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9 January 2019
Pittsburgh Woman Charged in Series of PNC Bank RobberiesRead the Press Release
PITTSBURGH, PA – A resident of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh on charges related to a series of bank robberies that occurred in West Mifflin, McCandless, Penn Hills and Bloomfield, United States Attorney Scott W. Brady announced today.
The five-count Indictment names Jasmine Parrish, 29, as the sole defendant.
According to the Indictment, Parrish conspired to and did commit bank robbery and armed bank robbery at four different PNC locations from June 23, 2018, to November 21, 2018. The PNC banks were located at 452 Clairton Boulevard, Pittsburgh, PA; 9805 McKnight Road, Pittsburgh, PA; 206 Rodi Road, Pittsburgh, PA; and 4761 Liberty Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA. A total of $97,004.00 was taken from the banks during these bank robberies.
As to the June 23, 2018, and September 6, 2018, armed bank robberies, the law provides for a maximum total sentence of not more than 25 years in prison, a fine of not more than $250,000, or both. As to the October 18, 2018, and November 21, 2018, bank robberies, the law provides for a maximum total sentence of 20 years in prison, a fine of $250,000, or both. Additionally, the law provides for a minimum sentence of not less than five years in prison and up to life, a fine of $250,000, or both, for the conspiracy offense. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed would be based upon the seriousness of the offenses and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.
Assistant United States Attorney Rebecca L. Silinski is prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation, West Mifflin Borough Police Department, the McCandless Police Department, the Penn Hills Police Department and the City of Pittsburgh Police Department conducted the investigation leading to the Indictment in this case.
An indictment is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Pittsburgh Man Charged with Robbing Southside BankRead the Press Release
PITTSBURGH, PA – A resident of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh on one charge of bank robbery, United States Attorney Scott W. Brady announced today.
The one-count Indictment names Vaughn Carter, 55, as the sole defendant.
According to the Indictment, on November 1, 2018, Carter robbed the First National Bank, located at 1114 E. Carson Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15203.
The law provides for a maximum total sentence of not more than 20 years in prison, a fine of not more than $250,000, or both. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed would be based upon the seriousness of the offense and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.
Assistant United States Attorney Rebecca L. Silinski is prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the City of Pittsburgh Bureau of Police conducted the investigation leading to the Indictment in this case.
An indictment is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Owner of Seafood Company Sentenced to Prison for Blue Crab ScamRead the Press Release
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – The owner of a Newport News seafood business was sentenced to nearly four years in prison and fined $15,000 for conspiring to commit Lacy Act violations for blending foreign crab meat with Atlantic blue crab meat, then labeling the blended crab meat as “Product of USA”.
According to court documents, James R. Casey, 74, of Poquoson, is the owner and President of Casey’s Seafood, Inc. According to court documents, from at least July 2012 through June 2015, Casey knowingly conspired to replace Atlantic blue crab with crab meat from Indonesia, China, Thailand, Vietnam, and Central and South America. Casey and his co-conspirators falsely labeled at least 397,917 pounds of crab meat, with a retail value in the millions of dollars, as Atlantic blue crab and “Product of the United States”.
According to court documents, Casey directed employees to remove foreign crabmeat from the original shipper’s packaging containers, blend and combine foreign crab meat from one processor with crab meat from another processor, and place it into different packing containers with a label declaring that the contents were a “Product of USA,” despite knowing that the contents were imported crab meat. Casey also directed employees to place labels with “Product of the USA” on containers that covered up labels that stated “Product of Brazil” or “Product of China”.
G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Logan Gregory, Special Agent in Charge for NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement’s Northeast Division, Mark S. McCormack, Special Agent in Charge, FDA Office of Criminal Investigations, Metro Washington Field Office, and Michael K. Lamonea, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Norfolk, made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Raymond A. Jackson. Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric M. Hurt and Trial Attorney Gary Donner of the Justice Department’s Environmental and Natural Resources Division prosecuted the case.
A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information is located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 4:18-cr-04.
Oregon Man Indicted for Instagram Threats Against Portland Mayor Ted WheelerRead the Press Release
PORTLAND, Ore. – A one-count indictment was unsealed in federal court today charging Kermit Tyler Poulson, 39, with transmitting threatening communications with the intent to extort Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler.
“Using social media to extort or threaten violence against any citizen is a crime. This conduct is unacceptable in any context and has no respectable place in public discourse. Threats of violence, both in person and on social media, are taken very seriously by federal law enforcement,” said Billy J. Williams, U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon.
“Every day, the Portland JTTF’s role is to assess, address and mitigate threats against the people of Oregon. If you become aware of someone threatening violence against others, we ask that you contact us right away so we can work with you to create a safe community for all,” said Renn Cannon, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI in Oregon.
Poulson was arrested in Missoula, Montana on January 8, 2019 after visiting the Missoula Police Department to file a complaint on an unrelated matter. Missoula Police Department officers executed the arrest after locating Poulson’s federal arrest warrant in the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database. Poulson recently resided in Portland, but has no known permanent residence.
If convicted, Poulson faces a maximum sentence of two years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
This case was investigated by the Portland FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) and the Portland Police Bureau (PPB). The Portland JTTF includes FBI special agents and more than a dozen state and local law enforcement officers.
An indictment is only an accusation of a crime, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
New Windsor Man Charged with Threatening Federal Judge and Federal ProsecutorRead the Press Release
Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that CLINT EDWARDS was charged yesterday in two counts with threatening a United States District Judge for the Southern District of New York and threatening an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York.
On November 30, 2018, EDWARDS was sentenced in federal court on a separate criminal charge. EDWARDS disrupted the sentencing proceeding by threatening to assault, murder, and otherwise harm the United States District Judge who was imposing the sentence and the Assistant United States Attorney who was prosecuting the case.
U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman stated: “The safety of our prosecutors and federal judges is of paramount importance, and any threats made against them will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
* * *
EDWARDS, 28, of New Windsor, New York, is charged with one count of threatening to assault and murder a United States judge and one count of threatening to assault and murder a federal law enforcement officer. Each count carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. The statutory maximum penalties are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant would be determined by the judge.
Mr. Berman praised the outstanding investigative work of the U.S. Marshals Service and the Special Agents of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.
This case is being handled by the Office’s General Crimes Unit. Assistant United States Attorney Peter J. Davis is in charge of the prosecution.
The charges contained in the Indictment are merely accusations and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
NDTX Roundup - 1/9/2019Read the Press Release
PLEA – Isaiah Alexander Allen
On Jan. 2, 22-year-old Isaiah Alexander Allen pleaded guilty to cyberstalking, after law enforcement caught him posting so-called “revenge porn.” Allen met his victim, a California college student, on an internet gaming website. Over the course of their online relationship, she sent him several sexual photos. But when she refused to provide additional lascivious images, Allen posted dozens of her naked photos online, along with screenshots of B.K.’s driver’s license, college ID, and social security card, as well as her phone number and physical address. The photos, originally uploaded to Reddit and Imgur and later shared on sites like 4Chan and PornStarTube, have been viewed more than a million times. The FBI and Lubbock Police Department investigated.INDICTMENT* – Daniel Jenkins & Michael Atkinson
On Jan. 8, two Dallas men were charged with conspiracy to commit hate crimes, kidnapping, and carjacking. Daniel Jenkins, 19, and Michael Atkinson, 24, allegedly used fake profiles targeting gay men on Grindr, a GTBQ dating app, to lure at least nine men, ages 19 to 57, to an apartment complex, where they were assaulted, taunted, and robbed. At least five victims were physicaly assaulted, one was sexually assaulted with an object, and one was smeared with feces. The FBI investigated.VERDICT -- Robert Bazan
On Jan. 8, a federal jury found Robert Bazan, 45, of Seminole, Texas, guilty of methamphetamine and firearms offenses. According to the evidence presented at trial, in April 2018, Mr. Bazan sold an AR-style pistol and approximately one ounce of methamphetamine to a confidential informant. Less than four months later, Mr. Bazan led deputies with Gaines County, Texas, and Lea County, New Mexico, on a high-speed pursuit following a traffic stop. During the pursuit, which reached speeds over 95 miles per hour, Bazan attempted to discard two handguns and approximately 413 grams of methamphetamine. Upon being indicted, Mr. Bazan also attempted to intimidate a cooperating witness. A six-time convicted felon, Mr. Bazan now faces up to life in prison. The ATF and DEA conducted the investigation, along with the Gaines and Lea County Sheriff’s Offices.SENTENCING -- James Smith
On Jan.10, James Gabriel Smith, a former member of the military, was sentenced more than 12 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to attempted enticement of a minor. Smith, a former resident of Saginaw, Texas, admits he chatted online with an undercover NCIS agent posing as a 13-year-old girl. Over the span of three months, Smith sent graphic images of himself and told the 'girl' he wanted to engage in sexual activity with her. When Smith showed up to an apartment in Fort Worth in April 2018, he was arrested by NCIS agents and Fort Worth police.SENTENCING -- William Smith
On Jan. 11, William Brian Smith (no relation to above) was sentenced to 15 years' inprisonment followed by lifetime supervision after pleading guilty to receipt of child pornography. Smith, a resident of Fort Worth, was discovered with child pornography on his work computer after one of his co-workers complained. At his sentencing, Smith admitted to surreptitiously recording a child taking a shower -- and to taking surreptitious recordings of his female coworkers. The case was investigated by Saginaw Police Department and Homeland Security Investigations.* An indictment is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence. A defendant is presumed innocent unless convicted through due process of law.
NOTE: Due the the lapse in appropraitions, the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Northern District of Texas will not be issuing press releases or distributing news roundups via email. We will, however, post roundups online.
Mercer County Man Charged with Robbing Southside Bank Twice in October 2018Read the Press Release
PITTSBURGH, PA – A resident of Hadley, Pennsylvania has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh on charges related to two bank robberies that occurred in the Southside neighborhood of Pittsburgh, United States Attorney Scott W. Brady announced today.
The three-count Indictment names Daryle Devlin, 27, as the sole defendant.
According to the Indictment, on October 20, 2018, Devlin robbed the Farmers National Bank, located at 1812 East Carson Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15203. The Indictment further alleges that on October 26, 2018, Devlin robbed the same Farmers National Bank. Devlin is alleged to have brandished a firearm in the commission of the October 26, 2018 robbery. A total of $4,554.15 was taken from the bank during these bank robberies.
As to the October 20, 2018 bank robbery, the law provides for a maximum total sentence of not more than 20 years in prison, a fine of not more than $250,000, or both. As to the October 26, 2018 armed bank robbery, the law provides for a maximum total sentence of 25 years in prison, a fine of $250,000, or both. Additionally, the law provides for a minimum sentence of not less than seven years in prison and up to life, a fine of $250,000, or both, for the firearms offense. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed would be based upon the seriousness of the offenses and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.
Assistant United States Attorney Rebecca L. Silinski is prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation and City of Pittsburgh Bureau of Police Police conducted the investigation leading to the Indictment in this case.
An indictment is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Marion Resident Sentenced for Robbery of Valero Gas StationRead the Press Release
On January 7, 2019, Travis J. Taylor, 38, of Marion, Illinois was sentenced for the April 25, 2018, robbery of the Valero Gas Station in Marion, Illinois, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, Steven D. Weinhoeft, announced today. Taylor, who had previously pled guilty to the one-count indictment charging Interference with Commerce by Robbery, in violation of the Hobbs Act, was sentenced to 60 months’ imprisonment to be followed by 3 years of supervised release. The district court also ordered Taylor to pay $1,118.00 in restitution.
Evidence at the plea and sentencing hearings established that on April 25, 2018, Taylor entered the Valero Gas Station and forcibly ordered the clerk to remove money from the cash registers. Taylor was wearing a mask over his face and told the clerk that he had a gun. Marion police officers and a Marion K-9 located and arrested Taylor after a vehicle and foot pursuit. The district judge imposed a sentence above the advisory sentencing guidelines range based on Taylor’s criminal history and the fact that Taylor had previously violated the terms of his supervised release on a prior federal conviction. The Marion Police Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted the investigation.
Macon Educator Sentenced to 90 Months in Prison for Possessing Hundreds of Child Pornography ImagesRead the Press Release
MACON – A Macon resident was sentenced to 90 months in prison, followed by 25 years of supervised release, after pleading guilty to one count of Possession of Child Pornography, said Charles “Charlie” Peeler, the United States Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia. The Honorable Marc Treadwell handed down the sentence to Robert Anthony Smith, 44, in Macon federal court Wednesday morning. Mr. Smith will be required to make restitution payments to the victims identified in the images he possessed and register as a sex offender.
According to the plea agreement, the Atlanta office of Homeland Security Investigations was notified by the New Zealand Digital Child Exploitation Team in August 2017 about individuals using an online forum called “Chatstep” to post images and videos depicting the sexual exploitation of children. The investigation led to the execution of a federal search warrant at Mr. Smith’s home, where six computers, an iPad, iPhone, and two external hard drives were seized on December 1, 2017. Forensic examiners found that three of the devices contained 454 image files and 19 video files of minors being sexually exploited. Some images involved children under the age of twelve, including infants and toddlers being sexually abused. At the time, Mr. Smith was a special education teacher at Central High School in Macon.
“Here we have a teacher, charged with protecting young people, viewing hundreds of scenes of children being sexually exploited in the most heinous ways imaginable. The sexual exploitation of children is a crime that will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” said Charles “Charlie” Peeler, the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia. “I want to acknowledge the excellent investigative work of Homeland Security in rooting out Mr. Smith’s criminal activities.”
This case was investigated by the Department of Homeland Security and Assistant U.S. Attorney Shanelle Booker is prosecuting the case for the Government. Questions can be directed to Pamela Lightsey, Public Information Officer, United States Attorney’s Office, at (478) 621-2603 or Melissa Hodges, Public Affairs Director (Contractor), United States Attorney’s Office, at (478) 765-2362.
Lawrence Keefe Sworn in as U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of FloridaRead the Press Release
TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA – Lawrence “Larry” Keefe, of Shalimar, Florida, took the oath of office this morning from Chief District Judge Mark E. Walker to become the 41st U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Florida. Mr. Keefe was nominated by President Donald Trump on August 16, 2018, and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on January 2, 2019. Mr. Keefe succeeds Christopher P. Canova, who has served as U.S. Attorney for the district since September 4, 2015, when U.S. Attorney Pamela Cothran Marsh resigned.
U.S. Attorney Keefe said: “It is a privilege to serve as the United States Attorney, and I am deeply grateful to President Trump, Senator Rubio, Senator Nelson, and to all those who supported my nomination and confirmation. I look forward to working with the dedicated public servants in the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the brave women and men of our local, state, and federal law enforcement partners in the pursuit of justice for the people of North Florida and the nation. I took an oath today to uphold the Constitution of the United States, and I will do that with every bit of energy, intelligence, and commitment that I can muster.”
As U.S. Attorney, Mr. Keefe is the top-ranking federal law enforcement official in the Northern District of Florida, which includes Florida’s 23 panhandle counties, from Escambia in the west to Alachua in the east. The district has offices in Pensacola, Panama City, Tallahassee, and Gainesville. The office is responsible for prosecuting federal crimes in the district, including crimes related to terrorism, public corruption, child exploitation, human trafficking, financial fraud, health care fraud, firearms, and narcotics. The office also defends the United States in civil cases and collects debts owed to the United States.
U.S. Attorney Keefe, a North Florida native, has been a member of the Florida Bar for more than 30 years. Mr. Keefe is the son of a World War II fighter pilot and a public school librarian aide. After graduating from Okaloosa County public schools, Mr. Keefe attended the University of Florida on a football scholarship, where he earned both his bachelor’s degree with honors in 1983 and juris doctor in 1986. Mr. Keefe began his legal career in Tampa, where he tried complex business litigation, construction litigation, and product liability cases, before returning home to Northwest Florida in 1991. Since that time, he has litigated civil and criminal matters in both federal and state courts, and at the appellate level. Mr. Keefe has received various recognitions, and articles he has written are featured in law publications, including the Florida Bar Journal.
U.S. Attorney Keefe and his wife Lynn have been married for 30 years. Lynn has practiced medicine in Northwest Florida for more than two decades and was the first pediatrician to establish a pediatrics practice in Niceville, Florida. The Keefe family has four adult sons. Two have careers in public service in the U.S. Secret Service and the U.S. Air Force, one is an attorney at a Miami law firm, and the youngest is a senior on an athletic scholarship at The Citadel: The Military College of South Carolina.
U.S. Attorney Keefe recognized Mr. Canova for his faithful service to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida and North Florida communities. Mr. Canova will continue his nearly 18-year career with the U.S. Attorney’s Office as First Assistant U.S. Attorney.
Photos of U.S. Attorney Keefe’s swearing in ceremony are attached. His primary office will be in Tallahassee.
The United States Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Florida is one of 94 offices that serve as the nation’s principal litigators under the direction of the Attorney General. To access public court documents online, please visit the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida website. For more information about the United States Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Florida, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/fln/index.html.
Jackson Woman Sentenced to over 9 Years in Federal Prison for Drug Conspiracy and Illegally Possessing a FirearmRead the Press Release
Gulfport, Miss – Erica Leigh Wooldridge, 44, of Jackson, Mississippi, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Sul Ozerden to 51 months in federal prison for conspiring to possess with intent to distribute heroin and fentanyl, followed by a consecutive sentence of 60 months for possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, announced U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst and DEA Assistant Special Agent in Charge Derryle Smith. Wooldridge was also ordered to pay a $7,500.00 fine.
On July 6, 2018, Biloxi police responded to a call regarding Wooldridge attempting to pass a $100.00 counterfeit bill at Walmart. When officers arrived, they stopped the van driven by Wooldridge. Another individual, Howard Lee Walker III, was in the passenger seat of the vehicle. Wooldridge agreed to let officers search the van, and upon searching it, officers located a loaded 9mm pistol under the front console. They also located 2 grams of methamphetamine and over 500 pills concealed in various locations in the van. A cooperating source notified agents that Wooldridge drove to Biloxi to sell the pills. The investigation revealed text messages between Wooldridge and several individuals discussing selling the pills. Wooldridge admitted to owning the gun and possessing it for protection. The pills looked exactly like Percocet pills. However, after sending the pills to the Mississippi Crime Laboratory, analysts discovered the pills were manufactured on the street and pressed with various drugs, including heroin and trace amounts of fentanyl.
Wooldridge pled guilty on October 4, 2018. Walker pled guilty on December 4, 2018, and will be sentenced on March 7, 2019.
This case was investigated by the Biloxi Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathlyn R. Van Buskirk.
Jackson Man Pleads Guilty to Distributing MethamphetamineRead the Press Release
Jackson, Miss. – Kelvin Roy Thompson a/k/a “HOT” a/k/a “OLD SCHOOL,” 60, pled guilty today before U.S. District Judge David C. Bramlette III to distribution of actual methamphetamine, announced U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst, Director John Dowdy with the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics, Assistant Special Agent in Charge Derryle Smith with the Drug Enforcement Administration, and Special Agent in Charge Dana Nichols with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco Firearms and Explosives.
As part of his guilty plea, Thompson admitted to selling methamphetamine to a Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics Confidential Informant at his residence located in Jackson, Mississippi, on or about January 31, 2018. The transaction involved the sale of approximately 26.9 grams of methamphetamine hydrochloride with 98% purity.
Thompson will be sentenced by Judge Bramlette on April 11, 2019, and faces a maximum penalty of 40 years in prison and a $5,000,000 fine.
The case is the result of an investigation by the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Jackson Police Department and the Ridgeland Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Keesha Middleton.
Forest Man Sentenced to 20 Years in Federal Prison for MethamphetamineRead the Press Release
Jackson, Miss. – Jimmie Terrell Harrison, 43, of Forest, Mississippi, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Carlton W. Reeves, to 240 months in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine, announced U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst and Jere T. Miles, Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations in New Orleans. Harrison was also ordered to pay a $5,000 fine.
On March 2, 2018, a box shipped via Fed Ex to an address in Forest, Mississippi, was found to contain nearly 10 pounds of methamphetamine. The box was delivered to the house next door to Harrison’s. The box was then picked up and brought to Harrison’s house. Agents searched Harrison’s home and found cocaine and two firearms. The methamphetamine recovered was to be distributed in the central Mississippi area. Harrison pled guilty on September 26, 2018, to possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine.
This case is the result of an extensive Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation, dubbed "Operation Highlife", which began as an operation targeting illegal narcotics distribution in the east central Mississippi area that involved the distribution of methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana. The distribution network encompasses the States of California, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi.
The OCDETF program is a joint federal, state and local cooperative approach to combat drug trafficking and is the nation’s primary tool for disrupting and dismantling major drug trafficking organizations, targeting national and regional level drug trafficking organizations, and coordinating the necessary law enforcement entities and resources to disrupt or dismantle the targeted criminal organization and seize their assets.
This OCDETF case is a result of a joint investigation by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics. Assisting agencies included the Philadelphia Police Department, Neshoba County Sheriff’s Department, Neshoba County District Attorney’s Office, Scott County Sheriff’s Office, Flowood Police Department, Rankin County Sheriff’s Department, Hinds County Sheriff’s Department, Carthage Police Department, Union Police Department, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Louisville Police Department, Mississippi Highway Patrol, and the United States Marshal Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Erin Chalk prosecuted the case.
Felon with 8 Prior Convictions Charged with Illegally Possessing a HandgunRead the Press Release
PITTSBURGH – A resident of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh on a charge of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, United States Attorney Scott W. Brady announced today.
The one-count Indictment named Octavio Rodriguez Shipman, 52, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
According to the Indictment, in or around April 2018, Shipman unlawfully possessed a 9 millimeter caliber semi-automatic Canik pistol. The Indictment also alleged that the defendant has been convicted of eight offenses in five different cases between 1992 and 2002. Federal law prohibits anyone who has been convicted of a crime punishable by a term of imprisonment exceeding one year from possessing a firearm.
For Shipman’s offense, the law provides for a maximum total sentence of not more than 10 years in prison, a fine of not more than $250,000, or both. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed would be based upon the seriousness of the offense and the prior criminal history of the defendant.
Assistant United States Attorney David Lew is prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives along with the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police, conducted the investigation leading to the Indictment in this case. The case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods. Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.
An indictment is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Felon in Prison Sentenced for Possessing HeroinRead the Press Release
St. Louis, MO – Lywayne Marquis Scott, 35, of St. Louis, was sentenced to 60 months in prison for felon in possession of a firearm and possession with intent to distribute heroin.
According to court documents, prior to October 20, 1016, members of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department were informed that Scott was in possession of an AK-47 type firearm while occupying a vacant house on Bacon. After officers executed a search warrant, Scott was present in the house and found on the table was a loaded ROMARM SA/Cugir, WASR-10 semi-automatic firearm (a AK-47 type) and other firearms. He admitted possessing that firearm.
On September 25, 2017, Scott was incarcerated in the Jennings jail for the above conduct. During the guards’ investigation of an inmate using a contraband cell phone in the yard of the facility, a search of Scott’s pants revealed a golf ball size amount of white powder which fell to the ground. The white powder was analyzed and found to be 20 grams of heroin.
Scott pled guilty in August to two counts – one count of felon in possession of a firearm and one count of possession with intent to distribute heroin. He appeared in federal court today before U.S. District Judge Henry Autrey.
This case was investigated by the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department. United States Attorney Tom Mehan is handling the case for the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Disbarred Tulsa Guardian Attorney Sentenced to Prison for Nearly $600,000 FraudRead the Press Release
A disbarred Tulsa guardianship attorney has been ordered to federal prison following his conviction for bank fraud and money laundering in a scheme that defrauded his client of $589,393, announced U.S. Attorney Trent Shores. Glenn Martin Mirando, 64 of Tulsa, Oklahoma, pleaded guilty September 4, 2018.
Today, U.S. District Judge John E. Dowdell sentenced Mirando to 33 months in prison, for both bank fraud and money laundering, to be followed by five and three years of supervised release.
The court also ordered a criminal forfeiture money judgment in the sum of $589,393, representing proceeds obtained through those crimes. All monies will go to provide restitution to the victim.
“Mirando chose to violate and abuse both his position of trust as a formerly licensed attorney and his position of trust as a court appointed guardian for the victim of this horrible fraud. Embezzling almost $600,000 from a vulnerable individual who was receiving medical treatment in order to maintain an extravagant personal lifestyle for himself and his family is inexcusable. Even more egregious, Mirando used his skills as an attorney to conceal the theft for three years by laundering the proceeds of the bank fraud scheme through the movement of cash between multiple bank accounts. The violation of such positions of trust should be severely punished as a deterrent”, said U.S. Attorney Shores.
The victim told the court at length how Mirando’s fraud harmed her financially. The victim questioned why Mirando had made no attempt to repay her in the three years that had passed since the discovery of the crime in late 2015.
Mirando was a self-employed, licensed attorney in the state of Oklahoma from 1989 until he was suspended in 2016 and then disbarred from the practice of law by the Oklahoma Supreme Court in 2018.
The bank fraud violations stem from a scheme in which Mirando used his position as an attorney and court-appointed Guardian to steal funds from his client, by causing funds to be disbursed from the victim’s IRA account at Wells Fargo in St. Louis, Missouri, without her knowledge, to an account Mirando controlled at Tulsa Teachers Credit Union (“TTCU”) where he then would withdraw the funds in cash. Mirando would then engage in financial transactions with the stolen funds for his personal benefit with the intent to conceal the proceeds of the fraud.
Beginning on January 3, 2013 and continuing through December 2015, Mirando requested distributions from the victim’s IRA account at Wells Fargo. When Wells Fargo would distribute the withdrawals to the TTCU account Mirando opened, Wells Fargo also withheld and paid Federal income tax and Oklahoma state income tax on each distribution. Mirando then would withdraw cash from the TTCU account and deposit the cash he withdrew into other accounts at TTCU in his name, his business’ name, and his wife’s name. The victim never made any cash withdrawals from the account at TTCU nor did the victim receive any cash directly from Mirando.
To further conceal the scheme, Mirando would withdraw cash from the TTCU account, wait a couple of hours or sometimes a day and then make cash deposits into other accounts at TTCU with the aggregate amount being slightly different from the total cash withdrawal.
Mirando had $782,357 under his control and custody, which was withdrawn from the victim’s IRA at Wells Fargo. From the foregoing amount, Mirando paid $121,000 directly to the victim and paid $14,074.23 to others on behalf of the victim. The cumulative loss attributable to Mirando (inclusive of federal and state taxes that were paid by Wells Fargo on behalf of the victim), which were used for sentencing purposes, is in excess of $589,393.
Most of the stolen funds appear to have been used to support the lifestyle of Mirando and his family members. The 306 cash withdrawals Mirando made totaling $466,950 were subsequently deposited into his personal account, his business account, and his wife’s personal account and used to pay personal expenses. Coupled with the federal and state taxes paid by Wells Fargo on behalf of the victim and taken from the victim’s IRA, the total loss for sentencing purposes was in excess of $589,393.
This was a joint state/federal investigation involving the U.S. Department of Treasury, Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Division, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Tulsa Police Department, and Tulsa County District Attorney. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Charles M. McLoughlin and Catherine J. Depew prosecuted the case.
Dallas Men Indicted for Hate Crimes for Targeting Gay Men on GrindrRead the Press Release
Two Dallas men were charged with hate crimes today for using the Grindr app to lure men to an apartment complex, where the men were assaulted, taunted and robbed, announced U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Erin Nealy Cox.
A federal grand jury indicted Daniel Jenkins, 19, and Michael Atkinson, 24, for conspiracy to commit hate crimes, kidnapping, and carjacking. Mr. Jenkins was also charged with brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence.
According to the 15-count indictment – which supersedes an indictment filed under seal in August 2018 – members of the conspiracy set up fake profiles on Grindr, a social media dating platform for GBTQ men, to lure gay men to an apartment complex in Pleasant Grove, Texas in order to commit violent crimes against them including assaults, kidnapping, and carjacking. For approximately one week in December 2017, the conspirators lured at least nine victims, ages 19 to 57, to Solana Ridge Apartments.
On December 6, 2017, members of the conspiracy used Grindr to lure John Doe 8 to the Solana Ridge Apartments in Pleasant Grove. Jenkins and another unidentified man held John Doe 8 at gunpoint in a vacant apartment. Jenkins and his coconspirator took John Doe 8’s cellular phone and other property. The next day, John Doe 9 was contacted through Grindr and lured to the Solano Ridge Apartments where he was carjacked at gunpoint and forced to drive to local ATMs in order to withdraw cash.
On December 7, 2017, members of the conspiracy used Grindr to lure John Doe 1 to the Solano Ridge Apartments. He was robbed at gunpoint, carjacked and forced to drive his attackers to local ATMs to withdraw cash. On December 8, 2017, members of the conspiracy used Grindr to lure John Doe 2 to the Solana Ridge Apartments. A member of the conspiracy held John Doe 2 at gunpoint and demanded his property. A member of the conspiracy hit John Doe 2 in the head with an object.
On December 11, 2017, the conspirators used Grindr to lure another 4 men to the Solano Ridge Apartments. Jenkins met victims at their cars and invited them inside of Apartment # 186. According to the indictment, Atkinson brought a handgun to Apartment # 186. According to the indictment, Jenkins pointed a handgun toward at least one victim, physically assaulted at least two others and called the victims homophobic slurs. At least one victim was sexually assaulted and at least one victim was smeared with human feces.
“Criminals are using apps like Grindr to single out victims based on their sexual orientation,” said U.S. Attorney Nealy Cox. “My office is committed to rooting out these despicable crimes motivated by hate.”
“As the lead agency for the investigation of federal hate crime violations, the FBI is committed to aggressively identifying and pursuing those using online apps, such as Grindr, to commit acts of violence or intimidation against an individual or community based on their protected class status,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge of the Dallas Office Eric Jackson.
An indictment is merely an accusation, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. If convicted, both defendants face a maximum statutory penalty of life in prison for the hate crime and kidnapping charges, 15 years for the carjacking changes, five years for the conspiracy charge, and a fine of up to $250,000 with respect to each charge. Jenkins also faces a mandatory minimum of at least seven years in prison plus a $250,000 fine for each firearms charge.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Dallas Field Office conducted the federal investigation; a separate criminal investigation is being conducted by the Dallas Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicole Dana of the Northern District of Texas and Trial Attorneys Rose Gibson and Kathryn Gilbert of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division are prosecuting the case.
This is not the first hate crime case involving the use of the Grindr app; four men pleaded guilty to hate crimes in the Eastern District of Texas in 2018. All four men were sentenced to at least a decade in prison after admitting they used Grindr to arrange a meet-up at a victim’s home, where they physically assaulted, ridiculed, and robbed him.
Brooklyn-Based Bloods Gang Member Indicted for Racketeering, Murder and Armed RobberyRead the Press Release
A nine-count indictment was unsealed today in federal court in Central Islip charging Dylan Cruz, also known as “L Banga,” an alleged member of the Red Lane Gorillas set of the Bloods street gang, with racketeering, conspiring to murder rival gang members, murder in-aid-of racketeering, armed robbery and related firearms counts. The indictment was returned under seal by a federal grand jury on December 12, 2018. The defendant is scheduled to be arraigned this morning before United States District Judge Joseph F. Bianco.
Richard P. Donoghue, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, William F. Sweeney, Jr., Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI), Patrick J. Ryder, Commissioner, Nassau County Police Department (NCPD), and James P. O’Neill, Commissioner, New York City Police Department (NYPD), announced the charges.
“The charges in the indictment reflect the extreme danger Cruz posed to communities on Long Island and in Brooklyn as he allegedly killed a man mistakenly thought to have betrayed a gang member, shot and paralyzed a suspected rival gang member and wounded two bystanders in furtherance of the Bloods’ criminal enterprise,” stated United States Attorney Donoghue. “Cruz will now be brought to justice for his charged crimes, and this Office will continue working tirelessly with federal, state and local law enforcement partners to eradicate violent street gangs.” Mr. Donoghue thanked the FBI Long Island Gang Task Force, the NCPD Gang Investigation Squad, NCPD Homicide Squad, NYPD Gun Violence Suppression Division, Violence Reduction Task Force and the NYPD Firearm Investigation Unit, for their assistance in the ongoing investigation.
Between 2010 and 2016, Cruz and other members of the Red Lane Gorillas allegedly engaged in a violent gang war against rival gangs, including the Crips and the 5-9 Brims set of the Bloods, in Nassau County and Brooklyn. The indictment charges Cruz with the July 2012 murder in Baldwin Harbor of Anthony Richard, whom Cruz and fellow gang members wrongly suspected of betraying the Bloods. Cruz and others followed Richard’s car until it was parked. Cruz then approached the car and fired more than a dozen shots, killing Richard and severely wounding a passenger.
Cruz is also charged with the attempted murder of a suspected rival gang member in Roosevelt in November 2010, in which the victim was shot in the back and paralyzed; the attempted murder of a second rival gang member in January 2013, in which a bystander was shot in the foot; and a gun-point robbery at a used car dealership in North Merrick in June 2016, in which an employee was pistol-whipped by Cruz and a co-conspirator.
The charges in the indictment are allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Several other members of the Red Lane Gorillas set of the Bloods are charged in a separate indictment with conspiracy to commit murder, attempted murder in-aid-of racketeering, assault in-aid-of racketeering and related firearms charges.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone.
The government’s case is being handled by the Office’s Long Island Criminal Division. Assistant United States Attorneys Nicole Boeckmann and Michael Maffei are in charge of the prosecution.
The Defendant:
Dylan Cruz (also known as “L Banga”)
Age: 27
Brooklyn, New YorkE.D.N.Y. Docket No. 18-CR-664 (JFB)
An Illegal Aggravated Felon with A Prior Meth Conviction Sentenced to 24 Months for Illegally Reentering the United StatesRead the Press Release
ATHENS – An illegal aggravated felon was sentenced to 24 months today for re-entering the United States after being deported in 2014, said Charles “Charlie” Peeler, the United States Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia. Dionicio Garcia Aguirre, of Mexico, was sentenced in Athens, Georgia federal court by the Honorable C. Ashley Royal. Mr. Aguirre will be deported for a second time following this latest term of imprisonment.
Mr. Aguirre was first convicted in Athens federal court on March 10, 2010 of Possession with Intent to Distribute more than 500 grams of Methamphetamine. After serving a prison sentence, Mr. Aguirre was deported in June 2014. On November 2, 2017, U.S. Probation filed a petition to revoke Mr. Aguirre’s supervised release on the methamphetamine conviction after gaining knowledge of his illegal presence in Franklin County, Georgia. In February 2018, Mr. Aguirre was arrested for a traffic offense, and was later taken into federal custody.
“This convicted felon was deported by the government after serving a sentence for distributing a large quantity of illegal meth in our state, and then completely ignored the clear direction of the United States to never cross illegally into our country again,” said Charles “Charlie” Peeler, the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia. “The illegal re-entry of criminals into our country is a serious offense, and we will continue to protect our citizens by enforcing the law. I want to thank investigators with Immigration and Customs Enforcement for their work in this matter.”
The case was investigated by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Tamara Jarrett is prosecuting the case for the Government.
Questions can be directed to Pamela Lightsey, Public Information Officer, United States Attorney’s Office, at (478) 621-2603 or Melissa Hodges, Public Affairs Director (Contractor), United States Attorney’s Office, at (478) 765-2362.
8 January 2019
Upshur County man indicted on firearms chargesRead the Press Release
CLARKSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA – Cameron Dixon, of Buckhannon, West Virginia, was indicted by a federal grand jury sitting in Clarksburg on January 8, 2019 on firearms charges, United States Attorney Bill Powell announced.
Dixon, age 26, was indicted on one count of “Unlawful Possession of a Firearm as a Drug User” and one count of “Possession of a Stolen Firearm.” Dixon, who is prohibited from having a firearm, is accused of having a .45 caliber pistol and a 9mm pistol in September 2017 in Harrison County. The .45 caliber pistol is believed to be stolen.
Dixon faces up to 10 years incarceration and a fine of up to $250,000 for each count. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed will be based upon the seriousness of the offenses and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN). Project Safe Neighborhoods 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.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew R. Cogar is prosecuting the case on behalf of the government. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated.
An indictment is merely an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Tyler County woman sentenced for drug distributionRead the Press Release
WHEELING, WEST VIRGINIA – Desiree Morgan, of Paden City, West Virginia, was sentenced today to 37 months incarceration for distributing methamphetamine, United States Attorney Bill Powell announced.
Morgan, age 23, pled guilty to one count of “Distribution of Methamphetamine” in October 2018. Morgan admitted selling methamphetamine in February 2017 in Tyler County.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Robert H. McWilliams, Jr., and Shawn M. Adkins prosecuted the case on behalf of the government. The Drug Enforcement Administration; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; the Marshall County Drug and Violent Crimes Task Force, a HIDTA-funded initiative; the West Virginia State Police; the Tyler County Sheriff’s Office; the Wetzel County Sheriff’s Office; the Sistersville Police Department; the Paden City Police Department; and the New Martinsville Police Department investigated. The Columbus, Ohio, Police Department Gang Crimes Unit assisted in the case.
The investigation was funded in part by the federal Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force Program (OCDETF). The OCDETF program supplies critical federal funding and coordination that allows federal and state agencies to work together to successfully identify, investigate, and prosecute major interstate and international drug trafficking organizations and other criminal enterprises.
Senior U.S. District Judge Frederick P. Stamp, Jr., presided.
Two Maryland men indicted on firearms chargesRead the Press Release
CLARKSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA – Desmon Johnson and Kevin E. Burley, Jr., both of Parkville, Maryland, were indicted by a federal grand jury sitting in Clarksburg on January 8, 2019 on firearms charges, United States Attorney Bill Powell announced.
Johnson, age 34, was indicted on one count of “Conspiracy to Violate Federal Firearm Laws,” one count of “Engaging in the Business of Firearms Without a License -Aiding and Abetting,” one count of “Possession of a Firearm with an Obliterated Serial Number,” and one count of “Unlawful Possession of a Firearm.”
Burley, age 33, was indicted on one count of “Conspiracy to Violate Federal Firearm Laws,” one count of “Engaging in the Business of Firearms Without a License -Aiding and Abetting,” and one count of “Unlawful Possession of a Firearm.”
Both men are accused of traveling to Kentucky and West Virginia with the intent of purchasing firearms to then sell those firearms. The two are accused of shipping firearms for sale. Johnson and Burley are not licensed firearms dealers. The crimes allegedly occurred in the Northern District of West Virginia and elsewhere from July 2015 to September 2016.
Johnson and Burley each face up to five years incarceration and a fine of up to $250,000 for each of the conspiracy and business charges and faces up to 10 years incarceration and a fine of up to $250,000 on the unlawful firearms count. Johnson also faces up to five years incarceration and a fine of up to $250,000 for the obliterated serial number charge. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed will be based upon the seriousness of the offenses and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN). Project Safe Neighborhoods 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.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Traci M. Cook is prosecuting the case on behalf of the government. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Eastern Panhandle Drug & violent Crimes Task Force, a HIDTA-funded initiative, investigated.
An indictment is merely an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Russian Attorney Natalya Veselnitskaya Charged with Obstruction of Justice in Connection with Civil Money Laundering and Forfeiture ActionRead the Press Release
Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Angel M. Melendez, the Special Agent-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (“HSI”), announced today the unsealing of an indictment charging NATALYA VLADIMIROVNA VESELNITSKAYA, a national of the Russian Federation, with obstruction of justice.
VESELNITSKAYA was an attorney assisting the defendants against the Government’s claims for forfeiture and civil money laundering penalties in United States v. Prevezon Holdings, Ltd., et al., 13 Civ. 6326. In the Prevezon case, the Government sought to prove that VESELNITSKAYA’s clients had received and laundered a portion of the proceeds of a Russian tax refund fraud scheme involving corrupt Russian officials that was uncovered by Sergei Magnitsky, a Russian legal adviser who had participated in reporting the fraud to Russian authorities but was then arrested in a retaliatory proceeding.
In the course of representing the defendants in the Prevezon action, VESELNITSKAYA submitted to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (the “Court”) an intentionally misleading declaration in opposition to a Government motion. VESELNITSKAYA’s declaration presented supposed investigative findings by the Russian government – findings purportedly exonerating VESELNITSKAYA’s clients – under the false pretense that these findings had been independently drafted by the Russian government. As alleged, however, VESELNITKSAYA concealed from the Court that she, as a member of the defense team in the Prevezon action, had participated in drafting those supposed exculpatory investigative findings in secret cooperation with a senior Russian prosecutor.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said: “Fabricating evidence – submitting false and deceptive declarations to a federal judge – in an attempt to affect the outcome of pending litigation not only undermines the integrity of the judicial process, but it threatens the ability of our courts and our Government to ensure that justice is done. We take seriously our responsibility to protect the integrity of the judicial proceedings in this District, and we will not stand idly by while outside influences seek to corrupt and pervert that process.”
Special Agent-in-Charge Angel M. Melendez said: “Russian Attorney Natalya Veselnitskaya is now a wanted person in the United States for intentionally misleading U.S. investigators, regarding Prevezon Holdings’ role in the $230 million dollar tax fraud scheme perpetrated by a criminal organization that included in its ranks corrupt Russian officials. This investigation brought to light how Veslnitskaya secretly schemed with a senior Russian prosecutor to provide false information to U.S. law enforcement in an attempt to influence the legal proceedings in the Southern District of New York. The determined efforts of HSI New York’s El Dorado Task Force and the U.S. Attorney’s Office reflect how seriously we take the rule of law in the United States. Veselnitskaya is now on notice and will have to answer for her futile actions.”
According to the allegations in the Indictment[1] unsealed today in Manhattan federal court:
The Prevezon Action
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York filed the Prevezon action on September 10, 2013, seeking to recover several million dollars’ worth of property, mainly New York real estate, on the ground that this property was involved in laundering a portion of the proceeds of a Russian tax fraud scheme (the “Russian Treasury Fraud”).
The Complaint in the Prevezon action alleged that the Russian Treasury Fraud was an elaborate tax refund fraud scheme in which a criminal organization including corrupt Russian government officials defrauded Russian taxpayers out of approximately 5.4 billion rubles, or over $200 million. Among other things, the Complaint alleged that the Russian Treasury Fraud consisted of stealing the corporate identities of three companies held by a foreign investment fund advised by an investment company (“Investment Company-1”), manufacturing false contractual defaults against the stolen companies, and claiming tax refunds on the basis of those false corporate liabilities.
The Complaint also alleged that persons associated with Investment Company-1, including Sergei Magnitsky, attempted to report the Russian Treasury Fraud to Russian authorities but were subject to retaliatory prosecutions by the Russian government; that the proceeds from the Russian Treasury Fraud were moved through an elaborate network of shell companies; and that approximately $1.96 million was ultimately transferred by shell companies to a real estate company (“Real Estate Company-1”) that was a defendant in the Prevezon Action. VESELNITSKAYA, an attorney based in Russia, was retained to assist the defendants in the Prevezon Action.
The MLAT Request and the Russian MLAT Response
In March 2014, the U.S. Government sent the Russian Government a request pursuant to a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (the “MLAT Request”), seeking – for use in the Prevezon Action – records proving the commission of the Russian Treasury Fraud and Russian bank records showing the flow of the Russian Treasury Fraud’s proceeds.
In August 2014, the Russian Government responded to the MLAT Request. Instead of providing the requested records, the Russian Government sent the U.S. Government a report from the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office (the “Russian MLAT Response”).
The Russian MLAT Response consisted of a number of supposed investigative findings purportedly from a Russian government investigation. These supposed findings purported to exonerate all Russian government personnel of participating in the Russian Treasury Fraud; to exonerate Real Estate Company-1 of receiving proceeds of the Russian Treasury Fraud; and to accuse people associated with Investment Company-1 of committing the Russian Treasury Fraud. Among the persons the Russian MLAT Response purported to accuse of committing the Russian Treasury Fraud was Magnitsky.
The Veselnitskaya Declaration
In November 2015, the Government moved for partial summary judgment in the Prevezon Action, seeking a ruling that the Russian Treasury Fraud had occurred and constituted a predicate offense for money laundering. The defendants in the Prevezon Action responded, claiming that the motion should be denied because the Russian Treasury Fraud had supposedly been committed by people associated with Investment Company-1 without the involvement of any Russian government officials.
As support for these claims, the defendants in the Prevezon Action submitted a declaration by VESELNITSKAYA (the “Veselnitskaya Declaration”). The Veselnitskaya Declaration attached the Russian MLAT Response, characterized it as exculpatory evidence corroborating the defense’s claims, and claimed that VESELNITSKAYA had gone to great lengths to obtain a copy of it. According to her declaration, VESELNITSKAYA had sought a copy from the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office and been refused, leading her to file a Russian court action to obtain an order compelling the Russian prosecutors to furnish her with a copy.
Veselnitskaya’s Secret Cooperation with the Russian Prosecutor
As alleged, however, VESELNITSKAYA had secretly worked with a senior Russian prosecutor to help draft the Russian MLAT Response. Emails from an account used by VESELNITSKAYA reveal that she sent multiple drafts of the document to the personal email account of a Russian prosecutor in the Prosecutor General’s Office, which drafts made numerous edits and insertions to the Russian MLAT Response.
A number of the insertions VESELNITSKAYA sent the Russian prosecutor were incorporated – either in rephrased form or at times essentially verbatim – into the final Russian MLAT Response sent by the Russian Government to the U.S. Government. Among the insertions that VESELNITSKAYA sent to the Russian prosecutor – and that appeared in some form in the final Russian MLAT Response – were some claims that were featured in the Prevezon defendants’ opposition to the Government’s summary judgment motion. These claims were supposed evidence that persons associated with Investment Company-1, not corrupt Russian Government officials, committed the Russian Treasury Fraud.
In addition to working with VESELNITSKAYA to draft the Russian MLAT Response, the Russian prosecutor also sent VESELNITSKAYA a draft of a formal complaint against the Prosecutor General’s Office (i.e., against the office where the Russian prosecutor worked) seeking a copy of the Russian MLAT Response for VESELNITSKAYA. Such a formal complaint would falsely make it appear – consistent with the Veselnitskaya Declaration – that VESELNITSKAYA was only able to obtain the Russian MLAT Response through formal legal means and was not a party to its very drafting.
VESELNITSKAYA’s declaration did not disclose any of these facts to the Court. When VESELNITSKAYA characterized the Russian MLAT Response as exculpatory, she did not disclose that she had helped to write it. When she claimed that she had been refused a copy of the Russian MLAT Response by the Prosecutor General’s Office and resorted to a Russian court to obtain a copy of it, she did not disclose that she had helped to write it, or that a member of that office had helped her file a complaint against his own office to get a copy.
The Court denied the Government’s motion for partial summary judgment – the outcome VESELNITSKAYA had sought in submitting her declaration. The Prevezon Action continued and the case settled before trial.
* * *
NATALYA VLADIMIROVNA VESELNITSKAYA, 43, a citizen and resident of Russia, is charged with one count of obstruction of justice, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. The maximum potential sentence in this case is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the assigned judge.
Mr. Berman praised the outstanding investigative work of the Special Agents from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and HSI.
The case is being handled by the Office’s Money Laundering and Transnational Criminal Enterprises Unit and its Public Corruption Unit. Assistant United States Attorneys Paul M. Monteleoni and Benet J. Kearney are in charge of the prosecution.
The charges contained in the Indictment are merely accusations and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
[1] As the introductory phrase signifies, the entirety of the text of the Indictment, and the description of the Indictment set forth herein, constitute only allegations, and every fact described should be treated as an allegation.
Randolph County woman admits to drug distribution chargeRead the Press Release
ELKINS, WEST VIRGINIA – Melinda Sharon Higgins, of Elkins, West Virginia, has admitted to drug distribution, United States Attorney Bill Powell announced.
Higgins, age 39, pled guilty to one count of “Distribution of Hydromorphone.” Higgins admitted to distributing hydromorphone in Randolph County in April 2018.
Higgins faces up to 20 years incarceration and a fine of up to $1,000,000. 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 Stephen D. Warner is prosecuting the case on behalf of the government. The Mountain Region Drug & Violent Crimes Task Force investigated.
The investigation was funded by the federal Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force Program (OCDETF). The OCDETF program supplies critical federal funding and coordination that allows federal and state agencies to work together to successfully identify, investigate, and prosecute major interstate and international drug trafficking organizations and other criminal enterprises.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael John Aloi presided.
Multi-Convicted Felon Charged with Firearms ViolationsRead the Press Release
PITTSBURGH, Pa. -- A resident of Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania, has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh on charges of violating the federal firearms laws, United States Attorney Scott W. Brady announced today.
The one-count Indictment named Mitchell Thompson, age 21, as the sole defendant.
According to the Indictment, on August 30, 2018, Thompson unlawfully possessed a Glock 9 millimeter pistol, after having been convicted of crimes punishable by more than one year in prison. Those convictions include one conviction for a firearms violation and one conviction for possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance and conspiracy to deliver a controlled substance. Federal law prohibits anyone who has been convicted of a crime punishable by a term of imprisonment exceeding one year from possessing a firearm or ammunition.
The law provides for a maximum total sentence of up to ten years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, or both. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed would be based upon the seriousness of the offense and the prior criminal history of the defendant.
Assistant United States Attorney Christy C. Wiegand is prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation, along with the Bureau and Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Wilkinsburg Police Department, conducted the investigation leading to the Indictment in this case. The case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods. Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.
An indictment is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Moss Point Man Sentenced to 4 Years in Federal Prison for Illegally Possessing Unregistered FirearmRead the Press Release
Gulfport, Miss. – James Hurshell Dugger, 78, of Moss Point, was sentenced today by Senior U.S. District Judge Louis Guirola to 48 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for possession of an unregistered firearm, announced U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst and Special Agent in Charge Dana Nichols with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
On August 11, 2017, deputies with the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office responded to Dugger’s home after Dugger shot a man during an altercation. Upon searching Dugger’s home, deputies found 65 firearms, including silencers, a sawed-off rifle a firearm with an obliterated serial number, and firearms that were not registered in the National Firearms Registry. He also had over 6,000 rounds of ammunition.
Dugger has prior felony convictions for possession with intent to distribute marijuana and possession of unregistered firearms.
The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated the case. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Annette Williams.
Morgan County man indicted for failing to update sex offender registryRead the Press Release
CLARKSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA – Justin David Peters, of Berkeley Springs, West Virginia, was indicted by a federal grand jury sitting in Clarksburg on January 8, 2019 on a failure to register charge, United States Attorney Bill Powell announced.
Peters, age 26, was indicted on one count of “Failure to Register.” Peters, having previously been convicted of possession of child pornography in Berkeley County Circuit Court, is accused of traveling to Florida without updating his sex offender registration as required by law. The crime allegedly occurred from June to September 2018.
Peters faces 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.
This case is prosecuted as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ 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 about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey A. Finucane is prosecuting the case on behalf of the government. The United States Marshal Service investigated.
Mexican citizen living in Massillon indicted for attempting to illegally ship eight firearms and ammunition from Canton to Laredo, TexasRead the Press Release
A Mexican citizen living in Massillon was indicted for attempting to illegally ship eight firearms and ammunition from Canton to Laredo, Texas.
Brian Isael Velazquez-Mata, 24, was indicted on one count of delivery of firearms and ammunition to common carrier without written notice for transportation or shipment in interstate commerce to unlicensed person.
Velazquez-Mata attempted to ship two packages containing eight firearms, body armor and ammunition from the UPS store at 7257 Fulton Drive NW in Canton, to Laredo, Texas, on December 7, 2018, according to the indictment.
Among the contents in the packages were: a Windham .308-caliber rifle; a Century Arms 7.62 x 39 mm rifle; a Smith & Wesson M&P-15 rifle; a Windham .223/5.56-caliber rifle; a Smith & Wesson 9 mm pistol; a Smith & Wesson 40-caliber pistol; a Smith & Wesson 9 mm pistol; a Glock .40-caliber pistol and ammunition, according to the indictment.
“This defendant attempted to illegally send an arsenal, as well as body armor and ammunition, from Canton to the southwest border,” said U.S. Attorney Justin E. Herdman. “Law enforcement did an excellent job to stop the shipment of these firearms.”
The investigation is ongoing.
If convicted, the defendant’s sentence will be determined by the Court after review of factors unique to this case, including the defendant’s prior criminal record, if any, the defendant’s role in the offense and the characteristics of the violations. In all cases, the sentence will not exceed the statutory maximum and, in most cases, it will be less than the maximum.
This case is being investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Medway Drug Enforcement Agency. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron P. Howell.
An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Mastermind of Mortgage Fraud Scheme Sentenced to 13 Years in PrisonRead the Press Release
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The mastermind of a mortgage fraud scheme that defrauded financially distressed homeowners, investors, and financial institutions of nearly $1.5 million dollars was sentenced today to more than 13 years in federal prison.
Hasan Hussain, 57, of Princeton, N.J., masterminded a scheme that defrauded distressed homeowners, investors, and financial institutions of fees, rental income, mortgage payment funds, property ownership and/or proceeds from the sale of their properties.
At sentencing, U.S. District Court Judge John J. McConnell, Jr., sentenced Hussain to a total of 159 months in federal prison to be followed by 4 years supervised release. Hussain was also ordered to pay more than $1.4 million dollars in restitution to the victims of his scheme.
Hussain, who pled guilty in September 2018, admitted to using various business entities to trick distressed property owners, who were seeking loan modifications, into paying him fees, moving out of their homes, and selling their homes in short sale transactions. Hussain further admitted that he convinced lenders to agree to artificially low sale prices for the distressed property owners’ homes by directing other individuals to damage the properties prior to the short sales. Thereby, Hussain, or individuals or businesses associated with him, acquired the properties at reduced prices, and then flipped them to investors at much higher prices.
At the time of his guilty plea, Hussain admitted that these investors were defrauded of their funds, or good credit, or both when they agreed to purchase properties from Hussain. Hussain further admitted that he assisted investors to acquire federally backed mortgages through fraudulent applications, ultimately resulting in losses to the lenders or the Federal Housing Administration. Some of the tactics employed by Hussain as part of the scheme included misuse of identities and cutting and pasting signatures on property deeds and financial documents.
Several individuals directly impacted by Hussain’s schemes appeared in federal court today and personally delivered victim impact statements to the Court.
Hussain’s sentence is announced by Acting United States Attorney Richard B. Myrus, Special Agent in Charge of the Northeast Region of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Office of Inspector General Christina D. Scaringi, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Secret Service Stephen Marks, Harold H. Shaw, Special Agent in Charge of the Boston Division of the FBI Harold H. Shaw, and Superintendent of the Rhode Island State Police Colonel Ann C. Assumpico.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sandra R. Hebert, Richard B. Myrus, and William J. Ferland.
Marion County man indicted on firearms chargeRead the Press Release
CLARKSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA – Marcus Devaughn Coleman, of Fairmont, West Virginia, was indicted by a federal grand jury sitting in Clarksburg on January 8, 2019 on a firearms charge, United States Attorney Bill Powell announced.
Coleman, age 35, was indicted on one count of “Unlawful Possession of a Firearm.” Coleman, who is prohibited from having a firearm, is accused of having 9mm pistol in March 2018 in Marion County.
Coleman faces 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.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN). Project Safe Neighborhoods 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.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Traci M. Cook is prosecuting the case on behalf of the government. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Marion County Sheriff’s Office investigated.
An indictment is merely an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Marion County man indicted on drug and firearms chargesRead the Press Release
CLARKSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA – James G. Moore, Jr., of Fairmont, West Virginia, was indicted by a federal grand jury sitting in Clarksburg on January 8, 2019 on drug distribution and firearms charges, United States Attorney Bill Powell announced.
Moore, age 41, was indicted on one count of “Possession with the Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine” and one count of “Unlawful Possession of a Firearm.” Moore is accused of having methamphetamine. Moore, who is prohibited from having a firearm, is also accused of having 9mm pistol. The crimes allegedly took place in February 2018 in Marion County.
Moore faces up to 20 years incarceration and a fine of up to $1,000,000 for the drug count, and faces up to 10 years incarceration and a fine of up to $250,000 on the firearms count. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed will be based upon the seriousness of the offenses and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN). Project Safe Neighborhoods 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.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Traci M. Cook is prosecuting the case on behalf of the government. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Marion County Sheriff’s Office investigated.
An indictment is merely an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Maple Heights woman indicted for robbing the same store on Chagrin Boulevard in Woodmere on consecutive daysRead the Press Release
A Maple Heights woman was indicted for robbing the same store on Chagrin Boulevard in Woodmere on consecutive days.
Rachelette McKissack, 26, was indicted on one count of brandishing a firearm in relation to a crime of violence and two counts of interference with commerce through robbery.
McKissack robbed the Cleveland Consignment Shoppe at 28790 Chagrin Blvd. in Woodmere on November 15, 2018, according to the indictment.
The next day, McKissack brandished a firearm to again rob the Cleveland Consignment Shoppe, according to the indictment.
If convicted, the defendant’s sentence will be determined by the Court after review of factors unique to this case, including the defendant’s prior criminal record, if any, the defendant’s role in the offense and the characteristics of the violations. In all cases, the sentence will not exceed the statutory maximum and, in most cases, it will be less than the maximum.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. PSN was reinvigorated in 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally-based strategies to reduce violent crime.
This case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Woodmere Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Margaret A. Kane.
An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Judge Sentences Clairton Woman to Probation for Role in Drug ConspiracyRead the Press Release
PITTSBURGH, PA - A resident of Clairton, Pennsylvania, has been sentenced in federal court to three years’ probation on her conviction of conspiring to distribute narcotics, United States Attorney Scott W. Brady announced today.
United States District Judge Arthur J. Schwab imposed the sentence on Dana McDougald, 33.
According to information presented to the court at the earlier guilty plea proceeding, between March and June 2017, McDougald, at the direction of her codefendant, Elliot Page, packaged, stamped and stored bags of fentanyl for further distribution at her residence. At the time of the imposition of sentence, the court stated that a sentence below the advisory guideline range was appropriate given McDougald’s lack of criminal history, her long-standing dedication to full-time employment, and her challenging childhood, that included periods in foster care.
Assistant United States Attorney Carolyn J. Bloch prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation led the multi-agency investigation of this case, which also included the Allegheny County Sheriff’s Office, the Allegheny County Police Department, and the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police. The investigation was funded by the federal Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force Program (OCDETF). The OCDETF program supplies critical federal funding and coordination that allows federal and state agencies to work together to successfully identify, investigate, and prosecute major interstate and international drug trafficking organizations and other criminal enterprises. Assistant United States Attorney Carolyn J. Bloch is prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.
Jackson Man Sentenced under Project EJECT to over Three Years in Prison for Illegally Possessing a GunRead the Press Release
Jackson, Miss. – Randy Williams, 47, of Jackson, was sentenced today by United States District Judge Henry T. Wingate to 43 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for being a felon in possession of a firearm, announced U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst and Special Agent in Charge Dana Nichols with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Williams was also ordered to pay a $1,500 fine.
On November 6, 2016, officers with the Jackson Police Department initiated a traffic stop of a black Nissan Sentra at the intersection of Ellis Avenue and Highway 80 for disregarding a traffic device. During the stop, the driver, Randy Williams, was found to be in possession of a .38 caliber revolver. Williams has three prior felony convictions in the Circuit Court of Hinds County, which include sexual battery, possession of cocaine, and delivery of cocaine.
This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Jackson Police Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kimberly T. Purdie.
The case is part of Project EJECT, an initiative by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Mississippi under the U.S. Department of Justice’s Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN). EJECT is a holistic, multi-disciplinary approach to fighting and reducing violent crime in Jackson through prosecution, prevention, re-entry and awareness. EJECT stands for "Empower Jackson Expel Crime Together." PSN is 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. Former Attorney General Jeff Sessions reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally-based strategies to reduce violent crime.
Hancock County man sentenced to 10 years for firearms violationRead the Press Release
WHEELING, WEST VIRGINIA – Shannon C. Thornton, of Weirton, West Virginia, was sentenced today to 120 months incarceration for illegally possessing a firearm, United States Attorney Bill Powell announced.
Thornton, age 36, pled guilty to one count of “Unlawful Possession of a Firearm” in October 2018. Thornton, having previously been convicted of felony “Assault with a Deadly Weapon Inflicting Serious Injury” in North Carolina, admitted to possessing a .380 caliber pistol, 9mm caliber pistol, and a .45 caliber pistol in January 2018 in Hancock County.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN). Project Safe Neighborhoods 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.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Danae DeMasi-Lemon prosecuted the case on behalf of the government. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the Hancock-Brooke-Weirton Drug and Violent Crimes Task Force, a HIDTA-funded initiative, investigated.
Senior U.S. District Judge Frederick P. Stamp, Jr., presided.
Fourth defendant sentenced for role in Atlanta-based Mexican sex trafficking ringRead the Press Release
ATLANTA - Severiano Martinez-Rojas has been sentenced for his role in the sex trafficking of three victims. The defendant is the fourth member of an Atlanta-based Mexican sex trafficking ring convicted for their roles in compelling young women from Mexico and Central America to engage in commercial sex.
"Sex trafficking is a form of modern-day slavery that exploits and traumatizes some of the most vulnerable members of our society,” said U.S. Attorney Byung J. “BJay” Pak. “We stand united today with our colleagues at the Department of Justice, Eastern District of New York, and federal law enforcement partners, in applauding the courage of the three victims in this case who remained determined to see this prosecution to its conclusion. The lengthy prison sentence that this final defendant received is primarily the result of the valiant efforts of these human trafficking survivors to hold their traffickers accountable.”
“Human trafficking is disgraceful and unacceptable. The sentence demonstrates the Department of Justice’s unwavering commitment to combatting these crimes,” said Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband. “This sex trafficking enterprise was extensive and resulted in the abuse of young women and girls. The Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department is thankful for the hard work of the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Northern District of Georgia, the FBI, and the Homeland Security Investigations team who helped deliver justice on behalf of the victims and survivors.”
"This case represents why sex trafficking is such a high priority matter for the FBI, our law enforcement partners, and the non-government agencies who provide assistance to those with nowhere else to turn,” said Chris Hacker, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta. “As one of the worst examples of human trafficking, this case should resonate with those who might consider this reprehensible criminal conduct acceptable. We urge anyone with information about human trafficking activities to contact authorities and help put an end to modern day slavery.”
According to U.S. Attorney Pak, the charges, and other information presented in court: Between 2006 and 2008, defendant Severiano Martinez-Rojas and co-defendants Arturo Rojas-Coyotl and Odilon Martinez-Rojas, lured the three victims into fraudulent romantic relationships using false promises of love, marriage, and legitimate work. They then arranged for others to smuggle the victims across the border into the United States. Once illegally in the United States, the defendants used violence, threats, and intimidation to coerce the victims to perform countless commercial sex acts in the Atlanta area and Alabama, where defendant Severiano Martinez-Rojas also operated a brothel.
Severiano Martinez-Rojas, 53, of Mexico, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Edward R. Korman to 24 years, five months in prison for his role in the sex trafficking of three victims. Defendant Severiano Martinez-Rojas was indicted in May 2013 but had remained a fugitive until his arrest in Mexico in November 2015 as part of a coordinated U.S.-Mexico bilateral enforcement action. The action also resulted in the arrests of seven other defendants in a related Eastern District of New York case. Martinez-Rojas was also charged, convicted, and sentenced in that case.
Martinez-Rojas, and co-defendants Arturo Rojas-Coyotl and Odilon Martinez-Rojas, previously pleaded guilty to sex trafficking and were sentenced to 16 years and 21 years and 10 months in prison, respectively. Both defendants were also ordered to pay $180,000 in restitution to the victims. A third co-defendant, Daniel Garcia-Tepal, pleaded guilty to alien harboring and received a sentence of time served.
Since 2009, the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security have collaborated with Mexican law enforcement counterparts in a Bilateral Human Trafficking Enforcement Initiative to more effectively dismantle human trafficking networks operating across the U.S.-Mexico border, bring human traffickers to justice, restore the rights and dignity of human trafficking victims, and reunite victims with their children. These efforts resulted in successful prosecutions in both Mexico and the United States, including U.S. federal prosecutions of more than 170 defendants in multiple cases in Georgia, New York, Florida, and Texas since 2009, as well as numerous Mexican federal and state prosecutions of associated sex traffickers.
The case was investigated by the FBI’s Atlanta Division and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Atlanta. Assistance with the arrest and extradition of defendant Severiano Martinez-Rojas was provided by HSI New York’s Trafficking in Persons Unit, HSI Mexico City Attaché Office, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, the Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs, the State Department, and Interpol. The government of Mexico, including Mexico’s Procuraduría General de la República and Policía Federal, also played a prominent role in advancing the bilateral anti-trafficking enforcement efforts in this case.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard S. Moultrie, Jr., Chief of the Violent Crime & National Security Section for the Northern District of Georgia, and Deputy Director of Litigation Benjamin J. Hawk of the Civil Rights Division’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit.
For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at [email protected] or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.
Five men in the U.S. illegally are indictedRead the Press Release
CLARKSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA – Five men from Mexico, Peru, and Honduras were indicted by a federal grand jury sitting in Clarksburg on January 8, 2019, United States Attorney Bill Powell announced.
Four men are charged with one count of “Reentry of a Removed Alien.”
Feliciano Pelagio Mariluz-Tafur, age 43, a citizen of Peru
Bruno Mauricio-Solis, age 24, a citizen of Mexico
Javier Rosario-Azamar, age 43, a citizen of Mexico
Jose Cristino Cubas-Zavala, age 29, of HondurasThe four are accused of being in Harrison County in December 2018 after having previously been removed from the United States.
An additional defendant, Guillermo Santiago-Francisco, age 24, a citizen of Mexico, along with Cubas-Zavala are each charged with one count of “Fraud and Misuse of Document.” They are accused of forging a document used as evidence of legal entry or authorized stay for employment in the United States in December 2018 in Harrison County.
The reentry charges carry a sentence of up to two years incarceration and a fine of up to $250,000. The fraud charge carries a sentence of up to 10 years incarceration and 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 Brandon S. Flower is prosecuting the case on behalf of the government. U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement and Diplomatic Security Services investigated.
An indictment is merely an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Fayetteville Man Sentenced to over 9 Years in Federal Prison for Felon in Possession of A FirearmRead the Press Release
Fayetteville, Arkansas - Duane (DAK) Kees, United States Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas, announced that Richard Dale Ingram Jr., age 31, of Fayetteville, was sentenced yesterday to 110 months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release and was ordered to pay a $3,900.00 fine on one count of Felon in Possession of a Firearm. The Honorable Timothy L. Brooks presided over the sentencing hearing in the United States District Court in Fayetteville.
According to court records, on March 28, 2018, detectives with the Fourth Judicial Drug Task Force in Washington County, Arkansas conducted a search of the Fayetteville, Arkansas residence of Ingram. Ingram is a convicted felon currently on state supervision with the Arkansas Department of Correction and as such has consented to a search of his residence at any time.
When detectives made entry in Ingram's residence, Ingram attempted to flee out a back window and was apprehended. During their search of the residence, detectives located an Iver Johnson .22 caliber pistol in the toilet tank in the bathroom. Ingram admitted that the firearm belonged to him and that he procured it "on the street".
Ingram was indicted by a federal grand jury in April 2018 and entered a guilty plea in June 2018.
This case was investigated by the 4th Judicial District Drug Task Force. Assistant United States Attorney Denis Dean prosecuted the case for the United States.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program that has been historically successful in bringing together all levels of law enforcement to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone.
Fargo, ND, Man Sentenced to 35 Years for Multiple Offenses Involving Transportation of a One-Year-Old Child for the Purpose of Sexual Abuse and Distribution of Child PornographyRead the Press Release
Fargo – United States Attorney Christopher C. Myers announced that on January 8, 2019, United States District Court Judge Karen E. Schreier, District of South Dakota, sentenced Dustin William Kewley, age 36, Fargo, North Dakota, to serve 35 years in prison, followed by a lifetime of supervised release for the charges of Conspiracy to Transport a Minor, Transportation of a Minor, Distribution of Materials Containing Child Pornography, and Possession of Materials Containing Child Pornography. Kewley was further ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $12,640 to the victim and $400 in special assessments to the Crime Victims’ Fund.
This case was brought to the attention of law enforcement after Kewley began communicating with an undercover officer from the Metropolitan Police Department – FBI Child Exploitation Task Force in Washington, DC. During their conversations, Kewley relayed that he was preparing to sexually abuse a one-year-old child during which time he would produce a visual depiction of such conduct. In addition, Kewley electronically sent the undercover officer a child pornographic video depicting a prepubescent female being sexually abused by an adult male.
After the FBI Task Force identified Kewley as residing in Fargo, North Dakota, it immediately notified the FBI’s field office in Fargo, North Dakota, for further investigation. The FBI and the North Dakota Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force immediately responded to Kewley’s residence to rescue the child. A subsequent search of Kewley’s residence produced Kewley’s computer and cellphone. A subsequent forensic examination of Kewley’s computer and cell phone revealed child pornography, as well as text conversations between Kewley and the co-defendant, Bryan Hogle, from Las Vegas, Nevada.
Further investigation revealed that on May 22, 2017, Kewley transported the one-year-old child from Fargo, North Dakota, to Moorhead, Minnesota, to meet Hogle who traveled from Las Vegas, Nevada, the previous day. Specifically, the two men met at a hotel in Moorhead where together they sexually abused the child.
In July 2018, Hogle pled guilty to the offenses of Conspiracy to Transport a Minor, and Coercion and Enticement. Hogle will be sentenced January 25, 2019.
This case was investigated by the North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation; Federal Bureau of Investigations; Homeland Security Investigations; Fargo Police Department; and FBI Child Exploitation Task Force.
Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer Puhl prosecuted the case.
This case was prosecuted as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorney’s Offices throughout the nation, Project Safe Childhood, in conjunction with Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC), help federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies enhance their investigative responses to offenders who use the Internet, online communications systems, or computer technology to sexually exploit children. The ICAC Program is a national network of 61 coordinated task forces engaging in proactive investigations, forensic investigations, and criminal prosecutions. Project Safe Childhood also helps to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
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Executive Director of Private Club Pleads Guilty in Manhattan Federal Court to Filing False Tax ReturnsRead the Press Release
Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and William Cheung, the Acting Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (“IRS-CI”), announced that MICHAEL GYURE, the executive director of a private club in Manhattan, pled guilty today to filing false federal income tax returns. GYURE pled guilty before U.S. District Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said: “As he admitted in court today, while serving as the executive director of a private club in Manhattan, Michael Gyure ripped off the IRS. Gyure’s filing of false tax returns is no laughing matter, and he now awaits sentencing for this crime.”
IRS-CI Acting Special Agent in Charge William Cheung said: “Gyure’s attempt to evade tax by filing false tax returns was a theft from the American public. It is a felony that carries severe consequences. As we start the tax filing season, it is a timely reminder of the overarching principle of IRS’s enforcement strategy: We protect the integrity of the tax system by ensuring everyone pays the right amount of tax.”
According to allegations contained in the Information to which GYURE pled guilty and other documents filed in federal court, as well as statements made in public court proceedings:
At all times relevant to the conduct outlined in the Information, GYURE was the executive director of a private club (the “Club”) located in Manhattan. In 2012, GYURE entered into an employment agreement with the Club entitling him to the payment of certain personal expenses. Between 2012 and 2016, GYURE received more than approximately $273,000 in reimbursements and direct payments from the Club to pay for personal expenses including, among other things, the purchase of wine sent to GYURE’s home, international travel for GYURE and his family members, and purchases of clothing and groceries. Additionally, during this same period, the Club reclassified more than $160,000 in loans that had previously been made to GYURE as additional compensation, above and beyond GYURE’s salary. The payments for personal expenses made to GYURE and the reclassification of loans as additional compensation to GYURE came at a time when the Club was attempting to address a decrease in revenues and cash management issues. By in or about 2015, for example, the Club was asking vendors to accept reduced or late payments and, during the period between 2015 and 2016, the Club failed to pay several hundred thousand dollars in sales taxes to the State of New York.
In each of tax year 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015, GYURE caused to be filed with the IRS income tax returns that understated his income by failing to report the income he earned from the Club as payments of personal expenses and additional compensation due to reclassification of loans. During the period between tax years 2012 and 2016, GYURE caused losses to the IRS of more than $150,000.
* * *
GYURE, 50, of New York, New York, pled guilty to one count of filing false federal income tax returns, which carries a maximum sentence of three years in prison. GYURE has agreed to pay restitution to the IRS in the amount of at least $156,920, which represents the additional tax due and owing as a result of GYURE’s underpayment of income taxes for the tax years 2012 through 2016. Sentencing is scheduled for April 22, 2019, at 2:45 p.m., before Judge Buchwald.
The maximum potential sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the judge.
Mr. Berman praised the outstanding investigative work of IRS-CI, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the Special Agents of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York in this case.
This case is being handled by the Office’s Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit. Assistant United States Attorneys Katherine Reilly and Sheb Swett are in charge of the prosecution.
Defendants Charged Separately in Fentanyl Death Overdose & Pill Trafficking RingRead the Press Release
NEWS RELEASE SUMMARY – January 8, 2019
SAN DIEGO – Today, federal prosecutors filed drug trafficking charges against four individuals following a successful undercover operation in which agents acquired over 10,000 potentially deadly fentanyl pills that were smuggled through San Diego Ports of Entry. In a separate matter, a local San Diego defendant was charged with distributing fentanyl that resulted in the July 18, 2018 death of a San Diego resident.
According to the pill ring trafficking complaint, in December 2018, federal undercover agents negotiated with a known drug trafficker based in Tijuana to purchase approximately 4,000 fentanyl pills for $24,000. Following that conversation, the trafficker arranged for defendants to smuggle fentanyl pills through the San Diego Ports of Entry. On January 7, 2019, defendant Dianna Dominguez arrived in a vehicle with defendants Felix Inzunza-Dominguez, Jr. and Norma Macias-Dominguez. Inzunza-Dominguez., Jr. eventually exited the vehicle with a bag and headed to the nearby Frye’s parking lot, where he delivered about 4,000 fentanyl pills to an undercover agent, expecting to receive $24,000. As alleged in the complaint, the bag also contained two condoms, believed to be the smugglers’ method of concealing the fentanyl as they entered the United States. Defendants Macias-Dominguez and Inzunza-Dominguez, Jr. had previously each delivered 1,000 fentanyl pills to an undercover agent, in exchange for $8,000 per transaction.
Following the above incident, the undercover agent told the trafficker in Mexico that he did not receive the fentanyl pills and requested another 2,000 fentanyl pills. According to the complaint, after that exchange, defendant Tanairi Ponce placed 2,000 fentanyl pills in her bra, crossed the border, and delivered 2,000 pills to the agent, at which point she was arrested.
The Drug Enforcement Administration, Homeland Security Investigations, and the San Diego Sheriff’s Office assisted in the undercover investigation targeting the fentanyl smuggling ring.
Following their arraignment this afternoon before Judge Michael Berg, all four defendants entered not guilty pleas. The court scheduled their detention hearing on January 11, 2019 at 10:30 a.m.
In a separate action, defendant Christopher James Stracuzzi was arraigned today in federal court on the charge of distributing fentanyl resulting in death. The federal complaint was unsealed in federal court following his afternoon arraignment before Judge Michael Berg. The complaint alleges that on July 18, 2018, at approximately 8:43 p.m., the San Diego Police Department ("SDPD") received a 911 call in reference to an unconscious male who was laying on the floor in his apartment, unresponsive. Paramedics arrived on scene and unsuccessfully attempted resuscitation. The individual was pronounced deceased at 9:12 p.m.
The deceased’s roommate later advised investigators that Stracuzzi sold the deceased 12 tablets, which the roommate believed were oxycodone pills. They both took one and fell asleep. After learning from the Medical Examiner's Office that her roommate had died of a fentanyl overdose, she suspected the oxycodone (Percocet) tablets were counterfeit pills containing fentanyl. She gave agents the remaining 10 tablets, which the DEA Southwest Regional Laboratory analyzed and found to contain fentanyl.
The Drug Enforcement Administration, Homeland Security Investigations, San Diego Police Department, Federal Bureau of Investigation and Department of Health Care Services, along with the San Diego District Attorney’s Office and the U.S. Attorney’s Office, are part of a team that investigates and prosecutes fatal overdose cases.
Stracuzzi entered a not guilty plea, following his arraignment this afternoon, before Judge Michael Berg and is scheduled for a detention hearing on January 11, 2019 at 10:30 a.m.
“When drug traffickers smuggle or distribute black market pills laced with fentanyl, they are inviting buyers to play Russian roulette with their lives,” said Adam L. Braverman, United States Attorney for the Southern District of California. “Stopping the importation and sale of these exceedingly dangerous pills remains one of the Department’s most important priorities. We won’t rest until we take every pill and every dealer off the street.”
“Tragic cases of overdose deaths caused by fentanyl will leave scars on families in our communities for decades to come,” said HSI San Diego SAC Dave Shaw. “HSI is committed to working with our partners to remove this scourge from our streets. We urge everyone to take the time to learn about these deadly drugs and take the steps necessary to protect their families and loved ones.”
“DEA continues to encounter an alarming amount of counterfeit pills laced with fentanyl in San Diego County – pills that look exactly like legitimate prescription pills,” said DEA Special Agent in Charge Karen Flowers. “If you didn’t obtain the prescription pill from an authorized medical practitioner, you are playing Russian roulette. Fentanyl is deadly. Don’t wait to learn the lesson from the Medical Examiner.”
These cases are being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Sherri Walker Hobson.
DEFENDANTS Case Number 19 MJ 0071
Dianna Dominguez (San Diego)
Felix Inzunza-Dominguez, Jr. (Tijuana)
Norma Macias-Dominguez (Tijuana)
Tanairi Ponce (Tijuana)
SUMMARY OF CHARGES
Title 21 U.S.C. Section 841(a)(1) Possession of a Controlled Substance with Intent to Distribute
Maximum penalty: Life in custody, with a mandatory minimum penalty of ten years.
DEFENDANT Case Number 19 MJ 0049
Christopher James Stracuzzi (San Diego)
SUMMARY OF CHARGES
Title 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a) & 841(b)(l)(C) Distribution of Fentanyl Resulting in Death
Title 18 U.S.C. § 2 Aiding and Abetting
Maximum penalty: Life in custody, with a mandatory minimum penalty of twenty years.
AGENCIES
Drug Enforcement Administration
Homeland Security Investigations
San Diego Sheriff’s Office
San Diego Police Department
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Department of Health Care Services
7 January 2019
U.S. Postal Service Mail Carrier Sentenced to Prison for BriberyRead the Press Release
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – A Hampton man was sentenced today to one year in prison for bribery.
According to court documents, Darryl Harding, 61, was a postal carrier with the U.S. Postal Service in Hampton. Harding was receiving money from members of a marijuana conspiracy to deliver packages containing marijuana sent from Seattle to addresses in Hampton on Harding’s mail route. Harding would intercept the packages and deliver them to members of the conspiracy in return for cash. Harding was paid as much as $300 for each package he delivered.
G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Peter R. Rendina, Inspector in Charge of the Washington Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and Paul Bowman, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General made the announcement after sentencing by Chief U.S. District Judge Mark S. Davis. Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric M. Hurt prosecuted the case.
A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information is located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 4:18-cr-48.
Tyler County man sentenced for connection to a drug distribution operation in Wetzel and Tyler CountiesRead the Press Release
WHEELING, WEST VIRGINIA – Boyd Williamson, of Middlebourne, West Virginia, was sentenced today to 18 months incarceration for his involvement in methamphetamine, cocaine, and heroin distribution that spanned multiple states, United States Attorney Bill Powell announced.
Williamson, age 36, pled guilty to one count of “Distribution of Methamphetamine” in July 2018. Williamson admitted selling methamphetamine in December 2017 in Wetzel County.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Robert H. McWilliams, Jr., and Shawn M. Adkins prosecuted the case on behalf of the government. The Drug Enforcement Administration; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; the Marshall County Drug and Violent Crimes Task Force, a HIDTA-funded initiative; the West Virginia State Police; the Tyler County Sheriff’s Office; the Wetzel County Sheriff’s Office; the Sistersville Police Department; the Paden City Police Department; and the New Martinsville Police Department investigated. The Columbus, Ohio, Police Department Gang Crimes Unit assisted in the case.
The investigation was funded in part by the federal Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force Program (OCDETF). The OCDETF program supplies critical federal funding and coordination that allows federal and state agencies to work together to successfully identify, investigate, and prosecute major interstate and international drug trafficking organizations and other criminal enterprises.
Senior U.S. District Judge Frederick P. Stamp, Jr. presided.
Navy Officer Sentenced to Prison for $2.7 Million Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
NORFOLK, Va. – A Virginia Beach naval officer was sentenced today to over four years in prison for his role in a $2.7 million procurement fraud scheme, and for lying on his federal income tax return.
According to court documents, Randolph M. Prince, 45, was a Navy officer at a Naval Explosive Ordinance Disposal Unit based in Virginia Beach in charge of procurement. From Spring 2014 until Fall 2015, Prince took advantage of his role within his command to steer government contracts to businesses of his choosing. These businesses were companies formed by Prince’s associates and purporting to be legitimate sub-vendors of military equipment, despite being vendors of nothing at all.
In order to steer said contracts, Prince and others rigged bids, substituted products on purchase orders, and used fraudulent invoices and delivery documents to make the purchases appear legitimate. In the end, Prince ensured his command spent upwards of $2.7 million dollars on purchase orders to the sham companies, knowing all along that the Navy would receive nothing in return. The items ostensibly purchased for Prince’s unit were “inert training aids” and are destroyed in routine training for Navy EOD units. Because Prince was responsible for the ordering of goods up-front, and confirming their delivery on the back-end, he was able to perpetrate the scheme for over 18 months without his command becoming aware. Prince and others pocketed hundreds of thousands of dollars from the scheme, money that Prince failed to report as income on his 2014 tax return.
G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Robert Craig, Special Agent in Charge for Defense Criminal Investigative Service Mid-Atlantic Field Office, Cliff Everton, Special Agent in Charge of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) Norfolk Field Office, Martin Culbreth, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Norfolk Field Office, and Kelly R. Jackson, Special Agent in Charge, Washington, D.C. Field Office, IRS-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), made the announcement after sentencing by Senior U.S. District Judge Robert G. Doumar. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney David A. Layne prosecuted the case.
A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information is located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 2:18-cr-116.
Man Pleads Guilty to Armed Bank Robbery and Multiple Bomb HoaxesRead the Press Release
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – A Hampton man pleaded guilty today to armed bank robbery and making false bomb threats.
According to court documents, in August 2018, Oscar Von Alston II, 31, made multiple bomb threats throughout Hampton and Newport News in an effort to divert authorities and emergency resources away from his armed robbery of the Virginia Educators Credit Union (VECU). During the evacuation of the threatened locations, Von Alston robbed the VECU at gunpoint. He was apprehended less than 20 minutes after the robbery with over $22,000 from the VECU.
Von Alston faces a mandatory minimum of seven years and maximum of life in prison when sentenced on April 11. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), which 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.
G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Martin Culbreth, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Norfolk Field Office, Steve R. Drew, Chief of Newport News Police, and Terry L. Sult, Chief of Hampton Police Division, made the announcement after U.S. District Judge Arenda L. Wright Allen accepted the plea. Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter G. Osyf is prosecuting the case.
A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information is located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 4:18-cr-79.
Fourth Defendant Sentenced for Role in Atlanta-Based Mexican Sex Trafficking RingRead the Press Release
Severiano Martinez-Rojas, 53, of Mexico, was sentenced on Friday by United States District Judge Edward R. Korman to over 24 years in prison for his role in the sex trafficking of three victims. The amount to be paid in restitution will be announced at a later date.
The defendant is the fourth member of an Atlanta-based Mexican sex trafficking ring convicted for their roles in compelling young women from Mexico and Central America to engage in commercial sex. Co-defendants Arturo Rojas-Coyotl and Odilon Martinez-Rojas previously pleaded guilty to sex trafficking and were sentenced to 16 years and 21 years and 10 months in prison, respectively. Both defendants were also ordered to pay $180,000 in restitution to the victims. A third co-defendant, Daniel Garcia-Tepal, pleaded guilty to alien harboring and received a sentence of time served.
“Human trafficking is disgraceful and unacceptable. Today’s sentence demonstrates the Department of Justice’s unwavering commitment to combatting these crimes,” said Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband. “This sex trafficking enterprise was extensive and resulted in the abuse of young women and girls. The Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department is thankful for the hard work of the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Northern District of Georgia, the FBI, and the Homeland Security Investigations team who helped deliver justice on behalf of the victims and survivors.”
“Sex trafficking is a form of modern-day slavery that exploits and traumatizes some of the most vulnerable members of our society,” said U.S. Attorney Byung J. “BJay” Pak. “We stand united today with our colleagues at the Department of Justice, Eastern District of New York, and federal law enforcement partners, in applauding the courage of the three victims in this case who remained determined to see this prosecution to its conclusion. The lengthy prison sentence that this final defendant has received in this case is primarily the result of the valiant efforts of these human trafficking survivors to hold their traffickers accountable.”
“This case represents why sex trafficking is such a high priority matter for the FBI, our law enforcement partners, and the non-government agencies who provide assistance to those with nowhere else to turn,” said Chris Hacker, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta. “As one of the worst examples of human trafficking, this case should resonate with those who might consider this reprehensible criminal conduct acceptable. We urge anyone with information about human trafficking activities to contact authorities and help put an end to modern day slavery.”
According to documents filed in court, between 2006 and 2008, defendant Severiano Martinez-Rojas and co-defendants Arturo Rojas-Coyotl and Odilon Martinez-Rojas, lured the three victims into fraudulent romantic relationships using false promises of love, marriage, and legitimate work. They then arranged for others to smuggle the victims across the border into the United States. Once illegally in the United States, the defendants used violence, threats, and intimidation to coerce the victims to perform countless commercial sex acts in the Atlanta area and Alabama, where defendant Severiano Martinez-Rojas also operated a brothel.
Defendant Severiano Martinez-Rojas was indicted in May 2013 but had remained a fugitive until his arrest in Mexico in November 2015 as part of a coordinated U.S.-Mexico bilateral enforcement action. The action also resulted in the arrests of seven other defendants in a related Eastern District of New York case. Martinez-Rojas was also charged, convicted, and sentenced in that case.
Since 2009, the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security have collaborated with Mexican law enforcement counterparts in a Bilateral Human Trafficking Enforcement Initiative. The Initiative seeks to more effectively dismantle human trafficking networks operating across the U.S.-Mexico border, bring human traffickers to justice, restore the rights and dignity of human trafficking victims, and reunite victims with their children. These efforts resulted in successful prosecutions in both Mexico and the United States, including U.S. federal prosecutions of more than 170 defendants in multiple cases in Georgia, New York, Florida, and Texas since 2009, as well as numerous Mexican federal and state prosecutions of associated sex traffickers.
The case was investigated by the FBI’s Atlanta Division and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Atlanta. Assistance with the arrest and extradition of defendant Severiano Martinez-Rojas was provided by HSI New York’s Trafficking in Persons Unit, HSI Mexico City Attaché Office, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, the Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs, the State Department, and Interpol. The government of Mexico, including Mexico’s Procuraduría General de la República and Policía Federal, also played a prominent role in advancing the bilateral anti-trafficking enforcement efforts in this case.
Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, United States Attorney Byung J. “BJay” Pak of the Northern District of Georgia, FBI Special Agent in Charge Chris Hacker, and Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent in Charge Nick S. Annan, announced the sentence.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard S. Moultrie, Jr., Chief of the Violent Crime & National Security Section for the Northern District of Georgia, and Deputy Director of Litigation Benjamin J. Hawk of the Civil Rights Division’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit.
Five Members of Mexican Sex Trafficking Organization Sentenced to PrisonRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON – Five members of an international criminal organization known as the Rendon-Reyes Trafficking Organization (the “Organization”) were sentenced last week in federal court in Brooklyn to prison terms of 15 to 25 years by United States District Court Judge Edward R. Korman. The amount to be paid in restitution will be announced at a later date. Three additional defendants are scheduled to be sentenced on January 15, 2019. The defendants previously pled guilty to racketeering, sex trafficking and other federal charges following their arrests in Mexico and the United States. Between December 2004 and November 2015, the Organization, based in Tenancingo, Tlaxcala, Mexico, smuggled numerous young women and girls from Mexico and Central America into the United States, and forced them to engage in prostitution for the Organization’s profit, generating hundreds of thousands of dollars that were then laundered back to Mexico.
Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker, United States Attorney Richard P. Donoghue of the Eastern District of New York, Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, and Homeland Security Investigations Executive Associate Director Derek Benner (HSI), announced the sentences.
“These well-deserved sentences reflect the gravity of the human trafficking crimes these defendants committed,” stated Acting Attorney General Whitaker. “The defendants operated an extensive sex trafficking enterprise that preyed on vulnerable young women and girls, deceiving them with false promises, coercing their compliance, and compelling them into submission through beatings, threats, isolation, and intimidation. This prosecution is the result of strong partnerships among the Eastern District of New York, the Civil Rights Division’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit, the New York Office of the Department of Homeland Security’s Homeland Security Investigations, and our Mexican law enforcement counterparts. The sentences imposed in this case demonstrate our unwavering commitment to working across international borders to dismantle transnational trafficking networks and seek justice on behalf of victims and survivors.”
“These sentencings are the latest chapter in this Office’s long-term commitment to eradicate human trafficking and all forms of modern-day slavery,” stated United States Attorney Donoghue. “The crimes committed by the members of the Rendon-Reyes Trafficking Organization were brutal and shocking, and I hope that the sentences give the victims in this case some sense of justice. We will not tolerate the exploitation of women and girls for profit or sexual servitude.”
“These individuals will now face the consequences of their callous criminal actions exploiting women and girls whom they forced into sex slavery for profit. The investigation and prosecution that led to today’s sentencings speak to the strong bilateral relationship between the United States and Mexico, in which both nations are committed to holding accountable those engaged in the ruthless act of human trafficking,” said Homeland Security Investigations Executive Associate Director Derek Benner. “Investigating human trafficking remains a priority for HSI, whose primary focus is to rescue victims and release them from the grip of their captors. HSI will continue leveraging all of its investigative capabilities to disrupt human trafficking syndicates no matter where in the world they operate.”
The defendants were sentenced to the following prison terms:
- Jovan Rendon-Reyes, aka Jovani, 32, of Mexico, was sentenced to 20 years in prison. According to court documents, the defendant forced a minor to perform countless commercial sex acts for a substantial period using violence, manipulation and fear. Among other abusive acts, he raped the victim, and he repeatedly and severely beat her when she did not earn enough money. He also contributed directly to the Organization’s victimization of other women and girls.
- Saul Rendon-Reyes, aka Satanico, 41, of Mexico, was sentenced to 15 years in prison. According to court documents, the defendant forced a victim to perform commercial sex acts for a substantial period, including shortly after she gave birth, using violence, manipulation and fear. Among other abusive acts, he severely and repeatedly beat the victim, and deprived her of food. He also contributed directly to the Organization’s victimization of other women and girls, on one occasion depriving a victim of food to force her to have sex with him.
- Felix Rojas, 48, of Mexico, was sentenced to 25 years in prison. According to court documents, the defendant forced two victims to perform countless commercial sex acts for substantial periods using violence, manipulation and fear. Among other abusive acts, he kidnapped the first victim and her child, bringing them to Tenancingo. He then left the child with other members of the Organization, and smuggled the victim into the United States. While in the United States, he threatened to harm the victim’s child to force her to prostitute. On one occasion, when he learned that the victim was pregnant, he severely beat her until he caused a miscarriage, terminating the pregnancy. With respect to the second victim, he withheld food for her and her newborn if she refused to prostitute, and he severely and repeatedly beat her. He also contributed directly to the victimization of other women and girls.
- Odilon Martinez-Rojas, aka Chino or Saul, 47, of Mexico, was sentenced to 293 months in prison. According to court documents, the defendant forced three victims to perform countless commercial sex acts for substantial periods, using violence, manipulation and fear. Among other abusive acts, he raped the first victim, and severely and repeatedly beat her, including with a bat, when she did not earn enough money. With respect to the second victim, he threated to force her friend, who was a virgin, to prostitute, and he beat her when she tried to protect her friend. With respect to the third victim, when he learned that she was pregnant, he forced her to take pills to induce a miscarriage, terminating the pregnancy, and then violently and brutally beat her, dragging her by the hair, throwing her down stairs and stomping on her face when she did not immediately return to prostituting. In addition, when he was arrested in 2013 as part of a separate case in the Northern District of Georgia, he and Severiano Martinez-Rojas obstructed the investigation by causing the victim to refuse to cooperate with law enforcement. He also contributed directly to the Organization’s victimization of other women and girls. Odilon Martinez-Rojas previously was sentenced to 262 months in prison in a separate Northern District of Georgia case. The sentence imposed last week will run concurrent with his prior sentence.
- Severiano Martinez-Rojas, 53, of Mexico, was sentenced to 293 months in prison. According to court documents, the defendant forced a victim to perform countless commercial sex acts for a substantial period using violence, manipulation and fear. Among other abusive acts, he severely and repeatedly beat her when she refused to prostitute or tried to leave. In addition, he operated a brothel out of a trailer in Alabama, where many victims of the Organization were forced to prostitute. He also contributed directly to the Organization’s victimization of other women and girls, raped one of the victims, and threatened another victim to prevent her from cooperating with law enforcement after Odilon
- Martinez-Rojas was charged in a separate case in the Northern District of Georgia. Severiano was likewise charged in the Northern District of Georgia, which case was transferred to the Eastern District of New York for entry of his guilty plea, and the cases were consolidated for last week’s sentencing proceeding.
The investigation, prosecution, bilateral enforcement action and extraditions of the defendants apprehended in Mexico were coordinated through the U.S.-Mexico Bilateral Human Trafficking Enforcement Initiative. Since 2009, the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security have collaborated with Mexican law enforcement counterparts in a Bilateral Human Trafficking Enforcement Initiative to more effectively dismantle human trafficking networks operating across the U.S.-Mexico border, bring human traffickers to justice and restore the rights and dignity of human trafficking victims. These efforts have resulted in successful prosecutions in both Mexico and the United States, including U.S. federal prosecutions of over 170 defendants in multiple cases in New York, Georgia, Florida and Texas, in addition to numerous Mexican federal and state prosecutions of associated sex traffickers. The convictions in this case are also the latest development in the Eastern District of New York’s comprehensive anti-trafficking program, which has to date indicted more than 80 defendants, assisted more than 150 victims, including 45 minors, reunited 19 victims’ children with their mothers and secured restitution orders of over $4 million on behalf of trafficking victims.
The investigation of the Rendon-Reyes Trafficking Organization was led by HSI New York’s Trafficking in Persons Unit, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York and the Department of Justice’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit, with assistance from HSI Mexico City Attaché Office, the Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs, the State Department, Interpol and the New York City Police Department. Assistance was also provided by the FBI’s Atlanta Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia. The government of Mexico, including Mexico’s Procuraduría General de la República (“PGR”) and the Mexican Federal Police, also played a prominent role in advancing the bilateral anti-trafficking enforcement efforts in this case. Non-governmental victim service providers and advocates also dedicated efforts to restore and improve the lives of survivors of trafficking and their families. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Taryn A. Merkl and Margaret Lee of the Eastern District of New York and Deputy Director for Litigation Benjamin J. Hawk of the Civil Rights Division’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit.
Five Members of Mexican Sex Trafficking Organization Sentenced to PrisonRead the Press Release
Last week in federal district court in Brooklyn, New York, five members of a notorious international criminal organization, known as the Rendon-Reyes Trafficking Organization, were sentenced to prison terms of 15 to 25 years by United States District Court Judge Edward R. Korman. The amount to be paid in restitution will be announced at a later date. Three other defendants are set to be sentenced on Jan. 15. The defendants previously pled guilty to racketeering, sex trafficking, and other federal charges following their arrests in Mexico and the United States, where they were residing illegally. For over a decade, the Rendon-Reyes Trafficking Organization, based in Tenancingo, Tlaxcala, Mexico, smuggled numerous young women and girls from Mexico and Central America into the United States and forced them to engage in prostitution for the Organization’s profit, generating hundreds of thousands of dollars in criminal proceeds that were then laundered back to Mexico. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York and the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division prosecuted this case.
“These well-deserved sentences reflect the gravity of the human trafficking crimes these defendants committed,” said Acting Attorney General Whitaker. “The defendants operated an extensive sex trafficking enterprise that preyed on vulnerable young women and girls, deceiving them with false promises, coercing their compliance, and compelling them into submission through beatings, threats, isolation, and intimidation. This prosecution is the result of strong partnerships among the Eastern District of New York, the Civil Right Division’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit, the New York Office of the Department of Homeland Security’s Homeland Security Investigations, and our Mexican law enforcement counterparts. The sentences imposed in this case demonstrate our unwavering commitment to working across international borders to dismantle transnational trafficking networks and seek justice on behalf of victims and survivors.”
“These sentencings are the latest chapter in this Office’s long-term commitment to eradicate human trafficking and all forms of modern-day slavery,” stated United States Attorney Donoghue. “The crimes committed by the members of the Rendon-Reyes Trafficking Organization were brutal and shocking, and I hope that the sentences give the victims in this case some sense of justice. We will not tolerate the exploitation of women and girls for profit or sexual servitude.”
“These individuals will now face the consequences of their callous criminal actions exploiting women and girls whom they forced into sex slavery for profit. The investigation and prosecution that led to today’s sentencings speak to the strong bilateral relationship between the United States and Mexico, in which both nations are committed to holding accountable those engaged in the ruthless act of human trafficking,” said Homeland Security Investigations Executive Associate Director Derek Benner. “Investigating human trafficking remains a priority for HSI, whose primary focus is to rescue victims and release them from the grip of their captors. HSI will continue leveraging all of its investigative capabilities to disrupt human trafficking syndicates no matter where in the world they operate.”
The defendants were sentenced to the following prison terms: Jovan Rendon-Reyes, aka Jovani, 32, of Mexico, was sentenced to 20 years in prison; Saul Rendon-Reyes, aka Satanico, 41, of Mexico, was sentenced to 15 years in prison; Felix Rojas, 48, of Mexico, was sentenced to 25 years in prison; Odilon Martinez-Rojas, aka Chino or Saul, 47, of Mexico, was sentenced to over 24 years in prison; and Severiano Martinez-Rojas, 53, of Mexico, was sentenced to over 24 years in prison. Severiano Martinez-Rojas was also sentenced in a related case in the Northern District of Georgia. Those proceedings were transferred to the Eastern District of New York for entry of the defendant’s guilty plea last year, and the cases were consolidated for last week’s sentencing. Defendants Jose Rendon-Garcia, aka Gusano, 35, of Mexico, Guillermina Rendon-Reyes, 48, of Mexico, and Francisco Rendon-Reyes, aka Pancho, 30, of Mexico, will be sentenced on Jan. 15.
According to documents filed in court, between December 2004 and November 2015, members of the Rendon-Reyes Organization, including the defendants, enriched themselves by forcing multiple young women and girls, including the 12 referenced in court documents, to perform countless commercial sex acts throughout the United States and Mexico. The Organization targeted vulnerable women and girls, some as young as 14, from impoverished areas of Mexico and Central America. Male members of the Organization typically used false promises of love and marriage to lure the victims into fraudulent romantic relationships. In some instances, they forcibly abducted the victims, and on one occasion, a victim’s child. Members of the Organization frequently arranged for others to smuggle the victims across the border and into the United States. Once in the United States, members of the Organization utilized different methods to force the victims to engage in prostitution, including severe and repeated beatings, sexual assaults, forced abortions, threats to the victims, their families and children, and psychological harm. Members of the Organization forced the victims to perform as many as 45 sex acts a night and took all of the prostitution proceeds, funneling the money back to Mexico.
The investigation, prosecution, bilateral enforcement action, and extraditions of the defendants apprehended in Mexico were coordinated through the U.S.-Mexico Bilateral Human Trafficking Enforcement Initiative. Since 2009, the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security have collaborated with Mexican law enforcement counterparts in a Bilateral Human Trafficking Enforcement Initiative to more effectively dismantle human trafficking networks operating across the U.S.-Mexico border, bring human traffickers to justice, and restore the rights and dignity of human trafficking victims. These efforts have resulted in successful prosecutions in both Mexico and the United States, including U.S. federal prosecutions of over 170 defendants in multiple cases in New York, Georgia, Florida, and Texas, in addition to numerous Mexican federal and state prosecutions of associated sex traffickers. The convictions in this case are also the latest development in the Eastern District of New York’s comprehensive anti-trafficking program, which has to date indicted more than 80 defendants, assisted more than 150 victims, including 45 minors, reunited 19 victims’ children with their mothers, and secured restitution orders of over $4 million on behalf of trafficking victims.
The investigation of the Rendon-Reyes Trafficking Organization was led by HSI New York’s Trafficking in Persons Unit, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, and the Department of Justice’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit, with assistance from HSI Mexico City Attaché Office, the Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs, the State Department, Interpol and the New York City Police Department. Assistance was also provided by the FBI’s Atlanta Division, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Northern District of Georgia. The government of Mexico, including Mexico’s Procuraduría General de la República and Policía Federal, also played a prominent role in advancing the bilateral anti-trafficking enforcement efforts in this case. Non-governmental victim service providers and advocates also dedicated efforts to restore and improve the lives of survivors of trafficking and their families.
Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker, Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband for the Civil Rights Division, U.S. Attorney Richard P. Donoghue of the Eastern District of New York, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Executive Associate Director Derek Benner made the announcement today.
The case against the Rendon-Reyes Trafficking Organization was investigated by HSI New York’s Trafficking in Persons Unit, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Taryn A. Merkl and Margaret Lee of the Eastern District of New York and Deputy Director for Litigation Benjamin J. Hawk of the Civil Rights Division’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit.
Everett Simpson Charged with Federal KidnappingRead the Press Release
The Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont stated that federal charges were filed today against Everett Simpson, 41, formerly of St. Albans, Vermont for his involvement with the kidnapping of a New Hampshire woman over the weekend.
According to the unsealed complaint filed in the Federal District Court for the District of Vermont, Simpson is alleged to have kidnapped a woman and her young child from New Hampshire and transferred her to Vermont. The victims were subsequently released. The complaint charged a violation of the federal kidnapping statute, 18 U.S.C. §1201(a)(1), which carries a penalty of up to life in prison.
Simpson was arrested in Pennsylvania on Sunday. An arrest warrant was issued in connection with the federal charges. After his federal arrest, the government will seek to have Simpson transferred to Vermont in custody. The contents of the complaint are allegations only. Simpson is presumed innocent until proven guilty. Simpson also faces charges in Delaware County, Pennsylvania and Windsor County, Vermont.
The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Vermont thanks the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Vermont and New Hampshire, the Vermont State Police, the Hartford Police Department, the Manchester Police Department, and the Upper Darby, Pennsylvania Police Department for their efforts in investigating and apprehending Mr. Simpson. The case will be handled by AUSA Matthew Lasher.
4 January 2019
Ten Members of "24/7 Boyz" Plead Guilty to Federal Drug Conspiracy ChargesRead the Press Release
Florence, South Carolina --- United States Attorney Sherri A. Lydon announced today that 10 of 12 defendants who were indicted for their roles in a Myrtle Beach-area retail drug distribution organization have pled guilty to federal firearms and narcotics charges.
The evidence presented by Assistant United States Attorney Everett McMillian reflects that each of these defendants were participants in a Myrtle Beach-based drug distribution network known by the name “24/7 Boyz.” The organization operated as a dispatch service, wherein drug customers placed telephone calls to a dispatch number and a dispatcher then directed the customer to a specific location in the Myrtle Beach area to purchase user quantities of crack cocaine and/or heroin. A delivery driver would then meet the customer at the location, where the drug sale was completed. As the name implies, this organization made illegal drugs available to customers at any time and on any day of the week. The organization operated for years in the Myrtle Beach area, beginning in or around June 2003 and continuing in various forms until the federal indictment was handed down in July 2018.
During the height of the investigation, officials used confidential sources to conduct more than 30 controlled purchases of illegal narcotics from the organization using the dispatch service described above. The covert purchase operations resulted in the recovery of various quantities of illegal controlled substances from multiple locations and, toward the latter end of the investigation, fentanyl that was packaged and sold as heroin. Several search warrants and traffic stops were also conducted on members of the organization, which resulted in the combined seizure of kilogram quantities of heroin and cocaine and significant quantities of other illegal drugs. Additionally, nine firearms were seized from the group along with tens of thousands of dollars in suspected drug proceeds.
The investigation involved significant coordination between a number of local, state, and federal agencies, primarily including the Drug Enforcement Administration, Horry County Sheriff’s Office, Horry County Police Department, Myrtle Beach Police Department, and South Carolina 15th Judicial Circuit Drug Enforcement Unit. The investigation was also supported by counter-drug intelligence analysts assigned to the South Carolina and Alabama National Guards.
The following defendants have pled guilty in federal court: Michael Alfonso Hatten; Joseph Luis White; Byron Allen Gidney; Ivan Kedric Chatman; Devinee Kathryn Boyle; Dominique Leconte House, Jr.; Domain Wilbert Johnson; Santhony Marzine Thigpen; Eleanor Jane Carter; and Kristin Joan Milby. U.S. Attorney Lydon stated that Hatten was the leader of the organization, and he was assisted by mid-level participants White, Gidney, and Chatman. For their roles in the conspiracy, each of these four lead defendants faces a possible sentence ranging from 10 years to life in federal custody. House, Johnson, Boyle, Thigpen, Carter, and Milby played lesser roles, such as delivering drugs to retail customers and renting vehicles and storage locations for the organization. They potentially face up to 20 or 30 years in prison, depending on their prior criminal histories.
United States District Court Judge R. Bryan Harwell of Florence accepted the guilty pleas and will sentence the defendants after receiving and reviewing presentence reports prepared by the United States Probation Office.
This case was selected for federal prosecution in coordination with the 15th Judicial Circuit Solicitor’s Office, which had pending state charges on many of the participants, as part of the joint federal, state, and local Project CeaseFire initiative, which aggressively prosecutes firearm cases. Project CeaseFire is South Carolina’s implementation of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Everett McMillian of the Florence office and Special Assistant United States Attorney David Caraker of the 15th Judicial Circuit Solicitor’s Office.
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