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17 October 2023
Five persons arrested in Great Falls fentanyl trafficking investigation arraigned on chargesRead the Press Release
GREAT FALLS — Five persons arrested as part of a multi-agency narcotics investigation appeared for arraignment today on federal indictments alleging fentanyl trafficking charges, U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich said.
Officers from multiple federal, state, and local agencies arrested the five defendants on warrants as part of a coordinated takedown conducted on Oct. 12 in Great Falls.
The five defendants are charged in three separate indictments alleging fentanyl trafficking in Cascade and Mineral counties. Each defendant pleaded not guilty and was detained pending further proceedings.
U.S. Magistrate Judge John T. Johnston presided.
The defendants include:
- Alanna Corcoran, 41, of Great Falls, on charges of conspiracy to distribute fentanyl. If convicted of the most serious crime, Corcoran faces a maximum of 20 years in prison, a $1 million fine and at least three years of supervised release. PACER case reference. 23-95.
- Natalie Crawford, 31, of Great Falls, on charges of conspiracy to distribute fentanyl and possession with intent to distribute fentanyl. If convicted of the most serious crime, Crawford faces a mandatory minimum of five years to 40 years in prison, a $5 million fine and at least four years of supervised release. PACER case reference. 23-96.
- Michael McIntire, 56, of Great Falls; Terry McIntire, 44, of Great Falls; and Paul Regimbal, 50, of Fort Benton, on charges of conspiracy to distribute fentanyl and possession with intent to distribute fentanyl. Terry McIntire also is charged with distribution of fentanyl. The defendants face a maximum of 20 years in prison, a $1 million fine and at least three years of supervised release. PACER case reference. 23-99.
The charging documents are merely accusations and defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Drug Enforcement Administration, Homeland Security Investigations and Great Falls Police Department, with assistance from the Montana Division of Criminal Investigation, Russell Country High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force, Cascade County Sheriff’s Office, U.S. Postal Service and U.S. Marshals Service, conducted the investigation.
The progress of cases may be monitored through the U.S. District Court Calendar and the PACER system. To establish a PACER account, which provides electronic access to review documents filed in a case, please visit http://www.pacer.gov/register.html. To access the District Court’s calendar, please visit https://ecf.mtd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/PublicCalendar.pl.
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Federal Jury Convicts Maryland Man of Attempting to Entice A Minor to Engage in Sexual ActivityRead the Press Release
Orlando, FL –United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces that a federal jury has found William Daniel Leonard (55, Maryland) guilty of using the internet and his cellphone to attempt to entice a minor to engage in sexual activity. Leonard faces a minimum mandatory penalty of 10 years, up to life, in federal prison, as well as a potential life term of supervised release. Leonard was remanded into custody after the return of the verdict. His sentencing hearing in scheduled for January 4, 2024. Leonard was indicted on February 23, 2022.
According to evidence and testimony introduced during the two-day trial, on November 12, 2021, Leonard reached out to an undercover agent who was posing as the father of a 13-year-old daughter online. Leonard expressed interest in meeting the notional child for sex and spent the next three weeks planning his trip from Maryland to Florida. During the same time that he was making plans to come to Florida, Leonard was talking to two other minors online, a 14-year-old girl and a 16-year-old girl.
Leonard traveled to North Carolina on November 19, 2021, to see the 14-year-old girl after deciphering her address from a digital photograph that she had sent to Leonard. On December 7, 2021, Leonard arrived in Florida with two boxes of condoms to meet the notional 13-year-old girl, where he was met by law enforcement officers and arrested.
This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Florida. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Stephanie McNeff and Amanda Daniels.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by United States Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
Exagen Inc. Agrees to Pay $653,143 to Resolve Allegations of Kickback ViolationsRead the Press Release
BOSTON – A California-based life sciences company that makes diagnostic tests for the treatment of autoimmune conditions, Exagen Inc., has agreed to pay $653,143 to resolve allegations that it paid specimen processing fees to referring physicians to induce those physicians’ use of Exagen’s laboratory tests.
According to the settlement agreement, Exagen agreed to factual admissions that it paid certain referring physicians to complete blood draws for patients pursuant to specimen processing agreements that Exagen entered into with those physicians. Exagen billed federal health care programs, including Medicare and other programs, for tests that it performed after receiving orders from the referring physicians to whom it paid the specimen processing fees. Exagen did so after becoming aware of a June 25, 2014 Special Fraud Alert from the Department of Health & Human Services’ Office of the Inspector General (HHS-OIG) that warned laboratories that the practice of paying referring physicians specimen processing fees could present a substantial risk of fraud and abuse.
The settlement stems from allegations originally brought in a lawsuit filed by a whistleblower under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act, which allows private parties, known as relators, to bring suit on behalf of the government and to share in any recovery. In connection with today’s announced settlement, the relator will receive 16 percent of the recovery.
Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy; HHS-OIG Special Agent in Charge Roberto Coviello; and Christopher F. Algieri, Special Agent in Charge of the Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of the Inspector General, Northeast Field Office made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Abraham R. George, Chief of the Affirmative Civil Enforcement Unit, and Alexandra Brazier, also of the Affirmative Civil Enforcement Unit, handled the matter.
Durant Resident Sentenced for Possession of Child Sexual Exploitation MaterialRead the Press Release
MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma announced that Ricky Wayne Banks, II, age 34, of Durant, Oklahoma, was sentenced to 120 months in prison for possessing sexually explicit material involving a minor.
The charges arose from investigations by Homeland Security Investigations and the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation.
On August 25, 2022, Ricky Wayne Banks, II, pleaded guilty to Possession of Certain Material Involving the Sexual Exploitation of a Minor. According to court documents, various CyberTips were received from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police National Child Exploitation Crime Centre (NCECC) regarding suspected activity involving minor children. During the investigation, Agents obtained and executed search warrants and found Ricky Wayne Banks, II, to be in possession of sexually explicit materials involving minor children.
The Honorable Ronald A. White, Chief Judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, presided over the hearings in Muskogee. Banks will remain in custody of the U.S. Marshal pending transportation to a designated United States Bureau of Prisons facility to serve a non-paroleable sentence of incarceration.
Assistant United States Attorney Edith A. Singer represented the United States.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc. For more information about internet safety education, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc and click on the tab “Resources.”
If you have information about the physical or online exploitation of children, please call the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324) or submit a tip online at tips.fbi.gov. You can also contact the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 1-800-THE–LOST (1-800-843-5678) or submit a tip online at report.cybertip.org.
Doctor pleads guilty in dark web murder-for-hire plotRead the Press Release
ATLANTA –James Wan, M.D., has pleaded guilty to paying a hitman he found on the dark web to murder his girlfriend.
“Wan used the dark web to conceal his deadly plan,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan. “Fortunately, his plot was discovered before anyone was killed or injured.”
"Despite his cowardly concealment on the dark web, Wan’s cold hearted murderous plot was averted due to the exceptional work of our team. He will now face the full consequences of the criminal justice system,” said Keri Farley, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta. “This case shows that the FBI will not tolerate heinous acts of violence and will go to great lengths to protect our citizens.”
According to U.S. Attorney Buchanan, the charges and other information presented in court: On April 18, 2022, while in the Northern District of Georgia, Wan accessed a dark web marketplace from his cellular telephone and submitted an order to have a hitman murder his girlfriend. The order included the victim’s name, address, Facebook account, license plate, and car description. In the order, Wan stated: “Can take wallet phone and car. Shoot and go. Or take car.” Wan then electronically transferred a 50% downpayment of approximately $8,000 worth of Bitcoin to the dark web marketplace.
Two days later, Wan messaged the marketplace’s administrator, stating that the transferred Bitcoin did not show up in his escrow account on the site. The next day, the marketplace administrator asked Wan for the Bitcoin address to which Wan had sent the payment. In response, Wan identified the Bitcoin wallet address and provided a screenshot of the transaction. When the administrator said that the address Wan provided was not in their system, Wan replied, “Damn. I guess I lost $8k. I’m sending $8k to escrow now.” Wan then electronically transferred an additional Bitcoin payment worth approximately $8,000 to the marketplace. The administrator confirmed the new address was correct and that the Bitcoin had arrived in the escrow account. The administrator stated that they were proceeding with Wan’s order for a hit and asked whether Wan wanted it done as an “accident or normal shooting.” Wan responded, “accident is better.”
About a week later, on April 29, 2022, Wan electronically transferred another payment of approximately $8,000 worth of Bitcoin to the dark web marketplace to ensure his escrow account contained the total required to complete the order. Shortly thereafter, Wan posted the following in a forum on the dark web marketplace: “How soon should work be done? I have submitted an Order and curious how quickly it should be carried out? Is there a way I can find out any progress? If there is anyone in my location?”
On May 10, 2022, after the value of Bitcoin dropped, Wan electronically transferred another payment of approximately $1,200 worth of Bitcoin to the marketplace to ensure his escrow account still contained the total required to complete the order.
After learning about the threat to the victim’s life, FBI agents notified the victim, provided her protection, and questioned Wan. Wan admitted that he had placed the order, made the payments, and checked the status of the order daily on the dark web marketplace. Records from Wan’s cellular telephone and his Bitcoin wallet corroborated Wan’s confession. After speaking with FBI agents, Wan canceled the order on the dark web marketplace.
James Wan, 54, of Duluth, Georgia, pleaded guilty to one count of using a facility of interstate commerce in the commission of murder-for-hire. The sentencing is scheduled for January 18, 2024, before U.S. District Court Judge Leigh Martin May.
This case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Bret R. Hobson is prosecuting the case.
For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at [email protected] or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.
District Man Sentenced to 97 Months in Prison for Soliciting and Receiving Child PornographyRead the Press Release
Defendant Belonged to Groups that Discussed the Sexual Abuse of Very Young Children
WASHINGTON – Raymond Glover, 43, of Washington D.C., was sentenced today to 97 months imprisonment, to be followed by 15 years supervised release, for his criminal conduct which included the distribution, receipt, and possession of child pornography. The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Special Agent in Charge Derek W. Gordon, of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Washington, D.C.
Glover pleaded guilty on March 14, 2023, in the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia, to one felony count of receiving child pornography, before U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton.
According to court documents, on or about Sept. 21, 2021, HSI agents searched Glover’s home. During the search, a child pornography video was playing on Glover’s laptop inside his living room, using an application that allowed Glover to share his video screen with other likeminded offenders. The video depicted an infant being sexually abused by an adult man. Agents observed adult men, on another screen, who appeared to be watching the video, and masturbating, while the infant was being sexually assaulted.
Glover stated that some of the child pornography videos posted in the application chat groups depicted children as young as 5 or 6 years of age being abused. Glover stated that members in these chat groups posted links to cloud storage sites which allowed him to gain access to child pornography. During the execution of the search warrant, agents seized 13 electronic devices, including two phones and the laptop. Glover’s devices contained over 60 videos and 60 images that depict the sexual abuse of children. The videos and images were downloaded by Glover between the dates of Sept. 27, 2019, and Sept. 21, 2021. Glover was arrested and charged with child exploitation offenses on the date that law enforcement searched his home. He has remained in custody ever since.
This case was investigated by the Washington, D.C. field office of Homeland Security Investigations. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jocelyn Bond of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, with the assistance of Paralegal Specialist Alexis Spencer-Anderson.
Defendant Charged with Operating Sex-Trafficking Ring on Pennsylvania Avenue in Brooklyn Known as the "Penn Track"Read the Press Release
Earlier today, an indictment was unsealed in federal court in Brooklyn federal court charging Douglas Welch, also known as “Paradise,” with sex trafficking by force, sex trafficking conspiracy, interstate prostitution and promotion of prostitution. The charges in the indictment relate to Welch allegedly forcing victims to engage in prostitution, in among other places, a stretch of Pennsylvania Avenue in Brooklyn known as the “Penn Track.” Welch was arrested today and is scheduled to be arraigned this afternoon before United States Magistrate Judge James R. Cho.
Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York and James Smith, Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI), and Edward A. Caban, Commissioner, New York City Police Department (NYPD), announced the arrest and charges.
“As alleged, Welch has trafficked multiple women for his own financial benefit while boasting about the cruel and brutal violence he has inflicted on the vulnerable victims,” stated United States Attorney Peace. “Running a brazen, open-air commercial sex market in East New York or anywhere else in our district is unacceptable, dangerous to our communities, and especially harmful to women caught in this terrible cycle of abuse. Today’s indictment will hold the defendant accountable in a federal courtroom for his exploitative crimes.”
Mr. Peace also thanked the New York City Department of Corrections, the New York City Human Resources Administration, and the Kings County District Attorney’s Office for their valuable assistance with the case.
“Today’s charges further affirm our unwavering commitment to protecting the survivors of sex trafficking,” stated NYPD Commissioner Caban. “Together with our law enforcement partners, the NYPD will continue to ensure that anyone seeking to profit through the abuse and exploitation of another human being is identified, investigated, and indicted. I commend everyone involved at the FBI and the office of the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York for their work on this important case.”
The Penn Track has for years operated as an open-air market where Welch and others have forced trafficking victims to earn money for them by engaging in commercial sex acts with customers in cars or nearby hotels.
As alleged in court documents, Welch recruited women to work on his behalf along the Penn Track and used threats and violence to force those victims to engage in commercial sex with customers, and provide him with the profits. Welch routinely threatened his victims with physical violence if they disobeyed his orders, telling one victim, “if you f*** with the pimping, I’m gonna crack your head” and threatening to “slap the s***” out of another victim for not listening to him. He also bragged about knocking unconscious trafficking victims who disrespected him or other traffickers, including describing one instance in which he grabbed a woman by the throat, knocked her onto the sidewalk and then body slammed her for disrespecting another pimp along the Penn Track. Welch struck a victim with a baseball bat for refusing to engage in prostitution after he directed her to do so, telling another sex trafficker that he wanted to leave a “stain on her brain.”
The charges in the indictment are allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. If convicted of the charges, Welch faces a minimum term of 15 years in prison, and up to life imprisonment.
If you are a victim of trafficking—whether by Welch or someone else—and have information to provide, please contact the FBI, which is prepared to help you regardless of your immigration status, at tips.fbi.gov or call 1-800-CALL-FBI.
The government’s case is being handled by the Office’s Civil Rights Section. Assistant United States Attorney Erin Reid, Kayla Bensing and Joshua Dugan are in charge of the prosecution.
The Defendant:
Douglas Welch (also known as “Paradise”)
Age: 40
Queens, New YorkE.D.N.Y. Docket No. 23-CR-411 (OEM)
Cuba, Missouri, Man Sentenced to 120 Months’ Imprisonment for Drug, Gun OffensesRead the Press Release
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – A Cuba, Missouri, man, Raymond Toth, 65, was sentenced on October 13, 2023, to 120 months in federal prison, consisting of 60 months’ imprisonment for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and 60 months’ imprisonment for possessing a firearm during and in furtherance of a drug crime. United States District Judge Colleen R. Lawless further ordered Toth to serve four years of supervised release after completing his prison sentence.
Evidence presented at the sentencing hearing showed that Toth brought large amounts of methamphetamine from Missouri to Taylorville, Illinois, for his coconspirators to distribute in the Central District of Illinois. In total, Toth was responsible for helping to distribute approximately eight pounds of almost pure methamphetamine. Toth also possessed a 9 mm handgun when he was arrested in a Pana, Illinois, parking lot with 756 grams of methamphetamine.
Toth was indicted in June 2018 and pleaded guilty in June 2023. He has been detained and is in the custody of the United States Marshal since May 24, 2018. Toth’s co-defendants Randy Hammond, Macy Sweitzer, and Claudette Borders were previously sentenced for their roles in the conspiracy, and co-defendant Jesse Stoldorf is scheduled to be sentenced on October 20, 2023.
The statutory penalties for conspiracy to distribute five grams or more of actual methamphetamine are not less than five and up to forty years’ imprisonment, up to a $5,000,000 fine, and up to a life term of supervised release. The penalties for possessing a firearm during and in furtherance of a drug crime are up to life imprisonment, up to a $250,000 fine, and up to five years of supervised release.
This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, Springfield Resident Office; the Illinois State Police; the Christian County, Illinois, Sheriff’s Office; the Taylorville, Illinois, Police Department; and the Pana, Illinois, Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Z. Weir represented the government in the prosecution.
The case against Toth is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.
Crivitz Man Sentenced to Federal Prison for PPP FraudRead the Press Release
Gregory J. Haanstad, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, announced that on October 16, 2023, Robert J. Solberg (age: 39) of Crivitz, Wisconsin, was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison by Senior District Judge William C. Griesbach.
According to court records, Solberg received $20,833 from the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) after applying to the U.S. Small Business Administration. To obtain the money, Solberg falsely claimed that he was not then under indictment or convicted of a felony. In fact, Solberg had months earlier pled guilty to conspiracy to commit odometer tampering and was awaiting sentencing in federal court.
At the sentencing hearing, Judge Griesbach noted the aggravated nature of Solberg’s offense and rejected Solberg’s claim that he did not know how to answer the questions accurately. Although Solberg requested a minimal sentence, the judge determined that an 18-month term in federal prison was required to send a message to Solberg that theft from government programs, especially while awaiting sentencing on another criminal matter, would result in serious consequences. After serving his prison term, Solberg also will be required to spend three years on supervised release.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Daniel R. Humble and Julie F. Stewart.
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Convicted Sex Offender in Orlando Charged with Distributing Child Sex Abuse MaterialRead the Press Release
Orlando, FL – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces the return of an indictment charging Sean Calvin Ellixson (30, Orlando) with distribution of child sex abuse material. If convicted, Ellixson faces a minimum mandatory penalty of 15 years, up to 40 years, in federal prison. The indictment also notifies Ellixson that the United States intends to forfeit certain digital media devices, which are alleged to have been used by him to commit the offense.
According to the indictment, Ellixson distributed child sex abuse material on September 7, 2023. Ellixson is also alleged to have a prior conviction involving child sex abuse material.
An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal criminal law, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty.
This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations with valuable assistance from the Rockland County District Attorney’s Office (New York) . It will be prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Rachel Lyons.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by United States Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
Convicted Felon Sentenced to 35 Months in Federal Prison for Illegally Possessing a FirearmRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Ronald C. Gathe, Jr. announced that U.S. District Judge Brian A. Jackson sentenced Shatner Lewis, age 35, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to 35 months in federal prison following his conviction for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. The Court further sentenced Lewis to three years of supervised release following his term of imprisonment and ordered that the firearm involved be forfeited.
According to admissions that Lewis made as a part of his guilty plea, on December 5, 2022, Lewis was a passenger in a vehicle that was stopped for a traffic violation by a Baton Rouge Police Department officer. During a search of the vehicle, a Taurus G3c 9mm pistol with a fully-loaded twelve-round magazine was found. Lewis admitted that the firearm belonged to him.
In 2021, prior to possessing the firearm, Lewis was convicted of manslaughter and attempted armed robbery in East Baton Rouge Parish. He was still on parole for those convictions when he was found in possession of the pistol in December.
This matter was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Baton Rouge Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Ben Wallace.
Checotah Residents Plead Guilty to Federal Drug CrimesRead the Press Release
MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma announced that Jerry Eugene Teafatiller, age 39, and Doyle Lee Lafavor, age 52, both of Checotah, Oklahoma, entered guilty pleas to federal drug offenses. Teafatiller pleaded guilty to one count of Possession with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine, which carries a potential prison term of 5 to 40 years. Lafavor pleaded guilty to one count of Possession with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine, which carries a potential prison term of 10 years to life.
The Superseding Indictment alleged that on or about April 17, 2023, within the Eastern District of Oklahoma, Teafatiller possessed with the intent to distribute at least 5 grams of methamphetamine (actual). The Indictment further alleged that Lafavor possessed with the intent to distribute at least 50 grams of methamphetamine (actual).
According to investigators, Teafatiller and Lafavor obtained packages through the U.S. Mail containing methamphetamine, which they intended to distribute to others.
The charges arose from an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the United States Postal Inspection Service, the McIntosh County Sheriff’s Department, and the District 25 District Attorney’s Office Drug and Violent Crime Task Force.
The Honorable Gerald L. Jackson, U.S. Magistrate Judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, accepted the pleas and ordered the completion of presentence investigation reports. Both defendants were remanded to the custody of the United States Marshal pending their sentencing hearings.
Assistant United States Attorney Erin Cornell represented the United States.
Brothers Each Sentenced to 12 Years in Federal Prison for Trafficking 50 pounds of Methamphetamine and 50,000 Fentanyl Laced PillsRead the Press Release
Yakima, Washington – On October 17th, Chief United States District Judge Stanley A. Bastian sentenced brothers Carlos Reyes-Santana, 28, of Pasco, Washington and Eduardo Reyes-Santana, 26 of Kennewick, Washington to 12 years in federal prison for possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine. They will also serve 5 years on supervised release.
According to information disclosed during court proceedings, the brothers had been under FBI surveillance because of their ties to a drug operation based in Mexico that is run by their uncle.
During the investigation, the defendants were observed making what appeared to be drug deliveries over the course of several months.
In May of 2021, agents executed several search warrants in connection to the investigation.
While searching Carlos’ home, agents discovered approximately 52 pounds of methamphetamine, approximately 1 pound of cocaine, approximately 50,000 fentanyl laced pills, approximately 3.5 kilograms of heroin and $420,000 in cash. During a search of Eduardo’s home, agents found 5 five firearms as well as thousands of rounds of ammunition.
On the same day, agents executed a search warrant at a storage unit in Pasco. Agents found 7 kilograms of cocaine, 1 pound of methamphetamine, 50 fentanyl laced pills and more than $70,000 in cash.
Vanessa R. Waldref, the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington stated, “These defendants were responsible for injecting a massive amount of fentanyl and other deadly drugs into our neighborhoods. My office is committed to tackling the opioid crisis by holding individuals accountable who pedal this poison and working closely with our law enforcement partners to seize these dangerous narcotics from our streets to save lives in our communities.”
“Tragically, this family-operated drug trafficking network was distributing poisons which destroy families and communities,” said Richard A. Collodi, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Seattle field office. “The FBI, along with our partners, are committed to removing these illegal drugs from Washington state and the path of addiction, violence, suffering, and overdoses that accompanies them.”
This case was investigated by the FBI’s Southeast Washington Safe Streets Task Force. The task force was assisted by multiple local law enforcement entities, including the Benton County Sheriff’s Office, Richland Police Department, Kennewick Police Department, Pasco Police Department, West Richland Police Department, Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, the Tri-Cities Metro Drug Task Force, and the Washington State Department of Corrections. The Drug Enforcement Administration and the United States Border Patrol also provided assistance.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Caitlin Baunsguard and Patrick J. Cashman.
4:2021-cr-06022-SAB
Bridgeport Man Charged with Trafficking Guns from Georgia to ConnecticutRead the Press Release
Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, James Ferguson, Special Agent in Charge, ATF Boston Field Division, and Bridgeport Police Chief Roderick Porter today announced that a federal grand jury in Bridgeport has returned an indictment charging TYREE THOMAS, 36, of Bridgeport, with offenses relating to the illegal trafficking of firearms from Georgia to Connecticut.
The indictment was returned on July 19, 2023, and Thomas was arrested in Florida on September 6. He appeared today before U.S. Magistrate Judge S. Dave Vatti in Bridgeport and pleaded not guilty to the charges.
As alleged in the indictment and statements made in court, between approximately August 2021 and March 2022, Thomas traveled to Georgia for the purpose of acquiring firearms, and transported the firearms back to Connecticut where he sold or transferred them to others. Several of the firearms that Thomas acquired in Georgia have been recovered by law enforcement in Connecticut, including one that recovered in connection with a homicide.
The indictment also alleges that Thomas was previously convicted in Connecticut state court of felony drug and failure to appear offenses. It is a violation of federal law for a person previously convicted of a felony offense to possess a firearm or ammunition that has moved in interstate or foreign commerce.
The indictment charges Thomas with crossing state lines with the intent to engage in the unlawful dealing of firearms, an offense that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years, and with unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon, an offense that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years.
Thomas has been detained since his arrest.
U.S. Attorney Avery stressed that an indictment is not evidence of guilt. Charges are only allegations, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
This matter is being investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and the Bridgeport Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lauren Clark and Rahul Kale.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.
Brandon Man Indicted for Overdose DeathRead the Press Release
Tampa, Florida – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces the return of an indictment charging Brandon Lewis Graham (42, Brandon) with distribution of a mixture of cocaine and fentanyl which resulted in an overdose death, and with possession with the intent to distribute fentanyl. If convicted, Graham faces a minimum mandatory penalty of 20 years, up to life, in federal prison for the distribution of cocaine and fentanyl resulting in death, and up to 20 years in federal prison for the possession with intent to distribute offense. The indictment also notifies Graham that the United States intends to forfeit any assets, which are alleged to be traceable to proceeds of the offense.
According to the indictment, on March 30, 2022, Graham distributed a mixture of cocaine and fentanyl to an individual who died after ingesting the substance, and on August 3, 2022, Graham possessed fentanyl with the intent to distribute it.
An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal criminal law, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty.
This case was investigated by the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Maria Guzman.
Billings man indicted on multiple child sexual abuse, child pornography and other crimes dating back 31 years on Fort Belknap Indian ReservationRead the Press Release
GREAT FALLS — A Billings man, formerly of Hays, was arraigned today on a 20-count federal indictment alleging child sexual abuse, child sexual exploitation, child pornography, aggravated sexual abuse and other crimes involving multiple victims dating back 31 years on the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation, U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich said.
James Kirby King, 57, pleaded not guilty to an indictment unsealed today in federal court.
U.S. Magistrate Judge John T. Johnston presided. King was detained pending further proceedings.
As alleged in the indictment, from about 1992 to 2018 in Hays, on the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation, King sexually abused and attempted to sexually abuse minor children and adults. In addition, King is accused of drugging minor children and an adult while sexually abusing and attempting to sexually abuse them; incest; sexually exploiting children; and child pornography crimes. The indictment identifies the victims as two minor girls, a victim both as a minor girl and a female adult, a female adult and one minor boy. Some of the victims were under the age of 12 at the time, some were under the age of 16 and some were adults.
The indictment charges King with:
- Aggravated sexual abuse of a child, three counts.
- Incest, four counts.
- Sexual exploitation of children, three counts.
- Aggravated sexual abuse—rendering unconscious and drugging victim, two counts.
- Sexual abuse, two counts.
- Attempted aggravated sexual abuse—rendering unconscious and drugging victim, one count.
- Attempted sexual abuse, one count.
- Sexual abuse of a minor, one count.
- Aggravated sexual abuse, one count.
- Attempted possession with the intent to sell child pornography in Indian Country, one count.
- Possession of child pornography in Indian Country, one count.
If convicted of the most serious crime, King faces a maximum of life of imprisonment, a $250,000 fine and five years to a lifetime of supervised release.
If you believe you are a victim of alleged sexual abuse by James Kirby King or have information related to the charged conduct in this case, please contact the FBI’s Havre Resident Agency: (406) 265-7181, option 20, and leave a message for the case agent.
An indictment is merely an accusation, and a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Amanda L. Myers and Ryan G. Weldon are prosecuting the case. The FBI and Fort Belknap Law Enforcement conducted the investigation.
PACER case reference. 23-98.
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Bank fraud, stolen identities send Billings man to prison for more than three yearsRead the Press Release
BILLINGS — A Billings man who admitted to using stolen bank cards and identities to make purchases around Billings was sentenced today to three and a half years in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release, U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich said.
Jeremy Ray Fisher, 37, pleaded guilty in June to bank fraud and aggravated identity theft.
U.S. District Judge Susan P. Watters presided. The court also ordered $4,439 restitution.
“In Billings, it has become far too common for people like Fisher to steal credit cards, as well as others’ identities, to go on spending sprees around Billings at the expense of law abiding citizens. And almost without exception, these criminals, like Fisher, are abusing drugs. He has rightfully earned a significant prison sentence for his actions, where he will join others we have previously prosecuted for similar conduct, and we will be unwavering in our pursuit of those who seek to follow in Fisher’s footsteps,” U.S. Attorney Laslovich said.
“The defendant in this case stole identities and money from the victims and he is deserving of the sentence. This type of crime is reprehensible and causes significant losses and damage to the victims. The Billings Police Department, along with our partners, will be diligent in our investigations involving ID theft and fraud. Similarly, this sentence reflects the seriousness that the U.S. Attorney’s Office views these cases, and I thank them for their continued support,” Billings Police Chief Rich St. John said.
In court documents, the government alleged that in August 2022, a victim, identified as Jane Doe, notified the Billings Police Department that a bank credit card had been stolen from her vehicle and used by someone earlier that day to make purchases around Billings. Jane Doe received fraud alerts from her bank notifying her that some purchases had been declined but two were successful. One of the successful transactions was made at a Cenex Zip Trip. An investigation identified Fisher on video surveillance as pulling up to the store, getting out of the passenger’s seat, entering the store and paying for an item and then driving away. Fisher later admitted to using stolen credit cards to make purchases and admitted to doing so at the Zip Trip. The government further alleged that Fisher had prior felony convictions and uses methamphetamine. When arrested, he was found to have stolen power tools, stolen coolers and the identification cards of multiple people.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin D. Hargrove prosecuted the case. The Billings Police Department and FBI conducted the investigation.
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Armed Kidnappers Waterboarded and Threatened to Kill Victim at Plantation AirBnBRead the Press Release
MIAMI – On Oct. 16, 2023, Jeffry Arista, 32, and his brother, Jonathan Arista, 29, had their initial appearances in federal court on federal kidnapping charges.
According to allegations contained in the criminal complaint on October 13, 2023, Jeffry Arista, Jonathan Arista, and Raymond Gomez committed an armed kidnapping of the victim outside of the victim’s apartment. After forcefully transporting the victim to an AirBnB, a rental property located in Plantation, Florida, the kidnappers realized that they had abducted the wrong person. Rather than releasing the victim, the kidnappers waterboarded and threatened to kill the victim while pointing firearms, tasers, and an electric drill at the kidnapped victim. Upon learning that the intended target was at a business in Pompano Beach, Florida, the kidnappers forcefully brought the victim to the business and ordered the victim to go into the business and lure out the intended target. Upon entering the business, the victim called law enforcement and all three kidnappers were arrested.
A criminal complaint charges all three defendants with kidnapping, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1201(a) and conspiracy to kidnap, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1201(c). If convicted, each defendant faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Raymond Gomez has not yet had his initial appearance on the charges.
U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida and Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey B. Veltri of the FBI, Miami Field Office, announced the pending criminal complaint charges.
FBI Miami investigated the case, with assistance from the Broward Sheriff’s Office and Fort Lauderdale Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ajay Alexander is prosecuting this case.
A criminal complaint contains mere allegations, and all defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.
Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 23-mj-6485.
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American Citizen Sentenced to Life in Prison for Providing Material Support to ISIS That Resulted in DeathRead the Press Release
Earlier today, in federal court in Brooklyn, New York, Ruslan Maratovich Asainov, 46, a U.S. citizen and former resident of Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, was sentenced to life in prison for providing material support to ISIS, a designated foreign terrorist organization, that resulted in death. Asainov was also sentenced to concurrent terms of 20 years in prison on related convictions of conspiracy to provide material support to ISIS and obstruction of justice, and 10 years in prison for receipt of military-type training from ISIS. Asainov was convicted by a federal jury after a three-week trial in February.
“Mr. Asainov abandoned his family and country to fight for ISIS and train others to carry out its reign of terror, a cause to which he remains devoted to this day,” said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department's National Security Division. “Now, he is being held accountable for his crimes with a sentence of life in prison. The Department of Justice is committed to bringing to justice those who would aid such murderous terrorist organizations.”
“Today’s life sentence was rightly holds Asainov responsible for the carnage he inflicted as a sworn member of ISIS and protects the world community from this avowed killer,” said U.S. Attorney Breon Peace for the Eastern District of New York. “The defendant committed his life to that terrorist organization and became a lethal sniper for ISIS in Syria, training many other ISIS members to shoot to kill as ISIS waged its brutal, barbaric campaign. To this day, the defendant maintains his unrepentant allegiance to that evil cause. Like this defendant now knows, anyone who takes up arms in service of ISIS and causes death and destruction will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law by this office.”
“The U.S. government worked tirelessly with our international partners to locate and return this U.S. citizen to face accountability for his crimes,” said Executive Assistant Director Larissa L. Knapp of the FBI’s National Security Branch. “He's a convicted terrorist who fought for ISIS and taught others how to kill on behalf of their violent extremist ideology. Justice was served with today's life sentence.”
Between December 2013 and March 2019, Asainov provided and conspired to provide material support and resources in the form of personnel, including himself, training and expert advice and assistance, to a foreign terrorist organization, namely ISIS, knowing that ISIS was a designated foreign terrorist organization that had engaged in terrorist activity and terrorism. Asainov also received military-type training from ISIS, in violation of federal law.
On Dec. 24, 2013, Asainov abandoned his wife and daughter in Brooklyn, and boarded a flight at JFK International Airport, bound for Istanbul, Turkey. Along with a co-conspirator, Mirsad Kandic, by early January 2014, Asainov traveled to northern Syria in the area of Aleppo and joined ISIS as a fighter. Kandic was arrested in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, convicted of conspiracy to provide material support to ISIS resulting in death by a federal jury in Brooklyn in May 2022, and sentenced to life in prison in July.
Over the course of approximately five years fighting on behalf of ISIS, Asainov fought in numerous battles against ISIS enemies, including engagements at Kobani, Tabqa, Raqqa, Dayr Az Zawr, and ISIS’s last stand in Syria at Baghouz, in March 2019. Asainov received training in how to use automatic rifles, machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades. In Tabqa, in mid-2014, he volunteered to train as a sniper. Over time, Asainov became a sniper trainer or “emir” on behalf of ISIS, estimating that he taught nearly 100 students. A former U.S. Navy SEAL scout sniper testified at Asainov’s trial that the defendant’s sniper training course was consistent with what the former SEAL would expect to be taught in a sniper training program.
From Syria, the defendant attempted to recruit another individual to travel from the United States to Syria to fight for ISIS and sought to obtain funds to purchase a scope for his rifle from the same person. The defendant also told his estranged wife that he was fighting on behalf of ISIS, described by him in a recorded January 2015 voicemail as “the most atrocious terrorist organization in the world that ever existed.” Asainov’s estranged wife testified at his trial that he sent her a photograph of three dead fighters, one of whom was wearing a patch reading, “Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham,” i.e., ISIS, in Arabic script.
Asainov was captured in Syria after ISIS’s last stand at Baghouz, near the Syria-Iraq border. Just before his capture, Asainov discarded his rifle and destroyed his cell phone.
Asainov admitted to agents from the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force that he had fought in numerous battles on behalf of ISIS as a warrior and sniper, serving in several different katibas or ISIS fighting brigades. In recorded phone calls to his mother from facilities operated by the Bureau of Prisons (BOP), the defendant told her that he was carrying out Allah’s orders when he waged jihad and killed for ISIS, that he intended to return to waging jihad if released, and that he would fight until he “meet[s] Allah,” i.e., until his death. In September 2020, staff at a BOP facility confiscated a makeshift ISIS flag affixed to Asainov’s cell wall. The defendant had filled in an 8.5” x 11” sheet of paper with black ink and Arabic writing in the design of the ISIS flag. During his trial, the defendant reiterated his allegiance to ISIS to court personnel, stating that ISIS would rise again.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Douglas M. Pravda, J. Matthew Haggans, Nicholas J. Moscow and Nina C. Gupta for the Eastern District of New York are in charge of the prosecution, with assistance provided by Trial Attorney Jennifer Levy of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section and Paralegal Specialists Wayne Colon and Mary Clare McMahon.
The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs, the FBI’s Legal Attachés abroad, and foreign authorities in multiple countries on multiple continents provided critical assistance in this case. The Bosnian and Herzegovinian authorities, and the FBI Legal Attaché Office in Sarajevo provided extraordinary assistance in the investigation and prosecution. The Ministry of Justice for the Republic of Finland, the Stuttgart Police Department and Federal Office of Justice in the Federal Republic of Germany, the Department of Justice & Constitutional Development in the Republic of South Africa, and the Prosecutor General’s Office in Ukraine, and the FBI’s Legal Attaché Offices in or responsible for those countries provided valuable assistance in the investigation.
American Citizen Sentenced to Life Imprisonment Plus Seventy Years for Providing Material Support to ISIS that Resulted in DeathRead the Press Release
Earlier today, in federal court in Brooklyn, Ruslan Maratovich Asainov, a U.S. citizen and former resident of Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, was sentenced by United States District Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis to life imprisonment plus seventy years for providing material support to ISIS, a foreign terrorist organization, that resulted in death. Asainov was also sentenced to concurrent terms of 20 years’ imprisonment on related convictions of conspiracy to provide material support to ISIS and obstruction of justice, and 10 years’ imprisonment for receipt of military-type training from ISIS. Today’s sentence was imposed by United States District Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis. Asainov was convicted by a federal jury after a three-week trial in February 2023.
Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York; Matthew G. Olsen, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s National Security Division; James Smith, Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI); Ivan J. Arvelo, Special Agent-in-Charge, Homeland Security Investigations New York (HSI), and Edward A. Caban, Commissioner, New York City Police Department (NYPD), announced the sentence.
“Today’s sentence rightly holds Asainov responsible for the carnage he inflicted as a sworn member of ISIS and protects the world community from this avowed killer,” stated United States Attorney Peace. “The defendant committed his life to that terrorist organization and became a lethal sniper for ISIS in Syria, training many other ISIS members to shoot to kill as ISIS waged its brutal, barbaric campaign. To this day, the defendant maintains his unrepentant allegiance to that hateful cause. Like this defendant now knows, anyone who takes up arms in service of ISIS and causes death and destruction will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law by this Office.”
“Mr. Asainov abandoned his family and country to fight for ISIS and train others to carry out its reign of terror, a cause to which he remains devoted to this day,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security Matthew G. Olsen. “Now, he is being held accountable for his crimes with a sentence of life in prison. The Department of Justice is committed to bringing to justice those who would aid such murderous terrorist organizations.”
“The world is undoubtedly safer with Ruslan Maratovich Asainov behind bars," stated HSI New York Special Agent-in-Charge Arvelo. “Mr. Asainov pledged himself to ISIS, committed unconscionable acts on behalf of the terrorist group, and bragged about how he taught nearly 100 aspiring snipers how to kill. He further aligned himself to the Islamic State by covering his federal prison cell wall with an improvised ISIS flag. HSI New York is proud to stand with our partners to ensure his atrocities end here.”
“Today’s sentence is a just and fair punishment for a naturalized U.S. citizen who forsook the country that took him in,” stated NYPD Commissioner Caban. “Instead of embracing all that America had to offer him and his family in New York City, he instead pledged allegiance to a foreign terrorist organization. This outcome serves as a warning to those who intend to actively promote or carry out the violent objectives of such groups: The NYPD and our law enforcement partners around the globe will never stop working to identify and bring to justice anyone who so clearly considers our nation their sworn enemy.”
Between December 2013 and March 2019, Asainov provided and conspired to provide material support and resources in the form of personnel, including himself, training, and expert advice and assistance, to a foreign terrorist organization, namely ISIS, knowing that ISIS was a designated foreign terrorist organization that had engaged in terrorist activity and terrorism. Asainov also received military-type training from ISIS, in violation of federal law.
On December 24, 2013, Asainov abandoned his wife and daughter in Brooklyn, and boarded a flight at JFK International Airport, bound for Istanbul, Turkey. Along with a co-conspirator, Mirsad Kandic, by early January 2014, Asainov traveled to northern Syria in the area of Aleppo, and joined ISIS as a fighter. Kandic was arrested in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, convicted of conspiracy to provide material support to ISIS resulting in death by a federal jury in Brooklyn in May 2022, and sentenced to life in prison in July 2023.
Over the course of approximately five years fighting on behalf of ISIS, Asainov fought in numerous battles against ISIS enemies, including engagements at Kobani, Tabqa, Raqqa, Dayr Az Zawr, and ISIS’s last stand in Syria at Baghouz, in March 2019. Asainov received training in how to use automatic rifles, machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades. In Tabqa, in mid-2014, he volunteered to train as a sniper. Over time, Asainov became a sniper trainer or “emir” on behalf of ISIS, estimating that he taught nearly 100 students. A former U.S. Navy SEAL scout sniper testified that the defendant’s sniper training course was consistent with what the former SEAL would expect to be taught in a sniper training program.
From Syria, the defendant attempted to recruit another individual to travel from the United States to Syria to fight for ISIS, and sought to obtain funds to purchase a scope for his rifle from the same person. The defendant also told his estranged wife that he was fighting on behalf of ISIS, described by him in a recorded January 2015 voicemail as “the most atrocious terrorist organization in the world that ever existed.” Asainov’s estranged wife testified that he sent her a photograph of three dead fighters, one of whom was wearing a patch reading, “Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham,” i.e., ISIS, in Arabic script.
Asainov was captured in Syria after ISIS’s last stand at Baghouz, near the Syria-Iraq border. Just before his capture, Asainov discarded his rifle and destroyed his cell phone.
Asainov admitted to agents from the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force that he had fought in numerous battles on behalf of ISIS as a warrior and sniper, serving in several different katibas or ISIS fighting brigades. In recorded phone calls to his mother from facilities operated by the Bureau of Prisons (“BOP”), the defendant told her that he was carrying out Allah’s orders when he waged jihad and killed for ISIS, that he intended to return to waging jihad if released, and that he would fight until he “meet[s] Allah,” i.e., until his death. In September 2020, staff at a BOP facility confiscated a makeshift ISIS flag affixed to Asainov’s cell wall. The defendant had filled in an 8.5” x 11” sheet of paper with black ink and Arabic writing in the design of the ISIS flag. During his trial, the defendant reiterated his allegiance to ISIS to court personnel, stating that ISIS would rise again.
The government’s case is being handled by the Office’s National Security and Cybercrime Section. Assistant United States Attorneys Douglas M. Pravda, J. Matthew Haggans, Nicholas J. Moscow, and Nina C. Gupta are in charge of the prosecution, with assistance provided by Trial Attorney Jenny Levy of the Counterterrorism Section of the National Security Division of the Department of Justice and Paralegal Specialists Wayne Colon and Mary Clare McMahon.
The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs, the FBI’s Legal Attachés abroad, and foreign authorities in multiple countries on multiple continents provided critical assistance in this case. The Bosnian and Herzegovinian authorities and the FBI Legal Attaché Office in Sarajevo provided extraordinary assistance in the investigation and prosecution. The Ministry of Justice for the Republic of Finland, the Stuttgart Police Department and Federal Office of Justice in the Federal Republic of Germany, the Department of Justice & Constitutional Development in the Republic of South Africa, the Prosecutor General’s Office in Ukraine, and the FBI’s Legal Attaché Offices for those countries provided valuable assistance in the investigation.
The Defendant:
RUSLAN MARATOVICH ASAINOV (also known as “Suleiman Al-Amriki” and “Suleiman Al-Kazakhi”)
Age: 46
Bay Ridge, BrooklynE.D.N.Y. Docket No. 19-CR-402 (NGG)
Related Defendants:
MIRSAD KANDIC
Age: 42
Brooklyn, New York; KosovoE.D.N.Y. Docket No. 17-CR-449 (NGG)
Ada Resident Pleads Guilty to Arson in Indian CountryRead the Press Release
MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma announced that Shyla Faye Pittman, age 37, of Ada, Oklahoma, entered a guilty plea to Arson in Indian Country.
The Indictment alleged that on March 11, 2023, Pittman willfully and maliciously set fire to a dwelling and placed the life of another person in jeopardy. The crime occurred in Pontotoc County, within the boundaries of the Chickasaw Nation Reservation, in the Eastern District of Oklahoma.
The charges arose from an investigation by the Pontotoc County Sheriff’s Office, the Chickasaw Lighthorse Police, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
The Honorable Jason A. Robertson, U.S. Magistrate Judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, accepted the plea and ordered the completion of a presentence investigation report. Pittman was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshal pending sentencing.
Assistant United States Attorneys Kevin Gross and Erin Cornell represented the United States.
16 October 2023
Utah man admits defrauding Montana employerRead the Press Release
HELENA — A Utah man accused of embezzling more than $700,000 from a Montana company admitted to charges today, U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich said.
Thomas Lynn Syddall, 50, of American Fork, Utah, who worked for a company owned by Anderson ZurMuehlen & Co., pleaded guilty to wire fraud and to money laundering-concealment as charged in an indictment. Syddall faces a maximum of 20 years in prison, a $500,000 fine or twice the value of the property involved in the transaction and three years of supervised release.
Chief U.S. District Judge Brian M. Morris presided. The court will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. The court set sentencing for March 20, 2024. Syddall was released pending further proceedings.
In court documents, the government alleged that Syddall worked as a salesman for Information Technology Corporation, which was owned by Anderson ZurMuehlen & Co. From about March 2020 to about August 2021 in Helena, Syddall embezzled money through multiple means, including creating bogus purchase orders and invoices, stealing inventory and directing payments to fictitious companies and unauthorized vendors. Syddall then sold the inventory, none of which was authorized, on eBay and KSL Classifieds. When questioned by other employees about the discrepancies in orders and payments, Syddall sent lulling emails attempting to cover up and prolong the fraud. In addition, Syddall concealed financial transactions by laundering proceeds from the wire fraud into third-party accounts. Syddall then directed the transfer of the money into accounts over which he had control. The government alleged the investigation has identified approximately $759,100 in restitution.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan G. Weldon is prosecuting the case. The FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation conducted the investigation.
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United States Attorney Ronald C. Gathe, Jr. Announces the Passing of Deputy Chief Brian K. FrazierRead the Press Release
Ronald C. Gathe, Jr. announces the untimely passing of Deputy Chief Brian K. Frazier. Mr. Frazier has served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Middle District of Louisiana since 2018. Before his passing, he served as the Deputy Chief of the Special Matters Unit.
Mr. Frazier’s dedicated service to the Department of Justice began in 1993 when he was selected for the Attorney General’s Honors Program. After completing the program, Mr. Frazier clerked for United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Judge Patrick E. Higginbotham. He then went into the private sector as an associate attorney at prestigious law firms in his hometown of Nashville, Tennessee.
Mr. Frazier returned to government service at the Southern District of Florida United States Attorney’s Office in January of 2000, where he began his career as an Assistant United States Attorney prosecuting major crimes with an emphasis on public integrity and national security. He handled approximately thirty federal jury trials and eleven federal appellate arguments as a line prosecutor and began his focus on counterterrorism, where he reviewed actionable charges in the aftermath of the September 11th attacks. In 2008, Mr. Frazier was appointed Resident Legal Advisor for the United States Embassy, United Arab Emirates and Gulf Region, where he served as the Department of Justice’s legal attaché to eight Middle Eastern countries on money laundering, weapons proliferation, threat finance, and terrorism issues.
Mr. Frazier then returned to the Southern District of Florida office where he was tasked with establishing the first National Security Section in the district. As Chief of this section, Mr. Frazier significantly increased counterterrorism prosecutions within the first five years of its establishment and coordinated federal prosecutions for the third largest Joint Terrorism Task Force in the country. He supervised trial teams that convicted ISIS and al-Qaeda extremists and served as the lead prosecutor in cases against al-Shabaab financiers, recruiters, and travelers. He also coordinated the district-wide efforts in prosecuting high-profiled domestic terrorism mass shootings at Ft. Lauderdale International Airport and Pulse Nightclub. Mr. Frazier led the trial team that successfully prosecuted Jose Padilla, the U.S. citizen and designated enemy combatant who trained with al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. Mr. Frazier was a nationally recognized skilled and knowledgeable national security prosecutor both within the Department and with federal and local partner agencies.
United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida Markenzy Lapointe stated the following on the passing of Mr. Frazier, “South Florida is very sad of Brian’s passing. He exemplified true commitment to public service and to excellence, as shown by his many years of service and the robust accomplishments both as a trial lawyer and later in management. Tremendous loss to the Department but I’m glad I got a chance to work with him 20 years ago as line prosecutor in Miami and will remember his very present personality.”
During his tenure here in the Middle District, Mr. Frazier served as the Criminal Chief from 2020 until 2022 where he was responsible for supervising Criminal Division prosecutors and staff. He also maintained positive relationships with our federal investigative agencies as he coordinated with them the substantive development and management of all criminal prosecutions in the district. He continued his work with the local Joint Terrorism Task Force by handling national security matters in the district and consulting with critical infrastructures.
United States Attorney for the Middle District of Louisiana Ronald Gathe, Jr. stated, “My deepest condolences go out to all of Brian’s family, friends and loved ones. Words cannot express the tremendous impact he’s made in his 25 years of service here at the Department of Justice. He will be deeply missed by many locally and nationally, and his presence will forever be felt at our office and in our hearts.”
Mr. Frazier is the recipient of multiple government honors, including the Justice Department’s highest award—The Attorney General’s Award for Exceptional Service—for the successful prosecution of Jose Padilla. He was also awarded the National Intelligence Medallion by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the Law Enforcement Award for Transnational Security Threats by the Department of Treasury, the National Organized Crime/Drug Enforcement Task Force Award by the Department of Justice, and Federal Prosecutor of the Year by the Law Enforcement Officers’ Foundation and Miami-Dade County Association of Chiefs of Police to name a few.
Mr. Frazier obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree, summa cum laude, from Dartmouth College. He further obtained a Master of Philosophy degree from the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom. He concluded his studies at Yale Law School where he obtained his Juris Doctor.
The Department of Justice suffers an immeasurable loss due to Mr. Frazier’s countless contributions in pursuing justice. He was an example of a true government servant, and we will honor his legacy within our office by continuing to serve according to the ideals and mission of the Department of Justice.
U.S. Government Reaches Settlement in Class Action Family Separation Case Seeking Injunctive ReliefRead the Press Release
On Oct. 16, the United States reached a settlement in Ms. L., et al. v. ICE, et al., a class action litigation filed in 2018 seeking injunctive relief relating to the separation of parents and children at the southwest border. The proposed settlement agreement is subject to final approval by the district court after notice to the class and an opportunity to object.
“The practice of separating families at the southwest border was shameful,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “This agreement will facilitate the reunification of separated families and provide them with critical services to aid in their recovery. I am grateful to Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta and the Department’s Civil Division for their work on this matter.”
Under the proposed settlement, new standards will be established to limit family separations in the future. The settlement provides for continued family reunifications, immigration relief, and certain support services for separated families, including behavioral health services, targeted legal support related to immigration claims, limited housing assistance, and certain medical coverage. The settlement does not involve the payment of monetary damages. Those who believe they are class members may submit claims of class membership to the Family Reunification Task Force through the Together.gov website.
“The separation of families at our southern border was a betrayal of our nation’s values,” said Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta. “By providing services to these families and implementing polices to prevent future separations, today’s agreement addresses the impacts of those separations and helps ensure that nothing like this happens again.”
On Feb. 26, 2018, a plaintiff identified as “Ms. L” filed a complaint in the Southern District of California alleging she had been unlawfully separated from her child. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) later filed an amended complaint to add class action claims contending that the separation of putative class member parents from their children violated procedural and substantive due process, as well as the asylum statute. On June 26, 2018, the district court certified a class of separated parents and issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting future separations except in certain specified circumstances. The court also required the reunification of families previously separated.
Since that time, the Justice Department, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) have worked with plaintiffs to identify class members and their children, developed plans for reunification, and reunified class members with their children. On Jan. 26, 2021, the Justice Department rescinded the Department’s 2018 zero-tolerance policy for offenses under 8 U.S.C. § 1325(a). In Feb. 2021, President Biden issued an Executive Order establishing the Interagency Task Force on the Reunification of Families, comprised of representatives from various federal agencies, including the Justice Department, DHS, and HHS. The parties have worked extensively to reunify families in accordance with the Executive Order and subsequent orders from the district court. The task force has searched through thousands of government records to identify separated families and has thus far reunited more than 750 children with their families and has identified 85 additional children who are currently in the process of being reunited with their families. The task force has also identified more than 290 U.S. citizen children who were separated from their parents during the relevant time frame, is working to confirm that they have been reunified with their families, and will offer them services to support their reunification.
Director William C. Peachey, Assistant Director William C. Silvis, Senior Litigation Counsel Sarah B. Fabian, and Trial Attorney Fizza Batool, all of the Civil Division’s Office of Immigration Litigation, are handling the case.
Fact Sheet Motion for Settlement SettlementU.S. Department of Justice announces grants totaling more than $1.2 million in the Southern District of GeorgiaRead the Press Release
SAVANNAH, GA: The U.S. Department of Justice has announced more than $1.2 million in grants awarded to agencies and entities to support law enforcement and public safety initiatives in the Southern District of Georgia.
These federal grants include funding for the Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Program, a key component of the Department of Justice’s strategy for reducing violent crime, and funding from the Office on Violence Against Women, said Jill E. Steinberg, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia.
“In addition to fueling the fight against violent crime through Project Safe Neighborhoods, these grants will assist local agencies and communities in keeping their residents safe and improving outcomes for vulnerable citizens,” said U.S. Attorney Steinberg.
The end-of-fiscal-year 2023 PSN grant to the Southern District of Georgia of $98,657, administered by the Bureau of Justice Assistance through Georgia’s Criminal Justice Coordinating Council, will distribute funding to Savannah, Augusta, and Brunswick, the three most populous cities in the Southern District, in collaboration with local public safety agencies to help achieve reductions in violent crime.
“Every sector of our society – not only the justice system, but nonprofit and faith-based groups, local leaders, and advocates, and people with lived experience who serve as credible messengers – plays a critical role in ensuring public safety and public health,” said OJP Assistant Attorney General Amy L. Solomon. “The Office of Justice Programs is proud to make these substantial investments in building community infrastructure and supporting communities as co-producers of safety and justice.”
Additional Department of Justice grants awarded during the regular end-of-fiscal-year funding cycle include:
Office on Violence Against Women:
- Waycross Area Shelter for Abused Persons Inc.: $500,000. This award, through the Improving Criminal Justice Responses to Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault, and Stalking Grant Program, is aimed at improving the greater Ware County area criminal justice system’s response to domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking by focusing on victim safety. The collaborative effort with the city of Waycross will implement a project that serves communities throughout the region.
- East Georgia State College, Swainsboro, Ga.: $399,117. With this award, East Georgia State College, in coordination with Sunshine House and the Swainsboro Police Department, will provide planning, education and training activities to prevent and respond to incidents of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking.
Bureau of Justice Assistance: Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program:
- City of Savannah, $119,429. This funding will be used to purchase two new bomb suits for the Savannah Police Department’s Bomb Unit; to replace outdated equipment used by the SPD Underwater Search and Recovery Team; and to purchase new traffic enforcement equipment for the Garden City Police Department.
- Glynn County, $23,925. This grant will be used to purchase five bicycles for the Glynn County Police Department’s patrol division for use in community oriented policing strategies.
- City of Waycross, $10,328: The funding will be used to purchase an air purification system for the Waycross Police Department’s evidence room, and to purchase ballistic shields for the Ware County Sheriff’s Office.
Bureau of Justice Assistance: The Kevin and Avonte Program:
- Liberty County, $99,990. Through its Bringing the Lost Home Project, the Liberty County Sheriff’s Office, primarily through its K9 Unit, will partner with Senior Citizens Inc. and Magnolia Manor Nursing Home and in each public school to operate a proactive program to locate or prevent the wandering of individuals with dementia or developmental disabilities.
More information on the implementation of these grants is available from the individual recipient agencies, and from the U.S. Department of Justice grants information page at justice.gov/grants.
U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of PR Celebrates the Award of Federal Grant Funds in Excess of $28.8 Million to the PR Department of Justice, the Forensic Science Institute, and to Stakeholders in Community Responses to Gender-Based ViolenceRead the Press Release
The U.S. Attorney’s Office celebrates a comprehensive federal grant funds package awarded to the Puerto Rico Department of Justice, the Puerto Rico Forensic Science Institute, and to Community Response to Gender-Based Violence Stakeholders in excess of $28.8 million.
“The Puerto Rico U.S. Attorney’s Office works closely with our state law enforcement partners and community response stakeholders to effectively investigate and prosecute crimes and provide justice and protection to our victims of crime. Identifying available federal funding and ensuring that these funds are properly and efficiently expended enhances our collaborative law enforcement efforts,” said United States Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow.
These recent funding allocations from the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs (OJP) are intended to build community capacity to curb violence, serve victims and youth, and achieve fair outcomes through evidence-based criminal and juvenile justice strategies.
Among the most significant awards, the Puerto Rico Department of Justice received $12.6 million for the VOCA Victim Assistance Formula Grant to enhance victim services in Puerto Rico. Additionally, the Bureau of Justice Assistance awarded $700,000 to institute a Local Law Enforcement Crime Gun Intelligence Center (CGIC) through the Puerto Rico Forensic Science Institute. That initiative also provides funding for the hiring of a Special Prosecutor, primarily in charge of firearms prosecutions arising from intelligence gathered from the CGIC. Other significant awards are listed below:
Date
Grant
Recipient
Amount
9/28/23
OJJDP FY 2023 Title II Formula Grants Program
Oficina para el Desarrollo Socioeconómico y Comunitario
$590,509
9/28/23
BJA FY 23 John R. Justice (JRJ) Formula Grant Program
PR Department of Justice
$ 89,310
9/26/23
BJA FY 2023 Invited to Apply- Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) Reallocation Funds Program
PR Department of Justice
$136,058
9/26/23
OJJDP Combined FY 2021 and FY 2022 Invited to Apply – Prison Rape Elimination Act Reallocation Funds
Oficina para el Desarrollo Socioeconómico y Comunitario
$ 27,761
9/25/23
BJA FY 23 Paul Coverdell Forensic Science Improvement Grants Program - Formula
Instituto de Ciencias Forenses
$312,708
9/25/23
BJA FY 23 Project Safe Neighborhoods Formula Grant Program
PR Department of Housing
$133,930
9/25/23
OJJDP FY 2023 Strategies to Support Children Exposed to Violence
Boys & Girls Club of Puerto Rico
$972,405
9/22/23
BJA FY 23 Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) Program - State Solicitation
PR Department of Justice
$2,313,909
9/18/23
BJA FY 23 Invited to Apply Sex Offender and Registration Notification Act (SORNA) Reallocation Program
PR Department of Justice
$272,117
9/8/23
BJA FY 23 Local Law Enforcement Crime Gun Intelligence Center Integration Initiative
Instituto de Ciencias Forenses
$700,000
9/8/23
Formula DNA Capacity Enhancement for Backlog Reduction (CEBR)
Instituto de Ciencias Forenses
$675,188
8/23/23
VOCA Victim Assistance Formula Grant
PR Department of Justice
$12,669,225
8/23/23
VOCA Victim Compensation Formula Grant
PR Department of Justice
$309,000
8/10/23
Invited to Apply- Byrne Discretionary Community Project Funding/Byrne Discretionary Grants Program
Municipality of Loíza
$279,000
8/10/23
Invited to Apply- Byrne Discretionary Community Project Funding/Byrne Discretionary Grants Program
Municipality of Vieques
$420,000
8/10/23
Invited to Apply- Byrne Discretionary Community Project Funding/Byrne Discretionary Grants Program
Municipality of Ciales
$ 92,000
2/13/23
BJA FY 2022-2023 Byrne State Crisis Intervention Program Formula Solicitation
PR Department of Justice
$2,274,664
More information about the awards announced can be found by visiting www.ojp.gov/funding/fy23awards.
In order to provide support to victims of crime, the Justice Department announced nearly $193 million in formula and discretionary grant awards to support crucial services and justice responses for survivors of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking, including $6,496,287 for the District of Puerto Rico to support community responses to gender-based violence. Among those grants are the following:
Date
Grant
Recipient
Amount
9/27/23
OVW Fiscal Year 2023 Transitional Housing Assistance Grants for Victims of Domestic Violence, Dating Violence, Sexual Assault and Stalking Solicitation
Proyecto Matria, Inc.
$550,000
9/22/23
OVW Fiscal Year 2023 Grants to Enhance Culturally Specific Services for Victims of Domestic Violence, Dating Violence, Sexual Assault and Stalking - Solicitation
Taller Salud, Inc.
$450,000
9/22/23
OVW Fiscal Year 2023 Grants to Enhance Culturally Specific Services for Victims of Domestic Violence, Dating Violence, Sexual Assault and Stalking - Solicitation
Hogar Ruth, Inc.
$575,000
9/22/23
OVW Fiscal Year 2023 Grants to Enhance Culturally Specific Services for Victims of Domestic Violence, Dating Violence, Sexual Assault and Stalking - Solicitation
Casa Juana Colón, Apoyo y Orientación a la Mujer, Inc.
$400,000
9/22/23
OVW Fiscal Year 2023 Sexual Assault Services
Hogar Ruth, Inc.
$495,000
9/8/23
OVW Fiscal Year 2023 Legal Assistance for Victims - Solicitation
Taller Salud, Inc.
$750,000
8/22/23
OVW Fiscal Year 2023 Sexual Assault Services and Formula Program - Solicitation
Women’s Advocate Office
$858,652
OVW provides leadership in developing the nation’s capacity to reduce violence through implementing VAWA and subsequent legislation. Created in 1995, OVW administers financial and technical assistance to communities nationwide that are developing programs, policies, and practices to end domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking. In addition to overseeing federal grant programs, OVW undertakes initiatives in response to special needs identified by communities facing acute challenges. Learn more at www.justice.gov/ovw.
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U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Tennessee Announces $200,000 in Department of Justice Programs Grant FundingRead the Press Release
KNOXVLLE, Tenn. On October 13, 2023, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Tennessee announced $200,000 in Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) funding for Law Enforcement Mental Health and Wellness Act (LEMHWA) Program.
- City of Knoxville - $200,000.
The Office of Community Oriented Policing Services was created through the passage of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 to advance the practice of community policing by the nation’s state, local, territorial, and tribal law enforcement agencies through information, technical assistance, training, and grant resources. The COPS Office is headed by a Director appointed by the Attorney General, and is organized into directorates, comprising key operational divisions and several functional areas.
Law Enforcement Mental Health and Wellness Act (LEMHWA) funds are used to improve the delivery of and access to mental health and wellness services for law enforcement through the implementation of peer support, training, family resources, suicide prevention, and other promising practices for wellness programs. The 2023 LEMHWA program funded projects that develop knowledge, increase awareness of effective mental health and wellness strategies, increase the skills and abilities of law enforcement, and increase the number of law enforcement agencies and relevant stakeholders using peer support, training, family resources, suicide prevention, and other promising practices for wellness programs.
The awards announced above are being made as part of the regular end-of-fiscal year cycle. Additional information about FY23 awards can be found on COPS’s website here: https://cops.usdoj.gov/grants. For a complete list of the LEMHWA awards, please click on this link: https://cops.usdoj.gov/pdf/2023AwardDocs/lemhwa/award_list.pdf.
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Tulare County Man Sentenced to over 17 Years in Prison for Drug Trafficking and Firearms OffensesRead the Press Release
FRESNO, Calif. — Miguel Deniz, 33, of Farmersville, was sentenced today to 17 years and six months in prison for possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, being a felon in possession of firearms, and possession of a machine gun, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.
According to court documents, on May 1, 2019, law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Deniz’s residence and found more than a pound of methamphetamine, an AK-style rifle, a Mossberg pump action shotgun, six handguns, 18 magazines, two handgun silencers, a ballistic vest, thousands of rounds of live ammunition, and firearm accessories. During the search, law enforcement officers also found “auto-sear” devices that are used to convert semi-automatic firearms to fire as fully automatic machine guns. Deniz is a convicted felon and is prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition.
This case was the product of an investigation by Homeland Security Investigations, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the California Department of Justice. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimberly Sanchez prosecuted the case.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the U.S. Department of Justice launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.
Trempealeau County Man Charged with Sexual Exploitation of Children & ExtortionRead the Press Release
MADISON, WIS. – In an indictment returned on October 11, 2023 by a federal grand jury sitting in Madison, Wisconsin, a Trempealeau County man is charged with child sexual exploitation offenses and extortion. The indictment is announced by Timothy M. O’Shea, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin.
The indictment charges Seth W. Fagan, 32, Galesville, Wisconsin, with using and coercing a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing a visual depiction of the conduct, with transmitting threats to injure the reputation of the minor with the intent to extort a thing of value from the minor, and with receiving a visual depiction of a second minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct.
Fagan was arrested today in La Crosse. The time for his initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Madison has not been set.
If convicted, Fagan faces a mandatory minimum penalty of 15 years and a maximum of 30 years in federal prison on the charge of producing child pornography, two years on the extortion charge, and a mandatory minimum of five years and a maximum of 20 years on the charge of receiving child pornography.
The charges against Fagan are the result of an investigation by the Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation, Onalaska Police Department, and school resource officers at Sparta High School and Onalaska High School. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathryn Ginsberg is handling the prosecution.
Anyone who believes they have information about this case or believes they may be a victim in this matter should contact Special Agent Maloree Zassenhaus at either [email protected] or by contacting the Division of Criminal Investigation at 715-839-3830.
You are advised that a charge is merely an accusation and that a defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
Three Defendants Plead Guilty to a $38 Million Catalytic Converter Theft ConspiracyRead the Press Release
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Three Sacramento family members pleaded guilty today to charges related to their participation in a nationwide catalytic converter theft conspiracy, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.
Brothers Tou Sue Vang, 32, and Andrew Vang, 28, and their mother Monica Moua, 58, all pleaded guilty to conspiring to transport stolen catalytic converters from California to New Jersey in return for over $38 million in wired payments. Tou Sue Vang also pleaded guilty to an additional 39 charges related to money laundering.
In October and November 2022, federal, state, and local law enforcement partners from across the United States executed a nationwide, coordinated takedown of leaders and associates of a national network of thieves, dealers, and processors for their roles in conspiracies involving stolen catalytic converters sold to a metal refinery for over $600 million dollars. Nine of 21 defendants were charged in the Eastern District of California.
Catalytic converters are part of an exhaust system that reduces toxic gas and pollutants from a vehicle’s internal combustion engine. Catalytic converters use precious metals in their center, or “core,” and are regularly targeted for theft due to the high value of these metals, especially the precious metals palladium, platinum, and rhodium. Some of these precious metals are more valuable per ounce than gold, and their value has been increasing in recent years. The black-market price for catalytic converters can be above $1,000 each, depending on the type of vehicle and what state it is from. They can be stolen in less than a minute. Last year, approximately 1,600 catalytic converters were reportedly stolen in California each month, and California accounts for 37% of all catalytic converter theft claims nationwide.
According to court documents, the defendants pleading guilty today operated an unlicensed business from their residence in Sacramento where they bought stolen catalytic converters from local thieves and shipped them to DG Auto Parts LLC (DG Auto) in New Jersey for processing. They sold over $38 million in stolen catalytic converters to DG Auto.
Also charged in the 2022 indictment were co-defendants Navin Khanna, aka Lovin Khanna, 40; Tinu Khanna, aka Gagan Khanna, 36; Daniel Dolan, 45; Chi Mo, aka David Mo, 37; Wright Louis Mosley, 50; and Ishu Lakra, 25, all of New Jersey who operated DG Auto in multiple locations in New Jersey. According to court documents, they knowingly purchased stolen catalytic converters and, through a “de-canning” process, extracted the precious metal powders from the catalytic core. DG Auto sold the precious metal powders it processed from California and elsewhere to a metal refinery for over $600 million. The charges against them are only allegations; they are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
This case is the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation with assistance from the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department, the Sacramento Police Department, the Davis Police Department, the Auburn Police Department, the Livermore Police Department, and the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Veronica M.A. Alegría is prosecuting the case.
Tou Sue Vang, Andrew Vang, and Monica Moua are not yet scheduled to be sentenced. Andrew Vang and Monica Moua each face a maximum penalty of five years in prison. The 40 counts to which Tou Sue Vang pleaded guilty carry various maximum penalties per count ranging from 20 years in prison to five years in prison, and fines that range from $500,000 to $250,000 per count or twice the gross gain or loss from the crimes. The actual sentences, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.
This effort is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at www.justice.gov/OCDETF.
Texas Man Pleads Guilty to Drug Trafficking ConspiracyRead the Press Release
Jackson, Miss. - A Houston, Texas man pleaded guilty today to conspiring with others in the Southern District of Mississippi to possess with intent to distribute approximately one pound of a substance containing methamphetamine.
According to court documents, Marcus Lamont Wallace, 33, of Houston, Texas, admitted that he knowingly agreed with others to mail approximately 11,000 tablets made with methamphetamine from Houston, TX, to an address Wallace owned in Jackson, MS, with the intent that those tablets be further distributed. Postal video surveillance captured Wallace mailing the drugs by Priority Mail on January 4, 2022, to the Jackson address. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service intercepted the parcel and obtained a federal search warrant to open the package after a certified narcotics canine detected the odor of narcotics coming from the parcel. In addition to identifying the methamphetamine in a random sample of the drugs, scientists with Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection Laboratory and Science Services also developed fingerprints on the packaging around the drugs, and these prints belonged to Wallace and an unidentified person.
Wallace is scheduled to be sentenced on January 17, 2024, and faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. A federal district judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
U.S. Attorney Todd W. Gee of the Southern District of Mississippi, Inspector in Charge Scott Pierce of the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General, Southern Area Field Office, and Acting Special Agent in Charge Eric DeLaune of Homeland Security Investigations made the announcement.
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service and Homeland Security Investigations are investigating the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Carla J. Clark is prosecuting the case.
South Sound resident charged with hate crime for threatening federal worker due to worker’s raceRead the Press Release
Tacoma – A 41-year-old Thurston County resident was arraigned today in U.S. District Court in Tacoma on two federal charges connected to threats made to a Black federal employee at the Social Security office in Olympia, Washington, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman. Steven L. Veres, remains detained pending trial which is now scheduled for November 28, 2023.
According to records filed in the case, on February 16, 2023, Veres and a companion went to the Olympia, Social Security Office seeking a replacement Social Security card. At the first visit, a Social Security employee, who is Black, told Veres what documents he could use to get a replacement card. When Veres returned to the office a second time, the employee told him the paperwork Veres brought still did not meet the requirements for a new card to be issued. Veres became angry, used racial slurs, and threatened to assault or kill the worker.
Veres is charged with Influencing a federal official by threat, and interference with federally protected activities. The grand jury alleges that Veres intentionally threatened the victim because of his race.
Influencing a federal official by threat is punishable by up to 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and 3 years of supervised release. Interference with a federally protected activity is a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in prison.
The charges contained in the indictment are only allegations. A person is presumed innocent unless and until he or she is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
The case is being investigated by the Federal Protective Service.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Will Dreher and Jocelyn Cooney in coordination with the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division.
Rochester man arrested, accused of defrauding lending company out of hundreds of thousands of dollarsRead the Press Release
ROCHESTER, N.Y. - U.S. Attorney Trini E. Ross announced today that Paul Paredes, 52, of Rochester, NY, was arrested and charged by criminal complaint with wire fraud, money laundering and aggravated identity theft. The charges carry a mandatory minimum penalty of two years in prison, a maximum of 20 years and a $500,000 fine.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Katelyn M. Hartford, who is handling the case, stated that according to the complaint, since 2013, Paredes has owned J&E Business Consulting LLC, which provides merchant services to client businesses, including acting as a broker between the credit card processing companies and smaller retail businesses. Small businesses provide J&E with their financial information, such as the owner’s identifying information, including driver’s license, social security number, and email, as well as bank account information.
In January 2023, the FBI received information that a financial lending company (Victim 1) made numerous loans to customers of J&E, known as “equipment financing” loans. These loans were paid out to J&E’s bank account for supposed equipment sold to victim businesses, who supposedly applied for and agreed to the repayment terms of the loan in exchange for getting the equipment. However, only a very few repayments were made on the loans, and subsequent investigation by Victim 1 determined that customers had never applied for nor agreed to any such loan, nor had they acquired or had any knowledge of the specified equipment. In the instances in which repayments had been made, these customers were either unaware of them, or had been told by Paredes that the payments were for a different purpose.
According to the complaint, between May and November 2022, Paredes fraudulently submitted approximately 42 loan applications using the identities of approximately 31 individuals to Victim 1 and, as a result, the victim paid approximately $2,000,000 to J&E. The money was used for loan repayments to Victim 1 and other loan companies, as well as personal expenses such as credit cards, travel, and vehicles. Just four percent of victim funds were utilized for business-related expenses.
Paredes made an initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark W. Pedersen and was held pending a detention hearing on October 18, 2023.
The complaint is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Matthew Miraglia, the Internal Revenue Service, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Thomas Fattorusso, and the New York State Department of Financial Services-Criminal Investigation Bureau, under the direction of Superintendent Adrienne A. Harris.
The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
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Roanoke Man Sentenced to 12 Years for Meth DistributionRead the Press Release
ROANOKE, Va. – A Roanoke man, who trafficked more than four pounds of methamphetamine, was sentenced last week to 12 years in federal prison as part of United States Attorney Christopher R. Kavanaugh’s ongoing Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) initiative. In the Western District of Virginia, PSN resources are focused on neighborhoods in Roanoke, Danville, Lynchburg, and the Charlottesville/Albemarle County/University of Virginia region.
Anthony Banks, 32, pled guilty in February 2023 to three counts of distributing and possessing with the intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine.
According to court documents, in 2021, Banks sold approximately four pounds of methamphetamine to a confidential informant in four transactions over the course of five weeks. That methamphetamine was later determined to be more than 96% pure.
United States Attorney Christopher R. Kavanaugh and Stanley M. Meador, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Richmond Division, made the announcement.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation, the City of Roanoke Police Department, the Roanoke County Police Department, the Salem Police Department, and the Virginia State Police investigated the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristin B. Johnson prosecuted the case.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.
Readout of Attorney General Merrick B. Garland’s Events at IACP’s Annual ConferenceRead the Press Release
Attorney General Merrick B. Garland attended the annual meeting of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) in San Diego where he participated in a fireside chat moderated by IACP Deputy Executive Director Terry Cunningham. The Attorney General discussed a number of issues, including, the Justice Department’s emphasis on the importance of partnering with state and local law enforcement agencies, the Department’s request for an increase in appropriations for the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) Hiring Program, recently announced funding to law enforcement agencies and stakeholders across the country, the challenges of recruitment and retention in policing, threats to law enforcement personnel, the Department’s anti-violent crime strategy, and the Department’s attack on every element of the fentanyl epidemic – from the precursor suppliers in China, to the laboratories in Mexico, to the leaders of the Sinaloa and Jalisco Cartels, to their distribution networks in the United States. Attorney General Garland also met with members of the IACP Executive Board for additional discussions.
He also highlighted an increase in dedicated funding for the COPS Hiring Program from $139 million in 2022 to $224 million in 2023, to requested appropriations of $2.7 billion for FY 2024. He also discussed the nearly $75 million in critical grant funding announced on Friday to law enforcement agencies and stakeholders across the country. In addition to supporting efforts to combat drug trafficking and other public safety programs, that funding will help provide assistance to agencies looking to expand their law enforcement mental health and wellness services.
In addition, the Attorney General recognized the continued recruitment, hiring, and retention challenges in policing. Earlier this year, Attorney General Garland tasked the Office of Justice Programs’ Bureau of Justice Assistance and the COPS Office with bringing together law enforcement and community leaders to come up with solutions. As part of this effort, in the coming week, the Department will release a recruitment and retention report that makes a range of recommendations. Those include: 1) Investing in officer well-being, including through mental and physical health benefits and improving flexibility in schedules to better reflect the desires of the modern workforce; 2) Developing pipeline programs in high schools and colleges and engaging with community leaders around the role that police serve in their communities; 3) Modernizing the process so that onboarding new hires is done faster.
The Attorney General also addressed the increase in threats of violence to law enforcement personnel, prosecutors, judges and all those who work every day in pursuit of justice and in service to the American people. Making clear that these threats are unacceptable and must not become normalized, the Attorney General said:
“People in a democracy are entitled to argue with each other, to criticize in the most vociferous way, but we won’t have a democracy if people decide that violence and threats of violence are the way to influence outcomes.”
The Attorney General also discussed what the Justice Department is doing in response to the deadliest drug threat our country has ever faced, fentanyl. Attorney General Garland shared how he often hears from families who have been impacted by fentanyl. He discussed the Department’s approach of going after every link in the cartel-driven fentanyl trafficking networks that span countries and continents. This includes going after the cartels’ leaders, their drug traffickers, their money launderers, their clandestine lab operators, their security forces, their weapons suppliers, and their chemical suppliers. In April, the Department charged 23 Sinaloa cartel members, leaders and associates, and just last month, the Department extradited Ovidio Guzman Lopez, a leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, and one of “El Chapo’s” sons. Agents and prosecutors across the Justice Department are working every day to combat the threat posed by fentanyl. Those efforts have resulted in the seizure of over 62 million fentanyl pills and over 9,700 pounds of fentanyl powder just this year alone.
While in California, the Attorney General also had the opportunity to meet with local police chiefs from across the country and leaders of some of the nation’s major law enforcement associations to thank them for their continued partnership. Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco, Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta, Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, FBI Director Christopher Wray, Director Steven Dettelbach of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), Director Anne Milgram of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Director Ronald Davis of the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), Director Hugh T. Clements of the COPS Office, Assistant Attorney General Amy Solomon of the Office of Justice Programs (OJP) were also in attendance at IACP.
IACP Attorney General Garland with IACP Deputy Executive Director Terry Cunningham IACP Attorney General Garland with the IACP Executive BoardRichardson Dangleben, Jr. Indicted for Shooting Death of Vipd DetectiveRead the Press Release
St. Thomas, VI – United States Attorney Delia L. Smith announced today that a federal grand jury has returned a 13-count indictment charging Richardson Dangleben, Jr. with federal and territorial offenses relating to the July 4, 2023 shooting death of Virgin Islands Police Department (VIPD) Detective Delberth Phipps.
“I want to be clear that any act of violence toward our law enforcement officers is unacceptable and will not be tolerated,” U.S. Attorney Smith said. “Such acts will be met with swift and forceful consequences and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
Virgin Islands Attorney General Ariel Smith said: “Officer Phipps bravely responded to a criminal act in progress when his life was taken during the cowardly act of murder. The death of an officer in the line of duty is a loss that affects the entire community, and we expect justice to be served in a manner that reflects the ultimate sacrifice he made. The V.I. Department of Justice (VIDOJ) looks forward to continued collaboration with USDOJ in the pursuit of justice for the Virgin Islands community.”
Virgin Islands Police Chief Steven Phillip said: “We stand united as a community in the pursuit of justice for our fallen Police Detective. This indictment is a significant milestone and serves as a testament to the relentless dedication and steadfast commitment of our law enforcement family, who have tirelessly worked to bring this individual to account. We extend our heartfelt gratitude to the community for your unwavering support throughout this painful journey, and we assure you that we will spare no effort to ensure that justice is served for Detective Phipps and his grieving family. Together, we will continue to stand strong against violence, as we work towards creating a safer and more peaceful community for all.”
“Law enforcement officers put their lives on the line daily to serve and protect others,” said Joseph Gonzalez, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI San Juan Field Office, which covers the US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. “The FBI will not stand idly by while delinquents display no respect for authority and instill fear in their communities. We will investigate these cases fiercely to bring those responsible to justice. Detective Phipps was a hero, and the FBI will stand by those he left behind in our commitment to curtail violence and bring peace to the communities we serve.”
According to court documents, on Tuesday, July 4, 2023, VIPD Detective Delberth Phipps and VIPD Officer Shahim Skeete responded to a 911 call that came in at approximately 7:54 a.m. The caller reported observing a shirtless man in the Hospital Ground area of St. Thomas wearing a bulletproof vest and appearing to have a gun in his back pocket. Shortly after Det. Phipps and Officer Skeete arrived on the scene, Dangleben began firing at them. Both Officer Skeete and Det. Phipps returned fire. During the shootout, Det. Phipps suffered a fatal gunshot wound to his torso. Dangleben eventually laid on the ground to surrender. He was subdued and transported to the Schneider Regional Medical Center to be treated for the gunshot injuries that he sustained. Det. Phipps was pronounced dead at the Schneider Regional Medical Center at 9:05 a.m.
An assault rifle covered in blood was found near Dangleben where he laid on the ground. Officers also recovered the following from Dangleben’s car: (1) two assault rifle magazines; (2) seven boxes of assault-rifle ammunition; (3) a loaded .45 caliber handgun with a serial number that had been obliterated; and (4) over 300 grams of marijuana.
The federal indictment charges Dangleben with: one count of first degree murder; two counts of first degree assault; two counts of third degree assault; one count of attempted first degree murder; one count of use of a firearm during a crime of violence resulting in death; two counts of discharge of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence; one count of possession of firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime; one count of possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number; one count of receipt of a firearm while under indictment for a crime punishable by more than one year imprisonment, and one count of wearing body armor during the commission of a violent crime.
Dangleben has been detained in federal custody since his initial arrest following the July 4 shooting.
At the time of the July 4 shooting, Dangleben was on pretrial release for a prior shooting death. He had been previously arrested in connection with a February 24, 2023, homicide and charged in the St. Thomas Superior Court. Dangleben’s release conditions included an order not to possess any firearms or ammunition or any dangerous weapon.
U.S. Attorney Smith reminds the public that an indictment is not evidence of guilt. Charges are only allegations, and Dangleben is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
The investigation was conducted by the Virgin Islands Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The government’s case is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael J. Conley.
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Providence Man Sentenced to Federal Prison in Seizure of More Than Twenty-Four Kilos of HeroinRead the Press Release
PROVIDENCE, RI – A Providence man found to be in possession of more than twenty-two kilos of heroin within hours of having sold two kilos while under law enforcement surveillance in November 2018, was sentenced today to seven years in federal prison, announced United States Attorney Zachary A. Cunha.
Jose Figueroa Rosales, 50, pleaded guilty on April 17, 2023, to possession with intent to distribute and distribution of more than 100 grams of heroin.
According to information presented to the court, in November 2018, while being surveilled by members of the Rhode Island Drug Enforcement Administration Drug Task Force, Figueroa sold an individual two kilograms of heroin. Later that same day, agents and officers executed a court-authorized search of Figueroa’s residence and seized more than twenty-two kilograms of heroin, valued at the time in excess of one million dollars.
The seizure of more than twenty-four kilos of heroin from Figueroa is among the single largest seizures in Rhode Island by law enforcement.
At sentencing today, U.S. District Court Judge William E. Smith sentenced Figueroa to 84 months of incarceration to be followed by four years of federal supervised release.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul F. Daly, Jr.
The matter was investigated by the Rhode Island DEA Drug Task Force, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Rhode Island State Police High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force, and the Providence Police Department.
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Property Developer Z&L Properties Fined $1 Million After Pleading Guilty to Honest Services Fraud ConspiracyRead the Press Release
SAN FRANCISCO – Z&L Properties Inc., a Foster City, California-based subsidiary of a Chinese property development company, was ordered to pay a $1 million fine as part of its sentence for bribing a San Francisco official in exchange for favorable treatment on a construction project, announced First Assistant United States Attorney Patrick D. Robbins and Federal Bureau of Investigation, San Francisco Field Office, Special Agent in Charge Robert K. Tripp. The sentence was handed down by the Hon. William H. Orrick, United States District Judge.
According to the plea agreement, Z&L Properties’ executives approved or paid bribes to former San Francisco Department of Public Works Director Mohammed Nuru, including providing him and another individual with food, drinks, lodging, and transportation during a trip to China in 2018. The purpose of the payments was to influence Nuru to act favorably on Z&L Properties’ requests for city approvals needed to complete construction of a mixed-use property owned by Z&L Properties at 555 Fulton Street in San Francisco.
Z&L Properties was charged by Information on July 18, 2023, with one count of conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud and one count of honest services wire fraud. Z&L Properties pleaded guilty to the criminal scheme on August 17, 2023. In addition to the $1 million fine, Judge Orrick ordered Z&L Properties to implement a three-year anti-corruption corporate compliance program.
Also charged in the scheme was Zhang Li, 70, of Guangzhou, China. Zhang was the owner and controlling member of Z&L Properties as well as the chairman, co-founder, and chief executive officer of R&F Properties Co. Ltd., a real estate holdings and development company based in Guangzhou, China. R&F Properties does business in the United States through Z&L Properties Ltd. Zhang was charged by Criminal Complaint for his role in bribing Nuru. Zhang was arrested in London in November 2022 on an arrest warrant issued in the Northern District of California. He was required to post a £15 million ($19.1 million) bond and remained under house arrest in London for seven months before being extradited to the United States. Zhang waived extradition in June, returned to the United States, and entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with the United States.
This case is part of a larger federal investigation targeting public corruption in the City and County of San Francisco. Nuru was charged in January 2020 with a long-running honest services fraud scheme. Nuru pleaded guilty to several charges on January 6, 2022, and was sentenced to serve 84 months in federal prison on August 25, 2022. Another defendant, Wing Lok “Walter” Wong was charged in June 2020 with conspiracy to defraud the public of its right to honest services and with conspiracy to engage in money laundering, both involving Nuru and others. Wong entered a guilty plea and agreed to cooperate with the government’s corruption investigations. Judge Orrick has scheduled Wong’s sentencing hearing for January 18, 2024.
Assistant United States Attorney David Ward is prosecuting the case. The prosecution is the result of a multi-year investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation.
Oxon Hill Man Sentenced to 12 Years in Federal Prison for Illegal Possession of Two Machineguns and for Possession with Intent to Distribute FentanylRead the Press Release
Greenbelt, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow today sentenced Jeffrey Wayne Spencer, age 26, of Oxon Hill, Maryland, to 12 years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for possession with intent to distribute controlled substances, including fentanyl, and for illegal possession of two machineguns.
The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge Wayne Jacobs of the Federal Bureau of Investigation - Washington Field Office Criminal and Cyber Division; and Chief Malik Aziz of the Prince George’s County Police Department.
According to his guilty plea, in October 2021, law enforcement received information that Spencer, known as “Jefe,” was distributing fentanyl and other controlled substances from an apartment in Oxon Hill, Maryland. To corroborate the tip, law enforcement arranged for a confidential source to make two purchases of fentanyl from Spencer at the residence.
On November 4, 2021, law enforcement executed a search warrant for the apartment. Spencer was the only person in the home at the time and was in the process of cutting and packaging fentanyl on the dining room table. On the dining room table, law enforcement seized 128 individual packaged baggies containing 17.7 grams of fentanyl; unpackaged loose white powdery substance in piles, determined to contain 35.95 grams of fentanyl; a money counter; and a black digital scale. On the living room couch in plain view near the dining room table, law enforcement seized a 9mm handgun with a full automatic switch. The firearm had one round of ammunition in the chamber ready to be fired and 49 additional rounds of ammunition inside a drum magazine. On the kitchen counter, law enforcement seized an additional 9mm handgun magazine containing approximately 14 rounds of ammunition.
From a shoebox in the bedroom closet, law enforcement seized a .40 caliber handgun with a full automatic switch. The firearm had one round of ammunition in the chamber ready to be fired and a .40 caliber handgun magazine containing approximately 11 rounds of .40 caliber ammunition. Also located in the shoebox was an extended magazine containing approximately 32 rounds of 9mm ammunition, as well as a tray containing approximately 5 additional rounds of .40 caliber ammunition. From inside a Burberry bag, law enforcement seized a glass jar containing 28 9mm rounds. From inside a green igloo bag, law enforcement seized a heat-sealed bag containing 499.9 grams of fentanyl and a fentanyl analogue and $77.50 in U.S. currency. Law enforcement also seized $7,765 in cash from the bathroom.
An FBI DNA analysis confirmed the presence of Spencer’s DNA on the seized firearms and firearm magazines and Spencer admitted that he possessed the firearms in furtherance of his drug trafficking.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (“PSN”), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.
United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the FBI and the Prince George’s County Police Department for their work in the investigation and thanked the DEA for its assistance. Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Patrick D. Kibbe and Adam K. Ake, who prosecuted the case.
For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/project-safe-neighborhoods-psn and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.
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Orrville Man Sentenced to Prison for Mail, Wire, and Securities FraudRead the Press Release
CLEVELAND – Thomas Brenner, 60, of Orrville, Ohio, was sentenced to 125 months imprisonment by U.S. District Court Judge Donald C. Nugent after earlier pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, mail fraud, wire fraud, securities fraud, and engaging in a monetary transaction in property derived from criminal activity. Judge Nugent ordered Brenner to pay $3,487,938.89 in restitution and serve 3 years of supervised release.
According to court documents, Brenner was a financial broker-dealer and President of First American Securities, Inc., located in Orrville. In March of 2015, Brenner conspired to recruit clients to “invest” in United RL Capital Services, LLC (“URL”), a company that purportedly financed medical laboratory developments.
Investors were solicited by Brenner over the phone, through letters, and in person while he misrepresented material information. Brenner indicated that investors’ money would finance medical laboratory developments; they would receive their money back, with interest, after three years; and that URL was as safe or safer than other existing investments.
Some investors, at Brenner’s encouragement, removed money from their IRAs to invest in URL, and represented this would not result in tax penalties. Instead of apportioning investors’ money, as promised, Brenner used the funds for his benefit, including to make large race car-related purchases, and to pay back tax debts. When investors inquired about their investments, Brenner misrepresented that they were secure and provided some investors with sporadic, minimal payments, disguised as installments of earned interest, all to lull investors into believing their money was safe and being used as promised.
Brenner learned he was being investigated for selling URL securities by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”), a congressionally authorized entity that licenses and regulates broker-dealers. Brenner continued to sell URL securities after representing to FINRA under oath that he would stop. He did not tell prospective investors about the investigation, that First American Securities, Inc. could face closure, and that the defendant could be suspended from associating with any FINRA-registered firm, which he eventually was.
The investigation was conducted by the FBI. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Kathryn Andrachik and Erica Barnhill.
Orleans Parish Woman Pleads Guilty to Violations of Federal Controlled Substances and Gun Control ActsRead the Press Release
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – DANIELLE REED, age 42, a resident of New Orleans, pleaded guilty on October 12, 2023 to a two-count superseding bill of information charging her with possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Sections 841(a)(1) and 841(b)(1)(C), and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 924(c)(1)(A), announced U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans.
According to court documents, a DEA investigation revealed that REED was a drug dealer who primarily sold crystal methamphetamine. DEA agents used a confidential source to conduct two controlled purchases of methamphetamine from REED. On April 19, 2022, DEA agents seized a quantity of methamphetamine and two firearms from REED.
For possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, REED faces up to twenty years imprisonment, a fine of up to $1,000,000, and at least three years of supervised release following imprisonment. For possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense, REED faces a statutory minimum sentence of five years of imprisonment, to run consecutive with any other sentence, up to life imprisonment, a fine of up to $250,000, and up to five years of supervised release. For both counts, REED faces payment of a $100 mandatory special assessment fee.
This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration. The prosecution is being handled by Assistant United States Attorney J. Benjamin Myers of the Narcotics Unit.
Oklahoma City Man Pleads Guilty to Armed Robbery of a United States Mail CarrierRead the Press Release
OKLAHOMA CITY – Today, TARYAN NABOND PRINCE-SADLER, 19, of Oklahoma City, pleaded guilty to robbing a U. S. mail carrier using a firearm, announced U. S. Attorney Robert J. Troester.
On May 16, 2023, Prince-Sadler was charged by Superseding Information with robbery of mail, money, or other property of the United States, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. Prince-Sadler’s co-defendant, Rijae Varnell Luster, 22, was charged by Indictment on May 16, 2023, with aiding and abetting armed robbery of property of the Unites States.
According to affidavits filed in support of the defendants’ criminal complaints, on or about August 22, 2022, the United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) Oklahoma City began receiving numerous reports of stolen U.S. mail. In conjunction with these reports, there were four armed robberies of USPS mail carriers between August 2022, and March 2023. One armed robbery happened on February 1, 2023, in Edmond, Oklahoma, and another armed robbery happened on March 4, 2023, in Stillwater, Oklahoma. During the Stillwater robbery, surveillance cameras spotted a white vehicle following the mail carrier before and after the robbery. An investigation of this vehicle led authorities to Luster. Authorities believed Luster drove Prince-Sadler to the Stillwater location to carry out the robbery.
The complaints also allege on April 17, 2023, USPIS Inspectors observed Prince-Sadler unlocking mailboxes in Edmond, removing U. S. mail, and placing the mail in a trash bag. USPIS Inspectors immediately arrested Prince-Sadler.
Today, Prince-Sadler pleaded guilty to the two-count Superseding Information. As part of his plea, Prince-Sadler admitted to forcefully taking a United States Arrow Key from a U.S. mail carrier and putting that mail carrier’s life in jeopardy by using a firearm.
On September 14, 2023, Luster pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting armed robbery of mail, money, or other property of the United States. As part of his plea, Luster admitted that he participated in the robbery when he drove Prince-Sadler, who he knew to be armed, to and from the Stillwater robbery.
At sentencing, Prince-Sadler faces at least five years and up to life in federal prison, and a fine of up to $500,000. Luster faces up to 25 years in federal prison, and a fine of up to $250,000.00.
This case is the result of an investigation by the United States Postal Inspection Service. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Wilson D. McGarry and Danielle London are prosecuting the case.
Reference is made to public filings for additional information.
Newton Man Pleads Guilty to Unlawful ReentryRead the Press Release
BOSTON – A Newton man pleaded guilty in federal court in Boston to illegally reentering the United States after being deported.
Franklin Alcantara-Lorenzo, 36, pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful reentry of a deported alien. U.S. District Court Judge Leo Sorokin scheduled sentencing for Nov. 15, 2023.
Alcantara-Lorenzo, a citizen on the Dominican Republic, was deported from the United States in July 2021 after serving a 21-month federal sentence for conspiracy and possession with the intent to distribute fentanyl. At some point thereafter, Alcantara-Lorenzo returned to the United States and was arrested by immigration authorities in Chestnut Hill in April 2023.
The charge of unlawful reentry of a deported alien provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.
Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy and Todd M. Lyons, Field Office Director, Boston, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Grady of the Major Crimes Unit is prosecuting the case.
New Orleans Man Sentenced for Violating Federal Gun Control ActRead the Press Release
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – United States District Judge Carl J. Barbier sentenced SHAMAR HOLMES, age 23, a resident of New Orleans, to 57 months imprisonment for illegally possessing a firearm after being convicted of a felony, announced U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans.
According to court records, HOLMES admitted that in September 2022 he was traveling down Interstate 10 near the Claiborne Avenue exit when another car opened fire on his car. HOLMES was shot several times and taken to the hospital. When New Orleans Police Officers arrived to investigate, they seized the car as part of the shooting investigation. They conducted a search of the car and found a .40 caliber handgun under the seat. In January 2022, HOLMES had pleaded guilty to a felony, in Orleans Parish and was thus prohibited from possessing guns at the time of the September shooting.
Judge Barbier sentenced HOLMES to fifty-seven months imprisonment, to be followed by three years of supervised release following any term of imprisonment. HOLMES was also ordered to pay a mandatory special assessment fee of $100.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.
This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the New Orleans Police Department. The prosecution is being handled by Assistant United States Attorney David Haller of the Violent Crime Unit.
New Orleans Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Gun Control and Federal Controlled Substances Act ChargesRead the Press Release
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that on October 12, 2023, KEATON JOHNSON, age 22 of New Orleans, pleaded guilty to Counts 1 through 3 of the indictment against him. Count 1 charged JOHNSON with being a felon in possession of a firearm, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 922(g)(1) and 924(a)(8). Count 2 charged JOHNSON with possession with the intent to distribute controlled substances, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Sections 841(a)(1), 841(b)(1)(C), and 841(b)(1)(D). Count 3 charged JOHNSON with possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 924(c)(1)(A)(i).
For Count 1, JOHNSON faces a maximum term of imprisonment of fifteen (15) years, a fine of up to $250,000, and up to three (3) years of supervised release following any term of imprisonment.
For Count 2, JOHNSON faces a maximum term of imprisonment of twenty (20) years, a fine of up to $1,000,000, and at least three (3) years of supervised release following any term of imprisonment.
For Count 3, JOHNSON faces a minimum term of imprisonment of five (5) years up to a maximum term of life imprisonment, to run consecutively with Counts 1 and 2, a fine of up to $250,000, and up to five (5) years of supervised release following any term of imprisonment. As to each count, JOHNSON also faces payment of a $100 mandatory special assessment fee.
According to public records, on July 19, 2022, New Orleans Police Department (“NOPD”) officers received a call for a gunshot fired in the French Quarter. When NOPD officers arrived at the scene, there was no victim present. During their investigation, officers learned that a man (later identified as JOHNSON) got into a verbal argument with another man and a shooting occurred.
Within minutes of the shooting, an NOPD Detective observed JOHNSON in the French Quarter riding a bike. At the sight of police officers, JOHNSON attempted to flee on foot but was caught and arrested.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun track violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.
The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, and the New Orleans Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Mike Trummel of the Violent Crime Unit handled the prosecution.
Nevada Woman Pleads Guilty to Fentanyl CrimeRead the Press Release
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Jamie Lyn Music, 41, of Las Vegas, Nevada, pleaded guilty today to possession with intent to distribute a quantity of fentanyl.
According to court documents and statements made in court, on December 24, 2021, law enforcement officers conducted a traffic stop of a vehicle in which Music was a passenger on Interstate 64 near Huntington, West Virginia. Officers searched the vehicle and found approximately 399.6 grams of fentanyl in a backpack. Music admitted that she possessed and intended to sell the fentanyl.
Music is scheduled to be sentenced on January 22, 2024, and faces a maximum penalty of 20 or years in prison, at least three years of supervised release, and a $1 million fine.
United States Attorney Will Thompson made the announcement and commended the investigative work of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Violent Crime and Drug Task Force West, and the West Virginia State Police.
United States District Judge Robert C. Chambers presided over the hearing. Assistant United States Attorney Stephanie S. Taylor is prosecuting the case.
This case was prosecuted as part of Operation Synthetic Opioid Surge (SOS), an enforcement surge that has sought to reduce the supply of deadly synthetic opioids in high impact areas.
A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia. Related court documents and information can be found on PACER by searching for Case No. 3:22-cr-102.
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Maryland United States Attorney’s Office Secures Settlement in Case Concerning Disability-Based Discrimination at Multifamily Housing Complexes in MarylandRead the Press Release
Baltimore, Maryland – United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron and Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division announced today that Maryland-based developer Humphrey Stavrou Associates, Inc. and related entities have agreed to pay $475,000 to settle claims that they violated the Fair Housing Act (FHA) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by failing to build six multi-family housing complexes in Maryland with required accessible features for people with disabilities. As part of the settlement, the defendants also agreed to make extensive retrofits to remove accessibility barriers at the three properties Humphrey Stavrou Associates, Inc. still owns and the three properties Humphrey Stavrou Associates, Inc. sold to third parties.
The Justice Department previously resolved part of its lawsuit, which was filed in September 2022, with Maryland-based developer Stavrou Associates, Inc. and related entities, which agreed to pay $185,000 to settle claims that they failed to build 11 multi-family housing complexes in Maryland with required accessible features. Stavrou Associates, Inc. also agreed to make extensive retrofits to remove accessibility barriers at the complexes. The U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland entered the parties’ settlement, in the form of a consent order, on November 22, 2022.
“Developers who fail to abide by the Fair Housing Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act will be held accountable,” said U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron. “These settlements will help ensure people with disabilities have fair and equal access to their homes by making these housing complexes more accessible.”
“When the retrofits required by these settlements are completed, people with disabilities will have equal access to 1,300 more residential units in Maryland,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The Justice Department remains committed to ensuring that apartment complexes are accessible to people with disabilities.”
Humphrey Stavrou Associates, Inc. will deposit a sum of $410,000 in an interest-bearing escrow account to be used to retrofit the three properties it has sold since construction, which are now owned by other entities.
The combined 17 properties at issue in the case were built with financial assistance from the federal government’s Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program and the HOME Investment Partnerships Program, and some of the properties are specifically marketed as housing for seniors.
The settlement with Humphrey Stavrou Associates, Inc., which must still be approved by the Court, also requires the defendants to pay $60,000 into a settlement fund to compensate individuals who were harmed by the inaccessible conditions and $5,000 to the government in civil penalties to vindicate the public interest.
Under the settlement, the defendants will, among other things, replace steeply-sloped walkways, widen doorways, and modify bathrooms so they are accessible for individuals who use wheelchairs. The settlement also requires the defendants to receive training about the FHA and the ADA, to ensure that their future multi-family housing construction complies with these laws and to provide periodic reports to the Justice Department. The six complexes are:
- Pin Oak Village, Bowie, Maryland
- Woodland Creek Apartments (formerly “Henson Creek Manor I and II Apartments”), Fort Washington, Maryland
- Woodside Village Apartments, Fort Washington, Maryland
- Acclaim at Lake Largo (formerly “Largo Center Apartments”), Largo, Maryland
- Randolph Village Senior Apartments, Silver Spring, Maryland
- Vistas at Lake Largo, Upper Marlboro, Maryland
The 11 complexes built by Stavrou Associates, Inc. that are the subject of the previously entered Consent Decree are:
- Villages at Belle Hill, Elkton, Maryland
- Burgess Mill Station I, Ellicott City, Maryland
- Burgess Mill Station II, Ellicott City, Maryland
- River Point Apartments, Essex, Maryland
- Hammarlee House Apartments, Glen Burnie, Maryland
- Overland Gardens, Landover, Maryland
- Rainier Manor Phase II Apartments, Mount Rainier, Maryland
- Chapel Springs Senior Apartments, Perry Hall, Maryland
- Hampshire Village, Silver Spring, Maryland
- Windsor Crossing Family Apartments, Suitland, Maryland
- Windsor Crossing Senior Apartments, Suitland, Maryland
Individuals who believe they or someone they know may have had difficulties because of the inaccessible conditions at any of these properties should send an e-mail to the Justice Department at [email protected] or leave a message at 1-833-591-0291, selecting option 1 for English, selecting option 4 for housing accessibility for persons with disabilities, and selecting option 4 for Stavrou Associates Inc.
The United States Attorney’s Office together with the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division enforce the FHA, which prohibits discrimination in housing based on disability, race, color, religion, national origin, sex and familial status. This law requires that most multifamily housing buildings with four or more units constructed after March 13, 1991, have basic accessible features. Enacted in 1990, the ADA requires that places of public accommodation, such as rental offices at multifamily housing complexes constructed after Jan. 26, 1993, be accessible to persons with disabilities.
U.S. Attorney Erek L. Barron and Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimberly S. Phillips of the District of Maryland and Trial Attorneys Beth Pepper and Jennifer McAllister of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, who are handling these cases.
For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit www.justice.gov/usao-Maryland and https://www.justice.gov/usao-Maryland/civil-rights.
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Louisville Man Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison for Violating Federal Child Sexual Exploitation LawsRead the Press Release
Louisville, KY – A local man was sentenced today to 15 years in prison for attempted sex trafficking of children and attempted online enticement.
U.S. Attorney Michael A. Bennett of the Western District of Kentucky, Special Agent in Charge Robert Holman of the United States Secret Service, and Jeffersontown Police Chief Richard W. Sanders made the announcement.
According to court documents, Steven B. Earnest, 35, was sentenced to 15 years in prison, followed by a 30-year term of supervised release, for attempted sex trafficking of children and attempted enticement of a minor. There is no parole in the federal system.
Earnest used the internet to communicate with an individual to negotiate to pay to engage in sexual conduct with a 12-year-old child. Earnest then traveled to an agreed upon location, with money, to engage in the sexual conduct, where he was arrested.
“I commend the work of the Secret Service, the Kentucky Attorney General’s Office, and the Jeffersontown Police Department for their outstanding work during the investigation of this case,” stated U.S. Attorney Bennett. “The protection of our most vulnerable citizens is a top priority of this office. Along with our federal, state, and local law enforcement partners we will continue to identify, apprehend, and aggressively prosecute those who seek to sexually exploit our children.”
This case was the result of a joint federal, state, and local operation called Operation Angel, aimed at making federal arrests of individuals who preyed upon children. The United States Secret Service, the Kentucky Office of the Attorney General, and the Jeffersontown Police Department investigated the case.
Assistant United States Attorney Jo E. Lawless prosecuted the case.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “resources.”
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Lawrence Man Pleads Guilty to Illegal ReentryRead the Press Release
BOSTON – A Lawrence man pleaded guilty in federal court in Boston to illegally reentering the United States after been deported.
Francisco Araujo Lara, 43, pleaded guilty on Oct. 11, 2023 to one count of unlawful reentry of a deported alien. U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani scheduled sentencing for Jan. 25, 2024.
Araujo Lara, a citizen on the Dominican Republic, was deported from the United States in September 2019, after serving an 18–30-month state sentence for a cocaine distribution conviction. Sometime thereafter, Araujo Lara unlawfully reentered the United States. In 2022, he was arrested in Lawrence for heroin and cocaine distribution. Araujo Lara pleaded guilty to the charges and was sentenced to 30 months in prison.
The charge of unlawful reentry of a deported alien provides for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.
Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy and Todd M. Lyons, Field Office Director, Boston, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney David G. Tobin of the Major Crimes Unit is prosecuting the case.
Last of 17 Defendants Pleads Guilty in Southeast Washington Drug Trafficking ConspiracyRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON – Corenzo Mobery, 40, of Washington, DC, pleaded guilty today to participating in a drug trafficking network based in Southeast Washington that sold cocaine, crack cocaine, fentanyl, PCP, and marijuana, announced United States Attorney Matthew M. Graves, FBI Special Agent in Charge Wayne A. Jacobs, of the Washington Field Office Criminal and Cyber Division, and Acting Chief Pamela Smith, of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).
Mobery, aka “Snowman,” pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia to five counts of a superseding indictment that included unlawful possession with intent to distribute cocaine; carrying a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense; and unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
Mobery was indicted with 16 co-defendants (listed below) who all have pleaded guilty. Nearly all have been sentenced to prison terms ranging from 24 months to 114 months based on their criminal conduct and criminal histories. Mobery is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 26, 2024, by U.S. District Judge Dabney L. Friedrich.
The case stems from an investigation by the MPD Violent Crime Suppression Division’s Violence Reduction Unit and the FBI into the “MLK Crew” — a group of individuals who were operating an open-air drug market in and around the 2900 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Ave., SE, Washington D.C.
The investigation began in response to numerous citizen complaints about rampant drug trafficking and accompanying incidents of violence in the area. In addition to numerous citizen complaints, MPD targeted this area as one of the most notorious in the city in terms of recent shootings and shots fired, as well as for the area’s high numbers of arrests—particularly offenses involving drugs and firearms.
As part of its investigation, MPD and FBI began conducting surveillance, obtaining search warrants, and making controlled buys of narcotics from suspected members of the conspiracy.
The investigation revealed that MLK Crew members openly engaged in the sale of various drugs (including PCP, crack, fentanyl, and marijuana) and took over the area and, effectively, some of the neighborhood’s businesses. MLK Crew members would often go into the neighborhood businesses to complete sales and constantly loitered outside of these businesses to engage in sales. As part of its investigation, MPD and FBI obtained video of defendants openly conducting narcotics transactions in these businesses and even displaying firearms. Throughout the case, law enforcement seized at least 10 firearms (many of which were privately manufactured firearms or “ghost guns”) from MLK crew members and/or stash houses and a sizeable quantity of various narcotics.
The MLK Crew’s drug trafficking contributed to numerous incidents of drug-related violence in and around the 2900 Block of MLK Ave., including multiple assaults, shootings, robberies, and murders—most notably, the murder of a six-year-old girl who was the daughter of one of the co-defendants in this case.
In July 2021, a few months after opening the investigation, MPD and FBI arrested 11 initial defendants and seized 10 firearms, along with PCP, crack cocaine, powder cocaine, heroin, pills, and over $2,500 in cash. The additional six defendants were charged in September 2021 and were arrested shortly thereafter.
DEFENDANT
STATUS
Ricky Lyles, Accokeek, MD
Sentenced to 114 months for conspiracy to distribute cocaine and possessing a firearm
Nico Griffin, Washington, DC
Sentenced to 37 months for conspiracy to distribute cocaine
Dandre Shorter, Washington, DC
Sentenced to 37 months for conspiracy to distribute cocaine
Wesley Leake, Washington, DC
Sentenced to 40 months for conspiracy to distribute cocaine
Leon Lindsay, Washington, DC
Sentenced to 57 months for conspiracy to distribute cocaine
Dezmond Cunningham, Washington, DC
Sentenced to 48 months for conspiracy to distributecocaine
Divine Chappell, Washington, DC
Sentenced to 76 months for possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking and conspiracy to distribute cocaine
Shawn Wooden, Washington, DC
Pleaded guilty on Sept. 11 to unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon.
To be sentenced on Nov. 28, 2023Barry Tyson, Washington, DC
Sentenced to 73 months for possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking and conspiracy to distribute cocaine
Delonta Chappell, Washington, DC
Sentenced to 48 months for conspiracy to distribute cocaine
Anthony Graves, Washington, DC
Sentenced to 27 months for conspiracy to distribute cocaine
Deshawn Loggins, Temple Hills, MD
Sentenced to 42 months for conspiracy to distribute cocaine
Kevonte Randall, Washington, DC
Sentenced to 46 months for conspiracy to distribute 2 cocaine and possessing a firearm
Corenzo Mobery, Washington, DC
Pleaded guilty October 16th.
To be sentenced on Jan. 24, 2024Rico Griffin, Washington, DC
Sentenced to 66 months for conspiracy to distribute cocaine
Shahborne Scales, Washington, DC
Sentenced to 66 months for conspiracy to distribute cocaine
Luther McDuffie, Washington, DC
Sentenced to 24 months for conspiracy to distribute cocaine
The prosecutions followed a joint investigation by the FBI Washington Field Office’s Cross Border Safe Streets Task Force in partnership with MPD’s Violence Reduction Unit (VRU). This partnership targets the most egregious and violent street crews operating in the District of Columbia. Assistance was provided by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the U.S. Park Police, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF). The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys David Henek, Andy Wang, and Matthew W. Kinskey of the Violence Reduction and Trafficking Offenses (VRTO) Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.
The investigation had the sponsorship and support of the federal Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF). OCDETF specializes in the investigation and prosecution of drug trafficking and money laundering organizations and related criminal enterprises.