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22 September 2021
Bowling Green Man Sentenced to 15 Years in Federal PrisonRead the Press Release
Bowling Green, KY – A Bowling Green man was sentenced on September 14, 2021, by U.S. District Court Chief Judge Greg Stivers, to 15 years in federal prison, followed by a 5 year period of supervised release for trafficking in methamphetamine and the illegal possession of a firearm. There is no parole in the federal system.
According to court documents, Charleslenzo Sanchez Williams, 38 years of age, was found on January 13, 2020, in the possession of, with the intent to distribute, over 50 grams of methamphetamine, in possession of a firearm having been previously convicted of a felony offense, and in possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking. On September 9, 2020, Mr. Williams was indicted on three counts arising from his drug trafficking activities. On June 8, 2021, Mr. Williams entered a plea of guilty to all counts of the Indictment.
“The work of the Warren County Drug Task Force and the ATF in this case demonstrates the nature of state and federal law enforcement cooperation in our district,” stated Acting U.S. Attorney Michael A. Bennett. “Our citizens are safer as a result of the combined efforts of our state and federal partners who work tirelessly every day fighting violent crime.”
“Drug dealers with guns are criminals who pose an increased threat to the safety of our communities,” said ATF Special Agent in Charge R. Shawn Morrow of the Louisville Field Division. “Today’s sentencing is the result of an ongoing commitment by ATF to work with our law enforcement partners to make our communities safer for everyone.”
“This case is another example of Federal, State and Local law enforcement working together to unburden the community of armed career criminal drug traffickers.” Stated Warren County Drug Task Force Director Tommy M. Loving. “More and more we see drug traffickers armed and increased violence connected to drug trafficking activities. We appreciate the great partnership with the United States Attorney’s Office in Bowling Green.”
The Bowling Green ATF and the Warren County Drug Task Force investigated the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Mac Shannon prosecuted the case.
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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.
Bedford Man Who Ignited Bomb Near Bridge SentencedRead the Press Release
A man who detonated an explosive device under a bridge in Bedford, Texas has been sentenced to 46 months in federal prison, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Prerak Shah.
Nicholas Lloyd Nelson, 38, pleaded guilty in June to possession of a destructive device. He was sentenced earlier this month by U.S. District Judge Reed C. O’Connor.
According to court documents, law enforcement responded to an explosion in Bedford, Texas at 4:35 p.m. on April 7, 2021.
Upon arriving at the scene, bomb technicians saw a crater beneath a bridge on Forest Ridge Drive. Next to the crater, they observed explosive components, including a speaker wire and container debris. They also found an un-detonated explosive device along the roadway and performed a controlled detonation.
Witnesses told law enforcement they’d noticed a young, white man emerge from under the bridge just after the explosion. Based on their descriptions and prior experience with the defendants, officers located Mr. Nelson.
At his home, they found components that could be used to assemble explosive devices. They also identified Mr. Nelson in dozens of YouTube videos posted by the account “Improvised Chaos” that showed him manufacturing and detonating explosive devices.
In plea papers, Mr. Nelson admitted to detonating the unregistered device under the bridge. In interviews, he told law enforcement he’d constructed the bombs with potassium perchlorate, an substance commonly used in pyrotechnics, munitions, and explosives.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Dallas Field Office and the Bedford Police Department conducted the investigation with the assistance of the Bedford Fire Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives’ Dallas Field Division. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jay Weimer prosecuted the case.
Baltimore Career Offender Sentenced to Life in Prison for His Role in the Murder of a Baltimore Woman Believed to be a Witness in a Federal CaseRead the Press Release
Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge George J. Hazel sentenced Clifton Mosley, age 43, of Baltimore, Maryland to four life terms in federal prison for two counts of conspiracy to murder a witness and one count each of witness retaliation murder and witness tampering murder, related to the murder of Latrina Ashburne, age 41, on May 27, 2016. Mosley was also convicted of a federal marijuana distribution charge for which he was sentenced to a concurrent five-year sentence.
A federal jury in Baltimore convicted Mosley and co-defendant, Davon Carter, age 41, also of Baltimore, on January 29, 2020, after a three-week trial.
The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Jonathan F. Lenzner; Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Sobocinski of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; Special Agent in Charge Timothy Jones of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Baltimore Field Division; Special Agent in Charge Maureen Dixon of the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General; Chief Melissa R. Hyatt of the Baltimore County Police Department; and Commissioner Michael Harrison of the Baltimore Police Department.
“Clifton Mosley and Davon Carter not only attempted to disrupt our justice system, they also took the life of an innocent woman from Baltimore. The loss of Latrina Ashburne is a tragedy and a deep loss to her family and to the community, and those responsible will now spend the remainder of their lives in federal prison,” said Acting United States Attorney Jonathan F. Lenzner. “As demonstrated by this case, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and our law enforcement team will never cease to aggressively pursue and hold accountable those who attempt to harm or intimidate witnesses.”
According to the evidence presented at their three-week trial, Carter and Mosley conspired to kill a witness who had provided information to law enforcement about a good friend of Carter’s, Matthew Hightower. In June 2015, Hightower was charged federally in a health care fraud scheme. While on release in the health care fraud case, the federal grand jury began investigating crimes of violence for which Hightower was implicated, including the murder of David Wutoh. In July or August 2015, Hightower learned the identity of the health care fraud whistleblower (the witness) who also had incriminating information against him relating to the Wutoh murder. Contrary to his release conditions, he began communicating with witnesses who had been in the grand jury. All the while, Carter and Mosley remained in frequent and regular contact with Hightower.
On April 19, 2016, the grand jury returned a sealed superseding indictment against Hightower charging both Hightower and Harry Crawford with extortion and using interstate facilities for extortion resulting in the death (murder) of David Wutoh. Ten days later, the government filed a motion requesting revocation of Hightower’s release conditions based on the new charges and his prohibited contact with grand jury witnesses. The motion was granted on May 4, 2016 and Hightower was detained. Hightower was ultimately convicted of extortion resulting in Wutoh’s murder by a federal jury on September 22, 2016, after a seven-day trial and was sentenced to 380 months in federal prison.
The evidence at trial proved that on May 27, 2016, Ms. Ashburne was murdered in the early morning as she got into her car outside the home she shared with her mother in the 2900 block of Rosalind Avenue in Baltimore’s Cylburn neighborhood. A neighbor reported that an unknown male approached and shot Ms. Ashburne in the upper body as she tried to run. She was not robbed. At the time, the police also released a video they said showed the suspect running away from the scene.
The witness targeted by Hightower lived next door to Ms. Ashburne, the murder victim. The witness contacted law enforcement to report the murder and that she believed she was the intended target. The investigation showed that Mosley’s phone was in the area at the time of the murder and in contact with Carter’s phone. In addition, vehicles owned by the mother of Carter’s girlfriend and by Hightower were captured on surveillance video driving slowly through the area as if the driver were looking for someone. The evidence at trial established that Carter and Mosley each drove one of the vehicles and that the two men were in contact with one another both the night before the murder and in the early morning hours before the shooting. The evidence at trial also showed that Mosley searched a public court database on May 26 in a possible effort to confirm a court appearance for the witness on May 27, therefore, giving an approximate time when the witness would leave her home the morning of the shooting. Ms. Ashburne left her home at or about the same anticipated time, resulting in her mistaken execution.
Davon Carter was previously sentenced to four life terms in federal prison for two counts of conspiracy to murder a witness and one count each of witness retaliation murder and witness tampering murder on May 20, 2021.
Acting United States Attorney Jonathan F. Lenzner commended the HHS-OIG, the FBI, the Baltimore County Police Department, the Baltimore Police Department, and the ATF for their work in the investigation. Mr. Lenzner thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sandra Wilkinson and Kim Oldham, who are prosecuting the case and also thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Judson T. Mihok and Aaron S.J. Zelinsky, who prosecuted the Hightower case, for their assistance.
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Babb woman admits trafficking crime after receiving methamphetamineRead the Press Release
GREAT FALLS – A Babb woman accused of receiving nearly one pound of methamphetamine mailed to Babb, on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation, admitted to a drug trafficking crime today, Acting U.S. Attorney Leif M. Johnson said.
Regina Ann Peters, 51, pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute meth. Peters faces a mandatory minimum 10 years to life in prison, a $10 million fine and at least five years of supervised release.
Chief U.S. District Judge Brian M. Morris presided. Chief Judge Morris set sentencing for Jan. 20, 2022. Peters was released pending further proceedings.
The government alleged in court documents that in October 2020, law enforcement received information about a package of methamphetamine mailed to Peters in Babb from Arizona. Officers made a controlled delivery of the package at the Babb post office, and Peters picked up the package. Officers approached Peters outside of the post office and explained their suspicions. Peters agreed to open the package and admitted it contained meth. Peters admitted to knowing about the meth in the package when she went to pick it up and that she had planned to deliver it to another person in Montana. The package contained about 438 grams of meth, or a little less than one pound. One pound is the equivalent of 3,624 doses.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Ethan R. Plaut is prosecuting the case, which was investigated by the Department of Homeland Security, United States Postal Inspection Service, the Russell Country Drug Task Force, the Northwest Montana Drug Task Force, and Montana Highway Patrol.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, a U.S. Department of Justice initiative to reduce violent crime. Through PSN, federal, tribal, state and local law enforcement partners in Montana focus on violent crime driven by methamphetamine trafficking, armed robbers, firearms offenses and violent offenders with outstanding warrants.
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American Ex-Pat Pleads Guilty to Panamanian Wire Fraud ConspiracyRead the Press Release
Tampa, Florida – Jeffrey Jedlicki (51, Panama City, Panama) has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud for his role in the operation of international boiler rooms which defrauded victims via the sale of worthless investments. Jedlicki faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison. A sentencing date has not been set.
According to the plea agreement, Jedlicki and his co-conspirators operated international boiler rooms in Panama and elsewhere that used high-pressure sales techniques to defraud individuals who invested substantial amounts of money in what they believed were regulated financial products or markets, such as options in commodities and stocks. The majority of the victims that the boiler rooms targeted were located in Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand.
Jedlicki and his co-conspirators then transferred fraud proceeds generated by the boiler rooms through several money laundering rings, and then on to overseas accounts, with the launderers receiving a percentage of the funds they had moved. Jedlicki himself received a 2% referral fee for referring victims’ funds to a money laundering ring. Jedlicki used the funds to perpetuate the conspiracy, and for his own personal enrichment. In total, Jedlicki and his co-conspirators wired or caused to be wired approximately $3,244,592 (U.S. Dollars) in victims’ funds to money laundering accounts in furtherance of the wire fraud conspiracy.
This case was investigated by the Homeland Security Investigations, and the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney David W.A. Chee.
Alleged Drug Cartel Leader ChargedRead the Press Release
Director of Media Relations Kelly Thornton (619) 546-9726
NEWS RELEASE SUMMARY – September 22, 2021
SAN DIEGO – A federal grand jury indictment was unsealed in San Diego today against alleged Mexican cartel leader Sergio Valenzuela Valenzuela in connection with his drug trafficking activities. Valenzuela Valenzuela was also the target of sanctions imposed today by the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
The indictment, returned on September 28, 2018, charges Valenzuela Valenzuela with Conspiracy to Distribute Controlled Substances Intended for Importation, Conspiracy to Import Controlled Substances, and Conspiracy to Distribute Controlled Substances. On September 28, 2018, the Clerk of the Court issued a sealed warrant for his arrest. Valenzuela Valenzuela remains a fugitive.
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) identified Sergio Valenzuela Valenzuela as a Significant Foreign Narcotics Trafficker pursuant to the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act (Kingpin Act). Please see https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy0367.
Based in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico, Valenzuela Valenzuela is alleged to be a Sinaloa Cartel plaza boss who traffics fentanyl and other drugs and operates at the direction of Sinaloa Cartel leader Ismael Zambada Garcia (a.k.a. “El Mayo”). Valenzuela Valenzuela allegedly leads a poly-drug smuggling organization responsible for the transportation and importation of multi-ton quantities of illicit drugs, including methamphetamine, heroin, and fentanyl, from Mexico into the United States.
In addition to Valenzuela Valenzuela, OFAC also designated seven other Mexican nationals for providing material assistance to Valenzuela Valenzuela. Specifically, the individuals include Valenzuela Valenzuela’s right-hand man, Leonardo Pineda Armenta, who is responsible for directing operations for him, and six cartel lieutenants who ultimately report to Valenzuela Valenzuela: Gilberto Martinez Renteria, Jaime Humberto Gonzalez Higuera, Jorge Damian Roman Figueroa, Luis Alberto Carrillo Jimenez, Meliton Rochin Hurtado, and Miguel Raymundo Marrufo Cabrera. Additionally, OFAC designated two companies in Mexico for being owned or controlled by Rochin Hurtado and Marrufo Cabrera. Specifically, they are Acuaindustria Narciso Mendoza, S.C. de R.L. de C.V. and Club Indios Rojos de Juarez, S.A. de C.V.
“This indictment and the Treasury Department sanctions announced today demonstrate that the Department of Justice, along with its law enforcement partners, will continue to target Sinaloa Cartel kingpins who import massive amounts of illegal drugs into the United States,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Randy S. Grossman. Grossman praised Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew J. Sutton, the DEA case agents and all law enforcement partners for their excellent work on this case.
Acting U.S. Attorney Grossman also thanked Customs and Border Protection, the U.S. Marshals Service, the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Enforcement Operations and the Office of International Affairs, and the Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control for their ongoing assistance in this investigation.
“The DEA will continue to put forth extensive resources to target members of the Sinaloa Cartel, such as Sergio Valenzuela-Valenzuela, who allegedly flood our country with their poisonous drugs,” said DEA Special Agent in Charge John W. Callery. “This indictment, along with the recent OFAC designation of Valenzuela-Valenzuela and his Sinaloa Cartel associates, is testament that DEA’s targeted financial operations against this cartel are working and will negatively impact their operations.”
This prosecution is also part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) Strike Force Initiative, which provides for the establishment of permanent multi-agency task force teams that work side-by-side in the same location. This co-located model enables agents from different agencies to collaborate on intelligence-driven, multi-jurisdictional operations to disrupt and dismantle the most significant drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations.
The government’s case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew J. Sutton.
DEFENDANT Case Number: 18CR04222-DMS
Sergio Valenzuela Valenzuela, aka Gigio Age: 52 Sinaloa, Mexico
SUMMARY OF CHARGES
Conspiracy to Distribute Controlled Substances for Purpose of Unlawful Importation, in violation of Title 21 U.S.C. §§ 959, 960 and 963; Term of custody including a mandatory minimum 10 years and up to life imprisonment, $10 million fine and five years supervised release.
Conspiracy to Import Controlled Substances, in violation of Title 21 U.S.C. §§ 952, 960 and 963. Term of custody including a mandatory minimum 10 years and up to life imprisonment, $10 million fine and five years supervised release.
Conspiracy to Distribute Controlled Substances, in violation of Title 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1) and 846. Term of custody including a mandatory minimum 10 years and up to life imprisonment, $10 million fine and five years supervised release.
AGENCIES
Drug Enforcement Administration
Customs and Border Protection Office of Field Operations
Customs and Border Protection Office of Border Patrol
United States Marshals Service
Department of Justice, Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces
Department of Justice, Office of Enforcement Operations
Department of Justice, Office of International Affairs
Department of Treasury, Office of Foreign Asset Control
Oceanside Police Department
San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department
National City Police Department
Chula Vista Police Department
San Diego Police Department
San Diego County District Attorney’s Office
San Diego Law Enforcement Coordination Center
Interpol
*An indictment or complaint is not evidence that the defendant committed the crimes charged. The defendant is presumed innocent until the Government meets its burden in court of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Acting U.S. Attorney Prerak Shah Announces DepartureRead the Press Release
Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Prerak Shah announced today that he will be resigning from the Justice Department effective October 1.
“It has been the honor of a lifetime to serve the 8 million people of North Texas as Acting United States Attorney,” Mr. Shah said. “I was privileged to work with not only the best federal prosecutors in the nation, but to work side-by-side with peerless federal, state, and local law enforcement partners. I am proud to have played a part in this office’s proud legacy of pursuing justice and liberty for all.”
Mr. Shah was named the Acting United States Attorney on January 10, 2021, after previously serving as the First Assistant United States Attorney. The Northern District covers 100 counties, more than 96,000 square miles, and a population of approximately eight million people. Mr. Shah led a staff of approximately 250 people across five division offices and was responsible for all federal criminal prosecutions and civil litigation involving the United States in his district. Under his leadership, the office advanced a number of Justice Department priorities, from violent crime and cybersecurity to corporate fraud and False Claims Act enforcement.
Mr. Shah’s team prosecuted a would-be bomber allegedly plotting to attack Amazon, brought down an $18 million pill mill scheme, and secured a conviction against a real estate developer for bribing two members of the Dallas City Council. The office also successfully tried a trade school owner for operating a $72 million fraud scheme, convicted two men who concealed a capital murder suspect who was on the FBI’s “10 Most Wanted” list, prosecuted an ADT technician for hacking into over 200 customers’ video feeds, and obtained over $22 million through a deferred prosecution agreement with a multinational medical device corporation. They expanded their partnerships with state and local law enforcement, resulting in several successful multi-agency operations that have helped stem the rise of violent crime in North Texas.
The office ran a number of investigations involving cryptocurrency, including extraditing a Serbian national charged with duping crypto investors out of $70 million, obtaining a five-year sentence for the founder of “AriseCoin” for securities fraud, and convicting a man going by the moniker “Dr. Bitcoin” for an illegal cash-to-crypto scheme.
On the civil side, the Northern District resolved a number of False Claims Act matters, including securing a $3.3 million settlement from a hospital, obtaining a $3.1 million settlement from dental management companies, and filing a case against a dermatopathologist who allegedly accepted kickbacks from a lab company.
Prior to serving as Acting U.S. Attorney, Mr. Shah held multiple senior leadership roles at the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., including Deputy Associate Attorney General in the office overseeing the civil and criminal work of the Department’s Antitrust, Civil, Civil Rights, Environment & Natural Resources, and Tax divisions. He also served as the Deputy Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Department’s Natural Resources Section, directly supervising approximately 75 trial lawyers in high profile environmental investigations and trials across the country. Before joining the Justice Department, Mr. Shah served as chief of staff and chief counsel to U.S. Senator Ted Cruz and served as the Senior Counsel to the Attorney General of Texas.
Mr. Shah is looking forward to his next chapter, in private practice in Texas.
21 September 2021
Worcester Dental Office Manager Pleads Guilty to Role in Medicaid Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
BOSTON – A Worcester woman pleaded guilty today to her participation in a scheme to defraud the Massachusetts Medicaid program, commonly known as MassHealth.
Robin Cronin, 58, of Worcester, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and one count of health care fraud. U.S. District Court Judge Timothy S. Hillman scheduled sentencing for Jan. 21, 2022.
In January 2020, Cronin was indicted along with Dr. Anthony DiStefano III and Dr. Scott Cale, dentists practicing in Worcester, for their roles in the Medicaid Fraud scheme.
According to the indictment, from 2014 to 2018, dental services that DiStefano personally delivered were billed to MassHealth using Cale’s provider identification credentials. The purpose of this arrangement was to deceive MassHealth into paying for dental services that were not reimbursable as DiStefano had previously been terminated from the MassHealth provider program over concerns regarding the quality of care he provided to patients. Cale then allegedly paid DiStefano a share of the money that MassHealth paid Cale. Cronin, DiStefano’s office manager, was aware of the arrangement and personally billed MassHealth for services that were not reimbursable, knowing that the claims were false.
DiStefano and Cale have pleaded not guilty and are considered innocent until proven guilty.
The charges of health care fraud and conspiracy to commit health care fraud provide for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Acting United States Attorney Nathaniel R. Mendell; Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey; Phillip Coyne, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General, Office of Investigations; and Joleen D. Simpson, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations in Boston made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Evan Panich and Chris Looney of Mendell’s Office, as well as Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Lownds, detailed from Healey’s Office, are prosecuting the case.
The details contained in the indictment are allegations. The remaining defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Wisconsin Man Sentenced to a Decade in Federal Prison for Supplying Stolen Firearms to Dubuque Drug DealerRead the Press Release
A Wisconsin man, who burglarized a residence during the summer of 2016 and then supplied some of the stolen firearms to a Dubuque drug dealer, was sentenced on September 20, 2021, to ten years in federal prison.
Shiloh Michael Wolf, age 23, from Montfort, Wisconsin, received the prison term after a March 17, 2021 guilty plea to one count of possession, barter, and sale of a stolen firearm.
In a plea agreement, Wolf admitted that, in July 2016, he burglarized a residence in Bagley, Wisconsin, and stole ten pistols and revolvers, as well as about 800 rounds of ammunition. Wolf was a methamphetamine dealer who targeted the pistols and revolvers in the burglary because he wanted to steal firearms that would be helpful in the drug trade. Later in the summer of 2016, Wolf traded five of the firearms and hundreds of rounds of ammunition to another methamphetamine dealer in Dubuque, Iowa, for cash and methamphetamine.
Over the course of the next several years, Iowa law enforcement officers discovered a number of felons and drug users in possession of the firearms that Wolf had stolen in the burglary:
In August 2016, law enforcement officers searched Jordan Dakota Ness’s home in Dubuque and discovered a revolver and a pistol that Wolf had stolen in the burglary. Ness was a felon. In May 2021, Ness was sentenced to 96 months in federal prison.
In November 2016, law enforcement officers found a pistol that Wolf had stolen in the burglary during a search of a car that an unlawful drug user, felon, and domestic abuser, Jeremy Michael Kieffer, was operating in Dubuque. In June 2017, Kieffer was sentenced to 41 months in federal prison for possessing the pistol illegally.
In January 2019, law enforcement officers recovered a pistol that Wolf had stolen in the possession of an unlawful drug user, John David Orr III, in Dubuque. In October 2019, Orr was sentenced to 24 months in federal prison.
Two other firearms that Wolf stole in the burglary were discovered during a roadside cleanup in Linn County, Iowa, and following an incident in Clinton, Iowa. The other firearms remain at large.
Wolf was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams. Wolf was sentenced to 120 months’ imprisonment. He was ordered to make $6,000 in restitution the victim of the burglary. He must also serve a three-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN). 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.
Wolf is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Timothy L. Vavricek and investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Dubuque Police Department.
Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.
The case file number is 21-CR-1003.
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United States Reaches $842,500 Settlement with Two Public Universities and the North Carolina Commission on Volunteerism and Community Service to Resolve Alleged False Claims for AmeriCorps FundsRead the Press Release
Acting United States Attorney G. Norman Acker, III, and AmeriCorps OIG today announced settlements with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (“UNC-CH”), East Carolina University (“ECU”), and the North Carolina Commission on Volunteerism and Community Service (“NCCV”) requiring the total payment of $842,500 to the United States for alleged false claims for AmeriCorps grant funds.
AmeriCorps’ mission is to strengthen communities through community service, and this includes providing grant funds for salaries and various school programs. AmeriCorps provided grant funds as student education awards to UNC-CH and ECU students based upon UNC-CH and ECU certifications of service hours, as well as funds directly to NCCV for salaries of certain employees who oversaw AmeriCorps programs.
In exchange for these grant funds, UNC-CH, ECU, and NCCV agreed to comply with grant requirements and regulations, including certifying hours worked for AmeriCorps programs and maintaining internal controls. UNC-CH and ECU were expressly required to provide certifications for hours worked for student education awards (including for the mentoring, tutoring, and college-bound advising programs at issue). NCCV was expressly required to provide certifications for the separate hours worked by employees paid under the AmeriCorps grants.
Based on its investigation, the United States contends that UNC-CH, ECU, and NCCV caused false certifications for service hours worked and related violations of grant requirements in connection with grant funds paid from 2014 through 2019. The United States contends that these actions constituted a misuse of grant funds and harmed AmeriCorps programs.
The United States specifically contends that UNC-CH and ECU engaged in widespread violations of grant requirements, acted with reckless disregard in causing false claims, failed to maintain proper internal controls, and systematically certified false hours for AmeriCorps Members, including taking mere seconds to electronically approve hours falsely claimed to be worked on holidays and weekends, and excessive hours claimed toward the end of school years. For example, the investigation uncovered certifications of 16-hour days, which were beyond available service site hours that were typically weekdays on school schedules, unless approved by a supervisor.
The United States further contends that NCCV acted with reckless disregard in making false claims and causing false certifications for employee salaries to administer AmeriCorps programs, failed to maintain certifications, timesheets, and documentation for the separate AmeriCorps work of NCCV employees as required, and failed to maintain proper internal controls, such as allowing one employee to work under two overlapping grant awards and another employee to not provide the required monthly certification for over two years.
UNC-CH, ECU, and NCCV agreed to pay $375,000, $140,000, and $327,500, respectively, to the United States to resolve these claims.
“These settlements demonstrate our firm commitment to protect taxpayer money and to guard the integrity of federal grant programs,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Acker. “Universities, state agencies, and all those seeking federal funds are required to make honest claims for payment. Those who do not will be held accountable. Our office will zealously pursue damages and civil penalties where warranted, and notes that cooperation was a key factor in determining an appropriate resolution in this case.”
“These AmeriCorps programs were meant to support at-risk and low-income youth academically. Instead, the universities and agency involved here ran them in a way that allowed participants to falsify their timesheets, and robbed North Carolina communities of the assistance they were supposed to receive,” said AmeriCorps Inspector General Deborah Jeffrey. “We and our partners at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina will vigorously pursue any such frauds.”
It should be noted that the civil claims resolved by settlements here are allegations only, and that there has been no judicial determination or admission of liability. UNC-CH, ECU, and NCCV deny these allegations and cooperated in resolving these claims.
Assistant United States Attorney Neal Fowler represented the United States in this civil action. The investigation was conducted by the AmeriCorps Office of Inspector General, including Counsel Stephen Ravas and Special Agents Jessica Nelson and Joy Cuffee.
Two from Los Angeles Stopped by State Police are Indicted on Drug Charges following HSI InvestigationRead the Press Release
PITTSBURGH, PA- Two residents of Los Angeles, California, have been indicted by a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh, PA on charges of violating federal narcotics laws, Acting United States Attorney Stephen R. Kaufman announced today.
The two-count Indictment names Gabriel A. Garcia, age 26, and Alvaro Medina Elenes, age 44, as defendants.
According to the Indictment, on or about May 26, 2021, Garcia and Elenes did knowingly, intentionally, and unlawfully conspire to and did possess with intent to distribute 5 kilograms or more of cocaine and 400 grams or more of fentanyl.
The law provides for a maximum total sentence of not less than ten years in prison and up to life, a fine not to exceed $10,000,000, and a term of supervised release of at least five years. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed would be based upon the seriousness of the offense and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.
Assistant United States Attorney Rebecca L. Silinski is prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.
The Pennsylvania State Police conducted the traffic stop leading to the seizure of the controlled substances and special agents with Homeland Security Investigations conducted the investigation leading to the Indictment in this case.
An indictment is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Two Members of the Mount Vernon Goonies Street Gang Sentenced to Federal Prison for the Murder of 13-Year-Old Innocent BystanderRead the Press Release
Audrey Strauss, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today that DAVID HARDY, a/k/a “Mooka,” was sentenced to 372 months in prison for the 2016 murder of Shamoya McKenzie and his participation in a 2012 shooting. In July 2021, codefendant MARQUIS COLLIER was sentenced to 324 months in prison for his participation in the McKenzie murder and the affairs of the Goonies gang. COLLIER and HARDY previously pled guilty before U.S. District Judge Nelson S. Román, who imposed COLLIER’s and HARDY’s sentences.
U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said: “Nothing can undo the senseless killing of Shamoya McKenzie, an innocent young woman, or the trauma experienced by her mother, who witnessed it. Justice requires that those responsible be held accountable, as Marquis Collier and now David Hardy have been. Rightly, both will spend decades in federal prison for their crimes.”
According to allegations in the Indictment and other documents filed in federal court, as well as statements made in public court proceedings:
Between 2007 and 2017, in the Southern District of New York and elsewhere, HARDY, COLLIER, JERMAINE HUGHLEY, and SINCERE SAVOY were members of a racketeering enterprise known as the “Goonies.” In order to fund the enterprise, protect and expand its interests, and promote its standing, members and associates of the Goonies committed, conspired, attempted, and threatened to commit acts of violence, including murder, attempted murder and robbery; they conspired to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute narcotics; and they obtained, possessed, and used firearms, including by brandishing and firing them.
The Goonies have been engaged in a long-standing and violent feud with several rival Mount Vernon street gangs, including, among others, the “Boss Playa Family,” the “Get Money Gangstas,” the “Gunnas,” and the “Much Better Gang,” among others. On December 31, 2016, HARDY, COLLIER, HUGHLEY, and SAVOY attempted to murder a rival gang member in broad daylight by firing multiple shots at him in the vicinity of Tecumseh Avenue and Third Street in Mount Vernon, New York. HARDY fired the shots, with COLLIER at his side. The rival gang member suffered gunshot wounds but survived. One of the bullets, however, missed the intended target and struck the head of 13-year-old Shamoya McKenzie, who was in the front passenger seat of a passing car, which was being driven by her mother. Shamoya McKenzie died as a result.
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HARDY, 26, pled guilty to one count of using a firearm in connection with the murder of Shamoya McKenzie in aid of racketeering and one count of using a firearm in connection with an assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering for committing a separate shooting in 2012 in furtherance of the Goonies. In addition to the prison term, Hardy was also sentenced to five years of supervised release.
COLLIER, 29, pled guilty to one count of racketeering conspiracy and one count of discharging a firearm in connection with the murder of Shamoya McKenzie in aid of racketeering. In addition to the prison term, Collier was also sentenced to five years of supervised release.
HUGHLEY and SAVOY are awaiting sentencing.
HUGHLEY, 28, pled guilty to one count of racketeering conspiracy and one count of discharging a firearm in connection with the murder of Shamoya McKenzie in aid of racketeering. Together, the crimes carry a maximum penalty of life in prison, and a mandatory minimum sentence of ten years in prison.
SAVOY, 24, pled guilty to one count of using a firearm in connection with the murder of Shamoya McKenzie in aid of racketeering, which carries a maximum penalty of life in prison, and a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison.
Ms. Strauss thanked the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office for their extraordinary cooperation and assistance with this case, and praised the outstanding investigative work of the Mount Vernon Police Department and the FBI’s Westchester County Safe Streets Task Force, which comprises agents and detectives from the FBI, Yonkers Police Department, Westchester County District Attorney’s Office, Westchester County Police Department, Peekskill Police Department, Mount Vernon Police Department, New York City Police Department, and U.S. Probation.
The case is being handled by the Office’s White Plains Division. Assistant United States Attorneys Sarah Krissoff and Anden Chow are in charge of the prosecution.
Two Florida Tax Preparers Plead Guilty to Conspiracy to Defraud the United StatesRead the Press Release
Two Florida tax preparers pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud the United States and preparing false tax returns.
According to court documents, Nikency Alexis owned and operated Unity Tax & Financial Services, a return preparation business in Broward County. From 2011 through at least 2016, Alexis and Thony Guillaume, a return preparer at Unity Tax, conspired to defraud the IRS by preparing returns for clients that fraudulently increased their clients’ tax refunds. The returns falsely claimed business and education expenses that the clients did not in fact incur. Alexis also made false statements on his own personal income tax returns. In total, the defendants caused an intended tax loss to the IRS of $2,879,078.
Guillaume pleaded guilty today and Alexis pleaded guilty on Sept. 14. Both are scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 30. Both defendants face a maximum penalty of five years in prison on the conspiracy charge and three years in prison on the filing false tax returns charges. In addition, the defendants face a period of supervised release, restitution, and monetary penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The Justice Department’s Tax Division and Acting U.S. Attorney Juan Antonio Gonzales for the Southern District of Florida made the announcement.
IRS-Criminal Investigation is investigating the case.
Trial Attorney Matthew Hicks of the Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Deric Zacca of the Southern District of Florida are prosecuting the case.
Texas man sentenced to 18 years in prison for deadly robberyRead the Press Release
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Daniel Gonzales, 33, of Hereford, Texas, was sentenced in federal court on Sept. 20 to 18 years in prison for armed robbery and possession, brandishing and discharge of a firearm in furtherance of a violent crime resulting in death.
According to his plea agreement and other court records, on February 1, 2018, Gonzales and others, including co-defendant Daniel Martinez, 34, drove to a gas station in Edgewood, New Mexico, intending to rob it. Gonzales entered the gas station kiosk and took money from the counter while pointing a pistol at the attendant. The attendant followed Gonzales out of the kiosk and attempted to grab him, when a gunshot from inside Gonzales’ vehicle struck and killed the attendant. Gonzales, Martinez and the others in the vehicle fled.
Martinez is still awaiting trial. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Upon his release from prison, Gonzales will be subject to three years of supervised release.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the New Mexico State Police investigated this case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Mysliwiec prosecuted the case.
Syndicato de Nuevo Mexico gang member found guilty in cold case federal murder trialRead the Press Release
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – On Sept. 16, a federal jury in Las Cruces, New Mexico, found Angel DeLeon, 43, of Mexico, guilty of murder. DeLeon will remain in custody pending sentencing, which has not been scheduled.
According to court records, DeLeon, along with Joe Lawrence Gallegos, 52, and Edward Troup, 50, killed another inmate, identified as “FC,” in the Southern New Mexico Correctional Facility (“SNMCF”) in Doña Ana County, New Mexico on March 26, 2001, by using a cord from a laundry bag to strangle him. Another inmate, identified in court records as “RG,” was also killed by strangulation at SNMCF on that same date. The killings were carried out on the orders of Billy “Wild Bill” Garcia, 66, of Albuquerque, acting in his capacity as a leader of the Syndicato de Nuevo Mexico (SNM) prison gang.
Garcia, Troup and Gallegos were found guilty on May 25, 2018. Garcia was sentenced to life in prison on June 11, 2019. Troup was sentenced to life in prison on Nov. 6, 2018. Gallegos was sentenced to life in prison on April 21, 2020.
DeLeon, a Mexican national, was arrested on October 4, 2019, after being extradited from Mexico to the United States for trial. DeLeon faces life in prison.
The SNM is an ultra-violent criminal organization whose members, prospects and associates engage in acts of violence and other criminal activities, including murder, attempted murder, kidnapping and conspiracy to manufacture and distribute narcotics. Members have admitted in court that the organization engages in racketeering activity.
The FBI, the New Mexico State Police, and the New Mexico Corrections Department investigated this case. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs provided substantial assistance in securing DeLeon’s arrest and extradition from Mexico. Assistant United States Attorneys from the Las Cruces branch of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico prosecuted the case.
St. Louis woman sentenced for embezzling funds from local unionRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – United States District Judge Matthew T. Schelp sentenced Yvette Luster to 18 months in prison today. The defendant had previously pleaded guilty in May to embezzlement.
Luster was an employee of Postal Mail Handlers Local 314 labor union. From in or about January 2016 through in or about April of 2020, Luster was an employee of Postal Mail Handlers Local 314 labor union, acting as the local chapter’s Treasurer. In her capacity as Treasurer, Luster had access to Local 314’s bank account. Luster made over 200 unauthorized withdrawals from the union’s bank account for personal expenditures, such as flights and meals for herself and family members unrelated to the business and operations of Local 314. In total, Luster embezzled over $184,000.00 from the union.
The investigation was conducted by the United States Department of Labor’s Office of Labor Management Standards.
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Six Allegheny County Residents Indicted on Drug ChargesRead the Press Release
PITTSBURGH – Six residents of Allegheny County have been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of violating federal narcotic laws, Acting United States Attorney Stephen Kaufman announced today.
The three count Indictment, returned on Sept. 14 and unsealed Sept. 16, named Leon C. Ford, 55, formerly of Pittsburgh, Frank McClellan, 52, formerly McKeesport, Kelly Lucy, 42, formerly of McKeesport, Michael Seyko, 53, formerly of McKeesport, Kimberly Rutland, 53, formerly of McKeesport, and Tyrone Binion, 62, formerly of Pittsburgh, as defendants.
According to the Indictment, from March 2021 through September 2021, Ford, McClellan, Lucy, Seyko and Binion did knowingly, intentionally, and unlawfully conspire with persons both known and unknown to the grand jury, to distribute and possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine, a Schedule II controlled substance. Additionally, McClellan and Lucy did knowingly, intentionally, and unlawfully conspire to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 280 grams of more of cocaine base, a Schedule II controlled substance. Finally, McClellan, Lucy, Rutland, and Seyko did knowingly, intentionally, and unlawfully conspire to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 100 grams of more of heroin, a Schedule I controlled substance.
For all defendants except for Rutland, the law provides for a maximum total sentence of not less than 10 years in prison and up to life, a fine of no greater than $10,000,000.00, a term of supervised release of at least five years, or a combination thereof. For Rutland, the law provides for a maximum total sentence of not less than five years in prison and up to 40, a fine of no greater than 5,000,000, a term of supervised release of at least four years, or a combination thereof. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed would be based upon the seriousness of the offenses and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendants.
Assistant United States Attorney Katherine C. Jordan is prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.
The Drug Enforcement Administration, McKeesport Police Department, Allegheny County Sheriff’s Office, Penn Hills Police Department, Allegheny County Police Department, City of Pittsburgh Bureau of Police, and Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office conducted the investigation leading to the Indictment in this case. This prosecution is a result of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles high-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten communities throughout the United States. OCDETF uses a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.
An indictment is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Shooter Who Injured Two in Dallas Sentenced to 17+ Years in Federal PrisonRead the Press Release
A Dallas man who shot and injured two victims in Dallas has been sentenced to 17 ½ years in prison for a federal firearm offense, announced Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Prerak Shah.
Quentin Alonso Cordova, 23, pleaded guilty in June to two counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm. He was sentenced Tuesday to 210 months by Chief U.S. District Judge Barbara M.G. Lynn.
According to plea papers, Mr. Cordova – who has ten prior criminal convictions, including multiple felonies – admits that he committed two shootings in Dallas.
On Aug. 12, 2020, Mr. Cordova approached his first victim in the parking lot of a restaurant off Stemmons Freeway and shot the man in the leg with a 9mm Glock. He yanked a gold and diamond chain off the victim’s neck before fleeing the scene.
Two weeks later, on Aug. 28, 2020, Mr. Cordova approached his second victim in the parking lot of a cabaret on Reeder Road in Dallas. As the victim attempted to enter his vehicle, Mr. Cordova brandished a firearm and demanded that the victim turn over his belongings. When the victim attempted to flee, Mr. Cordova shot the man multiple times with another 9mm Glock, hitting him in the right arm and the right leg. The victim fell to the ground, and Mr. Cordova made off with his Rolex and a gold bracelet.
Using the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network, or NIBIN, federal agents were able to link fired cartridge casings left at the scenes of the two shootings to the guns possessed by Mr. Cordova.
Mr. Cordova is also facing state charges for aggravated assault, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, aggravated assault on a security officer, burglary of a vehicle, unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, theft of property, and evading arrest.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives’ Dallas Field Division and the Dallas Police Department conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Rebekah Ricketts prosecuted the case.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this release erroniously stated the shooting on Reeder Road occurred on Aug. 20. It actually occurred on Aug. 28. Reporters were promptly notified of the error.
Sheep Springs Man Sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for murder in Indian CountryRead the Press Release
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Garrett Neal, 28, of Sheep Springs, New Mexico, and an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation, was sentenced in federal court on Sept. 16 to 15 years in prison on a conviction for second-degree murder in Indian Country.
Neal pleaded guilty on Oct. 29, 2020. According to the plea agreement, Neal and an accomplice engaged in a fight with a man in Sheep Springs, on the Navajo Nation. During the fight, Neal punched and kicked the man while he was on the ground and hit him with brass knuckles and rocks in his head and throat, causing him to sustain fatal injuries. Neal admitted that he was aware the victim was trying to breathe, had that he had attempted to run away and did not fight back. The victim died at the scene as a result of the beating.
Upon his release from prison, Neal will be subject to five years of supervised release.
The FBI investigated this case with assistance from the Navajo Nation Division of Public Safety. Assistant United States Attorney Novaline D. Wilson prosecuted the case.
Savannah drug dealer sentenced to federal prisonRead the Press Release
SAVANNAH, GA: A Chatham County man with a violent history has been sentenced to federal prison after admitting he distributed cocaine and marijuana.
Okemi Mon Lawton, 45, of Savannah, was sentenced to 90 months in prison after pleading guilty to Possession with Intent to Distribute Cocaine and Marijuana, said David H. Estes, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia. Lawton forfeited $19,640.31 seized during the investigation, and U.S. District Court Judge Lisa Godbey Wood also ordered Lawton to serve three years of supervised release after completion of his prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
“Okemi Lawton is a prime example of a violent, unrepentant criminal whose removal from our streets automatically makes our communities safer,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Estes. “We will continue to work closely with our law enforcement partners to ensure such gun-toting drug dealers have no place in our neighborhoods.”
As described in court documents and testimony, Lawton was on supervised release following a prison sentence for a federal firearms charge in August 2018 when the Chatham-Savannah Counter Narcotics Team began investigating suspected drug distribution from Lawton’s Savannah residence. With assistance from the FBI, agents documented Lawton’s sale of cocaine, and a subsequent search of the residence discovered drugs, drug manufacturing and packaging materials, nearly $20,000 in cash, and a semi-automatic pistol.
In addition to his prior felony conviction for illegal gun possession, Lawton previously served time in state prison for a manslaughter conviction and for cocaine distribution.
“Some criminals never learn from their arrests no matter how many times they are punished for them, and Lawton is certainly one of them,” said Chris Hacker, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta. “Together with our state and local law enforcement partners, the FBI is determined to make our streets safer by removing violent felons like him and making them pay the price with long prison terms.”
The case was investigated by CNT and the FBI, and prosecuted for the United States by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Frank M. Pennington II and Noah J. Abrams.
Repeat offender pleads guilty to drug, gun, and child pornography crimesRead the Press Release
Seattle – A 29-year-old Seattle-area resident pleaded guilty today to four federal felonies that carry a mandatory minimum 10-year prison term, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman. Steve Godina Ochoa was arrested in February 2020, after a 13-year-old runaway disclosed to counselors that Godina Ochoa repeatedly sexually assaulted her. When sentenced by U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour on January 11, 2022. Godina Ochoa faces a mandatory minimum term of ten years in prison and up to life in prison.
According to the plea agreement, in November 2019, the Bellevue Police Department Sexual Assault Unit began investigating Godina Ochoa after disclosures from a young victim. When Godina Ochoa and his vehicles were located, law enforcement seized quantities of methamphetamine and heroin and three firearms. Two of the firearms had been reported stolen – one from Federal Way and the other from Snohomish County. Godina Ochoa had more than $4,500 cash in the car – the proceeds from his drug dealing. Godina Ochoa was prohibited from possessing firearms due to prior convictions for arson and unlawful possession of a firearm.
When law enforcement seized and analyzed Godina Ochoa’s electronic devices they found images of the sexual assault on the young victim. The images constitute child pornography.
Godina Ochoa faces up to 20 years in prison for possession of child pornography. Possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute is punishable by a mandatory minimum 5 years in prison and up to 40 years in prison. Possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime is punishable by a mandatory 5-year prison term consecutive to any other sentence imposed in the case. Unlawful possession of a firearm is punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
Under the terms of the plea agreement, both prosecutors and defense attorneys will recommend the mandatory minimum 10-year prison term. Judge Coughenour will determine the appropriate sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The case was investigated by the Bellevue Police Department and the FBI.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Cecelia Gregson.
Registered sex offender sentenced to 11 years in prison for attempted sexual enticement of 13 year-old and possession of child pornographyRead the Press Release
HONOLULU – Senior District Judge Susan Oki Mollway sentenced Neal Both-Magnisi, 39, of Honolulu, Hawaii, to 11 years in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release, for attempting to entice a 13 year-old minor to engage in unlawful sexual activity, and for possessing child pornography today in United States District Court. He will also pay $6,000 in restitution to two identified victims and a $10,000 special assessment pursuant to the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015.
Acting U.S. Attorney Judith A. Philips stated that, according to court documents and information presented in court, Both-Magnisi, a registered sex offender, created a profile on a mobile device application designed for dating. On March 19, 2019, Both-Magnisi used the application to communicate with a user whose profile featured a photograph of a 13 year-old boy, which stated that he was “Younger than you think.” Between March 19 and March 24, 2019, Both-Magnisi engaged in numerous text message and online chat communications with the other user, who represented to Both-Magnisi that he was 13 years old, but who was actually an undercover law enforcement agent. On March 24, 2019, Both-Magnisi arranged to meet the boy in person at a shopping center in Kapolei, Hawaii to engage in sexual activity. Both-Magnisi then traveled to the agreed-upon location and was arrested.
Information provided to the court also reflected that law enforcement agents conducted a search of Both-Magnisi’s home. There, the agents discovered and seized a laptop computer, on which they discovered 93 video files and 224 images of child pornography, some of which appeared to feature children as young as eight years old.
“This prosecution is the successful result of a coordinated effort by several federal and state agencies to fight the threat of child predators using mobile device applications and social media to prey upon children in Hawaii,” stated Acting U.S. Attorney Philips. “We are making concerted efforts to protect children, among the most vulnerable members of our community, from predators employing various forms of electronic media.”
“Protecting our keiki is one of our top priorities at Homeland Security Investigations in Honolulu,” said Special Agent in Charge John F. Tobon. “I hope this sentence sends a very clear message to everyone in the community that we will track down predators to keep our children safe.”
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 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, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Hawaii Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC) and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregg Paris Yates.
Presque Isle Man Sentenced on Federal Drug ChargesRead the Press Release
BANGOR, Maine— A Presque Isle man was sentenced today in federal court in two separate cases for conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine, Acting U.S. Attorney Donald E. Clark announced.
U.S. District Judge Lance E. Walker sentenced Tyler Neece, 29, to 165 months in prison and a total of five years of supervised release. Neece pleaded guilty in February 2021.
According to court records, between approximately January 2017 and August 2018, Neece and his co-conspirators obtained methamphetamine from an out-of-state source and distributed the drugs in northern Maine.
Also according to court records, between approximately July 2018 and May 2019, members of a separate conspiracy obtained methamphetamine in western and southern states from sources in Mexico. Neece and his co-conspirators distributed the drugs in Aroostook County and other parts of central and northern Maine.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration; Homeland Security Investigations; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; and the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency investigated these cases with the assistance of multiple state and local law enforcement agencies.
These prosecutions are part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.
Pocatello Man Sentenced to 25 Years for Sexual Exploitation of a ChildRead the Press Release
POCATELLO – Andrew John Jemmett, 21, of Pocatello, was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison for producing child pornography, Acting U.S. Attorney Rafael M. Gonzalez, Jr. announced today. Senior U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill also ordered Jemmett to serve the remainder of his life on supervised release, following his prison sentence. Jemmett pleaded guilty to the charge on November 4, 2020.
According to court records, in January 2020, law enforcement in Las Vegas, Nevada, arrested Jemmett for possession of child pornography. The arrest stemmed from Jemmett’s significant other finding child pornography on Jemmett’s phone.
A later investigation found that Jemmett produced that child pornography with an eight-year-old minor child. Jemmett sold the videos he created online on at least one occasion. Jemmett produced the videos in a public restroom in Pocatello. Jemmett admitted to producing the videos and sending them to another individual for money.
As a result of his conviction, Jemmett will be required to register as a sex offender.
Acting U.S. Attorney Gonzalez credited the cooperative efforts of Homeland Security Investigations in Idaho Falls, the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, and Pocatello Police Department, which led to charges.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. As part of Project Safe Childhood, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Idaho and the Idaho Attorney General’s Office partner to marshal federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
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Pittsburgh Man Sentenced in West End Drug CaseRead the Press Release
PITTSBURGH - A resident of Pittsburgh, PA, has been sentenced in federal court to time served with five years of supervised release on his conviction of conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine, Acting United States Attorney Stephen R. Kaufman announced today.
Senior United States District Judge Arthur J. Schwab imposed the sentence on Balon Kennedy, age 28, Pittsburgh, PA.
According to information presented to the court, in 2017, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Drug Enforcement Administration initiated a wiretap investigation, primarily targeting the GBK street gang and drug trafficking in and around an area known as the Greenway Projects, located in the West End of the City of Pittsburgh. The wiretap investigation revealed that from in and around November 2017 through in and around June 2018, Balon Kennedy conspired to distribute over 28 grams of crack cocaine.
Prior to imposing sentence, Senior Judge Schwab stated that the sentence was sufficient but not greater than necessary to achieve the goals of sentencing.
Assistant United States Attorneys Tonya Sulia Goodman and Yvonne M. Saadi prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.
Acting U.S. Attorney Kaufman commended the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Drug Enforcement Administration jointly with the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police, Allegheny County Sheriff’s Office, Pennsylvania State Police, Robinson Township Police Department, Stowe Township Police Department, Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office, Wilkinsburg Borough Police Department, and the McKees Rocks Police Department, for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Kennedy.
This prosecution is a result of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles high-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten communities throughout the United States. OCDETF uses a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.
Pittsburgh Man Indicted on Fentanyl and Cocaine Possession ChargeRead the Press Release
PITTSBURGH, PA - A resident of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh on a charge of possession with the intent to distribute quantities of fentanyl and cocaine, Acting United States Attorney Stephen R. Kaufman announced today.
The one-count Indictment named Edwin Williams, age 31, of Laketon Road in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, as the sole defendant.
According to the Indictment, Williams possessed with intent to distribute quantities of fentanyl and cocaine on or about March 25, 2021.
The law provides for a maximum total sentence of 20 years in prison, a fine of $1,000,000 or both. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed would be based upon the seriousness of the offense and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.
Assistant United States Attorney Yvonne M. Saadi is prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.
The Penn Hills Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted the investigation leading to the Indictment in this case.
An indictment is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Peruvian National Sentenced to over 9 Years in Prison for Defrauding Thousands of Spanish-Speaking U.S. ImmigrantsRead the Press Release
A Peruvian national was sentenced to serve 110 months in prison for operating a series of call centers in Peru that defrauded Spanish-speaking U.S. residents by falsely threatening them with arrest, deportation and other legal consequences.
Henrry Adrian Milla Campuzano, 37, from Lima, Peru, pleaded guilty for his role in conspiring to commit mail fraud and wire fraud through two Peruvian call centers that he owned and operated. The defendant, along with his co-conspirators, used false statements and threats to obtain money from Spanish-speaking individuals across the United States by falsely telling victims that they were required to accept and pay for English-language courses and other educational products and that failure to do so placed them in legal jeopardy. The defendant and his co-conspirators falsely threatened to have their victims arrested and deported in order to collect millions of dollars from victims in South Florida and across the United States. With today’s sentencing in Miami, five defendants have been sentenced to serve substantial terms of incarceration in this matter.
“The Department of Justice’s Consumer Protection Branch will pursue and prosecute transnational criminals who defraud vulnerable U.S. consumers,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton of the Justice Department's Civil Division. “The defendants in this case defrauded immigrants by falsely promising free products to improve their English. In reality, the defendants were luring their victims into a trap of intimidation and fear, leaving them far worse off – with substantial financial losses and, often, emotional scars from these crimes. With today’s sentence, five defendants in this case have been brought to justice, demonstrating that those who prey upon U.S. consumers from abroad cannot do so with impunity.”
“This case demonstrates that the long arm of justice has no limits when it comes to reaching fraudsters who prey on our nation’s most vulnerable populations,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Juan Antonio Gonzalez for the Southern District of Florida. “We will continue to bring American justice to transnational criminals who use fear tactics and intimidation to steal money from immigrants, seniors and others who live in this country.”
“The U.S. Postal Inspection Service constantly strives to protect our communities from predatory criminals seeking to abuse and exploit the most vulnerable members of our society,” said Inspector in Charge Joseph W. Cronin of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service Miami Division. “This particular case is an example of how postal inspectors will vigorously pursue these types of crime and ensure that the perpetrators will be brought to justice to pay for the crimes they have committed.”
In pleading guilty, Milla admitted that he and his employees falsely claimed to be lawyers, court officials, federal agents and representatives of a so-called “minor crimes court,” which does not exist. The callers falsely threatened victims with court proceedings, negative marks on their credit reports, imprisonment and immigration consequences if they did not immediately pay for the purportedly delivered products and settlement fees.
Milla was the co-owner of the Latinos en Accion and Accion Latino call centers in Lima, Peru. From April 2011 until his arrest in July 2019, he and his co-conspirators called victims, as well as victims’ family members and friends, and fraudulently threatened them with legal consequences if they did not make payments for the purportedly delivered products and settlement fees for English language classes.
Milla was arrested in January 2020 by Peruvian authorities based on a U.S. extradition request. He and four co-defendants were extradited to the Southern District of Florida in October 2020. Those five defendants have now all pleaded guilty and received significant prison sentences from U.S. District Judge Robert N. Scola Jr. In addition to Milla, Jerson Renteria was sentenced to 100 months in prison, and Fernan Huerta, Omar Cuzcano and Evelyng Milla were each sentenced to serve 90 months in prison.
Two additional defendants in the case – Carlos Espinoza Huerta and Josmell Espinoza Huerta – evaded arrest at the time of their co-defendants’ arrests. They were subsequently located in Peru and extradited to the United States on June 25, and are being detained at the Federal Detention Center in Miami. Their trial is scheduled to begin on Feb. 14, 2022, before Judge Scola.
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch investigated the case. Senior Trial Attorney Phil Toomajian and Trial Attorney Max Goldman of the Consumer Protection Branch are prosecuting the case. The Federal Trade Commission, the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, the State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service and the Peruvian National Police provided critical assistance.
The Consumer Protection Branch coordinates the Department’s Transnational Elder Fraud Strike Force, working with United States Attorney’s Offices and law enforcement agencies to investigate and prosecute scams run by transnational criminal organizations, including mass mailing, telemarketing and tech support scams. For more information about the Consumer Protection Branch, visit its website at http://www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch.
An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Note: A Spanish version of this press release is available here.
Pennsylvania Man Sentenced to Six Years in Federal Prison for Selling Methamphetamine in Cecil County, MarylandRead the Press Release
Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge George L. Russell, III sentenced Nakir Ali Kiett, age 25, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to six years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for possession with intent to distribute approximately 211 grams of methamphetamine in Cecil County, Maryland.
The sentence was announced by Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Jonathan F. Lenzner; Special Agent in Charge James R. Mancuso of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Baltimore; and the members of Cecil County Drug Task Force, including Chief Carolyn Rogers of the Elkton Police Department, Cecil County Sheriff Scott Adams, Colonel Woodrow W. Jones III, Superintendent of the Maryland State Police, and Cecil County State’s Attorney James Dellmyer.
According to his plea agreement, in the fall of 2019, Cecil County Drug Task Force officers received information that an individual known as “Omar” was selling methamphetamine in Cecil County, Maryland. “Omar” was later identified as Kiett.
In August 2019, a confidential informant introduced an undercover officer to Kiett. Between August 28 and September 30, 2019, the undercover officer then arranged and conducted five separate controlled purchases of methamphetamine from Kiett, totaling approximately 150 grams of methamphetamine.
As stated in the plea agreement, on October 9, 2019, investigators obtained a search warrant for Kiett’s vehicle. On October 10, 2019 investigators arranged for a controlled purchase of methamphetamine from Kiett. When Kiett arrived at the agreed-upon meeting location, investigators detained him and searched Kiett and his vehicle pursuant to the search warrant. During the search of the vehicle, investigators recovered approximately 61 grams of methamphetamine located in a space behind the vehicle’s radio.
In total, investigators purchased or seized approximately 211 grams of methamphetamine from Kiett between August 2019 and October 2019. Kiett agrees and admits that he knowingly and intentionally possessed the above-referenced methamphetamine with the intent to distribute it.
Acting United States Attorney Jonathan F. Lenzner commended the Department of Homeland Security and the Cecil County Drug Task Force (CCDTF), comprised of the Elkton Police Department, the Cecil County Sheriff's Office, the Maryland State Police, the Cecil County State's Attorney's Office, for their work in the investigation. Mr. Lenzner thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Anatoly Smolkin who prosecuted the case.
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Oswego Man Pleads Guilty to Distribution and Possession of Child PornographyRead the Press Release
SYRACUSE, NEW YORK – Richard Alvarado, age 27, of Oswego, New York, pled guilty today to one count of distribution of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography.
The announcement was made by Acting United States Attorney Antoinette T. Bacon, Janeen DiGuiseppi, Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and New York State Police (NYSP) Superintendent Kevin P. Bruen.
Alvarado, who remains detained pending his sentencing scheduled for January 19, 2021 before United States District Judge David N. Hurd in Utica, New York, faces at least 5 years and up to 40 years in prison. The Court will also impose a term of supervised release of between 5 years and life. A defendant’s sentence is imposed by a judge based on the statute the defendant is charged with violating, the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, and other factors. Alvarado will also be required to register as a sex offender.
As part of his guilty plea, Alvarado admitted that he actively traded child pornography images and videos using a social media messaging application on his phone, and that on February 29, 2020 he distributed videos of child pornography through the application, including video files depicting sexual conduct with children between 5 and 9 years old. Alvarado further admitted that on June 22, 2020, he knowingly possessed numerous image and video files depicting child pornography on his phone.
This case was investigated by the FBI Syracuse Mid-State Child Exploitation Task Force, comprised of FBI Special Agents and Investigators of the New York State Police, Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) and Computer Crimes Unit (CCU). The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Geoffrey J. L. Brown 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.
Northern Michigan Man Arrested in Connection with Pipe Bombs Left at Cell Phone StoresRead the Press Release
BAY CITY – A Whittemore, Michigan, resident was arrested today in two separate criminal complaints related to the placement of explosive packages outside cellphone stores in Cheboygan, and Sault Ste Marie, Michigan, announced Eastern District of Michigan Acting United States Attorney Saima Mohsin and Western District of Michigan United States Attorney Andrew Birge. Whittemore and Cheboygan are in the Eastern District and Sault Ste. Marie is in the Western District.
Mohsin and Birge were joined in the announcement by Special Agent in Charge Timothy Waters, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Detroit Division.
Charged was John Douglas Allen, 75.
According to the affidavit, on September 15, 2021, at approximately 7:36 pm, a United States Postal Service (USPS) box with black tape on it and a wire coming out of it was placed outside of an AT&T Store, located at 2972 W 8th Street, Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. Later that evening at approximately 10:10 pm, another USPS box with black tape on it and a wire coming out of it was placed outside of the Verizon Store, located at 1006 S Main Street Plaza 27, Suite 3, Cheboygan, Michigan. The two devices recovered were examined by the FBI laboratory Explosive Unit, which concluded that the two devices were improvised explosive devices (IEDs), also commonly referred to as homemade bombs or pipe bombs. Based on video footage taken from the cell phone stores and other nearby businesses, as well as an exhaustive investigation by law enforcement, agents were able to determine that Allen was the person who allegedly left the packages outside of the stores.
The affidavit further alleges that letters, placed inside polka dot envelops and sealed in zip lock bags, were left at cell towers located in the Upper Peninsula. The letters contained threats aimed at telecommunication carriers.
In each district, Allen faces charges of Extortion, which is punishable by up to 20 years in prison, and Attempted Damage or Destruction of Buildings Used in Interstate Commerce, which is punishable by a minimum of five years and not more than 20 years in prison. Allen will be making an initial appearance this afternoon in Bay City on the complaint pending in the Eastern District of Michigan. A date has not yet been set for his appearance in the Western District of Michigan to answer those charges.
The charges in a complaint are merely allegations. A defendant remains innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law. The investigation is continuing.
This case is being investigated by special agents, intelligence analysts, troopers, deputies, and officers from the FBI, Michigan State Police, Cheboygan County Sheriff's Office, Cheboygan Police Department, Sault Ste. Marie Police Department, Sault Ste. Marie Tribal Police, the US Coast Guard Investigative Service, US Border Patrol and ATF.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys J. Michael Buckley, Jerome Gorgon, Christopher O’Connor and Theodore Greeley are prosecuting the case in their respective districts.
Northern Michigan Man Arrested in Connection with Pipe Bombs Left at Cell Phone StoresRead the Press Release
BAY CITY – A Whittemore, Michigan, resident was arrested today in two separate criminal complaints related to the placement of explosive packages outside cellphone stores in Cheboygan and Sault Ste Marie, Michigan, announced Eastern District of Michigan Acting United States Attorney Saima Mohsin and Western District of Michigan United States Attorney Andrew Birge. Whittemore and Cheboygan are in the Eastern District and Sault Ste. Marie is in the Western District.
Mohsin and Birge were joined in the announcement by Special Agent in Charge Timothy Waters, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Detroit Division.
Charged was John Douglas Allen, 75.
According to the affidavit, on September 15, 2021, at approximately 7:36 pm, a United States Postal Service (USPS) box with black tape on it and a wire coming out of it was placed outside of an AT&T Store, located at 2972 W 8th Street, Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. Later that evening at approximately 10:10 pm, another USPS box with black tape on it and a wire coming out of it was placed outside of the Verizon Store, located at 1006 S Main Street Plaza 27, Suite 3, Cheboygan, Michigan. The two devices recovered were examined by the FBI laboratory Explosive Unit, which concluded that the two devices were improvised explosive devices (IEDs), also commonly referred to as homemade bombs or pipe bombs. Based on video footage taken from the cell phone stores and other nearby businesses, as well as an exhaustive investigation by law enforcement, agents were able to determine that Allen was the person who allegedly left the packages outside of the stores.
The affidavit further alleges that letters, placed inside polka dot envelops and sealed in zip lock bags, were left at cell towers located in the Upper Peninsula. The letters contained threats aimed at telecommunication carriers.
In each district, Allen faces charges of Extortion, which is punishable by up to 20 years in prison, and Attempted Damage or Destruction of Buildings Used in Interstate Commerce, which is punishable by a minimum of five years and not more than 20 years in prison. Allen will be making an initial appearance this afternoon in Bay City on the complaint pending in the Eastern District of Michigan. A date has not yet been set for his appearance in the Western District of Michigan to answer those charges.
The charges in a complaint are merely allegations. A defendant remains innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law. The investigation is continuing.
This case is being investigated by special agents, intelligence analysts, troopers, deputies, and officers from the FBI, Michigan State Police, Cheboygan County Sheriff's Office, Cheboygan Police Department, Sault Ste. Marie Police Department, Sault Ste. Marie Tribal Police, the US Coast Guard Investigative Service, US Border Patrol and ATF.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys J. Michael Buckley, Jerome Gorgon, Christopher O’Connor and Theodore Greeley are prosecuting the case in their respective districts.
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New Orleans Resident Pleads Guilty to Laundering More Than $118,00 of Her Partner’s Heroin Proceeds by Buying a House in New Orleans East Where They Lived, Agrees to Forfeit a Mercedes Benz and a Florida Property as Drug ProceedsRead the Press Release
NEW ORLEANS, LA – U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that ANNICE FALKINS, age 35, a resident of New Orleans, Louisiana, pled guilty on August 24, 2021 to laundering more than $118,000 of her partner’s heroin proceeds by purchasing a home in New Orleans East that they then shared. FALKINS is facing up to 10 years’ imprisonment, a possible fine of up to $250,000 and at least three years of supervised release upon her release from prison for violating Title 18, United States Code, Section 1957(a).
FALKINS’ partner, Arthur Johnson, is a heroin dealer. Johnson pled guilty to conspiring to distribute more than 1 kilogram of heroin and agreed to forfeit six pieces of diamond encrusted jewelry, including a Rolex watch, purchased with drug proceeds. According to court records, on April 6, 2016, FALKINS purchased a home in New Orleans, with 14 cashier checks, all for less than $10,000. These 14 cashier checks totaled approximately $118,226.51. FALKINS purchased these cashier checks with funds that she knew Johnson had earned from selling heroin. FALKINS bought these cashier checks and then used them on April 6, 2016, with the intent to advance Johnson’s heroin activities. FALKINS also conduced these transactions – the purchase of the cashier checks and the New Orleans property – in a knowing effort to conceal the nature, location, source, ownership, and control of some of the proceeds of Johnson’s heroin selling activities and to evade reporting requirements under federal and state law.
Pursuant to her guilty plea, FALKINS agreed to forfeit to the United States a 2017 Mercedes Benz and real estate property in Davenport, Florida, which she bought after Johnson was arrested. The Mercedes and the Florida home were purchased with profits from Johnson’s heroin sales.
According to court records, on December 27, 2017, agents intercepted communications between Johnson and Ricky Redd, a Chicago-based drug courier. In these communications, Johnson and Redd discussed a pending delivery of heroin. Redd was driving that day from Chicago to New Orleans to give Johnson a bag containing approximately three kilograms of heroin.
Later that same day, surveillance agents observed Johnson and Redd twice meet at a Holiday Inn Hotel in New Orleans. During the first meeting, Redd gave Johnson a red bag containing approximately three kilograms of heroin. During the second meeting, Johnson gave Redd approximately $187,000. Redd was to earn a small amount of the money that Johnson paid him.
The next day, December 28, 2017, agents conducted a traffic stop of Johnson and FALKINS. Johnson was placed under arrest and agents seized three brick chucks of heroin and eleven bags of heroin, totaling 1.3 kilograms, from FALKINS and Johnson’s home in New Orleans East. Agents also seized from their residence a digital scale, six cell phones, over $11,000 in cash, a money counter, a kilogram press, two sealed GNC Inositol bottles, often used as “cutting agents” to dilute heroin, numerous items of jewelry, including diamond-encrusted necklaces and a diamond-encrusted Rolex watch, and numerous shipping labels with FALKINS’ name and the New Orleans property address on boxes that contained plastic bags, electrical tape, and coffee grinds used to conceal narcotics.
U.S. District Judge Susie Morgan will sentence FALKINS and Johnson on December 1, 2021. U.S. Attorney Evans praised the work of the FBI’s New Orleans Gang Task Force in investigating this matter. Assistant United States Attorneys David Howard Sinkman and Brandon Long are in charge of the prosecution.
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Nevada Man Gets 6½ Years in Prison for Travelling to PA to Engage in Sex with a MinorRead the Press Release
PITTSBURGH - A former resident of North Las Vegas, Nevada, has been sentenced in federal court to 78 months’ imprisonment and 10 years’ supervised release on his conviction of Travel With Intent to Engage in Illicit Sexual Conduct, Acting United States Attorney Stephen R. Kaufman announced today.
United States District Judge Joy Flowers Conti imposed the sentence on Renad Bautista, age 32.
According to information presented to the court, on or about December 5, 2019, until December 9, 2019, Bautista travelled from Las Vegas to Pittsburgh with a motivating purpose of engaging in illicit sexual conduct with a minor whom he had been messaging on social media.
Assistant United States Attorney Heidi M. Grogan prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.
Acting U.S. Attorney Kaufman commended the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the West Mifflin Police Department for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Bautista.
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.justice.gov/psc.
Navajo man sentenced to nine years in prison for murder in Indian CountryRead the Press Release
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Simeon Atcitty, 38, of Shiprock, New Mexico, was sentenced Sept. 10 in federal court to nine years in prison for second degree murder in Indian Country. Atcitty pleaded guilty on April 8.
According to his plea agreement, on June 19, 2020, Atcitty became angry with the victim, identified on court records as John Doe, and began striking John Doe in the head and chest until he was seriously injured. Atcitty continued to strike the victim until he was no longer moving. Atcitty then wrapped John Doe’s body and left the home. Law enforcement discovered John Doe’s body about a week later. The killing occurred at Atcitty’s home in San Juan County, New Mexico, on the Navajo Nation.
Upon his release from prison, Atcitty will be subject to five years of supervised release.
The Farmington Resident Agency of the FBI Albuquerque Field Office investigated this case with assistance from the Navajo Nation Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas Marshall prosecuted the case.
Monrovia Agrees to Ensure Equal Access for Persons with Disabilities to Its Transportation Services ProgramRead the Press Release
SETTLEMENT AGREEMENTLOS ANGELES – The City of Monrovia has entered into a settlement agreement with the United States to ensure that individuals with disabilities have equal access to its transportation services program, the Department of Justice announced today.
In February 2018, Monrovia launched the GoMonrovia program to restructure its dial-a-ride service, which previously provided rides only to seniors and to individuals with disabilities. GoMonrovia provides reduced-fare Lyft rides available to people traveling within the program’s service area. Individuals with disabilities who needed wheelchair-accessible vehicles could not use Lyft as part of the GoMonrovia program because the ride-sharing company did not provide such vehicles, according to the settlement agreement. Instead, they were required to use transportation services provided by a separate company, Empire Transportation Services, Inc., court documents state.
The Justice Department’s compliance review pursuant to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) found that individuals using reduced-fare Lyft rides could travel 24 hours a day and seven days a week, but individuals with disabilities using Empire Transportation could not travel on nights and certain holidays such as Independence Day and Thanksgiving. Accessible vehicles could not be reserved through a website or by telephone. Individuals needing this service were required to complete paper applications while those who used the Lyft service were not.
The settlement agreement requires Monrovia to take several steps to ensure that its program complies with the ADA. Individuals with disabilities will have equivalent access to the GoMonrovia program, including the abilities to travel at the same time as others. As part of the agreement, Monrovia did not admit that any qualified individual with a disability was excluded from participation in or was denied the benefits of the GoMonrovia program on the basis of a disability.
Assistant United States Attorney Acrivi Coromelas of the Civil Division’s Civil Rights Section handled this matter.
For more information on the ADA or this settlement agreement, please call the toll-free ADA Information Line at (800) 514-0301 or (800) 514-0383 (TDD) or access the ADA website at http://www.ada.gov.
Monmouth County Man Admits Falsely Labeling International Shipment of Wildlife as ‘Toys’Read the Press Release
NEWARK, N.J. – A Monmouth County, New Jersey, man today admitted falsely labeling as “Toys” a package containing 10 live rhinoceros iguanas that was destined for Hong Kong, Acting U.S Attorney Rachael A. Honig announced.
Jason Ksepka, 44, of Farmingdale, New Jersey, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Zahid Quraishi in Trenton federal court to an information, charging him with one count of violating the Lacey Act by falsely labeling an international shipment of wildlife.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
On Nov. 7, 2017, Ksepka shipped a package via U.S. Priority Mail Express from the U.S. Post Office in Lambertville, New Jersey. The package contained 10 live rhinoceros iguanas and was destined for Hong Kong. Defendant Ksepka falsely described the contents of the package as “Toys” and the sender as “Luke Jacobs” on a U.S. Postal Service International Shipping Label and Customs Form that accompanied the package. On Nov. 8, 2017, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Inspectors intercepted the package at the mail facility at John F. Kennedy International Airport and recovered the rhinoceros iguanas from inside the package.
Ksepka was paid $500 by an individual to falsely label the package and ship it to Hong Kong. One year prior to the shipment, the same individual had paid Ksepka $500 to ship approximately 10 additional rhinoceros iguanas to Hong Kong.
Ksepka has agreed, as part of his plea agreement, to pay a fine of $1,000 to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Lacey Act Reward Fund.
The charge to which Ksepka pleaded guilty carries with it a maximum penalty of five years’ imprisonment and a fine of $250,000. Sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 25, 2022.
Acting U.S. Attorney Honig credited special agents of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Office of Law Enforcement, under the direction of Resident Agent in Charge Sean Mann, with the investigation leading to today’s guilty plea.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathleen P. O’Leary of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Government Fraud Unit in Newark.
Milwaukee Man Sentenced to Nine Years in Federal Prison for Heroin and Firearm OffensesRead the Press Release
Acting U.S. Attorney Richard G. Frohling of the Eastern District of Wisconsin announced that on September 21, 2021, Leroy Spinks (age: 34), of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, was sentenced to a total of nine years in federal prison for possessing with the intent to distribute over 70 grams of heroin and for possessing a firearm in furtherance of his drug crime.
According to court records, Ashwaubenon Public Safety Officers were sent to a local hotel in response to a disturbance within one of the rooms. Officers determined that Leroy Spinks was one of the parties involved and located him in a car leaving the hotel parking lot. Upon searching the driver’s seat area and center console, officers located a large bag containing two separate baggies holding 22.2 and 50.4 grams of heroin as well as a loaded 24-round magazine. Officers located a loaded (10 rounds) black Glock 30 .45 caliber handgun under the drivers’ seat. Additional paraphernalia indicative of drug distribution was found in the car’s trunk. Spinks later entered guilty pleas to two federal offenses related to his conduct.
In pronouncing sentence, Senior U.S. District Judge William C. Griesbach noted the serious nature of Spinks’ offense, his criminal history, and the fact that at the time of the above offenses, Spinks was serving a term of federal supervision following his conviction for being a felon in possession of a firearm. Judge Griesbach also emphasized the need to send a strong message of deterrence to Spinks and anyone else who might attempt to distribute drugs in Northeast Wisconsin. The judge ordered Spinks’ incarceration in federal prison for a term of nine years to be followed by six years of supervised release.
The case was investigated by the Ashwaubenon Public Safety Department, Green Bay Police Department, and Brown County Drug Task Force. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney William J. Roach.
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Public Information Officer Kenneth Gales 414-297-1700
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Methamphetamine trafficking sends Missoula man to prison for 15 yearsRead the Press Release
MISSOULA — A Missoula man who admitted dealing large quantities of methamphetamine in the community was sentenced today to 15 years in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release, Acting U.S. Attorney Leif M. Johnson said.
Terry David Starrett, 54, pleaded guilty on May 11 to possession with intent to distribute as charged in a superseding information.
U.S. District Court Judge Donald W. Molloy presided.
The government alleged in court documents that on Jan. 7, law enforcement served a search warrant and recovered more than five pounds of meth from Starrett’s rental property and his vehicle. Five pounds of meth is the equivalent of about 18,120 individual doses. Starrett also sold an undercover informant two ounces of meth in December 2020 and trafficked meth from Washington to Montana once or twice a week. In the fall of 2020, Starrett and another individual traveled to California and returned to Missoula with pounds of meth. Co-defendants Laura Jeanne Haacke and Jennifer Renee Hawkes were sentenced to 54 months and to 63 months in prison respectively for their roles in the offense. A third co-defendant, Jason Dean Hager, has pleaded guilty is pending sentencing.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Tara J. Elliott prosecuted the case, which was investigated by the FBI’s Montana Regional Violent Crime Task Force, the Missoula Police Department and the Missoula County Sheriff’s Office.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, a U.S. Department of Justice initiative to reduce violent crime. Through PSN, federal, tribal, state and local law enforcement partners in Montana focus on violent crime driven by methamphetamine trafficking, armed robbers, firearms offenses and violent offenders with outstanding warrants.
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Men Who Fenced Stolen Diamonds Sentenced to 15+ YearsRead the Press Release
Five men who purchased jewelry stolen from traveling diamond salesman have been sentenced to a combined 190 months in federal prison and ordered to pay more than $7 million in restitution, announced Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Prerak Shah.
The men “fenced” jewels obtained in robberies committed by a so-called “South American Theft and Robbery Group (SATG)” — a violent criminal enterprise that targeted traveling jewelry salesman nationwide.
- Romelio Rivieron, 51, who pled guilty in March 2020 to engaging in a conspiracy to launder money, was sentenced to 32 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $2,321,491.61 in restitution. He has already paid back approximately $230,000 towards victims of his crime.
- Co-conspirators Elkin Acosta Lopez, 46, and Harrinson Corredor, 29, who both pled guilty in 2019 to the same charge as Mr. Riveron, were previously sentenced to 68 months and 63 months, respectively. Mr. Corredor was ordered to pay $1,753,089 in restitution while Mr. Lopez was ordered to pay $1,368,088.68.
- Rubenhay Pinkhasov, 60, who pled guilty to engaging in 2019 to conspiracy to transport stolen goods in interstate commerce, was sentenced to 27 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $1,007,823 in restitution.
- Yuri Alishaev, 49, who conspired with Mr. Pinkhasov, pled guilty to misprision (concealment) of a felony and was sentenced to probation; he has already paid the entirety of the $1,009,689 he owes in restitution.
According to court documents, the men were involved in laundering money for a band of violent jewel thieves, including several who robbed a traveling jewelry salesman at gunpoint before beating him to death in Irving, Texas.
In plea papers, Mr. Lopez admitted that he regularly flew from his hometown in Bogota, Colombia to Texas in order to meet up with the robbers to purchase stolen jewelry. He then traveled to New York City to melt down the jewelry before either arranging for its sale in the United States or returning to Colombia to sell it at his shop. In March 2018, special agents from the FBI Dallas Field Office’s Violent Crime Task Force arrested Mr. Lopez at a New York airport upon his entry into the country after his arrival from Bogota.
Mr. Corredor, a Queens, New York resident who went by the name “Mono,” admitted he connected Mr. Lopez with the robbers and helped broker the sales. On one occasion, he handed one of the robbers a bag of cash in exchange for several stolen Rolex watches. He admitted he knew the jewelry was stolen and took a portion of the illicit proceeds.
Like Mr. Lopez, Mr. Riveron admitted he traveled from his home in Miami, Florida to Texas and other states in order to purchase stolen diamonds from the robbers. Knowing he could turn a profit by reselling the jewelry, he purchased items below market value, making upfront cash down-payments to the robbers and funneling subsequent cash payments through aiders and abettors in Colombia.
Mr. Pinkhasov admitted that he helped move stolen diamonds across state lines, from Texas to Florida and to New York. Pinkhasov admitted to purchasing stolen diamonds and jewelry from Colombian SATG members twice in 2015.
Mr. Alishaev, a prominent jewelry dealer in New York City’s West 47th Street Jewelry and Diamond District, admitted that he agreed to purchase stolen diamonds from Mr. Pinkhasov, who had acquired jewels worth over $1,000,000 from Colombian SATG members.
Mr. Pinkhasov, who owned a jewelry store in Miami, sent the diamonds to Mr. Alishaev. The two men agreed to share the profits if they were fruitful. Shortly after receiving the jewels from Mr. Pinkhasov, Mr. Alishaev sent back $500,000 in cash. However, after the pair learned the FBI was investigating, they agreed to never speak about the matter again.
Between 2016 and 2018, through multiple indictments, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas charged a total of 20 SATG robbers who targeted traveling diamond and jewelry salesmen throughout the United States. All 20 have been convicted and sentenced.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Dallas Field Office, Miami Field Office, and New York Field Office conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joe Magliolo and Ryan Raybould (fmr.) prosecuted the case against the fences with help from Assistant U.S. Attorney Keith Robinson, who prosecuted the Hobbs Act robbery case against the jewel thieves.
- Romelio Rivieron, 51, who pled guilty in March 2020 to engaging in a conspiracy to launder money, was sentenced to 32 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $2,321,491.61 in restitution. He has already paid back approximately $230,000 towards victims of his crime.
Martinsburg man admits to drug chargeRead the Press Release
MARTINSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA –Ian Andre Carr, of Martinsburg, West Virginia, has admitted to a drug charge, Acting United States Attorney Randolph J. Bernard announced.
Carr, 49, pleaded guilty today to one count of “Distribution of Fentanyl and Heroin.” Carr admitted to distributing the substances in February 2018 in Berkeley County.
Carr faces up to 20 years of incarceration and fine of up to $1,000,000. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed will be based upon the seriousness of the offenses and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy D. Helman is prosecuting the case on behalf of the government. The Eastern Panhandle Drug Task Force, a HIDTA-funded initiative, investigated.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert W. Trumble presided.
Marshall County man admits to drug chargeRead the Press Release
WHEELING, WEST VIRGINIA – Dalton Kade Riggs, of Cameron, West Virginia, has admitted to a drug charge, Acting United States Attorney Randolph J. Bernard announced.
Riggs, 33, pleaded guilty today to one count of “Distribution of Methamphetamine.” Riggs admitted to distributing methamphetamine in March 2021 in Marshall County.
Riggs faces up to 20 years of incarceration and fine of up to $1,000,000. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed will be based upon the seriousness of the offenses and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Clayton J. Reid is prosecuting the case on behalf of the government. The Marshall County Drug Task Force, a HIDTA-funded initiative, investigated.
U.S. Magistrate Judge James P. Mazzone presided.
Manchester Man Sentenced to 60 Months for Participating in Drug Trafficking ConspiracyRead the Press Release
CONCORD –Jovan Callaghan, 25, of Manchester, was sentenced on Monday to 60 months in federal prison for conspiracy to distribute fentanyl and crack cocaine, Acting United States Attorney John J. Farley announced today.
According to court documents and statements made in court, in the spring of 2020, investigators received information from confidential sources that Chrystal Callaghan and her co-defendant son, Jovan Callaghan, were selling crack cocaine and fentanyl from their residence in Manchester. Law enforcement officers learned that Chrystal Callaghan and another co-conspirator, Melissa Gazaway, would travel to New York to purchase crack cocaine. On three separate occasions, officers conducted lawful traffic stops of their vehicle returning from New York and seized over 300 grams of crack cocaine. In late 2020, confidential sources conducted six controlled purchases of fentanyl and crack cocaine from the three co-defendants.
On December 24, 2020, investigators executed a search warrant at the Manchester residence and seized over one kilogram of fentanyl and a firearm, along with large amounts of cash and drug use and packaging materials.
Chrystal and Jovan Callaghan previously pleaded guilty on March 30, 2021. Chrystal Callaghan was sentenced to 54 months on July 28, 2021. Gazaway pleaded guilty on April 20, 2021 and awaits sentencing.
“Drug traffickers are endangering the safety of our communities,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Farley. “As this case demonstrates, we work closely with our law enforcement partners to identify and prosecute the drug dealers who are seeking to profit from the sales of fentanyl, crack cocaine, and other dangerous drugs. By getting drug dealers off the street of Manchester, we seek to improve the safety and security of the city’s residents.”
“Today’s sentence not only holds Mr. Callaghan accountable for his crimes but serves as a warning to those traffickers who are contributing to the drug crisis in America,” said DEA Special Agent in Charge Brian D. Boyle. “This investigation demonstrates the strength of collaborative law enforcement efforts in New Hampshire and our strong partnership with the U.S. Attorney’s Office.”
This matter was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the New Hampshire State Police, the Manchester Police Department, and the Nashua Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Georgiana L. MacDonald and Jennifer Cole Davis.
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Man Admits Role in Attempted Robbery of New Haven Restaurant Where Employee Was ShotRead the Press Release
Leonard C Boyle, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, James Ferguson, Special Agent in Charge, ATF Boston Field Division, and Acting New Haven Police Chief Renee Dominguez announced that TYTHRONE FORD, 27, of New Haven, pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer in New Haven to a charge stemming from the attempted robbery of a New Haven restaurant, during which an employee was shot, in April 2015.
According to court documents and statements made in court, at approximately 11:00 p.m. on April 11, 2015, Ford and two other men entered the Smokin’ Wings restaurant, located on Congress Avenue in New Haven, and demanded money at gunpoint. One of Ford’s associates subsequently discharged a firearm and shot a female employee in the stomach. Ford and his associates then fled the restaurant. Responding New Haven Police officers subsequently located a .22 caliber revolver in a nearby trash can.
Approximately eight hours prior to the Smokin’ Wings robbery, two of Ford’s associates, armed with handguns, entered Sapiaos Market, located on Lexington Avenue in Bridgeport, and demanded money. During the attempted robbery, the owner of the market, Jose Salgado, was shot and killed. At the time, Ford was waiting in a car outside of the market.
Forensic analysis of the revolver found in the trash can in New Haven, and projectiles collected from the scene of both attempted robberies, revealed that the gun was used in both shootings. DNA collected from the gun revealed that both Ford and one of his associates possessed the gun.
Ford pleaded guilty to one count of attempted interference with commerce by robbery, an offense that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years. Judge Meyer scheduled sentencing for December 14, 2021.
Ford has been detained since his arrest on December 10, 2019.
This matter stems from a cold case investigation conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the New Haven Police Department, with the assistance of the Connecticut Forensic Science Laboratory. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Peter D. Markle, Jocelyn C. Kaoutzanis, and Nathaniel J. Gentile through the Justice’s Department’s Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) program and Project Longevity,
PSN, the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts, is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.
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.
Long Island MS-13 Gang Member Pleads Guilty to 2016 Murder in BrentwoodRead the Press Release
Earlier today, in federal court in Central Islip, Nelson Argueta-Quintanilla, a member of the Sailors Locos Salvatruchas Westside (Sailors) clique of La Mara Salvatrucha, also known as the MS-13, a transnational criminal organization, pleaded guilty to racketeering charges relating to his participation in the murder of Oscar Acosta, the attempted murder of suspected rival gang members and a conspiracy to distribute cocaine and marijuana. The guilty plea was entered before United States Circuit Judge Joseph F. Bianco.
Jacquelyn M. Kasulis, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Michael J. Driscoll, Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI), and Stuart Cameron, Acting Commissioner, Suffolk County Police Department (SCPD), announced the guilty plea.
“With today’s guilty plea, the defendant, a member of the notorious MS-13, admits to being an active participant in a brutal murder in which the victim was viciously stabbed with a machete after being beaten, bound and thrown in the trunk of a car. In addition, compounding his wanton disregard for human life, the defendant also admits to attempting to murder rival gang members by approaching the outside of a home where they were standing and opening fire on them,” stated Acting U.S. Attorney Kasulis. “This Office and the Long Island Gang Task Force are deeply committed to dismantling the MS-13 and eliminating the threat of their senseless violence from our communities.”
“This guilty plea will ensure that yet another violent member of MS-13, who has no regard for human life, will be imprisoned for his senseless, brutal crimes,” stated SCPD Acting Commissioner Cameron said. “I would like to commend the Long Island Gang Task Force and Eastern District of New York for their unwavering commitment to holding gang members accountable and keeping our residents safe. We will continue to combine resources to rid our communities of gang violence.”
As set forth in prior court filings and the defendant’s statements during his guilty plea, Argueta-Quintanilla and other MS-13 members decided to kill Acosta in 2016 because they suspected that he was associating with the rival 18th Street gang. The Sailors clique leader assigned roles as to which members would take the lead in planning and carrying out the murder. On April 29, 2016, Argueta-Quintanilla and other MS-13 members encountered Acosta in a wooded area near an elementary school in Brentwood where he was lured under the guise of smoking marijuana. Argueta-Quintanilla and the other MS-13 members brutally beat Acosta with tree limbs, knocking him unconscious. Then they tied Acosta’s hands and feet, wrapped an article of clothing around his mouth, to prevent him from making noise and summoned other MS-13 members. The MS-13 members loaded Acosta into the trunk of a car and drove to a more secluded area in Brentwood near an abandoned psychiatric hospital. They took Acosta, who was still alive, out of the car and carried him into the woods where they stabbed and slashed him to death with a machete. The MS-13 members buried Acosta’s body in a shallow grave, which was discovered in September 2016.
In addition, on August 10, 2016, Argueta-Quintanilla and other MS-13 members attempted to kill suspected rival gang members in Brentwood. Argueta-Quintanilla and another MS-13 member, both of whom were armed with handguns, approached a house on Lukens Avenue where the suspected rival gang members were standing outside and fired numerous shots in their direction. No one was struck, but a stray bullet entered a neighbor’s house and struck the headboard of a bed in which the neighbor was sleeping. Argueta-Quintanilla also pleaded guilty to participating in a drug conspiracy, admitting that between April 2016 and October 2017, he and other members of the Sailors clique conspired to distribute cocaine and marijuana to raise money for the MS-13.
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, comprised primarily of immigrants from Central America. 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 and Megan E. Farrell are in charge of the prosecution.
The Defendant:
NELSON ARGUETA-QUINTANILLA (also known as “Mendigo”)
Age: 24
Brentwood, New YorkE.D.N.Y. Docket No. 16-CR-403 (S-7)(JFB)
Local Providers Agree to Settle Allegations of Improper Billing for Electro-Acupuncture DevicesRead the Press Release
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The United States Attorney’s Office announced today that Align Health and Holistic Medical Center, Inc. and Align Health Management, Inc., (collectively “Align”), Eric Anderson, P.A. d/b/a Anderson Chiropractic Clinic (“Anderson Chiropractic”), their owners and a former employee have agreed to pay $163,400 to resolve allegations that they knowingly and improperly billed Medicare for electro-acupuncture using peri-auricular stimulation devices in violation of the False Claims Act (“FCA”).
Align and Anderson Chiropractic are outpatient clinics located in Maryville, Tennessee that offer medical and chiropractic services for the treatment of pain. According to the contentions of the United States contained in the settlement agreement, between September 2016 and March 2019 Align and Anderson Chiropractic routinely presented, or caused to be presented, to Medicare false claims for payment for the placement of electro-acupuncture devices on patients. The placement of these devices was improperly billed under code L8679, which resulted in the clinics receiving payments from Medicare to which they were not entitled.
L8679 is a billing code for “implantable neurostimulator, pulse generator” devices that are surgically implanted into the central nervous system or targeted peripheral nerves through procedures that are typically performed by a surgeon in an operating room. However, the United States contends that Align and Anderson Chiropractic falsely billed Medicare under L8679 for electro-acupuncture devices they knew were not surgically implanted into their patients and for procedures that did not involve anesthesia or take place in an operating room. The underlying services for which Align and Anderson Chiropractic submitted the L8679 claims involved application of a device used for electro-acupuncture. Common brand names for this device include P-Stim, Stivax, NeuroStim, ANSiStim, E-Pulse, and NSS-2 Bridge. The electro-acupuncture devices were applied by inserting needles into patients’ ears and by taping the devices behind their ears with an adhesive. Medicare does not reimburse for electro-acupuncture devices billed as neurostimulators and did not reimburse for acupuncture at all during the period of the covered conduct.
In addition to paying the civil settlement, which was based on the parties’ ability to pay, Align, Anderson Chiropractic, and their owners have agreed to enter into an Integrity Agreement (“IA”) with the Office of Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services (“OIG-HHS”). The IA requires, among other things, that Align, Anderson Chiropractic, and their owners implement specific measures intended to prevent future health care fraud and to address evolving compliance risks. These measures include training for staff on applicable health care fraud laws and submitting to a claims review conducted by an Independent Review Organization to ensure compliance with Medicare billing requirements.
This investigation resulted from a coordinated effort between the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Tennessee, OIG-HHS, and the Southeastern Unified Program Integrity Contractor (“UPIC”).
Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph C. Rodriguez represented the United States.
The claims settled by this agreement are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.
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Leader of Latin Kings Set Sentenced to 19 Years in PrisonRead the Press Release
Audrey Strauss, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that CARMELO VELEZ, a/k/a “Jugg,” was sentenced today to 19 years in prison in connection with his participation in the Black Mob set of the Latin Kings and their distribution of narcotics, including heroin, fentanyl, and cocaine. VELEZ pled guilty on May 25, 2021, before U.S. District Judge Valerie E. Caproni, who imposed today’s sentence.
U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said: “Carmelo Velez was the leader of a violent gang who himself participated in acts of extreme violence. His wanton disregard for his victims has now earned him a lengthy prison term.”
According to public filings and statements made in court:
The Black Mob is a New York-based set, or “tribe,” of the nationwide Latin Kings gang. In order to enrich the enterprise, protect and expand its criminal operations, enforce discipline among its members, and retaliate against members of rival gangs, members and associates of the Black Mob committed, conspired, attempted, and threatened to commit acts of violence; distributed and possessed with intent to distribute narcotics, including heroin, fentanyl, and crack; committed robberies; and obtained, possessed, and used firearms.
The Black Mob’s leadership structure resembles the traditional leadership structure of other Latin King tribes. Leaders in the Black Mob are referred to as “Crowns,” with the respective Crowns ranked as “First Crown,” “Second Crown,” etc. VELEZ served as the First Crown of the Black Mob since in or around 2012 and, in that capacity, oversaw the Black Mob’s day-to-day operations and also ordered and participated in acts of violence and narcotics trafficking.
In December 2019 and April 2021, VELEZ was charged along with several other members and associates of the Black Mob, including Angel Lopez, a/k/a “SB,” and Christopher Rodriguez, a/k/a “Taz,” with racketeering offenses, narcotics conspiracy, and firearms offenses. Lopez and Rodriguez, both of whom also held leadership roles within the Black Mob, previously pled guilty and were sentenced to 240 months in prison and 210 months in prison, respectively.
VELEZ pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute narcotics. In connection with his guilty plea, VELEZ further stipulated to his involvement in multiple acts of violence: a June 2017 slashing of a rival gang member, an October 2018 home invasion that resulted in the slashing and assault of two rival gang members, and a gunpoint robbery of a drug dealer in or around September 2019.
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In addition to the prison term, VELEZ, 32, of Newburgh, New York, was sentenced to five years of supervised release.
Ms. Strauss praised the outstanding investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the New York City Police Department.
This effort is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.
This case is being handled by the Office’s Narcotics Unit. Assistant United States Attorneys Adam Hobson, Elinor Tarlow, and David Robles are in charge of the prosecution.
Larry Junior Hillbroom, of Hope, Idaho, Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy to Distribute MethamphetamineRead the Press Release
COEUR D’ALENE – Larry Junior Hillbroom, 37, of Hope, Idaho, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, Acting U.S. Attorney Rafael M. Gonzalez, Jr. announced today. Chief Magistrate Judge Candy W. Dale took Hillbroom’s plea and set the case for sentencing on February 8, 2022.
According to court records, in 2015 and 2016, Hillbroom conspired with others to smuggle methamphetamine through international airports between North Idaho and the Pacific Islands of Guam and Palau. Hillbroom and others used several different methods to smuggle the drugs, including shampoo containers and carrying the substance on their person. Once in Guam or Palau, Hillbroom would coordinate with locals to sell the methamphetamine. Law enforcement officers learned of the conspiracy and were able to investigate and ultimately arrest Hillbroom and his coconspirators.
Hillbroom was originally charged with Morgan Kenney, Zachary Craig Carlson, and Sean Robert Wathen, all of Hope, Idaho. Kenney and Carlson previously pleaded guilty and have been sentenced to federal prison. Wathen has plead not guilty to the conspiracy and is currently set for trial in November 2021.
Acting U.S. Attorney Gonzalez credited the cooperative efforts of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Bonner County Sheriff's Office, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Coeur d'Alene Police Department, Idaho State Police, U.S. Border Patrol, and the U.S. Marshals Service, which led to charges.
This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.
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Justice Department Sues to Block Unprecedented Domestic Alliance Between American Airlines and JetBlueRead the Press Release
The U.S. Department of Justice, together with Attorneys General in six states and the District of Columbia, sued today in the District of Massachusetts to block an unprecedented series of agreements between American Airlines and JetBlue through which the two airlines will consolidate their operations in Boston and New York City. The civil antitrust complaint alleges that this extensive combination, which they call the “Northeast Alliance,” will not only eliminate important competition in these cities, but will also harm air travelers across the country by significantly diminishing JetBlue’s incentive to compete with American elsewhere, further consolidating an already highly concentrated industry.
“Millions of consumers across America rely on air travel every day for work, to visit family, or to take vacations. Fair competition is essential to ensuring they can fly affordably and safely,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “In an industry where just four airlines control more than 80% of domestic air travel, American Airlines’ ‘alliance’ with JetBlue is, in fact, an unprecedented maneuver to further consolidate the industry. It would result in higher fares, fewer choices, and lower quality service if allowed to continue. The complaint filed today demonstrates the Justice Department’s commitment to ensuring economic opportunity and fairness by protecting consumers and competition.”
“The Northeast Alliance would eliminate significant competition in this important industry,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Richard A. Powers of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. “This sweeping partnership is unprecedented among domestic airlines and amounts to a de facto merger between American and JetBlue in Boston and New York City. The impact on consumers extends far beyond Massachusetts and New York, as evidenced by the participation and our ongoing cooperation with Attorneys General from across the country, including Arizona, California, Florida, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Virginia and the District of Columbia, in this lawsuit.”
The Northeast Alliance combines American’s and JetBlue’s operations at four major airports: Boston Logan, John F. Kennedy, LaGuardia and Newark Liberty. The airlines have committed to coordinate “on all aspects” of network planning, including which routes to fly, when to fly them, who will fly them and what size planes to use for each flight. The two airlines will also share revenues earned at these airports, eliminating their incentives to compete with one another. The Northeast Alliance will also allow the parties to pool their gates and takeoff and landing authorizations, known as “slots.” According to the complaint, this unprecedented combination would raise prices and reduce choices for air passengers traveling to and from Boston and New York City.
As alleged in the complaint, American is the largest airline in the world. Just four airlines — American, along with Delta, United and Southwest — collectively control over 80% of domestic air travel. According to the complaint, American has relentlessly pursued a strategy of industry consolidation in the United States and around the world. Unable to combine with foreign airlines through formal mergers, American has instead pursued consolidation through a series of international joint ventures. The complaint alleges that JetBlue’s CEO stated, “it may look as if a dozen or more airlines [are] providing service. But when you go under the surface, it’s really just three big mega-alliances controlling 87% of the traffic…Consumers effectively have very little choice in markets where JVs have a stranglehold – and they also face higher fares.” The Justice Department alleges that American now seeks to import this strategy to domestic air travel.
According to the complaint, JetBlue has positioned itself as an important source of competition against American and the other large airlines, particularly in the northeast. According to the complaint, JetBlue’s reputation for lowering prices is so established that the industry refers to it as the “JetBlue Effect.” JetBlue’s own internal estimates show that it has saved customers at least $10 billion since its launch, offering lower fares and better service, and forcing its competitors to do the same.
According to the complaint, the Northeast Alliance will cause hundreds of millions of dollars in harm to air passengers across the country through higher fares and reduced choice. The complaint alleges that prior to entering the Northeast Alliance, JetBlue and American both planned to compete more intensely with one another, including in Boston and New York City, but also in other areas. If allowed to proceed, the Northeast Alliance would eliminate this important existing and future competition — creating, as American’s senior executives put it, “further domestic consolidation.” The Northeast Alliance will dampen American’s incentive to expand service elsewhere in its network and will significantly reduce JetBlue’s incentives to challenge its much larger partner across the country.
American Airlines Group Inc. is a Delaware corporation with its headquarters in Fort Worth, Texas. In 2019, it flew over 215 million passengers to approximately 365 locations worldwide, earning about $45 billion in revenues.
JetBlue Airways Corporation is a Delaware corporation with its headquarters in Long Island City, New York. In 2019, JetBlue flew over 42 million passengers to approximately 100 locations worldwide, earning about $8 billion in revenue.
Justice Department Reaches $1.6M Agreement to Remedy Title IX Violations at San José State UniversityRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON - The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California announced a settlement with San José State University (SJSU) to ensure that students can attend school and participate in college athletics free from sexual harassment, including sexual assault. The department conducted its investigation under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (Title IX).
The department found that SJSU failed for more than a decade to respond adequately to reports of sexual harassment, including sexual assault, of female student-athletes by an athletic trainer then working at SJSU. Beginning in 2009, female student-athletes reported that the trainer subjected them to repeated, unwelcome sexual touching of their breasts, groins, buttocks, and/or pubic areas during treatment in the campus training facilities. The department concluded that for years, SJSU’s ineffective response exposed additional student-athletes to harm. The department also found that SJSU retaliated against two SJSU employees. The first employee repeatedly alerted school officials to the threat the athletic trainer posed, and the second employee expressed opposition to retaliating against the reporting employee and was terminated by SJSU. The department and SJSU entered into a comprehensive agreement to address the findings of the investigation, which began in June 2020.
“No student should be subjected to sexual harassment at a college or university in our country, especially by an employee who wields a position of power,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “With this agreement, San José State University will provide relief to survivors and transform its Title IX process to ensure accountability in its athletics program and create a safer campus for all its students. The Justice Department thanks the current and former students who came forward and shared their experiences, and the employees who unceasingly advocated for their students. Because of them, San José State University will adopt major reforms to prevent such an abuse of authority from happening ever again.”
“The department’s findings provide a stark reminder that schools must respond quickly to protect students from sexual harassment. Title IX requires no less,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Stephanie M. Hinds for the Northern District of California. “We acknowledge the San José State University students and employees whose efforts shined a light on this issue and look forward to working with the university to implement this important agreement.”
Under the agreement, among other relief, SJSU will:
• significantly improve SJSU’s process for responding to complaints of sexual harassment; • bolster the Title IX Office by revising the office structure and providing adequate authority, independence, and resources to the Title IX Coordinator; • publicize Title IX policies and protocols and develop user-friendly materials so everyone in the SJSU community knows how to report Title IX concerns; • improve the policies and procedures of the SJSU Sports Medicine and Athletics Training Program to prevent sexual harassment by athletic trainers; • deliver training to student-athletes and SJSU Athletics employees on giving and receiving informed consent for medical treatments and athletic training services; • survey SJSU Athletics employees to assess their understanding of SJSU policies and identify barriers to reporting; • take concrete steps to prevent retaliation under Title IX, including through training that provides clear examples of prohibited conduct; and
• provide supportive measures and remedies to current and former student-athletes who were sexually harassed by the athletic trainer.The agreement also requires SJSU to pay financial relief totaling $1.6 million to individuals who were sexually harassed by the athletic trainer and who came forward to participate in the department’s Title IX investigation or SJSU’s internal investigations. The department will monitor implementation of the agreement through the 2024-2025 academic year.
Attorneys from the Educational Opportunities Section of the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California jointly conducted this investigation, with which SJSU cooperated. Individuals with information related to SJSU’s compliance with Title IX are encouraged to contact the Department of Justice at 1-833-591-0289 or at [email protected].
The enforcement of Title IX, which prohibits sex discrimination in education programs and activities operated by recipients of federal financial assistance, is a top priority of the Civil Rights Division. Additional information about the Civil Rights Division is available on its website at www.justice.gov/crt, and additional information about the work of the Educational Opportunities Section is available at https://www.justice.gov/crt/educational-opportunities-section. Additional information about the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Northern District of California is available on its website at https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndca. Members of the public may report possible civil rights violations at https://civilrights.justice.gov/report/.
Justice Department Reaches $1.6M Agreement to Remedy Title IX Violations at San José State UniversityRead the Press Release
The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California announced a settlement with San José State University (SJSU) to ensure that students can attend school and participate in college athletics free from sexual harassment, including sexual assault. The department conducted its investigation under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (Title IX).
The department found that SJSU failed for more than a decade to respond adequately to reports of sexual harassment, including sexual assault, of female student-athletes by an athletic trainer then working at SJSU. Beginning in 2009, female student-athletes reported that the trainer subjected them to repeated, unwelcome sexual touching of their breasts, groins, buttocks, and/or pubic areas during treatment in the campus training facilities. The department concluded that for years, SJSU’s ineffective response exposed additional student-athletes to harm. The department also found that SJSU retaliated against two SJSU employees. The first employee repeatedly alerted school officials to the threat the athletic trainer posed, and the second employee expressed opposition to retaliating against the reporting employee and was terminated by SJSU. The department and SJSU entered into a comprehensive agreement to address the findings of the investigation, which began in June 2020.
“No student should be subjected to sexual harassment at a college or university in our country, especially by an employee who wields a position of power,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “With this agreement, San José State University will provide relief to survivors and transform its Title IX process to ensure accountability in its athletics program and create a safer campus for all its students. The Justice Department thanks the current and former students who came forward and shared their experiences, and the employees who unceasingly advocated for their students. Because of them, San José State University will adopt major reforms to prevent such an abuse of authority from happening ever again.”
“The department’s findings provide a stark reminder that schools must respond quickly to protect students from sexual harassment. Title IX requires no less,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Stephanie M. Hinds for the Northern District of California. “We acknowledge the San José State University students and employees whose efforts shined a light on this issue and look forward to working with the university to implement this important agreement.”
Under the agreement, among other relief, SJSU will:
- significantly improve SJSU’s process for responding to complaints of sexual harassment;
- bolster the Title IX Office by revising the office structure and providing adequate authority, independence, and resources to the Title IX Coordinator;
- publicize Title IX policies and protocols and develop user-friendly materials so everyone in the SJSU community knows how to report Title IX concerns;
- improve the policies and procedures of the SJSU Sports Medicine and Athletics Training Program to prevent sexual harassment by athletic trainers;
- deliver training to student-athletes and SJSU Athletics employees on giving and receiving informed consent for medical treatments and athletic training services;
- survey SJSU Athletics employees to assess their understanding of SJSU policies and identify barriers to reporting;
- take concrete steps to prevent retaliation under Title IX, including through training that provides clear examples of prohibited conduct; and
- provide supportive measures and remedies to current and former student-athletes who were sexually harassed by the athletic trainer.
The agreement also requires SJSU to pay financial relief totaling $1.6 million to individuals who were sexually harassed by the athletic trainer and who came forward to participate in the department’s Title IX investigation or SJSU’s internal investigations. The department will monitor implementation of the agreement through the 2024-2025 academic year.
Attorneys from the Educational Opportunities Section of the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California jointly conducted this investigation, with which SJSU cooperated. Individuals with information related to SJSU’s compliance with Title IX are encouraged to contact the Department of Justice at 1-833-591-0289 or at [email protected].
The enforcement of Title IX, which prohibits sex discrimination in education programs and activities operated by recipients of federal financial assistance, is a top priority of the Civil Rights Division. Additional information about the Civil Rights Division is available on its website at www.justice.gov/crt, and additional information about the work of the Educational Opportunities Section is available at https://www.justice.gov/crt/educational-opportunities-section. Additional information about the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Northern District of California is available on its website at https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndca. Members of the public may report possible civil rights violations at https://civilrights.justice.gov/report/. View the summary of agreement here.