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Wednesday 16 August 2023
California Man Sentenced to 26 Years in Federal Prison for Trafficking Methamphetamine and Guns in Eastern IdahoRead the Press Release
POCATELLO – Ramon Morales Jr., 41, of Compton, California, was sentenced to 26 years in federal prison for importing and distributing methamphetamine in Eastern Idaho in exchange for firearms, announced U.S. Attorney Josh Hurwit today.
According to court records, Morales was initially arrested by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol when he was caught attempting to smuggle two pounds of methamphetamine into the United States from Mexico at the San Ysidro Port of Entry on April 7, 2021.
While Morales was pending those charges, he supplied large amounts of methamphetamine, along with other drugs, to local drug distributors Lynne Marie Boswell, 52, of Pocatello, and Jenny June Manzanares, 40, of Rexburg.
In exchange for methamphetamine, Boswell and Manzanares obtained firearms on Morales’s behalf by using a network of straw purchasers. A straw purchaser is an individual who knowingly purchases firearms intending to provide them to someone else in violation of federal law. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) estimates at least 250 firearms were trafficked through this illegal drug trafficking organization. Firearms purchased by these straw purchasers have been recovered at crime scenes in Idaho and states across the region.
On July 27, 2021, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), ATF, and local agency task force officers learned that Morales arranged to purchase 12 firearms from a gun store in Idaho Falls using a straw purchaser. Investigators were able to intercept the firearms during the transaction. After further investigation, law enforcement seized 15 pounds of methamphetamine and arrested Jonathan Ramirez-Gutierrez, 29, of Los Angeles, for drug trafficking. There was evidence Morales directed Ramirez-Gutierrez to transport the methamphetamine to Idaho and to return to California with firearms.
On August 14, 2023, Senior U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill sentenced Morales to over 26 years in federal prison. In January 2023, Judge Winmill sentenced Boswell to over 15 years in federal prison for her role in the drug and gun trafficking conspiracy. In March 2023, Manzanares was sentenced to 10 years for her role in the offense. In August 2022, Ramirez-Gutierrez was sentenced to over 8 years in federal prison.
“This series of cases, and the resulting sentences, reflect success in our ongoing battle to disrupt the flow of illegal drugs and illegally-obtained firearms into and out of Idaho,” said U.S. Attorney Hurwit. “I am grateful for the work of our many law enforcement partners in this investigation, which led to dismantling a very dangerous criminal operation.”
Specifically, U.S. Attorney Hurwit thanked the following law enforcement agencies for their collaboration on this investigation: the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP), Idaho State Police, Bannock County Sheriff’s Office, Pocatello Police Department, Fort Hall Police Department, Bingham County Sheriff’s Office, Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office, and the Idaho Falls Police Department. Many of these agencies are members of the BADGES Task Force.
The BADGES Task Force is a multi-jurisdictional narcotics task force that identifies, disrupts, and dismantles local, multi-state, and international drug trafficking organizations using intelligence-driven, multi-agency prosecutor-supported approach. The BADGES Task Force is supported by the Oregon-Idaho High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) which is composed of members from the Idaho State Police, Pocatello Police Department, Bannock County Sheriff’s Department, Chubbuck Police Department, and the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Blythe H. McLane prosecuted these cases, including during her prior role as the U.S. Attorney Office’s specially-deputized Special Assistant U.S. Attorney (SAUSA), funded by the Eastern Idaho Partnership (EIP) and the State of Idaho.
The EIP is a coalition of local city and county officials in eastern Idaho as well as the Idaho Department of Correction. The EIP SAUSA program allows law enforcement to utilize the federal criminal justice system – through the EIP SAUSA – to prosecute, convict, and sentence violent, armed criminals and drug traffickers. These criminals often receive stiffer penalties than they might in state courts.
This program was created in January 2016. Since that time, approximately 200 defendants have been indicted by the EIP SAUSA. Of these defendants, 146 have been indicted on drug trafficking charges. The defendants indicted under the program have been sentenced to 10,525 months (approximately 877 years) in federal prison, representing an average prison sentence of 57.6 months (4.8 years). Defendants indicted for drug trafficking offenses serve, on average, approximately 64 months (5.33 years) in federal prison.
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Burlington County Man Admits $4 Million Money Laundering SchemeRead the Press Release
CAMDEN, N.J. – A Burlington County, New Jersey, man admitted today that he illegally laundered the proceeds of a mail fraud scheme, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced.
Pablo Estrada, 26, of Florence, New Jersey, pleaded guilty before Chief U.S. District Judge Renée Marie Bumb in Camden federal court to an information charging him with one count of money laundering.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
From August 2020 through January 2023, Estrada received money from victims of various scams, including a lottery scam – an advance fee fraud which begins with victims receiving an unexpected notification that they have won large sums of money in a lottery, but are required to pay various fees and expenses before their winnings can be released to them. Estrada deposited the money into various bank accounts that he maintained for purposes of receiving criminal proceeds. He transferred the funds to other bank accounts, keeping a percentage for himself. Estrada laundered more than $4 million in this manner.
The money laundering charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross profits or gross loss, whichever is greatest. Sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 19, 2023.
U.S. Attorney Sellinger credited postal inspectors with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service in Newark, under the direction of Inspector in Charge Christopher A. Nielsen, Philadelphia Division; special agents of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Thomas Mahoney; and special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Tammy Tomlins in Newark, with the investigation leading to today’s guilty plea. He also thanked the Burlington County Prosecutors Office under the direction of LaChia L. Bradshaw and the Florence Township Police Department under the direction of Brian Boldizar for their assistance.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel A. Friedman of the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Criminal Division in Camden.
estrada.information_.pdfBrowning man sentenced to more than eight years in prison for raping girl on Blackfeet Indian ReservationRead the Press Release
GREAT FALLS — A Browning man who was convicted by a jury of raping a girl in Browning, on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation, was sentenced on Aug. 15 to eight years and four months in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release, U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich said today.
After a two-day trial in March, the jury found William Ronald Blackman, 31, guilty of attempted sexual abuse and two counts of sexual abuse.
Chief U.S. District Judge Brian M. Morris presided.
In court documents and at trial, the government alleged that Blackman sexually abused the victim, identified as Jane Doe, on three occasions when she was physically incapable of declining participating in a sexual act. Jane Doe, who was approximately 15 years old at the time, had passed out from alcohol intoxication and woke up to Blackman sexually abusing or having intercourse with her. The assaults occurred in 2019 and 2020. The victim ultimately reported the sexual abuse to a counselor.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan G. Weldon prosecuted the case. The FBI conducted the investigation.
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Bradenton Man Arrested for Robbing Tampa Business with FirearmRead the Press Release
Tampa, FL - United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces the arrest and filing of a criminal complaint charging Devon Floyd (31, Bradenton) with one count of Hobbs Act robbery. If convicted, Floyd faces up to 20 years in federal prison.
According to the complaint, on August 10, 2023, Floyd robbed a business in Tampa. He asked the clerk for a free water, which she did not have, before walking behind the counter and lifting his jacket to show the clerk a firearm. Floyd then ordered the clerk to empty the register, took the cash, and fled the scene in a dark colored Mazda. The complaint further alleges that Floyd is suspected of committing additional robberies in the area and that those robberies are still being investigated.
This case is being investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, the Tampa Police Department, the Temple Terrace Police Department, the Lakeland Police Department, and the North Port Police Department. It will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Samantha Newman.
A complaint 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 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.
Bloomfield Man Sentenced to 10 Years in Federal Prison for Narcotics Trafficking OffensesRead the Press Release
Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that KENSTON HARRY, 42, of Bloomfield, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton in New Haven to 120 months of imprisonment, followed by five years of supervised release, for drug trafficking offenses.
This matter stems from an investigation led by the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Bridgeport High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Task Force into a drug trafficking organization headed by Tajh Wiley, also known as Yung, of Norwalk. The investigation, which included a court-authorized wiretap of Wiley’s phone, revealed that Wiley conspired with Harry and others to distribute fentanyl, cocaine and marijuana throughout Connecticut.
Harry was arrested on June 9, 2021. In association with his arrest, investigators searched his Bloomfield residence and his Hartford business, Action Audio. The search of his residence revealed more than one kilogram of fentanyl, more than one kilogram of cocaine, and kilogram presses and other items used to process and package narcotics for distribution. The search of Harry’s business resulted in the seizure of marijuana and other items.
On October 18, 2022, a jury found Harry guilty of one count of conspiracy to distribute, and to possess with intent to distribute, 400 grams or more of fentanyl, 500 grams or more of cocaine, and marijuana; one count of possession with intent to distribute 400 grams of fentanyl; one count of possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine; and one count of possession with intent to distribute marijuana.
Harry, Wiley and six others were charged as a result of this investigation.
On July 26, 2022, a jury found Wiley guilty of multiple offenses. On December 28, 2022, he was sentenced to 144 months of imprisonment.
As part of the investigation, law enforcement seized from Wiley jewelry valued at more than $100,000, and a 2021 Mercedes-Benz valued at approximately $146,000.
Harry, who is released on a $250,000 bond, is required to report to prison on October 25.
This investigation has been conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Bridgeport High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Task Force, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Bridgeport Police Department, Fairfield Police Department, Norwalk Police Department, Stamford Police Department, Stratford Police Department, Yonkers (New York) Police Department and the U.S. Marshals Service. The HIDTA Task Force includes personnel from the DEA Bridgeport Resident Office, the Connecticut State Police, and the Bridgeport, Norwalk, Stamford, Stratford, Milford, and Danbury Police Departments.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Patrick J. Doherty, Robert S. Dearington, Margaret M. Donovan and Elena L. Coronado through the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) Program. OCDETF identifies, disrupts and dismantles drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs and transnational criminal organizations through a prosecutor-led and intelligence-driven approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.
Austin Pharmacy to Pay $200,000 in Civil Penalties for Alleged Violations of the Controlled Substances ActRead the Press Release
AUSTIN, Texas – People’s Pharmacy Inc. has agreed to pay $200,000 in civil penalties to resolve allegations that it violated provisions of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).
People’s Pharmacy Inc., doing business as Peoples Rx, operates five retail pharmacies and one compounding laboratory in the Austin area. During a routine inspection of a Peoples Rx location in June 2022, DEA diversion investigators determined that the pharmacy had violated certain regulatory recordkeeping provisions, improperly dispensed controlled substances to practitioners for office use, and issued prescriptions without authorization.
During their inspection, DEA diversion investigators also learned that Peoples Rx had sold pseudoephedrine products without self-certifying as required by the Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act of 2005 (CMEA). The CMEA regulates over-the-counter sales of ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, and phenylpropanolamine products, which are common ingredients in cough, cold, and allergy products that serve as precursor chemicals used in the illicit manufacture of methamphetamine or amphetamine. Retail provisions of the CMEA include daily sales limits and 30-day purchase limits, placement of product out of direct customer access, sales logbooks, customer ID verification, employee training, and self-certification of regulated sellers.
The Diversion Control Unit in DEA’s San Antonio District Office led the investigation of this matter. The primary goal of the DEA’s diversion control program is to prevent, detect, and investigate the diversion of controlled substances from their lawful purpose into illicit drug traffic. In furtherance of this goal, DEA conducts inspections of pharmacies and other DEA registrants to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements relating to drug security and recordkeeping.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Parnham negotiated the settlement on behalf of the government.
The claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only and there has been no determination of liability.
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Arsonist Pleads Guilty to Fire Bombing Donut HoleRead the Press Release
TULSA, Okla. - A Tulsa man who firebombed a popular donut shop with a Molotov Cocktail pleaded guilty today in federal court, announced U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson.
Coby Dale Green, 24, pleaded guilty to malicious use of explosive materials.
In his plea agreement, Green admitted that in the early morning hours of Halloween, 2022, he broke the glass front door, lit the wick of the Molotov Cocktail, and then threw the Molotov Cocktail through the broken front door, into the Donut Hole.
“The Molotov Cocktail that Green threw into the Donut Hole was fueled by bias and had the power to burn down several businesses,” said U.S. Attorney Clinton Johnson. “I want to thank our law enforcement partners and the prosecution team for holding the defendant accountable for his actions.”
Green faces between 5 and 20 years in federal prison, and a fine of not more than $250,000, or both. A federal district court judge will determine sentencing after considering sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. A date for sentencing has not been set.
Green has been and will remain in the custody of the United States Marshal Service pending sentencing.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is the investigating agency with assistance from Tulsa Police and Fire Departments.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Nathan E. Michel and Christopher J. Nassar are prosecuting the case.
After a Six-Day Trial, Federal Jury Convicts Holy Health Care Services, LLC Program Administrator for a Health Care Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
Greenbelt, Maryland – A federal jury yesterday convicted Lambert Mbom, age 50, of Riverdale, Maryland, for conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud and for conspiracy to make false statements relating to health care matters in connection with a scheme to fraudulently bill Medicaid. The defendant’s conviction stems from a scheme involving services purportedly provided by Holy Health Care Services, LLC (“Holy Health”), a mental health services provider with locations in Washington, D.C. The jury acquitted Mbom of conspiring to violate the Anti-Kickback Statute.
The guilty verdict was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Acting Special Agent in Charge David Geist of the FBI Washington Field Office’s Criminal and Cyber Division; Special Agent in Charge Maureen Dixon, Office of Investigations, Office of Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS OIG”); and Daniel W. Lucas, Inspector General for the District of Columbia.
According to evidence presented at Mbom’s six-day trial, he was a program administrator at Holy Health. Holy Health entered into Medicaid Provider Agreements with the District of Columbia’s Department of Health Care Finance (“DHCF”), to provide healthcare services to D.C. Medicaid recipients and was certified by the District of Columbia’s Department of Behavioral Health (“DBH”) to provide mental health services as a freestanding clinic and as a Mental Health and Rehabilitation Services (“MHRS”) provider. As a certified MHRS provider, Holy Health had authority to provide and bill for a variety of mental health services including “community support” – a service for which community support workers (“CSWs”) provide rehabilitative and educational support to mental health patients both in clinical settings and in the community.
According to evidence presented at trial, Mbom and his co-conspirators paid to Medicaid beneficiaries to induce the beneficiaries to visit Holy Health for mental health services. As detailed in trial testimony, Mbom and his co-conspirators caused claims to be submitted by Holy Health to Medicaid for services, including community support services, purportedly provided to Medicaid beneficiaries.
As detailed in trial testimony, Mbom and his co-conspirators paid individuals to come into the office and then used their personally identifiable information (“PII”) to bill Medicaid for services that were not rendered or were not rendered as billed. The evidence proved that Mbom made up fake Holy Health employees who were purportedly Community Support Workers so that he could bill Medicaid for services provided by these fake employees. Witnesses testified that during the investigation, sources posing as mental health patients were sent to Holy Health to obtain community support services. Not only did the sources not receive the services as billed, but Holy Health billed for CSW services for those patients for visits that never happened.
Mbom faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and health care fraud; and a maximum of five years in federal prison for conspiracy to make a false statement regarding health care matters. U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis has not yet scheduled sentencing.
The owners of Holy Health, Julius Bakari, age 45, and Mboutchock Kabiwa a/k/a “Eugenie Bakari” or “Eugenie Kabiwa,” age 45, both of Silver Spring, Maryland, previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud in connection with a scheme to pay bribes and kickbacks to Medicaid beneficiaries to induce the beneficiaries to visit their company. Judge Paula Xinis has scheduled sentencing for Bakari on November 6, 2023 at 11:00 a.m. and for Kabiwa on November 21, 2023 at 10:00 a.m.
United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the FBI, the HHS OIG, and the District of Columbia Office of Inspector General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit for their work in the investigation. Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christopher M. Sarma, Jessica C. Collins, and Megan S. McKoy, who are prosecuting the case.
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/md.
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Aberdeen Man Sentenced for Possession of a Firearm by a Prohibited PersonRead the Press Release
ABERDEEN - United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell announced today that U.S. District Judge Charles B. Kornmann has sentenced an Aberdeen, South Dakota, man convicted of Possession of a Firearm by a Prohibited Person. The sentencing took place on August 14, 2023.
Tujuane Leno Lowry, age 46, was sentenced to seven years in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, and a special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund in the amount of $100.
Lowry was indicted by a federal grand jury in August of 2022. He pleaded guilty on May 24, 2023.
The conviction stemmed from an incident on June 18, 2022, in Aberdeen, when Lowry was observed on video holding a handgun he had pulled from a white tube sock. He was also observed on the video using methamphetamine. Lowry is a felon and is prohibited from possessing firearms. The firearm was later recovered by law enforcement and determined to have been a stolen firearm.
This case was investigated by the Aberdeen Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Meghan N. Dilges and Carl Thunem 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.
Lowry was immediately remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
22-Year-Old Man Sentenced for Sexually Assaulting Sleeping VictimRead the Press Release
Acting United States Attorney Susan Lehr announced that Kason Cline, 22, of Walthill, Nebraska, was sentenced on August 15, 2023, in Omaha, Nebraska, by Chief United States District Judge Robert F. Rossiter, Jr. for one count of sexual abuse of an incapable victim. Cline was sentenced to 54 months in prison and will serve 5 years on supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system.
This case was initiated in July of 2022 by the Omaha Nation Law Enforcement Services after receiving a call from Twelve Clans Unity Hospital in Winnebago, Nebraska regarding a patient who wished to report a sexual assault. The Omaha Nation Tribal Police responded and spoke with the victim who relayed she had been drinking with Cline on the Omaha Nation Indian Reservation, when she passed out and fell asleep in Cline’s bed. When she woke up, Cline was sexually assaulting her. Because the victim was asleep at the time the sexual act occurred, she was unable to consent or decline participation in the conduct. A search warrant was executed at Cline’s residence to recover evidentiary items related to the assault. Cline was interviewed and ultimately admitted to the sexual assault.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
14 Minneapolis Gang Members Charged with Possession of Machine Guns, Fentanyl Trafficking, and Firearms ViolationsRead the Press Release
MINNEAPOLIS – Fourteen members of Minneapolis-based street gangs have been charged in federal court for various crimes including illegal possession of firearms, possession of machine guns, and fentanyl trafficking, announced U.S. Attorney Andrew M. Luger.
“These charges present a chilling picture of the violence inflicted by the Highs, the Lows, the Bloods and other gangs on our city’s streets,” said U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger. “Violent crime levels in Minneapolis have begun to come down and I believe our strategy is playing a role in the reduction, but we still have more work to do, and we will continue to charge violent offenders.”
Fourteen members of the Minneapolis-based street gangs are charged in federal criminal complaints with firearms violations, possession of machine guns, and fentanyl trafficking.
The following defendants are alleged members of the Lows gang:
- Michael Marshawn Dalton, 29, is charged with possessing a firearm as a felon.
- Marquez Demar Hill-Turnipseed, 21, is charged with possession a firearm as a felon and possession of a machine gun.
- Shannon Aaron Kapriece Jackson, 31, is charged with possession of a firearm as a felon and possession with intent to distribute fentanyl.
- Cartrell Ismail Smith, 27, is charged with possession of a firearm as a felon and possession with intent to distribute fentanyl.
- Kaprice Richards, 22, is charged with possession of a firearm as a felon.
- Ohagi Charles Walker, 27, is charged with possession of a firearm as a felon.
- Clenest Demon Wells, Jr., 26, is charged with possession of a firearm as a felon.
The following defendants are alleged members of the Highs gang:
- Jermaine William Jackson, Jr., 26, is charged with possession of a firearm as a felon and possession with intent to distribute fentanyl.
- Adrion Kelley, 19, is charged with possession of a firearm as a felon.
- Joe Lee Rudolph-Meeks, 28, is charged with possession of a firearm as a felon.
- James Edward Hollman, Jr., 32, is charged with possession of a firearm as a felon.
The following defendants are alleged members of the 10z/20z gang:
- Devon Lamont Holt, 33, is charged with possession of a firearm as a felon.
- Marvin Miller, Jr., 35, is charged with possession of a firearm as a felon and possession of a machine gun.
The following defendant is an alleged member of the Bloods gang:
- Dante Joseph Tyus, 29, is charged with possession of a firearm as a felon.
These cases are the result of investigations conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Marshals Service, Minneapolis Police Department, Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office, Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, IRS Criminal Investigations, Minnesota Department of Corrections, and Homeland Security Investigations, with assistance from the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office.
These cases are being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Benjamin Bejar, Tom Calhoun-Lopez, David Green, Harry Jacobs, Rachel Kraker, Will Mattessich, Esther Mignanelli, Mary Riverso, Jordan Sing, Ruth Shnider, Joseph Teirab, and Melinda Williams.
These charges are merely allegations. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Tuesday 15 August 2023
법무부 자원 및 프로그램 접근 확대에 관한 언어 접근 계획 발표Read the Press Release
워싱턴 – 법무부는 오늘 모든 사람이 그들이 사용하는 언어와 관계없이 부서의 프로그램, 활동 및 서비스에 접근하고 완전히 참여할 수 있도록 하기 위해 부서 차원의 업데이트된 언어 접근 계획을 발표했습니다. 언어 접근 계획은 영어 능력이 제한적인 지역 사회의 요구 사항을 이해하고, 번역 및 통역 서비스를 개선하며 또한 그러한 서비스의 질적 보증을 촉진하고 대중이 사용 가능한 도구의 범위 확대 등을 포함하는 언어 접근 계획을 모든 부서들이 강화할 수 있는 지침을 제공합니다.
“언어 장벽이 정부 서비스 이용에 방해가 되어서는 안 됩니다. 이 업데이트된 언어 접근 계획은 모든 사람들이 범죄를 신고하고, 중요한 자원에 접근하며, 필요할 때 법무부의 도움을 요청할 수 있도록 하는 중요한 단계입니다,” 라고 메릭 비. 갈랜드 법무장관은 말했습니다.
“확대된 언어 접근은 법치주의를 수호하며, 국가의 안전을 유지하고, 또한 민권을 보호하려는 법무부의 사명을 더욱 강화합니다. 법무부가 언어 장벽을 격고있는 개인을 포함한 모든 미국인에게 더 나은 서비스를 제공하기 위해 우리의 언어 자원 및 정책을 현대화하고, 간소화 하고,개선하기 위해 진행하고 있는 작업이 자랑스럽습니다,”라고 리사 오. 모나코 법무차관을 말했습니다.
“미국에 있는 모든 사람은 정부가 제공하는 서비스 및 프로그램에 유의미한 접근을 할 권리가 있습니다. 이 업데이트된 정책은 많은 지역 사회가 그들 자신의 권리를 이해하고, 범죄를 신고하며 또한 법무부 자원에 완전하고 동등한 접근을 할 수 없도록 하는 언어 장벽을 제거하려는 법무부의 의지를 반영합니다,”라고 바니타 굽타 법무 부차관은 말했습니다.
업데이트된 언어 접근 계획은 법무부 민권부가 다른 연방 기관과 협력하여 유의미한 언어 접근을 보장하고 그에 따른 언어 접근 계획 및 정책을 수정 및 업데이트하는 노력을 개선하도록 지시한 갈랜드 법무장관의 2022년 11월자 연방 기관장, 민권부장, 법률 고문을 위한 언어 접근에 관한 연방 정부의 의지 강화에 관한 통지문에 따라 발표되었습니다. 그것은 또한 연방 기관이 제한된 영어 구사 능력을 가진 사람들이 그들의 서비스에 유의미한 접근을 할 수 있도록 하는 시스템을 개발하고 시행할 것을 요구하는 행정명령 13166, 영어 능력이 제한된 사람을 위한 서비스 접근 개선에 관한 명령 (2000년 8월 16일)의 23주년 기념이기도 합니다.
사법제도 접근 관리국이 부서의 언어 접근 실무 그룹 및 민권부과 협력하여 부서의 업데이트된 계획의 개발을 주도했습니다. 이 작업은 사법제도 접근 관리국 (ATJ)과 실무 그룹의 폭넓은 지도력의 일환으로, 언어 접근 자원을 확대하고, 언어 접근 문제에 대한 인식을 개선하며 DOJ 내 및 연방 정부 전반에 걸친 다른 부서에 해당 교육 및 기술 지원을 제공합니다.
“사법제도 접근이란 곧 언어 접근을 뜻합니다. 언어 접근 계획의 업데이트된 정책을 통해, 부서의 모든 프로그램 및 활동의 중심 구성 요소로서 언어 접근을 확대할 것을 재확인합니다,”라고 레이첼 로시 ATJ 국장은 말했습니다.
민권부는 또한 갈랜드 법무장관의 통지문 및 행정명령 13166 그리고 1964년 민권법 타이틀 VI에 대한 정부 차원에서의 일관되고 조율된 준수를 보증하는 책임에 따라 외부 이해관계자와 협력하여 법무부 및 기타 연방 기관이 그들의 언어 접근 계획을 업데이트하고 수정할 수 있도록 심도 있는 기술적 지원을 제공했습니다. 민권부는 자격을 갖춘 이중언어 직원의 효과적인 사용, 다국어 언어 디지털 콘덴츠 구축 방법, 토착어를 사용하거나 장애가 있는 사람의 고유한 언어 접속 요구 사항 등을 파악하기 위해 전문가와 연방 직원이 참여한 모임에 35개 이상의 연방 기관의 참가를 유도했습니다. 현재, 이 부서는 또한 언어 데이터를 수집하고 다국어 콘텐츠를 www.LEP.gov의 언어 접근 자원 카탈로그에 게시하려는 기관의 노력을 지원하기 위한 새로운 가이드를 추가했습니다.
“이 수정된 언어 접속 계획은 우리 자체 프로그램 및 활동에 있어서의 언어 접속에 대한 법무부의 지속적인 의지를 강조합니다. 모든 이해 관계자가 연방 정부와 업무를 할 때 유의미한 언어 접근 방법을 확실히 알 수 있도록 수정된 기관 언어 접속 계획을 www.LEP.gov에 게시하기를 기대합니다,”라고 크리스틴 클라크 법무부 민사부 차관보는 말했습니다.
이 업데이트된 계획은 여러 언어로 번역되며 법무부의 최근 출시된 언어 선택 도구를 사용하여 법무부 웹사이트에서 보실 수 있습니다.
司法部發布語言無障礙計劃，擴大司法部資源和項目的使用範圍。Read the Press Release
華盛頓特區—司法部今天發布了更新的全部門語言無障礙計劃 (Language Access Plan)，以幫助確保所有個人，無論使用何種語言，都可以使用並充分參與司法部的各種項目、活動和服務。語言無障礙計劃將為司法部各個部門提供專業指導，以增強司法部對英語能力有限社區的理解和需求，改善筆譯和口譯服務，促進這些服務的質量保證，並擴大為公眾服務的工具範圍。
司法部長梅里克·加蘭(Merrick B. Garland) 表示,“語言障礙不應成為人們無法獲得政府服務的原因。 這項更新後的語言無障礙計劃旨在確保每個人都可以舉報犯罪、獲取重要資源以及在需要時向司法部尋求幫助的重要一步。“
“加強我們的語言服務有助於進一步履行司法部維護法治、維護國家安全和保護公民權利的使命。“司法部副部長麗莎.摩納哥(Lisa O. Monaco) 表示，“司法部正在努力實現語言資源和政策的現代化、簡化和改進，以更好地服務於所有美國人，包括面臨語言障礙的個人，對此我深感自豪。”
副司法部長瓦尼塔·古普塔(Vanita Gupta) 表示, “在這個國家，每個人都有權享受有意義的政府服務和計劃。這些更新的政策反映了司法部消除語言障礙的承諾。這些語言障礙可能阻擋了許多社區了解自己的權利或報告犯罪行為，如果這些語言障礙減少，這些社區可以充分且平等地獲取司法部的資源“。
本次更新的語言無障礙計劃和政策呼應了司法部長梅里克·加蘭於2022年11月題為《致聯邦機構負責人、民權辦公室負責人和總法律顧問的關於加強聯邦政府對語言獲取承諾的備忘錄》，並因此指示司法部的民權分部與其他聯邦機構合作，共同改善和確保語言資源的有效擴展。今年也是行政令第13166號《改善英語能力有限人士獲得服務的機會(2000年8月6日)》成立的23週年，該行政令要求聯邦機構開發和實施各種系統，使英語能力有限者也能夠有意義地獲得服務。
此次更新由司法救助辦公室牽頭（Office for Access to Justice），與語言無障部門和民權司合作，制定了該部的最新計劃。這項工作是司法救助辦公室（ATJ）和工作組更廣泛地領導司法部努力擴大語言無障礙資源、提高對語言無障礙問題的認識，以及向司法部內其他辦公室和整個聯邦政府提供培訓和技術援助的一部分。這項工作是司法救助(ATJ) 的一部分，該工作組更廣泛地領導司法部擴大語言獲取資源、提高對語言使用問題的認識以及向司法部內其他辦公室和整個聯邦政府提供培訓和技術援助的一部分。
“訴諸司法意味著語言無障礙，“ 司法救助辦公室主任雷切爾-羅西（Rachel Rossi）表示。 “通過本《語言無障礙計劃》中的最新政策，我們再次承諾將擴大語言無障礙作為司法部所有計劃和活動的核心組成部分”。
為響應司法部長梅里克·加蘭備忘錄中提出的計劃，民權司除了負責確保各機構能否就行政命令13166號和1964年《民權法》第六章及其實施條例規定下有關提供實質性語言協助的職責，還提供了深入的技術援助，並與外部利益相關者合作，以協助司法部和其他聯邦機構更新和修訂其語言資源訪問計劃。民權司召集了35多個聯邦機構，並邀請專家和聯邦工作人員參與，以確定如何有效利用合格的雙語工作人員、如何構建多語種數字內容，以及講土著語言或有殘疾的個人對語言資源獲取的獨特需求。如今，民權司還增加了一份新指南，以支持各機構收集語言數據並在其網站www.LEP.gov 的語言資源訪問資源目錄中上發布多語種內容。
司法部民權司助理司法部長克里斯汀-克拉克（Kristen Clarke）表示， “更新後的《語言無障礙計劃》強調了司法部在自身計劃和活動中對語言使用的持續承諾。我們非常期待在www.LEP.gov 上發布修訂後的機構語言無障礙計劃，以幫助確保所有利益相關者了解如何在與聯邦政府合作時獲得有意義的語言無障礙服務。“
更新後的計劃將被翻譯成多種語言，並將使用該部門最近推出的語言選擇工具在該部門的網站上提供。
司法部发布语言无障碍计划，扩大司法部资源和项目的使用范围。Read the Press Release
华盛顿特区——司法部今天发布了更新的全部门语言无障碍计划 (Language Access Plan)，以帮助确保所有个人，无论使用何种语言，都可以使用并充分参与司法部的各种项目、活动和服务。 语言无障碍计划将为司法部各个部门提供专业指导，以增强司法部对英语能力有限社区的理解和需求，改善笔译和口译服务，促进这些服务的质量保证，并扩大为公众服务的工具范围。
司法部长梅里克·加兰 (Merrick B. Garland) 表示,“语言障碍不应成为人们无法获得政府服务的原因。 这项更新后的语言无障碍计划旨在确保每个人都可以举报犯罪、获取重要资源以及在需要时向司法部寻求帮助的重要一步。”
“加强我们的语言服务有助于进一步履行司法部维护法治、维护国家安全和保护公民权利的使命。”司法部副部长丽莎.摩纳哥 (Lisa O. Monaco) 表示，“司法部正在努力实现语言资源和政策的现代化、简化和改进，以更好地服务于所有美国人，包括面临语言障碍的个人，对此我深感自豪。”
副司法部长瓦尼塔·古普塔 (Vanita Gupta) 表示, “在这个国家，每个人都有权享受有意义的政府服务和计划。这些更新的政策反映了司法部消除语言障碍的承诺。这些语言障碍可能阻挡了许多社区了解自己的权利或报告犯罪行为，如果这些语言障碍减少，这些社区可以充分且平等地获取司法部的资源”。
本次更新的语言无障碍计划和政策呼应了司法部长梅里克·加兰于2022 年 11 月题为《致联邦机构负责人、民权办公室负责人和总法律顾问的关于加强联邦政府对语言获取承诺的备忘录》，并因此指示司法部的民权分部与其他联邦机构合作，共同改善和确保语言资源的有效扩展。今年也是行政令第13166号《改善英语能力有限人士获得服务的机会 (2000年8月6日)》成立的23周年，该行政令要求联邦机构开发和实施各种系统，使英语能力有限者也能够有意义地获得服务。
此次更新由司法救助办公室牵头（Office for Access to Justice），与语言无障部门和民权司合作，制定了该部的最新计划。这项工作是司法救助办公室（ATJ）和工作组更广泛地领导司法部努力扩大语言无障碍资源、提高对语言无障碍问题的认识，以及向司法部内其他办公室和整个联邦政府提供培训和技术援助的一部分。这项工作是司法救助 (ATJ) 的一部分，该工作组更广泛地领导司法部扩大语言获取资源、提高对语言使用问题的认识以及向司法部内其他办公室和整个联邦政府提供培训和技术援助的一部分。
“诉诸司法意味着语言无障碍，” 司法救助办公室主任雷切尔-罗西（Rachel Rossi）表示。“通过本《语言无障碍计划》中的最新政策，我们再次承诺将扩大语言无障碍作为司法部所有计划和活动的核心组成部分"。
为响应司法部长梅里克·加兰备忘录中提出的计划，民权司除了负责确保各机构能否就行政命令13166号和1964年《民权法》第六章及其实施条例规定下有关提供实质性语言协助的职责，还提供了深入的技术援助，并与外部利益相关者合作，以协助司法部和其他联邦机构更新和修订其语言资源访问计划。民权司召集了35多个联邦机构，并邀请专家和联邦工作人员参与，以确定如何有效利用合格的双语工作人员、如何构建多语种数字内容，以及讲土著语言或有残疾的个人对语言资源获取的独特需求。如今，民权司还增加了一份新指南，以支持各机构收集语言数据并在其网站 www.LEP.gov的语言资源访问资源目录中上发布多语种内容。
司法部民权司助理司法部长克里斯汀-克拉克（Kristen Clarke）表示， “更新后的《语言无障碍计划》强调了司法部在自身计划和活动中对语言使用的持续承诺。我们非常期待在 www.LEP.gov 上发布修订后的机构语言无障碍计划，以帮助确保所有利益相关者了解如何在与联邦政府合作时获得有意义的语言无障碍服务。”
更新后的计划将被翻译成多种语言，并将使用该部门最近推出的语言选择工具在该部门的网站上提供。
“Wrecking Ball” lands LPR in federal prisonRead the Press Release
GALVESTON, Texas - A 44-year-old legal permanent resident from the Dominican Republic has been sentenced in a cocaine and heroin conspiracy, announced U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani.
A federal jury convicted Emilio Ramon Torres following an 11-day trial in August 2022. He was convicted of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute five or more kilograms of cocaine and one or more kilograms of heroin as well as possession with intent to distribute 16 kilograms of cocaine.
U.S. District Judge Jeffrey V. Brown has now ordered him to serve a total of 120 months in federal prison. He could also lost his status to reside in the United States.
The investigation focused upon a group of distributors and their associates, primarily citizens of the Dominican Republic, who used common sources of drugs in Mexico to supply their customers in numerous states other than Texas. This group of distributors sold cocaine and heroin throughout the United States but operated out of the Houston area.
Torres worked within the drug trafficking organization by stashing cocaine at his apartment in Houston. He received shipments of cocaine and held them at his residence until instructed about how much to make available for delivery to customers.
The defense attempted to convince the jury Torres was an honest person who would not engage in drug distribution. The jury did not believe those claims and found Torres guilty as charged.
He will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
The Drug Enforcement Administration and Homeland Security Investigations conducted the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation dubbed “Wrecking Ball” with the assistance of the Houston Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenneth Cusick is prosecuting the case.
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 on the Department of Justice’s OCDETF webpage.
تصدر وزارة العدل خطة الوصول إلى اللغة لتوسيع نطاق الوصول إلى موارد وبرامج الوزارةRead the Press Release
أصدرت وزارة العدل اليوم خطة محدثة للوصول إلى اللغة على صعيد الوزارة للمساعدة في ضمان وصول جميع الأفراد، بغض النظر عن اللغة المستخدمة، إلى برامج وأنشطة وخدمات الوزارة وأن يكونوا قادرين على المشاركة فيها بشكل كامل. توفر خطة الوصول إلى اللغة إرشادات لمكاتب الوزارة لمساعدتهم على تعزيز تخطيط الوصول إلى اللغة، والذي يتضمن فهم احتياجات المجتمعات ذات الكفاءة المحدودة في اللغة الإنجليزية وتحسين خدمات الترجمة والترجمة الشفوية الفورية وتعزيز ضمان جودة تلك الخدمات وتوسيع نطاق الأدوات المتاحة لخدمة الجمهور.
قال وزير العدل ميريك بي. جارلاند: "يجب ألا تقف حواجز اللغة في طريق الوصول إلى الخدمات الحكومية". "تعد خطة الوصول إلى اللغة المحدثة هذه خطوة مهمة نحو ضمان تمكّن الجميع من الإبلاغ عن الجرائم والوصول إلى الموارد المهمة وطلب المساعدة من وزارة العدل عندما يحتاجون إليها."
قالت نائبة وزير العدل ليزا أو موناكو: "يعزز الوصول الواسع للغة مهمة وزارة العدل في المزيد من دعم سيادة القانون والحفاظ على أمن بلدنا وحماية الحقوق المدنية. أنا فخورة بالعمل الذي تقوم به الوزارة لتحديث وتبسيط وتحسين مواردنا وسياساتنا اللغوية لخدمة جميع الأمريكيين بشكل أفضل، بما في ذلك الأفراد الذين يواجهون حواجز لغوية."
قالت المساعدة المشاركة لوزير العدل فانيتا جوبتا: "يستحق كل شخص في هذا البلد وصولا فعالا إلى الخدمات والبرامج الحكومية. تعكس هذه السياسات المحدثة التزام وزارة العدل بإزالة الحواجز اللغوية التي تمنع العديد من المجتمعات من فهم حقوقها أو الإبلاغ عن الجرائم أو الوصول الكامل والمتساوي إلى موارد الوزارة."
تم إصدار خطة الوصول إلى اللغة المحدثة وفقا لإصدار وزير العدل جارلاند في نوفمبر/تشرين الثاني 2022 لمذكرة لرؤساء الوكالات الفيدرالية ورؤساء مكاتب الحقوق المدنية والمستشارين العامين فيما يتعلق بتعزيز التزام الحكومة الفيدرالية للوصول إلى اللغة، والتي وجهت قسم الحقوق المدنية بوزارة العدل للعمل مع الوكالات الفيدرالية لتحسين الجهود لضمان وصول هادف للّغة ومراجعة وتحديث خطط وسياسات الوصول إلى اللغة وفقا لذلك. كما أنه يصادف الذكرى السنوية الثالثة والعشرين للأمر التنفيذي رقم 13166، تحسين الوصول إلى الخدمات للأشخاص ذوي الكفاءة المحدودة في اللغة الإنجليزية (16 أغسطس/آب 2000)، الأمر الذي يلزم الوكالات الفيدرالية تطوير وتنفيذ أنظمة تمكن الأشخاص ذوي الكفاءة المحدودة في اللغة الإنجليزية من الوصول إلى خدماتهم بشكل هادف.
قاد مكتب الوصول إلى العدالة عملية تطوير الخطة المحدثة للإدارة بالعمل مع الفريق العامل المعني بإتاحة اللغات ومع شعبة الحقوق المدنية التابعين للوزارة. هذا العمل هو جزء من مكتب الوصول إلى العدالة ويمثل القيادة الأوسع لمجموعة العمل لجهود الوزارة لتوسيع موارد الوصول إلى اللغة وتحسين الوعي بقضايا الوصول إلى اللغة وتوفير التدريب والمساعدة الفنية للمكاتب الأخرى داخل وزارة العدل وعبر الحكومة الفيدرالية.
قالت راشيل روسي، مديرة مكتب الوصول إلى العدالة: "الوصول إلى العدالة يعني الوصول إلى اللغة. من خلال السياسات المحدثة في خطة الوصول إلى اللغة هذه، نجدد الالتزام بتوسيع نطاق الوصول إلى اللغة كمكون مركزي لجميع برامج وأنشطة الوزارة."
كذلك، قدم قسم الحقوق المدنية، وفقا لمذكرة وزير العدل جارلاند ومسؤولية القسم بضمان الامتثال المنتظم والمنسق على مستوى الحكومة التزاما للأمر التنفيذي 13166 والباب السادس من قانون الحقوق المدنية لعام 1964، مساعدة فنية متعمقة، كما شارك قسم الحدود المدنية مع جهات خارجية من أصحاب المصلحة لمساعدة الوزارة والوكالات الفيدرالية الأخرى في تحديث ومراجعة خطط الوصول إلى اللغة الخاصة بهم. جمع القسم أكثر من 35 وكالة فيدرالية معا لجلسات شارك فيها الخبراء والموظفون الفيدراليون لتحديد الاستخدام الفعال للموظفين المؤهلين ثنائيي اللغة وكيفية بناء محتوى رقمي متعدد اللغات والاحتياجات المميزة للوصول إلى اللغة للأشخاص الذين يتحدثون لغات بلادهم الأصلية أو الذين لديهم إعاقة. اليوم، يضيف القسم أيضا دليلا جديدا لدعم جهود الوكالة لجمع بيانات اللغة ونشر محتوى متعدد اللغات إلى كتالوج موارد الوصول إلى اللغة على www.LEP.gov.
قالت مساعدة وزير العدل كريستين كلارك التي تترأس قسم الحقوق المدنية بوزارة العدل: "تؤكد خطة الوصول إلى اللغة المنقحة هذه التزام الوزارة المستمر بالوصول إلى اللغة في برامجنا وأنشطتنا. نتطلع إلى نشر جميع خطط الوصول إلى اللغة المنقحة للوكالات على الموقع www.LEP.gov للمساعدة في ضمان مقدرة جميع أصحاب المصلحة على كيفية الحصول على وصول فعّال للغة عند التعامل مع الحكومة الفيدرالية."
ستتم ترجمة الخطة المحدثة إلى عدد من اللغات وستكون متاحة على الموقع الإلكتروني للوزارة باستخدام أداة اختيار اللغة التي أطلقتها
Worcester Dental Office Manager Sentenced for Role in Medicaid Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
BOSTON – A Worcester woman was sentenced today for her participation in a scheme to defraud the Massachusetts Medicaid program, commonly known as MassHealth.
Robin Cronin, 61, was sentenced by U.S. Senior District Court Judge Timothy S. Hillman to two years’ probation. In September 2020, Cronin pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and one count of health care fraud.
Cronin was indicted by a grand jury and arrested in January 2020 along with co-conspirators Dr. Anthony DiStefano III and Dr. Scott Cale, dentists practicing in Worcester. DiStefano was barred from participating in the MassHealth insurance program because of concerns regarding the substandard and dangerous dental care DiStefano delivered to patients. In order to circumvent his exclusion from the MassHealth provider network, DiStefano recruited another co-defendant, Cale, to join his practice.
From 2014 to 2018, dental services that DiStefano personally delivered were billed to MassHealth using Cale’s provider identification credentials. Cronin, DiStefano’s office manager, was aware of the arrangement and personally billed MassHealth for services that were not reimbursable, knowing that the claims were false. The purpose of this arrangement was to deceive MassHealth into paying for dental services that were not reimbursable as DiStefano had previously been terminated from the MassHealth provider program over concerns regarding the quality of care he provided to patients. As a result of this scheme, multiple MassHealth patients were harmed and received dangerously poor care from DiStefano.
Cale also pleaded guilty to his role in the conspiracy and, on Aug. 10, 2023, was sentenced to 18 months in prison and one year of supervised release. Charges against DiStefano were dismissed.
Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy; Andrea Joy Campbell, Attorney General for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts; and Roberto Coviello, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General, Office of Investigations made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Evan Panich and Chris Looney of the Health Care Fraud Unit and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Lownds, detailed from Campbell’s office, prosecuted the case.
Wilkinsburg Resident Pleads Guilty and Is Sentenced for Violating Federal Firearm LawsRead the Press Release
PITTSBURGH, PA – A resident of Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty and was sentenced in federal court in Pittsburgh on a charge of violating federal firearm laws, United States Attorney Eric G. Olshan announced today.
The one-count Indictment named Gregory Brown, age 38, as the sole defendant.
According to the information presented to the Court, on September 27, 2021, Brown was found to be in possession of an Astra .380 caliber semi-automatic pistol and ammunition. Due to a prior felony conviction, Brown is not permitted to possess a firearm or ammunition.
The law provides for a maximum total sentence of not more than ten (10) years in prison, a fine of not more than $250,000, or a combination thereof. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed would be based upon the seriousness of the offenses and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.
United States District Judge J. Nicholas Ranjan sentenced Brown to a term of imprisonment of time served, or approximately four months.
Assistant United States Attorney Carl J. Spindler prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives conducted the investigation in this case along with the Wilkinsburg Police Department.
Union County Man Sentenced to 50 Months in Prison for Role in Conspiracy to Target Asian Homeowners in Residential BurglariesRead the Press Release
NEWARK, N.J. – A Union County, New Jersey, man was sentenced today to 50 months in prison for his role in a conspiracy that targeted Asian and Asian-American homeowners for residential burglaries, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced.
Randi Barr, 42, of Vauxhall, New Jersey, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Evelyn Padin to an information charging him with one count of conspiracy to commit interstate transportation of stolen property. Judge Padin imposed the sentence today in Newark federal court.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
From Dec. 2, 2016, to March 20, 2019, Barr and others participated in a conspiracy to burglarize the residences of certain Asian small business owners living in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Delaware of large sums of money, valuable jewelry, and other items, and then transport the stolen goods in interstate commerce, including to Barr’s residences in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Padin ordered restitution and forfeiture of $127,661.
U.S. Attorney Sellinger credited FBI Newark’s Transnational Organized Crime Task Force, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge James E. Dennehy, in Newark, with the investigation leading to today’s sentencing. He also thanked the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office, South Plainfield, Hazlet Police Department, and Edison police departments, the New Jersey State Police, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the U.S. Department of Labor, the U.S. Department of State, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the U.S. Department of Transportation, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Union County Prosecutor’s Office, and the Bernards Township, Bethlehem Township, Cherry Hill, Cinnaminson, Clark, Colonial Regional, Cranford, Delran, East Brunswick, East Hanover, Eatontown, Elizabeth, Evesham Township, Exeter Township, Fair Lawn, Forks Township, Fort Lee, Franklin Township, Glassboro, Gloucester Township, Hackensack, Haverstraw, Highland Park, Hillside, Hillsborough Township, Howell Township, Jackson, Kenilworth, Lawrence Township, Linden, Lyndhurst, Mahwah, Marlboro Township, Maywood, Middletown, Montgomery County, Montville, Morris Township, Mount Laurel, Mountainside, New Castle County, New Providence, North Brunswick, North Plainfield, Old Bridge, Paramus, Parsippany, Phillipsburg, Piscataway, Pocono Mountain Regional, Pocono Township, Raritan, Roselle Park, Sayreville, Somerville, South Brunswick, South River, South Whitehall Township, Spotswood, Town of Tuxedo, Tinton Falls, Toms River, Township of Ocean, Union, Upper Macungie Township, Wall Township, Warren, Washington Township, Watchung, Westfield, Whitehall Township, and Woodbridge Township police departments.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Dong Joo Lee and Barry O’Connell of the U.S. Attorney’s Office OCDETF/Narcotics Unit in Newark.
Two sentenced for fatal smuggling event in MissionRead the Press Release
McALLEN, Texas - Two Mexican men have been ordered to prison for their roles in an alien smuggling conspiracy which resulted in death, announced U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani.
Francisco Javier Quintanilla-Alcocer, 39, and Brandon Cibriano-Gonzalez, 22, pleaded guilty March 3 and Feb. 3, respectively.
U.S. District Judge Micaela Alvarez has now imposed a sentence of 74 months for Cibriano-Gonzalez. Quintanilla-Alcocer received 87 months for the alien smuggling conspiracy in addition to 24 months for illegally re-entering the United States. Judge Alvarez ordered the sentences in part consecutive for a cumulative 100-month term of imprisonment.
Both are expected to face removal proceedings following their imprisonment.
At the hearing, the court considered additional evidence including details of the life-altering and permanent injuries the survivors sustained in the accident. Judge Alvarez also considered Cibriano-Gonzalez’s prior apprehensions as a brush guide and that he attempted to lead another group of migrants into the county less than a month after the accident. In handing down the sentences, Judge Alvarez noted Quintanilla-Alcocer’s disregard for the well-being of the migrants, emphasizing the effects and harm their conduct has had on the victims and their families.
Orlando Andres Garcia, previously admitted his guilt in relation to the scheme and is set for sentencing before Judge Alvarez Nov. 14. He faces up to life in federal prison and will remain in custody pending the hearing.
“Two migrants died on the side of a dirt road in Mission, Texas, because of a smuggler’s reckless attempt to avoid arrest,” said Hamdani, “Human smugglers - they don’t care about anyone’s life but their own, and after leading authorities on a car chase, crashing and rolling a vehicle full of migrants, Quintanilla-Alcocer fled the scene, leaving those he transported for dead. Remember this: human smugglers - you are not welcome in the Southern District of Texas, and this office will continue its efforts to hold these criminals accountable with convictions and long sentences."
On Oct. 22, 2021, Cibriano-Gonzalez acted as a brush guide to smuggle a group of 10 non-U.S. citizens from Mexico into the United States. He guided them to a pick-up location in Palmview. There, Quintanilla-Alcocer and Garcia arrived and were driving a Chevrolet Impala and Chevrolet Malibu, respectively. The aliens and Cibriano-Gonzalez loaded into the vehicles and left the scene. Shortly thereafter, law enforcement attempted to conduct a traffic stop, but both vehicles failed to yield and a high-speed chase ensued, reaching a speed of 130 miles per hour.
Quintanilla-Alcocer eventually turned onto a dirt road in Mission where the Chevrolet Impala rolled and crashed into a homeowner’s fence. Authorities located a total of seven individuals on scene. Three had been ejected, two of whom died at the scene.
Quintanilla-Alcocer was not located at that time. However, evidence in the vehicle led law enforcement to him. Phone records also indicated that Quintanilla-Alcocer and Garcia had been consistently communicating throughout the high-speed pursuit. During these conversations, Garcia instructed Quintanilla-Alcocer to go faster.
Three months following the crash, a third migrant succumbed to his injuries.
Homeland Security Investigations conducted the investigation with assistance from the Palmview Police Department and Texas Department of Public Safety. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lee Fry and Devin Walker prosecuted the case.
Two Winner Residents Charged with Sex Trafficking of Children and Production of Child PornographyRead the Press Release
SIOUX FALLS - United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell announced that a federal grand jury has indicted a man and woman from Winner, South Dakota, with two counts of Sex Trafficking of a Child. The man was also indicted for two counts of Production of Child Pornography.
Richard Alan Kucera, age 65, and Ivy Rose Heron, age 36, were indicted in August of 2023. Kucera appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark A. Moreno on August 10, 2023, and Heron appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark A. Moreno on August 4, 2023. Both pleaded not guilty to the Indictment.
The maximum penalty upon conviction is up to life in federal prison and/or a $250,000 fine, life of supervised release, and up to $400 to the Federal Crime Victims Fund. Restitution may also be ordered.
The Indictment alleges that in 2020 and 2021, Kucera and Heron intentionally recruited and enticed two juvenile females to engage in commercial sex acts. Both Kucera and Heron financially benefited from their participation in the illegal venture.
The Indictment also alleges that Kucera persuaded, induced, enticed, and coerced the same two minor females to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing visual depictions of such conduct.
The charges are merely accusations and Kucera and Heron are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
The investigation is being conducted by the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey C. Clapper is prosecuting the case.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the DOJ’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.
Kucera was released on bond pending trial. Heron was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service pending trial. A trial date has been set for October 3, 2023.
Tulsa County Resident Pleads Guilty to Federal Firearm CrimeRead the Press Release
MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma announced that Brayden Zane Graham, age 18, of Tulsa, Oklahoma, entered a guilty plea to one count of Using, Carrying, Brandishing and Discharging a Firearm During and in Relation to a Crime of Violence.
The charges arose from an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Henryetta Police Department.
The Indictment alleged that on December 29, 2022, Graham fired on a vehicle and its three passengers. An investigation revealed that Graham attempted to overtake three passengers in a truck. As the truck fled, Graham fired several rounds into the back of the vehicle.
The crime occurred in Okmulgee County, within the boundaries of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation Reservation, in the Eastern District of Oklahoma.
The Honorable Magistrate Judge Gerald L. Jackson, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, accepted the plea in Muskogee, Oklahoma, and ordered the completion of a presentence investigation report. Graham was remanded to custody of the U.S. Marshal pending sentencing.
Assistant United States Attorney Jordan Howanitz represented the United States.
Trucker hauling people and drugs headed to federal prisonRead the Press Release
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – A 50-year-old commercial truck driver has been ordered to federal prison following his convictions of alien smuggling and possession with intent to distribute meth, announced U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani.
Fabian Alvarado pleaded guilty Feb. 27.
U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos has now ordered him to serve a 120-month sentence to be immediately followed by five years of supervised release. At the hearing, the court heard additional evidence detailing Alvarado’s extensive criminal history including prior federal convictions for drug trafficking and alien smuggling.
On Dec. 9, 2022, Alvarado drove a tractor-trailer into the inspection lane of the U.S. Border Patrol (BP) checkpoint located near Falfurrias. There, authorities observed Alvarado acting suspiciously during routine inspection. A K-9 also alerted to the vehicle.
Law enforcement then referred him to the secondary inspection area where they discovered five aliens concealed in the sleeper portion of the tractor. They also found a bag in the passenger seat which contained 45 grams of meth and a firearm along with Alvarado’s wallet. In the glove compartment were cellular phones and identification documents taken from the aliens as they were loaded into the sleeper berth.
“Today’s prison sentence sends a resounding message to human smugglers and drug traffickers everywhere who believe they can circumvent our nation’s laws without detection or penalty,” said Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) - Corpus Christi Assistant Special Agent in Charge Robert Hein. “Working in conjunction with our partners at Border Patrol, this individual was quickly identified at the southern border as a suspected drug trafficker and human smuggler, convicted of his crimes and will spend the next 10 years in federal prison.”
Alvarado will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
Homeland Security Investigations conducted this investigation with the assistance of BP. Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert D. Thorpe Jr. prosecuted the case.
Temecula Man Charged with Multiple Narcotics Crimes, Including Distributing Fentanyl to Teenager Who Suffered Fatal OverdoseRead the Press Release
RIVERSIDE, California – A Riverside County man has been charged in a federal grand jury indictment alleging he sold a 17-year-old boy fentanyl in May, which resulted in the boy’s fatal overdose the following day, the Justice Department announced today.
Kyler Thomas Overby, 22, of Temecula, was arrested on Friday and was arraigned that day on the nine-count indictment, which a grand jury returned on August 9. He pleaded not guilty to the charges and a bond of $750,000 was set.
Overby is charged with one count of distribution of fentanyl to a person under the age of 21 resulting in death, seven counts of possession with intent to distribute controlled substances, and one count of knowingly possessing firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking crimes.
According to the indictment, on May 4, Overby knowingly an intentionally distributed fentanyl to the victim – identified in court documents as “L.B.” The following day, L.B., who was 17 years old, died after ingesting the fentanyl.
Overby allegedly also possessed with the intent to distribute multiple controlled substances, including 201 grams of fentanyl, nearly one kilogram of cocaine, MDMA and alprazolam (also known by its brand name, Xanax).
On June 5, Overby allegedly possessed multiple firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking. Specifically, he is charged with possessing three firearms lacking serial numbers, commonly referred to as “ghost guns” – a 9mm pistol and two .40-caliber pistols.
An October 2 trial date has been scheduled in United States District Court in Riverside.
If convicted of all charges, Overby would face a mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years in federal prison and a statutory maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
The Drug Enforcement Administration and the Riverside County Sheriff's Department are investigating this matter.
Assistant United States Attorney Miles J. Robinson of the Riverside Branch Office is prosecuting this case.
Second Marion Man Sentenced to Federal Prison for Conspiring to Distribute CocaineRead the Press Release
A man from Marion, Iowa, was sentenced today to more than six years in federal prison for his involvement in selling cocaine.
Cheyenne Gonzales, age 48, from Marion, Iowa, received the prison term after a November 14, 2022 guilty plea to one count of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance.
Evidence at the plea and sentencing hearings showed that Gonzales and Kain Cortez worked together to sell cocaine in the Cedar Rapids area between April and June 2022. Law enforcement utilized a confidential source to conduct controlled buys of cocaine from Gonzales, and Cortez was present with Gonzales during some of the controlled buys. On June 1, 2022, investigators observed a meeting between Gonzales, Cortez, and two other individuals outside of Gonzales’s and Cortez’s shared residence. On that date, Gonzales and Cortez paid approximately $15,000 in cash for half a kilogram of cocaine and approximately 20 pounds of marijuana. Gonzales has a prior federal conviction from 2003 for conspiracy to distribute cocaine.
Gonzales was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams. Gonzales was sentenced to 78 months’ imprisonment. Gonzales must also serve an eight-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
On July 31, 2023, Cortez was sentenced to 60 months’ imprisonment. Cortez must also serve a five-year term of supervised release after the prison term.
Gonzales is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.
The case was prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Adam J. Vander Stoep and was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Task Force consisting of the DEA; the Linn County Sheriff's Office; the Cedar Rapids Police Department; the Marion Police Department; and the Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement.
Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.
The case file number is 22-CR-00054.
Follow us on Twitter @USAO_NDIA.
Readout from United States Attorney Alexander M.M. Uballez’s Violent Crime Listening Session with Service Providers for the Unhoused CommunityRead the Press Release
ALBUQUERQUE – Alexander M.M. Uballez, United States Attorney for the District of New Mexico, federal prosecutors, and other staff from the United States Attorney’s Office (USAO) met with representatives from organizations that serve Albuquerque’s unhoused community on July 18 at the Barrett House to discuss violent crime. Cory Lee, Executive Director of the Barrett House, Hannah Albee, Deputy Director of the Barrett House, Arias Foster, Director of Programs for the Barrett House, Kennedy Haverland, a Clinician from the New Mexico Dream Center and Max Kauffman from Disability Rights New Mexico presented statements. This listening session focused on community-based solutions and the relationship between law enforcement and the unhoused community. This was the second of a series of listening sessions to be held throughout Albuquerque this summer.
United States Attorney Uballez opened the session by explaining that the Attorney General directed United States Attorney’s Offices to focus on addressing violent crime through intervention and outreach efforts. Participants described the link between trauma and violence and the need for more access to resources and truly affordable housing. Others described some victims and witnesses inherent distrust of law enforcement and how that handicaps the prosecution process. All participants agreed that the Albuquerque Community Safety (ACS) program recently implemented by the City of Albuquerque had improved the city’s approach to public safety.
Cory Lee described how the violence of taking away someone’s identification, existence and belongings can cause trauma and how it disproportionately effects someone living on the street, especially when they do not have a community to protect them.
Arias Foster agreed with Lee, adding “once they are housed… they are bringing a lot of the violence they were experiencing before when they were on the streets to their housing. They don’t know how to work through [it].” Foster described how law enforcement is often not supportive or engaging when they or their clients seek help and expressed that they would like to build a better relationship with law enforcement so that they could better support victims of and witnesses to violence.
Max Kauffman shared his observations about the link between violence and adverse childhood experiences, especially for children in the foster care system who do not receive services or special education, and how that contributes to violent behaviors. “Think about how we are going to long term help this community, not just now but looking forward. I do think it starts at the childhood level because those adverse experiences have a big influence on people.” Kauffman added, “I think if we can get them services through school, have behavior interventions is place, and provide them with the services they need to get a diploma and vocational training, that would have a huge impact in the long term.”
All participants stressed the importance of mandatory trauma-informed care training for both law enforcement and prosecutors to break down barriers in communication between them and victims and witnesses.
This was the second in a series of listening sessions USA Uballez will convene in the coming months as part of the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Program. USA Uballez previously met with representatives from organizations that serve Albuquerque’s International District and plans to meet with community leaders from the Westgate community, social justice advocates, addiction and treatment service providers, and families impacted by violent crime. These sessions are an opportunity for the USA, federal prosecutors, and USAO staff to recognize the vital role that these leaders, providers and advocates play in our community.
PSN is an evidence-based program proven 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. In New Mexico, the United States Attorney’s Office pursues a community violence intervention approach. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally-based intervention, prevention, and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.
PSN programs are led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices in collaboration with local public safety agencies and community organizations. The programs’ emphasis on community engagement, prevention and intervention measures, focused and strategic enforcement, and measurement and accountability has helped achieve overall reductions in violent crime, including gun homicides, in neighborhoods where PSN strategies have been implemented.
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Queens Man Pleads Guilty to Midtown Manhattan ShootingRead the Press Release
Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that STEFAN MELVILLE pled guilty today in connection with firing multiple rounds with a handgun at two individuals outside of a party at a hotel in Midtown Manhattan. MELVILLE pled guilty before United States District Judge Richard M. Berman and is scheduled to be sentenced on November 28, 2023.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “On a summer night in Midtown Manhattan last July, Stefan Melville used a handgun to fire multiple rounds of ammunition at two individuals walking on the sidewalk near the corner of 42nd Street and Ninth Avenue. The shots sent innocent pedestrians frantically running for cover. Today’s plea sends an important message that we will continue to relentlessly investigate and prosecute gun violence in our city.”
According to court filings and statements made in court proceedings:
On or about July 3, 2022, MELVILLE fired multiple shots with a handgun in the direction of individuals walking on the sidewalk near the corner of 42nd Street and Ninth Avenue. The following images from surveillance footage show MELVILLE firing his handgun.
Upon arriving at the scene, officers of the New York City Police Department (“NYPD”) recovered the upper assembly of a firearm, 3 shell casings and 1 unfired cartridge inside the barrel of the firearm assembly on the sidewalk where MELVILLE engaged in the shooting. The following images show the shell casings and firearm assembly recovered at the scene.
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MELVILLE, 30, of Queens, New York, pled guilty to one count of possession of ammunition after a felony conviction, which carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison.
The maximum potential sentence in this case is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by a judge.
Mr. Williams praised the outstanding investigative work of the Metro Safe Streets Task Force, which is composed of agents and officers of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the NYPD.
This case is being handled by the Office’s General Crimes Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey W. Coyle is in charge of the prosecution.
Previously Convicted Felon Sentenced to 27 Months for Unlawful Possession of a Firearm and AmmunitionRead the Press Release
BOSTON – A Boston man was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Boston for unlawfully possessing a firearm and ammunition as a previously convicted felon.
Kenji Ingram, 45, was sentenced by Chief U.S. District Court Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV to 27 months in prison and three years of supervised release. In May 2023, Ingram pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition.
In August 2020, Ingram was found in possession of a Charter Arms Bulldog Pug .44 special caliber revolver and five rounds of ammunition as he sat on a bench in the South Bay shopping mall area. At the time, Ingram was on probation in connection with a state felony assault conviction, as well as on pretrial release and electronic monitoring in connection with state drug and firearm charges. Due to his prior felony convictions, Ingram is prohibited from possessing firearms and ammunition.
Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy; James M. Ferguson, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, Boston Field Division; and Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin R. Hayden made the announcement. Valuable assistance was also provided by the United States Marshals Service. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sarah Hoefle and Kunal Pasricha of the Criminal Division prosecuted the case.
Pojoaque Man Pleads Guilty to Involuntary ManslaughterRead the Press Release
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Alexander M.M. Uballez, United States Attorney for the District of New Mexico, announced today that Kyle Joseph Harney-Chee pled guilty in federal court to involuntary manslaughter. Chee, 30, of Pojoaque, and an enrolled member of the Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo, will remain in custody pending sentencing which has not been scheduled.
According to court records, on January 16, 2021, Chee was traveling down US Highway 84/285 after consuming marijuana and alcohol. While driving, Chee became distracted by his phone and looked away from the road. While he was looking down at his phone, Chee struck a motorcycle from the rear, killing the driver. Chee immediately stopped on the side of US Highway 84/285 and called 911. Chee informed responders that he had consumed alcohol and smoked marijuana prior to operating the vehicle.
At sentencing, Chee faces up to 8 years in prison followed by a term of supervised release up to 3 years.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs investigated this case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew J. McGinley is prosecuting the case.
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Philadelphia Resident Sentenced to 84 Months’ Imprisonment for Conviction of Conspiracy to Distribute and Possess with the Intent to Distribute 500 Grams or More of HeroinRead the Press Release
PITTSBURGH, PA - A resident of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania has been sentenced in federal court to 84 months’ imprisonment followed by 4 years of supervised release on his conviction for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of heroin, United States Attorney Eric O. Olshan announced today.
United States District Judge William S. Stickman, IV imposed the sentence on Carlos Regalado, 41, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
According to information presented to the court, in 2018, the Federal Bureau of Investigation began investigating a heroin trafficking organization, of which Regalado was a member, that operated throughout the greater Pittsburgh area. Beginning in February of 2019 and continuing through September of 2019, the FBI received authorization to conduct a Title III wiretap investigation into the organization. Regalado supplied the organization with heroin that he personally transported from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh for distribution by various members of the organization. In addition to the intercepted communications, agents seized heroin, firearms, and bulk United States Currency from members of the organization. Judge Stickman referenced the seriousness of the offense as well as Regalado’s criminal history.
Assistant United States Attorney Mark V. Gurzo prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.
United States Attorney Olshan commended the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, the Allegheny County Police Department, the Stowe Township Police Department, the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police, the Office of the Attorney General, the Allegheny County Sheriff's Office, the North Versailles Police Department, the Allegheny County Port Authority Police Department, the Munhall Police Department, and the Pennsylvania State Police for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Regalado.
This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.
Pharmacist, Physician, and Pharmacy Technician Charged in Health Care Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
DETROIT – Three individuals, including a pharmacist, doctor, and pharmacy technician, were charged in an Indictment for their alleged roles in a more than $7 million health care fraud scheme involving the diversion of expensive “specialty” prescription drugs, United States Attorney Dawn N. Ison announced.
Joining in the announcement were Devin J. Kowalski, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Special Agent in Charge Mario Pinto, Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG), Special Agent in Charge Angie M. Salazar, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and Special Agent in Charge Orville Green, Drug Enforcement Administration.
Charged in the Indictment are:
• Samer N. Youssef, age 56, of Troy, Michigan and Indian Rocks Beach, Florida.
• Dr. Daoud Faraj, age 52, of Dearborn, Michigan; and
• Houda Bazzi, age 34, of Dearborn, Michigan and Indian Rocks Beach, Florida.
The charges against Youssef, Dr. Faraj, and Bazzi include one count of health care fraud conspiracy and 15 counts of health care fraud, aiding and abetting. Youssef is also charged with 12 counts of money laundering.
According to the Indictment, beginning in 2016, and continuing through 2021, Youssef, a licensed pharmacist, worked with other people to identify expensive “specialty” drugs that he could re-sell. “Specialty” drugs are prescription medications that treat less common conditions, or have other unique features, and prescriptions for the drugs are usually filled by specialty pharmacies, not regular retail pharmacies, via the mail or courier. Some of the specialty drugs identified in the indictment were meant to treat cystic fibrosis and relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis.
Youssef worked with physicians in Southeast Michigan, including Dr. Faraj, to write medically unnecessary prescriptions for the specialty drugs Youssef wanted. Dr. Faraj wrote the medically unnecessary prescriptions in the names of “patients” who were individuals Youssef, Bazzi, or Dr. Faraj knew, including Medicare beneficiaries, and in the names of Youssef and Bazzi themselves, who were covered by Blue Care Network.
These defendants arranged for the medically unnecessary drugs to be shipped to addresses in southeast Michigan which were under their control. Youssef, Dr. Faraj, and Bazzi caused Medicare and Blue Care Network to be billed for the medically unnecessary specialty medications. Medicare and Blue Care Network then paid for the specialty medications, which Youssef, Bazzi, and others sold and shipped to domestic and foreign businesses at 100% profit.
“These licensed health care professionals are alleged to have defrauded Medicare and private insurers of millions of dollars and lined their own pockets with funds meant to provide essential services to seniors and disabled individuals ,” said U.S. Attorney Ison. “My office is committed to prosecuting any medical professional who attempts to exploit taxpayer-funded programs or private insurers.”
“Medical professionals and others who submit fraudulent claims to Medicare, undermine the solvency of our valuable Federal health care programs,” said Mario M. Pinto, Special Agent in Charge with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG). “HHS-OIG is committed continuing to working with our law enforcement partners to ensure that those alleged of defrauding these programs are held accountable.”
“These defendants allegedly compromised the integrity of the healthcare systems by taking millions of dollars that should have gone to providing quality care to patients with true medical needs,” said Devin J. Kowalski, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Detroit Field Office. “The FBI and our law enforcement partners will not relent in our efforts to investigate and bring to justice anyone who engages in this type of criminal behavior.”
“HSI is committed to working with our partners to identify and investigate criminal activity that defrauds the American taxpayer,” said HSI Detroit Special Agent in Charge Angie M. Salazar. “This type of fraud hurts all members of our community but is especially dangerous to the elderly and those who rely on these programs for treatment of serious illnesses.”
An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. The burden is on the government to prove guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Andrew J. Lievense, and Assistant United States Attorney Jessica Nathan is handling related forfeiture matters. The investigation is being conducted jointly by the FBI, HHS-OIG, HSI, and the DEA.
Owner of Home Health Care Company to Plead Guilty to Tax OffenseRead the Press Release
BOSTON – A Certified Nurse Assistant who owns and operates a home health care company has been charged and has agreed to plead guilty to underreporting his income to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
Patrick S. Kityo, 43, of Newtonville, has agreed to plead guilty to one count of aiding the preparation of a false tax return. A plea hearing has not yet been scheduled by the Court.
According to the charging documents, Kityo owned and operated a home health care company named Every Step Home Care Inc. (Every Step). It is alleged that, during the years 2016 and 2017, Every Step’s total gross receipts were at least $2 million. Kityo, however, allegedly failed to report all of Every Step’s gross receipts to his tax preparer. Instead, it is alleged that Kityo only reported those gross receipts that Kityo deposited into Every Step’s business bank account and did not report those he received via checks written to Kityo personally. As a result, Kityo allegedly caused his tax preparer to underreport nearly $2 million in gross receipts and Kityo allegedly failed to pay at least $306,603 in personal income taxes.
The charge of aiding the preparation of a false tax return provides for a sentence of up to three years in prison, one year 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 Harry Chavis, Jr., Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation in Boston, made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney James R. Drabick of the Securities, Financial & Cyber Fraud Unit is prosecuting the case.
The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Olathe Man Sentenced for Airport Disruption Following Police Chase on Downtown Airport RunwayRead the Press Release
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – An Olathe, Kansas, man who led police officers on a high-speed chase down a runway at the downtown airport was sentenced in federal court today for disrupting airport operations as well as illegally possessing a firearm.
Efren Torres-Rodriguez, 35, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Howard F. Sachs to 78 months in federal prison without parole.
On March 8, 2023, Torres-Rodriguez pleaded guilty to damaging and disrupting an international airport and to being a felon and an unlawful drug user in possession of a firearm.
Kansas City, Mo., police officers were notified of a suspicious car, a Dodge Charger, parked near a gate at the Charles B. Wheeler Downtown Airport on Feb. 1, 2022. When officers arrived, they found Torres-Rodriguez passed out in the driver’s seat of the running car. Officers turned off the car and opened the door, which woke up Torres-Rodriguez.
Officers ordered Torres-Rodriguez out of the car, but he refused. Instead, Torres-Rodriguez started the vehicle and drove away, crashing through the gate to the airfield. Torres-Rodriguez drove at speeds up to 100 miles per hour down the airport runway, with officers in pursuit. Torres-Rodriguez drove on a tarmac on the west side of the airfield. When he attempted to cross over the airstrip into a grassy area, his vehicle became inoperable. Officers removed Torres-Rodriguez from the vehicle and placed him under arrest. Officers found a clear plastic bag in his pants pocket that contained 4.6 grams of methamphetamine.
When officers searched Torres-Rodriguez’s vehicle, they found a Glock .40-caliber semi-automatic handgun with an extended magazine, which were both empty of ammunition, under the driver’s seat. They also found several rounds of ammunition and drug paraphernalia.
Under federal law, it is illegal for anyone who has been convicted of a felony or who is an illegal user of a controlled substance to be in possession of any firearm or ammunition. Torres-Rodriguez has prior felony convictions for possession of a firearm with a prior violent offense and for being a felon in possession of a firearm. Torres-Rodriguez also admitted to using methamphetamine every other day and to smoking marijuana daily since he was 15 years old.
As a result of Torres-Rodriguez’s actions, the Charles B. Wheeler Downtown Airport’s activities were significantly disrupted. For approximately 40 minutes, operations at the airport were closed and planes were not allowed to land or take off. Torres-Rodriguez interfered with the operations at the airport as two aircrafts had delayed departures, one aircraft had a delayed arrival and had to remain airborne for approximately 50 minutes, one aircraft had to cancel its flight and one aircraft did not depart. When Torres-Rodriguez crashed his vehicle through the Downtown Airport’s gate, he destroyed the gate and caused serious damage to the facility’s fence that is designed to keep both trespassers and animals away from the runways. At sentencing, the parties presented evidence that Torres-Rodriguez caused over $23,000 in damage to the airport. The insurance covering the vehicle driven by Torres-Rodriguez paid for all damages to the airport prior to sentencing. Torres-Rodriguez’s actions also served to endanger the safety of the persons utilizing the air navigation facility.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Trey Alford. It was investigated by the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department and the FBI.
Project Safe Neighborhoods
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.
Ohio Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Drug CrimeRead the Press Release
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Tevon O'Shea Vanhorn, also known as "Von," 28, of Columbus, Ohio, pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and fentanyl.
According to court documents and statements made in court, from at least June 2022 to on or about March 2023, Vanhorn obtained methamphetamine and fentanyl and distributed quantities of the controlled substances to several customers at multiple locations within the Southern District of West Virginia. Vanhorn communicated with his customers by cell phone to arrange drug-related transactions, and knew that several of his customers redistributed the methamphetamine and fentanyl he sold them.
On February 21, 2022, Vanhorn attempted to mail a package containing approximately $74,835 from Charleston, West Virginia, to Detroit, Michigan, as part of the drug distribution conspiracy. Law enforcement officers intercepted and seized the package.
Vanhorn is scheduled to be sentenced on January 11, 2024, and faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years and up to life in prison, five years of supervised release, and a $10 million fine.
United States Attorney Will Thompson made the announcement and commended the investigative work of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the U.S. Department of Homeland Security-Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the U.S. Route 119 Drug Task Force, the West Virginia State Police, the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office, and the United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS).
United States District Judge Irene C. Berger presided over the hearing. Assistant United States Attorneys Ryan A. Keefe and J.C. MacCallum are prosecuting the case.
The case is a result of “Operation Into The Woods,” a 10-month investigation of drug trafficking in Kanawha and Boone counties. Vanhorn and several other individuals have been indicted including Toby Lee Graley, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and fentanyl on August 1, 2023 and is awaiting sentencing. Law enforcement seized 120 grams of methamphetamine, four shotguns, and approximately $23,150 from Graley when he was arrested. An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
The investigation was part of the Department of Justice’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF). OCDETF was established in 1982 to conduct comprehensive, multilevel attacks on major drug trafficking and money laundering organizations and is the keystone of the Department of Justice’s drug reduction strategy. Today, OCDETF combines the resources and expertise of its member federal agencies in cooperation with state and local law enforcement. The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt, and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking organizations, transnational criminal organizations, and money laundering organizations that present a significant threat to the public safety, economic, or national security of the United States.
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. 2-23-cr-44.
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North Tonawanda Man Pleads Guilty to Receipt of Child PornographyRead the Press Release
BUFFALO, N.Y. - U.S. Attorney Trini E. Ross announced today that Michael Angstenberger, 48, of North Tonawanda, NY, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara to receipt of child pornography. The charges carry a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison, a maximum of 20 years, and a $250,000 fine.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles M. Kruly, who is handling the case, stated that Angstenberger created and used a Snapchat account with the username “catybug1234,” to communicate with, and obtain sexually explicit images from, minor girls. When doing so, he posed as a minor girl. Angstenberger communicated with minor victims in other states and countries. For example, Angstenberger communicated with a victim located in Kentucky (Victim 1), who was 12 years old. On December 5, 2021, Angstenberger asked Victim 1 to send him sexually explicit photos, which she did. Angstenberger communicated with a second victim located in Arkansas (Victim 2), who was approximately 11-12 years old. Victim 2 also sent sexually explicit photos as Angstenberger’s request.
The plea is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Matthew Miraglia and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
Sentencing is scheduled for December 1, 2023, before Judge Arcara.
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New York Investment Firm CEO Guilty of Defrauding 50+ Investors in Multi-Million Dollar Pre-IPO ScamRead the Press Release
COLUMBUS, Ga. – The CEO of a New York-based venture capital firm pleaded guilty in a wire fraud conspiracy case impacting more than 50 investors.
George Iakovou, 30, of New York, New York, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud on Aug. 8 before U.S. District Judge Clay Land. If convicted, Iakovou faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine. Sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 19.
“George Iakovou defrauded more than 50 people from around the country of millions of dollars, using these stolen funds to buy luxury items and travel in private jets,” said U.S. Attorney Peter D. Leary. “This jet-setting con artist will now be held accountable, thanks to the hard work of the Secret Service, working in conjunction with our office.”
“George Iakovou is another example of how fraudsters are getting more sophisticated with their schemes to steal money,” said Resident Agent in Charge Clint Bush with the U.S. Secret Service’s Albany, Georgia, Resident Office. “Iakovou created a fictious capital firm for the sole purpose of defrauding American citizens. Iakovou then utilized the stolen funds to live a lavish lifestyle, without regard to the victims. Iakovou’s greed will have an everlasting effect on the victims he defrauded. The United States Secret Service will continue to investigate, arrest and support the successful prosecution of the criminals who choose to commit this and other types of financial fraud in our community and around the nation. “
According to court documents, in July 2021, the U.S. Secret Service (USSS) began investigating a pre-IPO (initial public offering) scheme orchestrated by Iakovou, the CEO of Vika Ventures LLC, a boutique venture capital firm headquartered in New York which purported to specialize in pre-IPO investments in various early and late-stage private companies.
Iakovou advertised that Vika had access to buy pre-IPO shares in private companies such as Palantir, Airbnb, SpaceX and Stripe. He claimed that once these private companies went public and the mandatory six-month lockout period expired, Vika would distribute the purchased shares to the investors. In fact, Iakovou had neither access to pre-IPO shares in the advertised companies nor owned the shares at the time of the solicitations. While Iakovou did take the victim-investors’ money, he did not purchase or acquire any of the promised shares. Iakovou established fake email domains, posed as representatives from private equity brokerage firms and created fake bank statements among other tricks to carry out his fraud scheme.
USSS identified more than 50 victim-investors from across the country who provided capital to Vika between Jan. 2020 and Dec. 2021, including two victims in the Middle District of Georgia. A review of bank records for Vika’s investor account showed that identified victim-investors paid Vika approximately $5,958,505 for the purchase of pre-IPO shares of select private companies, but none received their promised shares. Iakovou rerouted the money to several accounts, including personal bank accounts, and used the money for private jet charters, cars, home furnishings, artwork, luxury clothing and accessories. For example, Iakovou spent $135,528 on a 2021 Corvette Stingray and more than $500,000 on luxury watches, including $231,799 on a single Patek Philippe timepiece.
This case is being investigated by the U.S. Secret Service. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) brought a related civil action against Iakovou.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Williams is prosecuting the case.
NCDOC Officer Pleads Guilty in COVID-19 Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
RALEIGH, N.C. – Sean Tracy Dillard, 55, pled guilty today pursuant to a criminal information to theft of government funds for fraudulently submitting North Carolina Housing Opportunities and Prevention of Evictions (NC HOPE) loan applications for emergency rental assistance. As part of his fraud scheme, the defendant, a correctional officer with the North Carolina Department of Corrections (NCDOC), submitted fictitious tenant lease agreements for multiple properties in Hertford County as part of his NC HOPE loan applications. He faces up to 10 years in prison.
On March 27, 2020, Congress enacted the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which was designed to provide emergency financial assistance to millions of Americans who were suffering the economic effects caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. One source of relief provided by the CARES Act was the authorization of $5 billion in Community Development Block Grant (“CDBG”) programs as flexible federal funding to states and localities earmarked to prevent, prepare for, and respond to the coronavirus pandemic. The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”) administers the Community Development Block Grant (“CDBG”) program as a source of flexible federal funding for economic and community development, as well as to direct long-term recovery funding to states and localities in response to disasters and emergencies.
The State of North Carolina’s Office of Recovery and Resiliency (“NCORR”), a division of the North Carolina Department of Public Safety, utilized federal funds made available in the CARES Act to assist North Carolina renters stay in their homes during COVID-19 by preventing evictions and the loss of utility services. The NC HOPE program, utilized an initial $51.5 million allocation of CDBG funds from the CARES Act to provide housing and utility assistance. The State of North Carolina also received CRF funds from the CARES Act, of which $66 million was allocated to pay administrative costs associated with the NC HOPE program.
Michael Easley, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, made the announcement after United States Magistrate Judge Robert B. Jones, Jr. accepted the plea. Sentencing will occur before United States District Judge Louise W. Flanagan later this year. The FBI is leading the investigation, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Ethan Ontjes is prosecuting the case.
Related court documents and information can be found on the website of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina or on PACER.
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Murdaugh Co-Conspirator Cory Fleming Sentenced to Nearly 4 Years in Federal PrisonRead the Press Release
CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA — Cory H. Fleming, 54, of Beaufort, was sentenced to nearly 4 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to a federal conspiracy.
Fleming admitted that from in or around March 2018 until at least October 2020, Fleming conspired with former personal injury attorney Richard Alexander “Alex” Murdaugh to defraud the estate of Murdaugh’s former housekeeper and to obtain money and property from the estate by means of materially false and fraudulent pretenses.
In February 2018, Murdaugh’s housekeeper passed away after a fall at Murdaugh’s home. Murdaugh recommended that the housekeeper’s estate hire Fleming—then a personal injury and criminal defense attorney in Beaufort—to represent them and file a claim against Murdaugh to collect from his homeowner’s insurance policies. Murdaugh’s insurance companies settled the estate’s claim for $505,000 and $3,800,000.
Fleming further admitted that, as part of the scheme, Murdaugh and Fleming conspired to siphon settlement funds, disguised as “prosecution expenses,” for their own personal enrichment. Fleming directed the drafting of checks from the settlement funds held in his trust account to his personal bank account, fraudulently claiming that the funds were to pay for “expenses” related to the estate’s claim against Murdaugh. Fleming knew the funds belonged to the estate, and the payments were not for legitimate legal expenses.
In addition to the scheme Fleming admitted to in his guilty plea, Fleming was held responsible at sentencing for the theft of settlement funds from a client whose son passed away after being rendered a quadriplegic in a car accident. Specifically, Fleming used $8,528.46 of the estate’s funds to issue two checks to pay for a private plane to attend the College World Series, and he wrote a $4,560 check from the estate’s trust account directly to Murdaugh claiming the funds were legitimate expenses. Finally, Fleming used $89,133.44 remaining in the trust account to issue a check for Murdaugh’s benefit rather than properly disbursing the funds to the estate.
“Cory Fleming was trusted by clients who had suffered tragic losses, and he abused that trust for his own personal gain,” said U.S. Attorney Adair F. Boroughs. “His theft of their settlement funds undermines the public’s confidence in our legal system, and we appreciate the partnership of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, South Carolina Attorney General’s Office, and South Carolina Law Enforcement Division in holding him accountable.”
“This sentence sends a clear message that fraudulent financial activities will not be tolerated, and those who attempt to exploit innocent victims to line their own pockets will face severe consequences,” Steve Jensen, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Columbia Field Office said. “The FBI remains dedicated to upholding the law and protecting the interests of those who rely on transparent and honest transactions.”
United States District Judge Richard M. Gergel accepted Fleming’s guilty plea and imposed a 46-month sentence, followed by a 3-year term of court-ordered supervision. As part of the sentence, Fleming agreed to pay $102,221.90 in restitution. He was also ordered to pay a $20,000 fine.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Emily Limehouse, Kathleen Stoughton, and Winston Holliday are prosecuting the case.
The case against Fleming is No. 9:22-cr-394 (D.S.C.). The case against Murdaugh is No. 9:23-cr-396 (D.S.C.).
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Missouri Woman Admits $237,000 in Pandemic FraudsRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – A woman from St. Peters, Missouri on Tuesday admitted fraudulently obtaining a total of $237,000 from two pandemic assistance programs.
Regina Brand, 52, pleaded guilty in front of U.S. District Judge Sarah E. Pitlyk to one felony wire fraud charge. She admitted submitting at least 12 fraudulent applications for rental assistance under the Missouri State Assistance for Housing Relief Program to the Missouri Housing Development Commission between Sept. 1, 2021 and at least June 30, 2022. The program was intended to provide emergency assistance to landlords and renters to prevent a wave of evictions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Brand admitted fraudulently listing “Angels Voices” or “Brand Construction” as the landlords and submitting fraudulent lease agreements to support the applications. Brand received $96,825.
Brand also admitted submitting four fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program loan applications between April 1, 2020 and at least August 25, 2021, again in the name of Angels Voices or Brand Construction. Brand made false representations on the applications, including when listing the average monthly payroll and number of employees employed by the companies. Based on the misrepresentations on the loan applications, PPP lenders wired a total of $140,261 to Brand’s bank accounts.
Brand is scheduled to be sentenced on November 15. The wire fraud charges carry a potential penalty of up to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, or both. She will also be ordered to repay the money.
The case was investigated by the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorney Derek Wiseman is prosecuting the case.
Mexican National Sentenced to 25 Years in Federal Prison for East Texas Drug TraffickingRead the Press Release
SHERMAN, Texas - A Mexican national has been sentenced to 25 years in federal prison for trafficking drugs through the Eastern District of Texas, announced U.S. Attorney Damien M. Diggs today.
Eduardo Fernando Martinez-Gonzalez, 33, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and was sentenced to 300 months in federal prison today by U.S. District Judge Amos L. Mazzant. Martinez-Gonzalez was also sentenced to 240 months in federal prison for conspiracy to launder money. The sentences will run concurrently.
According to information presented in court, in July 2019, federal agents investigating the trafficking of multi-kilogram quantities of cocaine, methamphetamine, and heroin in the Dallas, Lewisville, McKinney, Carrollton, Fort Worth, and Plano, Texas, areas, determined that the drugs were sourced by an individual in Mexico with ties to the Sinaloa Cartel and that the drugs were shipped from Mexico to California and eventually to the greater Dallas area. During the investigation, Eduardo Fernando Martinez-Gonzalez, a/k/a Eduardo Torres-Hernandez, Eduardo Del Valle, Eduardo Del Valle Torres, and Lalo (Martinez-Gonzalez), was identified as a money launderer and illicit drug distributor for the drug trafficking organization in Dallas.
Martinez-Gonzalez was responsible for receiving, counting, and packaging the drug proceeds along with recruiting others and paying their rent to conduct drug trafficking activities at their residences. In one instance, in June 2020, federal agents observed a single axle trailer arrive at a stash house on South Waterview Street in Richardson, where Martinez-Gonzalez was seen unloading the trailer. Past observations indicated trailers would arrive at that location loaded with cocaine and heroin, be off-loaded, and then reloaded with U.S. currency and a “cover load” for delivery to Mexico. The trailers would leave that location and arrive at a location on Townsend Drive in Dallas, where an additional “cover load” was added before leaving for Mexico the following day. Agents followed the driver of the trailer to the Townsend location where it was seized. A search of the trailer revealed two large televisions, a hot water heater, a Louis Vuitton bag, and four boxes of ceramic tile. The bottom of the water heater had been cut out, and seven bundles were taped inside. The bundles contained $774,910 in U.S. currency and approximately 58 grams of an orange, oval, pill.
This effort is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (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 https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.
The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ernest Gonzalez.
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Member of Multi-State Gun Trafficking Scheme Sentenced to Five Years in PrisonRead the Press Release
NEW BERN, N.C. – Shyheim Williams of Williamston, North Carolina, was sentenced today to 60 months in prison for engaging in the business of dealing firearms without a license. Williams, 27, pled guilty to the charges on April 11, 2023. Williams is the last of four codefendants to be sentenced in a gun trafficking scheme in which the organizer, Jacintre Holley, bought over 100 firearms from straw purchasers in North Carolina.
“Gun laws restricting the purchase of firearms by felons are put in place to protect the public,” said U.S. Attorney Easley. “If you illegally purchase a gun for a felon, you will be held accountable. The criminal conduct in this case put guns bought in Eastern North Carolina in the hands of a killer in Connecticut – within 6 days. We and the ATF are relentlessly pursuing violent felons and the gunrunners and straw purchasers who arm them.”
According to documents and other information presented in court, the gun trafficking investigation began when the Middletown, Connecticut, Police Department recovered a Taurus 9mm pistol used in a murder. A trace of the gun’s serial number showed that the firearm had been purchased by codefendant Keshwan Squire at the Smokin' Barrel Gun and Ammo in Raleigh, North Carolina. Surveillance records from the store showed Squire made a phone call from the parking lot after purchasing the firearm. Call records revealed that he called a Connecticut phone number later linked to Jacintre Holley. Records also revealed that Squire and Holley had as a mutual contact a phone number associated with defendant Shyheim Williams and his girlfriend and codefendant Jasnika Craig.
Trace records for Craig showed that she made over 20 firearm purchases in North Carolina since 2020. Craig agreed to a recorded interview and admitted to selling firearms for a premium over market price. She admitted that almost all firearms went to Holley, who she estimated had come from Connecticut every two weeks since December 2020 to buy around seven firearms each time. Williams identified the guns she should purchase and set up the deals with Holley, which took place in Craig’s car in their driveway. In total, Craig estimated that she had sold around 100 firearms to Holley. Holley was arrested on July 31, 2021 and in an interview following his arrest, he confirmed that he bought firearms from Williams and Squire multiple times over the previous several months and sold those firearms in Connecticut.
On February 14, 2023, Craig received a 24-month sentence, and Squire received an 18-month sentence. Each had pled guilty to one count of making a false statement during the purchase of a firearm. On February 24, 2023, the court sentenced Jacintre Holley to a 127-month term of imprisonment after he pled guilty to engaging in the business of dealing firearms without a license, possession with intent to distribute cocaine, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of the drug trafficking crime.
Michael Easley, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Louise W. Flanagan. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) investigated the case, with assistance from the Martin County Sheriff’s Office and the Williamston and Greenville Police Departments. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jake D. Pugh prosecuted.
Related court documents and information can be found on the website of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina or on PACER by searching for Case No. 4:22-cr-0019-FL.
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Man Sentenced for Conning Summer Food Service Program Out of $2.3 MillionRead the Press Release
A Dallas man who scammed the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Summer Food Service Program out of more than $2.3 million was sentenced yesterday to a year and a half in federal prison, announced U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Leigha Simonton.
Michael Anthony Munson, the 47-year-old founder of the Heloise Munson Foundation, was indicted in August 2018 and pleaded guilty in July 2022 to summer food service program fraud. He was sentenced Monday by U.S. District Judge Ada Brown, who is expected to order restitution later this week.
Mr. Munson was charged, convicted, and sentenced under 42 U.S.C. § 1761(o)(1), a statute Congress enacted in 1977 to address fraud in the Summer Food Service Program, a U.S. Department of Agriculture initiative that provides free meals to children in low-income areas when school is not in session.
According to plea papers, Mr. Munson admitted that over the course of seven years, from 2008 to 2014, he knowingly inflated meal counts for summer food sites his foundation serviced and even provided false meal counts for sites it did not actually service.
He further admitted that in response to an inquiry into the legitimacy of these claims, he paid an individual $75,000 who fabricated invoices from a fictitious company, Janus Wholesale Food, Inc., indicating that the foundation had purchased enough food, milk, and juice to provide the number of meals it claimed to have provided.
In October 2013, he testified under oath at an administrative hearing that the Heloise Munson Foundation had purchased food from Janus. He also submitted a fabricated affidavit from the purported Director of Sales for Janus, falsely stating that Janus sold food, milk, and juice to the foundation.
According to court documents, Mr. Munson claimed to have provided more than 2.4 million meals to needy children. In reality, he provided fewer than 1 million meals, pocketing fraudulently-obtained reimbursements for more than 1.4 million meals that were never provided.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture - Office of Inspector General and the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Dallas Field Office conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas Brasher prosecuted the case.
Man Claiming to be with U.S. Army Delta Force Charged with FraudRead the Press Release
AUSTIN – A federal grand jury in Austin returned an indictment today charging a Manor man with wire fraud.
According to court documents, Saint Jovite Youngblood, aka Kota Youngblood, 51, allegedly committed wire fraud against his victims by claiming Mexican drug cartel members were planning to commit violence against them. Youngblood falsely claimed to be part of the elite U.S. Army’s Delta Force and offered protection to his victims from the cartels in exchange for money. Youngblood also represented that funds obtained from his victim “investors” would be paid back with a significant return on the money. Instead, Youngblood allegedly used most of the money on junkets to Las Vegas to gamble in casinos.
Youngblood is charged with two counts of wire fraud and one count of engaging in a monetary transaction in criminally derived property. He was arrested on a sealed complaint on July 31, and had his initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Susan Hightower of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas. Youngblood has remained in custody since his arrest.
If convicted, he faces up to 40 years in prison on each of the wire fraud charges and up to 10 years in prison on the monetary transaction charge. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
U.S. Attorney Jaime Esparza of the Western District of Texas and FBI Special Agent in Charge Oliver E. Rich Jr. made the announcement.
The FBI is investigating the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Daniel D. Guess and Matt Harding are prosecuting the case.
An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
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Man Accused of Role in Scam Targeting Elderly Couple in St. Louis AreaRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – A man appeared in U.S. District Court in St. Louis Tuesday to face a federal criminal complaint accusing him of a role in a scam that tried to steal $88,000 from an elderly Missouri couple with false child pornography claims.
Yu-Chieh Huang, 22, was charged by complaint August 11 in U.S. District Court in St. Louis with a felony charge of wire fraud. Charging documents say that a 78-year-old man trying to access his personal computer on August 9 was greeted with a pop-up message claiming that his computer was infected with a virus. The message instructed him to call a specified telephone number.
When the man and his 76-year-old wife called the number, they were told that their banking information had been compromised because someone had been accessing child pornography on the computer, and that they would have to pay $88,000 to avoid prosecution, the complaint says.
The couple was told to withdraw the money in multiple transactions from multiple branches of their financial institution, then photograph and package the money and await a visitor.
The couple became suspicious after completing the withdrawals, and when Huang arrived at their house on August 10 to collect the money, they refused to pay, the complaint says. After Huang left, the couple called police and met with an officer at their home. They called police again when Huang returned and officers found him at the home and arrested him, the complaint says.
Investigators believe Huang was a courier paid from $500 to $1,000 to pick up cash from scam victims, use a fraudulent Taiwanese passport to deposit cash into a bank account and then transfer the money to others via cashier’s checks, the complaint says. Huang picked up $40,000 from an elderly individual in Colorado and $40,000 from an elderly person in Oregon before traveling to St. Louis, the complaint says.
Court documents say Huang is from Taiwan.
“Criminals who take advantage of elderly individuals, whose income is often fixed, are absolutely appalling,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations Kansas City Taekuk Cho. “These offenders are very organized and utilize a multitude of fear tactics to extort vulnerable people and oftentimes cause undue financial hardship.”
The charge is punishable by up to 20 years in prison, a fine of $250,000, or both prison and a fine.
Charges set forth in a criminal complaint are merely accusations and do not constitute proof of guilt. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty.
The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations. Assistant U.S. Attorney Tracy Berry is prosecuting the case.
Murfreesboro Man Convicted for July 2020 Violent Crime SpreeRead the Press Release
NASHVILLE – Defendant Joshua Hallmon, 27, of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, was convicted today by a federal jury on all 12 counts he faced for a string of violent crimes he committed in Murfreesboro and Franklin, announced United States Attorney Henry C. Leventis for the Middle District of Tennessee.
Hallmon and two co-defendants, Charles Melvin Walker and Walter Lee Williams, were charged by a federal grand jury in May 2021 with multiple counts of Hobbs Act robbery, carjacking, kidnapping, and using a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence. Additionally, Hallmon was charged with being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm. Prior to trial, Walker and Williams both pleaded guilty to all charges against them.
The charges in this case related to a crime spree that spanned from July 6 to July 27, 2020, involving the armed robberies of Twice Daily and Mapco gas stations in Murfreesboro on July 6 and July 23, 2020. Then, on the night of July 26-27, 2020, Hallmon and his co-defendants committed an armed carjacking and kidnapping in Murfreesboro, attempted to commit a second armed carjacking in Franklin, and committed a third armed carjacking and kidnapping in Murfreesboro in which Williams shot the victim in the face.
“As a result of today’s convictions, this violent criminal will be spending over three decades in federal prison,” said United States Attorney Henry C. Leventis. “I commend the outstanding work done in this case by our prosecutors and our state and federal law enforcement partners to protect our community from violent crime.”
Joshua Hallmon faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 34 years, and up to life, in federal prison. Hallmon and his co-defendants will be sentenced by United States District Judge Eli Richardson later this year.
This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives; the Murfreesboro Police Department; the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office; the Smyrna Police Department; the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department; the Franklin Police Department; and the Tennessee Highway Patrol. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Chris Suedekum and Rachel Stephens are prosecuting the case.
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Los Angeles Man Sentenced for Firearm and Drug Trafficking CrimesRead the Press Release
Acting United States Attorney Susan Lehr announced that Robert Culberson, 45, of Los Angeles, California, was sentenced today in federal court in Omaha, Nebraska, for possessing with intent to distribute methamphetamine and possessing a firearm during a drug trafficking crime. Chief United States District Judge Robert F. Rossiter, Jr. sentenced Culberson to 120 months’ imprisonment on the drug charge and a consecutive 60 months’ imprisonment on the firearm charge, for a total sentence of 180 months. There is no parole in the federal system. After his release from prison, he will begin a five-year term of supervised release.
On June 14, 2021, Omaha Police Department (OPD) Officers were conducting surveillance of co-defendant Kashaun Lockett’s residence located on Curtis Avenue in Omaha. OPD Officers arranged a controlled buy from Lockett for methamphetamine. When officers attempted to conduct a traffic stop of Lockett, he fled from police. Simultaneous to Lockett’s flight, Culberson was seen at Lockett’s Curtis Avenue residence. Officers conducting surveillance observed Culberson leave the residence and toss unknown items into the tree line at the back of the property. Lockett’s residence was searched, and officers found approximately 121 grams of methamphetamine.
Culberson and co-defendant Gary Lockett, who was also present outside the Curtis Avenue residence, were detained while officers went to the tree line to investigate. Officers recovered approximately 197 grams of methamphetamine and a Glock pistol from the tree line near where Culberson was seen tossing the items.
Kashaun and Gary Lockett are scheduled for trial on October 2, 2023.
This case was investigated by the Omaha Police Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Lodi Man Sentenced to over Six Years in Prison for Heroin Trafficking ConspiracyRead the Press Release
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Kenneth O’Neil, 49, of Lodi, was sentenced today to six years and 10 months in prison for conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute heroin, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.
According to court documents, between June 7, 2018, and June 28, 2018, O’Neil sold at least 563 grams of heroin to a co-conspirator, who then sold those drugs to an undercover agent.
This case was the product of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration with assistance from the Calaveras County Sheriff’s Office, Homeland Security Investigations, and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Cameron L. Desmond and David W. Spencer prosecuted the case.
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.
Las Vegas Man Sentenced to over 12 Years in Prison for Sex Trafficking Children While Visiting Metro-DetroitRead the Press Release
DETROIT – A Las Vegas man who sex trafficked children in metro-Detroit while visiting the area in December 2020 was sentenced to 12 years and 6 months in prison, United States Attorney Dawn N. Ison announced today.
Ison was joined in the announcement by Acting Special Agent in Charge Devin J. Kowalski, of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Detroit Field Division.
Jquon Wroten, 31, pled guilty to two counts of sex trafficking of a minor in April 2023. Wroten was sentenced today by United States District Judge Bernard A. Friedman.
Law enforcement first began investigating Wroten while attempting to locate two minor females who had run away from the Lansing area in late 2020. A relative of one of the minors contacted law enforcement with information and expressed fears that the minors were being trafficked in the Detroit area. Law enforcement recovered the minors from a motel room in Southfield, Michigan in December 2020 and learned that Wroten had recruited the minors to work for him after meeting them in a local motel while he was in town. Wroten and an adult female associate took the minors to a local beauty supply store and bought items in an effort to make them look older. Wroten then set up a commercial sex date for the minors at a residence in metro-Detroit and drove the minors to the date, where they engaged in commercial sex with multiple men. Wroten took proceeds from the sex trafficking for his own use.
“The sex trafficking of children is a hideous crime that preys on some of our district’s most vulnerable citizens,” said U.S. Attorney Ison. “The court’s sentence today is a just punishment and will prevent the defendant from further victimizing children here or anywhere else.”
“Protecting young people from dangerous predators is a top priority for the FBI in Michigan and across the country,” said Devin J. Kowalski, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the FBI in Michigan. “Mr. Wroten in an example of how manipulative these criminals can be. I commend the work of the special agents, deputies, police officers, and prosecutors who worked to make our children safer by ensuring he remains behind bars for a significant period of time.”
This case was investigated by the FBI Detroit Division, FBI Las Vegas Division, FBI San Francisco Division, SEMTEC (Southwest Michigan Trafficking and Exploitation Crimes), and State of Michigan Children’s Protective Services.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Meghan Sweeney Bean and Eaton Brown.
Luzerne County Tax Preparer Pleads Guilty to Aiding & Assisting in the Filing of False Tax Returns Claiming over Eight Hundred Thousand Dollars of False Education CreditsRead the Press Release
HARRISBURG- The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced today that Leidi M. Paulino, age 46, owner of LP Multiservices, a tax preparation business located in Freeland, PA, pleaded guilty on Monday, August 14, 2023, before United States District Court Judge Christopher C. Conner, to aiding and assisting clients in the preparation and filing of false tax returns.
According to United States Attorney Gerard M. Karam, the criminal Information to which Paulino pleaded guilty alleges that during 2019 and 2020, Paulino assisted clients in preparing and filing tax returns that were materially false in that they sought certain education tax credits, including the American Opportunity Tax Credit, to which the clients – the vast majority of whom were not even college students – were not entitled.
Pursuant to the terms of her plea agreement with the United States, Paulino acknowledged that the monetary loss attributable to her conduct was between $550,000 and $1.5 million dollars, and she agreed to make restitution to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in the amount of $888,377.
These charges stem from an investigation by IRS-Criminal Investigations. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffery St John.
The maximum penalty under federal law for this offense is three years of imprisonment, a term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a fine. A sentence following a finding of guilt is imposed by the Judge after consideration of the applicable federal sentencing statutes and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.
Kanawha County Man Sentenced to 30 Years in Prison for Child Pornography CrimeRead the Press Release
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Billy Eggleston, 50, of St. Albans, was sentenced today to 30 years in prison, to be followed by a lifetime of supervised release, for production of child pornography. Eggleston must also register as a sex offender.
According to court documents and statements made in court, on March 26, 2020, Eggleston engaged in sexually explicit conduct with a prepubescent female for the purpose of photographing such conduct. Eggleston admitted to using his cell phone to take a series of 62 photos of him engaged in sexually explicit conduct with the prepubescent female while she was sleeping. The sexually explicit photos were taken by Eggleston in his bedroom.
Eggleston transferred the images to his desktop computer. Eggleston admitted to possessing nearly 5,000 videos and images of child pornography on his desktop computer and a memory card on October 21, 2022. Eggleston further admitted that one of these images was of an adult male sexually assaulting a minor female between four and seven years old, and another image was of a minor female between two and four years old subjected to sexually explicit conduct by an adult male.
“To prey upon this child, Billy Eggleston gained the trust of her and her family and then betrayed that trust in a most abhorrent manner to fulfill his depraved fantasies,” United States Attorney Will Thompson said. “I commend the investigative work of the United States Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the West Virginia State Police (WVSP) and the St. Albans Police Department, and the assistance provided by the Charleston Area Medical Center (CAMC) Children’s Advocacy Center.”
“Through his vile actions, Mr. Eggleston has proven to be a threat to the law-abiding residents of his community,” said Special Agent in Charge Derek W. Gordon of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Washington, D.C. “The severity of his sentence displays the degree of danger that he presented. We cannot tolerate such a menace to prey upon the good people of our West Virginia neighborhoods. HSI Washington, D.C., along with our federal, state, and local law enforcement partners, will continue to detect, disrupt, and apprehend anyone who means to cause harm to the people that we have sworn to protect.”
United States District Judge Irene C. Berger imposed the sentence. Assistant United States Attorney Julie M. White prosecuted the case.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
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. 2:23-cr-3.
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