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15 September 2020
District Court Orders Illinois Sprouts and Soybean Products Company to Comply with Food Safety RulesRead the Press Release
A federal court permanently enjoined a Chicago firm from preparing and distributing adulterated sprouts and soybean products in violation of federal law, the Department of Justice announced today.
In a civil complaint filed September 15, 2020 at the request of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the United States alleged that Fortune Food Product, Inc., company president Steven Seeto, and supervisor Tiffany Jiang violated the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act by growing sprouts and preparing soy products that FDA inspections showed did not comply with food safety regulations. According to the complaint, FDA issued a warning letter to the company in 2018, and tests in 2018 and 2019 revealed Listeria species inside the facility and E. coli in water used to irrigate sprouts.
“The food consumers buy must be safe to eat,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Bossert Clark of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “The Department of Justice will continue to partner with the FDA to ensure that companies follow food safety rules and prepare food in sanitary conditions.”
The defendants agreed to be bound by a consent decree filed with the complaint in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. The order entered by the court permanently enjoins the defendants from violating the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and the Produce Safety Rule, and it requires Fortune Food to stop growing and packing sprouts or preparing other foods unless it complies with specific remedial measures set forth in the injunction.
“We are committed to protecting the food supply and when a company fails to follow the law, we will take action,” said FDA Chief Counsel Stacy Cline Amin, J.D. “The FDA worked closely with DOJ to obtain this injunction and protect consumers.”
Trial Attorney Douglas Ross of the Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch represented the United States with the assistance of Associate Chief Counsel for Enforcement William Thanhauser of FDA’s Office of the Chief Counsel, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois.
For more information about the Consumer Protection Branch and its enforcement efforts, visit its website at https://www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch. For more information about the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois, visit its website at https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndil.
Death Resulting Charges Filed in Waterford Homicide CaseRead the Press Release
The Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont announced that a federal grand jury returned a 19-Count Fourth Superseding Indictment today charging Krystal Whitcomb, 28, formerly of Waterford, VT, Michael Hayes a.k.a. Moe, 38, formerly of Washington, DC, and John Welch, 34, formerly of Woodsville, NH, with using and carrying a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime, during which Whitcomb, Hayes and Welch caused the death of Michael Pimental by murder. Whitcomb, Hayes and Welch were also charged with discharging a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime and conspiracy to use and carry a firearm during a drug trafficking crime. Two new defendants were added to the indictment: Michael Ashford, 31, of Ryegate, VT, who is charged in a cocaine conspiracy with Hayes and Welch; and a sealed defendant who is charged as an accessory after the fact along with Hayes. The defendants will be arraigned on the indictment before U.S. Magistrate Judge John M. Conroy at a date to be scheduled in the future.
According to court documents and proceedings, on October 14, 2018, the body of Michael Pimental was found along the side of the road in Concord, VT. Pimental had been shot and his death has been ruled a homicide. Pimental was the boyfriend of Krystal Whitcomb and investigation revealed that Whitcomb and Pimental had been distributing heroin out of their residence in Waterford, VT. Michael Hayes, Michael Ashford and John Welch, all acquaintances of Whitcomb’s, were also involved in the sale of drugs. In and around the weekend of October 12, 2018, Whitcomb, Hayes and Welch planned the homicide of Pimental and on October 13, 2018, John Welch shot Pimental in connection with a drug trafficking crime. On October 14, 2018, Whitcomb and Hayes were stopped in New Hampshire in a Cadillac registered to Pimental. A search of the vehicle recovered firearms, and a large quantity of drugs and U.S. currency. Pimental’s blood was also found in the trunk of the car.
In February 2019, John Welch offered to sell a firearm to a person in NH. Shortly thereafter, law enforcement found Welch along the side of the road in Bath, NH, attempting to dig in the ground with a shovel. Because it was February and the ground was frozen, law enforcement was not able to search the area where Welch had been digging. However, in June 2019, law enforcement returned to the same location where Welch had been digging and ultimately found a backpack containing a firearm believed to be the murder weapon.
The death resulting charge, 18 U.S.C. § 924(j), is punishable either by death or up to life imprisonment. The government has notified the court and the parties that the government will not seek the death penalty against the defendants. On the death resulting charge, Whitcomb, Hayes and Welch therefore each face a possible life sentence and up to a $250,000 fine.
Whitcomb, Hayes and Welch also face a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years, a maximum of life, and up to a $250,000 fine on the charge of discharging a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime. On the cocaine conspiracy charge, Ashford faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 5 years, a maximum sentence of 40 years, and up to a $5,000,000 fine. The accessory after the fact charge carries a maximum of 15 years in prison and up to a $250,000 fine. The actual sentences would be determined by the Court with guidance from the advisory Federal Sentencing Guidelines. The United States Attorney emphasizes that the charges in the indictment are merely accusations, and that the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until he is proven guilty.
This case was investigated by the Vermont State Police Major Crime Unit and the Department of Homeland Security Investigations.
“Today’s indictment is the result of a longstanding and successful collaboration between state and federal law enforcement,” said Maj. Dan Trudeau, commander of the Vermont State Police Criminal Division. “The Vermont State Police would like to thank all the investigators for their tireless work on this case.” U.S. Attorney Christina Nolan stated: “The grand jury indictment is the product of a relentless focus by law enforcement on combatting violent crime and the strong partnerships amongst Vermont law enforcement at all levels.”
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 United States is represented in this matter by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Wendy L. Fuller and John J. Boscia. Krystal Whitcomb is represented by Michael Straub, Esq. Michael Hayes a.k.a. Moe is represented by Tom Sherrer, Esq. John Welch is represented by Robert S. Behrens, Esq. Michael Ashford is represented by Gordon Gebauer, Esq.
This case is part of Project Guardian, the Department of Justice’s signature initiative to reduce gun violence and enforce federal firearms laws. Initiated by the Attorney General in the fall of 2019, Project Guardian enhances coordination of federal, state, local, and tribal authorities in investigating and prosecuting firearm use and possession crimes; prioritizes prosecuting persons who make false statements when attempting to obtain firearms; improves information-sharing by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives concerning persons who attempt to obtain firearms illegally; coordinates responses to persons prevented from obtaining firearms for mental health reasons; and ensures the use of modern intelligence tools and technology to focus on the criminals posing the greatest threat to our communities.
For more information, please see https://www.justice.gov/projectguardian.
Dayton Man Sentenced to 140 Months for Methamphetamine and Fentanyl TraffickingRead the Press Release
ASHLAND, Ky. - A Dayton, Ohio man, Robert Amos, 33, was sentenced in federal court on Monday, to 140 months in prison, before U.S. District Judge David Bunning, for possession with intention to distribute methamphetamine and fentanyl.
According to his plea agreement, Amos admitted that when he was stopped by law enforcement, he was in possession of 50 grams or more of methamphetamine and a quantity of fentanyl for distribution.
Amos pleaded guilty in May 2020.
Under federal law, Amos must serve 85 percent of his prison sentence. Upon his release, he will be under the supervision of the U.S. Probation Office for six years.
Robert M. Duncan, Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky, and J.T. Scott, Special Agent in Charge, DEA Louisville Field Division, jointly announced the guilty plea.
The investigation was conducted by DEA and the FADE Drug Task Force. The United States was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Cynthia Rieker.
The year 2020 marks the 150th anniversary of the Department of Justice. Learn more about the history of our agency at www.Justice.gov/Celebrating150Years.
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Currituck County Man Sentenced in Federal Court for Illegal Gun PossessionRead the Press Release
NEW BERN, N.C. – A Moyock man was sentenced today to 77 months in prison for possession of a firearm by a felon.
According to court documents, Zakem Rahmere Clinton, age 27, was found in possession of a loaded firearm upon the execution of a search warrant at his residence in Moyock. The Currituck County Sheriff’s Office received information from Virginia Beach, VA, authorities that Clinton was among the individuals present at the scene of a homicide. When deputies executed the warrant, they found a loaded Taurus 9mm handgun in Clinton’s bedroom. He subsequently admitted to possessing the gun on the night the homicide occurred.
Robert J. Higdon, Jr., U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Louise W. Flanagan. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Currituck County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case and Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert J. Dodson prosecuted the case.
Related court documents and information can be found on the website of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina or on PACER by searching for Case No. 2:19-CR-00007-FL.
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The year 2020 marks the 150th anniversary of the Department of Justice. Learn more about the history of our agency at www.Justice.gov/Celebrating150Years.
Couple Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy and EmbezzlementRead the Press Release
WILMINGTON, N.C. – A Fayetteville couple pled guilty for their role in a conspiracy which embezzled money belonging to the United States.
According to court documents, Morris Cooper [63] was a purchasing agent assigned to the Operations and Maintenance Division, Directorate of Public Works (DPW), at Fort Bragg, NC and entrusted to purchase HVAC parts for DPW’s HVAC maintenance section. From 2011 into 2019, Cooper used his position as a purchasing agent at DPW, Ft. Bragg, North Carolina, to conspire with vendors to unlawfully enrich the participants of the conspiracy by steering contracts for supplies to specific vendors in return for cash payments and gifts, and by inflating prices on supplies, increasing both the profits to the vendor and the cash payment made to Cooper and/or his wife, Beverley Cooper [53].
Morris and Beverley Cooper pleaded guilty to conspiracy to embezzle government funds and to receive bribes, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371, and Morris Cooper additionally pleaded guilty to embezzlement of government funds, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 641. Tentatively set for sentencing in January 2021, Morris Cooper faces a maximum penalty of 180 months in prison; Beverley Cooper faces a maximum penalty of 60 months in prison. Both agreed to pay $6,300,000 joint and severally in restitution.
Robert J. Higdon, Jr., U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina made the announcement after United States Magistrate Judge Robert B. Jones, Jr., accepted the plea. Defense Criminal Investigative Service and the U.S. Army Criminal Investigative Division, with assistance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation are investigating the case.
A copy of this press release is located on our website. Related court documents and information can be found on the website of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina or on PACER by searching for Case No. 5:19-CR-328-FL.
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The year 2020 marks the 150th anniversary of the Department of Justice. Learn more about the history of our agency at www.Justice.gov/Celebrating150Years.
Convicted Money Launderer Pleads Guilty to Business Email Compromise SchemeRead the Press Release
BOSTON – A Hingham man who was previously convicted of money laundering pleaded guilty today in connection with a business email compromise (BEC) scheme.
Yannick A. Minang, 27, pleaded guilty five counts of wire fraud, one count of unlawful monetary transactions and one count of money laundering conspiracy. U.S. District Court Judge Patti B. Sarris scheduled sentencing for Dec. 16, 2020.
In September 2019, Minang was sentenced to 46 months in prison after pleading guilty to his role in a separate business email compromise (BEC) scheme.
Minang conspired with others to open numerous bank accounts in Massachusetts in the name of sham companies, as part of an apparent BEC scheme. A BEC scheme is a sophisticated scam often targeting businesses involved in wire transfer payments. The fraud is carried out by compromising and/or “spoofing” legitimate business email accounts through social engineering or computer intrusion techniques to cause employees of the victim company (or other individuals involved in legitimate business transactions) to transfer funds to accounts controlled by the scammers.
Through the use of fraudulent invoices and spoofed email accounts, Minang conspired to trick the victims of the scheme into wiring hundreds of thousands of dollars to bank accounts under his control. Minang and his co-conspirators then transferred funds from the accounts to others located overseas.
The charge of wire fraud provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross grain or loss, whichever is greater. The charge of unlawful monetary transactions provides for a sentence up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross grain or loss, whichever is greater. The charge of money laundering conspiracy provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $500,000 or twice the amount involved in the transaction, 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 and Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney William B. Brady of Lelling’s Criminal Division and Jordi de Llano, Deputy Chief of Lelling’s Securities, Financial & Cyber Fraud Unit, are prosecuting the case.
Consulting/Staffing Company to Pay $345,000 to Resolve Allegations Concerning Violations of Immigration and Department of Labor RegulationsRead the Press Release
NEWARK, N.J. – A Middlesex County, New Jersey, corporation involved in consulting, technology and staffing and using primarily foreign nationals in the United States pursuant to H1-B visas has agreed to resolve allegations that it violated immigration and employment regulations concerning continuous employment and wage requirements, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced today.
The United States contended that from January 2014 through June 2018 many of Savantis Solutions LLC’s H-1B workers were not paid the required wage in regular intervals at the required wage rate throughout their period of employment. Savantis, based in Edison, New Jersey and formerly known as Vedicsoft Solutions LLC and Vedicsoft Holdings LLC, failed to properly pay many of its H-1B workers in conformance with their applications to the federal government and federal regulations. The United States also contended that Savantis improperly recruited H-1B workers by requesting that they provide security deposits to Savantis prior to Savantis submitting their H-1B Cap lottery applications.
The resolution requires the company to pay $345,365 in restitution, which will be used to pay back wages plus interest to employees and former employees of the company. Savantis cooperated in the investigation of the matter and undertook compliance efforts in response. Pursuant to the agreement, the company is also required to hire an outside law firm to serve as a monitor to ensure ongoing and continued compliance with the relevant rules and regulations for the next three years.
U.S. Attorney Carpenito credited special agents of the Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, New York Region, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Michael C. Mikulka; the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations, Newark Field Office, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Jason Molina; the Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division’s Southern New Jersey District Office under the direction of District Director, Charlene Rachor; and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Office of Fraud Detection and National Security, Vermont Service Center and Newark Field Office, leading to today’s resolution.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney David E. Dauenheimer, Deputy Chief of the U.S. Attorney's Office’s Government Fraud Unit in Newark.
Colorado Springs Man Sentenced to Federal Prison for Illegally Possessing Improvised Destructive DevicesRead the Press Release
DENVER – United States Attorney Jason R. Dunn announced that Michael Robert Stevens, age 49, of Colorado Springs, was sentenced yesterday to serve 56 months in federal prison, followed by 3 years on supervised release for possession of improvised destructive devices and ammunition. The Denver Field Division of the ATF joined in today’s announcement.
According to court documents, on October 27, 2018, the Colorado Springs Police Department (CSPD) responded to a report of a suspected DUI. The responding officer found Michael Robert Stevens passed out at the wheel of a truck. While Stevens was being detained for driving under the influence, officers determined that the truck was stolen. Inside, CSPD officers found a black bag that included two white PVC pipes capped on both ends that did not belong to the truck’s owner. The PVC pipes were about 8-inches long. The CSPD Regional Explosives Unit x-rayed the devices, finding suspected lead shot or fragmentation material. Officers also recovered a red plastic bottle of Sterno fire starter and a clear glass jar containing a dark substance similar in appearance to the substance inside of the capped PVC pipes, which were determined to be improvised destructive devices. Additionally, officers found 9 shotgun shells, which Stevens was also prohibited from possessing because he had previously been convicted of a felony.
“Homemade explosive devices simply have no place in our community and will not be tolerated,” said U.S. Attorney Jason Dunn. “Thanks to the great work of the CSPD, the ATF, and attorneys in my office, Mr. Stevens will now have more than four years in federal prison to think about the harm he could have caused.”
“ATF’s partnerships with local law enforcement, such as the Colorado Springs Police Department, are one of our greatest assets in the fight against violent crime,” said ATF Denver Field Division Special Agent in Charge David Booth. “We will continue to work with our partners to ensure the safety of our communities.”
Stevens was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Weiss. U.S. District Court Judge R. Brooke Jackson pronounced Stevens’ sentence. The case was investigated by the Denver Field Division of the ATF and the Colorado Springs Police Department.
A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado. Related court documents can be found on PACER. The defendant’s case number is 19-cr-508.
This case is part of Project Guardian, the Department of Justice’s signature initiative to reduce gun violence and enforce federal firearms laws. Initiated by the Attorney General in the fall of 2019, Project Guardian draws upon the Department’s past successful programs to reduce gun violence; 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/projectguardian.
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.
Chicago Man Arrested on Federal Drug Charge for Allegedly Dealing Heroin and FentanylRead the Press Release
CHICAGO — A Chicago man has been arrested on a federal drug charge for allegedly selling wholesale quantities of heroin and fentanyl in the West Loop neighborhood of Chicago.
WILLIAM TOWNSEND, 40, of Chicago, is charged with distribution of a controlled substance. A criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago accuses Townsend of distributing the heroin and fentanyl to two suspected drug traffickers. The sales occurred in a residential building in the 700 block of West Couch Place in Chicago, the complaint states.
During the investigation, law enforcement seized approximately $469,000 in cash and approximately a kilogram of suspected heroin.
Townsend was arrested on Sept. 10, 2020. He appeared Monday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeffrey I. Cummings in Chicago and was ordered to remain detained in federal custody.
The complaint and arrest were announced by John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; and Emmerson Buie, Jr., Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kristen Totten, Matthew Kutcher, and Edward A. Liva, Jr., represent the government.
The public is reminded that a complaint contains only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. If convicted, the Court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal sentencing statutes and the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines.
California Man Sentenced to more than 24 Years for Nationwide Fentanyl Trafficking and Money Laundering SchemeRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Ron Parsons announced that a Huntington Beach, California, man convicted of Conspiracy to Distribute a Fentanyl Analogue and Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering was sentenced on September 14, 2020, by U.S. District Judge Karen E. Schreier.
Damon Vincent Jobin, age 35, was sentenced to 292 months in federal prison, to be followed by 5 years of supervised release, for Conspiracy to Distribute a Fentanyl Analogue, and 240 months in prison, to be followed by 3 years of supervised release, for Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering, all to run concurrently. Jobin was also ordered to pay a special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund in the amount of $200.
Jobin was indicted by a federal grand jury on October 28, 2018. He was arrested in Los Angeles on November 29, 2018. Jobin was ordered to appear before the magistrate court in the District of South Dakota on February 11, 2019, but in an apparent attempt to evade prosecution, fled to Thailand. A federal warrant was issued for his arrest. He eventually was apprehended in Thailand, taken into the custody of the Royal Thai Police on June 7, 2019, and transported back to the United States from Thailand by U.S. Marshals from the District of South Dakota.
Jobin pled guilty to the charges in the Indictment on June 24, 2020.
Jobin, along with other co-conspirators, utilized the Dark Web to distribute approximately 100,000 pills that they had manufactured containing fentanyl or a fentanyl analogue in 2017 to South Dakota drug dealers either suspected or convicted of distributing the pills in Chamberlain, Mitchell, and Sioux Falls. Twenty thousand of these pills were seized from the U.S. Mail by law enforcement in South Dakota. The pills tested positive for cyclopropyl fentanyl, a fentanyl analogue or derivative.
The investigation revealed that, in all, Jobin manufactured and mailed approximately 200 packages containing over 2.6 million fentanyl or fentanyl analogue pills to addresses in 32 different states. Jobin himself would press over 16,000 pills per hour at the height of the organization’s manufacturing. Based on records kept by Jobin, the total weight of the pills he and other co-conspirators made and distributed exceeded 259 kilograms. Experts estimate that one kilogram of fentanyl has the potential to produce approximately one million fatal doses. Fentanyl is up to 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine.
“This defendant was selling millions of poisonous, home-pressed fentanyl pills to people all over the country,” said U.S. Attorney Parsons. “He was caught because of some great police work done right here in South Dakota. This case demonstrates the dramatic, national impact that federal, state, and local law enforcement, working together, can have in getting these poisons off the streets. The detective work done by these law enforcement officers saved a lot of lives.”
Jobin and his coconspirators also used online cryptocurrency exchanges to launder the funds derived from the sale of the cyclopropyl fentanyl on the Dark Web. Jobin was estimated to be making between $25,000 and $35,000 per week for his involvement in the conspiracy. Judge Schreier noted that this was the largest fentanyl conspiracy case she has seen in her courtroom to date.
“Today’s sentencing is another step towards combating the opioid epidemic fueled by the distribution of illicitly manufactured fentanyl,” said Ryan L. Korner, Special Agent in Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation. “The financial expertise of IRS-CI plays a vital role in capturing offenders by following the money that facilitates the drug trade. We are proud to work alongside our law enforcement partners to protect America’s taxpayers by taking traffickers of dangerous drugs off the streets.”
“This investigation reflects the successful teamwork between the United States Postal Inspection Service and our law enforcement partners with bringing to justice those who use the dark net and the U.S. mail to distribute illegal narcotics. Postal Inspectors have been at the forefront of dark net investigations for years, bringing to justice those who use the U.S. mail to distribute illegal narcotics behind the dark net’s false veil of anonymity. We continue to challenge the anonymous nature of the dark net, proving you are never truly anonymous,” stated Ruth Mendonça, Inspector in Charge of the Denver Division, of the United States Postal Inspection Service, covering the State of South Dakota.
This case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigations Western Cyber Crimes Unit, U.S. Marshals Service, Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Department of State, South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation, Costa Mesa Police Department, and the Chamberlain Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer D. Mammenga prosecuted the case.
Jobin was immediately turned over to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
Bristol, Virginia Man Sentenced on Child Pornography ChargesRead the Press Release
ABINGDON, VIRGINIA – Jonathan Neal Sexton, a Bristol, Virginia man, who corresponded with and sent lewd pictures to an FBI employee he believed to be a 14-year-old girl, was sentenced yesterday in federal court to 144 months in federal prison after previously pleading guilty to a series of charges related to the distribution and possession of child pornography. United States Attorney Thomas T. Cullen and David W. Archey, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Richmond Division made the announcement.
Sexton, 33, pleaded guilty in June 2020 to two counts of distributing child pornography and one count of possessing child pornography.
According to court documents, between February 2020 and May 2020, Sexton used the chat application KIK to correspond with who he believed to be a 14-year-old female. The 14-year-old was actually an undercover employee of an FBI Human Trafficking & Child Exploitation Task Force. During these chats, despite the “teen” being in the “clean area” of the KIK app, Sexton engaged the “teen” in conversations about masturbation, sex toys, sexual intercourse, and other topics. He also sent pictures of sex toys and videos of himself masturbating. He routinely asked the “teen” to send him nude pictures and referenced the time when they could see each other and engage in sexual conduct. On multiple occasions, Sexton sent the “teen” pictures of prepubescent females nude and engaging with prepubescent males in sexual conduct.
The investigation of this case was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Virginia State Police, United States Marshal’s Service, and the Bristol, Virginia Police Department. Assistant United States Attorneys Zachary T. Lee and Lena Busscher prosecuted the case for the United States.
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 exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division’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.projectsafechildhood.gov.
Boston Man Sentenced for Illegally Possessing Loaded HandgunRead the Press Release
BOSTON – A Boston man was sentenced today for being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition.
Kerry Charlotin, 30, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge William G. Young to five years in prison and three years of supervised release. In January 2020, Charlotin pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition.
On May 1, 2019, officers were in the area of Blue Hill Avenue in Mattapan due to resident complaints of drug dealing and public drinking. When Charlotin, who was seen by the officers wearing a black backpack, observed the police presence, he ran. As the officers pursued him the black backpack was thrown into the air and landed on the roof of a building. Charlotin, no longer wearing the backpack, continued running from the officers; he was eventually found hiding in a fenced in area in a backyard. When officers recovered the black backpack, they found, among other things, a loaded Glock 26, 9mm caliber Lugar semi-automatic pistol containing nine rounds of ammunition, one of those rounds was in the chamber.
Based on prior felony convictions, Charlotin is prohibited from possessing a firearm and ammunition under federal law.
United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Kelly Brady, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, Boston Field Division; and Boston Police Commissioner William G. Gross made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Lindsey E. Weinstein of Lelling’s Criminal Division prosecuted the case.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. PSN is part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally-based strategies to reduce violent crime.
Attorney General Announces Results of Paycheck Protection Plan Criminal Fraud Enforcement Action - A Nationwide Strategic Plan to Combat PPP Program FraudRead the Press Release
Recently, Attorney General William P. Barr announced the results of the Paycheck Protection Plan (“PPP”) Criminal Fraud Enforcement Action, a new relief measure in the CARES Act designed to reduce pandemic-related fraud. As part of the CARES Act, the federal government made hundreds of billions of dollars in forgivable loans available to American businesses through the PPP. Specifically, PPP loans were made available to businesses so they would have funds to keep paying their employees, in order to avoid catastrophic job losses during a time of national emergency.
As of August 8, 2020, over 5.2 million loans had been approved, for a total federal business support expenditure in excess of $525 billion. At Attorney General Barr’s direction, the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section began to monitor the use of these public funds and, where appropriate, combat fraud in connection with the PPP program. In less than six months, more than 50 defendants have been charged with allegedly committing fraud to obtain money from the PPP. These charged cases involve attempts to steal over $175 million from the PPP, with the actual losses to the federal government of over $70 million.
These cases span the country and are diverse in size and scope, involving fraud ranging from loan requests for $30,000 to approximately $24 million. Investigations revealed false statements regarding number of employees, average monthly revenue and payroll figures, and applicants’ criminal histories. False documents were also submitted in support of applications to include falsified tax records, false payroll and revenue records, and in some cases, stolen personal information from unsuspecting third parties. Fraudulently-obtained federal funds were sometimes used to purchase luxury items such as homes, cars, vacations, and jewelry.
Federal agencies involved in this nationwide effort include the FBI, Internal Revenue Service–Office of Criminal Investigations, Small Business Administration’s Office of the Inspector General, and FDIC–Office of the Inspector General, as well as U.S. Attorney’s Offices. Financial institutions are critical partners to federal authorities by detecting and investigating potentially fraudulent activity and freezing funds and accounts. Investigations into PPP fraud continue to be ongoing around the country.
“The PPP was developed to ease the pain of COVID-19 economic restraints on working Americans. The Department of Justice, and in particular my office here in the Middle District of Louisiana, is committed to investigating and prosecuting those who abuse the system for personal gain and will use every resource at our disposal to protect those federal dollars and the businesses they are intended to help. I urge anyone who believes he or she is a victim of this type of fraud to report it to the National Center for Disaster Fraud.”
The National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF), a national coordinating agency within the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, operates a call center at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and serves as a centralized clearinghouse for disaster fraud complaints and information relating to both natural and man-made disasters, and other emergencies such as COVID-19. Members of the public who suspect fraud, involving the Payroll Protection Program, or believe they have been the victim of fraud from a person or organization soliciting funds on behalf of disaster victims, should contact the NCDF Hotline toll free at (866) 720-5721. The telephone line is staffed by a live operator 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You can also file a complaint via our online complaint portal at www.justice.gov/disastercomplaintform.
Armed Drug Trafficker Receives More Than 13 Years in Federal PrisonRead the Press Release
WILMINGTON, N.C. – A Wilmington man was sentenced on September 9, 2020, to 165 months in prison for conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute 50 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine, possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of a mixture of substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine and a quantity of crack cocaine and cocaine, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
According to court documents and evidence presented in court, Christopher Minto, 37, was involved in the importation and distribution of methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin into Wilmington between July and August 2019. On August 5, 2019, New Hanover County Narcotics Detectives observed a car in which Minto was a passenger leave Minto’s residence and drive to the McDonald’s parking lot on Gordon Road. Following a traffic stop, detectives searched the car and found quantities of crack and cocaine in the car and another passenger had 86 grams of pure crystal methamphetamine on his person. The source of all these drugs was Minto. Detectives then conducted a search of Minto’s residence on Ovalberry Court in New Hanover County. Law enforcement found another 114 grams of methamphetamine, 10 ounces of cocaine and a loaded .25 caliber handgun. The investigation revealed that Minto was responsible for distributing more than a ¼-kilogram of methamphetamine, almost ½ a kilogram of cocaine and ½ an ounce of heroin from July until his arrest on August 5, 2019.
Robert J. Higdon, Jr., U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Richard E. Myers II. The Drug Enforcement Administration and the New Hanover County Sherriff Office investigated the case and Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Severo prosecuted the case. This case was part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation “White Rabbit” focusing on a drug trafficking organization involved in the importation of heroin and methamphetamine into Eastern North Carolina.
A copy of this press release is located on our website. Related court documents and information are located on the website of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina or on PACER by searching for Case No. 7:20-cr-00059-M.
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The year 2020 marks the 150th anniversary of the Department of Justice. Learn more about the history of our agency at www.Justice.gov/Celebrating150Years.
15 Charged on Drugs and Guns Charges as Part of Anti-Gang Sweep in Concord and Surrounding AreasRead the Press Release
SAN FRANCISCO – Complaints were unsealed in federal court today charging 15 individuals with trafficking drugs and firearms in connection with the Sureños street gang, announced United States Attorney David L. Anderson, ATF Special Agent in Charge Patrick Gorman, FBI Deputy Special Agent in Charge Craig D. Fair, DEA Special Agent in Charge Danny Comeaux, and Concord Police Chief Mark Bustillos.
According to affidavits filed in connection with the complaints, multiple individuals affiliated with the Sureños street gang are alleged to have conspired to sell methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin, and firearms. According to the complaint, the alleged sales occurred across Contra Costa County, but primarily in Concord, with numerous transactions occurring in a shopping center parking lot at 1500 Monument Boulevard. According to the complaint, Sureño gang members claimed control over this shopping center, referring to it as “The Block” or “The Box,” and described it to undercover officers as a kind of “one-stop shop” for guns and drugs.
“Today’s charges explode the myth of the non-violent drug dealer,” said U.S. Attorney David L. Anderson. “Drugs are expensive. Drugs are dangerous. Where we find drugs, we almost always find guns. What is particularly appalling about today’s charges is that the defendants did not even bother to hide the guns or drugs. Rather, the defendants allegedly peddled their products in broad daylight in public spaces.”
“Throughout this investigation, ATF has worked side by side with our partners to fulfill ATF’s mission of protecting the public by investigating the criminal misuse and trafficking of firearms in the Contra Costa county area,” said Special Agent in Charge Patrick Gorman, San Francisco Field Division, ATF. “In April 2019, ATF began working with the Concord Police Department and then with other agencies to address problematic gang activity that was occurring within Contra Costa county. Law enforcement partnerships create an unwavering unified front against violent crime and this collaborative effort between local and federal agencies is evidence of our shared focus. ATF remains committed to working hard and doing our part to make this region a safer place as our pledge to protect the public is one ATF takes very seriously.”
“This operation exemplifies the dedication of the FBI and our task force partners to disrupt dangerous gang activity and remove the threat of criminals who endanger our neighborhoods,” said FBI Deputy Special Agent in Charge Craig Fair. “We are committed to improving the quality of life in our Bay Area communities and ensuring the safety of our citizens.”
“Nobody wins in a community where street gang activity exists. It threatens public safety and the security of our neighborhoods,” stated DEA Special Agent in Charge Daniel C. Comeaux. “These indictments send the message that law enforcement at all levels will work as one to pursue and prosecute criminal gangs and their associates.”
“We are thankful for our close working relationship with our federal partners,” said Concord Police Chief Mark Bustillos. “Violent crime does not stop at a city’s border, and our relationship with our federal partners allows us to bring those who use violence and intimidation in Concord to justice.”
Of the fifteen defendants charged federally, eight were taken into custody on September 10, 2020. Three additional defendants are due to be transferred from state to federal custody, while two more will stay in state custody as of today. The whereabouts of the remaining two federal defendants are unknown. The following chart summarizes the charges, custodial status, and next court dates for of each of the 15 federal defendants:
Name
Age
Custodial status
Case number
Charges
Next court date
Luis CRUZ
24
State custody
20-71278
21 U.S.C. §§ 846, 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(B(viii) and (b)(1)(C) (drug conspiracy)
TBD
Luis RAMIREZ-CARRANZA
31
Federal custody
20-71278
21 U.S.C. §§ 846, 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(B(viii) and (b)(1)(C) (drug conspiracy)
9/15/20
Phabel GUTIERREZ
38
State custody
20-71278
21 U.S.C. §§ 846, 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(B(viii) and (b)(1)(C) (drug conspiracy)
TBD
Angel MAGAÑA
26
State custody
20-71278
21 U.S.C. §§ 846, 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(B(viii) and (b)(1)(C) (drug conspiracy)
TBD
Ernesto MISSIEGO
18
State custody
20-71278
21 U.S.C. §§ 846, 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(B(viii) and (b)(1)(C) (drug conspiracy)
TBD
Christian CERVANTES
23
State custody
20-71278
21 U.S.C. §§ 846, 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(B(viii) and (b)(1)(C) (drug conspiracy)
TBD
Francisco CANO
34
Federal custody
20-71278
21 U.S.C. §§ 846, 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(B(viii) and (b)(1)(C) (drug conspiracy)
9/17/20
Armando NAVARRO
42
Federal custody
20-71278
21 U.S.C. §§ 846, 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(B(viii) and (b)(1)(C) (drug conspiracy)
9/29/20
Sheena MIDDLETON
35
Federal custody
20-71278
21 U.S.C. §§ 846, 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(B(viii) and (b)(1)(C) (drug conspiracy)
9/16/20
Luis CABRERA
28
Wanted
20-71278
21 U.S.C. §§ 846, 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(B(viii) and (b)(1)(C) (drug conspiracy)
TBD
Alexis PEREZ
23
Federal custody
20-71278
21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(C) (drug distribution)
9/18/20
Brian ALVARENGA
30
Wanted
20-71278
21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(C) (drug distribution)
TBD
Eric CARRILLO
23
Federal custody
20-71283
18 U.S.C. 371 (firearms trafficking conspiracy)
9/15/20
Juan CONCHAS-CARRILLO
25
Federal custody
20-71283
18 U.S.C. 371 (firearms trafficking conspiracy)
9/16/20
Kevin VIDAL
23
Federal custody
20-71284
26 U.S.C. § 5861 (unlawful possession of unregistered firearm)
9/21/20
A complaint merely alleges that crimes have been committed, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. If convicted of a drug conspiracy in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1), 841(b)(1)(B)(viii) and 846, the defendants face a sentence of at least 5 and up to 40 years in prison, along with at least 4 years and up to life on supervised release, up to a $5 million fine, forfeiture, and denial of federal benefits. If convicted of a drug conspiracy in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1), 841(b)(1)(C) and 846, the defendants face a maximum penalty of up to 20 years in prison, along with at least 4 years and up to life on supervised release, up to a $5 million fine, forfeiture, and denial of federal benefits. If convicted of possession of an unregistered firearm, the defendants face a maximum penalty of up to 10 years in prison, along with up to 3 years of supervised release, a $10,000 fine, and forfeiture. If convicted of conspiring to deal firearms without a license, the defendants fae up to 5 years in prison, along with up to 3 years of supervised release, a $250,000 fine, and forfeiture. However, any sentence following conviction would be imposed by the court after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C. § 3553.
The case is being prosecuted by the Oakland branch of the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The prosecution is the result of a 2-year investigation led by the ATF and the Concord Police Department, along with the DEA and the FBI, as part of the FBI’s Safe Streets Task Force.
14 September 2020
Wheeling woman admits to embezzling nearly $350,000Read the Press Release
WHEELING, WEST VIRGINIA – Cindy Shearer, of Wheeling, West Virginia, has admitted to embezzling nearly $350,000 from her previous employers, U.S. Attorney Bill Powell announced.
Shearer, 58, pled guilty to one count of “Wire Fraud” and one count of “Filing False Income Tax Return.” From April 2013 until the end of 2019, Shearer was employed as the office manager by Cane Business Forms & Systems and later reorganized as Precision Printed Products, a printing company in Triadelphia, West Virginia.
Shearer admitted to writing checks totaling $276,892.88 from Cane Business Forms & Systems and a total of $67,672.41 from Precision Printed Products to herself, but listing the check as paid to a legitimate vendor. She would then cash or deposit the checks into her own bank account. Shearer also admitted to not claiming the embezzled money on her personal taxes, defrauding the IRS of approximately $54,509.
As a part of the plea agreement, Shearer has agreed to pay restitution to both business owners and restitution to the IRS for the amounts above.
Shearer faces up to 20 years of incarceration and a fine of up to $250,000 for the wire fraud charge and faces up to three years and a fine of up to $250,000 for the tax charge. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed will be based upon the seriousness of the offenses and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendants.Assistant U.S. Attorney Jarod J. Douglas prosecuted the case on behalf of the government. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service investigated.
U.S. Magistrate Judge James P. Mazzone presided.
Wheeling man sentenced for his role in a drug distribution operationRead the Press Release
WHEELING, WEST VIRGINIA – Damend Lavel Pollard, of Wheeling, West Virginia was sentenced today to 15 months of incarceration for drug distribution in the Wheeling area, U.S. Attorney Bill Powell announced.
Pollard, also known as “Skills,” pled guilty to one count of “Distribution of Methamphetamine within 1000 feet of a Protected Location” in May 2020. Pollard, age 49, admitted to selling methamphetamine near Luau Manor in Ohio County in March 2019.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Shawn M. Adkins prosecuted the case on behalf of the government. The Ohio Valley Drug & Violent Crimes Task Force, a HIDTA-funded initiative, investigated.
U.S. District Judge John Preston Bailey presided.
United States Attorney McSwain Delivers Remarks on the Ongoing Public Safety Crisis in PhiladelphiaRead the Press Release
PHILADELPHIA, PA – On September 14, 2020, United States Attorney William M. McSwain convened a press conference to announce charges against Khalif Tuggle and John Allen Kane, both of Philadelphia. The United States Attorney’s Office stepped in to bring federal charges in both cases after the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office failed to handle the local criminal cases appropriately. U.S. Attorney McSwain also spoke about the ongoing escalation of violent crime in Philadelphia and its causes. He highlighted several local cases in which the defendants received shockingly lenient plea deals from the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office, returned to the streets and then allegedly committed murder. These cases highlight an undeniable pattern of cause and effect in which the application of the District Attorney’s Office’s misguided policies produce violence and tragedy.
Remarks as Prepared for Delivery
Good morning. I am here today to announce that my Office has unsealed two criminal indictments charging two individuals, Khalif Tuggle and John Allen Kane, with committing serious federal crimes on the streets of Philadelphia. Both cases are part of my Office’s continuing efforts to fight the tidal wave of violent crime in the City that is the unfortunate result of local criminal justice policies that coddle violent criminals. These policies create a culture of lawlessness; they leave criminals emboldened; and they have inevitable consequences – one of which is a murder rate in Philadelphia that is the highest it has been in nearly 15 years.
The two indictments announced today are the latest efforts by my Office to serve as a counterweight to this chaos. First, Khalif Tuggle, age 28, has been charged in a three-count indictment with carjacking, use of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, and murder in the course of using a firearm, all stemming from his alleged robbery, carjacking, and brutal murder of Thomas Petersen on January 24, 2017. Tuggle allegedly fired a shot into Mr. Petersen’s chest, dragged him out of the car, threw him on the road, robbed him, and left him for dead while Mr. Petersen was screaming in pain. Tuggle fled the scene in Mr. Petersen’s car, and Mr. Petersen died at Temple University Hospital after two Philadelphia Police Officers rushed him there from the crime scene. If convicted on each count, Tuggle faces a statutory maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
Second, John Allen Kane, age 53, has been charged in a one-count Indictment with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon on January 17, 2018. Kane allegedly possessed this firearm while on probation for committing his second homicide in Philadelphia. If convicted, Kane faces a statutory maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years.
I would like to thank our law enforcement partners whose investigative work made these indictments possible. From the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which investigated both cases, I want to thank John Schmidt, Special Agent in Charge of ATF’s Philadelphia Field Division, and the law enforcement agents who investigated the cases. I also want to thank the Philadelphia Police Department for its assistance in both cases. And thank you to Sal Astolfi, the Chief of the Violent Crime unit in my Office, and Assistant United States Attorneys Joseph Labar, Michael Miller, and Tom Zaleski, who are prosecuting these important cases.
Both the Tuggle and the Kane cases are prime examples of how local criminal justice policies benefit violent criminals and harm crime victims. After Mr. Petersen was murdered in cold blood on January 24, 2017, the Philadelphia Police charged Tuggle with first degree murder, firearms offenses, theft, and receipt of stolen property, and he was held without bail until trial. As Tuggle sat in jail awaiting trial for first degree murder, he caught a big break – in January 2018, there was a change in leadership in the District Attorney’s Office in Philadelphia: the Krasner administration took over. This new administration subsequently agreed not to prosecute Tuggle for either first or second degree murder, thus eliminating the possibility that he would serve a life sentence for killing Mr. Petersen. Instead, the District Attorney’s Office permitted Tuggle to plead guilty to third degree murder, ostensibly because he agreed to cooperate with investigators to identify and prosecute his accomplice.
But the plea negotiations were a farce. For one thing, the District Attorney’s Office agreed to drop the most serious charges without bothering to negotiate a “floor” for the sentence -- a minimum term of years that Tuggle would be required to serve for murdering Mr. Petersen. And incredibly, the District Attorney’s Office agreed to the deal without knowing whether the information Tuggle supposedly would provide would prove helpful, and without ensuring that Tuggle would actually identify his accomplice as promised.
In the end, he didn’t – and his accomplice remains on the loose. In other words, Tuggle got a huge break for nothing. The judge sentenced Tuggle to 13.5-27 years for third degree murder, and he will be eligible for parole in the state system in approximately ten years. That sentence is a miscarriage of justice. It is a cruel slap in the face to Mr. Petersen’s family – including his mother, Linda, and his sister, Heather, who are with us today for this announcement. It is something that I am determined to fix.
If convicted on the federal charges, Tuggle faces the very real possibility of life in prison with no possibility of parole.
As for John Kane, as noted in publicly filed documents, the Philadelphia Police recovered a firearm in his possession after a traffic stop and placed him under arrest. As a convicted felon, Kane was prohibited from possessing any firearms. But he was not just any convicted felon – at the time of the traffic stop, he was on probation for committing his second homicide in Philadelphia. But the District Attorney’s Office saw fit to voluntarily dismiss the charges against Kane on a technicality, and he walked free. That is, until now: Kane has been arrested on the federal charge and is in federal custody.
Armed murderers cannot be permitted to walk the streets of Philadelphia in the name of criminal justice reform. The staggering homicide and shooting rates in Philadelphia are proof that the District Attorney’s radical experiment has failed. Homicides, shootings, and serious violent crime have all skyrocketed in 2020 – from already intolerable levels that existed in 2019 and 2018. There have been 316 homicides since the beginning of the year – a 32% increase as compared to this time last year. The violence has been pervasive and it is destroying the soul of the City. In the last month alone, 48 people have been killed and hundreds have been shot. And the average age of the shooting victims is getting younger. Tragically, the vast majority of the victims are racial minorities. I can’t say it any clearer: the District Attorney’s policies come at the expense of minority communities.
We can draw a straight line from these policies to the carnage on the streets. My Office has examined the circumstances underlying many of the recent murder cases in the City and the inescapable conclusion is that a great number of these murders were made possible by the District Attorney’s Office’s willingness – indeed, its eagerness – to offer sweetheart plea deals to violent defendants. Deals that allowed those defendants to quickly get back out on the street and kill.
On this adjacent chart are 10 examples of this sad state of affairs:
- In October 2018, Michael Banks was arrested and charged with multiple counts, including a felony gun charge for possessing an unlicensed firearm. Banks also had prior convictions, and yet in February 2019, the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office gave him a plea deal in which the felony gun charge was dismissed, and he received only 3-9 months of incarceration for a misdemeanor gun charge and immediately went back out on the street. Banks now stands accused of murdering a seven year-old boy in West Philadelphia last month, who was playing with a toy on his family’s porch when two groups of men began firing upon one another and shot the boy in the head.
- In November 2017, Francisco Reyes was arrested and charged with multiple drug offenses. Despite his prior convictions – which include aggravated assault, robbery, and multiple other prior drug offenses – Reyes was given a plea deal in July 2018 in which the felony drug charge was dismissed and he received probation. Only two days after he pleaded guilty and received probation, on July 5, 2018, Reyes allegedly murdered a 25 year-old man in Kensington.
- In September 2018, Jerome Martin was arrested and charged with possession of a firearm by a felon, which is a felony. He had previously been convicted of felony drug dealing and possessing drug paraphernalia. Somehow, Martin was given a plea deal in June 2019 in which he was sentenced to house arrest. While on house arrest, in August 2019, he allegedly broke into a house and murdered a 23 year-old man, who is survived by many, including his newborn baby.
- In February 2018, Keith Garner was arrested and charged with simple assault. Despite having multiple prior felony convictions, Garner was given a plea deal in March 2018 to probation. In November 2018, Garner executed four people in a West Philadelphia basement, and has been convicted of all four murders.
- In March 2017, Timothy Sherfield was arrested and charged with numerous violent crimes, including two counts of aggravated assault, two counts of robbery, burglary, possession of an unlicensed firearm, and many additional misdemeanors. In February 2018, he was given a plea deal in which the vast majority of these charges were dropped. Sherfield received a minimum sentence of less than one year. This enabled him to be out on the streets and murder a 23 year-old man in April 2019. The victim was inside a mini market at the time that he was gunned down in cold blood.
- In May 2017, Tariq Gant was arrested and charged with a variety of violent crimes, including aggravated assault and firearm offenses. But in February 2018, he was given a plea deal in which the vast majority of the charges were dropped. Gant pleaded guilty to simple assault and resisting arrest, and received probation. In September 2018, he allegedly murdered a 19 year-old young man in Germantown. The victim is survived by his mother, who in addition to losing this son, also tragically lost another son who was gunned down earlier this year.
- In October 2017, Jose Lugo was arrested and charged with felony drug offenses. Despite having previously been convicted of numerous felony drug crimes and carrying a firearm without a license, he was given a plea deal in September 2018 in which he was immediately released. Just months later, in February 2019, Lugo allegedly murdered a 24 year-old man.
- In March 2018, Byron Taylor was arrested and charged with multiple offenses, including felony possession of an unlicensed firearm. Despite his prior convictions, he was given a plea deal in May 2019 in which the felony gun charge was dismissed and he received probation. Almost immediately, in July 2019, Taylor allegedly shot and killed a 35 year-old man in Germantown.
- In January 2018, Rasheed Malcolm was arrested and charged with multiple offenses, including aggravated assault, simple assault, and recklessly endangering another person. Despite his prior felony drug distribution convictions, he was given a plea deal in which all of these charges were dropped, and he was permitted to plead guilty to the summary offense of disorderly conduct. By the end of the year, in December 2018, Malcolm allegedly murdered a 27 year-old man in the 6200 block of Market Street.
- In June 2018, Maalik Jackson-Wallace was arrested and charged with multiple offenses, including felony possession of a firearm without a license. The District Attorney’s Office then selected him to participate in its Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition program (ARD) – a diversion program in which defendants can avoid a conviction if they comply with certain conditions. This diversion allowed Jackson-Wallace to walk away free. He was then arrested with a second illegal firearm while in the program, but the District Attorney’s Office did not move for him to be taken out of ARD at that time. In June 2019, Jackson-Wallace allegedly murdered a 26 year-old man in the Frankford section of Philadelphia.
Each of these cases is its own separate tragedy, with terrible ramifications that extend in many directions. And these ten cases only scratch the surface of the devastation that is being wrought by the District Attorney’s policies. The cases are merely examples – there are many others like these, in which violent defendants who should not be on the street are committing murder or other violent crimes. Furthermore, these are cases that have led to murder arrests. Most homicides in the City do not even result in an arrest, so it is chilling to think of the number of unsolved murders that have likely been committed by violent criminals who do not belong on the street – and are only there because the District Attorney put them there.
As I have said before, everybody in Philadelphia deserves to live in a safe neighborhood – regardless of race or income level. We won’t get there by treating violent criminals like they are victims, or by undermining law enforcement. We must have the courage and the will to enforce the law – and to hold criminals accountable. The future of our City depends upon it. We must put the law-abiding residents of this City first. Thank you.
United States Attorney McSwain Announces Violent Crime and Gun Charges in Two Philadelphia Cases Mishandled by the District Attorney’s OfficeRead the Press Release
PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney William M. McSwain announced that Khalif Tuggle, 28, and John Allen Kane, 53, both of Philadelphia, PA, were arrested and charged by federal Indictment after their local cases were mishandled by the District Attorney’s Office. In a press conference outside the federal courthouse, U.S. Attorney McSwain discussed the charges against Tuggle and Kane in the context of efforts by his Office to fight the tidal wave of violent crime that has engulfed Philadelphia in 2020.
Tuggle has been charged in a three-count Indictment with carjacking, use of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, and murder in the course of using a firearm, all stemming from his alleged robbery, carjacking, and brutal murder of Thomas Petersen on January 24, 2017. Tuggle allegedly fired a shot into Mr. Petersen’s chest, dragged him out of the car, threw him on the road, robbed him, and left him for dead while Mr. Petersen was screaming in pain. Tuggle fled the scene in Mr. Petersen’s car, and Mr. Petersen died at Temple University Hospital after two Philadelphia Police Officers rushed him there from the crime scene.
Kane has been charged in a one-count Indictment with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon on January 17, 2018. Kane allegedly possessed this firearm while on probation for committing his second homicide in Philadelphia.
U.S. Attorney McSwain explained thatthese cases are prime examples of how local criminal justice policies benefit violent criminals and harm crime victims. In the Tuggle case, the District Attorney’s Office agreed not to prosecute the defendant for either first or second degree murder in exchange for information on Tuggle’s accomplice that never materialized – thus eliminating the possibility that Tuggle would serve a life sentence for killing Petersen. Under his current sentence, Tuggle would be eligible for parole in approximately only ten years. If convicted of the federal charges, he faces the possibility of life imprisonment.
In the Kane case, the Philadelphia Police recovered a firearm in the defendant’s possession after a traffic stop and placed him under arrest. As a convicted felon, Kane was prohibited from possessing any firearms. But he was not just any convicted felon – at the time of the traffic stop, he was on probation for committing his second homicide in Philadelphia. But the District Attorney’s Office saw fit to voluntarily dismiss the charges against Kane on a technicality and he walked free. That is, until now: Kane has been arrested on the federal charge and is in federal custody.
“The federal cases against defendants Tuggle and Kane are the latest efforts by my Office to serve as a counterweight to the chaos in Philadelphia created by local criminal justice policies that coddle violent criminals,” said U.S. Attorney McSwain. “These policies create a culture of lawlessness; they leave criminals emboldened; and they have inevitable consequences – one of which is a murder rate in Philadelphia that is the highest it has been in nearly 15 years.”
U.S. Attorney McSwain went on to detail ten additional cases that are examples of shockingly lenient plea deals given out by the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office where the defendant was subsequently arrested for murder.
- In October 2018, Michael Banks was arrested and charged with multiple counts, including a felony gun charge for possessing an unlicensed firearm. Banks also had prior convictions, and yet in February 2019, the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office gave him a plea deal in which the felony gun charge was dismissed, and he received only 3-9 months of incarceration for a misdemeanor gun charge and immediately went back out on the street. Banks now stands accused of murdering a seven year-old boy in West Philadelphia last month, who was playing with a toy on his family’s porch when two groups of men began firing upon one another and shot the boy in the head.
- In November 2017, Francisco Reyes was arrested and charged with multiple drug offenses. Despite his prior convictions – which include aggravated assault, robbery, and multiple other prior drug offenses – Reyes was given a plea deal in July 2018 in which the felony drug charge was dismissed and he received probation. Only two days after he pleaded guilty and received probation, on July 5, 2018, Reyes allegedly murdered a 25 year-old man in Kensington.
- In September 2018, Jerome Martin was arrested and charged with possession of a firearm by a felon, which is a felony. He had previously been convicted of felony drug dealing and possessing drug paraphernalia. Somehow, Martin was given a plea deal in June 2019 in which he was sentenced to house arrest. While on house arrest, in August 2019, he allegedly broke into a house and murdered a 23 year-old man, who is survived by many, including his newborn baby.
- In February 2018, Keith Garner was arrested and charged with simple assault. Despite having multiple prior felony convictions, Garner was given a plea deal in March 2018 to probation. In November 2018, Garner executed four people in a West Philadelphia basement, and has been convicted of all four murders.
- In March 2017, Timothy Sherfield was arrested and charged with numerous violent crimes, including two counts of aggravated assault, two counts of robbery, burglary, possession of an unlicensed firearm, and many additional misdemeanors. In February 2018, he was given a plea deal in which the vast majority of these charges were dropped. Sherfield received a minimum sentence of less than one year. This enabled him to be out on the streets and murder a 23 year-old man in April 2019. The victim was inside a mini market at the time that he was gunned down in cold blood.
- In May 2017, Tariq Gant was arrested and charged with a variety of violent crimes, including aggravated assault and firearm offenses. But in February 2018, he was given a plea deal in which the vast majority of the charges were dropped. Gant pleaded guilty to simple assault and resisting arrest, and received probation. In September 2018, he allegedly murdered a 19 year-old young man in Germantown. The victim is survived by his mother, who in addition to losing this son, also tragically lost another son who was gunned down earlier this year.
- In October 2017, Jose Lugo was arrested and charged with felony drug offenses. Despite having previously been convicted of numerous felony drug crimes and carrying a firearm without a license, he was given a plea deal in September 2018 in which he was immediately released. Just months later, in February 2019, Lugo allegedly murdered a 24 year-old man.
- In March 2018, Byron Taylor was arrested and charged with multiple offenses, including felony possession of an unlicensed firearm. Despite his prior convictions, he was given a plea deal in May 2019 in which the felony gun charge was dismissed and he received probation. Almost immediately, in July 2019, Taylor allegedly shot and killed a 35 year-old man in Germantown.
- In January 2018, Rasheed Malcolm was arrested and charged with multiple offenses, including aggravated assault, simple assault, and recklessly endangering another person. Despite his prior felony drug distribution convictions, he was given a plea deal in which all of these charges were dropped, and he was permitted to plead guilty to the summary offense of disorderly conduct. By the end of the year, in December 2018, Malcolm allegedly murdered a 27 year-old man in the 6200 block of Market Street.
- In June 2018, Maalik Jackson-Wallace was arrested and charged with multiple offenses, including felony possession of a firearm without a license. The District Attorney’s Office then selected him to participate in its Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition program (ARD) – a diversion program in which defendants can avoid a conviction if they comply with certain conditions. This diversion allowed Jackson-Wallace to walk away free. He was then arrested with a second illegal firearm while in the program, but the District Attorney’s Office did not move for him to be taken out of ARD at that time. In June 2019, Jackson-Wallace allegedly murdered a 26 year-old man in the Frankford section of Philadelphia.
“Convicted felons who carry firearms pose a serious risk to public safety,” said John Schmidt, acting Special Agent in Charge of ATF’s Philadelphia Field Division. “ATF will continue to aggressively pursue these investigations and strive to be ‘no better partner’ to our local, state and federal colleagues. Thanks to the diligent work of the investigators and detectives of the Philadelphia Police Department, these individuals will be brought to justice preventing another potential violent crime or death. I would like to thank the U.S. Attorney's Office for their guidance and work prosecuting these cases.”
If convicted on each count, Tuggle faces a total maximum sentence of life imprisonment, five years of supervised release, a $750,000 fine, and a $300 special assessment; Kane faces a statutory maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years, three years of supervised release, a $250,000 fine, and a $100 special assessment.
Both cases were investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The case against Tuggle is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Joseph LaBar and Michael Miller, and the case against Kane is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Thomas Zaleski.
An indictment, information, or criminal complaint is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
United States Antitrust Agencies Co-Host the 19th Annual International Competition Network ConferenceRead the Press Release
The Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) are co-hosting the International Competition Network’s (ICN) 19th annual conference, which opens today and runs through Thursday, September 17, 2020. Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim and FTC Chairman Joseph J. Simons are leading the U.S. agencies’ participation in the ICN’s first virtual conference. Assistant Attorney General Delrahim and Chairman Simons will deliver opening remarks and speak on the conference’s showcase program addressing the challenges of enforcement in the digital economy.
Originally planned as an in-person event in Los Angeles in May, the multi-day conference features discussions across a range of competition enforcement and policy issues, including those that involve the digital economy, and highlights the progress of the ICN Working Groups on mergers, cartels, unilateral conduct, advocacy and agency effectiveness. ICN members and non-governmental advisors (NGAs) will participate, including leadership from antitrust agencies, as well as competition experts from international organizations and the legal, business and academic communities.
“We are proud to co-host the ICN annual conference, an important forum for our international partners in antitrust enforcement and others who are dedicated to effective competition policy,” said Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim. “As the economy moves to greater globalization and digitization, convergence and cooperation are more important than ever to ensuring sound antitrust enforcement.”
“The ICN’s work benefits consumers by promoting sound enforcement and policy, and by reinforcing competition’s central role in driving productivity, innovation, and economic recovery,” said FTC Chairman Joseph Simons. It is a great honor for the FTC to support the ICN’s critical work and to co-organize this year’s conference.”
The ICN was created in October 2001 to increase understanding of competition policy and promote convergence toward sound antitrust enforcement around the world. It was founded by 15 agencies including the Antitrust Division and FTC, and has grown to 140 agencies from 129 jurisdictions, supported by a wide network of NGAs from around the world.
Registration is not required. A link to view the entire conference will be provided on the conference webpage immediately before the start of the conference at 8:00 am EDT.
USA Shappert Announces Launch of V.I. Health Care Fraud Task ForceRead the Press Release
USA Shappert Announces Launch of V.I. Health Care Fraud Task Force
St. Thomas, USVI – Federal and territorial officials and law enforcement officers convened last week to take the fight against health care fraud to the next level, United States Attorney Gretchen C.F. Shappert announced today. The first meeting of the Virgin Islands Health Care Fraud Task Force was conducted on a viral platform, thereby permitting the participants to share information and develop strategies for the Territory.“We all share the same concerns about the devastating effects of health care fraud,” Shappert said. “We are committed to protecting potential victims, safeguarding taxpayer dollars, and ensuring the integrity of our health care system.”
The task force is composed of representatives from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG). Virgin Islands’ representatives include Julita de Leon, Coordinator of the VI Medicaid Fraud Control Unit; Gary Smith, Director of the V.I. Medicaid Program, and Aimee Griles, Senior Medicare Patrol Project Director.
The V.I. Medicaid Program received federal funds in the amount of $126 million in FY2020 and FY2021. The 2020 COVID-19 Families First legislation provided the Virgin Islands with additional federal funds totaling $2.9 million for FY2020 and $1.9 million for FY2021. “With these increased levels of funding in the territory, the task force is an important step in our efforts to increase our collaboration with the Virgin Islands Justice Department, health care agencies, and law enforcement partners,” Shappert said. “The fight against criminal and civil health care fraud is a top priority for my office, and the task force strengthens our capacity to fight health care fraud through a collaborative approach.”
To report suspected health care fraud, please contact: HHS-OIG: 1-800-HHS-TIPS (1-800-447-8477); [email protected]
FBI: (340) 777-3363; tips.fbi.gov
V.I. Justice Department (340) 774-5666
U.S. Attorney’s Office (340) 774-5757U.S. Attorney J. Douglas Overbey Announces $350,000 Award to Address Children and Youth Experiencing Domestic and Sexual Assault in TennesseeRead the Press Release
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – United States Attorney J. Douglas Overbey of the Eastern District of Tennessee announced today that YWCA Knoxville and the Tennessee Valley received $350,000 in Department of Justice grants to address and assist children and youth experiencing domestic and dating violence, sexual assault, and/or stalking.
This consolidated grant program supports projects that create education programming and community organization through encouragement of men and boys to work as allies with women and girls to prevent domestic violence and sexual assault within our communities. The grant is available and awarded by the Office on Violence Against Women.
"Raising awareness and promoting a culture of respect and nonviolence among children and youth at an early age are important steps in preventing future violent behavior. Violence prevention and awareness programs work toward providing our community the ability to access resources and services available to meet this challenge. As we continue to respond to the Coronavirus, and in the wake of economic insecurity, it is vital to increase access to services across all ages for the benefit of our community’s future. Our office is committed to fostering the development of safer societies for all our citizens," said U.S. Attorney Overbey.
The Consolidated Grant Program to address children and youth experiencing domestic violence and sexual assault collaborates with its partners, Knox County Circuit Courts; Knox County District Attorney’s Office; Knoxville Police Department; Knoxville Family Justice Center; and Knox County Sheriff’s Office and Legal Aid of East Tennessee. Through this supplemental award, the project will: 1) develop and implement programming to recruit and train men and boys to serve as role models and/or mentors to address and prevent domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, and sex trafficking; 2) establish a multi-disciplinary team (MDT) to oversee and guide project activities; 3) complete a community needs assessment and develop a strategic plan that outlines the implementation phase of the project; 4) provide crisis intervention at all events to respond to disclosures of victimization and make appropriate referrals; and 5) cross train project staff, partner organizations/programs, and MDT members to expand their knowledge and skills to better understand each other’s role.
The Consolidated Grant Program provides opportunities for communities to create coordinated responses to increase collaboration among nonprofit victim service providers, community service organizations. This program focuses on schools, and local government agencies to enhance prevention, intervention, and response efforts in addressing children, youth and young adults impacted by sexual assault, domestic and dating violence, stalking and sex trafficking.
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U.S. Attorney Davis Announces Nearly $1 Million Award to Improve School Safety in IdahoRead the Press Release
BOISE – U.S. Attorney Bart M. Davis announced that Genesee Joint Schools, Minidoka School District 331, Highland Joint School District 305, and Joint School District 391 received a combined $923,990 from the Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) School Violence Prevention Program (SVPP). Nationally, the COPS Office SVPP awarded nearly $50 million in school safety funding. SVPP provides up to 75 percent funding for school safety measures in and around primary and secondary schools and school grounds.
“Idaho’s students must be assured their schools have the resources to keep them safe,” said U.S. Attorney Davis. “The Department of Justice and my office are committed to improving school safety for our children. I am confident this funding will help strengthen these Idaho school districts for years to come.”
“With the new school year underway, the safety of our nation’s students remains paramount,” said COPS Office Director Phil Keith. “Although this school year may look different at the start, now is the ideal time to make preparations to enhance school safety for when all of our children are back in the classroom.”
The Students, Teachers, and Officers Preventing School Violence Act of 2018 (STOP School Violence Act of 2018) gave the COPS Office authority to provide awards directly to states, units of local government, Indian tribes, and public agencies (such as school districts and law enforcement agencies) to improve security at schools and on school grounds in the jurisdiction of the grantee through evidence-based school safety programs. The four Idaho awards announced today can be used for coordination with law enforcement; training for local law enforcement officers to prevent student violence; metal detectors, locks, lighting, and other deterrent measures; technology for expedited notification of local law enforcement during an emergency; and other measures that provide a significant improvement in security. The full list of SVPP awards can be found here: cops.usdoj.gov/pdf/2020AwardDocs/svpp/Award_List.pdf.
In addition to the school safety grants announced today, the COPS Office School Safety Working Group, which is composed of representatives from eight national law enforcement organizations, has identified ten essential actions that can be taken by schools, school districts, and law enforcement agencies to help prevent critical incidents involving the loss of life or injuries in our nation's schools and to respond rapidly and effectively when incidents do occur. The Ten Essential Actions to Improve School Safety are applicable to school shootings as well as to other areas of school safety, including natural disasters and traumatic events such as student suicide. Adopting policies and practices based on the recommendations in this publication can help make school communities safer and save lives.
The COPS Office is the federal component of the Department of Justice responsible for advancing community policing nationwide. Since 1994, the COPS Office has invested more than $14 billion to advance community policing, including grants awarded to more than 13,000 state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies to fund the hiring and redeployment of more than 134,000 officers and provide a variety of knowledge resource products including publications, training and technical assistance.
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The year 2020 marks the 150th anniversary of the Department of Justice. Learn more about the history of our agency at www.Justice.gov/Celebrating150Years.
Toledo pair indicted for possession of stolen motor coach vehicles, fraud and operating a chop shopRead the Press Release
U.S. Attorney Justin Herdman announced that a federal grand jury sitting in Cleveland has returned an eleven-count indictment charging Derrick Lamont Jones, 56, and Kelly Marie Thomas, 50, both of Toledo, with conspiracy to transport stolen vehicles, possession of stolen vehicles, operating a chop shop, violation Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) regulations and conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
According to the indictment, from 2003 to 2019, the defendants are accused of stealing charter buses, altering and disguising them to avoid law enforcement detection and organizing and marketing for-profit trips, without incurring the cost of legitimately obtaining charter buses. The defendants allegedly purported to own several motorcoach companies that offered and provided charter transportation to passengers in Ohio, including Destiny Tours, Kelly Tours, Marie’s Tour’s and Travel, Elite Tours, and GT Tours. At no point were the defendant’s companies ever incorporated under the laws of any state, including Ohio and at no point in time did any of these companies receive FMCSA operating authority or complete the FMCSA registration process, states the indictment.
The defendants allegedly defaced, disguised, and removed the identity of the stolen motorcoach buses by painting over previous bus company logos and markings. After having stolen and defaced the buses, the defendants allegedly advertised charter passenger transportation services on the internet, social media, and in local newspapers. The defendants are accused of contracting with a Toledo-based church group to provide charter bus service from Toledo to New York. This trip never took place, and money collected by the defendants prior to the trip was never returned, according to the indictment.
An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
If convicted, each defendant’s sentence will be determined by the Court after review of factors unique to this case, including the defendant’s prior criminal records, if any, the defendant’s role in the offense and the characteristics of the violation. In all cases, the sentence will not exceed the statutory maximum and in most cases it will be less than the maximum.
The investigation preceding the indictment was conducted by the U.S. Department of Transportation - Office of Inspector General, Midwestern Region, with significant assistance by the U.S. Department of Transportation – Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Ohio Division; the Ohio State Highway Patrol; Toledo Police Department; and the Michigan State Police. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Ashley A. Futrell.
Three Utah School Districts Awarded Cops Grant Funding to Improve School SafetyRead the Press Release
SALT LAKE CITY – U.S. Attorney John W. Huber announced today that three Utah school districts are receiving funding through the Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) School Violence Prevention Program (SVPP). SVPP provides up to 75 percent funding for school safety measures in and around primary and secondary schools and school grounds.
Provo and Nebo school districts are each receiving $500,000 in program grant funding. The Ogden School District is receiving $393,332. Nationally, the COPS Office awarded nearly $50 million in school safety funding.
“With the new school year underway, the safety of our nation’s students remains paramount,” said COPS Office Director Phil Keith. “Although this school year may look different at the start, now is the ideal time to make preparations to enhance school safety for when all of our children are back in the classroom.”
“This funding will support efforts in these three school districts to significantly improve school safety for children in their communities,” U.S. Attorney John W. Huber. “The school districts can use their funding for a variety of projects that address specific local needs.”
The Students, Teachers, and Officers Preventing School Violence Act of 2018 (STOP School Violence Act of 2018) gave the COPS Office authority to provide awards directly to states, units of local government, Indian tribes, and public agencies (such as school districts and law enforcement agencies) to improve security at schools and on school grounds in the jurisdiction of the grantee through evidence-based school safety programs.
The three awards can be used for coordination with law enforcement; training for local law enforcement officers to prevent student violence; metal detectors, locks, lighting, and other deterrent measures; technology for expedited notification of local law enforcement during an emergency; and other measures that provide a significant improvement in security. The full list of SVPP awards can be found here: https://cops.usdoj.gov/pdf/2020AwardDocs/svpp/Award_List.pdf.
In addition to the school safety grants, the COPS Office School Safety Working Group, which is composed of representatives from eight national law enforcement organizations, has identified 10 essential actions that can be taken by schools, school districts, and law enforcement agencies to help prevent critical incidents involving the loss of life or injuries in our nation's schools and to respond rapidly and effectively when incidents do occur. The Ten Essential Actions to Improve School Safety are applicable to school shootings as well as to other areas of school safety, including natural disasters and traumatic events such as student suicide. Adopting policies and practices based on the recommendations in this publication can help make school communities safer and save lives.
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The COPS Office is the federal component of the Department of Justice responsible for advancing community policing nationwide. Since 1994, the COPS Office has invested more than $14 billion to advance community policing, including grants awarded to more than 13,000 state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies to fund the hiring and redeployment of more than 134,000 officers and provide a variety of knowledge resource products including publications, training and technical assistance.
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.
Thornton Man Sentenced to 160 Months in Prison for Child Pornography OffensesRead the Press Release
DAVENPORT, Iowa—On September 11, 2020, United States District Court Chief Judge John A. Jarvey sentenced Hunter Morgan Uhde, age 24, of Thornton, Iowa, to 160 months in prison for Receiving and Distributing Child Pornography, announced United States Attorney Marc Krickbaum. Uhde was ordered to serve five years of supervised release to follow his prison term, pay $100 to the Crime Victims’ Fund and $27,000 in restitution, and comply with sex offender registry requirements upon release.
On February 14, 2020, Uhde pleaded guilty to Count One of a two-count Indictment. The investigation began in February 2019 with a tip from the Homeland Security Cyber Crimes Center based on activity through the “Kik” app in relation to a username associated with Uhde between November and December 2018. A search warrant was conducted on Uhde’s residence in Coralville, Iowa. Agents found multiple electronic devices containing child pornography.
Uhde admitted to possessing child pornography on his phone and participating in illicit activities involving child pornography. After forensic examination of Uhde’s devices, Uhde was found to have possessed 1,400 images and two videos of child pornography.
This matter was investigated by United States Department for Homeland Security and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). The case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.
The U.S. Reaches $1.5 Billion Settlement with Daimler AG over Emissions Cheating in Mercedes-Benz Diesel VehiclesRead the Press Release
The U.S. Department of Justice, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and California Air Resources Board (CARB) announced today a proposed settlement with German automaker Daimler AG and its American subsidiary Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC (collectively, “Daimler”) resolving alleged violations of the Clean Air Act and California law associated with emissions cheating.
Under the proposed settlement, lodged with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Daimler will recall and repair the emissions systems in Mercedes-Benz diesel vehicles sold in the United States between 2009 and 2016 and pay $875,000,000 in civil penalties and roughly $70,300,000 in other penalties. The company will also extend the warranty period for certain parts in the repaired vehicles, perform projects to mitigate excess ozone-creating nitrogen oxides (NOx) emitted from the vehicles, and implement new internal audit procedures designed to prevent future emissions cheating. The recall program and federal mitigation project are expected to cost the company about $436,000,000. The company will pay another $110,000,000 to fund mitigation projects in California. Taken together, the settlement is valued at about $1.5 billion.
Vehicle manufacturers are required by the Clean Air Act and federal regulations to apply for and receive a certificate of conformity from EPA before selling a new model year vehicle in the United States. As part of the application process, manufacturers must demonstrate through testing that a vehicle meets applicable emissions standards and disclose to EPA all auxiliary emission control devices (AECDs) and any defeat devices installed in the vehicle.
The settlement addresses allegations made in separate civil complaints filed by the United States and CARB today in the District of Columbia that, from 2009 to 2016, Daimler manufactured, imported, and sold more than 250,000 diesel Sprinter vans and passenger cars with undisclosed AECDs and defeat devices programmed into the vehicles’ complex emissions control software. These devices cause the vehicles to produce compliant results during emissions testing. But when not running a test, the vehicles’ emissions controls perform differently, and less effectively, resulting in an increase in NOx emissions above compliant levels.
NOx emissions from vehicles play a key role in ground-level ozone production and negatively impact human health. Indeed, studies have indicated that breathing ozone may cause damage to lung tissue in children and adults, and it may worsen conditions like asthma, emphysema, and bronchitis. The pollutant has also been linked to cardiac disease.
“By requiring Daimler to pay a steep penalty, fix its vehicles free of charge, and offset the pollution they caused, today’s settlement again demonstrates our commitment to enforcing our nation’s environmental laws and protecting Americans from air pollution,” said Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen.
“The message we are sending today is clear. We will enforce the law. We will protect the environment and public health. And if you try to cheat the system and mislead the public, you will be caught,” said EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler. “Those that violate public trust in pursuit of profits will forfeit both.”
EPA and CARB discovered the defeat devices through testing conducted in the wake of the Volkswagen scandal at EPA’s National Vehicle and Fuel Emissions Laboratory in Michigan and at CARB’s test laboratory in El Monte, California.
The settlement requires Daimler to implement a recall and repair program to remove all defeat devices from the affected vehicles at no cost to consumers and bring the vehicles into compliance with applicable emissions standards under the Clean Air Act. The repair will consist of a software update and replacement of select hardware, which differs across models and model years.
Daimler must repair at least 85 percent of the affected passenger cars within two years and at least 85 percent of the affected vans within three years. The company must also offer an extended warranty covering all updated software and hardware, and it must test repaired vehicles each year for the next five years to ensure the vehicles continue to meet emissions standards over time. Daimler will face stiff penalties if any category of updated vehicles fails to meet applicable emissions standards or if it fails to meet the 85 percent recall rate for passenger cars or vans.
The settlement further requires Daimler to implement systemic corporate reforms to detect and try to eliminate violations in the future. This includes conducting significant testing on new diesel and gasoline motor vehicles using a portable emissions measurement system to assess compliance under real-world conditions, installing a robust whistleblower program, enhancing annual AECD and defeat device training for its employees, and performing internal audits subject to review and critique by an external compliance consultant.
Daimler must also replace 15 old locomotive engines with new, less-polluting engines to offset excess NOx emitted from its vehicles.
The proposed settlement is subject to a 30-day public comment period and court review and approval. Copies of the consent decree lodged with the court are available here. Further information about the settlement is available on EPA’s website at: https://www.epa.gov/enforcement/daimler-ag-and-mercedes-benz-usa-llc-clean-air-act-civil-settlement.
Texas family sentenced for scheme to obtain multiple Masters Tournament tickets for resaleRead the Press Release
AUGUSTA, Ga: The four members of a Texas family who crafted an elaborate scheme to fraudulently obtain multiple Masters Tournament tickets have been sentenced, with the ringleader getting federal prison time.
Stephen Michael Freeman, 42, of Athens, Ga., was sentenced to 28 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, by U.S. District Court Chief Judge J. Randal Hall after pleading guilty to Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud, said Bobby L. Christine, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia. Freeman’s parents, Steven Lee Freeman, 67, and Diane Freeman, 66, of Helotes, Texas, and sister, Christine Oliverson, 37, of San Antonio, Texas, were each sentenced to three years of probation after also pleading guilty to Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud.
As part of their plea agreements, Stephen Michael Freeman paid community restitution of $157,493.70, while Steven Lee Freeman and Diane Freeman agreed to pay community restitution of $59,000 each. Judge Hall directed that $50,000 of the funds from the restitution be directed to First Tee of Augusta, with the remainder to the Community Foundation of the CSRA.
“Long before COVID-19 temporarily prevented patrons from visiting the Masters Tournament, these profiteering con artists managed to steal hundreds of tickets from the Augusta National’s generous ticket lottery and sell them for enormous profits,” said U.S. Attorney Christine. “In the end, their greed-fueled scheme unraveled thanks to an alert Augusta National staff member and excellent investigative work from the FBI.”
“The FBI will go to great lengths to disrupt any scheme that would circumvent a fair process by denying our citizens the right to compete for tickets to any public or private event,” said Chris Hacker, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta. “This scheme was designed to profit off legitimate citizens’ fair chance to obtain tickets to a prestigious golf tournament, and they must pay the price for their greed.”
As admitted in court documents and testimony, Stephen Michael Freeman created the scheme in which he purchased a bulk mailing list and used those individuals’ identities without their knowledge to create multiple fraudulent accounts that he then entered in the Augusta National Golf Club’s online ticket application system as far back as 2013. He then recruited his parents and sister into assisting in the conspiracy.
When any fraudulently created applications received notice of ticket awards via the email addresses provided for them, Stephen Michael Freeman or others acting at his direction would create fake identification documents including driver’s licenses, utility bills and credit card statements to persuade the Augusta National to change the winner’s mailing address to one that was under control of the conspiracy. An Augusta National employee detected the scam by noticing similarities in some of the applications for address changes.
During an approximate three-year period before the conspiracy was detected, the defendants received the tickets via U.S. Mail and would then resell them at a substantial profit. The payment of community restitution, negotiated through the Asset Recovery Unit of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, recognizes that the defendants are returning the proceeds of their crime. The funds from community restitution are dispersed under federal guidelines to qualifying non-profit organizations.
The case was investigated by the FBI, and was prosecuted for the United States by Assistant U.S. Attorney Tara Lyons and AUSA Xavier A. Cunningham, Section Chief of the Asset Forfeiture Recovery Unit of the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Texas Woman Admits Role in Conspiracy to Distribute HeroinRead the Press Release
CAMDEN, N.J. – A Texas woman today admitted her role in a conspiracy to distribute heroin, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.
Cristina Godinez, 36, of San Antonio, Texas, pleaded guilty by videoconference before U.S. District Judge Joseph H. Rodriguez to an information charging her with one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute one kilogram or more of heroin.
Alba Lilia Diaz, 43, of Chicago, Illinois, a co-defendant, pleaded guilty July 28, 2020, to an information charging her with one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute one kilogram or more of heroin.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
On July 22, 2019, Diaz travelled to New Jersey to conduct a heroin sale. She provided a sample of heroin and agreed to deliver 15 kilograms of heroin several days later. On July 25, 2019, Diaz and Godinez drove to New Jersey from Chicago with the heroin in their vehicle. When they arrived in New Jersey, Godinez negotiated the sale while Diaz waited with the drugs in a hotel room. Once a price was agreed to, Diaz brought the heroin to the buyer’s car. Special agents from the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) arrested the defendants and seized the drugs.
The conspiracy counts to which the defendants pleaded guilty carry a mandatory minimum term of 10 years in prison, a maximum of life in prison and a fine of $10 million, or twice the gross gain or loss caused by the offense. Sentencing for Godinez is scheduled for Jan. 19, 2021. Diaz is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 20, 2020.
U.S. Attorney Carpenito credited special agents of HSI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Jason Molina, with the investigation leading to the guilty pleas. He also thanked the Drug Enforcement Administration, the New Jersey State Police, the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office, and the Gloucester County HIDTA Task Force for their assistance with the case.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew B. Johns of the Criminal Division in Camden.
Statement by U.S. Attorney Andrew E. Lelling on the Passing of Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice Ralph D. GantsRead the Press Release
“We are saddened by the passing of Chief Justice Gants. He was an outstanding jurist and a good man. He will be missed.”
Sampson Sentenced to 24 Months in Federal Prison for Fraud Scheme with $250,000 LossRead the Press Release
ST. GEORGE, UT – A St. George man will serve 24 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to wire fraud and money laundering in connection with a financial fraud scheme that took advantage of the trust of a couple who were members of a church congregation he attended. The sentence includes an enhancement for causing substantial hardship to the victim.
U.S. District Judge David Nuffer, who imposed the sentence Thursday, also ordered Gregory Moats Sampson, age 46, to pay $250,000 in restitution to the couple and to serve 36 months of supervised release when he finishes the prison sentence.
“Affinity fraud continues to hurt Utahns. Scammers will use any social connection available to gain your trust and take your money,” said Chris Parker, Executive Director of the Utah Department of Commerce. “We are grateful to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the cooperative effort with our Division of Securities.”
“Many of our federal fraud prosecutions focus on losses in the millions. With this case, Utah fraudsters should take note of the stiff penalties that await them in smaller cases, as well. There is no sweet spot in fraud loss where schemers can fly under the radar and get away with it,” U.S. Attorney John W. Huber said today. “Once again, we remind Utah investors to beware of the risks associated with big promises from purported friends and neighbors.”
According to documents filed in court by federal prosecutors and a plea agreement reached in the case, Sampson met the victims, identified as J.S. and K.S., around 2012 when he was their real estate agent. J.S. had $250,000 to invest after selling a home in Australia. Sampson, according to the court documents, told them he had invested funds for others in the past and he could help them invest the $250,000.
J.S. and K.S. were not sophisticated investors and believed they could trust Sampson based on other relationships they had with them. He told them that by investing with him, they could realize a return of $1 million in 8 to 10 years and that they would receive stock certifications in a company. He told them that since they were friends, he would not charge them for their investment.
The victims trusted Sampson and in February 2014, they wrote him a check for $250,000 to Sampson’s business account as an investment for retirement.
Sampson spent the money for his own personal use rather than investing it as promised. He used $98,320.19 to pay off a personal loan; transferred $82,000 to a company owned by his brother, and transferred $20,000 to a company he owned that had nothing to do with an investment. In fact, Sampson used all of the $250,000 of the victims’ investment within one month, federal prosecutors said.
When the victims sought documentation showing a portfolio of investments, Sampson did not provide any. However, he consistently told them their investment was performing well. According to documents filed in court, when J.S. and K.S. eventually confronted Sampson and demanded documentation or their money back, he told them “And you know who gets screwed in the deal? You do…and it’s not to say that I’m trying to protect my own ass because I’m not going anywhere, I promise you, if I need to disappear, I would have already been gone. I’ve got enough money that I can disappear if I need to…”
Assistant U.S. Attorneys in the Utah U.S. Attorney’s Office prosecuted the case. Investigators with the Utah Division of Securities investigated the case.
Renton, Washington, woman pleads guilty admitting she was ‘straw buyer’ for scheme that trafficked guns to violent street gangsRead the Press Release
Seattle – A 41-year-old Renton, Washington, woman pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to three federal felonies related to a scheme to purchase firearms and illegally provide them to other people, announced U.S. Attorney Brian T. Moran. SHANNON McCALL pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the Gun Control Act, making a false statement to a government agent, and making a false statement in connection with the acquisition of a firearm. Sentencing before U.S. District Judge James L. Robart is scheduled for December 7, 2020.
According to records filed in the case, between August 2017 and January 2019, McCALL admitted that she illegally purchased six firearms from Ben’s Loan Inc., a federally licensed firearm dealer in Renton. On purchase paperwork, McCALL lied and said she was the ultimate purchaser of the firearms, when in fact she purchased the firearms for others. Both McCALL and her son were involved in the scheme. In court filings in his case, prosecutors note that her son modified some of the firearms to be automatic weapons and provided firearms to members of violent street gangs, one of whom had just been released from prison. McCALL told investigators that she did not know how the firearms were used after she purchased them for her son. McCALL purchased a firearm for another person, in her name, in exchange for a $200.00 payment.
When McCALL was questioned by agents about her firearms purchases, she initially lied and said the guns were being stored by “Uncle James”–a person she now admits does not exist.
Conspiracy to violate the Gun Control Act and making a false statement to a government agent are each punishable by up to five years in prison. Making a false statement in connection with the acquisition of a firearm is punishable by up to ten years in prison.
This case is part of Project Guardian, the Department of Justice’s signature initiative to reduce gun violence and enforce federal firearms laws. Initiated by the Attorney General in the fall of 2019, Project Guardian draws upon the Department’s past successful programs to reduce gun violence and enhances coordination of federal, state, local, and tribal authorities in investigating and prosecuting gun crimes. Project Guardian ensures that federal resources are directed at the criminals posing the greatest threat to our communities. More information about Project Guardian is here.
The case is being investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF). The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jessica Manca.
Registered Nurse Sentenced for Morphine TamperingRead the Press Release
BOSTON – A Haverhill nurse was sentenced in federal court in Boston today for tampering with patients’ morphine.
Brianna Duffy, 32, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge William G. Young to 60 months in prison and three years of supervised release. In July 2019, Duffy pleaded guilty to one count of tampering with a consumer product and one count of acquiring a controlled substance by fraud or deception.
On March 17 and 18, 2019, while working as a registered nurse at Hunt Nursing and Rehab in Danvers, Duffy tampered with morphine sulfate prescribed to an 89-year old hospice patient. In an attempt to avoid detection, she replaced the extracted medication with another liquid, diluting the morphine to just 26% of the prescribed concentration. The hospice patient received the diluted morphine and suffered unnecessary pain.
From December 2016 until July 2017, while working as a registered nurse at Maplewood Care and Rehabilitation Center in Amesbury, Duffy diverted morphine from two bottles that were prescribed to a 68-year old patient. Duffy subsequently diluted the remaining morphine with another liquid, leaving only 1.2%-2.5% of the declared concentration of morphine. Duffy tested positive for morphine on July 18, 2017.
United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Jeffrey Ebersole, Special Agent in Charge of the Food and Drug Administration, Office of Criminal Investigations; Phillip Coyne, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General, Office on Investigation; and Acting Commissioner Margret Cooke of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Elysa Wan and Patrick Callahan of Lelling’s Health Care Fraud Unit prosecuted the case.
Rapid City Man Sentenced for Wire Fraud and Theft of Government PropertyRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Ron Parsons announced that a Rapid City, South Dakota, man convicted of 2 counts of Wire Fraud and 1 count of Theft of Government Property was sentenced by Judge Jeffrey L. Viken, U.S. District Court.
Robert Rodney Bland, age 52, was sentenced on September 4, 2020, to 12 months in federal prison, and was ordered to pay a $300 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund and $75,000 in restitution to the General Services Administration (GSA).
Between January 2010 and May 2018, Bland, while sole owner and operator of Motive Magic Mobile Windshield Repair, fraudulently billed GSA for hundreds of rock chip repairs he did not perform on dozens of vehicles leased to various federal agencies. On 1 vehicle, Bland claimed to have repaired 71 rock chips, but in reality only completed 2 repairs. On another vehicle, Bland claimed to have repaired 44 rock chips, but in actuality repaired none. The majority of the time, the agency which leased the GSA vehicle was unaware that the claimed repair had been billed to GSA because Bland would not notify the agency representative or provide invoices to the agency before or after billing for a claimed repair. In total, Bland fraudulently billed and was paid $75,000 by GSA for work he had not performed. Bland used the fraudulent proceeds to purchase and/or pay for a pontoon boat, boat trailer, Harley Davidson motorcycle, 5th wheel camper, and a van, all for his personal use. Each of these vehicles were seized and forfeited to the United States.
"GSA relies on vendors across the United States to maintain its large fleet of government vehicles. The judgment in this case proves that GSA OIG, along with our investigative partners, will pursue vendors who defraud the Government and take advantage of the trust that is placed in them,” said Special Agent in Charge Jamie Willemin, General Services Administration, Office of Inspector General.
The investigation was conducted by the General Services Administration - Office of Inspector General, the Department of Health and Human Services -Office of Inspector General, and the Department of Defense - Office of Inspector General. Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin Patterson prosecuted the case.
Bland was immediately turned over to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service to begin serving his sentence.
Project Safe Childhood: Princeton Woman Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy to Distribute Child PornographyRead the Press Release
BLUEFIELD, W.Va. – A Princeton woman pled guilty to conspiring with another person to distribute child pornography, announced United States Attorney Mike Stuart. Elizabeth Kaye Haway, 43, pled guilty to conspiracy to distribute child pornography.
“Protecting our children is my highest priority,” said United States Attorney Mike Stuart. “My office takes all Project Safe Childhood cases very seriously and prosecutes them to the fullest extent possible. That being said, even among those cases, this one stands out for the considerable degree of lifelong physical and mental trauma that Haway has inflicted on this young victim.”
Haway admitted that she began talking with codefendant Randall Peggs, of Wheeling, on Facebook in November 2018. Over the course of several months, Haway and Peggs conspired to distribute child pornography of Victim 1, a 5-year-old female minor child. The majority of their communications occurred on Facebook Messenger and conversations focused on Haway’s desires to touch and sexually violate Victim 1 while recording it to send to Peggs. Peggs encouraged Haway to record and send him nude videos of Victim 1 and told her that he would watch anything she sent him. Ultimately, Haway recorded a video of child pornography depicting a nude Victim 1 and sent the video to Peggs twice via Facebook in February 2019.
Haway faces a mandatory minimum of five years and up to 20 years in prison when sentenced on December 14, 2020. Haway currently is serving a state prison sentence for first degree sexual assault, sexual abuse and incest involving the same minor female child. Peggs previously pled guilty on August 3, 2020 to a federal child pornography charge arising out of this incident. His sentencing is scheduled for November 9, 2020.
This case was investigated by the Mercer County Sheriff’s Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the FBI’s Violent Crimes Against Children Task Force. Senior United States District Judge David A. Faber presided over the hearing. Assistant United States Attorney Kristin F. Scott is handling the prosecution.
This case is being prosecuted as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative of the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute those who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia. Related court documents and information can be found on PACER by searching for Case No. 1:19-cr-00304.
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Project Safe Childhood: Huntington Man Pleads Guilty to Child Pornography OffenseRead the Press Release
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – A Huntington man pled guilty to a child pornography offense, announced United States Attorney Mike Stuart. Trent S. Davis, 29, pled guilty to possession of child pornography involving minors.
“Davis planned his deviant acts,” said United States Attorney Mike Stuart. “He believed he was communicating with the parent of young girls. It is wrong on so many levels to think that is okay. He went further to make arrangements to meet the minors. The investigation also uncovered images and videos of younger children on his cell phone and computer that are too appalling to imagine.”
Davis admitted that on April 27, 2020, he arranged with a person he believed to be the parent to two minor females, ages 12 and 14, to travel from his job in Eleanor, West Virginia to Ashland, Kentucky, in order to engage in sexual activity with both minor girls. On the way to the meeting location, Davis stopped to purchase condoms to use during the sexual activity. Davis was arrested when he arrived at the meeting location in Ashland. A subsequent search of his cell phone revealed numerous images and videos depicting the sexual exploitation of minors, including videos depicting the sexual abuse of toddlers and images and videos depicting sadistic conduct. A search of Davis’ residence located additional computer equipment that also contained child sexual abuse materials.
Davis faces up to 20 years in prison when sentenced on December 14, 2020. If convicted he will be required to register as a sex offender.
The Ashland (Kentucky) Police Department and the FBI Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force conducted the investigation. United States District Judge Robert C. Chambers presided over the hearing. Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer Rada Herrald and law student intern Makeia Jonese are handling the prosecution.
This case was prosecuted as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative of the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute those who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia. Related court documents and information can be found on PACER by searching for Case No. 3:20-cr-00072.
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Parkersburg Man Pleads Guilty to Escape ChargeRead the Press Release
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – A Parkersburg man pled guilty to an escape charge, announced United States Attorney Mike Stuart. Sean Anthony Nalle, 35, pled guilty to walking away from a halfway house earlier this year.
“Bad idea. Nalle was about a month away from his release. Now he faces up to five years in prison,” said United States Attorney Mike Stuart.
Nalle admitted that in February 2020, he left Dismas Charities, Inc., a Bureau of Prisons residential reentry facility, without permission and did not return. He had been confined at Dismas because of a previous federal gun crime conviction.
Nalle faces up to five years imprisonment when sentenced on November 10, 2020.
The U.S. Marshals Service conducted the investigation. Senior United States District Judge John T. Copenhaver, Jr. presided over the hearing. Assistant United States Attorney Negar Kordestani is handling the prosecution.
A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia. Related court documents and information can be found on PACER by searching for Case No. 2:20-cr-00089.
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Operation X-Nation Update: Pennsylvania Man Sentenced to More Than 14 Years in Federal Prison for Drug CrimeRead the Press Release
BLUEFIELD, W.Va. – A Pennsylvania man was sentenced to federal prison for his participation in a drug trafficking organization (DTO) operating in Mercer County, announced United States Attorney Mike Stuart. Sezar Hamilton, 39, was sentenced to 174 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, for conspiring to distribute hydromorphone. Hamilton was charged as a result of a long-term, multi-state investigation known as Operation X-Nation.
“Great work by authorities in busting up this drug operation in Mercer County that was perpetuating pill dependency in our district,” said United States Attorney Mike Stuart. “Hamilton is one of six charged as a result of Operation X-Nation. He now has more than 14 years to think about his dangerous ways.”
Hamilton previously admitted at a plea hearing in June that between August 2017 and August 31, 2019, he participated in a drug trafficking organization (DTO) operating in Mercer County. During this time period Hamilton worked with other members of the DTO to acquire and distribute prescription pills in and around Mercer County. More specifically, Hamilton admitted to selling hydromorphone pills to an individual he now knows was a confidential informant. Hamilton admitted that the informant would call another member of the DTO who would direct the informant to meet Hamilton or other members of the DTO at a specific location. That location was a trailer park in Princeton where the other member owned several trailers. When the informant arrived, Hamilton sold hydromorphone on at least two separate occasions.
The investigation was conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Southern Regional Drug and Violent Crime Task Force, which is composed of officers from the West Virginia State Police, the Mercer County Sheriff’s Department, the Princeton Police Department and the Bluefield Police Department.
Senior United States District Judge David A. Faber imposed the sentence. Assistant United States Attorney Timothy D. Boggess handled the prosecution.
A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia. Related court documents and information can be found on PACER by searching for Case No. 1:19-cr-00307.
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Operation Legend: Case of the DayRead the Press Release
Each weekday, the Department of Justice will highlight a case that has resulted from Operation Legend. Today’s case is out of the Eastern District of Michigan. Operation Legend launched in Detroit on July 29, 2020, in response to the city facing increased homicide and non-fatal shooting rates.
United States vs. Gregory Dulaney
“Operation Legend continues to show results,” said U.S. Attorney Matthew Schneider for the Eastern District of Michigan. “Positive changes can happen when law enforcement agencies from across the board work together to make our streets safer. Removing the scourge of drugs and guns from our communities is our top priority.”
Gregory Dulaney was charged on Aug. 19, 2020, with being a felon in possession of a firearm and distributing narcotics.
According to the charging document, ATF special agents conducted an undercover operation in which confidential informants purchased suspected crack cocaine from Dulaney at a motel in Detroit. On July 30, 2020, while purchasing 19 baggies of crack cocaine from Dulaney, a confidential informant also allegedly noticed a firearm in Dulaney’s pants pocket.
On Aug. 8, 2020, local police conducted a traffic stop of an individual wanted on a no-bond warrant for cocaine possession. During the stop, an officer allegedly observed the front seat passenger – later identified as Dulaney – placing something on the floorboard or under the seat. The officer asked Dulaney for identification, and Dulaney provided a false name.
During a subsequent search of Delany, he was found in possession of a crack pipe and a small amount of heroin. Officers then searched the vehicle Delaney had been in and found a loaded Hi-Point, C9, 9mm handgun under the front passenger seat. It is alleged that Delaney eventually admitted to providing the officer with a fake name because he was on parole for a previous felony conviction.
Because of a previous felony conviction punishable by more than one year in prison, Dulaney is prohibited from possessing firearms.
The details contained in the charging document are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Background on Operation Legend
President Trump promised to assist America’s cities that have been plagued by violence. In July, Attorney General William P. Barr announced the launch of Operation Legend, a sustained, systematic and coordinated law enforcement initiative across all federal law enforcement agencies working in conjunction with state and local law enforcement officials to fight violent crime in cities across America that were experiencing an uptick in violence. Operation Legend is named after four-year-old LeGend Taliferro, who was shot and killed on June 29th in Kansas City, Missouri, while asleep in his home.
Operation Legend was launched in Kansas City, Mo., on July 8, 2020, and expanded to Chicago and Albuquerque on July 22, 2020, to Cleveland, Detroit, and Milwaukee on July 29, 2020, to St. Louis and Memphis on Aug. 6, 2020, and to Indianapolis on Aug. 14, 2020. As part of Operation Legend, Attorney General Barr has directed federal agents from the FBI, U.S. Marshals Service, DEA and ATF to surge resources to these cities to help state and local officials fighting violent crime. The Department of Homeland Security is also contributing agents to these efforts in St. Louis. Since its inception, Operation Legend has yielded more than 2000 local, state, and federal arrests, with approximately 592 defendants charged with federal crimes.
New Haven Man Pleads Guilty to Illegal Possession of HandgunRead the Press Release
John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that TYRELL COX-HENDERSON, 27, of New Haven, pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Stefan R. Underhill in Bridgeport to one count of unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
According to court documents and statements made in court, on April 10, 2019, Cox-Henderson possessed a Smith & Wesson .357 caliber revolver in New Haven. Prior to that date, Cox-Henderson was convicted in state court of burglary in the third degree, possession of a weapon or a dangerous instrument in a correctional facility, and conspiracy to commit robbery in the third degree.
It is a violation of federal law for a person previously convicted of a felony offense to possess a firearm or ammunition that has moved in interstate or foreign commerce.
Judge Underhill scheduled sentencing for December 7, 2020, at which time Cox-Henderson faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years.
Cox-Henderson has been detained since his arrest on April 10, 2019.
This matter is being investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, and the New Haven Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Nathaniel J. Gentile.
This prosecution is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make neighborhoods safer for everyone.
Methamphetamine dealer sentenced to seven years in prisonRead the Press Release
BILLINGS — A Hardin man who admitted selling methamphetamine during an undercover buy that occurred near the Billings Public Library was sentenced today to seven years in prison and four years of supervised release, U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme said.
Charles Anthony Sloan, 32, pleaded guilty in April to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute meth and to distribution of meth.
U.S. District Judge Susan P. Watters presided.
Court records filed by the prosecution said that on May 10, 2019, a confidential source advised a drug task force officer that Sloan was willing to sell an ounce of meth for $800. The task force arranged for a sale in which an undercover agent assisted. The transaction took place in a vehicle parked on North 29th Street, near the Billings Public Library. Sloan entered the vehicle, which was occupied by the undercover agent and confidential source, and called his source to arrange for the delivery of one ounce of meth for $900. The source arrived, and supplied Sloan with the meth. Sloan kept a small amount and sold the rest to the undercover agent for $800. Sloan also offered the confidential source a small amount of meth for setting up the deal. A Drug Enforcement Agency laboratory determined that the meth totaled 25.5 grams of pure meth.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Karla Painter prosecuted the case, which was investigated by the DEA.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, a U.S. Department of Justice initiative to reduce violent crime. According to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports, violent crime in Montana increased by 36% from 2013 to 2018. Through PSN, federal, tribal, state and local law enforcement partners in Montana focus on violent crime driven by methamphetamine trafficking, armed robbers, firearms offenses and violent offenders with outstanding warrants.
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Member of Tulalip Tribes sentenced to 37 months in prison for head-on crash while fleeing Tribal PoliceRead the Press Release
Seattle- A 36-year-old member of the Tulalip Tribes was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to 37 months in prison and 3 years of supervised release for assault resulting in serious bodily injury arising from a high-speed crash, announced U.S. Attorney Brian T. Moran. HERMAN JAMES JOHN III pleaded guilty in February 2020 in connection with the July 8, 2019, high-speed crash into another vehicle on the Tulalip Reservation. At the sentencing hearing, U.S. District Judge James L. Robart noted that JOHN was no longer a young man and has a long pattern of criminal conduct. He expressed hope that JOHN would take advantage of the resources available to him and responsibility for turning his life around.
According to records filed in the case, JOHN had been excluded from the Tulalip Reservation because of criminal conduct. JOHN admits he had used methamphetamine and heroin earlier in the day. When Tulalip Tribal Police attempted to pull JOHN over, he raced away at high speed, lost control of his car, and crashed head on into another car. The two Tulalip tribal members in the other car were severely injured and continue to recover from their injuries. The investigation revealed that JOHN had been traveling 78 miles per hour in a 35-mile-per-hour zone immediately before the crash.
The case was investigated by the Tulalip Tribal Police, the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office, and the FBI.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney J. Tate London.
Martinsburg man sentenced for drug chargeRead the Press Release
MARTINSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA – Eric W. Hathcock, of Martinsburg, West Virginia, was sentenced today to 15 months of incarceration for distributing fentanyl and heroin, U.S. Attorney Bill Powell announced.
Hathcock, age 37, pled guilty to one count of “Distribution of Fentanyl and Heroin” in May 2020. Hathcock admitted to selling heroin and fentanyl in June 2019 in Berkeley County.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy D. Helman prosecuted the case on behalf of the government. The Eastern Panhandle Drug & Violent Crimes Task Force, a HIDTA-funded initiative, and the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office investigated.
These charges are the result of investigations supported by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) under the Attorney General-led Synthetic Opioid Surge (SOS)/Special Operations Division (SOD) Project Clean Sweep. This initiative seeks to reduce the supply of synthetic opioids in “hot spot” areas previously identified by the Attorney General of the United States, thereby reducing drug overdoses and drug overdose deaths, and identify wholesale distribution networks and sources of supply operating nationally and internationally.
Chief U.S. District Judge Gina M. Groh presided.
Marion County Career Drug Trafficker Sentenced to 15 Years in Federal PrisonRead the Press Release
PORTLAND, Ore.—A Marion County, Oregon man was sentenced to federal prison today for possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and possession of a firearm as a convicted felon, announced U.S. Attorney Billy J. Williams.
Mark William Osburn, 39, was sentenced to 180 months in federal prison and five years’ supervised release by U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut.
According to court documents, on September 23, 2018, an Oregon state trooper stopped Osburn after observing him commit several traffic violations. Osburn gave the trooper a fraudulent Washington State driver’s license in another man’s name. A records check revealed that the other man had an Oregon concealed handgun license, proving that the license Osburn produced was a fake. Troopers searched Osburn’s car and found ten fentanyl pills, approximately 74 grams of methamphetamine, and a pistol.
In a separate incident in December 2018, Salem Police officers executed a search warrant at a local motel room after receiving information that Osburn and his girlfriend were selling drugs out of the room. Officers found and seized methamphetamine, user quantities of cocaine and heroin, digital scales, several firearms, ammunition, counterfeit currency, fake identification cards, and $2,300 in cash, among other items. Officers also found a shotgun in Osburn’s vehicle.
Osburn told investigators that he and his girlfriend had been living in the motel room for two months. He admitted to using and selling methamphetamine, and claimed to have sold up to a kilogram of methamphetamine in a 24-hour period. He further admitted to trading drugs for firearms.
Osburn was charged with two counts of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine; two counts of felon in possession of a firearm; one count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime; and one count each of possession of fentanyl, heroin, and cocaine. On February 8, 2020, Osburn pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute more than 50 grams of actual methamphetamine, and two counts of felon in possession of a firearm. Osburn has an extensive criminal history that includes six prior state convictions for delivering methamphetamine
This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Oregon State Police, and the Salem Police Department. It was prosecuted by Gary Y. Sussman, Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN). PSN is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.
Man Who Tried to Procure Ricin Sentenced to 3½ Years in PrisonRead the Press Release
LOS ANGELES – A La Crescenta man was sentenced today to 42 months in federal prison for attempting to obtain ricin from an online source that he admitted was intended to be used as a weapon.
Steve S. Kim, 41, was sentenced today by United States District Judge Terry J. Hatter Jr. Kim pleaded guilty in September 2019 to one count of violating a criminal statute called prohibition with respect to biological weapons.
During today’s hearing, prosecutors argued that, according to Kim’s own statements, he intended to use the deadly biological toxin to murder an individual who weighed 110 pounds, likely his wife.
Over a two-month period in late 2018, Kim attempted to obtain ricin from an online vendor, that, unbeknownst to Kim, was an FBI undercover operative. During online sale negotiations, Kim stated that he wished to procure the ricin to use on an individual he described as weighing 110 pounds and who would consume the deadly toxin in a drink, according to court documents. The investigation revealed that Kim’s wife weighed approximately 110 pounds, Kim and his wife were experiencing marital difficulties, and a computer seized from Kim showed internet searches for strategies to manage anger issues.
Kim purchased the ricin using Bitcoin for the approximate value of $350. Kim directed the ricin to be delivered to his office via the United States Postal Service and, on November 29, 2018, the FBI delivered an inert powder concealed in package. That evening, Kim took the parcel home, accessed the inert powder, and was immediately arrested.
While the parties dispute Kim’s intended use of the ricin, the act of attempting to obtain the deadly toxin constituted “incredibly dangerous conduct without regard to the safety of others,” according to sentencing papers filed by prosecutors. One sentencing memo quotes a pre-sentence report by the United States Probation Office: “Defendant’s conduct had the potential of endangering the community. Kim caused what he believed to be a lethal biological toxin to be shipped through the United States Postal Service where it was delivered at his place of employment. Had Kim been successful in obtaining ricin, he could have seriously harmed many people who unknowingly came into contact with the hazardous package.”
This matter was investigated by the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, which received assistance from the United States Postal Inspection Service.
The prosecution is being handled by Assistant United States Attorney Reema M. El-Amamy of the Terrorism and Export Crimes Section, with assistance from the Department of Justice’s Counterterrorism Section.
Male Enhancement Pills Were Not “All Natural” SupplementsRead the Press Release
KANSAS CITY, KAN. – A Kansas man was sentenced Monday to five years on probation for importing and selling misbranded pharmaceutical-grade erectile dysfunction drugs from China and marketing them as herbal remedies for men, U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister said.
Rick Shepard, 60, Overland Park, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to import misbranded drugs. In his plea, he admitted he was doing business as Epic Products when he sold a product called Euphoric to adult novelty stores in multiple states. He marketed Euphoric as “all natural herbal supplements for male enhancement.” In fact, the product contained prescription drugs Tadalafil and Sildenafil, the active ingredients in Viagra and Cialis. Shepard purchased the drugs from a supplier in China. He repackaged the capsules, applied his own labels and distributed them to stores in Kansas, Missouri and Colorado.
“American consumers are put at serious risk when they are unknowingly exposed to undeclared active pharmaceutical ingredients in products falsely labeled as natural dietary supplements,” said Special Agent in Charge Charles L. Grinstead, FDA Office of Criminal Investigations Kansas City Field Office. “FDA remains committed to pursuing those who endanger the U.S. public health by importing and distributing fraudulent and potentially dangerous products.”
McAllister commended the Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Criminal Investigation and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jabari Wamble for their work on the case.
Latin King Gang Member Sentenced to 216 Months in PrisonRead the Press Release
HAMMOND-Pierre Forest, 25, of Harvey, Illinois, and a member of the Chicago-based Latin Kings street gang, was sentenced by Judge Simon to 216 months in prison and 3 years of supervised release following his guilty plea to conspiracy to participate in racketeering activity, announced U.S. Attorney Kirsch.
“Pierre Forest, a Latin King Gang Member, was held accountable for his role in a senseless murder and will now spend 18 years behind bars. He was also involved in putting firearms and illegal drugs on our Northwest Indiana streets,” said Thomas L. Kirsch II. “Our well-coordinated law enforcement teams will continue to focus on fighting violent, senseless crimes like these.”
According to documents in the case, Forest trafficked firearms and was involved in the distribution of cocaine and marijuana in Hammond and East Chicago, Indiana, as a member of the Latin Kings street gang including participating in the July 2015 armed robbery of firearms from members of rival gangs. At a contested sentencing hearing, the court found Forest responsible for his role in the murder of Travis Nash, who was shot and killed by the Latin Kings on July 18, 2011, in Hammond, Indiana. Forest has a prior felony conviction for aggravated unlawful use of a weapon.
“Today’s sentence sends a clear message that the FBI and our law enforcement partners will continue to work diligently to disrupt and dismantle these gangs and rid our streets of these violent criminals and the violence associated with their activities,” said Special Agent in Charge Paul Keenan, FBI Indianapolis. “The residents of neighborhoods these gangs have impacted through drug dealing and violence deserve to be able to peacefully go about their daily lives without fear.”
“ATF will aggressively investigate those who illegally traffic in firearms, as it threatens the safety of the whole community,” remarked the ATF Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago Field Division Kristen de Tineo. “We will continue to work closely with our local and federal law enforcement partners and the United States Attorney’s office to bring these offenders to justice.”
This case is the result of the investigative efforts of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the East Chicago Police Department, the Gary Police Department, the Hammond Police Department, the Lake County, Indiana, Sheriff’s Department and Lake County High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area officers and agents. The Lake County Prosecutor’s Office and the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Illinois, have also provided assistance. The Latin King case is being prosecuted by Northern District of Indiana Assistant U.S. Attorneys David J. Nozick and Nicholas J. Padilla.
Iowa Man Sentenced to Federal Prison for Bank FraudRead the Press Release
On September 11, 2020, an Iowa farmer was sentenced for his role in a scheme to defraud financial institutions.
Michael Throne, age 61, from Scarville, Iowa, received the prison term after a February 12, 2020 guilty plea to one count of False Statement to a Financial Institution.
During his change of plea and sentencing hearings, it was revealed that sometime before January 2018 – and before he obtained his 2018 operating loans, Throne began stealing from, and lying to, his banks. He began converting the property that had been pledged to the banks as collateral, and began overstating the value of the remaining collateral in order to obtain additional funds. He even altered futures contracts to inflate his anticipated income streams. When his scheme collapsed and was detected by the bank, he confessed his crimes to the bank.
Throne was sentenced in Sioux City by United States District Court Chief Judge Leonard T. Strand. Throne was sentenced to 24 months’ imprisonment. He was ordered to make $1,474,964.61 in restitution to the First State Bank of Kiester and $625,445.48 in restitution to the Farm Service Agency (FSA). He must also serve a two-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
Throne was released on the bond previously set and is to surrender to the Bureau of Prison on a date yet to be set.
The case was investigated by the USDA, Office of Inspector General and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Forde Fairchild, Ajay Alexander, Matt Cole, and Marty McLaughlin.
Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.
The case file number is 20-3003.
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International Fugitive and Disbarred Attorney Charged in over $5 Million Cryptocurrency FraudRead the Press Release
Audrey Strauss, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and William F. Sweeney Jr., the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), announced today the unsealing of a Complaint in Manhattan federal court charging RANDY CRAIG LEVINE, a/k/a “Viktor Lapin,” a/k/a “Andre Santiago Santos Galindo,” a/k/a “Alexander Martinez Lavrov,” a/k/a “Alexander Kozlov,” a/k/a “Hristo Danielov Marinov,” and PHILIP REICHENTHAL with commodities fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering offenses. As alleged, LEVINE induced others to send millions of dollars to REICHENTHAL, who was at the time a licensed attorney, to fund the purchase of Bitcoin after falsely representing that he intended to sell large quantities of Bitcoin to buyers. REICHENTHAL, who was purportedly acting as an escrow agent for the transactions, then sent a substantial portion of the money to LEVINE, before any Bitcoin was provided by LEVINE to investors. Neither LEVINE nor REICHENTHAL ever provided any Bitcoin or refunded the investors’ money.
LEVINE, a U.S. citizen, fled the United States in or about 2005 after learning that he was under investigation for passport fraud and that his residence had been searched. On or about May 19, 2005, a federal grand jury sitting in the Southern District of Florida returned an indictment charging LEVINE with passport fraud and perjury. In 2018, LEVINE was arrested in Guatemala with a Russian passport containing the alias “Viktor Lapin.” In June 2020, he was arrested in Austria with a Bulgarian passport containing the alias “Alexander Koslov.” Extradition proceedings are pending.
REICHENTHAL was arrested today in Homestead, Florida, and will be presented later today before United States District Judge Jacqueline Becerra in the Southern District of Florida.
Acting Manhattan U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said: “Randy Levine and Philip Reichenthal allegedly engaged in a scheme to take over $5 million in investor funds under the pretense of offering cryptocurrency for sale. In reality, when investors’ funds were transferred to Reichenthal, a licensed attorney at the time, for ‘escrow’ at Levine’s behest, the two allegedly pocketed the money. They never completed the Bitcoin transactions promised to their victim investors. Today’s arrest of Philip Reichenthal ensures that he and his co-defendant, Randy Levine, will face justice for this alleged scheme.”
FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Sweeney said: “As alleged, Levine and Reichenthal operated two fraudulent schemes involving Bitcoin transactions. In both cases, investors wired money to the defendants to fund the purchase of Bitcoin. In neither case did these purchases actually take place. The money was funneled, as alleged, to overseas bank accounts controlled by Levine. While the charges brought today against Levine and Reichenthal are fairly detailed and laden with allegations of complex criminal activity, the truth is much more simple: they were con artists who finally got caught in the act.”
As alleged in the Complaint unsealed today in Manhattan federal court:[1]
The charges against LEVINE and REICHENTHAL involve two fraudulent schemes. In the first fraudulent scheme, in approximately June and July 2018, LEVINE induced another individual, the principal of a purported cryptocurrency escrow firm (“Individual-1”), to wire to REICHENTHAL over $3 million of funds from an over-the-counter cryptocurrency broker (“Company-1”) to fund the purchase of Bitcoin after falsely telling Individual-1 that LEVINE would sell thousands of Bitcoin, when in truth and in fact, LEVINE never intended to sell Bitcoin. After receiving the $3 million, REICHENTHAL, in turn, wired over $2 million to bank accounts in Guatemala held in the name of one of LEVINE’s aliases. LEVINE then lied to Individual-1 for days about why the deal had not worked out, the status of the purported Bitcoin, and the location of Company-1’s money, which was never returned.
In the second fraudulent scheme, from approximately February 2019 to May 2019, LEVINE induced a Florida resident involved in brokering Bitcoin transactions (“Individual-2”) to cause investors to send to REICHENTHAL over $2 million of the investors’ money to fund the purchase of Bitcoin. Again, LEVINE told Individual-2 that LEVINE would sell Bitcoin, when in truth and in fact, LEVINE never had any intention of selling Bitcoin to the investors. After receiving the funds from the investors, REICHENTHAL, in turn, sent over $1.9 million to bank accounts in Mexico controlled by LEVINE; the money was then wired to a bank account in Russia held in the name of one of LEVINE’s aliases. LEVINE then lied to Individual-2 and an investor (“Investor-1”) about the status of the investors’ funds, which were never returned. After Individual-2 sought the return of the funds, LEVINE sent one electronic message threatening to “bring [Individual-2] into all My Legal Problems here in Guatemala including Money Laundering as I have open investigation a d [sic] I will alert the American Authorities you were involved in my operations before just to stick it up your a**.”
In connection with the above transactions, LEVINE used, among other things, various false aliases to communicate with the individuals sending funds to REICHENTHAL and foreign bank accounts held in his false names. REICHENTHAL used bank accounts held in the name of his law firm and an attorney trust account to receive the funds and the pass them to LEVINE, before he or investors received the Bitcoin, contrary to REICHENTHAL’s and LEVINE’s promises.
On or about October 31, 2019, the Supreme Court of the State of Florida granted REICHENTHAL’s own petition for voluntary disciplinary revocation of his bar license after approximately 12 attorney disciplinary charges were filed against him related to his “receipt of approximately $2,125,000.00 in escrow funds and subsequent failure to disburse in accordance with the escrow agreement,” as stated in the court documents.
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LEVINE, 53, formerly of Coral Springs, Florida, and REICHENTHAL, 76, of Homestead, Florida, are each charged with one count of conspiring to commit commodities fraud, which carries a maximum term of 5 years in prison, one count of conspiring to commit wire fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, two counts of commodities fraud, each of which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, two counts of wire fraud, each of which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, and one count of money laundering, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. The maximum potential sentences are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendants will be determined by a judge.
Ms. Strauss praised the investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and also thanked the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Florida Office of Financial Regulation’s Bureau of Financial Investigations for their assistance.
This case is being handled by the Office’s Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jordan Estes and Drew Skinner are in 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 herein, constitute only allegations, and every fact described should be treated as an allegation.
Inmate Sentenced for Having Weapon at FCI McDowellRead the Press Release
BLUEFIELD, W.Va. - An inmate at the Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) McDowell was sentenced in federal court today for possessing a weapon at the correctional facility, according to United States Attorney Mike Stuart. Desmond Johnson, 29, was sentenced to 12 months in prison, to run consecutively to the sentence he currently is serving. He also was sentenced to three years of supervised release following his imprisonment.
“As if serving time in a federal prison isn’t bad enough, Johnson made things worse for himself by possessing a shank,” said United States Attorney Mike Stuart. “Shanks are incredibly dangerous for other inmates and for prison staff. Now he has an extended stay at FCI McDowell.”
Johnson admitted that on July 21, 2019 he possessed a handcrafted weapon commonly called a shank. A staff member at the prison saw Johnson drop the shank, and another staff member recovered it.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
Senior United States District Judge David A. Faber imposed the sentence. Assistant United States Attorney John File handled the prosecution.
A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia. Related court documents and information can be found on PACER by searching for Case No. 1:20-cr-00057.
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