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3 March 2022
St. Croix Man Pleads Guilty to Stashing Five Kilograms of Cocaine in Life Vest Compartments Onboard American Airlines Flight to MiamiRead the Press Release
ST. THOMAS, USVI – U.S. Attorney Gretchen C.F. Shappert announced that Luis Ortiz, Jr., 25, of St. Croix pleaded guilty on March 1, 2022, before Magistrate Judge Ruth Miller to Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute Five or more Kilograms of Cocaine. Ortiz remains on supervised release pending sentencing.
According to court documents, on June 20, 2019, Ortiz and a co-defendant recruited two individuals to smuggle five bricks of cocaine from St. Croix to Miami, FL, onboard American Airlines flight #2227 on July 11, 2019. On the evening of July 10, 2019, surveillance footage from the Henry E. Rohlsen Airport captured Ortiz, who was employed as a contractor to clean the aircrafts, boarding the American Airlines aircraft wearing an oversized jacket. While onboard, Ortiz walked directly to rows 17 and 18 and closed the windows of both rows. Eight minutes later, Ortiz exited the aircraft carrying packages that were consistent in size with the life vests that were removed from rows 17 and 18.
Later that morning, Ortiz’s co-defendant arranged with an American Airlines gate agent to preboard two persons who were later identified as the smugglers. Once onboard, Ortiz’s codefendant instructed one of the two smugglers to retrieve cocaine from the life vest compartments located under seats 17A and 17B.
Flight #2227 departed the Henry E. Rohlsen Airport at approximately 8:00 a.m., and upon its arrival in Miami at approximately 11:00 a.m., the two smugglers were arrested by Customs and Border Protection officers. Both pleaded guilty to Possession with Intent to Distribute Cocaine and were sentenced in the Southern District of Florida District Court.
At sentencing, Ortiz faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years of incarceration and a maximum fine of $10,000,000.00. Ortiz also faces a term of five years of supervised release and a special assessment of $100.00.
This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, St Croix Resident Office, and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Delia Smith.
The investigation is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.
Rye Ophthalmologist Sentenced to 96 Months in Prison for Prolific Seven-Year Healthcare Fraud Scheme and Covid-19 Loan FraudRead the Press Release
Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that AMEET GOYAL, M.D., (“GOYAL”) an ophthalmologist in Rye, New York, was sentenced today to 96 months in prison for orchestrating a seven-year healthcare fraud scheme by falsely billing for millions of dollars of upcoded procedures, and also for fraudulently obtaining two Government-guaranteed loans intended to help small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic while he was facing charges on pretrial release for the healthcare fraud scheme. In imposing the sentence today, U.S. District Judge Cathy Seibel noted, “Fraud doesn’t fully capture how blatant this was and how unjustified this was… This was not about need, it was about greed.” GOYAL previously pled guilty to all charges in a six-count superseding Indictment before Judge Seibel on September 13, 2021.
In addition to the prison term, GOYAL was sentenced today to five years of supervised release, and ordered to pay forfeiture of $3.6 million and restitution of $3.6 million. GOYAL has already paid approximately $1.79 million toward these obligations.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “A prominent ophthalmologist and oculoplastic surgeon who has now surrendered his medical license, AMEET GOYAL was blinded by greed. Over a seven-year period, he preyed on the trust placed in him and cheated patients and insurance companies of $3.6 million in false charges. To cover his tracks, he created fictitious operative reports, seeded across hundreds of patient files, violating the integrity of patients’ medical records and making it more difficult for subsequent doctors to evaluate their care. He sent patients who could not pay the upcoded bills to a collection agency, decimating their credit. He pressured other doctors to join the scheme and threatened to retaliate against their livelihood and careers. Even after being arrested for this scheme, GOYAL committed a breathtaking new fraud and stole $637,200 from the Paycheck Protection Program in the early days of a devastating pandemic. For his crimes, GOYAL will serve a substantial sentence in prison.”
According to the allegations contained in the Indictment, court filings, and statements made during court proceedings:
At all relevant times, GOYAL owned and operated the ophthalmology practice Ameet Goyal M.D. P.C., doing business as Rye Eye Associates, with offices in Rye, Mt. Kisco, and Wappingers Falls, New York, and Greenwich, Connecticut (the “Practice”). Between 2010 and 2017, GOYAL engaged in widespread healthcare fraud by consistently “upcoding” simpler, lower-paying surgical procedures and examinations as complex, higher-paying major operations in fraudulent billings submitted to Medicare, private insurance companies, and patients. As a result, GOYAL fraudulently obtained at least $3.6 million in payments for procedures he did not perform. GOYAL failed to obtain proper and, at times, any consent for the upcoded procedures he falsely claimed to have performed. As part of the scheme, GOYAL routinely falsified patient medical records, authoring fictitious templated operative reports that matched the complex operation he billed rather than the different minor procedure he actually performed. GOYAL also pressured other employees in his Practice to engage in the scheme, and threatened the livelihood of employees who refused to comply. GOYAL caused patients to pay thousands of dollars out of pocket for fraudulently billed charges, and initiated debt collection proceedings against patients who did not pay the full amounts of those false charges. As a result of his fraudulent billings, GOYAL was the highest-billing doctor in the tri-state area for several of his fraudulently billed codes, one of which he billed seven times more frequently than all doctors in the tri-state area combined. GOYAL was indicted for the healthcare fraud charges in November 2019 and was released on bail.
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (“CARES”) Act is a federal law enacted on March 29, 2020, designed to provide emergency financial assistance to the millions of Americans who are suffering the economic effects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. One source of relief provided by the CARES Act was the authorization of hundreds of billions of dollars in forgivable loans to small businesses for job retention and certain other expenses through the SBA’s Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”). Applicants with pending criminal charges are ineligible for PPP loans. The PPP also limits each eligible borrower to one loan, and a maximum loan amount calculated based on a business’s average monthly payroll expenses.
In or about April 2020, GOYAL applied to the SBA and Bank-1, a federally insured institution, for over $630,000 in Government-guaranteed loans through the PPP. Specifically, on or about April 21, 2020, GOYAL applied for a loan in the amount of $358,700 for the business “Ameet Goyal,” with his own social security number and e-mail address. On or about April 29, 2020, GOYAL applied for a second loan in the amount of $278,500, with a business name “Rye eye associates,” using the Employer Identification Number for Ameet Goyal, M.D. P.C and a different email address controlled by GOYAL. To substantiate each loan, however, GOYAL submitted the exact same underlying payroll expense report, showing the same employees and payroll costs.
On both applications, GOYAL falsely answered that he was not facing any pending criminal charges, and electronically placed his initials “AG” directly under his “No” response. GOYAL also falsely certified, among other things, that his business would not receive another PPP loan until the end of the year. After obtaining approval from Bank-1 and the SBA through his fraudulent misrepresentations, GOYAL executed loan notes for two loans. On May 4, 2020, GOYAL received the first loan of $358,700, and on May 11, 2021, GOYAL received the second loan of $278,500. GOYAL used the business checking account into which these funds were deposited to pay business and personal expenses, including by making a payment to a country club in Westchester, New York within days of receiving the first loan, as well as payments to a California vineyard and golf merchandise website.
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GOYAL, 58, of Rye, New York, pled guilty to all six counts in the Superseding Indictment. The first count charged healthcare fraud; the second count charged wire fraud; and the third count charged making false statements relating to health care matters. Counts four, five, and six charged that while on pretrial release, the defendant committed the following offenses, respectively: bank fraud, making false statements on a loan application, and making false statements in a matter within the jurisdiction of the executive branch of the Government of the United States.
Mr. Williams praised the work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, and the Office of the Inspector General of the SBA.
This case is being handled by the Office’s White Plains Division. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Vladislav Vainberg, David Felton, and Margery Feinzig are in charge of the prosecution. A civil fraud lawsuit relating to healthcare fraud under the False Claims Act is being handled by the Office’s Civil Frauds Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey K. Powell is in charge of the pending civil case.
Russellville Man Sentenced for Meth TraffickingRead the Press Release
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – A Russellville, Missouri, man was sentenced in federal court today for distributing more than a kilogram of methamphetamine.
William Austin Lee Crabtree, 30, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Roseann Ketchmark to 12 years in federal prison without parole.
On Aug. 24, 2021, Crabtree pleaded guilty to one count of possessing methamphetamine with the intent to distribute.
A Moniteau County, Mo., sheriff’s deputy saw Crabtree in the driver’s seat of a Cadillac parked behind an apartment complex in Tipton, Mo., on Oct. 17, 2017. The deputy parked in front of the Cadillac and, as he got out of his vehicle, another man began walking away from the Cadillac. As the deputy was speaking to him, Crabtree got out of the Cadillac and began walking away. The deputy told Crabtree to stop, but he continued walking away until the deputy produced his taser.
A police dog alerted to the driver’s side door of the Cadillac. The deputy searched Crabtree’s car and found a white bag that contained two baggies with a total of 298.4 grams of methamphetamine.
According to court documents, during a series of telephone calls made by Crabtree while incarcerated in the Moniteau County jail, Crabtree spoke with his girlfriend and discussed amounts of money owed to him by his various drug customers. Based on those conversations, Crabtree was held accountable for more than one kilogram of methamphetamine.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jim Lynn. It was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Moniteau County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department, and the Jefferson City, Mo., Police Department.
Rosebud Man Sentenced for Failure to Register as a Sex OffenderRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Dennis Holmes announced that a Rosebud, South Dakota, man convicted of Failure to Register as a Sex Offender was sentenced on February 28, 2022, by Chief Judge Roberto A. Lange, U.S. District Court.
Jason Kimmel, Sr., age 40, was sentenced to 31 months in federal prison, to run concurrently with 18 months sentenced in another file, followed by five years of supervised release, and a special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund in the amount of $100.
Kimmel was indicted by a federal grand jury on April 13, 2021. He pled guilty on November 22, 2021.
Kimmel was convicted of Sexual Abuse of a Minor in 2005. As a result of this conviction, he is required to register as a sex offender. Between February 10, 2021, and April 1, 2021, Kimmel, a person required to register under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, and a sex offender by reason of conviction under Federal Law, failed to properly register as a sex offender and update his registration.
This case was investigated by the U.S. Marshals Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Troy R. Morley prosecuted the case.
Kimmel was immediately turned over to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
Rockford Man Sentenced to 10 Years for Second Federal Conviction for Possessing Child PornographyRead the Press Release
MADISON, WIS. – Timothy M. O’Shea, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that John Woodward, 33, Rockford, Illinois, was sentenced today by Chief U.S. District Judge James D. Peterson to 10 years in federal prison for possessing child pornography. This term of imprisonment is to be followed by a lifetime period of supervised release. Woodward pleaded guilty to this offense on December 8, 2021.
On February 11, 2010, Woodward was sentenced in the Northern District of New York to 10 years in prison for possessing child pornography. He was released to supervision on August 24, 2017. On June 26, 2018, that supervision was transferred from New York to the Northern District of Illinois.
On July 11, 2018, agents searched Woodward’s home and found at least nine printed images of child pornography and 20 images of child erotica. Agents also determined that he viewed child erotica on his cell phone. His supervised release was revoked, and he was sentenced to 24 months in prison to be followed by a life-time period of supervised release.
As it relates to the conduct charged in this case, on March 24, 2020 Woodward was again released to federal supervision. This time he was placed at Rock Valley Community Center in Janesville, Wisconsin. On August 14, 2020, while at Rock Valley he was found in possession of an unauthorized cell phone. The phone was seized and later analyzed. Woodward was interviewed following the confiscation of the phone and said he used the phone to view child pornography. An analyst was able to recover hundreds of deleted explicit images on the phone.
The charge against Woodward was the result of an investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Altman prosecuted this case.
Repeat Fraudster Sentenced for Fraudulent Loan and Bank Bribery SchemeRead the Press Release
Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that ADEDAYO ILORI, a recidivist fraudster with multiple prior fraud convictions and who continued to engage in fraudulent conduct even following his guilty plea, was sentenced today to 63 months’ imprisonment for his role in a commercial loan fraud and bank bribery scheme. ILORI’s sentence was imposed by United States District Judge Lewis J. Liman. Codefendants Herode Chancy and Michael Albarella, who at the time of offense were employed as managers at a Manhattan branch of a national bank (“Bank-1”), were previously sentenced to 30 months’ and six months’ imprisonment, respectively.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “Adedayo Ilori has a history of engaging in fraud using the identities of other people. Here, Ilori worked with bank insiders to obtain over $1 million in commercial loans for fake businesses. Ilori used stolen identities to apply for the loans and open bank accounts to receive the loan proceeds. His co-conspirators used a stolen identity provided by Ilori to launder a portion of the loan proceeds. Today’s sentence sends the message to Ilori and others engaged in fraud using stolen identities that such conduct will be seriously punished.”
According to the allegations in the Complaint, Indictment, and statements made in court:
From at least in or about March 2019 up to and including at least in or about March 2020, ILORI and Chancy conspired to fraudulently obtain business loans from a third-party commercial lender with the intent not to repay the loans – i.e., with the intent to “bust out” the loans. ILORI and Chancy together submitted eight fraudulent business loan applications for a total of $1,020,000 in business loans. The business loan applications submitted by ILORI and Chancy included doctored bank statements and listed the identities of other persons as the loan applicants, including stolen identities provided by ILORI. ILORI and Chancy also opened bank accounts using the identities of those other persons in order to receive the loan payments from the third-party commercial lender. ILORI and Chancy subsequently conspired with Albarella to open a bank account at Bank-1 using a stolen identity provided by ILORI to launder approximately $200,000 of the expected proceeds of the loan scheme. Albarella opened the bank account at Bank-1 using the stolen identity provided by ILORI and Chancy, and Albarella accepted a $10,000 bribe to open the bank account.
ILORI and Chancy believed that the underwriter for the third-party commercial lender was participating in the scheme and agreed to pay the underwriter a “commission” for the underwriter’s role in the scheme. In reality, however, the underwriter was an undercover law enforcement officer.
After pleading guilty in this case, ILORI continued to engage in fraudulent conduct using stolen identities by renting an apartment using a stolen identity, leasing a vehicle using a stolen identity, making purchases using a bank card in the name of a stolen identity, and possessing bank cards and identification cards in the names of several stolen identities. Separately, ILORI has been indicted in this District in 21 Cr. 746 for engaging in a multi-million dollar COVID-19 loan fraud scheme, and the case is pending before Judge Vyskocil. The charges contained in Indictment 21 Cr. 746 are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
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In addition to the prison term, ILORI, 43 of Queens, New York, was sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered to forfeit $10,000 in fraudulent proceeds.
Mr. Williams praised the outstanding investigative work of the New York FBI’s Eurasian Organized Crime Task Force and the El Dorado Task Force of Homeland Security Investigations.
This case is being handled by the Office’s Money Laundering and Transnational Criminal Enterprises Unit. Assistant United States Attorneys Tara M. La Morte and Cecilia E. Vogel are in charge of the prosecution.
Reading Drug Boss Sentenced to 32 Years for Supplying Large Areas of Berks, Lehigh, Montgomery and Northampton CountiesRead the Press Release
PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams announced that David Cooper, 47, of Reading, PA, was sentenced to 32 years in prison, eight years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay $2,000 fine by United States District Court Judge Joseph F. Leeson, Jr. for organizing and directing a prolific drug gang from his home located outside of Reading in Muhlenberg Township.
In September 2021, the defendant pleaded guilty just before trial to charges including conspiracy to distribute fentanyl, cocaine, and cocaine base (“crack”); possession with intent to distribute narcotics; possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime; and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. The charges stem from Cooper’s role in leading a drug trafficking organization which supplied large quantities of fentanyl, cocaine, and cocaine base to other drug dealers and drug users in Pottstown, Allentown, and the surrounding communities.
During the investigation into Cooper’s organization, detectives received permission to install court-ordered wiretaps on phones used by the defendant. Using extensive surveillance and the intercepted telephone calls, Montgomery County Detectives and FBI agents arrested the defendant as he attempted to resupply his organization with 200 grams of fentanyl, enough for more than six thousand individual doses. Investigators also seized narcotics, drug packaging materials, and a firearm. During the same operation, Cooper’s drug customer Comese Robinson, of Pottstown, PA, was also arrested and later convicted of similar charges in Montgomery County Court. Robinson was sentenced in December 2021 to 7 ½ to 15 years in state prison. Additionally, Cooper’s supplier, Miguel Figueroa, Jr., also of Reading, PA, was convicted of similar charges in Montgomery County Court and was sentenced to 18 to 40 years in state prison, and Cooper’s federal co-defendant, Edwin Andino, 39, of Allentown, PA, was also convicted of similar charges and sentenced to 18 years in federal prison.
“This case is an excellent example of all levels of law enforcement collaborating to dismantle a dangerous drug trafficking operation putting deadly narcotics on streets all across the Eastern District of Pennsylvania,” said U.S. Attorney Williams. “Cooper personally threatened the safety of his neighbors in Reading, and all communities in our District, through his dangerous and illegal actions, for which he will now spend over three decades behind bars.”
“Illegal drugs continue to kill thousands of people every year,” said Special Agent in Charge Jacqueline Maguire. “The FBI shares concern over this serious problem with our federal and local law enforcement partners, and we vow to the communities we serve that we will continue to track down the criminals who are reaping monetary rewards by pushing potentially deadly drugs on the streets of our neighborhoods.
“We are pleased to see David Cooper sentenced for his role in flooding Montgomery County and surrounding areas with large quantities of deadly drugs, including fentanyl,” said Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele. “The investigation began with concerned citizen reports and ended after a lengthy investigation in the arrest of Cooper and more than two dozen others. Thank you to all of our local, regional, state and national partners for their efforts with this case and their ongoing commitment to ridding our communities of these deadly poisons.”
The case was investigated by the Montgomery County Detective Bureau’s Violent Crime Unit; the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the FBI Bucks and Montgomery County Safe Streets Task Force; the Office of the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Bureau of Narcotics Investigation; Pottstown Borough Police Department; Pennsylvania State Police; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; Berks County District Attorney’s Narcotics Enforcement Team; Lehigh County Detective Bureau; Reading City Police Department; Allentown Police Department; Muhlenberg Township Police Department; and the Liberty Mid-Atlantic High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) program; and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Christopher E. Parisi.
Rapid City Man Sentenced to 14 Years in Federal Prison for Attempted Enticement of a Minor Using the InternetRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Dennis R. Holmes announced that a Rapid City, South Dakota, man convicted of Attempted Enticement of a Minor Using the Internet was sentenced on February 28, 2022, by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey L. Viken.
Christopher Truax, age 35, was sentenced to 14 years in federal prison, followed by lifetime supervised release and ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund. Truax will also be required to register as a sex offender under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act.
Truax was arrested and federally indicted as a result of an undercover sex trafficking operation conducted during the 2020 Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, targeting internet predators. Following multiple chats and text messages with a person Truax believed to be a 13-year old girl, but who was in fact an undercover agent, he proceeded to negotiate a time and place he would meet the minor to engage in unlawful sex acts. When Truax went to the pre-determined location to meet the minor, he was instead met by law enforcement agents and placed under arrest.
This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation, Rapid City Police Department, and the Pennington County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah B. Collins prosecuted the case.
Truax was immediately turned over to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
Providence Man Sentenced for Illegal Possession of FirearmRead the Press Release
BOSTON – A Providence man was sentenced today for being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition.
Roland S. Morgan, 38, was sentenced by U.S. Senior Court Judge William G. Young to 21 months in prison and two years of supervised release. On Nov. 10, 2021, Morgan pleaded guilty to one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition.
On Oct. 28, 2020, at approximately 1:00 a.m., a Seekonk Police Officer observed a silver Mercedes exiting Interstate 95 in Seekonk. The officer noted that the vehicle’s rear license plate was not luminated, a violation of Massachusetts Law. After observing the vehicle make a number of random U-turns, the officer conducted a motor vehicle stop. Morgan was driving the vehicle and was unable to produce a driver’s license. The officer determined that Morgan had two outstanding arrest warrants issued by Attleboro District Court, at which time he was arrested.
A subsequent search of Morgan’s vehicle recovered, among other things, a loaded .38 caliber Smith and Wesson revolver from under the seat where Morgan had been sitting; 43 rounds of .38 caliber ammunition; 10 metal tipped arrows; a hunting bow; narcotics; a Crossman pellet gun; a black holster; and a body armor vest.
Morgan is prohibited from possessing a firearm or ammunition due to prior felony convictions for assault, drug distribution and firearms possession.
United States Attorney Rachael S. Rollins; Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division; Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn; Seekonk Police Chief Dean Isabella; and Mahanoy Township (Pa.) Police Chief Brandon Alexander made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenneth G. Shine of Rollins’ Major Crimes Unit prosecuted the case.
Prisoner pleads guilty to escaping from halfway houseRead the Press Release
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – A 49-year-old Falfurrias man has pleaded guilty to escaping from federal custody, announced U.S. Attorney Jennifer B. Lowery.
Juan Luis Cruz admitted he knowingly left federal custody without permission.
Cruz had previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to transport undocumented aliens. On Feb. 19. 2019, he was ordered to serve 40 months of imprisonment and three years of federal supervised release. He was transferred to a halfway house Sept. 1, 2021, to complete the sentence.
Upon being transported to the halfway house in Corpus Christ, Cruz absconded by walking away from the facility without permission and did not return. Authorities located him Dec. 22.
U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos will impose sentencing June 8. At that time, Cruz faces up to five more years in federal prison.
He has been and will remain in custody pending that hearing.
U.S. Marshals Service conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney John Marck is prosecuting the case.
Previously Deported Alien Charged with Illegal Re-EntryRead the Press Release
HARRISBURG – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that on March 2, 2022, Genrry Estuardo Lopez-Ramirez a/k/a Alex Ariel Lopez-Morales, a/k/a Henry Lopez-Ramirez, age 22, was indicted by a federal grand jury for illegal re-entry into the United States by a previously deported alien.
According to United States Attorney John C. Gurganus, Lopez-Ramirez was previously deported from the United States to Mexico in March 2019. He is alleged to have illegally reentered the United States again sometime after March 2019. He was found in the United States in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, after an August 2, 2021, arrest by a Chambersburg police officer, on charges which eventually led to a conviction for DUI: Controlled Substance.
This matter was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO). Assistant United States Attorney Joanne M. Sanderson is prosecuting the case.
If convicted, Lopez-Ramirez faces a maximum penalty of 2 years of imprisonment, a term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a fine. A sentence following a finding of guilt is imposed by the Judge after consideration of the applicable federal sentencing statutes and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.
Indictments are only allegations. All persons charged are presumed to be innocent unless and until found guilty in court.
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Portland Man Pleads Guilty to Drug and Gun ChargesRead the Press Release
PORTLAND, Maine: A Portland man pleaded guilty in federal court today to drug trafficking and firearm charges, U.S. Attorney Darcie N. McElwee announced.
According to court records, on January 31, 2020, Hunter York, 23, distributed a mixture of cocaine and fentanyl to a Saco resident. The resident overdosed on the drugs obtained from York and died. On February 5, 2020, Portland police conducted a traffic stop of a vehicle York was driving. A search of the vehicle resulted in the recovery of MDMA, fentanyl and a firearm. A search of York’s Portland apartment resulted in the recovery of over 800 additional grams of fentanyl and two firearms.
York faces a 15-year mandatory minimum prison sentence and maximum prison term of life. He also faces a $10,000,000 fine and a supervised release term of up to life. He will be sentenced after the completion of a presentence investigation report by the U.S. Probation Office. A federal district judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
This was a joint investigation involving the Portland, Biddeford, and Saco Police Departments; the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency; the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration; and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
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Pike Road Man Sentenced for Conspiring to Distribute MethamphetamineRead the Press Release
Montgomery, Alabama – On March 1, 2022, Jermaine Mizell Jones, a 38-year-old man from Pike Road, Alabama, was sentenced to 188 months in prison for conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance, announced U.S. Attorney Sandra J. Stewart. In addition to his prison sentence, Jones was ordered to serve five years of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system.
According to court records, in November of 2018, agents with the Central Alabama Drug Task Force initiated a traffic stop on a vehicle driving in Elmore County. When agents approached, they requested that both the driver and passenger step outside of the vehicle. Once out of the car, agents could see a suspicious bulge in the passenger’s clothing, which turned out to be approximately 83 grams of crystal methamphetamine. The passenger stated that the drugs belonged to the driver, who agents identified as Jermaine Mizell Jones. Both Jones and the passenger were arrested. Jones told law enforcement that he was staying at a hotel in Montgomery and consented to a search of his room. Agents went to the hotel and found a vehicle parked outside Jones’ room that corresponded to a key found in his pocket at the time of arrest. Inside the vehicle, they found another 362 grams of crystal meth. Jones eventually admitted that both the meth found on the passenger and in the vehicle belonged to him.
At the time of the November 2018 arrest, Jones was serving a term of supervised release from a 2016 conviction for federal drug and gun violations. Jones had received and served a 26-month sentence for those previous charges.
Jones was indicted by a federal grand jury for conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance on July 14, 2021. He pleaded guilty to that charge on September 20, 2021.
The Central Alabama Drug Task Force, the Elmore County Sheriff’s Office, the United States Postal Inspection Service, and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) investigated this case. Assistant United States Attorney Brandon Bates prosecuted the case.
Pacific Junction Man Sentenced to over 33 Years in Prison for Offenses Related to 2003 Sexual AssaultsRead the Press Release
COUNCIL BLUFFS, IA – Myron Lee Brandon, age 43, of Pacific Junction, was sentenced yesterday in federal court to 405 months in prison for two counts of Kidnapping and two counts of Transportation of a Minor. His term of imprisonment will be followed by 10 years of supervised release. According to court documents, a jury found Brandon guilty of the charges on October 6, 2021.
According to evidence presented at trial, on June 21, 2003, Brandon was in downtown Omaha and offered two girls, one fourteen and one fifteen years old, a ride. Brandon drove them to a remote location near Pacific Junction. Brandon then brandished a knife, tied the two girls with a rope, and sexually assaulted them. Brandon then burned the victims on their breasts with a cigarette. The girls escaped from Brandon when he retrieved a can of gasoline from the bed of the truck. The victims ran to Interstate 29 and were picked up by two individuals who assisted the girls. The initial police investigation did not locate a suspect, but the victims’ sexual assault kits were stored in evidence.
In 2015, the Iowa Attorney General’s Office implemented the Sexual Assault Initiative, a program that submitted unsolved sexual assault kits to a laboratory to identify any DNA evidence. Following DNA testing, Brandon was identified as a suspect in this matter.
United States Attorney Richard D. Westphal of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement. This case was investigated by the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Department, Council Bluffs Police Department, and Omaha Police Department, with assistance from the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Iowa Attorney General’s Office, and the Nebraska Attorney General’s Office.
Orange Park Man Indicted for Pointing Laser at Coast Guard HelicopterRead the Press Release
Jacksonville, Florida– United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces the return of an indictment charging Justin Marland Fisher (41, Orange Park) with knowingly aiming a laser at an aircraft. If convicted, Fisher faces a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison.
According to the indictment, on September 1, 2021, Fisher knowingly aimed the beam of a laser pointer at a United States Coast Guard helicopter while it was conducting a training mission in Green Cove Springs, Florida.
An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal criminal law, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), dangerous laser strikes topped all previous records in 2021. The FAA received 9,723 reports from pilots last year, a 41 percent increase over 2020. Laser strikes on aircraft remain a serious threat to aviation safety. Intentionally aiming lasers at aircrafts poses a safety threat to pilots and violates federal law. Many high-powered lasers can incapacitate pilots flying aircraft that may be carrying hundreds of passengers. Please visit https://www.faa.gov/about/initiatives/lasers/laws for additional information.
This case was investigated by the Coast Guard Investigative Service. It will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney John Cannizzaro.
Northwest Arkansas Couple Sentenced to over 18 Years Combined in Federal Prison for Drug TraffickingRead the Press Release
FAYETTEVILLE – A Northwest Arkansas couple has been sentenced to federal prison for drug trafficking. The Honorable Judge Timothy L. Brooks presided over the sentencing hearings for the United States District Court in Fayetteville.
On or about November 7, 2020, detective with the 4th Judicial District Drug Task Force ("DTF") were notified that a package suspected of containing narcotics had been identified at a local Fed Ex package sorting facility. The label on the package showed it had been sent from Jeanette Mayor from Brawley, California to Brandon Hale at an address in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
Detectives, working in an undercover capacity, delivered the package to Hale’s Fayetteville address. At the residence, undercover officers were greeted at the door by Mayor, who acknowledged that Hale was her boyfriend and that they were expecting a package. Hale subsequently came to the door at the request of undercover officer and accepted the package. Immediately thereafter, detectives identified themselves and conducted a search of the residence, which resulted in the confiscation of approximately 2000 gross grams of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia.
Brandon Ray Hale, age 42, of Fayetteville, was sentenced on March 1, 2022, to 180 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release on one count of Conspiracy to Distribute Methamphetamine. Due to the nature of Hale’s prior felony convictions, he was sentenced as a Career Offender.
Jeanette Marie Mayor, age 50, of Springdale, was sentenced on February 24, 2022, to 46 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release on one count of Aiding and Abetting in the Distribution of More Than 50 grams of a Mixture or Substance Containing a Detectable Amount of Methamphetamine.
U.S. Attorney David Clay Fowlkes of the Western District of Arkansas made the announcement.
The 4th Judicial District Drug Task Force investigated the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Dustin Roberts prosecuted the case for the United States.
North Carolina Man Sentenced for Multi-State Sex Trafficking of a ChildRead the Press Release
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – A Charlotte, North Carolina, man was sentenced today to 18 years in prison for sex trafficking an Ohio child in numerous states, including Virginia.
According to court documents, in November 2020, Anthony Jermaine Foman, 26, persuaded a 14-year old minor from Ohio on social media to join him and travel to various states to engage in prostitution with promises that he would take care of her. Instead, he used drugs and violence to force her to continue prostituting herself in North Carolina, Florida, South Carolina, Delaware, Georgia, and Virginia. Foman also filmed his sexual encounters with the minor victim and transported this child pornography from South Carolina to Virginia. In December 2020, the child was found in Hampton with Foman and he was arrested shortly thereafter.
Jessica D. Aber, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Raymond Villanueva, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Washington, D.C.; and Mark Talbot, Chief of Hampton Police, made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Roderick C. Young.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Lisa McKeel prosecuted the case.
A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information are located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 4:21-cr-28.
Norfolk Man Sentenced for Firearms, Fraud, and Identity TheftRead the Press Release
NORFOLK, Va. – A Norfolk man was sentenced today to 124 months in prison for possessing at least nine illegal firearms, committing credit union fraud in an attempt to gain more than $120,000, and causing financial harm to approximately 34 identity theft victims.
According to court documents, Damarco Antonio Smith, 24, is a documented gang member. From in or around 2018 through March 2020, he conspired with at least three fellow gang members to commit bank fraud in Norfolk and on the Peninsula by negotiating stolen and counterfeit checks. He and his co-conspirators recruited people with bank accounts, stole and deposited checks into those accounts, and quickly withdrew or transferred the funds before the accounts were frozen. Smith also stole credit cards and other personal information, which he used to clone fraudulent debit and credit cards. While executing search warrants at two residences, investigators recovered dozens of stolen, fraudulent, and blank credit, debit, and gift cards, along with access device-making equipment like credit card readers, encoders, printers, and laptops.
During roughly the same period as Smith’s fraud offenses, he was caught with at least nine illegal handguns, including weapons with large-capacity magazines. Of these handguns, he purchased at least four from federally licensed gun stores by lying about not being an unlawful user of controlled substances. Smith similarly lied on his application for a concealed weapons permit.
On March 29, 2020, Smith participated in a gunfight where one of his associates was shot in the back and paralyzed. He and his fellow gang members drove the injured party to the hospital, dropped him at the emergency room, and tried to speed off. They were stopped by police who recovered two firearms from the vehicle, including one belonging to Smith.
Jessica D. Aber, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Charlie J. Patterson, Special Agent in Charge of the ATF’s Washington Field Division; Raymond Villanueva, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Washington, D.C.; Brian Dugan, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Norfolk Field Office; Greg L. Torbenson, Acting Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s Washington Division; Larry D. Boone, Chief of Norfolk Police; Paul Neudigate, Chief of Virginia Beach Police; and Stephen R. Drew, Chief of Newport News Police, made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Arenda L. Wright Allen.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys William Jackson and D. Mack Coleman prosecuted the case.
A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information are located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 2:21-cr-83.
NoHo Man with Multiple Prior Felonies Sentenced to 7 Years in Prison for Possessing Five Firearms Inside a Glendale Shopping MallRead the Press Release
LOS ANGELES – A North Hollywood man has been sentenced to 84 months in federal prison for possessing five firearms and more than 300 rounds of live ammunition inside the Glendale Galleria mall during the holiday shopping season, the Justice Department announced today.
Tigran Zmrukhtyan, 29, was sentenced Monday by United States District Judge Mark C. Scarsi after pleading guilty in July 2021 to one count of being felon in possession of firearms and ammunition.
On December 18, 2020, Zmrukhtyan walked into the Macy’s department store in the Glendale Galleria with a duffel bag full of guns and ammunition. Zmrukhtyan attempted to steal clothes and was eventually detained by loss-prevention employees and Glendale Police Department officers.
When he was detained, Zmrukhtyan had a .380-caliber handgun tucked into his waistband with one round in the chamber and six bullets in the magazine. Inside the duffel bag, officers found four additional firearms, some already loaded, as well as high-capacity magazines loaded with bullets.
Before his arrest, Zmrukhtyan had been convicted of 19 felonies, including the 2016 burglary of a Burbank gun store during which he stole 10 firearms.
“[Zmrukhtyan’s] conduct in this case was not an aberration,” prosecutors argued in a sentencing memorandum. “For more than a decade, [Zmrukhtyan] has engaged in a streak of criminal activity that has seemingly worsened with each conviction.”
The FBI and the Glendale Police Department investigated this matter.
Assistant United States Attorney Maxwell K. Coll of the Asset Forfeiture Section prosecuted this case.
Newell Woman Indicted for Distribution of a Controlled SubstanceRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Dennis R. Holmes announced that a Newell, South Dakota, woman has been indicted by a federal grand jury for Distribution of a Controlled Substance.
Kimberly Rich, age 56, was indicted on February 17, 2022. She appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Daneta Wollmann on February 25, 2022, and pleaded not guilty to the Indictment.
The maximum penalty upon conviction is forty years in federal prison and/or a $5,000,000 fine, a lifetime of supervised release, and a $100 assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund. Restitution may also be ordered.
The Indictment alleges that in January 2022, Rich knowingly and intentionally distributed a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine, a Schedule II controlled substance. The charges are merely an accusation and Rich is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
The investigation is being conducted by the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation and the Meade County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kelsey Blair is prosecuting the case.
Rich was detained pending trial. A trial date has not been set.
New Mexico Man Charged with Illegal Possession of FirearmRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Dennis R. Holmes announced that a Santa Fe, New Mexico, man has been indicted by a federal grand jury for Possession of a Firearm by a Prohibited Person.
Isidro Ortega, age 62, was indicted on January 20, 2022. He appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Daneta Wollmann on February 23, 2022, and pled not guilty to the Indictment.
The maximum penalty upon conviction is up to 10 years in custody and/or a $250,000 fine, three years of supervised release, and $100 to the Federal Crime Victims Fund. Restitution may also be ordered.
The charge stems from Ortega, a previously convicted felon who is prohibited from possessing firearms, knowingly being in possession of a Jimenez Arms Incorporated, model J.A., .380 Auto caliber, semi-automatic pistol, in Rapid City in August 2021, which was found after Ortego came into contact with law enforcement. The charge is merely an accusation and Ortega is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.
The investigation is being conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the South Dakota Highway Patrol. Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin Patterson is prosecuting the case.
Ortego was detained pending trial. A trial date has not been set.
New Jersey Man Sentenced to 80 Months in Prison for Stealing more than $450,000 in Unemployment Insurance BenefitsRead the Press Release
NEWARK, N.J. – A Union, New Jersey, man was sentenced today to 80 months in prison for illegally obtaining more than $450,000 in unemployment insurance benefits, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced.
Maurice Mills, 30, of Union, New Jersey, previously pleaded guilty by videoconference before U.S. District Judge Brian Martinotti to an information charging him with wire fraud. Judge Martinotti imposed the sentence by videoconference today.
According to documents filed in the case and statements made in court:
On March 27, 2020, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) was signed into law. The CARES Act created a new temporary federal unemployment insurance program called Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), which provides unemployment insurance benefits (UIB) for individuals who were not eligible for other types of unemployment (e.g., the self-employed, independent contractors, gig economy workers). The CARES Act also created a new temporary federal program called Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation that provides additional benefits to those eligible for PUA and regular UIB. The New York State Department of Labor administers and manages the regular unemployment and PUA programs in the State of New York.
Between August and September of 2020, Mills submitted fraudulent UIB applications to the State of New York using the names of other individuals. As a result, the State of New York approved and provided, and Mills falsely obtained, more than $450,000 in UIB.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Martinotti sentenced Mills to three years of supervised release and ordered him to pay $486,760 in restitution.
U.S. Attorney Sellinger credited special agents of the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Jonathan Mellone in Manhattan; special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge George M. Crouch Jr., in Newark; postal inspectors of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, under the direction of Acting Inspector in Charge Raimundo Marrero in Newark; and special agents of the U.S. Secret Service, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Mark McKevitt in Newark, with the investigation leading to today’s arrest. He also thanked the New York State Department of Labor, Office of Special Investigations for its assistance in the investigation.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Kogan of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Cybercrime Unit in Newark.
Nashville Man Sentenced to Federal Prison for Sex-Trafficking 12-Year-Old RunawayRead the Press Release
NASHVILLE – A Nashville man previously convicted of sex trafficking a minor and transportation of a minor for the purpose of engaging in prostitution was sentenced today to 30 years in federal prison, announced U.S. Attorney Mark H. Wildasin for the Middle District of Tennessee.
Tavarie Williams, 42, was convicted of the charges by a federal jury in February 2020 after a week-long trial. U.S. District Judge Eli J. Richardson imposed the sentence earlier today.
“This is a fitting sentence for such egregious crimes,” said U.S. Attorney Wildasin. “I commend our law enforcement partners and prosecution team for their exceptional work in rescuing this child and seeking justice on her behalf. Disrupting human trafficking remains a priority of this Office and those who engage in this activity should expect that local, state, and federal law enforcement will devote their full resources to bringing them to justice.”
According to evidence and testimony at trial, in June and July 2016, Williams picked up a 12-year-old runaway girl in San Antonio, Texas and posted ads on Backpage.com advertising her for prostitution. During this time, Williams transported the girl to Memphis, Nashville and Knoxville, Tennessee, for the purpose of having sex with Backpage clients. Evidence and testimony also established that Williams engaged in sexual intercourse with the 12-year-old as well.
On July 29, 2016, Williams was arrested at a hotel in Franklin, Tennessee, and the 12-year-old was rescued.
This case was investigated by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation; The U.S. Marshals Service; the Franklin Police Department; and the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brooke Schiferle and Juliet Aldridge prosecuted the case.
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Mount Carmel Businessman Sentenced to 12 Months’ Imprisonment for Failure to Account and Pay over Employment TaxRead the Press Release
WILLIAMSPORT- The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Ricky Long, 54, of Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania, was sentenced to 12 months plus one-day in prison by U.S. District Court Chief Judge Matthew W. Brann for failure to account for and pay over employment tax.
According to United States Attorney John C. Gurganus, Long pleaded guilty in August 2021, to failure to account and pay over employment taxes. Long is the owner and operator of a home healthcare business known as Warm Hearts Home Care Agency, Inc. operating in Sunbury, Pennsylvania. Warm Hearts employs aids that assist homebound patients with their medical needs. Long failed to file tax return forms for or pay over $296,484.89 in employment and trust fund taxes collected from employees over several years. Rather than turning the money over to the IRS, Long used the money to open a wine bar in Shamokin, Pennsylvania and on personal expenses such as vacations and tickets to sporting events. Long was also ordered to make full restitution.
The case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Todd K. Hinkley prosecuted the case.
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Mission Man Charged with Sexual AbuseRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Dennis R. Holmes announced that a Mission, South Dakota, man has been indicted by a federal grand jury for Sexual Abuse of a Minor.
Jaret Wooden Knife, age 24, was indicted on February 8, 2022. He appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark A. Moreno on March 1, 2022, and pled not guilty to the Indictment.
The maximum penalty upon conviction is up to 15 years in federal prison and/or a $250,000 fine, not less than five years up to life of supervised release, and $100 to the Federal Crime Victims Fund. Restitution may also be ordered.
The Indictment alleges that on or about January 10, 2020, in Mission, Wooden Knife knowingly engaged in, and attempted to engage in, a sexual act with a minor female.
The charge is merely an accusation and Wooden Knife is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
The investigation is being conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Abby Roesler is prosecuting the case.
Wooden Knife was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service pending trial. A trial date has been set for April 12, 2022.
Minneapolis Man Pleads Guilty to Using Social Media to Produce Child PornographyRead the Press Release
MINNEAPOLIS – A Minneapolis man has pleaded guilty to using social media to produce and attempt to produce sexually explicit images and videos of children, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Charles J. Kovats.
According to court documents, between August 2018 and March 2021, Nathan Miller Dobbelmann, 40, used email and various social media apps to contact and solicit sexually explicit images and videos from children. Dobbelmann also sent minors sexually explicit videos of himself as well as sexually graphic text messages, and used online chat rooms and platforms to discuss and trade child pornography files with others.
Dobbelmann pleaded guilty earlier today before Senior U.S. District Judge Donovan W. Frank to one count of production and attempted production of child pornography. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled for a later date.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
This case was the result of an investigation conducted by the FBI and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah E. Hudleston is prosecuting the case.
Midwest City Man to Serve Two Decades in Prison for Illegal Firearms Possession in Connection with Domestic AbuseRead the Press Release
OKLAHOMA CITY – Last week, JORI NICHOLAS FRANKLIN, 27, of Midwest City, was sentenced to serve 20 years in federal prison for being a convicted felon in possession of firearms, announced United States Attorney Robert J. Troester.
On April 20, 2021, a federal grand jury returned a two-count Indictment against Franklin. Specifically, Counts 1 and 2 charged Franklin with Felon in Possession of Firearms. On June 3, 2021, Franklin pleaded guilty to both counts of the Indictment. Public records show that Franklin had prior felony convictions before April 20, 2021. These convictions include Child Neglect in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma case number CF-2015-751 and Possession of a Controlled Substance (methamphetamine) in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma case number CF-2017-3808. Federal law prohibits the possession of firearms or ammunition by convicted felons.
On February 24, 2022, U.S. District Court Judge Patrick R. Wyrick sentenced Franklin to serve a total of 240 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release. In support of his sentence, Judge Wyrick cited the nature and circumstances of the offense, as well Franklin’s criminal history. Judge Wyrick also ordered Franklin to serve three years of supervised release, upon release from prison.
Evidence presented at sentencing showed that on March 3, 2021, Franklin was arrested in possession of a firearm that he had used in connection with the confinement and domestic abuse of his girlfriend. Evidence further showed that Franklin used the firearm to hold his girlfriend inside of a residence against her will. During that confinement, Franklin used the firearm to pistol whip, physically assault, and threaten his girlfriend, causing her to sustain serious bodily injuries requiring hospitalization.
This case was the result of investigations by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, Oklahoma City Police Department, and Midwest City Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Chelsie Pratt prosecuted the case.
This case is part of "Operation 922," which specifically targets domestic violence abusers for federal prosecution in western Oklahoma. Operation 922 is the Western District of Oklahoma’s local implementation of the Justice Department’s Project Safe Neighborhoods initiative to reduce gun violence and enforce federal firearms laws. Operation 922 prioritizes prosecution of federal gun crimes related to domestic violence.
Reference is made to public filings for more information.
Mexican Cartel Member Sentenced to Life in Prison for Violating RICO StatuteRead the Press Release
EL PASO – A Mexican national was sentenced today to life in prison for his role in the Sinaloa Cartel’s narcotics distribution operations.
According to court documents, Arturo Shows Urquidi, aka “Chous,” 50, of Juarez, was a former Chihuahua State police officer and a long-time member of the Sinaloa Cartel under Ismael “Mayo” Zambada-Garcia. Shows assisted in the security of stash houses where thousands of kilograms of cocaine were unloaded from tanker trucks and then reloaded with weapons and money headed for Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico. During his involvement with the Sinaloa Cartel, the Cartel successfully imported thousands of kilograms of cocaine into the United States worth over $1 billion.
On October 22, 2021, a federal jury in El Paso convicted Shows of one count of conspiracy to violate the Racketeering Influenced Corrupt Organization statute (RICO) for his role as a member of the Sinaloa Cartel; one count of conspiracy to possess cocaine and marijuana; one count of conspiracy to import cocaine and marijuana; one count of conspiracy to launder money; and one count of conspiracy to possess firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking crimes.
“Investigating and prosecuting members of dangerous transnational criminal organizations remains a top priority of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas,” said U.S. Attorney Ashley C. Hoff. “This sentence is a significant step in holding the members of the Sinaloa Cartel accountable for the crimes they have committed for years. The prosecution of this case clearly demonstrates how strong cooperation between federal, state and local law enforcement agencies can effectively combat the illegal activity of transnational criminal organizations.”
“The sentencing of Arturo Shows Urquidi is the culmination of years of work to investigate and bring to justice a significant member of the notorious Sinaloa Cartel,” said Greg Millard, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s El Paso Division. “It demonstrates our commitment, along with that of our U.S. and foreign law enforcement partners, to pursue violent drug traffickers who seek to destroy our communities for profit.”
“The sentencing of Shows Urquidi is another strike against members of the Sinaloa Cartel and highlights the long arm of the law reaching across international borders,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey R. Downey, El Paso Field Office. “Today exemplifies our commitment to prevent violence and criminal activity from poisoning the communities of El Paso and our sister city, Ciudad Juarez. It also sends a clear message that we and our partners will relentlessly pursue and prosecute the leaders and members of these violent drug enterprises.”
“Our ability to bring to justice extremely violent members of criminal organizations, such as the Sinaloa Cartel, is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our Federal, State, and local law enforcement partners that assisted in this multi-year investigation. It is a priority of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Explosives and Firearms (ATF), to target these organizations that are responsible for transnational gun crime and violence” said ATF Assistant Special Agent in Charge Joshua Hernandez, Dallas Division.
In addition to the above charges, Shows’ co-defendant, Mario Iglesias-Villegas, aka “Dos,” “El 2,” “Delta,” “Parka,” “Grim Reaper,” 36, of Villa Ahumada, was also found guilty of five counts of violent crimes in aid of racketeering activity; one count of conspiracy to kill in a foreign country; and one count of kidnapping. Iglesias is scheduled for sentencing on March 24, 2022.
The Sinaloa Cartel’s criminal activity in the Ciudad Juarez and El Paso area included the violence that occurred during the war between the Juarez Cartel and the Sinaloa Cartel, which led to the death of thousands of people in Ciudad Juarez and throughout the Mexican states of Chihuahua and Durango. The violence gave rise to Ciudad Juarez being named the “deadliest city in the world.”
This investigation resulted in the seizure of hundreds of kilograms of cocaine, thousands of pounds of marijuana in cities throughout the United States. Law Enforcement also took possession of millions of dollars in drug proceeds which were destined to be returned to the Cartel in Mexico. Agents and officers likewise seized hundreds of weapons and thousands of rounds of ammunition intended to be smuggled into Mexico to assist the Cartel’s battle to take control of Juarez and the local drug trafficking corridors.
The DEA, FBI, and ATF together with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement–Homeland Security Investigations, United States Border Patrol, Customs and Border Protection, United States Marshals Service, El Paso Police Department, El Paso Sheriff’s Office, and the Texas Department of Public Safety investigated this case.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Antonio Franco, Kristal Wade, Kyle Myers, and Michael Williams prosecuted the case.
This effort is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.
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Member of International Drug Trafficking Conspiracy SentencedRead the Press Release
NORFOLK, Va. – A Kennewick, Washington, man was sentenced today to 145 months in prison for conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute cocaine, and distribution of cocaine.
According to court documents, Juan Gabriel Rodriguez-Preciado, 44, facilitated the trafficking of kilogram quantities of cocaine between a Mexican cartel and a regional drug trafficking organization (DTO) run by Adian Barth, 37, of Chesterfield. During July and August 2019, Rodriguez-Preciado stayed at a Richmond residence owned by Barth to assist him in a cocaine drug trafficking conspiracy. From that residence, Rodriguez-Preciado distributed approximately 10 kilograms of cocaine every other week to members of Barth’s DTO over a two-month period. In return, Rodriguez-Preciado collected approximately $30,000 per kilogram, which he funneled back to Mexico.
On May 11, 2021, Barth was sentenced to 225 months in prison for charges of conspiracy to distribute, possession with intent to distribute, and distribution of cocaine.
Jessica D. Aber, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Jason Miyares, Attorney General of Virginia; Jarod Forget, Special Agent in Charge for the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Washington Division; Charlie J. Patterson, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ (ATF) Washington Field Division; and Col. K.L. Wright, Chief of Chesapeake Police, made the announcement after sentencing by Senior U.S. District Judge Robert G. Doumar.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Megan Montoya and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristin Bird prosecuted the case.
A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information are located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. No. 2:19-cr-164.
McNairy County Man Sentenced to Five Years in Federal Prison for Being a Convicted Felon in Possession of a FirearmRead the Press Release
Jackson, TN- Terrell Deshaun Harris, 26, has been sentenced to 60 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 January 25, 2021, officers with the McNairy County Sheriff's Office responded to a domestic assault call from a residence on Leapwood-Enville Road in Adamsville, Tennessee. The victim informed officers that Harris had assaulted her and left their home in her vehicle. Officers provided a "be on the lookout" description of the vehicle.
A short time later, an officer with the Adamsville Police Department located the vehicle on Old Stage Road and conducted a traffic stop. While waiting for the original officers to arrive on the scene, Harris informed the Adamsville officer that a firearm and marijuana were in his vehicle.
A search of the vehicle revealed, a Smith & Wesson 9mm pistol and 12 grams of crystal methamphetamine ("ice") in two small bags in the glove compartment. Marijuana was also found in the console of the vehicle.
After being advised of and waiving his Miranda rights, Harris admitted taking the firearm upon leaving his residence. He also acknowledged as a convicted felon he was not allowed to possess a firearm. Further, Harris admitted the methamphetamine and marijuana belonged to him, but he stated the drugs were for his personal use.
On November 30, 2018, Harris was convicted in Hardin County of two counts of aggravated assault with a weapon. He was serving a period of probation for those offenses at the time of his present offense. As a result of his prior felony convictions, he is prohibited by federal law from possessing firearms and ammunition.
On February 22, 2022, Chief Judge S. Thomas Anderson sentenced Harris to 60 months in federal prison to be followed by three years of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system. At sentencing, Judge Anderson rejected Harris’s claim that he possessed the methamphetamine solely for his personal use, and he determined that Harris possessed the firearm in connection with the felony offense of possession of methamphetamine with the intent to sell or deliver in violation of Tennessee law.
This case was investigated by the McNairy County Sheriff’s Office, Adamsville Police Department, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).
Assistant United States Attorney Josh Morrow prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.
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Man from Santa Cruz pleads guilty to federal drug traffickingRead the Press Release
ALBUQERQUE, N.M. – Andy Cordova, 32, of Santa Cruz, New Mexico, pleaded guilty in federal court on Mar. 2 to possession with intent to distribute heroin. Cordova was indicted by a federal grand jury on June 23, 2021.
According to the plea agreement, on July 5, 2020, Cordova was detained by Ohkay Owingeh Casino and Hotel security personnel on suspicion of possessing or distributing drugs on the premises. Cordova was arrested for drug trafficking after law enforcement executed a search warrant for his hotel room and discovered 16.96 grams of heroin.
Cordova faces a sentence of up to 20 years in prison.
The Santa Fe Resident Agency of the FBI investigated this case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander F. Flores is prosecuting the case.
Man Who Threatened to Kidnap and Kill his Former Girlfriend SentencedRead the Press Release
A 35-year-old Tulsa man who strangled his former girlfriend and later attempted to kidnap her was sentenced Wednesday in federal court, announced U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson.
U.S. District Judge Claire V. Eagan sentenced David Samuel Boggs Jr. to 121 months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release.
“The facts of this case are disturbing. David Boggs strangled a victim until she passed out, located the victim at a hospital days later where she was being treated, and was apprehended by police outside the hospital with a ‘kill kit,’” said U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson. “Tulsa Police Officers’ vigilance and swift action saved this victim’s life. I am thankful for our law enforcement partners and their commitment to serve and protect those living in communities across northeastern Oklahoma.”
Boggs Jr. previously pleaded guilty to felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition, assault of an intimate/dating partner by strangling and attempting to strangle in Indian Country, and attempted kidnapping in Indian Country.
On June 10, 2020, Boggs Jr. violated a protective order when he drug his former girlfriend from her hotel room, strangled her until she passed out, then kicked her in the head while wearing steel toe boots.
Then on July 17, 2020, while the victim was being treated at a local hospital, Boggs Jr. contacted her and told her he was going to pick her up at the hospital, tie her up, and then take her where no one could hear her scream. She alerted law enforcement, and officers from the Tulsa Police Department began searching for the defendant. Officers located and stopped the defendant in a vehicle just outside the hospital. In the vehicle, officers located the loaded pistol, a change of clothes, binoculars, a wood hacksaw, an aluminum baseball bat and a cell phone, all which pointed to the fact the defendant intended to harm the victim.
Boggs Jr. admitted in his plea agreement that he had contacted the victim that day and told her he was going to kidnap then kill her. He stated that he borrowed a friend’s car and FMK .9mm caliber pistol and drove to the hospital to kidnap the victim. He knew the pistol was loaded with 11 rounds of ammunition and that he was prohibited from possessing a firearm and ammunition because he was a felon.
The FBI and Tulsa Police Department conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Steven J. Briden and Jessica L. Wright prosecuted the case.
Lower Brule Man Indicted for Assaulting Federal OfficerRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Dennis Holmes announced that a Lower Brule, South Dakota, man has been indicted by a federal grand jury for Assaulting, Resisting, and Impeding a Federal Officer.
Marty LaRoche, age 28, was indicted on December 14, 2021. He appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark A. Moreno on March 1, 2022, and pled not guilty to the Indictment.
The maximum penalty upon conviction is up to eight years in federal prison and/or a $250,000 fine, three years of supervised release, and $100 to the Federal Crime Victims Fund. Restitution may also be ordered.
The Indictment alleges that on October 29, 2021, in Lower Brule, LaRoche spit on and struck a federal officer.
The charge is merely an accusation and LaRoche is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
The investigation is being conducted by the Bureau of Indian Affairs – Office of Justice Services, Lower Brule Agency. Assistant U.S. Attorney Troy R. Morley is prosecuting the case.
LaRoche was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service pending trial. A trial date has not been set.
Lower Brule Man Indicted for Assaulting Federal OfficerRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Dennis Holmes announced that a Lower Brule, South Dakota, man has been indicted by a federal grand jury for Assaulting, Resisting, and Impeding a Federal Officer.
Ronald Flute, Jr., age 25, was indicted on November 9, 2021. He appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark A. Moreno on March 1, 2022, and pled not guilty to the Indictment.
The maximum penalty upon conviction is up to eight years in federal prison and/or a $250,000 fine, three years of supervised release, and $100 to the Federal Crime Victims Fund. Restitution may also be ordered.
The Indictment alleges that on August 14, 2021, in Lower Brule, Flute struck a federal officer.
The charge is merely an accusation and Flute is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
The investigation is being conducted by the Bureau of Indian Affairs – Office of Justice Services, Lower Brule Agency. Assistant U.S. Attorney Troy R. Morley is prosecuting the case.
Flute was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service pending trial. A trial date has not been set.
Lowell Man Pleads Guilty to Trafficking FirearmsRead the Press Release
BOSTON – A Lowell man pleaded guilty today in federal court in Boston to illegal firearms sales.
Elwood Cortes-Navedo, 26, pleaded guilty to engaging in the business of dealing in firearms without a license. U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani scheduled sentencing for June 3, 2022. Cortes-Navedo was arrested and charged by criminal complaint in April 2019 and subsequently indicted by a federal grand jury in December 2020.
On Feb. 6, 2019, Cortes-Navedo sold a Taurus, PT-22, .22LR pistol manufactured outside of Massachusetts to cooperating witnesses in the parking lot of a public swimming pool in Lowell. On Feb. 14, 2019, in his residence parking lot, Cortes-Navedo sold a Springfield Armory, XD-9 subcompact, 9mm pistol with an obliterated serial number and 12 rounds of ammunition to cooperating witnesses.
United States Attorney Rachael S. Rollins; James Ferguson, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Boston Field Division; Matthew B. Millhollin, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston; and Colonel Christopher Mason, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police, made the announcement today. Special assistance in the investigation was provided by the Middlesex Sheriff’s Office and the Chelsea, Lowell, Malden, Marlborough, Somerville and Weymouth Police Departments. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael Crowley and Timothy Moran of Rollins' Organized Crime & Gang Unit are prosecuting the case.
Little Eagle Man Indicted for Meth TraffickingRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Dennis Holmes announced that a Little Eagle, South Dakota, man has been indicted by a federal grand jury for Conspiracy to Distribute a Controlled Substance.
Corey Lynn Flying Bye, Jr., age 33, was indicted on February 8, 2022. He appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark A. Moreno on March 1, 2022, and pled not guilty to the Indictment.
The maximum penalty upon conviction is up to 40 years in federal prison, a $5,000,000 fine, a lifetime of supervised release, and $100 to the Federal Crime Victims Fund. Restitution may also be ordered.
The Indictment alleges that between January 2020 and January 2021, on the Standing Rock Sioux Indian Reservation in South Dakota, Flying Bye knowingly and intentionally conspired with others to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine.
The charge is merely an accusation and Flying Bye is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
The investigation is being conducted by the Northern Plains Safe Trails Drug Enforcement Task Force, the Mobridge Police Department, the Corson County Sheriff’s Office, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Office of Justice Services. Assistant U.S. Attorney Cameron J. Cook is prosecuting the case.
Flying Bye was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service pending trial. A trial date has not been set.
Legal Community Holds the Sacramento Region Diversity Career Fair to Great SuccessRead the Press Release
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Sacramento Region Diversity Career Fair was held on February 26 and connected employers with diverse legal candidates for future and current job openings, announced the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California, the University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law, the UC Davis School of Law, and the Federal Bar Association Sacramento Chapter.
The Diversity Career Fair is the first legal career fair in the Sacramento region with an online platform where employers can post legal jobs, and law students and attorneys can submit applications. The Diversity Career Fair also provided employers, law students, and attorneys with the opportunity to connect in person, and included a panel discussion featuring federal and state court judges, and practicing attorneys. A wide variety of employers, bar associations, law students, attorneys, and judges attended the Diversity Career Fair held at McGeorge School of Law.
“The Sacramento Region Diversity Career Fair helped bring our diverse legal community together to work on the shared goal of promoting and encouraging diversity,” said U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert. “It was inspiring. The United States Attorney’s Office is committed to continuing these important efforts with our law schools, bar associations, and the larger legal community.”
“I am incredibly honored and proud that McGeorge School of Law was selected to host the inaugural Sacramento Region Diversity Career Fair with partner institutions in Sacramento, and the nearly 40 employers who attended,” said Michael Hunter Schwartz, Dean of McGeorge School of Law. “While there is still plenty of work that needs to be done to continue diversifying the legal profession, this career fair was an important early step in that ongoing journey and was a fantastic opportunity to connect students with employers invested in this critical work.”
“We were so pleased to partner in presenting the inaugural Sacramento Region Diversity Career Fair, which provided a wonderful opportunity for our students to connect with employers who prioritize diversity in the legal profession,” UC Davis School of Law Dean Kevin R. Johnson said. ”Diversity, equity and inclusion are primary principles at Martin Luther King Jr. Hall, and this event helped us further our mission. Many thanks to the outstanding employers who participated, and to our partner organizations for allowing us to participate in this groundbreaking event.”
The Sacramento Region Diversity Career Fair was co-sponsored by all of the affinity bar associations in Sacramento, including the Asian/Pacific Bar Association of Sacramento (ABAS), Cruz Reynoso Bar Association, Leonard M. Friedman Bar Association, Sacramento Filipino American Lawyers Association (SacFALA), South Asian Bar Association (SABA), SacLegal Sacramento’s LGBTQ+ Bar Association, Wiley Manuel Bar Association (WMBA), Women Lawyers of Sacramento (WLS), and by the Sacramento County Bar Association.
For more information: https://fbasacramento.org/sacramentodiversitycareerfair/
Lebanon County Man Indicted on Drug Trafficking and Firearms ChargesRead the Press Release
HARRISBURG – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced today that Jelson Manuel De La Cruz-Caba, 30, of Lebanon, Pennsylvania, was indicted by a federal grand jury on drug trafficking and firearms charges.
According to U.S. Attorney John C. Gurganus, the indictment charges Cruz-Caba with possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and fentanyl on July 20, 2021, in Lebanon County. The indictment also charges Cruz-Caba with possessing a 9mm Baretta handgun in furtherance of drug trafficking.
The matter was investigated by the Pennsylvania State Police and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott R. Ford.
This case is being prosecuted as part of the joint federal, state, and local Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Program, the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.
This case was also brought as part of a district wide initiative to combat the nationwide epidemic regarding the use and distribution of heroin and other opioids. Led by the United States Attorney’s Office, the Heroin Initiative targets heroin traffickers operating in the Middle District of Pennsylvania and is part of a coordinated effort among federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who commit opioid related offenses.
The maximum penalty for this offense is up to life in prison, 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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Las Vegas Man Who Submitted False Documents to USCIS is SentencedRead the Press Release
Leonard C Boyle, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that ARASH VAKHSHOURI, 43, of Las Vegas, Nevada, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton in New Haven to three years of probation for submitting false documents to a government agency.
According to court documents and statements made in court, between January and May 2017, Vakhshouri drafted and sent a total of seven fraudulent letters to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) in Connecticut purporting to be from two individuals who had applied to USCIS to become legal residents of the U.S. in March 2016. The letters, which included the victims’ names, passport numbers, application numbers and alien file numbers, fraudulently requested the withdrawal or cancellation of the victims’ applications for legal permanent resident status in the U.S. Vakhshouri was attempting to have the two victims be forced to return to Iran, where they are religious minorities.
Vakhshouri was arrested on June 20, 2019, and he pleaded guilty to the offense on June 8, 2021.
Judge Arterton ordered Vakhshouri to perform 100 hours of community service while he is on supervised release, and to pay $9,129 in restitution the victims.
This matter was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Manchester Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Nathaniel J. Gentile and Conor M. Reardon.
La Joya trustee convicted of extortionRead the Press Release
McALLEN, Texas – A 48-year-old Sullivan City man has admitted to threatening to cancel a contract if he did not receive increased monetary payments, announced U.S. Attorney Jennifer B. Lowery.
Oscar Salinas aka “Coach” pleaded guilty today.
As part of the plea, Salinas admitted he had an agreement with Jacinto Garza, CEO of L&G Engineering. Salinas was to receive payments through his company from L&G.
Further, La Joya Independent School District (LJISD) had an insurance contract with Ruth Villareal Insurance. Salinas learned Garza was politically supporting Everardo Villarreal, a candidate for Hidalgo County commissioner and Ruth Villareal’s husband.
Salinas threatened to terminate the contract with Ruth Villarreal Insurance if the agreement with Garza was not re-negotiated for additional monetary payments. Garza eventually terminated the payment arrangement with Salinas.
Salinas subsequently cast a vote to terminate LJISD’s contract with Ruth Villarreal Insurance.
U.S. District Judge Micaela Alvarez accepted the plea and set sentencing for June 16. At that time, Salinas faces up to 20 years in federal prison.
He was permitted to remain on bond pending that hearing.
The FBI conducted the investigation with the assistance of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Department of Agriculture, Texas Department of Insurance and McAllen Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Roberto Lopez Jr. is prosecuting the case.
Kansas Man Sentenced to over 6 Years in Federal Prison for Drug TraffickingRead the Press Release
FAYETTEVILLE – A Niotaze, Kansas man was sentenced today to 74 months in prison followed by four years of supervised release on one count of Possession with the Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine. The Honorable Judge Timothy L. Brooks presided over the sentencing hearing in the United States District Court in Fayetteville.
According to court documents, On or about June 25, 2020, law enforcement received information that a large amount of methamphetamine was being transported to the Fayetteville, Arkansas area. After receiving a vehicle description and locating the vehicle, a traffic stop was initiated. While speaking with the driver, Jeremy David Holland, age 43, and while waiting for information regarding a possible warrant for him out of Oklahoma, a K9 officer was called in to assist. After the K9 officer alerted on the vehicle and a search was conducted. The search resulted in officers locating and seizing over 408g of pure methamphetamine.
U.S. Attorney David Clay Fowlkes of the Western District of Arkansas made the announcement.
The Fourth Judicial District Drug Task Force and the Fayetteville Police Department investigated the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron Jennen prosecuted the case.
Justice Department Seeks to Stop Deceptive Marketing of Herbal Tea Product Advertised as COVID-19 TreatmentRead the Press Release
The Justice Department, together with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), today announced a civil enforcement action against B4B Earth Tea LLC, B4B Corp., and Andrew Martin Sinclair (collectively, “defendants”) for alleged violations of the COVID-19 Consumer Protection Act, the FTC Act, and the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA).
According to a complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, the defendants advertised that their herbal tea product, Earth Tea, could prevent or treat COVID-19, without competent or reliable scientific evidence to support those claims. Further, the defendants allegedly made deceptive statements about a scientific study to bolster their unproven COVID-19 claims. The complaint also alleges Earth Tea is an unapproved new drug the defendants are selling in violation of the FDCA. The complaint seeks civil penalties and other available equitable relief, as well as an injunction to stop the defendants from continuing their unlawful marketing and sales of Earth Tea.
“The Department of Justice will not tolerate individuals or companies seeking to profit from the COVID-19 public health emergency by unlawfully advertising unproven products,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the Department of Justice’s Civil Division. “The department is committed to protecting consumers and enforcing the COVID-19 Consumer Protection Act and the FDCA against those who unlawfully market unproven COVID-19 treatments.”
“COVID-19 has tragically claimed nearly one million lives in this country and close to six million lives worldwide,” stated U.S. Attorney Breon Peace for the Eastern District of New York. “Unfortunately, there are too many people who are taking advantage of this crisis by pushing alleged treatment products that are nothing more than snake oil. We will not tolerate attempts to make a dishonest dollar while putting our communities at risk during a pandemic.”
“Without any scientific evidence, the defendants claimed that drinking their herbal tea is more effective in preventing COVID-19 than approved vaccines, and cures anyone who has gotten ill within 24 hours,” said Director Samuel Levine of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “In bringing this matter with our partners at the Department of Justice and the Food and Drug Administration, the Commission continues its commitment to using every tool available to stop and deter those who would treat the pandemic as opportunity to peddle bogus treatments.”
“Products like this may delay patients from seeking proven treatments from their health care provider,” said Associate Commissioner Judy McMeekin, Pharm.D., for FDA Regulatory Affairs. “Preying on patients’ vulnerabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic is unacceptable. The FDA will continue to actively monitor the U.S. market for any companies or individuals falsely marketing products with claims it prevents or treats COVID-19, and will take actions against those who violate the law and endanger patients.”
The COVID-19 Consumer Protection Act, passed by Congress in December 2020, prohibits deceptive acts or practices associated with the treatment, cure, prevention, mitigation or diagnosis of COVID-19. Persons who violate the COVID-19 Consumer Protection Act may be subject to civil penalties, injunctive relief and other remedies available under the FTC Act.
The FDCA provides that a product is an unapproved new drug if it is intended for use in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment or prevention of disease in humans but is not generally recognized as safe and effective for its intended uses and is not the subject of an FDA approval. Remedies for violation of the FDCA include injunctive relief.
This matter is being handled by Senior Trial Attorney James T. Nelson and Trial Attorney Zachary A. Dietert of the Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Blume from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York. Robert Van Someren Greve represents the FTC, and Michael Shane represents the FDA.
For more information about the Consumer Protection Branch and its enforcement efforts, visit its website at https://www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch. For more information about the FTC, visit its website at https://www.FTC.gov.
Justice Department Finds that Colorado Violates the Americans with Disabilities ActRead the Press Release
The Justice Department concluded today that Colorado unnecessarily segregates people with physical disabilities in nursing facilities, in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Supreme Court’s decision in Olmstead v. L.C. The department’s findings, detailed in a letter to Colorado Governor Jared Polis, follow a thorough and multi-year investigation into the state’s system of care for people with physical disabilities.
The ADA and the Olmstead ruling require state and local governments to make services available to people with disabilities in the most integrated setting appropriate to their needs, regardless of age or type of disability. However, many Coloradans with physical disabilities are denied a meaningful choice to receive the services they need in their own homes and communities. Community-based services that can help people live at home successfully include help bathing, dressing, managing medications and preparing meals.
“People with disabilities have too often been unlawfully segregated in institutions like nursing facilities,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The Civil Rights Division will vigorously enforce the rights of people with physical disabilities, including older adults, to access the community-based services they need to age in place and thrive at home.”
“Older Coloradans and Coloradans with physical disabilities increasingly expect to remain at home as their support needs increase,” said U.S. Attorney Cole Finegan for the District of Colorado. “I’m hopeful this situation can be remedied so that individuals with physical disabilities are no longer isolated.”
The department’s investigation found that a significant number of Colorado’s Medicaid-funded nursing facility residents are interested in transitioning to community-based settings and could successfully do so with appropriate supports. However, few Coloradans with physical disabilities who want to move out of their nursing facilities are able to do so. The investigation found that most residents are unaware of the services available to help them move and live successfully in the community.
The right to receive needed services in the community instead of an institution has become particularly acute during the COVID-19 pandemic. Reports show that a significant number of all deaths from COVID-19 in the United States are linked to nursing facilities and other long-term care facilities. Enabling people to move out of nursing facilities and into the community can reduce that risk and satisfy the ADA by avoiding unnecessary institutionalization.
This investigation was conducted by the Civil Rights Division’s Disability Rights Section with the assistance of the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the District of Colorado. The full findings letter can be found at www.ada.gov. Additional information about the Civil Rights Division’s Olmstead enforcement is available on its website at https://www.ada.gov/olmstead/.
Judge sentences fentanyl dealer who caused overdose death to life in federal prisonRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS –Gerald E. Cardwell, Jr., 50, of O’Fallon, Missouri was sentenced today to life imprisonment for Distribution of a Controlled Substance (Fentanyl) Resulting in Death. Cardwell was convicted by a jury in November 2021 of distributing fentanyl to Ryan Leahy, also of O’Fallon, in July 2019. Leahy was found deceased in a room at the Hollywood Casino Hotel.
Evidence presented at trial revealed that Leahy had picked Cardwell up from the Hollywood Casino Hotel on the night of July 25, 2019. In the early morning hours of July 26, 2019, Cardwell gave Leahy a mixture of fentanyl and Adderall, sending text messages to a third-party witness that Leahy was unconscious in the car. Surveillance video obtained from Hollywood Casino Hotel depicted Cardwell, Leahy, and the witness enter the hotel shortly before 2 a.m. The third party left approximately ten minutes later, leaving Cardwell and Leahy in the hotel room. Cardwell departed at 10:00 the following morning. Housekeeping staff found Leahy deceased in the room at approximately 3:15 that afternoon. The St. Louis County Medical Examiner’s Office determined that Leahy died of fentanyl and ethanol intoxication. However, two experts testified that the Leahy’s blood alcohol content at the time of his death was .03. According to the Medical Examiner, that small amount of alcohol could not have caused Leahy’s death.
United States District Judge John A. Ross called the evidence against Cardwell “overwhelming,” and described his conduct as “unconscionable.” Judge Ross specifically noted that Leahy was either dying or already dead at the time Cardwell left the hotel room without summoning help, leading him to question Cardwell as to how he could have abandoned Leahy, who Cardwell had known for years. Cardwell, who refused to make a statement, did not respond. Judge Ross also wondered aloud how Cardwell could continue to sell fentanyl after Leahy’s death, evidence of which was presented at trial.
Judge Ross specifically commended the efforts of Detective Sergeant Kendra House and the entire Maryland Heights Police Department, commenting that law enforcement could have simply dismissed Leahy’s death without investigating it. Instead, Judge Ross noted, the Maryland Heights Police worked diligently to determine who was responsible for providing fentanyl to Leahy and that Cardwell was properly held accountable.
“The sentence imposed today on Mr. Cardwell should serve as a clear message. The death and destruction caused by individuals distributing fentanyl has no limits and must be punished accordingly,” stated United States Attorney Sayler Fleming. “The outstanding investigative efforts of the Maryland Heights Police Department was a large part of the success of this prosecution. I hope the life sentence received by Mr. Cardwell provides some solace to the Leahy family.”
“Opioid addiction and related overdose deaths are a tragedy that impacts all communities, and all levels of society. Our police department takes these cases very seriously and we do everything we can to identify the persons responsible and hold them accountable,” stated Chief Bill Carson. “The detectives involved in this case, Sgt. Kendra House and Cpl. Nick Anthon, put a tremendous amount of work into this investigation. We value the relationship that we have with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and we very much appreciate their willingness to prosecute these cases”.
Henderson, Texas Man Sentenced for Making Threatening StatementsRead the Press Release
SHREVEPORT, La. - Austin Alan Hall, 40, of Henderson, Texas, has been sentenced by United States District Judge Elizabeth E. Foote to 27 months in prison, plus a special condition that he serve an additional 6 months in a halfway house, for interstate transmission of extortionate communications.
According to information presented in court, on March 17, 2021, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in Shreveport received a phone call from an individual who identified himself as Austin Alan Hall and asked to speak to an agent. He was forwarded to the FBI’s Public Access Line. Shortly thereafter, Hall called back to the FBI Shreveport office and stated that he did not want to be disrespectful but that he needed to speak to an agent and not a recording. Hall went on to say that judges had kept his daughter from him, and he was going to take care of them. He then stated he needed to speak to an agent in the next ten minutes or he was going to take care of the judges. Hall was asked, “You said you are going to take care of the judges?” and he responded, “that’s what I said.” At that point, an FBI agent took the phone.
Hall went on to describe himself to the agent as being a physically large individual and that he would take out a judge, and that he was disoriented. Hall stated to the agent, “If I need to say I will go after judges to speak to someone, I will do it.” The FBI agent asked Hall if he was threatening the judges in order to be heard, or if he really intended to hurt someone. Hall responded with “I plead the Fifth.” Hall then told the agent he was going back to Cincinnati and would give the FBI time to investigate Judge Dean and Hall’s parents. A criminal complaint was obtained, and Hall was arrested based on these threatening communications.
This case was investigated by the FBI and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney J. Aaron Crawford.
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Harness Trainer Christopher Oakes Sentenced to 3 Years in Federal Doping CaseRead the Press Release
Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that defendant CHRISTOPHER OAKES received a sentence of thirty-six months in prison today for his role in the felony drug misbranding and adulteration charges arising from this Office’s investigation of the abuse of animals through the use of performance enhancing drugs and as charged in United States v. Navarro et al., 20 Cr. 160 (MKV). OAKES’s sentence followed the February 24, 2022, sentencing of thoroughbred trainer MARCOS ZULUETA to a term of thirty-three months in prison, and the guilty plea of harness trainer RICK DANE, JR., on February 18, 2022. OAKES and ZULUETA were each sentenced by U.S. District Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil, who will preside over the sentencing of DANE on June 21, 2022.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “These three defendants, Christopher Oakes, Marcos Zulueta, and Rick Dane, Jr., each undertook a duty to care for and protect the health and safety of the animals under their control. Each man flagrantly violated that duty in pursuit of purse money. Oakes’s sentence today, like Zulueta’s sentence, reflects the callousness of their crimes, and the gravity with which this Office takes the kind of abuse that each practiced.”
According to the allegations contained in the Superseding Informations, prior charging instruments and other filings in this case[1], and statements during court proceedings:
The charges in the Navarro case arise from an investigation of widespread schemes by racehorse trainers, veterinarians, PED distributors, and others to manufacture, distribute, and receive adulterated and misbranded PEDs and to secretly administer those PEDs to racehorses competing at all levels of professional horseracing. By evading PED prohibitions and deceiving regulators and horse racing officials, participants in these schemes sought to improve race performance and obtain prize money from racetracks throughout the United States and other countries, including in New York, New Jersey, Florida, Ohio, Kentucky, and the United Arab Emirates (“UAE”), all to the detriment and risk of the health and well-being of the racehorses. Trainers, like OAKES, ZULUETA, and DANE, who participated in the schemes stood to profit from the success of racehorses under their control by earning a share of their horses’ winnings, and by improving their horses’ racing records, thereby yielding higher trainer fees and increasing the number of racehorses under their control. Veterinarians involved in the scheme profited from the sale and administration of these medically unnecessary, misbranded, and adulterated substances.
OAKES, ZULUETA, and DANE each operated their respective doping operations using customized, misbranded drugs that were intended to be untestable by racing officials. Through his fraud – and using a sham corporation, “Northfork,” to hide his actual financial interest in various horses – OAKES defrauded others of over a million dollars in purse winnings by training and racing horses that he had “doped” using a plethora of adulterated and misbranded performance-enhancing drugs (“PEDs”), including (among others) blood builders, vasodilators, “drenches,” “bleeder” pills, and other drugs not approved by the Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”). OAKES was also willing to engage in surreptitious delivery of drugs to notorious doper and co-defendant Jorge Navarro, who was previously sentenced to five years in prison in this matter.
ZULUETA, like OAKES, supported Navarro’s racehorse doping and likewise administered illegal drugs to his racehorses under his care and control. Navarro and ZULUETA routinely discussed their use of a particular “blood builder” PED they referred to as “Monkey.” On one recorded call between ZULUETA and Navarro, Navarro stated: “the Monkey—the Monkey hits the horses hard,” later confirming, “the Monkey and the orange one . . . As far as I’m concern[ed], the Monkey and the orange one has something similar which is hitting the horses a lot.” On another recorded call, Navarro informed ZULUETA that “‘the Monkey is breaking down the horses . . . It’s breaking down . . . it’s breaking down the horses. It’s making their blood very thick.’” Still, rather than dissuade Navarro from using the product, ZULUETA agreed with Navarro that he could simply lower the dosage he was administering to his horses, while risking the horses “breaking down.” Following that conversation, ZULUETA, too, continued to procure that blood builder for use on his own horses.
DANE was a New York-based trainer of standardbred horses who regularly obtained misbranded and adulterated PEDs from co-defendant Seth Fishman, and assisted in the distribution of Fishman’s products, including by “vouching” for potential clients of Fishman. Though Fishman was nominally a veterinarian, Fishman did not practice veterinary medicine, but rather used his license as a means of shielding clients, like DANE, from regulatory scrutiny – every drug that Fishman sold to DANE and others, including drugs obtained from various compounding pharmacies, were illegally misbranded, as DANE well knew. A jury convicted Fishman of two counts of misbranding conspiracy on February 2, 2022.
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In addition to the prison sentence, OAKES, 59 of Bear Creek Township, PA and ZULUETA, 54 of Bensalem, PA, were each ordered to pay a forfeiture penalty of $62,821 and $47,525, respectively.
Mr. Williams praised the outstanding investigative work of the FBI New York Office’s Eurasian Organized Crime Task Force and its support of the Bureau’s Integrity in Sports and Gaming Initiative. Mr. Williams also expressed the Office’s appreciation for the Food and Drug Administration, the investigative support and substantive expertise of which was integral to the success of this case.
This case is being handled by the Office’s Money Laundering and Transnational Criminal Enterprises Unit. Assistant United States Attorneys Sarah Mortazavi, Andrew C. Adams, Anden Chow, and Benet Kearney are in charge of the prosecution.
[1] As to Oakes’s, Zulueta’s, and Dane’s co-defendants, the entirety of the texts of the Indictments, Informations, and the descriptions of the Indictments and Informations set forth herein constitute only allegations and every fact described should be treated as an allegation.
Guatemalan Citizen Pleads Guilty to Assaulting a Federal OfficerRead the Press Release
ALPINE – Yesterday, Robinson Mendoza-Gomez, 21, a Guatemalan citizen, pleaded guilty to assaulting a federal officer.
According to court documents, on December 14, 2021, Border Patrol agents near Van Horn attempted to apprehend a group of suspected undocumented noncitizens. Mendoza demanded one of the agents release a person in the group. Mendoza then charged and struck the agent injuring the agent’s face.
Mendoza pleaded guilty to one count of Forcibly Assaulting a Federal Officer. A sentencing date has not been scheduled. He faces up to 20 years in prison on the assault charge. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
U.S. Attorney Ashley C. Hoff of the Western District of Texas and FBI Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey R. Downey, El Paso Field Office made the announcement.
The FBI is investigating the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott V. Greenbaum is prosecuting the case.
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Grass Seed Company Owner Charged in Scheme to Defraud SimplotRead the Press Release
PORTLAND, Ore.—On March 2, 2021, a federal grand jury in Portland returned an indictment charging the owner of Ground Zero Seeds, a grass seed production and wholesale company based in Yamhill, Oregon, for his role in a scheme to defraud the J.R. Simplot Company and its former subsidiary the Jacklin Seed Company.
Gregory McCarthy, 68, has been charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
According to the indictment, Jacklin, headquartered in Liberty Lake, Washington, regularly purchased grass seed from Ground Zero. McCarthy was longtime friends with Richard Dunham, a former Jacklin employee who oversaw the company’s order-fulfillment and warehousing operations in Oregon. In his position, Dunham had the authority to purchase grass seed from certain Oregon growers over others.
Beginning in April 2015, McCarthy and Dunham agreed that Ground Zero would pay Dunham a per pound kickback for grass seed purchased by Jacklin. These kickbacks were built into the prices reflected on Ground Zero’s invoices to Jacklin. Between April 2015 and September 2019, McCarthy caused Ground Zero is pay Dunham more than $191,789.
In facilitating their scheme, McCarthy and Dunham regularly corresponded by email, referring to Ground Zero’s kickbacks to Dunham as “shoes” or contributions to his “shoe fund.” To conceal their scheme, Dunham maintained an LLC through which he claimed to provide consulting and brokering services. Dunham negotiated kickbacks and fees from Ground Zero and other Jacklin suppliers through the LLC’s business checking account.
McCarthy will be arraigned on March 15, 2022, by a U.S. Magistrate Judge.
If convicted, McCarthy faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison, a $380,000 fine, and three years’ supervised release.
U.S. Attorney Scott Erik Asphaug of the District of Oregon made the announcement.
In July 2021, the former general manager of Jacklin was sentenced to federal prison for a similar fraud scheme targeting Simplot and its customers. Later, in September 2021, ProSeeds Marketing, Inc., a Willamette Valley grass seed distributor, pleaded guilty after knowingly concealing a scheme to defraud Jacklin.
This case was investigated by IRS-Criminal Investigation and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of Inspector General. It was prosecuted by Ryan W. Bounds, Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon.
An indictment is only an accusation of a crime, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Grant County man sentenced for drug and firearms chargesRead the Press Release
ELKINS, WEST VIRGINIA – Jay Dean Hall, of Petersburg, West Virginia, was sentenced today to 106 months of incarceration for drug and firearms charges, United States Attorney William Ihlenfeld announced.
Hall, 56, pled guilty in December 2020 to on one count of “Maintaining Drug-Involved Premises” and one count of “Possession of a Firearm in Furtherance of a Drug Crime.” Hall admitted to using his home on Spencer Drive in Petersburg as a drug distribution location and having a 9mm rifle in his home. The crimes occurred in August 2019 in Grant County.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen D. Warner prosecuted the case on behalf of the government. The Potomac Highlands Drug Task Force, a HIDTA-funded initiative, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives investigated.
U.S. District Judge Thomas S. Kleeh presided.
Fugitive Executive Pleads Guilty in Parking Heaters Price-Fixing ConspiracyRead the Press Release
A German national pleaded guilty in the Eastern District of Michigan to leading a price-fixing conspiracy from 2007 to 2012 and was sentenced to time served.
Volker Hohensee, a German national and onetime Canadian resident who served as President of Espar Inc., a parking heater manufacturing company located in the United States and Canada, was indicted by a grand jury in December 2015. Hohensee fled Canada and remained a fugitive for five years. In December 2020, Hohensee was arrested while attempting to enter the Canary Islands and remained incarcerated in a Spanish facility until his plea today.
“The arrest, plea, and sentencing of Volker Hohensee is a prime example of the Antitrust Division’s commitment to bring fugitives to justice,” said Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter of the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division. “The price that this defendant paid by choosing to flee — including five years of fugitive status and 15 months spent in the custody of Spanish law enforcement — serves as a cautionary tale for other defendants who contemplate running from a charge rather than facing it. Be assured that the Antitrust Division and our law enforcement partners — domestic and international — have the patience and tools to bring indicted defendants to justice.”
According to the one-count felony information describing the charge to which Hohensee pleaded guilty, Hohensee and his co-conspirators, including an executive at a competing company, worked together to artificially set aftermarket prices for parking heaters in the United States and elsewhere in North America. Parking heaters are devices that heat the interior compartment of a commercial motor vehicle independent of the operation of the vehicle’s engine. Hohensee and his co-conspirators met to discuss parking heater prices, agreed to set a price floor for parking heater kits and agreed to coordinate the timing and amount of price increases for parking heaters.
Two other executives, both German nationals, were indicted alongside Hohensee in 2015. Frank Haeusler is a former Vice President of Espar Inc.’s German affiliate, Eberspaecher, and a former executive of a competing company. Harald Sailer was a vice president at Eberspaecher. Both remain at large. In 2015, in the Eastern District of New York, Espar Inc. pleaded guilty to a price-fixing charge stemming from the same conspiracy and was sentenced to pay a criminal fine of $14.9 million.
After accepting Hohensee’s guilty plea, the federal district court observed that Hohensee had served 15 months in Spain’s custody after being arrested, and sentenced him to time served.
The Justice Department expresses its appreciation for the assistance provided by various enforcement agencies in Spain and the Canary Islands.
This case is the result of a federal antitrust investigation into price-fixing in the parking heaters market, conducted by the Antitrust Division and the FBI. The original charges, and today’s plea and sentencing, were handled by the Antitrust Division’s New York Office and the FBI’s New York Field Office. Assistance was provided by the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs and the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan.
Anyone with information on price fixing, bid rigging, or other anticompetitive conduct should contact the Antitrust Division’s Citizen Complaint Center at 1-888-647-3258 or visit https://www.justice.gov/atr/citizen-complaint-center.
An indictment is merely an allegation and Haeusler and Sailer are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.