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6 May 2022
Maryland Man Found Guilty by Jury in Firearms Trafficking ConspiracyRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON – James Hutchings Jr., 41, of Waldorf, Maryland, has been found guilty by a jury in the District of Columbia of a federal conspiracy charge for his role as the middleman in an illegal transfer of weapons involving people prohibited from possessing firearms.
The verdict was announced by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, Wayne A. Jacobs, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Washington Field Office Criminal Division, and Charlie J. Patterson, Special Agent in Charge of the Washington Field Division of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF).
Hutchings was found guilty yesterday following a trial in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, of conspiracy to defraud the United States. The Honorable Chief Judge Beryl A. Howell scheduled sentencing for Aug. 9, 2022.
In 2018, the FBI’s Safe Streets Task Force began investigating an individual named Linwood Douglas Thorne, as a major heroin supplier. On Dec. 19, 2018, the FBI and ATF executed simultaneous search warrants on Thorne’s Maryland business and residence in the District of Columbia, finding 44 kilograms of heroin laced with fentanyl; 55 pounds of marijuana; five firearms; and significant drug paraphernalia.
In addition to the search warrants, the task force’s investigation—which began in July of 2018—led to the recovery of eight additional firearms, approximately 1.5 additional kilograms of marijuana, 260 additional grams of heroin, and several firearms magazines and accessories.
The ATF conducted a parallel investigation into three of the firearms found at Thorne’s residence and discovered that the firearms were purchased by a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army named Kofi Appiah. After additional investigation, including the discovery of multiple digital devices, law enforcement identified Hutchings as the middleman who facilitated the transfer of the firearms from Georgia to the District of Columbia. Both Hutchings and Thorne were prohibited persons based on their prior convictions, and thus, were ineligible to possess firearms.
During trial, the government presented multiple law enforcement witnesses, along with digital and business records establishing and corroborating the defendant’s guilt. With this conviction, the defendant faces up to five years of imprisonment. He is currently on supervised probation out of the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Appiah pleaded guilty in September 2020 and was later sentenced to 37 months in prison. Thorne, 50, was found guilty in March 2022 of multiple counts and is awaiting sentencing.
In announcing the verdict, U.S. Attorney Graves, Special Agent in Charge Jacobs, and Special Agent in Charge Patterson commended the work of those who investigated the case from the FBI and ATF, as well as those from the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) who were on the Safe Streets Task Force. They also expressed appreciation for the assistance provided by joint law enforcement and prosecution partners, including the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Georgia, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland. They also acknowledged the efforts of those who prosecuted the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brandon Regan, Samuel Frey, and Gregory Rosen, as well as Paralegal Specialist Alexis Spencer-Anderson of the Federal Major Crimes Section.
Man Who Threatened a Woman with a Loaded “Ghost Gun” Pleads GuiltyRead the Press Release
A man who pointed a personally-made firearm, also known as a ghost gun, at a woman and threatened to kill her pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court, announced U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson.
Ronnell Dontae Butler, 26, of Oklahoma City, pleaded guilty to felon in possession of ammunition.
According to court documents, an argument had escalated between Butler and a woman when he pulled a loaded gun from the waistband of his pants, pointed it in the direction of the victim, and threatened to kill her. He did so while in the presence of a four-year-old child.
The victim was able to move to the kitchen at one point where she dialed 911, allowing dispatchers to listen to what was occurring and at times whispering to the 911 operator that Butler was threatening to shoot her. When Tulsa police officers arrived, Butler was unarmed but officers quickly located a personally-made firearm in the child’s pink backpack. The firearm was loaded with 10 rounds of 9mm ammunition. The firearm used in the crime is known as a “ghost gun”—an unserialized and personally-assembled firearm built using a parts kit. The crime occurred on Nov. 1, 2021.
In April, the Department of Justice announced that it had submitted to the Federal Register the “Frame or Receiver” Final Rule, which modernizes the definition of a firearm. Once implemented, this rule will clarify that parts kits that are readily convertible to firearms are subject to the same regulations as traditional firearms. The Department noted that the regulatory updates would help curb the proliferation of “ghost guns,” which are often assembled from kits, do not contain serial numbers, and are sold without background checks, making them more difficult to trace and easy to acquire by criminals. An April 11, 2022, White House fact sheet explained that the “rule clarifies that these kits qualify as ‘firearms’ under the Gun Control Act, and that commercial manufacturers of such kits must therefore become licensed and include serial numbers on the kits’ frame or receiver, and commercial sellers of these kits must become federally licensed and run background checks prior to a sale – just like they have to do with other commercially-made firearms.”
The FBI and Tulsa Police Department conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Cymetra M. Williams is prosecuting the case.
This case is being prosecuted as part of the Project Safe Neighborhoods initiative. PSN is the nationwide federal initiative to disrupt gun violence strategically and comprehensively, using all available enforcement and prosecutive tools. The initiative involves a partnership of federal, state, and local authorities, uniting their efforts and leveraging existing and new resources. The U.S. Attorney’s Office and its partners tailor their efforts to meet their own district’s unique needs, helping ensure the safety of communities in the Northern District of Oklahoma.
Man Who Rammed SUV into Police Charged with Drug, Gun CrimesRead the Press Release
An alleged Dallas drug trafficker who rammed his vehicle into a police car during his arrest has been charged with gun and drug crimes, announced U.S Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Chad E. Meacham.
Angel Manuel Fuentes-Melendez, 23, was indicted on Tuesday with one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine, one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, and one count of possession of a firearm during a drug trafficking crime.
According to a criminal complained filed previously, in mid-April, DEA agents instructed a confidential source to negotiate the purchase of five kilograms of meth from a Mexican drug supplier he knew through the chat application WhatsApp. The Mexican drug supplier directed the source to meet a local drug supplier – later identified as Mr. Fuentes – at a parking lot on Lombardy Lane in northwest Dallas.
Early in the evening on April 14, teams observed Mr. Fuentes’ black Lincoln SUV exit the parking lot of a nearby apartment complex and pull up behind the source’s vehicle, which was parked in the gas station lot. The source then exited his vehicle and approached Mr. Fuentes’ vehicle to chat; while there, he observed methamphetamine in the defendant’s back seat.
Agents in covert police vehicles surrounded Mr. Fuentes’ vehicle, then activated their lights. Mr. Fuentes immediately placed the vehicle in reverse and collided with the police car behind him, which at the time was flashing red and blue. He was apprehended without further incident and transported to a police station, where he allegedly admitted that he’d been directed to deliver five kilograms of methamphetamine to the confidential source. He said he’d been receiving and delivering roughly 15 to 20 kilograms of meth per month for four to five months.
Meanwhile, agents searched an apartment where Mr. Fuentes had been staying. There, they found 33 kilograms of crystal meth stashed in the bedroom and adjoining closet and a Ruger 9mm pistol placed on top of the dresser in plain view.
Agents noted that three young toddlers were present and playing in the apartment at the time.
An indictment is merely an allegation of criminal conduct, not evidence. Like all defendants, Mr. Fuentes is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
If convicted, he faces up to life in federal prison.
The Drug Enforcement Administration’s Dallas Field Office and the Dallas Police Department conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney L. Rachael Jones is prosecuting the case.
Man Who Illegally Possessed Firearm and Led Police on High Speed Chase Sentenced to Federal PrisonRead the Press Release
A man who led officers on a high-speed chase while illegally possessing a firearm was sentenced today to more than two years in federal prison.
Davon Terrell Biddle, age 22, from Waterloo, Iowa, received the prison term after a November 15, 2021 guilty plea to being a drug user in possession of a firearm.
In a plea agreement, Biddle admitted that, on March 29, 2021, he was driving a vehicle through Waterloo, Iowa. Police attempted to initiate a traffic stop of the vehicle, but Biddle refused to stop. Instead, Biddle fled from officers, reaching speeds of 60 miles per hour in a 30 mile per hour zone. Biddle eventually slowed the vehicle so that he and his passengers could flee on foot. Biddle continued to flee on foot and threw a Walther PPS 9x19mm caliber pistol as he ran from police. Police located the firearm, and DNA testing established that Biddle’s DNA was on the magazine area of the firearm. At the time he possessed the firearm, Biddle was an unlawful user of marijuana.
Biddle was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams. Biddle was sentenced to 27 months’ imprisonment. He must also serve a three-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN). PSN is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.
Biddle is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Lisa C. Williams and was investigated by a Federal Task Force composed of the Waterloo Police Department, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms assisted by the Black Hawk County Sheriff’s Office and Cedar Falls Police Department.
Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.
The case file number is 21-CR-2059.
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Man Sentenced to Prison for Possessing Guns While Using and Selling MarijuanaRead the Press Release
A man who possessed firearms while being a marijuana user and dealer was sentenced today to more than four years in federal prison.
Xzavier Kristian Cummings, age 22, from Waterloo, Iowa, received the prison term after a November 16, 2021 guilty plea to possession of a firearm while being a drug user.
At the sentencing hearing, the court found that Cummings possessed firearms in connection with marijuana trafficking and that some of the firearms Cummings possessed had high-capacity magazines attached. When he bought the guns, Cummings failed to disclose his drug use. Further evidence showed that he was using social media to distribute marijuana during 2021. The court also noted that Cummings would have received a lower sentence, but due to violations of his conditions of release while on pretrial release, the ultimate sentence was increased.
Cummings was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams. Cummings was sentenced to 49 months’ imprisonment. He must serve a three-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN). PSN is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.
Cummings is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Emily K. Nydle and was investigated by a Federal Task Force composed of the Waterloo Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms assisted by the Black Hawk County Sheriff’s Office and the Cedar Falls Police Department.
Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.
The case file number is 21-cr-02065.
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Macy Woman Sentenced to 76 Months for Drug Trafficking and Firearm CrimesRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Jan Sharp announced that Teriona Freemont, age 25, of Macy, Nebraska, was sentenced today in federal court, in Omaha, Nebraska, for conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and for being an unlawful user of a controlled substance in possession of a firearm. Chief United States District Court Judge Robert F. Rossiter, Jr. sentenced Freemont to 76 months of imprisonment. There is no parole in the federal system. After completing her term of imprisonment, Freemont will begin a 5-year term of supervised release.
On March 8, 2020, after traveling through Nebraska, Freemont and co-conspirators Pablo Leyva and Chrystian Townsley drove in a truck in Arizona on their way to Mexico to engage in drug trafficking. They brought a Diamondback Arms, Inc., DB-15 rifle to facilitate the drug trafficking. Officers in Arizona pulled them over and took the rifle. Freemont was prohibited from possessing firearms because she was an unlawful user of methamphetamine and marijuana.
After the traffic stop, Freemont, Leyva, and Townsley continued traveling toward Mexico. During the next few days, they reached the Mexican border, entered Mexico to facilitate drug trafficking, left the truck in Mexico, and re-entered the United States on foot. After re-entering, another individual drove to Arizona, picked them up, and they began traveling back to Nebraska. On March 14, 2020, in Liberal, Kansas, while driving to Nebraska, an officer pulled them over and located 5 cellophane wrapped packages collectively containing about 4 pounds of methamphetamine and 65 fentanyl pills in the vehicle. Freemont, Leyva, and Townsley were transporting the drugs to distribute them.
Leyva and Townsley both previously pled guilty to a firearm and conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine charges and received sentences of 20 years’ and 15 years’ imprisonment respectively.
The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Kansas Highway Patrol, the United States Secret Service, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
MS-13 Gang Member Sentenced to Life in Prison for Racketeering Conspiracy Involving Multiple MurdersRead the Press Release
Baltimore, Maryland – Chief U.S. District Judge James K. Bredar today sentenced Oscar Armando Sorto Romero, a/k/a “Lobo,” age 23, to life in federal prison for a racketeering conspiracy and for racketeering, as well as related violent crimes in aid of racketeering, including two murders, connected to his participation in La Mara Salvatrucha, a transnational criminal enterprise also known as MS-13. On January 24, 2022, a federal jury convicted Sorto Romero of the racketeering charges, along with co-defendants Jose Joya Parada, a/k/a “Calmado,” age 21, Milton Portillo-Rodriguez, a/k/a “Little Gangster,” age 26; and Juan Carlos Sandoval-Rodriguez, a/k/a “Picaro,” age 24, after a three-month trial. Portillo-Rodriguez and Sandoval-Rodriguez were also convicted of multiple counts of murder in aid of racketeering.
The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Sobocinski of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; Acting Special Agent in Charge Selwyn Smith of Homeland Security Investigations, Baltimore Office; Chief Jason Lando of the Frederick City Police Department; Frederick County Sheriff Charles A. “Chuck” Jenkins; Frederick County State’s Attorney J. Charles Smith, III; Chief Amal E. Awad of the Anne Arundel County Police Department; Anne Arundel County State’s Attorney Anne Colt Leitess; Chief Malik Aziz of the Prince George’s County Police Department; Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Aisha Braveboy; Chief Marcus Jones of the Montgomery County Police Department; and Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy.
MS-13 is a national and international gang composed primarily of immigrants or descendants from El Salvador and other central American countries. Branches or “cliques” of MS-13, one of the largest street gangs in the United States, operate throughout Frederick County, Anne Arundel County, Prince George’s County, and Montgomery County, Maryland. Sorto Romero was a member of the Parque Vista Locos Salvatruchas (“PVLS”) clique and his co-defendants were members of the Fulton Locos Salvatruchas (“FLS”) clique.
The evidence at the three-month trial established that between 2015 and 2017, the defendants engaged in drug trafficking, extortion, and brutal acts of violence against suspected rivals of the gang in an effort to increase MS-13’s power in the Frederick County, Montgomery County, and Anne Arundel County areas of Maryland.
At all times of this conspiracy, members of MS-13 were expected to protect the name, reputation, and status of the gang from rival gang members and other persons. To protect the gang and to enhance its reputation, MS-13 members were expected to use any means necessary to force respect from those who showed disrespect, including acts of intimidation and violence. MS-13 had mottos consistent with its rules, beliefs, expectations and reputation including “mata, viola, controla,” which translates as, “kill, rape, control,” and “ver, oir y callar,” which means, “see nothing, hear nothing and say nothing.” One of the principal rules of MS-13 is that its members must attack and kill rivals, often referred to as “chavalas,” whenever possible.
MS-13 members are required to commit acts of violence both to maintain membership and discipline within the gang, as well as against rival gang members. Participation in criminal activity by a member, particularly in violent acts directed at rival gangs or as directed by gang leadership, increase the respect accorded to that member, resulting in that member maintaining or increasing his position in the gang, and opens the door to promotion to a leadership position.
As detailed during the trial, from 2015 through 2017, the Fulton clique of MS-13 sought to increase its presence in Frederick, Wheaton, and Annapolis, Maryland through numerous acts of violence, extortion, and drug sales. Trial evidence focused on the defendants’ participation in four grisly murders of those suspected of association with rival gang members carried out in 2017.
Trial evidence related to Sorto-Romero focused on his participation in two of those four murders. First, on April 2, 2017, the gang kidnapped an individual from Silver Spring, Maryland and brought him to a wooded area in Frederick, where he was killed with knives and machetes before being buried in a shallow grave. Before being taken to Frederick, the victim, who was extremely intoxicated, was held in a basement laundry room in Wheaton, Maryland by members and associates of MS-13, including by co-defendant Joya Parada. Inside the laundry room, the victim was forced to remove his shirt so that gang members could examine his tattoos to satisfy themselves that the victim was associated with a rival gang and should therefore be killed.
Sorto Romero was contacted by members of MS-13 to assist with the victim’s murder. He agreed to assist as long as other, more junior gang members could participate to move up in the gang. Sorto Romero arranged vehicles to transport the victim and other members of MS-13 to the wooded area in Frederick where the victim would be killed. Sorto Romero and others went to the laundry room where the victim was being held, and they placed him in the backseat of a car in which Sorto Romero was a passenger. In the meantime, Joya Parada and other members of MS-13 went to the woods in Frederick with weapons and a shovel to dig a grave and to wait for the victim’s arrival. Sorto Romero eventually arrived with the victim, delivering the victim to other members of MS-13 who were waiting, including Joya Parada. A member of MS-13 incapacitated the victim by hitting him in the head with a tree branch. Joya Parada and others then dragged the victim through the woods to the hole they had dug for the victim’s grave. They placed the victim face down on the ground next to the hole and stabbed and slashed his body repeatedly with a machete. Joya Parada personally participated in this murder not only by slashing the victim with the long edge of the machete blade, but also by plunging the point of the machete into the victim’s back numerous times. The victim died as a result of the blunt force trauma, stabbing, cutting, and chopping inflicted by Joya Parada and his co-conspirators. Sorto Romero then picked up several gang members who participated in the murder to drive them home. During their drive back, MS-13 members stopped to dispose of the machete in a storm drain and threw a shovel away in a dumpster.
On August 5, 2017, MS-13 lured another victim to Quiet Waters Park in Annapolis. When he arrived, the victim was hit in the head with a hammer and slashed with a machete until he died. The trial evidence revealed that the victim was a low-level member of the PVLS clique of MS-13 (the same clique as Sorto Romero) and was suspected of warning one of his relatives, who was believed to be in a rival gang, that he was an MS-13 target. Sorto Romero and co-defendant Portillo Rodriguez participated in the planning and execution of the murder of this victim. Once the victim arrived, an MS-13 member who was part of the PVLS clique hit the victim in the head with a hammer. The victim screamed after he was hit. Then, members of MS-13 dragged the victim to a hole that had been dug deeper in the woods. Sorto Romero and Portillo Rodriguez assisted in digging the hole earlier that day. Once at the hole, Sorto Romero, Portillo Rodriguez, and other members of MS-13 took turns striking the victim’s neck and shoulder area with a machete in an unsuccessful effort to decapitate the victim. Although they were unable to decapitate the victim, Sorto Romero, Portillo Rodriguez, and others struck the victim numerous times until he died. The victim was then buried in a clandestine grave in the park. After the murder, members of MS-13 took clothing and other evidence to a nearby house where the clothing was burned in a grill.
According to trial evidence, these murders were all intended to maintain and increase the status of MS-13, as well as allow individual MS-13 members to maintain or increase their status within the gang.
More than 30 MS-13 gang members and associates have been convicted in this and a related case.
On April 20, 2022, Chief Judge Bredar sentenced Jose Joya Parada, a/k/a “Calmado,” age 20, to 50 years in federal prison, for a racketeering conspiracy, racketeering, and related violent crimes in aid of racketeering. Portillo-Rodriguez and Sandoval-Rodriguez each face a mandatory sentence of life in prison for each of the murder in aid of racketeering charges. Chief Judge Bredar has scheduled sentencing for Portillo Rodriguez for May 13, 2022, at 10 a.m and for Sandoval Rodriguez for May 25, 2022, at 2:30 p.m.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.
This case is an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.
Anyone with information about MS-13 is encouraged to provide their tips to law enforcement. The FBI and Homeland Security Investigations both have nationwide tiplines that you can call to report what you know. You can reach the FBI at 1-866-STP-MS13 (1-866-787-6713), or you can call HSI at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE.
United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the FBI; HSI; the Frederick Police Department; the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office; the Anne Arundel, Montgomery, and Prince George’s County Police Departments; and the Anne Arundel, Frederick, Montgomery, and Prince George’s County State’s Attorneys for their work in the investigation, and the Baltimore County Police Department for its assistance. Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kenneth S. Clark, Zachary Stendig, and Anatoly Smolkin, who are prosecuting this case.
For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/project-safe-neighborhoods-psnexile and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.
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Louise Larivee Imprisoned for Non-Profit EmbezzlementRead the Press Release
The United States Attorney for the District of Vermont announced that Louise Larivee, 63, of Swanton, was sentenced today in United States District Court in Burlington upon her guilty plea to a charge of federal program embezzlement. Chief U.S. District Judge Geoffrey Crawford sentenced Larivee to serve 8 months of imprisonment, to be followed by three years of supervised release. The court also ordered Larivee to pay restitution in the amount of $96,700. Larivee had pleaded guilty on the third day of her jury trial in Rutland last November. The court ordered Larivee to report to the Federal Bureau of Prisons on July 5 to begin serving her sentence.
In June 2019, a federal grand jury in Burlington returned a two-count indictment charging Larivee with conspiracy and federal program embezzlement. Candy Thomas, 64, also of Swanton, a separately charged co-conspirator, had previously pled guilty to the federal program embezzlement charge. According to the indictment, between 2013 and 2017, Larivee was employed by the Abenaki Self Help Association, Inc. in Swanton as the director of a federal grant program administered by the U.S. Department of Labor. ASHAI functioned as a service arm of the Abenaki Nation, promoting economic and social development through programmatic efforts in education, employment and economic development. Each year, ASHAI received tens of thousands of dollars in grant money from the Department of Labor. During that same period, Candy Thomas worked at ASHAI as an office worker and bookkeeper. Thomas had check signing authority on ASHAI’s bank accounts.
According to the indictment and testimony at Larivee’s trial, between 2013 and 2017, Larivee and Thomas conspired to embezzle, and did embezzle, more than $100,000 from ASHAI. Thomas aided the commission of this theft by issuing checks and giving cash to Larivee, at Larivee’s request, in amounts that significantly exceeded Larivee’s authorized compensation. Larivee also received travel reimbursement checks based upon fraudulently inflated mileage claims. Thomas helped cover up this fraud by sending tax forms to the Internal Revenue Service that concealed the true amount of ASHAI funds that were being paid over to Larivee.
Thomas, who testified at Larivee’s trial, was sentenced to probation in December and was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $20,000.
This case was investigated by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General.
Larivee is represented by David Kirby. Thomas was represented by the Office of the Federal Public Defender. The prosecutors were Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregory Waples and former Assistant U.S. Attorney Spencer Willig.
Liberty County Man and Woman Behind My Buddy Loans Guilty of Fraud Related to COVID ReliefRead the Press Release
TEXARKANA, Texas– A Cleveland, Texas man and woman have pleaded guilty to wire fraud violations in the Eastern District of Texas, announced U.S. Attorney Brit Featherston today.
Clifton Pape, 47, and Sally Jung, 59, have each pleaded guilty to wire fraud violations before U.S. Magistrate Judge Caroline Craven. As part of their plea agreements, Pape and Jung have agreed to forfeit $680,710.31 and pay up to $3,223,870 in restitution.
According to court documents, Pape and Jung operated a sophisticated telemarketing scheme under the name My Buddy Loans from a house in Cleveland, Texas. In exchange for a fee, My Buddy Loans took personal identifying information from victims and promised to file an application for an agricultural grant, which they said was available to those who owned as little as one acre of land. Instead, Pape and Jung actually filed fraudulent EIDL applications with the SBA that contained the victims’ personal identification information. Based on these fraudulent applications, the SBA issued more than $1.56 million in EIDL Advances to people who were not eligible. Pape and Jung also submitted applications for an additional $1.44 million in EIDL Advances that were not funded because--among other reasons--the congressionally appropriated funds for the EILD Advance program were exhausted.
Pape and Jung used Square’s credit and debit card processing service to charge third parties the fee. Pape and Jung completed at least 700 successful charges, obtaining at least $700,000 in fees. Pape and Jung then transferred the proceeds of the fraud scheme into a bank account they controlled. On one occasion, Pape used the fraud proceeds to pay a traffic ticket. On another occasion, Pape and Jung used more than $3600 from the fraud scheme to pay for a stay at La Cantera Resort in San Antonio. A picture from that stay shows Pape and Jung celebrating over sparkling wine and other beverages.
“This investigation closed down one of the largest COVID fraud schemes in the country in terms of the number of fraudulent EIDL applications,” said U.S. Attorney Brit Featherston. “Well intended and needed economic assistance (taxpayer dollars) was brazenly stolen from legitimate deserving applicants. We are asking those with information about the My Buddy Loan fraud scheme, including those who believe they may be victims, to call the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud Hotline at 866-720-5721 or file a complaint using the NCDF Web Complaint Form at https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.”
“Predators that perpetuated schemes to steal vital funds aimed at mitigating the economic damage to the nation’s small businesses will be brought to justice,” said SBA Inspector General Hannibal Ware. “OIG continues to root out fraud and protect the integrity of SBA’s programs. I want to thank the U.S. Department of Justice and our law enforcement partners for their dedication and pursuit of justice.”
“Clifton Pape and Sally Jung used My Buddy Loans to exploit the Small Business Administration’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan program (EIDL) while also defrauding hundreds of individuals whom they misled,” said Special Agent in Charge William Smarr of the U.S. Secret Service Dallas Field Office. “The Secret Service stands ready with our law enforcement partners, like the SBA Office of Inspector General, to combat pandemic fraud. The Secret Service will continue to aggressively investigate and prosecute those who violate the public trust and exploit federal relief programs for their own personal gain.”
The CARES Act is a federal law enacted in March 2020, designed to provide emergency financial assistance to the millions of Americans who are suffering the economic effects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. One source of relief provided by the CARES Act was the authorization or EIDL advances and low-interest loans to small businesses to meet financial obligations and operating expenses that could have been met had the disaster not occurred. Under the EIDL program applicants were eligible for a forgivable advance of up to $10,000 if the applicant had ten or more employees.
A federal grand jury returned an indictment charging Pape and Jung with federal violations on Feb. 10, 2021. They each face up to 30 years in federal prison. The maximum statutory sentence prescribed by Congress is provided here for information purposes, as the sentencing will be determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the U.S. Probation Office.
This case is being investigated by the U.S. Secret Service and the Small Business Administration-Office of Inspector General and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan R. Hornok.
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Latin King Gang Member Sentenced to More Than 18 Years in Prison for the 2005 Murder of C.W. Post Student-Basketball StarRead the Press Release
Earlier today, at the federal courthouse in Central Islip, Jaime Rivera, a member of the Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation street gang, was sentenced by United States District Court Judge Denis R. Hurley to 220 months’ imprisonment for the 2005 murder of C.W. Post college student and basketball star, Tafare Berryman. Rivera pleaded guilty to the gang-related murder in March 2019.
Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Michael J. Driscoll, Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI), Frank A. Tarentino III, Special Agent-in-Charge, Drug Enforcement Administration, New York Division (DEA), and Patrick J. Ryder, Commissioner, Nassau County Police Department (NCPD), announced the sentence.
“Tafare Berryman, a college student, athlete and beloved member of the Brooklyn and Long Island communities, was senselessly murdered, depriving him of the bright future he worked so hard to achieve and leaving his bereaved family shattered,” stated United States Attorney Peace. “This murder, which occurred 17 years ago, was never forgotten and is an example of this Office’s unwavering commitment to justice for the victims of gang violence.”
Mr. Peace expressed his appreciation to the FBI, DEA and NCPD for their outstanding work on the case.
According to court filings and the facts presented at the plea proceeding, on April 2, 2005, Rivera and other Latin King gang members were present at La Mansion bar and nightclub, located on Long Beach Road in North Long Beach. Also present were several C.W. Post students, including the victim and several of his friends. At least one altercation occurred in the club between gang members and a C.W. Post student, and later continued outside in the parking lot. Berryman was not involved in either of the altercations.
After Berryman and one of his friends left the club together, and while walking to their car, the friend was hit in the head with a bottle, causing a laceration. The two entered a car and Berryman’s friend drove away from the area. A short time later, Berryman’s friend pulled the car over to the side of the road to tend to the cut on his head. Rivera then drove up alongside the car and fatally shot Berryman, under the erroneous belief that Berryman and his friend had been involved in the prior altercation that posed a threat to the gang.
The government’s case is being handled by the Office’s Long Island Criminal Division. Assistant United States Attorney Mark E. Misorek and Special Assistant United States Attorney Lara Treinis Gatz are in charge of the prosecution.
The Defendant:
Jamie Rivera
Age: 35
Freeport, New YorkE.D.N.Y. Docket No. 17-CR-50 (DRH)
Justice Department Participates in the 21st Annual International Competition Network Conference in Berlin, GermanyRead the Press Release
Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter of the Antitrust Division led the Department of Justice’s delegation at the International Competition Network’s (ICN) 21st annual conference, hosted by the German Bundeskartellamt in Berlin, Germany, on May 4-6. Delegates from the ICN’s member jurisdictions included agency leadership and staff, competition experts from international organizations and the legal, business, academic and consumer communities. Over 80 jurisdictions participated in the conference. Assistant Attorney General Kanter delivered a keynote address on criminal enforcement policy and cooperation with law enforcement partners.
“The pandemic compelled us to find creative ways to maintain and deepen our international cooperation efforts,” said Assistant Attorney General Kanter. “Nevertheless, it is wonderful to engage again in-person with our ICN counterparts, especially to discuss the pressing competition issues we currently face.”
The conference showcased the achievements of the ICN’s Advocacy, Agency Effectiveness, Cartel, Merger and Unilateral Conduct Working Groups and examined a range of competition enforcement and policy issues. A main theme of the conference focused on planning for the third decade of the network. The continuing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and digital markets on competition law also featured prominently.
During his keynote, Assistant Attorney General Kanter discussed the division’s updates to its leniency policy, expanding its litigation capabilities and cooperating with our enforcement partners. Deputy Assistant Attorney General Richard Powers discussed cartel enforcement in the next decade with a focus on priorities and trends beyond the COVID-19 pandemic. The Cartel Working group breakout sessions focused on bid rigging in public procurement, international cooperation in cross-border cartels and leniency.
The Merger Working Group’s plenary focused on challenges in merger control. Patty Brink, Senior Counsel for International and Intergovernmental Engagement, participated in a breakout session discussing killer acquisitions and reverse killer acquisitions. An additional Merger Working Group breakout session focused on economic tools to assist competition agencies analyze large volumes of data. The Merger Working Group also began reviewing the ICN Recommended Practices Chapter on entry and expansion.
Lynda Marshall, Chief of the International Section, also participated in a breakout session discussing the ICN Framework on Competition Agency Procedures (CAP). Introduced in 2019, the CAP provides a non-binding, opt-in framework that promotes agreement between competition agencies on procedural norms in competition law enforcement. There are currently 73 CAP participants.
The Advocacy Working Group’s plenary focused on enabling effective international enforcement through competition advocacy. Advocacy Working Group breakout sessions focused on the interplay between regulators and competition agencies, advocating competition principles for the provision of digital services and gender-inclusive competition policy.
The Agency Effectiveness Working Group’s plenary focused on how the COVID-19 pandemic changed competition agencies’ investigative process. Agency Effectiveness Working Group breakout sessions focused on tools competition agencies use to better understand markets affected by the pandemic, strategic planning and the digital transformation of competition agencies.
The Unilateral Conduct Working Group’s plenary focused on regulatory and competition law tools in digital markets. Unilateral Conduct Working Group breakout sessions focused on procedural tools, theories of harm in digital markets, and remedies.
The ICN was created in October 2001 to increase understanding of competition policy and promote convergence toward sound antitrust enforcement around the world. It was founded by 15 agencies, including the Antitrust Division, has grown to 140 agencies from 130 jurisdictions, supported by a wide network of non-governmental advisors from around the world.
Jury Finds Sand Springs Man Guilty for Attempting to Coerce a 13-Year-Old into a Sexual RelationshipRead the Press Release
A federal jury found a Sand Springs man guilty Friday for sending hundreds of sexually explicit messages to a male minor and for touching the child in a sexual manner, announced U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson.
Jeremy Nicholas Botonis, 44, was convicted of one count of coercion and enticement of a child and one count of abusive sexual contact in Indian Country.
“Jeremy Botonis was a predator lying in wait. He gained the trust of a vulnerable child then exploited the child for his own sexual gratification,” said U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson. “The victim in this case displayed incredible strength as he testified in federal court this week. He is to be commended along with our law enforcement partners and federal prosecutor Chris Nassar for ensuring Botonis was held accountable for his predatory crimes.”
“Too often, deviant individuals like Botonis use social media to gain access to minors and build trust only to exploit them,” said Christopher Miller, acting Special Agent in Charge, HSI Dallas. “Thanks to the bravery and testimony of the young victim, the perpetrator was brought to justice, providing a stark reminder to predators who sexually exploit children that HSI will never relent in our collective law enforcement efforts to protect our most vulnerable citizens.”
On Aug. 24, 2019, while in the woods, Botonis placed his hand inappropriately on the clothed minor victim’s thigh and what the victim described as his “private area.” Then he attempted to kiss the victim while the two were in the woods. When the child rejected his advances and pulled away, Botonis became upset and concerned the child might reveal what had occurred to his parents. Later, he stood over the victim and told him to delete prior messages between the two that were associated with Botonis’ name and Facebook account, knowing that those conversations would incriminate him. He continued pressuring the child to delete the messages, and the victim eventually relented.
After the incident, Botonis continued to communicate with the victim using a Facebook page titled “Wolf Page.” Several weeks later, the victim’s father discovered sexually explicit messages sent to the victim from “Wolf Page.” The victim told his father the page belonged to Botonis, and disclosed that Botonis had attempted to kiss him in the woods during an outing. The child’s parents reported the crime to authorities. During the investigation, the child further disclosed to law enforcement that Botonis had also touched him inappropriately the day of the incident.
Federal agents were eventually able to extract messages from the victim’s cell phone and discovered 5,000 messages related to the case. Starting in May 2019, Botonis began grooming the victim by sending increasingly flirtatious and suggestive messages over Facebook messenger. Hundreds of sexually suggestive messages from Botonis were recovered where the defendant talked about the child’s looks, professed his “love” for the victim, made sexual innuendos, described sex acts, and further suggested the two should engage in the “furry lifestyle,” which for some is a sexual fetish that involves dressing in animal costumes and performing sex acts. At one point, the victim indicated to the defendant that he was uncomfortable and did not want to receive any further sexual messages.
At trial, federal prosecutors contended that at the time of the crime, Botonis was a 41-year-old man obsessed with a vulnerable 13-year-old child, bombarding the victim with messages nearly every day and even guilt tripping the victim when he did not respond in kind. Prosecutors argued that while Botonis tried to portray himself as non-threatening and trustworthy, he was, in reality, a predator hiding in the shadows, waiting for a vulnerable victim and the right moment to engage. Prosecutors then asked the jury to hold Botonis accountable for the crimes he committed against the child.
The jury returned guilty verdicts within two hours. Sentencing is tentatively set for September 2022.
The case was initially charged in Mayes County District Court but was dismissed in April 2021 due to lack of jurisdiction based on the Supreme Court’s decision in McGirt v Oklahoma. The U.S. Attorney’s Office then charged the case in federal court in May 2021.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations and the Mayes County Sheriff’s Office conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christopher J. Nassar and Stephanie Ihler prosecuted the case.
Jury Convicts Southern Illinois University-Carbondale Professor of Concealing Foreign Bank Account from the Internal Revenue ServiceRead the Press Release
Benton, Ill. – Dr. Mingqing Xiao, 60, of Makanda, Illinois, was convicted by a federal jury on
Wednesday, May 4, 2022, in connection with lying to federal authorities about a foreign bank account in China in 2017, 2018, and 2019.Dr. Xiao, a mathematics professor and researcher at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, was convicted of three counts of Making a False or Fraudulent Statement to the Internal
Revenue Service (IRS) on his tax returns and one count of Failure to File a report of a Foreign
Bank Account (FBAR). Evidence presented at the trial established that Xiao opened a foreign bank account at Ping An Bank in China in 2016 and received monthly deposits into the account from
Shenzhenalo University in Shenzhen, China, from 2016 to 2020. Some of the funds were linked to additional sources in China. By 2020, Xiao had accumulated more than $100,000 in the Chinese account.
U.S. taxpayers are required to report the existence of any foreign bank account on their federal income tax returns. In addition, individuals with funds in foreign accounts totaling more than $10,000 at any time during a given year are required to file an FBAR with the
Treasury Department.“There are foreign entities that exploit American universities and grant agencies,” said
U.S. Attorney Steven D. Weinhoeft. “To guard against this abuse, the National Science Foundation
(NSF) requires grant applicants to disclose any conflicting activities, including foreign activities, as a condition of receiving federal funding. Further, all U.S. citizens are obligated to disclose any foreign bank accounts they may have. The evidence established that Dr. Xiao concealed foreign work and hid more than $100,000 of foreign assets in an account in China, and he was properly prosecuted and held accountable.”“Failing to disclose a foreign bank account and filing false tax returns demonstrates a lack of truthfulness and an abdication of the duties of citizenship,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge
David Nanz. “Xiao received money from a Chinese employer and knowingly failed to report those funds, thereby evading his income tax responsibilities. The FBI is committed to investigate and bring to justice anyone who avoids their obligation to live by our nation’s laws.”“As this verdict shows, when you fail to disclose a foreign bank account and submit false income tax statements to the IRS, you are committing tax fraud,” said Darrell J. Waldon, Special Agent in Charge of the IRS-CI Washington DC Field Office. “Xiao’s acts of fraud and dishonesty undermine the integrity of our system of taxation. Our agency will continue to uphold its mission to investigate tax and financial crimes in order to uphold confidence in our tax system, holding individuals accountable for their crimes.”
The court dismissed two additional counts against Xiao that charged wire fraud. In addition, Xiao was found not guilty of a false statement charge. Those three charges were all related to alleged fraud in connection with a grant Xiao obtained from the National Science Foundation.
The charge of making and subscribing false income tax returns provides for a sentence of up to three years in prison, one year of supervised release and a $100,000 fine. The charge of failing to file an FBAR provides for a sentence of up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. Sentencing is set before the
Honorable Staci M. Yandle on August 11, 2022.The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation-Springfield Field Office and the
Internal Revenue Service—Criminal Investigations.The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Peter Reed and Scott Verseman of the U.S.
Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Illinois and Trial Attorney Derek Shugert of the
National Security Division of the Department of Justice.Jury Convicts Men for Gang-Related Multistate Drug Trafficking Ring and MurderRead the Press Release
ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A federal jury convicted four defendants on numerous charges relating to a murder, a violent gang enterprise, and a drug trafficking conspiracy operating in Virginia, California, and several other states.
According to court records and evidence presented at trial, Peter Le, 24, of Dunn Loring, Young Yoo, 26, of Centreville, Joseph Lamborn, 28, of California, and Tony Le, 28, also of California, were members of a violent Northern Virginia Street gang called the Reccless Tigers, which was affiliated with a California gang called the West Side Asian Boyz. The gang, which originated in Centerville in 2011, distributed thousands of pounds of marijuana as well as other THC products, cocaine, ecstasy, and prescription drugs. Many of the gang’s customers were middle and high school students in Northern Virginia and college students at a number of Virginia universities.
According to court records, victim Brandon White, owed Yoo approximately $10,000 for marijuana he had obtained from Yoo. In August 2018, White was severely beaten by a Reccless Tigers gang member, David Nguyen, because of this debt. Nguyen was arrested by Fairfax County Police and charged with robbery and malicious wounding. The gang was aware that White had been subpoenaed to testify against Nguyen at a preliminary hearing and attempted to pay him if he would refuse to testify. White was threatened that he would be killed if he testified. White refused the gang's offer, and he testified against Nguyen on Nov. 19, 2018.
On Jan. 31, 2019, and continuing into the early morning hours of February 1, 2019, White was abducted at a shopping mall in Fairfax County and then killed two hours later in a wooded area of Richmond by Peter Le, Yoo, and Lamborn.
The evidence at trial indicated that the gang also engaged in persistent pattern of intimidation and retaliation against individuals who did not pay their drug debts and anyone who were believed to have cooperated with law enforcement. Homes in Fairfax, Stafford, and Prince William counties were attacked with Molotov cocktails and vandalized on numerous occasions, forcing homeowners in some instances to move.
Peter Le was convicted of conspiracy to engage in racketeering, narcotics trafficking and related narcotics offenses, kidnapping, murder, and money laundering. Lamborn was convicted of conspiracy to engage in racketeering, narcotics trafficking, kidnapping, and murder. Yoo was convicted of conspiracy to engage in racketeering, narcotics trafficking, kidnapping, and murder. Tony Le was convicted of conspiracy to engage in racketeering and narcotics trafficking.
Peter Le, Young Yoo, and Joseph Lamborn face mandatory life sentences when sentenced on September 9. Tony Le faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life imprisonment when he is sentenced of September 9.
As demonstrated in the table below, 24 other persons have been charged in connection with the investigation of the Reccless Tigers. Sixteen defendants have pleaded guilty to federal charges and have been sentenced. Nine defendants, five who pleaded guilty earlier in addition to the four convicted today, are pending sentencing. Three defendants are fugitives.
Name
Conviction(s)
Result
Peter Le*
Conspiracy to participate in the affairs of an
enterprise engaged in a pattern of racketeering activity; Violent crimes in aid of racketeering murder; Conspiracy to engage in kidnapping; Kidnapping resulting in death; Conspiracy to distribute controlled substances; Killing while engaged in drug trafficking; Maintaining a drug-involved premises; Distribution of marijuana and cocaine; Use, carry, and possession of a firearm during a drug trafficking crime; Money laundering.
Faces mandatory life imprisonment on September 9, 2022
Young Yoo*
Conspiracy to participate in the affairs of an
enterprise engaged in a pattern of racketeering activity; Violent crimes in aid of racketeering murder; Conspiracy to engage in kidnapping; Kidnapping resulting in death; Conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, Killing while engaged in drug trafficking.
Faces mandatory life imprisonment on September 9, 2022
Joseph Duk-Hyun Lamborn*
Conspiracy to participate in the affairs of an
enterprise engaged in a pattern of racketeering activity; Violent crimes in aid of racketeering murder; Conspiracy to engage in kidnapping; Kidnapping resulting in death; Conspiracy to distribute controlled substances; Killing while engaged in drug trafficking; Firearms murder.
Faces mandatory life imprisonment on September 9, 2022
Tony Minh Le*
Conspiracy to participate in the affairs of an
enterprise engaged in a pattern of racketeering activity; Conspiracy to distribute controlled substances.
Faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years and a maximum of life on September 9, 2022
Kevin Aagesen
Conspiracy to distribute controlled substances; Conspiracy to commit kidnapping in aid of racketeering activity.
Sentenced to 188 months
Sascha Amadeus Carlisle
Conspiracy to participate in the affairs of an
enterprise engaged in a pattern of racketeering activity; Conspiracy to engage in kidnapping; Conspiracy to distribute controlled substances.
Faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years on July 29, 2022
Abdullah Abdow Sayf
Conspiracy to commit kidnapping in aid of racketeering activity; Use and carry of a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime.
Sentenced to 180 months
Fahad Abdulkadir
Conspiracy to commit kidnapping in aid of racketeering activity; Possession with the intent to distribute 50 kilograms or less of marijuana; Use and carry of a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime.
Sentenced to 192 months
David Thai Hoang Nguyen
Conspiracy to distribute controlled substances
Sentenced to 171 months
Kyu Wa Hong
Conspiracy to distribute controlled substances
Sentenced to 216 months
Sang Thanh Huynh
Conspiracy to participate in the affairs of an
enterprise engaged in a pattern of racketeering activity; Conspiracy to distribute controlled substances; Money laundering; Felon in possession of a firearm.
Scheduled to be sentenced on July 22, 2022
Soung Park
Conspiracy to distribute controlled substances
Sentenced to 132 months
Tasneef Amhed Chowdhury
Conspiracy to distribute controlled substances
Sentenced to 121 months
Joshua Andrew Miliaresis
Conspiracy to distribute controlled substances
Faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years at a future sentencing hearing
Tyler Thang Le
Conspiracy to distribute controlled substances
Sentenced to 135 months
Dane Nicholas Hughes
Conspiracy to distribute controlled substances
Faces a mandatory minimum of 5 years at a future sentencing hearing
Bradley Sullivan
Conspiracy to distribute controlled substances
Faces a mandatory minimum of 5 years at a future sentencing hearing
Richard Pak
Conspiracy to distribute controlled substances; Distribution of cocaine; Use and carry of a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime.
Faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years at a future sentencing hearing
Spencer Pak
Conspiracy to distribute controlled substances; Distribution of cocaine; Use and carry of a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime.
Sentenced to 120 months
Tyler Pranompi Sonesamay
Conspiracy to distribute controlled substances
Sentenced to 120 months
Khalil Yasin
Conspiracy to distribute controlled substances
Sentenced to 97 months
Anthony Nguyen Thanh Le
Conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and distribution of cocaine
Sentenced to 92 months
Angel Hoang Le
Maintaining a drug-involved premises
Sentenced to 42 months
Zu Hun Chang
Possession with the intent to distribute cocaine
Sentenced to 42 months
Brandon Sobotta
Distribution of cocaine
Sentenced to time served (about 7 months)
* convicted today
This was a multi-jurisdictional OCDETF case involving the FBI Washington Field Office, ATF, HSI, IRS, U.S. Postal Service, U.S. Marshals Service, Fairfax County Police Department, Prince William County Police Department, City of Richmond Police, Montgomery County (MD) Police, Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office, Falls Church Police, City of Alexandria Sheriff’s Office, Richmond County Sheriff’s Office, Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office, Fairfax County Fire Marshal, Prince William County Fire Marshal, Stafford County Fire Marshal, City of Monterey Park (CA) Police, Garden Grove (CA) Police, Anaheim (CA) Police; Trinity County (CA) Sheriff’s Office, California Highway Patrol, DEA San Francisco Division – Reading Office, California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, California Department of Food & Agriculture, California Department of Consumer Affairs Bureau of Cannabis Control, U.S. Attorney’s Office Eastern District of California – Sacramento Office, U.S. Attorney’s Office Central District of California – Santa Ana and Riverside Offices, and the FBI’s Field Offices in Richmond, Los Angeles, and Sacramento.
Jessica D. Aber, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Charlie J. Patterson, Special Agent in Charge of the ATF’s Washington Field Division; Wayne A. Jacobs, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Washington Field Office Criminal Division, made the announcement after U.S. District Judge Liam O’Grady accepted the verdict.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys James L. Trump, Carina A. Cuellar, and Ryan Bredemeier prosecuted the case.
A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information are located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 1:19-cr-57.
Iraqi Citizen Sentenced for Lying to U.S. Immigration Officials About His Membership in Middle Eastern Paramilitary GroupRead the Press Release
SYRACUSE, NEW YORK - Chasib Hafedh Saadoon Al Fawadi, age 36, an Iraqi citizen residing in Geddes, New York, was sentenced today to serve 48 months in federal prison for his convictions for making false statements in a U.S. immigration application for permanent residence, and making false statements to U.S. Immigration officials during an oral interview for permanent residency, announced United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman, Janeen DiGuiseppi, Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and Matthew Scarpino, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Buffalo, New York Field Office. The sentence imposed today included a stipulation for a court order for Al Fawadi’s removal from the United States without further immigration proceedings following his release from federal prison.
As part of his guilty plea, Al Fawadi admitted that in a written application mailed to United States Citizenship and Immigration Services in Syracuse, New York, on June 8, 2017, he falsely denied being a member of any group engaged in violent activities. Al Fawadi’s statement was false because since after his 26th birthday, while living in Iraq, he was a member of and affiliated with As’ib Ahl al-Haq (AAH), an Iranian-backed Shiite militia and paramilitary organization. Also, as part of his guilty plea, Al Fawadi admitted that he falsely reaffirmed his previous written statements during an in-person oral interview with United States Citizenship and Immigration Services in Syracuse on April 9, 2019.
Al Fawadi’s participation in AAH—a group which since has been formally designated as a “foreign terrorist organization” by the United States Department of State—included travel to Syria in 2013. The purpose of the travel was apparently to engage in combat operations in support of the Syrian regime that, less than a month before Al Fawadi arrived, killed over 1,400 of its own citizens in the Ghouta chemical weapons attack. Al Fawadi concealed his travel to Syria, Iran, and Jordan when he applied for refugee classification and again in his application for permanent resident status.
United States Attorney Carla Freedman said, “Immigration applicants must disclose their ties to any group engaged in violent activities, and will be prosecuted when they fail to do so. Thanks to this prosecution and the diligent work of our law enforcement partners, a dangerous person has been removed from our community and will no longer be able to reside in the United States.”
Janeen DiGuiseppi, Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said, “Mr. Al Fawadi lied to authorities to conceal his membership in a violent paramilitary group. The FBI’s top priority remains protecting our national security and we will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to ensure dangerous individuals do not have the opportunity to jeopardize the safety of Americans.”
“Due to the dedication of our special agents and law enforcement partners, Al Fawadi is no longer able to hide his affiliation with a violent paramilitary group,” said HSI Buffalo acting Special Agent in Charge Matt Scarpino. “HSI will continue to remain vigilant in its mission to protect the homeland and dismantle terrorist organizations that pose a threat to the United States.”
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the United States Department of Homeland Security-Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven D. Clymer, with assistance from the Onondaga County District Attorney’s Office, as well as the Counter Terrorism Section of the National Security Division of the Department of Justice [“DOJ”] and the Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section of the Criminal Division of DOJ.
Iowa Man with Ties to Mexico-Based Drug Trafficking Organization Sent to Federal PrisonRead the Press Release
An Iowa man who conspired to distribute over 150 pounds of ice methamphetamine was sentenced to more than 21 years in federal prison.
Jeremey Aswegan, age 44, from Van Horne, Iowa, received the prison term after an October 7, 2021, guilty plea to one-count of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance.
Evidence at sentencing showed that Aswegan was involved in a Mexico-based drug trafficking organization that delivered at least 150 pounds of ice methamphetamine to Iowa via rail car in the Summer and Fall of 2020. Aswegan then worked with others in the drug trafficking organization to distribute the methamphetamine in Iowa. Aswegan also participated in sending drug proceeds to Mexico at the request of the organization. A search warrant was conducted at Aswegan’s residence on October 30, 2020, and investigators recovered ice methamphetamine and a firearm.
Aswegan was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams. Aswegan was sentenced to 262 months’ imprisonment. He must also serve a 5-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
Aswegan is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Dillan Edwards and was investigated as part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) program of the United States Department of Justice through a cooperative effort of the Tri-County Drug Enforcement Task Force, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, and the Black Hawk County Sheriff’s Office.
Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.
The case file number is 21-CR-02047.
Follow us on Twitter @USAO_NDIA.
Informational: Federal Court arraignmentsRead the Press Release
The U.S. Attorney’s Office announced that the following persons were arraigned or appeared this week before U.S. Magistrate judges on indictments handed down by the Grand Jury or on criminal complaints. The charging documents are merely accusations and defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty:
Appearing in Billings before U.S. Magistrate Judge Timothy J. Cavan and pleading not guilty on May 5 was:
Shaydel Alissa Spang, 25, of Lame Deer, on charges of strangulation. If convicted of the most serious crime, Spang faces a maximum of 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release. Spang was detained pending further proceedings. The FBI investigated the case. PACER case reference. 22-49.
Appearing on May 2 was:
William Paul Jefferson, 36, of Lodge Grass, on charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and possession with intent to distribute meth. If convicted of the most serious crime, Jefferson faces a mandatory minimum 10 years to life in prison, a $10 million fine and at least five years of supervised release. Jefferson was detained pending further proceedings. The Eastern Montana High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force investigated the case. PACER case reference. 22-42.
Charles Antonio Gray, 46, of Everett, Washington, on charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute meth and possession with intent to distribute meth. If convicted of the most serious crime, Gray faces a mandatory minimum 10 years to life in prison, a $10 million fine and at least five years of supervised release. Gray was detained pending further proceedings. The Drug Enforcement Administration investigated the case. PACER case reference. 22-16.
The progress of cases may be monitored through the U.S. District Court Calendar and the PACER system. To establish a PACER account, which provides electronic access to review documents filed in a case, please visit http://www.pacer.gov/register.html. To access the District Court’s calendar, please visit https://ecf.mtd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/PublicCalendar.pl.
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Houston area man arrested for $1.2M nationwide telemarketing schemeRead the Press Release
HOUSTON – A 46-year-old man has been arrested for participating in a telemarketing scheme that scammed over 100 individuals and received over $1 million in fraudulently collected funds, announced U.S. Attorney Jennifer B. Lowery.
Law enforcement took Michael K. Laurendeau into custody this morning. Formerly of Pearland and now residing in Houston, he is expected to make his initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Sam S. Sheldon today at 2 p.m.
According to the 15-count indictment returned May 4 and unsealed today upon his arrest, Laurendeau is the owner of E-Business Financial LLC and Blue Star Hosting LLC.
From January 2015 to August 2019, Laurendeau and co-conspirators allegedly deceived over 134 victims by convincing them they were entitled to unclaimed money from prior investments in websites or webpage domains. Laurendeau and others told them they had to pay fees or taxes via certified checks or money orders to Laurendeau’s businesses to receive their money, according to the allegations.
Laurendeau and co-conspirators allegedly used aliases such as Richard Phelps, Ian Sharpe, Kelly Fisher and Mary Benson to victimize people who lived all over the country, many of whom were over the age of 55.
The indictment further alleges none of the victims ever received any funds from this scheme. Additionally, Laurendeau convinced many of the victims to send in additional checks after the victims did not receive any return on their first payments, according to the charges.
As a result of their scheme, Laurendeau and others allegedly received over $1.2 million. The indictment alleges the money was then spent on trips, dinners, a car and other goods.
Laurendeau is charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and 14 counts of mail fraud. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in federal prison and a possible $250,000 maximum fine on each count.
The Pearland Police Department and the FBI conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney John Wakefield is 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.
Horse Doping Drug Seller Convicted in Manhattan Federal CourtRead the Press Release
Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced the conviction at trial of defendant LISA GIANNELLI, on one count of drug adulteration and misbranding, with intent to defraud and mislead, in connection with a nearly twenty-year scheme to create and distribute “untestable” performance enhancing drugs for use in professional horseracing. GIANNELLI was one of over thirty defendants charged in four separate cases in March 2020, each arising from this Office’s multi-year investigation of the abuse of racehorses through the use of performance enhancing drugs.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “For almost two decades, Lisa Giannelli peddled untestable performance-enhancing drugs to give racehorse trainers the tools to dope racehorses. As a former standardbred racehorse trainer, Giannelli knew firsthand the dangers of selling illegal, injectable performance-enhancing drugs to trainers who were recklessly injecting horses to gain a competitive edge. The jury’s swift conviction demonstrates the gravity of Giannelli’s criminal scheme. This Office remains committed to holding accountable those who would engage in the kind of fraud and animal abuse exemplified by Giannelli’s crimes.”
As established by the evidence at trial:[1]
GIANNELLI was charged in United States v. Navarro, 20 Cr. 160 (MKV), a case arising from an investigation of widespread schemes by racehorse trainers, veterinarians, PED distributors, and others to manufacture, distribute, and receive adulterated and misbranded PEDs and to secretly administer those PEDs to racehorses competing at all levels of professional horseracing. By evading PED prohibitions and deceiving drug regulators and horse racing officials, participants in these schemes sought to improve race performance and obtain prize money from racetracks throughout the United States and other countries, including in New York, New Jersey, Florida, Ohio, Kentucky, and the United Arab Emirates (“UAE”), all to the detriment and risk of the health and well-being of the racehorses. Trainers who participated in the schemes stood to profit from the success of racehorses under their control by earning a share of their horses’ winnings, and by improving their horses’ racing records, thereby yielding higher trainer fees and increasing the number of racehorses under their control. Indicted veterinarians profited from the sale and administration of these medically unnecessary, misbranded, and adulterated substances. GIANNELLI, a seller of customized PEDs designed specifically to evade anti-doping controls, personally earned hundreds of thousands of dollars in sales commissions from her sale and distribution of PEDs to trainers around the United States.
GIANNELLI marketed these drugs as “untestable” under typical anti-doping drug screens and extolled the virtues of these illegal drugs by describing their potency and untestability. In the course of over fifteen years during which Giannelli operated under the auspices of the company, Equestology, GIANNELLI deliberately lied to state investigators to cover up her crimes and sold vials with no or incomplete labels, with no hint as to the provenance of those unsafe and prohibited drugs.
The drugs GIANNELLI sold included intravenous and intramuscular injectables that she sold to laypeople for injection into the horses under their purported “care,” many of which were seized at premises throughout the country at the time of the original indictments in this case, including barns located in New York. Those included “blood building” drugs (for example, “BB3” and other Epogen-mimetic substances), vasodilators (for example, “VO2Max”), and bags filled with scores of “bleeder pills,” each designed to covertly increase performance in affected horses.
GIANNELLI was convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit misbranding and drug adulteration in connection with her work for Equestology. GIANNELLI faces up to five years in prison for her conviction.
The statutory maximum penalty is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of GIANNELLI will be determined by the judge.
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Mr. Williams praised the outstanding investigative work of the FBI New York Office’s Eurasian Organized Crime Task Force and its support of the Bureau’s Integrity in Sports and Gaming Initiative. Mr. Williams also thanked Customs and Border Protection and the Food and Drug Administration for their assistance and expertise. This case is being handled by the Office’s Money Laundering and Transnational Criminal Enterprises Unit. Assistant United States Attorneys Sarah Mortazavi, Benjamin A. Gianforti, and Anden Chow are in charge of the prosecution.
[1] As to Giannelli’s co-defendants, these facts, including the entirety of the texts of the Indictments and the descriptions of the Indictments set forth herein, constitute only allegations and every fact described should be treated as an allegation.
Greene County Commissioner of Revenue Resigns and Pleads GuiltyRead the Press Release
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. –The former Commissioner of Revenue for Greene County, Virginia, resigned from his elected position in connection with pleading guilty today in federal court to attempted witness tampering, a felony offense. His son also pleaded guilty today to a related charge of heroin distribution.
Larry Vernon Snow, 73, pleaded guilty to one count of attempted witness tampering related to his efforts to harass and dissuade a confidential informant from cooperating in a federal investigation of both himself and his son, as well as to prevent the confidential informant from aiding law enforcement in other investigations. Bryant Austin Snow, 33, pleaded guilty to one related count of distributing heroin.
“The former Commissioner of Revenue for Greene County, an elected official of over 30 years, broadcast information throughout his community about a witness having assisted law enforcement authorities, all in retaliation against that witness. The Department of Justice will hold accountable those who seek to harass, intimidate, or retaliate against any federal witnesses, and I am grateful for the result that was achieved today through our investigation,” said United States Attorney Christopher R. Kavanaugh.
“Elected officials should hold themselves to a higher standard and serve their community responsibly. Mr. Snow violated the faith entrusted to him, and with his son criminally used personal information of community members for their own gain,” said Stanley M. Meador, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Richmond Division. “The FBI will continue to work with our partners to investigate instances of witness tampering and are happy with today’s change in plea.”
According to court documents, Bryant Snow was arrested and charged with two state drug charges in November 2017. The state charges stem from law enforcement’s use of a confidential informant who purchased methamphetamine and heroin from Bryant Snow. On April 20, 2018, Bryant Snow pleaded guilty to one count of distribution of methamphetamine in Greene County, Virginia.
While incarcerated in Central Virginia Regional Jail (CVRJ), Bryant Snow received documents and other evidence regarding his state case. This information included video and audio of the recorded narcotics buys by the confidential informant from Bryant Snow. Bryant Snow made numerous calls from jail to his father, Larry Snow, where they discussed their animosity towards confidential informants generally and Person A specifically. For example, Larry Snow stated to Bryant in one call that “[Person A]’s gonna get his, I promise you that.” Larry Snow then stated they should let “everybody know all about it” and “who he is, what he’s doing,” in reference to Person A.
On May 31, 2019, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Virginia notified Larry and Bryant Snow that they were targets of a federal investigation involving their conduct toward Person A. After receiving this notice, Larry Snow drafted and caused approximately 12,000 leaflets to be mailed in October 2019 to the residents of Greene County in an attempt to harass Person A and hinder, prevent, and dissuade Person A from causing or aiding in any federal prosecutions of the Snows or others. The leaflets described how the incumbent sheriff of Greene County used “drug dealers (who are also police informants).” The leaflet stated, “Specifically, this same drug dealer” was “caught twice,” and described the purportedly lenient sentence the individual received. These comments were references to Person A, who Larry Snow knew cooperated against his son, Bryant. Larry Snow placed his name at the bottom of the leaflets to identify himself as the sender.
In recorded jail calls following the distribution of the leaflets, Bryant Snow and Larry Snow discussed the known “drug dealer” in the leaflet and confirmed it was Person A. Larry Snow concluded the call by stating, “it’s out there now” because information about Person A’s cooperation with law enforcement had been disseminated in the county via the leaflets.
In connection with entering his guilty plea, Larry Snow resigned from his elected position as the Commissioner of Revenue in Greene County, a position he has held since 1987 and had been re-elected to while under federal indictment. As part of the plea agreement, Larry Snow agreed not to run for elected office during any sentence or period of court supervision.
The Snows are scheduled for sentencing on July 25, 2022 and August 1, 2022 before Senior United States District Court Judge Norman K. Moon.
The investigation of the case was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles.
Assistant United States Attorney Katie Burroughs Medearis and Ryan S. Faulconer, Senior Counsel with the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section of the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division, are prosecuting the case for the United States. Former Assistant United States Attorney Kathryn Rumsey assisted in the prosecution of the case.
Garysburg Man Sentenced to 72 Months for Firearm and Crack Cocaine ChargesRead the Press Release
RALEIGH, N.C. – Calvin McKinley Hughes, 39, of Garysburg, Northampton County, was sentenced today to 72 months in prison for possessing crack cocaine with intent to distribute and for possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. Hughes pled guilty to the charges on January 4, 2022.
According to court records and statements made during hearings, on August 11, 2018, a Northampton County Sheriff’s Office detective was on patrol in Garysburg, NC, when he observed a black Chrysler sedan stopped in the middle of Maple Street, near the intersection of Peach Street. Two people were standing by the car. The detective initiated a traffic stop for impeding traffic, and the two people walked away. The driver identified himself as defendant Calvin Hughes but said that he did not have a license or any identification. Central communications advised that Hughes had a suspended license.
Hughes denied that he had anything illegal in the car and told deputies that they could search his car. After being instructed to stand at the front of the patrol car with another deputy, Hughes took off running into a neighborhood. Deputies chased Hughes around several residences before they were able to apprehend him.
A search of Hughes’ car revealed a black M&P Shield 40 caliber pistol with a loaded magazine under the driver’s seat. They also found 14 plastic bags containing crack cocaine.
Hughes made bond on state charges but was arrested again on a firearm charge on May 14, 2019, when Halifax County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to a drug complaint and recovered a shotgun from Hughes’ bedroom in a Weldon, North Carolina, residence where he had been staying.
Prior to his federal conviction, Hughes accrued ten North Carolina felony offenses, including multiple convictions for possessing and distributing cocaine, as well as larceny offenses.
Michael Easley, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Terrence W. Boyle. The Northampton County Sheriff’s Office and Halifax County Sheriffs Office conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jake D. Pugh prosecuted the case.
Related court documents and information can be found on the website of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina or on PACER by searching for Case No. 2:21-cr-0021-BO.
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Former Suring Trustee, Teacher, and Coach Sentenced to 25 Years’ Imprisonment for Sexually Abusing a ChildRead the Press Release
Richard G. Frohling, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, announced that on May 5, 2022, John E. Fredenburgh (age: 37) of the Village of Suring, in Oconto County, Wisconsin, was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison by Senior District Judge William C. Griesbach.
In November of 2021, Fredenburgh pled guilty to “Transportation of a Minor with the Intent to Engage in Criminal Sexual Activity” and “Child Enticement.” The facts adduced at the sentencing hearing demonstrated that Fredenburgh sexually abused a Suring minor beginning when she was 12 years old. The abuse continued for another five and a half years. In February of 2021, the victim came forward and reported the abuse to Oconto authorities. In addition to the repeated sexual abuse, Fredenburgh supplied the minor with alcohol and illegal drugs. He also committed acts of violence against her.
During the sentencing hearing, Judge Griesbach noted the horrendous nature of the crimes and the need to deter Fredenburgh from engaging in further abuse. He stated his belief that a 25-year prison sentence was lengthy enough to protect the community while at the same time providing a measure of justice for the victim. Upon the completion of his federal prison sentence, the defendant will serve the remainder of his life on supervised release.
This case was investigated by the Oconto County Sheriff’s Office, the Marinette County Sheriff’s Office, the Menominee, Michigan Sheriff’s Office, the Menominee (Michigan) Police Department, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Daniel R. Humble.
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 U.S. Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
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For further information contact:
Public Information Officer Kenneth Gales
(414) 297-1700
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Former Marblehead Postal Worker Indicted for Stealing Government MoneyRead the Press Release
BOSTON – A former U.S. Postal Service (USPS) employee has been indicted by a federal grand jury in connection with two schemes to steal USPS funds.
Zeon Johnson, 27, of Saugus, was indicted on one count of theft of government money. Johnson will appear in federal court in Boston on Monday, May 9, 2022, at 11:30 a.m. before U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Marianne B. Bowler.
According to the indictment, beginning in approximately August 2018, Johnson worked as a Sales and Service Distribution Associate for USPS at the Marblehead Post Office. As part of his job, Johnson sold stamps and processed money order transactions for USPS customers. It is alleged that from approximately July 2019 through June 18, 2020, Johnson engaged in two schemes to convert USPS funds for personal use.
It is alleged that Johnson intentionally voided cash transaction sales of USPS stamps to customers, resulting in no records being made of cash payments for stamps, and then stole the cash for his own personal use. It is further alleged that Johnson stole USPS funds through fraudulent money orders, specifically by issuing himself blank money orders, money order refunds as well as money orders made payable to himself. In total, it is alleged that Johnson stole over $18,000 in USPS funds.
The charge of theft of government money provides for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.
United States Attorney Rachael S. Rollins and Matthew Modafferi, Special Agent in Charge of the United States Postal Service Office of Inspector General, Northeast Area Office, made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Eugenia M. Carris, Deputy Chief of Rollins’ Public Corruption & Special Prosecutions Unit, is prosecuting the case.
The details contained in the indictment are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Former Corvallis Lawyer Pleads Guilty to Wire Fraud and Identity TheftRead the Press Release
PORTLAND, Ore.—A former Corvallis, Oregon lawyer pleaded guilty today for perpetrating a scheme to defraud her clients and use their payments to fund personal expenses.
Megan Moeller, aka Megan Perry, 42, pleaded guilty to wire fraud and identity theft.
According to court documents, beginning in at least 2014, Moeller, whose legal practice purportedly involved family law, divorce, child custody and visitation, and adoption matters, knowingly and intentionally perpetrated a scheme to defraud her clients by accepting payment for various legal services, failing to perform those services, using fraudulent means to conceal her failure to perform the services, and using the proceeds to fund her own personal expenses.
In one instance, in June 2016, Moeller accepted payment from a client in a child visitation and support case. Moeller falsely claimed to have drafted and served an order to show cause regarding the enforcement of parenting time to her client’s former spouse. Despite Moeller’s claims to the contrary and her client’s repeated inquiries, the document was never received by the former spouse. On March 23, 2017, Moeller provided her client with a fraudulent affidavit of service of process and a fraudulent certified mail receipt on which Moeller had knowingly forged the signature of her client’s former spouse. Moeller also forged the signatures of a process server and a notary.
On March 1, 2018, Moeller submitted a Form B resignation to the Oregon State Bar. It was accepted on April 5, 2018.
On April 29, 2022, Moeller was charged by superseding criminal information with wire fraud and identity theft.
Wire fraud is punishable by up to 20 years in federal prison, $250,000 fine and 3 years supervised release. Identity theft is punishable by up to 15 years in federal prison, a $250,000 fine and 3 years supervised release.
Moeller will be sentenced on August 4, 2022, before U.S. District Court Judge Robert E. Jones.
U.S. Attorney Scott Erik Asphaug of the District of Oregon made the announcement.
This case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. It is being prosecuted by Claire M. Fay, Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon.
Florida Tax Preparer Convicted of Fraud and Identity Theft for Filing False Tax ReturnsRead the Press Release
PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams announced that Guy Menard Charles, 51, of Naples, FL, was convicted after trial of 23 counts of fraud and identity theft for filing false federal income tax returns as part of a scheme to fraudulently reduce taxes and inflate the tax refund amounts claimed on tax returns he prepared for his clients.
The defendant owned and operated Menard Tax Services in Florida. A co-conspirator, based in Philadelphia, recruited clients for the business and purchased personal identifying information for dependents, which Menard used on a number of the clients’ federal tax returns. In addition to the false dependent information, the defendant also included on various returns false income, education credits, and federal fuel tax credits. As a result of the tax returns with false information being filed, the U.S. Treasury issued tax refunds to the taxpayers to which they were not entitled. The defendant and his co-conspirator split the preparation fee for their services.
“Our nation’s taxing system relies upon tax preparers to apply our tax laws honestly in order to help clients accurately report income and pay their fair share of federal taxes, not bend or ignore the rules,” said U.S. Attorney Williams. “The defendant manipulated his clients’ tax filings at the expense of honest taxpayers who take seriously their legal obligation to file complete and accurate federal income taxes each year.”
“Fraudsters like Guy Menard Charles give honest tax return preparers a bad name”, said IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge Yury Kruty. “Guy Menard Charles had a duty to his clients to prepare tax returns that comply with the law and are complete and accurate. Evidence presented during this trial showed that he failed to do so. The guilty verdict returned by the jury is another reminder that there is no tolerance for such criminal conduct.”
The case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigations, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys David Ignall and Christopher Mannion.
Fairbanks Man Sentenced to Six Years in Prison for Possession of Child PornographyRead the Press Release
ANCHORAGE – A Fairbanks man was sentenced to six years in prison followed by 20 years of supervised release for possession of child pornography involving minors ages 1 – 15. In handing down the sentence, U.S. District Court Judge Ralph R. Beistline noted the “lifelong impact” these crimes have on victims.
According to court documents, Antonio Sanchez, 25, pleaded guilty to possessing more than 60 videos and images depicting children as young as one year old forced to engage in sexually explicit conduct including intercourse and oral sex with adult males. While the child pornography files were on the defendant’s computer, a file sharing program allowed other computers to connect and download the files.
“Child pornography continually re-harms innocent children who were initially exploited to create these horrific videos and images,” said U.S. Attorney S. Lane Tucker for the District of Alaska. “Viewing child pornography is not a victimless crime – the children in these videos and photos are real children who were sexually abused on camera. Because the images are widely shared on the Internet, the children are re-victimized thousands of times as strangers watch and re-watch the sexual abuse. Together, with our law enforcement partners, we are committed to seeking justice for these children.”
“Obtaining and possessing child pornography is a federal crime. Sanchez will now spend the next six years in federal prison for possessing such despicable material,” said Special Agent in Charge Antony Jung of the FBI Anchorage Field Office. “The FBI is committed, working side by side with our state and local partners, to investigate and combat these horrific crimes against children.”
The FBI and Anchorage Police Department investigated this case as part of the FBI’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force.
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 U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, Project Safe Childhood combines federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
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Elkton Man Sentenced to 20 Years in Federal Prison for Producing Child Pornography of Minor FemalesRead the Press Release
Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Catherine C. Blake sentenced Johnny William Kyte, age 62, of Elkton, Maryland to 20 years in federal prison, followed by a lifetime of supervised release, for production of child pornography.
The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Acting Special Agent in Charge Selwyn Smith of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Baltimore; the Cecil County State’s Attorney James Dellmyer; and Chief Carolyn Rogers of the Elkton Police Department.
According to his guilty plea, on September 10, 2020, the Elkton Police Department responded to a complaint regarding images of child pornography located within Kyte’s residence and initiated an investigation into Kyte’s criminal conduct in partnership with Homeland Security Investigations.
After the execution of numerous search warrants, investigators discovered several digital devices controlled and owned by Kyte that contained images of child pornography. Investigators were able to identify and locate the minor victims who were depicted in the images. Subsequent investigation revealed that from August 2014 to July 2017, Kyte produced numerous sexually explicit images of two prepubescent females, including close-up images displaying the lewd and lascivious display of the minor victim’s genitals. Kyte used a variety of devices to produce the images including at least two digital cameras, a cell phone camera, and other devices.
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 Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc. For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.justice.gov/psc and click on the "Resources" tab on the left of the page.
United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the HSI, the Office of the State’s Attorney for Cecil County, and the Elkton Police Department for their work in the investigation. Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christine Duey and Colleen McGuinn, who prosecuted the case.
For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit www.justice.gov/usao-md/project-safe-childhood and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.
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Eastern Shore Man Pleads Guilty to Stealing More Than $1.8 Million from a Salisbury Corporation Where He WorkedRead the Press Release
Baltimore, Maryland – Duane G. Larmore, age 47, of Salisbury, Maryland, pleaded guilty today to a wire fraud conspiracy and to aggravated identity theft in connection with the theft of more than $1.8 million from Shore Appliance Connection, where Larmore worked.
The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron and Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Sobocinski of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office.
According to his plea agreement, from mid-September 2016 through about March 2020, Larmore conspired with others to steal more than $1.8 million from a Salisbury, Maryland company, Shore Appliance Connection, owned and operated by Owner #1 and Owner #2, that sold household appliances as well as mattresses and bedding. Larmore was an employee at Shore Appliance whose duties included maintaining the books and records for the company.
Specifically, Larmore and his co-conspirators stole over $1 million from Shore Appliance to use for their own purposes, including to make investments and to pay business expenses for the co-conspirator’s business, without the knowledge and consent of the owners of Shore Appliance. For example, Larmore invested in the following: in 2016, a $100,000 investment with T.H.; a $95,000 investment with GenFinance II, PLC, London, U.K., which then required an additional $300,000, and then additional funds for a surety bond and travel abroad; in 2018, an investment through W.S. of $35,000 and an investment through J.B. of $50,000; and in 2019 - 2020, investments and expenses through I.P. and E. P.-S. to obtain U.S. currency purportedly returned to the United States from humanitarian relief projects abroad, and other similar investments. The charges included wire transfers from Shore Appliance’s account to a co-conspirator’s business account and from there to banks in the U.K. and Hong Kong. No investment paid any return to the schemers.
To conceal how much money had been removed from Shore Appliance and to obtain cash, Larmore used the identities of the owners to enter into factoring contracts. Factoring is a means by which businesses, like Shore Appliance, can obtain cash quickly by leveraging accounts receivable. As detailed in the plea agreement, the factoring contracts purportedly between Shore Appliance and various factoring companies, provided cash deposits to Shore Appliance's bank accounts but encumbered the accounts receivable of Shore Appliance and required payments and interest of more than $725,000. In addition, Larmore used his position of trust with Shore Appliance and signature authority over its bank accounts to draw on Shore Appliance’s lines of credit with two separate financial institutions to obtain another $200,000 in cash to conceal his use of Shore Appliance’s funds.
To obtain contracts with factoring companies for Shore Appliance, Larmore used his own email address and cell phone number with factors but identified that email address and cell phone number as belonging to Owner #1. Larmore also allegedly provided the factors with details of the owners’ identities, including dates of birth, Social Security numbers, and Maryland drivers' licenses, without their permission.
To conceal the fact that the owners were not aware of and had not approved the factoring contracts, the signatures of the owners were forged and the fraudulent signatures were witnessed or notarized by the co-conspirator; and Larmore and a female employee of his co-conspirator posed as the owners in telephone conversations with representatives of the factoring companies. Finally, when the co-conspirator’s business was having financial difficulties, at the co-conspirator’s request, Larmore provided funds from Shore Appliance for his co-conspirator's companies.
In all, Larmore paid $739,295.28 of Shore Appliance’s funds, without the officers and owners’ knowledge or consent, to invest in fraudulent schemes that never paid any money back. Larmore caused an additional loss of $171,548.67 by transferring funds to his co-conspirator or the co-conspirator’s companies. Larmore caused Shore Appliance to lose an additional $731,250.07 in fees and other payments to factors and to factoring brokers. Larmore also caused Shore Appliance to draw on its bank lines of credit and pay extra interest to those banks in the amount $208,395. Thus, the factoring arrangements and advances on Shore Appliance's lines of credit in total caused Shore Appliance to lose in actual funds $939,645. However, Shore Appliance as of March 2020 still owed the factors almost $270,000. For all of Larmore’s conduct, actual cash losses to Shore Appliance totaled $1,850,488.94 and intended losses totaled $2,137,674.74.
As part of his plea agreement, Larmore will be required to pay restitution in the full amount of the victims’ losses, which the parties stipulate is $1,850,488.94
Larmore faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison for a wire fraud conspiracy and a mandatory sentence of two years in federal prison, consecutive to any other sentence imposed, for aggravated identity theft. U.S. District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow has scheduled sentencing for July 29, 2022 at 1:00 p.m.
United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the FBI for its work in the investigation. Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Joyce K. McDonald, who is prosecuting the federal case.
For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit www.justice.gov/usao-md and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach. For more information about resources available to report fraud, please visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/report-fraud.
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Dubuque Man Sentenced to Federal Prison for Possessing FirearmRead the Press Release
A Dubuque man that possessed a firearm while subject to a no-contact order and in connection with distributing marijuana was sentenced today to more than 2 years in federal prison.
Marcus McDaniel, age 24, from Dubuque, Iowa, received the prison term after a November 1, 2021, guilty plea to one-count of possession of a firearm while subject to an order of protection.
Information disclosed at sentencing and prior hearings showed that, on July 8, 2020, a no-contact order was issued against McDaniel following McDaniel’s arrest for domestic abuse assault. On August 29, 2020, while still subject to the no-contact order, law enforcement recovered a loaded Glock 19X, 9x19mm caliber pistol, with an extended magazine from McDaniel’s person outside of his apartment. Inside McDaniel’s apartment, law enforcement seized at least 33 pounds of marijuana.
McDaniel was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams. McDaniel was sentenced to 31 months’ imprisonment. He must also serve a 3-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN). PSN is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.
McDaniel is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Dillan Edwards and investigated by the Dubuque Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Explosives, and Firearms.
Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.
The case file number is 21-CR-01018.
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Dentist Pleads Guilty to Unlawfully Obtaining Medicaid Funds and Paying Recruiters to Refer Medicaid Beneficiaries to His Dental Office in Exchange for KickbacksRead the Press Release
Greenbelt, Maryland – Edward T. Buford III, age 70, of Silver Spring, Maryland, pleaded guilty on May 4, 2022, to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and healthcare fraud. As part of his guilty plea, Buford will be required to pay $1,267,630 in restitution.
The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge Wayne Jacobs of the Federal Bureau of Investigation - Washington Field Office Criminal Division; Special Agent in Charge Maureen Dixon, Office of Investigations, Office of Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services; Special Agent in Charge Michael McGill of the Social Security Administration - Office of Inspector General, Philadelphia Field Division; and Daniel W. Lucas, Inspector General for the District of Columbia.
According to his guilty plea, from January 2013 to May 2018, Buford and others devised and executed a scheme to defraud Medicaid for the District of Columbia by filing fraudulent Medicaid claims for dental services to Medicaid beneficiaries, receiving the fraudulently obtained funds from Medicaid, and recruiting Medicaid beneficiaries to fuel the scheme through the payment of kickbacks and bribes.
Buford was a licensed dentist in Washington, D.C. and the owner and Chief Executive Officer of International Dental Associates, Inc. (IDA), a dental clinic located in Washington, D.C. Before 2015, Buford was enrolled as a Medicaid provider, however, in April 2015, Medicaid suspended payments to Buford under his provider number.
After Buford’s provider number was suspended in 2015, Buford and his business partner/IDA manager (Co-conspirator 1) continued to submit claims to Medicaid through IDA’s provider number. In April 2016, Buford and Co-conspirator 1 re-enrolled IDA as a provider in Medicaid. Within IDA’s application, Buford and Co-conspirator 1 failed to disclose Buford’s suspension from Medicaid.
Buford and his co-conspirators caused the submission of Medicaid claims by Buford and IDA for a variety of dental services, including dentures. As part of the conspiracy, Buford and Co-conspirator 1 offered and paid kickbacks to Co-conspirator 2 and other patient recruiters in exchange for referring Medicaid beneficiaries to IDA for dental services, even though Medicaid would not pay claims had it known they were procured through kickbacks. Medicaid paid substantially more for dentures than for many other dental services, including dental cleanings, and Buford and Co-conspirator 1 paid Co-conspirator 2 larger cash kickbacks for beneficiaries that agreed to be fitted for dentures—approximately $50 per beneficiary—than for beneficiaries who only agreed to receive dental cleanings.
At Buford and Co-conspirator 1’s direction, Co-conspirator 2 offered Medicaid beneficiaries cash bribes to induce them to visit and accept dental services from IDA. Buford and his co-conspirators typically paid higher amounts to beneficiaries who agreed to be fitted for dentures than those who only agreed to receive cleanings. Even though dentures required multiple visits to fit and deliver, Buford and his co-conspirators paid the beneficiaries only for the initial visit—after which Buford and his co-conspirators could bill Medicaid for the dentures—and numerous beneficiaries never returned to IDA after receiving the cash bribe. Accordingly, Buford and his co-conspirators stored hundreds of undelivered dentures on IDA’s premises, many of which had been billed to and paid for by Medicaid.
As part of the scheme to defraud, Buford maintained a Post Office box in Silver Spring, Maryland as IDA’s billing address and received the fraudulently obtained funds at that location. For example, on September 21, 2017, Buford caused Medicaid to mail a check for $17,397 to the Maryland P.O. box for services purportedly provided to 11 Medicaid beneficiaries.
Based on the amount that Medicaid paid to Buford and IDA for dentures that were not delivered, the actual loss to Medicaid was at least approximately $1,267,630.
Buford faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison followed by 3 years of supervised release for conspiracy to commit mail fraud and healthcare fraud. U.S. District Judge Theodore D. Chuang has scheduled sentencing for August 3, 2022, at 9:00 a.m.
United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the FBI, HHS-OIG, the D.C. Office of the Inspector General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, SSA-OIG for their work in the investigation. Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jessica C. Collins and Rajeev R. Raghavan, who are prosecuting the case.
For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit www.justice.gov/usao-md and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.
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Camden County Man Charged with Fraud in Connection with Unemployment Insurance BenefitsRead the Press Release
NEWARK, N.J. – A Camden County, New Jersey, man was arrested for his role in an unemployment insurance benefits fraud scheme, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced today.
Willie Carter, 22, of Bellmawr, New Jersey, is charged by complaint with one count of wire fraud. He was arrested on May 5, 2022, appeared by videoconference before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jessica S. Allen, and was released on $150,000 bond.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
On March 27, 2020, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) was signed into law. The CARES Act expanded states’ ability to provide assistance to many workers impacted by COVID-19, including workers who are not ordinarily eligible for unemployment insurance benefits. The CARES Act provided for three new temporary programs: Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation and Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation.
Between July 2020 and October 2020, unemployment insurance applications in the name of Willie Carter were made to 10 different states. Each application used the same Internet Protocol Address. Between June 2020 and November 2020, the IP Address was associated with approximately 34 unemployment insurance benefits claims to various states, which paid out approximately $150,000. The investigation revealed that the IP Address is associated with Carter. Some of the more than $150,000 was transferred into two bank accounts in Carter’s name.
The charge of wire fraud is punishable by a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000, or twice the gross profits or gross loss, whichever is greatest.
U.S. Attorney Sellinger credited special agents of the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Jonathan Mellone in Manhattan, with the investigation leading to the arrest. He also thanked the U.S. Postal Inspection Service in Newark; special agents of the FBI in Newark, and special agents of the Department of Homeland Security, Office of Inspector General, for their assistance.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Kogan of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Cybercrime Unit in Newark.
The charge and allegations contained in the complaint are merely accusations, and the defendant is considered innocent unless and until proven guilty.
California man sentenced to more than 15 years for role in drug distribution operationRead the Press Release
CLARKSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA – Sixto Marquez, of Paramount, California, was sentenced today to 188 months of incarceration for his role in methamphetamine, crack cocaine, fentanyl, and heroin drug distribution operation, United States Attorney William Ihlenfeld announced.
Marquez, age 46, pleaded guilty in December 2021 to one count of “Conspiracy to Distribute Controlled Substances” and one count of “Unlawful Use of Communication Facility.” Marquez admitted to working with others to distribute methamphetamine, crack cocaine, fentanyl, and heroin from the spring of 2018 to October 2020 in Monongalia County and elsewhere.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Zelda E. Wesley and Sarah E. Wagner prosecuted the case on behalf of the government. The FBI's Northern West Virginia Drug Task Force in partnership with the Mon Metro Drug Task Force, a HIDTA-funded initiative, investigated. The Task Forces have members from the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the Drug Enforcement Administration; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; West Virginia State Police; Monongalia County Sheriff's Office; and the Morgantown, WVU, Granville and Star City Police Departments. The investigation was also assisted by the following law enforcement partners: the Monongalia County Prosecutor’s Office; the FBI in Houston, Texas; the Houston Police Department's Multi Agency Gang Initiative; the United States Postal Inspection Service in Houston; and the FBI and DEA in Los Angeles, California.
This case is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.
Chief U.S. District Judge Thomas S. Kleeh presided.
CEO of Mining Capital Coin Indicted in $62 Million Cryptocurrency Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
An indictment was unsealed yesterday charging the CEO of Mining Capital Coin (MCC), a purported cryptocurrency mining and investment platform, for allegedly orchestrating a $62 million global investment fraud scheme.
“Cryptocurrency-based fraud undermines financial markets worldwide as bad actors defraud investors and limits the ability of legitimate entrepreneurs to innovate within this emerging space,” said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “The department is committed to following the money — whether physical or digital — to expose criminal schemes, hold these fraudsters accountable, and protect investors.”
According to the indictment, Luiz Capuci Jr., 44, of Port St. Lucie, Florida, the CEO and founder of MCC, misled investors about MCC’s cryptocurrency mining and investment program, under which investors could invest in MCC by purchasing “Mining Packages.” Under this program, Capuci and his co-conspirators touted MCC’s purported international network of cryptocurrency mining machines as being able to generate substantial profits and guaranteed returns by using investors’ money to mine new cryptocurrency. Capuci also touted MCC’s own cryptocurrency, Capital Coin, as a purported decentralized autonomous organization that was “stabilized by revenue from the biggest cryptocurrency mining operation in the world.” As alleged in the indictment, however, Capuci operated a fraudulent investment scheme and did not use investors’ funds to mine new cryptocurrency, as promised, but instead diverted the funds to cryptocurrency wallets under his control.
“This office is committed to protecting consumers from unscrupulous fraudsters seeking to capitalize on the relative novelty of digital currency,” said U.S. Attorney Juan Antonio Gonzalez for the Southern District of Florida. “As with any emerging market, those who invest in cryptocurrency must beware of profit-making opportunities that appear too good to be true.”
The indictment further alleges that Capuci touted and fraudulently marketed MCC’s purported “Trading Bots” as an additional investment mechanism for investors to invest in the cryptocurrency market. Capuci claimed that MCC joined with “top software developers in Asia, Russia, and the U.S.A. to create an improved version of Trading Bot[s] that [were] tested with new technology never seen before.” Capuci further represented that MCC’s Trading Bots operated in “very high frequency, being able to do thousands of trades per second,” and that each of MCC’s Trading Bots would generate daily returns for investors. As he did with the Mining Packages, however, Capuci allegedly operated an investment fraud scheme with the Trading Bots and was not, as he promised, using MCC Trading Bots to generate income for investors, but instead was diverting the funds to himself and co-conspirators.
“Virtual currency markets are growing rapidly, and unfortunately so are crypto currency investment scams,” said Assistant Director Luis Quesada of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division. “The FBI and our law enforcement partners are committed to investigating financial fraud wherever it occurs, including in the virtual currency space.”
Capuci is also alleged to have recruited promoters and affiliates to promote MCC and its various investment programs through a multi-level marketing scheme, commonly known as a pyramid scheme. For successfully luring investors to invest, Capuci promised MCC’s network of promoters and affiliates a range of gifts, from Apple watches and iPads to luxury vehicles such as a Lamborghini, Porsche, and even Capuci’s personal Ferrari. Capuci further concealed the location and control of the fraud proceeds obtained from investors by laundering the funds internationally through various foreign-based cryptocurrency exchanges.
“This case should serve as a warning to any individuals who look to illegally capitalize on the perceived ambiguity of the emerging crypto market to take advantage of innocent investors” said HSI Miami Special Agent in Charge Anthony Salisbury. “HSI will continue to work with our partners to pursue anyone who utilizes these types of schemes to victimize would be customers.”
Capuci is charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, and conspiracy to commit international money laundering. If convicted of all counts, he faces a maximum total penalty of 45 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The FBI Miami Field Office and HSI’s Miami Field Office are investigating the case.
Trial Attorneys Kevin Lowell and Sara Hallmark of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Yisel Valdes of the Southern District of Florida are prosecuting the case.
An indictment is merely an allegation, and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
CEO of Mining Capital Coin Indicted in $62 Million Cryptocurrency Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
Miami, Florida – An indictment was unsealed yesterday charging the CEO of Mining Capital Coin (MCC), a purported cryptocurrency mining and investment platform, for allegedly orchestrating a $62 million global investment fraud scheme.
“This office is committed to protecting consumers from unscrupulous fraudsters seeking to capitalize on the relative novelty of digital currency,” said U.S. Attorney Juan Antonio Gonzalez for the Southern District of Florida. “As with any emerging market, those who invest in cryptocurrency must beware of profit-making opportunities that appear too good to be true.”
According to the indictment, Luiz Capuci Jr., 44, of Port St. Lucie, Florida, the CEO and of MCC, misled investors about MCC’s cryptocurrency mining and investment program, under which investors could invest in MCC by purchasing “Mining Packages.” Under this program, Capuci and his co-conspirators touted MCC’s purported international network of cryptocurrency mining machines as being able to generate substantial profits and guaranteed returns by using investors’ money to mine new cryptocurrency. Capuci also touted MCC’s own cryptocurrency, Capital Coin, as a purported decentralized autonomous organization that was “stabilized by revenue from the biggest cryptocurrency mining operation in the world.” As alleged in the indictment, however, Capuci operated a fraudulent investment scheme and did not use investors’ funds to mine new cryptocurrency, as promised, but instead diverted the funds to cryptocurrency wallets under his control.
“Cryptocurrency-based fraud undermines financial markets worldwide as bad actors defraud investors and limits the ability of legitimate entrepreneurs to innovate within this emerging space,” said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “The department is committed to following the money — whether physical or digital — to expose criminal schemes, hold these fraudsters accountable, and protect investors.”
The indictment further alleges that Capuci touted and fraudulently marketed MCC’s purported “Trading Bots” as an additional investment mechanism for investors to invest in the cryptocurrency market. Capuci claimed that MCC joined with “top software developers in Asia, Russia, and the U.S.A. to create an improved version of Trading Bot[s] that [were] tested with new technology never seen before.” Capuci further represented that MCC’s Trading Bots operated in “very high frequency, being able to do thousands of trades per second,” and that each of MCC’s Trading Bots would generate daily returns for investors. As he did with the Mining Packages, however, Capuci allegedly operated an investment fraud scheme with the Trading Bots and was not, as he promised, using MCC Trading Bots to generate income for investors, but instead was diverting the funds to himself and co-conspirators.
“Virtual currency markets are growing rapidly, and unfortunately so are crypto currency investment scams,” said Assistant Director Luis Quesada of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division. “The FBI and our law enforcement partners are committed to investigating financial fraud wherever it occurs, including in the virtual currency space.”
Capuci is also alleged to have recruited promoters and affiliates to promote MCC and its various investment programs through a multi-level marketing scheme, commonly known as a pyramid scheme. For successfully luring investors to invest, Capuci promised MCC’s network of promoters and affiliates a range of gifts, from Apple watches and iPads to luxury vehicles such as a Lamborghini, Porsche, and even Capuci’s personal Ferrari. Capuci further concealed the location and control of the fraud proceeds obtained from investors by laundering the funds internationally through various foreign-based cryptocurrency exchanges.
“This case should serve as a warning to any individuals who look to illegally capitalize on the perceived ambiguity of the emerging crypto market to take advantage of innocent investors” said HSI Miami Special Agent in Charge Anthony Salisbury. “HSI will continue to work with our partners to pursue anyone who utilizes these types of schemes to victimize would be customers.”
Capuci is charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, and conspiracy to commit international money laundering. If convicted of all counts, he faces a maximum total penalty of 45 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The FBI Miami Field Office and HSI’s Miami Field Office are investigating the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Yisel Valdes of the Southern District of Florida and Trial Attorneys Kevin Lowell and Sara Hallmark of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section are prosecuting the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Joshua Paster of the Southern District of Florida is handling asset forfeiture.
An indictment is merely an allegation, and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 22-cr-20173.
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Broken Arrow Man Pleads Guilty for Taking Part in a Child Exploitation EnterpriseRead the Press Release
A Broken Arrow man who sexually exploited a young child and was an administrator for a transnational child exploitation chat group pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court, announced U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson.
The investigation into Cameron Kelly McAbee, 32, and the chat group led to the identification of 20 other alleged child predators from the United States, Australia, Canada, and Norway and the rescue of more than 20 children.
“Through an extensive investigation by the FBI and our task force partners, Cameron McAbee and a group of 20 other predators have been identified and will face justice in their respective jurisdictions for the trauma they have caused to children,” said U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office and our partners in Oklahoma and across the nation will continue to identify, track, arrest and prosecute pedophiles who harm the most vulnerable among us.”
“This predator participated in a child exploitation enterprise that, through shocking and heartbreaking means, caused irreparable harm to many child victims,” said Special Agent in Charge Edward Gray of the FBI Oklahoma City Field Office. “The vile actions committed by the defendant and his cohort of predators will no longer go undetected, and thanks to the painstaking, tireless efforts of this investigative and prosecution team, the defendant will be held accountable to the fullest extent.”
McAbee pleaded guilty to child exploitation enterprise, sexual exploitation of a child by a parent; receipt and distribution of child pornography; and possession of child pornography in Indian Country.
In his plea agreement, McAbee admitted that from July 1, 2019, to July 26, 2021, he knowingly engaged in a child exploitation enterprise, taking part in a series of felony violations comprised of more than three separate incidents, involving more than one victim, and in concert with more than three other people.
McAbee admitted to being an administrator of online messenger platform group chats where members of the group exchanged numerous images and videos depicting the rape and molestation of children. He stated that the groups involved at least 21 members and at least eight child victims. As part of gaining access to one of the groups, members were required to show proof of access to a child victim and were expected to share images and videos of the sexual abuse of that child to maintain access to the group, as well as other images and videos of child sexual abuse obtained elsewhere. McAbee admitted to being partly responsible for confirming a prospective member’s access to a child victim and admitting them to the group. McAbee also admitted that from July 1, 2019, to July 26, 2021, he had a minor engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing visual depictions that he would sometimes share in the group chats.
On July 13, 2021, the FBI discovered the online chat group and began an investigation. According to court documents, the FBI believed a specific account, later linked to McAbee, was an administrator and observed that gaining membership in the group required showing photographic proof of having access to a child for the suspected purpose of sharing child sexual abuse material. Continued access to the group required members to produce and share images and videos of the members sexually abusing children. On July 24, 2021, McAbee posted a “live photo” to the group depicting the sexual abuse of a child he had access to.
On July 26, 2021, the FBI linked the administrator account to McAbee and his Broken Arrow address and executed a search warrant at the residence. He was taken into custody the same day.
The FBI Oklahoma City Field Office (Tulsa Resident Agency), FBI Atlanta Field Office, Broken Arrow Police Department, and Tulsa Police Department conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Nassar is prosecuting the case.
See previous press release announcing charges here
This case is being prosecuted as part of Project Safe Childhood. Led by United States Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
Bowie County Man Guilty of $5 Million COVID-Relief FraudRead the Press Release
TEXARKANA, Texas– A Maud, Texas, man has pleaded guilty to COVID-relief fraud in the Eastern District of Texas, announced U.S. Attorney Brit Featherston today.
Samuel Yates, 32, pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Caroline Craven. Yates admitted to seeking millions of dollars in forgivable loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration (SBA) from two different banks by claiming to have over 400 employees earning wages when, in fact, no employees worked for his purported business.
According to court documents, on April 14, 2020, Yates submitted two fraudulent applications to two different lenders fraudulently seeking more than $5 million in forgivable loans guaranteed by the SBA under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. In the application submitted to the first lender, Yates sought $5 million in PPP loan proceeds by fraudulently claiming to have over 400 employees with an average monthly payroll of more than $2 million. In the second application, Yates claimed to employ over 100 individuals and was able to obtain a loan over $500,000. With each application, Yates submitted a list of purported employees that he obtained from a publicly available random name generator on the internet. He also submitted forged tax documents with each application.
“These Government loans, funded by taxpayers, were designed to aid businesses in weathering the pandemic-related economic storm,” said U.S. Attorney Brit Featherston. “Yates chose to fraudulently take advantage of the good-will of the American people by attempting to steal CARES Act funding. Those who seek to misappropriate these vital funds should tread carefully as they will be identified, investigated, and prosecuted . . . period.”
The CARES Act is a federal law enacted on March 29, 2020, designed to provide emergency financial assistance to the millions of Americans who are suffering the economic effects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. One source of relief provided by the CARES Act was the authorization of up to $349 billion in forgivable loans to small businesses for job retention and certain other expenses, through the PPP. In April 2020, Congress authorized over $300 billion in additional PPP funding.
The PPP allows qualifying small-businesses and other organizations to receive loans with a maturity of two years and an interest rate of 1 percent. PPP loan proceeds must be used by businesses on payroll costs, interest on mortgages, rent, and utilities. The PPP allows the interest and principal to be forgiven if businesses spend the proceeds on these expenses within eight weeks of receipt and use at least 75 percent of the forgiven amount for payroll.
A federal grand jury returned an indictment charging Yates with federal violations on Jan. 14, 2021. He faces up to 20 years in federal prison. The maximum statutory sentence prescribed by Congress is provided here for information purposes, as the sentencing will be determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the U.S. Probation Office.
This case is being investigated by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration’s Cybercrime Investigations Division; SBA Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) Central Region; and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Dallas.
Trial Attorney Louis Manzo and Brandon Burkart of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Criminal Chief Frank Coan and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan R. Hornok for the Eastern District of Texas are prosecuting the case.
Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.
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Bladenboro Woman Sentenced to 60 Months for Drug Offenses Arising from Tabor City Pill MillRead the Press Release
NEW BERN, N.C. – A Bladen County woman who helped a former doctor operate a “pill mill” in Columbus County, where opioids and other controlled substances were improperly prescribed, was sentenced today to 60 months in prison for unlawfully distributing Oxycodone, Hydrocodone, Methadone, and Marijuana.
“The defendant helped to illegally distribute opioids, jeopardizing the safety of the community,” said Michael Easley, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina. “My office will continue to collaborate with law enforcement at all levels to dismantle criminal organizations that are contributing to the drug problems in eastern North Carolina.”
According to court documents, Tammy Lynn Thompson, 57, and co-defendant and former doctor, Jong Kim, were charged with violating federal drug trafficking laws. The co-defendant, Kim, pled guilty to multiple counts and was sentenced earlier this year to 78 months. On July 12, 2021, Thompson pled guilty to Conspiracy to Unlawfully Distribute Oxycodone, Hydrocodone, Methadone, and Marijuana, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §846; multiple counts of Distribution of Marijuana and Aiding and Abetting, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §841(a)(1) and 18 U.S.C. §2; Distribution of Hydrocodone, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §841(a)(1); and Unlawful Dispensation and Distribution of Hydrocodone and Marijuana and Aiding and Abetting, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §841(a)(1) and 18 U.S.C. §2.
In 2017, Thompson helped Kim—who had previously been forced to resign from an area medical practice due to concerns over his opioid prescribing practices—to open his own clinic in Tabor City, NC. From October 2017 to June 28, 2018, Thompson helped Kim unlawfully and improperly prescribe opioids and other controlled substances by bringing in “patients” who paid $200 cash at each appointment. The investigation revealed that Kim wrote controlled substance prescriptions to virtually every patient he saw and often failed to meet the basic standards of legitimate medical care. Word spread quickly and the pill mill drew people from across Eastern North Carolina and other states. The volume of patients and associated activity in the parking lot of the clinic created safety concerns for the adjacent Tabor City Elementary School, which was forced to restrict outdoor activities for students until a privacy fence was constructed. Additionally, Thompson sold marijuana and hydrocodone on multiple occasions at both the clinic and the residence she shared with Kim.
In January 2018, a confidential source began conducting a series of controlled purchases from Kim and Thompson, which were audio and video recorded. On June 29, 2018, search warrants were executed at Kim’s clinic and residence and Kim and Thompson were arrested. A medical expert who reviewed Kim’s records found no evidence that Kim was providing real medical care and concluded that Kim was merely exchanging prescriptions for money.
Michael Easley, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Louise W. Flanagan. The Drug Enforcement Administration’s Charlotte Tactical Diversion Squad, Columbus County Sheriff’s Office, and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, DECU investigated the case and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Nick Miller, Tim Severo, and Bryan Stephany prosecuted the case.
Related court documents and information can be found on the website of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina or on PACER by searching for Case No. 7:18-CR-00200-FL.
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Albuquerque man sentenced to four years and three months in prison for federal firearms violationsRead the Press Release
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Devan Andrew Martinez, 34, of Albuquerque, was sentenced in federal court on May 5 to four years and three months in prison for being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition. Martinez pleaded guilty on Oct. 12, 2021.
According to the plea agreement and other court records, on July 18, 2018, a law enforcement officer observed a vehicle parked inside a gated entrance to the Sedillo Range Unit on the south side of Interstate 40, which is on the Pueblo of Laguna. They did not have a title or bill of sale for the car, and the officer checked for a vehicle identification number. While checking the vehicle, the officer observed a loaded Taurus .45 caliber handgun on the floorboard under the front passenger seat.
After the officer found the firearm, Martinez and the other person were taken into custody. A search warrant was obtained for the vehicle and resulted in the discovery of nine rifles, four shotguns and two handguns, among other items including ammunition. In his plea, Martinez acknowledged that he knew that as a previously convicted felon he could not legally possess firearms or ammunition.
In the days prior to his arrest, Martinez went on a crime spree through communities west of Albuquerque, including the Pueblo of Laguna. He broke into a home, vehicles, a trailer, and gun safes to steal the fifteen firearms he possessed on July 18, 2018, as well as other personal effects. The State of New Mexico prosecuted Martinez for aggravated burglary (armed after entering), burglary of a vehicle, and residential burglary, all of which arose out of this crime spree. For those crimes, Martinez was sentenced to seven years in prison followed by five years of supervised probation. The sentence handed down today will be adjusted to account for time served for the state convictions. Because Martinez has been incarcerated since July of 2018, and accounting for this adjustment, his release from his federal term of imprisonment is forecast for October of this year.
Upon his release from prison, Martinez will be subject to three years of supervised release.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs investigated this case with assistance from the Laguna Pueblo Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander F. Flores is prosecuting the case.
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5 May 2022
“Career Fraudster” Sentenced to Ten Years in Federal PrisonRead the Press Release
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – A Providence man described in court documents as a career with a propensity to engage in obstructive and violent behavior toward law enforcement, was sentenced today to ten years in federal prison for bilking food distributors out of more than $830,000 and for assaulting federal officers, announced United States Attorney Zachary A. Cunha.
As reflected in prior court filings and proceedings, Paul Diogenes, a/k/a Paul Dejullio, 50, orchestrated a sophisticated and elaborate scheme in which he used stolen banking information from various businesses and a fictitious catering company to fraudulently obtain $831,572 worth of lobster, sea bass, shrimp, scallops, filet, rib eye steak, and wild boar, most of which he resold to area businesses. In some instances, Diogenes sold the ill-gotten products to the same business whose stolen banking information he used to gain credit from food distributors.
On August 3, 2021, as FBI agents, FBI Task Force officers, and Rhode Island State Police attempted to arrest Diogenes behind an East Providence business, he rammed his car into two FBI task force vehicles, one with a task force officer and State Police trooper still inside; drove his vehicle toward an FBI agent who narrowly avoided serious injury; and rammed his car into a delivery van parked nearby before speeding away. The defendant was located by the U.S. Marshals Service and the FBI nine days later at a Middleborough, MA., hotel. He was in possession of a briefcase containing $116,404 in cash, which is to be forfeited to the government.
Diogenes pled guilty on December 17, 2021, to wire fraud and assault of a federal officer. He was sentenced today by U.S. District Court Chief Judge John J. McConnell, Jr., to 120 months in federal prison; three years of federal supervised release; and ordered to pay restitution totaling $831,572.
Diogenes, described in court documents as “an unrepentant and compulsive fraudster,” has been, according to court records, convicted in various courts and jurisdictions thirty-four times, including multiple convictions for fraud-related criminal activity and for charges brought as a result of his violent behavior toward law enforcement.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lee H. Vilker.
Diogenes’s fraud activity was investigated by the FBI’s Rhode Island Complex Financial Crimes Task Force, with the assistance of Rhode Island State Police and the Providence, Woonsocket, East Providence, Bourne, and Fall River Police Departments.
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Waldorf Air Force Lieutenant Sentenced to 11 Years in Federal Prison for Transportation of Child PornographyRead the Press Release
Greenbelt, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Theodore D. Chuang sentenced Jason Daniel Ort, age 36, of Waldorf, Maryland, late yesterday to 11 years in federal prison, followed by 15 years of supervised release, for transportation of child pornography, specifically videos Ort had surreptitiously recorded using a hidden camera in a bathroom, as well as other images and videos he possessed. Judge Chuang also ordered that, upon his release from prison, Ort must register as a sex offender in the places where he resides, where he is an employee, and where he is a student, under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA).
The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Sobocinski of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; and Brigadier General Terry Bullard, Commander Air Force Office of Special Investigations.
According to his guilty plea, between September 28, 2020, and October 1, 2020, Ort knowingly transported videos containing child pornography from Maryland to New York.
As stated in his plea agreement, on October 2, 2020, the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office in New York (OCSO) received a complaint from an adult (Individual 1) that Ort had placed a black spy camera in Individual 1’s bedroom while visiting the individual’s home. On October 1, 2020, Individual 1 located the camera, which contained an SD card. Upon review of the SD card’s contents, Individual 1 discovered a video of a minor female using the bathroom and lifting up her dress to wipe herself. Individual 1 observed a video of Ort entering the bathroom and adjusting the camera. According to military records, Ort was a First Lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force stationed in Maryland and was scheduled for leave during that time to visit Individual 1’s residence in New York.
In an interview with OCSO officers, Ort admitted to placing the camera in Individual 1’s bedroom and that he placed the camera in several other locations, including in a bathroom at another residence in Pocomoke City, Maryland. Ort said that he watched the videos for sexual pleasure and knew that his actions were wrong.
As a result of their investigation, OCSO seized multiple electronic items in New York, including the spy camera containing the SD card and Ort’s laptop. A subsequent forensic review of the SD card revealed at least 10 video files depicting minor females using the bathroom and bathing. Ort recorded these videos using the spy camera placed in the bathroom of the Pocomoke City, Maryland residence in and around December 2019 and January 2020. The camera appeared to be positioned under the sink, facing the toilet and the shower. Throughout the videos, four minor females were recorded with their genitals exposed while either showering or using the toilet.
A forensic review of the Ort’s laptop revealed hundreds of files constituting child pornography. Some of the files depicted prepubescent minors engaged in sex acts.
As detailed in his plea agreement, on November 16, 2020, law enforcement executed a search warrant at Ort’s Waldorf, Maryland residence and recovered numerous electronic devices including a 1 TB digital hard drive, a 500 GB hard drive, and a second laptop with a 1 TB hard drive.
Upon review of one of the hard drives, law enforcement found video files that were duplicates of or compilations of clips from the videos found on the SD card depicting the minor victims. Further, a forensic review of the second laptop located at Ort’s residence revealed a search for “production of child pornography charge” and “Citizen’s Guide to U.S. Federal Law on Child Pornography” on October 7, 2020.
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 Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc. For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.justice.gov/psc and click on the "Resources" tab on the left of the page.
United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the FBI and the Air Force Office of Special Investigations for their work in the investigation and thanked the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office for its assistance. Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica Collins who is prosecuting the federal case.
For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit www.justice.gov/usao-md/project-safe-childhood and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.
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Virginia Beach Man and Woman Sentenced for Fentanyl Trafficking and Firearm ChargesRead the Press Release
NORFOLK, Va. – A Virginia Beach man and woman were sentenced to more than 23 years in prison combined for possessing with intent to distribute 14,000 tablets of fentanyl and possession of a firearm during a drug trafficking crime.
According to court documents, Marcus Hughes, 32, along with his co-conspirator Deshowna Corprew, 30, were pulled over for a traffic stop after exiting the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel. The police discovered in their vehicle 14,000 tablets of fentanyl, one kilogram of cocaine, and a loaded .40 caliber handgun. They were returning from Rhode Island where they had picked up the drugs from the source of supply. There were also two small children in the vehicle, ages 4 and 7.
Hughes was sentenced to 20 years in prison on April 29. Corprew was sentenced today to 44 months in prison.
Jessica D. Aber, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Jarod Forget, Special Agent in Charge for the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Washington Division, made the announcement after sentencing by Senior U.S. District Judge Rebecca Beach Smith.
Virginia Beach Police Department provided significant contributions to this case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Muhr is prosecuting the case.
A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information are located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 2:21-cr-90.
Virginia Beach Man Charged with Dealing Illegal MachinegunsRead the Press Release
NORFOLK, Va. – A federal grand jury returned an indictment today charging a Virginia Beach man with possessing and selling unregistered machineguns.
According to the indictment, between approximately October 2021 and April 2022, Patrick Tate Adamiak, 28, was obtaining illegal machine guns that were not registered and he was selling these machine guns online. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) purchased eight machine guns from him through a confidential source. They then executed a search warrant at Adamiak’s residence and recovered 25 additional unregistered machineguns.
Adamiak is charged with receiving, possessing, and transferring unregistered machineguns, and for selling firearms without a federal firearms license. If convicted of these charges, Adamiak faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Jessica D. Aber, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Charlie J. Patterson, Special Agent in Charge of the ATF’s Washington Field Division made the announcement.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Muhr is prosecuting the case.
A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information are located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 2:22-cr-47.
An indictment is merely an accusation. The defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
United States Attorney’s Office Joins in Recognizing Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons Awareness DayRead the Press Release
Spokane, Washington – In a May 4, 2022 Proclamation, President Joseph R. Biden proclaimed today, May 5, 2022, as Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons Awareness Day. In doing so, the President called on all Americans to support Tribal governments and Tribal communities’ efforts to increase awareness of missing and murdered Indigenous People.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Washington fully supports these efforts, and our Office reaffirms its commitment to each of the Tribes in Eastern Washington to address this significant issue. “Recognizing and honoring missing and murdered Indigenous people is a top priority for the Department of Justice, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Washington,” U.S. Attorney Vanessa R. Waldref stated. “It remains unacceptable that Native Americans experience some of the highest rates of violence in the country, a situation that is all the more tragic in light of the generations of trauma already suffered by Indigenous people.”
“The Department of Justice and the U.S. Attorney’s Office will continue to address the causes and symptoms of this difficult problem.” U.S. Attorney Waldref continued, “During the past year, the Department has sought the help and input from Tribal leaders and Tribal communities to develop sustainable protocols to help our communities respond when a tribal member is reported missing. The U.S. Attorney’s Office supports these initiatives, and we are fully committed to working closely with Tribal leaders, law enforcement partners, and community stakeholders to implement Savanna’s Act, as we strive to keep Eastern Washington communities safe and strong for everyone.”
If you or someone you know has information about a missing or murdered Indigenous person, please contact the FBI Seattle Field Office by calling (206) 622-0460 or by visiting tips.fbi.gov.
U.S. Attorney's Office Joins in Recognizing Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons Awareness Day, May 5, 2022Read the Press Release
PORTLAND, Ore.—On May 4, 2022, President Joseph R. Biden Jr. proclaimed today, May 5, 2022, as Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons Awareness Day.
The proclamation reaffirmed the nation’s commitment to solving all missing and murdered Indigenous persons cases and addressing the underlying causes of these crimes, including sexual violence, human trafficking, domestic violence, other violent crime, systemic racism, economic disparities, and substance use and addition.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon joins its Tribal, federal, state, and local law enforcement partners in taking this opportunity to highlight the importance of supporting Tribal crime victims and synthesizing investigative leads and information across government and law enforcement agencies.
“Supporting and enhancing public safety in Tribal communities is a top priority for the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Justice Department. As such, we are fully committed to implementing Savanna’s Act and bolstering the collection and reporting of data on missing or murdered Native people. Despite great progress we have made with our Indian Country partners, we know there is much more the Justice Department and federal government can do to support these communities. We will continue to work diligently toward safety, justice, and healing for all,” said Scott Erik Asphaug, U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon.
In June 2020, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced the hiring of its first Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons (MMIP) program coordinator. In February 2021, the office released its first annual MMIP program report, summarizing what is known about missing and murdered Indigenous people in Oregon and outlining the office’s plans and goals. The U.S. Attorney’s Office is expected to release its second annual report this summer.
If you or someone you know have information about missing or murdered Indigenous people in Oregon, please contact the FBI Portland Field Office by calling (503) 224-4181 or by visiting tips.fbi.gov.
If you have questions about the U.S. Attorney’s Office MMIP program, please contact MMIP program coordinator Cedar Wilkie Gillette by emailing [email protected] or by calling (503) 727-1000.
U.S. Attorney's Office EDNY and Other Law Enforcement Officials to Hold Press Conference on Extradition of Dairo Antonio Úsuga David "Otoniel"Read the Press Release
BROOKLYN – Today, May 5, Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York will lead a press conference with Anne Milgram, Administrator for the Drug Enforcement Administration, Ricky J. Patel, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Homeland Security Investigations, New York Office, Michael Driscoll, Assistant Director in Charge, FBI New York Field Office, Captain Thomas Kelly, Commanding Officer of the Drug Enforcement Task Force New York City Police Department, Lieutenant Tim Mannix and Senior Investigator Fabricio Plaskocinski, New York State Police to discuss the extradition of Dairo Antonio Úsuga David “Otoniel,” the leader of the Clan del Golfo drug trafficking organization.
WHEN: Today, Thursday, May 5, at 2 p.m.
WHERE: Attend in-person at the U.S. Attorney’s Office library 271-A Cadman Plaza East, Brooklyn, New York 11201 or via videoconference, details on the following page.
PRESS: All media must present government-issued photo I.D. (such as driver’s license) as well as valid media credentials. In-person press should arrive at 1:30 p.m.
NOTE: COVID-19 safety protocols will be observed – face coverings must be worn at all times.
Press attending via livestream can ask questions through the chat function of the video conferencing.
Press inquiries regarding logistics should be directed to 347-988-4580 or [email protected] and [email protected]
Please silence all cell phones and electronic devices before the start of the proceeding.
LIVESTREAM INFORMATION:
Event Number: 2764 060 7803
Event Password: EDNYpc22
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To join this online event:
1. Go to https://usao.webex.com/usao/j.php?MTID=ef033c01c22f290d3158a3cddd1cf6388
2. Enter the event password: EDNYpc22
3. Click "Join Now".
4. Follow the instructions that appear on your screen to join the teleconference.
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To only join the audio conference
To receive a call back, provide your phone number when you join the event, or call the number below and enter the access code.
US Toll: +1-415-527-5035
Global call-in numbers: https://usao.webex.com/usao/globalcallin.php?MTID=e722dac8d1f4faed4e65c97d00e57b3c4
Access code: 2764 060 7803
Two USAO-EDPA Civil Healthcare Fraud Investigative Teams Honored by HHS-OIGRead the Press Release
PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams announced that two separate investigative teams working in the Civil Division of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania were honored for their exemplary service to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) by recovering millions of dollars in healthcare fraud matters.
The first team, comprised of Assistant U.S. Attorneys Anthony Scicchitano, Landon Y. Jones III, and Rebecca Melley, received the 2022 Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General (“HHS-OIG”) Award for “Excellence in Promoting Quality, Safety, and Value” for their investigation and resolution with several companies concerning alleged generic drug price fixing.
The second team, comprised of Assistant U.S. Attorneys Deborah Frey, Matt Howatt, Civil Division Chief Gregory David, Auditor Dawn Wiggins, Investigator Frank O’Connor, and former Assistant U.S. Attorney John Crutchlow, received a 2022 HHS-OIG Honor Award for “Advancing Excellence and Innovation in recognition of outstanding teamwork and excellence for investigations, recoveries, and cost savings identified through P-Stim investigations.”
Generic Drug Price Fixing Investigations
This family of investigations into generic drug prix fixing led to three generic pharmaceutical manufacturers, Taro Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc., Sandoz Inc., and Apotex Corporation, paying a total of $447.2 million to resolve alleged violations of the False Claims Act (“FCA”) arising from conspiracies to fix the price of various generic drugs. These conspiracies allegedly resulted in higher drug prices for federal health care programs and beneficiaries.
Between 2013 and 2015, all three companies allegedly paid and received compensation prohibited by the Anti-Kickback Statute through arrangements on price, supply, and allocation of customers with other pharmaceutical manufacturers for certain generic drugs manufactured by the companies. Taro Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc., headquartered in New York, paid $213.2 million to the government to settle these claims. The Taro drugs allegedly implicated in this scheme address a wide variety of health conditions, and include etodolac, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug used to treat pain and arthritis, and nystatin-triamcinolone cream and ointment, a combination of an antifungal medicine and steroid used to treat certain kinds of skin infections. Sandoz Inc., headquartered in New Jersey, paid a settlement of $185 million. The Sandoz drugs at issue include benazepril HCTZ, used to treat hypertension, and clobetasol, a corticosteroid used to treat skin conditions. Apotex Corporation, headquartered in Florida, paid a $49 million settlement in connection with its sale of pravastatin, a drug used to treat high cholesterol and triglyceride levels.
P-Stim Investigations
Through a proactive data analysis, this team helped uncover a scheme of improper billings involving electro-acupuncture devices, branded among other names as P-Stim and Stivax. These devices are applied with an adhesive and insertion of a limited number of needles; they do not involve surgery, anesthesia, or take place in an operating room. Federal healthcare programs do not reimburse at all for them, but the devices were marketed and billed as reimbursable as surgically implanted neuro-stimulators. This team led the national Department of Justice effort to apply analytics to healthcare claims data to identify providers who inappropriately billed federal healthcare programs for P-Stim devices, and to investigate and hold accountable responsible marketers and distributors. This effort resulted in several resolutions with responsible parties and coordination with dozens of other U.S. Attorney’s Offices as to other provider investigations for a total recovery of over $25 million.
“Proactive efforts, relationship-building with other DOJ components and government agencies, and data analytics were the foundation for the excellent results of these two investigative teams,” said U.S. Attorney Williams. “We thank the Inspector General for recognizing their work and we thank the HHS OIG case agents who made these results possible.”
“Congratulations and thank you to our partners at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania,” said Maureen R. Dixon, Special Agent in Charge, Office of the Inspector General, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. “These awards recognize the outstanding teamwork and support provided by the DOJ-EDPA Civil Division’s attorneys, support staff, and analysts which resulted in the recovery of millions of dollars in HHS health care funds. HHS-OIG looks forward to continued collaboration with our Civil Division partners, as we work together, to protect the integrity of the Medicare and Medicaid programs from financial harm.”
Two Puerto Rico Mayors Charged with Accepting BribesRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON – A federal grand jury in San Juan, Puerto Rico returned an indictment yesterday charging Javier García-Pérez, the Mayor of Aguas Buenas, with conspiracy, soliciting bribes, and extortion. In a separate indictment, Reinaldo Vargas-Rodriguez, the Mayor of Humacao was also charged with conspiracy, soliciting bribes, and extortion.
According to court documents, Javier García-Pérez, 46, of Aguas Buenas, was involved in a bribery conspiracy in which, from 2017 through 2021, he received and accepted cash payments from two businessmen in exchange for awarding municipal contracts for waste disposal services, asphalt and paving services, and debris removal and paying outstanding invoices on the contracts. The indictment alleges that García-Pérez received at least $32,000 in cash payments from August 2020 through September 2021 from the two businessmen.
A second indictment returned yesterday alleges that Reinaldo Vargas-Rodriguez, 48, of Humacao, was involved in a bribery conspiracy in which, from January to July 2021, he received and accepted cash payments from two businessmen in exchange for awarding municipal contracts for waste disposal and asphalt and paving services, and for paying outstanding invoices on the contracts. The indictment alleges that Vargas-Rodriguez received at least $15,000 in cash payments from March 18, 2021 through April 15, 2021 from the two businessmen.
If convicted of all counts, García-Pérez and Vargas-Rodriguez face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow for the District of Puerto Rico, and Assistant Director Luis M. Quesada of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division made the announcement.
The investigation was conducted by the FBI’s San Juan Field Office.
The cases are being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Nicholas W. Cannon of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott H. Anderson for the District of Puerto Rico.
The cases are part of the Justice Department’s ongoing efforts to combat public corruption by municipal officials in Puerto Rico. In addition to the above matters, the Public Integrity Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Puerto Rico have recently obtained convictions against other former public officials and contractors in the District of Puerto Rico for soliciting and accepting bribes related to municipal contracts. See United States v. Luis Arroyo-Chiques, 21-485 (SCC); United States v. Eduardo Cintron-Suarez, 22-151 (SCC); United States v. Felix Delgado-Montalvo, 21-463 (RAM); United States v. Oscar Santamaria-Torres, 21-464 (RAM); United States v. Raymond Rodriguez, 21-465 (RAM).
Additionally, the department recently obtained indictments charging several former officials and contractors with bribery related to municipal contracts, and those cases are still pending. See United States v. Mario Villegas-Vargas, 21-468 (FAB); United States v. Angel Perez-Otero, 21-474 (ADC); and United States v. Radames Benitez-Cardona, 21-475 (PAD).
An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
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Two Men Arrested, Charged for Carjacking a Woman in a Mall Parking LotRead the Press Release
ST. PAUL, Minn. – Two men have been charged in a federal criminal complaint for their roles in the armed carjacking of a woman in a mall parking lot, announced U.S. Attorney Andrew M. Luger.
According to court documents, on February 16, 2022, Leon Kismit Bell, 48, and Jack Mitchell Piche, 22, were walking around the parking lot of the Rosedale Center Mall. The two men followed a vehicle, waiting for the driver, a 67-year-old woman, to park. Surveillance video from the mall’s parking lot shows Bell and Piche approach the woman as she was standing outside of her vehicle. Bell flashed a gun in his waistband and demanded her keys. The woman gave Bell her purse, which contained her wallet and keys, and ran from the vehicle. Bell initially ran after the woman, but then returned to the vehicle, got in the driver’s seat, and drove to pick up Piche, who was several rows away in the parking lot. The two men then fled the parking lot.
According to court documents, officers with the Roseville Police Department were able to track the vehicle heading south on I-35W. The vehicle was driving erratically and due to safety concerns, officers stopped their pursuit. Further investigation led law enforcement to a location in south Minneapolis where Piche was taken into custody. The stolen vehicle was found a few blocks away from where Piche was arrested. On May 3, 2022, law enforcement located and arrested Bell.
Bell is charged with one count of carjacking. Piche is charged with one count of aiding and abetting carjacking. On April 29, 2022, Piche appeared in U.S. District Court before Magistrate Judge Tony N. Leung and was ordered to remain in detention pending further proceedings. Bell made his initial appearance yesterday in U.S. District Court before Magistrate Judge John F. Docherty. Bell was ordered temporarily detained pending a formal detention hearing on May 6, 2022.
This case is the result of an investigation conducted by the FBI, the Roseville Police Department, and the Minneapolis Police Department.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Harry M. Jacobs is prosecuting the case.
A complaint is merely an allegation and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Two Drug Conspiracies Land Little Rock Man in Federal Prison for 18 YearsRead the Press Release
LITTLE ROCK—A Little Rock man’s involvement in two separate drug conspiracies will end with him spending 18 years in federal prison. Desmond Kelley, aka “Trell,” 28, was sentenced yesterday to 151 months in prison for his role in a conspiracy to distribute fentanyl, with that sentence to run consecutive to a 65-month sentence he recently received for being involved in a heroin distribution conspiracy. United States District Judge Brian S. Miller handed down the sentence.
In May 2017, Kelley was named in a 33-defendant indictment that charged him with conspiracy to distribute heroin, distribution of heroin, and use of a telephone to facilitate a drug trafficking crime. In that case, Kelley worked with Aaron “Black” Clark to distribute heroin in Little Rock. In 2016 and 2017, Clark supplied Kelley with multiple ounces of heroin at a time, which Kelley then resold.
The FBI arrested Kelley in that case on May 31, 2017, and Kelley was released on pretrial bond on January 30, 2018. At that point, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) developed evidence that Kelley immediately went back to selling drugs, including both heroin and fentanyl, to a new group of people. This time, Kelley was at the top of the 17-defendant conspiracy and supplied significant amounts of fentanyl to multiple people who were also indicted.
Kelley was then indicted for the second time and arrested by the DEA on October 15, 2019, and this time charged with conspiracy to distribute fentanyl. The next day, Kelley pleaded guilty conspiracy to distribute between 400-700 grams of heroin in the 2017 case. Kelley received a 65-month sentence from United States District Judge James M. Moody, Jr., on October 13, 2020. On February 1, 2021, Kelley pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute between 1.2 and 4 kilograms of fentanyl in the 2019 case.
In addition to the prison sentence, which totals 216 months combined, Judge Miller sentenced Kelley to five years of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal prison system.
The 2017 case was investigated by the FBI’s Met Rock Task Force, in coordination with the LRPD and NLRPD, and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Benecia Moore. The 2019 case was investigated by the DEA, in coordination with the LRPD and NLRPD, and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Chris Givens.
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This news release, as well as additional information about the office of the
United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, is available online at
https://www.justice.gov/edar
Twitter:
@EDARNEWS
Two Charged for Illegal Cockfighting in Violation of the Animal Welfare Act in BakersfieldRead the Press Release
FRESNO, Calif. — Today, a federal grand jury charged Jorge Calderon-Campos, 41, and Horacio Ortega-Martinez, 35, both Mexican nationals residing in Bakersfield, in separate indictments with unlawful possession of animals for an animal fighting venture, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.
According to court documents, Calderon-Campos and Ortega-Martinez communicated frequently throughout February 2022 about illegal cockfighting events, including an event Calderon-Campos attended on February 12 at which 15 roosters fought to win a $5,000 purse. On April 26, 2022, numerous law enforcement agencies served a search warrant at Ortega-Martinez’s residence and discovered approximately 250 roosters, approximately 250 “gaffs” (razor-sharp steel blades that are tied to the birds’ legs), training mitts commonly used for training and fighting roosters, and miscellaneous antibiotics, vitamins, and supplements that are commonly used for breeding and training roosters for fighting.
Calderon-Campos and Ortega-Martinez were arrested on April 26, 2022, along with six other Kern County residents who were also charged with various drug trafficking offenses in a separate indictment returned today.
This case is the product of an investigation by Homeland Security Investigations, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Kern County Sheriff’s Office, the Kern County High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, the U.S. Marshals Service, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Bakersfield Police Department, the Kern County Probation Department, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the U.S. Secret Service, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of Inspector General and the California Highway Patrol. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher D. Baker is prosecuting the case.
If convicted, Calderon-Campos and Ortega-Martinez face a statutory maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Any sentence, however, would 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. The charges are only allegations; the defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.