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Thursday 17 September 2020
Doctor Pleads Guilty to Unlawful Drug Distribution and Identity TheftRead the Press Release
ALBANY, NEW YORK – Scott McMahon, age 52, of Queensbury, New York, pled guilty today to distributing controlled substances outside the course of professional practice and for no legitimate medical purpose, and to misusing personal information in the course of fraudulently obtaining controlled substances from pharmacies. McMahon also agreed to pay $43,225.24 to settle civil penalty claims arising from his improper prescribing of ketamine and failure to keep proper records of ketamine treatment.
The announcement was made by Acting United States Attorney Antoinette T. Bacon and Special Agent in Charge Ray Donovan, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), New York Division.
In 2019, McMahon had a medical practice in Clifton Park, New York, having previously maintained offices in Albany and other locations in the Capital Region. He specialized in psychiatry and addiction treatment.
In pleading guilty, McMahon admitted that from at least December 2018 through August 2019, he provided certain patients with prescriptions for the Schedule II controlled substance methylphenidate – the generic of Ritalin – with the intent of having them kick back a portion of each prescription to him for his own personal use. As part of the scheme, McMahon obtained the names and birthdates of the children of a patient. McMahon used that information to issue methylphenidate prescriptions in the children’s names, and fraudulently induced pharmacies in New York and Vermont to dispense controlled substances under the pretense that the medication was for the children. The patient picked up these prescriptions in his children’s names, and split the methylphenidate with McMahon.
In the civil case, McMahon admitted that he improperly prescribed ketamine intranasal spray to an individual who had no legitimate medical need for it. A sampling of McMahon’s records showed that he failed to record the amount of ketamine injected for each patient on each treatment date, the name of each patient who was injected, and the person who injected the ketamine. McMahon also failed to conduct an initial inventory when he began dispensing ketamine. The civil penalty is based, in part, on McMahon’s inability to pay a higher amount.
McMahon is in custody. Sentencing is scheduled for January 13, 2021 before Senior United States District Judge Thomas J. McAvoy. On the aggravated identity theft conviction, McMahon must serve 2 years in prison. On the drug conviction, he faces up to an additional 20 years in prison, and will also be ordered to serve at least 3 years of post-imprisonment supervised release. A defendant’s sentence is imposed by a judge based on the particular statute the defendant is charged with violating, the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other factors.
McMahon’s plea agreement requires that he surrender his New York State medical license, and forfeit $6,774.76 seized by the Government as part of the criminal case.
The criminal case was investigated the DEA Albany District Office’s Tactical Diversion Squad and its Capital District Drug Enforcement Task Force, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Barnett.
The DEA Tactical Diversion Squad also investigated the civil case, in which Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher R. Moran represented the United States.
Also assisting in the investigations were the New York State Police, the New York State Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement, and the DEA Resident Office in Burlington, Vermont.
Department of Justice and Partner Departments and Agencies Conduct Coordinated Actions to Disrupt and Deter Iranian Malicious Cyber Activities Targeting the United States and the Broader International CommunityRead the Press Release
Starting on Sept. 14, 2020 and continuing through today, the Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of the Treasury have engaged in a coordinated effort to disrupt and deter malicious cyber activities by actors associated with the Islamic Republic of Iran’s (Iran) Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), as well as other Iran-based individuals. These malicious cyber actors targeted victims in Australia, Europe, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and the United States.
“This week’s unsealing of indictments and other disruptive actions serves as another reminder of the breadth and depth of Iranian malicious cyber activities targeting not only the United States, but countries all over the world,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers. “Whether directing such hacking activities, or by offering a safe haven for Iranian criminal hackers, Iran is complicit in the targeting of innocent victims worldwide and is deepening its status as a rogue state. By contrast, the Department of Justice and its U.S. government partners stand with such victims, regardless of their location, and we will continue our cooperative efforts domestically and internationally to disrupt Iranian hacking activities.”
“The FBI is using its unique partnerships and world-class capabilities to hold Iranian cyber actors publicly accountable for their actions,” said Executive Assistant Director Terry Wade of the FBI's Criminal, Cyber, Response, and Services Branch. “Those malicious activities, as once again outlined this week, highlight Iran’s persistent use of cyber methods to harm the citizens of the United States and its allies. No cyber actor should think they can compromise U.S. networks, steal our intellectual property, or hold our critical infrastructure at risk without incurring risk themselves. The FBI will continue to work with our partners to protect U.S. interests and to impose consequences on those cyber actors working on behalf of the Government of Iran in furtherance of their nefarious goals.”
On Sept. 14, 2020, the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency jointly published a Cybersecurity Advisory regarding tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) of an Iran-based malicious cyber actor targeting several U.S. federal agencies and other U.S.-based networks.
On Sept. 15, 2020, in the District of Massachusetts, the Department announced the unsealing of a three-count indictment charging two hackers in relation to their intrusions into, and defacements of, websites hosted in the United States. The hackers, Behzad Mohammadzadeh, aka “Mrb3hz4d,” a citizen and resident of the Iran, and Marwan Abusrour, aka “Mrwn007,” a stateless national under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority, conspired to and subsequently damaged computers in perceived retaliation for the January 2, 2020 U.S. military strike that killed Qasem Soleimani, the head of the IRGC-Quds Force, a U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization. These defacements were a subset of the over 1,400 defacements around the world for which the defendants claimed responsibility between in or around June 2016 and July 2020.
On Sept. 16, 2020, in the District of New Jersey, the Department announced the unsealing of a 10-count indictment charging two hackers, who sometimes operated under the using the pseudonym “Sejeal,” in relation to coordinated cyber intrusions and hacking campaigns targeted computer systems in Europe, the Middle East, and the United States. The defendants, Hooman Heidarian, aka “neo,” and Medhi Farhadi, aka “Mehdi Mahdavi,” both Iranian nationals residing in Iran, stole hundreds of terabytes of data, which typically included confidential communications pertaining to national security, foreign policy intelligence, non-military nuclear information, aerospace data, human rights activist information, victim financial information and personally identifiable information, and intellectual property, including unpublished scientific research. In some instances, the defendants’ hacks were politically motivated or at the behest of the government of Iran, including instances where they obtained information regarding dissidents, human rights activists, and opposition leaders. In other instances, the defendants sold the hacked data and information on the black market for private financial gain.
On Sept. 17, 2020, in the Eastern District of Virginia, the Department announced the unsealing of a nine-count indictment charging three hackers in relation to an approximately four-year campaign to steal and attempt to steal critical information related to aerospace and satellite technology and resources, including sensitive commercial information, intellectual property, and personal data. The defendants, Said Pourkarim Arabi, Mohammad Reza Espargham, and Mohammad Bayati, all Iranian nationals residing in Iran, conducted their activity at the direction of the IRGC, of which Arabi was a member. The defendants primarily accomplished their intrusions through socially engineered spearphishing campaigns, using at least one target list of over 1,800 individuals in Australia, Israel, Singapore, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Upon successfully enticing a victim to click on a link in such a spearphishing e-mail, a member of the conspiracy would deploy malware that allowed the conspirators to gain access credentials, escalate their privileges, maintain their unauthorized access to victim networks, and ultimately steal the sought-after data. To accompany the unsealing of this indictment, and to aid potential targets in the identification of malicious activity, the FBI released a Private Industry Notification (PIN) that identified the conspiracy’s TTPs and indicators of compromise.
Also on Sept. 17, 2020, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed sanctions against 45 individuals and one front company associated with the MOIS who comprised the cyber threat group known publicly as “Advanced Persistent Threat 39” (APT39), “Chafer,” “Remexi,” “Cadelspy,” or “ITG07.” According to OFAC, masked behind its front company, Rana Intelligence Computing Company (Rana), the MOIS employed a years-long malware campaign that targeted Iran’s own citizens, the government networks of Iran’s neighboring countries, and U.S.-based travel services companies. Concurrent with OFAC’s action, and following a long-term FBI investigation, the FBI released technical indicators about Rana’s malware in an FBI FLASH alert. This alert provides information to assist organizations and individuals in determining whether they were targeted by Rana.
The above disruptive actions targeting Iranian malicious cyber activities were the result of investigations conducted by the FBI’s Boston, Newark, and Washington Field Offices and Cyber Division, the United States Attorney’s Offices for the Eastern District of Virginia, District of Massachusetts, and District of New Jersey, and the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section. Several of the disruptive actions were the result of the close partnership between these Department of Justice components and the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and Department of the Treasury’s OFAC, and coordination through the National Cyber Investigative Joint Task Force.
The details contained in the above-described charging document are allegations. The defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Dark Web Cannibal Sentenced to 40 Years Followed by Lifetime Supervised ReleaseRead the Press Release
BEAUMONT, Texas – A 23-year-old Joaquin, Texas man has been sentenced for child exploitation violations in the Eastern District of Texas, announced U.S. Attorney Stephen J. Cox today.
Alexander Nathan Barter pleaded guilty on Dec. 20, 2019, to attempted coercion and enticement of a minor and distribution of child pornography and was sentenced to 480 months in federal prison today by U.S. District Judge Michael Truncale. Following the completion of his prison sentence, Barter was also ordered to submit to a lifetime of supervised release.
As part of his plea agreement with the government, Barter agreed to be sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 20 years on each count, with each party reserving the right to request that the terms be sentenced concurrently or consecutively. Barter’s counsel requested that the Court impose a total term of imprisonment of 20 years; the government requested a sentence of 40 years’ imprisonment.
According to information introduced as part of Barter’s plea and at sentencing, in October 2018, Barter posted an ad on a dark web site stating, “I’d like to try necrophilia and cannibalism, and see how it feels to take a life. If you’d be willing to let me kill you, are in the US (preferably in the south) and can travel by car, contact me.” An undercover officer saw the ad and responded, utilizing the persona of a father with a 13-year old daughter. Between October 9, 2018 and October 19, 2018, Barter and the undercover officer exchanged a series of messages that included Barter’s repeated interest in raping, killing, and eating the 13-year old child. Barter provided the undercover with instructions on traveling from Florida to Shelby County, Texas, what to tell the child to get her acquiescence to travel, and how to conceal evidence of their crime. On October 19, 2018, Barter arrived at the designated meet site in Joaquin, Texas with a knife, trash bag, cellular phone, and a tablet.
“As this chilling case demonstrates, online talk is not always just talk. The constant vigilance of our law enforcement partners has prevented an evildoer from finding a likeminded accomplice and bringing his grisly plan to fruition,” said U.S. Attorney Stephen J. Cox. “This case is a sobering reminder of how the brave men and women of law enforcement face down the worst of the worst in the scariest of scenarios.”
“In my 23-year-career in law enforcement, this is among the most morally depraved and appalling criminal conspiracies that I have come across,” said Mark Dawson, special agent in charge of HSI Houston. “Without the quick and decisive actions of special agents from HSI Cocoa Beach and HSI Beaumont this disturbed predator would still be out there looking for potential victims to carry out his sick and demented fantasies.”
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
This case is being investigated by Homeland Security Investigations in Lufkin, Beaumont, and Houston, Texas; Homeland Security Investigations Cocoa Beach, Florida, Child Exploitation Task Force; Brevard County Sheriff’s Office (Florida); Nacogdoches Police Department; Texas Department of Public Safety; Customs and Border Protection Air Units; and Shelby County Sheriff’s Office, and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Marisa Miller and U.S. Department of Justice Senior Trial Attorney Jennifer Toritto Leonardo.
Department of Justice Announces over $6 Million in Grant Funding to Assist Victims of Domestic and Sexual Violence in MississippiRead the Press Release
Jackson, Miss. – U.S. Attorneys Mike Hurst of the Southern District of Mississippi and William C. “Chad” Lamar of the Northern District of Mississippi announced today that Justice Department’s Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) will direct over $6 million in grant funding to Mississippi to bolster efforts throughout the state to curb domestic violence.
With domestic violence continuing to proliferate throughout Mississippi, affecting not only victims but also their families and friends, U.S. Attorney Hurst is also announcing a new initiative entitled “Operation Pheonecia,” in honor of a local victim of domestic violence, Pheonecia Ratliff of Canton, Mississippi, to combat this growing threat.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1 in 4 women and 1 in 7 men will experience physical violence by their intimate partner at some point during their lifetimes. About 1 in 3 women and nearly 1 in 6 men experience some form of sexual violence during their lifetimes. Intimate partner violence, sexual violence, and stalking are high, with intimate partner violence occurring in over 10 million people each year.
“These grants will help victims escape abuse, seek justice, and rebuild their lives,” said OVW Principal Deputy Director Laura Rogers. OVW’s current and forthcoming investments in Mississippi foster coordinated responses to violence against women, making resources available to local and tribal communities for investigation and prosecution, transitional housing, and culturally specific victim services, and training for professionals who respond to these crimes.
“Today, we are recommitting to do even more to combat the scourge that is domestic violence. These grants and Operation Pheonecia will go a long way in making our homes, our families and our communities safer,” said U.S. Attorney Hurst. “By bringing together law enforcement, victim advocates, our courts, attorneys, and the general public, we can effectively fight domestic violence and get victims the help they so desperately need.”
“There are far too many Mississippians and Americans who fall victim to domestic violence at the hands of an intimate partner, family member or parent. For many of these victims, home is a place for fear and pain rather than a refuge or safe place. Our office is committed to working alongside state and local partners to combat this problem and these grants will significantly aid in ongoing efforts to combat domestic violence across our state and nation,” remarked U.S. Attorney Lamar.
I. Grant Awards
Among the more than $6 million in awards that will be issued to organizations and government agencies in Mississippi are:
- The Mississippi State Department of Health will receive $2,271,297 in formula funds to support law enforcement, prosecutors, victim services providers, and courts in working collaboratively to respond to domestic and sexual violence.
- The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians is receiving four awards, totaling $2,149,722, to: fund a cross-deputized tribal prosecutor to pursue cases involving domestic violence, sexual assault, and other serious crimes in tribal court, federal court, or both; bolster coordinated community responses to violence against women; strengthen the tribal criminal justice system in preparation for exercising special domestic violence criminal jurisdiction under the Violence Against Women Act; and provide services specifically for sexual assault victims.
- The Mississippi Coalition Against Sexual Assault is receiving $152,345, and the Mississippi Coalition Against Domestic Violence is receiving $91,274, to coordinate victim services and training, and collaborate with federal, state, and local entities across the state.
- The Mississippi Coalition Against Sexual Assault is also being awarded an additional $500,000 to provide training and technical assistance to colleges and universities throughout the nation to address violence against women on campus.
- Care Lodge Domestic Violence Shelter, Inc., in Meridian, is receiving a grant of $550,000 to provide transitional housing for domestic violence victims.
- Our House, Inc., in Greenville, is receiving $288,300 to provide services tailored to the needs of Black survivors of sexual assault in rural areas.
Mississippi’s grant recipients will also have access to training and technical assistance to help them implement effective strategies for keeping victims safe and holding offenders accountable. One example is OVW’s Stalking Prevention, Awareness, and Resource Center, a project of the Washington, DC-based Aequitas: The Prosecutor’s Resource on Violence Against Women, which is receiving $1.5 million this year to continue providing training and other resources to law enforcement, prosecutors, and victim services providers to combat stalking. Stalking is a crime that often occurs alongside domestic violence and is associated with a higher risk of domestic violence-related homicide, so equipping justice and victim services professionals with tools for responding to stalking can help them reach victims before it is too late.
II. "Operation Pheonecia”
Named in honor of Pheonecia Ratliff of Canton, Mississippi, who lost her life on May 14, 2020, due to domestic violence, “Operation Pheonecia” is a new initiative by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Mississippi to directly combat domestic violence with the intent to prevent harm and loss of life before they occur. The presence of a gun in a domestic violence situation increases the risk of homicide by 500%, and with intimate partner violence accounting for 15% of all violent crime and with almost 20% of domestic violence incidents involving a weapon, the U.S. Attorney’s Office knew it had to act.
Under this initiative, and by working with federal, state and local law enforcement and nonprofit entities, the U.S. Attorney’s Office is making the investigation and prosecution of federal domestic violence crimes a priority. In addition, “Operation Pheonecia” will involve a campaign to put domestic abusers on notice of their prohibition to possessing firearms, train law enforcement on how to investigate federal domestic violence crimes, provide education for local judges as to the impact of their orders on potential federal criminal prosecutions, and bring awareness to local bar associations and the public on how to report domestic violence crimes to and work with federal authorities, with the overarching goal to reduce domestic violence, save lives and assist victims.
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The Office of Justice Programs provides federal leadership in developing the nation’s capacity to prevent and control crime, administer justice and assist victims. OJP has six bureaus and offices: the Bureau of Justice Assistance; the Bureau of Justice Statistics; the National Institute of Justice; the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention; the Office for Victims of Crime; and the Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering and Tracking. More information about OJP and its components can be found at: www.ojp.gov.
The Office on Violence Against Women provides federal leadership in developing the national capacity to reduce violence against women and administer justice for and strengthen services to victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking.
Anyone affected by abuse and wishes to seek support should please call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) or text LOVEIS to 22522.
Council Bluffs Bookie Sentenced for Filing False Tax ReturnRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Joe Kelly announced that Tony Merksick, 43, of Council Bluffs, Iowa, was sentenced today in Omaha, Nebraska by Chief United States District Judge John M. Gerrard to three years’ probation for Filing a False Tax Return. Merksick’s probation will include special conditions that Merksick not gamble while on probation and that the first year of probation be served in home confinement. Merksick was also ordered to pay $100,285.00 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service.
Merksick operated an online bookkeeping operation for gambling. In 2009, Merksick created TJM Enterprises, Inc., an S-Corporation, for the purposes of reporting a portion of that income from the gambling operation to facilitate obtaining loans, mortgages, and other financing. S corporations are corporations that elect to pass corporate income, losses, deductions, and credits through to their shareholders for federal tax purposes. Shareholders of S corporations report the flow-through of income and losses on their personal tax returns and are assessed tax at their individual income tax rates.
During the investigation, special agents with the IRS interviewed clients of Merksick to determine the proceeds that Merksick was receiving from his gambling operation. Merksick’s, his wife’s, and TJM Enterprises, Inc.’s bank accounts were also reviewed. In Tax Year 2012, Merksick reported that TJM Enterprises’ gross receipts as $163,249 on a Form 1120S, which he signed under penalties of perjury. The investigation revealed that TJM Enterprises’ gross receipts for 2012 were $501,072.95. In Tax Year 2013, Merksick reported that TJM Enterprises’ gross receipts as $150,957 on a Form 1120S, which he signed under penalties of perjury. The investigation revealed that TJM Enterprises’ gross receipts for 2013 were $233,520.60.
Merksick was the sole shareholder of TJM Enterprises, Inc. The resulting tax loss on Merksick’s personal taxes that were suffered by the United States due to Merksick’s underreporting TJM Enterprises, Inc.’s gross receipts was $63,976.00 for Tax Year 2012 and $36,309.00 for Tax Year 2013. The total tax loss for Tax Year 2012 and Tax Year 2013 was $100,285.00.
“Over 10 years ago, Mr. Merksick created TJM Enterprises for the purposes of reporting a portion of the income from the gambling operation he ran to facilitate obtaining loans, mortgages, and other financing, while underreporting more than $100,000 in gross receipts on tax returns filed with the IRS in 2012 and 2013,” said Adam Steiner, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the IRS Criminal Investigation division in the St. Louis Field Office. “Those attempting to use schemes to defraud the tax system should know that IRS CI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office will continue their pursuit to protect the integrity of the tax system.”
This case was investigated by IRS Criminal Investigations.
Convicted felon sentenced for illegally possessing firearmRead the Press Release
COLUMBUS, Ohio – A Perry County man was sentenced in U.S. District Court today for illegally possessing a firearm as a convicted felon.
John William Shade III, 39, of Thornville, Ohio, was sentenced to 24 months in prison and three years of supervised release.
According to court documents, the FBI received reports of Shade making multiple comments of a threatening nature on Twitter towards the President of the United States, as well as one comment directly towards a local Secret Service agent.
Shade’s comments about the agent on Twitter came several weeks after the agent attempted to speak with Shade at his residence regarding an incident at an event where the Vice President of the United States was a speaker.
Shade has a history of traveling within and out of state to attend political events and protests. On several occasions, his conduct at these events has resulted in charges related to trespassing, obstructing, invasion of privacy and carrying weapons.
For example, in April 2018, Shade and others traveled to Georgia to counter-protest a rally by the National Socialist Movement (NSM). Shade used a GoPro camera to record himself. In his videos, Shade discusses a Glock19 present in the vehicle and how he would shoot NSM leaders.
The same month, Shade traveled to the American Renaissance Conference in Tennessee and recorded himself on his GoPro and in conversations with others. In his recordings, he mentions serving as armed security for his group and leaving weapons at a camp to avoid law enforcement detection at a checkpoint.
During a court-authorized law enforcement search of Shade’s home, items were found that the FBI Laboratory later concluded may be readily assembled into an improvised incendiary device, also known as a firebomb or Molotov cocktail.
Shade admitted that he possessed firearms and ammunition after being convicted in Guernsey County Court of Common Pleas to robbery, a second-degree felony. He pleaded guilty to the federal charge in November 2019.
Congress sets the maximum statutory sentence. Sentencing of the defendant is determined by the Court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors.
David M. DeVillers, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, and Chris Hoffman, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Cincinnati Division, announced the sentence imposed by U.S. District Court Judge Edmund A Sargus, Jr. Assistant United States Attorney Jessica W. Knight is representing the United States in this case. The case was investigated by the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force.
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Convicted Felon Pleads Guilty to Federal Firearms OffensesRead the Press Release
BOSTON – A Templeton man pleaded guilty today to illegal possession of firearms and ammunition, including an AR-15 short-barreled rifle.
John Shaw, 30, pleaded guilty to one count of being a felon in possession of ammunition and one count of unlawful possession of a firearm not identified by serial number. U.S. District Court Judge Timothy S. Hillman scheduled sentencing for Jan. 12, 2021. Shaw was arrested in September 2019 and indicted in October 2019.
During the execution of a search warrant at Shaw’s residence on Sept. 24, 2019, an AR-15 short-barreled rifle that did not bear a serial number, over 50 rounds of .22 Long Rifle caliber ammunition, 27 rounds of .357 Sig caliber ammunition, 10 expended brass cartridge cases and one complete round of 30-06 ammunition were seized. Shaw was previously convicted in Winchendon District Court of breaking and entering in the night with intent to commit a felony and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. As a previously convicted felon, Shaw was prohibited from possessing a firearm and ammunition.
The charges each provide for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based on the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Kelly Brady, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, Boston Field Division; Brian D. Boyle, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, New England Division; Colonel Christopher Mason, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police; Ashburnham Police Chief Loring Barrett, Jr.; Worcester Police Chief Steven M. Sargent; and Hopkinton Police Chief Edward Lee made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristen Noto of Lelling’s Worcester Branch Office is prosecuting the case.
Colorado Man Charged with Hate Crime After Unprovoked Stabbing of Black ManRead the Press Release
EUGENE, Ore.—U.S. Attorney Billy J. Williams announced today that a Colorado man has been charged with a hate crime after stabbing a Black man from Ontario, Oregon while the man was sitting in a fast food restaurant.
A federal grand jury in Eugene has returned a one-count indictment charging Nolan Levi Strauss, 26, a Colorado resident, with a hate crime involving an attempt to kill.
According to the indictment, on the morning of December 21, 2019, a 48-year-old Black man arrived at an Arby’s fast food restaurant adjoining the Pilot Travel Center in Ontario where he planned to provide final documentation for a pending job application. The man sat in the lobby of the restaurant while waiting for the manager.
Unprovoked and without warning, Strauss approached the man from behind and stabbed him in the neck. Following a struggle for the knife, the man freed himself and Strauss was detained by store employees. When asked by the store employee why he attacked the man, Strauss stated he did so because the man “was Black, and I don’t like Black people.”
The stabbing resulted in two lacerations to the victim’s neck. Afterward, he was life-flighted to Boise, Idaho for emergency surgical intervention.
Strauss will make his first appearance in federal court on October 19, 2020. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of life in federal prison.
This case was investigated by the FBI with assistance from the Ontario Police Department, Oregon State Police, and the Malheur County District Attorney’s Office. It is being prosecuted by Gavin W. Bruce, Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon, and Cameron A. Bell, Trial Attorney for the Civil Rights Division.
An indictment is only an accusation of a crime, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Colorado Man Charged with Hate Crime After Unprovoked Stabbing of Black ManRead the Press Release
A Colorado man has been charged with a hate crime after stabbing a Black man from Ontario, Oregon while the man was sitting in a fast food restaurant, announced Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division and U.S. Attorney Billy J. Williams of the District of Oregon.
A federal grand jury in Portland has returned a one-count indictment charging Nolan Levi Strauss, 26, a Colorado resident, with a hate crime involving an attempt to kill.
According to the indictment, on the morning of Dec. 21, 2019, a 48-year-old Black man arrived at an Arby’s fast food restaurant adjoining the Pilot Travel Center in Ontario where he planned to provide final documentation for a pending job application. The man sat in the lobby of the restaurant while waiting for the manager.
Unprovoked and without warning, Strauss approached the man from behind and stabbed him in the neck. Following a struggle for the knife, the man freed himself and Strauss was detained by store employees. When asked by the store employee why he attacked the man, Strauss stated he did so because the man “was Black, and I don’t like Black people.”
The stabbing resulted in two lacerations to the victim’s neck. Afterward, he was life-flighted to Boise, Idaho for emergency surgical intervention.
Strauss will make his first appearance in federal court on Oct. 19, 2020. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of life in federal prison.
This case was investigated by the FBI with assistance from the Ontario Police Department, Oregon State Police, and the Malheur County District Attorney’s Office. It is being prosecuted by Gavin W. Bruce, Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon, and Cameron A. Bell, Trial Attorney for the Civil Rights Division.
An indictment is only an accusation of a crime, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Chicago woman sentenced to federal prison for stealing identities of Savannah residents, corporationRead the Press Release
SAVANNAH, GA: A Chicago woman will spend the next five years in federal prison for stealing information from Savannah residents and using it to open credit accounts that funded a fraudulent, criminal lifestyle.
Ayondela Moore, 46, of Chicago, was sentenced to the statutory maximum 60 months in prison by U.S. District Court Judge William T. Moore Jr. after pleading guilty to Conspiracy to Commit Bank, Mail and Wire Fraud, said Bobby L. Christine, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia. She will be required to pay $68,558.91 in restitution to her victims, and to serve three years of supervised release after completion of her prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
“In the words of one of her many traumatized victims, Ayondela Moore is a ‘habitual thief’ who stole thousands of dollars from innocent people – and undoubtedly would have continued her thefts if not for her arrest and her victims’ persistence in policing their own credit information,” said U.S. Attorney Christine. “Thanks to our diligent law enforcement partners, Moore will pay a personal price for her crimes by losing her liberty, just as she stole her victims’ peace of mind.”
According to court documents and testimony, Moore was a serial con artist who admitted to fraudulently obtaining debit and credit cards in the names of at least three Savannah residents and a Savannah business, and using those accounts to make purchases that included a roundtrip flight to Jamaica, flights for family members from Atlanta to Chicago, purchases at an amusement park, and multiple purchases of gift cards and merchandise at retail stores. She also used a Savannah resident’s bank account to pay for car insurance on Moore’s Mercedes-Benz SUV.
Moore, who was on probation for a state of Illinois conviction for identity theft at the time of her February 2020 arrest on federal charges. She has a total of three convictions on state felony charges, all for identity theft or aggravated identity theft.
“Technology has forever changed the way we do business, making every-day financial transactions a prime target for fraud,” said U.S. Secret Service Special Agent in Charge Glen Kessler. “Consumers are always urged to monitor their bank accounts, credit history and credit cards closely for fraudulent transactions and to use automated banking alerts available at most financial institutions. This defendant has made a criminal career out of destroying other people’s lives, and the Secret Service, in conjunction with its many law enforcement partners, continues to successfully combat these crimes by adapting our investigative methodologies and educating the public.”
“The United States Postal Inspection Service prides itself in collaborating with its law enforcement partners on cases such as this, and this case proves that individuals who defraud victims will be identified and prosecuted, no matter how far away they are,” said Antonio Gomez, Inspector in Charge of the Miami Division of the USPIS.
This investigation began with a report by one of the victims to the Savannah Office of the U.S. Secret Service. Victims of identity theft are encouraged to reach out to the Secret Service so that the perpetrators can be investigated and prosecuted.
This investigation was led by the U.S. Secret Service and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and prosecuted for the United States by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan A. Porter.
Cedar Rapids Man that Unlawfully Possessed Three Guns Sentenced to Federal PrisonRead the Press Release
A Cedar Rapids man who illegally possessed a different firearm on multiple occasions was sentenced today to more than three years in federal prison.
Michael Gene Hodges, Jr., age 26, from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, received the prison term after a guilty plea to one-count of possession of a firearm as a drug user.
In a plea agreement, Hodges admitted that he illegally possessed three firearms as a drug user: one on March 24, 2019, another on May 11, 2019, and a third on February 6, 2020. Evidence at sentencing showed that Hodges discharged the firearm he possessed on March 24, 2019, during an incident that occurred in the parking lot of Woody’s Show Club in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Hodges was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams. Hodges was sentenced to 42 months’ imprisonment. He must also serve a three-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN). PSN is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.
This case is also part of Project Guardian, the Department of Justice’s signature initiative to reduce gun violence and enforce federal firearms laws. Initiated by the Attorney General in the fall of 2019, Project Guardian draws upon the Department’s past successful programs to reduce gun violence; enhances coordination of federal, state, local, and tribal authorities in investigating and prosecuting gun crimes; improves information-sharing by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives when a prohibited individual attempts to purchase a firearm and is denied by the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), to include taking appropriate actions when a prospective purchaser is denied by the NICS for mental health reasons; and ensures that federal resources are directed at the criminals posing the greatest threat to our communities. For more information about Project Guardian, please see /media/1122011/dl?inline.
Hodges is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.
The case was prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Dillan Edwards and investigated by the Cedar Rapids Safe Streets Task Force. The task force is composed of representatives from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Cedar Rapids Police Department.
Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.
The case file number is 19-CR-00130.
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Carlsbad man sentenced to 20 years in prison for methamphetamine traffickingRead the Press Release
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Jerry Twaddle, 40, of Carlsbad, New Mexico, was sentenced on Sept. 9 in federal court to 20 years in prison on drug trafficking charges.
On Feb. 6, 2019, a jury found Twaddle guilty on charges of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance, using a communication facility (telephone) to further the commission of a drug trafficking crime and possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine.
The case involved 10 members of a drug trafficking organization who conspired to distribute methamphetamine in Eddy and Chaves Counties in New Mexico from May through Oct. of 2017. On Sept. 7, 2017, Twaddle was arrested after he threw approximately two pounds of methamphetamine out of the window of a car as he attempted to evade a traffic stop, reaching speeds of up 140 miles per hour. Twaddle was apprehended when his vehicle came to a stop due to a shredded tire. Law enforcement were able to recover the bundles of methamphetamine along the route.
Following his term in federal prison, Twaddle will be subject to five years of supervised release.
The Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms and the Pecos Valley Drug Task Force investigated this case in conjunction with the Eddy County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Clara Cobos and Renee Camacho prosecuted the case.
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California trafficker sentenced to prison for providing meth sent in piñata, peanut butter jar to the Fort Peck Indian ReservationRead the Press Release
GREAT FALLS – A California man who admitted to trafficking meth for supplying almost two pounds of the drug, which was hidden in a peanut butter jar and a piñata and mailed to the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, was sentenced today to six years in prison and five years of supervised release, U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme said.
Don Fred Baldwin, 47, of Merced, CA, pleaded guilty in May to distribution of meth.
Chief U.S. District Judge Brian Morris presided.
The prosecution said in court documents that Baldwin, through another person, mailed a package on Nov. 7, 2019 from California to Brockton, located on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation. Law enforcement officers intercepted the package, obtained a search warrant and found meth hidden inside a jar of peanut butter and a piñata. The amount of meth totaled about 776 grams, which is 1.7 pounds and the equivalent of approximately 6,208 doses. Baldwin provided the meth to the other individual, who mailed the drug.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Cassady Adams prosecuted the case, which was investigated by the FBI, Fort Peck Tribal Criminal Investigators and the Merced, CA, Police Department.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, a U.S. Department of Justice initiative to reduce violent crime. According to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports, violent crime in Montana increased by 36% from 2013 to 2018. Through PSN, federal, tribal, state and local law enforcement partners in Montana focus on violent crime driven by methamphetamine trafficking, armed robbers, firearms offenses and violent offenders with outstanding warrants.
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Brainerd Man Pleads Guilty to Wildlife Trafficking, Trespassing After Removing the Head of A Black Bear on the Red Lake Indian ReservationRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Erica H. MacDonald today announced the guilty plea of BRETT JAMES STIMAC, 41, to wildlife trafficking and trespassing on Indian land after removing the head of a 700 pound black bear on the Red Lake Indian Reservation. STIMAC, who was charged by misdemeanor Information on December 6, 2019, entered his guilty plea today before Judge Susan Richard Nelson in U.S. District Court in St. Paul, Minnesota.
According to the defendant’s guilty plea and documents filed in court, on the evening of September 1, 2019, STIMAC, who is not an enrolled member of the Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians, willfully, knowingly and without authorization or permission, entered the Red Lake Indian Reservation for the purposes of hunting a bear. The Government contends that STIMAC, using a compound bow, shot and killed a large American black bear near the Reservation’s garbage dump.
According to the defendant’s guilty plea and documents filed in court, on September 2, 2019, STIMAC returned to the dump the following day and located the bloody carcass of the bear. STIMAC posed for photographs with the bear’s carcass and later shared the photographs on social media. Because of the bear’s large size, STIMAC was unable to move the bear from the Reservation. Instead, STIMAC used a saw to remove the bear’s head for a trophy. STIMAC brought the bear’s head to a taxidermist in Ironton, Minnesota, and left the remainder of the carcass to spoil.
The Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians does not permit non-Indians to hunt bear, a clan animal, within the boundaries of the Red Lake Indian Reservation, due to the bear’s spiritual importance to the Band.
This case is the result of an investigation conducted by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, the Red Lake Department of Public Safety, the Red Lake Department of Natural Resources, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, with assistance from the Beltrami County Attorney’s Office.
Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Gina L. Allery and Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily A. Polachek are prosecuting the case.
Defendant Information:
BRETT JAMES STIMAC, 41
Brainerd, Minn.
Convicted:
- Lacey Act wildlife trafficking, 1 count
- Trespass on Indian lands, 1 count
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United States Attorney’s Office, District of Minnesota: (612) 664-5600
Boston Man Sentenced to over 22 Years in Prison for Armed Robbery of Brockton Cell Phone Store and Shooting at PoliceRead the Press Release
BOSTON – A Boston man was sentenced today in connection with an armed robbery of a T-Mobile store in Brockton, where multiple gunshots were fired at Brockton Police Officers during a high-speed chase.
Diovanni Carter, 30, of Boston, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Allison Burroughs to 270 months in prison and five years of supervised release. In March 2020, Carter was convicted by a federal grand jury of conspiracy to commit a robbery affecting interstate commerce, robbery affecting interstate commerce, and brandishing and discharge of a firearm during and in relation to the robbery.
On Jan. 26, 2019, Carter orchestrated a plan with three other men to rob a T-Mobile store in Brockton. Carter drove the group from Boston to Brockton. When they arrived, the three men went into the store carrying semi-automatic firearms that they pointed at the store manager, demanding cash and electronics, while Diovanni Carter waited in the getaway vehicle. During the robbery, the store manager was struck in the head with a firearm. The three men stole approximately $25,000 in cash and electronics, left the store and departed in the getaway vehicle driven by Carter.
Brockton Police responded, located the vehicle and a high speed chase ensued through residential neighborhoods reaching speeds of over 70 mph. During the chase, Carter ordered the other men to fire their weapons at the pursuing police cruisers as part of their effort to escape. In total, at least eight rounds were fired at the police. The suspects then abandoned the car and fled on foot.
During the search by law enforcement, the stolen phones, cash and the three firearms used in robbery were recovered. Darius Carter, Stephan Rosser-Steward and a third man were apprehended shortly after the robbery. Carter was not found, but later arrested on March 5, 2019.
Darius Carter is scheduled to plead guilty on Oct. 21, 2020. Rosser-Steward has pleaded not guilty.
United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Kelly D. Brady, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Boston Field Division; Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; Colonel Christopher S. Mason, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police; Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz; Plymouth County Sheriff Joseph D. McDonald, Jr.; and Brockton Police Chief Emanuel Gomes made the announcement. The Quincy and Boston Police Departments also provided valuable assistance with the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Glenn MacKinlay, Chief of Lelling’s Organized Crime and Gang Unit, and Philip A. Mallard prosecuted the case.
The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The remaining defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Blue Bell Creameries Ordered to Pay $17.25 Million in Criminal Penalties in Connection with 2015 Listeria ContaminationRead the Press Release
A federal court in Texas sentenced ice cream manufacturer Blue Bell Creameries L.P. to pay $17.25 million in criminal penalties for shipments of contaminated products linked to a 2015 listeriosis outbreak, the Justice Department announced today.
Blue Bell pleaded guilty in May 2020 to two misdemeanor counts of distributing adulterated ice cream products. The sentence, imposed by U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman in Austin, Texas, was consistent with the terms of a plea agreement previously filed in the case. The $17.25 million fine and forfeiture amount is the largest-ever criminal penalty following a conviction in a food safety case.
“American consumers must be able to trust that the foods they purchase are safe to eat,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Bossert Clark of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “The sentence imposed today sends a clear message to food manufacturers that the Department of Justice will take appropriate actions when contaminated food products endanger consumers.”
“The health of American consumers and the safety of our food are too important to be thwarted by the criminal acts of any individual or company,” said Judy McMeekin, Pharm.D., Associate Commissioner for Regulatory Affairs, U.S. Food and Drug Administration. “Americans expect and deserve the highest standards of food safety and integrity. We will continue to pursue and bring to justice those who put the public health at risk by distributing contaminated foods in the U.S. marketplace.”
“The results of this investigation reflect the determination of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service to hold companies that sell food products to the military accountable and ensure they comply with food safety laws,” said Michael Mentavlos, Special Agent-in-Charge of the DCIS Southwest Field Office. “The health and safety of our service members and their dependents is of paramount importance.”
The plea agreement and criminal information filed against Blue Bell allege that the company distributed ice cream products that were manufactured under insanitary conditions and contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, in violation of the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act. According to the plea agreement, Texas state officials notified Blue Bell in February 2015 that samples of two ice cream products from the company’s Brenham, Texas factory tested positive for Listeria monocytogenes, a dangerous pathogen that can lead to serious illness or death in vulnerable populations such as pregnant women, newborns, the elderly, and those with compromised immune systems. Blue Bell directed its delivery route drivers to remove remaining stock of the two products from store shelves, but the company did not recall the products or issue any formal communication to inform customers about the potential Listeria contamination. Two weeks after receiving notification of the first positive Listeria tests, Texas state officials informed Blue Bell that additional state-led testing confirmed Listeria in a third product. Blue Bell again chose not to issue any formal notification to customers regarding the positive tests. Blue Bell’s customers included military installations.
In March 2015, tests conducted by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) linked the strain of Listeria in one of the Blue Bell ice cream products to a strain that sickened five patients at a Kansas hospital with listeriosis, the severe illness caused by ingestion of Listeria-contaminated food. The FDA, CDC, and Blue Bell all issued public recall notifications on March 13, 2015. Subsequent tests confirmed Listeria contamination in a product made at another Blue Bell facility in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, which led to a second recall announcement on March 23, 2015.
According to the plea agreement with the company, FDA inspections in March and April 2015 revealed sanitation issues at the Brenham and Broken Arrow facilities, including problems with the hot water supply needed to properly clean equipment and deteriorating factory conditions that could lead to insanitary water dripping into product mix during the manufacturing process. Blue Bell temporarily closed all of its plants in late April 2015 to clean and update the facilities. Since re-opening its facilities in late 2015, Blue Bell has taken significant steps to enhance sanitation processes and enact a program to test products for Listeria prior to shipment.
Trial Attorneys Patrick Hearn and Matt Lash of the Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch prosecuted the case with assistance from Shannon Singleton and Michael Varrone of the FDA’s Office of Chief Counsel. The criminal investigation was conducted by the FDA’s Office of Criminal Investigations and the Department of Defense Criminal Investigative Service.
For more information about the enforcement efforts of the Consumer Protection Branch visit its website at http://www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch.
Baltimore Businessman Lance Lucas Sentenced to 18 Months in Federal Prison for Honest Services Wire Fraud and Related ChargesRead the Press Release
Baltimore Maryland – U.S. District Judge Catherine C. Blake today sentenced Lance Andre Lucas, age 44, of Baltimore, Maryland, to 18 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for federal honest services wire fraud and use of an interstate facility to carry on unlawful activity, also known as the Travel Act.
The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Robert K. Hur and Special Agent in Charge Jennifer C. Boone of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Baltimore Field Office.
“Lance Lucas paid $42,500 to former Maryland Delegate Cheryl Glenn in exchange for official actions, to give his businesses an advantage,” said U.S. Attorney Robert K. Hur. “Legislative decisions must be made in the best interests of the public, not in exchange for bribes. The U.S. Attorney’s Office and the FBI will continue to hold accountable those who pay bribes to benefit their own interests over the public good.”
“As evident in today's sentencing, public corruption is not merely focused on persons holding public office, but extends to anyone attempting to leverage access to those with influence for personal benefit,” said Jennifer C. Boone, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Baltimore Field Office. “The FBI's pledge to the public is that we will seek to root out public corruption wherever it may be, no matter the person, position, or purpose.”
According to his plea agreement, Lance Lucas was an entrepreneur and businessman. He was employed by Company 1, which developed the Cyber Warrior Diversity Program curriculum to sell to institutions offering education and training to persons interested in cybersecurity professions. Lucas partnered with other individuals who were involved in businesses engaged in distributing or growing medical marijuana, including Company 2 and Company 3. Company 2 was awarded a Stage One license pre-approval for a medical marijuana dispensary license by the Natalie M. LaPrade Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission, and sought final approval from the Cannabis Commission. Company 3 applied for a medical marijuana growing license in May 2019.
Until her resignation on December 18, 2019, Cheryl Glenn was a Maryland State Delegate representing District 45, which covered portions of Baltimore.
As detailed in the plea agreement, from May 22, 2018 through July 30, 2019, Lucas paid Glenn $42,500, defrauding the citizens of Maryland of the right to her honest services by providing bribes in exchange for Glenn’s official actions. Specifically, Lucas paid bribes for Glenn to introduce legislation that included a provision requiring the award of contracts under the Cyber Warrior Diversity program to certain businesses that met specified criteria. Company 1 met the criteria specified in the initial draft of the bill, although that provision was removed in the final bill. Lucas also paid bribes to Glenn to help Company 2 to obtain final approval from the Cannabis Commission for a medical marijuana dispensary license. Finally, Lucas paid bribes to Glenn to assist him with the Cannabis Commission to ensure that Company 3’s application for a medical marijuana growing license was selected during the “double-blind” review process.
Lucas admitted that he wrote checks made out to Glenn personally, not to her campaign committee, and that he provided her with cash payments. Lucas made several statements that money was not an issue and that he would not leave anything to chance. Lucas also assured Glenn that they would not be caught and stated “I’m from Baltimore for real, for real Baltimore . . . This is the least illegal thing I’ve ever done. This is like patty-cake compared to the [expletive] in Baltimore City.”
United States Attorney Robert K. Hur commended the FBI for its work in the investigation. Mr. Hur thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Leo J. Wise, who prosecuted the case.
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Bakersfield Man Indicted for Burglarizing Post Office and Other Postal CrimesRead the Press Release
FRESNO, Calif. — A federal grand jury returned a four-count indictment today against Steven Ray Martin, 39, of Bakersfield, charging him with burglary of a U.S. Post Office, obstruction of correspondence, unlawful possession of a postal key, and possession of stolen mail, U.S. Attorney McGregor Scott announced.
According to court documents, on Dec. 2, 2018, Martin forcibly broke into the Corcoran Post Office where he stole mail and a cash register. Two days later, Martin stole mail from the Arvin Post Office. Finally, on Jan. 8, 2019, Martin was found in unlawful possession of at least one postal key and hundreds of pieces of stolen mail.
This case is the product of an investigation by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Vincente Tennerelli and Joseph Barton are prosecuting the case.
If convicted, Martin faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each of the burglary, obstruction of correspondence, and possession of stolen mail charges, and 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for the unlawful possession of a postal key charge. Any sentence, however, would be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables. The charges are only allegations; the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Auburn Man Indicted for Possession of Child PornographyRead the Press Release
BOSTON – An Auburn man was indicted today by a federal grand jury for possession of child pornography.
Jesse Laino, 24, was indicted on one count of possession of child pornography. In July 2020, Laino was arrested and charged by criminal complaint.
As alleged in charging documents, in July 2020, federal agents executed a search warrant at Laino’s residence and seized electronic devices that contained images and videos of child pornography. According to charging documents, Laino admitted that the devices belonged to him.
Possession of child pornography provides for a sentence of no greater than 10 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Michael Shea, Acting Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston; Auburn Police Chief Andrew J. Sluckis Jr.; and Worcester Police Chief Steven M. Sargent made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney John T. Mulcahy of Lelling’s Worcester Branch Office is prosecuting the case.
The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Arizona man charged with attempted murder of a federal task force officerRead the Press Release
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Robert Benjamin Nelson, 28, of Scottsdale, Arizona, made an initial appearance in federal court today on charges of attempted murder of a federal officer and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence.
According to a criminal complaint, during a law enforcement stop on Sept. 12, Nelson allegedly fired through the passenger-side window of his vehicle at a uniformed New Mexico State Police Officer working as part of a federal task force, causing injuries to her hands, face and eyes. He then allegedly fled the scene, but was pursued and stopped again by the officer, and was apprehended with the assistance of two Laguna police officers.
Nelson also faces a penalty of 10 years to life in prison for the charge of discharging a firearm during a crime of violence and up to 20 years for attempted murder of a federal officer. A criminal complaint is only an accusation. A defendant is considered innocent unless and until proven guilty.
The FBI investigated this case in conjunction with the New Mexico State Police and the Albuquerque Multiagency Officer Involved Shooting Team. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Paul Mysliwiec and Jack Burkhead are prosecuting the case.
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Alleged Hartford Gang Member Sentenced to Prison for Selling Crack and FentanylRead the Press Release
John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that KENDALL FAIR, 21, of West Hartford, was sentenced today by U.S. District Jeffrey A. Meyer in New Haven to 15 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for distributing crack and fentanyl.
According to court documents and statements made in court, in July 2019, after a spate of gun violence in Hartford, the FBI’s Northern Connecticut Gang Task Force, DEA, Hartford Police Department and other law enforcement agencies initiated an investigation targeting gang-related drug distribution and associated violence in north Hartford. Investigators determined that a significant amount of the gun violence was committed by members of two rival neighborhood street gangs, the Dumouts and the Hoodstars. It is alleged that Fair was a member of the Dumouts. Between August and September 2019, investigators made three controlled purchases of crack and two controlled purchases of crack and fentanyl from Fair.
On September 13, 2019, investigators arrested Fair at his residence. During a search of Fair’s bedroom, investigators seized approximately 15 grams of crack, a quantity of cocaine, and six bags of fentanyl.
On April 27, 2020, Fair pleaded guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute, and distribution of cocaine base (“crack”).
On May 14, 2020, Fair, who had been detained since his arrest, was released on a $100,000 bond. Fair’s conditions of release included that he reside with family in West Hartford, and that he be confined to the home with electronic monitoring.
In the early morning hours of September 7, 2020, Hartford Police responded to a location on Huntington Street in Hartford on a report of shots fired and found Fair suffering from two gunshot wounds to his leg. A handgun and approximately 40 different caliber shell casings were located at the scene.
Fair’s criminal history includes multiple felony convictions. He also was a victim of shooting incidents in March 2018 and May 2018.
Fair was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service at the conclusion of today’s court proceeding.
The FBI’s Northern Connecticut Gang Task Force includes members of the Hartford Police Department, East Hartford Police Department, Connecticut State Police and Connecticut Department of Correction.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Geoffrey M. Stone.
Albuquerque man charged with robbery under Operation LegendRead the Press Release
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Jose Armijo, 36, of Albuquerque made an appearance in federal court today facing two counts of robbery by threats and violence. Armijo remains in custody.
According to a criminal complaint, on Dec. 30, 2018, Armijo allegedly entered a retail store with several accomplices and began placing high-value items into backpacks and laundry bags. As Armijo and his accomplices approached the store exit, Armijo allegedly brandished a firearm to threaten the store manager and security guard and left the store with stolen merchandise.
On July 16, according to the complaint, Armijo and two accomplices allegedly entered another retail store and began collecting a large amount of merchandise. Armijo allegedly became verbally aggressive to a store employee at the same time his accomplices were leaving the store with stolen items. As Armijo attempted to leave the store with several items, including the cellular phone of a second store employee, he allegedly assaulted and threatened to shoot the first employee, who sustained injuries during the incident.
If convicted, Armijo faces up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 for each count. A criminal complaint is only an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
The FBI and the Albuquerque Police Department investigated this case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas Mote is prosecuting the case as part of the Department of Justice's Operation Legend, a coordinated federal and local law enforcement initiative to fight gun and dangerous crime.
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Acting U.S. Attorney Bubar Announces $340,313 to Fight Violence Against Women in Western District of VirginiaRead the Press Release
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Acting United States Attorney Daniel P. Bubar of the Western District of Virginia today announced that the Department of Justice’s Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) has awarded more than $340,000 to a Charlottesville-based agency that handles sexual assault training and education.
“This grant will help provide essential training to young men to serve as role models and help educate the community about domestic violence and sexual assault,” Acting United States Attorney Bubar said today. “These types of programs engage the community and establish a team of people committed to reducing violence.”
The Sexual Assault Resource Agency, will receive $340,313 through OVW’s Engaging Men Program. The Engaging Men program supports projects that create educational programming and community organizing to encourage men and boys to work as allies with women and girls to prevent domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and/or stalking.
“It is absolutely essential that we engage men in our effort as a society to prevent violence,” said OVW Principal Deputy Director Laura Rogers. “This grant funding will help Virginia’s boys and men assume their vital role as we all work together to keep victims safe and hold offenders accountable for their crimes.”
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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.
Wednesday 16 September 2020
Worcester Business Owner Sentenced for Money Laundering ConspiracyRead the Press Release
BOSTON – The former owner of two Worcester restaurants was sentenced today in federal court in Worcester for conspiring with her restaurant manager to use drug proceeds to renovate and operate her Shrewsbury Street restaurant.
Stacey Gala, 29, of Worcester, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Timothy S. Hillman to time served (one day in prison) and three years of supervised release that will include six months of home confinement. The government recommended a sentence of 32 months in prison. In November 2019, Gala pleaded guilty to an indictment charging her with conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Gala owned and operated The Usual Restaurant on Shrewsbury Street beginning in October 2016, along with her husband Kevin Perry. Gala and Perry employed Joseph Herman as the manager of The Usual. In March 2017, federal authorities arrested Perry on charges of money laundering and drug distribution.
After Perry’s arrest, Gala learned that Perry had concealed a significant amount of drug proceeds at a self-storage locker in Northborough. In May 2017, Gala and Herman conspired to retrieve the drug proceeds and to use them to renovate The Usual restaurant and to re-open the business under a new name (The Chameleon) and ostensibly new management.
In October 2017, Perry pleaded guilty to the money laundering and drug distribution charges and was sentenced to 14 years in prison. In January 2019, Herman pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering, making false statements to federal investigators and attempted witness tampering. He is presently scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 29, 2020.
United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Brian D. Boyle, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Boston Field Division; Joseph W. Cronin, Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service in Boston; and Steven M. Sargent, Chief of the Worcester Police Department made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Greg A. Friedholm and John T. Mulcahy of Lelling’s Worcester Branch Office prosecuted the case.
Wilkes-Barre Man Convicted of Methamphetamine Laboratory and False Statement OffensesRead the Press Release
SCRANTON - The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced today that Michael Laury, age 41, formerly of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, was convicted following a jury trial, of methamphetamine and false statement offenses. The six-day trial was held before United States District Court Judge Malachy E. Mannion in Scranton.
According to United States Attorney David J. Freed, the jury returned the guilty verdict on all counts charged in the superseding indictment after approximately three hours of deliberation. Laury was convicted of one count of managing a drug premises, one count of conspiring to manufacture and distribute methamphetamine, and one count of making a false statement to the FBI.
The evidence presented at trial showed that in May and June 2017, Laury assisted two drug dealers in running a methamphetamine laboratory in the basement of Laury’s Wilkes-Barre residence. The FBI and Pennsylvania State Police shuttered the laboratory in June 2017, when executing a search warrant. Following the search, Laury made false statements to the FBI about his knowledge of and involvement with the laboratory.
Laury has remained in custody since his October 2017 arrest. He was charged with three coconspirators, all of whom pleaded guilty to various methamphetamine offenses:
- Mark Heath, of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty to a methamphetamine conspiracy and awaits sentencing;
- Shawn Melleski, of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty to a methamphetamine conspiracy and was sentenced to 46 months of imprisonment and three years of supervised release; and
- Amy Casey, of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty to maintaining a drug premises and awaits sentencing.
The matter was investigated by the FBI, the Pennsylvania State Police, and the Wilkes-Barre Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Phillip J. Caraballo and Jeffrey St John.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. The Department of Justice reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally-based strategies to reduce violent crime.
The combined maximum penalty under federal law for Laury is up to 45 years of imprisonment. There is also 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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West Chester Drug Dealer Sentenced to 6 ½ Years for Selling Hundreds of Deadly Fentanyl Pills Disguised as OxycodoneRead the Press Release
PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney William M. McSwain announced that Kevin Swing, a/k/a “Tone,” 36, of West Chester, PA, was sentenced to 6 ½ years in prison and three years of supervised release by United States District Judge H. Slomsky, for his role in distributing more than 900 pills containing a dangerous fentanyl analogue, a Schedule I controlled substance.
In January 2020, Swing pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute a substance containing a fentanyl analogue, as well as knowingly distributing a substance containing a fentanyl analogue, for his role in a scheme to sell fentanyl disguised as prescription oxycodone. On May 11, 2018, Swing used an intermediary to sell more than 900 pills containing the narcotic cyclopropyl fentanyl, a fentanyl equivalent, to his co-defendant Ryan Menkins, for $5,600. Each pill was imprinted with “ETH 446,” which is typically found on Oxycodone Hydrochloride 30 mg pills. In other words, the fentanyl pills were intentionally mislabeled as legitimate, prescription oxycodone pills. Co-defendant Menkins is currently scheduled for trial on December 14, 2020.
“It’s bad enough when legitimate prescription medication like oxycodone is misused and abused, but when a substance as dangerous as fentanyl is made to appear to be prescription medication, it can have disastrous consequences,” said U.S. Attorney McSwain. “Fentanyl and the misuse of opioids is killing our citizens, and Kevin Swing significantly contributed to our region’s opioid epidemic. Together with our law enforcement partners, my Office will do everything possible to stop the illegal distribution of these deadly drugs.”
“Thank you to the U.S. Attorney’s office for bringing justice to the citizens of Chester County by removing the defendant and his drug peddling from our streets,” said Chester County District Attorney Deb Ryan. “We must work together to keep our residents safe.”
“Kevin Swing was peddling pills that appeared to be standard oxycodone doses, but in fact contained a drug related to fentanyl,” said Michael J. Driscoll, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Philadelphia Division. “Anyone buying those pills would've been expecting one thing and getting another, with potentially deadly results. Drug dealers making money off the misery of others is bad enough, let alone this dangerous bait and switch. Taking Swing off the street should send a message that the FBI and our law enforcement partners continue to fight to make our communities safer in the face of the opioid epidemic.”
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Newtown Square Resident Agency and the West Whiteland Township Police Department, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Matthew T. Newcomer.
Virginia man admits to drug traffickingRead the Press Release
MARTINSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA – Damanya Terelle Carter, of Front Royal, Virginia, has admitted to his role in a drug distribution operation, U.S. Attorney Bill Powell announced.
Carter, 38, pled guilty to one count of “Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute and to Distribute Cocaine Hydrochloride.” Carter admitted to working with others to distribute cocaine hydrochloride in Jefferson County and elsewhere from February to March 2019.
Carter 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 Lara Omps-Botteicher is prosecuting the case on behalf of the government. The Eastern Panhandle Drug & Violent Crimes Task Force, a HIDTA-funded initiative, investigated.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert W. Trumble presided.
United States Citizen Who Joined ISIS Charged with Material Support ViolationsRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON – An indictment and arrest warrant were unsealed today in the federal court of the District of Columbia charging Lirim Sylejmani, a Kosovo-born naturalized U.S. citizen, with conspiring to provide, providing, and attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), a designated foreign terrorist organization, and receiving training from ISIS, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2339B and 2339D.
Sylejmani was detained overseas by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and recently transferred into FBI custody. Sylejmani made his initial appearance before Magistrate Judge Robin M. Meriweather in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
“The United States is committed to holding accountable those who have left this country in order to join ISIS,” said Assistant Attorney General John C. Demers. “I want to thank the agents, analysts and prosecutors involved for their effort to hold the defendant responsible for his actions.”
“The defendant is a U.S. citizen who abandoned the country that welcomed him to join ISIS in Syria” stated Acting U.S. Attorney Sherwin. “He will now be held accountable for his actions in an American courtroom. Our national security prosecutors and law enforcement partners will continue to ensure that those who threaten our country are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
“Today’s announcement underscores the FBI’s commitment to combatting terrorism worldwide. Sylejmani allegedly traveled to Syria with the intent to join, train with, and fight on behalf of ISIS, said Matthew R. Alcoke, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Washington Field Office Counterterrorism Division. “The FBI Washington Field Office Joint Terrorism Task Force will continue to relentlessly pursue all individuals who choose to support terrorist organizations, no matter where they are located.”
According to the allegations in the indictment, from November 2015 through February 2019, Sylejmani conspired to provide and provided material support and resources, including personnel and services, to ISIS in Syria and received military training from the terrorist organization. The defendant was captured by the SDF in 2019 and has spoken to a number of media outlets about his time with ISIS.
The charges in the indictment are merely allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
This case is the result of an investigation conducted by the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force. Assistant U.S Attorneys Jessi Camille Brooks and Brenda J. Johnson of the National Security Section, and Trial Attorney David Smith of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section are litigating the case, with assistance from Paralegal Specialist Jorge Casillas.
United States Citizen Who Joined ISIS Charged with Material Support ViolationsRead the Press Release
An indictment and arrest warrant were unsealed today in the federal court of the District of Columbia charging Lirim Sylejmani, a Kosovo-born naturalized U.S. citizen, with conspiring to provide, providing, and attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), a designated foreign terrorist organization, and receiving training from ISIS, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2339B and 2339D.
Sylejmani was detained overseas by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and recently transferred into FBI custody. Sylejmani made his initial appearance before U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.
“The United States is committed to holding accountable those who have left this country in order to join ISIS,” said Assistant Attorney General John C. Demers. “I want to thank the agents, analysts and prosecutors involved for their effort to hold the defendant responsible for his actions.”
“The defendant is a U.S. citizen who abandoned the country that welcomed him to join ISIS in Syria” stated Acting U.S. Attorney Sherwin. “He will now be held accountable for his actions in an American courtroom. Our national security prosecutors and law enforcement partners will continue to ensure that those who threaten our country are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
“Combating terrorism remains the FBI’s top priority, and we will continue working with both our U.S. and foreign partners around the world in furtherance of that mission,” said Jill Sanborn, Assistant Director of the FBI's Counterterrorism Division. “Today’s announcement should serve as a warning to those who have traveled, or attempted to travel, to join ISIS that the FBI remains steadfast in ensuring they face justice.”
“Today’s announcement underscores the FBI’s commitment to combatting terrorism worldwide. Sylejmani allegedly traveled to Syria with the intent to join, train with, and fight on behalf of ISIS, said Matthew R. Alcoke, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Washington Field Office Counterterrorism Division. “The FBI Washington Field Office Joint Terrorism Task Force will continue to relentlessly pursue all individuals who choose to support terrorist organizations, no matter where they are located.”
According to the allegations in the indictment, from November 2015 through February 2019, Sylejmani conspired to provide and provided material support and resources, including personnel and services, to ISIS in Syria and received military training from the terrorist organization. The defendant was captured by the SDF in 2019 and has spoken to a number of media outlets about his time with ISIS.
The charges in the indictment are merely allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
This case is the result of an investigation conducted by the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force. Assistant U.S Attorneys Jessi Camille Brooks and Brenda J. Johnson of the National Security Section, and Trial Attorney David Smith of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section are litigating the case, with assistance from Paralegal Specialist Jorge Casillas.
U.S. Seeks to Recover More Than $300 Million in Additional Assets Traceable to Funds Allegedly Misappropriated from Malaysian Sovereign Wealth FundRead the Press Release
The Justice Department announced today the filing of civil forfeiture complaints seeking the forfeiture and recovery of more than $300 million in additional assets allegedly associated with an international conspiracy to launder funds misappropriated from 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), a Malaysian sovereign wealth fund.
Acting Assistnat Attorney General Brian C. Rabbitt of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Assistant Director Calvin Shivers of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division, and Chief Don Fort of IRS-Criminal Investigation made the announcement.
Combined with earlier civil forfeiture complaints filed beginning in July 2016, the United States has sought the forfeiture of more than $2.1 billion in assets traceable to funds embezzled from 1MDB. To date, as a result of these actions, the United States has recovered or assisted Malaysia in recovering nearly $1.1 billion in assets associated with the 1MDB international money laundering and bribery scheme. These actions represent collectively the largest action brought under the department’s Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative as well as the largest civil forfeiture action ever instituted in the Justice Department’s history.
The complaints filed today in the Central District of California identify additional assets traceable to the 1MDB money laundering and bribery scheme. These assets include four dozen promotional movie posters that Riza Aziz acquired with more than $4 million in funds traceable to assets embezzled from 1MDB as well as an escrow account maintained in the United Kingdom holding more than $300 million. As alleged in the complaint, the funds in this escrow account are traceable to a line of credit extended by Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA) to PetroSaudi Oil Services (PetroSaudi) in connection with the use of two drill ships that PetroSaudi acquired with funds fraudulently obtained from 1MDB. As alleged in the complaint, PetroSaudi’s chief executive officer is Tarek Obaid, a citizen of Saudi Arabia and Switzerland.
According to the complaints, from 2009 through 2015, more than $4.5 billion in funds belonging to 1MDB were allegedly misappropriated by high-level officials of 1MDB and their associates. 1MDB was created by the government of Malaysia to promote economic development in Malaysia through global partnerships and foreign direct investment, and its funds were intended to be used for improving the well-being of the Malaysian people.
As alleged in the complaints, the members of the conspiracy – which included officials at 1MDB, their relatives and other associates – diverted more than $4.5 billion in 1MDB funds. Using fraudulent documents and representations, the co-conspirators allegedly laundered the funds through a series of complex transactions and shell companies with bank accounts located in the United States and abroad. These transactions allegedly served to conceal the origin, source and ownership of the funds, and ultimately passed through U.S. financial institutions to then be used to acquire and invest in assets located in the United States and overseas.
As alleged in the earlier complaints, in 2009, 1MDB officials and their associates embezzled approximately $1 billion that was supposed to be invested to exploit energy concessions purportedly owned by a foreign partner. Instead, the funds were allegedly transferred through shell companies and were used to acquire a number of assets, as set forth in the complaints. The complaints also allege that the co-conspirators misappropriated close to $1.4 billion in funds raised through bond offerings in 2012, and more than $1.2 billion following another bond offering in 2013. The complaints also allege that in 2014, the co-conspirators misappropriated approximately $850 million in 1MDB funds under the guise of repurchasing certain options that had been given in connection with a guarantee of the 2012 bonds.
The FBI’s International Corruption Squads in New York City and Los Angeles and the IRS-CI are investigating the case. Deputy Chief Woo S. Lee and Trial Attorneys Barbara Levy, Joshua L. Sohn and Jonathan Baum of the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section are prosecuting the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Galatzan of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California provided substantial assistance. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs provided substantial assistance in this matter.
The department also expresses its deep appreciation for the significant assistance provided by the United Kingdom authorities, Office of the Attorney General and the Federal Office of Justice of Switzerland, the Attorney General’s Chambers of Singapore, the Singapore Police Force-Commercial Affairs Division, the Attorney General’s Chambers of Malaysia, the Royal Malaysian Police, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, the judicial investigating authority of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, the Criminal Investigation Department of the Grand-Ducal Police of Luxembourg, and the International Anti-Corruption Coordination Centre (IACCC).
The Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative is led by a team of dedicated prosecutors in the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section, in partnership with federal law enforcement agencies, and often with U.S. Attorney’s Offices, to forfeit the proceeds of foreign official corruption and, where appropriate, to use those recovered assets to benefit the people harmed by these acts of corruption and abuse of office. In 2015, the FBI formed International Corruption Squads across the country to address national and international implications of foreign corruption. Individuals with information about possible proceeds of foreign corruption located in or laundered through the United States should contact federal law enforcement or send an email to [email protected] (link sends e-mail) or https://tips.fbi.gov/.
A civil forfeiture complaint is merely an allegation that money or property was involved in or represents the proceeds of a crime. These allegations are not proven until a court awards judgment in favor of the United States.
U.S. Citizen Sentenced to 21 Months in Prison in Scheme to Unlawfully Export Stolen U.S. TechnologyRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON – Si Mong Park, 50, a United States citizen born in South Korea, was sentenced on September 14, 2020 for stealing technology from U.S. companies he worked for and unlawfully exporting the technology to South Korea. Judge Rudolph Contreras sentenced the defendant to 21 months in prison and 36 months of supervised release.
The defendant worked as a software engineer in the United States. While working for two different American defense contractors, he stole technical proprietary data relating to testing environment software for a storage management system for a military aircraft, and data relating to a missile system. In November 2011, he took that information to South Korea, and subsequently presented some of that information to non-U.S. personnel in order to drum up business for his company. The files contained technical data that under the Arms Export Control Act were designated on the United States Munitions List. Under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, the defendant was required to apply for and obtain an export license from the United States Department of State before exporting the technical data to another country or showing it to another foreign citizen. The defendant was extradited to the United States in August of 2019, and pled guilty.
“The defendant stole sensitive U.S. military-related information and sought to use it for his own benefit. The U.S. Attorney’s Office is committed to prosecuting those who violate U.S. export laws designed to protect our national security. ” said Acting U.S. Attorney Michael R. Sherwin.
“When Si Mong Park worked for American defense contractors, he was entrusted with sensitive information about our defense systems. He betrayed that trust when he stole and illegally exported that information to pursue profit for his own gain,” said Special Agent in Charge of the Washington, D.C. Field Office Raymond Villanueva. “Homeland Security Investigations works to investigate and seek prosecution for those who partake in the illegal export of U.S. military technical data to other nations as part of our mission to protect national security.”
"The illegal compromise of sensitive technology and information poses serious risks to our defense systems and personnel," said Special Agent in Charge Robert E. Craig, Jr., of the DCIS Mid-Atlantic Field Office. "DCIS remains committed to working with our law enforcement partners to ensure the protection of critical defense technology and to bring to justice those who threaten our national security."
This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations Field Office. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Brenda J. Johnson of the National Security Section, Senior Trial Attorney Jeff Pearlman of the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section of the Department of Justice and Heather Schmidt of the National Security Division. The Office of International Affairs, HSI Seoul, HSI Jakarta and the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency also provided valuable assistance in the case.
U.S. Attorney Justin Herdman announces more than $2 million to help address violence against women in the Northern District of OhioRead the Press Release
U.S. Attorney Justin Herdman announced today that the Department of Justice’s Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) has awarded more than $2.3 million to Northern Ohio organizations to help reduce violence against women and to strengthen services to victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking.
“Every dollar that the Department of Justice provides to address domestic violence in Northern Ohio has a positive impact on the lives of victims and survivors,” said U.S. Attorney Justin Herdman. “These organizations have a strong program in place to address crucial needs or expand services.”
The award breakdown is as follows:
Cuyahoga County, Improving Criminal Justice Responses Program – $824,800
The Improving Criminal Justice Response Program encourages state, local, and tribal governments and state, local, and tribal courts to treat domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking as serious violations of criminal law requiring the coordinated involvement of the entire criminal justice system.
Cleveland Rape Crisis Center, Children and Youth Program – $497,873
The Grants to Prevent and Respond to Domestic Violence, Dating Violence, Sexual Assault, and Stalking Against Children and Youth Program supports projects that develop, expand, and strengthen prevention, intervention, and response strategies that target children and youth who are victims of and/or exposed to domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking, including support for the non-abusing parents, caretakers, and legal guardians.
Cleveland Rape Crisis Center, Enhanced Training and Services to End Abuse in Later Life Program – $399,991
The Enhanced Training and Services to End Abuse in Later Life Program’s purpose is to increase and strengthen training for police, prosecutors, and the judiciary in recognizing, investigating, and prosecuting instances of abuse, neglect, exploitation, domestic violence, and sexual assault against older individuals; provide or enhance services for older victims; create
or support multidisciplinary collaborative community responses to older victims; and conduct cross-training for victim service organizations, governmental agencies, courts, law enforcement, and nonprofit, nongovernmental organizations serving older victims.
The University of Toledo, Grants to Reduce Domestic Violence, Dating Violence, Sexual Assault, and Stalking on Campus Program - $299,999
Heidelberg University, Grants to Reduce Domestic Violence, Dating Violence, Sexual Assault, and Stalking on Campus Program - $299,946
These programs provide a unique opportunity for institutions of higher education to establish multidisciplinary approaches to combat domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking on campuses. These comprehensive efforts are designed to enhance victim services, implement prevention and education programs, and develop and strengthen security and investigation strategies in order to prevent, prosecute, and respond to domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking.
“For domestic violence victims, the added stressors of the pandemic can make a dangerous situation even worse,” said OVW Principal Deputy Director Laura Rogers. “Our grants in Ohio are a timely contribution to approaches already underway to keep victims safe and hold offenders accountable for their crimes.”
For more information on the Office of Violence Against Women, visit https://www.justice.gov/ovw
U.S. Army Reserve Soldier Sentenced in Methamphetamine Distribution Conspiracy Reaching OmahaRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Joe Kelly announced that on September 16, 2020, United States District Judge Robert F. Rossiter, Jr. sentenced Leonel Dario Blanco-Sanchez to a term of imprisonment of 80 months. Blanco-Sanchez will serve a 5-year term of supervised release following his release from the Bureau of Prisons. There is no parole in the federal system.
Blanco-Sanchez, 21, was convicted of conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine with Samantha Perez-Juarez in the Omaha area between September of 2019 and January of 2020. Blanco-Sanchez, of Arizona, transported multi-pound quantities of methamphetamine from sources of supply in Arizona and California to Omaha on at least five occasions throughout the fall of 2019 and into January of 2020. Blanco-Sanchez and Perez-Juarez received direction from Mexico-based co-conspirators with whom they maintained contact, traveling in Blanco-Sanchez’s pickup truck bearing Army Veteran license plates to deliver methamphetamine to customers in Omaha.
On January 8, 2020, the Nebraska State Patrol stopped and arrested Blanco-Sanchez and Perez-Juarez as they returned to Omaha from Arizona. A subsequent search of the vehicle revealed approximately 13 pounds of methamphetamine which was seized by law enforcement.
Blanco-Sanchez served in the U.S. Army Reserve with the 387th Engine Company, an Army Reserve unit in Scottsdale, Arizona, and was deployed to Iraq for one year in 2018 and 2019.
Co-defendant Perez-Juarez is pending sentencing in the same case.
The case was primarily investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation Safe Streets Task Force, and the Nebraska State Patrol.
Two Plead Guilty to Racehorse Doping ChargesRead the Press Release
Audrey Strauss, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that two defendants, SCOTT ROBINSON and SARAH IZHAKI, each pled guilty today to conspiring to unlawfully distribute adulterated and misbranded drugs for the purpose of doping racehorses in connection with the two cases in which they are charged, United States v. Robinson, 20 Cr. 162 (JPO), and United States v. Izhaki, 20 Cr. 161 (MKV). ROBINSON pled guilty before U.S. District Judge J. Paul Oetken, and will be sentenced by Judge Oetken on January 15, 2021. IZHAKI pled guilty before U.S. District Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil, and will be sentenced by Judge Vyskocil on December 2, 2020.
Acting U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said: “Scott Robinson and Sarah Izhaki represent the supply side of a market of greed that continues to endanger racehorses through the sale of performance-enhancing drugs. Each of these defendants provided the raw materials for fraud and animal abuse through the sale of unregulated and dangerous substances: Robinson’s products were manufactured in shoddy facilities with no professional oversight of their composition; Izhaki’s products were smuggled into the country and sold from cars in supermarket parking lots. These convictions show that our Office and our partners at the FBI are committed to the prosecution and investigation of corruption, fraud, and endangerment in the horse racing industry.”
According to the Indictments, the Superseding Information to which ROBINSON pled guilty, the Superseding Information to which IZHAKI pled guilty, and other court documents, as well as statements made in public court proceedings:
From at least in or about 2011 through at least in or about March 2020, ROBINSON conspired with others to manufacture, sell, and ship millions of dollars’ worth of adulterated and misbranded equine drugs, including performance-enhancing drugs intended to be administered to racehorses for the purpose of improving those horses’ race performance in order to win races and obtain prize money. ROBINSON sold these drugs through several direct-to-consumer websites designed to appeal to racehorse trainers and owners, including, among others, “horseprerace.com.”
ROBINSON contributed to the conspiracy by, among other things, sourcing chemicals used to create custom PEDs that were advertised and sold; falsely labeling, packaging, and shipping those PEDs to customers across the country, including in the Southern District of New York; and collecting, reporting, and responding to employee and customer complaints regarding the misbranded and adulterated products advertised and sold online. Among the drugs advertised and sold during the course of the conspiracy were “blood builders,” which are used by racehorse trainers and others to increase red blood cell counts and/or the oxygenation of muscle tissue of a racehorse in order to stimulate the horse’s endurance, which enhances that horse’s performance in, and recovery from, a race, as well as customized analgesics which are used by racehorse trainers and others to deaden a horse’s nerves and block pain in order to improve a horse’s race performance. The drugs distributed through the defendants’ websites were manufactured in non-FDA registered facilities and carried significant risks to the animals affected through the administration of those illicit PEDs. For example, in 2016, ROBINSON received a complaint regarding the effect of his unregulated drugs on a customer’s horse: “starting bout 8 hours after I give the injection and for about 36 hours afterwards both my horses act like they are heavily sedated, can barely walk. Could I have a bad bottle of medicine, I’m afraid to give it anymore since this has happened three times.” Commenting on this complaint, ROBINSON wrote simply, “here is another one.”
In a separate conspiracy, from at least in or about February 2018 through at least in or about November 2019, IZHAKI conspired with others to transport, sell, and deliver, tens of thousands of dollars of erythropoietin, a “blood builder” drug intended to increase a horse’s racing performance, which had been smuggled into the country from Mexico. This drug was covertly transported into the United States and sold by IZHAKI, who believed it would be used by racehorse trainers to illicitly improve their horses’ race performance. IZHAKI also offered for sale amphetamines, and a substance that IZHAKI referred to as “the Devil,” which IZHAKI claimed would mask the presence of potent drugs in a human or animal’s body.
The defendants are among 27 individuals charged in a series of Indictments arising from an investigation of a widespread scheme by racehorse trainers, veterinarians, PED distributors, and others to manufacture, distribute, and receive adulterated and misbranded PEDs and to secretly administer those PEDs to racehorses competing at all levels of professional horseracing. By evading PED prohibitions and deceiving regulators and horse racing officials, participants in these schemes sought to improve race performance and obtain prize money from racetracks, all to the detriment and risk of the health and well-being of the racehorses.
* * *
ROBINSON, 46, of Tampa, Florida and IZHAKI, 45, of Manalapan, New Jersey, each pled guilty to one count of conspiring to unlawfully introduce and receive with the intent to redistribute for pay or otherwise adulterated and misbranded drugs in interstate commerce, and to misbrand drugs in interstate commerce. This offense carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. The maximum potential sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendants will be determined by the judge.
Acting U.S. Attorney Strauss praised the outstanding investigative work of the FBI New York Office’s Eurasian Organized Crime Task Force and its support of the Bureau’s Integrity in Sports and Gaming Initiative. Ms. Strauss also thanked the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office, the New York State Police, and the New York City Police Department for their support of this investigation, and the Food and Drug Administration and Drug Enforcement Administration for their assistance and expertise.
This case is being handled by the Office’s Money Laundering and Transnational Criminal Enterprises Unit. Assistant United States Attorneys Sarah Mortazavi, Benet J. Kearney, and Andrew C. Adams are in charge of the prosecution.
Two Iranian Nationals Charged in Cyber Theft and Defacement Campaign Against Computer Systems in United States, Europe, and Middle EastRead the Press Release
NEWARK, N.J. – Two Iranian nationals have been charged in connection with a coordinated cyber intrusion campaign – sometimes at the behest of the government of Iran – targeting computers in New Jersey and around the world, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced today.
Hooman Heidarian, a/k/a “neo,” 30, and Mehdi Farhadi, a/k/a “Mehdi Mahdavi” and “Mohammad Mehdi Farhadi Ramin,” 34, both of Hamedan, Iran, are each charged in a 10-count indictment returned Sept. 15, 2020, with: one count each of conspiracy to commit fraud and related activity in connection with computers and access devices; computer fraud - unauthorized access to protected computers: computer fraud, unauthorized damage to protected computers; conspiracy to commit wire fraud; and access device fraud; and five counts of aggravated identity theft.
“These Iranian nationals allegedly conducted a wide-ranging campaign on computers here in New Jersey and around the world,” U.S. Attorney Carpenito said. “They brazenly infiltrated computer systems and targeted intellectual property and often sought to intimidate perceived enemies of Iran, including dissidents fighting for human rights in Iran and around the world. This conduct threatens our national security, and as a result, these defendants are wanted by the FBI and are considered fugitives from justice.”
“We will not bring the rule of law to cyberspace until governments refuse to provide safe harbor for criminal hacking within their borders,” Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers said. “Unfortunately, our cases demonstrate that at least four nations—Iran, China, Russia and North Korea—will allow criminal hackers to victimize individuals and companies from around the world, as long as these hackers will also work for that country’s government—gathering information on human rights activists, dissidents and others of intelligence interest. Today’s defendants will now learn that such service to the Iranian regime is not an asset, but a criminal yoke that they will now carry until the day they are brought to justice.”
“The indictment of two Iranian nationals charged with computer hacking, fraud, and aggravated identity theft demonstrates how the FBI continues to work relentlessly with our law enforcement partners to identify cybercriminals who seek to do harm to American citizens, businesses, and universities, regardless of where those criminals may reside and hold them accountable,” George M. Crouch Jr., Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Newark Division, said. “Mehdi Farhadi and Hooman Heidarian are now fugitives and have been added to the FBI website for charges in connection with a massive, coordinated cyber intrusion campaign. These actions demonstrate how imposing risks and consequences on our cyber adversaries will continue to be a top priority for the FBI.”
According to the indictment:
Beginning in at least 2013, the defendants were responsible for a coordinated campaign of cyber intrusions into computer systems in New Jersey and around the world. The victims included several American and foreign universities, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, a defense contractor, an aerospace company, a foreign policy organization, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), non-profits, and foreign government and other entities identified as rivals or adversaries to Iran around the world.
Heidarian and Farhadi conducted many of these intrusions on behalf of the Iranian government. The stolen data was typically highly protected and extremely sensitive, and included confidential communications pertaining to national security, foreign policy intelligence, non-military nuclear information, aerospace data, human rights activist information, victim financial information and personally identifiable information, and intellectual property, including unpublished scientific research. The defendants also often vandalized websites using the pseudonym “Sejeal” and posted messages that appeared to signal the demise of Iran’s internal opposition, foreign adversaries, and countries identified as rivals to Iran, including Israel and Saudi Arabia.
Tactics and Techniques
The defendants conducted online reconnaissance to carefully select their victims, gathering data and intelligence to determine their areas of expertise, and assessing computer networks in preparation for launching cyber-attacks. They often used information obtained at this stage in latter phases of their hacking activities to complete a picture of processes, organizational structure, and potential soft spots of victim networks. The defendants used vulnerability-scanning tools to test the victim networks and to reveal security holes.
The defendants gained and maintained unauthorized access to victim networks using various tools, including: session hijacking, where a valid computer session was exploited to gain unauthorized access to information or services in a computer system; SQL injection, in which they used malicious code to access information that was not intended to be displayed, such as sensitive government data, user details, and personal identifiers; and malicious programs installations, which allowed the defendants to maintain unauthorized access to computers.
The defendants then used key-loggers and “remote access Trojans” to maintain access and monitor the actions of users of the victim networks. They also developed a botnet tool, which facilitated the spread of malware, denial of service attacks, and spamming to victim networks. In some instances, the defendants used their unauthorized access to victim networks or accounts to establish automated forwarding rules for compromised victim accounts, whereby new outgoing and incoming emails were automatically forwarded from the compromised accounts to accounts controlled by defendants
Using these methods, the defendants stole hundreds of terabytes of data, including confidential victim work product and intellectual property, and personal identifying information, such as access credentials, names, addresses, phone numbers, Social Security numbers, and birthdates. The defendants marketed stolen data on the black market.
In addition to stealing intellectual property and other data, the defendants, using the pseudonym “Sejeal,” replaced the publicly available contents of websites with political and other ideological content, thereby defacing websites, for the apparent purpose of projecting Iranian influence and threatening perceived enemies of Iran. The defacements featured, among other things, images of burning Israeli flags and threats forecasting the death or demise of citizens in the United States, Israel, and elsewhere.
U.S. Attorney Carpenito credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Crouch in Newark, with the investigation leading to the charges.
The counts of conspiracy to commit computer fraud and related activity in connection with computers and access devices, unauthorized access to protected computers, and computer fraud – unauthorized damage to protected computers, each carry a maximum sentence of five years in prison. The count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. The counts of aggravated identity theft each carry a mandatory sentence of two years in prison. The count of access device fraud carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Dean C. Sovolos of the U.S. Attorney’s Office National Security Unit, Daniel V. Shapiro, Deputy Chief of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division, and Trial Attorney Scott McCulloch of the National Security Division.
The charges and allegations contained in the indictment are merely accusations and the defendants are considered innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Two Iranian Nationals Charged in Cyber Theft Campaign Targeting Computer Systems in United States, Europe, and the Middle EastRead the Press Release
Two Iranian nationals have been charged in connection with a coordinated cyber intrusion campaign – sometimes at the behest of the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran (Iran) – targeting computers in New Jersey, elsewhere in the United States, Europe and the Middle East, the Department of Justice announced today.
According to a 10-count indictment returned on Sept. 15, 2020, Hooman Heidarian, a/k/a “neo,” 30, and Mehdi Farhadi, a/k/a “Mehdi Mahdavi” and “Mohammad Mehdi Farhadi Ramin,” 34, both of Hamedan, Iran, stole hundreds of terabytes of data, which typically included confidential communications pertaining to national security, foreign policy intelligence, non-military nuclear information, aerospace data, human rights activist information, victim financial information and personally identifiable information, and intellectual property, including unpublished scientific research. In some instances, the defendants’ hacks were politically motivated or at the behest of Iran, including instances where they obtained information regarding dissidents, human rights activists, and opposition leaders. In other instances, the defendants sold the hacked data and information on the black market for private financial gain.
“We will not bring the rule of law to cyberspace until governments refuse to provide safe harbor for criminal hacking within their borders,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers. “Unfortunately, our cases demonstrate that at least four nations — Iran, China, Russia and North Korea — will allow criminal hackers to victimize individuals and companies from around the world, as long as these hackers will also work for that country’s government — gathering information on human rights activists, dissidents and others of intelligence interest. Today’s defendants will now learn that such service to the Iranian regime is not an asset, but a criminal yoke that they will now carry until the day they are brought to justice.”
“These Iranian nationals allegedly conducted a wide-ranging campaign on computers here in New Jersey and around the world,” said U.S. Attorney Carpenito for the District of New Jersey. “They brazenly infiltrated computer systems and targeted intellectual property and often sought to intimidate perceived enemies of Iran, including dissidents fighting for human rights in Iran and around the world. This conduct threatens our national security, and as a result, these defendants are wanted by the FBI and are considered fugitives from justice.”
“The indictment of two Iranian nationals charged with computer hacking, fraud, and aggravated identity theft demonstrates how the FBI continues to work relentlessly with our law enforcement partners to identify cybercriminals who seek to do harm to American citizens, businesses, and universities, regardless of where those criminals may reside and hold them accountable,” said George M. Crouch Jr., Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Newark Division. “Mehdi Farhadi and Hooman Heidarian are now fugitives and have been added to the FBI website for charges in connection with a massive, coordinated cyber intrusion campaign. These actions demonstrate how imposing risks and consequences on our cyber adversaries will continue to be a top priority for the FBI.”
According to the indictment:
Beginning in at least 2013, the defendants were responsible for a coordinated campaign of cyber intrusions into computer systems in New Jersey and around the world. The victims included several American and foreign universities, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, a defense contractor, an aerospace company, a foreign policy organization, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), non-profits, and foreign government and other entities the defendants identified as rivals or adversaries to Iran. In addition to the theft of highly protected and sensitive data, the defendants also vandalized websites, often under the pseudonym “Sejeal” and posted messages that appeared to signal the demise of Iran’s internal opposition, foreign adversaries, and countries identified as rivals to Iran, including Israel and Saudi Arabia.
To select their victims, the defendants conducted online reconnaissance, including gathering public data and intelligence to determine a victim’s areas of expertise, and using vulnerability scanning tools and other means to assess computer networks. The defendants gained and maintained unauthorized access to victim networks using various tools, including: session hijacking, where a valid computer session was exploited to gain unauthorized access to information or services in a computer system; SQL injection, in which they used malicious code to access information that was not intended to be displayed, such as sensitive government data, user details, and personal identifiers; and malicious programs installations, which allowed the defendants to maintain unauthorized access to computers.
The defendants then used key-loggers and “remote access Trojans” to maintain access and monitor the actions of users of the victim networks. They also developed a botnet tool, which facilitated the spread of malware, denial of service attacks, and spamming to victim networks. In some instances, the defendants used their unauthorized access to victim networks or accounts to establish automated forwarding rules for compromised victim accounts, whereby new outgoing and incoming emails were automatically forwarded from the compromised accounts to accounts controlled by defendants.
Assistant Attorney General Demers and U.S. Attorney Carpenito credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Crouch in Newark, with the investigation leading to the charges.
Each defendant is charged with: one count of conspiracy to commit fraud and related activity in connection with computers and access devices; unauthorized access to protected computers; unauthorized damage to protected computers; conspiracy to commit wire fraud; and access device fraud; and five counts of aggravated identity theft.
The counts of conspiracy to commit computer fraud and related activity in connection with computers and access devices, and unauthorized access to protected computers, each carry a maximum sentence of five years in prison. The counts of unauthorized damage to protected computers and access device fraud each carry a maximum sentence of ten years in prison. The count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. The counts of aggravated identity theft each carry a mandatory sentence of two years in prison.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Dean C. Sovolos of the U.S. Attorney’s Office National Security Unit, Daniel V. Shapiro, Deputy Chief of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division, and Trial Attorney Scott McCulloch of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section.
The charges and allegations contained in the indictment are merely accusations and the defendants are considered innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Two Individuals Sentenced to Twenty-Four Months in Prison for a $1.7 Million Tax Refund SchemeRead the Press Release
Matthew D. Krueger, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, announced that on September 8, 2020, United States District Judge Lynn Adelman sentenced Alberto Fernandez Ramirez (51) and Ana Delia Dominguez (45), of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to 24 months in prison for fraudulently obtaining over $1.7 million in tax refund checks. Both Ramirez and Dominguez pled guilty to three counts of theft of government money, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 641. Judge Adelman also ordered them to pay $1,733,677.22 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service.
Ramirez and Dominguez, who are married, committed their theft by fraudulently obtaining Individual Tax Identification Numbers (“ITINs”) from the IRS. They did so by obtaining personal identifying documents of citizens in Mexico, and then used those documents to obtain ITINs in those individuals’ names. They then used the ITINs to file false tax returns that often fraudulently claimed the Additional Child Tax Credit. These false returns caused the IRS to send out United States Treasury tax refund checks. From approximately 2010 through 2017, Ramirez and Dominguez received over $1.7 million worth of refund checks due to their scheme. At sentencing, the government recommended that the Court impose a term of incarceration consistent with the advisory Guidelines range, which called for 46-57 months of incarceration.
“The defendants pursued an outrageous and brazen scheme to steal taxpayer dollars, by obtaining ITINs in the names of foreign nationals and then using those ITINs to file bogus tax refund claims,” said U.S. Attorney Krueger. “I commend the excellent investigative work by the IRS to build this case.”
“We want everyone who files a tax return to take advantage of the deductions and credits to which they are entitled by law; however, no one is allowed to defraud the government and take what is not theirs”, stated Special Agent in Charge Kathy A. Enstrom of the IRS Criminal Investigation, Chicago Field Office. “The IRS will continue to be relentless in our mission to stop these types of fraudulent tax refund schemes and will continue to bring criminals to justice.”
This case was investigated by IRS Criminal Investigation. It is was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Keith Alexander.
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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Two Buyers Indicted for Child Sex TraffickingRead the Press Release
Two men who allegedly purchased sex from a 13-year-old trafficking victim have been arrested and charged with child sex trafficking, announced U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Erin Nealy Cox.
On Sept. 2, a federal grand jury indicted Kention Obryan Johnson, 35, and Sergio Trinidad Carvajal, 30, for conspiracy to commit sex trafficking and sex trafficking of children. The defendants were arrested in Dallas last Wednesday; their court documents were unsealed today.
“Traffickers sell children for sex because their clients will pay for it. It’s that simple,” U.S. Attorney Nealy Cox said at a press conference this morning. “By attacking both the supply and the demand, we think we will be able to truly make a difference in fighting this dehumanizing, horrific crime.”
“The sex trafficking of minors is a despicable crime that HSI Dallas and our dedicated partners will continue to prioritize and relentlessly investigate. Whether you’re involved in the actual trafficking or perpetuate it as a consumer, HSI will use every resource available to ensure you face justice,” said Ryan L. Spradlin, Special Agent in Charge of HSI’s Dallas Field Office. “HSI will continue to pursue individuals involved in this type of modern-day slavery, and work vigorously to rescue the young, helpless victims whose dignity and well-being are blatantly disregarded.”
According to a criminal complaint filed late last year, Mr. Johnson and Mr. Carvajal’s coconspirator, 34-year-old Curtis Vance Mathis, allegedly advertised the Jane Doe on CityXGuide.com, an illegal sexual services website that has since been shut down by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas. Agents recovered the child – dressed only in an oversized hoodie – in a West Irving hotel room rented in Mr. Mathis’ name on Nov. 5, 2019.
According to search warrant affidavits unsealed today, during the investigation, agents reviewed hotel surveillance footage and observed several men – later identified as Mr. Mathis, Mr. Johnson, Mr. Carvajal – enter and exit the room. Agents then searched Jane Doe’s phone records and uncovered text chats with Mr. Johnson and Mr. Carvajal discussing the price for a “qv,” or “quick visit,” commercial sex parlance for a brief sexual encounter. A forensic investigation later confirmed that DNA recovered from discarded condoms found in the hotel room matched Mr. Johnson and Mr. Carvajal.
This prosecution is part of the Justice Department’s sex trafficking demand reduction initiative, a program focused on punishing and deterring those who drive the market for sex from children and other vulnerable persons. The Abolish Human Trafficking Act of 2017 reaffirmed that a person who knowingly purchases a commercial sex act with a trafficking victim is just as culpable as the person who supplies the trafficking victim for commercial sex.
An indictment is merely an allegation of criminal conduct, not evidence. Defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.
If convicted, Mr. Johnson and Mr. Carvajal each face up to life in federal prison, as does Mr. Mathis.
Homeland Security Investigations’ Dallas Field Office conducted the investigation with assistance from the Fort Worth Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Myria Boehm and Becky Ricketts are prosecuting the case.
Three Men Charged with Burglarizing Gun Range and Theft of FirearmsRead the Press Release
Memphis, TN – On September 10, 2020, a federal grand jury returned a two-count indictment against three individuals for conspiracy and theft of firearms from a federally licensed firearms dealer. D. Michael Dunavant, U.S. Attorney announced the indictment today.
According to the indictment, on August 2, 2020, at approximately 11:12 p.m., the Shoot Point Blank gun range, a federally licensed firearms dealer located at 1740 Century Center Cove in Memphis, Tennessee was burglarized. Three suspects took a total of 32 firearms from the business.
The defendants are listed below:
• Kendrick Monger, 24, Memphis, Tennessee
• Corey Groves, 25, Memphis, Tennessee
• Martez Banks, 25, Memphis, Tennessee
If convicted, the defendants each face up to 10 years imprisonment. There is no parole in the federal system.
U.S. Attorney D. Michael Dunavant said, "The proliferation of stolen firearms on the streets of Memphis contributes to the increased frequency and severity of shooting incidents and violent crime in our neighborhoods. Under Operation LeGend, we are surging federal resources to assist local law enforcement, and we are committed in our resolve to reduce violent crime by aggressively prosecuting federal firearms offenses. This indictment does just that."
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) investigated this case as part of Operation LeGend, a sustained, systematic and coordinated law enforcement initiative in which federal law enforcement agencies work in conjunction with state and local law enforcement officials to fight violent crime, particularly gun violence, in Memphis.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Rogers is prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.
The charges and allegations contained in the indictment are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
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Supplier to Trenton Drug Trafficking Conspiracy Sentenced to 17 Years in Prison for Heroin Distribution and Firearms OffensesRead the Press Release
TRENTON, N.J. – A Trenton man was sentenced today to 204 months in prison for his role as a supplier to a significant drug trafficking conspiracy that distributed more than one kilogram of heroin in Trenton and the surrounding area, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.
David Antonio, a/k/a “Pop,” a/k/a “Papi,” a/k/a “Santiago Ramirez,” 32, previously pleaded guilty before Chief U.S. District Judge Freda L. Wolfson in Trenton federal court to Count One of a third superseding indictment charging him with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute one kilogram or more of heroin. Judge Wolfson imposed the sentence today by videoconference.
In October 2018, Antonio, and 25 other individuals were charged by criminal complaint with conspiracy to distribute heroin. On Feb. 27, 2020, a grand jury returned a 10-count third superseding indictment charging Antonio and six other defendants with conspiracy to distribute one kilogram or more of heroin and various other drug and firearm offenses. Twenty-three of the 26 defendants charged in the complaint have pleaded guilty.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
From October 2017 to October 2018, the defendant and others engaged in a large drug trafficking conspiracy that operated in the areas of Martin Luther King Boulevard, Sanford Street, Middle Rose Street, Southard Street, Hoffman Avenue, Chambers Street, and Coolidge Avenue in Trenton, and which sought to profit from the distribution of heroin and numerous other controlled substances. Through the interception of telephone calls and text messages pursuant to court-authorized wiretap orders, controlled purchases of heroin, the use of confidential sources of information, and other investigative techniques, law enforcement learned that conspirators Jakir Taylor and Jerome Roberts obtained regular supplies of hundreds of “bricks” of heroin from Antonio. Intercepted communications among Taylor, Roberts, Antonio, and other conspirators revealed that Taylor and Roberts agreed to obtain from Antonio, and that Antonio agreed to supply, a “motherlode” of as many as 1,400 bricks of heroin in a single delivery – equating to approximately 1.5 kilograms of heroin. Taylor told Antonio that he intended to “flood the streets” of Trenton with this large supply, and Antonio agreed to supply a sufficient amount of heroin to Taylor that would allow him to do so. In communications with Taylor, Antonio indicated that he was “filling the bags” up with heroin and fentanyl. During coordinated arrests on Oct. 25, 2018, law enforcement arrested Antonio at a residence in Trenton, and recovered more than 1.4 kilograms of heroin, in addition to a significant amount of paraphernalia used to package heroin for distribution.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Wolfson sentenced Antonio to five years of supervised release.
U.S. Attorney Carpenito credited special agents of the FBI, Newark Division, Trenton Resident Agency, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge George M. Crouch Jr.; special agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, Newark Division, Trenton Field Office, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Charlie J. Patterson; officers of the Trenton Police Department, under the direction of Police Director Sheilah Coley; officers of the Princeton Police Department, under the direction of Chief of Police Nicholas Sutter; officers of the Ewing Police Department, under the direction of Chief of Police John P. Stemler III; officers of the Burlington Township Police Department, under the direction of Police Director Bruce Painter; and detectives of the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Prosecutor Scott A. Coffina, with the investigation leading to today’s sentencing. He also thanked officers of the New Jersey State Police, under the direction of Superintendent Col. Patrick J. Callahan; detectives of the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Prosecutor Angelo Onofri; officers of the Mercer County Sheriff’s Office, under the direction of Sheriff John A. Kemler; and members of the New Jersey State Board of Parole for their assistance in the investigation and prosecution of the case.
The government is represented by Attorney-in-Charge J. Brendan Day and Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander Ramey of the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Criminal Division in Trenton.
This case was conducted under the auspices of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) and the FBI’s Greater Trenton Safe Streets Task Force, a partnership between federal, state and local law enforcement agencies to enhance the identification, apprehension, and prosecution of individuals involved in gang-related activities, violent crime, and drug distribution in and around the greater Trenton area. The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking, weapons trafficking, and money laundering organizations and those primarily responsible for the nation’s illegal drug supply.
The three remaining defendants charged in this case are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Statement of U.S. Attorney Brian T. Moran regarding report in New York Times:Read the Press Release
Statement of U.S. Attorney Brian T. Moran:
“Throughout this lengthy period of civil unrest, I have had multiple conversations with Department of Justice leadership. They have asked for information about protest activity devolving into violence, about federal interests implicated by the Capitol Hill Organized Protest, and about the cases filed in this District regarding federal crimes. At no time has anyone at the Department communicated to me that Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan is, was, or should be the subject of a criminal investigation or should be charged with any federal crime related to the Capitol Hill Organized Protest (CHOP). As U.S. Attorney I would be aware of such an investigation.
My office continues to work collaboratively with state and local law enforcement, including the Seattle Police Department, to prosecute federal crimes such as arson, weapons violations and the use of destructive devices. Those cases are traditionally an area of focus for federal law enforcement. The goal of my office is to strongly deter criminal acts that have no place alongside, and only endanger, those who choose to engage in constitutionally protected speech.”
St. Louis doctor pleads guilty to distribution of child pornographyRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS, MO – United States District Judge John A. Ross accepted a plea, today, from 48-year-old Ashu Joshi. Joshi, a St. Louis resident, pleaded guilty to distribution of child pornography.
According to a plea agreement, Joshi was 46 years old and a doctor when he began a relationship with a 16-year-old girl. Joshi met the girl through her mother. The mother was a former patient of the doctor’s in Kentucky. The doctor and victim had sex and took pornographic pictures. Both exchanged photos over Facebook messenger.
In October 2018, a St. Louis County Police Officer received four cyber-tips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The tips were first to the Bowling Green, KY Police Department. The BGPD then asked St. Louis County Police for help after investigators learned one of the parties lived in St. Louis County.
The tip told investigators, between August and September 2018, a Facebook account linked to the doctor uploaded and sent several pictures containing child pornography.
The charge of distribution of child pornography carries a maximum penalty of 20 years imprisonment and a fine of no more than $250,000.
Judge Ross has set sentencing for October 7, 2020.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation, St. Louis County Police Department and the Regional Computer Crimes Education and Enforcement Group investigated this case. Assistant United States Attorney Colleen Lang and Investigator Donya Jackson are handling the case for the United States Attorney’s Office.
Somerville Man Indicted on Gun, Ammunition and Drug ChargesRead the Press Release
BOSTON – A Somerville man was indicted yesterday in connection with selling drugs while illegally in possession of a loaded firearm.
Tevon Ngomba, 27, was indicted on one count of distributing and possessing with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl, one count of possessing with intent to distribute fentanyl and one count of possessing a firearm and ammunition as a convicted felon.
According to charging documents, on or about July 16, 2020, Ngomba possessed with intent to distribute and distributed 40 grams or more of fentanyl in exchange for approximately $1,800. On or about Aug. 3, 2020, Ngomba possessed with intent to distribute fentanyl. He was also in possession of a Ruger, .40 caliber pistol with an obliterated serial number which was loaded with three rounds of .40 caliber S&W ammunition. Due to a prior state conviction punishable by more than one year of incarceration, Ngomba is prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition.
The charge of possession with intent to distribute and distribution of 40 grams or more of fentanyl provides for a sentence of at least five years and up to 40 years in prison, at least four years and up to life of supervised release and a fine of up to $5 million. The charge of possession with intent to distribute fentanyl provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, at least three years and up to life of supervised release and a fine of up to $1 million. The charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition provides for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based on the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Kelly Brady, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, New England Field Division; Somerville Police Chief David Fallon; and Somerville Housing Authority Chief of Police Daniel Meade made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kaitlin R. O’Donnell of Lelling’s Organized Crime and Gang Unit is prosecuting the case.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. Former Attorney General Jeff Sessions 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.
The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Shawnee Man Sentenced to 5 Years for Buying Child Porn Site MembershipRead the Press Release
KANSAS CITY, KAN. – A Shawnee man was sentenced Tuesday to five years in federal prison for buying a membership to access a child pornography site on the internet, U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister said. In addition, he was fined $5,000 under the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act.
Daryl Miller, 36, Shawnee, Kan., pleaded guilty to one count of access with intent to view child pornography.
Miller was identified during an investigation by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) into the trafficking of child pornography on the Dark Web. Investigators in Washington, D.C., accessed a child pornography web site that sold access to users. They served a search warrant for the web site’s server, from which they learned that Miller had made 10 payments to the web site in 2016 and 2017. He used bitcoin virtual currency to make payments.
A forensic analysis of electronic devices in Miller’s home confirmed he had downloaded child pornography.
McAllister commended HSI and Assistant U.S. Attorney Kim Flannigan for their work on the case.
Seventeen people charged in heroin and crack cocaine distribution operationRead the Press Release
CLARKSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA – Seventeen people were charged with drug distribution in early September in a one-count indictment, U.S. Attorney Bill Powell announced.
Sixteen of the defendants were arrested in a multi-agency operation yesterday, September 15, 2020. Those charged and arrested for conspiracy to distribute heroin and cocaine base are:
- Alonzo Eugene Travis, age 27, of Detroit, Michigan
- Tyron Terreono Adams, age 26, of Detroit, Michigan
- Darius Dashawn Wade, age 26, of Grosse Pointe, Michigan
- Willie Clark, age 27, of Warren, Michigan
- Schuyler Davis, age 30, of Detroit, Michigan
- Kyle Alexander Martin, age 33, of Morgantown, West Virginia
- Kenneth Burns, age 34, of Morgantown, West Virginia
- Jeremy Hamlin, age 41, of Morgantown, West Virginia
- Donald Noel Smith, age 41, of Oakland, Maryland
- Alyssa Demus, age 30, of Fairmont, West Virginia
- Candis Sanders, age 38, of Morgantown, West Virginia
- Daniel McClung, age 40, of Morgantown, West Virginia
- Daniel Meadows, age 49, of Morgantown, West Virginia
- Andrew Benson, age 34, of Morgantown, West Virginia
- Larry Bruce Heaster, age 55, of Morgantown, West Virginia
- Lance Smith, age 46, of Confluence, Pennsylvania
The U.S. Marshals are looking for information leading to the arrest of Candice Marie Adams, age 40, of Morgantown, West Virginia. Anyone with information is asked to contact the U.S. Marshal Service at 304-623-0486.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Zelda E. Wesley is prosecuting the case on behalf of the government. The Drug Enforcement Administration, the Mon Metro Drug & Violent Crimes Task Force, a HIDTA-funded initiative, and the Monongalia County Sheriff’s Office investigated.
An indictment is merely an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Seven International Cyber Defendants, Including “Apt41” Actors, Charged in Connection with Computer Intrusion Campaigns Against More Than 100 Victims GloballyRead the Press Release
In August 2019 and August 2020, a federal grand jury in Washington, D.C., returned two separate indictments charging five computer hackers, all of whom were residents and nationals of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), with computer intrusions affecting over 100 victim companies in the United States and abroad, including software development companies, computer hardware manufacturers, telecommunications providers, social media companies, video game companies, non-profit organizations, universities, think tanks, and foreign governments, as well as pro-democracy politicians and activists in Hong Kong.
The intrusions, which security researchers have tracked using the threat labels “APT41,” “Barium,” “Winnti,” “Wicked Panda,” and “Wicked Spider,” facilitated the theft of source code, software code signing certificates, customer account data, and valuable business information. These intrusions also facilitated the defendants’ other criminal schemes, including ransomware and “crypto-jacking” schemes, the latter of which refers to the group’s unauthorized use of victim computers to “mine” cryptocurrency.
Also in August 2020, the same federal grand jury returned a third indictment charging two Malaysian businessmen who conspired with two of the Chinese hackers to profit from computer intrusions targeting the video game industry in the United States and abroad. Shortly thereafter, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued arrest warrants for the two businessmen. On Sept. 14, 2020, pursuant to a provisional arrest request from the United States with a view to their extradition, Malaysian authorities arrested them in Sitiawan. The department appreciates the significant cooperation and assistance provided by the Government of Malaysia, including the Attorney General’s Chambers of Malaysia and the Royal Malaysia Police.
In addition to arrest warrants for all of the charged defendants, in September 2020, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued seizure warrants that resulted in the recent seizure of hundreds of accounts, servers, domain names, and command-and-control (C2”) “dead drop” web pages used by the defendants to conduct their computer intrusion offenses. The FBI executed the warrants in coordination with other actions by several private-sector companies, which included disabling numerous accounts for violations of the companies’ terms of service. In addition, in partnership with the department, Microsoft developed and implemented technical measures to block this threat actor from accessing victims’ computer systems. The actions by Microsoft were a significant part of the overall effort to deny the defendants continued access to hacking infrastructure, tools, accounts, and command and control domain names. In coordination with today’s announcement, the FBI has also released a Liaison Alert System (FLASH) report that contains critical, relevant technical information collected by the FBI for use by specific private-sector partners.
“The department of Justice has used every tool available to disrupt the illegal computer intrusions and cyberattacks by these Chinese citizens,” said Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey A. Rosen. “Regrettably, the Chinese communist party has chosen a different path of making China safe for cybercriminals so long as they attack computers outside China and steal intellectual property helpful to China.”
“Today’s charges, the related arrests, seizures of malware and other infrastructure used to conduct intrusions, and coordinated private sector protective actions reveal yet again the department’s determination to use all of the tools at its disposal and to collaborate with the private sector and nations who support the rule of law in cyberspace,” said Assistant Attorney General John C. Demers. “This is the only way to neutralize malicious nation state cyber activity.”
“Today’s announcement demonstrates the ramifications faced by the hackers in China but it is also a reminder to those who continue to deploy malicious cyber tactics that we will utilize every tool we have to administer justice,” said FBI Deputy Director David Bowdich. “The arrests in Malaysia are a direct result of partnership, cooperation and collaboration. As the cyber threat continues to evolve larger than any one agency can address, the FBI remains committed to being an indispensable partner to our federal, international and private sector partners to stop rampant cyber crime and hold those carrying out these kind of actions accountable.”
“The scope and sophistication of the crimes in these unsealed indictments is unprecedented. The alleged criminal scheme used actors in China and Malaysia to illegally hack, intrude and steal information from victims worldwide,” said Michael R. Sherwin, Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia. “As set forth in the charging documents, some of these criminal actors believed their association with the PRC provided them free license to hack and steal across the globe. This scheme also contained a new and troubling cyber-criminal component – the targeting and utilization of gaming platforms to both defraud video game companies and launder illicit proceeds.”
“The actions announced today reflect a years-long commitment by the FBI Washington Field Office to pursue the perpetrators of the computer intrusion campaigns described in the indictments, and to bring those perpetrators to justice,” said Acting Assistant Director in Charge James A. Dawson, FBI Washington Field Office. “This case demonstrates the FBI’s dedication to pursuing these criminals no matter where they are, and to whom they may be connected.”
The August 2019 indictment charged Zhang Haoran (张浩然), 35, and Tan Dailin (谭戴林), 35, with 25 counts of conspiracy, wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, money laundering, and violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (“CFAA”). The indictment charged Zhang and Tan with participating in a “Computer Hacking Conspiracy,” which targeted high-technology and similar organizations. The indictment also charged that, as an additional way to make money, Zhang and Tan participated in a “Video Game Conspiracy,” through which Zhang and Tan, together with others, sought to make money by hacking video game companies, obtaining and otherwise generating digital items of value (e.g., video game currency), and then selling such items for profit. In several instances, they used their unauthorized access to gaming company networks take action against other unrelated groups engaged in the same fraudulent generation of gaming artifacts, thereby attempting to eliminate the criminal competition.
One of the August 2020, indictments charged Jiang Lizhi (蒋立志), 35, Qian Chuan (钱川), 39, and Fu Qiang (付强), 37, with nine counts of racketeering conspiracy, conspiracy to violate the CFAA, substantive violations of the CFAA, access device fraud, identity theft, aggravated identity theft, and money laundering. The racketeering conspiracy pertained to the three defendants’ conducting the affairs of Chengdu 404 Network Technology (“Chengdu 404”), a PRC company, through a pattern of racketeering activity involving computer intrusion offenses affecting over 100 victim companies, organizations, and individuals in the United States and around the world, including in Australia, Brazil, Chile, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Pakistan, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. The defendants also compromised foreign government computer networks in India and Vietnam, and targeted, but did not compromise, government computer networks in the United Kingdom. In one notable instance, the defendants conducted a ransomware attack on the network of a non-profit organization dedicated to combating global poverty.
The defendants associated with Chengdu 404 employed sophisticated hacking techniques to gain and maintain access to victim computer networks. One example was the defendants’ use of “supply chain attacks,” in which the hackers compromised software providers and then modified the providers’ code to facilitate further intrusions against the software providers’ customers. Another example was the hackers’ use of C2 “dead drops,” which are seemingly legitimate web pages that the hackers created, but which were surreptitiously encoded instructions to their malware. However, they also employed publicly available exploits and tools, including the following common vulnerabilities and exposures (“CVE”): CVE-2019-19781, CVE-2019-11510, CVE-2019-16920, CVE-2019-16278, CVE-2019-1652/CVE-2019-1653, and CVE-2020-10189.
The second August 2020 indictment charged Wong Ong Hua, 46, and Ling Yang Ching, 32, both Malaysian nationals and residents, with 23 counts of racketeering, conspiracy, identity theft, aggravated identity theft, access device fraud, money laundering, violations of the CFAA, and falsely registering domain names. The indictment alleged that Wong and Ling conducted the affairs of Sea Gamer Mall, a Malaysian company founded by Wong, through a pattern of racketeering activity involving computer intrusion offenses targeting the video game industry in the United States, France, Japan, Singapore, and South Korea. The indictment alleged that Wong and Ling worked with various hackers, including Zhang and Tan, to profit from the hackers’ criminal computer intrusions at video game companies.
The indictment against Zhang and Tan charges the defendants with two counts of conspiracy to commit computer fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison; two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison; five counts of wire fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison; nine counts of intentional damage to a protected computer, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison; four counts of unauthorized access to a protected computer, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison; two counts of aggravated identity theft, which carries a mandatory sentence of two years in prison; and one count of money laundering, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
The indictment against Jiang, Qian, and Fu charges the defendants with one count of racketeering conspiracy, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison; one count of conspiracy to commit computer fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison; one count of intentional damage to a protected computer, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison; one count of unauthorized access to a protected computer, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison; one count of threatening to damage a protected computer, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison; one count of access device fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison; one count of identity theft, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison; one count of aggravated identity theft, which carries a mandatory sentence of two years in prison; and one count of money laundering, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
The indictment against Wong and Ling charges the defendants with one count of racketeering conspiracy, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison; one count of racketeering, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison; three counts of intentional damage to a protected computer, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison; five counts of unauthorized access to a protected computer, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison; five counts of furthering fraud by unauthorized access to a protected computer, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison; two counts of access device fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison; two counts of identity theft, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison; one count of aggravated identity theft, which carries a mandatory sentence of two years in prison; and three counts of money laundering, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. The indictment also alleges false registration of domain names, which would increase the maximum sentence of imprisonment for money laundering to 27 years; the maximum sentence of imprisonment for unlawful access to a protected computer to 10 years instead of five years; the maximum sentence of imprisonment for intentional damage to a protected computer to 17 years instead of 10 years; and the mandatory sentence of imprisonment for aggravated identity theft to four years instead of two years.
The maximum potential sentences in this case are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only; any sentencing's of the defendants will be determined by the assigned judge.
The investigation was conducted jointly by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, the National Security Division of the Department of Justice, and the FBI’s Washington Field Office. The FBI’s Cyber Division assisted in the investigation and, along with FBI’s Cyber Assistant Legal Attachés and Legal Attachés in countries around the world, provided essential support. Numerous victims cooperated and provided valuable assistance in the investigation.
The department is also grateful to Microsoft, including Microsoft’s Threat Intelligence Center (MSTIC) and Digital Crimes Unit (DCU), to Google, including its Threat Analysis Group (TAG), to Facebook, and to Verizon Media, including its Paranoids Advanced Cyber Threats Team, for the assistance they provided in this investigation.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Demian Ahn of the District of Columbia, Assistant U.S. Attorney Tejpal Chawla of the District of Columbia, and Trial Attorney Evan Turgeon of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section are prosecuting this case.
The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs provided critical assistance.
The details contained in the charging document are allegations. The defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Senior Veterans Affairs Official in Philadelphia Indicted for Soliciting BribesRead the Press Release
PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney William M. McSwain announced that Ralph Johnson, 54, of Kinzers, PA, former Chief of Environmental Management Services at the Corporal Michael J. Cresenz Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC) in Philadelphia, PA, was charged by Indictment for soliciting and accepting bribes in connection with contracts and purchase orders at the medical center.
As the Chief of Environmental Management Services, Johnson was responsible for a range of sanitation, waste removal, linen and uniform services for the Philadelphia VAMC, and participated in the solicitation and award of contracts to vendors for those services. According to the Indictment, Johnson is charged with asking for, and receiving, thousands of dollars in cash from two Florida-based companies in return for steering purchase orders and contracts to those companies several times from about July 2018 until August 2019. He is also charged with seeking a $10,000 kickback on an $84,000 contract for tree trimming and removal awarded to one of those vendors, for which Johnson had fraudulently and grossly inflated the estimate of the work to be done and the price for that work under the contract.
“The allegations here are shameful. By giving us their best, we owe our veterans the same in return. As a senior official tasked with maintaining a healthy and safe environment for the care and treatment of our nation’s veterans, Ralph Johnson had a responsibility to do that job with honesty and integrity,” said U.S. Attorney McSwain. “Rather than being concerned about serving our veterans, Johnson was allegedly concerned with serving himself by lining his own pockets at taxpayers’ expense.”
David Spilker, Special Agent in Charge at the Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General (OIG) stated, “VA OIG will vigorously investigate alleged instances when government employees solicit and accept bribes and kickbacks from vendors and contractors who seek to obtain business with the VA. As alleged in the indictment, Johnson’s actions breached the public’s trust, undermined the integrity of VA’s operations, and besmirched the vital work that honest hardworking VA employees do every day in support of our nation’s veterans.”
If convicted, the defendant faces a possible sentence of 45 years imprisonment, 3 years supervised release, and up to a $750,000 fine.
The case was investigated by the United States Department of Veteran Affairs, Office of Inspector General, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney K.T. Newton.
Seneca County Man Indicted for Defrauding the Coast GuardRead the Press Release
CONTACT: Barbara Burns
PHONE: (716) 843-5817
FAX #: (716) 551-3051BUFFALO, N.Y. - U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that a federal grand jury has returned an indictment charging Dennis Daniels, 69, of Romulus, NY, with two counts of mail fraud. The charges carry a maximum of penalty of 20 years in prison, and a $250,000 fine.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron J. Mango, who is handling the case, stated that according to the indictment, in January and February 2019, the defendant taught an approved U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) course for an Operator Uninspected Passenger Vessel license, with a Masters upgrade. Once obtained, this license allows the individual to operate an uninspected vessel of up to six passengers, such as a fishing charter, and an inspected vessel with more than six passengers, such as a ferry.
Throughout the course, Daniels was required to teach for 80 hours, however, he only taught for 51 hours, and engaged in conduct not in compliance with USCG regulations. After reviewing the defendant's records, it was determined that all 24 students in the course failed a chart-plotting test, and four of the students also failed the maritime rules of the road test. Students are required successfully to pass those tests in order to obtain a course completion certificate, a prerequisite to applying for a Merchant Marine Credential issued by the USCG. Despite failing the tests, Daniels issued course completion certificates to his students.
The indictment is the result of an investigation by the U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service, under the direction of Buffalo, NY, Resident Agent-in-Charge Cindy C. Buckley, and Detroit, MI, Resident Agent-in-Charge Edward L. Songer; the United States Postal Inspection Service, under the direction of Inspector-in-Charge Joseph W. Cronin of the Boston Division; and the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division, under the direction of Jonathan D. Larsen, Special Agent-in-Charge, New York Field Office.
The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
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Scranton Doctor Indicted for Receiving Healthcare Kickbacks and Unlawfully Distributing Controlled Substances Resulting in Two DeathsRead the Press Release
SCRANTON – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced the indictment yesterday of a Scranton doctor, Kurt Moran, age 68, on charges related to receiving healthcare kickbacks and unlawfully distributing controlled substances, including distributions resulting in death. Moran is scheduled to appear before United States Magistrate Judge Karoline Mehalchick at 3:00pm on September 16, 2020.
According to United States Attorney David J. Freed, the 423-count indictment alleges that beginning in December 2014 and continuing into 2017, Moran conspired with others to pay and receive bribes in exchange for prescribing the drug Subsys (sublingual fentanyl) to his patients. Subsys is a transmucosal immediate release fentanyl (TIRF) drug. It is approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) only for use in cancer patients suffering from breakthrough cancer pain. It is alleged that Moran was paid approximately $140,000 over a two year period to prescribe Subsys to his patients for pain not associated with cancer. In order to conceal and disguise that kickbacks and bribes were being paid to Moran to prescribe Subsys, Insys falsely designated the payments to Moran as “honoraria” for purportedly providing educational presentations regarding Subsys.
Moran is also charged with multiple counts of unlawfully distributing Subsys to 13 patients and two counts of unlawfully prescribing Schedule II controlled substances, including oxycodone and fentanyl, which resulted in the death of a 35 year old man and a 32 year old woman.
The indictment alleges that Moran contracted with Insys Therapeutics, Inc. in 2014 to participate in the Insys Speaker Program (ISP), which was used as a vehicle to pay doctors and other clinicians to prescribe Subsys off-label. In fact, the ISP was used as a way to funnel money to doctors like Moran under the guise of an “honorarium” appearing to be legitimate. In reality, many of the speaker programs were merely social gatherings at high-end restaurants with no educational presentation whatsoever. Most also lacked an appropriate audience of peer-level doctors with a professional reason to be educated about Subsys. Moran allegedly was selected by Insys to participate in the sham speaker program because he consistently ranked as one of the top prescribers of opioid medications in Pennsylvania, including fentanyl. Moran allegedly was paid as an Insys speaker as long as he continued to prescribe Subsys and the more prescriptions written by Moran for Subsys – and the higher the dose – the more speaking opportunities were awarded to him and the more money he made. It is further alleged that Moran prescribed millions of micrograms of the sublingual fentanyl spray to patients with no cancer diagnosis and not suffering from breakthrough cancer pain. The indictment charges hundreds of counts of unlawful distribution of Subsys by Moran.
The indictment includes multiple counts of health care fraud related to the payment of claims by Medicare, FEHBP, and other private insurers who paid for the Subsys prescriptions. It is alleged that had these health care benefit programs known that Moran was prescribing Subsys in exchange for a kickback and outside the usual course of professional practice, the claims would not have been paid by the insurers.
The indictment seeks to forfeit to the United States any and all proceeds derived from unlawful activity as a result of the offenses alleged in the indictment, including U.S. currency and the forfeiture of Moran’s medical license as facilitating property.
United States Attorney Freed stated, “this defendant, an experienced and substantial dispenser of powerful pain medications, lined his own pockets to the detriment of his patients. He accepted bribes and kickbacks for prescribing medication narrowly approved to treat only cancer patients suffering breakthrough cancer pain. He then concealed and disguised the payments he received for prescribing that drug as compensation for providing educational presentations. In addition, but no less important, Moran improperly prescribed powerful schedule II controlled substances resulting in two deaths. While physicians are properly given great leeway under the law to treat their patients, we are compelled to intervene when their fraudulent and criminal actions cause harm to others. We are grateful for the thorough investigative work of our federal agency partners.”
“Dr. Moran was responsible for the criminal distribution of oxycodone and sublingual fentanyl, both of which are extremely powerful and dangerous prescription opioid painkillers. Moran’s unlawful prescribing ultimately resulted in the death of two people.” said Jonathan A. Wilson, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Philadelphia Field Division. “Doctors have a legal and ethical obligation to prescribe these medications only for legitimate medical purposes and to do no harm to their patients. The kickbacks that Dr. Moran received for being one of the highest prescribers of sublingual fentanyl in Pennsylvania showed his utter disregard for these same obligations.”
“An important mission of the Office of Inspector General is to investigate allegations of fraud related to the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP). We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners and OWCP to protect the integrity of DOL’s benefit programs,” said Derek Pickle, Acting Special Agent-in-Charge, Philadelphia Region, U.S. Department of Labor Office of Inspector General.
U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General Special Agent in Charge Kenneth Cleevely, Eastern Area Field Office stated, “the U.S. Postal Service spends billions of dollars per year in workers compensation-related costs, most of which are legitimate. However, when medical providers choose to flout the rules and profit illegally, special agents with the USPS OIG will work with our law enforcement partners to hold them responsible. To report fraud or other criminal activity involving the Postal Service, contact our special agents at www.uspsoig.govor 888-USPS-OIG.”
The charges stem from an investigation initiated in 2016 by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) located in Scranton, the United States Postal Service – Office of Inspector General, Department of Labor – Office of Inspector General, U.S. Office of Personnel Management – Office of Inspector General (OPM/OIG) and the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office. Prosecution is assigned to Assistant United States Attorneys Michelle Olshefski and Michael Consiglio.
Indictments and Criminal Informations are only allegations. All persons charged are presumed to be innocent unless and until found guilty in court.
A sentence following a finding of guilty is imposed by the Judge after consideration of the applicable federal sentencing statutes and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.
In this case, the maximum penalty under the federal statute for the unlawful distribution of controlled substances resulting in death is life imprisonment. The unlawful distribution of controlled substances charges carry a maximum term of 20 years’ imprisonment. The charges related to receiving health care kickbacks carry a maximum sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment. Each charge also carries a fine and a term of supervised release following any period of incarceration. 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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Sarasota Pain Doctor and Former Insys Sales Representative Charged in Health Care Fraud Kickback ConspiracyRead the Press Release
Tampa, Florida – United States Attorney Maria Chapa Lopez announces the unsealing of a 16-count indictment charging Steven Chun (57, Sarasota) and Daniel Tondre (50, Tampa) with conspiring to pay and receiving kickbacks in connection with prescribing a fentanyl spray. Chun is also charged with five counts of soliciting and receiving kickbacks in the form of speaker fees; Tondre is charged with five counts of offering and paying the speaker fees to Chun when he worked as an Insys sales representative; and Chun and Tondre are both charged in five counts of identification fraud in connection with the speaker events. If convicted on all counts, Chun and Tondre each face a maximum penalty of 5 years in federal prison on the conspiracy count, up to 5 years’ imprisonment on each identification fraud count, and up to 10 years in prison for each substantive kickback violation. The indictment also notifies the defendants that the United States is seeking a money judgment in the amount of the proceeds of the alleged kickbacks.
According to the
indictment , Chun, a doctor, owned and operated a pain management medical practice in Sarasota where he prescribed a large volume of Schedule II opioids, including fentanyl. Tondre was employed as a sales representative for Insys Therapeutics, Inc., a company that manufactured and sold Subsys, an expensive form of liquid fentanyl designed to be applied under the tongue (sublingual spray), allowing it to rapidly enter the bloodstream. Insys sales representatives were compensated, in part, with sales commissions based upon paid prescriptions of Subsys written by practitioners in their sales territory. Tondre’s territory included Chun’s practice.Insys actively marketed Subsys to pain management doctors, including Chun, to increase the number of Subsys prescriptions written by Chun. Through the Insys sales division and executives at the company’s headquarters, Insys used a sham speaker program to conceal and disguise kickbacks and bribes paid to high-prescribing doctors, like Chun, to induce them to prescribe Subsys. Insys sales representatives, like Tondre, arranged speaker programs that were often only attended by family and friends, or repeat attendees, and included falsified or forged signatures of attendees. Insys also bribed large Subsys-prescribers, like Chun, by hiring individuals, often close to the doctors, to work as an Insys liaison to facilitate the approval of insurance forms for Subsys, including those submitted for Medicare patients. Chun was paid more than $275,000 in illegal kickbacks and bribes from Insys in connection with the sham speaker programs.
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 Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Health and Human Services—Office of Inspector General, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, and by the Opioid Fraud Abuse and Detection Unit at the United States Attorney’s Office, which focuses on opioid-related fraud and abuse by medical and health care professionals who have contributed to the prescription opioid epidemic. It will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kelley C. Howard-Allen.