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12 July 2021
Huntington Man Sentenced for Child Pornography OffenseRead the Press Release
The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Vermont stated that Louis Hamlin II, 77, of Huntington, Vermont, was sentenced on July 12, 2021, in United States District Court in Rutland, Vermont, to serve 72 months in prison after his guilty plea to one count of knowingly producing with intent to distribute child pornography that is an adapted or morphed depiction of an identifiable minor. Chief U.S. District Judge Geoffrey W. Crawford also ordered Hamlin to serve a five (5) year term of supervised release and to pay a $100 special assessment.
According to court records and proceedings, in February 2019, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) received a Cybertip that someone at a specific IP address in Vermont had uploaded or viewed an image of child pornography. NCMEC referred the Cybertip to the Vermont Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC) for investigation. Thereafter, the ICAC and special agents with Homeland Security Investigations identified the user of the IP address to be Louis Hamlin II. Law enforcement obtained and executed a search warrant at Hamlin’s residence in Huntington, Vermont and discovered images of child pornography on his computer.
As part of his plea agreement, Hamlin admitted that he used a computer that was connected to the Internet, a facility of interstate and foreign commerce, to upload and distribute an image file depicting an identifiable minor that had been modified to make it appear that the child was engaging in sexually explicit conduct. Specifically, Hamlin admitted to taking an image of an identifiable child and cropping and modifying it so particular aspects of the image were highlighted. In doing so, the image created by Hamlin appeared to show the child engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
Acting United States Attorney Jonathan A. Ophardt commended the efforts of the Vermont Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and Homeland Security Investigations in the investigation and prosecution of Hamlin. Assistant U.S. Attorney Barbara A. Masterson handled the prosecution of Hamlin. Assistant Federal Public Defender David L. McColgin represented Hamlin.
Acting U.S. Attorney Ophardt noted that this case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and Child Exploitation Obscenity Section, Criminal Division (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.
Huntington Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Drug CrimeRead the Press Release
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. -- Frederick Coleman, 32, of Huntington, pleaded guilty today to a federal drug crime.
According to court documents and statements made in court, law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at a residence in Huntington on February 13, 2020. Inside one of the bedrooms, officers recovered approximately 2.31 grams of heroin and approximately 20.99 grams of cocaine. Coleman admitted that he possessed the heroin and intended to distribute it.
Coleman pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute heroin and faces up to 20 years in prison when he is sentenced on October 18, 2021.
Acting United States Attorney Lisa G. Johnston made the announcement and commended the investigative efforts of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Huntington Violent Crime and Drug Task Force.
United States District Judge Robert C. Chambers presided over the hearing. Assistant United States Attorney Nick Miller is handling the prosecution.
A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia. Related court documents and information can be found on PACER by searching for Case No. 3:20-cr-00171.
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Huntington Man Pleads Guilty to Escape ChargeRead the Press Release
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – A Huntington man pleaded guilty today to an escape charge. Jeremy Midkiff, 39, pleaded guilty to walking away from a halfway house last year.
Midkiff admitted that in October 2020, he left Dismas Charities, Inc., a Bureau of Prisons residential reentry facility, without permission and did not return. He had been confined at Dismas because of a previous federal drug trafficking conviction.
Midkiff faces up to five years imprisonment when sentenced on November 10, 2020.
Acting United States Attorney Lisa G. Johnston made the announcement and commended the investigative work of the U.S. Marshals Service.
Senior United States District Robert C. Chambers presided over the hearing. Assistant United States Attorney Negar Kordestani is handling the prosecution.
A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia. Related court documents and information can be found on PACER by searching for Case No. 2:21-cr-00083.
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Gates Mills Man Pleads Guilty to Role in Bookmaking ConspiracyRead the Press Release
Acting U.S. Attorney Bridget M. Brennan announced that William Mangelluzzi, 48, of Gates Mills, Ohio, pleaded guilty in federal court today to a Bill of Information charging him for his role in a conspiracy to operate an illegal gambling business and attempted income tax evasion.
According to court documents, Mangelluzzi, together with Thomas Reed, 48, of Kirtland Hills, Ohio, and others, owned and operated an illegal gambling business in the Northern District of Ohio. Court records state that Mangelluzzi, a former gambling client of Reed, conspired together with Reed and others in order to conceal the proceeds of the gambling business and make them appear legitimate. In addition, Mangelluzzi deposited large sums of cash into bank accounts and conducted other transactions with Reed and others in order to evade income tax liability.
Reed previously pleaded guilty to a Bill of Information for his role in the conspiracy.
Mangelluzzi’s sentence will be determined by the Court after reviewing factors unique to this case, including the defendant’s prior criminal record, if any, the defendant’s role in the offense and the characteristics of the violation. In all cases the sentence will not exceed the statutory maximum, and in most cases, it will be less than the maximum.
This case was investigated by the United States Secret Service and the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigations. This case is being prosecuted by Criminal Chief Robert Bulford and Assistant U.S. Attorney Alejandro Abreu.
Former Labor Union President Sentenced for Embezzling Union FundsRead the Press Release
A former labor union president was sentenced in federal court for embezzling close to $20,000 from the union, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson.
U.S. District Judge Claire V. Eagan sentenced Thomas Jerome Burkhart, Jr., 59, of Sapulpa, to three years of probation and ordered him to pay restitution to the labor union in the amount of $19,900. Burkhart pleaded guilty on April 8, 2021, admitting to embezzlement and theft of labor union assets.
“Thomas Burkhart Jr. was trusted by local union members as their president but instead abused his position to steal nearly $20,000 for his own personal use,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson. “The defendant is now a convicted felon and will pay back Steelworkers Local 145 for the funds he embezzled. My office will continue to work with the Office of Labor-Management Standards to ensure corrupt union leaders like Burkhart are held accountable for their crimes.”
The Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS) opened an investigation after an internal audit by Steelworkers Local 145 revealed a loss of union funds. OLMS found that, from July 2018 to August 2019, Burkhart embezzled union funds by writing approximately 43 unauthorized checks to himself, resulting in a loss of $19,900 to the local union while he served as president of Steelworkers Local 145, located in Henryetta, Oklahoma, from 2014 through 2019.
“While the vast majority of union officials do their work diligently and without incident, OLMS will continue to work with unions to hold accountable anyone that unlawfully exploits their union position to enrich themselves without regard to the best interests of union members,” said Office of Labor-Management Standards District Director Michelle Hussar in Dallas, Texas. “This sentencing and restitution order sends a clear message that there are consequences for individuals who breach the trust placed in them to be good stewards of union funds.”
The U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Labor-Management Standards conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jeffrey A. Gallant and David D. Whipple prosecuted the case.
Florida Department of Children and Families Agrees to Pay $17.5 Million to Resolve False Claims Act Liability in Connection with SNAP Quality ControlRead the Press Release
The Florida Department of Children and Families (FDCF) has agreed to pay to the United States $17,500,000 to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act in its administration of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Until 2008, SNAP was known as the Food Stamp Program.
“SNAP provides important benefits to help families in need,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “This settlement is an example of the department’s commitment to ensuring that taxpayer funds are spent appropriately so that the public can have confidence in the integrity of vital programs like SNAP.”
“While it is shocking these claims where submitted by the Florida Department of Children and Families, the state agency entrusted with assisting vulnerable and needy individuals, I commend the agency for correcting its conduct, cooperating with our investigation, and resolving its liability for its past actions,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph H. Harrington for the Eastern District of Washington. “Together with our partners in the Justice Department’s Civil Division and the USDA, we will continue to investigate and hold accountable those who misuse and wrongfully obtain SNAP funding.”
“We appreciate the commitment and investigative assistance provided by our partners at the Department of Justice’s Civil Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office throughout this multi-state investigation,” said Special Agent in Charge Bethanne M. Dinkins of the USDA, Office of Inspector General (OIG). “We also wish to note the technical assistance provided by our colleagues in the Office of Audit at OIG. During the investigation, conducted by OIG’s Northeast Regional Office, we worked together to address the concerns of employees of multiple states and others who alleged that the integrity of the SNAP quality control process was weakened by third-party consultants and/or the implementation of methods that injected bias into the quality control process. These concerned individuals reported that cases were not being treated in a consistent manner, and that certain advice from consultants and/or the implementation of certain methods resulted in identified errors being diminished rather than used to improve eligibility determinations. The settlements reached to date send a strong message regarding the government’s commitment to work across agency lines to protect the integrity of SNAP.”
Under SNAP, USDA provides eligible low-income individuals and families with financial assistance to buy nutritious food. Since 2010, SNAP has served on average more than 45 million Americans per month and provided more than $71 billion annually.
Although the federal government funds SNAP benefits, it relies on the states to determine whether applicants are eligible for benefits, to administer those benefits and to have appropriate quality control processes in place. To ensure that these quality control processes serve as an accurate check on eligibility decisions, USDA requires that these processes be free from bias and accurately report states’ error rates in awarding benefits.
The USDA reimburses states for a portion of their administrative expenses in administering SNAP, including expenses for providing quality control. It also pays performance bonuses to states that report the lowest and the most improved error rates each year, and can impose monetary sanctions on states with high error rates that do not show improvement.
The settlement announced today resolves allegations that beginning in 2010, FDCF implemented improper policies and practices to reduce its SNAP error rate. Specifically, the United States alleged FDCF injected bias into its quality control process that resulted in FDCF submitting false quality control data and information to USDA, for which it received unentitled performance bonuses for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. In addition to its payment of $17.5 million, FDCF has also agreed to forego payment of an additional $14.7 million in unpaid bonuses that USDA awarded for fiscal years 2013 and 2014.
The United States has previously settled allegations of improper manipulation of SNAP quality control findings with state agencies in Virginia, Wisconsin, Texas, Louisiana, Alaska and Mississippi, as well as with Osnes Consulting and its owner, Julie Osnes, who the government alleged advised and encouraged many of these agencies to engage in such manipulations. Including this settlement, the United States has now recovered over $60 million in connection with this investigation of the SNAP program.
The settlement was the result of a coordinated effort between the Civil Division’s Commercial Litigation Branch (Fraud Section) and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Washington, with investigative support from the USDA-OIG. The investigation arose out of a nationwide audit of SNAP Quality Control processes by the USDA-OIG.
The matter was handled by Senior Trial Counsel Don Williamson of the Civil Division and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Dan Fruchter and Tyler Tornabene of the Eastern District of Washington.
The claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only and there has been no determination of liability.
Federal agent charged with aiding drug smugglingRead the Press Release
McALLEN, Texas – A Border Patrol (BP) agent has been arrested on allegations he attempted to aid and abet smuggling cocaine through a BP checkpoint, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Jennifer B. Lowery.
Oberlin Cortez Pena Jr., 22, La Joya, is set to make his appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Nadia S. Medrano at 9 a.m. today.
Authorities took him into custody July 9 upon the filing of a criminal complaint. The charges allege that on two separate occasions, Pena accepted $1,000 in exchange for helping a vehicle with at least five kilograms of cocaine through the Falfurrias checkpoint. Pena allegedly utilized his knowledge as a BP agent in acting as a scout and providing information about the inspection lanes and which one to utilize.
According to the complaint, he also gave detailed instructions on how to conceal the drugs and tactics to employ in order to distract the K-9 unit at the checkpoint.
If convicted, he faces a minimum of 10 years up to life in federal prison as well as a possible $10 million maximum fine.
Department of Homeland Security - Office of the Inspector General conducted the investigation with assistance from Customs and Border Protection - Office of Professional Responsibility and BP. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jongwoo Chung and John Pearson are prosecuting the case.
A criminal complaint is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence.
A defendant is presumed innocent unless convicted through due process of law.Eight Defendants Sentenced in Counterfeit Check CaseRead the Press Release
ALBANY, Ga. – Eight defendants who pleaded guilty for their role in an elaborate counterfeit check cashing scheme have been sentenced by a federal judge for their crimes.
According to court documents, Fredner “Fresh” Reserve was the ringleader of a small organization of individuals who deposited counterfeit checks provided by Reserve into various banks between August and September 2019, sometimes immediately withdrawing cash. The checks were often deposited via ATM. The scheme was discovered when the vice president of Southwest Georgia Bank (SWGB) contacted the U.S. Secret Service on September 6, 2019, regarding fraudulent checks that were being deposited at SWGB. That same day, the investigating Secret Service Special Agent met with a Moultrie Police Department (PD) investigator to discuss whether a similar investigation involving Ameris Bank was part of the same conspiracy.
On September 19, 2019, another SWGB bank employee contacted the Moultrie PD after seeing a customer, co-defendant Khadijah Bailey, who had deposited fraudulent checks into her account at the bank attempting to withdraw cash. The responding officers were able to apprehend Bailey, Reserve and co-defendant Deborah Johnson, who was working with Reserve in the scheme. A search of Johnson’s car revealed additional fraudulent checks and other evidence of the scheme. Co-defendant Erica Langley had earlier been arrested after depositing a fraudulent check and withdrawing money from her SWGB account but could only identify Reserve who had recruited her to participate in the scheme by the name “Fresh.” Working with local law enforcement, Secret Service agents tied the fraud scheme to SWGB and Ameris branches in several South Georgia cities. The investigation uncovered that co-defendants Bailey, Langley, Demetrius Collins, Jerry Lynn King, Jerra Carter and Frank Thomas, as well as other uncharged individuals, would either open or use existing bank accounts to deposit fraudulent checks provided by Reserve and Johnson. Reserve admitted that he conspired with others to devise and execute a scheme to defraud financial institutions using fraudulent checks for a fraud loss between $40,000 and $95,000.
“The loss to these community banks would have been much greater if not for responsive bank employees who reported the crime and the quick investigative work by the U.S. Secret Service and the Moultrie Police Department,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Peter D. Leary. “Committing fraud against small businesses is not a victimless crime. People’s livelihoods can be severely damaged, and the harmed businesses can fail to recover. Our office will not hesitate to prosecute individuals caught deceiving people for profit.”
“This case is another example that clearly shows criminals are continuously looking for ways to steal from financial institutions. In this case, the community banks were violated when the fraudsters opened bank accounts for the sole purpose of committing fraud. The United States Secret Service, along with our state, local and federal law enforcement partners will continue to investigate, arrest and support the successful prosecution of the criminals who choose to commit this and other types of financial fraud in our community and around the nation,” said Clint Bush, Resident Agent in Charge, United States Secret Service, Albany, Georgia Resident Office.
“This particular check cashing scheme is an unusual case for Moultrie. This investigation exemplifies the outstanding cooperation that exists between our community and law enforcement that we are able to rapidly track, identify and shut this crime down, preventing even greater harm to our local banks and ultimately our community,” said Investigator Frank Newton, Moultrie Police Department.
Reserve and co-defendants were sentenced by U.S. District Judge Louis Sands to the following terms of imprisonment and ordered to collectively repay almost $20,000 in loses to the banks (their individual judgements are based on the attempted amount of theft):
Fredner “Fresh” Reserve, 34, of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and was sentenced to serve 31 months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release on March 25, 2021;
Deborah Johnson, 29, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty conspiracy to commit bank fraud and was sentenced to serve 24 months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release on October 15, 2020;
Jerry Lynn King, 53, of Moultrie, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and was sentenced to serve 21 months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release on January 28, 2021;
Frank Thomas, 24, of Moultrie, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and was sentenced to 18 months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release on July 8, 2021;
Demetrius Collins, 48, of Moultrie, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and was sentenced to serve 12 months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release on January 28, 2021;
Jerra Carter, 22, of Moultrie, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and was sentenced to serve eight months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release on March 24, 2021;
Erica Langley, 37, of Moultrie, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and was sentenced to serve six months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release on February 25, 2021; and,
Khadijah Bailey, 26, of Moultrie, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and was sentenced to serve six months in prison, 90 days of which is home confinement, to be followed by three years of supervised release on July 8, 2021.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Secret Service and the Moultrie Police Department.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert McCullers prosecuted the case for the Government.
Edisto Island Man who Livestreamed with Handgun before Violent Charleston Riots Sentenced to 24 Months in Federal PrisonRead the Press Release
Charleston, South Carolina --- Acting United States Attorney M. Rhett DeHart announced today that Kelsey Donnel Jackson, 28, of Edisto Island, was sentenced to 24 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to maliciously damaging a police vehicle by means of fire during violent and destructive riots in downtown Charleston on May 30, 2020.
Evidence presented in court showed that, while traveling to the protests, Jackson streamed a video of himself on Facebook live in which he held a handgun, racked the slide on the handgun, and pointed the handgun at the screen of his phone. While holding the handgun on multiple occasions, Jackson is heard on the live stream making the following statements: “F*ck the police,” “let a cop run up and get done up,” “we’re liable to f*ck the police up right now,” and “you about to get hit” when he thought he was being pulled over by a police officer.
Evidence presented to the court further showed that Jackson travelled throughout the city, vandalizing businesses and public property, assaulting two civilians, and attempting to light a Charleston Police cruiser on fire.
Jackson is the third of six defendants to be sentenced on federal charges stemming from participation of actions including arson, inciting riots, and other civil disorder in Columbia and Charleston on May 30 and 31, 2020.
“While the United States Attorney’s Office will always protect the First Amendment rights of South Carolinians, we will not allow violence and destruction to go unpunished,” said Acting U.S. Attorney DeHart. “We stand committed with our local, state and federal partners to protect the citizens of South Carolina, and we commend the tremendous effort made by detectives and crime analysts from the Charleston Police Department to not only identify those responsible for the violence and destruction last summer but also to document evidence and quickly apprehend them. As was expressed in court, today’s sentencing will hopefully be a deterrent for violent agitators committing crimes like this in the future.”
“The Charleston Police Department once again applauds the successful resolution of this criminal case and the ongoing support displayed by the United States Attorney’s Office regarding this incident,” said Charleston Police Chief Luther Reynolds. “While the Charleston Police Department will always support our citizen’s right to peaceful protest, we will never condone violent or destructive acts that endanger our citizens or damage property. More work remains to be accomplished as we continue investigating and prosecuting those violent offenders responsible for the significant destruction of property, assault on our citizens and attack on our officers. We will not rest until justice is accomplished for all impacted by those criminal acts.”
United States District Judge Richard M. Gergel sentenced Jackson to 24 months imprisonment to be followed by 36 months of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system.
The case was investigated by the FBI, ATF, Charleston Police Department, and South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED). Numerous other local police departments and Solicitors’ Offices across the state have also assisted in the investigations of civil unrest in May 2020.
Assistant United States Attorneys Emily Limehouse and Nathan Williams prosecuted the case.
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Drug trafficker from Canada sent to prisonRead the Press Release
HOUSTON – A 51-year-old woman has been ordered to federal prison for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Jennifer B. Lowery.
Elizabeth K. Fisher pleaded guilty Jan. 11, 2020.
Today, U.S. District Judge Kenneth Hoyt ordered Fisher to serve an 84-month-term of imprisonment to be immediately followed by five years of supervised release. In handing down the sentence, Judge Hoyt noted the sentence should provide deterrence to those that traffic in controlled substances.
Fisher intended to come to Houston where she would receive shipments of cocaine to test and store before delivering it someone who would transport it Canada.
She first flew into the United States in April 2019. While she did not receive any drugs on that trip, she did rent a townhouse before returning to Calgary, Canada, April 30.
On May 12, 2019, Fisher returned to Houston and her rented residence. Less than a week later, she drove to a Home Depot where she met with an individual who got in her car and drove off while Fisher entered the store. Authorities later saw her talking on her phone as she exited the parking lot in her vehicle.
Law enforcement executed a traffic stop and found four duffle bags containing a total of 78 kilograms of cocaine.
Fisher has been and will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
The Drug Enforcement Administration in Houston and Vancouver, Canada, and Homeland Security Investigations conducted the investigation along with law enforcement in Calgary. Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Stabe prosecuted the case.
Decatur Man Sentenced to 27 Years in Prison for Child Sex CrimesRead the Press Release
URBANA, Ill. – Courtney Williams, 32, of the 3500 block of Plover Dr. in Decatur, Ill., was sentenced today to 324 months (27 years) in federal prison for child sexual exploitation offenses.
On March 11, 2021, Williams entered a plea of guilty to the indictment, which charged that for the time period between Jan. 17, 2020, and Jan. 25, 2020, Williams used the internet and a cell phone to entice a minor to engage in sexual activity that qualified as aggravated criminal sexual abuse.
According to court documents, Williams portrayed himself as a 17-year-old male while communicating online with a minor girl via Snapchat and text. As part of these communications, Williams solicited the girl to send him sexually explicit photos and to meet him to engage in sexual activity. Further, Williams lured the minor into his vehicle on the evening of Jan. 24, 2020, and took her to his residence where he gave her drugs which caused her to lose consciousness. While the minor girl was unconscious, Williams sexually assaulted her.
Williams has been in the custody of the U.S. Marshals since his arrest on Feb. 7, 2020.
Following Williams’s release from prison, he will be on federal supervised release for 10 years and will be required to register as a sex offender.
The charges were investigated by the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the Decatur Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Elly M. Peirson represented the government in the prosecution.
The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative by the Department of Justice to combat the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
Currency Exchange Manager Sentenced to One Year for Filing False Transaction Reports in Connection with Scheme to Defraud Philadelphia Wholesale Produce MarketRead the Press Release
PHILADELPHIA – Acting United States Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams announced that Thomas Del Borrello, 42, of Sewell, NJ, was sentenced to one year in prison, two years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay a $5,000 fine by United States District Judge Cynthia M. Rufe for filing false currency reports in connection with a vast, multi-million dollar scheme to defraud the Philadelphia Wholesale Produce Market (Market) in South Philadelphia, perpetrated by the Market’s President and CEO Caesar DiCrecchio.
The defendant pleaded guilty to a Criminal Information in April 2021, charging him with filing false Currency Transaction Reports (CTRs) and failing to file CTRs for cash transactions in excess of $10,000. Del Borrello was a supervisor at United Check Cashing on South Broad Street in Philadelphia and, as such, was responsible for compliance with regulations governing cash transactions, including the preparation and filing of CTRs.
Del Borrello regularly cashed checks for Caesar DiCrecchio, who has pleaded guilty to defrauding the Market while serving as its President and CEO. As part of his guilty plea, DiCrecchio admitted regularly causing groups of checks to be delivered to, and cashed at, United Check Cashing. These checks were each made out for less than $10,000, but when cashed as a group generated in excess of $10,000 in United States currency. For these cash transactions in excess of $10,000, regulations require the currency exchange to file a CTR, recording the identity of the person who presented the transaction. Del Borrello caused the filing of false CTRs which hid DiCrecchio’s identity, or caused United Check Cashing to fail to file a CTR altogether. On some occasions, DiCrecchio directed Del Borrello to convert the proceeds of the checks into separate money orders which were used to pay the $14,167 monthly rent for DiCrecchio’s Stone Harbor house. Del Borrello’s corrupt actions permitted DiCrecchio to remain undetected while he perpetrated the $7 million fraud on the Market.
“Del Borrello, by his corrupt choices, prevented the ordinary operation of the anti-money laundering laws of the United States,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Williams. “In his position as a supervisor at a check cashing business, Del Borrello served at a key gateway in our economy. But rather than respect the law and his important role in the enforcement process, he helped DiCrecchio cover up a massive fraud. He deserves the sentence of imprisonment he received for his effort to defeat our anti-money laundering laws.”
“In repeatedly evading or falsifying the required CTRs, Thomas Del Borrello facilitated the continuation of a long-running, multimillion-dollar fraud scheme,” said Michael J. Driscoll, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Philadelphia Division. “He knew it was wrong and didn’t care, because he was making money off the whole deal. As today’s sentencing shows, such criminal actions have serious consequences.”
“The subject’s actions allowed millions of dollars to be siphoned from the Philadelphia Wholesale Produce Market, harming the local economy,” said Joleen D. Simpson, Acting Special Agent in Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation, Philadelphia Field Office. “The subject had a duty to prepare and file CTRs. As a direct result of Del Borrello’s dereliction of duties, an entity suffered lost revenues and federal tax laws were violated. IRS Criminal Investigation will always be ready to assist its law enforcement partners in investigating complex financial cases that cause economic damage to individuals and entities.”
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Organized Crime Task Force, the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation, and the Pennsylvania State Police – Bureau of Criminal Investigation, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael T. Donovan.
Convicted Felon Sentenced to 10 Years for Distribution of Marijuana and Using a Firearm During a Drug Trafficking CrimeRead the Press Release
Memphis, TN – Ronald Freeman, 39 has been sentenced to 120 months in federal prison for distribution of marijuana and using a firearm during a drug trafficking crime. Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph C. Murphy Jr., announced the sentence today.
According to information presented in court, between August 2020 and September 2020, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), conducted a criminal investigation into the drug trafficking activities of Ronald Freeman. This investigation was initiated through Operation LeGend, an initiative in which federal law enforcement agencies work in conjunction with state and local law enforcement to fight violent crime. Operation LeGend was first launched on July 8, 202o in Kansas City, Missouri and announced in Memphis on August 6, 2020.
ATF Special Agents utilized a confidential informant to conduct approximately 7 controlled purchases resulting in receiving two firearms and narcotics from Freeman. Each transaction was audio and video-recorded and completed under ATF supervision.
On March 24, 2021, the defendant pled guilty.
On July 9, 2021, U.S. District Judge Sheryl H. Lipman sentenced Freeman to 120 months imprisonment to be followed by 5 years supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system.
This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).
Assistant U.S. Attorney Wendy K. Cornejo prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.
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Clarksburg man sentenced for firearms chargeRead the Press Release
CLARKSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA – Tee El Dodd, of Clarksburg, West Virginia, was sentenced today to 46 months of incarceration for a firearms charge, Acting U.S. Attorney Randolph J. Bernard announced.
Dodd, 34, pleaded guilty in December 2020 to one count of “Unlawful Possession of Firearm.” Dodd, a person prohibited from having a firearm because of a prior conviction, admitted to having a 9mm pistol in October 2019 in Doddridge County.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah E. Wagner prosecuted the case on behalf of the government. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources Police investigated.
U.S. District Judge Thomas S. Kleeh presided.
Chicago Felon Sentenced to Federal Prison for Derecho FraudRead the Press Release
A Chicago felon who pretended to be a victim of the August 2020 derecho disaster in order to fraudulently obtain over $5,000 in FEMA disaster benefits was sentenced today to more than a year in federal prison. Tavonte Donnell Stewart, age 23, from Chicago, Illinois, received the prison term after a March 9, 2021, guilty plea to one count of Derecho Benefits Fraud.
On August 10, 2020, a severe storm, commonly known as a derecho, suddenly struck multiple counties in Iowa, Illinois, and Indiana in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. The derecho had long-duration winds over 100 miles per hour and caused an estimated total of $7.5 billion in damages across the affected states. The derecho caused long-lasting power outages and millions of acres of crops were destroyed. Cedar Rapids, Iowa, within the Northern District of Iowa, was particularly hard-hit from the derecho storm. In response, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) declared a disaster, which allowed victims of the derecho storm to apply for and receive disaster benefits for losses not covered by insurance.
In a plea agreement, and at the sentencing hearing, Stewart admitted that, in October 2020, he applied for $5,927.40 in FEMA derecho disaster benefits on the false pretense that he was living in a Cedar Rapids residence at the time of the derecho storm. FEMA paid Stewart these benefits for alleged personal property damage and rental assistance. Stewart spent the funds on jewelry for his girlfriend and to purchase a duplicate identification card for himself from the Illinois Secretary of State.
Stewart also admitted that, around the same time, he had filed a similar fraudulent application for benefits intended victims of a disaster in California. Stewart was not a resident of either Iowa or California, but instead was at all times a resident of Chicago, Illinois. In fact, Stewart was on federal supervised release in the Northern District of Illinois following his conviction for Uttering Counterfeit Obligations or Securities and had notified his federal probation officer of his residences in the Chicago area around the time of the derecho storm.
Stewart was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams. Stewart was sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment. He was ordered to make $5,927.40 in restitution to FEMA. He must also serve a five-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system. Stewart 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 Department of Homeland Security, Office of the Inspector General.
Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.
The case file number is 20-CR-114.
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Charleston Woman Sentenced to Prison for Federal Drug CrimeRead the Press Release
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – A Charleston woman who took part in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine in 2019 was sentenced today to 10 months in federal prison and four years of supervised release. Kathryn Elizabeth Casto, 35, previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine.
According to court documents, Casto admitted that, between April and September of 2019, she conspired with multiple individuals to distribute methamphetamine. During the conspiracy, Casto repeatedly obtained quantities of methamphetamine which were transported from Akron, Ohio to various locations in West Virginia. Casto would in turn supply other drug dealers with methamphetamine that would be sold in the Huntington and Charleston areas. Casto admitted that she was aware some of her customers intended to distribute the methamphetamine she provided.
Acting United States Attorney Lisa G. Johnston made the announcement and commended the joint investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the Violent Crime and Drug Task Force West, the Metropolitan Drug Enforcement Network Team (MDENT), the West Virginia State Police, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Task Force, the Beckley/Raleigh County Drug and Violent Crime Unit, the United States Marshals Service, the Cabell County Sheriff’s Department, the Charleston Police Department, the Putnam County Sheriff’s Department, the Ohio State Highway Patrol, the Akron, Ohio Police Department, and the Brecksville, Ohio Police Department.
United States District Judge Robert C. Chambers imposed the sentence. Assistant United States Attorney Joseph F. Adams handled the prosecution.
A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia. Related court documents and information can be found on PACER by searching for Case No. 3:19-cr-00245.
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Bridgeport Gang Member Pleads Guilty to Racketeering and Witness Tampering ChargesRead the Press Release
Leonard C Boyle, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that SHAKALE BRANTLEY, also known as “Charlie Wilson,” “Kellz,” and “Man Man,” 21, of Bridgeport, pleaded guilty today in New Haven federal court to racketeering and witness tampering charges.
According to court documents and statements made in court, the FBI, ATF, DEA, U.S. Marshals Service and Bridgeport Police have been investigating multiple Bridgeport-based gangs whose members are involved in narcotics trafficking, murder and other acts of violence. Wilson was a member of the Original North End (“O.N.E.”), a gang based in the Trumbull Gardens area of Bridgeport that committed acts of violence against rival gang, including the East End gang, the East Side gang, and the PT Barnum gang. O.N.E. members also robbed drug dealers, sold narcotics, laundered narcotics proceeds, stole cars from inside and outside Connecticut and used them to commit crimes, and tampered with witnesses who might testify against them.
On August 8, 2018, Brantley and other O.N.E. members stole a white Jeep Grand Cherokee in Newburgh, New York, and drove it back to Bridgeport. In the following days, Brantley conspired to use the car to kill East End gang members who he had learned through social media were at a deli on Stratford Avenue in Bridgeport. Although that plan fell through, in the early morning hours of August 13, 2018, O.N.E. members drove the stolen Jeep to Union Avenue in Bridgeport where they shot and killed Len Smith, 25, who they mistook for a rival East End group member, and shot and seriously wounded Smith’s female companion, both of whom were seated in a parked car. After the shooting, Brantley and other O.N.E. members transported the Jeep to Indian Wells State Park in Shelton where they burned the vehicle in an effort to destroy evidence of the murder.
In October 2018 in Bridgeport, and in November 2018 in Stratford, Brantley and other O.N.E. members and associates attacked a marijuana dealer and stole marijuana from him. After Brantley was arrested on federal charges on March 23, 2020, and while he was incarcerated, he attempted to solicit others to kill the victim of the marijuana robberies, who Brantley had learned had become a federal witness, in order to prevent Brantley’s prosecution for those offenses. Specifically, Brantley reached out by prison call to associates and by letters addressed to those associates in an effort to have his associates kill the robbery victim and then cover his nose with fentanyl to make it appear as if he overdosed.
In pleading guilty, Brantley also admitted that he distributed controlled substances, including heroin and marijuana.
Brantley pleaded guilty to one count of engaging in a pattern of racketeering activity and one count of solicitation of witness tampering. At sentencing, which is not scheduled, Brantley faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 35 years.
This ongoing investigation is being conducted by the FBI’s Safe Streets and Violent Crimes Task Forces, ATF, DEA, U.S. Marshals Service, Bridgeport Police Department, Connecticut State Police and the Bridgeport State’s Attorney’s Office, with the assistance of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Connecticut Forensic Science Laboratory and the Waterbury Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Rahul Kale, Jocelyn C. Kaoutzanis, Peter D. Markle and Karen L. Peck.
This prosecution is a part of the Justice’s Department’s Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), Project Longevity and Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) programs. PSN is a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make neighborhoods safer for everyone. 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. OCDETF identifies, disrupts and dismantles drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs and transnational criminal organizations through a prosecutor-led and intelligence-driven approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.
Bradford, PA Man Pleads Guilty to Receiving Child PornographyRead the Press Release
ERIE, Pa. - A resident of Bradford, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty in federal court to a charge of violating federal laws relating to the sexual exploitation of children, Acting United States Attorney Stephen R. Kaufman announced today.
Daniel Thomas Sutton, 33, 595 South Kendall Avenue, Bradford, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty to one count before Senior United States District Judge David S. Cercone.
In connection with the guilty plea, the court was advised that Sutton received computer images and movies depicting minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct.Judge Cercone scheduled sentencing for November 22, 2021 at 2:00 p.m. The law provides for a total sentence of 20 years in prison, a fine of $250,000, or both. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed is based upon the seriousness of the offense and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.
Pending sentencing, the court continued Sutton on bond.
Assistant United States Attorney Christian A. Trabold is prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Pennsylvania State Police conducted the investigation that led to the prosecution of Sutton.
Attleboro Man Sentenced for Child Pornography OffensesRead the Press Release
BOSTON – An Attleboro man was sentenced today for receipt and possession of child pornography.
Garry Bienvenue, 59, of Attleboro, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge F. Dennis Saylor to 10 years and one month in prison and five years of supervised release. On March 10, 2021, Bienvenue pleaded guilty to one count of receipt of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography involving a prepubescent minor and a minor who had not attained 12 years of age.
Law enforcement learned that an internet user at Bienvenue’s Attleboro home had solicited and received child pornography from children over the internet using the Snapchat messaging application, including through the video chat feature. A search of the home resulted in the seizure of Bienvenue’s smartphone, which was found to contain child pornography videos that had been received through Snapchat, including one depicting the rape of a child as young as 3-5 years old. The investigation also revealed that Bienvenue had used a phone application to solicit and pay individuals in the Philippines to force children to participate in naked video chats with him and watch him engage in sexual conduct.
Acting United States Attorney Nathaniel R. Mendell; Matthew B. Millhollin, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston; Colonel Christopher Mason, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police; and Attleboro Police Chief Kyle P. Heagney made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Elianna Nuzum of Mendell’s Major Crimes Unit prosecuted the case.
The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood. In 2006, the Department of Justice created Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the DOJ’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov/.
Armstrong Man Sentenced to Federal Prison for Defrauding the United States Out of More than $1 Million in Paycheck Protection Program Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
An Armstrong man who participated in a scheme to defraud the United States out of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) funds, and conspired to launder over $1.3 million in fraud proceeds, was sentenced yesterday to more than three years in federal prison.
Donald Franklin Trosin, age 57, from Armstrong, Iowa, formerly of Champlin, Minnesota, received the prison term after a February 16, 2021 guilty plea to one count of Major Fraud Against the United States and one count of Money Laundering Conspiracy.
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (“CARES”) Act is a federal law enacted in late March 2020 that provides emergency financial assistance, including PPP and EIDL loans, to the millions of Americans who are suffering the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Evidence presented at Trosin’s guilty plea and sentencing hearings established that Trosin participated in a scheme to defraud the United States out of PPP and EIDL loan funds after more than 20 applications were submitted to the Small Business Administration (SBA) in the name of Trosin and another person. The applications falsely represented that Trosin had 120 employees on his payroll and over $5 million in payroll expenses when, in truth, Trosin did not operate a business at all. Trosin also admitted that, after receiving the funds through banks in Minnesota and Northwest Iowa, he transferred or attempted to transfer the proceeds from the scheme to other individuals in other states and countries, including China.
Trosin was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge Leonard T. Strand. Trosin was sentenced to 40 months’ imprisonment. He was ordered to make over $1.3 million in restitution to the Small Business Administration and the lender of the PPP loan. Trosin must also serve a two-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. The Task Force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by, among other methods, augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts. For more information on the Department’s response to the pandemic, please visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus.
Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID- 19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.
Trosin was released on the bond previously set and is to surrender to the Bureau of Prisons on a date yet to be set.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Timothy L. Vavricek and was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation, the Small Business Administration, Office of Inspector General, and the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.
Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.
The case file number is 20-CR-4066.
Acting U.S. Attorney Announces Appointment of Assistant U.S. Attorney John F. Docherty to Serve as Federal Magistrate Judge in St. PaulRead the Press Release
MINNEAPOLIS – W. Anders Folk, the Acting United States Attorney for the District of Minnesota, today announced that Assistant U.S. Attorney John F. Docherty has been appointed to serve as a United States Magistrate Judge. He will sit in St. Paul.
Mr. Docherty has served in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota as an Assistant U.S. Attorney since 2002. In his capacity, Mr. Docherty prosecuted a wide range of cases, focusing on international and domestic terrorism, civil rights cases, and cases involving the illegal export of sensitive U.S. technology. Mr. Docherty also served as the Office’s Anti-Terrorism Advisory Council (ATAC) Coordinator. Between 2006 and 2008, Mr. Docherty left the U.S. Attorney’s Office temporarily to work as a prosecutor at the United Nations’ International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in the Hague, the Netherlands. There, he was a senior member of the prosecution team at the trial of General Dragomir Milosevic, the commander of the troops encircling Sarajevo during the last two years of the siege of that city. Milosevic was convicted, following a nine-month trial, of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Prior to joining the Office, Mr. Docherty worked at the Antitrust Division of the Justice Department in Washington, D.C. before returning to Minnesota to join the Office of the Minnesota Attorney General, where, under Attorney General Hubert H. Humphrey III, he worked in the Antitrust Division and the Criminal Division. Mr. Docherty graduated with honors from the University of Minnesota Law School. He is a current member and past President of the Warren E. Burger American Inn of Court, and a member of the Minnesota Chapter of the Federal Bar Association.
Acting U.S. Attorney W. Anders Folk said: “I am proud that John Docherty has been selected to serve as a Magistrate Judge for the District of Minnesota. John is an excellent AUSA who handled some of our Office’s most difficult and complex cases. I know John will bring the same sense of justice and fairness to the bench that he brought to his work as a federal prosecutor. The people of the District of Minnesota will be well-served by his ongoing commitment to justice.”
9 July 2021
Woman Arrested on Federal Drug Charge After Allegedly Selling Cocaine While on Vacation in ChicagoRead the Press Release
CHICAGO — A woman has been arrested on a federal drug charge after allegedly selling two kilograms of cocaine while vacationing in Chicago this week.
MARINA RIVERA, 33, sold the cocaine Wednesday evening in the 3200 block of South Komensky Avenue in the Little Village neighborhood of Chicago, according to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago. Unbeknownst to Rivera, the buyer was cooperating with law enforcement, who conducted surveillance on the transaction, the complaint states. Rivera was arrested shortly thereafter.
Rivera was staying in a nearby residence this week while on vacation in Chicago from Mexico, the complaint states. Law enforcement searched the residence and discovered approximately eight kilograms of cocaine inside a suitcase in the bedroom where Rivera was staying, the complaint states.
The complaint charges Rivera with one count of possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute. She made an initial appearance in federal court Thursday and was ordered to remain detained in federal custody. A detention hearing is set for July 14, 2021, at 1:30 p.m., before U.S. Magistrate Judge Heather K. McShain.
The arrest and complaint were announced by John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; and Robert J. Bell, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Division of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Andrew J. Dixon and Megan DeMarco.
The drug charge is punishable by a maximum sentence of life in federal prison. If convicted, the Court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal statutes and the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines.
The public is reminded that a complaint is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Virginia Diagnostic Testing Lab Agrees to Pay $1.4 Million to Resolve False Claims Act AllegationsRead the Press Release
NEWARK, N.J. – A Virginia diagnostic laboratory will pay $1.4 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by submitting or causing to be submitted claims for genetic tests to Medicare without valid physician oversight, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig announced today.
According to the contentions of the United States contained in the settlement agreement:
From July 2014 to September 2015, Genetworx Laboratories utilized the services of Seth Rehfuss as a sales representative who persuaded groups of senior citizens in senior housing complexes to submit to genetic testing, despite applicable Medicare rules requiring proper orders from a treating physician for such tests. Genetworx, in turn, submitted claims for payment to Medicare for Rehfuss’s genetic tests performed without valid physician oversight.
Rehfuss, of Somerset, New Jersey, previously pleaded guilty in Trenton federal court to a superseding information charging him with conspiracy to commit health care fraud and was sentenced in May 2019 to 50 months in prison.
Acting U.S. Attorney Honig credited special agents of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services – Office of the Inspector General, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Scott J. Lampert; special agents of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Mahoney; and the Cape May County Department of Aging and Disability Services, with the investigation leading to the settlement.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Meyler of the Health Care Fraud Unit in Newark.
The claims settled by this agreement are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.
U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and Partners Present Annual Youth SummitRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON - The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia teamed up with several local and federal law enforcement partners and community-based organizations today to present the Annual “Breaking the Silence on Youth Violence” Youth Summit. Due to continued COVID-related social distancing, the Summit was again presented virtually – this year, to more than 250 youth participants.
Acting U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips welcomed youth participants, commending them for their “persistence in pursuing [their] aspirations despite the challenges that may arise.” “[D]uring the past year-and-a-half, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, [you] have faced challenges and hardships, but you continue to show your resolve in not only achieving personal success, but in helping to make your community a better place to live,” Phillips remarked. Acting U.S. Attorney Phillips also awarded one of three 2021 United States Attorney Office’s Youth Citizenship Awards to Ronald Woods II. Brandi Ling and Emon Thompson, who appeared remotely to accept the Award, also were recipients of the USAO Youth Citizenship Award.
Each year, the free Summit focuses on gun violence and mental health issues, and features dynamic speakers, entertainment, prizes, and invaluable information and resources. For the past ten years, the U.S. Attorney’s Office has collaborated with its partners to host the Youth Summit. Past Summits have included sessions that highlighted the causes and consequences of youth violence, challenged youth participants to make better decisions, and emphasized the importance of cooperating with law enforcement.
This year’s Youth Summit focused on prevention of gun violence, opioid abuse, and sex trafficking. Emceed by local celebrity DJ Flava, the Summit featured Metropolitan Police Chief Robert J. Contee III; Tia Bell, founder of the T.R.I.G.G.E.R. Project; domestic sex trafficking survivor Tina Frundt, founder of Courtney’s House; and Catie Drew, DEA Scientist and Senior Prevention Program Manager, among other speakers. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenya Davis shepherded youth participants through a discussion of human trafficking.
Summit partners this year included the D.C. Prevention Center; the East of the River Family Strengthening Collaborative; Hillcrest Children and Family Center; the Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency; the Marion Barry Summer Youth Program; the DC Metropolitan Police Department; the DC Department of Parks and Recreation; the DC Department of Behavioral Health; Advocates for Justice and Education Inc.; the DC Parent Information & Training Center; University Legal Services of the District of Columbia’s Disability Rights Protection and Advocacy Program; Phil More Fit Fitness; and Kids Eat Free.
For more information, contact United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia Director of Community Outreach Wendy Pohlhaus at (202)252-6930 or [email protected].
Two Cargo Handlers at LAX Plead Guilty to Conspiracy Charge for Stealing Four Gold Bars Headed from Australia to New YorkRead the Press Release
LOS ANGELES – Two cargo handling company employees who worked at Los Angeles International Airport each pleaded guilty today to a federal criminal charge for stealing four gold bars that were part of a larger shipment headed from Australia to New York.
Marlon Moody, 38, and Brian Benson, 35, both of South Los Angeles, each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit theft of an interstate or foreign shipment.
United States District Judge Dale S. Fischer scheduled November 1 sentencing hearings for the defendants, at which time they each will face a statutory maximum sentence of five years in federal prison.
According to their plea agreements, both men worked for Alliance Ground International, a company that provided ground handling services at LAX. On the evening of April 22, 2020, a shipment of gold bars arrived at LAX on Singapore Airlines. A total of 2,000 gold bars, each weighing one kilogram and valued at approximately $56,000, were being shipped at the direction of a Canadian bank. During a stopover at LAX, the gold was offloaded and secured, but an inventory that evening showed one box containing 25 gold bars was missing.
Moody found the missing box of gold bars near the Singapore Airlines cargo warehouse on the morning of April 23, placed the box on a belt loader and drove that vehicle to a nearby location, where he removed four of the bars. Soon after, Benson arrived to pick up Moody in a company van, where they exchanged text messages about the gold bars because other employees were in the van. The two defendants later left the airport and went to a nearby parking lot, where Moody gave Benson one of the four gold bars.
The lost box with the 21 remaining gold bars was discovered by other cargo handlers later on April 23, and authorities began an investigation that ultimately led to Moody and Benson.
Moody gave one gold bar to a relative on May 4 “and directed the family member to exchange the gold bar for a vehicle and/or money,” according to court documents. Around this time, Moody buried the remaining two gold bars in the backyard of his residence.
The FBI recovered all four gold bars about two weeks after they went missing from LAX.
The FBI, the Federal Air Marshal Service, the Los Angeles Police Department, and the Los Angeles Airport Police investigated this matter.
Assistant United States Attorney Lyndsi C. Allsop of the General Crimes Section is prosecuting this case.
Timber thief convicted following 6-day trialRead the Press Release
Tacoma — The lead defendant in a scheme to steal maple wood that resulted in a massive 2018 forest fire on the Olympic Peninsula was convicted July 8, 2021, in U.S. District Court in Tacoma following a 6-day jury trial, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman. The jury deliberated about 7 hours before convicting Justin Andrew Wilke, 39, of conspiracy, theft of public property, depredation of public property, trafficking in unlawfully harvested timber, and attempting to traffic in unlawfully harvested timber. U.S. District Judge Benjamin H. Settle scheduled sentencing for October 18, 2021.
“When people steal trees from our public lands, they are stealing a beautiful and irreplaceable resource from all of us and from future generations,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Gorman. “That theft, coupled with the sheer destruction of the forest fire that resulted from this activity, warrants federal criminal prosecution. I commend the various branches of the U.S. Forest Service who worked diligently to investigate and hold this defendant accountable.”
According to records filed in the case, between April and August 2018, Justin Andrew Wilke conducted an illegal logging operation in the Elk Lake area of the Olympic National Forest, near Hood Canal. In July 2018, just days after his release from state prison, another defendant, Shawn Edward Williams, 49, joined the conspiracy, helping Wilke remove maple from the National Forest and transporting it with Wilke to a mill in Tumwater, Washington. The type of maple harvested by the defendants is highly prized and used to produce musical instruments.
This was the first use of tree DNA evidence in a federal criminal trial. Wilke claimed the wood he sold to a Tumwater mill had been harvested from private property with a valid permit. However, at trial, Richard Cronn, Phd., a Research Geneticist for the USDA Forest Service, testified that the wood Wilke sold was a genetic match to the remains of three poached maple trees investigators had discovered in the Elk Lake area. The DNA analysis was so precise that it found the probability of the match being coincidental was approximately one in one undecillion (one followed by 36 zeroes). Based on this evidence, the jury concluded the wood Wilke sold the mill had been stolen.
On August 3, 2018, the group decided to cut a maple tree that contained a wasp’s nest near the base of the tree. To remove the nest, the group sprayed insecticide and gasoline on the nest and base of the tree and then lit the nest on fire. The group failed to extinguish the fire, which developed into a wildfire later named the “Maple Fire.” The Maple Fire consumed more than 3,300 acres between August and November 2018 and cost approximately $4.2 million to contain. Some witnesses testified at trial that Wilke was standing next to the nest when it was lit on fire, and therefore appeared to have set the fire. However, because the fire was set at night, they were not able to see his exact actions. The jury did not convict Wilke of the two federal counts related to the forest fire: setting timber afire and using fire in furtherance of a felony.
One of those who testified that Wilke set the fire, Shawn Williams, pleaded guilty in December 2019 to theft of public property and setting timber afire. He was sentenced in September 2020 to 30 months in prison.
Quick and diligent investigative work by a U.S. Forest Service law enforcement officer and by a U.S. Forest Service Wildland firefighter preserved important evidence in the case.
The counts of conviction are punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Judge Settle will determine the appropriate sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Seth Wilkinson and Will Dreher.
Texas Man Pleads Guilty for His Role as Executive National Marketing Director in Operating Sham Medical Reimbursement Account ProgramRead the Press Release
NEW ORLEANS – U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that JOSEPH ANTHONY BORINO, age 64, a resident of Spring Hill, Texas, pleaded guilty on July 8, 2021 before United States District Judge Wendy B. Vitter to Count One of a one-count Superseding Bill of Information charging him with misprision of a felony, namely, wire fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 4.
According to court documents, The Total Financial Group (TTFG) was a Louisiana business incorporated by Denis and Donna Joachim with the Louisiana Secretary of State on or about January 6, 2005, TTFG was most recently located at 406 N. Florida Street, Covington, Louisiana. TTFG had at least 13 employees and 56 independent sales agents. BORINO, employed with TTFG since 2012, served as the National Executive Marketing Director for TTFG. In that capacity, BORINO supervised, trained, and instructed TTFG’s regional sales personnel. BORINO primarily handled issues agents, prospective clients, and enrolled clients encountered.
TTFG and its owners, with BORINO and others, created and marketed a Medical Reimbursement Account program called “Classic 105.” Classic 105 claimed to be a multiple employer welfare arrangement that was marketed to employers as a supplemental benefits plan for their employees to reimburse them for medical expenses such as co-pays and deductibles. All participants in Classic 105 were required to have a primary health insurance plan unrelated to and in addition to Classic 105. Classic 105 claimed to be comprised of several components: a tax-exempt contribution of between $1,000 and $1,600 per month made by an employee (which reduced the employee’s taxable income), a loan from a lender back to the employee to make up for the contribution, an insurance policy payable to the lender at the employee’s death to repay the loan, and fees paid by the employee and the employer directly to TTFG. TTFG told prospective employer-clients that participants would never have to make out-of-pocket payments to repay the loan and that as a result of the tax savings, most participants would receive an increase in their net take home pay. TTFG’s marketing program told prospective employer-clients that the contributions would be stored in a unique account for each employee-participant and that any money not used by the end of each calendar year would revert to TTFG. TTFG also charged employee-participants a fee of between $150 and $250 per month and the employer a fee of five percent of each employee’s contribution amount. At its peak, over 350 employer-clients and 4,400 employee-participants nationwide were enrolled in TTFG’s Classic 105 program.
According to court documents, TTFG committed wire fraud by virtue of how it actually operated Classic 105. TTFG never obtained a single loan or insurance policy for the Classic 105 program, and participants never made any actual contributions. The only money tendered to TTFG by employer-clients and employee-participants were fees. As a result, employee-participants and employer-clients were defrauded into enrolling in, and paying fees for, the Classic 105 program by means of fraudulent pretenses, representations, and promises. Additionally, participants and employers were exposed to potential adverse financial consequences, including not only unpaid taxes, fees, and penalties, but also ineligibility from certain government programs, including unemployment payments, and reduced Social Security payments.
Despite having knowledge of these events, which constituted wire fraud, on multiple occasions, BORINO did not make known the information and attempted to conceal it. For example, in September 2014, BORINO was told that “TTFG has not made any deals with any banks in any state” and also had “not solicited nor [sic] received any pooling of funds from a group of individuals.” In the subsequent months, when subordinates asked BORINO specific questions about the loan component and passed along concerns that Classic 105 was “a scam and likely an illegal tax dodge,” BORINO failed to disclose what he had been told: that there were no entities providing loans. In subsequent years, BORINO continued to represent to subordinates and prospective customers that loans from “Wall Street banks,” community banks, and various “investing vehicles” funded the loan component.
BORINO faces a maximum term of imprisonment of three (3) years, a $250,000 fine, one year of supervised release, a $100 mandatory special assessment fee and he is subject to a restitution order for his conduct. Sentencing has been scheduled before Judge Vitter for November 9, 2021.
U.S. Attorney Evans praised the work of the United States Department of Labor – Office of Inspector General and Employment Benefits Security Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and IRS-Criminal Investigations in investigating this matter. Assistant United States Attorneys Jordan Ginsberg, Maria Carboni, and Andre Lagarde are in charge of the prosecution.
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Stilwell Man Charged with Sexual Abuse of a Child in Indian CountryRead the Press Release
A Stilwell man faces charges after allegedly sexually assaulting a minor in 2017 near Vinita, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson.
David Anthony Romannose, 44, was charged by criminal complaint with sexual abuse of a child in Indian Country and aggravated sexual abuse in Indian Country. At a hearing on July 6, U.S. Magistrate Judge Susan E. Huntsman ordered the defendant detained while awaiting trial. Romannose is a citizen of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma.
On July 4, 2017, Romannose accompanied a group who were traveling through northeastern Oklahoma after attending a festival in Seiling. While traveling, according to the affidavit, Romannose allegedly sexually assaulted the victim in the backseat of the vehicle. The violation occurred in Indian Country on the Will Rogers Turnpike/Interstate Highway I-44 near Vinita, in Craig County. The victim told investigators she remembered the group stopping at a rest stop in Vinita shortly after the abuse occurred. Romannose reportedly also abused the minor, an Oneida Indian Nation citizen, after the group arrived home in New York. The victim later disclosed the abuse to a counselor and family member.
A criminal complaint is a temporary charge alleging violation of the law. Defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. For the case to proceed to trial, the United States must present the charge to a federal Grand Jury within 30 days. Once a Grand Jury returns an Indictment, a defendant has a right to a jury trial at which time the United States would have the burden of proving the defendant’s guilt.
The FBI, Oneida Indian Nation Police Department, and Craig County Sheriff’s Office are the investigative agencies. Assistant U.S. Attorney Gina S. Gilmore is prosecuting the case.
Statement of Attorney General Merrick B. Garland on the Justice Department’s Implementation of the Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American EconomyRead the Press Release
Attorney General Merrick B. Garland made the following statement after the President’s signing of the Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy:
“The Department of Justice welcomes the Executive Order, which furthers a fair, open and competitive economy through a ‘whole of government’ approach. The department reaffirms its commitment to promoting competition by fairly and vigorously enforcing the antitrust laws. We will immediately begin implementing the interagency collaborations called for in the Executive Order, and we look forward to helping our agency partners use their regulatory authorities to bring greater competition to the U.S. economy. As President Biden emphasized in the Executive Order, competitive markets benefit all Americans — including consumers, workers, farmers and entrepreneurs.
“Our nation’s laws promote competition through both antitrust enforcement and regulation. The Department of Justice is responsible for preventing harmful mergers and stopping anticompetitive conduct through vigorous enforcement of the antitrust laws. At the same time, the regulatory powers wielded by a wide variety of federal agencies can be used to lower barriers to competitive entry, promote innovation and limit the harms that flow from monopoly power.
“Using enforcement and regulation in tandem will benefit America’s consumers, workers and small businesses by increasing competition throughout the economy, including in key areas such as labor markets and the agricultural, health care and technology sectors. The Executive Order’s ‘whole of government’ strategy builds on historical examples of the department working closely with regulators to promote and sustain competition. While the department’s antitrust consent decree shattered the AT&T telephone monopoly, the explosion in choice of phone service and network equipment innovation that followed also required rules that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) developed and worked with the department to implement. Similar collaborations have supported competition in industries ranging from airlines to health insurance.
“As encouraged by the Executive Order, the department plans to work closely with other federal agencies to determine how their authorities can better promote competition and open markets in the modern economy. This increased interagency coordination will promote robust competition in the American economy. For example, working with the Department of Health and Human Services, we can promote high quality telehealth services that expand health care competition and lower prices for consumers and their employers.
“The department will closely examine its antitrust guidelines and policy statements to better educate the public on its enforcement priorities, and it will heighten its efforts to prevent mergers that would result in excessive consolidations of purchasing power.
“The department also will continue to expand its partnership with other agencies to promote competition in labor markets. When agencies work together to promote competition for workers, it helps all workers, including racial and ethnic minorities and disadvantaged and underrepresented groups. And the long-term benefits accrue not just to workers, but to the entire economy, including small businesses and rural communities.”
Click to view the Executive Order.
Statement of Acting Assistant Attorney General Richard A. Powers of the Antitrust Division and FTC Chair Lina Khan on Competition Executive Order’s Call to Consider Revisions to Merger GuidelinesRead the Press Release
The following joint statement can be attributed to Acting Assistant Attorney General Richard A. Powers of the Antitrust Division and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chair Lina Khan:
“We must ensure that the merger guidelines reflect current economic realities and empirical learning and that they guide enforcers to review mergers with the skepticism the law demands. The current guidelines deserve a hard look to determine whether they are overly permissive. We plan soon to jointly launch a review of our merger guidelines with the goal of updating them to reflect a rigorous analytical approach consistent with applicable law.”
Southern Indiana Residents Sentenced for Federal Firearms ViolationsRead the Press Release
INDIANAPOLIS – A Vincennes man and his co-defendants have been sentenced for federal felony firearm violations. Dakota S. Lovellette, 20, was sentenced to 4 years of probation for making a false statement in connection with the acquisition of a firearm. He was also ordered to pay a $1,000 fine. Lovellette and Nicholas P. Apple had previously been indicted by a federal grand jury on January 10, 2020.
According to court documents, in February 2019, Lovellette wanted to purchase a firearm. He could not personally purchase one from a licensed dealer due to his age. Lovellette discussed this issue with Apple, but Apple was not able to purchase a firearm because he is a convicted felon. They both agreed that Apple would ask his then girlfriend, Kyla Freeman to purchase the firearm for Lovellette.
Freeman agreed to purchase the firearm for Lovellette. On February 4, 2019, Freeman accepted money from Lovellette, falsified information on the official Firearms Transaction Record and purchased a .38 caliber revolver. Freeman then gave the firearm to Lovellette. Lovellette eventually sold the firearm to a juvenile who accidently shot another juvenile in the chest. The victim survived but is now paralyzed.
“We work closely with ATF and our other federal, state and local law enforcement agencies to combat gun crimes,” said Acting U.S. Attorney John E. Childress. “Identifying, investigating, and prosecuting those involved in the straw purchases of firearms and lying on federal firearms transaction forms, will help keep guns out of the wrong hands and provide our communities a safer place to live and work.”
“Everyone should be aware that it is illegal to supply firearms to those who are prohibited from possessing them,” stated Roland H. Herndon, Jr., Special Agent in Charge of ATF’s Columbus Field Division. “ATF will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to disrupt the flow of guns from legal commerce to illegal activity.”
Nicholas P. Apple, 23, Vincennes, was sentenced to 15 months in federal prison and will serve 2 years supervised release and pay a $1,000 fine. Apple was sentenced February 5, 2021.
Kyla A. Freeman, 24, Bicknell, was sentenced to 2 years’ probation and ordered to pay a $500 fine. Freeman was sentenced April 30, 2020.
The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, and the Vincennes Police Department.
Assistant United States Attorney Matthew Miller prosecuted the case.
Seller of Forged Basquiats and Harings Arrested on Fraud ChargesRead the Press Release
Audrey Strauss, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and William F. Sweeney Jr., Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), announced today the arrest of ANGEL PEREDA for his role in a scheme to sell forged artworks purportedly created by renowned artists, including Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring. PEREDA was arrested in New York on July 9, 2021.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said: “As alleged, Angel Pereda attempted to sell forgeries of artworks by Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring, among others, as genuine. If real, such works would be worth millions. The alleged fakes have little or no value, except potentially as evidence of the alleged crime. Angel Pereda now faces the prospect of a jury’s appraisal of his alleged conduct.”
FBI Assistant Director William F. Sweeney Jr. said: "As we allege, Mr. Pereda conned art buyers, hoping his victims wouldn’t see the difference between real art and a forgery. He used their trust to his advantage by passing off worthless pieces as priceless works of art. Hopefully, this case provides a lesson to any others hoping to engage in similar behavior – the FBI's Art Crime Team has the resources to distinguish the real from the fake, and its members will ensure you face the consequences of your actions."
According to the allegations contained in the complaint unsealed today in Manhattan federal court[1]:
In or about 2020 and 2021, ANGEL PEREDA engaged in a scheme to sell paintings and other artwork that he marketed for sale as having been painted or created by world-famous artists, including Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring, among others. By knowingly and falsely claiming that these fake works were painted by these famous artists, PEREDA tried to trick purchasers into paying millions of dollars for the fake works, which, as the defendant well knew, were essentially worthless.
To deceive his victims, PEREDA falsified the provenance – that is, the ownership history – of the forged artworks. On one occasion, PEREDA attempted to facilitate the sale of a painting purportedly by Basquiat, which PEREDA referred to as “Glory Boys Kingdom.” When told by another individual that a particular false provenance had been detected as fraudulent, PEREDA created and sent to an individual in New York new fraudulent provenances, so that the painting could be sold for millions of dollars. A photograph of “Glory Boys Kingdom” is below:
PEREDA is also connected to at least three other works of art purportedly by Basquiat and Haring, which have been determined to be fraudulent. Photographs of the pieces are below:
If you believe you have additional information regarding ANGEL PEREDA, also known as “Angel Luis Pereda Eguiluz,” please contact the FBI at 1-800-CALL FBI or [email protected], and reference this case.
PEREDA, 49, of Mexico, is charged with one count of wire fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
The maximum potential sentence in this case is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the judge.
Ms. Strauss praised the outstanding efforts of the FBI Art Crime Team in the investigation, which she noted is ongoing.
This case is being handled by the Office’s Money Laundering and Transnational Criminal Enterprises Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorney Samuel L. Raymond is in charge of the prosecution.
The charge and allegations contained in the Complaint are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
[1] As the introductory phrase signifies, the entirety of the text of the Complaint, and the description of the Complaint set forth herein, constitute only allegations, and every fact described herein should be treated as an allegation as to the defendants charged in the Complaint.
Sacramento County Man Pleads Guilty to Armed Robbery and Bank FraudRead the Press Release
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Damian Deleal, 33, of Carmichael, pleaded guilty Thursday to armed robbery of a U.S. mail carrier and bank fraud, Acting U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.
According to court documents, in March 2018, Deleal conspired with others, including Jacey Powell to rob a U.S. mail carrier of a postal service key that could open numerous residential cluster mailboxes in Sacramento County. Deleal conspired to obtain the key so he and his co-conspirators – including Jacey Powell, Brandon Moses, and Loren Patrick – could steal bankcards, checks, and other financial instruments from the mail.
On March 9, 2018, in South Sacramento, an unnamed co-conspirator robbed a mail carrier at gunpoint and forced the victim to hand over a postal service key. During the next few days, Deleal, Powell, Moses, and Patrick used the key to steal mailed bankcards and checks. They then attempted to use these items to purchase goods and obtain cash.
Powell and Deleal further conspired to claim reward money offered for information relating to the robbery and the stolen postal service key. In executing this plan, they planted the stolen key on Moses while he was sleeping in his car and called the U.S. Postal Service to report Moses’ location and inquire about the reward. After receiving this tip, investigators worked quickly to make arrests and learned that Deleal orchestrated the conspiracy and related crimes.
This case is the product of an investigation by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department, and the Sacramento Police Department. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert J. Artuz and Assistant U.S. Attorney Samuel Stefanki are prosecuting the case.
Deleal is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Morrison C. England Jr. on Oct. 7, 2021. He faces a maximum statutory penalty of 25 years in prison and a $1 million fine for armed robbery, and a maximum statutory penalty of 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine for bank fraud. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which consider a number of variables.
Moses, Patrick, and Powell have already pleaded guilty to federal charges and were sentenced in the following related cases in this district: U.S. v. Patrick, 2:18-cr-79-MCE, U.S. v. Moses, 2:18-cr-90‑MCE, and U.S. v. Powell, 2:18-cr-83-MCE.
Russian National Sentenced to 5 Years and Deportation for Bribery, Visa Fraud, and Tax Charges, Forfeiting $5.9 MillionRead the Press Release
NEW BERN, N.C. – Leonid Teyf, 59, a Russian national formerly residing in Raleigh, North Carolina, was sentenced today to 5 years in prison for bribery of a public official, visa fraud, and false statements in relation to foreign financial interests. Teyf and his wife, Tatiana Teyf, 43, will also forfeit $5,900,241 in assets. Leonid Teyf will be judicially deported after he completes his sentence. The husband and wife entered into a plea agreement in March 2021.
In December 2018, Teyf was charged by indictment with bribery of a public official, murder-for-hire, possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number, harboring illegal aliens, and unlawful use of a visa procured through false claims. Teyf was also charged in a money laundering conspiracy with Tatiana Teyf and others, and several tax charges regarding the wrongful denial of the existence of overseas financial interests and the failure to file required forms in regard to the same overseas accounts.
The indictment further alleged Teyf knowingly used and possessed a U.S. immigrant visa which he had procured through false claims made on his I-140 application (Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker), and that he and Tatiana Teyf had harbored and assisted other persons from Russia in coming to and remaining in the United States.
As otherwise alleged in publicly available documents filed in federal court by the Government, during the course of the investigation into the money laundering charges, Leonid Teyf came to believe that Tatiana Teyf was having an affair with another man. Leonid Teyf discussed with an FBI confidential source having the man murdered. Teyf also paid an someone whom he believed to be employee with the United States Department of Homeland Security $10,000 to find the man and have him deported from the United States.
In March of this year, Teyf entered a plea of guilty to violations of 18 U.S.C. § 201, the payment of the $10,000 bribery to the federal official, 18 U.S.C. § 1546, visa fraud, and 26 U.S.C. § 7206(1), filing a false tax return. Tatiana Teyf pled guilty to a separately filed Criminal Information, which charged a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1015(a), making a false statement in an immigration document. Both agreed to forfeit almost $6 million in assets, and Teyf agreed to forfeit a firearm that he had provided to a confidential source. He also agreed to his deportation.
Pursuant to the plea, the Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina agreed to dismiss the murder-for-hire, firearm, money laundering, harboring illegal aliens, and all but one of the tax charges against Teyf, and to seek a sentence of 60 months’ imprisonment for him. Pursuant to Tatiana Teyf’s plea to the charge in the Criminal Information, all charges against her in the Indictment were dismissed and the government will not seek a term of imprisonment.
G. Norman Acker, III, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Louise W. Flanagan. The investigation of this case was conducted by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Raleigh Police Department.
Related court documents and information are located on the website of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina or on PACER by searching for Case 5:18-cr-00452-FL.
Revere Man Sentenced for Distributing FentanylRead the Press Release
BOSTON – A Revere man was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Boston for distributing 40 grams or more of fentanyl.
Jassiel Ramirez, 25, was sentenced by U.S. Senior District Court Judge Douglas P. Woodlock to five years in prison and four years of supervised release. In February 2020, Ramirez pleaded guilty to one count of distribution of and possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, one count of possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, and one count of possession with intent to distribute and distribution of 40 grams or more of fentanyl.
Between September and October 2018, Ramirez engaged in four separate drug sales of fentanyl to a cooperating witness. Those sales totaled approximately 110 grams of fentanyl.
Acting United States Attorney Nathaniel R. Mendell and Brian D. Boyle, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, New England Division, made the announcement. Assistance was provided by the Salem Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Alathea E. Porter of Mendell’s Narcotics and Money Laundering Unit prosecuted the case.
Repeat Offender Sentenced for Possession of Child PornographyRead the Press Release
Acting United States Attorney Jan Sharp announced that Marcus Dunn, 27, of Omaha, Nebraska, was sentenced today in Omaha by Senior United States District Judge Joseph F. Bataillon to 10 years’ imprisonment for Possession of Child Pornography after a Prior Conviction. There is no parole in the federal system. After his release from custody, Dunn will have to serve a lifetime term of supervised release and will be required to register as a sex offender. Dunn was also ordered to pay $1,100 in assessments.
On November 15, 2019, members of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force executed a search warrant at Dunn’s residence in Omaha. During the search warrant, law enforcement collected electronic devices to include 2 phones and 1 tablet. An additional phone was later found on Dunn’s person. Dunn confirmed with officers that he controlled and used two Gmail accounts. Searches were conducted pursuant to search warrants on Dunn’s electronic devices, five Gmail accounts, and a Dropbox account. A review of Dunn’s devices and accounts located 378 images of children engaging in sexually explicit conduct, of which 141 were unique (meaning that there were multiple images of the same image) and 20 videos of children engaging in sexually explicit conduct, of which 16 were unique. These images and videos included minors under the age of 12 years old engaging in sexually explicit conduct. One example found in a Gmail account belonging to Dunn was a toddler being subjected to penile-vaginal penetration by an adult male. Dunn was on probation in Douglas County in two separate cases when he was found in possession of these images and videos. Specifically, Dunn was on probation for two counts of Attempted Possession of Child Pornography and for Possession of Child Pornography.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
This case was investigated the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office as part of the FBI Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force.
Pittsburgh Man Pleads Guilty to Child Sexual Exploitation ChargesRead the Press Release
PITTSBURGH - A resident of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty in federal court to a charge of production and attempted production of material depicting the sexual exploitation of a minor, Acting United States Attorney Stephen R. Kaufman announced today.
Matthew Gourley, age 49, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty to one count before United States District Judge William S. Stickman, IV.
In connection with the guilty plea, the court was advised that on January 6, 2020, Gourley forced Minor A, a minor female victim, to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing a visual depiction, namely, a digital image and a video, depicting Minor A engaging in sexually explicit content.
Judge Stickman scheduled sentencing for November 15, 2021 at 10:30 a.m. The law provides for a total sentence of not less than 15 years but not more than 30 years in prison, a fine of $250,000, or both. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed is based upon the seriousness of the offense and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.
Pending sentencing, the Court ordered that Gourley remain detained.
Assistant United States Attorney Heidi M. Grogan is prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.
The Violent Crimes Against Children Task Force, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Allegheny County Police Department, conducted the investigation that led to the prosecution of Gourley.
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.
Pinedale woman charged in knife attack in Indian CountryRead the Press Release
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Valerie Arthur, 35, of Pinedale, New Mexico, and an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation, appeared at a preliminary hearing today in federal court where she was charged with assault with a dangerous weapon and assault resulting in serious bodily injury in Indian Country. Arthur will remain in custody pending a detention hearing scheduled for July 13.
According to a criminal complaint, on July 4, at least twice Arthur allegedly approached and was asked to leave a neighboring house where a family was cooking outside. Arthur allegedly returned to the house armed with a knife and on the front porch stabbed a victim in the neck and arm. Arthur then allegedly pursued another victim inside the home and stabbed her in the neck, back and face. When the second victim’s 10-year old son and eight-year old daughter attempted to defend their mother, Arthur allegedly stabbed the children as well.
All of the victims were taken to Gallup Indian Medical Center for treatment.
A complaint is only an allegation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. If convicted, Arthur faces up to 10 years in prison.
The Gallup Resident Agency of the FBI Albuquerque Field Office investigated this case with assistance from the Navajo Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney D. Novaline Wilson is prosecuting this case.
Pine Ridge Man Found Guilty of Meth Trafficking ConspiracyRead the Press Release
Acting United States Attorney Dennis R. Holmes announced that Wicahpe “Chops” Milk, age 37, of Wanblee, South Dakota, was found guilty of Conspiracy to Distribute a Controlled Substance, Possession of a Firearm by a Prohibited Person, and Obstruction of Justice following a five-day federal jury trial in Rapid City, South Dakota. The verdict was returned on July 2, 2021.
The conspiracy charge carries a mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years in federal prison, and a maximum penalty of life imprisonment and/or a $10,000,000 fine, 5 years of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund. The other charges each carry a penalty of up to 10 years in federal prison and/or a $250,000 fine, 3 years of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.
Wicahpe “Chops” Milk was indicted by a federal grand jury on September 20, 2016. Milk was released from federal custody in January 2015 and soon after began obtaining methamphetamine in California. He arranged for the methamphetamine to be transported to South Dakota for further distribution. Eventually Milk began transporting the methamphetamine himself and selling it in South Dakota to his network of distributors. On August 17, 2016, law enforcement stopped Milk’s vehicle and located methamphetamine and a firearm. Due to a prior felony conviction, Milk was prohibited from possessing a firearm. After his arrest, Milk engaged in extensive witness tampering efforts in an attempt to influence the testimony of witnesses.
This case was investigated by the Badlands Safe Trails Drug Enforcement Task Force, which is comprised of agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation, Bureau of Indian Affairs Division of Drug Enforcement, Martin Police Department, and the Oglala Sioux Tribe Department of Public Safety. Further investigation was also conducted by the Pennington County Sheriff’s Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kathryn N. Rich and Gina Nelson prosecuted the case.
A presentence investigation was ordered and a sentencing date was set for October 1, 2021. The defendant was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
Philadelphia Real Estate Investor Charged with Witness Tampering Related to Prior Conviction for Bribing Sheriff’s Office EmployeeRead the Press Release
PHILADELPHIA – Acting United States Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams announced that Behzad Sabagh, a/k/a “Ben Sabagh,” 39, of Philadelphia, PA, was arrested and charged by Indictment with multiple counts of retaliating against a witness and tampering with a witness, stemming from a case in which he was previously convicted of bribing an employee of the City of Philadelphia in April 2019.
As set forth in the Indictment, in May 2018, Sabagh was charged criminally with honest services wire fraud, arising from his payment of bribes to a City of Philadelphia Sheriff’s Office employee. From December 2019 until March 2020, after Sabagh pleaded guilty to the fraud charges and completed his court-ordered sentence, he is alleged to have sent threatening text messages to an individual who was also charged in connection with the prior case and who had agreed to plead guilty and cooperate with law enforcement officials as a witness against Sabagh.
According to the Indictment, while the witness was awaiting sentencing, the defendant sent text messages in which he violently threatened the witness with sexual assault while in prison, threatened to sexually assault the witness’s wife while the witness was in prison, and threatened their children. The Indictment charges Sabagh with nine counts of retaliating against a witness and one count of tampering with a witness.
“Witness intimidation undermines the entire criminal justice system and will be dealt with swiftly and severely,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Williams. “Here, Sabagh allegedly threatened a witness in a most contemptible way, after his conviction and sentence had been served as though his actions would have no consequences. These charges demonstrate that he is absolutely wrong.”
“Our justice system depends on witnesses truthfully testifying as to what they know,” said Michael J. Driscoll, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Philadelphia Division. “Retaliating against a cooperating witness sends a chilling message both to that person and the community at large. Bottom line: ensuring the safety of federal witnesses both before and after a prosecution is paramount, and the FBI takes Sabagh’s alleged acts extremely seriously.”
If convicted, the defendant faces a maximum possible sentence of up to 200 years in prison, a $2,500,000 fine, a $1,000 special assessment, and restitution.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Sarah L. Grieb and Christopher Diviny.
An indictment, information, or criminal complaint is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Peruvian National Sentenced to 90 Months in Prison for Conspiring to Defraud Thousands of Spanish-Speaking ImmigrantsRead the Press Release
A Peruvian national has been sentenced to 90 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. In the same case, two additional Peruvian co-conspirators pleaded guilty and two others were extradited to the Southern District of Florida to face prosecution for their roles in the scheme.
According to court documents, Omar Cuzcano Marroquin, 32, of Lima, Peru, was sentenced for conspiring to commit mail fraud and wire fraud through a series of Peruvian call centers that used false statements and threats to obtain money from Spanish-speaking individuals across the United States. Cuzcano and others falsely told 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.
Cuzcano 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. Between April 2011 and July 2019, thousands of U.S. victims made payments based on calls from their call centers. Cuzcano and his co-conspirators collected millions of dollars from victims.
“The Department of Justice’s Consumer Protection Branch will steadfastly 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 brazenly defrauded recent 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. Today’s sentence demonstrates that defendants who prey upon U.S. consumers from abroad will not do so with impunity.”
“Today’s sentence serves not only as just punishment for this defendant but also as notice to others who seek to prey on vulnerable victims in the United States,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Juan Antonio Gonzalez for the Southern District of Florida. “Know that the Justice Department and its partners will aggressively investigate such criminal activity. Wherever you are, we will find you and hold you accountable.”
“In this international telemarketing scheme, deceptive scare tactics were used to threaten thousands of vulnerable U.S. consumers into purchasing undelivered products by falsely purporting to use America’s legal system against them and coercing them out of millions of dollars,” said Inspector in Charge Joseph Cronin of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Miami Division. “Today’s sentencing hopefully brings relief to U.S. residents who were victimized by this transnational fraudulent scheme. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service, along with the Department of Justice’s Consumer Protection branch and the U.S. Attorney’s Office, are committed to holding individuals who use the U.S. Mail to defraud consumers accountable.”
Two of Cuzcano’s co-defendants also recently pleaded guilty for their roles in the scheme. Henrry Adrian Milla Campuzano, 37, of Lima, Peru, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud earlier today. According to court documents, Milla was the owner and operator of fraudulent call centers located in Peru called “Latinos en Accion” and “Accion Latino,” which similarly extorted immigrants in the U.S. by falsely identifying themselves as private company lawyers and court or immigrations officials.
Another co-defendant, Fernan Huerta Haro, 34, of Lima, Peru, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud on June 11. According to court documents, Huerta owned and operated call centers called “Camino Al Progreso” and “Neshuer Corporation” in Peru. In pleading guilty, Huerta admitted that, from 2011 until his 2019 arrest, he and his employees threatened and defrauded many Spanish-speaking recent immigrants to the United States as part of the scheme.
Milla and Huerta will be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Robert N. Scola Jr. this fall, and both face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. Judge Scola will determine their sentences after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Cuzcano, Milla and Huerta were part of a group of five defendants who were arrested on July 2, 2019, by Peruvian authorities based on a U.S. extradition request, and each has remained incarcerated since that time. The defendants were extradited to the Southern District of Florida on Oct. 23, 2020. All five defendants have now been convicted of conspiring to commit mail and wire fraud. Two additional indicted co-defendants in the case – Carlos Alberto Espinoza Huerta and Josmell Arturo Espinoza Huerta – evaded arrest at the time of their five co-defendants’ arrests in Peru. They were eventually located and arrested by Peruvian law enforcement, were extradited to the United States on June 25 and are being detained at the Federal Detention Center in Miami.
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch investigated the case. Trial Attorneys Phil Toomajian and 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.
For more information about the Consumer Protection Branch, visit its website at 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.
Click to view Spanish language version of this press release.
Orange County Man Charged with Scheming to Defraud Buyers of Medical-Grade Gloves During COVID-19 Pandemic-Related ShortageRead the Press Release
LOS ANGELES – An Orange County man is expected to be arraigned in federal court today on an indictment charging him with defrauding victims who paid for COVID-related medical protective equipment that was never delivered, causing nearly $3 million in losses.
Christopher John Badsey, 60, of Lake Forest, was arrested by FBI agents on July 8 without incident. He is charged with four counts of wire fraud and two counts of money laundering. He is expected to be arraigned this afternoon in United States District Court in downtown Los Angeles.
According to an indictment returned by a federal grand jury on July 7, Badsey falsely represented that he had access to millions of boxes of medical-grade nitrile gloves through his Irvine-based company, First Defense International Security Services Corp. (FDI) This type of personal protective equipment was in high demand and short supply during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Badsey allegedly entered into contractual agreements with victims, whom he required to provide a money deposit to inspect the gloves before delivery.
After receiving the deposits, Badsey allegedly instructed victims to travel to the Los Angeles area, where he claimed the gloves were stored in a warehouse. But when victims attempted to visit the warehouse, Badsey and other FDI employees allegedly provided excuses as to why the gloves could neither be inspected, nor delivered, to the victims.
Nitrile gloves were never provided to the victims, and Badsey is alleged to have absconded with the deposit money totaling nearly $3 million. After obtaining the victims’ wire deposits, Badsey and others are believed to have used those funds to make lavish purchases for their personal benefit.
An indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
If convicted of all charges in the six-count indictment, Badsey would face a statutory maximum sentence of 100 years in federal prison.
The FBI investigated this matter.
Assistant United States Attorney Melissa S. Rabbani of the Santa Ana Branch Office is prosecuting this case.
Omaha Man Sentenced for Distributing Methamphetamine for the Second TimeRead the Press Release
Acting United States Attorney Jan Sharp announced that Juan Padilla-Miranda, 47, of Omaha, Nebraska, was sentenced today in federal court in Omaha, for distributing methamphetamine. United States District Judge Robert F. Rossiter, Jr. sentenced Padilla-Miranda to imprisonment for a term of 120 months. There is no parole in the federal system. After his release from prison, he will begin an 8-year term of supervised release.
Investigators obtained more than 150 grams of methamphetamine from Padilla-Miranda over the course of three controlled purchase operations. Padilla-Miranda drove to a McDonald’s restaurant parking lot from his workplace to distribute the first amount of methamphetamine on July 3, 2019. The second purchase occurred in his workplace parking lot on September 3, 2019, and the final one was completed at a Baker’s grocery store parking lot.
Padilla-Miranda has a prior serious drug felony conviction which resulted in higher penalties at today’s sentencing. In December 3, 2007, he was convicted for Possession with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine in the United States District Court for the District of Nebraska and was sentenced to 57 months’ imprisonment.
Padilla-Miranda’s request to self-surrender to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons was denied and he was taken into custody by the U.S. Marshals at the conclusion of the sentencing hearing today.
This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Omaha Man Convicted of Two Armed RobberiesRead the Press Release
Acting United States Attorney Jan W. Sharp announced that Lonnie L. Perry, 29, of Omaha, Nebraska, was convicted today in federal court in Omaha after a three-day jury trial. Perry was found guilty of two counts of Interference with Interstate Commerce by way of Robbery, one count of brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence and one count of discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence. United States District Judge Robert F. Rossiter, Jr. will sentence Perry on October 4, 2021 at 1:30 p.m. Perry faces up to 20 years for the robberies, seven years to life consecutive for brandishing a firearm, and ten years to life consecutive for discharging a firearm.
On October 25, 2017, Perry entered the Select Mart convenience store in Omaha and brandished a weapon at a store employee. A father was shopping inside the store with his young son, and they hid in a backroom of the store until the police arrived at the scene.
On November 5, 2017, Perry entered the VP Racing Station convenience store in Omaha, brandished a weapon at two store employees and then fired his weapon into two vehicles fleeing the scene. Each vehicle had a family with a child in it, and the bullet from the second shot landed next to the car seat of a two-year-old boy, nearly striking him.
On November 6, 2017, Omaha Police officers arrived at an apartment complex for a disturbance where Perry was identified brandishing a weapon. While near a Runza restaurant, officers saw Perry drop a gun into a trash can. Officers used a Taser on Perry after he resisted arrest. He was transported to a hospital for treatment. Perry escaped custody in handcuffs and was arrested again later that same day. The weapon was tied through ballistics to the shooting at the robbery the day before and had the defendant’s DNA on it.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Omaha Police Department.
O.C. Man Sentenced to 2 Years in Prison for Multimillion-Dollar Conspiracy to Smuggle Counterfeit Cell Phone Parts from ChinaRead the Press Release
SANTA ANA, California – An Orange County man was sentenced today to 24 months in federal prison for conspiring to smuggle counterfeit Apple, Samsung, and Motorola cell phone components from China that were then sold to consumers in the United States, a scheme that generated tens of millions of dollars in revenue.
Chan Hung Le, 46, of Laguna Hills, was sentenced by United States District Judge Josephine L. Staton, who also ordered him to pay a $250,000 fine.
Le pleaded guilty in November 2020 to one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States, to intentionally traffic in counterfeit goods, and to illegally bring merchandise into the United States.
From late 2011 to February 2015, Le conspired with other individuals to import from China cell phone parts and other electronic items bearing counterfeit marks. In furtherance of the conspiracy, Le set up and used mailboxes with virtual office service providers in Oklahoma and Texas using a fictitious business name, JV Trading Solutions. In furtherance of the conspiracy, Le also used the name and identity documents of one of his employees to set up the virtual offices and directed other conspirators to ship trademarked goods under Le’s employees’ or relatives’ names. Once the counterfeit products arrived, Le and his co-conspirators distributed the parts to the public through various online stores.
“[Le]…orchestrated an elaborate scheme to deceive customs agents by creating covert shipping channels from Hong Kong and China to different U.S. states,” prosecutors wrote in their sentencing memorandum. “From this conduct, and this deception, [Le] generated millions of dollars in profit. [Le] enlisted numerous other parties in his conduct – including his romantic partner, his employees (witting or unwitting), other family members, and the unwitting virtual mailbox service companies. This was a sophisticated, long-standing, and highly profitable offense.”
In 2016, one of Le’s suppliers, Hongwei “Nick” Du, pleaded guilty in United States District Court in San Diego to conspiring to traffic in counterfeit goods and related money laundering charges. In his plea agreement, Du admitted to selling Le at least $18,744,354 worth of cellular telephone and electronic components for resale from China into the United States and that about half of the goods were counterfeit items bearing the trademarks of Apple, Samsung, Motorola, and other companies. Du was sentenced to three years in federal prison.
Homeland Security Investigations, United States Customs and Border Protection, and the Westminster Police Department investigated this matter.
Assistant United States Attorney Cameron L. Schroeder, Chief of the Cyber and Intellectual Property Crimes Section, and Assistant United States Attorneys Lauren E. Restrepo and Victoria A. Degtyareva, also of the Cyber and Intellectual Property Crimes Section, prosecuted his case.
Newport Man Sentenced to Federal Prison for Creating Illegal Video Streaming and Downloading WebsitesRead the Press Release
EUGENE, Ore.—A Newport, Oregon man was sentenced to federal prison today for creating websites to illegally distribute thousands of copyright-protected movies and television shows and evading taxes on the profits of his illicit endeavor.
Talon White, 31, was sentenced to 12 months and one day in federal prison and three years’ supervised release.
According to court documents, in October 2013, investigators received information regarding numerous illegal websites linked to White that allowed paid subscribers to stream and download thousands of copyright-protected movies and television shows. In 2014, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), an organization that assists the motion picture and television industry in protecting its intellectual property rights, demanded White cease and desist his illegal activity. White ignored the demand. Over the next four years, White migrated his illicit business and subscribers from one website to another to avoid detection.
By 2018, White had amassed millions of dollars in subscription fees from his websites. Between February 2018 and September 2018 alone, he collected nearly $3 million in fees. In November 2018, investigators served search and seizure warrants on his house in Newport and several bank accounts. Agents seized $3.9 million from his accounts, $35,000 in cash, and more than $1 million in cryptocurrency. Between 2013 and 2017, White also filed false personal income tax returns, underreporting his income by more than $4.4 million and causing a tax loss to the IRS of more than $1.7 million.
On November 1, 2019, White was charged by criminal information with copyright infringement and tax evasion. On November 25, 2019, White pleaded guilty to both charges.
During sentencing, U.S. District Court Judge Ann L. Aiken ordered White to pay more than $4.3 million in restitution to the MPAA and IRS. White must also forfeit all U.S. currency and cryptocurrency seized from his bank accounts, in addition to his Newport house that was purchased with proceeds of his scheme.
Acting U.S. Attorney Scott Erik Asphaug of the District of Oregon made the announcement.
This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and IRS Criminal Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Gavin W. Bruce and Amy Potter prosecuted the case.
New York Man Who Allegedly Harassed NYPD Charged with Gun CrimeRead the Press Release
A New York man who allegedly hurled racial slurs at a police officer has been charged with a gun crime, announced Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Prerak Shah.
Shermaine Laster, 46, was arrested at John F. Kennedy International Airport on June 25, charged via criminal complaint with possession of a firearm by a felon. A federal grand jury in Dallas indicted him on the same charge on Thursday.
According to the complaint, travel records indicate that Mr. Laster, a convicted felon, flew from New York to Dallas to visit a local gun range, where he allegedly fired a 7.62x39 caliber rifle.
Prior to shooting the weapon, he allegedly signed a “Firearms Eligibility Experience & Range Safety Waiver,” which reminded signatories that “it is unlawful for a felon or illegal alien to possess or rent firearms or ammunition.” When the form asked if he’d ever been convicted of a felony, Mr. Laster indicated he had not.
In a video recorded at the gun range and later posted to Instagram, the defendant allegedly fired several rounds at paper targets, noting, “I’m going to be demonstrating how to take out your opponent.” A review of the Instagram feed revealed numerous photographs of handguns, with captions like “I’m ready for WAR,” “No games… fight in the dark,” and “Black Power.”
At a detention hearing in the Eastern District of New York, prosecutors introduced into evidence multiple images of Mr. Laster brandishing firearms as well as a now-viral video of Mr. Laster allegedly hurling racial slurs at an Asian-American NYPD officer in Washington Square Park.
Like all defendants, Mr. Laster is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. If convicted, he faces up to ten years in federal prison.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s North Texas Joint Terrorism Taskforce and the New York Police Department conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Melanie Smith of the Northern District of Texas is prosecuting the case with the assistance of Assistant U.S. Attorneys Francisco Navarro and Chand Edwards-Balfour of the Eastern District of New York.
Multiple defendants face charges for illegal firearms possession after federal indictmentsRead the Press Release
SAVANNAH, GA: Six defendants face felony firearms charges, with two also charged with illegal drug possession, after indictment by a U.S. District Court grand jury in the Southern District of Georgia.
The cases are being investigated in collaboration with federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, including the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the FBI.
“The enforcement of existing firearms laws is an essential part of keeping our streets safe,” said David H. Estes, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia. “Our law enforcement partners continue to protect our communities by pursuing individuals who illegally possess guns.”
In the past three years, more than 680 defendants were federally charged in the Southern District of Georgia for illegal firearms offenses – most often for possessing a firearm after having been convicted of a previous felony. That charge carries a statutory penalty upon conviction of up to 10 years in prison, and there is no parole in the federal system.
Defendants named in federal indictments from the July 2021 term of the U.S. District Court grand jury include:
- John W. Carter, 36, of Rincon, Ga., charged with Possession with Intent to Distribute Heroin and Marijuana; Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon; and Possession of a Firearm in Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking Crime;
- Antoine Ladson, 32, of Brunswick, charged with Possession with Intent to Distribute Fentanyl; Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon; and Possession of a Firearm in Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking Crime;
- Jamar Lavelle Alexander, 34, of Crawfordville, Ga., charged with Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon;
- Timothy Lee Cheeks, 33, of Augusta, charged with Possession of Ammunition by a Convicted Felon;
- David Bryson Murphy, 20, of Thomson, charged with Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon; and,
- Christopher Lewis Tucker Jr., 21, of Thomson, charged with False Statement During Purchase of a Firearm, and Receipt of a Firearm by a Person Under Indictment.
Criminal indictments contain only charges; defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Additional defendants recently have been adjudicated on charges that include illegal firearms possession, including:
- Marcus Rashad Allen, 33, of Savannah, awaits sentencing after pleading guilty to Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon. Savannah Police officers found him in possession of a pistol in August 2020 after he ran from officers attempting to arrest him on an outstanding warrant.
- Dameon Duncan, 21, of Savannah, awaits sentencing after pleading guilty to Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon. Savannah Police officers in May 2020 found Duncan in possession of a pistol during a traffic stop.
- Telly Green, 33, of Savannah, awaits sentencing after pleading guilty to Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon. Savannah Police officers found him in possession of a pistol in August 2020 while investigating reports of shots fired at a vehicle in a Savannah neighborhood.
- Khallid Marquese Wright, 24, of Augusta, awaits sentencing after pleading guilty to Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon. Wright, who was stopped in February by Richmond County Sheriff’s deputies for questioning in an unrelated case, was found in possession of a firearm.
- Robert Kenneth Williams, 32, of Augusta, awaits sentencing after pleading guilty to Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon. Richmond County Sheriff’s deputies found Williams in possession of a pistol in April 2020 in a motel parking lot.
- Joseph Jay Gartrell III, 37, of Augusta, awaits sentencing after pleading guilty to an Information charging him with Possession with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine, and Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon. Richmond County sheriff’s deputies suspected Gartrell of driving under the influence when they found him asleep in his vehicle after 3 a.m. in November 2019. During a subsequent search, officers discovered drugs, cash and a firearm in his vehicle.
- Blake McDuffie, 26, of Winder, Ga., awaits sentencing after pleading guilty to Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon. Officers from the Pooler Police Department charged McDuffie in May 2020 when he was found in possession of a pistol after he sped away from a traffic stop and subsequently crashed his vehicle.
- Devonta Armon Stallings, 27, of Augusta, awaits sentencing after pleading guilty to Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon. Stallings ran from Richmond County Sheriff’s deputies in March 2020 and tossed a pistol before being captured. He was on state probation at the time of his arrest.
These cases also are being investigated under the Prosecutor to Prosecutor Program (P3), in which federal and state prosecutors collaborate to determine the most appropriate venue for adjudication of alleged crimes.
Agencies investigating these cases include the ATF; the FBI; the Savannah Police Department; the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office; the McDuffie County Sheriff’s Office; the Taliaferro County Sheriff’s Office; the Glynn County Police Department; the Pooler Police Department; and the Brunswick Police Department.
The cases are being prosecuted for the United States by Southern District U.S. Attorney’s Office Assistant U.S. Attorneys, including Henry W. Syms Jr., Marcela C. Mateo, Jennifer A. Stanley, Noah J. Abrams, Frank M. Pennington II, and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Darron J. Hubbard.
Under federal law, it is illegal for an individual to possess a firearm if he or she falls into one of nine prohibited categories including being a felon; illegal alien; or unlawful user of a controlled substance. Further, it is unlawful to possess a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense or violent crime. It is also illegal to purchase – or even to attempt to purchase – firearms if the buyer is a prohibited person or illegally purchasing a firearm on behalf of others. Lying on ATF Form 4473, which is used to lawfully purchase a firearm, also is a federal offense.
For more information on the lawful purchasing of firearms, please see: https://www.atf.gov/qa-category/atf-form-4473.
Morgantown man sentenced for harboring a fugitive wanted on a felony chargeRead the Press Release
CLARKSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA – Paul Chibuzo, of Morgantown, West Virginia, was sentenced today to 21 months of incarceration for charges related to hiding a fugitive, Acting U.S. Attorney Randolph J. Bernard announced.
Chibuzo, age 25, pled guilty in August 2020 to one count of “Harboring and Concealing a Federal Fugitive” and one count of “False Statement to Federal Agent.” Chibuzo admitted to hiding Donquale Gray in Morgantown from March 1 to March 6, 2019. Gray was wanted by the U.S. Marshal Service on a felony charge. Chibuzo lied to authorities about speaking with Gray and knowing he was wanted in February 2019.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew R. Cogar prosecuted the case on behalf of the government. The U.S. Marshal Service; The Bureau for Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives; and the Mon Metro Drug & Violent Crimes Task Force, a HIDTA-funded initiative, investigated.
Senior U.S. District Judge Irene M. Keeley presided.
Moldovan Citizen Pleads Guilty to Making a False Statement to a Federal AgentRead the Press Release
CONCORD - Stela Sacara, 34, a citizen of Moldova residing in Pembroke, pleaded guilty in federal court on Thursday to making a false statement to a federal agent, Acting United States Attorney John J. Farley announced today.
According to court documents and statements made in court, Sacara operated several companies from her home and office, including Rochester Chemical LLC, which she ran with her sister, Natalia. Rochester Chemical acquired consumable laboratory equipment and repackaged and shipped it abroad. The Office of Export and Enforcement (OEE) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) investigated the activities of Sacara and Rochester Chemical, and others associated with them, to determine whether the exports were being made in compliance with federal laws and regulations.
On September 14, 2018, Sacara was interviewed by federal agents and falsely stated the manager of Rochester Chemical was Amy Johnson. Company emails further showed that Sacara and/or Natalia used the Amy Johnson alias periodically. There is no record of the company ever employing “Amy Johnson.” Johnson does not exist. The sole principals of the company are Sacara and her sister, Natalia.
Sacara’s sentencing has not yet been scheduled.
“Lying to federal investigators is a serious crime,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Farley. “By providing false information, this defendant sought to mislead federal agents who were conducting an investigation. This conviction should serve as an important reminder that those who lie to federal agents face serious criminal consequences for their unlawful actions.”
“Stela Sacara deliberately lied to federal agents to conceal the extent of her involvement in the business operations of Rochester Chemical and ultimately, who was on the receiving end of their shipments. Not only did her actions cause our investigators to waste time and energy attempting to locate individuals who do not exist, but she tried to impede our investigation into whether the company was violating our export laws. This case should serve as a warning to others that it is never a good idea to lie to federal agents and there will be significant consequences if you do,” said Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Boston Division.
This matter was investigated by the Office of Export and Enforcement and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney John S. Davis.
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