Northern District of Texas
Press releases recorded for this federal judicial district.
Federal Grand Jury Indicts Three in $6.5 Million Diamond Investment Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
DALLAS — A federal grand jury in Dallas has indicted three Texas residents on various charges stemming from their involvement in a diamond investment scheme they ran from approximately March 2011 to November 2013, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.
Defendants Craig Allen Otteson, 64, of McKinney, Jay Bruce Heimburger, 58, of Dallas, and Christopher Arnold Jiongo, 55, of Houston, surrendered to federal authorities on Friday morning, September 9, 2016, and made their initial appearances that afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge David L. Horan. Each was released on bond.
Specifically, the 10-count indictment charges each defendant with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and three counts of wire fraud. In addition, Otteson and Heimburger are each charged with six counts of mail fraud.
According to the indictment, Otteson acted as the Managing Member and Chief Compliance Officer of Stonebridge Advisors, LLC, located on Belt Line road in Dallas. Stonebridge Advisors was involved as the Managing Partner of Worldwide Diamond Ventures, L.P., located at 6029 Belt Line in Dallas, and it acted as the General Partner of Worldwide Diamond. Heimburger acted as a Principal Partner of Worldwide Diamond, and he was also listed as the registered agent and Director of JBH Securities, Inc. located on San Rafael in Dallas. JBH Securities was primarily involved in the business of providing investment advice. Worldwide Diamond was primarily involved in the business of buying and reselling diamonds on the international market. On October 1, 2013, Worldwide Diamond filed for bankruptcy in the Northern District of Texas.
According to the indictment, the defendants initially attempted to raise funds for their new business of purchasing and reselling diamonds by offering the sale of additional limited partnerships, in the minimum amount of $100,000, in Worldwide Diamond, but were unable to raise sufficient capital funds in this manner. Then, in March 2011, defendants attempted to raise additional needed start-up funds by offering “Non-Recourse Promissory Notes” (diamond notes). The defendants hired three outside companies to market and sell the diamond notes to investors in Texas, Pennsylvania and California. Each $50,000 diamond note had a nine-month maturity date and an 8% rate of return.
The indictment alleges that from approximately March 2011 through November 2011, Otteson, Heimburger and Jiongo defrauded their first round of investors when they fraudulently concealed material information from them, including how they used investor funds, and other information, which caused 57 investors to invest a total of $5,141,699 with Worldwide Diamond Ventures.
The indictment further alleges that from February 2012 through May 2013, Otteson and Heimburger defrauded the second round of investors when they fraudulently concealed material information from investors, including how they used investor funds and other information, which caused 20 new investors to invest a total of $1,333,000 with Worldwide Diamond Ventures.
Defendants promised investors that all investor funds would only be used to purchase and resell diamonds. However, as part of the fraudulent scheme, the defendants concealed from investors that defendants used nearly $2.5 million of investor funds to make unauthorized loans to third parties. As a result of the defendants’ investor fraud scheme, these 77 investors sustained a total loss of at least $4,922,811.
An indictment is an accusation by a federal grand jury, and a defendant is entitled to the presumption of innocence unless proven guilty. However, if convicted, the maximum statutory penalty for each of the counts charged in the indictment is 20 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine. The indictment also includes a forfeiture allegation that would require the defendants, upon conviction, to forfeit the proceeds obtained as a result of the offense. Restitution could also be ordered.
This case is one of several felony prosecutions of bankruptcy-related crimes generated by the Bankruptcy Fraud Initiative in the Northern District of Texas. Twenty defendants have been charged as part of that initiative; 16 were convicted, one resulted in a mistrial and three are pending trial.
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is conducting the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney David Jarvis is in charge of the prosecution.
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Serial Armed Robbers Known as “Bulls Cap Bandits” Sentenced to Lengthy Federal Prison SentencesRead the Press Release
DALLAS — Two Dallas men, Cedric Ray Jones, 27, and his brother, Damien Antoine Jones, 31, were sentenced this morning by U.S. District Judge Jane J. Boyle to lengthy federal prison sentences for committing several violent armed robberies in Dallas in 2014, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.
Cedric Jones was sentenced to 573 months, and Damien Jones was sentenced to 708 months in federal prison. Each pleaded guilty late last year to one count of conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery, two counts of using, carry, and brandishing a firearm during and in relation to, and possessing and brandishing a firearm in furtherance of, a crime of violence, and three counts of interference with commerce by robbery.
Co-conspirator, Savalas Christopher Love, 32, pleaded guilty to the conspiracy count and one firearm count. He is scheduled to be sentenced later this month.
The FBI dubbed the robbers the “Bulls Cap Bandits,” as Cedric and Damien Jones wore Chicago Bulls caps during the robberies.
According to documents filed in the case, from approximately March 7, 2014, through June 17, 2014, the defendants conspired together to commit these armed robberies:
March 7, 2014 and June 12, 2014 Cash Plus Pawn, 9103 East R.L. Thornton Freeway, Dallas
May 28, 2014 AutoZone, 10418 Garland Road, Dallas
June 2, 2014 AutoZone 2842 South Buckner Blvd., Dallas
June 17, 2014 AutoZone 9711 Plano Road, Dallas
During each of the robberies, Cedric and Damien Jones wore disguises and brandished firearms. In the March 7, 2014, robbery of Cash Plus Pawn, they stole cash and two semi-automatic rifles, and then fled on foot.
In the May 28, 2014, and June 2, 2014, AutoZone robberies, Cedric and Damien Jones entered the store, brandishing the semi-automatic rifles, while Love remained in the vehicle as the “getaway driver.” The three fled in Love’s vehicle.
On June 12, 2014, Cedric and Damien Jones, Love, and another individual traveled to the Cash Plus Pawn store on East R.L. Thornton Freeway in Dallas, in Love’s vehicle, with the specific intent to commit robbery. Upon arriving in the parking lot, Damien Jones and the other individual exited the vehicle and approached the store’s entrance with firearms, but abandoned the robbery when confronted by a store employee. They fled in Love’s vehicle.
In the June 17, 2014, AutoZone robbery, Cedric and Damien Jones traveled together in Love’s vehicle to the store with the intent to commit robbery. Love traveled separately to the location. Love “cased” the store and reported the absence of security personnel to Damien Jones. Cedric and Damien Jones then entered the store, brandishing semi-automatic rifles, and then fled the robbery in their vehicle. During a subsequent chase with law enforcement, Cedric Jones operated the vehicle in a manner to avoid apprehension and created a substantial risk to other motorists on the roads. During the pursuit, shots were fired in the direction of the pursuing officers to further avoid apprehension.
The case was investigated by the FBI and the Dallas Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Keith Robinson was in charge of the prosecution.
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Pharmacist and Others Charged in Pill Mill Case Plead GuiltyRead the Press Release
DALLAS — A licensed pharmacist, Kumi Frimpong, who owned and operated the Cornerstone Pharmacy, located on Bolton Boone Drive in Desoto, Texas, has pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge stemming from his involvement in a “pill mill” operation, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.
Specifically, Frimpong, 56, of Dallas, who was the pharmacist in charge at Cornerstone Pharmacy, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Sidney A. Fitzwater to one count of conspiracy to illegally distribute oxycodone. Frimpong also agreed to surrender $41,112 to the United States that constitute proceeds from dispensing oxycodone during the conspiracy. He faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in federal prison and a $1 million fine. Sentencing is set for mid-December.
Frimpong admitted that during the conspiracy, which began in January 2013 and continued through July 2014, he and his co-conspirators distributed and caused to be distributed at least 40,000 30mg oxycodone pills in Dallas, and elsewhere that he dispensed based on prescriptions issued in the name and DEA registration number of co-conspirator, Dr. Richard Andrews of McAllen Medical Clinic.
After their arrests in January 2016, Dr. Andrews and co-defendant pharmacists Frimpong and Ndufola Kigham were ordered to surrender their DEA registration numbers, preventing Dr. Andrews from issuing prescriptions for controlled substances and Frimpong and Kigham from dispensing controlled substances. Frimpong and Kigham also surrendered their stock of controlled substances that they had at their pharmacies to DEA.
A co-conspirator in the case, Muhammad Faridi, 40, who is not a physician but who was also a part owner of the McAllen Medical Clinic, pleaded guilty last month to the conspiracy. He is scheduled to be sentenced on November 18, 2016.
Twenty-four individuals were indicted by a federal grand jury in Dallas in February 2015 on offenses related to their participation in the prescription drug distribution conspiracy. That indictment alleged that from at least May 2013 through July 2014, the defendants participated in a scheme to illicitly obtain prescriptions for pain medications, such as oxycodone and hydrocodone, and then distribute those controlled substances for profit. As part of the conspiracy, individuals, often homeless or of limited means, were recruited and paid to pose as patients at medical clinics, including the McAllen Medical Clinic, to obtain prescriptions to fill those prescriptions at designated pharmacies.
Superseding indictments were returned in December 2015 and in January 2016, and a total of 31 individuals have now been charged. Many of those defendants have pleaded guilty, and several have been sentenced to prison terms ranging from 30 months to 48 months in federal prison.
For instance, Earl Cain, 52, who pleaded guilty to unlawful use of a communication device, was sentenced last Friday to the statutory maximum of 48 months in federal prison. The same day, Glenda Cane, 47, pleaded guilty to the same offense, and Ivery Meyers, 64, pleaded guilty to the conspiracy. The prior week, on August 26, 2016, four defendants, Fahim Ahmed Khan, 55, Taneisha Nicole Nickerson, 29, Brandon Dunbar, 33 and Candis O’Shaea Lewis, 30, also pleaded guilty.
There may be additional guilty pleas in the coming weeks. While a trial date of October 24, 2016, is currently set, Dr. Andrews filed a motion to continue trial yesterday.
This Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation is being conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration, with assistance from Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Louisiana State Police, the Grand Prairie Police Department, the Dallas Police Department, the Houston Police Department, the Arlington Police Department, the Greenville Police Department, the Parker County Sheriff’s Office, the U.S. Marshal’s Service, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the Diplomatic Security Service.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary Walters is in charge of the prosecution.
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Texas Woman Pleads Guilty to Preparing False TaxRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON – A Greenville, Texas, resident pleaded guilty today to one count of aiding and assisting in the preparation of false tax returns, announced Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Caroline D. Ciraolo, head of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney John R. Parker for the Northern District of Texas.
According to documents filed with the court, Lourdes Ramirez, 39, was a tax return preparer operating under the names TX ASAP Tax Services and Fiesta Tax Service in Greenville. Ramirez admitted that from at least 2011 through 2014, she willfully prepared and filed individual income tax returns for clients that reported materially false information, including false business income and losses, false credits and false deductions in order to produce fraudulently inflated refunds. Ramirez prepared approximately 1,163 tax returns and caused an intended tax loss to the United States of approximately $1,155,383.
Ramirez is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 21. She faces a statutory maximum sentence of three years in prison, as well as a term of supervised release and monetary penalties.
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Ciraolo commended special agents of Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation, who conducted the investigation and Trial Attorneys Melanie A. Smith and Alexander R. Effendi of the Tax Division, who are prosecuting this case with assistance from Assistant U.S. Attorney David Jarvis of the Northern District of Texas.
Additional information about the Tax Division and its enforcement efforts may be found on the division’s website.
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Dallas Tax Preparer Pleads GuiltyRead the Press Release
DALLAS — Curtis Demond Johnson, who operated an income tax preparation business in Dallas, appeared in federal court this morning before U.S. Magistrate Judge Renee Harris Toliver and pleaded guilty to one count of aiding and assisting in the preparation of a fraudulent tax return, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.
According to the factual resume filed in the case, from approximately 2010 to 2014, Johnson operated Inworks Tax Services, located in Galleria Tower Three on Noel Road in Dallas.
From at least 2011 through 2013, according to the factual resume, Johnson willfully prepared, and caused to be filed with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), tax returns that were materially false. Johnson routinely falsified or inflated or one more business deductions on Schedule C to create a business loss that offset legitimate wage income. This produced an inflated refund to the client and a corresponding tax loss to the U.S. His scheme also promoted additional clients and earned fees for Johnson. In fact, during this time, according to the factual resume, income tax returns prepared and filed by Johnson that contained false and fraudulent Schedule Cs resulted in an estimated tax loss to the U.S. of $480,859.
Sentencing is set for December 22, 2016, before U.S. District Judge Jane J. Boyle. Johnson faces a statutory maximum penalty of three years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine. He may also be ordered to pay restitution.
IRS Criminal Investigation is investigating the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Stokes is in charge of the prosecution.
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Fort Worth Man Sentenced to 16 Months in Federal Prison for Making a False Statement in a Bankruptcy CaseRead the Press Release
DALLAS — A Fort Worth man, Alton Alexis, was sentenced this morning by U.S. District Judge Sidney A. Fitzwater to 16 months in federal prison, following his guilty plea in May 2016 to an Information charging one count of making a false statement under penalty of perjury, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.
Alexis, 58, must surrender to the Bureau of Prisons on October 18, 2016.
According to documents filed in the case, in January 2010, Alexis, on behalf of borrower NSAA Investment Group, signed a promissory note with One World Bank for a loan of approximately $3,744,050 to finance the construction of a movie theatre restaurant. From early 2010 through early 2011, Alexis caused more than $2 million in loan proceeds to be disbursed from One World Bank to accounts in the name of BBA Construction Company and/or NSAA Investment Group. Alexis later submitted three fictitious invoices to One World Bank which caused at least $245,000 of those loan proceeds to be fraudulently diverted to bank accounts he controlled. Alexis then used these diverted loan proceeds to pay his personal debts.
In May 2011, Alexis made a material false statement in a bankruptcy case, In re Alton Alexis and Althea Lynette Alexis, filed in the Northern District of Texas, when he filed an Amended Statement of Financial Affairs that falsely represented he had truthfully disclosed all income received in the two years immediately preceding the commencement of the case. Instead of truthfully disclosing all income, Alexis fraudulently concealed the $245,000 of income, in the form of fraudulently diverted loan proceeds, he received in 2010.
According to testimony presented at today’s hearing, Alexis was involved in additional relevant conduct, to include: he concealed a prior felony conviction when he applied for the One World Bank loan; he fraudulently diverted a total of $480,423 of One World Bank loan proceeds and used these loan proceeds for his mortgage payments, college and private school tuition, property taxes, and trips to England and Mexico, among other things; and he submitted two false IRS forms to One World Bank to conceal his receipt of these loan proceeds for his personal use and benefit.
This case is one of several felony prosecutions of bankruptcy-related crimes generated by the Bankruptcy Fraud Initiative in the Northern District of Texas. This defendant is the 16th defendant convicted since August 2013 as part of that initiative.
Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney David Jarvis was in charge of the prosecution.
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Aryan Brotherhood of Texas Members/Associates Convicted in Methamphetamine Distribution ConspiracyRead the Press Release
FORT WORTH, Texas — Following a four-day trial before U.S. District Judge John McBryde, late yesterday a federal jury convicted seven defendants, including members and associates of the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas prison gang, for their roles in a methamphetamine distribution conspiracy that operated in north Texas from approximately January 2014 to April 2016. In addition, between April and August 2016, 80 defendants charged in drug conspiracy cases related to this one have pleaded guilty. U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas made today’s announcement.
Each of the below-listed defendants was convicted on one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine.
Charles Ben Bounds, a/k/a “Pretty Boy,” 31, of Fort Worth, Texas
Billy Fred Gentry, a/k/a “Fred Gentry,” 30, of Fort Worth, Texas
Kevin Kyle Killough, a/k/a “Kilo,” 29, of Fort Worth, Texas
Billy Ray Skaggs, 48, of Brownwood, Texas
Michael Clay Heaslet, a/k/a “Whisper,” 38, of Fort Worth, Texas
Nicole Cynthia Herrera, a/k/a “Nikki Single,” 21, of Dallas, Texas
Trae Short, a/k/a “Twig,” 31, of Dallas, TexasOne defendant, James Marcus Laxson, was acquitted.
The penalty for the offense is not less than five years or more than 40 years in federal prison and a $5 million fine. The defendants are scheduled be sentenced by Judge McBryde in February 2017.
The government presented evidence at trial that some of the defendants were members, including ranking members, or associates, of the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas. The government presented further evidence identifying the defendants and the role of each in the conspiracy. Text messages from some defendants’ phones, and recordings of phone calls from jail were introduced that detailed their methamphetamine trafficking.
The Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Fort Worth Police Department investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Shawn Smith and Frank Gatto are prosecuting the case.
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Mesquite Man Sentenced to Statutory Maximum 10 Years in Federal Prison for Possessing Child PornographyRead the Press Release
DALLAS — A 47-year-old man from Mesquite, Texas, Jesus Paramo, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Jane J. Boyle to the statutory maximum of 10 years in federal prison, following his guilty plea in March 2016 to an Information charging one count of possession of child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.
Paramo, who has been on bond since his arrest in August 2014, was remanded into custody following the sentencing hearing.
The investigation began when a detective with the Sherman Police Department, working in an undercover capacity, noticed that a particular computer with a specific IP address was making files of child pornography, many with Spanish names, available for sharing. The Sherman Police Department contacted U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) who learned that a detective in the Mesquite Police Department had downloaded files containing child pornography from the same IP address.
Law enforcement executed a search warrant at a residence in Mesquite in February 2014, however no evidence of any file-sharing computer program or child pornography was found. In fact, no one at the residence spoke Spanish.
Further investigation revealed, however, that a neighbor, Paramo, had been using this neighbor’s non-password-protected wireless router to download child pornography onto his computers. Paramo, who speaks both Spanish and English, admitted downloading at least 82 videos and 10 images of child pornography, including images and videos of prepubescent children, including infants and toddlers.
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Project Safe Childhood (PSC) initiative. PSC is a department initiative launched in May 2006 to combat the proliferation of technology-facilitated sexual exploitation crimes against children. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, PSC marshals federal, state, tribal and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. Since FY 2011, the Department of Justice has filed 20,260 PSC cases against 19,111 defendants. These cases include prosecutions of child sex trafficking; sexual abuse of a minor or ward; child pornography offenses; obscene visual representation of the sexual abuse of children; selling or buying of children; and many more statutes. To learn more about PSC’s work, please visit: https://www.justice.gov/psc.
ICE HSI, the Mesquite Police Department and the Sherman Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Lori Walker was in charge of the prosecution.
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Federal Jury Convicts Two North Texas Men in Methamphetamine Distribution ConspiracyRead the Press Release
FORT WORTH, Texas — Following a one-day trial before U.S. District Judge Reed C. O’Connor, a federal jury deliberated ninety minutes yesterday to convict Juan Pasillas, 37, of Fort Worth, Texas, and Antonio Ballesteros 26, of Terrell, Texas, for their roles in a methamphetamine distribution conspiracy, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.
The government presented evidence at trial that included numerous wire intercepts in Spanish, video recordings, and testimony from law enforcement that Pasillas and Ballesteros conspired to traffic large amounts of methamphetamine in the Fort Worth area. They regularly purchased large amounts of methamphetamine for distribution from a supplier in southeast Fort Worth.
Each was convicted on one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute more than 500 grams of methamphetamine. The statutory penalty for that offense is not less than 10 years and up to life in prison and a $10 million fine. Sentencing is set for December 12, 2016, before Judge O’Connor.
The Drug Enforcement Administration investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Megan Fahey, Mark Nichols and Shawn Smith are prosecuting.
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Former Senior Claims Examiner at DOL Worker’s Compensation Office in Dallas Sentenced to 15 Months in Federal Prison for Taking BribesRead the Press Release
DALLAS — Perry Rowell, 56, a former Senior Claims Examiner at the Department of Labor’s Office of Worker’s Compensation Program (DOL/OWCP), was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Judge Sam A. Lindsay to 15 months in federal prison following his guilty plea in January 2016 to one count of bribery received by a public official, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.
Rowell is one of 30 defendants charged in November 2015 with various crimes related to their roles in a massive health care fraud scheme that involved bribes, unnecessary medical treatment, fraudulent billing, and the falsification of medical documents to fraudulently bill the federal government, through the DOL/OWCP, more than $9.5 million. The defendants included doctors or medical providers, a senior claims examiner, a claims representative, a medical provider’s employee, and 21 claimants.
All but two defendants, whose trial is set for November 2016, have pleaded guilty to their respective roles, and most of those have been sentenced.
Lead defendant Larry Washington, 64, of Desoto, Texas, who pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, was sentenced in May 2016 to 78 months in federal prison and ordered to pay more than $7.7 million in restitution to DOL/OWCP. Washington was a licensed professional counselor and ran a business known as AAA Mental Health, LLC, Mind Spa, Inc., Solutions Health and Rehabilitation, and Convergence Emergence Diversion.
From approximately January 2013 through March 2015, Rowell, a Garland, Texas, resident who worked in the OWCP Dallas District office, admitted accepting monthly cash bribes, totaling approximately $24,000 from Ifeanyi “Tim” Egbuchunam, 61, of Plano, Texas, a former DOL Claims supervisor who represented claims before the OWCP. In return, Rowell expedited payments and decisions and immediately responded to Egbuchunam’s telephone calls about technical case status questions.
Egbuchunam, 61, of Plano, Texas, pleaded guilty to bribery of a public official and was sentenced earlier this month to 51 months in federal prison and ordered to pay more than $2 million in restitution.
As a result of the convictions, the government estimates that it has prevented the payment of an estimated $11 million in future payments to the claimant defendants.
The investigation was led by the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General, and the Department of Labor Office of Inspector General, with assistance from Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, U.S. Treasury Office of Inspector General, Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General/Cooperative Disability Investigations Unit, and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General.
Assistant U.S. Attorney P.J. Meitl and Special Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jennifer Bray and Nicola Dana are prosecuting the case.
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Couple Enter Guilty Pleas in Murder-for-Hire CaseRead the Press Release
AMARILLO, Texas — Randy Exavier Greene, 21, formerly of Stratford, Texas, appeared yesterday in federal court before U.S. District Judge Sidney A. Fitzwater and pleaded guilty to a superseding information charging one count of conspiracy to use an interstate commerce facility in the commission of murder-for-hire. Greene’s co-conspirator, Brandi Nicole Blanco, 31, of Dalhart, Texas, pleaded guilty to the same offense last week. The pleas were announced today by U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.
Both will remain in custody pending sentencing, which has been set for December 12, 2016. Each faces a maximum statutory penalty of five years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.
Engaged to be married, Brandi Blanco and Greene lived in Texas until January 2016, when they moved to Florida.
According to documents filed in the case, from approximately February to April 2016, Blanco and Greene used a cellphone to make calls from Florida to an individual (Person A) in Texas during which they solicited Person A to murder, for a sum of cash, Blanco’s estranged husband, Angel Blanco.
Person A received a phone call from Greene on February 22, 2016, in which Greene inquired if Person A knew Angel Blanco of Hartley, Texas. Greene told Person A that Brandi Blanco was the beneficiary of a $1 million life insurance policy on Angel Blanco. Greene also told Person A that if he/she would “take care” of Angel Blanco, he/she could get some money out of the policy. Person A reported the call to the Dalhart Police Department.
In subsequent telephone conversations between Greene and Person A, and Brandi Blanco and Person A, the murder-for-hire, or as Greene called it, the “Hartley situation,” was discussed. Green said that he would pay $100,000 to Person A to commit the murder. Greene also advised that they wanted it to happen soon after he and Brandi Blanco “got caught up” (arrested) so they would be in jail and have an alibi. Their plan was for Brandi Blanco to collect on the insurance policy after she got out of jail. She also planned to get custody of three of her children when she was released from jail.
In a February 23, 2016 phone conversation, Brandi Blanco offered $125,000 to Person A to do the job and swore to God that she would pay Person A. Person A advised her that he/she would need information because he/she wanted to do the job right because he/she could “go to the chamber for this.” Brandi Blanco interrupted Person A and told Person A to do the job alone, saying that she would tell Person A all they needed to know to murder Angel Blanco.
In a phone conversation the next day, Greene told Person A that he wanted Brandi Blanco to be on camera in a Walmart when the murder happened. On February 26, 2016, Person A called Brandi Blanco to discuss the “deal” they had been talking about, and in that conversation, she told Person A to murder Angel Blanco while he was at work. When Person A suggested that he/she make it look like an accident, Brandi Blanco agreed.
In a March 3, 2016, conversation, Person A told Brandi Blanco that he/she was going to “take care of the situation” the day she got on the bus from Florida to Texas. Brandi Blanco told Person A that the insurer would have to find her immediately after Angel Blanco’s death because she was still married to him.
Subsequently, Brandi Blanco and Greene were arrested on state charges. They were charged in a federal indictment in May 2016 with charges related to the murder-for-hire. The murder was not committed.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation, Texas Department of Public Safety - Texas Ranger Division, and the Dalhart Police Department are investigating the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sean Taylor and Joshua Frausto are prosecuting.
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Two Women Arrested on Charges Related to Their Operation of a Brothel in DallasRead the Press Release
DALLAS — As part of an ongoing investigation into sex trafficking in the Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, Metroplex, on Friday, August 26, 2016, members of the North Texas Trafficking Taskforce arrested two women on federal charges outlined in a just-unsealed superseding indictment, returned by a grand jury last week, related to their operation of the Doll House massage parlor in Dallas, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.
During Friday’s operation, defendant Connie Su Moser, a/k/a “Vivian” and “Song Ye Hong,” 63, was arrested at her home in Lewisville, Texas. Defendant Kum Shugars, 67, was arrested at the Doll House. Moser is the owner of the Doll House; Shugars is one of the managers. In addition to the arrests, the Taskforce seized approximately $420,000 from Moser’s home, approximately $70,000 in her bank accounts, and her 2015 Lexus automobile. Moser and Shugars made their initial appearance in federal court yesterday afternoon. Moser was detained, and Shugars has a detention hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul D. Stickney on Thursday afternoon, September 1, 2016.
The other defendant charged in the case, Allen Nash, a/k/a “A-1,” 29, also of Dallas, is charged with one count each of sex trafficking of children; transportation of a minor to engage in commercial sex acts; felon in possession of ammunition; and sex trafficking through force, fraud or coercion. Nash and Moser are also each charged with one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking. Moser and Shugars are also charged with one count of use of a facility of interstate commerce in aid of a racketeering enterprise.
The indictment alleges that from approximately April 1, 2014 through January 1, 2015, Nash recruited, enticed, harbored and transported an adult victim knowing and in reckless regard that force, threats of force, fraud and/or coercion would be used to cause that adult victim to engage in a commercial sex act.
The indictment further alleges that from approximately October 4, 2014 through October 7, 2014, Nash recruited, enticed, harbored and transported victim Jane Doe, who, as Nash knew, was under the age of 18, to engage in a commercial sex act. During that time, Nash knowingly transported victim Jane Doe from Texas to Louisiana to engage in a commercial sex act, and during that time, Nash, a convicted felon, also illegally possessed ammunition.
Nash and Moser allegedly conspired, from approximately April l1, 2014 through December 9, 2014, to commit sex trafficking of an adult victim.
The indictment further alleges that from approximately June 1, 2012 through March 1, 2015, Moser and Shugars used facilities of interstate commerce, to include cell phones and the Internet, to promote, manage, establish, carry on and facilitate a prostitution enterprise.
An indictment is an accusation by a grand jury, and a defendant is entitled to the presumption of innocence unless proven guilty. If convicted, however, the maximum statutory penalty for conspiracy to commit sex trafficking is life in prison. The statutory penalty for each count of sex trafficking of children and transportation of a minor to engage in commercial sex acts is not less than 10 years and up to life in federal prison. The statutory penalty for sex trafficking through force, fraud or coercion is not less than 15 years and up to life in federal prison. The felon in possession of ammunition count carries a statutory sentence of not less than 15 years. The maximum statutory penalty for use of a facility of interstate commerce in aid of a racketeering enterprise is five years. Each count also carries a maximum fine of $250,000 fine.
The Texas Department of Public Safety, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations, Dallas Police Department, U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Dallas County Sheriff’s Office – all members of the North Texas Trafficking Taskforce – are investigating the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Cara Foos Pierce is in charge of the prosecution.
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Law Enforcement Hosts Second Faith-Based Security SummitRead the Press Release
DALLAS — The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas, the FBI’s Dallas Division and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Dallas hosted their second Faith-Based Security Summit today for area faith-based leaders.
“Our goal is to provide places of worship in north Texas with the tools necessary to achieve that delicate balance between maintaining an open and welcoming environment and a secure one,” said U.S. Attorney Parker. “While barring the door is not an option, increased vigilance and self-awareness as a community are absolutely essential.”
Approximately 100 leaders from faith-based communities throughout north Texas attended today’s summit that was held in the auditorium at Texas Scottish Rite Hospital in Dallas.
The first Summit, held at the FBI’s Dallas Field Office on February 9, 2016, focused on providing general information and tools to assist faith-based leaders in developing security programs, protocols and emergency action plans.
Today’s summit built on that foundation to provide attendees with specific tools and information to critically evaluate and if necessary, revise, their emergency protocols or Emergency Action Plan. Following an overview from an expert from the Department of Homeland Security, most of the Summit was led by FBI experts who used a “tabletop exercise” to demonstrate various security threat scenarios and advised responses at three different houses of worship.
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Last of Four Convicted for Role in Takeover-Style Robbery of AT&T Store in Grand Prairie is Sentenced to 120 Months in Federal PrisonRead the Press Release
DALLAS — The last of four Dallas individuals who were involved in the January 2015 takeover-style robbery of an AT&T store in Grand Prairie, Texas, was sentenced today, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.
Anthony Poe, 22, of Dallas, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge David C. Godbey to 120 months in federal prison following his guilty plea in December 2015 to one count of possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine and one count of interference with commerce by robbery and aiding and abetting.
The leader of the group, Luther Elder, 30, was sentenced in May to 210 months in federal prison. He pleaded guilty to one count of interference with commerce by robbery and aiding and abetting. Brandon Walker, 29, and Chambrezia Johnson, 26, who pleaded guilty to the same offense, were also sentenced in May to 87 months and 53 months, respectively. Judge Godbey also ordered Poe and Johnson to pay $13,854 in restitution, jointly and severally.
According to documents filed in the case, on January 23, 2015, Elder recruited Johnson and Poe, as well as another unknown individual, to assist him and Walker in robbing an AT&T store in Grand Prairie. Upon picking up Johnson, Poe, and the unknown individual, Elder and Walker drove the group to a Wal-Mart in Grand Prairie, where Elder purchased a duffel bag and an “air gun” that was intended to be used in the robbery.
After arriving at the AT&T store, Johnson and Walker entered the store to scout it out and determine how many people were in the store. They left and advised Elder, who then instructed Poe and the unknown individual to rob the store and Johnson to stay in the back of the store as a potential getaway driver.
At approximately 1:23 p.m., Poe entered the store carrying the “air gun” while the unknown individual entered and brandished what appeared to be a firearm. Poe and the unknown individual ordered all of the employees to the back of the store and the unknown individual struck an 81-year-old customer on the side of the head, because she was not complying fast enough with his demands, and then drug her to the rear of the store by her neck. Poe and the unknown individual demanded cash and cell phones from the victims, fled the store, and were picked up by Elder and Walker. Elder and Walker than dropped off Poe and the unknown individual at a motel before being arrested as they were in route to sell the stolen phones.
Regarding Poe’s drug conviction, on April 17, 2014, when officers arrived at a residence on Colonial Drive in Dallas to investigate a drug complaint, Poe opened the door holding a revolver in his hand and after seeing the officers, quickly attempted to flee. Officers, who had smelled a strong odor of marijuana coming from inside, then entered the residence and detained Poe. Several baggies of crack cocaine, marijuana, and a second handgun were in plain view. Poe admitted he knowingly possessed with the intent to deliver more than 28 grams of crack cocaine.
The case was investigated by the Grand Prairie Police Department, the Dallas Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Poe prosecuted the case.
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Assistant U.S. Attorney P.J. Meitl Named Prosecutor of the Year by Texas Narcotic Officers AssociationRead the Press Release
DALLAS — Assistant U.S. Attorney P.J. Meitl was named Prosecutor of the Year during the Texas Narcotic Officers Association (TNOA) 2016 Conference in Fort Worth, Texas, this week, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.
TNOA President Tommy Hale presented the award to AUSA Meitl on Wednesday evening at the organization’s awards banquet. The TNOA, established in 1970, is dedicated to providing high quality training for law enforcement professionals. Its membership, not exclusive to narcotic officers, includes local, state and federal peace officers, reserve officers, prosecutors, law enforcement personal and other national and international associates.
“This award from the Texas Narcotic Officers Association is true recognition of P.J.’s dedication to making our communities safer by aggressively prosecuting drug trafficking, fraud, violent crime and public corruption cases,” said U.S. Attorney Parker. “His work ethic and drive on behalf of the United States are unparalleled; P.J. is indeed an exemplary representative of our office and the Department of Justice and truly deserving of this recognition. Thank you to the TNOA for the great work of its members in fighting crime and for recognizing AUSA Meitl.”
AUSA Meitl has been a federal prosecutor in the Criminal Division of the Dallas headquarters office of the Northern District of Texas since January 2013. AUSA Meitl received his undergraduate degree from the University of California in Santa Barbara in 2001. He obtained his law degree and Master of Business Administration from Georgetown University in May 2006. Prior to becoming an AUSA, he worked in private practice at a major law firm in Washington, D.C.
AUSA Meitl has a proven track record of working hand-in-hand with local, state and federal authorities to rid communities of dangerous criminals. While AUSA Meitl currently works in the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) section of the Criminal Division where he prosecutes complex drug trafficking organizations, he carries a diverse caseload that includes all types of cases, such as complex fraud, violent crime and public corruption, and he is recognized as one of the District’s “go to” prosecutors. Just in the past year, AUSA Meitl has prosecuted more than 120 defendants from cases brought by the Drug Enforcement Administration, Texas Department of Public Safety, Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and other law enforcement agencies.
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Serial Bank Robber, Arrested as a Result of a Crime Stopper’s Tip, is Sentenced to 125 Months in Federal PrisonRead the Press Release
DALLAS — A Dallas man, Joshua Sefnathn Chavez, 24, who admitted robbing or attempting to rob five banks in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex during the first two weeks of September 2015, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Jane J. Boyle to 125 months in federal prison, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.
Chavez pleaded guilty in March 2016 to five counts of bank robbery. He admitted entering each of the following five banks with the intent to commit bank robbery. In most of the robberies, he acted similarly, handing a teller a bank bag and note, indicating it was a robbery, and indicating he had a gun. In all but the bank robbery in North Richland Hills, the teller complied, giving Chavez cash.
September 1, 2015 Chase Bank, 11611 Preston Road, Dallas
September 3, 2015 First Convenience Bank, 752 Wynnewood Village Shopping Center, Dallas
September 3, 2015 Bank of Texas, 3200 Heritage Trace Parkway, Fort Worth
September 9, 2015 Wells Fargo Bank, 6700 Iron Horse Boulevard, North Richland Hills
September 10, 2015 Comerica Bank, 2121 Maple-Routh Connection, Dallas
The Dallas Police Department issued a press release to the local media and to social media asking for the public’s help in identifying the bank robber. Crime Stopper’s received a tip identifying Chavez as the suspect.
The FBI and the Dallas Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Keith Robinson prosecuted.
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Greenville, Texas Man Sentenced to 130 Months in Federal Prison for Role in Methamphetamine Trafficking ConspiracyRead the Press Release
DALLAS — Eduardo Borrego, a/k/a “Jesus Eduardo Borrego,” 30, of Greenville, Texas, was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Judge Ed Kinkeade to 130 months in federal prison following his guilty plea in March 2016 to a superseding information charging one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.
Two other defendants charged in the case, Borrego’s wife, Dayany Garcia, 27, and Pedro Santillano, 39, have also pleaded guilty. Both lived in Greenville at the time of the offense. Garcia pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute methamphetamine. She faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in federal prison and a $1 million fine. Santillano pleaded guilty to one count of possession of 50 grams or more of methamphetamine with intent to distribute. He faces a statutory penalty of not less than five or more than 40 years in federal prison and a $4 million fine. Garcia is scheduled to be sentenced in September and Santillano in October.
According to documents filed in the case, from approximately May 1, 2014 through September 2015, Borrego conspired with others, including Garcia, to possess with the intent to distribute 50 grams of more of methamphetamine. Agents documented over 20 separate deliveries of methamphetamine from July 2014 to September of 2015 during the investigation of this case. On one occasion, in late July 2014, Borrego sold another individual one pound of methamphetamine for $11,000. Garcia assisted Borrego in this transaction by driving him to where he needed to go to complete the transaction and serving as a lookout for law enforcement. On another occasion in early September 2014, Borrego sold an individual one pound of methamphetamine, and again, Garcia drove him and acted as a lookout for law enforcement. Borrego and Garcia shared in any profits he made from the distribution of methamphetamine. Agents documented over 20 separate deliveries of methamphetamine from July 2014 to September of 2015 during the investigation of this case.
Borrego has also been ordered to forfeit five firearms that were seized during the investigation of this case.
Santillano has admitted that on September 10, 2015, he possessed with intent to distribute at least 50 grams of methamphetamine.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation, Greenville Police Department, Hunt County Sheriff’s Office, Plano Police Department, Denton Police Department, Texas Department of Public Safety, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney George Leal is in charge of the prosecution.
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Fort Worth Man Sentenced to 60 Months in Federal Prison for Possessing Child PornographyRead the Press Release
FORT WORTH, Texas — A 31-year-old man from Fort Worth, Texas, Jarrod Mayes, was sentenced today by Senior U.S. District Judge Terry R. Means 60 months in federal prison, following his guilty plea in April 2016 to an indictment charging one count of possession of child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.
Mayes, who has been on bond since his arrest in December 2015, was remanded into custody following the sentencing hearing.
Special agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) executed a search warrant at Mayes’ home on December 17, 2015, and during the execution of the warrant, special agents seized digital media belonging to Mayes, including his iPhone.
According to documents filed in the case, Mayes admitted he first started using the KiK Messenger smartphone application (app) in 2009, and that was the first time he had observed child pornography. He acknowledged that he had saved videos and images of child pornography in a hidden folder inside of a calculator app on his cellphone. He advised that he stored the images in this app because he did not want his wife to find them, and that when he deleted Kik from his cellphone, it would delete the images. He also stated that when he would reinstall Kik, he would post images of child pornography in group messages because other users would not send him any child pornography until he posted images of child pornography. A forensic review of his iPhone revealed three video files; Mayes knew the files depicted real minors, to include prepubescent minors, engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Project Safe Childhood (PSC) initiative. PSC is a department initiative launched in May 2006 to combat the proliferation of technology-facilitated sexual exploitation crimes against children. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, PSC marshals federal, state, tribal and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. Since FY 2011, the Department of Justice has filed 20,260 PSC cases against 19,111 defendants. These cases include prosecutions of child sex trafficking; sexual abuse of a minor or ward; child pornography offenses; obscene visual representation of the sexual abuse of children; selling or buying of children; and many more statutes. To learn more about PSC’s work, please visit: https://www.justice.gov/psc.
ICE HSI investigated the case; Assistant U.S. Attorney A. Saleem was in charge of the prosecution.
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Former CFO for Grand Prairie, Texas, Independent School District IndictedRead the Press Release
DALLAS — The former Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the Grand Prairie, Texas, Independent School District (GPISD), Carolyn Foster, was arrested yesterday by special agents with the U.S. Secret Service on a federal indictment returned last week in Dallas, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.
Foster was arrested at her current place of employment, International Leadership of Texas in Richardson, Texas, where she is the director of finance. She made her initial appearance yesterday in federal court before U.S. Magistrate Judge David L. Horan and pleaded not guilty to the charge; she was released on bond,
Specifically, the one-count indictment charges Foster, 61, of Lewisville, Texas, with one count of federal program theft, alleging that from October 2014 to July 2015, she fraudulently obtained approximately $600,000.00 from the GPISD.
An indictment is an accusation by a grand jury and a defendant is entitled to the presumption of innocence unless proven guilty. If convicted, however, the maximum statutory penalty for this offense is 10 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine. Restitution may also be ordered.
The U.S. Secret Service and the U.S. Department of Education Office of Inspector General are investigating the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron Wiley is in charge of the prosecution.
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Local Chemical Engineer Must Pay Approximately $4 Million in Restitution for Unlawfully Possessing Trade SecretsRead the Press Release
DALLAS — A Ph.D. chemical engineer from Sunnyvale, Texas, Dr. Mattias Tezock, 53, who admitted unlawfully possessing trade secrets from his former employer, Voltaix LLC, has been ordered by Chief U.S. District Judge Barbara M. G. Lynn to pay approximately $4 million in restitution to this former employer as part of the five-year term of probation that resulted from his pleas of guilty in this case. The trade secrets at issue concerned the manufacture, synthesis, and purification of germane gas, a specialty chemical used in the semiconductor and solar energy industries. Today’s announcement was made by U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.
In August 2015, Tezock pleaded guilty to four counts of unlawful possession of a trade secret. The facts supporting the guilty pleas established that from mid-April 2004 through September 2005, Tezock was employed as a chemical engineer at Voltaix, LLC, a multinational corporation headquartered in North Branch, New Jersey. Over approximately 25 years and at great expense, Voltaix developed a specific, industry-leading and exacting secret and confidential scientific method to make and purify germane gas to specifications required by its customers. Tezock further admitted that Voltaix took reasonable measure to keep this information secret and confidential and that Voltaix derived economic value from it not being known to, or readily ascertainable through proper means, by the public. As part of his employment at Voltaix, Tezock agreed to and signed non-compete and employee confidentiality forms that prohibited him from improper disclosures of Voltaix’s confidential, proprietary, and trade secret information.
Voltaix terminated Tezock’s employment in September 2005. Thereafter, Tezock moved to Texas where he established Metaloid Precursors, Inc., a company based in Terrell, Texas, that manufactured, produced, purified, and sold the specialty gas, germane. Almost immediately upon his termination from Voltaix, Tezock began taking steps to misappropriate Voltaix’s confidential, proprietary, and trade secret recipe and process for manufacturing and purifying germane gas and later attempting to steal business from Voltaix by actively soliciting at least one of Voltaix’s customers.
During subsequent civil litigation brought by Voltaix, Tezock took steps to hide his possession of trade secret information by deleting files or manipulating computer evidence in order to prevent Voltaix from learning the scope and magnitude of his breach. Tezock also provided false testimony under oath in a deposition during the civil litigation.
As part of the plea agreement resolving the criminal charges, Tezock agreed to take steps to terminate his business and destroy the germane processing plant. Among other things, immediately upon entering the guilty plea, Tezock immediately was required to cease and desist accepting, soliciting, receiving, or entering into new orders, soliciting business, or engaging in any manufacturing or refining work at Metaloid Precursors. Tezock further surrendered the keys to the Metaloid Precursors building and later worked to dismantle, destroy, and remove all hardware, chemicals, and equipment used in the manufacturing and synthesis of germane and related gases.
As part of his punishment, Chief Judge Lynn accepted the parties’ plea agreement which included a five-year term of probation with a prohibition that during the term of probation, Tezock was not permitted to work in any capacity with germane gas or other specialty chemicals. Tezock was further prohibited from disclosing to any person or entity in any manner any proprietary, confidential, or trade secret information of Voltaix.
The case was investigated by the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorneys J. Nicholas Bunch and Paul Yanowitch prosecuted.
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Colleyville, Texas, Businessman Arrested for Running Ponzi Oil and Gas Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
FORT WORTH, Texas — A Colleyville, Texas, businessman, James VanBlaricum, who operated an oil and gas exploration company, was arrested Wednesday by U.S. Postal Inspectors on a federal criminal complaint charging him with mail fraud, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.
VanBlaricum, 77, made his initial appearance in federal court yesterday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Hal R. Ray, who ordered that he remain in custody pending a detention hearing set for Tuesday, August 23, 2016, at 2:00 p.m.
According to the complaint, Signal Oil and Gas Company (SOG) was incorporated by VanBlaricum in 2000; he was the registered agent and sole incorporator. The Land Lease Program (LLP) was one of several oil and gas investment programs offered for purchase to SOG investors. Texas Energy Management and Texas Energy Mutual (TEM) are the names of SOG’s follow-on companies that VanBlaricum and other coconspirators began operating in 2008. SOG initially operated from an Airport Freeway address in Fort Worth, but in 2004, it also began receiving mail at a commercial mail receiving agency on Northwest Highway in Grapevine, Texas. The name on this mail box was changed in November 2010 to TEM.
The investigation began when the U.S. Postal Inspection Service was contacted by the Texas State Securities Board (TSSB) after it began receiving complaints about VanBlaricum related to various programs he promoted and misrepresentations made to them by SOG salespeople. One of the main complaints was lack of investment payments. In fact, an investigation disclosed that from January 21, 2006, through January 31, 2009, 53 victims of a mail fraud scheme involving SOG’s LLP were identified with investments totaling $2,633,090.
Each LLP prospectus reflected 1) an “assured” rate of return on an initial investment; 2) the “assured” rate of return ranged from nine to 15 percent of the amount invested; and 3) investors would receive a full refund of their initial investment amount after the three to five-year investment period. Some prospectuses provided Minimum Assured Income Schedules that reflected assured and estimated potential rates of return of five to 35 percent, and some prospectuses reflected potential, projected, or examples of the allocation of investor funds in 50 percent hard assets and 50 percent oil and gas exploration.
An analysis of the use of LLP investor funds SOG received showed that approximately $2 million of LLP investor funds were deposited into SOG Wells Fargo bank accounts along with comingled funds from other sources. The analysis further revealed that funds deposited into the Wells Fargo accounts had not been used for purposes described in prospectuses and appear to have been misused by SOG and VanBlaricum. In fact, more than one-half of investor funds went to employee payroll and day trading.
“Dividend” or investor payments included payments to older investors from programs that preceded LLP, and those “dividend” payments came from Wells Fargo accounts where deposits from newer investors were kept – highly indicative of a Ponzi scheme where older investors are paid with newer investor money. Many of the victims in VanBlaricum’s LLP program invested at the recommendation of several financial consultants.
A federal criminal complaint is a written statement of the essential facts of the offense charged, and must be made under oath before a magistrate judge. A defendant is entitled to the presumption of innocence until proven guilty. The U.S. Attorney’s office has 30 days to present the matter to a grand jury for indictment. The maximum statutory penalty for the charged offense, mail fraud, is 20 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.
The investigation is being led by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service with assistance from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas A. Allen is in charge of the prosecution.
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Cocaine Trafficker Sentenced to 262 Months in Federal PrisonRead the Press Release
DALLAS — A Garland, Texas, resident, Chester Brown, a/k/a “Baldy,” 41, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Sidney A. Fitzwater to serve a total of 262 months in federal prison on drug conspiracy convictions, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.
Brown pleaded guilty in February 2016 to one count of conspiracy to distribute cocaine and one count of conspiracy to distribute cocaine base (crack cocaine). Judge Fitzwater sentenced him to 240 months on the cocaine conspiracy and 22 months on the crack cocaine conspiracy, to run consecutively.
Brown is one of the main defendants charged in a 20-defendant cocaine and crack cocaine distribution indictment returned in May 2015. Most of the defendants named in that indictment, including Brown, were arrested on May 26, 2015, in a joint operation led by the Dallas Police Department, Dallas County Sheriff’s Office and the Dallas FBI-Violent Gang Safe Streets Task Force.
According to documents filed in his case, on several occasions between January 2013 and May 2015, Brown possessed with the intent to distribute and distributed cocaine and crack cocaine. While the conspiracy was ongoing, in fact, he possessed with the intent to distribute and/or distributed 2,649 grams of cocaine and 451.5 grams of crack cocaine.
Of the 20 defendants indicted, 16 have pleaded guilty and seven of those have been sentenced. Charges against one defendant were dismissed, and three are set for trial in December 2016.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Phelesa Guy is prosecuting the case.
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Defendant Sentenced for Role in May 2013 Murder of Southlake, Texas, ManRead the Press Release
FORT WORTH, Texas — One of the Mexican citizens convicted for his role in the May 2013 murder of Juan Jesus Guerrero Chapa in Southlake, Texas, was sentenced today, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.
Jesus Gerardo Ledezma-Campano, 32, was sentenced by Senior U.S. District Judge Terry R. Means to 20 years in federal prison. Ledezma-Campano pleaded guilty in March 2016 to one count of interstate stalking and testified for the government at trial.
Two co-defendants in the case, his father, Jesus Gerardo Ledezma-Cepeda, a/k/a “Chuy” and “Juan Ramos,” 60, and his cousin, Jose Luis Cepeda-Cortes, 60, also Mexican citizens, were each convicted at trial in May 2016 on one count of interstate stalking and one count of conspiracy to commit murder for hire. Each offense carries a maximum statutory penalty of life in federal prison and a $250,000 fine. Cepeda-Cortes was also convicted on one count of tampering with documents or proceedings, which carries a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine. Both are scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Means on September 22, 2016.
On May 22, 2013, at approximately 6:47 p.m., Juan Jesus Guerrero Chapa was ambushed and shot multiple times with a 9mm pistol while seated in his Range Rover that was parked at Southlake Town Square. A Toyota Sequoia pulled up behind the Range Rover, a gunman got out of that vehicle, walked up to the Range Rover, and fired several times through the window at Mr. Chapa, who died at the scene. Nearby, Mr. Chapa’s wife was not harmed; Ledezma-Campano admitted seeing her screaming outside the vehicle.
According to evidence presented at trial and documents filed in the case, from approximately March 1, 2011, until May 22, 2013, the three defendants traveled in interstate and foreign commerce from Mexico to Southlake, and elsewhere, with the intent to kill, injure, harass and intimidate Mr. Chapa, and as a result of that travel, Mr. Chapa was killed. In addition, from approximately May 23, 2013, until September 5, 2014, Cepeda-Cortes took steps to destroy evidence on his computer related to the investigation.
The defendants were acting on orders from a man in Mexico, Rodolfo Villarreal Hernandez, known as “El Gato,” or “the Cat,” who wanted Mr. Chapa killed as revenge for his father’s murder. Over the course of the conspiracy, Ledezma-Campano and Ledezma-Cortes received money from Ledezma-Cepeda to pay for their expenses. Ledezma-Cepeda was paid by “El Gato.”
Ledezma-Cepeda asked his son, Ledezma-Campano, to assist in the search. Ledezma-Campano used his skill with electronic devices to assist in the search, and he created email accounts for Ledezma-Cepeda and “El Gato” to communicate with each other.
The defendants exchanged information via email to locate Mr. Chapa – exchanging personal information about Mr. Chapa and his family as well as information regarding vehicles associated with them and photographs of the Chapa residence in Southlake.
The defendants used various means to locate and track Mr. Chapa and members of his family. Cepeda-Cortes purchased surveillance cameras that were placed in various locations in Mr. Chapa’s neighborhood. In addition, while in the area, the defendants purchased and rented several vehicles that allowed them to frequently change vehicles and use non-descript rental vehicles to avoid detection by Mr. Chapa and his family. They placed automobile tracking devices not only on their own vehicles, but on vehicles owned and operated by Mr. Chapa and his relatives, including the Range Rover Mr. Chapa was in when he was murdered.
After the defendants located Mr. Chapa, “El Gato” sent two assassins from Mexico to Southlake to kill him. Ledezma-Campano met the two, whom he identified as “Clorox” and “Captain,” and concluded they were sent to kill Mr. Chapa. One of the men was, in fact, the gunman who killed the victim on May 22, 2013, and the other drove the Toyota Sequoia.
On the day of the murder, Ledezma-Campano and Ledezma-Cepeda followed the victim around Southlake, and that afternoon, while the victim’s Range Rover was parked in a Walmart parking lot, Ledezma-Campano and Ledezma-Cepeda switched the tracking device on the Range Rover.
At approximately 6:00 p.m. on May 22, 2013, Mr. Chapa and his wife drove to Southlake Town Square. Ledezma-Campano and Ledezma-Cepeda, who had been parked near Chapa’s home, followed them. Mr. Chapa parked in his regular parking spot near a yogurt store, and Ledezma-Campano and Ledezma-Cepeda parked directly across from them and used binoculars to watch them.
As they waited, Ledezma-Cepeda was in regular contact, via Blackberry Messenger, with “El Gato.” Ledezma-Campano saw “Clorox” and “Captain” drive by in a Toyota Sequoia. Ledezma-Campano went into a coffee shop in Town Square and while inside he heard a commotion outside. He returned to Ledezma-Cepeda who told him “they shot him”
Ledezma-Campano and Ledezma-Cepeda waited several minutes as law enforcement responded before leaving the scene. “El Gato” told both of them to stop using the tracking device they carried in their vehicle. The next morning, they returned the rental car and drove directly into Mexico, along the way destroying the phones they had used.
The investigation was led by the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration, with assistance from the Southlake Police Department, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, US. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Texas Department of Public Safety, Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office, Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office, Fort Worth Police Department and Grapevine Police Department.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joshua Burgess and Aisha Saleem are prosecuting the case.
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Dallas Insurance Agent Pleads Guilty to Federal Tax OffenseRead the Press Release
DALLAS — Kyle Scott Boyd, an insurance agent from Dallas, appeared this week before U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul D. Stickney and pleaded guilty to a felony Information charging one count of making or subscribing to a false tax return, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.
According to the factual resume filed in the case, Boyd, a licensed insurance agent, owned and operated Insurance 3 Group, Inc. in Dallas. During tax years 2008 and 2009, Boyd received insurance commissions (income) of approximately $526,465 and $572,942, respectively. The majority of those commissions, paid by various insurance companies, were deposited into an account, held by Insurance 3 Group, Inc., at Amegy Bank, for which Boyd was the sole signatory at least during tax years 2007 to 2009. Boyd used the funds in that account for both personal and business expenses.
In early September 2010, Boyd filed his federal income tax returns for tax years 2008 and 2009 in connection with obtaining financing for his residence in Dallas. Prior to that, according to the factual resume, Boyd had not filed any tax returns on behalf of Insurance 3 Group, Inc., nor any individual tax returns for tax years 2007 through 2009. With both returns, Boyd filed Schedule C forms that identified his income source as “insurance agent license rental,” and he reported $12,000 in income for tax years 2008 and 2009.
In reality, according to the factual resume, Boyd had not rented out his insurance agent license, and he received insurance commissions of more than $500,000 for each of those years, as noted above. Based on bank records, Boyd’s business expenses for tax year 2008 totaled approximately $371,591, which left a net business income of approximately $154,874. His business expenses for tax year 2009 totaled approximately $349,670, netting a business income of approximately $223,272. The resulting tax loss, according to the factual resume, was $43,364 for tax year 2008 and $62,516 for tax year 2009.
The maximum statutory penalty for making or subscribing to a false return is three years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine. In addition, Boyd will be required to pay $105,880 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). A sentencing date has not been set.
The investigation was conducted by IRS Criminal Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Lori Walker and Deputy Criminal Chief Assistant U.S. Attorney Katherine Miller are prosecuting.
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Dallas Drug Trafficker Sentenced to Nearly 20 Years in Federal PrisonRead the Press Release
DALLAS — Iran Zavala, 28, of Dallas, was sentenced this afternoon by U.S. District Judge Jane J. Boyle to 235 months in federal prison, following his guilty plea in April 2016 to a felony Information charging one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.
Zavala’s co-conspirator in the case, Santiago Veliz, 29, pleaded guilty in May 2016 to the same offense and is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Boyle on October 6, 2016. He faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in federal prison and a $1 million fine.
According to documents filed in the case, beginning in approximately June 2015, Zavala, Veliz and others agreed to distribute methamphetamine. On approximately June 29, 2015, Zavala negotiated the sale of two kilograms of methamphetamine for $32,000 to a person he later learned was an undercover law enforcement officer.
A few days later, on July 2, 2015, Zavala and Veliz traveled to a gas station on N. Beltline Road in Grand Prairie, Texas, to distribute one kilogram of methamphetamine to a person Zavala believed to be customer. They had both the methamphetamine and a firearm in their pickup truck. However, prior to the drug transaction being completed, law enforcement in marked patrol cars attempted to pull over Zavala’s vehicle. Rather than stop, Zavala fled in the truck at a high rate of speed, and during the chase, Zavala threw the methamphetamine out of the driver’s side window. The firearm was thrown out of the passenger side window.
At today’s sentencing hearing, testimony was presented that Zavala intentionally drove his pickup truck at a high rate of speed toward an officer with the Grand Prairie Police Department who was attempting to lay a spike strip in the road to deflate the tires on Zavala’s fleeing vehicle. Zavala is charged in a pending Dallas County case with Aggravated Assault of a Public Servant.
The pursuit ended when Zavala drove his vehicle into Mountain Creek Lake where it collided with a sailboat near the boat ramp. Both Zavala and Veliz were arrested. The firearm, a 9-milimeter semi-automatic pistol, was recovered and ordered forfeited to the government.
The Drug Enforcement Administration and the Grand Prairie Police Department investigated the case. Deputy Criminal Chief Assistant U.S. Attorney Rick Calvert was in charge of the prosecution.
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Abilene Methamphetamine Trafficker Sentenced to More than 21 Years in Federal PrisonRead the Press Release
ABILENE, Texas — An Abilene, Texas, man, Pascual Jamie Avalos, 34, has been sentenced to 262 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Reed C. O’Connor, following his guilty plea in April 2016 to an indictment charging one count of possession with the intent to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine. U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas made the announcement today.
According to documents filed in the case, on November 14, 2015, special agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), along with investigators with the Taylor County Sheriff’s Office, received information that Avalos would be transporting an unknown quantity of methamphetamine from the Dallas-Fort Worth area to Abilene, Texas, in a gray 2015 Toyota Avalon.
On November 14, 2015, a Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) Trooper working in Eastland County, Texas, observed that vehicle travelling westbound on Interstate 20 at a speed in excess of the posted speed limit. The DPS Trooper stopped the vehicle and identified the driver as Avalos. An adult female and an infant child were passengers in the vehicle. Avalos was found to be operating the vehicle while his license was suspended, and he was taken into custody.
A K-9 gave a positive alert to the odor of narcotics in the vehicle. It was searched and approximately four pounds of methamphetamine, with a purity of 82.5% was found. Avalos admitted he had picked up the methamphetamine and was going to deliver it to a person in Abilene.
ICE HSI, FBI, Texas DPS and the Taylor County Sheriff’s Office investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney Juanita Fielden prosecuted the case.
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Tax Return Preparer Pleads GuiltyRead the Press Release
FORT WORTH, Texas — Michael McCrary, a tax return preparer who managed a tax preparation business in Fort Worth, Texas, appeared this morning in federal court in Fort Worth, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Hal R. Ray, Jr., and pleaded guilty to an Information charging one count of aiding and assisting in the preparation and presentation of a false tax return, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.
McCrary, who remains on bond, faces a maximum statutory penalty of three years in federal prison, a $250,000 fine and restitution. Sentencing is set for December 15, 2016, before Senior U.S. District Judge Terry R. Means.
According to the factual resume filed in the case, McCrary managed Tax Breaks, a tax return preparation business that was located on Meadowbrook Drive in Fort Worth. In March 2011, McCrary knowingly aided and assisted in the preparation and presentation of a taxpayer’s individual 2010 federal income tax return that was false and fraudulent. That tax return, according to the factual resume, represented the taxpayer was entitled to claim a $26,993 deduction, based mostly on claiming unreimbursed employee expenses related to 39,875 in business mileage, when as McCrary knew, the taxpayer worked for Walmart and did not use his vehicle for business purposes, and was not entitled to claim that deduction. The statement was material in that it resulted in lowering the taxpayer’s taxable income thereby decreasing the taxpayer’s tax liability.
The investigation was conducted by Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas A. Allen is in charge of the prosecution.
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Grand Prairie Man Who Unlawfully Sold Firearms on Internet Sentenced to 63 Months in Federal PrisonRead the Press Release
DALLAS — A Grand Prairie, Texas, man who unlawfully sold firearms on the Internet, has been sentenced by U.S. District Judge Sam A. Lindsay to 63 months in federal prison, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.
Robert Confalone, 33, pleaded guilty in February 2016 to one count of being an unlawful user of a controlled substance in possession of a firearm. He admitted that prior to and through October 26, 2015, he used the Internet to market and attempt to sell firearms using the website “Instagram.” He was not a licensed firearms dealer.
When special agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) executed a search warrant at his residence on October 26, 2015, they located approximately 40 firearms, along with ammunition. Agents also found a personal use amount of marijuana in Confalone’s vehicle that Confalone admitted he used regularly while he possessed the firearms.
Confalone was taken into custody to begin serving his sentence at the end of Monday’s sentencing hearing.
ATF and the Grand Prairie Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Penley was in charge of the prosecution.
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Garland Man Sentenced to Serve a Total of 30 Years in Federal Prison on Child Pornography and Firearm ChargesRead the Press Release
DALLAS — Brandon Gregory Leal, 36, of Garland, Texas, was sentenced Monday by U.S. District Judge David C. Godbey to serve a total of 360 months in federal prison following his guilty pleas in March and April 2016 to child pornography and firearms offenses as charged in two Northern District of Texas (NDTX) cases, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the NDTX.
In one case, Leal pleaded guilty to one count of attempted receipt of child pornography and one count of possession of a firearm by a prohibited person. He received 240 months on that child pornography conviction and 120 months on the firearm conviction, to run consecutively.
In the subsequent case, Leal pleaded guilty to one count of transportation of child pornography and was sentenced to 240 months in federal prison and ordered to pay more than $58,000 in restitution. That sentence will run concurrently to the first sentence imposed.
In the first case, special agents with the FBI executed a search warrant at Leal’s residence in Garland, Texas, in July 2015, that he shared with Amber Nichole Williams, with whom he was involved in a romantic relationship. Leal was present during the search; both Leal and Williams were interviewed that day. Pursuant to the warrant, agents found and seized computers and other digital material. They also seized an AR-15 rifle and a 9mm handgun from the residence.
Leal admitted that he used the Tor chat network to obtain child pornography, admitting he had an addiction to child porn. Leal admitted that he had hundreds of images of prepubescent child pornography depicting prepubescent female children, including images of penetration, bestiality and bondage. In June 2015 he attempted to receive an image of an actual minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Leal had been convicted in 2002 for, among other things, possession of child pornography, and was sentenced to 40 months’ confinement while he served in the military.
Amber Nichole Williams, 31, was subsequently indicted in October 2015 on three counts of destruction, alteration or falsification of records and one count of making false statements. The indictment alleges that she made a false entry in Leal’s phone to make it appear that his phone was used to contact another sex offender, and she also destroyed and concealed a flash drive, knowing it contained child pornography, as well as a flip phone, that contained evidence of enticement of a minor. The indictment further alleges that she lied to FBI agents about whether she knew that Leal had any sexual relationships with minors, when in fact, Leal had told her that he had. Williams remains in custody; her trial is set for December 12, 2016, before U.S. District Judge Jane J. Boyle.
According to documents filed in the subsequent case, in December 2014, Leal drove from Canada into the U.S. through the Houlton, Main, port of entry. Border Agents became suspicious of his activity and contacted U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) for assistance. While Leal was allowed to leave the port of entry, his computer, along with its internal hard drive, an external hard drive and a thumb drive, were retained for further inspection. A forensic examination revealed that the computer contained multiple images of child pornography and the thumb drive contained at least an additional 350 images of child pornography. Leal admitted that at least one image is of an actual minor child. He further admitted that some of the images and videos he possessed depicted sadistic acts involving children, and that some of the images and videos depicted infants or toddlers.
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Project Safe Childhood (PSC) initiative. PSC is a department initiative launched in May 2006 to combat the proliferation of technology-facilitated sexual exploitation crimes against children. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, PSC marshals federal, state, tribal and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. Since FY 2011, the Department of Justice has filed 20,260 PSC cases against 19,111 defendants. These cases include prosecutions of child sex trafficking; sexual abuse of a minor or ward; child pornography offenses; obscene visual representation of the sexual abuse of children; selling or buying of children; and many more statutes. To learn more about PSC’s work, please visit: https://www.justice.gov/psc.
The FBI, ICE HSI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Garland and Mesquite Police Department investigated the cases. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lori Walker and Camille Sparks prosecuted.
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Texas Man Charged with Running Fraudulent Investment CompaniesRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON – A Texas man was charged with fraud and obstruction of justice in an indictment unsealed today involving two investment companies that allegedly defrauded investors resulting in losses of approximately $900,000.
Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney John R. Parker of the Northern District of Texas and Special Agent in Charge Thomas M. Class Sr. of the FBI’s Dallas Office made the announcement.
Stanley Jonathan Fortenberry, 50, of San Angelo, was charged with three counts of mail fraud, two counts of wire fraud and one count of obstructing an official proceeding. Fortenberry was arrested this morning and made his initial appearance in court this afternoon.
According to the indictment, from 2013 to 2014, Fortenberry ran Wattenberg Energy Partners, which raised funds for oil and gas drilling projects in northern Colorado. Fortenberry allegedly set up the company in his son’s name because Texas and Pennsylvania state securities regulators had previously ordered Fortenberry to not sell unregistered securities in oil drilling projects. The indictment alleges that Fortenberry used a network of salespeople to call and solicit individuals to invest in drilling projects. Rather than designate investors’ funds for drilling projects as promised, the indictment alleges that Fortenberry spent the vast majority of the funds on himself and the company’s fundraising operation. The indictment also alleges that in order to make Wattenberg more appealing to investors, Fortenberry misled investors into believing that Wattenberg had substantive control over the drilling projects when, in reality, Wattenberg was merely a fundraising operation that passed along funds to other companies that actually had control.
From 2010 to 2012, Fortenberry also allegedly ran a separate fraudulent scheme conducted through Premier Investment Fund. According to the indictment, through Premier, Fortenberry raised funds from investors for social media projects run by another company connected to the country music industry. The indictment alleges that Fortenberry misrepresented to investors the profitability of the company and how he would be compensated. The company earned no profits and Fortenberry spent approximately half of the funds raised on himself, according to the indictment.
In total, the indictment alleges that Fortenberry defrauded investors out of approximately $900,000 through both companies.
In October 2014, Fortenberry allegedly gave false and misleading testimony in an administrative proceeding before the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which was investigating Fortenberry at the time for misusing funds that investors had entrusted to Premier.
The charges in the indictment are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
The FBI’s Dallas Office investigated the case. Trial Attorney William E. Johnston of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean Long of the Northern District of Texas are prosecuting the case. The SEC has provided assistance in this matter.
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Labor Union Officer Sentenced to 18 Months in Federal Prison for Embezzling FundsRead the Press Release
DALLAS — A former Secretary-Treasurer of the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 1338 in Dallas, Johnny L. Wilson, was sentenced yesterday afternoon by U.S. District Judge Jane J. Boyle to 18 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $120,352 in restitution, following his guilty plea in April 2016 to one count of embezzling union funds, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.
The majority of Local 1338’s approximately 2400 members are employed as bus operators, mechanics, and customer service representative with Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART), MV Pursuit of Excellence, and Transit Management of Denton County.
Wilson, 46, of Dallas, was employed as a DART bus operator and had been a member of Local 1338 since 2001. He was first appointed to be Local 1338’s Secretary-Treasurer in 2009, and he was subsequently elected to the same position in 2011. Local 1338’s officers are paid to serve. As Secretary-Treasurer, Wilson worked in the union office at least a half of each day Monday through Friday and received $750 per month for the “faithful performance” of duties. His duties included writing and co-signing checks, paying bills, maintaining financial records, entering transactions into QuickBooks, reviewing and approving officers’ vouchers, bank statements, and receipts, and submitting the financial information to the CPA for quarterly audits. He also had custody and control of Local 1338’s Union Plus MasterCard, as well as Office Depot, Sam’s and Home Depot credit cards to support and maintain the business and expenses of Local 1338.
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS) was notified after Local 1338’s President discovered that Wilson had forged his/her signature on checks, including checks written to Lowe’s and T-Mobile, where Local 1338 did not have accounts.
The investigation revealed that Wilson had used his position to fraudulently open charge accounts with Lowe’s and Chase Bank, and in doing so, obtained a Chase Bank credit card in his name on which he made $79,477 in unauthorized personal purchases. Wilson also used his position to secure cashiers’ checks from the Chase Bank account that he then used to pay personal bills and convert to cash. He also made unauthorized payments from the Chase Bank account to Lowe’s and T-Mobile.
DOL-OLMS investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron Wiley was in charge of the prosecution.
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Drug Trafficker Sentenced to Serve a Total of 425 Months in Federal Prison on Conspiracy and Money Laundering ConvictionsRead the Press Release
DALLAS — One of the principal defendants charged in a major drug distribution conspiracy that operated in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex and elsewhere was sentenced yesterday afternoon by U.S. District Judge Jane J. Boyle to a lengthy federal prison sentence after pleading guilty last year to felony offenses stemming from his role in that conspiracy.
Jose Guerrero, a/k/a “J.D.,” 38, was sentenced to serve a total of 425 months in federal prison, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.
Guerrero pleaded guilty in September 2015 to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine and one count of laundering of monetary instruments. Judge Boyle sentenced him to 425 months on the drug conspiracy conviction and 240 months on the money laundering conviction, to run concurrently. Guerrero will also forfeit $20,970 in U.S. currency found by federal agents in his safety deposit box in July 2015, $40,276 seized from a bank account in July 2015, a firearm, and a 2007 Hummer H3 vehicle.
According to documents filed in the case, beginning in November 2012,Guerrero, along with Tony Ruvalcaba, a/k/a “Lil Tony,” Eusebio Martinez Ramirez, Jr., a/k/a “Sip,” “Eduardo Ruvalcaba, a/k/a “Lalo,” Kenneth Johnson, a/k/a “KJ,” Noel Escamilla, Octavius Donnel Williams and Kenneth Johnson, a/k/a “KJ,” conspired to possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine. Court documents indicate that Guerrero admitted he was being supplied multi-kilogram amounts of methamphetamine which he then worked to distribute to various individuals. Court documents reveal that Guerrero provided a price list of $9000 to $9500 per pound of methamphetamine or $17,000 to $17,500 per kilogram.
With regard to Guerrero’s money laundering conviction, Guerrero admitted that on February 22, 2013, he accepted $13,000 cash from co-defendant Ernest Olivarez, knowing that the money he received was illegal drug proceeds. Guerrero also admitted that, in August 2013, he provided $17,040 in drug money to an undercover officer so that it could be laundered.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation, Dallas Police Department, and Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation led the investigation with assistance from the Texas Department of Public Safety; the DFW Department of Public Safety; the U.S. Department of State; the Drug Enforcement Administration; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Transportation Security Administration; the U.S. Secret Service; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations; and the Fort Worth, McKinney, Mesquite, and Plano Police Departments.
Assistant U.S. Attorney George Leal is prosecuting the case.
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Texas Man Charged with Running Fraudulent Investment CompaniesRead the Press Release
A Texas man was charged with fraud and obstruction of justice in an indictment unsealed today involving two investment companies that allegedly defrauded investors resulting in losses of approximately $900,000.
Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney John R. Parker of the Northern District of Texas and Special Agent in Charge Thomas M. Class Sr. of the FBI’s Dallas Office made the announcement.
Stanley Jonathan Fortenberry, 50, of San Angelo, was charged with three counts of mail fraud, two counts of wire fraud and one count of obstructing an official proceeding. Fortenberry was arrested this morning and made his initial appearance in court this afternoon.
According to the indictment, from 2013 to 2014, Fortenberry ran Wattenberg Energy Partners, which raised funds for oil and gas drilling projects in northern Colorado. Fortenberry allegedly set up the company in his son’s name because Texas and Pennsylvania state securities regulators had previously ordered Fortenberry to not sell unregistered securities in oil drilling projects. The indictment alleges that Fortenberry used a network of salespeople to call and solicit individuals to invest in drilling projects. Rather than designate investors’ funds for drilling projects as promised, the indictment alleges that Fortenberry spent the vast majority of the funds on himself and the company’s fundraising operation. The indictment also alleges that in order to make Wattenberg more appealing to investors, Fortenberry misled investors into believing that Wattenberg had substantive control over the drilling projects when, in reality, Wattenberg was merely a fundraising operation that passed along funds to other companies that actually had control.
From 2010 to 2012, Fortenberry also allegedly ran a separate fraudulent scheme conducted through Premier Investment Fund. According to the indictment, through Premier, Fortenberry raised funds from investors for social media projects run by another company connected to the country music industry. The indictment alleges that Fortenberry misrepresented to investors the profitability of the company and how he would be compensated. The company earned no profits and Fortenberry spent approximately half of the funds raised on himself, according to the indictment.
In total, the indictment alleges that Fortenberry defrauded investors out of approximately $900,000 through both companies.
In October 2014, Fortenberry allegedly gave false and misleading testimony in an administrative proceeding before the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which was investigating Fortenberry at the time for misusing funds that investors had entrusted to Premier.
The charges in the indictment are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
The FBI’s Dallas Office investigated the case. Trial Attorney William E. Johnston of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean Long of the Northern District of Texas are prosecuting the case. The SEC has provided assistance in this matter.
US Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Announces Efforts to Enhance the District's Civil and Criminal Civil Rights WorkRead the Press Release
DALLAS — John Parker, the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, announced today that his office is bolstering its efforts in the protection of civil rights by hiring an Assistant U.S. Attorney who will be dedicated exclusively to his office’s work in that area. This new Assistant U.S. Attorney will enhance the work already being done by his office in both its criminal and civil prosecutions.
“Through a combination of criminal and civil enforcement, my office is committed to safeguarding the civil rights of each and every one of the more than seven million residents of the Northern District of Texas,” said U.S. Attorney Parker. “I’m delighted to have this added resource to further expand our ability to ensure those protections.”
The FY 2016 Appropriations Act provided funds for U.S. Attorneys to hire additional Civil Rights Assistant U.S. Attorneys. The Northern District of Texas was one of 42 federal districts and the only one in Texas selected to receive funding for the position. Parker has selected a candidate for the position who is currently undergoing the standard pre-employment adjudication process.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office, in its partnership with the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, has historically worked to advance civil rights through a variety of affirmative civil enforcement practice areas, such as housing and fair lending, Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) enforcement, allegations related to the Civil Right of Institutionalized Persons Act, voting rights, service members’ rights, pattern and practice policing investigations, and employment discrimination. The U.S. Attorney’s Office also protects vulnerable populations through its criminal civil rights work, including human trafficking, hate crimes, and color of law prosecutions.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas is the principal federal prosecution authority for the North Texas area with staffed offices in Dallas, Fort Worth, Lubbock, and Amarillo. The Criminal Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office prosecutes all federal crimes in our jurisdiction including acts of terrorism, public corruption, white-collar crime, organized crime, narcotics trafficking, firearms crimes, internet-related crimes, civil rights violations, and many other criminal offenses. The Civil Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office is charged with defending agencies of the United States, enforcing regulatory agency authority and affirmative civil rights enforcement, and recovering funds from violators of U.S. statutes and other regulations.
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Two Individuals Inidicted on Tax and Mortgage Fraud OffensesRead the Press Release
DALLAS — Special Agents with Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Criminal Investigation and the Federal Housing Finance Agency Office of Inspector General (FHFA-OIG) arrested Chukwuma Jonas Osuagwu, 43, of Dallas, late Friday, August 5, 2016, on various tax and mortgage fraud offenses, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.
Osuagwu appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul D. Stickney yesterday and was detained pending trial because of an immigration hold.
Osuagwu is charged along with codefendant, James W. Mitchell, 34, of Boston, in a 12-count indictment, unsealed this afternoon, with tax and mortgage fraud offenses. Each is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, and Osuagwu is charged with five, and Mitchell with two, substantive counts of bank fraud. Osuagwu is also charged with five counts of subscribing to a false and fraudulent individual income tax return and one count of corruptly endeavoring to obstruct and impede the due administration of IRS laws.
The indictment alleges that starting as early as September 2006 and continuing for more than a year, Osuagwu engaged in a series of fraudulent real estate transactions in which he either personally purchased or sold to one or more straw purchasers or co-conspirators, including Mitchell, three residential condominium units on Hood Street in Dallas. Osuagwu was able to personally purchase, or assist others in purchasing multiple residential condominium units only by submitting, or causing to be submitted on behalf of others, false, fraudulent and fictitious statements, documents and representations, such as false bank statements, employment letters, false IRS W-2 statements or false paystubs indicating the purchaser worked for Osuagwu’s company, Inforation, Inc., to cause one or more financial institutions, including Bank of America, J.P. Morgan Chase Bank and Wells Fargo Bank, to issue a mortgage loan they otherwise would not have issued.
The indictment further alleges that during the July through November 2007 timeframe, Osuagwu and Mitchell together conspired to commit bank fraud in connection with mortgage loans on two of the condominium units.
Further, the indictment alleges that from September 2006 through April 2012, Osuagwu earned income through the purchase, sale and rental of multiple residential condominium units that he did not accurately disclose to the IRS on his tax returns. He also allegedly filed amended tax returns falsely reporting two dependents and claiming status as the Head of Household to maximize a fraudulent income tax return. Osuagwu, in fact, had no dependents and was ineligible to file as head of household.
The indictment further alleges that from approximately June 20, 2011, and continuing to approximately January 24, 2013, Osuagwu corruptly endeavored to obstruct and impede the due administration of the internal revenue laws by providing false, fictitious, and fraudulent documents and information to IRS employees.
An indictment is an accusation by a federal grand jury, and a defendant is entitled to the presumption of innocence unless proven guilty. However, if convicted, each count of bank fraud and the conspiracy to commit bank fraud count carry a maximum statutory penalty of 30 years in federal prison and a $1 million fine. Each of the tax offenses, upon conviction, carry a maximum statutory penalty of three years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine. Restitution may also be ordered. The indictment also includes a forfeiture allegation that would require the defendants, upon conviction, to forfeit any property that constitutes or was derived from proceeds traceable to the offense.
IRS Criminal Investigation and the FHFA-OIG led the investigation; Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) assisted.
Assistant U.S. Attorney J. Nicholas Bunch is in charge of the prosecution.
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The Estate of Dr. Kenneth Michael Rice and UMC Physicians Pay a Total of $3,280,000 to Resolve False Claims Act AllegationsRead the Press Release
DALLAS C The Estate of Dr. Kenneth Michael Rice and UMC Physicians (UMCP) have agreed to pay a total of $3,280,000.00 to the United States and the State of Texas to settle allegations that Dr. Rice and UMCP violated the False Claims Act, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.
Specifically, the United States alleged that Dr. Rice, by and through UMCP, submitted false claims for payment to Medicaid and Medicare related to in-person evaluation and management services, as well as critical care services. The Estate of Dr. Rice agreed to pay the United States and the State of Texas $2,000,000, collectively, to settle the allegations. UMCP agreed to pay $1,280,000 to settle the matter. Both the Estate of Dr. Rice and UMCP fully cooperated with the investigation and, by settling, did not admit any wrongdoing or liability.
UMCP, a physician practice management group located in Lubbock, Texas, employs healthcare providers for its sole managing member, the Lubbock County Hospital District d/b/a UMC Health System (UMC). UMCP employed Dr. Kenneth Michael Rice as a healthcare provider at UMC from February 12, 1996 through his death on February 4, 2015. The settlement resolves allegations that from January 2008 through February 2015, Dr. Rice, by and through UMCP, billed Medicare and Medicaid for in-person evaluation and management services at the higher physician fee rate, even though the services were often provided by nonphysician providers. Dr. Rice and UMCP are also alleged to have billed normal evaluation and management services to Medicare at the higher critical-care rate. The Estate and UMCP deny the allegations.
“Health care providers, like all those that choose to do business with the government, must turn square corners when billing Medicare and Medicaid for services provided to patients,” U.S. Attorney Parker said. “As this settlement demonstrates, we will continue to work to ensure that providers bill for and are paid for the services they provide – but no more.”
The Texas Medicaid Fraud Control Unit and the Civil Medical Fraud Division of the Office of the Attorney General for the State of Texas participated in the resolution of this matter. The case was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenneth G. Coffin.
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Federal Jury Convicts Fort Worth Woman Who Ran House Cleaning Service on Forced Labor and Harboring Illegal Alien ChargesRead the Press Release
FORT WORTH, Texas — Following a one-week trial in Fort Worth, Texas, before U.S. District Judge Reed C. O’Connor, a federal jury has convicted Olga Sandra Murra, 64, of Fort Worth, on all four counts of an indictment charging federal felony offenses related to her harboring two women she illegally brought into the U.S. from Mexico and forcing them, with threat of serious harm and physical restraint, to work for her without pay. The announcement was made today by U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.
Specifically, late Friday afternoon, the jury convicted Murra, a/k/a “Olga Sandra Capon-Meneses,” on two counts of forced labor and two counts of harboring an illegal alien. Each forced labor count carries a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine. Each harboring count carries a maximum statutory penalty of 10 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine. Following the verdict, Judge O’Connor remanded Murra into custody. Sentencing is set for November 28, 2016.
The government presented evidence at trial that from her birth in 1952 to 1997, Murra lived in Mexico. In 1997, Murra, her immediate family, and several other individuals she brought with her, including V.R., an adult female in her 30’s, moved to El Paso, Texas, and then later to Fort Worth. In 1998, Murra arranged for I.G., an adult female in her 20’s, to be transported into the U.S. Both V.R. and I.G. are Mexican citizens and both entered and remained in the U.S. illegally.
From September 1997 to April 29, 2011, Murra kept one or both of the women at her various residences in El Paso and Fort Worth and maintained possession of their identification documents.
In both El Paso and Fort Worth, Murra operated a house-cleaning business. She directed both V.R. and I.G. to work for her business, and both cleaned three to four homes per day up to seven days per week. In addition, the women cleaned Murra’s residence and prepared meals for her. Murra, however, did not pay either woman for this work. In fact, Murra required the two women give her all of the money they earned cleaning houses.
Murra represented herself to the women as the voice of God on earth, and required them to listen to religious recordings of Murra reading Bible verses and discussing their meaning while they cleaned homes. She caused both women to believe they would go to hell if they did not obey her. Murra threatened at least one of the women that if she disobeyed her, she would contact immigration and the woman would be buried in a field with other illegal aliens. Murra also struck at least one of the women.
Murra also restricted the women’s freedom within her house, requiring at times they ask for permission to go to the bathroom. Murra also prohibited them from talking to other individuals living at the residence. Generally, the women slept on the floor of a bedroom in the residence, but when she punished them, Murra required them to sleep in the garage, laundry room or backyard and restricted their food to bread and water.
In 2001, Murra provided I.G. with false identification documents and directed I.G. to work at McDonald’s and Walmart, in addition to working for her house-cleaning business. I.G. worked for approximately one year at McDonald’s in 2001 and at Walmart for approximately six months in 2003. Murra required I.G. to give all the checks she received to her, not allowing I.G. to keep any of the money she earned.
The case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations (ICE HSI). Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle Allen-McCoy and Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Wirmani are in charge of the prosecution.
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Dallas Armed Carjackers Sentenced to Lengthy Federal Prison TermsRead the Press Release
DALLAS — Two Dallas residents who pleaded guilty to federal felony offenses stemming from their armed carjacking of two victims in Dallas in January 2015 have been sentenced to lengthy prison sentences, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.
Monica Renee Metcalf, 24, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Sam A. Lindsay to serve a total of 176 months in federal prison. She pleaded guilty in November 2015 to one count of carjacking and aiding and abetting and one count of using, carrying, and brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence and aiding and abetting.
Her then-boyfriend, co-defendant Felipe Pinon, 28, who pleaded guilty to the same offenses, was sentenced by Judge Lindsay in April 2016 to serve 360 months in federal prison.
According to documents filed in the case, on January 18, 2015, Metcalf approached an individual (Victim 1) at a gas station near the 3300 block of Webb Chapel Extension in Dallas and asked Victim 1 for a ride. Metcalf directed Victim 1 to drive her to an apartment complex across the street, and when they arrived there, Pinon approached the vehicle and spoke with Metcalf. Metcalf then asked Victim 1 to give Pinon a ride as well, but Victim 1 refused. Pinon then brandished a handgun and pointed it at Victim 1 and demanded that Victim 1 give him everything he had. Pinon and Metcalf ordered Victim 1 out of the vehicle and drove away in it.
The next day, Metcalf approached and briefly spoke with an individual (Victim 2) who was seated in his vehicle near the 300 block of S. Seagoville Road in Dallas. As Metcalf walked away from Victim 2, Pinon approached Victim 2. Pinon brandished a handgun and ordered Victim 2 to get out of the vehicle. Then, Pinon, Metcalf, and another individual drove away in Victim 2’s vehicle.
The Dallas Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted the investigation. Deputy Criminal Chief Assistant U.S. Attorney Gary Tromblay and Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Poe prosecuted the case.
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McAllen Medical Clinic Operator Pleads Guilty in Pill Mill CaseRead the Press Release
DALLAS — Muhammad Faridi, 40, the former owner of the McAllen Medical Clinic, appeared this afternoon before U.S. District Judge Sidney A. Fitzwater and pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge stemming from his involvement in a “pill mill” operation, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.
Specifically, Faridi pleaded guilty to a superseding information charging one count of conspiracy to launder monetary instruments. He faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in federal prison and a fine not to exceed $500,000, or twice the value of any property involved in the transaction. Faridi also agrees to forfeit approximately $20,182 in funds seized by the Drug Enforcement Administration. A sentencing date was not set.
According to plea documents filed in his case, beginning in January 2013 and continuing through July 2014, Faridi, who is not a physician, and his co-conspirators, including Dr. Richard Andrews and Ndufola Kigham, a pharmacist, distributed and caused to be distributed at least 150,000 30mg oxycodone pills through the McAllen Medical Clinic in Dallas that he operated with Dr. Andrews. The prescriptions were issued under the name and DEA registration number of co-conspirator Dr. Andrews, the supervising physician at the McAllen Medical Clinic. Faridi knew that none of the prescriptions for the 30mg oxycodone had been issued for a legitimate medical purpose by a medical practitioner.
Faridi and his co-conspirators, including Dr. Andrews, conspired to conduct financial transactions with the proceeds of this drug-trafficking to conceal and disguise the nature, location, source, ownership, or control of those proceeds.
In February 2015, a federal grand jury in Dallas indicted 23 individuals on offenses related to their participation in the prescription drug distribution conspiracy. That indictment alleged that from at least May 2013 through July 2014, the defendants participated in a scheme to illicitly obtain prescriptions for pain medications, such as oxycodone and hydrocodone, and then distribute those controlled substances for profit. As part of the conspiracy, individuals, often homeless or of limited means, were recruited and paid to pose as patients at medical clinics, including the McAllen Medical Clinic, to obtain prescriptions to fill those prescriptions at designated pharmacies.
Superseding indictments were returned in December 2015 and in January 2016, and now, a total of 31 individuals have been charged. Many of those defendants have pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing. Seven have been sentenced, including two who were sentenced today by Judge Fitzwater: Lashavia Syneice Denson, a/a ‘Shae Denson” and “Shay Denson,” 27, of Houston, and Angela Moore Booth, 49, of Lafayette, Louisiana, were sentenced to 30 months and 41 months, respectfully. There may be additional guilty pleas in the coming weeks; trial for the remainder of the defendants is set for October 24, 2016.
After their arrests in January 2016, Dr. Richard Andrews and Kigham, along with another defendant, pharmacist Kumi Frimpong, were ordered to surrender their DEA registration numbers, preventing Dr. Andrews from issuing prescriptions for controlled substances and Kigham and Frimpong from dispensing controlled substances. Kigham also surrendered her stock of controlled substances that she had at her pharmacy to DEA.
This Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation is being conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration, with assistance from the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Louisiana State Police, the Grand Prairie Police Department, the Dallas Police Department, the Houston Police Department, the Arlington Police Department, the Greenville Police Department, the Parker County Sheriff’s Office, the U.S. Marshal’s Service, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation and the Diplomatic Security Service.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary Walters is in charge of the prosecution.
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Lead Defendant in Methamphetamine Distribution Conspiracy Sentenced to 35 Years in Federal PrisonRead the Press Release
FORT WORTH, Texas — Cleto Tarin, 53, most recently of the Dallas-Fort Worth area, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge John McBryde to 420 months in federal prison, following his conviction at trial earlier this year on one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.
Co-conspirator Hector Saldivar, 33, of Wichita Falls, Texas, was convicted on the same offense at trial with Tarin, and is scheduled to be sentenced on September 2, 2016. He faces a statutory penalty of not less than five years or more than 40 years and up to a $5 million fine.
All 14 defendants in the conspiracy, which Tarin led, have been convicted.
Three defendants pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine. Miguel Antonio Martinez, 32, was sentenced to 232 months and Bobbie Frie, Jr., 31, was sentenced to 340 months. Defendant Marcus Caldwell, 32, is awaiting sentencing; he faces a statutory penalty of not less than five years or more than 40 years and up to a $5 million fine.
Seven defendants pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine. David Sheppard, 40, was sentenced to 235 months; Kendra Ward, 28, was sentenced to 220 months; Eric Overstreet, 28, was sentenced to 240 months; and Jonathan Morris, 31, was sentenced to 180 months. Three defendants who pleaded guilty to that offense, Robert Baggott, 45, Cecil Hindman, 51, and Oscar Melanson, 31, are awaiting sentencing; they each face a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in federal prison and a $1 million fine.
Two defendants, Susan Williams, 29, and Raymondo Acuna, 32, each pleaded guilty to one substantive count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, as charged in superseding informations. Acuna was sentenced today to 200 months in federal prison. Williams is awaiting sentencing and faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in federal prison and a $1 million fine.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Wichita Falls Police Department conducted the investigation.
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Irving, Texas, Man Sentenced to 180 Months in Federal Prison for Producing Child PornographyRead the Press Release
DALLAS — Darryn Webb, 20, of Irving, Texas, was sentenced this morning by U.S. District Judge Sidney A. Fitzwater to 180 months in federal prison, following his guilty plea in February 2016 to an indictment charging one count of production of child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.
Webb has been in custody since late September 2015 after his arrest on a related federal criminal complaint.
According to documents filed in the case, on approximately March 23, 2015, Webb persuaded Jane Doe, who at the time was five-years-old, to engage in sexually explicit conduct so that he could photograph her. Webb used a Nikon Cool Pix L30 Camera to produce these images of child pornography at his residence.
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Project Safe Childhood (PSC) initiative. PSC is a department initiative launched in May 2006 to combat the proliferation of technology-facilitated sexual exploitation crimes against children. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, PSC marshals federal, state, tribal and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. Since FY 2011, the Department of Justice has filed 20,260 PSC cases against 19,111 defendants. These cases include prosecutions of child sex trafficking; sexual abuse of a minor or ward; child pornography offenses; obscene visual representation of the sexual abuse of children; selling or buying of children; and many more statutes. To learn more about PSC’s work, please visit: https://www.justice.gov/psc.
The FBI’s Dallas Child Exploitation Task Force conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Cara Pierce prosecuted the case.
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Former ICE HSI Employee Faces up to 10 Years in Federal Prison After Pleading Guilty to Theft of Government PropertyRead the Press Release
DALLAS — Dwight Horton, 51, a former Mission Support Specialist (MSS) with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Dallas, appeared in federal court this morning before U.S. Magistrate Judge Renée Harris Toliver and pleaded guilty to a felony Information charging one count of theft of government property, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.
Horton, a resident of Grand Prairie, Texas, faces a maximum statutory penalty of 10 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine. According to the plea agreement filed in the case, Horton agrees to pay $35,000 restitution to HSI. He will remain on bond pending sentencing, which is set for November 16, 2016, before U.S. District Judge Ed Kinkeade.
“There’s no doubt that the vast majority of federal government employees are good stewards of the taxpayers’ money,” said Charles Anderson, special agent in charge, ICE, Office of Professional Responsibility in San Antonio. “This internal investigation and resulting guilty plea, however, show there will be consequences to those very few who cheat the system by unlawfully lining their own pockets.”
According to documents filed in the case, the investigation began in September 2014 when ICE, Office of Professional Responsibility in Houston received a referral from HSI Dallas indicating that MSS Horton had used a government fleet charge card to purchase automotive supplies without authorization for personal gain.
The investigation revealed that on several occasions, Horton used his government fleet charge card to purchase a set of four tires from at least two tire stores in Dallas, and on each of those occasions, he took the tires with him rather than having them installed on a vehicle. The HSI Dallas facility does not have a maintenance area/shop for mechanics to install tires on fleet vehicles.
The investigation further revealed that Horton used his government fleet charge card to purchase window tint. He also used it to purchase gas at a Tom Thumb in Grand Prairie for his personally-owned vehicles.
Horton resigned his position at HSI Dallas on October 14, 2014.
The case was investigated by agents with ICE, Office of Professional Responsibility in Houston. Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron Wiley is in charge of the prosecution.
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Son Who Threatened Police Officers on Facebook and His Father Arrested on Firearms ChargesRead the Press Release
DALLAS — Two Dallas residents, a son who made threats against police officers on Facebook, and his father have been arrested by officers with the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Dallas Police Department on firearms charges outlined in a federal criminal complaint, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.
Lance Alvin Coubry, (JR), 32, and his father, Lancelot Alvin Coubry, a/k/a “Lance Alvin Coubry (SR),” 62, were arrested yesterday on the federal charges, and both made their initial appearance in federal court this afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Renée Harris Toliver. Both are convicted felons, and both were detained pending detention hearings set for Wednesday, August 10, 2016, at 2:00 p.m.
According to the affidavit filed in support of the complaint, Coubry’s public Facebook page shows him in possession of numerous firearms and illegal narcotics. Coubry also made numerous references on Facebook about committing robberies and made statements regarding murdering police officers.
“No doubt this office takes federal firearms offenses, especially those committed by convicted felons, very seriously, but when coupled with outrageous public threats against law enforcement, this office won’t hesitate to take swift and vigorous action,” said U.S. Attorney Parker.
Law enforcement executed a federal search warrant at Coubry’s residence; both Coubry and his father were present at the residence. Law enforcement located and seized four firearms from Coubry’s bedroom and two firearms from his father’s bedroom.
A federal criminal complaint is a written statement of the essential facts of the offense charged, and must be made under oath before a magistrate judge. A defendant is entitled to the presumption of innocence until proven guilty. The U.S. Attorney’s office has 30 days to present the matter to a grand jury for indictment. The maximum statutory penalty for the charged offense, possession of a firearm by a felon, is 10 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.
The ongoing investigation is being led by the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Dallas Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney P.J. Meitl is in charge of the prosecution.
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Man Who Absconded While Under Indictment in “Swatting” Case, is Arrested, Pleads Guilty and is Sentenced to Serve 84 Months in Federal PrisonRead the Press Release
DALLAS — Jeffrey Lynn Daniels, 43, was sentenced on Monday by U.S. District Judge Sam A. Lindsay to serve a total of 84 months in federal prison, following his guilty plea in March 2016 to federal charges filed in 2011 in the Northern District of Texas regarding a “swatting conspiracy” and a federal charge filed in the Northern District of Georgia stemming from his resisting arrest in Conyers, Georgia, in early February 2015. The announcement was made today by U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.
“Swatting” refers to falsely reporting an emergency to a police department to cause a Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) response to a physical address, or making a false report to elicit an emergency response by other first responders to a specific physical address.
According to documents filed in the case, Daniels created software specifically designed for business teleconferencing and entertainment chat lines. His system offered a suite of services from which Daniels benefitted financially. Daniels knew that members of a swatting conspiracy used the system for many things, legal and illegal, and on more than one occasion, they used the teleconferencing aspect to group themselves together, use three-way calling, bridge someone into the conference with them, and in turn, harass the person or persons bridged. Daniels admitted he turned a blind eye to these activities. He could have ended some of their illegal or criminal activities on his system, but he didn’t, nor did he report it to the proper authorities.
Daniels further admitted that on several occasions he gave advice to co-conspirator Matthew Weigman[i] about swatting and how it was done. In fact, Daniels is aware that Weigman, relying on his advice, made swatting calls directed at a location in Fort Worth, Texas, in 2006.
Daniels also admitted that he tried to conceal electronic data on a cell phone belonging to another co-conspirator, Chad Ward,[ii] from Ward’s residence in New York, with the intent to impair the integrity and availability of the items in an FBI investigation.
In Spring 2012, Daniels, while under indictment in the Northern District of Texas for his role in the above-referenced swatting conspiracy, fled to Georgia. On February 1, 2015, Daniels was located at a residence in Georgia. An FBI tactical team entered and re-apprehended Daniels. During the tactical team’s entry, Daniel appeared and displayed a weapon. Daniels waived venue, and pleaded guilty in the NDTX to one count of forcible assault of or interference with a federal officer.
Jason Allen Neff, 35, Daniels’ co-defendant who also pleaded guilty to his role in the swatting case, was sentenced by Judge Lindsay in January 2015 to 60 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $79,440 in restitution.
The FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney C.S. Heath prosecuted.
[i] Weigman pleaded guilty and was sentenced in June 2009 to 135 months in federal prison.
[ii] Ward pleaded guilty and was sentenced in May 2008 to 60 months in federal prison.
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Grand Jury Indicts Two on Conspiracy, Carjacking and Firearms ChargesRead the Press Release
DALLAS — A federal grand jury returned a six-count superseding indictment yesterday charging two men, Joshua Puckett, 30, and Tyler Woodard, 22, with various violent offenses stemming from their armed carjacking spree in late 2015, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.
Yesterday’s indictment supersedes the February 2016 indictment by adding a conspiracy count as well as additional carjacking and firearms offenses. The indictment charges Puckett and Woodard each with one count of conspiracy to commit carjacking. Puckett is also charged with two counts of using, carrying, and brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence. Puckett is also charged with three, and Woodard with two counts of carjacking.
The indictment alleges that from approximately November 2, 2015, to December 9, 2015, Puckett and Woodard conspired together, and with others, to commit seven carjackings. They selected the motor vehicles to be carjacked, the time and location of each carjacking and the role each would play in the carjacking. They also chose the weapons to be used in the carjacking as well as what force and violence they would use.
On November 2, 2015, Puckett and Woodard, with the intent to cause death and serious bodily harm, took a 2003 Lexus IS300 from an individual, D.T., by force, violence and intimidation by approaching D.T. and Puckett pointing a gun at D.T.
On November 10, 2015, after S.W. took Puckett to an ATM, Puckett, with intent to cause death and serious bodily harm, took a 2013 BMW M3 from S.W., by force, violence and intimidation by pistol-whipping S.W. and choking him.
On December 5, 2015, Puckett and others, with the intent to cause death and serious bodily harm, took a 2011 BMW M3 from J.C.R., by force, violence and intimidation by pointing a pistol at J.C.R. and shooting him.
On December 7, 2015, Puckett, with the intent to cause death and serious bodily harm, attempted to take a 2014 Audi A4 from H.C., by force, violence and intimidation, by pointing a pistol at H.C. while he was seated in his vehicle and demanding the keys from him.
After H.C. told Puckett he didn’t have the keys, Puckett, on December 7, 2015, with the intent to cause death and serious bodily harm, took a 2013 Toyota Rav 4, from S.G., by force, violence and intimidation, by pointing a pistol at S.G. and striking her with it.
On December 7, 2015, Puckett, with the intent to cause death and serious bodily harm, attempted to take a 2011 BMW 335i from Z.M., by force, violence and intimidation, by pointing a pistol at Z.M. and shooting him.
On December 7, 2015, Puckett, after attempting to carjack Z.M., returned to the vehicle he was driving and followed Z.M. until Z.M. sped away to escape harm.
On December 9, 2015, officers with the Dallas Police Department saw Puckett driving the Toyota Rav 4 he had carjacked from S.G. in a motel parking lot. In an attempt to avoid apprehension, Puckett evaded the police first in the vehicle and then on foot. He eventually ran into the Toyota of Dallas dealership where, with intent to cause death and serious bodily harm, Puckett took a 2010 Toyota Highlander from M.A., by force, violence and intimidation, by pointing a pistol at M.A. as he attempted to stop Puckett from taking the vehicle. Puckett, driving the Toyota Highlander he had carjacked, evaded police for a while, and then evaded them on foot, before dropping the pistol just before police apprehended him.
An indictment is an accusation by a grand jury and a defendant is entitled to the presumption of innocence unless proven guilty. A trial date of February 13, 2017, before U.S. District Judge Ed Kinkeade is currently set for the defendants. If convicted, the conspiracy count carries a maximum statutory penalty of five years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine. Each of the carjacking counts carries a maximum statutory penalty of 15 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine. Puckett faces a statutory penalty of not less than 32 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted on the firearm offenses.
The FBI and the Dallas, Houston, Plano and Frisco Police Departments are conducting the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Rachael Jones is in charge of the prosecution.
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Law Enforcement Arrests Gang Members on Federal Sex Trafficking ChargesRead the Press Release
FORT WORTH, Texas — Following an early morning operation on Thursday, July 21, 2106, conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigation (ICE HSI), the Fort Worth Police Department and the U.S. Marshal Service, six individuals, most with ties to the Polywood Crips street gang in Fort Worth, Texas, are in federal custody on charges outlined in a criminal complaint filed earlier this month, and unsealed today, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas. Two additional defendants remain fugitives.
The six defendants were arrested at three locations in Fort Worth. During the course of the arrests, among other items, law enforcement seized numerous cell phones, a computer, a tablet and a stolen firearm.
The following individuals made initial appearances before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeffrey L. Cureton on Friday, July 22, 2016. Judge Cureton ordered each detained pending detention hearings this week.
Those charged and in custody include:
Diwone Nobles, a/k/a “Pooh,” 31
Stanley Johnson, a/k/a “Pee Wee,” 24
Audrey Lane, a/k/a “Spud,” 29
Alvin Lane, a/k/a “Spank,” 32
Jessica Arnold, 23
Serrah Arnold, a/k/a “Kristen,” 27Chad Johnson, a/k/a “Chad Ocho Hood Fame,” 24, and Deon Bonner, a/k/a “Spanish Fly,” 25, were also charged, and they are currently fugitives.
The complaint alleges that from approximately October 2013 to April 21, 2016, these eight defendants committed the offenses of sex trafficking of children; sex trafficking of adults through force, fraud, or coercion; and/or conspiracy to engage in child sex trafficking. The men listed are pimps, and the females listed are “bottom girls.”
According to the affidavit filed with the complaint, minor victim girls under age 18 and adult victim girls engaged in commercial sex acts at the direction of Nobles, Bonner, and Chad Johnson and they were “sold” back and forth between all six pimps. Nobles, Chad Johnson, Stanley Johnson and Bonner would pay Alvin Lane, Jessica Arnold and Serrah Arnold to post commercial sex advertisements for various victims on Backpage.com, including the minors.
A 16-year-old victim was told by Nobles, Bonner and Chad Johnson to charge $120 for a half hour and $180 for a full hour of commercial sex acts, and the three kept all of the money she received. The victim feared Nobles and Chad Johnson because she had observed both become violent when angry and had observed Chad Johnson assault another female on several occasions when the female did not follow his instructions. Nobles and Chad Johnson assaulted this victim, and Chad Johnson sexually assaulted her as well.
Another 17-year-old victim engaged in commercial sex acts at the direction of Stanley Johnson, who would post advertisements with her photo on Backpage.com. All of the money she earned by engaging in commercial sex acts was given to Stanley Johnson.
An adult female victim engaged in commercial sex acts at the direction of Nobles, Chad Johnson, Audrey Lane, Alvin Lane and Serrah Arnold. These individuals bought and sold her amongst themselves. Nobles frequently assaulted her when she made him angry or did not follow his instructions; he also raped her. Nobles kept the money she earned and the contact phone number used in the Backpage.com ad for her services was used by Nobles. In one trip to Austin, Texas, the adult female victim made enough money for Nobles to buy a Chevy sedan that he painted bright orange – “Poly Orange” in reference to their neighborhood Polytechnic Heights – that he still owns.
When that same adult female victim engaged in commercial sex acts at Chad Johnson’s direction, he physically assaulted her if she did not follow his instructions. On one occasion, Chad Johnson punched her in the ear hard enough to cause her eardrum to burst and bleed. Chad Johnson also raped her, and when he believed she had attempted to “renegade,” he had several friends gang rape her as punishment. “Renegade” is a term used to describe attempting to engage in commercial sex acts for money outside the knowledge or control of a pimp.
When this adult female victim engaged in commercial sex acts at Audrey Lane’s direction, he would have Serrah Arnold, his bottom girl, supervise the victim and take the money she received. Sometimes Serrah Arnold was violent toward this adult female victim and would physically assault her if she did not do as she was instructed.
An additional 17-year-old female victim engaged in commercial sex acts at the direction of Audrey Lane, Alvin Lane, Serrah Arnold and Jessica Arnold. Alvin Lane would have his girlfriend/bottom girl, Jessica Arnold, post photos of her in ads that she placed on Backpage.com. The minor female victim would give all the money she earned to Jessica or Serrah Arnold, who would then give the money to Audrey Lane or Alvin Lane.
Some of the six pimp’s Facebook pages contained online posts, visible to the public, that reference making a lot of money through criminal activity, namely “pimping.” Chad Johnson’s Facebook page contains photos of him posing with large sums of cash while referencing commercial sex. Several of Chad Johnson’s Facebook friends are females observed in Backpage.com ads for commercial sex.
Nobles, Bonner, Chad Johnson, Stanley Johnson and Audrey Lane have several photos on their Facebook pages in which they can be observed flashing gang signs referencing the “Polywood Crips” street gang.
A federal complaint is a written statement of the essential facts of the offenses charged and must be made under oath before a magistrate judge. The government has 30 days to present the matter to a federal grand jury for indictment. A defendant is entitled to the presumption of innocence until proven guilty. However, if convicted, the maximum statutory penalty for each of the offenses charged is life in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.
ATF, ICE HSI, the Fort Worth Police Department and the U.S. Marshals Service are investigating. Assistant U.S. Attorney Cara Foos Pierce is in charge of the prosecution.
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Former Citibank Employee Sentenced to 21 Months in Federal Prison for Causing Intentional Damage to a Protected ComputerRead the Press Release
DALLAS — A Dallas man who worked at Citibank Regents Campus in Irving, Texas, in 2012 and 2013, Lennon Ray Brown, and who admitted causing damage to a protected Citibank computer, was sentenced today by U.S. District C. Godbey to 21 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $77,200 in restitution, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.
Brown, 38, who worked for Citibank first as a contract employee and then, beginning in February 2013 as a full-time employee, pleaded guilty in February 2016 to an indictment charging one count of intentional damage to a protected computer. According to documents filed in his case, on December 23, 2013, after having a discussion with his supervisor earlier in the day about his work performance, Brown caused the transmission of a program, information, code and command, causing damage without authorization to a protected computer.
Specifically, at approximately 6:03 p.m. that evening, Brown knowingly transmitted a code and command to 10 core Citibank Global Control Center routers, and by transmitting that code, erased the running configuration files in nine of the routers, resulting in a loss of connectivity to approximately 90% of all Citibank networks across North America. At 6:05 p.m. that evening, Brown scanned his employee identification badge to exit the Citibank Regents Campus.
At today’s sentencing hearing, where the Court referred to Brown’s conduct as “criminal vandalism,” the government read a text that Brown sent to a coworker shortly after he shut down Citibank’s system that read, “They was firing me. I just beat them to it. Nothing personal, the upper management need to see what they guys on the floor is capable of doing when they keep getting mistreated. I took one for the team. Sorry if I made my peers look bad, but sometimes it take something like what I did to wake the upper management up.”
The case was investigated by the U.S. Secret Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney C.S. Heath was in charge of the prosecution.
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U.S. Attorney Invited to Attend White House Briefing on "Combating Religious Discrimination Today" InitiativeRead the Press Release
DALLAS — A White House briefing was held today on “Combating Religious Discrimination Today,” a federal interagency community engagement initiative designed to promote religious freedom, challenge religious discrimination, and enhance enforcement of religion-based hate crimes. The initiative was launched earlier this year by the Department of Justice.
The White House briefing, as well as the Justice Department’s release today of its final report on the “Combating Religious Discrimination Today” initiative, follow an April 2016 community roundtable held in Dallas as a major part of that initiative. Hosted by U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas and the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, in partnership with other federal agencies, the Dallas roundtable focused on religiously-motivated hate violence and hate crimes, protecting places of worship, and exploring ideas for the federal government to improve its efforts in those areas. Approximately 35 leaders from the Dallas - Fort Worth area faith-based community, civil rights organizations, and government agencies participated in April’s roundtable that was facilitated by U.S. Attorney Parker. Enthusiastic dialogue during the roundtable guided stakeholders in identifying next steps and formulating short and long-term goals.
In addition to the roundtable in Dallas, other roundtables were held throughout the U.S., and they focused on related topics, such as combatting religious discrimination, including bullying, in education and employment, and addressing unlawful barriers that interfere with the construction of places of worship. The final report issued today by the Justice Department provides an overview of what was heard at these roundtables.
“The diversity and tolerance of the north Texas area can be seen reflected in our many and varied faith-based communities,” said U.S. Attorney Parker. “The one thing we cannot, must not, tolerate, however, is hate directed at someone solely because they are different. It is particularly repugnant to our core values as Americans to victimize a person or group because of their faith. In fact, it is our shared duty to ensure that everyone, not just those who think like us, is free to worship as they choose and do so in peace.”
The “Combating Religious Discrimination Today” initiative supplements the Department’s continuing, long-standing criminal and civil enforcement efforts to prevent religious discrimination and religion-motivated hate crimes.
For more information, please refer to this White House blog post that discusses the report as well as other federal agencies’ efforts to address and combat religious discrimination.
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Rockwall, Texas, Man Sentenced to 50 Years in Federal Prison for Producing, Transporting and Possessing Child PornographyRead the Press Release
DALLAS — Christian C. Winchel, 49, of Rockwall, Texas, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Sidney A. Fitzwater to serve a total of 50 years in federal prison, and pay more than $1.4 million in restitution, following his guilty plea to multiple child pornography offenses involving prepubescent child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.
Winchel has been in custody since his arrest on a related federal criminal complaint in early February 2015. He pleaded guilty in September 2015 to one count of production of child pornography, one count of transporting and shipping child pornography, and one count of possession of prepubescent child pornography
According to the factual resume filed in the case, Winchel began downloading child pornography in approximately 1994. He admitted that he thought he would be able to trade child pornography with others if he produced his own material. Winchel had access to an 18-month-old child, and he took sexually explicit photos of himself with the child. He also admitted using a spy cam to capture minor girls using the bathroom when they were in his home and a nanny cam to capture minor girls in various stages of undress in his home.
Winchel moved to Rockwall from Indiana in 2013, transporting the videos he had recorded of minor girls from Indiana to Texas. He admitted that when children visited for sleepovers at his home in Rockwall, he filmed himself engaging in sexually explicit activity while in proximity of the minor children who were asleep.
Law enforcement executed a search warrant at Winchel’s residence in February 2015 and seized several media items. An IT specialist, Winchel had used his computer skills to try to mask his computer from law enforcement.
The forensic analysis, however, revealed that Winchel’s collection of child pornography, which he had categorized and organized, was approximately two terabytes in size. Law enforcement further determined that some of the images and a video Winchel had involving an eight-year-old minor victim were produced in late July 2014. Law enforcement found evidence that Winchel produced child pornography and images and videos of five minor victims.
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Project Safe Childhood (PSC) initiative. PSC is a department initiative launched in May 2006 to combat the proliferation of technology-facilitated sexual exploitation crimes against children. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, PSC marshals federal, state, tribal and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. Since FY 2011, the Department of Justice has filed 20,260 PSC cases against 19,111 defendants. These cases include prosecutions of child sex trafficking; sexual abuse of a minor or ward; child pornography offenses; obscene visual representation of the sexual abuse of children; selling or buying of children; and many more statutes. To learn more about PSC’s work, please visit: https://www.justice.gov/psc.
The FBI’s Dallas Child Exploitation Task Force conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Camille Sparks prosecuted the case.
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Prefered Imaging, LLC to Pay $3,510,000 to Resolve False Claims Act AllegationsRead the Press Release
DALLAS — Preferred Imaging, LLC, (Preferred Imaging), a provider of diagnostic imaging services, has agreed to pay $3,510,000 to resolve allegations that it improperly billed Medicare and Medicaid for services performed without proper medical supervision in violation of the False Claims Act and the Texas Medicaid Fraud Prevention Act. Preferred Imaging cooperated with the investigation and, by settling, did not admit any wrongdoing or liability. The announcement was made today by U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.
Preferred Imaging operates independent diagnostic facilities (IDTFs) in Texas, Illinois, and Kansas. Certain procedures performed by IDTFs, such as procedures involving the administration of contrast dye, must be supervised by an on-site physician. The settlement resolves allegations that Preferred Imaging submitted claims to Medicare, Medicaid, and TRICARE for procedures that were performed between January 2009 and February 2015 without a supervising physician on-site.
“The requirement that certain services are supervised by a physician is in place to protect Medicare and Medicaid patients,” said U.S. Attorney Parker. “This settlement clearly reflects our commitment to hold facilities responsible for failing to ensure that those requirements are satisfied.”
The settlement resolves allegations filed by relator Tracy Sifuentes, a former employee of Preferred Imaging, under the qui tam or whistleblower provisions of the FCA and TMFPA, which authorize private parties to sue for fraud on behalf of the United States and State of Texas and share in the recovery. The relator will receive $596,700.
The investigation was conducted by Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, Defense Criminal Investigative Services, and the Texas Attorney General's Civil Medicaid Fraud Division. The case was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lisa-Beth C. Meletta.
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