District of Rhode Island
Press releases recorded for this federal judicial district.
Fall River Man Sentenced to 22 ½ Years in Federal Prison for Armed Robbery of West Greenwich, R.I. BankRead the Press Release
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Craig A. Carey, 44, of Fall River, Mass., was sentenced on Friday to 272 months in federal prison on conspiracy, bank robbery and firearm charges, announced United States Attorney Peter F. Neronha; West Greenwich Police Chief Richard N. Ramsay; Colonel Steven G. O’Donnell, Superintendent of the Rhode Island State Police; and Richard Deslauriers, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s New England Field Office.
On October 9, 2012, Carey admitted to the court that in May 2011, he and a co-defendant, Louis R. Peters III, 24, of West Topsham, Vt., bound and held employees of a West Greenwich, R.I., bank at gunpoint and robbed the bank of approximately $82,000. Carey pleaded guilty to one count each of conspiracy, bank robbery, carrying and brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, and being a felon in possession of a firearm.
At sentencing, U.S. District Court Judge William E. Smith also ordered Carey to serve 5 years of supervised release upon completion of his prison term.
On November 23, 2012, Peters was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge William E. Smith to 120 months in federal prison for his participation in the armed robbery of the West Greenwich, R.I., bank. Peters pleaded guilty on January 25, 2012, to one count each of conspiracy, bank robbery and carrying and brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.
At the time of their guilty pleas, Carey and Peters admitted to the court that on May 28, 2011, they accosted the manager of the Centreville Savings Bank branch office on Victory Highway at gunpoint as the manager prepared to enter the bank. Once inside the bank, Carey and Peters detained and later bound other employees and robbed the bank of approximately $82,000.
Shortly after Carey and Peters fled the bank, two West Greenwich police officers and a Rhode Island State Police trooper located Peters sitting in a vehicle parked behind a nearby building, and Carey who was walking a short distance away. Both men have been detained since their arrest.
The cases were prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen G. Dambruch, Assistant U.S. Attorney Sandra R. Hebert, and First Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenneth P. Madden.
The matter was investigated by West Greenwich Police, Rhode Island State Police and the FBI.
To assist the media and the public, a glossary of federal judicial terms and procedures is available at http://www.justice.gov/usao/justice101/
Contact: 401-709-5357
[email protected]Chinese National Sentenced to Federal Prison for Smuggling Counterfeit Tobacco Products into the U.S.Read the Press Release
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Lin Xiao Wei, 33, a Chinese national, was sentenced on Friday to 16 months in federal prison for importing counterfeit tobacco products into the United States from China, earmarked for Rhode Island. In February 2013, Wei admitted to the court that in February 2012, he arranged for the shipment of a 20-foot cargo container containing counterfeit cigarettes from China to the United States.
Wei, who has been detained since his arrest in Miami on June 4, 2012, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Providence on February 1, 2013, to one count of causing the sale of counterfeit tobacco products.
Wei’s sentence was announced by Peter F. Neronha, United States Attorney for the District of Rhode Island, and Mark Dragonetti, Special Agent in Charge of the FDA Office of Criminal Investigations.
At the time of his guilty plea, Wei admitted to the court that he arranged for the purchase and shipment from China to the United States of a 20-foot cargo container of counterfeit Marlboro cigarettes. The cargo container, which shipping documentation claimed contained 696 cartons of leather products, was shipped from a port in China on March 27, 2012.
According to information presented to the court, between the time Wei agreed to ship the fraudulent tobacco products to the U.S. and the arrival of the cargo container through a port in Miami on April 27, 2012, several wire transactions were sent to Wei for the cost of the product and associated shipping fees. Upon arrival in Miami, FDA-OCI and Homeland Security Investigations agents seized the container.
According to information presented to the court, on June 3, 2012, Wei met at a Miami hotel with a confidential informant who was working with investigators, and with an undercover FDA-OCI Task Force agent from Rhode Island. Wei discussed the shipment of the fraudulent tobacco products, as well as previous of counterfeit pharmaceutical products and the availability of other fraudulent products.
U.S. Attorney Neronha commended the FDA-OCI Rhode Island Task Force, Homeland Security Investigations, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Rhode Island State Police, East Providence Police and North Providence Police for their efforts in this multi-jurisdictional investigation.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Richard B. Myrus and Adi Goldstein.
The sentence was imposed by U.S. District Court Judge William E. Smith.
To assist the media and the public, a glossary of federal judicial terms and procedures is now available at http://www.justice.gov/usao/justice101/
Contact: 401-709-5357
[email protected]Brooklyn, N.Y., Man Sentenced to Federal Prison for Trafficking Cocaine & MarijuanaRead the Press Release
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Charles Fermin, 29, of Brooklyn, N.Y., was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Providence, R.I., to 41 months in federal prison, having been convicted by a federal court jury in Rhode Island in September 2012 of trafficking cocaine and marijuana, announced United States Attorney Peter F. Neronha and Colonel Steven G. O’DonnellSuperintendent of the Rhode Island State Police.
U.S. District Court Judge William E. Smith also ordered Fermin to serve 3 years of supervised release upon completion of his prison term. Fermin was arrested by members of the Rhode Island State Police High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Task Force on January 6, 2012.
At trial, the government presented evidence to a jury that at the time of his arrest by members of the HIDTA Task Force, Fermin was in possession of a suitcase containing a loaded .357 Magnum revolver, 33 pounds of marijuana, more than an ounce of cocaine, and drug trafficking paraphernalia.
The jury heard evidence that during an ongoing investigation into suspected illegal drug activity, HIDTA Task Force agents watched as Fermin carted the suitcase around several Providence streets, pausing at one point to make a cell phone call. When approached, the defendant told arresting officers that he had found the suitcase after it had been tossed over a nearby fence by an unknown person, and that he was unaware of its contents.
The jury convicted Fermin of cocaine and marijuana trafficking, but acquitted him of a firearms charge.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sandra R. Hebert.
The Rhode Island State Police High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force is comprised of members of law enforcement from the Rhode Island State Police, ATF, DEA, ICE-HSI, R.I. National Guard, and the Johnston, Pawtucket, Providence and Smithfield Police Departments.Contact: 401-709-5357
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