District of Maryland

Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow today sentenced Darnell Gerald Gaither, Jr., age 27, of Baltimore, Maryland, to 14 years in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for committing 35 commercial robberies and for brandishing a firearm during some of the robberies, which were committed throughout Maryland.    

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Sobocinski of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; Chief Melissa R. Hyatt of the Baltimore County Police Department, and Commissioner Michael Harrison of the Baltimore City Police Department.  

According to his guilty plea, from December 2018 to November 24, 2019, Gaither committed at least 35 commercial robberies throughout Maryland. Gaither robbed fast-food restaurants, general stores, cell phone stores, gaming stores, a gym, and chain pharmacies—and robbed a number of the stores more than once. In at least one robbery, Gaither brandished a firearm and in least five occasions, he robbed the stores while partially revealing a handgun. In all the other robberies, Gaither passed a note to an employee stating that he had a gun. The employees, fearing for their safety, often provided Gaither with cash from their registers, in amounts ranging from a couple hundred dollars to $1,900.

For example, on October 25, 2019, Gaither robbed a Baltimore smoothie franchise by entering the store and handing the cashier a note that read “I have a gun give me all the cash”. When the cashier refused to open the register, Gaither produced a handgun. The victim reported that Gaither told the victim that he would kill her if she did not open the register. The cashier opened the register and Gaither ordered the cashier and two other employees to the floor while he removed the cash from the register. Gaither then ordered the three employees to open the safe in a back area and hand him additional cash. Gaither took cash from the franchise and fled the store.

Five days later, on October 30, 2019, Gaither robbed a Baltimore general store by posing as a customer. After approaching the register with a bag of candy, Gaither handed the cashier a note that stated, “You know what it is”, while displaying what appeared to be a handgun inside his waistband. The cashier believed that Gaither possessed a real firearm and feared for her safety. The cashier handed $197 to Gaither, who then fled the store.

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the FBI, the Baltimore County Police Department and the Baltimore City Police Department for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul E. Budlow, who prosecuted the case.

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Baltimore, Maryland – Matthew Edward Blair, age 48, of Timonium, Maryland, pleaded guilty today to payment of illegal remunerations to encourage independent marketers to refer federal health care related business to Blair’s pharmacy.    

The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Sobocinski of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; Special Agent in Charge Christopher Dillard of the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General, Defense Criminal Investigative Service - Mid-Atlantic Field Office; and Special Agent in Charge Darrell J. Waldon of the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation, Washington, D.C. Field Office.

According to his guilty plea, beginning in November 2014 and continuing through May 2015, Blair, the owner and operator of a compounding pharmacy called the Blair Pharmacy, paid illegal remunerations to independent marketers to induce them to refer business to Blair Pharmacy.

Members of the United States military and their families receive health care benefits through TRICARE, a federal health care benefits program.  Like many other health care benefit programs, TRICARE utilizes a pharmacy benefit manager (“PBM”), specifically, Express Scripts (“ESI”) to administer all pharmacy-related benefits for the TRICARE program.  ESI receives, processes and adjudicates all electronically submitted pharmacy benefit claims submitted on behalf of TRICARE beneficiaries in New Jersey. 

Blair submitted applications to several PBMs, including ESI, requesting that Blair Pharmacy be accepted into the PBMs’ networks of participating pharmacies.  ESI approved Blair’s application and Blair was permitted to bill TRICARE and receive payment for TRICARE beneficiary prescriptions. Blair set up a process by which beneficiary prescriptions were electronically submitted directly to his pharmacy.  Blair also set up a process by which prescription and benefit plan data was uploaded electronically through the internet.  The uploaded electronic data was processed by the PBMs instantaneously, providing Blair with immediate information about whether a claim he submitted had been approved for payment by the benefit plan or not.  Blair linked successful claim reimbursements to a bank account in the name of Blair Pharmacy so Blair Pharmacy could receive all monies paid by health care benefit companies into his bank account.

Blair actively pursued several independent sales marketers to work for him at his pharmacy.  In order to increase prescription referrals to his pharmacy, maximize reimbursement amounts and thereby increase profits, Blair sought these independent marketers to solicit and refer prescriptions to his pharmacy.  Blair entered into independent contractor arrangements with several sales marketers, and arranged to pay the independent marketers a percentage of any reimbursement money he received from health care benefit programs, including TRICARE. 

For example, in November 2014, Blair agreed to pay an independent marketer working for Blair as follows “commission will be 50% of gross reimbursement to [Blair Pharmacy] paid bi-weekly.” The agreement required the independent marketer to use Blair Pharmacy exclusively, and to refer all business within his established territory to Blair Pharmacy. Blair induced these referrals to his pharmacy by offering the marketer a 50% percentage payment of any money that Blair received from health care benefit programs, which was the sole compensation to the marketer under the agreement.  The independent marketer was not paid unless Blair was successful in obtaining reimbursement from a health care benefit program for a prescription that the marketer referred to Blair. Only then was the marketer paid a percentage of the successful reimbursement.  Blair knew it was a violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute to pay an independent contractor a volume and value-based commission for referrals of federal health care program business to his pharmacy.

Blair provided the independent marketer with pre-printed prescription forms which listed the specific ingredients for Blair’s formulations.  Blair knew the amount of money that he would receive from TRICARE for each gram of each ingredient that he listed in his formulas.  Blair modified the ingredients and amounts of ingredients of his formulations based on the ingredient’s reimbursement value. 

Blair Pharmacy received reimbursement from TRICARE for the individual ingredients in his formulas as follows: $4,348.25 for a one month supply of the ingredients in his vitamin formulation; $8,741.26 for a one month supply of the ingredients in his pain cream; $14,365.39 for a one month supply of the ingredients in his migraine cream; and $17,336.30 for a one month supply of the ingredients in his scar cream.  After receiving payment from TRICARE for the prescriptions the independent marketer directed to Blair Pharmacy, Blair paid 50% of the reimbursement amount to the marketer.

The independent marketer solicited cream prescriptions from numerous doctors, including military surgeons at Walter Reed, with whom he had direct contact. Blair knew that the marketer was in a position to influence which pharmacy the prescriptions were sent to, and that the marketer would send the prescriptions directly back to Blair’s pharmacy.  By paying the marketer 50% of every successfully reimbursed TRICARE claim, Blair incentivized the marketer to refer as many cream prescriptions as possible to Blair’s pharmacy. 

As detailed in the plea agreement, the marketer actively pursued and solicited cream prescriptions for Blair from a military doctor, who had no idea about the amount of money that the creams reimbursed for.  The marketer took advantage of the military doctor’s grueling work schedule, oftentimes waiting, with a stack of Blair’s pre-printed prescription forms in hand, for the doctor outside of the operating room after a long day of back-to-back surgeries.  The marketer directed, sent, and referred all of the pain and scar cream prescriptions directly to Blair’s pharmacy. Neither the doctor, nor the TRICARE beneficiaries for whom the creams were authorized, had an opportunity to choose which pharmacy they wanted to fill the prescription because the prescriptions were submitted directly to Blair. 

Many of the TRICARE beneficiaries were not aware a prescription had been written for them until they received a box from Blair Pharmacy on their doorstep. Some of the TRICARE beneficiaries had no idea of the cost to TRICARE of these creams and vitamins that they received in the mail, or they learned about the high cost of the creams and vitamins only after they reviewed their TRICARE Explanation of Benefits letter a month or two later.  Some of the TRICARE beneficiaries lodged official complaints and made fraud referrals to TRICARE and ESI.  When the military doctor learned of the cost of the creams he had prescribed, he was outraged and immediately stopped authorizing any additional cream prescriptions.  The doctor provided notice of the problem to his management and advised TRICARE patients who made complaints about the creams, to send the creams back to the pharmacy. 

From November 2014 to May 2015, TRICARE reimbursed Blair a total of $6,352,941.66 based upon claims Blair submitted to TRICARE that were tainted by remuneration payments Blair paid to independent sales contractors.  Blair admits that TRICARE would not have approved or reimbursed any claim for compounded ingredients made by Blair Pharmacy, had TRICARE known that Blair had agreed to pay a 1099 independent contractor based on the volume and value-based commission of prescription referrals to Blair Pharmacy. 

As part of his plea agreement, Blair will pay restitution of $3,176,470.83 for the financial loss caused to TRICARE and has agreed to be excluded from the TRICARE health benefit program as an Authorized Provider for a term of 25 years.

Blair faces a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison for illegal remuneration.   U.S. District Judge Ellen L. Hollander has scheduled sentencing for February 10, 2022.

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the FBI, the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General, and the IRS-CI for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christine Duey and Paul Riley, who are prosecuting the case.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit www.justice.gov/usao-md and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.

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Greenbelt, Maryland – Brandon Fitzgerald-Holley, age 32, of Suitland, Maryland, pleaded guilty today to wire fraud in relation to COVID-19 loan fraud.

The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Sobocinski of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Baltimore Field Office; Special Agent in Charge Shimon R. Richmond, Mid-Atlantic Region, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Office of Inspector General (FDIC-OIG); Amaleka McCall-Brathwaite, Special Agent in Charge of the Small Business Administration Office of Inspector General’s Eastern Region (SBA-OIG); Special Agent in Charge Michael McGill of the Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General, Philadelphia Field Division (SSA-OIG); and Special Agent in Charge Darrell J. Waldon of the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation, Washington, D.C. Field Office (IRS-CI).

According to his guilty plea, Fitzgerald-Holley used his non-operational nonprofit, the Coalition for Social Justice and Reform Incorporated (the Coalition), to fraudulently obtain COVID-19 relief funds. Since the Coalition’s formation in 2018, the nonprofit had no employees, income, or regular operations.

On March 31, 2020, Fitzgerald-Holley submitted an Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) application for $150,000 in funds to the Small Business administration (SBA) on behalf of the Coalition. On June 3, 2020, the SBA denied the Coalition’s application for an EIDL.  On the same day, Fitzgerald-Holley contacted the SBA to request reconsideration of the EIDL application. The SBA did not approve Fitzgerald-Holley’s request for reconsideration of his EIDL or provide Fitzgerald-Holley with any EIDL funding.

Further, on June 13, 2020, shortly after Fitzgerald-Holley’s fraudulent EIDL application was denied, Fitzgerald-Holley submitted an application to Institution 1 for a for a $305,854 Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan. Institution 1 is an online financial technology company that specializes in small business lending and participating as a non-bank PPP lender.

On the PPP loan application, Fitzgerald-Holley falsely listed that the Coalition employed 25 employees, had an average monthly payroll cost of $122,342. In reality, the Coalition had no employees or payroll expenses. Fitzgerald-Holley also created and submitted fraudulent documents including a fraudulent IRS Form W-3, which falsely stated that the Coalition had 25 employees with total wages of $1,385,000.

On June 13, 2020, the Coalition’s PPP loan application was approved. Fitzgerald-Holley signed the note on the loan as the CEO of the Coalition. Institution 1 subsequently deposited $305,854 in PPP loan funds into Fitzgerald-Holley’s personal account on June 16, 2020.

As stated in his plea agreement, upon receiving the fraudulently obtained PPP proceeds, Fitzgerald-Holley used the funds to purchase personal items including clothing, a pool table, televisions, electronic equipment, a 2020 Dodge Charger Scat, and various accessories for the vehicle. He also used the funds to fund a vacation rental. In total, Fitzgerald-Holley misappropriated $305,854 in PPP loan funds.

Fitzgerald-Holley faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison for wire fraud. United States District Judge George J. Hazel has scheduled sentencing for March 7, 2021 at 10 a.m.

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the FBI, FDIC-OIG, SBA-OIG, SSA-OIG, and the IRS-CI for their work in the investigation. Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Caitlin R. Cottingham andTrial Attorney John Liolos of the Department of Justice Criminal Division’s Fraud Section, who are prosecuting the case.

On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the Covid-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud.  The Task Force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by, among other methods, augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts.  For more information on the Department’s response to the pandemic, please visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus.

Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving Covid-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.

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Greenbelt, Maryland – Bobby Cannon, a/k/a Freaky, age 24 of Baltimore, pleaded guilty today to participating in a violent racketeering conspiracy, specifically, the NFL Criminal Enterprise, including committing two murders.  The term NFL stands for Normandy, Franklin, and Loudon, which are three adjacent streets that run through the Edmondson Village.  Members of NFL have social and familial ties to the Edmondson Village neighborhood in southwest Baltimore. 

The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Sobocinski of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; Assistant Special Agent in Charge Orville O. Greene of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Baltimore District Office; Chief Marcus Jones of the Montgomery County Police Department; and Commissioner Michael Harrison of the Baltimore Police Department.

According to his guilty plea, from at least 2016 through March 26, 2020, Bobby Cannon was a member of the NFL Criminal Enterprise, which engaged in a pattern of criminal racketeering activity including acts involving murder, narcotics trafficking and smuggling, illegal firearms possession, bribery, witness intimidation, and witness retaliation.  Cannon admitted that he participated in illegal activities with other NFL Enterprise members, including committing two murders and an attempted murder, and distributing large quantities of heroin, fentanyl, and cocaine. 

As detailed in Cannon’s plea agreement, in 2018, the NFL Criminal Enterprise offered money for the murder of an individual who was believed to be a federal witness cooperating with law enforcement regarding NFL.  On June 16, 2018, Cannon walked up to the porch of a house in Edmondson Village, where the individual and his girlfriend were sitting.  Cannon shot them both multiple times, killing them.  Cannon was subsequently paid by the NFL for committing the murders, which Cannon agrees was in furtherance of the NFL Criminal Enterprise.

In late 2018, Cannon was recruited by NFL to murder another individual in exchange for money and in furtherance of the NFL Criminal Enterprise.  Cannon planned the murder for several weeks and learned that the individual resided in a halfway house in East Baltimore.  On January 4, 2019, Cannon borrowed a car from a female associate in southwest Baltimore and later drove the car to the vicinity of the halfway house, where Cannon waited for the individual.  After several hours, Cannon saw the individual on the street and shot the individual multiple times in the arm, back, neck, and buttocks.  The individual sustained life-threatening injuries but survived the shooting.

Following the shooting, Cannon abandoned the car and notified the female associate, who then falsely reported to the Baltimore Police that her car was stolen.  Cannon then notified the NFL Criminal Enterprise that he attempted to murder the individual but failed to kill him.

In April 2019, the FBI arrested members of the NFL Criminal Enterprise, but not Cannon.  On a recorded jail call following the arrests, Cannon was instructed to continue distributing narcotics for the NFL.  Cannon took over a drug phone used by the NFL Criminal Enterprise so that he could continue to sell narcotics to drug customers of the organization.

On December 28, 2019, Baltimore Police officers found Cannon unconscious in a parked van. During their interaction, officers saw that Cannon had a gun, which they recovered from his jacket pocket.  Officers then searched Cannon’s van and recovered over 98 grams of fentanyl, which Cannon agrees he possessed with the intent to distribute it.

Cannon admitted in his plea agreement that over the course of the racketeering conspiracy, Cannon and his co-conspirators distributed over one kilogram of heroin, more than 400 grams of fentanyl, and more than 280 grams of crack cocaine.

Cannon and the government have agreed that, if the Court accepts the plea agreement, Cannon will be sentenced to at least 29 years and up to 36 years in federal prison.  U.S. District Judge Paul W. Grimm has scheduled sentencing for June 1, 2022 at 9:00 a.m. 

This case was made possible by investigative leads generated from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives’ (ATF) National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN).  NIBIN is the only national network that allows for the capture and comparison of ballistic evidence to aid in solving and preventing violent crimes involving firearms.  NIBIN is a proven investigative and intelligence tool that can link firearms from multiple crime scenes, allowing law enforcement to quickly disrupt shooting cycles.  For more information on NIBIN, visit https://www.atf.gov/firearms/national-integrated-ballistic-information-network-nibin.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone.  Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts.  PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.

This case is also part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation.  OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the FBI, the DEA, the Montgomery County Department of Police and the Baltimore Police Department for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Barron commended the U.S. Postal Inspection Service; the City of Rockville Police Department; the Baltimore County, Howard County, and Montgomery County Police Departments; the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office; the Maryland State Police; the West Virginia State Police; the Virginia State Police; the Warren County (VA) Sheriff’s Department; the Winchester (VA) and Front Royal (VA) Police Departments; and the Frederick County and Howard County State’s Attorney’s Offices.  Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter J. Martinez, who is prosecuting the case.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/project-safe-neighborhoods-psnexile and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.   

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Baltimore, Maryland – A criminal complaint has been filed charging Amar Salim Shabazz, age 23, of Owings Mills, Maryland, for the federal charges of mail fraud and obstruction of justice in connection with his alleged distribution of fraudulent COVID-19 vaccination cards.

The criminal complaint was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge James R. Mancuso of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Baltimore; Postal Inspector in Charge Daniel A. Adame of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service - Washington Division (USPIS); Special Agent in Charge Maureen Dixon, Office of Investigations, Office of Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS-OIG); and Chief Melissa R. Hyatt of the Baltimore County Police Department.

According to the criminal complaint, since June 2021, Shabazz purchased over 600 fraudulent COVID-19 vaccinations cards through a foreign online marketplace and had the cards illegally shipped into the United States. Once Shabazz received the fake vaccination cards, he advertised them for sale on several popular social media platforms and distributed them through the United Parcel Service.

Under normal circumstances, COVID-19 vaccination cards are distributed by authorized health care providers to vaccine recipients at the time the recipient receives a COVID-19 vaccine.

As stated in the criminal complaint, since the beginning of August 2021, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Officers have seized thousands of fraudulent COVID-19 vaccination cards at international mail facilities and at express consignment carrier facilities. The majority of seized shipments contain fraudulent COVID vaccination cards originating from Asia and the packages are commonly found to be falsely labeled.

The criminal complaint alleges that Shabazz ordered over 600 vaccination cards on multiple occasions which were delivered to his Owings Mills, Maryland residence.

According to the complaint, on June 10, 2021 Shabazz allegedly searched the phrase “fake covid vaccination record card” and viewed a video titled, “Scammers Work to Sell Fake Covid Vaccination Cards Online.” Several days later, Shabazz placed an order with a foreign website for COVID-19 vaccination cards to be shipped to “MAR S,” with Shabazz’s number listed as the recipient. On July 10, 2021, after the shipment was delivered, Shabazz posted a video of multiple fraudulent vaccination cards on two of his social media accounts with the caption “Covid19 vaccination card who want one. $75 a pop.”

On August 5, 2021, Shabazz commented under an article about bars and restaurants requiring guests to show proof of vaccination, allegedly stating “I SELL PROOF OF VACCINATION CARDS”. Five days later, Shabazz posted, “I’m sold out right now no more vax cards until next week.” Additionally, Shabazz allegedly messaged anther individual with the message, “Made 300 today. I’m sold out. Just bought 500 more cards. 60x500 is $30k. I’m gonna be rich.”

On August 19, 2021, CBP officers seized a shipment sent to Shabazz’s address with the name, “MAR SHA” and Shabazz’s telephone number. The carrier’s website noted the package had been delayed at U.S. Customs. Shabazz then allegedly searched the phrase “customs inspection packages VACCINATION cards” and viewed a video titled, “FBI investigating fake vaccination cards.” 

As detailed in the complaint, Shabazz placed another order for cards with the foreign website that was delivered to his residence on August 31, 2021. This package had Shabazz’s cell phone number associated with it and was addressed to “ACE BOOGIE.” Shabazz then allegedly posted a picture of the fraudulent vaccination cards on a social media platform, selling them from $70 per card.

Investigators subsequently interviewed multiple individuals outside Maryland to whom Shabazz sold fake COVID-19 vaccination cards and recovered the fake cards. Shabazz allegedly shipped these individuals’ fraudulent vaccination cards through the mail. 

On October 1, 2021, law enforcement executed search warrants at a basement used by Shabazz. In the basement, law enforcement found a bulleted list titled, “Things I’m doing when I get out (updated).” In early 2021, Shabazz was an inmate of the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services after being sentenced in in the Circuit Court of Maryland for possession of child pornography. Shabazz was released in April 2021. The list included obtaining two “burner” cell phones, with the note, “first burner is for scamming.” Another bullet point stated, “hire a lawyer and get tips of what not to do when getting money illegally.” 

The day after the search warrants were executed at his residence, Shabazz allegedly researched how to delete his account on the foreign marketplace website and deleted his email account.

If convicted, Shabazz faces a maximum sentence of 20 years’ incarceration each for mail fraud and for obstruction of justice. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. An initial appearance has been scheduled for 2:00 P.M. on Friday December 3, 2021 before U.S. Magistrate Judge Coulson in Baltimore.

A criminal complaint is not a finding of guilt.  An individual charged by criminal complaint is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty at some later criminal proceedings. 

On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. The Task Force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by, among other methods, augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts. For more information on the Department’s response to the pandemic, please visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus. 

Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended HSI, USPIS, HHS-OIG, and the Baltimore County Police Department for their work in the investigation. Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Aaron S.J. Zelinsky and Sean Delaney, who are prosecuting the case.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit www.justice.gov/usao/md.

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Baltimore, Maryland – A federal grand jury has returned an indictment charging Michael McDonald, age 40, of Baltimore, Maryland, for tax evasion for tax years 2016 through 2018 and failure to file tax returns for the tax years 2016 through 2019.  The indictment was returned on November 10, 2021, and unsealed today upon McDonald’s arrest.  McDonald will have an initial appearance today at 1:30 p.m. in U.S. District Court in Baltimore before U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark Coulson.

The indictment was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Sobocinski of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; and Special Agent in Charge Darrell J. Waldon of the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation, Washington, D.C. Field Office.

According to the seven-count indictment, McDonald submitted false W-4 forms for tax years 2016, 2017, and 2018.  In addition, the indictment alleges that McDonald failed to file an income tax return for those tax years as well as for tax year 2019.

If convicted, McDonald faces a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison for each count of tax evasion and a maximum of one year in federal prison for each count of failure to file income tax returns.  Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. 

An indictment is not a finding of guilt.  An individual charged by indictment is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty at some later criminal proceedings. 

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the FBI and the IRS-CI for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kathleen O. Gavin and P. Michael Cunningham, who are prosecuting the federal case.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit www.justice.gov/usao-md and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.

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Baltimore, Maryland – Oyekanmi Oworu, age 35, of Hyattsville, Maryland, pleaded guilty yesterday to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and aggravated identity theft.   

The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron and Special Agent in Charge Andrew McKay of the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.

According to his guilty plea, between February 2017 and July 2020, Oworu conspired with co-defendant Babtunde Ajibawo, age 55, of Essex, United Kingdom and others to fraudulently obtain checks made out to legitimate businesses, then fraudulently register shell companies to obtain state business certificates in the identical or similar name of the legitimate businesses to which the checks were made payable. The conspiracy also used the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) Modernized Internet Employer Identification Number (EIN) and the fraudulently obtained social security numbers of real individuals to obtain an EIN for the fraudulent business.

Specifically, on February 7, 2017, Oworu opened a bank account at a victim financial institution in the name of a real individual and deposited a stolen check made payable to a legitimate business for $265,168.20. Oworu subsequently withdrew the proceeds.

Additionally, on November 20, 2018, Oworu opened a bank account at a victim financial institution in a similar name of a legitimate business using the means and identification of A.S, a real individual. After opening the account, Oworu deposited a stolen check made payable to the legitimate business for $58,713.50. Video surveillance captured Oworu depositing the stolen check in Washington, D.C.

During the course of the scheme to defraud, Oworu communicated with co-conspirators regarding the allocation of stolen proceeds, including the money he would personally receive for opening fraudulent bank accounts and depositing stolen checks. Specifically, on May 2, 2019, Oworu asked Ajibawo to send $3,000 to him and the balance to another co-conspirator in Fayetteville, Georgia.  

Further, as detailed in the Superseding Indictment, Oworu and his co-conspirators attempted to conceal their criminal actions and evade law enforcement by relocating the fraud scheme to other jurisdictions. A substantial part of a fraudulent scheme was committed from outside the United States, specifically Nigeria.

In total, Oworu and his co-conspirators intended to cause a loss of at least $4.1 million to victim businesses, caused an actual loss of at least $756,175.30, and compromised the identifying information of more than 50 individual victims.

Co-defendant Ajibawo pled guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud on July 8, 2021 and is scheduled to be sentenced on December 8, 2021 at 10 a.m.

Oworu faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison followed by up to five of supervised release for conspiracy to commit bank fraud and a mandatory two years in prison, consecutive to any other sentence for aggravated identity theft. As part of his plea agreement, Oworu will also be required to pay restitution. U.S. District Judge Catherine C. Blake has scheduled sentencing for March 10, 2022 at 9:15 a.m. 

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration for their work in the investigation. Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mary W. Setzer and Judson T. Mihok, who are prosecuting the case.

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Baltimore, Maryland – Brendan Francis Kavanaugh, age 53, of Fort Meade, Maryland, pleaded guilty today to possession of child pornography.    

The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron and Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Sobocinski of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office.

According to his guilty plea, in May 2020, Kavanaugh communicated with other users on a peer-to-peer file sharing network, the Tor network, under the username “HebeMom”. The Tor network is a computer network available to internet users that is specifically designed to facilitate anonymous communication. It is also commonly used to facilitate the sexual exploitation of minors.

Investigators linked the “HebeMom” usernames online activity to Kavanaugh’s Fort Meade, Maryland address and executed a search warrant at his residence on October 28, 2020. During the search of Kavanaugh’s residence, investigators discovered several electronic devices including an external hard drive. A forensic analysis of the hard drive revealed that Kavanaugh possessed approximately 3,674 images of child sexual abuse material and 9,296 files of child exploitative material, including several images of prepubescent females engaged in sexual conduct with adult males and animals.

As stated in his plea agreement, during an interview with law enforcement Kavanaugh admitted that the encrypted hard drive was his personal device and provided the password for the device. He then informed investigators that he had been using the Tor network since 2016 and accessed sites associated with child pornography under the username “HebeMom”.

Further, Kavanaugh admits that he knowingly possessed child pornography that involved sadistic or masochistic material and material that involved the exploitation of prepubescent minors.

Kavanaugh faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison followed by up to a lifetime of supervised release for possession of child pornography. U.S. District Judge Stephanie A. Gallagher has scheduled sentencing for February 7, 2022 at 10 a.m.

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the FBI and the FBI's Child Exploitation Operational Unit for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary W. Setzer and Trial Attorney Charles Schmitz of the Department of Justice Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, who are prosecuting the case.

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Baltimore, Maryland – Maurice Antonio Bull, age 43, of Seaford, Delaware, pleaded guilty today to interstate travel in aid of racketeering and to possession with intent to distribute controlled substances, in connection with Bull accepting bribes to smuggle contraband into Eastern Correctional Institution.    

The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Sobocinski of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; and Secretary Robert L. Green of the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services.

“This case demonstrates that we will not tolerate employees in positions of trust violating their oaths.  Federal, state, and local officials will continue to work together to root out corrupt employees and others who undermine the administration of justice at our prisons,” said U.S. Attorney Erek L. Barron.

“Once again, DPSCS detectives and intelligence officers built a strong case and worked with our federal partners to bring a dangerous plot to an end,” said DPSCS Secretary Robert Green. “Contraband and compromised employees endanger every single person who lives and works inside of our facilities.”

According to his guilty plea, Bull was a Correctional Officer at the Eastern Correctional Institute (“ECI”), a medium security Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services prison operated in Westover, Maryland, in Somerset County. 

Correctional Officers have a duty to ensure that inmates follow the rules, including, most importantly, the prohibition of criminal activity while incarcerated.  Bull admitted that he abused his position of trust as a sworn officer of DPSCS by engaging in illegal activities for the purposes of enriching himself.  Specifically, Bull received bribes in exchange for bringing contraband into ECI, including but not limited to Suboxone, heroin, and tobacco for ECI inmates.

For example, as detailed in his plea agreement, in September 2020, an ECI inmate made a phone call, over the recorded jail call system, to his sister to arrange for her to provide a bribe payment to Bull in exchange for Bull smuggling contraband into the prison facility for the inmate.  On September 9, 2020, Bull drove from his home in Delaware to Salisbury, Maryland and met with the inmate’s sister in the parking lot of a convenience store.  Law enforcement officers observed the inmate’s sister placing a plastic bag inside the passenger window of Bull’s truck. Bull’s truck was subsequently stopped and searched.  Officers recovered a plastic bag in the center console that contained approximately 1,153 Suboxone strips, 8.2 grams of a combination of packaging and heroin, and 20.6 grams of a combination of packaging and tobacco.  The contraband was individually packaged and labeled with the initials of the ECI inmates who were the intended recipients. Officers also recovered a white envelope in Bull’s pocket which contained a bribe payment of $5,400.

Bull was interviewed and informed law enforcement that in July or August 2020, he was approached by an inmate about smuggling contraband, specifically Suboxone, into ECI in exchange for $2,000 bribe payments.  The inmate who approached him was transferred before Bull could provide contraband, but he was subsequently approached by another inmate.  Bull admitted that he intended to bring the controlled substances into ECI and to provide them to that inmate and the $5,400 was payment for his agreement to do so.  Bull advised law enforcement that he had previously brought contraband into ECI for the inmate, in exchange for $2,000 in cash.  On this prior occasion, to obtain the controlled substances and bribe payment, Bull drove from his home in Delaware to Maryland.

Bull faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison for interstate travel in aid of racketeering and a maximum of 20 years in prison for possession with intent to distribute controlled substances. U.S. District Judge Lydia K. Griggsby has scheduled sentencing for February 24, 2022, at 2:00 p.m.

This case arose from the efforts of the Maryland Prison Task Force, coordinated by the U.S. Attorney’s Office and comprised of local, state, and federal stakeholders that meet regularly to share information and generate recommendations to reform prison procedures and attack the gang problem that has plagued Maryland in recent years.  The work of the Task Force previously resulted in the federal convictions of more than 78 defendants, including 16 correctional officers, at the Eastern Correctional Institution, and 40 defendants, including 24 correctional officers, at the Baltimore City Detention Center.

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the FBI and DPSCS for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sean R. Delaney and Lauren E. Perry, who are prosecuting the case.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit www.justice.gov/usao-md and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.

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Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Catherine C. Blake sentenced Avon Allen, age 36, of Baltimore, Maryland to four years in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for possession of a stolen firearm. 

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge Timothy Jones of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Baltimore Field Division; and Commissioner Michael Harrison of the Baltimore Police Department.

According to his plea agreement, on January 20, 2020, Allen had an argument with a store owner in Baltimore, Maryland and threw a beverage at the store owner in the process. Soon after, Baltimore City Police Department officers responded to the reported assault. Officers reviewed the store’s surveillance footage, which showed that the individual involved in the altercation was wearing a black skull cap, a blue, black, and gray puffy jacket, a gray hoodie, blue jeans, and blue sneakers.

Later that day, an officer found Allen wearing the same clothes as the individual in the video surveillance footage on the corner of W. Saratoga Street and N. Paca Street. Allen briefly got into a vehicle before seeing an officer and fleeing on foot. During his apprehension, Allen resisted arrest and threw a stolen 9 mm pistol loaded with six rounds of ammunition. On his person, Allen also possessed a pocket-knife, oxycodone, and small amounts of eutylone or “MDMA”. Allen agrees that he knowingly possessed a stolen firearm.

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron praised the ATF and the Baltimore Police Department for their work in the investigation. Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Brandon Moore and Special Assistant United States Attorney Annie McGuire, who prosecuted the case.

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Baltimore, Maryland – Julian Gray, age 49, of Baltimore, Maryland, pleaded guilty yesterday to federal charges of possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and to being a felon in possession of a firearm.  

The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Assistant Special Agent in Charge Orville O. Greene of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Baltimore District Office; and Commissioner Michael Harrison of the Baltimore Police Department.

According to Gray’s guilty plea, in 2020 the DEA began surveilling street-level drug activities and making undercover purchases of fentanyl.  During the surveillance, Gray was identified as a potential co-conspirator when he was seen meeting with drug dealers who sold narcotics to the undercover officers.

On September 15, 2020, DEA agents saw Gray carry a black bag from his residence to his car and drive away. Gray’s car was stopped for a traffic violation later that day in a parking lot in the 2400 block of Belair Road in Baltimore.  A K-9 unit was nearby to scan the car and the dog alerted to the driver’s door.  Law enforcement searched the car and found a black bag (different bag from the first observation) in the trunk containing: a .9mm semi-automatic handgun, loaded with 12 .9mm hollow-point bullets; and two large plastic bags containing 1,090 gel caps of what was determined to be more than 40 grams of a mixture of fentanyl, 4-ANPP, and tramadol.  A search of Gray recovered $1,640 in cash.

Gray admitted that he possessed the fentanyl mixture with the intent to distribute it and that the cash constituted drug proceeds.  Further, Gray was on parole at the time for a 1991 felony conviction for murder in the second degree, for which he was sentenced to 30 years in prison and was in custody until 2013.  Gray knew that as a result of that conviction, he was prohibited from possessing a firearm or ammunition.

Gray and the government have agreed that, if the Court accepts the plea agreement, Gray will be sentenced to no more than eight years in federal prison.  U.S. District Judge Stephanie A. Gallagher has scheduled sentencing for February 10, 2022 at 10:00 a.m. 

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone.  Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts.  PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them.  As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.

This case is also part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation.  OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the DEA and the Baltimore Police Department for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Joan C. Mathias, who is prosecuting the case.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/project-safe-neighborhoods-psnexile and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.

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Baltimore, Maryland - The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland and the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division announced today a settlement agreement with the Frederick County Public School District to address the discriminatory use of seclusion and restraint against students with disabilities. The government’s investigation found that the school district unnecessarily and repeatedly secluded and restrained students as young as five years old in violation of Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Under the settlement, Frederick County will end the use of seclusion, overhaul its restraint practices, and train staff on the use of appropriate behavioral interventions for students with disabilities.

The settlement agreement was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron and Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.

The investigation, opened in October 2020, revealed thousands of incidents of seclusion and restraint in just two and a half school years. Although students with disabilities make up only 10.8% of students enrolled in the district, every single student the district secluded was a student with disabilities, as were 99%—all but one—of the students the district restrained. The district routinely resorted to seclusion and restraint in non-emergency situations instead of using appropriate individualized behavior interventions tailored to individual students’ needs. The investigation found that these practices often intensified students’ distress, with some students engaging in self-harm and showing other signs of trauma while in seclusion.

“Every child should feel safe and protected while in school.  The use of seclusion rooms and unjustified physical restraints on young people, particularly those with disabilities, falls painfully short of a school district’s responsibility to support the safety, health, and educational needs of its students.  Students with disabilities deserve a school environment rooted in positive, preventive, and supportive classroom strategies,” said U.S. Attorney Erek L. Barron.  “We appreciate Frederick County Public School District’s cooperation in the investigation and are pleased that the District has agreed to take comprehensive steps to ensure that students with disabilities receive equal educational opportunities.”

“We cannot stand by and watch schools put children with disabilities in isolation thousands of times and call it public education. The district’s unlawful use of seclusion and restraint did not help students; it led to heightened distress and denied them access to a safe and positive learning environment,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke. “Frederick County Public Schools understand the significant work ahead under this agreement and we will ensure that they institute all the institutional reforms necessary to comply with the law.”

The school district cooperated fully throughout the investigation. Under the settlement agreement, the school district will take proactive steps to ensure that its practices do not discriminate against students with disabilities.  The district will, among other things:

• prohibit the use of seclusion;
• report all instances of restraint and evaluate whether they were justified;
• designate trained staff to collect and analyze restraint data and oversee the creation of appropriate behavior intervention plans;
• deliver appropriate training and resources to help schools implement the agreement;
• design and implement procedures for handling complaints about restraint;
• offer compensatory education services to students with disabilities who were subjected to the district’s discriminatory practices; and
• hire an administrator to supervise school-based staff and ensure the district’s compliance with the agreement and Title II of the ADA. 

The investigation was conducted jointly by the United States Attorney’s Office and the Civil Rights Division’s Educational Opportunities Section, as part of a Division initiative to address unlawful segregation, seclusion, and restraint of students with disabilities in public schools. U.S. Attorney Barron and Assistant Attorney General Clarke thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Marquardt, and Trial Attorneys Natane Singleton and Claire Chevrier, who handled this investigation. 

View the letter here.
View the agreement here. 

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit www.justice.gov/usao-md and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/civil-rights.

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Baltimore, Maryland - William Carl Eikenberg, Jr., age 51, of Edgewater, Maryland pleaded guilty yesterday to access with intent to view child pornography.

The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Sobocinski of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; and Anne Arundel County Police Chief Amal E. Awad.

Eikenberg previously entered a guilty plea to distribution of child pornography in the Circuit Court of Maryland for Anne Arundel County in August 2016. Eikenberg admitted that he used BitTorrent through a personal cell phone to download and trade child pornography. BitTorrent is a communication protocol for peer-to-peer file sharing network that enables users to distribute electronic files over the internet. Eikenberg served 114 days in jail and was placed on five years of supervised probation. As a result of his conviction, Eikenberg was required to register as a sex offender.

According to his guilty plea, between April 2017 and September 2017, Eikenberg knowingly possessed and accessed with intent to view child pornography, including content depicting the exploitation of prepubescent minors being used to engage in sexual conduct. These visual depictions included at least 94 video files and 80 images of child pornography. Eikenberg admitted that he knew the production of the depictions involved minors engaged in sexual activity.

As part of his investigation, on July 3, 2017, and September 3, 2017, an Anne Arundel County Police Department (AAPD) detective identified several known electronic files of child pornography being shared by an IP address assigned to Eikenberg’s Edgewater, Maryland address. These files included a 21-minute video that portrayed a prepubescent female engaged in sexual activity with an adult male and several other shorter videos that also depicted the sexual abuse of minors.

Further, on September 6, 2017, AAPD learned that Eikenberg had stopped attending sex offender treatment and fled from probation supervision. On September 22, 2017, Eikenberg ran out the backdoor of his residence and attempted to evade authorities as AAPD officers and Eikenberg’s probation officer approached his residence for a home visit. Eikenberg was later apprehended, taken into custody, and transported to an AAPD station.

In a subsequent voluntary interview, Eikenberg stated that he used the BitTorrent network to view child pornography between April and September 2017.

Eikenberg and the government have agreed that, if the Court accepts the plea agreement, Eikenberg will be sentenced to 10 years in federal prison. U.S. District Judge Ellen L. Hollander has scheduled sentencing for January 20, 2022 at 11 a.m. 

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

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the FBI, Anne Arundel County Police Department, the Maryland State Police Department, and the Washington County Sheriff’s Office for their work in the investigation. Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew J. Maddox and Abigail E. Ticse, who are prosecuting the federal case, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey J. Izant, for his work in the prosecution of the case.

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Greenbelt, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Paul W. Grimm sentenced Luis Antonio Cruz-Hernandez, a/k/a “Paniquiado “, age 27, of Silver Spring, Maryland to 51 years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release for conspiracy to use interstate commerce facilities in the commission of a murder for hire, interference with interstate commerce by robbery, and the use of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. Judge Grimm has also ordered Cruz-Hernandez to pay over $250,000 in restitution.

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Sobocinski of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; Postal Inspector in Charge Daniel A. Adame of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service - Washington Division; Special Agent in Charge James R. Mancuso of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Baltimore; Chief Malik Aziz of the Prince George’s County Police Department; and Chief Marcus Jones of the Montgomery County Police Department.

According to his plea agreement, Cruz-Hernandez is a member of the La Mara Salvatrucha gang, also known as “MS-13”, an international criminal organization and criminal enterprise. Specifically, Cruz-Hernandez was a member and associate of the Pinos Locotes Salvatrucha (“PLS”) clique of MS-13. MS-13 is a gang composed primarily of immigrants or descendants of immigrants from El Salvador, with members operating in the State of Maryland, including Montgomery County, Prince George’s County, and Frederick County, and throughout the United States. In Maryland and elsewhere MS-13 members are organized in “cliques,” smaller groups that operate in a specific city of region. MS-13 members are required to commit acts of violence, both to maintain membership and discipline within the gang and against rival gangs. One of the principal rules of MS-13 is that its members must attack and kill rivals, known as “chavalas,” whenever possible.

In November 2016, a PLS clique member was hired to murder someone in exchange for money, and Cruz-Hernandez was directed to assist with the murder. Between November 20, 2016 and November 30, 2016, Cruz-Hernandez conspired with others to murder the victim in return for monetary payment from two individuals (Co-conspirator 1 and Co-conspirator 2). Cruz-Hernandez understood Co-conspirator 1 to be the person paying to have Victim 1 murdered and understood Co-conspirator 2 to be the middle-man between Co-conspirator 1 and a PLS clique member.

Over the course of the conspiracy, Co-conspirator 1 and Co-conspirator 2 paid for a hotel room located in the vicinity of the victim’s residence, for Cruz-Hernandez, and other conspirators, including the clique member to use. Further, Cruz-Hernandez and other conspirators conducted surveillance of the victim in order to determine the most opportune time to murder him.

As stated in his plea agreement, on November 30, 2016, Co-conspirator 2 drove Cruz-Hernandez and the clique member to an area in the vicinity of the victim’s residence. The clique member then exited the vehicle and shot and killed the victim. After the murder, the clique member was paid for the murder of the victim and gave a portion of the payment to Cruz-Hernandez.

Facilities of commerce utilized as part of the conspiracy to murder the victim in return for monetary payment included the vehicle used to conduct physical surveillance and to murder the victim, and cell phones used by conspirators to communicate and facilitate the murder.

Additionally, Cruz-Hernandez pled guilty in relation to seven of armed robberies in the eastern district of Virginia and Maryland between June 2017 and November 2017. These robberies occurred at the direction of a PLS clique member and resulted in the loss of more than $250,000 to victim businesses.                     

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron praised the FBI, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, HSI Baltimore, the Prince George’s County Police Department, the Montgomery County Police Department, the Fairfax County Police Department (Virginia) and the Herndon Police Department (Virginia) for their work in the investigation. Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney William D. Moomau, who prosecuted the case.

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Greenbelt, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis sentenced inmate Corey Alston, a/k/a “C,” age 29, yesterday to six years in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for a racketeering conspiracy charge for being a leader in a scheme to smuggle contraband into the Maryland Correctional Institute Jessup (MCIJ), including narcotics, unauthorized flash drives, tobacco, and cell phones into the prison.

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Sobocinski, of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; and Secretary Robert L. Green, of the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services.

According to court documents, MCIJ was a medium-security prison in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, that housed approximately 1,100 male inmates, with 262 custody staff or Correctional Officers (COs) and 52 non-custody staff, including case management, medical, and administrative staff.

Alston admitted that he was a leader in the racketeering conspiracy.  As detailed in the plea agreement, Alston conspired with four outside facilitators, Tyrisha Johnson, Jamia Lawson, Ashley Alston, and Aldon Alston, who obtained and packaged contraband, met with the correction officers and employees to provide contraband and bribe payments, and managed the proceeds of illegal contraband sales for Alston.  According to Alston’s plea agreement, Correctional Officer Janel Griffin and another MCIJ employee brought the contraband into the prison for Alston, in exchange for bribe payments, and Alston conspired with inmate Schvel Mack to sell the contraband to other inmates. 

Alston was overheard by law enforcement on a series of recorded calls arranging for contraband to be smuggled into MCIJ and arranging payment for the contraband and for bribes. Recorded jail calls between Alston and others confirm that between April 16 and August 14, 2017, Griffin met with Johnson or another facilitator on at least six occasions to obtain contraband and at least $2,800 in bribe payments.  Griffin smuggled the contraband, including Suboxone and Percocet, into MCIJ.

In addition to Corey Alston, 14 other defendants—six outside facilitators, four prison employees, and four inmates—have pleaded guilty to their roles in the conspiracy, including Janel Griffin, Schvel Mack, Tyrishia Johnson, Jamia Lawson, Ashley Alston, and Aldon Alston.  Seven defendants are awaiting sentencing and five defendants are pending trial. Correctional Officer Janel Griffin, age 42, of Baltimore and inmate Schvel Mack, a/k/a Weezy, and L Weezy, age 31; were sentenced to 27 months each in federal prison and inmate Tavon Price, a/k/a Tay, age 37 was sentenced to 46 months in federal prison.

This case arose from the efforts of the Maryland Prison Task Force, coordinated by the U.S. Attorney’s Office and comprised of local, state, and federal stakeholders that meet regularly to share information and generate recommendations to reform prison procedures and attack the gang problem that has plagued Maryland in recent years.  The work of the Task Force previously resulted in the federal convictions of more than 78 defendants, including 16 correctional officers, at the Eastern Correctional Institution, and 40 defendants, including 24 correctional officers, at the Baltimore City Detention Center.

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the FBI and the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services for their work in the investigation. The U.S. Attorney expressed appreciation to the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, whose staff initiated the MCIJ investigation and have been full partners in this investigation.  Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lauren E. Perry and Sean R. Delaney, who are prosecuting this case.

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Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Ellen L. Hollander sentenced Orvil Perez-Jimenez, age 34, of Dundalk, Maryland to two years and four months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release for the transfer of false identification documents, the sale of citizenship documents, and aggravated identity theft. 

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron and Special Agent in Charge Andrew Wroblewski of the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service (DSS)- Washington Office.

According to his guilty plea, from 2017 to March 2020, Perez-Jimenez obtained birth certificates and social security cards issued to real U.S. citizens, without those individuals’ knowledge or consent. He then sold these identification documents to alien clients living in the United States. Additionally, Perez-Jimenez sold fraudulent identification cards to the alien clients listing the victim citizens’ personal identifying information but displaying photos of his alien clients.

Specifically, in 2017, Perez-Jimenez agreed to sell birth certificates, social security cards, and false driver’s licenses to a married couple living in Maryland without lawful status to reside in the United States (Individual 1 and Individual 2) for $5,000. After directing the couple to produce two passport-sized photos of themselves, Perez-Jimenez fraudulently obtained the birth certificates and social security cards issued in the names of two real U.S. citizens residing in Puerto Rico. Perez-Jimenez also obtained fake Puerto Rican driver’s licenses listing the names of the two citizens but displaying the photos of Individual 1 and Individual 2, respectively.

Individual 1 and Individual 2 then used identity documents purchased from Perez-Jimenez to make false applications for U.S. passports, fraudulently obtain employment eligibility verification with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, open financial accounts, and obtain Maryland driver’s licenses in the names of the victims residing in Puerto Rico.

As stated in his plea agreement, on February 8, 2020, Perez-Jimenez informed an undercover DSS agent that he could provide a Puerto Rican birth certificate, driver’s license, and a social security card. On February 11, 2020, Perez-Jimenez asked the agent to provide his height, weight, hair color, skin color, and two passport-sized photos of himself, as well as $1,000 as a deposit. Perez-Jimenez and the DSS agent met two days later, and the agent provided Perez-Jimenez the information requested including the photos, and $1,000 in cash.

On March 12, 2020, Perez-Jimenez met with the agent in Baltimore, Maryland, provided him with the falsified identity documents and accepted an agreed upon final payment of $2,000 in cash.  Perez-Jimenez was subsequently arrested. The identity documents included a birth certificate and social security card issued in the name of a real U.S. citizen residing in Puerto Rico, as well as a fake Puerto Rico driver’s license.  The counterfeit driver’s license that Perez-Jimenez procured for the agent displayed the photo of the agent and the identifying information of the victim living in Puerto Rico.

During the search of Perez-Jimenez’s person, vehicle, and residence, law enforcement recovered an Internal Revenue Service Form W-2 in the victim’s name, a cell phone, and other documents and electronic devices.

Examination of the cell phone revealed communications between Perez-Jimenez and other persons about procuring identification documents, including discussions about obtaining passport-sized photos and physical descriptions for the purpose of creating fake driver’s licenses and photos of identification documents issued in a victim’s name.   

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the DSS for their work in the investigation. Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew J. Maddox, who prosecuted the case.

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Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Paul W. Grimm sentenced Davante Harrison, a/k/a “YGG Tay,” age 27, of Baltimore, yesterday to 15 years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute fentanyl, heroin, cocaine, and crack cocaine; possession with intent to distribute heroin; being a felon in possession of a firearm; and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.  Harrison was convicted of those charges by a federal jury on August 20, 2021, after a five-day trial.

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Sobocinski of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; Commissioner Michael Harrison of the Baltimore Police Department; and Chief Amal E. Awad of the Anne Arundel County Police Department.

According to the evidence presented at his five-day trial, in October and November 2019, Harrison was part of a drug conspiracy that distributed fentanyl, heroin, cocaine, and crack cocaine in Baltimore and Baltimore County.  Law enforcement officers investigating the conspiracy surveilled Harrison, who is believed to be the leader of the group “Young Go Getters,” and observed him traveling from Baltimore to locations in Rosedale and Golden Ring Park in Baltimore County, where he made short stops to conduct narcotics transactions.  Afterward, Harrison traveled to a casino in Delaware with the drug proceeds.

According to testimony and court documents, on November 25, 2019, FBI investigators executed search warrants at locations associated with the conspiracy, including a search of Harrison.  From Harrison, investigators recovered $9,277 in cash and a .40 caliber handgun loaded with an extended magazine containing 17 rounds, including one in the chamber.  The $9,277 were proceeds of Harrison’s drug trafficking activity.  At a stash location associated with the conspiracy, law enforcement recovered a 9mm pistol, loaded with 16 rounds, including one in the chamber; a .25 caliber pistol loaded with five rounds; a container with 386 grams of a mixture of fentanyl and heroin; several clear plastic bags containing a total of 40 grams of cocaine; a clear plastic bag containing 50 grams of a mixture of heroin and fentanyl; a clear plastic bag containing 27 grams of crack cocaine; a plastic bag containing 71 grams of a fentanyl mixture; and drug paraphernalia.

Harrison knew that he was prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition as a result of a previous felony conviction.

Co-defendant Christopher Jerry, age 30, of Baltimore, previously pleaded guilty to his role in the conspiracy and is scheduled to be sentenced on December 2, 2021.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone.  Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts.  PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the FBI, the Baltimore Police Department, and the Anne Arundel County Police Department for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christine Goo and Charles Austin, who are prosecuting the case.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/project-safe-neighborhoods-psnexile and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.

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Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Catherine C. Blake sentenced James Bender, age 36, of Baltimore, Maryland to one year and one day in federal prison, six months of home detention, and three years of supervised release, for federal conspiracy and tax fraud charges. 

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge Darrell J. Waldon of the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation, Washington, D.C. Field Office; and Special Agent in Charge James R. Mancuso of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Baltimore.

According to his guilty plea, from 2014 through August 2019, Bender controlled three eBay accounts, in the names of HiddenGemFurniture (HGF), EddiesAffordableGear (EAG), and AffordableGoodies4You (AG).  EAG and AG offered sports-related merchandise for sale, including jerseys and shirts. Bender also used, operated, and controlled related PayPal accounts. 

Bender admitted that beginning in 2014 he agreed to allow a good friend and co-defendant, Saurabh Chawla, and a relative of Chawla’s, SC2, to sell goods and merchandise through Bender’s eBay accounts. Chawla’s eBay account had previously been suspended due to security concerns. From May 2014 through August 2019, Bender and Chawla conspired so Chawla could use Bender’s eBay and PayPal accounts to sell stolen goods and merchandise. 

As detailed in the plea agreement, in furtherance of the fraud scheme, Bender and Chawla repeatedly deceived online platforms such as Amazon, eBay, as well as the manufacturers and distributors, as to the source of the goods and merchandise being sold by Bender and Chawla. More than $3 million of these goods and merchandise had been stolen, including more than $125,000 of iPods that had been stolen from a New Mexico school district and intended for underprivileged children. In 2018, Chawla and Bender sold more than $550,000 of goods and merchandise that had been stolen from a Delaware FedEx facility. As part of his participation in the fraud scheme, Bender received more than $10,000 per year from the eBay sales of stolen goods and merchandise.

Bender further admitted that he filed false tax returns for the tax years 2014 through 2018, which falsely inflated the gross receipts and cost of goods sold of Bender's businesses. In each of these years, Bender reported as his gross receipts amounts that had actually been generated by Chawla's sales through his eBay stores, and reported as his cost of goods sold the difference between gross receipts and the amount Chawla paid him for the use of his eBay stores. As a result, Bender engaged in significant misstatements on his tax returns for each year. Bender also subscribed to additional false information on his tax returns, including overstating his postage expenses. In total, Bender stipulates that he failed to pay the United States an additional $36,518 in taxes due and owing for the tax years 2014 to 2018.

As part of the conspiracy to defraud, Chawla purchased stolen Apple products from Kristy Stock from 2012 to 2018. Stock was a New Mexico public school employee responsible for overseeing a program to provide Apple iPods to school children with the intent to benefit underprivileged Native American children in New Mexico. Stock stole more than 3,000 iPods purchased by the school district and sold them to Chawla. Chawla initially purchased the iPods from Stock on eBay, and they later dealt directly with each other, in emails, texts, and phone calls. Stock admitted that she received more than $800,000 in illegal proceeds from selling stolen iPods worth more than $1 million. In 2019, Chawla purchased Apple products that he believed had been stolen by a different person working at another school district in New Mexico, including 25 iPads for $5,000 in May 2019. After his relative received the stolen goods, Chawla listed them for sale online through eBay at a substantial markup.

Co-defendants Saurabh Chawla, age 36, of Aurora, Colorado and Joseph Kukta, age 45 of Laurel, Delaware, were sentenced to 66 months and 42 months in federal prison; respectively. Additionally, Chawla was sentenced to pay restitution to the Internal Revenue Service in the amount of $713,619, and to sign an order of forfeiture requiring him to forfeit a 2013 Tesla Model S, $2,308,062.61 from accounts held in his name, and the sale of property in Aurora, Colorado. Kukta was ordered to pay $1,101,743.91 in restitution and forfeiture of $1,880,000.

Co-defendant Kristy Stock, age 46, of Waterflow, New Mexico is scheduled to be sentenced in 2022.

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the IRS-Criminal Investigation and HSI for their work in the investigation. Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Harry M. Gruber and Paul A. Riley, who prosecuted the case.

# # #

Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Catherine C. Blake sentenced William Diggs, age 30, of Baltimore, Maryland to 42 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for conspiracy to distribute, possession with the intent to distribute, and the distribution of crack cocaine. 

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; and Special Agent in Charge Timothy Jones of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Baltimore Field Division.

According to his guilty plea, from December 2019 to September 2020, Diggs conspired with others to possess, distribute, and sell crack cocaine in the area of the 2600 block of Greenmount Avenue in Baltimore, Maryland. As a member of a drug trafficking organization (“DTO”), Diggs sold crack cocaine, including to two individuals who happened to be confidential informants for law enforcement.

Over the course of four drug transactions, Diggs sold 42 vials of cocaine base as well as an eighth of an ounce of crack cocaine to an ATF confidential informant. Additionally, during one drug transaction, the confidential informant asked Diggs if they could purchase a firearm. Diggs told the informant they could purchase a firearm for $200 when he gained possession of the firearm, although he ultimately did not proceed with the firearm transaction.

As stated in his plea agreement, a second confidential informant witnessed Diggs and two co-conspirators in a Baltimore rowhouse where the confidential informant saw several firearms. Diggs later admitted the firearms were possessed in furtherance of the drug conspiracy.

The Baltimore City Police Department’s Drug Analysis Unit confirmed that the substances sold by Diggs contained cocaine base.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the ATF, the Baltimore Police Department, and the Maryland Attorney General’s Office for their work in the investigation. Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Zachary Stendig, Lindsey N. McCulley and Special Assistant United States Attorney Lindsay DeFrancesco, who prosecuted the case.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit www.justice.gov/usao-md and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/project-safe-neighborhoods-psnexile and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach

# # #

Greenbelt, Maryland – Charles Benjamin Stewart, Jr., age 46, of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, pleaded guilty yesterday to federal charges for conspiracy to distribute heroin and cocaine; for illegally transporting a firearm obtained out of state; and for possession with intent to distribute heroin and cocaine. 

The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge Jarod A. Forget of the Drug Enforcement Administration - Washington Field Division; Acting Special Agent in Charge L.C. Cheeks, Jr. of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Baltimore Field Division; Calvert County Sheriff Mike Evans; St. Mary’s County Sheriff Timothy K. Cameron; and Chief Malik Azziz of the Prince George’s County Police Department.

According to his guilty plea from at least June 2016 through July 2017, Stewart conspired with Patrick Nathan Broxton, Stephen Eugene Clark, Jr., Stephen Michael Kinnison, Robert Eugene Davidson, and others to distribute heroin and cocaine in Calvert and Prince George’s County.  Stewart obtained heroin from Broxton and then sold smaller quantities of heroin to Kinnison, Davidson, and others.  Stewart also supplied cocaine to Kinnison and others for further distribution. 

During the course of the conspiracy, Stewart regularly communicated with Broxton, Clark, Kinnison, Davidson, and others, both in person and via phone calls and text messaging, to arrange their narcotics transactions. At the direction of law enforcement, a confidential informant purchased quantities of heroin, totaling 23 grams, from Stewart on four occasions between September 8, 2016 and February 10, 2017. Law enforcement obtained court-authorized wiretaps for the cellular telephones used by Stewart, Broxton, Clark, Kinnison, and Davidson.  Those intercepted communications showed that Stewart knew that Davidson and Kinnison resold portions of the drugs they purchased from Stewart to their own customers; that Broxton was obtaining distribution quantities of heroin; that Clark was obtaining distribution quantities of cocaine; and that both Broxton and Clark had other narcotics clients besides Stewart.

For example, between April 11 and 13, 2017, Stewart and Broxton communicated by telephone to arrange a heroin transaction at a convenience store in Anne Arundel County, Maryland.  Law enforcement conducted surveillance of Broxton and saw him leave his job at a drug rehabilitation facility to meet Stewart at the convenience store, where Stewart bought 150 grams of heroin from Broxton.  Immediately following the meeting, Stewart returned to his residence and contacted one of his customers to see if the customer needed more heroin.

As detailed in his plea agreement, between April 15 and May 6, 2017, Stewart purchased cocaine from Clark on three occasions, totaling more than 210 grams of cocaine.  For example, on April 24, 2017, Stewart arranged by phone to purchase 4.5 ounces of cocaine from Clark for $4,000.  Later that day, law enforcement surveilled the meeting at a fast-food restaurant in Prince George’s County, where Stewart and Clark completed the transaction.

On July 6, 2017, law enforcement executed search warrants at locations associated with the drug distribution conspiracy, including Stewart’s two residences in Upper Marlboro.  From Stewart’s residences, law enforcement recovered, among other things, a total of approximately 138 grams of heroin; approximately three grams of cocaine, crack cocaine and procaine (a local anesthetic drug); a prescription pill bottle containing approximately 89 Oxycodone pills; approximately three grams of a white powdery substance consisting of cocaine, heroin, caffeine, and diphenhydramine (an antihistamine); approximately 15 grams of cocaine; a total of $40,235 in cash; and drug paraphernalia, including an electric grinder and digital scale, both with heroin and cocaine residue; two bottles of Mannitol powder (a cutting agent); and empty zip-lock baggies. Stewart admitted that he possessed the controlled substances, baggies, and grinder as part of his drug trafficking business and intended to distribute the drugs.

In addition, law enforcement officers also located and seized a.40 caliber semi-automatic pistol loaded with nine rounds of ammunition and a spare magazine loaded with nine rounds of .40 caliber ammunition; a 9mm luger caliber semi-automatic pistol; a 12 gauge pump-action firearm; nine rounds of 9mm ammunition; approximately 21 rounds of .40 caliber ammunition; seven 12 gauge shotgun shells; and approximately $16,687 in cash. Stewart admitted that he possessed the firearms and ammunition in furtherance of his drug trafficking business.  Further investigation revealed that the 12 gauge pump-action firearm and the .40 caliber semi-automatic pistol were both stolen.

According to his plea agreement, Stewart, who was not a licensed importer manufacturer, dealer, or collector of firearms and who was on probation at the time, transported, or caused to be transported firearms from outside the state of Maryland to his residence.  In particular, between January 24, 2014 and July 6, 2017, Stewart caused the transportation of a Smith and Wesson model SD9VE, bearing serial number HFC4476, from outside Maryland to his residence.

Stewart and the government have agreed that if the Court accepts his plea, Stewart will be sentenced to between eight and fourteen years in federal prison.  U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis has scheduled sentencing for March 1, 2022 at 10:00 a.m.

Co-defendants Patrick Nathan Broxton, age 50, of Ellicott City, Maryland; Stephen Eugene Clark, Jr., age 57, of Laurel, Maryland; Stephen Michael Kinnison, age 47, of Lusby, Maryland; and Robert Eugene Davidson, age 32, of Sunderland, Maryland, previously pleaded guilty to their roles in the conspiracy.  Broxton was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison; Clark was sentenced to 19 months in federal prison; and Kinnison was sentenced to 41 months in federal prison. Davidson is scheduled to be sentenced on February 14, 2022.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone.  Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts.  PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.

This case is also part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation.  OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.  

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the DEA, the ATF, the Calvert County Sheriff’s Office, the St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office, and the Prince George’s County Police Department for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Barron thanked Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Jared Engelking and Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam K. Ake, who are prosecuting the case.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/project-safe-neighborhoods-psnexile and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.

# # #

Greenbelt, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Paul W. Grimm today sentenced Eddie Ray Johnson, Jr., age 60, of Brandywine, Maryland, to 16 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, with the first 12 months to be served in home confinement, for theft of government property, in connection with a scheme to use his government-issued travel credit card to obtain more than $1.1 million in cash advances.  In addition, Judge Grimm ordered Johnson to perform 500 hours of community service, pay a $15,000 fine, forfeit $4,000 seized during a search on November 6, 2019, and pay restitution of $1,157,540.69.

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Brigadier General Terry Bullard of the Air Force Office of Special Investigations (OSI); Special Agent in Charge Christopher Dillard of the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General, Defense Criminal Investigative Service - Mid-Atlantic Field Office; and Special Agent in Charge Darrell J. Waldon of the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), Washington, D.C. Field Office.

According to his plea agreement, from January 2003 to February 2018, Johnson was a civilian Air Force employee, most recently as a travel coordinator in the Secretary of the Air Force, Office of Legislative Liaison, where he planned congressional travel and reviewed and approved accounting packages submitted by trip escorts, among other duties.  Johnson admitted that from March 2014 through September 2017, he used his government-issued travel credit card to obtain more than $1.1 million in cash advances, at least $774,000 of which he diverted to his own personal use.

As detailed in the plea agreement, Johnson frequently deposited the stolen funds into a non-interest- bearing account opened in his name at a bank branch in the Pentagon.  Employees in the Office of Legislative Liaison were instructed to open such accounts so that they could more easily deposit and withdraw government funds for official use without accruing interest.  After depositing the stolen funds, Johnson wrote checks to himself, which he deposited into his personal bank accounts, and spent the money for his personal benefit, including on living expenses, a baby grand piano, loan payments for a Harley Davidson motorcycle, and family vacations.  Johnson also admitted that he provided cash to his family members, including his spouse.

During execution of a search warrant at Johnson’s residence on November 6, 2019, law enforcement recovered approximately $15,174 in cash.  Johnson agrees that at least $4,000 of the funds seized were the proceeds of his offense.

In all, Johnson’s conduct caused a loss to the U.S. government of $1,157,540.69, which includes $26,506.02 in banking and service fees that the Air Force paid monthly in connection with the cash advances Johnson obtained. 

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the OSI, the DCIS, and the IRS-CI for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Dana J. Brusca and Elizabeth Wright, who prosecuted the case.

# # #

Greenbelt, Maryland – A federal jury convicted El Salvadorian nationals Junior Noe Alvarado-Requeno, a/k/a “Insolente” and “Trankilo,” age 24, of Landover, Maryland, and Miguel Angel Corea Diaz, a/k/a “Reaper,” age 41, of Long Branch, New Jersey yesterday for conspiring to participate in La Mara Salvatrucha, a transnational criminal enterprise also known as MS-13. Alvarado-Requeno was also convicted of three counts each of murder in aid of racketeering and conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering and conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute marijuana and cocaine.  Corea Diaz was also convicted of one count each of conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering and murder in aid of racketeering; conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute marijuana, cocaine, and heroin; and possession with intent to distribute heroin.

The convictions were announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; Acting Nassau County District Attorney Joyce A. Smith; Assistant Director in Charge Steven M. D'Antuono, of the FBI Washington Field Office; Special Agent in Charge James R. Mancuso of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Baltimore Office; Administrator Anne Milgram of the Drug Enforcement Administration; Chief Malik Aziz of the Prince George’s County Police Department; Chief Marcus Jones of the Montgomery County Police Department; and Bedford County (VA) Sheriff Michael W. Miller.

“The brutal and tragic violence perpetrated by these MS-13 members and their fellow gang is totally unacceptable. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Maryland and our local and state partners are working together to remove these violent gang members to keep our communities safe from the threat of MS-13,” said U.S. Attorney Erek L. Barron.  “We will continue to work to bring to justice these transnational gangs, but we need the continued help of members of our communities in order to carry on our work against MS-13.”

“MS-13 terrorizes communities across the western hemisphere using fear, violence, and intimidation,” said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “MS-13 exploits undocumented people and those communities that may not have easy access to law enforcement. This prosecution demonstrates the Department of Justice’s commitment to dismantling this criminal organization and protecting all people.”

Acting Nassau County District Attorney Joyce A. Smith said, “This verdict has brought justice to the many victims – named and unnamed, individuals and immigrant communities in the eastern United States – that have been terrorized by MS-13. Miguel Angel Corea Diaz’ reign of terror is over.  I am proud of the contribution my office has made to our federal partner’s efforts through our 22-agency partnership and wiretap investigation that revealed Corea Diaz as a regional director of this brutal, transnational gang. We are truly safer today and I thank the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Maryland and the U.S. Department of Justice for securing a conviction against these dangerous defendants.”

“This investigation is an example of the dedication and hard work of not only the FBI, but also the Northern Virginia Safe Streets/HIDTA task force, and all our partners who work each day to fight the crime and violence that terrorize communities,” said Steven M. D'Antuono, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI Washington Field Office. “The FBI will continue to take steps to aggressively target and pursue leaders of transnational criminal gangs like MS-13, who have been involved in scores of criminal activity. These criminal acts, such as racketeering, murder, extortion, drug trafficking, money laundering, and witness tampering will not be tolerated, and these two guilty verdicts are clear examples of law enforcement’s resolve to eradicate these violent gangs.”

“This verdict not only deals a crippling blow for MS-13 operating on the east coast, it also represents a victory for the citizens terrorized by MS-13,” said Special Agent in Charge James R. Mancuso of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Baltimore. “The partnership of HSI, FBI, DEA, Montgomery County Police, Prince George’s County Police and Bedford County Sheriff’s Office makes for a strong team, and other criminal elements operating in the area should take notice; we will come after them as well.”

“Criminal organizations, drugs, and violence are inextricably linked,” said Administrator Anne Milgram of the Drug Enforcement Administration. “There is no better example than MS-13, which is notorious for its ruthless tactics to further its criminal activities. Today’s convictions will prevent these MS-13 leaders from inflicting brutality on our communities. DEA is committed to the tireless interagency and international efforts to remove the malignant presence of drug trafficking organizations and safeguard the health and well-being of Americans.”

MS-13 is a transnational gang composed primarily of immigrants or descendants from El Salvador.  Branches or “cliques” of MS-13, one of the largest street gangs in the United States, operate throughout Frederick County, Anne Arundel County, Prince George’s County, and Montgomery County, Maryland. 

According to the evidence presented at the four-week trial, between 2015 and 2018, Alvarado-Requeno and Corea Diaz controlled and operated the Sailors Locos Salvatruchos Westside (S.L.S.W. or “Sailors”) Clique through a pattern of racketeering activity, which included murder, extortion, drug trafficking, money laundering, and witness tampering. Evidence showed that the gang ran a protection scheme in and around its home base in Langley Park, Maryland, and extorted local businesses by charging them “rent” for the privilege of operating in MS-13 “territory.” The gang also trafficked in illegal drugs, including marijuana, heroin, and cocaine. A large share of the proceeds of the gang’s illegal activities were sent to gang leadership in El Salvador to further promote the goals of the gang, using structured transactions and intermediaries to avoid law enforcement scrutiny.

The Sailors Clique committed acts of violence against suspected rival gang members, as well as against its own membership for breaking gang rules. In June 2016, Alvarado-Requeno ordered members of the Sailors Clique to murder a suspected rival in the woods at Malcolm King Park in Gaithersburg. Luring him with the promise of sex with a female MS-13 associate, the gang members ambushed the teenaged victim and stabbed him 153 times. In fact, the victim did not belong to any gang.

In March 2017, a member of the Sailors Clique who was hiding from law enforcement in the Lynchburg, Virginia area had a dispute with a local high school student over marijuana. In response, Alvarado-Requeno and Corea-Diaz organized a squad of MS-13 members to drive down to Lynchburg and murder the high schooler. The gang members kidnapped the student from his front lawn and cut his hand off before killing him. After the murder, the Alvarado-Requeno and Corea Diaz helped to hide and protect the killers who escaped the scene from law enforcement.

Among the most important rules of MS-13 is the prohibition against talking to law enforcement, embodied by the maxim ver, oir, y callar – see, hear, and say nothing. The gang enforced this rule by placing a “green light” – an order to kill – on any member of MS-13 who was thought to be informing on the gang. In December 2016, Alvarado-Requeno directed and participated in the murder of a 14-year-old member of MS-13 who was suspected of talking to the police. The boy’s remains were discovered eighteen months later in the woods outside of Germantown, Maryland.

The jury made special findings beyond a reasonable doubt that as part of the racketeering conspiracy Alvarado-Requeno murdered two other individuals and as part of the racketeering conspiracy Correa Diaz conspired to murder a third person.

Alvarado-Requeno and Corea-Diaz each face mandatory sentences of life imprisonment. U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis has not yet scheduled sentencing.

Anyone with information about MS-13 is encouraged to provide their tips to law enforcement.  The FBI and Homeland Security Investigations both have nationwide tiplines that you can call to report what you know.  You can reach the FBI at 1-866-STP-MS13 (1-866-787-6713), or you can call HSI at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE.

This case is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation.  OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron and Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite commended the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office, the FBI, HSI, the DEA Washington and Buffalo Field Divisions, the Prince George’s County Police Department, the Montgomery County Police Department, and the Bedford County Sherriff’s Office for their work in the investigation and prosecution.  Mr. Barron and Mr. Polite thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Hagan, and Trial Attorneys Julie Finocchiaro and Alexander Gottfried of the Justice Department’s Organized Crime and Gang Section, who are prosecuting the case.

# # #

Yesterday, a federal jury in Maryland convicted two El Salvadorian nationals for conspiring to participate in La Mara Salvatrucha, a transnational criminal enterprise, commonly known as MS-13.

Junior Noe Alvarado-Requeno, aka Insolente, aka Trankilo, 25, and Miguel Angel Corea Diaz, aka Reaper, 39, were convicted of multiple racketeering-related offenses. Alverado-Requeno and Corea-Diaz were both convicted on racketeering conspiracy, conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering, murder in aid of racketeering, and conspiracy to distribute controlled substances.

“MS-13 terrorizes communities across the western hemisphere using fear, violence, and intimidation,” said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “MS-13 exploits undocumented people and those communities that may not have easy access to law enforcement. This prosecution demonstrates the Department of Justice’s commitment to dismantling this criminal organization and protecting all people.”

“The brutal and tragic violence perpetrated by these MS-13 members and their fellow gang is totally unacceptable,” said U.S. Attorney Erek L. Barron for the District of Maryland. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Maryland and our local and state partners are working together to remove these violent gang members to keep our communities safe from the threat of MS-13. We will continue to work to bring to justice these transnational gangs, but we need the continued help of members of our communities in order to carry on our work against MS-13.”

“This investigation is an example of the dedication and hard work of not only the FBI, but also the Northern Virginia Safe Streets/HIDTA task force, and all our partners who work each day to fight the crime and violence that terrorize communities,” said Assistant Director in Charge Steven M. D'Antuono of the FBI’s Washington Field Office. “The FBI will continue to take steps to aggressively target and pursue leaders of transnational criminal gangs like MS-13, who have been involved in scores of criminal activity. These criminal acts, such as racketeering, murder, extortion, drug trafficking, money laundering, and witness tampering will not be tolerated, and these two guilty verdicts are clear examples of law enforcement’s resolve to eradicate these violent gangs.”

“This verdict not only deals a crippling blow for MS-13 operating on the east coast, it also represents a victory for the citizens terrorized by MS-13,” said Special Agent in Charge James R. Mancuso of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Baltimore. “The partnership of HSI, FBI, DEA, Montgomery County Police, Prince George’s County Police and Bedford County Sheriff’s Office makes for a strong team, and other criminal elements operating in the area should take notice; we will come after them as well.”

“Criminal organizations, drugs, and violence are inextricably linked,” said Administrator Anne Milgram of the Drug Enforcement Administration. “There is no better example than MS-13, which is notorious for its ruthless tactics to further its criminal activities. Today’s convictions will prevent these MS-13 leaders from inflicting brutality on our communities. DEA is committed to the tireless interagency and international efforts to remove the malignant presence of drug trafficking organizations and safeguard the health and well-being of Americans.”

According to court documents, MS-13 is organized into a series of sub-units or “cliques” that operate in specific geographic locations, and each clique is typically controlled by a single leader, sometimes known as the “First Word.” Alvarado-Requeno and Corea Diaz were both leaders of the Sailors clique. Corea Diaz held the title of Primera Palabra, or “First Word,” for the entire east coast. Alvarado-Requeno was the First Word of the Sailors for the Sailors in Maryland.

According to evidence presented at the four-week trial, between 2015 and 2018, the defendants controlled and operated the Sailors Locos Salvatruchos Westside (SLSW or Sailors) through a pattern of racketeering activity, including murder, extortion, drug trafficking, money laundering, and witness tampering. Evidence showed that the gang ran a protection scheme in and around its home base in Langley Park, Maryland, and extorted local businesses by charging them “rent” for the privilege of operating in MS-13 “territory.” The gang also trafficked in illegal drugs, including marijuana, heroin, and cocaine. A large share of the proceeds of the gang’s illegal activities were sent to gang leadership in El Salvador to further promote the illicit activities of the gang, using structured transactions and intermediaries to avoid law enforcement scrutiny.

The Sailors Clique committed acts of violence against suspected rival gang members, as well as its own membership for breaking gang rules. In June 2016, Alvarado-Requeno ordered members of the Sailors Clique to murder a suspected rival in the woods at Malcolm King Park in Gaithersburg. Luring him with the promise of sex with a female MS-13 associate, the gang members ambushed the teenaged victim and stabbed him 153 times. In fact, the victim did not belong to any gang.

In March 2017, a member of the Sailors Clique who was hiding from law enforcement in the Lynchburg, Virginia, area had a dispute with a local high school student over marijuana. In response, Alvarado-Requeno and Corea-Diaz commanded a squad of MS-13 members to drive down to Lynchburg and murder this high school student. The gang members kidnapped the student from his front lawn and cut his hand off before killing him. After the murder, the defendants helped to hide and protect the killers from law enforcement.

Among the most important rules of MS-13 is the prohibition against talking to law enforcement, embodied by the maxim ver, oir, y callar – see, hear, and say nothing. The gang enforced this rule by placing a “green light” – an order to kill – on any member of MS-13 who was thought to be informing on the gang. In December 2016, Alvarado-Requeno directed and participated in the murder of a 14-year-old member of MS-13 who was suspected of talking to the police. The boy’s remains were discovered eighteen months later in the woods outside of Germantown, Maryland.

The jury made special findings beyond a reasonable doubt that as part of the racketeering conspiracy, Alvarado-Requeno murdered two other individuals and, as part of the racketeering conspiracy, Correa Diaz conspired to murder a third person.

Alvarado-Requeno was convicted of three counts each of murder in aid of racketeering and conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering and conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute marijuana and cocaine. Corea Diaz was convicted of one count each of conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering and murder in aid of racketeering; conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute marijuana, cocaine, and heroin; and possession with intent to distribute heroin. Alvarado-Requeno and Corea-Diaz each face mandatory sentences of life imprisonment.

The FBI’s Washington Field Office, HSI Baltimore, the DEA’s New York Field Division and Baltimore District Office, Prince George’s County Police Department, Montgomery County Police Department, and Bedford County Sherriff’s Office investigated the case. Nassau County District Attorney’s Office provided valuable assistance.

Trial Attorneys Julie Finocchiaro and Alexander Gottfried of the Justice Department’s Organized Crime and Gang Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Hagan of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland are prosecuting the case.

Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Ellen L. Hollander sentenced Brian Blackston, age 32, of Baltimore, yesterday to 70 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute cocaine in the Monument Street area of East Baltimore. 

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Assistant Special Agent in Charge Orville O. Greene of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Baltimore District Office; and Commissioner Michael Harrison of the Baltimore Police Department.

According to Blackston’s plea agreement, in July of 2018, Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”) Strike Force Group 1 began an investigation of the Monument Street corridor in East Baltimore, which is known to support a high volume of street-level drug distribution and acts of violence associated with the drug trafficking.  During the investigation, law enforcement identified multiple street-level drug trafficking “shops,” with the two most prominent located in the 400 block of North Montford Avenue at Jefferson Street (“the Montford DTO”) and in the 2400 block of East Monument Street at Port Street (the “Out the Mud,” or “OTM DTO”). 

As detailed in his plea agreement, investigators identified Blackston as a drug distributor for the OTM DTO who agreed with his co-conspirators to acquire and to assist in distributing controlled substances to others. Investigators conducted physical surveillance and intercepted calls between Blackston and his co-conspirators discussing the distribution of drugs, including cocaine, crack cocaine, fentanyl and heroin. 

Throughout the course of Blackston’s involvement in the conspiracy, it was reasonably foreseeable to Blackston, and within the scope of the conspiracy that he or other members of the conspiracy would distribute between 500 grams and two kilograms of cocaine, as well as quantities of crack cocaine, heroin, and fentanyl, during the course of and in furtherance of the conspiracy. 

Blackston is the final defendant to be sentenced of the 25 defendants charged as part of this investigation who either pleaded guilty or were convicted at trial.  

This prosecution was brought as a part of the Department of Justice’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) Co-located Strike Forces Initiative, which provides for the establishment of permanent multi-agency task force teams that work side-by-side in the same location.  This co-located model enables agents from different agencies to collaborate on intelligence-driven, multi-jurisdictional operations against a continuum of priority targets and their affiliate illicit financial networks.  These prosecutor-led co-located Strike Forces capitalize on the synergy created through the long-term relationships that can be forged by agents, analysts, and prosecutors who remain together over time, and they epitomize the model that has proven most effective in combating organized crime.  The specific mission of the Baltimore OCDETF Strike Force is to reduce violent, drug-related, and gang crime in the Baltimore area and surrounding region.

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the DEA and the Baltimore Police Department for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys LaRai Everett and James T. Wallner, who prosecuted the case.

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Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Ellen L. Hollander today sentenced Phillip J. “Jamie” Harrington III, age 50, of Dorchester, Maryland, to one year of probation, to pay a $10,000 fine, a $5,000 special assessment, and to perform 100 hours of community service for unlawful employment of undocumented workers.  Judge Hollander sentenced Capt. Phip’s Seafood Inc. to three years of probation and to pay a $240,000 fine for visa fraud related to the employment of temporary workers employed at Harrington companies.  In addition, Judge Hollander ordered Harrington and Captain Phip’s seafood to participate in a verification program for their employees and were debarred from participating in the H-2B visa program.  The fines were paid today.

The sentences were announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge James R. Mancuso of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Baltimore; Special Agent in Charge Andrew Wroblewski of the Washington Field Office of the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service (DSS); and Acting Special Agent in Charge Troy Springer of the Washington Regional Office, U.S. Department of Labor - Office of Inspector General (DOL-OIG).

Philip J. Harrington, Jr. was Capt. Phip’s owner, President, and sole Director until his death on February 13, 2018. Since March 6, 2019, Capt. Phip’s has been owned and operated by Philip Harrington’s, son, Jamie Harrington.  The primary business of Capt. Phip’s is the production and distribution of ice as well as the processing of seafood. For more than a decade, Capt. Phip’s has participated in the H-2B work visa program through which it has obtained temporary foreign workers to fill seasonal positions.

According to the company’s guilty plea, from 2013 through 2018, Captain Phip’s Seafood Inc. routinely sought prevailing wage determinations for multiple job descriptions, and then filed petitions for H-2B visas for only the jobs with the lowest prevailing wage, regardless of the actual work duties of the employees.  The H-2B Visa Program is a temporary non-agricultural worker program in which an employer may seek temporary authorization for foreign workers to legally enter and work in the U.S.  To obtain an H-2B Visa, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) must ensure the positions have been advertised to U.S.-based workers and assign the appropriate wage to be paid (“prevailing wage”) based on the job description.

As stated in the plea agreement, Captain Phip’s willfully submitted false and inaccurate job descriptions to obtain lower prevailing wages for its foreign workers.  Capt. Phip’s omissions about the full scope of the job duties to be performed by its temporary foreign workers resulted in the DOL approving Capt. Phip’s to pay lower prevailing wage than it would have been authorized if Capt. Phip’s had provided truthful information.

For example, in 2016, Capt. Phip’s requested and received prevailing wage determinations for three position: ice conveyor operators with a prevailing wage of $12.51; oyster production workers with a prevailing wage of $16.96; and ice machine operators (ice production workers) with a prevailing wage of $11.10. Capt. Phip’s then filed a petition for ice production workers with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). The petition was approved and the Department of State (DOS) issued 24 H-2B visas to non-immigrant Mexican nationals authorizing them to work for Capt. Phip’s as ice production workers in the United States.  Once the Mexican ice production workers entered the United States, Capt. Phip’s used these workers for jobs beyond ice production, including for oyster processing, as maintenance workers, truck drivers and drivers’ assistants.  Capt. Phip’s admits that it intentionally and falsely claimed that the foreign workers would only be engaged in ice production in order to pay them the lower prevailing wage.  Had Capt. Phip’s truthfully filed for H-2B visas for many of these duties, these employees would have been entitled to a higher wage.

As stated in the company’s plea agreement, on August 31, 2017, a USCIS officer and government agents conducted a site visit at Capt. Phip’s location in Secretary, Maryland. At that time, Capt. Phip’s H-2B workers were authorized only to engage in oyster production work. During the site visit, three H-2B visa beneficiaries were interviewed through an interpreter and indicated that their current duties involved ice packing duties rather than oyster production work.

A USCIS officer and agents also interviewed Phillip Harrington, Jr., who signed all the H2-B visa petitions for Capt. Phip’s and his son, Jamie Harrington, who identified himself as the Vice President of Capt. Phip’s, responsible for “running the business,” to include the buying and selling of product, managing the levels of product, and hiring and/or firing. Jamie Harrington admitted that all of Capt. Phip’s H-2B workers were packing ice, and none of them were currently processing any oysters. The workers’ H-2B visas for 2017 only permitted them to work in oyster processing. Jamie Harrington admitted that Capt. Phip’s visa petitions should have been for workers for both ice and oyster processing.

During the August 31, 2017 interview, Jaime Harrington stated that he was also the President of Easton Ice Company, Inc. (“Easton Ice”).  The principal office for Easton Ice is the same physical address as Capt. Phip’s premises in Secretary, Maryland.   A subsequent interview of a recipient of multiple H-2B visas filed by Capt. Phip’s including in 2017, when the H-2B workers were only authorized for oyster processing, revealed that their duties that season were to drive a truck and deliver ice. In September 2017, an agent observed this person driving a truck bearing the name “Easton Ice.” The agent also saw another Capt. Phip’s H-2B recipient delivering ice and riding in the truck. Easton Ice did not apply for H-2B visas in 2017, and workers with H-2B visas obtained through Capt. Phips were not authorized to work for Easton Ice Company. Nevertheless, Jamie Harrington admitted that Capt. Phip’s H-2B visa recipients were routinely directed to perform work for Easton Ice and other businesses controlled by Philip and Jamie Harrington.

On August 9, 2018, government agents interviewed Jamie Harrington at Capt. Phip’s premises in Secretary, Maryland. Jamie Harrington admitted that the company was not in compliance with the requirements of the H-2B visa program and that some of Capt. Phip’s H-2B workers were driving trucks or performing other duties outside the scope of their visas, including performing work for other companies controlled by Philip and Jamie Harrington, including Easton Ice, Woodfield Ice Company, Inc. (“Woodfield Ice”), as well as two Ocean City, Maryland, motels owned by members of the Harrington family.  Agents pointed out to Jamie Harrington that if the H-2B applications had been truthful about the location and job duties for workers at Woodfield Ice the prevailing wage would have been much higher because that business is in the Washington, D.C. metro area.

Between approximately 2013 and 2018, Capt. Phip’s filed petitions for H-2B visas for approximately 142, nonimmigrant workers.  Capt. Phip’s officers involved in the H-2B process were aware that the nonimmigrant workers were intended to be employed to engage in work beyond the job descriptions authorized by the workers’ visas.  Capt. Phip’s realized unlawful benefits through the use of fraudulently low prevailing wages between April 2013 to December 2018, although the exact amount cannot be determined. Capt. Phip’s has not participated in the H-2B visa program since at least January 2019.

Jamie Harrington is also the owner and operator of multiple other businesses involved the production and distribution of ice as well as processing of seafood, rental machinery, housing development, oyster farming, and other ventures including: Easton Ice; Woodfield Ice; PJH Oyster; Two Sons R.S., LLC; Philson Properties, LLC; Two Sons C.P. LLC; P&N Farms; Atlantic Rental, LLC; DMS Hurlock, LLC; The Preserve at Wright’s Wharf Homeowners Association; and Super Transporter, LLC. (together with Capt. Phip’s, the “Harrington Companies.”

Harrington admitted in his plea agreement that, beginning in 2013 and continuing through at least August 9, 2018, he engaged in a pattern and practice of hiring and employing workers without lawful immigration status at the Harrington Companies. Most of the unauthorized workers were Mexican citizens and nationals. Some of the undocumented workers Jamie Harrington hired and employed entered the United States lawfully and overstayed their visas, others never had lawful status to be present in the United States. Analysis of payroll and other records shows that approximately 89 undocumented workers were employed by the Harrington Companies between 2013 and 2018. Harrington continued to employ several of the workers even after he knew they had been placed into removal proceedings by immigration officials because they did not have lawful status to be present or working in the United States.

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended HSI, DSS, and DOL-OIG for their work in the investigation and thanked the Baltimore District Office of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division for its assistance.  Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Judson T. Mihok, who prosecuted the case.

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Baltimore, Maryland – Lynette Carlest, age 49, of Baltimore, Maryland, pleaded guilty yesterday to participating in a racketeering conspiracy, including drug distribution and bribery, by assisting a detainee at Chesapeake Detention Facility (CDF) in Baltimore, Maryland to have contraband smuggled into the facility.

The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Sobocinski of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Baltimore Field Office; and Secretary Robert Green of the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services (DPSCS).

According to her guilty plea, between 2018 and March 11, 2019, Carlest conspired with others to assist a detainee to smuggle narcotics, cell phones, and other contraband into CDF. Specifically, Carlest used a mobile monetary transfer application to manage the financial aspects of the detainee’s smuggling operation. For example, Carlest used the application to send at least four bribe payments of $800 or more to Darren Parker, a correctional officer at CDF, in exchange for Parker’s assistance in smuggling contraband into the jail.

As detailed in the plea agreement, Carlest met with Parker and provided him with contraband on multiple occasions. For example, on March 10, 2019, Carlest met with Parker to give Parker a cell phone, charger, suboxone, and tobacco to be smuggled into CDF and given to the detainee. On March 11, 2019, Parker brought the contraband to work and was approached by law enforcement officers in the CDF parking lot. Later that day, Carlest received a call from the detainee, using a contraband cell phone inside CDF, informing her that Parker had been caught attempting to smuggle contraband into the jail.

Carlest faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison followed by three years of supervised release for racketeering conspiracy. U.S. District Judge George L. Russell has scheduled sentencing for February 9, 2022 at 11 a.m.

Correctional officers Darren Parker, age 45, of Baltimore, Maryland and Talaia Youngblood, age 35, of Randallstown, Maryland, pleaded guilty to their roles in a racketeering conspiracy at CDF on October 18, 2021 and October 13, 2021, respectively. They admitted that they accepted bribes to smuggle contraband, including narcotics, tobacco, and cell phones, into the jail. Another co-defendant, Jasmine Coleman, age 29, of Baltimore, pleaded guilty on October 25, 2021, to arranging bribes and providing contraband to be smuggled into CDF on behalf of another detainee.

The U.S. Attorney expressed appreciation to the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, whose staff initiated the CDF investigation and have been full partners in this investigation. 

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the FBI and DPSCS for their work in the investigation. Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Peter J. Martinez and Harry M. Gruber, who are prosecuting the case.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit www.justice.gov/usao-md and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.

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Greenbelt, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Paul W. Grimm sentenced Andrew Joseph Trimmer, age 32, of Bowie, Maryland to ten and a half years in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances, possession with intent to distribute controlled substances, and assault on a federal officer.   

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge Jarod Forget of the Drug Enforcement Administration - Washington Division (DEA); Chief Malik Aziz of the Prince George’s County Police Department (PGPD); Chief Darryl McSwain of the Maryland National Capital Park Police, Montgomery County Division; Chief John Nesky of the Bowie Police Department; and Anne Arundel County Police Chief Amal E. Awad.

According to his plea agreement, between May 2018 to September 2020, Trimmer and his girlfriend, Alicia Walls, conspired with others to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute heroin and fentanyl.

Specifically, on May 28, 2018, in Bowie, Maryland, Trimmer sold fentanyl to Victim A. During the narcotics transaction, Victim A and Victim A’s friends ingested the heroin that Trimmer distributed. Shortly after ingestion, Victim A overdosed and lost consciousness. After receiving life support treatment, Victim A survived the overdose, which constituted a serious bodily injury. Prior to the overdose on May 28, 2018, Trimmer distributed at least one gram of heroin and fentanyl to Victim A approximately two times per week for two years.

Occasionally, Trimmer and Walls sold narcotics in the presence of a minor child.  On July 16, 2019, while caring for a 9-month-old child, Walls fell asleep after ingesting narcotics, and the child obtained narcotics from Wall’s belongings, ingested the narcotics, and subsequently overdosed. Trimmer and Walls then transported the child to a nearby hospital where healthcare workers revived the child. After receiving additional lifesaving measures, the child survived.

Following the child’s overdose, law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Trimmer and Walls’s hotel room. As agents announced themselves, Trimmer attempted to flee on foot. After disregarding law enforcement’s commands to stop, a federal task force officer attempted to physically stop Trimmer from fleeing. Trimmer then proceeded to grab the officer’s body armor and began to physically assault the officer. Eventually, Trimmer was apprehended. The officer sustained a torn meniscus as a result of the assault. During his altercation with the officer, Trimmer shed his jacket from which officers later recovered 30 grams of fentanyl. From Trimmer’s car, police recovered digital scales, plastic bags, and razor blades used by Trimmer and Walls to distribute drugs.

Trimmer and Walls had numerous narcotics customers in the Bowie area, including two other victims, Victim B and Victim C. After Trimmer was taken into custody, Walls continued to distribute heroin and fentanyl to Victim B and Victim C.  In October 2020, after obtaining heroin and fentanyl from Walls, Victim B and Victim C both overdosed.  Both were transported to the hospital for advanced life support and treatment and ultimately survived.   Together, over a six month period, Walls and Trimmer distributed at least 240 grams of heroin and fentanyl to Victim B and Victim C.  

Following his arrest and incarceration, Trimmer assaulted corrections officers on three separate occasions causing bodily injuries to several corrections officers. As part of his sentence, Judge Grimm ordered Trimmer pay restitution of $52,174.52 for injuries sustained by the federal task force officer and the corrections officers during the assaults by Trimmer.   

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the DEA, the PGPD, the Maryland National Capital Park Police, the Bowie Police Department, and the Anne Arundel County Police Department for their work in the investigation. Mr. Barron thanked Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Amy L. Schwartz, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jennifer L. Wine, and Dwight Draughon who prosecuted the case.

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Baltimore, Maryland – A federal grand jury has returned an indictment charging Elias Nick Costianes, Jr., age 43, of Nottingham, Maryland, for two counts of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance—specifically, testosterone and cocaine. The indictment also charges Costianes with possession of firearms and ammunition by an unlawful user of any controlled substance.  The indictment was returned on November 18, 2021 and Costianes will have an initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Baltimore at a later date. Costianes remains released under the supervision of U.S. Pretrial Services since his arrest on a related federal criminal complaint.

The indictment was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron and Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Sobocinski of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office.

According to the three-count indictment and other court documents, on February 12, 2021, the FBI executed search warrants at Costianes’s residence, on his vehicle, and on Costianes’ cellphone.  Court documents allege that law enforcement recovered four firearms from the residence: a 9mm pistol; a M&P 15 semi-automatic rifle; a .223 caliber semi-automatic rifle; and a 12-gauge shotgun, as well as 9mm, .22 caliber, .223 caliber, and shotgun ammunition.  Law enforcement also allegedly recovered three vials of testosterone enanthate and one vial of testosterone cypionate, both controlled substances.

As detailed in court documents, the electronic evidence from Costianes’ phone, including photographs and text message conversations, allegedly revealed that Costianes used and conspired to traffic cocaine and testosterone by acquiring controlled substances from his suppliers to distribute to friends and associates.  The indictment alleges that the conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute testosterone lasted from February 2020 through February 2021 and the conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute cocaine lasted from March through December 2020.

If convicted, Costianes faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison for each of the two counts of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance; and a maximum of 10 years in prison for possession of firearms and ammunition by an unlawful user of a controlled substance.  Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

An indictment is not a finding of guilt.  An individual charged by indictment is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty at some later criminal proceedings. 

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the FBI for its work in the investigation.  Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey J. Izant, who is prosecuting the federal case.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit www.justice.gov/usao-md and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.

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Baltimore, Maryland – Dwight Antonio Pitts, age 47, of Hanover, Maryland, pleaded guilty on November 19, 2021, to charges related to his participation in a drug distribution conspiracy involving large amounts of fentanyl, cocaine, and marijuana, shipped through the U.S. Mail from California to Maryland. 

The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Superintendent Colonel Woodrow W. Jones III of the Maryland State Police; Postal Inspector in Charge Daniel A. Adame of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service - Washington Division; and Assistant Special Agent in Charge Orville O. Greene of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Baltimore District Office.

According to his guilty plea, since November 2019, the Maryland State Police (“MSP”), Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”), United States Postal Inspection Service (“USPIS”) were investigating a drug trafficking conspiracy involving Pitts, Michael Fisher (a.k.a. Mark Wilson), and others, who were distributing fentanyl, cocaine, and marijuana in the Baltimore/Washington Metropolitan areas.  Investigators used court-authorized wiretaps to intercept calls and other communications between Pitts, Fisher, and other conspirators in which they discussed drug distribution with each other and with other individuals.  Investigators also conducted surveillance of drug transactions conducted by both Pitts and Fisher.

During the conspiracy, Pitts and Fisher traveled to California multiple times to obtain kilograms of cocaine and fentanyl.  Once in possession of the narcotics, Pitts or Fisher used the U.S. Mail to ship the narcotics back to Maryland for distribution.  

Between May and August 2020, U.S. Postal Inspectors interdicted several parcels from the mail, including two parcels bound for an address in Hyattsville, Maryland that was identified as a location leased by Pitts.  On August 13, 2020, a search warrant was authorized for the two parcels.  Law enforcement recovered more than two kilograms of cocaine from one parcel and more than two kilograms of fentanyl from the other parcel. Investigators obtained video surveillance from the El Segundo Branch Post Office, from which the parcels had been mailed.  The video showed Pitts at the post office at the time the parcels were mailed. 

On August 13, 2020, investigators obtained consent to search Co-Conspirator 2’s residence in Los Angeles after watching Fisher transfer a box containing approximately $190,020 in cash to Co-Conspirator 2’s car.  Law enforcement recovered from the residence two duffle bags containing approximately 30 kilograms of cocaine, along with two additional duffle bags that contained more than $193,980 in narcotics proceeds, not including the approximately $190,020 Fisher provided to Co-Conspirator 2 earlier that day.

On August 17, 2020, law enforcement executed search warrants at the six locations in Maryland associated with Pitts and Fisher and at a residence in Las Vegas, Nevada.  Investigators seized 15 firearms—6 firearms from locations associated with Pitts and 9 firearms from locations associated with Fisher—along with kilogram quantities of cocaine, fentanyl, and marijuana.  In total, during the investigation law enforcement seized approximately 35 kilograms of cocaine, approximately 6.5 kilograms of fentanyl, and approximately 50 kilograms of marijuana.  In addition, investigators seized approximately $1,501,308, which Pitts admitted was proceeds from the sale of narcotics.

As detailed in the plea agreement, additional evidence, including evidence seized from searches on cellular phones of conspirators and CCTV footage, showed that between July 2019 and August 2020, the conspiracy was responsible for mailing approximately 121 parcels from Los Angeles area Post Offices to locations in Maryland. 

Pitts admitted in his plea agreement that the amount involved in the conspiracy attributable to him as a result of his own conduct and the conduct of other conspirators reasonably foreseeable to him is approximately 8.5 kilograms of fentanyl; approximately 150 kilograms of cocaine; and approximately 50 kilograms of marijuana.

Pitts and the Government have agreed that, if the court accepts the guilty plea, Pitts will be sentenced to between 12 and 15 years in federal prison.  U.S. District Judge Stephanie A. Gallagher scheduled sentencing for March 1, 2022, at 11:00 a.m.

Co-defendant Michael Fisher, a.k.a. Mark Wilson, age 47, of Laurel, Maryland, pleaded guilty to the same charges and is scheduled to be sentenced on February 22, 2022, at 2:00 p.m.

This case is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation.  OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.    

The overdose crisis continues to devastate our state and local communities. If you believe you may need substance use disorder treatment or recovery services, please call 1800-662-HELP (4357). You may also visit the website for United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland for further information and resources on opioid awareness here.

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the MSP, USPIS, and DEA for their work in the investigation and recognized the Los Angeles Police Department, the Los Angeles and Las Vegas DEA, and the USPIS Phoenix Division-Las Vegas, Nevada for their assistance. Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Anatoly Smolkin, and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Romano, who are prosecuting the case.

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Baltimore, Maryland – Anthony Gonzalez, age 40, of Aberdeen, Maryland, pleaded guilty today to coercion and enticement.

The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Colonel Woodrow W. Jones III, Superintendent of the Maryland State Police; Director Darrell R. Reider of the Swatara Township Police Department (Pennsylvania).

According to his guilty plea, between 2017 and 2019, Gonzalez used cell phones and the internet to persuade, entice, and coerce three minor females to engage in sexual activity. 

Specially, in June 2018, Gonzalez made contact with an underaged female victim (Victim 1) on a social media application. Although Victim 1’s profile stated that she was 18 years old, Victim 1 informed Gonzalez that her actual age was 16 years old. During their communication, Gonzalez referred to Victim 1 as his girlfriend, discussed getting married to her, and initiated sexual conversations.

In one instance, Gonzalez asked Victim 1 to sneak out of her hotel room that she was sharing with her father to meet Gonzalez. On June 27, 2018, Gonzalez traveled from his Bel Air, Maryland residence to meet Victim 1 at the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania hotel. There, Gonzalez and Victim 1 engaged in sexually explicit activity twice. In one sexual encounter, Gonzalez recorded the sexual acts on his cell phone. Additionally, Gonzalez brought Victim 1 a cell phone with the ability to take pictures and videos as her cell phone could not. Following their meeting, Gonzalez asked Victim 1 “Do you always delete our messages from your phone baby?”.

Between 2017 and 2018, Gonzalez met Victim 2, when she was 13 years old. Gonzalez initiated a romantic online relationship with Victim 2. During their conversations, Gonzalez frequently held sexual conversations with Victim 2 and convinced the victim to send sexual images. Also, Gonzalez discussed meeting with Victim 2 in person. When Victim 2 declined and blocked Gonzalez multiple times, a mutual friend encouraged her to communicate with him.

Gonzalez met Victim 3 in 2018 when she was 15 years old. Gonzalez told Victim 3 that they were “boyfriend and girlfriend” and convinced her to send him sexually explicit images at his request. Victim 3 genuinely believed that she had to do what Gonzalez requested because she was his “girlfriend”. In total, Victim 3 sent explicit images over 500 times at his request.

As detailed in his plea agreement, on January 24, 2019, a federal search warrant was executed at Gonzalez’s Aberdeen, Maryland residence. As a result of the search warrant, law enforcement seized several devices including two tablets, three cell phones, and a SIM card. In an interview with law enforcement, Gonzalez admitted to engaging in sex acts with Victim 1 and saved the recordings to an internet storage system. He also admitted to law enforcement that he knew Victim 2 was a minor during their conversations and had approximately four sexually explicit images of her. 

Gonzalez and the government have agreed that, if the Court accepts the plea agreement, Gonzalez will be sentenced to between 10 and 16 years in federal prison. U.S. District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow has scheduled sentencing for February 24, 2022 at 9:30 a.m. 

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

Acting United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the Maryland State Police Department and the Swatara Township Police Department (Pennsylvania) for their work in the investigation. Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul E. Budlow, who is prosecuting the federal case.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit www.justice.gov/usao-md/project-safe-childhood and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.

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Baltimore, Maryland – A federal grand jury has returned an indictment charging Jacob Matthew Martz, age 41, of Sharpsburg, Maryland, with possession of a firearm by a prohibited person and with possession of a machinegun, in connection with 16 firearms and multiple machinegun conversion devices found at the defendant’s residence.  The indictment was returned on November 4, 2021 and unsealed yesterday upon the arrest of the defendant.

The indictment was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Sobocinski of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; Acting Special Agent in Charge L.C. Cheeks, Jr. of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Baltimore Field Division.

According to the two-count indictment, on October 6, 2021, Martz illegally possessed six pistols, a 12-gauge shotgun, a .410 shotgun, and eight rifles. The indictment alleges that Martz knew that, as a result of previous felony firearms convictions, he was prohibited from possessing firearms.  Further, the indictment alleges that Martz possessed machineguns, specifically, machinegun conversion devices for AR-15 style rifles, also known as “drop in auto sears,” parts designed and intended solely and exclusively, for use in converting a weapon into a machinegun.  Finally, the indictment seeks the forfeiture of all 16 firearms upon the conviction of the defendant.

If convicted, Martz faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison for being a felon in possession of firearms and a maximum of 10 years in federal prison for possession of a machinegun.  Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. At yesterday’s initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Baltimore, U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark Coulson ordered that Martz be released under the supervision of U.S. Pretrial Services.

An indictment is not a finding of guilt. An individual charged by indictment is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty at some later criminal proceedings. 

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the FBI and the ATF for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles D. Austin, who is prosecuting the case.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/project-safe-neighborhoods-psnexile and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.  

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Baltimore, Maryland – A federal jury convicted Feliciano de Jesus Diaz-Martinez, a/k/a Alex, age 43, of Owings Mills, Maryland, yesterday for sex trafficking of a child, enticement of a minor to engage in prostitution, sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion, and distribution of a controlled substance.  Diaz-Martinez has been in custody since his indictment on July 25, 2019.

The guilty verdict was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge James R. Mancuso Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Baltimore; Chief Melissa R. Hyatt of the Baltimore County Police Department; and Baltimore County State’s Attorney Scott Shellenberger.

According to the evidence presented at his nine-day trial, from at least 2016 through May  2019, Diaz-Martinez, a Guatemalan national in the United States illegally, caused more than eight individuals, including minors, to engage in commercial sex acts for his own financial benefit by means of force, fraud, and coercion.  Trial testimony confirmed that Diaz-Martinez knew that Victim 1 was 16 years old when he first caused her to engage in commercial sex acts.  Victim 1 continued to work for Diaz-Martinez until she was approximately 18 years old.  The evidence proved that nearly all of the victims that Diaz-Martinez caused to engage in commercial sex acts suffered from serious substance abuse disorders, including addictions to heroin, crack cocaine, and Xanax.  Diaz-Martinez took half or all of the money earned by the victims working for him, and sold some of the victims narcotics, often at prices significantly higher than he paid to purchase the drugs.

As detailed in trial testimony, Diaz-Martinez maintained a network of friends and associates who paid to engage in commercial sex acts with the victims Diaz-Martinez advertised and made available to them.  Diaz-Martinez sent his customers pictures of the victims available for commercial sex and set the prices that customers would pay to engage in sex acts with the victims he controlled.  Diaz-Martinez then transported, or caused to be transported, victims to his customers’ homes, or to hotel rooms he rented, to engage in commercial sex acts.  The evidence showed that Diaz-Martinez also invited customers to engage in commercial sex acts with victims in his apartment and in a storage unit that he rented.

Witnesses testified that Diaz-Martinez maintained several different accounts in alias names on a social media platform, which he used to recruit and communicate with the victims in order to entice them to work for him and engage in commercial sex acts, including many users he had never met.  The jury found that Diaz-Martinez sometimes offered the users he communicated with heroin and crack cocaine, referred to as “boy” and “girl,” in exchange for engaging in commercial sex with his customers.  Diaz-Martinez also directed the victims working for him to recruit their friends, many of whom were also addicted to narcotics, to engage in commercial sex for his financial benefit.

Several victims testified that Diaz-Martinez frequently demanded that they engage in sex acts with him, free of charge, and that he retaliated against the victims if he was not personally satisfied with the sexual encounter.  Diaz-Martinez also retaliated against victims who violated his rules, failed to earn sufficient money from commercial sex, or otherwise displeased him in a number of ways, including, abandoning them at customers’ homes and on roadsides without their belongings or transportation and withholding drugs from the victims whom he knew to be addicted.

Diaz-Martinez faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum of life in prison for sex trafficking of a minor and for enticement of a minor to engage in prostitution; a minimum mandatory sentence of 15 years and up to life in prison for each of four counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud, and coercion; and a maximum of 20 years in prison for distribution of controlled substances.  U.S. District Judge Ellen L. Hollander has scheduled sentencing for February 11, 2022 at 2:00 p.m.

This case was investigated by the Maryland Human Trafficking Task Force, formed in 2007 to discover and rescue victims of human trafficking while identifying and prosecuting offenders.  Members include federal, state and local law enforcement, as well as victim service providers and local community members.  For more information about the Maryland Human Trafficking Task Force, please visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/md/priorities_human.html.

Report suspected instances of human trafficking to HSI's tip line at 866-DHS-2ICE (1-866-347-2423) or by completing its online tip form.  Both are staffed around the clock by investigators.

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended HSI Baltimore, the Baltimore County Police Department and the Baltimore County State’s Attorney’s Office for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mary W. Setzer and P. Michael Cunningham, who are prosecuting the case.

# # #

Greenbelt, Maryland – A federal grand jury has returned an indictment charging Moshe Michael Imel, age 51, of Owings, Maryland, with five counts of production of child pornography involving two minor victims.  The indictment was returned yesterday. Imel will have an initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt at a later date. Imel remains detained on separate State charges.

The indictment was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge James R. Mancuso of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); Calvert County Sheriff Mike Evans; and Calvert County State’s Attorney Robert Harvey.

According to the five-count indictment, during two months in 2018, Imel persuaded, enticed and coerced Victim A to engage in sexually explicit conduct in order to produce images documenting the sexually explicit conduct.  Similarly, the indictment alleges that on three occasions during one month in 2020, Imel enticed and coerced Victim B to engage in sexually explicit conduct in order to produce images documenting the sexually explicit conduct of Victim B.

Law enforcement believes there may be other victims.  Please report suspected sexual abuse to HSI's tip line at 866-DHS-2ICE (1-866-347-2423) or by completing its online tip form.  Both are staffed around the clock by investigators.

If convicted, Imel faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in federal prison and a maximum sentence of 30 years in federal prison for each of the five counts of production of child pornography.  Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.  

An indictment is not a finding of guilt.  An individual charged by indictment is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty at some later criminal proceedings. 

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

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the HSI, the Calvert County Sheriff’s Office, and the Calvert County State’s Attorney’s Office for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joseph R. Baldwin and Kristi N. O’Malley, who are prosecuting the federal case.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit www.justice.gov/usao-md/project-safe-childhood and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.

# # #

Greenbelt, Maryland – Mateus Vaduva, age 29, of Baltimore, Maryland, pleaded guilty on November 17, 2021 to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and wire fraud, in connection with a scheme to steal from the mail donation checks intended for religious institutions.   

The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Postal Inspector in Charge Daniel A. Adame of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service - Washington Division; Special Agent in Charge James R. Mancuso of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Baltimore; Special Agent in Charge Shimon R. Richmond of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Office of Inspector General (FDIC-OIG); Chief Marcus Jones of the Montgomery County Police Department; Chief Toni Dezomits of the Cary, North Carolina, Police Department; and Sheriff Dusty Rhoades of the Williamson County, Tennessee, Sheriff’s Office.

According to his guilty plea, beginning in June 2018 to January 2021, Vaduva and his co-conspirators conspired to steal checks from the U.S. mail intended for religious institutions and deposit the illegally obtained funds into multiple fraudulent bank accounts at various victim financial institutions. Conspirators, including Vaduva, conducted the thefts by driving to roadside mailboxes of churches and other religious institutions and removing the mail, specifically targeting donation checks.

As part of the scheme to defraud, Vaduva and other co-conspirators fraudulently opened bank accounts at victim financial institutions under false identities. Conspiracy members often opened fictitious bank accounts with the aid of a conspiracy member that was an employee at one of the victim financial institutions. In addition, Vaduva and his co-conspirators used at least two extended family members who were minors to assist in the account openings.

Vaduva and co-conspirators then withdrew cash from the fraudulent bank accounts through ATMs and spent the illegally obtained proceeds using debit cards associated with the bank accounts.

Throughout the scheme to defraud, Vaduva personally deposited at least approximately 126 stolen checks totaling at least approximately $79,551.07. In total, co-conspirators deposited at least 3,067 stolen checks from Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia, and elsewhere, totaling in approximately $1,307,484.23.

As stated in his plea agreement, Vaduva and his co-conspirators will be required to pay restitution in the full amount of the victims’ losses, which is at least $1,307,484.23.

Vaduva faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison followed by five years of supervised release for conspiracy to commit bank fraud and wire fraud. U.S. District Judge Theodore D. Chuang has scheduled sentencing for February 18, 2022 at 2 p.m.

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, HSI, the FDIC Office of Inspector General, the Montgomery County Police Department, the Cary (North Carolina) Police Department, and the Williamson County (Tennessee) Sheriff’s Office for their work in the investigation. Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Wright, who is prosecuting the case.

# # #

A federal court in Maryland permanently enjoined a Baltimore-based physician assistant from prescribing opioids and other controlled substances, the Department of Justice announced today.

Pursuant to an agreed consent judgment filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, U.S. District Judge Deborah L. Boardman enjoined Elizabeth J. Allen from dispensing, prescribing or administering any controlled substances. The consent decree resolves a civil complaint filed by the government alleging that Allen, while working at a Maryland pain clinic, repeatedly prescribed opioids in violation of the Controlled Substances Act. The government alleged that from 2014 to 2019, Allen issued hundreds of prescriptions that had no legitimate medical purpose and fell outside the usual course of professional medical practice. The injunction requires that Allen never again apply for or seek the reinstatement of her DEA registration, which is required for a medical professional to prescribe controlled substances. 

“Anyone who prescribes opioids and other controlled substances must comply with professional standards and the law,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “The Department of Justice will continue to work with its law enforcement partners to ensure that medical providers abide by the Controlled Substances Act.”

“Physician assistants and nurse practitioners are subject to the Controlled Substances Act and cannot overprescribe opioids and hide behind their affiliations with physicians in an attempt to shield themselves from criminal and civil liability,” said U.S. Attorney Erek L. Barron for the District of Maryland. “The court’s approval of this consent decree should remind all medical practitioners that the U.S. Attorney’s Office intends to use all the tools at its disposal—both criminal and civil—to combat the opioid epidemic which continues to plague our State. We will hold responsible all medical professionals who contribute to Maryland’s opioid epidemic by overprescribing opioids, regardless of their title or the letters that follow their name.”

“The DEA continues to hold prescribers and all medical professionals accountable when they violate the law,” said Special Agent in Charge Jarod A. Forget of the DEA Washington Division. “Overprescribing controlled substance pharmaceuticals remains a key threat and can lead to overdoses. We will continue to investigate these prescribers in order to save lives.”

The government’s complaint alleged that Allen repeatedly prescribed dangerous and potentially lethal combinations of opioids and benzodiazepines. The complaint also alleged that Allen continued to prescribe patients opioids even after some tested positive for illicit or unprescribed substances in urine toxicology screens. Although the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention generally recommends that primary care clinicians avoid daily dosages of opioids over 90 morphine milligram equivalents (MME), the government alleged that Allen wrote prescriptions that could cause some patients to exceed 700 MME daily. The government alleged that prescriptions written by Allen were a contributing factor in the death of at least one Marylander. Allen denied the government’s allegations.

The investigation was conducted by the DEA’s Office of Diversion Control, Washington Division, Baltimore District Office.

The case was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Alan C. Lazerow and Trial Attorneys Donald Lorenzen and Thomas Rosso of the Justice Department’s Consumer Protection Branch.

Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Deborah L. Boardman has approved a consent decree that permanently enjoins Elizabeth J. Allen, a Baltimore-based physician assistant, from prescribing opioids and other controlled substances, resolving the United States’ civil allegations that Allen violated the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) in illegally prescribing opioids. Under the consent decree, Allen agrees to never apply for or seek the reinstatement of her DEA registration—which is required for a medical professional to prescribe controlled substances, and which lapsed in 2020. 

The approval of the consent decree was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Acting Assistant Attorney General Brian Boynton of the Justice Department’s Civil Division; and Special Agent in Charge Jarod A. Forget of the Drug Enforcement Administration - Washington Field Division.

“Physician assistants and nurse practitioners are subject to the Controlled Substances Act and cannot overprescribe opioids and hide behind their affiliations with physicians in an attempt to shield themselves from criminal and civil liability,” said U.S. Attorney Erek L. Barron.  “The Court’s approval of this consent decree should remind all medical practitioners that the U.S. Attorney’s Office intends to use all the tools at its disposal—both criminal and civil—to combat the opioid epidemic which continues to plague our State.  We will hold responsible all medical professionals who contribute to Maryland’s opioid epidemic by overprescribing opioids, regardless of their title or the letters that follow their name.”

“Anyone who prescribes opioids and other controlled substances must comply with professional standards and the law,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Brian Boynton of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “The Department of Justice will continue to work with its law enforcement partners to ensure that medical providers abide by the Controlled Substances Act.”

“The DEA continues to hold prescribers and all medical professionals accountable when they violate the law,” stated Jarod A. Forget, Special Agent in Charge of the Washington Division.  “Overprescribing controlled substance pharmaceuticals remains a key threat and can lead to overdoses.  We will continue to investigate these prescribers in order to save lives.”

The government alleged that from 2014 to 2019, Allen, who practiced medicine as a physician assistant at the Centers for Rehabilitation, Pain Management, and Wellness in Pikesville, Maryland, issued hundreds of prescriptions that had no legitimate medical purpose and fell outside the usual course of professional medical practice. 

More specifically, the government’s complaint alleged that Allen repeatedly prescribed dangerous and potentially lethal combinations of opioids and benzodiazepines. The complaint also alleged that Allen continued to prescribe patients opioids even after some tested positive for illicit or unprescribed substances in urine toxicology screens. Although the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention generally recommends that primary care clinicians avoid daily dosages of opioids over 90 morphine milligram equivalents (MME), the government alleged that Allen wrote prescriptions that could cause some patients to exceed 700 MME daily. The government alleged that prescriptions written by Allen were a contributing factor in the death of at least one Marylander. Allen denied the government’s allegations.

U.S. Attorney Erek L. Barron and Acting Assistant Attorney General Brian Boynton commended the DEA’s Office of Diversion Control, Washington Division, Baltimore District Office for its work in the investigation.  U.S. Attorney Barron and Acting Assistant Attorney General Boynton also thanked Assistant United States Attorney Alan C. Lazerow and Trial Attorneys Donald Lorenzen and Thomas S. Rosso of the Justice Department’s Consumer Protection Branch, who handled the case.

# # #

Baltimore, Maryland – A federal grand jury has returned an indictment charging Tyler Dean Fowler, age 29, of Easton, Maryland, with receipt of child pornography and possession of child pornography. The indictment was returned on November 10, 2021. Fowler was arrested for these charges on November 18, 2021 in North Carolina.

The indictment was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Sobocinski of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; Colonel Woodrow W. Jones III, Superintendent of the Maryland State Police and Chief David A. Spencer of the Easton Police Department.

According to the four-count indictment, in October 2019 Fowler knowingly received several images of minors engaged in sexually explicit activity including an image of a minor male’s genitalia.

The indictment also alleges that Fowler’s cell phone and laptop contained one or more visual depictions of prepubescent minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

If convicted, Fowler faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in federal prison and a maximum sentence of 20 years for receipt of child pornography; and a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison for possession of child pornography. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. At today’s initial appearance in U.S. District Court in in the Western District of North Carolina. U.S. Magistrate Judge David Keesler ordered that Fowler be detained pending a detention hearing scheduled for receipt of child pornography and possession of child pornography.

An indictment is not a finding of guilt. An individual charged by indictment is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty at some later criminal proceedings. 

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the FBI, the Maryland State Police Department, the Easton Police Department, and the Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office of North Carolina for their work in the investigation. Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Abigail E. Ticse and Paul E. Budlow, who are prosecuting the federal case.

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

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit www.justice.gov/usao-md/project-safe-childhood and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.

# # #

Baltimore, Maryland – United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron announced today that three cities in the District of Maryland have received grants totaling $3 million from the Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) COPS Hiring Program (CHP). The Department of Justice announced more than $139 million in grant funding through the program. The grants will provide direct funding to 183 law enforcement agencies across the nation, allowing those agencies to hire 1,066 additional full-time law enforcement professionals, including 24 officers in Maryland.

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

“Our local law enforcement partners are facing unprecedented challenges.  I am happy that these grants from the Department of Justice will assist them to hire the officers needed to keep our communities safer and advance community oriented policing in our local police departments,” said U.S. Attorney Erek L. Barron. 

The following cities in Maryland received awards:

            City of Cumberland received $375,000 to hire three officers;             Town of Forest Heights received $500,000 to hire four officers; and
            City of Seat Pleasant received $2,125,000 to hire 17 officers.

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

Since its creation in 1994, COPS has invested more than $14 billion to advance community policing, including grants awarded to more than 13,000 state, local and Tribal law enforcement agencies to fund the hiring and redeployment of more than 135,000 officers. CHP, COPS’ flagship program, continues to be in demand today: In FY21, COPS received 590 applications requesting nearly 3,000 law enforcement positions. For FY22, President Biden has requested $537.0 million for CHP, an increase of $300 million.

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

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

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/project-safe-neighborhoods-psnexile and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.

# # #

Greenbelt, Maryland – U.S. Magistrate Judge Gina L. Simms today sentenced Anthony Lesane, age 56, of Fort Washington, Maryland, a former police officer at the Department of Defense, to one year of probation, and a $6,000 fine, for theft of government property, related to his overbilling the government for hours he had not worked.  Judge Simms also ordered Lesane to perform 100 hours of community service in the first nine months of his probation and pay restitution in the amount of $25,832.47, which Lesane paid today at his sentencing.

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron and Special Agent in Charge Christopher Dillard of the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General, Defense Criminal Investigative Service - Mid-Atlantic Field Office.

According to Lesane’s plea agreement, from at least August 2016 through October 2019, Lesane, a police officer working for the Department of Defense at a facility in Prince George’s County, Maryland, falsely recorded work hours in his department’s time and attendance system that he had not worked.  On most occasions, Lesane claimed to have worked overtime hours and on at least one occasion, Lesane claimed work hours while he was out of the country on vacation.

As a result of his fraudulent time and attendance entries, Lesane stole at least $25,832.47 by overbilling his employing agency.

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron praised the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General, Defense Criminal Investigative Service for its work in the investigation and thanked the Naval Criminal Investigative Service for its assistance.  Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph R. Baldwin, who prosecuted the case.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit www.justice.gov/usao-md and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.

# # #

Greenbelt, Maryland – Edwin Kerry Smith, age 43, of Silver Spring, Maryland, pleaded guilty today to possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance and admitted that heroin he distributed to one victim resulted in the victim’s fatal overdose.   

The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge Jarod Forget of the Drug Enforcement Administration - Washington Division; Chief Marcus Jones of the Montgomery County Police Department; Chief Malik Aziz of the Prince George’s County Police Department; and Chief Robert J. Contee III of the Metropolitan Police Department.

According to his guilty plea, Smith was arrested on March 11, 2021 in Maryland for attempting to distribute four ounces of heroin. Smith committed this offense while on pretrial supervision on narcotics charges in the Circuit Court for Montgomery County.

As part of his guilty plea, Smith also admitted that on August 22, 2019 he distributed heroin to Victim A, who subsequently ingested the heroin provided by Smith, overdosed and died. At the scene of Victim A’s death, law enforcement discovered a ziplock bag containing 1.33 grams of heroin and a small plastic bag containing .34 grams of cocaine. According to an autopsy report from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for the State of Maryland, Victim A died of morphine and quetiapine intoxication. The last outgoing communication on Victim A’s phone was a text to order narcotics from Smith and according to historical cell site data, Smith and Victim A met on August 22, 2019 in the same location where Victim A’s body was found. Approximately one month earlier, Smith was arrested near that same location with two bags of heroin, totaling 21.02 grams.

Smith and the government have agreed that, if the Court accepts the plea agreement, Smith will be sentenced to eight years in federal prison.  U.S. District Judge Theodore D. Chuang has scheduled sentencing for February 28, 2022 at 2 p.m. 

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the DEA, Montgomery County Police Department, the Prince George’s County Police Department, and the Washington Metro Police Department for their work in the investigation. Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Caitlin R. Cottingham, who is prosecuting the case.

# # #

Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett sentenced Rudy Adonaldo Chavez, age 31, of Guatemala to 97 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for conspiracy to commit murder for hire and for distribution of cocaine. 

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron and Special Agent in Charge James R. Mancuso of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Baltimore.

According to his plea agreement, on September 6, 2019 HSI investigators arranged a cocaine transaction between a confidential informant and Chavez. The confidential informant purchased 2 ounces of cocaine from Chavez for $2,500.

Three days later, investigators arranged a controlled meeting between the confidential informant and Chavez, who was in the country illegally. During the meeting, Chavez solicited assistance from the confidential informant to murder another individual. As agreed to in the statement of facts, Chavez stated that the intended victim had previously killed two of Chavez’s friends and shot his brother, as a result of an unsuccessful drug deal that took place in Guatemala.

On September 11, 2019, the confidential informant called Chavez on the phone to introduce him to an undercover officer posing as a “hitman”. During the conversation with the hitman, Chavez explained why he wanted to murder the intended victim, that the intended victim fled from Guatemala, illegally entered the United States, and settled in California. He further explained that he had an associate (co-conspirator 1) that was willing to lure the intended victim from California to Baltimore to execute the murder. Chavez also informed the undercover officer that co-conspirator 1 was aware of the plan to murder the intended victim.

Furthermore, Chavez and the undercover officer discussed pricing for the murder. Specifically, Chavez agreed to pay the undercover officer $5,000 “up front” and the remaining $5,000 after the victim was murdered. As a result of the meeting, Chavez and the undercover officer exchanged phone numbers to arrange future meetings regarding the murder for hire.

In a controlled meeting with the undercover officer on September 19, 2020, Chavez provided the undercover officer with approximately $2,000 as a down payment for the murder. Prior to the meeting, Chavez and the undercover agent agreed that the undercover agent would use the $2,000 to pay for an apartment that would be used as a location to lure the intended victim. Chavez also provided the undercover officer with co-conspirator 1’s phone number.

As stated in his plea agreement, on September 26, 2019, in a meeting with the undercover officer, co-conspirator 1 gave the intended victim’s phone number to the undercover officer to communicate with co-conspirator 1. Chavez also provided the undercover officer with a picture of the intended victim.

Law enforcement was able to identify the intended victim with the information provided by Chavez and the co-conspirator and detained the intended victim in California in order to prevent the murder.                     

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron praised the HSI for their work in the investigation. Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Kim Y. Oldham and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Romano, who prosecuted the case.

# # #

Greenbelt, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Paul W. Grimm sentenced Ian Carlton Alexander a/k/a “Shawn Alexander”, age 50, of Towson, to 61 months in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for possession with intent to distribute cocaine and for being a felon in possession of a firearm. 

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge Jarod Forget of the Drug Enforcement Administration - Washington Division (DEA); Postal Inspector in Charge Daniel A. Adame of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service - Washington Division; Chief Marcus Jones of the Montgomery County Police Department; Chief Malik Aziz of the Prince George’s County Police Department; Chief Robert J. Contee III of the Metropolitan Police Department; and Chief Melissa R. Hyatt of the Baltimore County Police Department.

According to his guilty plea, on October 3, 2019, Alexander travelled from his Towson, Maryland residence to New York to acquire 1,990 grams of cocaine that he intended to distribute to a potential narcotics customer in Maryland. The following day, law enforcement conducted a traffic stop on Alexander as he was returning from New York to Maryland. Law enforcement recovered approximately two kilograms of cocaine in the passenger compartment and a 9mm handgun in the vehicle’s center console. Law enforcement also recovered approximately $3,357 from Alexander’s person at the time of the arrest.

As detailed in his plea agreement, law enforcement executed a search warrant on Alexander’s Towson, Maryland residence. As a result of the search warrant, law enforcement seized 28 grams of heroin, an assault rifle, and two AR-15 box magazines loaded with armor piercing ammunition.

Alexander knew that as the result of a previous felony conviction, he was prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition.

This case is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.    

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron praised the DEA, USPIS, the Montgomery County Police Department, the Prince George’s County Police Department, the Metropolitan Police Department, and the Baltimore County Police Department for their work in the investigation. Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Caitlin R. Cottingham and Special Assistant United States Attorney Coreen Mao, who prosecuted the case.

# # #

Greenbelt, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Theodore D. Chaung sentenced Rodney Jerrod Jefferson, age 29, of Hyattsville, Maryland to seven and a half years in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for conspiracy to commit bank fraud. Judge Chaung has also ordered Jefferson to pay a total of $35,100.17 in restitution.

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron and Postal Inspector in Charge Daniel A. Adame of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service - Washington Division.

According to his plea agreement, from May 2018 to August 2019, Jefferson conspired with Michael Deandre Packer, age 38, of Washington, D.C. and others to rob postal workers, steal at least 1,000 checks from postal collection boxes worth more than $1.5 million, and deposit the stolen checks into fraudulent bank accounts.

For example, on October 14, 2018, Packer robbed a postal worker in Upper Marlboro, Maryland.  Prior to the robbery, the postal carrier saw Packer in a black Infiniti vehicle.  Investigators later determined Packer had purchased the Infiniti G37 the day before the robbery using an altered or fictitious check and a fraudulent driver’s license bearing Packer’s photograph. 

On December 14, 2018, officers stopped Packer while driving a Audi A7. Investigators later determined that Packer purchased the Audi using a counterfeit $25,000 check. Inside the vehicle, officers located a key used to open postal collection boxes, 119 stolen checks worth $102,260, stolen mail, 130 grams of marijuana, and Packer’s cell phone. A review of the cell phone communications revealed conversations between Packer and Jefferson about negotiating stolen checks, the purchase of firearms, and photographs of firearms.  During a subsequent search warrant executed at Packer’s residence, investigators found another key used to open postal collections boxes, more than 1,000 stolen checks worth in excess of $1.5 million, as well as fraudulent driver’s licenses and credit cards.

On February 27, 2019, investigators executed a search warrant at Jefferson’s residence and found several keys used to open postal collection boxes, stolen checks from different states, deposit receipts and credit cards in other individuals’ names, and a magnetic stripe reader used for encoding credit cards. The issuers of the stolen checks reported to investigators that they deposited the checks into the U.S. Postal Service collection boxes, but the checks were never delivered.

As stated in his plea agreement, four months later on June 18, 2019, investigators arrested Jefferson near Seabrook, Maryland where Jefferson was driving a stolen Cadillac CTS. During a search of Jefferson’s vehicle, investigators found 160 stolen personal checks in various stages of alteration, multiple credit cards in different names, a credit card embosser, and a loaded handgun.

Less than two months later, on August 5, 2019, Jefferson used a rented truck to steal mail from postal collection boxes in Alexandria, Virginia. Three days later, law enforcement stopped Jefferson while he was driving the same rental truck and inside the truck located debit and electronic payment cards in other individuals’ names, additional stolen and altered checks, an ATM deposit receipt matching the information one of the fraudulently obtained debit cards, and a fraudulent driver’s license displaying Jefferson’s photograph.

Over the course of the conspiracy, Packer and Jefferson were recorded on bank surveillance video cashing and negotiating several fraudulent checks and withdrawing the fraud proceeds. Jefferson also admitted to using fraud proceeds to purchase U.S. Postal money orders.  In total, Jefferson obtained at least $24,244 proceeds as a result of the conspiracy. Jefferson, Packer and their co-conspirators caused victims an actual loss of at least $35,100.17.

Co-defendant, Michael Packer previously pleaded guilty and was sentenced to more than four years in federal prison to be followed by three years of supervised release and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $35,100.17.              

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron praised the USPIS for their work in the investigation.  U.S. Attorney Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer L. Wine and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica C. Harvey, who prosecuted the case.

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Baltimore, Maryland – Kiara Haynes, age 36, of Baltimore, pleaded guilty today to two counts of aiding and abetting the use and discharge of a firearm in relation to a drug trafficking crime and crime of violence, causing the death of Jennifer Jeffrey and her seven-year-old child. Haynes has been detained since her arrest in Texas on June 18, 2021, on a related federal criminal complaint. 

The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge Timothy Jones of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Baltimore Field Division; Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Sobocinski of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; Commissioner Michael Harrison of the Baltimore Police Department; and Chief Mark K. Lewis of the Cambridge Police Department.

“The murders of Jennifer Jeffrey and her child were a tragedy,” said U.S. Attorney Erek L. Barron. “The loss of any life is tragic, and never more so than a child.  If you threaten or harm a witness, especially a child, the full weight of federal law enforcement will be harnessed to hold you accountable and bring you to justice, no matter how long it takes.”

According to Haynes’s plea agreement, Haynes helped her co-defendant, with whom she was romantically involved, plan to steal heroin from Jennifer Jeffrey, a long-time friend of Haynes. On May 26, 2015, the co-defendant arrived at Haynes’s apartment from the co-defendant’s home in Cambridge and the two went to the phone store, where the co-defendant bought a new phone. During the course of the evening, the co-defendant explained that Jeffrey had heroin and he planned to rob and kill Jeffrey to get the heroin. The co-defendant confirmed to Haynes his intention to kill not only Jeffrey, but her minor child if the child were present at the time of the robbery. Haynes offered to help the co-defendant get a gun.

Haynes subsequently contacted a relative whom she knew to have a gun. The relative was incarcerated at the time. Haynes told the relative on a recorded jail line that she needed the gun so the co-defendant could rob Jeffrey of her drugs. In exchange for allowing Haynes to use the gun, Haynes promised to give the inmate “like 30 [grams]” of the stolen heroin and his gun back. The inmate agreed to loan Haynes the gun. After the call, Haynes and the co-defendant met with the inmate’s brother, who gave Haynes a .45 caliber firearm. Haynes and the co-defendant returned to Haynes’s apartment with the gun.

Later that night, as detailed in the plea agreement, the co-defendant left Haynes’s apartment to go hang out with Jeffrey at Jeffrey’s nearby home. When Haynes woke up later and realized that the co-defendant had not returned, Haynes got upset. Between 4:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m. Haynes walked over to Jeffrey’s home and began banging on the door and yelling for the co-defendant to come out. Jeffrey’s relative opened the door and told Haynes that children were in the house asleep and that Haynes should go home, which she eventually did.

According to Haynes’s plea agreement, at approximately 7:23 a.m., the co-defendant walked back from Jeffrey’s residence to Haynes’s apartment. The co-defendant told Haynes that Jeffrey had shown him a large amount of heroin and that Jeffrey’s child did not feel well and had not gone to school that day. At approximately 11:41 a.m. Haynes overheard the co-defendant on the phone with Jeffrey, who was talking about making breakfast for the co-defendant. When the co-defendant got off the phone, he retrieved the .45-caliber gun from Haynes’s bedroom and told Haynes that he was going to Jeffrey’s to get the drugs.

When the co-defendant returned to Haynes’s apartment, Haynes asked him what had happened. The co-defendant told Haynes that Jeffrey and her child were dead and gave Haynes a bag of heroin as her “cut” of Jeffrey’s drugs. When Haynes went to a friend’s house to meet the co-defendant, she overheard individuals telling the co-defendant that the heroin was only worth $8,000. As detailed in the plea agreement, Haynes returned the gun to the inmate’s relative along with the heroin given to her by the co-defendant, as payment for the use of the gun.  

On May 28, 2015, after a receiving a call for assistance, the Baltimore Police Department discovered Jeffrey and her child dead in their home.

In the plea agreement, Haynes further admitted that she lied to investigators and prosecutors about these events on five occasions between May 2015 and November 2020.

Haynes faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison and a maximum sentence of life in prison on each of the two counts. U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett scheduled sentencing for February 24, 2022 at 2:30 p.m. 

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the ATF, the FBI, the Baltimore Police Department, and the Cambridge Police Department for their work in the investigation. Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Dana J. Brusca, Sandra Wilkinson, and Paul Budlow, who are prosecuting the case, and thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael C. Hanlon for his assistance.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit www.justice.gov/usao-md and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.

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Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Paul W. Grimm sentenced Tirrel Saunders, a/k/a “Pretty”, age 35, of Baltimore, Maryland to 15 years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for conspiracy to distribute controlled substances. Saunders was a member of the Gregory Butler Drug Trafficking Organization (“Butler DTO”) which distributed heroin, fentanyl, cocaine, and crack cocaine in Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. 

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Sobocinski of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; Assistant Special Agent in Charge Orville O. Greene of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Baltimore District Office; Chief Marcus Jones of the Montgomery County Police Department; and Commissioner Michael Harrison of the Baltimore Police Department.

According to his guilty plea, from October 2018 to April 2019, FBI investigators intercepted phone communications of the Butler DTO that operated in and around the Baltimore area, arranging heroin, crack cocaine, and fentanyl sales to drug users and redistributors from Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. The Butler DTO sold thousands of dollars in narcotics daily and frequently sold over 100 grams of heroin mixed with fentanyl on a daily basis. Customers of the Butler DTO believed they were purchasing heroin; however, the Butler DTO adulterated all heroin it sold with fentanyl.

As stated in his plea agreement, Saunders was identified as a Butler DTO supervisor, which involved managing the daily supplies of narcotics and the collection of drug proceeds from distributors. FBI investigators intercepted communications of Saunders regularly arranging the resupply of heroin and crack cocaine to co-conspirators who would then sell those narcotics to customers. Saunders also communicated with Butler DTO leadership and acted as a liaison between Butler DTO leadership and street-level distributors.

Saunders agreed that over the course of the conspiracy, he distributed over one kilogram of heroin to street-level distributors.

This case is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.

This case is also part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the FBI, DEA, Montgomery County Police Department, and the Baltimore Police Department for their work in the investigation. United States Attorney Barron also recognized the U.S. Postal Inspection Service; the City of Rockville Police Department; the Baltimore County, Howard County, and Montgomery County Police Departments; the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office; the Maryland State Police; the West Virginia State Police; the Virginia State Police; the Warren County (VA) Sheriff’s Department; the Winchester (VA) and Front Royal (VA) Police Departments; and the Frederick County and Howard County State’s Attorney’s Offices for their assistance. United States Attorney Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew DellaBetta and Peter J. Martinez, who prosecuted the case.

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Greenbelt, Maryland – U.S. District Judge George J. Hazel sentenced Russell Ramseur, age 44, of Largo, Maryland, to seven years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute at least one kilogram of heroin and for possession with intent to distribute heroin. 

The sentence was announced by Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Sobocinski of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; Postal Inspector in Charge Daniel A. Adame of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service - Washington Division; and Special Agent in Charge Jarod Forget of the Drug Enforcement Administration - Washington Division.

According to Ramseur’s plea agreement, from at least April 2014 through December 2015, Ramseur was registered as a vendor on a Darknet marketplace where he advertised the sale of heroin to the general public under the username "BESTMAN365." On the Darknet marketplace, Ramseur accepted orders for heroin and received payments from customers in Bitcoin. Ramseur and his co-conspirators packaged and shipped heroin from Capitol Heights, Maryland, to customers throughout the United States.

Throughout the course of the investigation, law enforcement intercepted or received through the mail at least nine packages containing heroin. 

On December 14, 2015, law enforcement executed a federal search warrant at the residence of one of Ramseur's associates in Greenbelt, Maryland. During the search, law enforcement seized $13,000 in cash from a safe, which Ramseur admits was the proceeds of his heroin distribution.

The Darknet marketplace where Ramseur advertised the sale of heroin allowed customers to rate vendors.  In 2015, investigators compared listings for heroin by BESTMAN365 with subsequent customer reviews.  Based on that comparison and the length of the drug trafficking conspiracy, Ramseur admitted that it was reasonably foreseeable that Ramseur and his co-conspirators distributed between one kilogram and three kilograms of heroin through the Darknet marketplace.

This case was prosecuted utilizing resources from the Dark Market and Digital Currency Crimes (DMDCC) Task Force. The DMDCC Task Force is a joint effort between the U.S. Attorney’s Office, HSI – Baltimore, the U.S. Secret Service, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service; the Food and Drug Administration, the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, the Baltimore Police Department, and the Baltimore County Police Department, targeting the use of dark net marketplaces and digital currencies to facilitate criminal activities. The past several years have witnessed a significant increase in the use of the internet (both the clear net and dark net) and digital currencies to facilitate, for example, the illegal sale and distribution of narcotics and firearms, computer technologies (including hacking tools), and Personal Identifiable Information (PII). In response to this rising threat, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, HSI, and their partners formed the DMDCC Task Force to facilitate stronger collaboration among law enforcement partners combatting these crimes.

This case is also part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation.  OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.         

Acting United States Attorney Erek L. Barron praised the FBI, USPIS, and DEA for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Adam K. Ake and Kristi N. O’Malley who prosecuted the case.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit www.justice.gov/usao-md and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.

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Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett sentenced Reginald Leon Bolden, age 37, of Harford County, Maryland yesterday to nine years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute crack cocaine. As part of his plea agreement, Bolden must also forfeit a Chevrolet Camaro and more than $3,000.

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Harford County State’s Attorney Albert J. Peisinger, Jr.; Assistant Special Agent in Charge Orville O. Greene of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Baltimore District Office; Chief Melissa R. Hyatt of the Baltimore County Police Department; Sheriff Jeff Gahler of the Harford County Sheriff’s Office; and the Harford County Narcotics Task Force comprised of members of the Harford County Sheriff's Office, Aberdeen Police Department, Bel Air Police Department, and Havre de Grace Police Department.  

According to his guilty plea, as a result of the Harford County Narcotics Task Force investigation Bolden, Tremayne Gerrad Murphy, and Joel William Hammond were identified as members of a drug trafficking organization (DTO) that was distributing powder and crack cocaine.

Law enforcement observed Bolden and his co-conspirators engaged in drug-related activities, including on February 24, 2020, when investigators surveilled Bolden and Murphy as they traveled to Wilmington, Delaware to meet with a cocaine supplier. After purchasing nine ounces of cocaine from the supplier, Bolden and Murphy returned to Harford County to distribute the cocaine.

Two days later, Murphy was observed traveling to a Wilmington, Delaware casino to return the cocaine to the cocaine source after customers complained about the quality of the cocaine. After meeting with the source, detectives followed Murphy back to Harford County where they saw Murphy conduct a hand-to-hand drug transaction.

As stated in his agreement, on March 15, 2020, Bolden was heard discussing the purchase of three ounces of crack cocaine from co-defendant Hammond. Bolden arranged the transaction through an intermediary, who gave money to Hammond in exchange for a small backpack, which investigators believed contained the cocaine.

Once the intermediary notified Bolden that he was home, Bolden arranged for Murphy to pick up the crack cocaine, then texted the intermediary. Investigators subsequently saw the intermediary leave his residence with the small backpack of suspected cocaine and get into a vehicle operated by Murphy. The intermediary quickly exited Murphy’s vehicle without the backpack and Murphy then traveled to Bolden’s residence.

Later, Bolden was seen leaving Hammond’s residence and driving back to Harford County. As Bolden returned to Harford County, members of the Harford County Narcotics Task Force executed a search warrant on his vehicle and seized 16 grams of powder cocaine, 41 grams of crack cocaine, and $660 in cash.   That same day, a search warrant was executed at Bolden’s residence and law enforcement recovered 12 grams of crack cocaine, $2,785 in cash, numerous items of packaging material, and a digital scale containing cocaine residue.

As a member of the DTO, Bolden agrees that it is reasonably foreseeable that the amount of crack cocaine sold was at least 280 grams but less than 840 grams.

On September 1, 2021, co-defendant Tremayne Murphy, age 40, of Harford County, Maryland, pled guilty to conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine. Murphy and the government have agreed that, if the Court accepts the plea agreement, he will be sentenced to between 60 months and 92 months in federal prison. U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett has scheduled sentencing for December 17, 2021 at 11 a.m.

On October 28. 2021, Judge Bennett sentenced co-defendant Joel Hammond, age 35, of Essex, Maryland, to six years in federal prison for his role in the drug distribution conspiracy. 

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the DEA, the Harford County State’s Attorney’s Office, the Harford County Narcotics Task Force, and the Baltimore County Police Department for their work in the investigation. Mr. Barron thanked Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Romano, who is prosecuting the case.

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Baltimore, Maryland – Dominic Jerry Robinson, age 27, of Parkville, Maryland, pleaded guilty today to the federal charges of conspiracy to steal mail and mail theft in connection with various fraud schemes. 

The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Postal Inspector in Charge Daniel A. Adame of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service - Washington Division; Special Agent in Charge Bo Keane of the United States Secret Service - Baltimore Field Office; and Chief Melissa R. Hyatt of the Baltimore County Police Department.

According to his guilty plea, between May 2019 and March 2020, Robinson conspired with others, including Nicholas Milano White and Cedric Jonathan McNeal Parker, to engage in fraud schemes and criminal conduct including, theft of mail, fraud involving checks and money orders, trafficking and possession of false identification documents, and unlawful possession of counterfeit credit and debit cards.

For example, Robinson admits that on October 10, 2019, a forged check in the amount of $3,500 drawn on a victim’s trust account was deposited into a “drop account,” a bank account used to deposit and transfer proceeds of fraud, without the consent or authorization of the account holder, a resident of Illinois. That same day, Robinson was captured on surveillance withdrawing $3,500 from the drop account at an ATM in Baltimore.

As detailed in Robinson’s plea agreement, on February 5, 2020, co-defendant Nicholas Milano White deposited a $4,250 stolen check into a bank account opened in Robinson's name. The check had been stolen from a mail collection box in Rosedale, Maryland. The stolen check was subsequently altered to list Robinson as payee and endorsed with Robinson’s signature. ATM surveillance images captured White getting out of a white sedan registered to Robinson in order to make the fraudulent deposit. Within two days of the fraudulent deposit, approximately $2,382.50 was debited from Robinson’s account through withdrawals and purchases.

Between March l, 2020, and March 8, 2020, Robinson, White, and McNeal Parker stole mail from multiple USPS collection boxes. On March 1, 2020, White sent Robinson a list of locations of mail collection boxes via text message. During the early morning hours of March 8, 2020, Robinson picked up White and McNeal Parker and traveled with them in Robinson’s white sedan to a mail collection box in Rosedale, Maryland, where White and McNeal Parker were captured on surveillance images exiting the vehicle, stealing mail from a collection box, and reentering the vehicle with the stolen mail. Robinson and his co-defendants traveled to several other locations and stole mail from at least two other collections boxes. Baltimore County Police Department officers began pursuing Robinson’s vehicle, which fled.  Law enforcement eventually located the vehicle in a residential area of Pikesville, Maryland. The vehicle was unoccupied and gloves, trash bags, and approximately 358 pieces of unprocessed U.S. mail were on the ground outside of the vehicle. Law enforcement found and arrested Robinson and White at a nearby location.

Mail stolen by Robinson and his co-conspirators included mail deposited by at least approximately 136 postal customers and addressed to the Internal Revenue Service, the Comptroller of Maryland, and numerous other government agencies, businesses, and individuals. Approximately 48 victims reported that mail stolen by Robinson and his co-conspirators contained bank checks or other financial instruments valued at approximately $48,938. Many victims also reported that their stolen mail contained documents listing sensitive personal identifying information ("PII") and/or sensitive financial information.

During a search of Robinson’s vehicle, law enforcement recovered a red cell phone, three credit cards not issued in Robinson’s name, a false photo identification listing a name with initials A.D., three money orders totaling $1,575 and listing A.D. as payee, and a portable mini encoder, a device used to encode magnetic stripes on credit or debit cards.  Further investigation revealed that the money orders found in the vehicle had been stolen from mail collection boxes in February 2020. The money orders were subsequently altered to remove the names of the original payees and to list A.D.'s name as the payee of each money order.

Examination of the red cell phone confirmed that the cell phone was owned and used by Robinson and revealed text messages about stealing mail and committing fraud by counterfeiting checks and money orders and negotiating stolen checks. Robinson’s cell phone also contained text messages he exchanged with White asking White to produce a false photo identification for another person in exchange for payment. Robinson sent White a photo of the person's face and certain identifiers, including a Social Security number belonging to another person. White eventually responded with a photo of the fake photo identification he produced upon Robinson’s request.

Robinson’s cell phone also contained sensitive personal and financial information belonging to other persons. Law enforcement recovered from the cell phone images of other persons' W-2 tax forms and other sensitive documents, including medical records. Robinson admitted that he also possessed credit and debit card "dumps" on his cell phone, which included information associated with at least 20 credit and debit cards issued to other persons and the persons' names and addresses and that he had made fraudulent charges totaling at least $6,284.19 on those credit and debit card accounts. Robinson also had notes on the phone listing PII, including Social Security numbers, assigned to at least 20 real persons. Examination of Robinson’s cell phone showed that he had browsed personal data broker websites and websites that illegally marketed and distributed sensitive credit and debit card information.

As part of his plea agreement, Robinson will be required to pay restitution in the full amount of the victims’ losses, which the parties have stipulated is at least $12,366.69.            

Robinson and the government have agreed that, if the Court accepts the plea agreement, Robinson will be sentenced to between 30 and 42 months in federal prison. U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett has scheduled sentencing for February 3, 2022, at 3:00 p.m. 

Nicholas Milano White, age 30, of Baltimore, Maryland, was sentenced on March 30, 2021, to eight years in federal prison, and was ordered to pay restitution of $29,234. Cedric Jonathan McNeal-Parker, age 30, of Randallstown, Maryland, previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to steal mail and to mail theft and was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison. 

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the U.S. Secret Service, and the Baltimore County Police Department for their work in the investigation and thanked the Office of the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration for its assistance. Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew J. Maddox, who is prosecuting the federal case.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to report fraud, please visit www.justice.gov/usao-md and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/report-fraud.

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Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow sentenced Wardell Lester, Jr., age 66 of Baltimore, Maryland today to one year in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for theft of government property in connection with the theft of $223,655 in social security benefits intended for his mother.

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron and Special Agent in Charge Michael McGill of the Social Security Administration Office of the Inspector General, Philadelphia Field Division (SSA OIG).

According to his plea agreement, from September 1997 to January 2018, Lester stole monthly Social Security Retirement Insurance benefit payments from the Social Security Administration intended for his mother. Lester failed to notify the Social Security Administration that his mother had died in September 1997 and falsely reported that he spent the funds on her behalf. As a result of this offense, Lester personally obtained approximately $223,655 from the Social Security Administration to which he was not entitled.

As the son and representative payee of his mother, Lester was charged with spending his mother’s Social Security retirement benefits on her behalf and was required to file annual reports that documented transactions using those funds. Each year, Lester provided falsified reports that detailed how he spent the funds on food, housing, and personal items.  In 2012, Lester elected to receive payments by direct deposit to an account in his name. Records from the account show that Lester would withdraw virtually all of the funds by ATM at the beginning of each month.

As stated in his plea agreement, in an interview with SSA OIG agents on January 11, 2019, Lester admitted to spending his mother’s benefits on drugs and living expenses. Lester further admitted to falsifying Social Security Administration benefit accounting forms. At the end of the interview, Lester gave a written statement in which he apologized for the spending of the funds, but Lester continued to spend the benefit payments until SSA terminated them in May 2019.

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron praised the SSA OIG for their work in the investigation. Mr. Barron thanked Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael F. Davio, who prosecuted the case.

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Greenbelt, Maryland – A federal criminal complaint has been filed charging Eladio Alfaro Sarmiento, age 55, of New Carrollton, Maryland, for production of child pornography involving two victims under the age of three.  The criminal complaint was filed on September 23, 2021, and unsealed today upon the defendant’s initial appearance.

The federal charge was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge James R. Mancuso of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Baltimore; Colonel Woodrow W. Jones III, Superintendent of the Maryland State Police; and Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Aisha Braveboy.

According to the affidavit filed in support of the criminal complaint, on August 9, 2021, the Maryland Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC) received five cyber-tipline referrals from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), generated when a representative from an Internet search engine discovered child pornography within the photo storage for a user.  The referrals requested expedited processing because of potential “hands-on abuse.”

As detailed in the criminal complaint, the cyber-tip contained information about a specific video file believed to contain child sex abuse material allegedly created by Sarmiento, as well as the metadata related to the location where the video was filmed, which approximately maps to the area of Sarmiento’s residence.

Specifically, the cyber-tips contain approximately 44 video files that were uploaded between June and August 2021, from two email accounts allegedly connected to Sarmiento.  According to the affidavit, the videos document the sexual abuse of prepubescent minors, including Victim 1 and Victim 2, who are both under the age of three.  Investigation of the photos section of one of the email addresses allegedly used by Sarmiento revealed hundreds of images and videos depicting child sex abuse material.

On August 11, 2021, law enforcement executed a search warrant at Sarmiento’s residence and recovered five cellular phones, as well as clothing worn by Victim 1 and Victim 2 in videos that were part of the NCMEC cyber-tips. A subsequent forensic analysis of the contents of one of the cell phones allegedly belonging to Sarmiento revealed several images that appear to be “still” images from the videos depicting the sexual abuse of Victim 1 and Victim 2. The affidavit alleges that there were also several other images located on the cell phone showing ownership attributions such as an image of a COVID-19 vaccination card in the name of Eladio Alfaro, selfies depicting Sarmiento, as well as a social security card in his name. Sarmiento was arrested on August 11, 2021 on State charges filed in Prince George’s County related to child pornography and rape and has been detained since his arrest.

If convicted, Sarmiento faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in federal prison and a maximum sentence of 30 years in federal prison for production of child pornography.  Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.  At today’s initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt, U.S. Magistrate Judge Charles B. Day ordered that Sarmiento be detained.

An indictment is not a finding of guilt.  An individual charged by indictment is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty at some later criminal proceedings. 

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

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended HSI, the Maryland State Police Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, and the Prince George’s County State’s Attorney for their work in the investigation and prosecution.  Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kelly O. Hayes, who is prosecuting the federal case.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit www.justice.gov/usao-md/project-safe-childhood and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.

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