District of Vermont

The United States Attorney’s Office has announced that yesterday, Chief United States District Court Judge Christina Reiss sentenced Benjamin H. Weisinger, 48, of Lyndonville, Vermont, to 216 months in federal prison for production, receipt and possession of child pornography. Weisinger was convicted of the charges in April after a four-day jury trial. The production of child pornography conviction carried a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison.

According to trial testimony and court documents, Weisinger began his sexual abuse of the minor female when she was 9 or 10 years old. The abuse continued for several years and when the minor female was approximately 12 years old, Weisinger had her create sexually explicit videos and had her send him texts of the same conduct. One of these videos was discovered by the minor’s mother in November 2011 and the mother called the police. A later search of Weisinger’s computer and email accounts revealed numerous sexually explicit videos depicting the same minor female.

The case was investigated by the Vermont State Police, specifically, members of the Special Investigations Unit located in Hyde Park and the Vermont Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. The Department of Homeland Security also assisted in the investigation. The prosecutors on the case were Assistant United States Attorneys Wendy L. Fuller and Paul J. Van de Graaf.

The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Vermont announces that the owners of Mon Vert Café and the building in which it is located at 67 Central Street Woodstock, Vermont have agreed to complete specific modifications to come into compliance with Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”). Title III of the ADA prohibits a public accommodation from denying an individual or a class of individuals, on the basis of a disability, the opportunity to participate in or benefit from the goods, services, facilities, or accommodations of an entity. Title III requires a public accommodation to remove architectural barriers to access in existing facilities where it is readily achievable to do so.  The United States Attorney’s Office’s investigation began following a complaint made to the Vermont Human Rights Commission regarding the accessibility of Mon Vert Café.

An onsite survey of Mon Vert Café performed by United States Department of Justice architects revealed ADA compliance issues related to the restaurant’s entrance and toilet room. Mon Vert Café will remedy the agreed upon ADA compliance issues by November 30, 2013.

Mon Vert Café’s owners and the owner of the building in which Mon Vert Café is located recognized their obligation to address the issues identified in the onsite survey. Laura Miller and Cameron Reed, owners of Mon Vert Café, and John Reed, owner of 67 Central Street, are to be commended for their cooperation with the Office of the United States Attorney.

The Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont worked in partnership with Tracey Tsugawa of the Vermont Human Rights Commission in addressing and resolving these important civil rights issues. Assistant United States Attorney Nikolas P. Kerest, with assistance from the Disability Rights Section of the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice, handled this matter on behalf of the United States and is working with other Vermont businesses to resolve their ADA compliance issues.  Further information on the ADA and its requirements may be found at www.ada.gov.           

The Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont announced that Kimberley Brooks, 48, of Brownington, was sentenced today in United States District Court in Burlington to 18 months of imprisonment following her guilty plea to charges that she embezzled more than $157,000 from her employer. U.S. District Judge William K. Sessions III also ordered that Brooks serve a three-year term of supervised release after she gets out of prison, and that she pay restitution of about $163,000. The court directed Brooks to surrender to the Bureau of Prisons on October 8 to begin serving her sentence.

On October 18, 2012, a federal grand jury in Burlington returned a three-count indictment charging Brooks with wire fraud, interstate transportation of stolen money and forging checks of her former employer. According to the indictment, Brooks was employed as a bookkeeper for Desmarais Equipment, Inc., a farm equipment and recreational vehicle distributor in Orleans. The indictment alleges that, between September 2008 and March 2011, Brooks embezzled about $157,000 from the company, primarily by stealing cash from funds being deposited into the bank and altering deposit slips in an attempt to cover up the theft. It also accuses Brooks of causing several company checks to be issued to herself or others without authorization, then depositing the checks into her own personal account. According to court records, the embezzlement was detected in May 2011 and Brooks was promptly fired. Brooks pled guilty to the stolen property charge last April.

This case was investigated by the Vermont State Police and the U.S. Secret Service.

Brooks is represented by David Sleigh. The prosecutor is Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregory Waples.

The Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont announced that four residents of Brooklyn, New York have recently been sentenced in United States District Court in Burlington following their guilty pleas to counterfeiting charges. Today, U.S. District Judge William K. Sessions III sentenced Lateek Cargo, 27, to timer served in prison, coupled with six months of home confinement. Earlier this month, Daniel Hyacinthe, 24, was also sentenced to time served, coupled with four months of home confinement. Also within the past several weeks, Larry Galbreith, 23 and Malik Delima, 22, were sentenced to 12 months plus one day in prison. The court ordered each defendant to serve a one-year term of supervised release and ordered the defendants together to pay restitution totalling $1000. Delima, who has been incarcerated since his arrest, is finishing his jail sentence. Galbreith was remanded to Marshals custody on the day he was sentenced.

According to court records, on the evening of October 18, 2012, South Burlington Police Officers encountered Hyacinthe, Delima and Cargo at a gas station on Shelburne Road in South Burlington after receiving reports from several businesses in the area that individuals in a car matching the description of the defendant’s vehicle had passed, or attempted to pass, counterfeit $100 bills. After reportedly obtaining consent to search the vehicle, officers found seven counterfeit $100 bills, receipts showing purchases earlier that day at Burlington-area stores that were paid for with $100 bills, and a color printer that had the capability of photocopying documents. The defendants allegedly made the counterfeit $100 bills by bleaching real $5 bills, then making a photo-reproduction of a $100 bill on the $5 bill paper stock.

According to court papers, officers learned that one of the defendants had been staying at a near-by motel. After they obtained a warrant to search the motel room, officers found 13 more counterfeit $100 bills and 28 bleached $5 bills. They also found Larry Galbreith in the motel room.

The defendants are represented to Federal Public Defender Michael Desautels; David Watts; Brooks McArthur; and Robert Behrens. The prosecutor is Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregory Waples.

The Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont stated today that this week the two men convicted of conspiring to commit fraud in connection with the “Birth of Innocence” movie project were sentenced by Chief United States District Court Judge Christina Reiss, in Rutland. On August 19, Louis J. Soteriou, 56 of Middlebury, Connecticut, was sentenced to prison for 84 months. On August 21, Malcolm (“Mac”) Parker, 56 of Addison, Vermont, who cooperated with the criminal investigation, was sentenced to prison for 55 months. Both men were allowed to self-report to prison on a date set by the Court.

In papers filed with the Court the United States explained that for the decade ending in 2009, Parker raised more than $28 million from hundreds of people by leading them to believe they were investing in Parker’s production of a movie entitled “Birth of Innocence.” Less than $1 million of that money was spent toward the creation of a movie, which remains unfinished. In contrast, approximately $4 million was sent to Soteriou who spent large sums of money on various luxuries, including more than $100,000 on hotel stays in Telluride, Colorado. Parker supplied Soteriou with this money despite telling investors it would be used toward the movie production. In Court the government estimated that Parker received approximately one-fourth the amount of criminal proceeds received by Soteriou.

The federal criminal investigation was conducted by agents from the Internal Revenue Service, as well as the Federal Bureau of Investigation. United States Attorney Tristram Coffin also recognized the significant work that was done to discover and stop this fraud in late 2009 by the State of Vermont Department of Financial Regulation (then known as the Department of Banking, Insurance, Securities, and Health Care Administration).

Soteriou was represented by Stephen Barth, Esq. Parker was reprsented by John Pacht, Esq.

The Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont stated that, on October 17, 2013, Videsh Raghoonanan, a.k.a. ABush,@ 26, of Queens, New York was sentenced to 145 months in federal prison after his guilty plea to charges that he conspired to distribute cocaine base and more than 100 grams of heroin and possessed firearms in furtherance of that drug distribution conspiracy.  Chief United States District Judge Christina Reiss, sitting in Rutland, also ordered that Raghoonanan serve four years of supervised release following his prison term.

According to court records, Raghoonanan sold large quantities of controlled substances, including over one kilogram of heroin, during a drug distribution conspiracy that lasted from at least 2011 until Raghoonanan's arrest in December of 2012.  Raghoonanan obtained primarily heroin, and sometimes cocaine base, in New York City and transported it to Vermont for re-sale at a significant profit.  On at least two occasions, he obtained handguns from customers in Vermont in exchange for heroin and then transported those firearms back to New York City.  Raghoonanan would also carry a handgun while dealing drugs in Vermont.

On the drug conspiracy charge, Raghoonanan was subject to a maximum term of 40 years in prison and up to a $5,000,000 fine.  For having possessed firearms in furtherance of the drug distribution conspiracy, he faced a mandatory five-year term of imprisonment and a maximum of life imprisonment, and up to a $250,000 fine.  The five-year mandatory minimum sentence must be served in addition to any term of imprisonment imposed for the drug distribution conspiracy.  
In determining the sentence, Judge Reiss noted, among other factors, the scale of the conspiracy, Raghoonanan's use of handguns, and the harm that heroin addiction causes the community.  She also considered Raghoonanan's immigration status.  According to court records, Raghoonanan is a citizen of Trinidad and Tobago who was brought to the United States by his parents as a child.  He never obtained legal authorization to reside in the United States and committed his crimes while living in the United States without permission.  Accordingly, once he has finished serving his federal prison sentence, Raghoonanan faces likely deportation to Trinidad and Tobago.

During the course of this investigation, a number of Raghoonanan's associates and co-conspirators have been convicted of federal offenses.  On November 11, 2012, Justin Morrill was sentenced to serve 37 months in prison on a heroin conspiracy charge.  On January 15, 2013, Maria Hunton was sentenced to serve 30 months in prison on a heroin conspiracy charge.  On January 17, 2013, Ryan Orvis was sentenced to serve 57 months in prison on a cocaine conspiracy charge.  On June 3, 2013, Patrick Lepore was sentenced to time-served on a cocaine base conspiracy charge.  On October 9, 2013, Eric Jophlin was sentenced to 60 months in prison on a heroin conspiracy charge.  Defendants Marc Wells, Barton Gray, and Justin Bosley have all been convicted of controlled substance or firearms charges and are awaiting sentencing before Judge Reiss.

This case was investigated by the Burlington Police Department, the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives, and the Drug Enforcement Administration.  United States Attorney Tristram J. Coffin commended the efforts of these agencies during this lengthy investigation. 

The prosecutor is Assistant United States Attorney Timothy C. Doherty, Jr.  Raghoonanan is represented by defense attorney John-Claude Charbonneau.