Western District of North Carolina

 

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – U.S. Attorney Andrew Murray announced today that Paul Delavan Knoke, 77, a retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel residing in Asheville, was sentenced to 180 months in prison on child pornography charges.  U.S. District Judge Martin Reidinger also ordered Knoke to a lifetime of supervised release, and to register as a sex offender after he is released from prison.

U.S. Attorney Murray is joined in making today’s announcement by John Eisert, Acting Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Charlotte, and Interim Chief Wade Wood of the Asheville Police Department.

“For decades, Knoke inflicted horrific and sustained sexual abuse upon innocent children entrusted in his care,” said U.S. Attorney Murray.  “When Knoke wasn’t physically abusing children, he was turning to a digital screen to view and share child pornography.  As result of the 15-year sentenced imposed today, there will be one less sexual predator among us.”

“No one expects a lieutenant colonel to be a sexual predator, but in child exploitation cases, we continually see individuals in positions of trust prey on innocent children,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge John Eisert. “Our HSI special agents and local law enforcement partners are committed to uncovering these crimes against children and ensuring that the perpetrators are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

“I want to express my gratitude to our federal law enforcement partners and the U.S. Attorney’s office for their vital partnerships in removing dangerous child sexual predators from our community. The Asheville Police Department is proud of our detectives that worked tirelessly in this partnership to bring about a successful prosecution of Knoke which resulted in sentencing to federal prison. We are committed to continuing our coordinated investigations to bring such individuals to justice and to protect our children,” said Chief Wade Wood.

According to court documents and statements made in court, in June 2017, law enforcement became aware that Knoke was viewing child pornography online.  Law enforcement executed a search warrant at the residence where Knoke was residing at the time and seized multiple computers, thumb drives, other devices, and printouts that belonged to Knoke.   A forensic analysis of Knoke’s items revealed that Knoke possessed an extensive collection of sexually explicit images of minor males which he had shared with other offenders.  Court records also show that Knoke admitted that he sexually abused at least eight minors entrusted in his care at various times for more than three decades. Investigators estimate that Knoke committed over 1,500 contact offenses against the children in his care.  Knoke pleaded guilty in August 2018 to five counts of receipt of child pornography, three counts of distribution of child pornography, and one count of possession of child pornography.

Knoke has been in federal custody since June 2018 and will be transferred to the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons upon designation of a federal facility.  Federal sentences are served without the possibility of parole.

The investigation was handled by Homeland Security Investigations and the Asheville Police Department.  In making today’s announcement, U.S. Attorney Murray also thanked the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs Police and the Air Force Office of Special Investigations for their substantial assistance in this case.

Luis Permont, Special Agent with the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, said “I thank Homeland Security Investigations and the Asheville Police Department for their coordination and collaboration in this investigation.  Together, we worked as a cohesive unit to ensure the truth about Knoke’s activities was revealed.  The Office of Special Investigations relies heavily on our relationships with our local and federal law enforcement partners to protect the safety of men, women and children in the United States.  I hope the successful outcome of this investigation will bring closure to the victims of Knoke’s actions and their families.”

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in 2006 by the Department of Justice, aimed at combating the growing online sexual exploitation of children.  By combining resources, federal, state and local agencies are better able to locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue those victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

Two individuals from Costa Rica were sentenced to 25 and 20 years in prison today for their roles in a $10 million telemarketing scheme that defrauded primarily elderly victims in the United States from call centers in Costa Rica.    

Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney R. Andrew Murray of the Western District of North Carolina, Inspector in Charge David M. McGinnis of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s Charlotte Division, Acting Special Agent in Charge William Cheung of the IRS Criminal Investigation’s (CI) Cincinnati Field Office and Special Agent in Charge John Strong of the FBI’s Charlotte Field Office made the announcement. 

Andrew Smith, 46, and Christopher Lee Griffin, 45, both of San Jose, Costa Rica, were sentenced by U.S. District Judge Robert J. Conrad of the Western District of North Carolina to 25 years and 20 years in prison, respectively.  Judge Conrad also ordered Smith to pay $10,222,838.76 in restitution to be paid jointly and severally with his co-conspirators and forfeit $406,324.96. Griffin was ordered to pay $9,612,590.39 in restitution to be paid jointly and severally with his co-conspirators and forfeit $182,439.  Following a three-day jury trial in February 2018, Smith and Griffin were each convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, eight counts of wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, and seven counts of international money laundering. 

“Andrew Smith and Christopher Lee Griffin participated in a deplorable scam to defraud hard-working elderly Americans out of millions of dollars,” said Assistant Attorney General Benczkowski.  “The severe sentences imposed today represent a significant victory in our continuing efforts to fight elder fraud and protect some of the most vulnerable members of the U.S. public.  These sentences should serve as a strong deterrent to anyone seeking to enrich themselves by taking part in similar scams.”

“Smith and Griffin used shameless tricks and brazen lies to convince victims their dream of financial security had come true.  That dream soon turned into a devastating nightmare, one that took a financial and emotional toll on the victims, many of whom were elderly,” said U.S. Attorney Murray.  “The depravity of this scheme is reflected in the sentence handed down to these two criminals, for it takes a special kind of wickedness to steal from the elderly.  Today’s sentence also underscores our commitment to stopping financial scams and holding offenders accountable for their actions, no matter where they are.”

“We are proud to work alongside our federal law enforcement partners in efforts to target those individuals who take advantage of the American public, especially our vulnerable older Americans, for illegal profits,” said Inspector in Charge McGinnis.  “Anyone who engages in deceptive practices like this should know they will not go undetected and will be held accountable, regardless of where they are.”

“Quite simply, the conduct in this case is egregious. This investigation uncovered a fraudulent telemarketing scheme that generated millions of dollars through a web of financial lies that preyed on countless elderly victims, all so these defendants could line their pockets with stolen money,” said IRS-CI Acting Special Agent in Charge Cheung.  “These types of investigations are often solved most efficiently through a multiple-agency approach to crime fighting.”

“Years ago, our parents taught us not to talk to strangers.  Their advice has proven to be timeless,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Strong.  “Strangers are reaching out to us on social media, sending us emails, calling our homes and cell phones.  If you fall for a scam, you can bet your life, they will call you again.  They might have a different sales pitch or a sob story, but they are the same crooks.  These prison sentences should serve as a warning to the thieves, the FBI and our law enforcement partners will work tirelessly to find you and put you out of business for good.”

According to evidence presented at trial, both Smith and Griffin worked in a call center in Costa Rica in which conspirators, who posed as representatives of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), contacted victims in the United States to tell them that that they had won a substantial “sweepstakes” prize.  After convincing victims, many of whom were elderly, that they stood to receive a significant financial reward, the conspirators told victims that they needed to make a series of up-front payments before collecting their supposed prize, purportedly for items like insurance fees, taxes and import fees.  Conspirators used a variety of means to conceal their true identities, such as Voice over Internet Protocols, which made it appear that they were calling from Washington, D.C., and other places in the United States.  According to trial testimony, one elderly victim who indicated she was going to stop paying was warned by a conspirator that they knew where she and her family lived.

Smith and Griffin arranged for victims to transmit payments through international wire transfers directly to Costa Rica or through “runners,” who collected money from victims in the United States and forwarded payment to Smith, Griffin and others in Costa Rica, according to evidence presented at trial.  Runners dispatched by Smith and his co-conspirators met elderly victims at their homes to collect bags of cash, which they in turn remitted to Costa Rica, the evidence showed. 

Smith, Griffin and their conspirators stole more than $10 million from victims, the evidence showed.     

This case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, IRS-CI and the FBI, with assistance from the FTC and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.  The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys William Bowne and Jennifer Farer and Assistant Chief Anna Kaminska of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section.  The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of North Carolina provided substantial assistance with this matter.  The Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs, U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service and Bureau of Consular Affairs, along with government authorities in Costa Rica, provided critical assistance with the extradition of these defendants. 

The Justice Department today announced a settlement with Robert Hatfield to resolve a lawsuit alleging that he violated the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act by subjecting 17 actual and prospective female residents of homes he owned in Wilkes County, North Carolina, to sexual harassment over the course of more than 10 years.

Under the settlement, which the parties filed today with the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina, Hatfield has agreed to pay a total of $600,000, which includes $550,000 in monetary damages to former and prospective residents, as well as a $50,000 civil penalty. The settlement also permanently bars Hatfield from participating in the rental, sale, or financing of residential properties, and requires that he relinquish his ownership interest in all such properties.

“Abusing power and control over housing and credit by committing acts of sexual harassment is an abhorrent and intolerable violation of every woman’s right to equal housing and credit opportunities,” said Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband. “The Justice Department, through its Sexual Harassment in Housing Initiative, will continue to aggressively enforce federal anti-discrimination laws against property managers and owners who cause women to feel unsafe in their homes.”

“Using a woman’s need for housing and safety as leverage to obtain sexual favors is behavior that is both illegal and depraved,” said Andrew Murray, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. “Hatfield’s settlement underscores my office’s commitment to continue to vigorously enforce the federal civil rights laws to combat sexual harassment in housing and to hold accountable those who violate these statutes.” 

The complaint, filed in 2017, alleged that Hatfield ran a real estate business that involved not only operating residential rental properties, but also selling homes through “owner financing,” meaning he extended credit to individuals to purchase homes that he owned. The lawsuit alleged that he subjected actual and prospective female residents of these homes to sexual harassment by making unwanted sexual advances and comments, groping or otherwise touching their bodies without consent, offering to reduce or eliminate down payments, rent, and loan obligations in exchange for sexual favors, and taking or threatening to take adverse action against residents when they refused or objected to his advances.

In October 2017, the Justice Department launched an initiative to combat sexual harassment in housing. In April 2018, the Department announced the nationwide rollout of the initiative, including three major components: a new joint Task Force with the Department of Housing and Urban Development to combat sexual harassment in housing, an outreach toolkit to leverage the Department’s nationwide network of U.S. Attorney’s Offices, and a public awareness campaign, including the launch of a national Public Service Announcement.

Since launching the initiative, the Justice Department has filed nine lawsuits alleging a pattern or practice of sexual harassment in housing. The Justice Department has filed or settled 14 sexual harassment cases since January 2017, and has recovered over $2.2 million for victims of sexual harassment in housing.

The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division enforces the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, which prohibit discrimination in housing and lending.  More information about the Civil Rights Division and the laws it enforces is available at http://www.justice.gov/crt. Individuals who believe that they may have been victims of sexual harassment or other types of housing discrimination can call the Housing Discrimination Tip Line at 1-800-896-7743, e-mail the Justice Department at [email protected], or contact HUD at 1-800-669-9777 or through its website at http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/program_offices/fair_housing_equal_opp.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Justice Department and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of North Carolina today announced a settlement with Robert Hatfield to resolve a lawsuit alleging that he violated the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act by subjecting 17 actual and prospective female residents of homes he owned in Wilkes County, North Carolina, to sexual harassment over the course of more than 10 years.

Under the settlement, which the parties filed today with the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina, Hatfield has agreed to pay a total of $600,000, which includes $550,000 in monetary damages to former and prospective residents, as well as a $50,000 civil penalty. The settlement also permanently bars Hatfield from participating in the rental, sale, or financing of residential properties, and requires that he relinquish his ownership interest in all such properties.

“Abusing power and control over housing and credit by committing acts of sexual harassment is an abhorrent and intolerable violation of every woman’s right to equal housing and credit opportunities,” said Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband. “The Justice Department, through its Sexual Harassment in Housing Initiative, will continue to aggressively enforce federal anti-discrimination laws against property managers and owners who cause women to feel unsafe in their homes.”

“Using a woman’s need for housing and safety as leverage to obtain sexual favors is behavior that is both illegal and depraved,” said Andrew Murray, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.  “Hatfield’s settlement underscores my office’s commitment to continue to vigorously enforce the federal civil rights laws to combat sexual harassment in housing and to hold accountable those who violate these statutes.” 

The complaint, filed in 2017, alleged that Hatfield ran a real estate business that involved not only operating residential rental properties, but also selling homes through “owner financing,” meaning he extended credit to individuals to purchase homes that he owned. The lawsuit alleged that he subjected actual and prospective female residents of these homes to sexual harassment by making unwanted sexual advances and comments, groping or otherwise touching their bodies without consent, offering to reduce or eliminate down payments, rent, and loan obligations in exchange for sexual favors, and taking or threatening to take adverse action against residents when they refused or objected to his advances.

The settlement agreement can be found here. 

In October 2017, the Justice Department launched an initiative to combat sexual harassment in housing.  In April 2018, the Department announced the nationwide rollout of the initiative, including three major components: a new joint Task Force with the Department of Housing and Urban Development to combat sexual harassment in housing, an outreach toolkit to leverage the Department’s nationwide network of U.S. Attorney’s Offices, and a public awareness campaign, including the launch of a national Public Service Announcement.

Since launching the initiative, the Justice Department has filed nine lawsuits alleging a pattern or practice of sexual harassment in housing.  The Justice Department has filed or settled 14 sexual harassment cases since January 2017, and has recovered over $2.2 million for victims of sexual harassment in housing.

The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division enforces the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, which prohibit discrimination in housing and lending.  More information about the Civil Rights Division and the laws it enforces is available at http://www.justice.gov/crt. Individuals who believe that they may have been victims of sexual harassment or other types of housing discrimination can call the Housing Discrimination Tip Line at 1-800-896-7743, e-mail the Justice Department at [email protected], or contact HUD at 1-800-669-9777 or through its website at http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/program_offices/fair_housing_equal_opp

CHARLOTTE, N.C. –  U.S. Attorney Andrew Murray recognized 21 officers and agents from 13 local, state and federal law enforcement agencies during the Western District’s inaugural “Excellence in the Pursuit of Justice” awards ceremony, for their outstanding performance and investigative work in cases prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The following agencies and law enforcement officials were presented with awards at today’s ceremony:

• Asheville Police Department - Sonia Escobedo, Task Force Officer with the Drug Enforcement Administration.
• Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives – Special Agent Brent Vossekuil.
• Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department – Jeff King, Matt Mescan, Kevin Stuesse, and Fred Thomas.
• Federal Bureau of Investigation - Special Agents Jim Granozio, Andy Romaguolo, Jason Milhone, and Doug Curran.
• Homeland Security Investigations – Special Agent Klarisa Zaffark.
• Huntersville Police Department – Detective Brad Myers, Task Force Officer with Homeland Security Investigations.
• IRS – Criminal Investigation Division- Special Agent Tyiesha Nixon.

• Monroe Police Department - Barney Malone.
• North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation – Special Agents Casey Drake and Matt Davis.

• Union County Sheriff’s Office - Daniel Stroud.

• United States Postal Inspection Service – Inspector Randy Berkland.

• United States Probation Office – U.S. Probation Officer John Holiday.

• Union County Sheriff’s Office - Daniel Stroud.

During his remarks at today’s ceremony U.S. Attorney Murray said, “I congratulate the award recipients for their tireless efforts to achieve extraordinary results.  I also thank all of our local, state and federal law enforcement officers and agents for their service, and for risking their lives each day to protect the citizens of the Western District of North Carolina, to enhance community safety, and to do justice.”

In addition to the district awards, 10 additional investigators and prosecutors received the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) award for their prosecution of the MS-13 gang.  This is the first time the Western District of North Carolina has received this prestigious national award, which was presented by Adam Cohen, Director of the OCDETF program, to the following recipients:

• William Miller, Assistant U.S. Attorney (AUSA) with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of North Carolina, and former AUSA Beth Greene.
• Susan Conrad, Julian Igualada, Barton Jenkins, Ernesto Negron, and Justin Telford with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
• Michael Tobin with Homeland Security Investigations.
• Kevin Wallin and Timothy White with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department.

“I am honored that my Office’s federal prosecutors and investigators with our law enforcement counterparts are among the recipients of this national recognition. In this district, we have a longstanding history of collaboration with our law enforcement partners, and on behalf of my office and the citizens of the Western District, I am thankful for their outstanding work, their coordination and their continued support.”

 

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – U.S. Attorney Andrew Murray announced today that William Richard Hilliard, Jr., 49, of Cherryville, N.C., pleaded guilty to child pornography charges for secretly recording nude videos of underage females aboard his yacht.  U.S. Magistrate Judge W. Carleton Metcalf presided over Hilliard’s guilty plea.

According to the indictment and filed plea documents, Hilliard was arrested on June 11, 2018, by Myrtle Beach, South Carolina law enforcement officers on charges of video voyeurism.  Hilliard was the owner of a yacht called “Yachts O’ Trouble,” and he had been discovered secretly recording nude videos of unsuspecting females aboard his yacht, including minor and adult guests. Court records show that as a result of the events surrounding his arrest, the FBI coordinated an extensive multi-state and multi-agency investigation. 

As Hilliard admitted in court today, law enforcement discovered that, over the course of eight to ten years, Hilliard had secretly produced multiple secret recordings of at least 16 child victims at various locations in North and South Carolina, including aboard his yacht, in his homes, in various hotel rooms, and elsewhere.  Court records also show that, at times, Hilliard produced secret recordings of victims he had hired as babysitters for his young children, and used multiple hidden devices to record his victims from different angles while they were using the shower and changing clothes.  Some of the victims were as young as five years old.

Hilliard pleaded guilty to production of child pornography, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years and a maximum of 30 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, and possession of child pornography, which carries a maximum prison term of 20 years and a $250,000 fine.

In making today’s announcement, U.S. Attorney Murray thanked the FBI’s Charlotte Division, the Myrtle Beach Police Department, the Horry County Police Department, and the Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office for their investigation of this case with assistance from FBI Knoxville, FBI Birmingham, Homeland Security Investigations, the Cherryville Police Department and the Gastonia Police Department.   The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Asheville is in charge of the prosecution.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in 2006 by the Department of Justice, aimed at combating the growing online sexual exploitation of children.  By combining resources, federal, state and local agencies are better able to locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue those victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – United States Attorney Andrew Murray announced today that law enforcement have dismantled a drug ring operating in Asheville, charging eight of its members with drug conspiracy and drug and firearm-related offenses.  The 35-count criminal indictment was returned by the federal grand jury on April 2, 2019, and was unsealed today.

The two-year joint federal, state and local investigation aimed at reducing drug distribution and drug related criminal activity and increasing community safety in Buncombe County.  The indictment alleges that the drug ring operated in Asheville and trafficked heroin, cocaine, crack cocaine, methamphetamine, prescription drugs and other narcotics.  Over the course of the investigation, law enforcement seized drugs, 12 firearms and ammunition, and $153,674 in cash.

“The federal charges against the eight defendants are the result of a joint law enforcement investigation targeting an area of Asheville that has been plagued by drug trafficking and drug-related criminal activity,” said U.S. Attorney Murray. “The danger and violence that drugs and guns create in our local communities erode our citizens’ ability to live peaceful lives.  I want to thank our law enforcement partners for working together to identify individuals who threaten the safety and stability of our neighborhood streets.”

“Today, we have removed dangerous criminals from the Buncombe County community. These poly-drug traffickers will no longer be able to deliver deadly doses of poison to this community. This investigation was a success because of the great working relationship that DEA has with its federal, state, local counterparts and the U.S. Attorney’s Office,” said Robert J. Murphy, Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Atlanta Field Division, which oversees North Carolina.

"The Asheville Police Department is committed to bettering the lives of the residents of Asheville,” said Interim Chief Wade Wood, of the Asheville Police Department. “This joint operation addressed an area of our city that has seen an increase in violence and drug-related activity over the course of the past year. Federal and local partnerships are critical in addressing such criminal networks, and I would like to thank the United States Attorney’s Office and the DEA for their continued support and efforts.”    

The eight defendants named in the indictment are each charged with conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute heroin, cocaine, crack cocaine, marijuana, Oxycodone, Adderrall, and Xanax, and related possession and distribution charges.  They are:

• Prophet Karim Hadialim Allah, 47, of Leicester, North Carolina.        
• Rodney Dejuan Allison, 43, of Asheville.     
• William Luther Downs, Jr., 26, of Asheville.                 
• Harry James Odum, 57, of Asheville.
• Derrick Maurice Perry, 25, of Asheville.
• Teresa Day Shuping, 47, of Hickory, North Carolina.
• Elliot Norris Smith, 25, of Atlanta, Georgia.
• Jeffrey Allen Wright, 41, of Leicester.
   

In addition to the drug conspiracy charges, Allison, Downs, Perry, Smith and Wright are also charged with firearms related offenses.  (See chart below for federal charges and penalties for each defendant).

Five defendants are in custody.  Federal arrest warrants have been issued against Perry, Smith and Shuping.

The charges contained in the indictment are allegations.  The defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. 

In making today’s announcement, U.S. Attorney Murray thanked the Drug Enforcement Administration, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations, the Asheville Police Department, the Buncombe County Anti-Crime Task Force, the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office, the Black Mountain Police Department, and the Wilkes County Sheriff’s Office for leading the investigation.  U.S. Attorney Murray also thanked the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation for their assistance in this case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Kent, of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Asheville, is leading the prosecution.

This case has been brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), the U.S. Justice Department’s program to reduce violent crime. The PSN approach emphasizes coordination between state and federal prosecutors and all levels of law enforcement to address gun crime, especially felons illegally possessing firearms and ammunition and violent and drug crimes that involve the use of firearms.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – U.S. Attorney Andrew Murray announced today that Eric Dewayne Leak, 41, of Raleigh, N.C. pleaded guilty to money laundering conspiracy in connection with a bribery scheme involving college athletes.  

North Carolina Secretary of State Elaine F. Marshall, John A. Strong, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Charlotte Division, and Robert Schurmeier, Director of the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (NCSBI) join U.S. Attorney Murray in making today’s announcement. 

“Leak used the ill-gotten gains of one criminal scheme to fund another, and in the process potentially exposed student-athletes, their respective schools, and their families to scandal and tangible harm. This serial fraudster will now have to face the consequences of his corrupt ways,” said U.S. Attorney Murray. 

“Today’s guilty plea underlines the message that when you come to North Carolina as an athlete agent you had better follow the law,” said Secretary Marshall. “We have demonstrated again that we can and will enforce the law, which is largely designed to protect student-athletes from having their careers damaged. The investigators did exemplary work on this investigation, and I thank the U.S. Attorney’s Office for its continued partnership in reaching today’s successful conclusion.”

“This is a prime example of what happens when you have compelling investigative work and a strong collaboration with other law enforcement and criminal justice agencies,” said Director Schurmeier. “For the NCSBI, it’s about integrity and fairness. It’s disappointing to know there are individuals who intentionally take advantage of our young people for personal gain and when that happens we want them brought to justice,” added Schurmeier.

According to plea documents and the bill of information, Leak was the owner of Hot Shots Sports Management, LLC (Hot Shots), a business in Raleigh, N.C., that provided, among other things, financial management services to professional athletes, including helping to transition student athletes from collegiate athletics into the National Football League (NFL) and the National Basketball Association (NBA). Leak admitted today in court that, from 2012 through 2015, he and others associated with Hot Shots executed a scheme to use the proceeds of previous criminal activity to promote new unlawful activity involving the payment of bribes to college athletes.

According to court records, from 2012 to 2014, Leak was the owner and executive director of Nature’s Reflections, LLC, (Nature’s Reflections) a mental health company with locations in Greensboro and Durham, N.C. Nature’s Reflections was enrolled as a Medicaid provider and received millions of dollars in direct reimbursements from Medicaid. From 2011 to 2013, Leak was involved in the payment of illegal kickbacks regarding the business of Nature’s Reflections. In March 2018, Leak pleaded guilty in federal court in the Middle District of North Carolina for his role in that scheme. 

Court records show that Leak used money he made from the illegal scheme involving Nature Reflections’ to bribe college athletes, all of whom had received athletic scholarships and other benefits from their respective schools. Leak admitted in court today that, on multiple occasions from 2012 through 2015, he provided student-athletes, and on at least one occasion a student-athlete’s family member, with cash, clothes, loans, hotels rooms, entertainment, transportation, and other things of value, to influence those student-athletes to retain the services of Hot Shots. As Leak knew, the payment of bribes to student-athletes exposed the student-athletes’ schools to tangible economic harm, including, among other things, monetary fines, restrictions on athlete recruitment and the distribution of athletic scholarships, and the potential ineligibility of the schools to participate in various NCAA programs and tournaments.

Leak entered his guilty plea before U.S. Magistrate Judge David S, Cayer. The money laundering conspiracy charge carries a maximum prison term of 20 years and a $500,000 fine.  Leak remains in custody. A sentencing date has not been set.

The Securities Division of the North Carolina Secretary of State, the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, and FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Ryan, of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte, is in charge of the prosecution.

 CHARLOTTE, N.C. – A federal jury convicted late yesterday Laurence A. Sessum, 46, and Jacqueline Dianne Okomba, 50, both of Charlotte, of conspiring to commit wire fraud in connection with a fraudulent debt collection scheme that defrauded victims throughout the United States of at least $5.7 million, announced Andrew Murray, United States Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.  Sessum was also convicted of wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and obstruction of justice.  Okomba was also convicted of obstruction of justice.

John A. Strong, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Charlotte Division, joins the U.S. Attorney’s Office in making today’s announcement.

According to filed court documents, trial evidence and witness testimony, from October 2013 to January 2017, Sessum was the owner and operator of Direct Processing LLC (Direct Processing) a fraudulent debt collection company located in Mecklenburg County.  Sessum was also the leader and organizer of the debt scheme.  His codefendant, Okomba, was the registered agent and member-owner of Direct Processing, who also worked as a manager in charge of overseeing other company collectors and managed the finances and bank accounts of Direct Processing.

As part of the scheme, Sessum purchased lists of purportedly outstanding accounts, which they used to make fraudulent debt collections.  Sessum intentionally sought out lists of old and unenforceable debts.  Direct Processing used a dialer service to leave automated messages for victims, directing them to contact the company to resolve the purported debts.  To induce victims to call back, the automated messages often contained fraudulent and misleading information, including that there was “possible pending litigation” against the victims, or that there was a “process server” attempting to locate them.

When the victims returned the calls, they were connected with collectors working for Direct Processing.  The collectors made similar threats and fraudulent statements about the purported debts and regularly used prepared scripts, including scripts handed out by Direct Processing management, that were designed to scare and intimidate victims to pay the purported debts.  The collectors used fake “shake names” when making calls to the victims, claiming that they were “retained” to “investigate” and “file” charges against the victims.  Collectors also told victims that the sheriff was prepared to serve victims with legal documents, and in some cases threatened victims with jail.  The defendants’ scheme harmed many elderly and retired victims, several of whom testified at trial about the lies and threats they were told to induce them to make payments.

Direct Processing also sent victims fraudulent documents, prepared to look like legal documents that had been filed in court, demanding restitution.  Using threats and other intimidating tactics, company collectors regularly collected amounts that were not owed or they were not authorized to collect. One victim testified during trial that Direct Processing’s aggressive and fraudulent collections tactics made her feel “devastated” out of concern that she would be sent to jail if she failed to pay.  That victim lost $1,250 in the scheme.

To disguise the fraudulent nature of the business, collectors often used fake company names when communicating with victims.  In addition, Sessum directed others to establish nominee bank accounts, which were used to pay operational and other expenses associated with the fraudulent debt collection company.

When Sessum learned the FBI had seized funds held in an account associated with Direct Processing, Sessum, Okomba, and others removed Direct Processing computers, documents, and records from a location associated with the company in order to impede the federal investigation.  When FBI agents arrived at the location to execute a search warrant, they found computer accessories, such as monitors, at collectors’ cubicles but no desktop units.  When FBI agents questioned Okomba about the computers that had been removed, Okomba falsely told the agents that Direct Processing did not own any computers.

Sessum and Okomba are awaiting sentencing and face up to 20 years’ imprisonment on each count of conviction.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated the case.  Assistant United States Attorneys William M. Miller and Dallas J. Kaplan, of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte, are in charge of the prosecution.

In March 2019, Andrew Murray, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina, announced the Office’s Elder Justice Initiative, which aims to combat elder financial exploitation by expanding efforts to investigate and prosecute financial scams that target seniors; educate older adults on how to identify scams and avoid becoming victims of financial fraud; and promote greater coordination with law enforcement partners. For more information please visit: /usao-wdnc/elder-justice-initiative.

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – U.S. Attorney R. Andrew Murray announced today that Saheed Jamal Grant, 21, of Asheville, was sentenced to 180 months in prison and three years of supervised release for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.  U.S. District Judge Martin Reidinger presided over the sentencing.

David S. Booth, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Charlotte Field Division, and Interim Chief Wade Wood of the Asheville Police Department join U.S. Attorney Murray in making today’s announcement.

According to court documents and today’s sentencing hearing, on June 13, 2018, law enforcement were conducting a routine warrantless search of the residence of an individual who was under state probation.  Over the course of the search, law enforcement encountered Grant in an upstairs bedroom of the residence.  Law enforcement found Grant to be in possession of a firearm which was loaded with 10 rounds of ammunition, one of which was in the firearm’s chamber.  Grant has multiple prior felony convictions, including Possession of a Handgun By Minor, Felony Breaking and/or Entering, and Possession of Stolen Firearm, which prohibit him from possessing firearms. At today’s sentencing hearing Grant received an enhanced sentence as an “Armed Career Criminal.”

On December 7, 2018, Grant pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.  He is currently in federal custody and will be transferred to custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons upon designation of a federal facility.  Federal sentences are served without the possibility of parole.

In making today’s announcement U.S. Attorney Murray thanked the ATF and the Asheville Police Department for their investigation of the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Gill Beck of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Asheville prosecuted the case.

This case has been brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), the U.S. Justice Department’s program to reduce violent crime. The PSN approach emphasizes coordination between state and federal prosecutors and all levels of law enforcement to address gun crime, especially felons illegally possessing firearms and ammunition and violent and drug crimes that involve the use of firearms.

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Each year in April, the Department of Justice and the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of North Carolina observe National Crime Victims’ Rights Week, by taking time to honor victims of crime and those who advocate on their behalf.

This year’s observance takes place April 7-13, with the theme “Honoring Our Past. Creating Hope for the Future,” which celebrates the progresses made, and a future of crime victim services that is more inclusive, accessible and trauma-informed.

“Victims of crime deserve justice. This Department works every day to help them recover and to find, prosecute, and convict those who have done them harm,” said Attorney General William P. Barr. “During this National Crime Victims’ Rights Week, we pause to remember the millions of Americans who have been victims of crime and we thank public servants who have served them in especially heroic ways. This week the men and women of the Department recommit ourselves once again to ensuring that crime victims continue to have a voice in our legal system, to securing justice for them, and to preventing other Americans from suffering what they have endured.”

“Behind crime statistics are real crimes, inflicted upon real people. National Crime Victims’ Rights Week is a time of remembrance, and a tribute to those whose lives have been affected by crime,” said U.S. Attorney Andrew Murray. “Each day, the public servants of the U.S. Attorney’s Office work hard to honor their oath to serve the citizens of the Western District, to advocate for those individuals and communities affected by crime, and to seek justice for crime victims, their families, and their loved ones.”    

In observance of National Crime Victims’ Rights Week, the Western North Carolina Crime Victims Coalition will hold a meet-and-greet on Tuesday, April 9, 2019, between 8:30 and 10:00 a.m. in Asheville.  Local Asheville City and Buncombe County government staff, council members, commissioners, law enforcement, service providers, and survivors of crime are invited to discuss the County’s efforts to provide assistance and support to crime victims. Also on that date, the Asheville Buncombe Homicide Survivors Support Group will celebrate its first anniversary.  The group meets on the second Tuesday of every month at 7:00 p.m., at the YWCA, located at 185 S. French Broad Avenue, in Asheville. 

Lynne W. Crout to be Recognized for Her Contributions to Crime Victims

Lynne Ward Crout, Victim Assistance Specialist for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, will receive the “Outstanding Criminal Justice Professional Award,” in recognition of her lifelong service and advocacy for victims of crime.  Ms. Crout will be honored by the Crime Victim Coalition in Charlotte, and the ceremony will take place on Thursday, April 11, 2019, at the Mayfield Missionary Baptist Church. 

Ms. Crout works for the U.S. Attorney’s Office branch located in Asheville. She has been with the office for 34 years, with the past 20 years working as a Victim Witness Coordinator.  Ms. Crout works directly with victims on the Cherokee Indian Reservation, the Blue Ridge Parkway, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the Pisgah National Forest.  Her duties include providing advocacy, support and services to federal crime victims.  In 2002, Ms. Crout won the National Crime Victims’ Services Award for her work with victim families on three capital murder cases.  Ms. Crout is a member of the North Carolina Victim Assistance Network, and Co-chair of the Western North Carolina Crime Victims Coalition. 

“Ms.  Crout’s work embodies this Office’s ongoing commitment to uphold the rule of law, to protect our fellow citizens, to help and empower the most vulnerable among us, and to give justice to those who have been affected by crime and violence.  I commend Ms. Crout for her decades of public service, during which she has achieved outstanding results in work that makes a difference in the lives of citizens across the Western District.”

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The Department of Justice’s Office for Victims of Crime, within the Office of Justice Programs, leads communities across the country in observing National Crime Victims’ Rights Week each year. President Ronald Reagan proclaimed the first National Crime Victims’ Rights Week in 1981 to bring greater sensitivity to the needs and rights of victims of crime. More information about the Office of Justice Programs and its components can be found at www.ojp.gov. More information about Crime Victim’s Rights Week can be found at https://ovc.ncjrs.gov/ncvrw/.

CHARLOTTE, NC - With the deadline for filing income tax returns a week away, U.S. Attorney Andrew Murray and Matthew D. Line, Special Agent in Charge of the Charlotte Field Office of the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigations Division, jointly announce recent tax fraud prosecutions and sentencings, and deliver a powerful warning to those who are thinking about breaking the law by committing tax crimes.

 “As April 15th approaches, we assure taxpayers who file honest tax returns and pay their taxes on time that my office works diligently to catch tax cheats. Whether it’s failing to report income, falsely padding deductions on returns to obtaining inflated refunds, or stealing innocent victims’ identities to file fraudulent tax returns, our experienced tax prosecutors work with dedicated IRS criminal investigators to find those who try to cheat our tax system and hold them accountable for their actions,” said U.S. Attorney Murray. 

“The IRS Criminal Division takes tax violations of law very seriously.  Our largest enforcement program is directed at the portion of American taxpayers, who willfully and intentionally violate their known legal duty of filing and paying their fair share of taxes.  With the April 15 tax deadline looming, it is important for people to have confidence that when they pay their taxes, their neighbors and co-workers are doing the same,” said Special Agent in Charge Line.

Attorney Indicted for Tax Fraud

John Hanzel (3:19-cr-82).  On March 27, 2019, an indictment was unsealed charging Hanzel with three counts of filing false tax returns for tax years 2012 through 2014. From in or about 2011 to the present, Hanzel was a resident of Cornelius, N.C., and was an attorney with the law firm John F. Hanzel, P.A. Hanzel’s law practice included, among other things, counseling his clients to set up offshore corporations and offshore bank accounts to purportedly protect income and assets from creditors, including the IRS. During the relevant time period, Hanzel did not have a personal bank account and did not pay himself a salary from his law firm. Instead, Hanzel wrote checks from his law firm account to pay for personal expenses including utility bills, mortgage payments, and credit cards. Hanzel fraudulently deducted personal expenses paid out of his law firm bank account as business expenses, including by falsely categorizing such as expenses as costs of goods sold and other deductions. From 2011 through 2014, Hanzel reported minimal income on his Federal Individual Income Tax Returns, Forms 1040, and paid minimal federal income tax. However, Hanzel actually received substantial income that he hid from the IRS by falsely deducting personal expenses as business expenses and by living out of his business bank account.

Other Tax Prosecutions

            In the last year, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, with the assistance of IRS-CI, has investigated and prosecuted numerous individuals for criminal tax violations. Tax enforcement prosecutions include:

Indictments

Aminta A. Smith (3:18-cr-107). On March 18, 2019, a superseding indictment was returned charging Smith with aiding and assisting in the preparation of false tax returns and filing false tax returns for herself for 2013, 2014, and 2015. The indictment alleges that, between 2012 and 2015, Smith prepared and submitted to the IRS more than 1,300 tax returns, many of which included false information such as false income and false education expenses, which qualified filing individuals for inflated tax refunds. The indictment further alleges that the Charlotte-area tax return preparer kept a portion of the tax refund as her fee.  For tax years 2013 to 2015, Smith also filed U.S. Individual Income Tax Returns that did not include much of the income she earned for preparing tax returns, which resulted in Smith receiving large tax refunds.  Smith faces a maximum penalty of three years in prison for each charge of aiding and assisting in the preparation of false tax returns and three years in prison for each charge of filing a false tax return. 

Guilty Pleas

James E. MacAlpine (1:18-cr-92). On February 4, 2019, MacAlpine pleaded guilty to evasion of payment of his taxes.  MacAlpine, a resident of Buncombe County, was the owner/operator of “James E. MacAlpine, DDS,” an orthodontic practice in Buncombe County.  MacAlpine has a long history of tax non-compliance – he failed to file tax returns for tax years 1996 through 2000, and in other years, MacAlpine filed tax returns self-assessing taxes due and owing, and then failed to pay those taxes.  Between 2000 and 2017, MacAlpine took numerous affirmative acts to evade the payment of his taxes including, opening and closing bank accounts to evade IRS levies and filing frivolous documents to the IRS for the purpose of harassing the IRS.  In 2014, the United States District Court entered a judgment that MacAlpine owed the IRS additional taxes, interest, and penalties in the aggregate amount of more than $1.9 million for tax years 1999, 2000, and 2002 through 2006.

Vincent Griggs (3:18-cr-383). On January 11, 2019, Griggs pleaded guilty to filing a false tax return. Griggs operated an audio-visual services company and failed to report gross receipts of more than $700,000 from 2011 through 2015 to the IRS from the business. As a result, Griggs fraudulently obtained the Earned Income Tax Credit for 2014 and 2015, and he had additional tax due and owing to the IRS of approximately $124,971 for tax years 2011 to 2015.

Trials

Arthur Joseph Gerard III (3:16-cr-270). On September 25, 2018, a federal jury convicted Gerard of conspiracy to impede the IRS after a week-long jury trial.  Gerard was the promoter of a fraudulent tax evasion scheme and helped others to shield their assets from the IRS using nominee companies and false IRS filings. Between October 2007 and May 2016, Gerard assisted clients in hiding income and assets from the IRS using straw companies and bank accounts opened in the names of those companies.  In particular, Gerard conspired with his client, Reuben DeHaan, to hide from the IRS over $2.7 million in gross receipts earned by DeHaan through his holistic medicine business. Gerard recruited his friend, Richard H. Campbell Jr., into the scheme to serve as a nominee on DeHaan’s bank accounts.  Gerard also assisted DeHaan in the filing of false documents with the IRS to obstruct the IRS’ collection efforts. Gerard charged DeHaan a fee of between $1,000 and $2,500 for each straw company he created. In total, Gerard’s conduct caused a tax loss of approximately $560,000.

Sentencings

Quandella Walker (3:17-cr-343).  On March 21, 2019, Walker, 29, of Charlotte, was sentenced to 18 months in prison for aiding and assisting in the filing of false tax returns for others. Through her tax preparation business, Quandella Tax Services, between January 2010 through at least 2016, Walker prepared tax returns for clients that contained false income information, to enable her clients to fraudulently qualify for inflated tax refunds. Walker also filed false tax returns for her own name.

Albert Strong (3:18-cr-131).  On January 31, 2019, Strong, 59, of Union, South Carolina, was sentenced to 36 months in prison.  Strong worked as a machinist/mechanic for a company at its Charlotte, N.C. location. From 2008 to 2015, Strong embezzled funds from the company using a fraudulent purchasing and billing scheme. Strong created a purported parts vendor, and then caused the company to order fictitious parts from the vendor. As part of the scheme, Strong created false invoices and submitted them to the company for payment. In all, Strong embezzled approximately $1,488,000 from the victim company. Strong failed to report the embezzled funds on his 2009 through 2015 tax returns, resulting in an approximate $450,000 tax loss.

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Federal penalties for tax crimes range from a maximum of one year in prison and a $100,000 fine for failure to file a tax return, false withholding exemptions, and delivering or disclosing false tax documents, to a maximum of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for conspiracy to defraud with respect to false refund claims. Other penalties include a mandatory term of two years in prison and a $250,000 fine for aggravated identity theft charges, three years in prison and a $250,000 fine for obstructing or impeding an investigation and filing or preparing a false tax return, and a maximum of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine for tax evasion, failure to pay employment taxes, conspiracy to commit a tax offense or conspiracy to defraud.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office and the IRS remind tax payers to exercise caution during tax season to protect themselves against a wide range of tax schemes ranging from identity theft to return preparer fraud. Illegal scams can lead to significant penalties and interest and possible criminal prosecution.  IRS Criminal Investigation works closely with the Department of Justice to shutdown scams and to prosecute the criminals behind them. The IRS has issued its annual “Dirty Dozen” which lists common tax scams that taxpayers may encounter, particularly during filing season.  Taxpayers are urged look out for, and to avoid, the following common schemes:

•   Phishing

•   Phone Scams

•   Identity Theft

•   Return Preparer Fraud

•   Inflated Refund Claims

•   Falsifying Income to Claim Credits

•   Falsely Padding Deductions on Returns

•   Fake Charities

• Excessive Claims for Business Credits

• Offshore Tax Avoidance

•   Frivolous Tax Arguments

•   Abusive Tax Shelters

Education is the best way to avoid these common schemes. To learn more about the Dirty Dozen scams and for help with recognizing and avoiding abusive tax schemes, the IRS offers educational material at www.irs.gov. Suspected tax fraud can be reported to the IRS using Form 3949-A found on the IRS.gov website.

A U.S. citizen who resided in Costa Rica pleaded guilty today for his role in a “sweepstakes fraud” scheme that defrauded hundreds of U.S. residents, many of them elderly.

Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney R. Andrew Murray Rose of the Western District of North Carolina, Special Agent in Charge John Strong of the FBI’s Charlotte Field Office, Inspector in Charge David McGinnis of the U.S. Postal Inspection (USPIS) Service Charlotte Division and Special Agent in Charge Matthew D. Line of the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Charlotte Field Office made the announcement.

Thomas Sniffen, 58, pleaded guilty today before U.S. Magistrate Judge David C. Keesler of the Western District of North Carolina to all 31 counts of an indictment charging one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, two counts of mail fraud, 13 counts of wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit international money laundering and 14 counts of international money laundering.  Sniffen was charged by indictment in September 2015 and was extradited from Costa Rica in July 2017.

As part of his guilty plea, Sniffen admitted that from approximately September 2010 through May 2014, he worked for a call center in Costa Rica that placed telephone calls to U.S. victims, falsely informing those victims that they had won a substantial cash prize in a “sweepstakes.”  The victims, many of whom were elderly, were told that in order to receive the prize, they had to pay for a purported “refundable insurance fee,” Sniffen admitted.  Sniffen knew that certain factual assertions that he and his co-conspirators made in their pitches to victims were false, he admitted.  He also admitted that he and his co-conspirators kept the victims’ funds; never provided any prizes to victims; and used the victims’ funds to continue operating the call center for his and his co-conspirators’ benefit.  Once Sniffen and his co-conspirators received the victims’ money, they allegedly contacted the victims again to tell them that they had to send additional money to pay for new purported fees, duties and insurance to receive the now larger sweepstakes prize.  Sniffen and his co-conspirators allegedly continued their attempts to collect additional money from victims until those victims either ran out of money or discovered the fraudulent nature of the scheme.

USPIS, FBI and IRS-CI agents from Charlotte and Toledo, Ohio investigated the case, with support from the Federal Trade Commission and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.  Trial Attorneys William Bowne and Jennifer Farer of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section are prosecuting the case. 

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Jolynn Denise McHone, 44, of Fort Mill, South Carolina, appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge David C. Keesler today and pleaded guilty to wire fraud, for embezzling from her employer more than $2.4 million worth of computer equipment, announced Andrew Murray, U.S. Attorney for the Western district of North Carolina.

Special Agent in Charge John A. Strong, of the FBI Charlotte Field Office, joins U.S. Attorney Murray in making today’s announcement.

According to the filed criminal bill of information and plea documents, from 2006 to 2017, McHone was employed by a Florida-based company as an information technology (IT) procurement manager.  In that capacity, McHone was responsible for negotiating IT equipment purchases and lease agreements with the company’s IT vendors, managing IT equipment and purchases for the company and its subsidiaries throughout the United States, including North Carolina, and managing the company’s IT operating budget.  McHone admitted in court today that from 2012 to 2017, she engaged in a scheme to defraud her employer by ordering new IT equipment using company funds, and then selling the IT equipment for her own financial gain.

According to court documents, McHone executed the scheme by placing orders for IT equipment to be delivered to a company subsidiary located in Concord, North Carolina, for supposedly legitimate company business.  McHone intercepted the deliveries of the equipment, then met a co-conspirator in Charlotte, North Carolina, to whom she sold the equipment for cash, often for as little as 60 percent of the retail value of the equipment.  During the relevant time period, McHone admitted that she engaged in dozens of fraudulent IT equipment purchase or lease transactions.  Through this scheme, McHone obtained hundreds of fraudulently-acquired pieces of equipment, and caused losses of more than $2.4 million to the company.

McHone pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud scheme, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.  McHone has been released on bond. A sentencing date has not been set. 

The FBI is in charge of the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Dallas Kaplan, of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte, is prosecuting the case.

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UPDATE

John V. Palermo, a defendant in this case, was acquitted of the charges alleged in the indictment as described in the press release below.

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Charlotte, N.C. – A federal criminal indictment unsealed today in the Western District of North Carolina charges the founder and Chairman of a multinational investment company, a company consultant, and two North Carolina political figures with public corruption and bribery,  for their alleged participation in a bribery scheme involving independent expenditure accounts and improper campaign contributions.

Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Andrew Murray for the Western District of North Carolina and Special Agent in Charge John A. Strong of the FBI Charlotte Field Office, made the announcement.

The indictment charges Greg E. Lindberg, 48, of Durham, North Carolina, and founder and Chairman of Eli Global LLC (Eli Global) and the owner of Global Bankers Insurance Group (GBIG); John D. Gray, 68, of Chapel Hill, North Carolina and a consultant for Lindberg; North Carolina state political party Chairman Robert Cannon Hayes, 73, of Concord, North Carolina; and Chairman of a Chatham County political party and an Eli Global executive John V. Palermo, 63, of Pittsboro, North Carolina, with conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud, and bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds and aiding and abetting.  Hayes is also charged with three counts of making false statements to the FBI.

The defendants made their initial appearances today before U.S. Magistrate Judge David C. Keesler in federal court in Charlotte.

“The indictment unsealed today outlines a brazen bribery scheme in which Greg Lindberg and his coconspirators allegedly offered hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions in exchange for official action that would benefit Lindberg’s business interests,” said Assistant Attorney General Benczkowski.  “Bribery of public officials at any level of government undermines confidence in our political system.  The Criminal Division will use all the tools at our disposal—including the assistance of law-abiding public officials—to relentlessly investigate and prosecute corruption wherever we find it.”

“Thanks to the voluntary reporting of the North Carolina Commissioner of Insurance, we have uncovered an alleged scheme to violate our federal public corruption laws,” said U.S. Murray.  “Improper campaign contributions erode the public’s trust in our political institutions.  We will work with our law enforcement partners to investigate allegations of public corruption, safeguard the integrity of the democratic process, and prosecute those who compromise it.”

 “These men crossed the line from fundraising to felonies when they devised a plan to use their connections to a political party to attempt to influence the operations and policies of the North Carolina Department of Insurance,” said Special Agent in Charge Strong.  “The FBI will root out any and all forms of public corruption.  We remain committed to ensuring those who violate the public’s sacred trust are held accountable.”

The criminal indictment alleges that in January 2018, the elected Commissioner of Insurance (Commissioner) of the North Carolina Department of Insurance (NCDOI) reported concerns to federal law enforcement about political contributions and other requests made by Lindberg and Gray, and agreed to cooperate with the federal investigation that was initiated. 

According to allegations in the indictment, from April 2017 to August 2018, Lindberg, Gray, Palermo and Hayes devised a scheme to defraud and deprive the citizens of North Carolina of the honest services of the Commissioner, an elected State official, through bribery.  As alleged in the indictment, the defendants engaged in a bribery scheme involving independent expenditure accounts and improper campaign contributions, for the purpose of causing the Commissioner to take official action favorable to Lindberg’s company, GBIG.  As the indictment alleges, the defendants gave, offered, and promised the Commissioner millions of dollars in campaign contributions and other things of value, in exchange for the removal of NCDOI’s Senior Deputy Commissioner, who was responsible for overseeing regulation and the periodic examination of GBIG. 

During the time frame relevant to the indictment, Lindberg, Gray, Palermo and the Commissioner held numerous in-person meetings at different locations, including in Statesville, North Carolina, and had telephonic and other communications with each other, and with Hayes, to discuss Lindberg’s request for the personnel change in exchange for millions of dollars, and to devise a plan on how to funnel campaign contributions to the Commissioner anonymously.  In order to conceal the bribery scheme, Palermo allegedly set up, at the direction of Lindberg, two corporate entities to form an independent expenditure committee with the purpose of supporting the Commissioner’s re-election campaign, and funded the entities with $1.5 million as promised to the Commissioner.  Also, at Lindberg and Gray’s direction, Hayes allegedly caused the transfer of $250,000 from monies Lindberg had previously contributed to a North Carolina state party of which Hayes was Chairman, to the Commissioner’s re-election campaign.

On or about Aug. 28, 2018, FBI agents interviewed Hayes about his involvement with and knowledge of the alleged improper campaign contributions.  During the interview, Hayes allegedly lied to FBI agents about directing funds, at Lindberg’s request, from Lindberg’s campaign contribution to the North Carolina state political party to the Commissioner’s re-election campaign; about having any discussions with the Commissioner about Lindberg or Gray; and about discussing with the Commissioner personnel issues related to the Commissioner’s office. 

The details contained in this indictment are allegations.  The defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. 

The FBI is in charge of the investigation, which is ongoing.

Trial Attorney James C. Mann of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys William Stetzer and Dana Washington of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte are prosecuting the case.

WASHINGTON – South Korean authorities extradited to the United States a Ukranian man in connection with allegations that he conducted an extensive money laundering and fraud campaign that targeted dozens of victims, including a corporation based in the Western District of North Carolina.   

Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney R. Andrew Murray of the Western District of North Carolina and Special Agent in Charge John A. Strong of the FBI’s Charlotte Field Office made the announcement. 

Aleksandr Musienko, aka “Oleksandr Serhiyovych Musiyenko,” “Robert Davis,” and “Ply,” a Ukranian national, was charged in a recently unsealed indictment with one count of wire fraud, one count of bank fraud, one count of money laundering conspiracy and two counts of money laundering.  Musienko had been traveling in South Korea, when, at the U.S. government’s request, South Korean officials arrested him on the charges out of the Western District of North Carolina.  South Korean officials extradited Musienko to the United States on March 28.  Musienko will make his initial appearance at 1:45 p.m. today before U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge David S. Cayer. 

According to the indictment, Musienko is charged with engaging in an extensive international money laundering and fraud scheme targeting U.S. corporations and individuals.  He is alleged to have begun the scheme in 2009 and continued it through at least 2012. 

In particular, Musienko allegedly partnered with overseas cybercriminals who had hacked into, and stole funds from, online bank accounts belonging to a large number of individual and corporate victims in the United States.  One victim was a business based in the Western District of North Carolina.  Musienko operated a network of “money mules” throughout the United States.  According to the indictment, using aliases that included “Robert Davis” and phony front companies that included “Vita Finance AG” and “Hilpert AG,” Musienko recruited money mules throughout the United States using a variety of fraudulent techniques, including by advertising bogus “employment” opportunities to work as “Financial Assistants.”  He promised to pay the money mules a fee of approximately five percent for each overseas wire transfer they completed.

Once Musienko had his network of money mules in place, Musienko then offered his money mule services to his cybercriminal partners to assist them in transferring stolen funds.  He directed his “money mules” to use their own bank accounts to receive and then transfer proceeds from the compromised bank accounts overseas.  As alleged in the indictment, Musienko’s criminal money mule operation effectuated the theft and laundering of at least $2.8 million from 2009 to 2012. 

The investigation was conducted by the FBI Charlotte Field Office.  The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs provided significant support with the defendant’s extradition and with obtaining evidence from South Korea.  Senior Trial Attorney Mona Sedky of the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Taylor Phillips of the Western District of North Carolina are prosecuting the case. 

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

South Korean authorities extradited to the United States a Ukrainian man in connection with allegations that he conducted an extensive money laundering and fraud campaign that targeted dozens of victims, including a corporation based in the Western District of North Carolina.   

Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney R. Andrew Murray of the Western District of North Carolina and Special Agent in Charge John A. Strong of the FBI’s Charlotte Field Office made the announcement. 

Aleksandr Musienko, aka “Oleksandr Serhiyovych Musiyenko,” “Robert Davis,” and “Ply,” a Ukrainian national, was charged in a recently unsealed indictment with one count of wire fraud, one count of bank fraud, one count of money laundering conspiracy and two counts of money laundering.  Musienko had been traveling in South Korea, when, at the U.S. government’s request, South Korean officials arrested him on the charges out of the Western District of North Carolina.  South Korean officials extradited Musienko to the United States on March 28.  Musienko will make his initial appearance at 1:45 p.m. today before U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge David S. Cayer. 

According to the indictment, Musienko is charged with engaging in an extensive international money laundering and fraud scheme targeting U.S. corporations and individuals.  He is alleged to have begun the scheme in 2009 and continued it through at least 2012. 

In particular, Musienko allegedly partnered with overseas cybercriminals who had hacked into, and stole funds from, online bank accounts belonging to a large number of individual and corporate victims in the United States.  One victim was a business based in the Western District of North Carolina.  Musienko operated a network of “money mules” throughout the United States.  According to the indictment, using aliases that included “Robert Davis” and phony front companies that included “Vita Finance AG” and “Hilpert AG,” Musienko recruited money mules throughout the United States using a variety of fraudulent techniques, including by advertising bogus “employment” opportunities to work as “Financial Assistants.”  He promised to pay the money mules a fee of approximately five percent for each overseas wire transfer they completed.

Once Musienko had his network of money mules in place, Musienko then offered his money mule services to his cybercriminal partners to assist them in transferring stolen funds.  He directed his “money mules” to use their own bank accounts to receive and then transfer proceeds from the compromised bank accounts overseas.  As alleged in the indictment, Musienko’s criminal money mule operation effectuated the theft and laundering of at least $2.8 million from 2009 to 2012. 

The investigation was conducted by the FBI Charlotte Field Office.  The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs provided significant support with the defendant’s extradition and with obtaining evidence from South Korea.  Senior Trial Attorney Mona Sedky of the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Taylor Phillips of the Western District of North Carolina are prosecuting the case. 

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

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The two owners of a South Carolina-based company and a manager at one of the country’s largest private companies (“Victim Company”) appeared in federal court today and pleaded guilty to conspiracy, in connection with an extensive bribery and kickback scheme involving more than $35,000,000 of fraudulent overcharges, announced Andrew Murray, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. 

Brian C. Ewert, 53, of Charlotte, Jennifer Maier, 51, of Clover, South Carolina, and Choung “Shawn” Nguyen, 47, of Wichita, Kansas, entered their guilty pleas before U.S. Magistrate Judge David S. Cayer. 

John A. Strong, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Charlotte Division, David M. McGinnis, Inspector in Charge of the Charlotte Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and Matthew D. Line, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division, Charlotte Field Office (IRS-CI) join U.S. Attorney Murray in making today’s announcement.

Ewert was co-owner and primary sales representative of WDS, Inc., also known as Women’s Distribution Services, Inc. (WDS), located in Lake Wylie, South Carolina.  One of Ewert’s responsibilities at WDS was to set prices for the supplies WDS provided to Victim Company. Maier was co-owner and Chief Executive Officer of WDS, responsible for running the company’s day to day operations.

Nguyen was a procurement manager with Victim Company’s Strategic Sourcing Function group, responsible for implementing and monitoring Victim Company’s supplier agreements with WDS.  Nguyen reported to M.K., an uncharged co-conspirator and senior employee within Victim Company’s Strategic Sourcing Function group.  Both Nguyen and M.K. were terminated by Victim Company in May 2016.

According to the criminal information and plea documents, from 2009 through 2016, Ewert, Nguyen, and M.K. conspired with each other to defraud Victim Company by allowing WDS to overcharge Victim Company by more than $35,000,000.  As part of the conspiracy, Ewert paid more than $1 million in bribes to Nguyen, M.K., and others. Court records show that in 2007, M.K. helped Ewert start a business relationship with Victim Company.  Between 2008 and 2016, with the help of M.K. and Nguyen, WDS dramatically increased its sales volume to Victim Company.  For example, between 2012 and 2016, Victim Company purchased nearly $544 million in products from WDS.  

Over the course of the scheme, in exchange for allowing WDS to overinflate the prices it charged Victim Company, Nguyen, M.K. and others were paid more than a million dollars in kickbacks.  As the defendants admitted in court today, Ewert made regular cash payments to Nguyen and M.K., paid for family vacations, flew them on private jets, and gave them expensive gifts, including electronics.  In exchange for the illicit bribes, Nguyen and M.K. assisted WDS in concealing from Victim Company more than $35 million in overcharges. 

In late 2015 and early 2016, after Victim Company began to question WDS’s contracts, Ewert, M.K. and Nguyen took a number of steps to conceal the scheme and to impede Victim Company’s audit by, among other things, providing misleading pricing information, falsely claiming that WDS was in compliance with its pricing obligations according to its agreement with Victim Company, and falsely denying receiving any improper benefits from WDS.  When Victim Company continued to demand proof related to pricing, Maier joined the conspiracy by creating at least 100 bogus invoices that she provided to Victim Company, in an effort to conceal more than $500,000 in fraudulent overcharges.

Ewert, Nguyen and Maier pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud.  The charge carries a maximum prison term of five years and a $250,000 fine.  They are currently released on bond. A sentencing date has not been set.

The FBI, USPIS, and IRS-CI investigated the case.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Ryan, of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte, is in charge of the prosecution.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – U.S. Attorney Andrew Murray announced that five men involved in the distribution of multiple kilograms of crack cocaine in the Charlotte area were sentenced today to prison terms ranging from five to ten years.

Special Agent in Charge John A. Strong of the FBI’s Charlotte Field Office and Chief Kerr Putney of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, join U.S. Attorney Murray in making the announcement.

U.S. District Judge Robert J. Conrad, Jr. sentenced the five defendants as follows:

• Samuel James McNeely, 37, of Charlotte, was ordered to serve 121 months in prison, followed by five years of supervised release.
• Demetrius Coleman, 40, of Charlotte, was sentenced to 100 months in prison, and four years of supervised release.
• Bobby Samuel Arnold, 31, of Charlotte, was sentenced to 96 months in prison, and four years in supervised release.
• Corey J. Baker, 36, of Mint Hill, N.C., was ordered to serve 90 months in prison, followed by four years of supervised release.
• Larry Ray Jr., 46, of Matthews, N.C. was sentenced to 63 months in prison, and four years in supervised release.

According to court documents and today’s sentencing hearings, from 2016 to 2018, McNeely, Arnold, Baker, Coleman and Ray were involved in a crack cocaine distribution conspiracy operating in Mecklenburg County.  Court records show that the defendants used a residence located on Rachel Street in Charlotte as a base to manufacture and distribute crack cocaine. McNeely acted as a supplier of crack cocaine in the conspiracy and also sold the drug in the Charlotte area, along with his four co-conspirators. Over the course of the investigation, law enforcement recovered multiple firearms, including a modified AR-style rifle which McNeely possessed illegally.

Each defendant previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute crack cocaine.  McNeely, Coleman, Arnold, and Baker also pleaded guilty to distribution and possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine.

In making today’s announcement U.S. Attorney Murray thanked the FBI and CMPD for their investigation of this case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney William Bozin, of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte, prosecuted the case.

This case has been brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), the U.S. Justice Department’s program to reduce violent crime. The PSN approach emphasizes coordination between state and federal prosecutors and all levels of law enforcement to address gun crime, especially felons illegally possessing firearms and ammunition and violent and drug crimes that involve the use of firearms.

A North Carolina member of the Nine Trey Gangsters set of the United Blood Nation (UBN or Bloods) street gang, who was convicted of Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) conspiracy, was sentenced yesterday to more than 17 years in prison.  Seventy four defendants have now either pleaded guilty or been convicted at trial from this investigation, and 65 have been sentenced.

Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney R. Andrew Murray for the Western District of North Carolina and Special Agent in Charge John A. Strong of the FBI’s Charlotte Field Office, made the announcement.

Shamon Movair Goins, aka Rugie, 28, of Charlotte, North Carolina, was sentenced by Chief Judge Frank D. Whitney to serve 210 months in prison.  Goins pleaded guilty on Aug. 22, 2018 to RICO conspiracy.  According to court documents and evidence presented at sentencing, Goins was a local UBN leader, holding the rank of Four-Star General.  Goins trafficked firearms and drugs for the gang, and participated in two different conspiracies to commit murder, including one in 2010 that resulted in the death of the victim.

“Today’s sentence sends an unmistakable message to Bloods members in North Carolina: gang activity, especially violent crime, will make you a priority target of the Department of Justice and our law enforcement partners,” said Assistant Attorney General Benczkowski.  “With 74 defendants now judged guilty, the Department of Justice’s pursuit of the Nine Trey Gangsters continues to disrupt and weaken this violent prison and street gang, and serves as a testament to the effectiveness of federal, state, and local law enforcement cooperation.”

“This was a local gang leader who conspired with others to murder those who broke the rules of the gang,” said U.S. Attorney Murray.  “With yet another violent offender behind bars, my office continues our work to dismantle criminal enterprises and to protect the people of the Western District from violent street gangs.”

According to court documents and evidence presented at the May 2018 trial, the UBN is a violent criminal street gang operating throughout the east coast of the United States since it was founded as a prison gang in 1993.  UBN members are often identified by their use of the color red, and can also often be identified by common tattoos or burn marks.  Examples include: a three-circle pattern, usually burned onto the upper arm, known as a “dog paw”; the acronym “M.O.B.,” which stands for “Member of Bloods”; the words “damu,” or “eastside”; the number five; the five-pointed star; and the five-pointed crown.  UBN members have distinct hand signs and written codes, which are used to identify other members and rival gang members.  The Nine Trey Gangster set of the UBN refer to themselves as “Billies.”

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, the UBN is governed by a common set of 31 rules, known as “The 31,” which were originally written by the founders of the UBN.  Members of the UBN are expected to conduct themselves and their illegal activity according to rules and regulations set by their leaders.  Prominent among these is a requirement to pay monthly dues to the organization, often in the amounts of $31 or $93.  A percentage of these funds are transferred to incarcerated UBN leadership in New York; these funds also are used locally to conduct gang business.  UBN gang dues are derived from illegal activity performed by subordinate UBN members including narcotics trafficking, robberies, wire fraud, and bank fraud, among other forms of illegal racketeering activity.  The Nine Trey Gangsters’ leadership proceeds in rank, from lowest to highest, from “Scrap,” “One-Star General” through “Five‑Star General,” “Low,” “High,” and “Godfather.” 

In all, 74 defendants have been adjudicated guilty in this case, including three defendants who were found guilty at trial; 71 defendants have pleaded guilty in this investigation.  Thirteen defendants in high-ranking leadership positions have been sentenced.

The investigation was conducted by the FBI; the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department; the Shelby Police Department; the Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office; the Gastonia Police Department; the North Carolina State Highway Patrol; the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office; the North Carolina Division of Adult Correction and Juvenile Justice; the North Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles; the U.S. Federal Probation; the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; the IRS Criminal Investigation; the U.S. Postal Inspection Service; the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command; and the New York Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, Office of Special Investigations.  Trial Attorneys Andrew L. Creighton and Beth Lipman of the Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Gang Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matt Warren and Christopher Hess for the Western District of North Carolina are prosecuting the case.

This prosecution is part of an extensive investigation by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) Program.  OCDETF is a joint federal, state, and local cooperative approach to combat drug trafficking and is the nation’s primary tool for disrupting and dismantling major drug trafficking organizations, targeting national and regional level drug trafficking organizations, and coordinating the necessary law enforcement entities and resources to disrupt or dismantle the targeted criminal organization and seize their assets.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – A North Carolina member of the Nine Trey Gangsters set of the United Blood Nation (UBN or Bloods) street gang, who was convicted of Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) conspiracy, was sentenced yesterday to more than 17 years in prison.  74 defendants have now either pleaded guilty or been convicted at trial from this investigation, and 65 have been sentenced.

Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney R. Andrew Murray for the Western District of North Carolina and Special Agent in Charge John A. Strong of the FBI’s Charlotte Field Office, made the announcement.

Shamon Movair Goins, aka Rugie, 28, of Charlotte, North Carolina, was sentenced by Chief Judge Frank D. Whitney to serve 210 months in prison.  Goins pleaded guilty on Aug. 22, 2018 to RICO conspiracy.  According to court documents and evidence presented at sentencing, Goins was a local UBN leader, holding the rank of Four-Star General.  Goins trafficked firearms and drugs for the gang, and participated in two different conspiracies to commit murder, including one in 2010 that resulted in the death of the victim.

“Today’s sentence sends an unmistakable message to Bloods members in North Carolina: gang activity, especially violent crime, will make you a priority target of the Department of Justice and our law enforcement partners,” said Assistant Attorney General Benczkowski.  “With 74 defendants now judged guilty, the Department of Justice’s pursuit of the Nine Trey Gangsters continues to disrupt and weaken this violent prison and street gang, and serves as a testament to the effectiveness of federal, state, and local law enforcement cooperation.”

“This was a local gang leader who conspired with others to murder those who broke the rules of the gang,” said U.S. Attorney Murray.  “With yet another violent offender behind bars, my office continues our work to dismantle criminal enterprises and to protect the people of the Western District from violent street gangs.”

According to court documents and evidence presented at the May 2018 trial, the UBN is a violent criminal street gang operating throughout the east coast of the United States since it was founded as a prison gang in 1993.  UBN members are often identified by their use of the color red, and can also often be identified by common tattoos or burn marks.  Examples include: a three-circle pattern, usually burned onto the upper arm, known as a “dog paw”; the acronym “M.O.B.,” which stands for “Member of Bloods”; the words “damu,” or “eastside”; the number five; the five-pointed star; and the five-pointed crown.  UBN members have distinct hand signs and written codes, which are used to identify other members and rival gang members.  The Nine Trey Gangster set of the UBN refer to themselves as “Billies.”

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, the UBN is governed by a common set of 31 rules, known as “The 31,” which were originally written by the founders of the UBN.  Members of the UBN are expected to conduct themselves and their illegal activity according to rules and regulations set by their leaders.  Prominent among these is a requirement to pay monthly dues to the organization, often in the amounts of $31 or $93.  A percentage of these funds are transferred to incarcerated UBN leadership in New York; these funds also are used locally to conduct gang business.  UBN gang dues are derived from illegal activity performed by subordinate UBN members including narcotics trafficking, robberies, wire fraud, and bank fraud, among other forms of illegal racketeering activity.  The Nine Trey Gangsters’ leadership proceeds in rank, from lowest to highest, from “Scrap,” “One-Star General” through “Five‑Star General,” “Low,” “High,” and “Godfather.” 

In all, 74 defendants have been adjudicated guilty in this case, including three defendants who were found guilty at trial; 71 defendants have pleaded guilty in this investigation.  Thirteen defendants in high-ranking leadership positions have been sentenced.

The investigation was conducted by the FBI; the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department; the Shelby Police Department; the Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office; the Gastonia Police Department; the North Carolina State Highway Patrol; the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office; the North Carolina Division of Adult Correction and Juvenile Justice; the North Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles; the U.S. Federal Probation; the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; the IRS Criminal Investigation; the U.S. Postal Inspection Service; the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command; and the New York Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, Office of Special Investigations.  Trial Attorneys Andrew L. Creighton and Beth Lipman of the Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Gang Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matt Warren and Christopher Hess for the Western District of North Carolina are prosecuting the case.

This prosecution is part of an extensive investigation by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) Program.  OCDETF is a joint federal, state, and local cooperative approach to combat drug trafficking and is the nation’s primary tool for disrupting and dismantling major drug trafficking organizations, targeting national and regional level drug trafficking organizations, and coordinating the necessary law enforcement entities and resources to disrupt or dismantle the targeted criminal organization and seize their assets.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Andrew Murray, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina, announced today that Damonte Withers, 30, of Charlotte, was sentenced to 108 months for bank fraud conspiracy, wire fraud conspiracy, and aggravated identity theft charges in connection to a bank and identity theft scheme.  In addition to the prison term imposed, Withers was ordered to serve two years under court supervision and to pay $1,068,511.87 in restitution.

U.S. Attorney Murray is joined in making today’s announcement by David M. McGinnis, Inspector in Charge of the Charlotte Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service;  Reginald DeMatteis, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Secret Service, Charlotte Field Office; and Chief Kerr Putney of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department.

According to court documents and today’s sentencing hearing, Withers, also known as “Tony da Boss” on social media, and his co-conspirators, were members of a local hip-hop group known as the “FreeBandz Gang” or “FBG.” 

According to court documents, from February 2014 through January 2016, Withers conspired with others to commit bank fraud by engaging in what is commonly known as a “card-cracking” scheme.  As part of the scheme, Withers and his co-conspirators recruited individuals to hand over their bank account ATM/debit cards and PINs in exchange for the promise of an easy pay-day.  Withers and other members of FBG would then deposit fraudulent or stolen checks into the bank accounts using the corresponding ATMs or mobile banking applications, triggering a credit to the account.  Court records show that Withers and his co-conspirators would then quickly withdraw cash from the accounts, before the banks could determine the deposited checks were worthless.

In addition to the card-cracking scheme, in October 2016, Withers and several members of FBG also executed wire fraud conspiracy in which they used victims’ stolen identities to fraudulently acquire cellular phones, tablets and other goods so they could resell them for profit.  Withers and other members of the conspiracy obtained victims’ names, Social Security Numbers, dates of birth, and other personal identifying information, using an Internet-based database and used that information to manufacture fake IDs, which they then used to open phone lines and complete fraudulent credit applications in the identity theft victims’ names.  Over the course of the investigation, law enforcement found Withers to be in possession of several items used to manufacture the fictitious identification cards, and of the personal identifying information of at least 18 individuals.  Withers’ fraudulent conduct continued at least until he was charged in December 2017.  Withers previously admitted to causing between $550,000 and $1.5 million in losses as a result of his fraud.

Withers’ co-defendants were previously sentenced as follows: Nemiah Davis was sentenced to 70 months in prison and three years of supervised release; Quadarius Thomas was sentenced to 65 months in prison and two years of supervised release; Jeffrey Monteith was sentenced to 58 months in prison and three years of supervised release; Deandre Howze was sentenced to 57 months in prison and three years of supervised release; Laerek Williams was sentenced to 54 months in prison and two years of supervised release; and James Willingham was sentenced to 52 months in prison and three years of supervised release.

In making today’s announcement, U.S. Attorney Murray commended the work of the United States Secret Service, the United States Postal Inspection Service, and the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department for their investigation of this case.

Assistant United States Attorney Dallas J. Kaplan of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte is in charge of the prosecution.

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Today, U.S. District Judge Martin Reidinger sentenced Linda Liceth Prada-Ardilla, 29, a Colombian national residing in Asheville, N.C. to 135 months in prison and five years of supervised release for possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, announced Andrew Murray, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.

U.S. Attorney Murray is joined in making today’s announcement by Robert J. Murphy, Special Agent in Charge of the Atlanta Field Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), which oversees the Charlotte District Office; Interim Chief Wade Wood of the Asheville Police Department; and Sheriff Quentin Miller of the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office.

According to court documents and today’s sentencing hearing, in July 2017, law enforcement became aware that Prada-Ardilla and her co-defendant, Oscar Orlando Navarro-Melendez, were trafficking methamphetamine in and around Buncombe County.  Court records show that law enforcement recovered from an Asheville-area hotel a suitcase which belonged to Prada-Ardilla and her co-defendant.  Inside the suitcase, law enforcement located methamphetamine, cocaine, drug paraphernalia, a firearm and 25 rounds of ammunition.  Law enforcement also searched Prada-Ardilla’s hotel room, where they found additional quantities of methamphetamine and cocaine, a firearm and more ammunition. 

Prada-Ardilla is currently in federal custody and will be transferred to the custody of the federal Bureau of Prisons upon designation of a federal facility.  All federal sentences are served without the possibility of parole.  The charges against Navarro-Melendez are still pending.

In making today’s announcement, U.S. Attorney Murray thanked the DEA and the Buncombe County Anti-Crime Task Force (B-CAT) for their investigation of this case.

Assistant United States Attorney John Pritchard, of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Asheville, is in charge of the prosecution.

A Charlotte, North Carolina man pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to access a protected computer, for his role in an international “Tech Support Scam” that defrauded hundreds of victims, including seniors, of more than $3 million.

Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, First Assistant U.S. Attorney William Stetzer for the Western District of North Carolina and Special Agent in Charge John A. Strong of the FBI Charlotte Field Office, made the announcement.

Bishap Mittal, 24, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge David S. Cayer.  Mittal has been released on bond.  A sentencing date has not been set.

According to the information and plea agreement, Mittal was part of a conspiracy that carried out an international internet “Tech Support Scam,” by placing fake pop-up ads on victims’ computers to convince them they had a serious computer problem, and to induce them to pay for purported “technical support” services to resolve the issue.  Mittal admitted in court today that he and “Individual 1” resided together in Charlotte.  Individual 1 was the owner/manager of Capstone Technologies LLC (Capstone), a company headquartered in Charlotte that claimed to provide computer-related services to its customers.  Capstone conducted business using several different aliases, including Authenza Solutions LLC, MS-Squad Technologies, MS-Squad.com, MS Infotech, United Technologies, and Reventus Technologies, (collectively, Capstone Technologies).  Individual 1, Mittal, and others carried out the tech support scam using a call center located in India, set up to handle “tech support” calls with potential victims.

According to the information, pop-up ads were a central part of the conspiracy’s tech support scam.  Individual 1 and other co-conspirators purchased blocks of malicious pop-up adware from publishers around the world.  The fake pop-ups would suddenly appear on victims’ computers freezing their screens, prompting victims to contact Capstone Technologies at a number shown on the pop-up ad.  When victims called the Indian-based tech support center for assistance, the co-conspirators used remote access tools to gain control of the victims’ computers.  Once in control of the computers, the scammers identified various fictitious causes for the victims’ purported computer malfunction, including the presence of malware or computer viruses, and induced victims to pay for virus clean-up or other tech support services.  The co-conspirators then charged victims between $200 and $2,400 to make computers operable again.  According to the information, Mittal and his co-conspirators defrauded hundreds of victims throughout the United States, some of whom were elderly, of more than $3 million.

The FBI conducted the investigation.  Trial Attorney Timothy Flowers of the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Taylor Phillips of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte are prosecuting the case. 

Earlier this month, the Justice Department announced the results of the largest-ever coordinated nationwide elder fraud sweep, involving more than 250 defendants from around the globe who victimized more than a million Americans, most of whom were elderly.  As part of the sweep, the Department of Justice and its law enforcement partners announced a tech-support fraud takedown, designed to combat an increasingly common form of elder fraud in which criminals trick victims into giving remote access to their computers under the guise of providing technical support.  In 2018, technical-support schemes generated over 142,000 consumer complaints to the FTC’s Consumer Sentinel Network.  Consumers 60 and over filed more loss reports on tech-support scams from 2015 to 2018 than on any other fraud category reported to the Consumer Sentinel Network.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – A Charlotte, North Carolina man pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to access a protected computer, for his role in an international “Tech Support Scam” that defrauded hundreds of victims, including seniors, of more than $3 million.

Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, First Assistant U.S. Attorney William Stetzer for the Western District of North Carolina and Special Agent in Charge John A. Strong of the FBI Charlotte Field Office, made the announcement.

Bishap Mittal, 24, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge David S. Cayer.  Mittal has been released on bond. A sentencing date has not been set.

According to the information and plea agreement, Mittal was part of a conspiracy that carried out an international internet “Tech Support Scam,” by placing fake pop-up ads on victims’ computers to convince them they had a serious computer problem, and to induce them to pay for purported “technical support” services to resolve the issue.  Mittal admitted in court today that he and “Individual 1” resided together in Charlotte.  Individual 1 was the owner/manager of Capstone Technologies LLC (Capstone), a company headquartered in Charlotte that claimed to provide computer-related services to its customers.  Capstone conducted business using several different aliases, including Authenza Solutions LLC, MS-Squad Technologies, MS-Squad.com, MS Infotech, United Technologies, and Reventus Technologies, (collectively, Capstone Technologies).  Individual 1, Mittal, and others carried out the tech support scam using a call center located in India, set up to handle “tech support” calls with potential victims.

According to the information, pop-up ads were a central part of the conspiracy’s tech support scam.  Individual 1 and other co-conspirators purchased blocks of malicious pop-up adware from publishers around the world.  The fake pop-ups would suddenly appear on victims’ computers freezing their screens, prompting victims to contact Capstone Technologies at a number shown on the pop-up ad.  When victims called the Indian-based tech support center for assistance, the co-conspirators used remote access tools to gain control of the victims’ computers.  Once in control of the computers, the scammers identified various fictitious causes for the victims’ purported computer malfunction, including the presence of malware or computer viruses, and induced victims to pay for virus clean-up or other tech support services.  The co-conspirators then charged victims between $200 and $2,400 to make computers operable again.  According to the information, Mittal and his co-conspirators defrauded hundreds of victims throughout the United States, some of whom were elderly, of more than $3 million.

The FBI conducted the investigation.  Trial Attorney Timothy Flowers of the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Taylor Phillips of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte are prosecuting the case. 

In March 2019, U.S. Attorney Andrew Murray announced the Office’s Elder Justice Initiative, which aims to combat elder financial exploitation by expanding efforts to investigate and prosecute financial scams that target seniors; educate older adults on how to identify scams and avoid becoming victims of financial fraud; and promote greater coordination with law enforcement partners. For more information please visit: /usao-wdnc/elder-justice-initiative

Earlier this month, the Justice Department announced the results of the largest-ever coordinated nationwide elder fraud sweep, involving more than 250 defendants from around the globe who victimized more than a million Americans, most of whom were elderly.  As part of the sweep, the Department of Justice and its law enforcement partners announced a tech-support fraud takedown, designed to combat an increasingly common form of elder fraud in which criminals trick victims into giving remote access to their computers under the guise of providing technical support.  In 2018, technical-support schemes generated over 142,000 consumer complaints to the FTC’s Consumer Sentinel Network.  Older adults filed more loss reports on tech-support scams from 2015 to 2018 than on any other fraud category reported to the Consumer Sentinel Network.

A Charlotte, North Carolina, tax return preparer was sentenced to 24 months in prison today for assisting in the filing of false tax returns, announced Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Richard E. Zuckerman of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney R. Andrew Murray for the Western District of North Carolina.

According to documents and information provided to the court, from 2011 through 2017, Shawanda Elmore owned and operated C and W Tax Professionals, a tax return preparation business in Charlotte.  Elmore fraudulently increased her clients’ tax refunds by preparing returns that claimed false deductions and reported income and expenses for fictitious businesses in order to claim the Earned Income Tax Credit.  In total, Elmore prepared approximately 500 fraudulent tax returns that claimed over $500,000 in false tax refunds from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

In addition to the term of imprisonment imposed, Elmore was ordered to serve one year of supervised release and to pay restitution in the amount of $517,738 to the Internal Revenue Service.

Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Zuckerman and U.S. Attorney Murray commended special agents of IRS Criminal Investigation, who conducted the investigation, and Trial Attorneys Alexander Effendi and Lauren Archer of the Tax Division, who are prosecuting the case.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Edwin R. Barkley, 63, of Charlotte, appeared in federal court today and pleaded guilty to interstate transportation of stolen property, for operating a large-scale fraudulent scheme involving the purchase and sale of stolen goods and merchandise through his Charlotte-based storefront business, Tool King USA (Tool King).

Reginald A. DeMatteis, Special Agent in Charge of the United States Secret Service, Charlotte Field Office, and Chief Kerr Putney of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department join the U.S. Attorney’s Office in making today’s announcement.

As Barkley admitted in court today, from at least September 2015 through October 2018, Barkley operated the Tool King as a “fence,” which is a business that buys stolen merchandise from multiple “boosters.”  A booster is someone who steals goods and merchandise and sells them to a fence.  Court records show that Barkley bought from multiple boosters large-ticket items such as power tools, vacuum cleaners, generators, and home electronic goods, at a fraction of their retail value.  Barkley then sold the stolen merchandise on an e-commerce platform at or near ninety percent of their retail value, and used the profits to pay for his daily living expenses.

Barkley entered his guilty plea before U.S. Magistrate Judge David S. Cayer.  The interstate transportation of stolen goods charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.  Barkley is currently released on bond. A sentencing date has not been set.

This case was the result of the investigative efforts of CMPD and the Secret Service.  The CMPD and the Secret Service have established a fully integrated partnership to combat the most significant organized criminal groups operating in Charlotte.  Through this partnership, this unit has successfully leveraged local and federal resources, personnel, expertise and authorities to identify and combat the criminals and criminal organizations that have the largest negative impact on the community.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jenny G. Sugar of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte is in charge of the prosecution.

 

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – U.S. Attorney Andrew Murray announced today that Rudolph Carryl, 67, formerly of Oyster Bay, N.Y., appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge David C. Keesler late Friday, March 15, 2019, and pleaded guilty to securities fraud, for defrauding retired victims of more than $400,000.  Carryl was arrested on August 29, 2018, at a halfway house in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he was serving time for federal wire fraud charges related to a separate investment scheme. 

John A. Strong, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Charlotte Office joins U.S. Attorney Murray in making today’s announcement.

According to plea related documents and court proceedings, Carryl held himself out as an investment advisor to his victims and operated Carryl Capital Management (CCM), an investment management firm with offices in New York City.  CCM maintained a website that purported the firm adhered to rigorous risk control measures, and was dedicated to achieving the investment goals for its clients.

In or about February 2015, Carryl induced a victim identified as “M.G.” to hand over money which he promised to invest in stocks. Over the course of two years, M.G., who was Carryl’s childhood friend and a retired nurse living in North Carolina, wired more than $75,000 to an account controlled by Carryl, based on Carryl’s misrepresentations that M.G.’s money would be used to purchase stocks on M.G.’s behalf. Similarly, in or about May 2015, Carryl solicited victims “W.B.,” a retired United States Air Force veteran, and his wife “A.B.,” both of North Carolina, to invest approximately $350,000 in a purported investment fund that was managed by Carryl. To induce the retired couple to part with their money, Carryl claimed that he was a successful investment adviser who managed investments for the country of Saudi Arabia and that he was friends with wealthy celebrities.

As Carryl admitted in court, rather than invest the victims’ funds as promised, Carryl used the money to pay for personal and other expenses, and to make substantial cash withdrawals.

Unbeknownst to his victims, Carryl had been convicted of federal wire fraud charges related to a separate investment scheme, and was sentenced in New York on or about August 9, 2017, to 12 months and one day in prison.  After his sentencing but before he reported to the Federal Bureau of Prisons to begin serving his sentence, Carryl continued to be in contact with W.B., assuring W.B. that his investments were doing ok, all the while failing to disclose any information about his conviction or his impending report date to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.   

The securities fraud charge carries a maximum prison term of 20 years and a $5 million fine.  Carryl is currently detained.  A sentencing date has not been set yet.

The FBI led the investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Daniel Ryan, of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte, is in charge of the prosecution. 

In March 2019, U.S. Attorney Andrew Murray announced the Office’s Elder Justice Initiative, which aims to combat elder financial exploitation by expanding efforts to investigate and prosecute financial scams that target seniors; educate older adults on how to identify scams and avoid becoming victims of financial fraud; and promote greater coordination with law enforcement partners. For more information please visit: /usao-wdnc/elder-justice-initiative

 

 

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Attorney General William P. Barr and U.S. Attorney Andrew Murray today announced the largest coordinated sweep of elder fraud cases in history, surpassing last year’s nationwide sweep. The cases brought during this sweep involved more than 260 defendants from around the globe who victimized more than two million Americans, most of them elderly.

“Crimes against the elderly target some of the most vulnerable people in our society,” Attorney General William P. Barr said. “But thanks to the hard work of our agents and prosecutors, as well as our state and local partners, the Department of Justice is protecting our seniors from fraud. The Trump administration has placed a renewed focus on prosecuting those who prey on the elderly, and the results of today’s sweep make that clear. Today we are announcing the largest single law enforcement action against elder fraud in American history. This year’s sweep involves 13 percent more criminal defendants, 28 percent more in losses, and twice the number of fraud victims as last year’s sweep. I want to thank the Department’s Consumer Protection Branch, which led this effort, together with the Department’s Criminal Division, the more than 50 U.S. Attorneys’ offices, and the state and local partners who helped to make these results possible. Together, we are bringing justice and peace of mind to America’s seniors.”

The Department of Justice took action in every federal district across the country, through the filing of criminal or civil cases or through consumer education efforts. In each case, offenders allegedly engaged in financial schemes that targeted or largely affected seniors. In total, the charged elder fraud schemes caused alleged losses of millions more dollars than last year, putting the total alleged losses at this year’s sweep at over three fourths of one billion dollars.

In the Western District of North Carolina, a federal criminal indictment was unsealed, charging Mark C. Ramsey, 49, of Asheville, N.C., with securities fraud, for allegedly defrauding dozens of victim investors, many of whom were at or near retirement age, of more than $1.4 million. As alleged in the indictment, Ramsey induced victims to part with their money by falsely assuring them his investments were “safe” and would yield “guaranteed” returns. Instead of investing the victims’ money as promised, the indictment alleges that Ramsey used it to make Ponzi-style payments to other investors, and to fund his personal lifestyle, including to take multiple trips to casinos in Las Vegas. 

The charges against Ramsey are merely allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

The Elder Justice Initiative

Today, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the FBI announced the Western District’s Elder Justice Initiative, which aims to combat elder financial exploitation by expanding efforts to investigate and prosecute financial scams that target seniors; educate older adults on how to identify scams and avoid getting ripped off by scammers; and promote greater coordination with law enforcement partners.

“Scammers targeting seniors are a growing concern in North Carolina.  Tech support scams, lottery and sweepstakes fraud, IRS impersonators, grandparent scams, and sham business opportunities are common examples of financial schemes that victimize older Americans, leaving them in financial peril. We have a responsibility to protect our vulnerable older population from financial fraud and from scammers looking to get a hold of their money,” said U.S. Attorney Murray. “That’s why we’ve partnered with the FBI to launch the Western District’s Elder Justice Initiative, to combat elder fraud and financial exploitation. Our goal is to increase federal criminal prosecutions and civil actions against wrong-doers and educate older adults on how to avoid becoming victims of scams. It’s time to take action and stop the fraud.”   

“Years ago, our parents taught us not to talk to strangers. Their advice has proven to be timeless. Strangers are reaching out to us on social media, sending us emails, calling our homes and cell phones. If you fall for a scam, you can bet your life, they will call you again. They might have a different sales pitch or a different sob story, but they are the same crooks. They won’t stop until they get paid.  Don’t be the person who pays them,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge John Strong. “Let’s put these predators out of business for good.  Don’t fall for fraud.”

The U.S. Attorney’s Office and the FBI are also partnering with the AARP in North Carolina to conduct outreach and raise awareness through a series of seminars to educate seniors and prevent victimization. 

The first seminar was held this morning in the format of a tele-town hall, during which more than one thousand seniors in North Carolina had an opportunity to participate in an interactive telephonic session and learn more about financial scams.

Some examples of financial fraud targeting seniors discussed during this morning’s seminar are:

• Lottery phone scams – in which the callers convince seniors that a large fee or taxes must be paid before they can receive lottery winnings.
• Grandparent scams – which convince seniors that their grandchildren are in trouble and need money to make rent, repair a car, or even money for bail.
• Romance scams – which lull victims to believe that their online paramour needs funds for a U.S. visit or some other purpose.
• IRS imposter scams – which defraud victims by posing as IRS agents and claiming that victims owe back taxes.
• Sham business opportunities – which convince victims to invest in lucrative business opportunities or investments.

Below are some tips shared with participants during the seminar on how to avoid falling victim to a financial scam:

• Don’t share personal information with anyone you don’t know.
• Don’t pay a fee for a prize or lottery winning.
• Don’t click on pop-up ads or messages.
• Delete phishing emails and ignore harassing phone calls.
• Don’t send gift cards, checks, money orders, wire money, or give your bank account information to a stranger.
• Don’t fall for a high-pressure sales pitch or a lucrative business deal.
• If a scammer approaches you, take the time to talk to a friend or family member.
• Keep in mind that if you send money once, you’ll be a target for life.
• Remember, it’s not rude to say, “NO.”
• A good rule of thumb is, if it’s too good to be true, it’s likely a scam.

For more information about the Elder Justice Initiative, please visit: https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdnc/elder-justice-initiative. 

To view our Public Service Announcement, please visit: https://youtu.be/qBGGAA7Mxbo

Since President Trump signed the bipartisan Elder Abuse Prevention and Prosecution Act (EAPPA) into law, the Department of Justice has participated in hundreds of enforcement actions in criminal and civil cases that targeted or disproportionately affected seniors. The Justice Department has likewise conducted hundreds of trainings and outreach sessions across the country since the passage of the Act. 

     ****** MEDIA ADVISORY *******

CHARLOTTE, NC. – March 3-9 is National Consumer Protection Week.  The U.S. Attorney’s Office and the FBI will host a press conference on Thursday, March 7, 2019, to announce an initiative focusing on elder financial fraud. With financial scams targeting the elderly on the rise in North Carolina, federal prosecutors and law enforcement are increasing their efforts to combat financial schemes that victimize older Americans, by expanding their response to criminal and civil violations and raising public awareness.

WHO:     Andrew Murray, United States Attorney

              Western District of North Carolina

              John Strong, Special Agent in Charge

              Federal Bureau of Investigation

              Lara Cole, Associate State Director, Charlotte Region

              AARP – North Carolina

                              

WHAT:   Press Conference

WHEN:   Thursday, March 7, 2019 at 11:15 A.M.

WHERE:  U.S. Attorney’s Office

              227 West Trade Street, Ste. 1650

              Charlotte, NC 28202

              OPEN PRESS - Camera preset: 11:00 a.m.

 NOTE: Media may begin arriving at 10:30 am and be here no later than 11:10 a.m. Allow time for security check-in, x-ray of equipment, and set up.  All media must present government-issued photo I.D. (such as a driver’s license) as well as valid media credentials.  Media must check in at the building’s security desk for an escort to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.  Direct press inquiries to Lia Bantavani at [email protected] or 704-338-3140.

NOT FOR RELEASE OR PUBLICATION - FOR PLANNING PURPOSES ONLY

CHARLESTON, S.C. – Today, U.S. District Judge David C. Norton sentenced the former Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the Berkeley County School District, Brantley Denmark Thomas, III, to 63 months in prison on charges of embezzlement, money laundering, and public corruption, announced the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of North Carolina.  Judge Norton also ordered Thomas, 61, of Charleston, South Carolina, to serve three years under court supervision after he is released from prison, and to pay a total of $1,232,106.08 as restitution to Berkeley County School District (BCSD). 

According to filed court documents and today’s sentencing hearing, from at least 2010 to December 2016, Thomas served as CFO of BCSD. As the School District’s CFO, Thomas was responsible for, among other things, reviewing invoices and authorizing payments to BCSD vendors. Court records show that, during the relevant time period, Thomas executed an embezzlement scheme by which he, among other things, intentionally overpaid certain BCSD vendors. When those vendors issued refund checks resulting from the overpayments, Thomas converted the checks issued to School District for his own use. Court records also show that, at times, Thomas deposited the refund checks directly into a personal bank account. At other times, Thomas converted the refund checks into cashier’s checks, which he then deposited into a personal bank account. Over the course of at least sixteen years, Thomas also used other methods to embezzle from BCSD, and stole at least $1.2 million of School District funds. Thomas used the stolen money on personal expenditures, including to pay for personal travel, jewelry and private club memberships.

According to court records and plea related documents, Thomas also admitted to taking at least $32,000 in bribes and kickbacks from an insurance broker in exchange for Thomas’ help in securing millions of dollars in BCSD’s insurance business.

In imposing the sentence, Judge Norton highlighted the serious nature of Thomas’ crimes, and noted its negative impact on the students of BCSD, the need to protect the public from Thomas, and the need to deter Thomas and others from committing such crimes in the future.  Judge Norton also commented upon Thomas’ apparent “OPM Addiction,” – referencing Thomas’ repeated thefts of “Other people’s money.” 

In January 2018, Thomas pleaded guilty to a total of twenty federal charges involving embezzlement, money laundering and public corruption. Thomas is currently in federal custody and will be transferred to the custody of the federal Bureau of Prisons, upon designation of a federal facility. All federal sentences are served without the possibility of parole.

The investigation was conducted by the FBI and the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division. In making today’s announcement, the U.S. Attorney’s Office thanked the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office for its assistance.

The prosecution was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Ryan of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of North Carolina in Charlotte upon recusal of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of South Carolina.

 

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – U.S. Attorney Andrew Murray announced today that Christopher Anthony Samuels, 37, of Montego Bay, Jamaica, appeared in federal court and pleaded guilty to drug trafficking and importation related charges. U.S. Magistrate Judge David S. Cayer presided over today’s plea hearing. 

According to filed court documents and the plea hearing, on November 6, 2018, Samuels flew into Charlotte-Douglas International Airport onboard a flight that originated in Montego Bay, Jamaica.  Samuels was scheduled to connect in Charlotte, and fly the same day to New York City.  Court records show that, upon entry into the United States, Samuels’ suitcase and backpack were inspected by U.S. Custom and Border Protection (CBP) officers on duty at Port of Entry in Charlotte.   Samuels was sent to secondary inspection, during which time CBP officers X-rayed Samuels’ luggage. Upon further inspection, CBP officers, working jointly with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), discovered two taped bags weighing approximately two (2) kilograms of cocaine, hidden within the suitcases’ bottom liners. As Samuels admitted today in court, he intended to deliver the cocaine to additional co-conspirators, located in New Jersey.

Samuels pleaded guilty to drug trafficking conspiracy, possession with intent to distribute cocaine, and unlawful importation of cocaine.  Samuels is facing a mandatory minimum of five years in prison and a maximum of 40 years, a $5 million fine, and possible deportation.  A sentencing date has not been set.

The case is the result of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Airport Drug Interdiction Initiative, that targets international drug smuggling and financial crimes, including money laundering, bulk cash smuggling, and unlicensed money transmitters/transporters that utilize air travel to further their criminal enterprise.  Through this initiative, HSI incorporates the collaborative efforts of multiple law enforcement agencies, to include CBP, North Carolina Department of Public Safety’s Divisions of Alcohol Law Enforcement (ALE) and Department of Correction (DOC), and the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department.  In making today’s announcement U.S. Attorney Murray thanked these agencies for their joint investigation of this case.

Sanjeev Bhasker, Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina in Charlotte is in charge of the prosecution.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Octavius DeJuan Phillips, 30, of Gastonia, N.C., was sentenced to 121 months in prison and three years of supervised release on armed robbery charges, announced Andrew Murray, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.  U.S. District Judge Max O. Cogburn, Jr. presided over the sentencing.

According to filed documents and statements made in court, on August 26, 2017, Phillips committed a robbery at the Family Dollar store located at 3400 Wilkinson Boulevard, in Charlotte. Court records show that Phillips entered the store at 9:54 a.m., armed with a silver handgun.  Phillips approached the store clerk, pointed his firearm at the employee and demanded money from the register. The store clerk complied and Phillips fled the scene with the store’s money. He was apprehended the same day in Pineville, N.C.  In October 2018, Phillips pleaded guilty to Hobbs Act robbery and brandishing a firearm during, in relation to, and in furtherance of a crime of violence. Court records show that Phillips has a previous felony drug conviction and multiple assault convictions.

* * *

In a separate case, Quincy Lamonte Love, 27, Kannapolis, N.C., was sentenced to 60 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release for possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense.  According to court records, on March 27, 2017, law enforcement found Love inside of a car with drugs and firearms.  Following Love’s arrest, law enforcement seized a Glock, model 42, .380 caliber pistol and a Desert Eagle, .45 caliber pistol.  Love has previous felony convictions and is prohibited from possessing firearms.

In making today’s announcement U.S. Attorney Murray commended the FBI and the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD) for investigating Phillips’ case, and thanked U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and CMPD for conducting the investigation into Love.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Erik Lindahl, of the U.S. Attorney’s office in Charlotte, prosecuted both cases.

These cases have been brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), the U.S. Justice Department’s program to reduce violent crime. The PSN approach emphasizes coordination between state and federal prosecutors and all levels of law enforcement to address gun crime, especially felons illegally possessing firearms and ammunition and violent and drug crimes that involve the use of firearms.

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – U.S. Attorney Andrew Murray announced that Joseph F. Wiseman, Jr., 58, of Roswell, Georgia, pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge today, for his role in a bribery scheme involving three former top Buncombe County Officials.

John A. Strong, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Charlotte Division; Director Robert Schurmeier of the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (SBI); and Matthew D. Line, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division, Charlotte Field Office (IRS-CI), join U.S. Attorney Murray in making today’s announcement.

According to documents filed with the court, at various times from the mid-1980s through 2017, Wiseman was the agent and contractor on behalf of three businesses that collectively obtained more than $15 million in contracts with Buncombe County for consulting and engineering services.  Court records show that from at least 2014 through June 30, 2018, Wiseman engaged in a bribery scheme involving three top Buncombe County Officials: former County Manager Wanda Skillington Greene; former Director of the Department of Planning and Development Jon Eugene Creighton; and former Director of the Department of Social Services, Assistant County Manager, and later Buncombe County Manager, Amanda Stone (collectively, “County Officials”).

According to court documents, the plea agreement, and statements made in court, Greene, Creighton, and Stone engaged in the bribery scheme with Wiseman and used their official positions to enrich and benefit themselves by soliciting and accepting gifts, payments, and other things of value from Wiseman, in exchange for awarding Wiseman and the companies he represented with lucrative county contracts and projects.  Court records show that Wiseman understood and agreed that providing the trips, gifts, and other things of value to the three County Officials was a necessary condition for his companies to continue to obtain contracts with the County.

According to court records, prior to 2014, Greene, Creighton, and Stone went on trips that were connected in some way with legitimate county business, but during which Wiseman provided things of value such as meals, wine, tickets to sporting events, and other excursions.  By 2014, the County Officials solicited and accepted valuable gifts from Wiseman that were entirely unrelated to any legitimate County business.  For example, Wiseman paid for pleasure trips to various locations within the United States and abroad, including to Key West, Boston, Martha’s Vineyard, Napa Valley, San Diego, Vienna, Budapest, Cartagena, and Vancouver, among others.  In addition to lodging and airfare, during those trips Wiseman also paid for sightseeing excursions, spa sessions, and gift shop purchases, such as cases of wine from the Napa Valley vineyards that the County Officials visited. To pay for the trips and other incidentals, Wiseman either provided the County Officials with his credit card number, or, as in Creighton’s case, the credit card itself. 

As a result of receiving the above-cited things of value, Greene and Creighton awarded on behalf of Buncombe County multiple contracts worth over $2 million to Wiseman’s company, Environmental Infrastructure Consulting, LLC (EIC).  According to the filed factual basis statement to which Wiseman agreed during the entry of his guilty plea, Wiseman contends that the expenses he incurred by providing these trips, gifts, and other things of value to the County Officials came out of what otherwise would have been part of the his own profit, rather than from any type of “padding” or inflating of the contract amounts.  However, Wiseman did agree that he provided the valuable gifts for the purpose of influencing Greene, Creighton, and Stone’s decision to award the contracts, and, in doing so, Wiseman conspired with the County Officials to deprive the Government and the citizens of Buncombe County of their right to the honest services of those employees.

Wiseman pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit honest services fraud before U.S. Magistrate Judge Carleton Metcalf. The maximum penalty for the charge is five years in prison and a fine of $250,000.  A sentencing date has not been set.

In making today’s announcement, U.S. Attorney Murray thanked the FBI, IRS-CI and the SBI for their investigation of this case, and noted that the investigation into allegations of criminal activities within the Buncombe County Government is ongoing.

Assistant United States Attorney Richard Edwards of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Asheville is prosecuting the case.

 A North Carolina mechanic was sentenced to prison today for wire fraud and filing a false income tax return, announced Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Richard E. Zuckerman of the Justice Department’s Tax Division, and U.S. Attorney R. Andrew Murray for the Western District of North Carolina. 

Albert Strong, 59, a resident of Union, South Carolina, was sentenced to 36 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Robert J. Conrad, Jr. of the Western District of North Carolina. On April 12, 2018, Strong pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of filing a false tax return for tax year 2013.

According to the documents filed with the court, Strong worked as a machinist/mechanic for a company at its Charlotte, North Carolina location. From 2008 to 2015, Strong embezzled funds from the company using a fraudulent purchasing and billing scheme. Strong created a purported parts vendor, and then caused the company to order fictitious parts from the vendor. As part of the scheme, Strong created false invoices and submitted them to the company for payment. In all, Strong embezzled approximately $1,488,000 from the victim company. Strong also failed to report the embezzled funds on his 2009 through 2015 tax returns, resulting in an approximate $450,000 tax loss.

 In addition to the term of imprisonment imposed, Strong was order to serve two of supervised release and to pay restitution in the amount of $1,941,377.32.

Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Zuckerman and U.S. Attorney Murray commended special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and U.S. Secret Service, who conducted the investigation, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Taylor Phillips and Trial Attorney Mara Strier of the Tax Division, who prosecuted this case.

Additional information about the Tax Division and its enforcement efforts may be found on the division’s website.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - A North Carolina mechanic was sentenced to prison today for wire fraud and filing a false income tax return, announced Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Richard E. Zuckerman of the Justice Department’s Tax Division, and U.S. Attorney R. Andrew Murray for the Western District of North Carolina. 

Albert Strong, 59, a resident of Union, South Carolina, was sentenced to 36 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Robert J. Conrad, Jr. of the Western District of North Carolina. On April 12, 2018, Strong pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of filing a false tax return for tax year 2013.

According to the documents filed with the court, Strong worked as a machinist/mechanic for a company at its Charlotte, North Carolina location. From 2008 to 2015, Strong embezzled funds from the company using a fraudulent purchasing and billing scheme. Strong created a purported parts vendor, and then caused the company to order fictitious parts from the vendor. As part of the scheme, Strong created false invoices and submitted them to the company for payment. In all, Strong embezzled approximately $1,488,000 from the victim company. Strong also failed to report the embezzled funds on his 2009 through 2015 tax returns, resulting in an approximate $450,000 tax loss.

In addition to the term of imprisonment imposed, Strong was order to serve two of supervised release and to pay restitution in the amount of $1,941,377.32.

Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Zuckerman and U.S. Attorney Murray commended special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and U.S. Secret Service, who conducted the investigation, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Taylor Phillips and Trial Attorney Mara Strier of the Tax Division, who prosecuted this case.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – U.S. Attorney Andrew Murray announced today that Marcus Lenard Armstrong, 35, of McDonough, Georgia, was sentenced to 120 months in prison and three years of supervised release on drug trafficking conspiracy charges, for buying the deadly synthetic opioid “U-47700” on the dark web using cryptocurrency.

“As Armstrong can attest, traffickers buying deadly drugs on the dark web in hopes of avoiding prosecution is a strategy fraught with peril,” said U.S. Attorney Murray.  “The opioid abuse crisis is serious, and fighting an epidemic that is affecting communities across the Western District is a priority for my office.  From the virtual street corner to the concrete one, those who pour lethal synthetic drugs into our neighborhoods will be investigated and prosecuted.”

Robert J. Murphy, the Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Atlanta Field Division stated, “Whether you’re hiding behind the veil of the dark web or pushing drugs on a street corner or in a back alley, DEA, its law enforcement allies and the U.S. Attorney’s Office will relentlessly pursue you until you are brought to justice. With this case, the powerful and potentially deadly opioid “U47700” will no longer be distributed by this individual who is deserving of his lengthy sentence.”

“The Postal Service has no interest in being the unwitting accomplice to anyone using the U.S. Mail to distribute illegal drugs or other harmful substances,” said David M. McGinnis, U.S. Postal Inspector in Charge of the Charlotte Division. “Postal Inspectors’ objectives are to rid the mail of illicit drug trafficking, preserve the integrity of the mail and, most importantly, provide a safe environment for postal employees and the American public. The sentencing handed down today should serve as a reminder to other perpetrators engaged in this type of criminal activity that we will continue to work closely with our law enforcement partners to ensure they are brought to justice.”

According to filed court documents, from November 2016 to January 2018, Armstrong engaged in a conspiracy to traffic a lethal synthetic opioid, known as “U-47700.”  Court records show that in June 2017, Armstrong arranged for a package containing the deadly opioid to be mailed to a residential address in Charlotte.  Over the course of the investigation, law enforcement determined that Armstrong was using cryptocurrency to purchase “U-47700” on multiple dark web markets that sell and purchase illegal drugs.

On June 30, 2017, law enforcement visited the residence the parcel was addressed to in Charlotte and spoke with an individual who admitted to accepting packages for a “family friend,” later identified as Armstrong.  Law enforcement seized the package, and confirmed that it contained 1,003.38 grams of the U-47700 drug.  Court records show that two more packages were scheduled for delivery to the same residential address.  On the same day, Armstrong went to a local post office in Charlotte to inquire about the delivery of the package. A U.S. Postal Inspector on site approached Armstrong and asked the defendant for more information about the package.  After Armstrong became suspicious, he assaulted the Postal Inspector and attempted to flee the scene.  Armstrong was apprehended outside of the post office. 

According to court records, following his arrest, Armstrong was placed on pretrial release with electronic monitoring.  While on pretrial release, Armstrong cut the transmitter he was required to wear at all times and attempted to elude authorities.  He was arrested by law enforcement and was placed in federal custody. In April 2018, Armstrong pleaded guilty to drug trafficking conspiracy.

According to the DEA, U-47700 is a novel synthetic opioid, and its abuse parallels that of heroin and morphine, prescription opioids, and other novel opioids.  In November 2016, after receiving multiple reports of confirmed fatalities in multiple states, including in North Carolina, DEA responded to the imminent threat to public health and safety by placing U-47700 into Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act.  Emergency scheduling of dangerous drugs such as U-47700 on a temporary basis is one of the most significant tools utilized to address the problems associated with deadly new street drugs.  

In making today’s announcement, U.S. Attorney Murray thanked the DEA, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department for their investigation of this case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Sanjeev Bhasker, of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte, was in charge of the prosecution.

 

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – U.S. District Judge Martin Reidinger sentenced today John Arthur Coburn, 72, of Morganton, N.C., to 20 years in prison on child pornography charges, announced Andrew Murray, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. Coburn was also sentenced to a lifetime of supervised release and was ordered to register as a sex offender.

U.S. Attorney Murray is joined in making today’s announcement by John Eisert, Acting Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in the Carolinas.

According to filed documents and statements made in court, law enforcement were alerted to an individual, later identified as Coburn, using a peer-to-peer file sharing network to access child pornography on the internet.  On November 2, 2017, law enforcement executed a search warrant at Coburn’s residence in Burke County and recovered, among other items, a laptop computer and a cellular phone.  A forensic analysis of the Coburn’s cellular phone revealed that Coburn had used the device to produce lewd and lascivious child pornography images of a prepubescent minor female.  In addition, law enforcement located child pornography on Coburn’s laptop, which he had downloaded using the peer-to-peer network. Coburn pleaded guilty in August 2018 to transportation of child pornography.

Coburn has been in federal custody since November 2017 and will be transferred to the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons upon designation of a federal facility.  Federal sentences are served without the possibility of parole.

The investigation was handled by ICE/HSI.  The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Asheville prosecuted the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in 2006 by the Department of Justice, aimed at combating the growing online sexual exploitation of children.  By combining resources, federal, state and local agencies are better able to locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue those victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Chief U.S. District Judge Frank D. Whitney sentenced today Shi Yun Zhou, 27, of Charlotte, to 108 months in prison and four years of supervised release on drug trafficking conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy charges, announced Andrew Murray, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.

Robert J. Murphy, Special Agent in Charge of the Atlanta Field Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), which oversees the Charlotte District Office, and Matthew D. Line, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) join U.S. Attorney Murray in making today’s announcement.

According to filed court documents and court proceedings, beginning in 2015, law enforcement began to investigate a Drug Trafficking Organization (DTO) responsible for trafficking large quantities of marijuana and other narcotics between California and Charlotte.  Court records show that from 2013 to 2018, Zhou was involved in the DTO, and engaged in extensive drug trafficking and money laundering activities.  As Zhou previously admitted in court, during the relevant time period, Zhou trafficked more than 770 kilograms of marijuana and 500 grams of cocaine in and around Mecklenburg County, and used the drug proceeds to buy multiple residences and luxury vehicles.  On April 3, 2018, law enforcement executed a search warrant at one of Zhou’s residences, and seized narcotics, three firearms and ammunition, a digital scale and other drug paraphernalia, and $215,106 in cash.

Zhou pleaded guilty in April 2018 to drug trafficking conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy, and possession with intent to distribute cocaine.  He is currently in federal custody and will be transferred to the custody of the federal Bureau of Prisons to begin serving his sentence.  All federal sentences are served without the possibility of parole.

In making today’s announcement, U.S. Attorney Murray thanked the DEA and IRS-CI for their investigation of this case.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sanjeev Bhasker and Ben Bain-Creed, of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte, prosecuted the case.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Today, U.S. District Judge Robert J. Conrad, Jr. sentenced a former Charlotte-area minister, William Todd Coontz, 51, of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to 60 months in prison, for failure to pay taxes and aiding and assisting in the filing of false tax returns, announced Andrew Murray, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.  Judge Conrad also ordered Coontz to serve one year under court supervision after he is released from prison, and to pay $755,669 in restitution.

U.S. Attorney Murray is joined in making today’s announcement by Matthew D. Line, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI).

According to filed court documents and evidence presented at Coontz’s trial, from 2010 to 2014, Coontz was the minister of Rock Wealth International Ministries (Rockwealth Ministries), and the author of numerous books on faith and finances, such as “Please Don’t Repo My Car,” and “Breaking the Spirit of Debt.”  Coontz also operated two for-profit companies, Legacy Media and Coontz Investments and Insurance. 

Beginning in tax year 2000 and continuing through tax year 2014, Coontz filed delinquent U.S. Federal Income Tax Returns, Forms 1040, with the IRS and consistently failed to make timely payments on the taxes he owed, despite receiving multiple letters and late notices from the IRS.    For example, for tax years 2011 through 2013, Coontz filed late tax returns and did not pay the total assessed taxes, resulting in total tax liabilities of more than $326,394 for those years.

According to today’s sentencing hearing and evidence presented at trial, Coontz also filed false federal income tax returns for tax years 2010 through 2013, which underreported his income.  Specifically, Coontz engaged in a check cashing scheme, involving payments for travel reimbursements for speaking engagements and the sale of books and other products.  For example, during 2010 through 2013, Coontz regularly traveled to speak at various ministries, for which he was paid speaking fees and was reimbursed for his travel expenses. Coontz hid income from the IRS by claiming the travel as a business expense while simultaneously receiving travel reimbursement that he kept as personal income.  Also, in order to boost his income, Coontz told his travel assistant to bill the churches for the cost of a full fare first-class ticket, even though his actual expenses for those tickets was substantially less than the amount billed.  Fraudulent travel invoices were created and submitted to the ministries that falsely purported that Coontz had actually paid the full fare ticket price.  As a result, the travel reimbursement checks sent directly to Coontz were for amounts in excess of the actual travel expenses incurred by Rockwealth Ministry.

According to trial evidence and other court records, during 2010 through 2013, Coontz also directed that other checks, such as payments for speeches and for the purchase of books and other products, be made payable to “Todd Coontz” and sent to his personal address.  In total, Coontz concealed and cashed at least 102 checks for travel reimbursements, speeches, and books and other products, totaling at least $252,037.99 for the relevant time period, causing his total income for the relevant tax years to be underreported on his federal income tax returns.  During 2014, Coontz continued to conceal and cash checks received as payments, cashing at least 32 checks totaling $105,454.90 which were not reflected in his accounting records.

Coontz also underreported his income on his tax returns for tax years 2010 through 2013, by failing to include as income payments made by his corporations and ministry for his personal expenses, including payments for the benefit of his family members, and for meals and entertainment. Contrary to the advice of his Certified Public Accountant about comingling personal and business funds, Coontz spent substantial amounts of business funds to pay for personal expenditures, which were falsely classified as business expenses. These purported business expenses included payments totaling more than $227,700 for clothing purchases, and over $140,000 to pay for meals and entertainment expenses at various restaurants, including more than 400 distinct charges at movie theaters. 

In addition, instead of holding assets in his own name, Coontz utilized residences and luxury vehicles titled in the names of companies he owned and controlled. For example, luxury vehicles purchased by Legacy Media, Coontz Investments and Insurance, and Rockwealth Ministries during 2011 through 2013 included three BMWs, two Ferraris, a Maserati, and a Land Rover, and a Regal 2500 boat, among others.  Coontz treated payments for those items as business expenses, even though some of them were used by family members and there were no records kept about their supposed business use. Additionally, in 2012, Rockwealth Ministries purchased a $1.5 million condominium as a parsonage for Coontz.

In announcing Coontz’s sentence, Judge Conrad said that the defendant showed “incredible” and “long term disrespect for the law.” He also noted that the defendant was “relentless,” in the “ways in which Mr. Coontz tried to cheat.”

 

Coontz will be ordered to the report the federal Bureau of Prisons to begin serving his sentence, upon designation of a federal facility.  All federal sentences are served without the possibility of parole. 

In making today’s announcement, U.S. Attorney Murray thanked the IRS-CI for their investigation of the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jenny G. Sugar and Dallas Kaplan, of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte, prosecuted the case.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – On Thursday, January 24, 2019, U.S. District Judge Martin Reidinger sentenced Gabriel Allen Goss, 39, of Asheville, N.C., to 28 years in prison and a lifetime of supervised release for production of child pornography charges, announced U.S. Attorney Andrew Murray.  Judge Reidinger also ordered Goss to register as a sex offender after he is released from prison.

John Eisert, Acting Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in the Carolinas and Sheriff Greg Christopher of the Haywood County Sheriff’s Office join U.S. Attorney Murray in making today’s announcement.

According to filed court documents and today’s sentencing hearing, on March 18, 2017, Goss, then a resident of Haywood County, used a cellular phone to produce at least three child pornography videos of a prepubescent minor female.  Court records show that on November 16, 2017, Goss engaged in a series of internet emails with another individual for the purpose of trading child pornography files.  In one email to the other individual, Goss attached a video file of the child pornography Goss had produced depicting the minor victim.

Goss is currently in federal custody and will be transferred to the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons upon designation of a federal facility.  Federal sentences are served without the possibility of parole.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

In making today’s announcement U.S. Attorney Murray thanked the ICE/HSI and the Haywood County Sheriff’s Office for their investigation of the case.  The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Asheville handled the prosecution.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – On Thursday, January 24, 2019, Dontarius Marquis Hall, 39, of Gaston County, N.C., was sentenced to 27 years in prison for drug trafficking conspiracy, distribution and possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, and possession of a firearm by a felon, announced U.S. Attorney Andrew Murray.  In addition to the prison term imposed, U.S. District Judge Robert J. Conrad, Jr. also ordered Hall to serve five years under court supervision.

John A. Strong, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Charlotte Division, and Chief Robert C. Helton of the Gastonia Police Department join U.S. Attorney Murray in making today’s announcement.

According to information contained in filed court documents and Hall’s sentencing hearing, Hall’s trial was scheduled to begin on June 4, 2018.  The morning of the first day of trial Hall entered a plea of guilty, and admitted to being the leader, organizer and recruiter of a drug conspiracy that operated in an around Gaston County.  Hall further admitted that between 2010 and 2015, the drug conspiracy trafficked eight to twenty-five kilograms of crack cocaine.  According to court records, while executing a federal search warrant at Hall’s residence in December 2015, law enforcement recovered two firearms, drug trafficking paraphernalia, and $965 in cash.  Due to his lengthy criminal history, which dates back to 1999 and includes several convictions for drug and firearm offenses, Hall was prohibited from possessing a firearm. 

Hall is currently in federal custody and will be transferred to the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons upon designation of a federal facility.  Federal sentences are served without the possibility of parole.

This case has been brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), the U.S. Justice Department’s program to reduce violent crime. The PSN approach emphasizes coordination between state and federal prosecutors and all levels of law enforcement to address gun crime, especially felons illegally possessing firearms and ammunition and violent and drug crimes that involve the use of firearms.     

This case stems from an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation.  OCDETF is a joint federal, state and local cooperative approach to combat drug trafficking and is the nation’s primary tool for disrupting and dismantling major drug trafficking organizations, targeting national and regional drug trafficking organizations and coordinating the necessary law enforcement entities and resources to disrupt or dismantle the targeted criminal organization and seize their assets.

In making today’s announcement U.S. Attorney Murray thanked the FBI and the Gastonia Police Department for their investigation of the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Steven R. Kaufman and Lambert Guinn of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte handled the prosecution.

 

 

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Late yesterday, a Charlotte federal jury convicted Rafid Latif, 54, of Charlotte, N.C., Ejaz Shareef, 42, of Mt. Royal, New Jersey, and Imtiaz Shareef, 39, of Bossier City, Louisiana, of conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering through a fraudulent loan scheme, announced Andrew Murray, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. A fourth co-defendant, Biren Sheth, 52, of West Caldwell, New Jersey, previously pleaded guilty on May 16, 2018, to conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud, for his role in the scheme.

According to filed court documents and evidence presented at trial, from 2010 to 2018, Latif, Ejaz Shareef, and Imtiaz Shareef, conspired with each other and Sheth to defraud the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), various banks, and an insurance company through the operation and sale of two Charlotte-area hotels, the Days Inn located at 1408 West Sugar Creek Road, and the Arlington Suites located at 4416 South Tryon street. 

Trial evidence established that the conspiracy involved three inter-related schemes: an insurance fraud scheme; a fraudulent loan-kickback scheme; and a short-sale scheme.  According to court records, in 2010, Latif, Ejaz Shareef and Imtiaz Shareef were the operators of the Days Inn hotel.  In that capacity, the three co-defendants engaged in a scheme to obtain fraudulent reimbursements from an insurance company for fictitious repairs and remodeling expenses at the Days Inn hotel.  By submitting fake documents and bogus proofs of payment, the co-defendants obtained more than $825,000 from the insurance company, and then used a portion of the money to facilitate bank loan fraud schemes involving the two hotels. 

According to trial evidence, in 2012, the defendants obtained an SBA loan from a bank in order to finance the purchase of the Days Inn hotel.  The co-conspirators obtained the loan by making several false material representations including presenting the bank with fraudulent documents such as an inflated lease-purchase agreement; by misrepresenting the source of the down payment, which was the fraudulently-obtained insurance money; and by failing to disclose to the bank that the co-conspirators would receive nearly $700,000 as a kickback from the hotel’s inflated sale price.

In addition to the fraudulent scheme involving the Days Inn hotel, Sheth and Latif engaged in separate fraudulent loan scheme involving the Arlington Suites hotel. Trial evidence established that, as a favor for Sheth’s assistance in facilitating the purchase of the Days Inn hotel, Latif agreed to help Sheth with the fraudulent short sale of the Arlington Suites hotel. Sheth owned the Arlington Suites hotel, which was in part financed with an SBA loan.  With Latif’s help, Sheth defrauded SBA by convincing SBA to agree to a short-sale when Sheth fell behind on his payments.  According to trial evidence, Sheth arranged to “sell” the Arlington Suites hotel to a corporation in Latif’s name.  This sham sale was in name only. According to trial evidence, Sheth convinced SBA to charge off nearly $1 million of the balance Sheth owed on the existing loan.  Because Latif was only a straw purchaser and Sheth remained the true owner of the hotel, the $1 million represented an immediate increase in Sheth’s equity in the Arlington Suites hotel.

According to evidence presented at trial, Latif further defrauded SBA in connection with the Arlington Suites sale by obtaining another SBA loan to finance the purported purchase of the hotel.  Latif secured the SBA loan by using false and fraudulent documentation and making material representations about the down-payment money, among other things. 

In 2014, Sheth transferred to Latif $690,000 in kickback funds from the Days Inn sale, after Latif threatened to expose the Arlington Suites short-sale fraud.

At sentencing, Latif, Ejaz Shareef, and Imtiaz Shareef face a statutory maximum sentence of 30 years in prison and a $1,000,000 fine.  A sentencing date for the defendants has not been set.

In making today’s announcement, U.S. Attorney Murray credited the Charlotte Division of the FBI for its investigation of this case and thanked the SBA for its invaluable assistance.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Caryn Finley and William Miller, of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte, are in charge of the prosecution.

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Michael Christopher Estes, 47, formerly of Tazewell, Tennessee, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Max O. Cogburn, Jr. to 46 months in prison and two years of supervised release for unlawful possession of explosive material, in connection with the October 2017 incident at the Asheville Regional Airport, announced Andrew Murray, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.    

John A. Strong, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Charlotte Division and Chief Tammy Hooper of the Asheville Police Department join U.S. Attorney Murray in making today’s announcement.

According to filed court documents and today’s sentencing hearing, shortly after 12:30 a.m. on October 6, 2017, Estes walked onto the grounds of the Asheville Regional Airport carrying a package containing an explosive device he had constructed.  Estes placed the package outside the entrance of the airport’s baggage claim area.  Estes constructed the device using material that is known to explode violently when coming in contact with a flame or other ignition source.  The explosive device also contained nails and a shotgun cartridge.  Nails, shrapnel, or ball bearings often are added to such devices to increase the devastation inflicted by the explosion. According to plea documents, the words “FOR GOD & COUNTRY” were written on the strike strip of a matchbox attached to the device.  Another message, “FOR ALL THE V/N VETS OUT THERE!!!,” was written on the tape attaching a portion of a clock to the device.  The alarm on the clock was positioned to go off at 6:00, but it was not actually set.

At approximately 6:30 a.m. on October 6, 2017, the Asheville Regional Airport Authority Department of Public Safety was alerted to the presence of a “suspicious bag” outside the terminal building.  Law enforcement responded to the scene and evacuated the baggage claim area. According to court documents, bomb technicians rendered the device safe and it tested positive for explosive material.  Estes was arrested the following day in an area not far from the airport.

Estes previously admitted in court that he purchased the material and constructed the explosive device he placed at the airport.  Estes told law enforcement that we were getting ready to “fight a war on U.S. soil,” and that terrorists were coming to the United States.  Estes told law enforcement that he believed that federal agencies were unprepared to fight the terrorists.  Estes also told law enforcement that his intention was not to hurt the public but to devise a training scenario.  He also said that he placed the device at the airport so it would be picked up by law enforcement, so that law enforcement would “now know how” to make a similar device.  Estes also admitted to staging a backpack in the woods across from the airport.  Law enforcement located the backpack, which contained some of the material Estes used to construct the device.

Estes is currently in federal custody. He will be transferred to the custody of the federal Bureau of Prisons upon designation of a federal facility.  All federal sentences are served without the possibility of parole.

The investigation was led by the FBI and the Asheville Police Department.  In making today’s announcement U.S. Attorney Murray thanked the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation and the Asheville Regional Airport Authority Department of Public Safety for their invaluable assistance and coordination in this case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Kent of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Asheville prosecuted the case.

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – United States Attorney Andrew Murray announced today that a federal grand jury sitting in Asheville has charged Shane McKinley Swimmer, 18, of Cherokee, N.C., with first degree murder in Indian Country. 

John A. Strong, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Charlotte Division, and Chief Doug Pheasant of the Cherokee Indian Police Department join U.S. Attorney Murray in making today’s announcement.

The charging document alleges that on November 10, 2018, in Indian Country, Swimmer, who is an Indian, did unlawfully kill another human being, identified in the criminal indictment as “C.W.”  The indictment further alleges that Swimmer killed C.W. willfully, deliberately, maliciously and with premeditation.

Swimmer is currently in federal custody.  If convicted of first degree murder, Swimmer faces mandatory life in prison.

An indictment is merely an allegation and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt in a court of law.

In making today’s announcement U.S. Attorney Murray thanked the FBI and the Cherokee Indian Police Department for their investigation of the case. 

Assistant U.S. Attorney John Pritchard and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin Eason of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Asheville are in charge of the prosecution.

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – A superseding criminal bill of indictment was returned on December 4, 2018, by a federal grand jury, charging Derek Shawn Pendergraft, 21, of Asheville, N.C., with one count of first degree murder and two counts of aggravated sexual abuse resulting in the death of his Pisgah Inn co-worker, Sara Ellis, announced Andrew Murray, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.  Pendergraft was previously charged with second degree murder.

U.S. Attorney Murray is joined in making today’s announcement by John A. Strong, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Charlotte Division; Neal D. Labrie, Chief Ranger of the Blue Ridge Parkway; and Robert Schurmeier, Director of the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (SBI).

According to allegations contained in the superseding indictment and other court documents, on the evening of July 24, 2018, Pendergraft, who worked at the Pisgah Inn on the Blue Ridge Parkway, reported that his co-worker, Sara Ellis, was missing.  Court documents allege that when initially interviewed by investigators, Pendergraft stated that he and Sara Ellis got off work shortly after 4:00 p.m., and decided to go for a hike on an unnamed trail near the employee housing area of the Pisgah Inn.  Pendergraft stated that shortly after starting their hike it began to rain, and the victim decided to return to the housing area while Pendergraft continued to hike.  Court documents allege that Pendergraft stated that on his way back, upon reaching the point where he last saw the victim, Pendergraft saw the victim’s umbrella and hat lying on the ground. Pendergraft informed the management staff at the Pisgah Inn that the victim was missing.  Rangers and first responders searched the area and located the victim’s body lying off an embankment, near a trail, within the boundary of the Blue Ridge Parkway, in Transylvania County, in the Western District of North Carolina.

According to allegations contained in court documents, on the evening of July 25, 2018, the manager of the Pisgah Inn contacted law enforcement and advised that Pendergraft was in her office and had made statements regarding the death of Sara Ellis.  Law enforcement arrived at the Pisgah Inn, interviewed Pendergraft, and arrested him shortly thereafter in connection with the victim’s murder. 

Pendergraft is currently in federal custody.  His court hearing on the new charges is set for Friday, December 7, 2018, at 10:00 a.m., at the federal courthouse in Asheville.  The penalty for first degree murder is life in prison or death.  The aggravated sexual abuse resulting in death charge carries a maximum penalty of life in prison or death.

The indictment includes a Notice of Special Sentencing Factors which could permit the United States to seek the death penalty.  The Department of Justice has not yet announced whether it will seek the death penalty.

An indictment is merely an allegation and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt in a court of law.

In making today’s announcement, U.S. Attorney Murray thanked the National Park Service, the FBI, the SBI, the Transylvania County Sheriff's Office, the Haywood County Sheriff’s Office, and the Cruso Fire Department for their respective work and assistance in this case. 

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Don Gast and John Pritchard, of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Asheville are in charge of the prosecution.

STATESVILLE, N.C. – U.S. Attorney Andrew Murray announced today that Ashonta Eswaien Hammond, 41, of Hickory, N.C., was sentenced to 120 months in prison on drug and gun charges. U.S. District Judge Richard L. Voorhees also ordered Hammond to serve four years under court supervision, upon completion of his prison term.  Hammond previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute cocaine; possession with intent to distribute cocaine; possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime; and possession of a firearm by a felon.

Robert J. Murphy, Special Agent in Charge of the Atlanta Field Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), which oversees the Charlotte District Office, and Chief Thurman Whisnant of the Hickory Police Department join U.S. Attorney Murray in making today’s announcement.

According to filed court documents and today’s plea hearing, from December 2016 to May 2018, while investigating a drug conspiracy operating in and around Hickory, N.C., law enforcement identified Hammond as a cocaine and crack cocaine dealer in the area.  Court records show that over the course of the investigation, Hammond engaged in multiple drug sales, while knowingly and unlawfully possessing a firearm.  Hammond’s criminal history dates back more than two decades, and includes a federal drug conspiracy conviction, for which he was sentenced to 72 months in prison, and state convictions for larceny, assault on a female, domestic violence, and multiple traffic violations, among others. 

Hammond is currently in federal custody.  He will be transferred to the custody of the federal Bureau of Prisons upon designation of a federal facility. All federal sentences are served without the possibility of parole.

In making today’s announcement, U.S. Attorney Murray thanked the DEA and the Hickory Police Department for their investigation of the case.

This case has been brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), the U.S. Justice Department’s program to reduce violent crime. The PSN approach emphasizes coordination between state and federal prosecutors and all levels of law enforcement to address gun crime, especially felons illegally possessing firearms and ammunition and violent and drug crimes that involve the use of firearms.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Sanjeev Bhasker, of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte, prosecuted the case.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – U.S. Attorney Andrew Murray announced today that Bryant Riyanto Budi, 27, of Matthews, N.C. appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge David S. Cayer and pleaded guilty to attempted possession of radioactive material with intent to cause death or serious bodily injury to another person.  

John A. Strong, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Charlotte Division and John Eisert, Acting Special Agent in Chargeof U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in the Carolinas, join U.S. Attorney Murray in making today’s announcement.

According to information contained in filed court documents and today’s plea hearing, from April 22, 2018 to June 1, 2018, Budi attempted to possess radioactive material, and did so with the intent to cause death or serious bodily injury to another person. Court documents show that Budi contacted an FBI covert employee via the internet to purchase a lethal dose of a radioactive substance.  In his communications with the covert employee, Budi expressed his intent to use the radioactive substance to kill an unnamed individual.  On May 31, 2018, a package containing an inert substitute for the radioactive material ordered by Budi was delivered to an address in Charlotte as instructed by Budi.  Law enforcement arrested Budi on June 1, 2018.

The charge of attempted possession of radioactive material with intent to cause death carries a maximum term of life in prison.  A sentencing date for Budi, who remains in federal custody, has not been set.

In making today’s announcement U.S. Attorney Murray thanked HSI in Buffalo, New York and Charlotte; the FBI in Charlotte and supporting FBI field offices; the FBI’s Weapons of Mass Destruction Directorate in Washington, D.C.; the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York, and the Department of Justice’s National Security Division.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Casey Arrowood of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte is in charge of the prosecution, assisted by Trial Attorney Bridget Behling, of the National Security Division.

 

 

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Otequise Lenard Miller, 33, of Concord, N.C. appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge David S. Cayer today, and pleaded guilty to drug trafficking conspiracy resulting in an overdose death and money laundering charges, announced Andrew Murray, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. 

Robert J. Murphy, Special Agent in Charge of the Atlanta Field Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), which oversees the Charlotte District Office; Christopher H. Healy, Acting Deputy Special Agent in Charge of ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Charlotte; Chief Gary J. Gacek of the Concord Police Department; and Chief J.W. Chavis of the Kannapolis Police Department join U.S. Attorney Murray in making today’s announcement.

According to filed court documents and today’s plea hearing, from 2015 until his arrest on August 22, 2018, Miller was part of a drug conspiracy that trafficked bulk crystal methamphetamine and heroin in Mecklenburg County and elsewhere.  During the relevant time period, Miller trafficked approximately 7-9 kilograms of heroin, and 14-18 kilograms of actual crystal methamphetamine.  In addition to drug trafficking, Miller concealed and laundered the drug proceeds.  As Miller admitted in court today, in December 2017, he sold heroin to a victim identified in court documents as “W.M.,” which resulted in the victim’s overdose death.  Court documents show that Miller is a repeat offender, and was previously convicted of drug trafficking charges.

Miller is currently in federal custody.  The drug trafficking conspiracy charge resulting in death carries a mandatory sentence of 20 years, up to a maximum of life in prison.  The money laundering charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.  A sentencing date has not been set.

This case is part of the U.S. Attorney’s Office initiative to combat the opioid abuse epidemic in the Western District of North Carolina through prosecution, enforcement and prevention. 

This prosecution is also part of an extensive investigation by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), targeting the importation of narcotics from Mexico into Western North Carolina. 

OCDETF is a joint federal, state and local cooperative approach to combat drug trafficking and is the nation’s primary tool for disrupting and dismantling major drug trafficking organizations, targeting national and regional drug trafficking organizations and coordinating the necessary law enforcement entities and resources to disrupt or dismantle the targeted criminal organization and seize their assets.

DEA, HSI, the Concord Police Department, and the Kannapolis Police Department investigated the case. 

Assistant U.S. Attorney Sanjeev Bhasker, of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte, is in charge of the prosecution.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – U.S. Attorney Andrew Murray announced that Anthony Lamont Caldwell, 49, of Charlotte, was sentenced yesterday afternoon to 284 months in prison on armed bank robbery and firearms charges. 

John A. Strong, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in North Carolina, and Chief Kerr Putney of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department, join U.S. Attorney Murray in making today’s announcement. 

On May 30 2018, a federal jury convicted Caldwell of bank robbery conspiracy, bank robbery, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.  Under federal sentencing law, Caldwell was subject to an enhanced sentence as an Armed Career Criminal, based on prior convictions.  Caldwell’s criminal history includes two previous federal convictions for bank robbery in 1997 and attempted bank robbery in 2004.  Caldwell was also convicted in Union County of Assault with a Deadly Weapon Inflicting Serious Injury with Intent to Kill in 1991.  

According to filed court documents, trial evidence and the sentencing hearing, Caldwell planned the bank robbery, recruited two teenagers to rob the bank, and served as the getaway driver.  Trial evidence established that on December 9, 2016, Caldwell’s co-conspirators entered a Wells Fargo Bank branch located at 10210 Couloak Drive in Charlotte, armed with two firearms supplied by Caldwell.  As they approached the teller area, the bank robbers pointed the firearms at the tellers behind the counter and demanded money.  The tellers complied, and the bank robbers fled in a car driven by Caldwell with $5,791.60 in cash.  Shortly after the robbery, law enforcement located Caldwell hiding in a wooded area near a bag which contained $5,614 and a GPS tracker from the bank.  They also located in close proximity the vehicle Caldwell was driving.

According to evidence presented at trial, Caldwell told law enforcement that he had been carjacked while picking up a pizza, and claimed that he had been forced at gunpoint by two males out of his vehicle and into the back seat of the car.  Witness testimony and trial evidence established that, contrary to his claims, Caldwell had not been carjacked.  Also, over the course of the investigation, law enforcement located in Caldwell’s vehicle the two revolvers used to perpetrate the robbery. 

Caldwell will be transferred to the custody of the federal Bureau of Prisons upon designation of a federal facility.  All federal sentences are served without the possibility of parole.

 The FBI and CMPD investigated the case.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys William Bozin and William Stetzer handled the prosecution.