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20 October 2021
Minneapolis Man Arrested, Charged with Straw Purchasing Firearm Used in West Seventh Street ShootingRead the Press Release
ST. PAUL, Minn. – A federal criminal complaint has been filed against Jerome Fletcher Horton, 25, for illegally purchasing multiple firearms, one of which was used in a recent St. Paul shooting, announced Acting United States Attorney W. Anders Folk.
On October 10, 2021, gunfire erupted inside the Seventh Street Truck Park bar in St. Paul. Amid the gunfire, 14 people were injured and 27-year-old Marquisha Wiley was killed.
According to court documents, investigators with the St. Paul Police Department identified one of the suspects in the shooting. Surveillance video footage showed the suspect leave the bar holding a firearm and get into the back of a vehicle. Investigators later recovered from the vehicle a Mossberg model MC2C 9mm semiautomatic pistol. Investigators also recovered numerous 9mm discharged cartridge casings inside of the bar, which were consistent with the caliber of the firearm recovered from the vehicle.
According to court documents, a trace of the firearm revealed that it was purchased by Horton on July 31, 2021, from a Federal Firearms Licensees (FFL) in Blaine. When Horton purchased the firearm, he stated on ATF Form 4473 that he was the actual buyer of the firearm. A review of sales reports submitted by various FFLs in and around the Twin Cities metropolitan area revealed that Horton had purchased 33 firearms from June 15, 2021, through October 17, 2021. On October 19, 2021, law enforcement agents executed a search warrant at Horton’s residence and found no firearms, despite his multiple purchases.
“As recent tragedies have shown, illegal guns on the street make our communities less safe for everyone,” said Acting U.S. Attorney W. Anders Folk. “Stopping straw purchasers from putting guns in the hands of violent felons is a priority for my office and for the Department of Justice.”
Horton has been charged with making false statements during the purchase of a firearm. He made his initial appearance today before Magistrate Judge Hildy Bowbeer in U.S. District Court.
This case was prosecuted as part of the joint federal, state, and local Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Program, the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.
This case is the result of an investigation conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the St. Paul Police Department.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Calhoun-Lopez is prosecuting the case.
A criminal complaint is merely an allegation and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Mexican national sentenced to prison for using stolen identity to live, work in Billings communityRead the Press Release
BILLINGS — A Mexican national who admitted to using personal information stolen from another individual to live and work in the Billings community for years was sentenced today to 51 months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release, Acting U.S. Attorney Leif M. Johnson said.
Hugo Javier Quiroga, also known as Antonio Alatorre, 47, pleaded guilty in April to false representation of a Social Security number, false claim to United States citizenship and aggravated identity theft.
U.S. District Judge Susan P. Watters presided. Judge Watters also ordered $4,800 restitution.
The government alleged in court documents that in 2018, law enforcement began investigating a complaint from an individual named Antonio Alatorre, originally from Brownsville, Texas. The individual said his identification documents had been stolen in the 1990s and that he had encountered numerous problems from having his identity stolen. The individual told law enforcement that he had learned someone in Billings was using his identity.
Investigators determined that the individual in Billings was Quiroga, who went by the alias Antonio Alatorre, and that Quiroga had admitted to an ex-wife that he swam across the Rio Grande to enter the United States, lived in Brownsville, Texas, for a couple of years, and used the alias as a “work name.” Investigators determined that Quiroga was born in Matamoros, Mexico.
The government further alleged that Quiroga falsely used the victim’s personal identifying information to join the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers in Helena and was a union member from 2014 through 2018. Quiroga also worked for several other companies in Montana under the Alatorre name and falsely claimed that he was a United States citizen on one of the employment application forms.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Brendan McCarthy prosecuted the case, which was investigated by the FBI and Billings Police Department.
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Massachusetts Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Drug and Firearms ChargesRead the Press Release
BANGOR, Maine: A Massachusetts man pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court to conspiring to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl, being a felon in possession of a firearm, and aiding and abetting the straw purchase of firearms, U.S. Attorney Darcie N. McElwee announced.
According to court records, in April 2021, Sergio Figueroa aka “Kash,” 29, conspired with others to distribute and possess with intent to distribute fentanyl. As part of the conspiracy, he used a residence in Bangor to store and distribute drugs. On April 21, 2021, agents with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency executed a search warrant on the Bangor residence. Upon searching Figueroa’s bedroom, agents found 80 grams of fentanyl and $1,680 in cash, along with a loaded .380 caliber pistol. Figueroa was prohibited from possessing firearms and ammunition because of a prior Maine felony conviction.
Earlier, in a separate January 2020 incident, court records show that Figueroa arranged for a straw purchaser to buy two pistols for him from a federal firearm licensee in Androscoggin County. While purchasing the firearms, the straw purchaser responded “Yes” to a question on a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) form that asked whether the purchaser was the actual buyer of the firearms. In truth, the straw purchaser bought the firearms at Figueroa’s instruction, using money provided by Figueroa, and gave the firearms to Figueroa minutes after the sale. It is against federal law to aid and abet the provision of false information to federal firearm licensees when purchasing firearms from them.
On the drug conspiracy charge, Figueroa faces a minimum of five years in prison and up to 40 years, a $5 million fine, and four years of supervised release. On the firearms charges, he faces up to 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and three years of supervised release. He will be sentenced after the completion of a presentence investigation report by the U.S. Probation Office. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration; the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; and the Lewiston Police Department investigated the case.
The prosecution is part of the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) initiative. PSN is a nationwide initiative that brings together federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement officials, prosecutors, community leaders and other stakeholders to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in a community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. PSN is coordinated by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices in the 94 federal judicial districts throughout the 50 states and U.S. territories. PSN is customized to account for local violent crime problems and resources. Across all districts, PSN follows four key design elements of successful violent crime reduction initiatives: community engagement, prevention and intervention, focused and strategic enforcement, and accountability.
Manchester Man Pleads Guilty to Drug Trafficking and Firearm ChargesRead the Press Release
CONCORD - Jonathan Sargent, 38, of Manchester, pleaded guilty in federal court to possession of fentanyl and methamphetamine with intent to distribute and possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking, Acting United States Attorney John J. Farley announced today.
According to court documents and statements made in court, on October 22, 2019, Manchester Police detectives and Drug Enforcement Administration agents executed a search warrant at Sargent’s apartment and arrested him on a warrant for distributing controlled substances. The search revealed several assault-style rifles, a handgun, ammunition, cash, and other items consistent with drug trafficking. Law enforcement officers also seized approximately 850 grams of methamphetamine and approximately 56 grams of fentanyl from Sargent’s apartment.
Sargent is scheduled to be sentenced on February 2, 2022. As part of his plea, Sargent agreed to forfeit four firearms that were in his possession at the time of his arrest.
“Armed drug traffickers present a serious threat to public safety,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Farley. “To protect the citizens of Manchester and other communities, we are working closely with our law enforcement partners to identify and prosecute the armed criminals who are profiting from sales of fentanyl, methamphetamine, and other dangerous substances. Through this and other successful prosecutions of armed drug dealers, we are working to make the Granite State a safer place.”
This matter was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and Manchester Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Joachim H. Barth and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander Chen.
This case is part of Operation Synthetic Opioid Surge (S.O.S.). In July of 2018, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the creation of S.O.S., which is being implemented in the District of New Hampshire and nine other federal districts. The goal of S.O.S. is to combat the large number of overdoses and deaths associated with fentanyl and other synthetic opioids. In New Hampshire, the U.S. Attorney’s Office is focusing its efforts on prosecuting synthetic opioid trafficking cases arising in Hillsborough County, which includes Manchester and Nashua.
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Malden Man Sentenced for Role in Bank Fraud ConspiracyRead the Press Release
BOSTON – A Malden man was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Boston for his role in a scheme to fraudulently obtain funds from customer bank accounts.
Lajerran Long, 27, was sentenced by U.S. Senior District Court Judge Mark L. Wolf to nine months in prison and three years of supervised release. Long was also ordered to pay restitution of $357,333 and forfeiture of $5,000. On June 14, 2021, Long pleaded guilty to one count of bank fraud conspiracy.
This case was the result of a larger investigation into multiple schemes to withdraw funds, in the form of checks and cash, from customer accounts at several financial institutions. The organizers of the scheme paid individuals to go into banks with falsified identification documents in the names of bank customers and request withdrawals from those customers’ accounts. Bank tellers were also recruited to accept the falsified identification documents without scrutiny and facilitate the withdrawals. The fraudulently-obtained funds were then negotiated through accounts at other financial institutions that had been opened in the names of fictitious business entities.
Long was paid to recruit a teller at Santander Bank to participate in this scheme. In December 2017 and January 2018, co-conspirators utilized this bank teller to fraudulently withdraw more than $800,000. The majority of the fraudulently-obtained funds were subsequently recovered by the bank.
Acting United States Attorney Nathaniel R. Mendell and Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Leslie A. Wright and Christopher J. Markham of Mendell’s Securities, Financial & Cyber Fraud Unit prosecuted the case.
MD Labs and its Co-Founders Agree to Pay up to $16 Million to Resolve Allegations of Fraudulent BillingRead the Press Release
BOSTON – A Nevada-based clinical laboratory, MD Spine Solutions LLC, d/b/a MD Labs Inc., and two of its owners and co-founders have agreed to resolve allegations that MD Labs submitted false claims for payment to Medicare, Medicaid, and other federal health care programs.
MD Labs, along with its owners and co-founders, Denis Grizelj and Matthew Rutledge, will pay up to $16 million to settle this matter.
According to the settlement agreement, MD Labs, Grizelj, and Rutledge admit that between 2015 and 2019, MD Labs regularly billed federal health care programs for medically unnecessary urine drug testing (UDT). MD Labs performed and then billed federal health care programs for two types of UDT: presumptive testing, a relatively inexpensive test that quickly provides qualitative results, and confirmatory testing, an expensive test that is designed to confirm quantitatively the results of presumptive UDT. MD Labs performed both types of tests at approximately the same time and then simultaneously submitted the results to health care providers. MD Labs, Grizelj, and Rutledge knew that doctors would not review presumptive UDT results when they already had the more precise confirmatory UDT results. MD Labs, Grizelj, and Rutledge also knew that absent a presumptive UDT result there was often nothing to confirm, and so there was no basis to bill for a confirmatory UDT result. The settlement makes clear that the presumptive UDT results were frequently useless and its confirmatory UDT results baseless. Yet, MD Labs billed federal health care programs for these medically unnecessary lab tests.
“MD Labs, Grizelj, and Rutledge billed Medicare and other federal health care programs for wasteful urine drug testing,” said Acting United States Attorney Nathaniel R. Mendell. “They diverted valuable resources away from federal health care programs for expensive testing that was unnecessary. That kind of behavior will always get our attention.”
“The American people reasonably expect our government to be good stewards of taxpayer funds, including investigating those who try to defraud taxpayer-supported public health programs such as Medicare and Medicaid,” said Phillip M. Coyne, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General, Office of Investigation. “Today’s settlement shows that we will protect the integrity of such critical programs by thoroughly investigating fraudsters and thus holding them accountable for their schemes.”
“Unethical laboratories who line their pockets by over-billing for useless medical tests not only drain critical funds from Medicare and other federally funded health care programs, but they increase medical costs for all of us,” said Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division. “The FBI and our partners will do everything in our power to hold those who fraudulently bill the government accountable, as demonstrated by today’s settlement.”
“Our office is committed to holding accountable those who bill VA for unnecessary tests and pocket profits meant for veteran care,” said Special Agent in Charge Christopher Algieri, Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General’s Northeast Field Office. “We appreciate the work of the U.S. Attorney’s Office and our other law enforcement partners in bringing this case to a successful resolution.”
Under the terms of the settlement agreement, MD Labs, Grizelj, and Rutledge will pay the government and various states no less than $11.6 million and up to $16 million, depending on MD Labs’ financial circumstances over time. The settlement resolves allegations originally brought in a lawsuit filed by a whistleblower under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act, which allow private parties, known as relators, to bring suit on behalf of the government and to share in any recovery.
The United States previously resolved related allegations against Nevada Advanced Pain Specialists, which used MD Labs for UDT services, for $1 million in August 2021.
Acting U.S. Attorney Mendell, HHS OIG SAC Coyne, FBI SAC Bonavolonta, and VA SAC Algieri, made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Abraham R. George, Chief of Mendell’s Affirmative Civil Enforcement Unit and Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles B. Weinograd, also of the Affirmative Civil Enforcement Unit, handled the matter.
Louisville Man Indicted by Federal Grand Jury in Carjacking that Resulted in Teen's DeathRead the Press Release
LOUISVILLE, KY – A federal grand jury in Louisville, Kentucky, returned an indictment today charging a Louisville man with carjacking resulting in death.
According to court documents, on March 1, 2021, Michael J. Dewitt, 28, carjacked a vehicle in Simpsonville, Kentucky, and, during flight, killed 17-year-old M.T. in a vehicle collision on Dixie Highway in Louisville.
Dewitt is charged with carjacking resulting in death. The defendant is currently detained on state charges. If convicted of federal charges, he faces a maximum penalty of life in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. There is no parole in the federal system.
Acting U.S. Attorney Michael A. Bennett of the Western District of Kentucky and FBI Special Agent in Charge Jodi Cohen of the FBI’s Louisville Field Office made the announcement.
The FBI, Louisville Metropolitan Police Department, and Shelby County Sheriff’s Office are investigating the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Ann Marie Blaylock is prosecuting the case.
An indictment is merely an allegation and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
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Long Island MS-13 Gang Member Pleads Guilty to 2019 Murder of 15-Year-Old in Central IslipRead the Press Release
Earlier today, in federal court in Central Islip, Jose Omar Sorto Portillo, a member of the Leeward Locos Salvatruchas clique of La Mara Salvatrucha, also known as the MS-13, a transnational criminal organization, pleaded guilty to murder in aid of racketeering for his participation in the August 7, 2019 murder of 15-year-old Jasson Medrano-Molina. The proceeding was held before United States Circuit Judge Joseph F. Bianco.
Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Michael J. Driscoll, Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI), Stuart Cameron, Acting Commissioner, Suffolk County Police Department (SCPD), and Timothy Sini, Suffolk County District Attorney, announced the guilty plea.
“With today’s guilty plea, the defendant admitted to shooting a 15-year-old alleged rival gang member to death at close range in a meaningless effort to boost his status as an MS-13 gang member,” stated United States Attorney Peace. “This Office, in partnership with the Long Island Gang Task Force, will continue to work tirelessly to prevent these senseless killings and eliminate gang violence that is endangering our communities.”
“MS-13 will stop at nothing in their reign of terror, including this senseless murder of a teenager,” stated SCPD Commissioner Cameron. “I am proud of the efforts of the Suffolk County Police Department and its law enforcement partners to bring these violent individuals to justice and cripple this transnational criminal organization.”
“This senseless murder was characteristic of MS-13’s M.O., which is to commit acts of violence against anyone perceived as an enemy, even when that person is only a 15-year-old child,” stated District Attorney Sini. “This is the latest of many convictions that hold these dangerous gang members responsible for the death they’ve caused. It has been a major focus of my Office to decimate MS-13’s presence on Long Island, and we’ve been very successful in those efforts by working in close collaboration with our federal partners in the U.S. Attorney’s Office and cross-designating assistant district attorneys to prosecute gang members together. We will continue to keep the pressure on to prevent gang violence in our communities and keep the public safe.”
According to court filings and statements by the defendant at the guilty plea proceeding, in July and August 2019, the defendant and other MS-13 members and associates were seeking to attack and kill individuals whom they believed were rival gang members in order to elevate their own positions in the gang. The defendant and his co-conspirators targeted several individuals, including the victim. In the early morning hours of August 7, 2019, the defendant and two co-conspirators lured Medrano-Molina and two other individuals to a wooded area in Central Islip. The defendant, who was armed with a .40 caliber handgun, was waiting in the wooded area for an MS-13 associate to lead the victim and other individuals to the pre-determined location. When the victim arrived, the defendant shot him multiple times at close range. Medrano-Molina died at the scene. The other two individuals ran and were able to escape unharmed.
Portillo is now 18 years-old and was 16 years-old at the time of the Medrano-Molina murder. He was initially was charged by a complaint on August 14, 2019, and, thereafter, a juvenile information on September 13, 2019, both of which were filed under seal in the Eastern District of New York. Prior to pleading guilty, Portillo consented to being transferred to adult status in the case.
Today’s conviction is the latest in a series of federal prosecutions by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York targeting members of the MS-13, a violent, transnational criminal organization. The MS-13’s leadership is based in El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico, but the gang has thousands of members across the United States. With numerous branches, or “cliques,” the MS-13 is the most violent criminal organization on Long Island. Since 2003, hundreds of MS-13 members, including dozens of clique leaders, have been convicted on federal felony charges in the Eastern District of New York. A majority of those MS-13 members have been convicted on federal racketeering charges for participating in murders, attempted murders and assaults. Since 2010, this Office has obtained indictments charging MS-13 members with carrying out more than 60 murders in the Eastern District of New York, and has convicted dozens of MS-13 leaders and members in connection with those murders. These prosecutions are the product of investigations led by the FBI’s Long Island Gang Task Force, which is comprised of agents and officers of the FBI, SCPD, Nassau County Police Department, Nassau County Sheriff’s Department, Suffolk County Probation Office, Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office, the New York State Police, the Hempstead Police Department, the Rockville Centre Police Department and the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision.
The government’s case is being handled by the Office’s Long Island Criminal Division. Assistant United States Attorneys John J. Durham, Paul G. Scotti, Justina L. Geraci, Megan E. Farrell, and Special Assistant United States Attorney Kathleen Kearon are in charge of the prosecution.
The Defendant:
JOSE OMAR SORTO PORTILLO (also known as “Duende”)
Age: 18
Central Islip, New YorkE.D.N.Y. Docket No. 19-CR-423 (S-1)(JFB)
Jacksonville Man Sentenced to 12 Years in Federal Prison for Drug and Firearms OffensesRead the Press Release
RALEIGH, N.C. – A Jacksonville man was sentenced today to 144 months in prison for distributing crack cocaine, possessing with intent to distribute cocaine and crack cocaine, and possession of a firearm by a felon. On June 14, 2021, Robert Lee Henderson was convicted by a jury of those charges.
According to court records and evidence presented at trial, Robert Lee Henderson, 45, would drive from Jacksonville to New Bern, NC, in order to sell crack cocaine. After selling crack cocaine to an informant in April 2019, detectives with the New Bern Police Department attempted to conduct a traffic stop on Henderson while he was traveling into town. Henderson fled, driving through a crowded intersection. He was arrested a short distance later, after he attempted to flee on foot behind a store. Nearby, officers located additional amounts of crack cocaine and cocaine belonging to Henderson. Detectives with the Jacksonville Police Department then executed a search warrant at Henderson’s residence and located four loaded firearms, over 80 grams of cocaine, smaller quantities of cocaine and crack cocaine, and over $36,000 in cash.
Henderson had previously been convicted in 2007 in federal court for possessing a firearm as a felon. He also has repeated convictions in North Carolina for drug possession, assault, and accessory after the fact to second degree murder.
G. Norman Acker, III, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Terrence W. Boyle. The New Bern Police Department, Jacksonville Police Department, and Federal Bureau of Investigation were involved in investigating the case, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Laura S. Howard prosecuted the case.
Related court documents and information can be found on the website of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina or on PACER by searching for Case No. 7:20-CR-107-BO.
Jackson County Man Sentenced to 320 Years in Prison on Child Pornography ChargesRead the Press Release
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – A federal judge today sentenced a Jackson County man on child pornography charges, announced U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent in Charge Katrina W. Berger.
U.S. District Court Judge Liles C. Burke sentenced Stephen Frederick Ott, 51, to 3,840 months in prison followed by a lifetime of supervised release. Ott pleaded guilty in August to 10 counts of production of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography. This conviction will require him to register as a sex offender in accordance with the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA).
“The sentence handed down today ensures that this man, who stole the innocence of a young girl, can no longer take advantage of her or any other child,” U.S. Attorney Escalona said. “Children are the most vulnerable victims, and our investigators and prosecutors will remain vigilant in pursuing justice for them.”
“Ott is a predator that repeatedly victimized an innocent minor and created horrific images of the abuse, but thankfully he is being held accountable for his crimes,” said Special Agent in Charge Katrina W. Berger, who oversees Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) operations in Georgia and Alabama. “Cases like this demonstrate the power of everyone being vigilant and reporting anything that doesn’t seem right, because this predator might have been able to continue his cycle of abuse had someone not come forward.”
According to the facts presented at Ott’s plea hearing, in December 2019, the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office received a call from the victim’s father regarding the molestation of his child. The victim’s father was alerted by a former roommate of Ott’s that he had seen photos of the minor victim in sexual acts with Ott on an SD card. When the roommate moved out, he mistakenly took the SD card that he thought was his. Several months later, he discovered the illicit photos. A forensic examination of the SD card belonging to Ott had approximately 165 images of the minor victim. The images were produced by Ott between December 2017 and February 2018. Similar images of the minor victim were also located on Ott’s cell phone.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations investigated the case, along with the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney R. Leann White prosecuted the case.
The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
Individual Pleads Guilty to Murder in Indian CountryRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON – An enrolled member of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma and member of the Indian Brotherhood (IBH), a prison-based gang active in Oklahoma, pleaded guilty today to charges related to two separate homicides that took place in 2015 and 2017 within Indian Country in Oklahoma.
According to court documents, in May 2015, Matthew Onesimo Armstrong, 32, of Seminole, Oklahoma, received orders from the IBH to question an individual about an unrelated homicide. On May 30, 2015, Armstrong went to victim Scotty Candler’s home with a firearm to question, scare, and assault Candler. He was purportedly accompanied by John Douglas Knight, who was also associated with IBH and carrying a firearm. Outside the residence, Armstrong discharged two gunshots when Candler’s dogs ran out, while Knight, allegedly, entered the residence and fired one shot, killing Candler.
As set forth in the plea agreement, in 2017 Armstrong was involved in smuggling methamphetamine and other contraband for IBH into various prisons and jails. On April 16, 2017, at Armstrong’s residence, Armstrong had a dispute with victim Nicole Owl, who was also staying at the home. Armstrong and Nicholas Earl Faulkner took Owl into a wooded area behind the residence where Armstrong tied her to a tree. He left Owl tied to the tree for several hours and then returned with a rifle. Armstrong asked Faulkner if he wanted to shoot Owl, and Faulkner said “no.” Armstrong then shot Owl twice, killing her.
In connection with Candler’s death, Armstrong pleaded guilty to assault with a dangerous weapon with the intent to do bodily harm in Indian Country and to use, carry, and discharge of a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence. In connection with the killing of Owl, Armstrong pleaded guilty to murder in Indian Country, kidnapping, and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. At sentencing, he faces a maximum penalty of life in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
In connection with Candler’s murder, Knight was indicted on May 12, on charges of committing a murder in Indian country and carrying and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence. A jury trial is scheduled for Jan. 4, 2022. An indictment is merely an accusation, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
In connection with Owl’s murder, Faulkner pleaded guilty on May 22, 2019, to kidnapping and being a felon in possession of a firearm. Faulkner’s sentencing date has not yet been scheduled.
Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and Acting U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Wilson of the Eastern District of Oklahoma made the announcement.
The FBI and the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation are investigating the cases.
Trial Attorney Rami Badawy of the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions (HRSP) Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney George Gialketsis of Eastern District of Oklahoma are prosecuting the case involving the murder of Nicole Owl. HRSP Trial Attorney Brian Morgan is prosecuting the case involving the murder of Scotty Candler in coordination with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma.
Individual Pleads Guilty to Murder in Indian CountryRead the Press Release
An enrolled member of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma and member of the Indian Brotherhood (IBH), a prison-based gang active in Oklahoma, pleaded guilty today to charges related to two separate homicides that took place in 2015 and 2017 within Indian Country in Oklahoma.
According to court documents, in May 2015, Matthew Onesimo Armstrong, 32, of Seminole, Oklahoma, received orders from the IBH to question an individual about an unrelated homicide. On May 30, 2015, Armstrong went to victim Scotty Candler’s home with a firearm to question, scare and assault Candler. He was purportedly accompanied by John Douglas Knight, who was also associated with IBH and carrying a firearm. Outside the residence, Armstrong discharged two gunshots when Candler’s dogs ran out, while Knight, allegedly, entered the residence and fired one shot, killing Candler.
As set forth in the plea agreement, in 2017 Armstrong was involved in smuggling methamphetamine and other contraband for IBH into various prisons and jails. On April 16, 2017, at Armstrong’s residence, Armstrong had a dispute with victim Nicole Owl, who was also staying at the home. Armstrong and Nicholas Earl Faulkner took Owl into a wooded area behind the residence where Armstrong tied her to a tree. He left Owl tied to the tree for several hours and then returned with a rifle. Armstrong asked Faulkner if he wanted to shoot Owl, and Faulkner said “no.” Armstrong then shot Owl twice, killing her.
In connection with Candler’s death, Armstrong pleaded guilty to assault with a dangerous weapon with the intent to do bodily harm in Indian Country and to use, carry and discharge of a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence. In connection with the killing of Owl, Armstrong pleaded guilty to murder in Indian Country, kidnapping, and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. At sentencing, he faces a maximum penalty of life in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
In connection with Candler’s murder, Knight was indicted on May 12, on charges of committing a murder in Indian Country and carrying and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence. A jury trial is scheduled for Jan. 4, 2022. An indictment is merely an accusation, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
In connection with Owl’s murder, Faulkner pleaded guilty on May 22, 2019, to kidnapping and being a felon in possession of a firearm. Faulkner’s sentencing date has not yet been scheduled.
Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and Acting U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Wilson of the Eastern District of Oklahoma made the announcement.
The FBI and the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation are investigating the cases.
Trial Attorney Rami Badawy of the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions (HRSP) Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney George Gialketsis of Eastern District of Oklahoma are prosecuting the case involving the murder of Nicole Owl. HRSP Trial Attorney Brian Morgan is prosecuting the case involving the murder of Scotty Candler in coordination with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma.
Imperial Beach Man Sentenced for Threatening and Tricking Young Girls into Sending Him Sexually Explicit MaterialRead the Press Release
Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Sherwood (619) 546-9690 or Assistant U.S. Attorney Mandy Griffith (619) 546-8970
NEWS RELEASE SUMMARY – October 20, 2021
SAN DIEGO – Kevin Brito of Imperial Beach was sentenced in federal court today to 15 years in prison for deceiving girls as young as 10 into making and sending him sexually explicit photos and videos of themselves.
Brito pleaded guilty on April 19, 2021 to two counts of Enticement of a Minor, admitting that he systematically targeted young girls on social media by reaching out to them and pretending to be a 12- to 14-year-old boy or girl. This included messaging with over 200 minor females online.
Brito tricked many of the young girls into thinking he was their boyfriend and then coerced them into sending him sexually graphic photos and videos. Brito told his victims to make and send more sexually explicit material and directed exactly what he wanted them to do in the material. When his victims tried to refuse, he told them that if they didn’t do what he said, he would send all the explicit material to their friends and families. At times, he followed through on those threats. He told his victims that each was his “sex slave.”
When interviewed by FBI agents, Brito admitted to communicating with one of the minor victims, receiving nude images of her, and threatening her so he could get more images. He also admitted that he knew she was 10 years old and engaged in similar sexually explicit chats with other young girls. Further, Brito said that he saved some of the files he received from the girls and sent them out to other random people.
“These young girls have been traumatized by the despicable actions of this predator,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Randy Grossman. “We will do everything legally possible to achieve justice for children who are sexually exploited.” Grossman thanked prosecutors Andrew Sherwood and Mandy Griffith and the FBI agents for their excellent work on this case.
“Unfortunately, cases such as this involving an adult coercing young girls to create and send sexually explicit images are on the rise. The defendant victimized hundreds of minors from behind his computer screen believing he was invisible to law enforcement,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Suzanne Turner. “The FBI will continue its exhaustive work of rooting out those who prey on the most vulnerable of victims online. This case is another example of the great collaborative work among law enforcement agencies to hold criminals accountable. I would like to specifically thank local law enforcement for identifying the subject and referring him to the FBI to enable us to put an end to the criminal conduct of this serial child predator.”
Project Safe Childhood (PSC) is a nationwide federal initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by the U.S. Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. In the Southern District of California, the PSC Coordinator is assigned to the Violent Crimes & Human Trafficking Section.
DEFENDANT Criminal Case No. 21-CR-01479-DMS
Kevin Brito Age: 22, Imperial Beach, CA
SUMMARY OF CHARGE
Enticement of a Minor – Title 18, U.S.C., Section 2422(b)
Maximum penalty: Life in Prison; $250,000 fine
INVESTIGATING AGENCY
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Human Smuggler Pleads Guilty to Operating Phoenix Stash HouseRead the Press Release
TUCSON, Ariz. –Macario Ulises Barragan-Cisneros, 45, of Mexico, pleaded guilty in federal court yesterday in connection with his role as the operator of a human smuggling stash house located in Phoenix, Arizona.
Barragan-Cisneros admitted that he conspired to transport and harbor illegal aliens for profit. On September 21, 2021, Barragan-Cisneros was arrested inside a trailer at the Camino Vista Mobile Home Park located at 6532 West Van Buren Street. The trailer was used to conceal undocumented noncitizens as part of a transnational human smuggling operation in which foreign nationals were smuggled across the U.S.-Mexico border near Nogales, Arizona and transported to Phoenix. Agents with Homeland Security Investigations and United States Border Patrol located a total of 29 smuggled individuals, all citizens of Mexico or Guatemala, in or around the trailer.
Sentencing is set before U.S. District Judge Scott H. Rash on January 10, 2022. A conviction for Conspiracy to Transport and Harbor Illegal Aliens for Profit carries a maximum penalty of ten years, a maximum fine of $250,000, or both.
Special Agents from Homeland Security Investigations – Nogales Office, with assistance from United States Border Patrol – Nogales Station, conducted the investigation in this case. The U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, Tucson, handled the prosecution.
This case resulted from the efforts of the Joint Task Force Alpha (JTFA), which was established by Attorney General Merrick B. Garland in June 2021 to marshal the investigative and prosecutorial resources of the Department of Justice, in partnership with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), to enhance U.S. enforcement efforts against the most prolific and dangerous human smuggling and trafficking groups operating in Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras. The Task Force focuses on disrupting and dismantling smuggling and trafficking networks that abuse, exploit, or endanger migrants, pose national security threats, and are involved in organized crime. JTFA consists of federal prosecutors and attorneys from U.S. Attorney’s Offices along the Southwest Border (District of Arizona, Southern District of California, Southern District of Texas, and Western District of Texas), from the Criminal Division and the Civil Rights Division, along with law enforcement agents and analysts from DHS’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection. The FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration are also part of the Task Force.
CASE NUMBER: CR-21-1341-TUC-SHR-MSA
RELEASE NUMBER: 2021-071_Barragan-Cisneros# # #
For more information on the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/az/
Follow the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, on Twitter @USAO_AZ for the latest news.Hogansburg Man Sentenced for Conspiracy to Distribute Marijuana and Money LaunderingRead the Press Release
SYRACUSE, NEW YORK – Adam Jacobs, age 33, of Hogansburg, NY, was sentenced today to serve 70 months in prison for conspiring to distribute marijuana and for money laundering of drug proceeds announced United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman, Matthew Scarpino, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Buffalo Field Office of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and Gregory S. Oakes, Oswego County District Attorney.
As part of his previous guilty plea, Jacobs admitted that between January 2017 and August 2017, he operated as a middleman who brokered marijuana transactions between a marijuana supplier on the Akwesasne Mohawk Reservation and multiple redistributors. He facilitated the distribution of at least 400 pounds of marijuana. Jacobs was previously convicted of federal drug charges in 2012 and sentenced to 57 months in prison. He was on federal supervised release at the time he committed the most recent offense.
In addition to his term of imprisonment, the court also sentenced Jacobs to 5 years of supervised release and ordered him to pay a money judgment in the amount of $40,000.00 representing proceeds derived from marijuana distribution. The court also sentenced Jacobs to an additional 18 months in prison for violating his supervised release, which will be served consecutive to his 70-month term of imprisonment.
This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the U.S. Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), the Syracuse Police Department, and the Oswego County Drug Task Force, comprised of Special Agents of HSI, members of the City of Oswego Police Department, the Oswego County Sheriff’s Office, Investigators from the Oswego County District Attorney’s Office, the SUNY Oswego Police Department, and Agents of the U.S. Border Patrol. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Thomas Sutcliffe.
Hartford Man Admits Illegally Possessing FirearmsRead the Press Release
Leonard C Boyle, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, today announced that GEORGE HARRIS, 40, of Hartford, pleaded guilty yesterday before U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer in New Haven to possession of a firearm by a felon.
According to court documents and statements made in court, on July 12, 2020, Harris was transported by ambulance to Hartford Hospital in an intoxicated state. When the attending nurse began changing Harris out of his clothes and into hospital garments, a loaded .38 caliber semiautomatic pistol fell from one of his pants pockets.
Prior to July 2020, Harris had been convicted of a felony risk of injury of a child offense. 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.
Harris has been detained since his arrest on July 17, 2021. At the time of his arrest, he possessed another loaded semiautomatic pistol.
At sentencing, Harris faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years.
This matter has been investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Hartford Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Henry Kopel.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.
Hanover Man Sentenced to 14 Years’ Imprisonment for Distributing Child PornographyRead the Press Release
HARRISBURG—The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Andrew Michael Rogers, age 39, of Hanover, Pennsylvania, was sentenced on October 19, 2021 to 14 years’ imprisonment by United States District Court Judge Jennifer P. Wilson for receiving, distributing, and attempting to distribute child pornography. Rogers was also ordered to serve 15 years of supervised release following his release from prison, and to pay $134,000 in restitution to victims.
According to Acting United States Attorney Bruce D. Brandler, Rogers previously pleaded guilty to receiving and distributing images of child pornography within Middle District of Pennsylvania and elsewhere. At the time of his arrest, Rogers was found to be in possession of more than 3,400 images of child pornography, including images of prepubescent children, and sexually explicit material involving children that depicted sadistic or masochistic conduct or other depictions of violence.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christian T. Haugsby prosecuted the case.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab.
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Hampden Man Sentenced for Robbing Credit UnionRead the Press Release
BANGOR, Maine: A Hampden man was sentenced yesterday in U.S. District Court in Bangor for robbing a credit union, U.S. Attorney Darcie N. McElwee announced.
U.S. District Judge Lance E. Walker sentenced Ronald Tilley, 61, to 52 months in prison and three years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay $8,726 in restitution. Tilley pleaded guilty on June 24, 2019.
According to court records, on March 27, 2019, Tilley entered the back door of the Down East Credit Union in Bangor. He was wearing a dark mask covering his mouth, a hooded sweatshirt, sunglasses and dark gloves. He demanded money from the tellers, and stated that he had a gun and would shoot if they did not comply. He obtained more than $8,700.
A search warrant executed at Tilley’s residence in Hampden revealed cash stolen from the credit union. He was subsequently apprehended by law enforcement in Connecticut and confessed to the robbery.
The Bangor Police Department, the Hampden Police Department and the FBI investigated the case.
Gulfport Man Sentenced to 5 Years in Federal Prison for Possession of a Firearm in Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking CrimeRead the Press Release
Gulfport, Miss. – A Gulfport man was sentenced to 60 months in prison for possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Darren J. LaMarca and Special Agent in Charge Brad L. Byerley of the Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”).
According to court records, Javaris Jamir Ramsey, 23, was a passenger in a vehicle stopped by Gulfport police officers on November 21, 2020. Officers smelled marijuana and inquired as to whether the occupants possessed marijuana. Ramsey then removed a plastic bag containing a green leafy substance from his pocket and surrendered it to the officer. A subsequent search of the vehicle resulted in the discovery of a bag which contained 16 baggies of a green leafy substance, two suspected THC vapor pens, a digital scale, and a stolen Glock Model 22 handgun, which was loaded. One of the suspected vape pens tested positive for Tetrahydrocannabinol.
Ramsey was indicted by a federal grand jury on January 12, 2021. He pled guilty on June 24, 2021, to possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
The case was investigated by the DEA and the Gulfport Police Department, and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jonathan Buckner.
This case was 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.
Gulfport Man Pleads Guilty to Firearm OffenseRead the Press Release
Gulfport, Miss. – A Gulfport man pled guilty today to being an unlawful user of a controlled substance in possession of a firearm, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Darren J. LaMarca and Special Agent in Charge Brad Byerley of the Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”).
According to court records, on July 27, 2021, law enforcement officers observed Michael Anthony Hamilton, 27, engage in a drug transaction with another individual. Subsequent investigation revealed that Hamilton was in possession of a Taurus, 9mm handgun and oxycodone pills. Hamilton admitted to the habitual use of prescription medication and marijuana.
Hamilton is scheduled to be sentenced on January 21, 2022. He faces a maximum sentence of ten years imprisonment. A federal district judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
This case was investigated by the DEA and Gulfport Police Department, and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Buckner.
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.
Gang Member Admits Role in Bridgeport Courthouse ShootingRead the Press Release
ASANTE GAINES, also known as “Santi,” 24, of Bridgeport, pleaded guilty yesterday before U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton in New Haven to racketeering and attempted murder offenses stemming from his participation in a Bridgeport gang.
Today’s announcement was made by Leonard C Boyle, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut; Joseph T. Corradino, State’s Attorney for the Fairfield Judicial District; Bridgeport Acting Police Chief Rebeca Garcia; James Ferguson, Special Agent in Charge, ATF Boston Field Division; David Sundberg, Special Agent in Charge of the New Haven Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Brian D. Boyle, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration for New England, and Acting U.S. Marshal Lawrence Bobnick.
According to court documents and statements made in court, the FBI, ATF, DEA, U.S. Marshals Service and Bridgeport Police have been investigating multiple Bridgeport-based gangs whose members are involved in narcotics trafficking, murder and other acts of violence. Gaines has been a member of the “Greene Homes Boyz” (“GHB/Hotz”), a gang based in the Charles F. Greene Homes Housing Complex in Bridgeport’s North End, whose members and associates distributed heroin, crack cocaine, marijuana and Percocet pills; committed numerous acts of violence against rival gang members and other individuals, and celebrated their criminal conduct on social media websites such as Facebook and YouTube. GHB/Hotz members and associates also committed acts of intimidation and made threats to deter potential witnesses to their crimes and to protect gang members and associates from detection and prosecution by law enforcement authorities. From approximately 2017 until August 2020, GHB/Hotz members were aligned with members of the “Original North End” (“O.N.E.”), a gang based in the Trumbull Gardens area of Bridgeport, against rival groups in Bridgeport, including the East End, East Side and PT Barnum gangs, as well as 150, which is a geographic gang based on the West Side of Bridgeport.
In pleading guilty, Gaines admitted that he participated in gang-related drug trafficking, and helped plan the retaliation shootings of members of opposition gangs. On January 27, 2020, he assisted GHB/Hotz and O.N.E. members who attempted to kill East End gang members and associates in a brazen afternoon shooting in front of a Bridgeport courthouse. At 12:11 p.m. on that date, Bridgeport Police responded to the area of 172 Golden Hill Street in Bridgeport after a Shot Spotter activation detected approximately 20 shots being fired in front of the state courthouse located there. Upon arrival, investigators discovered that four victims had been shot while sitting inside a black Chevrolet Impala. One victim was shot in the side of his chest and was left paralyzed and a second victim sustained multiple gunshot wounds to his back, shoulder and wrist. The victims’ vehicle had approximately 23 entry bullet holes in the driver’s side and windshield area.
Gaines pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to engage in a pattern of racketeering activity, and one count of attempted murder and aiding and abetting, in violation of the Violent Crimes in Aid of Racketeering (“VCAR”) statute. Judge Arterton scheduled sentencing for February 7, 2022, at which time Gaines faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 30 years.
Gaines is detained.
This ongoing investigation is being conducted by ATF, the FBI’s Safe Streets and Violent Crimes Task Forces, DEA, U.S. Marshals Service, Bridgeport Police Department, Connecticut State Police and the Bridgeport State’s Attorney’s Office, with the assistance of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Connecticut Forensic Science Laboratory and the Naugatuck Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys, Jocelyn C. Kaoutzanis, Rahul Kale, Peter D. Markle, Karen L. Peck and Stephanie T. Levick.
This prosecution is a part of the Justice’s Department’s Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), Project Longevity and Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) programs.
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.
Project Longevity is a comprehensive initiative to reduce gun violence in Connecticut’s major cities. Through Project Longevity, community members and law enforcement directly engage with members of groups that are prone to commit violence and deliver a community message against violence, a law enforcement message about the consequences of further violence and an offer of help for those who want it. If a group member elects to engage in gun violence, the focused attention of federal, state and local law enforcement will be directed at that entire group.
OCDETF identifies, disrupts and dismantles drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs and transnational criminal organizations through a prosecutor-led and intelligence-driven approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.
Fulton Man Sentenced to 50 Years in Prison for Receipt and Possession of Child PornographyRead the Press Release
SYRACUSE, NEW YORK – Gary Goodale, age 41, of Fulton, New York, was sentenced today to serve 50 years in federal prison for receipt and possession of child pornography, announced United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman and Matthew Scarpino, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Buffalo Field Office of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
As part of his previous guilty plea, Goodale admitted that he used his personal computer to receive images of child pornography over the internet, and that he possessed child pornography on three electronic devices. A forensic review of Goodale’s cellular telephone and two portable electronic storage devices revealed that all three contained numerous image files depicting child pornography. Goodale also admitted that the images he possessed include sexually explicit photographs of two minors that he produced himself.
Goodale was previously convicted on December 8, 1999, in Oswego County Court for Sodomy in the First Degree in violation of New York Penal Law, Section 130.50(3), which makes it unlawful to engage in deviate sexual intercourse with another person who is less than eleven years old, and was sentenced at that time to 8 years imprisonment.
Senior United States District Judge Thomas J. McAvoy also imposed a lifetime term of supervised release, which will start after Goodale is released from prison, and ordered Goodale to pay a $400 special assessment. Goodale will also be required to register as a sex offender.
Goodale’s case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, Syracuse Office with assistance from the New York State Police Troop D Computer Crimes Unit, the Oswego County District Attorney’s Office and the Fulton Police Department, and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Geoffrey J. L. Brown as a part of Project Safe Childhood.
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 identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov
Fugitive for over Twenty Years Sentenced to Twelve Years in Prison for Large-Scale Heroin TraffickingRead the Press Release
Urbana, Ill. – A Chicago, Ill., man, Hector Castaneda, 59, of the 2400 block of South Springfield Avenue, has been sentenced to twelve years in federal prison for his role in a 1997 drug conspiracy involving almost twenty kilograms of heroin.
From 1996 to 1997, Castaneda and his four co-defendants, Ramiro S. Trevino, Raul Cruz-Velasco, Joseph L. Cuevas, and Jose G. Villanueva, were involved in a conspiracy to transport heroin from Texas to Chicago. The conspirators transported five kilograms of heroin from Texas to Chicago on four occasions. On the last occasion, July 5, 1997, a deputy with the Kankakee County Sheriff’s Office intercepted the heroin during a traffic stop of Villanueva. The Drug Enforcement Administration and Kankakee Area Metropolitan Enforcement Group conducted further investigation, resulting in the arrest of the other conspirators, including Castaneda when he travelled from Chicago to a motel room in Kankakee, Illinois, and picked up the five kilograms of heroin.
On July 9, 1997, Castaneda was released from custody on bond. He then fled from the United States to Mexico, where he lived for over twenty years. In the meantime, a trial was held in Urbana, Illinois, his four co-defendants were all convicted, and the court-imposed sentences on them ranging from twelve years and seven months to ten years of imprisonment in the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
Castaneda returned to Chicago in 2019 and was arrested on his outstanding federal warrant on February 18, 2020, and ordered detained. On March 17, 2021, Castaneda pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute more than a kilogram of heroin and the attempted possession of more than a kilogram of heroin.
At Castaneda’s sentencing hearing on October 18, 2021, U.S. District Court Judge Michael M. Mihm found that Castaneda was responsible for transporting almost 20 kilograms of heroin and that he had obstructed justice by fleeing the United States while on federal bond.
The Drug Enforcement Administration, the Kankakee Area Metropolitan Enforcement Group, and the Kankakee County Sheriff’s Department investigated the case. Supervisory Assistant U.S. Attorney Eugene L. Miller represented the government in the prosecution.
Four Individuals Indicted for Drug Trafficking and Money LaunderingRead the Press Release
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – On September 23, 2021, a Federal Grand Jury in the District of Puerto Rico returned a 14-count indictment against four defendants for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances, possession with intent to distribute cocaine, conspiracy to import a controlled substance, attempted importation of a controlled substance, conspiracy to launder monetary instruments, laundering of monetary instruments, and engaging in monetary transactions, announced W. Stephen Muldrow, United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico. The agencies in charge of the investigation are the Drug Enforcement Administration, Hormigueros Office, assisted by Homeland Security Investigations.
This prosecution 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 four individuals charged were arrested on October 12 and 13, 2021, and are:
- Ramón Antonio Vega-Ortiz, a.k.a. “Gago/Moncho,” designated by OCDETF as a Regional Priority Organization Target (RPOT);
- Osvaldo Calderín-Pascual, a.k.a. “Cubano/Calde”;
- Luis Almonte-Cruz, a.k.a. “Fiscal”; and
- Reinaldo Feliciano-Troche, a.k.a. “Chano”.
The defendants conspired to coordinate and facilitate the maritime importation of hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from outside the United States, including from Colombia and the Dominican Republic, into Puerto Rico, for profit. From May 2019 until the return of the indictment, the defendants employed a network of international cocaine suppliers, boat captains and crew members, recruiters, coordinators, facilitators, and loading and unloading crews to obtain, transport, and distribute cocaine.
The criminal enterprise used two primary methods to obtain the cocaine shipments. First, the drug organization recruited and paid boat captains to conduct at sea transfers of the narcotics with boats arriving from outside of the United States. Second, the organization coordinated and paid unloading or receiving crews to transport narcotics that were smuggled into Puerto Rico. Three of the defendants also conspired to launder monetary instruments to legitimize and disguise the true nature, location, source, ownership, and control of illicit proceeds derived from their drug trafficking activities. For example, the defendants laundered drug proceed by purchasing winning lottery tickets, real estate, vehicles and boats.
“Ramón Antonio Vega-Ortiz, designated as a priority target by our OCDETF program, and his organization imported large quantities of cocaine into the United States,” said U.S. Attorney Muldrow. “These arrests demonstrate the collaboration and cooperation by the Department of Justice and our law enforcement partners, and our commitment and resolve to combat transnational criminal organizations.”
Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the DEA, Caribbean Division said: “The DEA and our law enforcement partners will keep working non-stop until we find and disrupt these Transnational Criminal Organizations. Know this, you may run, but you can’t hide, we will find you!”
If found guilty, the defendants are facing narcotics and money laundering forfeiture allegations to include the forfeiture of the following real and personal property:
- Property located at Urbanization Extensión La Rambla in Ponce;
- Property located at Urbanization Estancias del Golf Club in Ponce;
- Solar property in Cabo Rojo;
- One 2014 Porsche, 911 Turbo;
- One 2015 Acura, TLX;
- One 2015 BMW, M4;
- One 2021 Lamborghini, Huracan Evo;
- One 2016 Dodge, Ram 1500;
- One 2016 Dodge, Ram 2500;
- One 2017 Ford, F-150;
- One Avanti, Center Console, 25 foot boat;
- One Sea Star, Center Console 24 foot boat;
- All assets held in two bank accounts;
In addition, at the time of their arrests, some defendants were found in possession of large sums of cash and high value jewelry that were also seized by law enforcement.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jawayria Z. Auchter from the Transnational Organized Section is in charge of the prosecution of the case. The defendants face a possible sentence of 10 years up to life in prison for the drug trafficking charges, up to 20 years for the money laundering charges, and up to 10 years for the monetary transaction charges.
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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Fort Wayne Man Sentenced to 62 Months in PrisonRead the Press Release
FORT WAYNE – Franklin D. Wright, 30 years old, of Fort Wayne, Indiana, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Holly A. Brady after pleading guilty to possessing a firearm after having been convicted of a felony offense, announced United States Attorney Clifford D. Johnson.
Wright was sentenced to 62 months in prison followed by 2 years of supervised release.
According to documents in the case, Wright was a passenger in a vehicle stopped by Fort Wayne Police for a traffic violation. When officers approached the vehicle, Wright had his hands inside a bag which contained a Smith & Wesson handgun with an inserted loaded 50 round drum style magazine. Wright was prohibited from possessing a firearm due to a 2014 felony conviction for Carrying a Handgun without a License and a 2011 felony Battery conviction.
This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, with the assistance of the Fort Wayne Police Department and Indiana State Police Crime Lab. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Stacey R. Speith.
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.
Former SE Polk High School Teacher Sentenced to 24 Years in Federal Prison for Sexually Exploiting StudentRead the Press Release
DES MOINES, IA – On October 19, 2021, United States District Court Judge Stephanie M. Rose sentenced Abraham Christopher Smith, age 39, formerly of Pleasant Hill, to 288 months in prison for Enticement of a Minor announced Acting United States Attorney Richard D. Westphal. Smith pleaded guilty to the offense on June 10, 2021. Following completion of his prison term, Smith is required to register as a sex offender and will be on supervised release for ten additional years. Under federal law, Enticement of a Minor carries a mandatory minimum term of 10 years in prison and a maximum term of life in prison.
According to court documents, Smith was a full-time teacher at Southeast Polk High School for several years. Beginning by at least early October 2020 and continuing to on or about October 28, 2020, Smith used a cell phone and the internet to persuade, induce, and entice Minor Victim #1—a minor student at the school—to engage in sexual activity with Smith. Additionally, Smith used his own iPhone to record Minor Victim #1 engaging in sexual activity with Smith.
“A teacher sexually exploiting a student is a very serious crime. Students must be safe at school. Parents deserve to have confidence that educators to whom they entrust their children are not preying on them. This prosecution and sentence should send a message to any school staff member contemplating exploiting a minor that the consequences may be decades in prison,” said Acting United States Attorney Westphal.
This case was investigated by the Iowa DCI Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, Altoona Police Department, Polk County Attorney’s Office, and the FBI Child Exploitation Task Force.
The case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa as part of the United States Department of Justice’s “Project Safe Childhood” initiative, which was started in 2006 as a nationwide effort to combine law enforcement investigations and prosecutions, community action, and public awareness in order to reduce the incidence of sexual exploitation of children.
Any persons having knowledge of a child being sexually abused are encouraged to call the Iowa Sexual Abuse Hotline at 1-800-284-7821.
Former Phone Company Employee Sentenced to Three Months Probation for Role in Sim Swap Scam Conspiracy That Targeted at Least 19 Customers, Including New Orleans ResidentRead the Press Release
NEW ORLEANS – U.S. Attorney Duane Evans announced that STEPHEN DANIEL DEFIORE age 36, a resident of Brandon, Florida, was sentenced on October 19, 2021 to three (3) months probation, with one year of home confinement by United States District Judge Jay C. Zainey after previously pleading guilty to a one-count Bill of Information charging with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 371 and 1343, for his role in a SIM Swap scam that targeted at least nineteen people, including a New Orleans-area physician. DEFIORE was also sentenced to 100 hours of community service, payment of $77,417.50 in restitution and payment of a $100 mandatory special assessment fee.
According to court documents, a SIM Swap scam is a cellular phone account takeover fraud that results in the routing of a victim’s incoming calls and text messages to a different phone. Once a perpetrator is able to swap the SIM card, it is likely he is able to obtain access to a victim’s various personal accounts, including email accounts, bank accounts, and cryptocurrency accounts, as well as any other accounts that use two-factor authentication.
From August 2017 until November 2018, DEFIORE worked as a sales representative for Phone Company A. In that capacity, DEFIORE had access to the accounts of Phone Company A’s customers, including the ability to switch the subscriber identification module (SIM) card linked to a customer’s phone number to a different phone number. Between October 20, 2018, and November 9, 2018, DEFIORE accepted multiple bribes, typically in the amount of approximately $500 per day, to perform SIM swaps of Phone Company A customers identified by a co-conspirator. For each SIM swap, a co-conspirator sent DEFIORE a customer’s phone number, a four-digit PIN, and a SIM card number to which the phone number was to be swapped. In total, DEFIORE received approximately $2,325 in a series of twelve payments. Among the individuals whose accounts DEFIORE accessed was Victim A, a New Orleans resident, who phone number was swapped on November 10, 2018, to a SIM card contained in an Apple iPhone 8 that was in the possession of Richard Li. Li was charged with his role in the offense in June 2020 and was charged in a superseding indictment in August 2021.
U.S. Attorney Evans praised the work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Jordan Ginsberg, Chief of the Public Corruption Unit, is in charge of the prosecution.
Former Pain Management Doctor Charged in Manhattan Federal Court with Sexually Abusing Patients Across Multiple States over the Course of over 15 YearsRead the Press Release
Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that RICARDO CRUCIANI was arrested this morning and charged in connection with his sexual abuse of numerous pain management patients over the course of over 15 years. The Indictment unsealed today alleges that from at least in or about 2002 up to and including at least in or about 2017, CRUCIANI enticed and induced multiple victims to travel to his medical offices in New York, New York, Hopewell, New Jersey, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to subject them to unlawful sexual abuse. CRUCIANI was arrested this morning and is expected to be presented later today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert W. Lehrburger in Manhattan federal court. The case is assigned to U.S. District Judge John P. Cronan in the Southern District of New York.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “Doctors like the defendant take an oath to do no harm. It is difficult to imagine conduct more anathema to that oath than exploiting patients’ vulnerability in order to sexually abuse them. As alleged, Ricardo Cruciani’s sexual abuse involved developing personal relationships with victims to engender trust, and prescribing addictive pain medication that caused his patients to become dependent on him as he engaged in a course of increasingly abusive conduct. The alleged pattern of abuse in this case is outrageous, and Cruciani now faces federal charges for it.”
If you believe you are a victim of the sexual abuse perpetrated by RICARDO CRUCIANI, please contact the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York at (646) 372-0364, and reference this case.
According to the Indictment[1] unsealed today in Manhattan federal court:
CRUCIANI was a pain management doctor who treated patients from multiple states who suffered from, among other things, severe and chronic pain. Between at least in or about 2001 and in or about 2014, CRUCIANI was employed by and affiliated with a prominent medical hospital and medical center located in New York, New York, and maintained medical offices in New York, New York. Between at least in or about 2013 and in or about 2016, CRUCIANI was a practicing pain management doctor employed by and affiliated with a prominent medical hospital and medical center located in Hopewell, New Jersey, and maintained medical offices in Hopewell, New Jersey. Between at least in or about 2016 and in or about 2017, CRUCIANI was a practicing pain management doctor employed by and affiliated with a prominent medical hospital and university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and maintained medical offices in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Over the course of at least approximately 15 years, between at least in or about 2002 and in or about 2017, CRUCIANI sexually abused numerous adult female patients who suffered from severe and chronic pain and were under his medical care as a pain management doctor. CRUCIANI exploited and leveraged his position of trust as a healthcare provider at prominent medical institutions, the significant pain suffered by the victims, and his ability to prescribe or withhold pain medication, including highly addictive opioids, so that he could sexually abuse his patients. In order for them to obtain prescription refills, CRUCIANI required victims to travel to his medical offices and other locations for in-person appointments. CRUCIANI enticed and induced victims to travel interstate at least in part for the purpose of subjecting them to unlawful sexual abuse.
CRUCIANI’s sexual abuse of victims involved developing personal relationships with victims to engender trust, and prescribing addictive pain medication that caused the victims to become dependent on CRUCIANI as he engaged in a course of increasingly abusive conduct. The abusive sexual conduct included, among other things, forcible kissing, touching victims’ breasts and genitals, oral sex acts, vaginal sexual intercourse, and attempted anal sexual intercourse.
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CRUCIANI, 63, of Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, is charged with five counts of enticing and inducing individuals to travel interstate to engage in illegal sexual activity, each of which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. The statutory maximum penalties are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant would be determined by a judge.
Mr. Williams praised the outstanding investigative work of the Special Agents of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.
This case is being handled by the Office’s Public Corruption Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jane Kim and Jacqueline Kelly are in charge of the prosecution.
The charges contained in the Indictment are merely accusations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
[1] As the introductory phrase signifies, the entirety of the text of the Indictment, and the description of the Indictment set forth herein, constitute only allegations, and every fact described therein should be treated as an allegation. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Former NFL Player Pleads Guilty to Access Device Fraud and Aggravated Identity Theft Scheme Involving CARES Act Unemployment Insurance FundsRead the Press Release
Miami, Florida – South Florida native and former National Football League (NFL) Player Kenbrell Armod Thompkins, 33, pled guilty this week in federal district court to stealing other peoples’ identities to fraudulently obtain Covid-19-related unemployment insurance benefits.
Thompkins admitted that from August 16, 2020 through September 25, 2020, he used the social security numbers and other protected personal information of unsuspecting Florida residents to obtain prepaid unemployment insurance debit cards from California and to withdraw thousands of dollars from such cards. Thompkins pled guilty to one count of unauthorized access device fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft. U.S. District Court Judge Robert N. Scola, Jr. will sentence Thompkins on January 6, 2022 at 8:30 a.m. in Miami. He faces up to 12 years in prison.
Juan Antonio Gonzalez, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Brian Swain, Special Agent in Charge, United States Secret Service (USSS), Miami Field Office, made the announcement.
USSS Miami and the Aventura Police Department investigated the case. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Eduardo Gardea, Jr.
In 2020, Congress passed the Covid Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act to help individuals and businesses financially survive the COVID-19 pandemic, including through the provision of federal funds to state unemployment insurance benefit programs.
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.
Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 21-cr-20136.
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Former Lawyer Agrees to Plead Guilty to Conning Clients via Sham Court Documents Containing Forged Judge SignaturesRead the Press Release
LOS ANGELES – A former California lawyer has agreed to plead guilty to a fraud charge, admitting he lied to clients about winning cases and deceiving them with bogus documents, some with the forged signatures of judges.
Matthew Charles Elstein, 51, of Redondo Beach, agreed to plead guilty to one count of wire fraud in a plea agreement filed this afternoon in United States District Court. An arraignment in this case is scheduled for October 28.
Elstein was a licensed California attorney from December 1994 until the State Bar of California ordered him inactive in March 2019. According to his plea agreement, from June 2015 to July 2018, Elstein engaged in a scheme to defraud his clients by claiming he obtained favorable legal resolutions for them, when in fact the favorable resolutions had never been obtained. In many cases, Elstein never initiated any legal action. Elstein also admitted to misappropriating funds by informing victims their fees were going into his client trust account, when in fact he directed them to deposit money into his personal bank account.
For example, in June 2016, Elstein falsely informed a corporate client that it had won a $52 million default judgment. He emailed the victim-client a fake court order that contained a judge’s forged signature. Having never actually filed a lawsuit on his client’s behalf, Elstein further misrepresented that the case was improperly under seal due to a United States Department of Justice investigation. To further his fraudulent scheme, Elstein presented his clients with a fake settlement agreement between the client and the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California. It was not until the company reached out to that United States Attorney’s Office to authenticate the settlement agreement that it discovered that the agreement was a forgery.
Elstein also admitted to fabricating depositions in a federal case in Washington state in September 2015. Because these depositions were fake, no one appeared for them. Nonetheless, Elstein had a court stenographer present and made a formal record of the nonappearances. Elstein also billed the client for attending the fake depositions and his travel expenses to Seattle.
Elstein also falsely told the victim that he had obtained a $4.25 million judgment in the victim’s favor and provided the victim with a fake court order containing the forged signature of a judge. When the victim traveled to Seattle to collect the judgment, he was informed by the court that no such case existed.
In total, Elstein’s conduct resulted in losses of at least $358,855 to his victims.
Upon entering his guilty plea in this case, Elstein will face a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison.
The FBI investigated this matter.
Assistant United States Attorney Agustín D. Orozco of the Public Corruption and Civil Rights Section is prosecuting this case.
Former IRS Employee Charged with Tax FraudRead the Press Release
A federal grand jury in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, returned an indictment in July, which was unsealed yesterday, charging a South Carolina man with tax evasion and attempting to obstruct an IRS civil audit and an IRS criminal investigation.
According to the indictment, Wayne M. Garvin, currently of Columbia, South Carolina, and previously of Philadelphia, allegedly filed individual income tax returns for the years 2012 through 2016 on which he claimed fraudulent deductions and expenses, including charitable contribution deductions and expenses associated with rental properties that he owned for some years. For the year 2013, Garvin also allegedly claimed he had expenses associated with service in the U.S. Army Reserves even though he did not perform any reservist duty that year. At the time Garvin filed his false tax returns, he was employed as a Supervisory Associate Advocate with the IRS’s Taxpayer Advocate Service in Philadelphia.
The indictment also alleges that after the IRS began an audit of Garvin’s 2013 and 2014 tax returns, Garvin submitted fraudulent documents to the IRS revenue agent conducting the audit. Among other fraudulent documents, Garvin allegedly created receipts from a church, invoices from a contractor and a letter from the Department of the Army in an attempt to convince the IRS he was entitled to claim the deductions and expenses on his returns. Garvin allegedly submitted the fraudulent documents to the IRS to prevent the IRS from assessing additional taxes against him for 2013 and 2014. Finally, the indictment alleges that after the IRS notified Garvin that he was under criminal investigation for filing false tax returns, Garvin provided the same fraudulent documents to IRS Criminal Investigation that Garvin previously provided to the IRS revenue agent.
Garvin is charged with three counts of tax evasion and two counts of corruptly endeavoring to impair and impede the due administration of the internal revenue laws. The defendant made his initial court appearance today. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison on each count of tax evasion, and a maximum penalty of three years in prison on each count of endeavoring to impair the internal revenue laws. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and Acting U.S. Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania made the announcement.
IRS Criminal Investigation is investigating the case.
Trial Attorney Melissa S. Siskind of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Tiwana Wright of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania 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.
Former CEO, CFO, and VP of Email Security Company Charged with $50 Million Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Michael J. Driscoll, the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), announced today that ROBERT BERNARDI, the founder, and former Chief Executive Officer of the Virginia-based email security company GigaMedia Access Corporation, d/b/a GigaTrust (“GigaTrust”), NIHAT CARDAK, GigaTrust’s former Chief Financial Officer, and SUNIL CHANDRA, GigaTrust’s former Vice President of Business Development, were charged in an Indictment in Manhattan federal court with participating in a scheme to defraud investors and lenders of millions of dollars through false and misleading misrepresentations, including fabricated bank statements and audit reports, and by impersonating a purported customer, auditor, and GigaTrust lawyer.
BERNARDI, CARDAK, and CHANDRA were arrested this morning. They will be presented later before Magistrate Judge Michael S. Nachmanoff in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. The case is assigned to United States District Judge Paul G. Gardephe.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “As alleged, the defendants—the founder and other senior executives at GigaTrust—participated in a scheme to trick investors into providing the company millions of dollars. Today’s indictment alleging a fraud scheme of over $50 million ensures that they will be held accountable for their conduct.”
FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Michael J. Driscoll said: “Luring investors under false pretenses and misappropriating their money for personal gain is exactly what Giga Trust’s defendants are charged with today. The money they allegedly made from this scheme totals tens of millions of dollars. No matter how lucrative schemes of this nature may appear from the start, they will ultimately result in federal criminal charges.”
According to the allegations in the Indictment[1] unsealed today in Manhattan federal court:
From in or about 2016 through at least in or about 2019, GigaTrust was a private company headquartered in Virginia that purported to be a market-leading provider of cloud-based content security solutions. BERNARDI founded GigaTrust and served as its CEO, while CARDAK and CHANDRA were GigaTrust’s CFO and Vice President of Business Development, respectively. The defendants devised a scheme to defraud investors and lenders by (a) fabricating and disseminating false and misleading bank account statements that overstated GigaTrust’s cash deposits; (b) fabricating and disseminating false and misleading audit materials that purported to have been issued by GigaTrust’s auditors and overstated GigaTrust’s performance; (c) forging and disseminating a false and misleading letter purporting to be from GigaTrust’s New York-based counsel; and (d) impersonating or causing others to impersonate a purported customer and auditor of GigaTrust on telephone calls with a prospective lender.
Specifically, BERNARDI sent fabricated audit materials to a New York-based investment firm, and BERNARDI and CARDAK used fabricated bank statements to obtain multiple rounds of loans and investments for GigaTrust, worth millions of dollars. After a New York-based bank (“Bank-1”), which had loaned GigaTrust $25 million, declared that GigaTrust had defaulted on the terms of its loan agreement, BERNARDI and CARDAK induced additional investments in GigaTrust through, among other things, forging a letter purporting to be from GigaTrust’s New-York based counsel. Shortly thereafter, while negotiating another $25 million deal with a lender (“Lender-1”), BERNARDI and CARDAK devised a scheme to impersonate a GigaTrust customer and auditor on requested diligence calls, which induced Lender-1 to make a $25 million loan to GigaTrust. BERNARDI recruited CHANDRA to pose as one of GigaTrust’s alleged customers on a call with Lender-1. BERNARDI and CARDAK also fabricated bank statements and sent them to Lender-1 right before closing the $25 million deal.
GigaTrust filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection in the District of Delaware on or about November 27, 2019.
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BERNARDI, 68, and CARDAK, 51, both of Virginia, are each charged with one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison, one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison, one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud affecting a financial institution, which carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison, and one count of aggravated identity theft, which carries a mandatory consecutive sentence of two years’ imprisonment. CHANDRA, 80, of Virginia, is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud affecting a financial institution, which carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison, and one count of aggravated identity theft, which carries a mandatory consecutive sentence of two years’ imprisonment. The maximum potential sentences in this case are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendants will be determined by the judge.
Mr. Williams praised the outstanding investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in this case. Mr. Williams further thanked the Securities and Exchange Commission, which has filed a civil enforcement action against the defendants, for its cooperation and assistance in this investigation.
This case is being handled by the Office’s General Crimes Unit. Assistant United States Attorneys Peter J. Davis and Emily A. Johnson are in charge of the prosecution.
The charges contained in the Indictment are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
[1] As the introductory phrase signifies, the entirety of the text of the Indictment, and the description of the Indictment set forth herein, constitute only allegations, and every fact described should be treated as an allegation.
Former Air Force Airman Pleads Guilty to Impersonating FBI, OSI AgentsRead the Press Release
VALDOSTA, Ga. – A former Air Force Airman pleaded guilty to two counts of impersonating an officer after he pretended to be a federal agent at various times, including making a traffic stop, offering to solve a crime, and appearing at crime scene investigations armed while claiming to be an agent.
Marlon De’Adrain Priest, 23, of Valdosta, pleaded guilty to two counts impersonating an officer and an employee of the United States before U.S. District Judge Louis Sands on Tuesday, October 19. Priest faces a maximum three years in prison to be followed by one years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine per count. Sentencing is scheduled for January 20, 2022.
“Marlon Priest created a false appearance of authority and power to scam and intimidate his victims. Impersonating a federal agent is a serious crime that will not be tolerated in the Middle District of Georgia,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Peter D. Leary. “I want to commend the real investigators who brought Priest to justice and who work hard every day to make Middle Georgia a safer place.”
“Impersonating a federal officer for any reason puts the public and law enforcement officers at risk, especially when a firearm is used,” said Chris Hacker, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta. “The FBI is committed to keeping the public safe from scam artists like Priest, who undermine legitimate police encounters that happen every day.”
According to court documents, an agent with Moody Air Force Base (MAFB) Office of Special Investigations (OSI) contacted the FBI in September 2020 regarding Priest, a former Air Force Airman, who was impersonating an OSI Agent in the Valdosta area. The Remerton Police Department (RPD) had reported to MAFB OSI that Priest had appeared at crime scenes on multiple occasions representing himself as an OSI agent and even arrived at one crime scene carrying an AR-15 rifle and wearing a bullet proof vest. The white sedan Priest was driving had police lights. RPD had recordings of Priest at crime scenes impersonating a federal officer. Priest had been discharged from the Air Force in Feb. 2019, for misuse of a military credit card.
In addition, Priest made a traffic stop on April 9, 2020, identifying himself as an undercover federal agent at Moody Air Force Base. The victim driving the car told authorities that Priest was armed, was wearing a bullet proof vest and that Priest’s vehicle had police lights with a public announcement (PA) system to give the victim orders during the incident. Priest called the stop in to 911, reporting himself as an undercover MAFB agent. Bodycam footage from the scene showed Priest was armed.
In October 2020, Priest impersonated an FBI agent, telling a fraud victim that Priest was an FBI agent who could help her start a case if she paid him $85. The victim gave him $85 and days later Priest accused the victim of lying to him about the case and threatened to press charges against her for her “criminal intent and fraudulent misconduct.” Priest told the victim that she had made false statements, and that he put his name on the line and gave her a discount with the courts to open the case. Priest then told the victim he had to pay a $150 fine and threatened the victim that warrants were going to be taken out for her. The victim paid Priest the $150 demand.
This case was investigated by FBI, Lowndes County Sherriff’s Office and Remerton Police Department.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Sonja Profit is prosecuting the case.
Fitchburg Man Pleads Guilty to Cocaine ConspiracyRead the Press Release
BOSTON – A Fitchburg man pleaded guilty on Monday, Oct. 18, 2021 in federal court in Worcester to his role in a cocaine distribution conspiracy.
Angel Cruz, a/k/a “Papo,” 61, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine. U.S. District Court Judge Timothy S. Hillman scheduled sentencing for Feb. 1, 2022. Cruz was indicted in November 2017.
In the fall of 2016, Cruz conspired with another individual to deliver cash in exchange for cocaine from the San Diego, Calif. area for distribution in Fitchburg. Cruz admitted that he rented a vehicle for the exchange, which was used by his co-conspirator to drive to California to deliver the cash and transport the drugs back to Massachusetts. Law enforcement stopped the co-conspirator when returning to Massachusetts and found the cocaine concealed inside the rented vehicle.
The charge of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine provides for a sentence of up to 40 years in prison, at least four years and up to a lifetime of supervised release and a fine of $5 million. 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; Brian D. Boyle, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, New England Field Division; Fitchburg Police Chief Ernest F. Martineau; and Lunenburg Police Chief Thomas Gammel made the announcement. The Drug Enforcement Administration, Detroit Division and the Ohio State Highway Patrol assisted with the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michelle L. Dineen Jerrett and Lucy Sun of Mendell’s Worcester Branch Office are prosecuting the case.
Federal Prosecution of La Placita Robbery Concludes with Final SentencngsRead the Press Release
Bowling Green, Kentucky– Two Honduran nationals, Jonny Alexander Reyes-Martinez and Jorge Santos Caballero-Melgar were sentenced on Monday in U.S. District Court in Bowling Green. Reyes was sentenced to 262 months in prison for his role in a conspiracy to commit a series of armed robberies throughout the southeast, including the robbery of La Placita 710 Morgantown Road, Bowling Green, Kentucky, on March 17, 2017, that resulted in the death of one person, J.C. Also sentenced on Monday was Jorge Santos Caballero-Melgar for his role as the organizer and leader of the group. Caballero was the only defendant to take his case to trial. He was convicted by a jury in Bowling Green earlier this year. Caballero was sentenced to 460 months in prison.
These sentencings culminated the prosecution of 12 persons who were charged with conspiring to commit a total of 15 armed robberies in Kentucky, Tennessee, Indiana, and North Carolina between December 2016 and September 2017. Most of the defendants resided in Nashville, Tennessee. All were present in the United States illegally. Sentences imposed by Chief Judge Stivers in the case ranged from 48 months to 460 months. Reyes, who was directly involved in the robbery of La Placita in Bowling Green, was facing a life sentence prior to entry of a guilty plea. Evidence presented at Caballero’s trial showed that the victim, J.C., interceded and attempted to restrain Reyes inside the store as the robbery concluded and was shot by Reyes during a struggle in close quarters. Reyes’s guideline sentence of up to 405 months was reduced by Chief Judge Stivers on Monday based on the defendant’s substantial assistance in the prosecution of Caballero. Reyes testified at Caballero’s trial last spring, along with four other co-conspirators, and was characterized by Judge Stivers as a “key witness” for the government at trial.
The evidence at trial established that Caballero was the organizer and leader of the robbery conspiracy. Caballero was present for all but one of the 15 charged robberies directing the other co-conspirators from outside the store. Evidence at trial showed that Caballero identified the stores to be robbed; provided firearms to the others for use during each robbery; and drove co-conspirators to and from robbery locations. Cell phone tracking evidence presented at trial showed the movement of the co-conspirators from Nashville to various robbery locations and back. Surveillance video, together with phone records and testimony at trial, established that Caballero on at least one occasion ordered a victim to turn over the cash in the store to the robbers who were inside with her. After each robbery, Caballero met at another location with co-conspirators and divided the proceeds of the robbery. Caballero has illegally entered the United States and been removed five times.
“Those responsible for the senseless and heartbreaking loss of life in this case will now rightfully spend decades in prison for their crimes,” stated Acting U.S. Attorney Michael A. Bennett. “The FBI, the Bowling Green Police Department, the federal and state agencies who provided assistance, and the prosecutors who litigated the cases all worked tirelessly and performed admirably throughout the process to ensure justice was served.”
“This investigation, leading to the arrest, conviction, and sentencing of Caballero and 11 other members of his robbery crew highlights the value and effectiveness of combining local, state, and federal resources to combat violent criminals,” said Special Agent in Charge Jodi Cohen of the FBI’s Louisville Field Office. “It is a tragedy that someone died as a result of the defendants’ brazen conduct; however, we hope that these sentences will provide some solace to the victim’s family and serve as a reminder to those who wish to harm the citizens of the Commonwealth that FBI Louisville and its law enforcement partners will find you and hold you accountable.”
The investigation was led by Special Agents in the FBI’s Bowling Green Resident Agency and the Bowling Green Police Department. The investigation was also assisted by FBI Charlotte; FBI Memphis; DHS/HSI Raleigh; DHS/HSI Bowling Green; Lexington, KY Police Department; Cary, NC Police Department; Clayton, NC Police Department; Snow Hill, NC Police Department; Greene County, NC Sheriff’s Department; Rocky Mount, NC Police Department; Henderson, NC Police Department; Gallatin, TN Police Department; Morristown, TN Police Department; McMinnville, TN Police Department; Metro Nashville Police Department; Clarksville, IN Police Department; Northampton County, VA Sheriff’s Department; and the Kansas Highway Patrol.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Marisa J. Ford and Alicia P. Gomez prosecuted the case.
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Federal Jury Convicts Felon in Possession of a FirearmRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – A federal jury convicted a Marion County man on Tuesday of being a felon in possession of a firearm, announced U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives Special Agent in Charge Mickey French.
The jury returned its guilty verdict against Samuel Ernest Byrd, 43, of Hamilton, after one day of testimony before Chief U.S. District Judge L. Scott Coogler. Byrd is prohibited from owning a firearm because he has a prior felony conviction of possession of a controlled substance in 2007, in the Circuit Court of Marion County, Alabama.
Evidence at trial showed that in May 2020 local police officers responded to a home in Hamilton, Alabama, where Byrd lived with his mother, after she was reported missing. Police found Byrd inside the house. In addition to recovering a .22 caliber revolver from Byrd’s truck, police officers also recovered a rifle from the home.
The maximum penalty for being a felon in possession of a firearm is 10 years in prison.
The ATF investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Edward J. Canter and John B. Ward are prosecuting the case.
Federal Jury Convicts Ahoskie Man for Robbery and Aiding and AbettingRead the Press Release
NEW BERN, N.C. – A federal jury convicted an Ahoskie man today on charges of Hobbs Act robbery and aiding and abetting.
According to court records and evidence presented at trial, on February 5, 2020, Dytwan Donnelle Chamblee, 27, assisted in the robbery of the Duck-Thru convenience store in Cofield, North Carolina, located in Hertford County. Chamblee committed the robbery while on post-release supervision from a North Carolina state felony conviction. As a part of his supervision, Chamblee was subject to electronic monitoring in the form of an ankle monitor. His co-defendant, Ray’Quan Langford, was also wearing an ankle monitor. The evidence established that Langford robbed the store at gunpoint while brandishing a firearm and demanding money and other items from the clerk. Langford also stole cell phones from customers who were in the store at the time of the robbery. Chamblee’s ankle monitor data, which records GPS location information, established that he was the getaway driver following the robbery. Chamblee is a convicted felon, having previous convictions for possession of a weapon by a prisoner, possession of a firearm by a felon, breaking and entering, and larceny. According to the North Carolina Department of Public Safety, Chamblee is a validated member of the Bloods street gang.
Chamblee faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison when sentenced during the January 11, 2022, term of court.
G. Norman Acker, III, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina made the announcement after U.S. District Judge Louise W. Flanagan accepted the verdict. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the Hertford County Sheriff’s Office, the Bertie County Sheriff’s Office, and the Ahoskie Police Department investigated the case. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert J. Dodson.
Related court documents and information can be found on the website of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina or on PACER by searching for Case No.2:20-CR-51-1FL.
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Eight People Charged in South Florida Federal Bank Fraud, Money Laundering CaseRead the Press Release
Miami, Florida – In a 30-count indictment unsealed today, a Miami federal grand jury charged eight defendants for their roles in a fraudulent check and money laundering scheme.
The indictment charges Christopher Salermo, 30, from Miami; Rene Ripes III, 22, from Hialeah; Carlo Luvara Escobar, 26, from Miami; Clifton Taylor, Jr., 33, from Miami; Edwin Castillo, 23, from Hialeah; John Anthony Perez, 23, from Hialeah Gardens; Ana Figueroa, 22, from Miami; and Brandon Cooper, 28, from the Bahamas, for participating in a fraud scheme that operated as follows, according to the indictment: Members of the conspiracy would steal bank account and routing numbers belonging to legitimate companies and individuals. Then they would: create fraudulent checks containing the stolen account and routing number information; forge victim signatures on the checks; and deposit the checks into bank accounts under the control of members of the conspiracy. After the checks cleared, but before the financial institutions discovered the fraud, members of the conspiracy would withdraw money from those accounts for their personal gain, it is alleged.
Seven of the eight defendants were arrested today. Defendants Salermo, Ripes, Taylor, Castillo, and Cooper made their initial appearances today in federal magistrate court in Miami before Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge John J. O’Sullivan. Defendants Escobar and Perez will make their initial appearances tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. before Judge O’Sullivan.
Juan Antonio Gonzalez, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Anthony Salisbury, Special Agent in Charge, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Miami Field Office made the announcement.
HSI Miami investigated the case, with assistance from HSI Tampa, Miami Beach Police Department, Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Gang Strike Force, Miami-Dade Police Department, and City of Miami Police Department.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Kurt K. Lunkenheimer is prosecuting this case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Joshua Paster is handling asset forfeiture.
An indictment contains mere allegations and defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.
Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 21-cr-20491.
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Eight Nigerians Charged with Conspiring to Engage in Internet Scams and Money Laundering from Cape Town, South AfricaRead the Press Release
NEWARK, N.J. – Seven leaders of the Cape Town Zone of the Neo Black Movement of Africa, also known as “Black Axe,” and an eighth man who conspired with a Black Axe leader, were charged with multiple federal crimes relating to internet scams they perpetrated from South Africa, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig announced today.
Perry Osagiede, aka “Lord Sutan Abubakar de 1st,” aka “Rob Nicolella,” aka “Alan Salomon,” 52; Enorense Izevbigie, aka “Richy Izevbigie,” aka “Lord Samuel S Nujoma,” 45; Franklyn Edosa Osagiede, aka, “Lord Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela,” aka, “Edosa Franklyn Osagiede,” aka “Dave Hewitt,” aka, “Bruce Dupont,” 37; Osariemen Eric Clement, aka, “Lord Adekunle Ajasi,” aka, “Aiden Wilson,” 35; Collins Owhofasa Otughwor, aka, “Lord Jesse Makoko,” aka, “Philip Coughlan,” 37; and Musa Mudashiru, aka “Lord Oba Akenzua,” 33; all originally from Nigeria, are charged by superseding indictment with wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy, spanning from 2011 to 2021. One defendant remains at large.
Perry Osagiede, Franklyn Osagiede, Clement, and Izevbigie are also charged with wire fraud. Perry Osagiede, Franklyn Osagiede, and Otughwor are charged with aggravated identity theft.
Toritseju Gabriel Otubu, aka “Andy Richards,” aka “Ann Petersen,” 41, also originally from Nigeria, is charged by separate indictment with wire fraud conspiracy, wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and money laundering conspiracy, spanning from 2016 to 2021.
“Americans are too often victimized by criminal organizations located abroad who use the internet to deceive those victims, defraud them of money, and, many times, persuade the victims to wittingly or unwittingly assist in perpetuating the fraudulent schemes,” Acting U.S. Attorney Honig said. “The public should be on guard against schemes like these. And, more importantly, anyone thinking of engaging in this kind of criminal conduct should understand that the U.S. Attorney’s Office and our partners will find them and bring them to justice, no matter where they are.”
“Transnational organized criminal networks continue to victimize U.S. citizens and threaten the financial infrastructure of the United States,” Secret Service Office of Investigations Assistant Director Jeremy Sheridan said. “The Secret Service, alongside our partner agencies, works tirelessly in its global investigative mission to dismantle these groups and arrest those who lead them. We are proud to be a part of the international law enforcement mission to combat all forms of financial crimes and thank all those involved in this investigation. The U.S. Secret Service extends its gratitude the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service for its assistance.”
“Foreign nationals who think they can hide in another country or in cyberspace while preying on our citizens need to know one thing,” Special Agent in Charge George M. Crouch Jr. said. “The FBI has a global footprint and will use every resource available to protect the American people. The strong working relationship among our federal and international law enforcement partners allows us to reach across geographical boundaries. In other words, anyone who thinks they can avoid American justice simply by operating outside the United States should rethink their strategy.”
According to documents filed in these cases:
Perry Osagiede, Izevbigie, Franklyn Osagiede, Clement, Otughwor, and Mudashiru (the “Black Axe defendants”) were all leaders of the Neo Black Movement of Africa, also known as “Black Axe,” an organization headquartered in Benin City, Nigeria that operates in various countries. The Black Axe is organized into regional chapters known as “zones,” and the defendants were all leaders within the Cape Town, South Africa, Zone. Perry Osagiede founded the Cape Town Zone of Black Axe and worked as its zonal head, along with Izevbigie. The Black Axe defendants and other members of Black Axe took part in, and openly discussed, fraud schemes amongst their membership.
From at least 2011 through 2021, the Black Axe defendants and other conspirators worked together from Cape Town to engage in widespread internet fraud involving romance scams and advance fee schemes. Many of these fraudulent narratives involved claims that an individual was traveling to South Africa for work and needed money or other items of value following a series of unfortunate and unforeseen events, often involving a construction site or problems with a crane. The conspirators used social media websites, online dating websites, and voice over internet protocol phone numbers to find and talk with victims in the United States, while using a number of aliases.
The conspirators’ romance scam victims believed they were in romantic relationships with the person using the alias and, when requested, the victims sent money and items of value overseas, including to South Africa. Sometimes, when victims expressed hesitation in sending money, the conspirators used manipulative tactics to coerce the payments, including by threatening to distribute personally sensitive photographs of the victim.
The conspirators used the bank accounts of victims and individuals with U.S.-based financial accounts to transfer the money to South Africa. On certain occasions, the conspirators convinced victims to open financial accounts in the United States that the conspirators would then be permitted to use themselves. In addition to laundering money derived from romance scams and advance fee schemes, the conspirators also worked to launder money from business email compromise schemes. In addition to their aliases, the conspirators used business entities to conceal and disguise the illegal nature of the funds.
Otubu also engaged in romance scams and used the victims of those scams to obtain money and to launder the proceeds of business email compromises back to South Africa. Otubu conspired with an individual identified in the criminal complaint as Co-conspirator 1, who was a founding member and leader of the Cape Town Zone of Black Axe.
The wire fraud conspiracy and wire fraud charges each carry a maximum term of 20 years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000. The money laundering conspiracy charge carries a maximum term of 20 years in prison and a maximum fine of $500,000 or twice the value of the property involved in the transaction, whichever is greatest. The aggravated identity theft charges carry a mandatory term of two years in prison, which must run consecutively to any other term of imprisonment imposed on a defendant.
Seven defendants were arrested in South Africa yesterday by the South African Police Service. Those defendants had their initial appearances in South Africa and are awaiting extradition to the United States on these charges. Both cases are before U.S. District Judge Michael A. Shipp in Trenton federal court.
Anyone who believes they may be a victim may visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-nj/blackaxe for information about the case, including a questionnaire for victims to fill out and submit.
Acting U.S. Attorney Honig credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge George M. Crouch Jr. in Newark; and the FBI Legal Attaché Office at the United States Embassy in Pretoria, South Africa, under the direction of Legal Attaché Jennifer Snell Dent; special agents of the U.S. Secret Service, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Mark McKevitt in Newark, Special Agent in Charge John Hamby in Seattle, Resident Agent in Charge Michael K. Burgin in the Pretoria Resident Office and Special Agent in Charge Jason Kane of the Criminal Investigative Division, with the investigation leading to the charges.
Acting U.S. Attorney Honig also thanked the South African Directorate of Priority Crime Investigations (DPCI) HAWKS, the South African Police Service, the South African National Prosecuting Authority & Asset Forfeiture Unit, the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development for the Republic of South Africa, the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs, and Interpol for their valuable assistance in this case.
This case is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) Priority Transnational Organized Crime (PTOC) 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. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jamie L. Hoxie and Vera Varshavsky of the Cybercrime Unit in Newark.
The charges and allegations contained in the indictments are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
East Stroudsburg Man Sentenced to 40 Months’ Imprisonment for Drug TraffickingRead the Press Release
SCRANTON – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Robert Temple, age 52, of East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, was sentenced on October 19, 2021, to 40 months’ imprisonment to be followed by a 4-year term of supervised release, by United States District Court Judge Malachy E. Mannion, for trafficking in fentanyl and other illegal narcotics.
According to Acting United States Attorney Bruce D. Brandler, from approximately October 2018 to October 2019, Temple conspired with others to distribute fentanyl, primarily in Monroe County. On October 3, 2019, following the execution of a search warrant at Temple’s East Stroudsburg residence, authorities seized over 90 grams of fentanyl, along with distribution quantities of cocaine, amphetamine and illegally obtained prescription pills. The 90 grams of fentanyl seized from Temple’s residence corresponds to approximately 3,600 individual doses of the potentially lethal substance.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and its state and local law enforcement partners in Monroe County. Assistant United States Attorney Jeffery St. John prosecuted the case.
These cases are 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.
This case was brought as part of a district wide initiative to combat the nationwide epidemic regarding the use and distribution of heroin. Led by the United States Attorney’s Office, the Heroin Initiative targets heroin traffickers operating in the Middle District of Pennsylvania and is part of a coordinated effort among federal, state and local law enforcement agencies to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who commit heroin related offenses.
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Dominican National Pleads Guilty to Fentanyl TraffickingRead the Press Release
BOSTON – A Dominican national pleaded guilty today in federal court in Boston to drug trafficking activities involving fentanyl and oxycodone.
Jose Guerrero, 29, pleaded guilty to two counts of distribution of and possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and oxycodone, three counts of distribution of and possession with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl and one count of possession with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl. U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani scheduled sentencing for Jan. 19, 2022.
Between June and August 2020, Guerrero sold fentanyl and oxycodone powder and pills on five occasions to an undercover law enforcement officer in Lawrence, and was arrested after making the fifth sale. A subsequent search of Guerrero’s residence resulted in the seizure of an additional 830 grams of fentanyl.
The charges of distribution of and possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and oxycodone provide for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, at least three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $1 million. The charges of distribution of and possession with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl provide for a sentence of at least five years and up to 40 years in prison, at least four years of supervised release and a fine of up to $5 million. The charge of possession with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl provides for a sentence of at least 10 years and up to life in prison, at least five years of supervised release and a fine of up to $10 million. 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 Brian D. Boyle, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, New England Field Office, made the announcement today. Valuable assistance was provided by the Lawrence Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen W. Hassink of Mendell’s Narcotics and Money Laundering Unit is prosecuting the case.
District Court Orders Utah Company to Stop Distribution of Unapproved New Drugs and Adulterated ProductsRead the Press Release
A federal court today ordered Utah company Grandma’s Herbs, Inc. and its owners, Kevin Parr and Tracey Parr, to stop distributing unapproved and misbranded drugs in violation of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA), the Department of Justice Department announced.
In a complaint filed on Oct. 18, the United States alleged that Grandma’s Herbs and the Parrs violated the FDCA by distributing products intended to cure, mitigate, treat or prevent disease that were neither approved by the U. S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) nor exempt from approval. The complaint alleged that the defendants claimed on their website that some of their products have antimicrobial and antiviral capabilities, prevent heart disease or treat urinary tract infections, upper respiratory tract infections, allergies, epilepsy and ulcers, among other health claims. The complaint alleged that the products also were misbranded drugs, because their labeling failed to bear adequate directions for use, as required by the FDCA.
“Products intended to treat or cure diseases require FDA approval,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “Consumers are entitled to know that the drugs they take have been shown to be safe and effective. The department is committed to ensuring that companies distributing drugs and nutritional supplements comply with federal law.”
“The U.S. Attorney’s Office is committed to working with our counterparts at the Department of Justice’s Consumer Protection Branch and the FDA to ensure that the health and well-being of consumers is protected from those that attempt to circumvent federal laws and sell potentially dangerous products,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Andrea T. Martinez for the District of Utah.
“The FDA’s action is aimed at protecting consumers who unknowingly put their health at risk by using products with claims to cure, treat or prevent a serious illness,” said Associate Commissioner Judy McMeekin, Pharm.D., for FDA Regulatory Affairs. “We urge consumers to seek proven treatments recommended by licensed health care professionals. We previously warned this manufacturer, but they continued to make claims that their products could treat or prevent serious diseases. We took action to protect consumers.”
The defendants agreed to settle the suit and be bound by a consent decree of permanent injunction. The consent decree requires, among other things, that the defendants stop manufacturing, processing, labeling, holding or distributing any drug, including products the defendants claim can treat or cure disease, until they comply with federal law. Defendants must either obtain FDA approval for all drug products or remove such drug claims from their labels, websites and other promotional materials.
The government was represented by Trial Attorney Ann Entwistle of the Justice Department’s Consumer Protection Branch, with the assistance of William Thanhauser of the FDA’s Office of Chief Counsel. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Utah provided assistance.
Additional information about the Consumer Protection Branch and its enforcement efforts may be found at http://www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch.
Defendant Pleads Guilty to Theft of Funds in Connection with COVID-19 Fraud CaseRead the Press Release
LAFAYETTE, La. - Acting United States Attorney Alexander C. Van Hook announced that Burnell Gabriel Zachary, 37, of Arnaudville, Louisiana, has pleaded guilty before United States Magistrate Judge Carol Whitehurst to receiving Coronavirus Food Assistance Program payments to which he was not entitled.
According to information presented to the court, agents with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of Inspector General (USDA), began an investigation in October 2020 after receiving information that Zachary submitted a fraudulent application to obtain monetary benefits through the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP). The CFAP was established to provide monetary benefits for agricultural producers whose operations were directly impacted by the Coronavirus pandemic. Eligible producers included those who suffered a 5% or greater decline, or who had losses due to market supply chain disruptions due to COVID-19. The CFAP provided direct relief to livestock producers.
The investigation concerning Zachary revealed that he had submitted a CFAP application via email on June 15, 2020 claiming that his livestock business sustained significant losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Zachary made false and fraudulent claims as to his cattle inventory at Zachary’s Ranch, LLC, and received payments from the USDA of over $70,000 due to those claims. Zachary admitted to making the false misrepresentations in the CFAP application and receiving over $70,000 in benefits and depositing them into his checking account.
“The Coronavirus Food Assistance Program and others similar to it were created to assist those who are truly in need of financial assistance following the difficulties that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused,” stated Acting U.S. Attorney Alexander C. Van Hook. “When individuals try to defraud the system like this, it takes benefits from others who have suffered genuine losses. COVID-19 fraud is one of the top priorities of this office and we will continue to work with our federal agency partners to hold these defendants accountable for their cheating ways.”
“The USDA COVID-19 food assistance programs were meant to keep food on tables during this unprecedented time,” said Dax Roberson, Special Agent-in-Charge, U.S. Department of Agriculture-Office of Inspector General. “This prosecution should send a strong zero-tolerance message to those opportunistic fraudsters who would take advantage of a national emergency to enrich themselves.”
Zachary faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, 3 years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of Inspector General, is investigating the case and Assistant U.S. Attorney Danny Siefker is prosecuting the case.
On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. The Task Force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by, among other methods, augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts. For more information on the Department of Justice’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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Dayton Jones Pleads Guilty to Producing Child PornographyRead the Press Release
PADUCAH, KY. – Dayton Jones, 27, of Hopkinsville, Kentucky, pleaded guilty to production of child pornography before Senior United States District Judge Thomas B. Russell, earlier today, announced Acting United States Attorney Michael A. Bennett.
According to the Plea Agreement, on October 11, 2014, a group of high school and college students got together at a friend's apartment. The individuals, almost all of whom were under the age of 21, consumed significant amounts of alcohol. A fifteen-year-old boy (John Doe), passed out from alcohol intoxication. When John Doe passed out, several other males took turns sexually assaulting him with a sex toy. Jones made an audio/video recording of the assault. He can be heard talking during the video. Jones distributed the short video to others via the social media application “Snapchat.”
An individual who viewed Jones’ snap of the sexual assault on a friend’s phone recorded it on his/her phone and shared the video and information with law enforcement. The person who shared the information and video with law enforcement surrendered his/her phone for examination. A forensic tool collected and saved the information from the person’s phone – including the video from Jones’ snap. Snapchat is a multimedia messaging application with worldwide use. It allows users to exchange pictures and videos (called snaps) that are meant to disappear after they are viewed. Billions of videos are sent each day. Digital devices, such as cellular telephones, are used to create and send Snaps.
Under the terms of the Plea Agreement entered into the Court’s record today, Jones faces a 10-year sentence and agreed to pay the victim, John Doe, $50,000.00 in restitution. Judge Russell will decide whether Jones should receive credit for the time spent in state custody as well as how long Jones will be under supervision after released. Sentencing is scheduled for February 9, 2022, at 11:30 a.m., CDT, in Paducah, Kentucky.
Assistant United States Attorneys Jo E. Lawless and Seth Hancock prosecuted the case. The FBI's Louisville Field Office and the Christian County Sheriff’s Office conducted the investigation.
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This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab "resources."
DEA Holds National Prescription Drug Take Back Day to Turn the Tide Against the U.S. Opioid EpidemicRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – United States Attorney Prim F. Escalona announces support of DEA’s 21st National Prescription Drug Take Back Day to be held on Saturday, October 23rd from 10am to 2pm. Take Back Day is a bi-annual event that aims to provide a safe, convenient, and responsible means of disposing of prescription drugs, while also educating the public about the potential for abuse of medications.
According to a report published by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), a majority of people who misused a prescription medication obtained the medicine from a family member or friend. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that last year, more than 93,000 people died of drug overdoses in the United States, marking the largest number of drug- related deaths ever recorded in a year. Opioid-related deaths accounted for 75 percent of all overdose deaths in 2020.
For more than a decade, DEA’s National Prescription Drug Take Back Day has helped Americans easily rid their homes of unneeded medications—those that are old, unwanted, or no longer needed—that too often become a gateway to addiction. Working in close partnership with local law enforcement, Take Back Day has removed more than 7,000 tons of medication from circulation since its inception. These efforts are directly in line with DEA’s priority to combat the rise of overdoses plaguing the United States.
“Removing unused prescription drugs from our homes prevents pills from making it into the wrong hands, possibly leading to more drug abuse and addiction,” said U.S. Attorney Escalona. “DEA’s National Drug Take Back Day is an excellent opportunity to properly dispose of unused prescription medications and raise awareness to the dangers of prescription drug abuse and addiction.”
“This past year marks the largest number ever recorded of drug-related deaths in a single 12-month period, with more than 93,000 deaths. On average, that’s more than 250 people dying a day of a drug overdose in the United States. This drug overdose crisis is a clear and present public health and safety threat to our nation,” said DEA Special Agent in Charge Brad L. Byerley. “DEA’s Take-Back initiative provides another way to address this epidemic and a safe way for our citizens to dispose of their unwanted prescription drugs, reducing the danger they pose to our youth and to our communities.”
DEA’s National Prescription Drug Take Back Day is more important than ever before. Last month, DEA issued a Public Safety Alert and launched the One Pill Can Kill public awareness campaign to warn Americans of a surge in deadly, fake prescription pills driven by drug traffickers seeking to exploit the U.S. opioid epidemic and prescription pill misuse. Criminal drug networks are shipping chemicals from China to Mexico where they are converted to dangerous substances like fentanyl and methamphetamine and then pressed into pills. The end result—deadly, fake prescription pills—are what these criminal drug networks make and market to prey on Americans for profit. These fake, deadly pills are widely available and deadlier than ever. Fake pills are designed to appear nearly identical to legitimate prescriptions such as Oxycontin®, Percocet®, Vicodin®, Adderall®, Xanax® and other medicines. Criminal drug networks are selling these pills through social media, e-commerce, the dark web, and existing distribution networks.
Along with the alert came a warning that the only safe medications are ones prescribed by a trusted medical professional and dispensed by a licensed pharmacist. Any pills that do not meet this standard are unsafe and potentially deadly. DEA’s National Prescription Drug Take Back Day reflects DEA’s commitment to Americans’ safety and health, encouraging the public to remove unneeded medications from their homes as a measure of preventing medication misuse and opioid addiction from ever starting.
On Saturday, Oct. 23, 2021, DEA, and its partners will collect tablets, capsules, patches, and other solid forms of prescription drugs. Liquids (including intravenous solutions), syringes and other sharps, and illicit drugs will not be accepted. DEA will also continue to accept vaping devices and cartridges provided lithium batteries are removed.
A location finder and partner toolbox are available at www.DEATakeBack.com for easy reference to nearby collection sites. Beyond DEA’s Take Back Day, there are also opportunities to regularly and safely dispose of unneeded medications at more than 13,000 pharmacies, hospitals, police departments, and businesses working to help clean out medicine cabinets throughout the year.
Convicted Felon Sentenced to 87 Months Imprisonment for Illegal Possession of FirearmsRead the Press Release
EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. – A man from the Metro East will spend more than seven years in prison for illegally possessing firearms. Michael L. Dawson, 29, of East St. Louis, Illinois, was sentenced to
87 months in federal prison for being a Felon in Possession of a Firearm.The crime occurred in December of 2019 when the United States Marshals Service located Dawson at his residence in East St. Louis, Illinois, and arrested him on an active arrest warrant. Agents recovered a total of six different guns. One of the weapons found was a semi-automatic rifle with a high-capacity magazine. An assortment of miscellaneous ammunition was also discovered during the search. Federal law prohibits convicted felons from possessing firearms or firearm ammunition. A federal grand jury indicted Dawson in January of 2020, and Dawson pled guilty on
June 24, 2021.As part of his sentence, Dawson will serve a three-year term of supervised release following his release from federal prison.
The investigation was conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the United States Marshals Service Great Lakes Regional Fugitive Task Force, and the Illinois State
Police.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ali Burns and David Dean prosecuted the case.Christian County Man Indicted for Federal Drug and Firearm OffensesRead the Press Release
Owensboro, KY. – A federal grand jury returned an indictment on October 13, 2021, charging Nigel Sanders, 31, of Christian County, Kentucky, for Possession with the Intent to Distribute and Distribution of Methamphetamine, being a Prohibited Person in Possession of a Firearm, and for Possessing a Firearm in Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking Crime
According to the Indictment, Sanders has multiple prior felony drug trafficking convictions and a prior felony conviction for a weapons offense.
Sanders faces not less than 10 years and not more than life in prison for Possession with the Intent to Distribute and Distribution of Methamphetamine and not more than 10 years in prison for being a Prohibited Person in Possession of Firearm. Sanders faces an additional 5-year consecutive term of imprisonment for Possession of a Firearm in Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking Crime. If convicted, a federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. There is no parole in the federal system.
The case is scheduled for arraignment on November 23, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. before Magistrate Judge H. Brent Brennenstuhl.
Acting U.S. Attorney Michael A. Bennett of the Western District of Kentucky made the announcement.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Leigh Ann Dycus. It was investigated by the Madisonville Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF).
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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This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.
Chicago Investment Manager Sentenced to 17 Years in Federal Prison for Swindling $10 Million from Clients and LendersRead the Press Release
CHICAGO — A Chicago investment manager who swindled more than $10 million from clients and lenders has been sentenced to 17 years in federal prison.
SHAWN BALDWIN owned and controlled various investment firms in Chicago. From 2006 to 2017, Baldwin exaggerated his financial success and professional connections to fraudulently obtain more than $11 million from at least 24 investors and lenders. Baldwin falsely claimed that their funds would be invested in stocks and other investment products, when in reality he spent much of the money for his personal benefit, including jewelry, tuition, and international travel.
Baldwin also deceived investors and lenders by misrepresenting and minimizing the serious disciplinary actions taken against him by regulators. The regulatory actions included the revocation of his certifications with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority in 2009, and a permanent prohibition from offering securities sales or investment advice, which the State of Illinois imposed in 2013.
A jury in 2019 convicted Baldwin, 55, of Olympia Fields, Ill., on seven counts of wire fraud. U.S. District Judge John Robert Blakey imposed the prison sentence Monday after a hearing in federal court in Chicago.
The sentence was announced by John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; and Emmerson Buie, Jr., Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI.
“Defendant inflated to his victims his credentials, his investment portfolio, and his connections,” Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew Getter, Heidi Manschreck, and Michelle Petersen argued in the government’s sentencing memorandum. “He convinced friends, acquaintances, and even childhood friends to trust him with their money based on his representations that he would invest it on their behalves in certain equities or businesses of his own. Defendant lied to his victims to get their money, making bold and untrue assertions about his plans for their money, about what he had done with their money, about the value of their investments, about the value of his businesses, about his efforts to refund their money, and about the reasons he could not give them back their money. Defendant moved from one victim to another, using their money to continue traveling in style around the world to sustain a false image of a successful financier in order to help find new victims and enjoy an extravagant lifestyle.”
Chenango County Man Pleads Guilty to Possession of Child PornographyRead the Press Release
SYRACUSE, NEW YORK – Matthew Bormann, age 35, of Sherburne, New York, pled guilty today to possession of child pornography, announced United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman and Janeen DiGuiseppi, Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
As part of his guilty plea, Bormann admitted that on March 12, 2021, during a visit at his home from his United States Probation Officer, Bormann possessed at least 3500 images and video files of child pornography on a cellular telephone he was prohibited from possessing under the conditions of his supervised release.
Bormann was on supervised after a federal conviction in 2014 for possession of child pornography for which he was sentenced on August 18, 2015, to serve 36 months’ imprisonment, and a life term of supervised release.
In addition to his plea to possession of child pornography today, Bormann also admitted to violating the terms of supervised release previously imposed for his 2015 conviction.
Sentencing is scheduled for March 2, 2022 before Senior United States District Judge Thomas J. McAvoy. In addition to any punishment for violating the terms of his supervised release, Bormann faces a mandatory minimum term of 10 years in prison, a maximum term of 20 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, and a term of supervised release of between 5 years and up to life. A defendant’s sentence is imposed by a judge based on the particular statute the defendant is charged with violating, the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other factors.
This case was investigated by the United States Probation Office and the FBI Mid-State Child Exploitation Task Force, comprised of FBI Special Agents and Investigators of the New York State Police, Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI). The case is being prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Adrian S. LaRochelle as a part of Project Safe Childhood.
Launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice, Project Safe Childhood is led by United States Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS). Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.
Collinsville Man Sentenced for Distribution of MethamphetamineRead the Press Release
EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. – Deonta J. Thomas, 29, of Collinsville, Illinois, was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for distribution of methamphetamine on October 18, in federal court in East St. Louis.
Thomas previously pled guilty to this offense on May 20, 2021. As part of his guilty plea, Thomas acknowledged that on September 27, 2018, he sold approximately 442 grams of crystal methamphetamine to an individual at the Casino Queen in East St. Louis, Illinois, in exchange for $2,800.In addition to the 10-year term of imprisonment, Thomas will serve a 3-year term of supervised release following his release from the Bureau of Prisons. Thomas was also ordered to pay a fine of $500.
This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Assistant United States Attorney Daniel T. Kapsak prosecuted the case.