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13 February 2019
Florida man admits to defrauding bank customersRead the Press Release
WHEELING, WEST VIRGINIA – Roger Ernesto Ballester Caser, of Hialeah, Florida, has admitted to using others’ bank information and personal identification numbers to make purchases, United States Attorney Bill Powell announced.
Caser, age 26, pled guilty to one count of “Access Device Fraud – Use of Unauthorized Access Device.” Caser admitted to using Main Street Bank of Wheeling’s customer banking information and PINs to make purchases totaling at least $1,000 in Ohio and Marshall Counties in March 2018.
The government is also seeking a money judgement of at least $13,600.
Caser is facing up to 10 years incarceration and a fine of up to $250,000. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed will be based upon the seriousness of the offenses and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jarod J. Douglas is prosecuting the case on behalf of the government. The Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Ohio County Sheriff’s Office, the Wheeling Police Department, and the Moundsville Police Department investigated.
Senior U.S. District Judge Frederick P. Stamp, Jr. presided.
Financial Advisor Who Pled Guilty to Embezzling More Than 3.7 Million Dollars from His Clients Sentenced to 9 Years in PrisonRead the Press Release
An Oakland County financial advisor who pled guilty last September to embezzling over 3.7 million dollars from his clients at UBS Financial Services, was sentenced by Judge Bernard Friedman to 9 years in prison yesterday, announced United States Attorney Matthew Schneider.
Schneider was joined in the announcement by Timothy R. Slater, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI, Detroit Field Office and Mark Clemens, Birmingham Police Chief.
John Maccoll, 65, of Rochester Hills, Michigan pled guilty to wire fraud in relation to the theft of approximately $3.7 million from his clients at UBS Financial Services (UBS) located in Birmingham, Michigan.
According to the plea agreement, Maccoll advised some of his clients at UBS to wire transfer money or write checks to his personal accounts in order to take advantage of investment vehicles which he claimed were not available through UBS. Subsequently, Maccoll would falsely tell the clients who sent money to his personal accounts that the funds they “invested” in were performing well and that they should send more money. Instead of investing the clients’ funds sent to his personal account, Maccoll converted these funds to his personal use. More than a dozen individuals who sought advice from Maccoll through UBS became victims of his scheme. It is estimated that these victims lost over $3.7 million during the period from April 2010 until March 2018.
United States Attorney Schneider stated, "Let this sentence be a deterrent to anyone who tries to take advantage of those who seek to invest their hard earned money for their retirement. Our office is committed to vigorously prosecute these types of economic crimes because of their damaging effect on our society.”
The case was investigated by the FBI’s Detroit Metro Identity Theft and Financial Crimes Task Force.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Abed Hammoud with the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan in Detroit.
Final Defendant Identified in FBI Safe Streets Task Force Investigation Admits Selling CocaineRead the Press Release
PITTSBURGH - A resident of Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of distribution and possession with intent to distribute cocaine, United States Attorney Scott W. Brady announced today.
Rickee Dawkins, 52, pleaded guilty before Chief United States District Judge Mark R. Hornak on February 12, 2019.
Judge Hornak scheduled sentencing for June 7, 2019, at 1:30 p.m. The law provides for a total sentence of not more than 30 years in prison, a fine of not more than $2,000,000, or both. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed is based upon the seriousness of the offense and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.
Assistant United States Attorney Robert C. Schupansky is prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.
Rickee Dawkins was the final remaining defendant identified in an investigation into the distribution of cocaine conducted by the FBI Greater Pittsburgh Safe Streets Task Force (GPSSTF). The GPSSTF is comprised of dedicated law enforcement professionals from the Wilkinsburg Police Department, Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Bureau of Narcotics Investigations, Allegheny County Sheriff’s Office, Allegheny County Police Department, Pittsburgh Bureau of Police and the FBI.
Federal Prison Cook Convicted of Conspiracy, Attempted Drug Distribution and Accepting a BribeRead the Press Release
FRESNO, Calif. — On Tuesday, a federal jury convicted David G. Bruce II, 32, of Merced, with conspiring to provide inmates with prohibited objects; attempting to possess marijuana and heroin with the intent to distribute; and taking a bribe as a public official, Special Agent in Charge James K. Cheng and U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced.
“The integrity and honesty of correctional officers are critical to the safety of our federal prisons. Our office strives to ensure that individuals who fail to uphold those values, like David Bruce, will be held accountable for their actions,” said James K. Cheng, Special Agent in Charge for the U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General’s Los Angeles Field Office.
According to court documents, Bruce was employed as a cook foreman at the United States penitentiary in Atwater (USP Atwater). Between May and December 2015, Bruce conspired with inmates and individuals outside the prison to introduce prohibited items, including marijuana and heroin, into USP Atwater and received at least $1,580 as payment. On December 15, 2015, Bruce drove to meet an individual he believed would give him drugs to be smuggled into the prison, but was instead met by federal agents.
This case is the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Prisons and the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Vincenza Rabenn and Brian Delaney prosecuted the case.
Bruce faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine for possessing a controlled substance with intent to distribute. The maximum statutory penalty for conspiring to commit an offense against the United States is five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The maximum statutory penalty for a public official taking a bribe is 15 years 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.
Federal Jury Finds Beaver Falls Man Guilty of Distributing Fentanyl and CocaineRead the Press Release
PITTSBURGH, PA - After deliberating for six hours, a federal jury found Anthony Taylor guilty of five counts of violating the federal narcotics laws, United States Attorney Scott W. Brady announced today.
Taylor, 35, formerly of Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, was tried before United States District Judge Arthur J. Schwab in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
According to Assistant United States Attorneys Brendan T. Conway and Lee J. Karl, who prosecuted the case, the evidence presented at trial established that from 2016 to August 30, 2017 Taylor participated in a conspiracy to distribute substantial quantities of fentanyl and cocaine, mainly in the Beaver Falls area. On August 3, 2017, Taylor sold fentanyl to a confidential informant. On August 30, 2017, agents from the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office, from the Beaver Falls Police Department, and law enforcement officers from other law enforcement agencies executed a search warrant at Taylor’s home. During that search, law enforcement seized more than forty grams of fentanyl, approximately ten grams of cocaine, adulterants, packaging material, a digital scale, more than $10,000 in cash, and cellular telephones.
Judge Schwab scheduled sentencing for June 11, 2019. The law provides for a total sentence of not less than five years and not more than 140 years in prison, a fine of $13,000,000, or both. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed is based on the seriousness of the offenses and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.
The Pennsylvania State Police, the Beaver Falls Police Department, the New Brighton Police Department and the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office conducted the investigation that led to the prosecution of Anthony Taylor.
Federal Jury Convicts a Tuscaloosa County Man of Possessing MethamphetamineRead the Press Release
A federal jury on Tuesday evening, convicted a Tuscaloosa County man of possessing methamphetamine, announced U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Explosives Special Agent in Charge Marcus Watson.
Following a two- day trial before U.S. District Court Judge L. Scott Coogler, a jury convicted Carlos Gabriel DeAza, 48, of possessing more than 50 grams of methamphetamine with the intention to distribute, possession of a gun in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. DeAza will be sentenced in June.
According to the evidence at the trial, agents of the West Alabama Narcotics Task Force executed a search warrant at DeAza’s home on May 31, 2018, where they found nearly 75 grams of pure methamphetamine, scales and bags for distribution, and four handguns. The methamphetamine was hidden inside of a shoe in the laundry room of the Holt-area home.
“Felons who have disregard for the law will be prime targets by federal law enforcement and will be taken out of our communities,” Town said. “We are committed to working with our federal, state and local law enforcement partners to find these criminals and send them to federal prison where there is no sanctuary for parole.”
“ATF’s Crime Gun Intelligence focuses on reducing violent crime and disrupting the shooting cycle that negatively impact our neighborhoods,” Watson said. “The priority of protecting the public is evident with the partnerships with the West Alabama Narcotics Task Force and the U. S. Attorney’s Office.”
The penalty for possessing with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine is a minimum of 10 years in prison.
The minimum penalty for possessing a gun in furtherance of a drug crime is 5 years in prison.
The maximum penalty for being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm is 10 years in prison. Due to DeAza’s extensive criminal history, this sentence could be increased.
ATF investigated the case, along with the West Alabama Narcotics Task Force. Assistant United States Attorneys Melissa K. Atwood and Kristy Peoples prosecuted the case.
Federal Indictments Target South Los Angeles Street Gang Involved in Drug Trafficking, Extortion and Attempted MurderRead the Press Release
LOS ANGELES – Authorities have arrested 11 members and associates of the South Los Angeles-based Florencia-13 (F13) street gang on federal racketeering, narcotics and firearms charges. One of the indictments unsealed today alleges that defendants linked to the gang trafficked methamphetamine, heroin, cocaine and other drugs in their territory and attempted to smuggle narcotics into the state prison system.
Those arrested today are among 36 members and associates of the F13 gang named in six federal grand jury indictments. One of the indictments alleges that the gang is a criminal enterprise as defined by the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. Twenty-six members and associates of the gang allegedly conspired to violate RICO and engaged in drug trafficking, illegal gambling, attempted murder and assault. The RICO indictment also alleges that the gang actively attempted to smuggle narcotics into the California state prison and Los Angeles County jail systems, including attempting to mail two shipments totaling 100 grams of heroin to an imprisoned Mexican Mafia member.
The lead defendant in RICO indictment – Leonel Laredo, a.k.a. “Wizard,” 47, who is currently incarcerated at a federal prison in Beaumont, Texas – allegedly directed F13’s operations in the unincorporated Florence-Firestone neighborhood of South Los Angeles, as well as parts of Lynwood, Maywood, Bell and other nearby communities. Laredo, who is serving a sentence for prior racketeering and drug convictions related to his F13 activities, is one of four members of the Mexican Mafia prison gang who allegedly had leadership roles in the gang. The indictment alleges that Laredo ran the street gang from prison with a goal of enriching himself, family members and associates through extortionate “taxes” taken from drug dealers and businesses in F13’s territory.
The RICO indictment also alleges that F13 members were responsible for the shooting and attempted murder of a rival gang member in South Los Angeles in December 2016. In April 2017, one defendant, Samuel Flores Mejia, a.k.a. “Menace,” shot and wounded a fellow F13 member to discipline him at one of the gang’s “casitas,” or illegal gambling houses.
A second indictment unsealed today alleges that five F13 members and associates, working out of a South Los Angeles hookah lounge, participated in a scheme to distribute methamphetamine. A third indictment charges two F13 members with being felons in possession of a firearm and ammunition, namely an AK-47-type rifle. The remaining three indictments charge three individual F13 members and associates with distributing of methamphetamine.
Out of the 36 defendants named in the six indictments, 11 were arrested today, 16 were already in custody, and authorities are searching for nine fugitives.
The defendants taken into custody this morning are scheduled to make their initial court appearance this afternoon in United States District Court.
An indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Los Angeles Police Department. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation provided substantial assistance. The Joint Regional Intelligence Center provided support during the investigation.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Christopher C. Kendall of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force Section.
Farmington Hills Man Sentenced to 116 Months in Prison for Title-Washing SchemeRead the Press Release
A Farmington Hills man was sentenced to 116 months in prison yesterday for having devised and executed an elaborate vehicle title fraud scheme, announced United States Attorney Matthew Schneider.
Schneider was joined in the announcement by U.S. Postal Inspector in Charge Patricia Armstrong.
According to court records, Solomon Israel, 60, of Farmington Hills, ran a business that fraudulently retitled vehicles worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. In carrying out his scheme, Israel obtained fraudulent Michigan titles that purported to give him “free and clear” ownership to vehicles that, in fact, had third-party security interests from financing companies. Israel then traveled to other states and used those false titles to acquire new out-of-state titles, thereby fraudulently extinguishing the third-party security interests. After obtaining the out-of-state titles, Israel returned to Michigan and resold many of the vehicles, ultimately causing hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses to the financing companies.
In carrying out his scheme, Israel falsely assumed the identity of an incarcerated man in Ohio. Israel also used that incarcerated man’s identity to engage in illicit banking transactions—conduct that resulted in additional convictions for bank fraud and aggravated identity theft.
“Our office is committed to aggressively investigating and prosecuting fraud in all of its forms,” stated United States Attorney Matthew Schneider. “Whether the victims are government authorities, private companies, or other individuals, we’ll hold criminals accountable when they choose to lie and cheat for their own financial gain.”
U.S. Postal Inspector in Charge Patricia Armstrong said, “Protecting the public is a key function for law enforcement. In fact, Postal Inspectors have protected Americans from those who use the U.S. Mail for fraudulent purposes since the passage of the Mail Fraud Statute in 1872. The sentencing of Solomon Israel demonstrates our continuing commitment to protect all citizens of the United States.”
Israel was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Mark A. Goldsmith. Judge Goldsmith ordered Israel to pay $616,087.00 in restitution.
The case was investigated by the United States Postal Inspection Service and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew J. Yahkind
El Dorado Woman Sentenced to over 4 Years in Federal Prison for Wire Fraud and Possession of MethamphetamineRead the Press Release
El Dorado, Arkansas - Duane (DAK) Kees, United States Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas, announced that Meredith Atwell, age 39, of Huttig, Arkansas was sentenced February 13, 2019 to 54 months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release on one count of Wire Fraud and one count of Possession of a Prohibited Object in Prison. The Honorable Susan O. Hickey presided over the sentencing hearings in the United States District Court in El Dorado.
According to an Information filed by the United States Attorney, Atwell was employed by South Arkansas Substance Abuse treatment center (SASA) in 2015 when she began converting the non-profits for her personal use by printing out corporate checks and forging the signatures of SASA board members. Atwell continued this embezzlement from SASA into 2016 and stole over $140,000 from the non-profit before the financial condition of the company deteriorated and it finally closed.
The embezzlement from SASA came to light during the larger Western District of Arkansas United States Attorney’s Office investigation into the State of Arkansas’s General Improvement Fund (GIF) expenditures from Act 791 sponsored by State Senator Jon Woods in 2013. SASA had received over $600,000 in GIF funds from Act 791 in 2013 and the investigation into the expenditure of those funds revealed Atwell’s diversion of those funds for her own use.
While Atwell was incarcerated on charges relating to her plea to the wire fraud charges against SASA, she was also convicted of Possessing a Prohibited Object (methamphetamine) while in prison.
Atwell pled to guilty to an Information filed by the United States Attorney on August 24, 2017 on the wire fraud charges and pled guilty to a later Indictment on the Prohibited Object charge on August 9, 2018.
This case was investigated by the Union County Sheriff’s Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Marshal Service, and prosecuted by AUSA’s Ben Wulff.
Duquesne Man Sentenced to Prison for Package Theft Spree at Shadyside and North Oakland Apartment BuildingsRead the Press Release
PITTSBURGH, PA - A resident of Duquesne, PA, has been sentenced in federal court to fifteen months’ imprisonment and a three year term of supervised release, on his conviction of conspiracy and mail theft, United States Attorney Scott W. Brady announced today.
United States District Judge Cathy Bissoon imposed the sentence on Ron Matthew Sharp, 42.
According to information presented to the court, from February through May of 2018, Sharp, along with his co-defendant Christopher Carr, entered multiple apartment buildings in the Shadyside and North Oakland areas of Pittsburgh, and opened United States Postal Service packages or other mail items that were not addressed to them, stole packages, and stole items from within packages that had been left at authorized mail depositories. Defendants stole items from more than 40 victims, filling up trash bags, duffel bags, and backpacks with their loot. Defendants then provided items they had stolen from the mail, including gift cards, to others, who redeemed the gift cards at various locations, including Giant Eagle and GETGO. Defendants also re-sold, and instructed others to attempt to re-sell, items defendants had stolen from the mail. Christopher Carr is scheduled to be sentenced on March 12, 2019.
Assistant United States Attorney Christy C. Wiegand prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.
The United States Postal Inspection Service and the United States Department of Homeland Security conducted the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Ron Matthew Sharp.
Duo Charged with Conspiracy to Distribute Narcotics into Indiana Correctional FacilitiesRead the Press Release
Fort Wayne, IN – Two Allen County residents were recently indicted by a federal Grand Jury in the Northern District of Indiana. In the indictment, Calvin Jones, 37, and Diamond Parker, 28, were charged with participating in a conspiracy to smuggle illegal narcotics into correctional institutions located within Indiana.
The indictment alleges that beginning in August 2017, the defendants conspired to distribute 5-fluro ADB (a synthetic cannabinoid) to inmates in a correction institution. They also were each charged with one count on different dates of possessing with intent to distribute a detectable amount of 5-fluro ADB.
The United States Attorney’s Office emphasizes that a criminal complaint is merely an allegation and that all persons are presumed innocent until, and unless proven guilty in court.
If convicted, any specific sentence to be imposed will be determined by the judge after a consideration of federal sentencing statutes and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.
This case is the result of an investigation between the US Postal Inspection Service, the Indiana Department of Corrections, the Fort Wayne Police Department, the Allen County Sheriff’s Department, the United States Marshal’s Service and the FBI. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Lesley Miller Lowery.
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Dominican National Pleads Guilty to Social Security FraudRead the Press Release
BOSTON – A Dominican national residing in Lynn pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court in Boston to Social Security fraud.
Kelvin Bautista Valdez, 32, pleaded guilty to one count of false representation of a Social Security number. U.S. District Court Judge Denise J. Casper scheduled sentencing for May 20, 2019. Bautista Valdez was arrested and charged in a July 2018 federal law enforcement sweep of 25 individuals accused of document and benefit fraud.
Dubbed “Double Trouble,” the July 2018 investigation was aimed at detecting, deterring and disrupting organizations and individuals involved in various types of document, identity and benefit fraud schemes.
On Jan. 20, 2015, Bautista Valdez, applied for a Massachusetts driver’s license using the name and Social Security number of a Puerto Rican citizen. He presented a Puerto Rican birth certificate and a Social Security card in the other person’s name to the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles as proof of his identity. Based on the application and supporting identity documents, Bautista Valdez was issued a driver’s license in the name of the Puerto Rican citizen.
The charge of false representation of a Social Security number provides for a sentence of no greater than five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Peter C. Fitzhugh, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston; Phillip Coyne, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General, Office of Investigations; Adam Schneider, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Social Security Administration, Office of Inspector General, Office of Investigations, Boston Field Division; Christina Scaringi, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Inspector General, Northeast Regional Office; Michael Mikulka, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, Office of Investigations; William B. Gannon, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of State, Diplomatic Security Service, Boston Field Office; Joseph W. Cronin, Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service; Colonel Kerry A. Gilpin, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police; and Massachusetts State Auditor Suzanne M. Bump made the announcement. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen Burzycki of Lelling’s Major Crimes Unit is prosecuting the case.
Dental Assistant Admits Unlawful Prescription Opioid Pain Pills DistributionRead the Press Release
CAMDEN, N.J. – A Pennsylvania woman today admitted unlawfully distributing prescription opioid pain medication in the Philadelphia and South Jersey areas, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.
Nancy Ayres, 45, a/k/a “Nancy Esslinger,” of Upper Chichester, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Renee Marie Bumb in Camden federal court to an information charging her with one count of distributing and possessing with intent to distribute oxycodone. Ayres was previously arrested and charged by criminal complaint on Aug. 27, 2018.
According to the documents filed in the case and statements made in court:
Ayres is a dental assistant and has worked in several dental offices in the Philadelphia area and neighboring states. Beginning in at least December 2017, Ayres obtained prescriptions in close proximity to each other for large quantities of oxycodone pills from at least three different medical professionals.
Between April 2018 and June 2018, Ayres allegedly sold 1,044 15- and 20-milligram oxycodone tablets. Ayres made representations that she could obtain other prescription medications for sale, including muscle relaxers and medications for pain management, erectile dysfunction, and anxiety.
The charge of unlawful oxycodone distribution carries a maximum penalty of 20 years of in prison and a fine of up to $1 million. Sentencing is scheduled for May 20, 2019.U.S. Attorney Carpenito credited special agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s New Jersey Division, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Valerie A. Nickerson in Newark; and the N.J. Attorney General’s Atlantic City Task Force, under the direction of Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal, with the investigation leading to today’s plea.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Christina O. Hud of the Criminal Division.
Defense counsel: David Jay Glassman Esq., Marlton, New Jersey
Dark Web Trafficker Convicted of Drug Importation ConspiracyRead the Press Release
Christopher Bantli pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to a conspiracy to import fentanyl into the United States, announced Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and Special Agent in Charge Adolphus P. Wright of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Miami Field Division.
Bantli, 39, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson for the District of Columbia. Bantli had been extradited to the United States from Canada following his indictment in the District of Columbia. According to court records, beginning in or around Nov. 2015 and continuing through Sept. 8, 2016, Bantli advertised, distributed, and imported controlled substances, including powerful fentanyl analogues and synthetic opiates, through the encrypted website AlphaBay. Bantli accepted virtual currency such as Bitcoin as payment for the illegal substances, and used Canadian and U.S. mail to distribute the illicit substances to consumers. To assist with his distribution enterprise, Bantli used his apartment in Calgary, Canada, as a drug laboratory and de facto fulfillment center for the orders placed on his AlphaBay profile. Bantli’s apartment contained a pill press, packaging, cutting agents, as well as the controlled substances themselves.
Bantli will be sentenced on May 29 before Judge Berman Jackson.
The case was investigated by the DEA, in cooperation with Canadian law enforcement authorities. The U.S. Marshals Service provided critical assistance in Bantli’s extradition. The U.S. Department of Justice thanks the Government of Canada for its assistance in this case, in particular the Calgary Police Service Cybercrime Support Team. This case is also the result of the ongoing efforts by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF), a partnership that brings together the combined expertise and unique abilities of federal, state, and local enforcement agencies. The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt, dismantle, and prosecute high-level members of drug trafficking, weapons trafficking, and money laundering organizations and enterprises.
Trial Attorneys Anthony Aminoff and Kaitlin Sahni of the Criminal Division’s Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section (NDDS) are prosecuting the case. Trial Attorney Brian Nicholson of the Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs provided significant assistance in bringing Bantli to the United States and procuring foreign evidence during the investigation.
Columbia Woman Pleads to Federal Charge of Enticing Minor to Engage in Sexual ActivityRead the Press Release
Columbia, South Carolina ---- United States Attorney Sherri A. Lydon announced today that India Tykeyah-Najee Cuyler, a/k/a “Lady Tank,” age 24, of Columbia, South Carolina, pled guilty in federal court to using a facility of interstate commerce (a cell phone) to entice a minor under the age of 18 to engage in sexual activity.
Evidence presented in court established that on November 21, 2017, undercover officers with the Lexington Police Department encountered a minor advertising sex via a website. An undercover officer set up a time to meet with the minor at a local motel, wherein officers observed the minor being dropped off by Cuyler and Donnell Salethian Woodard. Officers placed Cuyler and Woodard under arrest. The investigation led to another nearby motel where a second minor, who was also involved in the illegal venture, was located. The investigation revealed Cuyler was using a cell phone to post advertisements for commercial sex with the minors on a website and taking a portion of the proceeds. Cuyler and Woodard were both charged federally.
Woodard’s case remains pending. All charges against Woodard are merely accusations, and he is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
Cuyler faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison with a maximum of life, mandatory registration as a sex offender, and at least 5 years and up to a lifetime of supervised release.
United States District Judge J. Michelle Childs of Columbia accepted the guilty plea and will impose sentence after she has reviewed the presentence report, which will be prepared by the United States Probation Office.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Lexington Police Department, and the West Columbia Police Department. It was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorney’s Offices, 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 identify and rescue victims. For more information, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
Assistant United States Attorney Stacey D. Haynes of the Columbia office is prosecuting the case.
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Colorado Man Pleads Guilty to Enticing a Minor for Illicit SexRead the Press Release
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A Colorado man pleaded guilty in federal court today to traveling to Kansas City, Mo., to meet an undercover FBI agent, whom he believed to be a mother with her 7-year-old daughter, for illicit sexual activity.
Ryan Edward Mausner, 42, of Basalt, Colo., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Greg Kays to the online enticement of a minor.
By pleading guilty today, Mausner admitted that from Jan. 31 to May 25, 2018, he induced, enticed, and coerced a child victim to engage in criminal sexual activity. Mausner was actually communicating (via the Kik messaging application and texts) with an undercover FBI agent, who portrayed a single mother with a 7-year-old daughter.
Mausner admitted that he engaged the undercover agent in several private chat sessions in which he said he wanted to engage in sexual activity with the mother and daughter. These discussions entailed descriptions of the 7-year-old girl and an insistence, on Mausner’s part, that the mother and 7-year-old would call him “Sir.” Mausner described, in explicit detail, the sorts of sexual activity that he intended to perform on the 7-year-old when they met.
Mausner began communicating plans to either travel to Kansas City, Mo., or arrange for the travel of the mother and her daughter to come to Colorado. Mausner traveled by plane from Denver, Colo., to Kansas City, Mo., on May 25, 2018, with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity with the child victim.
Under federal statutes, Mausner is subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison without parole, up to a sentence of life in federal prison without parole. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes, as the sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick D. Daly. It was investigated by the FBI.
Project Safe Childhood
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc . For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab "resources."Colchester Woman Charged with Fraud Offense Stemming from Embezzlement SchemeRead the Press Release
John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, and Brian C. Turner, Special Agent in Charge of the New Haven Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, today announced that a grand jury in New Haven returned an indictment yesterday charging VICKI MILLER, 56, of Colchester, with one count of wire fraud stemming from an embezzlement scheme.
Miller was arrested this morning. Following her arrest, she appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah A. L. Merriam in New Haven and was released on a $50,000 bond.
As alleged in the indictment, from approximately June 2017 until August 2018, Miller was employed as a bookkeeper by Greylock Property Group LLC and its owner. Beginning in approximately July 2017, Miller used her access to her employers’ bank accounts to embezzle their money by making withdrawals at ATMs, writing checks to herself, and transferring funds to her own accounts.
It is alleged that Miller stole more than $400,000 through this scheme.
If convicted of the charge in the indictment, Miller faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years.
U.S. Attorney Durham stressed that an indictment is not evidence of guilt. Charges are only allegations, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
This investigation is being conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation with the assistance of the Town of Groton Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Francis.
Clay County Woman Pleads Guilty to FEMA FraudRead the Press Release
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – A Clay County woman pled guilty yesterday to embezzling over $18,000 in federal FEMA disaster benefits. The case was investigated by the United States Department of Homeland Security – Office of Inspector General (DHS-OIG) and the West Virginia Commission on Special Investigations.
Pamela Taylor, 57, admitted that she falsely registered for Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) disaster benefits after the June 2016 flood in Clay County, West Virginia. Taylor claimed that her primary residence was damaged by the flood and that she was staying in a rental unit after the flood. In fact, her primary residence was undamaged, and she still resided there. Due to her false statements, she received more than $18,000 in FEMA benefits to which she was not entitled. In her plea agreement, Taylor agreed to pay restitution of $18,149.04.
“The flood was a natural disaster. Stealing from FEMA is a manmade disaster,” said United States Attorney Mike Stuart. “The floods of June 2016 were historic and devastating to thousands of West Virginians. Lives were lost. Too many of our brothers and sisters lost everything. FEMA dollars are critical but limited. Stealing critical FEMA dollars is a crime – literally and figuratively. Taylor’s fraud scheme diverted disaster benefits from our most desperate and vulnerable, those most in need of help. We take the solemn responsibility of ensuring FEMA dollars are used responsibly and legally. The public can rest assured that my office takes heinous acts like stealing from disaster relief funds very seriously and will prosecute each and every case brought to us to the maximum extent of the law.”
“Taking advantage of federal funds intended for disaster relief misappropriates taxpayer dollars, reduces monies available to true victims, and erodes public confidence in relief programs,” said Special Agent in Charge Mark Tasky of DHS-OIG. “In July 2016, after the good people of West Virginia were devastated by severe storms, flooding, landslides, and mudslides the month prior, the Defendant knowingly submitted a fraudulent application for disaster relief, in order to enrich herself and divert critical funds away from true disaster victims. The DHS-OIG, operating jointly with our partners in the West Virginia Commission on Special Investigations and the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia, worked tirelessly to bring the Defendant to justice for her crimes.”
Taylor faces up to 30 years in prison and a fine of up to $500,000 when she is sentenced on May 30, 2019. United States District Court Judge the Honorable Irene C. Berger presided over the plea hearing. Assistant United States Attorneys Stefan Hasselblad and Meredith George Thomas handled the prosecution.
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Choctaw Man Pleads Guilty to Burglarizing Procurement OfficeRead the Press Release
Jackson, Miss. – Shelton Shane Chapman, Jr., a member of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, pled guilty today before U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves, to burglary within the Pearl River Community of the Choctaw Indian reservation, announced U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst and FBI Special Agent in Charge Christopher Freeze.
On November 7, 2017, Chapman entered the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians’ Procurement Office and stole a Dell bag and several iPhones and iPads. Chapman sold some of the items to two individuals who then pawned the items at a local pawn shop.
Chapman will be sentenced on May 15, 2019, at 9:00 a.m. before Judge Reeves, and faces a maximum penalty of seven years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Choctaw Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Kimberly Purdie and Kevin Payne.
Career criminal sentenced to prison for methamphetamine trafficking, weapons possessionRead the Press Release
SAVANNAH, GA: A Bryan County man who was part of the gang and drug trafficking conspiracy prosecuted under Operation Vanilla Gorilla has been sentenced to nearly 16 years in federal prison.
Jessie Ray Hurt, 40, of Ellabell, Ga., was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge William T. Moore, Jr., to 188 months in prison to be followed by four years of supervised release, said Bobby L. Christine, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia. There is no parole in the federal prison system.
Hurt, a convicted felon, was indicted in August 2018 by a federal grand jury as part of Operation Vanilla Gorilla, an investigation targeting the Ghost Face Gangsters, a violent, white supremacist street gang operated largely from inside Georgia’s prison system. Hurt pled guilty in October 2018 to Possession of 5 Grams or More of Methamphetamine and Possession of a Firearm by a convicted felon.
According to facts presented in public records, court proceedings, and court filings, federal, state and local enforcement identified Hurt as a member of a drug trafficking organization through undercover purchases of methamphetamine and a search of Hurt’s home. During the search, investigators found a handgun, prescription narcotics, and a large quantity of methamphetamine hidden in a compartment in the floor of Hurt’s bedroom. Police also seized two shotguns, four rifles, a bucket of ammunition, and drug trafficking paraphernalia.
Hurt’s criminal history spans 21 years, with convictions on charges ranging from driving under the influence to multiple convictions for possession, manufacturing and trafficking methamphetamine, and illegal firearms possession. Most recently, he was released from state prison after serving three years of a total 16-year sentence for violating probation, manufacturing, and possessing methamphetamine, and illegal firearms possession.
“Our communities deserve better than to be victimized repeatedly by career criminals who seem to serve only fractions of their sentences before returning to the streets and to their illegal activities,” said Bobby L. Christine, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia. “This sentence of nearly 16 years in federal prison means Jessie Ray Hurt will serve real time for his crimes, because there is no parole in the federal prison system.”
“This sentence will ensure the incarceration of a dangerous criminal and contribute to the restoration of order and peace,” said Beau Kolodka, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the Atlanta Field Division of the bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Far too many criminals take advantage of the overburdened state penal system that provides them ample opportunity to avoid serious prison time by routinely being let out early after serving only a fraction of their court ordered sentence,” said Jamie Jones, Special Agent in Charge of the Southeastern Regional Drug Enforcement Office of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. “Hurt’s refusal to learn from his prior bad choices and own personal desire to continue his criminal lifestyle has finally caught up to him. Almost 16 years of confinement in the federal prison system will certainly provide him ample opportunity to ponder his decision to continue a life of crime.”
This case was prosecuted as an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) case by AUSAs Greg Gilluly and Tania Groover. The OCDETF program is the premier United States Department of Justice enforcement mechanism to identify and dismantle drug trafficking organizations.
Cameron High School Teacher Indicted for Producing Child PornographyRead the Press Release
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A former teacher in Cameron, Mo., has been indicted by a federal grand jury for using three minor victims to produce child pornography.
William Derek Williams, 39, was charged in a four-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Kansas City, Mo., on Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2019. Williams formerly was a high school language arts teacher and more recently a part-time high school multimedia teacher at the time of the alleged offense.
The federal indictment charges Williams with three counts of producing child pornography, involving three different minor victims, from Jan. 1, 2013, to Sept. 6, 2018. Williams is also charged with one count of possessing child pornography on Sept. 8, 2018.
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 David Luna. It was investigated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Clinton County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department.
Project Safe Childhood
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc . For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab "resources."California Man Sentenced to 8 Years in Prison for Conspiracy to Commit Sex Trafficking of a MinorRead the Press Release
PHOENIX – Today, Mauro Veliz, 31, of Heron, Calif., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Diane J. Humetewa to 96 months in federal prison, to be followed by a lifetime term of supervised release. Veliz will also be required to register as a sex offender. Veliz had previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of a minor.
Between April 23, 2017 and May 5, 2017, Veliz conspired with others to have the minor victim, who was 15, transported from Arizona to California to engage in sex acts with him. Veliz knew at the time that the victim was a minor. Veliz used Facebook to arrange his trafficking of the victim.
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 United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
The investigation in this case was conducted by the FBI’s Greater Phoenix Human Trafficking Task Force, which is a collaboration of numerous law enforcement agencies, including the FBI and the Phoenix Police Department. The prosecution was handled by Robert I. Brooks, Assistant U.S. Attorney, District of Arizona, Phoenix.
CASE NUMBER: CR-17-1389-PHX-DJH
RELEASE NUMBER: 2019-012_Veliz
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For more information on the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/az/
27 Indicted in Multi-State ATM Robbery ConspiracyRead the Press Release
PLANO, Texas – U.S. Attorney Joseph D. Brown announced today that 27 Houston residents have been indicted and arrested as the result of an investigation into ATM robberies in the Eastern District of Texas.
From August 2017 through January 2019, the defendants are alleged to have conspired with each other, and others, to participate in and commit at least 47 strong-arm robberies of ATM (Automated Teller Machine) technicians as they attempted to service the machines. In addition to multiple robberies in the Eastern District of Texas, including robberies in Plano, Allen, McKinney, and Texarkana, the suspects are accused of robberies in multiple other cities throughout Texas, and in Georgia, North Carolina, Missouri, Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, and Tennessee. Estimated losses to financial institutions are believed to be approximately $2,779,000. The suspects are linked to a criminal gang based in the 5th Ward area of Houston known as the Market Street Money Gang, or MSMG. A federal grand jury indicted seven individuals in August 2018 charging them with conspiracy to commit robbery interfering with interstate commerce and robbery interfering with interstate commerce. Since that time, superseding indictments have been returned by the grand jury and the number of defendants charged has increased to 27.
Twenty-three of the indicted defendants have been arrested. A remaining four suspects are at large. The arrested individuals named in the indictment of Feb. 6, 2019, are as follows:
- PAUL ROOSEVELT BANK, III, 24;
- JOHN FELTON BOUTTE, JR. 29;
- DAVID BENFORD DORSEY, 38;
- KEITH DEWAYNE DORSEY, 30;
- KEVIN DEWAYNE HARRIS, 32;
- JESSE BANKS MOTTON, JR., 33;
- CHARLES JERMAINE RANDLE, 33;
- GEORGE SHERMAN BECKS, 25;
- MARQUETT CAINS DORSEY, 34;
- PATRICK RENOID SMITH, 32;
- BRANDON JAMAL PINSON, 32;
- TRACY ONEAL BLUNT, JR., 25;
- CYRUS RAY MCQUARN, 32;
- DEANDRE MARKER ADAMS, 43;
- LESLIE JAMES ADAMS, 26;
- TYRONE CHRISTOPHER GOREE, 36;
- LORIE ANITA MONTGOMERY, 26;
- MAJEL D. MAPP, 24;
- LATRELL RAYSHOD PHILLIPS, 23;
- DARIUS MARQUISE CELESTINE, 29;
- ALLEN JOSEPH LANCELIN, 26;
- OLIVER MAVRICK ARRINGTON, 30; and
- MARSHALL LEE WARE, JR., 39, all of Houston.
If convicted, the defendants could each face up to 20 years in federal prison.
“This was a large criminal enterprise,” said U.S. States Attorney Joseph Brown. “The criminal activity spanned a good part of the country. They hurt people, scared people, and a lot of money was stolen. The FBI and our state and local partners worked hard to put these cases together, and with the breadth of this conspiracy, that was a difficult task. We intend to make sure these people go to prison.”
This case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Texas Department of Public Safety, Dallas Police Department, Houston Police Department, Plano Police Department, McKinney Police Department, Allen, Police Department, Texarkana Police Department, and Nashville, Arkansas Police Department. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys in the Plano office.
An indictment or arrest is not evidence of guilt. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
10 Defendants Arrested in International Operation and Charged in Manhattan Federal Court with International Wire Fraud and Money Laundering SchemeRead the Press Release
Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, William F. Sweeney Jr., the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), Troy Miller, Director, Field Operations, New York, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”), and James P. O’Neill, the Commissioner of the New York City Police Department (“NYPD”), announced a multinational operation involving 10 arrests in the United States and three other countries, and the unsealing of Indictments and filing of a related Complaint charging MARTINS APSKALNS, PAVELS BERNCS, JANIS BERNS, RAITIS GRIGORJEVS, SERGEJS LOGINS, DIANA MAKSIMOVIC, AGRIS PETROVS, IGORS PIRINS, VALTERS VOLKSONS, and VLADISLAV ZAPOLSKIJ with conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. PAVELS BERNCS was arrested in Helsinki, Finland, and VLADISLAV ZAPOLSKIJ was arrested in Vilnius, Lithuania, and both are pending extradition to the United States; MARTINS APSKALNS and IGORS PIRINS were arrested in Kuldiga, Latvia, extradited to the United States, and arraigned before U.S. Magistrate Judge Debra Freeman on December 21, 2018; DIANA MAKSIMOVIC was arrested in Vilnius, Lithuania, and SERGEJS LOGINS was arrested in Riga, Latvia, and both were extradited to the United States and arraigned before U.S. District Judge Jesse M. Furman on February 4, 2019; and JANIS BERNS, RAITIS GRIGORJEVS, AGRIS PETROVS, and VALTERS VOLKSONS were arrested in Queens, New York, and presented before Magistrate Judge Ona T. Wang on December 3, 2018. APSKALNS, BERNCS, LOGINS, MAKSIMOVIC, PIRINS, and ZAPOLSKIJ are charged by Indictment, and BERNS, GRIGORJEVS, PETROVS, and VOLKSONS are charged by Complaint. The case has been assigned to United States District Judge Jesse M. Furman.
U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said: “As alleged, the defendants used an elaborate network of fictitious classic car dealers and collectors to take their victims for a ride financially. Thinking they were remitting money to purchase rare automobiles, victims were instead sending large sums to bogus auto transport companies that were really just vehicles from which the defendants allegedly vacuumed up the proceeds of their fraudulent scheme. Thanks to our law enforcement partners here in New York and in Latvia, Lithuania, and Finland, the defendants’ once-lucrative joyride is over.”
FBI Assistant Director William F. Sweeney Jr. said: “Victims of this fraud not only believed they were getting what they paid for, they were often stuck paying for the classic automobiles they never received. The FBI New York Eurasian Organized Crime Task Force would never have been able to bring these criminals to justice without the help of our task force partners, but also the work and partnership with our international partners in Latvia, Lithuania and Finland. We cannot stress enough how important it is for these suspects to understand the FBI has the ability to bring them back to the United States to face justice and punishment for their crimes.”
CBP New York Director of Field Operations Troy Miller said: “CBP, working in partnership with U.S. Attorney’s office, FBI, and the New York Police Department, demonstrated vigilance and exceptional skill in targeting and detecting this scheme, directly leading to the apprehension and prosecution of the alleged conspirators.”
NYPD Commissioner James P. O’Neill said: “In this increasingly connected world, it has never been more important for the NYPD and our law enforcement partners, in America and abroad, to work in concert toward our shared public-safety goals. It is due to that close cooperation that – after more than two years and across multiple continents – this investigation into international wire fraud and money laundering has successfully resulted in arrests. I commend and thank the attorneys from the Southern District for bringing this case forward, and all the FBI, CBP, and NYPD investigators for their dedication. Together, we will continue to be relentless in fighting crime that impacts the people we serve wherever, and however, it occurs.”
According to the allegations in the Indictments and the Complaint:[1]
From at least January 2016 through December 2018, the defendants participated in a fraudulent scheme that most commonly operated as follows: first, co-conspirators impersonated automotive dealers and collectors and claimed to be selling classic cars on various well-known internet auction and trading websites. Victims responding to the ads were in fact corresponding with a fraud scheme participant. After the victims and co-conspirators came to terms on a sale price, including down payment and shipping costs, victims were next directed to purported automotive transportation companies and were told that these companies would accept payment and transport the cars. These companies were in fact shell corporations established by the conspiracy to help perpetrate the fraud, whose corporate bank accounts were established and controlled by the defendants and co-conspirators, awaiting wired funds from the fraud’s victims. After victims had wired payment, the defendants and co-conspirators went to the banks to drain the victim’s funds, often starting the same day payment had been transmitted, withdrawing from different bank branches in numerous withdrawals on the same day, and withdrawing in denominations that were varied and often kept to an amount that they believed would prevent the financial institutions from recording and reporting the fraud. The defendants and other co-conspirators then sent the fraud proceeds outside the United States to Eastern European countries, from where the defendants and many of their co-conspirators originated. Some of the defendants maintained managerial roles, recruiting co-conspirators to participate and providing directions and victim information to scheme participants once the co-conspirators were inside the United States. Victims never received the goods they believed they had purchased, and many were unable to recover their money or were left paying loans for cars that were never truly for sale.
Each of the defendants is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. The maximum potential sentences in this case are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendants will be determined by the judge. The charges contained in the Indictments and the Complaint are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
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The investigation was conducted in close cooperation with the International Cooperation Department and the Criminal Investigation Department of the Central Criminal Police Department, State Police of Latvia; Prosecutor’s General Office of Latvia, International Cooperation Division; Police Department of Lithuania, Vilnius County Police Headquarters, Crimes Against Property Board; Lithuanian Criminal Police Bureau, International Liaison Board; Prosecutor General’s Office of the Republic of Lithuania; Vilnius Regional Prosecution Office; and the National Bureau of Investigation of Finland. The Department of Justice Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs also provided significant assistance.
If you believe you were a victim of this crime, including a victim entitled to restitution, and you wish to provide information to law enforcement and/or receive notice of future developments in the case or additional information, please contact the Victim/Witness Unit at the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, at (866) 874-8900. For additional information, go to: http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/nys/victimwitness.html.
The prosecution is being handled by the Office’s General Crimes Unit. Assistant United States Attorneys Jeffrey Coffman, Matthew Hellman, Emily Johnson, Daniel Nessim, and Thane Rehn are in charge of the prosecution.
[1] As the introductory phrase signifies, the entirety of the texts of the Indictments and the Complaint, and the descriptions of the Indictments and the Complaint set forth herein, constitute only allegations, and every fact described should be treated as an allegation.
12 February 2019
Un hombre de Oregón se declara culpable de un delito de odio federal por amenazar con llevar a cabo una masacre en una iglesia en EugeneRead the Press Release
El Departamento de Justicia anunció hoy que el acusado Benjamín Jaramillo Hernández, de 69 años, se declaró culpable hoy de un delito de odio federal y un cargo de posesión ilícita de munición que se basan en una serie de acciones cada vez más amenazantes y violentas con la iglesia católica St. Mary Catholic Church en Eugene como objetivo en septiembre del 2018. Lo anunciaron Eric Dreiband, el Fiscal General Auxiliar de la División de Derechos Civiles, y Billy J. Williams, el Fiscal Federal para el Distrito de Oregón.
«La División de Derechos Civiles se mantiene firme en su creencia que todas las personas deben vivir libres de amenazas de violencia», declaró el Fiscal General Auxiliar, Eric Dreiband. «El Departamento de Justicia seguirá defendiendo los derechos de individuos que se convierten en víctimas por ejercer sus creencias religiosas y enjuiciaremos a cualquiera que vulnere esos derechos».
«Las leyes contra los delitos de odio protegen valores estadounidenses fundamentales, como la libertad del culto. La declaración de culpabilidad de hoy reafirma el principio básico de que nadie debe vivir con miedo por motivos de su religión», dijo el Fiscal Federal Williamson. «Nuestra oficina continuará investigando activamente y enjuiciando los delitos de odio y buscando la justicia para todas las víctimas».
«Amenazas de acciones violentas atacan el derecho fundamental como estadounidense a vivir, trabajar y rezar sin miedo. Trabajando con la comunidad y nuestras agencias asociadas del orden público, nos fortalecemos gracias a nuestros valores comunes de mantener a salvo a todos independientemente de su raza, religión o creencias políticas», afirmó el Agente Especial Encargado Renn Cannon.
Según los documentos judiciales, el 9 de septiembre del 2018, Hernández fue escoltado fuera de la propiedad de St. Mary tras un ataque de ira durante el sacramento de la comunión. Cinco días más tarde, el 14 de septiembre, un empleado de la iglesia informó a la Policía de Eugene que alguien había dispensado aerosol de pimienta en los mangos de las puertas exteriores y en la ranura para el correo de la puerta principal de la oficina de St. Mary. Los empleados declararon sentir una sensación de ardor en sus dedos y dificultades para respirar. Un policía de Eugene y un agente del FBI identificaron a Hernández en unas videosecuencias de vigilancia de la iglesia como la persona responsable de los dos incidentes.
El 16 de septiembre del 2018, a Hernández lo vieron nuevamente cerca de St. Mary. Un testigo vio a Hernández al otro lado de la calle de la iglesia cuando este paró cerca de la Biblioteca Municipal de Eugene y gritó al testigo, «Aquí tengo algo para ti», mientras señalaba a una bolsa que llevaba encima.
Varios días más tarde, el 20 de septiembre, los empleados de St. Mary avisaron que habían encontrado una nota amenazante y siete balas explosivas de una Sig de 10mm en la oficina. La nota amenazaba a la iglesia con «2 MP5 con 50 cartuchos cada uno», un tipo de metralleta. La nota concluyó así: «A Eugene lo van a poner en el [palabrota] mapa».
Un policía de Eugene revisó nuevamente las videosecuencias de vigilancia de la iglesia e identificó a Hernández como el individuo que había dejado la nota y las balas. El 21 de septiembre del 2018, Hernández fue detenido por la Policía de Eugene en la Biblioteca Municipal de Eugene y acusado de intimidación en segundo grado, vandalismo en segundo grado y dos cargos de entrada no autorizada en segundo grado. Durante un registro de Hernández, los agentes hallaron una lata parcialmente vacía de aerosol de pimienta, tres cartuchos de escopeta .410 y 13 balas explosivas de una Sig de 10mm.
Hernández fue acusado en la lectura penal de cargos de un cargo de obstrucción al libre ejercicio de creencias religiosas y otro de delincuente en posesión de municiones.
Hernández se enfrenta a una pena máxima de 20 años de cárcel y una multa penal de hasta 250.000 $ por el delito de odio, y una pena máxima de 10 años de cárcel por la posesión ilícita de municiones. Hernández será condenado el 22 de mayo del 2019 ante la Juez del Tribunal de Distrito Federal Ann Aiken.
Este caso lo están enjuiciando Gavin Bruce, un Fiscal Federal Auxiliar de la Fiscalía Federal de Oregón, y Cameron Bell, un Abogado de Litigios de la División de Derechos Civiles del Departamento de Justicia de los EE. UU. El caso fue investigado por la División del FBI en Eugene y la Policía de Eugene.
Para más información sobre el trabajo del Departamento de Justicia para combatir y prevenir los delitos de odio, vaya a www.justice.gov/hatecrimes: es un único portal con enlaces a recursos del Departamento de Justicia relacionados con delitos de odio para la policía, los medios de comunicación, investigadores, víctimas, grupos de apoyo y otras organizaciones y personas.
Truck Driver for Post Office Pleads Guilty to Stealing MailRead the Press Release
WICHITA, KAN. – A former contract truck driver for the post office in Rose Hill pleaded guilty Tuesday to stealing items from the mail, U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister said.
Manuel De La Cruz, 30, Wichita, Kan., pleaded guilty to three counts of stealing items from the mail. In his plea, he pleaded guilty to stealing more than $6,500 worth of items from the mail. Stolen items included a Lenova laptop computer, an upper receiver for an AR 15 rifle, an AR 15 rifle barrel and a gas block for an AR 15.
Sentencing is set for April 29. He faces a penalty of up to five years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000.
McAllister commended the U.S. Postal Service – Office of Inspector General and Assistant U.S. Attorney Alan Metzger for their work on the case.
Three Individuals Sentenced to Prison for Their Roles in Bribery Schemes Involving VA Program for Disabled Military VeteransRead the Press Release
Two owners and an employee of for-profit, non-accredited schools were sentenced during the last two days for bribing a public official at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in exchange for the public official’s facilitation of over $2 million in payments that were supposed to be dedicated to providing vocational training for military veterans with service-connected disabilities.
Albert Poawui, 41, of Laurel, Maryland, was the owner of Atius Technology Institute (“Atius”), a school purporting to specialize in information technology courses. Sombo Kanneh, 29, of McLean, Virginia, was Poawui’s employee at Atius. Michelle Stevens, 57, of Waldorf, Maryland, was the owner of Eelon Training Academy, a school purporting to specialize in digital media courses.
Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Jessie K. Liu for the District of Columbia, Assistant Director in Charge Nancy McNamara of FBI’s Washington Field Office and Special Agent in Charge Kim Lampkins of U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General (OIG) Mid-Atlantic Field Office made the announcement.
All three defendants were sentenced by U.S. District Judge John D. Bates of the District of Columbia. Poawui was sentenced to serve 70 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $1.5 million in restitution to the VA. Kanneh was sentenced to serve 20 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release and was ordered to pay $113,227.30 in restitution to the VA and to forfeit $1.5 million. Stevens was sentenced to serve 30 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $83,000 in restitution to the VA and to forfeit $83,000.
James King, the VA official who all three defendants bribed, has pleaded guilty to bribery, wire fraud, and falsification of documents, and will be sentenced on Friday, Feb. 15.
The Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (VR&E) program is a VA program that provides disabled U.S. military veterans with education and employment-related services. VR&E program counselors advise veterans under their supervision which schools to attend and facilitate payments to those schools for veterans’ tuition and necessary supplies.
According to admissions made in connection with Poawui and Kanneh’s pleas, in or about August 2015, Poawui and King agreed that Poawui would pay King a seven percent cash kickback of all payments made by the VA to Atius. In exchange, King steered VR&E program veterans to Atius regardless of the veterans’ educational needs or interests and notwithstanding their repeated complaints about the poor quality of education at Atius.
Between Aug. 2015 and Dec. 2017, Poawui, King, and the scheme’s other participants caused the VA to pay Atius approximately $2,217,259.44. Poawui paid King over $155,000 as part of the illicit bribery scheme. These bribery payments were hand-delivered by Poawui or Kanneh to King or King’s assistant, who was a veteran enrolled in the VR&E program. Kanneh admitted that she routinely moved money between Atius’s bank accounts to facilitate bribe payments to King.
Poawui also admitted that he made numerous false representations to the VA to enhance the scheme’s profits. For example, Poawui certified to the VA that veterans attending Atius were enrolled in up to 32 hours of class per week, when in fact he knew that Atius offered a maximum of six weekly class hours. After the VA initiated an administrative audit of Atius, Poawui and King took steps to conceal the truth about earlier misrepresentations they had made to the VA.
According to admissions made in connection with Stevens’ plea, she created Eelon Training Academy after learning about the VR&E program from King. In or about Sept. 2016, King facilitated the first tuition payment from the VA to Eelon. Shortly after receiving this payment, King told Stevens that she should give him seven percent of the monies paid by the VA to Eelon. King proceeded to steer veterans under his supervision to Eelon regardless of their resistance to attending Stevens’ school.
Stevens admitted to later making two cash payments of $1,500 to King in furtherance of her scheme to bribe King in exchange for King sending veterans under his supervision to Eelon and facilitating the VA’s payments to Stevens. In total, Stevens received approximately $83,000 from the VA for education that she purported to provide to veteran students. Stevens submitted invoices to the VA amounting to no less than $300,000 for the tuition and equipment of seven students, but was not paid the balance of the invoice amount due to the VA’s ongoing investigation into Eelon following complaints by students about the poor quality of education.
In an effort to procure the outstanding payments from the VA, Stevens made numerous fraudulent misrepresentations to the VA, and maintained fraudulent student files in the event of an audit by the VA. For example, Stevens emailed to the VA an “attendance” sheet for eight students. The attendance sheet was created by Stevens and included handwritten check marks purporting to represent the dates that the students attended class. In fact, as Stevens well knew, the students had not attended class on many of those dates nor was class even held on many of those dates.
Poawui, Kanneh and Stevens’ sentences are the result of an ongoing investigation by the FBI’s Washington Field Office and the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General. Trial Attorney Simon J. Cataldo of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney David Misler of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia are prosecuting the case.
Three Individuals Sentenced to Prison for Their Roles in Bribery Schemes Involving VA Program for Disabled Military VeteransRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON – Two owners and an employee of for-profit, non-accredited schools were sentenced during the last two days for bribing a public official at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in exchange for the public official’s facilitation of over $2 million in payments that were supposed to be dedicated to providing vocational training for military veterans with service-connected disabilities.
Albert Poawui, 41, of Laurel, Md., was the owner of Atius Technology Institute (“Atius”), a school purporting to specialize in information technology courses. Sombo Kanneh, 29, of McLean, Va., was Poawui’s employee at Atius. Michelle Stevens, 57, of Waldorf, Md., was the owner of Eelon Training Academy, a school purporting to specialize in digital media courses.
Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Jessie K. Liu for the District of Columbia, Assistant Director in Charge Nancy McNamara of FBI’s Washington Field Office and Special Agent in Charge Kim Lampkins of U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General (OIG) Mid-Atlantic Field Office made the announcement.
All three defendants were sentenced by U.S. District Judge John D. Bates of the District of Columbia. Poawui was sentenced to serve 70 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $1.5 million in restitution to the VA. Kanneh was sentenced to serve 20 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release and was ordered to pay $113,227.30 in restitution to the VA and to forfeit $1.5 million. Stevens was sentenced to serve 30 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $83,000 in restitution to the VA and to forfeit $83,000.
James King, the VA official who all three defendants bribed, has pleaded guilty to bribery, wire fraud, and falsification of documents, and will be sentenced on Friday, Feb. 15.
The Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (VR&E) program is a VA program that provides disabled U.S. military veterans with education and employment-related services. VR&E program counselors advise veterans under their supervision which schools to attend and facilitate payments to those schools for veterans’ tuition and necessary supplies.
According to admissions made in connection with Poawui and Kanneh’s pleas, in or about August 2015, Poawui and King agreed that Poawui would pay King a seven percent cash kickback of all payments made by the VA to Atius. In exchange, King steered VR&E program veterans to Atius regardless of the veterans’ educational needs or interests and notwithstanding their repeated complaints about the poor quality of education at Atius.
Between August 2015 and December 2017, Poawui, King, and the scheme’s other participants caused the VA to pay Atius approximately $2,217,259.44. Poawui paid King over $155,000 as part of the illicit bribery scheme. These bribery payments were hand-delivered by Poawui or Kanneh to King or King’s assistant, who was a veteran enrolled in the VR&E program. Kanneh admitted that she routinely moved money between Atius’s bank accounts to facilitate bribe payments to King.
Poawui also admitted that he made numerous false representations to the VA to enhance the scheme’s profits. For example, Poawui certified to the VA that veterans attending Atius were enrolled in up to 32 hours of class per week, when in fact he knew that Atius offered a maximum of six weekly class hours. After the VA initiated an administrative audit of Atius, Poawui and King took steps to conceal the truth about earlier misrepresentations they had made to the VA.
According to admissions made in connection with Stevens’ plea, she created Eelon Training Academy after learning about the VR&E program from King. In or about September 2016, King facilitated the first tuition payment from the VA to Eelon. Shortly after receiving this payment, King told Stevens that she should give him seven percent of the monies paid by the VA to Eelon. King proceeded to steer veterans under his supervision to Eelon regardless of their resistance to attending Stevens’ school.
Stevens admitted to later making two cash payments of $1,500 to King in furtherance of her scheme to bribe King in exchange for King sending veterans under his supervision to Eelon and facilitating the VA’s payments to Stevens. In total, Stevens received approximately $83,000 from the VA for education that she purported to provide to veteran students. Stevens submitted invoices to the VA amounting to no less than $300,000 for the tuition and equipment of seven students, but was not paid the balance of the invoice amount due to the VA’s ongoing investigation into Eelon following complaints by students about the poor quality of education.
In an effort to procure the outstanding payments from the VA, Stevens made numerous fraudulent misrepresentations to the VA, and maintained fraudulent student files in the event of an audit by the VA. For example, Stevens emailed to the VA an “attendance” sheet for eight students. The attendance sheet was created by Stevens and included handwritten check marks purporting to represent the dates that the students attended class. In fact, as Stevens well knew, the students had not attended class on many of those dates nor was class even held on many of those dates.
Poawui, Kanneh, and Stevens’ sentences are the result of an ongoing investigation by the FBI’s Washington Field Office and the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General. Trial Attorney Simon J. Cataldo of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney David Misler of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia are prosecuting the case.
Three Individuals Indicted for Theft and Wire Fraud Committed Against Mississippi Band of Choctaw IndiansRead the Press Release
Jackson, Miss. – Randy Lamar Anderson, 46, of Conehatta, Kevin Edwards, 47, of Walnut Grove, and Roderick Bell, 40, of Philadelphia, were recently indicted by a federal grand jury for theft or embezzlement and wire fraud in separate schemes to defraud the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians government with false claims for travel reimbursement payments, announced United States Attorney Mike Hurst and Christopher Freeze, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Mississippi.
Anderson and Edwards are each separately charged with one count of theft and two counts of wire fraud. Bell is charged with one count of theft and one count of wire fraud.
According to the indictments, between March 2015 and December 2017, the three men are alleged to have forged hotel bills and receipts and submitted those documents to the Tribal government for reimbursement for official business travel.
Edwards will appear before United States Magistrate Judge Linda R. Anderson in Jackson, Mississippi, today, Tuesday, February 12, 2019, at 1:30 pm for his arraignment. Anderson and Bell will appear before Judge Anderson for their arraignment on February 13, 2019, at 1:30 pm.
Theft or embezzlement from a Tribal Organization carries a maximum sentence of imprisonment of five years. Wire fraud carries a maximum term of imprisonment of twenty years. Each charge can merit a fine of up to $250,000 and up to three years of supervised release.
U.S. Attorney Hurst commended the work of the Special Agents with the FBI’s Jackson Division who investigated the case. The Sheriff’s Offices in Leake, Neshoba and Newton Counties assisted with the arrests. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Theodore Cooperstein and Special Assistant United States Attorney Kevin Payne.
The public is reminded that an indictment is merely a charge and should not be considered as evidence of guilt. The defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.
Tampa Man Pleads Guilty to Possessing A Firearm as A Convicted FelonRead the Press Release
Tampa, Florida – Jauwan Smith (22, Tampa) has pleaded guilty to possessing a firearm as a convicted felon. He faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison. His sentencing date has not yet been set.
According to the facts presented at the plea hearing, on the evening of March 6, 2018, officers from the Tampa Police Department observed Smith walking near Chelsea Street and 25th Street North in Tampa. When the officers approached Smith and engaged him in conversation, he admitted that he was armed with a gun. The officers then found a loaded 7.56 mm caliber pistol, containing seven rounds of ammunition, in his waistband.
In 2014, in Hillsborough County, Smith was convicted of felony offenses, including armed robbery and being a felon in possession of a firearm. As a result, he is prohibited from possessing a firearm or ammunition.
This case was investigated by the FBI and the Tampa Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jay L. Hoffer.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program that has been successful in bringing together all levels of law enforcement to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. 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.
Student Pleads Guilty to Computer Fraud, Trying to Preserve ScholarshipRead the Press Release
Memphis, TN –Michael Geddati, 20, of Memphis has pleaded guilty to computer fraud. U.S. Attorney D. Michael Dunavant announced the plea today.
According to the information presented in court, during the 2017-18 academic year, Michael Geddati was a freshman pre-med major at Rhodes College in Memphis. He received a scholarship valued at approximately $30,000 per semester. Continued receipt of the scholarship depended, in large part, on maintaining a particular grade-point average.
Beginning in approximately December 2017 and continuing through the spring semester, Geddati obtained credentials and passwords for instructors whose courses he was taking and then unlawfully accessed those instructors' accounts to downloaded exams and exam keys and change his official recorded grades.
Near the end of the spring term, one of Geddati's professors noticed a discrepancy between her off-line and online records for Geddati. According to her offline grade book, the grade that Geddati had earned in class was different, and lower, than the grade reflected in online records kept by Rhodes. A subsequent review of the college’s servers indicated that a residential IP address had been used to access the professor's account, as well as the accounts of several other faculty members, all of whom had Geddati as a student. Rhodes' server logs also contained evidence that in the preceding months, a laptop with the identifier "Michaels-MBP," also associated with Geddati, used an internal Rhodes IP address to access both Geddati’s student account and the credentials of his instructors. A total of more than 100 unauthorized access events were recorded. The same IP had also been used to access Michael Geddati's student account.
Records obtained during the investigation showed the IP address in question was assigned to Geddati's residence in Memphis during the period of unauthorized access to the Rhodes accounts. Forensic examination of Geddati's laptop confirmed that the laptop’s MAC (media access control) address matched that found on Rhodes’ servers and used in the unauthorized access to the faculty accounts.
U.S. Attorney D. Michael Dunavant said, "Protection of academic institutions and their computer systems infrastructure is a critical mission for us. Unfortunately, this defendant chose to use dishonest tactics to exploit the integrity of the Rhodes computer system for his own unjust benefit, and has now lost the opportunity for a quality higher education degree at a premier college. This case demonstrates the commitment and ability of the U.S. Attorney’s office, working with our federal law enforcement partners, to detect compromises of sensitive academic information, hold offenders accountable for such fraudulent schemes, and recover restitution for victimized institutions."
"This case is a great example of the cooperation between the target of a cyber-attack and law enforcement, and further illustrates that no one is immune from cyber intrusion," said M.A. Myers, Special Agent in Charge of the Memphis Field Office. "With continued partnerships with the community, cyber-crimes will not go unanswered and those who have committed or are committing similar computer intrusions are on notice that the FBI can and will identify them, and we will make every effort to bring them to justice."
"We take academic integrity and the security of our computer systems very seriously. Each of our students pledges to uphold the Rhodes College Honor Code. Our community does not tolerate lying, cheating, or stealing. We would like to thank the agents of the FBI’s Memphis Field Office who investigated this matter and the U.S. Attorney and assistant U.S. attorneys in the Western District of Tennessee who prosecuted it," Rhodes College Provost Dr. Milton Moreland said.
Rhodes convened an honor council; following a hearing, Mr. Geddati was expelled. Pursuant to the plea agreement presented in court, Geddati has agreed to make restitution to Rhodes College that will include the value of his unearned scholarship.
Geddati faces a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment, $ 250,000 fine and supervised probation. Sentencing is set for May 24, 2019, before U.S. District Court Judge Thomas L. Parker.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Debra Ireland prosecuted this case on the government’s behalf.
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Stockton Man Sentenced to Life in Prison for Long-Term Sexual Abuse of Minors Including His Own ChildrenRead the Press Release
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Rodney Flucas, 50, of Stockton, was sentenced today to life in prison for transportation of minors with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, 10 years in prison for transporting an adult daughter across state lines with intent to engage in incest and 20 years in prison for attempted witness tampering, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced. U.S. District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller ordered the sentences to be served consecutively.
U.S. Attorney Scott stated: “The defendant’s conduct is an affront to the most fundamental values of our society and family structures. He repeatedly preyed upon his own children, taking advantage of their innocence and the trust they had in him. The defendant has demonstrated that he will never stop preying upon vulnerable victims, and today’s sentence will help to ensure that he does not repeat these crimes in the future.”
“No sentence can ever erase the pain that the victims have endured as a result of years of abuse and reliving those experiences during their courageous testimony in court,” said Special Agent in Charge Sean Ragan of the Sacramento Field Office. “We hope today’s sentence offers some solace to the victims and encourages those who are enduring similar, unreported circumstances to seek help from law enforcement. The FBI stands with our federal, state, and local partners to investigate these crime to ensure those who exploit our community’s vulnerable, innocent children face justice.”
According to court documents and evidence produced at trial, Flucas engaged in long‑term, concurrent sexual abuse of four of his daughters, a son, and two other young women, all of whom were minors when Flucas began abusing them. The abuse came to light in February 2017 when one of his teenaged daughters tried to commit suicide by driving into a lamppost, in the hope that her death would lead to the discovery of the abuse. She was transported to the hospital where she disclosed the abuse to authorities. From that point, at least six other victims have disclosed sexual abuse that Flucas inflicted on them since they were children. They made such disclosures despite Flucas’s aggressive campaign to undermine the credibility of his victims and his attempts to direct his victims to lie to child protection authorities and the police. Ultimately, however, Flucas’s victims disclosed their abuse notwithstanding the family mantra: “What happens in the family, stays in the family.” DNA testing confirmed that Flucas is the father of 10 children born to victims who testified in this case, including three children born to one of Flucas’s daughters. Flucas has admitted to fathering at least 37 children by numerous women.
According to evidence produced at trial and during sentencing, Flucas began abusing five of his victims when the family lived in Valdosta, Georgia around the year 2000. He owned or rented upward of four houses on the same street in Valdosta where his wife, ex-wife, other partners and numerous children lived. In 2014, the Georgia Division of Family and Children Services began to investigate allegations of child abuse, made by a grandmother of four of Flucas’s children, including allegations that Flucas had impregnated two of his daughters. They closed its investigation, and Flucas moved his family to Americus, Georgia, where he continued to sexually abuse some of his children.
By September 2014, Flucas had again moved the family, including four of his victims, this time to Klamath Falls, Oregon. Once in Oregon, Flucas also began sexually abusing a 15‑year-old girl, who had befriended Flucas’s daughter at school. Flucas invited that girl to move into his home, and he eventually impregnated her when she was 16. He also impregnated an adult daughter for the third time in Oregon. Flucas continued his abuse of his victims throughout their entire time in Oregon.
After more allegations arose in Oregon in 2015, Flucas moved his victims, including the then-pregnant friend of his daughter, to Stockton, where he found employment as a teacher of the deaf and hard of hearing. Flucas continued to sexually abuse his victims in California until the car crash that brought the allegations to light. Evidence at trial showed Flucas kept his abuse secret by abusing his victims behind the locked doors of his bedroom and bedroom closet and by waking his victims in the middle of the night to abuse them while the rest of the family slept.
Evidence at trial also demonstrated that on the heels of his daughter’s disclosure to police in Stockton, Flucas began searching the internet for places to move overseas, including China, Kenya, Ethiopia, Canada, Panama, and Nepal. He also searched for the U.S. dollar to Mexican peso conversion rate. Flucas also told two of his victims that he intended to take them someplace where he could continue the abuse, including places where Flucas believed incest to be legal such as New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Switzerland.
This case was the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, originating from an investigation by the Stockton Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeremy J. Kelley prosecuted the case.
South Bay Man Who Trafficked Hundreds of Pounds of Cocaine from Mexico Sentenced to More than 11 Years in Federal PrisonRead the Press Release
LOS ANGELES – A Torrance man who led a drug ring that used couriers to traffic hundreds of pounds of cocaine from Mexico into the United States and Canada has been sentenced to 135 months in prison on federal felony drug- and money laundering-related charges.
Richard Manuel Pimentel, 45, received the sentence of 11 years and three months’ imprisonment on Monday and was fined $300,000 by United States District Judge Dale S. Fischer.
In October 2018, Pimentel pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute cocaine and one count of conspiracy to engage in money laundering.
Pimentel is the fourth and final defendant sentenced in this case by Judge Fischer. His co-defendants, who each pleaded guilty to felony charges in the case, are:
Enrique Rodriguez, 47, of North Hills, who was sentenced to 145 months in federal prison;
Rodolfo Pimentel (Richard Pimentel’s brother), 46, of Palos Verdes Estates, who was sentenced to 87 months; and
Javier Rodriguez, 34, of Mar Vista, who received a 46-month prison sentence.
Between February 2013 and October 2014, Richard Pimentel coordinated with his co-defendants and other co-conspirators to distribute approximately 220 pounds (100 kilograms) of cocaine, according to court documents. He admitted in his plea agreement that he arranged for couriers to transport cocaine obtained from drug suppliers in Mexico to locations in the United States and Canada. He also admitted that he and his co-defendants arranged for the proceeds from cocaine sales – minus their fees – to be sent back to Mexico. Pimentel and his co-conspirators used their cocaine trafficking proceeds to buy vehicles, home improvement and jewelry, among other items of personal use, according to court documents.
He also admitted to arranging the cash payment of a $400,000 debt owed to a cocaine supplier in September 2013, his plea agreement states.
This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and IRS Criminal Investigation, with assistance from the Torrance Police Department.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Puneet V. Kakkar of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force Section and Cassie D. Palmer of the Public Corruption and Civil Rights Section.
Six Convicted for Roles in Multi-Million Dollar Black Market Peso Exchange Money-Laundering SchemeRead the Press Release
A federal jury in Laredo, Texas found four men and two women guilty for their roles in a two-year multi-million dollar black market peso exchange money-laundering scheme, the Justice Department announced.
Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Ryan Patrick of the Southern District of Texas, Special Agent in Charge Will R. Glaspy of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Special Agent in Charge D. Richard Goss of the IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) made the announcement.
Adrian Arciniega-Hernandez, 36, of Nuevo Laredo, Mexico; Adriana Alejandra Galvan-Constantini, 36, and Luis Montes-Patino, 57, both of Irving, Texas, and Ravinder Reddy Gudipati, 61; Harsh Jaggi, 54; and Neeru Jaggi, 51, all of Laredo, Texas, were each convicted of a money laundering conspiracy following a five-week jury trial. In addition, Harsh Jaggi and Adrian Arcinieg-Hernandez were each convicted of two counts of money laundering and Neeru Jaggi was convicted of one count of money laundering. Gudipati was convicted of two counts of money laundering, two counts of causing a trade or business to fail to file a Form 8300, and one count of causing a trade or business to file a Form 8300 containing a material omission and misstatement of facts. Arciniega-Hernandez was found not guilty of a third count of money laundering. Sentencing before U.S. District Judge Marina Garcia Marmalejo of the Southern District of Texas, Laredo Division, who presided over the trial, has not yet been scheduled.
Arciniega-Hernandez, Galvan-Constantini, Montes-Patino, Gudipati, Harsh Jaggi, and Neeru Jaggi were part of a complex money laundering scheme whereby money derived from the sale of drugs in the United States were laundered through businesses in Laredo, in order to return these proceeds to Mexican drug dealers.
According to the evidence presented at trial, from 2011 through 2013, Galvan-Constantini, Montes-Patino and other co-conspirators helped to move millions of dollars derived from the sale of drugs throughout the United States, including New York, Kentucky, North Carolina, Illinois, Mississippi, and multiple cities in Texas to Laredo, Texas. The U.S. currency was moved by couriers, including Galvan-Constantini and Montes-Patino, via cars, commercial buses, commercial planes, and a private plane in bulk cash amounts of up to hundreds of thousands of dollars at a time. The money, in heat sealed packs, uneven rubber-banded money stacks, or loose U.S. currency, arrived in plastic bags, cloth bags, suitcases, backpacks, and even cereal boxes. The money was then distributed among downtown Laredo, Texas perfume stores, including El Reino International Inc., and NYSA Impex LLC. The owner of NYSA Impex LLC, Gudipati, and the owners of El Reino International Inc., Harsh Jaggi, and Neeru Jaggi, accepted loose bulk-cash, even after being told it was “narco dinero.” The store owners also failed to file Form 8300s which are required when more than $10,000 in cash is received by a business, or filed Form 8300s which omitted pertinent information such as the name of the courier who brought the bulk cash.
Co-defendant Carlos Velasaquez, 55, of Laredo, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to launder money on Nov. 7, 2018, and is pending sentencing.
This case was investigated by the DEA and IRS-CI. Trial Attorneys Keith Liddle and Stephanie Williamson of the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section (MLARS) and Assistant U.S. Attorney José Angel Moreno of the Southern District of Texas are prosecuting the case, with the support and assistance of MLARS Trial Attorney Kerry Blackburn.
Six Convicted for Roles in Multi-Million Dollar Black Market Peso Exchange Money Laundering SchemeRead the Press Release
LAREDO, Texas - A federal jury in Laredo has found four men and two women guilty for their roles in a two-year multi-million dollar money-laundering scheme.
U.S. Attorney Ryan Patrick, Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Special Agent in Charge Will R. Glaspy of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Special Agent in Charge D. Richard Goss of the IRS - Criminal Investigation (CI) made the announcement.
Adrian Arciniega-Hernandez, of Nuevo Laredo; Adriana Alejandra Galvan-Constantini and Luis Montes-Patino, both of Irving; and Ravinder Reddy Gudipati, Harsh Jaggi and Neeru Jaggi, all of Laredo, were each convicted of a money laundering conspiracy following a five-week jury trial. In addition, Harsh Jaggi and Adrian Arciniega-Hernandez were convicted of two counts of money laundering, while the jury convicted Neeru Jaggi of one count of money laundering. Gudipati was convicted of two counts of money laundering, two counts of causing a trade or business to fail to file a Form 8300 and one count of causing a trade or business to file a Form 8300 containing a material omission and misstatement of facts.
Sentencing before U.S. District Judge Marina Garcia Marmalejo, who presided over the trial, has not yet been scheduled.
Arciniega-Hernandez, Galvan-Constantini, Montes-Patino, Gudipati, Harsh Jaggi and Neeru Jaggi were part of a complex money laundering scheme whereby money derived from the sale of drugs in the United States were laundered through businesses in Laredo in order to return these proceeds to Mexican drug dealers.
According to the evidence presented at trial, from 2011 through 2013, Galvan-Constantini, Montes-Patino and other co-conspirators helped to move millions of dollars derived from the sale of drugs throughout the United States, including New York, Kentucky, North Carolina, Illinois, Mississippi and multiple cities in Texas to Laredo. Couriers moved the currency, including Galvan-Constantini and Montes-Patino, via cars, commercial buses, commercial planes and a private plane in bulk cash amounts of up to hundreds of thousands of dollars at a time. The money, in heat sealed packs, uneven rubber-banded money stacks or loose U.S. currency, arrived in plastic bags, cloth bags, suitcases, backpacks and even cereal boxes. The money was then distributed among downtown Laredo perfume stores, including El Reino International Inc., which Harsh and Neeru Jaggi owned, and NYSA Impex LLC, owned by Gudipati. Gudipati, Harsh Jaggi and Neeru Jaggi accepted loose bulk-cash even after being told it was “narco dinero.”
The store owners also failed to file Form 8300s which are required when a business receives more than $10,000 in cash, or they filed those forms which omitted pertinent information such as the name of the courier who brought the bulk cash.
Co-defendant Carlos Velasaquez, 55, of Laredo, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to launder money on Nov. 7, 2018, and is pending sentencing.
DEA and IRS-CI conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney José Angel Moreno and Trial Attorneys Keith Liddle and Stephanie Williamson of the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section (MLARS) are prosecuting the case, with the support and assistance of MLARS Trial Attorney Kerry Blackburn.
Seymour Resident Charged with Bank RobberyRead the Press Release
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – On February 11, 2019, a complaint was filed in U.S. District Court charging Joshua A. Baird, 35, of Seymour, Tennessee, with robbery of the Tennessee Connect Credit Bureau in Seymour, Tennessee, on the morning of February 11, 2019.
Baird appeared in federal court on February 12, 2019, and a detention hearing was set for 1:30 p.m. on February 14, 2019. This case has not yet been set for trial.
If convicted of bank robbery, Baird faces up to 20 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release, a fine of up to $250,000, any applicable forfeiture, and a $100 special assessment.
The investigation and seizure of evidence was conducted by the Knoxville Division of the FBI Safe Streets Task Force, which is comprised of law enforcement officers from the Knoxville Police Department and Knox County Sheriff’s Office, as well as agents from the FBI. The Sevier County Sheriff’s office also assisted with the investigation and capture of the suspect. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brent N. Jones will represent the United States in court proceedings.
Members of the public are reminded that a complaint constitutes only charges and that every person is presumed innocent until his or her guilt has been proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
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Seven Defendants Convicted in Securities Fraud ConspiracyRead the Press Release
HOUSTON – The last defendant charged in relation to a more than $40 million securities fraud “pump and dump” conspiracy has now been convicted, announced U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Patrick. With the guilty plea of John David Brotherton, 59, of League City, today, all seven defendants charged in the case now stand convicted.
Andrew Ian Farmer, 40, Thomas Galen Massey, 48, Eddie Douglas Austin Jr., 68, Carolyn Price Austin 64, and Charles Earl Grob, 38, all of Houston, and Scott Russell Sieck, 60, of Winter Park, Florida, all had previously entered pleas of guilty for their respective roles in the case.
Farmer, Massey, Eddie Austin, Brotherton, Sieck and Grob admitted they participated in a conspiracy to commit fraud in microcap securities. During the course of the conspiracy, these six defendants obtained control of the stock of numerous companies, then “pumped up” the price of the stock through false and misleading press releases and fraudulent trading techniques. They then “dumped” their shares of stock onto the market for a significant profit.
As part of her plea agreement, Carolyn Austin admitted she knew of the intended manipulation of the stock prices and acted to conceal this fact from law enforcement.
U.S. District Judge Vanessa D. Gilmore has set Brotherton’s sentencing for June 3, 2019, along with Sieck, Grob and Massey. Eddie and Carolyn Austin are set for June 17, while Farmer will be sentenced June 24. Farmer faces up 10 years in prison, while Carolyn Austin’s conviction carries a possible three-year-term of imprisonment. The remaining defendants face a maximum of five years.
All seven defendants could also be ordered to pay up to a $250,000 fine.
With the exception of Brotherton, who is in now in custody following violations of his conditions of release, the remaining defendants were permitted to remain on bond pending their respective sentencing hearings.
The FBI conducted the investigation with the assistance of the Securities and Exchange Commission and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Justin R. Martin and Michael Chu are prosecuting the case.
Serial Armed Robber Sentenced to Five and A Half Years in PrisonRead the Press Release
SAN FRANCISCO – Harwood Francis McCovey was sentenced today to 66 months in prison for committing multiple armed robberies, announced United States Attorney David L. Anderson and Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge John Bennett. The sentence was handed down by the Honorable Vince Chhabria, United States District Judge.
McCovey, 34, of Hoopa, Calif., pleaded guilty to the robberies on October 16, 2018. According to his plea agreement, in the summer of 2016, McCovey robbed the following three banks and gas station, all while using a dangerous weapon:
- On July 20, 2016, McCovey robbed a bank in Eureka.
- On July 27, 2016, McCovey robbed a credit union in Eureka.
- On July 31, 2016, McCovey robbed a gas station in McKinleyville and absconded with money, cigarettes, and lighters.
- On August 4, 2016, McCovey returned to the credit union in Eureka that he had robbed on July 27, 2016, and robbed it again.
- On August 12, 2016, McCovey robbed a bank in Fortuna.
A federal grand jury indicted McCovey on March 27, 2018, charging him with four counts of armed bank robbery, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2113(a) and (d), and one count of robbery affecting interstate commerce (Hobbs Act robbery), in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1951(a). McCovey pleaded guilty to all five counts.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Chhabria ordered McCovey to serve 5 years of supervised release and to pay $38,486.75 in restitution. McCovey has been in custody since his arrest and will begin serving his sentence immediately.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Sailaja Paidipaty is prosecuting the case with the assistance of Marina Ponomarchuk. The prosecution is the result of investigations by the Eureka Police Department, the Fortuna Police Department, and the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office with support from the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Eureka Resident Agency.
Sabine Parish felon sentenced to 68 months in prison for possessing four firearms at pawn shopRead the Press Release
SHREVEPORT, La. – Joseph Seth Rivers, 36, of Converse, Louisiana, was sentenced Monday to five years and four months in prison by U.S. District Judge S. Maurice Hicks Jr. for possession of firearms by a convicted felon. He was also sentenced to three years of supervised release following imprisonment.
According to the July 10, 2018 guilty plea, Rivers pawned four firearms at a pawnshop in Many, Louisiana on August 20, 2016: a Smith & Wesson revolver, model: 66, .357 caliber; a Ruger rifle, model: 10-22, 22LR caliber; a Browning shotgun, model BPS, 16 gauge; and a Remington rifle, model: 700, .270 caliber. According to store policy, a photo license or identification card must be presented by the person pawning the firearms. Rivers’ name, address and Louisiana driver’s license number matched the information included on the pawn ticket for these four firearms. Under federal law, it is illegal for anyone who has been convicted of a felony to be in possession of any firearm or ammunition. In 2009, Rivers was convicted for aggravated assault with a firearm.
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.
The ATF and Sabine Parish Sheriff’s Office conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Tennille M. Gilreath prosecuted the case.
Rocky Mount Man Sentenced to 17 Years in Prison for Violent Business RobberiesRead the Press Release
GREENVILLE – The United States Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, Robert J. Higdon, Jr., announced that today, Senior United States District Judge Malcolm J. Howard sentenced DARIUS COTY WHITAKER, 24, to 204 months imprisonment followed by 5 years of supervised release.
WHITAKER was named in an eight-count Indictment filed on April 27, 2017. On December 7, 2017, WHITAKER pled guilty to one-count each of Brandishing a Firearm in Furtherance of a Crime of Violence and Discharging a Firearm in Furtherance of a Crime of Violence.
An investigation conducted by the Rocky Mount Police Department (RMPD) determined that WHITAKER, armed with a handgun, robbed four businesses in the Rocky Mount area from September 6, 2016, to September 15, 2016. On September 19, 2016, an anonymous caller informed the RMPD that WHITAKER appeared to be the suspect in a surveillance video depicting one of the robberies. On September 23, 2016, WHITAKER confessed to law enforcement officials that he committed the four robberies because he was looking for money to buy cocaine. WHITAKER further admitted that he had previously stolen the two firearms he used during the robberies.
The evidence showed that a Dollar Tree employee of the store on Cobb Corners was approaching her vehicle in the parking lot when WHITAKER confronted the employee and demanded she give him the store’s money. When the clerk told WHITAKER she did not have any money, he pulled a stolen handgun from his waistband, pointed it at her, and threatened her with bodily harm. After rifling through her pocketbook and not finding any money, WHITAKER stated, “I know your name, if you call the cops, I’ll come back for you.” WHITAKER then fled the scene on foot.
WHITAKER, armed with a stolen loaded .38 caliber revolver, entered Marathon Gas Station in Battleboro, North Carolina and jumped over the counter. WHITAKER then pointed the firearm at the store clerk’s head and ordered that he open the cash register. As WHITAKER began to approach the register, the clerk grabbed WHITAKER’s firearm. A ground struggle ensued, during which WHITAKER hit the employee several times with his fist and also discharged a firearm round that struck the floor. The employee then bit WHITAKER, causing him to drop the firearm. During the altercation, another store employee activated the security alarm. WHITAKER was able to steal the clerk’s cellphone, identification card, and credit card, before fleeing the scene on foot.
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. Since 2017 the United States Department of Justice has reinvigorated the PSN program and has targeted 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.
That effort has been implemented through 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 case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF), Nash County Sheriff’s Office, Rocky Mount Police Department, and the Halifax County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant United States Attorney James Kurosad prosecuted the case on behalf of the United States.
Ring Leader Pleads Guilty to Drugs and Murder ChargesRead the Press Release
St. Louis, MO – Dionne Lamont Gatling, a/k/a “Cuffy,” 53, of St. Charles, MO, pled guilty to various drug trafficking charges and the use of firearms resulting in death. Gatling appeared today before U.S. District Judge Rodney W. Sippel who accepted his plea and set his sentencing date for May 17, 2019.
According to court documents, Dionne Gatling was the leader and organizer of the Gatling Drug Trafficking Organization which brought heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine and other drugs to the St. Louis area from 2009 to 2014. Gatling arranged for the murders of Theodis Howard and Terrance Morgan. Gatling organized the 2010 murder of Howard as retaliation for Howard’s previous cooperation against Gatling’s brother for drug trafficking. Gatling directed Andre Rush, another conspirator, to kill Morgan in 2013 in order to prevent Morgan from cooperating in the present investigation.
Gatling pled guilty to the following charges: 1) conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine; 2) conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 1 kilogram or more of heroin; 3) attempt to possess with intent to distribute one kilogram or more of heroin; 4) attempt to possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine; and 5) possession of one or more firearms in furtherance of drug-trafficking crime, with deaths resulting. Each of the charges includes a penalty of not less than ten years imprisonment up to life, with the firearms offense required by law to run consecutively to the drug trafficking charges. The parties have recommended a total term of imprisonment of 27 years for all of the offenses. United States District Judge Rodney W. Sippel will determine the appropriate sentenced to be imposed. In determining any actual sentence to be imposed, a judge is required to consider the United States Sentencing Guidelines, which provide recommended sentencing ranges.
This case was investigated by the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the Internal Revenue Service.
Port Charlotte Woman Sentenced to Prison for Healthcare FraudRead the Press Release
Tampa, Florida – U.S. District Judge Steven Merryday has sentenced Lisa McLaren Janick (48, Port Charlotte) to 16 months in federal prison for healthcare fraud.
According to court records, while employed as a marketer at a home health agency, Janick falsified documents relating to patients from her husband’s medical office and created referrals for these patients to receive home health services from her employer, when Janick knew that the patients were not entitled to such services.
Janick’s husband, Dr. John Janick (73, Port Charlotte), was previously sentenced to five months in prison for obstruction of a federal audit.
This case was investigated by FBI and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services – Office of Inspector General. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Rachel Jones.
Pittsburgh Woman Stole Mail by Signing Fictitious Name on Return ReceiptRead the Press Release
PITTSBURGH, PA- A resident of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty in federal court to a charge of mail theft, United States Attorney Scott W. Brady announced today.
Ekeyma E. Harris, 32, pleaded guilty to one count before United States District Judge Cathy Bissoon.
In connection with the guilty plea, the court was advised that Harris, on November 21, 2018, obtained a U.S. Postal Express envelope and its contents, addressed to James Holliday at an address on Imogene Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15217, by signing a fictitious name on a Postal Service Domestic Return Receipt, knowing that no individual by the name of James Holliday resided at the Imogene Road address.
Judge Bissoon scheduled sentencing for June 6, 2019, at 10 a.m. The law provides for a total sentence of five years in prison, a fine of $250,000, or both. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed is based upon the seriousness of the offense and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant. Harris remains on bond pending sentencing.
Assistant United States Attorney Carolyn J. Bloch is prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.
The United States Postal Inspection Service conducted the investigation that led to the prosecution of Harris.
Pittsburgh Felon Pleads Guilty to Gun and Drug Charges Resulting from 3 Separate IncidentsRead the Press Release
PITTSBURGH - A resident of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty in federal court to charges involving guns and drugs, United States Attorney Scott W. Brady announced today.
Chance Rice, 26, pleaded guilty yesterday to three counts before United States District Judge Cathy M. Bissoon.
In connection with the guilty plea, the court was advised that Rice was involved in three separate investigations. The first occurred as a result of the September 16, 2015, candlelight vigil shooting. There, multiple people were injured, and multiple guns were fired, as family members and friends held a vigil for the one-year anniversary of the shooting death of a teenage boy in Homewood. The joint investigation between the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police revealed that the person who fired one of the guns during the vigil shooting later transferred his gun to an individual who was subsequently shot and killed. Before his death, that person transferred the gun to Rice, and Rice transferred it to a defendant named Keith Lovelace. Lovelace and Rice have both been prosecuted in federal court, while the shooter is pending state charges.
The second incident started when Rice told his former girlfriend that he had recently been shot at and that she needed to buy a gun for her own protection. Rice quickly obtained possession of that gun. On October 31, 2015, Edgewood Police officers stopped the vehicle Rice was driving and noticed a spent casing on the dashboard and a black pistol in the car. Rice fled in the vehicle and was a wanted fugitive until his December 18, 2015 arrest. Recorded jail calls include Rice telling others to make sure that an acquaintance puts the gun in his safe. On March 17, 2016, the acquaintance’s residence was searched by Pennsylvania State Parole Agents who located Rice’s gun in the acquaintance’s safe. The acquaintance is also pending federal charges.
Rice had a prior Allegheny County felony conviction in 2014 for carrying a firearm without a license. This conviction made it illegal for Rice to subsequently possess a firearm or ammunition, under federal law.
Finally, Rice was being housed in the Butler County Jail while his cases came to court. On July 10, 2018, the Deputy Warden arranged to have Rice’s cell searched and drug-soaked paper was located. The lab determined that the paper contained a substance called 5 Flouro ADB, a type of synthetic marijuana. In Court, Rice admitted to possessing this drug to provide to other inmates.
Judge Bissoon scheduled sentencing for June 3, 2019 at 10 a.m. The law provides for a total sentence of up to 50 years in prison, a fine of up to $2,500,000, or both. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed is based upon the seriousness of the offenses and the prior criminal history of the defendant.
Pending sentencing, the court ordered that the defendant remain incarcerated.
Assistant United States Attorney Ross E. Lenhardt is prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.
The ATF conducted the investigation that led to the prosecution of Rice with the valuable cooperation of the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police, the Edgewood Police Department and the Butler County Jail.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.
Petal Man Sentenced to over Five Years in Federal Prison for Illegally Possessing a Firearm as a Convicted FelonRead the Press Release
Gulfport, Miss. – Christopher Columbus Kennedy, 43, of Petal, was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Judge Sul Ozerden to 66 months in federal prison, followed by 3 years of supervised release, for being a felon in possession of a firearm, announced U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst and Assistant Special Agent in Charge Derryle Smith with the Drug Enforcement Administration. Kennedy was also ordered to pay a $4,000.00 fine.
On October 1, 2018, a narcotics officer with Gulfport Police Department stopped Kennedy’s car for a traffic violation. Upon approaching the car, the officer smelled marijuana. The officer searched Kennedy’s car and located a handgun with seven rounds of ammunition near the driver’s seat along with marijuana. Kennedy is prohibited from possessing any weapons due to a previous conviction in the Southern District of Mississippi for possessing crack cocaine with the intent to distribute.
Kennedy was indicted on October 23, 2018, for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. He pled guilty on November 16, 2018.
The case was investigated by the Gulfport Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathlyn R. Van Buskirk.
Owner of North Country Medical Transportation Company Pleads Guilty to Health Care Fraud, Paying KickbacksRead the Press Release
ALBANY, NEW YORK – Arshad Nazir, age 54, of Ticonderoga, New York, pled guilty today to conspiring to defraud Medicaid, and conspiring to pay bribes and kickbacks to Medicaid beneficiaries who used his medical transportation service. He admitted to causing at least $550,000 in losses, and to paying at least $95,000 in bribes and kickbacks.
The announcement was made by:
- United States Attorney Grant C. Jaquith;
- James N. Hendricks, Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI);
- New York State Police Acting Superintendent Keith M. Corlett;
- New York State Workers’ Compensation Fraud Inspector General Catherine Leahy Scott; and
- Rensselaer County District Attorney Mary Pat Donnelly.
Today’s plea is the result of a state and federal investigation into Medicaid fraud committed by the owners and operators of medical transportation companies based in Essex County.
Nazir operated Capital Medallion, Inc. d/b/a Avalanche Taxi Service (“Avalanche Taxi”), a Medicaid-funded transportation company based in Ticonderoga. The New York State Department of Health (“DOH”) paid Nazir’s company at least $2.45 million for Medicaid-funded transportation between 2014 and 2018.
As part of his plea, Nazir admitted that he committed a variety of frauds against Medicaid and DOH, including: billing Medicaid and receiving payment for trips where beneficiaries drove themselves to their own medical appointments, and falsifying the identities of the drivers for those trips; billing Medicaid and receiving payment for roundtrips to and from medical appointments when the beneficiaries took only one-way trips with Avalanche Taxi; and falsifying pick-up and drop-off locations, in order to increase the purported distances traveled and therefore be able to claim and receive higher Medicaid payments.
Nazir also admitted that he agreed to pay kickbacks and bribes to Medicaid beneficiaries in order to get the beneficiaries to schedule and keep scheduling medical transportation appointments with Avalanche Taxi. Kickbacks included cash, cigarettes and tobacco, and free goods at Nazir’s convenience store in Ticonderoga.
Nazir faces up to 10 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, and a term of post-imprisonment supervised release of up to 3 years, when he is sentenced on June 18, 2019 by Senior United States District Judge Thomas J. McAvoy. A defendant’s sentence is imposed by a judge based on the particular statute the defendant is charged with violating, the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other factors.
Nazir has also agreed to pay $550,000 in restitution to the New York State Department of Health, and to plead guilty to charges of grand larceny and failure to secure workers’ compensation in a parallel case pending in Essex County Court, brought by the Rensselaer County District Attorney as Special Prosecutor.
Charges remain pending against several other defendants. Those defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
The federal charges are being investigated by the FBI and the New York State Police’s Special Investigations Unit, and are being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Barnett.
The state charges are being investigated by the New York State Police’s Special Investigations Unit, as well as the Office of the New York State Inspector General, and are being prosecuted by Rensselaer County Assistant District Attorney Carl Rosenkranz.
Additional agencies assisted in this investigation, including the United States Attorney’s Office-Civil Division; Essex County District Attorney’s Office; New York State Police-Troop B; the Office of the New York State Comptroller, Division of Investigations; New York State Attorney General’s Office, Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU); Essex County Sheriff’s Office; Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); the Office of Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS-OIG); and the New York State Department of Labor.
Orlando Resident Sentenced to 23 Years in Prison for Engaging in A Carjacking Spree with A Semiautomatic Assault RifleRead the Press Release
Orlando, Florida – U.S. District Judge Roy B. Dalton, Jr. has sentenced Cedrick Antwain Gant (28, Orlando) to 23 years in federal prison for carjacking and brandishing a semiautomatic assault weapon during an attempted carjacking. Gant had pleaded guilty on June 28, 2018.
According to court documents, on September 25, 2017, Gant, brandishing a loaded semiautomatic assault rifle, approached an individual as they drove into their driveway at a home in Eustis. As the victim exited the vehicle, Gant demanded the victim’s keys and wallet. Gant then unsuccessfully attempted to carjack the victim’s vehicle.
Approximately an hour later, as another individual exited their vehicle at a home in Apopka, Gant approached the individual brandishing the same semiautomatic assault rifle and demanded that the victim drop their keys. In fear for their life, the victim threw the car keys to the ground, ran away, and called 911. Gant then drove off with the vehicle and attempted to flee from law enforcement in a subsequent car chase. Officers were successful in stopping the vehicle in the area of US 441 and Roger Williams Road, but Gant fled on foot and entered a residence occupied by a third victim and demanded a change of clothes and to use a telephone. After securing the third victim’s residence, law enforcement officers located Gant hiding in a wooded area behind the home.
This case was investigated by the FBI, the Apopka Police Department, and the Eustis Police Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Sean P. Shecter.
Oregon Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Hate Crime for Threatening Shooting Spree at Eugene ChurchRead the Press Release
EUGENE, Ore.—Benjamin Jaramillo Hernandez, 69, of Eugene, pleaded guilty today to a federal hate crime and illegal possession of ammunition charge arising from a series of progressively more threatening and violent actions targeting St. Mary Catholic Church in Eugene in September 2018. Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband for the Civil Rights Division, U.S. Attorney Billy J. Williams for the District of Oregon and Special Agent in Charge Renn Cannon of the FBI in Oregon made the announcement.
“The Civil Rights Division stands firm in the belief that all people should be able to live their lives free from threats of violence,” said Assistant Attorney General Dreiband. “The Department of Justice will continue to uphold the rights of individuals who are victimized for exercising their religious beliefs and prosecute those who seek to violate those rights.”
“Hate crime laws protect fundamental American values including the free expression of religion. Today’s guilty plea reaffirms the basic principle that no one should live in fear because of their faith,” said U.S. Attorney Williams. “Our office will continue to vigorously investigate and prosecute hate crimes, pursuing justice for all victims.”
“Threatening violent action strikes at the heart of our fundamental right as Americans to live, work and worship without fear. Working with the community and our local law enforcement partners, we will always find strength in our shared values of keeping everyone safe regardless of race, religion or political belief,” said Special Agent in Charge Cannon.
According to court documents, on September 9, 2018, Hernandez was escorted from St. Mary property following an angry outburst during the sacrament of communion. Five days later, on September 14, a church employee reported to the Eugene Police Department that someone had dispensed pepper spray on the exterior door handles and through the mail slot of the St. Mary office front door. Employees reported burning sensations in their fingers and respiratory distress. A Eugene police officer and FBI agent identified Hernandez in church surveillance footage as the person responsible for both incidents.
On September 16, 2018, Hernandez was again spotted near St. Mary. A witness saw Hernandez across the street from the church when he stopped near the Eugene Public Library and shouted at the witness, “I’ve got something for you right here,” while pointing to a bag he was carrying.
A few days later, on September 20, St. Mary employees reported finding a threatening note and seven 10mm Sig hollow point bullets left in the office. The note threatened the church with “2 MP5s w/ 50 rounds each,” a type of submachine gun. The note concluded: “Eugene is going on the [expletive] map.”
A Eugene police officer again reviewed church surveillance footage and identified Hernandez as the individual who dropped off the note and bullets. On September 21, 2018, Eugene Police arrested Hernandez at the Eugene Public Library and charged him with second degree intimidation, second degree criminal mischief and two counts of second degree criminal trespass. During a search of Hernadez’s person, officers located a partially empty can of pepper spray, three .410 shotgun shells and thirteen 10mm Sig hollow point bullets.
Hernandez was charged by criminal information with one count each of obstruction of persons in the free exercise of religious beliefs and felon in possession of ammunition.
He faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 for the hate crime conviction, and 10 years in prison for the unlawful possession of ammunition. Hernandez will be sentenced on May 22, 2019 before U.S. District Court Judge Ann Aiken.
This case was investigated by the Eugene Police Department and the FBI and is being prosecuted by Gavin W. Bruce, Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon, and Cameron Bell, Trial Attorney for the Civil Rights Division.
For more information about DOJ’s work to combat and prevent hate crimes, visit www.justice.gov/hatecrimes: a one-stop portal with links to DOJ hate crimes resources for law enforcement, media, researchers, victims, advocacy groups, and other organizations and individuals.
Oregon Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Hate Crime for Threatening Shooting Spree at Eugene ChurchRead the Press Release
The Justice Department today announced that defendant Benjamin Jaramillo Hernandez, 69, pleaded guilty today to a federal hate crime and illegal possession of ammunition charge arising from a series of progressively more threatening and violent actions targeting St. Mary Catholic Church in Eugene in September 2018. Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband for the Civil Rights Division and U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon Billy J. Williams made the announcement.
“The Civil Rights Division stands firm in the belief that all people should be able to live their lives free from threats of violence,” said Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband. “The Department of Justice will continue to uphold the rights of individuals who are victimized for exercising their religious beliefs and prosecute those who seek to violate those rights.”
“Hate crime laws protect fundamental American values including the free expression of religion. Today’s guilty plea reaffirms the basic principle that no one should live in fear because of their faith,” said U.S. Attorney Williams. “Our office will continue to vigorously investigate and prosecute hate crimes, pursuing justice for all victims.”
“Threatening violent action strikes at the heart of our fundamental right as Americans to live, work and worship without fear. Working with the community and our local law enforcement partners, we will always find strength in our shared values of keeping everyone safe regardless of race, religion or political belief,” said Special Agent in Charge Renn Cannon.
According to court documents, on Sept. 9, 2018, Hernandez was escorted from St. Mary property following an angry outburst during the sacrament of communion. Five days later, on September 14, a church employee reported to the Eugene Police Department that someone had dispensed pepper spray on the exterior door handles and through the mail slot of the St. Mary office front door. Employees reported burning sensations in their fingers and respiratory distress. A Eugene police officer and FBI agent identified Hernandez in church surveillance footage as the person responsible for both incidents.
On Sept. 16, 2018, Hernandez was again spotted near St. Mary. A witness saw Hernandez across the street from the church when he stopped near the Eugene Public Library and shouted at the witness, “I’ve got something for you right here,” while pointing to a bag he was carrying.
A few days later, on September 20, St. Mary employees reported finding a threatening note and seven 10mm Sig hollow point bullets left in the office. The note threatened the church with “2 MP5s w/ 50 rounds each,” a type of submachine gun. The note concluded: “Eugene is going on the [expletive] map.”
A Eugene police officer again reviewed church surveillance footage and identified Hernandez as the individual who dropped off the note and bullets. On Sept. 21, 2018, Hernandez was arrested by Eugene Police at the Eugene Public Library and charged with second degree intimidation, second degree criminal mischief and two counts of second degree criminal trespass. During a search of Hernandez’s person, officers located a partially empty can of pepper spray, three .410 shotgun shells and thirteen 10mm Sig hollow point bullets.
Hernandez was charged by criminal information with one count each of obstruction of persons in the free exercise of religious beliefs and felon in possession of ammunition.
Hernandez faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a criminal fine of up to $250,000 for the hate crime, and he faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison for the unlawful possession of ammunition. Hernandez will be sentenced on May 22, 2019 before U.S. District Court Judge Ann Aiken.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Gavin Bruce of the U.S. Attorney’s Office of Oregon, and Trial Attorney Cameron Bell with the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. The case was investigated by the Eugene Division of the FBI and the Eugene Police Department.
For more information about DOJ’s work to combat and prevent hate crimes, visit www.justice.gov/hatecrimes: a one-stop portal with links to DOJ hate crimes resources for law enforcement, media, researchers, victims, advocacy groups, and other organizations and individuals.
Oregon Couple Sentenced to Federal Prison on Federal Drug Trafficking ChargesRead the Press Release
Jackson, TN – An Oregon couple, Michael and Tawni Boutin, have each been sentenced to 12-months and one day in federal prison for conspiracy to distribute marijuana. U.S. Attorney D. Michael Dunavant for the Western District of Tennessee announced the sentence today.
According to information presented in court, on May 17, 2018, the Jackson Metro Narcotics Unit received information about manufacturing marijuana at a residence in Madison County. Law enforcement discovered an active marijuana indoor grow operation inside the residence. From the residence and a tour bus located on the property, law enforcement seized 20 pounds of marijuana and three pounds of butane hash oil, a marijuana concentrate.
On May 21, 2018, a federal grand jury returned an indictment charging the defendants with conspiracy to distribute large amounts of marijuana with knowingly and intentionally manufacturing, attempting to manufacture, possessing with intent to distribute and attempting to possess with the intent to distribute marijuana and marijuana concentrates.
The defendants, Mike Boutin and wife Tawni Boutin, have previously been featured as marijuana farmers on a television show called "Weed Country." Weed Country was an American reality television series on the Discovery Channel that premiered on February 20, 2013, during Discovery Channel’s programming block titled "Weed Wednesdays." The series followed dealers, growers and patients of the marijuana trade located within the Emerald Triangle, a remote fertile area on the border of Northern California and Oregon, along with the enforcers of the law at the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office. The series showed the battle between cops, dealers and the growers looking to engineer some of the most powerful marijuana on earth.
U.S. Attorney D. Michael Dunavant said; "In the Controlled Substances Act, Congress has generally prohibited the cultivation, distribution, and possession of marijuana. It has established significant penalties for these crimes, which reflect Congress’s determination that marijuana is a dangerous drug and that marijuana activity is a serious crime. Here in the Western District of Tennessee, we are not ‘weed country,’ and this office will enforce the rule of law by prosecuting marijuana cultivation, distribution, and possession aggressively, consistently, and unapologetically."
Madison County Sheriff John Mehr said: "I commend the Jackson Metro Narcotics Unit for their hard work in this case and appreciate U.S. Attorney D. Michael Dunavant for the Western District of Tennessee for prosecuting this case. Especially, since this was a seizure of high grade marijuana brought into our county from out of state."
On February 12, 2019, U.S. District Court Chief Judge S. Thomas Anderson sentenced both Michael and Tawni Boutin to 12-months and one day in federal prison along with two years supervised release. A third co-defendant, William Brian Cisco, of Jackson is set for sentencing on March 1, 2019.
The Jackson-Madison County Metro Narcotics Unit investigated this case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Matt Wilson prosecuted this case on the government’s behalf.
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