Northern District of New York
Press releases recorded for this federal judicial district.
Fulton Man Sentenced to 20 Years for Child Pornography OffensesRead the Press Release
SYRACUSE, NY – United States Attorney Richard S. Hartunian announced that LEONARD ALLEN, age 46, of Fulton, New York was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Syracuse following his earlier guilty plea in January 2012 to knowingly distributing, receiving and possessing child pornography via the Internet.
United States District Court Judge Hon. Norman A. Mordue sentenced ALLEN to concurrent terms of imprisonment of 240 months imprisonment for distributing, receiving and possessing child pornography. Following his term of incarceration ALLEN will be placed on supervised release for life, and he will be required to register as a sex offender.
ALLEN’s arrest came after he sent images of child pornography to an undercover police officer in Keene, New Hampshire, in 2010. Based upon that information, the Oswego County Sheriff’s Office executed a search warrant at ALLEN’s Fulton residence, and found that ALLEN had been distributing child pornography to others on the internet, and that he had downloaded and collected thousands of images and videos depicting children in engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
ALLEN’s arrest is the result of an investigation by the Oswego County Sheriff’s Office, the Keene, New Hampshire Police Department, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lisa Fletcher.
ALLEN was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys Offices, 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 identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
Brooklyn Man Sentenced to 5 Years Imprisonment and Ordered to Pay $297,554.00 in Restitution for Credit Card FraudRead the Press Release
RICHARD S. HARTUNIAN, United States Attorney, Northern District of New York announces that PAUL HILL (24, of Brooklyn, New York) was sentenced to 60 months imprisonment by United States District Court Judge Norman A. Mordue for Access Device Fraud and Aggravated Identity Theft. Judge Mordue also ordered HILL to pay restitution in the amount of $297,554.00 to seven banks that had been defrauded by the credit card scam.
Pursuant to his plea agreement with the government, HILL admitted that he fraudulently obtained, without permission via the internet, credit and debit card account numbers (account numbers) that belonged to other persons. Those account numbers were issued by financial institutions that engaged in interstate and foreign commerce. After obtaining the account numbers, PAUL HILL stored the information on his computer at his residence in Brooklyn, New York. Thereafter, PAUL HILL converted plastic cards, usually gift cards, into counterfeit credit or debit cards by re-encoding the cards with the fraudulently obtained account numbers and other information that belonged to other persons. Thereafter, PAUL HILL mailed the manufactured counterfeit cards to co-defendant Andre Greaves in Syracuse, New York.
After receiving the counterfeit cards, Andre Greaves utilized the manufactured counterfeit cards to effect transactions at numerous merchant locations in Onondaga County and elsewhere. Specifically, Greaves utilized the manufactured counterfeit cards to purchase stored value gift cards (gift cards). After purchasing the gift cards, Greaves redeemed a portion of the gift cards for his own personal use, and on the instruction of PAUL HILL, mailed a portion of the gift cards to HILL in Brooklyn, New York.
At the time PAUL HILL manufactured and mailed the counterfeit credit cards to Andre Greaves, he knew that the account numbers belonged to real people who had not authorized either Greaves or HILL to make the purchases. HILL, aided and abetted by Greaves, knowingly, willfully, and with the intent to defraud, used the manufactured counterfeit cards during a one year period to obtain items of value amounting to more than $1,000.00. Specifically, between June 2010 and April 2011, Andre Greaves made purchases totaling approximately $16,314.36 using unauthorized access devices that he obtained from HILL.
On March 27, 2012, Andre Greaves pled guilty to Access Device Fraud and Aggravated Identity Theft. On August 1, 2012, Judge Mordue sentenced Greaves to 36 months imprisonment and also ordered him to pay the same amount of restitution as HILL.
These arrests followed from a lengthy investigation conducted by the United States Secret Service, Syracuse Resident Office, the United States Secret Service, New York Field Office, the United States Postal Inspectors, and the Syracuse Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Ransom P. Reynolds. Further questions may be directed to Executive Assistant U.S. Attorney John Duncan at (315) 448-0672.
Tupper Lake Man Sentenced to 6 Years for Possession of Child PornographyRead the Press Release
Richard S. Hartunian, United States Attorney, Northern District of New York, announced that JAMES L. TABOLT, JR., age 40, of Tupper Lake, New York was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Albany today in connection with his guilty plea on September 13, 2012 to possession of child pornography. In entering his guilty plea before Senior U.S. District Judge Thomas J. McAvoy, TABOLT had admitted that between June 2012 and February 2011 he possessed more than 1300 images of child pornography on a home computer.
Today, Judge McAvoy sentenced TABOLT to 72 months incarceration to be followed by a 15 year term of federal Supervised Release. He will also be required to register with New York State as a sex offender.
In December of 2010, a New York State Police investigator assigned to the New York Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force detected images of child pornography being made available from an internet protocol address in the Tupper Lake area. Investigators were able to determine the images came from a computer in the defendant’s residence. Following the execution of a search warrant by members of the New York State Police, Tupper Lake Police Department, and the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department, the defendant’s computer was seized. A forensic examination was conducted following the issuance of a federal search warrant, which resulted in the recovery of more than 1300 images of child pornography.
TABOLT’s arrest was the result of a joint investigation conducted by the New York State Police, Tupper Lake Police Department, Franklin County Sheriff’s Department, Clinton County Sheriff’s Department, the U.S. Immigration and Custom’s Enforcement (ICE), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and the New York State Internet Crimes Against Children Taskforce (ICAC). Assistance was also provided by the Utica Police Department’s Digital Forensics Laboratory. The joint effort is a part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys Offices, 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 identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
The case was prosecuted by Executive Assistant U.S. Attorney John G. Duncan.
Customer Embezzles $33,072.68 from the United States Postal ServiceRead the Press Release
Richard S. Hartunian, United States Attorney for the Northern District of New York, announced that JOHN GIBSON, III, age 37, of Oswego, N.Y., announced today the federal arrest of a postal customer for theft of government property.
A federal indictment, returned in U.S. District Court in Syracuse, N.Y. on Thursday, January 10, 2013, charged JOHN GIBSON, III with theft of government property in the amount of $33,072.68. The indictment alleges that GIBSON, III purchased 91 postal money orders with checks drawn on closed checking accounts.
JOHN GIBSON, III was arrested today and made his initial appearance before the Hon. Andrew T. Baxter, United States Magistrate Judge. GIBSON, III was released on his own recognizance.
GIBSON, III faces a maximum penalty of 10 years incarceration, a fine of up to $250,000, and a term of supervised release of up to 3 years.
GIBSON, III’s arrest is the result of a joint investigation by U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the United States Postal Service Office of Inspector General. The investigation began in June 2012.
JOHN GIBSON, III is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Tamara B. Thomson, who can be reached at 448-0672.
The charges are merely accusations and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
Man Indicted for Obstructing and Impeding the Irs by Filing False Irs Forms Claiming $36 Million in RefundsRead the Press Release
RICHARD S. HARTUNIAN, United States Attorney, Northern District of New York announces that a federal Grand Jury in Syracuse has returned a seven-count Indictment charging GLENN RICHARD UNGER (62, of Ogdensburg, NY) with obstructing and impeding the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) by filing numerous false and fraudulent IRS forms seeking refunds. Specifically, the Indictment alleges that GLENN RICHARD UNGER obstructed and impeded the IRS between 2007 and 2011 by filing numerous false and fraudulent claims with the IRS for payment of a refund of taxes totaling approximately 36 million dollars. Upon receiving the false IRS forms, the IRS realized that they were fraudulent and did not issue any refund checks to GLENN RICHARD UNGER. The Indictment also alleges that the defendant filed false claims for refunds, evaded paying income taxes, and filed a fictitious obligation. If found guilty, the defendant faces a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years, a term of supervised release of up to 3 years, and a maximum fine of $250,000.00. The defendant was arraigned in Albany, New York, on January 2, 2013 before United States Magistrate Judge Randolph F. Treece and is currently detained.
The charges and allegations contained in the Indictment are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
This prosecution resulted from an investigation conducted by the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, New York Field Office, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Albany Field Office, the New York State Police, and the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Ransom P. Reynolds. Further questions may be directed to Executive Assistant U.S. Attorney John Duncan at (315) 448-0672.
Man Indicted for Obstructing and Impeding the Irs by Filing False Irs Forms Claiming $36 Million in RefundsRead the Press Release
RICHARD S. HARTUNIAN, United States Attorney, Northern District of New York announces that a federal Grand Jury in Syracuse has returned a seven-count Indictment charging GLENN RICHARD UNGER (62, of Ogdensburg, NY) with obstructing and impeding the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) by filing numerous false and fraudulent IRS forms seeking refunds. Specifically, the Indictment alleges that GLENN RICHARD UNGER obstructed and impeded the IRS between 2007 and 2011 by filing numerous false and fraudulent claims with the IRS for payment of a refund of taxes totaling approximately 36 million dollars. Upon receiving the false IRS forms, the IRS realized that they were fraudulent and did not issue any refund checks to GLENN RICHARD UNGER. The Indictment also alleges that the defendant filed false claims for refunds, evaded paying income taxes, and filed a fictitious obligation. If found guilty, the defendant faces a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years, a term of supervised release of up to 3 years, and a maximum fine of $250,000.00. The defendant was arraigned in Albany, New York, on January 2, 2013 before United States Magistrate Judge Randolph F. Treece and is currently detained.
The charges and allegations contained in the Indictment are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
This prosecution resulted from an investigation conducted by the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, New York Field Office, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Albany Field Office, the New York State Police, and the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Ransom P. Reynolds. Further questions may be directed to Executive Assistant U.S. Attorney John Duncan at (315) 448-0672.
Syracuse, New York - Man pled to a one count indictment that charged him with committing robbery at the Veteran’s Administration Hospital in Syracuse.Read the Press Release
Richard S. Hartunian, United States Attorney for the Northern District of New York, announced today the guilty plea of Brian Lamont Roberts, 54, of Syracuse, New York. Roberts pled guilty in federal district court before the Honorable Judge Norman Mordue, to a one count indictment that charged him with committing robbery at the Veteran’s Administration Hospital in Syracuse, NY on February 2, 2012. The robbery charge carries a maximum possible penalty of 15 years in prison.
During his plea colloquy, Roberts admitted he robbed a delivery truck driver of a can of soda at knife point, while threatening the driver with bodily injury. He further admitted that he committed the offense while high on crack cocaine and alcohol, and that he suffers from addiction to both substances. Roberts has been in prison and drug and alcohol treatment for nearly a year since the robbery. Judge Mordue ordered that such treatment continue. Sentencing has been set for May 13, 2013 at 10 a.m.
This case was investigated by Special Agents of the Veteran’s Administration. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Craig A. Benedict. Questions may be directed to AUSA Benedict at 315-448-0672.
Defendant Pleads Guilty to Crack Conspiracy and Faces Mandatory Sentence of Twenty YearsRead the Press Release
[Plattsburgh, New York]—United States Attorney Richard S. Hartunian announces that DARRYL FIGUEROA, age 29, pled guilty on January 3, 2013 to conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute and to distribute more than 280 grams of cocaine base, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Section 846. On July 25, 2012 co-defendant DESHAWN WHITE, age 27, pled guilty to the same offense. FIGUEROA and WHITE pled guilty before Chief United States District Court Judge Gary L. Sharpe in Albany, New York. WHITE is scheduled to be sentenced on March 21, 2013 in Albany, New York and FIGUEROA is scheduled to be sentenced on May 7, 2013, in Albany, New York. Both FIGUEROA and WHITE have prior drug felony convictions and, as a result, are subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of twenty (20) years imprisonment, a maximum sentence of life, and a fine up to $20,0000,000. Judge Sharpe has ordered that the defendants remain detained pending sentencing.
FIGUEROA, also known as “Mike,” and WHITE, also known as “Jay,” are both residents of Brooklyn, New York. Since approximately 2007 until January 2012, both FIGUEROA and WHITE were involved in a scheme to transport large quantities of cocaine base, “crack,” from Brooklyn, New York to Plattsburgh, New York and then distribute the crack in Plattsburgh. FIGUEROA and WHITE recruited local crack dealers and users to sell the drugs on their behalf.
The investigation was conducted by the Adirondack Drug Task Force, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Plattsburgh Police Department, the New York State Police, and the Clinton County Sheriff’s Department. The case is being prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York.
Any questions may be directed to Executive Assistant U.S. Attorney John G. Duncan in Syracuse, New York at (315) 448-0672 or Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel C. Gardner in Plattsburgh, New York at 518-314-7800.