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Friday 7 October 2022
Mexican Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Immigration CrimeRead the Press Release
BECKLEY, W.Va. – Flaviano Mateos-Hernandez, 45, a Mexican national, pleaded guilty today to reentry of a removed alien and was remanded to the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for deportation proceedings.
According to court documents and statements made in court, on June 7, 2022, ICE agents arrested Mateos-Hernandez in Pineville after identifying him in the course of an investigation. Mateos-Hernandez admitted that he was a citizen of Mexico in the United States illegally and that he had been previously deported from the United States. Mateos-Hernandez had no identification documents permitting him legal status in the United States.
Fingerprints matched Mateos-Hernandez to a prior administrative removal from the United States, which followed his arrest in West Virginia on June 7, 2016. While in West Virginia, Mateos-Hernandez was twice convicted of misdemeanor DUI in Wyoming County Magistrate Court on May 14, 2015, and April 10, 2016. Mateos-Hernandez also twice agreed to voluntarily return to Mexico following arrests in California on August 15, 2002, and Arizona on April 15, 2009. Mateos-Hernandez never obtained the express consent of the Secretary of U.S. Homeland Security to reapply for admission to the United States, nor did he seek to reenter through other legal means.
United States Attorney Will Thompson made the announcement and commended the investigative work of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
United States District Judge Frank W. Volk presided over the hearing, sentencing Mateos-Hernandez to the time he has served in custody since his June 7, 2022 arrest before remanding him to ICE custody. Assistant United States Attorney Erik S. Goes prosecuted the case.
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. 5:22-cr-128.
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Member of Gang-Based Criminal Enterprise Convicted of Racketeering Conspiracy, Murder, Other Charges Related to Series of Home Invasion RobberiesRead the Press Release
MIAMI – A federal jury in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., has convicted gang member Derrick Slade (aka “D” or “Solja”), 28, with racketeering conspiracy, armed robbery, conspiracy, murder, and other crimes following a rash of violence that plagued Broward County from 2015 to 2021.
According to evidence presented at trial, in November 2015, Slade joined a criminal enterprise that committed armed home invasions, armed robberies, assaults, attempted murders, and murders. Slade was convicted of engaging in a racketeering conspiracy that included the commission of murder. According to evidence presented at trial on November 3, 2015, Slade shot and killed a man during the course of a home invasion robbery in Dania Beach, Fla. The next day, on November 4, 2015, Slade was involved in another home invasion robbery in Lauderhill, Fla., that resulted in the death of a second man. On November 25, 2015, Slade shot a third man and left him for dead during a home invasion robbery in Hollywood, Fla., which was captured on a security camera video. Slade also committed two other burglaries in Hollywood in November 2015. He and his fellow gang members advertised their success on social media to advance the gang’s prestige and reputation.
Slade was convicted of 10 counts, including RICO conspiracy, Hobbs Act conspiracy, conspiracy to use or carry a firearm during a crime of violence, causing the death of a person by using a firearm, three counts of Hobbs Act robbery, and three counts of discharging a firearm during a crime of violence. He now faces a statutory maximum of life imprisonment on five of those charges, plus an additional 30 years for the discharge of a firearm during the three robberies.
Sentencing for Slade is set for December 13, 2022, at 1:15 p.m. in Fort Lauderdale before the Honorable William P. Dimitrouleas.
United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida Juan Antonio Gonzalez and Robert M. DeWitt, Acting Special Agent in Charge, FBI Miami, made the announcement.
FBI Miami investigated this case, with assistance from Broward Sheriff’s Office, Hollywood Police Department, Lauderhill Police Department, Hallandale Beach Police Department, Davie Police Department, and Fort Lauderdale Police Department.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Paul F. Schwartz and Jeffrey N. Kaplan prosecuted the case.
Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case no.: 20-60107-cr-Dimitrouleas(s).
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Member of Baltimore “Triple C” Gang Sentenced to 20 Years in Federal Prison for a Racketeering Conspiracy, Including Multiple Murders and Attempted MurdersRead the Press Release
Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Catherine C. Blake today sentenced Michael Chester, a/k/a Mikkie, age 24, of Baltimore, to 20 years in federal prison for a racketeering conspiracy, including attempted murder and murder, related to his participation in the violent street gang known as Cruddy Conniving Crutballs or Triple C, that operated throughout Baltimore City.
The sentence was announced United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge Toni M. Crosby of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF); and Commissioner Michael Harrison of the Baltimore Police Department.
According to Chester’s plea agreement, Triple C members engaged in a pattern of criminal racketeering activity between 2015 and 2020, including more than a dozen murders and numerous non-fatal shootings, robberies, and carjackings, in order to promote the reputation of Triple C and to command respect from the neighborhood. Other spin-offs of the gang are “SCL” and recently, “TRD.”
As detailed in Chester’s plea agreement, the gang benefitted financially from selling narcotics, murdering drug dealers, taking contract killings, and engaging in street robberies. Triple C members also robbed dice games for cash and occasionally carjacked vehicles. Members divided the proceeds of illegal activities and often contacted each other to commit a robbery if a member needed money.
Triple C members routinely used social media to identify and locate victims and to communicate with each other and share information concerning possible retaliation for violent crimes committed by gang members. Triple C members and associates used at least 14 firearms to commit crimes, often trading with each other or other groups to avoid detection through ballistic evidence. Members limited conversations about criminal plans to other members of Triple C and critiqued each other after committing crimes regarding ways to improve their performance.
Chester admitted that he was present at five murders during which other members of the conspiracy discharged a firearm, including the murder of Devonte Monroe on August 19, 2017, the murder of Carols Jones on August 28, 2017, the murder of Diamante Howard on April 21, 2018, the murder of Darius Mason on July 29, 2018, and the murder of Corey Moseley on December 31, 2018. In addition, Chester was present at an attempted murder on April 4, 2018 and on May 1, 2018 was found with the firearm which is a ballistics match to gun used in that attempted murder. Chester admitted that as part of his activities with Triple C, he distributed controlled substances, including crack cocaine. It was reasonably foreseeable to Chester that members of the conspiracy would commit additional murders, attempted murders, carjackings, and robberies.
This case was made possible by investigative leads generated from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives’ (ATF) National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN). NIBIN is the only national network that allows for the capture and comparison of ballistic evidence to aid in solving and preventing violent crimes involving firearms. NIBIN is a proven investigative and intelligence tool that can link firearms from multiple crime scenes, allowing law enforcement to quickly disrupt shooting cycles. For more information on NIBIN, visit https://www.atf.gov/firearms/national-integrated-ballistic-information-network-nibin.
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 make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) is 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.
United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the ATF and the Baltimore Police Department for their work in this investigation and thanked the FBI and the Office of the Baltimore City State’s Attorney for their assistance in the investigation and prosecution. Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Patricia C. McLane, who prosecuted the case.
For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit www.justice.gov/usao-md and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/project-safe-neighborhoods-psn.
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Maryland United States Attorney Erek L. Barron Announces New Civil Rights Section on the First Anniversary of His Appointment as U.S. AttorneyRead the Press Release
Baltimore, Maryland – On the first anniversary of his appointment as United States Attorney for the District of Maryland, Erek L. Barron, announced that after a year-long assessment of the needs of the office and collaboration with the leadership of both the Civil Division and Criminal Division, the office is establishing the Civil Rights and Special Victims Section. Sarah A. Marquardt and Paul E. Budlow have been appointed as Co-Chiefs of the new Section and Charles D. Austin has been appointed as Deputy Chief.
“This section will be a beacon for protecting civil rights and addressing victim-related crimes requiring specialized skills,” said Erek L. Barron, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland. “Sarah Marquardt, Paul Budlow, and Charles Austin will lead a team of prosecutors, legal professionals, and investigators that represent the office’s best,” said United States Attorney Erek L. Barron.
The Civil Rights and Special Victims Section will be staffed by Assistant United States Attorneys (AUSAs) from the Civil Division and Criminal Division. The Criminal Division’s Major Crimes Section AUSAs and support staff will be incorporated into the new section. The new section will continue Major Crimes’ strong focus on cases involving vulnerable victims and federal criminal civil rights enforcement, including child exploitation, human trafficking, and identity theft. The new section will also enforce a wide spectrum of federal civil rights laws in order to protect the constitutional rights of Marylanders and affirm equal opportunity for all, regardless of one’s race, ethnicity, sex, color, disability, religion, national origin, or sexual orientation. The section’s civil rights work will focus on prosecuting hate crimes, eradicating discrimination in housing, preventing voter suppression, prohibiting discriminatory employment practices by state and local government employers, ensuring equal opportunity for Marylanders with disabilities, and investigating denials of equal protection to students by public schools and institutions of higher learning.
Today’s announcement is the culmination of a year of accomplishments, including the hiring of a diverse group of 19 new Assistant United States Attorneys, the appointment of the most diverse group of supervisors in the history of the Office, and the Office’s selection to be part of two national fraud task forces—the COVID-19 Fraud Strike Force and the Transnational Elder Fraud Task Force. The COVID-19 Strike Force teams will deter, detect, and disrupt pandemic fraud. The task force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by, among other methods, augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts.
As part of the Office’s continuing efforts to protect older adults and to bring perpetrators of fraud schemes to justice, the Transnational Elder Fraud Task Force is dedicated to disrupting and prosecuting foreign-based fraud schemes that target seniors, including “grandparent scams,” romance scams, and advance-fee schemes. The office also has a robust outreach effort to make seniors and their family members aware of how to spot and avoid financial scams.
Reducing violent crime is one of the highest priorities for the office. U.S. Attorney Barron previously announced the formation of the Violent and Organized Crime Section, which combined the Violent Crime and Narcotics Sections into one unit. In addition, U.S. Attorney Barron announced an unprecedented level of state funding to support the USAO’s violent crime reduction efforts, including the hiring of 30 additional personnel. The U.S. Attorney further announced that prosecutors will use all available resources to investigate and prosecute repeat violent offenders—specifically utilizing a federal school zone statute that makes it a crime to possess a gun within 1000 feet of a school and looking at any wrongdoing that meets office priorities, including COVID-19 CARES Act fraud, in particular unemployment insurance fraud, Paycheck Protection Program fraud, Economic Injury Disaster Loan fraud.
Community outreach is another way the office tries to reduce violent crime. The Office’s reentry program has sponsored or assisted with reentry fairs around the state to provide resources and assistance to returning citizens and their families. In addition, the Office has begun outreach to schools and youth programs in an effort to prevent young people from becoming victims or perpetrators of crime.
“I am proud of the accomplishments of the office to date, and I look forward to continuing to do all I can to serve Marylanders—keeping our communities safer through outreach and holding criminals accountable,” said United States Attorney Erek L. Barron.
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Manchester Man Charged with Child Exploitation OffensesRead the Press Release
Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, Matthew B. Millhollin, Special Agent in Charge, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Boston, and Manchester Police Chief William Darby today announced that LUIS ROSADO, 29, of Manchester, was arrested yesterday and charged by federal criminal complaint with child exploitation offenses.
Following his arrest, Rosado appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert A. Richardson in Hartford and was released on a $100,000 bond into home confinement and under GPS monitoring.
As alleged in court documents and statements made in court, in April and June 2022, Rosado used two separate Kik Messenger accounts to upload and distribute 83 video files depicting the sexual abuse of children, including prepubescent children.
The complaint charges Rosado with distribution of child pornography, which carries a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of five years and a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years, and possession of child pornography, which carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years.
U.S. Attorney Avery stressed that a criminal complaint is not evidence of guilt. Charges are only allegations, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
This matter is being investigated by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Connecticut State Police, the Manchester Police Department, and the Connecticut Center for Digital Investigations. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Cummings through U.S. Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood Initiative, which is aimed at protecting children from sexual abuse and exploitation. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
To report cases of child exploitation, please visit www.cybertipline.com.
Man Indicted for Dog-Fighting Violations of the Animal Welfare ActRead the Press Release
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – A federal grand jury in the District of Puerto Rico returned an indictment yesterday charging Antonio Casillas-Montero, a.k.a. Stone City Kennel with conspiracy to violate the Animal Welfare Act.
The United States Department of Agriculture, Office of the Inspector General (USDA OIG) as well as Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations (ICE HSI) are in charge of the investigation with the collaboration of the Humacao Strike Force East; the Puerto Rico Police Bureau Welfare and Protection of Animals (Bienestar y Protección de los Animales) from the Arecibo area; the FBI San Juan Cyber Division; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF); and the Humane Society of the United States.
“Dogfighting for entertainment and profit is the organized and atrocious business of breeding and conditioning dogs to fight each other until one dog kills the other,” said U.S. Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow. “Beyond the needless suffering it inflicts on animals, it exacts a toll on local animal shelters, humane organizations, and people in general. This arrest ends the defendant’s decades-long involvement in this illegal business, and hopefully will deter others who seek to profit from forcing animals to fight to the death.”
“To force dogs to fight, in some occasions to death, is not only a federal crime, it is also cruel and despicable,” said Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Acting Special Agent in Charge Rebecca González-Ramos. “HSI will remain vigilant and will support our law enforcement partners to bring to justice those committing these heinous crimes.”
According to court documents, Casillas and his co-conspirators (including one who has been living in Florida) have operated for over 30 years in Puerto Rico and elsewhere “Stone City Kennel,” which breeds and fights pit-bull type dogs in the United States and internationally. Stone City Kennel has participated in over 150 dog fights in locations that have included Puerto Rico, México, Ecuador, Perú, the Dominican Republic, New Jersey and New York. In 2020, Casillas explained that Stone City is “Me [and] my partner in Florida.” According to Casillas, he does not “pick up” dogs during fights, meaning that he does not remove a losing dog from a fight.
During the course of the conspiracy, Casillas trained dogs in Puerto Rico for fights. This included using steroids on the fighting dogs, including winstrol, metenolone, and sustanon. Casillas also would chain pit-bull type dogs to tread mills to walk or run for miles.
Casillas sometimes sent his dogs outside of the United States to be conditioned for fighting. This included sending dogs to St. Croix and Ecuador. Some of the reasons were, according to Casillas, the risk associated with conditioning the dogs in the United States and that he had friends abroad who worked the dogs well. The Dominican Republic was the location of several dog fights, where Casillas traveled. After one fight in Santo Domingo, he explained that his dog died after he “got hit with bleeder on nose that never stop[ped].” Dog fights could last over an hour.
The defendant sold pit-bull type dogs for animal fighting ventures, including a female “champion” (a dog who has won around three fights) for approximately $20,000. Other dog sales were negotiated for prices ranging from $1,000 to $10,000, with shipment to the continental United States via airplane cargo for $200, in addition to the veterinary and kennel expenses. Casillas encouraged potential buyers to fly to Puerto Rico to pick up the dogs in his possession.
On October 6, 2022, four pit-bull-type dogs chained to stakes in the ground near over-turned barrels were found on property associated with Casillas in Humacao, Puerto Rico.
If convicted, Casillas faces up to five years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
If you have information regarding dog fights or animal cruelty, please call PRPB Office of the Coordinator of Law 154 at (787)793-1234, extensions 3128 and 3131.
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 Charged with Setting Chinatown Spa on Fire with Victim Trapped InsideRead the Press Release
Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, John B. DeVito, Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Division of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (“ATF”), Keechant L. Sewell, the Commissioner of the New York City Police Department (“NYPD”), and Laura Kavanagh, Acting Fire Commissioner for the New York City Fire Department (“FDNY”), announced the unsealing yesterday of a one-count Indictment charging MARIO LUCAS with arson. LUCAS was initially charged by Complaint and arrested on August 8, 2022. LUCAS’s case has been assigned to the Honorable Edgardo Ramos.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “As alleged, Mario Lucas committed a horrific arson of a Manhattan business with a victim trapped inside. Luckily, the victim survived. As reflected by the charge today, this Office is committed to holding individuals who would commit violence in this City accountable for their crimes.”
John B. DeVito, ATF Special Agent in Charge said: “This alleged heinous act of arson is unacceptable. Thankfully, the victim has survived. ATF remains steadfast in our commitment to bring our expertise and resources to investigate and apprehend those who commit violent crimes. We will continue to work alongside our local partners to build safer communities.”
NYPD Commissioner Keechant L. Sewell said: “As alleged, the arson Mario Lucas sparked in June was not just a crime against a single victim in one business, but a violent assault that endangered an entire community and all the first responders who rushed in to help. I commend our NYPD officers for their prompt response in arresting Mr. Lucas and thank them for their outstanding work in this case along with our partners in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, the ATF’s New York Field Division, and the FDNY.”
Acting Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh said: “Intentionally setting a fire is a heinous crime, and doing so while knowing there is a person trapped inside is reprehensible. We are grateful to our Fire Marshals and all law enforcement for quickly apprehending this man and keeping him off our city’s streets.”
According to the allegations in the Indictment unsealed today in Manhattan federal court, the Complaint, and statements made in open Court:[1]
At approximately 4:46 p.m. on June 19, 2022, LUCAS entered a spa located in Chinatown (the “Spa”), in Manhattan, New York. LUCAS then appeared to engage in a conversation with an individual working in the Spa (the “Victim”). At approximately 4:55 p.m., the Victim exited the lobby into the back room of the Spa, and LUCAS remained in the lobby. At approximately 4:56 p.m., LUCAS opened his backpack and pulled out a white plastic bag that appeared to contain a plastic container full of liquid. LUCAS then poured that liquid around the lobby of the Spa. After pouring the liquid, LUCAS took a lighter out of his pocket and lit the liquid on fire. The room then went up in flames.
LUCAS tried to open the front door, but the door would not open. The Victim appears to have still been in the back room at this time.
Video from outside the Spa shows, at approximately 4:59 p.m., smoke and fire within the Spa. A crowd gathered around the Spa on the street, and a man used a bar stool to force open the door. At approximately 5:00 p.m., LUCAS escaped from the Spa and ran down Eldridge Street. Approximately one minute later, the Victim exited the Spa.
Law enforcement was able to track LUCAS’s movements through security camera footage collected from various locations in the vicinity of the Spa. This footage showed that LUCAS removed his hooded sweatshirt and shirt and left them on the street. He also dropped his black backpack. LUCAS appeared to be suffering from severe burns and appeared to be trying to remove his clothing as a result.
At a location approximately two blocks from the Spa, members of the NYPD intercepted LUCAS and placed him in an ambulance. LUCAS provided NYPD with a Guatemalan identification card bearing the name “Mario Lucas.”
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LUCAS, 46, of Guatemala, is charged with arson resulting in injury to another person, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of seven years in prison and a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison.
The maximum and minimum potential sentences in this case are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the judge.
Mr. Williams praised the outstanding investigative work of the ATF, NYPD, and FDNY. Mr. Williams also thanked the United States Marshals Service for their assistance in this case.
The prosecution is being handled by the Office’s Violent & Organized Crime Unit. Assistant United States Attorney Elizabeth A. Espinosa, Adam S. Hobson, and Dominic Gentile are in charge of the prosecution.
The charges contained in the Indictment are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
[1] As the introductory phrase signifies, the entirety of the text of the Indictment and the Complaint, and the description of the Indictment and the Complaint set forth herein, constitute only allegations, and every fact described should be treated as an allegation.
Luzerne County Man Indicted on Computer Crime ChargeRead the Press Release
SCRANTON - The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that John Molinaro, age 28, of Plains Township, Pennsylvania, was indicted by a federal grand jury for intentionally damaging a business’ private computer system.
According to United States Attorney Gerard M. Karam, the indictment alleges that between May 2022 and July 2022, Molinaro used the internet to transmit information which intentionally interrupted the network operations of a Lackawanna County business, resulting in a loss of more than $5,000.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Assistant U.S. Attorney Jenny P. Roberts is prosecuting the case.
The maximum penalty under federal law for this offense is 10 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.
Indictments are only allegations. All persons charged are presumed to be innocent unless and until found guilty in court.
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Lincoln Man Sentenced to 10 Years for Conspiracy to Distribute MethamphetamineRead the Press Release
Acting United States Attorney Steven Russell announced that Chance Devlin Eddings, 30, of Lincoln, Nebraska, was sentenced today in federal court in Lincoln. United States District Judge John M. Gerrard sentenced Eddings to 120 months in prison for conspiracy to distribute/possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine mixture. After serving his sentence, Eddings will be placed on supervised release for 5 years. There is no parole in the federal system.
From October 13, 2018, until June 30, 2021, Eddings conspired with at least nine other individuals to distribute methamphetamine in Nebraska. During that time, Eddings purchased methamphetamine in 3.5 gram to half pound quantities to resell to others, and Eddings sold methamphetamine quantities ranging from 1.75 grams to 2 ounces to at least six others. In all, Eddings purchased and distributed more than 500 grams of methamphetamine within that timeframe.
This case was investigated by the Lincoln Police Department and the Lincoln/Lancaster County Narcotics Task Force.
Liberty Center Electrical Engineer Convicted of Tax EvasionRead the Press Release
TOLEDO – A federal jury convicted a Liberty Center, Ohio man on Oct. 6 of tax evasion after he used a sham trust to help conceal three years of income he earned from his business.
According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, John Everson owned an electrical engineering business. From approximately 2012 through 2015, Everson earned more than $1.3 million in income from the business. He attempted to conceal much of this income and evade personal income taxes he owed to the IRS by instructing his clients to pay a trust that he controlled. Everson used the money in the trust to pay personal expenses and make large cash withdrawals. He also funneled some of the trust funds to other bank accounts held in the names of non-profit organizations that he and several family members controlled.
To further conceal his income and assets from the IRS, Everson put his home and personal airplane in the name of the non-profit organization. In total, Everson’s conduct caused a loss to the U.S. Treasury of more than $500,000.
Everson is scheduled to be sentenced on March 16, 2023, and faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison on each of the three counts of his conviction. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and tother statutory factors.
Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and First Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle M. Baeppler for the Northern District of Ohio made the announcement.
IRS-Criminal Investigation investigated the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jody King of the Northern District of Ohio and Trial Attorney Sarah Ranney of the Justice Department’s Tax Division are prosecuting the case.
Leaders of Poly-Drug Distribution Network Plead Guilty in Federal CourtRead the Press Release
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Salvador Barrera, Jr., 27, and Ricardo Jonathan Gomez, 27, both of Charlotte, appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge David C. Keesler today and pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine, announced Dena J. King, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.
According to filed documents and statements made in court, Barrera and Gomez were leaders of a large drug trafficking organization (DTO) responsible for the distribution of substantial quantities of narcotics in Charlotte and surrounding areas. According to court documents, over the course of the multi-agency investigation into the DTO, law enforcement seized large quantities of narcotics, including approximately 328 kilograms of cocaine, 26 kilograms of fentanyl, and a kilogram of heroin. In addition to the narcotics, law enforcement seized approximately 60 firearms, 18 high capacity magazines, more than $2.4 million in cash drug proceeds, over $300,000 in jewelry, two residences, ten vehicles, a boat, and two tractor-trailers with hidden compartments for smuggling narcotics.
Barrera and Gomez are currently in federal custody. The drug trafficking charge to which they pleaded guilty carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years and a maximum sentence of life in prison, and a fine of up to $10 million. A sentencing date for the defendants has not been set.
In making today’s announcement, U.S. Attorney King commended the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, the Mint Hill Police Department, the Cornelius Police Department, the Pineville Police Department, the Monroe Police Department, the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, the Catawba County Sheriff’s Office, the Cabarrus County Sheriff’s Office, the Salisbury Police Department, the Stanly County Sheriff’s Office, the Albemarle Police Department, the North Carolina State Highway Patrol, the Kansas Highway Patrol, the Anderson County (South Carolina) Sheriff’s Office, and the York County (South Carolina) Drug Enforcement Unit for their coordination and investigation of the case.
This effort is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) operation.
OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles criminal organizations using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.
La Grande Man Faces Federal Charges After Sexually Abusing Two Minors He Met on SnapchatRead the Press Release
PORTLAND, Ore.—A La Grande, Oregon man faces federal charges today after he sexually abused and transported across state lines two minors he met on Snapchat.
Albert Wayne Johnson, 40, has been charged by criminal complaint with coercing and enticing a minor to engage in sexual activity and transporting a minor with the intent to engage in criminal sexual conduct.
According to court documents, on August 8, 2022, deputies from the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office responded to a call of two minors abandoned at Barton Park in Boring, Oregon. The children told the deputies they met Johnson on Snapchat and that he had driven them from Washington State through Idaho and into Oregon and had sexually abused both repeatedly during the trip. Along the way, Johnson stopped at a motel in Othello, Washington and a campground in La Grande where he continued abusing both children. After arriving in Boring, Johnson left the children at a campsite in Barton Park and never returned.
On August 18, 2022, after receiving information about the abduction and alleged abuse that occurred in Othello, detectives from the Othello Police Department contacted the motel in Othello and obtained surveillance footage showing Johnson with the two children.
On August 30, 2022, officers and deputies from the La Grande Police Department, Union County Sheriff’s Office, Union County Probation Department, and Umatilla Tribal Police Department located Johnson at his residence in La Grande and arrested him on an outstanding parole violation warrant.
Johnson made his initial appearance in federal court today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Youlee Yim You. He was ordered detained pending further court proceedings.
Coercing and enticing a minor to engage in sexual activity and transporting a minor with the intent to engage in criminal sexual conduct are both punishable by up to life in prison with 10-year mandatory minimum sentences per count of conviction.
This case was investigated by FBI Portland’s Child Exploitation Task Force (CETF) with assistance from the Othello Police Department, La Grande Police Department, Union County Sheriff’s Office, Union County Probation Department, Umatilla Tribal Police Department, and Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ashley Cadotte is prosecuting the case.
A criminal complaint is only an accusation of a crime, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Anyone who has information about the physical or online exploitation of children are encouraged to call the FBI at (503) 224-4181 or submit a tip online at tips.fbi.gov.
The FBI CETF conducts sexual exploitation investigations, many of them undercover, in coordination with federal, state and local law enforcement agencies. CETF is committed to locating and arresting those who prey on children as well as recovering and assisting victims of sex trafficking and child exploitation.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Justice Department to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
Justice Department Resolves Fair Housing Claims Against Florida Apartment ComplexRead the Press Release
The Justice Department announced that Concord Court at Creative Village Partners LTD., Concord Management LTD., related entities and a property manager have agreed to pay $265,000 to resolve allegations that they discriminated against families with children in violation of the Fair Housing Act by imposing unlawful restrictions on minors at an apartment complex in Orlando, Florida. The complex, Amelia Court at Creative Village, is a Low-Income Housing Tax Credit development with more than 250 market-rate and affordable units.
Under the consent order, which must still be approved by the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, the defendants will pay $260,000 to residents who were harmed by their practices and a civil penalty to the government to vindicate the public interest. The settlement also requires the defendants to implement nondiscrimination policies and provide fair housing training to employees with management or leasing responsibilities at over 80 residential rental properties they own or operate in Florida.
“Families with children should not be subject to discrimination to access or live in affordable housing,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The Justice Department will continue to fight for the fair housing rights of families across the country.”
“Discriminatory practices that deny families equal and fair access to housing and all of their available amenities are inexcusable,” said U.S. Attorney Roger Handberg for the Middle District of Florida. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office will continue to work with our partners to ensure that the nation’s fair housing laws are enforced throughout our district.”
“Families with children should not be denied the full use and enjoyment of their home because of discrimination,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Demetria L. McCain of HUD’s Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity. “HUD appreciates its partnership with the Department of Justice and commends the agency for safeguarding the housing rights of all families.”
Amelia Court at Creative Village includes two apartment towers, Concord Court and Amelia Court. The defendants manage both towers and own Concord Court’s residential units. The government’s complaint, also filed today, alleges that the defendants refused to issue building access devices to minor residents, prohibited children from common areas and amenities unless supervised by adults and misrepresented the availability of units in Concord Court to families with children.
The case arose when ten families who resided at the complex filed complaints with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which determined that the defendants had violated the Fair Housing Act. The matters were referred to the Justice Department, which conducted its own investigation and filed this lawsuit.
Individuals who believe they or someone they know may have been discriminated against at Amelia Court at Creative Village because they have children should send an e-mail to the Justice Department at [email protected] or leave a message at 1-833-591-0291 (press 1 for English or 2 for Spanish, then dial 1 for discrimination in housing and 4 to reach the voicemail box for this case).
The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division enforces the Fair Housing Act, which prohibits discrimination in housing on the basis of familial status, race, color, national origin, religion, sex and disability. More information about the Civil Rights Division and the laws it enforces is available at www.justice.gov/crt. Individuals may report housing discrimination by calling the Justice Department’s Housing Discrimination tip line at 1-833-591-0291, e-mailing the Justice Department at [email protected], or submitting a report online. Individuals may also report such discrimination by contacting HUD at 1-800-669-9777, or by filing a complaint with HUD online.
Justice Department Resolves Fair Housing Claims Against Florida Apartment ComplexRead the Press Release
Orlando, FL – The Justice Department announced that Concord Court at Creative Village Partners LTD., Concord Management LTD., related entities and a property manager have agreed to pay $265,000 to resolve allegations that they discriminated against families with children in violation of the Fair Housing Act by imposing unlawful restrictions on minors at an apartment complex in Orlando, Florida. The complex, Amelia Court at Creative Village, is a Low-Income Housing Tax Credit development with more than 250 market-rate and affordable units.
Under the consent order, which must still be approved by the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, the defendants will pay $260,000 to residents who were harmed by their practices and a civil penalty to the government to vindicate the public interest. The settlement also requires the defendants to implement nondiscrimination policies and provide fair housing training to employees with management or leasing responsibilities at over 80 residential rental properties they own or operate in Florida.
“Families with children should not be subject to discrimination to access or live in affordable housing,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The Justice Department will continue to fight for the fair housing rights of families across the country.”
“Discriminatory practices that deny families equal and fair access to housing and all of their available amenities are inexcusable,” said U.S. Attorney Roger Handberg for the Middle District of Florida. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office will continue to work with our partners to ensure that the nation’s fair housing laws are enforced throughout our district.”
“Families with children should not be denied the full use and enjoyment of their home because of discrimination,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Demetria L. McCain of HUD’s Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity. “HUD appreciates its partnership with the Department of Justice and commends the agency for safeguarding the housing rights of all families.”
Amelia Court at Creative Village includes two apartment towers, Concord Court and Amelia Court. The defendants manage both towers and own Concord Court’s residential units. The government’s complaint, also filed today, alleges that the defendants refused to issue building access devices to minor residents, prohibited children from common areas and amenities unless supervised by adults and misrepresented the availability of units in Concord Court to families with children.
The case arose when ten families who resided at the complex filed complaints with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which determined that the defendants had violated the Fair Housing Act. The matters were referred to the Justice Department, which conducted its own investigation and filed this lawsuit.
Individuals who believe they or someone they know may have been discriminated against at Amelia Court at Creative Village because they have children should send an e-mail to the Justice Department at [email protected] or leave a message at 1-833-591-0291 (press 1 for English or 2 for Spanish, then dial 1 for discrimination in housing and 4 to reach the voicemail box for this case).
The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division enforces the Fair Housing Act, which prohibits discrimination in housing on the basis of familial status, race, color, national origin, religion, sex and disability. More information about the Civil Rights Division and the laws it enforces is available at www.justice.gov/crt. Individuals may report housing discrimination by calling the Justice Department’s Housing Discrimination tip line at 1-833-591-0291, e-mailing the Justice Department at [email protected], or submitting a report online. Individuals may also report such discrimination by contacting HUD at 1-800-669-9777, or by filing a complaint with HUD online.
Jamaica Plain Man Indicted for Bank RobberyRead the Press Release
BOSTON – A Jamaica Plain man has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Boston in connection with the May 20, 2022 robbery of a TD Bank in Cambridge.
Jalonni Shabazz, a/k/a Jalonni Tucker, 40, was indicted on one count of bank robbery. Shabazz was previously charged by criminal complaint on July 15, 2022.
According to the charging documents, On May 2, 2022, at approximately 12:49 p.m., a suspect wearing a royal blue baseball hat and surgical mask entered the TD Bank on Massachusetts Ave. in Cambridge. The suspect handed the teller a note that read, “All of the Money - No Dye packs - or alarms,” and then told the teller, “This is a robbery honey.” The man then fled on foot after taking cash from the teller.
During a search of the area surrounding the bank, investigators located a royal blue baseball hat consistent with that worn by the suspect during the robbery. It is alleged that DNA obtained from the strap and interior headband of the hat belonged to Shabazz. In addition, analysis of the bank’s surveillance footage allegedly identified Shabazz’s features – including his tattoos, hair and clothing – to be consistent with that of the suspect.
At the time of the alleged robbery, Shabazz was on supervised release following a 2017 federal conviction for two bank robberies for which he was sentenced to 54 months in prison.
The charge provides for a maximum sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment and up to three years of supervised release as well as a $250,000 fine. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based on the United States Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
United States Attorney Rachael S. Rollins; Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigations, Boston Division; Colonel Christopher Mason, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police; Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox; and MBTA Transit Police Chief Kenneth Green made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Suzanne Sullivan Jacobus of Rollins’ Major Crimes 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.
Informational: Federal Court arraignmentsRead the Press Release
The U.S. Attorney’s Office announced that the following persons were arraigned or appeared this week before U.S. Magistrate judges on indictments handed down by the Grand Jury or on criminal complaints. The charging documents are merely accusations and defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty:
Appearing in Great Falls before U.S. Magistrate Judge John T. Johnston and pleading not guilty on Oct. 4 was:
Evirso Real Ampude,47, of Box Elder, on charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances, possession with intent to distribute controlled substances and distribution of controlled substances. If convicted of the most serious charge, Ampude faces a mandatory minimum five years to 40 years in prison, a $5 million fine and at least four years of supervised release. Ampude was detained pending further proceedings. The FBI and Blackfeet Law Enforcement Services investigated the case. PACER case reference. 22-72.
Appearing in Billings before U.S. Magistrate Judge Timothy J. Cavan and pleading not guilty on Oct. 6 was:
James Cale Allen, 28, of Lame Deer, on charges of aggravated sexual abuse, strangulation and assault resulting in bodily injury to partner. If convicted of the most serious charge, Allen faces a maximum of life in prison, a $250,000 fine and a mandatory minimum five years of supervised release. Allen was detained pending further proceedings. The FBI and Bureau of Indian Affairs investigated the case. PACER case reference. 22-101.
Appearing on Oct. 4 was:
Julianna Castro, 23, of Billings, on charges of possession with intent to distribute meth and distribution of meth. If convicted of the most serious crime, Castro faces a mandatory minimum five years to 40 years in prison, a $5 million fine and at least four years of supervised release. Castro was released pending further proceedings. The Drug Enforcement Administration investigated the case. PACER case reference. 22-14.
The progress of cases may be monitored through the U.S. District Court Calendar and the PACER system. To establish a PACER account, which provides electronic access to review documents filed in a case, please visit http://www.pacer.gov/register.html. To access the District Court’s calendar, please visit https://ecf.mtd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/PublicCalendar.pl.
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Graham, Washington, man pleads guilty to tax fraud and aiding and assisting with false tax returnsRead the Press Release
Tacoma – A 53-year-old resident of Graham, Washington, pleaded guilty yesterday in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to tax fraud and aiding and assisting with false tax returns, announced U.S. Attorney Nick Brown. Philippe Mbowamba faces up to three years in prison and a $250,000 fine when sentenced by U.S. District Judge Benjamin H. Settle on January 9, 2023. Prosecutors have agreed to recommend no more than six months in prison with a restitution obligation for Mbowamba of $141,392.
According to the plea agreement, between 2012 and 2019, Mbowamba operated a tax preparation business. An analysis of the returns Mbowamba filed revealed that he had falsely claimed deductions and tax credits on behalf of many of his clients. Most of the clients were immigrants from Africa who were referred to Mbowamba by other members of the immigrant community. Mbowamba, a naturalized U.S. citizen, had originally immigrated from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The immigrants trusted Mbowamba and were unaware of the false information on their tax returns.
In all, the Internal Revenue Service: Criminal Investigation analysis found 22 tax returns where Mbowamba had falsified the credits and deductions.
In addition to false returns for other people, Mbowamba falsified his own return, failing to report more than $56,000 in income for tax year 2014. The tax loss on that one return was $26,531. In total from his own and others’ tax returns the tax loss was $141,392.
Under the terms of the plea agreement, the IRS may still level additional civil tax, penalties, and/or interest. Mbowamba has agreed to accept a permanent injunction, barring him from preparing tax returns for anyone other than himself.
“’If you’re not cheating, you’re not trying,’ definitely does not apply when it comes to taxes,” said Special Agent in Charge Bret Kressin, IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), Seattle Field Office. “Unfortunately, Mr. Mbowamba decided to learn this lesson the hard way by deliberately cheating on his own tax return as well as by falsifying the returns of his clients. While everyone enjoys the satisfaction of maximizing their tax refund, no one is entitled to cheat, lie, and defraud in order to get more than they are entitled to.”
The case was investigated by Internal Revenue Service: Criminal Investigation (IRS:CI).
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Zachery Dillon.
Georgia Man Going to Prison for His Role in Cocaine Conspiracy Stretching from El Paso, Texas to BuffaloRead the Press Release
CONTACT: Barbara Burns
PHONE: (716) 843-5817
FAX #: (716) 551-3051BUFFALO, N.Y. -- U.S. Attorney Trini E. Ross announced today that Adrian Grier, 47, of Jackson, Georgia, who was convicted of conspiring to possess with intent to distribute, and distributing, 500 grams or more of cocaine, was sentenced to serve 168 months in prison by U.S. District Judge John L. Sinatra, Jr.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael J. Adler and Seth T. Molisani, who handled the case, stated that between October 2017 and December 7, 2018, Grier conspired with 11 others to sell cocaine. One of Grier’s co-defendants brokered bulk quantity cocaine to multiple areas in the country including Buffalo, Kentucky, and Georgia. On two occasions, Grier coordinated trips to Kentucky to acquire kilograms of cocaine and was intercepted discussing plans to increase the quantity of cocaine he could obtain in Georgia.
The sentencing is the result of an investigation by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations, under the direction of Acting Special Agent-in-Charge Matthew Scarpino; the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Stephen Belongia; the New York State Police, under the direction of Major Eugene Staniszewski; the Erie County Sheriff’s Department, under the direction of Sheriff John Garcia; and Customs and Border Protection, Air and Marine Unit, under the direction of Brian Manaher, Director, Marine Operations. Additional assistance was provided by the New York National Guard. Additional assistance was provided by HSI-Louisville; the Kentucky State Police; the Louisville Metro Police; and the Greater Hardin County Drug Task Force.
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Fresno Woman Pleaded Guilty to Two Separate Identity Theft-Related Fraud SchemesRead the Press Release
FRESNO, Calif. — Sarah Jo Sumpter, 30, of Fresno, pleaded guilty today to one count of mail fraud, one count of bank fraud, and one count of aggravated identity theft, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.
According to court documents, between November 2019 and January 2020, Sumpter stole mail from a number of locations in California and used the stolen mail to commit multiple identity theft-related fraud schemes. One of these schemes involved Sumpter stealing a victim’s driver’s license and impersonating the victim in order to purchase a vehicle. Another scheme involved Sumpter depositing stolen checks into victim accounts and then withdrawing the money from the accounts without the victim’s consent.
This case is the product of an investigation by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Madera County Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alexandre Dempsey and Henry Carbajal are prosecuting the case.
Sumpter is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Jennifer L. Thurston on Jan. 20, 2023. Sumpter faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for the mail fraud, 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine for the bank fraud, and a mandatory two years in prison consecutive to any other sentence for the aggravated identity theft. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.
Fresno Man Pleads Guilty to Distributing Fentanyl Pills and Possessing a Firearm in Furtherance of Drug TraffickingRead the Press Release
FRESNO, Calif. — Andres Nunez, 25, of Fresno, pleaded guilty today to distributing fentanyl to a person under 21 years old and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.
According to court documents, in February 2021, Nunez delivered counterfeit M30 pills, laced with fentanyl, to a juvenile. A search warrant was later executed at Nunez’s residence. During the search, law enforcement officers found several firearms, including an automatic handgun, as well as 4 pounds of marijuana that Nunez possessed with intent to distribute.
This case is the product of an investigation by FORT, a multi-agency team composed of Homeland Security Investigations, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Fresno Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin J. Gilio is prosecuting the case.
Nunez is set for sentencing on Jan. 31, 2023, by U.S. District Judge Jennifer L. Thurston. Nunez faces a mandatory minimum sentence of six years in prison, up to a maximum sentence of life in prison, and a fine up to $2 million. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.
This case is part of Operation Synthetic Opioid Surge (S.O.S.) a program designed to reduce the supply of deadly synthetic opioids in high impact areas as well as identifying wholesale distribution networks and international and domestic suppliers. In July 2018, the Justice Department announced the creation of S.O.S., which is being implemented in the Eastern District of California and nine other federal districts.
Four Luzerne County Men Indicted on Drug Trafficking ChargesRead the Press Release
SCRANTON- The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Gerinardo Rivera, a/k/a “Gerry, age 52, of Plains, Pennsylvania, Ramon Severino Fernandez, a/k/a “Yuca”, age 40, of Kingston, Pennsylvania, Andrew Pope, age 44, of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania and Kevin Davis, age 27, of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, were indicted by a federal grand jury on drug trafficking charges.
According to United States Attorney Gerard M. Karam, the indictment alleges that between May 2021 and April 2022 in Luzerne County, Rivera, Fernandez, Pope and Davis conspired to distribute and possess with intent to distribute fentanyl, methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana. Rivera, Fernandez and Davis are also charged with possession with intent to distribute over 400 grams of fentanyl and over 500 grams of methamphetamine on April 22, 2022. Rivera and Fernandez are also charged with distributing quantities of methamphetamine and fentanyl on various dates between December 2021 and March 2022. The indictment also alleges that between January 2022 and April 2022, Davis maintained a residence on North Meade Street in Wilkes-Barre for purposes of manufacturing, storing and distributing drugs.
“In addition to a substantial quantity of methamphetamine and other drugs, these defendants are charged with trafficking enough fentanyl to supply more than 16,000 doses on the streets of Wilkes-Barre and other communities in our district, and each dose is a potential overdose death waiting to happen,” said United States Attorney Gerald M. Karam. “This indictment is the product of an ongoing partnership between state and federal law enforcement agencies. With this kind of joint approach, we can bring to bear all available resources to combat drug trafficking in our communities. With the opioid epidemic still raging, and Pennsylvanians still dying of drug overdoses at alarming rates, we will not let up in our efforts to stop this wave of illegal drugs from coming into our state.”
“Today’s indictment holds these defendants accountable for their role in trafficking dangerous drugs into our communities and fueling an epidemic that claims the lives of 14 Pennsylvanians every day. I am grateful for the work of our law enforcement partners in getting drug dealers off our streets and helping to keep our communities safe,” stated Josh Shapiro, Pennsylvania Attorney General.
The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General Bureau of Narcotic Investigations, and the Luzerne County Drug Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jenny P. Roberts and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle Hardik are prosecuting the case.
This case was brought as part of a district wide initiative to combat the nationwide epidemic regarding the use and distribution of heroin. Led by the United States Attorney’s Office, the Heroin Initiative targets heroin traffickers operating in the Middle District of Pennsylvania and is part of a coordinated effort among federal, state and local law enforcement agencies to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who commit heroin related offenses.]
The maximum penalty under federal law for this offense is life 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.
Indictments are only allegations. All persons charged are presumed to be innocent unless and until found guilty in court.
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Fort Pierce Federal Judge Orders Prison Time for South Florida Methamphetamine DealersRead the Press Release
MIAMI – Three men from the St. Lucie County and Polk County area, have been sentenced to federal prison terms for trafficking methamphetamine. The men were prosecuted as part of a long-term investigation that led to the seizure of approximately 10 kilograms of methamphetamine, 26 firearms (including several semi-automatic rifles), and a bulletproof vest.
Lance Ratterree, 44, was sentenced on October 7, by U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon, to 130 months’ imprisonment after being convicted of distribution of 50 grams or more of a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine, and possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine.
Kevin Tergliafera, 42, was sentenced on September 16, by Judge Cannon, to 90 months’ imprisonment after being convicted of conspiracy to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine.
Edwin Fernando Fernandez, Jr., 53, was sentenced on September 16, by Judge Cannon, to 56 months’ imprisonment after being convicted of conspiracy to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine.
Juan Antonio Gonzalez, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida; Deanne L. Reuter, Special Agent in Charge, DEA Miami; Robert M. DeWitt, Acting Special Agent in Charge, FBI Miami; Christopher A. Robinson, Special Agent in Charge, Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Miami; St. Lucie County Sheriff Ken Mascara; and Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd announced the sentences.
DEA Miami, FBI Miami, ATF Miami, St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office, and Polk County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael D. Porter prosecuted the case.
The prosecution was part of Operation Blown Gasket, which is a result of the ongoing efforts by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), a partnership between federal, state and local law enforcement agencies. The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt, and dismantle the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, and other priority transnational criminal organizations that threaten the citizens of the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence driven, multi-agency approach to combat transnational organized crime. The OCDETF program facilitates complex, joint operations by focusing its partner agencies on priority targets, by managing and coordinating multi-agency efforts, and by leveraging intelligence across multiple investigative platforms.
Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 22-cr-14013.
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Former Tyngsborough Police Officer Pleads Guilty to National Firearms Act Violations and Bank FraudRead the Press Release
BOSTON – A former Tyngsborough police officer pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court in Boston to bank fraud and violations of the National Firearms Act (NFA).
Daniel Whitman, 37, of Salisbury, pleaded guilty to one count of bank fraud conspiracy; two counts of bank fraud; two counts of making false statements to a bank; one count of possession of an unregistered firearm; one count of conspiracy to violate provisions of the NFA; one count of making a firearm in violation of the NFA; and one count of transferring a firearm in violation of the NFA. U.S. District Court Judge Patti B. Saris scheduled sentencing for Jan. 27, 2023. Whitman was arrested and charged in January 2021 and subsequently indicted by a federal grand jury in June 2021.
Whitman was a police officer with the Tyngsborough Police Department and was the owner and principal manager of Hitman Firearms, LLC, a retail gun shop in Tyngsborough. Whitman and co-conspirator Bin Lu sought to build a large indoor shooting range, which would serve regional and international customers, and offer shooting clinics and other services. Whitman and Lu brought in a Chinese investor, who contributed several million dollars to the project. However, in applying for loans from federally insured financial institutions, Whitman hid the true source of their initial funding from the banks and filed false documents in connection with their loan applications.
In addition, Whitman knowingly made, possessed and transferred firearms that had been modified by the addition of stocks and short barrels, resulting in their classification as short-barreled rifles (SBR) under the NFA. These SBRs were not properly registered in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record as required by the NFA, nor did Whitman pay the applicable taxes or fulfill other requirements under the NFA.
In June 2021, Lu pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and one count of possession of an unregistered firearm. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 13, 2022.
The bank fraud charges provide for a sentence of up to 30 years in prison, up to five years of supervised release and a fine of $1 million, or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater. The NFA charges provide for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release and a fine of $10,000. 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.
United States Attorney Rachael S. Rollins; Matthew B. Millhollin, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in New England; Jonathan Davidson, Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service, Boston Field Office; Ketty Larco-Ward, Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service in Boston; James Ferguson, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, Boston Field Division; and Joleen D. Simpson, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations in Boston made the announcement. The Tyngsborough and Westford Police Departments provided special assistance in this case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Eugenia M. Carris, Christine J. Wichers and Evan D. Panich of Rollins’ Criminal Division are prosecuting the case.
Former San Bernardino County Planning Commissioner Agrees to Plead Guilty to Bribery Charge for Corrupt Cannabis Permit SchemeRead the Press Release
INFORMATION (Chavez) PLEA AGREEMENT (Chavez) PLEA AGREEMENT (Pacheco)LOS ANGELES – A former San Bernardino County planning commissioner has agreed to plead guilty to a federal criminal charge for funneling bribes through his company to a corrupt Baldwin Park politician in exchange for the politician’s votes and influence over the city’s cannabis permitting process, the Justice Department announced today.
Gabriel Chavez, 65, of Upland, agreed to plead guilty to a one-count criminal information charging him with bribery. Both the information and Chavez’s plea agreement were filed today in United States District Court, and Chavez is expected to enter a guilty plea in the coming weeks.
The politician who solicited the bribes – former Baldwin Park City Councilmember Ricardo Pacheco – pleaded guilty in June 2020 to a federal bribery charge. Federal prosecutors today also unsealed additional portions of Pacheco’s plea agreement in which he admits to bribery schemes involving Chavez and other individuals.
Pacheco was first elected to the Baldwin Park City Council in 1997 and served as mayor pro-tem in 2018. He resigned from the city council in June 2021 and is awaiting sentencing.
Both Chavez and Pacheco have signed plea agreements in which they have agreed to cooperate in the government’s ongoing investigation.
According to Chavez’s plea agreement, in June 2017, Baldwin Park began permitting the cultivation, sale and manufacturing of marijuana within its city limits. Soon afterward, Pacheco decided to solicit bribe payments from businesses seeking marijuana development agreements and related permits in the city. In exchange for the illicit payments, Pacheco agreed to use his position in city government to assist the companies with obtaining marijuana permits.
Chavez agreed to act as an intermediary to funnel those bribes to Pacheco by using his Claremont-based internet marketing company, Market Share Media Agency. In exchange for the bribes, Pacheco agreed to vote and use his influence over the city’s permitting process to secure marijuana permits for two companies, identified in court documents as “Marijuana Company 3” and “Marijuana Company 4.”
Pacheco and Chavez agreed that Pacheco would get 60% of the companies’ bribe money while Chavez would retain the remainder as payment primarily for facilitating the bribes.
Chavez obtained bribe payments to pass to Pacheco from an individual identified in court papers as “Person 14,” another public official, who was helping Marijuana Company 4 obtain its marijuana permit. To conceal the true nature of the payments, the bribes Chavez accepted were disguised as consulting payments from Person 14’s consulting company to Market Share Media Agency.
From August 2017 to March 2018, Chavez received at least $125,000 from Marijuana Company 3 and at least $45,000 on behalf of Marijuana Company 4, none of which he reported to the IRS as personal income or as his company’s revenue. Chavez paid Pacheco between $80,000 and $93,000 in cash, out of at least $170,000 collected from both companies.
On multiple occasions, Chavez used coded language in text messages to tell Pacheco that he had cash bribes to pass to him. For example, in January 2018, Chavez sent Pacheco a text message stating, “I’m planning to bring all the documents…,” by which Chavez meant he planned to bring Pacheco cash bribes.
Per Chavez’s agreement with Pacheco, the cash payments were in exchange for Pacheo’s votes on the two companies’ marijuana permits and Pacheco’s help securing the necessary votes from other members of the Baldwin Park City Council.
Pacheco performed his end of the bargain, voting in favor of Marijuana Company 3 and Marijuana Company 4’s cannabis permits, first in December 2017 and later in May 2018.
Chavez further admitted in his plea agreement that Market Share Media Agency won a no-bid, $14,500 contract from the City of Huntington Park signed by Person 14. The no-bid contract represented, in part, further compensation for Chavez in his efforts facilitating the bribe to Pacheco to secure the marijuana permit for Marijuana Company 4 in Baldwin Park. To further secure this permit, Person 14 gave Chavez a $5,000 check made payable to the church associated with the school where Pacheco’s child attended.
Chavez was appointed to the San Bernardino County Planning Commission in June 2018 but resigned in November 2018 after the FBI executed a search warrant at his home.
The FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation are investigating this matter.
Any member of the public who has information related to this or any other public corruption matter in Los Angeles County is encouraged to send information to the FBI’s tip line at tips.fbi.gov or to contact the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office at (310) 477-6565.
Assistant United States Attorneys Thomas F. Rybarczyk and Lindsey Greer Dotson of the Public Corruption and Civil Rights Section are prosecuting this case.
Former Morris Resident Sentenced to 5 Years in Federal Prison for Child Exploitation OffenseRead the Press Release
Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that KEVIN CURLEY, 41, formerly of Morris, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton in New Haven 60 months of imprisonment, followed by five years of supervised release, for a child exploitation offense.
According to court documents and statements made in court, “Tor,” which is an acronym for “The Onion Router,” is a worldwide network of internet-connected computers that is designed to conceal the true IP addresses of the computers on the network and the identities of the network’s users. In 2020, HSI began investigating Curley for his involvement in an online community of individuals who sent and received child pornography images and videos via a hidden service website that operated on the Tor network. On August 5, 2020, investigators conducted a court-authorized search of Curley’s former residence in Morris and seized Curley’s desktop computer. Analysis of the seized computer revealed more than one hundred images and videos depicting the sexual abuse of children.
Curley was arrested on a federal criminal complaint on October 8, 2020. On May 25, 2022, he pleaded guilty to receipt of child pornography.
Curley, who is released on a $150,000 bond and residing in Naugatuck, is required to report to prison on November 30.
This matter was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lauren C. Clark through the U.S. Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood Initiative, which is aimed at protecting children from sexual abuse and exploitation. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
To report cases of child exploitation, please visit www.cybertipline.com.
Former Louisville, Kentucky, Corrections Officer Convicted of Using Excessive ForceRead the Press Release
A federal jury in Louisville, Kentucky, found Darrell Taylor, 32, a former officer with the Louisville Metro Department of Corrections (LMDC), guilty of having used unlawful force against a pretrial detainee.
Evidence presented at trial included a video showing the defendant’s assault of the detainee. On the video, the defendant can be seen grabbing the detainee and throwing him to the ground, and then punching the detainee repeatedly in the face and head until he appears to lose consciousness. The officer then lifts the detainee’s limp body and slams him face-first into the ground. At trial, the director of LMDC testified that the force depicted on the video was inconsistent with training provided to every LMDC officer.
The detainee, identified in charging documents only as B.R., did not testify. However, evidence at trial revealed that he suffered serious injury, including a broken and displaced jaw.
“Every person in our nation’s jails and prisons has the right to be free from excessive force by corrections officers,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.“ With its verdict, the jury makes clear that corrections officers will be held accountable for beating and abusing the people in their custody.”
“I commend the FBI for its investigation of this matter and the prosecutors for their outstanding presentation of the case at trial,” said U.S. Attorney Michael A. Bennett for the Western District of Kentucky. “We will continue to aggressively investigate and prosecute the unlawful use of force by those charged with providing a safe environment for offenders in their custody.”
“Taylor violated the trust placed in him as a Corrections Officer when he violently attacked B.H. Criminal behavior such as this must be punished,” said Special Agent in Charge Jodi Cohen for the FBI Louisville Field Office. “It is a fundamental part of the FBI's mission to protect the civil rights of all people, including those who are incarcerated, and we will continue to work with our partners to seek justice.”
The defendant will be sentenced on Jan. 25, 2023. The charge on which he was convicted carries a maximum sentence of 10 years of imprisonment.
Assistant Attorney General Clarke, U.S. Attorney Bennett and Special Agent in Charge Cohen made the announcement.
The FBI Louisville Field Office investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda Gregory for the Western District of Kentucky and Trial Attorney Andrew Manns of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division prosecuted the case.
Former Louisville, Kentucky, Corrections Officer Convicted of Using Excessive ForceRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON – A federal jury in Louisville, Kentucky, found Darrell Taylor, 32, a former officer with the Louisville Metro Department of Corrections (LMDC), guilty of having used unlawful force against a pretrial detainee.
Evidence presented at trial included a video showing the defendant’s assault of the detainee. On the video, the defendant can be seen grabbing the detainee and throwing him to the ground, and then punching the detainee repeatedly in the face and head until he appears to lose consciousness. The officer then lifts the detainee’s limp body and slams him face-first into the ground. At trial, the director of LMDC testified that the force depicted on the video was inconsistent with training provided to every LMDC officer.
The detainee, identified in charging documents only as B.R., did not testify. However, evidence at trial revealed that he suffered serious injury, including a broken and displaced jaw.
“Every person in our nation’s jails and prisons has the right to be free from excessive force by corrections officers,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.“ With its verdict, the jury makes clear that corrections officers will be held accountable for beating and abusing the people in their custody.”
“I commend the FBI for its investigation of this matter and the prosecutors for their outstanding presentation of the case at trial,” said U.S. Attorney Michael A. Bennett for the Western District of Kentucky. “We will continue to aggressively investigate and prosecute the unlawful use of force by those charged with providing a safe environment for offenders in their custody.”
“Taylor violated the trust placed in him as a Corrections Officer when he violently attacked B.H. Criminal behavior such as this must be punished,” said Special Agent in Charge Jodi Cohen for the FBI Louisville Field Office. “It is a fundamental part of the FBI's mission to protect the civil rights of all people, including those who are incarcerated, and we will continue to work with our partners to seek justice.”
The defendant will be sentenced on Jan. 25, 2023. The charge on which he was convicted carries a maximum sentence of 10 years of imprisonment.
Assistant Attorney General Clarke, U.S. Attorney Bennett and Special Agent in Charge Cohen made the announcement.
The FBI Louisville Field Office investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda Gregory for the Western District of Kentucky and Trial Attorney Andrew Manns of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division prosecuted the case.
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Former FBI Special Agent and D.C. Real Estate Developer Found Guilty of BriberyRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON –A former FBI agent and a real estate developer were found guilty by a jury today of federal bribery and conspiracy charges.
The former agent, David Paitsel, 41, and Brian Bailey, 52, a real estate developer formerly based in Washington, D.C., were found guilty following a trial in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
The verdict was announced by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, Wayne A. Jacobs, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office’s Criminal Division, and Daniel W. Lucas, Inspector General for the District of Columbia.
A sentencing date has not yet been set.
Bailey, of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, was found guilty of two counts of bribery and two counts of conspiracy. First, he was found guilty of giving thousands of dollars in bribes to a program specialist with the District of Columbia Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) in exchange for confidential, un-redacted Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA) offer of sale notices.
TOPA provides tenants living in the District of Columbia with the right to purchase their residence should the owner decide to sell the property. Under TOPA, tenants can re-assign their right to purchase to a third party. TOPA requires the owner (seller) to provide the District of Columbia Department of Housing and Community Development with offer of sale notices before the proposed real estate transaction. The offer of sale notices include, among other things, information not released to the public, such as the names of tenants residing at the property.
As a second part of the scheme, Paitsel and Bailey were both found guilty of one count of bribery and one count of conspiracy. Specifically, Bailey paid Paitsel bribes to look up the contact information of the tenants holding TOPA rights, which he did using a database he had access to as an FBI Agent.
The District of Columbia government employee, Dawne Dorsey, 40, pleaded guilty in June 2019 to a federal bribery charge for related conduct with Bailey.
This case was investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office and the District of Columbia Office of the Inspector General.
The trial of the case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Elizabeth Aloi and John Borchert, with assistance from Paralegal Specialists Lisa Abbe and Quiana Dunn-Gordon of the Fraud, Public Corruption, and Civil Rights Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.
Foreign medical student found guilty in home health fraud schemeRead the Press Release
HOUSTON – A federal jury in Houston has convicted a 65-year-old Houston resident for conspiracy to commit health care fraud, announced U.S. Attorney Jennifer B. Lowery.
The jury deliberated for approximately three hours before convicting Abudul Audu Azia Ozigi following a three-day trial
At trial, co-conspirator Margaret Arise testified that she owned numerous home health agencies in the Houston Area. She admitted she hired Ozigi to act in the role of a physician to see patients in their homes.
Ozigi did not have a license to practice medicine in the United States and was also not under the supervision of a physician when he treated patients.
Arise further testified Ozigi visited patients and qualified them for home health, when in fact, they did not need services. In addition, recruiters were paid to provide patient information to bill them for home health services regardless of whether they needed care.
Arise, 63, Missouri City, was previously convicted and is currently pending sentencing.
At trial, Ozigi attempted to convince the jury he had no knowledge of fraud and did not have the intent to defraud Medicare. He testified that he was merely seeing patients for Arise, despite not having any medical license in the United States and without being supervised by a physician.
The jury did not believe defense claims and found Ozigi guilty as charged.
U.S. District Judge David Hittner presided over trial and will set sentenced at a later date. At that time, Ozigi faces up to 10 years in prison and a possible $250,000 fine.
Previously released on bond, Ozigi was taken into custody following the conviction today where he will remain pending that hearing.
The Department of Health and Human Services – Office of Inspector General, Texas Medicaid Fraud Control Unit and Southwest UPIC Qlarant and the FBI conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Tina Ansari and Grace Murphy prosecuted the case with assistance from paralegal Judith Cardona.
Florida Man Charged with Wire Fraud Scheme to Defraud Former Employer in New JerseyRead the Press Release
NEWARK, N.J. – A former New Jersey resident was charged with engaging in a fraudulent scheme to misappropriate more than approximately $430,000 belonging to his former New Jersey employer, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced today.
Abdelrahman Ahmed-Elkilani, 27, of Miami, Florida, is charged by complaint with two counts of wire fraud. He surrendered to the FBI in Newark yesterday and is scheduled to appear this afternoon by videoconference before U.S. Magistrate Judge Edward S. Kiel.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
From January 2017 through July 2019, Ahmed-Elkilani misappropriated more than $430,000 in funds belonging to his former employer by taking advantage of his role as a marketing manager for the company and his access to other employees’ operator codes, as well as the company’s membership accounts to create and execute multiple false transactions. These transactions enabled Ahmed-Elkilani to misappropriate funds for his own personal use and benefit.
Ahmed-Elkilani misappropriated $417,075in special order merchandise deposits held in the company’s deposit account and caused approximately $275,000 of those funds to be transferred to his personal credit or debit cards. He also misappropriated $13,674 in additional company funds through other fraudulent methods.
Each charge of wire fraud carries a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000, or twice the gross amount of gain or loss from the offense, whichever is greatest.
U.S. Attorney Sellinger credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge James E. Dennehy in Newark, with the investigation leading to the charges.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer S. Kozar of the Economic Crimes Unit in Newark.
The charges and allegations contained in the complaint are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Federal Grand Jury A Indictments Announced-October 2022Read the Press Release
United States Attorney Clint Johnson today announced the results of the October 2022 Federal Grand Jury A.
The following individuals have been charged with violations of United States law in indictments returned by the Grand Jury. The return of an indictment is a method of informing a defendant of alleged violations of federal law, which must be proven in a court of law beyond a reasonable doubt to overcome a defendant’s presumption of innocence.
Jacqueline Nicole Carter. Felon in Possession of a Firearm; Possession of Methamphetamine with Intent to Distribute; Possession of Marijuana with Intent to Distribute. Carter, 38, of Tulsa, is charged with being a felon in possession of a Taurus .40 caliber semi-automatic pistol. She is further charged with intentionally possessing with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine. Finally, Carter, aided and abetted by another person, knowingly possessed with the intent to distribute marijuana. The Drug Enforcement Administration and Tulsa Police Department are the investigative agencies. Assistant U.S. Attorney David A. Nasar is prosecuting the case. (22-CR-339)
Jeremy Mikal Glazier. Felon in Possession of a Firearm and Ammunition (Counts 1-3); Possession of Marijuana with Intent to Distribute (Count 4); Possession of a Firearm in Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking Crime (Count 5); Sex Trafficking by Force, Fraud, and Coercion (Counts 6,7); Attempted Obstruction of Sex Trafficking Enforcement (Count 8) (superseding). Glazier, 34, of Tulsa, is charged with possessing a .380 caliber semi-automatic pistol on Nov. 29, 2020, a Taurus 9 mm caliber semi-automatic pistol and ammunition on Jan. 16, 2021, and a Smith and Wesson 9 mm caliber semi-automatic pistol and ammunition on July 26, 2022. He is also charged with possessing with intent to distribute 100 grams or more of marijuana and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. Glazier is also charged with using violence to force a female victim to engage in sex trafficking from June 30, 2020, to July 26, 2022, and with using violence to force a second female victim to engage in sex trafficking from Sept. 1, 2020, through July 26, 2022. Finally, Glazier is charged with obstructing and attempting to obstruct the investigation into his alleged sex trafficking crimes. The Tulsa Police Department is the investigative agency. Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam C. Bailey is prosecuting the case. (22-CR-266)
Michael Lee Iverson. Failure to Register as a Sex Offender. From Nov. 9, 2021, to Sept. 21, 2022, Iverson, 67, of Tulsa, failed to register as a sex offender. The U.S. Marshals Service is the investigative agency. Assistant U.S. Attorney Niko A. Boulieris and Victor A.S. Régal are prosecuting the case. (22-CR-340)
Billy Scott McDonald. Aggravated Sexual Abuse of a Minor Under 12 Years of Age in Indian Country; Production of Child Pornography; Possession of Child Pornography. McDonald, 47, of Tulsa, is charged with sexually abusing a minor under the age of 12 from Aug. 29, 2022, through Sept. 13, 2022. He is further charged with forcing the young child to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing child pornography. Finally, he is charged with possessing child pornography. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations and the Mayes County Sheriff’s Office are the investigative agencies. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Valeria G. Luster and Edward Snow are prosecuting the case. (22-CR-341)
Fernando Paredes-Olivares. Unlawful Reentry of a Removed Alien. Paredes-Olivares, 37, a Mexican national, is charged with unlawfully reentering the United States after having been deported on Jan. 12, 2012, at or near New Orleans, Louisiana. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations are the investigative agencies. Assistant U.S. Attorney William Rubens is prosecuting the case. (22-CR-345)
William Mark Parnell. Kidnapping of a Minor in Indian Country; Second Degree Burglary in Indian Country; Child Abuse in Indian Country; Corruptly Tampering with Evidence; Theft in Indian Country (Misdemeanor); Simple Assault (Misdemeanor). In June 2021, Parnell, 20, of Jenks, allegedly attempted to kidnap a minor when he forced her into a back room at the convenience store where he was working. The victim was able to break away and run out of the store. In May 2022, he is further alleged to have followed a different girl home, endangering the child, and to have broken into the home with intent to burglarize the home or commit a felony therein. The child fled to a neighbor’s house just prior to Parnell’s entry. While inside, Parnell stole a firearm and items belonging to the child. The indictment alleges Parnell discarded the stolen firearm into a pond to conceal it from law enforcement. Finally, on May 18, 2021, Parnell assaulted a nurse at a hospital where he was receiving treatment. A second nurse recognized him from news reports about the burglaries and contacted authorities. Parnell was arrested at that time. The FBI, Tulsa Police Department, Glenpool Police Department, and the Muscogee Nation Lighthorse Tribal Police Department are the investigative agencies. Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam C. Bailey is prosecuting the case. (22-CR-178)
Raul Plata-Cibrian. Possession of Fentanyl with Intent to Distribute; Possession of Cocaine with Intent to Distribute; Possession of Heroin with Intent to Distribute; Possession of Methamphetamine with Intent to Distribute; Possession of a Firearm in Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking Crime; Maintaining a Drug-Involved Premises. Plata-Cibrian, 24, of, Tulsa is charged with possession with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl; possession with intent to distribute cocaine; possession with intent to distribute 100 grams or more of heroin; and possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine. He is further charged with possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime and with maintaining a residence for the purpose of distributing the drugs. Assistant U.S. Attorney Joel-lyn A. McCormick is prosecuting the case. (22-CR-346)
Ramon Ponce-Sandoval. Unlawful Reentry of a Removed Alien. Ponce-Sandoval, 30, a Mexican national, is charged with unlawfully reentering the United States after having been removed on May 11, 2019, at or near Del Rio, Texas. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations is the investigative agency. Assistant U.S. Attorney William Rubens is prosecuting the case. (22-CR-347)
Andrew Don Rector. Aggravated Sexual Abuse by Force and Threat in Indian Country; Kidnapping in Indian Country; Assault of an Intimate/Dating Partner by Strangling and Attempting to Strangle in Indian Country; Sexual Abuse of a Minor in Indian Country. From May 3, 2022, to May 4, 2022, Rector, 32, of Keifer, is alleged to have kidnapped, strangled and sexually assaulted the victim. In this superseding indictment, Rector is also charged with sexually abusing a minor between 12 and 16 years of age from Aug. 15 to Aug. 16, 2020. The FBI and Muscogee Nation Lighthorse Tribal Police Department are the investigative agencies. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Julie A. Childress and Cymetra M. Williams are prosecuting the case. (22-CR-331)
Kenneth Ray Stanley. Assault of a Spouse by Strangling and Attempting to Strangle in Indian Country; Child Neglect in Indian Country. On Sept. 13, 2022, Stanley, 37, of Tulsa, allegedly strangled his spouse in front of a child. The FBI and Tulsa Police Department are the investigative agencies. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenneth Elmore is prosecuting the case. (22-CR-349)
Robert B. White Jr. Attempted Possession of Methamphetamine with Intent to Distribute; Possession of Methamphetamine with Intent to Distribute; Maintaining a Drug-Involved Premises. White Jr., 53, of Broken Arrow, is charged with attempting to possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine and with knowingly possessing with intent to distribute methamphetamine. Finally, White is charge with maintaining a residence for the purpose of distributing methamphetamine. The Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and Oklahoma Highway Patrol are the investigative agencies. Assistant U.S. Attorney Joel-lyn A. McCormick is prosecuting the case. (22-CR-342)
El Departamento de Justicia resuelve reclamaciones bajo de ley de Vivienda Justa contra un complejo de apartamentos en FloridaRead the Press Release
El Departamento de Justicia anunció que Concord Court at Creative Village Partners LTD., Concord Management LTD., entidades asociadas y un administrador de propiedades han acordado pagar $265,000 con el fin de resolver alegaciones que han discriminado contra familias con niños, en violación de la ley de Vivienda Justa, al imponer restricciones ilegales sobre menores de edad en un complejo de apartamentos en Orlando, Florida. El complejo, Amelia Court en Creative Village, es una urbanización para el Programa de Crédito Tributario para Viviendas para Personas de Bajos Ingresos que tiene más de 250 viviendas asequibles y a los tipos del mercado.
Bajo la orden de consentimiento, que todavía deberá ser aprobada por el Tribunal Federal de Distrito para el Distrito Centro de Florida, los demandados pagarán $260,000 a inquilinos que fueron perjudicados por sus prácticas y una sanción civil al Gobierno para reivindicar el interés público. Por otra parte, el acuerdo requiere que los demandados implementen políticas antidiscriminatorias y que capaciten a sus empleados responsables de la administración o el alquiler en las más de 80 propiedades residenciales de alquiler que son de su propiedad o que gestionan en Florida.
“Las familias con niños no deben ser sometidas a discriminación a la hora de acceder a o vivir en una vivienda asequible”, afirmó Kristen Clarke, la Fiscal General Auxiliar de la División de Derechos Civiles del Departamento de Justicia. “El Departamento de Justicia seguirá luchando por los derechos de familias a la vivienda justa por todo el país”.
“Las prácticas discriminatorias que deniegan a las familias un acceso igualitario y justo a la vivienda y a todos sus servicios disponibles son imperdonables”, declaró Roger Handberg, el Fiscal Federal para el Distrito Centro de Florida. “La Fiscalía Federal seguirá colaborando con sus socios para garantizar que las leyes de vivienda justa de este país se hagan cumplir por todo nuestro distrito”.
“No se les debería denegar a las familias con niños el pleno uso y disfrute de su hogar como resultado de la discriminación”, confirmó Demetria L. McCain, la Secretaria Auxiliar Adjunta Principal de la Oficina de Vivienda Justa y la Igualdad de Oportunidades del Departamento de Vivienda y Desarrollo Urbano (HUD, por sus siglas en inglés). “HUD aprecia la colaboración del Departamento de Justicia y felicita a la agencia por haber salvaguardado los derechos de vivienda de todas las familias”.
Amelia Court en Creative Village incluye dos torres de apartamentos, Concord Court y Amelia Court. Los demandados administran ambas torres y son dueños de las viviendas residenciales de Concord Court. La demanda del Gobierno, que también se presentó hoy, alega que los demandados se negaron a repartir dispositivos de acceso al edificio a menores de edad, prohibieron la presencia de niños en zonas comunes y las comodidades a no ser que sean supervisados por adultos y mintieron a familias con niños sobre la disponibilidad de viviendas en Concord Court.
El caso salió a la luz después de que diez familias que vivían en el complejo presentaron quejas ante el Departamento de Vivienda y Desarrollo Urbano de los EE. UU., el cual determinó que los demandados habían vulnerado la ley de Vivienda Justa. El caso fue remitido al Departamento de Justicia, que realizó su propia investigación y entabló este pleito.
Aquellos individuos que creen haber sido discriminados en Amelia Court en Creative Village por tener niños, o si conocen a alguien que lo ha sido, deben enviar un correo electrónico al Departamento de Justicia a [email protected] o dejar un mensaje en 1-833-591-0291 (marque 1 para inglés o 2 para español, y después marque 1 para discriminación en la vivienda y 4 para llegar al buzón de voz para este caso).
La División de Derechos Civiles del Departamento de Justicia hace cumplir la ley federal de Vivienda Justa, la cual prohíbe la discriminación en la vivienda por motivos de situación familiar, raza, color de piel, origen nacional, religión, género o discapacidad. Para más información acerca de la División de Derechos Civiles y las leyes que hace cumplir, vaya a http://www.justice.gov/crt. Las personas pueden reportar incidentes de discriminación en la vivienda llamando a la línea informativa del Departamento de Justicia para discriminación en la vivienda al 1-833-591-0291, enviando un correo electrónico al Departamento de Justicia a [email protected] o completando un informe en línea. También se puede reportar tal discriminación llamando al Departamento de Vivienda y Desarrollo Urbano al 1-800-669-9777 o rellenando un formulario de demanda ante el HUD en línea.
Eastern District of Washington Takes Part in Department of Justice’s Wide-Ranging Efforts to Protect Older AdultsRead the Press Release
Spokane, Washington – The Justice Department has announced the results of its efforts over the past year to protect older adults from fraud and exploitation. During the past year, the Department and its law enforcement partners tackled maters that ranged from mass-marketing scams that impacted thousands of victims to bad actors scamming their neighbors. Substantial efforts were also made over the last year to return money to fraud victims. The Department also announced it is expanding its Transnational Elder Fraud Strike Force to amplify efforts to combat scams originating overseas.
“We are intensifying our efforts nationwide to protect older adults, including by more than tripling the number of U.S. Attorneys’ offices participating in our Transnational Elder Fraud Strike Force dedicated to disrupting, dismantling and prosecuting foreign-based fraud schemes that target American seniors,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “This expansion builds on the Justice Department’s existing work to hold accountable those who steal funds from older adults, including by returning those funds to the victims where possible.”
“From the Palouse to the Cascades, and from the small towns to the big cities, respect for our elders is a principle we can all live by in the Eastern District of Washington,” said U.S. Attorney Waldref. “Having safe and strong communities means protecting our seniors, who can be among our most vulnerable – and are often the same people who have protected all of us when we have been vulnerable ourselves.”
During the period from September 2021 to September 2022, Department personnel and its law enforcement partners pursued approximately 260 cases involving more than 600 defendants, both bringing new cases and advancing those previously charged.
The following are examples of recent cases involving fraud perpetrated against older adults in the Eastern District of Washington:
• United States v. Jeffrey Carley, 1:21-cr-010: Defendant Jeffery Carley was an investment broker, who was sentenced to 60 months in federal prison for an investment scheme targeting older clients. As part of the scheme Carley stole money from his victims’ retirement accounts;
- United States v. Providence Health & Services, 4:20-cv-05004-SMJ: Two Walla Walla neurosurgeons alleged to have performed medically unnecessary spinal surgeries on elderly Medicare beneficiaries. Providence Health and Services agreed to pay $22.7 million to resolve liability, which is the largest-ever health care fraud settlement in the Eastern District of Washington;
- United States v. David Joseph Osinksi, 2-22-CR-0070-TOR: Osinksi has been indicted and charged with a $345,000 romance-fraud scheme allegedly involving an elderly victim in Spokane, Washington; and
- United States v. Ronald Walter Hannes, 2-22-CR-0085-TOR: Hannes, a registered financial advisor, indicted and charged with a $2.9 million scheme in which he allegedly defrauded a number of investors.
As part of the Eastern District’s elder fraud efforts, the U.S. Attorney’s Office engages in outreach to the community and industry to raise awareness about scams and exploitation and preventing victimization. This year, the Eastern District co-hosted, with the Washington State AG’s office, a conference to kick off a working group aimed at bringing together state and federal law enforcement and regulatory partners to combat health care fraud and elder abuse in the Eastern District of Washington. The working group developed and has begun to implement a detailed plan for community engagement and outreach involving state and federal partners, local government, community groups, private health insurers, and health care providers. Additionally, the Eastern District partnered with DEA on Operation Engage, which worked directly with the community, especially pharmacies and pharmacists, to educate and work with the public and health care practitioners to safeguard the community from opioids and prescription medications.
The Department also highlighted three other efforts: expansion of the Transnational Elder Fraud Task Force, success in returning money to victims and efforts to combat grandparent scams.
The Department announced that as part of its continuing efforts to protect older adults and bring perpetrators of fraud schemes to justice it is expanding the Transnational Elder Fraud Strike Force, adding 14 new U.S. Attorney’s Offices. Expansion of the Strike Force will help to coordinate the Department’s ongoing efforts to combat largest and most harmful fraud schemes that target or disproportionately impact older adults.
In the past year, the Department has notified over 550,000 people that they may be eligible for remission payments. Notifications were made to consumers whose information was sold by one of three data companies prosecuted by the Department and were later victims of “sweepstakes” or “astrology” solicitations that falsely promised prizes or individualized services in return for a fee. More than 150,000 of those victims cashed checks totaling $52 million, and thousands more are eligible to receive checks. Also notified were consumers who paid fraudsters perpetrating person-in-need scams and job scams via Western Union. In the past year, the Department has identified and contacted over 300,000 consumers who may be eligible for remission. Since March of 2020 more than 148,000 victims have received more than $366 million as a result of a 2017 criminal resolution with Western Union for the company’s willful failure to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program and its aiding and abetting of wire fraud.
Over the past year, the Department pursued cases against the perpetrators of “grandparent scams,” otherwise known as “person-in-need scams.” These scams typically begin when a fraudster, often based overseas, contacts an older adult and poses as either a grandchild, other family member or someone calling on behalf of a family member. Call recipients are told that their family member is in jeopardy and is urgently in need of money. When recently sentencing one of eight perpetrators of a grandparent scam indicted under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, a federal judge described such scams “heartbreakingly evil.” The Department is working with government partners and others to raise awareness about these schemes.
Reporting from consumers about fraud and fraud attempts is critical to law enforcements efforts to investigate and prosecute schemes targeting older adults. If you or someone you know is age 60 or older and has been a victim of financial fraud, help is available the National Elder Fraud Hotline: 1-866 FRAUD-11 (1-833-372-8311). This Department of Justice Hotline, managed by the Office for Victims of Crime, is staffed by experienced professionals, who provide personalized support to callers by assessing the needs of the victim and identifying next steps. Case managers will identify appropriate reporting agencies, provide information to callers to assist them in reporting or connect them with agencies, and provide resources and referrals on a case-by-case basis. The hotline is staffed seven days a week from 3:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. PST. English, Spanish and other languages are available. More information about the Department’s elder justice efforts can be found on the Department’s Elder Justice website, www.elderjustice.gov.
Some of the cases that comprise today’s announcement are charges, which are merely allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Doctor Admits Criminal HIPAA Scheme for Wrongful Disclosure of Protected Patient Health Information to Pharmaceutical Sales RepresentativeRead the Press Release
CAMDEN, N.J. – A former physician with medical practices in New Jersey, New York, and Florida admitted wrongfully disclosing patients’ protected personal health information, Attorney for the United States Vikas Khanna announced today.
Frank Alario, 65, of Delray Beach, Florida, pleaded guilty before Judge Robert B. Kugler to conspiring to wrongfully disclose patients’ individually identifiable health information to pharmaceutical sales representative Keith Ritson in violation of the criminal provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
From 2014-16, Ritson was a pharmaceutical sales representative who promoted compound prescription medications and other medications. Compound medications are specialty medications mixed by a pharmacist to meet the specific medical needs of an individual patient. Although compounded drugs are not approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), they are properly prescribed when a physician determines that an FDA-approved medication does not meet the health needs of a particular patient, such as if a patient is allergic to a dye or other ingredient.
As an outside pharmaceutical sales representative not associated with Alario’s medical practices, Ritson was not permitted to access and obtain the individually identifiable health information and protected health information of Alario’s patients. As part of the scheme, Alario permitted Ritson to have significant access to his office, medical files, and patient information. Alario allowed Ritson to be present in the office both during and outside normal business hours and to have access to areas of the office restricted to staff, including areas with patient files and office computers. Alario permitted Ritson to look up patients’ information in files and on office computers to determine if patients had insurance that covered the compound medications. Ritson then would earmark files in advance so that Alario knew to whom to prescribe the medications. Alario also brought Ritson into patient exam rooms during appointments and gave patients the impression that Ritson was employed by or affiliated with the medical practice, which facilitated and caused the disclosure of confidential health information to Ritson. Ritson would use patients’ confidential information to fill out prescription forms that Alario would authorize, and then Ritson received commissions on those prescriptions.
Alario was previously charged in an indictment alongside Ritson with conspiring to violate HIPAA and other offenses. The charges remain pending against Ritson, who is scheduled to go on trial before Judge Kugler in Camden federal court on Nov. 7, 2022. The charges against him are merely accusations, and he is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Alario faces a maximum penalty of one year in prison and a $50,000 fine. Sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 7, 2023.
Attorney for the United States Khanna credited agents of the FBI’s Atlantic City Resident Agency, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge James E. Denney in Newark; special agents of IRS - Criminal Investigation, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Tammy Tomlins in Newark; and the U.S. Department of Labor Office of Inspector General, New York Region, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Jonathan Mellone, with the investigation leading to today’s guilty plea.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Christina O. Hud of the Criminal Division and R. David Walk Jr., Chief of the Opioid Abuse Prevention and Enforcement Unit.
District of South Carolina Takes Part in Department of Justice’s Wide-Ranging Efforts to Protect Older AdultsRead the Press Release
COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA — The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) and United States Attorney Adair F. Boroughs announced the results of federal efforts over the past year to protect older adults from fraud and exploitation. During the past year, DOJ and its law enforcement partners tackled matters that ranged from mass-marketing scams that impacted thousands of victims to bad actors scamming their neighbors. Substantial efforts both nationwide and in South Carolina have been made over the last year to return money to fraud victims. Today, DOJ also announced it is expanding its Transnational Elder Fraud Strike Force to amplify efforts to combat scams originating overseas.
“We are intensifying our efforts nationwide to protect older adults, including by more than tripling the number of U.S. Attorneys’ offices participating in our Transnational Elder Fraud Strike Force dedicated to disrupting, dismantling and prosecuting foreign-based fraud schemes that target American seniors,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “This expansion builds on the Justice Department’s existing work to hold accountable those who steal funds from older adults, including by returning those funds to the victims where possible.”
“Our older adults deserve protection from those who seek to swindle funds they have spent a lifetime accumulating, and this Office is ready and equipped to provide that protection here in South Carolina,” said U.S. Attorney Boroughs. “These crimes are especially heinous because they can rob their victims - who often live on fixed incomes - of not only their life-long savings, but of their dignity. We are proud to join DOJ’s intensified efforts to target those who attempt to perpetrate these schemes.”
From September 2021 to September 2022, DOJ personnel and their law enforcement partners pursued approximately 260 cases involving more than 600 defendants, both bringing new cases and advancing those previously charged.
In the past year, DOJ has notified over 550,000 people that they may be eligible to receive money lost through elder fraud scams. Many of these people were victims of “sweepstakes” or “astrology” solicitations that falsely promised prizes or individualized services in return for a fee. One of the most common scams used to prey on elderly victims is the “grandparent scam,” otherwise known as “person-in-need scam.” These scams typically begin when a fraudster, often based overseas, contacts an older adult and poses as either a grandchild, other family member, or someone calling on behalf of a family member. Victims are told that their family member is in jeopardy and is urgently in need of money. Because these scams and others are pervasive, DOJ and the United States Attorney’s Office are committed to raising awareness about these schemes.
In South Carolina, the United States Attorney’s Office has prosecuted several cases in the past year involving similar scams against elderly South Carolinians. In May, United States District Judge Sherri Lydon sentenced four Jamaican nationals to terms of incarceration ranging from approximately three to five years and ordered them to pay back over $350,000 in fraudulently-obtained proceeds. In that scam, the defendants contacted elderly victims by phone and mail, and falsely told them they had won a sweepstakes. The supposed prizes in these sweepstakes usually consisted of millions of dollars, a new vehicle, or other valuable items. The defendants told the victims they had to pay taxes and fees in order to receive their winnings, and victims mailed the defendants prepaid cards, money orders, cash, and personal checks. At least 67 victims, who were mostly elderly, suffered a loss as part of the scheme. Twenty-five of those victims were more than 80 years old, and several victims were targeted multiple times.
In September, United States District Judge Bruce Howe Hendricks sentenced a foreign national to 78 months imprisonment and ordered her to pay back over $405,000 in fraudulently-obtained proceeds for her involvement in a similar scam. At least 175 victims, who were mostly elderly, suffered a loss as part of the scheme. Seventy-three of those victims were more than 80 years old, and several victims were targeted multiple times.
In order to increase public awareness of these scams, the United States Attorney’s Office has partnered with state prosecutors and law enforcement agencies to speak to community groups about the pervasive dangers of elder fraud and abuse. For instance, the office and its partners have hosted “Elder Fraud Bingo” with senior citizens across South Carolina, aimed at educating seniors on how to spot and protect themselves against frauds and scams. Any members of the public interested in arranging a similar event or contacting a member of the United States Attorney’s Office who can speak to these issues, please call the main line at 803-929-3000.
Reporting from consumers about fraud and fraud attempts is critical to law enforcements efforts to investigate and prosecute schemes targeting older adults. If you or someone you know is age 60 or older and has been a victim of financial fraud, help is available through the National Elder Fraud Hotline: 1-833 FRAUD-11 (1-833-372-8311). This Department of Justice Hotline, managed by the Office for Victims of Crime, is staffed by experienced professionals who provide personalized support to callers by assessing the needs of the victim and identifying next steps. Case managers will identify appropriate reporting agencies, provide information to callers to assist them in reporting or connect them with agencies, and provide resources and referrals on a case-by-case basis. The hotline is staffed seven days a week from 6:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. English, Spanish and other languages are available. More information about the Department’s elder justice efforts can be found on the Department’s Elder Justice website, www.elderjustice.gov.
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District of Columbia Man Pleads Guilty to 2020 Fatal Shooting of Man on Street Northeast WashingtonRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON – Stanley Brown, 29, of Washington, D.C, pleaded guilty today to fatally shooting a man in Northeast Washington, announced U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Robert J. Contee III, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).
Brown pleaded guilty in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia to a charge of voluntary manslaughter while armed. The plea, which is contingent upon the Court’s approval, calls for an agreed-upon prison sentence of 12 years. The Honorable Milton C. Lee, Jr. scheduled sentencing for Jan. 6, 2023.
A second defendant, Emmanuel Taylor, 39, of Washington, D.C., pleaded guilty today to a charge of unlawful possession of a firearm, stemming from the investigation into the shooting. His plea, also subject to court approval, calls for an agreed-upon sentence of 36 to 54 months. He also is to be sentenced on Jan. 6, 2023.
According to the government’s evidence, on Jan. 23, 2020, at approximately 10:15 a.m., Brown approached the victim, Jimmy Beynum, on foot in the 1600 block of F Street NE. Brown shot Mr. Beynum multiple times, and then fled the scene. Mr. Beynum, 37, died on Jan. 29, 2020, as a result of multiple gunshot wounds.
The investigation determined that Taylor earlier had left his apartment in Southeast Washington with Brown and dropped him off in the area where the shooting took place. When police searched the apartment six days later, Taylor attempted to jump out of the window and then threw a pistol out of the window.
In announcing the pleas, U.S. Attorney Graves and Chief Contee commended the work of the officers, detectives and other personnel who investigated the case from the Metropolitan Police Department. They acknowledged the efforts of those who handled the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Assistant U.S. Attorney Sitara Witanachchi, former Assistant U.S. Attorney Puja Bhatia, and Victim/Witness Program Specialist Karina Hernandez. Finally, they commended the work of Assistant U.S. Attorneys Daniel Seidel and Brian Ganjei, who investigated and prosecuted the case.
District Man Sentenced to Nine Years in Prison for Stabbing Ex-Girlfriend More Than 50 TimesRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON – Brian Wesley, 47, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced today to nine years in prison for breaking into his ex-girlfriend’s apartment in Southeast Washington and stabbing her more than 50 times while under the influence of PCP.
The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, and Robert J. Contee III, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).
Wesley pleaded guilty in July 2022, in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, to one charge of assault with intent to kill. He was sentenced by the Honorable Milton C. Lee Jr.
According to the government’s evidence, Wesley’s ex-girlfriend kicked him out of her home about a week before the stabbing. During that week, Wesley ransacked her apartment and threatened her via text message.
On May 6, 2022, at approximately 2 p.m., Wesley pushed his way into the victim’s apartment and immediately began stabbing her until she was eventually limp and silent on the ground. After he ceased his assault, Wesley walked to the window of a bedroom and jumped from the third-story apartment, breaking his hip and sustaining other head and bodily injuries. Neighbors called 911. Responding officers and emergency medical personnel located the victim limp and bleeding on the stairwell and Wesley unconscious on the sidewalk outside with the bloody knife nearby. The victim was taken to the hospital where she received multiple surgeries and necessary medical procedures.
Wesley was arrested at the scene. He has been detained ever since.
Following his prison sentence, Wesley will be placed on a period of supervised release for three years with conditions including substance abuse treatment, mental health treatment, and an order to stay away and not contact the victim.
In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Graves, and Chief Contee commended the work of those who investigated the case from the Metropolitan Police Department. They also expressed appreciation for the work of those who handled the case at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Victim/Witness Advocate Lu Lan and Paralegal Specialist Brenda Williams.
Finally, they commended the efforts of Assistant U.S. Attorney Zach Horton, who investigated and prosecuted the case.
District Man Sentenced to 11-Year Prison Term for Killing Man Inside Southeast Washington Convenience StoreRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON - Rondez Tibbs, 27, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced today to an 11-year prison term for fatally shooting a man last year at a convenience store in Southeast Washington, announced U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Robert J. Contee III, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).
Tibbs pleaded guilty in June 2022, in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, to second-degree murder while armed. The plea agreement, which was contingent upon the Court’s approval, called for an agreed-upon term of 9 ½-to-14 years in prison. The Honorable Maribeth Raffinan accepted the plea and sentenced Tibbs accordingly. Following his prison term, he will be placed on five years of supervised release.
According to the government’s evidence, on July 21, 2021, at approximately 12:15 a.m., Tibbs was in a convenience store in the 2200 block of Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue SE. The victim, Malcolm Johnson, was also in the store. Tibbs approached Mr. Johnson and attempted to rob him. He attempted to take Mr. Johnson’s black cross body bag from him.
Tibbs held a black handgun with an extended magazine down at his side while Mr. Johnson began reaching for his own gun to defend himself. While Tibbs had Mr. Johnson pinned against the wall, Mr. Johnson grabbed hold of his gun inside the black bag; Tibbs grabbed Mr. Johnson’s hand inside the black bag. A struggle ensued and both men were shot. Mr. Johnson then stumbled out of the store and entered a parked vehicle. Mr. Johnson, 27, was subsequently found unconscious in the parked vehicle a short time later; he was shot in the stomach.
Tibbs was hospitalized after the shooting and arrested.
In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Graves and Chief Contee commended the work of those who investigated the case from the Criminal Investigations Division Homicide Branch of the Metropolitan Police Department. They acknowledged the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Paralegal Specialist Lashone Samuels and Victim/Witness Specialist Jennifer Clark.
Finally, they commended the efforts of Assistant U.S. Attorneys Shehzad Akhtar and Peter Roman, who investigated and prosecuted the case.
Delaware County Man Sentenced to Thirty Months in Federal Prison for Being a Prohibited Person in Possession of a FirearmRead the Press Release
A prohibited person who possessed a firearm was sentenced today to 30 months in federal prison.
Matthew Welcher, age 44, of Dundee, received the sentence after an April 19, 2022 guilty plea to one count of being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm. At the plea hearing, Welcher admitted that, on May 24, 2021, he possessed a Savage Axis 6.5 Creedmoor caliber rifle after having been convicted of two felonies and a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence and while he was subject to a no contact order.
Welcher was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams. Welcher was sentenced to 30 months’ imprisonment. He must also serve a three-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN). PSN is 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.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Mark Tremmel and was investigated by the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office, the Manchester Police Department, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation.
Court file information is available at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. The case file number is CR 22-2011.
Follow us on Twitter @USAO_NDIA.
Convicted Felon Found in Possession of AR-15 Firearm Sentenced to Federal PrisonRead the Press Release
SHREVEPORT, La. – Orlando Rishawn Walter, 33, of Cedar Hill, Texas, has been sentenced today in federal court, United States Attorney Brandon B. Brown announced. United States District Judge Elizabeth E. Foote sentenced Walter to 49 months in prison, followed by 3 years of supervised release, for illegally possessing a firearm.
Walter was charged in an indictment in December 2020 with being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm and he pleaded guilty to the charge on May 27, 2022. The charges stem from an incident that occurred on July 25, 2020 when deputies with the Desoto Parish Sheriff’s Office conducted a traffic stop of a vehicle. The driver was identified and asked to provide a registration for the vehicle. When the driver opened the passenger door to retrieve the paperwork, the deputy noticed another individual sitting in the passenger seat, who was later identified as Walter. The deputy observed the butt end of a rifle sitting beside Walter and Walter’s left hand on the firearm. Walter was ordered to slowly exit the vehicle with hands raised and as he exited the vehicle, he fled into a nearby cemetery. Deputies were unable to apprehend Walter at the time. Walter’s firearm was retrieved from the vehicle and deputies discovered that it was a loaded AR-15 pistol with a 30-round magazine, with a round in the chamber and the safety was in the off position.
Law enforcement agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) determined that Walter has previous felony convictions for possession with intent to distribute Schedule I controlled substances (2008) and possession of a Schedule II controlled substance (2015), as well as DWI (2017). As such, Walter was prohibited from possessing any firearm or ammunition. Agents were able to locate Walter and he was arrested and charged with being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm.
The case was investigated by the ATF and Desoto Parish Sheriff’s Office and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Tennille M. Gilreath.
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California Man Indicted in Cryptocurrency Money Laundering ConspiracyRead the Press Release
TYLER, Texas – A San Francisco, CA man has been indicted for federal violations in the Eastern District of Texas, announced U.S. Attorney Brit Featherston today.
John Khuu, 27, was named in an indictment returned by a federal grand jury charging him with money laundering conspiracy. Khuu was arraigned in federal court by U.S. Magistrate Judge John D. Love on Oct. 6, 2022.
According to the indictment, Khuu is alleged to have conspired with others to launder the proceeds of his drug trafficking organization through cryptocurrency. The defendant allegedly distributed counterfeit pharmaceutical pills and other controlled substances on dark web markets to customers across the United States. Customers paid for their purchases by transferring cryptocurrency, usually Bitcoin, from their dark web market customer accounts to one of Khuu’s vendor accounts. Khuu and his co-conspirators traded the Bitcoin for U.S. currency and laundered the proceeds through hundreds of transactions and dozens of financial accounts.
During the course of the conspiracy, Khuu and his co-conspirators allegedly laundered more than $5,350,000.00.
On May 18, 2022, a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Texas returned an indictment charging Khuu with conspiracy to commit money laundering. On August 17, 2022, a federal grand jury in the Northern District of California returned a two-count indictment charging Khuu with unlawful importation of a controlled substance.
On August 19, 2022, agents arrested Khuu pursuant to both warrants at a residence in Garden Grove, CA.
If convicted, Khuu faces up to 20 years in federal prison on each charge. A grand jury indictment is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
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 https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.
This case is being investigated by the U.S. Secret Service and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Nathaniel C. Kummerfeld.
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Cahokia Man Sentenced to 46 Months in Prison on Felon in Possession ChargeRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Rodney W. Sippel on Friday sentenced a man from Cahokia, Illinois to 46 months in prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm on two separate occasions.
Freddie Tilmon, 31, pleaded guilty June 7 to two counts being a felon in possession of a firearm. He admitted that he and his co-defendant, Tishonda Turner, 32, of St. Louis County, went to a St. Louis County gun store on August 8, 2020 and spent $3,984 on three guns, ammunition and accessories. Tilmon told Turner what to buy.
One of the guns, a Glock semiautomatic pistol, was found by authorities when Tilmon was pulled over in Sandy Springs, Georgia on Nov. 21, 2020.
Tilmon was initially indicted in U.S. District Court in St. Louis on March 3, 2021. When the U.S. Marshals found and arrested him on Oct. 14, 2021, a second Glock pistol with an extended magazine was discovered.
In a sentencing memo, Assistant U.S. Attorney Kourtney Bell said that on July 28, 2020, an East St. Louis police officer spotted Tilmon with what appeared to be an assault rifle in the driver’s seat of in a car outside of a nightclub. The incident triggered an officer-involved shooting that injured a passenger in Tilmon’s car. Law enforcement later discovered that two pistols found in Tilmon’s car were purchased by Turner at the same gun store as in the August purchase.
Tilmon still faces a federal charge in Georgia of being a felon in possession of a firearm and state charges in Illinois, Bell said in court.
Turner pleaded guilty Feb. 11, 2022 and was sentenced to two years of probation after pleading guilty to two counts of making a false statement to a federally-licensed firearms dealer: on July 16, 2020 and again on August 8, 2020.
The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the U.S. Marshals Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kourtney Bell prosecuted the case.
Buffalo Felon Going to Prison on Gun and Drug ChargesRead the Press Release
CONTACT: Barbara Burns
PHONE: (716) 843-5817
FAX #: (716) 551-3051BUFFALO, NY—U.S. Attorney Trini E. Ross announced today that Frankie Cook, 29, of Buffalo, NY, who was convicted of possession with intent to distribute 100 grams of heroin and 40 grams of fentanyl and being a felon in possession of a firearm, was sentenced to serve 108 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Lawrence J. Vilardo.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Seth T. Molisani, who handled the case, stated that on February 11, 2020, in Erie County Court, Cook was convicted of Attempted Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree and is legally prohibited from possessing a firearm. On February 26, 2020, Erie County Probation officers went to Cook’s residence on Dartmouth Avenue in Buffalo, for an initial information visit. During the visit, officers discovered what appeared to be a drug preparation station with gloves, masks, and plastic bags in the basement. Officers then searched the basement and found a hidden safe with approximately 240 grams of fentanyl, 156 grams of heroin, drug paraphernalia, a .45 caliber magazine, .45 caliber ammunition, 9mm ammunition, and a stolen loaded 9mm handgun inside.
The sentencing is the result of an investigation by the Erie County Probation Department, under the direction of Commissioner Michelle Olszowy; the Erie County Sheriff’s Department, under the direction of Sheriff John Garcia; and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Stephen Belongia.
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Bruceton Man Sentenced to 12 Years for Child PornographyRead the Press Release
Memphis, TN – Carl Goodson Ragsdale, 58, of Bruceton, Tennessee, has been sentenced to 12 years for
distribution, possession, and receipt of child pornography. Kevin G. Ritz, United States Attorney,
announced the sentence today.According to information presented in court, in October 2018, Tumblr, Inc., a social networking
website, reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) a cyper tip
about apparent child pornography activity on a blog called "sweetbabygirlsdaddy." Tumblr provided
an email address and IP address for the account and disabled the account. The IP address geolocated
to Bruceton, Tennessee. To assist with the investigation, NCMEC forwarded the tip to local law
enforcement. The Martin Police Department Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force contacted the
Federal Bureau of Investigation's Violent Crimes Against Children Task Force. Investigators
identified Carl Goodson Ragsdale, of Bruceton, Tennessee, as the owner and user of the account.FBI special agents interviewed Ragsdale, who admitted that he used the Tumblr account
"sweetbabygirlsdaddy" to receive and post images, including sexually explicit images of
prepubescent girls. He admitted that he also used a cloud storage site to receive sexually explicit
images of prepubescent children. He told agents that he "constantly" accessed child pornography on
the internet and that he thought about sexual intercourse with women and children "all the time."Agents reviewed Ragsdale's cell phone and tablet computer and found over 600 images of child sex
abuse and graphic sexually explicit conversations about the children in some of those images of
child sex abuse.United States Attorney Kevin Ritz said: “Thanks to proactive and significant cooperation between
our office and local and federal law enforcement partners, this defendant was
brought to justice for his abhorrent crimes.”On May 16, 2019, a federal grand jury returned a three-count indictment against Ragsdale, charging
him with distribution, possession, and receipt of child pornography. He pled guilty to the charges
on March 25, 2022.On October 4, United States Chief District Judge S. Thomas Anderson sentenced Ragsdale to 144
months imprisonment, to be followed by lifetime supervised release. Ragsdale must also register as
a sex offender. There is no parole in the federal system.The case was investigated by the FBI Violent Crimes Against Children Task Force and the Martin
Police Department Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.Assistant United States Attorney Lauren Delery prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.
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Contact Public Information Officer Cherri Green at (901) 544-4231 or [email protected]. Follow
@WDTNNews on Twitter for office news and updates
Birmingham Man Found Guilty of Kidnapping Resulting in DeathRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – A federal jury today convicted a Birmingham man for kidnapping and conspiracy to kidnap a minor victim, announced U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona and Federal Bureau of Investigation Acting Special Agent in Charge Felix A. Rivera-Esparra.
The jury returned its guilty verdict against Patrick Devone Stallworth, 42, after three days of testimony before Chief U.S. District Court Judge L. Scott Coogler. Stallworth was convicted of one count of kidnapping and one count of conspiracy to kidnap a minor victim arising out of events which occurred in October 2019. The jury further found that the minor victim’s death resulted from the kidnapping. Stallworth faces life in prison.
According to evidence presented at trial, on October 12, 2019, Stallworth traveled in a Toyota Sequoia with a co-conspirator to the Tom Brown Village Housing Development located in Birmingham, Alabama and kidnapped 3-year-old Kamille “Cupcake” McKinney. Her body was found 10 days later.
“Today, the jury held the defendant accountable for his actions in victimizing one of the most vulnerable victims in our community, a 3-year-old child. This office remains dedicated to prosecuting those criminals who prey on children,” U.S. Attorney Escalona said. “Just as the search for the victim involved many of our local, state, and federal partners, the trial this week also would not have been successful without these agencies. I am grateful for their hard work and dedication.”
“While today’s verdict does not take away the pain for Kamille’s family, or the void in their life that they can never fill, they at least know we are one step closer to justice being served on those responsible,” Acting SAC Rivera said.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Birmingham Police Department investigated the case, with assistance from the United States Marshals Service. Chief of the Criminal Division Lloyd C. Peeples and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Blake Milner and Brittany Byrd prosecuted the case.
Bergen County Man Charged with Distribution and Possession of Child PornographyRead the Press Release
NEWARK, N.J. – A Bergen County, New Jersey, man was arrested for distributing and possessing videos of child sexual abuse, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced today.
Michael Kimmerle, 34, of New Milford, New Jersey, is charged by complaint with one count of distribution of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography. He appeared Oct. 6, 2022, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jessica S. Allen and was released on $100,000 unsecured bond.
According to documents filed in this case:
From August 2021 through August 2022, Kimmerle distributed videos of child sexual abuse via a publicly available online peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing program. During the course of the investigation, an undercover law enforcement officer conducted online sessions using the P2P program, during which a user shared multiple videos of child sexual abuse from an IP address traced to Kimmerle’s address.
Subsequent to a lawful search of his residence, law enforcement officers recovered thumbnail images containing child pornography on Kimmerle’s laptop, including several images derived from one of the video files Kimmerle previously distributed on the P2P program. They also found the P2P program on Kimmerle’s laptop.
The count of distribution of child pornography carries a mandatory minimum penalty of five years in prison, a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, and a fine of $250,000. The count of possession of child pornography carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.
U.S. Attorney Sellinger credited special agents of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations, New Jersey Division, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Ricky J. Patel, with the investigation leading to today’s charges.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jenny Chung of the General Crimes Unit in Newark.
The charges and allegations contained in the complaint are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Beckley Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Drug CrimeRead the Press Release
BECKLEY, W.Va. – Travis John Miller, 39, of Beckley, pleaded guilty today to distribution of 5 grams or more of methamphetamine.
According to court documents and statements made in court, Miller admitted to selling approximately 26.94 grams of methamphetamine to a confidential informant at his Beckley residence on October 19, 2021. Miller further admitted to selling quantities of methamphetamine to a confidential informant on October 20 and October 27, 2021.
On October 29, 2021, law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Miller’s residence and found methamphetamine, fentanyl, cocaine, and a Hi-Point .380-caliber semi-automatic pistol.
Miller is scheduled to be sentenced on January 27, 2023, and faces a mandatory minimum of five years and up to 40 years in prison, four years of supervised release, and a $5 million fine.
United States Attorney Will Thompson made the announcement and commended the investigative work of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Beckley/Raleigh County Drug and Violent Crime Unit.
United States District Judge Frank W. Volk presided over the hearing. Assistant United States Attorney Andrew D. Isabell is prosecuting the case.
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. 5:22-cr-107.
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Bay Minette Man Sentenced to 151 Months for Child Pornography OffensesRead the Press Release
Billy Tyler, 47, of Bay Minette, AL, was sentenced to one hundred and fifty-one months in prison for distribution of child pornography. Tyler entered a guilty plea to those offenses on December 17, 2021.
According to court documents filed in connection with his guilty plea, in January 2021, an undercover FBI agent was in a group on Kik, a mobile app, with a person using the username “Mission0101.” Mission0101 was the administrator of the group. Mission0101 was observed by the FBI agent to have distributed five separate child pornography videos of prepubescent females engaged in sexual activity. Billy Tyler was identified as user Mission0101.
United States District Judge Terry F. Moorer imposed a 151-month sentence of incarceration. The judge also ordered Tyler to serve a twenty-five year term of supervised release upon his discharge from prison. Judge Moorer ordered that Tyler pay $15,000.00 in restitution to his victims and $100 in special assessments. Tyler will be required to register as a sex offender when he is released from prison, and is to have no contact with minors.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated this case. Assistant United States Attorney Kacey Chappelear prosecuted the case.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about Internet safety education, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc/publications-resources.
Australian National Sentenced for His Role in International Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
Tampa, Florida – U.S. District Judge William F. Jung has sentenced Baron Matson (45, Brisbane, Australia) to five years in federal prison for conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud. As part of his sentence, the court also ordered Matson to pay $4,319,762 in restitution and entered an order of forfeiture in the amount of $1,285,000, which represented proceeds of the charged criminal conduct. Matson had pleaded guilty on August 23, 2022.
According to court documents, from approximately fall of 1999 and continuing through early 2000, conspirators Roger Matson, Baron Matson, Gordon Robert Grant, and others, caused a letter proposal to be sent via commercial carrier to persons residing in Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, and other states. Within that proposal, conspirator Roger Matson was identified as “Roger Bronstein,” a Specialist Computer Programmer, purportedly working on behalf of his company, Ascot Bloodstock, Inc. Roger Matson’s son, Baron Matson, was identified as “Baron Bronstein.” The proposal included multiple fraudulent assertions, including that:
- Roger Bronstein was a self-made multi-millionaire who had discovered a method, referred to as the Professional Race Organizer (the “P.R.O.”) program, through which he earned great sums of money working approximately 10 hours per week;
- Roger Bronstein owned a private villa on St. Martin, in the Caribbean; and
- Roger Bronstein’s business (the business at the core of the proposal) produced a global income in excess of $1 million per year, of generally tax-free income.
The proposal explained that interested investors would receive a fully paid round-trip airline ticket to St. Martin, where they could meet with “Baron Bronstein,” who personally trained all P.R.O. licensees. The proposal claimed that this exchange would allow for the potential investors to familiarize themselves with the P.R.O. and to assess the consistency and international profitability of the P.R.O., as well as provide an opportunity for interested investors to experience firsthand the lifestyle that P.R.O. was (purportedly) providing for Roger and Baron Bronstein.
The solicited persons were initially offered an “opportunity” to participate in the P.R.O. program based upon a cash investment fee of $45,000, $90,000, or $135,000 plus a royalty fee on any profits from the first five years of operation based upon the level of investment. Shortly after the initial investors had accepted the proposal and paid the up-front licensing fee, they were informed by the person they knew as Baron Bronstein that a new program called the Managed Account program had been initiated. It was explained by Baron Bronstein and other conspirators that the Managed Account program would alleviate the task of operating the P.R.O. and increase the investors’ opportunity for returns. The investors were fraudulently led to believe that the Bronsteins would operate the Managed Account program by pooling the investors= funds and managing the wagering process. The investors were also fraudulently assured that the Managed Account program would allow them to collect a return on their investment of approximately seven to nine percent (7B9%) per month. The promised rate of return was generally based upon each investor’s initial royalty fee arrangement. Ultimately, substantially all the investors elected to participate in the Managed Account program. To lull the investors and to encourage future investments, the conspirators prepared and forwarded to the investors monthly statements that fraudulently reflected the promised monthly earnings.
In the early fall of 2000, the investors were presented with yet a new “opportunity” to invest up to $75,000 each, which, they were fraudulently informed by the conspirators, would be used to place wagers on the Melbourne Cup horse race that would potentially earn them an ample return. The investors were ensured by the conspirators, including Baron Bronstein, that the new $75,000 investment would be “guaranteed” and returned to the investors shortly after the race, regardless of the race’s outcome, and that any profits from the Melbourne Cup transaction would be paid out to the investors shortly thereafter. Believing that their earlier investments were profitable, many investors accepted the new proposition and transferred funds to a bank account in Vanuatu maintained by the conspirators. Shortly after the Melbourne Cup horse race, however, Baron Bronstein and the other conspirators vanished, along with investors’ funds, causing a total loss to the investors of approximately $4.3 million.
The three conspirators were charged in a sealed superseding indictment in December 2005. Grant was apprehended in 2008 and pleaded guilty for his role in the conspiracy later that year. Baron Matson was arrested in Australia in October 2015, where he was living under the name Jah Baz. He was recently extradited to the United States following protracted litigation.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Jay G. Trezevant and James A. Muench. The Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs provided significant assistance with the defendant’s extradition. The U.S. Marshals Service also provided critical assistance.
Aurora Man Indicted for Weapons ViolationsRead the Press Release
DENVER – The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado announces Jeremy Lavon Tate, age 27, of Aurora, Colorado, was indicted by a federal grand jury for possession of a firearm and ammunition by a prohibited person and possession of a machinegun.
According a previously filed criminal complaint, Tate was arrested at Children’s Hospital in Aurora on September 24, 2022, while in possession of a pistol loaded with a round in the chamber. Aurora police officers took possession of the firearm and noted it to have what appeared to be an auto-convertor switch affixed to the rear of the pistol, which would allow the firearm to operate in a fully automatic capacity. A high-capacity magazine containing an additional 17 rounds was inserted in the firearm. Investigators also learned Tate is a previously convicted felon.
The defendant was arraigned by Magistrate Judge N. Reid Neureiter on October 6, 2022. Judge Neureiter ordered him to be detained.
This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) and the Aurora Police Department. Prosecution is being handled by Assistant United States Attorney Brian Dunn.
The charges contained in the indictment are allegations and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Case Number: 22-cr-00301
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