Latest Records
Newest first across public DOJ and U.S. Attorney press releases.
30 August 2019
Man from Columbus, N.m. Sentenced to 16 Years in Federal Prison for Hostage Taking, Transportation of Illegal Aliens, and Other OffensesRead the Press Release
ALBUQUERQUE- Josias Garcia, 25, of Columbus, N.M., was sentenced in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., on Tuesday to 16 years in federal prison for hostage taking, transportation of illegal aliens, smuggling, drug possession, firearms, and witness intimidation offenses.
Garcia previously pleaded guilty on February 26, 2019, to the following offenses: three counts of hostage taking; one count of conspiracy to take a hostage, three counts of conspiracy to transport illegal aliens; one count of brandishing a firearm during or in relation to a drug trafficking crime; four counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm; two counts of possession of marijuana with intent to distribute; one count of conspiracy to distribute marijuana; one count of conspiracy to smuggle goods from the United States; one count of transportation of goods intended to be smuggled; one count of attempt to smuggle goods from the United States; and four counts of tampering with a witness by intimidation or threat.
In Garcia’s plea agreement, Garcia admitted picking up illegal aliens at the United States-Mexico border on November 6, 2017, and transporting them to a mobile home in Columbus, N.M., where he, and another person, held them as hostages for four days. Garcia also admitted that he intimidated these hostages with threats of violence, including brandishing a firearm he was forbidden to possess because of a previous felony conviction, and demanding the families of the hostages sent money for their release. Garcia also admitted possessing marijuana at the mobile home with intent to distribute. He also admitted traveling to El Paso, Tex., to buy firearms he intended to smuggle to Mexico. However, he did not because he encountered officers with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) as he attempted to leave the country. Garcia also admitted trying to intimidate witnesses against him after his arrest by using threats and violence.
Special agents with Homeland Security Investigations investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Luis A. Martinez, Dustin C. Segovia, and Richard C. Williams are prosecuting the case.
Lorain man indicted for accessing his employer’s computer system after learning he would be fired and shutting down the web site, blocking access to emailRead the Press Release
A Lorain man was indicted in federal court for accessing his employer’s computer system after learning he would be fired and shutting down the web site, blocking access to email and taking other unauthorized actions.
Austyn Keaton, 28, was charged with one count of damaging protected computers.
According to the indictment:
Keaton was the sole information technology employee for a company located in Avon Lake. Keaton gained access to emails of the company’s finance director and other employees. He learned the company planned to hire an outside vendor to take over IT operations from Keaton.
Keaton was scheduled to meet with the vendor on February 25, 2019, in which the vendor was to ask Keaton to transfer access to the company’s IT systems.
On the same day, Keaton accessed the finance director’s email, in which he learned the company planned to offer Keaton a severance package and terminate his employment.
Keaton then took steps to lock the company’s employees out of their email, take its web site offline, block the company’s employees from accessing the company’s customer relationship management system, and other unauthorized actions.
If convicted, the defendant’s sentence will be determined by the Court after review of factors unique to this case, including the defendant’s prior criminal record, if any, the defendant’s role in the offense and the characteristics of the violation. In all cases, the sentence will not exceed the statutory maximum and in most cases it will be less than the maximum.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Elyria Police Department and Avon Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Riedl and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Kern.
An indictment is only an allegation and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Lawrence Man Is Latest to Plead Guilty to Participating in Fentanyl Trafficking ConspiracyRead the Press Release
Concord – United States Attorney Scott W. Murray announced that Eduard Amparo, 47, of Lawrence, Massachusetts, pled guilty to participating in a fentanyl trafficking conspiracy. Amparo is the latest defendant to plead guilty to participating in this substantial drug trafficking case.
In April of 2018, U.S. Attorney Murray announced that 34 individuals were charged with participating in a conspiracy to distribute over 400 grams of fentanyl. According to court documents and statements made in court, a drug trafficking organization that authorities allege was led by Sergio Martinez employed numerous individuals to sell fentanyl to customers from various New England states, including New Hampshire. Some defendants who worked for the Martinez organization distributed multiple 200-gram bags of fentanyl and returned thousands of dollars in proceeds to the organization daily.
The following individuals have pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing. They include:
- Miguel Alvarez, 38, of Haverhill, MA, pled guilty on January 31, 2019. His sentencing is scheduled for October 15, 2019;
- Eduard Amparo, 47, of Lawrence, MA, pled guilty on August 29, 2019. His sentencing is scheduled for December 16 2019;
- Edward Brailey Delacruz, 25, of Methuen, MA, pled guilty on June 24, 2019. His sentencing is scheduled for December 16, 2019;
- Edward Brito, 32, of Lawrence, MA, pled guilty on July 10, 2019. His sentencing is scheduled for November 4, 2019;
- Luz DeJesus, 34, of Lawrence, MA, pled guilty on January 31, 2019. Her sentencing is scheduled for November 15, 2019;
- Juan Dimel Gil Castillo, 25, of Lawrence, MA, pled guilty on February 6, 2019. His sentencing is scheduled for September 19, 2019;
- Ramon Gil Huma, 26, of Lawrence, MA, pled guilty on March 11, 2019. His sentencing is scheduled for November 12, 2019;
- Henry Marte, 22, of Lawrence, MA, pled guilty on January 25, 2019. His sentencing is scheduled for November 4, 2019;
- Raulin Martinez, 37, of Lawrence, MA, pled guilty on December 7, 2018. His sentencing is scheduled for October 9, 2019;
- Jared Ortega-Peguero, 26, of Lawrence, MA, pled guilty on December 6, 2018. His sentencing is scheduled for October 18, 2019;
- Suhey Perez, 40, of Lawrence, MA, pled guilty on May 2, 2019. Her sentencing is scheduled for November 18, 2019;
- Luz Perez DeMartinez, 27, of Lawrence, MA, pled guilty on February 12, 2019. Her sentencing is scheduled for November 19, 2019;
- Wagner Pimentel, 29, of Lawrence, MA, pled guilty on March 15, 2019. His sentencing is scheduled for October 17, 2019;
- Luis Angel Polanco Huma, 23, of Lawrence, MA, pled guilty on August 14, 2019. His sentencing is scheduled for November 27, 2019.
- Jorge Rodriguez, 22, of Methuen, MA, pled guilty on February 28, 2019. His sentencing is scheduled for November 15, 2019;
- Luis Antonio Salomon Polanco, 21, of Lawrence, MA, pled guilty on March 11, 2019. His sentencing is scheduled for November 18, 2019;
- Juan Rafael Tejada-Jiminez, 39, of Lawrence, MA, pled guilty on November 29, 2018. His sentencing is scheduled for October 15, 2019.
In addition to the defendants listed above, nine other defendants have pleaded guilty and already have been sentenced. An additional defendant, Fernand Miranda, 24, of Haverhill, MA, is expected to plead guilty. Four defendants remain fugitives.
Three other defendants, Sergio Martinez, 29, of Lawrence, MA, Steven Lessard, 32, of Lowell, MA, and Julio Colon, 25, of Lawrence, MA, are scheduled to go to trial on October 1, 2019. These defendants are presumed innocent unless and until they are proven guilty.
“Interstate fentanyl trafficking poses a serious threat to the health and safety of the citizens of New Hampshire,” said U.S. Attorney Murray. “We will continue to coordinate with our law enforcement partners to dismantle the drug trafficking organizations that are responsible for bringing this deadly drug into the Granite State.”
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 is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Georgiana L. Konesky and Seth R. Aframe.
###
L.A. County Man Arrested on Federal Complaint Charging Him with Transporting Teenager Across State Lines to Engage in ProstitutionRead the Press Release
SANTA ANA, California – A Los Angeles County man has been arrested on a federal criminal complaint charging him with transporting a teenage girl in interstate commerce so she could work as a prostitute in Southern California, Nevada and Arizona.
Christian Alexander Augustus, 23, a.k.a. “Sir Ceeco,” was arrested in Stockton on Tuesday. He made his initial appearance in United States District Court in Sacramento on August 28, and was ordered detained pending trial. He remains in federal custody in Sacramento and will be transferred to this district at a later date to face the charges against him.
According to an affidavit filed Monday with the criminal complaint in this case, the victim was a 16-year-old runaway from Orange County who met Augustus in Los Angeles in December 2018 and he had been her trafficker until she fled from him in July 2019. Prior to the victim fleeing, Augustus allegedly took her to Los Angeles, Santa Ana, Las Vegas and Phoenix, where she worked for him as a prostitute and would give him all the money she made. Augustus forced the victim to work on the streets and advertised her services on the internet, the affidavit states
The victim said Augustus would beat her for not bringing him enough money and later for attempting to flee, according to the affidavit. The victim said when she tried to flee Augustus in Phoenix on July 1, he beat her so severely that she suffered two black eyes, a bruised rib, and swelling to face, the affidavit states. The victim fled Augustus on July 8 and said he later contacted her and threatened to kill her and her family, according to the affidavit.
If convicted of the charge, Augustus would face a statutory maximum sentence of life in federal prison and a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison.
A complaint contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
This matter was investigated by the Orange County Human Trafficking Task Force (OCHTTF), which is comprised of local law enforcement agencies, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California. The Stockton Police Department and the Stockton HSI office provided substantial assistance to this case via their arrest of Augustus on Monday.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jake D. Nare of the Santa Ana Branch Office.
The Orange County Human Trafficking Task Force core mission is to use a victim-centered and trauma-informed approach toward the goal of combating human trafficking in Orange County, making the recovery of juvenile victims its top priority.
KC Man Indicted for Illegal Firearms, MethRead the Press Release
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A Kansas City, Mo., man has been indicted by a federal grand jury for illegally possessing almost two kilograms of methamphetamine and four firearms.
Jonathan D. Beaton, 41, was charged in a three-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Kansas City, Mo., on Thursday, Aug. 29. The indictment replaces a federal criminal complaint filed against Beaton on Aug. 8, 2019.
Today’s indictment charges Beaton with one count of being a felon in possession of firearms, one count of possessing methamphetamine with the intent to distribute, and one count of possessing firearms in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime.
According to an affidavit filed in support of the original criminal complaint, Beaton was stopped by law enforcement officers this summer.
On Aug. 7, 2019, detectives with the Jackson County Drug Task Force and the Independence Police Department conducted surveillance of Beaton as he visited the residence of a known methamphetamine trafficker. Detectives followed Beaton (who had an active warrant for his arrest) from the residence and stopped his vehicle. When Beaton got out of the vehicle, an officer saw several large plastic bags on the driver’s seat that contained methamphetamine, and placed Beaton under arrest.
An officer searched Beaton and found 11 grams of methamphetamine in his pocket. An officer searched Beaton’s vehicle and found four gallon-sized clear plastic bags, which contained a total of nearly 1.8 kilograms of methamphetamine, and $1,228. The officer also found four firearms in the vehicle – two Kimber .45-caliber pistols, a Sig Sauer 9mm pistol, and a loaded Smith & Wesson .40-caliber pistol.
Under federal law, it is illegal for anyone who has been convicted of a felony to be in possession of any firearm or ammunition. Beaton has three prior felony convictions for possession of a controlled substance, and prior felony convictions for being a felon in possession of a firearm, tampering, burglary, and escape.
The charges contained in this indictment are simply accusations, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charges must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily A. Morgan. It was investigated by the Blue Springs, Mo., Police Department, the Independence, Mo., Police Department, and the Jackson County Drug Task Force.
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.Jury Convicts Shamo of Leading Drug Trafficking NetworkRead the Press Release
SALT LAKE CITY – A federal jury in Salt Lake City returned guilty verdicts Friday afternoon finding Aaron Michael Shamo guilty of organizing and directing a drug trafficking organization that imported fentanyl and alprazolam from China and used the drugs to manufacture fake oxycodone pills made with fentanyl and counterfeit Xanax tablets.
Shamo was found guilty on 12 of the 13 counts in the indictment. The jury did not make a decision on the aiding and abetting the distribution of fentanyl resulting in death count.
“Aaron Shamo knew the nation was on fire with opioids and he poured fuel on the flames, over and over and over, never getting burned himself, but causing pain and misery wherever his fire spread. Aaron Shamo could be considered the face of the opioid epidemic. He was a profiteer, callously making millions of dollars and living a life of leisure while exploiting those suffering through opioid addiction,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Vernon Stejskal said in his closing argument Thursday afternoon. The jury began deliberations Thursday afternoon.
U.S. Attorney for Utah John W. Huber, Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes, Special Agent in Charge Steven Cagen of Homeland Security Investigations in Denver, DEA District Agent in Charge Brian Besser, Special Agent in Charge Charles L. Grinstead of the FDA’s Office of Criminal Investigations Kansas City Field Office, Special Agent in Charge Tara Sullivan of the IRS Criminal Investigation Las Vegas Field Office, and Acting Inspector in Charge Jessica Wagner of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s Phoenix Division, announced the jury verdict today.
“The opioid crisis has devastated individuals, families, and entire communities across the nation. Aaron Shamo controlled and led a highly profitable organization that delivered fentanyl-laced counterfeit pills to every state in the union. Though his customers remained faceless on the dark web, their despair was real. Shamo profited off that despair and a jury of his peers has held him accountable,” U.S. Attorney John W. Huber said today.
“We may never know the full extent of the lives lost or the families harmed by Aaron Shamo’s deadly enterprise as a global drug dealer. Shamo’s conviction today is a significant victory in the ongoing war on illegal opioids in our state and nation. Utahns owe a debt of gratitude to all involved in taking down this predator,” Utah Attorney General Sean D. Reyes said today.
Shamo and his co-conspirators purchased pill presses to manufacture pills so they would appear to be legitimate pharmaceutical drugs. Shamo then distributed the controlled substances to other individuals for distribution in all 50 states using their storefront, PHARMA-MASTER, on the Dark Net marketplace AlphaBay and the U.S. mail. Federal law enforcement agents and prosecutors say an undercover purchase of 100 oxycodone is a substantial step in an investigation. Shamo sold half a million pills – or more.
"The rapid emergence of extremely potent and highly addictive synthetic opioids has drastically changed the landscape for both drug addiction and drug enforcement. Fentanyl and its many analogues are lethal in just milligrams. Any criminal exploitation of this powerful drug poses a significant public safety threat to our community, to those struggling with opioid addiction, and to the many first responders who diligently strive to keep us safe. The DEA is committed to aggressively identify and investigate any person or organization trafficking in or clandestinely manufacturing synthetic opioids for profit.
“The comprehensive investigation into the Aaron Shamo counterfeit pill manufacturing network shows how dangerous these enterprises are. The subsequent conviction of Mr. Shamo proves that those who operate with blatant disregard for public safety will bear the full weight of the law and be held accountable for their crimes," Brian S. Besser, DEA District Agent in Charge, said today.
“A major narcotics and money laundering operation was dismantled due to the technological expertise of our agents and law enforcement partners,” said Steven Cagen, Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Homeland Security Investigations in Denver. “Criminals who ruthlessly seek profits and personal gain at the expense of victims in our communities can’t hide in the dark web. We remain steadfast in our resolve to bring to justice those that push dangerous drugs into our neighborhoods and contribute to the epidemic of opioid addiction in our country.”
“The illegal manufacture and distribution of opioids can result in overdoses and deaths, further fueling the national crisis,” said Special Agent in Charge Charles L. Grinstead, FDA Office of Criminal Investigations Kansas City Field Office. “The FDA is committed to doing our part to disrupt and dismantle illegal prescription drug manufacturing and distribution networks, including those that import raw materials from overseas to create counterfeit drugs, and misuse the internet to distribute those drugs with reckless disregard of the risk to public health and safety.”
“Trafficking opioids through the dark web enabled Mr. Shamo and his organization to profit and launder millions through this illicit activity,” said Special Agent in Charge Tara Sullivan, IRS Criminal Investigation. “Today’s verdict is just, and shows IRS Criminal Investigation’s continued effort in prosecuting those who bring harm to our community.”
“Postal Inspectors are committed to keeping the U.S. Mail safe for all. As criminals change their methods, we continue to adapt, capture, and hold the perpetrators accountable. Along with our excellent law enforcement partners, we will continue to show criminals the dark web is never truly anonymous,” stated Acting Inspector in Charge Jessica Wagner of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Phoenix Division.
Evidence presented at trial showed that Shamo established himself as the CEO of a nationwide drug distribution network. In closing arguments, prosecutors said Shamo became the person he set out to be – the Pharma Master. Evidence at trial showed Shamo did the things leader and organizers do, prosecutors said. He was in control of the majority of the functions of the enterprise. He established the dark web storefront, hired employees, took charge of marketing and product placement. He was a drug dealer to other drug dealers. He had the contacts in China and ordered the fentanyl. Most significantly, investigators were led to Shamo as they followed the proceeds of the drug trafficking organization. He had sole access to incoming bitcoin payments from customers. Shamo referred to the organization as his baby and his empire, prosecutors said in closing arguments today.
Evidence showed Shamo developed the fentanyl product through a dangerous “trial and error” process as he distributed it to individuals across the country. Experts say 1 milligram of fentanyl in a pill can have dangerous consequences up to and including death.
Evidence showed Shamo received messages from customers that they were getting sick. His response, prosecutors said, was to send more pills to the complaining customers. There was no shortage of fake pain pills. Co-defendants in the case, who were responsible for packaging and shipping, used a vacuum to clean up pills from the floor because they believed it was not worth their time to pick them up because of the volume of pills they were manufacturing.
The jury convicted Shamo, 29, of Cottonwood Heights, Utah, of engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise, three counts of aiding and abetting the importation of a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute, manufacture of a controlled substance, and two counts of knowing and intentional adulteration of drugs while held for sale. The jury also found Shamo guilty of aiding and abetting the use of the U.S. Mail in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense, conspiracy to commit money laundering, money laundering promotion and concealment, and engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from specified unlawful activity.
Sentencing in the case will be Dec. 3, 2019, at 2:30 p.m. in U.S. District Judge Dale A. Kimball’s courtroom. Shamo faces a potential mandatory-minimum life sentence. He remains in the custody of U.S. Marshals.
Sentencings are pending for co-conspirators in the case, who reached plea agreements with federal prosecutors.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Vernon Stejskal of the U.S. Attorney’s Office and Special Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael Gadd and Kent A. Burggraaf prosecuted the case. Gadd and Burggraaf are Assistant Attorneys General in the Utah Attorney General’s Office. Special agents of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Investigations, DEA, IRS-Criminal Investigation, the Food and Drug Administration Office of Criminal Investigations, and Postal Inspectors with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service investigated the case.
Jacksonville Tax Return Preparer Pleads Guilty to More Than $1 Million in Tax FraudRead the Press Release
Jacksonville, Florida – Nicole Johnson (37, Jacksonville) has pleaded guilty to aiding and assisting in the filing of a false tax return. She faces a maximum penalty of three years in federal prison.
According to the plea agreement, Johnson was the owner and operator of Financial Asset Tax Service, which offered tax return preparation services. For the tax years 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017, Johnson prepared returns for individuals in which she falsified the amounts of deductions and tax credits owed to the taxpayers. As a result, those taxpayers received undeserved tax refunds. Johnson fraudulently claimed the General Business Credit and False Tax Credit for taxpayers who were not entitled to them, and inflated itemized deductions. As a result of the false returns prepared by Johnson, the IRS issued more than $1.3 million in undeserved refunds. Johnson has agreed to repay the IRS that amount in restitution.
This case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney David B. Mesrobian.
Individual Who Planned Attack in Queens Charged with Attempting to Provide Material Support to ISISRead the Press Release
A criminal complaint filed today in federal court in Brooklyn charged Awais Chudhary, 19, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Pakistan, with attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), a designated foreign terrorist organization. Chudhary was arrested yesterday, and made his initial appearance this afternoon before United States Magistrate Judge James Orenstein. Chudhary was ordered held without bail.
“The defendant allegedly planned to conduct a deadly attack in New York on behalf of ISIS,” stated Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers. “The National Security Division, working with our partners, will remain vigilant in our efforts to identify, disrupt, and hold accountable those who would conduct a terrorist attack on our soil. I want to thank the agents, analysts, and prosecutors who are responsible for this case and prevented this defendant from carrying out his deadly plans.”
“As alleged, Awais Chudhary planned to kill innocent civilians on behalf of ISIS and record the bloodshed in the hope of inspiring others to commit attacks,” stated United States Attorney Donoghue. “This Office, together with the FBI, the NYPD and all members of the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force will continue working tirelessly to identify ISIS sympathizers like the defendant and prevent them from carrying out their murderous intentions.”
“There’s no doubt Chudhary allegedly wanted to make headlines by attacking innocent people going about their daily lives. Thanks to the diligent work of the agents, analysts, and detectives on the FBI New York JTTF, the only thing to report today is his arrest, and the only photos Chudhary will be featured in are the ones taken in our prisoner processing room prior to his arrival in federal prison,” stated FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Sweeney.
“Awais Chudhary had accepted the call from ISIS to kill fellow New Yorkers in the city he called home,” stated NYPD Commissioner O’Neill. “He had carefully planned, conducted reconnaissance, picked a target, and was in the process of obtaining the weapon. All he has left to do was to strike. The FBI agents and NYPD detectives of the JTTF should be commended for the disruption of this plot. Their work almost certainly saved lives.”
As alleged in the complaint, in August 2019, Chudhary communicated to undercover law enforcement officers through text messaging that he planned to conduct a stabbing or bombing attack on behalf of ISIS. Chudhary also wanted to record his attack to inspire others to commit similar acts of violence. Chudhary identified the pedestrian bridges over the Grand Central Parkway to the Flushing Bay Promenade (the Promenade) and the World’s Fair Marina (the Marina) as locations for the attack. On Aug. 23, 2019, Chudhary told an undercover agent that he intended to use a knife “because that’s what he knows,” but if the undercover agent could instruct him on how to build a bomb, he would consider using an explosive device at a “mini-bridge over a busy road with many cars.” On the same day, Chudhary texted another undercover agent a screenshot of a document entitled, “Islamic State” with the subheadings: “Places to Strike,” “The Ideal Knife” and “Knives to Avoid.” The instructions included a diagram of the human body with directions where to stab a victim. Chudhary also sent the undercover agent videos of pedestrian bridges over the Grand Central Parkway and stated that he was considering throwing explosives over the fencing at vehicles passing below.
Chudhary conducted several reconnaissance trips to the targeted locations. On Aug. 24, 2019, FBI agents surveilled Chudhary enter the Promenade in the vicinity of 27th Avenue and Ditmars Boulevard and take videos and photos with his cellphone of various locations, as well as the Marina, a nearby gas station, a donut shop and a security camera near the donut shop.
Between Aug. 25 and Aug. 26, 2019, Chudhary ordered online a tactical knife, a mask, gloves, and a cellphone chest and head strap to facilitate his recording of the attack. Chudhary was arrested yesterday as he attempted to retrieve the items from an online vendor’s retail location in Queens.
The charge in the complaint is an allegation, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. If convicted, Chudhary faces a maximum sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment.
The government’s case is being handled by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York’s National Security and Cybercrime Section. Assistant United States Attorney Jonathan Algor and Special Assistant United States Attorney Elizabeth A. Hanft are in charge of the prosecution, with assistance from Trial Attorney Kevin C. Nunnally of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section.
Illegal Alien Sentenced to Two Years in Federal Prison for Illegally Re-Entering the United StatesRead the Press Release
Ocala, Florida – Senior United States District Judge James D. Whittemore, Jr. has sentenced Raul Alfaro-Muniz (44, Ocala) to 24 months in federal prison for illegally re-entering the United States after previously being deported. Alfaro-Muniz had pleaded guilty on April 9, 2019.
According to the facts described in court, on February 4, 2019, Alfaro-Muniz was arrested for battery in Marion County. Agents soon discovered that Alfaro-Muniz had previously been deported from the United States four times. He is a citizen of Mexico and is illegally in the United States. After Alfaro-Muniz serves his prison sentence, he will be deported from the United States.
This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney William S. Hamilton.
Illegal Alien Sentenced to Seven Years in Federal Prison for Trafficking MethamphetamineRead the Press Release
Ocala, Florida – Senior United States District Judge James D. Whittemore, Jr. has sentenced Missael Gonzalez Terrazas (23, Ocala) to seven years in federal prison for possessing at least 500 grams of methamphetamine with the intent to distribute it. Terrazas had pleaded guilty on May 28, 2019.
According to the facts described in court, Terrazas was apprehended by law enforcement while in possession of more than four kilograms of pure methamphetamine and $9,000 in cash. Terrazas is a citizen of Mexico and is residing in the United States illegally. After serving his prison sentence, he will be deported from the United States.
This case was investigated by the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney William S. Hamilton.
Illegal Alien Sentenced to 17 Months in Federal Prison for Illegal Re-EntryRead the Press Release
Ocala, Florida – Senior United States District Judge James D. Whittemore, Jr. has sentenced Jesus Gonzalez-Villanueva (35, Ocala) to 17 months in federal prison for illegally re-entering the United States after previously being deported. Gonzalez-Villanueva had pleaded guilty on May 16, 2019.
According to the facts described in court, in March 2019, Gonzalez-Villanueva was cited for a traffic offense in Lake County. Agents soon discovered that Gonzalez-Villanueva had previously been deported from the United States on two occasions and had previously been convicted of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. Gonzalez-Villanueva is a citizen of Mexico and is illegally in the United States. After he serves his prison sentence, he will be deported from the United States.
This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney William S. Hamilton.
Hercules, California Resident Indicted for Her Role in Business Email Compromise Scheme Victimizing Eastern District of Louisiana CompanyRead the Press Release
NEW ORLEANS – U.S. Attorney Peter G. Strasser announced that SONOVAH JUDITH HILLMAN, age 29, a resident of Hercules, California, was charged today by a federal grand jury seated in the Eastern District of Louisiana in a two-count Indictment with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1343 and 1349, and conspiracy to commit money laundering, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1956(h).
According to the indictment, HILLMAN acted as a “money mule” in a scheme to victimize Company A, a floating crane and stevedore company headquartered in Convent, Louisiana, within the Eastern District of Louisiana. HILLMAN’s co-conspirator(s) engaged in a “business email compromise” scheme to obtain access without authorization to the email accounts of one or more employees of Company A for the purpose of obtaining private data, including usernames, passwords, bank account information, and the content of email accounts. After gaining access to an email account of a Company A employee, the individual(s) arranged to have emails in the account forwarded to a separate email account under their control. Thereafter, HILLMAN’s co-conspirators registered a domain name similar to Company A’s domain (for example, “Company A” instead of “Company A”) and, pretending to be representatives of Company A, sent emails to Company A’s customers, including Company B. The false emails stated that there had been an audit of Company A’s bank accounts and that Company A’s customers should remit funds owed to Victim A to a new bank account. On about May 10, 2017, HILLMAN’s co-conspirators contacted one of Company A’s customers (Company B) via email and, pretending to be employees of Company A, instructed that Company B should remit funds owed to Company A, approximately $92,007.85, to a Bank of America account that belonged to HILLMAN. According to the Indictment, after Company B sent the funds to HILLMAN’s account, HILLMAN engaged in a series of transactions over the next five days either to transfer the money to others or spend the money on personal items, including a $4,000 Disney cruise and multiple airline flights.
If convicted, HILLMAN faces a maximum term of forty (40) years in prison, a fine of up to $750,000.00, up to three (3) years of supervised release after imprisonment, and a mandatory $100 special assessment per count.
U. S. Attorney Strasser reiterated that an Indictment is merely a charge and that the guilt of the defendant must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
U.S. Attorney Strasser praised the work of the United States Department of Homeland Security – Homeland Security Investigations and the United States Coast Guard Investigative Service. Assistant United States Attorney Jordan Ginsberg, supervisor of the Public Corruption Unit, is in charge of the prosecution.
Hattiesburg Man with Multiple Felony Convictions Pleads Guilty under Project EJECT to Illegally Possessing FirearmRead the Press Release
Jackson, Miss. – Jordan Reshard Poole, 29, of Hattiesburg, pled guilty yesterday before U.S. District Judge Keith Starrett to being a felon in possession of a firearm, announced U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst and Special Agent in Charge Kirk Thielhorn with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
On July 17, 2017, Poole was involved in a high speed car chase in Lamar County that ultimately resulted in a car crash. Jumping from the car after the collision, Poole attempted to flee and was quickly apprehended by Hattiesburg Police officers. While running, Poole attempted to hide a firearm by throwing it under a parked vehicle. The firearm was recovered and Poole admitted to possessing it. Poole was previously convicted of multiple felonies, including arson and burglary, and prohibited from possessing a firearm.
Poole will be sentenced by Judge Starrett on December 10, 2019 at 10:00 a.m. He faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
This case is part of Project EJECT, an initiative by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Mississippi under the U.S. Department of Justice’s Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN). EJECT is a holistic, multi-disciplinary approach to fighting and reducing violent crime through prosecution, prevention, re-entry and awareness. EJECT stands for “Empower Justice Expel Crime Together.” PSN is bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. Former Attorney General Jeff Sessions reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally-based strategies to reduce violent crime.
The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Hattiesburg Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Andrew W. Eichner.
Hartford Felon Sentenced to 30 Months in Prison for Illegal Gun Possession, Violating Supervised ReleaseRead the Press Release
John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that DAMON HILL, 40, of Hartford, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer in New Haven to 30 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for illegally possessing a firearm, and for violating the conditions of his supervised release from a prior federal conviction.
According to court documents and statements made in court, on October 23, 2018, Hill was involved in a motor vehicle accident on Laurel Street in Hartford. Responding officers discovered a loaded Smith and Wesson .40 caliber semi-automatic pistol on the floor in front of the driver’s seat. Hill was the only occupant of the car.
Hill’s criminal history includes multiple state convictions and a 2006 federal conviction for conspiring to distribute cocaine base (“crack”).
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.
In September 2006, Hill was sentenced in federal court to 120 months of imprisonment and five years of supervised release. He was released from prison in May 2014, and was on supervised release when he possessed the firearm.
Hill has been detained since his arrest on October 23, 2018. On July 16, 2019, he pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm a by a convicted felon.
This matter was investigated by the FBI’s Connecticut Violent Crime Task Force and the Hartford Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Anastasia E. King.
This prosecution has been brought through 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.
Gates Man Arrested on Child Pornography ChargesRead the Press Release
CONTACT: Barbara Burns
PHONE: (716) 843-5817
FAX #: (716) 551-3051ROCHESTER, N.Y.- U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that Gary Zeitvogel, 45, of Gates, NY, was arrested and charged by criminal complaint with receipt and possession of child pornography. The charges carry a minimum term of 5 years imprisonment, a maximum term of 20 years imprisonment, a period of supervised release of at least 5 years and up to life, and a $250,000 fine.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle P. Rossi, who is handling the case, stated that the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) received a cybertip from Facebook.com in June 2019, in which Facebook reported that Zeitvogel appeared to be engaged in sexually explicit conversations with a 15 year-old female. Utilizing information provided by Facebook, NCMEC was able to determine that Zeitvogel and the minor victim were both located in Rochester, NY. NCMEC forwarded the tip to the New York State Police (NYSP), who located the victim and determined that Zeitvogel was already serving a term of probation with the Monroe County Probation Department. Zeitvogel’s probation followed his conviction for Endangering the Welfare of a Child, in which it was alleged that Zeitvogel had allegedly masturbated in front of a child that he was babysitting.
On July 1, 2019, Monroe County Probation Officers, accompanied by Investigators from the NYSP, searched Zeitvogel’s home in Gates. Zeitvogel was found to be in possession of a cell phone, which, in violation of his probation conditions, contained the Facebook application. Zeitvogel was taken into custody at that time. The NYSP later took custody of the phone and executed a search warrant for both the phone and Zeitvogel’s Facebook account. On the phone, the NYSP observed over 1,500 images of child pornography, some of which depicted prepubescent minors, as well as child pornography depicting the minor victim. Zeitvogel’s Facebook account also revealed that he had engaged in sexually explicit conversations with the minor from at least March 2019 through June 2019, and that the two had been in contact at Zeitvogel’s home. The investigation is ongoing and additional charges may be forthcoming.
The defendant made an initial appearance today before United States Magistrate Judge Marian W. Payson, and is being held without bail.The criminal complaint is the result of an investigation by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children; the New York State Police, under the direction of Major Edward Kennedy; Monroe County Child Protective Services; the Monroe County District Attorney’s Office, under the direction of District Attorney Sandra Doorley; and Homeland Security Investigations, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Kevin Kelly.
The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
# # # #
Fraudsters Plead Guilty in Federal Court to Their Roles in a Fraudulent Auto Loan Scheme with Losses of More Than $1 MillionRead the Press Release
Baltimore, Maryland – John O’Day, age 48, of Chester and Stevensville, Maryland, and Sarasota, Florida, and Denise White, a/k/a Lisa Young and Lisa White, age 32, of East Point, Georgia, have pleaded guilty to federal charges of bank fraud and aggravated identity theft, in connection with a scheme to defraud at least 20 individuals and five financial institutions of more than $1 million by submitting fraudulent auto loan applications. White pleaded guilty on August 28, 2019, and O’Day pleaded guilty on June 4, 2019.
The guilty pleas were announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Robert K. Hur; Special Agent in Charge Rodney A. Davis of the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration; Acting Chief Marcus Jones of the Montgomery County Police Department; and Colonel William M. Pallozzi, Superintendent of the Maryland State Police.
According to their plea agreements, between April 2016 and January 2018, O’Day and his co-conspirators, including White, submitted at least 30 fraudulent applications for auto loans to victim financial institutions falsely listing O’Day as the seller of various motor vehicles, which were listed as collateral. At least 27 of the fraudulent applications, including 12 in which White was involved as a co-conspirator, were successful and resulted in the disbursement of loan checks totaling approximately $1,167,192, which O’Day deposited in his personal bank accounts in Maryland. O’Day provided a portion of the fraud proceeds to co-conspirators, including White. The funds were not used to purchase vehicles. O’Day attempted to obtain additional loan checks totaling at least $246,000 through several unsuccessful auto loan applications.
Most of the applicants listed in the auto loan applications were recruited by O’Day under false promises and pretenses. Specifically, O’Day falsely promised that he would pay off the auto loans within up to 90 days and that the borrowers would not be responsible for loan payments. O’Day made payments in smaller amounts to most of the borrowers to assist them temporarily in making periodic payments on the loans and to compensate them for their involvement in the scheme. However, O’Day eventually stopped assisting borrowers with their payments and failed to pay off the loans as he promised. Most of the borrowers remained liable for the loans and suffered financial hardship as a result. At least some of the fraudulent auto loans were eventually converted to unsecured personal loans with higher interest rates as a result of the applicants’ failure to produce proof that they had purchased the vehicles. Several of the applicants had no knowledge that O’Day and his co-conspirators had submitted applications in their names and never authorized them to do so.
O’Day, White, and other co-conspirators used the personal identification information of at least five individuals, without their knowledge or approval, to submit fraudulent loan applications. At least two of the applications were approved and resulted in the disbursement of loan checks totaling $98,000.
White admitted that she personally submitted some of the fraudulent auto loan applications and contacted the financial institutions under false pretenses in order to get the applications approved. White used multiple e-mail accounts in which she received correspondence from the various financial institutions to which she submitted fraudulent loan applications. Upon O’Day’s request, White also contacted borrowers whom O’Day had recruited in order to assuage their concerns about their involvement with the auto loans, requests made by the financial institutions for proof of ownership of the vehicles, and O’Day’s failure to pay off the loans taken out in their names, falsely identifying herself as “Lisa.” White also fabricated documents in support of the fraudulent loan applications and O’Day’s efforts to negotiate the loan checks.
O’Day admitted that he also laundered the proceeds of the fraudulent auto loan scheme through the purchase of a home. O’Day worked as a loan officer with a mortgage brokerage company located in Maryland between January 2014 and August 2017. Between January and March 2017, O’Day requested that his employer issue him a company check for his closing costs in return for him transferring funds to the company. O’Day then deposited $90,000 in fraud proceeds into a bank account he controlled, then wired $33,750 from that account to his employer’s account. The following day, the employer wired $33,750 to another of O’Day’s accounts and O’Day purchased a cashier’s check in the amount of $30,000 drawn on that account, which he used to pay the closing costs associated with the purchase of his home.
White and O’Day each face a maximum of 30 years in federal prison for bank fraud, and a mandatory minimum sentence of two years in federal prison, consecutive to any other sentence imposed, for aggravated identity theft. U.S. District Judge Ellen L. Hollander has scheduled sentencing for O’Day on November 8, 2019 and for White on November 15, 2019, both at 10:00 a.m.
United States Attorney Robert K. Hur commended TIGTA, the Montgomery County Police Department, and the Maryland State Police for their work in the investigation. Mr. Hur thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew J. Maddox, who is prosecuting the case.
# # #
Four Peruvians Sentenced for Overseeing Spanish-Speaking Call Centers That Threatened and Extorted U.S. ConsumersRead the Press Release
Four residents of Lima, Peru, charged with overseeing a series of call centers that threatened and extorted Spanish-speaking victims in the United States, have been sentenced to prison, the Department of Justice and U.S. Postal Inspection Service announced.
Jesus Gutierrez Rojas, 37, Alexandra Podesta Bengoa, 38, Virgilio Polo Davila, 43, and Omar Portocarrero Caceres, 39, were extradited from Peru in April. Each pleaded guilty to extortion and has now been sentenced to prison by U.S. District Court Judge Roy K. Altman in Fort Lauderdale. As part of his guilty plea, Gutierrez admitted that he oversaw a series of affiliated call centers in Peru that falsely told Spanish-speaking victims across the United States that they had incurred debts and would suffer various consequences for failure to pay off the debts that they did not, in fact, owe. As part of their guilty pleas, Podesta, Polo, and Portocarrero admitted that they managed and supervised three of these affiliated call centers that used extortion to obtain money from vulnerable U.S. consumers.
Yesterday, Judge Altman sentenced Gutierrez to 51 months in federal prison for his role overseeing the affiliated call centers and sentenced Podesta and Polo to 46 months imprisonment. Judge Altman sentenced Portocarrero to 46 months in federal prison on July 24. Each defendant was also ordered to serve three years’ supervised release following their terms of incarceration and to make restitution payments to the victims of their scheme.
“The Department of Justice is committed to identifying and prosecuting foreign-based fraud schemes that target and extort U.S. consumers,” said Assistant Attorney General Jody Hunt of the Department of Justice’s Civil Division. “Today’s prison sentences reflect that those who unlawfully take advantage of U.S. consumers by phone cannot escape justice by placing their calls from abroad. The Department of Justice’s Consumer Protection Branch will continue to work hand-in-hand with our Transnational Elder Fraud Strike Force partners to bring to justice international fraudsters who prey on vulnerable U.S. consumers.”
As part of their guilty pleas, Podesta, Polo, and Portocarrero each admitted that their Peruvian call centers contacted U.S. consumers, many of whom were elderly and vulnerable, using Internet-based calls. Falsely claiming to be attorneys and government representatives, Podesta, Polo, Portocarrero, and their employees falsely told victims that they failed to pay for or receive a delivery of products and threatened them into paying fraudulent settlements for nonexistent debts. The callers falsely threatened victims with lawsuits, negative marks on their credit reports, imprisonment, or immigration consequences if they did not immediately pay for the purportedly delivered products and “settlement fees.” Many victims made monetary payments based on these baseless extortionate threats.
Gutierrez was the general manager of a larger company where he worked in partnership with Podesta, Polo, Portocarrer, and others to facilitate their extortion scheme. The defendants’ associates in Miami collected the payments from thousands of victims across the U.S.
“The reach of our U.S. justice system is long,” said U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida Ariana Fajardo Orshan. “The sentences imposed demonstrate that we are committed to prosecuting those individuals who threaten U.S. consumers no matter where they are located.”
“The U.S. Postal Inspection Service will continue to aggressively pursue and bring to justice international criminal enterprises that prey on our most vulnerable citizens by fraudulently using the U.S. Mail to further their schemes,” said Acting Miami Division Postal Inspector in Charge Lesley Allison.
At Portocarrero’s July 24 sentencing, Judge Altman said that the brazen, large-scale nature of the defendants’ scheme was “shocking.” Judge Altman noted that the defendants exploited “the most vulnerable people in our country” and said that their offense conduct was “terribly disgraceful.”
With yesterday’s three sentencings by Judge Altman, all five defendants who have been charged in connection with this large-scale extortion scheme have now been sentenced to terms of imprisonment.
Trial Attorney Phil Toomajian of the Department of Justice’s Consumer Protection Branch is prosecuting the case. The U.S. Postal Inspection investigated the case. The Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs secured the extradition of the defendants, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of Florida, the Diplomatic Security Service, and the Peruvian National Police provided critical assistance.
Since President Trump signed the bipartisan Elder Abuse Prevention and Prosecution Act (EAPPA) into law, the Department of Justice has participated in hundreds of enforcement actions in criminal and civil cases that targeted or disproportionately affected seniors. In particular, this past March the Department announced the largest elder fraud enforcement action in American history, charging more than 260 defendants in a nationwide elder fraud sweep. The Department has likewise conducted hundreds of trainings and outreach sessions across the country since the passage of the Act.
Former Union Official Sentenced for EmbezzlementRead the Press Release
BOSTON – A former union official was sentenced today in federal court in Worcester for embezzlement from a labor union.
Ivar Carlson was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Timothy Hillman to one year of probation, and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $9,786.20. The Court further ordered forfeiture in the amount of $16,151.20.
Carlson is the former business agent and treasurer for Local B-395 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees in Worcester, MA.
From 2007 through 2016, Carlson embezzled approximately $37,000 from the Local by regularly writing checks to cash from the Local’s bank account and then using that cash for his own personal enrichment.
United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling and U.S. Department of Labor – Office of Labor-Management Standards District Director Jonathan Russo made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney John T. Mulcahy of Lelling’s Worcester Branch Office is prosecuting the case.
Former Pharmacist Sentenced for Obtaining Controlled Substances Under False PretensesRead the Press Release
CONCORD - Frank E. Styles, Jr., 62, of Exeter, was sentenced to a term of probation for obtaining controlled substances under false pretenses, United States Attorney Scott W. Murray announced today. As a condition of probation, Styles will never seek to have his pharmacist license reinstated. Additionally Styles will pay restitution to Medicare and Rite Aid pharmacy.
According to court documents and statements made in court, from at least January 25, 2016, through November 29, 2016, while employed as a pharmacist at a pharmacy in Stratham, New Hampshire, Styles altered various records relating to prescriptions he filled in order to obtain controlled substances. During that time period, Styles altered the records associated with approximately 77 prescriptions in this manner, diverting approximately 564 pills containing controlled substances for his own use.
Styles previously pleaded guilty on May 24, 2019.
“Health care professionals who divert drugs jeopardize patient safety,” said U.S. Attorney Murray. “We will not hesitate to bring criminal charges against those who abuse their positions in the health care profession in order to obtain drugs.”
“The reckless action by this former pharmacist was not only a crime but a betrayal of the public trust,” said DEA Special Agent in Charge Brian D. Boyle. “Today’s sentence not only holds Mr. Styles accountable for his crimes but serves as a warning to those individuals who are fueling the opioid crisis. DEA’s obligation is to improve public safety and public health, and we are committed to working with our law enforcement and regulatory partners to ensure that rules and regulations are followed.”
This matter was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Georgiana L. Konesky.
###
Former Assistant Director of Real Estate at EDIC Agrees to Plead Guilty to Bribery and Filing a False Tax ReturnRead the Press Release
Boston, MA – John M. Lynch, 66, the former Assistant Director of Real Estate at the Economic Development Industrial Corporation (EDIC), a division of the Boston Planning and Development Agency (BPDA), agreed to plead guilty today to accepting $50,000 in bribes from a Boston real estate developer in exchange for Lynch using his official influence to secure a key Boston Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) vote that favored the real estate developer on his federal tax return.
Lynch, a Boston resident, was charged today by information with one count of bribery involving an organization receiving federal funds, and one count of filing a false federal tax return that failed to report his receipt of the bribe payments. According to the terms of a plea agreement also filed today, the government will recommend to the Court a sentence within the range of 46 to 57 months’ imprisonment.
In 2017, the Boston real estate developer sought to sell a parcel of residential real estate in Boston, but needed ZBA approval to extend a permit that would have allowed the property to be sold as a multi-unit development. To get the permit extension, the developer agreed to pay $50,000 in cash bribes and a check to Lynch, in return for Lynch using his influence at the BPDA to secure a vote from a ZBA member. The permit extension helped the real estate developer realize an additional half million dollars in profits that the developer otherwise would not have received absent the permit. After getting the permit extension, Lynch accepted $25,000 in cash payments and another $25,000 check, which Lynch used to pay a personal bill. Lynch then failed to report those and another $10,000 payment he had received from the real estate developer.
Lynch faces a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release, a fine of up to $250,000, or twice the gross gain or loss resulting from the offense, whichever is greater, and forfeiture. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling, Joseph Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Boston Division, and Kristina O’Connell, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation in Boston made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Dustin Chao of Lelling’s Public Corruption Unit is prosecuting the case.Former Army colonel sentenced to federal prison for Fort Gordon fraud, kickback schemeRead the Press Release
AUGUSTA, Ga: A former active-duty U.S. Army colonel has been sentenced to five years in federal prison for accepting bribes to help steer military contracts to a business fraudulently claiming status as a small business.
Anthony R. Williams, 59, of Vienna, Va., was sentenced today [Aug. 30, 2019] to 60 months in prison by U.S. District Court Senior Judge Dudley H. Bowen after pleading guilty to Conspiracy to Commit Bribery and felony conflict of interest, said Bobby L. Christine, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia.
Williams previously agreed to forfeit more than $1.2 million in proceeds derived from the scheme. After completion of his sentence, he will serve three years of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system.
According to information provided in court documents and proceedings, Williams, while serving as a colonel in the U.S. Army, accepted bribes to steer federal procurement contracts to the CREC Group, a company owned by Calvin Devear Lawyer, 60, a retired U.S. Army colonel. The CREC Group had received Small Business Administration (SBA) status as a small, disadvantaged business based on false representations from Lawyer and from Dwayne Oswald Fulton, 58, then an employee of a defense contractor.
Lawyer previously pled guilty in the case and is serving a 60-month prison sentence, while co-conspirator, Anthony Roper, 57, a former active duty U.S. Army colonel at Fort Gordon, also pled guilty and is serving a 60-month sentence.
The cases were investigated by the United States Army Criminal Investigation Command (CID), the Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS), the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Office of Inspector General, and the United States Attorney’s Office.
“Williams’ sentence wraps up an investigation that shed light on a cynical and disheartening scheme to steal taxpayer funds intended for our nation’s military,” said Southern District of Georgia U.S. Attorney Bobby L. Christine. “These men disgraced their oaths to serve their country, and accordingly are being held accountable for their despicable thefts.”
“Today's sentencing is another clear example that no matter how hard one may try to get away with fraud, you will be caught,” said Frank Robey, director of the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command's Major Procurement Fraud Unit. “This defendant used the trust placed in him by the government to line his pockets. This sentence is well-deserved.”
“SBA OIG is committed to bringing to justice those engaged in conspiracy to commit fraud against SBA and its programs,” said SBA OIG's Eastern Region Special Agent-in-Charge Kevin Kupperbusch. “Today’s sentencing sends a strong message that those responsible will be held accountable. I want to thank the U.S. Attorney’s office and our law enforcement partners for their support and dedication to pursuing justice in this case.”
"DCIS is committed to fully investigate and bring to justice individuals who corrupt the DoD procurement system," said Special Agent in Charge Cynthia A. Bruce, DCIS Southeast Field Office. "We are pleased with this significant sentence and the message it sends to those who defraud the DoD."
Assistant U.S. Attorney Tara Lyons prosecuted the case on behalf of the United States.
Florida man admits to accessing IRS system and obtaining taxpayer informationRead the Press Release
MARTINSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA – Clinton Jean-Pierre, of Miami, Florida, has admitted to identity theft through use of a computer, United States Attorney Bill Powell announced.
Jean-Pierre, age 28, pled guilty to one count of “Accessing a Computer and Obtaining Information” and one count of “Aggravated Identity Theft.” Jean-Pierre admitted to fraudulently accessing the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) eAuthentication online taxpayer system, which has servers located in Berkeley County, in December 2017. In order to pass IRS security protocols, Jean-Pierre admitted that he fraudulently “ported” an unknowing person’s cellular telephone number to his own phone in order to obtain the security code necessary to create an unauthorized taxpayer account. Once in the IRS eAuthentication system, Jean-Pierre admitted he gained access to a taxpayer’s tax return information which included the taxpayer’s personal identifying information.
Jean-Pierre faces a mandatory two years incarceration for the identity theft count, and up to five additional years incarceration and a fine of up to $250,000 for the accessing a computer count. 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 Shawn M. Adkins is prosecuting the case on behalf of the government. The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration Cybercrime Investigations Division investigated.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert W. Trumble presided.
Florida Drug Distributor Arrested on I-75 with 2.5 Kilos of Meth Sentenced to PrisonRead the Press Release
MACON – A Florida resident was sentenced to 46 months in prison for attempting to distribute 2,593 grams of ice methamphetamine, said Charles “Charlie” Peeler, the United States Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia. Carlos Mendez, 45, of Orlando, Florida, previously pleaded guilty to one count Possession with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine. U.S. District Judge Tilman E. “Tripp” Self sentenced Mr. Mendez to 46 months imprisonment on Thursday, August 29, 2019, followed by three years supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system.
According to the signed plea agreement, Mr. Mendez was pulled over on I-75 in Dooly County, Georgia for a traffic violation on January 19, 2017. Mr. Mendez did not immediately pull over, but exited the interstate abruptly, and acted nervously, giving conflicting information to the deputy. During a legal search of the vehicle, two hidden compartments were found, containing a total of 2593.9 grams of 99% pure d-methamphetamine hydrochloride.
“The methamphetamine trade is a dangerous business for all involved, and drug traffickers will face prison time in Middle Georgia,” said Charlie Peeler, the U.S. Attorney. “Georgia’s highways are too commonly used to move large amounts of illicit drugs. Our county deputies and state troopers face an especially difficult job keeping our roads safe. I want to thank the Dooly County Sheriff’s Office for their continued hard work protecting our citizens.”
“It is a priority for my office to take drugs off our highways, as most of our crimes are drug-related in some way. Once you take drugs off the roads, you cut down on crime. I want to commend my officers for a job well done, and thank the DEA and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for their work in this case,” said Craig Peavy, the Dooly County Sheriff.
The case was investigated by the Dooly County Sheriff’s Office and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Assistant U.S. Attorney Charlies Calhoun prosecuted the case for the Government. Questions can be directed to Pamela Lightsey, Public Information Officer, United States Attorney’s Office, at (478) 621-2603 or Melissa Hodges, Public Affairs Director (Contractor), United States Attorney’s Office, at (478) 765-2362.
Federal Jury Finds Kyle Man Guilty of Drug Conspiracy and Firearm ChargesRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Ron Parsons announced that Brendon Janis, age 34, of Kyle, South Dakota, was found guilty of Conspiracy to Distribute 500 grams or more of Methamphetamine and Prohibited Person in Possession of a Firearm, as a result of a federal jury trial in Rapid City, South Dakota. The trial began Monday, August 26 and concluded Thursday, August 29, 2019. Janis was originally indicted by a federal grand jury on May 23, 2017.
The charges carry a mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years in custody up to life in custody and/or a $10,000,000 fine, 5 years up to life of supervised release, and a $200 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.
Janis was a participant in a drug conspiracy that was transporting methamphetamine from California to South Dakota. Once the methamphetamine arrived in South Dakota, Janis distributed it to others in the area of Kyle, on the Pine Ridge Reservation. Janis was himself a drug user. Law enforcement executed a search warrant at his residence on April 10, 2017. They located numerous firearms, 18 grams of methamphetamine, and copious items related to the use and distribution of methamphetamine.
Drug trafficking is an inherently violent activity. Firearms are tools of the trade for drug dealers. It is common to find drug traffickers armed with guns in order to protect their illegal drug product and cash, and enforce their illegal operations.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. The Department of Justice reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally-based strategies to reduce violent crime.
This case was investigated by the Badlands Safe Trails Task Force, which includes law enforcement from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation, Bureau of Indian Affairs Drug Division, and the Oglala Sioux Tribe Department of Public Safety. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kathryn N. Rich and Gina Nelson prosecuted the case. Several co-conspirators have pled guilty, and two more await trial.
A presentence investigation was ordered. A sentencing date has not been set. The defendant was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
Federal Jury Convicts Real Estate Executive of Fraudulently Concealing Assets in BankruptcyRead the Press Release
CHICAGO — A federal jury in Chicago has convicted a real estate executive of fraudulently concealing assets in a bankruptcy filing.
In his 2009 bankruptcy petition, BRETT IMMEL, 38, of Des Moines, Iowa, and formerly of Chicago, knowingly and fraudulently concealed income and bank accounts, as well as his interests in businesses and partnerships. The jury returned its verdict Monday in U.S. District Court in Chicago.
Concealment of assets in a bankruptcy case is punishable by up to five years in prison. U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman did not immediately set a sentencing date.
The conviction was announced by John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; and Craig Goldberg, Inspector-in-Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service in Chicago. The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Elizabeth Pozolo and Erik Hogstrom.
Evidence at trial revealed that prior to the bankruptcy petition Immel was earning thousands of dollars per month as a general partner at the real estate investment company Hanover Services. Most of his income was paid into a personal checking account held in the names of Immel and his wife. In May 2009, Immel incorporated Fourteen Consulting, a new business entity of which he was the sole owner. Over the next several months, Immel began primarily using the new Fourteen Consulting bank account, as well as a Hanover Services account he controlled, to receive most of his income and to pay out nearly all of his personal expenses, including a home mortgage, lease payments on a luxury car, furniture purchases, shopping at high-end clothing stores, child and pet care expenses, and groceries. Meanwhile, the personal checking account that he stopped using held only about $1,000.
On Oct. 2, 2009, Immel and his wife filed a joint Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois, seeking to discharge more than $6 million in debts. In required financial disclosures submitted with the petition and signed under penalty of perjury, Immel disclosed only the personal checking account he was no longer using. He omitted the Hanover and Fourteen Consulting bank accounts, which by that point received most of his income and funded most of the family’s personal expenses. Immel also denied having interests in partnerships and failed to disclose the true nature and value of his interests in Hanover Services and Fourteen Consulting.
On Nov. 13, 2009, Immel appeared at a required meeting with the trustee appointed to oversee his bankruptcy case. During the meeting, which was under oath and recorded, Immel falsely swore that the information provided in the petition was true, fair, accurate, and complete. The bankruptcy petition was approved in January 2010 and all of Immel’s debts were discharged. Evidence at trial revealed that both before and after the meeting with the trustee, Immel continued to use the concealed bank accounts and business interests to fund the bulk of his family’s personal expenses.
Fayette County Man Pleads Guilty to Firearm Possession While Fleeing from PoliceRead the Press Release
LEXINGTON, Ky. – On August 30, 2019, Marcellis Means, 23, of Lexington, Kentucky, plead guilty to one count of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g) before U.S. Chief Judge Danny C. Reeves.
As part of his plea, Means admitted that on July 10, 2019, he was unlawfully in possession of a firearm after previously being convicted of a felony offense. On that date, a Lexington Police Officer made contact with Means and another occupant of a parked vehicle when Means exited the vehicle and began to flee from the officer. As part of his plea agreement, Means admitted that while fleeing, he attempted to get rid of the firearm which was eventually recovered by police. The firearm was loaded with one round of ammunition chambered.
The investigation was conducted by the Lexington Police Department in conjunction with the Kentucky State Police and agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF).
Robert M. Duncan, Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky, Stuart L. Lowery, Special Agent in Charge, ATF, Louisville Field Division, Lawrence Weathers, Chief of Police, Lexington Police Department, and Richard W. Sanders, Commissioner, Kentucky State Police, jointly made the announcement.
Means is scheduled to be sentenced on December 20, 2019. He faces up to 10 years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000. However, any sentence will be imposed by the Court after consideration of the United States Sentencing Guidelines and applicable federal statutes.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. The PSN program was reinvigorated as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally-based strategies to reduce violent crime.
Eagle Butte Man Sentenced for Conspiracy to Distribute a Controlled SubstanceRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Ron Parsons announced that an Eagle Butte, South Dakota, man convicted of Conspiracy to Distribute a Controlled Substance was sentenced on August 26, 2019, by U.S. District Judge Roberto A. Lange.
Michael Heideman, age 44, was sentenced to 16 years in federal prison, followed by 5 years of supervised release, and a special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund in the amount of $100.
Heideman was indicted by a federal grand jury on November 14, 2017. He pled guilty on May 29, 2019.
The conviction stems from a conspiracy that started immediately following Heideman’s release from state prison, following a drug conviction in March of 2017. It was discovered that Heideman and his co-defendant, Sierra Bridwell, were receiving distributable quantities of methamphetamine from Colorado and distributing that methamphetamine in South Dakota, on the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation.
As part of the investigation a search warrant was conducted at the defendant’s home, in which 384 grams of methamphetamine was recovered.
This case was investigated by the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Law Enforcement Services and the Northern Plains Safe Trails Drug Enforcement Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorney Meghan N. Dilges prosecuted the case.
Heideman was immediately turned over to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent Convicted of Perjury, Obstruction of Justice, and Falsification of Government RecordsRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON - A U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) special agent was convicted on August 27, 2019 by a federal jury in New Orleans, Louisiana of perjury, obstruction of justice and falsifying government records.
After a seven-day trial, Chad A. Scott, 51, of Covington, Louisiana, was found guilty of two counts of perjury, three counts of obstruction of justice and two counts of falsifying government records. U.S. District Judge Jane Triche Milazzo of the Eastern District of Louisiana, who presided over the trial, has scheduled sentencing for Dec. 4, 2019.
According to the evidence presented during the seven-day trial, Scott, while a DEA special agent in New Orleans, committed these crimes in and around the New Orleans, Louisiana, and Houston, Texas, areas. Specifically, the evidence showed that Scott directed a Houston-based drug trafficker to buy a Ford F-150 truck worth approximately $43,000 and forfeit the truck to Scott as part of the drug trafficker’s cooperation. Scott then falsified the seizure paperwork for the truck in various aspects, including falsely claiming that he had seized the truck in New Orleans instead of Houston, in order to facilitate the vehicle being forfeited and given to Scott as his official government vehicle.
“Chad Scott violated his sworn commitment to serve the public and uphold justice, dishonoring the special trust that we place in each of our federal law enforcement agents,” said Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Today’s conviction sends a clear message to the public that malfeasance by federal law enforcement officers will not be tolerated.”
“The conviction of Chad Scott reinforces the message that no one is above law,” said FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Riedlinger. “Scott’s actions were selfish and placed an unnecessary stain on an otherwise stellar agency. We commend our partners at the DEA for their unprecedented level of cooperation throughout this investigation.”
“The criminal justice system relies on law enforcement agents to act with integrity and honesty. By soliciting bribes and compromising cases, Scott undermined the values he swore to uphold as a federal agent,” said Special Agent in Charge Robert A. Bourbon of the Justice Department’s Office of the Inspector General (DOJ-OIG). “The Office of the Inspector General will continue to be vigilant that corrupt law enforcement agents are held accountable.”
“At its core, DEA is a law enforcement agency committed to faithful and effective service to our country and its citizens, as well as uncompromising personal and institutional integrity,” said DEA Chief Inspector Brian McKnight. “Throughout the course of this investigation and its ultimate trial, DEA was appreciative of the professionalism and support that we received from our law enforcement partners.”
Additionally, the evidence showed that Scott convinced the same Houston-based drug trafficker, as well as another drug trafficker in Houston, to testify falsely at a federal trial in New Orleans as to the identification of a major cocaine and heroin supplier in the Houston area. Along with obstructing justice by inducing this false testimony, Scott then himself committed perjury during a motion session as well as during the federal trial, the evidence showed. After a trial including this false testimony, the alleged supplier was found guilty. Once Scott’s actions and the false testimony came to light, the case against the alleged supplier was dismissed by the court at the request of the United States.
Scott has been indefinitely suspended as a DEA special agent.
Two other former Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana Sheriff’s Office deputies who were serving as DEA task force officers in New Orleans have pleaded guilty in this investigation. Karl Emmett Newman, 52, of Kentwood, Louisiana, pleaded guilty to unlawfully carrying a firearm in furtherance of an August 2015 robbery, which was disguised as the execution of a search warrant, as well as misappropriating money confiscated by the DEA during another search. Johnny Domingue, 30, of Maurepas, Louisiana, pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine and misappropriating money confiscated by the DEA.
Scott is additionally charged, along with Rodney Gemar, 43, of Ponchatoula, Louisiana, a former Hammond, Louisiana police officer and DEA task force officer, with various counts, including unlawful conversion of property by a government officer or employee and removing property to prevent seizure. Trial on those charges is set for October 2019. Those charges are only allegations and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
This case was initially investigated by the Louisiana State Police and later investigated by the FBI’s New Orleans Field Division, DEA-OPR and DOJ-OIG. Acting Deputy Chief Charles Miracle of the Criminal Division’s Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section and Trial Attorney Timothy Duree of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section are prosecuting the case.
# # #
19-911
District Court Orders Texas Company to Stop Selling Adulterated FoodRead the Press Release
A federal court permanently enjoined a Houston, Texas, company from processing and distributing adulterated seafood products in violation of federal law, the Department of Justice announced today.
The entered consent decree of permanent injunction follows an August 2019 complaint filed by the Department for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas. The complaint alleged that Topway Enterprises, doing business as Kazy’s Gourmet, and the principals of the business, Jeff Liao, Ying Chen, and Adwin Liao, sold ready-to-eat fish and fishery products in a facility with serious insanitary conditions. Specifically, the complaint alleged that FDA inspections found that the defendants failed to adequately control the growth of Listeria monocytogenes (L. mono) at their facility.
The defendants agreed to settle the litigation by the entered consent decree of permanent injunction. As part of the settlement, the defendants must comply with specific remedial measures set forth in the injunction. In addition, the settlement provides safeguards to ensure that future processing of ready-to-eat raw fish at the defendants’ facility comports with the requirements of the law. The filing of the complaint and agreed settlement follows FDA’s decision in July 2019 to exercise its authority under federal law to suspend the defendants’ food facility registration. The complaint alleges that, since the suspension, the defendants have taken positive steps to correct the problems at their facility.
“The Department of Justice is committed to enforcing laws designed to ensure that the food we put on our tables is safe,” said Assistant Attorney General Jody Hunt of the Department of Justice’s Civil Division. “We will continue to work with the FDA to take steps necessary to protect the public from potentially unsafe food.”
“One of our many important enforcement priorities is to help ensure food is safe,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Patrick. “This action will help ensure compliance with federal law and FDA rules and regulations. I’m glad we were able to reach this resolution.”
“After documenting food safety violations at the Topway facility, the FDA took action to suspend Topway’s food facility registration, which prohibits the company from selling or distributing food from the facility into commerce,” said FDA Deputy Commissioner for Food Policy and Response Frank Yiannas. “We are happy the company is taking steps to correct the severe problems at their facility and the FDA continues to work with the company as it brings its facility into compliance.”
This matter was handled by Trial Attorney Joshua D. Rothman of the Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch, with the assistance of Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew A. Bobb of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas and Senior Counsel Barbara Alkalay of the Food and Drug Administration’s Office of the Chief Counsel.
For more information about the Consumer Protection Branch and its enforcement efforts, visit its website at https://www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch. For more information about the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas, visit its website at https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdtx.
District Court Ordered Texas Company to Stop Selling Adulterated FoodRead the Press Release
HOUSTON - A federal court permanently enjoined a Houston company from processing and distributing adulterated seafood products in violation of federal law, the Department of Justice announced today.
The entered consent decree of permanent injunction follows an August 2019 complaint the Food and Drug Administration filed. The complaint alleged Topway Enterprises, doing business as Kazy’s Gourmet, and the principals of the business - Jeff Liao, Ying Chen and Adwin Liao - sold ready-to-eat fish and fishery products in a facility with serious insanitary conditions. Specifically, the complaint alleged FDA inspections found the defendants failed to adequately control the growth of Listeria monocytogenes at their facility.
The defendants agreed to settle the litigation by the entered consent decree of permanent injunction. As part of the settlement, they must comply with specific remedial measures set forth in the injunction. In addition, the settlement provides safeguards to ensure future processing of ready-to-eat raw fish at their facility comports with the requirements of the law. The filing of the complaint and agreed settlement follows FDA’s decision in July 2019 to exercise its authority under federal law to suspend the defendants’ food facility registration. The complaint alleges that, since the suspension, the defendants have taken positive steps to correct the problems at their facility.
“The Department of Justice is committed to enforcing laws designed to ensure that the food we put on our tables is safe,” said Assistant Attorney General Jody Hunt of the Department of Justice’s Civil Division. “We will continue to work with the FDA to take steps necessary to protect the public from potentially unsafe food.”
“One of our many important enforcement priorities is to help ensure food is safe,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Patrick. “This action will help ensure compliance with federal law and FDA rules and regulations. I’m glad we were able to reach this resolution.”
“After documenting food safety violations at the Topway facility, the FDA took action to suspend Topway’s food facility registration, which prohibits the company from selling or distributing food from the facility into commerce,” said FDA Deputy Commissioner for Food Policy and Response Frank Yiannas. “We are happy the company is taking steps to correct the severe problems at their facility and the FDA continues to work with the company as it brings its facility into compliance.”
Trial Attorney Joshua D. Rothman of the Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch handled the matter with the assistance of Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew A. Bobb of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District and Senior Counsel Barbara Alkalay of the FDA’s Office of the Chief Counsel.
For more information about the Consumer Protection Branch and its enforcement efforts, visit its website at https://www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch. For more information about the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas, visit its website at https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdtx.
Convicted Felon Charged in Federal Court with Illegally Possessing More Than 50 Firearms in Chicago HomeRead the Press Release
CHICAGO — A federal grand jury has indicted a convicted felon for allegedly illegally possessing more than 50 shotguns, rifles and handguns in his Chicago home.
HENRY REYES, 52, is charged with illegal possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Reyes illegally possessed 30 handguns, 15 rifles, and seven shotguns on Aug. 15, 2019, according to an indictment returned Thursday in U.S. District Court in Chicago. Law enforcement discovered the firearms during a court-authorized search of Reyes’s residence in the Lawndale neighborhood of Chicago, according to a criminal complaint and affidavit previously filed in the case. Reyes was previously convicted of murder in the Circuit Court of Cook County and he was not lawfully allowed to possess a firearm, the charges allege.
Reyes was arrested on the day of the search, and he remains detained in law enforcement custody. Arraignment in U.S. District Court in Chicago has not yet been scheduled.
The indictment was announced by John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Timothy Jones, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Division of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; and Eddie Johnson, Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department. The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Edward A. Liva, Jr., and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Patricia Pantoja.
Holding convicted felons accountable through federal prosecution is a centerpiece of Project Safe Neighborhoods – the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction strategy. In the Northern District of Illinois, U.S. Attorney Lausch and law enforcement partners have deployed the PSN program to attack a broad range of violent crime issues facing the district, including by prosecuting individuals who illegally possess firearms.
The public is reminded that an indictment is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Illegal possession of a firearm by a convicted felon is punishable by up to ten years in prison. If convicted, the Court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal statutes and the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines.
Child and Youth Program Assistant Sentenced to Prison for Abusive Sexual Contact with a MinorRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON – A North Carolina man was sentenced today to two years in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release, for abusive sexual contact with a minor, Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Brian T. Moran of the Western District of Washington announced.
Joseph Robertson, 38, of Sanford, North Carolina, pleaded guilty on June 6, to one count of abusive sexual contact before U.S. District Court Judge Ronald B. Leighton of the Western District of Washington, who sentenced him earlier today.
According to facts admitted by the defendant during his guilty plea, Robertson was employed by the Department of Defense as a child and youth program assistant at Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany. During the summer of 2016, while accompanying children from the Ramstein youth center to a swimming pool in a nearby town, Robertson engaged in abusive sexual contact with a minor who was 13-14 years old on multiple occasions, including touching the minors genitals over the minor’s clothing.
The investigation of the case was conducted by U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations and the FBI, led by Seattle Division’s Tacoma Resident Agency Child Exploitation Task Force.
This case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Kaylynn Foulon of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) and Assistant U.S. Attorney Grady Leupold of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Western District of Washington.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.
Child and Youth Program Assistant Sentenced to Prison for Abusive Sexual Contact with a MinorRead the Press Release
A North Carolina man was sentenced today to two years in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release, for abusive sexual contact with a minor, Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Brian T. Moran of the Western District of Washington announced.
Joseph Robertson, 38, of Sanford, North Carolina, pleaded guilty on June 6, to one count of abusive sexual contact before U.S. District Court Judge Ronald B. Leighton of the Western District of Washington, who sentenced him earlier today.
According to facts admitted by the defendant during his guilty plea, Robertson was employed by the Department of Defense as a child and youth program assistant at Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany. During the summer of 2016, while accompanying children from the Ramstein youth center to a swimming pool in a nearby town, Robertson engaged in abusive sexual contact with a minor who was 13-14 years old on multiple occasions, including touching the minor's genitals over the minor’s clothing.
The investigation of the case was conducted by U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations and the FBI, led by Seattle Division’s Tacoma Resident Agency Child Exploitation Task Force.
This case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Kaylynn Foulon of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) and Assistant U.S. Attorney Grady Leupold of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Western District of Washington.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.
Chico Man Convicted of Sex Trafficking of a Minor and Distribution of MethamphetamineRead the Press Release
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — On Thursday, after a seven-day trial, a federal jury found Christopher Ramonaguilar Lawrence, 24, of Chico, guilty of one count of sex trafficking of a child and one count of distribution of methamphetamine to a person under 21, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced.
According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, in July and August 2017, Lawrence recruited a then 17-year-old girl to engage in prostitution for his financial benefit. Lawrence used social media to communicate with the victim, and on two occasions, he lured the victim to Chico motel rooms where he gave the victim methamphetamine, explained the methods of his prostitution business, including how to detect and evade law enforcement, and continued to recruit the victim to work for him as a prostitute.
“Sex traffickers prey upon the vulnerabilities of their young victims, luring them into a cycle of physical and psychological abuse and addiction that is often difficult to escape,” said Special Agent in Charge Sean Ragan of the FBI Sacramento Field Office. “The FBI is committed to identifying and apprehending individuals who sexually exploit others for financial gain. We seek to provide victims with an opportunity to escape the violent existence they have endured and ensure their exploiters face justice.”
This case is the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Chico Police Department, and the Butte County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brian A. Fogerty and Quinn Hochhalter are prosecuting the case.
Lawrence faces a mandatory minimum term of 10 years in prison, a maximum statutory penalty of life in prison, and a $250,000 fine. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute those who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. Click on the “resources” tab for information about internet safety education.
Caledonia Man Sentenced to Prison for Embezzling Union FundsRead the Press Release
OXFORD, Miss. – A Caledonia man was sentenced to almost four years in prison on Thursday for embezzling union funds. Danny Woodcock, age 66, was sentenced by Chief U.S. District Judge Sharion Aycock following his guilty plea to Embezzlement of Union Funds in violation of Title 29, United States Code, Section 501(c). Judge Aycock sentenced Woodcock to serve 46 months imprisonment followed by 3 years of supervised release and ordered Woodcock to pay $519,963.04 in restitution to Communication Workers of America - 83770.
Woodcock served as the president of the CWA Local 83770 for approximately 15 years until his removal in October 2016. CWA Local 83770 has approximately 300 to 400 members who are employed primarily as aircraft mechanics, structural specialists and other maintenance personnel with L3 Vertex Aerospace, LLC, a contractor operating on the Columbus Air Force Base in Columbus, Mississippi. Woodcock used his position as president to embezzle and convert to his own use the funds of CWA Local 83770, often times transferring or depositing union funds directly into his personal bank account for his own personal use.
Chad Lamar, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Mississippi, acknowledged the importance of this case and the sentence imposed after Thursday afternoon’s hearing. “This case is a sad example of honest workers being defrauded by someone whom they trusted to speak for them and represent their best interests. The U.S. Attorney’s Office will work to help ensure that we hold accountable those individuals who would cheat and betray the very people they have been entrusted to represent.”
This case was investigated by the Department of Labor – Office of Labor Management Standards and prosecuted by AUSA Clay Dabbs.
***
Buffalo Man Arrested on Cocaine and Butyryl Fentanyl ChargesRead the Press Release
CONTACT: Barbara Burns
PHONE: (716) 843-5817
FAX #: (716) 551-3051BUFFALO, N.Y.- U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced that Sterling McMillan, 48, of Buffalo, NY, was arrested and charged by criminal complaint with possession with intent to distribute and distribution of cocaine and butyryl fentanyl. The charges carry a maximum term of 20 years imprisonment and a $1,000,000 fine.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Misha Coulson, who is handling the case, stated that on August 8, 2019, a search warrant was executed at McMillan’s residence on Erb Street. During the execution of that warrant, cocaine and butyryl fentanyl as well as various narcotics packaging materials were located.
The defendant made an initial appearance before United States Magistrate Judge Michael J. Roemer, and was released on conditions.
The criminal complaint is the result of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Ray Donovan, New York Field Division.
The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
# # # #
Authorities Target Meth Traffickers in Coastal BendRead the Press Release
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - A large number of arrests have been made as part of a coordinated effort by federal, state and local law enforcement dubbed as “Operation Coastal Bender,” announced U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Patrick.
A total of 16 Coastal Bend residents from Nueces, Bee, San Patricio, Live Oak and Jim Wells Counties are now in custody for violations of various federal and state firearm and narcotics violations. Each defendant has been charged in separate and unrelated criminal complaints or indictments. Three others remain fugitives and warrants remain outstanding for their arrests. Those are Michael McDaniel, 44, of Three Rivers; Luis Vela, 19, of Alice; and Michael Alegria Jr., 18, of Victoria. Anyone with information about their whereabouts is asked to contact Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations at 1-866-347-2423.
“Operation Coastal Bender” is a coordinated effort by federal, state and local law enforcement to identify drug traffickers and violent offenders, stop gun violence and protect the community.
Over the course of this week, federal agents, in coordination with many local and state agencies, were able to execute more than 70 federal and state arrest warrants for individuals relating to charges of trafficking in methamphetamine and gun allegations.
During the course of this operation, authorities also served three search warrants resulting in the seizure of more than three ounces of methamphetamine and several grams of cocaine, marijuana and Xanax as well as three firearms, ammunition and other items related to the sale and distribution of narcotics. Law enforcement arrested a total of 32 individuals as a result of this coordinated effort between HSI and other federal and local agencies.
“HSI is committed to working with our federal, state and local law enforcement partners to rid our neighborhoods of the dangerous narcotics and the illegal possession of firearms that harm the citizens of our community,” said HSI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Brad Scott of Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). “Law enforcement in our region are dedicated to join forces as one to clean our streets of these dangerous behaviors.”
“The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) worked side by side with HSI, Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) as well as state and local police departments to apprehend dozens of violent criminals,” said ATF Special Agent in Charge Fred Milanowski. “This coordinated effort will make a large impact on violent crime.”
“The Beeville Police Department (BPD) participated in the operation in conjunction with other law enforcement agencies in South Texas,” said Beeville Police Chief Robert J. Bridge. “The combined efforts of all agencies provided crucial manpower assistance to seek and locate individuals involved in criminal activities.”
“Our office in Sandia would very much like to thank federal, state and local authorities from neighboring counties for their help and involvement in arresting subjects and investigations for narcotics dealing in our area,” said Jim Wells County Constable Pct.3 Jim Long, “Drugs have become a tremendous part of our investigations and agencies coming together helps us all. We will surely make this a continued event!”
The federal felon in possession of firearms charge carries up to 10 years in prison and a possible $250,000 maximum fine. Each federal charge involving a controlled substance carries a minimum penalty of not less than five but potentially up to life in prison and fines up to $1 million. Using a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime carries an additional five-year-term of imprisonment which must be served consecutively to any other prison term imposed.
Participating agencies included HSI; ATF; Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Marshals Service; DPS; sheriff’s offices in the counties of Live Oak, San Patricio and Nueces; Jim Wells County Constable’s Office; police departments in George West, Alice and Beeville; and Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine unit.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys from the Corpus Christi Division are prosecuting the respective cases.
An indictment is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence.
A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until convicted through due process of law.Attorney General's Advisory Subcommittee on Native American Issues Convenes in New MexicoRead the Press Release
LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Nevada United States Attorney Nicholas Trutanich met this week with fellow members of the Attorney General’s Advisory Subcommittee on Native American Issues (NAIS) in Santa Ana Pueblo, New Mexico, in order to discuss public safety and law enforcement issues that impact Native American and Alaska Native communities.
During the three-day annual meeting, the NAIS engaged with tribal leaders and developed strategies and best practices to address missing and murdered indigenous people, drug trafficking, needed law enforcement resources, and safeguarding children from sexual abuse in Indian country.
The most common crimes investigated in Indian country include child sexual abuse, violent assaults, and adult sexual assaults, followed by homicide, other forms of child abuse, drug, and property crimes. According to a 2016 study funded by the National Institute of Justice, more than 80 percent of American Indian and Alaska Native adults have experienced some form of violence in their lifetime, and more than half of all American Indian and Alaska Native women have experienced violence from an intimate partner. Native women and girls suffer a high rate of violence, including murder.
“United States Attorneys nationwide are committed to improving public safety in Indian country and rural Alaska. The work of Attorney General Barr’s Native American Issues Subcommittee is focused on reducing violent crime, improving law enforcement resources, and combating the distribution of methamphetamine and opioids,” said US Attorney Shores, Chair of the NAIS. “The disproportionate rates of violence affecting Native American and Alaska Native women is particularly troubling to me. With Attorney General Barr’s leadership, we will continue working with tribal leaders to find solutions to the epidemic of violence against indigenous women.”
“The U.S. Attorney’s Office reaffirms its commitment to working with tribal, local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies to improve the safety and security of Native American communities,” said U.S. Attorney Trutanich. “Prosecutors are working every day to bring violent offenders to justice and to reduce and prevent crime. In addition, through the Department of Justice’s grant programs, we are helping communities become safer and providing victims with a full range of services and support.”
Panel discussions focused on the Indian Arts and Crafts Act and preserving Native American cultural patrimony. The Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990 is a truth-in-advertising law that prohibits misrepresentation in the marketing of Indian arts and crafts products within the United States. It is illegal to offer or display for sale, or sell any art or craft product in a manner that falsely suggests it is Indian produced, an Indian product, or the product of a particular Indian or Indian tribe or Indian arts and crafts organization, resident within the United States.
U.S. Attorney John Anderson of the District of New Mexico hosted the three-day conference.
The NAIS consists of 53 U.S. Attorneys serving in districts that include Indian Country or one or more federally recognized tribes and makes policy recommendations to the Attorney General. The NAIS has identified four priority areas: 1) Violent crime 2) Law enforcement resources 3) Drug trafficking and substance abuse, and 4) White collar crime. It is the longest standing subcommittee to the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee and helps develop, shape, and otherwise implement justice policies affecting Native Americans and Alaska Natives. U.S. Attorney Trent Shores of the Northern District of Oklahoma is the subcommittee Chair. U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme of the District of Montana is the Vice Chair.
In fiscal year 2018, the Department of Justice awarded $113 million in grant awards to improve public safety, serve victims of crime, combat violence against women, and support youth programs, to 134 Indian tribes and Alaska Native villages. In addition, the Department awarded a total of 154 grants totaling $88 million as part of the first-ever Tribal Victim Service Set-Aside program; these awards were supported by the Crime Victims Fund, a repository of federal criminal fines, fees, and special assessments. The awards will help tribes develop, expand and improve services to victims of crime by providing funding, programming and technical assistance. Even more funding will be available – up to $168 million – under the set-aside this year.
In July 2019, the Department announced a new tool giving tribal governments the ability to input data directly and gain access to the FBI’s National Sex Offender Registry (NSOR) using the Tribe and Territory Sex Offender Registry System (TTSORS). TTSORS is a fully functioning registry system that complies with Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act requirements. The system connection will be available to all tribal governments already participating in the Tribal Access Program (TAP), which allows information sharing between tribal and federal government criminal information systems. TAP has been instrumental in assisting tribes with ongoing implementation of SORNA. In fiscal year 2019, the department expanded TAP to 25 more tribes, for a total of more than 70 participating tribes across the country.
# # #
Armed Gunman with Lengthy Criminal History Sent to Federal Prison for Illegal Possession of a GunRead the Press Release
A felon who unlawfully possessed a firearm was sentenced on August 30, 2019 to more than 7 years in federal prison.
Thomas Tuttle, age 34, from Watertown, South Dakota, received the prison term after a March 27, 2019, guilty plea to possession of a firearm by a prohibited person.
Information provided by the United States at the sentencing, change of plea, and detention hearings revealed that on November 2, 2018, Tuttle walked into a convenience store in Sheldon, Iowa carrying a loaded 9 mm, Kel-Tec, Carbine, which contained 30 rounds of ammunition, and stole a pack of cigarettes, frightening customers and employees alike in the process. Tuttle, in fact, possessed and brandished the gun in connection with other felony offenses and contemporaneously with his possession of methamphetamine.
Tuttle was arrested from inside his car by a law enforcement tactical team. He had ingested a large amount of illegal drugs, and had the loaded gun in close proximity. He later commented that he had come to Iowa with “bad intentions” and had he not been sleeping when the tactical team approached him “things would have gone differently” during his arrest.
It was also revealed that Tuttle has a history of dangerousness and violence. He has been convicted four times for Driving Under the Influence, three times for assaultive conduct, and repeatedly for controlled substance violations and other offenses.
Tuttle was sentenced in Sioux City by United States District Court Chief Judge Leonard T. Strand. Tuttle was sentenced to 90 months’ imprisonment. He was ordered to make $8.00 in restitution (for the packet of cigarettes). He must also serve a 3-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN). PSN is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.
Tuttle is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.
The case was investigated by the Sheldon, Iowa, Police Department, which was assisted by the O’Brien County Attorney’s Office and Sherriff’s Office and other nearby agency and departments. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Forde Fairchild.
Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.
The case file number is 19-4008.
Follow us on Twitter @USAO_NDIA.
Armed Career Criminal Sentenced to 10 Years on Firearm ChargeRead the Press Release
Ocala, Florida – Senior United States District Judge James D. Whittemore has sentenced Marco Glover (40, Gainesville) to 10 years in federal prison for possessing a firearm as a convicted felon. Glover had pleaded guilty on May 21, 2019.
According to court records, on February 22, 2019, Glover and his co-defendant, Harry Covert, Jr., sold three firearms to an undercover ATF agent. On March 1, 2019, Glover sold four ounces of methamphetamine to the same undercover agent. Glover’s extensive criminal record—which includes prior state convictions for sale of cocaine and a federal conviction for conspiracy to distribute cocaine—qualified him as an Armed Career Criminal for federal sentencing purposes.
This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael P. Felicetta.
This is another case prosecuted as part of the Department of Justice’s “Project Safe Neighborhoods” Program (PSN), which is a nationwide crime reduction strategy aimed at decreasing violent crime in communities. It involves a comprehensive approach to public safety — one that includes investigating and prosecuting crimes, along with prevention and reentry efforts. In the Middle District of Florida, U.S. Attorney Maria Chapa Lopez coordinates PSN efforts in cooperation with various federal, state, and local law enforcement officials.
29 August 2019
Worcester Man Indicted on Tax and Fraud ChargesRead the Press Release
BOSTON – A Worcester man was indicted today on federal tax and fraud charges arising from his role overseeing various Worcester-based employment agencies.
Tam Vuong, 44, was charged with 14 counts of wire fraud and four counts of failing to pay taxes. Vuong had previously been charged by criminal complaint and arrested in April 2019, and has been released since that time. He will appear in U.S. District Court in Worcester for an arraignment.
According to court documents, Vuong oversaw Prime Labor LLC and UT Services, Inc., both of which were employment agencies based in Worcester. Each agency paid a few employees by check but paid most employees in cash. Each agency failed to report or pay taxes on the wages paid in cash, which Vuong fraudulently concealed in connection with tax filings and insurance audits. Vuong allegedly concealed millions of dollars in cash wages that were paid to Prime Labor workers and additional cash wages paid by UT Services. Between 2012 and 2017, more than $30 million in Prime client company checks were cashed at a check-cashing business in Worcester; Prime allegedly paid millions of these dollars in cash wages and then failed to report these wages to the IRS or to its insurer.
In addition, while in his role overseeing and controlling UT Services, it is alleged that Vuong falsely told UT Services’ insurance carrier that the company had only one employee and an annual payroll of only $50,000, when, in actuality, UT Services had dozens of employees and a significantly higher payroll. UT Services disseminated forged certificates of insurance to several clients and failed to inform clients when its workers’ compensation policy was cancelled.
It is further alleged that Vuong shifted operations from Prime Labor Services to UT Services after federal search warrants were executed in November 2017. Vuong allegedly took steps to hide his role with both Prime and UT Services.On the wire fraud charges, Vuong faces up to 20 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000 on each count. On the tax charges, he faces up to five years in prison, up to three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $10,000 on each count. 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 Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Boston Division; Kristina O’Connell, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation in Boston; and Anthony DiPaolo, Chief of Investigations of the Insurance Fraud Bureau of Massachusetts made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Abely of Lelling’s Criminal Division is prosecuting the case.The details contained in the complaint and indictment are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Wilmington Gang Member Receives More than 12 Years in Federal PrisonRead the Press Release
WILMINGTON — United States Attorney Robert J. Higdon, Jr. announced that in federal court, United States District Judge Louise W. Flanagan sentenced JOSHUA WRIGHT, 25, of New Hanover County to 151 months’ imprisonment, followed by 2 years of supervised release. On April 8, 2019, WRIGHT pled guilty to distribution of a quantity of heroin.
On May 2, 2018, the Wilmington Police Department (WPD) conducted a controlled purchase of heroin from WRIGHT in the parking lot of the Indochine Restaurant. WRIGHT was wearing a GPS ankle monitor at the time of this sale because he was on post–supervision release from prison for a prior drug conviction. According to law enforcement, WRIGHT is a validated gang member.
This case is part of a joint Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and WPD operation led by the United States Attorney’s Office’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), which focused on gang related heroin distribution in Eastern North Carolina. 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. This investigation is focused on gang related heroin distribution and the violence associated with this gang in Eastern North Carolina.
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 Safe Street Task Force and the Wilmington Police Department Gang Unit. Assistant United States Attorney Timothy Severo prosecuted the case on behalf of the government.
Williamsville Man Who Teaches at Buffalo High School Arrested with Drugs, Guns and ExplosivesRead 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 Michael Masecchia, 53, of Williamsville, NY, was arrested and charged by criminal complaint with possession with intent to distribute, and distribution of, marijuana, maintaining a drug-involved premises, and possession of firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking crimes. The charges carry a mandatory minimum penalty of five years in prison, a maximum of life, and a $250,000 fine.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph M. Tripi, who is handling the case, stated that according to the complaint, on August 23, 2019, investigators from Homeland Security Investigations, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Erie County Sheriff's Office, and the Niagara County Sheriff's Office, executed a search warrant at the defendant’s residence on Main Street in Williamsville.
During the search of the residence, investigators seized:
• Two rifles, five shotguns, and a pistol; • Various ammunition for the firearms; • Seven homemade explosives; • Three Mason jars containing marijuana; • Various steroids in liquid and tablet form; • Hypodermic needles; • THC edibles; • Cannabis syrup; • Two grams of a white powder suspected to be cocaine; • Tylenol with Codeine tablets; • Suspected hashish; • A digital scale; • A suspected marijuana cigarette; • Numerous plastic bags and small bottles containing marijuana; and
• Four cell phones.Investigators also recovered $27,950.00 in U.S. currency, which was discovered hidden in clothing and rubber banded in two bundles. A narcotics detection canine later alerted for the odor of a controlled substance on the currency.
According to Erie County Sheriff's records, one of the shotguns was reported stolen on September 23, 2015.
Investigators also discovered marijuana and a marijuana smoking pipe inside a vehicle registered to the defendant.
The complaint further states that, based on information developed during this investigation, Masecchia has been involved in the growing and distribution of significant quantities of marijuana for at least the past 20 years.
The defendant made an initial appearance this afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael J. Roemer and was released on conditions.
The complaint is the result of an investigation by Homeland Security Investigations, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Kevin Kelly; the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Gary Loeffert; the Erie County Sheriff's Office, under the direction of Sheriff Timothy Howard; the Niagara County Sheriff's Office, under the direction of Sheriff James Voutour; and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, under the direction of John B. Devito.
The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
# # # #
Wilkinsburg Felon Sentenced to Prison for Unlawfully Possessing a FirearmRead the Press Release
PITTSBURGH, PA - A resident of Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania, has been sentenced in federal court to three years and two months (38 months) in prison and three years’ supervised release on his conviction of violating federal firearms laws, United States Attorney Scott W. Brady announced today.
Chief United States District Judge Mark R. Hornak imposed the sentence on Mitchell Thompson, 21.
According to information presented to the court, on August 30, 2018, law enforcement officials were performing a saturation patrol detail in Wilkinsburg in response to a recent homicide and several shootings. Upon seeing an unmarked police vehicle, Thompson threw a loaded Glock 9 millimeter pistol onto the sidewalk near a row of bushes. Thompson was arrested and it was later determined that the firearm had been reported stolen. The court was further informed that Thompson was previously convicted of crimes punishable by more than one year in prison, including one conviction for a firearms violation and one conviction for possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance and conspiracy to deliver a controlled substance. Federal law prohibits anyone who has been convicted of a crime punishable by a term of imprisonment exceeding one year from lawfully possessing a firearm or ammunition..
Assistant United States Attorney Christy C. Wiegand prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation, along with the Bureau and Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Wilkinsburg Police Department, conducted the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Thompson.
The case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods. Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.
U.S. Attorney’s Office Reaches Settlement with Roberts Riverwalk Hotel in Detroit to Improve Access for People with DisabilitiesRead the Press Release
The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan has reached a settlement agreement with Roberts Hotels Detroit, LLC, owner of the Roberts Riverwalk Hotel in Detroit, Michigan under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan Matthew Schneider announced today. The agreement resolves the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s investigation into a complaint alleging that the hotel was not accessible to individuals who have mobility impairments. Title III of the ADA prohibits businesses who serve the public from discriminating against individuals who have disabilities. The failure to design, construct, or alter facilities in compliance with applicable standards is a form of discrimination under the ADA.
Roberts Hotels Detroit, LLC agreed to make extensive changes to the hotel’s interior and exterior that will improve accessibility for people who have disabilities, including modifications to several guest rooms as well as the hotel’s parking areas. The Roberts Riverwalk Hotel is located at 1000 River Place Drive in the City of Detroit.
“We are thankful to the Roberts Riverwalk Hotel for their willingness to cooperate in our investigation and bring their hotel into legal compliance for people who have disabilities,” United States Attorney Matthew Schneider said. “The Roberts Riverwalk Hotel is part of the revitalization of Detroit, and under this settlement, people with disabilities can continue to share in the City’s revitalization.”
More information about the ADA is available at the Justice Department’s toll free ADA Information line at (800) 514 0301 or (800) 514 0383 (TTY) and on the ADA website at www.ada.gov. ADA complaints may be emailed to [email protected] or by contacting the U.S. Attorney's Office’s civil rights hotline at (313) 226 9151.
U.S. Attorney's Office Partners with Meals on Wheels in Wake County to Roll-Out Phase III of the Department of Justice's Elder Justice InitiativeRead the Press Release
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina continues to promote the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Elder Justice Initiative (EJI) throughout the Wake County area. On August 29, 2019, the Eastern District partnered with Meals on Wheels in Wake County to conduct Phase III of its outreach to approximately 1,300 seniors in the area to raise awareness about DOJ’s Elder Justice Initiative and provide facts about financial scams and how seniors can protect themselves from falling victim.
Below are some facts shared with the community about financial scams:
- Fraud Victimization
- Over 13% of older Americans become victims of financial fraud every year
- Of those who are subject to a fraud attempt, 25% will become a fraud victim
- Oder adults lose more than $3 billion annually to financial scams
- Examples of fraud & scams
- Overcharging for products or services
- Lottery and sweepstakes fraud
- Pretend romantic attention towards an older adult
- Scammers posing as government employees telling you to pay a fee
- Someone posing to be from the information technology field offers to fix a non-existent problem with your computer
- Fraud victims have been approached:
- While in the grocery store
- By knocking at the door
- Through the phone
- Through the internet
- Through the mail
- It’s Your Right
- If someone approaches you in any of these ways, you do not have to respond
- It’s ok to hang up the phone
- It’s ok to not answer the door
- It’s ok to not open an email or a piece of mail
- It’s ok to say, “No, thank you” to someone who approaches you
The mission of the Elder Justice Initiative is to support and coordinate DOJ’s enforcement and programmatic efforts to prevent and combat elder abuse, neglect, financial exploitation and scams that target our nation’s seniors by promoting justice for older adults; helping older victims and their families; enhancing state and local efforts through training and resources; and supporting research to improve elder abuse policy and practice.
For more information about DOJ’s efforts to prevent and combat elder abuse, please visit the Elder Justice Website at https://www.justice.gov/elderjustice. Elder fraud complaints may be filed with the FTC at www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov or at 877-FTC-HELP. You can also contact the Victim Connect Hotline between 9am-6pm, Monday through Friday, at: 1- 855-4VICTIM (1-855-4842846), or contact the Elder Justice Coordinator at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina at (919) 856-4530.
- Fraud Victimization
U.S. Attorney Justin Herdman's comments on recent Ohio cases involving political violenceRead the Press Release
Remarks as prepared announcing federal criminal charges against James Reardon:
Good morning. Thank you for coming today and thank you to all of the local police chiefs who are here. Special thanks to Chief D’Egidio who drove here from New Middletown.
We are here to announce the unsealing of a federal complaint against James Reardon, age 20, of New Middletown, Ohio. He is charged with one count of making threats using a facility of interstate commerce.
Federal rules give us a few weeks before seeking an indictment in the Grand Jury and we will continue to use that time to further our investigation of Mr. Reardon’s conduct and to determine if others were involved. In just a moment, Special Agent Eric Smith of the FBI will detail the facts uncovered in our investigation thus far.
I want to start by thanking the community. This case is the result of a concerned citizen who took the time to point out Mr. Reardon’s social media activity to a New Middletown Police Officer. This case is just one of several over the past few weeks that are the product of our friends and neighbors seeing something, and then saying something.
For example, a few weeks ago, Timothy Ireland was indicted on firearms and threat charges after a private citizen alerted law enforcement. And at the beginning of this month, Vincent Armstrong pleaded guilty to charges related to a planning an attack on a bar in Toledo. That case started with a tip from a concerned citizen to Toledo police. There are several more examples and they illustrate the fact that these type of cases rely on very two important people – a concerned citizen and a responsive law enforcement officer. Fortunately, we have both of those in abundance in northern Ohio.
I want to thank the men and women who make up our police departments, and some of their leadership are here today. As I said, tips only matter if police officers take them seriously and investigate them thoroughly. The presence of our local law enforcement highlights the message that police officers are trained to be responsive to information from the public, and the officers assigned to these departments – and many others – will do just that when confronted with credible and specific threats. I also want to thank the FBI and ATF agents who joined with the police in each of these cases and bring outstanding expertise to these investigations.
Now let me speak generally to those who are advocates for white supremacy, or white nationalism. I am talking directly to you. The Constitution protects your right to speak, your right to think, and your right to believe. If you want to waste the blessings of liberty by going down a path of hatred and failed ideologies, that is your choice.
Democracy allows you to test those ideas in the public forum. If you want to submit your beliefs to the American people and get their reaction, please be my guest. Keep this in mind, though. Thousands and thousands of young Americans already voted with their lives to ensure that this same message of intolerance, death, and destruction would not prevail - you can count their ballots by visiting any American cemetery in North Africa, Italy, France, or Belgium and tallying the white headstones. You can also recite the many names of civil rights advocates who bled and died in opposing supporters of those same ideologies of hatred. Their voices may be distant, but they can still be heard.
Go ahead and make your case for Nazism, a white nation, and racial superiority. The Constitution may give you a voice, but it doesn’t guarantee you a receptive audience.
Your right to free speech does not automatically mean that people will agree with you. In fact, you have an absolute God-given and inalienable right to be on the losing end of this argument.
What you don’t have, though, is the right to take out your frustration at failure in the political arena by resorting to violence. You don’t have any right to threaten the lives and well-being of our neighbors. They have an absolute God-given and inalienable right to live peacefully, to worship as they please, to be free from fear that they might become a target simply because of the color of their skin, the country of their birth, or the form of their prayer.
Threatening to kill Jewish people, gunning down innocent Latinos on a weekend shopping trip, planning and plotting to perpetrate murders in the name of a nonsense racial theory, sitting to pray with God-fearing people who you execute moments later - those actions don’t make you soldiers, they make you criminals. Law enforcement doesn’t go to war with cowards who break the law, we arrest them and send them to prison.
As I said, this case was made by a concerned member of the public and a responsive police officer. That’s all it takes to stop you. The men and women of our community are allied with law enforcement. And every single member of law enforcement took an oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic. Many of us have taken that oath several times - as police officers, federal agents, prosecutors, military members, and elected officials.
Together, we represent the absolute best of what America has to offer. Our skin is every color you can imagine, our families come from a hundred different countries and a hundred different faiths. What makes us different doesn’t split us apart, though. Those differences are insignificant compared to what is the same about us - we are united in our commitment to each other, to our families, and to our communities. We are the living embodiment of everything you say is impossible.
Together, we are united to ensure that you commit no further acts of violence in the name of your beliefs. When you wake up tomorrow morning, no matter what time, I want you to remember something. You can’t set your alarm clock early enough to beat us out of bed. The men and women of law enforcement don’t wake up. We never went to sleep. We are always awake. And arm in arm with the public, when your hatred leads you to break the law, we will do everything we can to be there to stop you.
Treyton Thomas Sentenced to 262 Months' Imprisonment for Multi-Million Dollar Investment Fraud Scheme and Income Tax EvasionRead the Press Release
RALEIGH – Robert J. Higdon, Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, announces that today, United States District Judge James C. Dever III sentenced TREYTON LEE THOMAS, age 63, to 262 months’ imprisonment for wire fraud and 60 months’ imprisonment for income tax evasion, to run concurrently. Judge Dever also ordered THOMAS to pay approximately $7.3 million in restitution to the victims of the investment and bank fraud schemes, the Internal Revenue Service and the United States Attorney’s Office and to forfeit an additional $7.3 million to the United States.
On November 22, 2016, THOMAS was charged in a 21-Count Indictment with wire fraud, bank fraud and money laundering. This Indictment charged THOMAS, who represented himself as a successful Harvard educated investment advisor, with defrauding his father’s used car warranty company, NC&VA Warranty of Roxboro, N.C., several of its customers, his wife, and his father-in-law. THOMAS claimed he was conservatively investing their money in U.S. Treasury Bills. Instead, through an on-line brokerage firm, THOMAS used these funds to conduct risky trades in the commodities and futures market. To conceal this fraud scheme, THOMAS provided these victims and various financial institutions with false information and fabricated bank and brokerage statements. To obtain additional funds, the Indictment charged THOMAS with using the same false information and fabricated statements to defraud financial institutions out of approximately 1.9 million dollars in loan proceeds. In addition to losing the victims’ money in risky trades, the Indictment charged THOMAS with spending more than 1.6 million dollars to pay personal expenses.
On March 15, 2018, THOMAS was charged in another Indictment with six counts of income tax evasion for the calendar years 2010 through 2015 and two counts of failing to disclose his interest in and authority over foreign bank accounts. According to court records, THOMAS failed to file United States Income Tax Returns (Forms 1040) or pay taxes for two decades. To conceal his income, THOMAS used offshore entities, in the Cayman Islands, the British Virgin Islands and Nevis, and employed individuals from offshore corporation management companies to act as his nominee in numerous business ventures. These foreigners opened and managed bank accounts through which THOMAS moved the victims’ funds in and out of the United States. Additionally, THOMAS created fake or “ghost” employees to make it appear that he operated a large, successful investment fund. To conceal his own identity, THOMAS used aliases or variations of his given name.
The Court agreed with the Government that THOMAS had attempted to obstruct justice and was not entitled to a reduced sentence for acceptance of responsibility even though he pled guilty. Several victims spoke at the sentencing hearing, describing the financial and emotional toll THOMAS’ crimes had caused.
Investigation of this case was conducted by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation-Office of the Inspector General, the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigations, and the United States Secret Service. Assistant United States Attorneys Susan Menzer and John Harris represented the government in this case.
Tonawanda Man Sentenced for Drug Possession Near A High SchoolRead 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 James Nelson, 63, of Tonawanda, NY, who was convicted of possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine, oxycodone, and hydrocodone within 1,000 feet of a private school, was sentenced to serve 24 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Laura A. Higgins, who handled the case, stated that on December 11, 2017, investigators with the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Town of Tonawanda Police Department executed a state search warrant at the defendant’s residence at 11 Fayette Avenue in Tonawanda. Nelson was found in the living room area of the residence. Investigators recovered suspected crack cocaine, numerous pills containing suspected controlled substances, two compact digital scales, and approximately $1,442 in U.S. currency.
Subsequent testing determined that the substances recovered included crack cocaine, diazepam, oxycodone, butalbital, hydrocodone, and alprazolam.
The defendant’s residence is located within 1,000 feet of St. Joseph’s Collegiate Institute, a private secondary school, located at 845 Kenmore Avenue in Buffalo.
The sentencing is the result of an investigation by the Tonawanda Police Department, under the direction of Acting Chief James P. Stauffiger and the Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Ray Donovan, New York Field Division.
# # # #
Toledo woman pleaded guilty to terrorism charges related to her role in a conspiracy to launch an attack on a bar in ToledoRead the Press Release
A Toledo woman pleaded guilty to terrorism charges related to her role in a conspiracy to launch an attack on a bar in Toledo.
Elizabeth Lecron, 24, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Toledo to one count of conspiracy to provide material support or resources to terrorists and one count transporting explosives in interstate commerce.
Her co-conspirator, Vincent Armstrong, pleaded guilty earlier this month to one count of conspiracy to transport or receive an explosive with intent to kill, injure, or intimidate any individual, and maliciously damage or destroy by fire or explosive.
“This defendant has admitted to plotting a terrorist attack in downtown Toledo,” U.S. Attorney Justin Herdman said. “She purchased a shotgun, black powder, screws and other items for the purpose of launching mass-casualty attacks. For years we have used this statute to prosecute those who supported our enemies abroad, and are gratified we are able to use it to hold accountable people who planned to attack our neighbors, regardless of ideology.”
"Elizabeth Lecron has accepted responsibility for planning and obtaining weapons and explosive components as preparation to conduct a mass shooting,” FBI Special Agent in Charge Eric B. Smith said. “The two recent mass shootings that took 29 lives remind us that without the vigilance of the citizen that alerted law enforcement of Lecron and Armstrong's desire to kill, Toledo could have been the site of a massacre. Law enforcement urges the public to report suspicious, concerning behavior - see something, say something."
Toledo Police Chief George Kral said: “This week should show all Ohioans the threats that are ever present in our communities. With this plea, a dangerous potential mass murderer will be off our streets. Our citizens have to be a part of the solution. I strongly encourage people to report suspicious behavior to law enforcement. It quite honestly could be a matter of life or death.”
According to the plea agreement and other documents filed in the case:
Lecron conspired with Armstrong from April 2018 through December 10, 2018. The two met in February 2018, started dating a few months later and moved in together at residence in Toledo. Shortly after meeting, Lecron expressed her interest in mass murderers in introduced Armstrong to the “True Crime Community” or TCC. Lecron allegedly engaged with members of the community via Tumblr, under the username “ligaturemarkings” and “charlestonchurchmiracle.” Armstrong joined the Tumblr TCC community with the username “societysheretic.”
Lecron routinely posted items about the Columbine High School shooters and the Charleston church shooter. Armstrong and Lecron privately discussed committing their own mass murder in the Toledo area. They referred to the attack as “D-Day” and discussed using guns and explosives. Armstrong owned an AK-47 while Lecron purchased a shotgun with Armstrong. Both guns were to be used in the attack and Lecron and Armstrong went to the shooting range to practice their firearm skills.
Lecron showed Armstrong a web site that had detailed instructions on how to make improvised bombs they intended to use during the attack. The two agreed to build a pipe bomb. Armstong purchased end caps from a local hardware store and they discussed the additional parts they needed to buy to build the pipe bomb.
The pair agreed what to wear during the attacks, looking to emulate the Columbine shooters. Lecron purchased combat boots that she felt would not slip on all the blood during the attack, as well as a t-shirt that read “False Prophet.”
They discussed numerous possible targets for the attack and settled on a bar in downtown Toledo.
Lecon wrote about “D-Day” in her journal. In a journal entry dated June 5, 2018, she wrote that visiting friends that weekend was exhausting, but that “D-Day will be my salvation.”
Lecron and Armstrong flew to Denver in August 2018 to visit sights related to the shooting at Columbine High School. Lecron posted that their next trip would be to Charleston to visit “the church.”
Law enforcement agents executed search warrants on Armstrong and Lecron’s house and vehicles on December 10, 2018. The trunk of Armstrong’s vehicle contained a duffel bag with a tactical vest with two loaded magazines for an AK-47, two loaded magazines for a pistol, a gas mask and printed instructions on how to construct various bombs. In the house, law enforcement found an AK-47, two shotguns (including the one purchased by Lecron), two handguns and ammunition.
Additionally, Lecron on December 8, 2018, purchased two pounds of Hodgdon Triple Seven Muzzleloading Propellant from a retailer in Rossford, Ohio. She then purchased 665 screws from another retailer nearby. She then gave the items to a confidential human source with whom she began communicating in August 2018 about mass shootings via the Tumblr TCC group.
On September 11, 2018, Lecron, the confidential source and two undercover agents discussed conducting a bomb attack. Lecron said: “I want to get out there. I want to like, you know, be part of it, you know. I want to help any way I can. I’ve never had an in to this sort of thing so now that I do I just want to do anything I can.” When asked if she had any concerns about human casualties, Lecron replied: “Take them out. I don’t really feel any type of way for that…I’m here to send a message and get the job done…if they are in the way of the explosion, they’re probably part of the problem so maybe it’s for the best.”
On December 4, 2018, the confidential source called Lecron asking for help in a plan to bomb a pipeline in Georgia. The source asked Lecron to purchase black powder. Lecron replied: “Absolutely…Thank you so much. Hell yeah. This is exactly what I wanted to do.”
She purchased the black powder and screws four days later and delivered them to the confidential source.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, which is comprised of members of the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Ohio State Highway Patrol and Toledo Police Department, investigated the case. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael Freeman, Michelle Baeppler and Tracey Tangeman.