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6 December 2021
Carencro Woman Sentenced for Defrauding Her EmployerRead the Press Release
LAFAYETTE, La. - Acting United States Attorney Alexander C. Van Hook announced that Yvette L. Fontenot, 54, of Carencro, Louisiana, has been sentenced by United States District Judge Robert R. Summerhays to 14 months in prison, followed by 3 years of supervised release, for using or trafficking in an unauthorized access device. Fontenot was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $149,461.48.
Fontenot pleaded guilty to the charge on August 20, 2021. Fontenot was employed as an Office Manager at Periodontics Associates in Lafayette, Louisiana. In that position, Fontenot was authorized to use certain credit cards for business expenses, as well as certain business accounts to pay the balances of those credit cards and other business expenses.
According to evidence presented to the court, from November 2008 until August 2016, Fontenot used several of the business credit cards issued to Periodontics Associates for personal expenses for herself and her family. Fontenot knew that these credit cards were obtained and authorized for business use only and she knew that other business accounts would be used to pay the balances of the credit card accounts. In fact, business funds were used to pay these credit card balances and personal expenses of Fontenot through business checks prepared by Fontenot herself. She did this with the intent to defraud the company for personal gain, to which she was not entitled. The amount of loss suffered by the company as identified in the criminal proceedings was $149,461.48.
The United States Secret Service investigated the case and Assistant U.S. Attorney Myers P. Namie prosecuted the case.
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Camden Man Sentenced to Ten Years in Prison for Illegal Possession of WeaponRead the Press Release
CAMDEN, N.J. – A Camden man was sentenced today to 120 months in prison for unlawfully possessing a firearm and ammunition, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig announced.
Marshall Onuorah, 32, of Camden, was convicted at trial in June 2021of one count of possession of a firearm and ammunition by a previously convicted felon. The jury deliberated two hours before returning the guilty verdict following a four-day trial before U.S. District Judge Noel L. Hillman in Camden federal court.
According to documents filed in this case and the evidence at trial:
On Jan. 29, 2020, Camden County police officers patrolling in their marked patrol car observed Onuorah, a previously convicted felon, appearing to use his hands to conceal an object from the officers’ view. As one of the officers exited the car to approach Onuorah, Onuorah fled. Both officers pursued Onuorah on foot for several blocks before Onuorah surrendered. During his flight, Onuorah discarded a 50-round drum magazine loaded with 46 rounds of ammunition and a firearm with a Glock slide and polymer frame that had been modified to fire as an automatic weapon.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Hillman sentenced Onuorah to three years of supervised release.
Acting U.S. Attorney Honig credited special agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, Camden Field Office, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey L. Matthews in Newark; officers of the Camden County Police Department, under the direction of Chief Gabriel Rodriguez; and the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Acting Prosecutor Grace C. MacAulay, with the investigation leading to today’s sentence.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Bender and Senior Trial Counsel Jason Richardson of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Camden.
CBL/BFL Gang Member Convicted of Two Murders in Aid of Racketeering, and Multiple Other Charges, Sentenced to Life in PrisonRead the Press Release
CONTACT: Barbara Burns
PHONE: (716) 843-5817
FAX #: (716) 551-3051BUFFALO, N.Y. - U.S. Attorney Trini E. Ross announced today that CBL/BFL Gang member Dalvon Curry, 25, of Buffalo, NY, who was convicted by a federal jury of two counts of murder in aid of racketeering; racketeering and narcotics conspiracy; possession of firearms in furtherance of a crime of violence; and possession of firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, was sentenced to serve life in prison plus 25 years by U.S. District Judge Lawrence J. Vilardo.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Paul C. Parisi and Seth T. Molisani, and Christopher O. Taylor, of the Department of Justice Organized Crime and Gang Section, who handled the prosecution of the case, stated that the defendant was a member of the CBL/BFL Gang which stands for, among other things, “Cash Been Long” and “Brothers for Life.” Identified as a “shooter” in the gang, Curry shot and killed rival gang member Jaquan Sullivan on December 5, 2015. He also shot and killed Xavier Wimes on January 1, 2017.
The gang was formed around 2009 and operated primarily in the City of Buffalo at the Towne Gardens Housing Complex, which served as a central hub for the gang. Many members lived within the housing complex, and many housing units were used to store firearms and narcotics. Members utilized parking lots and a retail plaza adjacent to the Towne Gardens to distribute narcotics, including heroin, fentanyl, cocaine, crack cocaine, marijuana, and other controlled substances.
The gang used violence, including murder and attempted murder, threats, and intimidation to defend their territory against rivals and anyone deemed to be a threat. Any attack on a member of their gang typically resulted in retaliation by all. Members and associates also used social media, such as Facebook and Snapchat, to display gang affiliation, brandish firearms, display quantities of currency and narcotics, and show participation in violent acts. They also produced, sang, and appeared in music videos at locations in and around the gang's territory that promoted the enterprise and its activities.
CBL/BFL gang members also threatened witnesses who they suspected might testify or provide information to law enforcement about the crimes committed by the gang.
Twelve other CBL/BFL Gang members and associates were previously convicted and sentenced. They include:
• Shawn Woods, a/k/a Pif; • Michael Walker, a/k/a Yam; • Mikel Lowe, a/k/a L-O; • Aaron Mack, a/k/a Dean, a/k/a Deano; • Shameris Washington, a/k/a GB; • Maurice Rice, a/k/a Reese; • Miquise Jones, a/k/a Scaife; • Dajon Nettles, a/k/a Gucc; • Larell Watkins, a/k/a 90-Ls; • Larry Watkins, Jr.; • Larquon Watkins, a/k/a 90; and
• Rashad Rose, a/k/a Gotti.This effort is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.
The sentencing is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Stephen Belongia; the Buffalo Police Department, under the direction of Commissioner Byron Lockwood; the New York State Police, under the direction of Major James Hall; the Erie County Sheriff’s Department, under the direction of Sheriff Timothy Howard; the Cheektowaga Police Department, under the direction of Chief Brian Gould; Homeland Security Investigations, under the direction of Acting Special Agent-in-Charge Matthew Scarpino; the Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of Acting Special Agent-in-Charge Keith Kruskall, New York Field Division; the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge John B. Devito, New York Field Division; the Lackawanna Police Department, under the direction of Chief Mark Packard; the U.S. Marshals Service, under the direction of Marshal Charles Salina; and the Erie Crime Analysis Center. Additional assistance was provided by the Erie County District Attorney’s Office, under the direction of District Attorney John Flynn.
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Bristol Man Sentenced to More Than 6 Years in Federal Prison for Child Exploitation OffenseRead the Press Release
Leonard C Boyle, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, today announced that on December 3, 2021, DAVID MESSIER, 36, of Bristol, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Vanessa L. Bryant in Hartford to 75 months of imprisonment, followed by 10 years of supervised release, for receiving child pornography over a mobile dating application.
According to court documents and statements made in court, in July 2017, Messier began communicating with Amber Foley on MeetMe, a mobile dating application. After Messier and Foley exchanged several messages in which they described various sexual acts, Foley asked Messier what he would do if a child walked into the room while she and Messier were having sex. Foley then sent Messier a lascivious picture of the genitals of four-year-old female. Messier responded positively to the picture and requested additional sexually explicit photographs of the female child and a two-year-old male.
Messier was arrested on a federal criminal complaint on February 27, 2019. On October 31, 2019, he pleaded guilty to one count of receipt of child pornography.
Messier, who is released on a $150,000 bond, is required to report to prison on January 28, 2022.
Foley, formerly of Meriden, pleaded guilty to distribution of child pornography and, on September 8, 2021, was sentenced to 90 months of imprisonment.
This matter was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Meriden and Hartford Police Departments, with the assistance of the Connecticut Department of Children and Families. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Nancy V. Gifford and Maria del Pilar Gonzalez.
This prosecution is part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood Initiative, which is aimed at protecting children from sexual abuse and exploitation. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
To report cases of child exploitation, please visit www.cybertipline.com.
Boscawen Man Sentenced to 84 Months for Drug Trafficking ChargesRead the Press Release
CONCORD - Adam Beck, 26, of Boscawen, was sentenced to 84 months in federal prison for four drug trafficking charges related to the distribution of methamphetamine and fentanyl, Acting United States Attorney John J. Farley announced today.
According to court documents and statements made in court, in October of 2020, investigators with the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Drug Task Force received information from a cooperating individual that Beck was distributing drugs around Boscawen and Warner. The cooperator assisted law enforcement officers in making controlled buys of methamphetamine and fentanyl from Beck. Officers also conducted surveillance of Beck and observed him engaging in hand-to-hand drug transactions.
On December 10, 2020, investigators arrested Beck on drug distribution charges. On his person, they found approximately $1,200 and a small bag containing fentanyl. That same day, investigators obtained a search warrant for a Webster residence associated with Beck. During the search, investigators located nearly $15,000, approximately a pound and a half of methamphetamine, approximately 100 grams of fentanyl, and other incriminating items in a room that belonged to Beck.
Beck previously pleaded guilty on August 20, 2021.
“Methamphetamine and fentanyl are dangerous drugs that are damaging far too many lives in New Hampshire,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Farley. “As this case demonstrates, we are working closely with our law enforcement partners to ensure that drug dealers who seek to profit from selling these deadly substances are held responsible for their unlawful conduct. This substantial sentence will ensure that Mr. Beck cannot endanger further lives by selling drugs in the Granite State.”
This matter was investigated by the New Hampshire Attorney General's Drug Task Force, Concord Police Department, Merrimack County Sheriff's Department, Webster Police Department, and the U.S. Marshals Service. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Rombeau.
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Berkeley County man sentenced for role in drug trafficking enterpriseRead the Press Release
MARTINSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA – Maxwell Edward Sanderlin, of Martinsburg, West Virginia, was sentenced today to eight years of probation for his role in a drug distribution enterprise, United States Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld, II announced.
Sanderlin, 34, pleaded guilty in July 2021 to one count of “Aiding and Abetting Distribution of Heroin and Fentanyl.” Sanderlin admitted to working with others to sell heroin and fentanyl in February 2020 in Berkeley County.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Lara Omps-Botteicher prosecuted the case on behalf of the government. The FBI; the Department of Homeland Security Investigations; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the U.S. Marshals Service; the West Virginia State Police; the Eastern Panhandle Drug & Violent Crimes Task Force, a HIDTA-funded initiative; and the West Virginia Air National Guard investigated. The Eastern District of Pennsylvania U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Kent County Sheriff’s Office assisted.
These charges are the result of investigations supported by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) under the Attorney General-led Synthetic Opioid Surge (SOS)/Special Operations Division (SOD) Project Clean Sweep. This initiative seeks to reduce the supply of synthetic opioids in “hot spot” areas previously identified by the Attorney General of the United States, thereby reducing drug overdoses and drug overdose deaths, and identify wholesale distribution networks and sources of supply operating nationally and internationally. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.
Chief U.S. District Judge Gina M. Groh presided.
Find the related case here: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndwv/pr/22-people-indicted-drug-trafficking-enterprise-spanned-several-states
Bellevue Man Sentenced to 8 Years for Transporting Child PornographyRead the Press Release
Acting United States Attorney Jan Sharp announced that James Bushor, 38, of Bellevue, Nebraska, was sentenced on December 3, 2021 for transporting child pornography. Chief United States District Judge Robert F. Rossiter, Jr. sentenced Bushor to 96 months’ imprisonment. There is no parole in the federal system. After his release from prison, Bushor will begin a five-year term of supervised release and will be required to register as a sex offender. Bushor was further ordered to pay $18,000 total in restitution to six victims whose images were found in his collection.
Cybertips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children indicated that on April 30 and May 1, 2019, images of child pornography were being uploaded from Bushor’s residence. A search warrant of his residence recovered more than 100 videos and more than 100 pictures of child pornography on various devices. The child pornography included toddlers and images of bondage involving children engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and 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.
This case was investigated by the Nebraska State Patrol.
Baltimore Serial Armed Robber Sentenced to 14 Years in Federal Prison for Robbing 35 Businesses, Often at GunpointRead the Press Release
Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow today sentenced Darnell Gerald Gaither, Jr., age 27, of Baltimore, Maryland, to 14 years in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for committing 35 commercial robberies and for brandishing a firearm during some of the robberies, which were committed throughout Maryland.
The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Sobocinski of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; Chief Melissa R. Hyatt of the Baltimore County Police Department, and Commissioner Michael Harrison of the Baltimore City Police Department.
According to his guilty plea, from December 2018 to November 24, 2019, Gaither committed at least 35 commercial robberies throughout Maryland. Gaither robbed fast-food restaurants, general stores, cell phone stores, gaming stores, a gym, and chain pharmacies—and robbed a number of the stores more than once. In at least one robbery, Gaither brandished a firearm and in least five occasions, he robbed the stores while partially revealing a handgun. In all the other robberies, Gaither passed a note to an employee stating that he had a gun. The employees, fearing for their safety, often provided Gaither with cash from their registers, in amounts ranging from a couple hundred dollars to $1,900.
For example, on October 25, 2019, Gaither robbed a Baltimore smoothie franchise by entering the store and handing the cashier a note that read “I have a gun give me all the cash”. When the cashier refused to open the register, Gaither produced a handgun. The victim reported that Gaither told the victim that he would kill her if she did not open the register. The cashier opened the register and Gaither ordered the cashier and two other employees to the floor while he removed the cash from the register. Gaither then ordered the three employees to open the safe in a back area and hand him additional cash. Gaither took cash from the franchise and fled the store.
Five days later, on October 30, 2019, Gaither robbed a Baltimore general store by posing as a customer. After approaching the register with a bag of candy, Gaither handed the cashier a note that stated, “You know what it is”, while displaying what appeared to be a handgun inside his waistband. The cashier believed that Gaither possessed a real firearm and feared for her safety. The cashier handed $197 to Gaither, who then fled the store.
United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the FBI, the Baltimore County Police Department and the Baltimore City Police Department for their work in the investigation. Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul E. Budlow, who prosecuted the case.
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Bakersfield Man Pleads Guilty to Transporting over 100 Pounds of MethamphetamineRead the Press Release
FRESNO, Calif. — Randal Jason Newell, 41, of Bakersfield, pleaded guilty today to possessing with intent to distribute methamphetamine, Acting U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.
According to court documents, on Dec. 5, 2020, Newell drove from Bakersfield to Mexico to obtain and smuggle narcotics from Mexico to Bakersfield, which he agreed to do for $7,000. On Dec. 7, 2020, Newell drove to the San Ysidro port of entry crossing from Mexico into the United States. Law enforcement officers inspected Newell’s vehicle at the border crossing and discovered approximately 98 packages containing approximately 111 pounds of methamphetamine concealed in the vehicle’s gas tank, the rear compartment wall, the driver- and passenger-side exterior frame pillars, and underneath the floor.
On April 8, 2021, Newell and eight other defendants were charged in three related indictments for trafficking and purchasing to sell methamphetamine from a conspiracy orchestrated by Omar Alberto Navarro, 38, of Arvin. The other defendants are: Daniel Armendariz Mercado, 42; David Delgado Gonzalez, 38; Miguel Angel Martinez, 27; Amayrani Jared Arreguin, 25; and Yvette Gallegos, 23, all of Bakersfield; Lizette Mendez, 32, of Delano; and James Scott Gordon, 47, of Chico. The charges against them are only allegations; they are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
This case is the product of an investigation by Homeland Security Investigations, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the U.S. Marshals Service, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms, Tobacco and Explosives, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Secret Service, the Bakersfield Police Department, the Kern County Sheriff’s Office, the Shafter Police Department, the Kern County Probation Department, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the California Department of Motor Vehicles, and the California Highway Patrol. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christopher D. Baker and Laura J. Berger are prosecuting the case.
Newell is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Dale A. Drozd on Feb. 28, 2022. Newell faces a statutory mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years in prison up to a maximum of life in prison and a $10 million fine. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.
This effort is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at www.justice.gov/OCDETF.
Activity in the United States Attorney's OfficeRead the Press Release
United Stated District Court Chief Judge Scott W. Skavdahl sentenced TRAVIS BOUGIE, 45, of Gillette, Wyoming for possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. Bougie was arrested in Cheyenne, Wyoming on February 8, 2021. He received 36 months of imprisonment, to be followed by five years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $500 in restitution and a $100 special assessment. Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation investigated the crime, and it was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Timothy J. Forwood.
United States District Court Judge Alan B. Johnson sentenced SAMUEL MERCEDES RIVERA, 41, of El Paso, Texas for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. He was arrested on March 26, 2021 in Casper, Wyoming after being stopped for speeding by Wyoming Highway Trooper Daniel Adame. Law enforcement searched Rivera’s vehicle was searched and found to seventy-eight pounds of methamphetamine. He received 97 months of imprisonment to be followed by four years of supervised release. Rivera was also ordered to pay $400 community restitution and a $100 special assessment. The case was investigated by Wyoming Highway Patrol and the Drug Enforcement Administration, with assistance from the Casper Police Department and Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael A. Blonigen.
4 December 2021
U.S. Attorney Bridget M. Brennan Releases Statement on Cuyahoga County Overdose SurgeRead the Press Release
U.S. Attorney Bridget M. Brennan released a statement today after the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner issued a public health alert concerning suspected overdose deaths in the county.
“There are no safe street drugs,” said U.S. Attorney Brennan. “Pills that look like oxycontin or percocet are often pressed fentanyl, fentanyl analogues or carfentanil. Similarly, cocaine is not just cocaine, and heroin is not just heroin. What is being bought on the streets is killing our friends and neighbors. We will continue to identify, dismantle and prosecute anyone selling these illegal narcotics. But for those who are using, know that help is available. Please get the help you need.”
Read the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s public health alert here.
If you or anyone that you know is actively using or recovering from opioid addiction, contact Project DAWN for information at 216-778-5677. Eligible program participants are given free Naloxone kits – the opioid reversing antidote.
Additionally, the Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services (ADAMHS) Board of Cuyahoga County provides a 24-hour crisis hotline at 216-623-6888.
3 December 2021
Woman Who Laundered over $2 Million for International ‘Child Modeling’ Websites Sentenced to More Than Five Years in Federal PrisonRead the Press Release
A Florida woman was sentenced today to five years and three months in prison for engaging in a money laundering scheme in connection with an international, subscription-based, sexually-exploitative enterprise based in Florida that operated “child modeling” websites. As part of her sentence, the court also ordered her to forfeit $236,410.70.
Patrice Eileen Wilowski-Mevorah, 53, of Tampa, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering on July 6. According to court documents, Wilowski-Mevorah laundered at least $2.3 million for the company known as Newstar Enterprise, which operated for-profit websites (the Newstar Websites) depicting sexual exploitation of vulnerable children under the guise of “child modeling.”
According to court documents, Wilowski-Mevorah joined the Newstar Enterprise around 2009 and fraudulently opened payment-processing and bank accounts under the pretense of a phony jewelry company. For 10 years, she routinely used the phony company’s accounts to conceal criminal proceeds from the Newstar Websites and transfer those proceeds back to principal members of the Newstar Enterprise. Wilowski-Mevorah continued to launder money for the enterprise until November 2019, when law enforcement authorities executed several search warrants across the United States and simultaneously seized the Newstar websites’ servers in the United States and Europe. Law enforcement officers then disabled the servers hosting the Newstar Websites.
Founded around 2005, the Newstar Enterprise built, maintained, hosted, and operated the Newstar Websites on servers in the United States and abroad. To populate website content, Newstar Enterprise members sourced, enticed, solicited, and recruited males and females under the age of 18, some of whom were prepubescent, to use as “child models.” Using the recruited child-victims, the Newstar Enterprise produced more than 4.6 million sexualized images and videos to distribute and sell on their websites. Some of those images and videos, though non-nude, depicted minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. For example, images and videos sold on the Newstar Websites depicted children as young as 6 years old in sexual and provocative poses, wearing police and cheerleader costumes, thong underwear, transparent underwear, revealing swimsuits, pantyhose, and miniskirts. Most of the child-victims – recruited from Ukraine, Moldova, and other nations in Eastern Europe – were particularly vulnerable due to their age, family dynamics, and poverty.
The Newstar Enterprise maintained a membership list for subscribers and customers who originated from 101 countries. Images in the websites’ galleries were freely available to the public to preview, but greater access and more content required purchasing a subscription. The sale of purported “child modeling” content on the Newstar Websites generated more than $9.4 million during the course of the conspiracy. To process, receive, and distribute this money, Newstar Enterprise members fraudulently opened merchant and bank accounts in the United States and laundered proceeds using the bogus company.
The chart below shows cases status for co-defendants also charged in the Middle District of Florida:
Newstar Enterprise Cases Status
Name
Case Number
Charge(s)
Status
Maximum Potential Total Penalty
Tatiana Power
8:21-cr-244-MSS-AAS
Conspiracy to commit money laundering; international promotion money laundering; concealment money laundering
Indicted, pending trial
100 years’ imprisonment
Kenneth Power
8:21-cr-00032-SDM-AAS
Conspiracy to advertise child pornography; conspiracy to distribute child pornography
Defendant deceased; case dismissed
60 years’ imprisonment
Plamen Velinov
8:21-cr-342-VMC-SPF
Conspiracy to advertise child pornography; conspiracy to distribute child pornography
Indicted, pending extradition
50 years’ imprisonment
Patrice Wilowski-Mevorah
8:21-cr-00206-MSS-TGW
Conspiracy to commit money laundering
Pleaded guilty, sentenced to five years’ and three months’ imprisonment
20 years’ imprisonment
Anthony Lee Kendall
8:21-cr-358-SCB-TGW
Conspiracy to commit money laundering; promotion money laundering; concealment money laundering
Indicted, defendant deceased
100 years’ imprisonment
Mary Lou
Bjorkman
8:21-cr-00227-SDM-AAS
Conspiracy to commit money laundering
Pleaded guilty, sentence pending
20 years’ imprisonment
The defendants have also been notified that the United States intends to forfeit a total of $9.4 million, which are alleged to be traceable to proceeds of the offenses, in addition to real property located in Florida.
Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; Acting U.S. Attorney Karin Hoppmann for the Middle District of Florida; and Special Agent in Charge John Condon of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Tampa made the announcement.
HSI Tampa and the High Technology Investigative Unit of the Department of Justice Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) investigated the case, with substantial assistance provided by HSI offices in Fort Lauderdale, Athens, the Hague, Dallas, Las Vegas, and Tacoma; U.S. Customs and Border Protection in Sofia, Bulgaria; IRS-Criminal Investigation in Tampa; and the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section (MLARS).
This investigation benefited from foreign law enforcement cooperation and substantial assistance by the Republic of Bulgaria, Supreme Cassation Prosecution Office and National Investigation Service; the Republic of Moldova, Office of the Prosecutor General and National Inspectorate of Investigations; International Legal Assistance Center (IRC), North-Holland Unit; the Czech Republic, Supreme Public Prosecutor’s Office, Czech Police and the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs. The Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development, Assistance and Training (OPDAT) provided technical assistance.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Frank Murray of the Middle District of Florida and Trial Attorney Kyle Reynolds of CEOS are prosecuting these cases.
An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Watertown Man found Guilty of Receipt, Distribution,and Transportation of Child PornographyRead the Press Release
Acting United States Attorney Dennis R. Holmes announced that Vincent Michael Perez, age 36, of Watertown, South Dakota, was found guilty of one count of Receipt and Distribution of Child Pornography and one count of Transportation of Child Pornography as a result of a federal jury trial in Aberdeen, South Dakota.
The charges carry a maximum penalty of 40 years in federal prison and/or a $250,000 fine, life of supervised release, and a up to $5,200 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.
Perez was indicted by a federal grand jury on August 17, 2020.
Between August 7 and August 17, 2019, Perez knowingly received and distributed child pornography using a MeWe social media account. He also uploaded pornographic images of children to the same social media account. Law enforcement investigated the case after receiving a cybertip generated by MeWe. A detective with the Watertown Police Department tracked the history of internet use to Perez. The MeWe account contained numerous files of child pornography that Perez shared with other MeWe users.
This case was investigated by the Watertown Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey C. Clapper prosecuted the case.
A presentence investigation was ordered and a sentencing date was set for May, 23, 2022. The defendant was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
Waco Man Sentenced to 15 Years for Sexually Exploiting a MinorRead the Press Release
AUSTIN – A Waco man was sentenced today to 15 years in prison for the sexual exploitation of children.
According to court documents, Arthur Ray Dickey Jr., 32, produced a video while engaged in sexual intercourse with a minor. In addition to the 15 years in federal prison, the defendant was ordered to serve 10 years of supervised release after his term of incarceration.
In January 2020, the defendant also was sentenced by the State of Texas to eight years in state prison for aggravated robbery and compelling prostitution. The state and federal sentences will run consecutive.
“Sexual predators seeking to exploit vulnerable children in violation of federal law will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law,” said U.S. Attorney Ashley C. Hoff.
On June 28, 2021, Dickey pleaded guilty to one count of sexual exploitation of children.
The Austin Police Department investigated the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Grant Sparks prosecuted the case.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by 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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Virginia Man Indicted on Firearm and Ammunition ChargesRead the Press Release
BOSTON – A Virginia man was charged in an indictment unsealed today for being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition.
Ted Therrien, 51, of Newport News, Va., was indicted on one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition. Therrien was arrested in Newport News, Va., yesterday. Following an initial appearance in federal court in the Eastern District of Virginia this afternoon, Therrien was detained pending a detention hearing on Dec. 8, 2021. He will appear in Boston at a later date.
According to the indictment, on or around July 30, 2021, in Fairhaven, Mass., Therrien unlawfully possessed a Ruger .40 caliber semi-automatic pistol and at least nine rounds of Remington .40 caliber ammunition. Therrien is prohibited from possessing a firearm or ammunition due to a prior felony conviction.
The charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition provides for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Acting United States Attorney Nathaniel R. Mendell and James Noble, Special Agent in Charge of Coast Guard Investigative Service, Northeast Region, made the announcement today. Valuable assistance was provided by the United States Marshals Service and the Fairhaven Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Elianna Nuzum of Mendell’s Major Crimes Unit is prosecuting the case.
The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
United States Attorney Damian Williams Announces Investigation of the Mount Vernon Police DepartmentRead the Press Release
Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York (SDNY), along with Kristen Clarke, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, announced today that the Justice Department has opened a pattern or practice investigation into the Mount Vernon Police Department (MVPD). The investigation will assess whether MVPD engages in a pattern or practice of discriminatory policing. The investigation will also assess MVPD’s use of force, strip and body cavity searches, and how it handles evidence. As part of the investigation, SDNY and the Civil Rights Division will conduct a comprehensive review of MVPD’s systems of accountability, including complaint intake, investigation, review, disposition, and discipline. SDNY and the Civil Rights Division will also reach out to community groups and members of the public to learn about their experiences with the MVPD.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “Police officers have tough jobs, and so many do their work honorably, lawfully, and with distinction, respecting the rights of the citizens they have sworn to protect. But when officers break the law, they violate their oath and undermine a community’s trust. We ask anyone who has information relevant to the investigation into the Mount Vernon Police Department to contact the Department of Justice via email at [email protected] or to call (866) 985-1378.”
Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division Kristen Clarke said: “An effective and accountable police department is a hallmark of a healthy and well-functioning democracy. The Civil Rights Division is committed to ensuring that law enforcement agencies across our country use their authority in a manner that is constitutional, transparent, and free from discrimination.”
This morning, SDNY and Civil Rights Division officials informed Mount Vernon Mayor Shawyn Patterson-Howard, MVPD Chief Marcel Olifiers, City Council President Marcus A. Griffith, Commissioner of Public Safety Glenn Scott, and Corporation Counsel Brian Johnson of the investigation.
The investigation is being conducted pursuant to the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, which prohibits state and local governments from engaging in a pattern or practice of conduct by law enforcement officers that deprives individuals of rights protected by the Constitution or federal law. The Act allows the Department of Justice to remedy such misconduct through civil litigation. SDNY and the Civil Rights Division will be assessing law enforcement practices under the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, as well as under the Safe Streets Act of 1968 and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The Civil Rights Unit in the Civil Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and the Special Litigation Section of the Civil Rights Division, in Washington, D.C., are jointly conducting this investigation. Individuals with relevant information are encouraged to contact the Department of Justice via email at [email protected] or by phone at (866) 985-1378. Individuals can also report civil rights violations regarding this or other matters using the Civil Rights Division’s reporting portal, available at civilrights.justice.gov.
Additional information about the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York is available on its website at https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny. Additional information about the Civil Rights Division and the Division’s Police Reform Work is available on its website at www.justice.gov/crt and at /media/872116/dl?inline.
United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Illinois Announces Participation in National Money Mule InitiativeRead the Press Release
FAIRVIEW HEIGHTS, Ill. – In conjunction with a press release issued today by the Department of
Justice regarding the Fourth Annual Money Mule Initiative, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Illinois announced its participation in the national effort to combat money mule activities.
Money mules are individuals who are recruited by national and international fraud schemes to help with the laundering of fraud proceeds, or transport goods purchased with fraud proceeds. These individuals are usually recruited over the internet, through dating websites, job recruiting advertisements, or other types of internet solicitations. The money mules are then asked to help move money and goods from the victims to the fraudsters, who are oftentimes located overseas.Sometimes the money mules are themselves innocent victims who do not realize that they are assisting with criminal activity. Other times, however, the money mules come to realize that what they are doing is wrong and/or illegal. When this happens, the money mules become knowing participants in the fraud schemes they are assisting and are subject to prosecution.
In the past 18 months, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Illinois has initiated prosecutions of several money mules who have either operated from, or targeted victims located in, southern Illinois. The individuals charged include: (1) Danny
Vaughn, 62, of Centralia, Illinois. Vaughn is charged with purchasing goods, such as computers and cell phones, with stolen credit card numbers, and then shipping those goods to overseas addresses, including Malaysia; (2) Jaykumar Patel, 32, of Tampa, Florida. Patel is charged with receiving cash from fraud victims, including victims located in southern Illinois, and transporting that cash to other participants in the fraud scheme; and (3) Talfanita Cobb, 49, of East St. Louis, Illinois. Cobb is charged with receiving fraudulently obtained Unemployment Insurance debit cards, withdrawing funds from the cards, and transferring the funds to other members of the fraud scheme via Bitcoin.Members of the public are reminded to be careful of individuals they meet online.
If those individuals ask you to receive or transfer funds or goods, purchase gift cards, or engage in any type of suspicious activity, please report this activity to law enforcement.
U.S. Law Enforcement Targets Fraud Facilitators, Doubling Last Year’s EnforcementRead the Press Release
The Department of Justice, FBI, U.S. Postal Inspection Service and five other federal law enforcement agencies announced the completion of the fourth annual Money Mule Initiative, which targeted networks of individuals through which international fraudsters obtain proceeds of fraud schemes. These individuals, sometimes referred to as money mules, receive money from fraud victims and forward the illicit funds, often to overseas perpetrators.
By receiving and transferring illicit funds, money mules facilitate a wide range of fraud schemes, including those that often predominately impact older Americans — like romance scams and lottery fraud — and those that target companies through business e-mail compromise schemes. Money mules also assist the theft of funds earmarked for pandemic relief, including unemployment insurance and small business loan funds. Some money mules are aware that their actions facilitate international fraud schemes. Others, however, first interact with fraud schemes as victims and may be unaware that their actions are furthering criminal activity.
U.S. law enforcement took action to address 4,750 money mules over the last 10 weeks; enforcement actions occurred in every state in the country. These actions more than doubled the number of actions taken during last year’s effort. Agencies are also conducting outreach to educate the public about how fraudsters use money mules and how to avoid unknowingly assisting fraud by receiving and transferring money.
“Without money mules, many foreign fraudsters targeting American consumers, businesses and pandemic relief funds could not reap the proceeds of their schemes,” said Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta. “The department and its partners will use every tool at our disposal — consumer education, disruption and prosecution — to cripple foreign fraudsters’ ability to get money from victims’ pockets to perpetrators’ bank accounts.”
Law Enforcement Actions
The department’s Consumer Protection Branch and the FBI led the initiative with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. Other participating agencies were the Department of Labor Office of Inspector General, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Small Business Administration Office of Inspector General, U.S. Secret Service and U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. The campaign was conducted simultaneously with a Europol initiative, the European Money Mule Action (EMMA). Additionally, in several districts, including the District of Arizona and the Northern District of Georgia, federal law enforcement have been working closely with their state and local law enforcement counterparts.
“This year’s Money Mule Initiative successfully halted the activity of hundreds of money mules worldwide thanks to the persistence and partnership of the FBI and our federal, state, local and international partners,” said Executive Assistant Director Brian Turner of the FBI's Criminal, Cyber, Response and Services Branch. “Money mules make it easier for criminals to hide their activity, and harder for law enforcement to follow their tracks. Today’s announcement is an unmistakable warning for those who move money for criminal enterprises: even if you don’t know you’re committing a crime, acting as a money mule is illegal and punishable, and the FBI and our partners will use all available tools to disrupt the flow of funds to criminal networks.”
“The U.S. Postal Inspection Service takes great pride in our history of protecting the public from being deceived by scammers,” said Chief Postal Inspector Gary Barksdale for the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. “We work hard to safeguard vulnerable consumers through aggressive criminal investigations, as well as proactive consumer outreach, as part of our mission to protect those who might fall victim to cleverly designed deceptive offers. The Money Mule Initiative is another example of our law enforcement commitment, and that of our law enforcement partners, to vigorously pursue individuals who knowingly or unknowingly participate in criminal activity of this nature; bring them to justice and stop them in their tracks from victimizing the American public.”
The thousands of actions taken by law enforcement ranged from warning letters to civil and administrative actions, to criminal prosecutions. Law enforcement served approximately 4,670 letters warning individuals that their actions were facilitating fraud schemes. These letters outlined the potential consequences for transferring money acquired illegally. Civil or administrative actions were filed against 11 individuals, and through seizures and voluntary return of funds, law enforcement obtained nearly $3.7 million in fraud proceeds.
Additionally, more than 30 individuals were criminally charged for their roles in receiving and forwarding victim payments or otherwise laundering fraud proceeds. These cases included:
- The Consumer Protection Branch and U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California charged four individuals who laundered gift cards purchased by fraud victims.
- Two U.S. Attorney’s Offices, the District of Rhode Island and the Western District of Pennsylvania, indicted individuals who, among other conduct, personally collected money from grandparent scam victims.
- The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Tennessee charged an individual who facilitated the theft of unemployment insurance funds.
- The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York indicted a ring of individuals who laundered money for romance scams and business email compromise fraud schemes.
The charges also consisted of cases brought against individuals who facilitated business email compromise schemes, including charges brought by the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Eastern District of Virginia, the Eastern District of Wisconsin and the Western District of Kentucky. Additional charges were brought against money mules by U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Northern District of Georgia, the Eastern District of Louisiana, and the District of Nebraska.
Criminal charges are merely allegations. Defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Community Outreach and Prevention
Agencies also turned their attention to educating the public about how fraudsters recruit individuals to serve as money mules, signs of money mule activity and steps that should be taken if someone has unknowingly facilitated fraud by moving money.
These efforts included:
- U.S. Postal Inspection Service created fliers that were displayed in post offices across the country during the Money Mule Initiative.
- FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) released a money mule public service announcement.
- The Department of Labor Office of Inspector General provided information about money mule activity to state work force agencies.
- The Department’s Elder Justice Coordinators educated their communities about money mule’s activity.
- Members of the Attorney General’s Coronavirus Fraud Enforcement Task Force used outreach materials created by the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC) to educate the public about the use of money mules to steal pandemic relief funds.
Other government agencies joining the public awareness effort included the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which created new money mule scam awareness materials, as well as the Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Community Living and AmeriCorps Seniors. By increasing awareness of money mule activity, these efforts and others sought to prevent individuals from becoming involved in money mule activity.
For more information on money mules, please visit https://www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch/money-mule-initiative.
Information about the Department of Justice’s Elder Fraud Initiative is available at www.justice.gov/elderjustice. Additional information about the Consumer Protection Branch and its elder fraud enforcement efforts may be found at www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch. If you or someone you know is age 60 or older and has been a victim of financial fraud, help is available at the National Elder Fraud Hotline: 1-833-FRAUD-11 (1-833-372-8311).
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. 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.
U.S. Law Enforcement Targets Fraud Facilitators, Doubling Last Year’s EnforcementRead the Press Release
LEXINGTON, Ky — The Department of Justice, FBI, U.S. Postal Inspection Service and five other federal law enforcement agencies announced the completion of the fourth annual Money Mule Initiative, which targeted networks of individuals through which international fraudsters obtain proceeds of fraud schemes. These individuals, sometimes referred to as money mules, receive money from fraud victims and forward the illicit funds, often to overseas perpetrators.
By receiving and transferring illicit funds, money mules facilitate a wide range of fraud schemes, including those that often predominately impact older Americans — like romance scams and lottery fraud — and those that target companies through business e-mail compromise schemes. Money mules also assist the theft of funds earmarked for pandemic relief, including unemployment insurance and small business loan funds. Some money mules are aware that their actions facilitate international fraud schemes. Others, however, first interact with fraud schemes as victims and may be unaware that their actions are furthering criminal activity.
U.S. law enforcement took action to address 4,750 money mules over the last 10 weeks; enforcement actions occurred in every state in the country. These actions more than doubled the number of actions taken during last year’s effort. Agencies are also conducting outreach to educate the public about how fraudsters use money mules and how to avoid unknowingly assisting fraud by receiving and transferring money.
“Without money mules, many foreign fraudsters targeting American consumers, businesses and pandemic relief funds could not reap the proceeds of their schemes,” said Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta. “The department and its partners will use every tool at our disposal — consumer education, disruption and prosecution — to cripple foreign fraudsters’ ability to get money from victims’ pockets to perpetrators’ bank accounts.”
“Most criminals have tools of some kind, and a common one for fraudsters is money mules,” said Carlton S. Shier, IV, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky. “Countless Americans have been victimized by the efforts of money mules, who secreted away their money and ultimately got it into the hands of those stealing it. Everything we can do to make it more difficult for fraud schemes to be successful is good news for Americans, and we will continue to do our part to hinder their use of these tools for fraud.”
Eastern District of Kentucky Actions
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Kentucky prosecuted and convicted three such money mules in 2021. Ismaila Fafunmi, sentenced on August 24, 2021 to 51 months’ incarceration, Livingstone Otunuya Ineh Eqwem, sentenced on October 22, 2021 to 24 months’ incarceration, and Olatunbosun Oluwakayode Ajayi, sentenced on August 17, 2021 to 12 month’s incarceration, all participated in varying degrees in the receipt and conveyance of money obtained from a victim located in the Eastern District of Kentucky. This victim, who is in her seventies, has been lured into a romantic relationship online and sent hundreds of thousands of dollars to locations throughout the United States and the world, at the direction of her purported boyfriend. These money mules either directly or indirectly received her money and sent that onto the ultimate fraudster, located in Nigeria, less their cut. Fafunmi and Ineh Eqwem also served as money mules for funds deprived of American victims of other types of scams.
Law Enforcement Actions
The department’s Consumer Protection Branch and the FBI led the initiative with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. Other participating agencies were the Department of Labor Office of Inspector General, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Small Business Administration Office of Inspector General, U.S. Secret Service and U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. The campaign was conducted simultaneously with a Europol initiative, the European Money Mule Action (EMMA). Additionally, in several districts, including the District of Arizona and the Northern District of Georgia, federal law enforcement have been working closely with their state and local law enforcement counterparts.
“This year’s Money Mule Initiative successfully halted the activity of hundreds of money mules worldwide thanks to the persistence and partnership of the FBI and our federal, state, local and international partners,” said Executive Assistant Director Brian Turner of the FBI's Criminal, Cyber, Response and Services Branch. “Money mules make it easier for criminals to hide their activity, and harder for law enforcement to follow their tracks. Today’s announcement is an unmistakable warning for those who move money for criminal enterprises: even if you don’t know you’re committing a crime, acting as a money mule is illegal and punishable, and the FBI and our partners will use all available tools to disrupt the flow of funds to criminal networks.”
“The U.S. Postal Inspection Service takes great pride in our history of protecting the public from being deceived by scammers,” said Chief Postal Inspector Gary Barksdale for the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. “We work hard to safeguard vulnerable consumers through aggressive criminal investigations, as well as proactive consumer outreach, as part of our mission to protect those who might fall victim to cleverly designed deceptive offers. The Money Mule Initiative is another example of our law enforcement commitment, and that of our law enforcement partners, to vigorously pursue individuals who knowingly or unknowingly participate in criminal activity of this nature; bring them to justice and stop them in their tracks from victimizing the American public.”
The thousands of actions taken by law enforcement ranged from warning letters to civil and administrative actions, to criminal prosecutions. Law enforcement served approximately 4,670 letters warning individuals that their actions were facilitating fraud schemes. These letters outlined the potential consequences for transferring money acquired illegally. Civil or administrative actions were filed against 11 individuals, and through seizures and voluntary return of funds, law enforcement obtained nearly $3.7 million in fraud proceeds.
Additionally, more than 30 individuals were criminally charged for their roles in receiving and forwarding victim payments or otherwise laundering fraud proceeds. These cases included:
- The Consumer Protection Branch and U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California charged four individuals who laundered gift cards purchased by fraud victims.
- Two U.S. Attorney’s Offices, the District of Rhode Island and the Western District of Pennsylvania, indicted individuals who, among other conduct, personally collected money from grandparent scam victims.
- The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Tennessee charged an individual who facilitated the theft of unemployment insurance funds.
- The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York indicted a ring of individuals who laundered money for romance scams and business email compromise fraud schemes.
The charges also consisted of cases brought against individuals who facilitated business email compromise schemes, including charges brought by the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Eastern District of Virginia, the Eastern District of Wisconsin and the Western District of Kentucky. Additional charges were brought against money mules by U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Northern District of Georgia, the Eastern District of Louisiana, and the District of Nebraska.
Criminal charges are merely allegations. Defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Community Outreach and Prevention
Agencies also turned their attention to educating the public about how fraudsters recruit individuals to serve as money mules, signs of money mule activity and steps that should be taken if someone has unknowingly facilitated fraud by moving money.
These efforts included:
- U.S. Postal Inspection Service created fliers that were displayed in post offices across the country during the Money Mule Initiative.
- FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) released a money mule public service announcement.
- The Department of Labor Office of Inspector General provided information about money mule activity to state work force agencies.
- The Department’s Elder Justice Coordinators educated their communities about money mule’s activity.
- Members of the Attorney General’s Coronavirus Fraud Enforcement Task Force used outreach materials created by the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC) to educate the public about the use of money mules to steal pandemic relief funds.
Other government agencies joining the public awareness effort included the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which created new money mule scam awareness materials, as well as the Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Community Living and AmeriCorps Seniors. By increasing awareness of money mule activity, these efforts and others sought to prevent individuals from becoming involved in money mule activity.
For more information on money mules, please visit https://www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch/money-mule-initiative.
Information about the Department of Justice’s Elder Fraud Initiative is available at www.justice.gov/elderjustice. Additional information about the Consumer Protection Branch and its elder fraud enforcement efforts may be found at www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch. If you or someone you know is age 60 or older and has been a victim of financial fraud, help is available at the National Elder Fraud Hotline: 1-833-FRAUD-11 (1-833-372-8311).
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. 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.
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U.S. Law Enforcement Targets Fraud Facilitators, Doubling Last Year’s EnforcementRead the Press Release
BEAUMONT, Texas — The Department of Justice, FBI, U.S. Postal Inspection Service and five other federal law enforcement agencies announced the completion of the fourth annual Money Mule Initiative, which targeted networks of individuals through which international fraudsters obtain proceeds of fraud schemes. These individuals, sometimes referred to as money mules, receive money from fraud victims and forward the illicit funds, often to overseas perpetrators.
By receiving and transferring illicit funds, money mules facilitate a wide range of fraud schemes, including those that often predominately impact older Americans — like romance scams and lottery fraud — and those that target companies through business e-mail compromise schemes. Money mules also assist the theft of funds earmarked for pandemic relief, including unemployment insurance and small business loan funds. Some money mules are aware that their actions facilitate international fraud schemes. Others, however, first interact with fraud schemes as victims and may be unaware that their actions are furthering criminal activity.
U.S. law enforcement took action to address 4,750 money mules over the last 10 weeks; enforcement actions occurred in every state in the country. These actions more than doubled the number of actions taken during last year’s effort. Agencies are also conducting outreach to educate the public about how fraudsters use money mules and how to avoid unknowingly assisting fraud by receiving and transferring money.
“Without money mules, many foreign fraudsters targeting American consumers, businesses and pandemic relief funds could not reap the proceeds of their schemes,” said Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta. “The department and its partners will use every tool at our disposal — consumer education, disruption and prosecution — to cripple foreign fraudsters’ ability to get money from victims’ pockets to perpetrators’ bank accounts.”
Law Enforcement Actions
The department’s Consumer Protection Branch and the FBI led the initiative with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. Other participating agencies were the Department of Labor Office of Inspector General, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Small Business Administration Office of Inspector General, U.S. Secret Service and U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. The campaign was conducted simultaneously with a Europol initiative, the European Money Mule Action (EMMA). Additionally, in several districts, including the District of Arizona and the Northern District of Georgia, federal law enforcement have been working closely with their state and local law enforcement counterparts.
“This year’s Money Mule Initiative successfully halted the activity of hundreds of money mules worldwide thanks to the persistence and partnership of the FBI and our federal, state, local and international partners,” said Executive Assistant Director Brian Turner of the FBI's Criminal, Cyber, Response and Services Branch. “Money mules make it easier for criminals to hide their activity, and harder for law enforcement to follow their tracks. Today’s announcement is an unmistakable warning for those who move money for criminal enterprises: even if you don’t know you’re committing a crime, acting as a money mule is illegal and punishable, and the FBI and our partners will use all available tools to disrupt the flow of funds to criminal networks.”
“The U.S. Postal Inspection Service takes great pride in our history of protecting the public from being deceived by scammers,” said Chief Postal Inspector Gary Barksdale for the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. “We work hard to safeguard vulnerable consumers through aggressive criminal investigations, as well as proactive consumer outreach, as part of our mission to protect those who might fall victim to cleverly designed deceptive offers. The Money Mule Initiative is another example of our law enforcement commitment, and that of our law enforcement partners, to vigorously pursue individuals who knowingly or unknowingly participate in criminal activity of this nature; bring them to justice and stop them in their tracks from victimizing the American public.”
The thousands of actions taken by law enforcement ranged from warning letters to civil and administrative actions, to criminal prosecutions. Law enforcement served approximately 4,670 letters warning individuals that their actions were facilitating fraud schemes. These letters outlined the potential consequences for transferring money acquired illegally. Civil or administrative actions were filed against 11 individuals, and through seizures and voluntary return of funds, law enforcement obtained nearly $3.7 million in fraud proceeds.
Additionally, more than 30 individuals were criminally charged for their roles in receiving and forwarding victim payments or otherwise laundering fraud proceeds. These cases included:
- The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Texas obtained a guilty plea by an individual who defrauded elder persons by posing as a special agent with the Social Security Administration, and another guilty plea by an individual who used fake identities to open bank accounts to facilitate the movement of fraud proceeds.
- The Consumer Protection Branch and U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California charged four individuals who laundered gift cards purchased by fraud victims.
- Two U.S. Attorney’s Offices, the District of Rhode Island and the Western District of Pennsylvania, indicted individuals who, among other conduct, personally collected money from grandparent scam victims.
- The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Tennessee charged an individual who facilitated the theft of unemployment insurance funds.
- The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York indicted a ring of individuals who laundered money for romance scams and business email compromise fraud schemes.
The charges also consisted of cases brought against individuals who facilitated business email compromise schemes, including charges brought by the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Eastern District of Virginia, the Eastern District of Wisconsin and the Western District of Kentucky. Additional charges were brought against money mules by U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Northern District of Georgia, the Eastern District of Louisiana, and the District of Nebraska.
Criminal charges are merely allegations. Defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Community Outreach and Prevention
Agencies also turned their attention to educating the public about how fraudsters recruit individuals to serve as money mules, signs of money mule activity and steps that should be taken if someone has unknowingly facilitated fraud by moving money.
These efforts included:
- The Eastern District of Texas’s Elder Justice Coordinator filmed an FBI Public Service Announcement with the Northern District of Texas warning the public about Money Mules.
- U.S. Postal Inspection Service created fliers that were displayed in post offices across the country during the Money Mule Initiative.
- FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) released a money mule public service announcement.
- The Department of Labor Office of Inspector General provided information about money mule activity to state work force agencies.
- Members of the Attorney General’s Coronavirus Fraud Enforcement Task Force used outreach materials created by the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC) to educate the public about the use of money mules to steal pandemic relief funds.
Other government agencies joining the public awareness effort included the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which created new money mule scam awareness materials, as well as the Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Community Living and AmeriCorps Seniors. By increasing awareness of money mule activity, these efforts and others sought to prevent individuals from becoming involved in money mule activity.
For more information on money mules, please visit https://www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch/money-mule-initiative.
Information about the Department of Justice’s Elder Fraud Initiative is available at www.justice.gov/elderjustice. Additional information about the Consumer Protection Branch and its elder fraud enforcement efforts may be found at www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch. If you or someone you know is age 60 or older and has been a victim of financial fraud, help is available at the National Elder Fraud Hotline: 1-833-FRAUD-11 (1-833-372-8311).
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. 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.
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U.S. Law Enforcement Targets Fraud Facilitators, Doubling Last Year's EnforcementRead the Press Release
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The Department of Justice, FBI, U.S. Postal Inspection Service and five other federal law enforcement agencies announced the completion of the fourth annual Money Mule Initiative, which targeted networks of individuals through which international fraudsters obtain proceeds of fraud schemes. These individuals, sometimes referred to as money mules, receive money from fraud victims and forward the illicit funds, often to overseas perpetrators.
By receiving and transferring illicit funds, money mules facilitate a wide range of fraud schemes, including those that often predominately impact older Americans — like romance scams and lottery fraud — and those that target companies through business e-mail compromise schemes. Money mules also assist the theft of funds earmarked for pandemic relief, including unemployment insurance and small business loan funds. Some money mules are aware that their actions facilitate international fraud schemes. Others, however, first interact with fraud schemes as victims and may be unaware that their actions are furthering criminal activity.
U.S. law enforcement took action to address 4,750 money mules over the last 10 weeks; enforcement actions occurred in every state in the country. These actions more than doubled the number of actions taken during last year’s effort. Agencies are also conducting outreach to educate the public about how fraudsters use money mules and how to avoid unknowingly assisting fraud by receiving and transferring money.
“Without money mules, many foreign fraudsters targeting American consumers, businesses and pandemic relief funds could not reap the proceeds of their schemes,” said Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta. “The department and its partners will use every tool at our disposal — consumer education, disruption and prosecution — to cripple foreign fraudsters’ ability to get money from victims’ pockets to perpetrators’ bank accounts.”
Law Enforcement Actions
The department’s Consumer Protection Branch and the FBI led the initiative with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. Other participating agencies were the Department of Labor Office of Inspector General, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Small Business Administration Office of Inspector General, U.S. Secret Service and U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. The campaign was conducted simultaneously with a Europol initiative, the European Money Mule Action (EMMA). Additionally, in several districts, including the District of Arizona and the Northern District of Georgia, federal law enforcement have been working closely with their state and local law enforcement counterparts.
“This year’s Money Mule Initiative successfully halted the activity of hundreds of money mules worldwide thanks to the persistence and partnership of the FBI and our federal, state, local and international partners,” said Executive Assistant Director Brian Turner of the FBI's Criminal, Cyber, Response and Services Branch. “Money mules make it easier for criminals to hide their activity, and harder for law enforcement to follow their tracks. Today’s announcement is an unmistakable warning for those who move money for criminal enterprises: even if you don’t know you’re committing a crime, acting as a money mule is illegal and punishable, and the FBI and our partners will use all available tools to disrupt the flow of funds to criminal networks.”
“The U.S. Postal Inspection Service takes great pride in our history of protecting the public from being deceived by scammers,” said Chief Postal Inspector Gary Barksdale for the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. “We work hard to safeguard vulnerable consumers through aggressive criminal investigations, as well as proactive consumer outreach, as part of our mission to protect those who might fall victim to cleverly designed deceptive offers. The Money Mule Initiative is another example of our law enforcement commitment, and that of our law enforcement partners, to vigorously pursue individuals who knowingly or unknowingly participate in criminal activity of this nature; bring them to justice and stop them in their tracks from victimizing the American public.”
“My office, along with our federal, state and local partners, is working tirelessly to protect the public from scammers,” said United States Attorney Will Thompson. “We are addressing the issue, not only through enforcement actions, but through community outreach and education as well.”
The thousands of actions taken by law enforcement ranged from warning letters to civil and administrative actions, to criminal prosecutions. Law enforcement served approximately 4,670 letters warning individuals that their actions were facilitating fraud schemes. These letters outlined the potential consequences for transferring money acquired illegally. Civil or administrative actions were filed against 11 individuals, and through seizures and voluntary return of funds, law enforcement obtained nearly $3.7 million in fraud proceeds.
Additionally, more than 30 individuals were criminally charged for their roles in receiving and forwarding victim payments or otherwise laundering fraud proceeds. These cases included:
- The Consumer Protection Branch and U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California charged four individuals who laundered gift cards purchased by fraud victims.
- Two U.S. Attorney’s Offices, the District of Rhode Island and the Western District of Pennsylvania, indicted individuals who, among other conduct, personally collected money from grandparent scam victims.
- The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Tennessee charged an individual who facilitated the theft of unemployment insurance funds.
- The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York indicted a ring of individuals who laundered money for romance scams and business email compromise fraud schemes.
In the Southern District of West Virginia, 10 individuals were charged earlier this year for their roles in a large fraud and money laundering scheme. One of the defendants pleaded guilty earlier this week to receipt of stolen money and admitted to obtaining money from at least 37 different victims totaling nearly $400,000. Two other defendants have pleaded guilty to their roles in the fraud scheme, one of whom will be sentenced later this month.
The charges also consisted of cases brought against individuals who facilitated business email compromise schemes, including charges brought by the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Eastern District of Virginia, the Eastern District of Wisconsin and the Western District of Kentucky. Additional charges were brought against money mules by U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Northern District of Georgia, the Eastern District of Louisiana, and the District of Nebraska.
Criminal charges are merely allegations. Defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Community Outreach and Prevention
Agencies also turned their attention to educating the public about how fraudsters recruit individuals to serve as money mules, signs of money mule activity and steps that should be taken if someone has unknowingly facilitated fraud by moving money.
These efforts included:
- U.S. Postal Inspection Service created fliers that were displayed in post offices across the country during the Money Mule Initiative.
- FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) released a money mule public service announcement.
- The Department of Labor Office of Inspector General provided information about money mule activity to state work force agencies.
- The Department’s Elder Justice Coordinators educated their communities about money mule’s activity.
- Members of the Attorney General’s Coronavirus Fraud Enforcement Task Force used outreach materials created by the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC) to educate the public about the use of money mules to steal pandemic relief funds.
Other government agencies joining the public awareness effort included the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which created new money mule scam awareness materials, as well as the Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Community Living and AmeriCorps Seniors. By increasing awareness of money mule activity, these efforts and others sought to prevent individuals from becoming involved in money mule activity.
For more information on money mules, please visit https://www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch/money-mule-initiative.
Information about the Department of Justice’s Elder Fraud Initiative is available at www.justice.gov/elderjustice. Additional information about the Consumer Protection Branch and its elder fraud enforcement efforts may be found at www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch. If you or someone you know is age 60 or older and has been a victim of financial fraud, help is available at the National Elder Fraud Hotline: 1-833-FRAUD-11 (1-833-372-8311).
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. 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.
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U.S. Law Enforcement Targets Fraud Facilitators, Doubling Last Year’s EnforcementRead the Press Release
PORTLAND, Maine: The Department of Justice, FBI, U.S. Postal Inspection Service and five other federal law enforcement agencies announced the completion of the fourth annual Money Mule Initiative, which targeted networks of individuals through which international fraudsters obtain proceeds of fraud schemes. These individuals, sometimes referred to as money mules, receive money from fraud victims and forward the illicit funds, often to overseas perpetrators.
By receiving and transferring illicit funds, money mules facilitate a wide range of fraud schemes, including those that often predominately impact older Americans — like romance scams and lottery fraud — and those that target companies through business e-mail compromise schemes. Money mules also assist the theft of funds earmarked for pandemic relief, including unemployment insurance and small business loan funds. Some money mules are aware that their actions facilitate international fraud schemes. Others, however, first interact with fraud schemes as victims and may be unaware that their actions are furthering criminal activity.
U.S. law enforcement took action to address 4,750 money mules over the last 10 weeks; enforcement actions occurred in every state in the country. These actions more than doubled the number of actions taken during last year’s effort. Agencies are also conducting outreach to educate the public about how fraudsters use money mules and how to avoid unknowingly assisting fraud by receiving and transferring money.
Two defendants face charges in the District of Maine as a result of this initiative. Cheryl White, 58, of Westbrook, and David Clukey, 58, of Auburn, are each charged with multiple counts of money laundering. Each faces up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $500,000. An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Agencies also turned their attention to educating the public about how fraudsters recruit individuals to serve as money mules, signs of money mule activity and steps that should be taken if someone has unknowingly facilitated fraud by moving money.
These efforts included:
- U.S. Postal Inspection Service created fliers that were displayed in post offices across the country during the Money Mule Initiative.
- FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) released a money mule public service announcement.
- The Department of Labor Office of Inspector General provided information about money mule activity to state work force agencies.
- The Department’s Elder Justice Coordinators educated their communities about money mule’s activity.
- Members of the Attorney General’s Coronavirus Fraud Enforcement Task Force used outreach materials created by the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC) to educate the public about the use of money mules to steal pandemic relief funds.
Additional information about the national initiative is available here. For more information on money mules, please visit https://www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch/money-mule-initiative.
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U.S. Department of Justice Announces Results of Nationwide Enforcement Action Against Money MulesRead the Press Release
Four Defendants Prosecuted in Eastern District of Missouri
St. Louis – As part of the nationwide Money Mule Initiative, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, FBI, U.S. Secret Service, and U.S. Postal Inspection Service released a new video about the legal consequences of being a money mule. This video is based on a current local case.
The nationwide Money Mule Initiative is a coordinated operation to disrupt the networks through which transnational fraudsters move the proceeds of their crimes. Money mules are people who assist fraudsters by collecting money from victims of fraud and forwarding it to the fraud organizers, many of whom are located overseas. Some money mules know they are helping fraudsters, but others are unaware that their actions enable fraudsters’ efforts to swindle money from consumers, businesses, and government unemployment funds.
Today, the U.S. Department of Justice announced the results of the initiative, where enforcement action was taken in every state over 90 days. Specifically, 4,750 actions were taken against money mules, including approximately 540 interviews, nearly a dozen administrative or civil actions, recovery of $3.7 million in fraud proceeds, and 30 individuals were arrested/charged.
To find public education materials, as well as information about how fraudsters use and recruit money mules, please visit https://www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch/money-mule-initiative
The charges announced today are allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vthPmLORVrM
U.S. Attorney’s Office Honors Law Enforcement Partners in Third Annual “Excellence in the Pursuit of Justice” Award CeremonyRead the Press Release
MINNEAPOLIS – Acting United States Attorney Charles J. Kovats today announced the recipients of the third annual U.S. Attorney’s Office “Excellence in the Pursuit of Justice” Awards. Law enforcement officials from five agencies are being honored for their outstanding work and exceptional contributions in the pursuit of truth and justice.
“I am honored to present the “Excellence in the Pursuit of Justice” awards in recognition of the exceptional work, courage, and character demonstrated by these professionals. As we continue to navigate through unprecedented challenges of this past year, these partners remain unwavering in their dedication to the pursuit of justice,” said Acting United States Attorney Charles J. Kovats. “On behalf of the entire office, I extend my sincere gratitude and commendation on a job well done.”
The honorees at today’s virtual ceremony are members of the following agencies:
- U.S. Department of Agriculture – Office of the Inspector General
- Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) – St. Paul Field Division
- Chisago County Sheriff’s Office
- Federal Bureau of Investigation
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration - Office of Criminal Investigations
Two Men Indicted for Dumping Oily Substance in Chugach National ForestRead the Press Release
ANCHORAGE – A federal grand jury in Anchorage returned an indictment charging two men from Seward, Alaska, with disposing of fifteen 55-gallon drums of an oily substance at the Granite Creek Recreation Area in the Chugach National Forest and causing the contents to leak.
According to court documents, James Withrow, 56, and Bruce Jackson, aka “Bruce Baker,” 66, removed seventeen 55-gallon drums from Jackson’s property in Seward on May 31, 2018, and placed them on a tractor trailer being driven by Withrow. The two men then drove to Anchorage. The next day, on June 1, Withrow drove the tractor trailer off the Seward Highway down a marked “No Dumping” “No Public Access” road at approximately mile 62 of the Seward Highway. He then parked and dumped fifteen of the seventeen 55-gallon drums onto the property of the U.S. Forest Service contaminating the ground with the oily contents causing damages of approximately $80,000. Additionally, on June 7, 2018, Withrow made false statements about the disposal of the oily substance to a U.S. Forest Service Special Agent.
The defendants are scheduled for their initial court appearance on December 13 at 1:30 p.m. before U.S. Magistrate Judge Kyle F. Reardon of the U.S. District Court of Alaska. If convicted, Withrow could face a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and Jackson could face a maximum penalty of five years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Acting U.S. Attorney Bryan Wilson of the District of Alaska made the announcement.
The U.S. Forest Service and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency-Criminal Investigation Division are investigating the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Steve Skrocki and Charisse Arce are prosecuting the case.
An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
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Two District of Columbia Men Sentenced to Prison Terms for Carjacking SpreeRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON – Cristian Santay-Rosales and Diego Rigoberto Lopez, both 19 and from Washington, D.C., were sentenced today for committing a series of armed carjackings across the District of Columbia within a 12-hour period in the fall of 2020. Santay-Rosales was sentenced to 121 months in prison and Lopez to 108 months for their roles in the crimes.
The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, Wayne A. Jacobs, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Washington Field Office Criminal Division, Pamela A. Smith, Chief of the U.S. Park Police, and Robert J. Contee III, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).
Santay-Rosales and Lopez pled guilty on April 15, 2021, in the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia, to one count of conspiracy to commit federal carjacking and two counts of federal carjacking. They were sentenced by the Honorable Royce C. Lamberth. Following completion of their prison terms, both men be placed on three years of supervised release.
According to the government’s evidence, the defendants used carjacked vehicles to block in and carjack additional vehicles, a pattern that they continued until they were ultimately apprehended by law enforcement. The indictment alleged that, as part of the carjacking conspiracy, a firearm was brandished and pointed at numerous individuals, including minor children. A third co-defendant in the case, Romeo Francisco-Ramirez, also 19, of District Heights, Maryland, has also pleaded guilty and is being detained pending sentencing.
The series of crimes took place between 1:55 p.m. Oct. 26, 2020, and 1:25 a.m. Oct. 27, 2020, with the defendants seizing a Porsche, Mercedes-Benz, and other vehicles. Both defendants carried out carjackings in the 5200 block of Upton Terrace NW, the 2800 block of O Street NW, the 6300 block of Luzan Avenue NW, the 3800 block of 12th Street NW, 17th and Franklin Streets NE, the 1300 block of Parkwood Place NW, and Rock Creek Park. Santay-Rosales and Lopez were arrested after they crashed the Mercedes-Benz the night of Oct. 26, 2020. Ramirez, meanwhile, was arrested after committing yet another carjacking early Oct. 27, 2020.
In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Graves, Special Agent in Charge Jacobs, Chief Smith, and Chief Contee commended the work of those who investigated the case from the FBI, U.S. Park Police, and Metropolitan Police Department. They also expressed appreciation to those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Paralegal Specialists Rommel Pachoca and Genevieve de Guzman. Finally, they commended the work of Assistant U.S. Attorney James B. Nelson, who investigated and prosecuted the case.
Two Defendants Indicted During Nationwide ‘Money Mule Initiative’Read the Press Release
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Defendants involved in a romance fraud scheme that victimized a Taney County, Missouri, woman and an email hacking scheme that targeted a program at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., were indicted in federal court in the Western District of Missouri as part of the Department of Justice’s fourth annual Money Mule Initiative.
The Money Mule Initiative targets networks of individuals through which international fraudsters obtain proceeds of fraud schemes. These individuals, sometimes referred to as money mules, receive money from fraud victims and forward the illicit funds, often to overseas perpetrators. By receiving and transferring illicit funds, money mules facilitate a wide range of fraud schemes, including those that often predominately impact older Americans — like romance scams and lottery fraud — and those that target companies through business email compromise schemes.
“Foreign fraudsters rely on American accomplices to facilitate their schemes,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Teresa Moore. “These so-called money mules pocket a share of every stolen dollar and profit from the victimization of others. Whether the criminal conspiracy involves a romance fraud scheme, an email hacking scheme, or some other illegal fraud, we will strive to protect our community from such predators and hold them accountable.”
In the Western District of Missouri, the initiative targeted an online romance scheme that stole more than $300,000 from several victims, including a Taney County resident. The initiative also included the indictment of a Florida man for a business email compromise scheme that stole $164,568 from a program at Fort Leonard Wood that provides transportation for military service members to be with their families during the holidays.
The Department of Justice announced today that, nationwide, federal law enforcement took action to address 4,750 money mules over the last 10 weeks; enforcement actions occurred in every state in the country. These actions more than doubled the number of actions taken during last year’s effort. Agencies are also conducting outreach to educate the public about how fraudsters use money mules and how to avoid unknowingly assisting fraud by receiving and transferring money.
The thousands of actions taken by law enforcement ranged from warning letters to civil and administrative actions, to criminal prosecutions. Law enforcement served approximately 4,670 letters warning individuals that their actions were facilitating fraud schemes. These letters outlined the potential consequences for transferring money acquired illegally. Civil or administrative actions were filed against 11 individuals, and through seizures and voluntary return of funds, law enforcement obtained nearly $3.7 million in fraud proceeds.
Additionally, more than 30 individuals were criminally charged for their roles in receiving and forwarding victim payments or otherwise laundering fraud proceeds.
In the Western District of Missouri, those criminal cases included:
USA v. Huggins
Franklin D. Huggins, 53, of Homosassa, Florida, was charged in a two-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Springfield, Missouri, on Nov. 16, 2021.
The federal indictment alleges that Huggins participated in a $223,427 wire fraud conspiracy and in a money-laundering conspiracy from Jan. 1, 2017, to Jan. 28, 2019. Huggins’s co-conspirators allegedly targeted Fort Leonard Wood and two businesses through a business email compromise scheme. In a business email compromise scheme, conspirators hack into a business email account, then send an email from what appears to be an employee of such business with authority to engage in financial matters, instructing that money be sent to certain bank accounts.
According to the indictment, conspirators sent emails to individuals associated with businesses in an attempt to gain unlawful access to business email accounts. After gaining access to such email accounts, the conspirators then utilized the business email accounts to portray themselves as the businesses and individuals represented. Under such assumed identities, the conspirators would then engage in what seemed to be normal financial transactions with other victim businesses, individuals, and entities, requesting money for certain purposes. These victim businesses, individuals, and entities, believing they were conducting business with the real individuals and not the conspirators, sent money to the conspirators based upon those false representations.
Once Huggins received the victims’ money in one of his accounts, he would withdraw cash, use the proceeds for his own personal benefit, and transfer the money to other individuals or entities, for purposes other than what was represented to the victims.
According to the indictment, Huggins and his co-conspirators stole $164,568 from the Fort Leonard Wood branch of the Directorate of Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation. Co-conspirators hacked the email of an Illinois business that provided charter bus services then sent emails purportedly from the business, which provides transportation for military service members during the winter holidays – including round-trip bus transportation to airports for military service members to be with their families during the holidays.
Huggins and his co-conspirators allegedly also stole $9,000 from an individual in Tennessee, and allegedly stole $49,859 from a business in Idaho.
The indictment also includes a forfeiture allegation, which would require Huggins to forfeit to the government any property derived from the proceeds of the alleged offenses, including a money judgment of $223,427.
USA v. Obafemi
Badetito O. Obafemi, 39, of Dallas, Georgia, was charged in a14-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Springfield, Missouri, on July 27, 2021.
The federal indictment alleges that Obafemi participated in a wire fraud conspiracy and a money-laundering conspiracy from June 1, 2016, to March 2018. The indictment also charges Obafemi with 11 counts of money laundering and one count of operating an illegal money transmitting business.
Obafemi was the owner of Easy Tickets, LLC, and Goeasy Logistics, LLC, with offices for both companies listed at his residence.
Romance scams target people, some of them elderly, in search of companionship or romance through online websites such as Facebook, Our Time, and Go Fish. The perpetrators of the romance scams created several profiles on online dating sites and social media sites. The conspirators then contacted individuals throughout the United States, including at least one individual in Taney County, with whom they cultivated a sense of affection and romance.
Having established relationships with the victims, the indictment says, the perpetrators of the romance scams requested money for various untrue purposes, including equipment, business project expenses, other business expenses, hospital and other medical expenses, construction costs, travel expenses, taxes, and loans. The conspirators directed the victims to wire transfer or deposit money into various accounts, including accounts established and maintained by Obafemi. When he received the money, Obafemi allegedly withdrew some of the proceeds in cash, utilized some of the proceeds for his own benefit, and transferred some of the proceeds to other accounts in the United States and overseas.
According to the indictment, the Taney County victim was contacted via Facebook by an individual claiming to be “Kevin Condon” in May 2016. Following several conversations by email, phone, and Facebook, “Condon” convinced the victim to send him money for expenses related to his overseas business project and various medical issues. Conspirators stole a total of $27,460 from the Taney County victim. “Condon” also attempted to convince the victim to deposit $40,000 into an account controlled by Obafemi, purportedly to pay a court in South Africa for his release from jail.
The indictment also specifically refers to a victim in Minnesota who sent Obafemi and his co-conspirators $230,000 after meeting on an online dating site, and a victim in New Jersey who sent conspirators $54,000 after meeting on an online dating site.
The indictment also contains a forfeiture allegation, which would require Obafemi to forfeit to the government any property derived from the proceeds of the alleged offenses, including a money judgment of $311,460.
The charges contained in these indictments are simply accusations, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charges must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.
These cases are being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Casey Clark. They were investigated by the Department of Defense, Office of Inspector General, Defense Criminal Investigative Service, the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command, the Citrus County, Fla., Sheriff’s Office, the Belle Meade, Tenn., Police Department, Homeland Security Investigations, the FBI and the Northfield, Minn., Police Department.
For more information on money mules, please visit https://www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch/money-mule-initiative.
Information about the Department of Justice’s Elder Fraud Initiative is available at www.justice.gov/elderjustice. Additional information about the Consumer Protection Branch and its elder fraud enforcement efforts may be found at www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch. If you or someone you know is age 60 or older and has been a victim of financial fraud, help is available at the National Elder Fraud Hotline: 1-833-FRAUD-11 (1-833-372-8311).
Tortola Boat Captain Sentenced for Entering the U.S. IllegallyRead the Press Release
St. Thomas, USVI – Unites States Attorney Gretchen C.F. Shappert announced today that Juwon Potter, 25, of Tortola, BVI was sentenced to one year probation and ordered to pay $2,000 for illegally entering the United States. Potter was tried for destruction of evidence, illegally bringing in an undocumented noncitizen and illegally entering the United States.
According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Potter was stopped by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Marine Interdiction Agents (MIA) and a special agent from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) during marine patrol of the waters between St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands and Norman Island, British Virgin Islands. The defendant was the captain of a vessel traveling away from Coral Bay, St. John just before dusk. The defendant could not produce any personal identification or documentation for his vessel, nor could he explain his presence in U.S. waters.
The defendant indicated that he was returning to the British Virgin Islands and drifted into U.S. waters when his vessel had engine trouble. During the vessel inspection, the defendant was asked if he had a phone. The defendant unlocked his phone and handed it to the agents. Upon examining the phone, the HSI special agent observed a Whatsapp text message exchange between the defendant and an unknown individual. In the text exchange, the agent saw photos of two males and a message sent from the defendant stating, "just the two men?" and "send 2000 WU to Juwon Potter." The defendant was arrested for alien smuggling.
An agent placed the defendant’s phone on a work bench attached to the center console of the CBP vessel. The defendant was in the act of being moved to a seat behind the work bench in order to return to shore when he lunged for the phone and threw it overboard. The agent heard a splash and saw the phone’s illuminated screen sink beneath the surface of the water. Subsequent to the defendant’s arrest, CBP agents detained an undocumented noncitizen male matching the photo (wearing the same clothes) that the agent saw on the defendant’s phone.
A federal jury acquitted Potter of destruction of evidence and alien smuggling and returned a guilty verdict for illegally entering the United States.
This case was investigated by HSI and CBP and prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of the Virgin Islands.
Three Indian Nationals Detained at the Henry E. Rohlsen Airport Following Their Attempted Illegal Entry into the United StatesRead the Press Release
St. Croix, USVI – U.S. Attorney Gretchen C.F. Shappert announced that three Indian nationals appeared on December 2, 2021 before Magistrate Court Judge George W. Cannon, Jr. for a preliminary hearing on criminal charges related to their alleged attempted illegal entry into the United States. Probably cause was found and the defendants were bound over to the District Court for further proceedings.
According to court documents, on November 24, 2021, at the Henry E. Rohlsen airport on St. Croix, Krishnaben Patel, age 25, Nikunjkumar Patel, age 27, and Ashokkumar Patel, age 39, presented themselves to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Officers for inspection to board Spirit Airlines Flight #449 from St. Croix to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. A systems check revealed that their Florida driver’s licenses were not legally issued and were deemed fraudulent. Further inspection revealed that in August 2019, the three were previously detained by CBP in Tecate, California, and were processed for expedited removal. They were subsequently removed from the United States to India.
As a result, the Patels were charged by criminal complaint with Reentry by an Alien After Removal and Possession and Use of Fraudulent Documents. If convicted, the Patels face a up to a potential 10 years in prison and subsequent deportation. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Homeland Security Investigations are investigating the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel H. Huston is prosecuting the case.
United States Attorney Shappert reminds the public that a complaint is merely a formal charging document and is not evidence of guilt. Every defendant is presumed innocent until and unless found guilty.
Thirty Members of a Multi-State Methamphetamine and Fentanyl Trafficking Ring ArrestedRead the Press Release
EVANSVILLE – A federal grand jury in Evansville returned indictments charging 30 men and women with several federal crimes, including conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, conspiracy to distribute fentanyl, illegal possession of a firearm, and robbery.
According to court documents, Julian Green, 38, of Indianapolis, was the leader of a drug trafficking organization based out of Indianapolis that distributed large quantities of methamphetamine around central and southern Indiana. Green supplied codefendant Jeramey Smith, 32, of Indianapolis, and others, with methamphetamine. Smith, in turn, coordinated with codefendants Nicholas Cabrera, 35, of Mulberry, Florida, and Joshua Wilson, 30, of Evansville – both of whom were federal prisoners at the time – to orchestrate the delivery and distribution of methamphetamine to Indianapolis through a Mexico-based drug trafficking organization.
After the methamphetamine was delivered to Indianapolis, Smith and Hannah Kissel, 38, of Indianapolis, distributed the methamphetamine to other individuals, mainly in the Evansville area, who then sold the methamphetamine at various locations within the Southern District of Indiana and the Western District of Kentucky.
The indictments allege that multiple members of this drug trafficking ring were already-convicted felons who illegally possessed and used firearms and ammunition. As an example, Smith, as charged in the indictment, directed codefendant Dominique Baquet, 28, of Indianapolis, to rob another codefendant at gunpoint for drug proceeds.
During the course of this investigation, investigators seized over 46 pounds of methamphetamine, over 700 grams of fentanyl, 30 firearms, over $300,000 in U.S. currency, six vehicles, and a pill press.
“Methamphetamine and fentanyl are a source of some of the violence and social devastation that are plaguing our communities,” said U.S. Attorney Zachary A. Myers. “Federal law enforcement, along with our state and local law enforcement partners, are committed to eliminating the organizations that are supplying these illegal drugs and holding those individuals accountable.”
“This drug trafficking organization is charged with making a living peddling poison, including potentially deadly fentanyl, into our communities,” said Michael Gannon, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of DEA Indianapolis District Office. “They were responsible for distributing multi-pound quantities of methamphetamine and fentanyl in various cities throughout Indiana and western Kentucky, including Indianapolis, Evansville, Princeton, and Owensboro. This case reflects our commitment to improving public safety for the fine citizens of Indiana and Kentucky.”
The following individuals have been charged and arrested:
Defendant
Charge(s)
Julian Green, 38, of Indianapolis
Conspiracy to distribute meth; felon in possession of a firearm
Jeramey Smith, 32, of Indianapolis
Conspiracy to distribute meth and fentanyl; robbery; felon in possession of a firearm
Hannah Kissel, 38, of Indianapolis
Conspiracy to distribute meth and fentanyl
Joshua Wilson, 29, of Evansville
Conspiracy to distribute meth
Nicholas Cabrera, 34, of Mulberry, Florida
Conspiracy to distribute meth
Jordan Wilson, 38, of Evansville
Conspiracy to distribute meth and fentanyl; felon in possession of a firearm
Timothy Rice, 32, of Evansville
Conspiracy to distribute meth
Achilles Johnson, 37, of Evansville
Conspiracy to distribute meth
Deonte Howard, 33, of Evansville
Conspiracy to distribute meth
Julie Hunt, 34, of Petersburg
Conspiracy to distribute meth and fentanyl
Torrance Mimms, 31, of Evansville
Conspiracy to distribute meth
Keisha Jewell, 34, of Princeton
Conspiracy to distribute meth and fentanyl
Davion Hays, 35, of Evansville
Conspiracy to distribute meth
Jason Mitchell, 40, of Henderson, Kentucky
Conspiracy to distribute meth
Denny Taylor, 46, of Princeton
Conspiracy to distribute meth
Aaron Hardiman, 39, of Princeton
Conspiracy to distribute fentanyl
Roman Wills, 40, of Evansville
Conspiracy to distribute meth
Michael Sanders, 40, of Owensboro, Kentucky
Conspiracy to distribute meth
Gregory Snyder, 59, of Evansville
Conspiracy to distribute meth
Joshua Gahagan, 38, of Evansville
Conspiracy to distribute meth
Gregory Markey, 32, of Indianapolis
Conspiracy to distribute fentanyl
L.C. Moore II, 28, of Indianapolis
Conspiracy to distribute fentanyl
Dominique Baquet, 28, of Indianapolis
Robbery
Antonio DeJarnett, 33, of Evansville
Conspiracy to distribute meth
Ryan Pinkston, 39, of Evansville
Conspiracy to distribute meth; felon in possession of ammunition
Robert Embry, 43, of Evansville
Conspiracy to distribute meth
Becky Edwards, 36, of Evansville
Conspiracy to distribute meth
Edward Meredith, 56, of Evansville
Conspiracy to distribute meth
Tabitha Seabeck, 28, of Mt. Vernon
Conspiracy to distribute meth
Zachary Addison, 39, of Evansville
Conspiracy to distribute meth
The defendants face the following possible penalties:
- If convicted of conspiring to distribute methamphetamine or conspiring to distribute fentanyl:
- 10 years to life in prison;
- Up to $10,000,000 fine;
- At least 5 years’ supervised release.
- If convicted of robbery:
- Maximum 20 years in prison;
- Up to $250,000 fine;
- Not more than 3 years’ supervised release.
- If convicted of illegally possessing a firearm or ammunition:
- Maximum 10 years in prison;
- Up to $250,000 fine;
- At least 3 years’ supervised release.
A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
This case was the result of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; the U.S. Marshals Service; the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department; the Princeton Indiana Police Department, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s and Prosecutor’s Offices, the Evansville Police Department, the Clay County Prosecuting Attorney, the Gibson County Prosecuting Attorney, the Warrick County Sheriff’s Office, the Posey County Sheriff’s Office, Posey County Drug Task Force, the Henderson Kentucky Police Department, the Owensboro Kentucky Police Department, and the Indiana State Police provided invaluable assistance.
Assistant United States Attorney Lauren Wheatley is prosecuting this case.
An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
- If convicted of conspiring to distribute methamphetamine or conspiring to distribute fentanyl:
Tampa Woman Who Laundered More Than $2 Million for International “Child Modeling” Websites Sentenced to over Five Years in Federal PrisonRead the Press Release
Tampa, Florida – U.S. District Judge Mary S. Scriven today sentenced Patrice Eileen Wilowski-Mevorah (53, Tampa) to five years and three months in federal prison for her involvement in a money laundering conspiracy in connection with an international enterprise that was based in Florida and which operated subscription-based sexually exploitative “child modeling” websites. The court also ordered Wilowski-Mevorah to forfeit $236,410.70.
Wilowski-Mevorah had pleaded guilty on July 6, 2021.
According to court documents, Wilowski-Mevorah laundered at least $2.3 million for the Newstar Enterprise—an internet-based business aimed at for-profit sexual exploitation of vulnerable children under the guise of “child modeling,” through a collection of websites called the Newstar Websites. Wilowski-Mevorah joined the Newstar Enterprise around 2009 and fraudulently opened payment-processing accounts and bank accounts under the pretense of a phony jewelry company. For 10 years, she routinely used the phony company’s accounts to conceal criminal proceeds from the Newstar Websites and transfer those proceeds back to principal members of the Newstar Enterprise. Wilowski-Mevorah continued to launder money for the enterprise until November 2019, when law enforcement authorities executed several search warrants across the United States and simultaneously seized the Newstar websites’ servers in the United States and Europe. Law enforcement officers then disabled the servers hosting the Newstar Websites.
The Newstar Enterprise and Status of Other Defendants
According to court documents, founded around 2005, the Newstar Enterprise built, maintained, hosted, and operated the Newstar Websites on servers in the United States and abroad. To populate the Newstar Websites with content, Newstar Enterprise members sourced, enticed, solicited, and recruited males and females under the age of 18, some of whom were prepubescent, to use as “child models” for the Newstar Websites. Using the recruited child-victims, the Newstar Enterprise produced more than 4.6 million sexualized images and videos to distribute and sell on the Newstar Websites. Some of those images and videos, though non-nude, depicted minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. For example, images and videos sold on the Newstar Websites depicted children as young as 6 years old in sexual and provocative poses, wearing police and cheerleader costumes, thong underwear, transparent underwear, revealing swimsuits, pantyhose, and miniskirts. Most of the child-victims—recruited from Ukraine, Moldova, and other nations in Eastern Europe—were particularly vulnerable due to their age, family dynamics and poverty.
The Newstar Enterprise maintained a membership list for subscribers and customers of the Newstar Websites, who originated from 101 nations across the world. Images in the websites’ galleries were freely available to the public to preview, but greater access and more content required purchasing a subscription. The sale of purported “child modeling” content on the Newstar Websites generated more than $9.4 million during the course of the conspiracy. To process, receive, and distribute this money, Newstar Enterprise members fraudulently opened merchant and bank accounts in the United States and laundered proceeds using the bogus company.
Other Newstar Enterprise members included Kenneth Power (deceased at 58, of Weston, FL), a principal member of the Newstar Enterprise who directed and controlled its operations; Mary Lou Bjorkman (58, Lutz) who recently pleaded guilty to laundering money for the Newstar Enterprise; Kenneth Power’s wife, Tatiana “Tanya” Power (41, Weston), who is awaiting trial on money laundering charges in connection with the Newstar Enterprise; and Anthony Lee Kendall (deceased at 55, Mossyrock, WA), who was recently charged with laundering approximately $1 million for the Newstar Enterprise.
The defendants have also been notified that the United States intends to forfeit a total of $9.4 million, which are alleged to be traceable to proceeds of the offenses, in addition to real property located in Florida.
“Wilowski-Mevorah was laundering money for a criminal enterprise that was sexually exploiting children.” said John Condon HSI Tampa Special Agent in Charge. “HSI is committed to working with our international law enforcement partners to bring anyone who targets or exploits innocent children to justice.”
These cases were investigated by Homeland Security Investigations in Tampa and the High Technology Investigative Unit of the Department of Justice Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), with substantial assistance provided by Homeland Security Investigations offices in Fort Lauderdale, Athens, and the Hague, U.S. Customs and Border Protection in Sofia, Bulgaria, as well as the IRS Criminal Investigation in Tampa.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Frank Murray of the Middle District of Florida and Trial Attorney Kyle Reynolds of the CEOS are prosecuting these cases.
This investigation benefited from foreign law enforcement cooperation and substantial assistance by the Republic of Bulgaria, Supreme Cassation Prosecution Office and National Investigation Service; the Republic of Moldova, Office of the Prosecutor General and National Inspectorate of Investigations; International Legal Assistance Center (IRC), North-Holland Unit; the Czech Republic, Supreme Public Prosecutor’s Office, Czech Police and the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs. The Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development, Assistance and Training (OPDAT) provided technical assistance.
An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal criminal law, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty.
Newstar Enterprise Case Statuses
Name
Case Number
Charge(s)
Status
Maximum Penalty
Tatiana Power
8:21-cr-244-MSS-AAS
Conspiracy to commit money laundering; international promotion money laundering; concealment money laundering
Indicted,
pending trial
100 years’ imprisonment
Kenneth Power
8:21-cr-00032-SDM-AAS
Conspiracy to advertise child pornography; conspiracy to distribute child pornography
Defendant deceased; case dismissed
60 years’ imprisonment
Plamen Velinov
8:21-cr-342-VMC-SPF
Conspiracy to advertise child pornography; conspiracy to distribute child pornography
Indicted, pending extradition
50 years’ imprisonment
Patrice Wilowski-Mevorah
8:21-cr-00206-MSS-TGW
Conspiracy to commit money laundering
Pleaded guilty, sentenced to 5 years, 3 months’ imprisonment
20 years’ imprisonment
Anthony Lee Kendall
8:21-cr-358-SCB-TGW
Conspiracy to commit money laundering; promotion money laundering; concealment money laundering
Indicted, defendant deceased
100 years’ imprisonment
Mary Lou
Bjorkman
8:21-cr-00227-SDM-AAS
Conspiracy to commit money laundering
Pleaded guilty, sentence pending
20 years’ imprisonment
Tampa Bay Area Medical Biller Pleads Guilty to Healthcare Fraud, Aggravated Identity Theft, and Tax OffensesRead the Press Release
Tampa, Florida – Joshua Maywalt (40, Tampa) has pleaded guilty to four counts of healthcare fraud, four counts of aggravated identity theft, one count of filing a false federal income tax return, and two counts of failing to file federal income tax returns. He faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison for each healthcare fraud count, a 2-year mandatory consecutive sentence on the aggravated identity theft counts, a maximum penalty of 3 years for filing a false income tax return, and a up to 2 years for each failure to file an income tax return offense. Through the superseding information, the United States also notified Maywalt that it intends to forfeit $2.2 million in funds and real property located at 5346 Northdale Boulevard, in Tampa, all of which are traceable to proceeds of his offenses.
According to court documents, Maywalt was a medical biller at a Clearwater company that furnished credentialing and medical billing services to its medical provider clients. In that capacity, Maywalt was able to access and utilize the company’s financial, medical provider, and patient information. Maywalt was assigned to a Tampa Bay area physician’s account (“Physician #1”) and was responsible for submitting claims to Florida Medicaid HMOs for services rendered by Physician #1 to Medicaid recipients. Maywalt abused his role as a medical biller by wrongfully accessing and utilizing the company’s patient information and Physician #1’s name and identification number, and using those to submit false and fraudulent claims to a Florida Medicaid HMO for medical services purportedly, but not actually, rendered by Physician #1. Maywalt then altered the “pay to” information associated with those claims so that the payments for the fictitious medical services were sent to bank accounts under his control.
Maywalt knowingly signed and filed a false federal income tax return for tax year 2019, substantially understating his income by reporting only his employment wages and not the substantial amounts he was depositing into his bank accounts as a result of his fraudulent activities. In addition, Maywalt failed to file federal income tax returns for 2017 and 2018 as required by the Internal Revenue Service.
This case was investigated by the Department of Health and Human Services – Office of the Inspector General, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Florida Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, and the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Maria Guzman and Suzanne Nebesky.
Two St. Thomas Men Charged with 210 Kilograms of Cocaine After a High-Speed ChaseRead the Press Release
St. Thomas, USVI – U.S. Attorney Gretchen C.F. Shappert announced that Russell Robinson and Trevor Stephen, both from St. Thomas, appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Ruth Miller on a criminal complaint Tuesday, November 30, 2021, charging the men with conspiring to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine.
According to court documents, on Monday, November 29, 2021 around 10:15 p.m., a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Air and Marine Operations (AMO) air patrol detected a vessel between St. John and St. Thomas, heading towards St. Thomas, that was traveling without its lights illuminated. AMO agents on board the aircraft observed the boat headed towards Vessup Beach, where the agents then observed two people on the vessel unload duffle bags from the boat to two people in a Toyota Tundra truck. The air patrol agents provided updates on the truck’s route to agents on land, who attempted to initiate a stop of the truck near the waterfront.
In response to the agents’ lights and sirens, the truck fled, travelling towards Hull Bay, where it then headed up a one-way road into a small residential area. While agents set up a perimeter at the entrance of the one-way, the AMO aircraft maintained its surveillance of the truck and observed as the passenger threw the duffle bags from the truck. When the truck returned to the entrance of the one-way, agents stopped the vehicle and arrested the driver, identified as Russell Robinson, and the passenger, identified as Trevor Stephen. Agents then retrieved the seven duffle bags that the AMO air patrol agents observed the passenger unload. The duffle bags contained a total of approximately 210 kilograms of a substance that field-tested positive for cocaine.
On December 3, 2021, Stephen and Robinson appeared before Judge Miller for a preliminary hearing and detention hearing. Both defendants were released to the custody of a third-party custodian and placed on house arrest pending the resolution of the matter.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations, and the Drug Enforcement Administration are investigating the case. The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of the Virgin Islands is prosecuting the case.
A criminal complaint is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Suring Teacher Pleads Guilty to Federal Child Sexual Abuse ChargesRead the Press Release
Acting United States Attorney Richard G. Frohling of the Eastern District of Wisconsin announced that on December 3, 2021, John E. Fredenburgh (age: 37) of the Village of Suring, Wisconsin, pled guilty to a charge of traveling interstate with the intent to engage in a sexual act with a minor, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2423(b), and an additional count of using a computer to attempt to persuade, induce, or entice a minor to engage in unlawful sexual activity, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2422(b).
Based on his convictions, Fredenburgh faces a sentence of at least ten years’ imprisonment and up to 30 years’ imprisonment when he is sentenced before Senior U.S. District Judge William C. Griesbach on March 14, 2022.
According to court records, Fredenburgh was employed as a substitute teacher with the Suring School District from December 2020 until his arrest in 2021.
This case was investigated by the Oconto Sheriff’s Office, the Oconto County District Attorney’s Office, the Marinette County Sheriff’s Office, the Menominee, Michigan Sheriff’s Office, the Menominee (Michigan) Police Department, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Daniel R. Humble.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006, by the U.S. Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
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St. Croix Man Who Denied Knowing the Whereabouts of a Fugitive and Providing False Statement to F.B.I. Investigators Sentenced to 3 Months IncarcerationRead the Press Release
St. Croix, USVI – United States Attorney Gretchen C.F. Shappert announced today that Clintford Joseph, Jr. age 54, of St. Croix was sentenced on December 3, 2021 by District Court Jude Wilma A. Lewis to three months imprisonment followed by supervised release of two years, with the first month to be served on electronic monitored house arrest. He was also ordered to pay a $1500 fine and $100 special assessment fee. Joseph, Jr. had pled guilty on October 13, 2020 in federal court to Providing a False Statement to law enforcement investigators with respect to the whereabouts of Paul Girard, Jr. a/k/a "Bogus".
According to court documents, U.S. Magistrate Judge George Cannon issued a warrant for Girard’s arrest on Oct. 28, 2020. Joseph, Jr. knowingly made a false statement to law enforcement officers on November 5, 2020 when he told federal investigators that he was unaware Girard "was staying in the bedroom located above the garage of a residence located at 84 Clairmont, St. Croix," where Joseph, Jr. was the caretaker.
Agents later learned that Girard had been staying in a bedroom above the garage at the Clairmont residence for over a week prior and that Joseph, Jr. in fact knew Girard was staying there when he advised the agents to the contrary. Girard was ultimately arrested at the Clairmont residence on a federal warrant for a violation of supervised release.
The case was investigated by the Virgin Islands Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Melissa P. Ortiz.
SNM gang member sentenced to life in prison for murder, racketeering and firearm possessionRead the Press Release
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. –Jody Rufino “Mono” Martinez, 42, of Truchas, New Mexico, was sentenced on Dec. 2 to life in prison for murder, participation in a Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (“RICO”) conspiracy, and being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition for conduct related to the Syndicato de Nuevo Mexico (SNM) prison gang. A federal jury convicted Martinez on March 16.
According to public court records, Martinez has been a member and self-identified “soldier” of the SNM prison gang since 1998. Martinez has committed numerous violent crimes on behalf of the SNM since joining the gang. These crimes included murdering a man on Dec. 5, 2008, in Rio Arriba County, New Mexico, for failing to deliver drugs to an SNM gang member. On Oct. 24, 2018, Martinez knowingly possessed a firearm and ammunition when he shot a victim at a residence in Santa Fe County, New Mexico, as retaliation for supposedly disrespecting the SNM. As a previously convicted felon at the time, Martinez could not legally possess a firearm or ammunition.
The FBI, New Mexico State Police, Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office and the New Mexico Department of Corrections investigated this case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys from the Las Cruces Branch Office prosecuted the case as part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force program, a nationwide Department of Justice program that combines the resources and unique expertise of federal agencies, along with their local counterparts, in a coordinated effort to disrupt and dismantle major drug trafficking organizations.
Rocky Mount Man Arrested for Allegedly Buying and Selling Guns to FelonsRead the Press Release
GREENVILLE, N.C. – A Rocky Mount man was arrested yesterday on charges of selling firearms to felons and making false statements to federally licensed firearms dealers to purchase the firearms.
According to court documents, Kyristepher Wilford, 24, allegedly purchased firearms and then sold the firearms to convicted felons. Wilford also allegedly made false statements on the forms required to purchase the firearms, stating that he was the intended buyer or transferee of the guns when he was actually purchasing the guns for other people. The crimes are alleged to have occurred from February 2019 through June 2020.
Wilford is charged with two counts of selling or otherwise disposing of a firearm knowing and having reasonable cause to believe such a person is prohibited; two counts of knowingly making a materially false statement to a federally licensed firearms dealer while purchasing a firearm; and one count of engaging in the business of dealing firearms without a license. Wilford faces up to 45 years in prison if convicted.
Michael F. Easley, Jr., U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina made the announcement. The Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms, Tobacco and Explosives and the Rocky Mount Police Department are investigating the case and Assistant U.S. Attorney John Parris is prosecuting the case.
Related court documents and information are located on the website of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina or on PACER by searching for Case No. 5:21-cr-00126-D.
An indictment is merely an accusation. The defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Repeat Violent Offender Caught Trespassing with a Weapon Sentenced to PrisonRead the Press Release
MACON, Ga. – A convicted felon with a lengthy criminal history was sentenced to serve more than six years in prison for illegally possessing a firearm after U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officers caught him trespassing on private property with a loaded gun near a national refuge.
Brandon Lee Hall, 33, of Macon, was sentenced to serve 82 months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release by U.S. District Marc Treadwell on Nov. 30, after he previously pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm by a felon and possession of ammunition by a felon. There is no parole in the federal system.
“Repeat, violent felons caught illegally possessing a firearm will face serious consequences, including the possibility of lengthy prison sentences,” said U.S. Attorney Peter D. Leary. “It is illegal for a convicted felon to have a firearm. I want to thank the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Bibb County Sheriff’s officers for responding quickly to citizen complaints and working to keep the Bond Swamp National Wildlife Refuge a safe place for all to visit.”
"National Wildlife Refuges are places for people and communities to connect with America’s wildlife,” said Cynthia Martinez, Chief, USFWS National Wildlife Refuge System. “Providing for the safety of our visitors and staff is our highest priority, and we are grateful for the support and professionalism of the Bibb County Sheriff's Office, the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the United States Attorney's Office for helping us keep our National Wildlife Refuge and the public safe.”
“It is good that this repeat offender will be off the streets for several years to come. This sends a clear message that convicted felons with guns can face long jail time,” said Bibb County Sheriff David J. Davis. “The fact that this case was adjudicated both on the state level and the federal level shows the commitment by everyone in the criminal justice system to make sure offenses involving firearms are prosecuted to the fullest extent possible.”
According to court documents and evidence, a federal wildlife officer patrolling the Bond Swamp National Wildlife Refuge in Macon on June 14, 2019, received complaints from landowners about a man riding on a golf cart and fishing on their property without permission. Trail photos pulled by the officer and sent by a complainant showed Hall. A posted sign states that no ATVs, UTVs, golf carts of other off-road vehicles are allowed. While the officer was meeting with a complainant, they spotted Hall driving the golf cart. The officer stopped him and explained that he had stopped him due to him driving the golf cart on the wildlife refuge and people’s property
without permission. The officer noticed Hall had an empty pistol holster clipped to his belt. Hall said he was on probation and was a convicted felon. The officer discovered Hall had an active warrant for a parole violation out of Atlanta, and he was detained. Bibb County Sheriff’s deputies arrived and found 9mm rounds on Hall. Thirty feet away, the officers found Hall’s 9mm, semi-automatic pistol. Hall admitted the weapon was his. Hall has prior convictions for aggravated assault, terroristic threats or acts and obstruction of an officer in Houston County, Georgia, Superior Court. It is illegal for a convicted felon to possess a firearm.
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 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF).
Assistant U.S. Attorney Will Keyes prosecuted the case for the Government.
Quileute Tribal member sentenced to prison for sexual abuse of minorsRead the Press Release
Tacoma – A 30-year-old member of the Quileute Tribe was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to 8 years in prison and 30 years of supervised release for abusive sexual contact, announced U.S. Attorney Nick Brown. Tyron Jackson has been in tribal, state, or federal custody since his arrest in June 2019. At today’s sentencing hearing U.S. District Judge Robert J. Bryan said he felt it is imperative to “protect the public from any further acts of this defendant.”
“Sexual abuse and sexual assault against native children and women is pervasive, and continues to plague Native American tribes,” said U.S. Attorney Nick Brown. “This case should send a message of deterrence: there will be serious consequences for the sexual abuse of Native American children.”
According to records filed in the case, the assaults occurred against two different minor victims. Between 2013 and 2015 one child was molested on Quileute Tribal land. In 2018, a second minor victim was sexually assaulted on Lower Elwha Klallam Tribal land. The two victims disclosed the abuse. In June 2019, Jackson was taken into custody. He pleaded guilty in September 2021.
The assaults were investigated by the Lower Elwha Tribal Police, the La Push Police, and the FBI.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Rebecca Cohen, in consultation with prosecutors from the Quileute and the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribes.
Owner of Cannabis Company Charged in Federal Court with Swindling Investors Out of More Than $950,000Read the Press Release
CHICAGO — The owner of a cannabis company has been charged in federal court in Chicago with swindling investors out of more than $950,000.
GEOFFREY THOMPSON, 53, of Naples, Fla., and formerly of Frankfort, Ill., is charged with one count of wire fraud. Arraignment is set for Dec. 9, 2021, at 11:30 a.m., before U.S. District Judge John F. Kness.
The charge was announced by John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; and Emmerson Buie, Jr., Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI. The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Getter.
Thompson owned and operated a Canadian-based cannabis company that did business in Colorado. According to a criminal information filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Chicago, Thompson in 2018 and 2019 solicited and obtained money from investors by falsely representing that their funds would be used for expanding the company’s business and holding an initial public offering of securities.
In reality, the information alleges that Thompson knowingly misrepresented the company’s financial condition and that he knew the company was not in a position for an IPO at that time. Thompson instead misappropriated investor funds for his and his family’s personal use and to make Ponzi-type payments to lull earlier investors, the information alleges.
As a result of the scheme, Thompson caused the victim investors to suffer at least $952,000 in losses, the charge alleges.
The public is reminded that an information is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Wire fraud is punishable by up to 20 years in federal prison. If convicted, the Court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal statutes and the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines.
Owner of Blair Pharmacy Pleads Guilty to Providing Illegal Payments to Independent Marketers to Induce Them to Refer Business to His PharmacyRead the Press Release
Baltimore, Maryland – Matthew Edward Blair, age 48, of Timonium, Maryland, pleaded guilty today to payment of illegal remunerations to encourage independent marketers to refer federal health care related business to Blair’s pharmacy.
The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Sobocinski of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; Special Agent in Charge Christopher Dillard of the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General, Defense Criminal Investigative Service - Mid-Atlantic Field Office; and Special Agent in Charge Darrell J. Waldon of the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation, Washington, D.C. Field Office.
According to his guilty plea, beginning in November 2014 and continuing through May 2015, Blair, the owner and operator of a compounding pharmacy called the Blair Pharmacy, paid illegal remunerations to independent marketers to induce them to refer business to Blair Pharmacy.
Members of the United States military and their families receive health care benefits through TRICARE, a federal health care benefits program. Like many other health care benefit programs, TRICARE utilizes a pharmacy benefit manager (“PBM”), specifically, Express Scripts (“ESI”) to administer all pharmacy-related benefits for the TRICARE program. ESI receives, processes and adjudicates all electronically submitted pharmacy benefit claims submitted on behalf of TRICARE beneficiaries in New Jersey.
Blair submitted applications to several PBMs, including ESI, requesting that Blair Pharmacy be accepted into the PBMs’ networks of participating pharmacies. ESI approved Blair’s application and Blair was permitted to bill TRICARE and receive payment for TRICARE beneficiary prescriptions. Blair set up a process by which beneficiary prescriptions were electronically submitted directly to his pharmacy. Blair also set up a process by which prescription and benefit plan data was uploaded electronically through the internet. The uploaded electronic data was processed by the PBMs instantaneously, providing Blair with immediate information about whether a claim he submitted had been approved for payment by the benefit plan or not. Blair linked successful claim reimbursements to a bank account in the name of Blair Pharmacy so Blair Pharmacy could receive all monies paid by health care benefit companies into his bank account.
Blair actively pursued several independent sales marketers to work for him at his pharmacy. In order to increase prescription referrals to his pharmacy, maximize reimbursement amounts and thereby increase profits, Blair sought these independent marketers to solicit and refer prescriptions to his pharmacy. Blair entered into independent contractor arrangements with several sales marketers, and arranged to pay the independent marketers a percentage of any reimbursement money he received from health care benefit programs, including TRICARE.
For example, in November 2014, Blair agreed to pay an independent marketer working for Blair as follows “commission will be 50% of gross reimbursement to [Blair Pharmacy] paid bi-weekly.” The agreement required the independent marketer to use Blair Pharmacy exclusively, and to refer all business within his established territory to Blair Pharmacy. Blair induced these referrals to his pharmacy by offering the marketer a 50% percentage payment of any money that Blair received from health care benefit programs, which was the sole compensation to the marketer under the agreement. The independent marketer was not paid unless Blair was successful in obtaining reimbursement from a health care benefit program for a prescription that the marketer referred to Blair. Only then was the marketer paid a percentage of the successful reimbursement. Blair knew it was a violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute to pay an independent contractor a volume and value-based commission for referrals of federal health care program business to his pharmacy.
Blair provided the independent marketer with pre-printed prescription forms which listed the specific ingredients for Blair’s formulations. Blair knew the amount of money that he would receive from TRICARE for each gram of each ingredient that he listed in his formulas. Blair modified the ingredients and amounts of ingredients of his formulations based on the ingredient’s reimbursement value.
Blair Pharmacy received reimbursement from TRICARE for the individual ingredients in his formulas as follows: $4,348.25 for a one month supply of the ingredients in his vitamin formulation; $8,741.26 for a one month supply of the ingredients in his pain cream; $14,365.39 for a one month supply of the ingredients in his migraine cream; and $17,336.30 for a one month supply of the ingredients in his scar cream. After receiving payment from TRICARE for the prescriptions the independent marketer directed to Blair Pharmacy, Blair paid 50% of the reimbursement amount to the marketer.
The independent marketer solicited cream prescriptions from numerous doctors, including military surgeons at Walter Reed, with whom he had direct contact. Blair knew that the marketer was in a position to influence which pharmacy the prescriptions were sent to, and that the marketer would send the prescriptions directly back to Blair’s pharmacy. By paying the marketer 50% of every successfully reimbursed TRICARE claim, Blair incentivized the marketer to refer as many cream prescriptions as possible to Blair’s pharmacy.
As detailed in the plea agreement, the marketer actively pursued and solicited cream prescriptions for Blair from a military doctor, who had no idea about the amount of money that the creams reimbursed for. The marketer took advantage of the military doctor’s grueling work schedule, oftentimes waiting, with a stack of Blair’s pre-printed prescription forms in hand, for the doctor outside of the operating room after a long day of back-to-back surgeries. The marketer directed, sent, and referred all of the pain and scar cream prescriptions directly to Blair’s pharmacy. Neither the doctor, nor the TRICARE beneficiaries for whom the creams were authorized, had an opportunity to choose which pharmacy they wanted to fill the prescription because the prescriptions were submitted directly to Blair.
Many of the TRICARE beneficiaries were not aware a prescription had been written for them until they received a box from Blair Pharmacy on their doorstep. Some of the TRICARE beneficiaries had no idea of the cost to TRICARE of these creams and vitamins that they received in the mail, or they learned about the high cost of the creams and vitamins only after they reviewed their TRICARE Explanation of Benefits letter a month or two later. Some of the TRICARE beneficiaries lodged official complaints and made fraud referrals to TRICARE and ESI. When the military doctor learned of the cost of the creams he had prescribed, he was outraged and immediately stopped authorizing any additional cream prescriptions. The doctor provided notice of the problem to his management and advised TRICARE patients who made complaints about the creams, to send the creams back to the pharmacy.
From November 2014 to May 2015, TRICARE reimbursed Blair a total of $6,352,941.66 based upon claims Blair submitted to TRICARE that were tainted by remuneration payments Blair paid to independent sales contractors. Blair admits that TRICARE would not have approved or reimbursed any claim for compounded ingredients made by Blair Pharmacy, had TRICARE known that Blair had agreed to pay a 1099 independent contractor based on the volume and value-based commission of prescription referrals to Blair Pharmacy.
As part of his plea agreement, Blair will pay restitution of $3,176,470.83 for the financial loss caused to TRICARE and has agreed to be excluded from the TRICARE health benefit program as an Authorized Provider for a term of 25 years.
Blair faces a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison for illegal remuneration. U.S. District Judge Ellen L. Hollander has scheduled sentencing for February 10, 2022.
United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the FBI, the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General, and the IRS-CI for their work in the investigation. Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christine Duey and Paul Riley, 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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Omaha Man Sentenced for Possessing Child PornographyRead the Press Release
Acting United States Attorney Jan Sharp announced that Matthew G. Garabrandt, 30, of Omaha, Nebraska, was sentenced today in Lincoln by United States District Judge John M. Gerrard for possession of child pornography. Garabrandt was sentenced to 4 years in prison and will also serve 5 years on supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system. After serving his prison sentence, Garabrandt will also be required to register as a sex offender.
In October, 2015, a concerned citizen reported to Greene County Sheriff’s Office in Iowa that her ex-boyfriend had child pornography on his cellular phone. The investigators obtained a search warrant for the telephone and his residence in Scranton, Iowa. During the execution of the search warrant of that residence, the Sheriff’s Office seized two additional cellular telephones and a computer. Forensic examination of those cell phones led investigators to a phone number, later identified to belong to Garabrandt and the Federal Bureau of Investigation was informed.
In June, 2016, agents of the FBI interviewed Garabrandt at his residence in Omaha, Nebraska. Garabrandt admitted to sending and receiving child pornography and also admitted to downloading child pornography from a web forum. Investigators found approximately 15 images of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct as defined by federal law during the forensic examination of the computer equipment seized from the Iowa residence that were sent by Garabrandt.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and 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.
This case was investigated by the Greene County Sheriff’s Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Omaha Man Sentenced as Felon in Possession of a Firearm for Second TimeRead the Press Release
Acting United States Attorney Jan Sharp announced that Dywan Meredith, 30, of Omaha, Nebraska, was sentenced on December 1, 2021 in federal court in Omaha as a felon in possession of a firearm. United States District Court Judge Brian C. Buescher sentenced Meredith to 46 months’ imprisonment for the firearm possession. At the time of the offense, Meredith was also being monitored on federal supervised release for a prior conviction for being a felon in possession of a firearm in October 2017. Meredith’s supervision was violated, and he was also sentenced to an additional 24 months’ imprisonment for a total sentence of 70 months in the Bureau of Prisons. Meredith will serve an additional 3-year term of supervised release following his release. There is no parole in the federal system.
On January 14, 2021, Omaha Police initiated a traffic stop on a vehicle in which Meredith was the front seat passenger. Officers noted a strong odor of marijuana coming from the vehicle and performed a search. A loaded Smith and Wesson SD9 9mm handgun was found in the glovebox immediately in front of where Meredith was seated. His DNA was also found on the gun.
Meredith has previous convictions for being a felon in possession of a firearm (October 30, 2017), theft by deception of over $1,500, and forgery in the second degree (April 15, 2014).
This case was primarily investigated by the Omaha Police Department and was 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.
Nonprofit CEO Pleads Guilty to Wire Fraud in Relation to Covid-19 Loan FraudRead the Press Release
Greenbelt, Maryland – Brandon Fitzgerald-Holley, age 32, of Suitland, Maryland, pleaded guilty today to wire fraud in relation to COVID-19 loan fraud.
The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Sobocinski of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Baltimore Field Office; Special Agent in Charge Shimon R. Richmond, Mid-Atlantic Region, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Office of Inspector General (FDIC-OIG); Amaleka McCall-Brathwaite, Special Agent in Charge of the Small Business Administration Office of Inspector General’s Eastern Region (SBA-OIG); Special Agent in Charge Michael McGill of the Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General, Philadelphia Field Division (SSA-OIG); and Special Agent in Charge Darrell J. Waldon of the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation, Washington, D.C. Field Office (IRS-CI).
According to his guilty plea, Fitzgerald-Holley used his non-operational nonprofit, the Coalition for Social Justice and Reform Incorporated (the Coalition), to fraudulently obtain COVID-19 relief funds. Since the Coalition’s formation in 2018, the nonprofit had no employees, income, or regular operations.
On March 31, 2020, Fitzgerald-Holley submitted an Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) application for $150,000 in funds to the Small Business administration (SBA) on behalf of the Coalition. On June 3, 2020, the SBA denied the Coalition’s application for an EIDL. On the same day, Fitzgerald-Holley contacted the SBA to request reconsideration of the EIDL application. The SBA did not approve Fitzgerald-Holley’s request for reconsideration of his EIDL or provide Fitzgerald-Holley with any EIDL funding.
Further, on June 13, 2020, shortly after Fitzgerald-Holley’s fraudulent EIDL application was denied, Fitzgerald-Holley submitted an application to Institution 1 for a for a $305,854 Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan. Institution 1 is an online financial technology company that specializes in small business lending and participating as a non-bank PPP lender.
On the PPP loan application, Fitzgerald-Holley falsely listed that the Coalition employed 25 employees, had an average monthly payroll cost of $122,342. In reality, the Coalition had no employees or payroll expenses. Fitzgerald-Holley also created and submitted fraudulent documents including a fraudulent IRS Form W-3, which falsely stated that the Coalition had 25 employees with total wages of $1,385,000.
On June 13, 2020, the Coalition’s PPP loan application was approved. Fitzgerald-Holley signed the note on the loan as the CEO of the Coalition. Institution 1 subsequently deposited $305,854 in PPP loan funds into Fitzgerald-Holley’s personal account on June 16, 2020.
As stated in his plea agreement, upon receiving the fraudulently obtained PPP proceeds, Fitzgerald-Holley used the funds to purchase personal items including clothing, a pool table, televisions, electronic equipment, a 2020 Dodge Charger Scat, and various accessories for the vehicle. He also used the funds to fund a vacation rental. In total, Fitzgerald-Holley misappropriated $305,854 in PPP loan funds.
Fitzgerald-Holley faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison for wire fraud. United States District Judge George J. Hazel has scheduled sentencing for March 7, 2021 at 10 a.m.
United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the FBI, FDIC-OIG, SBA-OIG, SSA-OIG, and the IRS-CI for their work in the investigation. Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Caitlin R. Cottingham andTrial Attorney John Liolos of the Department of Justice Criminal Division’s Fraud Section, who are 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.
For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.
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New Haven Felon with Loaded Ghost Gun Sentenced to 27 Months in Federal PrisonRead the Press Release
Leonard C Boyle, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that JAMAL BATISTE, 32, of New Haven, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Stefan R. Underhill in Bridgeport to 27 months of imprisonment, followed by two years of supervised release, for illegally possessing ammunition.
According to court documents and statements made in court, in September 2019, law enforcement received information that Batiste, who was on state probation, was in possession of a firearm. On September 16, 2019, investigators searched a car that Batiste operated and found a loaded Polymer Inc. L.E. 17-22 caliber handgun with no serial number (a “ghost gun”) and additional .22 caliber rounds on the floor of the vehicle.
Batiste’s criminal history includes state felony convictions for firearm, drug and violation of a protective order offenses. It is a violation of federal law for a person previously convicted of a felony offense to possess a firearm or ammunition that has moved in interstate or foreign commerce.
Batiste has been detained since his federal arrest on August 11, 2020. On May 24, 2021, he pleaded guilty to possession of ammunition by a felon.
This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the New Haven Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Patricia Stolfi Collins.
Acting U.S. Attorney Boyle noted that this prosecution is a part of the Justice’s Department’s Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) program. PSN, the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts, 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.
Monmouth County Man Admits Role in Gun Trafficking Conspiracy and Distribution of CocaineRead the Press Release
TRENTON, N.J. – A Monmouth County, New Jersey, man today admitted distributing cocaine in Monmouth County and conspiring to illegally sell firearms, including multiple handguns and a semi-automatic rifle, in and around Monmouth and Ocean counties, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig announced.
Enrique Quijada, 24, aka “El Enano 13,” aka “Kike,” of Freehold, New Jersey, pleaded guilty by videoconference before U.S. District Judge Anne E. Thompson to a superseding information charging him with one count of conspiracy to engage in firearms trafficking, one count of possession of a firearm by an alien unlawfully present in the United States, and one count of distribution of cocaine.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
From May 2020 through September 2020, Manuel Espinosa-Ozoria, Waldin Espinosa-Ozoria, Enrique Quijada, Javier Rodriguez-Valpais, and Jacquelyn DeJesus were members of a gun trafficking conspiracy that spanned from Florida to New Jersey. DeJesus allegedly assisted Manuel Espinosa-Ozoria – the alleged leader of the conspiracy – by acting as a “straw purchaser” of firearms in Florida. Manuel Espinosa-Ozoria and DeJesus then transported the firearms from Florida to Monmouth County, where members of the conspiracy, including Quijada, sold the firearms to individuals working at the direction and supervision of the FBI. Rodriguez-Valpais sold a .223 caliber semi-automatic rifle to Quijada, who in turn sold the rifle to an individual working at the direction and supervision of the FBI. In addition to gun trafficking, Quijada admitted selling cocaine to an individual working at the direction and supervision of the FBI.
Three other members of the gun trafficking conspiracy – Javier Rodriguez-Valpais, Waldin Espinosa-Ozoria, and Jacquelyn DeJesus – previously have pleaded guilty in connection with this case. The charges against Manuel Espinosa-Ozoria remain pending.
The count of conspiracy to engage in firearms trafficking carries a maximum potential penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The count of possession of a firearm by an alien unlawfully present in the United States carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The court of distribution of cocaine carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and $1 million fine. Quijada’s sentencing is scheduled for April 5, 2022.
Acting U.S. Attorney Honig credited special agents of the FBI, Newark Division, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge George M. Crouch Jr., with the investigation leading to today’s guilty plea. She also thanked the FBI Tampa Division, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Newark and Tampa Field Divisions, and the Freehold Borough, New Jersey, police department for their assistance in the investigation.
In July 2021 the U.S. Department of Justice launched five cross-jurisdictional strike forces to help reduce gun violence by disrupting illegal firearms trafficking in key regions across the country. Leveraging existing resources, the regional strike forces will better ensure sustained and focused coordination across jurisdictions and help stem the supply of illegally trafficked firearms from source cities, through other communities, and into five key market regions: New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area/Sacramento Region and Washington, D.C. According to gun trace data, a significant number of firearms recovered in the New York/northern New Jersey area originate from outside the area. The new strike force will help ensure sustained and focused coordination between law enforcement and prosecutors in the New York/northern New Jersey area with their counterparts in those other locations.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ian D. Brater of the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Criminal Division in Trenton.
For the defendant whose charges remain pending, the charges and allegations are merely accusations, and he is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Milwaukee Man Federally Indicted for Six CarjackingsRead the Press Release
Acting United States Attorney Richard G. Frohling announced on December 3, 2021 that a Milwaukee man was indicted for six carjackings in the Milwaukee and Oak Creek areas. Madison Tyler, age 20, was charged with six counts of motor vehicle robbery and two counts of brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence
If convicted, Tyler faces up to 15 years in prison on each motor vehicle robbery count and a minimum mandatory sentence of seven years and up to life in prison on each charge of brandishing of a firearm during a crime of violence, which must run consecutive to any other sentence.
This matter is being investigated by the FBI’s Milwaukee Area Violent Crimes Task Force, the Milwaukee Police Department, and the Oak Creek Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Abbey M. Marzick.
The public is cautioned that an indictment is merely a charge and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
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Member of Southwest Baltimore “NFL” Gang Pleads Guilty to a Federal Racketeering Conspiracy Charge, Including Two Murders and an Attempted MurderRead the Press Release
Greenbelt, Maryland – Bobby Cannon, a/k/a Freaky, age 24 of Baltimore, pleaded guilty today to participating in a violent racketeering conspiracy, specifically, the NFL Criminal Enterprise, including committing two murders. The term NFL stands for Normandy, Franklin, and Loudon, which are three adjacent streets that run through the Edmondson Village. Members of NFL have social and familial ties to the Edmondson Village neighborhood in southwest Baltimore.
The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Sobocinski of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; Assistant Special Agent in Charge Orville O. Greene of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Baltimore District Office; Chief Marcus Jones of the Montgomery County Police Department; and Commissioner Michael Harrison of the Baltimore Police Department.
According to his guilty plea, from at least 2016 through March 26, 2020, Bobby Cannon was a member of the NFL Criminal Enterprise, which engaged in a pattern of criminal racketeering activity including acts involving murder, narcotics trafficking and smuggling, illegal firearms possession, bribery, witness intimidation, and witness retaliation. Cannon admitted that he participated in illegal activities with other NFL Enterprise members, including committing two murders and an attempted murder, and distributing large quantities of heroin, fentanyl, and cocaine.
As detailed in Cannon’s plea agreement, in 2018, the NFL Criminal Enterprise offered money for the murder of an individual who was believed to be a federal witness cooperating with law enforcement regarding NFL. On June 16, 2018, Cannon walked up to the porch of a house in Edmondson Village, where the individual and his girlfriend were sitting. Cannon shot them both multiple times, killing them. Cannon was subsequently paid by the NFL for committing the murders, which Cannon agrees was in furtherance of the NFL Criminal Enterprise.
In late 2018, Cannon was recruited by NFL to murder another individual in exchange for money and in furtherance of the NFL Criminal Enterprise. Cannon planned the murder for several weeks and learned that the individual resided in a halfway house in East Baltimore. On January 4, 2019, Cannon borrowed a car from a female associate in southwest Baltimore and later drove the car to the vicinity of the halfway house, where Cannon waited for the individual. After several hours, Cannon saw the individual on the street and shot the individual multiple times in the arm, back, neck, and buttocks. The individual sustained life-threatening injuries but survived the shooting.
Following the shooting, Cannon abandoned the car and notified the female associate, who then falsely reported to the Baltimore Police that her car was stolen. Cannon then notified the NFL Criminal Enterprise that he attempted to murder the individual but failed to kill him.
In April 2019, the FBI arrested members of the NFL Criminal Enterprise, but not Cannon. On a recorded jail call following the arrests, Cannon was instructed to continue distributing narcotics for the NFL. Cannon took over a drug phone used by the NFL Criminal Enterprise so that he could continue to sell narcotics to drug customers of the organization.
On December 28, 2019, Baltimore Police officers found Cannon unconscious in a parked van. During their interaction, officers saw that Cannon had a gun, which they recovered from his jacket pocket. Officers then searched Cannon’s van and recovered over 98 grams of fentanyl, which Cannon agrees he possessed with the intent to distribute it.
Cannon admitted in his plea agreement that over the course of the racketeering conspiracy, Cannon and his co-conspirators distributed over one kilogram of heroin, more than 400 grams of fentanyl, and more than 280 grams of crack cocaine.
Cannon and the government have agreed that, if the Court accepts the plea agreement, Cannon will be sentenced to at least 29 years and up to 36 years in federal prison. U.S. District Judge Paul W. Grimm has scheduled sentencing for June 1, 2022 at 9:00 a.m.
This case was made possible by investigative leads generated from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives’ (ATF) National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN). NIBIN is the only national network that allows for the capture and comparison of ballistic evidence to aid in solving and preventing violent crimes involving firearms. NIBIN is a proven investigative and intelligence tool that can link firearms from multiple crime scenes, allowing law enforcement to quickly disrupt shooting cycles. For more information on NIBIN, visit https://www.atf.gov/firearms/national-integrated-ballistic-information-network-nibin.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.
This case is also part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.
United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the FBI, the DEA, the Montgomery County Department of Police and the Baltimore Police Department for their work in the investigation. Mr. Barron commended the U.S. Postal Inspection Service; the City of Rockville Police Department; the Baltimore County, Howard County, and Montgomery County Police Departments; the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office; the Maryland State Police; the West Virginia State Police; the Virginia State Police; the Warren County (VA) Sheriff’s Department; the Winchester (VA) and Front Royal (VA) Police Departments; and the Frederick County and Howard County State’s Attorney’s Offices. Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter J. Martinez, who is prosecuting the case.
For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/project-safe-neighborhoods-psnexile and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.
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McLaughlin Man Sentenced for Sexual Abuse of a MinorRead the Press Release
Acting United States Attorney Dennis R. Holmes announced that a McLaughlin, South Dakota, man convicted of Sexual Abuse of a Minor was sentenced on November 29, 2021, by US District Court Judge Charles B. Kornmann.
Gregory James Flying Horse, age 21, was sentenced to 33 months in federal prison, followed by five years supervised release, and a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.
Flying Horse was indicted for Sexual Abuse of a Person Incapable of Consent, by a federal grand jury on July 16, 2020. He pled guilty on August 30, 2021.
The conviction stems from an incident on May 31, 2019, in McLaughlin, when Flying Horse engaged in a sexual act with a minor who had not attained the age of 16.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Meghan N. Dilges prosecuted the case.
Flying Horse was immediately turned over to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
Massachusetts Man Sentenced to 60 Months for Participating in Fentanyl Trafficking ConspiracyRead the Press Release
CONCORD - Eduardo Contreras, 31, of Lawrence, Massachusetts, was sentenced on Thursday to 60 months in federal prison for conspiracy to distribute fentanyl, Acting United States Attorney John J. Farley announced today.
According to court documents and statements made in court, between approximately 2015 and November 30, 2017, Contreras conspired with a New Hampshire-based drug distributor to distribute fentanyl. Contreras provided the fentanyl to the New Hampshire trafficker for distribution to customers in New Hampshire and Maine. On several occasions, Contreras used couriers to transport fentanyl and the proceeds of drug transactions.
Contreras previously pleaded guilty on August 26, 2021.
“Fentanyl traffickers who seek to profit from the sale of this deadly substance are causing significant damage to communities throughout New Hampshire,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Farley. “As this prosecution demonstrates, we continue to work with our law enforcement partners to identify and prosecute the drug dealers who are bringing fentanyl into the Granite State. As Mr. Contreras has now learned, fentanyl traffickers who do business in New Hampshire will face substantial federal prison sentences.”
“Today’s sentence not only holds Mr. Contreras accountable for his crimes but serves as a warning to those traffickers who are contributing to the drug crisis in America, trafficking narcotics across state lines,” said DEA Special Agent in Charge Brian D. Boyle. “This investigation demonstrates the strength of our interstate, collaborative law enforcement efforts in New Hampshire, Maine and Massachusetts and our strong partnership with the U.S. Attorney’s Office.”
“Contreras was the conduit through which fentanyl flowed into New Hampshire and Maine. HSI is committed to working alongside our law enforcement partners to investigate and seek prosecution for those who seek to bring these deadly drugs into our communities,” said Matthew Millhollin, Special Agent in Charge for the Homeland Security Investigations’ Boston Field Office, which covers all of New England.
This matter was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, Homeland Security Investigations, the Manchester Police Department, the Tilton Police Department, the Massachusetts State Police, and the New Hampshire State Police. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jennifer Cole Davis and Seth R. Aframe.
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