rogers,” 62, of Batavia, Ill., is charged with six counts of wire fraud in an indictment returned Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Chicago.  Each count is punishable by up to 20 years in federal prison.  Arraignment in federal court has not yet been scheduled.

According to the indictment, Rogers held himself out as an entrepreneur and investment advisor.  From 2021 to 2023, Rogers fraudulently obtained funds from multiple individuals by falsely promising that he would use his professional connections to invest their money in valuable business opportunities, including fiber optic cable installation, copper piping, a physical fitness recovery studio, and materials used to manufacture auto parts, the indictment states.  Instead of investing the funds as he had promised, Rogers used the money for his own personal benefit, including for travel, hotel rooms, jewelry, apparel, and gym fees, the indictment states.

The indictment was announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI.  The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristin Pinkston.

The public is reminded that an indictment is not evidence of guilt.  The defendant is presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

CHICAGO — A former correctional officer at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago has been indicted by a federal grand jury for allegedly sexually abusing four inmates while on duty.

BRITTANY HALL, 31, of Chicago, sexually abused the inmates inside the MCC in December 2023, according to an indictment returned Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Chicago.  At the time, Hall was a correctional officer for the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, responsible for supervising inmates in Unit 12 of the MCC. Hall resigned from the BOP in 2024.

The indictment charges Hall with five counts of sexual abuse of a ward, each of which is punishable by up to 15 years in federal prison, and three counts of abusive sexual contact, each of which is punishable by up to two years in federal prison.  Arraignment is scheduled for today at 1:00 p.m. before U.S. Magistrate Judge Heather K. McShain.

The indictment was announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI, and William J. Hannah, Acting Special Agent-in-Charge of the Midwest Regional Office of the Department of Justice’s Office of Inspector General.  The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan L. Shih.

The public is reminded that an indictment contains only charges and is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

CHICAGO — A former executive of a Chicago-area non-profit organization has pleaded guilty to a federal fraud charge for her role in misappropriating $1.8 million intended to support the charity’s work with underprivileged youth.

BARBARA HARRIS served as the Executive Director of the Center for Community Academic Success Partnerships (CCASP), which received government grants and other funds to provide after-school programs to schools in the Chicago area.  The grants included funds from the 21st Century Community Learning Centers Program, a federal program offering financial support for academic enrichment opportunities.  The 21st Century program issued grants to its local administrator, the Illinois State Board of Education, which in turn disbursed the funds to CCASP.

Harris stated in a plea agreement that from 2012 to 2017, she schemed with another CCASP executive, TONY BELL, to submit grant applications that inflated CCASP’s projected annual expenses and falsely claimed that the organization would receive services from five subcontractors.  In reality, Harris knew that the subcontractors, two of which were other non-profit groups run by Harris and Bell, provided no actual services to CCASP.  The fraud scheme resulted in approximately $1.8 million in actual loss to the Illinois Department of Education.

Harris further admitted in the plea agreement that from 2021 to 2023, she participated in a separate fraud scheme that bilked the federally funded AmeriCorps VISTA program, which awarded grants to non-profit organizations working to bring communities out of poverty.  Harris, who at the time of this scheme was serving as Co-Executive Director of the non-profit South Suburban Community Services, submitted grant applications falsely representing that VISTA members would work for SSCS developing programs aimed at bringing economic opportunities to the south suburbs of Chicago. Harris knew that the VISTA members would actually be used at SSCS to support already-funded job training and afterschool violence prevention programs.  Harris fraudulently obtained approval for eleven VISTA members to work at SSCS, none of whom performed services in accordance with their VISTA assignment descriptions, causing a loss to the VISTA program of $98,699.

Harris, 55, of South Holland, Ill., pleaded guilty on Feb. 27, 2025, to a wire fraud charge.  U.S. District Judge Andrea R. Wood set sentencing for July 11, 2025, at 10:30 a.m.

Harris’s guilty plea was announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, John F. Woolley, Special Agent-in-Charge of the U.S. Department of Education Office of Inspector General’s Midwestern Regional Office, Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI, Ramsey Covington, Acting Special Agent-in-Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation in Chicago, and Stephen Ravas, Acting Inspector General of the AmeriCorps Office of Inspector General.  The Illinois Office of Executive Inspector General provided valuable assistance.  The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kristen Totten and Caitlin Walgamuth.

Bell, 64, of Matteson, Ill., has pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy, money laundering, and wire fraud.  He is awaiting trial.  The public is reminded that the indictment against Bell is not evidence of guilt.  Bell is presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. 

ROCKFORD — A correctional officer at the Federal Correctional Institution in Thomson, Ill., has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Rockford for allegedly engaging in sexual acts with two inmates.

DANNY L. SPYKER, 40, of Lanark, Ill., knowingly engaged in sexual acts with the inmates in December 2023 and March 2024, according to an indictment returned in the Northern District of Illinois on Feb. 25, 2025, and unsealed today. Spyker has been on administrative leave from his position as a correctional officer since June 2024.

The indictment was announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and William J. Hannah, Acting Special Agent-in-Charge of the Midwest Regional Office of the Department of Justice’s Office of Inspector General. The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan S. Kim.

The public is reminded that an indictment contains only charges and is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. The maximum sentence for each count in the indictment is 15 years in federal prison.  If convicted, the Court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal sentencing statutes and the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines.

CHICAGO — A suburban Chicago tax professional who fraudulently obtained more than $2.5 million from clients and investors under false pretenses has been sentenced to more than ten years in federal prison.

ADAM R. OLIVA, 43, of Rolling Meadows, Ill., pleaded guilty last year in two federal fraud cases.  Oliva was sentenced in December to six years in federal prison for one of the cases, and on Wednesday he received an additional four-and-a-half-year sentence for the other case.  The prison terms must be served consecutively, for a total period of incarceration of ten and a half years.

In one case, Oliva held himself out as a tax professional who did business under various names, including Oliva and Associates LLC and The Oliva Group LLC.  From 2015 to 2020, Oliva fraudulently induced clients to provide him with money for the purported purpose of paying their income taxes.  Oliva instead kept the money for himself.  Oliva also admitted that he filed false tax returns on behalf of some of those clients, reflecting no or lower tax liabilities in order to make it less likely that the IRS would contact the clients about their unpaid tax liabilities.

In the other case, Oliva duped investors who had provided him with money to fund purported short-term loans to clients.  Oliva promised those investors that they would receive returns of 10-20% on their investments.  In reality, he never intended to make any short-term loans.  Instead, he pocketed the investors’ money and used it for personal expenses, including gambling, meals at restaurants, and retail purchases.

The sentences were announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Ramsey E. Covington, Acting Special Agent-in-Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation Chicago Field Office, and Vincent R. Zehme, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Region of the FDIC’s Office of Inspector General.  The government was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Rick D. Young.

A former Navy sailor has pleaded guilty in federal court in Chicago to plotting to attack Naval Station Great Lakes in North Chicago, Illinois, purportedly on behalf of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

Xuanyu Harry Pang, 38, of North Chicago, Illinois, pleaded guilty to conspiring to and attempting to willfully injure and destroy national defense material, national defense premises, and national defense utilities, with the intent to injure, interfere with, and obstruct the national defense of the United States. The guilty plea was entered on Nov. 5, 2024, in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois and ordered unsealed today.

According to court records filed in the case, in the summer of 2021, Pang communicated with an individual in Colombia about potentially assisting with a plan involving Iranian actors to conduct an attack against the United States to avenge the death of Qasem Soleimani, a general of the IRGC Quds Force who was killed by the U.S. military in 2020. The Quds Force is a branch of the IRGC that conducts unconventional warfare and intelligence activities outside of Iran.

A covert FBI employee, posing as an affiliate of the Quds Force, subsequently communicated online with the individual in Colombia about conducting an attack. The individual in Colombia put the covert FBI employee in touch with Pang, who at the time was stationed and residing at Naval Station Great Lakes. The pair communicated online through an encrypted messaging application about possible targets for the attack, including Naval Station Great Lakes and other locations in the Chicago area. Pang and the individual in Colombia agreed to help the covert FBI employee and his purported associates with their operation to conduct the attack in the United States, court records state.

On three occasions in the fall of 2022, Pang personally met with another individual working with the FBI who was posing as an associate of the covert FBI employee. The first meeting took place outside of the Ogilvie Transportation Center in downtown Chicago, and the two other meetings were held at a train station in Lake Bluff, Illinois. During the meetings in Lake Bluff, as the plot coalesced into an attack on the Naval Station, Pang displayed photos and videos on his phone of multiple locations inside the Naval Station. He also provided two U.S. military uniforms – for operatives to wear inside the base during the attack – and a cell phone that could be used as a test for a detonator.

Pang is currently detained without bond and is scheduled to be sentenced at a later date. He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Sue Bai, head of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, Acting U.S. Attorney Morris Pasqual for the Northern District of Illinois, Assistant Director David J. Scott of the FBI's Counterterrorism Division, and Special Agent in Charge Douglas S. DePodesta of the FBI Chicago Field Office made the announcement.

The FBI Chicago Joint Terrorism Task Force – which is comprised of multiple federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies – is investigating the case, with valuable assistance provided by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Aaron Bond, Vikas Didwania, and Brandon Stone for the Northern District of Illinois and Trial Attorneys John Cella and Charles Kovats of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section are prosecuting the case.

CHICAGO — A former Navy sailor has pleaded guilty in federal court in Chicago to plotting to attack Naval Station Great Lakes in North Chicago, Ill., purportedly on behalf of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

XUANYU HARRY PANG, 38, of North Chicago, Ill., pleaded guilty to conspiring to and attempting to willfully injure and destroy national defense material, national defense premises, and national defense utilities, with the intent to injure, interfere with, and obstruct the national defense of the United States.  The guilty plea was entered on Nov. 5, 2024, in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois and ordered unsealed today.

Pang is currently detained without bond in law enforcement custody. U.S. District Judge Jeremy C. Daniel set sentencing for May 27, 2025, at 11:00 a.m.  The conviction is punishable by a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison.

The guilty plea was announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Sue Bai, head of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, David J. Scott of the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division, and Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI.  Substantial assistance was provided by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.  The case was investigated by the Chicago Joint Terrorism Task Force, which is comprised of multiple federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Aaron Bond, Vikas Didwania, and Brandon Stone of the Northern District of Illinois, with assistance from Trial Attorneys John Cella and Charles Kovats of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section.

According to court records filed in the case, Pang communicated in the summer of 2021 with an individual in Colombia about potentially assisting with a plan involving Iranian actors to conduct an attack against the United States to avenge the death of Qasem Soleimani, a general of the IRGC Quds Force who was killed by the U.S. military in 2020. The Quds Force is a branch of the IRGC that conducts unconventional warfare and intelligence activities outside of Iran.

A covert FBI employee, posing as an affiliate of the Quds Force, subsequently communicated online with the individual in Colombia about conducting an attack.  The individual in Colombia put the covert FBI employee in touch with Pang, who at the time was stationed and residing at Naval Station Great Lakes, court records show.  The pair communicated online through an encrypted messaging application about possible targets for the attack, including the Naval Station Great Lakes and other locations in the Chicago area.  Pang and the individual in Colombia agreed to help the covert FBI employee and his purported associates with their operation to conduct the attack in the United States, court records state.

On three occasions in the fall of 2022, Pang personally met with another individual working with the FBI who was posing as an associate of the covert FBI employee.  The first meeting took place outside of the Ogilvie Transportation Center in downtown Chicago, and the two other meetings were held at a train station in Lake Bluff, Ill., court records show.  During the meetings in Lake Bluff, as the plot coalesced into an attack on the Naval Station, Pang displayed photos and videos on his phone of multiple locations inside the Naval Station.  He also provided two U.S. military uniforms – for operatives to wear inside the base during the attack – and a cell phone that could be used as a test for a detonator, the records show. 

CHICAGO — The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois collected more than $100 million in criminal, civil, and asset forfeiture actions in Fiscal Year 2024, Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, announced today.

The 2024 collections included approximately $23.9 million in criminal actions, $6.4 million in civil actions, and $70.4 million in asset forfeiture actions.  Additionally, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois worked with other U.S. Attorney’s Offices and Department of Justice components across the country to collect another $62.2 million in cases pursued jointly with those offices.

“Our attorneys and staff place a high priority on recovering funds for the federal treasury and victims of federal crimes,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Pasqual.  “Our office will continue to responsibly safeguard taxpayer resources while delivering a valuable return to the citizens of our district.”

U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, along with the Justice Department’s litigating divisions, are responsible for enforcing and collecting civil and criminal debts owed to the United States and criminal debts owed to federal crime victims.  Federal law requires defendants to pay restitution to victims of certain federal crimes who have suffered a physical injury or financial loss.  While restitution is paid to the victim, criminal fines and felony assessments are paid to the Department of Justice’s Crime Victims Fund, which then distributes the money to federal and state victim compensation and victim assistance programs.

CHICAGO — A man has been charged in federal court with trafficking a firearm in Chicago.

OSCAR GIL-IZQUIERDO sold a pistol, a drum magazine, two additional magazines, and a ballistic vest to a buyer on Feb. 20, 2025, according to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago.  The transaction occurred in a parking lot on the Southwest Side of Chicago, the complaint states.  Unbeknownst to Gil-Izquierdo, the individual to whom he sold the gun and other items was an undercover law enforcement agent, the complaint states.

The complaint charges Gil-Izquierdo, 25, of Chicago, with attempting to transfer a firearm to a person he knew could not legally possess it.  The undercover agent had informed Gil-Izguierdo that the agent was a convicted felon and could not legally purchase a firearm, the complaint states.

On Monday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Gabriel A. Fuentes ordered Gil-Izquierdo detained in federal custody without bond pending trial.

The complaint was announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Christopher Amon, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Division of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives.  Substantial assistance was provided by the Chicago Field Division of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.  The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Maione.

The charge in the complaint is punishable by a maximum sentence of 15 years in federal prison.

The public is reminded that a complaint is not evidence of guilt.  The defendant is presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. 

ROCKFORD — A federal inmate has been sentenced to an additional nine years in prison for assaulting another inmate.

While incarcerated in 2022 at the Federal Correctional Institution in Thomson, Ill., JULIAN BREAL repeatedly kicked and punched the other inmate for several minutes, causing serious injuries. The victim was transported to an outside hospital for treatment, which included surgery.

A jury last year convicted Breal, 47, of assault causing serious bodily injury.  On Monday, U.S. District Judge Iain D. Johnston sentenced Breal to nine years in prison, to be served consecutively to the sentence he is currently serving in the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

The sentence was announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI.  The government was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jessica Maveus and Vincenza L. Tomlinson. 

CHICAGO — Three men who committed multiple carjackings and robberies in Chicago, including carjacking a vehicle with an infant in the back seat and pistol-whipping a convenience store clerk, have been sentenced to federal prison terms ranging from 15 to 22 years.

DAMANDRE HENLEY, DWIGHT HASBERRY, TYLER OATES-NELSON, and DAVARIO MCDOWELL engaged in a series of carjackings and robberies in Chicago in the overnight hours of Sept. 28 and 29, 2022.  The four defendants pleaded guilty last year to federal carjacking, armed robbery, and firearm charges. 

On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Manish Shah sentenced Oates-Nelson, 29, of Chicago, to 15 years in federal prison. On Wednesday, Judge Shah sentenced McDowell, 25, of Chicago, to 18 years.  On Feb. 11, 2025, Judge Shah sentenced Henley, 28, of Chicago, to 22 years. Hasberry, 31, of Chicago, is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Shah on March 20, 2025, at 1:30 p.m.

Four of the carjackings occurred in the early morning hours of Sept. 28, 2022.  The carjacking involving the infant occurred late that evening, when the four men carjacked a Volkswagen Tiguan in Chicago’s West Town neighborhood. After the men drove to the neighborhood in Oates-Nelson’s vehicle, Henley, Hansberry, and McDowell pointed guns at the driver and the infant in a rear car seat and ordered them out of the vehicle.  One of the carjackers patted down the driver and removed a registered handgun from his pocket.  The driver removed the infant from the car before Henley, Hansberry, and McDowell got into the Tiguan and drove away.

A short time later, the four men, now all traveling in the stolen Tiguan, drove to Chicago’s Ravenswood Manor neighborhood, where Henley, McDowell, and Hansberry robbed one victim at gunpoint of their cell phone, wallet, and keys, and another victim of their backpack.

The four men then robbed a nearby 7-Eleven convenience store.  With Oates-Nelson waiting in the stolen Tiguan, Henley, McDowell, and Hansberry entered the store carrying guns.  Henley used his gun to strike a store clerk in the head while forcing him to open the cash register.  The defendants fled the store with cash, cigarettes, and liquor bottles.

The sentences were announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI, and Larry Snelling, Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department. The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Elie Zenner.

CHICAGO — A man pleaded guilty today to a federal drug charge for illegally importing the drug Pentobarbital into the United States from Mexico for use in committing suicide.

DANIEL GONZALEZ-MUNGUIA, also known as “Alejandro Vasquez,” 41, of Puebla, Mexico, pleaded guilty in federal court in Chicago to one count of importing a controlled substance into the United States.  The charge is punishable by a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison.  U.S. District Judge Sara L. Ellis set sentencing for Sept. 9, 2025.

Pentobarbital, also known as Nembutal, is a drug sold in Mexico for the purpose of euthanizing animals.  In the U.S., Pentobarbital is a controlled substance and has been used in state-sponsored executions.  Gonzalez-Munguia admitted in a plea agreement that from 2012 to 2021, he operated an online drug business that sold and distributed bottles of Pentobarbital to hundreds of individuals in the U.S. and throughout the world, including individuals in Illinois.  Many of the buyers consumed the product and died, the plea agreement states.

The investigation by Homeland Security Investigations began in 2016 after a parcel of the drug was intercepted in a Chicago suburb.  Authorities in the U.S. and several foreign countries conducted well-being checks and recovered Pentobarbital from numerous individuals who admitted to being despondent and ordering the suicide drug online from Gonzalez-Munguia.  Law enforcement provided assistance to those individuals.

Gonzalez-Munguia admitted that he initially shipped bottles of the drug directly from Mexico and in the manufacturer’s packaging, but thereafter disguised it as a cosmetic product and used intermediaries to transport it into the U.S. before shipping to customers around the world.

The guilty plea was announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Daniel Johnsen, Acting Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago office of Homeland Security Investigations, and Ruth Mendonça, Inspector-in-Charge of the Chicago Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.  Valuable assistance was provided by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Illinois Army National Guard Counterdrug Program, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas, and law enforcement agencies in Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Ireland, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Kartik K. Raman is prosecuting the case.

CHICAGO — A federal judge has sentenced a suburban Chicago man to more than five years in prison for fraudulently obtaining more than $1.5 million in small business loans under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

Over a five-month period in 2021, FEROZ JALAL participated in a scheme to defraud banks and the U.S. Small Business Administration.  The SBA’s Paycheck Protection Program allowed qualifying small businesses to receive low-interest, government-backed loans to cover a temporary loss of revenue during the Covid pandemic.  As part of the scheme, Jalal submitted to lenders and the SBA at least a dozen applications for PPP loans on behalf of businesses that he and others purportedly owned.  The applications contained false statements and misrepresentations concerning the purported entities’ employees, revenues, costs, and statuses of operations.  In support of his applications, Jalal provided, among other things, fake IRS tax filings and bogus spreadsheets that purported to document the companies’ payroll expenses.

Jalal and co-schemers submitted fraudulent applications for PPP loans in amounts totaling $1.792 million, causing $1.644 million to be disbursed by lenders.

Jalal, 51, of Niles, Ill., pleaded guilty last year to bank fraud and money laundering charges.  On Feb. 11, 2025, U.S. District Judge John F. Kness sentenced Jalal to five years and two months in federal prison and ordered him to pay more than $1.5 million in restitution to the SBA.

The sentence was announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI, and Sean Fitzgerald, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago office of Homeland Security Investigations.  Substantial assistance was provided by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG).  The government was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Hayes.

Anyone with information about attempted Covid-relief fraud can report it to the Department of Justice by calling the National Center for Disaster Fraud at (866) 720-5721, or by filing an online complaint at https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.

CHICAGO — A federal grand jury has indicted a suburban Chicago man for allegedly trafficking firearms and drugs.

An indictment returned Thursday in U.S. District Court in Chicago charges EFRAIN JACOBO, 42, of Prospect Heights, Ill., with federal firearm and drug offenses.  He pleaded not guilty to the charges during his arraignment this morning in federal court.  Jacobo is currently detained in federal custody.

According to the indictment and a criminal complaint previously filed in the case, Jacobo dealt six handguns, a rifle, ammunition, and narcotics in a series of transactions last fall in Joliet, Ill.  The drugs in the deals included methamphetamines and cocaine. Unbeknownst to Jacobo, the individual to whom he sold the guns and drugs was an undercover law enforcement officer, the charges allege.

During the investigation, law enforcement seized approximately 150 kilograms of methamphetamines from a truck that had traveled from Texas to Bolingbrook, Ill.  Law enforcement also seized fentanyl and cocaine from a storage facility used by Jacobo in Wheeling, Ill., and additional cocaine from Jacobo’s vehicle, the charges allege.

The indictment was announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Christopher Amon, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Division of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, Sheila G. Lyons, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Division of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, and Mike Rompa, Chief of the Bolingbrook, Ill. Police Department.  The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Margaret A. Steindorf.

The public is reminded that an indictment is not evidence of guilt.  The defendant is presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. 

CHICAGO — A suburban Chicago medical device company has agreed to pay a $1 million fine to resolve a federal criminal investigation into the alleged selling of misbranded products imported from overseas.

Mokena, Ill.-based ADVANCED INVENTORY MANAGEMENT, INC. admitted in a Statement of Facts filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago that the company imported medical products from international distributors at cheaper prices than what it would have paid to U.S. distributors.  Once the products arrived in the U.S., company employees – under the direction of its sole owner and Chief Executive Officer, ANTHONY IADEROSA, 52, of Mokena, Ill. – used a hair dryer to remove labels that had cautioned the products were only available for resale in a specified country and not in the United States. The company then re-sold the products to customers in the U.S. at a substantial markup, resulting in profit margins of 35% to 50%.  In total, AIM admitted that it made profits of approximately $500,000 by employing this tactic.

The investigation of AIM and Iaderosa is being resolved with deferred prosecution agreements, under which the company and Iaderosa admitted that the tactic rendered the products misbranded under the U.S. Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.  The company and Iaderosa further admitted that they deliberately concealed the tactic from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and caused false statements to be submitted to customs agents.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office filed a one-count criminal information charging AIM and Iaderosa with misbranding of a medical device with the intent to defraud.  Under the agreements, the government will defer prosecution on the charge against AIM for three years and the charge against Iaderosa for one year, and then seek to dismiss the charges if the company and Iaderosa abide by certain conditions.  Among other things, the company agreed to pay a $1 million fine to the Department of Justice and implement a new compliance and ethics program designed to prevent violations of federal food and drug laws, as well as provide annual reports to the government regarding remediation and implementation of the program.  If AIM or Iaderosa fail to completely fulfill each of their obligations during the terms of the agreements, the U.S. Attorney’s Office can initiate prosecution of the charged offenses.

The charges and the deferred prosecution agreements were announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Ronne Malham, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FDA, Office of Criminal Investigations.  The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jared Hasten.

CHICAGO — Two related Chinese companies conspired with former employees of an Illinois facility operated by Philips Medical Systems to unlawfully possess Philips’ trade secrets, according to an indictment returned in federal court in Chicago.

Philips owned and operated a facility in Aurora, Ill., that engaged in the research, development, and manufacture of X-ray tubes used in computed tomography (CT) medical imaging machines.  The company spent years developing its proprietary X-ray technology and selling devices incorporating this proprietary technology to medical facilities. According to the indictment, China-based KUNSHAN GUOLI ELECTRONIC TECHNOLOGY CO. LTD. and a Kunshan GuoLi vice president, XIAOQIN DU, 63, of Suzhou, China, helped form a rival X-ray tube development company and headquartered it in Aurora.  In 2017, Kunshan GuoLi and Du recruited and hired for the new company three engineers from Philips’ Aurora facility, CHIH-YEE JEN, 69, of Mequon, Wisc., FINCE TENDIAN, 56, of Aurora, Ill., and VLADIMIR NEVTONENKO, 76, of Arlington Heights, Ill.

The indictment alleges that before the end of his employment at Philips, Jen copied, without authorization, Philips’ X-ray trade secret information from internal Philips databases.  Jen stole the proprietary information on behalf of Kunshan GuoLi and Du, the indictment states. Jen used the stolen information in connection with his work developing X-ray tubes at the rival X-ray tube development company for Kunshan GuoLi and a related Chinese company, KUNSHAN YIYUAN MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY CO. LTD., the indictment states.  Jen then shared the information with Tendian, who used it in her work for the new company, the indictment states.  Nevtonenko also allegedly possessed and used the stolen information in his work there.

The indictment charges the two Chinese companies and the four individuals with conspiracy to unlawfully possess trade secrets.  Jen is also charged with an individual count of possession or attempted possession of a stolen trade secret.  Jen, Tendian, and Nevtonenko pleaded not guilty during their arraignments in federal court in Chicago.  Arraignments for the companies have not yet been scheduled, and an arrest warrant has been issued for Du.  A joint status report on the case will be submitted to U.S. District Judge Edmond E. Chang by March 31, 2025.

The indictment was announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI.  The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kavitha Babu, Vikas Didwania, and Ramon Villalpando.

The public is reminded that an indictment is not evidence of guilt.  Defendants are presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

CHICAGO — A man has admitted in federal court that he fraudulently obtained more than $1.5 million in benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

DAVID QUINONES, 44, of Chicago, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to a federal wire fraud charge, which is punishable by up to 20 years in federal prison.  U.S. District Judge Steven C. Seeger set sentencing for June 18, 2025.

SNAP is a federal benefit program administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in conjunction with state governments.  The program is intended to provide nutritional benefits to supplement the food budgets of eligible individuals and families.  Retail stores authorized to participate in SNAP can accept SNAP benefits through EBT cards, also known as Link cards, as payment for eligible food items.  It is illegal for stores or individuals to exchange Link cards for cash or other items.

Quinones admitted in a plea agreement that from 2018 to 2023, he gave cash or other items to SNAP recipients in exchange for access to their Link cards and associated identification numbers. Quinones used the cards to purchase various goods at authorized retail stores, fraudulently representing himself as the authorized user of the cards.  He then re-sold most of the goods, keeping the proceeds for himself. Quinones admitted that he used more than 1,200 cards and fraudulently caused the USDA to pay out approximately $1,554,804 in SNAP benefits.

The guilty plea was announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Shantel R. Robinson, Special Agent-in-Charge of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of Inspector General, Midwest Region, and Larry Snelling, Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department.  The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Erin Kelly.

CHICAGO — A federal jury in Chicago today convicted former Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives MICHAEL J. MADIGAN on conspiracy and bribery charges for using his official position to corruptly solicit and receive personal financial rewards for himself and his associates.

Madigan, 82, of Chicago, was convicted on ten counts against him, including one count of conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States, four counts of using interstate facilities to promote unlawful activity, three counts of wire fraud, and two counts of bribery.  The jury acquitted Madigan on four counts of using interstate facilities to promote unlawful activity, two bribery counts, and an attempted extortion count.  U.S. District Judge John Robert Blakey declared a mistrial on six other counts for which the jury did not reach a unanimous verdict – one count of racketeering conspiracy, two counts of wire fraud, one count of bribery, one count of conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States, and one count of using interstate facilities to promote unlawful activity.

The jury returned its verdicts against Madigan after a four-month trial in U.S. District Court in Chicago.  A sentencing hearing has not yet been scheduled.  Each wire fraud count is punishable by a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison, while each bribery count is punishable by up to ten years.  The maximum for conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States and each count of using interstate facilities to promote unlawful activity is five years.

Judge Blakey also declared a mistrial as to all six deadlocked counts against a co-defendant, MICHAEL F. MCCLAIN, 77, of Quincy, Ill.  McClain was charged with one count of racketeering conspiracy, two counts of wire fraud, one count of bribery, one count of conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States, and one count of using interstate facilities to promote unlawful activity.

Evidence at trial revealed that Madigan, who served as House Speaker and occupied a number of other political roles, conspired with others to cause the utility company Commonwealth Edison to make monetary payments to Madigan’s associates as a reward for their loyalty to Madigan, in return for performing little or no legitimate work for the business.  The true nature of the payments was to influence and reward Madigan in connection with specific legislation ComEd sought in the Illinois General Assembly.

Madigan was also convicted of scheming to accept legal work unlawfully steered to his private law firm and his son by an Alderman of the Chicago City Council, in exchange for Madigan’s assistance in inducing the Governor of Illinois to appoint the Alderman to a compensated State Board position.

The verdicts were announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI, and Ramsey E. Covington, Acting Special Agent-in-Charge of the IRS Criminal Investigation Division in Chicago.  The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Amarjeet S. Bhachu, Diane MacArthur, Sarah E. Streicker, and Julia Schwartz.

CHICAGO — A federal grand jury in Chicago has indicted a high-ranking member of the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico on a drug conspiracy charge for allegedly manufacturing and distributing fentanyl, cocaine, heroin, and other drugs and importing them into the United States.

According to an indictment returned Monday in the Northern District of Illinois, CEFERINO ESPINOZA ANGULO, 43, a dual citizen of the U.S. and Mexico, employed dozens of gunmen in Mexico to protect and support the leadership of the Guzman faction of the Sinaloa Cartel, including Ivan Guzman-Salazar, Jesus Alfredo Guzman-Salazar, Ovidio Guzman-Lopez, and Joaquin Guzman-Lopez, collectively known as “the Chapitos.”  The indictment alleges that Espinoza Angulo worked with others to obtain fentanyl precursor chemicals and to manufacture fentanyl for importation into the United States.  Espinoza Angulo allegedly worked with others to transport the fentanyl, cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and ecstasy toward the U.S. border for importation into the country.  The indictment accuses Espinoza Angulo of illegally using a machine gun in furtherance of his drug trafficking crime.

The Chapitos are the sons of Joaquin Guzman Loera, also known as "El Chapo," who led the Sinaloa Cartel before being convicted by a federal jury in Brooklyn, N.Y., and sentenced to life in prison.  The Chapitos allegedly assumed their father’s role as leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel.  The Chapitos have been charged with drug trafficking in other U.S. indictments.

The indictment against Espinoza Angulo charges him with drug conspiracy and a firearm offense, which are punishable by a maximum sentence of life in federal prison and a minimum of 30 years.  Espinoza Angulo is believed to be residing in Mexico.  A U.S. warrant has been issued for his arrest.

The indictment was announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Antoinette T. Bacon, Supervisory Official of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Tara K. McGrath, United States Attorney for the Southern District of California, and Chad Yarbrough, Assistant Director of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division.  Valuable assistance was provided by Homeland Security Investigations Field Offices in Arizona and Spokane, Wash.; DEA Special Operations Division, Bilateral Investigations Unit; FBI Field Offices in Washington, San Diego, and Los Angeles; and the Portland, Ore. Police Bureau, Narcotics and Organized Crime Unit, HIDTA Interdiction Taskforce.  The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michelle J. Parthum and Andrew C. Erskine of the Northern District of Illinois, Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Sutton of the Southern District of California, and Trial Attorney Kirk Handrich of the Criminal Division’s Narcotics and Dangerous Drug Section at the Justice Department.

The case is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force operation.  OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles drug trafficking organizations and other criminal networks that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local enforcement agencies.

“Our nation’s fentanyl crisis has devastated individuals and families in northern Illinois and throughout the country,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Pasqual.  “Our office will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to disrupt the production and trafficking of fentanyl and other dangerous narcotics before they can reach more victims.”

“As alleged, the defendant conspired to traffic dangerous drugs, including fentanyl, into the United States — and employed dozens of gunmen to protect his drug trafficking operation and the leadership of the Guzman faction of the Sinaloa Cartel,” said Supervisory Official Bacon.  “Stopping Mexican cartels from poisoning our communities with fentanyl and other narcotics is a top priority of this Administration.  Today’s indictment demonstrates that the Criminal Division is relentless in its pursuit of the drug traffickers who profit at the expense of the American people.”

“From San Diego to Chicago to D.C., we are united to bring down the traffickers pushing these poisons into American communities,” said U.S. Attorney McGrath. “We are attacking at every level — from street dealers to cartel leaders.”

“This indictment reinforces the FBI’s unwavering commitment to hold accountable those who endanger our communities and traffic violence and drugs across our borders,” said Assistant Director Yarbrough.  “Let this serve as a clear message: if you engage in cartel activity, we will pursue you and bring you to justice.  Together with our law enforcement partners at every level, we remain fully committed to protecting the American people and stopping the flow of these dangerous drugs into our nation.”

The public is reminded that an indictment is not evidence of guilt.  The defendants are presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

CHICAGO — A defendant has been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for soliciting a minor to engage in commercial sex and lying to the FBI about social media postings supportive of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

HARDY LEE BROWNER, 37, of Chicago, pleaded guilty in 2023 to one count of making a materially false statement to the FBI involving international terrorism and one count of soliciting a minor to engage in commercial sex.  U.S. District Judge Andrea R. Wood imposed the sentence on Wednesday and ordered that it be followed by five years of court-supervised release.

Browner admitted in a plea agreement that Browner used various accounts on the social media site formerly known as Twitter to communicate with individuals associated with ISIS, including a media arm of the terrorist group.  Browner also used the accounts to make public posts regarding, among other topics, jihad, martyrdom, and ISIS.  When FBI agents interviewed Browner about the posts, Browner falsely claimed not to have used the accounts and not to have communicated with certain Twitter users, including the ISIS media arm.

The solicitation charge relates to Browner’s attempt to traffic a minor with whom Browner had engaged in a sexual relationship.  Browner communicated with the minor on Instagram and through texts and phone calls.  Browner then met the minor on multiple occasions and had sex with the minor.  Browner sometimes gave the minor cash or other items of value.  Browner also took steps to traffic the minor for sex with others for money, although Browner’s crimes were discovered before the minor was trafficked.

The sentence was announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI.

“The defendant disrespected law enforcement agents and sought to thwart the FBI’s mission in defending against terrorist organizations,” Assistant U.S. Attorneys Barry Jonas and Julia Schwartz argued in the government’s sentencing memorandum.  With regard to the solicitation, the prosecutors argued, “Traffickers operating today should receive the message that if you traffic children in the Chicagoland area, the sentence will be severe.”

CHICAGO — A Chicago man has been sentenced to more than seven years in federal prison for manufacturing counterfeit $100 bills and using them in retail stores.

MARQUISE SHORES used chemicals and a printer in his Chicago residence to manufacture approximately $92,000 in counterfeit $100 bills.  Shores then used Facebook Messenger to recruit young women, including girls as young as 16 years old, to use the counterfeit bills to buy merchandise at retail stores, while Shores waited outside.  He later instructed the young women to return the merchandise for genuine currency, with Shores retaining most of the illicit proceeds.

Shores, 28, pleaded guilty last year to a federal counterfeiting charge.  U.S. District Judge Virginia M. Kendall on Wednesday sentenced Shores to seven years and three months in prison.

The sentence was announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Dai Tran, Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the U.S. Secret Service.  The government was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kurt Siegal.

“Marquise Shores manufactured counterfeit currency and used it to defraud local businesses and enrich himself,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Pasqual.  “Our office will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to investigate and prosecute counterfeiters and ensure the integrity of our economy.”

“The U.S. Secret Service is dedicated to combatting crimes that threaten or harm our nation’s financial infrastructure,” Secret Service Special Agent in Charge Tran said.  “Counterfeiting not only harms that infrastructure, but also hurts law-abiding citizens as evidenced by the businesses defrauded in this case.  I’m proud of our agents, and I thank the U.S. Attorney’s Office for their diligent work on this case.”

CHICAGO — A federal jury has convicted the getaway driver in the robberies of three banks and a credit union in the Chicago suburbs.

TARANDLE LEE served as the driver while his friend, CHARLES LAWLER, entered the financial institutions and presented demand notes.  Together the pair robbed three banks and a credit union, while Lawler also robbed an additional bank by himself.

The robberies were as follows:

• Sept. 22, 2021: Lawler robbed BMO Harris Bank in Naperville, Ill.

• Sept. 28, 2021: Lawler and Lee robbed Old Second Bank in Lisle, Ill.

• Oct. 6, 2021: Lawler and Lee robbed Bank Financial in Westmont, Ill.

• Jan. 3, 2022: Lawler and Lee robbed BMO Harris Bank in Woodridge, Ill.

• April 14, 2022: Lawler and Lee robbed DuPage Credit Union in Downers Grove, Ill.

After a week-long trial in federal court in Chicago, the jury on Wednesday convicted Lee, 45, of Bolingbrook, Ill., on all four robbery counts against him. Lawler, 54, of Villa Park, Ill., pleaded guilty prior to trial to the first three robberies and stipulated to his role in the final two.

Lee faces up to 20 years in federal prison for each of the four robberies he committed, while Lawler faces up to 20 years for each of the three robberies to which he pleaded guilty.  U.S. District Judge Robert W. Gettleman has not yet set Lee’s sentencing date. Lawler is set to be sentenced on March 11, 2025.

The convictions were announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI.  Valuable assistance was provided by the Downers Grove, Ill. Police Department, Bellwood, Ill. Police Department, Woodridge, Ill. Police Department, and Villa Park, Ill. Police Department.  The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alejandro G. Ortega and Jonathan L. Shih.

CHICAGO — A federal grand jury has indicted a man for allegedly threatening and assaulting a Chicago restaurateur to collect a debt the man claimed he was owed.

An indictment returned Monday in U.S. District Court in Chicago charges JAWAD FAKROUNE, also known as “Angelino Escobar” or “Anjelino Escobar,” 45, of Morocco, with extortion.  Arraignment is scheduled for Feb. 5, 2025, at 10:30 a.m., before U.S. District Judge Manish S. Shah.

In 2023 and 2024, Fakroune privately loaned approximately $405,000 to the restaurateur to start a new restaurant in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago, according to a criminal complaint previously filed in the case. The restaurateur repaid a portion of the loan, but in November 2024 Fakroune and the restaurateur engaged in a dispute regarding the amount of money still owed, the complaint states. On the evening of Nov. 25, 2024, Fakroune went to the restaurant, threatened the restaurateur over the manner and nature of the repayments, and claimed that $1.5 million was still owed, the complaint states.  Fakroune then choked, kicked, and punched the restaurateur, while continuing to demand money and threatening the restaurateur’s life and the lives of his family members, the complaint states.

The indictment was announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI, and Ramsey E. Covington, Acting Special Agent-in-Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation Chicago Field Office.  The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sean Hennessy and Richard M. Rothblatt.

The public is reminded that an indictment is not evidence of guilt.  The defendant is presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

CHICAGO — A suburban Chicago businessman has been sentenced to three years in federal prison for fraudulently obtaining millions of dollars in mortgage and vehicle loans and using stolen identities to secure credit from financial institutions.

YALE SCHIFF fraudulently obtained mortgage loans, vehicle loans, lines of credit, and credit cards by making false statements to financial institutions regarding his employment, income, and encumbrances on the collateral he pledged for the loans.  After obtaining the loans, Schiff filed false documents with the Cook County Recorder of Deeds, causing the fraudulent release of the liens.  Schiff then pocketed the loan proceeds, causing losses to the lenders. Schiff used the same mortgaged properties for multiple loans, each time fraudulently removing the lien and keeping the proceeds.

Schiff used various false and stolen identities to carry out his fraud scheme.  Schiff bought vehicles under the false identities and fraudulently removed liens on the cars before selling them for a profit.  He also opened bank accounts and lines of credit using the false identities and other aliases, funding the accounts with advances from other fraudulently obtained lines of credit and credit cards.  In one instance, Schiff used a credit card issued in the name of an elderly woman whom he knew was in a memory care facility at the time, and in another instance he used a credit card issued in the name of a friend who had passed away.

Schiff, 50, of Riverwoods, Ill., pleaded guilty in 2023 to a federal bank fraud charge. In addition to the prison sentence, U.S. District Judge Mary M. Rowland on Jan. 16, 2025, ordered Schiff to pay $2,955,954 in restitution.

The sentence was announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI, and Ruth Mendonça, Inspector-in-Charge of the Chicago Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

“Defendant, over the course of at least 13 years, engaged in a calculated, sustained, prolonged, multi-faceted scheme to defraud multiple financial institutions, individual buyers of property, and individuals whose identity he used,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Sheri H. Mecklenburg argued in the government’s sentencing memorandum.  “Defendant’s conduct was prolonged, willful, and widespread.”

Schiff’s brother, JASON SCHIFF, of Lincolnwood, Ill., and a business associate, DAVID IZSAK, of Chicago, were also charged as part of the federal investigation. Jason Schiff pleaded guilty to causing a false report and statement to be made to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.  Jason Schiff was sentenced to three years of probation and ordered to pay $306,610 in restitution. A jury convicted Izsak on ten counts of financial institution fraud.  Izsak is awaiting sentencing.

CHICAGO — A money launderer for a Chicago-based drug trafficking organization has been sentenced to more than eight years in federal prison.

COSME CHACON, 55, pleaded guilty in 2023 to a money laundering conspiracy charge.  U.S. District Judge John J. Tharp, Jr. imposed a 100-month prison sentence during a hearing on Tuesday in federal court in Chicago.

Chacon was among four defendants indicted in Chicago in 2007. The defendants participated in a drug trafficking organization that transported heroin to Chicago from New York, Florida, and Texas.  After the drugs were sold in the Chicago area, Chacon laundered the illicit proceeds through wire transfers to Colombia and other overseas locations.  Chacon’s three co-defendants pleaded guilty and were sentenced to federal prison terms of 16 years, 12 years, and one year.

Chacon was free on bond in 2009 when he failed to appear for status hearings in the weeks leading up to his scheduled trial.  Chacon remained a fugitive until 2022, when he was arrested in Panama and returned to the United States.

The sentence was announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Sean Fitzgerald, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago office of Homeland Security Investigations, and Ramsey E. Covington, Acting Special Agent-in-Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation Chicago Field Office.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian F. Williamson represented the government.

Valuable assistance in securing Chacon’s arrest and return to the U.S. was provided by IRS Criminal Investigation Panama City, the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service, the U.S. Marshals Service, and the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs.

This case was part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces investigation.  OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles drug traffickers, money launderers, and other alleged criminal offenders that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against alleged criminal networks.

CHICAGO — A man has been sentenced to ten years in federal prison for attempting to traffic cocaine that was shipped to Chicago from California.

In February 2022, JOSE RAMIREZ-ARELLANO arranged to receive a parcel containing approximately five kilograms of cocaine that was shipped to his residence in Chicago from southern California.  Law enforcement intercepted the package, replaced the real cocaine with sham cocaine, and delivered it to Ramirez-Arellano’s residence.  Upon receipt, Ramirez-Arellano took the package to a hotel in downtown Chicago, where he was arrested.

The federal investigation revealed that Ramirez-Arellano also received a second shipment of approximately five kilograms of cocaine that same month.  In addition, law enforcement seized two parcels of bulk cash linked to Ramirez-Arellano, which together contained approximately $43,550.

Ramirez-Arellano, 33, pleaded guilty last year to a federal drug charge.  U.S. District Judge Andrea R. Wood imposed the prison sentence on Jan. 17, 2025, during a hearing in federal court in Chicago.

The sentence was announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Ruth M. Mendonça, Inspector-in-Charge of the Chicago Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.  Valuable assistance was provided by the Chicago Police Department and the Illinois National Guard Counter-Drug Task Force.

“The cocaine that defendant attempted to possess and distribute represented thousands of street-level user quantities of this highly addictive and dangerous narcotic,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle Parthum argued in the government’s sentencing memorandum. “Had defendant succeeded in receiving and distributing that cocaine, it would have exacerbated the crisis of addiction and cocaine-related harms and deaths.”

CHICAGO — A former cannabis executive used insider information obtained from his employment to purchase shares of a rival cannabis company that was privately the target of an acquisition, according to an indictment returned in federal court in Chicago.

The indictment accuses ANTHONY MARSICO of obtaining material, non-public information about his company’s agreement to purchase the rival company.  Prior to the public announcement of the agreement, and while the two companies were privately negotiating the proposed acquisition, Marsico used the information to purchase more than 900,000 shares in the rival company’s stock, resulting in illegal profits of approximately $607,338, the indictment states.  Marsico later sold all of the stock before it was publicly announced that the potential acquisition was canceled, the indictment states.

While the proposed acquisition was still pending, Marsico tipped off a friend, ARTHUR PIZZELLO, about the potential acquisition.  The information allowed Pizzello to also buy shares in the rival company, the indictment states.  Pizzello, in turn, passed on Marsico’s information to two others, ROBERT QUATTROCCHI and TIMOTHY CAREY, allowing them to purchase the rival company’s stock as well, the indictment alleges.  The four defendants were social friends and played golf together at a private country club, the indictment states.

The indictment was returned Thursday in U.S. District Court in Chicago.  It charges Marsico, 39, of Bartlett, Ill., Pizzello, 61, of Wayne, Ill., Quattrocchi, 63, of Schaumburg, Ill., and Carey, 57, of Hanover Park, Ill., with conspiracy to commit securities fraud.  Marsico is also charged with six individual counts of securities fraud. Arraignments in federal court in Chicago have not yet been scheduled.

The indictment was announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI.  The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which filed a civil enforcement action against the four defendants, provided valuable assistance. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Bradley Tucker and Jared Hasten represent the government.

The public is reminded that an indictment is not evidence of guilt.  The defendants are presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. 

CHICAGO — A federal jury has convicted a Chicago man on multiple criminal charges for kidnapping two drivers and sexually assaulting one of them at gunpoint.

ANDREW ANANIA, 29, was convicted Monday on all counts against him, including two counts of kidnapping, one count of carjacking, and one count of using a firearm in relation to a crime of violence.  The guilty verdicts were returned after a two-week trial in federal court in Chicago. Anania faces a mandatory minimum sentence of seven years in federal prison and a maximum of life.  U.S. District Judge Edmond E. Chang set sentencing for May 13, 2025, at 10:30 a.m.

Evidence at trial revealed that Anania kidnapped an Uber driver on March 8, 2021, in Darien, Ill.  Anania showed the driver a gun and forced her to drive to Chicago and park in alleys, where he sexually assaulted her before fleeing on foot.  On March 10, 2021, Anania and another man, WALTER MORAN, kidnapped a woman who was on her way to work in Cicero, Ill.  Anania pointed a gun at the driver and drove himself, Moran, and the victim to Chicago, where Moran exchanged gunfire with others on the street. The pair eventually released the victim and took her car.

Anania pleaded guilty prior to trial to another kidnapping and carjacking.  That incident occurred on Feb. 27, 2021, in Chicago, when Anania got in a vehicle with the driver, claimed he had a gun, and sexually assaulted her.  The woman escaped when the car stopped at an intersection.  Anania fled in the vehicle and crashed it a short time later.

Anania committed all of the offenses while awaiting trial in a separate federal firearm case.  Anania had been released on bond in that case after a court hearing at which the government had moved for detention.

Moran, 31, of Cicero, Ill., pleaded guilty last year to kidnapping and carjacking charges.  He is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Chang on March 18, 2025, at 10:00 a.m.

The jury convictions were announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI.  Substantial assistance was provided by the Cicero, Ill. Police Department, Summit, Ill. Police Department, Stickney, Ill. Police Department, Chicago Police Department, Darien, Ill. Police Department, U.S. Marshals Service, and the Cook County Sheriff’s Office.  The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Cornelius Vandenberg, Megan Donohue, and Hayley Altabef.

CHICAGO — A Chicago businessman was sentenced today to more than 17 years in federal prison for bilking elderly homeowners in a reverse mortgage and home repair scheme.

MARK STEVEN DIAMOND schemed with others to induce homeowners to unwittingly obtain reverse mortgage loans to pay for purported home repairs that Diamond offered to perform.  Diamond and the co-schemers targeted elderly victims in the Chicago area based on the amount of equity in their homes and their relative lack of financial sophistication.  In some instances, Diamond concealed from the homeowners that they were applying for reverse mortgage loans by falsely representing that they needed to sign certain documents to start the repair work, when, in fact, the documents that Diamond caused them to sign were related to applying for the loan.  After the loans were approved and originated by co-schemers, Diamond fraudulently pocketed the loan proceeds and often failed to perform any repairs.

Diamond, 68, of Chicago, pleaded guilty last year to a federal charge of wire fraud affecting a financial institution.  In addition to the 205-month prison sentence, U.S. District Judge Franklin U. Valderrama ordered Diamond to pay $2.7 million in restitution.

The sentence was announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Rae Oliver Davis, Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Office of the Inspector General, Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI, and Kwame Raoul, Illinois Attorney General. The government was represented by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian P. Netols and Assistant U.S. Attorney Erin Kelly.

“Mark Diamond repeatedly preyed on the elderly for years,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Pasqual.  “He damaged the most vulnerable in our community, both financially and personally. We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to hold accountable anyone who seeks to deceive elderly homeowners through fraud.”

“Diamond’s scheme defrauded more than 100 elderly and vulnerable homeowners, preying upon their trust and devastating them financially,” said HUD-OIG Inspector General Davis.  “His sentencing today is a sobering reminder of the unique harm caused by predatory reverse mortgage schemes.  These egregious criminal acts will not be tolerated, and my agency will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to hold other individuals like Diamond accountable for their actions.”

“The reverse mortgage fraud scheme perpetrated by the defendant preyed on some of the most vulnerable Chicagoans,” said FBI Chicago SAC DePodesta.  “Combatting white-collar crime stands as a foremost priority for the FBI.  With the assistance of our law enforcement partners, we will continue to investigate and dismantle financial fraud schemes aimed at harming members of our community.”

“Many of these victims were older homeowners who worked and saved their entire their lives, and their only mistake was trusting an individual who specifically targeted them to be victims of his scam,” said Attorney General Raoul.  “My office is proud to partner with the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Inspector General in Chicago, and the Chicago Field Office of the FBI to obtain a degree of justice for the victims who were defrauded.  This sentence underscores the importance of the state-federal law enforcement collaborations that support my office’s work to hold accountable individuals who prey upon our most vulnerable residents.”        

All four co-schemers charged in the investigation – loan originators GARY BOHN, of Hoffman Estates, Ill., and MATTHEW FEFFERMAN, of Munster, Ind., Diamond’s employee CYNTHIA WALLACE, of Sauk Village, Ill., and title agency owner FORREST C. FAWCETT, of Fort Lauderdale, Fla. – previously pleaded guilty and admitted their roles in the fraud. They are awaiting sentencing.

CHICAGO — A man has been sentenced to more than three years in federal prison for orchestrating a mortgage fraud scheme in Chicago that bilked multiple financial institutions out of more than $1.5 million.

LEE HOLLIDAY, 66, of Schererville, Ind., pleaded guilty last year to a federal bank fraud charge.  U.S. District Judge Sara L. Ellis on Friday sentenced Holliday to three years and three months in federal prison.

Holliday admitted in a plea agreement that he engaged in mortgage fraud in 2011 and 2012 in connection with the purchase of multiple properties on the West and South Sides of Chicago. Holliday recruited buyers and provided them with funds for the down payments, which were only 3.5% of the purchase price since the loans were insured by the Federal Housing Authority. Holliday worked with the buyers to purchase homes at inflated prices and then split the proceeds with both the buyers and sellers.  Although Holliday promised the buyers that the properties would provide rental income, the promises proved to be false and most buyers eventually fell behind on their mortgage payments.  Seven properties went into foreclosure proceedings. In all, Holliday caused the lenders to lose a total of approximately $1.53 million through the submission of false and fraudulent loan applications.

In addition to the mortgage fraud scheme, Holliday also admitted in his plea agreement that he engaged in Covid-relief fraud in 2020 and 2021, fraudulently obtaining $391,869 in Paycheck Protection Program funds to which he was not entitled.

The sentence was announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Machelle L. Jindra, Special Agent-in-Charge of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Inspector General in Chicago. Valuable assistance was provided by the FBI Chicago Field Office.  The government was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie C. Stern and former Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles W. Mulaney.

“FHA loans are intended to help people who could not otherwise afford a home,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Pasqual.  “In this case, the money that was supposed to help those people and improve their neighborhoods instead went into the defendant’s pockets.”

“Lee Holliday repeatedly engaged in an egregious mortgage fraud scheme causing borrowers to falsely represent critical income and asset information to qualify them for loans they would not have otherwise qualified for,” said HUD-OIG SAC Jindra.  “When people take advantage of HUD-insured mortgage programs, it limits opportunities for hard-working individuals trying to achieve the American dream of homeownership.  HUD-OIG will continue to work with the U.S. Attorney’s Office and our law enforcement partners to investigate individuals who jeopardize the integrity of FHA mortgage programs.”

CHICAGO — A Chinese telecommunications company has admitted in federal court in Chicago that it conspired to steal digital mobile radio technology developed by Illinois-based Motorola Solutions, Inc.

HYTERA COMMUNICATIONS CORP. LTD. pleaded guilty on Monday in the Northern District of Illinois to a federal charge of conspiracy to steal trade secrets.  Under the terms of a plea agreement, Hytera may be fined up to $60 million.  The Court must also order Hytera to make full restitution to Motorola, in an amount to be determined by the Court at sentencing.

The sentencing hearing is set for Nov. 6, 2025, before U.S. District Judge John J. Tharp, Jr.

According to the plea agreement, Hytera, through the acts of individuals acting to benefit the company, knowingly conspired to steal at least one trade secret from Motorola.  In 2008, the individuals agreed to take documents and source code related to Motorola’s digital mobile radio technology, and then used some of that information to develop Hytera products, some of which were later sold in Illinois, the plea agreement states.  Hytera stated in the plea agreement that the individuals knew and/or reasonably believed that some of the information they agreed to steal was reasonably protected and kept secret by Motorola, and that taking at least one trade secret would potentially injure Motorola.

The plea agreement was announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI.  The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Steven J. Dollear, Melody Wells, Thomas P. Peabody, and Wesley Morrissette.

CHICAGO — A man has been charged in federal court with robbing a United States Postal Service carrier at gunpoint in a Chicago suburb last week.  A second man has been charged with firing shots at investigators near the scene of the robbery.

AHMEL HOLMES, 18, of Kankakee, Ill., robbed the postal carrier on Jan. 8, 2025, in Harvey, Ill., according to a complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago.  The postal carrier was on duty that morning delivering mail along East 158th Street near Union Avenue when Holmes approached her with a gun equipped with a drum magazine and demanded her belongings, the complaint states.  Holmes then demanded and obtained access to the victim’s postal vehicle, from which he took a USPS tub containing mail, the complaint states.

Shortly after the robbery, two Postal Inspectors from the U.S. Postal Inspection Service were canvassing the area when they observed three individuals near an alley.  When the inspectors moved toward them to speak with them, one of the men – JESUS SANTILLAN, 19, of Harvey, Ill. – pointed a handgun at the inspectors and fired shots, the complaint states.  The inspectors were not wounded and did not return fire, but they chased Santillan into a nearby residence, where they arrested him, the complaint states.  The inspectors also found Holmes in the residence and took him into custody. 

Holmes is charged with armed robbery of a postal carrier, which is punishable by up to 25 years in federal prison.  Santillan is charged with using a deadly and dangerous weapon to assault postal inspectors and impede performance of their official duties, which is punishable by up to 20 years.

A detention hearing for Holmes is scheduled for Jan. 14, 2025, at 1:30 p.m. before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeffery T. Gilbert.  Santillan waived his right to a detention hearing at this stage of the case and was ordered to remain held in federal custody.   

The complaint was announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Ruth Mendonça, Inspector-in-Charge of the Chicago Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.  The Harvey, Ill. Police Department provided valuable assistance. The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Maione.

The public is reminded that a complaint is not evidence of guilt.  The defendants are presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

CHICAGO — A drug trafficking investigation centered on the Northwest Side of Chicago has resulted in federal narcotics and firearm charges against four individuals.

The investigation, led by Homeland Security Investigations and the Chicago Police Department, utilized covert surveillance operations, undercover narcotics purchases, and wiretapped communications to shut down an open-air drug market in Chicago’s Humboldt Park neighborhood.  As part of the investigation, law enforcement on Wednesday executed a court-authorized search of a residence in Chicago and discovered multi-kilogram quantities of fentanyl, heroin, and cocaine packaged for distribution.

Charged with federal drug offenses are JAUAN BROWN, 38, BRIUANNA MOORE, 26, and EYANNA ROSS, 21, all of Chicago.  Charged with illegal firearm possession are Brown and WILLIAM DAVIS, 38, of Chicago.  The four defendants made their initial appearances on Wednesday in federal court in Chicago.

In addition to the federal charges, 20 individuals were charged in state court as a result of this investigation.

The federal charges were announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Sean Fitzgerald, Special Agent-in-Charge of HSI in Chicago, and Larry Snelling, Superintendent of CPD.  Valuable assistance was provided by the IRS Criminal Investigation Chicago Field Office and the Chicago High Intensity Drug Trafficking Task Force (HIDTA).  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brian F. Williamson and Kate McClelland represent the government in the federal cases.

The case was part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force operation.  OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles drug trafficking organizations and other criminal networks that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local enforcement agencies.

The public is reminded that a complaint contains only charges and is not evidence of guilt. The defendants are presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

ROCKFORD — A Rockford man has been sentenced to more than eight years in federal prison for trafficking fentanyl and illegally possessing a firearm.

U.S. District Judge Iain D. Johnston on Tuesday sentenced MICHAEL MALLETT, 27, to 103 months in federal prison. Mallett pleaded guilty late last year to possession of a controlled substance and the unlawful possession of a firearm.

Mallet admitted in a plea agreement that on Aug. 19, 2020, he knowingly and intentionally possessed 7.39 grams of fentanyl and that he planned to sell it on the streets. Mallett also admitted that during the time he intended to distribute the fentanyl, he was in possession of a Glock Model 32, which had been converted into a machinegun by an after-market device known as an “auto sear.”

The sentence was announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Christopher Amon, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Division of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, and the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Department. The government was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Theodora Anderson.

Holding illegal firearm possessors accountable through federal prosecution is a centerpiece of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) – the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction strategy.  In the Northern District of Illinois, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and law enforcement partners have deployed the PSN program to attack a broad range of violent crime issues facing the district, particularly firearm offenses. 

CHICAGO — The former director of the Markham, Ill. Public Library has been sentenced to two years in federal prison for embezzling more than $770,000 from the library over a decade.

From 2009 to 2019, XAVIER MENZIES misappropriated approximately $770,715 from the library.  Much of the money was initially received by the Markham library from the public library district in nearby Posen, Ill., which paid Markham for allowing Posen residents to access the library and use its services.  Menzies opened bank accounts in the name of Markham Public Library and deposited checks made out to the library.  He later withdrew the funds and used the money for personal expenses, including mortgage payments, ticket purchases, and auto repairs. Menzies concealed the scheme by routinely misrepresenting the library’s financial condition to the Markham Public Library’s Board of Trustees.

As part of the fraud scheme, Menzies also increased his annual salary as library director without the approval or knowledge of the Board of Trustees and continued to receive the higher salary for approximately three years.   

Menzies, 52, of Glenwood, Ill., pleaded guilty earlier this year to a federal wire fraud charge.  On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Lindsay C. Jenkins imposed the prison sentence and ordered Menzies to pay $770,715 in restitution.

The sentence was announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI.

“Fraud such as this one involving the misappropriation of public funds can be difficult to detect and lucrative to the participant,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Prashant Kolluri argued in the government’s sentencing memorandum.  “Greed and an arrogant belief that he would not be caught or significantly punished are the only explanations for why Menzies chose to engage in this fraud.”

CHICAGO — A Chicago attorney has been indicted on federal fraud charges for allegedly providing false and fraudulent information to U.S. authorities to obtain immigration benefits for his foreign national clients.

GERARDO DEAN owned a law office in Chicago and represented a company that operated skilled-nursing facilities.  An indictment returned in U.S. District Court in Chicago alleges that Dean conspired with a company employee, FELICITAS CORDERO, to provide false and fraudulent information to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services on behalf of individuals in the Philippines who were seeking U.S. visas.  Specifically, Dean and Cordero filed and caused to be filed fraudulent H-1B and EB-2 visa petitions representing that the foreign nationals had managerial, supervisory, or higher-level jobs waiting for them at the company, when in actuality Dean and Cordero knew that the foreign nationals would work for the company as staff or registered nurses at lower rates of pay than what was stated in the visa petitions, the indictment states.  Dean and Cordero also allegedly instructed the foreign nationals to provide false information about the purported managerial, supervisory, or higher-level jobs during their overseas consular interviews.  Dean and Cordero did so knowing that U.S. immigration officials had a higher likelihood of approving H-1B or EB-2 visa petitions that stated the employer would hire a foreign national in a managerial, supervisory, or other higher level position, the indictment states.

The charges allege that Dean and Cordero collected money from foreign nationals whom they helped fraudulently obtain the visas to work at the company, and that Dean also collected money from the company for his fraudulent conduct.

The indictment charges Dean, 58, of Park Ridge, Ill., and Cordero, 76, of Buffalo Grove, Ill., with one count of conspiracy to commit immigration fraud and three individual counts of immigration fraud.  Dean and Cordero were arraigned Wednesday before U.S. District Judge Manish S. Shah and pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The indictment was announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Sean Fitzgerald, Special Agent-in-Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Chicago, Mark Woods-Hawkins, Special Agent-in-Charge of the U.S. Department of State Diplomatic Security Service’s Chicago Field Office, and James Mead, Special Agent-in-Charge, Great Lakes Region, U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General.  The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Prashant Kolluri. 

The public is reminded that an indictment contains only charges and is not evidence of guilt.  The defendants are presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. 

CHICAGO — The former Executive Director of a Chicago-area nonprofit organization has been indicted on federal fraud charges for allegedly embezzling millions of dollars in cash and real estate interests belonging to the organization.

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER served as executive director of a nonprofit organization that developed and provided affordable housing to low-income residents and senior citizens in the Chicago area and Florida.  From 2018 to 2022, Schneider fraudulently transferred cash and real estate interests from the nonprofit to himself, concealing the fraud by fabricating documents that falsely reflected the transfers had been authorized, according to an indictment returned Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Chicago.  The real estate interests included the rights to use the roof of a senior living facility owned by the nonprofit in Northlake, Ill., as a location for a cell phone tower, the indictment states.  In early 2022, Schneider caused the nonprofit to assign its interest in a cell phone tower lease to a company owned and controlled by Schneider, in exchange for no money or other consideration, the indictment states.  Shortly thereafter, Schneider sold the interest in the roof to a third-party real estate company for approximately $500,000, the indictment states.

The charges also allege that Schneider solicited and obtained kickbacks or bribes from brokerage and architectural firms retained by the nonprofit for development projects in Illinois and Florida.  Schneider also schemed to take complete financial control of a senior living facility in Calumet Park, Ill. that had been owned and developed by the nonprofit, the charges allege.

The indictment charges Schneider, 54, of Antioch, Ill., with five counts of wire fraud and two counts of mail fraud.  Arraignment in U.S. District Court in Chicago has not yet been scheduled.

The indictment was announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI.  The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Corey B. Rubenstein.

Each count in the indictment is punishable by up to 20 years in federal prison.  The public is reminded that an indictment is not evidence of guilt.  The defendant is presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

CHICAGO — A federal judge in Chicago has sentenced a real estate developer to nearly 13 years in prison for participating in a conspiracy that embezzled millions of dollars from the failed Washington Federal Bank for Savings in Chicago.

Washington Federal, which was based in Chicago’s Bridgeport neighborhood, was shut down in 2017 after the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency determined that the bank was insolvent and had at least $66 million in nonperforming loans. For more than a decade, developer MAREK MATCZUK was part of a conspiracy that embezzled millions of dollars in bank funds.  The embezzled funds were disguised as purported real estate development loan disbursements to Matczuk and others.  The conspirators were not required to repay these purported loans, and they never did.

A jury in federal court last year convicted Matczuk, 61, of Park Ridge, Ill., of conspiring to commit embezzlement and falsify bank records, and aiding and abetting embezzlement by bank employees.  On Monday, U.S. District Judge Virginia M. Kendall sentenced Matczuk to 12 years and eleven months in prison and ordered him to pay more than $5.9 million in restitution.

The sentence was announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Vincent R. Zehme, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Region of the FDIC’s Office of Inspector General; Machelle L. Jindra, Special Agent-in-Charge of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Office of Inspector General in Chicago; Ramsey E. Covington, Acting Special Agent-in-Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation Chicago Field Office; Korey Brinkman, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Central Region of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Office of Inspector General; Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI; Andrea Peacock, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Department of the Treasury, Office of Inspector General; Deborah Witzburg, City of Chicago Inspector General; and Kathryn B. Richards, Chicago Housing Authority Inspector General.  Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Trustee Program.  The government was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michelle Petersen, Kristin Pinkston, and Jeffrey Snell, and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Netols.

The federal investigation into the collapse of Washington Federal led to criminal charges against 16 defendants, including the bank’s Chief Financial Officer, Treasurer, and other high-ranking employees, for conspiring to embezzle at least $31 million in bank funds.   Matczuk and three others were convicted after jury trials, while ten defendants pleaded guilty and two entered into deferred prosecution agreements.

Much of the embezzled money was transferred to Chicago attorney ROBERT M. KOWALSKI and other individuals outside the bank without all of the required documentation and often without any documentation whatsoever. A jury convicted Robert Kowalski on bankruptcy fraud, bank embezzlement, and false statement charges.  Judge Kendall in August sentenced Robert Kowalski to 25 years in federal prison.  Robert Kowalski’s sister, JAN R. KOWALSKI, also an attorney, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to more than three years in prison for fraudulently enabling her brother to conceal more than $357,000 from creditors and the trustee in his bankruptcy case.

Three former members of Washington Federal’s Board of Directors pleaded guilty to conspiring to falsify bank records to deceive the OCC.  WILLIAM M. MAHON was sentenced to 18 months in prison; GEORGE F. KOZDEMBA was sentenced to a year in prison; and JANICE M. WESTON was sentenced to three months in prison.

Chicago attorney PATRICK D. THOMPSON was convicted by a jury in 2022 of making false statements to the FDIC regarding the amount of money he received from Washington Federal via a purported loan and other unsecured payments.  He was also convicted of filing tax returns in which he falsely deducted interest that he had not actually paid to Washington Federal.  Thompson was sentenced to four months in federal prison.

CHICAGO — A federal judge in Chicago has sentenced a Chinese national to a decade in prison for laundering $62 million in illegal drug proceeds on behalf of traffickers in Mexico.

From 2016 to 2018, HAIPING PAN schemed with others to launder up to $3 million per month in drug proceeds using secretive money pickups in Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, and other parts of the United States, followed by a series of currency swaps between the United States and China, and China and Mexico. Pan played a significant role in the money laundering process, using his international financial expertise and relationships with members or associates of Mexican drug cartels to facilitate the clandestine flow of drug money through businesses and banks around the world. The illicit proceeds ultimately were remitted to the traffickers in Mexico.

During the conspiracy, Pan and his co-conspirators completed an average of one to two pickups per week, with the amounts ranging from $150,000 to $1 million per pickup.  In total, Pan knowingly participated in the laundering and attempted laundering of approximately $62 million in drug proceeds.

Pan, 44, is a Chinese national who facilitated the money transfers while residing in Guadalajara, Mexico.  He was arrested in Mexico and extradited to the U.S. in 2022.  U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman imposed the ten-year prison sentence during a hearing on Thursday in federal court in Chicago.

The sentence was announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Sean Fitzgerald, Special Agent-in-Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Chicago, and Ramsey E. Covington, Acting Special Agent-in-Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation Chicago Field Office.  The government was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard M. Rothblatt.

“The defendant was a significant part of a recent phenomenon in which a relatively small network of Chinese money brokers based in Mexico have come to dominate international money laundering markets,” the government argued in its sentencing memorandum.  “Defendant’s crimes allowed his drug trafficking clients to secure the fruits of their pernicious trade faster, cheaper, and more securely than ever before.”

Numerous other money launderers were convicted as part of the federal investigation, including Pan’s co-conspirators XIANBING GAN, who was sentenced to 14 years in prison, and HUANXIN LONG, who was sentenced to five and a half years.

CHICAGO — Four men have been indicted on federal robbery and firearm charges for allegedly participating in a heist of electronics equipment in Chicago.

KAHDAFFIE GREEN, JAHJUAN GREEN, CHAQWON BIRDEN, and MARQUISE RAMYYEH conspired to rob Meade Electrical Company on the South Side of Chicago on Dec. 6, 2023, according to an indictment returned in U.S. District Court in Chicago.  Wearing hoods and ski masks, the four defendants brandished firearms and robbed employees of a RIDGID camera and a Digitrak locator box, the indictment states.

The indictment charges Kahdaffie Green, 25, Jahjuan Green, 27, Birden, 26, and Ramyyeh, 20, all of Chicago, with robbery conspiracy and brandishing firearms during a crime of violence.  Kahdaffie Green and Ramyyeh are also charged with illegally possessing firearms as previously convicted felons.

Arraignments in federal court in Chicago are scheduled for Jan. 2, 2025, at 10:00 a.m., before U.S. District Judge Rebecca R. Pallmeyer.

The indictment was announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI, and Larry Snelling, Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department.  The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily C.R. Vermylen.

Valuable assistance was provided by ATF’s Crime Gun Intelligence Center of Chicago.  The CGIC is a centralized law enforcement hub that focuses exclusively on investigating and preventing gun violence in Chicago and throughout northern Illinois.  The CGIC is an interagency collaboration that brings together - under one roof - federal, state, and local law enforcement officers, prosecutors, and intelligence analysts to move quickly to investigate and prosecute violent crimes.

Holding firearm offenders accountable through federal prosecution is the centerpiece of Project Safe Neighborhoods, a nationwide Department of Justice initiative that brings together law enforcement officials, prosecutors, community leaders, and other stakeholders to develop comprehensive solutions to the most pressing violent crime problems in a community.  In the Northern District of Illinois, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and law enforcement partners have deployed the PSN program to attack a broad range of violent crime issues facing the district, particularly firearm offenses.

The public is reminded that an indictment is not evidence of guilt.  The defendants are presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.  Brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence is punishable by a minimum sentence of seven years in federal prison and a maximum of life.  The robbery conspiracy charge is punishable by up to 20 years, while illegal possession of a firearm by a felon carries a maximum of 15 years.

CHICAGO — A suburban Chicago man has been sentenced to more than 19 years in federal prison for enticing numerous children to produce and record sexually explicit conduct.

Using the screennames “coreyjohnsonnn” and “jayyyjansen,” GLENN CLIFFORD MESSMER communicated with children on the social media platforms Telegram and Snapchat and paid them to produce sexually explicit material in accordance with his instructions.  Messmer maintained detailed notes about his victims, identifying their names, ages, friends, years in school, physical features, and willingness to engage with him.

A law enforcement search of Messmer’s electronic devices after his arrest in 2023 showed that he possessed more than 350,000 images and nearly 18,000 videos depicting child sexual abuse.  Many of the images and videos depicted sexual abuse of prepubescent children, including some as young as four years old.

Messmer, 48, of Darien, Ill., pleaded guilty earlier this year to a federal child pornography charge.  On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Franklin U. Valderrama sentenced Messmer to 19 years and seven months in federal prison.

The sentence was announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Sean Fitzgerald, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of Homeland Security Investigations. The Darien, Ill. Police Department provided valuable assistance.

The government was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sushma Raju and Adam L. Rosenbloom.

If you believe you are a victim of sexual exploitation, you are encouraged to contact the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children by logging on to www.missingkids.com or by calling 1-800-843-5678.  The service is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

CHICAGO – A suburban Chicago businessman has been indicted on federal charges for allegedly scheming with a California man to fraudulently obtain more than $6.3 million in small business loans and grants under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (“CARES Act”).

FRANCESCO DISTEFANO, 28, of Addison, Ill., and SARGIS URUMIEH, 57, of Glendale, Calif., allegedly engaged in fraud related to the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program (EIDL), two sources of relief under the CARES Act.  Pursuant to the Act, a PPP loan allowed the interest and principal to be forgiven if businesses spend a certain amount of the proceeds on essential expenses, such as payroll and rent.  The EIDL Program provided loan assistance or grants to cover working capital and other operating expenses.

According to a superseding indictment returned in the Northern District of Illinois, Distefano and Urumieh applied for and obtained loans and grants for West Coast POS Inc. and National POS Inc., two companies where Urumieh served as a corporate officer.  Distefano also applied for and obtained loans for Distefano Enterprises LLC, an entity that he owned and controlled, the indictment states.  The applications contained numerous false statements and misrepresentations regarding the companies’ operations, including the number of employees, gross revenues, and payroll expenses, the indictment states.

The indictment alleges that Distefano used the fraud proceeds to purchase, among other things, numerous luxury automobiles, including a Lamborghini Huracan, Maserati Ghibli, and Porsche 911.  The indictment also accuses Distefano and Urumieh of using fraud proceeds and a fraudulent mortgage application to purchase a residential property in Glendale, Calif.

The indictment charges Distefano with eleven counts of wire fraud, five counts of money laundering, and one count of knowingly making a false statement to a bank.  Urumieh is charged with eight counts of wire fraud.  Arraignments in federal court in Chicago have not yet been scheduled.

The indictment was announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI, Ramsey E. Covington, Acting Special Agent-in-Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation Chicago Field Office, and Hannibal “Mike” Ware, Inspector General of the U.S. Small Business Administration.  The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey S. Snell.

The public is reminded that an indictment contains only charges and is not evidence of guilt.  The defendants are presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.  Each count of wire fraud and money laundering is punishable by up to 20 years in federal prison, while the maximum sentence for the false statement count is 30 years.   

Anyone with information about attempted fraud involving Covid-19 can report it to the Department of Justice by calling the National Center for Disaster Fraud at (866) 720-5721, or by filing a complaint online at https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.

CHICAGO — A Chicago man has been charged with federal firearm violations for allegedly trafficking dozens of firearms from the United States to the West African nation of Ghana.

A criminal complaint filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Chicago charges ANTHONY NEE AMOO, 54, with willfully exporting firearms in violation of U.S. laws and regulations.  Nee Amoo was arrested on Monday and remains in federal custody.  A detention hearing is set for Thursday at 2:00 p.m. before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeffrey Cole.

According to the complaint, Nee Amoo purchased 71 firearms in northern Illinois from 2006 to 2024 and exported them to Ghana by either personally traveling with the guns or shipping them in vehicles or barrels.  The complaint alleges that Nee Amoo did not declare the firearms or inform the shippers about them.  He also lacked a U.S. license to export the guns, the complaint states.  For each of the 29 firearms Nee Amoo purchased since October 2020, he signed a federal form warning him that exporting a firearm without proper authorization from the U.S. government subjects him to a fine or imprisonment, the charges allege.

The complaint was announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Christopher Amon, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Division of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.  The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys LeighAnn M. Thomas and Michael Maione.

The investigation is being conducted in coordination with ATF’s Crime Gun Intelligence Center of Chicago.  The CGIC is a centralized law enforcement hub that focuses exclusively on investigating and preventing gun violence in Chicago and throughout northern Illinois.  The CGIC is an interagency collaboration that brings together - under one roof - federal, state, and local law enforcement officers, prosecutors, and intelligence analysts to move quickly to investigate and prosecute violent crimes.

Disrupting illegal firearms trafficking is a centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s cross-jurisdictional strike force aimed at reducing gun violence.  As part of the Chicago firearms trafficking strike force, the U.S. Attorney’s Office collaborates with the FBI, ATF, Chicago Police Department, and other federal, state, and local law enforcement partners in the Northern District of Illinois and across the country to help stem the supply of illegally trafficked firearms and identify patterns, leads, and potential suspects in violent gun crimes.

Holding firearm offenders accountable through federal prosecution is also a focus of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) – the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction strategy.  In the Northern District of Illinois, the U.S. Attorney's Office and law enforcement partners have deployed the PSN program to attack a broad range of violent crime issues facing the district, particularly firearm offenses.

The public is reminded that a complaint contains only charges and is not evidence of guilt.  The defendant is presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.  The charge in the complaint is punishable by up to ten years in federal prison.

CHICAGO — A federal jury has convicted a Chicago attorney of committing tax fraud, attempting to tamper with a witness, and violating a court order.

MICHAEL ABRAMSON, 75, of Wilmette Ill., was convicted Tuesday on all 15 tax fraud, witness tampering, and violation of court order charges against him.  The jury returned the verdicts after a week-long trial in federal court in Chicago. U.S. District Judge Manish S. Shah set sentencing for May 1, 2024.

Abramson was an attorney in Chicago when he filed and caused to be filed false individual tax returns for himself and false corporate returns for a company in which he held an ownership interest – Illinois-based Leasing Employment Services Co., Inc.  Evidence at trial revealed that Abramson provided more than $1 million for personal expenses to a woman with whom he was romantically involved.  He then took deductions on what were falsely characterized as commissions or loans and included the fraudulent loans as an asset on the company’s tax returns.  The expenses Abramson characterized as purported loans included funds expended on behalf of the woman related to a condo in Chicago’s Gold Coast neighborhood, several luxury automobiles, and payments for travel, shopping, and restaurants.

Following the indictment in this case, the Court ordered Abramson not to have any contact with witnesses, including Abramson’s bookkeeper, whom Abramson knew would be an important witness at trial. Weeks before trial was initially set to begin on Feb. 5, 2024, Abramson gave the bookkeeper a copy of her previous court testimony, on which he had made handwritten notes changing, supplementing, or otherwise scripting her answers, and told her to review it before trial. Although Abramson told the bookkeeper not to bring the notes to a meeting with law enforcement, the bookkeeper nonetheless turned the scripted transcript over to law enforcement.

The jury convictions were announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Ramsey E. Covington, Acting Special Agent-in-Charge of the IRS Criminal Investigation Chicago Field Office, and Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI.  The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Richard M. Rothblatt and Edward A. Liva, Jr.

CHICAGO — Three men have been sentenced to federal prison terms for their roles in abducting a man in broad daylight and holding him for ransom in a Chicago auto body shop. 

In 2015, ANTONIO SALGADO, OCTAVIO ALEJANDRE JR., and ARMANDO DELGADO planned to kidnap a man suspected of involvement in drug trafficking.  The kidnapping plan went awry after the abductors realized they kidnapped the wrong man.  The victim of the kidnapping was a relative of the intended target.  After being taken at gunpoint outside of his suburban Chicago home, the victim was blindfolded, held at gunpoint, and beaten for nearly two days in the auto body shop in Chicago’s Avondale neighborhood. The kidnappers contacted another of the victim’s relatives and demanded drugs or cash.

Unbeknownst to the defendants, several of their phones had previously been intercepted by federal authorities who were conducting an unrelated investigation.  In a recorded call between Salgado and Delgado on the day after the kidnapping, Delgado told Salgado, “There is a little situation.  It’s the wrong guy because it’s his brother . . . that we’re trying to get.”  Salgado replied, “Let the guy go, but beat the [expletive] out of him.”  The victim was eventually released. 

The three kidnappers pleaded guilty to a federal extortion charge.  On Friday, U.S. District Judge Andrea R. Wood sentenced Salgado, 42, of Chicago, to ten and a half years in prison.  On Dec. 3, 2024, Judge Wood sentenced Alejandre Jr., 41, of Chicago, to ten and a half years. On Nov. 26, 2024, Judge Wood sentenced Delgado, 44, of Chicago, to 14 years and seven months in prison.

During the prosecution of the kidnapping case, Salgado failed to appear for court proceedings and became a fugitive for nearly eight months, until he was located and arrested.  Salgado was charged in a separate criminal case with contempt of court.

The sentences were announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI, and Sheila G. Lyons, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Division of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.  Valuable assistance was provided by the Berwyn, Ill. Police Department and the Chicago Police Department.

“There is perhaps nothing more serious than grabbing a person off the street at gunpoint, using force and intimidation and beatings to detain them,” Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kartik K. Raman and Erika L. Csicsila argued in the government’s sentencing memorandum.  “The kidnapping involved in this case was violent, involved guns and other implements, and resulted in the detention of a victim for over 24 hours.”

CHICAGO — An indictment was unsealed today in Chicago charging two high-ranking Syrian officials under former President Bashar al-Assad with war crimes.  The indictment charges the former Syrian intelligence officials with engaging in a conspiracy to commit cruel and inhuman treatment of civilian detainees, including U.S. citizens, during the course of the Syrian civil war.

Former Syrian Air Force Intelligence officers Jamil Hassan, 72, and Abdul Salam Mahmoud, 65, were each charged in connection with a conspiracy to commit war crimes through the infliction of cruel and inhuman treatment on detainees under their control, including U.S. citizens, in detention facilities at the Mezzeh Military Airport near Damascus, Syria.  Warrants for the defendants’ arrest have been issued, and they remain at large.

“The perpetrators of the Assad regime’s atrocities against American citizens and other civilians during the Syrian civil war must answer for their heinous crimes,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland.  “As alleged, these Assad regime intelligence officials whipped, kicked, electrocuted, and burned their victims; hung them by their wrists for prolonged periods of time; threatened them with rape and death; and falsely told them that their family members had been killed.  The Justice Department has a long memory, and we will never stop working to find and bring to justice those who tortured Americans.”

“The Assad regime may have fallen, but our commitment to accountability continues unabated,” said Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco.  “For the second time in a year, the Department of Justice has brought charges against those who committed war crimes against U.S. citizens, deploying a previously unused federal law to hold accountable individuals who engaged in cruel and inhuman atrocities during armed conflict.”

“The serious human rights abuses set forth in this indictment must not go unpunished,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Morris Pasqual for the Northern District of Illinois.  “The United States Attorney’s Office in Chicago remains steadfastly committed to bringing justice to the victims of these heinous crimes, no matter where the perpetrators are or how long it takes.”

“Torture is one of the most egregious crimes that the FBI investigates, and this historic indictment memorializes our commitment to accountability and justice,” said Special Agent-in-Charge Douglas S. DePodesta of the FBI Chicago Field Office.  “This multi-year investigation is the culmination of the tireless work by FBI personnel, both in the US and overseas, and the courage of countless victims and witnesses affected by the Assad Regime in Syria.”

“Hassan and Mahmoud allegedly oversaw the systematic use of torture and cruelty on perceived enemies of the Syrian regime, including American citizens,” said FBI Director Christopher Wray.  “The FBI is fully committed to working with our law enforcement partners around the world to ensure these alleged war criminals are held accountable for their actions and justice is brought to the victims of these atrocities.”

“The defendants are alleged to have committed atrocities against political dissidents, including U.S. citizens, opposing a brutal and now-deposed dictatorial regime,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.  “War crimes such as the torture described in this indictment strike at the basic human rights that we all share. This historic indictment — the second brought under the U.S. War Crimes statute — demonstrates the Justice Department’s commitment to pursue accountability for those who commit war crimes and other atrocities wherever they may occur.”

According to the indictment, Hassan was the Director of Syrian Air Force Intelligence and oversaw a network of detention facilities, including the Mezzeh Prison in Damascus, where civilians perceived to be opponents of the Syrian regime were detained and subjected to cruel and inhuman treatment.  Mahmoud was a Brigadier General in the Syrian Air Force Intelligence and directed operations at the Mezzeh Prison.

The indictment alleges that from 2012 to 2019, Hassan and Mahmoud conspired to identify, intimidate, threaten, punish, and kill people detained at Mezzeh Prison suspected of aiding or supporting opponents of the regime, such as those who protested, provided medical aid to opponents of the regime, or publicly criticized the regime.  According to the indictment, detainees in the defendants’ custody, including U.S. citizens, were mercilessly beaten, electrocuted, and had their toenails removed.  Detainees were also allegedly hung from the ceiling by their wrists and were burned with acid.  The defendants allegedly conspired to create an atmosphere of terror at Mezzeh, forcing detainees to listen to the screams of tortured prisoners and share cells with the dead bodies of other detainees, while guards threatened to kill and sexually assault their family members.  The detainees were also allegedly deprived of adequate food, water, and medical care.

The defendants are charged with one count of conspiracy to commit the war crime of cruel and inhuman treatment.  If convicted, the defendants each face a maximum sentence of life in prison.  A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The FBI Chicago Field Office investigated the war crimes allegations in partnership with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois, the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section (HRSP), and Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs.  The Justice Department thanks the United Nations International, Impartial, and Independent Mechanism for Syria, as well as French and German authorities, for their assistance.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Steven Dollear, Barry Jonas, and Ann Marie Ursini for the Northern District of Illinois, and HRSP Trial Attorneys Elizabeth Nielsen and Frank Rangoussis.  HRSP historian Phil Hoffman provided assistance in the investigation and prosecution.

Members of the public who have information about human rights violators in the United States or the location of the defendants named in this indictment are urged to contact the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or through the FBI online tip form.  All are staffed around the clock, and tips may be provided anonymously.

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

A copy of the indictment can be found here.

An indictment was unsealed today in the Northern District of Illinois charging two high-ranking Syrian officials under former President Bashar al-Assad with war crimes. The indictment charges the former Syrian intelligence officials with engaging in a conspiracy to commit cruel and inhuman treatment of civilian detainees, including U.S. citizens, during the course of the Syrian civil war.

Former Syrian Air Force Intelligence officers Jamil Hassan, 72, and Abdul Salam Mahmoud, 65, were each charged in connection with a conspiracy to commit war crimes through the infliction of cruel and inhuman treatment on detainees under their control, including U.S. citizens, in detention facilities at the Mezzeh Military Airport (Mezzeh Prison), near Damascus, Syria. Warrants for the defendants’ arrest have been issued, and they remain at large.

“The perpetrators of the Assad regime’s atrocities against American citizens and other civilians during the Syrian civil war must answer for their heinous crimes,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “As alleged, these Assad regime intelligence officials whipped, kicked, electrocuted, and burned their victims; hung them by their wrists for prolonged periods of time; threatened them with rape and death; and falsely told them that their family members had been killed. The Justice Department has a long memory, and we will never stop working to find and bring to justice those who tortured Americans.”

“The Assad regime may have fallen, but our commitment to accountability continues unabated,” said Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco. “For the second time in a year, the Department of Justice has brought charges against those who committed war crimes against U.S. citizens, deploying a previously unused federal law to hold accountable individuals who engaged in cruel and inhuman atrocities during armed conflict.”

“Hassan and Mahmoud allegedly oversaw the systematic use of cruel and inhumane treatment on perceived enemies of the Syrian regime, including American citizens,” said FBI Director Christopher Wray. “The FBI is fully committed to working with our law enforcement partners around the world to ensure these alleged war criminals are held accountable for their actions and justice is brought to the victims of these atrocities.”

“The defendants are alleged to have committed atrocities against political dissidents, including U.S. citizens, opposing a brutal and now-deposed dictatorial regime,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “War crimes such as the torture described in this indictment strike at the basic human rights that we all share. This historic indictment — the second brought under the U.S. War Crimes statute — demonstrates the Justice Department’s commitment to pursue accountability for those who commit war crimes and other atrocities wherever they may occur.”

“The serious human rights abuses set forth in this indictment must not go unpunished,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Morris Pasqual for the Northern District of Illinois. “The United States Attorney’s Office in Chicago remains steadfastly committed to bringing justice to the victims of these heinous crimes, no matter where the perpetrators are or how long it takes.”

“Human rights abuses are among the most egregious crimes that the FBI investigates, and this historic indictment memorializes our commitment to accountability and justice,” said Special Agent in Charge Douglas S. DePodesta of the FBI Chicago Field Office. “This multi-year investigation is the culmination of the tireless work by FBI personnel, both in the United States and overseas, and the courage of countless victims and witnesses affected by the Assad Regime in Syria.”

According to the indictment, Hassan was the Director of Syrian Air Force Intelligence and oversaw a network of detention facilities, including the Mezzeh Prison in Damascus, where civilians perceived to be opponents of the Syrian regime were detained and subjected to cruel and inhuman treatment. Mahmoud was a Brigadier General in the Syrian Air Force Intelligence and directed operations at the Mezzeh Prison.

The indictment alleges that, between January 2012 and July 2019, Hassan and Mahmoud conspired to identify, intimidate, threaten, punish, and kill people detained at Mezzeh Prison suspected of aiding or supporting opponents of the regime, such as those who protested, provided medical aid to opponents of the regime, or publicly criticized the regime. According to the indictment, detainees in the defendants’ custody, including U.S. citizens, were mercilessly beaten, electrocuted, and had their toenails removed. Detainees were also allegedly hung from the ceiling by their wrists and were burned with acid. The defendants allegedly conspired to create an atmosphere of terror at Mezzeh, forcing detainees to listen to the screams of tortured prisoners and share cells with the dead bodies of other detainees, while guards threatened to kill and sexually assault their family members. The detainees were also allegedly deprived of adequate food, water, and medical care.

The defendants are charged with one count of conspiracy to commit the war crime of cruel and inhuman treatment. If convicted, the defendants each face a maximum sentence of life in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The FBI Chicago Field Office investigated the war crimes allegations in partnership with the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section (HRSP), U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois, and Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs. The Justice Department thanks the United Nations International, Impartial, and Independent Mechanism for Syria, as well as French authorities, for their assistance.

HRSP Trial Attorneys Elizabeth Nielsen and Frank Rangoussis and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Steven Dollear, Barry Jonas, and Ann Marie Ursini for the Northern District of Illinois are prosecuting the case. HRSP historian Phil Hoffman provided substantial assistance in the investigation and prosecution.

Members of the public who have information about human rights violators in the United States or the location of the defendants named in this indictment are urged to contact the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or through the FBI online tip form. All are staffed around the clock, and tips may be provided anonymously.

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

CHICAGO — A federal judge has sentenced a man to 35 years in prison for sex trafficking seven women in the Chicago area, escaping from custody while awaiting trial on those charges, and possessing child pornography.

BRIAN JOHNSON, 59, of Evergreen Park, Ill., used multiple aliases to pose as the male owner or female employee of an art gallery and film production company with purported connections to major magazines, overseas distributors, and film producers.  He sought amateurs seeking to start a career in artistic nude modeling and film, enticing his victims with false promises of full-time employment at a lucrative salary, professional connections, and foreign travel.  In preparation for what he told the women would be an “audition,” Johnson provided alcohol and encouraged the women to drink it.  During the “audition,” he took explicit photos and videos of the victims and had sex with them.  Afterward, Johnson claimed that his distributor found the photos and videos unsatisfactory and that the women would need to pose and have sex with him again in a “re-shoot” in order to get paid.  In reality, there was no gallery, film company, or distributor.

When victims expressed reluctance to re-shoot the video, Johnson threatened to distribute their images, and did, in fact, distribute their images online. Johnson continued to harass his victims, even years later, by sending them the explicit photos and reminding them of their encounters with him.  None of the victims ever received any money from Johnson.

A jury in U.S. District Court in Chicago earlier this year heard testimony from seven of Johnson’s victims before convicting him of sex trafficking and other offenses.  Johnson also pleaded guilty prior to trial to an escape charge for failing to return to a federal jail in Chicago after being granted a three-hour furlough to attend his mother’s visitation.  After briefly attending the visitation, Johnson returned to his home, packed a suitcase, and fled.  Among the possessions he took with him were numerous images of the sex trafficking victims, including images which he knew were child pornography.  After a three-day search, the FBI found and arrested Johnson at a restaurant near Midway Airport in Chicago.

U.S. District Judge Rebecca R. Pallmeyer imposed the 35-year prison sentence on Monday in federal court in Chicago.

The sentence was announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI, Phillip Arnold, Chief of the Shorewood, Ill. Police Department, and Michael Saunders, Chief of the Evergreen Park, Ill. Police Department.  Valuable assistance was provided by the Illinois Secretary of State’s Office and the Cook County Sheriff’s Office.  The government was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Elly Moheb and Maureen M. Merin.

If you or someone you know may have been a victim of human trafficking, you are encouraged to contact the National Human Trafficking Hotline by logging on to https://humantraffickinghotline.org or by calling 1-888-373-7888.  The service is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

CHICAGO — An operations manager at McCormick Place Convention Center in Chicago has been indicted on federal fraud charges for allegedly pocketing kickbacks from a company contracted to provide snowplow services at the facility.

DOMINICK GIRONDA was employed on behalf of the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, which operates McCormick Place.  Gironda managed contracts with vendors that provided services at the McCormick Place campus, which consists of multiple buildings, parking lots, and other spaces for conventions and trade shows.  According to an indictment unsealed today in U.S. District Court in Chicago, Gironda schemed with an associate, JAMES SANSONE, to approve inflated invoices for services that were not actually provided at McCormick Place. The false invoices included compensation for individuals who had not worked on particular snow removal projects and equipment that had not been utilized, the indictment states.

After Gironda approved full payment of the false invoices, cash was kicked back to Sansone, who then passed on some or all of the money to Gironda, the indictment states.  From 2022 to earlier this year, Gironda and Sansone allegedly received kickbacks totaling approximately $26,700.  The indictment alleges that when Gironda, Sansone, and others texted with each other about the scam, they used coded language that referred to the kickback payments as bottles of wine.

Gironda, 54, of Bloomingdale, Ill., and Sansone, 38, of Batavia, Ill., were arrested this morning.  Gironda is scheduled to make an initial appearance in federal court today at 2:00 p.m. before U.S. Magistrate Judge Sheila M. Finnegan, followed by Sansone at 2:15 p.m.  The indictment charges them with three counts of mail fraud, each of which is punishable by up to 20 years in federal prison.

The indictment was announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI.  The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sushma Raju and Richard Rothblatt.

The public is reminded that an indictment is not evidence of guilt. The defendants are presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.