Latest Records
Newest first across public DOJ and U.S. Attorney press releases.
17 December 2019
Former Bank President Who Aided the Obstruction of an FDIC Investigation SentencedRead the Press Release
A former bank president who aided the obstruction of an FDIC examination was sentenced today to 5 years’ probation.
Cecil Capper, age 74, from Marion, Iowa, received the probation term after a June 25, 2019 guilty plea to aiding and abetting the obstruction of an FDIC investigation.
Information at sentencing showed that Capper worked as a bank president from 2009 to 2013, and that in December 2010 Capper prepared a handwritten memo and made an entry in the bank’s computer system purporting to show that Capper’s bank had assumed a $500,000 loan from another affiliated bank. Capper did so in order to aid in concealing underlying delinquent loans from FDIC scrutiny. The bank ended up being unable to collect on the majority of the $500,000 loan, ultimately losing $462,304.84.
Capper was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams. Capper was sentenced to 5 years’ probation. He was ordered to make $462,304.84 in restitution.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Anthony Morfitt and investigated by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Office of Inspector General and the United States Secret Service.
Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.
The case file number is 19-cr-63. Follow us on Twitter @USAO_NDIA.
Five Former Residents of Mexico Charged in Cocaine Trafficking ConspiracyRead the Press Release
PITTSBURGH – Four former residents of Sinaloa, Mexico, and a former resident of Sonora, Mexico, have been indicted by a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh on a charge of conspiring to possess with intent to distribute and distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine, United States Attorney Scott W. Brady announced today.
The one-count Indictment named Amado Alonzo Zazueta Garcia, Juan Jose Quintero Felix, Luis Antonio Alvarado Llanes, and Sergio Geovany Alvarado Felix, each of whom is originally from Sinaloa, Mexico; and Aracelis Martinez Nunez, formerly of Sonora, Mexico.
According to the Indictment, from in and around October 2019, to in and around November 2019, in the Western District of Pennsylvania, and elsewhere, the defendants conspired with one another, and with persons both known and unknown to the grand jury, to possess with intent to distribute and distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine, a Schedule II controlled substance.
The law provides for a maximum total sentence for each defendant of not less than ten (10) years in prison and not more than life imprisonment, a fine not to exceed $10,000,000, or both. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentences imposed would be based upon the seriousness of the offense and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendants.
Assistant United States Attorney Jerome A. Moschetta is prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Pennsylvania State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation Unit conducted the investigation leading to the Indictment in this case.
An indictment is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Duncan Man Sentenced to Ten Years for Possessing Firearms While Subject to a Victim Protective OrderRead the Press Release
OKLAHOMA CITY – CHAD WAYNE KASPEREIT, 34, of Duncan, has been sentenced to ten years in prison for possessing firearms while subject to a victim protective order and lying on a federal form to purchase firearms, announced U.S. Attorney Timothy J. Downing.
According to Count 1 of a superseding indictment filed on March 19, 2019, Kaspereit made a materially false statement on December 7, 2017, at the Academy Store in Yukon, Oklahoma, when he represented he was not subject to a victim protective order. Anyone purchasing a firearm from a federally licensed firearms dealer must certify answers to certain questions on Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives Form 4473. The superseding indictment charged he knew when he completed the form that he was subject to a victim protective order in Stephens County, Oklahoma. The protective order prohibited him from harassing, stalking, or threatening his ex-wife and their three children, and from using force or threats of force against them. Relying on Kaspereit’s false statement, Academy sold him a Taurus Judge .45 caliber revolver and a Taurus PT 738 .380 pistol.
A second count charged Kaspereit with the felony of possessing the Taurus Judge .45 caliber revolver and the Taurus PT 738 .380 pistol between December 7, 2017, and February 26, 2018, a period during which he was subject to the Stephens County protective order.
On May 17, 2019, a jury convicted Kaspereit on both of these counts. The evidence showed that Kaspereit was subject to protective orders that prohibited him from harassing, stalking, or intimidating his first wife and their three children, and then his second wife and her child, from September 3, 2015, until the present, with the limited exception of February 27, 2018, until March 18, 2018. The jury heard that Kaspereit’s first wife agreed to dismiss her protective order in February 2018 only because she believed it was not stopping him from doing anything to her or the children. The jury also heard evidence that Kaspereit used the handguns to threaten his second wife. Kaspereit has been in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service since his arrest on January 15, 2019.
At sentencing today, U.S. District Judge David L. Russell sentenced Kaspereit to ten years in prison—the statutory maximum—to be followed by three years of supervised release. This sentence constituted an upward variance from the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines. Although Kaspereit had no criminal history, the court nevertheless found the sentence was necessary to protect the public from Kaspereit’s violence.
"We will continue to bring firearms charges against perpetrators of domestic violence who violate federal law, particularly when they are actively menacing their families," said U.S. Attorney Downing. "Through this case and others like it, the Department of Justice is protecting vulnerable families and preventing violence against both adults and children."
This sentence is the result of an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, with assistance from the Cleveland County District Attorney’s Office and the Oklahoma City Police Department. Prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys K. McKenzie Anderson and Jacquelyn M. Hutzell, this case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods and Project Guardian, the centerpieces of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. Through these programs, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions. To enhance local effectiveness, the Western District of Oklahoma has emphasized prosecution of federal gun crimes connected to domestic violence.
Reference is made to public filings for further information. For an image of U.S. Attorney Downing, click here.
District Man Sentenced to 7 Years in Prison for Armed KidnappingRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON – Ethan Moye-Gordon, 23, of Maryland, was sentenced yesterday to 84 months in prison for his participation in an armed kidnapping and robbery that began in the District of Columbia and continued into Maryland.
U.S. Attorney Jessie K. Liu, Timothy M. Dunham, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Washington Field Office, Criminal Division, Chief Peter Newsham, Metropolitan Police Department, and Chief Henry P. Stawinski, Prince George’s County Police Department made the announcement.
The defendant entered a guilty plea in July of 2019, before the Honorable Judge Amy Berman Jackson. In addition to the period of incarceration, Judge Jackson imposed a 60-month period of supervised release and required the defendant to complete 250 hours of community service.
According to the government’s evidence, late in the evening on November 10, 2018, and into the early morning hours of November 11, 2018, Moye-Gordon, along with two other men, abducted the victim at gunpoint near Logan Circle and forced the victim into their vehicle. The victim had been in Washington to attend the annual meeting of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer at the Convention Center.
During the course of the abduction, the victim was forced into the trunk of the defendant’s vehicle; he ultimately was able to pull the latch in the trunk and attempted to escape, but was unable to obtain help before he was recaptured by his captors and forced back into the vehicle.
During the abduction, Moye-Gordon and his associates forced the victim at gunpoint to provide his ATM PIN code and made physical withdrawals from numerous ATMs in D.C. and Maryland. Moye-Gordon and his associates also withdrew funds from the victim’s accounts using online banking applications on the victim’s phone.
In a statement provided to the court, the victim advised that “words cannot convey the horror and the shock I experienced” during the kidnapping. The victim praised everyone who worked on the case and “diligently assembled evidence and facts, and then diligently and expertly conducted their criminal case and investigation.”
This matter was investigated by the Washington Field Office’s Violent Crime Task Force, which is composed of FBI Special Agents, along with Detectives of the Washington Metropolitan Police Department, and the U.S. Capitol Police, in conjunction with the Prince George’s County Police. This task force, working with local, state and federal partners, is charged with investigating and arresting the most egregious and violent criminal actors within the Capital Region.
In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Liu, Special Agent in Charge Dunham, Chief Newsham, and Chief Stawinski commended the work of the FBI Agents, MPD officers, Prince George’s County police officers, and Arlington County police officers who investigated the armed kidnapping. They also acknowledged the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Assistant U.S. Attorney Laura Crane, former Assistant United States Attorney Jillian Willis, Paralegal Specialist Rommel, and Legal Assistant Peter Gaboton.
District Man Sentenced to 32 Years in Prison for the Murder of a Man Outside a Convenience Store in Northeast WashingtonRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON – Kenneth Adams, 21, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced today to 32 years in prison stemming from a killing of a man that took place outside of a convenience store in 2016 in Northeast Washington, announced U.S. Attorney Jessie K. Liu and Peter Newsham, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).
Adams was found guilty of first-degree murder while armed and a weapons offense related to the murder, as well as a robbery charge involving an earlier incident following a 4-week trial in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. He was sentenced by the Honorable Judith Bartnoff. Following his prison term, he will be placed on five years of supervised release.
According to the government’s evidence, on the night of February 15, 2016, Adams and two others robbed a woman near the intersection of 21st and Maryland NE and threatened that her brother would be next. The woman told her brother what happened, and he confronted Adams and the others.
On February 19, 2016, at approximately 9:40 p.m., Adams armed with a .40-caliber revolver, walked a short distance from 21st Street and Maryland Avenue NE to the convenience store at 19th Street and Benning Road NE. He was backed by several others from the neighborhood. He walked to the center of the parking lot, raised his left arm, and pointed his firearm at the woman’s brother, firing multiple times. The man was in a group that included Dante Kinard. The gunfire did not hit the intended target, but did hit Mr. Kinard, 21, who was standing in front of the store at the time. He was shot in the back and right thigh and died a short time later.
Adams was arrested on June 15, 2016, and has been in custody ever since.
In announcing the verdicts, U.S. Attorney Liu and Chief Newsham commended the work of those who investigated the case from the Metropolitan Police Department. They also expressed appreciation for the assistance provided by U.S. Marshal Service, U.S. Park Police, the FBI Washington Field Office, and the ATF. They acknowledged the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sharon Donovan, Chrisellen Kolb, Daniel Lenerz, John Mannarino, David Misler, and Rizwan Qureshi; Paralegal Specialists Debra Joyner, Alesha Matthews, Lornce Applewhite, Meridith McGarrity, and Sharon Newman; Investigative Analyst Zachary McMenamin; Litigation Technology Specialists Leif Hickling, Anisha Bhatia, and Thomas “Ron” Royal; Victim/Witness Advocates Diana Lim and Jennifer Allen; Victim/Witness Security Specialists Lesley Slade and M. LaVerne Perry, and Intern Tia Kerkhof.
Finally, they commended the work of Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ahmed Baset and Monica Trigoso, who investigated and prosecuted the case.
Dark web fentanyl dealer sentenced to 7 years in prisonRead the Press Release
Seattle – A 40-year-old Seattle man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to seven years in prison for selling thousands of doses of fentanyl on various encrypted websites, announced U.S. Attorney Brian T. Moran. MATTHEW WITTERS was a leading seller of fentanyl on AlphaBay and Dream Market between 2015 and 2017. In December 2018, law enforcement seized $1.1 million in cryptocurrency, cash and other funds WITTERS admitted were the proceeds of his drug trafficking. At the sentencing hearing U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour ordered forfeiture of those funds, and noted WITTERS sold “an enormous quantity of an extremely dangerous drug.”
“Fentanyl traffickers, who put their profits ahead of public safety, justifiably face significant federal prison sentences,” said U.S. Attorney Brian T. Moran. “Trafficking in these substances endangers not only the end-user, but innocent bystanders such as postal workers or family members who might come in contact with the highly toxic substance.”
According to records filed in the case, WITTERS came to the attention of law enforcement when his contact information and dark web monikers were discovered in residences connected with drug trafficking in Oklahoma and California. WITTERS’ sales on AlphaBay ended when law enforcement shut-down the site in July 2017.
WITTERS was arrested December 10, 2018, and the following day law enforcement executed a search warrant for a safe deposit box WITTERS leased in a Shoreline, Washington bank. Inside was more than $165,000 in currency, a variety of suspected controlled substances, mailing labels and stamps and a loaded Glock 27 pistol.
WITTERS has been in custody since his arrest. On June 13, 2019, WITTERS pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute controlled substances. Prosecutors agreed to cap their sentencing recommendation at ten years in prison.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Neal B. Christiansen and Thomas M. Woods.
Corcoran Resident Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison for Role in Methamphetamine Distribution ConspiracyRead the Press Release
SAN JOSE – Angel Lopez-Rivera was sentenced today to 10 years in prison for his role in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, announced United States Attorney David L. Anderson and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Acting Special Agent in Charge William C. Fallin. The sentence was handed down by the Honorable Beth Labson Freeman, United States District Judge.
Lopez-Rivera, 24, of Corcoran, Calif., pleaded guilty on June 25, 2019, to one count of distribution of methamphetamine. In pleading guilty, Lopez-Rivera admitted he agreed to deliver methamphetamine to a drug buyer in Gilroy. The defendant drove to a parking lot in Gilroy, met the buyer in a parked car, then handed over the drugs in a cardboard box in exchange for cash. The drugs consisted of approximately 446 grams of pure methamphetamine.
A federal grand jury indicted Lopez-Rivera on May 4, 2017, charging him with one count of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. A superseding information filed on June 20, 2019, charged Lopez-Rivera with one count of distribution of methamphetamine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841, the count to which he pleaded guilty.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Freeman also sentenced the defendant to a five-year period of supervised release. The defendant was remanded into custody and will begin serving his prison term immediately.
Lopez-Rivera is member of a drug trafficking organization (DTO) that participated in illegal drug activities in and around Fresno and Gilroy from June 2016 to April 2017. In total, the DTO was responsible for distributing over 24 pounds of methamphetamine, or “crystal meth,” and possessed additional methamphetamine, heroin, and cocaine for intended distribution. Lopez-Rivera the third member of the DTO to have been sentenced. On June 18, 2019, Judge Freeman sentenced codefendant Sergio Antonio Padilla-Lopez to 36 months in prison for delivering methamphetamine on a separate occasion. Further, on March 5, 2019, Judge Freeman sentenced the organizer and leader of the DTO, codefendant Ricardo Rios-Angulo, to 220 months in prison for his role in the drug conspiracy. When arrested, Rios-Angulo also was in possession of firearms and ammunition, including a Cobra .380-caliber handgun, a loaded Springfield Armory 1911 .38-caliber handgun, and an AR-style assault rifle without a serial number.
This case is being prosecuted by the San Jose Branch of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District in California. The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the DEA.
Columbia Falls man admits sexually exploiting childRead the Press Release
MISSOULA – A Columbia Falls man who admitted soliciting sexually explicit images of a minor girl through his Facebook account and mobile phone pleaded guilty on Monday to sexual exploitation of a child, U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme said.
Todd Louis Pajnich, 30, appeared before U.S. Magistrate Kathleen L. DeSoto, who will recommend his plea be accepted by Chief U.S. District Judge Dana L. Christensen, who is hearing the case.
Pajnich faces a minimum mandatory 15 years to 30 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and at least five years to a lifetime of supervised release. Pajnich was detained pending further proceedings. Sentencing was set for March 27, 2020.
In court records filed in the case, the prosecution said that beginning in January, Pajnich started communicating on Facebook with a 10-year-old girl. In April, Facebook reported potential online sexual exploitation involving the girl’s and Pajnich’s accounts. A law enforcement investigation found records in which Pajnich asked the girl her age and that she told him she was 13. Pajnich then asked the girl to send him sexually explicit images of herself. He sent the victim sexually explicit images of a male, purportedly of himself, and encouraged girl to send him sexually explicit images of herself, which she did. Pajnich admitted to law enforcement that he knew the victim was a child and that he solicited sexually explicit images of her.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Cyndee Peterson is prosecuting the case, which was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office and the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.
This case was initiated under the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood initiative, which was launched in 2006 to combat the proliferation of technology-facilitated crimes involving the sexual exploitation of children. Through a network of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies and advocacy organizations, Project Safe Childhood attempts to protect children by investigating and prosecuting offenders involved in child sexual exploitation. It is implemented through partnerships including the Montana Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. The ICAC Task Force Program was created to assist state and local law enforcement agencies by enhancing their investigative response to technology facilitated crimes against children.
XXX
Chief of Security of Gangster Disciples Sentenced to 10 Years for RICO ConspiracyRead the Press Release
Memphis, TN – Demario Demont Sprouse, 39, a/k/a/ "Taco," has been sentenced to 120 months in federal prison for conspiracy to participate in a racketeering enterprise. U.S. Attorney D. Michael Dunavant announced the sentence today.
According to the superseding indictment, the Gangster Disciples is a highly-organized criminal street gang with nationwide reach. In addition to Tennessee, the gang reportedly operates in more than 35 states. The Gangster Disciples were organized into different positions, including board members, and governor-of-governors who each controlled geographic regions; governors, assistant governors, chief enforcers and chief of security for each state or regions within the state where the Gangster Disciples were active; and coordinators and leaders within each local group.
During the change of plea hearing on June 19, 2019, Sprouse admitted that he was the Chief of Security for a region within the Western District of Tennessee. The superseding indictment to which Sprouse pleaded guilty indicates that, as Chief of Security he was responsible for the security of fellow gang members, providing protection to senior Gangster Disciple members, and providing security and protection during times when law enforcement or rival gangs were exerting pressure on the gang.
Sprouse was among a total of 16 leaders and members of the Gangster Disciples criminal street gang originally indicted in 2016 in "Operation .38 Special" for federal racketeering offenses, including conspiracy to commit attempted murders; robberies; assaults; distribution of large quantities of heroin; cocaine and marijuana; firearms trafficking; kidnappings; intimidation of witnesses and victims; extortion; obstruction of justice; and other offenses in furtherance of the Gangster Disciples enterprise and to raise funds for the gang.
On December 16, 2019, U.S. District Court Judge John T. Fowlkes, Jr., sentenced Sprouse to 120 months in federal prison followed by 3 years of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system.
U.S. Attorney D. Michael Dunavant said: "We are fighting to reclaim our cities, towns, and neighborhoods from the gangs, and are effectively dismantling their leadership and influence. "Taco" has terrorized the Memphis area with his violence and racketeering, and he will now only have prison food for the next 10 years."
This prosecution was brought as part of the Justice Department’s Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) program. OCDETF was established in 1982 to conduct comprehensive, multilevel attacks on major drug trafficking and money laundering organizations, and to diminish the violence and other criminal activity associated with the drug trade. Today, OCDETF combines the resources and expertise of its member federal agencies in cooperation with state and local law enforcement. The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt, and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking, money laundering, and violent organizations.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Drug Enforcement Administration, Tennessee Bureau of Investigations, Jackson Police Department Gang Enforcement Team, Memphis Police Department, Shelby County Sheriff’s Office, 28th District West Tennessee Drug Task Force, 26th, 25th, and 30th Judicial District Attorney’s General Offices, Sheriff’s Offices for Tipton, DeSoto, Madison and Fayette Counties, Police Departments of Bartlett, Germantown and Columbia, TN.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Beth C. Boswell and Annie T. Christoff of the Western District of Tennessee and Trial Attorney Shauna Hale of the Criminal Division Organized Crime and Gang Section prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.
###
Bronx Gang Member Convicted of 2011 Murder of Bolivia BeckRead the Press Release
Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today that KAREEM DAVIS, a/k/a “Reem,” a member of a violent, Bronx-based street gang known as “Killbrook,” was convicted of the April 2011 murder of Bolivia Beck, as well as participating in a racketeering conspiracy. DAVIS was convicted following a one-week trial before U.S. District Judge Lorna G. Schofield.
U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said: “A unanimous jury convicted Kareem Davis of killing Bolivia Beck as she was meeting her boyfriend’s grandparents, more than eight years ago. We hope today’s verdict brings some solace to the victim’s family, while also taking a violent offender off the street.”
As reflected in the Indictment, documents previously filed in the case, and evidence introduced at trial:
From at least in or about 2007 through in or about October 2017, DAVIS was a member of Killbrook, a violent street gang based in the “Down the Block” section of the Mill Brook Houses. Killbrook members were responsible for narcotics trafficking, shootings, robberies, and murder. In or around 2007, a violent rivalry started between Killbrook and “MBG,” another gang based in the “Up the Block” section of the Mill Brook Houses. This rivalry involved numerous shootings and acts of violence, including a shooting at a baby shower in the Mill Brook community center.
On April 18, 2011, Bolivia Beck and her boyfriend, a member of MBG, were walking through the Mill Brook Houses. As Beck and her boyfriend approached her boyfriend’s grandparents, DAVIS and a co-conspirator fired multiple times, aiming for the boyfriend but instead striking Beck in the head with a single bullet. The shooting occurred in broad daylight. Beck died two days later from the gunshot wound.
* * *
DAVIS, 30, was found guilty of one count of racketeering conspiracy, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison; one count of murder in aid of racketeering, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of life in prison; and one count of murder through the use of a firearm, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison and a maximum sentence of life in prison. DAVIS is scheduled to be sentenced on April 16, 2020.
Mr. Berman praised the outstanding investigative work of the New York City Police Department.
The case is being prosecuted by the Office’s Violent and Organized Crime Unit. Assistant United States Attorneys Christopher Clore, Jordan Estes, and Alexandra Rothman are in charge of the prosecution.
Bristow Man Found Guilty of Coercion and Enticement of a MinorRead the Press Release
A federal jury convicted a Bristow man Tuesday of coercion and enticement of a minor, announced U.S. Attorney Trent Shores.
Arthur James Mann, 34, was found guilty of communicating with an individual he believed to be 13 years of age but who was an undercover officer. From July 29 to Aug. 17, 2018, Mann communicated with the “girl” on Facebook, telling her that his name was Andrew Mason and he was 16 years old. Mann initiated multiple sexual conversations with the girl and requested nude photos. Mann further suggested the two meet in order to have sex on Aug. 17, 2018. Mann arrived that night in his pajamas and slippers to meet the 13-year-old girl. Instead, he was met by officers from the Bristow Police Department and taken into custody.
“The jury has spoken, and Arthur Mann is guilty as charged of attempting to coerce and entice a minor via Facebook. Parents must be aware that sex predators like Mann use social media to find, groom, and entice their prey. In this case, we were lucky the defendant was talking to an undercover law enforcement officer and not a 13-year-old child. Key evidence in this trial included a cell phone and communications on Facebook. The ever-present threat of online child predators underscores the importance of lawful access by law enforcement to various tech devices and social media platforms,” said U.S. Attorney Trent Shores.
“I hope the public understands that law enforcement gains “lawful access” to cell phones and social media accounts through warrants and wiretaps approved by impartial judges,” Shores continued. “‘Warrant proof encryption’ or ‘end-to-end encryption’ touted by some social media platforms actually facilitates and protects the criminal acts of pedophiles and others online. Bottom line, when technology prevents law enforcement officials from having lawful access, it puts our children and communities at risk. Thankfully, law enforcement officials in this case were able to search Mr. Mann’s cell phone to obtain critical evidence.”
U.S. District Judge Gregory K. Frizzell set sentencing for March 2020. At that time, Mann faces a minimum penalty of 10 years in prison, supervised release of not less than five years up to life, and a fine not to exceed $250,000.
The Bristow Police Department conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Edward Snow and Scott Proctor are prosecuting the case.
This case was prosecuted as part of the Project Safe Childhood initiative. PSC combats the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse and was launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
Auburn Man Sentenced to 42 Months for Drug Trafficking and Firearms OffensesRead the Press Release
CONCORD - Joshua Simard, 31, of Auburn, was sentenced to 42 months in federal prison for drug trafficking and firearms offenses, United States Attorney Scott W. Murray announced today.
According to court documents and statements made in court, on July 31, 2018, law enforcement officers encountered Simard at a hotel in Bedford. Officers seized two backpacks from Simard, which contained, among other things, a handgun, ammunition, over $6,000 in cash, over 150 grams of cocaine, digital scales, and a suspected drug ledger.
Simard previously pleaded guilty on June 12, 2019.
“Possessing or using a gun during a drug deal is a guaranteed ticket to federal prison,” said U.S. Attorney Murray. “Armed drug dealers present a substantial threat to the safety of our communities. In order to maintain public safety, we will aggressively prosecute drug dealers who carry firearms.”
“As we all know, drug trafficking, along with the gun and physical violence that often accompanies it, ravages the very foundations of our families and communities,” said DEA Special Agent in Charge Brian D. Boyle. “Today’s sentence not only holds Mr. Simard accountable for his crimes but serves as a warning that DEA and its local, state and federal law enforcement partners will do everything in our power to bring to justice anyone who engages in these crimes.
This matter was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Bedford Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Anna Krasinski.
###
Arkansas Sheriff Charged with Assaulting Three Individuals in CustodyRead the Press Release
An indictment was unsealed today charging Anthony Boen, the current sheriff of Franklin County, Arkansas, with federal civil rights offenses. Sheriff Boen, age 49, is charged with three counts of deprivation of rights under color of law, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 242.
The indictment alleges that Boen used unreasonable force to punish pretrial detainees on three separate occasions. On Sept. 14, 2017, Boen allegedly punched a detainee multiples times in the head and body while the detainee was handcuffed and shackled in the back of a police car. The indictment further alleges that, on Nov. 21, 2018, Boen pushed a detainee onto the floor and grabbed his hair or beard during an interrogation. Two weeks later on Dec. 3, 2018, Boen allegedly struck a detainee multiple times in the head while the detainee was shackled to a bench inside the Franklin County Jail and was not resisting. The indictment alleges that all three detainees suffered bodily injury as a result of Boen’s actions.
An indictment is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty. If convicted, Boen faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000.
The case was investigated by the FBI and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Brandon T. Carter of the Western District of Arkansas and Civil Rights Division Trial Attorney Michael J. Songer.
Another Member of a Halifax County Multi-Kilogram Heroin Trafficking Organization SentencedRead the Press Release
NEW BERN – The United States Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, Robert J. Higdon, Jr., announces that TYSHAWN RAYVON REAMS, 36, of Scotland Neck, NC, was sentenced today by United States District Judge Louise W. Flanagan. REAMS was sentenced to 88 months imprisonment and 5 years of supervised release.
On October 16, 2018, REAMS pled guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute one kilogram or more of heroin and a quantity of marijuana and possession with intent to distribute 100 grams or more of heroin and aiding and abetting.
In March 2016, an investigation was initiated by the Tar River Regional Drug Task Force (TRRDTF), led by the Nash County Sheriff’s Office, into a drug trafficking organization (DTO) headed by Terrence Clyburn, which was operating out of Scotland Neck, Tarboro, and Nash Counties in North Carolina. Law enforcement received information that members of the DTO had made several trips to Paterson, New Jersey, to acquire large quantities of heroin for distribution in Nash, Edgecombe, and Halifax Counties.
On March 13, 2017, as DTO members Herbert Cherry and Tony Reams returned from a trip to Paterson, New Jersey, an officer observed a vehicle driven by Cherry speeding and weaving between traffic lanes in Halifax County. A canine was utilized to conduct an exterior narcotics sniff of the vehicle, which resulted in an alert on the vehicle’s trunk. A search of the vehicle resulted in the seizure of 694 bricks of heroin (approximately 470 grams of heroin) which were packaged in 34,722 bindles and hidden in a false bottom of a suitcase and a laundry bag located in the trunk.
On August 16, 2017, the North Carolina State Highway Patrol conducted a traffic stop of another vehicle operated by the DTO, which was occupied by Tara Simmons and Charles Lee Wright. The vehicle was stopped for a speeding violation in Halifax County. Investigators detected the odor of marijuana emanating from the vehicle and determined that Simmons was the driver of the vehicle. A canine, utilized to scan the vehicle, alerted to the rear of the vehicle. Located near the spare tire in the rear of the vehicle, investigators recovered 13 grams of marijuana and approximately 102 bricks of heroin. Each “brick” contained 50 “bindles,” or dosage units, of heroin. The drugs seized totaled 110 grams of heroin.
The investigation revealed that from approximately 2012 to 2017, the DTO trafficked approximately 14.4 kilograms of heroin. The investigation revealed that TYSHAWN REAMS regularly directed the activities of the organization’s couriers and would receive heroin in North Carolina from the couriers. REAMS would then sell the heroin to customers in North Carolina on behalf of the drug trafficking organization.
All defendants charged in this investigation have now been convicted and those sentenced are indicated below.
- Terrence Corneilus Clyburn (sentenced to 147 months imprisonment)
- Tony Ray Reams (sentenced to 47 months imprisonment)
- Herbert Lamont Cherry (sentenced to 71 months imprisonment)
- Charles Lee Wright (sentenced to 60 months imprisonment)
- Tara Finis Simmons (sentenced to 28 months imprisonment)
- Patrick Direece Holiday (sentenced to 96 months imprisonment)
- Mario Marelle Scott (pled guilty on 11/13/19 & awaiting sentencing)
This case is part of the United States Attorney’s Office’s Take Back North Carolina Initiative. This initiative emphasizes the regional assignment of federal prosecutors to work with law enforcement and District Attorney’s Offices on a sustained basis in those communities to reduce the violent crime rate, drug trafficking, and crimes against law enforcement. For additional information about this initiative, click here https://www.justice.gov/usao-ednc/tbnc.
The Nash County Sheriff’s office, Edgecombe Sheriff’s Office, the Halifax County Sheriff’s Office, the Bladen County Sheriff’s Office, the Wake County Sheriff’s Office, the Spring Hope Police Department, and the Tarboro Police Department investigated this case. Assistant United States Attorney Scott A. Lemmon prosecuted this case for the government.
16 December 2019
“Sovereign citizen” now behind federal prison bars for child pornography crimesRead the Press Release
GALVESTON, Texas – A 57-year-old resident of Galveston who claimed the judicial system had no jurisdiction over him is headed to federal prison, announced U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Patrick.
U.S. District Judge George C. Hanks Jr. found John David Knowlton guilty of receipt and possession of child pornography following a two-day bench trial that concluded June 18.
Today, Judge Hanks ordered him to serve 144 and 120 months for the receipt and possession convictions, respectively. The sentences will run concurrently for a total 12-year-term of imprisonment. The court took into consideration victim impact statements and arguments detailing Knowlton’s extensive child pornography collection. In handing down the sentence, the court noted Knowlton’s military service and age, but also considered the seriousness of the offenses, the community and justice for the child victims. Knowlton will also serve 15 years on supervised release following completion of his prison term, during which time he will have to comply with numerous requirements designed to restrict his access to children and the internet. He will also be ordered to register as a sex offender.
During trial, the court heard testimony from multiple law enforcement officers and a Comcast custodian of records.
In February 2016, law enforcement conducted an online session using a publicly available peer-to-peer file-sharing network and located an IP address whose shared folder contained images of child pornography. The IP address was associated with Knowlton’s residence.
When law enforcement searched his home, they discovered more than a dozen electronic devices belonging to him that contained child pornography. Forensic analysis found that 18 electronic devices contained thousands of images and hundreds of videos of child pornography.
Knowlton had opted to represent himself at the trial with the court-appointed shadow defense counsel. Knowlton, identifying as a sovereign citizen, argued that the federal judicial system had no jurisdiction over him. The court was not persuaded by his arguments and found him guilty as charged.
Previously released on bond, Knowlton was taken into custody after the guilty verdict where has remained pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, Pearland Police Department and Galveston Police Department’s - Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force conducted the investigation.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Zahra Jivani Fenelon and Kimberly Leo prosecuted the case, which was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “resources.”
information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “resources.”
Wisconsin Man Sentenced to 78 Months for Fraud Scheme Involving over $260 Million in Small Business ContractsRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Matthew D. Krueger announced that on December 16, 2019, Brian L. Ganos of Muskego, Wisconsin, was sentenced by the Honorable Pamela Pepper to 78 months in federal prison for leading a 12-year fraud scheme involving over $260 million in government-funded contracts intended to benefit small businesses. The sentence also includes two years of supervised release, a $5,000 fine, and forfeiture of assets worth nearly $4 million. Ganos had earlier pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of mail fraud. Four other individuals and one corporation have also pleaded guilty to a felony charge in connection with Ganos’s scheme.
The scheme involved operating three construction companies with straw owners who qualified as a disadvantaged individual or as a service-disabled veteran, but who did not actually control the companies. Ganos then fraudulently obtained small business program certifications to win government-funded contracts to which the companies were not entitled. Specifically,
- Nuvo Construction Company, Inc. (“Nuvo”) was misrepresented to be majority-owned and controlled by J.L. in order to obtain certifications as a Small Disadvantaged Business from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and as a Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) from Milwaukee County. In reality, J.L. worked full-time for a different entity in Minnesota and did not actually control Nuvo.
- C3T, Inc. was misrepresented to be majority owned and controlled by T.A. to obtain verification as a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business. In reality, for long stretches, T.A. had virtually no involvement in C3T.
- Pagasa Construction Company, Inc. was misrepresented to be majority owned and controlled by O.M. in order to obtain certification as a Small Disadvantaged Business from the SBA. In reality, O.M. relied on the assistance of Ganos-controlled companies to form Pagasa.
The scheme continued from 2004 to mid-2016 during which period, Ganos and others used those certifications to obtain over $260 million in federal, state, and local contract payments. These included federal construction contracts that were set aside for Small Disadvantaged Businesses or Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses. In addition, Nuvo used its DBE certification to win ready-mix concrete contracts based on the false representation that Nuvo provided ready-mix concrete independently when, in truth, Nuvo’s concrete operations depended heavily on Sonag Ready Mix. On multiple occasions, the conspirators engaged in efforts to conceal the scheme and obstruct investigations into the matter.
As a result of the scheme, Ganos undermined the small business programs and deprived honest small businesses of opportunities to become established. In addition, Ganos used various means to launder proceeds of the fraud scheme and enrich himself. As part of his plea agreement, Ganos agreed to the forfeiture of various assets, including (a) over $1.9 million seized from accounts; (b) a ski condominium in Winter Park, Colorado; (c) the office building in Milwaukee used to facilitate the scheme; (d) two Disney timeshares; (e) and five vehicles, including a Corvette Stingray Convertible and classic cars.
United States Attorney Krueger stated: “Driven by greed, Brian Ganos exploited federal programs that Congress intended to help disadvantaged individuals and veterans who were injured while serving our country. This case should send a clear warning that cheating federal programs will not be tolerated. We commend the collaboration and commitment of the federal agencies that investigated this case.”
“The GSA Office of Inspector General will aggressively pursue contractors who make false representations in order to obtain federal contracts,” said Special Agent-in-Charge, Jeffrey Ryan. “Schemes to fraudulently access opportunities designated as set-aside contracts cheat the government and deserving bidders.”
“Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) fraud harms law-abiding contractors by disrupting the level playing field in which legitimate disadvantaged businesses seek to fairly compete for contracts,” said Andrea M. Kropf, Regional Special Agent-in-Charge of the United States Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General. “Working with our law enforcement and prosecutorial partners, we remain committed to preserving the integrity of the DBE program.”
“I am pleased by the results of the investigative team and the U.S. Attorney's offices' efforts to bring justice to these individuals, said Special Agent in Charge Cynthia A. Bruce, DCIS Southeast Field Office. DCIS and our investigative partners are committed to fully investigate allegations of fraud against the military procurement system and DoD set-aside programs.”
FBI Special Agent in Charge Robert E. Hughes stated: “The FBI will pursue those who exploit government programs intended to help disabled-veterans and small business owners. Through the great collaboration of our law enforcement partnerships we will continue to dedicate all the time that is needed and resources available to bring these offenders to justice.”
“Today’s sentencing sends a strong message to those who would fraudulently enrich themselves by corrupting the integrity of Federal procurement programs intended to assist small disadvantaged businesses, in this case, lost opportunities for legitimate veteran business owners who earned that benefit through personal sacrifice and service to our country,” said Special Agent-in-Charge Brian Hauck of the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command's North Central Fraud Field Office. “The Army CID, along with our investigative and prosecutorial partners, will continue to diligently pursue those who would defraud U.S. Government programs within our investigative purview.”
“The defendants in this fraud scheme sought personal gain at the expense of disadvantaged and veteran-owned small businesses eligible for contracts set-aside by the Government,” said Inspector General Hannibal “Mike” Ware. “SBA OIG is committed to bringing those that lie to gain access to SBA’s preferential contracting programs to justice. I want to thank the U.S. Attorney’s Office for its leadership and dedication to serving justice.”
Gregg Hirstein, Special Agent in Charge, Department of Veterans Affairs, VA Office of Inspector General (VA OIG), said, “The VA OIG is committed to bringing justice to those who illegally enrich themselves at the expense of VA programs intended to help our nation’s disabled veterans. I hope this case prompts anyone aware of such fraud schemes to contact the VA OIG Hotline.”
The following agencies participated in the investigation: the Federal Bureau of Investigation; U.S. General Services Administration, Office of Inspector General; Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Inspector General; Department of Defense, Office of the Inspector General, Defense Criminal Investigative Service; U.S. Department of Transportation, Office of Inspector General; U.S. Small Business Administration, Office of Inspector General, Investigations Division; Defense Contract Audit Agency; and U.S. Army Criminal Investigations Command Major Procurement Fraud Unit.
The case was prosecuted by United States Attorney Matthew D. Krueger and Assistant United States Attorneys Scott J. Campbell, Michael A. Carter, and Adam H. Ptashkin.
# # # #
- Nuvo Construction Company, Inc. (“Nuvo”) was misrepresented to be majority-owned and controlled by J.L. in order to obtain certifications as a Small Disadvantaged Business from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and as a Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) from Milwaukee County. In reality, J.L. worked full-time for a different entity in Minnesota and did not actually control Nuvo.
Wilmington Gang Member Receives 13 Years in Federal PrisonRead the Press Release
RALEIGH – United States Attorney Robert J. Higdon, Jr. announced that on Friday in federal court, Chief United States District Judge Terrence W. Boyle sentenced ANTONIO FOSTER, 30, of Wilmington North Carolina to 156 months imprisonment, followed by 3 years of supervised release.
FOSTER was named in a two-count Indictment filed on March 13, 2019 charging him with distribution of a quantity of heroin and possess with the intent to distribute a quantity of heroin. On August 8, 2019, FOSTER pled guilty to distribution of a quantity of heroin and possess with the intent to distribute a quantity of heroin.
According to the investigation, on January 23, 2019, the New Hanover County Vice Unit conducted a controlled purchase of heroin from FOSTER outside of an apartment complex in Wilmington North Carolina.
Following the sale of heroin, law enforcement served a search warrant on FOSTER’S apartment. Law Enforcement found items used to manufacture heroin in a child’s closet and 500 bags of cocaine and almost 400 bags of heroin in a beanbag chair. FOSTER had recently been released from prison for a North Carolina State Court conviction for habitual felon. According to law enforcement, FOSTER is a validated Gang Member.
This case is also part of the Take Back North Carolina Initiative of The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina. This initiative emphasizes the regional assignment of federal prosecutors to work with law enforcement and District Attorney’s Offices on a sustained basis in those communities to reduce the violent crime rate, drug trafficking, and crimes against law enforcement.
This case is part of an FBI Coastal Carolina Safe Street Task Force lead OCDETF operation “Dodge Ball”. This is part of an extensive investigation by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF). This investigation is focused on violent Gang Members involved in the distribution of heroin, possession of firearms and associated violence.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation Coastal Carolina Safe Street Task Force, the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Offices, and North Carolina State Bureau of Investigations conducted the investigation of this case. Assistant United States Attorney Timothy Severo prosecuted the case on behalf of the government.
West Haven, Connecticut Man Arrested After Attempting to Travel to the Middle East to Join and Fight for ISISRead the Press Release
The Department of Justice today announced that Ahmad Khalil Elshazly, 22, of West Haven, Connecticut, has been charged by a federal criminal complaint with attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), a designated foreign terrorist organization.
Elshazly was arrested yesterday. He appeared today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert M. Spector in New Haven and was ordered detained.
“As alleged in the complaint, Elshazly was bent on supporting ISIS. Worried that his efforts here would be too small and that he would be stopped at the airport, he planned to travel overseas aboard a container ship to join and fight for ISIS,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers. “The National Security Division is committed to identifying and holding accountable those who continue to seek to provide material support to foreign terrorist organizations.”
“The U.S. Attorney’s Office and our law enforcement partners are committed to targeting and stopping those who wish to cause mayhem, both in the U.S. and abroad, before they are successful,” said U.S. Attorney John H. Durham for the District of Connecticut. “I thank the FBI’s JTTF and all the agencies involved in the lengthy investigation that culminated in yesterday’s arrest. Their work has saved lives.”
“It is crucial the citizens of Connecticut, and across the country, know we at the FBI and our task force partners are unwavering in our work to successfully identify and disrupt potential terrorist activities, as this case demonstrates,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Brian C. Turner of the New Haven Division. “Through nonstop intelligence gathering and great investigative techniques, we will continue to pursue those who seek to bring harm to U.S. citizens and dismantle potential terrorist actions wherever they may be.”
As alleged in the criminal complaint, beginning in approximately September 2018, Elshazly, a U.S. citizen, has made numerous statements to others, both in person and through online messaging applications, expressing a desire to travel to Syria and the surrounding area to fight on behalf of ISIS. In February 2019, Elshazly stated that he had saved approximately $1,000 with the intention of using the money to travel to Jordan to transit to Syria to be with ISIS.
It is further alleged that, in October 2019, during a meeting with other individuals, Elshazly made numerous statements supporting ISIS, including, “…they say, War has started and we are marching to it…..but all doors are closed, closed. I am talking to myself now, asking myself, How do I get there? How can I help Muslims? How can I do anything?” He further stated, “God willing! May this country [United States] burn the same way they burned Muslims! May they burn in fire at the end!” Elshazly made these statements in a public venue. When he was asked to lower his voice when talking loudly, Elshazly proclaimed “I am not scared.”
During the same meeting, it is alleged that Elshazly said, “…I want to go to the caliphate and fight there. I can kill maybe…like a hundred kaffir. I can kill them. A hundred kaffirs. If I do something here how many kaffirs could I kill? One, two, three and then I get shot and I die. It is more benefitting if I go there, I could kill more and will get more faithful rewards.”
It is further alleged that, in December 2019, Elshazly sent another individual a series of YouTube videos explaining how various high-powered firearms and other weaponry work.
It is alleged that, because he was concerned about being stopped by law enforcement at an airport, Elshazly arranged to travel by ship to Turkey. Elshazly provided another individual with $500 that Elshazly believed would be used to pay for a portion of his trip. On Dec. 15, 2019, Elshazly was arrested after he arrived in Stonington, Connecticut, where he expected to board a boat to begin his trip.
The charge of attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years.
A complaint is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. Charges are only allegations, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
This matter is being investigated by Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) with the assistance of the Stonington Police Department, New Haven Police Department and Connecticut State Police. The FBI’s JTTF includes participants from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Division, Naval Criminal Investigative Service, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Connecticut State Police, Connecticut Department of Correction, Metropolitan Transportation Authority Police Department, Norwich Police Department, Hartford Police Department, Stamford Police Department, Norwalk Police Department, Groton Police Department, UConn Police Department, Yale Police Department, New York Police Department, and the US Marshals Service.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas P. Morabito and Trial Attorneys Justin Sher and Jennifer Burke from the Counterterrorism Section of the Justice Department’s National Security Division.
West Haven Man Arrested after Attempting to Travel to Middle East to Join and Fight for ISISRead the Press Release
John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, John C. Demers, Assistant Attorney General for National Security, and Brian C. Turner, Special Agent in Charge of the New Haven Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, today announced that AHMAD KHALIL ELSHAZLY, 22, of West Haven, has been charged by a federal criminal complaint with attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), a designated foreign terrorist organization.
Elshazly was arrested yesterday. He appeared today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert M. Spector in New Haven and was ordered detained.
As alleged in the criminal complaint, beginning in approximately September 2018, Elshazly, a U.S. citizen, has made numerous statements to others, both in person and through online messaging applications, expressing a desire to travel to Syria and the surrounding area to fight on behalf of ISIS. In February 2019, Elshazly stated that he had saved approximately $1,000 with the intention of using the money to travel to Jordan to transit to Syria to be with ISIS.
It is further alleged that, in October 2019, during a meeting with other individuals, Elshazly made numerous statements supporting ISIS, including, “…they say, War has started and we are marching to it…..but all doors are closed, closed. I am talking to myself now, asking myself, How do I get there? How can I help Muslims? How can I do anything?” He further stated, “God willing! May this country [United States] burn the same way they burned Muslims! May they burn in fire at the end!” Elshazly made these statements in a public venue. When he was asked to lower his voice when talking loudly, Elshazly proclaimed “I am not scared.”
During the same meeting, it is alleged that Elshazly said, “…I want to go to the caliphate and fight there. I can kill maybe…like a hundred kaffir. I can kill them. A hundred kaffirs. If I do something here how many kaffirs could I kill? One, two, three and then I get shot and I die. It is more benefitting if I go there, I could kill more and will get more faithful rewards.”
It is further alleged that, in December 2019, Elshazly sent another individual a series of YouTube videos explaining how various high-powered firearms and other weaponry work.
It is alleged that, because he was concerned about being stopped by law enforcement at an airport, Elshazly arranged to travel by ship to Turkey. Elshazly provided another individual with $500 that Elshazly believed would be used to pay for a portion of his trip. On December 15, 2019, Elshazly was arrested after he arrived in Stonington, Connecticut, where he expected to board a boat to begin his trip.
“The U.S. Attorney’s Office and our law enforcement partners are committed to targeting and stopping those who wish to cause mayhem, both in the U.S. and abroad, before they are successful,” said U.S. Attorney Durham. “I thank the FBI’s JTTF and all the agencies involved in the lengthy investigation that culminated in yesterday’s arrest. Their work has saved lives.”
“As alleged in the complaint, Elshazly was bent on supporting ISIS,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers. “Worried that his efforts here would be too small and that he would be stopped at the airport, he planned to travel overseas aboard a container ship to join and fight for ISIS. The National Security Division is committed to identifying and holding accountable those who continue to seek to provide material support to foreign terrorist organizations.”
“It is crucial the citizens of Connecticut, and across the country, know we at the FBI and our task force partners are unwavering in our work to successfully identify and disrupt potential terrorist activities, as this case demonstrates,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Turner. “Through nonstop intelligence gathering and great investigative techniques, we will continue to pursue those who seek to bring harm to U.S. citizens and dismantle potential terrorist actions wherever they may be.”
The charge of conspiring to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years.
U.S. Attorney Durham stressed that a complaint is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. Charges are only allegations, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
This matter is being investigated by Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) with the assistance of the Stonington Police Department, New Haven Police Department and Connecticut State Police. The FBI’s JTTF includes participants from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Division, Naval Criminal Investigative Service, U.S. Marshals Service, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Connecticut State Police, Connecticut Department of Correction, Metropolitan Transportation Authority Police Department, Norwich Police Department, Hartford Police Department, Stamford Police Department, Norwalk Police Department, Town of Groton Police Department, UConn Police Department, Yale Police Department, and New York Police Department.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas P. Morabito and Trial Attorneys Justin Sher and Jennifer Burke from the Counterterrorism Section of the Justice Department’s National Security Division.
Washington, D.C. Man Sentenced to More Than Four Years in Federal Prison for Involuntary Manslaughter in Connection with a Fatal Crash on the Baltimore-Washington ParkwayRead the Press Release
Greenbelt, Maryland – U.S. District Judge George J. Hazel sentenced Darnell E. Bassett, age 24, of Washington, D.C., today to 51 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for involuntary manslaughter in connection with a fatal accident on the Baltimore-Washington Parkway. Judge Hazel also ordered Bassett to pay restitution of $10,337, which represents the full amount of the victim’s losses, including the costs of the victim’s funeral and burial costs. Bassett pleaded guilty to the federal charge on September 25, 2019.
The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Robert K. Hur; Acting Chief Gregory T. Monahan of the U.S. Park Police; and Chief Peter Newsham of the Metropolitan Police Department.
According to Bassett’s plea agreement, on June 24, 2019, a vehicle driven by Bassett was involved in a collision with a District of Columbia Metropolitan Police cruiser in northeast Washington, D.C. The police vehicle was disabled, but Bassett continued driving at a high rate of speed, going the wrong way on a one-way street. Another marked Metropolitan Police vehicle pursued Bassett with its lights and siren activated. Bassett did not stop, making his way into Maryland on the Baltimore-Washington Parkway.
Bassett continued driving northbound on the Baltimore-Washington Parkway at a high rate of speed and passed other vehicles by driving on the right shoulder of the highway. Sometime during the incident, one of his tires blew out, but Bassett nevertheless continued driving on the shoulder of the highway and passing other traffic. While driving at least 70 miles per hour, Bassett began to take the right-side exit ramp to the inner loop of Interstate 495, then veered left across the on-ramp and into the triangular painted safety zone between the ramp and the travel lanes, striking a Honda CR-V that was stopped in the safety zone. The Honda spun around and then turned onto its side. The driver of the Honda died as a result of the crash.
United States Attorney Robert K. Hur commended the U.S. Park Police and the Metropolitan Police Department for their work in the investigation. Mr. Hur thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael Morgan and Hollis Raphael Weisman, who are prosecuting the case.
# # #
Urine Drug Test Laboratory Sales Manager Agrees to Pay $649,407 to Settle False Claims Allegations with United StatesRead the Press Release
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of North Carolina announced that it has settled claims with Manoj Kumar, a former sales representative and manager for Physician’s Choice Laboratory Services (PCLS), a defunct urine drug testing laboratory that was based in Charlotte, N.C.
Kumar has paid $649,407 to resolve claims that he participated in schemes to illegally induce physicians to send medically unnecessary urine drug tests to PCLS. Kumar was a defendant in a civil complaint filed by the United States against Kumar, PCLS and other agents of the company.
The United States alleged that Kumar, along with other agents of PCLS, provided benefits to physicians to induce them to send urine samples to PCLS for drug testing that was not medically necessary. The complaint alleges that Kumar’s actions violated the Anti-Kickback Statute, which makes it illegal for any person to knowingly and willfully solicit or receive, or offer or pay any remuneration in exchange for the referral of items or services that are paid for by a federal health care program. The United States alleged that PCLS then submitted claims to Medicare for these tests in violation of the False Claims Act.
“Tests and other services should be ordered by physicians based on sound medical judgment, not on financial benefit,” said Andrew Murray, United States Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. “Paying inducements to obtain orders for tests and other services corrupts medical decision-making and causes unnecessary costs to federal healthcare programs.”
The United States alleged that Kumar received payments from PCLS to channel urine drug tests to PCLS from physician practices that he managed. The United States further alleged that Kumar, along with a co-defendant in the case, provided equipment and related services to physicians in exchange for those physicians sending urine drug samples to PCLS.
“The Ant-Kickback Statute is meant to protect patients and federal health programs from medical decision-making corrupted by financial motive,” said U.S. Attorney Murray. “My office will aggressively pursue such claims.”
The United States Complaint in Intervention was filed in the qui tam case United States ex rel. Hartnett & Shoched v. Physicians Laboratory Services, LLC et al. (Civil Case No. 17-cv-37) which was consolidated with the qui tam case United States ex rel. Jenkins et al. v. Physician’s Choice Laboratory Services et al. (Civil Case No. 17-cv-46). The two qui tam cases were originally filed in the Middle District of Florida and the Eastern District of Tennessee, respectively, but transferred to the Western District of North Carolina in January, 2017. Additional defendants remain in the case which is currently in litigation. The Settlement Agreement is not an admission of liability or wrongdoing by Kumar.
U.S. Department of Justice’s OPDAT Section Hosts Visit by the Chief Justice of MalaysiaRead the Press Release
On December 13, the Chief Justice of Malaysia, Tan Sri Tengku Maimun Binti Tuan Mat traveled to the United States on her first international engagement since her historic appointment last May as the first woman to hold the office of Chief Justice. The Chief Justice is joined by fellow Malaysian judges on the program, which is designed to strengthen bilateral judicial engagement and encourage the sharing of best practices. The visit is hosted by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development Assistance and Training (OPDAT), U.S. Department of State and Judge Loretta A. Preska of the Southern District of New York.
OPDAT Resident Legal Advisor to Malaysia Karyn Kenny, Senior Judge Loretta Preska of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Chief Justice of Malaysia Tengku Maimun Binti Tuan May, and OPDAT ICHIP Legal Advisor for Southeast Asia Thomas Dougherty.While in New York, the delegation will meet with representatives of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, the New York City Police Department and officials from the Permanent Mission of Malaysia to the United Nations.
At the U.S District Court for the Southern District of New York, the delegation will explore best practices supporting the Rule of Law, judicial independence, courtroom security and combating cybercrime.
From New York, the delegation will travel to Washington, D.C. to visit the Supreme Court of the United States as well as meet with the OPDAT Director Faye Ehrenstamm and officials from the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.
“We are honored to co-host the first international visit of Chief Justice Maimun since her historic appointment as the first female Chief Justice of Malaysia,” said OPDAT Director Ehrenstamm. “Her visit marks an important milestone in the U.S. Government and Malaysian justice sector relationship.”
“Let me express my deep appreciation to the U.S. Department of Justice, OPDAT, the U.S. State Department, Judge Loretta A. Preska and the Southern District of New York, and the NYPD for the opportunity to visit America and exchange best practices,” said Chief Justice of Malaysia Maimun. “I look forward to a series of fruitful discussions on a number of topics of mutual interest and benefit to both Malaysia and the United States. I have no doubt it will be an enriching experience. I also look forward to continuing our cooperation as we work together to strengthen our bilateral relationship. I am pleased we can join together to promote the independence of the judiciary and the rule of law.”
On December 16, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York will host a luncheon for Chief Justice Maimun with the women judges of New York federal and state courts. On December 17, the New York Bar Association will host a Continuing Legal Education (CLE) event at 5:30 p.m. in Room 850 of the Daniel Patrick Moynihan Courthouse in Manhattan. The CLE is open to members of the bar and the press. Topics will include the Malaysian Court framework, including the civil, criminal, tribal and Shariah sectors, as well as ethical obligations, the role of women in judicial leadership roles, the strengthening of judicial security, and best practices to combat cyber crime.
To learn more about OPDAT, visit: https://www.justice.gov/criminal-opdat.
U.S. Attorney Pak announces public service announcements supporting law enforcement officersRead the Press Release
ATLANTA – U.S. Attorney Byung J. “BJay” Pak is asking citizens to join him in saluting law enforcement officers in the Northern District of Georgia.
“Law enforcement officers are everyday heroes and part of our community. Fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, and our neighbors,” said U.S. Attorney Byung J. “BJay” Pak. “They go to work every day with a passion to serve others and to protect us. Few can truly appreciate the rigors of working in law enforcement. In addition, many of them serve the communities in which they grew up because they love where they are from, and see it as an honor and duty to give back. They are one of us. Please join us in thanking them for their dedication, and service.”
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is releasing three Public Service Announcements (“PSA’s”) that will feature the everyday heroes who serve in their hometowns. The first release will post on our social media platforms on December 16, 2019, and submitted to local media outlets. It will feature Sgt. Monica Peterson of the LaGrange, Georgia Police Department. #EveryDayHeroesAreOneOfUs
The PSA’s will be available on our Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/NDGAnews/
Also on our YouTube Channel at: https://www.youtube.com/c/usaondga
For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at [email protected] or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.
Two Montgomery County, N.C., Residents Sentenced for Drug-Related ChargesRead the Press Release
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Two residents of Mount Gilead, N.C., were sentenced to federal prison today for activity involving distribution of cocaine base (“crack”), announced Matthew G.T. Martin, United States Attorney for the Middle District of North Carolina.
JASPER LEE CUTHRELL, age 38, of Mount Gilead, North Carolina, was sentenced to a total of 136 months’ imprisonment by United States District Judge William L. Osteen, Jr. CUTHRELL was also ordered to serve 5 years of supervised release following his imprisonment, and to pay a special assessment of $300. CUTHRELL pleaded guilty on September 4, 2019, to conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine, distribution of crack cocaine, and possession of firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking crimes.
SHANI GWYNN LATHAM, age 31, of Mount Gilead, North Carolina, was sentenced to 21 months’ imprisonment by United States District Judge William L. Osteen, Jr. In addition to prison time, LATHAM was ordered to serve 4 years of supervised release and to pay a special assessment of $100. LATHAM pleaded guilty on September 4, 2019, to distribution of crack cocaine.
Court records show CUTHRELL engaged in a conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine with LATHAM and other persons in Montgomery County, North Carolina from April 25, 2019, through July 9, 2019. During that time, law enforcement used confidential informants to engage in a series of purchases from CUTHRELL of crack cocaine and firearms on several dates. This investigation resulted in the recovery of four firearms, one rifle, one shotgun, and two revolvers, one of which had been reported stolen from Salisbury, North Carolina. The narcotics and firearms sales took place at a residence in Montgomery County. LATHAM directly participated in one of the sales of crack cocaine to a confidential informant on April 25, 2019.
The case was investigated by the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, with assistance from the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office and the Mount Gilead Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Craig M. Principe.
###
Two Men Arrested for Conspiracy to Distribute FentanylRead the Press Release
BOSTON – Two men were arrested on Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2019, and charged with conspiracy to distribute fentanyl.
Steven Perez, of Lowell, and Anthony Holloway, of Methuen, were arrested and charged with conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute fentanyl. Following an initial appearance in federal court in Boston, Perez and Holloway were detained pending a detention and probable cause hearing set for Dec. 19, 2019.
According to the charging documents, over the course of several months, law enforcement investigated Perez and Holloway’s fentanyl distribution operation. The men allegedly used an elderly housing complex run by the Methuen Housing Authority to package drugs and conduct drug sales.
The charge of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute fentanyl carries a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, at least three years of supervised release and a fine of $1 million. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
United States Attorney Andrew Lelling; Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Boston Field Office; and Methuen Police Chief Joseph Solomon made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Philip C. Cheng of Lelling’s Narcotics and Money Laundering Unit is prosecuting the case.
The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Two Canadian Nationals Plead Guilty for Bitcoin FraudRead the Press Release
PORTLAND, Ore.— Karanjit Singh Khatkar, 23, and Jagroop Singh Khatkar, 24, residents of Surrey, British Columbia, Canada, pleaded guilty today for conspiring to commit wire fraud and money laundering in a scheme to steal bitcoin from an Oregon resident.
According to the indictment, beginning in October 2017 and continuing until August 2018, the defendants used a Twitter account with the name @HitBTCAssist to trick victims into thinking they were communicating with a customer service representative from HitBTC, a Hong Kong-based online platform used to exchange virtual currency. HitBTC provides its customers with web-based “wallets” to store virtual currency and make transactions.
Using the fraudulent Twitter account, the defendants responded to the Oregon victim’s questions about withdrawing virtual currency from her HitBTC account. The defendants convinced the victim to send information they could use to log on and take over her email, HitBTC and Kraken accounts. Kraken is a U.S.-based online platform that offers services similar to HitBTC.
The defendants initiated transfers of 23.2 bitcoins from the victim’s HitBTC account to Karanjit Khatkar’s Kraken account. Karanjit Khatkar in turn transferred approximately 11.6 in stolen bitcoins to Jagroop Khatkar’s Kraken account. The stolen bitcoins have an estimated present value of approximately $160,254.
On July 18, 2019, Karanjit Khatkar was arrested upon arrival at the McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas, Nevada and later ordered detained pending trial. Jagroop Khatkar appeared out-of-custody for today’s change of plea hearing.
Conspiring to commit wire fraud and money laundering are punishable by 20 years and 10 years in prison, respectively, a $250,000 fine or twice the pecuniary gains or losses resulting from the offense if over $250,000, and three years’ supervised release. Both defendants will be sentenced on March 17, 2020 before U.S. District Court Judge Michael H. Simon.
As mandated by their plea agreements, the Khatkars delivered a check of $142,349 as a prepayment of restitution to their victim at the change of plea hearing. This prepayment along with the $6,000 in U.S currency and $230 in Canadian currency seized by law enforcement equal the value of the bitcoins stolen from the victim. The Khatkars have agreed to pay restitution in full to their victim, which may exceed the prepayment amount, as ordered by the court at sentencing.
This case was investigated by FBI and is being prosecuted by Quinn P. Harrington and Julia E. Jarrett, Assistant U.S. Attorneys for the District of Oregon.
Twelve Defendants Facing Federal Charges for Drug TraffickingRead the Press Release
AGENTS SEIZE METHAMPHETAMINE, COCAINE, AND MULTIPLE OTHER DRUGS TWELVE INDIVIDUALS ARRESTED
GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN – U.S. Attorney Andrew Birge announced today that his office secured arrest warrants for twelve separate defendants charged by criminal complaint with various drug trafficking crimes, including conspiring to distribute methamphetamine and other controlled substances in Calhoun County, Kalamazoo County, and elsewhere.
On the morning of December 11, 2019, over 100 federal, state, and local law enforcement officers executed arrest warrants and over a dozen search warrants in five different Michigan counties. Investigators seized cocaine, fentanyl, heroin, over a kilogram of methamphetamine (gross weight), over 50 pounds of processed marijuana and over 300 marijuana plants, and other controlled substances. Investigators also seized three handguns and over $50,000.
Further details of the allegations may be found in the complaint and 132-page supporting affidavit, which U.S. Magistrate Judge Ray Kent unsealed at the initial appearance of nine of the defendants on Wednesday, December 11, 2019. Three other defendants made their appearance on December 13, 2019.
The charges are the result of a multi-agency federal, state, and local investigation into the conspiracy conducted by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Battle Creek Police Department, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS CI), Emmett Township Police Department, Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety, St. Joseph Police Department, Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office, Kalamazoo County Sheriff’s Office, and Michigan State Police.
The charges in the complaint, which carry varying maximum penalties, including up to life in prison for some of the defendants, are merely accusations and are not evidence of guilt. The defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law. The government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
The following individuals were charged:
Name
Age
Residence
Andrew Rolando Bravo
37
Battle Creek, Michigan
Wayne Henry Hawley
40
Battle Creek, Michigan
Christopher Michael Dreams
43
Battle Creek, Michigan
Erineo Wallace
44
Lansing, Michigan
Sharell Lana-Mika Hall
32
Dearborn, Michigan
James Walter Shelton, Jr.
37
Battle Creek, Michigan
Jeremiah E. Smith
32
Kalamazoo, Michigan
Rodney Compton
30
Kalamazoo, Michigan
Mark Anthony Mosley
44
Battle Creek, Michigan
Cory Karl Cadieux
39
Battle Creek, Michigan
Troy Edward Bush
44
Kalamazoo, Michigan
Donald Bernard Mosley
49
Battle Creek, Michigan
###
Tulare County Man Sentenced to 2.5 Years in Prison for Drug Trafficking and Illegal Possession of a Machine GunRead the Press Release
FRESNO, Calif. — Francisco Fernandez, 26, of Earlimart, was sentenced today to two and a half years in prison for possessing with the intent to distribute cocaine and possession of an unregistered firearm, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced.
According to court documents, a search warrant was executed at Fernandez’s residence in April 2019. During the search, federal agents found and seized scales, drug paraphernalia and cocaine. Fernandez admitted to possessing the cocaine for sale to others. Apart from the narcotics, federal agents also found “auto-sear” devices that are used to convert semi-automatic firearms to fire as fully automatic machineguns. In a subsequent search of Fernandez’s storage unit, agents located and seized several firearms, which included a Glock handgun that Fernandez had converted into a machine gun.
Tulare County District Attorney Tim Ware stated, “We are extremely grateful for this partnership that takes violent offenders away from the communities they victimized. Tulare County streets are safer because of Project Safe Neighborhoods.”
This case was the product of an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and the Tulare County District Attorney’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Newman is prosecuting the case.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. The Department of Justice reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally based strategies to reduce violent crime. To learn more about Project Safe Neighborhoods, go to www.justice.gov/psn.
Three Defendants Convicted as Part of “Operation Iced Ozarks” Sentenced for Drug TraffickingRead the Press Release
Fort Smith, Arkansas – Duane (DAK) Kees, United States Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas; announced that on December 16, 2019, three (3) individuals were sentenced by the United States District Court for their roles in a methamphetamine trafficking ring which operated in Boone and Carroll Counties in Arkansas and other jurisdictions such as California and Iowa. This investigation and prosecution operation lasted from approximately February of 2019 through today’s final sentencing hearing. The Honorable Judge P.K. Holmes, III presided over the sentencing hearings today in the United States District Court in Fort Smith.
According to court records, on April 5, 2019, a search warrant was obtained by the FBI and served on a home in Alpena, Arkansas, where over 140 gross pounds of methamphetamine was located. The home was owned by defendant Walter Alvarez, who allowed his son Jason Alvarez, and an associate, Daniel Perez-Lebron to receive large quantities of methamphetamine at the location and prepare it for sale in both the Western District of Arkansas and in Iowa. It appeared from the evidence that the methamphetamine would arrive concealed within special compartments inside the wheels of vehicles in a compressed state, requiring the methamphetamine to be reconstituted in order to be sold and consumed. This reconstituting process required chemicals such as acetone, of which a large amount was located along with the methamphetamine.
Defendants in this conspiracy received the following sentences:
Jason Alvarez, age 34, of Harrison, Arkansas was sentenced December 16, 2019 to 292 months in federal prison followed by 5 years of supervised release on one count of Conspiracy to Distribute Methamphetamine. Jason Alvarez was indicted in the Western District of Arkansas on May 8, 2019 and plead guilty on August 7, 2019.
Walter Alvarez, age 58, of Alpena, Arkansas was sentenced December 16, 2019 to 120 months in federal prison followed by 5 years of supervised release on one count of Conspiracy to Distribute Methamphetamine. Walter Alvarez was indicted in the Western District of Arkansas on May 8, 2019 and plead guilty on August 7, 2019.
Daniel Perez-Lebron, age 27, of Harrison, Arkansas was sentenced December 16, 2019 to 180 months in federal prison followed by 5 years of supervised release on one count of Conspiracy to Distribute Methamphetamine. Perez-Lebron was indicted in the Western District of Arkansas on May 8, 2019 and plead guilty on August 12, 2019.
The Harrison-based methamphetamine distribution network for a portion of the methamphetamine seized from Jason Alvarez, Walter Alvarez, and Daniel Perez-Lebron is pending sentencing before the United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas in the related case, United States vs. Manning et. al., case number 3:19 CR 30003. The twenty-one defendants in this related matter have all been convicted and are expected to be sentenced in early 2020.
This prosecution was part of the Western District of Arkansas’ Operation Iced Ozarks, which is part of the Department of Justice’s Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) program. The OCDETF program is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s drug supply reduction strategy. OCDETF was established in 1982 to conduct comprehensive, multilevel attacks on major drug trafficking and money laundering organizations. Today, OCDETF combines the resources and expertise of its member federal agencies in cooperation with state and local law enforcement. The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt, and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking and money laundering organizations and those primarily responsible for the nation’s illicit drug supply.
This OCDETF case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Fayetteville, Arkansas; the State of Arkansas Fourteenth (14th) Judicial District Drug Task Force, the Harrison Police Department, the Boone County Sheriff’s Office; the Arkansas State Police; and the Arkansas National Guard Counter-Drug Unit. Assistant United States Attorney Brandon Carter prosecuted the case for the Western District of Arkansas.
Thirty tribes selected for expansion of program enhancing tribal access to national crime information databasesRead the Press Release
The Department of Justice has selected an additional 30 Indian tribes to participate in the expansion of the Tribal Access Program for National Crime Information (TAP), a program that provides federally recognized tribes the ability to access and exchange data with national crime information databases for both criminal and non-criminal justice purposes.
“The Tribal Access Program is strengthening tribal governance and public safety in tribal communities across the United States,” said Attorney General William P. Barr. “TAP provides law enforcement and tribal governments real-time access to data that can help locate a missing person, identify a dangerous fugitive or prevent a domestic abuser from obtaining a gun, among many other important functions. The Trump administration is committed to fixing these public safety gaps and serving victims in Indian country. I believe the expansion of this law enforcement tool will prove to be critical in achieving those goals.”
“Information sharing and communication is key to community safety not only in our Tribal communities but throughout our district as a whole,” said U.S. Attorney Brian T. Moran. “The further expansion of TAP to our tribal law enforcement partners recognizes our shared priority of reducing violent crime in Western Washington.”
TAP is currently deployed to more than 75 tribes across the country with over 300 participating tribal justice agencies, including nine in the Western District of Washington. The program provides software to enable tribes to access national crime information databases and/or a kiosk-workstation that provides the ability to submit and query fingerprint-based transactions via FBI Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Next Generation Identification (NGI) System.
This fifth expansion of TAP is part of the Justice Department’s continuing focus on public safety in American Indian and Alaska Native communities, allowing tribes to more effectively serve and protect their communities by ensuring the exchange of critical data with federal and state databases.
On November 22, Attorney General Barr launched a national strategy to address the issues surrounding missing and murdered Native Americans, and TAP provides the ability for participating tribes to exchange data with FBI CJIS, including data on missing persons from the National Crime Information Center (NCIC).
In October, the Justice Department announced an unprecedented $273 million in grants to improve public safety, serve victims of crime, combat violence against women, and support youth programs in American Indian and Alaska Native communities.
The following tribes have been selected for the next phase of TAP in the Western District of Washington:
Cowlitz Indian Tribe
Jamestown S’Kallam Tribe
Muckleshoot Indian Tribe
Nisqually Indian Tribe
Nooksack Indian Tribe
And in the Eastern District of Washington:
Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation
Western Washington Tribes already using TAP include:
Suquamish Indian Tribe
Tulalip Tribes
Makah Indian Tribe
Lummi Nation
Confederated Tribes of Chehalis
Lower Elwha Tribal Community
Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe
Quinault Indian Nation
Swinomish Indian Tribal Community
TAP enhances tribal efforts to register sex offenders pursuant to the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA), have orders of protection enforced off-reservation, protect children, keep firearms away from persons who are disqualified from receiving them, improve safety within public housing, and allows tribes to record their arrests and convictions in national databases.
TAP supports tribes in analyzing their needs for national crime information with appropriate solutions, including a state-of-the-art biometric/biographic kiosk-workstation with capabilities to process finger and palm prints, take mugshots and submit records to national databases, as well as the ability to access CJIS systems for criminal and non-criminal justice purposes through the Department of Justice’s Criminal Justice Information Network. TAP, which is managed by the Chief Information Officer and the Office of Tribal Justice, provides specialized training and assistance for participating tribes, including computer-based training and on-site instruction, as well as a 24x7 help desk.
TAP is primarily funded by the Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking (SMART); the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS); and the Office for Victims of Crime (OVC). TAP prioritized tribal applicants that have a law enforcement agency currently unable to access the FBI CJIS databases; have a tribal sex offender registry pursuant to the Adam Walsh Act and are currently unable to easily submit data to national crime information databases; and/or have a tribal court which issues orders of protection in domestic violence cases.
For more information on TAP, visit www.justice.gov/tribal/tribal-access-program-tap.
For more information about the Justice Department’s work on tribal justice, public safety issues and victim services, visit www.justice.gov/tribal.
Thirty Tribes Selected for Expansion of Program Enhancing Tribal Access to National Crime Information DatabasesRead the Press Release
The Department of Justice has selected an additional 30 Indian tribes to participate in the expansion of the Tribal Access Program for National Crime Information (TAP), a program that provides federally recognized tribes the ability to access and exchange data with national crime information databases for both criminal and non-criminal justice purposes.
“The Tribal Access Program is strengthening tribal governance and public safety in tribal communities across the United States,” said Attorney General William P. Barr. “TAP provides law enforcement and tribal governments real-time access to data that can help locate a missing person, identify a dangerous fugitive or prevent a domestic abuser from obtaining a gun, among many other important functions. The Trump administration is committed to fixing these public safety gaps and serving victims in Indian country. I believe the expansion of this law enforcement tool will prove to be critical in achieving those goals.”
TAP is currently deployed to more than 75 tribes across the country with over 300 participating tribal justice agencies. The program provides software to enable tribes to access national crime information databases and/or a kiosk-workstation that provides the ability to submit and query fingerprint-based transactions via FBI Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Next Generation Identification (NGI) System.
This fifth expansion of TAP is part of the Justice Department’s continuing focus on public safety in American Indian and Alaska Native communities, allowing tribes to more effectively serve and protect their communities by ensuring the exchange of critical data with federal and state databases.
On Nov. 22, Attorney General Barr launched a national strategy to address the issues surrounding missing and murdered Native Americans, and TAP provides the ability for participating tribes to exchange data with FBI CJIS, including data on missing persons from the National Crime Information Center (NCIC).
In October, the Justice Department announced an unprecedented $273 million in grants to improve public safety, serve victims of crime, combat violence against women, and support youth programs in American Indian and Alaska Native communities.
The following tribes have been selected for the next phase of TAP:
Bay Mills Indian Community, Michigan
Bear River Band of the Rohnerville Rancheria, California
Central Council of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes
Chippewa Cree Indians of the Rocky Boy’s Reservation, Montana
Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation
Cowlitz Indian Tribe
Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe of South Dakota
Fort Mojave Indian Tribe of Arizona, California & Nevada
Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska
Jamestown S’Kallam Tribe
Kenaitze Indian Tribe
Miami Tribe of Oklahoma
Muckleshoot Indian Tribe
Nisqually Indian Tribe
Nooksack Indian Tribe
Ohkay Owingeh, New Mexico
Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation
Pueblo of Pojoaque, New Mexico
Pueblo of Taos, New Mexico
Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe of the Pyramid Lake Reservation, Nevada
Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin
San Carlos Apache Tribe of the San Carlos Reservation, Arizona
San Pasqual Band of Diegueno Mission Indians of California
The Chickasaw Nation
The Muscogee (Creek) Nation
The Osage Nation
Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah)
Washoe Tribe of Nevada & California (Carson Colony, Dresslerville Colony, Woodfords Community, Stewart Community & Washoe Ranches)
Yankton Sioux Tribe of South Dakota
Yavapai-Prescott Indian Tribe
TAP enhances tribal efforts to register sex offenders pursuant to the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA), have orders of protection enforced off-reservation, protect children, keep firearms away from persons who are disqualified from receiving them, improve safety within public housing, and allows tribes to record their arrests and convictions in national databases.
TAP supports tribes in analyzing their needs for national crime information with appropriate solutions, including a state-of-the-art biometric/biographic kiosk-workstation with capabilities to process finger and palm prints, take mugshots and submit records to national databases, as well as the ability to access CJIS systems for criminal and non-criminal justice purposes through the Department of Justice’s Criminal Justice Information Network. TAP, which is managed by the Chief Information Officer and the Office of Tribal Justice, provides specialized training and assistance for participating tribes, including computer-based training and on-site instruction, as well as a 24/7 help desk.
Recent success stories from the TAP program include:
- A tribal foster care program conducted fingerprint-based record checks of a couple who applied to be foster parents. The prints, which were searched via the TAP biometric kiosk-workstation, revealed that one of the applicants had an extensive criminal record, including a manslaughter charge. TAP allowed the tribal foster care program to quickly learn this information and thus cease the licensing process.
- A tribal police department utilized TAP to develop leads that eventually resulted in the arrest of a suspect and seizure of 400 counterfeit OxyContin pills laced with fentanyl.
- A tribal child protective services program conducted a name-based check of subjects under investigation for child abuse/neglect. One subject was determined to have an active warrant. A second subject was found to have an extensive violent criminal history and be the subject of an order of protection issued in another state. The tribal child protective services program promptly notified law enforcement of the outstanding warrant.
- A tribal court entered information into national databases to prevent a person with a prior domestic violence conviction who was threatening a former spouse from purchasing a firearm.
- A tribal sex offender registry program has entered all tribally-registered sex offenders into the National Sex Offender Registry (NSOR) file, information which is accessible to all law enforcement agencies nationwide.
TAP is primarily funded by the Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking (SMART); the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS); and the Office for Victims of Crime (OVC). TAP prioritized tribal applicants that have a law enforcement agency currently unable to access the FBI CJIS databases; have a tribal sex offender registry pursuant to the Adam Walsh Act and are currently unable to easily submit data to national crime information databases; and/or have a tribal court which issues orders of protection in domestic violence cases.
For more information on TAP, visit www.justice.gov/tribal/tribal-access-program-tap.
For more information about the Justice Department’s work on tribal justice, public safety issues and victim services, visit www.justice.gov/tribal.
Thirty Tribes Selected for Expansion of Program Enhancing Tribal Access to National Crime Information DatabasesRead the Press Release
The Department of Justice has selected an additional 30 American Indian tribes to participate in the expansion of the Tribal Access Program for National Crime Information (TAP), a program that provides federally recognized tribes the ability to access and exchange data with national crime information databases for both criminal and non-criminal justice purposes.
The following tribes have been selected for the next phase of TAP in the Northern District of Oklahoma: Miami Tribe of Oklahoma, Muscogee (Creek) Nation, and Osage Nation.
“The Tribal Access Program is strengthening tribal governance and public safety in tribal communities across the United States,” said Attorney General William P. Barr. “TAP provides law enforcement and tribal governments real-time access to data that can help locate a missing person, identify a dangerous fugitive or prevent a domestic abuser from obtaining a gun, among many other important functions. The Trump administration is committed to fixing these public safety gaps and serving victims in Indian country. I believe the expansion of this law enforcement tool will prove to be critical in achieving those goals.”
“The expansion of the Tribal Access Program, or TAP, in northern Oklahoma is great news. Expanding TAP into rural areas where law enforcement may have limited resources, allows officers to more effectively provide for the safety of tribal citizens,” said U.S. Attorney Trent Shores of the Northern District of Oklahoma. “TAP is a critical information sharing tool that allows tribal law enforcement to efficiently access and share data in order to bring perpetrators of crime to justice. Moreover, the program can be an invaluable tool to enhance local and tribal law enforcement’s ability to find missing indigenous persons.”
TAP is currently deployed to more than 75 tribes across the country with over 300 participating tribal justice agencies, including Cherokee Nation, Wyandotte Nation, and Miami Agency (Bureau of Indian Affairs) in the Northern District of Oklahoma.
The TAP program provides software to enable tribes to access national crime information databases and/or a kiosk-workstation that provides the ability to submit and query fingerprint-based transactions via FBI Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Next Generation Identification (NGI) System.
This fifth expansion of TAP is part of the Justice Department’s continuing focus on public safety in American Indian and Alaska Native communities, allowing tribes to more effectively serve and protect their communities by ensuring the exchange of critical data with federal and state databases.
On November 22, Attorney General Barr launched a national strategy to address the issues surrounding missing and murdered Native Americans, and TAP provides the ability for participating tribes to exchange data with FBI CJIS, including data on missing persons from the National Crime Information Center (NCIC).
In October, the Justice Department announced an unprecedented $273 million in grants to improve public safety, serve victims of crime, combat violence against women, and support youth programs in American Indian and Alaska Native communities.
TAP enhances tribal efforts to register sex offenders pursuant to the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA), have orders of protection enforced off-reservation, protect children, keep firearms away from persons who are disqualified from receiving them, improve safety within public housing, and allows tribes to record their arrests and convictions in national databases.
TAP supports tribes in analyzing their needs for national crime information with appropriate solutions, including a state-of-the-art biometric/biographic kiosk-workstation with capabilities to process finger and palm prints, take mugshots and submit records to national databases, as well as the ability to access CJIS systems for criminal and non-criminal justice purposes through the Department of Justice’s Criminal Justice Information Network. TAP, which is managed by the Chief Information Officer and the Office of Tribal Justice, provides specialized training and assistance for participating tribes, including computer-based training and on-site instruction, as well as a 24x7 help desk.
TAP is primarily funded by the Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking (SMART); the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS); and the Office for Victims of Crime (OVC). TAP prioritized tribal applicants that have a law enforcement agency currently unable to access the FBI CJIS databases; have a tribal sex offender registry pursuant to the Adam Walsh Act and are currently unable to easily submit data to national crime information databases; and/or have a tribal court which issues orders of protection in domestic violence cases.
For more information on TAP, visit www.justice.gov/tribal/tribal-access-program-tap.
For more information about the Justice Department’s work on tribal justice, public safety issues and victim services, visit www.justice.gov/tribal.
Thirty Tribes Selected for Expansion of Program Enhancing Tribal Access to National Crime Information DatabasesRead the Press Release
LAS VEGAS, Nev. – The Department of Justice has selected an additional 30 Indian tribes, including tribes within the District of Nevada, to participate in the expansion of the Tribal Access Program for National Crime Information (TAP), a program that provides federally recognized tribes the ability to access and exchange data with national crime information databases for both criminal and non-criminal justice purposes.
“The Tribal Access Program is strengthening tribal governance and public safety in tribal communities across the United States,” said Attorney General William P. Barr. “TAP provides law enforcement and tribal governments real-time access to data that can help locate a missing person, identify a dangerous fugitive or prevent a domestic abuser from obtaining a gun, among many other important functions. The Trump administration is committed to fixing these public safety gaps and serving victims in Indian country. I believe the expansion of this law enforcement tool will prove to be critical in achieving those goals.”
Nicholas A. Trutanich, United States Attorney for the District of Nevada, said: “TAP will complement the new Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons coordinator in our office, to help increase public safety and reduce violent crime in Tribal communities. We look forward to working with Tribes and law enforcement partners to further implement TAP.”
TAP is currently deployed to more than 75 tribes across the country with over 300 participating tribal justice agencies, including Reno Sparks Indian Colony. The program provides software to enable tribes to access national crime information databases and/or a kiosk-workstation that provides the ability to submit and query fingerprint-based transactions via FBI Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Next Generation Identification (NGI) System.
This fifth expansion of TAP is part of the Justice Department’s continuing focus on public safety in American Indian and Alaska Native communities, allowing tribes to more effectively serve and protect their communities by ensuring the exchange of critical data with federal and state databases.
On November 22, Attorney General Barr launched a national strategy to address the issues surrounding missing and murdered Native Americans, and TAP provides the ability for participating tribes to exchange data with FBI CJIS, including data on missing persons from the National Crime Information Center (NCIC).
In October, the Justice Department announced an unprecedented $273 million in grants to improve public safety, serve victims of crime, combat violence against women, and support youth programs in American Indian and Alaska Native communities.
TAP enhances tribal efforts to register sex offenders pursuant to the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA), have orders of protection enforced off-reservation, protect children, keep firearms away from persons who are disqualified from receiving them, improve safety within public housing, and allows tribes to record their arrests and convictions in national databases.
TAP supports tribes in analyzing their needs for national crime information with appropriate solutions, including a state-of-the-art biometric/biographic kiosk-workstation with capabilities to process finger and palm prints, take mugshots and submit records to national databases, as well as the ability to access CJIS systems for criminal and non-criminal justice purposes through the Department of Justice’s Criminal Justice Information Network. TAP, which is managed by the Chief Information Officer and the Office of Tribal Justice, provides specialized training and assistance for participating tribes, including computer-based training and on-site instruction, as well as a 24x7 help desk.
TAP is primarily funded by the Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking (SMART); the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS); and the Office for Victims of Crime (OVC). TAP prioritized tribal applicants that have a law enforcement agency currently unable to access the FBI CJIS databases; have a tribal sex offender registry pursuant to the Adam Walsh Act and are currently unable to easily submit data to national crime information databases; and/or have a tribal court which issues orders of protection in domestic violence cases.
For more information on TAP, visit www.justice.gov/tribal/tribal-access-program-tap.
For more information about the Justice Department’s work on tribal justice, public safety issues and victim services, visit www.justice.gov/tribal.
# # #
Tennessee Man Sentenced to 4 Years in Prison for Defrauding Investors in A Pet Food Company and A Purported Caffeinated Snack Company of More Than $2.9 MillionRead the Press Release
Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that JOEL MARGULIES was sentenced to four years in prison today by U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff for participating in two schemes to defraud more than 50 investors in the Starship Snacks Corporation and the All American Pet Company of more than $2.9 million, by making false and fraudulent representations about, among other things, the status of the companies’ products, guarantees that purportedly backed the investments, and the interest of large multi-national corporations in acquiring the companies. MARGULIES was convicted after a seven-day jury trial in August 2019 of various fraud counts, aggravated identity theft, and the illegal transfer of a firearm to an out-of-state resident; he then entered a plea of guilty to participating in a narcotics distribution conspiracy.
U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman said: “For years, Joel Margulies took advantage of individuals who thought they were investing in start-up companies, when in fact Margulies and his co-conspirators diverted for their own personal benefit the more than $2.9 million they had raised. Margulies perpetuated lies about the products that companies were developing, the interest of large public corporations in buying out the companies, and the existence of guarantees to back the investments. In order to make these lies more convincing, Margulies stole the identities of three individuals, and created fake letters that appeared to be authored by those individuals. For the financial and emotional devastation his fraud inflicted on more than 50 individuals, Margulies will spend the next four years of his life in prison.”
According to allegations contained in the Indictment filed against MARGULIES, the evidence presented during trial and statements made in related court filings and proceedings:
The All American Pet Company Fraud Scheme
From October 2013 through May 2017, MARGULIES, co-defendant Lisa Bershan, and a co-conspirator raised more than $575,000 in purported loans for the All American Pet Company (“AAPT”), a penny-stock company that produced, marketed, and sold food bars and other products for dogs, based on the following misrepresentations, among others: (a) that the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) had accepted an “offer in compromise” from AAPT that significantly reduced the back taxes AAPT owed to the IRS; (b) that Lisa Bershan had paid to the IRS the amount of this offer in compromise and had thus absolved AAPT of its outstanding tax liability, (c) that Lisa Bershan was the beneficial owner of a bank account containing over $6.9 million, (d) that Lisa Bershan would personally guarantee some of the loans, and (e) that Nestlé USA had proposed various business deals with AAPT. MARGULIES held himself out as AAPT’s vice president for marketing and advertising, but in reality he played a number of roles at the company, including communicating with investors and creating fake documents, such as forged bank account statements and letters, to support AAPT’s misrepresentations to investors.
Although MARGULIES and his co-conspirators had promised investors that they would use the loans to help improve AAPT’s manufacturing and distribution capacities, the conspirators instead used those funds largely for their personal expenses, including the rental of a luxury villa in the Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles where all three of them lived.
In connection with the AAPT fraud scheme, MARGULIES used the stolen identities of three individuals – an IRS employee, a Nestlé Purina employee, and a Manhattan attorney – to create false and fraudulent letters that were sent to AAPT investors to induce them to make loans to AAPT.
The Starship Snack Corporation Fraud Scheme
From approximately August 2015 through August 2017, MARGULIES, Bershan, and co-defendant Barry Schwartz raised more than $2.3 million from investors in a company originally called the Awake Company and later renamed Starship Snacks Corporation (“Starship”), which purported to be in the business of developing and manufacturing caffeinated snack products, based on the following misrepresentations, among others: (a) that investments in Starship were guaranteed against losses by Bershan; (b) that Starship was going to be acquired by Monster Beverage (“Monster”) in a one-for-one stock exchange; (c) that Starship was engaged in actual product development and had procured samples of chocolate candies infused with caffeine; and (d) that MARGULIES and others at Starship had entered into non-disclosure agreements with Monster that prohibited them from discussing Starship’s purported acquisition by Monster and its purported product development. MARGULIES’s title at Starship was senior vice president; he served as the primary point of contact for investors, to whom he made the aforementioned misrepresentations, and he also created a number of fake documents that were used in connection with the Starship fraud.
After receiving funds from Starship investors, MARGULIES and his co-conspirators used those funds to maintain their own extravagant lifestyles, spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on things like luxury clothing, plastic surgery, interior decorating, the rental of a high-end apartment in New York City, and the down payment for a multimillion-dollar house in Florida.
The Illegal Firearm Transfer and Narcotics Distribution
In addition to the fraud and identity theft conduct set forth above, MARGULIES was sentenced for illegally transferring a firearm and ammunition from Tennessee to Bershan in New York via commercial courier without being a licensed firearms dealer. Finally, MARGULIES was also sentenced for conspiracy to distribute cocaine, a charge that had been severed from the charges that were the subject of the trial.
In addition to the prison term, MARGULIES, 75, was sentenced to three years of supervised release. MARGULIES was also ordered to forfeit $108,983 and to make restitution in the amount of $2,926,702.54.
Lisa Bershan was convicted upon a guilty plea, and sentenced by Judge Rakoff on November 22, 2019, principally to a term of seven years in prison.
Barry Schwartz was convicted upon a guilty plea, and sentenced by Judge Rakoff on December 12, 2019, principally to a term of four years in prison.
Mr. Berman praised the work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and thanked the Securities and Exchange Commission for its assistance.
This case is being handled by the Office’s Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christine Magdo and Negar Tekeei are in charge of the prosecution.
Teacher's Aide Arrested for Attempting to Have Sex with A Minor ChildRead the Press Release
CONTACT: Barbara Burns
PHONE: (716) 843-5817
FAX #: (716) 551-3051ROCHESTER, N.Y. - U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that Christian Michael Stutes, 23, of Rochester, NY, was arrested and charged by criminal complaint with enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity, and receipt, distribution, and possession of child pornography involving prepubescent minors. The charges carry a mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years in prison, a maximum of life, and a $250,000 fine.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Meghan K. McGuire, who is handling the case, stated that according to the complaint, in April 2019, an undercover FBI Special Agent (UC) received a message from user “Chris Michael/cmrs113,” who was later identified as the defendant. The message received was “Hey,” “Arent you the guy with kids I was talking with.” The UC responded by stating “Yep,” “You in Rochester, NY.” Stutes responded “Yea” “How old r they.” The UC responded “text me.”
The UC received a text message from the defendant and during the text conversation, Stutes stated he was into young boys, seven to nine years old. The conversation ended with the UC agreeing to allow the defendant to have sexual contact with the UC’s fictitious kids for $200 dollars for each child. Stutes stated he would have to save up the money.
In August of 2019, the defendant contacted the UC again stating that he had enough money now, and was interested in having sexual contact with a young boy. The UC and Stutes agreed to meet on August 30, 2019, with the defendant agreeing to pay $150.00 dollars in exchange for having sex with the UC’s fictitious 9-year-old son. However, later that day, Stutes contacted the UC and stated that he no longer had $150.00 available and he did not attempt to meet the UC.
The UC and the defendant did not have contact again until December 2, 2019, at which time Stutes stated that he had a good paying job and “i can actually afford the deal we talked about with Adam… If that’s still cool.” The UC and the defendant made plans to meet on December 13, 2019, at a predetermined location. When Stutes arrived at approximately 8:30 p.m., he was taken into custody and found to be in possession of $150.00 and a cell phone.
Subsequent investigation determined that Stutes is currently employed as a teacher’s aide at a local child care facility, and was previously employed at various children’s camps.
An initial review of the defendant’s cell phone determined that sent and received numerous images of child pornography on an online messaging application. At least one image portrayed the rape of a toddler.
The defendant made an initial appearance before U.S Magistrate Judge Mark W. Pedersen and was held pending a detention hearing on December 17, 2019.
United States Attorney Kennedy requests that members of the public who have specific information related to this case call the FBI Child Exploitation Task Force at 585-279-0185.
The complaint is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Child Exploitation Task Force, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Gary Loeffert.
The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
# # # #
Tax Accountant Sentenced to 42 Months for Scamming Clients in Fraud and Money Laundering SchemeRead the Press Release
Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that SALVATORE ARENA was sentenced on December 13 to 42 months in prison for defrauding clients who trusted him to prepare and pay their taxes. ARENA misappropriated over $780,000 of client money from approximately 170 victims for his own use. ARENA pled guilty on August 23, 2019, before United States District Judge Katherine Polk Failla, who imposed Friday’s sentence.
U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said: “Salvatore Arena misappropriated money his clients intended would be used to pay their taxes. He defrauded his clients and the United States, and now he has been sentenced to prison for his crimes.”
According to allegations in the criminal complaint, the information, and other documents filed in federal court, as well as statements made in public court proceedings:
During the relevant time period, ARENA purported to offer tax services, including the preparation and payment of taxes, to clients of an accounting firm in Manhattan. Instead of making payments on behalf of those clients, as ARENA represented he would, he diverted client funds for his own use. ARENA executed this fraudulent scheme in two primary ways – first, by diverting pre-payments of taxes to his own tax account and later claiming illegitimate refunds; and second, by misappropriating tax payments clients had wired into a bank account controlled by ARENA.
ARENA defrauded approximately 170 victims during the period from January 2014 through March 2019, and agreed as part of his guilty plea to forfeit $789,195.35 in United States currency, representing proceeds traceable to the charged offenses, and was ordered by the Court to pay restitution of at least $726,608.42.
* * *
ARENA, 46, of Queens, New York, was sentenced to concurrent terms of 42 months in prison for mail fraud, money laundering, and wire fraud. In addition to the prison term, ARENA was also sentenced to three years of supervised release.
Mr. Berman praised the outstanding investigative work of Special Agents from TIGTA, Criminal Investigators from the NYSDTF, and Special Agents from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.
The prosecution of this case is being handled by the Office’s General Crimes Unit. Assistant United States Attorney Jarrod L. Schaeffer is in charge of the prosecution.
Thirty Tribes Selected for Expansion of Program Enhancing Tribal Access to National Crime Information DatabasesRead the Press Release
BILLINGS – The Department of Justice has selected an additional 30 Indian tribes, including the Chippewa Cree Tribe in Montana, to participate in the expansion of the Tribal Access Program for National Crime Information (TAP), a program that provides federally recognized tribes the ability to access and exchange data with national crime information databases for both criminal and non-criminal justice purposes.
“The Tribal Access Program is strengthening tribal governance and public safety in tribal communities across the United States,” said Attorney General William P. Barr. “TAP provides law enforcement and tribal governments real-time access to data that can help locate a missing person, identify a dangerous fugitive or prevent a domestic abuser from obtaining a gun, among many other important functions. The Trump administration is committed to fixing these public safety gaps and serving victims in Indian country. I believe the expansion of this law enforcement tool will prove to be critical in achieving those goals.”
Montana U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme said, “We are pleased that the Chippewa Cree Tribe on the Rocky Boy’s Reservation has been selected for expansion of the Tribal Access Program. The program will allow the Chippewa Cree Tribal Police and other tribal departments to enter information about missing persons into the national missing persons database, enter updates about each person and learn of updates from law enforcement across the country.”
“This will be a big step toward ensuring that missing persons, particularly Chippewa Cree women and children, are found, and that the Tribe has the most up to date information about missing members,” said Alme, who also is vice chair of the Attorney General’s Native American Issues Subcommittee.
“This Chippewa Cree Tribe is very grateful and appreciative to have been selected to receive TAP. It will allow us to enhance our work and services without delay to better protect and provide our community members, first responders and other tribal entities with critical information,” said Harlan Baker, chairman of the Chippewa Cree Business Committee.
TAP is currently deployed to more than 75 tribes across the country with over 300 participating tribal justice agencies, including the Blackfeet, Fort Peck, Crow and Northern Cheyenne tribes in the District of Montana. The program provides software to enable tribes to access national crime information databases and/or a kiosk-workstation that provides the ability to submit and query fingerprint-based transactions via FBI Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Next Generation Identification (NGI) System.
This fifth expansion of TAP is part of the Justice Department’s continuing focus on public safety in American Indian and Alaska Native communities, allowing tribes to more effectively serve and protect their communities by ensuring the exchange of critical data with federal and state databases.
On November 22, Attorney General Barr launched a national strategy to address the issues surrounding missing and murdered Native Americans, and TAP provides the ability for participating tribes to exchange data with FBI CJIS, including data on missing persons from the National Crime Information Center (NCIC).
In October, the Justice Department announced an unprecedented $273 million in grants to improve public safety, serve victims of crime, combat violence against women, and support youth programs in American Indian and Alaska Native communities.
TAP enhances tribal efforts to register sex offenders pursuant to the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA), have orders of protection enforced off-reservation, protect children, keep firearms away from persons who are disqualified from receiving them, improve safety within public housing, and allows tribes to record their arrests and convictions in national databases.
TAP supports tribes in analyzing their needs for national crime information with appropriate solutions, including a state-of-the-art biometric/biographic kiosk-workstation with capabilities to process finger and palm prints, take mugshots and submit records to national databases, as well as the ability to access CJIS systems for criminal and non-criminal justice purposes through the Department of Justice’s Criminal Justice Information Network. TAP, which is managed by the Chief Information Officer and the Office of Tribal Justice, provides specialized training and assistance for participating tribes, including computer-based training and on-site instruction, as well as a 24x7 help desk.
TAP is primarily funded by the Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking (SMART); the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS); and the Office for Victims of Crime (OVC). TAP prioritized tribal applicants that have a law enforcement agency currently unable to access the FBI CJIS databases; have a tribal sex offender registry pursuant to the Adam Walsh Act and are currently unable to easily submit data to national crime information databases; and/or have a tribal court which issues orders of protection in domestic violence cases.
For more information on TAP, visit www.justice.gov/tribal/tribal-access-program-tap.
For more information about the Justice Department’s work on tribal justice, public safety issues and victim services, visit www.justice.gov/tribal.
# # #
Stockton Man Sentenced to More Than 12 Years in Prison for Drug Distribution Conspiracies and Possessing A Machine GunRead the Press Release
OAKLAND – Joel Salcedo was sentenced to 151 months in prison for drug and gun charges, announced United States Attorney David L. Anderson and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Acting Special Agent in Charge William C. Fallin. The sentence was handed down by the Honorable Haywood S. Gilliam, Jr., U.S. District Judge.
The sentencing follows a May 2019 trial in which Salcedo, 37, of Stockton, was found guilty by a federal jury of participating in two overlapping drug conspiracies – to manufacture and distribute 100 or more marijuana plants, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 846, 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(B) (Count One), and to distribute or possess with the intent to distribute 100 grams or more of heroin, and 500 grams or more of a mixture and substance containing methamphetamine in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 846, 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(A) (Count Two). The drug conspiracy charges carried mandatory minimum sentences of five years and ten years, respectively. Salcedo was also convicted of possession and transfer of a machine gun, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(o) (Count Three).
Evidence at trial showed that Salcedo was a supplier of marijuana, methamphetamine, and heroin to a drug distribution organization headed by co-defendant Oscar Escalante. During a wiretap on Escalante’s phones in 2016, agents intercepted a series of calls that indicated Escalante ordered and Salcedo agreed to supply, one kilogram of heroin and two pounds of methamphetamine. Pole camera footage and physical surveillance demonstrated Salcedo delivered the drugs to Escalante on May 16, 2016. In addition, other evidence proved that Salcedo operated an outdoor marijuana grow at his residence in Stockton, CA. Salcedo also attempted to diagnose why Escalante’s full-auto Glock pistol was not working properly, by having an associate film him (Salcedo) while he repeatedly fired the gun in his backyard.
Salcedo was originally charged by criminal complaint on August 17, 2016. He and twenty-one other defendants were later charged in a Superseding Indictment, which alleged broad, overlapping drug conspiracies, money laundering, and various firearms offenses. Twenty defendants pleaded guilty, and one defendant remains a fugitive. Salcedo was the only defendant to go to trial. The following are examples of substantial sentences imposed in this case to date:
Defendant
Age
Charges
Sentence of Imprisonment
Oscar Escalante
43
21 U.S.C. §§ 846, 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(B) – Marijuana Trafficking Conspiracy; 21 U.S.C. §§ 846, 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(A)—Heroin and Methamphetamine Trafficking Conspiracy; 18 U.S.C. § 924(c) – Possession of a Firearm in Furtherance of Drug Trafficking; 18 U.S.C. § 1956(h) – Money Laundering Conspiracy
235 months
Michael Vicochea
26
21 U.S.C. §§ 846, 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(B) – Marijuana Trafficking Conspiracy; 21 U.S.C. §§ 846, 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(A)—Heroin and Methamphetamine Trafficking Conspiracy; 18 U.S.C. § 924(c) – Possession of a Firearm in Furtherance of Drug Trafficking; 18 U.S.C. § 1956(h) – Money Laundering Conspiracy
180 months
David Vigil
46
21 U.S.C. §§ 846, 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(B) – Marijuana Trafficking Conspiracy; 21 U.S.C. §§ 846, 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(A) – Heroin and Methamphetamine Trafficking Conspiracy
121 months
Christian Vanleer
26
21 U.S.C. §§ 846, 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(B)—Heroin and Methamphetamine Trafficking Conspiracy; 18 U.S.C. § 924(c) – Possession of a Firearm in Furtherance of Drug Trafficking
120 months
Phillip Jiunti
43
21 U.S.C. §§ 846, 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(B) – Marijuana Trafficking Conspiracy; supervised release violation in separate 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1) – Felon in Possession of Firearm case
70 months
Daniel Medina
25
21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(C) – Distribution of Heroin; 18 U.S.C. § 924(c) – Possession of a Firearm in Furtherance of Drug Trafficking
66 months
Oswaldo Escalante
46
21 U.S.C. §§ 846, 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(B) – Marijuana Trafficking Conspiracy; 18 U.S.C. § 1956(h) – Money Laundering Conspiracy
65 months
Christopher Mir
26
21 U.S.C. §§ 846, 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(C) – Marijuana Trafficking Conspiracy; 18 U.S.C. § 924(c) – Possession of a Firearm in Furtherance of Drug Trafficking
60 months, 1 day
Ignacio Gonzalez
31
21 U.S.C. §§ 846, 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(C) – Marijuana Trafficking Conspiracy; 18 U.S.C. § 924(c) – Possession of a Firearm in Furtherance of Drug Trafficking
60 months, 1 day
Jorge Gomez
39
21 U.S.C. §§ 846, 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(B) – Marijuana Trafficking Conspiracy
60 months
Adan Gonzalez
47
21 U.S.C. §§ 846, 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(B) – Marijuana Trafficking Conspiracy
60 months
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Frank Riebli and Katherine Wawrzyniak are prosecuting the case with the assistance of Patricia Mahoney and Hector Lopez. The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the DEA. This case was investigated and prosecuted by member agencies of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force, a focused multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional task force investigating and prosecuting the most significant drug trafficking organizations throughout the United States by leveraging the combined expertise of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies.
Statement by Attorney General William P. Barr on the Departure of Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General Edward O'CallaghanRead the Press Release
Attorney General William P. Barr issued the following statement:
“Ed is one of the most highly regarded lawyers at the Department of Justice. His dedication and tireless commitment to the work of the Department is second to none. Ed possesses a rare combination of sharp intellect, common sense, and sound judgment – traits that served him well from his time as a prosecutor in the Southern District of New York to his service at the highest levels of the Department, including as Acting Deputy Attorney General. We were lucky to have him at the heart of the leadership team at DOJ. He will be greatly missed.”
Spirit Lake Man Sentenced to 10 Years in Federal Prison for Assault Resulting in Serious Bodily Injury of a ChildRead the Press Release
Fargo – Today in U.S. District Court, Chief Judge Peter D. Welte sentenced Jonathan James Hill, age 23, to 10 years in federal prison for the offense of Assault Resulting in Serious Bodily Injury. Defendant Hill is an enrolled member of the Spirit Lake Sioux Tribe and the Sisseton Wahpeton Sioux Tribe. Upon completion of his prison sentence, Hill will be placed on five years of supervised release with a number of conditions including that he have no contact with children under the age of 18 without express permission of his supervising agent. Hill will also be required to pay restitution.
The investigation in this case began on January 1, 2019, when emergency medical technicians responded to a residence in Fort Totten, ND, within the boundaries of the Spirit Lake Reservation, for a report of an unresponsive baby. Medical providers described the 20-month-old baby as “noticeably bruised to face & entire body.” The baby was diagnosed with multiple acute and chronic injuries to the brain and body. Medical providers believed the injuries to be “non-accidental” and were later determined to be consistent with abusive head trauma and child physical abuse. The baby’s injuries required air transport for medical treatment, surgical intervention, and months-long hospitalization.
“The Department of Justice has a special trust responsibility for Native American land and people,” said United States Attorney Drew Wrigley, “and we view that trust as particularly sacred when we are called upon to seek justice on behalf of children.”
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Lori H. Conroy.
# # #
South Bend, Indiana Man Sentenced to 34 Years in PrisonRead the Press Release
SOUTH BEND - Brandon Edelman, age 33, of South Bend, Indiana was sentenced before South Bend District Court Judge Robert L. Miller, Jr. for armed drug trafficking, announced U.S. Attorney Kirsch.
Mr. Edelman was sentenced to 408 months in prison followed by 3 years of supervised release.
Mr. Edelman was initially indicted in June of 2018 for possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute, armed drug trafficking, and felon in possession of a firearm. On February 7, 2019, a jury returned guilty verdicts on all three counts following a two-day trial.
“A sentence of 34 years should send a strong message to others who wish to engage in similar criminal activities,” said U.S. Attorney Kirsch. “The propensity for violence increases when narcotics are involved. Edleman further endangered lives by evading law enforcement with a high speed chase and having his passenger throw a loaded firearm out a window during that chase. These violent acts will not be tolerated. My Office and our law enforcement partners will continue to investigate and prosecute dangerous individuals like Mr. Edleman.”
According to documents in this case, in April of 2018, South Bend Police observed Mr. Edelman driving a stolen truck. When police attempted to investigate, Mr. Edelman drove off at an extremely high speed. The vehicle pursuit lasted approximately 13 minutes, ending only when the vehicle was disabled; Mr. Edelman then ran from police. Mr. Edelman subsequently admitted to having his accomplice, during the vehicle pursuit, throw $20,000 cash, a loaded handgun, and ¼ pound of methamphetamine out the window as those items were incriminating. Police were able to recover the handgun. Mr. Edelman had previously been convicted of five felonies and eight misdemeanor offenses. He was on probation when he committed the April 2018 federal crimes.
This was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Agency with the assistance of the South Bend Police Department. The case was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Joel Gabrielse.
###
Smuggler learns fate for transporting Chinese nationalsRead the Press Release
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – A 50-year-old legal permanent resident from Donna has been ordered to federal prison following his conviction for knowingly and intentionally conspiring to unlawfully transporting undocumented illegal aliens, announced U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Patrick.
The jury deliberated for approximately one hour before convicting Federico Espinosa-Flores following a two-day trial Sept. 11.
Today, U.S. District Judge John Rainey ordered him to prison for 21 months to be immediately followed by one year of supervised release. In handing down the sentence, the court noted the overwhelming amount of evidence against the defendant.
On Dec. 21, 2018, at approximately 7:40 a.m., Espinosa-Flores entered the primary inspection lane of the Border Patrol (BP) checkpoint in Sarita driving a white Ford cargo van disguised as an adult daycare business. At that time, authorities noticed him exhibiting signs of nervousness, such as avoiding eye contact and having trembling hands. He consented to a vehicle search which resulted in the discovery of 10 undocumented aliens in the rear cargo area of the vehicle. Six were Chinese nationals and two others were from Mexico and Colombia.
During trial, the defense attempted to convince the jury that authorities coached Espinosa-Flores on what to say in his recorded and detailed confession. They did not believe those claims and found him guilty as charged.
Espinosa-Flores will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations conducted the investigation with assistance from Customs and Border Protection. Assistant U.S. Attorney Neel Kapur and Lance Watt are prosecuting the case.
Siemens Contract Employee Gets Jail Time for Intentionally Damaging ComputersRead the Press Release
PITTSBURGH - A contract employee for Siemens Corporation at the Monroeville, PA location has been sentenced in federal court to a six-month term of imprisonment to be followed by a two-year term of supervised release, and a fine of $7,500 on his conviction of intentional damage to a protected computer, United States Attorney Scott W. Brady announced today.
United States District Judge William S. Stickman imposed the sentence on David Tinley, 62, of Harrison City, PA.
According to information presented to the court, from in and around 2014 and continuing until on or about May 13, 2016, Tinley intentionally inserted logic bombs into computer programs that he designed for Siemens Corporation. The logic bombs ensured that the programs would malfunction after the expiration of a certain date. As a result, Siemens was unaware of the cause of the malfunction and required Tinley to fix these malfunctions.
Assistant United States Attorney Shardul S. Desai prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.
United States Attorney Brady commended the Federal Bureau of Investigation for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Tinley.
Seth DuCharme Appointed as Principal Associate Deputy Attorney GeneralRead the Press Release
Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey A. Rosen issued the following statement on the appointment of Seth DuCharme as Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General, effective December 23, 2019:
“Seth is a dedicated public servant and long-time career prosecutor of the highest caliber. From his time as Chief of the Criminal Division in the Eastern District of New York to most recently serving with distinction as Counselor to the Attorney General for criminal and national security matters, Seth’s sharp intellect, quick thinking, and excellent judgment have greatly benefitted all who have worked with him. His deep experience in areas ranging from narcotics trafficking and cybercrime to terrorism and public corruption will be an asset to the Office of the Deputy Attorney General. I look forward to Seth serving by my side at the Department of Justice.”
Rochester Nail Salon Owner Sentenced for Defrauding the SNAP ProgramRead the Press Release
CONTACT: Barbara Burns
PHONE: (716) 843-5817
FAX #: (716) 551-3051ROCHESTER, N.Y. - U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that Hang T. Lam, 46, of Rochester, NY, who was convicted of unauthorized use, transfer, acquisition, and possession of USDA food stamp benefits, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Elizabeth A. Wolford to serve three years’ probation and ordered to pay restitution totaling $26,631.00.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle P. Rossi, who handled the case, stated that in April 2018, the Monroe County Department of Social Services (DSS) developed information that Young’s Nails, which is owned and operated by the defendant, was trafficking in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)/food stamp benefits for cash, nail services, and other non-food items. Young’s Nails does not sell food and is not authorized to accept SNAP benefits.
Between April 19, 2018, and October 1, 2018, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of Inspector General conducted five undercover transactions at Young’s Nails using a SNAP Electronic Benefits (SNAP EBT) card. Purchases included nail services such as manicures and pedicures, cigarettes, jewelry, and cash. Lam charged double the cost when a SNAP EBT card was used.When the undercover purchases were made, the defendant used the Tanhong Du Supermarket on N. Clinton Avenue in Rochester, Ocean Garden Oriental Foods Inc. on S. Clinton Avenue in Rochester, and the Asia Food Market on Brighton-Henrietta Town Line Road to process the undercover transactions. All three stores are approved to participate in the SNAP program.
On November 7, 2018, a search warrant was executed at Young’s Nails. Law enforcement officers seized SNAP EBT cards, dozens of handwritten notes containing four digit PIN numbers and various cash amounts, and SNAP EBT receipts from the Asia Food Market and other SNAP authorized stores. As a result, officers identified and interviewed SNAP clients involved in SNAP fraud with Lam at Young’s Nails. Eight of these individuals reported that they exchanged SNAP benefits for cash and nail services.
To date, approximately $26,000 dollars in fraudulent SNAP transactions executed by Lam have been identified.
The sentencing is the result of an investigation by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of Inspector General, under the direction of Special Agent-in Charge Bethanne M. Dinkins; Homeland Security Investigations, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Kevin Kelly; the Monroe County Department of Social Services, under the direction of Commissioner Corinda Crossdale; and the New York State Office of Inspector General, under the direction of Inspector General Letizia Tagliafierro.
# # # #
Rochester Man Sentenced to 90 Months for Fentanyl Trafficking ConspiracyRead the Press Release
CONCORD – Derek Rand, 31, of Rochester, was sentenced to 90 months in federal prison for participating in a fentanyl trafficking conspiracy, United States Attorney Scott W. Murray announced today.
According to court documents and statements made in court, between late 2017 and December 18, 2018, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the New Hampshire State Police conducted an investigation of drug trafficking by Rand, who used runners to obtain fentanyl in Massachusetts and bring it to New Hampshire for distribution. During the investigation, over one kilogram of fentanyl was seized from members of Rand’s drug trafficking organization.
Rand previously pleaded guilty on August 29, 2019.
“Despite its deadly impact on our citizens, greedy drug traffickers continue to seek profit from the sale of fentanyl,” said U.S. Attorney Murray. “We will not tolerate fentanyl trafficking in New Hampshire. To fight this menace, we work closely each day with our law enforcement partners to identify, arrest, and incarcerate those who are responsible for bringing this deadly substance into the Granite State.”
“Fentanyl distribution is destroying people’s lives and wreaking havoc in our communities,” said DEA Special Agent in Charge Brian D. Boyle. “DEA and our law enforcement partners will aggressively pursue and bring to justice individuals like Mr. Rand that distribute this poison.”
This matter was investigated by the United States Drug Enforcement Administration’s Tactical Diversion Squad in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, the New Hampshire State Police and the Dover, New Hampshire Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Davis.
###
Rochester Man Sentenced for Role in Drug ConspiracyRead the Press Release
CONTACT: Barbara Burns
PHONE: (716) 843-5817
FAX #: (716) 551-3051ROCHESTER, N.Y. - U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that Pablo Rentas-Torres, 36, of Rochester, NY, who was convicted of conspiring to possess with intent to distribute, and distributing, fentanyl, cocaine, and crack cocaine was sentenced to serve 27 months in prison by Chief U.S. District Court Judge Frank P. Geraci, Jr.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew T. McGrath, who is handling the case, stated that Rentas-Torres was a member of a drug trafficking organization led by co-defendant Jose Casado. Between December 2017 and May 15, 2019, the organization distributed large quantities of fentanyl, cocaine and crack cocaine out of drug houses located on Clifford Avenue and Treyer Street in Rochester.
Casado would obtain bulk quantities of fentanyl, heroin and crack cocaine, which he and others would “bag-up” or package for sale to individual drug users. Drug users would contact Casado directly via cellular phone to order quantities of drugs and Casado, in turn, would routinely direct other members of the conspiracy, including the defendant, to obtain drugs from the organization’s drug stash and to deliver it to the customer at a pre-arranged location. The drug runners then met with the customer and provided the drugs in exchange for cash. Casado or another member of the organization would collect the proceeds of the drugs sales from the drug runners periodically throughout the day. On February 12, 2019, defendant Rentas-Torres sold 79 baggies of fentanyl and 81 baggies of cocaine in exchange for $600, on behalf of the drug trafficking organization.
The sentencing is the result of an investigation by the Rochester Police Department, under the direction of Chief La’Ron Singletary, and the Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Ray Donovan, New York Field Division.
# # # #
Rochester Man Sentenced for Drug TraffickingRead the Press Release
CONTACT: Barbara Burns
PHONE: (716) 843-5817
FAX #: (716) 551-3051ROCHESTER, N.Y. - U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that Darryl Mickle, 35, of Rochester, NY, who was convicted of possession with intent to distribute cocaine base, was sentenced to serve 57 months in prison by U.S. District Judge David G. Larimer.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew T. McGrath, who handled the case, stated that the defendant was apprehended by Rochester Police Officers on January 16, 2019, as they responded to the area of 295 Central Park for the report of a menacing incident. Officers encountered Mickle at the scene and ordered him to exit his vehicle. Upon further investigation, officers observed marijuana in the defendant’s vehicle, and after a further search, located 42 baggies of powder cocaine, 44 baggies of crack cocaine, 47 baggies of marijuana, and a loaded .32 caliber semi-automatic pistol. $4,198 was also recovered from the vehicle and Mickle.
The sentencing is the result of an investigation by the Rochester Police Department, under the direction of Chief La’Ron Singletary, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge John B. Devito, New York Field Division.
# # # #
Reynoldsville Man Pleads Guilty to Possession of Child PornographyRead the Press Release
PITTSBURGH, PA- A resident of Jefferson County pleaded guilty in federal court to charges of possession of child pornography, United States Attorney Scott W. Brady announced today.
Matthew James Kite, 23, of Reynoldsville, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty to two counts before United States District Judge Donetta W. Ambrose.
In connection with the guilty plea, the court was advised that on October 26, 2017, and on April 18, 2018, Kite possessed more than 600 images depicting the sexual exploitation of minors, including children under the age of 12, as well as infants and toddlers. On October 26, 2017, during the first federal search warrant executed at Kite’s home, law enforcement seized multiple electronic devices containing child pornography. In a voluntary interview with law enforcement, Kite admitted to viewing and downloading child pornography. Five months later, in April 2018, a second federal search warrant was executed at Kite’s home. Kite admitted to viewing and downloading child pornography on an additional phone and additional laptop. In addition to the guilty plea to possession of child pornography, Kite accepted responsibility for one count of receipt of material depicting the sexual exploitation of a minor.
Judge Ambrose scheduled sentencing for April 21, 2020, at 10:00 a.m. The law provides for a total sentence of 20 years in prison, a fine of $250,000, or both. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed is based upon the seriousness of the offenses and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant. Kite remains on bond pending the sentencing hearing.
Assistant United States Attorney Christy C. Wiegand is prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.
The Department of Homeland Security conducted the investigation that led to the prosecution of Kite. This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
Plainfield Man Sentenced to 120 MonthsRead the Press Release
FORT WAYNE – Justin B. Nelson, age 26, of Plainfield, Indiana was sentenced before U.S. District Court Judge Damon R. Leichty for possession with intent to distribute fifty grams or more of methamphetamine, announced U.S. Attorney Kirsch.
Nelson was sentenced to 120 months in prison followed by 5 years of supervised release.
According to documents in this case, on the evening of February 27, 2019, Indiana State Police conducted a traffic stop of a vehicle driven by Nelson in Fort Wayne, Indiana. A police canine alerted to the presence of the odor of narcotics in the vehicle, and the vehicle was searched. Inside, officers located a safe which contained 79.6 grams of crystal methamphetamine and 23.4 grams of psilocybin (hallucinogenic) mushrooms. Nelson admitted to dealing methamphetamine prior to the traffic stop and admitted that he had intended to distribute more of the methamphetamine that night.
The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Indiana State Police and the Allen County Sheriff’s Department. The case was handled by Assistant United States Attorney Sarah E. Nokes.
###