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Wednesday 11 September 2019
McKeesport/Port Vue Heroin Dealer Sentenced to 15 Years in Federal PrisonRead the Press Release
PITTSBURGH, PA - A former resident of Port Vue, Pennsylvania, has been sentenced in federal court to a term of imprisonment of 15 years (180 months), to be followed by 10 years of supervised release on his conviction of violating federal narcotics laws, United States Attorney Scott W. Brady announced today.
United States District Court Judge Cathy Bissoon imposed the sentence on Jarran Bell, age 38.
According to information presented to the court, the investigation, which utilized Title III intercepts from December 2014 through April 2015, established the existence of a number of overlapping and interrelated drug distribution networks at work in the Western District of Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Bell and his girlfriend Krystle Barretto were living together during the investigation. Bell and Barretto maintained numerous other residences, which were used as stash houses. Amanda Santiago lived in one of those residences during the investigative period.
In April of 2015, Bell and Barretto orchestrated two large shipments of heroin from Patterson, New Jersey, back to the McKeesport/Port Vue area. On April 19, 2015, Santiago, a courier, transported approximately 500 bricks of heroin from Patterson, New Jersey back to McKeesport via taxi cab.
On April 20, 2015, several search warrants were executed. Agents seized the heroin transported by Santiago. Additionally, from the bedroom of Bell and Barretto, agents seized a loaded firearm, approximately five bricks of heroin and a money counter.
Assistant United States Attorney Shanicka L. Kennedy prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.
A federally administered Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) conducted the investigation led to the prosecution of Bell. The task force is headed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and is comprised of members drawn from the FBI Greater Pittsburgh Safe Street Task Force including the Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General, Clairton Police Department, Wilkinsburg Police Department, West Mifflin Police Department, Allegheny County Police Department, Duquesne Police Department, Munhall Police Department, Allegheny County Sheriff’s Office, Pittsburgh Bureau of Police, and the Pennsylvania State Police. The OCDETF program supplies critical federal funding and coordination that allows federal and state agencies to work together to successfully identify, investigate, and prosecute major interstate and international drug trafficking organizations and other criminal enterprises.
Mason City Man Involved in Burglary Where Guns Were Stolen Sentenced to Federal PrisonRead the Press Release
A man who possessed numerous guns stolen in a burglary was sentenced September 10, 2019 to 10 years in federal prison.
Daniel Solano, age 33, from Mason City, Iowa, received the prison term after a guilty plea to one count of possession of a firearm by a felon.
In a plea agreement, Solano admitted to possessing seven firearms from May 12, 2017 to May 30, 2017 and committing a felony crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year, specifically, Reckless Homicide in Cook County, Illinois on or about July 26, 2007.
On May 12, 2017, Solano and others broke into a Thompson, Iowa residence and stole seven guns.
Solano was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams. Solano was sentenced to 120 months’ imprisonment. Solano must also serve a 3-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
Solano is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jack Lammers and investigated by Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement, Mason City Police Department, and the Clear Lake Police Department.
Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.
The case file number is 18-CR-3058.
Marshfield Woman Sentenced for Meth ConspiracyRead the Press Release
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – A Marshfield, Missouri, woman was sentenced in federal court today for her role in a conspiracy to distribute large quantities of methamphetamine.
Jami L. Deam, 35, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool to nine years in federal prison without parole.
On Feb. 6, 2019, Deam pleaded guilty to participating in a drug-trafficking conspiracy that lasted from Dec. 2, 2014, to Jan. 23, 2018. During the course of the investigation, law enforcement officers seized a total of 5.342 kilograms of methamphetamine from various co-conspirators.
Deam’s role in the conspiracy involved approximately 4.9 kilograms of pure methamphetamine as well as heroin. She transported drugs and delivered those drugs to the conspiracy’s leaders, co-defendants Christopher A. Jefferson, also known as “Big Al,” 46, of Springfield, and Donald R. Taylor, also known as “Dee,” 35, of Kansas City, Missouri. Deam admitted that she had traveled to Texas 10 times, to Arizona four times, to St. Louis, Missouri, numerous times, and to California one time to transport illegal drugs from those locations to Springfield for Jefferson and/or Taylor. Deam was not only a courier, according to court documents, but also sold drugs.
Jefferson pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison without parole. Taylor pleaded guilty and awaits sentencing.
Jefferson frequently used women to transport illegal drugs, including large quantities of methamphetamine in vehicles and smaller quantities of cocaine and heroin hidden inside of their vaginas. They were paid to drive to Texas, Arizona, or California to pick up methamphetamine and other drugs and transport them back to Springfield. Several women admitted they made multiple trips to acquire illegal drugs, sometimes in multi-kilogram quantities.
Co-defendants Davetta F. Hicks, 32, and Shawn B. Robinson, 48, both of Springfield, were arrested on Dec. 9, 2014, by Kingsville, Texas, police officers. Officers found a half-pound of methamphetamine in Hicks’s purse. Deam had joined them for the trip, but was arrested the day before for shoplifting at a Walmart store in Texas. They had stopped at the Walmart store to pick up a $3,300 money wire from Jefferson before purchasing drugs in Texas.
Hicks pleaded guilty and was sentenced to five years and 10 months in federal prison without parole. Robinson pleaded guilty and was sentenced to six years in federal prison without parole.
On one occasion, according to court documents, Deam and several conspirators traveled to California with a large amount of money to purchase methamphetamine. Once in California, they purchased 12 pounds of methamphetamine that was shipped to Springfield.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Abram McGull II. It was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Springfield, Mo., Police Department, and COMET (the Combined Ozarks Multijurisdictional Enforcement Team).
Marion Man Pleads Guilty in Energy Efficiency Rebate SchemeRead the Press Release
The owner of a local energy efficiency company who defrauded a utility company by making false statements on rebate forms and paying a kickback to an employee of one of the utility’s contractors, pled guilty today in federal court in Cedar Rapids.
Dustin James Hutcheson, age 39, from Marion, Iowa, was convicted of one count of mail fraud and one count of money laundering. At the plea hearing, Hutcheson admitted that, from May 2017 through June 2018, he falsely represented to a utility company’s customers that Hutcheson’s company, Hutch Energy, LLC, could replace the customer’s current lighting at no cost to the customer on account of the utility company’s energy efficiency rebate program. In truth, Hutcheson and other Hutch Energy, LLC, representatives made false and fraudulent representations to the utility company on energy efficiency rebate forms and associated invoices about the amount of money the utility company’s customers had paid Hutch Energy, LLC, for replacement LED tubes. He also made further false and fraudulent representations to the utility company about the number of LED tubes that Hutch Energy, LLC, had sold to the customers of the utility company. Hutcheson also forged the signatures of the authorized representatives of the utility company’s customers on the rebate forms. By doing so, Hutcheson ensured that the utility company would mail a rebate check to the customer, for later transfer to Hutch Energy, LLC, because Hutcheson made it appear that the utility company’s customers had certified the truth and accuracy of the false and fraudulent representations on the rebate forms. Hutcheson also admitted at the plea hearing that he had paid an employee of one of the utility company’s contractors $1,400 as a kickback for referring the utility company’s customers to Hutch Energy, LLC.
Sentencing before United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams will be set after a presentence report is prepared. Hutcheson remains in custody of the United States Marshal pending sentencing. Hutcheson faces a possible maximum sentence of 40 years’ imprisonment, a $1,500,000 fine, and 3 years of supervised release following any imprisonment.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Tim Vavricek and was investigated by the Linn County Sheriff’s Office and the United States Postal Inspection Service.
Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.
The case file number is 19-CR-32.
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Man from Artesia Sentenced to 1o Years in Federal Prison for Methamphetamine and Gun PossessionRead the Press Release
ALBUQUERQUE – Adalberto Chavez-Chavez, 36, of Artesia, N.M., was sentenced in federal court in Las Cruces yesterday to 10 years (120 months) in prison for possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine and carrying a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime.
Chavez-Chavez previously pleaded guilty to these offenses on April 29, 2019. In his plea agreement, he admitted possessing 264 grams of methamphetamine and two loaded handguns in his car when police stopped him for a traffic infraction in Carlsbad, N.M., on December 13, 2018.
The Drug Enforcement Administration investigated the case with the Pecos Valley Drug Task Force and the Carlsbad Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Renee L. Camacho of the Las Cruces Branch Office prosecuted the case.
Local doctor and former pro football player indicted for illegitimate drug distribution and money laundering conspiracyRead the Press Release
ROME, Ga. – Atlanta-area doctor Victor Hanson and former professional football player Sedrick Hodge have been indicted with two other individuals for illegal distribution of prescription drugs, including opioids.
“Hanson allegedly issued numerous illegitimate prescriptions for drugs, including powerful opioid painkillers,” said U.S. Attorney Byung J. “BJay” Pak. “While Hanson prescribed these drugs without a legitimate medical purpose, Sedrick Hodge and other associates allegedly sold these drugs in communities like Cartersville.”
“Americans rely on healthcare providers, many of them Medical Doctors, to use their training to help patients and to ‘do no harm.’ Dr. Hanson violated the law and betrayed the responsibilities of his profession by prescribing controlled substances, to include opioids, outside the usual course of professional practice. In addition, former professional football player Sedrick Hodge sold illegitimate oxycodone pills from Dr. Hanson on the streets for cash,” said Robert J. Murphy, the Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Atlanta Field Division. “DEA, its law enforcement partners and the United States Attorney’s Office are committed to stopping unscrupulous medical professionals like Dr. Hanson from harming patients.”
According to U.S. Attorney Pak, the indictment, and other information presented in court: Hanson is a licensed physician who operated a weight loss clinic in Sandy Springs, Georgia. However, he also allegedly prescribed large quantities of controlled substances, including opioids like oxycodone, and stimulants. Hanson accepted only cash or checks as payment.
The indictment alleges that Hanson prescribed these controlled substances irrespective of any legitimate medical purpose, outside the usual course of professional practice, and in inappropriate amounts and dosage combinations. He prescribed these drugs to individuals without conducting thorough medical examinations or—at times—any examinations at all.
Co-defendants Sedrick Hodge, Farrah Hodge, and Marcus McConnell obtained prescriptions for controlled substances from Hanson. Hanson also gave Sedrick Hodge prescriptions written to third parties, including McConnell, when those third parties were not present. In turn, Hodge allegedly sold oxycodone pills on the street for cash. On two separate occasions in October and November 2018, Sedrick Hodge sold oxycodone pills to a confidential source working with the DEA in Cartersville, Georgia.
The following four individuals were indicted on September 3, 2019 and charged with conspiring to distribute and dispense controlled substances outside the usual course of professional practice and without a legitimate medical purpose:
- Victor A. Hanson, M.D., 86, of Brookhaven, Georgia, is also charged with maintaining a premises for the purpose of distributing controlled substances, 14 individual counts of illegal drug distribution for specific prescriptions, including several written to undercover federal officers, and a money laundering conspiracy.
- Sedrick Hodge, 40, of Cartersville, Georgia, is also charged with six individual counts of possession with intent to distribute controlled substances, one count of distribution of controlled substances, and a money laundering conspiracy.
- Farrah Hodge, 42, of Cartersville, Georgia, is also charged with a money laundering conspiracy.
- Marcus McConnell, 35, of Adairsville, Georgia, is also charged with three individual counts of possession with intent to distribute controlled substances.
Members of the public are reminded that the indictment only contains charges. The defendants are presumed innocent of the charges and it will be the government’s burden to prove the defendants’ guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.
This case is being investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, with assistance from the Bartow-Cartersville Drug Task Force, the Jonesboro Police Department, and the Sandy Springs Police Department.
This case is part of the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Operation SCOPE (Strategically Combatting Opioids through Prosecution and Enforcement), an initiative that targets individuals who illegally prescribe opioids and drug traffickers who also distribute these dangerous and addictive drugs.
Assistant U.S. Attorney John T. DeGenova is prosecuting the case.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Atlanta recommends parents and children learn about the dangers of drugs at the following web site: www.justthinktwice.gov.
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.
- Victor A. Hanson, M.D., 86, of Brookhaven, Georgia, is also charged with maintaining a premises for the purpose of distributing controlled substances, 14 individual counts of illegal drug distribution for specific prescriptions, including several written to undercover federal officers, and a money laundering conspiracy.
Las Vegas Tax Return Preparer Indicted for Preparing False Tax Returns, Aggravated Identity Theft and Wire FraudRead the Press Release
LAS VEGAS, Nev. - A grand jury in Las Vegas returned a superseding indictment today charging a tax return preparer with preparing and filing false tax returns, aggravated identity theft, and wire fraud announced Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Richard E. Zuckerman of the Justice Department’s Tax Division, United States Attorney Nicholas Trutanich for the District of Nevada, and Special Agent in Charge Tara Sullivan for the IRS-Criminal Investigation.
According to the indictment, King Isaac Umoren, was the owner and operator of Universal Tax Services, a Las Vegas tax preparation business. From 2014 to 2016, Umoren allegedly used his employees’ preparer tax identification numbers without their consent in order to prepare fraudulent income tax returns for his clients. The indictment also alleges that Umoren charged his clients hidden fees in addition to his tax preparation fee without their knowledge or consent.
If convicted, Umoren faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison on each of the false return counts, a maximum sentence of 20 years on each of the wire fraud counts, and a statutory mandatory sentence of two years on each of the aggravated identity theft counts. He also faces a period of supervised release, restitution, and monetary penalties.
An indictment merely alleges that a crime has been committed, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Zuckerman and United States Attorney Trutanich commended special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation and the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA), who conducted the investigation, and Trial Attorney Sarah Kiewlicz and Assistant United States Attorney Patrick Burns, who are prosecuting the case.
Additional information about the Tax Division and its enforcement efforts may be found on the division’s website at www.justice.gov/tax.
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Las Vegas Tax Return Preparer Indicted for Preparing False Tax Returns, Aggravated Identity Theft and Wire FraudRead the Press Release
A grand jury in Las Vegas, Nevada, returned a superseding indictment today charging a tax return preparer with preparing and filing false tax returns, aggravated identity theft, and wire fraud announced Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Richard E. Zuckerman of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Nicholas A. Trutanich for the District of Nevada.
According to the indictment, King Isaac Umoren, was the owner and operator of Universal Tax Services, a Las Vegas tax preparation business. From 2014 to 2016, Umoren allegedly used his employees’ preparer tax identification numbers without their consent in order to prepare fraudulent income tax returns for his clients. The indictment also alleges that Umoren charged his clients’ hidden fees in addition to his tax preparation fee without their knowledge or consent.
If convicted, Umoren faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison on each of the false return counts, a maximum sentence of 20 years on each of the wire fraud counts, and a statutory mandatory sentence of two years on each of the aggravated identity theft counts. He also faces a period of supervised release, restitution, and monetary penalties.
An indictment merely alleges that a crime has been committed, and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Zuckerman and U.S. Attorney Trutanich commended special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation and TIGTA, who conducted the investigation, and Trial Attorney Sarah Kiewlicz and AUSA Patrick Burns, who are prosecuting the case.
Additional information about the Tax Division and its enforcement efforts may be found on the division’s website.
Korean National Pleads Guilty to East Bay-Based Foreign Exchange Trading ScamRead the Press Release
OAKLAND – Jin K. Chung pleaded guilty in federal court in Oakland to money laundering, announced United States Attorney David L. Anderson and Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge John F. Bennett. The plea was accepted by the Honorable Jeffrey S. White, U.S. District Judge.
According to his plea agreement, Chung, 56, of Seoul, Korea, admitted he laundered money he obtained from a foreign exchange trading scam. Chung admitted that in 2003, he and codefendant Peter Son, 47, of Portland, Ore., started two companies, SNC Asset Management, Inc. and SNC Investments, Inc., both headquartered in Pleasanton, Calif. Chung admitted he falsely advertised both companies as highly successful in foreign exchange trading. Further, Chung promised potential investors they would receive annual investment returns of between 24% and 36%. Chung knew that these representations were false and made with the intention of attracting individuals to invest in the two companies. Chung acknowledged that hundreds of investors opened accounts and deposited money into the two companies based upon the fraudulent representations.
Chung and Son deposited the clients’ funds into bank accounts that the defendants controlled. While directing employees of the companies to send monthly statements to the investors that falsely reported accrued earnings, Chung regularly cashed checks or arranged wire transfers in amounts over $10,000 for his own benefit. Chung also transferred funds from the accounts to pay purported investment returns and redemptions to investors, to pay sales commissions and other expenses related to the scheme.
By October 2008, the defendants depleted the funds in the companies' accounts and closed both businesses without advance notice to employees or clients. Chung admitted that in the four months before closing the businesses, he transferred more than $630,000 from the businesses into his personal accounts.
In the aggregate, at least 400 victims invested and lost approximately $60,300,000 in the trading scheme during Chung and Son’s operation of SNC Asset Management, Inc. and SNC Investments, Inc.
On July 8, 2019, Chung was charged by information with a single count of engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from specified unlawful activity (money laundering), in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1957. On Tuesday, September 3, 2019, Chung pleaded guilty to the charge.
Judge White scheduled Chung’s sentencing hearing for November 19, 2019, at 1:00 p.m. Chung faces a maximum statutory penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000, or twice the amount of the criminally derived property involved in the transactions. The court also may order a term of supervised release, special assessments, forfeiture, restitution, and deportation. However, any sentence will be imposed by the court only after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C. § 3553.
For his part in the scheme, Son pleaded guilty on April 9, 2010, to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to engage in monetary transactions with the proceeds of wire fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1349 and 1956(h), respectively. On July 30, 2010, the Honorable D. Lowell Jensen, then-U.S. District Judge, sentenced Son to a prison term of 180 months.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan U. Lee is prosecuting the case with the assistance of Jessica Rodriguez Gonzalez. The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission, U.S. Commodities Futures Trading Commission, the FBI, and the IRS.
KC Man Shot by Police Officer Indicted for Illegal FirearmRead the Press Release
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A Kansas City, Missouri, man who was shot by an Independence, Missouri, police officer as he attempted to strike the officer with his truck before leading officers on a high-speed chase, has been indicted by a federal grand jury for illegally possessing a firearm.
Isaiah Fulson-Dewberry, 27, was charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm in an indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Kansas City, Mo., on Tuesday, Sept. 10. The indictment replaces a federal criminal complaint that was filed against Fulson-Dewberry on Sept. 3, 2019.
According to an affidavit filed in support or the original criminal complaint, two Independence, Missouri, police officers were dispatched to Pepperwood Apartments on Sept. 1, 2019, on reported prowlers. The officers arrived at the apartment complex in separate vehicles and approached from opposite directions. Fulson-Dewberry, driving a 2002 Chevrolet Avalanche (later determined to be stolen), pulled out of a parking space and began driving through the parking lot. When the first officer’s marked patrol vehicle approached, the affidavit says, Fulson-Dewberry put the truck in reverse and went back into the parking area, driving up onto the curb into the grass. The truck then drove forward and deliberately rammed the front end of the officer’s vehicle. Two passengers – a white female and a black male – ran from the truck and were never located. The truck backed up again, the affidavit says, and slammed into a parked truck, pushing it into another parked vehicle, and then rammed into the front of the officer’s vehicle a second time.
According to the affidavit, the truck backed up again, clipping the front end of the second officer’s patrol vehicle, and then went forward again, hitting the front of the patrol vehicle and pushing it. The officer was outside of his vehicle, the affidavit says, and Fulson-Dewberry swerved the truck at him. The officer, fearing for his life, fired 10 rounds from his duty weapon into the driver’s side of the truck.
The truck fled the apartment complex and a pursuit was initiated. The truck made it onto westbound 39th Street. The truck drove on the shoulder of the road, the affidavit says, passing vehicles at a high rate of speed and running red lights at busy intersections. The truck also entered into oncoming traffic, nearly striking two different eastbound vehicles head on. The truck proceeded onto southbound Lee’s Summit Road and attempted to get onto the ramp to westbound I-70, but was traveling too fast and spun out into the ditch just onto the ramp to westbound I-70 from Lee’s Summit Road.
Fulson-Dewberry got out of the driver’s side of the truck and threw a loaded Walther .22-caliber handgun into the grassy area near the truck. Fulson-Dewberry had a gunshot wound that entered his left calf and exited then entered into his right calf, where the bullet lodged. He was taken into custody without further incident and transported for medical treatment.
Under federal law, it is illegal for anyone who has been convicted of a felony to be in possession of any firearm or ammunition. Fulson-Dewberry has prior felony convictions for possession of a controlled substance and theft of property.
The charge contained in this indictment is simply an accusation, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charge must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph M. Marquez. It was investigated by the Independence, Mo., Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Project Safe Neighborhoods
The U.S. Attorney’s Office is partnering with federal, state, and local law enforcement to specifically identify criminals responsible for significant violent crime in the Western District of Missouri. A centerpiece of this effort is Project Safe Neighborhoods, a program that brings together all levels of law enforcement to reduce violent crime and make neighborhoods safer for everyone. Project Safe Neighborhoods is an evidence-based program that identifies the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develops comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, Project Safe Neighborhoods focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.Justice Department Hosts National Public Safety Partnership Symposium, Partners with U.S. Cities to Reduce Violent CrimeRead the Press Release
MEMPHIS – The Department of Justice today renewed its commitment to reducing violent crime in America, holding its third annual National Public Safety Partnership Symposium.
The National Public Safety Partnership provides a framework for enhancing federal support of state, local and tribal law enforcement officials and prosecutors as they investigate and pursue violent criminals, specifically those involved in gun crime, drug trafficking and gang violence.
"The National Public Safety Partnership is a hallmark program of this administration," said Katharine T. Sullivan, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Department’s Office of Justice Programs. "It effectively works to reduce violent crime, a priority of both Attorney General Barr and President Trump."
Jon Adler, Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance – which oversees the partnership program – announced $28 million to provide training and technical assistance to designated partnership sites, as well as to support law enforcement-led and prosecution-based crime reduction efforts in cities across the nation. Funds will also support crime gun intelligence centers in eight sites across the country. These centers focus on the immediate collection, management and analysis of crime gun evidence, such as shell casings, in real time, in an effort to identify violent criminals, disrupt criminal activity and prevent future violence.
"These funds are just the tip of the spear to help law enforcement develop and implement innovative – and proven – strategies to help increase public safety," said Adler. "In coming weeks, the Justice Department will continue to announce funding awards to communities in support of law enforcement’s commitment to drive down violent crime, aid crime victims and improve justice systems."
This year’s symposium, which lasts through Sept. 11, brings together more than 400 law enforcement leaders, prosecutors and other officials representing 17 of 41 partnered cities across the U.S. Law enforcement officials from the tristate area surrounding Memphis are also attending.
In June, Attorney General William P. Barr announced the addition of 10 cities and counties to the National Public Safety Partnership, which provides advanced training and technical assistance to cities and counties with elevated rates of violent crime.
"The addition of 10 more partnered sites this year is another critical step in fulfilling President Trump’s commitment to reducing violent crime in America," said Adler. "The three-year engagement between the Department and each partnered city allows agencies to respond to the diverse needs within their jurisdictions by streamlining access to federal resources for those communities most affected by violent crime."
To date, the Justice Department has worked with more than 40 cities under the National Public Safety Partnership (PSP) program. Many participating cities have already seen dramatic reductions in violent crime. For example, in Memphis, carjackings decreased 43 percent year-to-date, from March 2018 to March 2019. Additionally, collaboration between the Memphis Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation to process cold-case sexual assault kits resulted in the conviction of a sexual predator in May 2019 who was responsible for kidnapping and raping six women, and attempting to kidnap and rape a seventh, over a period of seven years.
"The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Tennessee is proud to participate in the National Public Safety Partnership Initiative here in Memphis and Jackson, Tennessee," said U.S. Attorney Michael Dunavant. "PSP has allowed us to receive meaningful federal resources of law enforcement training and technical assistance in an innovative framework to enhance data-driven, evidence-based local strategies for violence reduction. The good work of the PSP team stakeholders, including the commitment to targeted enforcement by our federal, state and local law enforcement partners, has resulted in significant reductions in the violent crime rate in key categories, such as business robbery, carjacking and reported gun crimes. We are thankful for all of these resources from the Department of Justice, and we are committed to the continued effective use of these PSP tools to further reduce violent crime in the future."
Other PSP sites have achieved notable successes, as well. For example, New Orleans, Louisiana, ended 2018 with its lowest number of homicides since the early 1970s. In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, homicides declined in 2018 for a third straight year after hitting a peak in 2015.
In addition to local law enforcement and prosecutorial leaders from the participating PSP sites, components in attendance at this year’s symposium include: the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services; the Office of Justice Programs; the Office on Violence Against Women; the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices; the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration; and the U.S. Marshals Service.
The Justice Department created the National Public Safety Partnership and the Task Force on Crime Reduction and Public Safety in response to President Trump’s Feb. 9, 2017, Executive Order charging the agency with leading a national effort to combat violent crime. The Department announced the formation of the National Public Safety Partnership initiative in June 2017.
For more information about the PSP sites and the Justice Department’s work to reduce violent crime and enhance public safety, visit https://www.nationalpublicsafetypartnership.org.
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Jury Convicts South Texas Man for Transporting Illegal Undocumented Chinese Nationals Among OthersRead the Press Release
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – A federal jury has convicted a 49-year-old legal permanent resident from Donna 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.
During trial the jury heard that on Dec. 21, 2018, authorities arrested Federico Espinosa-Flores at the Border Patrol Checkpoint in Sarita.
At approximately 7:40 A.M., Espinosa-Flores drove a white Ford cargo van disguised as an adult daycare business and entered the primary inspection lane. At that time, authorities noticed him exhibiting signs of nervousness, such as avoiding eye contact and having trembling hands. Espinosa-Flores consented to a search of which resulted in the discovery of 10 undocumented aliens in the rear cargo area of the vehicle. Six were Chinese nationals. Two others were from
The defense attempted to convince the jury that authorities coached him on what to say in his recorded and detailed confession. They did not believe those claims and found him guilty as charged.
Senior U.S. District Judge John Rainey presided over the trial and set sentencing for Dec. 16, 2019. At that time, Espinosa-Flores faces up to 10 years imprisonment and a maximum $250,000 possible fine.
Previously released on bond, Espinosa-Flores was taken into custody following the verdict today where he will remain pending his sentencing.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Neel Kapur is prosecuting the case.
Judge Imposes 15-Year Sentence on Lansing-Area Felon in Possession of A FirearmRead the Press Release
Aaron Donquwe Perkins Sentenced to 180 months for Unlawfully Possessing a 9mm Pistol
GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN — U.S. Attorney Andrew Birge announced today that Chief Judge Robert J. Jonker of the Western District of Michigan sentenced Lansing-area resident Aaron Donquwe Perkins to 15 years in prison for possessing a firearm as a convicted felon. Perkins admitted possessing a Smith & Wesson 9mm pistol, despite having previous convictions for assault with a dangerous weapon and two convictions for delivery/manufacture of controlled substances, all contrary to Michigan law.
Mr. Perkins’ extensive criminal history subjected him to the enhanced penalties of the Armed Career Criminal Act, 18 U.S.C. § 924(e), under which a person who violates the federal felon in possession statute after having been convicted previously of three or more violent felonies or serious drug offenses must serve a mandatory minimum sentence of fifteen years.
“My office prioritizes the prosecution of offenders with prior violent felonies and drug trafficking crimes in their history,” stated U.S. Attorney Birge. “We will use every tool in our toolbox—like the Armed Career Criminal Act—to keep firearms away from dangerous felons like Mr. Perkins.”
Special Agent in Charge James Deir of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) noted: “As a multi-time convicted felon, Aaron Donquwe Perkins was provided multiple opportunities to turn his life around. Instead, he choose to return to a life of crime. In doing so, he put innocent lives in danger. With the help of our law enforcement partners, ATF remains vigilante in the effort to protect our communities from violent criminals.”
This case was investigated by the ATF and the Lansing Police Department and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Austin J. Hakes as part of the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Neighborhoods, a nationwide initiative to reduce violent crime. The U.S. Attorney’s Office, county prosecutor’s offices, and federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement work closely together to identify and prosecute individuals responsible for driving violent crime in our communities in order to make neighborhoods safer for everyone. Individuals with information or concerns about violent crime or firearms offenses should contact local law enforcement. For more information about Project Safe Neighborhoods, visit: https://www.justice.gov/psn.
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Jefferson Parish Woman Pleads Guilty to Conspiring to Distribute Ketamine which Resulted in the Death of a Teenager whose Body was Found Floating in a Texas BayouRead the Press Release
NEW ORLEANS – U.S. Attorney Peter G. Strasser announced that LEILANI ASPURIA, age 25, of Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, pleaded guilty today to conspiring to distribute ketamine which resulted in the death of a Slidell, Louisiana teenager. The eighteen year old’s dead body was found floating in a Texas bayou.
As described in court documents, ASPURIA, along with WILLIAM HARRISON FARRIS, age 39, and KACIE DOUCET, age 37, conspired to incapacitate the teenager with drugs so that he could be transported to law enforcement authorities in Texas. ASPURIA, FARRIS, and DOUCET did so in the hope of receiving free drugs from two large scale Texas-based methamphetamine dealers. These dealers, a married couple, had told their New Orleans customers that they wanted the teenager so they would not lose the $6000 bond they had posted for him months earlier.
ASPURIA faces a maximum prison sentence of 10 years, a possible fine of $500,000, and at least 2 years of supervised release. U.S. District Judge Jane Triche Milazzo set sentencing for ASPURIA on December 11, 2019. FARRIS pleaded guilty to the same charge and will be sentenced on October 23, 2019.
U.S. Attorney Strasser praised the work of the United States Postal Inspection Service, Louisiana State Police, Houston Police Department, and the Drug Enforcement Administration. Assistant United States Attorneys Brandon S. Long and David Howard Sinkman are in charge of the prosecution.
Ipswich Man Sentenced to 60 Months for Unlawful Possession of FirearmsRead the Press Release
CONCORD - Daniel Laterowicz, 32, of Ipswich, was sentenced in federal court to 60 months in prison for possession of stolen firearms, United States Attorney Scott W. Murray announced today.
According to court documents and statements made in court, on December 10, 2018, members of the Salisbury, Massachusetts Police Department responded to a call of a possible car break-in. Salisbury officers later notified the Seabrook Police Department of a possible suspect in the area.
A Seabrook Police officer encountered Laterowicz walking northbound on Batchelder Road at approximately 2:44 am. The officer conducted a brief investigative stop of Laterowicz, during which a stolen handgun was recovered from the defendant’s breast pocket. Investigators followed additional leads to a hotel room in Hampton, where Laterowicz had been staying. Investigators obtained a state search warrant which they executed on December 13, 2018. The search led to the recovery of three firearms, including two shotguns that previously had been reported stolen by a Seabrook resident who had discovered them missing from his parked car on the morning of November 29, 2018.
Laterowicz is a convicted felon. It is unlawful for a person with a felony conviction to possess firearms.
Laterowicz pleaded guilty on May 29, 2019.
“In order to protect our communities from violence, it is vital to keep guns out of the hands of criminals,” said U.S. Attorney Murray. “Through Project Safe Neighborhoods, we work closely with our law enforcement partners to identify and prosecute felons who jeopardize public safety by carrying weapons.”
This matter was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Salisbury, Massachusetts Police Department, and the Seabrook and Hampton, New Hampshire Police Departments. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles L. Rombeau.
The case is part of ATF’s Project Safe Neighborhoods initiative, which is a federally-funded program intended to reduce gun violence through law enforcement training, public education, and aggressive law enforcement efforts to investigate and prosecute gun-related crimes.
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Inmate at Red Onion State Prison Convicted of Sending Threatening CommunicationsRead the Press Release
Abingdon, VIRGINIA – A jury in U.S. District Court in Abingdon convicted an inmate at Red Onion State Prison of sending threatening communications through the mail following the conclusion of a one-day jury trial, United States Attorney Thomas T. Cullen announced.
Randall J. Keystone, 55, was convicted yesterday of two counts of transmitting in interstate commerce a communication containing a threat to injure another person.
“Communicating threats of death or bodily harm is a serious federal crime and one that we will aggressively prosecute,” U.S. Attorney Cullen stated today. “I am grateful for the hard work of the U.S. Marshals Service and the Virginia Department of Corrections in bringing this defendant to justice.”
According to evidence presented at trial, Keystone, while incarcerated at Red Onion State Prison, sent a pair of threatening letters to the former state prosecutor who handled his case in the late 1990s. The former state prosecutor, who is now an Assistant United States Attorney in North Carolina, received one letter at his home and one at his office.
In both letters, written on or about January 11, 2017, Keystone wrote, “How’d you like someone to put a bullit [sic] in your head? How’d you like me to be the one to do it?”
The investigation of the case was conducted by the U.S. Marshals Service for the Western District of Virginia and Eastern District of North Carolina and the Virginia Department of Corrections. Assistant United States Attorneys Jennifer R. Bockhorst and Cagle Juhan are prosecuting the case for the United States.
Illegal Alien admits to reentry chargeRead the Press Release
MARTINSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA – Omar Antonio Murillo-Bonilla, a citizen of Honduras, has admitted to an immigration violation, United States Attorney Bill Powell announced.
Murillo-Bonilla, age 32, pled guilty to one count of “Reentry of Removed Aliens.” Murillo-Bonilla admitted to reentering the country illegally after be removed twice before. The crime allegedly occurred in August 2019 in Jefferson County.
Murillo-Bonilla faces up to two years incarceration and a fine of up to $250,000. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed will be based upon the seriousness of the offenses and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey A. Finucane is prosecuting the case on behalf of the government. The Department of Homeland Security Immigrations and Customs Enforcement and the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office investigated.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert W. Trumble presided.
Hobart Woman SentencedRead the Press Release
HAMMOND- Lucy Owens, 42, of Hobart, Indiana, was sentenced before District Court Judge Joseph S. VanBokkelen, announced U.S. Attorney Kirsch. Owens was convicted on 7 counts of wire fraud after 5-day jury trial that took place in May 2018.
Owens received a sentence of 57 months in prison, 1 year of supervised release and was ordered to pay 820,483.66 in restitution with $324,438.50 of that amount to be owed jointly and severally with co-defendant Kirk Stroh.
“The great work of the Hammond Police Department has brought this case to a successful conclusion with an order of restitution and significant prison time,” said U.S. Attorney Thomas L. Kirsch II. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office and law enforcement partners will continue to hold people accountable for their actions when they choose to take advantage of others.”
According to records in the case, between 2010 and 2015, Owens diverted over $800,000 from her employer, a Hammond-based freight services company, through two schemes to defraud. In one scheme, Owens used her position as the company’s accounts payable clerk to fraudulently pay over $460,000 in personal credit card bills from the company’s bank account. In the second scheme, Owens used her position as the administrator of the company’s diesel fuel card program to help two individuals obtain over $330,000 in unauthorized cash advances at truck stops. One of the individuals, Kirk Stroh, also from Hobart, Indiana, was a truck driver for a rival trucking company. Owens helped Stroh obtain over $290,000 in fraudulent cash advances at a truck stop in Lake Station, Indiana, in increments of $800 per day. Stroh, a co-defendant in the case, who previously pled guilty, split the proceeds with Owens. In addition to paying her personal credit card debt funds stolen from her employer, Owens used her portion of the stolen funds to pay for frequent family vacations, dining, clothing, jewelry, home improvements, and other items.
This case was investigated by the Hammond Police Department and handled by Assistant United States Attorneys Abizer Zanzi and Nathaniel Whalen.
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Hartford Man Sentenced to More Than 5 Years for Supplying Heroin to Southeastern CT Drug RingRead the Press Release
John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that EDWIN DeJESUS, 48, of Hartford, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Vanessa L. Bryant in Hartford to 64 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for distributing heroin.
According to court documents and statements made in court, in 2018, the FBI, Norwich Police Department and other law enforcement agencies began investigating a drug trafficking organization that was distributing heroin, cocaine and crack cocaine in southeastern Connecticut. The investigation, which included court-authorized wiretaps and controlled purchases of narcotics, revealed that DeJesus supplied heroin to a codefendant who distributed the drug to his own customer in southeastern Connecticut.
DeJesus has been detained since his arrest on February 20, 2019. On March 5, a grand jury returned an indictment charging DeJesus and 12 other individuals with narcotics trafficking offenses. On May 31, DeJesus pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute heroin.
DeJesus’ criminal history spans 30 years and includes a federal conviction for conspiracy to assault a federal officer. In March 1995, he was sentenced to 60 months of imprisonment for that offense.
This investigation is being conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Connecticut State Police and Norwich, Town of Groton and Waterford Police Departments, with the assistance of the FBI’s Baltimore Field Office, Baltimore Police Department and Delaware State Police. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Natasha M. Freismuth and S. Dave Vatti.
Hartford Man Sentenced to Federal Prison for Illegally Possessing Loaded Semiautomatic RifleRead the Press Release
John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that TORREN BOYD, 38, of Hartford, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Victor A. Bolden in Bridgeport to 33 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for illegally possessing a loaded semiautomatic rifle.
According to court documents and statements made in court, on September 27, 2018, Boyd was arrested in Hartford after he was found in possession of a loaded Hi-Point, Model 995, 9mm rifle.
Boyd’s criminal history includes a federal felony conviction in the District of Vermont in 2007 for distributing crack cocaine. He was sentenced to 60 months of imprisonment for that offense.
It is a violation of federal law for a person previously convicted of a felony offense to possess a firearm or ammunition that has moved in interstate or foreign commerce.
Boyd has been detained since his arrest. On April 9, 2019, he pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Hartford Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael J. Gustafson.
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 neighborhoods safer for everyone.
Harrisonburg Woman Pleads Guilty to Fatal Overdose DistributionRead the Press Release
Harrisonburg, VIRGINIA – Iza Mar Rosario-Cruzado, 31, of Harrisonburg, Va., pleaded guilty yesterday in U.S. District Court to one count of distributing and possessing with the intent to distribute a mixture of heroin and fentanyl. Rosario-Cruzado further admitted her distribution of this drug mixture resulted in an overdose death. United States Attorney Thomas T. Cullen made the announcement following the defendant’s guilty plea.
“Heroin laced with fentanyl is driving the opioid epidemic that has ravaged our district for the last several years,” U.S. Attorney Cullen stated today. “We will continue to work closely with our state and local partners to investigate and prosecute cases involving overdose deaths and hold dealers accountable under federal law.”
“This sentence is a great example of our efforts to keep our local communities safe from the spread of drugs. Heroin and fentanyl are extremely deadly substances and those who spread this poison across our cities, acting with blatant disregard for the lives of the people who live here, will not be tolerated,” said Special Against in Charge Jesse R. Fong of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Washington Field Division. “This case is a testament to the hard work DEA and our law enforcement partners do every day to keep these dangerous drugs out of the hands of our loved ones.”
According to court documents entered during yesterday’s hearing, on December 13, 2017, victim M.J.M. was found deceased following a heroin and fentanyl overdose. Investigators determined that the day prior, December 12, 2017, Rosario-Cruzado distributed a mixture of heroin and fentanyl to Richard Mansfield. Mansfield subsequently redistributed the same drugs to M.J.M., who ingested them, resulting in his overdose death.
On September 12, 2018, Mansfield pleaded guilty to one count of distributing a mixture of heroin and fentanyl.
At sentencing, scheduled for December 17, 2019, Rosario-Cruzado faces between 12-16 years in years in federal prison, as agreed to as part of her plea agreement.
The investigation of the case was conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration, Virginia State Police, and Harrisonburg Police Department, with the assistance of Rockingham County Commonwealth’s Attorney Marsha L. Garst. Assistant United States Attorney Jeb Terrien is prosecuting the case for the United States.
Groveton Woman Sentenced to 87 Months for Participating in Interstate Fentanyl Trafficking ConspiracyRead the Press Release
CONCORD - Katie Fysh, 33, of Groveton, was sentenced to 87 months in 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, during an ongoing drug trafficking investigation that included court-authorized wiretaps, agents and task force officers with the Drug Enforcement Administration learned that Fysh regularly obtained fentanyl from a source in Lawrence, Massachusetts and then sold that fentanyl in New Hampshire. On both March 17, 2018, and March 18, 2018, a friend of the defendant suffered non-fatal overdoses after using the fentanyl purchased from the source in Lawrence. The defendant was arrested on March 18, 2018, and found with approximately 25 grams of fentanyl on her person. She admitted that she regularly bought fentanyl in Lawrence and distributed it in New Hampshire.
Fysh previously pleaded guilty on June 12, 2019.
“Interstate fentanyl traffickers introduce a lethal drug for distribution on the streets of New Hampshire,” said U.S. Attorney Murray. “In this case, the defendant followed the very familiar pattern of purchasing the drug in Lawrence and then transporting it into our state. The penalty of better than seven years in prison should serve as a deterrent to others who would choose to follow a similar path.”
“Fentanyl is causing great damage to our communities,” said DEA Special Agent in Charge Brian D. Boyle. “Those who distribute fentanyl are endangering the safety of the citizens of New Hampshire. This investigation demonstrates the strength of collaborative local, state and federal law enforcement efforts in New Hampshire.”
This investigation was conducted by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF). The OCDETF program is a federal multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional task force that supplies supplemental federal funding to federal and state agencies involved in the identification, investigation, and prosecution of major drug trafficking organizations.
The case was a collaborative investigation that involved the DEA; the New Hampshire State Police; the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office; the Nashua Police Department; the Massachusetts State Police; the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office; the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office; the Essex County District Attorney’s Office; the Internal Revenue Service; Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations; United States Customs and Border Protection Boston Field Office; the United States Marshals Service; the United States Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service; the Manchester Police Department; the Lisbon Police Department; the Littleton Police Department; the Seabrook Police Department; the Haverhill (MA) Police Department; the Methuen (MA) Police Department; the Lowell (MA) Police Department; and the Maine State Police.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Georgiana L. Konesky, Seth R. Aframe and Debra M. Walsh.
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Government Contractor Sentenced to Probation and Ordered to Repay More Than $83,000Read the Press Release
CONCORD – Enco Industries, Inc., a company located in Plaistow, New Hampshire, was sentenced to three years of probation and ordered to pay $83,717.85 in restitution for making false statements to the U.S. Department of Defense’s Defense Logistics Agency, announced United States Attorney Scott W. Murray.
According to court documents and statements made during a hearing earlier today, the Defense Logistics Agency (“DLA”) purchases operating supplies (“items”) for the U.S. military from government contractors through the federal supply system. The Department of Defense (“DoD”) requires that all items conform to strict military specifications identified in its contracts. Contract solicitations include the DoD’s specifications for the requested item.
An oil sorbent mat is one item the DLA acquires through the federal supply system. Because the mats are used to absorb flammable liquids, the mats are required to meet specifications requiring them to dissipate electrical charges to the ground.
According to court documents, in December of 2011, the DLA posted a solicitation to acquire approximately 96,000 units of hazardous material mats over a five-year period. The solicitation required, among other things, that the mats pass standards established in National Fire Protection Association for Static Decay and Surface Resistivity. The solicitation also required the selected government contractor to purchase mats manufactured by a company in Tipton, Pennsylvania or another company in Pennsylvania.
Enco has been an approved government contractor since 2004. On January 13, 2012, Enco’s government contracting manager submitted Enco’s bid for the contract. The bid stated that Enco would purchase the mats from the company in Tipton for $29.15 for each unit containing 100 mats during the first year of the five-year annually renewable contract. This statement was false because, at the time the bid was submitted, Enco did not intend to purchase the mats from the company in Tipton.
The court documents further allege that on June 18, 2012, the DLA awarded the contract to Enco and sent the company a purchase order that incorporated all the required specifications for the mats. From June of 2012 to October of 2013, Enco provided approximately 21,700 units to the DLA. To obtain payments, Enco’s office manager submitted claims to the DoD. Most of claims were false because only seven units contained mats that were manufactured by the company in Tipton.
In August of 2013, an independent company concluded that several of the mats it tested did not meet the contract’s requirements for static decay or surface resistivity. As a result, the DLA sent Enco a letter on October 7, 2013, that notified the company that the contract might be terminated due to non-conformance.
In an October 2013-email addressed to the DLA, Enco’s president stated that Enco bought the mats from a non-approved manufacturer because the amount charged by the company in Tipton was prohibitive. In the same email, Enco’s president stated that Enco was not able to identify the non-approved manufacturer. This statement was false because, at the time of the email, Enco was able to identify the manufacturers from whom it had purchased the mats.
While speaking with Special Agents from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (“NCIS”) and Defense Criminal Investigative Service (“DCIS”) on February 21, 2014, Enco’s president stated that before Enco submitted its bid on the contract, the company received price quotes from the two approved manufacturers. According to the court documents, Enco’s president also stated that Enco decided to buy the mats from the company in Tipton because its price was lower. This statement was false and misleading because when Enco submitted its bid for the contract, it intended to fulfill the contract by purchasing mats from a non-approved manufacturer.
Enco previously pleaded guilty to make a false statements to an agency of the United States government on June 3, 2019.
“Those who do business with the federal government must do so honestly,” said U.S. Attorney Murray. “When companies mislead the government in the efforts to obtain government contracts, they are committing a serious federal crime. We will not hesitate to work with our law enforcement partners to root out white collar crimes in order to protect the integrity of the government contracting process.”
"Today's sentencing is the end result of a successful joint effort to protect the U.S. Department of Defense's (DoD) procurement process," stated Leigh-Alistair Barzey, Special Agent in Charge of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS) Northeast Field Office. "DCIS is committed to working with the U.S. Attorney's Office, District of New Hampshire, NCIS and AFOSI, to investigate and prosecute companies that provide false statements to the DoD in a fraudulent effort to obtain defense contracts.”
“Fraud is never a victimless crime,” said Special Agent in Charge Leo S. Lamont of the NCIS. “This case of using inferior and substandard materials damaged the readiness and safety of U.S. forces. The victims are not just our men and women in uniform, but all American taxpayers. NCIS will continue to tirelessly pursue all those who seek to take advantage of the Department of the Navy and its interests while keeping the procurement system fair and honest."
"The Air Force Office of Special Investigations (AFOSI), along with its law enforcement partners, has, and always will, aggressively identify, investigate and neutralize anyone who attempts to defraud the US Government and put our nation's warfighters at risk," stated Special Agent-in-Charge Jason T. Hein, AFOSI, Office of Procurement Fraud.”
The case was investigated by the NCIS, DCIS, and the U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations, Office of Procurement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Kinsella prosecuted the case with assistance from K. Drew Ayers, Acquisition Fraud Counsel for the U.S. Air Force Materiel Command Law Office.
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Georgia woman sentenced for stealing $196,000 from federal governmentRead the Press Release
ATLANTA - Dyann E. Ramo has been sentenced to three years on probation with the first year in home confinement after she pleaded guilty to one count theft of government funds related to her stealing her deceased mother's Social Security benefits for nearly 20 years
“Ramo went to great lengths to conceal her theft and enjoy the benefits to which she was not entitled,” said U.S. Attorney Byung J. “BJay” Pak. “She continued her deception until she was indicted by a grand jury. Only then did she finally own up to her graft.”
“Concealing a death to improperly receive Social Security benefits is a Federal crime—one that we aggressively pursue to maintain the public trust in Social Security’s vital programs,” said Gail S. Ennis, Inspector General for the Social Security Administration. “We work closely with SSA and other agencies to identify beneficiary deaths, and track benefits paid after death. I greatly appreciate the support of the U.S. Attorney’s Office to pursue justice and recover stolen funds in these cases.”
According to U.S. Attorney Pak, the charges and other information presented in court: Ramo’s mother Virginia died in 1999. No one reported her death to Social Security and her retirement benefits continued to be paid. In 2013, 2014 and three different times in 2018, Social Security employees attempted to confirm whether Virginia Ramo was alive, and each time, Ramo insisted that her mother was alive. In an attempt to maintain her fraud, she claimed a Georgia death certificate in her mother’s name was a “mistake,” and even impersonated her mother on the telephone on two separate occasions. Ramo finally admitted that her mother was deceased after she was indicted by a federal grand jury.
Dyann E. Ramo, 66, of Canton, Georgia, has been sentenced to three years on probation with the first year to be served in home confinement, 200 hours of community service, ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $196,067, and a $100 special assessment. Ramo was convicted on these charges on May 22, 2019, after she pleaded guilty.
This case was investigated by the Social Security Administration - Office of the Inspector General.
Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Diane C. Schulman prosecuted the case.
For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at [email protected] or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.
Gang Member Charged with Distributing Crack Cocaine in Public Housing DevelopmentRead the Press Release
BOSTON – A man identified as a member of the Heath Street Gang was arrested yesterday and charged in federal court in Boston with distributing crack cocaine in a public housing development.
Michael Pridgen, 35, was charged with distribution and possession with intent to distribute controlled substances, and distribution and possession with intent to distribute controlled substances in a public housing development. Pridgen was detained following an initial appearance yesterday in federal court.
According to court documents, Pridgen distributed crack cocaine in and around the Mildred C. Hailey Apartments, formerly known as the Bromley Heath Housing Development, in Boston on June 5, 2019, and July 2, 2019. During the June 5 sale, Pridgen allegedly stored the crack cocaine and a digital scale in an electrical box affixed to the wall in the stairwell of the public housing complex. Both drug sales occurred in common stairwells in the complex. Pridgen has been identified by law enforcement as a member of the Heath Street Gang, but was living in Westborough at the time of these sales.
The charge of distributing or possessing with intent to distribute controlled substances provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years and up to a lifetime of supervised release and a fine of up to $1 million. The charge of distributing or possessing with intent to distribute controlled substances in a public housing development provides for a mandatory minimum of one year and up and to 40 years in prison, six years and up to a lifetime of supervised release and a fine of up to $2 million. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based on the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; and Boston Police Commissioner William Gross made the announcement today.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.
The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Former Pittsburgh Man Pleads Guilty to Possessing Heroin that Led to Discovery of Fentanyl Production Lab in the Lincoln-Lemington Section of PittsburghRead the Press Release
PITTSBURGH - A former resident of Pittsburgh, PA pleaded guilty to a federal narcotics charge on September 10, 2019, United States Attorney Scott W. Brady announced today.
Dezmen Hicks, age 35, pleaded guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute heroin in front of Chief United States District Court Judge Mark R. Hornak. Hicks has been detained since his initial appearance in federal court on July 20, 2017. Judge Hornak scheduled sentencing for January 20, 2020.
According to information provided to the court, on July 19, 2017, Pittsburgh Police responded to a 911 call on the 6000 block of Auburn Street. Zone 5 officers identified Hicks and attempted to approach him in connection with the investigation before Hicks fled into a nearby house. Officers entered the house and observed Hicks attempting to hide a blue bag in the freezer of a refrigerator in the house. Officers detained Hicks and recovered the bag from the freezer which contained approximately 25 bricks or 1,250 bags of individual heroin.
Upon police entry into the home, co-defendants Malik Clark and Joshua Wright also fled from the basement of the house and were subsequently detained by police. During a subsequent search of the home, Pittsburgh Police officers and Drug Enforcement Agency Special Agents and Task Force Officers found a large-scale fentanyl production lab in the basement of the home, and various types of narcotics, numerous firearms, United States Currency and a variety of drug packaging and branding material throughout the house. Clark, Wright, and Hicks were charged by way of federal complaint on July 20, 2017 and later indicted. The charges against Clark and Wright remain pending and they are presumed innocent. Any information provided regarding them should be considered to be only allegations.
Hicks faces a total maximum sentence of not more than 30 years in prison and a fine of $2,000,000. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed would be based upon the seriousness of the offenses and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.
Assistant United States Attorney Timothy M. Lanni is prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.
The Drug Enforcement Administration and the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police conducted the investigation leading to the indictment in this case.
Former KPMG Executive Sentenced for Scheme to Steal Confidential PCAOB InformationRead the Press Release
Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that DAVID MIDDENDORF, the former head of KPMG’s National Office, also known as the Department of Professional Practice (the “DPP”), was sentenced today to one year and one day in prison for participating in a scheme to defraud the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (the “PCAOB”) by obtaining, disseminating, and using confidential lists of which KPMG audits the PCAOB would be reviewing so that KPMG could improve its performance in PCAOB inspections. Middendorf was convicted of wire fraud charges in March 2019 following a month-long trial before U.S. District Judge J. Paul Oetken, who imposed today’s sentence.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said: “As the head of the KPMG department responsible for the quality of its audits, David Middendorf was at the top of a chain of corruption that threatened to corrupt KPMG and the PCAOB’s inspections process. Today’s sentence recognizes the harm this fraudulent scheme caused to the PCAOB and the auditing profession more generally.”
According to the evidence presented at trial:
The PCAOB is a nonprofit corporation overseen by the SEC that inspects the audit work performed by registered accounting firms (“Auditors”) with respect to the financial statements of publicly traded companies (“Issuers”). The PCAOB inspects the largest U.S. accounting firms on an annual basis. As part of the inspection process, the PCAOB chooses a selection of audits performed by an accounting firm for a closer review, commonly referred to as an inspection. Until shortly before an inspection occurs, the PCAOB does not disclose which audits are being inspected, or the focus areas for those inspections, because it wants to ensure that an Auditor does not perform additional work or modify its work papers in anticipation of an inspection. Following the completion of an inspection, the PCAOB issues an Inspection Report containing any negative findings or “comments” with respect to both the specific audits reviewed and the accounting firm more generally.
KPMG is one of the largest accounting firms in the world. In recent years, KPMG fared poorly in PCAOB inspections and in 2014 received approximately twice as many comments as its competitor firms. By at least in or about 2015, KPMG was engaged in efforts to improve its performance in PCAOB inspections, including but not limited to recruiting and hiring former PCAOB personnel. At the time, MIDDENDORF was head of KPMG’s DPP, which was broadly responsible for the quality of KPMG’s audits and KPMG’s performance in PCAOB inspections.
KPMG’s efforts to improve inspection results, however, were not limited to legitimate means. Instead, between 2015 and 2017, MIDDENDORF and others worked to illicitly acquire valuable confidential PCAOB information concerning which KPMG audits would be inspected in an effort to game the system and improve inspection results. For example, beginning in 2015, Brian Sweet, a former PCAOB employee who had joined KPMG, provided MIDDENDORF, Thomas Whittle, and others with the PCAOB’s confidential 2015 list of inspection selections, at MIDDENDORF’s request, so that the information could be used by MIDDENDORF, Whittle, and others to improve KPMG’s performance on PCAOB inspections.
In March 2016, Jeffrey Wada, an Inspections Leader at the PCAOB, provided Cynthia Holder, a KPMG employee, with confidential information on certain of the PCAOB’s 2016 inspection selections. Holder, in turn, provided the 2016 inspection selections to Sweet, who passed them to MIDDENDORF, Whittle, and others. MIDDENDORF, Whittle, Sweet, and others then agreed to launch a stealth program to “re-review” the audits that had been selected, and agreed to keep their stealth re-reviews within their “circle of trust.” In order to cover up their illicit conduct, other KPMG engagement partners were given a false explanation for the re-reviews. The stealth re-review program allowed KPMG to strengthen its work papers, and, in some cases, identify deficiencies or perform new audit work that had not been done during the live audit.
In January 2017, Wada, who had been passed over for promotion at the PCAOB, again stole valuable confidential PCAOB information, misappropriating a preliminary list of confidential 2017 inspection selections for KPMG audits and passing it on to Holder, referring to it in a voicemail as the “grocery list.” At the same time, Wada provided Holder with his resume and sought Holder’s assistance in helping him to acquire employment at KPMG. Sweet shared with Whittle the preliminary inspection selections provided by Wada; Wada in turn shared them with MIDDENDORF, who approved their use to improve the audits on the list.
In February 2017, Wada texted Holder saying, “I have the grocery list. . . . All the things you’ll need for the year.” Wada then spoke to Holder and provided her with the full confidential 2017 final inspection selections. Holder again shared the stolen information with Sweet, who shared it with MIDDENDORF, Whittle, and others so that it could be acted upon to improve the audits on the list.
In 2017, a KPMG partner who received early notice that her engagement was on the confidential 2017 inspection list reported the matter, and it was ultimately reported to KPMG’s Office of General Counsel.
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In addition to a prison sentence, MIDDENDORF, 55, of Marietta, Georgia, was sentenced to three years of supervised release. A determination of the restitution amount was deferred to a later date.
Mr. Berman praised the investigative work of the United States Postal Inspection Service and also thanked the Securities and Exchange Commission.
This case is being handled by the Office’s Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Rebecca Mermelstein, Jordan Estes, Margaret Graham, and Martin Bell are in charge of the prosecution.
Former Davenport Elementary School Teacher Charged Federally for Mailing Hoax Biological Agents and ToxinsRead the Press Release
Tampa, Florida – United States Attorney Maria Chapa Lopez announces the unsealing of an indictment charging Maria Bassi Lauro (65, Davenport) with six counts of mailing threatening communications and transmitting false information and hoaxes. If convicted on all counts, Lauro faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in federal prison.
FBI special agents arrested Lauro at her home in Davenport today. She made her initial appearance before United States Magistrate Judge Sean P. Flynn and has been released on restrictive bail conditions.
According to the
indictment and information presented in court, Lauro mailed threatening letters containing white powder to three different elementary schools in Polk and Lake Counties, where she had previously worked as an elementary school teacher. The recipients of the mailings had believed that the powder could be harmful and called for emergency assistance. Because anthrax, ricin, and other toxins can appear as a white powder, law enforcement and other first responders treated each of the mailings as hazardous and potentially lethal. Later analysis of the powder contained in the mailings, however, proved that it was harmless.An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal criminal law, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty.
This case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with assistance from the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, the Florida Department of Health, and various HAZMAT and Fire/Rescue teams. It will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Daniel George.
Former Background Investigator for Federal Government Sentenced for Making False StatementsRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON – Bradley Lane, 30, a former background investigator for the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM), was sentenced today to 36 months of probation, including 6 months of GPS Electronic Monitor on one false statements charge in connection with his falsification of work on background investigations of federal employees and contractors.
U.S. Attorney Jessie K. Liu and Thomas W. South, Deputy Assistant Inspector General for Investigations, U.S. Office of Personnel Management made the announcement today.
Lane, of Virginia, pled guilty on May 15, 2019, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to one count of making false statements. He was sentenced by the Honorable Thomas F. Hogan. As part of his sentence, he is required to pay $212,407.03 in restitution to OPM.
According to court papers, Lane was an investigator tasked with conducting background investigations on behalf of OPM’s National Background Investigations Bureau (NBIB). NBIB conducts background investigations to determine suitability for federal positions of public trust, including positions having access to classified information and impacting national security. NBIB also conducts investigations for federal employees and contractors seeking security clearances.
Lane admitted that, in conducting these investigations between November 23, 2015 and October 24, 2016, he falsely claimed to have interviewed a source or reviewed a record regarding the subject of the background investigation in at least 94 instances on 57 different background investigations.
Lane acknowledged at his guilty plea hearing that his false representations required OPM’s NBIB to reopen and rework background investigations that were assigned to him during the time period in which he falsified reports. The government estimated the cost of the recovery effort at more than $212,000 to the U.S. government.
NBIB, through its workforce of approximately 5,400 field investigators, is responsible for conducting background investigations for numerous federal agencies and their contractors, on individuals either employed by or seeking employment with those agencies or contractors. NBIB conducted more than 2.6 million investigations during the 2018 fiscal year. More than 787,557 of these investigations involved applicants for access or continued access to classified information.
NBIB has a robust integrity assurance program, which utilizes a variety of methods to ensure the accuracy of reported information. The falsification of investigative case work by Lane was detected through the program. This is one of numerous cases prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia since 2008 involving false representations by background investigators and record checkers working on federal background investigations. Approximately 25 other background investigators and record checkers have been convicted of charges similar to those brought against Lane.
In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Liu and Deputy Assistant Inspector General for Investigations South praised the efforts of those who worked on the case from OPM’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG), as well as the Special Investigations Branch, and Executive Program Director of Integrity Assurance of OPM-NBIB. They also acknowledged the work of Assistant U.S. Attorney David Misler of the Fraud and Public Corruption Section, who investigated and prosecuted this matter, and former OPM OIG Special Agent Samuel Peyton, who previously worked on the investigation of the matter.
Former Assistant Track Coach Sentenced for Possessing Child PornographyRead the Press Release
BOSTON – A former Wellesley High School assistant track coach, who is also a former Harvard University track coach, was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Boston for possession of child pornography.
Walter Johnson, 71, of Framingham, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Leo T. Sorokin to three years in prison and five years of supervised release. In June 2019, Johnson pleaded guilty to one count of possession of child pornography.
In January 2017, an investigation began into child pornography being traded by a Craigslist user. The investigation led to Johnson, a track coach at Wellesley High School and a former Harvard University track coach. During a search of Johnson’s home in Framingham, images and videos of child pornography were found on his computer and on a thumb drive hidden in his bedroom. He was arrested on scene and subsequently indicted by a federal grand jury.
United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling and Jason Molina, Acting Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston, made the announcement today. Assistance was provided by the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task forces from Massachusetts and Rhode Island, and the Framingham Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Anne Paruti, Lelling’s Project Safe Childhood Coordinator and a member of the Major Crimes Unit, prosecuted the case.
The case is brought as part of Project Safe Childhood. In 2006, the Department of Justice created Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the DOJ’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
Florida Attorney Charged with Conspiracy and Multiple Obstruction of Justice OffensesRead the Press Release
Tampa, Florida – The United States Attorney’s Office announces the unsealing of an indictment charging attorney Nelson Israel Alfaro (48, Miami and Colorado) and Gilberto Eduardo De Los Rios (50, Miami) with conspiracy to defraud the United States, obstruct the administration of justice, make false statements to federal law enforcement officers, and six substantive counts of obstruction of justice and making false statements to federal law enforcement officers. If convicted on all counts, Alfaro faces a maximum penalty of 35 years in federal prison and De Los Rios faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison. The indictment also notifies Alfaro and De Los Rios that the United States intends to forfeit any money or other ill-gotten gains that are traceable proceeds of the offenses.
Alfaro is an attorney licensed to practice law in the State of Florida. He represents criminal defendants in state and federal courts, including the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida. Between 2010 and 2011, Alfaro represented De Los Rios, a/k/a “Kiko,” in a criminal case in Miami-Dade County, Florida.
According to the
indictment , Alfaro and De Los Rios concocted a scheme to charge an already-sentenced defendant tens of thousands of dollars for information that they then fraudulently presented as “cooperation” and “substantial assistance” by the defendant in order to trigger a motion to the court for a sentencing reduction. The indictment also charges Alfaro and De Los Rios with obstructing justice by interfering with the sentencing process and with making multiple false statements to federal agents.An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has violated one or more of the federal criminal laws, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Simon A. Gaugush and Josephine W. Thomas.
Federal jury convicts Texas man of possessing AR-15 rifle after traffic stop in Greenwood, LouisianaRead the Press Release
SHREVEPORT, La. – United States Attorney David C. Joseph announced that a federal jury handed down a guilty verdict against a Texas man Tuesday for possessing an AR-15 rifle in his car after having been previously convicted of multiple felonies.
Deandray Charles Grant, 29, of Carrollton, Texas, was convicted after a one-day jury trial presided over by Chief U.S. District Judge S. Maurice Hicks Jr.
Testimony presented during the trial showed that a Greenwood, Louisiana, police officer pulled over Grant’s vehicle on November 23, 2018, for traveling 90 miles per hour in a 70 mile per hour speed zone. After the vehicle stopped, the officer approached Grant and asked for his identification. Grant told the officer that he was a “sovereign citizen” with “sovereign status” and did not have to comply with his request. Eventually, Grant exited the vehicle and was arrested. The officers discovered that he did not have any identification and had a small amount of marijuana in his front pocket. After searching the vehicle they found a DPMS Panther Arms AR-15 rifle and 28 rounds of .556-caliber ammunition.
Grant is a convicted felon who was found guilty on August 8, 2013, of possession with intent to distribute drugs, on April 4, 2014, of simple burglary, and on May 1, 2014, of possession of marijuana, all in Caddo Parish. Under federal law, a convicted felon is not allowed to possess firearms or ammunition.
“Everybody must obey the law, even sovereign citizens,” Joseph stated. “Felons that carry firearms in this district pose a danger to our communities and will be federally prosecuted. I want to thank the officers who handled this situation professionally and the other law enforcement agents that investigated this case. I also want to thank the prosecutors from my office for their hard work obtaining a successful verdict.”
Grant faces 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine. The court set sentencing for January 6, 2020.
The ATF, Greenwood Police Department and Shreveport Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys J. Aaron Crawford and Jessica Cassidy prosecuted the case.
Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. Project Safe Neighborhoods is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, Project Safe Neighborhoods focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.
Fayetteville Woman Sentenced to Federal PrisonRead the Press Release
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – A Fayetteville woman was sentenced to federal prison for heroin, fentanyl, and methamphetamine trafficking, announced United States Attorney Mike Stuart. Jessical Lynn Hall, 29, was sentenced to 71 months in prison for possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine, along with quantities of heroin and fentanyl. Upon completing her prison sentence, Hall will serve an additional term of four years of supervised release.
“Hall and her boyfriend were serious drug dealers in Fayette County,” said United States Attorney Mike Stuart. “Hall is now off to serve a substantial federal prison sentence and her boyfriend will soon learn his fate.”
Hall previously admitted that she sold heroin and fentanyl to an informant on three occasions in January 2019 at her residence on Deepwater Mountain Road. On January 15, 2019, members of the Central West Virginia Drug Task Force executed a search warrant and seized 446 grams of methamphetamine, 89.95 grams of heroin, 90.82 grams of fentanyl and three handguns. Hall’s boyfriend, Jason Treadway, 37, pled guilty in June to distribution of heroin and possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine and quantities of heroin and fentanyl. Treadway faces 5 to 40 years’ prison when he is sentenced on October 3, 2019.
The Central West Virginia Drug Task Force conducted the investigation. United States District Judge Irene C. Berger imposed the sentence.
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Fayette County Man Admits Making Hoax Emergency Phone Calls to Elicit an Armed Police Response: Practice is Known as “Swatting”Read the Press Release
PITTSBURGH, PA - A resident of Dunbar, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty in federal court to a charge of interstate threats, United States Attorney Scott W. Brady announced today.
Nicholas Huffine, age 20, pleaded guilty to one count before Senior United States District Judge Donetta W. Ambrose.
In connection with the guilty plea, the court was advised that Huffine participated in a practice known as "swatting," in which he, along with others, made hoax emergency telephone calls to the Winter Garden, Florida, Police Department, and falsely reported an ongoing, dangerous crime in order to elicit an armed police response (from a SWAT team, hence the term "swatting") to a specific location, in order to harass someone whom he believed was there. The calls resulted in emergency personnel being deployed, as well as physical damage due to forced entry to one of the residences where Huffine directed the law enforcement officers.
"Swatting is terrifying to victims, as well as highly dangerous as law enforcement agents operate under the belief that they are responding to the scene of active and ongoing violent criminal activity," said U.S. Attorney Brady.
Judge Ambrose scheduled sentencing for January 9, 2020. The law provides for a total sentence of five 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 offense and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.
Assistant United States Attorney Jessica Lieber Smolar is prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted the investigation that led to the prosecution of Huffine.
Dominican Fugitive Charged with Identity Theft and Making False Statements in an Immigration DocumentRead the Press Release
BOSTON – A Dominican national was arrested yesterday in Miami on a federal warrant for aggravated identity theft and immigration fraud charges filed in federal court in Boston in May 2019, as well as a federal warrant from 1997 in a drug trafficking case.
Teodoro Tejada Rivas, 63, a Dominican national who resided in Lawrence until recently, was charged in an criminal complaint unsealed today with one count of making false statements in an immigration document and one count of aggravated identity theft. Rivas made an initial appearance on those charges in the Southern District of Florida today, and was detained pending a detention hearing scheduled for Sept. 16, 2019 in Miami.
The Massachusetts complaint alleges that since at least 2006, Tejada Rivas has been using the identity of a U.S. citizen from Puerto Rico. Tejada Rivas used the name, social security number, and date of birth of the Puerto Rican man to apply for a U.S. passport in 2007, and to file an immigration form in 2016 in an attempt to bring his Dominican wife and children into the United States. The fraudulent immigration form was filed three years after the death of the U.S. citizen whose identity Tejada Rivas had stolen.
United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; William B. Gannon, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service, Boston Field Office; and John Gibbon, U.S. Marshal for the District of Massachusetts made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Elianna Nuzum of Lelling’s Major Crimes Unit is prosecuting the case.
District Man Sentenced to 72 Months for Federal Firearms OffenseRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON – Michael Wells, 48, of Southeast, D.C., was sentenced today to 72 months in prison for a federal firearms charge stemming from his possession of a loaded firearm on March 23, 2018, in the 600 block of Raleigh Place, Southeast, announced U.S. Attorney Jessie K. Liu and Peter Newsham, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).
Wells pled guilty in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to one count of unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition by a person convicted of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year and one count of possession of phencyclidine (PCP) on May 23, 2019. The Honorable Richard J. Leon sentenced Wells today and required an additional 36 months of supervised release after Wells’ incarceration.
According to the government’s evidence, on March 23, 2018, at approximately 5:00 p.m., MPD was conducting drug enforcement operations in the 600 block of Raleigh Place, Southeast. Officers observed Wells purchase PCP from another individual. Wells, along with others, were stopped by police. In Wells’ left jacket pocket, law enforcement recovered a wet PCP cigarette, and inside of Wells’ backpack, they located a RG14 six-cylinder loaded revolver as well as 23 .22 caliber bullets.
At the time of his arrest, Wells had previously been convicted of a number of felonies, including the same charge—Unlawful Possession of a Firearm—out of U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in 2000. Wells had also previously been convicted of several narcotics trafficking offenses out of D.C. Superior Court.
In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Liu and Chief Newsham, commended the work of the MPD officers who investigated the case. They also acknowledged the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, including Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregory Rosen.
Detroit Heroin Trafficker Sentenced to Federal PrisonRead the Press Release
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – A Detroit, Michigan, man was sentenced to federal prison for a federal drug trafficking crime, announced United States Attorney Mike Stuart. Eddie Riago-Javone Bryant, 27, was sentenced to 43 months in prison for possession with intent to distribute heroin.
“Bryant was selling drug mixtures containing heroin, fentanyl and PCP,” said United State Attorney Mike Stuart. “Drug dealers from Detroit have caused so much misery and despair throughout West Virginia communities. We’re taking our streets back and putting poison peddlers behind bars.”
According to public court hearings and Bryant’s plea agreement, Bryant sold drugs to a police undercover confidential informant in Charleston and Cross Lanes, West Virginia, on February 8, February 12, and February 14, 2018. Bryant sold drug mixtures containing heroin, fentanyl, and phencyclidine (PCP). On February 15, 2018, investigators arrested Bryant at the Cross Lanes Motel 6 and found that he was carrying around 25 grams of a heroin mixture, $688 in drug proceeds, and a digital scale.
After Bryant’s release from jail, he again sold a mixture of heroin and fentanyl to a confidential informant on April 18, 2018, in Charleston. Investigators arrested Bryant that day and executed a search warrant at the apartment where he was temporarily residing on West Washington Street. They recovered approximately 12 grams of a heroin and fentanyl mixture and found a .22 caliber revolver hidden in a cereal box in the kitchen cabinets.
The Metropolitan Drug Enforcement Network Team (MDENT), Charleston Police Department, West Virginia State Police, and the Drug Enforcement Administration conducted the investigation. Senior United States District Judge John T. Copenhaver, Jr., presided over the hearing. Assistant United States Attorney Drew O. Inman handled the prosecution.
Follow us on Twitter: SDWVNews and USAttyStuart
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Dallas-Based Human Trafficker Charged by Criminal ComplaintRead the Press Release
A Dallas man has been charged with operating a large-scale human trafficking organization, announced U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Erin Nealy Cox.
Tremont Blakemore, 40, was charged by criminal complaint with sex trafficking through force, fraud and coercion and made his initial appearance before Magistrate Judge Rutherford Wednesday afternoon.
According to victim statements detailed in the complaint, Mr. Blakemore -- who goes by the street name “Macknificent” -- may have trafficked hundreds of women across the United States between 2011 and 2018.
Mr. Blakemore allegedly cultivated an “environment of paranoia,” demanding near constant updates from the victims he forced into commercial sex and doling out severe physical punishment from those he believed were “keeping secrets,” according to the criminal complaint.
Victims said they were required to alert Mr. Blakemore of each illicit encounter as it happened or face grotesque abuse.
“I’m going to make an example out of someone soon,” he wrote in a group text message to victims. “I will not continue to tolerate disrespect that’s one of my biggest pet peeves.”
Mr. Blakemore allegedly set a quota of commercial sex proceeds – generally about $1,000 or more per day – and required victims turn all earnings over to him, either in bulk cash or via money transfers. He set the rates for various commercial sex acts, and occasionally lowered victims’ rates to flood out competition.
“We need to be bringing in 100k a week,” he told victims in another text. “Those don’t like working need day jobs.”
To enforce the rules, Mr. Blakemore allegedly slapped, punched, choked, and kicked his victims, and occasionally burned them with cigarettes.
After one victim expressed a desire to leave his organization and have a family, Mr. Blakemore allegedly body-slammed her into an air conditioning unit, leaving her bruised, bloodied, and with severe back injuries. The victim told agents she believed Mr. Blakemore wanted to “make an example” in front of the other victims so they’d be afraid to talk about a life outside his control.
Mr. Blakemore allegedly appointed certain victims “group leaders” tasked with managing the trafficking organization’s business, including posting commercial sex advertisements online and booking women’s cross-country travel to engage in commercial sex as far away as New York and Hawaii.
In order to recruit new victims, Mr. Blakemore flouted his lavish lifestyle on social media, giving the illusion that his victims were also living in luxury.
He even encouraged women to tattoo his street name on their bodies to signal their loyalty to him.
A criminal complaint is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence, and like all defendants, Mr. Blakemore is innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.
If convicted, he faces a sentence of up to life in prison.
Homeland Security Investigations, North Texas Trafficking Task Force, with the assistance of the Oakridge Police Department, along with the Federal Bureau of Investigations and Dallas Police Department conducted the investigation.
This case is being prosecuted by AUSA Melanie Smith, AUSA Nicole Dana, and AUSA Cara Foos Pierce.
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Public Affairs Officer Erin Dooley will be out of the office thru Monday, Sept. 16.
If you need immediate assistance, please contact Suzanne Martin at [email protected] .DEA Proposes to Reduce the Amount of Five Opioids Manufactured in 2020, Marijuana Quota for Research Increases by Almost a ThirdRead the Press Release
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is proposing to reduce the amount of five Schedule II opioid controlled substances that can be manufactured in the United States next year compared with 2019, per the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking being published in the Federal Register tomorrow and available for public inspection here today.
DEA proposes to reduce the amount of fentanyl produced by 31 percent, hydrocodone by 19 percent, hydromorphone by 25 percent, oxycodone by nine percent and oxymorphone by 55 percent. Combined with morphine, the proposed quota would be a 53 percent decrease in the amount of allowable production of these opioids since 2016.
DEA proposes to increase the amount of marijuana that can be produced for research by almost a third over 2019’s level, from 2,450 kilograms to 3,200 kilograms, which is almost triple what it was in 2018. This will meet the need created by the increase in the amount of approved research involving marijuana. Over the last two years, the total number of individuals registered by DEA to conduct research with marijuana, marijuana extracts, derivatives and delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) has increased by more than 40 percent, from 384 in January 2017 to 542 in January 2019.
“The aggregate production quota set by DEA each calendar year ensures that patients have the medicines they need while also reducing excess production of controlled prescription drugs that can be diverted and misused,” said Acting Administrator Uttam Dhillon. “DEA takes seriously its obligations to both protect the public from illicit drug trafficking and ensure adequate supplies to meet the legitimate needs of patients and researchers for these substances.”
The Proposed Aggregate Production Quotas and Assessment of Annual Needs being published in the Federal Register addresses more than 250 Schedule I and II controlled substances and three List I chemicals, which include ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, and phenylpropanolamine. This reflects the total amount of substances needed to meet the country’s legitimate medical, scientific, research, industrial and export needs for the year and for the maintenance of reserve stocks. DEA endeavors to set production limits at a level required to meet these needs, without resulting in an excessive amount of these potentially harmful substances.
In setting the aggregate proposed quota (APQ), DEA considers data from many sources, including estimates of the legitimate medical need from the Food and Drug Administration; estimates of retail consumption based on prescriptions dispensed; manufacturers’ disposition history and forecasts; data from DEA’s internal system for tracking controlled substance transactions; and past quota histories. As a result of new laws and regulations that took effect in 2018, the number of factors that DEA considers in setting the APQ has increased. Information on these factors and how they were assessed appears in the Notice.
The five opioid substances were subject to special scrutiny following the enactment last year of the Substance Use-Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment for Patients and Communities Act, known as the SUPPORT Act, which requires DEA to “estimate the amount of diversion of the covered substance that occurs in the United States” and “make appropriate quota reductions. DEA’s estimates of the amount of diversion that took place for each of these five opioid substances and how those estimates were calculated appear in the Notice.
Interested parties may submit public comments on the proposed APQ until 11:59 p.m. on October 10, following the instructions in the Notice. After taking the comments into account, DEA will publish another notice later in the year informing the public of the established APQ. After that, DEA allocates individual manufacturing and procurement quotas to those manufacturers that apply for them. DEA may revise a company’s quota at any time during the year if change is warranted due to increased sales or exports, new manufacturers entering the market, new product development, or product recalls.
Columbia County Man Pleads Guilty in Connection with Two Overdose DeathsRead the Press Release
ALBANY, NEW YORK – Jacob Ebel, age 32, of Niverville, New York, pled guilty today to drug conspiracy and possession charges, and admitted that he distributed heroin and fentanyl to two people who took these drugs and then died in Columbia County in July 2016. He agreed to be sentenced to 18 years in prison.
The announcement was made by United States Attorney Grant C. Jaquith; New York State Police Superintendent Keith M. Corlett; and Columbia County Sheriff David P. Bartlett.
United States Attorney Grant C. Jaquith stated: “Jacob Ebel was a merchant of death whose heroin and fentanyl killed two people in less than three weeks. Thanks to the quick and thorough work of our law enforcement partners, Ebel is being held responsible for his crimes and the pain and suffering he inflicted on two families. We will continue to pursue those who peddle this poison, while also maintaining our robust education and outreach efforts aimed at turning the tide of opiate addiction.”
State Police Superintendent Keith M. Corlett stated: “I commend our members at Troop K and our law enforcement partners for bringing this perpetrator to justice. Jacob Ebel had absolutely no regard for his victims, instead selling them a dangerous and deadly mix of illegal drugs just to make a profit. We have absolutely no tolerance for those who destroy lives, families and communities for their own personal gain.”
Columbia County Sheriff David Bartlett stated: “There should be zero tolerance for those who peddle poison on our streets. These dealers are killers and we will continue to work with our federal and state law enforcement partners to bring them to justice for their heinous behavior. I thank the U.S. Attorney’s Office, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, New York State Police, Columbia County District Attorney Paul Czajka and members of the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office who all worked collaboratively to deliver justice in this case.”
In pleading guilty, Ebel admitted to selling heroin, fentanyl and other controlled substances, from 2014 through July 26, 2016, in Columbia County.
Ebel admitted to dealing heroin and fentanyl first to a man identified as S.B., who overdosed on July 3, 2016 and died five days later, and then to a woman identified as S.S., who overdosed and died on July 23, 2016.
S.B., age 29, overdosed and was found unconscious in Niverville on July 3, 2016, less than a mile from Ebel’s house. A State Police investigation established that prior to the overdose, S.B. had had extensive text message communications with Ebel, and that Ebel had sold heroin and fentanyl to S.B. at about 2:15 p.m. on July 3, 2016, several hours before S.B. was found unresponsive. Inside S.B.’s vehicle, State Police located a folded, yellow sticky note with heroin and fentanyl, and “4-0” written on the outside – the amount of money that S.B. told the defendant he had in the text message conversations.
Ebel and S.B. were friends. Ebel knew that S.B. had died, but he kept dealing heroin and fentanyl.
On the morning of July 23, 2016, the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) responded to a house in Stuyvesant, New York, and found S.S. dead. Sheriff’s Investigators found three folded sticky notes in a small plastic bag on her bed; the notes contained heroin and fentanyl. The CCSO investigation established that Ebel had sold heroin and fentanyl to S.S.’s husband in the days prior to S.S.’s death, and that S.S., age 19, had taken these drugs and died.
Law enforcement executed a search warrant on Ebel’s house in the early morning hours of July 26, 2016. Investigators seized about 16 grams of heroin and fentanyl that Ebel intended to sell. Ebel was arrested that day and has been in custody ever since.
In his plea agreement, Ebel agreed to be sentenced to 216 months, or 18 years, in prison, to be followed by 3 years of supervised release. United States District Judge Mae A. D’Agostino will decide whether to accept or reject the recommended sentence on or before the January 8, 2019 sentencing date. If Judge D’Agostino does not agree with an 18-year sentence, Ebel would be allowed to withdraw his plea and the case would proceed to trial.
This case was the result of a joint investigation conducted by the New York State Police-Troop K and Columbia County Sheriff’s Office, with assistance from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the office of Columbia County District Attorney Paul Czajka. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Barnett.
Cocaine and Heroin Trafficker Sentenced to 10 Years in Federal PrisonRead the Press Release
Jacksonville, Florida – U.S. District Judge Marcia Morales Howard has sentenced Andrew Harris (58, Jacksonville) to 10 years in federal prison for conspiracy to distribute cocaine and heroin, the weight of cocaine being at least five kilograms.
Harris had pleaded guilty on June 3, 2019.
According to court documents, during 2016, Harris and others had received approximately 24 kilograms of cocaine. Harris was responsible for distributing a total of 10 kilograms in Jacksonville. He also distributed smaller quantities of heroin. On July 26, 2016, Harris was arrested by the Florida Highway Patrol.
This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Frank Talbot.
Citizen of Peru Admits Illegally Reentering U.S.Read the Press Release
John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that CESAR RUBEN YLLESCAS, 45, a citizen of Peru last residing in Hartford, pleaded guilty today in Hartford federal court to illegally reentering the U.S. after being deported.
According to court documents and statements made in court, on August 1, 2014, Yllescas was arrested by Hartford Police for possession of narcotics. On December 21, 2015, he pleaded guilty in state court to the drug offense and to a charge of failing to appear for a related court appearance. Yllescas served approximately six months of imprisonment and was removed to Peru in June 2016.
Yllescas was arrested on May 8, 2019, in Hartford.
Yllescas is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Robert N. Chatigny on December 2, 2019, at which time he faces a maximum term of imprisonment of two years. He has been detained since his arrest.
This matter has been investigated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Margaret E. Maigret.
Chinese National Convicted at Trial of Entering the Restricted Grounds at Mar-a-Lago and Lying to U.S. Secret Service AgentsRead the Press Release
Ariana Fajardo Orshan, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Brian Swain, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Secret Service (USSS), Miami Field Office, and George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office announced that Yujing Zhang, 33, a Chinese national, was convicted by a South Florida federal jury today of unlawful entry of restricted buildings or grounds, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1752(a)(1) (Count 1), and making false statements to the U.S. Secret Service, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1001 (Count 2) (Case No. 19CR80056).
Zhang is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Roy K. Altman, in Fort Lauderdale, on November 22, 2019, at 10 a.m. Zhang faces a maximum statutory sentence of 1 year in prison, up to 1 year of supervised release and up to a $1,000 fine as to Count 1, and a maximum statutory sentence of 5 years in prison, up to 3 years of supervised release and up to a $250,000 fine as to Count 2.
According to the trial record, Zhang fraudulently gained entry onto the restricted grounds at the Mar-a-Lago Club where the U.S. President and other persons protected by the U.S. Secret Service were temporarily visiting. U.S. Secret Service agents detained Zhang at the main reception area due to her suspicious actions. Zhang was then escorted off the property for further questioning. During questioning, Zhang repeatedly misrepresented to U.S. Secret Service agents that she was at the Mar-a-Lago Club to attend a “United Nations Friendship Event.”
U.S. Attorney Fajardo Orshan commended the investigative efforts of the USSS’s Miami Field Office, and the FBI’s Miami Field Office in this matter. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Rolando Garcia and Michael Sherwin.
Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.
Chichester Car Dealer Pleads Guilty to Financial CrimesRead the Press Release
CONCORD - Michael A. Albert, 51, of Chichester, pleaded guilty in federal court on Tuesday to structuring cash deposits from his business, Mike’s Affordable Auto, LLC, for the purpose of evading bank reporting requirements, money laundering, and evading reporting requirements with respect to cash transactions in excess of $10,000, United States Attorney Scott W. Murray announced.
According to court documents and statements made in court, Albert, who ran a used car business at locations in Concord and Chichester, knew that if he deposited cash in amounts more than $10,000, the bank was required to file reports of those transactions with the IRS. Albert structured cash deposits from his business in order to evade the reporting requirements imposed on the bank. Additionally, Albert accepted cash in amounts greater than $10,000 for the purchase of vehicles from a person who represented that the cash was proceeds of illegal drug trafficking. Finally, Albert failed to file required forms with the IRS identifying cash receipts in his business in excess of $10,000.
Albert is scheduled to be sentenced on December 17, 2019. As part of his plea agreement, he has agreed to the civil forfeiture of over $400,000.
“Federal financial laws help to ensure that businesses do not engage in money laundering or facilitate other financial crimes,” said U.S. Attorney Murray. “When those who operate businesses fail to comply with their legal obligations, they face potential criminal prosecution.”
“Federal laws that regulate the reporting of currency transactions, to include vehicles purchased for cash, are in place to detect and stop illegal activities,” said Kristina O’Connell, Special Agent in Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation’s Boston Field Office. "Individuals who engage in this type of financial fraud should know they will not go undetected. We will continue to work closely with the U.S. Attorney’s Office and our law enforcement partners to hold them accountable."
This matter was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Internal Revenue Service, with assistance from Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations and the Manchester Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Arnold Huftalen. The civil forfeiture matter is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Rabuck.
This case was supported by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF). The OCDETF program is a federal multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional task force that supplies supplemental federal funding to federal and state agencies involved in the identification, investigation, and prosecution of major drug trafficking organizations.
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Charleston Man Pleads Guilty to Drug CrimeRead the Press Release
Charleston, W.Va. – A Charleston man pled guilty to a drug crime, announced United States Attorney Mike Stuart. Rahem Lipford, 36, pled guilty to possession with intent to distribute heroin.
“Heroin and firearms,” said United States Attorney Mike Stuart. “As long as law enforcement keeps finding drug dealers like Lipford, we’ll keep prosecuting them.”
Lipford admitted that on July 13, 2017, members of the Metropolitan Drug Enforcement Network Team (MDENT), executed a search warrant at his residence and located 24.94 grams of heroin. Lipford admitted to possessing the heroin with the intention of distributing it. Detectives also seized a firearm, which was present inside the residence.
Lipford faces up to 30 years in prison when sentenced on December 10, 2019.
MDENT, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and the Drug Enforcement Administration conducted the investigation. Senior United States District Judge John T. Copenhaver, Jr. presided over the hearing. Assistant United States Attorney Ryan A. Saunders is handling the prosecution.
This case is being prosecuted as part of the Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) program, the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.
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Buffalo Man Pleads Guilty to Ramming FBI Property with His Car Causing Tens of Thousands of Dollars in DamageRead the Press Release
CONTACT: Barbara Burns
PHONE: (716) 843-5817
FAX #: (716) 551-3051BUFFALO, N.Y. — U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that Robert Lowe, 37, of Buffalo, NY, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara to depredation of government property. The charge carries a maximum of one year in prison and a $100,000 fine.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul E. Bonanno, who is handling the case, stated that on March 30, 2017, at approximately 10:45 p.m., the defendant willfully crashed his motor vehicle into two exterior gates at the Federal Bureau of Investigation office located at One FBI Plaza in Buffalo.
As a result of the crash, $889.50 had to be spent on emergency gate repairs and emergency temporary barriers. Subsequently, an additional $88,040.58 had to be spent to purchase new gates, new gate controllers, and a new guard booth. An additional $20,866.72 was spent on overtime for guards necessitated by the repair work. The total amount spent because of the crash was $109,796.80.
The plea is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Gary Loeffert, and the Buffalo Police Department, under the direction of Commissioner Byron Lockwood.
Sentencing is scheduled for December 19, 2019, before Judge Arcara.
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Brothers Sentenced for Violating the Federal Controlled Substances ActRead the Press Release
NEW ORLEANS – United States District Judge Jane Triche Milazzo sentenced DUSTIN DINET, age 32, of New Orleans, and STEVEN DINET, age 44, of Jonesboro, Arkansas, who are brothers, for conspiring to distribute and to possess with the intent to distribute 28 grams or more of crack cocaine and 100 grams or more of heroin.
The DINETs had previously pleaded guilty to conspiring together to deal crack cocaine and heroin. The DINETs acknowledged making three sales of an ounce of crack each to an undercover source. They also admitted that approximately ¼ kilogram of heroin and $78,000 discovered during the execution of a search warrant at a residence in Marrero belonged to them. DUSTIN DINET, who qualified as a Career Criminal because of prior drug trafficking convictions, was sentenced to 188 months in prison and 4 years of supervised release. STEVEN DINET was ordered to serve 37 months in prison and 3 years of supervised release.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program that has been historically successful in bringing together all levels of law enforcement to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safe for everyone. Former Attorney General Jeff Sessions made turning the tide of rising violent crime in America a top priority. In October 2017, as part of a series of actions to address this crime trend, Attorney General Sessions announced the reinvigoration of PSN and directed all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to develop a district crime reduction strategy that incorporates the lessons learned since PSN launched in 2001.
U.S. Attorney Strasser praised the work of the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office in investigating this matter. Assistant U.S. Attorney David Haller is in charge of the prosecution.
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Beacon Falls Man Involved in Marijuana Trafficking Ring Sentenced to 55 Months in Federal PrisonRead the Press Release
John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that TERRELL GIVENS, 34, of Beacon Falls, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton in New Haven to 55 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for his involvement in a large-scale marijuana trafficking conspiracy.
According to court documents and statements made in court, in 2016, the Federal Aviation Administration began investigating a Piper single-engine aircraft, owned by Donald Burns of Milford, that was making regular flights between Stratford, Connecticut, and northern California via the southwest United States. On June 28, 2017, Burns flew the aircraft from northern California to Lubbock, Texas. The next day, Burns flew the aircraft from Texas to Arkansas, and then to West Virginia and Connecticut, where he landed in the evening at Sikorsky Airport in Stratford. After it landed, a law enforcement search of the plane revealed approximately 400 pounds of marijuana in vacuum-sealed packages, and Burns was arrested. Investigators determined that the marijuana was intended for Robert Capelli, Scott Bodnar, Terrell Givens and others to distribute in Connecticut.
The investigation revealed that, for more than two years, Capelli and his associates earned millions of dollars by trafficking nearly two tons of marijuana from California to Connecticut. Members of the conspiracy also laundered more than $6 million to purchase marijuana in California, maintain properties for distribution in Connecticut, pay Burns to transport the marijuana, and for other expenses related to the conspiracy.
Givens was arrested on June 12, 2018. On May 3, 2019, he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute, and to possess with intent to distribute, 1,000 kilograms or more of marijuana, and one count of conspiracy to launder monetary instruments.
Judge Arterton also ordered Givens to forfeit his 2009 Jaguar XF and jewelry valued at approximately $8,000, which were seized during the investigation.
Givens, who is released on a $300,000 bond, is required to report to prison on October 23, 2019.
On May 2, 2019, Bodnar, of Ansonia, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute, and to possess with intent to distribute, 1,000 kilograms or more of marijuana, and one count of conspiracy to launder monetary instruments. On September 4, 2019, he was sentenced to 55 months of imprisonment and ordered to forfeit his 2012 Toyota Camry.
On July 26, 2019, a jury found Capelli, of Milford, guilty of one count of conspiracy to distribute, and to possess with intent to distribute, 100 kilograms or more of marijuana, and one count of possession with intent to distribute 100 kilograms or more of marijuana. He was found not guilty of one count of conspiracy to launder monetary instruments, and one count of money laundering. Capelli has forfeited approximately $90,000 to date, and additional forfeiture proceedings are pending.
On May 6, 2019, Burns, of Milford, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute, and to possess with intent to distribute, 1,000 kilograms or more of marijuana. He also has agreed to forfeit the Piper aircraft.
Capelli and Burns await sentencing.
This matter has been investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration’s New Haven Task Force, the Federal Aviation Administration’s Law Enforcement Assistance Program (LEAP), the Customs and Border Protection’s Air and Marine Operations Center, the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Division, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Stratford, Derby and West Haven Police Departments, and the Second Judicial Drug Task Force in Jonesboro, Arkansas.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Rahul Kale and Marc Silverman.
Armed Robber Sentenced to 6 YearsRead the Press Release
MADISON, WIS. – Scott C. Blader, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that Christian Killian, 33, Madison, Wisconsin, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge James D. Peterson to six years in federal prison, for robbing a Pizza Hut restaurant while armed. Killian pleaded guilty to these charges on May 6, 2019. His prison term will be followed by a three-year period of supervised release.
On January 29, 2019, at approximately 11:50 a.m., Killian robbed a Pizza Hut restaurant on South Park Street, Madison. Killian demanded money from the clerk and when the clerk asked if he was joking, Killian opened his coat and held a revolver close to his chest. The clerk complied with the demand and gave Killian the money from the register.
Killian fled from the store and citizen witnesses reported that he ran into the Arboretum. Madison Police officers responded to the Arboretum and saw Killian in possession of a firearm, but Killian kept running and ignored commands to stop. Officers spent over two hours looking for Killian in frigid temperatures and below-zero wind chills. When they arrested Killian, officers recovered on his person a loaded speed loader (used to quickly load a revolver) and the stolen money.
At the time of the offense, Killian was out on bond in two felony drunk driving cases (5th or 6th), in Dane County.
This case has been brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), the U.S. Justice Department’s program to reduce violent crime. The PSN approach involves collaboration by federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, prosecutors and communities to prevent and deter gun violence.
The charges against Killian were the result of an investigation conducted by the Madison Police Department. The prosecution of the case has been handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Rita M. Rumbelow.
Armed Drug Trafficker Receives 10 Years in Federal PrisonRead the Press Release
WILMINGTON — United States Attorney Robert J. Higdon, Jr. announced that United States Judge District James C. Dever III sentenced GERICK TURNER, 41, of New Hanover County to 120 months’ imprisonment, followed by 5 years of supervised release.
On April 15, 2019, TURNER pled guilty to possession with the intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine, 28 grams or more of crack cocaine and a quantity of heroin, a separate count of possession with intent to distribute a quantity of heroin and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
On September 4, 2018, narcotics officers with the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office received information that TURNER was transporting narcotics from Charlotte to Wilmington, North Carolina. Detectives performed a traffic stop on his rental car in Wilmington. After a trained K-9 detected the odor of narcotics emitting from the car, TURNER acknowledged to the officer that they were going to find drugs. A search of the vechible resulted in the discovery of more than more than 900 grams of cocaine, 50 grams of crack cocaine and 965 bags of heroin.
On September 5, 2018, New Hanover County Detectives searched TURNER’S residence in Wilmington and found an additional 30 grams of heroin, a loaded .44 caliber handgun and packaging material and a cutting agent used in the distribution of heroin and crack cocaine.
This prosecution is part of an extensive investigation by the United States Attorney’s Office’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF). OCDETF is a joint federal, state, and local cooperative approach to combat drug trafficking and is the nation’s primary tool for disrupting and dismantling major drug trafficking organizations, targeting national and regional level drug trafficking organizations, and coordinating the necessary law enforcement entities and resources to disrupt or dismantle the targeted criminal organization and seize their assets.
This case 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.
The investigation of this case was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Coastal Carolina Continuing Criminal Enterprise Task Force which includes task force officers from the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office, Wilmington Police Department, the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, and the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office Vice and Narcotics Division. Assistant United States Attorney Timothy Severo prosecuted the case on behalf of the government.