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Friday 18 December 2020
Harrison County Drug Dealer Sentenced to 14 Years in Federal Prison for Methamphetamine TraffickingRead the Press Release
MARSHALL, Texas – A 32-year-old Marshall, Texas man was sentenced to federal prison for drug trafficking crimes in the Eastern District of Texas, announced U.S. Attorney Stephen J. Cox today.
Ronald Charles Parker, a.k.a. “Big Ron,” pleaded guilty on Sep. 14, 2019, to possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and was sentenced to 168 months in federal prison on Dec. 16, 2020 by U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap.
According to information presented in court, Parker was a member of a drug trafficking organization responsible for selling large quantities of methamphetamine in Marshall, Texas. During the course of the investigation Parker conducted seven separate drug transactions with a confidential informant, selling a total of 1.24 kilograms of methamphetamine. Parker and eight others were indicted by a federal grand jury on Feb. 19, 2020, and charged with violations of federal law. Co-Defendant Danny Brian Hernandez was recently sentenced to 17 years in prison for his drug trafficking conduct.
This is an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) case and is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Texas Department of Public Safety; the Harrison County Sheriff’s Office; and the Marshall Police Department. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lucas Machicek. OCDETF is the largest anti-crime task force in the country and its mission is to disrupt and dismantle the most significant drug trafficking and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States. The prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency task forces leverage the authorities and expertise of federal, state, and local law enforcement.
Grand Jury - December 2020Read the Press Release
United States Attorney Joe Kelly announced the federal Grand Jury for the District of Nebraska has returned 5 unsealed Indictments charging 7 defendants. Indictments are charging documents that contain one or more individual counts that are merely accusations, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
* Josephine Alexis Baker, age 22, of Winnebago, is charged with assault with a dangerous weapon with intent to do bodily harm on November 24, 2020. The maximum possible penalty if convicted is 10 years’ imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, a three-year term of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment.
* Bryan Kyriss, age 57, is charged with felon in possession of a firearm on November 11, 2020. The maximum possible penalty if convicted is 10 years’ imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, a three-year term of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment.
* Kaleb A. Johnson, age 24, of Omaha, is charged in a two-count Indictment. Count I charges the defendant with being a felon in possession of a firearm on or about February 12, 2020. The maximum possible penalty if convicted is 10 years’ imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, a three-year term of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment. Count II charges the defendant with possession (or sale) of a stolen firearm on or about February 12, 2020. The maximum possible penalty if convicted is 10 years’ imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, a three-year term of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment.
* Jaime Vazquez Pimentel, a/k/a Alexander Rodriguez Perez, a/k/a David Gutierrez, a/k/a Eliseo Acocal-Techaltz, age 37, is charged with illegal reentry after deportation on or about November 25, 2020. The maximum possible penalty if convicted is 2 years’ imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, a one-year term of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment.
* Xinyu Zhou, age 21, Yuan Gao, age 19, and Arian Esfandiari, age 18, are charged with attempted Hobbs Act robbery on December 14, 2020 and December 15, 2020. The maximum possible penalty if convicted is 20 years’ imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, a three-year term of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment for each defendant
Gang Member Sentenced to over Four Years for Possessing GunRead the Press Release
Tampa, Florida – U.S. District Judge William F. Jung has sentenced Jeremiah Butler-Jackson (20, Tampa) to four years and two months in federal prison for possessing a loaded gun as a convicted felon. Butler-Jackson had pleaded guilty on October 8, 2020.
According to court documents and information presented during the sentencing hearing, Butler-Jackson is known to law enforcement as a Progress Village gang member. His criminal history involves multiple crimes of violence, including shooting and robbery. On October 2, 2019, officers observed that Butler-Jackson had posted a video on Instagram in which he posed with a handgun clipped to his waistband. A few minutes later, officers observed Butler-Jackson in public wearing the same clothes as in the video. When they attempted to detain him, he fled on foot, discarding the gun in the yard of a private residence as he ran. Officers caught Butler-Jackson and recovered the gun, which matched the one displayed in the Instagram video.
As a previously convicted felon, Butler-Jackson is prohibited from possessing a firearm or ammunition under federal law.
This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, with assistance from the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael M. Gordon.
This case is part of Project Guardian, the Department of Justice’s signature initiative to reduce gun violence and enforce federal firearms laws. Initiated by the Attorney General in the fall of 2019, Project Guardian draws upon the Department’s past successful programs to reduce gun violence and enhances coordination of federal, state, local, and tribal authorities in investigating and prosecuting gun crimes. For more information on Project Guardian visit www.justice.gov/projectguardian.
Fresno Man Sentenced to 9 Years in Prison for Illegal Firearms PossessionRead the Press Release
FRESNO, Calif. —David Vann, 29, of Fresno, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Dale A. Drozd to nine years and two months in prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced.
According to court documents, Vann failed to yield to police officers during an attempted traffic stop. He then led officers on a vehicle chase, during which he failed to stop at a stop sign and stop light, and drove southbound in the northbound lane of traffic. After exiting the vehicle, Vann discarded a firearm in bushes in a residential area. Vann is a convicted felon prohibited from possessing a firearm. He was on post-release community supervision at the time of his arrest in this case.
This case was the product of an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Fresno Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Katherine Schuh prosecuted the case.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. The Department of Justice reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally based strategies to reduce violent crime. To learn more about Project Safe Neighborhoods, go to www.justice.gov/psn.
This case is also part of Project Guardian, the Department of Justice’s signature initiative to reduce gun violence and enforce federal firearms laws. Initiated by the Attorney General in the fall of 2019, Project Guardian draws upon the Department’s past successful programs to reduce gun violence; enhances coordination of federal, state, local, and tribal authorities in investigating and prosecuting gun crimes; improves information-sharing by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives when a prohibited individual attempts to purchase a firearm and is denied by the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), to include taking appropriate actions when a prospective purchaser is denied by the NICS for mental health reasons; and ensures that federal resources are directed at the criminals posing the greatest threat to our communities. For more information about Project Guardian, please see www.justice.gov/projectguardian.
Four indicted for hate crimes and false statements after racially motivated assault in Lynnwood, WashingtonRead the Press Release
Seattle – Four men from across the Pacific Northwest were indicted this week for federal hate crimes and making false statements in connection with a December 8, 2018, racially-motivated assault, announced U.S. Attorney Brian T. Moran and Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Eric Dreiband. JASON DESIMAS, 44, of Tacoma, Washington; JASON STANLEY, 43, of Boise, Idaho; RANDY SMITH, 38, of Eugene, Oregon; and DANIEL DELBERT DORSON, 24, of Corvallis, Oregon, are charged with aiding and abetting one another, as they punched and kicked a Black man and making derogatory comments about his actual and perceived race at a bar in Lynnwood, Washington. The indictment also charges the defendants with assaulting two other men. DORSON will appear today in U.S. District Court in Eugene, Oregon.
“The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington has a long and distinguished history of prosecuting those who act on hate,” said U.S. Attorney Moran. “Whether it is ‘The Order’ in the 1980s, the ‘Atomwaffen’ of today, or this group accused of assaulting a Black man at a local business. These defendants will be held accountable for their criminal conduct.”
In addition to the hate crime charges, the indictment charges each defendant, separately, with giving false statements to the FBI during the investigation. Specifically, the indictment alleges JASON DESIMAS falsely claimed that neither he nor anyone else used a racial slur during the assault; JASON STANLEY falsely asserted that he was not even in Washington on the date of the assault; RANDY SMITH allegedly lied about how he had bloodied his knuckles; and DANIEL DELBERT DORSON falsely claimed that he had not planned to attend a white supremacist’s “Martyr’s Day” observance in Washington and that he had not owned a jacket associated with white supremacy hate groups.
FBI Seattle Acting Special Agent in Charge Earl Camp said, “The FBI is committed to investigating federal hate crimes and protecting civil rights. These violent acts motivated by bias are not only an attack on the victim, but also threaten and intimidate an entire community and are contrary to our values of equality for all Americans to live without fear.”
The hate crime charge carries a maximum penalty of ten years in prison. The false statements charge carries a maximum penalty of five years.
An indictment is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence of guilt. The defendants are presumed innocent unless and until each is proven guilty.
Two of the defendants, SMITH and STANLEY, are currently in custody in Oregon and Idaho respectively on unrelated charges. They will be brought to the Western District of Washington for arraignment.
This case was investigated by the FBI, with the assistance of the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Ye-Ting Woo and Trial Attorney Christine M. Siscaretti of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.
desimas_et_al_indictment.pdfFour Oaks Man Convicted of Human Trafficking a Minor and Production of Child PornographyRead the Press Release
RALEIGH - United States Attorney Robert J. Higdon, Jr. announced that yesterday, Marvarlus Cortel Snead, 34, of Four Oaks, North Carolina, was convicted in federal court following a four-day trial before United States District Judge James C. Dever. The jury found Snead guilty on all three counts: sex trafficking of a minor, production of child pornography, and one count of using facilities in interstate commerce to operate a prostitution enterprise.
In December 2017 and January 2018, Snead prostituted an adult female and a minor victim in various locations throughout the Eastern District of North Carolina. Snead targeted extremely vulnerable victims and enticed them with promises of money and romance. After they joined him, Snead manipulated them and took their money for himself. Snead engaged in a sexual relationship with both women and used the minor to create images and a video of child pornography.
Snead faces a sentence of not less than 15 years and up to life in prison, a fine up to $750,000, and up to life supervised release at sentencing.
Mr. Higdon commented: “This case is about the victims, who suffered at the hands of a greedy trafficker. Our community will not tolerate perpetrators like this defendant targeting our most vunerable children and citizens for their profit.”
Investigation of this case was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant United States Attorneys Bryan Stephany and Erin Blondel handled the prosecution of this case for the government.
Related court documents and information can be found on the website of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina or on PACER by searching for Case No. 7:19-cr-00151-D.
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The year 2020 marks the 150th anniversary of the Department of Justice. Learn more about the history of our agency at www.Justice.gov/Celebrating150Years.
Four Men Indicted for Hate Crimes and False Statements After Racially Motivated Assault in Lynnwood, WashingtonRead the Press Release
The Justice Department announced today that four men from across the Pacific Northwest were indicted this week for federal hate crimes and making false statements in connection with a Dec. 8, 2018, racially-motivated assault.
Jason DeSimas, 44, of Tacoma, Washington; Jason Stanley, 43, of Boise, Idaho; Randy Smith, 38, of Eugene, Oregon; and Daniel Delbert Dorson, 24, of Corvallis, Oregon, are charged with aiding and abetting one another, as they, among other things, punched and kicked a Black man and made derogatory comments about his actual and perceived race at a bar in Lynnwood, Washington. The indictment also charges the defendants with assaulting two other men who intervened to protect the victim from their attack. Dorson will appear in U.S. District Court in Eugene today.
In addition to the hate crime charges, the indictment charges each defendant, separately, with giving false statements to the FBI during the investigation. Specifically, the indictment alleges DeSimas falsely claimed that neither he nor anyone else used a racial slur during the assault; Stanley falsely asserted that he was not even in the state of Washington on the date of the assault; Smith allegedly lied about how he had bloodied his knuckles; and Dorson falsely claimed that he had not planned to attend a white supremacist’s “Martyr’s Day” observance in the state of Washington and that he had not owned a jacket associated with white supremacy hate groups prior to the weekend of Dec. 8, 2018.
The hate crime charge carries a maximum penalty of ten years in prison. The false statements charge carries a maximum penalty of five years.
An indictment is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence of guilt. The defendants are presumed innocent unless and until each is proven guilty.
This case was investigated by the FBI, with the assistance of the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Ye-Ting Woo and Trial Attorney Christine M. Siscaretti of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.
Fort Worth Meth Dealer Sentenced to More Than 20 Years for Role in Money Laundering ConspiracyRead the Press Release
A Fort Worth methamphetamine dealer was sentenced today to 262 months in federal prison for participating in a conspiracy to distribute drugs and launder approximately $275,000 of drug proceeds to Mexico, announced U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Erin Nealy Cox.
Yesi Bastida-Carranza, 31, was sentenced today by District Judge Reed C. O’Connor after an extensive investigation led by IRS Criminal Investigation Dallas Field Office. Earlier this year, Bastida-Carranza pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess a controlled substance with intent to distribute and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
“Our office is committed to disrupting and dismantling criminal organizations that distribute drugs, launder illicit proceeds, and attempt to corrupt our society,” said U.S. Attorney Erin Nealy Cox. “This case underscores the resolve of our law enforcement partners to bring justice against these criminal enterprises.”
“One of the primary missions of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, Dallas Field Office, is to identify, pursue and dismantle transnational drug trafficking and money laundering organizations that prey on North Texans,” stated Acting Special Agent in Charge of the IRS Criminal Investigations Dallas Field Office, Kevin Caramucci. “We extend our gratitude to our federal and state partners for their assistance in taking down Bastida-Carranza and his family, preventing multiple kilograms of methamphetamines from entering our neighborhoods.”
According to a criminal complaint filed in March, Bastida-Carranza was part of a money laundering organizing which made at least 713 wire transactions totaling more than $660,000 of illegal drug proceeds sent to Mexico during 2016 and 2017. Bastida-Carranza executed at least 293 of these wire transactions by sending $273,181.30.
To execute the wire transactions, Bastida-Carranza and his co-conspirators, including his four siblings and others, initially used two “sender” addresses – one which belonged to Bastida-Carranza in Haltom City. As the scheme progressed, the money laundering organization used numerous addresses and phone numbers to avoid detection by law enforcement. Bastida-Carranza and other co-conspirators received a portion of the money involved in these transactions as compensation for organizing these laundering activities.
In October 2017, law enforcement executed a search warrant for social media accounts controlled by Bastida-Carranza. As proof that other co-conspirators made wire transfers, they sent Bastida-Carranza wire transaction receipts via Facebook messenger. Additionally, law enforcement placed a tracking device on Bastida-Carranza’s car which showed it visiting various wire remitter stores at the time wire transactions were sent by him to beneficiaries in Mexico.
Bastida-Carranza regularly used fictious names and false documents to execute wire transactions. He was captured on video conducting three wire transfers at a DolEx kiosk sending funds to a beneficiary in Mexico using an alias.
In March 2020, law enforcement executed a search warrant at Bastida-Carranza’s home where they seized approximately five kilograms of methamphetamine, approximately $50,000 of U.S. currency, and a drug ledger, according to a federal complaint
Investigators were also aware of another location that Bastida-Carranza frequented in Fort Worth. The homeowner at the address said that Bastida-Carranza had access to a shed located on the property. Inside the shed, investigators found approximately 15 kilograms of methamphetamine, digital scales, as well as drug processing equipment.
During an interview with law enforcement, Bastida-Carranza admitted to distributing methamphetamine at the direction of a Mexico based source of supply. He also admitted that he received beneficiary names located in Mexico, to whom he wired the meth sales proceeds and directed his other co-conspirators to do the same. Bastida-Carranza also admitted to wiring the drug proceeds he received to drug traffickers based in Mexico.
The IRS Criminal Investigation Dallas Field Office, Drug Enforcement Administration, Homeland Security Investigations, the Fort Worth Police Department and the Tarrant County Sherriff’s Office conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Shawn Smith prosecuted this case.
Former registered broker admits to involvement in options trading schemeRead the Press Release
ATLANTA - Bart Ross pleaded guilty to a criminal information charging him with conspiracy to commit wire and securities fraud arising from a years-long scheme to manipulate the prices of short-term call options in large, publicly traded companies.
“Ross and others were able to cheat the market by perfectly timing their trades on false rumors of their own design,” said U.S. Attorney Byung J. “BJay” Pak. “We will fight all forms of securities fraud, whether it involves defrauding investors, insider trading, pump-and-dump schemes, or the type of sophisticated market manipulation at issue here.”
“Manipulating the market to fraudulently profit is not a victimless crime,” said Chris Hacker, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta. “Ross will now be sentenced for fraudulently profiting from the elaborate scheme and hopefully the public’s trust in a fair market will be restored.”
According to U.S. Attorney Pak, the charges and other information presented in court: Between approximately February 2017 and January 2020, Ross and at least four other individuals conspired to execute a scheme in which they traded securities—primarily short-term call options—in large, publicly traded companies (often Fortune 500 companies) based on materially false rumors about those companies that they themselves generated and disseminated. These materially false rumors were intended to drive up the price of the securities (both the underlying stock and options).
Call options are essentially a contract that gives the options’ holder the right, but not the obligation, to buy shares of the underlying stock at a set price per share—the option’s strike price—on or before a set future date (the option’s expiration date). Generally, the holder of a call option benefits when the price of the underlying stock increases. Short-term call options are ones that generally expire within a week.
Ross, who was formerly registered as a broker with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”), and the co-conspirators generated the rumors. They would frequently exchange drafts of a proposed rumor among themselves using the Trillian instant messaging application. After a rumor was formulated and finalized, one of the co-conspirators, identified as Individual-1 in the criminal information, was responsible for disseminating the rumor via Trillian to multiple accounts, which would in turn, result in the false rumor being disseminated over one or more market subscription services, including Trade The News, TradeXchange, and Benzinga, as well as various Twitter accounts.
Before Individual-1 disseminated the rumor, Ross and the other co-conspirators would acquire a position in the publicly traded company that was the subject of the materially false rumor. The co-conspirators typically purchased short-term call options before (sometimes just minutes or seconds before) Individual-1 disseminated the rumor. The conspirators often (but not always) purchased short-term call options because the price of such options is more sensitive than the price of the underlying stock. It was therefore possible for Ross and the others to earn a greater percentage return by trading short-term call options rather than the underlying stock. Ross and the conspirators profited from their scheme by selling the options (or other securities) after they increased in price. They would typically sell off their positions shortly after the rumor was disseminated (and after the price of the option or underlying stock had increased).
Ross executed approximately 49 trades based on the generation and dissemination of false rumors, including in March and April 2018, when Ross traded short-term call options in Disney and Ben Franklin Resources, respectively. Overall, Ross earned approximately $35,000 in profits from the scheme.
Bart Ross, 56, of Sandy Springs, Georgia, is scheduled to be sentenced March 26, 2021 at 9:30 a.m., before U.S. District Judge Leigh Martin May.
This case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The Securities and Exchange Commission, which provided assistance in this case, also filed a civil enforcement action and consent judgment against Ross today in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alex R. Sistla and Thomas J. Krepp are prosecuting the case.
For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at [email protected] or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.
Former Wisconsin and New York City Schools Official Sentenced on Child Pornography ChargeRead the Press Release
Matthew D. Krueger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, announced that on December 18, 2020, David A. Hay (age: 40) most recently of Brooklyn, New York, was sentenced to 60 months’ imprisonment for his receipt of child pornography.
According to court filings, in May of 2010, while living and employed in the Eastern District of Wisconsin, David A. Hay exchanged emails with a 15-year-old child. During the course of those communications, the defendant received sexually explicit digital images and videos from the child. Hay also provided sexually explicit images of himself to the 15-year-old.
Hay was principal at Tomah High School from 2011 through 2014. Prior to that, Hay was principal at Kettle Moraine High School from 2008 through 2011 before resigning following the school district’s discovery of irregularities with Hay’s licensing and the misuse of a district credit card. Most recently, Hay served as Deputy Chief of Staff to the New York City Chancellor of Schools.
Senior U.S. District Judge William C. Griesbach called Hay’s actions “abominable for a man in his position” and emphasized the gravity of his conduct which involved inappropriate personal interactions with underage children as opposed to the passive receipt of child pornography. In addition to the 60 months of imprisonment, Hay will spend 10 years on supervised release and will be required to register as a sex offender.
This case was investigated by the City of Neenah Police Department with the assistance of the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Daniel R. Humble.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006, by the U.S. Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
The year 2020 marks the 150th anniversary of the Department of Justice. Learn more about the history of our agency at www.Justice.gov/Celebrating150Years.
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For Additional Information Contact: Public Information Officer Kenneth Gales
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Former Illinois Attorney Charged with Federal Tax OffenseRead the Press Release
CHICAGO — A former Illinois attorney withheld more than $137,000 in payroll taxes from his employees’ paychecks but failed to remit the money to the IRS, according to a criminal charge filed in federal court in Chicago.
ADAM TRACY, 43, of Wheaton, is charged with one count of willful failure to pay taxes to the IRS. Arraignment is set for Dec. 21, 2020, at 11:00 a.m., before U.S. District Judge Edmond E. Chang.
The charge was announced by John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; and Tamera Cantu, Acting Special Agent-in-Charge of the IRS Criminal Investigation Division in Chicago. The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Getter.
According to a criminal information filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Chicago, Tracy operated Securities Compliance Group Ltd., a Wheaton-based law and consulting practice that also did business as “Clearing Link LLC,” “Wabash Capital Advisors Ltd.,” “Guanwei Recycling Corporation,” and “The Tracy Firm. Ltd.” From 2014 to 2018, Tracy’s company withheld $137,403.76 in payroll taxes from employees’ paychecks but willfully failed to pay the money to the IRS, the information states. For much of that time, the company also failed to file quarterly employment tax returns (Forms 941) with the IRS, the information states.
The public is reminded that an information is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. The tax charge is punishable by up to five years in prison. If convicted, the Court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal statutes and the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines.
Former Federal Employee Pleads Guilty to Receiving Unauthorized Compensation for Work He Was Supposed to Provide to the Public as Part of His JobRead the Press Release
Greenbelt, Maryland – U.S. Magistrate Judge Charles B. Day today sentenced Gerald F. Luchansky, age 82, of Annapolis, Maryland, to four months of home detention as part of one year of probation and ordered him to pay a $5,000 fine, after Luchansky pleaded guilty to receipt of unauthorized compensation by a government employee. Luchansky, a former employee of the National Archives and Records Administration, admitted that he accepted compensation from two different companies for work that he was supposed to provide to members of the public for free.
The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Robert K. Hur and and Jason Metrick, Assistant Inspector General for Investigations, National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).
Gerald Luchansky was an Archives Specialist with NARA from 1979, until his retirement in 2017, after receiving a lifetime achievement award for his work.
According to his guilty plea, one of Luchansky’s job responsibilities was to pull archival aerial photographs of Allied bombing runs in World War II, digitize them, and make them available to researchers. Starting in 2008, and without the knowledge or approval of NARA, Luchansky was hired and paid by a German company to do this very same work while he was employed at NARA. Luchansky would scan NARA’s archival aerial photographs and provide them to the German company on thumb drives or CDs. The Germany company paid Luchansky for the photographs, even though Luchansky was being paid by NARA to provide those same photographs to members of the public for free.
As detailed in his plea agreement, between 2004 and 2017, and without the knowledge or approval of NARA, Luchansky was paid $27,510 by a second company—this one in Maryland—to research NARA cartographic holdings and obtain rolls of NARA’s aerial film. Luchansky provided the Maryland company with invoices for his work, even though as a NARA employee he was supposed to provide those services to the public for free. Luchansky admitted that he deposited the payments from the Maryland company into his bank account.
United States Attorney Robert K. Hur commended the NARA Office of Inspector General for its work in the investigation. Mr. Hur thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Leah B. Grossi and Thomas M. Sullivan, who prosecuted the federal case.
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Former Department of Unemployment Assistance Employee and Husband Arrested on Fraud Charges Arising from Pandemic Unemployment ClaimsRead the Press Release
BOSTON – A married couple was arrested last night in Texas on federal fraud charges arising from their claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) funds. The defendants previously served jail time.
Tiffany Pacheco, a/k/a Tiffany Tavery, 35, and Arthur Pacheco, 47, who, until recently, resided in New Bedford, Mass., were charged by criminal complaint with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Tiffany Pacheco was also charged with one count of wire fraud. The defendants were arrested in San Antonio, Texas last night and will make an appearance in the Western District of Texas today.
According to charging documents, Tiffany was hired by the Massachusetts Department of Unemployment Assistance (DUA) in April 2020, shortly after her release from federal prison following a conviction for aggravated identity theft. While employed by DUA, Tiffany allegedly misused her position to submit fraudulent PUA claim information on behalf of herself and her husband, Arthur, who was incarcerated in Texas until Sept. 4, 2020, and thus ineligible for PUA funds.
Specifically, it is alleged that in June 2020, PUA claims submitted for Tiffany and her husband reflected 2019 income of $0 and no dependents. In July 2020, via her employment with DUA, Tiffany obtained access to the PUA computer system, and later changed claim information for herself and Arthur so as to increase the amount of PUA funds they would receive. For example, Tiffany allegedly increased the amount of 2019 income for her and Arthur to more than $240,000, and increased the number of their dependents to seven. Tiffany further used her access to the PUA system to verify the increased reported 2019 income on both claims without the required income verification documents.
It is further alleged that the PUA claim for Arthur was fraudulent because was incarcerated in Texas until Sept. 4, 2020, and thus ineligible for PUA funds. In November 2020, Arthur called DUA and falsely denied that he had been incarcerated during the timeframe leading up to September 2020, and that he was only incarcerated for approximately a month. Tiffany also spoke with DUA and misrepresented the period of time for which Arthur had been incarcerated.
A search warrant executed on Sept. 22, 2020 at a New Bedford apartment where Tiffany and Arthur resided uncovered various tools of identity fraud, including an ID laminator, 100 blank ID cards, 68 hologram overlays, 150 card lamination sheets and 649 sheets of blank checks. Law enforcement also seized approximately $17,000 cash and a notebook that appeared to contain the personal identifying information of various individuals. On Sept. 23, 2020, DUA terminated Tiffany’s employment.
The charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud provide for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The investigation was conducted by Homeland Security’s Investigation’s Document and Benefit Fraud Task Force (DBFTF), a specialized field investigative group comprised of personnel from various local, state, and federal agencies with expertise in detecting, deterring, and disrupting organizations and individuals involved in various types of document, identity, and benefit fraud schemes.
United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; David Magdycz, Acting Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston; and Michael Mikulka, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, Labor Racketeering and Fraud Investigation made the announcement. The New Bedford Police Department, Massachusetts Parole Board and Massachusetts Department of Unemployment Assistance, Program Integrity Unit provided valuable assistance with the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Bill Abely and Dustin Chao of Lelling’s Criminal Division are prosecuting the case.
The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Five Individuals Charged in Health Care Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON – Sharell Tishan Pitts, 43, Renardo Williams, 35, and Raymont Timothy Owens, Jr., 37, all of the District of Columbia, and Rhonda Pauline Williams, 38, of Oxon Hill, MD, were indicted on conspiracy, fraud, and aggravated identity theft charges relating to a $467,000 health care fraud scheme. Vazena L. Chapman, 39, was charged separately by Criminal Information with one count of Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud. The announcement was made by Acting U.S. Attorney Michael R. Sherwin and James A. Dawson, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office Criminal Division.
Sharell Pitts, Rhonda Williams, and Renardo Williams made their initial appearances at 3:30 p.m. on December 17, 2020 in federal court in the District of Columbia.
According to the indictment, Sharell Pitts and Rhonda Williams, who at the time worked for the D.C. Office of the State Superintendent of Education (“OSSE”), approached multiple co-conspirators at OSSE bus yards in the District of Columbia and offered to submit fraudulent Aflac supplemental health insurance claims on behalf of those co-conspirators in exchange for kickbacks. Renardo Williams, who also worked for OSSE, and Raymont Timothy Owens, Jr., who worked for the D.C. Department of Parks and Recreation, played significant roles in the scheme. Sharell Pitts, Rhonda Williams, Renardo Williams, and Raymont Timothy Owens, Jr. then obtained legitimate medical paperwork, which they falsified and shared with one another for purposes of submitting fraudulent claims for reimbursement with Aflac for themselves and co-conspirators.
As further alleged in the indictment, between May 2015 and October 2016, Sharell Pitts, Rhonda Williams, Renardo Williams, and Raymont Timothy Owens, Jr. submitted over 60 fraudulent claims for reimbursement to Aflac resulting in over $467,000 in payments.
D.C. Metropolitan Police Department (“MPD”) Officer Chapman conspired with Pitts to submit several fraudulent claims for reimbursement to Aflac resulting in $36,805 in payments.
An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed a violation of criminal laws and every defendant is presumed innocent until, and unless, proven guilty.
This investigation was conducted by the FBI’s Washington Field Office Criminal Division. The D.C. Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking (“DISB”) provided substantial assistance in this investigation.
The prosecution is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney David B. Kent of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.
Federal Superseding Indictment Charges Two Baltimore Defense Attorneys and Private Investigator for Conspiracy to Create False Records in a Federal Investigation and to Obstruct Official ProceedingsRead the Press Release
Baltimore, Maryland – A federal grand jury has returned a superseding indictment against attorney Kenneth Wendell Ravenell, age 60, of Monkton, Maryland, on federal charges of racketeering conspiracy, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and narcotics conspiracy. The superseding indictment also adds two new defendants, attorney Joshua Reinhardt Treem, age 73, of Columbia, and Sean Francis Gordon, age 45, of Crownsville, a private investigator who worked for both Ravenell and Treem. The superseding indictment charges Treem and Gordon, along with Ravenell, with a conspiracy to commit offenses against the United States, specifically, to create false records and documents and to obstruct an official proceeding in order to protect members of the conspiracy who were under investigation by federal law enforcement and federal grand juries sitting in Baltimore, including Ravenell himself. Ravenell, Treem, and Gordon are also charged with one count of falsification of documents, and obstructing an official proceeding; Ravenell and Treem are charged with two counts of falsification of records in a federal investigation; and Gordon is charged with one count of falsification of records in a federal investigation. The superseding indictment was returned late on December 17, 2020.
The indictment was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Robert K. Hur; Special Agent in Charge Kelly R. Jackson of the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation, Washington, D.C. Field Office; and Assistant Special Agent in Charge Orville O. Greene of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Baltimore District Office.
“Attorneys are officers of the Court,” said U.S. Attorney Robert K. Hur. “They are not above the law. The U.S. Attorney’s Office will investigate and prosecute attorneys who violate the trust placed in them by breaking the law and obstructing justice.”
Ravenell and Treem practiced law at the same law firm in the 1990s and early 2000s. On January 21, 2016, Treem began representing Ravenell in connection with a federal grand jury investigation into Ravenell. Gordon had been previously hired by Ravenell in connection with Ravenell’s representation of a drug trafficker. Later, Gordon was retained to work with Treem and Ravenell in connection with the investigation of Ravenell. Treem continued to represent Ravenell until June 18, 2019.
The seven-count superseding indictment re-alleges the charges previously filed against Ravenell—specifically, that he violated the legitimate and lawful purpose of the law firm where he worked in order to enrich himself and Individual 1 by receiving payments from a drug trafficker client and his associates in exchange for laundering drug proceeds, obstructing justice to protect the client and his associates, and instructing the client and his associates how to evade law enforcement and continue their drug trafficking; that Ravenell allegedly knowingly protected and assisted co-conspirators in their drug trafficking by coaching co-conspirators about law enforcement techniques so that they could evade these techniques when they trafficked in narcotics; that Ravenell allegedly used the law firm’s bank accounts to launder hundreds of thousands of dollars and protect the drug trafficking organization; and that Ravenell allegedly used the law firm’s bank accounts to receive drug payments and make payments to attorneys retained to represent other members of the conspiracy, concealing and misrepresenting the source of the funds to those attorneys. Ravenell also allegedly received substantial cash payments derived from drug sales as compensation for laundering money and for protection he provided to his co-conspirators. The superseding indictment also re-alleges that Ravenell participated in a conspiracy to distribute 1,000 kilograms or more of marijuana.
The superseding indictment adds four new counts alleging that from May 5, 2013 through December 11, 2018, Ravenell, Treem, and Gordon conspired to conceal, cover up, falsify, and make false entries in a record or document to impede, obstruct, or influence federal investigations into Ravenell and one of his clients and knowingly and corruptly impede official proceedings, specifically a grand jury investigation and federal criminal prosecution of one of Ravenell’s clients and a federal grand jury investigation and potential federal criminal prosecution of Ravenell himself. Specifically, the superseding indictment alleges that Ravenell obtained access to incarcerated individuals, whom he did not represent, and dispatched private investigators, including Gordon, to interview incarcerated individuals and civilian witnesses, so that Ravenell and others at his direction could attempt to improperly influence their testimony, attempt to cause them to execute false affidavits and witness statements which Ravenell knew to be false, and attempt to cause witnesses to withhold testimony from official proceedings.
As alleged in the superseding indictment, Treem and Gordon, at Ravenell’s direction, met with a former client of Ravenell’s, who they knew was a potential witness in a federal criminal investigation of Ravenell by the U.S. Department of Justice and a federal grand jury sitting in Baltimore and a potential criminal prosecution of Ravenell. At the meeting, Treem and Gordon allegedly presented the witness with a document, prepared by Ravenell, containing false statements exculpating Ravenell. Despite the fact that the witness told Treem and Gordon that these statements were false, the superseding indictment alleges that Treem and Gordon urged the witness to sign the document.
The superseding indictment alleges that Ravenell, Treem, and Gordon prepared false documents, including an affidavit on behalf of Gordon that had, as an exhibit, the document containing false exculpatory statements that Treem and Gordon had urged the witness to sign, and a letter to a United States District Judge signed by Treem, relating to their interview of the witness. These documents could be used to undermine the witness’ credibility and to provide evidence of a prior consistent statement by Gordon or Treem if either one of them were to testify. The superseding indictment alleges that the letter was sent to the Judge with the intent to impede, obstruct, or influence a federal investigation and prosecution of Ravenell. Finally, the superseding indictment alleges that the false affidavit prepared by Treem with Ravenell’s assistance, and which Gordon executed, was also an attempt to thwart the investigation and prosecution of Ravenell.
If convicted, Ravenell faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison for the racketeering conspiracy; a maximum of 20 years in prison for the money laundering conspiracy; and a maximum of life in prison for the narcotics conspiracy. If convicted, Ravenell, Treem, and Gordon face a maximum of five years in prison for conspiracy to commit offenses against the United States; a maximum of 20 years in prison for each count of falsification of records in a federal investigation; and a maximum of 20 years in prison for each count of obstructing an official proceeding. The case will be handled by U.S. District Judge Liam O’Grady of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, who has been assigned to preside over this case in the District of Maryland.
An indictment is not a finding of guilt. An individual charged by indictment is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty at some later criminal proceedings.
United States Attorney Robert K. Hur commended the IRS-CI, the DEA, the Maryland Transportation Authority Police Department, the Phoenix (Arizona) Police Department, and the Arizona Financial Crimes Task Force for their work in the investigation and thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Leo J. Wise and Matthew J. Maddox, who are prosecuting the case.
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Edmond Man Charged with 35 Counts of Trade Secret Theft and ConspiracyRead the Press Release
OKLAHOMA CITY – JOSHUA DECKER, 36, of Edmond, has been charged with 35 counts of conspiracy and theft, downloading, transmission, and possession of trade secrets, announced U.S. Attorney Timothy J. Downing.
On December 15, 2020, a federal grand jury returned a 35-count Indictment against Decker. According to the Indictment, Decker was a controller in an oil and gas company that serves customers engaged in drilling and production. Headquartered in Oklahoma City, the company manufactures compact manifold ball valves in 1", 2", 3", and 4" varieties, which are sold across the United States. In March 2017, while employed as the controller at the company, Decker registered a new company with the Oklahoma Secretary of State, Legacy Valve Systems ("Legacy"). He then recruited co-workers at the victim company to join him at Legacy.
It is alleged that in April and May 2017, Decker conspired to steal numerous trade secrets from the victim company. Specifically, the Indictment alleges Decker and others acting at his direction downloaded the technical drawings, material specifications, manufacturing instructions, assembly instructions, and quality assurance procedures for the victim company’s 1", 2", and 3" valves, and Decker transmitted the victim company’s detailed financial information—including cost information and sales by product and customer—by email to himself. It is alleged that Decker then provided the victim company’s drawings to an individual who copied them and replaced the victim company’s logo with a Legacy logo to begin manufacturing and selling valves to compete with the victim company. Decker then allegedly directed others to delete all their text messages and files, including messages on an encrypted application, to conceal their theft from the victim company.
Count 1 charges Decker with conspiracy to commit theft of trade secrets. Counts 2-35 charge him with downloading, transmitting, and possessing trade secrets. The trade secrets are alleged to be specific drawings and financial records which were treated as confidential and protected by the company, and each of which had independent economic value to a competitor like Legacy. If convicted of any of Counts 1-35, Decker faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000.00 fine, or twice the gross gain from the offense or twice the gross loss to the victim company.
This case is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney K. McKenzie Anderson.
The public is reminded these charges are merely accusations and that the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Reference is made to court filings for further information. Attached is the Indictment the federal grand jury returned in this matter.
To download a photo of U.S. Attorney Downing, click here.
Dangerous Tennessee Felon Sentenced to 18 Years for Hopkinsville CarjackingRead the Press Release
PADUCAH, Ky. – United States Senior District Court Judge Thomas B. Russell sentenced a Clarksville, Tennessee convicted felon to 18 years imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release for the defendant’s role in the February 18, 2019, Hopkinsville, Kentucky carjacking, announced United States Attorney Russell Coleman. There is no parole in the federal system.
“When you put families and our law enforcement at risk though armed carjacking and shooting at a police officer, then be prepared to face decades in federal prison,” said U.S. Attorney Russell Coleman. “This lawlessness will not be tolerated in the Western District of Kentucky.”
“During this armed carjacking - the defendant, Keith Kuzyk, shot a Hopkinsville, Kentucky Police Officer. While that charge is being adjudicated in state court, the federal sentence of 18 years in prison without the possibility of parole is appropriate for this violent crime,” stated ATF Special Agent in Charge R. Shawn Morrow of the Louisville Field Division. “ATF is thankful to our law enforcement partners who risk their lives to protect our communities.”
Keith A Kuzyk pled guilty to carjacking, use and discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence, and being a felon in possession of a firearm, on August 20, 2020, in United States District Court.
Specifically, Kuzyk admitted to taking a 2011 Chevrolet Tahoe on February 18, 2019, in Christian County, Kentucky, by force, violence, and intimidation, with the intent to cause death and serious bodily harm to four identified victims.
Further, Kuzyk admitted to the use, carry and discharge of a Bersa, model Thunder 380 Plus, .380 AUTO semiautomatic pistol, and ammunition, during the carjacking, a crime of violence, as well as possession of a Spike’s Tactical, model ST15, multi (5.56 millimeter/.223) semiautomatic rifle. At the time of the offense, Kuzyk was knowingly a felon in possession of a firearm. Kuzyk was previously convicted of Aggravated Assault and Evading Arrest, Theft over $1,000, and First Degree Possession of a Controlled Substance (methamphetamine); all felonies.
Kuzyk was further ordered to pay victim restitution in the amount of $174.00.
Co-defendant Anthony Johnson, of Clarksville, TN, was sentenced by Senior Judge Russell, in United States District Court, on November 18, 2020, to 84 months imprisonment, followed by three years’ supervised release after pleading guilty to carjacking, aiding and abetting, and the use, carry, and brandish of a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Seth Hancock and was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF); Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); Kentucky State Police; Hopkinsville Police Department; Christian County Sheriff’s Office; Hopkinsville/Christian County Violent Crime Task Force; Clarksville Police Department; and Montgomery County, Tennessee Sheriff’s Office.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office is partnering with federal, state, and local law enforcement to specifically identify criminals responsible for significant violent crime in the Western District of Kentucky. A centerpiece of this effort is Project Safe Neighborhoods, a program that brings together all levels of law enforcement to reduce violent crime and make neighborhoods safer for everyone.
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Crystal Methamphetamine Distributor Sentenced to over Ten Years in Federal PrisonRead the Press Release
Tampa, Florida – U.S. District Judge Mary S. Scriven has sentenced Aaron Moses (31, Odessa) to 10 years and 6 months in federal prison for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine, and for possession of cocaine and heroin with intent to distribute. Moses had pleaded guilty on September 22, 2020.
According to court documents, in October and November of 2018, Moses and a co-conspirator distributed over 830 grams of crystal methamphetamine in Pasco County during multiple transactions with a confidential source. Moses supplied the methamphetamine to the co-conspirator at prearranged meeting locations, who in turn, sold it to the confidential source.
Moses also sold cocaine and substances containing fentanyl and heroin to a confidential source in April of 2019. Upon executing a federal search warrant at Moses’s residence on April 22, 2019, investigators recovered powder cocaine, heroin, crack cocaine, MDMA pills, oxycodone pills, multiple cutting agents, and a digital scale. They also found a loaded shotgun and an AK-47 rifle in the master bedroom, a pistol in the living room, and loaded pistol inside a car parked, inside the garage.
his case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Pasco Sheriff’s Office, and the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael Sinacore.
Covington Man Pleads Guilty to Distribution of Child Sexual Abuse MaterialRead the Press Release
NEW ORLEANS – U.S. Attorney Peter G. Strasser announced that BRANDON WARD, age 33, a resident of Covington, Louisiana, pleaded guilty as charged before United States District Judge Eldon E. Fallon to a one-count Indictment charging him with distribution of images and videos depicting the sexual exploitation of children, including children as young as less than one (1) year old, in violation of 18 U.S.C. ' 2252(a)(2).
According to court documents, in about October 2019, a special agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation operating in an undercover capacity, accessed a chat room within an instant messaging mobile application known to be a haven for purveyors of digital files depicting the sexual victimization of children. Between September 29, 2019, and October 13, 2019, an individual subsequently determined to be WARD posted over two dozen links to online file storage service accounts. Each link contained hundreds of videos depicting pre-pubescent children engaging in sexually explicit conduct with adults. In total, WARD uploaded to the accounts at least 47,000 files depicting the sexual victimization of children as young as one year old.
Additionally, a second FBI special agent acting in an undercover capacity participated in direct communication with WARD via Skype, phone, and text message. In the conversations, WARD claimed he had been in contact with an 8-year-old female (Minor 1) who had a crush on him. WARD sent non-sexually explicit pictures he took of Minor 1 to the undercover agent. WARD also instructed the undercover agent, who claimed to be babysitting a six-year-old female, to engage in sexually explicit conduct with the child while WARD watched via Skype.
WARD faces a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of five (5) years and a maximum term of imprisonment of twenty (20) years, followed by up to a lifetime of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine. He can also be required to register as a sex offender. Sentencing before Judge Fallon has been scheduled for March 18, 2021, at 2:00 pm.
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 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.
U.S. Attorney Strasser praised the work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in investigating this matter. Assistant United States Attorney Jordan Ginsberg is in charge of the prosecution.
Cordova Man Federally Indicted for $5.9 Million Insurance Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
Memphis, TN – Christopher C. Brown, 43, of Cordova, Tennessee has been federally indicted for a fraudulent scheme to unlawfully obtain $5.9 million dollars from multiple insurance companies. D. Michael Dunavant, U.S. Attorney, announced the indictment today.
According to allegations in the indictment, Brown defrauded multiple insurance companies over several years by making false representations, including submitting false, forged, and altered documents, to get the victim companies to pay his fraudulent claims.
Brown is charged with four counts of mail fraud and, if convicted, faces up to eighty years in federal prison and a fine of $1,000,000. The indictment also contains an asset forfeiture count seeking to recover all proceeds from the alleged illegal scheme and behavior. There is no parole in the federal system.
U.S. Attorney D. Michael Dunavant said, "Insurance fraud schemes negatively affect interstate commerce and victimize innocent companies and customers. Wherever fraud occurs in the Western District of Tennessee, this office will be prepared to hold offenders accountable for such crimes of dishonesty."
The United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office investigated this case.
The charges and allegations in the indictment are only accusations of criminal conduct, not evidence. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, and convicted through due process of law.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Tony Arvin and David Pritchard are prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.
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Convicted Felon from Lafayette Sentenced for Illegal Possession of FirearmRead the Press Release
LAFAYETTE, La. – Acting United States Attorney Alexander C. Van Hook announced that Tre’Vin R. Bob, 23, of Lafayette, Louisiana, was sentenced by United States District Judge Robert R. Summerhays to 63 months in prison followed by 3 years of supervised release for being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm.
Tre’Vin R. Bob had outstanding arrest warrants from the 15th Judicial District Court and, on January 8, 2019, officers with the Lafayette Police Department observed him walking in a Lafayette neighborhood. When Bob saw the officers, he fled on foot and officers chased after him. He was thereafter apprehended and arrested. On January 9, 2019, law enforcement officers intercepted a call made by Bob from the jail to a family member wherein he admitted that, before he ran from officers the day prior, he hid a firearm in the backyard of a residence in that same neighborhood, and he described the location. In the call, Bob asked the family member to retrieve the firearm before it was found by law enforcement. Detectives with the Lafayette Police Department went to the location described by Bob and retrieved the loaded firearm.
Bob had previously been convicted of several felony offenses, including illegal possession of stolen things over $1,500, attempted simple burglary, theft of a firearm, and attempted possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and was therefore prohibited from possessing a firearm.
The ATF and Lafayette Police Department conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney J. Daniel Siefker, Jr. prosecuted the case.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. PSN is part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally-based strategies to reduce violent crime. To learn more about Project Safe Neighborhoods, go to www.justice.gov/psn.
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Computer Programmer Sentenced to Prison for Making False Statements About His Involvement in the “Silk Road” WebsiteRead the Press Release
Audrey Strauss, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that MICHAEL R. WEIGAND, a/k/a “Shabang,” a/k/a “~Shabang~,” a/k/a “~s,” a/k/a “s,” was sentenced to eight months in prison today for making false statements to federal agents about his involvement in, and his work for, the “Silk Road” online illicit black market, which was responsible for distributing hundreds of millions of dollars of narcotics and other contraband. WEIGAND’s false statements concealed his role in the operation of the Silk Road website. WEIGAND previously pled guilty before United States District Judge William H. Pauley III, who also imposed today’s sentence.
Acting U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said: “Michael Weigand supplied technological advice directly to the leadership of Silk Road, a secret online marketplace for criminal activity. He laundered Silk Road proceeds and traveled overseas to remove Silk Road evidence from a co-conspirator’s residence. Weigand subsequently lied to law enforcement, falsely claiming to have done nothing for Silk Road, and has now been sentenced to prison for that knowing falsehood.”
According to the Information, court filings, statements made in court, and evidence presented during the 2015 trial of Ross Ulbricht, Silk Road’s founder and chief administrator:
Ulbricht created Silk Road in approximately January 2011, and owned and operated the underground website until it was shut down by law enforcement in October 2013. Silk Road emerged as the most sophisticated and extensive criminal marketplace on the Internet at the time. During its more than two-and-a-half years in operation, Silk Road was used by several thousand drug dealers and other unlawful vendors to distribute hundreds of kilograms of illegal drugs and other illicit goods and services to well over one hundred thousand buyers, and to launder hundreds of millions of dollars deriving from these unlawful transactions. Silk Road was specifically designed to allow its users to buy and sell drugs and other illegal goods and services anonymously and outside the reach of law enforcement through the use of the Tor network and a Bitcoin-based payment system.
WEIGAND, a computer programmer and electrical engineer, worked with Roger Thomas Clark, the senior adviser to Ulbricht, on certain aspects of Silk Road. For instance, WEIGAND and Clark worked to identify technological vulnerabilities in the Silk Road website. WEIGAND also supplied technological advice directly to Clark and Ulbricht. After Silk Road was shut down in October 2013, WEIGAND laundered more than $75,000 in Silk Road proceeds. In addition, in late 2013, the Government disclosed that it had been able to access the contents of Ulbricht’s laptop computer, which identified Clark as Ulbricht’s right-hand man; shortly after this revelation, Clark transferred more than $20,000 to WEIGAND in Bitcoin, and WEIGAND traveled to Clark’s London residence and removed Silk Road evidence.
In January 2019, WEIGAND was questioned by IRS and FBI Special Agents. After being specifically warned that it is a federal crime to make a false statement to a federal law enforcement officer, WEIGAND attempted to cover up his involvement in Silk Road by falsely stating, among other things, that (1) he never opened an account on Silk Road; (2) he never used the online pseudonyms “Shabang” or “~Shabang~”; (3) he never transferred Bitcoin to Silk Road; (4) he never exposed computer security vulnerabilities in the Silk Road website; (5) he never communicated with anyone who used the online pseudonym “Dread Pirate Roberts,” “DPR,” or “Silk Road” (i.e., Ulbricht); (6) he never performed any services for the Silk Road website; and (7) he did not know the true identity of “Variety Jones” (one of Clark’s pseudonyms) on Silk Road. WEIGAND also falsely stated that the purpose of his trip to London in late 2013, following the takedown of the Silk Road website and arrest of Ulbricht, was to meet with Clark’s associate regarding a marijuana seed business; in fact, WEIGAND went to Clark’s London residence and removed physical Silk Road evidence.
In addition to his prison term, WEIGAND, 59, of Kirtland, Ohio, was sentenced to three years of supervised release.
The founder and operator of Silk Road, Ross Ulbricht, was previously convicted of seven offenses after a jury trial: distributing narcotics, distributing narcotics by means of the Internet, conspiring to distribute narcotics, engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise, conspiring to commit computer hacking, conspiring to traffic in false identity documents, and conspiring to commit money laundering. Ulbricht was sentenced principally to life in prison and $183 million in forfeiture.
Ulbricht’s senior adviser, Roger Thomas Clark, pled guilty to conspiring to distribute narcotics and his sentencing is currently pending. Clark faces a maximum potential sentence of 20 years in prison.
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Ms. Strauss praised the outstanding joint efforts of the Boston Field Office of the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation, the New York and Washington Field Offices of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the New York Field Office of Homeland Security Investigations, and the New York City Police Department. Ms. Strauss also thanked the FBI’s Cleveland Office for its assistance.
This case is being prosecuted by the Office’s Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit. Assistant United States Attorney Michael D. Neff is in charge of the prosecution.
China-Based Executive at U.S. Telecommunications Company Charged with Disrupting Video Meetings Commemorating Tiananmen Square MassacreRead the Press Release
A complaint and arrest warrant were unsealed today in federal court in Brooklyn charging Xinjiang Jin, also known as “Julien Jin,” with conspiracy to commit interstate harassment and unlawful conspiracy to transfer a means of identification. Jin, an employee of a U.S.-based telecommunications company (Company-1) who was based in the People’s Republic of China (PRC), allegedly participated in a scheme to disrupt a series of meetings in May and June 2020 held to commemorate the June 4, 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre in the PRC. The meetings were conducted using a videoconferencing program provided by Company-1, and were organized and hosted by U.S-based individuals, including individuals residing in the Eastern District of New York. Jin is not in U.S. custody.
“No company with significant business interests in China is immune from the coercive power of the Chinese Communist Party,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers. “The Chinese Communist Party will use those within its reach to sap the tree of liberty, stifling free speech in China, the United States and elsewhere about the Party’s repression of the Chinese people. For companies with operations in China, like that here, this reality may mean executives being coopted to further repressive activity at odds with the values that have allowed that company to flourish here.”
“The FBI remains committed to protecting the exercise of free speech for all Americans. As this complaint alleges, that freedom was directly infringed upon by the pernicious activities of Communist China’s Intelligence Services, in support of a regime that neither reflects nor upholds our democratic values,” said FBI Director Christopher Wray. “Americans should understand that the Chinese Government will not hesitate to exploit companies operating in China to further their international agenda, including repression of free speech.”
“The allegations in the complaint lay bare the Faustian bargain that the PRC government demands of U.S. technology companies doing business within the PRC’s borders, and the insider threat that those companies face from their own employees in the PRC,” said Acting United States Attorney Seth D. DuCharme. “As alleged, Jin worked closely with the PRC government and members of PRC intelligence services to help the PRC government silence the political and religious speech of users of the platform of a U.S. technology company. Jin willingly committed crimes, and sought to mislead others at the company, to help PRC authorities censor and punish U.S. users’ core political speech merely for exercising their rights to free expression. The charges announced today make clear that employees working in the PRC for U.S. technology companies make those companies—and their users—vulnerable to the malign influence of the PRC government. This Office will continue working tirelessly to protect against threats to the free expression of political views and religious beliefs, regardless whether those threats come from inside or outside the United States.”
Mr. DuCharme and Mr. Demers also extended their thanks and appreciation to Company-1 for its cooperation in the government’s ongoing investigation.
According to the complaint, Jin served as Company-1’s primary liaison with PRC law enforcement and intelligence services. In that capacity, he regularly responded to requests from the PRC government for information and to terminate video meetings hosted on Company-1’s video communications platform. Part of Jin’s duties included providing information to the PRC government about Company-1’s users and meetings, and in some cases he provided information – such as Internet Protocol addresses, names and email addresses – of users located outside of the PRC. Jin was also responsible for proactively monitoring Company-1’s video communications platform for what the PRC government considers to be “illegal” meetings to discuss political and religious subjects unacceptable to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the PRC government.
As alleged in the complaint, between January 2019 to the present, Jin and others conspired to use Company-1’s systems in the United States to censor the political and religious speech of individuals located in the United States and around the world at the direction and under the control of officials of the PRC government. Among other actions taken at the direction of the PRC government, Jin and others terminated at least four video meetings hosted on Company-1’s networks commemorating the thirty-first anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, most of which were organized and attended by U.S.-based participants, such as dissidents who had participated in and survived the 1989 protests. Some of the participants who were unable to attend these meetings were Company-1 customers in Queens and Long Island, New York who had purchased subscriptions to Company-1’s services, and therefore entered into service agreements with Company-1 governed by its Terms of Service (TOS).
Jin, officials from the PRC government and others allegedly collaborated to identify meeting participants and to disrupt meetings hosted on Company-1’s U.S. servers, at times creating pretextual reasons to justify their actions to other employees and executives of Company-1, as well as Company-1’s users themselves. In particular, in May and June 2020, Jin and others acted to disrupt meetings held on the Company-1 platform to discuss politically sensitive topics unacceptable to the PRC government by infiltrating the meetings to gather evidence about purported misconduct occurring in those meetings. In fact, there was no misconduct; Jin and his co-conspirators fabricated evidence of TOS violations to provide justification for terminating the meetings, as well as certain participants’ accounts. Jin then tasked a high-ranking employee of Company-1 in the United States to effect the termination of meetings and the suspension and cancellation of user accounts.
As detailed in the complaint, Jin’s co-conspirators created fake email accounts and Company-1 accounts in the names of others, including PRC political dissidents, to fabricate evidence that the hosts of and participants in the meetings to commemorate the Tiananmen Square massacre were supporting terrorist organizations, inciting violence or distributing child pornography. The fabricated evidence falsely asserted that the meetings included discussions of child abuse or exploitation, terrorism, racism or incitements to violence, and sometimes included screenshots of the purported participants’ user profiles featuring, for example, a masked person holding a flag resembling that of the Islamic State terrorist group. Jin used the complaints as evidence to persuade Company-1 executives based in the United States to terminate meetings and suspend or terminate the user accounts of the meeting hosts.
PRC authorities took advantage of information provided by Jin to retaliate against and intimidate participants residing in the PRC, or PRC-based family members of meeting participants. PRC authorities temporarily detained at least one person who planned to speak during a commemoration meeting. In another case, PRC authorities visited family members of a participant in the meetings and directed them to tell the participant to cease speaking out against the PRC government and rather to support socialism and the CCP.
The charges in the complaint are allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. If convicted of both charged conspiracies, Jin faces a maximum sentence of ten years in prison.
The investigation into this matter was conducted by the FBI’s Washington Field Office. The government’s case is being handled by the Office’s National Security and Cybercrime Section. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alexander A. Solomon, Richard M. Tucker, David K. Kessler and Ian C. Richardson are in charge of the prosecution, with assistance from Trial Attorney Scott A. Claffee of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section.
China-Based Executive at U.S. Telecommunications Company Charged with Disrupting Video Meetings Commemorating Tiananmen Square MassacreRead the Press Release
A complaint and arrest warrant were unsealed today in federal court in Brooklyn charging Xinjiang Jin, also known as “Julien Jin,” with conspiracy to commit interstate harassment and unlawful conspiracy to transfer a means of identification. Jin, an employee of a U.S.-based telecommunications company (Company-1) who was based in the People’s Republic of China (PRC), allegedly participated in a scheme to disrupt a series of meetings in May and June 2020 held to commemorate the June 4, 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre in the PRC. The meetings were conducted using a videoconferencing program provided by Company-1, and were organized and hosted by U.S-based individuals, including individuals residing in the Eastern District of New York. Jin is not in U.S. custody.
Seth D. DuCharme, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York; John C. Demers, Assistant Attorney General for National Security; and Christopher Wray, Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), announced the charges.
“The allegations in the complaint lay bare the Faustian bargain that the PRC government demands of U.S. technology companies doing business within the PRC’s borders, and the insider threat that those companies face from their own employees in the PRC,” stated Acting United States Attorney DuCharme. “As alleged, Jin worked closely with the PRC government and members of PRC intelligence services to help the PRC government silence the political and religious speech of users of the platform of a U.S. technology company. Jin willingly committed crimes, and sought to mislead others at the company, to help PRC authorities censor and punish U.S. users’ core political speech merely for exercising their rights to free expression. The charges announced today make clear that employees working in the PRC for U.S. technology companies make those companies—and their users—vulnerable to the malign influence of the PRC government. This Office will continue working tirelessly to protect against threats to the free expression of political views and religious beliefs, regardless whether those threats come from inside or outside the United States.” Mr. DuCharme and Mr. Demers also extended their thanks and appreciation to Company-1 for its cooperation in the government’s ongoing investigation.
“No company with significant business interests in China is immune from the coercive power of the Chinese Communist Party,” stated Assistant Attorney General Demers. “The Chinese Communist Party will use those within its reach to sap the tree of liberty, stifling free speech in China, the United States and elsewhere about the Party’s repression of the Chinese people. For companies with operations in China, like that here, this reality may mean executives being coopted to further repressive activity at odds with the values that have allowed that company to flourish here.”
“The FBI remains committed to protecting the exercise of free speech for all Americans. As this complaint alleges, that freedom was directly infringed upon by the pernicious activities of Communist China’s Intelligence Services, in support of a regime that neither reflects nor upholds our democratic values,” stated FBI Director Wray. “Americans should understand that the Chinese Government will not hesitate to exploit companies operating in China to further their international agenda, including repression of free speech.”
According to the complaint, Jin served as Company-1’s primary liaison with PRC law enforcement and intelligence services. In that capacity, he regularly responded to requests from the PRC government for information and to terminate video meetings hosted on Company-1’s video communications platform. Part of Jin’s duties included providing information to the PRC government about Company-1’s users and meetings, and in some cases he provided information – such as Internet Protocol addresses, names and email addresses – of users located outside of the PRC. Jin was also responsible for proactively monitoring Company-1’s video communications platform for what the PRC government considers to be “illegal” meetings to discuss political and religious subjects unacceptable to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the PRC government.
As alleged in the complaint, between January 2019 to the present, Jin and others conspired to use Company-1’s systems in the United States to censor the political and religious speech of individuals located in the United States and around the world at the direction and under the control of officials of the PRC government. Among other actions taken at the direction of the PRC government, Jin and others terminated at least four video meetings hosted on Company-1’s networks commemorating the thirty-first anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, most of which were organized and attended by U.S.-based participants, such as dissidents who had participated in and survived the 1989 protests. Some of the participants who were unable to attend these meetings were Company-1 customers in Queens and Long Island, New York who had purchased subscriptions to Company-1’s services, and therefore entered into service agreements with Company-1 governed by its Terms of Service (TOS).
Jin, officials from the PRC government and others allegedly collaborated to identify meeting participants and to disrupt meetings hosted on Company-1’s U.S. servers, at times creating pretextual reasons to justify their actions to other employees and executives of Company-1, as well as Company-1’s users themselves. In particular, in May and June 2020, Jin and others acted to disrupt meetings held on the Company-1 platform to discuss politically sensitive topics unacceptable to the PRC government by infiltrating the meetings to gather evidence about purported misconduct occurring in those meetings. In fact, there was no misconduct; Jin and his co-conspirators fabricated evidence of TOS violations to provide justification for terminating the meetings, as well as certain participants’ accounts. Jin then tasked a high-ranking employee of Company-1 in the United States to effect the termination of meetings and the suspension and cancellation of user accounts.
As detailed in the complaint, Jin’s co-conspirators created fake email accounts and Company-1 accounts in the names of others, including PRC political dissidents, to fabricate evidence that the hosts of and participants in the meetings to commemorate the Tiananmen Square massacre were supporting terrorist organizations, inciting violence or distributing child pornography. The fabricated evidence falsely asserted that the meetings included discussions of child abuse or exploitation, terrorism, racism or incitements to violence, and sometimes included screenshots of the purported participants’ user profiles featuring, for example, a masked person holding a flag resembling that of the Islamic State terrorist group. Jin used the complaints as evidence to persuade Company-1 executives based in the United States to terminate meetings and suspend or terminate the user accounts of the meeting hosts.
PRC authorities took advantage of information provided by Jin to retaliate against and intimidate participants residing in the PRC, or PRC-based family members of meeting participants. PRC authorities temporarily detained at least one person who planned to speak during a commemoration meeting. In another case, PRC authorities visited family members of a participant in the meetings and directed them to tell the participant to cease speaking out against the PRC government and rather to support socialism and the CCP.
The charges in the complaint are allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. If convicted of both charged conspiracies, Jin faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
The investigation into this matter was conducted by the FBI’s Washington Field Office. The government’s case is being handled by the Office’s National Security and Cybercrime Section. Assistant United States Attorneys Alexander A. Solomon, Richard M. Tucker, David K. Kessler and Ian C. Richardson are in charge of the prosecution, with assistance from Trial Attorney Scott A. Claffee of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section.
The Defendant:
XINJIANG JIN, also known as “Julien Jin”
Age: 39
Zhejiang Province, People’s Republic of ChinaE.D.N.Y. Docket No. 20-MJ-1103
Charlotte Doctor Sentenced to Prison Time for Conspiring to Distribute Prescription OpioidsRead the Press Release
ABINGDON, Va.- A Charlotte, North Carolina-based doctor and his wife were sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Abingdon on charges they conspired to illegally distribute prescription opioids in the Western District of Virginia and then made a false statement about the conduct, Acting United States Attorney Daniel P. Bubar announced.
David Francis Lelio, 57, was sentenced today to 36 months in prison. Nadja Siiri Kujanson-Lelio, 51, was sentenced today to three years’ probation, including six months of home detention. David and Nadja Lelio, both of Charlotte, N.C., each pleaded guilty in August 2020, to one count of conspiracy to distribute prescription opioids, specifically oxycodone. David Lelio also pleaded guilty to an additional count of making a false statement.
“Dr. Lelio, with the help of his wife, used his medical license to take advantage of patients to illegally obtain opioids for themselves,” United States Attorney Bubar said today. “Sadly, instead of helping to fight the scourge of opioids, they only contributed to it. I am grateful for the Virginia State Police and Wythe County Sheriff’s Office, who were integral to bringing the Lelios to justice and for their continued partnership in supporting communities fighting the opioid crisis every day.”
The pair admitted that between 2016 and 2019, Dr. David Lelio wrote more than 60 prescriptions for oxycodone to patients, some of whom resided in Wythe County, Virginia, without a legitimate medical purpose. As part of the conspiracy, Dr. Lelio wrote opioid prescriptions in his patients’ names with the understanding that some or all of the prescriptions would be shared with his wife, Nadja Kujanson-Lelio. Dr. Lelio and his wife then reimbursed the patients for the cost of filling the prescriptions. When asked by law enforcement about the conspiracy, David Lelio falsely stated there was no agreement with any of his patients to return or share the prescription opioids with his wife.
The investigation of the case was conducted by the Wythe County Sheriff’s Office and the Virginia State Police. Assistant United States Attorneys Lena Busscher and Randy Ramseyer prosecuted the case for the United States.
Catawba County Man Is Sentenced to 6.5 Years for Child PornographyRead the Press Release
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – U.S. District Judge Kenneth D. Bell sentenced Darren Eugene Matthews, 46, of Conover, N.C. to 78 months in prison yesterday on child pornography charges, announced Andrew Murray, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. Matthews was also ordered to serve a lifetime of supervised release and to register as a sex offender upon completion of his prison term.
Sheriff Donald G. Brown II of the Catawba County Sheriff’s Office joins U.S. Attorney Murray in making today’s announcement.
According to court documents and information introduced at the sentencing hearing, in November 2019, a detective with the Catawba County Sheriff’s Office received information that an individual, later identified as Matthews, was emailing child pornography over the internet. Court records show that some of the images depicted children, some as young as toddlers, being sexually abused. On November 22, 2019, Law enforcement executed a search warrant at Matthews’ residence and seized numerous electronic devices. A forensic examination of the devices revealed that Matthews possessed more than 1,300 files of child pornography.
In August 2020, Matthews pleaded guilty to receipt of child pornography. He is currently in federal custody and will be transferred to the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons upon designation of a federal facility.
In making today’s announcement U.S. Attorney Murray commended the investigative work of the Catawba County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Alfredo De La Rosa of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte prosecuted the case.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ offices and 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.
Career offender hiding out in Akron sentenced to 20 yearsRead the Press Release
U.S. Attorney Justin Herdman announced today that Brad Lewis Bradley, 40, of Detroit, Michigan, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge John R. Adams to 240 months of imprisonment after he pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense.
According to court documents, on September 12, 2019, Summit County Drug Unit detectives and Drug Enforcement Administration agents executed a search warrant at the defendant’s residence in Akron, Ohio, for suspected trafficking of fentanyl. The defendant was present at the residence upon arrival and stated that he possessed drugs and two firearms in the home. The defendant directed law enforcement agents to the drugs and weapons, where they found 221 grams of fentanyl, a loaded .40 caliber pistol and a loaded 9-millimeter pistol.
Law enforcement later learned that the defendant was living in Akron as a fugitive, using an alias to avoid prosecution from drug trafficking charges in Detroit.
Bradley was sentenced under a career offender enhancement by Judge Adams due to previous felony convictions for drug trafficking in Detroit.
This case was investigated by the Summit County Drug Unit and the Drug Enforcement Administration. This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron Howell.
CEO of Medical Device Company Charged in COVID-19 Related Securities Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
The chief executive officer (CEO) of a California-based medical device company was indicted by a federal grand jury in connection with an alleged scheme to defraud investors by making false and misleading statements about the purported development of a new COVID-19 test, leading to millions of dollars in investor losses.
Keith Berman, 67, the CEO of Decision Diagnostics Inc. (DECN), was charged by indictment, unsealed today, with one count of securities fraud and one count of making false statements. The indictment alleges that, from February through December 2020, Berman engaged in a scheme to defraud investors by falsely claiming DECN had developed a 15-second test to detect COVID-19 in a finger prick sample of blood. In truth, Berman knew his test was merely an idea and not a validated method of accurately detecting COVID-19, much less an actual product ready for manufacture and sale. According to the indictment, Berman and DECN were in precarious financial condition in the lead up to the pandemic, and Berman wrote in internal emails that he needed a “new story” to “raise millions.”
The indictment further alleges that Berman falsely told investors that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was on the verge of approving DECN’s request for emergency use authorization of its new COVID-19 test. In truth, Berman knew that the company lacked the financial resources and insurance necessary to conduct the clinical testing required by the FDA to complete the application process, but concealed these material facts from and misled investors. In an effort to exert political pressure on the FDA and obtain approval of the DECN COVID-19 test without conducting the necessary clinical testing, Berman hired a political consultant to lobby Members of Congress, telling Members of Congress in talking points that the FDA had “moth-balled” the company’s submission and that it remained “stuck in limbo” at or around the same time that Berman was telling investors that the test was on the verge of approval. Between early March and April 23, 2020, DECN’s stock price rose by over 1,500 percent.
The indictment further alleges that, as part of the alleged scheme, Berman used an alias, “plutoniumimplosion,” to repeat false and misleading statements to investors on Internet message boards, and lull suspecting investors into inaction by refuting allegations of fraud and threatening potential whistleblowers with civil or criminal sanctions. Berman, using his alias, also projected that demand for the DECN test would be “close to 3 billion [test] kits” and claimed that DECN “is in the forefront no matter how loud the naysayers are . . . But then again the 5-6 message board posters [claiming the DECN test was fraudulent] may be right and Mr. Berman will find himself in prison.” The indictment charges that Berman, in sworn testimony to the SEC, made false statements in which he denied ever posting on the message board.
An indictment is merely an allegation and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
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 Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.
The Fraud Section uses the Victim Notification System (VNS) to provide victims with case information and updates related to this case. Victims with questions may contact the Fraud Section’s Victim Assistance Unit by calling the Victim Assistance phone line at 1-888-549-3945 or by emailing [email protected]. To learn more about victims’ rights, please visit: https://www.justice.gov/criminal-vns/victim-rights-derechos-de-las-v-ctimas. If you believe you are a victim who has invested in Decision Diagnostics, please visit: https://www.justice.gov/criminal-vns/case/decision-diagnostics
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service and FBI investigated the case. Trial Attorney Christopher Fenton and Assistant Chiefs Jacob Foster and Justin Weitz of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section are prosecuting the case.
The year 2020 marks the 150th anniversary of the Department of Justice. Learn mode about the history of our agency at www.Justice.gov/Celebrating150Years.
Belmont Man Sentenced to 24 Months for Conspiracy to Commit Bank FraudRead the Press Release
CONCORD - Jon Daigle, Jr., 33, of Belmont, was sentenced to 24 months in federal prison for conspiracy to commit bank fraud, United States Attorney Scott W. Murray announced today.
According to court documents and statements made in court, on December 12, 2019, the Belmont Police Department received a report that two people were using drugs in a parked car outside a convenience store. Officers responded and identified Daigle and Monica Kemper as the occupants of the vehicle. In plain view, they observed drug paraphernalia in the car. Officers seized the vehicle and applied for a search warrant, which was granted. Later that day, officers searched the car and found suspected methamphetamine, drug paraphernalia, mail addressed to various people in Laconia, Gilford, and Meredith, New Hampshire (including checks made out to people who were not occupants of the vehicle), a USPS mail tote, and a lock pick set.
On January 15, 2020, the Bedford Police Department began an investigation of mail stolen from a community mailroom. A surveillance camera in the mailroom showed that on January 12, 2020, Daigle was captured on video as he picked the lock to the mailroom, entered the room, rummaged through various packages, and left with a handful of mail.
On various occasions between January and April of 2020, Daigle and Kemper altered stolen checks and cashed or attempted to cash them at various banks in New Hampshire. Some of the checks were stolen from the community mailroom in Bedford and also from mailboxes in Manchester. On April 1, 2020, Daigle and Kemper attempted to use a stolen driver’s license to cash a check at a credit union.
On April 23, 2020, Daigle and Kemper were arrested by Manchester Police officers after an extensive investigation. Officers seized the vehicle and obtained a search warrant. The vehicle contained over $16,000 in stolen checks, stolen credit cards, the stolen driver’s license used at the credit union on April 1, and various other pieces of stolen mail.
Daigle previously pleaded guilty on August 6, 2020. Kemper previously pleaded guilty and is scheduled to be sentenced on February 25, 2021.
“Fraud crimes involving stolen mail can damage victims in a variety of ways,” said U.S. Attorney Murray. “In order to protect the integrity of the mail and our financial system, we will work closely with our law enforcement partners to identify and prosecute the criminals who attempt to profit by stealing mail and defrauding banks with stolen checks.”
“The theft of mail in the furtherance of various fraud schemes has a significant financial and emotional impact on its victims,” says Manchester Chief Allen Aldenberg. “Hopefully, this will serve as a warning to all would-be mail thieves that there are serious consequences for this type of activity."
This matter was investigated by the United States Postal Inspection Service, the Belmont Police Department, the Bedford Police Department, and the Manchester Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Georgiana L. MacDonald and Aaron Gingrande
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Activity in the United States Attorney's OfficeRead the Press Release
Federal District Court Judge Nancy D. Freudenthal sentenced MICHAEL BRYAN DELUCA, 39, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on December 15, 2020 for being a felon in possession of a firearm. Deluca was arrested in Cheyenne, Wyoming. He received one hundred twenty months of imprisonment, to be followed by thirty months of supervised release, and ordered to pay a $100.00 special assessment. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives investigated this case.
Chief Federal District Court Judge Scott W. Skavdahl sentenced MARQUES ALAN CHARGING CROW, 35, of Fort Washakie, Wyoming on December 15, 2020 for three counts of aggravated sexual abuse and one count of abusive sexual contact. He received four hundred fifty-six months of imprisonment, to be followed by one hundred twenty months of supervised release and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $8,478.85 and a $400.00 special assessment. The Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated this case.
Chief Federal District Court Judge Scott W. Skavdahl sentenced BRANDON MICHAEL JAYMES WHITEMAN, 25, of Fort Washakie, Wyoming on December 17, 2020 for sexual abuse of a minor. He received one hundred eighty months of imprisonment, to be followed by one hundred twenty months of supervised release and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $36,736.32 and a $100.00 special assessment. The Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated this case.
Thursday 17 December 2020
Woman ordered to prison for smuggling methRead the Press Release
LAREDO, Texas – A 30-year-old woman from Bradenton, Florida, has been ordered to federal prison following her conviction of importing 15.62 kilograms of crystal meth, announced U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Patrick.
A Laredo jury deliberated for five hours following a two-day trial before convicting Mayra Aguirre on May 1, 2018.
Today, U.S. District Judge Diana Saldana handed Aguirre a 24-month sentence to be immediately followed by five years of supervised release. In handing down the sentence, the court noted Aguirre had accepted responsibility and demonstrated sincere remorse for her actions.
On Oct. 9, 2017, Aguirre attempted to enter the United States via the Lincoln-Juarez Bridge driving her recently-purchased silver 2012 Dodge Durango. Her sister and young toddler were with her. Officers became suspicious after she gave inconsistent replies to standard questions and could not provide proof of vehicle registration.
She was referred to secondary inspection, at which time officers detected a powerful chemical odor emanating from the interior of the vehicle. The odor did not dissipate and initially made some officers nauseous. An inspection revealed obvious signs of mechanical tampering with the discovery of non-factory bolts, glue and unusual welding under the carpeting. A subsequent search revealed 15.62 kilograms of meth stored within 29 plastic bags hidden inside a false “trap door” panel manually attached to the inside of vehicle.
At trial, the jury also heard that the drugs have an estimated value of up to $500,000 in Florida.
The defense attempted to convince the jury the meth was placed in Aguirre’s vehicle by unknown persons when it was stolen in Mexico a month prior to her arrest. They did not believe her claims and found her guilty as charged.
Aguirre was ordered into custody where she will remain pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations and Customs and Border Protection conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney (AUSA) Francisco J. Rodriguez and former AUSAs Christopher Dos Santos and Michael Eaton prosecuted the case.
Wolf Point man admits assault with a hatchetRead the Press Release
GREAT FALLS – A Wolf Point man on Wednesday admitted assaulting a woman with a hatchet at a residence on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, Acting U.S. Attorney Leif Johnson said.
Austin Lee Pipe, Sr., 30, pleaded guilty to assault resulting in substantial bodily injury. Pipe faces a maximum five years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release.
Chief U.S. District Judge Brian M. Morris presided. Pipe was detained pending further proceedings. Sentencing was set for April 15, 2021.
The prosecution said in court records that on Feb. 13, 2019, Pipe and the victim, identified as Jane Doe, got into an argument at Pipe’s residence. Pipe grabbed a hatchet and struck the victim in the arm and leg. The victim required medical treatment at the hospital.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jared Cobell is prosecuting the case, which was investigated by the FBI and Fort Peck Criminal Investigations.
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Winter Springs Woman Pleads Guilty to More Than $1 Million in FraudRead the Press Release
Orlando, Florida – United States Attorney Maria Chapa Lopez announces that Justina Maria Holland (36, Winter Springs) – now known as Justina Maria Rummel – has pleaded guilty to 12 counts of wire fraud, 3 counts of mail fraud, 2 counts of access device (credit card) fraud, 2 counts of aggravated identity theft, 2 counts of false use of a social security number, and 1 count of theft of government property. Holland faces a mandatory minimum penalty of 2 years’ imprisonment for the aggravated identity theft counts, and maximum penalties ranging between 5 to 20 years in federal prison for the other counts. Sentencing has been set for March 1, 2021.
According to court documents, Holland was employed at a local business, where she had access to the bank and credit accounts of the business and its owner. From March 2015 through June 2018, Holland used her position to embezzle over $1 million from her employer and the employer’s owner. Holland’s scheme consisted of three parts.
First, Holland embezzled over $300,000 by taking funds from various company checking and IRA accounts and by manipulating the company’s payroll system to receive additional salary payments.
Second, Holland engaged in over $700,000 of credit card fraud. She made unauthorized purchases using the victim’s American Express and Visa credit cards by making unauthorized transfers from her employer’s various bank accounts. Holland also opened a Visa credit card account in the victim’s name by using his Social Security number and date of birth. Holland used that VISA card to make over $196,000 in purchases for herself, including for vacations. Holland also used her employer’s bank accounts to pay the bills incurred with that VISA card.
Third, Holland used her minor son’s Social Security number to obtain financing for her purchase of a BMW and a Porsche. She used funds from her employer to make some of the car payments for the vehicles.
Holland covered up her embezzlements by providing her employer with false spreadsheets that concealed her spending, among other things. She also erased contents of her work phone and the hard drive from her computer after her fraud was detected.
During the time that Holland was working at the employer and embezzling funds, she received food stamps through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). SNAP is a federally funded, national program established by United States Department of Agriculture that was administered in Florida by the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF). In her applications for public SNAP assistance, Holland falsely represented that she and her husband did not earn any income. From May 2012 to August 2016, Holland received over $23,000 in SNAP benefits. She would not have received any of those benefits had she not made those misrepresentations about her financial situation.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Seminole Financial Crimes Task Force, the U.S. Department of Agriculture – Office of the Inspector General, and the Florida Department of Financial Services – Division of Public Assistance Fraud. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Roger B. Handberg and Terry B. Livanos.
Waterville Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Drug ChargesRead the Press Release
BANGOR, Maine: A Waterville man pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court to three drug-related offenses, including conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl, U.S. Attorney Halsey B. Frank announced.
According to court records, Rodney Lacroix, 32, distributed fentanyl in Kennebec County between May 2017 and October 2018. He obtained fentanyl from out-of-state sources and used a network of distributors to sell in excess of 400 grams of the drug.
Lacroix faces at least 15 years in prison and up to life. He also faces a $20 million fine and at least ten years of supervised release. He will be sentenced after the completion of a presentence investigation report by the U.S. Probation Office.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration investigated the case with assistance provided by the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency, the Waterville Police Department and the Maine State Police.
Wallingford Man Admits Possession of Unregistered FirearmsRead the Press Release
John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, today announced that RAPHEAL DANCER, 38, of Wallingford, waived his right to be indicted and pleaded guilty yesterday to possessing unregistered firearms, in violation of the National Firearms Act.
Pursuant to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), the court proceeding before U.S. District Judge Victor A. Bolden occurred via videoconference.
The National Firearms Act (NFA) regulates certain particularly dangerous or concealable firearms and requires, among other things, that such firearms be registered in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record (NFRTR).
According to court documents and statements made in court, on January 24, 2020, federal law enforcement agents executed a search warrant at Dancer’s Wallingford residence and found several firearms regulated under the NFA, and which were not registered to Dancer in the NFTR. The firearms included a short-barrel rifle, nine silencers and three “Glock conversion devices.” The conversion devices are designed to convert a semiautomatic pistol into a fully automatic weapon, and qualify as “machineguns” as the NFA defines the term.
Dancer pleaded guilty to one count of possessing unregistered NFA firearms, an offense that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years.
Dancer is released on a $100,000 bond pending sentencing, which is not scheduled.
This matter has been investigated by the the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Conor M. Reardon and Marc H. Silverman.
United States Attorney Jeff Jensen ResignsRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS, MO – United States Attorney Jeff Jensen, 54, of St. Louis, Missouri, has announced his resignation effective midnight December 30, 2020. After his resignation, he plans on joining a private law firm in the St. Louis area.
Jensen, a graduate of St. Louis University School of Law and Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business, had previously served as Executive Assistant United States Attorney and as an FBI agent. During his tenure as United States Attorney, he served on the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee.
“Jeff Jensen brought unparalleled experience to the position of United States Attorney as a former FBI Special Agent, Assistant United States Attorney, and private attorney. Since his first day in office, Jeff’s mission has always been the same: to save lives. The extraordinary number of federal prosecutions initiated during his tenure are a testament to that mission. But, Jeff’s efforts were not only limited to the Eastern District of Missouri. Whatever requested of him by the Department of Justice, no matter how big or small, Jeff was always willing to serve. He did so admirably and was the epitome of professionalism. The Department benefited greatly from his sound judgment and broad perspective. It is my pleasure to call him my colleague and friend. I wish him the best moving forward,” said Attorney General William P. Barr.
The Eastern District of Missouri covers 49 counties with staffed offices in St. Louis and Cape Girardeau. The office has 76 attorneys and is responsible for conducting all criminal and civil litigation in the district involving the United States government.
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U.S. Department of Justice Recognizes Raymond F. Fleck, Supervisory Deputy U.S. Marshal (Ret.) with Its National Award for Outstanding Individual Contributions to the Project Safe Neighborhoods Program in Yakima CountyRead the Press Release
Yakima – The United States Department of Justice has recognized and awarded Raymond F. Fleck, Supervisory Deputy Marshal (ret.), U.S. Marshals Service, for his Outstanding Individual Contribution to the U.S. Attorney’s Office-sponsored Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Initiative in the Eastern District of Washington. PSN is a critical piece of the Department’s crime reduction efforts. The program focuses on prosecuting those individuals who most significantly drive violence in our communities. It supports and fosters partnerships between law enforcement, schools, the faith community, and local community leaders to prevent and deter future criminal conduct. In the Eastern District of Washington, the United States Attorney designated Yakima County for this special crime-fighting program in 2017 as a result of the County’s high rates of gang and gun-related violent crime.
From June 3, 2019 through September 20, 2019, Supervisory Deputy Marshal Fleck planned and led 18 federal, state, local, and Tribal agencies in Operation Invictus Civitas (meaning Undefeatable Community) in a 90-day operation which resulted in 246 violent offenders being arrested for crimes committed in Yakima County. Of these, 133 were gang arrests, leading to 9 federal prosecutions with an additional 21 referrals for federal prosecution and numerous state prosecutions. During that time, the community of Yakima experienced a 19% reduction in violent crime, a 100% reduction in homicides over the same corresponding period in 2018, and the only summer free of homicides in Yakima in recent history.
Supervisory Deputy Fleck’s remarkable effort brought together the joint initiatives of Project Safe Neighborhoods, Operation Triple Beam (OTB) of the U.S. Marshals Service, and the Pacific Northwest Violent Offender Task Force (PNVOTF). The initiative was designed to improve public safety by reducing violent crime within the city and county of Yakima, Washington, including the Yakama Nation Reservation. Ultimately, approximately 15 federal, state and local law enforcement agencies were involved in this combined effort; the agencies involved are listed below. In addition, the PNVOTF seized 33 firearms, $37,691.65 in cash, 4.47 pounds of heroin and methamphetamine, and 12 vehicles. Throughout the operation, officer safety was emphasized as all worked together to maximize their combined efforts.
William D. Hyslop, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington said:
“I wholeheartedly commend Raymond F. Fleck for his outstanding leadership in planning and executing Operation Invictus Civitas. It was a tremendously successful operation that highlights the joint commitment, dedication, and partnership between our state, local, Tribal and federal law enforcement partners in combatting violent crime and removing violent criminals and gang members from the greater Yakima community and the Yakama Nation to face justice. Due to Ray Fleck’s superb efforts, indeed, “Undefeatable Community” describes the summer of 2019 in Yakima County.”
United States Marshal Craig Thayer said, “Invictus Civitas was an extremely successful DOJ Project Safe Neighborhoods violent offender fugitive arrest operation to reduce violent crime in Eastern Washington’s Yakima community. Now retired, Supervisory Deputy U.S. Marshal Ray Fleck was the coordinating force behind the operation. Ray was not only able to bring together the state, local, Tribal, and federal partner law enforcement agencies that participated, but most importantly, the people of Yakima united to support this violent crime reduction operation.”
Assistant United States Attorney Caitlin A. Baunsgard is the PSN Coordinator for the Eastern District of Washington. AUSA Baunsgard stated: “Yakima County was designated as this District’s PSN Target Area. Supervisory Deputy Marshal Fleck (ret.) is a very worthy recipient of this national recognition. His leadership exemplifies the Eastern District of Washington’s PSN mission to reduce violent crime in Yakima through cooperative efforts amongst all law enforcement agencies. Operation Invictus Civitas’ success is due in large part to Supervisory Deputy Marshal Fleck’s dedication to the PSN mission through the use of intelligence-based operations.”
The year 2020 marks the 150th anniversary of the Department of Justice. Learn more about the history of our agency at www.Justice.gov/Celebrating150Years.
U.S. Attorney Scott Announces Results from Joint Initiative to Reduce Ongoing Violence in VallejoRead the Press Release
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announces outcomes in Operation PEACE, an initiative launched in Vallejo in August 2020 in response to the increased number of homicides, non-fatal shootings and other violent crimes in Vallejo. By late August 2020, the city had recorded 19 homicides, as well as a significant uptick in shootings and other violent crimes.
Beginning in September 2020, the Vallejo Police Department expanded the reach of Operation PEACE through a partnership formed between the Vallejo Police Department, the Solano County District Attorney’s Office, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
Operation PEACE leverages the strength of these federal and local law enforcement agencies by focusing enforcement operations on violent criminals, including those responsible for murders and shootings, and targets involved in drug trafficking and firearms trafficking.
“Operation PEACE has successfully taken armed, violent criminals off the streets of Vallejo,” U.S. Attorney Scott said. “These successes will continue as the partnership between federal and local law enforcement agencies continue and bring about a safer Vallejo.”
“We must all remember that behind the statistics are real people experiencing real trauma,” Vallejo Chief of Police Shawny Williams stated. “Our community needs and deserves our compassion, service and commitment during times of difficulty and we are hopeful that Operation PEACE will help us achieve that goal.”
“Drug traffickers often use violence, fear and intimidation as tactics. They have little regard for human life or the communities in which they live. They profit off the pain and suffering of people,” stated DEA Special Agent in Charge Daniel C. Comeaux. “Spikes in violent crime require a swift, calculated, and intel-driven law enforcement response like this one. We will continue to collaborate with our law enforcement partners to ensure the health and safety of the community.”
“I am truly grateful for the assistance and cooperation of all the local and federal law enforcement partners who remain committed to reducing the gun violence throughout our community,” said District Attorney Krishna Abrams.
“The FBI and our Solano County Violent Crime Task Force affirmed our commitment to the region by surging resources to support Operation PEACE in Vallejo and the urgent need to reduce violent crime in the community. Together, with our task force officers from the Vallejo Police Department, California Highway Patrol, Solano County Sheriff’s Office, Benicia Police Department, Fairfield Police Department, and Vacaville Police Department, our investigative and analytic teams have dedicated more than 3,200 service hours to ensure the success of our collaborative local, state, and federal efforts to reduce violent crime in Vallejo,” said Special Agent in Charge Sean Ragan of the FBI Sacramento Field Office. “Every family should have the opportunity to live, work, and play without fear, and we ask the community to join us in our stand against violence. You can make a difference. If you have information about crime in your community, call our tip line or submit information online to help ensure a safe environment in all of our neighborhoods.”
“The U.S. Marshals Service task force committed over 40 officers for this operation to help relieve the fear and violence of those who live in the City of Vallejo,” U.S. Marshal Lasha Boyden said. “As a result of teamwork and partnership, we were able to track and apprehend some of Vallejo’s most violent offenders.”
“Operation PEACE was a multi-agency law enforcement investigation related to the ongoing violent criminal activity in the city of Vallejo,” said Special Agent in Charge Patrick Gorman, San Francisco Field Division, ATF. “Protecting the public is at the forefront of ATF’s mission, and while working side by side with our partners, ATF focused on our central role in combatting gun violence. Together, the law enforcement agencies involved in this investigation leveraged our resources and specialties to reduce the illegal use and possession of firearms, as well as the illegal distribution of narcotics in the Vallejo area. ATF and our law enforcement partners have made a tremendous effort to make the city of Vallejo a safer community, and we remain committed in doing our part to disrupt the shooting cycle by identifying, investigating, and prosecuting violent criminals and the sources of their crime guns, and remove them from our communities. ”
“HSI agents were highly focused on stopping these criminals’ lawless reign of shootings, narcotics trafficking and a number of other illegal activities. The success of this case was made possible through the partnership of HSI with the Vallejo Police Department, FBI, ATF, DEA, the U.S. Marshals Service, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Solano County District Attorney. We look forward to continuing our valuable partnership, as we combat modern slavery known as human trafficking, gang violence, and a host of other criminal activities that have no place in Northern California,” said HSI NorCal Special Agent in Charge Tatum King.
In the first phase of Operation PEACE, during the week of Sept. 21–25, the Marshals Service and Vallejo Police Department apprehended 25 fugitives who were violent offenders with outstanding state and federal arrest warrants, including fugitives wanted for lewd and lascivious acts on a minor and resisting arrest.
In the second phase of Operation PEACE, the DEA spearheaded an effort to target violent offenders engaged in large-scale drug trafficking within Vallejo and suppliers outside of Vallejo. Using confidential informants and undercover agents, the Operation PEACE teams conducted over 12 controlled drug purchases, which led to multiple search and arrests operations. These efforts led to the federal prosecution the following:
Michael Williams, 58, and Clarence Courtney, 55, both of Vallejo, were charged with conspiracy to distribute heroin and methamphetamine, distribution of heroin, distribution of methamphetamine, and possession with the intent to distribute methamphetamine. Courtney is also charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm. Because Courtney has four prior drug trafficking felony convictions, he is prohibited from possessing a firearm. According to court documents, Williams sold an undercover agent over 2 pounds of crystal methamphetamine and over 1 ounce (32 grams) of heroin between September and November 2020. Courtney sourced the methamphetamine and heroin to Williams. On Dec. 3, agents arrested Williams and Courtney and found them to be in possession of over 3 pounds of methamphetamine. Agents later found a ghost-gun assault rifle, a handgun, and over 100 rounds of ammunition in Courtney’s residence. Williams also has an extensive criminal history, with seven prior felonies for drug trafficking, theft, and burglary.
Darren Tramaine Tony Mitchell, 30, and Ronald John Garnes, 42, both of Vallejo, were charged with conspiracy to manufacture, distribute, and possess with the intent to distribute methamphetamine. Mitchell was also charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm. Mitchell, who has seven prior felony convictions for drug trafficking, burglary, and firearms offenses, is prohibited from possessing a firearm. When agents searched the residence where Mitchell and Garnes both lived, they found an active methamphetamine tablet manufacturing operation that included a pill press, pill binding materials, manufacturing equipment, and thousands of methamphetamine tablets shaped like superheroes. They also found an assault rifle and a handgun in the dishwasher in the kitchen. Garnes also has an extensive criminal history, with five prior felony convictions. He had recently been released from prison after a conviction for attempted murder.
Marques Julius Johnson, 39, of Sacramento, and Calvin James Smith, 32, were charged in criminal complaints with distribution and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. Johnson was also charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. According to court documents, undercover operatives conducted multiple purchases of counterfeit MDMA tablets containing methamphetamine from Johnson in Vallejo. On Dec. 9, Johnson and Smith were arrested together during an undercover purchase in Vallejo and found to be in possession of 6,000 methamphetamine tablets and a loaded pistol. Smith was also found carrying an AR-15, loaded with a high capacity magazine.
The above cases are the product of investigations by DEA Sacramento with assistance from HSI, FBI, ATF, and the Vallejo Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Cameron Desmond is prosecuting the cases against Courtney and Mitchell, Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexis Nelsen is prosecuting the case against Johnson.
Brian Earl Turner, 32, of Vallejo, was charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm. According to court documents, on Sept. 16, Turner possessed a Glock 27, .40‑caliber handgun. Turner has been convicted of assault on a person with a semi‑automatic firearm and is prohibited from possessing a firearm.
Lamonte Eshawn Percoats, 33, of Vallejo, was charged with possession with intent to distribute heroin, being a felon in possession of a firearm, and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. According to court documents, on Sept. 29, Percoats possessed a Taurus 9 mm, and at least 100 grams of heroin. Percoats has been convicted of four prior convictions: possession of a controlled substance while armed, assault with a deadly weapon (not a firearm), being a felon in possession of a firearm, and an assault with a deadly weapon. These prior convictions prohibit Percoats from possessing a firearm.
The cases against Turner and Percoats are the product of investigations by the Solano County Violent Crime Task Force, which includes the following law enforcement partnerships: Vallejo Police Department, Vacaville Police Department, Fairfield Police Department, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Solano County Sheriff’s Office, California Highway Patrol, Benicia Police Department and the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jill Thomas is prosecuting both cases.
The charges are only allegations, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
During these investigations, Operation PEACE partners took multiple dangerous high-capacity firearms and drugs off the street.
The Solano County District Attorney’s Office continues to work with the Operation PEACE Partners for local prosecutions of violent offenders and is coordinating with the U.S. Attorney’s Office regarding the federal adoption of certain cases.
Phase two of Operation PEACE is ongoing and will continue to target violent subjects committing crimes in Vallejo until the violence stops. Some of these efforts include complex, long-term investigations that are likely to result in future state and federal prosecutions of violent individuals. Operation PEACE will continue to hold those responsible for violence in our community through enforcement and prosecutions in effort to break the cycle of violence.
U.S. Attorney Erin Nealy Cox to Depart Justice DepartmentRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Erin Nealy Cox will resign from the Department of Justice, the office announced today.
“Serving as United States Attorney has been the privilege of a lifetime. Representing our nation is a tremendous responsibility – one I have tried to undertake with integrity and with accountability to the rule of law. I am grateful to President Trump and Senators Cornyn and Cruz for giving me this opportunity to lead, and to the Attorney General for putting his trust in me,” Nealy Cox said. “Of course, I was never the key to the achievements of this great office. Through a courthouse shooting, a government shutdown, a global pandemic, and unprecedented civil unrest, the attorneys and staff of the Northern District of Texas have never wavered in their commitment to justice. We’ve seen similar determination from our federal, state, and local law enforcement partners. I am thankful for their passion and inspired by their dedication.”
Nominated by President Donald J. Trump in September 2017 and unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate two months later, U.S. Attorney Nealy Cox was sworn into office on November 17, 2017. Under her leadership, the Northern District of Texas (NDTX) has thrived, prosecuting more cases and more defendants than any other extra-large non-border district in the nation.
In addition to her duties here in the Lone Star State, Ms. Nealy Cox led on a national level, serving as Chair of the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee, a body of federal prosecutors advising the AG on policy and operational issues. Tasked with articulating Justice Department initiatives to lawmakers and to the public, she testified twice before the U.S. Senate. She was named co-chair of the Attorney General’s Task Force on Violent Anti-Government Extremism, served on DOJ’s Religious Liberty Taskforce, and was one of five U.S. Attorneys advising DOJ’s China Initiative, a group of senior officials combatting state-sponsored economic espionage.
“Erin Nealy Cox is a top-notch leader and lawyer – one of the many reasons I selected her to chair the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee,” stated Attorney General William P. Barr. “A fierce advocate against human trafficking, public corruption, domestic violence, and violent crime, she has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to the pursuit of justice in North Texas and nationwide. I thank her for her dedicated service to the Department and wish her every success moving forward.”
In the Northern District of Texas, Nealy Cox advanced an impressive list of priorities. She focused on reducing the District’s rising violent crime rates by aggressively enforcing laws against firearm possession by prohibited persons, charging the second highest number of gun crime defendants in the country. In February 2019, she launched the district’s Domestic Violence Initiative, designed to keep guns out of the hands of armed abusers. This groundbreaking effort, rooted in research showing that domestic violence offenders with access to a gun are five times more likely to murder their partner, led to the Attorney General appointing Nealy Cox chair of a newly created Domestic Violence Working Group. At her direction, the District also took aim at unlicensed dealing of firearms at gun shows, unlawful possession of 3D printed weapons, and private sellers “engaged in the business” of dealing firearms, including the man who sold an AR-15 to the Midland-Odessa shooter.
A passionate advocate against human trafficking, Nealy Cox attacked sexual exploitation from all angles, working with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) to revamp the North Texas Trafficking Task force. In June 2020, the trafficking task force took down CityXGuide, a leading source of online ads for sex trafficking, and used a newly-passed law, FOSTA, to charge its owner with reckless disregard of trafficking – a move that drew praise from lawmakers nationwide. She also attacked the demand-side of human trafficking by charging sellers as well as buyers and instituted a system to seek restitution for victims.
Nealy Cox’s all-angles approach extended to public corruption, where her team aggressively pursued all facets of public corruption: bribe payers, recipients, and facilitators. In August 2018, she announced charges against the former Mayor Pro Tem of Dallas and the Louisiana businessman who paid him nearly half a million dollars in bribes to promote Dallas County Schools’ bus stop-arm program. The prosecution also brought down a facilitator who helped funnel the money. Six months later, Nealy Cox announced charges against another Dallas City Councilwoman, who pleaded guilty to accepting tens of thousands of dollars in bribes from a local real estate developer.
A self-professed data nerd, Nealy Cox employed a data-driven model to kick off award-winning Project Safe Neighborhoods programs in Dallas, Lubbock, and Amarillo. In partnership with a top-tier criminologist, she and the various PSN task forces analyzed district-wide violent crime data to zero in on violent crime hotspots that could benefit from collaborations between federal law enforcement and police departments. In Dallas, the PSN Taskforce also implemented a community-engagement strategy using Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) to reinvigorate blighted areas. Even as municipalities across North Texas struggled with rising crime rates, all three PSN hotspots in Amarillo, Lubbock, and Dallas saw marked decreases in violent crime.
She advocated statistical analysis in other areas of the law too, pushing prosecutors to use data to bring down pill mill doctors and other corrupt medical practitioners. The District brought a wide range of drug prosecutions – from darkweb drug dealers, to cartel trafficking operations, to an MLB employee charged with dealing the fentanyl that killed a beloved LA Angels pitcher. And in the wake of the pandemic, NDTX prosecutors did not hesitate to target those who exploited the COVID-19 crisis, bringing multiple COVID fraud cases as well as obtaining injunctions against doctors touting sham therapies and fake cures.
A prosecutor at heart, Nealy Cox did not shy away from the courtroom. In September 2019, she worked with a fellow AUSA to personally try Michael Webb, the man who kidnapped an 8-year-old girl in broad daylight off the streets of Fort Worth. Following emotional testimony from the mother and the agents that rescued the child in the defendant’s hotel room, a jury deliberated for just eight minutes before returning a guilty verdict. Nealy Cox also argued the sentencing phase, which resulted in a life sentence.
Ms. Nealy Cox’s last day in the office will be January 8, 2021. Following her departure, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Prerak Shah will assume the role of Acting U.S. Attorney.
U.S. Attorney Erin Nealy Cox in her office in the Earle Cabell Federal Building.Two Men Sentenced to Lengthy Prison Terms for Illegal Possession of Drugs and FirearmsRead the Press Release
SHREVEPORT, La. - Acting United States Attorney Alexander C. Van Hook announced that two men have been sentenced by U.S. District Judge Elizabeth E. Foote for illegal possession of drugs and firearms.
Charles David Dreesen, 33, of Woodlawn, Texas, was sentenced to 230 months (19 years, 2 months) in prison, followed by 5 years of supervised release, for possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking crime. Dreesen pleaded guilty to the charges on July 29, 2020.
Cody Harrison a/k/a “CJ,” 30, of Shreveport, Louisiana, was sentenced to 201 months (16 years, 9 months) in prison, followed by 5 years of supervised release, for possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking crime. Harrison pleaded guilty to the charges on June 16, 2020.
“The sentences imposed today send a clear message that using guns in furtherance of drug trafficking is a sure path to a long prison sentence when these cases are prosecuted in federal court,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Van Hook. “The United States Attorney’s Office and the DEA will continue to work with the Louisiana State Police, Caddo Parish Sheriff's Office, Greenwood Police Department, and our other local law enforcement partners to make our communities safer by taking dangerous drug dealers off the street.”
According to evidence introduced in court, in January 2020, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Task Force Officers received a tip from a source that Harrison and Dreesen would be returning to the Shreveport/Bossier City from Houston with a large amount of methamphetamine and the vehicle they were driving was described to them. Once Harrison and Dreesen entered into the Western District of Louisiana, law enforcement officers initiated a traffic stop but the vehicle began accelerating instead and a chase ensued. The chase involved several state law enforcement agencies and eventually the vehicle went back into Texas before running out of gas. Dreesen was the driver of the vehicle and Harrison a passenger. When the car stalled, both defendants attempted to flee from law enforcement agents but were apprehended shortly thereafter.
During the vehicle chase, officers observed several items being thrown from the window of the moving vehicle. A firearm and gun holster were later found at those locations. Both defendants admitted to possessing a firearm and Harrison admitted to having the firearm thrown from the window.
Both defendants are convicted felons. Dreesen has prior convictions for felony theft, possession of marijuana, and possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance. Harrison has a prior conviction for possession of a controlled substance. Individuals convicted of a felony are prohibited from possessing a firearm or ammunition.
The DEA, Louisiana State Police, Caddo Parish Sheriff’s Office, Greenwood Police Department, and Harrison County Sheriff’s Office conducted the investigation. Assistant United States Attorney J. Aaron Crawford prosecuted the case.
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Two Men Sentenced for Robbing Lanett, Alabama BankRead the Press Release
Montgomery, Alabama – This week, two men were sentenced for their roles in robbing a Lanett, Alabama bank, announced U.S. Attorney Louis V. Franklin, Sr. On Tuesday, December 15, 2020, Cordero Jakevion Story, 24, was sentenced to 84 months in prison, and on Monday, December 14, 2020, Jacobie Phillips, 27, received a 27-month sentence. There is no parole in the federal system.
Court records show that Story pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit armed bank robbery, armed bank robbery, and brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a federal crime of violence in August of 2019. That same month, Jacobie Phillips pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank robbery and bank robbery. Both men are from Lanett, Alabama. A third member of their crew, Lamartrez Oshun Story, a 24-year-old from Lafayette, Alabama, was found guilty of bank robbery after a two-day trial that concluded on November 5, 2020. He will be sentenced early next year. The money stolen from the bank has been returned.
During Lamartrez Story’s trial, evidence revealed that in July of 2018, Cordero Story decided to rob a bank and he solicited two others, his friend Jacobie Phillips and his cousin Lamartrez Story, to assist. On July 24, 2018, Lamartrez Story drove Cordero Story and Phillips to the Farmers & Merchants Bank in Lanett, Alabama in a red Mustang. When they arrived, Cordero Story put on gloves and covered his face with a bandana before getting out of the vehicle. Phillips got out of the car immediately after with bricks in hand while Lamartrez Story waited in the car. Cordero Story then ran into the bank and, a few seconds later, Phillips followed and put the bricks he was carrying just inside the bank door to prevent it from trapping the two robbers inside. While in the bank, Cordero Story jumped over the counter, threatened the teller with a gun, and demanded money. The teller pointed to the drawer and Cordero Story took all the cash out of the drawer. After grabbing all the money, totaling $2,257.00, Cordero Story and Phillips ran out of the bank, returned to the vehicle where Lamartrez Story was waiting, and they all sped away. While driving away, Cordero Story and Phillips began throwing some of the clothing they had worn, including gloves and masks, out of the car window. A short time later, a Chambers County Drug Task Force officer spotted the red Mustang and initiated a stop. Upon searching the vehicle, officers discovered a black and silver revolver, the money from the bank, and a green piece of paper with the bank teller’s login information. Law enforcement also recovered the clothing items that had previously been thrown out of the vehicle.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Lanett Police Department, the Chambers County Drug Task Force, the Auburn Police Division, and the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) investigated this case. Assistant United States Attorneys Megan Kirkpatrick and Stephanie Billingslea are prosecuting the case.
Two Federally Charged in Kidnapping of Child Abandoned at Southaven GoodwillRead the Press Release
Memphis, TN - Jeremy Fitzgerald, 34, and Turliscea Turner, 29, both of Memphis, Tennessee, have been federally charged in a criminal complaint with kidnapping a two-year-old boy whom they later abandoned at a Goodwill Store in Southaven, Mississippi. D. Michael Dunavant, U.S. Attorney announced the kidnapping charge in the federal complaint today.
According to information presented in the complaint, Fitzgerald offered to have Turner, posing as Fitzgerald's sister, babysit the child while Fitzgerald and the child's mother went to Nashville, Tennessee overnight on December 13, 2020. Turner agreed to watch and keep the child with her overnight. While Fitzgerald and the child's mother were in Nashville, Fitzgerald demanded that the child's mother work for him as a prostitute. When she refused, Fitzgerald left her in Nashville. He did not answer her repeated telephone calls.
Fitzgerald did, however, speak to the child's aunt. In that conversation, Fitzgerald demanded money for the return of the child. Turner was aware that Fitzgerald had demanded money in exchange for the child's return.
The next morning, Fitzgerald, Turner, and an unknown subject drove and transported the child across a state boundary from Memphis to Southaven, Mississippi. When they stopped at a gas station, Fitzgerald took the child out of the car to a nearby Goodwill store and abandoned him there. Turner went into the gas station; she knew that the child had been left at the Goodwill store.
Southaven Task Force Officers recovered surveillance video that showed the maroon vehicle that Fitzgerald and Turner had driven to Southaven with the child. The suspect vehicle was observed on Germantown Parkway in Shelby County on the afternoon of December 14, 2020. When law enforcement responded to the area, Fitzgerald crashed the vehicle, and was later transported to a local hospital with minor injuries. Deputies found Turner inside a nearby Kroger, wearing the same clothing as in the surveillance video. Both subjects were taken into custody without further incident.
If convicted of kidnapping in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1201, the defendants each face a possible sentence of 20 years and up to life in federal prison, 5 years to life of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine. There is no parole in the federal system.
The case will be presented to a federal grand jury at a later date to consider an indictment against the defendants, where additional federal charges may be added.
The charges and allegations contained in the complaint are merely accusations of criminal conduct, not evidence. The defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, and convicted through due process of law.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Shelby County Sheriff’s Office and the Southaven Police Department are continuing to investigate this case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Lauren Delery is prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.
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Two Face Firearm and Meth Trafficking ChargesRead the Press Release
PROVIDENCE – A Providence woman and an inmate in the Rhode Island Adult Correctional Institution (ACI) have been charged in federal court in Providence with being a felon in possession of a firearm and conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.
It is alleged in court documents that on October 8, 2020, Tyler Bagley, 28, while incarcerated in the ACI on unrelated state charges, telephoned his then girlfriend, Bernice Chase, 38, and, using coded language, instructed her to call a phone number he provided to her to arrange for the sale of a firearm that he previously obtained. It is alleged that Chase called the number and arranged to meet the next day with an individual in a parking lot in Pawtucket to provide him with a Glock9mm pistol in exchange for $450. About an hour after the transaction was completed, Bagley telephoned Chase and instructed her to deposit $200 into his prison account and for her to keep the remainder of the proceeds.
It is alleged that approximately one month after the sale of the firearm, Bagley called Chase and, using coded language, instructed Chase to contact the person who purchased the firearm and arrange to sell him methamphetamine. The two met the next day in the parking lot in Pawtucket where Chase allegedly provided the individual 15 grams of meth in exchange for $800. About an hour after the transaction was completed, Chase informed Bagley that the transaction resulted in a profit of $300. Bagley instructed Chase to deposit half in his prison account and told her she could keep the rest. Bagley was released from prison three days later.
It is further alleged in court documents that four days after Bagley’s release from prison, Chase contacted the person to whom she sold the firearm and meth and arranged to sell him 29.4 grams of meth in exchange for $1,400. She asked the person not to let Bagley know of the transaction, and she warned him that the meth was strong and that “someone had dropped the other day” from using her supplier’s meth and not to use it “too crazy, cause they’ll drop.” A week later, Chase allegedly arranged for another sale of meth to the same person.
The person to whom Chase allegedly sold the firearm and the methamphetamine was, in fact, a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives undercover agent.
Bagley and Chase, both convicted felons, have been charged by way of a federal criminal complaint. Bagley is charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm and conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine; Chase is charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm, conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, and distribution of methamphetamine, announced United States Attorney Aaron L. Weisman and Special Agent in Charge of the Boston Field Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Kelly D. Brady.
Chase appeared Wednesday before U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Patricia A. Sullivan and was released on unsecured bond. Bagley, presently incarcerated in the ACI, is scheduled to make an initial appearance before a U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge on December 23, 2020.
A federal criminal complaint is merely an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Zechariah Chafee.
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Two COVID-19 Unemployment Benefit Fraud Schemes Charged in the Eastern District of CaliforniaRead the Press Release
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Hundreds of thousands of dollars have been fraudulently taken in two separate schemes that targeted California Employment Development Department (EDD) unemployment insurance benefits that were intended for Californians hit hardest by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic shutdown, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced.
The benefits involved billions of dollars in federal subsidies that have been significantly increased through the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.
“The U.S. Attorney’s Office is committed to the mission of combatting fraud that abuses the provisions of the CARES Act,” said U.S. Attorney Scott. “We will work with every major law enforcement agency to investigate and prosecute the fraud arising out of the pandemic. This theft of taxpayer dollars intended to assist our citizens in a very difficult economic time simply will not be tolerated.”
“Today’s charges demonstrate the Office of Inspector General’s commitment to combating fraud against the unemployment insurance program, which has become increasingly prevalent amid the pandemic. We will continue to work with our law enforcement and state workforce agency partners to pursue individuals who seek to undermine the integrity of the unemployment insurance program,” said Quentin Heiden, Special Agent-in-Charge, Los Angeles Region, U.S. Department of Labor Office of Inspector General.
“The FBI’s long-standing partnership with our local, state, and federal law enforcement partners aid our collective efforts to swiftly identify and aggressively investigate instances of government benefit fraud,” said Special Agent in Charge Sean Ragan of the FBI Sacramento Field Office. “Unemployment benefits are intended to support individuals and families who are in crisis due to the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, not be illegally diverted by fraudsters who surreptitiously steal the identities of the unsuspecting. Many victims do not know they have been targeted until they themselves try to file a claim or are notified by EDD, the IRS, or their employer.”
“Today’s announcement reflects our collaborative commitment to work together across all levels of government and highlights that joint cooperation and a “one team, one fight” approach are already paying dividends,” said Mark S. Ghilarducci, Director, California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services and California’s Homeland Security Advisor. “Going forward, this State Coordination Task Force will remain laser focused on continuing to augment and coordinate with our partners at the US Attorney’s Office, with the district attorney’s offices and with our other state, local and federal law enforcement agencies, to continue to root out criminal activity and the fraud that has occurred within the unemployment system and ultimately hold those responsible accountable.”
“There are so many Californians that have been impacted by COVID-19, and we have no tolerance for anyone who tries to defraud the hard-working people of this state. Our investigators have been dedicated to this and other cases of fraud, and these indictments are the result of collaboration and hard work,” said Kathleen Allison, Secretary of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. “We want to thank U.S. Attorney Scott and all of our partners for the shared commitment in neutralizing fraud in the state’s prisons. We will continue to use every tool at our disposal to hold accountable those who break the law.”
“The EDD is committed to combatting the aggressive fraud attacks against the unemployment benefit system and is grateful for the collaborative efforts of federal, state and local partners in this shared goal,” said Nancy Farias, EDD’s Chief Deputy Director of External Affairs, Legislation, and Policy. “EDD has enhanced its fraud detection and prevention tools to ensure only valid claimants receive timely benefits. We will work with law enforcement to hold those accountable who seek to defraud the unemployment system.”
Today, the federal grand jury in Fresno returned an indictment involving a prison-based scheme out of the Central California Women’s Facility (CCWF) in Chowchilla. Inmate Sholanda Thomas, 36, and parolee Christina Smith, 37, were indicted for conspiracy to commit mail fraud and aggravated identity theft charges for the submission of several fraudulent EDD unemployment insurance claims in Thomas’ and other CCWF inmates’ names. Recorded jail calls and emails show that Thomas and others engaged in “bundling,” that is, they obtained the names, dates of birth, and social security numbers for inmates at CCWF and relayed that information to Smith to submit the fraudulent claims. The claims were submitted shortly thereafter, and the benefits were loaded onto debit cards that were mailed to the addresses provided.
The underlying applications for the claims falsely stated that the inmates had worked within the prescribed period as hairstylists, barbers, and other occupations, and that they were available to work, which was not true because they were incarcerated. The claims would have been denied if accurate answers had been given. EDD and the United States have suffered a loss of over $200,000 as a result of the fraud.
Thomas and Smith used the proceeds for their own benefit, which included Smith keeping Thomas’ share in a shoebox pending Thomas’ release from prison, and Smith getting plastic surgery.
This case is the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Investigative Services Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Barton is prosecuting the case.
In the second scheme, Andrea M. Gervais, 43, of Roseville – a former Employment Development Department employee – allegedly participated in a mail fraud scheme involving approximately 100 fraudulent Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) claims in the names of persons other than Gervais. According to the criminal complaint, at least 12 of the 100 claims were processed for payment, and over $200,000 in PUA benefits were paid out to Gervais’s Roseville address in the form of Bank of America debit cards. The total value of all fraudulent PUA claims from her residence was at least $2 million.
The investigation began when investigators discovered a PUA claim using the identity of a sitting United States Senator for approximately $21,000. This fraudulent claim was processed for payment, and Gervais received a PUA debit card in the United States Senator’s name. Investigators further discovered that Bank of America ATM cameras captured Gervais on multiple occasions withdrawing cash from at least seven of the PUA debit cards, and at least one captured transaction showed Gervais using the debit card issued to the United States Senator.
This case is the product of an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor – Office of Inspector General, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the California Employment Development Department – Investigation Division. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert J. Artuz is prosecuting the case.
Gervais was arrested on federal complaint on Tuesday. On Wednesday, Gervais made her initial appearance before a U.S. magistrate judge and was released on bond pending further proceedings.
If convicted, Thomas and Smith face a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison for conspiracy to commit mail fraud, and a mandatory and additional two-year prison sentence if convicted of aggravated identity theft. If convicted, Gervais faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison for mail fraud. Each defendant also faces a maximum fine of $250,000 on each count. Any sentence, however, would be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables. The charges are only allegations; the defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
The CARES Act is a federal law enacted March 29 that is designed to provide emergency financial assistance to millions of Americans who are suffering the economic effects resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. One source of relief provided by the CARES Act is the authorization that expands states’ ability to provide unemployment insurance for many workers impacted by COVID-19, including for workers who are not ordinarily eligible for unemployment insurance benefits.
Anyone with information about attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud Hotline at 866‑720‑5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.
Three Additional States Ask Court to Join Justice Department Antitrust Suit Against GoogleRead the Press Release
Today, the Attorneys General of Michigan and Wisconsin filed for permission to join the antitrust lawsuit filed by the United States and eleven other state Attorneys General against monopolist Google. This follows a similar recent motion by the California Attorney General to join the lawsuit on December 11, 2020.
“We welcome the efforts by the States of Michigan, Wisconsin, and California to join the Justice Department’s complaint,” said Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey A. Rosen. “Their proposed joinder, along with the separate complaint filed today by a coalition of state Attorneys General, underscores the broad and bipartisan consensus that Google’s practices in search and search advertising need antitrust redress. These antitrust actions aim to open the door to the next wave of innovation in digital markets.”
“We look forward to litigating alongside our state partners for the benefit of American consumers,” said Deputy Assistant Attorney General Alexander Okuliar of the Antitrust Division.
In addition, today, a coalition of State Attorneys General filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google in the District of Columbia also alleging that Google unlawfully maintained monopolies in search and search advertising. These States have asked the court to consolidate the proceedings in their lawsuit with the United States’ pending antitrust case against Google.
The motions for joinder and for consolidation submitted by the States are currently pending.
Third Dallas Real Estate Developer Charged with Bribing City Council MembersRead the Press Release
Another Dallas real estate developer has been charged with bribing city officials, announced U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Erin Nealy Cox.
Following an investigation led by the FBI’s Dallas Field Office, a federal grand jury indicted Sherman Roberts, the 66-year-old president of City Wide Community Development Corporation, on one count of conspiracy to commit bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds and one count of bribery concerning a local government receiving federal benefits on Wednesday. Mr. Roberts is scheduled to make his initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Renee Toliver Friday morning.
“The U.S. Attorney’s Office is determined to restore Dallas’ trust in its city government by systematically dismantling the ecosystems that allowed this sort of corruption. We continue to attack the problem from every angle, targeting bribe payors, recipients, and facilitators,” said U.S. Attorney Erin Nealy Cox. “Cities flourish when leaders have only constituents’ best interests at heart. We will not stop until that goal is achieved.”
“Bribing government officials in exchange for official acts destroys the public’s confidence in city government. The criminal activity alleged today demonstrates the willingness of our trusted public officials to waste valuable resources intended for the residents of Dallas, while circumventing the processes they were charged to uphold. The FBI and our law enforcement partners will continue to ensure that those who pay bribes, accept bribes and facilitate bribe payments are held fully accountable,” said Matthew J. DeSarno, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Dallas Field Office.
According to the indictment, Mr. Roberts allegedly bribed two City Council Members – identified in charging documents as “Council Member A” and “Council Member B” – to support his various apartment projects.
In return for cash payments and the promise of future payments after her city council tenure ended, Council Member A voted to authorize more than $1.9 million in City of Dallas funding for Mr. Robert’s Serenity Place project, recommended that the project receive a 9 percent low income housing tax credit from the Texas Department of Housing, and demanded that developers with competing projects withdraw their applications for funding in order to increase Mr. Robert’s chances.
“Right now, you and me are making money” from the real estate dealings, Mr. Roberts allegedly told Council Member A, who was then serving as a leader of Dallas’ Housing Committee, in spring 2015.
Together, the pair then approached Council Member B for his help with another one of Mr. Robert’s developments.
In return for a $600 cash payment plus the promise of a $60,000 lump sum payment and a $2,000 monthly stipend, Council Member B agreed to stop the City of Dallas from issuing a Request for Proposal (RFP) for Mr. Robert’s Patriot’s Crossing project and to cast votes in favor of the project on the City Council.
Mr. Roberts is the third real estate developer charged with bribery in the past two years. Devin Hall, the developer behind the Grand Park Place apartment project, pleaded guilty in August 2020. Ruel Hamilton, the AmeriSouth Realty Group executive who backed the Royal Crest housing project, is slated for trial in February 2021.
An indictment is merely an allegation of criminal conduct, not evidence. Like all defendants, Mr. Roberts is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
If convicted, he faces up to 15 years in federal prison.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Dallas Field Office conducted the investigation with the assistance of IRS – Criminal Investigation’s Dallas Field Office. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Marcus Busch and Andrew Wirmani are prosecuting the case.
Texas woman sent to prison for smuggling meth in spare tireRead the Press Release
McALLEN, Texas – A 50-year-old woman from San Antonio has been ordered to federal prison following her conviction for attempting to import approximately 18 kilograms of meth, announced U.S. Attorney Ryan Patrick.
Kandy Elizabeth Martinez pleaded guilty Dec. 6, 2019.
Today, U.S. District Judge Randy Crane ordered Martinez to serve a 42-month sentence to be immediately followed by three years of supervised of release.
On Sept. 30, 2019, Martinez attempted to gain entry into the United States via the Donna port of entry. During inspection, authorities conducted an X-ray examination which showed anomalies in the rear passenger quarter panel and spare tire located in the cargo area. Law enforcement ultimately found 18 bundles of meth weighing approximately 18 kilograms.
Martinez admitted she knowingly imported the drugs into the United States from Mexico with the intent to deliver them to San Antonio. She expected to be paid $3,000.
The drugs had an approximate street value of $72,000.
She has been and will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the future.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement’ s Homeland Security Investigations and Customs and Border Protection conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney M. Alexis Garcia prosecuted the case.
Texas Woman Charged with Selling Misbranded DrugRead the Press Release
An indictment was unsealed today charging a Texas woman with introducing an unapproved drug into interstate commerce, introducing a misbranded drug into interstate commerce, and introducing an unapproved drug into interstate commerce with the intent to defraud or mislead, announced United States Attorney Matthew Schneider.
Schneider was joined in the announcement by Special Agent in Charge Lynda Burdelik, Federal Drug Administration (FDA).
Charged was Judith Holloway, 34, of Watauga, Texas
According to the indictment, 2, 4-Dinitrophenol, also known as DNP, is an industrial chemical, with various uses, including in herbicides, dyes, wood preservers, and explosives. The drug is sometimes improperly, and dangerously, used as a weight loss drug, but when ingested is highly toxic to humans. Oral exposure to DNP may cause serious adverse events, including dehydration, cataracts, liver damage, and death. In 1938, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) declared DNP to be extremely dangerous and not fit for human consumption. At that time, the FDA announced publicly that it would prosecute those who manufacture and distribute DNP for use as a drug.
According to the indictment, between October 2018 and May 2020, Holloway sold DNP to consumers throughout the United States and in a number of foreign countries and misbranded the substance as a yellow pigment powder. Holloway purchased bulk DNP and utilized eBay and other websites to market and sell the drug over the internet. Holloway did not label the package as DNP, nor did she include any directions or warnings regarding the use of the drug when she mailed it to consumers.
United States Attorney Schneider stated, “This indictment should send a clear message to those who would profit from the sale of unapproved drugs that we will utilize every tool at our disposal to vigorously prosecute you in order to protect the health and safety of the general public. We urge everyone to refrain from ingesting DNP for any reason."
“Drugs that are produced and distributed outside of the FDA’s oversight present the possibility of harm to consumer health,” said Special Agent in Charge Lynda M. Burdelik, FDA Office of Criminal Investigations Chicago Field Office. “The FDA will continue to work to prevent the illegal sale of dangerous, unapproved drugs and will remain committed to protecting consumers from criminals who put profits above the health and safety of the U.S. public.”
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Regina R. McCullough. The case was investigated by special agents of the Food and Drug Administration.
An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
South Charleston Man Sentenced for Federal Drug CrimeRead the Press Release
Charleston, W.Va. – United States Attorney Mike Stuart announced today that Eric Wiseman, 40, of South Charleston, was sentenced to 10 months in federal prison for attempting to possess with intent to distribute marijuana.
“This was a lot of marijuana,” said United States Attorney Mike Stuart. “Marijuana remains illegal under federal law.”
Wiseman admitted that on November 7, 2019, he attempted to possess approximately 6.1 kg of marijuana and had arranged for the deliveries of this marijuana from an out-of-state supplier to West Virginia in order to distribute it for sale. Officers with the Metropolitan Drug Enforcement Network Team (MDENT) intercepted several marijuana deliveries which were meant for Wiseman and then conducted a controlled delivery of these packages to his residence in South Charleston as part of their investigation.
MDENT conducted the investigation. Senior United States District Judge John T. Copenhaver, Jr. imposed the sentence. Assistant United States Attorney Negar M. Kordestani and former Assistant United States Attorney Stefan Hasselblad 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. 2:20-cr-00122.
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Sleep lab pays over $150,000 to resolve false billing claimsRead the Press Release
HOUSTON – Apnix Sleep Diagnostics LP has paid the United States $154,824 to resolve claims that it improperly billed the Medicare program for sleep studies, announced U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Patrick.
A proactive review of claims data demonstrated that Apnix was the one of the area’s highest paid sleep labs. In addition, the investigation revealed there had been several complaints regarding Apnix’s failure to adhere to Medicare regulations.
Medicare rules and regulations require that properly-trained and certified sleep technicians administer sleep studies. However, from Jan. 1, 2015, through July 15, 2019, Apnix improperly billed and received payment for sleep studies when they did not have the properly-trained and certified personnel present.
Apnix allegedly violated the False Claims Act by knowingly submitting, or causing to be submitted, false claims to Medicare for payment for sleep studies performed by these non-certified technicians.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office and Department of Health and Human Services - Office of Inspector General conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Melissa Green handled the matter.
The settlement resolved the government’s allegations without a determination of liability.