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Tuesday 21 August 2018
Rep. Duncan D. Hunter and Wife Indicted for Converting Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars in Campaign Funds and Falsifying Campaign Finance RecordsRead the Press Release
Kelly Thornton, Director of Media Relations (619) 546-9726
NEWS RELEASE SUMMARY – August 21, 2018
SAN DIEGO – U.S. Rep. Duncan D. Hunter and his wife, Margaret E. Hunter, were indicted by a federal grand jury today on charges that they converted more than $250,000 in campaign funds to pay for personal expenses and filed false campaign finance records with the Federal Election Commission.
A 48-page indictment details scores of instances beginning in 2009 and continuing through 2016 in which the Hunters illegally used campaign money to pay for personal expenses that they could not otherwise afford. The purchases included family vacations to Italy, Hawaii, Phoenix, Arizona, and Boise, Idaho; school tuition; dental work; theater tickets; and domestic and international travel for almost a dozen relatives. The Hunters also spent tens of thousands of dollars on smaller purchases, including fast food, movie tickets, golf outings, video games, coffee, groceries, home utilities, and expensive meals.
To conceal their personal spending, the Hunters mischaracterized the purchases in FEC filings as “campaign travel,” “dinner with volunteers/contributors,” “toy drives,” “teacher/parent and supporter events,” “gift cards” for charitable donations, and “gift basket items,” among other false descriptions. Family dental bills paid with campaign funds were characterized as a charitable contribution to “Smiles for Life.” Theater tickets were mischaracterized as “holiday gift certificates.” Tickets for the family to see Riverdance at the San Diego Civic Theater became “San Diego Civic Center for Republican Women Federated/Fundraising.” And to disguise their children’s tuition payments to Christian Unified Schools in El Cajon, the Hunters provided a number of conflicting explanations, including that the payments were charitable contributions.
The Hunters’ improper use of campaign funds for personal expenses occurred despite numerous warnings about the prohibition against using campaign funds for personal expenses and repeated inquiries from Duncan Hunter’s campaign treasurer about questionable purchases. According to the indictment, the Hunters knew that many of their desired purchases could be made only by using campaign funds, since they did not otherwise have sufficient personal funds to pay for their purchases. The criminal investigation began in June of 2016, two months after the Federal Election Commission and the San Diego Union-Tribune questioned some of Hunter’s campaign expenses as potentially personal.
“The indictment alleges that Congressman Hunter and his wife repeatedly dipped into campaign coffers as if they were personal bank accounts, and falsified FEC campaign finance reports to cover their tracks,” said U.S. Attorney Adam Braverman. “Elected representatives should jealously guard the public’s trust, not abuse their positions for personal gain. Today’s indictment is a reminder that no one is above the law.”
The Hunters are scheduled to be arraigned on the indictment on Thursday at 10:30 a.m. before U.S. Magistrate Judge William V. Gallo. They are charged with Conspiracy to Commit Offenses Against the United States, Wire Fraud, Falsification of Records and Prohibited Use of Campaign Contributions.
This case was investigated by the San Diego Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Phillip Halpern, Emily Allen and Mark Conover. The United States Attorney’s Office would like to thank the Department of Justice’s Public Integrity Section, Election Crimes Branch for their assistance in this matter.\
Indictment Document (click
HERE )DEFENDANTS Case Number 18cr3677
Duncan D. Hunter Age: 41 Alpine, CA
Margaret E. Hunter Age: 43 Alpine, CA
SUMMARY OF CHARGES
Conspiracy to Commit Offenses Against the United States – Title 18, U.S.C., Sec. 371
Wire Fraud – Title 18, U.S.C., Sec. 1343
Falsification of Records – Title 18, U.S.C., Sec. 1519
Prohibited Use of Campaign Contributions – Title 52 U.S.C., Secs. 30109(d) and 30114(b)
Aiding and Abetting – Title 18, U.S.C., Sec. 2
AGENCY
Federal Bureau of Investigation
*The charges and allegations contained in an indictment or complaint are merely accusations, and the defendants are considered innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Project Huntington Update: Four More Operation Saigon Sunset Defendants Plead Guilty to Federal Drug ConspiracyRead the Press Release
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Four more individuals indicted for their roles in a major, multi-state heroin and fentanyl distribution network pled guilty today to a federal drug conspiracy charge, announced United States Attorney Mike Stuart. To date, 8 of the 15 defendants charged in connection with the Peterson drug trafficking organization have entered guilty pleas. Stuart commended the joint investigation conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Violent Crime and Drug Task Force West.
“The Peterson drug trafficking organization operated for years, selling deadly drugs in Huntington,” said United States Attorney Mike Stuart. “This is, however, not a time to celebrate. We need to ramp up our efforts, take back our streets, and send the drug thugs packing for good. Our good citizens have had enough, been terrorized enough, and their anger and determination fuels my efforts.”
Manget Peterson, also known as “Money,” 45, from Detroit, entered his guilty plea to the indictment charging him with conspiracy to distribute 100 grams or more of heroin and a quantity of fentanyl. Peterson admitted that between August 2017 and April 2018 he conspired with individuals to distribute heroin and fentanyl in Huntington, West Virginia. Peterson admitted that he obtained heroin from Willie Peterson, also known as “Chill,” in Detroit to sell in Huntington and would send drug proceeds to Willie Peterson. Peterson also admitted that between September 2017 and April 2018 he supplied Lonnie Berry, II with heroin to sell in exchange for money. Peterson faces between 5 years and up to 40 years in federal prison when he is sentenced on December 3, 2018.
David Miller, also known as “John,” 26, from Huntington, entered his guilty plea to the indictment charging him with conspiracy to distribute heroin and fentanyl. Miller admitted that between August 2017 and April 2018 he conspired with Willie Peterson, also known as “Chill,” and Manget Peterson, also known as “Money,” to distribute heroin and fentanyl in Huntington, West Virginia. Miller admitted that he would travel to Detroit to obtain heroin and fentanyl and then return to Huntington to sell the heroin and fentanyl. As part of the plea agreement, Miller admitted that in March 2018 he traveled to Detroit and purchased fentanyl and cocaine. Michigan State Police conducted a traffic stop on Miller and recovered 195 grams of fentanyl and 27 grams of cocaine. Miller admitted he intended to transport the substances to Huntington to sell. Miller faces up to 20 years in federal prison when he is sentenced on December 3, 2018.
Silas Pardue, 34, and Ashley Pardue, 33, from Barboursville, entered guilty pleas to the indictment charging them with conspiracy to distribute heroin.
Silas Pardue admitted that between August 2017 and April 2018 he conspired with individuals to distribute heroin in Huntington. As part of his plea agreement, Silas Pardue admitted that Manget Peterson, also known as “Money,” supplied him with heroin to use or to sell. Pardue admitted to selling heroin to a male in January 2018 at the WalMart on Route 60 in Huntington.
Ashley Pardue admitted that between August 2017 and March 2018 she conspired with Manget Peterson, also known as “Money,” to distribute heroin in Huntington. As part of her plea agreement, Ashley Pardue admitted that Manget Peterson, also known as “Money,” supplied her with heroin to use or to sell. Pardue admitted to selling heroin to a female in January 2018 at the WalMart on Route 60 in Huntington.
Silas and Ashley Pardue both face up to 20 years in federal prison when sentenced on December 3, 2018.
This investigation was the result of a joint effort by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Violent Crime and Drug Task Force West. The plea hearings were held before United States District Judge Robert C. Chambers. Assistant United States Attorney Stephanie S. Taylor is handling the prosecution.
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Philadelphia Man Pleads Guilty to Multiple Armed RobberiesRead the Press Release
Philadelphia – U.S. Attorney William M. McSwain announced that Jonathan Foggie, 34, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, pled guilty today to a Superseding Information charging him with two counts of Hobbs Act Robbery, two counts of using a firearm during a crime of violence, and one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
Earlier this year, the defendant participated in numerous armed robberies. On January 11, 2018, the defendant, along with others, robbed Harris Hair Styling at gunpoint in Philadelphia. At the time, there were employees and several customers inside the salon, including a young child. When a customer placed himself between the gunmen and the child, the customer struggled with one of the robbers, and the robber shot the customer, causing permanent incapacitating injury. On January 26, 2018, the defendant, along with another individual, robbed Mike’s Service Center at gunpoint in Philadelphia. As an employee attempted to flee, the defendant hit the employee in the head with a firearm, tackled the employee to the ground, and shot the employee in his side.
Under the terms of the guilty plea, Foggie faces a maximum possible sentence of life imprisonment, with 35 years’ mandatory minimum imprisonment, a mandatory minimum five years supervised release up to a lifetime of supervised release, a $1,250,000 fine, and a $500 special assessment. A sentencing hearing is scheduled on December 10, 2018 before the Honorable Michael M. Baylson. Law enforcement continues its investigation into the other individuals responsible for these crimes.
“The defendant was a menace to the City of Philadelphia, terrorizing multiple victims and leaving some permanently injured,” said U.S. Attorney McSwain. “He clearly has no respect for the law, and we are pleased that he is now off the streets and in a jail cell.”
The case was investigated by the FBI and the Philadelphia Police Department and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Joseph A. LaBar.
Owners of Pennsylvania Based Internet Floral Company Sentenced to Prison for Tax FraudRead the Press Release
A Pennsylvania couple that owned and operated an internet floral business were sentenced to prison today for failing to pay over employment taxes to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and for filing fraudulent personal and corporate tax returns, announced Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Richard E. Zuckerman of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney William M. McSwain for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
Andrew Bassaner (aka Andrew Bunchuk) was sentenced to 42 months in prison, and his wife and business partner, Vicki Bunchuk, was sentenced to six months in prison. The defendants were convicted in February 2018 following a jury trial.
According to the evidence introduced at trial, Andrew Bassaner and Vicki Bunchuk owned and operated Florist Concierge Inc. (FCI). For tax years 2010 through 2012, Bunchuk, aided and assisted by Bassaner, filed fraudulent corporate and personal income tax returns with the IRS. They diverted funds from FCI, which they falsely deducted as business expenses on FCI’s corporate returns and did not report as income on their personal returns. The expenses included over $200,000 in personal expenditures such as luxury cars, the down payment on a multimillion-dollar house, tickets to sporting events, and home repairs.
In addition, Bassaner and Bunchuk filed fraudulent employment tax returns for FCI that falsely classified its employees as independent contractors. Based on this fraudulent classification, Bassaner and Bunchuk claimed not to owe employment taxes on the wages paid to those individuals.
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Zuckerman and U.S. Attorney McSwain thanked special agents of IRS Criminal Investigation, who conducted the investigation and Assistant U.S. Attorney David Ignall and Trial Attorneys Christopher O’Donnell and Jack Morgan of the Tax Division, who prosecuted the case.
Additional information about the Tax Division’s enforcement efforts can be found on the division’s website.
Opinion: Charlottesville, One Year LaterRead the Press Release
By Thomas T. Cullen
United States Attorney for the Western District of Virginia
The one-year anniversary of the odious “Unite the Right” (UTR) rally in Charlottesville thankfully passed without incident. Marked by mainly peaceful marches and rallies on the grounds of the University of Virginia and the Downtown Mall, this weekend’s events stood in stark contrast to the ugly and violent episodes of last year.
Law enforcement—particularly the Virginia State Police (VSP)—deserves enormous credit for planning, organizing, and implementing a security apparatus that provided a safe environment for protected First-Amendment activities and deterred those individuals intent on further violence from appearing and carrying out their nefarious plans.
As the U.S. Attorney for Western Virginia, I had the opportunity to observe this planning up close. Under the leadership of Secretary of Public Safety Brian Moran, VSP Superintendent Gary Settle, and newly appointed Charlottesville Police Chief RaShall Brackney, law-enforcement officials marshalled myriad state and local government agencies under one unified command structure.
This group of law enforcement had been preparing for the anniversary weekend since last fall. Drawing on the painful but important lessons of 2017, the unified command recognized the importance of cooperation and coordination in every aspect of this huge undertaking.
The results speak for themselves. Operating out of a make-shift command center at a local park, state and local officials executed the security plan nearly to perfection. By Friday afternoon, over 700 state troopers and police officers from across the Commonwealth arrived in Charlottesville to augment local police forces. These officers and troopers, including some from the Roanoke Valley, monitored the security perimeter around Court Square Park and the Downtown Mall, redirected vehicular traffic away from protected areas, conducted continuous bike patrols, and generally provided a reassuring presence for protesters, citizens, and business owners alike. Although focused on maintaining order and safety, these officers, who were working long shifts, away from home, in 90-degree heat, were cheerful, courteous, and professional.
The weekend was not without its challenges or controversy. On Saturday evening, some participants at a planned “Rally for Justice” event near UVA’s Rotunda, agitated by the security measures and strong police presence, loudly—and, in some cases, vulgarly—protested officers posted along the Lawn. Cooler heads quickly prevailed, and rally participants eventually made their way, under police protection, downtown. On Sunday, approximately 150 people gathered for a peaceful community event in Washington Park and, later, for a memorial service for Heather Heyer near the intersection of Fourth and Water Streets, where, last August 12, she was murdered by an avowed white supremacist. Police, ever vigilant, made sure both events occurred without incident.
In the wake of last weekend’s events, some Charlottesville residents and organizers have criticized what they perceived as the unwarranted and heavy-handed role of law enforcement. These voices, many of whom, it must be said, are hostile to law enforcement generally, questioned why these security measures were necessary given the absence of white supremacists from this year’s anniversary. This criticism is, in my view, both ironic and unjustified.
Indeed some of these critics are among the same people who loudly criticized Charlottesville officials and the VSP for a perceived passive response to the events of last summer. And even though UTR organizer Jason Kessler had withdrawn his application to hold an official event this year, law enforcement had no choice but to carry out the security plan based on the well-reasoned assumption, informed by intelligence received in the days and weeks leading up to the anniversary weekend, that potentially violent individuals and groups could still descend on Charlottesville. Simply put, in light of what had occurred last year and the real potential for violence to reoccur, it would have been a gross dereliction of duty for law enforcement to do anything else.
As Charlottesville continues to heal from the events of last summer, it is my hope that members of the community recognize the vital role and contributions of law enforcement. Thanks in no small part to their efforts, Charlottesville was able to mark this solemn occasion with the peace and reflection it deserved.
Oklahoma City Multi-Level Marketing Company Agrees to Distribution of $610,800 in Seized Funds to Alleged Fraud VictimsRead the Press Release
OKLAHOMA CITY – TREVO, LLC, and it principals, MARK STEVENS and HOLLI STEVENS, have agreed not to contest the distribution of $610,800 to victims of an alleged email fraud scheme.
In a civil forfeiture complaint filed in July 2016, the United States alleged that $610,800 in a bank account at Wells Fargo Bank in Trevo’s name were the proceeds of wire fraud. Trevo is a multi-level marketing company based in Oklahoma City, with its primary international office in Nigeria. Founded by Mark and Holli Stevens in 2009, its main product is nutritional supplement juice.
According to an affidavit incorporated into the government’s forfeiture complaint, perpetrators of a number of email fraud schemes instructed multiple victims to send money to various bank accounts under Trevo’s control at Wells Fargo Bank and BancFirst. In some instances, perpetrators pretended to strike up romantic relationships with victims. In others, they offered fictitious economic opportunities. In both cases, victims agreed to send money to bank accounts as instructed. In 2014, Trevo closed its BancFirst accounts and transferred its assets to Wells Fargo Bank.
After the United States filed its complaint and froze certain Trevo funds at Wells Fargo Bank, five individuals and one corporation notified the government they were victims of the alleged frauds and entitled to a portion of the seized funds. Trevo also filed a claim to the seized funds.
On August 14, 2018, the United States, Trevo, and Trevo’s principals agreed the seized funds will be distributed to the six victims and that Trevo’s claim should be dismissed. In reaching this settlement, Trevo and its principals did not admit any involvement in wire fraud and the United States did not concede its allegations lack merit. The agreement allows the parties to avoid the delay, expense, inconvenience, and uncertainty of litigating the proper distribution of the seized funds.
This case was investigated by the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Wilson D. McGarry, Don Evans, and Brandon Hale worked on the case in the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Northern Florida U.S. Attorney Supports DOJ/DEA Proposal to Reduce Opioid Manufacturing in 2019Read the Press Release
TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA – The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida supports the proposal from the Department of Justice and U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to reduce controlled substances that may be manufactured in the U.S. next year. Consistent with President Trump’s “Safe Prescribing Plan” that seeks to “cut nationwide opioid prescription fills by one-third within three years,” the proposal decreases manufacturing quotas for the most six frequently misused opioids for 2019 by an average ten percent as compared to the 2018 amount. The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) marks the third straight year of proposed reductions, which help reduce the amount of drugs potentially diverted for trafficking and used to facilitate addiction.
Christopher P. Canova, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Florida, said: “Northern Florida communities and our neighbors across the country have suffered from the abuse of these highly addictive drugs, which can quickly destroy lives, families, friends, and careers. The U.S. Attorney’s Office is committed to supporting strategies that fight the epidemic. Some of these strategies include: limiting the production and prescription of opioids, prosecuting drug trafficking organizations and medical professionals who illegally divert controlled substances, raising public awareness especially among young people, and strengthening law enforcement and public health agency partnerships to use every available resource to monitor and combat the opioid crisis.”
On July 11, 2018, the Justice Department announced that DEA was issuing a final rule amending its regulations to improve the agency’s ability to consider the likelihood of whether a drug can be diverted for abuse when it sets annual opioid production limits. The final rule also promotes greater involvement from state attorneys general, and today’s proposed reduction will be sent to those offices.
In setting the aggregate production quote (APQ), DEA considers data from many sources, including estimates of the legitimate medical need from the Food and Drug Administration; estimates of retail consumption based on prescriptions dispensed; manufacturers’ disposition history and forecasts; data from DEA’s own internal system for tracking controlled substance transactions; and past quota histories.
The DEA has proposed to reduce more commonly prescribed schedule II opioids, including oxycodone, hydrocodone, oxymorphone, hydromorphone, morphine, and fentanyl:
Ultimately, revised limits will encourage vigilance on the part of opioid manufacturers, help DEA respond to the changing drug threat environment, and protect the American people from potential addictive drugs while ensuring that the country has enough opioids for legitimate medical, scientific, research, and industrial needs.
“The opioid epidemic that we are facing today is the worst drug crisis in American history,” Attorney General Jeff Sessions said. “President Trump has set the ambitious goal of reducing opioid prescription rates by one-third in three years. We embrace that goal and are resolutely committed to reaching it. According to the National Prescription Audit, we have already made significant progress in reducing prescription rates over the past year. Cutting opioid production quotas by an average of ten percent next year will help us continue that progress and make it harder to divert these drugs for abuse. The American people can be confident that federal law enforcement and the Trump administration are taking action to protect them from dangerous drugs. These smarter limits bring us one big step closer to President Trump’s goal of finally ending this unprecedented crisis. I congratulate Acting Administrator Uttam Dhillon and his team for taking action.”
“We’ve lost too many lives to the opioid epidemic and families and communities suffer tragic consequences every day,” said DEA Acting Administrator Uttam Dhillon. “This significant drop in prescriptions by doctors and DEA’s production quota adjustment will continue to reduce the amount of drugs available for illicit diversion and abuse while ensuring that patients will continue to have access to proper medicine.”
Once the aggregate quota is set, DEA allocates individual manufacturing and procurement quotas to those manufacturers that apply for them. DEA may revise a company’s quota at any time during the year if change is warranted due to increased or decreased sales or exports, new manufacturers entering the market, new product development, or product recalls.
When Congress passed the Controlled Substances Act, the quota system was intended to reduce or eliminate diversion from “legitimate channels of trade” by controlling the quantities of the basic ingredients needed for the manufacture of controlled substances.
The Proposed Aggregate Production Quotas for schedule I and II controlled substances published in the Federal Register reflects the total amount of controlled substances necessary to meet the country’s medical, scientific, research, industrial, and export needs for the year and for the establishment and maintenance of reserve stocks. DEA establishes an APQ for more than 250 schedule I and II controlled substances annually.
In 2016, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued guidelines to practitioners recommending a reduction in the prescribing of opioid medications for chronic pain. DEA and its federal partners have increased efforts in the last several years to educate practitioners, pharmacists, manufacturers, distributors, and the public about the dangers associated with the misuse of opioid medications and the importance of proper prescribing.
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 available 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.
New York Man Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy to Commit Mail and Wire Fraud and Aggravated Identity TheftRead the Press Release
CONCORD - Everton Ellis, 41, of Yonkers, New York, pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, United States Attorney Scott W. Murray announced today.
According to court documents and statements made in court, in December 2017 and January 2018, in Nashua, New Hampshire, defendant Ellis conspired with others to steal identification information of other persons and use those identities to establish new Sprint accounts. They then caused Sprint to ship thousands of dollars’ worth of iPads and iPhones on credit. As part of the scheme, Ellis and his co-conspirators: (1) obtained large numbers of Vanilla Visa debit cards; (2) used the debit cards to establish Sprint accounts in the names of individuals whose identities had been stolen; (3) pretending to be the victims whose identities they had stolen, purchased large quantities of iPhones and iPads on credit; (4) caused Sprint to ship the purchased iPhones and iPads to residences in New Hampshire; (5) soon after the goods were delivered, traveled to the New Hampshire addresses where the goods were shipped, trespassed on the properties, and took the packages into their possession; (6) rented a vehicle and a motel room in Nashua for use in the scheme; and (7) manufactured and possessed false photo ID cards in the names of New Hampshire residents.
Ellis is scheduled to be sentenced on November 29, 2018.
“The U.S. Attorney’s Office continues to coordinate closely with our law enforcement colleagues to thwart fraud schemes,” said U.S. Attorney Murray. “We particularly focus on cases where individuals’ identities are stolen or compromised. I commend the law enforcement officers whose work disrupted this significant fraud scheme.”
“The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is committed to preserving the integrity of the U.S. Mail. We will continue to conduct investigations that seek prosecution of those who fraudulently use the U.S. Mail by working with our federal and local law enforcement partners.” Raymond Moss, Acting Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Boston Division
This matter was investigated by the U.S. Secret Service, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Nashua Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney John S. Davis.
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New Mexico Man Sentenced to 40 Months in Federal Prison for Involuntary Manslaughter Related to Drunk DrivingRead the Press Release
PHOENIX – On August 20, 2018, Christopher Cortines, 26, of Santa Fe, N.M. and a member of the San Idelfonso Pueblo Tribe, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge John J. Tuchi to 40 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. Cortines had previously pleaded guilty to one count of involuntary manslaughter.
Cortines, who was driving his vehicle within the confines of the Navajo Nation near Dennehotso, Ariz., with a BAC level of between .118 and .151, caused his vehicle to crash, killing his sole passenger, his friend and a member of the Navajo Nation.
The investigation in this case was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Navajo Nation Department of Law Enforcement, and the Arizona Department of Public Safety. The prosecution was handled by Sharon K. Sexton, Assistant U.S. Attorney, District of Arizona.
CASE NUMBER: CR-17-8316-PCT-JJT
RELEASE NUMBER: 2018-112_ Cortines
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For more information on the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/az/
Follow the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, on Twitter @USAO_AZ for the latest news.
Michael Cohen Pleads Guilty in Manhattan Federal Court to Eight Counts, Including Criminal Tax Evasion and Campaign Finance ViolationsRead the Press Release
Robert Khuzami, Attorney for the United States, Acting Under Authority Conferred by 28 U.S.C. § 515, William F. Sweeney Jr., the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), and James D. Robnett, the Special Agent-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (“IRS-CI”), announced today the guilty plea of MICHAEL COHEN to charges of tax evasion, making false statements to a federally-insured bank, and campaign finance violations. The plea was entered followed the filing of an eight-count criminal information, which alleged that COHEN concealed more than $4 million in personal income from the IRS, made false statements to a federally-insured financial institution in connection with a $500,000 home equity loan, and, in 2016, caused $280,000 in payments to be made to silence two women who otherwise planned to speak publicly about their alleged affairs with a presidential candidate, thereby intending to influence the 2016 presidential election. COHEN pled guilty today before U.S. District Judge William H. Pauley III.
Attorney for the United States Robert Khuzami said: “Michael Cohen is a lawyer who, rather than setting an example of respect for the law, instead chose to break the law, repeatedly over many years and in a variety of ways. His day of reckoning serves as a reminder that we are a nation of laws, with one set of rules that applies equally to everyone.”
FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge William F. Sweeney Jr. said: “This investigation uncovered crimes of fraud, deception and evasion, conducted through a string of financial transactions that were carefully constructed and concealed to protect a variety of interests. But as we all know, the truth can only remain hidden for so long before the FBI brings it to light. We are all expected to follow the rule of law, and the public expects us - the FBI - to enforce the law equally. Today, Mr. Cohen has been reminded of this important lesson, as he acknowledged with his guilty plea.”
IRS-CI Special Agent-in-Charge James D. Robnett said: “Today’s guilty plea exemplifies IRS Special Agents' rigorous pursuit of tax evasion and sends the clear message that the tax laws apply to everybody. Mr. Cohen’s greed to hide his income from the IRS cheats all the honest taxpayers, and we should not expect law abiding citizens to foot the bill for those who circumvent the system to evade paying their fair share.”
According to the allegations in the Information unsealed today as well as statements made in Manhattan federal court:
From 2007 through January 2017, COHEN was an attorney and employee of a Manhattan-based real estate company (the “Company”). COHEN held the title of “Executive Vice President” and “Special Counsel” to the owner of the Company (“Individual-1”). In January 2017, COHEN left the Company and began holding himself out as the “personal attorney” to Individual-1, who by that time had become the President of the United States.
In addition to working for and earning income from the Organization, at all times relevant to this Information, COHEN owned taxi medallions in New York City and Chicago worth millions of dollars. COHEN owned these taxi medallions as investments and leased the medallions to operators who paid COHEN a portion of the operating income.
The Tax Evasion Scheme
In late 2013, COHEN retained an accountant (“Accountant-1”) for the purpose of handling COHEN’s personal and entity tax returns. After being retained, Accountant-1 filed amended 2011 and 2012 Form 1040 tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”). For tax years 2013 through 2016, Accountant-1 prepared individual returns for COHEN and returns for COHEN’s medallion and real estate entities. To confirm he had reviewed and approved these returns, both COHEN and his wife signed a Form 8879 for tax years 2013 through 2016, and filed manually for tax year 2012. Between 2012 and the end of 2016, COHEN earned more than $2.4 million in income from a series of personal loans made by COHEN to a taxi operator to whom COHEN leased certain of his Chicago taxi medallions (“Taxi Operator-1”), none of which he disclosed to the IRS.
As a further part of the scheme to evade paying income taxes, COHEN also concealed more than $1.3 million in income he received from another taxi operator to whom COHEN leased certain of his New York medallions (“Taxi Operator-2”). This income took two forms. First, COHEN did not report the substantial majority of a bonus payment of at least $870,000, which was made by Taxi Operator-2 in 2012 to induce COHEN to allow Taxi Operator-2 to operate certain of COHEN’s medallions. Second, between 2012 and 2016, COHEN concealed nearly $1 million in taxable income he received from Taxi Operator-2’s operation of certain of COHEN’s taxi medallions.
To ensure the concealment of this additional operator income, COHEN arranged to receive a portion of the medallion income personally, as opposed to having the income paid to COHEN’s medallion entities. Paying the medallion entities would have alerted Accountant-1, who prepared the returns for those entities, to the existence of the income such that it would have been included on COHEN’s tax returns.
As a further part of his scheme to evade taxes, COHEN also hid the following additional sources of income from Accountant-1 and the IRS:
- A $100,000 payment received, in 2014, for brokering the sale of a piece of property in a private aviation community in Ocala, Florida.
- Approximately $30,000 in profit made, in 2014, for brokering the sale of a Birkin Bag, a highly coveted French handbag that retails for between $11,900 to $300,000, depending on the type of leather or animal skin used.
- More than $200,000 in consulting income earned in 2016 from an assisted living company purportedly for COHEN’s “consulting” on real estate and other projects.
In total, COHEN failed to report more than $4 million in income, resulting in the avoidance of taxes of more than $1.4 million due to the IRS.
False Statements to a Bank
In 2010, COHEN, through companies he controlled, executed a $6.4 million promissory note with a bank (“Bank-1”), collateralized by COHEN’s taxi medallions and personally guaranteed by COHEN. A year later, in 2011, COHEN personally obtained a $6 million line of credit from Bank-1 (the “Line of Credit”), also collateralized by his taxi medallions. By February 2013, COHEN had increased the Line of Credit from $6 million to $14 million, thereby increasing COHEN’s personal medallion liabilities at Bank-1 to more than $20 million.
In November 2014, COHEN refinanced his medallion debt at Bank-1 with another bank (“Bank-2”), who shared the debt with a New York-based credit union (the “Credit Union”). The transaction was structured as a package of individual loans to the entities that owned COHEN’s New York medallions. Following the loans’ closing, COHEN’s medallion debt at Bank-1 was paid off with funds from Bank-2 and the Credit Union, and the Line of Credit with Bank-1 was closed.
In 2013, in connection with a successful application for a mortgage from another Bank (“Bank-3”) for his Park Avenue condominium (the “2013 Application”), COHEN disclosed only the $6.4 million medallion loan he had with Bank-1 at the time. As noted above, COHEN also had a larger, $14 million Line of Credit with Bank-1 secured by his medallions, which COHEN did not disclose in the 2013 Application.
In February 2015, COHEN, in an attempt to secure financing from Bank-3 to purchase a summer home for approximately $8.5 million, again concealed the $14 million Line of Credit. Specifically, in connection with this proposed transaction, Bank-3 obtained a 2014 personal financial statement COHEN had provided to Bank-2 while refinancing his medallion debt. Bank-3 questioned COHEN about the $14 million Line of Credit reflected on that personal financial statement, because COHEN had omitted that debt from the 2013 Application to Bank-3. COHEN misled Bank-3, stating, in writing, that the $14 million Line of Credit was undrawn and that he would close it. In truth and in fact, COHEN had effectively overdrawn the Line of Credit, having swapped it out for a fully drawn, larger loan shared by Bank-2 and the Credit Union upon refinancing his medallion debt. When Bank-3 informed COHEN that it would only provide financing if COHEN closed the Line of Credit, COHEN lied again, misleadingly stating in an email: “The medallion line was closed in the middle of November 2014.”
In December 2015, COHEN contacted Bank-3 to apply for a home equity line of credit (“HELOC”). In so doing, COHEN again significantly understated his medallion debt. Specifically, in the HELOC application, COHEN, together with his wife, represented a positive net worth of more than $40 million, again omitting the $14 million in medallion debt with Bank-2 and the Credit Union. Because COHEN had previously confirmed in writing to Bank-3 that the $14 million Line of Credit had been closed, Bank-3 had no reason to question COHEN about the omission of this liability on the HELOC application. In addition, in seeking the HELOC, COHEN substantially and materially understated his monthly expenses to Bank-3 by omitting at least $70,000 in monthly interest payments due to Bank-2 on the true amount of his medallion debt.
In April 2016, Bank-3 approved COHEN for a $500,000 HELOC. By fraudulently concealing truthful information about his financial condition, COHEN obtained a HELOC that Bank-3 would otherwise not have approved.
Campaign Finance Violations
The Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as amended, Title 52, United States Code, Section 30101, et seq., (the “Election Act”), regulates the influence of money on politics. At all relevant times, the Election Act set certain limitations and prohibitions, among them: (a) individual contributions to any presidential candidate, including expenditures coordinated with a candidate or his political committee, were limited to $2,700 per election, and presidential candidates and their committees were prohibited from accepting contributions from individuals in excess of this limit; and (b) Corporations were prohibited from making contributions directly to presidential candidates, including expenditures coordinated with candidates or their committees, and candidates were prohibited from accepting corporate contributions.
On June 16, 2015, Individual-1 began his presidential campaign. While COHEN continued to work at the Company and did not have a formal title with the campaign, he had a campaign email address and, at various times, advised the campaign, including on matters of interest to the press, and made televised and media appearances on behalf of the campaign.
In August 2015, the Chairman and Chief Executive of Corporation-1, a media company that owns, among other things, a popular tabloid magazine (“Chairman-1” and “Magazine-1,” respectively”), in coordination with COHEN and one or more members of the campaign, offered to help deal with negative stories about Individual-1’s relationships with women by, among other things, assisting the campaign in identifying such stories so they could be purchased and their publication avoided. Chairman-1 agreed to keep COHEN apprised of any such negative stories.
Consistent with the agreement described above, Corporation-1 advised COHEN of negative stories during the course of the campaign, and COHEN, with the assistance of Corporation-1, was able to arrange for the purchase of two stories so as to suppress them and prevent them from influencing the election.
First, in June 2016, a model and actress (“Woman-1”) began attempting to sell her story of her alleged extramarital affair with Individual-1 that had taken place in 2006 and 2007, knowing the story would be of considerable value because of the election. Woman-1 retained an attorney (“Attorney-1”), who in turn contacted the editor-in-chief of Magazine-1 (“Editor-1”), and offered to sell Woman-1’s story to Magazine-1. Chairman-1 and Editor-1 informed COHEN of the story. At COHEN’s urging and subject to COHEN’s promise that Corporation-1 would be reimbursed, Editor-1 ultimately began negotiating for the purchase of the story.
On August 5, 2016, Corporation-1 entered into an agreement with Woman-1 to acquire her “limited life rights” to the story of her relationship with “any then-married man,” in exchange for $150,000 and a commitment to feature her on two magazine covers and publish more than 100 magazine articles authored by her. Despite the cover and article features to the agreement, its principal purpose, as understood by those involved, including COHEN, was to suppress Woman-1’s story so as to prevent it from influencing the election.
Between late August 2016 and September 2016, COHEN agreed with Chairman-1 to assign the rights to the non-disclosure portion of Corporation-1’s agreement with Woman-1 to COHEN for $125,000. COHEN incorporated a shell entity called “Resolution Consultants LLC” for use in the transaction. Both Chairman-1 and COHEN ultimately signed the agreement, and a consultant for Corporation-1, using his own shell entity, provided COHEN with an invoice for the payment of $125,000. However, in early October 2016, after the assignment agreement was signed but before COHEN had paid the $125,000, Chairman-1 contacted COHEN and told him, in substance, that the deal was off and that COHEN should tear up the assignment agreement.
Second, on October 8, 2016, an agent for an adult film actress (“Woman-2”) informed Editor-1 that Woman-2 was willing to make public statements and confirm on the record her alleged past affair with Individual-1. Chairman-1 and Editor-1 then contacted COHEN and put him in touch with Attorney-1, who was also representing Woman-2. Over the course of the next few days, COHEN negotiated a $130,000 agreement with Attorney-1 to himself purchase Woman-2’s silence, and received a signed confidential settlement agreement and a separate side letter agreement from Attorney-1.
COHEN did not immediately execute the agreement, nor did he pay Woman-2. On the evening of October 25, 2016, with no deal with Woman-2 finalized, Attorney-1 told Editor-1 that Woman-2 was close to completing a deal with another outlet to make her story public. Editor-1, in turn, texted COHEN that “[w]e have to coordinate something on the matter [Attorney-1 is] calling you about or it could look awfully bad for everyone.” Chairman-1 and Editor-1 then called COHEN through an encrypted telephone application. COHEN agreed to make the payment, and then called Attorney-1 to finalize the deal.
The next day, on October 26, 2016, COHEN emailed an incorporating service to obtain the corporate formation documents for another shell corporation, Essential Consultants LLC, which COHEN had incorporated a few days prior. Later that afternoon, COHEN drew down $131,000 from the fraudulently obtained HELOC and requested that it be deposited into a bank account COHEN had just opened in the name of Essential Consultants. The next morning, on October 27, 2016, COHEN went to Bank-3 and wired approximately $130,000 from Essential Consultants to Attorney-1. On the bank form to complete the wire, COHEN falsely indicated that the “purpose of wire being sent” was “retainer.” On November 1, 2016, COHEN received from Attorney-1 copies of the final, signed confidential settlement agreement and side letter agreement.
COHEN caused and made the payments described herein in order to influence the 2016 presidential election. In so doing, he coordinated with one or more members of the campaign, including through meetings and phone calls, about the fact, nature, and timing of the payments. As a result of the payments solicited and made by COHEN, neither Woman-1 nor Woman-2 spoke to the press prior to the election.
In January 2017, COHEN in seeking reimbursement for election-related expenses, presented executives of the Company with a copy of a bank statement from the Essential Consultants bank account, which reflected the $130,000 payment COHEN had made to the bank account of Attorney-1 in order to keep Woman-2 silent in advance of the election, plus a $35 wire fee, adding, in handwriting, an additional “$50,000.” The $50,000 represented a claimed payment for “tech services,” which in fact related to work COHEN had solicited from a technology company during and in connection with the campaign. COHEN added these amounts to a sum of $180,035. After receiving this document, executives of the Company “grossed up” for tax purposes COHEN’s requested reimbursement of $180,000 to $360,000, and then added a bonus of $60,000 so that COHEN would be paid $420,000 in total. Executives of the Company also determined that the $420,000 would be paid to COHEN in monthly amounts of $35,000 over the course of 12 months, and that COHEN should send invoices for these payments.
On February 14, 2017, COHEN sent an executive of the Company (“Executive-1”) the first of his monthly invoices, requesting “[p]ursuant to [a] retainer agreement, . . . payment for services rendered for the months of January and February, 2017.” The invoice listed $35,000 for each of those two months. Executive-1 forwarded the invoice to another executive of the Company (“Executive-2”) the same day by email, and it was approved. Executive-1 forwarded that email to another employee at the Company, stating: “Please pay from the Trust. Post to legal expenses. Put ‘retainer for the months of January and February 2017’ in the description.”
Throughout 2017, COHEN sent to one or more representatives of the Company monthly invoices, which stated, “Pursuant to the retainer agreement, kindly remit payment for services rendered for” the relevant month in 2017, and sought $35,000 per month. The Company accounted for these payments as legal expenses. In truth and in fact, there was no such retainer agreement, and the monthly invoices COHEN submitted were not in connection with any legal services he had provided in 2017.
During 2017, pursuant to the invoices described above, COHEN received monthly $35,000 reimbursement checks, totaling $420,000.
* * *
COHEN, 51, of NEW YORK, NEW YORK, pleaded guilty to five counts of willful tax evasion; one count of making false statements to a bank; one count of causing an unlawful campaign contribution; and one count of making an excessive campaign contribution.
COHEN’S sentencing is scheduled for December 12 at 11 a.m.
A chart identifying the charges and the maximum penalties applicable to COHEN is below.
Count
Charge
Maximum Penalty
1-5
Tax Evasion
5 years in prison
6
Making false statements to a federally insured bank
30 years in prison
7
Causing an unlawful corporate contribution
5 years in prison
8
Making an excessive campaign contribution
5 years in prison
The maximum potential sentences in this case are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencings of the defendant will be determined by the judge.
Mr. Khuzami praised the work of the FBI, the IRS, and the Special Agents of the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
This case is being handled by the Office’s Public Corruption Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Andrea M. Griswold, Rachel Maimin, Thomas McKay, and Nicolas Roos are in charge of the prosecution.
Mexican National Arrested for Heroin TraffickingRead the Press Release
BOSTON – A Mexican national was arrested yesterday in connection with drug trafficking activities that resulted in the seizure of approximately four kilograms of suspected heroin.
Miguel Angel Torres Morales, 39, was charged today by criminal complaint with possession with the intent to distribute one kilogram or more of heroin.
According to court documents, a cooperating witness arranged to purchase four kilograms of “china white,” referring to fentanyl, from a large-scale narcotics distributor for $55,000 per kilogram. The distributor agreed to deliver the drugs to the cooperating witness using a courier. On Aug. 20, 2018, Torres Morales drove a tractor trailer to the area of the “Park and Ride” parking lot on Granite Avenue in Milton to deliver the drugs. Federal agents stopped the tractor trailer and, in a cabinet behind the driver’s seat, located four brick-packed kilograms of tan powder wrapped in cellophane. A field test of the powder tested positive for heroin.
The charge of possession with intent to distribute one kilogram or more of heroin provides for a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and up to life, a minimum of five years and up to a lifetime of supervised release, and a fine of up to $10 million. Torres Morales will be subject to deportation proceedings upon completion of his sentence. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling and Brian D. Boyle, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, New England Field Division, made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Lauren A. Graber of Lelling’s Narcotics and Money Laundering Unit is prosecuting the case.
The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Mexican Lawyer Heads to Prison for Drug TraffickingRead the Press Release
LAREDO, Texas – A 30-year-old Mexican resident has been ordered to federal prison following his conviction of conspiring to import and importing nearly 15 kilograms of heroin, announced U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Patrick. Nestor Omar Dueñas-Jimenez, of Villa de Alvarez, Colima, Mexico, pleaded guilty May 1, 2018.
Today, U.S. District Judge Marina Garcia Marmolejo handed Dueñas-Jimenez a 63-month sentence. Not a U.S. citizen, he is expected to face deportation proceedings following the sentence. In handing down the sentence, the court noted that given his education and background, Dueñas-Jimenez should have known better.
Dueñas-Jimenez is licensed to practice law in Mexico.
On March 4, 2018, Dueñas-Jimenez applied for admission into the United States from Mexico via the Lincoln-Juarez International Bridge driving a Chevrolet Cruze. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers referred him to secondary inspection, during which time they discovered 14.66 kilograms of heroin hidden in his vehicle.
At the hearing, Dueñas-Jimenez said he tried smuggling the narcotics because he wanted money to buy a new car.
Authorities estimate the drugs have a street value of $450,000.
He has been and will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Giselle S. Guerra prosecuted the case.
Married Couple Who Teamed up to Run Floral Business and to Commit Tax Fraud Sentenced to PrisonRead the Press Release
PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney William M. McSwain announced today that Andrew Bunchuk a/k/a/ Andrew Bassaner, 45, and Vicki Bunchuk, 45, both of Southampton, Pennsylvania, were sentenced to 42 months’ and 6 months’ imprisonment, respectively, for tax fraud. The defendants were tried together and were convicted in February 2018; Andrew Bunchuk was convicted of six counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation of false income tax returns, and Vicki Bunchuk was convicted of six counts of filing false income tax returns. Both defendants were convicted of failing to collect, account for, and pay over taxes for employees.
According to the evidence introduced at trial, Bassaner and Bunchuk were the owners and operators of Florist Concierge Corporation, a company incorporated in Pennsylvania but located in Orlando, Florida. The company was a telephone call center and internet service that accepted floral arrangement orders from customers throughout the United States. The defendants fraudulently deducted more than $200,000 in personal expenses on their income taxes, claiming they were legitimate business expenses. The expenses included luxury cars, a down payment on a multimillion-dollar house, tickets to sporting events, and home repairs.
In addition, the evidence at trial showed that the defendants failed to collect and pay over employment taxes, Federal Insurance Contribution Act taxes, and federal unemployment taxes on behalf of employees who worked for Florist Concierge for fourteen consecutive quarters from 2001 through 2014. The defendants mischaracterized employees as contractors in an attempt to avoid collecting and paying over employment taxes.
“Our tax collection system relies on citizens playing by the rules. And the system only works if fraudsters like these defendants pay the price for lying and cheating the government out of paying their fair share of taxes,” said U.S. Attorney McSwain. “These defendants have earned their time behind bars to think long and hard about what they did.”
"The defendants’ actions resulted in the loss of tax revenue to the United States government and the loss of future social security and Medicare benefits for their employees," said IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge Guy Ficco. “Let this serve as a strong reminder that the payment of individual and business taxes is an obligation, not a choice.”
This case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation Division and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney David J. Ignall and trial attorneys Christopher P. O’Donnell and Jack A. Morgan of the Tax Division of the United States Department of Justice.
MS-13 Member Sentenced to 97 Months in Prison for Racketeering ConspiracyRead the Press Release
BOSTON – An MS-13 member was sentenced today in federal court in Boston for racketeering conspiracy.
Modesto Ramirez, a/k/a “Snoopy,” 28, a Honduran national, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV to 97 months in prison and three years of supervised release. Ramirez will also be subject to deportation proceedings upon completion of his sentence. In May 2018, Ramirez pleaded guilty to conspiracy to conduct enterprise affairs through a pattern of racketeering activity, more commonly referred to as RICO or racketeering conspiracy.
After a multi-year investigation, Ramirez was one of dozens of leaders, members, and associates of MS-13 named in a superseding indictment unsealed in January 2016 that targeted MS-13’s criminal activities in Massachusetts. According to court documents, MS-13 members in Massachusetts engaged in a variety of racketeering acts and crimes of violence, including six different murders between October 2014 and January 2016, as well as numerous attempted murders and conspiracies to commit murder.
Ramirez was a member of the Trece Locos Salvatrucha or TLS clique of MS-13. The racketeering evidence against Ramirez included a recording made by a cooperating witness in which Ramirez discussed his intention and willingness to kill a gang rival.
Many other members of the TLS clique were also prosecuted as part of this case. In total, 49 defendants have been convicted as part of this ongoing prosecution. Of the 49 convictions, 40 were the result of guilty pleas like in the case of Ramirez, while nine others were convicted after trial.
United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Harold H. Shaw, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; Peter C. Fitzhugh, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston; Colonel Kerry A. Gilpin, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police; Commissioner Thomas Turco of the Massachusetts Department of Corrections; Essex County Sheriff Kevin F. Coppinger; Suffolk County Sheriff Steven W. Thompkins; Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley; Middlesex County District Attorney Marian T. Ryan; Essex County District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett; Boston Police Commissioner William Gross; Chelsea Police Chief Brian A. Kyes; Everett Police Chief Steven A. Mazzie; Lynn Police Chief Michael Mageary; Revere Police Chief James Guido; and Somerville Police Chief David Fallon made the announcement today.
Ludlow Man Pleads Guilty to Firearms ChargesRead the Press Release
Bangor, Maine: United States Attorney Halsey B. Frank announced that Richard R. Hemingway, 22, of Ludlow, Maine, pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court to providing false information to a federal firearms licensee (“FFL”) and filling out a false Firearms Transaction Record during the purchase of two firearms. Hemingway was indicted in June 2018.
According to court records, on October 4, 2017, Hemingway purchased a Windham Weaponry ‘WW-15’ .300BLK caliber AR-15 style rifle and a Sig Sauer ‘MCX’ .300BLK caliber AR-15 style rifle from an FFL. In doing so, he completed a Firearms Transaction Record form in which he falsely reported that he was the actual purchaser of the firearms. In fact, Hemingway was buying the firearms for another individual.
Hemingway faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for making false statements to an FFL and up to five years in prison and a $250,000 on the false record charge. He will be sentenced after the completion of a presentence investigation report by the U.S. Probation Office.
The case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and 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. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has made turning the tide of rising violent crime in America a top priority. In October 2017, as part of a series of actions to address this crime trend, Attorney General Sessions announced the reinvigoration of PSN and directed all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to develop a district crime reduction strategy that incorporates the lessons learned since PSN launched in 2001.
Local Man Sentenced for Drive-By Shooting Conspiracy to Distribute Synthetic NarcoticsRead the Press Release
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – A 19-year-old Corpus Christi resident has been ordered to federal prison following his conviction for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute synthetic cannabinoids and discharging a firearm in relation to a drug trafficking offense, announced U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Patrick. Moises Alvarado pleaded guilty May 16, 2018.
Today, Senior U.S. District Judge John D. Rainey sentenced Alvarado to 108 months for the synthetic cannabinoid offense as well as a 120-month consecutive term for discharging a firearm in relation to a drug trafficking crime. The total 228-month prison term will be immediately followed by three years of supervised release.
On Nov. 15, 2017, Corpus Christi Police Department (CCPD) officers responded to a drive-by shooting in the 400 block of Breckenridge in Corpus Christi. Upon arrival, officers discovered that gunfire had struck a woman and child inside the residence. At the scene, officers recovered a total of 47 shell casings from two different caliber assault rifles.
Two days later, CCPD responded to an accidental shooting that occurred in the 5800 block of Weber Road in Corpus Christi. At that time, they discovered that Alvarado had been shot and that Librado Esquivel, 24, and Henrey Ayala III, 26, both of Corpus Christi, dropped him off at a local urgent care center.
As part of the investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and CCPD SWAT Team executed search warrants at area residences on Dec. 7, 2017. At that time, law enforcement arrested Esquivel on a criminal complaint and seized several firearms, multiple rounds of ammunition, firearm parts and magazines, U.S. currency and multiple packages of synthetic cannabinoids. Ayala was arrested on a criminal complaint the following week.
As a result of the federal investigation, agents determined Esquivel was a large supplier and distributor of synthetic cannabinoids in the area and was owed a debt related to his drug trafficking. Ayala and Alvarado agreed to commit the shooting and were promised a quantity of synthetic cannabinoids among other things as payment.
Ayala and Esquivel also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute synthetic cannabinoids and discharging a firearm in relation to a drug trafficking offense and are set for sentencing before Judge Rainey on Sept. 17, 2018.
Synthetic cannabinoids are chemical compounds that mimic the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana. These chemical compounds can be applied to carrier mediums such as plant material and ingested using rolling papers, pipes, vaporizers or otherwise taken orally. Synthetic cannabinoids are usually sold in small, foil or plastic bags containing dried leaves (resembling potpourri) and is marketed as incense that can be smoked. It is commonly sold and known on the street as synthetic marijuana, fake weed, legal and by its popular brand names such as Spice, K2, Kush, Klimaxx and many others.
Alvarado will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be designated in the near future. Ayala and Esquivel are also in custody.
ATF, HSI and CCPD conducted the investigation with the assistance of the Drug Enforcement Administration. Assistant U.S. Attorney Lance Watt is prosecuting the case.
Local Man Sentenced for Armed Drug Trafficking of Synthetic NarcoticsRead the Press Release
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – A 35-year-old Corpus Christi resident has been ordered to federal prison following his conviction for possession with intent to distribute synthetic cannabinoids and possessing a firearm during a drug trafficking offense, announced U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Patrick. Andrew Hernandez pleaded guilty Feb. 20, 2018.
Today, Senior U.S. District Judge John D. Rainey sentenced Hernandez to 70 months for the synthetic cannabinoid offense as well as a 60-month consecutive term for possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. The total 130-month prison term will be immediately followed by five years of supervised release.
On Feb. 27, 2017, Hernandez was arrested at a local restaurant in Corpus Christi for an outstanding felony warrant. As he was taken into custody, officers removed a loaded .380 caliber handgun from his pocket. As a previously convicted felon, Hernandez is prohibited from possessing firearms and ammunition per federal law. At the time of arrest, officers also discovered several thousand dollars in U.S. currency and 72 packets of synthetic cannabinoids. Laboratory analysis confirmed the presence of FUB-AMB, which is controlled under the Controlled Substance Analog Act.
Synthetic cannabinoids are chemical compounds that mimic the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana. These chemical compounds can be applied to carrier mediums such as plant material and ingested using rolling papers, pipes, vaporizers or otherwise taken orally. Synthetic cannabinoids are usually sold in small, foil or plastic bags containing dried leaves (resembling potpourri) and is marketed as incense that can be smoked. It is commonly sold and known on the street as synthetic marijuana, fake weed, legal and by its popular brand names such as Spice, K2, Kush, Klimaxx and many others.
Hernandez was taken into federal custody in December 2017 as part of Operation City Shield, a coordinated federal, state and local law enforcement operation designed to identify violent offenders, stop gun violence and protect the community.
Hernandez will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be designated in the near future.
The Corpus Christi Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Lance Watt is prosecuting the case.
Lenox Man Sentenced for Possession of Child PornographyRead the Press Release
MACON: Charles E. Peeler, United States Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia, announces that on August 21, 2018, Robert Shawn Parker, age 32, Lenox, Georgia, was sentenced by Senior U.S. District Judge Hugh Lawson in Macon to 61 months imprisonment, followed by 25 years of supervised release, for a conviction of Possession of Child Pornography.
In his plea agreement, Mr. Parker admitted that in May 2015, a law enforcement officer identified an Internet Protocol (IP) address that was using an online peer-to-peer file-sharing site to make child pornography files available for download. The officer was able to access and download numerous files containing child pornography that were available from that IP address. The IP address was later linked to Mr. Parker’s name and home address.
Based on that information, federal agents executed a search warrant at Mr. Parker’s residence in Lenox, Cook County, Georgia on July 28, 2015. During the search, agents located a Toshiba laptop computer which Mr. Parker admitted he used to search for and download child pornography. Forensic analysis of the laptop determined that it contained videos and images of child pornography, including prepubescent minors engaged in sexual activity.
“My office will vigorously seek to prosecute those who harm children,” said United States Attorney Charles E. Peeler. “I commend the FBI for bringing Mr. Lenox to justice.”
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Robert D. McCullers is prosecuting the case for the United States.
Questions concerning this case should be directed to Pamela Lightsey, Public Information Officer, United States Attorney’s Office, at (478) 621-2603.
Lawrence Man Pleads Guilty to Participating in Fentanyl Trafficking ConspiracyRead the Press Release
Concord – United States Attorney Scott W. Murray announced that Jepherson Emanuel Cabrera, 18, of Lawrence, Massachusetts, pleaded guilty to participating in a conspiracy to distribute over 400 grams of fentanyl.
According to court documents and statements made in court, a drug trafficking organization that authorities allege was led by Sergio Martinez, employed the defendant to sell fentanyl to customers from various New England States, including New Hampshire. On each day that the defendant worked, the Martinez organization provided him with at least one 200-gram bag of fentanyl and expected him to sell it and return approximately $6,000 in proceeds. On more than 20 days, Cabrera sold at least one 200-gram bag of fentanyl. Cabrera employed at least one runner to conduct actual hand-to-hand transactions with customers.
Cabrera is scheduled to be sentenced on November 29, 2018. Cabrera faces a mandatory minimum sentence of ten years of imprisonment and a maximum sentence of life, a fine up to 10 million dollars and a term of supervised release of at least five years and as much as life.
Thirty-three additional defendants have been charged in the fentanyl trafficking conspiracy. Cabrera is the first to plead guilty.
“Fentanyl trafficking has caused tremendous damage in New Hampshire,” said U.S. Attorney Murray. “In order to protect the citizens of the Granite State, we will continue to work closely with the entire law enforcement community to stop the flow of this deadly drug. It is imperative that we dismantle the criminal organizations that profit from the sale of illegal substances.”
This investigation was conducted by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF). The OCDETF program is a federal multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional task force that supplies supplemental federal funding to federal and state agencies involved in the identification, investigation, and prosecution of major drug trafficking organizations.
The case was a collaborative investigation that involved the DEA; the New Hampshire State Police; the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office; the Nashua Police Department; the Massachusetts State Police; the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office; the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office; the Essex County District Attorney’s Office; the Internal Revenue Service; Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations; United States Customs and Border Protection Boston Field Office; the United States Marshals Service; the United States Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service; the Manchester Police Department; the Lisbon Police Department; the Littleton Police Department; the Seabrook Police Department; the Haverhill (MA) Police Department; the Methuen (MA) Police Department; the Lowell (MA) Police Department; and the Maine State Police.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Georgiana L. Konesky and Seth R. Aframe.
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Kayenta Woman Sentenced to 84 Months in Federal Prison for Shooting DeathRead the Press Release
PHOENIX – Yesterday, Georgina Warren, 34, of Dennehotso, Ariz., and a member of the Navajo Nation, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Steven P. Logan to 84 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. Warren had previously pleaded guilty to one count of involuntary manslaughter and one count of assault resulting in serious bodily injury.
The case involved Warren firing a .22 caliber rifle at her brother, who was about 40 yards away.
The investigation in this case was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Navajo Nation Department of Law Enforcement. The prosecution was handled by Sharon K. Sexton, Assistant U.S. Attorney, District of Arizona.
CASE NUMBER: CR-17-8315-PCT-SPL
RELEASE NUMBER: 2018-113_Warren
# # #
For more information on the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/az/
Follow the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, on Twitter @USAO_AZ for the latest news.
Jury Convicts Centerville Felon for Possessing A GunRead the Press Release
MACON: Charles E. Peeler, United States Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia, announces that Marcus Veal, age 33, of Centerville, Georgia was convicted of being a Felon in Possession of a Firearm today by a jury in Macon. The verdict was handed down following a trial before U.S. District Court Judge Tilman E. Self, III. Mr. Veal is facing a maximum sentence of ten years in prison. Sentencing is set for November 27, 2018 in Macon.
At trial, the Government presented evidence that Mr. Veal was stopped by a Georgia State Patrol (GSP) Trooper for having a suspended registration. Mr. Veal exited his vehicle and fled on foot. Mr. Veal ultimately got into a physical altercation with the GSP Trooper, who arrested Mr. Veal and found a 9mm semi-automatic pistol on the ground by Mr. Veal’s waist.
“Mr. Veal is exactly the sort of defendant who deserves federal prosecution,” said United States Attorney Charles E. Peeler. “Not only did Mr. Veal flee from law enforcement and resist arrest while possessing a loaded gun, but he also has a 2004 conviction for criminal attempt to commit armed robbery, a 2007 conviction for possession of cocaine and financial transaction card fraud, and at the time of his arrest, he had outstanding warrants in Bibb and Henry County.”
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. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has made turning the tide of rising violent crime in America a top priority. In October 2017, as part of a series of actions to address this crime trend, Attorney General Sessions announced the reinvigoration of PSN and directed all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to develop a district crime reduction strategy that incorporates the lessons learned since PSN launched in 2001.
The case was investigated by the Georgia State Patrol, Bibb County Sheriff’s Office, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and it is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kimberly Easterling and Tamara Jarrett.
Questions regarding this case should be addressed to Pamela Lightsey, Public Information Officer, at 478-731-1824 or [email protected].
Jackson Man Sentenced to Nearly Five Years in Prison under Project EJECTRead the Press Release
Jackson, Miss. – Marcus Reese, 38, of Jackson, was sentenced today, by United States District Judge Daniel P. Jordan III, to 57 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 of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF). Reese was also ordered to pay a $1,500 fine.
In September 2016, Reese was arrested for selling illegal drugs and possessing drug paraphernalia and drug proceeds. He spent only a few days in jail before being released on bond.
Within months, in February 2017, Reese was again arrested for selling illegal drugs from his home. Both illegal drugs and a loaded pistol were found in his living room. He again spent only a few days in jail before being released on bond.
Not long after, in September 2017, law enforcement officers attempted to execute a search warrant at Reese’s apartment on O’Bannon Street due to continuing illegal drug activity. As officers approached the apartment, Reese fled on foot through his apartment and out the back door. Officers ultimately stopped Reese and arrested him. Reese had a loaded Taurus .357 revolver and additional rounds of ammunition in his pants pocket. He had illegal drugs, drug paraphernalia, and several thousand dollars in drug proceeds and counterfeit money in his home. Officers also collected ammunition and illegal drugs from Reese’s car, a vehicle from which he sold illegal drugs.
Reese has a previous conviction in Hinds County, Mississippi, for the felony offense of conspiracy to commit murder.
The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the Jackson Police Department. It 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. 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.
U.S. Attorney Hurst commended the work of the Jackson Police Department and their cooperation with ATF agents and Project EJECT task force members in the investigation of this case.
Indiana County Man Admits Distributing HeroinRead the Press Release
JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – A Indiana County resident pleaded guilty in federal court to a charge of violating federal narcotics laws, United States Attorney Scott W. Brady announced today.
Robert Neal Fiasco, 40, of Cherry Tree, Pa., pleaded guilty to the indictment before United States District Judge Kim R. Gibson.
In connection with the guilty plea, on Dec. 21, 2015, Fiasco distributed less than 100 grams of heroin.
Judge Gibson scheduled sentencing for Jan. 3, 2019, at 10 a.m. The law provides for a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a fine of $1,000,000 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 Stephanie L. Haines is prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.
The Laurel Highlands Resident Agency of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Cambria County Drug Task Force conducted the investigation that led to the prosecution of Fiasco.
Illegal Alien Pleads Guilty to Access Device Fraud and Aggravated Identity TheftRead the Press Release
Gulfport, Miss. – Ricardo Arcanjo Ramos, age 37, an illegal alien and a former citizen of Brazil, pled guilty today before U.S. District Judge Sul Ozerden to one count of access device fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft, announced U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst and Jere T. Miles, Special Agent in Charge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations in New Orleans.
In July of 2017, Ramos and others placed skimmers and cameras on Automated Teller Machines at a credit union in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. Ramos obtained over 15 account numbers, electronic serial numbers and personal identification numbers. He and others used these numbers to obtain money and transfer funds days later in Florida at two banks and a resort. In the process of committing this fraud, Ramos possessed and used, without lawful authority, the identification of another person, committing aggravated identity theft.
Ramos will be sentenced by Judge Ozerden on December 3, 2018, at 9:00 a.m. He faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for access device fraud, and a mandatory sentence of 2 years for aggravated identity theft in addition to the sentence imposed for access device fraud.
This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrea Jones.
Hudson County Man Admits Role in Conspiracy to Distribute CocaineRead the Press Release
NEWARK, N.J. – A Jersey City, New Jersey, man today admitted his role in a cocaine distribution conspiracy operating in Jersey City, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.
Rayfeal Roman, 34, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Kevin McNulty in Newark federal court to an information charging him with one count of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
Roman admitted that from September 2017 through Feb. 7, 2018, he conspired with others to distribute cocaine. Roman also admitted that in February 2018 he spoke on the telephone with a conspirator and agreed to sell that person one kilogram of cocaine for $29,500. Law enforcement officials intercepted these conversations using a court order to intercept wire and electronic communications on Roman’s cellular phone.
On Feb.7, 2018, before Roman and the conspirator could complete the cocaine sale, law enforcement officers obtained and executed a search warrant for Roman’s apartment in Jersey City. They found approximately 2.5 kilograms of cocaine, approximately $30,000 in cash, and various other materials commonly associated with drug distribution, such as an electronic money-counting machine, a digital scale, and drug-packaging materials.
The distribution conspiracy charge carries a mandatory minimum penalty of five years in prison, a maximum of 40 years in prison, and a $5 million fine. Sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 20, 2018.
U.S. Attorney Carpenito credited the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office under the leadership of Prosecutor Esther Suarez, and special agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Valerie A. Nickerson, with the investigation leading to today’s guilty plea.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan W. Romankow of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Violent Crimes Unit in Newark.
Defense counsel: Gerald Krovatin Esq., Newark
Herrin Resident Pleads Guilty to Robbery of Marion Gas StationRead the Press Release
On August 15, 2018, Travis J. Taylor, 38, of Herrin, Ill., pled guilty to a one-count federal indictment charging Interference with Commerce by Robbery, in violation of the Hobbs Act, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois Steven D. Weinhoeft announced today. Evidence at the plea hearing established that, on April 25, 2018, Taylor robbed the Valero Gas Station in Marion, Williamson County.
Taylor is currently being held without bond pending a November 20, 2018, sentencing hearing. The robbery offense carries a maximum sentence of up to 20 years of imprisonment, three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000.
The ongoing investigation is being conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The Marion Police Department, Herrin Police Department, Carbondale Police Department, Murphysboro Police Department, Williamson County Sheriff’s Office, Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, Illinois State Police, Jackson County States Attorney’s Office, and Williamson County States Attorney’s Office are also assisting in the investigation.
Henderson Woman Indicted for Distribution of Fentanyl Resulting in the Death of A PersonRead the Press Release
LAS VEGAS, Nev. – A federal grand jury returned a 10-count superseding indictment today on charges related to opioid drug trafficking, including the distribution of fentanyl resulting in the 2017 death of a person, announced U.S. Attorney Dayle Elieson for the District of Nevada and Assistant Special Agent in Charge Daniel W. Neill for the Drug Enforcement Administration.
The superseding indictment charges Tianna Christina Cordova, 34, of Henderson, with one count of distribution of a controlled substance resulting in death, one count of possession of a firearm by a prohibited person, one count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, and one count of illegal use of a communication facility. The superseding indictment charges co-defendant Robert James Thornburg, 36, of Henderson, with one count of possession of a firearm by a prohibited person. Cordova and Thornburg were previously charged by a seven-count indictment in July 2018. The superseding indictment also includes the prior charges of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance – oxycodone and amphetamine, five counts of distribution of a controlled substance – oxycodone, amphetamine, and fentanyl, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
According to information contained in the complaint and superseding indictment, on June 21, 2018, a search warrant was executed at Cordova and Thornburg’s residence in Henderson. Law enforcement found varied amounts of oxycodone, hydrocodone, alprazolam, four firearms, and cash. As alleged, they conspired with each other to distribute oxycodone and amphetamine (Adderall). On March 14, 2017, it is alleged that Cordova distributed a controlled substance containing fentanyl that led to the overdose death of an individual. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is 80-100 times stronger than morphine.
If convicted, the maximum penalty is 20 years and a $1,000,000 fine for conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance and distribution of a controlled substance, the mandatory minimum penalty is 20 years up to life in prison and a $1,000,000 fine for distribution of a controlled substance resulting in death, the mandatory minimum penalty is five years up to life in prison and a $250,000 fine for possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, and the maximum penalty is four years in prison and a $250,000 fine for illegal use of a communication facility.
The public is reminded that an indictment contains only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
The case is being investigated by the DEA, with assistance from the Clark County Coroner’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brandon C. Jaroch is prosecuting the case.
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Hammonton, New Jersey, Man Sentenced to Nine Years in Prison for Conspiracy to Distribute Crystal MethamphetamineRead the Press Release
CAMDEN, N.J. - A Hammonton, New Jersey, man was sentenced today to 108 months in prison for engaging in a conspiracy to distribute 50 grams or more of crystal methamphetamine in Atlantic County, New Jersey, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.
Ignacio Cuesta, 42, of Atlantic City, New Jersey, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Noel Hillman in Camden federal court to an information charging him with one count of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
Cuesta was arrested on June 24, 2016, in Hammonton, New Jersey, after agreeing to sell two pounds of crystal methamphetamine to an undercover narcotics detective. The two pounds of crystal methamphetamine were seized from Cuesta’s Ford Expedition, along with approximately $9,000 in cash. Several additional pounds of crystal methamphetamine possessed by Cuesta were found hidden in vehicles and buried in a bucket in the ground in a parking lot for a local business in Hammonton. Law enforcement officers also recovered additional cash inside the trunk of a vehicle owned and used by Cuesta, which was parked in the same parking lot in Hammonton. The total seized from Cuesta and this property was more than $100,000.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Hillman sentenced Cuesta to five years of supervised release. As part of the plea agreement, Cuesta agreed to forfeit all of the cash and two vehicles that were seized on the day of the arrest.
U.S. Attorney Carpenito credited special agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Valerie A. Nickerson in Newark, with the investigation. He also thanked the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Prosecutor Mary Eva Colalillo, for its assistance.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick C. Askin of the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Criminal Division in Camden.
Defense counsel: Patrick Duffy Esq., Audubon, Pennsylvania
HOPE Clinic Nurse Practitioner Pleads GuiltyRead the Press Release
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – United States Attorney Mike Stuart announced that Teresa Emerson, 59, of Bristol, Virginia, pled guilty today to aiding and abetting obtaining a controlled substance by fraud. Stuart praised the investigation conducted by the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG), the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigations, the Food and Drug Administration, the West Virginia State Police, the Kentucky State Police, the Beckley Police Department, the Virginia State Police, the Charleston Police Department, and the Drug Enforcement Administration.
“It’s tragic to think that any medical professional would continue to write prescriptions with no legitimate medical purpose to individuals suffering from addiction,” said United States Attorney Mike Stuart. “I will use every available resource to combat the opioid epidemic which has caused so much death, despair and devastation throughout West Virginia. This includes holding medical professionals accountable when they violate federal laws designed to protect the health and safety of patients.”
Teresa Emerson worked as a licensed family nurse practitioner at the HOPE Clinic in Wytheville, Virginia, where she was authorized to write prescriptions for controlled substances for legitimate medical purposes in the usual course of professional practice. Emerson admitted that on February 4, 2015, while working at the clinic, she signed a prescription for 145 oxycodone compound 32mg to patient J.W. that was not for a legitimate medical purpose. Emerson admitted that she simply signed the prescription for what J.W. had previously been prescribed and intentionally ignored the fact that J.W. had at least three abnormal drug screens, including testing positive for drugs she had not been prescribed and testing negative for drugs that she was prescribed. Emerson further admitted that J.W.’s chart reflected that she had admitted to getting drugs off the street and during one of her visits, a staff member noted “track marks on her right arm.” During the plea hearing, Emerson admitted that despite these “red flags” she did not discuss the possibility of addiction with J.W. and that J.W.’s medical records did not support the initial prescription for pain medicine or any of the subsequent prescriptions for pain medicine. Emerson admitted that J.W. filled a prescription for oxycodone she provided to J.W. on February 4, 2015 at a pharmacy in Gilbert, Mingo County, West Virginia. J.W. has since admitted to being an addict and seeking the pills from HOPE Clinic for the purpose of feeding her addiction.
Emerson faces up to four years in prison when sentenced on November 29, 2018 and she has also agreed to surrender her DEA registration.
Assistant United States Attorney Monica D. Coleman and Steven I. Loew are handling the prosecution. United States District Judge Irene Berger presided over the plea hearing.
Follow us on Twitter: SDWVNews
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Greenville Man Sentenced to 46 Months for $700,000 Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
Columbia, South Carolina ---- United States Attorney Sherri A. Lydon stated today that Calvert J. Drummond, Jr., age 35, of Greenville, was sentenced to 46 months’ imprisonment in federal court in Anderson related to a conspiracy to commit wire fraud, a violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1349. United States District Judge Timothy M. Cain, of Anderson, imposed sentence and also ordered Drummond to pay $742,000 in restitution to his victims.
Evidence presented at the change of plea hearing established that Drummond represented to clients that he could obtain alternative financing for various projects that required large amounts of capital. In exchange for a fee of several hundred thousand dollars, Drummond promised to secure bank guarantees worth millions.
Drummond would create fraudulent financial documentation regarding the alternative financing and show them to the clients. When pushed by clients on the delay of the financing or for a return of the fee paid, Drummond would blame the delays and other issues on various banks.
Drummond had no mechanism to obtain the alternative financing promised; this was a fictitious story created to persuade clients to pay fees that Drummond used to pay personal expenses, travel, and obtain jewelry and other high-end items.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Bill Watkins of the Greenville office handled the case.
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Glade Spring Man Sentenced on Federal Gun ChargeRead the Press Release
Abingdon, VIRGINIA – A Glade Spring man, who was on federal supervised release when authorities discovered him illegally in possession of a firearm, was sentenced last week to 27 months in prison on a federal firearms charge and an additional 18 consecutive months on a supervised release revocation, United States Attorney Thomas T. Cullen announced today.
Joseph A. Routh, 41, pleaded guilty on May 21, 2018 to being a previously convicted felon illegally in possession of a firearm. Routh was on federal supervised release at the time of his guilty plea for a previous conviction of being a felon illegally in possession of a firearm.
According to information presented at previous hearings by Special Assistant United States Attorney Kathleen Carnell, in February 2018 during a vehicle stop, federal authorities executed an arrest warrant on Routh. During the arrest and a subsequent search of the vehicle, Routh was found in possession of a .22 caliber rifle and ammunition.
The investigation of the case was conducted by the United States Marshals Service, the Washington County Sheriff’s Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Special Assistant United States Attorney Kathleen Carnell prosecuted the case for the United States.
Galva Man Pleads Guilty to Meth ConspiracyRead the Press Release
A man who conspired to distribute methamphetamine pled guilty on August 21, 2018, in federal court in Sioux City.
Lee Charles Mercer, 42, from Galva, Iowa, was convicted of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. Mercer was previously convicted of three separate felony drug offenses in the Iowa District Court in 2013, 2004 and 1998.
At the plea hearing, Mercer admitted that from November 2017 through March 2018, he was involved in a conspiracy that distributed more than 2500 grams of methamphetamine mixture in and around Galva, Iowa. On March 12, 2018, Mercer was stopped for a traffic violation in Woodbury County, Iowa. During law enforcement’s consent to search Mercer’s vehicle, approximately 4 ounces of methamphetamine was seized in four separate baggies, along with $5,000 in cash. Mercer admitted he planned to distribute the methamphetamine to other persons. Mercer further admitted that he planned to use the $5,000 to purchase a pound of methamphetamine later in Sioux City, Iowa.
Sentencing before United States District Court Judge Mark W. Bennett will be set after a presentence report is prepared. Mercer remains in custody of the United States Marshal pending sentencing. Mercer faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment and a possible maximum sentence of life imprisonment, a $20,000,000 fine, and at least ten years of supervised release following any imprisonment.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Shawn S. Wehde and was investigated by the Iowa Department of Narcotics Enforcement, Woodbury County Sheriff’s Office, Sioux City Police Department, and the Drug Enforcement Administration Laboratory.
Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.
The case file number is 18-4018.
Follow us on Twitter @USAO_NDIA.
Fort Defiance Man Sentenced to 41 Months for StabbingRead the Press Release
PHOENIX– Yesterday, Irwin Carl Foster, 38, of Ft. Defiance, Ariz., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge John J. Tuchi to 41 months’ imprisonment. Foster had previously pleaded guilty to assault with a dangerous weapon.
In August 2017, Foster intentionally stabbed the victim, a member of the Navajo Nation, with a knife resulting in a laceration to his chest and a punctured lung. Foster is also a member of the Navajo Nation.
Navajo Nation Criminal Investigations and the Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted the investigation. The prosecution was handled by Kiyoko Patterson, Assistant U.S. Attorney, District of Arizona, Phoenix.
CASE NUMBER: CR-17-8287-PCT-JJT
RELEASE NUMBER: 2018-111_Foster
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For more information on the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/az/
Follow the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, on Twitter @USAO_AZ for the latest news.
Former Orange County Deputy Sentenced for Receipt of Child PornographyRead the Press Release
Orlando, Florida – U.S. District Judge Roy B. Dalton, Jr. has sentenced Kevin Michael Hutchinson (36, Orlando) to 10 years in federal prison for receiving child pornography. Hutchinson was also ordered to serve a 7-year term of supervised release and to register as a sex offender.
Hutchinson was charged by criminal complaint on April 20, 2018. He pleaded guilty on May 29, 2018.
According to court documents and evidence presented at the sentencing hearing, Hutchinson initially came to the attention of law enforcement when he distributed child pornography via a mobile application. Then, just hours before a federal search warrant was executed at his home, Hutchinson received multiple images and videos of child pornography via the internet. One of the items downloaded by Hutchinson was a “guide” on how to prepare young children for sex with adults. In total, Hutchinson possessed 5,872 images and 1,625 videos of child pornography. Of those, 630 of the images and 160 of the videos depicted infants or toddlers being sexually abused.
At the time of his arrest, Hutchinson was a deputy with the Orange County Sheriff’s Office. He was immediately placed on administrative leave and later terminated as a result of this case.
“The re-victimization of a child is always tragic,” said HSI Special Agent in Charge James C. Spero. “But it is particularly disturbing when the predator is someone in a position of trust and respect.”
This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Shawn P. Napier.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
Former Nazi Labor Camp Guard Jakiw Palij Removed to GermanyRead the Press Release
Jakiw Palij, a former Nazi labor camp guard in German-occupied Poland and a postwar resident of Queens, New York, has been removed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to Germany, Attorney General Jeff Sessions of the U.S. Department of Justice, Secretary Kirstjen M. Nielsen of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and ICE Deputy Director and Acting Director Ronald D. Vitiello announced today. ICE removed Palij based on an order of removal obtained by the Department of Justice in 2004.
“The United States will never be a safe haven for those who have participated in atrocities, war crimes, and human rights abuses,” said Attorney General Sessions. “Jakiw Palij lied about his Nazi past to immigrate to this country and then fraudulently become an American citizen. He had no right to citizenship or to even be in this country. Today, the Justice Department—led by Eli Rosenbaum and our fabulous team in the Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section, formerly the Office of Special Investigations—successfully helped remove him from the United States, as we have done with 67 other Nazis in the past. I want to thank our partners at the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security for all of their hard work in removing this Nazi criminal from our country.”
“Nazi war criminals and human rights violators have no safe haven on our shores,” said Secretary Kirstjen M. Nielsen of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. “We will relentlessly pursue them, wherever they may be found, and bring them to justice. The arrest and removal of Jakiw Palij to Germany is a testament to the dedication and commitment of the men and women of ICE, who faithfully enforce our immigration laws to protect the American people.”
Palij, 95, was born in a part of Poland that is situated in present-day Ukraine, immigrated to the United States in 1949 and became a U.S. citizen in 1957. He concealed his Nazi service by telling U.S. immigration officials that he had spent the war years working until 1944 on his father’s farm in his hometown, which was previously a part of Poland and is now in Ukraine, and then in a German factory.
As Palij admitted to Justice Department officials in 2001, he was trained at the SS Training Camp in Trawniki, in Nazi-occupied Poland, in the spring of 1943. Documents subsequently filed in court by the Justice Department showed that men who trained at Trawniki participated in implementing the Third Reich’s plan to murder Jews in Poland, code-named “Operation Reinhard.” On Nov. 3, 1943, some 6,000 Jewish men, women and children incarcerated at Trawniki were shot to death in one of the largest single massacres of the Holocaust. By helping to prevent the escape of these prisoners during his service at Trawniki, Palij played an indispensable role in ensuring that they later met their tragic fate at the hands of the Nazis.
On May 9, 2002, the Criminal Division’s then-Office of Special Investigations (OSI) and the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Eastern District of New York filed a four-count complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, to revoke Palij’s citizenship. The complaint was based primarily upon his wartime activities as an armed guard of Jewish prisoners at Trawniki, who were confined there under inhumane conditions. Palij’s U.S. citizenship was revoked in August 2003 by a federal judge in the Eastern District of New York based on his wartime activities and postwar immigration fraud. In November 2003, the government placed Palij in immigration removal proceedings.
In decisions issued on June 10 and Aug. 23, 2004, U.S. Immigration Judge Robert Owens ordered Palij’s deportation to Ukraine, Poland or Germany, or any other country that would admit him, on the basis of his participation in Nazi-sponsored acts of persecution while serving during World War II as an armed guard at the Trawniki forced-labor camp in Nazi-occupied Poland under the direction of the government of Germany and his subsequent concealment of that service when he immigrated to the United States. As Judge Owens wrote in his decision ordering Palij’s deportation, the Jews massacred at Trawniki “had spent at least half a year in camps guarded by Trawniki-trained men, including Jakiw Palij.” In December 2005, the Board of Immigration Appeals denied Palij’s appeal.
The removal of Palij to Germany was effectuated through close cooperation between the Departments of Justice, Homeland Security and State. For nearly four decades, the Justice Department has vigorously pursued its mission to expel Nazi persecutors from the United States. The Palij case was the product of the Department’s longtime efforts to identify, investigate and take legal action against participants in Nazi crimes of persecution who reside in the United States. Since OSI began operations in 1979, that office and its successor, the Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section (HRSP) of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, have won cases against 108 individuals who participated in Nazi crimes of persecution. In addition, attempts to enter the United States by more than 180 individuals implicated in wartime Axis crimes have been prevented as a result of the “Watch List” program initiated by OSI and enforced in cooperation with the Departments of State and Homeland Security.
This removal was supported by ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations and Office of the Principal Legal Advisor as well as the Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Center (HRVWCC). The HRVWCC is comprised of ICE HSI’s Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Unit, ICE’s Human Rights Law Section, FBI’s International Human Rights Unit and HRSP. Established in 2009, the HRVWCC furthers the government’s efforts to identify, locate and prosecute human rights abusers in the United States, including those who are known or suspected to have participated in persecution, war crimes, genocide, torture, extrajudicial killings, female genital mutilation and the use or recruitment of child soldiers. The HRVWCC leverages the expertise of a select group of agents, lawyers, intelligence and research specialists, historians and analysts who direct the government’s broader enforcement efforts against these offenders.
The case was investigated, litigated and supervised over the years by a host of attorneys and historians in OSI, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of New York, and HRSP, including Director Eli M. Rosenbaum, Senior Trial Attorney Susan L. Siegal and Chief Historian Dr. Jeffrey Richter, all of whom have served with HRSP since its 2010 creation.
[[{"fid":"1088406","view_mode":"default","attributes":{"data-delta":"1"},"fields":{"format":"default"},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"format":"default"}},"link_text":false}]]Forest Man Pleads Guilty to Cocaine ConspiracyRead the Press Release
Gulfport, Miss. – Jaycie Mario Thomas, 35, of Forest, pled guilty today before Senior U.S. District Judge Louis Guirola, Jr. to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine, announced U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst and Assistant Special Agent in Charge Derryle Smith with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
On March 3, 2016, an officer with the Louisiana State Police stopped Thomas for a traffic violation. During the stop, the officer learned that a gun in Thomas’s possession was stolen. The officer arrested Thomas, and upon inventorying his car, the officer located 15 kilograms of cocaine in the trunk. During the subsequent investigation by the DEA, it was revealed that Thomas was trafficking the cocaine to Jackson County, Mississippi, for his relative, Keith Brown, who was following in another car behind Thomas.
Brown pled guilty last Wednesday before Judge Guirola to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute five or more kilograms of cocaine. In addition to the cocaine found in Thomas’ car, Brown admitted to conspiring with others to have over 30 kilograms of cocaine brought to the Mississippi Gulf Coast from Texas. He will be sentenced on November 7, 2018 and faces a maximum penalty of life in prison and a $10 million fine.
Thomas will be sentenced on November 12, 2018, by Judge Guirola, and faces a maximum penalty of life in prison and a $10 million fine.
The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Louisiana State Police. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathlyn R. Van Buskirk.
Felon from Many pleads guilty to possessing firearms after assault and police standoff at barbershopRead the Press Release
SHREVEPORT, La. – United States Attorney David C. Joseph announced that a felon from Many pleaded guilty Monday to possessing four firearms after an assault and police standoff at a barbershop.
Willie D. Carhee, 55, of Many, Louisiana, pleaded guilty before U.S. Chief District Judge S. Maurice Hicks Jr. to one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. According to the guilty plea, police responded to a 911 call of a domestic assault that occurred at a barbershop in Many on April 27, 2017. After the assault, Carhee, the assailant, ran inside the barbershop where he worked and refused to leave. The victim told the police dispatcher that Carhee had a firearm at the barbershop as well as firearms at his home. Law enforcement set up a perimeter and called SWAT. A Many Police officer found and seized a loaded Hi-Point Firearms .45 caliber pistol in plain view in Carhee’s car, which was parked in front of the barbershop. After SWAT threw a telephone through the window of the barbershop, Carhee surrendered to authorities. A search of the barbershop yielded approximately 190 grams of marijuana and a scale. Police searched Carhee’s home and found a Marlin, Glenfield model 70, .22 caliber rifle; a Remington, model: 770, .308 caliber rifle; a Remington, model: 710, .30-06 caliber rifle; and several marijuana plants in the backyard. Carhee has at least six felony convictions, which are: possession of a Schedule II drug in the 10th Judicial District, Natchitoches Parish, on March 12, 2012; possession/introduction of contraband into a penal institution on July 10, 2008; manufacturing of a Schedule I drug and illegal carrying of a weapon in Sabine Parish, Louisiana, on September 14, 2006; unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon in the 294th Judicial District, Dallas, Texas; and reckless injury to a child in Dallas, Texas. Being a felon, Carhee is not allowed to possess a firearm.
Carhee faces up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine. The court set a sentencing date of November 29, 2018.
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. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has made turning the tide of rising violent crime in America a top priority. In October 2017, as part of a series of actions to address this crime trend, Attorney General Sessions announced the reinvigoration of PSN and directed all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to develop a district crime reduction strategy that incorporates the lessons learned since PSN launched in 2001.
The ATF and Many Police Department conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mike O’Mara is prosecuting the case.
Federal Court Bars Georgia Tax Return Preparer and Her Business from Preparing Tax Returns and Orders Them to Disgorge Ill-Gotten GainsRead the Press Release
A federal court in Atlanta, Georgia entered a permanent injunction against Marjorie St. Jean and MarjorieStjeanLLC, barring them from preparing federal tax returns for others and owning or operating a tax preparation business, the Justice Department announced today. The court also ordered that St. Jean and MarjorieStjeanLLC disgorge $367,346.14, representing the ill-gotten gains that they received for the preparation of tax returns making false claims. The orders were signed by Judge Eleanor L. Ross of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.
The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is a refundable tax credit available to certain low-income working people. In this case, the court found that St. Jean and MarjorieStjeanLLC, an entity owned by St. Jean through which St. Jean operates tax preparation stores, prepared tax returns that included fraudulent claims for the EITC, often based on bogus dependents, fabricated business income and expenses, and/or false filing status. The court also determined that St. Jean and MarjorieStjeanLLC systematically and routinely prepared tax returns that falsely claimed: (1) Fuel Tax Credits; (2) Household Help income; (3) unreimbursed employee business expenses; and (4) self-employed business income and/or expenses. The court concluded that injunctive relief and an order requiring that St. Jean and MarjorieStjeanLLC disgorge the ill-gotten gains that they received for the preparation of tax returns making such false claims was appropriate.
The IRS has a list of steps on its website that you can take and ten tips for choosing a tax preparer. Each year, the IRS releases the top 12 scams, known as the Dirty Dozen. Return preparer fraud is one of the IRS’s Dirty Dozen Tax Scams for 2018, and taxpayers seeking a return preparer should remain vigilant. The IRS has some information on its website for choosing a return preparer and has launched a free directory of federal tax preparers.
In the past decade, the Tax Division has obtained injunctions against hundreds of unscrupulous tax preparers. Information about these cases is available on the Justice Department’s website. An alphabetical listing of persons enjoined from preparing returns and promoting tax schemes can be found on this page. If you believe that one of the enjoined persons or businesses may be violating an injunction, please contact the Tax Division at [email protected] with details.
Duffield Man Pleads Guilty to Manufacturing Marijuana, Felon in Possession of a FirearmRead the Press Release
Abingdon, VIRGINIA – A Duffield, Virginia man, who was on supervised release for a previous federal conviction after having served a lengthy state prison sentence for arson, pled guilty last week in U.S. District Court in Abingdon to federal marijuana and firearms charges, United States Attorney Thomas T. Cullen announced today.
Claude Gene Sloan, 75, pleaded guilty last week to one count of manufacturing and possessing with the intent to distribute more than 100 marijuana plants, one count of distribution of marijuana, and one count of being a previously convicted felon illegally in possession of a firearm. Sloan was previously convicted of manufacturing marijuana and was on federal supervised release at the time of these offenses.
Sentencing has been scheduled for November 7, 2018 at 2:30 p.m. in the U.S. District Court in Abingdon.
The investigation of the case was conducted by the Scott County Sheriff’s Office, Southwest Drug Task Force, Virginia State Police, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. Assistant United States Attorney Randy Ramseyer is prosecuting the case for the United States
Donnie Taylor Sentenced to Fourteen Years in Prison for Distribution of Child PornographyRead the Press Release
GREENEVILLE, Tenn. – On August 20, 2018, Donnie Taylor, 44, of Bean Station, Tennessee, was sentenced by the Honorable J. Ronnie Greer, U.S. District Judge, to serve 168 months in federal prison, followed by a lifetime of supervised release, for distribution of child pornography in east Tennessee.
According to his plea agreement on file with U.S. District Court, Taylor admitted to sending multiple images of child pornography via social media. A special agent with the Department of Homeland Security logged into a social media account to interact and identify potential possessors and distributors of child pornography. The agent encountered Taylor and began a private message conversation. Taylor sent multiple private messages containing child pornography to the agent. In addition, agents determined that Taylor distributed child pornography to other persons on social media.
This investigation was the product of a partnership between the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Knoxville Police Department’s Internet Crimes Against Children task force and Tennessee Highway Patrol. Assistant U.S. Attorney Meghan Gomez represented the United States in court proceedings.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood (PSC), a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, PSC marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about PSC, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
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Dominican National Sentenced for Role in Fentanyl Trafficking OrganizationRead the Press Release
BOSTON – A Lawrence man was sentenced today in federal court in Boston for his role in a widespread fentanyl trafficking organization.
Bronin Martin Gonzalez Arias, a/k/a Rafael Omar Arias-Rodriguez, 37, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Douglas Woodlock to 18 months in prison and three years of supervised release. The government asked for a sentence of 57 months in prison. Gonzalez Arias will be subject to deportation proceedings. In April 2018, Gonzalez Arias pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute heroin, cocaine, and fentanyl.
On May 30, 2017, more than 200 federal, state and local law enforcement officers executed a federal drug sweep to dismantle a Lawrence-based drug trafficking organization allegedly run by Juan Anibal Patrone. Gonzalez Arias was arrested and charged along with Patrone and approximately 30 co-conspirators.
Gonzalez Arias was a redistributor for Patrone’s organization. Throughout his time on the street, Gonzalez Arias distributed between 160-280 grams of fentanyl.
When first charged, Gonzalez Arias falsely identified himself as Rafael Omar Arias-Rodriquez and claimed to be a United States citizen in his detention hearing before the Court; in fact, he is Dominican, and in the country illegally.
Patrone pleaded not guilty and is scheduled to stand trial on Oct. 29, 2018.
United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Brian D. Boyle, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, New England Division; Peter C. Fitzhugh, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston; Essex County District Attorney Jonathan W. Blodgett; Colonel Kerry A. Gilpin, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police; and Lawrence Police Chief James Fitzpatrick made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Susan Winkler of Lelling’s Narcotics and Money Laundering Unit is prosecuting the cases.
The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The remaining defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Dominican National Pleads Guilty to Heroin and Fentanyl ConspiracyRead the Press Release
BOSTON – The alleged leader of a Boston-based heroin and fentanyl trafficking organization pleaded guilty today in federal court in Boston.
Jose Antonio Lugo-Guerrero, a/k/a Fernando Rivera-Rodriguez, 40, who formerly resided in Mattapan, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute more than one kilogram of heroin, more than 400 grams of fentanyl, and more than five kilograms of cocaine, and one count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani scheduled sentencing for Nov. 27, 2018. In February 2017, Lugo-Guerrero was arrested and charged along with 22 co-defendants.
From mid-2016 through February 2017, federal law enforcement investigated two drug trafficking organizations operating in Taunton and Boston; the former led by Fernando Hernandez, and the latter led by Jose Antonio Lugo-Guerrero. Hernandez’s organization sold heroin and fentanyl to customers who re-distributed a portion of the drugs they obtained. Hernandez obtained drugs from a network of suppliers that included Lugo-Guerrero.
Lugo-Guerrero sold kilograms of heroin, fentanyl, and cocaine to customers in Boston, New Bedford, Fall River, and surrounding areas. The evidence, including federal wiretaps in late 2016 and early 2017, further showed that he obtained some of the drugs he sold by robbing other drug dealers. On Nov. 3, 2016, Lugo-Guerrero and five co-defendants traveled to New Bedford panning to rob a drug dealer who had stolen half a kilogram of heroin from Lugo-Guerrero. At Lugo-Guerrero’s direction, one of the co-defendants transported a firearm and provided it to another co-defendant just before the attempted robbery. Based on intercepted communications, law enforcement agents were aware of the planned robbery and stopped and questioned the defendants before it occurred. As a result, Lugo-Guerrero aborted his plan that night and returned to Boston.
In February 2018, Hernandez was sentenced to 188 months (15½ years) in prison after pleading guilty in November 2017. The court found that Hernandez was responsible for distributing more than a kilogram of heroin over a two-month period in the summer of 2016.
Lugo Guerrero faces a mandatory minimum 15 years in prison and up to life, a minimum of five years of supervised release, a fine of up to $4 million, and will be deported upon completion of his sentence. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Brian D. Boyle, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Boston Field Division; Colonel Kerry A. Gilpin, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police; Fall River Police Chief Albert F. Dupere; New Bedford Police Chief Joseph C. Cordeiro; Taunton Police Chief Edward James Walsh; Boston Police Commissioner William Gross; Bridgewater Police Chief Christopher Delmonte; and Bristol Country District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ted Heinrich of Lelling’s Narcotics and Money Laundering Unit is prosecuting the case.
Doctor Sentenced for Participating in $30 Million Scheme to Defraud Medicare and MedicaidRead the Press Release
Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that physician EWALD J. ANTOINE was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Lorna G. Schofield to one year and one day in prison for his participation in a $30 million scheme to defraud Medicare and the New York State Medicaid Program. ANTOINE falsely posed as the owner of two medical clinics, which were actually owned by a corrupt businessman, and falsely claimed that he had examined and treated hundreds of patients whom he had not in fact seen. ANTOINE pled guilty on January 11, 2018, to health care fraud and conspiracy to commit health care fraud, mail fraud, and wire fraud.
U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said: “The Medicare and Medicaid programs are intended to provide essential medical services to the elderly and the needy, not to enrich corrupt doctors and other fraudsters. The real victims in this case are U.S. taxpayers and needy patients with legitimate medical needs. Today’s sentence sends a strong message that those who cheat Medicare and Medicaid, including physicians who abuse their licenses and professional oaths, will be held accountable.”
According to the Indictment and other documents filed in federal court, as well as statements made during ANTOINE’s plea proceeding and sentencing:
Between 2007 and 2013, Aleksandr Burman owned and operated six medical clinics in Brooklyn (the “Clinics”) that fraudulently billed Medicare and Medicaid approximately $30 million for medical services and supplies that were not provided, were provided without regard to medical necessity, or were otherwise fraudulently billed. Under New York State law, medical clinics must be owned and operated by a medical professional. To circumvent this requirement, Burman, who was not a medical professional, hired doctors to pose as the nominal owners of each of the Clinics. ANTOINE was one of those doctors, agreeing to sign a variety of fraudulent documents that falsely represented to banks, Medicare, Medicaid, and others that ANTOINE was the sole owner of Sunlight Medical and Psychiatric Services, P.C., and Coney Island Medical Services, P.C., two of the six Clinics. ANTOINE and his co-conspirators also helped prepare false medical records to support fraudulent reimbursement claims submitted to Medicare and Medicaid. ANTOINE signed medical charts falsely stating that he had examined patients, and wrote prescriptions and referrals for medically unnecessary and/or non-existent tests and supplies.
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In addition to the prison term, ANTOINE, 67, of Valley Stream, New York, was sentenced to three years of supervised release. Judge Schofield also ordered ANTOINE to pay restitution of $1,825,544 and to forfeit $269,412 in ill-gotten gains.
ANTOINE is the eighth defendant, and the second physician, who has been sentenced after pleading guilty in this case and a related case. The other defendants include: Aleksandr Burman, the leader of the scheme, who was sentenced in a related case on May 8, 2017, to 10 years in prison; Marina Burman, the former wife of Aleksandr Burman and the owner of a related medical supply company, sentenced on May 17, 2018, to three years in prison; Mustak Y. Vaid, a physician sentenced on August 1, 2018, to 18 months in prison; Asher Oleg Kataev, a Burman business partner, sentenced on May 31, 2018, to three years in prison; Alla Tsirlin, a Clinic office manager, sentenced on June 5, 2018, to one year and one day in prison; and Edward Miselevich and Ivan Voychak, Burman’s partners who jointly ran a related ambulette company, sentenced on June 12 and July 19, 2018, respectively, to three years in prison each.
Three additional defendants – a doctor (Paul J. Mathieu), a physical therapist (Hatem Behiry), and an occupational therapist (Lina Zhitnik) – are scheduled to go to trial before Judge Schofield on November 26, 2018. These three remaining defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Mr. Berman praised the outstanding investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Office of the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the New York State Office of the Medicaid Inspector General (“OMIG”).
The prosecution of this case is being handled by the Office’s Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorney David Raymond Lewis is in charge of the prosecution.
Corpus Man Sent to Prison for Distributing Sexually-Explicit Images of ChildrenRead the Press Release
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - A 37-year-old Corpus Christi man has been ordered to prison following his admissions to distributing child pornography on at least two occasions, announced U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Patrick. David Medina pleaded guilty May 16, 2018.
Today, Senior U.S. District Judge John D. Rainey sentenced Medina to 102 months in prison. In imposing the sentence, the court noted Medina “needs help” and considered victim impact letters detailing the effect of the continued distribution of images depicting how they were sexually abused as children. Medina was further ordered to serve 10 years of supervised release following completion of his prison term, during which time he will have to comply with numerous requirements designed to restrict his access to children and the internet. Medina will also be ordered to register as a sex offender.
In September 2016, the FBI Child Exploitation Task Force conducted an investigation on a file sharing network looking for potential offenders sharing child pornography. An officer was eventually able to download many images of child pornography from a computer and a specific IP address linked to David Medina in Corpus Christi. Agents obtained a search warrant for Medina’s residence, after which agents seized several digital devices that led to the discovery of more than 3,500 images and 28 videos of child pornography.
Another investigation in 2017 led authorities to a different computer sharing child pornography which was traced to a second residence in Corpus Christi linked to Medina. He cellular phone was seized and allegedly found to contain more than 1,000 images and 95 videos of child pornography.
In Feb. 21, 2018, authorities received information that someone was downloading child pornography at a hotel in Corpus Christi. Medina was found to be renting a room at that location and seized his laptop as part of the investigation. At that time, Medina again admitting to distributing child pornography.
He has been an will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
The FBI conducted the investigation with the assistance of the Corpus Christi Police Department - Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.
Assistant U.S. Attorney (AUSA) Hugo R. Martinez prosecuting the case. AUSA Brittany Jensen handled the sentencing on this matter, which was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab "resources."
Columbus Resident Pleads Guilty to Distributing MethamphetamineRead the Press Release
COLUMBUS: Charles E. Peeler, United States Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia, announces that Charles Daniel Yandle, age 42, of Thomaston, Georgia, entered a guilty plea to a Superseding Information alleging Distribution of Methamphetamine before Chief U.S. District Court Judge Clay D. Land in Columbus, Georgia on August 20, 2018. This plea subjects Mr. Yandle to a maximum sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment, a fine of up to $1 million, or both.
In his plea agreement, Mr. Yandle admitted that on May 30, 2017, he sold approximately 80 grams of 99% pure methamphetamine to an undercover officer in exchange for $1800. After his arrest, Mr. Yandle admitted to selling drugs.
Mr. Yandle is scheduled to be sentenced in Columbus on November 27, 2018, following a pre-sentence investigation and report.
This case was investigated by the Taylor County Sheriff’s Office and the Upson County Narcotics Task Force. Assistant United States Attorney Crawford Seals is prosecuting the case for the United States.
Questions concerning this case should be directed to Pamela Lightsey, Public Information Officer, United States Attorney’s Office, at (478) 621-2603.
Citizen of Dominican Republic Extradited to New Hampshire to Face Drug Conspiracy ChargeRead the Press Release
Concord – United States Attorney Scott W. Murray announced today that Geraldo De La Cruz Cabral Pena appeared in federal court today after being extradited from the Dominican Republic to face a drug trafficking conspiracy charge.
Cabral Pena, a citizen of the Dominican Republic, is charged with participating in a conspiracy to distribute, and to possess with the intent to distribute, one kilogram or more of heroin from 2013 through October 2016. A grand jury for the District of New Hampshire indicted Cabral Pena on the charge on January 25, 2017.
After he was charged, authorities in the United States and in the Dominican Republic worked to locate Cabral Pena. He was arrested by Dominican Republic authorities in March 2018. Extradition proceedings resulted in his release to the DEA on August 16, 2018. DEA agents brought him from the Dominican Republic to the United States the same day.
“Defendants facing federal indictment on drug trafficking charges should expect that the full weight of law enforcement will be brought to bear to return them to the United States for trial” said U.S. Attorney Murray. “This was a cooperative effort and I want to thank the Dominican authorities as well as the federal, state and local law enforcement agencies that contributed to this successful result.”
“DEA is addressing the threat, both domestically and internationally,” said DEA Special Agent in Charge Brian D. Boyle. “Today’s extradition not only holds Mr. Cabral Pena accountable for his actions but serves as a warning to those traffickers who are fueling the opioid epidemic, that DEA will do everything in its power to bring them to justice. This investigation demonstrates the strength and continued commitment of our local, state, federal and international law enforcement partners.”
If convicted, Cabral Pena faces a minimum mandatory sentence of 10 years and up to life in prison and a fine of $10,000,000.
The indictment is an allegation. The defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration; Homeland Security Investigations; the Massachusetts State Police; the Haverhill Police Department; the United States Marshals Service; the New Hampshire State Police; the Manchester Police Department; the Lawrence Police Department; and the Methuen Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Donald A. Feith is prosecuting the case.
This case was supported by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF). The OCDETF program is a federal multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional task force that supplies supplemental federal funding to federal and state agencies involved in the identification, investigation, and prosecution of major drug trafficking organizations.
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Christopher Blattner Sentenced to 30 Years for Using Firearms in Furtherance of Drug Trafficking CrimesRead the Press Release
ALBUQUERQUE – U.S. District Judge James O. Browning sentenced Christopher Blattner, 38, of Albuquerque, N.M., to 30 years of imprisonment this morning for possessing firearms during and in furtherance of drug trafficking crimes. The Judge ordered Blattner’s federal sentence to run consecutive to the 28-year sentence Blattner already is serving for convictions on second-degree murder (firearms enhancement) and aggravated assault on a peace office with a deadly weapon (firearms enhancement), and voluntary manslaughter in the 2nd Judicial District Court (Bernalillo County) for the State of New Mexico. Blattner will be on supervised release for five years after completing his prison sentence.
In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney John C. Anderson, Special Agent in Charge John J. Durastanti of the Phoenix Field Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and Chief of Police Michael Geier of the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) said that Blattner was prosecuted as part of a federal anti-violence initiative that targets violent, repeat offenders for federal prosecution. Under this initiative, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and federal law enforcement agencies work with New Mexico’s District Attorneys and state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies to target violent or repeat offenders primarily based on their prior criminal convictions for federal prosecution offenders with the goal of making communities in New Mexico safer places for people to live and work.
Blattner was charged in Feb. 2013, with violating the federal narcotics and firearms laws in a five-count indictment. Counts 1 and 5 of the indictment charged Blattner with distributing methamphetamine in Bernalillo County, N.M., on Aug. 6, 2012 and Aug. 17, 2012, respectively. Count 2 charged Blattner with possessing a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime on Aug. 6, 2012. Counts 3 and 4 charged Blattner with being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition on Aug. 6, 2012 and Aug. 17, 2012. Blattner’s prior criminal history includes four prior narcotics trafficking convictions in the 2nd and 13th Judicial District Courts for the State of New Mexico
In Aug. 2014, a federal grand jury filed an eight-count superseding indictment that added Blattner’s wife, Brittany Blattner, 29, as a co-defendant. The superseding indictment charged Blattner with two counts of methamphetamine distribution; two counts of using and carrying a firearm in relation to a drug trafficking crime; and three counts of being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition. It also charged Blattner and Brittany Blattner with one count of jointly distributing methamphetamine. According to the indictment, Blattner and his wife committed the crimes charged in Bernalillo County, N.M., in Aug. 2012.
On April 10, 2015, Blattner entered a guilty plea to Counts 2 and 5 of the superseding indictment, each of which charged him with possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. In his plea agreement, Blattner admitted possessing two Glock semi-automatic pistols on Aug. 6, 2012, in furtherance of a methamphetamine trafficking crime. Blattner also admitted possessing two different Glock semi-automatic pistols on Aug. 17, 2012, in furtherance of another methamphetamine trafficking crime.
On March 24, 2015, Brittany Blattner entered a guilty plea to a felony information charging her with simple possession of methamphetamine. In entering the guilty plea, she admitted possessing methamphetamine on Aug. 17, 2012, in Bernalillo County. Brittany Blattner was sentenced on June 29, 2015, to two years of probation.
This case was investigated by ATF’s Albuquerque office and APD, and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Presiliano A. Torrez.
Channelview Man Sentenced for Trafficking Oxycodone Stolen from Arkansas PharmacyRead the Press Release
LUFKIN, Texas - A 35-year-old Channelview, Texas man has been sentenced to federal prison for drug trafficking violations in the Eastern District of Texas, announced U.S. Attorney Joseph D. Brown today.
Clarence Davis Winslow, II, pleaded guilty on Sep. 20, 2017, to possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance and was sentenced to 120 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Ron Clark on Aug. 20, 2018. Winslow was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $46,589.74.
According to information presented in court, on March 30, 2017, a law enforcement officer in Nacogdoches County, Texas stopped a vehicle, driven by Winslow, for a traffic violation. During the stop, the officer called for a canine and ran the identifications of the passengers through law enforcement databases. The information showed a possible burglary warrant outstanding from another state. During a search of the vehicle, the officer located a laundry bag containing numerous prescription pills still in the bottles. These pills were determined to have been stolen in a burglary the previous night of a Walgreens pharmacy in Arkansas. Arkansas police spoke with the Nacogdoches Sheriff’s Office and stated they were currently investigating two Walgreens burglaries in Little Rock. A check with Walgreens records determined the pills recovered in the traffic stop were from both Walgreens burglaries. A total of 6,403 oxycodone pills, in various dosage units, were recovered. Winslow was indicted on Sep. 20, 2017 and charged with drug trafficking violations.
This case was investigated by the Nacogdoches County Sheriff’s Office and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul A. Hable.
Canton Man Sentenced to Two Years in Prison under Project EJECTRead the Press Release
Jackson, Miss. – Toroski Wolfe, 32, of Canton, was sentenced today, by United States District Judge Daniel P. Jordan III, to two years 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 Christopher Freeze with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Wolfe was also ordered to pay a $1,500 fine.
In 2017, Wolfe, a convicted felon, bought a 38-Special revolver from a friend for $100. On December 11, 2017, Wolfe got into an altercation with another man and used the revolver to fire two warning shots into the ground. Jackson Police Department responded, and Wolfe admitted that he possessed and shot the gun.
This case was investigated by the FBI and the Jackson Police Department. It 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. 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.
U.S. Attorney Hurst commended the work of the Jackson Police Department and their cooperation with FBI agents and Project EJECT task force members in the investigation of this case.
California Man Claiming to Be a Billionaire Financier Sentenced to More Than Five Years in Prison in Multimillion-Dollar Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
A California man who falsely told investors that he was a billionaire who could access certain financing, including hundreds of millions in cash in an overseas bank account, in exchange for up-front fees was sentenced today in federal court in Denver, Colorado to 70 months in prison.
Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Inspector in Charge Craig Goldberg of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s Chicago Division and Acting Inspector in Charge Kevin Rho of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s Denver Division made the announcement.
Kenneth Brewington, 55, of Corona, California, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Philip A. Brimmer of the District of Colorado, who also ordered Brewington to serve three years of supervised release and to pay restitution in the amount of $563,526.78.
Brewington was convicted on May 18, following a two-week jury trial, of one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, one count of mail fraud, five counts of wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, one count of laundering monetary instruments, and two counts of engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from specified unlawful activity.
According to evidence presented at trial, beginning in approximately 2009, Brewington told victims that he required millions of dollars in supposed fees in order to access his purported extraordinary wealth abroad, which in turn could be used for financing. During the scheme, Brewington and his coconspirators sold promissory notes to victims, including through a financial-services marketing company based in Denver called Compass Financial Solutions (CFS). Brewington and his coconspirators falsely represented to their victims that their money would be used to pay for, among other things, bank transaction fees and tax penalties to the IRS. To conceal the nature of their scheme, Brewington and his coconspirators told victims to wire their funds into an attorney-trust account. The funds from that account, however, were then sent to Brewington and his coconspirators and spent on, among other things, repayments to other investors and personal expenses. Brewington was not, in fact, wealthy and was instead struggling to pay his personal debts, the evidence showed.
The evidence presented at trial showed that Brewington’s victims lost over $3 million to his fraud scheme.
The former CEO of CFS, Brian G. Elrod, 59, of Lakewood, Colorado, and the company’s former corporate counsel, William E. Dawn, 80, of Denver, Colorado, previously pleaded guilty for their roles in the scheme. Elrod was sentenced to serve 41 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $2,440,051.29. Dawn was sentenced to time served and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $366,752.01.
The investigation was led by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. Trial Attorneys Anna G. Kaminska, Kyle C. Hankey and Jennifer G. Ballantyne and Assistant Chief Henry P. Van Dyck of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section prosecuted the case. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado and the Securities and Exchange Commission also provided substantial assistance in this matter.