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17 December 2021
West Plains Woman Sentenced to 20 Years for Leading Meth ConspiracyRead the Press Release
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Two West Plains, Missouri, residents were sentenced in federal court today for their roles in a conspiracy to distribute large amounts of methamphetamine in Howell, Greene, and Texas counties.
Shirley J. Hicks, 64, and Shaun M. Ross, 44, both of West Plains, were sentenced in separate hearings before U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Bough. Hicks was sentenced to 20 years and one month in federal prison without parole. Ross was sentenced to six years in federal prison without parole.
Hicks, the leader of the conspiracy, and Ross each pleaded guilty to participating in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine in Howell, Greene, and Texas counties from Dec. 31, 2015, to June 21, 2019. Hicks also pleaded guilty to possessing methamphetamine with the intent to distribute.
When law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Hicks’s residence on July 24, 2018, they found a red toolbox inside a shop/barn that contained six bags with a total of 5.627 kilograms of pure methamphetamine. Inside a bedroom closet in the house, officers also found 12 bags with a total of 243 grams of pure methamphetamine inside a black leather bag, and a blue waterproof box that contained 122.892 grams of pure methamphetamine.
During the search, officers also found five handguns in the toolbox and five more firearms in the house. Officers also seized a total of $20,393, which Hicks admitted was proceeds from her distribution of methamphetamine.
Two days later, law enforcement officers were conducting surveillance and saw Ross visit Hicks’s house. Officers conducted a traffic stop afterward and searched Ross’s vehicle, where they found a zippered bag that contained 17.69 grams of methamphetamine, a small bag of marijuana, and drug paraphernalia. After Ross was arrested, he told investigators that he purchased methamphetamine from Hicks for $600 per ounce, which he then distributed to others. Ross said he had been getting two or three ounces of methamphetamine from her each month for several months.
Hicks and Ross are among six defendants who have been sentenced in this case.
Fontella J. Noose, 41, of Springfield, was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison without parole. Benny D. Griffin, 59, of West Plains, was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison without parole. Jordan W. Gutierrez, 27, of West Plains, was sentenced to 12 years and six months in federal prison without parole. Jose I. Gonzales, 39, of West Plains, was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison without parole.
Co-defendants Raymon F. Ortega, 65, of West Plains; James E. Cooper, 54, of Mountain View; and Luis Ortiz Rodriguez, 39, address unknown, have pleaded guilty and await sentencing.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica R. Sarff. It was investigated by the South Central Drug Task Force, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the Howell County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department, the West Plains, Mo., Police Department, and the Mountain View, Mo., Police Department.
Virginia Woman Charged with Murder of Ohio Man in Cuyahoga Valley National ParkRead the Press Release
U.S. Attorney Bridget M. Brennan announced that a federal grand jury returned a three-count indictment charging Chelsea Perkins, 31, of Alexandria, Virginia, with first-degree murder, second-degree murder, and discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.
According to court documents, on or about March 6, 2021, the defendant is accused of shooting an individual identified in the indictment as M.J.D. (initials used to protect the decedent’s identity) near the Terra Vista Natural Study Area in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park.
Court documents state that M.J.D.’s body was taken to the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s Office for an autopsy, where it was determined that the manner of death was a gunshot wound to the back of his head. The cause of death was ruled a homicide.
On December 9, the Cleveland Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation announced the arrest of Defendant Chelsea Perkins in connection with the homicide. According to court documents, investigators linked the defendant to the shooting of M.J.D using GPS data, ballistics analysis, and DNA evidence.
An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it is the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
If convicted, the defendant’s sentence will be determined by the Court after review of factors unique to this case, including the defendant’s prior criminal record, if any, the defendant’s role in the offense, and the characteristics of the violation.
In all cases, the sentence will not exceed the statutory maximum, and in most cases, it will be less than the maximum.
This investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Cleveland Division; Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification; National Parks Service; and Valley View Police Department. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Scott C. Zarzycki, Margaret A. Kane, and Adam J. Joines.
Universal Aryan Brotherhood Member Pleads Guilty for Participating in a Racketeering Conspiracy and KidnappingRead the Press Release
A member of the Universal Aryan Brotherhood pleaded guilty Thursday for his role in a racketeering enterprise, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson. The UAB is a “whites only” prison-based gang with members operating inside and outside of state prisons throughout Oklahoma.
Eddie L. Funkhouser, 51, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to participate in a racketeering enterprise and to kidnapping but refused to cooperate with the United States.
The plea agreement, if accepted by U.S. District Judge Claire V. Eagan, stipulates that Funkhouser will serve 15 years in prison. Judge Eagan will sentence Funkhouser on April 12, 2022.
“Universal Aryan Brotherhood gang member Eddie Funkhouser was brought to justice for his violent criminal acts, including a 2014 kidnapping,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson. “Thankfully, Homeland Security Investigations and IRS-Criminal Investigation joined forces with state and local law enforcement to take down UAB members and associates, including Funkhouser, who helped to expand and further the influence of this dangerous criminal enterprise.”
In his plea agreement, Funkhouser admitted to being part of the UAB criminal enterprise from about 2005 and continuing through December 2018.
Funkhouser stated that he conspired with other UAB members and associates to directly and indirectly further the gang’s criminal enterprise, consisting of criminal acts such as murder, kidnapping, robbery in violation of Oklahoma state law, and drug trafficking conspiracy acts that violated federal law. He further admitted that he knew and agreed that at least two gang members charged in the same indictment would commit racketeering crimes for the benefit of the UAB.
Funkhouser also admitted to personally being involved in the Oct. 26, 2014, kidnapping of two individuals. Funkhouser and other UAB members believed that one of the individuals was a law enforcement informant. As part of the kidnapping, Funkhouser participated in overt acts of intimidation meant to instill fear in the victims and to keep the victims confined against their will, believing there was no escape. Defendant Charles M. McCully, 44, also admitted to taking part in the 2014 kidnapping when he pleaded guilty in federal court on Nov. 30, 2021.
Funkhouser was indicted on Dec. 7, 2018, with 17 other UAB members and associates. The indictment was unsealed Feb. 20, 2019, and alleged the gang to be a racketeering enterprise that committed acts of murder, kidnapping, the trafficking of methamphetamine and firearms, money laundering, assault, and robbery throughout the State of Oklahoma. The indictment alleged that nine individuals were murdered as part of the UAB’s racketeering operations, often upon the orders of the Main Council, the highest governing body of the UAB.
The UAB was established in 1993 within the Oklahoma Department of Corrections and modeled itself after the principles and ideology of the Aryan Brotherhood, a California-based prison gang that formed in the 1960s.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations and IRS-Criminal Investigation led the investigation with assistance from the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office, the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, the Tulsa and Enid Police Departments, the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs, the U.S. Marshals Service, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. Assistant U.S. Attorney Dennis A. Fries is prosecuting this case.
You can find the press release announcing charges in February 2019 here.
Union County Man Charged with Bank Robbery and Armed Convenience Store RobberiesRead the Press Release
TRENTON, N.J. – A Union County, New Jersey, man has been charged in connection with his commission of a string of robberies in New Jersey, including a bank robbery and two armed robberies of convenience stores, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced today.
Dayshawn Brimfield, 30, of Elizabeth, New Jersey, is charged by complaint with one count of bank robbery, two counts of Hobbs Act robbery, one count of using and carrying a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, and one count of interstate transportation of stolen property. He appeared by videoconference before U.S. Magistrate Judge Lois H. Goodman and was detained.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
On April 2, 2021, a man dressed in dark clothing walked into a Hazlet, New Jersey, bank and handed a note to an employee. In the note, the man claimed to have a gun and threatened to kill the employee if the employee did not give him money. The employee turned over $750, which the man took before fleeing. Law enforcement later identified Brimfield’s palmprint on the note.
On April 20, 2021, Brimfield entered an Aberdeen, New Jersey, convenience store wearing dark clothing and a mask that partially covered his face. Brimfield approached an employee behind the counter and ordered him to the ground while brandishing a handgun. The employee complied, and Brimfield took approximately $450 from the store’s cash registers. Law enforcement reviewed security camera footage of the robbery and identified Brimfield as the robber. Security cameras also captured an older-model green Honda Civic park outside of the store immediately prior to the robbery.
On April 22, 2021, Brimfield, who was wearing a dark jacket with light stains and a mask, approached an employee of a South Plainfield, New Jersey, convenience store behind the counter and brandished a handgun. Brimfield demanded the employee’s wallet and cellphone, and the employee handed them over. The employee’s wallet contained his driver’s license, Social Security card and cash. Brimfield ordered the man to the ground as he took more than $2,000 from the store. Brimfield left the store and walked in the direction of a neighboring business. Law enforcement reviewed security camera footage from that neighboring business. Immediately prior to the robbery, security cameras captured Brimfield driving a green Honda Civic that had been stolen in Elizabeth four to five days earlier and wearing a knit New England Patriots hat.
On April 25, 2021, Nebraska State Patrol Officers arrested Brimfield after he led them on a five-mile pursuit in the stolen Civic. Law enforcement seized the South Plainfield convenience store employee’s driver’s license and Social Security card, clothing consistent with the clothing Brimfield wore during both convenience store robberies, and a knit New England Patriots hat from the Civic.
The bank robbery and Hobbs Act robbery charges each carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. The using and carrying a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence charge carries a maximum penalty of life in prison, and a fine of up to $250,000. The interstate transportation of stolen property charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, and a fine of up to $250,000.
U.S. Attorney Sellinger credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge George M. Crouch Jr. in Newark; officers of the Hazlet Police Department, under the direction of Chief Ted A. Wittke; officers of the South Amboy Police Department, under the direction of Chief Darren LaVigne; officers of the Aberdeen Police Department, under the direction of Acting Chief Matthew Lloyd; officers of the Nebraska State Patrol, under the direction of Col. John A. Bolduc; members of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Prosecutor Yolanda Ciccone; and members of the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Acting Prosecutor Lori Linskey, with the investigation leading to today’s charges.
The government is represented by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Matthews of the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Criminal Division in Trenton.
The charges and allegations contained in the complaint are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
U.S.-Swiss Dual National Sentenced to Three Years in Prison for Bank Fraud Charges Connected to Investment Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON – Lawrence Paul Schmidt, aka Lawrence Schmid, 61, formerly of Washington, D.C., was sentenced today to three years in prison in connection with federal bank fraud charges related to an investment fraud scheme.
The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Wayne A. Jacobs, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office Criminal Division.
In addition to his term of imprisonment, the Honorable Amy Berman Jackson imposed a four-year term of supervised release, restitution in the amount of $106,775.84, and entry of a forfeiture money judgment in the amount of $106,775.84.
Schmidt was indicted in November 2018 on two counts of bank fraud, two counts of wire fraud, and six counts of engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from specified unlawful activity. He was extradited from the United Kingdom in late 2020 in connection with the federal charges and has remained in US custody since his arrest. On Sept. 29, 2021, Schmidt pleaded guilty to a bank fraud charge in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
According to the statement of offense submitted to the Court and admitted by Schmidt, beginning in 2008, Schmidt created several investment entities and related corporations, including Commercial Equity Partners, Ltd. (“CEP”) and FutureGen Company (“FGC”), through which he solicited funds. Schmidt was the sole signatory on the bank accounts for each of these entities. Between June 2008 and April 2014, Schmidt raised over $22 million in funds, which he then comingled and transferred between the various entities and to personal accounts. Schmidt knew that by January 2014, the bank accounts for the various CEP and FGC entities contained insufficient funds to meet the companies’ financial obligations. By March 2014, the approximate combined balance of all the entities’ bank accounts was just $8,600.
As a result, over a roughly four-month period in early 2014, Schmidt masterminded a scheme to defraud and attempt to defraud Bank of America and SunTrust Bank of approximately $746,885.59 in funds controlled by the banks. Specifically, using various methods, Schmidt deposited fraudulent and forged checks into investment fund bank accounts that he controlled, then transferred and used the money for, amongst other things, his own benefit and use. In doing so, according to the government’s evidence, Schmidt abused his position of private trust with the investors of the various CEP and FGC-related entities.
As the scheme continued to unravel, on April 10, 2014, Schmidt boarded a one-way flight from the United States to London, where he remained until his arrest and extradition. Prior to leaving the United States, Schmidt wrote two letters to family members in which he stated, among other things, “[a]t this point in my life I have three choices, suicide, prison more than likely or to try and start over and make right by everyone.” Thereafter, on or about July 24, 2015, in responding to a message sent to him on LinkedIn from one of his investors, Schmidt wrote, “I know the federal government would like to prosecute me and I cannot blame them.”
On June 1, 2014, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed suit in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, in Civil Action No. 14-cv-1002 (CRC), against Schmidt, CEP, FutureGen, and the entities Schmidt controlled. The court entered final judgment against Schmidt on October 3, 2018, and entered final judgment against CEP, FutureGen, and the additional entities that Schmidt controlled on March 11, 2019.
This investigation was conducted by the FBI’s Washington Field Office Criminal Division. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs in the Department’s Criminal Division, the United States Marshals Service, and the government of the United Kingdom provided substantial assistance in securing Schmidt’s arrest and extradition. The SEC also provided substantial assistance in this investigation.
The prosecution is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Anne P. McNamara and David B. Kent of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.
U.S. Attorney’s Office Announces More Than $6.4 Million in Funding Awarded to Support Sexual Assault Kit Testing, Investigations, Services and Training in Northern OhioRead the Press Release
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio announced today that the Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs (OJP) has awarded more than $6.4 million in grant funding to support sexual assault kit testing, investigations and prosecutions in Northern Ohio. In addition, funding was awarded to provide services for prepubescent victims of sexual assault and assist medical nurses with obtaining specialized training.
The following is a summary of the awards.
City of Cleveland, $2,461,762.
The City of Cleveland was awarded funding to continue sexual assault kit testing, identify victims of sexual assault cold cases and continue the implementation of best practices and victim-centered approaches to investigating and prosecuting these cases.
City of Akron, $2,002,676.
The City of Akron was awarded funding to hire personnel to continue investigations and prosecutions into sexual assault cold cases. Funding was also awarded to conduct public outreach, support lab efforts for advanced DNA testing, provide support for victims and witnesses and provide training for investigators and prosecutors.
Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office, $1,395,078.
The Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office was awarded funding to help identify “John Doe” defendants, solve sexually motivated homicides and re-investigate previous sexual assault kits to find case leads.
ProMedica Metro Forensic Program: Children’s Advocacy Center (CAC) and Training Expansion (PMFPE), Toledo, Ohio, $600,000.
ProMedica was awarded funding to provide coordinated forensic interviews, non-acute medical exams and follow-up care for prepubescent victims of sexual assault. In addition, the grant funding will assist nurses with obtaining their sexual assault nurse examiner (SANE) certification.
The Office of Justice Programs provides federal leadership, grants, training, technical assistance and other resources to improve the nation’s capacity to prevent and reduce crime, advance racial equity in the administration of justice, assist victims and enhance the rule of law. More information about OJP and its components can be found at www.ojp.gov.
U.S. Attorney's Office Settles Disability Discrimination Allegations with Massachusetts Parole BoardRead the Press Release
BOSTON – The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts has reached an agreement with the Massachusetts Parole Board to resolve allegations that the Parole Board violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by discriminating against individuals with Substance Use Disorder (SUD).
The agreement resolves complaints that the Parole Board discriminated against parolees and prospective parolees with SUD taking Medication for Opioid Use Disorder (MOUD). MOUDs include buprenorphine (Suboxone), methadone and naltrexone (Vivitrol). According to the complaints, the Parole Board required certain parolees with SUD to take a specific form of MOUD as a condition of parole instead of requiring them to comply with their health care provider’s recommended treatment. In addition, the Parole Board had a prior practice of requiring certain prospective parolees with SUD to take prescription Vivitrol without conducting individualized assessments to ascertain the efficacy or appropriateness of Vivitrol for that person and without considering whether other forms of MOUD might be more appropriate or effective.
“Ensuring access to medical treatment for opioid use disorder is a central part of this office’s strategy to combat the opioid crisis and every bit as important as prosecuting drug traffickers,” said Acting United States Attorney Nathaniel R. Mendell. “Individualized and effective medical treatment for drug addiction saves lives and reduces illegal drug use. We commend the Parole Board for working with us and sharing our commitment to fighting the opioid crisis with every tool we have.”
Under the terms of the agreement, the Parole Board will ensure that when parole applicants with SUD are assessed for treatment, a qualified addiction specialist authorized to prescribe all three types of MOUD will conduct an individualized assessment and recommend or prescribe the appropriate MOUD or treatment for the applicant, if deemed appropriate. The Parole Board will not express a preference for, or mandate, one form of MOUD over another, even if an individualized assessment results in a recommendation that includes more than one medication option.
In addition, the Parole Board agreed that it will modify conditions of parole for all parolees with SUD to eliminate any condition that includes a requirement for a specific MOUD and instead require that the parolee comply with their health care providers’ recommendations regarding SUD treatment. For all new parolees going forward, the Parole Board will ensure that no parolees with SUD will be required to take a specific form of MOUD as a condition of parole.
This matter is part of an ongoing effort by the U.S. Attorney’s Office to enforce the ADA and to eliminate discriminatory barriers to treatment for SUD. This matter was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Torey B. Cummings and Gregory Dorchak of Mendell’s Civil Rights Unit.
The Civil Rights Unit of the U.S. Attorney’s Office was established in 2015 with the mission of enhancing federal civil rights enforcement. For more information on the Office’s civil rights efforts, please visit www.justice.gov/usao-ma/civil-rights.
U.S. Attorney's Office Recognizes Law Enforcement Partners for Outstanding Contributions to Public Safety and Department of Justice's MissionRead the Press Release
LAS VEGAS – This week, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Nevada recognized nine federal, state, and local law enforcement officers and special agents who went above and beyond in 2021, putting themselves at risk to support the Department of Justice’s mission.
“These awards honor law enforcement’s commitment to maintaining public safety across Nevada,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Christopher Chiou for the District of Nevada. “Each recipient has made a significant impact in our communities, and our office is grateful for the opportunity to work with them.”
The award recipients were honored for their dedication, contributions, and collaboration with the U.S. Attorney’s Office towards reducing violent crime, combatting human trafficking, and preventing fraud. The recipients came from the following law enforcement agencies:
- Federal Bureau of Investigation
- Henderson Police Department
- Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department
- U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service
- U.S. Postal Inspection Service
The U.S. Attorney’s Office thanks all of the recipients, their colleagues, their families, and agency leadership for their continued commitment to promoting public safety.
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U.S. Attorney Erskine announces eight new additions to the U.S. Attorney’s Office teamRead the Press Release
ATLANTA – U.S. Attorney Kurt R. Erskine announced the appointment of eight new Assistant U.S. Attorneys (AUSA) who will immediately employ their talents to support the Northern District of Georgia’s (NDGA) mission to enforce the law and defend the interests of the citizens that we serve in this district.
“We are fortunate to have such talented and dedicated professionals join us to represent the United States,” said U.S. Attorney Kurt R. Erskine. “We are committed to excellence in our service to this country as well as the citizens of the Northern District of Georgia and welcome these outstanding Assistant U.S. Attorneys to the office.”
The following AUSAs joined our office or have assumed new roles:
- Mary Jane Stewart, a career public servant, has returned to the United States Attorney’s Office as Senior Trial Counsel in the Criminal Division, after having served over four years as the First Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Middle District of Tennessee, and then as the Acting U.S. Attorney for the district. Hired as an AUSA in 1983 in Atlanta, she has handled hundreds of criminal cases and tried scores of jury trials. During her tenure, she also served as the Deputy Chief of the Drug Division, Senior Litigation Counsel, and the Criminal Division’s Training Coordinator. From 2002 until her departure in October 2017, she and former AUSA William R. Toliver trained over 100 newly hired AUSAs to be federal prosecutors. She holds three degrees from the University of Georgia: a BA in French (1975), a MA in Political Science (1977), and her Juris Doctor (1980).
- Larry Sommerfeld has rejoined the office as Chief of Appeals and Legal Advice. Larry returns to the office from a partnership at Alston & Bird where he was a member of the firm’s Litigation and Trial Practice Group and its Privacy, Cyber & Data Strategy Team. Larry advised clients on their most sensitive cybersecurity matters including significant computer network intrusions, cyber preparedness, and data privacy compliance. He counseled clients on technology and data strategy matters, spanning the life cycle of their digital data across the globe. Previously, Larry served as an AUSA in the Economic Crimes section and led the office’s Cybercrimes unit before being promoted to Appellate Chief. Larry was a member of the trial team that convicted the individuals who assassinated DeKalb County Sheriff-elect Derwin Brown on the orders of the outgoing Sheriff, and argued the case on appeal. He also led the successful investigation and prosecution of one of the most sophisticated and coordinated cyber intrusions ever perpetrated, involving the withdrawal within 12 hours of $9.4 million from more than 2,100 ATM terminals in at least 280 cities worldwide, bringing to justice defendants from four continents. Larry is an MIT graduate and member of the Order of the Coif from the University of Virginia School of Law. He clerked for judges on both the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, the Eleventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, and has practiced at firms in New York City and Silicon Valley, California.
- AUSA Jeffrey Davis also returns to our office from the Vermont U.S. Attorney’s Office and will serve as Special Counsel in the Criminal Division. Jeff previously served as the Chief of the Public Integrity and Special Matters Section in the NDGA U.S. Attorney’s Office. Before beginning his federal service, Jeff was a vice president in the anti-money laundering division of an international investment bank. After graduating from law school, he served as an assistant district attorney in the New York County District Attorney’s Office. Jeff graduated from Connecticut College and Emory University School of Law with honors. Jeff also received a professional certificate in forensic accounting from New York University.
- AUSA Aileen Bell Hughes will serve as Special Counsel in the Civil Division. Aileen currently leads the Civil Rights Unit in the Civil Division and represents the United States in civil rights matters involving disability, housing, education, and other civil rights statutes. After serving as a civil rights attorney in Connecticut, Hughes joined the Department of Justice in Washington D.C. in 1998 as a Senior Trial Attorney in the Civil Division. She later transferred to the Civil Rights Division as a Senior Trial Attorney and led several high-profile civil rights investigations involving people with mental illness and intellectual disabilities. In 2003, Aileen joined the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia where she defended various federal agencies in civil defensive matters. In 2010, Aileen was appointed the Civil Rights Coordinator in the Civil Division of the office. She developed, coordinated, and implemented a new civil rights practice in the NDGA, and was successful in helping to create a Civil Rights Unit in the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Aileen received her B.A. cum laude from the University of Connecticut, and her J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center.
- Sharon Lim will serve as an AUSA in the Civil Division. Lim served as an associate in the Atlanta office of Jackson Lewis P.C., representing employers in federal and state courts and before administrative agencies on a variety of employment-related matters, including collective and class action wage and hour disputes. Prior to that, Sharon served as a law clerk for the Hon. Catherine M. Salinas, U.S. Magistrate Judge for the Northern District of Georgia. Sharon worked in Hawaii for nearly five years before moving to Georgia, first as a law clerk to two state court judges on Maui, and then as an associate in a Honolulu law firm devoted exclusively to the representation of management in labor and employment law matters. Sharon received her B.A. cum laude from the University of California, Irvine, and her J.D. from Notre Dame Law School.
- Natasha Cooper will serve as an AUSA in the Criminal Division. Cooper served as an Associate in the Complex Commercial Litigation Group of McGuireWoods LLP, where she handled both financial services litigation and regulatory matters. Natasha also served as Regulatory Counsel to Edward Jones where she handled state securities, SEC and FINRA matters for the broker-dealer. She has also been active serving as the past Chair of the American Bar Association, Young Lawyers Division Litigation Committee. In 2019, the National Black Lawyers named Natasha as a Top 40 under 40 Lawyer. Natasha received her law degree from the Emory University School of Law, where she was a Kessler-Edison Scholar. She received her B.A., summa cum laude, from the State University of New York at Albany Honors College.
- Norman Barnett will serve as an AUSA in the Criminal Division. Barnett served as a Senior Assistant District Attorney in the Cobb County District Attorney’s Office, where he prosecuted a variety of matters, including homicides, serious violent felonies, and organized crime cases. He also served as an Assistant District Attorney in the Douglas County District Attorney’s Office. Prior to his prosecution career, Norman worked as an associate at Swift, Currie, McGee and Hiers, LLP and the Law Offices of W. Calvin Smith, II, P.C. In 2016 and 2018, Norman served as the Musical Director, keyboardist, and band director for the Atlanta Bar Association’s Bard Show. Additionally, he served on the planning committee for the State Bar of Georgia’s High School Mock Trial program and recently served as the program’s chair. Norman earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Georgia School of Law, where he served as a Notes Editor for the Journal of Intellectual Property Law. He also earned his Bachelor of Arts in English with a music minor from the University of Georgia.
- Vivieon Kelly Jones joins the office from the Department of Justice in Washington, where she served as a trial attorney in the Office of General Counsel for the U.S. Trustee Program, promoting the integrity and efficiency of the bankruptcy system. Vivieon entered duty at the Department in 2009 as a trial attorney for the U.S. Trustee Program in the Northern District of Georgia. Prior to her tenure with the Department, Vivieon worked as an associate at Troutman Pepper where she focused her practice in the areas of bankruptcy reorganizations and complex litigation. Vivieon earned her law degree from William & Mary Law School, and her B.A. from the College of William & Mary. She also served as a clerk for Hon. E. Stephen Derby of the Bankruptcy Court in the District of Maryland. Vivieon is a member of the Civil Division and currently serves as Parliamentarian for DOJABA, the Department's Association of Black Attorneys.
For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at [email protected] or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.
Two Men from North Carolina and Georgia Charged with Scheme to Fraudulently Inflate Credit ScoresRead the Press Release
PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams announced that Ashante Richardson, 46, of Lawrenceville, GA, and Frank Crosson, 50, of Greensboro, NC, were arrested and charged by Indictment with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and multiple counts of wire fraud in connection with a scheme to fraudulently alter numerous individuals’ credit scores in order to obtain loans and credit.
According to the Indictment, which was unsealed in conjunction with the defendants’ initial appearances in federal court on these charges today, from about September until December 2016, the defendants conspired with another individual to alter the credit histories of themselves and their clients in order to falsely improve those individuals’ chances of securing credit and loans from financial institutions. At the time of the charged conduct, the defendants’ co-conspirator was an employee of TransUnion, one of the three primary consumer credit reporting agencies in the United States. Richardson and Crosson allegedly paid this individual $40,000 in exchange for making unauthorized and unsupported alterations to individuals’ TransUnion credit histories, including the credit histories of clients of Perpetual Synergy, a credit repair business operated by Richardson. Shortly after the co-conspirator at TransUnion made the alterations to these individuals’ credit histories, many of those individuals credit scores increased and they obtained new credit cards, lines of credit, or bank loans.
“The defendants allegedly cheated our national system of credit reporting in order to bolster their scores and those of their clients,” said U.S. Attorney Williams. “Criminals that conduct schemes like this prey on the hard work and honesty of all American consumers who operate within the system to build their credit histories. Our Office will continue to investigate and prosecute financial fraud to protect the integrity of the markets and commerce.”
If convicted the defendants faces a maximum possible sentence of 180 years in prison, three years of supervised release, a $2,250,000 fine, and a $900 special assessment.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney K.T. Newton.
Two Members of Pagan’s Motorcycle Club Indicted for Shooting at Hells Angels Associate on New Jersey TurnpikeRead the Press Release
NEWARK, N.J. – Two high-ranking members of the Pagan’s Motorcycle Club were indicted today for assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering, narcotics distribution, and firearms offenses, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced.
Larry Ortiz, aka “Savage,” 31, of Elizabeth, New Jersey, and Junius Aquino, aka “Jayo,” 38, of Vauxhall, New Jersey, were indicted for assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering (Count One) and discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence (Count Two), in connection with their roles in a gang-related shooting. Aquino was also charged with possession of ammunition by a convicted felon (Count Three) and possession with intent to distribute cocaine (Count Four), and Ortiz was also charged with possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine (Count Five) and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime (Count Six).
According to documents filed and statements made in court:
On Oct. 21, 2020, Aquino visited a bar in Verona, New Jersey, with other members of the Pagan’s. When Aquino and his associates exited the bar, a group of individuals approached and assaulted them with baseball bats. Approximately one week later Aquino and Ortiz shot at an associate of the Hells Angels on the New Jersey Turnpike in retaliation for the Verona assault. The Pagan’s and the Hells Angels are known to be rival gangs.
Aquino was also indicted for possession of ammunition by a convicted felon and possession with intent to distribute cocaine. The ammunition charge arises from a shooting that occurred in Elizabeth on Oct. 31, 2020, during which Aquino shot at an occupied vehicle. On Nov. 5, 2020, law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Aquino’s residence and recovered, among other items, multiple .40 caliber rounds of ammunition and approximately 50 grams of cocaine. At the time of Aquino’s arrest, he was the vice president of the Elizabeth membership chapter of the Pagan’s.
Ortiz was indicted for possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. On Nov. 17, 2020, law enforcement executed a search warrant at Ortiz’s residence and recovered approximately 300 grams of methamphetamine and a loaded firearm. At the time of his arrest, Ortiz was the president of the Pagans’ Jersey City membership chapter.
These charges were filed as part of a multi-agency investigation into the Pagan’s Motorcycle Club – an outlaw motorcycle gang known to engage in illegal activity, including narcotics trafficking, weapons trafficking, and violent crimes. The Pagan’s have established membership chapters in numerous states and U.S. territories, including multiple active chapters in New Jersey. This investigation involved court-authorized wiretaps, the use of multiple undercover law enforcement agents, and execution of multiple search warrants at physical locations in multiple jurisdictions. Through the investigation, law enforcement seized 10 firearms and more than 800 grams of methamphetamine.
Count One carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. Count Two carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison, a maximum sentence of life in prison, and a fine of up to $250,000. Count Three carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. Count Four carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a maximum fine of $1 million. Count Five carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison, a maximum sentence of life in prison, and a fine of up to $10 million. Count Six carries a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison, a maximum sentence of life in prison, and a fine of up to $250,000.
U.S. Attorney Sellinger credited a joint task force comprised of special agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Newark Division, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Susan A. Gibson; special agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, Newark Field Division, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey L. Matthews; the Union County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Prosecutor William A. Daniel; and the New Jersey State Police, under the direction of Col. Patrick J. Callahan, with the investigation leading to these charges. He also thanked the Elizabeth Police Department, under the direction of Chief Giacomo Sacca, for its assistance with this investigation.
These cases are 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.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Robert Frazer, R. Joseph Gribko, and Samantha C. Fasanello, of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Newark.
The charges and allegations contained in the indictment are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Two Florida Men Plead Guilty to $35 Million COVID-19 Relief Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
Two Florida men pleaded guilty this week in the Northern District of Ohio for leading a nationwide scheme to fraudulently obtain over $35 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration (SBA) under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.
According to court documents, James R. Stote, 55, of Hollywood, and Phillip J. Augustin, 52, of Coral Springs, conspired to obtain millions of dollars in fraudulent PPP loans. Augustin and Stote obtained a fraudulent PPP loan for Augustin’s company, Clear Vision Music Group LLC, using falsified documents. After submitting that application, Stote and Augustin immediately began working to obtain larger PPP loans for themselves and their associates. Stote and Augustin recruited additional PPP loan applicants and prepared and submitted fraudulent loan applications for them in exchange for a share of the loan proceeds. Augustin used his network of business contacts from his work as a manager for professional football players. The applications they submitted for all of the loans in the scheme relied on fake payroll numbers, falsified IRS forms and phony bank statements. They submitted or facilitated at least 79 fraudulent loan applications worth at least $35 million and planned to submit more. As part of the plea, Stote agreed to forfeit more than $1 million in proceeds of the fraud that had previously been seized.
The scheme included at least two loans to entities in Northeast Ohio worth approximately $875,000.
“These convictions, and the numerous convictions of others involved in this wide-ranging conspiracy, demonstrate that people will be held accountable for defrauding the PPP Program,” said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Fraud against PPP programs directly harms taxpayers and undermine public trust in essential government support during the pandemic. We will continue to combat fraud and ensure that COVID-19 relief goes to those who deserve it.”
“While many businesses in our communities relied upon relief funds to keep their doors open and employees paid, these defendants profited off a scheme that stole millions of taxpayer dollars intended for struggling businesses and spent it lavishly on themselves,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle M. Baeppler for the Northern District of Ohio. “Theft of government funds will not be tolerated, and prosecuting PPP fraud remains a priority for law enforcement.”
Stote and Augustin each pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. They are scheduled to be sentenced at a later date and each face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
“From submitting false documentation to recruiting other individuals, the defendants went to great lengths to defraud the Paycheck Protection Program of millions of dollars,” said Special Agent in Charge Bryant Jackson of IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), Cincinnati Field Office. “IRS-CI will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to hold those accountable that defraud programs designed to help struggling Americans and businesses.”
“This sentencing serves as a deterrent to anyone who would commit fraud targeting COVID-19 relief programs,” said Acting Assistant Director Jay Greenberg of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division. “Programs like these were created to help individuals during a pandemic, not for fraudsters to take advantage for personal gain. The FBI will continue to pursue criminal actors who engage in this activity.”
“Conspiring to fraudulently use SBA program funds is unacceptable,” said Special Agent in Charge Sharon Johnson of the SBA Office of Inspector General’s (SBA-OIG) Central Region. “OIG will aggressively root out fraud to protect the integrity of SBA’s programs, which are intended to provide vital assistance to the nation’s small businesses. I want to thank the Department of Justice and our law enforcement partners for their dedication and commitment to seeing justice served.”
In total, 25 people have been charged for their participation in this scheme in the Northern District of Ohio, Southern District of Florida and Middle District of North Carolina. To date, 20 of those defendants have been convicted.
The IRS-CI, FBI and SBA-OIG are investigating the cases.
This case is being prosecuted by and Assistant U.S. Attorney Elliot Morrison and Trial Attorney Philip Trout of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section.
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Two Felons Sentenced to Respectively to 96 and 78 Months in Prison of Illegal Possession of a FirearmRead the Press Release
ST. PAUL, Minn. – Two men have been sentenced for illegal possession of firearms, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Charles J. Kovats.
Jarvae Josiah Somerville, 28, of White Bear Lake, and Ronald Donte Finley, Jr., 26, of Minneapolis, were both convicted on August 26, 2021, of one count each of illegal possession of a firearm, following a three-day jury trial before U.S. District Judge Paul A. Magnuson. The defendants were sentenced yesterday to 96 months and 78 months in prison, respectively. Both men were sentenced to three years of supervised release that will begin upon their release from prison.
“The staggering spike in gun violence throughout the Twin Cities must end,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Charles J. Kovats. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office remains steadfast in our commitment to hold accountable individuals who put public safety at risk.”
According to court documents, Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) officers investigating a shooting followed Somerville and Finley to a restaurant on Lake Street in Minneapolis. While Somerville was inside the restaurant and Finley was outside in an Infinity sedan that the men were driving, officers moved in to make an arrest. When officers approached Finley, Finley ran from the Infinity sedan but was apprehended and arrested. Inside the Infiniti sedan, officers found a Sig Sauer 9mm semi-automatic pistol with an extended magazine. When officers entered the restaurant and attempted to arrest Somerville, Somerville ran inside a private bathroom in the back of the restaurant. Two officers chasing Somerville followed Somerville inside, and Somerville reached into his waistband. Concerned that Somerville was reaching for a firearm, an officer grabbed Somerville’s hands, and the three men struggled until other officers arrived to assist. After Somerville was handcuffed and taken into custody, officers recovered from the floor of the bathroom a Glock, .45 caliber semi-automatic handgun with an extended magazine.
After the arrests, officers executed a search warrant at Somerville’s residence and found a box of .45 caliber ammunition the same model of which was found in the firearm found in the bathroom. Officers also found a gun cleaning kit. Investigators later confirmed that Finley’s fingerprints were present on the magazine of the 9mm pistol found in the Infiniti sedan.
Because Somerville has prior felony convictions in Hennepin County and Finley has prior felony convictions in Cook County, Illinois, they are prohibited under federal law from possessing firearms or ammunition at any time.
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 is the result of an investigation conducted by the Minneapolis Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Calhoun-Lopez prosecuted the case.
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Two Essex County Women Charged in Sham Marriage Immigration SchemeRead the Press Release
NEWARK, N.J. – Two Essex County, New Jersey, women were indicted today in connection with a scheme to arrange sham marriages between U.S. citizens and non-citizens seeking to stay in the United States unlawfully, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced.
Sisters Andrea Torres, 55, and Regina Johnson, 57, of Newark, were both charged by indictment with one count of conspiracy to encourage and induce non-citizens to remain in the United States illegally. They had been previously charged by complaint with the same offense. Torres and Johnson will be arraigned at a later date.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
From September 2016 to July 2019, Torres and Johnson devised and participated in a fraudulent scheme to arrange and facilitate sham marriages for non-citizens who wished to remain in the United States despite lacking legal status or the proper documentation. They recruited U.S. citizen as potential spouses and paid them a fee in exchange for those U.S. citizens entering into sham marriages with Torres’ and Johnson’s non-citizen clients. Torres and Johnson arranged for the “couples” to obtain fraudulent marriage licenses and even arranged and charged their clients for wedding ceremonies and afterparties that were staged to make the sham marriages appear legitimate. Torres and Johnson advised their clients on ways to make their marriage appear legitimate on paper, including the opening of joint bank accounts and frequent meetings with their U.S. spouses – where they were advised to take pictures in a variety of locations and in different clothing – to document the relationship and give the appearance of cohabitation, even though none of the clients ever resided or intended to reside with their U.S. spouses. Torres and Johnson then helped their non-citizen clients fill out immigration forms to obtain permanent residency on the basis of materially false misrepresentations.
The charge in the indictment carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000, or twice the pecuniary gain or loss resulting from the offense, whichever is greatest.
U.S. Attorney Sellinger credited special agents of the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Jason J. Molina in Newark, with the investigation leading to today’s indictment.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sammi Malek of the National Security Unit in Newark.
The charge and allegations contained in the indictment are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Thibodaux Man Sentenced to 160 Months in Federal Prison for Attempted Coercion and Enticement of a MinorRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Ronald C. Gathe, Jr. announced that U.S. District Judge Brian A. Jackson sentenced Dillon M. Guidry, age 29, of Thibodaux, Louisiana, to 160 months in federal prison following his conviction for attempted coercion and enticement of a minor. The Court further sentenced Guidry to serve five years of supervised release following his term of imprisonment, and he must register as a convicted sex offender for life.
According to admissions made during his plea, on or about March 17, 2021, an FBI online covert employee (“OCE”), herein referred to as “OCE 1,” while working in an undercover capacity in the Middle District of Louisiana and posing as a 13-year-old female, posted a message on a social media mobile application (“Mobile App”). On March 18, 2021, Guidry contacted OCE 1 on the Mobile App. During his communication with OCE 1, Guidry indicated that he was a 28-year-old male and acknowledged the age of OCE 1 as 13 years old. During the same conversation, Guidry and OCE 1 exchanged phone numbers.
From approximately March 18 through May 20, 2021, Guidry engaged in sexually explicit text messages with OCE 1. During these text messages, Guidry misrepresented his identity and claimed that his name was “James from Gonzales.” On April 14, 2021, Guidry asked OCE 1 whether they could have sexual intercourse. OCE 1 replied that she was not on birth control and asked Guidry to bring condoms when they met to have sexual intercourse. Also, on April 14, 2021, Guidry sent OCE 1 a picture of his face, which law enforcement officers later used to match with Guidry’s photo on the Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office sex offender registration website. On April 22, 2021, Guidry asked OCE 1 if she has any friends that he could have sexual intercourse with. When OCE 1 replied yes, Guidry asked for the friend’s age. OCE 1 replied, “13 like me.”
On April 27, 2021, OCE 1 provided Guidry with a telephone number utilized by a second OCE (“OCE 2”) working in an undercover capacity in the Middle District of Louisiana and posing as a 13-year-old female. On or about April 27, 2021, Guidry texted OCE 2. OCE 2 advised Guidry that she was 13 years old. From approximately April 27 through May 20, 2021, Guidry engaged in sexually explicit text messages with OCE 2.
On April 29, 2021, Guidry texted OCE 2 about meeting in person to have sexual intercourse. OCE 2 asked when they would meet, and Guidry replied that they would meet on May 20, 2021. Guidry explained that he would meet OCE 1 and OCE 2 at OCE 1’s house. On May 20, 2021, Guidry traveled to a location designated by OCE 1, located within the Middle District of Louisiana, for the purpose of engaging in sexual activity with two females who Guidry believed to be 13-year-olds. While driving to the meeting location, Guidry stopped and purchased condoms. Guidry arrived in the area of the meeting location in Baton Rouge, Louisiana at approximately 6:45 PM. Based on the aforementioned communications, law enforcement officers arrested Guidry for various child exploitation offenses.
U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Gathe, Jr. stated, “This case highlights the commitment to protect our children from sexual predators. May this sentence serve as a stark warning of the severe consequences to those who may be inclined to engage in similar conduct. I am grateful for the excellent work of all those involved in bringing this defendant to justice.”
FBI New Orleans Special Agent in Charge Douglas Williams, Jr. stated, “Today’s sentencing sends a clear message that criminals like Dillon Guidry who destroy innocent lives will be held accountable. Investigating individuals like Mr. Guidry is one of the highest priorities of the FBI and we will continue to take an aggressive approach to identify and hold accountable those who prey on our children. We thank our partners at the United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Louisiana, U.S. Homeland Security, Louisiana State Police, Louisiana Bureau of Investigation, and the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office for their strong partnership and unrelenting pursuit of justice.”
This matter was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Department of Homeland Security, the Louisiana Attorney General’s Office, Louisiana State Police, Louisiana Bureau of Investigation, and the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Edward H. Warner and Assistant United States Attorney Jamie A. Flowers Jr., who also serves as Deputy Chief for the United States Attorney’s Office.
Team Telecom Recommends FCC Grant Google and Meta Licenses for Undersea CableRead the Press Release
Today, the Department of Justice announced that Team Telecom entered into National Security Agreements with Google LLC and its subsidiary GU Holdings Inc., and Meta Platforms Inc. (formerly known as Facebook Inc.) and its subsidiary Edge Cable Holdings USA LLC to protect data on the Pacific Light Cable Network (PLCN) system, an undersea fiber optic cable system that will connect the United States, Taiwan and the Philippines.
The agreements were made with the Departments of Justice (DOJ), Defense (DOD), and Homeland Security (DHS) in their roles as members of the Committee for the Assessment of Foreign Participation in the U.S. Telecommunications and Services Sector (known informally as Team Telecom), and were coordinated with committee advisors listed in section 3(d) of Executive Order 13913 (2020). The Executive Branch has recommended that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) condition any license to operate the PLCN system on compliance with the National Security Agreements.
“These agreements enable Google and Meta to take advantage of critical, additional cable capacity while protecting U.S. persons’ privacy and security through terms that reflect the current threat environment,” said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, who leads Team Telecom’s work for the Justice Department. “This resolution also demonstrates Team Telecom’s ability to resolve complex cases involving critical infrastructure in a timely matter, thanks to recent reforms of our structure and process.”
Under the National Security Agreements, Google and Meta (and their subsidiaries) have agreed to (among other terms):
- Conduct annual assessments of risk to sensitive data that transits the PLCN cable system, including when the data exits the cable;
- Pursue diversification of interconnection points in Asia, including but not limited to Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam; and
- Restrict access to information and infrastructure by Pacific Light Data Communications Co. Ltd (PLDC), the Hong Kong-based owner of PLCN that withdrew its application for an FCC license.
In June 2020, the committee publicly recommended that the FCC partially deny a previous application for PLCN with respect to PLCN’s proposed connections to Hong Kong and to the portions of the PLCN owned by PLDC. Shortly after that recommendation, the applicants withdrew the original PLCN application. Google’s and Meta’s subsidiaries then filed a new FCC application removing Hong Kong and seeking to operate only the United States, Taiwan and Philippines portions of PLCN.
The National Security Agreements are justified by the current national security environment, including:
- the PRC government’s sustained efforts to acquire the sensitive personal data of millions of U.S. persons;
- the PRC government’s access to other countries’ data through both digital infrastructure investments and recent PRC intelligence and cybersecurity laws; and
- changes in the market that have transformed subsea cable infrastructure into increasingly data-rich environments that are vulnerable to exploitation.
Through appropriate mitigation agreements like these, the committee seeks to protect the national security interests of the United States while preserving global access to U.S. information and communications technology systems.
The committee was established pursuant to Executive Order 13913, and the Attorney General’s role as Chair of the Committee is carried out by the Department of Justice’s National Security Division, Foreign Investment Review Section. The Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Defense are fellow members of the committee. More information concerning the agreements is available on the FCC’s International Bureau Filing System (IBFS), under Docket Number SCL-LIC-20200827-00038.
Tampa Woman Sentenced to 15 Months in Federal Prison for Embezzling over $900,000 from Her EmployerRead the Press Release
Tampa, Florida – U.S. District Judge Virginia M. Hernandez Covington has sentenced Alicia Sheri Morgan (43, Tampa) to 15 months in federal prison for conspiracy to embezzle $906,109 from her employer. The Court also ordered Morgan to forfeit $373,126, which is traceable to proceeds of the offense.
Morgan had pleaded guilty on August 23, 2021.
According to court documents, between May 2015 and May 2019, Morgan served as a finance supervisor for her employer. She exploited that role to embezzle $906,109 from the employer by causing the employer to issue approximately 300 checks to Morgan’s co-conspirators, whom Morgan falsely and fraudulently represented were vendors that had provided services to the employer and were, therefore, due payment. Specifically, Morgan drafted false and fraudulent invoices, check requests, and medical claim forms, indicating that the fake vendors (co-conspirators) had performed services and even met with medical patients. Through creation and submission of these false and fraudulent documents to her employer, Morgan caused the employer to issue payments to her co-conspirators. Morgan then diverted many of these payments into her personal bank account and a bank account she shared with one of the co-conspirators. Morgan used much of the ill-gotten money for her personal expenses.
This case was investigated by the United States Secret Service and the Clearwater Police Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer L. Peresie.
Suburban Chicago Man Sentenced to 30 Years in Federal Prison for Violently Sex Trafficking Multiple WomenRead the Press Release
CHICAGO — A suburban Chicago man has been sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for violently sex trafficking multiple women over the course of a decade.
From 2007 to 2016, BENJAMIN BIANCOFIORI used false promises of assistance to entice women into performing commercial sex acts. Biancofiori recruited multiple victims and arranged for them to travel to meet customers in the Chicago area and other locations in the United States. He often beat and punched the women, and he kept almost all of the money they received. On one occasion, Biancofiori arranged for a victim to be returned to him at gunpoint after she tried to leave him.
A jury in 2018 convicted Biancofiori, 41, of Naperville, Ill., on sex trafficking and obstruction charges. U.S. District Judge Harry D. Leinenweber imposed the prison sentence Thursday after a hearing in federal court in Chicago.
The sentence was announced by John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Emmerson Buie, Jr., Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI; and Justin Campbell, Special Agent-in-Charge of the IRS Criminal Investigation Division in Chicago. Substantial assistance was provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado, the Denver Field Office of the FBI, the Carol Stream, Ill., Police Department, and the Naperville Police Department. The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Erika Csicsila and Diane MacArthur.
Two co-defendants of Biancofiori pleaded guilty and admitted conspiring with Biancofiori to engage in sex trafficking. MARCUS WILLIS, of Wheaton, Ill., and NATHAN PEREZ, of West Chicago, Ill., are awaiting sentencing.
Statement from Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta Regarding Settlement between U.S. Postal Service and NAACPRead the Press Release
Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta issued the following statement regarding the settlement reached between the U.S. Postal Service and the NAACP:
“The right to vote and ability to access the ballot is the cornerstone of our democracy. The department is pleased we could facilitate a resolution that reflects the commitment of all of the parties to appropriately handling and prioritizing election mail.”
St. Francis Man Sentenced for Assaulting, Resisting, and Impeding a Federal OfficerRead the Press Release
Acting United States Attorney Dennis R. Holmes announced that a St. Francis, South Dakota, man convicted of Assaulting, Resisting, and Impeding a Federal Officer was sentenced on December 13, 2021, by Chief Judge Roberto A. Lange, U.S. District Court.
Willard Henry, Jr., age 41, was sentenced to two months in federal prison, followed by six months of home confinement, two years of supervised release, and a special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund in the amount of $100.
Henry was indicted by a federal grand jury on March 9, 2021. He pled guilty on September 23, 2021.
The conviction stemmed from an incident that occurred on February 3, 2021, in Todd County, South Dakota. On that date, Rosebud Sioux Tribe Law Enforcement Services officers responded to multiple calls of a pickup truck being driven recklessly near St. Francis. Officers located the vehicle in a field and made contact with Henry, the driver and sole occupant. Henry refused to exit the vehicle and placed his hand on a rifle that was in the vehicle. Officers subsequently removed the rifle, a Winchester 30-30 caliber long rifle, from the vehicle and placed Henry under arrest. Multiple rounds of ammunition were also located in the vehicle. Henry will forfeit ownership of the rifle and ammunition to the United States.
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.
This case was investigated by the Rosebud Sioux Tribe Law Enforcement Services and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kirk Albertson prosecuted the case.
Henry was immediately turned over to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
Southwest Georgia Armed Career Criminal Sentenced in Federal Gun CaseRead the Press Release
ALBANY, Ga. – An Albany resident with several prior felony convictions was sentenced as an armed career criminal this week for a federal firearms violation resulting from a Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) investigation.
Lenwood Thomas, 40, of Albany, previously pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of cocaine with intent to distribute. On Thursday, Dec. 16, U.S. District Judge Leslie Gardner sentenced him on each conviction to serve 180 months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release, both sentences to be served concurrently. There is no parole in the federal system.
“Armed career criminals face steep federal penalties when they choose to repeatedly break the law while possessing guns,” said U.S. Attorney Peter D. Leary. “Under Project Safe Neighborhoods, our office is aligning with locals in the communities we serve and our law enforcement partners at every level to make strategic decisions aimed at decreasing violent crime across Southwest Georgia and the entire Middle District of Georgia.”
According to court documents, Thomas was on parole when officers with the Department of Community Supervision (DCS) and Dougherty County Police Department conducted a search of his home on Feb. 28, 2020, based on evidence that Thomas was conducting illegal drug sales. Officers found a .45 caliber semi-automatic pistol in the home, along with illegal drugs and drug paraphernalia. At the time the firearm was found in his possession, Thomas had numerous felony convictions. Following that incident, Thomas was arrested on an unrelated matter on June 14, 2021. At the time, Thomas had outstanding arrest warrants and was spotted by an investigator with the Albany-Dougherty Drug Unit. During the attempted stop, Thomas drove away from the officers, committing numerous traffic violations in an attempt to escape but eventually lost control of his vehicle. When his vehicle came to rest in a ditch, Thomas ran away from the scene and was chased by an officer. During the foot chase, Thomas threw items of out a bag he was carrying, including illegal drugs, drug paraphernalia and a BMW key fob. When he was in custody at the Dougherty County Jail, Thomas was recorded telling a family member that he had “5 ½ outfits” in the trunk of his BMW and asked the family member to get in touch with someone who would know what to do with them. Officers sought and obtained a search warrant for the BMW, finding 167.4 grams of cocaine in the trunk and a 9mm pistol.
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.
The case was investigated by the Georgia Department of Community Supervision, Dougherty County Police Department and Albany-Dougherty Drug Unit.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Melody Ellis is prosecuting the case for the Government.
Sioux Falls Man Charged with Transportation of Child PornographyRead the Press Release
Acting United States Attorney Dennis R. Holmes announced that a Sioux Falls, South Dakota, man has been indicted by a federal grand jury for two counts of Transportation of Child Pornography.
Terry Zoppe, age 45, was indicted on December 7, 2021. He appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Veronica L. Duffy on December 13, 2021, and pled not guilty to the Indictment.
The maximum penalty upon conviction is up to 20 years in federal prison and/or a $250,000 fine, life of supervised release, and up to $200 to the Federal Crime Victims Fund. Restitution may also be ordered.
The Indictment alleges that between September 19, 2017, and March 23, 2021, and again between April 18, 2020, and March 23, 2021, Zoppe knowingly transported child pornography using the Internet. Zoppe uploaded graphic images and video files depicting one or more minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct into his Google Photos account.
The charges are merely accusations and Zoppe is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
The investigation is being conducted by Homeland Security Investigations and the Division of Criminal Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey C. Clapper is prosecuting the case.
Zoppe was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service pending trial. A trial date has not been set.
Sioux Falls Man Charged with Transportation of Child PornographyRead the Press Release
Acting United States Attorney Dennis R. Holmes announced that a Sioux Falls, South Dakota, man has been indicted by a federal grand jury for two counts of Transportation of Child Pornography.
Herbert Sittingcrow, age 45, was indicted on December 7, 2021. He appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Veronica L. Duffy on December 9, 2021, and pled not guilty to the Indictment.
The maximum penalty upon conviction is up to 40 years in federal prison and/or a $250,000 fine, life of supervised release, and up to $100 to the Federal Crime Victims Fund. Restitution may also be ordered.
The Indictment alleges that between March 19, 2021, and October 21, 2021, Sittingcrow knowingly transported child pornography using the Internet. Sittingcrow uploaded graphic images and video files depicting one or more minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct into his Kik Messenger user account and Google email account.
The charges are merely accusations and Sittingcrow is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
The investigation is being conducted by Homeland Security Investigations. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey C. Clapper is prosecuting the case.
Sittingcrow was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service pending trial. A trial date has not been set.
Sioux City Man to Federal Prison for Meth ConspiracyRead the Press Release
A man who conspired to distribute methamphetamine was sentenced December 16, 2021, to four years in federal prison.
Lawrence Parmelee, 43, from Sioux City, Iowa, received the prison term after a July 29, 2021, guilty plea to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.
Evidence showed that Parmelee was involved in a conspiracy from March 2019 through December 2019 that distributed more than 1,300 grams of methamphetamine in the Sioux City area. On August 14, 2019, Parmelee distributed over 26 grams of actual (pure) methamphetamine to an individual cooperating with law enforcement. Parmelee would obtain distribution quantities of methamphetamine for use/redistribution and also assisted others (by driving/ transporting them to/from drug transactions) for which Parmelee was compensated with methamphetamine for use/re-distribution.
Parmelee was sentenced in Sioux City by United States District Court Chief Judge Leonard T. Strand. Parmelee was sentenced to 48 months’ imprisonment. Parmelee must also serve a four-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system. Parmelee is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Shawn S. Wehde and investigated by Tri-State Drug Task Force based in Sioux City, Iowa, that consists of law enforcement personnel from the Drug Enforcement Administration; Sioux City, Iowa, Police Department; Homeland Security Investigations; Woodbury County Sheriff’s Office; South Sioux City, Nebraska, Police Department; Nebraska State Patrol; Iowa National Guard; Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement; United States Marshals Service; South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation; and Woodbury County Attorney’s Office.
Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.
The case file number is 21-4038.
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Seven-Time Felon Convicted in Connection with Armed Robbery at Labelle PawnshopRead the Press Release
Fort Myers, FL – A federal jury has found Raynaldo Ray Quiroga (37, LaBelle) guilty of Hobbs Act robbery, brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence, possessing stolen firearms, and possessing a firearm as a convicted felon, related to an armed robbery of a pawnshop in LaBelle in May 2021. As a result, Quiroga faces a maximum penalty of life in federal prison. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for March 21, 2022.
Quiroga had been indicted on July 14, 2021.
According to evidence presented at trial, Quiroga, a seven-time convicted felon, entered Capital Pawn in LaBelle on the morning of May 19, 2021, falsely impersonating a law enforcement officer by wearing a green sheriff’s deputy uniform, a black tactical vest, a badge, and a duty belt equipped with a firearm. While in the shop, Quiroga brandished his firearm and zip-tied the store’s two employees before stealing six guns and fleeing the scene. Law enforcement agents quickly identified Quiroga as a suspect and later found multiple pieces of evidence at his residence and in his car connecting him to the robbery.
This case was investigated by the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Hendry County Sheriff’s Office, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It is being prosecuted Assistant United States Attorneys Jesus M. Casas and Simon Eth.
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.
Seattle man sentenced to prison for creation of images of sexual molestation of young childRead the Press Release
Seattle – A 53-year-old Seattle man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to ten years in prison with 15 years of supervised release for three federal felonies connected to his creation and possession of sexually explicit images of children, announced U.S. Attorney Nick Brown. Cameron Bennett Scott, pleaded guilty in May 2021, to enticement of a minor, possession of child pornography, and receipt of child pornography. At the sentencing hearing U.S. District Judge Robert S. Lasnik ordered Scott to serve ten years in prison with 15 years of supervised release.
“This case demonstrates how critical it is for tech companies to report images of child sexual abuse that pass through their networks,” said U.S. Attorney Nick Brown. “Thanks to the quick work of Seattle Police and Homeland Security Investigation, children both here and in Canada were rescued from abuse.”
According to the plea agreement, Scott came to the attention of law enforcement in December 2018 when an internet service provider reported an internet address to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) for uploading suspected images of child pornography. An investigation by the Seattle Police Department Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force traced the images to Scott. The investigation revealed that he had been communicating with a woman in British Columbia, Canada, about sexually molesting her children—both under the age of ten and he received files depicting their abuse.
Law enforcement served a search warrant at Scott’s residence in August 2019, seizing two computers and his mobile devices. An examination of his mobile device revealed that he had taken sexually explicit photos of a minor child in his residence in July 2019.
“Creating and disseminating images of children being harmed is the worst kind of crime,” Seattle Police Department Chief Adrian Diaz said after Scott’s sentencing. “The sexual exploitation of children not only destroys lives as the images are recorded, but those images continue to victimize children every time they are viewed. I am grateful the dedicated members of SPD’s Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Unit were able to help investigate this case and help send this defendant to prison.”
“The online nature of these heinous crimes adheres to no border,” said Special Agent in Charge (SAC) Robert Hammer, who oversees HSI operations in the Pacific Northwest. “We are proud of the collaborative relationship with our Canadian and local partners which resulted in two individuals being prosecuted and hopefully the end of the victimization for these two young children.”
The woman in British Columbia is being prosecuted in Canada for the sexual abuse and exploitation of two minor children, as a result of the Seattle Police Department and Homeland Security investigation. Her case will be resolved in Canada following today’s proceeding.
The case was investigated by the Seattle Police Department and Homeland Security Investigation (HSI) as part of the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Cecelia Gregson.
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 United States Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
Sayre Woman Sentenced to 37 Months’ Imprisonment for Laundering $1.89 Million in Fraud ProceedsRead the Press Release
WILLIAMSPORT- The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Christine Bradley Okpako, age 54, of Sayre, Pennsylvania, was sentenced on December 15, 2021, to 37 months’ imprisonment by U.S. District Court Chief Judge Matthew W. Brann for conspiring to launder approximately $1.89 million in mail and wire fraud proceeds.
According to United States Attorney John C. Gurganus, Okpako and her husband, codefendant Jabin Godspower Okpako, age 36, of Nigeria, received approximately $1,898,046 million in proceeds from a mail and wire fraud scheme, laundered the funds through numerous bank and wire transactions in multiple states, and transferred the funds out of the United States to three separate bank accounts in Nigeria.
The mail and wire fraud scheme sought to defraud multiple female victims throughout the United States, ranging in age from 55 to 85. The victims had visited online game, relationship and dating web sites, including Instagram, Facebook, Words with Friends, and What’s App. The conspirators, located in the United States and West Africa, befriended the victims through interaction and exchanges of photos on the web sites via text and instant messaging. After cultivating online relationships with the victims, the conspirators fraudulently induced the victims to send and transmit funds for various fictitious reasons and purposes, including to assist a worker in Alaska who fell from a tower, to purchase an apartment in Washington, D.C., to assist the United Nations, to repair machinery and equipment on an oil drilling rig, to pay for medicine, to recover a $6 million inheritance, and to make an investment in gold. After fraudulently inducing the victims to provide funds for these fictitious reasons, the unindicted conspirators instructed the victims to transmit checks and cash to Okpako and Bradley at their residence in Sayre, Pennsylvania.
Chief Judge Brann sentenced Jabin Godspower Okpako on November 23, 2021, to 87 months’ imprisonment.
The case was investigated by the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorney George J. Rocktashel prosecuted the case.
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Safety of Airline Passengers, Flight Crews and Flight Attendants High PriorityRead the Press Release
DES MOINES, Iowa – As the holiday travel season continues, local, state and federal agencies within the Southern District of Iowa are working together to ensure the safety of commercial airline passengers, flight crews and flight attendants.
Federal law prohibits assaults, intimidation and threats of violence that interfere with flight crews and flight attendants, as well as other enumerated criminal acts that occur during flight. Passengers who commit assaults against other passengers are also subject to federal prosecution.
Attorney General Merrick B. Garland directed United States Attorneys to prioritize the prosecution of federal crimes occurring on commercial aircraft. To assist in the investigation and prosecution of in-air crimes, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the Department of Justice have created an information-sharing protocol, resulting nationally in the referral of numerous incidents by the FAA to the FBI for investigation.
A statement from the Des Moines Police Department indicated that officers from the Des Moines Police Department’s Community Outreach and Protective Services Airport Section will be available throughout the holiday season to support and collaborate with federal partners to provide for the safest travel experience for all.
“Holiday travel should be accomplished in the same spirit as celebration of the holiday itself. We support our federal, state, city and airport security partners in assuring safety for passengers, flight crews, and flight attendants, in the air and on the ground. In assistance to these partners, and for those crimes that have singular federal jurisdiction, we are committed to hold accountable those who engage in criminal behavior during air travel,” stated United States Attorney Richard D. Westphal.
FBI Omaha Special Agent in Charge Eugene Kowel stated, “The FBI continues to work with the FAA and other partners to combat violence aboard commercial flights and ensure the safety of all passengers. We remain committed to investigating all incidents that meet the threshold of a federal crime and fall within FBI jurisdiction.”
Riverside Man Arrested on Federal Charges Alleging He Sold Fentanyl-Laced Pills that Led to Student’s Fatal OverdoseRead the Press Release
RIVERSIDE, California – Authorities this morning arrested a Riverside man who allegedly sold counterfeit oxycodone pills containing fentanyl that caused the fatal overdose of a college student who was visiting her family for the holidays two years ago.
Brandon Michael McDowell, 22, was arrested at his residence without incident, and he is scheduled to be arraigned this afternoon in United States District Court in Riverside.
McDowell was named in a grand jury indictment filed Wednesday that charges him with one count of distributing fentanyl resulting in death. The fentanyl-distribution charge carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years in federal prison and a maximum possible sentence of life without parole.
McDowell allegedly distributed fentanyl in the form of counterfeit oxycodone M30 pills on December 22, 2019. The 19-year-old victim in this case, who is identified in the indictment as “A.C.,” died after ingesting the drug at her Temecula home. Investigators believe she crushed at least one of the pills and snorted the drug shortly before succumbing to the powerful opioid in the pills.
The investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, Homeland Security Investigations and the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office found evidence that the victim ordered the pills from McDowell on Snapchat.
“This is another incredibly sad case that demonstrates the deadly threat of fentanyl that is now seen in a wide array of drugs sold on the street,” said United States Attorney Tracy L. Wilkison. “My office and our law enforcement partners will continue to investigate fatal overdose cases to identify and bring to justice every individual involved in the trafficking of fentanyl.”
Assistant United States Attorney John Balla and Special Assistant United States Attorney Stephen Merrill of the Riverside Branch Office are prosecuting this case. SAUSA Merrill is a Riverside County deputy district attorney assigned by his office to work with the Justice Department.
“The Riverside County DA’s Office is grateful for the hard work of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in this collaborative effort with our federal partners to get justice for the victim in this case,” said Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin.
An indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Registered Sex Offender Sentenced to 50 Years in Prison for Producing and Using Facebook to Distribute Child PornographyRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON – An Indiana man was sentenced today to 50 years in prison followed by 15 years of supervised release for using social media to produce child pornography.
Lorenzo Johnson, 33, of Hammond, was convicted on Aug. 16 by a federal jury of three counts of conspiring to produce child pornography, one count of distribution of child pornography, and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Johnson used Facebook accounts in the names of others to identify women with access to children who appeared to be experiencing financial difficulties. Johnson, a registered sex offender, offered those women money to take sexually explicit photos of infants and prepubescent children whom they knew, and successfully persuaded three such women, who were subsequently charged with child pornography offenses, to send him photos depicting the sexual abuse of infants and prepubescent children. One such woman subsequently pleaded guilty and is awaiting sentencing, a second is scheduled to plead guilty on Dec. 21, both in the Northern District of Illinois, and charges against a third woman were dismissed in the Northern District of Indiana because she died during the course of the prosecution.
In an interview with the FBI, Johnson admitted that he had also solicited the production of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) from other Facebook users as a means of blackmail. Evidence presented at trial showed Johnson asked one woman to produce CSAM so he could “hold something over her head.” In addition, Facebook records admitted into evidence showed Johnson discussing the sexual abuse of children with his co-conspirators and threatening to “expose” them if they did not agree to produce CSAM.
Johnson was previously convicted in 2009 in Illinois of aggravated sexual abuse involving a minor.
“As the jury unanimously found, Lorenzo Johnson repeatedly persuaded vulnerable women to sexually exploit infants and young children,” said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Today’s sentence sends a strong message that offenders who target vulnerable members of our society, and especially children, will be brought to justice.”
“Lorenzo Johnson’s criminal conduct merits the lengthy sentence that the judge imposed today,” said U.S. Attorney Clifford D. Johnson for the Northern District of Indiana. “Manipulating vulnerable women into producing pornographic images of voiceless children is despicable criminal behavior. I want to thank all our law enforcement partners for their hard work rendering justice in this case.”
“This sentence demonstrates the FBI’s commitment to identifying sexual predators and investigating these type of cases with a sense of urgency to ensure those who victimize our most vulnerable members of society pay the price with time in prison,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Gregory Nelsen of the FBI’s Indianapolis Field Office. “As a result of the tireless work of the FBI and our law enforcement partners, Johnson no longer poses a threat to the community.”
The case was investigated by the FBI’s Indianapolis Field Office, the Cook County Sheriff’s Office, and the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office.
Trial Attorney Eduardo Palomo of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Molly Kelley and Abizer Zanzi of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Indiana prosecuted the case, with valuable assistance provided by former Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Indiana, Jill Koster.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
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Registered Sex Offender Sentenced to 50 Years in Prison for Producing and Using Facebook to Distribute Child PornographyRead the Press Release
An Indiana man was sentenced today to 50 years in prison followed by 15 years of supervised release for using social media to produce child pornography.
Lorenzo Johnson, 33, of Hammond, was convicted on Aug. 16 by a federal jury of three counts of conspiring to produce child pornography, one count of distribution of child pornography, and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Johnson used Facebook accounts in the names of others to identify women with access to children who appeared to be experiencing financial difficulties. Johnson, a registered sex offender, offered those women money to take sexually explicit photos of infants and prepubescent children whom they knew, and successfully persuaded three such women, who were subsequently charged with child pornography offenses, to send him photos depicting the sexual abuse of infants and prepubescent children. One such woman subsequently pleaded guilty and is awaiting sentencing. A second is scheduled to plead guilty on Dec. 21. Both women are pleading guilty in the Northern District of Illinois, and charges against a third woman were dismissed in the Northern District of Indiana because she died during the course of the prosecution.
In an interview with the FBI, Johnson admitted that he had also solicited the production of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) from other Facebook users as a means of blackmail. Evidence presented at trial showed Johnson asked one woman to produce CSAM so he could “hold something over her head.” In addition, Facebook records admitted into evidence showed Johnson discussing the sexual abuse of children with his co-conspirators and threatening to “expose” them if they did not agree to produce CSAM.
Johnson was previously convicted in 2009 in Illinois of aggravated sexual abuse involving a minor.
“As the jury unanimously found, Lorenzo Johnson repeatedly persuaded vulnerable women to sexually exploit infants and young children,” said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Today’s sentence sends a strong message that offenders who target vulnerable members of our society, and especially children, will be brought to justice.”
“Lorenzo Johnson’s criminal conduct merits the lengthy sentence that the judge imposed today,” said U.S. Attorney Clifford D. Johnson for the Northern District of Indiana. “Manipulating vulnerable women into producing pornographic images of voiceless children is despicable criminal behavior. I want to thank all our law enforcement partners for their hard work rendering justice in this case.”
“This sentence demonstrates the FBI’s commitment to identifying sexual predators and investigating these type of cases with a sense of urgency to ensure those who victimize our most vulnerable members of society pay the price with time in prison,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Gregory Nelsen of the FBI’s Indianapolis Field Office. “As a result of the tireless work of the FBI and our law enforcement partners, Johnson no longer poses a threat to the community.”
The case was investigated by the FBI’s Indianapolis Field Office, the Cook County Sheriff’s Office, and the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office.
Trial Attorney Eduardo Palomo of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Molly Kelley and Abizer Zanzi of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Indiana prosecuted the case, with valuable assistance provided by Jill Koster, former Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Indiana.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
Quincy Real Estate Broker Pleads Guilty to Real Estate Deposit ScamRead the Press Release
BOSTON – A Quincy real estate broker pleaded guilty today to operating a scheme in which he falsely marketed properties that were not for sale, or had already been sold, and then stole the buyers’ real estate deposits.
Michael P. Flavin, 38, pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud and two counts of aggravated identity theft. U.S. District Court Judge Allison D. Burroughs scheduled sentencing for April 12, 2022.
Between 2017 and April 2020, Flavin solicited deposits on real estate transactions by marketing numerous real estate properties that were not actually for sale. In each case, Flavin executed purchase and sale agreements and received deposit checks from or on behalf of the potential buyers, even though the actual owners of the properties had not agreed to sell their properties or to sell them to those buyers. Flavin forged the signatures of the sellers on the purported purchase and sale agreements. Over this period of approximately three years, Flavin cashed more than 60 deposit checks totaling approximately $1.8 million.
The charges of wire fraud each provide for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater. The charges of aggravated identity theft each provide for a mandatory sentence of two years in prison to be served consecutive to any other sentence imposed, up to one year of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Acting United States Attorney Nathaniel Mendell and Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Victor A. Wild and Sara Miron Bloom of Mendell’s Securities, Financial & Cyber Fraud Unit are prosecuting the case.
Queens Man Who Wanted to Attack Times Square Pleads Guilty to Receiving Firearm with Obliterated Serial NumberRead the Press Release
Ashiqul Alam pleaded guilty today to knowingly receiving a firearm with an obliterated serial number in Brooklyn, New York. The proceeding was held before United States Magistrate Judge Robert M. Levy. When sentenced, Alam faces 60 months’ imprisonment pursuant to the terms of his plea agreement with the government. As part of his plea agreement, Alam, a citizen of Bangladesh, agreed to the entry of an order of removal so he will be deported after completing his sentence.
Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York; Michael J. Driscoll, Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI); and Dermot F. Shea, Commissioner, New York City Police Department (NYPD), announced the guilty plea.
“With today’s guilty plea, Alam has admitted to purchasing a firearm for use in a full-scale, mass-casualty attack in Times Square,” stated United States Attorney Peace. “Protecting our national security and the residents of this city, state and nation from the threat of terrorist attacks at home or abroad continues to be one of the highest priorities of this Office and its law enforcement partners.”
As set forth in court filings, between August 2018 and the June 2019, Alam repeatedly expressed a desire to purchase firearms for use in a mass-casualty attack. Alam identified two targets, either Times Square or Washington, D.C., in order to kill a senior government official. In January 2019, Alam conducted several reconnaissance trips to Times Square, using his cellular telephone to make a video recording of the area as he searched for potential targets.
Alam conducted research about firearms on the internet and discussed purchasing firearms with an undercover law enforcement officer (“UC-1”). In March 2019, Alam told UC-1 that he would be interested in buying a Glock 9mm pistol. UC-1 introduced Alam to an “associate,” who offered to help Alam procure two illegal Glock G19 pistols. In April 2019, Alam underwent Lasik eye surgery, a procedure whose value he explained: “Let’s say we are in an attack, right, say that my glasses fall off. What if I accidentally shoot you? You know what I mean. Imagine what the news channel would call me the ‘Looney Tunes Terrorist’ or the ‘Blind Terrorist.’”
In May 2019, Alam was told by “UC-1” that the firearms he wanted to buy would have obliterated serial numbers, and he replied “Oh, that’s good man.” On June 6, 2019, Alam met the individual he believed was going to sell him firearms and was shown two Glock 19 semiautomatic pistols with obliterated serial numbers. Alam provided $400 towards the purchase of the two pistols and asked whether the Glock 19 pistol he had just purchased was compatible with a silencer. Alam was arrested shortly thereafter.
The government’s case is being handled by the Office’s National Security & Cybercrime Section. Assistant United States Attorneys David K. Kessler and Jonathan E. Algor are in charge of the prosecution, with assistance provided by Trial Attorney Stephanie Sweeten of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section.
The Defendant:
ASHIQUL ALAM
Age: 25
Queens, New YorkE.D.N.Y. Docket No. 19-CR-0280 (LDH)
Providence Man Admits to Defrauding Food Suppliers, Assaulting Federal OfficersRead the Press Release
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – A Providence man arrested nine days after he assaulted and fled federal agents and task force officers as they attempted to arrest him on charges that he defrauded businesses of more than $800,000, pled guilty in federal court today to charges of wire fraud and assault of a federal officer, announced United States Attorney Zachary A. Cunha.
Paul Diogenes, a/k/a Paul Dejullio, 49, admitted to the court that he created a fictitious catering company, listing his alias as president, to obtain credit from food distributors that he used to purchase more than $831,760 in luxury foods, including hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of lobster, sea bass, shrimp, scallops, filet, rib eye steak, and wild boar.
Diogenes admitted that he resold much of the product, in some instances to the same business whose stolen banking information he used to gain credit from the food distributors. In furtherance of the scheme, Diogenes fraudulently claimed that the food he was selling was from a restaurant that he recently closed.
On August 3, 2021, FBI agents, FBI task force officers, and Rhode Island State Police surveilled and followed Diogenes as he drove into a parking lot behind an East Providence business. Diogenes admitted to the court that as the agents and task force officers converged to arrest him, he fled. In the course of his escape, Diogenes rammed his car into an FBI task force vehicle, with a task force officer and State Police trooper still inside; drove his vehicle toward an FBI agent who quickly jumped out of the way to avoid being hit; rammed his car into a delivery van; and then rammed a second FBI task force vehicle that had just been vacated by an FBI agent and a Providence Police officer.
Nine days after fleeing law enforcement, Diogenes was located by the U.S. Marshals Service and the FBI at a Middleborough, MA., hotel. At the time of his arrest, Diogenes was in possession of a briefcase containing $116,404 in cash.
Diogenes is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Court Chief Judge John J. McConnell, Jr., on March 29, 2022.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lee H. Vilker.
Diogenes’s fraud was investigated by the FBI’s Rhode Island Complex Financial Crimes Task Force, with the assistance of Rhode Island State Police and the Providence, Woonsocket, East Providence, Bourne, and Fall River Police Departments.
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Prolific Thoroughbred Trainer Sentenced to Five Years in Federal Doping CaseRead the Press Release
Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that defendants JORGE NAVARRO received a sentence of sixty months’ imprisonment today for his leading 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). NAVARRO was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil, who furthered ordered that NAVARRO pay $26,860,514 in restitution for the fraud perpetrated through his doping program.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “Jorge Navarro’s case reflects failings, greed, and corruption at virtually every level of the world of professional horse racing. For money and fame, corrupt trainers went to increasing extremes to dope horses under their care. Unscrupulous owners, who stood to profit directly, encouraged and pressured trainers to win at any cost. Veterinarians sworn to the care and protection of their patients routinely violated their oaths in service of corrupt trainers and to line their own pockets. Assistants and grooms all witnessed animal abuse in the service of greed, but did little to stop such conduct, and engaged in myriad ways to support notoriously corrupt trainers. Structures designed for the protection of the horses abused in this case failed repeatedly; fixtures of the industry – owners, veterinarians, and trainers – flouted rules and disregarded their animals’ health while hypocritically incanting a love for the horses under their control and ostensible protection. Standing as the keystone for this structure of abuse, corruption, and duplicity was Jorge Navarro, a trainer who treated his animals as expendable commodities in the service of his ‘sport.’ Today’s sentence appropriately condemns the danger inherent in Navarro’s crime and reflects the seriousness with which this Office takes the kind of abuse that Navarro practiced.”
According to the allegations contained in the Superseding Indictment, 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 NAVARRO, 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, including those whom NAVARRO directed in the corrupt administration of illegal substances, profited from the sale and administration of these medically unnecessary, misbranded, and adulterated substances.
NAVARRO operated his doping scheme covertly, importing misbranded “clenbuterol” that he both used and distributed to others, avoiding explicit discussion of PEDs during telephone calls, and working with others to coordinate the administration of PEDs at times that racing officials would not detect such cheating. Among the horses that NAVARRO trained and doped was XY Jet, a thoroughbred horse that won the 2019 Golden Shaheen race in Dubai. Among NAVARRO’s preferred PEDs were various “blood building” drugs, which, when administered before intense physical exertion, can lead to cardiac issues or death.
NAVARRO’s crime was far from a single lapse in judgment. Rather, NAVARRO engaged in repeated and persistent efforts to cheat over the course of years, cycling through various sources of supply, and pursuing aggressively new means to illegally dope horses. Throughout, NAVARRO maintained a flippant attitude towards his dangerous and illegal conduct. NAVARRO, notoriously known in the horse racing world as the “Juice Man” due to his routine doping, kept a pair of customized shoes in his barn with the words “#JUICE MAN” emblazoned across the front:
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In addition to the prison sentence, NAVARRO was ordered to payment of restitution in the amount of $26,860,514, reflecting winnings obtained through his fraudulent doping scheme.
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. 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, Benet Kearney, and Anden Chow are in charge of the prosecution.
[1] As to Navarro co-defendants, the entirety of the texts of the Indictments and the descriptions of the Indictments set forth herein constitute only allegations and every fact described should be treated as an allegation.
Prison inmate pleads guilty to large scale methamphetamine conspiracyRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – United States District Court Judge Matthew T. Schelp accepted a plea of guilty from Tarik Mazhar on today’s date. Mazhar pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute methamphetamine. Judge Schelp set sentencing for March 18, 2022.
According to the plea agreement, on or about January 1, 2019, and continuing until on or about July 29, 2020, in Franklin County, Missouri, within the Eastern District of Missouri, Tarik Mazhar did knowingly and intentionally combine, conspire, confederate, and agree together with a co-defendant, and others known and unknown, to intentionally distribute and possess with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine, and knowingly acted in some way for the purpose of aiding the commission of the offense.
Mazhar was an inmate serving a previous sentence for Attempted Armed Bank Robbery, and Armed Bank Robbery at the Bureau of Prisons-Great Plains Correctional Institution in Hinton, Oklahoma. While confined, Mazhar utilized a cell phone that was smuggled into the Bureau of Prisons facility to facilitate a bulk purchase of methamphetamine from an undercover agent with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
Between June 24, 2020, and July 29, 2020, Mazhar, a co-defendant and the undercover agent conducted frequent conversations by phone to negotiate the methamphetamine deal. Mazhar and the undercover agent eventually agreed that the co-defendant and Mazhar would pay the undercover agent $120,000.00 in U.S. currency, and—in exchange—the undercover agent would provide the co-defendant with 40 pounds (approximately 18 kilograms) of methamphetamine.
The maximum possible penalty provided by law for the crimes to which the defendant is pleading guilty is imprisonment of not more than life, a fine of not more than $10,000,000, or both such imprisonment and fine. The Court shall also impose a period of supervised release of not less than 10 years.
The investigation was conducted by Homeland Security Investigations.
Postal Service Employee IndictedRead the Press Release
NEW ORLEANS – U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced today that JAVONTE RICHARD, age 29, of New Orleans, Louisiana, was indicted on December 16, 2021 for Theft of Mail by a Postal Service employee in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1709.
According to the indictment, on November 14, 2019, RICHARD removed a package entrusted to her and which came into her possession to be conveyed by mail, while performing her assigned duties as an employee of the United States Postal Service.
If convicted, RICHARD faces a maximum penalty of up to five (5) years imprisonment, followed by up to three (3) years of supervised release, a $250,000 fine, and a $100 mandatory special assessment fee.
United States Attorney Evans reiterated that the indictment is merely a charge and that the guilt of the defendant must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
U.S. Attorney Evans praised the work of the United States Postal Inspection Service, Office of the Inspector General in investigating this matter. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jon Maestri is in charge of the prosecution.
Pocatello Man Sentenced to 7.5 Years for Unlawfully Possessing a FirearmRead the Press Release
POCATELLO – A Pocatello man was sentenced to 90 months in federal prison for unlawful possession of a firearm.
According to court records, on December 9, 2020, officers with the Pocatello Police Department observed Jimmy D. Martin, 44, of Pocatello, who had active warrants for his arrest, leaving his residence on a motorcycle. Officers tried to initiate a traffic stop. Martin failed to yield and engaged police in a pursuit that ended when Martin crashed his motorcycle near the intersection of East Alameda and Franklin in Pocatello. Martin was apprehended after attempting to run away on foot. Police officers located two firearms and a significant quantity of methamphetamine in Martin’s possession after placing him under arrest. One of the firearms had previously been reported stolen. Martin had numerous prior felony convictions and was prohibited from possessing firearms.
Senior U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill also ordered Martin to serve three years of supervised release following his prison sentence. Martin pleaded guilty to the charge on September 23, 2021.
Acting U.S. Attorney Rafael M. Gonzalez, Jr., of the District of Idaho made the announcement and commended the cooperative efforts of the Pocatello Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which led to charges.
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 handled by the U.S. Attorney Office’s specially deputized Special Assistant U.S. Attorney (SAUSA), funded by the Eastern Idaho Partnership (EIP) and the State of Idaho. The EIP is a coalition of local city and county officials in eastern Idaho as well as the Idaho Department of Correction.
The EIP SAUSA program allows law enforcement to utilize the federal criminal justice system – through the EIP SAUSA – to prosecute, convict, and sentence violent, armed criminals and drug traffickers. These criminals often receive stiffer penalties than they might in state courts.
This program was created in January 2016. Since that time, approximately 188 defendants have been indicted by the EIP SAUSA. Of these defendants, 41 have been indicted on prohibited possession of firearms or ammunition charges. The defendants indicted under the program have been sentenced to 7,857 months (approximately 655 years) in federal prison, representing an average prison sentence of 53.09 (4.42 years). Defendants indicted for offenses involving firearms or ammunition serve, on average, approximately 42.13 months (3.5 years) in federal prison.
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Pittsburgh Man Found Guilty of Threatening Communications and Impeding and Obstructing FBI InvestigationRead the Press Release
PITTSBURGH – Khaled Miah, 28, a former resident of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and former student at the University of Pittsburgh, has been found guilty by a federal jury after deliberating for three hours of five counts of making interstate threatening communications, one count of influencing, impeding or retaliating against a Federal law enforcement officer, and one count of destruction of records in a federal investigation, United States Attorney Cindy K. Chung announced today.
The jury found that from on or about December 27, 2020 through on or about December 31, 2020, Miah posted threats directed at individual FBI agents who were investigating him, as well as the FBI generally. In December 2020, FBI personnel identified a publicly visible Twitter account created by Miah. From the date of its creation to on or about January 1, 2021, Miah used this Twitter account to threaten, intimidate and harass FBI Pittsburgh Agents and the FBI. In addition, after posting the threatening statements, and with full knowledge of the FBI investigation into his conduct, Miah subsequently deleted those posts which impeded, obstructed, and influenced the FBI investigation. The trial lasted approximately two weeks and was before Judge W. Scott Hardy.
Judge Hardy scheduled sentencing for April 21, 2022 at 10 a.m. The law provides for a maximum total sentence of 20 years in prison, a fine of $250,000, or both. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed would be based upon the seriousness of the offenses and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.
Members of the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force who were directly involved in this investigation include: FBI and the University of Pittsburgh Police Department.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jessica Lieber Smolar and Nicole Ann Stockey of the Western District of Pennsylvania and Department of Justice Trial Attorney Dmitriy Slavin.
Philadelphia Man Charged with Robbing Nine West Philadelphia-Area Convenience Stores in One WeekRead the Press Release
PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams announced that Tyeed Henson, 22, of Philadelphia, PA, was charged by Indictment with nine counts of Hobbs Act robbery stemming from a rash of late-2020 armed robberies of Philadelphia-area convenience stores over the course of one week.
According to the Indictment, from October 30 through November 5, 2020, the defendant is alleged to have robbed seven convenience stores in West and Southwest Philadelphia of money and store merchandise at gunpoint. Following an investigation by the Philadelphia Police Department, investigators learned of two additional alleged robberies in Yeadon and Bala Cynwyd with fact patterns that were consistent with the Philadelphia robberies.
“The complete disregard that this defendant is charged to have demonstrated for the safety and well-being of others is appalling,” said U.S. Attorney Williams. “As alleged, in just seven days, Henson terrorized the employees of nine area businesses who were simply doing their jobs. Through our multi-pronged approach - including strategic use of recently announced grant funding for the PSN program - we will continue our coordination with the Philadelphia Police Department and federal agencies to make the community safer by removing criminals like this from our streets.”
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. The Department of Justice reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally-based strategies to reduce violent crime.
If convicted of all charges, Henson faces a total possible maximum sentence of 180 years in prison and three years of supervised release, a $2.25 million fine, and a $100 special assessment.
The case was investigated by the Philadelphia Police Department, Yeadon Police Department, Lower Merion Police Department, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and is being prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Martin Howley.
An indictment, information, or criminal complaint is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Philadelphia Felon Charged with Illegally Possessing Narcotics and A Loaded FirearmRead the Press Release
PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams announced that Edward Holloway, 34, of Philadelphia, PA was charged by Indictment with possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, all stemming from a vehicle search conducted during traffic stop earlier this year.
In January 2021, Philadelphia Police Department officers initiated a traffic stop of the defendant’s vehicle. A subsequent search of the vehicle is alleged to have uncovered a large quantity of cocaine and additional packets of crack cocaine in a void under the vehicle’s center console. Investigators are also alleged to have recovered a loaded semiautomatic firearm from the same location.
“Drugs and firearms are a very dangerous combination, especially in Philadelphia where the violent crime rate has reached record-breaking levels,” said U.S. Attorney Williams. “Through the initiatives we launched this year like #AllHandsOnDeck and DOJ-OJP Public Safety Partnership, and the recently announced grant funding for the PSN program, we will continue our coordination with the Philadelphia Police Department and federal agencies to make the community safer by removing criminals like this from our streets.”
“This investigation is a result of our outstanding partnership with the Philadelphia Police Department and the Pennsylvania State Police,” said Matthew Varisco, Special Agent in charge of ATF’s Philadelphia Field Division. “Convicted felons who carry firearms pose a serious risk to public safety. ATF will continue to aggressively pursue these investigations and work with our law enforcement partners to remove these violent criminals from our communities.”
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. The Department of Justice reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally-based strategies to reduce violent crime.
If convicted of all charges, the defendant faces a total possible maximum sentence of lifetime imprisonment, a 15-year mandatory minimum term of imprisonment, at least three years of supervised release, a fine of $1.5 million, and a $300 special assessment.
The case was investigated by the Philadelphia Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and is being prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Martin Howley.
An indictment, information, or criminal complaint is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Owner of Maryland Export Business Pleads Guilty to Federal Charges of Attempting to Smuggle Items Out of the U.S. Without the Required Export LicenseRead the Press Release
Baltimore, Maryland – Jorge Orencel, age 65, of Silver Spring, Maryland, pleaded guilty today to federal charges of attempting to smuggle goods out of the United States without the required export license. Orencel owned and operated Sumtech, an export business located in Fulton, Maryland.
The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agents in Charge Jonathan Carson and Nasir Khan of the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Industry Security, Office of Export Enforcement, New York and Washington Field Offices, respectively.
According to his guilty plea, Orencel owned and operated Sumtech, which advertised itself on the Internet as specializing in the distribution of American merchandise, including “high technology laboratory devices,” to South America, Asia, and the Middle East.
As detailed in the plea agreement, in October 2016, Orencel began communicating with Co-conspirator 1, an individual representing herself as an employee of a company in Hong Kong, regarding Co-conspirator 1’s desire to purchase five ionization chambers and one fission chamber from Company A, which manufactured gas-filled nuclear radiation detectors. Co-conspirator 1 advised that Company A, located in New York, required an end user statement and export license if they knew the goods were to be shipped to other countries, and suggested to Orencel that he not mention that the goods would be shipped to Hong Kong. Orencel agreed and got a quote from Company A for prices on the items requested by Co-conspirator 1, falsely telling officials from Company A that the request was from a customer in Argentina, South America.
After communicating with Co-conspirator 1, on October 26, 2016, Orencel sent a Sumtech purchase order to Company A for the ionization chambers and the fission chamber, along with an End User Statement on Sumtech letterhead and a Statement by Ultimate Consignee and Purchaser, which falsely indicated that the end user and ultimate destination was a company in Argentina. On February 7, 2017, Orencel emailed Co-conspirator 1 that he had received the ionization chambers but not the fission chamber. Orencel stated that although Company A had indicated that the fission chamber was regulated because it contained nuclear material, Orencel had obtained a ruling from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that the item was not barred from export due to the small amount of nuclear material contained within the chamber. The following day, Orencel sent an email to Co-conspirator 1 advising that Company A had not built the fission chamber and would not do so until Orencel agreed that the fission chamber would be transported via UPS SCS, a shipping service provided by the United Parcel Service (UPS) which would pick an item up directly from the seller, such as Company A, and ship it directly to the user. Orencel stated to Co-conspirator 1, “This is a very difficult vendor…seems like they are a little suspicious and of course we have not said that the unit is for Hong Kong.”
As detailed in the plea agreement, on February 24, 2017, law enforcement agents from the Department of Commerce, Bureau of Industry Security, Office of Export Enforcement visited Orencel at Sumtech. The agents provided Orencel copies of reference materials regarding export rules and regulations and reviewed the materials with Orencel. Orencel told the agents that he was very familiar with U.S. export laws and his company always obtained export licenses when required.
Shortly after that visit, on March 3, 2017, Orencel shipped the ionization chambers to an address in Hong Kong, despite his statements to Company A that the items were destined for Argentina and would not be re-exported.
On August 22, 2017, shortly after Company A advised Orencel that the fission chamber was completed and ready for pickup by UPS for shipment to the end user, Orencel executed a Shipper’s Letter of Instruction falsely certifying that the fission chamber was detection equipment with a value of $930 and the ultimate consignee and destination was in Argentina. In fact, Orencel knew that the fission chamber was valued at $9,300 and that he planned to export the item to Hong Kong. If Orencel had correctly stated the value of the item, which was more than $2,500, he would have been required to file a Shipper’s Export Declaration, which, in turn, would have alerted the Department of Commerce and other authorities to the existence of the shipment and allowed them to track the export and confirm compliance with licensing and other export requirements.
On August 25, 2017, Orencel emailed Co-conspirator 1 that UPS had picked up the fission chamber from Company A and discussed how to get the item shipped to Hong Kong, since the paperwork was issued with the name of a fake end-user. Co-conspirator 1 suggested contacting a freight forwarder in California, that had previously assisted in a similar situation. Orencel advised that he was trying to convince the shipper in New York to move the package to Maryland so he could pick it up and export it to Co-conspirator 1. Law enforcement authorities detained the package at the UPS facility in New York before it could be shipped any further.
Orencel admitted to law enforcement in a voluntary interview on October 30, 2017, that he never intended to ship the fission chamber to Argentina and had only listed Argentina as the final destination to convince Company A to release the fission chamber for shipment. Further, Orencel stated that he planned to contact UPS after it had picked up the fission chamber from Company A and direct UPS to change the shipping address to Hong Kong. Orencel admitted that he also knew he was required to file a Shipper’s Export Declaration and export information in the Automated Export System, since the value of the fission chamber was more than $2,500.
Orencel faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison for attempted smuggling of goods. U.S. District Judge George L. Russell, III has scheduled sentencing for February 22, 2022 at 9:30 a.m.
United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Industry Security, Office of Export Enforcement for its work in the investigation. Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kathleen O. Gavin and Abigail Ticse, who are prosecuting the case.
For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit www.justice.gov/usao-md and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.
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Organizer of Conspiracy that Defrauded Cares Act of over $1.5 Million in Unemployment Benefits Sentenced to 10 Years in PrisonRead the Press Release
ABINGDON, Va. – A Jonesville, Virginia woman, who admitted to heading a conspiracy that defrauded the government of more than $1.5 million in pandemic-related unemployment benefits, was sentenced today to 10 years in federal prison and ordered to pay restitution.
Farren Gaddis Ricketts, 31, and her co-conspirators concocted a scheme to gather personal identification information and then submit unemployment claims to the Virginia Employment Commission (VEC)] website for individuals who were known to be ineligible to receive pandemic unemployment benefits, including various inmates in Virginia Department of Corrections facilities.
According to court documents, Ricketts developed a business entity called “Ricketts Advisory, LLC,” registered it with the Virginia State Corporation Commission, and advertised as a financial services company that helped with filing pandemic unemployment claims.
In addition to receiving unemployment benefits herself, Ricketts charged fees to over 120 of her co-conspirator “clients” for the service of filing their fraudulent claims.
Between May 2020 and February 2021, Ricketts and her co-conspirators filed more than 150 fraudulent claims for pandemic unemployment benefits. For many of these filings, Ricketts created fraudulent documents to support the claims, including fraudulent IRS forms purporting to show pre-pandemic income.
“When Congress provided much needed financial assistance for those impacted by COVID-19, Farren Ricketts led a criminal conspiracy to steal more than $1.5 million in pandemic-related unemployment benefits,” U.S. Attorney Christopher R. Kavanaugh said today. “My Office will continue to lead the effort to prosecute those who stole money intended for those in legitimate need, and today’s sentence reflects the seriousness of this offense and the impact it had on our communities. I am thankful to the IRS, DOL-OIG, the Russell County Sheriff’s Office and the Norton Police Department for their work on this important investigation.”
“Ricketts not only defrauded taxpayers herself, but she also helped dozens more criminals line their pockets with unemployment benefits meant for those truly in need,” said Darrell Waldon, IRS-CI Special Agent in Charge, Washington DC Field Office. “Our special agents will continue to pursue COVID-19 related fraud and ensure those who commit it are brought to justice.”
“Farren Ricketts and her co-conspirators profited from fraudulent claims for pandemic unemployment assistance (PUA) they filed for individuals they knew to be ineligible for PUA benefits. In furtherance of the scheme, Ricketts utilized her financial services business, Ricketts Advisory, LLC., to manage the filing of the fraudulent claims and to create fraudulent documentation to support the claims. The U.S. Department of Labor Office of Inspector General is grateful for our partnerships with the Virginia Employment Commission and our many law-enforcement partners. We also thank the U.S. Attorney’s Office for their continued efforts to prosecute those who violate public benefit programs and commit fraud,” stated Syreeta Scott, Special Agent-in-Charge, Philadelphia Region, U.S. Department of Labor Office of Inspector General.
The ongoing investigation is being conducted by The Department of Labor - Office of the Inspector General, the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), the Russell County Sheriff’s Office, and the Norton Police Department in Wise County are investigating the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel J. Murphy is prosecuting the case.
On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. The Task Force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by, among other methods, augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts. For more information on the Department’s response to the pandemic, please visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus.
Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.
Operator of Westport Tree Service Company Pleads Guilty to Tax EvasionRead the Press Release
Leonard C Boyle, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, and Joleen D. Simpson, Special Agent in Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation in New England, today announced that ROBERTO PORZIO, 48, of Westport, waived his right to be indicted and pleaded guilty yesterday before U.S. District Judge Stefan R. Underhill in Bridgeport to one count of tax evasion.
According to court documents and statements made in court, Porzio, who operates Bert’s Tree Service, Inc., deposited numerous customers’ checks into personal bank accounts, transferred a significant portion of the funds into a personal investment account, and kept from the corporation’s bookkeeper his receipt of the additional payments. These diverted payments were not reported either on his individual federal tax returns as additional salary or on the corporation’s tax returns as additional receipts.
For the 2012 through 2016 tax years, Porzio failed to report a total of more than $900,000 in additional income. The underreporting of Porzio’s income tax liability and the company’s payroll tax obligations resulted in a loss of $331,388 to the IRS.
Judge Underhill scheduled sentencing for March 10, 2022, at which time Porzio faces a maximum term of imprisonment of five years.
Porzio is released on a $50,000 bond pending sentencing.
This matter has been investigated by the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Division and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Anastasia King.
Omaha Man Selling Methamphetamine from Mother’s Basement Sentenced to 144 MonthsRead the Press Release
Acting United States Attorney Jan Sharp announced that Kenneth Becker, age 51, was sentenced in federal court on Thursday, December 16, 2021, in Omaha, Nebraska, for possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. Senior United States District Court Judge Joseph F. Bataillon sentenced Becker to 144 months’ imprisonment. There is no parole in the federal system. After completing his term of imprisonment, Becker will begin a 5-year term of supervised release.
On January 15, 2020, Becker sold a confidential informant two ounces of methamphetamine from his mother’s basement. Within hours, officers executed a search warrant at his mother’s residence and located more than 370 grams of actual methamphetamine, $3,833 in cash, drug packaging materials, a drug ledger, a drug scale, oxycodone pills, and drug paraphernalia in the basement where Becker resided. Officers interviewed Becker who admitted to being a drug dealer. Becker’s criminal history dates back to the 1990s and contains several convictions for drug-related and violent offenses.
The case was investigated by the Omaha Police Department.
Oacoma Man Sentenced for Failure to Register as a Sex OffenderRead the Press Release
Acting United States Attorney Dennis Holmes announced that an Oacoma, South Dakota, man convicted of Failure to Register as a Sex Offender was sentenced on December 13, 2021, by Chief Judge Roberto A. Lange, U.S. District Court.
Darrell Bear Robe, age 32, was sentenced to twelve months and one day in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, and a special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund in the amount of $100.
Bear Robe was indicted by a federal grand jury on May 11, 2021. He pled guilty on September 23, 2021.
Bear Robe was convicted in 2008 for Abusive Sexual Contact. As a result of this conviction, he is required to register as a sex offender and to update his registration under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act. Between October 25, 2020, and November 25, 2020, Bear Robe moved out of his previously registered address and failed to update his registration with a new address.
This case was investigated by the U.S. Marshals Service and the Lyman County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Troy R. Morley prosecuted the case.
Bear Robe was immediately turned over to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
Nine Indicted for Payment Protection Program FraudRead the Press Release
PHOENIX, Ariz. – Last week, Jason Coleman, 40, and Kimberly Coleman, 38, of Mesa, Arizona, made their initial appearance in federal court on a 62-count indictment charging them with Conspiracy, Bank Fraud, Wire Fraud, and Transactional Money Laundering. A federal grand jury previously indicted the Colemans and seven other individuals in connection with a fraudulent scheme to obtain approximately $23 million in Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) loans. The nine defendants are accused of then using those PPP funds to purchase vehicles, properties, and other luxurious items.
According to the indictments, from April 2020 through April 2021, the conspirators in this scheme submitted or assisted in submitting PPP loan applications on behalf of 18 businesses, seeking loans between $100,000 and $2.2 million for each company.
In the loan applications, the defendants certified that each business was in operation and had employees for whom it paid salaries and payroll taxes, that the funds would be used to retain workers or make mortgage, lease, or utility payments, and that the information provided in the loan applications was true and accurate.
According to the indictment charging Jason and Kimberly Coleman, the married couple conspired to prepare and submit approximately two dozen false and fraudulent PPP loan applications in an attempt to receive more than $30 million in PPP funds. The Colemans were successful in ten of those submissions and fraudulently obtained more than $13 million in PPP funds.
According to the eight other connected indictments, seven defendants conspired to submit eight false and fraudulent PPP loan applications and received more than $10 million in PPP funds. The individuals named in the indictments include:
- Willie Mitchell aka Blu Mitchell, 40, of Phoenix, Arizona.
- Jason Nolte, 39, of Phoenix, Arizona.
- Sean Swaringer, 56, of Peoria, Arizona.
- Vanessa Swaringer, 54, of Peoria, Arizona.
- Toni Richardson, 52, of Phoenix, Arizona.
- Keenya Williams, 40, of Phoenix, Arizona.
- Darrell Lieteau, 56, of Phoenix, Arizona.
Indictments are only accusations, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
These cases were investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with assistance from the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation, Homeland Security Investigation, and the Small Business Administration-Office of the Inspector General. Assistant U.S. Attorneys from the District of Arizona, Phoenix, are handling the prosecutions.
To learn more about the Justice Department’s COVID response, visit: https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus.
For further information on the Criminal Division’s enforcement efforts on PPP fraud, including court documents from significant cases, visit the following website: https://www.justice.gov/criminal-fraud/ppp-fraud.
CASE NUMBERS: 21-00975-PHX-SPL; 21-00976-PHX-JJT; 21-00977-PHX-GMS; 21-00978-PHX-DLR; 21-00979-PHX-SMB; 21-00980-PHX-SPL; 21-00981-PHX-SPL; 21-00982-PHX-SPL; 21-00983-PHX-GMS
RELEASE NUMBER: 2021-094_Coleman, et al.
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For more information on the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/az/
Follow the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, on Twitter @USAO_AZ for the latest news.Nicholas County Man Sentenced to 56 Months for Extensive Crop Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
LEXINGTON, Ky.— A Carlisle, Ky., man, Earl Lee Planck, Jr., 62, was sentenced to 56 months in federal prison on Friday, by U.S. District Judge Karen Caldwell, after previously pleading guilty to conspiring to defraud the United States, crop insurance fraud, and tax evasion.
According to his guilty plea agreement, between March 2010 and December 2015, Planck obtained federal crop insurance and private crop-hail insurance covering his own crops in his own name, his business’s name, and in the names of family members and neighbors. During that time, he falsified documentation claiming losses by misrepresenting the amount of tobacco he produced. He did so, in part, by obtaining crop insurance under nominee names, selling crop production under the names of fake and real people, and obtaining and submitting fake bills of sale and grade sheets. Further, in agreement with insurers and adjusters, Planck obtained crop insurance covering crop on land that was incapable of growing crops. Evidence at his sentencing established that he obtained federal crop insurance covering a wooded tract of land, almost every year from 2006 and 2013, often in the names of his friends and family members. In total, Planck obtained $3,250,365 in federal crop insurance payments, which are funded by the taxpayers, and $2,815,821.69 in private crop insurance payments, for policies in his name, the name of his business, and the names of his family members and neighbors. According to testimony at the sentencing, Planck also assisted other neighbors and family members in conducting their own crop insurance fraud, for a kickback. In total, the Court found that Planck caused a total loss of more than $9 million, with more than $5.5 million of that from the United States.
In addition, Planck admitted that in 2014 when filing taxes, he reported his crop insurance proceeds, but he failed to report any income from sales of tobacco, when he was aware that he had substantial income from the sale of tobacco in the that year. Planck admitted to signing his tax return under penalties of perjury, even though he knew his income was underreported on the tax return. Records provided to the Court demonstrated that he underreported his income by nearly $1.9 million across Tax Years 2013 to 2015, resulting in an additional tax due and owing of $613,265.
Planck pleaded guilty in June 2021.
“This was a brazen and wide-ranging scheme that cost the taxpayers and private insurers millions of dollars,” said Carlton S. Shier, IV, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky. “Not only did he commit massive fraud, over the course of many years, he corruptly obtained the assistance of insurers and adjusters, he assisted others to perpetrate their own fraud, and he evaded his income taxes. Protecting the invaluable resources of crop insurance programs is absolutely critical, and this prosecution would not have been possible without the painstaking efforts of our law enforcement partners.”
Under federal law, Planck must serve 85 percent of his prison sentence. Upon his release from prison, he will be under the supervision of the U.S. Probation Office for 3 years.
United States Attorney Shier; Jason M. Williams, Special Agent in Charge, United States Department of Agriculture Office of Inspector General; Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Louisville Field Office; Bryant Jackson, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation; and Juan Garrett, Director, Kentucky Department of Insurance Fraud Investigation Division, jointly made the announcement.
The investigations were conducted by the United States Department of Agriculture Office of Inspector General, United States Department of Agriculture Risk Management Agency Special Investigations Staff, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation, and Kentucky Department of Insurance. The United States was represented by Assistant United States Attorneys Erin Roth and Kathryn Anderson.
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Nicaraguan Man Charged with Illegally Using Social Security Number to Obtain EmploymentRead the Press Release
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – United States Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that SANTOS MENDOZA-OSORIO, age 25, a native of Nicaragua, was charged on December 16, 2021 in a one-count indictment with illegal use of a Social Security number in order to obtain employment, in violation of Title 42, United States Code, Section 408(a)(7)(B).
MENDOZA faces a maximum term of imprisonment of not more than five (5) years, up to three (3) years of supervised release, a fine of up to $250,000.00, and a mandatory special assessment fee of $100.00.
U.S. Attorney Evans reiterated that an indictment is merely a charge and that the guilt of the defendant must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
U.S. Attorney Evans praised the work of Homeland Security Investigations and Social Security Administration agents in investigating this matter. Assistant United States Attorney Jon Maestri is in charge of the prosecution.
New York Man Sentenced to 37 Months for Passing Altered Postal Money Orders and TheftRead the Press Release
NEW ORLEANS – U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that ANTHONY SMALLS, age 33, of New York, New York, was sentenced on December 16, 2021 by U.S. District Court Judge Carl J. Barbier of the Eastern District of Louisiana to 37 months of incarceration for conspiracy to pass altered U.S. Postal money orders, passing altered U.S. Postal money orders and possessing stolen U.S. government property.
According to court records, SMALLS and a co-defendant, Antoine Merchant, travelled from New York to Louisiana in October of 2019 to cash stolen U.S. Postal money orders that had been altered to show amounts worth hundreds of dollars. SMALLS and Merchant cashed two such postal money orders in Kenner and Metairie, LA. When arrested, the defendants also possessed 58 U.S. Postal money orders that they had stolen from an Ascension Parish U.S. Post Office the day before.
In addition to incarceration, SMALLS was sentenced to three years of supervised release following incarceration, ordered to pay restitution to the U.S. Postal Service in the amount of $5,675.00, and a mandatory special assessment fee of $400.
U.S. Attorney Evans praised the work of the United States Postal Inspection Service, along with assistance from the Louisiana State Police - Criminal Investigations Department, Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office and Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Office, in investigating this matter. Assistant U.S. Attorney Edward J. Rivera was in charge of the prosecution.