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1 April 2022
Former Puerto Rico Legislator and Two Capitol Employees Plead Guilty to Bribery and Kickback SchemeRead the Press Release
A former Puerto Rico legislator and two employees who worked in his office pleaded guilty this week to engaging in a bribery and kickback scheme.
According to court documents, Nelson Del Valle Colon, 56, of Dorado, Puerto Rico, pleaded guilty yesterday to one count of federal program bribery, and Mildred Estrada-Rojas, 55, of Bayamon, Puerto Rico, and her daughter, Nickolle Santos-Estrada, 32, also of Bayamon, each pleaded guilty Wednesday to one count of federal program bribery.
Del Valle Colon was elected to the Puerto Rico House of Representatives in 2016 and hired Estrada and Santos to work in his legislative office. In exchange for their employment and their salaries, Estrada and Santos paid biweekly kickbacks to Del Valle Colon of between approximately $500 and $1,300 from early 2017 until July 2020.
According to admissions made in connection with their pleas, Del Valle Colon, Estrada, and Santos paid the kickbacks in a variety of ways. Estrada and Santos generally paid cash in an envelope that they provided to Del Valle Colon in an office in the Capitol Building in Old San Juan. Estrada also sometimes paid Del Valle Colon over ATH Móvil, a mobile phone cash transfer application. Another individual who worked for Del Valle Colon in his legislative office also agreed to pay Del Valle Colon biweekly cash kickbacks during that individual’s employment with Del Valle Colon.
Del Valle Colon is scheduled to be sentenced on June 30, and Estrada and Santos are scheduled to be sentenced on June 29. Each faces a maximum penalty of 10 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 Special Agent in Charge Joseph González of the FBI’s San Juan Field Office made the announcement.
The FBI’s San Juan Field Office is investigating the case.
Trial Attorney Jonathan E. Jacobson of the Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott Anderson from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Puerto Rico are prosecuting the case.
Former Preacher Pleads Guilty to Coercion and Enticement of 5 MinorsRead the Press Release
A Vinita man pleaded guilty Friday to enticing five minors whose ages ranged from 7 to 16 years old when the abuse occurred, announced U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson.
Roy Edward Williams, 63, pleaded guilty to five counts of coercion and enticement of a minor in Indian Country and to possession of child pornography.
“Roy Williams preyed upon five children over the course of 16 years. He violated their innocence, sense of safety, and trust,” said U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson. “In several of these incidents, some adults failed to report the abuse. When children disclose they’ve been victims of sexual abuse, adults need to listen and act on their behalf. Children should not have to hide the abuse they’ve endured nor feel ashamed for the appalling actions of a predator.”
“The FBI and our law enforcement partners have a great responsibility to protect our vulnerable community members from the terrifying behaviors of sex offenders such as Roy Williams” said Ed Gray, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Oklahoma City Division. “We are grateful for our collaborative partnerships with the Craig County Sheriff’s Office, the Cherokee Nation Marshal Service, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in this case as we continue our work to fight child sexual abuse.”
Williams committed the sex crimes starting on or around November 2002 and as late as December 2018. According to court documents, Williams also took sexually explicit photographs of several of the victims, paid or offered something of value to several victims immediately following the sexual abuse, and threatened several victims to prevent them from reporting the abuse to others. The defendant was further found in possession of child pornography on June 24, 2019. During the period of the described abuse, Williams was a member and preacher at Bunker Hill Baptist in Vinita.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
The FBI, Craig County Sheriff’s Office, and the Cherokee Nation Marshal Service conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Leah Paisner and Edward Snow are prosecuting the case.
Former Operations Manager of Local Technology Support Firm Sentenced to 24 Months in Custody in Seven-Year Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
SAN DIEGO – Matthew P. Hernandez, former manager of a small, San Diego-based technology support firm, was sentenced in federal court today to 24 months in custody for embezzling more than $350,000. Hernandez was also ordered to pay $356,664.46 in restitution to the firm.
Hernandez pleaded guilty on August 24, 2021, to four felony counts of wire fraud. According to the plea agreement and the government’s sentencing memorandum, Hernandez was responsible for managing payroll, accounts payable, and disbursing bonuses to employees at the firm. Hernandez had unfettered access to the firm’s books and records and authority to sign checks on the firm’s behalf. In his managerial role, Hernandez stole from the firm hundreds of times over the course of seven years, from 2010 to January 2017.
Hernandez stole from the firm in four different ways. First, Hernandez issued checks and made online payments from the firm’s business checking account directly to his USAA account to pay off personal credit card debt. Second, Hernandez used the corporate credit card to make unauthorized, non-business-related purchases. For example, Hernandez used the corporate credit card to buy a $3,500 hot tub, a home gym, a knife set, a TAG Heuer racing watch, roundtrip flights between Los Angeles and the Dominican Republic, and concert tickets to Coachella. Third, Hernandez issued multiple paychecks to himself for a single pay period. And fourth, Hernandez issued checks from the firm’s business checking account directly into his personal bank account.
To conceal his fraudulent conduct, Hernandez falsified the firm’s books to make the fraudulent payments look legitimate. To do this, Hernandez changed the payee entries on the firm’s books from his personal accounts to companies with which the firm did business. When confronted about discrepancies on the firm’s books or questions about the USAA account, Hernandez lied to make it appear that he would balance the books and reimburse the firm for any unauthorized funds paid to him, and that the USAA account belonged to a company with which the firm did business.
The fraudulent conduct was first discovered in January 2017 when Hernandez overdrew $10,000 from the firm’s business checking account. Upon inquiry, it was confirmed that the USAA account did not belong to a company with which the firm did business but rather it belonged to Hernandez. The firm extensively reviewed its books and records, identified Hernandez’s fraudulent purchases and transactions, and provided that information to federal law enforcement. The firm’s efforts to identify Hernandez’s fraudulent conduct took years to complete and was instrumental in moving the investigation and prosecution forward.
“This defendant stole resources that he was hired to protect,” said U.S. Attorney Randy Grossman. “These thefts are devastating for small businesses. This is a significant sentence that hopefully alerts other would-be thieves that stealing from your employer carries significant consequences.” Grossman thanked the prosecution team, the FBI and U.S. Postal Service investigators for their work on this case.
“For years, Mr. Hernandez engaged in a scheme to defraud his employer - treating their business accounts as his own by writing checks and wiring money to himself, misusing his work credit card, and issuing duplicate paychecks,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Stacey Moy. “The FBI is proud to work with our partners at the U.S. Postal Service to identify and hold accountable those who abuse their work placement and access for personal gain. I hope today’s sentence provides some closure for the victims.”
“The U.S. Postal Inspection Service plays a vital role in these types of fraud schemes that involve the embezzlement of funds. Every day, U.S. Postal Inspectors protect our postal customers, businesses, and the public from such fraud scams that involve the U.S. mail,” said Carroll N. Harris III, Postal Inspector in Charge of the Los Angeles Division.
DEFENDANTS Case Number 20-cr-3665-JLS
Matthew P. Hernandez Age: 46 Riverside, California
SUMMARY OF CHARGES
Wire Fraud – Title 18, U.S.C., Section 1343
Maximum penalty: Twenty years in prison and a fine twice the $356,644.46 pecuniary loss resulting from the offense
AGENCIES
Federal Bureau of Investigation
United States Postal Service
Former High School Teacher Sentenced to 20 Years for Producing & Possessing Child PornographyRead the Press Release
MADISON, WIS. – Timothy M. O’Shea, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that McKenzie W. Johnson, 35, Ladysmith, Wisconsin, was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Judge William M. Conley to 20 years in prison for producing and possessing child pornography. This term of imprisonment will be followed by 20 years of supervised release. Johnson pleaded guilty to these charges on January 13, 2022.
In March 2021, the mother of a 13-year-old girl in California called law enforcement, reporting that she discovered explicit messages between her daughter and a man later identified as Johnson. Law enforcement agents executed a search warrant at Johnson’s home in Ladysmith and found numerous images and videos he recorded of livestreams of the 13-year-old engaging in sexually explicit conduct. They also found a video the defendant recorded of a live stream of an 11-year-old, in which the defendant instructs her on how to insert a sharpie into her vagina and to adjust her hand so he can get a better view. At the time he committed these offenses, Johnson was a teacher at Ladysmith High School.
Judge Conley noted that Johnson led a dual life with his friends and family who had no idea that he was preying on young girls. Judge Conley also said that the defendant was bright, but manipulative, and willing to engage in horrendous behavior with young girls. Finally, Judge Conley was concerned that the defendant left his job at a hospital to become a teacher of students the same age he was attracted to, saying that the defendant teaching children was like an alcoholic going to a bar.
The charges against Johnson were the result of an investigation conducted by the Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation, Ladysmith Police Department, Rusk County Sheriff’s Office, Clark County Sheriff’s Office, the Ladysmith School District, and the Fontana, California Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Altman prosecuted this case.
Former GE Power Engineer Convicted of Conspiracy to Commit Economic Espionage Following Four-Week TrialRead the Press Release
ALBANY, NEW YORK – Xiaoqing Zheng, age 59, of Niskayuna, New York, was convicted yesterday of conspiracy to commit economic espionage following a four-week jury trial.
The announcement was made by Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division; United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman of the Northern District of New York; Assistant Director Alan E. Kohler Jr. of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Counterintelligence Division; and Janeen DiGuiseppi, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Albany Field Office.
Zheng was employed at GE Power & Water in Schenectady, New York, as an engineer specializing in sealing technology. He worked at GE from 2008 until the summer of 2018. The trial evidence demonstrated that Zheng and others in China conspired to steal GE’s trade secrets surrounding GE’s steam and gas turbine technologies, knowing or intending to benefit the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and one or more foreign instrumentalities, including China-based companies that research, develop, and manufacture parts for turbines.
Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen stated: “Zheng conspired to steal trade secrets from his employer, GE, and transfer this information to his business partner in China, so they could enrich both themselves and companies receiving support from the PRC government. This is the kind of exploitation of our economy and open society that the Department will continue to counter relentlessly.”
United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman stated: “Today’s verdict holds Xiaoqing Zheng accountable for betraying his employer and trying to help China cheat in the global marketplace. With our law enforcement partners, we will continue to investigate and prosecute individuals who connive to steal trade secrets and valuable technology from the innovative companies doing cutting-edge work in our district.”
Assistant Director Alan E. Kohler Jr., of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division, stated: “Those who conspire to steal technology from a U.S. business and transfer it to China can cause tremendous damage. Good-paying jobs could be lost, and communities can suffer. These actions help China become more of a threat to our national security. This is why the FBI puts so much effort into investigating cases of economic espionage.”
FBI Special Agent in Charge Janeen DiGuiseppi stated: “Dr. Zheng used his status as a trusted engineer with GE to conspire to commit economic espionage on behalf of the People’s Republic of China. This conviction should send a strong message that the FBI will continue to vigorously investigate economic espionage cases and pursue prosecution in partnership with the United States Attorney’s Office to ensure the protection of American technology and American jobs.”
Sentencing is scheduled for August 2, 2022, in Albany, before United States District Judge Mae A. D’Agostino. Zheng faces up to 15 years in prison, a fine of up to $5 million, and a term of supervised release of up to 3 years. A defendant’s sentence is imposed by a judge based on the particular statute the defendant is charged with violating, the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other factors.
By voting to convict Zheng of conspiracy to commit economic espionage, the jury concluded that between 2016 and 2018, Zheng and others in China conspired to steal GE’s trade secrets involving gas and steam turbine technologies, knowing or intending that the theft would benefit the Government of China. The jury acquitted Zheng of two counts of economic espionage and two counts of trade secret theft. The jury could not reach a verdict on one count of conspiracy to commit trade secret theft, two counts of economic espionage, three counts of trade secret theft, and one count of making a false statement to the FBI.
This case was investigated by the FBI, with assistance from the Buffalo Field Office of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Rick Belliss and Emily C. Powers, and Trial Attorney Matthew Chang of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Controls Section.
Former GE Power Engineer Convicted of Conspiracy to Commit Economic EspionageRead the Press Release
Yesterday, a federal jury convicted a New York man of conspiracy to commit economic espionage following a four-week jury trial.
According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Xiaoqing Zheng, 59, of Niskayuna, was employed at GE Power & Water in Schenectady, New York, as an engineer specializing in sealing technology. He worked at GE from 2008 until the summer of 2018. The trial evidence demonstrated that Zheng and others in China conspired to steal GE’s trade secrets surrounding GE’s steam and gas turbine technologies, knowing or intending to benefit the People’s Republic of China and one or more foreign instrumentalities, including China-based companies that research, develop, and manufacture parts for turbines.
“Zheng conspired to steal trade secrets from his employer, GE, and transfer this information to his business partner in China, so they could enrich both themselves and companies receiving support from the PRC government,” said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division. “This is the kind of exploitation of our economy and open society that the Department will continue to counter relentlessly.”
"Today's verdict holds Xiaoqing Zheng accountable for betraying his employer and trying to help China cheat in the global marketplace," said U.S. Attorney Carla B. Freedman for the Northern District of New York. "With our law enforcement partners, we will continue to investigate and prosecute individuals who connive to steal trade secrets and valuable technology from the innovative companies doing cutting-edge work in our district.”
“Those who conspire to steal technology from a U.S. business and transfer it to China can cause tremendous damage,” said Assistant Director Alan E. Kohler Jr. of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division. “Good-paying jobs could be lost, and communities can suffer. These actions help China become more of a threat to our national security. This is why the FBI puts so much effort into investigating cases of economic espionage.”
“Dr. Zheng used his status as a trusted engineer with GE to conspire to commit economic espionage on behalf of the People’s Republic of China,” said Special Agent in Charge Janeen DiGuiseppi of the FBI’s Albany Field Office. “This conviction should send a strong message that the FBI will continue to vigorously investigate economic espionage cases and pursue prosecution in partnership with the United States Attorney’s Office to ensure the protection of American technology and American jobs.”
Sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 2 in Albany before U.S. District Judge Mae A. D’Agostino. Zheng faces up to 15 years in prison, a fine of up to $5 million, and a term of supervised release of up to three years. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The jury acquitted Zheng of two counts of economic espionage and two counts of trade secret theft. The jury could not reach a verdict on one count of conspiracy to commit trade secret theft, two counts of economic espionage, three counts of trade secret theft, and one count of making a false statement to the FBI.
This case was investigated by the FBI, with assistance from the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Buffalo Field Office.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Rick Belliss and Emily C. Powers for the Northern District of New York, and Trial Attorney Matthew Chang of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Controls Section.
Former Cressona Borough Treasurer Sentenced to 15 Months in Prison for Tax EvasionRead the Press Release
HARRISBURG - The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Erin Hossler, age 52, of Pottsville, Pennsylvania, was sentenced on March 24, 2022, to 15 months’ imprisonment by United States District Court Judge Robert D. Mariani for tax evasion. She was also ordered to pay $153,539.70 in restitution to the IRS.
According to United States Attorney John C. Gurganus, Hossler stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from Cressona Borough, where she previously worked as Secretary/Treasurer and failed to file income tax returns during the years 2015, 2016, and 2017. Hossler misappropriated the funds in a number of ways, including having numerous checks issued to herself, forging signatures on checks, and using online banking for the borough’s bank accounts to pay her personal bills. To conceal her activities, Hossler altered federal records and withheld payment of federal employment taxes for Cressona Borough employees. Hossler also altered an audit from an independent accounting firm to make it appear that the firm approved of the borough’s finances.
In 2019, Hossler was charged in state court for these theft offenses and, served a state prison sentence of 12 months to 24 months in state prison for the state crimes. Hossler pleaded guilty to the federal tax evasion charges in July 2021, after she completed her state sentence.
Hossler asked Judge Mariani for a reduced federal sentence because of the punishment she received in state court. Judge Mariani found that while Hossler had been punished in state court for that part of her crimes, she had not been punished for evading United States’ taxes and that 15 months in federal prison was warranted.
The case was investigated by the IRS Criminal Investigation and is assigned to Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Consiglio for prosecution.
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Former Coast Guard Employee Charged with Additional Crime in Test-Fixing CaseRead the Press Release
NEW ORLEANS - U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that former United States Coast Guard employee ELDRIDGE JOHNSON has been charged on March 30, 2022 with bribery in a superseding bill of information.
JOHNSON was previously charged with one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States in an indictment that pertained to JOHNSON’S conduct after he retired from the Coast Guard. The superseding bill of information includes that conspiracy charge and adds the new allegation of bribery, which relates to JOHNSON’S conduct as an examination administrator at a Coast Guard exam center Mandeville, Louisiana.
As alleged in the superseding bill of information’s bribery charge, beginning no later than 2011 and continuing until about the time of his retirement in January 2018, JOHNSON engaged in a scheme to receive bribes from merchant mariners who had applied for Coast Guard-issued licenses. JOHNSON offered and sold various forms of improper assistance, including reporting false information to the Coast Guard and, more commonly, selling examination questions and answers to mariners before they took the tests. To conduct the scheme, JOHNSON, without authorization, removed confidential examination and answer documents from the exam center. To recruit participants, JOHNSON approached mariners when they appeared at the exam center, called mariners using contact information found in Coast Guard records, and encouraged past participants to refer other mariners to JOHNSON.
The conspiracy charge, which was included in the previously filed indictment, alleges that JOHNSON, following his retirement, acted as an intermediary for Coast Guard exam center employee Dorothy Smith in a scheme in which Smith entered false exam scores in exchange for money. Smith pleaded guilty and is scheduled to be sentenced on June 23, 2022.
The exams at issue were ones that merchant mariners were legally required to pass in order to obtain licenses to serve in various positions on vessels. The examinations tested mariners’ knowledge and training to safely operate under the authority of licenses.
The maximum terms of imprisonment are fifteen years for bribery and five years for conspiracy. Each offense is also punishable by a fine of up to $250,000, up to three years of supervised release, and a $100 mandatory special assessment fee.
U.S. Attorney Evans reiterated that the superseding bill of information is merely a charge and that the defendant’s guilt must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
This case is being investigated by the Coast Guard Investigative Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Chandra Menon is in charge of the prosecution.
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Federal Inmate Sentenced for Possessing Weapon at USP AllenwoodRead the Press Release
WILLIAMSPORT - The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that on March 31, 2022, federal inmate Ellis Gene Battle, Jr., age 42, was sentenced to 27 months’ imprisonment by United States District Court Chief Judge Matthew W. Brann for possessing a weapon in prison. Battle’s sentence was ordered to run consecutively to his previous federal sentences for possessing a firearm as a felon and possessing a weapon in prison.
According to United States Attorney John C. Gurganus, on January 31, 2020, officers at the United States Penitentiary, Allenwood, in White Deer, Pennsylvania, observed Battle fighting a fellow inmate. Battle disregarded commands to stop, and then ran to a cell where he attempted to dispose of a 7.5-inch sharpened piece of metal, commonly referred to as a “shank.”
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Drew O. Inman and Assistant U.S. Attorney Geoffrey W. MacArthur prosecuted the case.
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Federal Inmate Sentenced for Possessing A Weapon at FCI SchuylkillRead the Press Release
SCRANTON – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Savon Bagby, age 25, a Federal inmate at the Schuylkill Federal Correctional Institution, was sentenced on March 31, 2022, to a year in prison by U.S. District Court Judge Robert D. Mariani for possession of a weapon.
According to United States Attorney John C. Gurganus, Bagby was serving a sentence at FCI Schuylkill for a racketeering conspiracy when he was found to be in possession of two five-inch metal rods sharpened to a point, commonly referred to as “shanks.” Bagby’s sentence will be served consecutively to his previous conviction.
The case was investigated by the FBI and the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Assistant U.S. Attorney Todd K. Hinkley prosecuted the case.
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Federal Court Permanently Shuts Down Chicago Area Tax PreparersRead the Press Release
A federal court in the Northern District of Illinois has permanently enjoined two Chicago-area tax return preparers from preparing returns for others and from owning or operating any tax return preparation business in the future.
The civil complaint filed in the case alleged that Patricia Rivers, of Country Club Hills, Illinois her daughter-in-law, Ki’esha Gary, of South Holland, Illinois, and her company, Alpha II Omega Tax, prepared federal income tax returns that made false and fraudulent claims to reduce her customers’ tax liabilities and increase their tax refunds, primarily through a scheme to fabricate sole proprietorship business losses on the customers’ returns. The complaint also alleged that Rivers, Gary and Alpha II Omega inflated their customers’ tax refunds by reporting false charitable donations and exaggerated or bogus unreimbursed employee expenses, bogus rental deductions, inflated tax withholding and overstated education credits. On at least one occasion, Rivers was alleged to have falsely reported her own home address as a rental property to generate losses on her customer’s income tax return. Another customer alleged that Rivers amended a customer’s return without consent to retaliate against her by increasing her tax liability.
In an order entered on March 31, the court found that the tax loss to the government from the 2018 returns of just 38 of Rivers’ customers was $278,461 and that, given that this was “only a small number of the thousands of income tax returns prepared by Rivers,” the actual loss to the United States was higher.
The court found that Rivers repeated and continuously prepared income tax returns in a manner that violates federal law, and that because her intentional disregard for tax laws continues, a permanent bar on tax preparation activities was warranted. Thus, the Court entered a permanent injunction preventing Rivers, Gary, and Alpha II Omega Tax from preparing income taxes or engaging in tax-related business in the future.
Deputy Assistant Attorney General David A. Hubbert of the Justice Department’s Tax Division made the announcement.
Return preparer fraud is one of the IRS’ Dirty Dozen Tax Scams and taxpayers seeking a return preparer should remain vigilant. (More information can also be found here.) The IRS has information on its website for choosing a tax preparer, has launched a free directory of federal tax preparers, and offers information on how to avoid “ghost” tax preparers, whose refusal to sign a return should be a red flag to taxpayers. The IRS also has a checklist of things to remember when filing income tax returns in 2022.
In addition, IRS Free File, a public-private partnership, offers free online tax preparation and filing options on IRS partner websites for individuals whose adjusted gross income is under $73,000. For individuals whose income is over that threshold, IRS Free File offers electronical federal tax forms that can be filled out and filed online for free. The IRS has tips on how seniors and individuals with low to moderate income can get other help or guidance on tax return preparation, too.
In the past decade, the Tax Division has obtained injunctions against hundreds of unscrupulous tax preparers. Information about these cases is available on the Justice Department’s website. An alphabetical listing of persons enjoined from preparing returns and promoting tax schemes can be found this page. If you believe that one of the enjoined persons or businesses may be violating an injunction, please contact the Tax Division with details.
Falkville Man Sentenced to 46 Months in Prison for Firearms Offenses in District of Columbia and AlabamaRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Lonnie Leroy Coffman, 72, of Falkville, Alabama, was sentenced today in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to 46 months in prison after pleading guilty to federal and local firearms offenses stemming from the discovery of weapons in his pickup truck parked near the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
According to court documents, Coffman traveled from Alabama to the District of Columbia several days prior to Jan. 6, 2021. He parked his red GMC Sierra pickup truck in the 300 block of First Street SE, on the morning of Jan. 6. Less than half a mile away in the U.S. Capitol Building, a joint session of the U.S. Congress was scheduled to meet in the afternoon to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the presidential election.
Coffman admitted in his plea agreement that he exited the pickup truck at 9:20 a.m. and walked in the direction of the U.S. Capitol Building, and towards a rally near the National Mall. Inside the pickup truck were several loaded firearms within arms-reach of the driver’s seat, hundreds of rounds of ammunition, large-capacity ammunition feeding devices, a crossbow with bolts, machetes, camouflage smoke devices, a stun gun, and a cooler containing 11 mason jars filled with ignitable ingredients for Molotov cocktail incendiary weapons. Coffman also carried a loaded handgun and a loaded revolver as he walked around the area that day. A search of Coffman’s residence in Alabama later that month led to the discovery of 12 additional mason jars containing ignitable substances, each constituting the component parts of Molotov cocktails.
Coffman did not have a license to carry a pistol in the District of Columbia and had not registered any firearms or destructive devices in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record, as required by law.
Coffman has been in custody since his arrest on Jan. 6, 2021. Coffman will be placed on three years of supervised release following his prison term.
Coffman was sentenced in the District of Columbia by the Honorable Colleen Kollar-Kotelly in two separate criminal cases, one brought in the District of Columbia on Jan. 7, 2021, and the other brought in the Northern District of Alabama and transferred to the District of Columbia for purposes of plea and sentencing. Coffman had pleaded guilty on Nov. 12, 2021, to two counts of possession of an unregistered firearm, a federal offense, regarding the component parts of Molotov cocktails discovered in his pickup truck in Washington, D.C., and at his residence in Alabama. Coffman also pleaded guilty to carrying a pistol without a license, a District of Columbia offense. Judge Kollar-Kotelly sentenced him to 46 months in prison on each of the federal offenses, and 15 months on the District of Columbia offense, with the time running concurrently.
The case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Alabama, and the Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section. The case was investigated by the FBI’s Birmingham and Washington Field Offices, and the U.S. Capitol Police.
Erie Woman Pleads Guilty to Conspiring to Commit Money LaunderingRead the Press Release
JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – A former resident of Erie PA pleaded guilty in federal court to a charge of violating federal money laundering laws, United States Attorney Cindy K. Chung announced today.
Evarie Magee, 38, of Erie, PA, pleaded guilty to Count Three of the Superseding Indictment before Senior United States District Judge Kim R. Gibson.
In connection with the guilty plea, from July 2019 to June 2020, Magee did conspire to commit money laundering.
Judge Gibson scheduled sentencing for August 3, 2022. The law provides for a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, a fine of up to $500,000, or both. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed would be based upon the seriousness of the offenses and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.
Assistant United States Attorney Maureen Sheehan-Balchon is prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.
The Drug Enforcement Administration and the Pennsylvania State Police conducted the investigation that led to the prosecution of Magee. Additional agencies participating in this investigation include the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation, the United States Postal Inspection Service, Homeland Security Investigations, Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General, Clearfield County District Attorney’s Office, Erie County District Attorney’s Office, Millcreek Police Department, Erie Bureau of Police, and other local law enforcement agencies.
This prosecution is a result of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles high-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten communities throughout the United States. OCDETF uses a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.
Eight Tangipahoa Parish Residents Indicted for Violations of the Federal Controlled Substances and Gun Control ActsRead the Press Release
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – MICHAEL ALEXANDER, SR., a/k/a “Monsta,” a/k/a “Jamond,” age 39, ATTREL ANDERSON, a/k/a “Trey,” a/k/a “Trel,” a/k/a “Da Boi,” age 30, TERRELL HAYNES, a/k/a “Redman,”age 43, STAR ROBICHAUX, age 42, JOSHUA PRINE, age 41, MICHAEL ALEXANDER, JR., a/k/a “Mike Mike," age 21, BRANDON BAKER, age 36, and LOUIS BELLS, JR., age 21, residents of Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana, were charged on March 25, 2022, in a sealed twenty-count superseding indictment by a federal grand jury. The superseding indictment was unsealed on March 31, 2022. Charges include conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute fentanyl, heroin, methamphetamine, and cocaine, distribution of fentanyl, heroin, and methamphetamine, use of a communication facility to facilitate a drug trafficking crime, possession of firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense, and felon in possession of a firearm, announced U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans.
ALEXANDER, SR. is charged with conspiring to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl, 100 grams or more of heroin, and a quantity of cocaine. He’s also charged with possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, heroin, and cocaine, possession of firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking crimes, being a felon in possession of a firearm, and use of a communication facility in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
According to court documents, on December 2, 2021, Drug Enforcement Administration Agents executed a federal search warrant on ALEXANDER, SR.’s home in Ponchatoula. During the search, Agents discovered approximately eleven ounces of heroin and fentanyl and five firearms. Additionally, agents seized $289,224.70 in U.S. currency.
If convicted of the conspiracy count, ALEXANDER, SR. faces a statutory mandatory minimum sentence of ten years, up to life imprisonment, a fine of up to $10,000,000, and at least five years of supervised release following any term of imprisonment. For possession with intent to distribute heroin and fentanyl, he faces a statutory mandatory minimum sentence of five years, up to forty years imprisonment, a fine of up to $5,000,000, and at least four years of supervised release following any term of imprisonment. For possessing firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense, ALEXANDER, SR. faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years, up to life imprisonment, to run consecutive with any other sentence, a fine of up to $250,000, and up to five years of supervised release. If convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm, ALEXANDER, SR. faces up to ten years imprisonment, a fine of up to $250,000, and up to three years supervised release. For using a communication facility in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, ALEXANDER, SR. faces up to four years imprisonment, up to a $250,000 fine, and up to one year supervised release.
ANDERSON is charged with conspiring to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl, 50 grams or more of methamphetamine, and 100 grams or more of heroin. He’s also charged with distribution of methamphetamine and use of a communication facility in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. For both the conspiracy count and the distribution count, ANDERSON faces a statutory mandatory minimum sentence of ten years, up to life imprisonment, a fine of up to $10,000,000, and at least five years of supervised release following any term of imprisonment. For using a communication facility in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, ANDERSON faces up to four years imprisonment, up to a $250,000 fine, and up to one year supervised release.
HAYNES is charged with conspiring to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl, 50 grams or more of methamphetamine, and 1 kilogram or more of heroin. He’s also charged with distribution of methamphetamine, heroin, and fentanyl, and use of a communication facility in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. For the conspiracy count, he faces a statutory mandatory minimum sentence of ten years, up to life imprisonment, a fine of up to $10,000,000, and at least five years of supervised release following any term of imprisonment. For distribution, HAYNES faces a statutory mandatory minimum sentence of five years, up to forty years imprisonment, a fine of up to $5,000,000, and at least four years of supervised release following any term of imprisonment. For using a communication facility in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, HAYNES faces up to four years imprisonment, up to a $250,000 fine, and up to one year supervised release.
PRINE and ROBICHAUX are charged with conspiring to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl and 1 kilogram or more of heroin. They are also charged with possession with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl and 100 grams or more of heroin. They each face a statutory mandatory minimum sentence of ten years, up to life imprisonment, a fine of up to $10,000,000, and at least five years of supervised release following any term of imprisonment. ROBICHAUX is also charged with using a communication facility in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, for which she faces up to four years imprisonment, up to a $250,000 fine, and up to one-year supervised release.
ALEXANDER, JR. is charged with conspiring to distribute quantities of heroin and methamphetamine, possession with intent to distribute heroin and methamphetamine, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, and use of a communication facility in furtherance of drug trafficking. For both the conspiracy and possession with intent to distribute counts, ALEXANDER, JR. faces up to twenty years imprisonment, a fine of up to $1,000,000, and at least three years of supervised release following any term of imprisonment. For possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense, ALEXANDER, JR. faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years, up to life imprisonment, to run consecutive with any other sentence, a fine of up to $250,000, and up to five years of supervised release. For using a communication facility in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, he faces up to four years imprisonment, up to a $250,000 fine, and up to one year supervised release.
BAKER is charged with conspiring to distribute quantities of heroin and methamphetamine and possession with intent to distribute heroin and methamphetamine. For both the conspiracy and possession with intent to distribute counts, BAKER faces up to twenty years imprisonment, a fine of up to $1,000,000, and at least three years of supervised release following any term of imprisonment.
BELLS is charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm. If convicted, BELLS faces up to ten years imprisonment, a fine of up to $250,000, and up to three years supervised release.
For each of the counts, the defendants face payment of a $100 mandatory special assessment fee.
“The indictments and subsequent arrests made in this investigation are part of DEA’s continuing effort to target violent drug traffickers at all levels, as part of Operation Overdrive. Illicit drug trafficking and related violent criminal activity takes a tremendous toll on our communities. We will continue to work closely with our state and local law enforcement partners, leveraging our respective resources, in order to enhance the quality of life for the citizens in this region and beyond,” said Brad L. Byerley, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) New Orleans Field Division.
“The Hammond Police Department has demonstrated repeatedly that criminals and their criminal activity will not be tolerated in The City of Hammond. This is a great example of what can be accomplished when local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies work together,” stated Chief Edwin Bergeron Jr.
“This is law enforcement working together at every level, to hold people accountable for the crimes they commit and the havoc they bring to our community. The importance of collaboration at the federal, state and local levels is critical to ensuring the best outcome is reached in any case. This is yet another reminder of the ongoing need for strong relationships with our law enforcement partners to help protect the citizens of Tangipahoa Parish,” said Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office Chief Jimmy Travis.
U.S. Attorney Evans reiterated that the superseding indictment is merely a charging document and that the guilt of the defendants must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.
This case was investigated by the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, Hammond Police Department, Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office, Homeland Security Investigations, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, 21st Judicial District Attorney’s Office, St. Tammany Parish District Attorney’s Office, Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office, and the U.S. Marshals Service. The prosecution is being handled by Assistant United States Attorney J. Benjamin Myers.
Defendant Pleads Guilty in Staged Automobile Collision SchemeRead the Press Release
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – United States Attorney Duane A. Evans announced today that ASHLEY McGOWAN (“McGOWAN”), age 35, agreed to plead guilty on March 31, 2022 to Count One (1) in her indictment, charging Conspiracy to Commit Mail Fraud in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 371. In exchange, the government has agreed to dismiss Count Two (2), charging Mail Fraud in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1341 and 2. In pleading guilty to Count 1, the defendant faces a maximum penalty of five (5) years’ imprisonment; a term of supervised release of up to three (3) years; a fine up to $250,000.00, or the greater of twice the gross gain to the defendant or twice the gross loss to any person under Title 18, United States Code, Section 3571; and a mandatory special assessment fee of $100.00. Today’s guilty plea brings the total number of defendants convicted in “Operation Sideswipe” to thirty-three (33).
As part of her plea, McGOWAN admitted to being in a conspiracy to commit mail fraud in connection with a staged automobile collision. In the scheme, McGOWAN falsely claimed that she was a passenger in a car that was struck by a tractor-trailer on June 8, 2016. In fact, the government’s evidence showed that the defendants conspired with Damien Labeaud (“Labeaud”), Keishira Robinson (“K. Robinson”), and others to intentionally collide K. Robinson’s Mazda with a tractor-trailer in the area of Chickasaw Street and Louisa Street in New Orleans. McGOWAN later lied in her civil deposition, falsely claiming that K. Robinson was driving the car that collided with the tractor-trailer, when in fact Labeaud was driving the car and intentionally hit the tractor-trailer. McGOWAN also falsely claimed that she was in the car at the time of the collision, even though she had been riding in a separate “spotter” or getaway car and entered the “slammer” car only after the collision occurred. McGOWAN hoped that, through her false statements, she would secure lucrative monetary settlements from the owner, driver, and insurer of the tractor-trailer.
Sentencing in this matter is scheduled for June 14, 2022, before United States District Judge Sarah S. Vance.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office would like to acknowledge the assistance of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Louisiana State Police, and the Metropolitan Crime Commission with this matter. The prosecution of this case is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Brandon S. Long; Brian M. Klebba, Chief of the Financial Crimes Unit; Assistant U.S. Attorney Maria M. Carboni; and Assistant U.S. Attorney Edward Rivera.
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David H. Estes sworn in as Judicial Appointee to continue serving as U.S. Attorney for Southern DistrictRead the Press Release
AUGUSTA, GA: David H. Estes will continue to serve as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia after his appointment by the U.S. District Court judges of the Southern District.
U.S. Attorney Estes took the oath of office Friday, April 1, in the courtroom of U.S. District Court Chief Judge J. Randal Hall. The appointment is effective April 5.
"The excellent staff in the Southern District of Georgia and our outstanding law enforcement partners continue to work together to keep our communities safe,” said U.S. Attorney Estes. “I am honored to serve alongside these dedicated professionals on behalf of our citizens as we work together to uphold the law and defend access to justice throughout this district. I have directed my staff that my priorities are curtailing violent crime and aggressively investigating and prosecuting COVID relief related fraud.”
As First Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District, Estes was named Acting U.S. Attorney under the Vacancies Reform Act after the resignation Feb. 9, 2021, of then-U.S. Attorney Bobby L. Christine. Estes became U.S. Attorney by Attorney General appointment in December 2021 for a term of 120 days. Now, by appointment of the Southern District U.S. Court, he will serve until a U.S. Attorney is nominated by the president and confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
The Southern District of Georgia U.S. Attorney’s Office encompasses 43 counties along the east side of the state, from Wilkes County in the north, along the Georgia coast, to the Florida border in the south, and as far west as Laurens County. The U.S. Attorney serves as the chief federal law enforcement officer for the Southern District of Georgia.
U.S. Attorney Estes, a native of Scottsboro, Ala., received an Associates in Business and his Regular Army commission through the Reserve Officer Training Corps at Marion Military Institute (1987) and a Bachelor’s Degree in English from Auburn University (1989), and in 1993 received his Juris Doctorate Degree from the University of Tulsa in Tulsa, Okla. From 1987 to 1994 he served as a Field Artillery Officer in the Alabama and Oklahoma Army National Guard, and after law school served on active duty with the Judge Advocate General’s Corps for three years at Redstone Arsenal, Ala., Office of the Staff Judge Advocate.
In 1997, Estes joined the Alabama Attorney General’s Office, Violent Crimes Division, as a violent crime prosecutor. During this time, Estes rejoined the Alabama Army National Guard as a Judge Advocate. In 2002, Estes joined the United States Attorney’s office for the Northern District of Alabama (Huntsville Branch Office) as an Assistant U.S. Attorney. Estes assumed the duties of First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia in January 2018.
In his military career, Estes deployed to Iraq from 2004-2005 with the 122nd Corps Support Group and served as the Deputy Staff Judge Advocate and Chief, Military Justice. He was awarded the Bronze Star for his service in Iraq. In October 2013 he was promoted to Colonel and assumed the Staff Judge Advocate position for the 167th Theatre Sustainment Command. Col. Estes previously served as the very first Regional Defense Counsel for the Army National Guard. Estes recently retired from the Army after more than 34 years of military service. He was twice awarded the Legion of Merit Medal for his accomplishments.
Estes and his wife, Connie, have six children: Garrett, Madison, Everett, Gracie, Abby, and Hamilton, and are members of Christ Church Anglican in Savannah.
U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Georgia Southern District of Georgia Chief Judge J. Randal Hall administers oath to U.S. Attorney David H. Estes April 1, 2022Cumberland County Man Sentenced to 51 Months in Prison for Role in Conspiracy to Distribute Five Kilograms of FentanylRead the Press Release
NEWARK, N.J. – A Cumberland County, New Jersey, man was sentenced to 51 months in prison on March 31, 2022 for conspiring to distribute and possessing with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced.
Emanuel Figueroa-Martinez, 36, of Millville, New Jersey, previously pleaded guilty by videoconference before U.S. District Judge John Michael Vazquez to an information charging him with conspiracy to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl and possession with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
In April 2020, Figueroa-Martinez conspired to distribute five kilograms of fentanyl. On April 24, 2020, Figueroa-Martinez transported the fentanyl to a location in Monmouth County, New Jersey. Upon arrival, he was arrested, and the fentanyl was recovered from his car.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Vazquez sentenced Figueroa-Martinez to two years of supervised release.
U.S. Attorney Sellinger credited special agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Susan A. Gibson, the Asbury Park Police Department, under the direction of Chief David Kelso, and the Neptune Township Police Department, under the direction of Chief James Hunt, with the investigation leading to the sentencing.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Francesca Liquori of the Organized Crime and Gangs Unit.
Defense counsel: Justin Capek Esq., Philadelphia
Convicted Felon Sentenced to Federal Prison for Illegal Possession of a FirearmRead the Press Release
Jackson, TN- Robert Lee Blackwell, 35, of Dyersburg, Tennessee, has been sentenced to 84 months in federal prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm. Joseph C. Murphy Jr., United States Attorney, announced the sentence today.
According to information presented in court, on December 25, 2018, officers with the Dyersburg Police Department responded to a domestic disturbance at a residence in Dyersburg. Upon arriving at the home, an officer observed the defendant look out through a window in the door and then walk to another room. The officer began knocking more insistently until the other resident opened the door. The officer directed Blackwell to speak with other officers while he interviewed the other resident, who was later determined to be the victim of an assault committed by Blackwell. The victim advised that she and Blackwell had been arguing about her leaving to see her family for Christmas. Blackwell then put his hands around her throat, pushed her against the kitchen counter, and choked her. The officer noted bruising around her neck.
The victim then advised that Blackwell was in possession of a gun when the officers arrived, and he threw it in the room next to the front door when the officer began knocking on the door. Blackwell entered the home again and tried to speak with the victim while an officer was interviewing her. Blackwell resisted arrest as officers attempted to detain him. An officer was then required to deploy his taser on Blackwell to obtain his compliance.
Officers subsequently located Blackwell's firearm in the bedroom. The firearm was loaded with seven rounds of .25 caliber ammunition, and an officer located another round on the floor. A special agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) examined the firearm and identified it as a Lorcin L25, .25 caliber pistol. The agent also determined that the firearm was manufactured outside of Tennessee and that the serial number of the gun had been obliterated beyond recovery.
Blackwell is a convicted felon and is therefore prohibited from possessing firearms and ammunition under state and federal law.
On March 29, 2022, United States Chief District Judge S. Thomas Anderson sentenced Blackwell to 84 months' imprisonment to be followed by two years of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system.
The Dyersburg Police Department, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) investigated this case.
Assistant United States Attorney Josh Morrow prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.
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Chula Vista Woman Admits Faking Cancer While Attempting to Avoid Prison for Fraud ConvictionRead the Press Release
SAN DIEGO – Ashleigh Lynn Chavez pleaded guilty in federal court today to Obstruction of Justice, admitting that she repeatedly forged doctor’s notes falsely indicating she had been diagnosed with cancer, and that she caused these notes to be submitted to the court through her attorneys.
According to publicly available court documents, Chavez, 37, pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge in November 2019, admitting that she embezzled more than $160,000 from a former employer. She was permitted to remain out of custody pending sentencing. She faced a likely prison term. On the eve of her sentencing, Chavez created a doctor’s note that falsely stated a biopsy had revealed “cancerous cells” in her uterus and forged the signature of her doctor on this letter. Chavez then provided the note to her attorney who, believing it to be genuine, submitted it to the court and to the assigned prosecutor in a bid for leniency.
On March 31, 2021, Chavez was sentenced to serve 12 months and 1 day in federal prison. As a direct result of the forged doctor’s note she had caused her attorney to submit, she was permitted to remain out of custody for an additional three months so that she could receive medical treatment.
As detailed in her plea agreement, after her sentencing hearing Chavez hired a new attorney whom she provided with additional forged letters from two different San Diego-area physicians. The new attorney, also believing the letters to be genuine, submitted them to the assigned prosecutor and to the court.
One forged letter, purporting to be from an oncologist, said: “Ashleigh has limitations due to uterine cancer and future need for radiation.” Other letters indicated that she was undergoing a surgical procedure, that she had been admitted to the hospital, and that her “condition has progressed… to Stage II; the cancer has spread to the cervix.” One letter warned that “she cannot be exposed to COVID-19” because of her fragile state. In August 2021, Chavez was purportedly scheduled to begin chemotherapy. Her attorney contacted the assigned prosecutor and indicated that she was too ill to work, and that as a result she needed to be relieved of monthly restitution obligations to the victim in her previous case.
By August 2021, the notes forged by Chavez were overtly recommending that the court reconsider her prison sentence and instead permit her to serve time on home confinement. In one forged note attributed to a San Diego-area oncologist, Chavez wrote that “(a) year in prison could be a death sentence for my patient… I highly recommend the chance to allow home confinement or anything else that you deem appropriate rather than a year in prison.” Two weeks later, she forged a note from the same oncologist stating that “Ashleigh’s cancer, it has in fact metastasized affecting the lymph nodes… I recommend a different approach to her sentencing.”
In fact, Chavez was never diagnosed with or treated for cancer by either doctor. When contacted by government representatives, both doctors denied writing any of the letters attributed to them. While Chavez had been a patient of one, the second doctor had never heard of her and had no idea how or why his identity had been stolen and his signature repeatedly forged by Chavez.
“This defendant, already convicted of one fraud, worked for months to commit additional frauds on the federal court,” said U.S. Attorney Grossman. “While her dishonesty delayed payment of her debt to society, it will cost her still more time in prison.” Grossman thanked the prosecution team and the FBI for their excellent work on this case.
“The defendant went to great lengths to avoid reporting to prison for her prior fraud conviction by faking doctor’s notes claiming she had cancer – an insult to cancer patients everywhere,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Stacey Moy. “May today’s guilty plea finally put an end to this odyssey to obstruct justice which, in the end, will only add additional time to her sentence.”
Chavez faces up to 10 additional years in federal prison and is scheduled to be sentenced on June 27, 2022, by U.S. District Judge Anthony J. Battaglia.
DEFENDANT Case No. 22-CR-0318-AJB
ASHLEIGH LYNN CHAVEZ Age 37 Chula Vista, CA
aka “Ashleigh Lynn Coulson”
aka “Ashleigh Chavez Coulson”
aka “Carlos Garcia”
SUMMARY OF CHARGES
Obstruction of Justice – Title 18, U.S.C., Section 1503
Maximum penalty: Ten years in custody and a $250,000 fine.
AGENCIES
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Chicago Man Sentenced to 24 Months for Attempting to Possess Fentanyl for DistributionRead the Press Release
MADISON, WIS. – Timothy M. O’Shea, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that Antonio Dillard, 63, Chicago, Illinois pleaded guilty and was sentenced today by Chief U.S. District Judge James D. Peterson to 24 months in federal prison for attempting to possess fentanyl with intent to distribute.
In 2020, federal and state law enforcement agencies started investigating several known drug traffickers in Dane County, Wisconsin. As part of this joint investigation, the Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) learned that an individual in Chicago had a person in another state send a parcel of narcotics via U.S. Mail to an address in Madison, Wisconsin.
On December 7, 2020, a U.S. Postal Inspector identified the parcel, obtained a federal warrant, and searched the package. Inside, investigators found a vacuum-sealed bag that contained a white substance. The substance weighed approximately 590 grams, and the Wisconsin State Crime Lab determined it tested positive for the presence of fentanyl. DCI agents took custody of the drugs and resealed the parcel for a controlled delivery.
Later on December 7, 2020, investigators delivered the parcel to the address in Madison. Approximately one minute after delivering the parcel, a silver sedan with Illinois license plates pulled up to the building. A male subject exited the front passenger seat, walked towards the building, and took the parcel. Arrest units responded as the subject, later identified as Jeffrey Kemp, put the parcel into the sedan. Officers arrested Kemp and the driver of the vehicle, who agents identified as Dillard.
During a post-arrest interview, Dillard admitted that the individual in Chicago paid him to pick up the parcel and transport the drugs back to Chicago for distribution.
At sentencing, Judge Peterson explained that Dillard played a relatively minor role in a much larger enterprise that, given the total amount of drugs they trafficked, caused significant damage to the community.
Jeffrey Kemp pleaded guilty to attempting to possess fentanyl with intent to distribute and is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Peterson on May 6, 2022. In related cases, Judge Peterson sentenced Michael C. Henderson to 84 months in prison on December 9, 2021 and Andre L. McClinton to 108 months in prison on March 23, 2022.
The charge against Dillard was the result of an investigation conducted by DCI, the Dane County Narcotics Task Force, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Chadwick M. Elgersma prosecuted this case.
Charleston Man Pleads Guilty to Drug Trafficking CrimeRead the Press Release
HUNTINGTON W.Va. – A Charleston man pleaded guilty today to a federal drug charge based on his involvement with a drug trafficking organization (DTO) operating in Huntington.
According to court documents, Ricky Lee Taylor, also known as “RT,” 57, admitted that he arranged a cocaine base transaction on May 11, 2021, during a telephone call with an individual who was located in Huntington. After the transaction was arranged, Taylor traveled from Charleston to Huntington, met with the individual, and received the drugs. Taylor was then stopped by officers with the Hurricane Police Department on Interstate 64 returning to the Charleston area. Officers seized the cocaine base which Taylor admitted he intended to distribute. Officers also seized a loaded .40 caliber pistol Taylor possessed during the stop.
Taylor pleaded guilty to using a telephone to facilitate a felony controlled substance offense. He is scheduled to be sentenced on July 11, 2022, and faces up to four years in prison.
U.S. Attorney Will Thompson made the announcement. The investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Southern West Virginia TOC-West Task Force consisting of the Cabell County Sheriff’s Department, the Hurricane Police Department, and the Marshall University Police Department, with support from the West Virginia State Police, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Violent Crime and Drug Task Force West. The Ohio Highway Patrol, the Kentucky State Police, and the FBI and DEA in Columbus also assisted in the investigation.
United States District Judge Robert C. Chambers presided over the hearing. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joseph F. Adams and Courtney L. Cremeans are prosecuting the case.
This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.
A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia. Related court documents and information can be found on PACER by searching for Case No. 3:21-cr-00109-16.
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Carnegie Man Sentenced to Life Without Parole for Premeditated Murder in Indian CountryRead the Press Release
OKLAHOMA CITY – Yesterday, a federal judge sentenced ISAIAH WHITEFOX REDBIRD, 36, of Carnegie, Oklahoma, to life in prison without the possibility of parole for premeditated murder and assault causing serious bodily injury, announced U.S. Attorney Robert J. Troester.
On November 6, 2019, a federal grand jury indicted Redbird for deliberately killing a person by striking him on the head with a blunt force instrument on September 11, 2018, in Indian Country. He was also charged in a separate count with assaulting a person identified as K.R. on the same day with the intent to commit murder. The federal government had jurisdiction over the offense because Redbird is a Kiowa Indian and the offense occurred in Indian country.
According to facts presented at the November 2020 trial, Redbird bore a grudge against Byron "Subee" Tongkeamah, Jr., and his girlfriend, Kayleigh Roughface. On the night of September 11, 2018, Redbird entered an enclosed porch of an abandoned house where Tongkeamah Jr. and Roughface had taken refuge. He approached them where they were in bed on a foam mattress on the floor and struck each of them multiple times on the head with the crowbar. Tongkeamah Jr. died from multiple blunt force trauma injuries to his skull. Redbird fled the scene, buried the crowbar, burned and buried his clothes, and fled to Arizona. Roughface survived, despite losing all memory of the night of the attack.
Evidence at trial further showed that, on the morning of September 12, 2018, Carnegie police discovered Roughface disoriented and walking down the street in Carnegie. She was covered with dried blood and had massive trauma, including a fractured skull, a fractured eye socket, a broken arm, and a broken finger. Soon after that, officers discovered the body of Tongkeamah Jr. in the enclosed porch. Audio-recordings introduced at trial of Redbird’s phone conversations revealed that he believed he had a duty to execute Tongkeamah Jr. and Roughface based on rumors he had heard about them. After deliberating for two days, the federal jury returned a guilty verdict, convicting Redbird of the premeditated murder of Tongkeamah Jr. and assault causing serious bodily injury of Roughface.
At a sentencing hearing yesterday, Senior U.S. District Judge Stephen P. Friot sentenced Redbird to serve life in federal prison for the murder of Tongkeamah and 10 years for the assault on Roughface. In announcing the sentence, Judge Friot noted the nature and circumstances of the offense. Parole has been abolished in the federal prison system.
This case is a result of an investigation by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Federal Bureau of Investigation—Oklahoma City Field Office, the Carnegie Police Department, and the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation. The Regional Organized Crime Information Center and the Kiowa Tribe provided logistical assistance. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brandon Hale and Mark Stoneman prosecuted the case.
Reference is made to public filings for more information.
Canadian Man Arrested and Charged with Conspiracy, Wire FraudRead the Press Release
MINNEAPOLIS – A Canadian man has been arrested and charged for his role in a $300 million telemarketing fraud scheme that targeted elderly and vulnerable victims, announced U.S. Attorney Andrew M. Luger.
According to court documents, Abdou Diallo, also known as Abdou-Rahmane Diallo, 34, of Montreal, Quebec, was a co-owner and operator of Readers Services and NP Readers Inc., both Canadian-based companies that carried out a telemarking fraud scheme. From 2011 through 2020, Diallo and his co-conspirators provided “lead lists” and fraudulent sales scripts to their telemarketing employees for use in carrying out the fraud scheme. The scheme targeted people who had previously fallen victim to a fraudulent magazine sales scam and been tricked into signing up for multiple expensive magazine subscriptions they did not want and could not afford. Diallo and his co-conspirators took advantage of the victims’ desperation to make the magazine subscriptions stop. They called the victims pretending to be from the “magazine cancellation department.” Diallo and his co-conspirators offered to pay off the victims’ “outstanding balance” and cancel their existing magazine subscriptions in exchange for a large, lump-sum payment. None of this was true. In reality, the victims did not owe the defendants or their companies any money. Diallo and his co-conspirators had no power or ability to cancel the victims’ existing magazine subscriptions or any outstanding balance owed to any other magazine companies. This scheme ultimately defrauded more than 20,000 victims—many of whom were elderly and vulnerable—across the United States out of approximately $30 million.
Diallo was arrested on March 30, 2022, at Miami International Airport in Miami, Florida, and made his initial appearance before Magistrate Judge Jacqueline Becerra in the Southern District of Florida. He will be transported in custody to the District of Minnesota for further court proceedings. Diallo is charged with one count conspiracy to commit wire fraud and four counts of wire fraud.
Another Canadian defendant, Saman Moghbel, 34, of Montreal, Quebec, pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud on February 28, 2022, before Chief U.S. District Judge John R. Tunheim in Minneapolis. Moghbel’s sentencing hearing has not yet been scheduled.
Diallo is charged in connection to United States v. Timmerman et al., 20-cr-233. This indictment is related to United States v. Rahm, et al., 20-cr-232, United States v. Mathias et al., 20-cr-231, United States v. Dahl, 18-cr-305 and United States v. Oelrich, 20-cr-128. Over sixty defendants have been charged for their roles in a $300 million fraud scheme that targeted more than 150,000 elderly and vulnerable victims. To date, 37 defendants have pleaded guilty to their roles in the fraud scheme.
This case is the result of an investigation conducted by the FBI, the United States Postal Inspection Service, with assistance from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) and the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office.
Based on the evidence obtained in this investigation, authorities believe there may be additional victims of the alleged conduct. Report suspected fraudulent activity to [email protected] or visit FBI.gov/MagazineVictims.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joseph H. Thompson, Harry M. Jacobs, and Melinda A. Williams 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.
California Man Arrested for Threats Resulting in Manhunt on Tufts University CampusRead the Press Release
BOSTON – A California man was arrested yesterday in connection with making threatening communications to the Tufts University Police Department (TUPD) in May 2021.
Sammy Sultan, 48, of Hayward, Calif., was charged in the District of Massachusetts by criminal complaint with one count of making threatening communications in interstate commerce. Sultan was arrested at his home in Hayward yesterday morning and will make an initial appearance in federal court in the Northern District of California today at 1 p.m. He will appear in federal court in Boston at a later date.
According to the charging documents, on or about May 28, 2021, Sultan made eight phone calls to TUPD, six of which included specific threats. During the calls, which collectively lasted about an hour, Sultan allegedly claimed to have entered an unidentified female’s dorm room somewhere on the Tufts University campus, to be hiding beneath a bed, and to possess a taser and pistols. On several occasions, Sultan stated that he intended to use the taser if the female returned to the dorm room and discovered him hiding beneath the bed. It is alleged that Sultan played the sounds of a taser activating and a pistol racking during the calls.
TUPD and local police carried out an hours-long, room-by-room search of numerous buildings on Tufts University’s Medford campus, but failed to locate the caller. A subsequent investigation of electronic evidence determined that Sultan had made the calls from California. A law enforcement officer familiar with Sultan’s voice from a prior investigation recognized Sultan’s voice on the TUPD call recordings.
Sultan previously pleaded guilty in December 2017 in the Northern District of California to making hundreds of obscene and harassing phone calls to law enforcement agencies, for which he was sentenced to two years in prison.
The charge of making threatening communications in interstate commerce provides for a sentence of up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.
United States Attorney Rachael S. Rollins and Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division made the announcement today. Assistance in the investigation was provided by the Tufts University Police Department; Massachusetts State Police; Illinois State Police; and the Medford, Somerville, North Andover, Malden and Peabody Police Departments. Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy H. Kistner of Rollins’ National Security Unit is prosecuting the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin Tolkoff of Rollins’ Major Crimes Unit provided significant assistance during the investigation of the case.
The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Broward County Felon Charged with Federal Gun and Identity Theft CrimesRead the Press Release
Miami, Florida – A South Florida grand jury has charged a 38-year-old felon from Lauderhill, Florida with illegally possessing a cache of firearms and ammunition, as well as sensitive identity and financial information belonging to others.
According to the indictment, an earlier-filed criminal complaint affidavit, and government exhibits filed with the court, a narcotics investigation led law enforcement officers to Deshawn Lemonte Wheeler. On March 3, officers executed a search warrant at Wheeler’s home, where they recovered 10 firearms (including pistols, revolvers, and a rifle), multiple high-capacity-drums and other magazines, and a vast amount of multiple caliber ammunition. They also recovered numerous credit and debit card account numbers, bank account numbers, driver’s license identification numbers, and a Department of Defense identification number, all belonging to other people, say the court filings.
On March 3, Wheeler was a felon, having been previously convicted in federal court of conspiring to commit a Hobbs Act robbery and using a firearm during a crime of violence.
The indictment charges Wheeler with one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm or ammunition, one count of possessing 15 or more unauthorized access devices, and three counts of aggravated identity theft. If convicted on all counts, Wheeler faces up to 26 years in federal prison.
Wheeler is scheduled for arraignment on Monday, April 4, at 11:00 a.m., in federal magistrate court in Ft. Lauderdale.
Juan Antonio Gonzalez, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Miami, announced the charges.
FBI Miami investigated the case, with assistance from Broward County Sheriff’s Office, Lauderhill Police Department, and Fort Lauderdale Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph A. Cooley is prosecuting the case.
This case stems from Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program that brings together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. In 2017, PSN was reinvigorated as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement, and the local community to develop effective, locally-based strategies to reduce violent crime.
Indictments and criminal complaints contain mere allegations. A defendant is innocent unless and until found 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-60063.
Note: Included photograph from Court docket: entry #8, exhibit #1.
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Bronx Gang Member Charged with Double Murder and Shooting of 16-Year-OldRead the Press Release
Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Ricky J. Patel, the Acting Special Agent-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the Department of Homeland Security (“HSI”), Keechant L. Sewell, Commissioner of the New York City Police Department (“NYPD”), and Jocelyn E. Strauber, the Commissioner of the New York City Department of Investigation (“DOI”), announced today the unsealing of an Indictment charging KAI JOHNSON with racketeering conspiracy, murder in aid of racketeering, attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon in aid of racketeering, being a felon in possession of ammunition, and firearms offenses, relating to JOHNSON’s participation in: (1) the murders of Price Tunstall and Malik Tunstall in the vicinity of the James Monroe Houses in the Bronx on August 31, 2021; and (2) a non-fatal shooting of a 16-year-old in the vicinity of the James Monroe Houses in the Bronx on April 4, 2021.
JOHNSON was already in state custody relating to other charges and will be presented today before Magistrate Judge Sarah L. Cave. The case is assigned to U.S. District Judge Lewis J. Liman.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “As alleged in the indictment, the defendant is responsible for the cold-blooded murders of Price Tunstall and Malik Tunstall, just a few months after shooting and injuring a 16-year-old in the same neighborhood. We continue our daily work with our law enforcement partners to keep our communities safe and to vigorously investigate and prosecute those who bring violence to our streets.”
HSI Acting Special Agent-in Charge Ricky J. Patel said: “It is alleged that Johnson participated in multiple shootings in and around public housing facilities in the Bronx, including a double murder. The residents of New York City’s public housing developments deserve a safe living space, free from violence and the influence of dangerous gang members’ desire to instill fear throughout the community. This indictment against Johnson is an example of bringing the strength of federal racketeering statutes in the fight to secure the streets of New York and stem the tide of violence plaguing the citizens of New York City. HSI is proud to partner in this fight with our colleagues at the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, the New York City Police Department, and the New York City Department of Investigation.”
NYPD Commissioner Keechant L. Sewell said: “At a time of rising violent crime, increasing numbers of shootings, and too many young people victimized by illegal guns, today’s federal indictment illustrates the NYPD’s commitment to using the combined strength of all of our tools to help New Yorkers, hold trigger-pullers accountable, and attain justice for victims. We commend our investigators, our federal law enforcement partners and the work of the prosecutors of the United States Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York for their sustained work in this important case.”
DOI Commissioner Jocelyn E. Strauber said: “Gang violence terrorizes New Yorkers and destabilizes communities. The allegations in this Indictment make clear the dangerous impact of gang warfare in the Soundview neighborhood of the Bronx and the critical need to protect all of New York City’s neighborhoods. I am proud that DOI’s partnership with the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, the New York City Police Department, and the New York Office of Homeland Security Investigations led to these charges, and we will continue to work together with our law enforcement partners to prioritize and promote public safety.”
According to the allegations in the Indictment unsealed today in Manhattan federal court[1]:
KAI JOHNSON is a member or associate of a racketeering enterprise known as the Stevenson Commons Crew. In order to fund the enterprise, protect and expand its interests, and promote its standing, members and associates of the Stevenson Commons Crew committed, conspired, attempted, and threatened to commit acts of violence against rival gangs, including murder and assault; conspired to distribute and possess with intent to distribute narcotics; and obtained, possessed and used firearms, including by brandishing and discharging them.
On August 31, 2021, JOHNSON murdered Malik Tunstall and Price Tunstall in the vicinity of 805 Taylor Avenue in the Bronx, New York.
On April 4, 2021, JOHNSON shot at rival gang members in the vicinity of 877 Taylor Avenue in the Bronx, New York, which resulted in a 16-year-old being grazed in the head with a bullet.
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JOHNSON, 27, is charged with one count of racketeering conspiracy, which carries a statutory maximum sentence of life in prison; two counts of murder in aid of racketeering, which carries a statutory maximum sentence of the death penalty or life in prison, and a mandatory minimum sentence of life in prison; two counts of murder through use of a firearm, which carries a statutory maximum sentence of the death penalty or life in prison, and a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison; two counts of being a felon in possession of ammunition, which carries a statutory maximum of ten years in prison; and one count of using and carrying a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, which was brandished and discharged, which carries a statutory maximum of life in prison and a mandatory minimum sentence of ten years in prison.
The maximum potential sentences are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencings of the defendants will be determined by the judge.
Mr. Williams praised the investigative work of HSI, DOI, and the NYPD.
This case is being handled by the Office’s Violent & Organized Crime Unit. Assistant United States Attorneys Andrew K. Chan, Emily A. Johnson, and Justin V. Rodriguez are in charge of the prosecution.
The charges contained in the Indictment are merely accusations and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
[1] As the introductory phrase signifies, the entirety of the text of the Indictment constitutes only allegations, and every fact described herein should be treated as an allegation.
Beckley Man Sentenced for Federal Gun CrimeRead the Press Release
BECKLEY, W.Va. – A Beckley man was sentenced today to one year and nine months in federal prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm, to be followed by three years of supervised release.
According to court documents, Kaine William Durham, 25, possessed a Ruger P90 .45-caliber handgun recovered from inside his vehicle by law enforcement during a November 2020 traffic stop. Durham had been previously convicted in Raleigh County Circuit Court of felony wanton endangerment in 2017.
Durham pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm in November 2021.
U.S. Attorney Will Thompson made the announcement and commended the excellent investigative work of the Beckley Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF).
United States District Judge Frank W. Volk imposed the sentence. Assistant United States Attorney Andrew D. Isabell and former Assistant United States Attorney Patrick J. Jeffrey prosecuted the case.
A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia. Related court documents and information can be found on PACER by searching for Case No. 5:21-cr-00123.
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Barbour County woman admits to firearms chargeRead the Press Release
ELKINS, WEST VIRGINIA – Katrina Ann Sears, of Belington, West Virginia, has admitted to a firearms charge, United States Attorney William Ihlenfeld announced.
Sears, 42, pleaded guilty today to one count of “Unlawful Distribution of a Firearm.” Sears admitted to selling a semi-automatic rifle to a convicted felon in October 2019 in Barbour County.
Sears faces up to 10 years of incarceration and a fine of up to $250,000. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed will be based upon the seriousness of the offenses and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Brandon S. Flower is prosecuting the case on behalf of the government. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives investigated.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael John Aloi presided.
Baltimore Drug Dealer Admits to Distributing Fentanyl and Cocaine to a Fatal Overdose VictimRead the Press Release
Baltimore, Maryland – Aaron Arthur Fields, a/k/a “Handz”, age 33, of Baltimore, Maryland, pleaded guilty on March 30, 2022, to distribution of controlled substances, conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, and possession with intent to distribute 28 grams or more of a mixture containing a detectable amount of crack cocaine and cocaine.
The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Harford County Sheriff Jeffrey R. Gahler; and the Harford County Task Force, comprised of members including the Drug Enforcement Administration, Harford County Sheriff's Office, Maryland State Police, Aberdeen Police Department, Bel Air Police Department, Havre de Grace Police Department and the Harford County States Attorney’s Office.
According to his guilty plea, on November 4, 2018, Harford County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a Joppa, Maryland residence for a fatal overdose. Emergency medical services personnel and deputies arrived and located two victims (Victim 1 and Victim 2) on the bedroom floor. Victim 1 was found deceased while Victim 2 was revived and transported to the hospital for treatment.
In another bedroom, officers located a line of white powder on a book with a piece of a red straw. The white powder was tested and determined to be a fentanyl and cocaine mixture. The medical examiner concluded that Victim 1’s death was due to acute intoxication by fentanyl and cocaine.
As part of the investigation into Victim 1’s death, Victim 1’s cellphone was seized and searched. A search of the cellphone contents revealed that Victim 1 contacted an individual (Individual 1) the night that Victim 1 and Victim 2 overdosed. The communications with Individual 1 and Victim 1 indicated that Individual 1 arranged for Victim 1 to meet with Fields to purchase drugs on the night of November 4, 2018. Fields admitted that he distributed controlled substances to Victim 1 and that the death of Victim 1 resulted.
Additionally, during a traffic stop on April 10, 2019, investigators recovered three grams of heroin from an individual (Individual 2) investigators believed to have purchased these drugs from Fields. Individual 2 admitted that they purchased drugs from Fields and confirmed Fields’ identity after officers showed Individual 2 a picture of Fields.
As stated in his plea agreement, law enforcement executed a search warrant at Fields’ Baltimore residence where investigators recovered 126 grams of cocaine. Investigators also recovered 28 grams of crack cocaine, 48 grams of cocaine, and $1,911 in cash from Fields’ person during his arrest in Rosedale, Maryland. Fields admitted that he possessed the crack cocaine and cocaine with intent to distribute it. Fields also admitted that he conspired with Individual 1 and others to distribute cocaine, crack cocaine, heroin, and fentanyl.
Fields faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison for distribution of controlled substances and for the conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and faces a mandatory minimum of five years and a maximum of 40 years in federal prison for possession with intent to distribute 28 grams or more of crack cocaine. U.S. District Judge Hollander has scheduled sentencing for June 24, 2022, at 10:00 a.m.
United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the Harford County Sheriff’s Office and the Harford County Task Force for their work in the investigation. Mr. Barron also thanked the Baltimore County Police Department for their assistance. Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Kim Y. Oldham, who is 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 and visit the “Save a Life – Opioid Abuse” section.
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Appleton Restaurant Owner Pleads Guilty to Violations of Federal Tax LawsRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Richard G. Frohling announced that on March 25, 2022, Paul R. Vanderlinden (age: 42) of Appleton, Wisconsin, entered a guilty plea in federal court in Green Bay to charges that he willfully filed a false tax return and failed to truthfully account for and pay over payroll taxes to the Internal Revenue Service.
According to court filings, Vanderlinden, as owner and operator of Muncheez Pizzeria in Appleton, Wisconsin, skimmed approximately $800,000 from his business’ receipts between 2012 and 2016. Large cash deposits were made to Vanderlinden’s personal bank account during this timeframe. Vanderlinden failed to include this revenue in his tax returns, and fraudulently underreported his gross receipts by at least $130,000 for each tax year.
Vanderlinden gave his employees the option of being “paid in cash without taxes taken out, or by check with taxes taken out,” and used a large portion of the skimmed revenue to pay his employees “under the table.” Federal law requires employers to collect payroll taxes. Vanderlinden willfully failed to withhold and pay over approximately $88,000 in payroll taxes between 2012 and 2016, and he filed employer tax returns containing false statements regarding the wages paid to his employees.
“This case reflects the strong commitment of the Department of Justice and our federal law enforcement partners to investigating and prosecuting individuals who seek to abuse our tax laws,” said United States Attorney Frohling. “This type of fraud not only undermines the rule of law but also puts individuals and businesses that act in a forthright and honest manner at an unfair disadvantage in the marketplace.”
"Business owners have a responsibility to withhold income taxes for their employees and then remit those taxes to the Internal Revenue Service," said IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge Justin Campbell, Chicago Field Office. "The failure to pay over withheld taxes is a serious offense. It results in the loss of tax revenue to the United States government and the loss of future social security or Medicare benefits for the employees.”
Vanderlinden will be sentenced on July 7, 2022, before Senior United States District Judge William C. Griesbach.
This investigation was undertaken by Special Agents from the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation division. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Farris Martini.
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Alabama Man Sentenced to 46 Months in Prison for Firearms Offenses in District of Columbia and AlabamaRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON – Lonnie Leroy Coffman, 72, of Falkville, Alabama, was sentenced today to 46 months in prison after pleading guilty to federal and local firearms offenses stemming from the discovery of weapons in his pickup truck parked near the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
According to court documents, Coffman traveled from Alabama to the District of Columbia several days prior to Jan. 6, 2021. He parked his red GMC Sierra pickup truck in the 300 block of First Street SE, on the morning of Jan. 6. Less than half a mile away in the U.S. Capitol Building, a joint session of the U.S. Congress was scheduled to meet in the afternoon to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the presidential election.
Coffman admitted in his plea agreement that he exited the pickup truck at 9:20 a.m. and walked in the direction of the U.S. Capitol Building, and towards a rally near the National Mall. Inside the pickup truck were several loaded firearms within arms-reach of the driver’s seat, hundreds of rounds of ammunition, large-capacity ammunition feeding devices, a crossbow with bolts, machetes, camouflage smoke devices, a stun gun, and a cooler containing 11 mason jars filled with ignitable ingredients for Molotov cocktail incendiary weapons. Coffman also carried a loaded handgun and a loaded revolver as he walked around the area that day. A search of Coffman’s residence in Alabama later that month led to the discovery of 12 additional mason jars containing ignitable substances, each constituting the component parts of Molotov cocktails.
Coffman did not have a license to carry a pistol in the District of Columbia and had not registered any firearms or destructive devices in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record, as required by law.
Coffman has been in custody since his arrest on Jan. 6, 2021. Coffman will be placed on three years of supervised release following his prison term.
Coffman was sentenced in the District of Columbia by the Honorable Colleen Kollar-Kotelly in two separate criminal cases, one brought in the District of Columbia on Jan. 7, 2021, and the other brought in the Northern District of Alabama and transferred to the District of Columbia for purposes of plea and sentencing. Coffman had pleaded guilty on Nov. 12, 2021, to two counts of possession of an unregistered firearm, a federal offense, regarding the component parts of Molotov cocktails discovered in his pickup truck in Washington, D.C., and at his residence in Alabama. Coffman also pleaded guilty to carrying a pistol without a license, a District of Columbia offense. Judge Kollar-Kotelly sentenced him to 46 months in prison on each of the federal offenses, and 15 months on the District of Columbia offense, with the time running concurrently.
The case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Alabama, and the Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section. The case was investigated by the FBI’s Birmingham and Washington Field Offices, and the U.S. Capitol Police.
31 March 2022
“Shooting Boys” Gang Members Charged with Racketeering, Murder, Firearms, and Narcotics OffensesRead the Press Release
Damian Williams, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Keechant L. Sewell, the Commissioner of the New York City Police Department (“NYPD”), and Ricky J. Patel, Acting Special Agent-in-Charge of Homeland Security Investigations (“HSI”) in New York, announced the unsealing of a fifteen-count indictment today charging ten individuals—ANDREW DONE, a/k/a “Caballo,” VICTOR ALMONTE, a/k/a “Flaco Capone,” MOISES FONTANEZ, a/k/a “Goya,” OLBENY DIAZ, a/k/a “Sosbrito,” FRAILYN CAPELLAN, a/k/a “Frek,” JOEL ORTIZ, a/k/a “Brooklyn,” EDWIN JIMENEZ, a/k/a “Pac,” MALVIN RESTITUYO, a/k/a “Puto,” and ANDERSON BURDIER, a/k/a “Canela,” and JOSEPH RIVERA, a/k/a “Shorty,”—with racketeering conspiracy, murder, attempted murder, firearms offenses, and narcotics conspiracy. The defendants are charged for their roles in the “Shooting Boys” gang and an associated narcotics conspiracy. Among other crimes, DONE is charged for the November 5, 2020 murder of Angel Barreiro in the Bronx. The crimes charged against each of the ten defendants are specified in the chart below. The case is assigned to United States District Judge Jed S. Rakoff.
In a coordinated operation, eight defendants were arrested in New York and Pennsylvania earlier this morning. The defendants arrested in New York will be presented later this afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah L. Cave in Manhattan federal court. CAPELLAN will be presented in federal court in Philadelphia. FONTANEZ was in custody on state charges and was transferred to federal custody today. DONE and ALMONTE remain at large.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “As alleged, the ‘Shooting Boys’ are responsible for a rampage of violence in the Bronx, including a murder and several other shootings. Today’s arrests will protect the public from these defendants and send a message to others who would commit violence: law enforcement is watching and you will be prosecuted.”
NYPD Commissioner Keechant L. Sewell said: “Dismantling gangs and targeting the illegal acts associated with their activities continues to be one of the highest priorities for the NYPD and our law enforcement partners. Today’s charges again show that we are accurately identifying and arresting the relatively small percentage of people responsible for the majority of the violence in New York – and we will remain relentless in our pursuit of meaningful consequences for these criminals.”
HSI Acting Special Agent-in-Charge Ricky J. Patel said: “The allegations in these indictments show the unrepentant violence of the ‘Shooting Boys’ and their complete disregard for human life. Today, members of violent gangs are put on notice that HSI and the New York City Police Department will not sit idly by as gangs and violent criminals terrorize our communities. HSI will continue the mission to dismantle violent criminal gangs, and along with the NYPD and its partners, will work together to eradicate the fear caused by these organizations.”
As alleged in the Indictment and other documents filed in federal court, and based on statements made in public court proceedings:[1]
The “Shooting Boys” gang is a criminal organization based in the University Heights section of the Bronx. Since at least 2017, gang members sold drugs, used guns, and committed numerous acts of violence against members of rival gangs. Originally associated with the “Trinitarios” gang, the “Shooting Boys” broke off from the “Sunset” chapter of the “Trinitarios” in about 2018. ANDREW DONE, a/k/a “Caballo,” is the leader of the “Shooting Boys.”
The “Shooting Boys” sold crack, cocaine, heroin, and marijuana primarily in two areas: near 192nd Street and Aqueduct Avenue, and 155 Father Zeiser Place in the Bronx. Only members of the “Shooting Boys” and those authorized by them were permitted to sell drugs in these locations and the gang protected its drug territory through violence and intimidation relying primarily on the use of firearms.
In addition to multiple non-fatal acts of violence against rival gang members and innocent bystanders, the rivalry between the “Shooting Boys” and other chapters of the “Trinitarios” led to the murder of Angel Barreiro, a/k/a “Jay La Sombra” on November 5, 2020. The indictment alleges that DONE shot and killed Barreiro opposite 1365 Cromwell Avenue in the Bronx.
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A chart containing the names, charges, and maximum and minimum penalties for the defendants is set forth below. The maximum potential sentences in this case are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendants will be determined by the judge.
Mr. Williams praised the outstanding investigative work of the NYPD and HSI.
The case is being prosecuted by the Office’s Violent and Organized Crime Unit. Assistant United States Attorneys Dominic A. Gentile, Adam S. Hobson, Jamie Bagliebter, and James Ligtenberg are in charge of the prosecution.
The charges in the Indictment are merely accusations and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
CHARGE
DEFENDANTS
MAXIMUM/MINIMUM PENALTIES
Count One
Racketeering Conspiracy
18 U.S.C. § 1962(d)
ANDREW DONE,
VICTOR ALMONTE,
MOISES FONTANEZ,
OLBENY DIAZ,
FRAILYN CAPELLAN,
JOEL ORTIZ,
EDWIN JIMENEZ,
MALVIN RESTITUYO, and
ANDERSON BURDIER
Maximum as to all defendants except RESTITUYO: Life in prison
Maximum as to RESTITUYO: 20 years in prison
Count Two
Murder in Aid of Racketeering
18 U.S.C. § 1959(a)(1)
ANDREW DONE
Mandatory life in prison or death
Count Three
Murder through Use of a Firearm
18 U.S.C. § 924(j)
ANDREW DONE
Maximum: Life in prison or death
Minimum: 5 years in prison, which much be consecutive to any other term imposed.
Count Four
Attempted Murder and Assault with a Dangerous Weapon in Aid of Racketeering
18 U.S.C. §§ 1959(a)(5), 1959(a)(6), 1959(a)(3)
ANDREW DONE
VICTOR ALMONTE
FRAILYN CAPELLAN
Maximum: 20 years in prison
Count Five
Firearms Offense
18 U.S.C. § 924(c)
ANDREW DONE
VICTOR ALMONTE
FRAILYN CAPELLAN
Maximum: Life in prison
Minimum: 10 years in prison, which much be consecutive to any other term imposed.
Count Six
Attempted Murder and Assault with a Dangerous Weapon in Aid of Racketeering
18 U.S.C. §§ 1959(a)(5), 1959(a)(6), 1959(a)(3)
OLBENY DIAZ
Maximum: 20 years
Count Seven
Firearms Offense
18 U.S.C. § 924(c)
OLBENY DIAZ
Maximum: Life in prison
Minimum: 10 years in prison, which much be consecutive to any other term imposed.
Count Eight
Attempted Murder and Assault with a Dangerous Weapon in Aid of Racketeering
18 U.S.C. §§ 1959(a)(5), 1959(a)(3)
MALVIN RESTITUYO
Maximum: 20 years
Count Nine
Firearms Offense
18 U.S.C. § 924(c)
MALVIN RESTITUYO
Maximum: Life in prison
Minimum: 10 years in prison, which much be consecutive to any other term imposed.
Count Ten
Attempted Murder and Assault with a Dangerous Weapon in Aid of Racketeering
18 U.S.C. §§ 1959(a)(5), 1959(a)(3)
MOISES FONTANEZ
Maximum: 20 years
Count Eleven
Firearms Offense
18 U.S.C. § 924(c)
MOISES FONTANEZ
Maximum: Life in prison
Minimum: 10 years in prison, which much be consecutive to any other term imposed.
Count Twelve
Assault with a Dangerous Weapon in Aid of Racketeering
18 U.S.C. § 1959(a)(3)
ANDREW DONE
MOISES FONTANEZ
OLBENY DIAZ
JOEL ORTIZ
Maximum: 20 years
Count Thirteen
Firearms Offense
18 U.S.C. § 924(c)
ANDREW DONE
MOISES FONTANEZ
OLBENY DIAZ
JOEL ORTIZ
Maximum: Life in prison
Minimum: 7 years in prison, which much be consecutive to any other term imposed.
Count Fourteen
Narcotics Conspiracy
21 U.S.C. § 846, 841(b)(1)(A), 841(b)(1)(C), 841(b)(1)(D),
ANDREW DONE
VICTOR ALMONTE
MOISES FONTANEZ
OLBENY DIAZ
FRAILYN CAPELLAN
JOEL ORTIZ
EDWIN JIMENEZ
ANDERSON BURDIER
JOSEPH RIVERA
Maximum: Life in prison
Minimum: 10 years in prison
Count Fifteen
Firearms Offense
18 U.S.C. § 924(c)
ANDREW DONE
VICTOR ALMONTE
MOISES FONTANEZ
OLBENY DIAZ
FRAILYN CAPELLAN
JOEL ORTIZ
EDWIN JIMENEZ
ANDERSON BURDIER
JOSEPH RIVERA
Maximum: Life in prison
Minimum: 10 years in prison, which much be consecutive to any other term imposed.
[1] As the introductory phrase signifies, the entirety of the text of the Indictment and the description of the Indictment set forth in this release constitute only allegations, and every fact described should be treated as an allegation.
York Man Charged with Escape After Absconding from Residential Reentry Center in ScrantonRead the Press Release
SCRANTON – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Manuel Maldonado-Martinez, age 33, of York, PA, was indicted on March 29, 2022, by a federal grand jury for the crime of Escape.
According to United States Attorney John C. Gurganus, the indictment alleges that on March 9, 2022, while still serving a federal sentence imposed in connection with a prior federal conviction, Maldonado-Martinez escaped from custody by failing to return to the Scranton Pavilion Residential Reentry Center after having earlier left the halfway house on a work furlough.
This matter was investigated by the United States Marshals Service. Assistant United States Attorney Jeffery St John is prosecuting the case.
The maximum penalty under federal law for these offenses is 5 years’ imprisonment, a term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a fine. A sentence following a finding of guilt is imposed by the Judge after consideration of the applicable federal sentencing statutes and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.
Indictments are only allegations. All persons charged are presumed to be innocent unless and until found guilty in court.
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Woman Ordered to Pay More Than $4.65 Million for Stealing from Huntington Children’s CharityRead the Press Release
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – A Chesapeake, Ohio, woman was ordered to pay more than $4.65 million today for stealing federal funds from River Valley Child Development Services (“RVCDS”), a non-profit organization located in Huntington. RVCDS provides programs, services, and support to children and families in the region.
Ruth Marie Phillips, also known as Marie Phillips, 69, previously pleaded guilty in September 2021 to stealing approximately $4,721,731 from RVCDS between December 2013 and August 2020. Phillips worked at RVCDS from December 1986 until September 2020, and held various positions at the non-profit organization, including Director of Business and Finance.
United States District Judge Robert C. Chambers ordered the restitution, offsetting the $4.7 million figure by more than $71,000 already returned to RVCDS. To assist with restitution, Phillips also previously agreed to forfeit substantial assets, including: $601,638.77 in proceeds from the sale of six airplanes; $304,576.49 in proceeds from the sale of a lake house at Smith Mountain Lake in Virginia that she bought during her scheme to defraud the non-profit; and $169,954.58 in proceeds from the sale of property in Randolph County. Phillips has also agreed to forfeit proceeds from the sale of her residence in Chesapeake, Ohio, and several vehicles, including a Lexus RX and a Chevrolet Corvette.
Chambers sentenced Phillips in January 2022 to seven years in federal prison. The court departed upward from the sentencing guidelines, noting that the guideline range failed to account for the substantial harm Phillips caused the non-profit in the community and the impact Phillips’ theft had on taxpayers. Phillips pleaded guilty to theft of federal funds in September 2021.
While Director of Business and Finance at RVCDS, Philips was responsible for all financial operations, including monitoring accounts receivable, creating and submitting invoices, reconciling bank accounts and issuing checks. From July 1, 2016, to on or about June 30, 2017, RVCDS received approximately $7,131,756 in federal funding and Phillips used her position of trust and authority to steal approximately $964,012 during that period.
Phillips further admitted that between December 2013 and August 2020, she stole approximately $4,721,731 from RVCDS. During that period, she sent $1,142,500 to her personal checking account and sent another $3,395,500 to Attitude Aviation’s bank account. Attitude Aviation has offices at Lawrence County Airpark in South Point, Ohio, and Tri-State Airport in Huntington and provides aeronautical services, including fueling, rental of hangar space, aircraft rental, flight instruction and maintenance.
U.S. Attorney Will Thompson announced the restitution order.
“Phillips did great harm to the children and families she should have been supporting,” Thompson said. “I commend our law enforcement partners and my staff for their pursuit of justice in this case.”
The Federal Bureau of Investigation, the West Virginia State Police, the Central West Virginia Drug and Violent Crime Task Force, the Lawrence County, Ohio, Sheriff’s Office, and the Litigation Financial Analyst with the U.S. Attorney’s Office conducted the investigation.
United States District Judge Robert C. Chambers presided over the hearing. Assistant United States Attorney Kristin F. Scott prosecuted the case. Assistant United States Attorney Kathleen Robeson is handling the forfeiture of Phillips’ many assets. Assistant United States Attorney Jessica Nathan of the United States Attorney’s Financial Litigation Unit organized restitution in this case.
A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia. Related court documents and information can be found on PACER by searching for Case No. 3:21-cr-00135.
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Waldoboro Woman Pleads Guilty to Social Security FraudRead the Press Release
PORTLAND Maine: A Waldoboro woman pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court to Social Security fraud and Theft of Public Money, U.S. Attorney Darcie N. McElwee announced.
According to court records, from about July 2005 through April 2019, Deborah Moore, 68, a recipient of Supplemental Security Income (SSI), concealed the presence of her husband in her household to maintain her eligibility to receive benefit payments. SSI benefits are paid to people with limited income who are blind, disabled or elderly. Moore’s husband had sufficient income to render her ineligible for the benefits she received.
In multiple reviews of her eligibility for benefits, Moore falsely represented to the Social Security Administration (SSA) that she and her husband had separated in July 2005 and had lived separately since that time. At an interview with law enforcement agents, Moore admitted to concealing her living situation from SSA because she knew it would make her ineligible to receive SSI.
Moore faces up to five years in prison on the Social Security fraud charge, up to ten years in prison on the Theft of Public Money charge, a fine of up to $250,000 on both charges, and up to three years of supervised release. She will be sentenced after the completion of a presentence investigation report by the U.S. Probation Office.
The investigation was conducted by SSA’s Office of the Inspector General.
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Wakpala Man Sentenced for Failure to Register as a Sex OffenderRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Dennis Holmes announced that a Wakpala, South Dakota, man convicted of Failure to Register as a Sex Offender was sentenced on March 29, 2022, by U.S. District Court Judge Charles B. Kornmann.
Fabian Carlo Rodriguez, age 30, was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, and a special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund in the amount of $100.
Rodriguez was indicted by a federal grand jury on November 9, 2021. He pled guilty on January 4, 2022.
Between February 6, 2021, and July 28, 2021, Rodriguez, a person required to register under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, and a sex offender by reason of conviction under federal law, knowingly failed to register as a sex offender while living in Wakpala and numerous cities in Minnesota and North Dakota.
This case was investigated by the U.S. Marshals Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Cameron J. Cook prosecuted the case.
Rodriguez was immediately remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
USAO hosts roundtable on cyberintrusion safety measuresRead the Press Release
HOUSTON – Local critical infrastructure partners and area business owners have participated in a training session to increase cybersecurity posture and awareness on how to tackle such cyberattacks, announced U.S. Attorney Jennifer B. Lowery.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office (USAO), in partnership with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), hosted the roundtable training today in order to educate private industry partners on what to do in the event of a cyberattack upon their businesses.
“We are excited to partner with HSI and other federal agencies to help protect Houston’s often vulnerable critical infrastructure assets,” said Lowery. “From our international airports, unique power grid and robust oil and gas sector, Houston is home to some of the country’s most valuable assets.”
“As criminal organizations and other bad actors become more sophisticated in their ability to launch cyber-attacks against critical infrastructure and private business, it is crucial for HSI to work closely with our federal partners and the private sector to develop resilient and adaptive defenses against malicious cyberspace activity and network intrusions,” said HSI Houston Special Agent in Charge Mark Dawson. “Hosting today’s roundtable with the USAO was an important step, and we will continue to seek opportunities to enhance collaboration with our law enforcement partners and other stakeholders to prevent potential network intrusions and ensure greater unity of effort in response to cyber incidents.”
On a weekly basis, numerous cyberattacks occur on businesses all across the Southern District of Texas. There must be a quick response team in place to immediately address the intrusion in order to circumvent major damage and losses. The USAO routinely works with other prosecutors and law enforcement in the district to stay ahead of potential cyber threats.
As the global economy enters day 35 of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, businesses must be reminded to be diligent about their networks and to know their response plans, have a paper copy available and review their cyber-related insurance policies.
The USAO has established contact lines for assistance 24 hours a day. If you have fallen victim to an intrusion, inadvertently diverted funds to an unknown third-party or suffered a ransomware attack, please email directly or call the hotline at 713-542-5213.
U.S. Attorney’s Office Settles Two ADA Complaints Involving Local Gymnastic FacilitiesRead the Press Release
Detroit, MI – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan announced that it has reached settlements with two local gymnasiums: Gymnastic Training Center of Rochester, Inc., and Great Lakes Elite Gymnastics, Inc. (also known as the Great Lakes Kids Energy Zone). Both facilities offer youth gymnastics programs. The settlements resolve two separate allegations that the centers failed to provide appropriate sign language interpreters or other auxiliary aids to children who are deaf or hard of hearing, thereby excluding them from participation in their programs.
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires that places of public accommodation, including gymnasiums and other places of exercise or recreation, provide appropriate auxiliary aids and services, such as sign language interpreters, free of charge to ensure effective communication with individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing.
“No one should be excluded from a place of public accommodation because of a disability, least of all children in our community,” said U.S. Attorney Dawn N. Ison. “We appreciate the cooperation of the Gymnastic Training Center and Great Lakes Elite Gymnastics to resolve these complaints and ensure that children who are deaf or hard of hearing can participate in their programs alongside their peers.”
Under the settlement agreements, each facility will adopt new policies and procedures to ensure that no one with a disability is excluded from participation in their programs. In addition, both organizations will ensure that staff is appropriately trained on ADA requirements; ensure that auxiliary aids and services, including sign language interpreters, are provided to children free of charge when necessary for effective communication; include postings within their facilities alerting customers to the availability of auxiliary aids and services; and establish an ADA liaison to ensure compliance with the agreements. Executive Assistant U.S. Attorney Luttrell Levingston investigated these complaints and developed the settlement agreements.
The Civil Rights Unit of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan was established in 2010 with the mission of prioritizing federal civil rights enforcement. Enforcing the ADA is a top priority of the Civil Rights Unit of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan. ADA complaints may be emailed to [email protected] or by contacting the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Civil Rights Hotline at (313) 226-9151. For more information on the U.S. Attorney Office’s civil rights efforts, including copies of settlement agreements with Gymnastic Training Center of Rochester, Inc. and Great Lakes Elite Gymnastics, Inc., please visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-edmi/programs/civil-rights.
More information about the ADA is available at the Justice Department’s toll-free ADA Information line at (800) 514-0301 or (800) 514-0383 (TTY) and on the ADA website at www.ada.gov.
Two Senior Leaders of Lev Tahor Sect Sentenced to 12 Years in Prison for Kidnapping and Sex Trafficking CrimesRead the Press Release
Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that NACHMAN HELBRANS and MAYER ROSNER were sentenced today to 12 years in prison for child sexual exploitation offenses and kidnapping. The defendants, leaders of an extremist religious sect called Lev Tahor, masterminded a scheme to kidnap a 14-year-old girl (“Minor-1”) and a 12-year-old boy (“Minor-2”) from their mother in Woodridge, New York. The defendants then smuggled the children across the U.S. border to Mexico, where they reunited Minor-1 with her adult “husband” to allow him to continue his illegal sexual relationship with Minor-1. HELBRANS and ROSNER were convicted in November 2021 following a four-week jury trial before U.S. District Judge Nelson S. Román.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams stated: “No mother should ever have to wake up to find her children missing. And no child should ever be forced into a sexual relationship. Today’s sentencings send a clear message: those who kidnap and sexually exploit children will be prosecuted and punished to the full extent of the law.”
According to the allegations contained in the Superseding Indictment, other court filings, and the evidence presented at trial:
NACHMAN HELBRANS and MAYER ROSNER are U.S. citizens and senior leaders of Lev Tahor, an extremist religious sect that has been located in several different jurisdictions, including New York, Israel, Canada, Mexico, and Guatemala. HELBRANS became the leader of Lev Tahor in or about 2017 and ROSNER served as a top lieutenant. After HELBRANS and his leadership team took over, they seized tight control over the group and embraced several extreme practices, including child marriages and underage sex.
In or about 2017, HELBRANS arranged for his then-12-year-old niece, Minor-1, to be “married” to a then-18-year-old man. Though they were never legally married, they were religiously “married” the following year, when Minor-1 was 13 and her “husband” was 19. Lev Tahor leadership, including HELBRANS and ROSNER, required young brides such as Minor-1 to have sex with their husbands, to tell people outside Lev Tahor that they were not married, and to lie about their ages. For example, HELBRANS and ROSNER instructed child brides to deliver babies inside their homes instead of at a hospital, to conceal the mothers’ young ages from outsiders.
In or about October 2018, the mother of Minor-1 determined that it was no longer safe for her children to remain in the Lev Tahor community, which was then living in Guatemala. The mother escaped from the group’s compound and arrived in the United States in early November 2018, and was eventually joined by all six of her children, including Minor-1. Also in November 2018, a Brooklyn family court granted her sole custody of the children and prohibited the children’s father, a leader within Lev Tahor, from communicating with the children.
After the mother fled and settled in New York with her children, HELBRANS and ROSNER devised a plan to kidnap Minor-1, then 14 years old, to return her to Guatemala and to her then-20-year-old “husband.” In December 2018, they kidnapped Minor-1 and her brother in the middle of the night from a home in upstate New York and transported them through various states and, eventually, to Mexico. In order to carry out the kidnapping, the defendants used disguises, aliases, drop phones, fake travel documents, and an encrypted application. At the time of the kidnapping, Lev Tahor leadership was seeking asylum for the entire Lev Tahor community in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Following a three-week search involving hundreds of local, federal, and international law enforcement entities, Minor-1 and Minor-2 were recovered in Mexico and returned to New York. In or about March 2019 and March 2021, members of Lev Tahor again tried to kidnap the children but were unsuccessful.
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In addition to the prison sentences, NACHMAN HELBRANS, 40, and MAYER ROSNER, 45, were sentenced to five years of supervised release.
Mr. Williams praised the outstanding work of the FBI, the New York State Police, the Sullivan County District Attorney’s Office, United States Customs and Border Protection, the Rockland County Sheriff’s Department, the Village of Spring Valley Police Department, Special Agents with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, the Department of State, the Transportation Security Administration, and our law enforcement partners in Mexico, Guatemala, Canada, and Israel.
This case is being handled by the Office’s White Plains Division. Assistant United States Attorneys Sam Adelsberg, Jamie Bagliebter, Jim Ligtenberg, and Daniel Tracer, and paralegal specialist Shannon Becker, are in charge of the prosecution.
Two Sacramento Area Men Indicted for Cocaine TraffickingRead the Press Release
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A federal grand jury returned a two-count indictment today against Jose Manuel Chavez Zepeda, 54, of Carmichael, and Denis Zacarias Ponce Castillo, 37, of Sacramento, charging them with conspiracy to distribute cocaine and distribution of cocaine, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.
According to court documents, from at least April 22, 2016, until March 2022, Chavez distributed cocaine in kilogram quantities that he obtained from a source of supply in Mexico connected to the Cartel Jalisco Nuevo Generación (CJNG). Ponce worked for Chavez as one of his larger sub-dealers and later as his “stash pad” manager. In June, 2021, Chavez and Ponce sold a half kilogram of cocaine to a confidential source in Sacramento.
This case is the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Sacramento Area Intelligence/Narcotics Task Force (SAINT). Assistant U.S. Attorney David Spencer is prosecuting the case.
If convicted, Chavez and Ponce face a maximum statutory penalty of 40 years in prison and a $5 million 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 defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
This effort is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at www.justice.gov/OCDETF.
Tulsa Man Who Strangled and Assaulted Elderly Relative Sentenced to 10 Years in PrisonRead the Press Release
A man who strangled and assaulted an elderly female relative was sentenced this week in federal court, announced U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson.
U.S. District Judge Gregory K. Frizzell sentenced Matthew Alan Joseph, 39, of Tulsa, to 10 years in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release.
“Far too many families struggle with the immediate and long-lasting trauma associated with domestic violence,” said U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson. “Every day, federal prosecutors in the Northern District of Oklahoma fight for justice on behalf of domestic violence victims. I am proud of their commitment to ensuring perpetrators of abuse are held accountable and families are kept safe.”
Joseph was charged in an indictment with being a felon in possession of the firearm and ammunition on Dec. 21, 2019, and with kidnapping the female relative, assaulting her using a knife, strangling the woman, and stealing her car on March 20, 2020. Joseph pleaded guilty to felon in possession of a firearm. He admitted to bringing a Colt .45 caliber pistol into a bar on South Peoria Avenue in Tulsa, and to having two rounds of ammunition and a magazine in his car. When calculating the sentence, Judge Frizzell took into consideration both the firearms conviction as well as the violent acts committed against the woman.
The FBI and Tulsa Police Department conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Steven J. Briden and Jessica L. Wright prosecuted the case.
To learn about domestic violence related resources and to speak with an advocate, victims can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-SAFE, www.thehotline.org. Native American or Alaska Native victims can also call StrongHearts Native Helpline 1-844-7Native or www.strongheartshelpline.org.
For emergency services, call 911.
Three men sentenced to federal prison on charges related to human traffickingRead the Press Release
BRUNSWICK, GA: Three men have been sentenced to federal prison in separate but related cases in which they admitted providing forced labor for south Georgia farms.
Javier Sanchez Mendoza Jr., 24, of Jesup, Ga., was sentenced to 360 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to Conspiracy to Engage in Forced Labor; Aurelio Medina, 42, of Brunswick, was sentenced to 64 months in prison after pleading guilty to Forced Labor; and Yordon Velazquez Victoria, 45, of Brunswick, was sentenced to 15 months in prison after pleading guilty to Conspiracy, said David H. Estes, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia. Mendoza and Medina are citizens of Mexico illegally present in the United States and are subject to deportation after completion of their prison terms.
There is no parole in the federal system.
“These men engaged in facilitating modern-day slavery,” said U.S. Attorney Estes. “Our law enforcement partners have exposed an underworld of human trafficking, and we will continue to identify and bring to justice those who would exploit others whose labors provide the fuel for their greed.”
The cases were charged as part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force investigation, Operation Blooming Onion, which tracked a wide-ranging conspiracy to bring farm workers from Central America into the United States under the H-2A visa program under fraudulent pretenses and to profit from their labor by underpaying the workers and keeping them in substandard conditions. The case has been designated as a Priority Transnational Organized Crime Case under the OCDETF program.
As described in court documents and testimony, Mendoza admitted that from about August 2018 to November 2019, in Glynn, Wayne, and Pierce counties, he was a leader in a venture to obtain and provide labor and services for farms and other businesses. He did so by recruiting and unlawfully charging more than 500 Central American citizens to obtain H-2A visas – specifically granted for temporary agricultural labor – and then withholding the workers’ identification papers and threatening them and their families in their home countries to force them to work for little or no pay and in deplorable conditions.
A key victim testified during sentencing that Mendoza selected her from another work crew after her arrival in Georgia from Mexico and brought her to live with him, maintaining control through threats and intimidation and raping her repeatedly for more than a year – including deceiving her into believing she had married him. When she escaped, he kidnapped her at knifepoint from a home where she was babysitting children who were playing in their front yard. Law enforcement agencies tracked her to Mendoza’s Jesup mobile home, where after her rescue the officers found a shrine to Santa Muerte – “Saint Death” – decorated with her hair and blood in what was believed to be a prelude to her murder. Mendoza faces pending state charges for aggravated assault related to that incident.
Medina admitted that from about April to October 2020, in Glynn and Effingham counties, he charged foreign workers to obtain H-2A visas and then withheld their identification documents. Victoria, a naturalized U.S. citizen, admitted he conspired with Medina and allowed Medina to use his name to apply for the use of H-2A workers, and then transported those workers from housing to work for which Victoria was paid $600 per week.
The investigation into forced labor in agricultural communities, in south Georgia and beyond, continues through U.S.A. v. Patricio et al, in which 23 defendants are charged in the labor trafficking, visa fraud and money laundering conspiracy. The defendants are awaiting trial and are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. Two of those defendants are fugitives.
“These defendants are being held accountable for the horrors of human and labor trafficking that they inflicted upon their victims, in the name of profit,” said Special Agent in Charge Katrina Berger, who oversees Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) operations in Georgia and Alabama. “Thanks to the great work done by our agents, along with our state, local and federal partners, this case was successfully investigated and prosecuted preventing more innocent people from being victimized.”
“Customs and Border Protection takes great pride in fostering collaboration with our partner government agencies to diligently combat human trafficking and forced labor as part of our overall duties and responsibilities in protecting and preserving our national security,” said Henry DeBlock III, Area Port Director for CBP Savannah.
“This sentencing sends a strong message: DSS pursues those who fraudulently use worker visas, like the H-2A, for personal gain, making sure that those who commit human trafficking face consequences for their criminal actions,” said Jessica Moore, chief of the criminal investigations division of the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service (DSS). “We are firmly committed to working to prevent situations where vulnerable individuals are exploited in human trafficking schemes such as this. DSS’ global presence and strong relationship with the U.S. Attorney’s Office and other law enforcement partners was essential in the pursuit of justice for these victims.”
“Mendoza, Medina and Victoria misused the H-2A program in order to enrich themselves at the expense of foreign workers and American employers,” said Mathew Broadhurst, Acting Special Agent-in-Charge, Atlanta Region, U.S. Department of Labor Office of Inspector General. “We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners and the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division to vigorously pursue those who commit fraud involving foreign labor programs.”
“The United States abolished slavery and involuntary servitude over 156 years ago, yet these men engaged in the heinous crime of forced labor and chose to exploit their fellow human beings for profit,” said Philip Wislar, Acting Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta. “The FBI is committed to working with our partners to purse justice on behalf of victims of human trafficking and prosecuting perpetrators to the fullest extent of the law.”
“This investigation is an excellent example of a partnership between federal, state and local law-enforcement agencies working together to bring down individuals involved in a human trafficking conspiracy,” said Tommy D. Coke, Inspector in Charge of the Atlanta Division. “The hard work and countless hours put forth by all has prevented so many victims from being further victimized by the defendants who have caused considerable emotional harm.”
The cases are being investigated as part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach.
Agencies investigating the cases include Homeland Security Investigations; Customs and Border Protection; U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Fraud Detection and National Security; the U.S. Department of Labor Office of Inspector General, and Wage and Hour Division; U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service; the U.S. Postal Inspection Service; and the FBI. The cases are being prosecuted for the United States by Assistant U.S. Attorney and Human Trafficking Coordinator Tania D. Groover, and Assistant U.S. Attorney and Criminal Division Deputy Chief E. Greg Gilluly Jr.
Syracuse Man Pleads Guilty to Possessing and Intending to Distribute Drugs in PlattsburghRead the Press Release
PLATTSBURGH, NEW YORK – Marquail Jones, age 42, of Syracuse, New York, pled guilty today to possessing and intending to distribute controlled substances, announced United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman and Timothy Foley, Acting Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), New York Division.
Jones admitted that on December 18, 2020, he distributed 82 grams of cocaine to an individual in Schuyler Falls, New York. Thereafter, police stopped and searched Jones’s vehicle and found approximately 8.8 grams of crack cocaine, approximately 82 grams of cocaine, and approximately 38.3 grams of fentanyl, along with approximately $15,000 in cash and a scale.
At sentencing on July 29, 2022, Jones faces up to 20 years in prison, a post-incarceration term of at least 3 years and up to a life term of supervised release, and a maximum fine of $1 million. A defendant’s sentence is imposed by a judge based on the particular statute the defendant is charged with violating, the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other factors.
This case was investigated by DEA and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas Collyer.
Swampscott Man Pleads Guilty to Tax Scheme Targeting Greater Boston Congolese CommunityRead the Press Release
BOSTON – A Swampscott man pleaded guilty today in federal court in Boston in connection with a scheme to defraud the Internal Revenue Service by falsely inflating taxpayer’s federal income tax refunds and diverting a portion of those refunds to accounts he and his co-conspirators controlled.
Boris Shadari, 46, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States, three counts of filing a false tax return, three counts of aiding or assisting in filing a false tax return, two counts of theft of government funds, five counts of aggravated identity theft and one count of witness tampering. U.S. District Court Judge Allison D. Burroughs scheduled sentencing for July 19, 2022. Co-conspirator Christian Zynga previously pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States in October 2021 and is scheduled to be sentenced on June 3, 2022.
“Boris Shadari, who is himself a member of the Congolese community, grossly exploited hardworking, vulnerable members of the Congolese community in Greater Boston in pursuit of his own personal financial enrichment. Today, Boris Shadari stands a convicted felon for his predatory tactics against his own community who believed him to be a trustworthy resource. With this guilty plea, that targeted community gets justice,” said United States Attorney Rachael S. Rollins. “Many immigrant communities seek out professional assistance from individuals that are fluent in the language of their origin. Taxes are hard enough to understand standing alone, if you add a potential language barrier they can be overwhelming. That Shadari threatened immigration consequences to encourage one of his victims to lie to federal authorities is unconscionable. Communities can contact their local Taxpayer Assistance Center if they have questions about tax preparers. Contact information, as well as general information on choosing a tax preparer and reporting concerns about tax preparers, is available in several languages on www.irs.gov.”
“For years, Boris Shadari took advantage of members of the Congolese community in greater Boston by fraudulently posing as a tax professional and falsely inflating their federal income tax refunds so he could line his own pockets. In carrying out this scheme, Shadari not only betrayed his victims’ trust, but he also cheated taxpayers,” said Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division. “With tax season upon us, the FBI strongly encourages the public to carefully evaluate those from whom they take tax or other financial advice. We work closely with the IRS, and we will not hesitate to bring to justice other fraudulent tax preparers targeting immigrant communities in Massachusetts, like we did in this case.”
“With tax season in full swing, the defendant’s admission today is a timely reminder about the vital importance of selecting a legitimate preparer,” said Joleen D. Simpson, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation Division, Boston Office. “IRS Criminal Investigation is committed to protecting taxpayer money and we will pursue those who prepare false claims for refunds for the purpose of enriching themselves at the expense of the U.S. Treasury.”
“Today’s plea demonstrates the combined efforts of a multi-agency investigation into Shadari’s scheme of falsely inflating taxpayer’s federal income tax refunds for personal gain,” said Ketty Larco-Ward, Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Boston Division. “Postal Inspectors routinely conduct investigations that identify individuals involved in complex fraud schemes that are designed to inflate profits at the expense of unwitting victims.”
From 2012 to 2018, Shadari and Zynga held Shadari out as a tax professional, targeting the Congolese community of Greater Boston. Until 2017, they took their customers’ tax information to a tax professional at a tax preparation company, and provided the tax professional with false information concerning their customers’ dependents, dependent and childcare expenses and business income and losses in order to inflate the customers’ federal income tax refunds. They then caused the refunds to be split between the customers’ bank accounts and accounts they and their co-conspirators controlled. After 2017, Shadari prepared customers’ returns himself and added false information to the returns to inflate the refunds due. Shadari also failed to report the income he received from this scheme on his own tax returns. After Shadari became aware of the investigation, he told a taxpayer to lie to investigators about the information in the returns he had prepared for her and suggested she would owe thousands of dollars back to the IRS and that her immigration status in the United States could be compromised if she did not do as he instructed.
The charge of conspiracy to defraud the United States provides for a sentence of up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater. The charges of filing a false tax return and aiding or assisting in filing a false tax return provides for a sentence of up to three years in prison, one year of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. The charge of theft of government funds provides for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater. The charge of witness tampering provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. The charge of aggravated identity theft provides for a mandatory sentence of two years in prison, consecutive to any sentence received on the other charges. 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.
U.S. Attorney Rollins, FBI SAC Bonavolonta, IRS CI SAC Simpson and USPIS INC Larco-Ward made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristen A. Kearney of Rollins’ Securities, Financial & Cyber Fraud Unit is prosecuting the case.
Supplier in drug-trafficking conspiracy sentenced to more than a decade in federal prisonRead the Press Release
BRUNSWICK, GA: The Atlanta-area drug supplier to a south Georgia drug trafficking conspiracy has been sentenced to more than a decade in federal prison, wrapping up the prosecution of a major conduit of methamphetamine and heroin.
Kayode Davis, a/k/a “Yodi,” 31, of Stockbridge, Ga., was sentenced to 136 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute, and to Distribute, 50 Grams or More of Methamphetamine and a Quantity of Heroin, said David H. Estes, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia. U.S. District Court Judge Lisa Godbey Wood also ordered Davis to serve five years of supervised release after completion of his prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
“It is a credit to the hard work of our law enforcement partners that all eight defendants in this drug-trafficking conspiracy pled guilty to their crimes and are being held accountable,” said U.S. Attorney Estes. “Our office is committed to removing criminal drug traffickers and their attendant violent activities from our communities.”
As described in court documents and testimony, an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) identified Davis as the Atlanta-area source of supply for illegal narcotics to gang-related drug traffickers operating in Glynn, Liberty, Long, and Wayne counties and surrounding areas in 2019. At least one overdose death from Fentanyl was attributed to drugs sold by the conspirators, some of whom were affiliated with the violent Bloods criminal street gang.
The other seven defendants charged as part of the conspiracy all have pled guilty and have been sentenced to prison terms of up to 141 months.
“This conviction and sentence would not have been possible without the hard work of our partners at the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office and other local law enforcement agencies,” said ATF Assistant Special Agent in Charge Beau Kolodka. “Mr. Davis and his conspirators were a large supplier of illegal narcotics in Southeast Georgia and will now spend the next decade or more in federal prison for their crimes.”
The case was investigated under the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach.
Agencies investigating the case include the ATF and the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office, with assistance from the Glynn County Police Department, the Liberty County Sheriff’s Office, and the Long County Sheriff’s Office. The case was prosecuted for the United States by Assistant U.S. Attorney and OCDETF Coordinator Marcela C. Mateo, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Frank M. Pennington II.
Statement from U.S. Attorney Darcie N. McElwee on International Transgender Day of VisibilityRead the Press Release
U.S. Attorney Darcie N. McElwee today released the following statement in recognition of International Transgender Day of Visibility:
“As I have had the opportunity to meet transgender Mainers throughout the state, I have been impressed by their sincerity, creativity, and desire to enjoy all that Maine offers, but I have been shocked and saddened by the horrific accounts of discrimination, harassment and violence they have experienced.
Today, on a day when we should be celebrating the contributions of transgender Mainers, we instead face an epidemic of violence and discrimination directed towards their community. Here in Maine, fear or hatred of the victim’s sexual orientation or gender identification is the motivation behind nearly half of all hate crimes reported according to FBI statistics.
We are committed to engaging in a meaningful dialogue with the transgender community in Maine, both to show support and increase public safety. We strive to build trust in our office and in law enforcement to foster an environment where the reporting of hate crimes feels safe. We will work to build new and lasting partnerships. We recognize that we can all do better in seeing, hearing, and respecting people for who they are.
Ensuring that all Mainers are treated fairly and with respect, and in accordance with federal law, is among the highest priorities of my office.”
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Statement from Attorney General Merrick B. Garland on International Transgender Day of VisibilityRead the Press Release
Attorney General Merrick B. Garland today released the following statement in honor of International Transgender Day of Visibility:
“Protecting civil rights was one of the founding purposes of the Justice Department over 150 years ago. Today, that remains central to our mission. On this International Transgender Day of Visibility, the Justice Department is committed to protecting the civil and constitutional rights of transgender individuals.
“We are committed to combatting the hate crimes that target and terrorize the transgender community – particularly transgender women of color. And we are committed to ensuring the equal protection of transgender people under the law.
“Transgender individuals deserve to be able to live free from discrimination, harassment, violence, and threats of violence. Transgender youth deserve to be loved and protected. And members of the transgender community deserve to be treated with dignity and respect.
“The Justice Department will continue to work tirelessly to make real the promise of equal justice under law for everyone in our country.”
Springfield Health Care Charity Pays More Than $8 Million Related to Federal Embezzlement, Bribery InvestigationRead the Press Release
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Springfield, Missouri-based nonprofit Preferred Family Healthcare will pay more than $8 million in forfeiture and restitution to the federal government and the state of Arkansas under the terms of a non-prosecution agreement announced today, which acknowledges the criminal conduct of its former officers and employees.
“Preferred Family Healthcare must relinquish the illegal profits it garnered from a wide-ranging fraud and bribery scheme,” said U.S. Attorney Teresa Moore for the Western District of Missouri. “Several former officers and employees are being prosecuted in separate criminal cases for their individual criminal conduct. This non-prosecution agreement holds the charity itself responsible for their actions as agents of the charity. Public tax dollars were stolen and misused in the course of this public corruption scheme, and through this agreement and these separate prosecutions, those dollars are being restored to the public coffers.”
“Employees of Preferred Family Healthcare used charitable organizations to illegally line their own pockets through fraud and bribery,” said Special Agent in Charge Tyler Hatcher of IRS-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) “IRS-Criminal Investigation and our law enforcement partners will continue to work diligently to uncover large frauds designed to divert funds that were meant to help those in need of medical services. Preferred Family Healthcare has acknowledged that its former employees engaged in criminal activity and they are taking steps to make amends by forfeiting a sum of money to the federal government and paying restitution to the state of Arkansas.”
“The public should not suffer or be responsible for individuals who abuse their leadership positions out of greed for personal financial gain,” said Special Agent in Charge Charles Dayoub of the FBI’s Kansas City Field Office. “It is never acceptable to embezzle and misappropriate funds, especially those that directly impact our health care system. As today’s announcement underscores, although the individuals directly involved are no longer with Preferred Family Healthcare, this organization is accepting responsibility for its employees’ actions.”
“The misuse and misappropriation of millions of federally sourced funds, designated for employment training and behavioral healthcare services to the public, by former executives of Preferred Family Healthcare (PFH) is a gross abuse of the positions of trust they once held within the organization,” said Special Agent-in-Charge Steven Grell of the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General. “These former executives failed the public and did a disservice to PFH employees by prioritizing their own personal benefit and financial gain over the public they served. Today’s agreement demonstrates PFH’s willingness to take corrective actions regarding the criminal actions of former executives of the organization.”
Preferred Family Healthcare provides a variety of services to individuals in Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Illinois, including mental and behavioral health treatment and counseling, substance abuse treatment and counseling, employment assistance, aid to individuals with developmental disabilities, and medical services. Most of the charity’s funding is from appropriated federal funds – the largest portion being Medicaid reimbursement.
By signing the non-prosecution agreement, representatives of Preferred Family Healthcare admitted that former officers and employees of the charity engaged in a conspiracy to, amongst other criminal activity, embezzle funds from the charity and to bribe several elected state officials in the Arkansas House of Representatives and the Arkansas Senate. As a direct result of these actions, Preferred Family Healthcare realized a financial benefit. Although Preferred Family Healthcare’s board of directors did not receive full or accurate information about these actions, the board, through lack of proper oversight, allowed its officers and employees to violate federal law.
Under the terms of the non-prosecution agreement, Preferred Family Healthcare will forfeit more than $6.9 million to the federal government and pay more than $1.1 million in restitution to the state of Arkansas related to the misuse of funds from the state’s general improvement fund.
Several former executives from the charity, former members of the Arkansas state legislature, and others have pleaded guilty in federal court as part of the multi-jurisdiction, federal investigation, including the following:
- Former Chief Executive Officer, Marilyn Luann Nolan of Springfield, Missouri, pleaded guilty to her role in a conspiracy to embezzle and misapply the funds of a charitable organization that received federal funds. A sentencing hearing has not been scheduled.
- Former Director of Operations and Executive Vice President Robin Raveendran, of Little Rock, Arkansas, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds. A sentencing hearing has not been scheduled.
- Former executive and head of clinical operations Keith Fraser Noble, of Rogersville, Missouri., pleaded guilty to concealment of a known felony. A sentencing hearing has not been scheduled.
- Former employee and head of operations and lobbying in Arkansas, Milton Russell Cranford, aka Rusty, of Rogers, Arkansas, was sentenced to seven years in federal prison without parole after pleading guilty to one count of federal program bribery.
- Political Consultant Donald Andrew Jones, aka D.A. Jones, of Willingboro, New Jersey, pleaded guilty to his role in a conspiracy from April 2011 to January 2017 to steal from an organization that receives federal funds.
- Former Arkansas State Senator Jeremy Hutchinson, of Little Rock, Arkansas, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit federal program bribery. A sentencing hearing has not been scheduled.
- Former Arkansas State Representative Eddie Wayne Cooper, of Melbourne, Arkansas, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to embezzle more than $4 million from Preferred Family Healthcare. A sentencing hearing has not been scheduled.
- Former Arkansas State Senator and State Representative Henry (Hank) Wilkins IV pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit federal program bribery, and devising a scheme and artifice to defraud and deprive the citizens of the State of Arkansas of their right to honest services. A sentencing hearing has not been scheduled.
As part of the federal investigation, the former chief operating officer and chief financial officer of the charity were indicted by a federal grand jury on March 29, 2019. They pleaded not guilty, and are awaiting trial, which is scheduled to begin on Oct. 3, 2022.
The separate criminal cases are being prosecuted by Supervisory Assistant U.S. Attorney Randall Eggert and Assistant U.S. Attorney Shannon T. Kempf of the Western District of Missouri, Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven M. Mohlhenrich of the Western District of Arkansas, Senior Litigation Counsel Marco A. Palmieri and Trial Attorney Jacob Steiner with the Public Integrity Section of the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division, and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie Mazzanti of the Eastern District of Arkansas.
IRS-Criminal Investigation, the FBI, and the Offices of the Inspectors General from the Departments of Justice, Labor, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) investigated the cases. This is a combined investigation with the Western District of Missouri, the Western District of Arkansas, the Eastern District of Arkansas, and the Public Integrity Section of the Department of Justice Criminal Division.
Spearfish Man Sentenced to 10 Years in Federal Prison for Attempted Enticement of a MinorRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Dennis R. Holmes announced that a Spearfish, South Dakota, man convicted of Attempted Enticement of a Minor Using the Internet was sentenced on March 28, 2022, by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey L. Viken.
Bernard Andrew Wagner, Jr., age 59, was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, and ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund. Wagner will also be required to register as a sex offender under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act.
Wagner was federally indicted and arrested after attempting to sexually entice an undercover law enforcement agent posing as a minor after Wagner started sending inappropriate messages to a 15-year-old female he knew personally.
This case was investigated by the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, Spearfish Police Department, Rapid City Police Department, and the Pennington County Sheriff’s office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah B. Collins prosecuted the case.
Wagner was immediately turned over to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
Southern California Businessman Sentenced to a Year in Federal Prison for Illegally Brokering Sales of Embargoed Defense Articles from ChinaRead the Press Release
CHICAGO — A Southern California businessman has been sentenced to a year in federal prison for illegally brokering the sales of embargoed defense articles from the People’s Republic of China and filing a false corporate tax return.
TUQIANG XIE, also known as “Tony Xie,” 60, of Irvine, Calif., pleaded guilty in 2019 to one count of violating the Arms Export Control Act and one count of filing a false tax return. U.S. District Judge Charles R. Norgle imposed the year-and-a-day prison sentence Wednesday after a hearing in federal court in Chicago.
The sentence was announced by John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Stuart M. Goldberg, Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Tax Division; and Angie Salazar, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago office of Homeland Security Investigations. Substantial assistance was provided by the Central Field Office of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service of the U.S. Department of Defense’s Office of Inspector General, and the IRS Criminal Investigation Division in Chicago. The government was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Diane MacArthur of the Northern District of Illinois and Trial Attorney Matthew R. Hoffman of the Tax Division.
Xie admitted in a plea agreement that through his company, Bio-Medical Optics LLC of Irvine, Calif., he served as a broker for the shipment of defense articles on the U.S. Munitions List and the U.S. Munitions Import List. The items on these lists are regulated components and systems used in U.S. military equipment. Federal law requires that individuals involved in the business of manufacturing or exporting defense articles must obtain a license and register with the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls at the U.S. Department of State. Xie never obtained a license or registered with the DDTC. Moreover, the U.S. since 1989 has imposed an arms embargo on the PRC, restricting imports or exports of arms between the two countries.
Despite the arms embargo and the lack of a license or registration, Xie admitted in his plea agreement that in 2014 and 2015 he located a manufacturer in the PRC to produce defense articles for one of his clients. Over time, Xie earned hundreds of thousands of dollars in commissions or fees based on his role in shipments to and from the PRC.
The tax charge pertained to Xie’s filing a false corporate tax return for Bio-Medical Optics for 2013. Xie also admitted in the plea agreement that he filed false corporate tax returns for Bio-Medical Optics for 2009 through 2012, causing a total tax loss to the IRS of more than $100,000.