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11 October 2022
Sioux Falls Man Sentenced for Making False StatementsRead the Press Release
SIOUX FALLS - United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell announced today that a Sioux Falls, South Dakota, man convicted of two counts of Making False Statements in Connection with the Purchases of Firearms was sentenced on September 28, 2022, by U.S. District Judge Lawrence L. Piersol.
Jayden Guenther, age 20, was sentenced to five years of probation on each count to run concurrently and a special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund in the amount of $200.
Guenther was indicted by a federal grand jury in March of 2022. He pled guilty on July 27, 2022.
The conviction stemmed from incidents on May 6, 2021 and again on August 27, 2021, when Guenther asked two individuals to purchase two new Glock 9mm handguns for him. Guenther was not old enough to purchase the pistols, so he paid both individuals to purchase the guns for him.
Each firearm had been shipped and transported in interstate commerce before Guenther possessed them.
This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey C. Clapper prosecuted the case.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.
Second Defendant Sentenced for Role in Conspiracy to Defraud U.S. Department of AgricultureRead the Press Release
Tampa, Florida – U.S. District Judge Steven D. Merryday has sentenced Bassam Al Saleh (65, Tampa) to 18 months in federal prison for conspiracy to defraud and to make false statements to the United States Department of Agriculture (“USDA”). The court also ordered Al Saleh to make restitution to the USDA in the amount of $654,502.28.
According to court documents, Bassam Al Saleh joined in a conspiracy to defraud the USDA and to make false statements to the USDA in 2015 when he agreed to aid in submitting false and fraudulent representations to the USDA that his brother, Ahmad Al Saleh, was buying a St. Petersburg convenience store that was enrolled to accept USDA Supplemental Nutrition Assistance (“SNAP”) program benefits. After the USDA prohibited the prior owner of the store from accepting any SNAP benefit purchases and prohibited him from even working at the store, Bassam Al Saleh joined with his brother, Ahmad Al Saleh, and the prior store owner to create false records and representations that Ahmad Al Saleh had bought the store and that Ahmad Al Saleh was operating it himself. In reality, the previous store owner continued to operate and manage the store and continued to make profits from it, paying Ahmad Al Saleh a fee for the use of Al Saleh’s name as the owner of the store on USDA documents. During the time that the prior owner was still operating the store under the supposed ownership of Ahmad Al Saleh, the prior owner committed numerous acts of SNAP benefits trafficking at the store. In those instances, the prior store owner bought SNAP benefits from customers and paid for them in cash, in direct violation of USDA SNAP regulations. The court determined that the losses to the SNAP program from the prior store owner’s engagement in this conduct during the time period of the supposed “ownership” of the store by Ahmad Al Saleh was at least $654,502.84.
This case was investigated by the United States Department of Agriculture -Office of Inspector General, the USDA Food and Nutrition Service, and Homeland Security Investigations, with assistance from the St. Petersburg Police Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jay L. Hoffer.
Santa Barbara Man Sentenced to over 11 Years in Federal Prison for $14 Million Ponzi Scheme, Tax Evasion, ID Theft and Other FeloniesRead the Press Release
LOS ANGELES – A Santa Barbara man was sentenced today to 133 months in federal prison for stealing approximately $14 million from victims who thought their investments would be used to purchase annuities issued by Swiss insurance companies and for failing to pay over $3 million in federal income tax.
Darrell Arnold Aviss, 64, was sentenced by United States District Judge Stanley Blumenfeld Jr., who also ordered him to pay $ 14,486,169 in restitution and to forfeit his interest in a Santa Barbara home worth approximately $4 million.
At today’s court hearing, Judge Blumenfeld, who remanded Aviss into federal custody, described Aviss as “cruel, callous and self-absorbed” and adding, “the devastation in this case is real.”
On June 28, Aviss pleaded guilty to 21 felonies: five counts of wire fraud, one count of money laundering, five counts of engaging in monetary transactions in criminally derived property over $10,000, three counts of tax evasion, six counts of willful failure to report foreign bank and financial accounts, and one count of aggravated identity theft.
Aviss ran his Ponzi scheme from at least 2012 through the summer of 2020, soliciting money from people who wanted to purchase annuities from insurance companies based in Switzerland. Aviss claimed the Swiss annuities he offered were safe and secure, and, in some instances, he told victims the annuities would pay interest rates ranging from 5% to 7%.
But Aviss did not use the victims’ money to purchase annuities, even though he arranged for the victims to receive fabricated statements showing the purported value of the annuities, which the false documents showed were increasing over time.
Victims, most of whom were over the age of 60, gave Aviss more than $14 million, with most of that money coming from just one victim. Some money was paid back to victims to keep the scheme running.
Instead of purchasing annuities, Aviss used the victims’ money for his own purposes and to support his lavish lifestyle. He used the money for, among other things, Ponzi payments to victims, mortgage payments, luxury car leases, expensive watches, trips to Monaco, more than $170,000 in purchases at a Santa Barbara nightclub, and 20 tickets to a U2 concert and after-party.
One victim lost more than $9.7 million in Aviss’ Ponzi scheme. Aviss stole $400,000 from another victim whom he knew recently had been diagnosed with cancer, according to the prosecution’s sentencing memorandum.
“Aviss has essentially been living a life of pure crime for about a decade,” prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memorandum. “Based on the financial records and his statements to the probation officer, Aviss has had no source of money – no real job – since at least 2012, apart from the money he stole from the victims, including retirees who denied themselves luxuries to save up the nest eggs Aviss stole.”
Aviss also defrauded the United States by failing to file tax returns for 2014, 2015 and 2016 and failing to pay any income taxes for those years. Aviss evaded paying more than $3 million in income taxes.
Aviss also failed to file with the Department of the Treasury Reports of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts for the years 2015 through 2020 in an attempt to conceal accounts he controlled in Monaco, where he deposited some of his ill-gotten gains. He transferred victims’ money to these offshore accounts, one of which was established with information from an identity theft victim.
The FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation conducted the investigation in this matter.
Assistant United States Attorneys Monica E. Tait and Ali Moghaddas of the Major Frauds Section prosecuted this case. Assistant United States Attorney Daniel G. Boyle of the Asset Forfeiture and Recovery Section is handling asset forfeiture matters in this case.
If you or someone you know is age 60 or older and has been a victim of financial fraud, help is available at 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 relevant next steps. Case managers will identify appropriate reporting agencies, provide information to callers to assist them in reporting, connect callers directly with appropriate agencies, and provide resources and referrals, on a case-by-case basis. Reporting is the first step. Reporting can help authorities identify those who commit fraud, and reporting certain financial losses due to fraud as soon as possible can increase the likelihood of recovering losses. The hotline is staffed seven days a week from 3 a.m. to 8 p.m. PT. English, Spanish, and other languages are available.
Information about the Department of Justice’s Elder Fraud Initiative is available at www.justice.gov/elderjustice.
Rochester Man Going to Prison for More Than 12 Years for Selling Fentanyl That Led to Overdose, and RobberyRead the Press Release
CONTACT: Barbara Burns
PHONE: (716) 843-5817
FAX #: (716) 551-3051ROCHESTER, N.Y.-U.S. Attorney Trini E. Ross announced today that Andrew D. Williams, 26, of Rochester, NY, who was convicted of possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and para-flourofentanyl, and Hobbs Act robbery, was sentenced to serve 150 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Frank P. Geraci, Jr.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Brett A. Harvey, who handled the case, stated that on February 19, 2020, Williams robbed Annie’s Stop & Shop, on Culver Road in Irondequoit. During the robbery, Williams pointed what appeared to be a firearm at the head of the female owner of the store. Williams and an accomplice stole $460 and some grocery items during the robbery.
On April 6, 2021, Williams sold fentanyl and para-fluorofentanyl to a 21-year-old male, who later suffered an overdose and was found unresponsive. Emergency personnel revived the male after giving him two doses of Narcan. On June 10, 2021, investigators executed a search warrant at Williams’s residence on Strathmore Circle in Rochester, during which they recovered 458 glassine bags of fentanyl and para-fluorofentanyl, $2,978 in drug proceeds, drug packaging materials, and numerous rounds of firearm ammunition.
The sentencing is the result of an investigation by Homeland Security Investigations, under the direction of Acting Special Agent-in-Charge Matthew Scarpino; the Greater Rochester Area Narcotics Team, which includes the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, under the direction of Sheriff Todd Baxter, and the Rochester Police Department, under the direction of Chief David M. Smith; and the Irondequoit Police Department, under the direction of Chief Alan Laird.
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Rochester Man Going to Prison for His Role in Cocaine ConspiracyRead the Press Release
CONTACT: Barbara Burns
PHONE: (716) 843-5817
FAX #: (716) 551-3051ROCHESTER, N.Y. - U.S. Attorney Trini E. Ross announced today that Deshan Scott, 23, of Rochester, NY, who was convicted of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, was sentenced to serve 60 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Frank P. Geraci, Jr.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Katelyn M. Hartford, who handled the case, stated that between September and October 26, 2021, Scott conspired with others to sell cocaine. In the early morning of October 26, 2021, investigators executed search warrants at numerous locations associated with the narcotics conspiracy, including a residence on Bernard Street. At that location, Scott worked as a lookout for the organization, watching for threats to their operation such as law enforcement or armed robbers, while other co-conspirators sold street-level quantities of cocaine to customers. When Scott saw law enforcement approaching, he threw a loaded 9mm handgun out of a window, which was found on a roof ledge outside a window. During the search of the residence, law enforcement also recovered 200 plastic vials of cocaine and $2,310 United States currency.
The sentencing is the result of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Frank A. Tarentino III, New York Field Division; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge John B. DeVito, New York Field Division; Homeland Security Investigations, under the direction of Acting Special Agent-in-Charge Matthew Scarpino; Immigration and Customs Enforcement, under the direction of Acting Field Office Director Thomas Brophy; the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division, under the direction of Thomas Fattorusso, Special Agent-in-Charge, the New York State Police, under the direction of Major Brian J. Ratajczak; the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, under the direction of Sheriff Todd Baxter; the Ontario County Sheriff’s Office, under the direction of Sheriff Philip Povero; the Rochester Police Department, under the direction of Police Chief David M. Smith; the Greece Police Department, under the direction of Chief Michael Wood; the Brighton Police Department, under the direction of Chief David Catholdi; and the Greater Rochester Area Narcotics Enforcement Team.
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Quincy Man Pleads Guilty to Child Pornography OffenseRead the Press Release
BOSTON – A Quincy man pleaded guilty today in federal court in Boston to receiving child pornography.
Andre Tilahun, 29, pleaded guilty to one count of receipt of child pornography. U.S. District Court Judge Patti B. Saris scheduled sentencing for Jan. 10, 2023. Tilahun was arrested and charged in May 2021.
In April 2021, a search was conducted at Tilahun’s home where a laptop belonging to Tilahun was seized. A forensic examination of the laptop revealed that Tilahun received images depicting child pornography on the Kik Messenger platform. Tilahun also participated in a Kik chatroom where participants shared child pornography.
The charge of receipt of child pornography provides for a mandatory minimum sentence of five years and up to 20 years in prison, five years and up to life of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.
United States Attorney Rachael S. Rollins and Matthew B. Millhollin, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in New England made the announcement. Valuable assistance was provided by the Quincy Police Department and Weymouth Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin A. Saltzman of Rollins’ Criminal Division is prosecuting the case.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the DOJ’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.
Queens Man Convicted of Laundering Bitcoin and Operating Unlicensed Money Transmitting BusinessRead the Press Release
Earlier today, a federal jury in Brooklyn convicted Mustafa Goklu, also known as “Mustangy,” of money laundering and operating an unlicensed money transmitting business as part of a scheme to launder the purported Bitcoin proceeds of drug trafficking. The verdict followed a four-day trial before United States District Judge Pamela K. Chen. When sentenced, Goklu faces up to 25 years in prison.
Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, announced the verdict.
“The defendant offered his customers the ability to launder their criminal proceeds, remain anonymous and conceal where their Bitcoin was coming from so they could continue to engage in drug trafficking and other crimes while avoiding law enforcement detection,” stated United States Attorney Peace. “With today’s verdict, Goklu’s illicit business of converting money from one form to another without a required license has been shut down and the defendant has been convicted for his crimes.”
Mr. Peace thanked the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, New York Division, for its outstanding investigative work on the case.
As proven at trial, in July 2018, DEA special agents identified an advertisement posted on localbitcoins.com where an individual with the username “Mustangy” offered to purchase up to $99,999 worth of bitcoins (“BTC”), a digital currency also known as cryptocurrency, and convert them into U.S. currency for a fee. Law enforcement agents later identified Goklu as the individual using the username Mustangy. On July 11, 2018, a DEA Special Agent acting in an undercover capacity (the “UC”) began exchanging encrypted text messages with Goklu to arrange in-person exchanges of BTC to U.S. currency. The UC and the defendant subsequently met and engaged in seven transactions or attempted exchanges of BTC to cash over a nine-month period, culminating in Goklu’s arrest in April 2019. The UC indicated to the defendant on multiple occasions that the source of the BTC the defendant was exchanging was narcotics trafficking and that as part of the UC’s business he sold oxycodone, Adderall, and marijuana. The transactions occurred in the defendant’s parked Mercedes-Benz, at a coffee shop in Sunnyside, Queens, and locations in Manhattan. The amounts exchanged at each transaction ranged from approximately $5,000 to $50,000 for a total of $133,000. During each transaction, the UC transferred BTC to Goklu’s cryptocurrency wallet, after which the defendant retained a seven or eight percent commission fee and provided the UC with the remaining amount in cash. The evidence introduced at trial also showed that the defendant was engaged in similar illicit Bitcoin exchanges with multiple other individuals.
In July 2022, Mr. Peace was selected as the Chairperson of the White Collar Fraud subcommittee for the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee (AGAC). As the leader of the subcommittee, Mr. Peace will play a key role in making recommendations to the AGAC to facilitate the prevention, investigation and prosecution of various financially motivated, non-violent crimes including mail and wire fraud, bank fraud, health care fraud, tax fraud, securities and commodities fraud, and identity theft.
The government’s case is being handled by the Office’s International Narcotics and Money Laundering Section. Assistant United States Attorneys Gillian Kassner and Marietou E. Diouf are in charge of the prosecution with the assistance of paralegal specialist Bridget Donovan.
The Defendant:
MUSTAFA GOKLU
Age: 50
Sunnyside, QueensE.D.N.Y. Docket No. 19-CR-386 (PKC)
Puerto Rican Man Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison for Conspiring to Distribute over 250 Kilograms of CocaineRead the Press Release
NEWARK, N.J. – A Puerto Rican man was sentenced today to 120 months in prison for conspiring to distribute over 250 kilograms of cocaine, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced.
Mariano Enrique Arroyo Perez, aka “Humilde,” 29, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Esther Salas to a superseding indictment charging him with conspiracy to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
From 2017 through July 2019, Arroyo Perez and his conspirators conspired to distribute approximately 250 kilograms of cocaine. The conspirators sought to bring cocaine into the United States using private planes. Specifically, Arroyo Perez coordinated the use of a private plane to transport approximately 150 kilograms of cocaine from Puerto Rico to New Jersey on Nov. 18, 2018. Law enforcement officers intercepted that shipment after the pilots became suspicious about four passengers who were not on the flight manifest and had particularly heavy luggage. The luggage contained cocaine, and the passengers were arrested.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Salas sentenced Arroyo Perez to five years of supervised release.
This case 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.
U.S. Attorney Sellinger credited special agents and task force officers with the Drug Enforcement Administration in New Jersey, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Susan A. Gibson in Newark, as well as special agents and task force officers with the Drug Enforcement Administration in Colombia, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico. He also thanked the U.S. Office of International Affairs and the U.S. Marshals Service for their assistance with the case.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lauren Repole, Chief of the General Crimes Unit in Newark and Assistant U.S. Attorney Francesca Liquori, Chief of the OCDETF Unit in Newark.
Postal Carrier Indicted for Cocaine Distribution Stemming from Her Official PositionRead the Press Release
Tampa, FL – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces the return of an indictment charging Bradenton residents Nathasha Prieto (33) and Angel Hernandez Coss (37) with conspiring to distribute and possession with the intent to distribute five or more kilograms of cocaine. If convicted on all counts, each faces a mandatory minimum term of 10 years, and up to, in federal prison.
According to court documents, Prieto, a United States Postal carrier, provided addresses on her postal route to Coss, who arranged for the shipment of packages containing kilograms of cocaine from Puerto Rico to those addresses. Instead of delivering the packages, Prieto removed the packages from the mail stream so that the cocaine within them could be distributed by Coss. On August 15, 2022, the investigation resulted in the seizure, from Prieto, of packages shipped from Puerto Rico containing kilograms of cocaine.
An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal criminal law, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty.
This case was investigated by the United States Postal Service - Office of Inspector General, the United States Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney James C. Preston, Jr.
Pike County Man Convicted in Connection with Fentanyl Overdose DeathRead the Press Release
PIKEVILLE, Ky. – Justin Bryant, 38, of Shelbiana, Ky., was convicted on Friday by a federal jury in Pikeville of distributing fentanyl and para-fluorofentanyl that caused the death a victim. The jury also convicted Bryant of conspiring with others to distribute heroin, fentanyl, and para-fluorofentanyl.
The jury convicted Bryant of the charges following a three-day trial and about three hours of deliberations.
According to evidence at trial, on October 12, 2021, Bryant smuggled drugs into the Pike County Detention Center and distributed them. The drugs contained fentanyl and para-fluorofentanyl, and it resulted in the death of another individual in the jail.
Bryant was indicted on January 27, 2022.
Carlton S. Shier, IV, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky; J. Todd Scott, Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Louisville Field Division, announced the conviction.
Bryant will appear for sentencing on February 7, 2023, and he faces a of sentence of 20 years to life in prison. However, the Court must consider the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the applicable federal sentencing statutes before imposing a sentence.
The investigation was conducted by the DEA. The United States was represented in the case by Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew H. Trimble.
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Pharmacist sent to prison for fraudulent compounding cream schemeRead the Press Release
HOUSTON – A Houston woman has been ordered to federal prison following her conviction of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, announced U.S. Attorney Jennifer B. Lowery.
Kyhati Undavia pleaded guilty Oct. 12, 2021.
Today, U.S. District Judge Hanen ordered Undavia to serve 27 months in federal prison to be immediately followed by three years of supervised release. In handing down the sentence, the court considered the $12 million dollar restitution she paid at the time of the sentencing. In handing down the sentence, Judge Hanen noted restitution goes a long way to show acceptance but you cannot buy your way out of prison.
At the time of her plea, Undavia admitted to submitting claims to federal health benefit programs such as TRICARE, Department of Labor Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (DOL-OWCP) and Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs (CHAMPVA) for compounded medication prescriptions. Undavia has a professional background as a pharmacist who controlled and operated Memorial Pharmacy.
From December 2012 to December of 2018, Undavia hired employees to market Memorial Pharmacy to physicians as a place to submit compounded drug prescriptions. Undavia paid kickbacks through the marketers to physicians in efforts to persuade them to write prescriptions and send them to Memorial on behalf of their patients.
Instead of providing pain medication prescriptions directly to the patients who could select a pharmacy of their choice, the bribed physicians sent the prescriptions directly to Memorial. In some instances, patients were never seen by an actual physician. Instead, physicians authorized prescriptions for beneficiaries that a marketer provided to them.
The marketer paid the physician an illegal kickback for the prescriptions or Undavia would directly pay them. Beneficiaries often received medicated creams that they did not need or want.
Undavia received approximately $22 million from Tricare, DOL-OWCP and CHAMPVA for the prescriptions.
“Today’s sentencing is a testament to the dedication and determination of the investigative and legal teams,” said Special Agent in Charge Scott Pierce, U.S. Postal Service - Office of Inspector General (USPS-OIG), Southern Area Field Office. “The Postal Service spends hundreds of millions of dollars annually on health care related costs and these monies are critical to those who legitimately require medical services. As in this case, our criminal investigators will diligently pursue any individual or organization intent on defrauding the Postal Service with an eye on both federal prosecution and returning lost monies to the affected program.”
Undavia was permitted to remain on bond and voluntarily surrender to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
The Defense Criminal Investigative Services, DOL - Office of Inspector General (OIG), USOS-OIG, Veterans Affairs - OIG and FBI conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Tina Ansari prosecuted the case.
Out of state group charged in $11M Indian call center fraud ringRead the Press Release
HOUSTON – Three individuals have been charged for their roles in a multi-year fraud and money laundering conspiracy involving call centers, announced U.S. Attorney Jennifer B. Lowery.
Amirsinh Diwan, 42, Des Plaines, Illinois, is expected to appear before U.S. Magistrate Judge Yvonne Y. Ho at 1:30 p.m. today. Zaheen Rafikbhai Malvi, 28, Heber Springs, Arkansas, is expected to appear at 2 p.m.
Also charged is Sohil Usmangani Vahora, 37, also of Des Plaines. He is expected in Houston at a later date.
The 11-count indictment, returned Sept. 7, and unsealed upon their arrests Sept. 22, alleges that from January 2017 to August 2020, the individuals and other co-conspirators allegedly engaged in a criminal fraud conspiracy originating from call centers located in India.
The callers impersonated U.S. government officials and tricked victims into sending them money to safeguard their assets, avoid arrest or prevent their government benefits from being cut off, according to the charges.
Victims allegedly sent money in the form of gift cards by providing redemption codes over the phone and mailed cash in packages sent to FedEx and UPS pick-up locations. The indictment alleges co-conspirators, known as runners, liquidated victims’ gift cards at retail locations in the United States or used fake identification documents to pick up their packages containing cash at Walgreens locations.
They allegedly defrauded over $11 million from victims as a result of the conspiracy.
All three individuals are charged with conspiring to commit mail fraud, wire fraud and conspiring to commit money laundering. Vahora is also charged with seven counts of mail fraud, while Diwan and Malvi are charged with two and four counts of mail fraud, respectively.
If convicted, all three individuals face up to 20 years in federal prison.
The Social Security Administration – Office of Inspector General, Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Homeland Security Investigations in Houston and Fayetteville, Arkansas and the FBI with the assistance of the Heber Springs Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Stephanie Bauman and Kate Suh are prosecuting the case.
An indictment is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence. A defendant is presumed innocent unless convicted through due process of law.
Otsego County Woman Pleads Guilty to Distribution of Child PornographyRead the Press Release
SYRACUSE, NEW YORK – Shelby Ortiz, age 30, of Maryland, New York pled guilty today to distribution of child pornography. The announcement was made by United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman and Matthew Scarpino, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Buffalo Field Office of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
During the change of plea hearing today, Ortiz admitted that she subjected an approximately seven-month-old boy to mouth to penis contact, knowing that the sex act she was performing was being video recorded. She admitted further that, on the same day she performed the sex act, she knowingly distributed the video to a person then living in Florida with whom she was participating in an online and telephone dominant/submissive sexual relationship.
If the plea agreement is accepted by the district court, at sentencing on February 21, 2023, Ortiz faces a term of imprisonment of between 10 and 20 years, a term of post imprisonment supervised release of between five years and life, a fine of up to $250,000, restitution to the victim, and will be required to register as a sex offender. A defendant’s sentence is imposed by a judge based on the statute the defendant is charged with violating, the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, and other factors.
This case is being investigated by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Oneonta Police Department, led by Police Chief Christopher Witzenburg, and the New York State Police and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael D. Gadarian as part of Project Safe Childhood.
Project Safe Childhood is a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorney’s offices, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/.
Opioid Awareness Summit Helps Educators and Public Health Professionals Combat Opioid MisuseRead the Press Release
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Sponsored by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, more than 325 educators, school nurses, counselors, mental health clinicians, public health professionals and others with an interest in student health have convened today at Sacramento State University for the Opioid Awareness Summit for Educators and Public Health Professionals.
The summit is focused on four specific goals 1) building awareness of the scope and state of the national opioid epidemic and its impact on young adults in our region; 2) destigmatizing opioid misuse to provide for more effective treatment interventions; 3) encouraging beneficial conversations with students if approached about drug misuse; and 4) building awareness of the warning signs that a student or child is misusing opioids.
Participants will hear from medical, public health and law enforcement professionals about the science of addiction, treatment options, ready-for-use resources for educators, and best practices for implementing an opioid awareness program in their own schools. Additionally, U.S. Department of Justice policy and current enforcement efforts will also be discussed.
U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert said: "Opioid trafficking and opioid misuse are some of the most urgent law enforcement and public health challenges facing our country today and need education and prevention, treatment, and enforcement. Today’s Opioid Awareness Summit for educators brings together all of these and highlights our office’s ongoing commitment to keeping communities safe by preventing drug misuse and overdose deaths."
The U.S. Attorney’s Office is sponsoring the summit along with the Sierra Sacramento Valley Medical Society, the Sacramento State University, Sacramento County, The Well at Sac State, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Central Valley High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area.
Ohio Man Pleads Guilty to Attempting Hate CrimeRead the Press Release
A local, self-identified “incel” pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio today to attempting to conduct a mass shooting of women.
Tres Genco, 22, of Hillsboro, Ohio, admitted he plotted to commit a hate crime, namely, a plan to shoot women at a university in Ohio. He was arrested by federal agents in July 2021 and has remained in custody since.
“The gender-based hate and bias-motivated threat of violence exhibited by this defendant simply has no place in our society,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The Department of Justice will remain steadfast in our efforts to investigate and prosecute those who carry out, or attempt to carry out, gender-based hate crimes to the fullest extent of the law.”
“Genco formulated a plot to kill women and intended to carry it out. Our federal and local law enforcement partners stopped that from happening,” said U.S. Attorney Kenneth L. Parker for the Southern District of Ohio. “Hate has no place in our country – including gender-based hate – and we will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to vigorously prosecute any such conduct.”
“Thankfully, law enforcement partners working closely together prevented a deadly killing spree targeting women,” said Special Agent in Charge J. William Rivers for the FBI Cincinnati Field Division. “Genco’s hate-filled beliefs and actions were extremely dangerous and could have resulted in irreparable harm to our community and many precious lives. We urge the public to report concerning behavior to the FBI and local police to help prevent future violence.”
Genco identified as an “incel” or “involuntary celibate.” The incel movement is an online community of predominantly men who harbor anger towards women.
According to court documents, Genco maintained profiles on a popular incel website from at least July 2019 through mid-March 2020 and posted hundreds of times on the site.
In one post, Genco detailed spraying “some foids and couples” with orange juice in a water gun. “Foids” is an incel term short for “femoids,” referring to women. Genco compared his “extremely empowering action” to similar conduct by known incel Elliot Rodger. In May 2014, Rodger killed six people and injured 14 others, including shooting individuals outside a University of California, Santa Barbara sorority house. Prior to his mass attack, Rodger shot a group of college students with orange juice from a water gun.
Genco also wrote a manifesto, stating he would “slaughter” women “out of hatred, jealousy and revenge…” and referring to death as the “great equalizer.”
As part of this investigation, law enforcement agents discovered a note of Genco’s that indicated he hoped to “aim big” for a kill count of 3,000 people with a reference to the same date as Elliot Rodger’s attack and intended to attend military training. The investigation revealed that the day he wrote his manifesto, he searched online for sororities and a university in Ohio.
In 2019, Genco purchased tactical gloves, a bulletproof vest, a hoodie bearing the word “Revenge,” cargo pants, a bowie knife, a skull facemask, two Glock 17 magazines, a 9mm Glock 17 clip and a holster clip concealed carry for a Glock.
Genco attended Army Basic Training in Georgia from August through December 2019. He was discharged for entry-level performance and conduct.
In January 2020, Genco wrote a document entitled “isolated” that he described as “the writings of the deluded and homicidal.” Genco signed the document, “Your hopeful friend and murderer.”
Genco’s court documents detail that he conducted surveillance at an Ohio university on Jan. 15, 2020. That same day, he searched online for topics including “planning a shooting crime” and “when does preparing for a crime become an attempt?”
On March 12, 2020, Highland County sheriff’s deputies responded to a call at Genco’s residence. At the residence, in the trunk of Genco’s vehicle, police officers found, among other things, a firearm with a bump stock attached, several loaded magazines, body armor and boxes of ammunition. Inside the residence, police officers found a modified Glock-style 9mm semiautomatic pistol, with no manufacturer’s marks or serial number, hidden in a heating vent in Genco’s bedroom. As part of his plea, Genco admitted that he possessed both firearms in furtherance of his plot.
Genco pleaded guilty to one count of attempting to commit a hate crime, which, because it involved an attempt to kill, is punishable by up to life in prison.
Assistant Attorney General Clarke; U.S. Attorney Parker; Special Agent in Charge Rivers; Special Agent in Charge Daryl S. McCormick of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF); and Highland County Sheriff Donnie Barrera announced the charges. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Megan Gaffney Painter and Timothy S. Mangan for the Southern District of Ohio are representing the United States in this case.
New Orleans Woman Pleads Guilty to Health Care FraudRead the Press Release
NEW ORLEANS - The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana, announced that, ERIKA JAMES (“JAMES”), age 49, from New Orleans, Louisiana, pleaded guilty to one count of health care fraud on October 4, 2022.
According to court documents, JAMES was a Denial Specialist at Company 1, a Federally Qualified Health Center and AIDS Service Organization. From March 2020 through April 2021, JAMES created fraudulent invoices with falsified supporting documents, such as explanation of benefits documents from insurance companies. JAMES endorsed checks that were issued to patients that were in higher amounts than the usual range of the refund amount. JAMES made claims in the system that made it appear that patients came into Company 1 and paid out of pocket for services. JAMES would have the Finance Department issue the patient refund check, and would then deposit the refund check into her personal bank account.
JAMES filed additional claims with the Louisiana Health Access Program (“LAHAP”) in December 2020 and told LAHAP to mail the checks to her residence. The checks that were sent to JAMES’s residence were made out to Company 1. JAMES then proceeded to deposit those checks into her personal bank account.
JAMES faces a possible maximum sentence of ten years’ imprisonment, up to three years of supervised release, up to a $250,000 fine, and a mandatory $100 special assessment fee. Judge Sarah S. Vance set the sentencing hearing for January 25, 2023.
U.S. Attorney Evans praised the work of the United States Department of Health and Human Services – Office of Inspector General. Assistant U.S. Attorneys J. Ryan McLaren and Kathryn McHugh are in charge of the prosecution.
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New Jersey Man Sentenced to Prison for Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
PITTSBURGH, PA - A New Jersey resident has been sentenced in federal court to 18 months on his conviction of fraud conspiracy, plus three years supervised release, United States Attorney Cindy K. Chung announced today.
Senior United States District Judge Joy Flowers Conti imposed the sentence on Carlo Reginald Ramirez, Jr. age 40, of Newark, New Jersey.
According to information presented to the court, Ramirez and others used false identification cards of Sprint account holders to obtain cell phones and other accessories between April 2018 and August 2019.
Prior to imposing sentence, Judge Conti stated that she recognized the seriousness of the offense and the harm to victims of identity theft.
Assistant United States Attorney Gregory C. Melucci prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.
United States Attorney Chung commended the Homeland Security Investigations and Pennsylvania State Police for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Ramirez.
New Castle Felon Indicted for Drug and Gun CrimesRead the Press Release
PITTSBURGH – A Superseding Indictment was returned by a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh charging Sahire Walker with committing crack cocaine trafficking and firearm crimes, United States Attorney Cindy K. Chung announced today.
The Superseding Indictment charges Walker, age 44, of New Castle, Pennsylvania, with committing the following crimes on June 4, 2020: (1) possession of cocaine base with intent to distribute, (2) possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, and (3) possession of a firearm and ammunition after a felony conviction.
The law provides for a maximum total sentence of at least 20 years and up to life in prison and a fine of up to $2,500,000. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed would be based upon the seriousness of the offenses and the prior criminal history of the defendant.
Assistant United States Attorney Craig W. Haller is prosecuting this case on behalf of the United States.
The New Castle Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives conducted the investigation leading to the return of the Superseding Indictment in this case.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.
A superseding indictment is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
More Than 4 Million Deadly Dosages of Fentanyl Seized in Ohio During DEA Enforcement SurgeRead the Press Release
CLEVELAND – The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Detroit Division today announced the results of an enforcement operation that resulted in significant fentanyl seizures across Ohio.
As part of the nationwide “One Pill Can Kill” initiative in Ohio, the DEA and its law enforcement partners seized more than 65 kilograms of fentanyl powder and 87,000 fentanyl-laced pills during the period of May 23, 2022, through Sept. 8, 2022 – enough to provide 4,766,788 deadly dosages.
Nationwide, more than 10.2 million fentanyl pills and approximately 980 pounds of fentanyl powder were seized during the same period. The amount of fentanyl taken off the streets during this surge is equivalent to more than 36 million lethal doses. Additionally, 338 weapons were seized, including rifles, shotguns, pistols, and hand grenades.
“Across the country and particularly here, in Northern Ohio, we have witnessed, firsthand, the proliferation of fentanyl and the devastating effects it has had on our neighbors and loved ones,” said First Assistant United States Attorney Michelle M. Baeppler. “Fighting back against drug traffickers who flood our streets with this deadly narcotic – particularly in pill form – is an enduring and relentless battle, but we must continue to fight.”
“Fentanyl in pill form is a deliberate attempt by drug cartels to make illicit drug use more appealing to Americans,” said DEA Detroit Special Agent in Charge Orville O. Greene. “Fake pills are especially concerning because of the appeal they can have to an unsuspecting person. One may believe they are taking a legitimate pharmacy-grade pill but far too often, that isn’t the case. Fake prescription pills bought on the street are made in clandestine labs, primarily in Mexico, from chemicals sourced from China, and contain a lethal dose of fentanyl.”
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio, the DEA and other law enforcement partners have led investigations and prosecutions of numerous individuals charged with or convicted of fentanyl trafficking recently, including:
United States v. Zamora et al (3:22-cr-00224-JGC)
In August 2021, authorities in Summit County received information that an ATV in Copley, Ohio, was scheduled to be transported out of state and was fitted to conceal 2.2 kilograms of pressed fentanyl pills meant to look like oxycodone originating from a cartel in Mexico. Authorities later arrested and charged Omar Zamora and Nathaniel Dabney in connection with the incident. Zamora and Dabney both pleaded guilty to their roles in the incident and were sentenced to prison.
United States v. Wall et al (1:22-cr-00280-SL)
In January 2022, postal inspectors in Arizona seized a package that was found to contain approximately 2.2 kilograms of fentanyl pills. After an investigation into the origins of the package, authorities identified Dayareon Crofton, Floyd Head and Cortez West as participants in an alleged drug trafficking conspiracy that shipped and couriered large quantities of fentanyl pills to Derrean Wall in Cleveland. Over the course of the next three months, Crofton, Head, and West were arrested, each carrying approximately 2 kilograms of fentanyl pills. All three were arrested while en route to Cleveland, Ohio. This case remains ongoing.
United States v. Brown et al (3:22-cr-00224-JGC)
In March 2022, federal authorities seized a parcel in the mail that was later found to contain approximately 7,833 fentanyl pills disguised to look like oxycodone. An investigation identified Cody Brown, Jennifer Murphy, and Damion Yoshimoto in Tiffin, Ohio, as part of a conspiracy that allegedly shipped fentanyl pills from out of state to Tiffin. Brown, Murphy and Yoshimoto were later arrested and charged in an indictment. This case remains ongoing.
United States v. Larrie Ladell Campbell (1:22-CR-268-JRA)
In May 2022, law enforcement obtained a parcel shipped in the U.S. mail from Arizona to Cleveland that was found to contain over 2 kilograms of fentanyl pills. An investigation determined that Larrie Ladell Campbell had mailed the parcel from Arizona and then traveled to Cleveland to try and retrieve it. Campbell pleaded guilty to federal charges in July 2022 and is awaiting sentencing.
United States of America v. Watkins (3:22-cr-00349-JGC)
In November 2020, Martez Watkins fled to Indiana after local drug trafficking charges were filed in Toledo, Ohio. While there, it is alleged that Watkins continued to send fentanyl pills to the Northern District of Ohio through his drug trafficking operation. Authorities later tracked Watkins down, and he was arrested in May 2022 on federal drug trafficking charges. During the Watkin’s residence, it is alleged that authorities found 5,362 pills, which were later determined to contain a combination of acetaminophen and fentanyl and meta-fluoro 4-ANPP and para-fluorofentanyl, more than $12,000 cash, a firearm, and drug packaging materials. This case remains ongoing.
In 2021, a record number of Americans – 107,622 – died from drug poisoning or overdose. Sixty-six percent of those deaths can be attributed to synthetic opioids such as fentanyl.
Drug traffickers have expanded their inventory to sell fentanyl in a variety of bright colors, shapes, and sizes. Rainbow fentanyl was first reported to DEA in February 2022, and it has now been seized in 21 states.
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is 50 times more potent than heroin. Just two milligrams of fentanyl, or the amount that could fit on the tip of a pencil, is considered a potentially lethal dose.
As part of the DEA’s ongoing efforts to educate the public and encourage parents and caregivers to talk to teens and young adults about the dangers of fake pills and illicit drugs, DEA has also created a new resource, “What Every Parent and Caregiver Needs to Know About Fake Pills.”
In September 2021, DEA launched the One Pill Can Kill enforcement effort and public awareness campaign to combat the fake pill threat and educate the public about the dangers of fentanyl pills being disguised and sold as prescription medications, despite these pills not containing any of the actual medications advertised. The only safe medications are ones prescribed by a trusted medical professional and dispensed by a licensed pharmacist. All other pills are unsafe and potentially deadly.
Additional resources for parents and the community can be found on DEA’s Fentanyl Awareness page.
Middlesex County Man Charged with Laundering $2.1 Million Obtained from Internet-Related FraudsRead the Press Release
NEWARK, N.J. – A Middlesex County, New Jersey, man has been charged with laundering money obtained from a variety of internet-based scams, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced.
Kenny Osas Okuonghae, 35, of Edison, New Jersey, is charged by complaint with one count of money laundering conspiracy. He is scheduled to have his initial appearance today before U.S. Magistrate Judge James B. Clark III in Newark federal court.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
From 2019 through the present, Okuonghae laundered money that was obtained from a variety of internet-related scams, including property rental scams, romance scams, and a “pig butchering” scam involving a purported cryptocurrency investment platform called “Alphacoin.” “Pig butchering” refers to an internet scheme where a romance scam victim develops what the victim perceives to be a romantic relationship online with the perpetrator. The perpetrator emotionally “fattens” the victim up before enticing the victim to invest in a fake cryptocurrency scheme and then, metaphorically, “slaughters” the victim by taking the victim’s real money that he or she placed in the fake cryptocurrency investment scheme.
Okuonghae opened several bank accounts across at least seven banks and permitted fraudulent proceeds to be deposited into these accounts. One of the scams from which Okuonghae received illegal proceeds was the Alphacoin scam. Another scam involved a deposit for rental property that was not actually available to rent. Okuonghae told at least one bank that the money was coming from a legitimate customer who wished to buy car parts from Okuonghae. Okuonghae also circulated at least one false invoice made out to a victim for the purported purchase of a Mack truck. Okuonghae laundered at least $2.1 million through his accounts.
The money laundering conspiracy charged in the complaint carries a maximum punishment of 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $500,000 or twice the value of the funds involved in the transfer, whichever is greater.
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 today’s charge. He also thanked the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and Customs and Border Protection for their assistance.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jamie H. Solano of the Cybercrime Unit in Newark.
The charge and allegations contained in the complaint are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Michigan Real Estate Developer Sentenced to Prison for Tax EvasionRead the Press Release
A Michigan man was sentenced to 38 months in prison today after engaging in a nearly decade-long effort to prevent the IRS from collecting unpaid taxes he and his businesses owed.
According to court documents and statements made in court, Scott Chappelle, 61, of Okemos and East Lansing, was an attorney and former CPA who operated Strathmore Development Company Michigan LLC, Terra Holdings LLC, and Terra Management Company, all of which were involved in real estate development and property management in the East Lansing area. Chappelle admitted he did not pay over to the IRS employment taxes that were withheld from the wages of the three companies’ employees. After the IRS began trying to collect the unpaid taxes, Chappelle attempted to evade payment of those taxes by making false statements to the IRS about his and his companies’ assets and income. To further hide assets from the IRS and evade payment of taxes, Chappelle also concealed his vacation house on Lake Michigan and purchased real property in the names of businesses instead of in his own name.
“Scott Chappelle spent nearly ten years evading taxes he owed to the IRS,” said Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division. “At the same time he was falsely claiming financial hardship, Chappelle was spending money on multiple homes, payments toward a luxury yacht, and elective plastic surgery. His prison sentence imposed today reaffirms a fundamental principle – those who lie to IRS collection agents and criminal investigators will be held accountable.”
“Rather than working hard and playing by the rules, Scott Chapelle broke the law,” said U.S. Attorney Mark Totten for the Western District of Michigan. “Chapelle spent cash that wasn’t his – funds withheld from his workers as employment taxes, which he then hid from the IRS – to support an extravagant lifestyle he didn’t earn. Now and always, my office will hold individuals and businesses accountable who refuse to follow the rules.”
Chappelle falsely told IRS employees that he and his companies could not afford to pay their tax debts because of financial hardships, while he simultaneously paid substantial personal expenses using bank accounts in the names of at least six different businesses he controlled. These personal expenses included mortgage payments on three houses and a condominium, payments toward the purchase of a yacht, college tuition for his children, plastic surgery, personal credit card bills, life insurance premiums, car payments for himself and one of his children, and expenses associated with boats he owned.
Chappelle also admitted to making false statements to special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation who investigated his misconduct. Chappelle did not tell the criminal investigators about real property he had purchased – including a house in Ohio purchased just one month before the interview – and he concealed the source of the funds used to pay a mortgage on a condominium in East Lansing. During the criminal investigation, Chappelle also filed a false employment tax return for Terra Holdings LLC, falsely reporting that the company had no employees and paid no wages during the period covered by the return. In fact, Chappelle knew the company had employees and paid wages during that period because he approved submissions to the company’s payroll provider.
Chappelle further admitted to making false statements on a loan application when he refinanced the mortgage on his Lake Michigan vacation house in Harbor Springs. According to court filings, Chappelle submitted fabricated bank statements to the mortgage company to make it appear as if his company had substantially more money in its account than it actually had. He then falsely blamed another employee of his company for fabricating the bank statements.
In addition to the term of imprisonment, U.S. District Judge Jane M. Beckering ordered Chappelle to serve three years of supervised release and pay $1,233,836 in restitution to the United States.
Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Mark A. Totten for the Western District of Michigan made the announcement.
IRS-Criminal Investigation investigated the case.
Trial Attorney Melissa S. Siskind of the Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy P. VerHey of the Western District of Michigan prosecuted the case.
Mexican National Pleads Guilty to Illegal Possession of AmmunitionRead the Press Release
FRESNO, Calif. — Mario Carranza, 38, of Mexico, pleaded guilty today to being a felon in possession of ammunition, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.
According to court documents, on March 17, 2020, law enforcement officers responded to a house in Fresno County after receiving a report of shots being fired in the backyard. Carranza and another individual were observed entering a car and leaving the area. The officers stopped the car, searched it, and recovered a disassembled, short-barrel, AR-15 style rifle with no serial number (known as a ghost gun) and a compatible firearm magazine loaded with 10 rounds of ammunition. Carranza had fired the AR-style rifle in the backyard of the residence. He is a convicted felon and prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition.
Carranza is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Ana de Alba on Jan. 23, 2023. Carranza faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a fine up to $250,000. Any 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 the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office, the Fresno Police Department, the Special Operations Unit of the California Department of Justice and the California Highway Patrol, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, and the Fresno County District Attorney’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Justin J. Gilio and Antonio J. Pataca are prosecuting the case.
This effort is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at www.justice.gov/OCDETF.
Merced Man Pleads Guilty to Manufacturing 10 Bombs and Destroying Residential PropertiesRead the Press Release
FRESNO, Calif. — Wes Parker McDaniel, 53, of Merced, pleaded guilty today to manufacturing destructive devices and maliciously destroying two residential rental properties in Merced by means of explosive materials, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.
According to court documents, between Feb. 1, 2021, and June 22, 2021, McDaniel made 10 destructive devices or bombs from illegal fireworks that he had purchased in Nevada, ammunition, shrapnel, fire starting material, and other items. On June 20, 2021, he deployed three of the bombs at a house in Merced. One of the bombs hit the wall of the house, exploded, and destroyed the fence, which was shared with a neighboring property. Shrapnel emitted from the device created pockmarks on the wall of the house, and a propane tank was badly burned. McDaniel threw another bomb at a different residence in Merced and placed two bombs near a car at an apartment complex in Lemoore. Those bombs did not detonate.
Following these incidents, law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at McDaniel’s residence, yard, and shed and found four bombs, fireworks, bottle rockets, a .22-caliber rifle, boxes of ammunition, fire starting material, and other items used to construct bombs.
This case is the product of an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Merced Police Department, the Lemoore Police Department, and the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen Escobar is prosecuting the case.
McDaniel is scheduled for sentencing on Jan. 17, 2023, before U.S. District Judge Ana De Alba. McDaniel faces a mandatory prison term of five years in prison and a maximum prison term of 20 years for the malicious destruction of property by means of explosive materials. He faces a maximum statutory penalty of 10 years in prison for manufacturing the bombs. Each of the charges carries a maximum fine of $250,000. 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 Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the U.S. Department of Justice launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.
McKeesport Felon Sentenced for Illegally Possessing a WeaponRead the Press Release
PITTSBURGH - A resident of McKeesport, PA, has been sentenced to 21 months imprisonment and three years of supervised release on charges of violating federal firearms laws, United States Attorney Cindy K Chung announced today.
United States District Judge William S. Stickman imposed the sentence on Khalil Brooks, 24.
According to information presented to the Court, on April 20, 2021, Brooks was the driver of a vehicle that was stopped by a Monroeville police officer for a vehicle registration violation. Based upon the overly nervous demeanor of Brooks and false information provided to the officer by a passenger in the vehicle, Brooks was asked to exit the vehicle. While interacting with the officer outside of the vehicle, Brooks displayed signs of an individual concealing a weapon. A struggle between the officer and Brooks ensued after Brooks placed his hand into his pocket. The officer was able to gain control of Brooks and retrieve a loaded semi-auto handgun from the pocket that Brooks had placed his hand into. Brook is prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition based upon a prior robbery conviction.
Assistant United States Attorneys Michael R. Ball and Christopher M. Cook prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.
United States Attorney Chung commended the Monroeville Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Khalil Brooks.
Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, Joined by State and Local Agencies, to Host One-Stop Reentry Resource Fair at the War Memorial in Baltimore on Wednesday, October 12, 2022Read the Press Release
Baltimore, Maryland – Maryland U.S. Attorney Erek L. Barron announced that tomorrow, Wednesday, October 12, 2022, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland, the Maryland Division of Parole and Probation, and the Baltimore Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement (MONSE), will sponsor a free one-stop reentry resource fair from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the War Memorial, 101 N. Gay Street in Baltimore. More than 30 organizations, including employment programs, will be on-site offering assistance and resources to returning citizens and justice-involved persons, including in the areas of employment, job training, educational opportunities, health services, food, transitional housing, and legal assistance, among other areas of support and assistance.
This reentry resource and job fair is a component of the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s violent crime reduction strategy. In addition to the office’s enforcement efforts to remove violent criminals with guns from our communities, the U.S. Attorney’s Office has initiated outreach, intervention and prevention efforts to support and invest in communities plagued by violence, such as this reentry resource fair.
For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-md and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.
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Maryland Man Sentenced to 37 Years in Prison for 2014 Killing of Woman in Southeast WashingtonRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON – Mark Bowser, 42, of Capitol Heights, Maryland, has been sentenced to 37 years in prison for fatally stabbing a woman with 47 sharp force injuries in an attack that took place inside the victim’s home in Southeast Washington.
The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Robert J. Contee III, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).
Bowser was found guilty by a jury on March 30, 2022, in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, of first-degree murder while armed, assault with a dangerous weapon of a second victim, and a related weapons offense for the knife. Bowser was sentenced on Oct. 7, 2022, by the Honorable Milton C. Lee, Jr.
According to the government’s evidence, on Sept. 20, 2014, at approximately 1:30 a.m., Bowser entered the home and bedroom of the homicide victim, Tracy Womack, as she was laying in her bed to sleep at her apartment in the 4600 block of Benning Road NE. Bowser attacked Ms. Womack with a knife, stabbing and cutting her 47 times, causing wounds to her face, neck, torso, arms, and hands. Ms. Womack was also found with her pants and underwear pulled down to her thighs. Before fleeing the scene, Bowser lunged with the knife in hand towards a second victim who had come back to Ms. Womack’s home. Though rushed to a hospital, Ms. Womack, 39, was soon pronounced dead.
Bowser was arrested the next day and has been in custody since.
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 assistance provided by the Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force, and the District of Columbia Department of Forensic Sciences. They acknowledged the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Paralegal Specialist Debra Forte, Intelligence Analyst Zachary McMenamin, Victim/Witness Advocate Christina Bloodworth, former Victim/Witness Advocate Marcia Rinker, Supervisory Victim/Witness Services Coordinator Katina Adams-Washington, and Victim/Witness Services Coordinator La June Thames.
Finally, they commended the work of former Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle Bradford, who indicted the case, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jin Park and Dennis Clark, who prosecuted the case.
Maryland Man Pleads Guilty to Coercion and Enticement of a MinorRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON –Charles Clark, 65, of La Plata, Maryland, pleaded guilty today to one count of coercion and enticement of a minor, announced U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, Wayne A. Jacobs, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Washington Field Office Criminal Division, and Robert J. Contee III, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).
Clark pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia before the Honorable Carl J. Nichols. As part of his plea agreement, Clark will also plead guilty in the Circuit Court in Charles County, Maryland, to sexually abusing the minor victim in Maryland. Following his guilty plea and sentencing in Charles County, Clark will be sentenced in this matter. Clark faces a minimum sentence of 10 years imprisonment and a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
According to the government’s evidence, Clark sexually abused the minor victim in this matter from the time she was 13 until she was 17. The sexual abuse occurred both at the minor victim’s residence in the District of Columbia as well as Clark’s residence in Maryland. In order to ensure that the minor victim did not report the abuse to her mother, Clark purchased items for the minor victim, including cell phones and clothing. Clark also convinced the minor victim that her mother would not believe her if she reported the abuse. Clark asked the minor victim to send him sexually explicit images of her over Instagram direct messaging. The minor victim responded on one occasion by sending a sexually explicit image of herself.
Clark was arrested on April 2, 2021. He has been in custody since.
This case was investigated by the Metropolitan Police Department’s Youth Division with assistance from the FBI Washington Field Office’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force. The task force is composed of FBI agents, along with other federal agents and detectives from northern Virginia and the District of Columbia. The task force is charged with investigating and bringing federal charges against individuals engaged in the exploitation of children and those engaged in human trafficking.
This case was brought as part of the Department of Justice's Project Safe Childhood initiative. In February 2006, the Attorney General created Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorney's Offices, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
In announcing the plea, U.S. Attorney Graves, Special Agent in Charge Jacobs, and Chief Contee commended the work of those who investigated the case from FBI Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force as well as the Metropolitan Police Department’s Youth Division. They also expressed appreciation for the efforts of those who handled the case for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Paralegal Specialist Alexis Spencer-Anderson, Victim/Witness Advocate Yvonne Bryant, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Angela Buckner, Jocelyn Bond, and Janani Iyengar.
Lowell Man Sentenced to 120 Months for Possession of Child Sexual Abuse MaterialRead the Press Release
CONCORD – Russell Graham, 42, of Lowell, MA was sentenced to 120 months in federal prison for possession of child sexual abuse material, United States Attorney Jane E. Young announced today.
According to court documents and statements made in court, Graham communicated online with an undercover law enforcement officer in New Hampshire and sent the undercover officer numerous images and videos of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Graham was arrested when he traveled to New Hampshire to meet the undercover officer. A cell phone containing additional child sexual abuse material was seized from Graham at the time of his arrest. Graham was previously convicted of possession of child pornography in Massachusetts in 2017.
The case was investigated by the Nashua Police Department with assistance from Homeland Security Investigations and the New Hampshire Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kasey A. Weiland and Georgiana MacDonald.
In February 2006, the Department of Justice introduced Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorney’s Offices, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
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Louis Coleman III Sentenced to Life in Prison for Kidnapping Resulting in DeathRead the Press Release
BOSTON – Louis D. Coleman III was sentenced to life in prison today for the kidnapping and killing of Jassy Correia.
Coleman, 36, of Providence, R.I., was sentenced by U.S. Chief District Court Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV to life in prison without the possibility of parole. On June 1, 2022, Coleman was convicted by federal jury in Boston of the federal charge of kidnapping resulting in death.
“Jassy Correia was a vibrant and beautiful 22-year-old woman and mother of a toddler daughter. Louis Coleman, a total stranger to her, abducted her, raped her and strangled her to death. The pain and suffering Louis Coleman inflicted on Jassy Correia that night and her loving family – her mother, her father, her brother and so many others every single day since Feb. 24, 2019 – will never be relieved by this sentence. By his depravity and his horrific disregard for Ms. Correia’s life, Louis Coleman forfeited his right to live free in society,” said First Assistant United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy. “To this day, Louis Coleman has shown no remorse. After he lured 22-year-old Ms. Correia into his car, sexually assaulted her and violently killed her, Louis Coleman did not once consider turning himself in – rather he concocted a gruesome plan to conceal the assault and murder he just committed. Today’s sentence of life in prison is a just punishment. Our office is incredibly grateful for the courage of Jassy Correia’s family. I also want to commend the unprecedented cooperation demonstrated in this case by federal, state and local law enforcement partners across multiple states from the moment this investigation started.”
“This crime was gut-wrenching and there is no question today’s sentence is just. Louis Coleman took Jassy Correia’s life—a life full of promise, away from her. No sentence can bring solace to her family, and it cannot erase the harm he inflicted, but thanks to the tireless efforts of our Violent Crimes Task Force along with the Boston, Providence, and Delaware State Police Departments, we were able to remove this dangerous threat from our community so he can’t hurt anyone else,” said Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division.
In the early morning hours of Feb. 24, 2019, Ms. Correia went out with friends to a nightclub in downtown Boston to celebrate her upcoming birthday. Just after 2 a.m., Ms. Correia became separated from her friends and tried to get a ride home from an Uber driver who was idling in front of the nightclub. The driver was waiting for a larger group and refused to give Ms. Correia a ride. Seconds later, video surveillance captured Coleman approach Ms. Correia. According to evidence presented at trial, Coleman tricked Ms. Correia into believing he would give her a ride back to her friend’s apartment.
After getting into the vehicle with Ms. Correia, video surveillance showed Coleman make a series of short turns before pulling over, just a few blocks from where he had originally parked, for approximately 12 minutes. Coleman then began driving south to his apartment in Providence.
Surveillance footage from Coleman’s Providence apartment building showed Coleman, at about 4:15 a.m. on Sunday, Feb. 24, 2019, parking and exiting the vehicle, and then returning a short time later carrying a blanket. He then walked from the car to the front of the building carrying the Ms. Correia’s lifeless body over his shoulder. Once he entered the building, surveillance video showed Coleman dragging her towards the elevator and subsequently towards his apartment.
In the days that followed, Coleman visited two car washes and his internet search history reveled that he Googled things such as “how to pull a tooth out that’s not loose;” “can a person fit inside a suitcase;” “buy dumpster;” “oil barrel;” “how to clean for embalming;” “turkey baster;” and “target sanitizing bleach.” In addition, Coleman purchased a $150 air purifier, 36 pounds of baking soda, duct tape, 50-gallon trash bags, personal protective equipment including full-body coveralls, an odor respirator, protective masks, safety goggles, a 600-lb rated dolly, three Tyvek suits and a large suitcase.
At 1:15 a.m., on Feb. 28, 2019, Coleman wheeled a suitcase containing the victim’s body out of his apartment and into the parking lot where his vehicle was parked. Coleman struggled to lift the suitcase containing Ms. Correia’s body into the trunk of his car, before driving away at 4 a.m.
On the afternoon of Feb. 28, 2019, Coleman’s vehicle was stopped by Delaware authorities on Interstate 95 South near Wilmington, Del. Officers ordered Coleman out of the vehicle and asked him if anyone else was in the vehicle with him, to which Coleman replied, “She’s in the trunk.”
Officers discovered the Ms. Correia’s body in the trunk of Coleman’s vehicle, bound with duct tape and in the fetal position inside a sofa cushion cover, which was inside of a black trash bag, stuffed inside the suitcase Coleman was seen bringing into his apartment on Feb. 27, 2019. Police also recovered a duffle bag, a pair of new long-handled loppers, plastic garbage bags, clothing, a red plastic gas container, a green butane lighter, black gloves, charcoal air purifiers, air fresheners, tinted safety glasses, plastic bags, work towels, cloth work-gloves, a new set of DeWalt pliers, a laptop, the computer hard-drive/tower he used to conduct his Google searches and disinfectant from the vehicle.
Additionally, two large cracks in the windshield on the passenger side were later found to contain both Coleman and Ms. Correia’s DNA.
Ms. Correia had significant bruising, a bloodied face, was bound with gray duct tape and was covered in baking soda. According to evidence and testimony presented at trial, the medical examiner determined the cause of death to be strangulation and that there was evidence consistent with a sexual assault.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Levy; FBI Boston SAC Bonavolonta; Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox; Douglas Bartlett, Acting U.S. Marshal for the District of Massachusetts; Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden; Colonel Melissa A. Zebley of the Delaware State Police; and Providence Police Chief Hugh T. Clements Jr. made the announcement today. The U.S. Attorney’s Office acknowledges the cooperation and assistance of the Rhode Island Attorney General’s Office, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Delaware and the Massachusetts State Police. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kenneth G. Shine, Robert Richardson and Elianna Nuzum of the Major Crimes Unit prosecuted the case.
Local woman sentenced to prison for embezzling from employerRead the Press Release
HOUSTON – A 47-year-old woman residing in Houston has been sent to prison following her conviction of mail fraud, announced U.S. Attorney Jennifer B. Lowery.
Noor Clements pleaded guilty Nov. 15, 2021.
Today, U.S. District Judge Lynn Hughes ordered Clements to serve 18 months in federal prison to be immediately followed by three years of supervised release. She is also required to pay $250,000 in restitution to her employer.
Clements worked in the Houston office of a California-based company as a chief financial officer and head of human resources from April 2016 to May 2018. In her role, she managed all accounting functions of the office including payroll and banking.
As part of her plea, she admitted to paying herself unearned vacation and overtime pay. She also made unauthorized payments with company funds to pay her student loans, credit card and personal vehicle bills. In addition, she used her company credit card towards personal expenses such as travel, income taxes, car repairs and tickets to sporting events and concerts.
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service and IRS-Criminal Investigation conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles J. Escher prosecuted the case.
Leader of Large-Scale Cocaine Trafficking Ring Sentenced to 11½ Years in PrisonRead the Press Release
PITTSBURGH - A former Florida resident has been sentenced in federal court to 138 months of incarceration on his conviction of Conspiracy to Distribute Five Kilograms of More of Cocaine, United States Attorney Cindy K. Chung announced today.
United States District Judge Marilyn J. Horan imposed the sentence on Hector Forbes, age 48, formerly of Sunrise, Florida.
According to information presented to the court, Forbes was one of the leaders of a large-scale cocaine distribution network that smuggled substantial quantities of cocaine from Mexico into California and then distributed that cocaine throughout the United States, including to the Western District of Pennsylvania. He was convicted of a drug trafficking offense in 2012 and deported in 2015, only to re-enter the United States illegally in 2016, where he quickly re-established himself as a drug trafficker. He arranged for shipment of cocaine, typically sent through the United States Mail to addresses in Florida, Ohio, Pittsburgh, and New Castle, among others. His customers typically sent cash back to Forbes, also through the United States mails.
Assistant United States Attorneys Brendan T. Conway and Marnie Sheehan-Balchon prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.
This prosecution is a result of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles high-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten communities throughout the United States. OCDETF uses a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.
United States Attorney Chung commended the Drug Enforcement Administration, the New Castle Police Department, the Lawrence County District Attorney’s Office, and the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Forbes.
Las Vegas Man Pleads Guilty to Fentanyl CrimeRead the Press Release
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Raymond Jaquette Howard, 34, of Las Vegas, Nevada, pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl.
According to court documents and statements made in court, Howard admitted to selling approximately 1.01 grams of fentanyl to a confidential informant at a Huntington motel on September 22, 2021. On November 16, 2021, law enforcement officer’s searched Howard’s motel room and found approximately 4.6 pounds of fentanyl and a loaded Glock 43x pistol hidden in the ceiling. Howard admitted that he intended to sell the fentanyl.
Howard further admitted to directing co-defendant David Anthony Wellman, 38, of Huntington, to sell quantities of fentanyl between September 2021 and December 2021. Wellman pleaded guilty to distribution of fentanyl on September 28, 2022.
On December 24, 2021, law enforcement officers conducted a traffic stop of a vehicle in which Howard was a passenger. Officers searched the vehicle and found approximately 399.6 grams of fentanyl in a backpack. Howard admitted that he intended to sell the fentanyl or direct others to sell the fentanyl on his behalf.
Howard is scheduled to be sentenced on January 17, 2023, and faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years and up to life in prison, five years of supervised release, and a $10 million fine.
“This case resulted in the seizure of a massive amount of fentanyl and removed an out-of-state supplier of this poison from our streets,” said United States Attorney Will Thompson. “I commend the investigative work of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Violent Crime and Drug Task Force West, and the West Virginia State Police.”
United States District Judge Robert C. Chambers presided over the hearing. Assistant United States Attorney Stephanie S. Taylor is prosecuting the case.
This case was prosecuted as part of Operation Synthetic Opioid Surge (SOS), an enforcement surge that has sought to reduce the supply of deadly synthetic opioids in high impact areas.
A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia. Related court documents and information can be found on PACER by searching for Case No. 3:22-cr-102.
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Lansing Real Estate Developer Sentenced to Prison for Tax EvasionRead the Press Release
Scott Chappelle Concealed Income and Assets to Avoid Paying More than $1.6 Million in Taxes, While Maintaining a Lavish Lifestyle
GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN — Scott Chapelle, 61, of Okemos and East Lansing, was sentenced to 38 months in prison today after engaging in a sophisticated, nearly decade-long effort to prevent the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) from collecting unpaid taxes from him and his businesses – including employment taxes withheld from the wages of his employees – all while funding a lavish lifestyle that included multiple houses, a yacht, and plastic surgery.
“Rather than working hard and playing by the rules, Scott Chappelle broke the law,” said U.S. Attorney Mark Totten. He continued: “Chapelle spent cash that wasn’t his – funds withheld from his workers as employment taxes, which he then hid from the IRS – to support an extravagant lifestyle he didn’t earn. Now and always, my office will hold individuals and businesses accountable who refuse to follow the rules.”
“Scott Chappelle spent nearly ten years evading taxes he owed to the IRS,” said Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division. “At the same time he was falsely claiming financial hardship, Chappelle was spending money on multiple homes, payments toward a luxury yacht, and elective plastic surgery. His prison sentence imposed today reaffirms a fundamental principle – those who lie to IRS collection agents and criminal investigators will be held accountable.”
According to court documents, Chappelle was an attorney and former CPA who operated Terra Management Company, Strathmore Development Company Michigan LLC, and Terra Holdings LLC, all of which were involved in real estate development and property management in the East Lansing area. Chappelle admitted as part of his guilty plea that he failed to pay over to the IRS employment taxes that were withheld from the wages of the companies’ employees. After the IRS began trying to collect the unpaid taxes, Chappelle attempted to evade the payment of those taxes by making false statements to the IRS about his and his companies’ assets and income, concealing his vacation house on Lake Michigan, and purchasing real property in the names of companies instead of his own name to hide them from the IRS.
Court documents also reveal that Chappelle falsely told IRS employees that he and his companies could not afford to pay their tax debts because of financial hardships, all the while paying substantial personal expenses from bank accounts in the names of at least six different businesses he controlled, including mortgage payments on three houses and a condominium, payments toward the purchase of a yacht, college tuition for his children, plastic surgery, personal credit card bills, life insurance premiums, car payments for himself and one of his children, and expenses associated with boats he owned.
Chappelle also admitted as part of his guilty plea that he made false statements to special agents of IRS Criminal Investigation who were investigating his misconduct. Chappelle failed to tell the agents about real property that he purchased – including a house in Ohio he had purchased just one month earlier – and he concealed the source of the funds used to pay a mortgage on a condominium in East Lansing. Also during the criminal investigation, Chappelle filed a false employment tax return for one of his companies on which he claimed that the company had no employees and paid no wages during the time period covered by the return. In fact, Chappelle knew the company had employees and paid wages during that period because he approved submissions to the company’s payroll provider.
Chappelle further admitted to making false statements on a loan application when he refinanced the mortgage on his Lake Michigan vacation house in Harbor Springs. According to court filings, Chappelle submitted fabricated bank statements to the mortgage company to make it appear as if his company had substantially more money in its account than it actually had, and then falsely blamed another employee of his company for fabricating them.
In addition to the term of imprisonment, U.S. District Judge Jane M. Beckering ordered Chappelle to serve three years of supervised release and pay a fine of $150,000 and $1,233,836 in restitution to the United States.
This case was investigated by IRS-Criminal Investigations. Prosecution was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy P. VerHey and Trial Attorney Melissa S. Siskind of the Justice Department’s Tax Division.
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Kuwaiti Diplomat and Wife Charged with Forced Labor of Domestic Workers and Related Fraud OffensesRead the Press Release
Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Carlos F. Matus, Director of the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service (“DSS”), announced today that BARRAK ABDULMOHSEN ALHUNAIF, a former diplomatic attaché assigned to the Permanent Mission of the State of Kuwait to the United Nations, and his wife KHALEDAH SAAD ALDHUBAIBI were charged in Manhattan federal court with forced labor, visa fraud, fraud in foreign labor contracting, and conspiracy to commit visa fraud and fraud in foreign labor contracting, in connection with their hiring and subsequent abuse of three domestic workers from India and the Philippines. Both ALHUNAIF and ALDHUBAIBI remain at large.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “Today’s indictment makes clear that no one is above the law. Barrak Abdulmohsen Alhunaif and his wife Khaledah Saad Aldhubaibi are alleged to have lied to obtain visas to bring three domestic workers to the United States and then exploited and abused those workers upon their arrival. This Office is committed to investigating and prosecuting those individuals who commit this type of fraud and abuse of particularly vulnerable foreign workers – no matter the title of the alleged offender.”
DSS Director Carlos F. Matus said: “As the lead agency in this investigation, the Diplomatic Security Service demonstrated its commitment to maintaining the integrity of U.S. travel documents and the rights of visitors to the United States. Our strong relationship with our law enforcement partners and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York continues to be essential in the pursuit of justice.”
According to the allegations in the Indictment filed today in Manhattan federal court:[1]
From in or about 2017, up to and including in or about 2020, ALHUNAIF, a Kuwaiti national and diplomatic attaché assigned to the Permanent Mission of the State of Kuwait to the United Nations, and ALDHUBAIBI, ALHUNAIF’s wife, conspired to fraudulently procure visas for three foreign domestic workers, who were from India and the Philippines, to provide household help to their family in Manhattan. ALHUNAIF and ALDHUBAIBI obtained the visas through the submission of fraudulent employment contracts, which, among other things, vastly overstated the domestic workers’ salaries, understated their hours, and falsely guaranteed other benefits, such as paid holidays and private living accommodations.
Once the domestic workers arrived in the United States, ALHUNAIF and ALDHUBAIBI paid the domestic workers far less than what was specified in their contracts and what was the minimum salary required by law. In order to conceal this scheme, ALHUNAIF provided payments to the domestic workers for the amounts set forth in their employment contracts but required the domestic workers to withdraw a portion of their paycheck in cash and to return the cash to either ALHUNAIF or ALDHUBAIBI. As a result, ALHUNAIF and ALDHUBAIBI paid at least two of the domestic workers as little as $700 per month. ALHUNAIF and ALDHUBAIBI also regularly compelled each of the domestic workers to work far in excess of 40 hours per week and without a regular day off.
Further, ALHUNAIF and ALDHUBAIBI subjected the domestic workers to other abusive conditions, including requiring two of them to surrender their passports upon arrival in the United States, restricting their ability to leave their employment, and controlling the domestic workers’ movements by prohibiting them from leaving their residence without their express permission. ALHUNAIF and ALDHUBAIBI also denied two of the domestic workers timely medical care for medical conditions caused by or contracted during their employment.
In addition, ALDHUBAIBI verbally abused each of the domestic workers and physically abused one of the workers. ALHUNAIF and ALDHUBAIBI also threatened at least one domestic worker on several occasions. These threats included, among other things, that ALHUNAIF and ALDHUBAIBI would falsely report the domestic worker to law enforcement for stealing from them or mistreating their children.
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ALHUNAIF, 36, and ALDHUBAIBI, 34, both of Kuwait City, Kuwait, are charged with conspiracy to commit visa fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison; conspiracy to commit fraud in foreign labor contracting, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison; and forced labor, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
In addition, ALHUNAIF is charged with three counts of visa fraud, which each carry a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, and three counts of fraud in foreign labor contracting, which each carry a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
The maximum potential sentences are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendants will be determined by a judge.
Mr. Williams praised the outstanding investigative work of the Diplomatic Security Service.
The prosecution of this case is being handled by the Office’s Civil Rights Unit in the Criminal Division. Assistant United States Attorneys Jamie Bagliebter and Mitzi S. Steiner are in charge of the prosecution.
The charges contained in the Indictment are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
[1] As the introductory phrase signifies, the entirety of the text of the Indictment, and the description of the Indictment set forth herein, constitute only allegations, and every fact described should be treated as an allegation.
Kennewick Man Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy to Obstruct an Official Proceeding, Lying to the FBI, and for his role in a Staged Accident SchemeRead the Press Release
Defendant Attempted to Make the Case Go Away by Falsely Accusing an FBI Agent and Another Individual Defendant Suspected was an FBI Informant of Soliciting a $20,000 Bribe
Spokane, Washington – Vanessa R. Waldref, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington, announced that Ali Abed Yaser, age 52 of Kennewick, Washington pleaded guilty to conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, making false statements to the FBI, conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud, and two counts of mail fraud. Yaser faces the following possible maximum statutory sentences: 20 years for each count of mail fraud, conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud, and conspiracy to obstruct official proceedings; 10 years for conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud; and 5 years for making a materially false statement to the FBI. The court also may impose a fine up to $250,000, the payment of restitution, and a 5-year term of court supervision. United States District Judge Mary K. Dimke will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. Yaser is scheduled to be sentenced on January 16, 2023, at 1:00 p.m. in Richland, Washington.
U.S. Attorney Waldref stated, “Staging an automobile accident to enrich yourself negatively impacts the entire community by raising insurance rates for law-abiding drivers. Worse still, after learning he was under investigation for staging an automobile accident and defrauding insurance companies, Mr. Yaser repeatedly chose to obstruct official proceedings and conceal his violations of federal law by lying to investigators, falsely accusing an FBI agent of soliciting a $20,000 bribe, threatening a potential witness, and tampering with evidence. Yaser’s corrupt conduct threatened the integrity of the proceedings and was designed to prevent his criminal activities from ever being uncovered.”
According to court documents, in February 2019, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”) opened an official investigation into allegations that several individuals were involved in a scheme to defraud insurance companies by staging automobile accidents, and filing false and fraudulent claims with insurance companies, in violation of federal criminal laws. As part of the investigation, the FBI used a confidential human source (CHS) who covertly recorded conversations with individuals suspected of being involved in the staged accident scheme. A federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Washington later convened to further investigate Yaser and his co-defendants’ scheme.
During the investigation, the FBI discovered that on May 28, 2019, Yaser staged an automobile accident on County Route 12 in Benton County, Washington. The staged accident involved a Hyundai Sonata, driven by another individual being purposely driven into a Lexus IS driven by Yaser. At the time, a credit union had a lien of approximately $30,018.78 on the Lexus. Yaser subsequently filed fraudulent insurance claims representing that he was involved in an accident and suffered bodily injury and wage loss. Yaser was never injured because he was not even in the vehicle at impact. An insurance company paid Yaser and others approximately $126,990.
In May 2020, the FBI executed warrants to search several residences in Washington and California for evidence of federal crimes. Afterward, Yaser held a meeting at his residence because he suspected someone was providing information to the FBI and warned the CHS to be careful of that person.
In August 2020, Yaser told the CHS that he learned that the individual Yaser suspected was an FBI informant recently visited the CHS. Yaser admonished the CHS for not calling him when the suspected informant visited the CHS. Yaser told the CHS that he would have come over to his residence, closed the garage door, shut off the security system cameras, and killed the individual he suspected was the FBI informant. Yaser told the CHS “they would not have recognized his face from his foot.”
Yaser further encouraged the CHS to call the person Yaser thought was the FBI informant and to convince the person to meet with Yaser at his residence. Yaser directed the the CHS to send an audio-recording of a conversation between the CHS and the suspected informant. Yasir told the CHS, “the recording, you know, will not go to the government.” A few days later, Yaser met with the CHS and discussed plans to file a false, fictitious, and fraudulent complaint against the FBI case agent and the suspected FBI informant. Yaser also sought to persuade others to support this plan to make false allegations against the FBI case agent and the suspected informant. Specifically, Yaser wanted an audio recording of the suspected informant that Yaser could exploit and use to discredit the FBI agent in the case against Yaser.
In late August 2020, Yaser discussed fabricating a story to communicate to the local police and the FBI in furtherance of the scheme to discredit the FBI case agent and the individual Yaser suspected was an FBI informant and to make them unavailable as witnesses. Yaser’s ultimate goal was to have the FBI agent removed from the case. Yaser stated in sum and substance, “We will file a complaint with the police and the police will forward it to them [FBI]” and “[t]he police will turn it upside down on them, it won’t take half an hour and it would reach them.”
In September 2020, when interviewed by the FBI, Yaser tried to make the case against him go away by falsely accusing the FBI case agent, and the individual Yaser suspected of being an FBI informant, of soliciting approximately a $20,000 bribe from a third person. In doing so, Yaser engaged in misleading conduct toward the FBI agents with the intention of hindering, delaying, and preventing communication to these officers and a judge of the United States, of information relating to the commission and possible commission of federal offenses. He also attempted to corruptly obstruct, influence, and impede an official proceeding, that is, a federal grand jury proceeding and a criminal proceeding before a judge and court of the United States.
“Yaser and his co-conspirators went to great lengths, not only in committing crimes, but also covering them up and attempting to impugn the integrity of agents and the judicial process,” said Richard A. Collodi, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Seattle Field Office. “There are no victimless crimes. This fraud creates a financial burden for insured drivers as their rates increase from staged accidents.”
“Yaser’s deceitful actions violated laws spanning the jurisdictions of several federal agencies. The fraud the defendant perpetrated, in part, exploited federal health care programs,” said Steven J. Ryan, Special Agent in Charge with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG). “Our agency diligently, working alongside fellow law enforcement agencies, pursues bad actors who target HHS programs.”
“Mr. Yaser took assertive actions to thwart this investigation, but, those actions ultimately failed thanks to the diligent efforts of the case agents, who investigated this case,” said Special Agent in Charge Bret Kressin, IRS Criminal Investigation, Seattle Field Office. “Mr. Yaser even lied and bullied others in hopes he could make his crime disappear. Unfortunately for him, Mr. Yaser learned that our law enforcement team does not back down when it comes to holding fraudsters accountable for their actions.”
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, and the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, with the assistance of the National Insurance Crime Bureau. This case is being prosecuted by George J.C. Jacobs, III, Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington.
Justin Rivera Sentenced to 21 Years in Prison for Conspiring to Commit Sex TraffickingRead the Press Release
Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that JUSTIN RIVERA, a/k/a “Denzel Rivera,” a/k/a “Bangout,” a/k/a “Jackie Chan,” was sentenced to 21 years in prison for conspiring to sex traffic two victims. RIVERA was convicted following an eight-day jury trial in June 2021 before United States District Judge Paul A. Engelmayer, who imposed today’s sentence.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “Justin Rivera was responsible for terrorizing young women and coercing them into engaging in commercial sex acts. After Rivera was convicted and in jail, he hatched a plan to subvert the judicial process by attempting to coerce one of his victims—who courageously testified at trial—into recanting her testimony. Today’s sentence holds Rivera accountable for his horrific crimes.”
According to court documents, the evidence presented trial, and the evidence presented at sentencing:
In 2015, RIVERA and his co-conspirators squatted at an abandoned house in Bohemia, New York, where they worked in concert to coerce the young women to engage in commercial sex acts, using false promises of romance, narcotics, violence, threats of violence, and psychological abuse. RIVERA physically assaulted one victim (“Victim-1”) on multiple occasions, pointed a gun at her head, and manipulated her heroin addiction by controlling her access to the drug. RIVERA also played the role of the conspiracy’s enforcer, including on one occasion threatening the mother of a victim (“Victim-2”) who came to the house in Bohemia in an attempt to rescue her daughter.
Both Victim-1 and Victim-2 testified at trial. Following RIVERA’s conviction, RIVERA engaged in witness tampering by conspiring to offer bribes and threaten Victim-1 to induce her to recant her testimony and falsely state that the Government coerced Victim-1 into falsely testifying at trial.
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In addition to today’s prison sentence, RIVERA, 32, of Amityville, New York, was sentenced to five years of supervised release.
Mr. Williams praised the outstanding investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York City Police Department, Suffolk County Police Department, and the Special Agents from the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York for their assistance on this case.
The case is being handled by the Office’s General Crimes Unit. Assistant United States Attorneys Daniel H. Wolf and Thomas S. Burnett are in charge of the prosecution.
Huntington Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Drug CrimeRead the Press Release
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Shawn Anthony Graves, 29, of Huntington, pleaded guilty today to possession with intent to distribute cocaine and cocaine base, also known as “crack.”
According to court documents and statements made in court, on November 7, 2019, law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at a 14th Street residence and found approximately 15.4 grams of crack and 4.5 grams of cocaine. Graves admitted that he possessed and intended to distribute the crack and cocaine located inside the 14th Street residence.
Graves further admitted to selling quantities of crack at the 14th Street residence on September 26, 2019 and October 28, 2019, each time to a confidential informant.
Graves is scheduled to be sentenced on January 17, 2023, and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a $1 million fine.
Officers also found three loaded firearms during the November 7, 2019 search of the 14th Street residence: an Eagle Arms AR15 .223-caliber rifle; a Springfield XDS 9mm pistol; and a Taurus Judge Public Defender, .45/.410-caliber pistol. Co-defendant Marshall Lee Graves II, 38, of Huntington, was sentenced to six years and four months in prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm on August 24, 2022.
United States Attorney Will Thompson made the announcement and commended the investigative work of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the Huntington Violent Crime and Drug Task Force, and the Huntington Police Department.
United States District Judge Robert C. Chambers presided over the hearing. Assistant United States Attorney Courtney L. Cremeans is prosecuting the case.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.
A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia. Related court documents and information can be found on PACER by searching for Case No. 3:21-cr-181.
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Houston-Area Woman Pleads Guilty to Obstruction of the Enforcement of Federal Criminal Sex Trafficking StatuteRead the Press Release
NEW ORLEANS – U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that DAJANAE DRAKE, age 29, from Missouri City, Texas, pleaded guilty on October 6, 2022, before United States District Judge Mary Ann Vial Lemmon to a one-count bill of information charging her with obstruction, attempted obstruction, and interference with the enforcement of the federal criminal sex trafficking statute, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1591(d).
According to court documents, Person 1, then approximately sixteen years old, met Randi Lewis in about early 2020. Lewis recruited Person 1,a female, to engage in commercial sex acts under his direction, and she complied. In about June 2021, Lewis and Person 1 met the minor victim, who was thirteen years old, in the Houston, Texas area. At Lewis’s direction, Person 1 recruited the victim to perform commercial sex acts, which would also be under Lewis’s direction. Thereafter, Lewis arranged for he, Person 1, and the minor victim to travel to New Orleans on a Greyhound bus for the purpose of his co-conspirator and the victim to engage in commercial sex acts. Between June 22, 2021, and June 24, 2021, Person 1 and the minor victim performed multiple commercial sex acts in the New Orleans area. On June 24, 2021, law enforcement authorities recovered the victim and arrested Person 1 and Lewis at a hotel in Terrytown, Louisiana. Thereafter, Person 1 and Lewis were charged criminally and incarcerated.
Between June 25, 2021, and about November 28, 2021, DRAKE held numerous telephone conversations with Person 1 and Lewis, including several conversations during which DRAKE knowingly encouraged Person 1 to sign a false affidavit saying that Lewis played no role in recruiting and trafficking the minor victim. DRAKE did so with the purpose of obstructing the enforcement of criminal law, including Title 18, United States Code, Section 1591.
DRAKE faces a maximum term of twenty-five (25) years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000.00, up to five (5) years of supervised release after imprisonment, and a mandatory $100 special assessment fee per count. Sentencing before Judge Lemmon has been scheduled for January 19, 2023.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “resources.”
U.S. Attorney Evans praised the work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office in this matter. Assistant United States Attorney Jordan Ginsberg is in charge of the prosecution.
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Highland County man pleads guilty to attempting hate crimeRead the Press Release
CINCINNATI – A local, self-identified “Incel” pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court today to attempting to conduct a mass shooting of women.
Tres Genco, 22, of Hillsboro, Ohio, admitted he plotted to commit a hate crime, namely, a plan to shoot women at a university in Ohio. He was arrested by federal agents in July 2021 and has remained in custody since.
“Genco formulated a plot to kill women and intended to carry it out. Our federal and local law enforcement partners stopped that from happening,” said U.S. Attorney Kenneth L. Parker. “Hate has no place in our country – including gender-based hate – and we will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to vigorously prosecute any such conduct.”
“Thankfully, law enforcement partners working closely together prevented a deadly killing spree targeting women,” stated FBI Cincinnati Special Agent in Charge J. William Rivers. “Genco’s hate-filled beliefs and actions were extremely dangerous and could have resulted in irreparable harm to our community and many precious lives. We urge the public to report concerning behavior to the FBI and local police to help prevent future violence.”
Genco identified as an Incel or “involuntary celibate.” The Incel movement is an online community of predominantly men who harbor anger towards women. Incels advocate violence in support of their belief that women unjustly deny them sexual or romantic attention to which they believe they are entitled.
According to court documents, Genco maintained profiles on a popular Incel website from at least July 2019 through mid-March 2020 and posted hundreds of times on the site.
In one post, Genco detailed spraying “some foids and couples” with orange juice in a water gun. Foids is an Incel term short for “femoids,” referring to women. Genco compared his “extremely empowering action” to similar conduct by known Incel Elliot Rodger. In May 2014, Rodger killed six people and injured 14 others, including shooting individuals outside a University of California, Santa Barbara sorority house. Prior to his mass attack, Rodger shot a group of college students with orange juice from a water gun.
Genco also wrote a manifesto, stating he would “slaughter” women “out of hatred, jealousy and revenge…” and referring to death as the “great equalizer.”
As part of this investigation, law enforcement agents discovered a note of Genco’s that indicated he hoped to “aim big” for a kill count of 3,000 people with a reference to the same date as Elliot Rodger’s attack and intended to attend military training. The investigation revealed that the day he wrote his manifesto, he searched online for sororities and a university in Ohio.
In 2019, Genco purchased tactical gloves, a bulletproof vest, a hoodie bearing the word “Revenge,” cargo pants, a bowie knife, a skull facemask, two Glock 17 magazines, a 9mm Glock 17 clip, and a holster clip concealed carry for a Glock.
Genco attended Army Basic Training in Georgia from August through December 2019. He was discharged for entry-level performance and conduct.
In January 2020, Genco wrote a document entitled “isolated” that he described as “the writings of the deluded and homicidal.” Genco signed the document, “Your hopeful friend and murderer.”
Genco’s court documents detail that he conducted surveillance at an Ohio university on Jan. 15, 2020. That same day, he searched online for topics including “planning a shooting crime” and “when does preparing for a crime become an attempt?”
On March 12, 2020, Highland County sheriff’s deputies responded to Genco’s residence. At the residence, in the trunk of Genco’s vehicle, police officers found, among other things, a firearm with a bump stock attached, several loaded magazines, body armor and boxes of ammunition. Inside the residence, police officers found a modified Glock-style 9mm semiautomatic pistol, with no manufacturer’s marks or serial number, hidden in a heating vent in Genco’s bedroom. As part of his plea, Genco admitted that he possessed both firearms in furtherance of his plot.
Genco pleaded guilty to one count of attempting to commit a hate crime, which, because it involved an attempt to kill, is punishable by up to life in prison.
Kenneth L. Parker, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio; J. William Rivers, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Cincinnati Division; Daryl S. McCormick, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF); and Highland County Sheriff Donnie Barrera announced the charges. Assistant United States Attorneys Megan Gaffney Painter and Timothy S. Mangan are representing the United States in this case.
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Hartford Man Who Trafficked Guns from South Carolina to Connecticut Sentenced to 10 YearsRead the Press Release
Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that ALBERTO VAZQUEZ, 39, of Hartford, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton in New Haven 120 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for illegally trafficking firearms from South Carolina to Connecticut.
According to court documents and statements made in court, in 2020, ATF and Hartford Police recovered multiple firearms that had been purchased in South Carolina. In July 2020, one of the firearms was found in the possession of a convicted felon. In September and October 2020, additional firearms were recovered at the scenes of two separate homicides in Hartford. The investigation revealed that Vazquez, a felon who cannot lawfully purchase or possess firearms, conspired with individuals in South Carolina, including Joshua Bentz and Tywonda Bentz, to purchase firearms from a licensed gun dealer in Columbia, South Carolina, transport them to Connecticut, and sell them to felons and other customers in the Hartford area. Vazquez and his co-conspirators purchased approximately 37 firearms through this scheme.
Vazquez’s criminal history includes convictions for felony weapon possession, robbery and larceny offenses.
Vazquez has been detained since his arrest on March 15, 2021. On March 25, 2022, he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to deal in firearms without a license and to unlawfully transport firearms, unlawful transportation of firearms, and unlawful possession of firearms by a felon.
Joshua Bentz and Tywonda Bentz pleaded guilty to related charges and await sentencing. In addition, Vazquez’s former girlfriend, Julitza Garcia, pleaded to making false statements to law enforcement officers during the investigation and, on May 2, 2022, was sentenced to three years of probation.
This investigation is being conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF); the Hartford Police Department; the Columbia (S.C.) Police Department; and the Richland County (S.C.) Sheriff’s Department.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Tara E. Levens through Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. In May 2021, the Justice Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: Fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.
Fresno Man Sentenced to 12.5 Years in Prison for Conspiring to Distribute Fentanyl from the Fresno County JailRead the Press Release
FRESNO, Calif. — Maria Garcia, 27, of Fresno, was sentenced today to 12.5 years in prison for conspiring to distribute over 40 grams of fentanyl, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.
According to court documents, between October and December 2020, Garcia was incarcerated at the Fresno County Jail awaiting trial on a state offense. While in custody, he used the jail’s telephones to discuss with his brother, Isaiah Garcia (who was not incarcerated) a plan for Isaiah Garcia to sell fentanyl pills. During the calls, Mario Garcia advised his brother on how to store and deal his fentanyl pills and referred customers to him. In December 2020, law enforcement officers searched Isaiah Garcia’s residence and found over 1,000 fentanyl pills. Isaiah Garcia had been charged, has pleaded guilty, and is sent for sentencing on Oct. 31, 2022.
The case is the result of an investigation by the FORT (a multi-agency team composed of Homeland Security Investigations, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Fresno Police Department) and the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin J. Gilio is prosecuting the case.
Four Men Sentenced for Tobacco Trafficking ConspiracyRead the Press Release
BOSTON – Four men have been sentenced in U.S. District Court in Springfield for their roles in a conspiracy to traffic in contraband tobacco and evade taxes.
Ravinder Arora, 60, of East Longmeadow, was sentenced on Oct. 7, 2022 by U.S. District Court Judge Mark G. Mastroianni to one year probation and restitution to be determined at a later hearing. In August 2015, Arora pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit contraband smokeless tobacco trafficking and three counts of contraband smokeless tobacco trafficking; aiding and abetting.
Jugjeev Kharbanda, 37, of Seymour, Conn., was sentenced on Oct. 5, 2022 by Judge Mastroianni to one year probation and restitution to be determined at a later hearing. In January 2015, Kharbanda pleaded guilty to conspiracy and three counts of contraband smokeless tobacco trafficking.
Sukhdev Singh, 69, of West Hartford, Conn., was sentenced by Judge Mastroianni on Oct. 4, 2022 to one year probation and restitution to be determined at a later hearing. In May 2016, Singh pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy, three counts of wire fraud and one count of money laundering.
Jaspal Singh, 59, also of Seymour, Conn., was sentenced on Oct. 3, 2022 by Judge Mastroianni to one year probation and restitution of to be determined at a later hearing. In October 2014, Singh pleaded guilty to conspiracy and three counts of contraband smokeless tobacco trafficking.
In 2008, the defendants owned or assisted in the operation of wholesale warehouses in Springfield and Connecticut that sold tobacco products, including cigars and smokeless tobacco, as well as other non-tobacco items, to convenience stores, gas stations and other retail businesses. From 2008 to 2012, the defendants conspired with co-conspirator Syed I. Bokhari and others to avoid paying large amounts of tobacco excise taxes on smokeless tobacco and cigars sold from the warehouses.
On Aug. 11, 2022, Bokhari was sentenced to one year of probation. The government recommended a sentence of 18 months in prison. In a related civil forfeiture action, Bokhari agreed to forfeit seized tobacco, currency, and other assets, which resulted in the recovery of $2,197,985 by the government. The government has also filed an additional forfeiture motion for $30,315.51 seized in connection with Jaspal Singh’s criminal activity. The final order has not yet been issued by the Court.
United States Attorney Rachael S. Rollins; James M. Ferguson, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, Boston Field Division; Joleen D. Simpson, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation in Boston; Matthew B. Millhollin, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in New England; and Massachusetts Department of Revenue Commissioner Geoffrey E. Snyder made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christopher L. Morgan and Michael J. Mazur of Rollins’ Springfield Branch Office prosecuted the cases.
Former Robins Air Force Base Daycare Employees Indicted for Cruelty to Children, Simple Battery, Failure to Report Suspected Child AbuseRead the Press Release
MACON, Ga. – A federal grand jury has returned a 30-count indictment charging two former employees and the former director of a daycare facility located on Robins Air Force Base, Warner Robins, Georgia, with charges related to the alleged abuse of children in their care.
Zhanay Kiana Flynn, 27, of Centerville, Georgia, is charged with 18 counts of cruelty to children in the first degree, six counts of cruelty to children in the second degree, three counts of simple battery and one count of failure to report suspected child abuse.
Antanesha Mone Fritz, 29, of Tanner, Alabama, is charged with 18 counts of cruelty to children in the first degree, six counts of cruelty to children in the second degree, three counts of simple battery and one count of failure to report suspected child abuse.
Latona Mae Lambert, 51, of Kissimmee, Florida, is charged with one count of failure to report suspected child abuse.
If convicted, the defendants face a mandatory minimum sentence of five years of imprisonment up to a maximum of 20 years of imprisonment for each count of cruelty to children in the first degree; a minimum of one year of imprisonment up to a maximum of ten years of imprisonment for each count of cruelty to children in the second degree; a maximum of one year of imprisonment for each count of simple battery; and a maximum of one year of imprisonment for failure to report suspected child abuse.
The indictment alleges a variety of felony cruelty to children actions committed by Flynn and Fritz, two former Robins Air Force Base daycare employees, during Jan. and Feb. 2021. The charges allege various forms of abuse, to include striking children, causing children to fight each other, forcing children to hit one another, spraying children in the face with a cleaning liquid, seizing and shaking a child while threatening to strike them, striking a child in the head with a book, kicking a child into a wall, and stepping on and applying weight to a child’s leg. Flynn and Fritz are also accused of committing simple battery against children, with the indictment alleging that they lifted a cot with a child sleeping on it, causing the child to fall on the ground, struck a toy out of a child’s hand and then forced the child into a small enclosure, and sprayed two children in the head and face with a cleaning solution. Lambert, the former daycare director, Flynn and Fritz are each charged with one count of failing to report suspected child abuse when they did not notify the proper authorities of the abuse after allegedly witnessing it or having reason to suspect that abuse was occurring.
This is an ongoing investigation. Parents and guardians of children who were under the care of the defendants and have concerns about their child are encouraged to contact the Robins Air Force Base Family Advocacy Program at 478-327-8398 during regular business hours.
The case is being investigated by the United States Air Force Office of Special Investigations and Air Force Security Forces, with support from the FBI.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Joy Odom is prosecuting the case for the Government.
An indictment is only an allegation of criminal conduct, and all defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty in a court of law beyond a reasonable doubt.
Former Prisoners Thankful for CARE Court and Lessons it Taught ThemRead the Press Release
About 25 percent of released prisoners in Florida end up reoffending. The transition from incarceration to the community is full of challenges and unanticipated impediments. That's where a Court-Assisted Re-Entry (CARE) Initiative can help—by teaching former prisoners different ways of thinking so they don't fall back into bad habits.
One such CARE Court program is found in the Federal District Court for the Southern District of Florida. It is designed to help moderate to high-risk returning citizens navigate barriers like employment, housing, education, substance abuse, medical and mental health care, reuniting with family, and social networks.
"When I got out of prison, everything detoured when I came back to the free world," said a CARE Court graduate. "It was rough. It's easy to blame others for your mistakes. I'm very thankful for CARE Court."
CARE Court also teaches participants life skills and illustrates the power of choices.
"It taught me how to be honest," said a second CARE Court graduate. "It also taught me how to help people. When you take on a responsibility like this, it motivates you to stay on the path. My journey doesn't stop. It will continue beyond this."
At a recent graduation ceremony for successful CARE Court participants, mentors beamed with pride as graduates spoke about their journeys to those in attendance.
“We, the CARE Court team, are ridiculously proud of all you’ve accomplished and I hope that one day you will come back and share your experiences with future CARE Court participants,” said Judge Kathleen Williams of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
Several of those in attendance were former graduates there to pay it forward and provide a guiding hand to those currently in the program. One thing they all shared was the realization that reintegration into society is really difficult.
"I got out of confinement 16 months ago," said another program graduate. "It was tough reintegrating. I figured I'd get a job pretty easily, but it wasn't easy at all."
Instead, he entered the Miami-Dade College culinary program.
"CARE Court steered me in the right direction," he said. "The culinary class was full, but CARE Court was able to make sure I was admitted. They helped me a lot, but it's tough. They hold you accountable. They stay on you."
It takes at least a year to complete the program, which uses Moral Reconation Therapy. This focuses on enhanced moral reasoning, better decision making, and more appropriate behavior.
Melissa Fife, a Senior United States Probation Officer with five years of CARE Court experience, has seen amazing growth and transformations made by participants.
"It's inspiring to see how much progress they can make," said Fife. "They learn to slow down and process their decision making. They explore their options and think of how their decisions affect other people. They gain much more than they realize. I've had people tell me they didn't think they needed help until they received it."
Sometimes all one needs is a little assistance.
“We should do everything we can to invest in the people who need it most,” said Juan Antonio Gonzalez, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida. “And that’s exactly what CARE Court is … an investment.”
CARE Court is a voluntary program. The history of a returning citizen is reviewed to see if he or she would be a viable candidate. That individual then observes a CARE Court session and meets with current participants. It takes a serious commitment to graduate CARE Court, but after listening to recent graduates speak, it seems well worth the effort.
“CARE Court is the best kept secret in the Southern District of Florida for returning citizens recently released from prison and on federal supervision," said J.D. Smith, Chief of law Enforcement Coordination and Community Outreach Section, United States Attorney's Office, Southern District of Florida. "It helps empower those who have paid their debts to society with the skills and opportunities to change their lives for the better."
Judge Kathleen Williams of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida expresses how proud she is of the latest CARE Court graduates during a recent ceremony. CARE Court works to make the transition from incarceration to freedom an easier journey.
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Former Financial Controller Sentenced to Three Years in Prison for Embezzling over $1.8 Million from Montgomery County Multinational Technology CompanyRead the Press Release
PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero announced that Donna Laansma, 58, of Fairless Hills, PA, was sentenced to three years in prison, three years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay full restitution by United States District Court Judge Michael M. Baylson for her scheme to embezzle over $1.8 million from her former employer, and for failing to report these fraudulently obtained earnings to the IRS.
In February 2022, the defendant was charged by Information with wire fraud and tax evasion in connection with this scheme. At the time of the charged conduct, Laansma was the Financial Controller of Astea, a global management software company based in Horsham, PA, and managed the company’s finances worldwide. According to court documents, Laansma obtained a corporate credit card that she kept hidden from senior management. Between November 2014 and November 2020, the defendant used this secret card to spend over $1.8 million on personal expenditures such as her son’s college tuition, monthly payments on her personal bank accounts, vacations, shoes, groceries, furniture, and gift cards. She also utilized her position as Financial Controller to pay down the corporate card bills, falsely recording these payments as legitimate business expenses in company books. The secret corporate credit card was discovered in 2020, after Astea was acquired by another global enterprise software company. Laansma, who was a Certified Public Accountant and familiar with the tax code, failed to report her extra, fraudulently obtained income as earnings on her tax forms.
“Donna Laansma cheated her former employer out of nearly two million dollars, and covered her tracks to hide her fraud,” said U.S. Attorney Romero. “Instead of doing the right thing and performing her job honestly as the company’s controller, she chose the greedy path. Our Office will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to protect innocent individuals and businesses from being victimized by financial fraud.”
“For years, Donna Laansma stole from her employer and omitted her earnings on her tax returns, said IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge Yury Kruty. “Today she has been held accountable for her actions. The sentence she received today is a costly reminder that engaging in such criminal behavior will result in dire consequences such as a loss of liberty and being branded a felon for life.”
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigations, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney J. Jeanette Kang.
Former Comptroller of Investment Adviser Firm Sentenced to 80 Months in Multimillion-Dollar Investment FraudRead the Press Release
Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that VANIA MAY BELL, the former comptroller of Executive Compensation Planners, Inc. (“ECP”), a registered investment adviser and financial planning firm located in New City, New York, was sentenced to 80 months in prison for participating in a conspiracy with her father, HECTOR MAY, the former president of ECP, to defraud certain investment advisory clients (the “Victims”) out of more than $11 million. BELL was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Nelson S. Roman.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “Over two decades, Bell and her father Hector May ruthlessly orchestrated a multimillion-dollar Ponzi scheme. They pilfered the retirement savings of over 15 victims, including vulnerable aging couples, close friends, relatives, and an employment pension plan of a construction company. Bell now joins her father in prison to be held accountable for this devastating crime”
According to Count One of the Indictment, to which BELL pled guilty, and other statements and submissions made in Court:
Beginning in 1982, HECTOR MAY was the president of ECP and provided financial advisory services to numerous clients. In 1993, BELL joined ECP, where she held various titles including comptroller and chief compliance officer. ECP worked with a broker dealer (“Broker Dealer-1”), of which MAY became a registered representative in 1994.
In order to obtain money from the Victims’ securities accounts with Broker Dealer-1, MAY advised the Victims, among other things, that they should use money from those accounts to have ECP, rather than Broker Dealer-1, purchase bonds on their behalf. With BELL’s assistance, MAY guided the Victims, first, to withdraw their money from their Broker Dealer-1 accounts, and second, to send that money to the ECP Custodial Account by wire transfer or check. At times, when ECP was running out of cash and desperately needed to make supposed bond interest payments to avoid exposing the Ponzi scheme, BELL reached out to Victims directly. After the Victims sent their money to the ECP Custodial Account, MAY and BELL did not use the money to purchase bonds. Instead, BELL and MAY transferred the money to ECP’s “operating” account and spent it on business expenses, personal expenses, and to make payments to certain Victims in order to perpetuate the scheme and conceal the fraud. In this way, from the late 1990’s through March 9, 2018, BELL and MAY induced Victims to forward them more than $11,400,000.
To help perpetuate the fraud, BELL and MAY created phony “consolidated” account statements that they issued through ECP and sent to the Victims. These “consolidated” account statements purported to reflect the Victims’ total portfolio balances and included the names of bonds MAY falsely represented that he purchased for the Victims and the amounts of interest the Victims were supposedly earning on the bonds. In order to create the phony consolidated account statements, MAY provided BELL with bond names and false interest earnings, and BELL created ECP computerized account statements and had them distributed to the Victims. As part of the scheme, MAY personally drove to the home of a stroke victim he and BELL had been defrauding of millions of dollars in order to retrieve the legitimate statements being sent by Broker Dealer-1 and later replace them with BELL’s fake consolidated statements purporting to show the victim’s investments had been growing.
BELL was instrumental to the scheme in multiple ways. BELL processed and spent client money from ECP’s custodial and operating accounts, watching the money dwindling and helping her father achieve more thefts at many months’ ends; BELL faked account statements that made people believe that they held millions, even when she knew that their money was gone; and BELL wielded her role as Chief Compliance Officer and Comptroller to help conceal the fraud from Broker Dealer-1.
In an audio recording made in 2016, after more than sixteen years in the scheme, BELL said the following about MAY: “I am his daughter, I am his confidante, I am the backbone that saves his butt in every promise he makes out of there. . . . The virtue of my knowledge is just by the presence of time here. There is nothing in this office that I don’t know, haven’t touched, haven’t seen, haven’t done, haven’t taught. Everyone is always intimidated by the time I come in or the things I get to do personally that I’ve earned over time based on my life circumstances. It’s what we call the perk of being the boss’s daughter.” At the end of that year, MAY thanked BELL in a handwritten note: “My Dearest Vania: you have always been there for me. You always watch my back. I couldn’t do it without you[.] Love, Daddy”.
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In addition to her prison term, BELL, 57, of Montvale, New Jersey, was ordered to serve three years of supervised release, pay $8,041,233 in restitution, and forfeit $589,942.
MAY, who pled guilty in a separate case in December 2018 to charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and investment advisor fraud, was sentenced on July 31, 2019, to 13 years in prison by Judge Vincent Briccetti. He was also ordered to serve three years of supervised release, pay $8,041,233 in restitution and forfeit $11,452,185.
Mr. Williams praised the outstanding investigative work of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Special Agents of the United States Attorney’s Office, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The criminal case is being prosecuted by the Office’s White Plains Division. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Vladislav Vainberg, Margery Feinzig, and Derek Wikstrom are in charge of the prosecution.
Former Beaverton Mayor Pleads Guilty to Possession of Child PornographyRead the Press Release
PORTLAND, Ore.—Dennis “Denny” Doyle, the former mayor of Beaverton, Oregon, pleaded guilty today in federal court to illegally possessing child pornography.
Doyle, 73, a Beaverton resident, waived indictment and pleaded guilty to a single count of possession of child pornography.
According to court documents, between November 2014 and December 2015, Doyle knowingly and unlawfully possessed digital media containing child pornography. Several of the images Doyle possessed were of children under the age of 12 who had been identified as known sexually exploited minors by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).
On March 3, 2022, Doyle was charged by criminal information with one count of possession of child pornography.
Doyle will be sentenced on January 24, 2023, by U.S. District Court Judge Michael W. Mosman.
This case was investigated by FBI Portland’s Child Exploitation Task Force (CETF). It is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon.
Anyone who has information about the physical or online exploitation of children are encouraged to call the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324) or submit a tip online at tips.fbi.gov.
Federal law defines child pornography as any visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct involving a minor. Child sexual abuse material depicts actual crimes being committed against children. Not only do these images and videos document victims’ exploitation and abuse, but when shared across the internet, child victims suffer re-victimization each time the image of their abuse is viewed. To learn more, please visit the NCMEC’s website at www.missingkids.org.
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.
Former Angels Communications Director Eric Kay Sentenced to 22 Years in Tyler Skaggs Overdose CaseRead the Press Release
Ex- Los Angeles Angels employee Eric Kay was sentenced today to 22 years in federal prison in connection with the 2019 overdose death of Angles pitcher Tyler Skaggs, announced U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Chad Meacham.
In February, a federal jury found former Angels Communications Director Eric Prescott Kay guilty of distribution of a controlled substance resulting in death and conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances. He was sentenced today by Senior U.S. District Judge Terry R. Means.
According to evidence presented at trial, Mr. Kay distributed the pills that killed Mr. Skaggs.
The investigation began on July 1, 2019, when the Southlake Police Department received a 911 call stating that Mr. Skaggs, then just 27 years old, had been found dead in his hotel room at the Southlake Town Square Hilton. The Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s office later determined that Mr. Skaggs had a mixture of ethanol, fentanyl, and oxycodone in his system at the time of his death..
Inside Mr. Skaggs’s hotel room, investigators discovered a number of pills, including a single blue pill with the markings M/30. An analysis of the pill – which closely resembled a 30-milligram oxycodone tablet – revealed it had been laced with fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opiate.
In an initial interview with law enforcement, Mr. Kay denied knowing whether Mr. Skaggs was a drug user. He claimed the last time he’d seen Mr. Skaggs was at hotel check-in on June 30. However, a search of Mr. Skaggs’s phone revealed text messages from June 30 suggesting that he had asked Mr. Kay to stop by his room with pills late that evening. Investigators later learned that, contrary to what he’d told law enforcement the day Mr. Skaggs’s body was discovered, Mr. Kay had admitted to a colleague that he had, in fact, visited Mr. Skaggs’s room the night of his death.
In the course of their investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration determined that Mr. Kay allegedly regularly dealt the blue M/30 pills – dubbed “blue boys” – to Mr. Skaggs and to others, dolling out the pills at the stadium where they worked.
Several former Angels players, including Matt Harvey, C.J. Cron, Mike Morin, and Cameron Bedrosian testified at trial that Eric Kay distributed blue 30 milligram oxycodone pills to them as well. They further testified that he was the only source of these pills and would conduct transactions in the Angels Stadium.
At Tuesday’s sentencing hearing, prosecutors introduced into evidence jailhouse calls and emails demonstrating the nature of Mr. Kay’s crime and his lack of remorse.
Mr. Kay repeatedly insulted Tyler Skaggs, his deceased victim:
“I hope people realize what a piece of sh*t he is,” he told his mother in a recorded jailhouse call. “Well, he’s dead, so f*ck ‘em.”
He also mocked the Skaggs family, calling them “dumb” and “white trash” and suggesting his mother plant negative stories about them in the media.
“All they see are dollar signs,” he said of the Skaggs family. “They may get more money with him dead than he was playing because he sucked.”
He even demeaned the jurors that convicted him, calling them “fat, sloppy, toothless, and unemployed.”
“The Skaggs family learned the hard way: One fentanyl pill can kill. That’s why our office is committed to holding to account anyone who deals in illicit opioids, whether they operate in back alleyways or world class stadiums,” U.S. Attorney Chad E. Meacham said following today’s hearing. “Mr. Skaggs did not deserve to die this way. No one does. We hope this sentence will bring some comfort to his grieving family.”
“Today’s sentencing of Eric Kay will not ease the suffering that the Skaggs’ family have experienced since 2019,” said Eduardo A. Chavez, Special Agent in Charge of DEA Dallas. “What the guilty verdict and sentencing proves is even if you sell only a small number of pills and one of those pills causes the death of an individual, you will be held responsible and sentenced to the fullest extent allowed by our judicial system.”
The Drug Enforcement Administration’s Fort Worth Field Division and the Southlake Police Department conducted the investigation with the assistance of the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Secret Service, and the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Errin Martin, Lindsey Beran (fmr), and Joe Lo Galbo are prosecuting the case with the help of Assistant U.S. Attorney Jon Bradshaw.
Final Defendant Pleads Guilty to Role in Murder and Assault on the Red Lake Indian ReservationRead the Press Release
ST. PAUL, Minn. – A Duluth woman has pleaded guilty to her role in a murder that took place in August 2019 on the Red Lake Indian Reservation, announced United States Attorney Andrew M. Luger.
According to court documents, on August 12, 2019, Mia Faye Sumner, 21, and her co-defendants Alexia Gah Gi Gay Mary Cutbank, 21, and Daniel Charles Barrett, 31, armed with at least one handgun, entered the garage of a residence where Daniel Alan Johnson was known to reside. Once inside, Cutbank fired multiple gunshots, fatally wounding Johnson and seriously injuring a second victim, T.B.S. The three defendants returned to the waiting vehicle and left the scene. To assist the defendants in avoiding arrest, Rose Celeste Siewert, 50, drove Cutbank, Barrett, and Sumner off the Red Lake Indian Reservation.
Sumner pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court before Senior Judge Susan Richard Nelson to one count of aiding and abetting murder in the second degree. A sentencing hearing has not been scheduled.
This case is the result of an investigation conducted by the Red Lake Tribal Police Department, the FBI, the FBI Headwaters Safe Trails Task Force, the Duluth Police Department, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, and the Minnesota Department of Corrections, in collaboration with the United States Attorney’s Office Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons Initiative.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Deidre Y. Aanstad is prosecuting the case.
Federal Jury Finds Tennessee Man Guilty of Robbing Five Louisville Area BanksRead the Press Release
Louisville, KY – A federal jury convicted a Tennessee man on Friday, October 7, 2022, of robbing five Louisville area banks.
U.S. Attorney Michael A. Bennett of the Western District of Kentucky and Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD) Chief Erika Shields made the announcement.
According to court documents and the evidence presented at trial, on April 2, 2021, Salvador Jones, 36, of Tennessee, entered the Fifth Third Bank located at 401 South 4th Street in Louisville, Kentucky, and presented a demand note and robbed the bank. Additionally, beginning on April 8, 2021, and continuing until May 5, 2021, Jones entered four Louisville-area U.S. Banks and a U.S. Bank in New Albany, Indiana, and robbed each bank by presenting a demand note. Evidence presented at trial detailed how the Robbery Unit with LMPD coordinated with area law enforcement to determine Jones’ getaway vehicle, which eventually led to his apprehension in Nashville, Tennessee.
At the time of his arrest, Jones provided a statement admitting to some of the robberies. However, during the trial, Jones testified and attempted to deflect blame for the robberies on his now deceased stepson. After three hours of deliberation, the jury returned a guilty verdict on all five charged counts of bank robbery in the Western District of Kentucky.
Jones is scheduled to be sentenced on January 12, 2023, at 10:00 a.m. before a U.S. District Court Judge for the Western District of Kentucky. Jones faces a maximum term of imprisonment of twenty years. There is no parole in the federal system. Jones remains in federal custody.
The LMPD investigated the case and was assisted by the Shively Police Department, the New Albany Police Department, and the Nashville Police Department.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Alicia P. Gomez and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Lantz prosecuted the case with the assistance of paralegal Adela Alic.
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