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29 October 2020
Bank Robber Charged After DNA, Fingerprint MatchesRead the Press Release
A Midland man tied to bank robberies in Lubbock, Odessa, and Abilene has been federally charged, announced U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Erin Nealy Cox.
Kenneth Hoyd Seabourne, 57, was arrested on Oct. 20 and charged via criminal complaint with one count of bank robbery. He made his initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge D. Gordon Bryant, Jr. Thursday morning.
According to a criminal complaint unsealed today, on Sept. 3, an unidentified man entered Prosperity Bank in Odessa demanding money. The man – clad in a tie, white button up, pants, tennis shoes, sunglasses, rubber gloves, and a PPE mask – passed a teller a note that red, “All $ in Bag! I am armed. No Dye Packs no Bait $,” then fled the scene with several thousand dollars currency.
Responding officers from the Odessa Police Department later observed a man matching the suspect’s description discarding rubber gloves and clothing on the roadway. They recovered the items and sent them to the Texas Department of Public Safety Crime Laboratory, which retrieved genetic material. The DPS Crime Lab then sent the recovered DNA sequence to the FBI, which ran it through its DNA indexing system, CODIS, and allegedly matched it to DNA on file for Mr. Seabourne.
Meanwhile, just 26 days after the first robbery, a similar unidentified male entered the First Abilene Federal Credit Union, where he passed a similar note to the teller. He then reached into his shirt, grabbed what appeared to be a gun, pointed it at the teller, and threatened to kill if he didn’t get money. Before fleeing the scene in a white Ford Explorer, he demanded the note back.
Sixteen days after that, the same man entered People’s Bank in Lubbock and passed a similar note to the teller there. He once again fled that scene in a similar white Ford Explorer, leaving the note behind.
Forensic investigators from the Lubbock Police Department recovered a fingerprints off the note, which match fingerprints on file for Mr. Seabourne. Investigators also identified a white Ford Explorer registered in Mr. Seabourne’s name.
A criminal complaint is merely an allegation of criminal conduct, not evidence. Like all defendants, Mr. Seaborne is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in federal prison.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Lubbock Field Office, Texas Department of Public Safety, the Lubbock Police Department, the Odessa Police Department, the Abilene Police Department, and the U.S. Marshal’s Service conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Callie Woolam is prosecuting the case.
Bank Employee Arrested, Three Other Individuals Admit Guilt, in $8 Million Bank Fraud and Bribery SchemeRead the Press Release
NEWARK, N.J. – A Morris County, New Jersey, man was arrested and three co-defendants pleaded guilty today in connection with a conspiracy to commit bank fraud and bank bribery, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.
Kurt Phelps, 52, of Flanders, New Jersey, was charged by complaint with one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and one count of bank bribery. He made his initial appearance by videoconference today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark Falk and was released on $100,000 unsecured bond.
Three co-defendants pleaded guilty by videoconference before U.S. District Judge Kevin McNulty to their respective roles in the scheme: Douglas Arbolino, 59, of Central Valley, New York, and Gary Swenson, 59, of Hardyston, New Jersey, each pleaded guilty to informations charging them with one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and one count of bribery of a bank official; and John Scott Brink, 59, of Jackson, New Jersey, pleaded guilty to an information charging him with one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
From 2013 through 2019, Phelps, Arbolino, Swenson, and Brink, conspired to defraud Victim Bank-1, Phelps’s employer. The defendants obtained millions of dollars of credit from Victim Bank-1 for Starnet Business Solutions Inc. (Starnet), a now-defunct New Jersey-based printing company where Arbolino, Swenson, and Brink worked. Arbolino, Swenson, and Brink paid Phelps large cash bribes in connection with the fraud scheme
In 2013, Starnet provided materially false financial information to Victim Bank-1 and received a line of credit. Brink sent Victim Bank-1 inflated accounts receivable information, and Arbolino and Swenson provided other materially false financial information, such as semi-annual financial reports. Victim Bank-1 not only allowed Starnet to maintain the line of credit, it increased the credit available at various times. By 2018, the line of credit available to Starnet was worth approximately $8 million, and Starnet has not repaid it.
Phelps was aware that financial information Starnet provided to Victim Bank-1 was materially false. Phelps coached Starnet on how to defraud Victim Bank-1. Phelps would review draft financial information for Starnet and provide feedback on how his conspirators should falsify the information before submitting it. Phelps also worked to ensure that Victim Bank-1 did not detect the fraud scheme by helping Starnet avoid audits and other quality control measures employed by Victim Bank-1.
Phelps solicited large cash bribes – tens of thousands of dollars at a time – from Starnet in connection with the fraud scheme. Arbolino, Swenson, and Brink pooled cash to pay Phelps bribe payments, which were hand-delivered, and totaled hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The conspiracy to commit bank fraud, bribery of a bank official, and bank bribery charges each carry a maximum potential penalty of 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine, or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense.
Individuals who believe they may have information about this case may contact the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI (225-5324).
U.S. Attorney Carpenito credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge George M. Crouch Jr. in Newark, with the investigation leading to today’s arrest and guilty pleas.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Heather Suchorsky of the Economic Crimes Unit.
The charges and allegations in the complaint against Phelps are merely accusations, and he is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Baltimore Man Sentenced to 12 Years in Federal Prison for Distributing Fentanyl, Heroin, and Fentanyl Analogues and for Illegal Possession of a Stolen FirearmRead the Press Release
Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Ellen L. Hollander sentenced Brian Lockett, age 48, of Baltimore, Maryland, today to 12 years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for the federal charges of possession with intent to distribute 100 grams or more of a fentanyl analogue, 40 grams or more of fentanyl, and 100 grams of more of heroin, and to possession of a stolen firearm. Fentanyl analogues are chemical compounds designed to have effects similar to fentanyl and can be just as deadly. Lockett was charged in federal court as part of a federal-state initiative announced in December 2018 to combat the fentanyl crisis in Maryland.
Under this new initiative, titled the “Synthetic Opioid Surge,” or “SOS” for short, every arrest involving distribution of fentanyl made by law enforcement in Baltimore is reviewed jointly by the State’s Attorney’s Office for Baltimore City, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office to determine whether the case will be handled in the state or federal system. The U.S. Attorney’s Office will prosecute more cases involving fentanyl as a result of this new program. The use of federal resources and statutes, which carry significant terms of imprisonment, is necessary to prosecute those individuals who pose the greatest threat to public safety in distributing lethal doses of fentanyl.
The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Robert K. Hur; Assistant Special Agent in Charge Orville O. Greene of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Baltimore District Office; Commissioner Michael Harrison of the Baltimore Police Department; and State’s Attorney for Baltimore City Marilyn Mosby.
“Just 2 milligrams of fentanyl—which is 50 to100 times stronger than morphine—can kill you,” said U.S. Attorney Robert K. Hur. “State and federal law enforcement and prosecutors in Baltimore City are working together to arrest and prosecute those who peddle deadly fentanyl on our streets and bring gun violence to our neighborhoods. Armed drug dealers who sell fentanyl, like Mr. Lockett, face federal time, where there are no suspended sentences and no parole—ever. We will continue to get guns off of our streets and reduce the supply of fentanyl and related substances that are causing so many tragic overdoses.”
According to his guilty plea, on May 24, 2018, law enforcement executed a search warrant at Lockett’s residence in the 1500 block of East Preston Street. Some of the agents knocked on the front door to announce their entry to execute the warrant. As they did so, Lockett and another individual were caught going out the rear door of the home in an attempt to get away.
From Lockett’s basement bedroom, law enforcement recovered approximately 1,644 gelcaps, which laboratory analysis found contained acetylfentanyl, fentanyl, or heroin, as well as smaller quantities of small ziplocks containing suspected cocaine. From under the mattress, agents recovered a 9mm handgun and a magazine for that weapon, loaded with 15 9mm cartridges. Also in the basement were bottles labeled as quinine and several bags of white and brown powdered substances, believed to be drugs and drug cutting agents. One of the bags was found to contain approximately 182.52 grams of a mixture of acetylfentanyl, fentanyl, and heroin. Agents also recovered cash, a cellular phone, and other supplies used in the packaging for drugs for street-level sale. The gun recovered from Lockett’s bedroom was found to be stolen.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.
This case is also part of 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; 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: https://www.justice.gov/projectguardian.
United States Attorney Robert K. Hur commended the DEA and the Baltimore Police Department for their work in the investigation. Mr. Hur thanked Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey M. Hann, a cross-designated Baltimore City Assistant State’s Attorney, who prosecuted the case.
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Albuquerque man pleads guilty to firearms chargeRead the Press Release
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Nicholous Phillips, 41, of Albuquerque, pleaded guilty in federal court on Oct. 27 to being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition.
In the plea agreement, Phillips admitted that on Nov. 15, 2019, he was in possession of ammunition, 561.73 grams of methamphetamine and two partially destroyed pieces of a Glock handgun. Prior to this offense, Phillips had been convicted of eight felonies. As a convicted felon, Phillips cannot legally possess a firearm or ammunition. Phillips possessed these items at his home when probation officers inspected the location as part of his supervision following a previous conviction.
By the terms of the plea agreement, Phillips faces 15 years in prison and will remain in custody pending sentencing.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated this case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jaymie Roybal is prosecuting the case.
Acting United States Attorney Bubar Announces over $3.4 Million in Justice Department Grants to Combat Addiction Crisis in Western DistrictRead the Press Release
ROANOKE, Va. – Acting United States Attorney Daniel P. Bubar today announced awards of more than $3.4 million in Department of Justice grants to fight drug abuse and addiction in the Western District of Virginia. The grants were awarded by the Department’s Office of Justice Programs (OJP) and are part of more than $341 million going to communities nationwide.
“The addiction crisis has taken an enormous toll on America’s families and communities, eroding public health, threatening public safety and claiming tens of thousands of lives year after year,” said Attorney General William P. Barr. “Through comprehensive measures taken by this administration, we have been able to curtail the opioid epidemic, but new and powerful drugs are presenting exceptional challenges that we must be prepared to meet. The Justice Department’s substantial investments in enforcement, response, and treatment will help us overcome these challenges and work towards freeing Americans from abuse and addiction.”
Illegal drugs and illicit drug use have claimed the lives of nearly 400,000 Americans since the turn of the century. Powerful synthetic opioids like fentanyl are exacting an enormous toll on families and communities, and an emergence in the use of methamphetamines and other psychostimulants is drawing drug traffickers and driving up overdose rates. Three years ago, President Trump declared a Public Health Emergency and initiated a whole-of-government approach dedicated to ending this national tragedy. The Department of Justice has invested unprecedented levels of funding in combating the addiction crisis. The awards announced today build on those earlier investments.
“If we hope to defeat an enemy as powerful, persistent and adaptable as illicit drugs, we must be at least as determined and versatile, focusing our ingenuity and resources on curbing abuse and fighting addiction,” said OJP’s Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Katharine T. Sullivan. “These grants will enable criminal justice officials and substance abuse, mental health and other medical professionals to pool their assets and bring the full weight of our public safety and treatment systems down on this epidemic that has already caused so much harm.”
“The crisis of addiction—particularly caused by opioids—has effected Virginians of all walks of life. Addiction doesn’t care about race, religion, socioeconomic status, or age,” Acting U.S. Attorney Bubar said today. “This grant money will ensure that those groups providing recovery services for the brave men and women fighting addiction will have the funds they need to continue that fight.”
Funding is made available through OJP’s Bureau of Justice Assistance, National Institute of Justice, Office for Victims of Crime and Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
The following organizations received funding:
- Augusta County $600,000
- Page County $500,000
- Smyth County Board of Supervisors $499,776
- Fluvanna County $499,876
- City of Charlottesville $827,973
- Total Action Against Poverty in the Roanoke Valley $474,820
For a complete list of individual grant programs, award amounts, and jurisdictions that will receive funding, click here. More information about OJP and its components can be found at www.ojp.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
19 Defendants Charged in Manhattan Federal Court for Multimillion-Dollar Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
Audrey Strauss, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Kathy A. Michalko, Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Office of the United States Secret Service (“Secret Service”), Phillip R. Bartlett, Inspector-in-Charge of the New York Office of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (“USPIS”), and New York Police Department Commissioner Dermot Shea, announced the unsealing today of a criminal Indictment and Complaint charging 19 defendants with conspiracy to steal government funds, conspiracy to commit bank fraud, and aggravated identity theft. Twelve defendants were arrested yesterday and today in the Southern and Western Districts of New York and Northern District of Georgia, and were to be presented yesterday and today in those districts’ federal courts. Seven defendants remain at large.
Acting U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said: “As alleged, these defendants engaged in schemes to steal millions of dollars by cashing fraudulent checks and stolen postal money orders, falsifying their identities, and taking advantage of multiple national financial institutions. They must be held accountable for their brazen conduct.”
USSS Special Agent-in-Charge Kathy A. Michalko said: “The success of this case is the result of the partnerships between the New York City Police Department, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the U.S. Secret Service. The ability to leverage our combined expertise to detect, identify, and disrupt organized groups is vital to protect the integrity of our financial system.”
USPIS Chief Postal Inspector Phillip R. Bartlett said: “The accused allegedly participated in an unsophisticated, low-tech crime, involving the deposit of stolen checks and postal money orders into bank accounts they controlled. They engaged in this criminal enterprise to allegedly rip-off the government and unsuspecting financial institutions across the country. Gangs like these are opportunists and use any means to lie and steal for profit. Although the alleged crimes occurred months ago, Postal Inspectors and their law enforcement partners have put an end to their thieving evil ways and their day of reckoning has finally arrived.”
NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea said: “As the kind of crime alleged in this indictment moves into new frontiers of identity theft and financial fraud, the NYPD remains vigilant to stop it. I commend our federal partners and the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York for leading us to justice in this case.”
According to the allegations contained in the Indictment and Complaint:[1]
From January 2019 up to an including the present, defendants AHMAD AKBAR, a/k/a “Meech,” TYRELL BEECHER, a/k/a “Shae,” CHRISTOPHER BOVAIN, a/k/a “Cleko,” WINNIS BRITO, a/k/a “Flaco,” DARNELL GREEN, a/k/a “Nellz,” DOMINIQUE GREEN, a/k/a “Domo,” MAURICE HARGROW, a/k/a “Moe Tally,” CHARLES HEWITT, a/k/a “Young Cee,” KEVIN LEWIS, a/k/a “Mula,” JAMA MOHAMOUD, a/k/a “JFK Jay,” JAVIAN MOORE, a/k/a “Julio,” JORDAN RUSSELL, a/k/a “J Rozay,” DEVON SMITH, GEORGE THOMPSON, LOUIS WILLIAMS, ISAIAH WISE FORDHAM, a/k/a “ZayBands,” and JAHNICO HARVEY conspired to defraud the United States by cashing postal money orders that had been stolen from post offices in Manhattan, the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, Long Island, New Jersey, and Arkansas. The postal money orders cashed by the members of the conspiracy originated from 18 post offices. In total, more than 15,000 postal money orders have been stolen from those 18 post offices. At a face value of up to $1,000 per postal money order, the theft results in a potential loss to the USPS of up to $15 million.
From at least in or around January 2018, up to and including the present, defendants TYRELL BEECHER, a/k/a “Shae,” CHRISTOPHER BOVAIN, a/k/a “Cleko,” WINNIS BRITO, a/k/a “Flaco,” DONTA DOUGLAS, DOMINIQUE GREEN, a/k/a “Domo,” MAURICE HARGROW, a/k/a “Moe Tally,” CHARLES HEWITT, a/k/a “Young Cee,” KEVIN LEWIS, a/k/a “Mula,” JAMA MOHAMOUD, a/k/a “JFK Jay,” JAVIAN MOORE, a/k/a “Julio,” JORDAN RUSSELL, a/k/a “J Rozay,” JONATHAN SHORTT, LOUIS WILLIAMS, ISAIAH WISE FORDHAM, a/k/a “ZayBands,” and JAHNICO HARVEY defrauded multiple national banks by recruiting collusive accountholders who allowed members of the conspiracy to deposit fraudulent checks into their bank accounts and by withdrawing money from the collusive bank accounts after banks made available funds associated with the fraudulent check deposits to the account, but before the banks discovered that the checks were fraudulent and would not clear.
All of the defendants charged in the bank fraud conspiracy, as well as AKBAR and SMITH, have also been charged with aggravated identity theft.
This case is being handled by the Office’s General Crimes Unit. Assistant United States Attorneys Emily A. Johnson, Kaylan E. Lasky, and Ashley C. Nicolas are in charge of the prosecution.
The charges contained in the indictment and complaint are merely an accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
[1] As the introductory phrase signifies, the entirety of the text of the Indictment and Complaint, and the description of the Indictment and Complaint set forth herein, constitute only allegations, and every fact described should be treated as an allegation.
28 October 2020
Wetzel County man admits to drug chargeRead the Press Release
WHEELING, WEST VIRGINIA – Nicholas D. Klem, of Proctor, West Virginia, has admitted to his role in a drug trafficking operation, U.S. Attorney Bill Powell announced.
Klem, age 29, pled guilty to one count of “Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute and to Distribute Methamphetamine.” Klem admitted to working with others to distribute methamphetamine from August 2019 to August 2020 in Marshall County and elsewhere.
Klem faces up to 20 years of incarceration and a fine of up to $1,000,000. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed will be based upon the seriousness of the offenses and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert H. McWilliams, Jr. is prosecuting the case on behalf of the government. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Marshall County Drug Task Force, a HIDTA-funded initiative, investigated.
U.S. Magistrate Judge James P. Mazzone presided.
Van Zandt County Man Sentenced for Federal Drug Trafficking ViolationsRead the Press Release
TYLER, Texas – A 41-year-old Wills Point, Texas man has been sentenced for federal drug trafficking crimes in the Eastern District of Texas, announced U.S. Attorney Stephen J. Cox today.
Rickey James Howard pleaded guilty on Jan. 9, 2020, to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and was sentenced to 142 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Jeremy D. Kernodle on Oct. 27, 2020. Judge Kernodle also ordered an $8,000 money judgment against Howard.
According to information presented in court, on August 2, 2018, in Van Zandt County, Texas, a co-conspirator sold approximately 10.4 grams of methamphetamine during a controlled purchase, using methamphetamine that was stored in a residence Howard shared with the co-conspirator and that Howard knew was stored in the residence. On August 28, 2018, Howard possessed, at his residence in Van Zandt County, Texas, approximately 135 grams of a mixture or substance containing methamphetamine. He possessed the methamphetamine for the purpose of distribution to others.
Howard admitted that between January 2018 and September 2019, he was engaged in a conspiracy with others to obtain and distribute methamphetamine. He also admitted that he was directly responsible for the possession with intent to distribute at least 500 grams of methamphetamine. Howard also agreed to a money judgment forfeiture of $8,000, representing proceeds received by Howard from his offense.
This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Van Zandt County Sheriff’s Office and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Alan Jackson.
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United States Attorney Statement Related to November 2020 General ElectionRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Erica H. MacDonald today announced that Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) Angela Munoz will lead local efforts in connection with the Justice Department’s nationwide Election Day Program for the upcoming November 3, 2020, general election. AUSA Munoz has been appointed to serve as the District Election Officer (DEO) for Minnesota and in that capacity is responsible for overseeing the District’s handling of complaints of election fraud and voting rights concerns in consultation with Justice Department Headquarters in Washington.
United States Attorney Erica H. MacDonald said, “Every citizen must be able to vote without interference or discrimination and to have that vote counted without it being stolen because of fraud. The Department of Justice will always act appropriately to protect the integrity of the election process.”
The Department of Justice has an important role in deterring election fraud and discrimination at the polls, and combating these violations whenever and wherever they occur. The Department’s long-standing Election Day Program furthers these goals, and also seeks to ensure public confidence in the integrity of the election process by providing local points of contact within the Department for the public to report possible election fraud and voting rights violations while the polls are open through Election Day.
Federal law protects against such crimes as intimidating or bribing voters, buying and selling votes, impersonating voters, altering vote tallies, stuffing ballot boxes, and marking ballots for voters against their wishes or without their input. It also contains special protections for the rights of voters, and provides that they can vote free from acts that intimidate or harass them. For example, actions of persons designed to interrupt or intimidate voters at polling places by questioning or challenging them, or by photographing or videotaping them, under the pretext that these are actions to uncover illegal voting may violate federal voting rights law. Further, federal law protects the right of voters to mark their own ballot or to be assisted by a person of their choice (where voters need assistance because of disability or illiteracy).
The franchise is the cornerstone of American democracy. We all must ensure that those who are entitled to the franchise exercise it if they choose, and that those who seek to corrupt it are brought to justice. In order to respond to complaints of election fraud or voting rights concerns during the voting period that ends on November 3, 2020, and to ensure that such complaints are directed to the appropriate authorities, United States Attorney MacDonald stated that AUSA/DEO Munoz will be on duty in this District while the polls are open. She can be reached by the public at (612) 664-5776.
In addition, the FBI will have special agents available in each field office throughout the country to receive allegations of election fraud and other election abuses on Election Day. The local FBI field office can be reached by the public at (763) 569-8000 or 1-800-CALLFBI.
Complaints about possible violations of the federal voting rights laws can be made directly to the Civil Rights Division in Washington, DC by phone at 800-253-3931 or by complaint form at https://civilrights.justice.gov/.
Please note, however, in the case of a crime of violence or intimidation, please call 911 immediately and before contacting federal authorities. State and local police have primary jurisdiction over polling places, and almost always have faster reaction capacity in an emergency.
United States Attorney MacDonald said, “Ensuring free and fair elections depends in large part on the cooperation of the American electorate. It is imperative that those who have specific information about discrimination or election fraud make that information available to my Office, the FBI, or the Civil Rights Division.”
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United States Attorney’s Office, District of Minnesota: (612) 664-5600
United States Attorney Marc Krickbaum Announces Election Day ProgramRead the Press Release
DES MOINES, Iowa - United States Attorney Marc Krickbaum announced today that Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) Virginia Bruner will lead the efforts of her Office in connection with the Justice Department’s nationwide Election Day Program for the upcoming November 3, 2020, general election. AUSA Bruner has been appointed to serve as the District Election Officer (DEO) for the Southern District of Iowa, and in that capacity is responsible for overseeing the District’s handling of complaints of election fraud and voting rights concerns in consultation with Justice Department Headquarters in Washington.
United States Attorney Krickbaum said, “Every citizen must be able to vote without interference or discrimination and to have that vote counted without it being stolen because of fraud. The Department of Justice will always act appropriately to protect the integrity of the election process.”
The Department of Justice has an important role in deterring election fraud and discrimination at the polls, and combating these violations whenever and wherever they occur. The Department’s long-standing Election Day Program furthers these goals, and also seeks to ensure public confidence in the integrity of the election process. This is achieved by providing local points of contact within the Department for the public to report possible election fraud and voting rights violations while the polls are open through election day.
Federal law protects against such crimes as intimidating or bribing voters, buying and selling votes, impersonating voters, altering vote tallies, stuffing ballot boxes, and marking ballots for voters against their wishes or without their input. It also contains special protections for the rights of voters, and provides that they can vote free from acts that intimidate or harass them. For example, actions of persons designed to interrupt or intimidate voters at polling places by questioning or challenging them, or by photographing or videotaping them, under the pretext that these are actions to uncover illegal voting may violate federal voting rights law. Further, federal law protects the right of voters to mark their own ballot or to be assisted by a person of their choice (where voters need assistance because of disability or illiteracy).
The franchise is the cornerstone of American democracy. We all must ensure that those who are entitled to the franchise exercise it if they choose, and that those who seek to corrupt it are brought to justice. In order to respond to complaints of election fraud or voting rights concerns during the voting period that ends on November 3, 2020, and to ensure that such complaints are directed to the appropriate authorities, United States Attorney Krickbaum stated that AUSA/DEO Bruner will be on duty in this District while the polls are open. She can be reached by the public at the following telephone number: 515-473-9300.
In addition, the FBI will have special agents available in each field office and resident agency throughout the country to receive allegations of election fraud and other election abuses on election day. The local FBI field office can be reached by the public at 515-223-4278 (Des Moines).
Complaints about possible violations of the federal voting rights laws can be made directly to the Civil Rights Division in Washington, DC by phone at 800-253-3931 or by complaint form at https://civilrights.justice.gov/ .
Please note, however, in the case of a crime of violence or intimidation, please call 911 immediately and before contacting federal authorities. State and local police have primary jurisdiction over polling places, and almost always have faster reaction capacity in an emergency.
United States Attorney Krickbaum said, “Ensuring free and fair elections depends in large part on the cooperation of the American electorate. It is imperative that those who have specific information about discrimination or election fraud make that information available to my Office, the FBI, or the Civil Rights Division.”
Union County Man Charged with Additional Counts of Coercing and Enticing Victims for Purpose of ProstitutionRead the Press Release
NEWARK, N.J. – A federal grand jury today indicted a Union County, New Jersey, man for allegedly persuading, inducing and enticing numerous female victims, usually commercial sex workers, to travel in interstate or foreign commerce to engage in prostitution and other sexual acts, often by use of force, violence and threats, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.
Jose Torres, 43, of Elizabeth, New Jersey, was charged in a second superseding indictment with his fifth and sixth counts of coercing and enticing commercial sex workers, and will be arraigned on those counts on a date to be determined. Torres was originally charged by complaint in February 2020 with two counts of coercing and enticing commercial sex workers. On May 29, 2020, he was indicted on three counts, including a third count involving another victim. On July 31, 2020, he was indicted on a fourth count involving another victim.
According to the documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
From May 2015 to October 2019, Torres persuaded, induced and enticed female victims, often commercial sex workers, to travel from various out of state locations, including Canada, New York, and Pennsylvania, in order to engage in prostitution with him. In each instance, Torres lured a female victim to New Jersey with promises of large payments. In three of the previously charged instances, when the victim asked for payment, Torres became aggressive, often assaulting and raping victim. Torres never paid the women. The two recently charged counts involve allegations that in December and November of 2015, Torres lured Victim-5 and Victim-6, respectively, to travel from New York to New Jersey to engage in prostitution.
The coercion and enticement charge carries a maximum term of 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 fine for each count.
U.S. Attorney Carpenito credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge George M. Crouch Jr. in Newark, and special agents of the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Jason J. Molina, with the investigation leading to the charges.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Emma Spiro of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Violent Crimes Unit in Newark.
The charges and allegations against Torres are merely accusations, and he is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Union City, PA Man Indicted on Child Sex Exploitation ChargesRead the Press Release
ERIE, Pa. - A resident of Union City, Pennsylvania, has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Erie on charges of violating federal laws relating to the sexual exploitation of children, United States Attorney Scott W. Brady announced today.
The two-count Indictment named Joseph Edward Schwenk, 68, 61 Parade Street, Apt. 201, Union City, Pennsylvania, as the sole defendant.
According to the Indictment presented to the court, from January 2018 to May 2020, Schwenk received and possessed computer images depicting prepubescent minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct.
The law provides for a maximum total sentence of 40 years in prison, a fine of $500,000, or both. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed would be based upon the seriousness of the offenses and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.
Assistant United States Attorney Christian A. Trabold is prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted the investigation leading to the Indictment in this case. This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
An indictment is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
U. S. Attorney Mike Stuart Honors Parkersburg Narcotics Task Force and OthersRead the Press Release
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Yesterday United States Attorney Mike Stuart recognized the members of the Parkersburg Narcotics Task Force and officers with the Parkersburg Police Department for their outstanding work in partnership with his office.
“The caliber of law enforcement professionals in the Parkersburg area and throughout West Virginia is impressive,” said United States Attorney Mike Stuart. “While none of our Guardians of Justice work for the accolades, I’m honored to award their outstanding efforts and give them the recognition they truly deserve.”
The Parkersburg Narcotics Task Force received the U.S. Attorney’s Award for Drug and Violent Crime Task Force of the Year for their work in the multi-state investigation called Project Parkersburg. Project Parkersburg resulted in a major takedown, the dismantling of a major meth and heroin drug trafficking organization (DTO) and netted the largest meth bust in West Virginia history. In addition to the seizure of 150 pounds of meth, law enforcement also seized 217 grams of heroin, 478 grams of fentanyl and six kilos of cocaine during the investigation. Sixteen defendants were charged by federal indictment and all but two of those defendants have been sentenced. In December 2017, law enforcement executed a search warrant at a residence in Parkersburg during which they learned that large amounts of methamphetamine were being shipped to West Virginia from Mexico. Witness interviews, financial records, and informant information led to the identification of Parkersburg residents Terrance McGuirk, Antoine Terry, and Aurelius Edmonds as individuals with access to the methamphetamine being shipped from the southern border to locations in West Virginia and Ohio. Over several months, agents and task force officers conducted an exhaustive investigation linking the Parkersburg DTO to sources in Arizona. On September 19, 2018, surveillance led investigators to Dayton, Ohio where Terry and Edmonds met with Arizona residents Todd Land and Troy Pastorino to pick up a large shipment of controlled substances to include more than 150 pounds of methamphetamine that had been offloaded from a truck into a rented storage unit. Investigators observed Pastorino load the drugs into the trunk of a Dodge Charger. Police seized the drugs after conducting a traffic stop of Pastorino. Terry, Edmonds, and Land were arrested at a nearby business, and McGuirk was arrested at his hotel near the Dayton airport. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) led the Project Parkersburg operation and in addition to the Parkersburg Narcotics Task Force, the Parkersburg Police Department, the Dayton, Ohio Police Department, the Arizona Department of Public Safety and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) conducted the investigation.
Lt. Pat Edelen, Sgt. Josh Snyder and Agent Kyle Barnette with the Parkersburg Police Department were each presented with the U.S. Attorney’s Award for Excellence in Pursuit of Justice for their critical roles in the case of United States v. Benjamin Lee Parsons. The long-term investigation of Parsons began in 2016 for making threats against police and others and claiming to have interest in terrorist organizations. In December 2015, he had worn a mask to a church service in Mineral Wells. Later, Parsons told several witnesses at a church in Parkersburg that he was armed, that he had recently thought about shooting police, that he had been watching violent terrorist videos, and that he had communicated with foreign terrorists and discussed several “soft targets” in Wood County. Due to the efforts of Wood County Prosecutor Pat Lefebure, Parsons was involuntarily committed to a mental hospital in February 2017. That adjudication prohibited Parsons from possessing firearms under both state and federal law. In October 2018, investigators learned that Parsons had acquired additional firearms, including a high-capacity semiautomatic assault rifle. Investigators further learned that Parsons had obtained the weapon from another individual who told investigators that he had purchased it for Parsons from a licensed firearms dealer in Marietta, Ohio. Parsons was arrested in October 2018, and soon thereafter, investigators executed a search warrant at a wooded area in Mineral Wells where Parsons had been living. They recovered the assault rifle as well as another rifle from a locked case Parsons kept at his campsite. The assault rifle was loaded with approximately 190 rounds of belted ammunition in a drum magazine. Investigators also located and seized 12 magazines for the other rifle loaded with 164 rounds of ammunition, 32 additional unloaded magazines, and approximately 640 rounds of 9mm and other rifle ammunition. Parsons pled guilty to being a prohibited person in possession of firearms and is currently serving five years in federal prison. Law enforcement officers with the Wood County Sheriff’s Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) were also involved in the investigation of Parsons.
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.
Follow us on Twitter: SDWVNews and USAttyStuart
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Two Men Facing Federal Indictment in Maryland for Scheme to Steal Digital Currency and Social Media Accounts Through Phishing and “Sim-Swapping”Read the Press Release
Baltimore, Maryland – A federal grand jury has indicted Jordan K. Milleson, age 21, of Timonium, Maryland, and Kyell A. Bryan, age 19, of Kingston, Pennsylvania, on the federal charges of Wire Fraud, Unauthorized Access to Protected Computers in Furtherance of Fraud, Intentional Damage to Protected Computers, Aggravated Identity Theft, and Wire Fraud Conspiracy, in connection with their unauthorized takeovers of victims’ wireless phone and other electronic accounts and to steal digital currency and valuable social media accounts. The superseding indictment was returned on September 9, 2020, and was unsealed today at Bryan’s initial appearance. Milleson was arrested on July 29, 2020, and was ordered to be detained pending trial.
The superseding indictment was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Robert K. Hur; Special Agent in Charge John Eisert of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Baltimore; and Chief Melissa R. Hyatt of the Baltimore County Police Department.
According to the 15-count superseding indictment, from September 23, 2017, through January 27, 2020, Milleson registered fraudulent Internet domains, sent “phishing” e-mails, and took over wireless phone numbers in order to steal digital currency and valuable social media accounts. On June 25 and 26, 2019, Milleson and Bryan conspired to execute a scheme to take over individuals’ electronic accounts and steal digital currency for their own financial gain.
Specifically, the indictment alleges that Milleson was a computer “hacker” who accessed computers, computer networks, and electronic accounts without authorization in order to perpetrate the alleged fraud schemes, and that Bryan participated in some of the unauthorized takeovers of wireless telephone, electronic, and financial accounts that were part of the fraud schemes.
As detailed in the superseding indictment, Milleson allegedly set up Internet domains and fraudulent websites, designed to appear to be legitimate websites belonging to wireless providers, but which were intended to steal account credentials and enabled Milleson, Bryan, and others to access unsuspecting victims’ electronic accounts without authorization. Milleson used techniques such as phishing and vishing to deceive victims into visiting the fraudulent websites and providing their credentials to access their electronic accounts. Victims of phishing attacks were generally contacted by e-mail, phone, or text message by persons purporting to be from reputable companies in order to induce victims to reveal confidential information. Vishing is “voice phishing” where imposters use Internet phone services to trick victims into turning over critical financial or personal information over the phone.
The superseding indictment alleges that Milleson, Bryan, and others used electronic account credentials stolen from employees and affiliates of wireless providers to access those companies’ computer networks without authorization. After obtaining access to these networks, the defendants allegedly took over individual victims’ wireless accounts through “SIM swapping,” whereby customers’ mobile numbers, which are linked to unique subscriber identity modules (“SIM”), were instead linked to a SIM installed in a device controlled by the defendants or their co-conspirators. Once the defendants gained control over the victims’ mobile phone numbers, they were often able to also gain unauthorized access to victims’ other electronic accounts, including e-mail, social media, and cryptocurrency accounts. The defendants would frequently change the passwords to keep the victims from accessing their own accounts.
As a result of these criminal activities, Milleson allegedly took over the social media accounts of two victims, one of whom had thousands of followers and had monetized their account through sponsored links, product placements, and product reviews. The superseding indictment alleges that Milleson and Bryan, after conducting a successful SIM swap, were also able to steal more than $16,000 from the digital currency account of another victim after obtaining unauthorized access to that victim’s user accounts.
As detailed in the superseding indictment, on June 26, 2019, Bryan anonymously called the Baltimore County Police Department and falsely reported that he, purporting to be a resident of the Milleson family residence, had shot his father at the residence. During the call, Bryan, posing as the purported shooter, threatened to shoot himself and to shoot at police officers if they attempted to confront him. This call was a “swatting” attack, a criminal harassment tactic in which a person places a false call to authorities that will trigger a police or special weapons and tactics (SWAT) team response—thereby causing a life-threatening situation. The superseding indictment alleges that Bryan perpetrated the swatting attack in retaliation for Milleson failing to share the proceeds of the digital currency theft.
If convicted, the defendants faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in federal prison for each count of wire fraud and wire fraud conspiracy; a maximum of 5 years in federal prison for each count of unauthorized access of a protected computer in furtherance of fraud; and a mandatory two years in prison, consecutive to any other sentence imposed, for each count of aggravated identity theft. Milleson also faces a maximum of 10 in federal prison for each count of intentional damage to a protected computer. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. At today’s initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Baltimore, U.S. Magistrate Judge Beth P. Gesner ordered that Bryan be detained pending trial.
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 HSI and the Baltimore County Police Department for their work in the investigation and thanked the Manhattan, New York, District Attorney’s Office for its assistance. Mr. Hur thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Zachary A. Myers and Christopher M. Rigali, who are prosecuting the case.
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Two Admit to Using Casinos to Facilitate Financial CrimeRead the Press Release
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Daniel C. Silva (619) 546-9713 and Mark W. Pletcher (619) 546-9714
NEWS RELEASE SUMMARY – October 28, 2020
SAN DIEGO – Fan Wang pleaded guilty in federal court today to operating an unlicensed money transmitting business. His guilty plea is the fourth in this ongoing investigation targeting operators of unlawful underground financial institutions that transfer money between the United States and China, thereby circumventing domestic and foreign laws regarding monetary transfers and reporting, including United States anti-money laundering scrutiny and Chinese capital flight controls.
As part of his agreement to plead guilty, Wang agreed to forfeit $225,000 to the United States as property involved in the operation of his unlicensed money transmitting business.
“As this series of guilty pleas makes abundantly clear, individuals facilitating the illegal transfer of money to and from China will be held accountable,” said U.S. Attorney Robert Brewer. “The security of our banking system depends on it.” Brewer commended prosecutors Mark Pletcher and Daniel Silva, as well as agents from Homeland Security Investigations, IRS Criminal Investigation Las Vegas Financial Crimes Task Force and the Drug Enforcement Administration for their excellent work on this case.
“HSI will continue to hunt down these underground hawalas and disrupt the ability of criminal organizations to cash-in on their ill-gotten gains,” said Cardell T. Morant, special agent in charge for Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). “HSI and our partners are committed to pursuing criminal prosecutions and civil monetary penalties against those who choose to operate in the shadows of our financial system and enable the flow of dirty money across international borders.”
As admitted in the plea agreement entered today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Daniel E. Butcher, Wang sold hard currency in U.S. dollars that he collected from various third parties. His customers were typically individuals with bank accounts in China who could not readily access cash in the United States due to capital controls that cap the amount of Chinese yuan that an individual can convert to foreign currency. Often these customers needed the money to gamble at the casinos in Las Vegas and elsewhere. Upon receiving U.S. dollars, the customers would transfer from a Chinese bank account an equivalent value in yuan, over their mobile phones in the United States, to a separate bank account in China designated by Wang. As part of a typical money exchange transaction, Wang was introduced to his customers by a casino host whose job it was to facilitate that customer’s play at a particular casino. The customer then used the U.S. currency to gamble.
Sentencing is scheduled for January 29, 2021.
Extending the series of guilty pleas in this investigation, Jeffrey B. Miklus of Phoenix, Arizona admitted to tax fraud, after using funds from his business to fund his gambling activity at casinos throughout the southwestern United States.
As admitted this morning in his plea agreement that was also entered before U.S. Magistrate Judge Daniel E. Butcher, Miklus withdrew over $1.5 million dollars from his pest control business, and used these proceeds to gamble—all without reporting that income to the IRS. This activity spanned years, resulting in restitution and taxes due and owing to the IRS of more than $650,000, an amount that will grow with interest and a 75 percent fraud penalty. As a material term of his plea agreement, Miklus must satisfy the tax due in full before his sentencing date.
Sentencing for Miklus is scheduled for January 31, 2021.
DEFENDANTS
Fan Wang Case Number 20CR3390-DMS
Las Vegas, NV Age: 38
Jeffrey B. Miklus Case Number 20CR3328-GPC
Phoenix, AZ Age: 57
SUMMARY OF CHARGES
Operation of Unlicensed Money Transmitting Business – Title 18, U.S.C., Section 1960
Maximum penalty: Five years in prison, forfeiture, and $250,000 fine
Tax Fraud and False Statements Under Penalties of Perjury – Title 26, U.S.C., Section 7206(1)
Maximum Penalty: Three years in prison, restitution, and $250,000 fine
AGENCIES
Homeland Security Investigations
IRS Criminal Investigation Las Vegas Financial Crimes Task Force
Drug Enforcement Administration
Tucson Man Sentenced to 108 Months for RobberiesRead the Press Release
TUCSON, Ariz. - Marco Antonio Flores, 28, of Tucson, Arizona, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Scott H. Rash to serve 108 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. Flores previously pleaded guilty to two counts of robbery.
On June 10, 2017 and on October 21, 2017, Flores committed robberies against separate victims at residences on Pascua Yaqui land using force and violence. Flores is an enrolled member of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted the investigation in this case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Erica L. Seger, District of Arizona, Tucson, handled the prosecution.
CASE NUMBER: CR-18-00487-TUC-SHR
RELEASE NUMBER: 2020-093_Flores# # #
For more information on the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/az/
Follow the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, on Twitter @USAO_AZ for the latest news.Trucking Company Owner Admits to Falsifying Driver RecordsRead the Press Release
PROVIDENCE – The owner of a now defunct Woonsocket commercial trucking company admitted to a federal court judge in Providence that he altered thousands of electronic entries in service logbooks for approximately 20 drivers in order to conceal the actual drive time and “on-duty” time of drivers.
U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) regulations, enforced by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), a division of the USDOT, require accurate record keeping and operational requirements, including records related to drivers’ actual hours of service.
Damir Sisic, 29, of Woonsocket, owner of the now defunct Sisic Transport Service LLC (STS), admitted that he routinely altered data collected by onboard electronic data gathering devices installed in his trucks that reflected the actual number of hours his drivers operated the vehicles.
Sisic owned approximately eleven commercial truck tractors and ten box-style commercial trailers, and employed between seven and ten drivers at a time. Each vehicle was equipped with an electronic device that recorded the location of each truck, and the start and stop time of each vehicle. Sisic admitted that he accessed and altered that data on thousands of occasions. He admitted that he routinely concealed from the USDOT and FMCSA that his drivers were routinely exceeding the maximum number of driving hours and “on-duty” hours without the required off-duty hours, in violation of federal law.
According to court documents, Sisic provided altered driving records to a State Trooper investigating the fatality of an STS driver who was driving an STS truck that occurred in Oklahoma on April 22, 2018. In addition, Sisic provided altered driving records for numerous STS drivers to an FMCSA investigator during a compliance review.
Sisic pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Providence to conspiracy to falsify records, announced United States Attorney Aaron L. Weisman and Special Agent in Charge Douglas Shoemaker, U.S. Department of Transportation, Office of Inspector General, Office of Investigations, Northeast Region.
Sisic is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Mary S. McElroy on January 7, 2021.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ly T. Chin.
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Three Indicted in El Paso for Federal Firearms Violations under Project GuardianRead the Press Release
A federal grand jury in El Paso indicted three individuals for their roles in a scheme to straw purchase firearms and smuggle them into Mexico, announced U.S. Attorney Gregg N. Sofer and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey C. Boshek, II, Dallas Field Office. This case is being brought as part of Project Guardian, a Department of Justice initiative designed to address firearms related crime. It also highlights the Department of Justice’s efforts to stem the illegal flow of firearms into Mexico, where they are often used by criminal cartels to commit acts of extraordinary violence.
“We are absolutely committed to stemming the illegal flow of firearms into Mexico. If you are engaged in illegal gun trafficking, you can expect to be investigated and prosecuted. If you straw purchase a weapon, that is, lie about the true purchaser of a firearm, you face substantial time in federal prison,” stated U.S. Attorney Sofer.
A six-count federal grand jury indictment unsealed today in federal court in El Paso charges 37-year-old Herbert Serrano, a citizen of Mexico, 22-year-old El Paso resident Israel Ruiz Esparza and 21-year-old El Paso resident Raul Mendoza with one count of conspiracy to smuggle goods from the U.S.; one count of attempting to smuggle goods from the U.S.; and two counts of making a false statement during the purchase of a firearm. The indictment also charges Ruiz and Mendoza with one count of unlawful user in possession of a firearm.
Federal authorities in El Paso arrested Ruiz and Mendoza yesterday afternoon; Serrano, on Friday, October 23.
According to the indictment, the defendants allegedly conspired for approximately one month beginning in February 2020, to knowingly obtain firearms in the U.S. and export them to Mexico without a license. The indictment further alleges Mendoza provided false written information while allegedly straw purchasing a 9mm pistol for Serrano on March 2, 2020. The indictment also alleges that Ruiz provided false written information while allegedly straw purchasing three 9mm pistols for Serrano on March 26, 2020. Furthermore, at the time of the firearms purchases, both Ruiz and Mendoza knew that they were unlawful users or addicted to a controlled substance making them prohibited persons from possessing firearms under federal law.
“ATF and it’s partners are fully committed to preventing the flow of illegal firearms to Mexico. If you are involved in this, you are now on notice that the ATF will investigate and eventually arrest you,” stated ATF Special Agent in Charge Boshek.
Each count calls for up to ten years in federal prison upon conviction. The defendants remain in federal custody pending detention hearings. Serrano is scheduled for tomorrow at 8:15am before U.S. Magistrate Judge Leon Schydlower. Ruiz and Mendoza are expected to have their detention hearing sometime next week in U.S. Magistrate Court in El Paso.
The ATF is conducting this investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Alejandro G. Ortega is prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.
An indictment is merely a charge and should not be considered as evidence of guilt. The defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
This Project Guardian case is among more than 350 pending firearms cases in the Western District of Texas.
Project Guardian is 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. Click here for more information about Project Guardian.
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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.
The Department of Justice Announces Standards for Certifying Safe Policing Practices by Law Enforcement AgenciesRead the Press Release
Today, the Department of Justice announced Standards for Certification that will be used by credentialing bodies so they can begin certifying thousands of law enforcement agencies over the next three months. The Standards of Certification are a result of President Trump’s June Executive Order 13929, Safe Policing for Safe Communities.
“The fundamental responsibility of government is to keep its citizens safe and today’s action to certify thousands of law enforcement agencies around the country will further enable us to do just that,” said Attorney General William P. Barr. “President Trump’s Executive Order on Safe Policing for Safe Communities affirms this administration’s commitment to protecting the American people. Furthermore, everyone loses when trust erodes between the community and law enforcement. That is why the Department of Justice has worked tirelessly to implement the President’s Executive Order in order to improve accountability, build trust, and ensure the safety of the public as well as members of law enforcement who risk their lives every day.”
Executive Order 13929 requires that all state, local, and university law enforcement agencies be certified by independent credentialing agencies. The President’s Order requires agencies to meet two standards in order to be successfully credentialed: 1) that the agency’s use of force policies prohibit chokeholds, except in situations where the use of deadly force is allowed by law; and 2) that the agency’s use of force policies adhere to all applicable federal, state, and local laws.
Over the next 90 days, at least 3,000 law enforcement agencies will be certified by independent credentialing agencies. These agencies will conduct independent reviews of law enforcement policies and procedures, which, in turn, will ensure accountability, enhance citizen confidence and trust in law enforcement, and help correct internal issues before they result in injury to the public or to law enforcement officers.
The Department’s certification standards encourage an independent assessment of law enforcement policies and procedures, such as: 1) training protocols on use of force; 2) training protocols on de-escalation; 3) the scope of an officer’s duty and obligation to intervene in order to prevent excessive force by another officer; 4) when and how an officer should provide appropriate medical care; 5) officers identifying themselves as law enforcement and giving verbal warning of their intent to use deadly force; and 6) shooting at or from a moving vehicle. Additionally, law enforcement agencies are encouraged to implement early intervention systems to promote officer wellness and to identify officers who may be at risk of violating use of force policies, policies and procedures to help them recruit and promote the best and brightest, and community engagement plans to address each community’s specific needs.
Since the Executive Order was announced in June, the major stakeholders in law enforcement have been kept apprised of the implementation process, have reviewed the Safe Principles document, and many have endorsed their adoption. These principles provide for more accountability, transparency, and community engagement and will foster community trust, all critical elements in keeping both the public and law enforcement officers safe.
To learn more about Executive Order 13929, please see the interview with Assistant to the President Ja’Ron Smith and Attorney General William P. Barr.
The Department of Justice Announces Standards for Certifying Safe Policing Practices by Law Enforcement AgenciesRead the Press Release
Today, the Department of Justice announced Standards for Certification that will be used by credentialing bodies so they can begin certifying thousands of law enforcement agencies over the next three months. The Standards of Certification are a result of President Trump’s June Executive Order 13929, Safe Policing for Safe Communities.
“The fundamental responsibility of government is to keep its citizens safe and today’s action to certify thousands of law enforcement agencies around the country will further enable us to do just that,” said Attorney General William P. Barr. “President Trump’s Executive Order on Safe Policing for Safe Communities affirms this administration’s commitment to protecting the American people. Furthermore, everyone loses when trust erodes between the community and law enforcement. That is why the Department of Justice has worked tirelessly to implement the President’s Executive Order in order to improve accountability, build trust, and ensure the safety of the public as well as members of law enforcement who risk their lives every day.”
Executive Order 13929 requires that all state, local, and university law enforcement agencies be certified by independent credentialing agencies. The President’s Order requires agencies to meet two standards in order to be successfully credentialed: 1) that the agency’s use of force policies prohibit chokeholds, except in situations where the use of deadly force is allowed by law; and 2) that the agency’s use of force policies adhere to all applicable federal, state, and local laws.
Over the next 90 days, at least 3,000 law enforcement agencies will be certified by independent credentialing agencies. These agencies will conduct independent reviews of law enforcement policies and procedures, which, in turn, will ensure accountability, enhance citizen confidence and trust in law enforcement, and help correct internal issues before they result in injury to the public or to law enforcement officers.
The Department’s certification standards encourage an independent assessment of law enforcement policies and procedures, such as: 1) training protocols on use of force; 2) training protocols on de-escalation; 3) the scope of an officer’s duty and obligation to intervene in order to prevent excessive force by another officer; 4) when and how an officer should provide appropriate medical care; 5) officers identifying themselves as law enforcement and giving verbal warning of their intent to use deadly force; and 6) shooting at or from a moving vehicle. Additionally, law enforcement agencies are encouraged to implement early intervention systems to promote officer wellness and to identify officers who may be at risk of violating use of force policies, policies and procedures to help them recruit and promote the best and brightest, and community engagement plans to address each community’s specific needs.
Since the Executive Order was announced in June, the major stakeholders in law enforcement have been kept apprised of the implementation process, have reviewed the Safe Principles document, and many have endorsed their adoption. These principles provide for more accountability, transparency, and community engagement and will foster community trust, all critical elements in keeping both the public and law enforcement officers safe.
To learn more about Executive Order 13929, please see the interview with Assistant to the President Ja’Ron Smith and Attorney General William P. Barr.
Texas Man Sentenced to Two Years in Prison for Role in Heroin and Fentanyl ConspiracyRead the Press Release
TRENTON, N.J. – A Texas man was sentenced today to 24 months in prison for conspiring to distribute heroin, fentanyl and methamphetamine, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.
Juan Macias Prieto, 53, of El Paso, Texas, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Anne E. Thompson in Trenton federal court to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute one kilogram or more of heroin, 400 grams or more of fentanyl, and five grams or more of methamphetamine, and one count of possession with intent to distribute one kilogram or more of heroin, 400 grams or more of fentanyl, and five grams or more of methamphetamine. Judge Thompson imposed the sentence by videoconference today.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
On Sept. 17, 2019, Macias Prieto conspired with others to distribute narcotics. Macias Prieto, a commercial truck driver, transported approximately 21 kilograms of narcotics into New Jersey with the intent to distribute the narcotics to conspirators.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Thompson sentenced Macias Prieto to three years of supervised release.
U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito credited special agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Ray Donovan in New York, with the investigation leading to today’s sentencing.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Francesca Liquori, of the Organized Crime and Gangs Unit.
Taiwan Company Pleads Guilty to Trade Secret Theft in Criminal Case Involving PRC State-Owned CompanyRead the Press Release
The Department of Justice today announced that United Microelectronics Corporation, Inc. (UMC), a Taiwan semiconductor foundry, pleaded guilty to criminal trade secret theft and was sentenced to pay a $60 million fine, in exchange for its agreement to cooperate with the government in the investigation and prosecution of its co-defendant, a Chinese state-owned-enterprise.
A federal grand jury had indicted UMC in September 2018, along with Fujian Jinhua Integrated Circuit Co., Ltd. (Fujian Jinhua), a state-owned enterprise of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), and three individuals for conspiracy to steal, convey, and possess stolen trade secrets of an American semiconductor company (Micron Technology, Inc. (Micron)) for the benefit of a state-owned enterprise of the PRC (Fujian Jinhua). As a result of today’s guilty plea, and in accordance with an accompanying plea agreement, UMC, whose American Depository Receipts are publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange, will pay the fine—the second largest ever in a criminal trade secret prosecution, be subject to a three-year term of probation, and cooperate with the United States.
“UMC stole the trade secrets of an American leader in computer memory to enable China to achieve a strategic priority: self-sufficiency in computer memory production without spending its own time or money to earn it,” said Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey A. Rosen. “This prosecution is an example of the Department of Justice’s successful efforts to defend American companies from those who try to cheat and steal their technology.”
UMC pleaded guilty to a superseding information charging the company with one count of criminal trade secret theft in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1832(a)(3). The other criminal charges and a parallel civil suit by the United States against UMC will be dismissed. The criminal prosecution of Fujian Jinhua and the three individual defendants will continue, as will a civil action seeking to enjoin Fujian Jinhua from the further transfer of stolen trade secrets and the export to the United States of products manufactured by Fujian Jinhua that were made using the stolen trade secrets.
“UMC's guilty plea points this case towards trial against Fujian Jinhua in 2021,” said U.S. Attorney David L. Anderson. “Criminal trade secrets cases protect freedom and innovation. These cases have global significance when a foreign defendant is charged with stealing intellectual property protected by U.S. law.”
“Protecting American intellectual property and trade secrets is a top priority for the FBI. This is especially true for the FBI’s San Francisco Division, with Silicon Valley in our area of responsibility, and we will continue to lead the fight in safeguarding U.S. innovation from foreign adversaries,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Craig Fair. “This case sends an important message to Bay Area companies: if you report suspicious activity to the FBI, we will follow all investigative leads to identify and prosecute those responsible.”
According to the facts admitted in connection with the guilty plea, UMC hired the three individual defendants—Chen Zhengkun, a.k.a. Stephen Chen; He Jianting, a.k.a. J.T. Ho; and Wang Yungming, a.k.a. Kenny Wang—from Micron’s Taiwan subsidiary. UMC made Chen a senior vice president and assigned him to lead negotiation of an agreement with Fujian Jinhua to develop Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) technology for Fujian Jinhua. As a foundry company, UMC previously made logic chips designed by other companies but did not make DRAM memory chips. Chen hired Ho and Wang to join the DRAM development team, and Ho and Wang brought Micron’s confidential information to UMC from Micron’s Taiwan subsidiary. After UMC’s Information Technology Department found Micron’s intellectual property on Ho’s UMC computer, Chen approved the issuance of two “off network” laptop computers that allowed UMC employees to access Micron confidential information without further detection by UMC’s IT department. In particular, Wang used one file containing Micron’s trade secrets to adjust UMC’s design rules for the memory in question. Later, when Taiwan authorities searched UMC’s offices, Ho and Wang asked another UMC employee to hide papers, notes, USB drives, a personal phone, and a laptop computer while the Taiwan authorities executed their search warrants. Taiwan authorities recovered only one of the two off-network laptops. The hard drive of the other was reformatted and concealed from Taiwan authorities. Beginning in the month of the Taiwan raids, Chen became president of Fujian Jinhua and took charge of its memory production facility.
This prosecution is a result of an investigation by the FBI. Substantial assistance was provided by Taiwan’s Ministry of Justice, its Ministry of Justice Investigation’s Bureau (MJIB), and the Taichung District Prosecutor’s Office (TDPO).
Taiwan Company Pleads Guilty to Trade Secret Theft in Criminal Case Involving PRC State-Owned CompanyRead the Press Release
SAN FRANCISCO – The Department of Justice today announced that United Microelectronics Corporation, Inc. (UMC), a Taiwan semiconductor foundry, pleaded guilty to criminal trade secret theft and was sentenced to pay a $60 million fine, in exchange for its agreement to cooperate with the government in the investigation and prosecution of its co-defendant, a Chinese state-owned-enterprise. The plea was accepted by the Hon. Maxine M. Chesney, U.S. District Judge.
A federal grand jury had indicted UMC in September 2018, along with Fujian Jinhua Integrated Circuit Co., Ltd. (Fujian Jinhua), a state-owned enterprise of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), and three individuals for conspiracy to steal, convey, and possess stolen trade secrets of an American semiconductor company (Micron Technology, Inc. (Micron)) for the benefit of a state-owned enterprise of the PRC (Fujian Jinhua). As a result of today’s guilty plea, and in accordance with an accompanying plea agreement, UMC, whose American Depository Receipts are publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange, will pay the fine—the second largest ever in a criminal trade secret prosecution, be subject to a three-year term of probation, and cooperate with the United States.
“UMC's guilty plea points this case towards trial against Fujian Jinhua in 2021," said U.S. Attorney David L. Anderson. "Criminal trade secrets cases protect freedom and innovation. These cases have global significance when a foreign defendant is charged with stealing intellectual property protected by U.S. law.”
“UMC stole the trade secrets of an American leader in computer memory to enable China to achieve a strategic priority: self-sufficiency in computer memory production without spending its own time or money to earn it,” said Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey A. Rosen. “This prosecution is an example of the Department of Justice’s successful efforts to defend American companies from those who try to cheat and steal their technology.”
“U.S. companies possess some of the most sensitive and valuable intellectual property in the world. That’s why the Government of China continues to incentivize its theft. The FBI and its law enforcement partners here and around the world are working to combat the Government of China’s rampant theft of technology,” said FBI Deputy Director David L. Bowdich. “We won’t stop investigating these crimes, and we won’t stop partnering with the private sector to protect our nation’s economic and national security.”
UMC pleaded guilty to a superseding information charging the company with one count of criminal trade secret theft in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1832(a)(3). The other criminal charges and a parallel civil suit by the United States against UMC will be dismissed. The criminal prosecution of Fujian Jinhua and the three individual defendants will continue, as will a civil action seeking to enjoin Fujian Jinhua from the further transfer of stolen trade secrets and the export to the United States of products manufactured by Fujian Jinhua that were made using the stolen trade secrets.
“Protecting American intellectual property and trade secrets is a top priority for the FBI. This is especially true for the FBI’s San Francisco Division, with Silicon Valley in our area of responsibility, and we will continue to lead the fight in safeguarding U.S. innovation from foreign adversaries,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Craig Fair. “This case sends an important message to Bay Area companies: if you report suspicious activity to the FBI, we will follow all investigative leads to identify and prosecute those responsible.”
According to the facts admitted in connection with the guilty plea, UMC hired the three individual defendants—Chen Zhengkun, a.k.a. Stephen Chen; He Jianting, a.k.a. J.T. Ho; and Wang Yungming, a.k.a. Kenny Wang—from Micron’s Taiwan subsidiary. UMC made Chen a senior vice president and assigned him to lead negotiation of an agreement with Fujian Jinhua to develop Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) technology for Fujian Jinhua.
As a foundry company, UMC previously made logic chips designed by other companies but did not make DRAM memory chips. Chen hired Ho and Wang to join the DRAM development team, and Ho and Wang brought Micron’s confidential information to UMC from Micron’s Taiwan subsidiary. After UMC’s Information Technology Department found Micron’s intellectual property on Ho’s UMC computer, Chen approved the issuance of two “off network” laptop computers that allowed UMC employees to access Micron confidential information without further detection by UMC’s IT department. In particular, Wang used one file containing Micron’s trade secrets to adjust UMC’s design rules for the memory in question. Later, when Taiwan authorities searched UMC’s offices, Ho and Wang asked another UMC employee to hide papers, notes, USB drives, a personal phone, and a laptop computer while the Taiwan authorities executed their search warrants. Taiwan authorities recovered only one of the two off-network laptops. The hard drive of the other was reformatted and concealed from Taiwan authorities. Beginning in the month of the Taiwan raids, Chen became president of Fujian Jinhua and took charge of its memory production facility.
This prosecution is a result of an investigation by the FBI. Substantial assistance was provided by Taiwan’s Ministry of Justice, its Ministry of Justice Investigation’s Bureau (MJIB), and the Taichung District Prosecutor’s Office (TDPO).
Statement from Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband Commemorating the Twentieth Anniversary of the Trafficking Victims Protection ActRead the Press Release
Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Eric Dreiband issued the following statement today commemorating the twentieth anniversary of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act:
Twenty years ago, on Oct. 28, 2000, Congress enacted the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA), condemning human trafficking as a “contemporary manifestation of slavery” that is “abhorrent” to our ideals of freedom, human dignity, and unalienable rights.
On Oct. 19, 2020, I was pleased to participate in the President’s Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons. During that meeting, 20 agency officials across the federal government, including the Department of Justice, explained how the federal government is combatting the modern-day slavery of human trafficking.
Even after the Thirteenth Amendment abolished state-sanctioned slavery in 1865, many ostensibly free citizens endured racial violence, abuses of authority, and conditions of involuntary servitude that both perpetuated badges and incidents of slavery for generations to come and violated the Thirteenth Amendment.
Since its founding in 1957, the Civil Rights Division has fought to uphold guarantees of individual rights, freedom, and equality for all, including the prohibitions against involuntary servitude and slavery that the division vigorously enforced for decades before passage of the TVPA.
Accordingly, when the TVPA extended the reach of these involuntary servitude statutes and established vital victim protections and detection partnerships, the Civil Rights Division answered this call to action and led rapidly expanding nationwide anti-trafficking efforts.
Before the TVPA, the Civil Rights Division and U.S. Attorney’s Offices charged, on average, fewer than four involuntary servitude cases a year, totaling 18 such cases over the five preceding years. The TVPA’s expanded criminal prohibitions, victim protections, and proactive detection programs sparked a surge in trafficking cases that rapidly intensified the need for specialized anti-trafficking expertise to guide increasingly complex cases.
The Department of Justice again answered the call by creating its specialized Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit within the Criminal Section of the Civil Rights Division. The Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit is known as the “HTPU” and it consolidated the department’s anti-trafficking expertise. The HTPU leads the department’s nationwide enforcement efforts, guides the development of novel, complex, multi-jurisdictional, and international trafficking cases, and strengthened strategic partnerships.
Creation of this specialized Unit has proven vital to the department’s unprecedented anti-trafficking achievements since passage of the TVPA. In the six years after HTPU’s inception, trafficking cases involving forced labor, sex trafficking of adults, and transnational trafficking rose over 115 percent, as convictions in such cases rose 83 percent. Since HTPU’s formation in 2007, HTPU and U.S. Attorney’s Offices have brought 945 such cases against 2,048 defendants, securing 1,747 convictions. In the two decades since passage of the TVPA, the department has initiated 1,069 such cases against 2,408 defendants and secured 1,986 convictions, all in addition to impressive numbers of child sex trafficking cases brought by the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney’s Offices.
These cases have vindicated the rights of thousands of victims. A few examples illustrate the point: victims whose rights the department vindicated include a young West African girl held in domestic servitude for over sixteen years; an African-American man with an intellectual disability who was compelled into forced labor in a restaurant, without pay, through verbal abuse, racial epithets, and brutal assaults; and Guatemalan young men and boys who traffickers lured on false promises, then forced, under threats of harm to their families, to perform agricultural labor in grueling conditions for minimal pay. Our prosecutions also restored the lives of young women from large U.S. cities, small suburbs, rural communities, and tribal areas who criminal traffickers coerced into commercial sex by manipulating the victims’ dependence on addictive drugs.
HTPU has launched groundbreaking interagency enforcement initiatives that produced dozens of complex, high-impact cases to dismantle notorious transnational trafficking enterprises.
The Anti-Trafficking Coordination Team (ACTeam) Initiative has markedly increased trafficking prosecutions in participating districts, while the U.S.-Mexico Bilateral Human Trafficking Enforcement Initiative has resulted in over 270 U.S. convictions, and dozens of related Mexican state and federal prosecutions, against brutal sex trafficking enterprises that compelled hundreds of vulnerable victims into prostitution.
HTPU has further accelerated nationwide anti-trafficking efforts by disseminating specialized expertise, training, and strategic guidance to thousands of anti-trafficking partners each year, strengthening victim-centered, trauma-informed strategies, chairing the INTERPOL Human Trafficking Experts Group, and advancing departmental anti-trafficking policy priorities.
While we proudly celebrate these achievements, we humbly redouble our resolve to tackle the challenges ahead. We are increasingly leveraging technology-enhanced, intelligence-driven targeting and analytics to combat trafficking threats involving encrypted communications, cryptocurrency, and dark web platforms. We are expanding cross-disciplinary partnerships with experts in countering related money laundering, transnational organized crime, narcotics, human rights, immigration, and labor violations. And we are increasingly incorporating the expertise of survivors themselves to make our anti-trafficking strategies more effective than ever before.
On this twentieth anniversary of the TVPA, we recommit to our mission of eradicating human trafficking and modern-day slavery, and we renew our unflagging resolve to work tirelessly to deliver on the promises of unalienable rights, fundamental freedoms, and human dignity for all.
Statement by Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey A. Rosen on the 20th Anniversary of the Enactment of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000Read the Press Release
Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey A. Rosen issued the following statement:
"Today marks the 20th Anniversary of the enactment of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000. This landmark law criminalized sex trafficking and forced labor, created systems to protect victims of this crime at home and around the world, and created prevention programs. The Department of Justice was given sole authority to prosecute these new federal crimes. It is important to look back at the coordinated efforts that produced the TVPA – a collaboration of survivors, civil society advocates from faith-based groups and across the political spectrum, and policymakers. That same spirit of collaboration will allow the Department and its federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement partners to redouble its efforts in bringing the fight to human trafficking. The President’s National Action Plan to Combat Human Trafficking, released last week, will help us reach our goal, which is nothing less than to end human trafficking once and for all."
Springfield Man Sentenced to 20 Years for Sexual Exploitation of a ChildRead the Press Release
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – A Springfield, Missouri, man was sentenced in federal court today for video recording his sexual abuse of a 15-year-old victim.
Daren Watts, 28, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool to 20 years in federal prison without parole. Watts will be required to register as a sex offender upon his release from prison and will be subject to federal and state sex offender registration requirements, which may apply throughout his life.
On June 17, 2020, Watts pleaded guilty to the sexual exploitation of a child.
According to court documents, the investigation began on June 28, 2018, when Springfield police officers responded to the sexual assault of a 15-year-old victim, whose mother had identified Watts to a Children’s Division caseworker. Both the victim and Watts admitted to juvenile authorities that they had engaged in sexual intercourse.
Law enforcement received a Cybertipline Report from Facebook, reporting that Watts had sent messages to the victim soliciting nude photographs. When investigators searched the contents of his Facebook account, they found 20 videos of Watts engaged in sexual acts with the victim. There were also multiple messages exchanged between Watts and the victim discussing their sexual encounters.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney James J. Kelleher. It was investigated by the Springfield, Mo., Police Department, the Southwest Missouri Cyber Crimes Task Force, and the FBI.
Project Safe Neighborhoods
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 Missouri. 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. Project Safe Neighborhoods is an evidence-based program that identifies the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develops comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, Project Safe Neighborhoods focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.Springfield Man Admits Defrauding Companies of More Than $176K in Flexible Spending Account SchemeRead the Press Release
John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, today announced that JASON WHITEHEAD, 41, of Springfield, Massachusetts, waived his right to be indicted and pleaded guilty yesterday before U.S. District Judge Alvin W. Thompson in Hartford to a charge related to his defrauding multiple companies through a flexible spending account scheme.
According to court documents and statements made in court, Whitehead worked at PayFlex, a company that administered health care and dependent care spending accounts for corporate employees. PayFlex was acquired by Aetna Inc. in 2011. Whitehead worked at the PayFlex division until approximately August 2017, when he transferred to another division at Aetna. However, he retained his employee access to PayFlex’s computer systems via his login credentials.
From September 2016 through July 2019, Whitehead defrauded multiple corporate victims of monies intended to be paid to the victims’ employees for dependent care reimbursements. Using access he had to PayFlex’s systems, Whitehead created multiple fictitious employees at three different victim companies. He then submitted to PayFlex dozens of fraudulent reimbursement claims for dependent care expenses by the fictitious employees. Through this scheme, PayFlex made $176,200 in payments to Whitehead and to third parties that Whitehead designated.
Whitehead is scheduled to be sentenced on January 19, 2021, at which time he faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years. As part of his plea agreement, Whitehead agreed to pay $176,200 in restitution.
Whitehead is released pending sentencing.
This investigation is being led by a Hartford Police Department detective in his capacity as a member of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Connecticut Cyber Task Force (CCTF). The FBI’s CCTF is staffed with detectives from the Connecticut State Police’s Cyber Crimes Investigation Unit and the Bristol, Hartford, New Canaan, Orange, Stamford, Torrington, Watertown and UConn Police Departments. To contact the CCTF, please call the FBI’s New Haven Field Office at 203-777-6311.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney David T. Huang.
Sixty Defendants Charged in $300 Million Nationwide Telemarketing Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Erica H. MacDonald today announced three separate indictments charging 60 defendants for their roles in a $300 million nationwide telemarketing fraud scheme that targeted elderly and vulnerable victims. The charges include conspiracy, mail fraud, wire fraud, and violating the Senior Citizens Against Marketing Scams Act of 1994 (the “SCAMS Act”). The defendants are located in 14 states, 16 judicial districts, and two Canadian provinces.
“This case represents the largest elder fraud scheme in the nation. More than 150,000 elderly and vulnerable victims across the United States have been identified in what is essentially a criminal class action,” said United States Attorney Erica H. MacDonald. “Unfortunately, we live in a world where fraudsters are willing to take advantage of seniors, who are often trusting and polite. It’s my hope that this prosecution is a call for vigilance and caution. Combatting elder fraud and abuse is one of the Justice Department’s top priorities and I applaud our investigative partners for their grit and dedication in tackling, at the systemic level, this widespread fraud.”
“The thieving greed of fraudsters who target senior citizens knows no bounds,” said FBI Minneapolis Special Agent in Charge Michael Paul. “Using a tactic like telemarketing magazine sales, these deceitful scam artists bilk hard earned money from their aging victims – leaving so many financially devastated in their retirement years and without recourse for recovery. The FBI is working intently to help ensure our elderly fellow citizens are protected and not defrauded.”
“When the U.S. Mail is used for the purposes of committing fraud, and in this case, a particularly insidious type of fraud- elder fraud, it's the job of the Postal Inspection Service to aggressively investigate and ensure America's confidence in the integrity of the U.S. Mail,” said Inspector in Charge Ruth Mendonҫa.
According to allegations in the indictments and documents filed with the court, over the past 20 years, the defendants devised and carried out a telemarketing scheme to defraud more than 150,000 victim-consumers located across the United States, many of whom are elderly and vulnerable. The scheme was carried out by a network of dozens of fraudulent magazine sales companies located across the United States and in Canada. The companies operated telemarketing call centers from which their employees made calls using deceptive sales scripts designed to defraud victim consumers by inducing them—through a series of lies and misrepresentations—into making large or repeat payments to the companies.
The indictments allege that the defendants used fraudulent sales scripts to carry out their scheme. Many of the defendants used a fraudulent “renewal” script in which the telemarketers falsely claimed to be calling from the victim-consumer’s existing magazine subscription company about an existing magazine subscription package. The telemarketers often claimed—falsely—to be calling with an offer to reduce the monthly cost of an existing subscription. In reality, the company had no existing relationship with the victim-consumers and was actually fraudulently signing the victim-consumers up for expensive and entirely new magazine subscriptions.
The effect was that a single consumer went from having one magazine subscription to, at times, more than a dozen, all with different fraudulent magazine companies, each “sold” under the auspices of “reducing” the consumer’s monthly rate.
United States v. Rahm, et al., 20-cr-232, charges 43 defendants with carrying out a conspiracy to use the fraudulent renewal scripts to defraud more than 125,000 victims out of more than $300 million.
The indictments further allege that some of the defendants employed a “cancellation” script. The cancellation scripts targeted people who had previously fallen victim to a fraudulent magazine sales scam. Taking advantage of the victims’ desperation to make the magazine subscriptions stop, defendants using the cancellation script falsely claimed to be calling from the magazine “cancellation department.” The defendants offered to consolidate and cancel the victim-consumers’ existing magazine subscriptions and to pay off the victims’ “outstanding balance” in exchange for a large lump-sum payments. In reality, the companies had no relationship with the victim-consumer and the victim-consumer did not owe any money to the company. The “balances owed” were completely made up and the defendants stole the victims’ money.
United States v. Timmerman et al., 20-cr-233, charges nine defendants who worked for one of three Canadian companies that used the cancellation script to defraud more than 20,000 victim-consumers in the United States out of approximately $30 million.
United States v. Mathias et al., 20-cr-231, charges eight defendants in Mississippi and Georgia who used the cancellation script to defraud more than 13,000 victims of approximately $4.5 million.
The indictments charge defendants at all levels of the conspiracies, including Scheme Leaders, Company Owners, Call Center Managers, Telemarketers, and Lead Brokers. The Scheme Leaders provided an array of services to companies involved in fraudulent magazine sales, including customer relationship management (“CRM”) software programs that tracked orders, sales, and other customer information for companies involved in the fraudulent magazine sales scheme. The Scheme Leaders also provided leads to the Company Owners and sent out confirmation letters, invoices, bills, and collections letters to victim-consumers who had been defrauded by fraudulent magazine sales companies. The Company Owners operated telemarketing call centers and provided lead lists and fraudulent sales scripts to their telemarketing employees. These companies were operating in 14 states across the country, including Minnesota, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, California, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, North Carolina, and Arkansas. The Call Center Managers trained the Telemarketers to use the fraudulent sales scripts to defraud victim-consumers. The indictment also charges Lead Brokers, who bought and sold lead lists of victim-consumers to fraudulent magazine sales companies. Many of the consumers on this list were elderly and susceptible to fraudulent and deceptive sales tactics and particularly valuable to companies engaged in fraudulent magazine sales. Accordingly, the lead lists commanded a significant premium and sold for as much as $10 or $15 per name.
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The following defendants are named in the United States v. Rahm, et al. indictment:
- RUSSELL JASON RAHM, 50, of Kansas City, Kansas, owner and Chief Executive Officer of several Kansas-based companies involved in fraudulent magazine sales, is charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud, and violating the SCAMS Act.
- TERRY LYNN CHRISTENSEN, 73, of Fort Myers, Florida, a call center manager, is charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud, and violating the SCAMS Act.
- JANNICE KRISTINA LAUR, 39, of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, a call center manager, is charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud, and violating the SCAMS Act.
- PETRA JINETTE LABOY, 42, of Cape Coral, Florida, a call center manager, is charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud, and violating the SCAMS Act.
- DAVID JOHN MOULDER, 57, of Prior Lake, Minnesota, owner and Chief Executive Officer of several Minnesota-based companies that provided an array of services to companies involved in fraudulent magazine sales, is charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud, and violating the SCAMS Act.
- ANTHONY EUGENE MOULDER, 59, of Fort Myers, Florida, owner and operator of several Florida-based companies involved in fraudulent magazine sales, is charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud, mail fraud, wire fraud, and violating the SCAMS Act.
- RHONDA JEAN MOULDER, 60, of Cape Coral, Florida, a call center manager, is charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud, mail fraud, wire fraud, and violating the SCAMS Act.
- BARBARA ANN MOULDER, 55, of Minneapolis, Minnesota, a telemarketer, is charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud, mail fraud, wire fraud, and violating the SCAMS Act.
- LUIS ORLANDO MENDIZABAL, 41, of Cape Coral, Florida, a telemarketer, is charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud, and violating the SCAMS Act.
- JEFFREY LEE SMOLIAK, 45, of Cape Coral, Florida, a telemarketer, is charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud, and violating the SCAMS Act.
- JOHN MICHAEL BLALOCK, 53, of Cape Coral, Florida, owner and manager of a Florida-based company involved in fraudulent magazine sales, is charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud, and violating the SCAMS Act.
- LLOYD JOSEPH LOFTIS, 60, of Cape Coral, Florida, a call center manager, is charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud, mail fraud, wire fraud, and violating the SCAMS Act.
- BRYANT JARODE CRITTEN, 33, of Cape Coral, Florida, a call center manager and telemarketer, is charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and violating the SCAMS Act.
- NATESHA JAHMELIA MARSON, 33, of Lehigh Acres, Florida, a call center manager and telemarketer, is charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud, and violating the SCAMS Act.
- THOMAS ATHANASIOS KIRITSIS, 64, of North Fort Myers, Florida, a call center manager and telemarketer, is charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud, and violating the SCAMS Act.
- DANIEL MORRIS KLIBANOFF, 65, of Asheville, North Carolina, a lead broker, is charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud, and violating the SCAMS Act.
- BRIAN DOUGLASS COX, 50, of Locust Grove, Georgia, a lead broker, is charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud, and violating the SCAMS Act.
- JOHN THOMAS HARBERT III, 58, of Albuquerque, New Mexico, a lead broker, is charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud, mail fraud, wire fraud, and violating the SCAMS Act.
- AMONDO ANTOINE MILLER, 44, of Littleton, Colorado, a lead broker and owner of a company involved in fraudulent magazine sales, is charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud, and violating the SCAMS Act.
- KILEY MARIE SAINDON, 39, of Lakewood, Colorado, a call center manager, is charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud, and violating the SCAMS Act.
- HENRY ARAGON, 50, of Golden, Colorado, owner of several Colorado-based companies involved in fraudulent magazine sales, is charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud, and violating the SCAMS Act.
- LUCILLE J. PATTERSON, 68, of Denver, Colorado, owner of several Colorado-based companies involved in fraudulent magazine sales, is charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud, and violating the SCAMS Act.
- JAMES ANTHONY SIERRA, 55, of Littleton, Colorado, a call center manager, is charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud, and violating the SCAMS Act.
- TARA NICOLE CREASON, 34, of Grand Blanc, Michigan, a call center manager and telemarketer, is charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and violating the SCAMS Act.
- YVONNE PATTERSON, 60, of Thayer, Missouri, owner and operator of a Missouri-based company involved in fraudulent magazine sales, is charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud, and violating the SCAMS Act.
- CHARITIE A. SEELYE, 47, of Pekin, Illinois, a call center manager, is charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud. BONNIE LEE COLBERT, 56, of Alton, Missouri, a telemarketer, is charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud, and violating the SCAMS Act.
- JENNIFER LYNN GIRARDIN, 48, of Englewood, Colorado, owner and operator of a Missouri-based company involved in fraudulent magazine sales, is charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud, and violating the SCAMS Act.
- JESSICA MARIE PRINCE, 40, of Thayer, Missouri, call center manager, is charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud, and violating the SCAMS Act.
- BRIAN JAMES WILLIAMS, 41, of Long Lake, Minnesota, owner and operator of several Minnesota-based companies involved in fraudulent magazine sales, is charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud, mail fraud, wire fraud, and violating the SCAMS Act.
- TASHENA LAVERA CRUMP, 36, of Minneapolis, Minnesota, a call center manager and telemarketer, is charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud, and violating the SCAMS Act.
- JARED THOMAS MICHELIZZI, 37, of Ramsey, Minnesota, owner and operator of several Minnesota-based companies involved in fraudulent magazine sales, is charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud, mail fraud, wire fraud, and violating the SCAMS Act.
- ERIC PATRICK MCGARRITY, 36, of Minneapolis, Minnesota, a telemarketer, is charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud, mail fraud, wire fraud, and violating the SCAMS Act.
- ANDREW JOHN LANDSEM, 34, Minneapolis, Minnesota, a telemarketer, is charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud, mail fraud, wire fraud, and violating the SCAMS Act.
- BALLAM HAZEAKIAH DUDLEY, 34, of Plymouth, Minnesota, a telemarketer, is charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud, mail fraud, wire fraud, and violating the SCAMS Act.
- CAITLIN COLLEEN SCHLUSSLER, 28, of San Diego, California, call center manager and telemarketer, is charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud, and violating the SCAMS Act.
- MONICA SABINA SHARMA-HANSSEN, 52, of Excelsior, Minnesota, owner and operator of a Minnesota-based company involved in fraudulent magazine sales, is charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud, mail fraud, wire fraud, and violating the SCAMS Act.
- TIMOTHY PAUL HANSSEN, 54, of Excelsior, Minnesota, owner and operator of a Minnesota-based company involved in fraudulent magazine sales, is charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud, mail fraud, wire fraud, and violating the SCAMS Act.
- CORLOS KENTRELL SMITH, 41, of St. Louis Park, Minnesota, a telemarketer, is charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud, mail fraud, wire fraud, and violating the SCAMS Act.
- STACEY LEIGH PERSONS, 34, of Andover, Minnesota, owned and operated two Minnesota-based companies involved in fraudulent magazine sales, is charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud, mail fraud, wire fraud, and violating the SCAMS Act.
- PATRICIA NICHOLE SHINN, 33, of Cambridge, Minnesota, a telemarketer, is charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud, and violating the SCAMS Act.
- LEEANN GARCIA, 26, of Cambridge, Minnesota, a telemarketer, is charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud, and violating the SCAMS Act.
- ERIC STEPHEN ESHERICK, 37, of Andover, Minnesota, owner and operator of a Minnesota-based company involved in fraudulent magazine sales, is charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud, and violating the SCAMS Act.
The following defendants are named in the United States v. Timmerman, et al. indictment:
- CODY WAYNE TIMMERMAN, 37, of Maricopa, Arizona, owner and operator of Arizona-based companies involved in fraudulent magazine sales, is charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and violating the SCAMS Act.
- IRMA BEATRICE TIMMERMAN, 47, of Maricopa, Arizona, owner and operator of Arizona-based companies involved in fraudulent magazine sales, is charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and violating the SCAMS Act.
- SIARRA IRIS DAWN GALLEGOS, 29, of Hemet, California, a telemarketer, is charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and violating the SCAMS Act.
- JUSTIN DONALD SUHAJDA, 33, of San Jacinto, California, owner and operator of a California-based company involved in fraudulent magazine sales, is charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and violating the SCAMS Act.
- TODD ALLEN HUGHES, 47, of Holstein, Iowa, a telemarketer, is charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and violating the SCAMS Act.
The following defendants are named in the United States v. Mathias, et al. indictment:
- DANIEL MATHIAS, 62, of Oxford, Mississippi, owner and operator of Mississippi-based companies involved in fraudulent magazine sales, is charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud, and violating the SCAMS Act.
- VASEAN BERIOISOVA RICKS, 53, of Oxford, Mississippi, a telemarketer, is charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud, and violating the SCAMS Act.
- DIANA REPELL LOGAN, 36, of Abbeville, Mississippi, a telemarketer, is charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud, and violating the SCAMS Act.
- IVORY DENISE ALEXANDER, 26, of Oxford, Mississippi, a telemarketer, is charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud, and violating the SCAMS Act.
- ANGEL WILSON, 49, of Oxford, Mississippi, a telemarketer, is charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud, and violating the SCAMS Act.
- SHARON DENISE MCEWEN, 54, of Abbeville, Mississippi, a telemarketer, is charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud, and violating the SCAMS Act.
- RONALD OLLO COLEMAN, 59, of Powder Springs, Georgia, a telemarketer, is charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud, and violating the SCAMS Act.
- RITA ANTOINETTE ALBRITTON, 49, of Stockbridge, Georgia, a telemarketer, is charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud, and violating the SCAMS Act.
United States Attorney Erica H. MacDonald thanks the FBI and the United States Postal Inspection Service for their collaboration and skilled investigative work in bringing these indictments. Additional assistance was provided by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) and the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office.
Based on the evidence obtained in this investigation, authorities believe there may be additional victims of the alleged conduct. Report suspected fraudulent activity to [email protected] or visit FBI.gov/MagazineVictims.
These indictments are related to the cases United States v. Dahl, 18-cr-305 and United States v. Oelrich, 20-cr-128.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joseph H. Thompson, Harry M. Jacobs, and Melinda A. Williams are prosecuting the case.
The charges contained in the indictments are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
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United States Attorney’s Office, District of Minnesota: (612) 664-5600
Shooting over methamphetamine deal sends Rosebud man to prisonRead the Press Release
BILLINGS — A Rosebud man who admitted shooting a man he believed had shorted him in a $20 methamphetamine deal was sentenced today to five years in prison and three years of supervised release, U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme said.
Anthony Shoulderblade, 33, pleaded guilty on June 4 to assault with a dangerous weapon.
U.S. District Judge Susan P. Watters presided.
The prosecution said in court documents filed in the case that on Dec. 21, 2018, a Bureau of Indian Affairs officer responded to a report of a male who had been shot in the Muddy Cluster subdivision on the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation. Witnesses said Shoulderblade had shot the victim, who was being transported to Lame Deer in a Nissan. The officer located the Nissan and assisted the victim, who had a gunshot wound about the size of a 9mm bullet in his abdomen. The Nissan’s driver told the officer that Shoulderblade had shot the victim and then fled. The victim ultimately was transported to a Billings hospital for treatment.
The victim told an investigator that he was driving with two others when someone flashed him down. He said he pulled over, exited his car and went to the passenger side of the vehicle, where Shoulderblade was seated. The victim said he was speaking with Shoulderblade when he suddenly felt his leg taken out from underneath him. The victim said he had been shot with what he believed was a 9mm handgun.
About two months later, law enforcement located Shoulderblade, who admitted he shot the victim after the victim had shorted him in a drug transaction. Shoulderblade said he had purchased $20 worth of meth from the victim but received only $10 worth of product.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Karla Painter prosecuted the case, which was investigated by the FBI.
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Schuylkill County Man Pleads Guilty to Methamphetamine TraffickingRead the Press Release
SCRANTON - The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Shaquane Scott, age 31, of Frackville, Schuylkill County, pleaded guilty on October 27, 2020, before U.S. Magistrate Court Judge Karoline Mehalchick, for distribution of methamphetamine.
According to United States Attorney David J. Freed, Scott admitted to distributing between 50 and 150 grams of highly-pure crystal methamphetamine in the Schuylkill County area over a several-week period in February and March 2019. Scott’s girlfriend, Samantha Blume, age 28, of Frackville, was also indicted in September 2019 for methamphetamine trafficking. Blume’s charges are still pending.
Magistrate Judge Mehalchick ordered that a presentence report be completed. Sentencing will be scheduled before United States District Court Judge Malachy Mannion at a later date.
This matter was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Pennsylvania State Police, and the Schuylkill County Drug Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert J. O’Hara is prosecuting the case.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program that has been historically successful in bringing together all levels of law enforcement 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 enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally-based strategies to reduce crime.
A sentence following a finding of guilt is imposed by the Judge after consideration of the applicable federal sentencing statutes and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.
The charges carry a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison. The maximum sentence under federal law is up to 40 years in prison, a term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a fine. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the Judge is also required to consider and weigh a number of factors, including the nature, circumstances and seriousness of the offense; the history and characteristics of the defendant; and the need to punish the defendant, protect the public and provide for the defendant's educational, vocational and medical needs. For these reasons, the statutory maximum penalty for the offense is not an accurate indicator of the potential sentence for a specific defendant.
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Salvadorian Man with Multiple Prior Removals Pleads Guilty to Illegally Reentering the United StatesRead the Press Release
ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A Salvadorian man with multiple previous convictions and removals pleaded guilty today to illegally reentering the United States subsequent to a conviction of an aggravated felony.
According to court documents, in November 2000, Jose Neftali Gonzales, 48, pleaded guilty to distribution of cocaine. In November 2001, following a period of incarceration, Neftali Gonzales was removed from the United States at taxpayer expense. Sometime later, Neftali Gonzales illegally reentered the United States, and around August 2009 Neftali Gonzales was found at the Prince William County Adult Detention Center following an arrest in Prince William County for possession of schedule I or II controlled substances. He was convicted of felony possession of schedule I or II drug. In June 2010, Neftali Gonzales pleaded guilty to illegal reentry subsequent to conviction of an aggravated felony and was sentenced to 20 months in prison. In August 2011, Neftali Gonzales was again removed from the United States at taxpayer expense. In August 2020, Neftali Gonzales was again discovered and arrested in the Eastern District of Virginia by ICE officers and the U.S. Marshals Service.
Neftali Gonzales is scheduled to be sentenced on March 3, 2021, and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Matthew Munroe, Acting Director of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Washington Field Office, made the announcement after U.S. District Judge Anthony J. Trenga accepted the plea.
Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Alicia A. Bove and Assistant U.S. Attorney Marc J. Birnbaum are prosecuting the case.
A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information are located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 1:20-cr-187.
Richmond Man Sentenced to 72 Months for Acetylfentanyl and Methamphetamine TraffickingRead the Press Release
LEXINGTON, KY. - A Richmond, Ky., man, Terry Smith, 44, was sentenced in federal court on Monday, to 72 months in prison, by U.S. District Judge Karen Caldwell, after pleading guilty to possession with intent to distribute 10 grams or more of acetylfentanyl and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.
According to Smith’s plea agreement, on September 4, 2018, law enforcement conducted a traffic stop on Smith’s vehicle and located a chip can with a false bottom that contained 17.43 grams of acetylfentanyl and 27.99 grams of methamphetamine. Smith admitted to possession of the narcotics for further distribution.
Smith pleaded guilty in July 2019.
Under federal law, Smith must serve 85 percent of his prison sentence and will be under the supervision of the U.S. Probation Office for three years.
Robert M. Duncan, Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky; and Shawn Morrow, Special Agent in Charge, ATF, Louisville Field Division; and James Ebert, Chief of Police, Richmond Police Department, jointly made the announcement.
The investigation was directed by the ATF, Madison County High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Task Force, and Richmond Police Department. The United States was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Cynthia Rieker.
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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Rapid City Man Sentenced for Failure to RegisterRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Ron Parsons announced that a Rapid City, South Dakota, man convicted of Failure to Register as a Sex Offender was sentenced on October 23, 2020, by Judge Jeffrey L. Viken, U.S. District Court.
Albert Charles Kills Right, Jr., age 46, was sentenced to 33 months in federal prison, followed by 5 years of supervised release, and ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.
The conviction stemmed from Kills Right, who is a person required to register under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, knowingly failing to register and update his registration between May 30, 2018, and November 11, 2019.
The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Marshals Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Kelderman prosecuted the case.
Kills Right was immediately remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
Robbery Suspect Pleads Guilty to Federal ChargesRead the Press Release
TAYLOR ROSS WARDELL, 29, of Cheyenne, pleaded guilty to four counts of interfering with commerce by robbery in U.S. District Court in Cheyenne today.
Wardell was indicted by a federal grand jury on March 18, 2020 on four counts of interference with commerce by robbery and two counts of use and brandish a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence following a lengthy, collaborative investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms Explosive and the Cheyenne Police Department. The charges resulted from a string of armed robberies that occurred in Cheyenne and Laramie from August 14, 2019 to September 27, 2019. The charges alleged that the first robbery occurred on August 14, 2019 at Silver Mine Subs sandwich shop in Cheyenne; the second robbery occurred on August 15, 2019, at the Loaf N Jug in Cheyenne; the third robbery occurred August 26, 2019, at the Loaf N Jug in Laramie; and the fourth robbery occurred on September 9, 2019, at Vino’s Wine and Spirits in Cheyenne. Wardell was arrested by Cheyenne Police on October 1st of 2019.
Wardell is scheduled to be sentenced on January 6, 2020 in U.S. District Court. Judge Alan B. Johnson presided over the change of plea proceedings and Assistant United States Attorney Timothy J. Forwood represents the government.
Press Release by United States Attorney Relating to November 2020 General ElectionRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON - Acting United States Attorney Michael R. Sherwin announced today that Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) Liz Aloi will lead the efforts of his Office in connection with the Justice Department’s nationwide Election Day Program for the upcoming November 3, 2020, general election. AUSA Aloi has been appointed to serve as the District Election Officer (DEO) for the District of Columbia, and in that capacity is responsible for overseeing the District’s handling of complaints of election fraud and voting rights concerns in consultation with Justice Department Headquarters in Washington.
Acting United States Attorney Sherwin said, “Every citizen must be able to vote without interference or discrimination and to have that vote counted without it being stolen because of fraud. The Department of Justice will always act appropriately to protect the integrity of the election process.”
The Department of Justice has an important role in deterring election fraud and discrimination at the polls, and combating these violations whenever and wherever they occur. The Department’s long-standing Election Day Program furthers these goals, and also seeks to ensure public confidence in the integrity of the election process by providing local points of contact within the Department for the public to report possible election fraud and voting rights violations while the polls are open through election day.
Federal law protects against such crimes as intimidating or bribing voters, buying and selling votes, impersonating voters, altering vote tallies, stuffing ballot boxes, and marking ballots for voters against their wishes or without their input. It also contains special protections for the rights of voters, and provides that they can vote free from acts that intimidate or harass them. For example, actions of persons designed to interrupt or intimidate voters at polling places by questioning or challenging them, or by photographing or videotaping them, under the pretext that these are actions to uncover illegal voting may violate federal voting rights law. Further, federal law protects the right of voters to mark their own ballot or to be assisted by a person of their choice (where voters need assistance because of disability or illiteracy).
The franchise is the cornerstone of American democracy. We all must ensure that those who are entitled to the franchise exercise it if they choose, and that those who seek to corrupt it are brought to justice. In order to respond to complaints of election fraud or voting rights concerns during the voting period that ends on November 3, 2020, and to ensure that such complaints are directed to the appropriate authorities, Acting United States Attorney Sherwin stated that AUSA/DEO Aloi will be on duty in this District while the polls are open. She can be reached by the public at the following telephone number: (202) 252-7212.
In addition, the FBI will have special agents available in each field office and resident agency throughout the country to receive allegations of election fraud and other election abuses on election day. The local FBI Washington Field Office can be reached by the public at (202) 278-2000.
Complaints about possible violations of the federal voting rights laws can be made directly to the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division in Washington, DC by phone at 800-253-3931 or by complaint form at https://civilrights.justice.gov/ .
Please note, however, in the case of a crime of violence or intimidation, please call 911 immediately and before contacting federal authorities. State and local police have primary jurisdiction over polling places, and almost always have faster reaction capacity in an emergency.
Acting United States Attorney Sherwin said, “Ensuring free and fair elections depends in large part on the cooperation of the American electorate. It is imperative that those who have specific information about discrimination or election fraud make that information available to my Office, the FBI, or the Civil Rights Division.”
Plea: 99 Pounds of Cocaine Were Hidden in CarRead the Press Release
TOPEKA, KAN. – A Canadian man who was stopped on a Kansas Highway with 99 pounds of cocaine pleaded guilty today to federal charges, U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister said.
Vincent Muller, 36, Saint Jerome, Canada, pleaded guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute cocaine. In his plea, Muller admitted the Kansas Highway Patrol stopped his car on I-70 in Wabaunsee County, Kan. During a search of the vehicle, troopers found 99 pounds of cocaine. The drugs were in a suitcase in the trunk of the car.
Sentencing is set for Feb. 16, 2021. Muller could face a sentence of not less than 10 years in federal prison, as well as a fine up to $10 million. McAllister commended the Kansas Highway Patrol, the Drug Enforcement Administration and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Lindsey Debenham for their work on the case.
Pennsylvania Officials Discuss Election Security with U.S. Attorneys and FBI AgentsRead the Press Release
Harrisburg, Pa – Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar and Pennsylvania Director of Homeland Security Marcus Brown recently met with Pennsylvania’s three United States Attorneys and FBI agents from Philadelphia and Pittsburgh to review security and preparations for the Nov. 3 general election.
United States Attorneys Scott W. Brady of the Western District of Pennsylvania, David J. Freed of the Middle District of Pennsylvania, and William M. McSwain of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania participated in the Oct. 2 meeting, along with FBI Special Agents in Charge Michael Driscoll of the Philadelphia Field Office and Michael Christman of the Pittsburgh Field Office.
“Strong collaboration and communication between our federal, state, and local partners is key to ensuring that we protect every Pennsylvanian’s right to vote and maintain confidence in a safe, secure and accurate election,” said Secretary Boockvar. “We appreciated the opportunity to discuss these critical issues and expand our partnerships. We are also in close coordination with other key agencies such as the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency, all 67 counties across the commonwealth, and many other state and federal security and elections partners, to ensure a free and fair election for every Pennsylvanian.”
During the meeting, the officials discussed their shared commitment to ensuring the safety, security and integrity of the election for all Pennsylvanians and areas where they can continue to collaborate to strengthen protections in advance of and on election day.
“To maintain ordered liberty and the consent of the people, we must ensure that our elections are free and fair – both in reality and in the public’s perception,” U.S. Attorney Brady said. “This meeting was an important opportunity to work with the Secretary, my fellow U.S. Attorneys, and the FBI to discuss statewide and regional issues. With a stronger understanding of each other’s efforts, we are all in a better position to work toward the free and fair election that Pennsylvanians deserve.”
The Department of State has collaborated with the U.S. Attorneys and the FBI on election security and preparedness in the past.
“I appreciated the opportunity to meet with Secretary Boockvar and her team to discuss the upcoming general election,” U.S. Attorney Freed said. “From our office based in Harrisburg, we have worked closely, along with our colleagues from the FBI, with Pennsylvania Department of State elections staff on previous elections. This year will be no different. Our discussion and information sharing will further the joint goal of ensuring a free, fair and safe general election in Pennsylvania.”
In July 2018, the Inter-Agency Election Preparedness and Security Workgroup was created to ensure Pennsylvania meets the highest standards of election preparedness and integrity and to coordinate election security. The member agencies include the Departments of State and Military and Veterans Affairs, the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency, the Pennsylvania State Police and the offices of Administration, Governor, Homeland Security and State Inspector General.
“Coordination between our federal, state and local election officials, emergency managers and law enforcement is how Pennsylvania is ensuring our election is as safe as possible,” said Marcus L. Brown, director of the Pennsylvania Office of Homeland Security. “On the state level, the Election Security and Preparedness Interagency Workgroup is the forum that we have been using for the last several years to strategically identify election security gaps and then develop solutions.”
The commonwealth also works with all 67 county boards of elections, the Pennsylvania National Guard, the Center for Internet Security and other key partners to maintain and enhance the security of Pennsylvania’s election process. Pennsylvania uses a layered set of defenses to protect its voting systems, which are never connected to the internet nor permitted on internet-facing networks.
“Elections are the cornerstone of our democracy and therefore safeguarding their integrity is critical to the health of our Republic. Pennsylvanians can rest assured that their federal and state officials are working together– as they should be – on this shared mission,” U.S. Attorney McSwain said. “As President Lincoln once put it: ‘elections belong to the people.’ We will work tirelessly to give meaning to that simple but profound statement.”
Palmetto Man Charged in Connection with Four Armed RobberiesRead the Press Release
Tampa, Florida – United States Attorney Maria Chapa Lopez announces the return of an indictment charging Delon Joseph Adams (48, Palmetto) with four counts of interference with commerce by robbery, four counts of brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, and one count of possessing a firearm as a convicted felon. Because Adams has a prior federal conviction for carrying a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime, each brandishing count carries a minimum mandatory penalty of 25 years, and up to life, in federal prison, to run consecutive to any other term of imprisonment. The maximum penalty for each robbery count is 20 years’ imprisonment. The felon-in-possession count carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison.
According to the indictment, between August 26 and September 15, 2020, Adams robbed four businesses at gunpoint —three in Manatee County and one in Hillsborough County. During each robbery, Adams stole cash and iPhones.
An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal criminal law, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty.
This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, and the Palmetto Police Department. It will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Christopher F. Murray.
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.
Owner of Wildwood Crest Pizza Restaurant Sentenced to 15 Months in Prison for Filing False Income Tax ReturnsRead the Press Release
CAMDEN, N.J. – The owner of a Wildwood Crest, New Jersey, pizzeria was sentenced today to 15 months in prison for filing false income tax returns, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.
Giuseppe D’Arancio, 61, of Cape May Court House, New Jersey, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Joseph H. Rodriguez to an information charging him with five counts of filing a false income tax return for tax years 2012 through 2016. Judge Rodriguez imposed the sentence today in Camden federal court.
According to the documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
D’Arancio and another individual owned and operated a pizzeria and kept two sets of accounting books. For tax years 2012 through 2016, D’Arancio knowingly filed false tax returns which underreported the pizzeria’s taxable income by approximately $1.2 million. As a result, D’Arancio failed to pay more than $425,000 in income taxes.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Rodriguez sentenced D’Arancio to one year of supervised release and ordered him to pay $507,246 in restitution to the IRS.
U.S. Attorney Carpenito credited special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Michael Montanez, with the investigation leading to today’s sentencing.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Diana Vondra Carrig of the U.S. Attorney's Office Criminal Division in Camden.
Owner and General Manager of Pocono Area Hotels Convicted of Sex and Drug Trafficking in Precedent Setting CaseRead the Press Release
SCRANTON - The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Faizal Bhimani, age 43, and Nazim Hassam, age 64, both of Bartonsville, Pennsylvania, Om Sri Sai, Inc., a Pennsylvania corporation, and the Pocono Plaza Inn hotel, formerly known as the Quality Inn, located in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania were convicted on October 23, 2020, of sex trafficking and drug trafficking charges after a two-week jury trial.
This is the first time a hotel, a hotel owner, or a hotel general manager have been convicted of criminal sex trafficking offenses for aiding others to engage in that activity in Pennsylvania.
According to United States Attorney David J. Freed, Om Sri Sai, Inc., a company that owned and operated a Howard Johnson hotel located in Bartonsville, Pennsylvania, and Faizal Bhimani, the general manager of that hotel, were both convicted of aiding and abetting sex trafficking by force, fraud, and coercion, and sex trafficking conspiracy, as well as drug trafficking conspiracy and managing a drug-related premises. The jury also found the Pocono Plaza Inn guilty of Managing a Drug-Related Premises, and Nazim Hassam, part-owner and Vice President of Om Sri Sai and managing shareholder of both hotels, guilty of drug trafficking conspiracy and two counts of managing a drug-related premises.
The jury further found that all property owned by Om Sri Sai, Inc. was property that facilitated the company’s sex trafficking and drug trafficking crimes, and is therefore subject to criminal forfeiture.
These convictions mark the culmination of a six-year, joint investigation into sex trafficking, drug trafficking, and violent crime in Monroe County by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF). This case began in 2014 with an FBI investigation into the “Black P Stone” gang, a set of the “Bloods” that was responsible for gun violence and drug trafficking in Monroe County at the time. Local agencies, including the Stroud Area Regional Police Department and the Monroe County District Attorney’s Office, joined the effort early on, and eventually expanded beyond the “P Stones” to uncover more widespread sex and drug trafficking in Monroe County.
The evidence at trial, presented through more than 35 witnesses and over 150 exhibits, established that the Howard Johnson Hotel in Bartonsville was a safe haven for criminal activity between 2011 and 2019. Bhimani, as manager, made rooms available for sex traffickers and drug dealers, and at times took payment for the hotel directly from the proceeds of criminal activity. Bhimani also traded discounted and free rooms for sex, which traffickers would direct their victims to provide. Dozens of women were compelled by multiple traffickers, sometimes called pimps, to conduct prostitution in the hotel either by physical force, threats, false promises, or coercion, including through blackmail and drug addiction. Women who were addicted to heroin, crack, or other controlled substances were provided with just enough drugs to keep them working, and pimps used their addictions and the threat of withdrawal to control them. Several admitted sex traffickers testified at the trial, explaining how they used these various methods to compel women to sell sex and turn over all of the proceeds. Multiple survivors also testified that they were required to follow the traffickers’ rules, were forced to rely entirely on the traffickers for food, clothing, even hygiene products, and they were often punished for violations with violence, including sexual assault.
The evidence showed that Bhimani was closely associated with several of these traffickers, and knew of the methods used to compel the victims to have sex for money. Other employees at the hotel knew as well, and the evidence showed that at least two other employees engaged in sex with victims, including Hassam. Bhimani also warned sex traffickers and drug dealers when law enforcement were present at the hotel, including during the manhunt for Eric Frein in 2014. Several admitted sex traffickers and drug dealers testified to successfully evading detection by police thanks to warnings from Bhimani. The hotel allowed known criminals to check in under assumed names or even street names, and Bhimani and Hassam both took steps to obstruct police efforts to locate suspects.
Evidence at trial also showed that the Pocono Plaza Inn, known as Quality Inn before losing that franchise, was also riddled with drug activity. Police officers testified to multiple overdoses, some resulting in deaths, as well as numerous drug seizures, undercover drug purchases, and arrests at each hotel over a period of several years. The hotels were both known by SARPD officers as high drug crime areas. Evidence showed that a bartender at the Pocono Plaza Inn sold cocaine and heroin right over the bar, and that when the manager was alerted to that fact by another employee and a patron’s online review, she did not fire the bartender or notify police. In 2016, another employee who lived at the hotel was arrested for heroin trafficking the day after a woman died of an overdose in his room.
In all, forty defendants have been convicted federally as a result of this investigation, many of whom trafficked women and drugs in the Bartonsville Howard Johnson and the Pocono Plaza Inn. Other defendants have been charged and convicted in state courts. The investigation has resulted in the dismantling of the “P Stones” as well as a second gang, the “Brick City Brims,” and the disruption of two more, the “Blood Stone Villains” and the “Bloodhound Brims.” Investigators seized multiple kilograms of heroin and cocaine, as well as quantities of fentanyl, cocaine base (“crack”), methamphetamine, marijuana, and MDMA (“molly”), and took at least 10 illegal firearms off the streets.
Notable among the convictions in this investigation are:
- Sirvonn Taylor, a/k/a “Black,” leader of the Black P Stones, sentenced to 20 years in prison for Sex Trafficking Conspiracy and Drug Trafficking;
- Fredrick Brown, a/k/a “G,” sentenced to 33 years in prison for Sex Trafficking by Force, Fraud, and Coercion and Drug Trafficking;
- Jose Velazquez, a/k/a “Sev,” member of the Black P Stones, sentenced to 210 months in prison for Sex Trafficking by Force, Fraud, and Coercion and Drug Trafficking;
- Nicolaus Harman, a/k/a “Clips,” member of the Black P Stones, sentenced to 190 months in prison for Discharge of a Firearm in Furtherance of a Crime of Violence and Hobbs Act Robbery, stemming from the robbery and shooting of a drug dealer on Easter Sunday, 2017;
- Thurman Stanley, a/k/a “Black,” sentenced to 188 months in prison for Drug Trafficking and Interstate Transportation for Purposes of Prostitution;
- Pablo Martinez, a/k/a “Clown,” a leader in the Brick City Brims, sentenced to 150 months in prison for Discharge of a Firearm During and in Relation to a Drug Trafficking Crime, stemming from the robbery and shooting of a drug dealer during a high-speed pursuit in January 2016;
- Deshaun Lipscomb, member of the Brick City Brims, sentenced to 10 years in prison for Drug Trafficking and Possession of a Firearm in Furtherance of Drug Trafficking;
- Evan Watkins, sentenced to 10 years in prison for Drug Trafficking of more than 100 grams of Heroin.
“This investigation is an outstanding example of how the Task Force model works as a force multiplier,” said U.S. Attorney Freed. “When federal agencies like the FBI join with local law enforcement agencies, officers who know their local jurisdictions better than anyone, we can accomplish far more than either can do on their own. My office and the federal agencies who fuel OCDETF are proud to stand side by side with our brothers and sisters in state and local law enforcement, and grateful for their invaluable efforts and insights that have made this six-year investigation a success. This was a novel prosecution, and the first time a hotel or its manager or owner have been charged with and convicted of sex trafficking in Pennsylvania. We hope this will serve as a warning to any other person or company in a position to facilitate or profit from forced prostitution: don’t. Sex trafficking cases are among the most serious we prosecute, and we will bring to bear the full resources of the Department of Justice to investigate and prosecute those who traffic women and girls, along with those who profit from it.”
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Stroud Area Regional Police Department, the Monroe County District Attorney’s Office, and the Pennsylvania State Police. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sean A. Camoni and Jenny Roberts prosecuted the recent case against Bhimani and Hassam. Deputy Criminal Chief Fran Sempa prosecuted the earlier cases.
This prosecution is part of an extensive investigation by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF). OCDETF is a joint federal, state, and local cooperative approach to combat drug trafficking and is the nation’s primary tool for disrupting and dismantling major drug trafficking organizations, targeting national and regional level drug trafficking organizations and coordinating the necessary law enforcement entities and resources to disrupt or dismantle the targeted criminal organization and seize their assets.
This case was brought as part of a district wide initiative to combat the nationwide epidemic regarding the use and distribution of heroin. Led by the United States Attorney’s Office, the Heroin Initiative targets heroin traffickers operating in the Middle District of Pennsylvania and is part of a coordinated effort among federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who commit heroin related offenses.
This case is also 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.
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Ongoing Investigation into Violent White Supremacist Gang Results in Rico Indictment and Additional Charges against Members and AssociatesRead the Press Release
The Justice Department announced today that additional charges have been brought in a superseding indictment against members and associates of a white supremacist gang known as the 1488s. The 1488s have been charged as a criminal organization that was involved in narcotics distribution, arson, obstruction of justice, and acts of violence including murder, assault, and kidnapping.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Brian C. Rabbitt of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Bryan Schroder of the District of Alaska, Special Agent in Charge Robert Britt of the FBI’s Anchorage Field Office, and Alaska State Trooper Captain David Hanson, Commander of the Alaska Bureau of Investigation, made the announcement.
Two new defendants were added to the recently unsealed superseding indictment. Felicia King, 55, of Wasilla, Alaska, was charged with accessory after the fact for her role in the August 2017 beating, kidnapping, and murder of Michael Staton, aka “Steak Knife.”
Justin Eaton, aka “Skulls” 45, of Anchorage, Alaska, who had been previously charged in a separate indictment as a felon in possession of a firearm, was charged with RICO conspiracy, kidnapping and assault for his role in the April 2, 2017, beating of a former 1488 member.
Original defendants Filthy Fuhrer, (formerly Timothy Lobdell), 42; Roy Naughton, aka “Thumper,” 40; Glen Baldwin, aka “Glen Dog,” 37; Craig King, aka “Oakie,” 53; and Colter O’Dell, 26, were all charged in a RICO Conspiracy. Fuhrer and Naughton also face additional charges for federal kidnapping, as well as kidnapping and assault in aid of racketeering for incidents occurring in April and July of 2017.
In the original indictment, Fuhrer, Naughton, Baldwin, King, O’Dell, and Beau Cook, 32, were charged with murder in aid of racketeering, kidnapping in aid of racketeering, assault in aid of racketeering, kidnapping, and conspiracy to commit assault and kidnapping in aid of racketeering. Two other key members, Nicholas M. Kozorra, aka “Beast,” 29, and Dustin J. Clowers, 34, previously pleaded guilty to murder in aid of racketeering in unsealed court documents. Additionally, Cook has pleaded guilty to kidnapping for his role in the Staton homicide.
According to the superseding indictment, the 1488s are a violent prison-based gang operating inside and outside of state prisons throughout Alaska and elsewhere. The 1488s employed Nazi-derived symbols to identify themselves and their affiliation with the gang. The most coveted tattoo of 1488s members was the 1488s “patch” (an Iron Cross superimposed over a Swastika), which could be worn only by “made” members who generally gained full membership by committing an act of violence on behalf of the gang.
According to the indictment, as part of their operations, 1488s members and associates engaged in illegal activities under the protection of the enterprise, including narcotics trafficking, weapons trafficking, and other illegal activities to promote the influence of the gang. The 1488s allegedly had an organizational structure, which is outlined in written “rules” widely distributed to members throughout Alaska and elsewhere.
Members of the 1488s allegedly acted in different roles in order to further the goals of their organization, including “bosses” who had ultimate authority in all gang matters. “Key holders” were allegedly responsible for all gang matters within penal facilities where 1488s had a presence, and in “free world” Alaska (outside of prison). “Enforcers” were allegedly responsible for enforcing the rules and performing tasks as assigned by higher-ranking gang members. “Prospects” for membership were required to familiarize themselves with Nazi-inspired white supremacist ideology. Violence against law enforcement was also a means of gaining standing within the 1488s. Female associates of the gang were referred to as “lady-eights”.
In or about 2016, Fuhrer allegedly became more aggressive in his efforts to impose discipline within the gang. He allegedly believed that members who were defying the 1488 code of conduct were diminishing the power and influence of the gang. As outlined in the superseding indictment, this culminated in the kidnapping and assault of former members on April 2, 2017, and July 20, 2017, and the kidnapping, assault, and murder of Staton on Aug. 3, 2017. These acts were allegedly ordered by leadership of the 1488s acting from within and from outside of the prison system.
The charges in the indictment are merely allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
The FBI’s Safe Streets Task Force, and the Alaska State Troopers, Alaska Bureau of Investigation, investigated this case in conjunction with the District of Alaska U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Organized Crime Division and the Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Gang Section (OCGS). Investigative Assistance was provided by IRS Criminal Investigation; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the U.S. Marshals Service, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, Anchorage Police Department (APD), and the State of Alaska’s Department of Corrections.
This case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Chad McHenry of OCGS and Assistant U.S. Attorneys William Taylor, James Klugman, and Chris Schroeder of the District of Alaska.
The charges in the indictments are merely allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
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.
Ongoing Investigation into Violent White Supremacist Gang Results in Rico Indictment and Additional Charges Against Members and AssociatesRead the Press Release
Anchorage, Alaska – U.S. Attorney Bryan Schroder announced today that additional charges have been brought in a superseding indictment against members and associates of a white supremacist gang known as the 1488s. The 1488s have been charged as a criminal organization that was involved in narcotics distribution, arson, obstruction of justice, and acts of violence including murder, assault, and kidnapping.
Two new defendants were added to the recently unsealed superseding indictment. Felicia King, 55, of Wasilla, Alaska, was charged with accessory after the fact for her role in the August 2017 beating, kidnapping, and murder of Michael Staton, aka “Steak Knife.”
Justin Eaton, aka “Skulls” 45, of Anchorage, Alaska, who had been previously charged as a felon in possession of a firearm, was charged with RICO conspiracy, kidnapping and assault for his role in April 2, 2017, beating of a former 1488 member.
Original defendants Filthy Fuhrer, (formerly Timothy Lobdell), 42; Roy Naughton, aka “Thumper,” 40; Glen Baldwin, aka “Glen Dog,” 37; Craig King, aka “Oakie,” 53; and Colter O’Dell, 26, were all charged in a RICO Conspiracy. Fuhrer and Naughton also face additional charges for federal kidnapping, as well as kidnapping and Assault in Aid of Racketeering for incidents occurring in April and July or 2017.
In the original indictment, Fuhrer, Naughton, Baldwin, King, O’Dell, and Beau Cook, 32, were charged with murder in aid of racketeering, kidnapping in aid of racketeering, assault in aid of racketeering, kidnapping, and conspiracy to commit assault and kidnapping in aid of racketeering. Two other key members, Nicholas M. Kozorra, aka “Beast,” 29, and Dustin J. Clowers, 34, previously pleaded guilty to murder in aid of racketeering in unsealed court documents. Additionally, Cook has now pleaded guilty to kidnapping for his role in the Staton homicide.
According to the superseding indictment, the 1488s are a violent prison-based gang operating inside and outside of state prisons throughout Alaska and elsewhere. The 1488s employed Nazi-derived symbols to identify themselves and their affiliation with the gang. The most coveted tattoo of 1488s members was the 1488s “patch” (an Iron Cross superimposed over a Swastika), which could be worn only by “made” members who generally gained full membership by committing an act of violence on behalf of the gang.
According to the indictment, as part of their operations, 1488s members and associates allegedly engaged in illegal activities under the protection of the enterprise, including narcotics trafficking, weapons trafficking, and other illegal activities to promote the influence of the gang. The 1488s allegedly had an organizational structure, which is outlined in written “rules” widely distributed to members throughout Alaska and elsewhere.
Members of the 1488s allegedly acted in different roles in order to further the goals of their organization, including “bosses” who had ultimate authority in all gang matters. “Key holders” were allegedly responsible for all gang matters within penal facilities where 1488s had a presence, and in “free world” Alaska (outside of prison). “Enforcers” were allegedly responsible for enforcing the rules and performing tasks as assigned by higher-ranking gang members. “Prospects” for membership were required to familiarize themselves with Nazi-inspired white supremacist ideology. Violence against law enforcement was also a means of gaining standing within the 1488s. Female associates of the gang were referred to as “lady-eights”.
In or about 2016 Fuhrer, became more aggressive in his efforts to impose disciple within the gang. He believed that members who were defying the 1488 code of conduct were diminishing the power and influence of the gang. As outlined in the superseding indictment, this culminated in the kidnapping and assault of former members on April 2, 2017, and July 20, 2017, and the kidnapping, assault, and murder of Staton on Aug. 3, 2017. These acts were ordered by leadership of the 1488s acting from within and from outside of the prison system.
The FBI’s Safe Streets Task Force, and the Alaska State Troopers, Alaska Bureau of Investigation, investigated this case in conjunction with the District of Alaska U.S. Attorney’s Office Organized Crime Division and the Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Gang Section (OCGS). Investigative Assistance was provided by IRS Criminal Investigation; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the U.S. Marshals Service, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, Anchorage Police Department (APD), and the State of Alaska’s Department of Corrections.
The charges of VICAR murder and kidnapping resulting in death are punishable by mandatory life sentences.
The joint investigation into the 1488 gang began in late 2017. To date, the investigation has yielded 14 additional federal indictments against members and associates of the gang. The charges have included: carjacking, narcotics conspiracy, weapons offenses, and mail theft.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys William Taylor, James Klugman, and Chris Schroeder of the District of Alaska and Trial Attorney Chad McHenry of OCGS.
The charges in the indictments are merely allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Ohio man admits to selling cocaineRead the Press Release
WHEELING, WEST VIRGINIA – Shuntaze Harvey, of Garfield Heights, Ohio, has admitted to a drug charge, U.S. Attorney Bill Powell announced.
Harvey, age 23, pled guilty to one count of “Aiding and Abetting the Distribution of Cocaine Base within 1000 feet of a Protected Location.” Harvey admitted to selling cocaine near Wheeling Center Catholic High School in Wheeling in February 2020.
Harvey faces at least one and up to 40 years of incarceration and a fine of up to $2,000,000. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed will be based upon the seriousness of the offenses and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Shawn M. Adkins and Clayton J. Reid are prosecuting the case on behalf of the government. The Ohio Valley Drug Task Force, a HIDTA-funded initiative, which includes the Drug Enforcement Administration, West Virginia State Police, the Ohio County Sheriff’s Office, and the Wheeling Police Department, investigated. The U.S. Marshal Service, Columbus Police Department Gang Crimes Unit, the Martins Ferry Police Department, and the Bellaire Police Department also assisted.
U.S. Magistrate Judge James P. Mazzone presided.
Notorious Human Trafficker Who Forced Victims into Prostitution Sentenced to 30 YearsRead the Press Release
PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney William M. McSwain announced that Kashamba John, 32, of Atlanta, GA, was sentenced to 30 years in prison, 10 years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $23,299 by United States District Judge Eduardo C. Robreno for running a national sex trafficking ring, in which he and others forced vulnerable women and girls to travel and prostitute themselves in multiple states. As part of his sentence, the defendant must also register as a sex offender.
In May 2019, the defendant was convicted after trial of conspiring to commit sex trafficking; sex trafficking by fraud, force, or coercion; and transporting individuals in interstate commerce with the intent that the individuals engage in prostitution. Between July 2011 and October 2016, John ran a national sex trafficking ring, selling the bodies of women and girls in Pennsylvania, Florida, California, Georgia, North Carolina, and elsewhere. Conspiring with others, John targeted under-aged runaways, homeless women, and women battling substance abuse in order to manipulate them into prostitution for his benefit. One of John’s victims was rescued by the Pennsylvania State Police when an Uber driver, trained in recognizing sex trafficking victims through her church, flagged down a state trooper when she suspected that the passenger in her vehicle was likely a victim. Two other victims of the defendant were teenagers at the time John trafficked them by force.
“The defendant’s actions in this case were thoroughly vile and disgusting,” said U.S. Attorney McSwain. “Kashamba John preyed upon people he knew would be the most vulnerable, and therefore the easiest for him to control and manipulate into doing his bidding. Now he will spend decades in prison, where he will no longer be able to do harm to anyone else.”
“Sadly, sex trafficking is a scourge that still plagues communities all across the United States, including right here in Philadelphia. Today’s sentencing of Mr. John sends a strong message that this form of violent modern day sex slavery will not be tolerated,” said Brian A. Michael, Special Agent in Charge for HSI Philadelphia. “HSI Philadelphia and our law enforcement partners will continue to be at the forefront of fighting all forms of human trafficking; not only ensuring these traffickers are held responsible for their vile criminal acts, but also helping the victims reclaim their lives.”
“We won’t tolerate this type of treatment of our fellow human beings,” Attorney General Josh Shapiro said. “My office will continue to work with our federal, state and local law enforcement partners to investigate and prosecute these cases and keep communities safe from predators like John.”
The case was investigated by the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations, the Pennsylvania State Police, and the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Melanie Babb Wilmoth and Sarah Damiani.
Nashua Man Pleads Guilty to Fentanyl TraffickingRead the Press Release
CONCORD - Charles Daye, 28, of Nashua, pleaded guilty in federal court on Tuesday to possession of fentanyl with intent to distribute and distribution of fentanyl, United States Attorney Scott W. Murray announced today.
According to court documents and statements made in court, on October 23, 2019, following a traffic stop, Nashua police officers located fentanyl and cash on Daye’s person. Evidence located on his cellphone, as well as Daye’s admissions, confirmed that he was distributing fentanyl in Nashua. Subsequently, on December 17, 2019, and January 16, 2020, a cooperating individual working with law enforcement officers made controlled purchases of fentanyl from Daye.
Daye is scheduled to be sentenced on February 1, 2021.
“Fentanyl traffickers are damaging public health and safety by peddling a deadly substance,” said U.S. Attorney Murray. “Through Operation SOS, we are working with the Nashua Police Department and all our law enforcement partners in Hillsborough County to identify and prosecute the drug dealers who are endangering lives by selling fentanyl and other dangerous drugs.”
This matter was investigated by the Nashua Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Joachim H. Barth.
This case is part of Operation Synthetic Opioid Surge (S.O.S.). In July of 2018, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the creation of S.O.S., which is being implemented in the District of New Hampshire and nine other federal districts. The goal of S.O.S. is to combat the large number of overdoses and deaths associated with fentanyl and other synthetic opioids. In New Hampshire, the U.S. Attorney’s Office is focusing its efforts on prosecuting synthetic opioid trafficking cases arising in Hillsborough County, which includes Manchester and Nashua.
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Multiple Convicted Felon Sentenced to 10 Years for Possession of a Stolen Firearm in Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking CrimeRead the Press Release
Memphis, TN – Demetrius Lay, 41, has been sentenced to 120 months in federal prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm, possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. D. Michael Dunavant, U.S. Attorney announced the sentence today.
According to information presented in court, on July 24, 2018, officers with the Memphis Police Department performed a traffic stop on Faxon Street. The driver, Demetrius Lay, pulled into the driveway of a residence near that location. When officers approached, Lay fled the vehicle and threw a rifle over a fence and into an adjacent yard. Officers recovered the rifle, and a large plastic bag next to the rifle. The rifle was reported stolen on July 5, 2018. Inside the plastic bag were three smaller plastic bags all containing a white rock-like substance suspected to be crack cocaine. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation forensic laboratory tested the narcotics and determined the defendant possessed over 28 grams of cocaine.
Lay is a prohibited person with a prior felony conviction history that includes voluntary manslaughter, possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. As a result, he is prohibited by federal law from the possession of firearms or ammunition.
On December 13, 2018, Lay was indicted for one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm, one count of possession of a controlled substance with the intent to distribute, and one count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. On July 23, 2020, Lay pled guilty as charged in the indictment.
On October 27, 2020, U.S. District Court Judge Mark S. Norris sentenced the defendant to 120 months in federal prison followed by four years supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system.
U.S. Attorney D. Michael Dunavant said, "This offender presented a triple threat of serious bodily injury and death: a prior violent convicted felon in possession of a stolen firearm while distributing a deadly and addictive substance on the streets. This sentence protects the community by incapacitating a repeat dangerous offender, and achieves justice by providing proper punishment according to law."
The Memphis Police Department and Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Task Force investigated this case. The PSN initiative is 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. In 2017, PSN was reinvigorated as part of the Justice 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.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Wendy K. Cornejo prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.
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Missoula man admits aiming laser pointer at airplane on approach to Great FallsRead the Press Release
GREAT FALLS – A Missoula man today admitted he aimed a laser beam at an airplane as it was approaching the Great Falls airport, U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme said.
Brian John Loven, 42, pleaded guilty to aiming a laser pointer at an aircraft. Loven 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. Chief Judge Morris set sentencing for Feb. 25, 2021. Loven was released.
The prosecution said in court documents that at about 9:40 p.m. on March 3, two pilots operating a SkyWest flight reported that on their descent to the Great Falls airport, the plane was hit with a bright green laser that lit up the cockpit. The pilots reported that the incident occurred on the east end of town in the area of Giant Springs State Park.
Cascade County Sheriff’s deputies dispatched to the area located a Jeep driving slowly through the parking lot of Heritage Park, which was closed at the time. Loven was a passenger. The driver told deputies that she was learning how to drive a manual transmission car. While speaking with the driver, deputies noticed a small, black pen-like device sticking out of the center cup holder and asked about the item. The driver retrieved the device, said it was a laser pointer and activated it. The laser pointer projected a green light onto the dashboard.
Deputies interviewed Loven, who admitted to shining the laser at an airplane while it was approaching the airport. Loven explained that he was unaware it was a federal offense to shine a laser at a plane and just wanted to “test out the distance of the laser.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Starnes is prosecuting the case, which was investigated by the Transportation Security Administration, Cascade County Sheriff’s Office and Airport Security.
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Memphis Man Sentenced to 52 Years for Nine Armed Business RobberiesRead the Press Release
Memphis, TN – Cortez Young, 24, has been sentenced to 624 months in federal prison for committing nine (9) armed business robberies across Memphis. D. Michael Dunavant, United States Attorney announced the sentence today.
According to information presented in court, on October 17, 2017, at approximately 10:50pm, three male individuals armed with handguns entered the Sonic Drive-In on South Perkins Road, waving the firearms and demanding money. The suspects pointed the guns at the employees and forced them to open the cash drawer. One of the suspects put the cash into a bag and all suspects fled towards the Cottonwood Apartments. This incident was captured on surveillance video.
It was determined that Young had the following history:
• On December 11, 2017, at approximately 10:30am, a male entered the Dollar Tree on Park Avenue, pointed a black handgun at a store employee and said, "you know what this is, hurry up and give me the money." After getting money from the register, the victim grabbed the drawer of the register and gave it to the suspect. The incident was captured on surveillance video.
• On December 16, 2017, at approximately 7:15pm, two armed male suspects entered the Dollar Tree on East Parkway demanding money from the employees. When the employees could not open the register, one of the men "cocked" his weapon and began breaking apart the register. They were unable to obtain anything from the store and fled the scene.
• On December 16, 2017, at approximately 9:00pm, two armed males entered the Family Dollar Store on South Perkins Road, threatening the employees and demanding money. One suspect pointed a gun at an employee’s face, and said, "I know you love your life, give it to us" and knocked items over near the counter. The suspects took the entire drawer and fled the scene.
• On December 21, 2017, at approximately 9:00pm, two armed males entered the Family Dollar on Summer Avenue, shouting and demanding money. The suspects ordered the employees to open the cash registers and the safe. One of the suspects shouted, "I know you love your life, I will blow your face off!" The suspects fled the scene with several hundred dollars in cash.
• On January 3, 2018, at approximately 8:15pm, two armed males entered the Circle K on Mt. Moriah Extended, demanding money. Before the employee could open the cash register, a customer in the store began firing shots at the suspects. The suspects fled the scene and the customer followed. As shots continued, one of the suspects, Devonte Gary, 21, was shot. Gary and Cortez Young got into a red vehicle driven by Cortez Young’s uncle, Arkiest Young, 38, who drove Gary to Delta Medical Hospital. The description of the vehicle at the hospital matched the description of the vehicle fleeing the Circle K.
• On January 22, 2018, at approximately 9:30pm, two male suspects entered the Family Dollar on Summer Avenue. The males approached an employee as he was restocking items in the store; one pointed a handgun and demanded money from the register. The suspects fled with an unknown amount of money. Upon reviewing the surveillance video, officers determined the suspect with the gun was Cortez Young.
• On January 22, 2018, at approximately 8:30pm, two armed male suspects entered the Dollar Tree on East Parkway and demanded money from the employees. An employee ran to a back office and called 911. The suspects fled without obtaining anything, and a witness described a red vehicle fleeing the scene.
• On January 24, 2018, at approximately 8:40am, one suspect entered the Subway on Lamar Ave, armed with a handgun. The suspect forced the employee to give him money from the register, followed her into the rear of the store, demanding to open the safe. The suspect left scene. The victim positively identified Cortez Young as the person responsible for the robbery.
• On January 25, 2018, officers with the Memphis Police Department and the FBI’s Safe Streets Task Force executed an arrest warrant for Cortez Young at his residence on Yale Avenue. Young was found hiding between a mattress and the wall in a back bedroom. As officers were executing the warrant, Arkeist Young arrived on the scene driving a stolen red Chevrolet HHR, which was similar in description as having been on the scene of several of the robberies. Inside the vehicle was a .380 caliber handgun, and a box of blue latex gloves. Victims of several of the robberies indicated the suspects were wearing blue latex gloves. Inside the residence were several boxes of .380 caliber ammunition, which matched some of the shell casings recovered from the shootout at the Circle K. Police investigators showed surveillance photos to Cortez Young, and he identified himself in at least one of the photos.
On June 19, 2018, a federal grand jury for the Western District of Tennessee returned a 16-count indictment charging Arkeist Young, Cortez Young, and Davonte Gary with the crimes of Hobbs Act robbery affecting interstate commerce; attempted robbery affecting interstate commerce; using, carrying, and brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence; and discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.
On August 14, 2019, Cortez Young entered a guilty plea to all 16 counts of the indictment as charged. On February 7, 2020, Arkeist Young pled guilty to attempted Hobbs Act robbery and was sentenced to 60 months imprisonment for his role in these crimes. https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdtn/pr/getaway-driver-sentenced-5-years-role-armed-business-robbery Charges against Davonte Gary are still pending.
On October 28, 2020, U.S. District Court Judge Thomas L. Parker sentenced Cortez Young to 624 months and 1 day in federal prison followed by three years supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system.
U.S. Attorney D. Michael Dunavant said: "Business owners and employees have a fundamental right to be safe from armed robbers who terrorize our communities with their lawlessness. The senselessness of gun violence has a long lasting effect on victims of armed robbery, and we will no longer allow gun crime to rule our streets. Young’s violent crime spree is over, for good. This 52-year sentence for a 24 year-old offender sends a clear message that there will always be a reckoning, a real and significant consequence, for the commission of violent crimes."
The Memphis Police Department and the FBI - Safe Streets Task Force investigated this case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Whitmore and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Samuel D. Winnig prosecuted this case on behalf of the government. SAUSA Winnig is currently assigned from the Shelby County District Attorney General’s Office to prosecute violent crimes and firearms offenses in federal court.
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Man Sentenced for Posing as Covert CIA Officer in Elaborate $4M FraudRead the Press Release
ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A former Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) public affairs officer was sentenced today to seven years in prison for defrauding at least a dozen companies of over $4.4 million by posing falsely as a covert officer of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
According to court documents, Garrison Kenneth Courtney, 44, of Florida, falsely claimed to be a covert officer of the CIA involved in a highly-classified program or “task force” involving various components of the United States Intelligence Community and the Department of Defense. According to the false story told by Courtney, this supposed classified program sought to enhance the intelligence gathering capabilities of the United States government. In truth, Courtney had never been employed by the CIA, and the task force that he described did not exist.
“Courtney – along with his five aliases – will now spend the next seven years in federal prison for his deceitful and felonious criminal conduct,” said G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. “Courtney’s brazen and salacious fraud was centered on the lie that he was involved in a highly-classified intelligence program, and that he was a covert CIA officer engaged in significant national security work. In fact, Courtney never worked for the CIA, the supposed classified program did not exist, and Courtney invented the elaborate lie to cheat his victims out of over $4.4 million. I want to commend the trial team and their extraordinary efforts in untangling this complex fraud, and thank our many law enforcement partners who helped bring Courtney to justice.”
To accomplish the fraud, Courtney approached numerous private companies with some variation of this false story, and claimed that the companies needed to hire and pay him to create what Courtney described as “commercial cover,” i.e., to mask his supposed affiliation with the CIA. Courtney also fraudulently claimed that the companies would be reimbursed in the future for these salary payments, sometimes by the award of lucrative contracts from the United States government in connection with the supposedly classified program.
“The fraud committed by Garrison Courtney harmed the U.S. intelligence community, individual contractors, and private companies working hard to protect our nation,” said Brian C. Rabbit, Acting Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “By claiming to be a covert CIA officer involved in a bogus classified ‘task force,’ Courtney defrauded his victims out of over $4.4 million. But his elaborate scheme could have caused far more damage if the Department of Justice and our investigative partners had not successfully intervened.”
Courtney went to extraordinary lengths to perpetuate the illusion that he was a deep-cover operative. Among other things, he falsely claimed that his identity and large portions of his conduct were classified; directed victims and witnesses to sign fake nondisclosure agreements that purported to be from the United States government and that forbade anyone involved from speaking openly about the supposedly classified program; told victims and witnesses that they were under surveillance by hostile foreign intelligence services; made a show of searching people for electronic devices as part of his supposed counterintelligence methods; demanded that his victims meet in sensitive compartmented information facilities (SCIFs) to create the illusion that they were participating in a classified intelligence operation; and repeatedly threatened anyone who questioned his legitimacy with revocation of their security clearance and criminal prosecution if they “leaked” or continued to look into the supposedly classified information. Courtney further created fake letters, purporting to have been issued by the Attorney General of the United States, which claimed to grant blanket immunity to those who participated in the supposedly classified program.
“Courtney wove an expansive web of lies by posing as a covert CIA officer working on a classified program. Courtney’s brazen scheme and manipulation was fueled by his own greed, all while invoking the secrecy of ‘national security’ to hide his lies,” said Steven M. D’Antuono, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI Washington Field Office. “Today’s sentencing would not have been possible without our valued law enforcement, intelligence community, and military partners. I would also like to thank the men and women of the FBI who work diligently every day, and for years on this investigation, to root out fraud, uphold the Constitution and protect the American people.”
As a further part of the scheme, Courtney created a fraudulent backstory about himself, claiming that he had served in the U.S. Army during the Gulf War, had hundreds of confirmed kills while in combat, sustained lung injuries from smoke caused by fires set to Iraq’s oil fields, and that a hostile foreign intelligence service had attempted to assassinate him by poisoning him with ricin. All of these claims were false.
“The sentence handed down today should serve as a warning to those who would seek to cheat the American taxpayers and pervert the federal procurement system for their own ill-gotten gain” said Stanley A. Newell, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Transnational Operations Field Office of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service. “In a scheme that sounds like something out of the movies, this adept con-artist hid behind a veil of phony classified programs, concocted a fake identity for himself as a government spy, and duped unsuspecting victims out of millions of dollars - all in the name of the U.S. Government. The DCIS and our investigative partners will tirelessly root out this sort of egregious fraud, and bring those responsible to justice.”
Courtney also convinced several real governmental officials that he was participating in this “task force,” explained that they had been selected to participate in the program, and then used those officials as unwitting props falsely to burnish his legitimacy. For example, he directed his victims to speak with these public officials to verify his claims, and separately instructed the government officials as to exactly what to say. Courtney thereby created the false appearance to the victims that the government officials had independently validated his story, when in fact the officials merely were echoing the false information fed to them by Courtney. At times, Courtney also convinced those officials to meet with victims inside secure government facilities, thereby furthering the false appearance of authenticity.
Through the scheme, Courtney also fraudulently gained a position working as a private contractor for the National Institutes of Health Information Technology Acquisition and Assessment Center (NITAAC), a branch of NIH that provides acquisition support services to federal agencies. Once he had installed himself at NITAAC, Courtney gained access to sensitive, nonpublic information about the procurements of other federal agencies being supported by NITAAC. Courtney thereafter used that information to attempt to corrupt the procurement process by steering the award of contracts to companies where he was then also on the payroll, and used the false pretext of national security concerns to warp the process by preventing full and open competition. When law enforcement disrupted his scheme, Courtney actively was seeking to corrupt over $3.7 billion in federal procurements.
Courtney also sought to use the actual and apparent power of the government to execute and protect his scheme, and to attempt to defeat law enforcement’s investigation. Among other things, Courtney caused a public official to attempt to prevent a private company from responding to a grand jury subpoena; caused a civilian attorney with the Air Force to contact one of the prosecutors on the case in an attempt to read that prosecutor in to the bogus program, thereby freezing the investigation; caused a public official to threaten FBI agents investigating this case with themselves being prosecuted if they did not drop the investigation; falsely told victims who had questioned his legitimacy that they were about to be arrested by the FBI for supposedly leaking classified information; used unwitting public officials to feed the names of innocent witnesses to the FBI, in the hopes that the FBI would seek to prosecute those innocent persons for supposedly leaking classified information, thereby diverting attention from himself; and sought to have real public officials issue and sign a “classification guide” for the bogus program, a document that would have set forth the rules and standards by which information acquired as a part of a governmental program is classified.
G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Corey R. Amundson, Chief of the Department of Justice’s Public Integrity Section; James A. Dawson, Special Agent in Charge, Criminal Division, FBI Washington Field Office; Christine Ruppert, CIA Acting Inspector General; Thomas A. Monheim, Acting Inspector General of the Intelligence Community; Brig. Gen. Terry L. Bullard, Commander of the Office of Special Investigations for the U.S. Air Force and Space Force; Cardell Richardson, Inspector General for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency; Frank Robey, Director of the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command’s Major Procurement Fraud Unit (MPFU); Christopher Dillard, Acting Special Agent in Charge for the Defense Criminal Investigative Service’s (DCIS) Mid-Atlantic Field Office; Alison Zavada, Special Agent in Charge of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) Washington Field Office; and Michael E. Horowitz, Inspector General for the Department of Justice, made the announcement after sentencing by Senior U.S. District Judge Liam O'Grady.
The Justice Department’s Office of Enforcement Operations provided assistance with the investigation.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew Burke and Heidi Boutros Gesch, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Raj Parekh, and Deputy Chief Todd Gee of the Department of Justice’s Public Integrity Section prosecuted the case.
A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information are located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 1:20-cr-84.
Man Sentenced for Posing as Covert CIA Officer in Elaborate $4 Million FraudRead the Press Release
A former Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) public affairs officer was sentenced today to seven years in prison for defrauding at least a dozen companies of over $4.4 million by posing falsely as a covert officer of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
Acting Assistant Attorney General Brian C. Rabbitt of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney G. Zachary Terwilliger for the Eastern District of Virginia; Assistant Director in Charge Steven M. D’Antuono of the FBI’s Washington Field Office; CIA Acting Inspector General Christine Ruppert; Acting Inspector General Thomas A. Monheim of the Intelligence Community; Brig. Gen. Terry L. Bullard, Commander of the Office of Special Investigations for the U.S. Air Force and Space Force; Inspector General Cardell Richardson for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency; Director Frank Robey of the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command’s Major Procurement Fraud Unit; Special Agent in Charge Stanley A. Newell of the Transnational Operations Field Office of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS); Special Agent in Charge Alison Zavada of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service Washington Field Office; and Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz for the Department of Justice, made the announcement after sentencing by Senior U.S. District Judge Liam O'Grady.
According to court documents, Garrison Kenneth Courtney, 44, of Tampa, Florida, falsely claimed to be a covert officer of the CIA involved in a highly-classified program or “task force” involving various components of the U.S. Intelligence Community and the Department of Defense. According to the false story told by Courtney, this supposed classified program sought to enhance the intelligence gathering capabilities of the U.S. government. In truth, Courtney had never been employed by the CIA, and the task force that he described did not exist.
“The fraud committed by Garrison Courtney harmed the U.S. intelligence community, individual contractors, and private companies working hard to protect our nation,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Rabbitt. “By claiming to be a covert CIA officer involved in a bogus classified ‘task force,’ Courtney defrauded his victims out of over $4.4 million. But his elaborate scheme could have caused far more damage if the Department of Justice and our investigative partners had not successfully intervened.”
“Courtney – along with his five aliases – will now spend the next seven years in federal prison for his deceitful and felonious criminal conduct,” said U.S. Attorney Terwilliger. “Courtney’s brazen and salacious fraud was centered on the lie that he was involved in a highly-classified intelligence program, and that he was a covert CIA officer engaged in significant national security work. In fact, Courtney never worked for the CIA, the supposed classified program did not exist, and Courtney invented the elaborate lie to cheat his victims out of over $4.4 million. I want to commend the trial team and their extraordinary efforts in untangling this complex fraud, and thank our many law enforcement partners who helped bring Courtney to justice.”
“Courtney wove an expansive web of lies by posing as a covert CIA officer working on a classified program. Courtney’s brazen scheme and manipulation was fueled by his own greed, all while invoking the secrecy of ‘national security’ to hide his lies,” said FBI Assistant Director in Charge D’Antuono. “Today’s sentencing would not have been possible without our valued law enforcement, intelligence community, and military partners. I would also like to thank the men and women of the FBI who work diligently every day, and for years on this investigation, to root out fraud, uphold the Constitution and protect the American people.”
“The sentence handed down today should serve as a warning to those who would seek to cheat the American taxpayers and pervert the federal procurement system for their own ill-gotten gain,” said DCIS Special Agent in Charge Newell. “In a scheme that sounds like something out of the movies, this adept con-artist hid behind a veil of phony classified programs, concocted a fake identity for himself as a government spy, and duped unsuspecting victims out of millions of dollars – all in the name of the U.S. Government. The DCIS and our investigative partners will tirelessly root out this sort of egregious fraud, and bring those responsible to justice.”
To accomplish the fraud, Courtney approached numerous private companies with some variation of this false story, and claimed that the companies needed to hire and pay him to create what Courtney described as “commercial cover,” i.e., to mask his supposed affiliation with the CIA. Courtney also fraudulently claimed that the companies would be reimbursed in the future for these salary payments, sometimes by the award of lucrative contracts from the United States government in connection with the supposedly classified program.
Courtney went to extraordinary lengths to perpetuate the illusion that he was a deep-cover operative. Among other things, he falsely claimed that his identity and large portions of his conduct were classified; directed victims and witnesses to sign fake nondisclosure agreements that purported to be from the U.S. government and that forbade anyone involved from speaking openly about the supposedly classified program; told victims and witnesses that they were under surveillance by hostile foreign intelligence services; made a show of searching people for electronic devices as part of his supposed counterintelligence methods; demanded that his victims meet in sensitive compartmented information facilities to create the illusion that they were participating in a classified intelligence operation; and repeatedly threatened anyone who questioned his legitimacy with revocation of their security clearance and criminal prosecution if they “leaked” or continued to look into the supposedly classified information. Courtney further created fake letters, purporting to have been issued by the Attorney General of the United States, which claimed to grant blanket immunity to those who participated in the supposedly classified program.
As a further part of the scheme, Courtney created a fraudulent backstory about himself, claiming that he had served in the U.S. Army during the Gulf War, had hundreds of confirmed kills while in combat, sustained lung injuries from smoke caused by fires set to Iraq’s oil fields, and that a hostile foreign intelligence service had attempted to assassinate him by poisoning him with ricin. All of these claims were false.
Courtney also convinced several real governmental officials that he was participating in this “task force,” explained that they had been selected to participate in the program, and then used those officials as unwitting props falsely to burnish his legitimacy. For example, he directed his victims to speak with these public officials to verify his claims, and separately instructed the government officials as to exactly what to say. Courtney thereby created the false appearance to the victims that the government officials had independently validated his story, when in fact the officials merely were echoing the false information fed to them by Courtney. At times, Courtney also convinced those officials to meet with victims inside secure government facilities, thereby furthering the false appearance of authenticity.
Through the scheme, Courtney also fraudulently gained a position working as a private contractor for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Information Technology Acquisition and Assessment Center (NITAAC), a branch of the NIH that provides acquisition support services to federal agencies. Once he had installed himself at NITAAC, Courtney gained access to sensitive, nonpublic information about the procurements of other federal agencies being supported by NITAAC. Courtney thereafter used that information to attempt to corrupt the procurement process by steering the award of contracts to companies where he was then also on the payroll, and used the false pretext of national security concerns to warp the process by preventing full and open competition. When law enforcement disrupted his scheme, Courtney actively was seeking to corrupt over $3.7 billion in federal procurements.
Courtney also sought to use the actual and apparent power of the government to execute and protect his scheme, and to attempt to defeat law enforcement’s investigation. Among other things, Courtney caused a public official to attempt to prevent a private company from responding to a grand jury subpoena; caused a civilian attorney with the Air Force to contact one of the prosecutors on the case in an attempt to read that prosecutor in to the bogus program, thereby freezing the investigation; caused a public official to threaten FBI agents investigating this case with themselves being prosecuted if they did not drop the investigation; falsely told victims who had questioned his legitimacy that they were about to be arrested by the FBI for supposedly leaking classified information; used unwitting public officials to feed the names of innocent witnesses to the FBI, in the hopes that the FBI would seek to prosecute those innocent persons for supposedly leaking classified information, thereby diverting attention from himself; and sought to have real public officials issue and sign a “classification guide” for the bogus program, a document that would have set forth the rules and standards by which information acquired as a part of a governmental program is classified.
The Justice Department’s Office of Enforcement Operations provided assistance with the investigation.
Deputy Chief Todd Gee of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section, Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew Burke and Heidi Boutros Gesch, and First Assistant U.S. Attorney Raj Parekh prosecuted the case.
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.