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16 September 2020
Jacksonville Woman Pleads Guilty to Attempting to Illegally Exporting Maritime Raiding Craft and Engines to ChinaRead the Press Release
Jacksonville, FL – Yang Yang (34, Jacksonville) has pleaded guilty to conspiring to submit false export information through the federal government’s Automated Export System and to fraudulently export to China maritime raiding craft and engines in violation of United States (U.S.) law, and also to attempting to fraudulently export that equipment in violation of U.S. law. Yang faces a maximum penalty of 15 years in federal prison. A sentencing date has not yet been set.
According to the
plea agreement , Yang was employed by Shanghai Breeze Technology Co. Ltd., a company headquartered in Shanghai, People’s Republic of China. At the direction of co-conspirators in China, she attempted to order from a U.S. manufacturer seven combat rubber raiding craft equipped with engines that can operate using gasoline, diesel fuel, or jet fuel. These vessels and multi-fuel engines are used by the U.S. military and can be operated after being launched from a submerged submarine or dropped into the ocean by an aircraft. No comparable engine is manufactured in China. When the U.S. manufacturer suggested that Yang purchase cheaper gasoline-fueled engines, she insisted that she wanted to purchase the military-model multi-fuel engines.To induce the manufacturer to sell this equipment, Yang falsely represented that her customer was an entity called United Vision Limited in Hong Kong, rather than Shanghai Breeze Technology Co. in Shanghai. One of Yang’s Chinese co-workers had told her that American manufacturers would be more likely to sell to an entity in Hong Kong rather than one in mainland China. By misrepresenting what company was buying the equipment, and where it was located, Yang caused the entry of false information in the Department of Commerce’s Automated Export System in violation of federal law.
When interviewed by federal agents on Oct. 17, 2019, Yang admitted that she had only one client, Shanghai Breeze, and that based on her communications with a co-conspirator, she knew that the combat raiding craft were not intended for Hong Kong, but instead, mainland China.
On Aug. 13, 2020, Yang’s co-defendant, Zheng Yan, also pleaded guilty to conspiring to submit false export information and to fraudulently export the raiding craft and engines in violation of U.S. law. The trial of their remaining co-defendants, Fan Yang and Ge Songtao, is scheduled to begin on Feb. 1, 2021.
This case was investigated by the FBI, the U.S. Naval Criminal Investigative Service, the U.S. Department of Commerce – Bureau of Industry and Security, and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael J. Coolican and Heather Schmidt, Senior Trial Attorney, Counterintelligence and Export Section, U.S. Department of Justice.
Inmate at USP Lee Sentenced for Unlawfully Possessing WeaponRead the Press Release
ABINGDON, VIRGINIA – Antwan Johnson, an inmate at the USP Lee in Jonesville, Virginia, was sentenced earlier this month for unlawfully possessing a weapon inside the prison, Acting United States Attorney Daniel P. Bubar announced today.
Johnson, 28, of Jonesville, Va., was sentenced on September 3, 2020 in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Abingdon to 33 months in prison and 3 years of supervised release.
The investigation of the case was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Special Assistant United States Attorney Steven J. Luckie prosecuted the case for the United States.
Indictment: Wamego Wastewater Operator Violated Clean Water ActRead the Press Release
TOPEKA, KAN. – An operator of the Wamego Wastewater Treatment Facility was indicted today on federal charges of violating the Clean Water Act, said U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister.
David Schleif, 47, Belvue, Kan., was charged with discharging untreated or inadequately treated sewage from the Wamego Wastewater Treatment Facility into the Kansas River. The crime is alleged to have occurred between May 2017 and August 2019.
In addition, he was charged with 19 counts of including falsified data in discharge monitoring reports. The falsified reports showed lower levels of biochemical oxygen demand, total suspended solids and E. coli than indicated by actual tests results.
If convicted, Schleif could face a penalty of up to three years in federal prison on the discharge count and up to two years and a fine up to $10,000 on each of the other counts. The Environmental Protection Division – Office of Criminal Investigations investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine Kenney is prosecuting.
OTHER INDICTMENTS
Angelica Maria Alvarez, 38, Topeka, Kan., is charged with one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. The crime is alleged to have occurred Jan. 27, 2020, in Shawnee County, Kan.
If convicted, she could face a penalty of not less than 10 years in federal prison and a fine up to $10 million. The U.S. Postal Service investigated. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Lindsey Debenham is prosecuting.
In all cases, defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty. The indictments merely contain allegations of criminal conduct.
Harrison County man sentenced for drug distribution and firearms chargesRead the Press Release
CLARKSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA – Philip K. Finley, of Clarksburg, West Virginia, was sentenced today to 228 months incarceration for drug distribution and firearms charges, United States Attorney Bill Powell announced.
Finley, age 53, pled guilty to one count of “Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute and to Distribute Methamphetamine” and one count of “Possession of Firearm in Furtherance of Drug Trafficking Crime” in January 2019.
Finley admitted to distributing methamphetamine in Harrison County from March until September 2018. He also admitted to having 12 different firearms in his possession during the crime.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN). Project Safe Neighborhoods 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.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Brandon S. Flower prosecuted the case on behalf of the government. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Greater Harrison Drug & Violent Crimes Task Force, a HIDTA-funded initiative, investigated.
U.S. District Judge Thomas S. Kleeh presided.
Half-million-dollar federal grant will enable regional expansion of domestic violence shelter's programsRead the Press Release
BRUNSWICK, GA: A significant U.S. Department of Justice grant will allow a Jesup domestic violence shelter to expand its educational and crisis support programs into nearby rural communities in partnership with a Brunswick shelter.
The $495,357 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) will fund services provided by the Safe Harbor Children’s Center and the Fair Haven Domestic Violence Shelter, announced Bobby L. Christine, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia. The program will establish a domestic violence/rape crisis center in Jeff Davis County to provide regional services for Appling, Jeff Davis, and Wayne Counties.
“Like all sparsely populated areas, the rural communities of the Southern District often face challenges in providing vital services to their residents,” said U.S. Attorney Christine. “Safe Harbor and Fair Haven’s collaboration, fueled by this substantial OVW funding, will bring crisis assistance to those in need while assisting law enforcement in protecting these communities.”
“It is absolutely essential, as a society, to work together to prevent violence,” said OVW Principal Deputy Director Laura Rogers. “We are proud to do our part to support the people of Georgia as we all join together to keep victims safe and hold offenders accountable for their crimes.”
Safe Harbor, in Brunswick, is a sanctuary for abused, tormented and neglected children and older youths. Fair Haven is a domestic violence shelter in Jesup, Ga.
“Domestic violence and sexual assault against women is a steadily increasing concern in our community because of how COVID-19 has forced women and children to stay home with their abusers,” said Leslie Hartman, Executive Director of Safe Harbor Center. “We are thrilled to partner with Fair Haven Domestic Violence Shelter to ensure that all survivors receive the resources they need to ensure their safety and well-being. This unique partnership allows both organizations to leverage its expertise to effectively meet the needs of and enhance the response to domestic violence and sexual assault victims in the community.”
“We are honored to be able to collaborate with the U.S. Department of Justice and Safe Harbor to assist individuals who are suffering in sexual and domestic violence situations,” said Dana Mathis, Executive Director of Fair Haven. “Through this effort we will be able to work together to help those living in abusive situations to secure the services they need so their cases are investigated properly, and to ensure justice is served for the horrendous acts that they endured.”
The OVW funding, provided through a competitive grant process, is a component of the federal Rural Domestic Violence, Dating Violence, Sexual Assault, and Stalking Program. Safe Harbor and Fair Haven plan to use the funding to establish a regional domestic violence/rape crisis center in Jeff Davis County; provide two full-time and one part-time staff positions to provide client services; provide client transportation to the center; provide training to local law enforcement personnel; and to provide outreach events and increase community awareness.
The Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) 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. For more information about grants, contact the Office on Violence Against Women at 202-307-6026 and ask for the Outreach and Communications Division.
Fort Wayne Man Sentenced to 121 Months in PrisonRead the Press Release
FORT WAYNE – Roderick Dedeaux, age 30, of Fort Wayne, Indiana, was sentenced before U.S. District Court Judge Holly A. Brady following his plea of guilty to distributing more than 50 grams of methamphetamine, announced U.S. Attorney Kirsch.
Dedeaux was sentenced to 121 months in prison followed by 5 years of supervised release and he was ordered to forfeit a 2011 Honda Pilot.
According to documents in this case, in May 2019, Dedeaux distributed 50 grams or more of methamphetamine.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation with the assistance of the Fort Wayne Safe Streets Gang Task Force comprised of the FBI, Indiana State Police, Allen County Police Department and the Fort Wayne Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Stacey R. Speith and Anthony W. Geller.
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Fort Wayne Man Sentenced to 10 Years in PrisonRead the Press Release
FORT WAYNE – Troy Topp, age 25, of Fort Wayne, Indiana, was sentenced before U.S. District Court Judge Holly A. Brady following his plea of guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm, announced U.S. Attorney Kirsch.
Topp was sentenced to 120 months in prison followed by 2 years of supervised release.
According to documents in this case, in July 2019, Topp was observed on video stealing from a vehicle. When officers approached Topp, he ran but was apprehended and narcotics and paraphernalia were recovered. A stolen firearm was also recovered and Topp admitted to acquiring the firearm in exchange for money and drugs. Topp has a prior state court felony conviction in June 2015 out of Allen County for dealing methamphetamine, possession of methamphetamine and possession of two or more precursors with the intent to manufacture a controlled substance.
The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives with the assistance of the Fort Wayne Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Stacey R. Speith
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Fort Myers Drug Trafficker Convicted by Federal JuryRead the Press Release
Fort Myers, FL – A federal jury has found Edgar Vazquez (35, Fort Myers) guilty of possessing with the intent to distribute more than 500 grams of cocaine. Vazquez faces a minimum mandatory term of 5 years, and up to 40 years, in federal prison. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for December 14, 2020.
Vazquez had been indicted on May 22, 2019.
According to evidence presented at trial, on September 18, 2018, deputies from the Lee County Sheriff’s Office and special agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration seized more than one kilogram of cocaine, cash, and a loaded firearm from Vazquez’s residence and his vehicle.
This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Simon R. Eth and David P. Sullivan.
Former Wisconsin and New York City Schools Official Pleads Guilty to Child Pornography ChargeRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Matthew D. Krueger of the Eastern District of Wisconsin, announced that on September 15, 2020, David A. Hay (age: 40) most recently of Brooklyn, New York, entered a guilty plea to a charge of receiving child pornography.
According to court filings, in May of 2010, while living and employed in the Eastern District of Wisconsin, David A. Hay exchanged emails with a 15-year-old child. During the course of these communications, the defendant received sexually explicit digital images and videos from the child. Hay also provided sexually explicit images of himself to the 15-year-old.
Hay was principal at Tomah High School 2011 through 2014. Prior to that, Hay was principal at Kettle Moraine High School from 2008 through 2011 before resigning following the school district’s discovery of irregularities with Hay’s licensing and the misuse of a district credit card. Most recently, Hay served as Deputy Chief of Staff to the New York City Chancellor of Schools.
Hay faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years and up to 20 years of incarceration in federal prison when he is sentenced in Green Bay’s Federal District Court on December 18, 2020.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006, by the U.S. Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
This case was investigated by the City of Neenah Police Department with the assistance of the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Daniel R. Humble.
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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Former Paraguayan Congresswoman and Husband Admit Roles in International Money Laundering ConspiracyRead the Press Release
TRENTON, N.J. – A former member of Paraguay’s Congress and her husband have admitted their roles in an international money laundering conspiracy, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced today.
Raimundo Va, 45, pleaded guilty today before Chief Judge Freda L. Wolfson to an information charging him with one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. His wife, Cynthia Elizabeth Tarrago Diaz, 41, pleaded guilty on Sept. 15, 2020, before Judge Wolfson to an information charging her with conspiracy to commit money laundering.
On Nov. 21, 2019, Tarrago and Va were arrested by the FBI after they arrived in Newark as part of their unlawful money laundering activities, and were charged in a criminal complaint along with a third individual, Rodrigo Alvarenga Paredes, who remains at large in Paraguay.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
Until January 2019, Tarrago was a member of Paraguay’s Congress, and in late 2019 had publicly announced her intention to run for mayor of the capital district of Asunción. While in office, Tarrago and her husband, Va, agreed to accept at least $2 million in United States currency from two individuals who represented themselves to be narcotics traffickers, believing the money to be proceeds of unlawful narcotics trafficking, and to launder the funds through an international network of accounts in order to disguise the unlawful source of the proceeds. Tarrago and Va traveled to New Jersey and Florida on multiple occasions and accepted approximately $800,000 in United States currency from the purported drug traffickers, and caused those funds to be laundered through the conspiracy’s network of accounts, and ultimately transferred back to an account maintained by the purported drug traffickers. To disguise the illicit source of the funds, members of the conspiracy generated fraudulent invoices that stated legitimate business reasons for the transfers of laundered funds to the purported drug traffickers’ account. Moreover, on multiple occasions during the purported drug dealers’ meetings with Tarrago and Va, Tarrago indicated that she would be able to assist the purported drug dealers with procuring large quantities of cocaine from Paraguay at an inexpensive price.
Unbeknownst to Tarrago and Va, the currency that they accepted from the purported drug traffickers and caused to be laundered was not actually illicit drug proceeds. Rather, those funds were provided to Tarrago and Va by two undercover FBI agents as part of an extensive investigation of the money laundering network. During the investigation, the undercover agents met with Tarrago and Va in the United States on numerous occasions, and obtained substantial video and audio recordings of their interactions with Tarrago and Va, during which details of the money laundering network were discussed. The evidence obtained during the investigation revealed that Alvarenga Paredes, operating through the auspices of a money-exchange company in Paraguay, coordinated the laundering of the funds that the undercover agents provided to Tarrago and Va.
The money laundering conspiracy counts against Tarrago and Va carry a statutory maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison, and a maximum fine of the greater of $500,000 or twice the value of the funds involved in the conspiracy. Sentencing for both defendants is scheduled for Jan. 21, 2021. The investigation is continuing.
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., with the investigation leading to today’s guilty pleas. He also thanked the Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs and the FBI’s Legal Attaché in Buenos Aires for their assistance in the case.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys R. Joseph Gribko of the Criminal Division in Trenton and J. Brendan Day, Attorney in Charge of the Trenton Office of the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The charges and allegations against Alvarenga Paredes contained in the complaint are merely accusations, and he is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Former Illinois State Senator Pleads Guilty to Federal Tax ChargeRead the Press Release
CHICAGO — Former Illinois State Sen. TERRANCE P. LINK pleaded guilty today to a federal tax charge and admitted willfully underreporting his income for several years.
Link admitted in a plea agreement that he willfully underreported his income on his tax returns for the calendar years 2012 through 2016. The conduct caused total losses to the IRS of at least $71,133, and to the Illinois Department of Revenue of at least $11,527, the plea agreement states. For the calendar year 2016, Link admitted that he underreported approximately $93,859, approximately $73,159 of which was money from a campaign fund – Friends of Terry Link – that Link spent on personal expenses, the plea agreement states.
Link, 73, pleaded guilty to one count of filing a false tax return, which is punishable by up to three years in federal prison. He agreed to pay restitution of $71,133 to the IRS, and $11,527 to the Illinois Department of Revenue.
U.S. District Judge Robert M. Dow, Jr., did not immediately set a sentencing date. A status hearing was set for March 30, 2021, at 9:00 a.m.
The guilty plea was announced by John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Emmerson Buie, Jr., Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI; and Kathy A. Enstrom, Special Agent-in-Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation in Chicago. The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christopher J. Stetler and James P. Durkin.
Former Enforcer of Boston Latin Kings Chapter Pleads Guilty to Racketeering Conspiracy ChargesRead the Press Release
BOSTON – The former Enforcer of the Boston-based Devon Street Kings Chapter of the Massachusetts Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation (“Latin Kings”) pleaded guilty today to racketeering charges.
Matthew Palacios, a/k/a “King Nene,” 26, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to conduct enterprise affairs through a pattern of racketeering activity, more commonly referred to as RICO conspiracy. U.S. Senior District Court Judge Rya W. Zobel scheduled sentencing for Jan. 7, 2021. Palacios was arrested and charged in December 2019, at which time he was the Enforcer of the Devon Street Kings.
The Latin Kings are a violent criminal enterprise comprised of thousands of members across the United States. The Latin Kings adhere to a national manifesto, employ an internal judiciary and use a sophisticated system of communication to maintain the hierarchy of the organization. As alleged in court documents, the gang uses drug distribution to generate revenue, and engages in violence against witnesses and rival gangs to further its influence and to protect its turf.
Named for its origin on Devon Street in Boston, the Devon Street Kings or D5K Chapter of the Latin Kings, included approximately a dozen members. As Enforcer, Palacios was responsible for ensuring discipline, meting out punishment to members for violating the rules of the gang and organizing violence against rival gang members and those believed to be cooperating with law enforcement. The Devon Street Kings, in turn, reported to the Massachusetts State Leadership of the Latin Kings, providing information, structure, funds and other resources to further the Latin Kings goals and directives in the state. During the investigation, various meetings were covertly recorded where Palacios and members of the Devon Street Kings discussed the business of the racketeering enterprise. Palacios was present during meetings where members were beaten and violence against rival gangs was discussed and decided upon.
In December 2019, a federal grand jury returned an indictment alleging racketeering conspiracy, drug conspiracy and firearms charges against 62 leaders, members and associates of the Latin Kings. Palacios is the fourteenth defendant to plead guilty in the case.
The RICO conspiracy charge provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, 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; Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; Commissioner Carol Mici of the Massachusetts Department of Correction; and Boston Police Commissioner William Gross made the announcement today. Valuable assistance was also provided by the FBI North Shore Gang Task Force and the Bristol County and Suffolk County District Attorney’s Offices. Assistant U.S. Attorney Philip A. Mallard and Mark Grady of Lelling’s Criminal Division are prosecuting the case.
The operation was conducted by a multi-agency task force through the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), a partnership between federal, state and local law enforcement agencies. 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. More information on the OCDETF program is available here: https://www.justice.gov/ocdetf/about-ocdetf.
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.
Former Business Executive Sentenced to Prison for $4 Million Bribery Scheme Involving DoD Contracts for Wounded Military VeteransRead the Press Release
ALEXANDRIA, Va. – An Oregon man was sentenced today to 42 months in prison for his role in a $4 million bribery and fraud scheme related to a number of Department of Defense contracts to provide support services for the recovery and rehabilitation of wounded military veterans.
“Brodie Thomson’s greed caused him to put his own financial interests above the well-being of the wounded warriors,” said G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. “After receiving over $4 million in illegal kickbacks, Thomson admitted to attempting to obstruct the government’s investigation by creating fake business plans to make the kickback payments look like legitimate payments. Throughout the course of this investigation, Thomson made several poor and illegal decisions in an attempt to avoid being held accountable for his criminal conduct.”
According to court documents, Thomson, 45, of Redmond, a former executive for an Arlington company (referred to as Company A) solicited commercial bribes and kickbacks from an Oregon-based company (referred to as Company B), in exchange for influencing Company A to give favorable treatment to Company B in connection with the award of certain Defense Department subcontracts. From 2012 through 2015, Company A paid Company B over $16 million on labor that Company B performed for Company A in connection with running various athletic camps, clinics and games for wounded warriors around the United States. Thomson demanded that Company B pay him varying percentages of Company B’s profits on work received from Company A resulting in the payment of approximately $4.1 million in kickbacks during this three-year period. As part of the scheme to defraud Company A, Thomson directed employees of Company B how to mark up their invoices for labor when billing Company A for particular services Company B performed. Thomson did not disclose to Company A his receipt of the kickback payments from Company B for his own personal use.
“The illegal manipulation of Federal government contracts costs the taxpayer and warfighter alike,” said Robert E. Craig Jr., Special Agent in Charge of the DCIS Mid-Atlantic Field Office. “DCIS is committed to working alongside our law enforcement partners to detect and deter fraud and bring those to justice that criminally exploit the contracting process.”
“Mr. Thomson’s scheme to defraud the Department of Defense and wounded military veterans threatened the integrity of our military’s acquisition process and wasted taxpayer money,” said John Salazar, Special Agent in Charge of the NCIS Washington Field Office. “This sentencing emphasizes how important it is for our military personnel and family members to remain vigilant and always report suspected fraud. It also serves as a warning that crimes targeting our military family will be fully investigated and the criminals brought to justice.”
“The defendant thought he could outsmart the system, he was mistaken,” said Frank Robey, Director of the U.S. Criminal Investigation Command's Major Procurement Fraud Unit. “This investigation is yet another example of our agents and our law enforcement partners working together to uncover corruption, protect the DoD and hold unscrupulous businesses accountable.”
G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Robert E. Craig Jr., Special Agent in Charge for the Defense Criminal Investigative Service’s (DCIS) Mid-Atlantic Field Office; John Salazar, Special Agent in Charge of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) Washington Field Office; and Frank Robey, Director of the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command’s Major Procurement Fraud Unit (MPFU), made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Anthony J. Trenga. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Heidi B. Gesch, Kimberly R. Pedersen, and Jack Hanly prosecuted the case.
A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information are located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 1:20-cr-67.
Federal Grand Jury Indicts Men for Gun and Drug OffensesRead the Press Release
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – U.S. Attorney Peter G. Strasser announced today that on Friday, September 4, 2020 TERRAN WILLIAMS, a/k/a “Funky,” age 22, and ALLEN GRAY, a/k/a “Kyedi,” age 24, both residents of New Orleans, Louisiana, were charged in a sealed three-count indictment by a Federal Grand Jury for violations of the Federal Gun Control Act and the Federal Controlled Substances Act. Both defendants are in federal custody and the Indictment was unsealed on September 15, 2020.
WILLIAMS and GRAY are charged in Count 1 with possession with intent to distribute a quantity of marijuana and fentanyl, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Sections 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(C) and (b)(1)(D). In Count 2, WILLIAMS and GRAY are charged with possession of firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 924(c)(1)(A). In Count 3, WILLIAMS and GRAY are charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 922(g)(1).
If convicted of Count 1, WILLIAMS and GRAY face a maximum sentence of 20 years imprisonment, a fine of $1,000,000, at least 3 years of supervised release, and a special assessment fee of $100. If convicted of Count 2, WILLIAMS and GRAY face a mandatory minimum sentence of 5 years up to life imprisonment, which is to run consecutively to all other sentences, a $250,000 fine, up to 5 years of supervised release and a special assessment fee of $100. If convicted of Count 3, WILLIAMS and GRAY face a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years, a $250,000 fine, up to 3 years of supervised release, and a special assessment fee of $100.
U. S. Attorney Strasser reiterated that the indictment is merely a charge and that the guilt of the defendant must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.
This case is also part of Project Guardian, the Department of Justice’s signature initiative to reduce gun violence and enforce federal firearms laws. Initiated by the Attorney General in the fall of 2019, Project Guardian draws upon the Department’s past successful programs to reduce gun violence; enhances coordination of federal, state, local, and tribal authorities in investigating and prosecuting gun crimes; improves information-sharing 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. The United States Attorney’s Office has prosecuted this case with support from the following Project Guardian partners: the New Orleans Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Elizabeth Privitera, Inga Petrovich and David Haller of the Violent Crime Unit of the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
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Federal Court Bars Florida Tax Preparation Businesses and Their Tax Return Preparers from Preparing Tax ReturnsRead the Press Release
The Justice Department announced today that a federal court in Orlando, Florida, permanently enjoined Advanced Tax Services Inc. and Genson Financial Group LLC from preparing federal tax returns for others and ordered the businesses to disgorge $710,191.55, jointly and severally, representing the ill-gotten gains that they received for the preparation of tax returns. The court also entered permanent injunctions and disgorgement judgments against defendants Lenorris Lamoute and Dosuld Pierre, whom the court found prepared tax returns for compensation at Advanced Tax Services. The order was entered on default because the defendants failed to defend against the government’s allegations.
The court found that the defendants prepared tax returns making false or fraudulent claims for the Earned Income Tax Credit, often based on fabricated business income and expenses, bogus or improperly claimed dependents, and false filing status. The court further determined that the defendants prepared returns reporting non-existent Schedule A businesses, false itemized deductions, false or fraudulent fuel tax credits, and bogus education expenses.
Previously, the court entered permanent injunctions against Marcgenson Marc, the owner of Advanced Tax Services and Genson Financial Group, as well as Tiana Character and Character’s business, Character Financial Solutions LLC, and Shirleen Thales, and ordered Marc to disgorge $710,191.55.
“The Tax Division will work with its IRS partners to shut down return preparers who claim improper or illegal deductions and credits for their customers” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Zuckerman of the Justice Department’s Tax Division. “Taxpayers should be vigilant so they do not file tax returns claiming false deductions.”
In the past decade, the Tax Division has obtained injunctions against hundreds of unscrupulous tax preparers. Information about these cases is available on the Tax Division’s website. An alphabetical listing of persons enjoined from preparing returns and promoting tax schemes can be found here. If you believe that one of the enjoined persons or businesses may be violating an injunction, please contact the Tax Division with details.
Ellaville Defendant Pleads Guilty to Possessing A Stolen Gun Discovered During Perry PD Traffic StopRead the Press Release
MACON, Ga. – An Ellaville, Georgia man, found in possession of a stolen gun by Perry Police officers, pleaded guilty to his crime this week, said Charles “Charlie” Peeler, the United States Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia.p
Gary Michael Buck, 39, of Ellaville pleaded guilty to one count possession of a stolen firearm before U.S. District Judge Tripp Self on Tuesday, September 15. Buck faces a maximum ten years in federal prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release. Sentencing is scheduled for December 8, 2020.
“When we investigate violent crimes in the Middle District of Georgia we often find criminals in possession of stolen guns. We refuse to let stolen guns become the currency of criminals and will federally prosecute those who choose to possess a stolen firearm,” said U.S. Attorney Peeler. “I want to thank the Perry Police Department, FBI and ATF for their tireless efforts to make our communities safer by removing stolen guns from our streets.”
Perry Police Department officers discovered Buck with a stolen firearm on May 1, 2019, after an officer pulled him over for driving with an expired temporary tag and making an illegal traffic maneuver. Buck was recorded admitting the firearm was stolen and also spontaneously told a FBI officer on the way to his arraignment that he knew the gun he possessed was stolen. The stolen firearm was a Hi-Point, Model C-9, 9mm Luger caliber, semi-automatic pistol.
This case was prosecuted as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.
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 https://www.justice.gov/archives/projectguardian.
The case was investigated by the Perry Police Department, the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF). Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven Ouzts is prosecuting the case for the Government. Questions can be directed to Pamela Lightsey, Public Information Officer, United States Attorney’s Office, at (478) 621-2603 or Melissa Hodges, Public Affairs Director (Contractor), United States Attorney’s Office, at (478) 765-2362.
Drug Trafficker from Wilmington's Hilltop Neighborhood Sentenced to over 9 Years in Federal PrisonRead the Press Release
WILMINGTON, Del. – David C. Weiss, U.S. Attorney for the District of Delaware, announced today that Alfred Evans, 40, of Wilmington, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Colm F. Connolly to 9 ½ years in prison after a wiretap investigation revealed his extensive drug dealing activities in Wilmington’s Hilltop neighborhood.
According to court documents, the Defendant was arrested in March of 2018 with over 500 grams of powder cocaine and over 190 grams of crack cocaine. He pled guilty to conspiring to distribute those drugs. As mentioned in open court during the sentencing hearing, Evans has been convicted of ten prior felony offenses, and was previously declared a habitual offender by the State of Delaware.
U.S. Attorney Weiss stated, “This case demonstrates our continued commitment to work with our HIDTA partners to protect Wilmington neighborhoods from those who make the drug trade their profession.”
The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”) Group 41, which is part of the Liberty Mid-Atlantic High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (“HIDTA”). The DEA received significant assistance from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (“ATF”) and the Wilmington Police Department. Other agencies aiding the investigation included the New Castle County Police Department, and Delaware State Police. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christopher L. de Barrena-Sarobe and Laura D. Hatcher prosecuted the case.
A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Delaware. Related court documents and information is located on the website of the District Court for the District of Delaware or on PACER by searching for Case No. 19-CR-00061 (CFC).
Dominican Republic National Sentenced to 32 Months in Prison for Passport FraudRead the Press Release
TRENTON, N.J. – A Dominican Republic national was sentenced today to 32 months in prison for illegally using the identity of another person to fraudulently obtain a U.S. passport, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.
Arnaldo Antonio Medrano Bonilla, 56, of the Dominican Republic, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Peter G. Sheridan to an information charging him with one count of passport fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft. Judge Sheridan imposed the sentence by videoconference today.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
In August 2015, Medrano submitted a fraudulent renewal application for a U.S. passport, listing the name, birth date, and Social Security number of a U.S. citizen, but providing his own photograph. Medrano presented that U.S. citizen’s birth certificate in further support of his fraudulent application. In this way, Medrano unlawfully obtained a U.S. passport bearing his own photograph and the identity of another person.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Sheridan sentenced Medrano to three years of supervised release.
U.S. Attorney Carpenito credited special agents of the U.S. Department of State, Diplomatic Security Service, New York Field Office, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Keith Byrne, with the investigation leading to today’s sentencing.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew M. Trombly of the Cybercrime Unit in Newark.
District Man Sentenced to 8 1/2 Year Prison Term for String of Robberies Targeting Women in Columbia HeightsRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON – Thadduse Hartridge, 19, of Washington, D.C. was sentenced on September 16, 2020 by the Honorable Judge Judith A. Smith of the Superior Court for the District of Columbia to 102 months’ (8 ½ years’) incarceration to be followed by three years of supervised release, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Michael R. Sherwin, and Peter Newsham, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).
Hartridge previously pled guilty in the Superior Court for the District of Columbia to one count of Carjacking for an offense that occurred on January 17, 2019, one count of Robbery for an offense that occurred on January 16, 2019, and one count of Assault with Intent to Commit Robbery for an offense that occurred on December 12, 2018.
In each of the three offenses, Hartridge, along with his co-defendant, Kaveyon Andrews, targeted female victims during the day while they were walking alone near alleyways in the Columbia Heights neighborhood. In each offense, the defendants used gratuitous force and violence to rob the victims of their property. The defendants used weapons, including a metal baton, a knife, and a brick to assault the victims, causing serious physical injuries, including compound fractures, lacerations, and head injuries. After the offense on January 17, 2019, Hartridge and his co-defendant were identified from high resolution security footage depicting the carjacking offense that was broadcasted over news media outlets by MPD. The co-defendant turned himself in and provided a statement to law enforcement, in which he acknowledged his role in the three offenses. In addition, Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) footage and metro card data showed that both defendants travelled from Anacostia metro station to the Columbia Heights metro station just before each of the offenses, and there was additional security footage obtained capturing a portion of the January 16, 2019 offense.
The co-defendant, Kaveyon Andrews, is scheduled to be sentenced before Judge Smith on the same counts on November 10, 2020.
In announcing the sentence, Acting U.S. Attorney Michael R. Sherwin, and MPD Chief Newsham commended the work of those law enforcement officers, including the Metro Transit Police Department officers, who assisted in the investigation of the cases. They also cited the efforts of Assistant U.S. Attorney Lauren B. Goddard, who investigated and prosecuted the cases from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. They also thanked Paralegal Specialist Antoinette M. Sakamsa.
Corporate Embezzler Sentenced to 33 Months in PrisonRead the Press Release
A woman was sentenced today in U.S. District Court for embezzling $823,714 from her Tulsa employer. Leslie Michelle Clark, 53, of Tulsa, previously pleaded guilty to one count of bank fraud on June 10.
U.S. District Judge Gregory K. Frizzell sentenced Clark to 33 months in federal prison followed by five years of supervised release. He further ordered Clark to pay $823, 714 in restitution to her former employer.
“The U.S. Attorney’s Office white collar prosecution team won’t stand idly by while thieves like Leslie Clark embezzle from Oklahoma businesses,” said U.S. Attorney Trent Shores. “Fraudsters in this district can expect to find themselves in a federal courtroom and then in federal prison. On top of that, Leslie Clark will have to pay back the more than $800,000 of ill-gotten gains she embezzled.”
Clark was hired as a financial controller at a Tulsa company in 2014. As controller, she supervised all financial matters, including contracting, billing and paying vendors. In July 2018, Clark created a fictitious consulting company, opened an account for it, and caused her employer to pay for fabricated services never rendered. Clark falsely and fraudulently told colleagues at the company that the payments were for consulting services and presented false and fraudulent invoices from her fictitious company in support of her scheme.
Clark will report to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility on Jan. 6, 2021.
The FBI conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard M. Cella prosecuted the case.
Co-owner of Ross Pawn Shop Sentenced to Probation, Community Service for Resale SchemeRead the Press Release
PITTSBURGH, PA - A resident of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, has been sentenced in federal court to one year of probation and ordered to perform 150 hours of community service on her guilty plea to mail fraud and engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from specified unlawful activity, United States Attorney Scott W. Brady announced today.
Chief United States District Judge Mark R. Hornak imposed the sentence on Aliya Zaman, 51.
According to information presented to the court, Aliya Zaman and her husband owned and operated Ninja Babcock, a pawn/resale shop in Ross Township, Pennsylvania. The Zamans knowingly and willfully purchased health and beauty aids (HBAs), stolen by opioid-dependent individuals from various commercial retailers, such as Rite-Aid, Wal-Mart and Giant Eagle, for pennies on the dollar. The stolen HBAs were then resold through Amazon.
Prior to imposing sentence, Judge Hornak stated that although Aliya Zaman pled guilty to financial crimes, her conduct fueled the opioid addiction of numerous Pittsburgh residents.
Assistant United States Attorney Robert S. Cessar prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.
United States Attorney Brady commended the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation, United States Postal Inspection Service, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General, City of Pittsburgh Bureau of Police, Shaler Township Police Department and Ross Township Police Department for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Aliya Zaman.
Cambridge Woman Pleads Guilty to Stealing Social Security and SNAP BenefitsRead the Press Release
BOSTON – A Cambridge woman pleaded guilty today to stealing over $80,000 in Social Security and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits.
Phaedra M. Sheets, 45, pleaded guilty to two counts of theft of public funds. In February 2020, Sheets was charged by indictment and arrested. Sentencing has been scheduled for December 17, 2020.
Sheets’ mother was receiving Social Security benefits and SNAP benefits at the time of her death in November 2009. Her death was never reported to the Social Security Administration (SSA) nor to the Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance, and the agencies continued to pay monthly benefits on her behalf. When SSA attempted to contact Sheets’ mother to perform a review of her benefits claim, Sheets posed as her mother and directed SSA to deposit her mother’s benefits into various bank accounts, from which Sheets withdrew the funds. Sheets also impersonated her deceased mother in interactions with the Department of Transitional Assistance and used her mother’s SNAP card to make purchases for nearly nine years after her death.
From December 2009 to September 2018, Sheets stole approximately $71,636 in Social Security benefits and approximately $13,923 in SNAP benefits.
The charge of theft of public funds provides for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater. 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; Tonya Perkins, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Social Security Administration, Office of Inspector General, Office of Investigations, Boston Field Division; and Suzanne M. Bump, State Auditor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts made the announcement today. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen Burzycki of Lelling’s Major Crimes Unit is prosecuting the case.
Buffalo Man Sentenced for Assaulting A VA Police OfficerRead 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 Darnell Curry, 27, of Buffalo, NY, who was convicted of assaulting, resisting, or impeding a federal officer, was sentenced to serve six months in prison by U.S. Magistrate Judge H. Kenneth Schroeder, Jr.
Assistant U.S. Attorney John D. Fabian, who handled the case, stated that on February 19, 2020, while at the Starbucks inside the Veterans Affairs Medical Center on Bailey Avenue in Buffalo, the defendant engaged in a verbal argument with a female employee.
Three Department of Veterans Affairs Police officers approached Curry in response to a complaint about the verbal argument. When the defendant did not hear or acknowledge verbal commands, an officer touched Curry's shoulder. The defendant turned and a scuffle with the officers ensued. During the scuffle, Curry pulled an officer by the vest and into his body. In the process, the defendant struck the officer in the head, leaving a mark on his cheek below his left eye. Physical resistance by the defendant resulted in the officers taking Curry to the ground, handcuffing, and detaining him.
The sentencing is the result of an investigation by the VA Office of Inspector General, Criminal Investigations Division, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Christopher Algieri, and the VA Medical Center Police, under the direction of Chief Michael Steinmetz.
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Buffalo Man Going to Prison for 9 Years for Distributing Child PornographyRead 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 Robert Notto, 26, of Buffalo, NY, who was convicted of distribution of child pornography, was sentenced to serve 108 months in prison by Senior U.S. District Judge William M. Skretny.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Caitlin M. Higgins, who handled the case, stated that in March 2017, the defendant met the then-13-year-old minor victim through a teen social network. The minor victim resided in Phoenix, Arizona, and told Notto her age. On July 28, 2017, the defendant, seeking to entice the minor victim to engage in sexual activity, sent the minor victim three images constituting child pornography from his computer. In addition, from March through July 2017, Notto repeatedly engaged in sexually explicit conversations with the minor victim. On at least two occasions, the defendant requested that the child take a sexually explicit picture of herself.
The sentencing is the result of an investigation by Homeland Security Investigations, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Kevin Kelly.
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Brooklyn Man Pleads Guilty to Stealing Mail in LiverpoolRead the Press Release
SYRACUSE, NEW YORK – Kevin Ronny Williams, age 23, of Brooklyn, New York, pled guilty today to one count of possession with the intent to unlawfully use a United States Postal Service key, and one count of theft of mail, announced Acting United States Attorney Antoinette T. Bacon, Joseph W. Cronin, Postal Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Boston Field Division, and Matthew Modafferi, Special Agent in Charge of the United States Postal Service-Office of Inspector General, Northeast Area Office.
As part of his guilty plea today, Williams admitted that during the night of March 5, 2020, into the early morning hours of March 6, 2020, he used a United States Postal Service (USPS) key that he obtained from a USPS employee to unlawfully open mail collection boxes in Liverpool, New York. Williams wore a USPS letter carrier uniform jacket and carried USPS mail satchel that he also obtained from a USPS employee. Williams stole mail contained in the collection boxes, including 49 pieces of first-class mail, all of which was later recovered. Kenny Ronny Williams was arrested by an Onondaga County Sheriff’s Deputy on patrol who noticed his (Williams') car in a vacant parking lot in Clay, New York. After a short vehicular and foot chase, Williams was taken into custody, and the USPS uniform jacket, postal key, mail satchel, and stolen mail were recovered.
Sentencing is scheduled for January 20, 2021. The charge of possession with the intent to unlawfully use a United States Postal Service key carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and the charge of theft of mail carries a maximum sentence of 5 years in prison. Both offenses carry a fine of up to $250,000, and a term of supervised release of 3 years following any sentence of imprisonment. 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.
Former USPS employee Quayshaun Mitchell is also charged by criminal complaint in connection with these offenses. His case remains pending and he is presumed innocent unless and until found guilty.
This case is being investigated by the United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) and the United States Postal Service-Office of Inspector General (USPS-OIG), and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Tamara Thomson.
Boston Man Indicted on Charge of Leaving Residential Re-Entry CenterRead the Press Release
BOSTON – A Boston man was indicted yesterday in federal court in connection with leaving a residential re-entry center where he was serving the remainder of his federal sentence for drug possession.
Derek Rego, 33, of Boston, was indicted by a federal grand jury on one count of escape. Rego was previously charged by criminal complaint on July 31, 2020.
According to the charging documents, in September 2012, Rego was sentenced in the District of Massachusetts to 120 months in prison for a drug conviction. On Jan. 8, 2020, Rego was transferred from a correctional institution to a residential re-entry center in Boston to serve the remainder of his confined sentence. On April 3, 2020, Rego was placed on escape status and the U.S. Marshals Service was notified. On May 4, 2020, Rego was arrested by law enforcement in Boston on domestic violence charges.
The charging statute provides for a mandatory minimum sentence of five 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 on the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; John Gibbons, United States Marshal for the District of Massachusetts; and Boston Police Commissioner William Gross made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Suzanne Sullivan Jacobus of Lelling’s Major Crimes Unit 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.
Bergen County Attorney Indicted for Fraudulently Obtaining Loans Meant to Help Small Businesses During COVID-19 PandemicRead the Press Release
NEWARK, N.J. – A Bergen County, New Jersey, attorney who allegedly fraudulently obtained nearly $9 million in federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans has been indicted, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito and Acting Assistant Attorney General Brian C. Rabbitt of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division announced
Jae H. Choi, 48, of Cliffside Park, New Jersey, previously charged by complaint, was charged by indictment on Sept. 15, 2020, with four counts of bank fraud, four counts of false statements on a loan application, one count of aggravated identity theft, and one count of money laundering. The indictment seeks to forfeit 11 bank accounts and one investment account for the proceeds of the fraud, as well as a million-dollar home Choi purchased in Cresskill, New Jersey. An arraignment date has not yet been set.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
Choi submitted four fraudulent PPP loan applications to four lenders on behalf of four businesses that purportedly provided educational services. Choi fabricated the existence of hundreds of employees, manipulated bank and tax records, and falsified a driver’s license on the applications.
Choi falsely represented to the lenders that the companies controlled by him had hundreds of employees and paid over $3 million in monthly wages. In one instance, Choi emailed a lender falsely claiming that he just told 150 of his employees that they were losing their jobs because the PPP loan had not yet come through, and that he had “watched grown men and women crying.” Choi wrote in that same email that he “sincerely hope[d]” that the lender’s employee “would never find [himself] in this kind of situation.”
Based on Choi’s alleged misrepresentations, three of the four lenders funded three businesses with an approximately $3 million PPP loan each. Choi received a total of nearly $9 million in federal COVID-19 emergency relief funds meant for distressed small businesses.
Choi used the fraudulently obtained PPP loan proceeds to pay for numerous personal expenses, including to buy a nearly $1 million home in Cresskill, New Jersey, fund approximately $30,000 in remodeling and other improvements, and invest millions more in the stock market through an account held in the name of his spouse.
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act is a federal law enacted March 29. It is designed to provide emergency financial assistance to millions of Americans who are suffering the economic effects resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. One source of relief provided by the CARES Act is the authorization of up to $349 billion in forgivable loans to small businesses for job retention and certain other expenses through the PPP. In April 2020, Congress authorized over $300 billion in additional PPP funding.
The PPP allows qualifying small businesses and other organizations to receive loans with a maturity of two years and an interest rate of 1 percent. Businesses must use PPP loan proceeds for payroll costs, interest on mortgages, rent and utilities. The PPP allows the interest and principal to be forgiven if businesses spend the proceeds on these expenses within a set time period and use at least a certain percentage of the loan towards payroll expenses.
This case was investigated by IRS – Criminal Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Michael Montanez; inspectors of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, under the direction of Inspector in Charge James Buthorn; the Small Business Administration Office of the Inspector General; and the Social Security Administration – Office of the Inspector General.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Macurdy of the District of New Jersey and Trial Attorney Andrew Tyler of the Fraud Section of the Department of Justice, Criminal Division.
Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.
The year 2020 marks the 150th anniversary of the Department of Justice. Learn more about the history of our agency at www.Justice.gov/Celebrating150Years.
The charges and allegations in the indictment are merely allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.
Auburn, Washington, man charged for being a felon in possession of firearmsRead the Press Release
(Seattle)—A 32-year-old Auburn, Washington, man was arrested today and charged federally with being a felon in possession of a firearm, announced U.S. Attorney Brian T. Moran. AL M. TALAGA was arrested without incident late yesterday. He is scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in Seattle at 2:00 today.
According to the criminal complaint, on June 1, 2020, Seattle Police officers responded to reports of a break-in and looting at the Sneaker City store on Pike Street in downtown Seattle. When police arrived, various suspects were running away from the store. Witnesses said some of the looters had loaded merchandise into a Dodge Magnum that was parked near the store. In checking the car for suspects, police officers noted a number of items that appeared to have been taken from the store, as well as a firearm in the driver’s side door panel of the car.
Police impounded the car and traced its ownership to TALAGA. A court-authorized search of the car revealed that there were two firearms in the car. In addition to the loaded .40 caliber Glock in the side pocket of the door, investigators found a second loaded handgun under the floor mat on the passenger side of the car. A law enforcement database check verified that the .40 caliber pistol under the floor mat had been reported stolen in 2019 from a residence in Tacoma during a home invasion robbery.
TALAGA is prohibited from possessing firearms due to a 2005 conviction in King County Superior Court for Second Degree Robbery.
The charges contained in the complaint are only allegations. A person is presumed innocent unless and until he or she is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Being a felon in possession of a firearm is punishable by up to five years in prison.
The case is being investigated by the Seattle Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF).
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kate Crisham.
Auburn Man Sentenced for Possessing Firearm after Domestic Violence ConvictionRead the Press Release
PORTLAND, Maine: An Auburn man was sentenced today in federal court in Portland for possessing a firearm after being convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence, U.S. Attorney Halsey B. Frank announced.
U.S. District Judge D. Brock Hornby sentenced Willie Richard Minor, 59, to time served (two years, eight months and 10 days) and three years of supervised release. Minor was convicted following a two-day jury trial in February 2020.
According to court records and evidence presented at trial, in June 2010, Minor was convicted of Assault in Maine Superior Court. The victim of the assault was his wife at the time. As a result of that conviction, Minor was prohibited from possessing firearms. In November 2016, Minor admitted to having a gun in an interview with the Auburn Police Department. The police subsequently recovered the gun he had described.
Minor was originally convicted and sentenced on the federal charge after a trial in December 2017. While the case was pending on appeal, the Supreme Court of the United States issued a decision, Rehaif v. United States, that changed what the government is required to prove in certain federal firearm possession cases. As a result, the parties agreed to have the original conviction vacated, and the case was remanded for a new trial. At the second trial, the government was required to prove not only that Minor had been convicted of assaulting his wife, but also that he knew he had been so convicted and was aware of certain details of the conviction.
The Auburn Police Department, the Mechanic Falls Police Department, the Maine State Police Crime Laboratory, the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated the case.
Auburn Man Pleads Guilty to Drug TraffickingRead the Press Release
CONCORD - Leon Mandigo, 33, of Auburn, pleaded guilty in federal court to drug trafficking, United States Attorney Scott W. Murray announced today.
According to court documents and statements made in court, during an ongoing drug trafficking investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration learned that Mandigo was obtaining fentanyl from a source located in Massachusetts. On March 7, 2018, agents learned that Mandigo intended to travel to Massachusetts to purchase 200 grams of fentanyl and later observed him participate in a hand-to-hand exchange with a known drug trafficker.
After the transaction, the New Hampshire State Police stopped a vehicle in which Mandigo was a passenger. During the stop, he pulled an orange bag from his pants and threw it on the ground where a trooper later picked it up. The bag contained approximately 184 grams of fentanyl.
Mandigo is scheduled to be sentenced on December 30, 2020.
“The interstate transportation of fentanyl into New Hampshire endangers all of our citizens,” said U.S. Attorney Murray. “Public health and safety have been seriously undermined by the distribution of this drug. In order to counteract this dangerous and illegal trade, we will continue to work tirelessly to identify and prosecute the traffickers who are responsible for fentanyl sales in the Granite State.”
The case was a collaborative investigation that involved the DEA; the New Hampshire State Police; the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office; the Nashua Police Department; the Massachusetts State Police; the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office; the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office; the Essex County District Attorney’s Office; the Internal Revenue Service; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations; United States Customs and Border Protection Boston Field Office; the United States Marshals Service; the United States Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service; the Manchester Police Department; the Lisbon Police Department; the Littleton Police Department; the Seabrook Police Department; the Haverhill (MA) Police Department; the Methuen (MA) Police Department; the Lowell (MA) Police Department; and the Maine State Police. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Debra Walsh.
Agencies participating in this investigation are part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF). OCDETF was established in 1982 to conduct comprehensive, multilevel attacks on major drug trafficking and money laundering organizations and is the keystone of the Department of Justice’s drug reduction strategy. Today, OCDETF combines the resources and expertise of its member federal agencies in cooperation with state and local law enforcement. The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt, and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking organizations, transnational criminal organizations, and money laundering organizations that present a significant threat to the public safety, economic, or national security of the United States.
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Atlanta’s former Chief Financial Officer Jim Beard indicted for fraud, possessing machine guns, and obstructionRead the Press Release
ATLANTA – The City of Atlanta’s former Chief Financial Officer, Jimmie “Jim” A. Beard, has been charged in an eight-count federal indictment with wire fraud, theft from the government, possession of machine guns, making a false statement, and obstructing federal tax laws.
“Jim Beard allegedly abused his position as one of the most powerful executives in the City of Atlanta to commit federal crimes for his own gain, including stealing tens of thousands of dollars of the public’s money, possessing machine guns that members of the public cannot have, and obstructing an IRS audit,” said U.S. Attorney Byung J. “BJay” Pak. “Those in government leadership positions have an obligation to set the organization’s culture for ethical conduct. As alleged by the Grand Jury, Beard fundamentally betrayed that obligation.”
“This alleged fraud was not only a violation of the oath taken by this pubic official, but a theft of the public's trust,” said Chris Hacker, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta. “Public corruption is one of the FBI's top priorities and we continue to work with our local and federal partners to protect citizens against officials who abuse that trust.”
“Jimmie A. Beard systematically defrauded the City of Atlanta and impeded the IRS from assessing his true tax liability,” said IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge James E. Dorsey. “His desire for money, along with the power and luxuries it buys, drove him to allegedly perpetrate crimes violating his position and public trust. Thanks to the financial expertise of IRS-CI special agents, who worked side-by-side with our federal partners to uncover these schemes, Beard will now face the consequences of his actions.”
“ATF will continue to dedicate federal resources in conjunction with crucial Federal and local law enforcement partners to the pursuit of eradicating and forestalling criminal activity in the Atlanta area,” said Beau Kolodka, Assistant Special Agent in Charge, ATF Atlanta Field Division.
According to U.S. Attorney Pak, the charges, and other information presented in court: From approximately November 2011 to May 2018, Beard served as the Chief Financial Officer (“CFO”) of the City of Atlanta. As CFO, Beard directed and managed the Department of Finance. In that capacity, Beard listed his “primary responsibility” as “the oversight and management of the City’s financial condition.”
In June 2012, the City of Atlanta issued Beard a credit card for official City of Atlanta business-related purchases. Before receiving the credit card, Beard signed a user agreement acknowledging the terms and conditions of its use, including agreeing that the credit card “shall be used for business purposes only,” and that “personal charges” were “prohibited.” Further, in 2014, the Department of Finance – which Beard oversaw – issued the City of Atlanta Credit Card Program Policy that imposed terms and conditions on the use of its credit cards, including that “credit card users should use good judgment when using a City credit card.”
Based on his position as CFO and director of the Department of Finance, the City of Atlanta required Beard to complete annually a Financial Disclosure Statement under penalty of perjury. In March 2014, Beard filed a Financial Disclosure Statement, on which Beard attested that in 2013, he was not “self-employed or employed by any corporation, partnership, proprietorship, [or] other business entity besides the City of Atlanta.”
According to the City of Atlanta’s Code of Ethics, City of Atlanta employees may be reimbursed for “travel, meals, and lodging, provided to an official or employee in connection with speaking engagements, participation on professional or civic panels, teaching, or attendance at conferences in an official capacity;” – but the officials or employees “[w]ithin 30 days of receipt of reimbursements … must report such reimbursements on a form [known as a Travel Disclosure Report].” From 2013 to 2018, Beard filed no Travel Disclosure Reports for any of the travel reimbursements that he received.
Between August 2013 and March 2018, Beard devised and executed a scheme to defraud to obtain money and property from the City of Atlanta for private use, including using City of Atlanta funds: (1) to pay for personal travel expenses for himself, his family, and his travel companions; (2) to buy items for personal use, including two machine guns; (3) to pay for travel to conferences or meetings for which the conference or meeting host reimbursed Beard, but Beard kept the money and did not give the reimbursement funds to the City of Atlanta; and (4) to pay for travel that Beard subsequently claimed to the IRS were travel expenses related to his sole proprietorship consulting work that Beard never disclosed to the City of Atlanta on any Financial Disclosure Statement.
In total, Beard allegedly defrauded the City of Atlanta out of tens of thousands of dollars. By way of example only:
• Beard’s City of Atlanta credit card was used to pay more than $3,800 for hotel rooms at the J.W. Marriott Hotel in Chicago for use by Beard’s step-daughter while attending the Lollapalooza Music Festival in 2015 and 2016, though Beard was not even in Chicago.
• Beard’s City of Atlanta credit card was used to pay more than $1,350 for a hotel room at the St. Regis Hotel in Atlanta, including $200 per night for an upgraded room, $70 for private dining, and $80 for rose-petal turndown service, even though: Beard lived in Atlanta; Beard’s wife flew from Florida to stay at the hotel with him; and Beard's work calendar listed the notation “Do Not Schedule – PTO,” (a common initialism for “Paid Time Off”) during one of the days that Beard and his wife stayed at the hotel.
• Beard kept thousands of dollars paid by third parties to reimburse Beard for travel related expenses to attend conferences and meetings, even though the City of Atlanta paid for Beard’s travel, and Beard never filed Travel Disclosure Reports to notify the City of Atlanta that the reimbursements had been paid.
• Beard ordered two custom-built machine guns that he caused to be delivered to Atlanta City Hall, after which Beard illegally took possession of the machine guns for his personal use – even though it was illegal for the machine guns to be possessed by anyone other than law enforcement and military personnel. Beard then had the City of Atlanta issue a $2,641.90 check to pay for the machine guns. In connection with the purchase, Beard completed and submitted a U.S. Department of the Treasury tax exemption form, in which he falsely certified that the machine guns were for the exclusive use of the Atlanta Police Department.
In 2013, Beard earned a salary of approximately $221,108 for his position as CFO for the City of Atlanta. In a Financial Disclosure Statement that Beard filed in March 2014, he stated under penalty of perjury that in 2013 he was not “self-employed or employed by any corporation, partnership, proprietorship, [or] other business entity besides the City of Atlanta.” Yet, Beard submitted to the IRS under penalty of perjury a Form 1040 Individual Income Tax Return for tax year 2013, in which Beard claimed that he owned a personal consulting business, and which incurred more than $33,500 in alleged business losses in 2013, including $12,000 for travel expenses and $7,115 for deducible meals and entertainment expenses.
In July 2015, the IRS advised Beard that it was auditing his 2013 tax return, and requested that Beard provide documentation to support his purported personal consulting business expenses. In his submissions to the IRS, Beard falsely claimed that he incurred airfare, hotel, and meal expenses related to his personal consulting business – when in fact Beard’s submissions to the IRS included: (1) receipts for airfare and hotels that Beard paid for using his City of Atlanta credit card (and that Beard had previously told the City of Atlanta were related to his job as CFO); (2) expense reports for personal meals with his wife and personal companions; and (3) altered receipts that hid from the IRS the fact that the charges were incurred in connection with Beard’s work for the City of Atlanta. Based on Beard’s acts and submissions, the IRS allowed Beard to deduct $12,000 in business travel expenses.
On September 15, 2020, a grand jury returned an indictment against Jimmie “Jim” A. Beard, 56, of Atlanta, Georgia, on eight federal charges, including wire fraud, federal program theft, possession of machine guns, making a false entry on a U.S. Government application, and obstructing the internal revenue laws. Members of the public are reminded that the indictment only contains charges. The defendant is presumed innocent of the charges and it will be the United States’ burden to prove the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigations are investigating this case.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jeffrey W. Davis, Chief of the Public Integrity Section, and Trevor C. Wilmot are prosecuting the case.
For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at [email protected] or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.
Armed Robber Sentenced to 300 Months in Federal PrisonRead the Press Release
A man who robbed five Tulsa and Sand Springs businesses was sentenced Tuesday in federal court to 300 months in prison, announced U.S. Attorney Trent Shores.
John Michael McIntosh, 23, of Tulsa, will serve an additional five years on supervised release. Chief U.S. District Judge John E. Dowdell further ordered McIntosh to pay $1,127.25 in restitution.
“Let it be known that we will aggressively prosecute gun toting robbers like John McIntosh and seek lengthy federal prison sentences. After robbing five businesses in the Tulsa metro-area, McIntosh earned every day of his 25-year sentence,” said U.S. Attorney Trent Shores. “The credit goes to our law enforcement partners and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mark Morgan and Robert Raley who collectively performed great work to bring McIntosh to justice.”“
On Nov. 1, 2019, McIntosh pleaded guilty to five counts of obstructing, delaying, and affecting commerce by robbery and three counts of carrying, using, and brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.
In his plea agreement, McIntosh admitted that he robbed a Kentucky Fried Chicken in Sand Springs on Feb. 17, 2019; a Waters Liquor Store in Tulsa on Feb. 19, 2019; and a Liquor Mart in Tulsa on Feb. 21, 2019. He further admitted to robbing two QuikTrips, located in Tulsa and in Sand Springs, on Feb. 23. In all the robberies, McIntosh threatened employees while brandishing a handgun. During one of the robberies, the defendant pointed a gun at the cashier and demanded money from the register, threatening to “blow her f***ing face off” if she didn’t comply.
The Sand Springs and Tulsa Police Departments and FBI conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mark R. Morgan and Robert T. Raley prosecuted the case.
Argentine Citizen Sentenced to 35 Years in Prison for Child Sexual Exploitation and Distribution of Child Pornography over the Dark WebRead the Press Release
LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Andres Rafael Viola, 36, an Argentine citizen residing in Las Vegas, was sentenced today to 35 years in federal prison for repeatedly sexually assaulting a child, producing images of the sexual abuse, and possessing hundreds of images and videos of child sexual assault, announced U.S. Attorney Nicholas A. Trutanich for the District of Nevada, Special Agent in Charge Francisco Burrola for Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and Sheriff Joseph Lombardo of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD).
Viola pleaded guilty in February 2020 to sexual exploitation of children and possession of child pornography. In addition to imprisonment, U.S. District Judge Richard F. Boulware II sentenced Viola to a lifetime term of supervised release. Under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA), Viola must register as a sex offender. Viola’s sentence also includes a $10,000 assessment pursuant to the Justice of Victims of Trafficking Act.
According to court documents, in May 2019, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) received a report from Yahoo, Inc. indicating that a user received child pornography sent by Viola, who was using the dark web Tor network to distribute images of child sexual assault.
On June 7, 2019, federal law enforcement arrested Viola at his Las Vegas residence. Law enforcement determined that Viola had supervisory control over a child victim. A forensic examination of electronic devices that were seized from Viola’s home revealed nearly 350 child pornography images and video, including Viola’s sexual exploitation of the child victim and a curated collection of child pornography from other victims. Viola had used the dark web to distribute, trade, and share the child sexual assault materials he created of the child victim.
For the hands-on offenses related to the child victim, Viola pleaded guilty in Nevada state court to one count of Sexual Assault of a Child under the Age of 14.
This case was the product of an investigation by HSI and the LVMPD. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Bianca Pucci and Elham Roohani prosecuted the case.
To report child sexual abuse and exploitation, contact the NCMEC at 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678) or online at https://report.cybertip.org/.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the Department of Justice’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, 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.
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Albany County Man Sentenced to 80 Years for Child Sexual Exploitation OffensesRead the Press Release
ALBANY, NEW YORK – Douglas Fountain, age 31, of Colonie, New York, was sentenced yesterday to a total of 80 years in prison for 11 felony convictions, including sexually exploiting a child, transporting child pornography, and possessing child pornography.
The announcement was made by Acting United States Attorney Antoinette T. Bacon and Kevin Kelly, Special Agent in Charge of the Buffalo Field Office of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
As part of his guilty plea on August 15, 2019, Fountain admitted that on eight occasions between July 2017 and July 2018, he used cell phones to create videos and images of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct, some of which included Fountain engaging in sexual acts with the minor. Fountain also admitted to sharing some of those images on an image-sharing website operated from another country, and to possessing images of child pornography on his laptop computers, including images depicting the sexual abuse and exploitation of pre-pubescent girls.
This case was investigated by HSI and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Alicia G. Suarez.
This case was prosecuted as part of Project Safe Childhood. Launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice, Project Safe Childhood is led by United States Attorney’s offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), and is designed to marshal federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.
20 Year Old Sentenced on Multiple Counts of Distributing Marijuana while Possessing a FirearmRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Joe Kelly announced Ammanuel Jiel, 20, was sentenced today by United States District Judge Brian C. Buescher to 126 months’ imprisonment after pleading guilty to two counts of distribution of marijuana and possession of a firearm while drug trafficking. He will also serve 3 years of supervised release following his release from prison. There is no parole in the federal system.
Between August 31, 2018 and October 29, 2018, Jiel was responsible for selling marijuana and firearms on numerous occasions to a confidential informant posing as a firearms trafficker. Jiel was personally responsible for the sale of 16 firearms, many of which were stolen or had obliterated serial numbers. Jiel also sold several ounces of marijuana during these firearms sales.
This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and Omaha Police Department as part of Project Safe Neighborhood. Project Safe Neighborhood is a national initiative of the Department of Justice that was announced in 2001 to reduce and prevent violent crime and make the nation’s neighborhoods safer. Jiel’s arrest was also part of Operation South Sudan Soldiers which targeted members of the Trip Set and African Pride street gangs.
15 September 2020
Vermont Man Charged with Hiring Person to Kidnap and Kill a Man in a Foreign Country, and Producing and Receiving Child PornographyRead the Press Release
A federal grand jury in the District of Vermont returned a third superseding indictment today against a Burlington man for conspiring to kidnap and kill a man in a foreign country, murder for hire, and five child pornography offenses.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Brian C. Rabbitt of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Christina E. Nolan of the District of Vermont, and Resident Agent in Charge Michael Shea of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) – Burlington, Vermont, made the announcement.
Sean Fiore, 36, was charged with one count of conspiring to kidnap and murder a man in a foreign country from within the United States, one count of producing and attempting to produce child pornography, one count of conspiring to produce child pornography, and one count of receiving and attempting to receive child pornography. Fiore is also charged with using interstate commerce facilities, namely cell phones and the Internet, in the commission of murder-for-hire, and an additional count each of possession and receipt of child pornography, with which he was charged in prior indictments.
Fiore was arrested in May 2019, as part of an operation conducted by Vermont’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (VT-ICAC) and HSI, that involved executing search warrants on several residences in May 2019, based on cyber tips that were received from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Fiore is currently detained pending trial, and his initial appearance on the superseding indictment will take place before Magistrate Judge John M. Conroy in the District of Vermont on a date yet to be scheduled.
The indictment alleges that between November 2018 and April 2019, Fiore knowingly and intentionally used and caused to be used facilities of interstate and foreign commerce, namely, the Internet and cell phones, with the intent of paying someone to kidnap and murder an adult male in a foreign country. Fiore is alleged to have conspired with that person to have a male victim kidnapped, bound, tortured, and then murdered, so that a video of the torture and killing could be made. Fiore allegedly paid approximately $4,000 for the video to be made.
An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
The investigation was conducted by HSI. Trial Attorney Mona Sahaf of the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Barbara Masterson of the District of Vermont are prosecuting the case with the assistance of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section and the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs.
The year 2020 marks the 150th anniversary of the Department of Justice. Learn more about the history of our agency at www.Justice.gov/Celebrating150Years.
U.S. Attorney’s Office Settles Claims Against Borough of Woodcliff Lake Involving Denial of Permit to Orthodox Jewish Group to Construct Worship CenterRead the Press Release
NEWARK, N.J. – The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey today announced an agreement with the Borough of Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey, to resolve allegations that the Borough violated the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) by denying zoning approval for an Orthodox Jewish congregation to construct a worship center on its property.
The proposed consent decree, which was filed today in the U.S. District Court of the District of New Jersey and must still be approved by the Court, would resolve a lawsuit filed by the United States against the borough, which alleged that the borough had prevented Valley Chabad, an Orthodox Jewish congregation that has worshipped in the borough for over 20 years, from constructing a new house of worship. A separate settlement agreement and proposed consent decree have resolved a related lawsuit filed by Valley Chabad against the borough.
“RLUIPA protects the rights of every religious community to worship free of unlawful burdens,” U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito, District of New Jersey, said. “As our office continues to vigorously protect the civil rights of the Jewish community and all religious communities in our District, we will use every tool at our disposal, including pursuing court-enforceable injunctive remedies. Through our actions today, we have taken steps to ensure that Valley Chabad and its members will no longer face unlawful barriers in their practice of religion.”
“For more than four centuries, religious people from all over the world have sought refuge here,” Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband of the Civil Rights Division said. “Often, these people did so to escape persecution by monarchs, dictators, and other despots. Then, when our ancestors established the United States of America, the Founders adopted the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and thereby enacted into law the right of all people to exercise religion. Two decades ago, the Congress extended these protections when it passed the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act. That law protects religious people and their institutions from unduly burdensome or discriminatory land use regulations. The United States is, and must always remain, committed to the right of all people to practice their faith and worship together. The United States Department of Justice will continue to fight against any unlawful deprivation of the right of all people to practice their faith. As our ancestors did four centuries ago, today, religious people often gather and worship with those who share their faith. Through this agreement, the Valley Chabad and its members will be able to build a house of worship and to exercise their right to practice their religion freely.”
The complaint alleged that Woodcliff Lake violated RLUIPA by imposing a substantial burden on Valley Chabad’s religious exercise when, on three occasions between 2006 and 2013, Valley Chabad attempted to purchase parcels of property in the borough in order to construct a house of worship and meeting center, called a Chabad house, large enough to meet its needs. In each instance, the borough purchased or re-zoned the parcels, preventing development of a Chabad house. The complaint also alleges that this conduct and the borough’s eventual denial of Valley Chabad’s application for zoning relief to expand on its current property burdened Valley Chabad’s ability to worship freely without furthering a compelling government interest.
As part of the consent decree, the borough will permit Valley Chabad to construct a new Chabad house on its property. The resolution would also enjoin the borough from acting in a manner that violates RLUIPA and require the borough to establish a procedure for receiving and resolving RLUIPA complaints, train its employees on RLUIPA’s requirements, and submit regular reports to the United States and the court on its compliance. In the separate agreement that resolves the related private action, the borough agreed to pay Valley Chabad $1.5 million to resolve its claims for damages and attorney’s fees that arose from the borough’s conduct.
RLUIPA is a federal law that protects religious institutions from unduly burdensome or discriminatory land use regulations. In June 2018, the Justice Department announced its Place to Worship Initiative, which focuses on RLUIPA’s provisions that protect the rights of houses of worship and other religious institutions to worship on their land. More information is available at www.justice.gov/crt/placetoworship.
People who believe they have been subjected to discrimination in land use or zoning decisions may contact the U.S. Attorney’s Office Civil Rights Hotline at (855) 281-3339 or the Civil Rights Division Housing and Civil Enforcement Section at (800) 896-7743, or through the complaint portal on the Place to Worship Initiative website. More information about RLUIPA, including questions and answers about the law and other documents, may be found at http://www.justice.gov/crt/about/hce/rluipaexplain.php.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael E. Campion, Chief of the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Civil Rights Unit, Civil Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Susan Millenky, of the Civil Rights Unit, Civil Division.
U.S. Attorney’s Office Reaches ADA Settlement with Joe Black’s Bar and Grill and the Hub Pub in Grand Forks, North DakotaRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Drew H. Wrigley announced today that the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of North Dakota completed its investigation and entered into settlement agreements with Joe Black’s Bar and Grill and the Hub Pub to resolve allegations that these restaurants violated the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 ("ADA"). Both restaurants are owned and operated by Dennis Blackmun and Joe Schneider and are popular establishments in downtown Grand Forks.
The settlement agreements resolve ADA complaints alleging that Joe Black’s Bar and Grill and the Hub Pub were not fully accessible to individuals with disabilities. During its investigation, the U.S. Attorney’s Office found that neither establishment offered dining spaces or black jack gaming spaces to accommodate wheelchairs. As part of the settlement agreements, Joe Black’s Bar and Grill and the Hub Pub will provide accessible dining tables in both restaurant facilities, and both restaurants will also provide an accessible black jack gaming space to accommodate customers using wheelchairs. The Hub Pub, which created an accessible entrance during its 2016 renovations, will provide signage to patrons communicating the location of its accessible entrance.
Under federal law, private entities that own or operate places of "public accommodation," including restaurants and bars, are prohibited from discriminating on the basis of disability. The ADA authorizes the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate complaints and undertake reviews of compliance of covered entities. The Justice Department is also authorized to commence a civil lawsuit in federal court in any case that involves a pattern or practice of discrimination or raises issue of general public importance, and to seek injunctive relief, monetary damages, and civil penalties.
U.S. Attorney Wrigley noted the owners of Joe Black’s Bar and Grill and the Hub Pub cooperated throughout this investigation and he commended their commitment to the ADA. "The corrective measures agreed to by Joe Black’s Bar and Grill and the Hub Pub will give individuals with disabilities an equal opportunity to enjoy two prominent downtown Grand Forks restaurants, as is required by the ADA. We hope other proprietors will proactively comply with this important civil rights law. Our Office remains committed to ensuring that individuals with disabilities will have full and equal access to places of public accommodation in North Dakota."
This matter was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Melissa H. Burkland of the District of North Dakota.
2020 marks the 30th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The Justice Department plays a central role in advancing the nation’s goal of equal opportunity, full participation, independent living, and economic self-sufficiency for people with disabilities. The Justice Department will continue to use its enforcement and technical assistance tools to eliminate discrimination against individuals with disabilities.
Any member of the public who wishes to file a complaint alleging that any place of public accommodation or public entity in North Dakota is not accessible to persons with disabilities may file a complaint online at www.ada.gov or contact the U.S. Attorney’s Office at 701-297-7400.
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U.S. Attorney, Tulsa Police Chief, and ATF Assistant Director announce the “2150 Initiative” in memory of Tulsa Police Sergeant Craig JohnsonRead the Press Release
Today, U.S. Attorney Trent Shores, Tulsa Police Chief Wendell Franklin, and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Assistant Director of Field Operations Thomas Chittum announced the launch of the “2150 Initiative” in memory of Tulsa Police Sergeant Craig Johnson who was killed in June by a multi-convicted felon with a firearm. Sgt. Johnson’s badge number, 2150, was selected for the initiative as a way to honor his life and his commitment to the Tulsa community. Mayor GT Bynum also joined law enforcement in making the announcement.
The 2150 Initiative is a collaborative effort between the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Oklahoma, Tulsa Police Department, ATF, and all other local, state, tribal and federal law enforcement partners to combat violent crime by focusing efforts on prohibited persons in possession of firearms as well as those responsible as the “source” of the firearms to prohibited persons.
“At the heart of the 2150 Initiative is reducing violent crime for every citizen in our district,” said U.S. Attorney Trent Shores. “Through this important initiative, we reaffirm our commitment to investigate and prosecute criminals illegally possessing guns, and in doing so honor Sgt. Craig Johnson’s legacy of service.”
“ATF is proud to honor the life and sacrifice of Tulsa Sgt. Craig Johnson by carrying on his mission,” stated ATF Assistant Director of Field Operations Thomas Chittum. “The 2150 Initiative will combine the three pillars of ATF’s strategy to keep Tulsa safe: partnership, intelligence, and enforcement. We will work tirelessly with our partners to identify, investigate, and aggressively prosecute armed criminals and those who arm them. Commit a gun crime in Tulsa and expect to spend a long time in federal prison.”
“Let it serve as a notice—if you are a criminal and you possess a gun, we will go after you. It is another tool in our tool belt to do so,” said Tulsa Police Chief Wendell Franklin. “When I think of this initiative, I think of action, and action is what Craig Johnson was all about. It is fitting that we can carry that on through the 2150 initiative.”
The Tulsa Police Department recently received an $800,000 Crime Gun Intelligence Center (CGIC) grant from the Department of Justice. With this grant, the department added a second NIBIN machine. The Tulsa Police Department also has created a Crime Gun Unit (CGU). This unit focuses and investigates the NIBIN leads developed through the robust NIBIN program within the department as well as shootings, felons in possession, and the sources of the crime guns in Tulsa. All emphasis will be on combating violent crime in Tulsa. An ATF NIBIN contractor is housed within the Tulsa Police Department’s Special Investigations Division (SID) where the CGU is located. The NIBIN contractor works side by side with the CGU investigators and ATF Special Agents to coordinate and investigate the NIBIN leads. To date for 2020, the Tulsa Police Department has seized 1,132 firearms. The TPD SID has been responsible for seizing 261 of those firearms in 2020 (approximately 23% of all the firearms seized by the department). There have been 931 firearms related arrests made by TPD in 2020. Of those arrests, 559 (approximately 60%) have been for Felon in Possession.
Since July, the U.S. Attorney’s Office has charged 30 defendants with firearms offenses, including 23 felons in possession of guns. Other charges include possession of a firearm after being convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence, making false statements to a firearms dealer and possession of a firearm by an alien illegally in the United States.
Two KC Men Charged with Robbing Family at GunpointRead the Press Release
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Two Kansas City, Missouri, men have been charged in federal court with robbing a family in their home at gunpoint.
Cameron E. Scott, 19, and Chase M. Murphy, 19, were charged in a five-count criminal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Mo., on Monday, Sept. 14. Murphy was recently charged in a separate complaint involving business robberies.
The federal criminal complaint charges Scott and Murphy together with one count of conspiracy to commit armed robbery, one count of armed robbery, one count of brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence, one count of stealing a firearm, and one count of possessing a stolen firearm.
According to an affidavit filed in support of the federal criminal complaint, Scott and Murphy (along with an unidentified third man) robbed a group of three juveniles and four adults at gunpoint on March 22, 2020. The affidavit says the three men forced their way into a residence in the 8100 block of Wayne Avenue in Kansas City, Mo., and pointed firearms at multiple victims (mostly members of the same family). They held one of the victims at gunpoint while demanding money and marijuana.
The three men stole $450, a rifle, and a Taurus 9mm semi-automatic pistol then left the residence. Officers saw a car matching the description a witness gave of the robbers’ vehicle. Three men got out of the vehicle and ran into a residence in the 9200 block of Indiana Avenue in Kansas City, Mo. Soon afterward, the driver of the vehicle returned to the car and left. Officers attempted to follow the vehicle but lost sight of it. Scott and Murphy were seen leaving from the back of the residence. When officers announced themselves, they fled into a wooded area. A short time later, Scott and Murphy were seen walking in the tree line near 93rd Street and Grandview Road. Officers tried to approach them, but they fled on foot again. Officers gave chase and ultimately found Scott and Murphy hiding in a creek bed.
Officers searched the residence on Indiana Avenue. In the attic, they found a black suitcase with a Taurus 9mm semi-automatic pistol (which matched the description of the firearm taken during the robbery) and a Smith and Wesson .40-caliber semi-automatic pistol.
The charges contained in this complaint are simply accusations, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charges must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ashleigh A. Ragner. It was investigated by the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department and the FBI.
Operation LeGend
Operation LeGend is a federal partnership with local law enforcement to address the increase in homicides and violent crime in Kansas City, Mo., in 2020. The operation honors the memory of four-year-old LeGend Taliferro, one of the youngest fatalities during a record-breaking year of homicides and shootings. Additional federal agents were assigned to the operation from the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the U.S. Marshals Service.Two Individuals Charged with Fraudulently Filing for Unemployment InsuranceRead the Press Release
Audrey Strauss, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Michael C. Mikulka, Special Agent-in-Charge of the New York Regional Office of the Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General (“DOL-OIG”), Patrick J. Freaney, Deputy Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Office of the United States Secret Service (“Secret Service”), and Roberta Reardon, Commissioner of the New York Department of Labor, announced today the unsealing of a Complaint charging CHRISTOPHER FERRERA and ASHLEY BOURDIER with operating a scheme to fraudulently file for unemployment insurance under the names of other people. FERRERA and BOURDIER were arrested this morning and will be presented and arraigned later today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Katharine H. Parker.
Acting U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said: “As alleged, Christopher Ferrera and Ashley Bourdier fraudulently applied for and received unemployment benefits by using the identities of other people. Thanks to the work of our law enforcement partners, the defendants are now facing prosecution for their alleged crimes.”
DOL-OIG Special Agent-in-Charge Michael C. Mikulka said: “Investigating fraud involving the Unemployment Insurance Program is an important part of the mission of the U.S. Department of Labor Office of Inspector General, particularly now when our nation is providing billions of dollars in unemployment benefits to American workers in need due to the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to vigorously investigate unemployment insurance fraud.”
Secret Service Deputy Special Agent in Charge Patrick J. Freaney said: “The U.S. Secret Service remains dedicated to working with our partners in combatting identity theft and financial fraud. These alleged criminal actions have a lasting effect on the victims by undermining their most basic sense of security by stealing their identities to perpetrate financial crimes. I would like to commend the investigative efforts of the New York Department of Labor and the Office of the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Labor in working with the U.S. Secret Service in bringing today’s charges.”
New York Department of Labor Commissioner Roberta Reardon said: “Unemployment Insurance fraud is something that we fight every day. However, for these criminals to use a pandemic for their personal gain while millions of New Yorkers legitimately need this assistance is even more despicable. I applaud the work of all of our law enforcement partners including the Office of the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Labor and the U.S. Secret Service for helping to keep money out of the hands of these thieves. We will continue to work with them to combat unemployment insurance fraud and hold these criminals accountable.”
As alleged in the Complaint unsealed today in Manhattan federal court[1]:
From March 2020 through August 2020, CHRISTOPHER FERRERA and ASHLEY BOURDIER engaged in a scheme to obtain unemployment insurance by fraudulently filing for benefits using the names and social security numbers of more than 25 other people. As a result of their scheme, FERRERA and BOURDIER received over $200,000 of unemployment insurance benefits from at least three different states.
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FERRERA, 25, of the Bronx, New York, and BOURDIER, 27, of New York, New York, are each charged with conspiring to commit wire fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. FERRERA is also charged with aggravated identity theft, which carries a mandatory two-year consecutive sentence. The maximum potential sentences in this case are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendants will be determined by the judge.
Ms. Strauss praised the work of DOL-OIG, the Secret Service, and the New York Department of Labor.
This case is being handled by the Office’s General Crimes Unit. Assistant United States Attorney Thomas S. Burnett is charge of the prosecution.
The charges contained in the Complaint are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
[1] As the introductory phrase signifies, the entirety of the text of the Complaint and the description of the Complaint set forth below constitute only allegations, and every fact described should be treated as an allegation.
Two California Men Admit Roles in Multi-State Recovery Home Patient Brokering SchemeRead the Press Release
TRENTON, N.J. – Two California men today admitted to participating in a conspiracy to broker patients as part of a multi-state patient scheme in which one of them directed recruiters to bribe drug-addicted individuals to enroll in drug rehabilitation and the other paid referral fees from his rehabilitation center in exchange for those patient referrals, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.
Kevin M. Dickau, 32, of Tustin, California, and Dr. Akikur Mohammad, 57, of West Hills, California, each pleaded guilty by videoconference before U.S. District Judge Peter G. Sheridan. Dickau pleaded guilty to an information charging him with one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud. Mohammad pleaded guilty to an information charging him with one count of conspiracy to violate the Eliminating Kickbacks in Recovery Act (EKRA).
EKRA, enacted by Congress in October 2018 as part of a broader package of legislation aimed at combatting the opioid crisis, bars the payment of kickbacks in exchange for the referral of patients to drug treatment facilities. Mohammad’s EKRA conviction is among the first such convictions in the country using the new charge.
Three other individuals have previously pleaded guilty for their roles in the scheme: Peter Costas, of Red Bank, New Jersey, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud in May 2020; Seth Logan Welsh, of Forest Hill, Maryland, and John C. Devlin, of Baltimore, Maryland, pleaded guilty to the same charge on Sept. 8, 2020.
According to documents filed in the case and statements made in court:
Dickau, Welsh, Devlin, and their conspirators owned and operated a marketing company in California. Dickau, Welsh, and Devlin used the marketing company to help orchestrate a scheme in New Jersey, Maryland, California, and other states that involved bribing individuals addicted to heroin and other drugs to enter into drug rehabilitation centers so Welsh, Devlin, and their conspirators could generate referral fees from those facilities. One facility in California that paid such referral fees was owned and operated by Mohammad.
The marketing company run by Dickau, Welsh, and Devlin maintained contractual relationships with drug treatment facilities around the country, including the one run by Mohammad. The marketing company also engaged a nationwide network of recruiters – including Costas in New Jersey – to identify and recruit potential patients, from New Jersey and other states, who were addicted to heroin or other drugs and who had robust private health insurance.
To convince drug-addicted individuals to travel to and enroll in rehabilitation when they otherwise would not have, Costas and other recruiters offered to bribe them – often as much as several thousand dollars – with the approval of Dickau, Welsh, and Devlin. Once the patients agreed to enroll in drug rehabilitation in exchange for the offered bribe, Dickau, Welsh, Devlin, and Costas would arrange and pay for cross-country travel to the drug treatment centers in California and other states, in concert with the owners of the facilities themselves, including Mohammad. Costas would stay in touch with the New Jersey patients at the facilities and specifically instruct them to stay at the facilities long enough to generate referral payments, and he would pass along information to Dickau, Welsh, and Devlin about the patients’ status at the facilities. Dickau, Welsh, and Devlin would monitor the other patients they brokered by speaking to other recruiters or to the owners and employees of the drug treatment facilities themselves.
Mohammad’s drug treatment facility had a contract with the marketing company. Mohammad’s facility and other facilities typically paid the marketing company a fee of $5,000 to $10,000 per patient referral. Dickau, Welsh, Devlin, and their conspirators divvied that money among themselves. Costas and other recruiters received approximately half that amount for each patient they brokered. Dickau, Welsh, Devlin, and their conspirators brokered scores of patients to drug treatment facilities around the country, including the one run by Mohammad, and the conspiracy caused millions of dollars of losses for health insurers.
For example, on Jan. 24, 2019, Mohammad, Welsh, and Dickau had a text message conversation in which Dickau sent a patient’s biographical and health insurance information to Mohammad to see if Mohammad would accept the patient at his drug treatment facility. After confirming that the patient had adequate health insurance benefits, Mohammad accepted the patient for admission to his drug treatment facility. The patient enrolled at Mohammad’s drug treatment facility soon after, and Mohammad billed a commercial insurance company over $70,000 for purported services rendered to the patient. The following month. Mohammad paid the marketing company a referral payment of $5,000 for referring the patient.
In a telephone conversation on March 14, 2019, Mohammad and Welsh discussed kickbacks for referrals for two patients sent to Mohammad’s drug treatment facility. During the call, Mohammad and Welsh discussed how long each patient stayed at Mohammad’s drug treatment facility, and they agreed that Mohammad would pay Dickau and Welsh a kickback for the two patient referrals. On the same day, Mohammad wrote a check to the marketing company for $10,000.
Dickau faces a maximum potential penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense. Mohammad faces a maximum potential penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense. Sentencing for both defendants is scheduled for Jan. 20, 2021.
U.S. Attorney Carpenito credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge George M. Crouch Jr. in Newark, with the investigation leading to today’s guilty pleas. He also thanked the FBI, under the direction of Acting Assistant Director in Charge John F. Bennett in Los Angeles, California and the District Attorney’s Office in Orange County, California.
The government is represented by Senior Trial Counsel Jason S. Gould of the Health Care Fraud Unit in Newark.
Two Alleged Hackers Charged with Defacing Websites Following Killing of Qasem SoleimaniRead the Press Release
Two alleged computer hackers were indicted in the District of Massachusetts on charges of damaging multiple websites across the United States as retaliation for United States military action in January 2020 that killed Qasem Soleimani, the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force, a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization.
Behzad Mohammadzadeh (a/k/a “Mrb3hz4d”), believed to be approximately 19 years old and a national of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and Marwan Abusrour (a/k/a “Mrwn007”), believed to be approximately 25 years old and a stateless national of the Palestinian Authority, were charged in an indictment unsealed today on one count of conspiring to commit intentional damage to a protected computer and one count of intentionally damaging a protected computer. The defendants are believed to be living in Iran and the Palestinian Authority and are wanted by United States authorities.
“The hackers victimized innocent third parties in a campaign to retaliate for the military action that killed Soleimani, a man behind countless acts of terror against Americans and others that the Iranian regime opposed,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers. “Their misguided, illegal actions in support of a rogue, destabilizing regime will come back to haunt them, as they are now fugitives from justice.”
“Foreign hackers are a persistent commercial and national security threat to the United States,” said United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling. “Working with our law enforcement partners worldwide, we will aggressively pursue, prosecute and apprehend those who use the internet to attack American interests.”
“These hackers are accused of orchestrating a brazen cyber-assault that defaced scores of websites across the country as a way of protesting and retaliating against the United States for killing the leader of a foreign terrorist organization. Now, they are wanted by the FBI and are no longer free to travel outside Iran or Palestine without risk of arrest,” said Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Boston Division. “Today’s indictment should send a powerful message that we will not hesitate to go after anyone who commits malicious cyber intrusions against innocent Americans in order to cause chaos, fear, and economic harm.”
According to the indictment, Mohammadzadeh has publicly claimed to have personally defaced more than 1,100 websites around the world with pro-Iranian and pro-hacker messages, which he began in 2018 and continues through the present day. Abusrour is a self-described spammer (sender of unsolicited emails for profit), carder (illicit trader in stolen credit cards) and black hat hacker (a hacker who violates computer security for personal gain or maliciousness) who has publicly claimed to have defaced at least 337 websites around the world, which he began no later than June 6, 2016, and continued through at least July 2020.
The defendants allegedly started working together on or about Dec. 26, 2019, when Abusrour began providing Mahammadzadeh with access to compromised websites. On or about Jan. 2, 2020, the U.S. Department of Defense issued a statement that the United States military had “taken decisive defensive action to protect U.S. personnel abroad by killing Qasem Soleimani, the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force, a U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization.” The statement explained that the “strike was aimed at deterring future Iranian attack plans” and described briefly General Soleimani’s past actions and future plans. The United States’ responsibility for General Soleimani’s death was widely publicized.
Following this statement, and in retaliation for it, Mohammadzadeh allegedly transmitted computer code to approximately 51 websites hosted in the United States, and defaced those websites by replacing their content with pictures of the late General Soleimani against a background of the Iranian flag along with the message, in English, “Down with America,” and other text. Some of the websites defaced were hosted on computers owned by a company with corporate headquarters in Massachusetts. No later than Jan. 7, 2020, Abusrour provided Mohammadzadeh with access to at least seven websites, which they defaced with a similar image and text. The defendants took credit online for their website defacements.
The charge of conspiring to commit intentional damage to a protected computer provides for a sentence of up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gain or loss, whichever is greatest. The charge of intentionally damaging a protected computer provides for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gain or loss, whichever is greatest. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers; United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; and Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division made this announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott L. Garland, Deputy Chief of Lelling’s National Security Unit, and Assistant U.S. Attorney David J. D’Addio of Lelling’s Securities, Financial & Cyber Fraud Unit are prosecuting this case with the assistance of Cyber Counsel Ali Ahmad of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section.
The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Two Alleged Hackers Charged with Defacing Websites Following Killing of Qasem SoleimaniRead the Press Release
BOSTON –Two alleged computer hackers were indicted in the District of Massachusetts on charges of damaging multiple websites across the United States as retaliation for United States military action in January 2020 that killed Qasem Soleimani, the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force, a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization.
Behzad Mohammadzadeh (a/k/a “Mrb3hz4d”), believed to be approximately 19 years old and a national of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and Marwan Abusrour (a/k/a “Mrwn007”), believed to be approximately 25 years old and a stateless national of the Palestinian Authority, were charged in an indictment unsealed today on one count of conspiring to commit intentional damage to a protected computer and one count of intentionally damaging a protected computer. The defendants are believed to be living in Iran and the Palestinian Authority and are wanted by United States authorities.
“Foreign hackers are a persistent commercial and national security threat to the United States,” said United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling. “Working with our law enforcement partners worldwide, we will aggressively pursue, prosecute and apprehend those who use the internet to attack American interests.”
“The hackers victimized innocent third parties in a campaign to retaliate for the military action that killed Soleimani, a man behind countless acts of terror against Americans and others that the Iranian regime opposed,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers. “Their misguided, illegal actions in support of a rogue, destabilizing regime will come back to haunt them, as they are now fugitives from justice.”
“These hackers are accused of orchestrating a brazen cyber-assault that defaced scores of websites across the country as a way of protesting and retaliating against the United States for killing the leader of a foreign terrorist organization. Now, they are wanted by the FBI and are no longer free to travel outside Iran or Palestine without risk of arrest,” said Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Boston Division. “Today’s indictment should send a powerful message that we will not hesitate to go after anyone who commits malicious cyber intrusions against innocent Americans in order to cause chaos, fear, and economic harm.”
According to the indictment, Mohammadzadeh has publicly claimed to have personally defaced more than 1,100 websites around the world with pro-Iranian and pro-hacker messages, which he began in 2018 and continues through the present day. Abusrour is a self-described spammer (sender of unsolicited emails for profit), carder (illicit trader in stolen credit cards) and black hat hacker (a hacker who violates computer security for personal gain or maliciousness) who has publicly claimed to have defaced at least 337 websites around the world, which he began no later than June 6, 2016, and continued through at least July 2020.
The defendants allegedly started working together on or about Dec. 26, 2019, when Abusrour began providing Mahammadzadeh with access to compromised websites. On or about Jan. 2, 2020, the U.S. Department of Defense issued a statement that the United States military had “taken decisive defensive action to protect U.S. personnel abroad by killing Qasem Soleimani, the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force, a U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization.” The statement explained that the “strike was aimed at deterring future Iranian attack plans” and described briefly General Soleimani’s past actions and future plans. The United States’ responsibility for General Soleimani’s death was widely publicized.
Following this statement, and in retaliation for it, Mohammadzadeh allegedly transmitted computer code to approximately 51 websites hosted in the United States, and defaced those websites by replacing their content with pictures of the late General Soleimani against a background of the Iranian flag along with the message, in English, “Down with America,” and other text. Some of the websites defaced were hosted on computers owned by a company with corporate headquarters in Massachusetts. No later than Jan. 7, 2020, Abusrour provided Mohammadzadeh with access to at least seven websites, which they defaced with a similar image and text. The defendants took credit online for their website defacements.
If you believe that a website that you hosted or owned was defaced by either of these defendants, please contact [email protected].
The charge of conspiring to commit intentional damage to a protected computer provides for a sentence of up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gain or loss, whichever is greatest. The charge of intentionally damaging a protected computer provides for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gain or loss, whichever is greatest. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
U.S. Attorney Lelling, NSD Assistant Attorney General Demers and Boston FBI SAC Bonavolonta made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Scott L. Garland, Deputy Chief of Lelling’s National Security Unit, and David D'Addio of Lelling's Securities, Financial & Cyber Fraud Unit are prosecuting this case with the assistance of Cyber Counsel Ali Ahmad of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section.
The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Texas woman charged with fraudulently obtaining nearly $2M in Covid relief fundsRead the Press Release
HOUSTON - A Texas woman has been taken into custody on allegations she fraudulently obtained more than $1.9 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans, announced U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Patrick and Acting Assistant Attorney General Brian C. Rabbitt of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.
Lola Shalewa Barbara Kasali, 22, Houston, is charged with making false statements to a financial institution, wire fraud, bank fraud and engaging in unlawful monetary transactions. She is expected to make her initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Christina Bryan at 2 p.m. tomorrow.
The Small Business Administration (SBA) guarantees PPP loans under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act.
The criminal complaint, unsealed today, alleges Kasali submitted at least two fraudulent PPP loan applications - one on behalf of an entity called Lola’s Level and the other in the name of Charm Hair Extensions. Kasali allegedly received more than $1.9 million in PPP loan funds following the approval of the Lola’s Level application. The charges allege that after receiving the funds, Kasali transferred the money into four additional bank accounts. Authorities were later able to seize the funds, according to the charges.
The loan applications allegedly asserted both Charm Hair Extensions and Lola’s Level had numerous employees and significant payroll expenses. According to the charges, however, neither entity has employees nor pays wages consistent with the amounts claimed in the loan applications.
The CARES Act is a federal law enacted March 29. It is designed to provide emergency financial assistance to millions of Americans who are suffering the economic effects resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. One source of relief the CARES Act provides is the authorization of up to $349 billion in forgivable loans to small businesses for job retention and certain other expenses through the PPP. In April 2020, Congress authorized over $300 billion in additional PPP funding.
The PPP allows qualifying small businesses and other organizations to receive loans with a maturity of two years and an interest rate of one percent. Businesses must use PPP loan proceeds for payroll costs, interest on mortgages, rent and utilities. The PPP allows the interest and principal to be forgiven if businesses spend the proceeds on these expenses within a set time period and use at least a certain percentage of the loan towards payroll expenses.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency Office of the Inspector General (OIG), SBA-OIG and U.S. Postal Inspection Service - Houston Division conducted the investigation. Trial Attorneys Timothy A. Duree and Matthew Grisier of the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section are prosecuting the case with the assistance of Assistant U.S. Attorney James McAlister for the Southern District of Texas.
A criminal complaint is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence. A defendant is presumed innocent unless convicted through due process of law.
Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.
The year 2020 marks the 150th anniversary of the Department of Justice. Learn more about the history of our agency at www.Justice.gov/Celebrating150Years.
Texas Woman Charged with Fraudulently Obtaining Nearly $2 Million in COVID Relief FundsRead the Press Release
A Texas woman has been taken into custody on allegations she fraudulently obtained more than $1.9 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Brian C. Rabbitt of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Patrick of the Southern District of Texas.
Lola Shalewa Barbara Kasali, 22, of Houston, is charged with making false statements to a financial institution, wire fraud, bank fraud and engaging in unlawful monetary transactions. She is expected to make her initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Christina Bryan in Houston at 2:00 p.m. CDT on Wednesday, Sept. 16.
The Small Business Administration (SBA) guarantees PPP loans under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act.
The criminal complaint, unsealed today, alleges Kasali submitted at least two fraudulent PPP loan applications - one on behalf of an entity called Lola’s Level and the other in the name of Charm Hair Extensions. Kasali allegedly received more than $1.9 million in PPP loan funds following the approval of the Lola’s Level application. The charges allege that after receiving the funds, Kasali transferred the money into four additional bank accounts. Authorities were later able to seize the funds, according to the charges.
The loan applications allegedly asserted both Charm Hair Extensions and Lola’s Level had numerous employees and significant payroll expenses. According to the charges, however, neither entity has employees nor pays wages consistent with the amounts claimed in the loan applications.
The CARES Act is a federal law enacted March 29. It is designed to provide emergency financial assistance to millions of Americans who are suffering the economic effects resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. One source of relief the CARES Act provides is the authorization of up to $349 billion in forgivable loans to small businesses for job retention and certain other expenses through the PPP. In April 2020, Congress authorized over $300 billion in additional PPP funding.
The PPP allows qualifying small businesses and other organizations to receive loans with a maturity of two years and an interest rate of one percent. Businesses must use PPP loan proceeds for payroll costs, interest on mortgages, rent and utilities. The PPP allows the interest and principal to be forgiven if businesses spend the proceeds on these expenses within a set time period and use at least a certain percentage of the loan towards payroll expenses.
A federal criminal complaint is merely an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency Office of the Inspector General (OIG), SBA-OIG and U.S. Postal Inspection Service - Houston Division conducted the investigation. Trial Attorneys Timothy A. Duree of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Matthew Grisier of the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section are prosecuting the case with the assistance of Assistant U.S. Attorney James McAlister for the Southern District of Texas.
Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.
The year 2020 marks the 150th anniversary of the Department of Justice. Learn more about the history of our agency at www.Justice.gov/Celebrating150Years.
Texas Deputy Sheriff Sentenced to over 18 Years in Prison for Sexual Exploitation of a Child and CyberstalkingRead the Press Release
BOSTON – A law enforcement officer from Texas was sentenced today in federal court in Worcester for sexual exploitation of a minor and cyberstalking charges.
Pasquale T. Salas, 26, a/k/a Gino, a former deputy sheriff with the Matagorda County Sheriff’s Office, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Timothy S. Hillman to 220 months in prison and five years of supervised release. In May 2020, Salas pleaded guilty to one count of sexual exploitation of a minor and one count of cyberstalking.
“The defendant was an online predator disguised in a law enforcement uniform,” said United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling. “He used the internet to gain the trust of vulnerable children and then turned around and exploited their innocence and played on their fears. This sentence is a warning to others, but it is also intended to stop this defendant, for the long term, from further victimizing children. We will always prioritize, and aggressively pursue, cases involving online predators.”
“Child predators often wear many disturbing disguises in our communities, and Pasquale Salas is no exception. As a deputy sheriff, he betrayed his oath and abused the trust that was placed in him. Instead of protecting children, he exploited children for his own sexual gratification. He is both a danger and a disgrace, and now, thanks to the courage of the victims who came forward in this case, and the hard work of our law enforcement partners, he’s been taken off the street so he can no longer harm anyone else," said Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Boston Division.
Salas met the victim through an online video game website in 2014, when the minor was 12 years old. Salas and the girl communicated on a private chat room and then moved those communications to various other platforms, including text messaging, Skype and Snapchat. Salas repeatedly solicited the minor to transmit sexually explicit images and videos of herself.
Beginning as early as 2016, Salas intimidated the victim into maintaining contact with him and sending additional sexually explicit material by threatening that he would send the minor’s sexually explicit images and videos to her family and her friends. In May 2019, when the victim attempted to terminate contact with Salas, he repeatedly sent threatening communications to the victim, using web-based applications to disguise the source of the communications.
At the time of his arrest, Salas’ smartphone was seized by investigators and found to contain at least one video, sent via social media, of the minor performing sexually explicit acts that Salas had coerced her to perform.
Salas admitted to contacting a second Massachusetts minor through the same website. From the time the victim was 12 until the time she was 16, Salas coerced her into remaining in contact with him and solicited sexually explicit images from her. Salas forced her to disclose her social media credentials so that he could track her activities and view her photographs. Salas sent pictures of himself inside a police car and with a gun and told the victim that he had law enforcement friends in Massachusetts who would follow her and that no one would believe her if she reported what he had done. Salas was in contact with the victim until the time of his arrest.
U.S. Attorney Lelling and Boston FBI SAC Bonavolonta made the announcement today. Valuable assistance was provided by Police Departments in Worcester County; the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas; the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Houston Field Office; the Matagorda (Texas) County Sheriff’s Office; and the Worcester Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristen Noto from Lelling’s Worcester Branch Office prosecuted the case.
The case is brought as part of Project Safe Childhood. In 2006, the Department of Justice created Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the DOJ’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov/.
Somerset County Man Admits Concealing Material Support to HamasRead the Press Release
TRENTON, N.J. – A Somerset County, New Jersey, man admitted today that he concealed his attempts to provide material support to Hamas, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito, Assistant Attorney General John C. Demers of the U.S. Department of Justice’s National Security Division, FBI-Newark Special Agent in Charge George M. Crouch Jr., and FBI Assistant Director for Counterterrorism Jill Sanborn announced.
Jonathan Xie, 21, of Basking Ridge, New Jersey, pleaded guilty by videoconference before U.S. District Judge Michael A. Shipp to an information charging him with one count of concealing attempts to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
Xie admitted that he knowingly concealed and disguised the nature, location, source, ownership and control of the attempt to provide material support and resources to Harakat al-Muqawamah al-Islamiyya and the Islamic Resistance Movement, an organization that is commonly referred to as Hamas. Xie admitted that he knew Hamas was a designated foreign terrorist organization and has engaged in terrorist activities. He said he attempted to conceal the attempted support believing it would be used to commit or assist in the commission of a violent act.
In December 2018, Xie sent $100 via Moneygram to an individual in Gaza who Xie believed to be a member of the Al-Qassam Brigades – a faction of Hamas that has conducted attacks, to include suicide bombings against civilian targets inside Israel. At approximately the same time that Xie sent the money, he posted on his Instagram account “Just donated $100 to Hamas. Pretty sure it was illegal but I don’t give a damn.”
In April 2019, Xie appeared in an Instagram Live video wearing a black ski mask and stated that he was against Zionism and the neo-liberal establishment. When asked by another participant in the video if he would go to Gaza and join Hamas, Xie stated “yes, If I could find a way.” Later in the video, Xie displayed a Hamas flag and retrieved a handgun. He then stated “I’m gonna go to the [expletive] pro-Israel march and I’m going to shoot everybody.” In subsequent Instagram posts, Xie stated, “I want to shoot the pro-israel demonstrators . . . you can get a gun and shoot your way through or use a vehicle and ram people . . . all you need is a gun or vehicle to go on a rampage . . . I do not care if security forces come after me, they will have to put a bullet in my head to stop me.”
In April 2019, Xie sent a link to a website for the Al-Qassam Brigades to an FBI employee who was acting online in an undercover capacity. Xie described the website as a “Hamas” website and stated he had previously sent a donation to the group. Xie then sent screenshots of the website to the undercover employee and demonstrated how to use a new feature on the website that allows donations to be sent via Bitcoin. On April 18, 2019, when the undercover employee asked whether Bitcoin was anonymous, Xie responded: “yah… i think that's why hamas is using it now because money transfer is not that anonymous.”
The count of concealing attempted material support carries a maximum potential penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense. Sentencing for Xie is scheduled for Jan. 27, 2021.
U.S. Attorney Carpenito and Assistant Attorney General Demers credited special agents of the FBI and task force officers of the Joint Terrorism Task Force, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Crouch, Jr.; and the U.S. Department of Defense, Army Counterintelligence, 902d Military Intelligence Group, with the investigation leading to today’s guilty plea. He also thanks the U.S. Secret Service for its assistance with the case.
The government is represented by Senior Trial Counsel Joyce M. Malliet of the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s National Security Unit and Trial Attorney Taryn Meeks of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Counterterrorism Section of the National Security Division.
Somerset County Man Admits Concealing Material Support to HamasRead the Press Release
A Somerset County, New Jersey, man admitted today that he concealed his attempts to provide material support to Hamas, Assistant Attorney General John C. Demers of the U.S. Department of Justice’s National Security Division, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito, FBI-Newark Special Agent in Charge George M. Crouch Jr., and FBI Assistant Director for Counterterrorism Jill Sanborn announced.
Jonathan Xie, 21, of Basking Ridge, New Jersey, pleaded guilty by videoconference before U.S. District Judge Michael A. Shipp to an information charging him with one count of concealing attempts to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
Xie admitted that he knowingly concealed and disguised the nature, location, source, ownership and control of the attempt to provide material support and resources to Harakat al-Muqawamah al-Islamiyya and the Islamic Resistance Movement, an organization that is commonly referred to as Hamas. Xie admitted that he knew Hamas was a designated foreign terrorist organization and has engaged in terrorist activities. He said he attempted to conceal the attempted support believing it would be used to commit or assist in the commission of a violent act.
In December 2018, Xie sent $100 via Moneygram to an individual in Gaza who Xie believed to be a member of the Al-Qassam Brigades – a faction of Hamas that has conducted attacks, to include suicide bombings against civilian targets inside Israel. At approximately the same time that Xie sent the money, he posted on his Instagram account “Just donated $100 to Hamas. Pretty sure it was illegal but I don’t give a damn.”
In April 2019, Xie appeared in an Instagram Live video wearing a black ski mask and stated that he was against Zionism and the neo-liberal establishment. When asked by another participant in the video if he would go to Gaza and join Hamas, Xie stated “yes, If I could find a way.” Later in the video, Xie displayed a Hamas flag and retrieved a handgun. He then stated “I’m gonna go to the [expletive] pro-Israel march and I’m going to shoot everybody.” In subsequent Instagram posts, Xie stated, “I want to shoot the pro-israel demonstrators . . . you can get a gun and shoot your way through or use a vehicle and ram people . . . all you need is a gun or vehicle to go on a rampage . . . I do not care if security forces come after me, they will have to put a bullet in my head to stop me.”
In April 2019, Xie sent a link to a website for the Al-Qassam Brigades to an FBI employee who was acting online in an undercover capacity. Xie described the website as a “Hamas” website and stated he had previously sent a donation to the group. Xie then sent screenshots of the website to the undercover employee and demonstrated how to use a new feature on the website that allows donations to be sent via Bitcoin. On April 18, 2019, when the undercover employee asked whether Bitcoin was anonymous, Xie responded: “yah… i think that's why hamas is using it now because money transfer is not that anonymous.”
The investigation revealed additional social media accounts for Xie, including a YouTube account which contained, among other things, a playlist containing videos, many of which advocated or propagandized Soldiers for Allah, the war in Syria, Hezbollah (a foreign terrorist organization), and the Houthi movement in Yemen, as well as support for Bashar al Assad, Saddam Hussein, and North Korea.
The count of concealing attempted material support carries a maximum potential penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense. Sentencing for Xie is scheduled for Jan. 27, 2021.
Assistant Attorney General Demers and U.S. Attorney Carpenito credited special agents of the FBI and task force officers of the Joint Terrorism Task Force, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Crouch, Jr.; and the U.S. Department of Defense, Army Counterintelligence, 902d Military Intelligence Group, with the investigation leading to today’s guilty plea. He also thanks the U.S. Secret Service for its assistance with the case.
The government is represented by Senior Trial Counsel Joyce M. Malliet of the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s National Security Unit and Trial Attorney Taryn Meeks of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Counterterrorism Section of the National Security Division.
Slaughter, Caught with a Gun During a Domestic Violence Call, Pleads GuiltyRead the Press Release
MACON, Ga. – A convicted felon, caught with a loaded illegal weapon when law enforcement responded to a domestic violence call, pleaded guilty to possessing a firearm illegally, said Charles “Charlie” Peeler, the United States Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia.
Freddie Slaughter, Jr., 40, of Macon, pleaded guilty to one count possession of a firearm by a convicted felon before U.S. District Judge Tripp Self today. Slaughter faces a maximum ten years in federal prison. Judge Self scheduled sentencing for December 8, 2020.
According to the stipulation of fact, law enforcement was dispatched to a Macon residence on June 9, 2019, in reference to an alleged domestic disturbance involving Slaughter. When officers arrived at the scene and told the defendant they were responding to a possible domestic violence incident, Slaughter ran. Officers detained Slaughter, and a loaded semiautomatic pistol fell out of his pocket. Slaughter has several prior felony convictions, including robbery by sudden snatching in the Superior Court of Bibb County, Georgia on June 27, 2005. It is illegal for a convicted felon to possess a firearm.
“Convicted felons illegally possessing guns in the Middle District of Georgia face federal prosecution and federal prison, where there is no parole,” said U.S. Attorney Peeler. “I want to thank the ATF and the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office for their work taking guns out of the hands of convicted felons in Middle Georgia.”
This case was prosecuted as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.
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 https://www.justice.gov/archives/projectguardian.
The case was investigated by the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. Assistant U.S. Attorney Will R. Keyes is prosecuting the case for the Government. Questions can be directed to Pamela Lightsey, Public Information Officer, United States Attorney’s Office, at (478) 621-2603 or Melissa Hodges, Public Affairs Director (Contractor), United States Attorney’s Office, at (478) 765-2362.