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Tuesday 29 May 2018
Warm Springs Woman Sentenced to 13 Years in Federal Prison for Assault with Intent to Commit MurderRead the Press Release
PORTLAND, Ore. – Rhyan Leigh Smith, 26, of Warm Springs, Oregon, was sentenced today to 13 years in federal prison for assault with intent to commit murder of two family members and using a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.
“The defendant’s violent conduct towards family members is inexplicable and indefensible,” said Billy J. Williams, U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon. “This kind of violence is an attack on the victims and the members of the Warm Springs community. Let us hope that the sentence imposed brings some measure of solace and closure to the victims of these crimes, and healing to the community.”
According to court documents, in the early morning hours of March 16, 2016, Smith returned to a house she had periodically resided in with five of her family members. At approximately 8:00 a.m., Smith retrieved a pistol she had taken from the owner without permission. Smith conversed briefly with a family member in doorway of the family member’s bedroom before shooting him five times. A second family member heard the gunshots and tried to stop Smith, but Smith shot her multiple times. Both victims suffered life-threatening injuries.
The Warm Springs Police Department and the FBI responded to the house and found Smith hiding in sagebrush near the house with an AR-15 rifle. Investigators later found a camouflage rifle bag with multiple AR-15 magazines, loose ammunition and a 9mm pistol in a vehicle at the house.
Smith previously pleaded guilty to two counts of assault with the intent to commit murder and one count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence on Wednesday, February 7, 2018.
This case was investigated by the FBI and the Warm Springs Police Department and prosecuted by William Narus and Craig Gabriel, Assistant U.S. Attorneys for the District of Oregon.
On March 3, 1994, the FBI initiated “Operation Safe Trails” with the Navajo Department of Law Enforcement in Flagstaff, Arizona. The operation, which would later evolve into the Safe Trails Task Force (STTF) Program, unites FBI and other federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies in a collaborative effort to combat the growth of crime in Indian Country. STTFs allow participating agencies to combine limited resources and increase investigative coordination in Indian Country to target violent crime, drugs, gangs, and gaming violations.
Walmart, Sam’s Club to Pay $825,000 to Resolve Fraud Allegations Concerning Auto Refilling Medicaid PrescriptionsRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Gregory G. Brooker and Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson today announced that Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. and Sam’s West, Inc. (d/b/a Sam’s Club) have agreed to pay a total of $825,000 to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act and Minnesota False Claims Act by submitting claims for payment to Minnesota’s Medicaid program in violation of rules prohibiting Medicaid prescriptions from being automatically refilled.
Minnesota’s Medicaid program, called Medical Assistance, is jointly funded by the federal government and State of Minnesota to provide health care to low-income Minnesotans. Along with at least 20 other states, Minnesota does not allow pharmacies to automatically refill prescriptions paid for by Medical Assistance without an explicit request from the beneficiary for each refill. This policy provides an important control against wasted or unnecessary prescriptions that are reimbursed by taxpayer funds.
According to the allegations in the amended complaint, Walmart and Sam’s Club pharmacies routinely enrolled Medical Assistance beneficiaries in the companies’ auto-refill program, and billed Medical Assistance for prescriptions in violation of state rules and regulations. In addition, according to the allegations, pharmacy employees reported the violation to company managers, yet Walmart and Sam’s Club continued to automatically refill Medical Assistance prescriptions.
U.S. Attorney Greg Brooker said, “Businesses that participate in federally and state funded healthcare programs have a responsibility to ensure compliance with the rules, specifically rules that are in place to avoid unused prescription medications and wasted taxpayer funds.”
“We are pleased to have worked with our federal partners in the U.S. Attorney’s Office to ensure that providers who participate in this health care safety net program fairly follow the rules,” said Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson.
Walmart and Sam’s Club will pay $412,500 to the federal government and $412,500 to the State of Minnesota to settle the claims.
In these civil settlements, Walmart and Sam’s Club have denied the allegations of wrongdoing and False Claims Act liability.
This settlement resolves allegations filed in a civil lawsuit originally brought by a whistleblower under the qui tam provisions of the federal False Claims Act and Minnesota False Claims Act, which allow private parties to bring suit on behalf of the government for false claims and to share in any recovery. The government often relies on whistleblowers to bring fraud schemes to light that might otherwise go undetected.
The case was handled by the Civil Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota and the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit of the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office, with substantial assistance provided by the Office of Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
The case is United States of America and the State of Minnesota ex rel. Ryan Mesaros v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., and Sam’s West, Inc. (d/b/a/ Sam’s Club), Civil No. 14-CV-3105 (DSD/LIB). The claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only; there has been no determination of liability.
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United States Attorney’s Office, District of Minnesota: (612) 664-5600
United States Settles Lawsuit Alleging That Contractor Falsely Overcharged the U.S. Navy for Ship Husbanding ServicesRead the Press Release
Inchcape Shipping Services Holdings Limited and certain of its subsidiaries (collectively, Inchcape) have agreed to pay $20,000,000 to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act by knowingly overbilling the U.S. Navy under contracts for ship husbanding services, the Department of Justice announced today. Inchcape is a marine services contractor headquartered in the United Kingdom.
Inchcape provided goods and services to Navy ships at ports in several regions throughout the world, including southwest Asia, Africa, Panama, North America, South America and Mexico. Inchcape provided ships with food and other subsistence items, waste removal, telephone services, ship-to-shore transportation, force protection services and local transportation. The lawsuit alleged that from 2005 to 2014, Inchcape knowingly overbilled the Navy for these services by submitting invoices that overstated the quantity of goods and services provided, billing at rates in excess of applicable contract rates, and double-billing for some goods and services.
“Federal contractors may only charge the government for costs allowed by their federal contracts,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Chad A. Readler, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “The Department of Justice will take action against contractors that knowingly submit inflated claims to the armed forces—or any other agency of the United States—as those inflated claims wrongfully divert taxpayer dollars.”
“We trust contractors supporting our warfighters to act with the utmost integrity and expect them to comply with their obligations to bill the government as called for by their contracts,” said U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jessie K. Liu. “This settlement reflects our Office’s strong commitment to holding accountable those who violate these fundamental principles, no matter where they may be located.”
"This settlement demonstrates that the Department of the Navy will continue to hold contractors accountable for the agreements they make to supply our fleet,” said Secretary of the Navy Richard V. Spencer. “The Department expects strict adherence to higher standards within the Department and expects the same from its contractors."
“Fraud is an abuse of the system that siphons resources away from the American warfighter,” said Jeremy Gauthier, Special Agent in Charge of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service’s Washington D.C. field office. “NCIS will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to hold responsible those who would put personal gain above corporate integrity.”
The lawsuit was brought under the qui tam, or whistleblower, provisions of the False Claims Act by three former employees of Inchcape, Noah Rudolph, Andrea Ford and Lawrence Cosgriff. Under the act, a private citizen may bring suit on behalf of the United States for false claims and share in any recovery. The government may intervene in the case, as it did here. The False Claims Act allows the government to recover treble damages and penalties from those who violate it. As part of today’s resolution, the whistleblowers will receive approximately $4.4 million.
The case was handled jointly by the Civil Division’s Commercial Litigation Branch and the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the District of Columbia, with assistance from the Department of the Navy and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.
The case is captioned United States ex rel. Rudolph v. Inchcape Shipping Services Holdings Limited, et al., No. 1:10-cv-01109 (D.D.C). The claims alleged in the case are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.
United States Settles Lawsuit Alleging That Contractor Falsely Overcharged the United States Navy for Ship Husbanding ServicesRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON – Inchcape Shipping Services Holdings Limited and certain of its subsidiaries (collectively, Inchcape) have agreed to pay $20,000,000 to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act by knowingly overbilling the U.S. Navy under contracts for ship husbanding services, the Department of Justice announced today. Inchcape is a marine services contractor headquartered in the United Kingdom.
Inchcape provided goods and services to Navy ships at ports in several regions throughout the world, including southwest Asia, Africa, Panama, North America, South America and Mexico. Inchcape provided ships with food and other subsistence items, waste removal, telephone services, ship-to-shore transportation, force protection services and local transportation. The lawsuit alleged that from 2005 to 2014, Inchcape knowingly overbilled the Navy for these services by submitting invoices that overstated the quantity of goods and services provided, billing at rates in excess of applicable contract rates, and double-billing for some goods and services.
“Federal contractors may only charge the government for costs allowed by their federal contracts,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Chad A. Readler, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “The Department of Justice will take action against contractors that knowingly submit inflated claims to the armed forces—or any other agency of the United States—as those inflated claims wrongfully divert taxpayer dollars.”
“We trust contractors supporting our warfighters to act with the utmost integrity and expect them to comply with their obligations to bill the government as called for by their contracts,” said U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jessie K. Liu. “This settlement reflects our Office’s strong commitment to holding accountable those who violate these fundamental principles, no matter where they may be located.”
“This settlement demonstrates that the Department of the Navy will continue to hold contractors accountable for the agreements they make to supply our fleet,” said Secretary of the Navy Richard V. Spencer. “The Department expects strict adherence to higher standards within the Department and expects the same from its contractors."
“Fraud is an abuse of the system that siphons resources away from the American warfighter,” said Jeremy Gauthier, Special Agent in Charge of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service’s Washington D.C. field office. “NCIS will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to hold responsible those who would put personal gain above corporate integrity.”
The lawsuit was brought under the qui tam, or whistleblower, provisions of the False Claims Act by three former employees of Inchcape, Noah Rudolph, Andrea Ford and Lawrence Cosgriff. Under the act, a private citizen may bring suit on behalf of the United States for false claims and share in any recovery. The government may intervene in the case, as it did here. The False Claims Act allows the government to recover treble damages and penalties from those who violate it. As part of today’s resolution, the whistleblowers will receive approximately $4.4 million.
The case was handled jointly by the Civil Division’s Commercial Litigation Branch and the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the District of Columbia, with assistance from the Department of the Navy and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.
The case is captioned United States ex rel. Rudolph v. Inchcape Shipping Services Holdings Limited, et al., No. 1:10-cv-01109 (D.D.C). The claims alleged in the case are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.
United States Obtains $114 Million Judgment Against Three Individuals for Paying Kickbacks for Laboratory Referrals and Causing Claims for Medically Unnecessary TestsRead the Press Release
On May 23, 2018, the United States District Court in the District of South Carolina entered judgment for the United States in the amounts of $111,109,655.30 against defendants LaTonya Mallory, Floyd Calhoun Dent III and Robert Bradford Johnson, and for an additional $3,039,006.56 against Johnson and Dent, the Department of Justice announced today. The judgment follows the January 31, 2018, jury verdict finding the three individuals liable for violating the False Claims Act (FCA) by paying remuneration to physicians in exchange for patient referrals, in violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute, and causing two laboratories to bill federal health care programs for medically unnecessary testing.
“Improper financial relationships between physicians and laboratories can distort a physicians’ best judgment for their patients, in addition to undermining patient health and trust,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Civil Division Chad Readler. “Executives and other individuals who break the law will be held personally accountable for their actions."
During a two-week jury trial held in Charleston, South Carolina, the government introduced evidence that the defendants paid physicians remuneration disguised as processing and handling fees of between $10 and $17 for each patient they referred to two blood testing laboratories: Health Diagnostics Laboratory Inc. (HDL), of Richmond, Virginia; and Singulex Inc., of Alameda, California. The government also introduced evidence that the kickback scheme resulted in physicians referring patients to HDL and Singulex for medically unnecessary tests, which were then billed to federal health care programs.
The jury found Mallory, HDL’s former CEO, and Johnson and Dent, who marketed and sold HDL’s and Singulex’s tests, jointly and severally liable for causing the submission of 35,074 false claims, worth $16,601,591, submitted to Medicare and TRICARE by HDL. The jury also found defendants Dent and Johnson jointly and severally liable for an additional 3,813 false claims, worth $467,935, submitted by Singulex. As provided by the FCA, the Court trebled those damage amounts, offset settlement payments received from HDL and Singulex for the same claims, and awarded $63.8 million in penalties requested by the United States, for a total judgment of $114,148,661.86.
The Anti-Kickback Statute prohibits offering, paying, soliciting or receiving remuneration to induce referrals of items or services covered by federally funded programs. The Anti-Kickback Statute is intended to ensure that a physician’s medical judgment is not compromised by improper financial incentives and is instead based on the best interests of the patient.
“The Court’s damages award in this case recognizes the seriousness of what these defendants did,” said Sherri A. Lydon, U.S. Attorney for the District of South Carolina. “Paying kickbacks to cause unnecessary tests injures patients, the Medicare Program, and American taxpayers and the District of South Carolina will continue to pursue those who participate in such conduct.”
“This judgment affirms that individuals who cheat Medicare and TRICARE will not be allowed to enjoy their ill-gotten gains,” said U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jessie K. Liu. “This office joins with its Department of Justice colleagues in our mutual commitment to investigate misconduct and recover funds unlawfully obtained from federal healthcare programs.”
“Laboratories that pay kickbacks to physicians in exchange for referrals of business exploit patients and taxpayer-funded health care programs,” said Special Agent in Charge Derrick L. Jackson, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General. “Our agency is dedicated to investigating such corrosive kickback schemes, as they undermine the public’s trust in medical professionals, and the integrity of government health care programs.”
“The FBI will continue to aggressively investigate allegations of criminal misconduct between companies and individuals who engage in kickback schemes at the expense of the U.S. government,” said Acting Assistant Director of the Criminal Investigative Division Chris Hacker. “We recognize the importance of those who came forward and brought allegations to light and realize that we cannot do our work without the public’s help.”
The claims resolved by the court’s order were originally brought in three lawsuits filed by Dr. Michael Mayes, Scarlett Lutz, Kayla Webster, and Chris Reidel under the qui tam, or whistleblower, provisions of the False Claims Act. Under the Act, private citizens can bring suit on behalf of the government for false claims and share in any recovery. The Act permits the United States to intervene in and take over the whistleblower suit, as the United States did, in part, in the three consolidated actions against Mallory, Dent, Johnson and others in August 2015. The whistleblowers’ share of any recovery has yet to be determined.
The cases were litigated by the Civil Division’s Commercial Litigation Branch, and the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices for the District of South Carolina and the District of Columbia. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of North Carolina, HHS-OIG, the FBI’s Columbia Field Office and FBIHQ’s Major Provider Response Team, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management’s Office of Inspector General, and the Department of Defense’s Office of Inspector General Defense Criminal Investigative Service assisted with the investigation.
The cases are captioned United States ex rel. Mayes v. Berkeley HeartLab Inc., et al., Case No. 9:11-CV-01593-RMG (D.S.C.); United States ex rel. Riedel v. Health Diagnostic Laboratory, Inc., et al., Case No. 1:11-CV-02308 (D.D.C.); and United States, et al. ex rel. Lutz, et al. v. Health Diagnostic Laboratory, Inc., et al., Case No. 9:14-CV-0230-RMG (D.S.C.).
United States Citizen Sentenced to 35 Years for Providing Material Support to Al-ShabaabRead the Press Release
Maalik Alim Jones, 33, of Baltimore, Maryland, was sentenced today to 35 years in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release, for conspiring to provide material support to al-Shabaab, a designated foreign terrorist organization based in Somalia, conspiring to receive military training from al-Shabaab, and carrying and using an AK-47 machinegun, rocket-propelled grenades, and other destructive devices in furtherance of his support for al-Shabaab. Jones pleaded guilty on Sept. 8, 2017, to a three-count Superseding Information.
Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers and U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman for the Southern District of New York made the announcement. U.S. District Judge Paul G. Gardephe imposed Jones’s sentence.
“U.S. citizens who travel overseas to fight with a terrorist organization – which is what Jones did – betray our country and pose a serious threat to our national security,” said Assistant Attorney General Demers. “The National Security Division remains committed to committed to identifying and stopping terrorists like Jones, and we will hold them accountable. Credit goes to all those who worked so tirelessly to bring Jones to justice.”
“We may never know what drove Maalik Jones to travel to Somalia and pledge allegiance to al Shabaab, a terrorist organization that has vowed to destroy America,” said U.S. Attorney Berman. “But we do know that with today’s sentence, Jones is no longer a threat to America’s ideals.”
According to the Complaint, the Indictment, the Superseding Information, and statements made in court proceedings, including at sentencing:
In July 2011, Jones left Baltimore to join al-Shabaab in Somalia. Jones traveled to New York City, then flew via commercial aircraft to Kenya, with stopovers in Morocco and the United Arab Emirates. After arriving in Kenya, Jones traveled by land from Kenya to Somalia, which is a common travel route for foreign fighters traveling to Somalia to join al-Shabaab.
In Somalia, Jones joined al-Shabaab and was a member of the terrorist organization for approximately four years. During this time, Jones trained, worked and fought with al-Shabaab in Somalia. Among other things, Jones received three months of military training at an al-Shabaab training camp, where he learned, among other things, how to operate an AK-47 assault rifle and rocket-propelled grenades. Upon completion of this training, Jones also was assigned to al-Shabaab’s specialized fighting force, Jaysh Ayman, and participated in combat against soldiers of the Kenyan government on behalf of al-Shabaab.
In particular, after joining Jaysh Ayman, Jones and his Jaysh Ayman unit participated in a battle in Afmadow, Somalia, against Kenyan government soldiers. Jones, armed with an AK-47 rifle, engaged in the fighting until he was injured by a missile and then hospitalized. After his release from the hospital, Jones continued to operate with al-Shabaab and, in particular, Jaysh Ayman.
Jones has appeared with other al-Shabaab fighters in videos that were recovered from an al-Shabaab fighter who participated in and was killed during the aforementioned Lamu Attack. In one of the videos, Jones can be seen holding a firearm, and in the company of several al-Shabaab fighters. The al-Shabaab fighters are depicted greeting each other, hugging each other and carrying firearms.
On Dec. 7, 2015, Jones was taken into custody by Somali authorities while he was attempting to procure a boat to depart Somalia for Yemen.
* * *
Mr. Demers and Mr. Berman praised the investigative work of the FBI’s New York Joint Terrorism Task Force – which principally consists of agents from the FBI and detectives from the NYPD. Mr. Berman also thanked the U.S. Department of Justice’s National Security Division and Office of International Affairs, and the U.S. Department of State, for their assistance.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Andrew J. DeFilippis and Shawn G. Crowley of the Southern District of New York, and Trial Attorney Raj Parekh of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section are in charge of the prosecution.
United States Citizen Sentenced to 35 Years in Prison for Providing Material Support to Al ShabaabRead the Press Release
Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and John C. Demers, Assistant Attorney General for National Security, announced that MAALIK ALIM JONES was sentenced today to 35 years in prison for conspiring to provide material support to al Shabaab, a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization based in Somalia, conspiring to receive military training from al Shabaab, and carrying and using an AK-47 machinegun, rocket-propelled grenades, and other destructive devices in furtherance of his support for al Shabaab. In 2011, JONES, a United States citizen, traveled to Somalia, where he took up arms and provided military support to al Shabaab for approximately four years. On September 8, 2017, JONES pled guilty to a three-count Superseding Information. U.S. District Judge Paul G. Gardephe imposed JONES’s sentence in Manhattan federal court.
U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said: “We may never know what drove Maalik Jones to travel to Somalia and pledge allegiance to al Shabaab, a terrorist organization that has vowed to destroy America. But we do know that with today’s sentence, Jones is no longer a threat to America’s ideals.”
Assistant Attorney General John C. Demers said: “U.S. citizens who travel overseas to fight with a terrorist organization – which is what Jones did – betray our country and pose a serious threat to our national security. The National Security Division remains committed to committed to identifying and stopping terrorists like Jones, and we will hold them accountable. Credit goes to all those who worked so tirelessly to bring Jones to justice.”
According to the Complaint, the Indictment, the Superseding Information, and statements made in court proceedings, including at sentencing:
In February 2008, the U.S. Department of State designated al Shabaab as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. Al Shabaab has used violent means – including targeted assassinations of civilians and journalists, and the use of improvised explosive devices, rockets, mortars, and automatic weapons – to, among other things, destabilize the government of Somalia, quell the Somali population, and force the withdrawal of foreign troops in Somalia. A former leader of al Shabaab, whose exhortations were echoed by the leadership of al Qaeda, called for foreign fighters to join al Shabaab in a “holy war” in Somalia. As a result of al Shabaab’s recruitment efforts, men from other countries – including the U.S. – have traveled to Somalia to engage in violent jihad.
Since al Shabaab’s designation as a Foreign Terrorist Organization in February 2008, it has made several public statements demonstrating its intent to harm U.S. interests. For example, in April 2008, al Shabaab released a statement declaring a campaign against the U.S. Similarly, after an al Shabaab member was killed in May 2008, al Shabaab leaders announced that the mujahidin would “hunt the U.S. government” and that governments supporting the U.S. and Ethiopia should keep their citizens out of Somalia. In April 2009, al Shabaab claimed responsibility for mortar attacks against a U.S. congressman who had been visiting Somalia, and in February 2012, the then-Emir of al Shabaab swore allegiance to Ayman al-Zawahiri, the Emir of al Qaeda, stating that al Shabaab “will hereby merge into al Qa’ida.”
Al Shabaab also maintains a specialized fighting force, known as Jaysh Ayman, that is responsible for carrying out commando-style attacks and cross-border raids in which fighters, among other things, travel across the land border between Somalia and Kenya to target individuals and conduct attacks against civilian and military targets in Kenya. Among the attacks executed by Jaysh Ayman fighters are: (i) a June 16, 2014, attack in which al Shabaab fighters opened fire in a hotel bar in Mpekatoni, Kenya, killing approximately 40 people; (ii) a July 2014 attack in Hindi, Kenya, in which approximately 12 al Shabaab fighters opened fire at a trading center and set fire to government buildings and a church, killing nine people; and (iii) a June 14, 2015, attack in which al Shabaab fighters ambushed a Kenyan Defense Force base in Lamu County, Kenya, using various weapons, including AK-47 rifles and rocket-propelled grenades, killing two Kenyan Defense Force soldiers (the “Lamu Attack”).
In July 2011, JONES left Baltimore, Maryland, to join al Shabaab in Somalia. JONES traveled to New York City, then flew via commercial aircraft to Kenya, with stopovers in Morocco and the United Arab Emirates. After arriving in Kenya, JONES traveled by land from Kenya to Somalia, which is a common travel route for foreign fighters traveling to Somalia to join al Shabaab.
In Somalia, JONES joined al Shabaab and was a member of the terrorist organization for approximately four years. During this time, JONES trained, worked, and fought with al Shabaab in Somalia. Among other things, JONES received three months of military training at an al Shabaab training camp, where he learned, among other things, how to operate an AK-47 assault rifle and rocket-propelled grenades. Upon completion of this training, JONES also was assigned to al Shabaab’s specialized fighting force, Jaysh Ayman, and participated in combat against soldiers of the Kenyan government on behalf of al Shabaab.
In particular, after joining Jaysh Ayman, JONES and his Jaysh Ayman unit participated in a battle in Afmadow, Somalia, against Kenyan government soldiers. JONES, armed with an AK-47 rifle, engaged in the fighting until he was injured by a missile and then hospitalized. After his release from the hospital, JONES continued to operate with al Shabaab and, in particular, Jaysh Ayman.
JONES has appeared with other al Shabaab fighters in videos that were recovered from an al Shabaab fighter who participated in and was killed during the aforementioned Lamu Attack. In one of the videos, JONES can be seen holding a firearm, and in the company of several al Shabaab fighters. The al Shabaab fighters are depicted greeting each other, hugging each other, and carrying firearms.
On December 7, 2015, JONES was taken into custody by Somali authorities while he was attempting to procure a boat to depart Somalia for Yemen.
* * *
In addition to the prison term, JONES, 33, of Baltimore, Maryland, was sentenced to five years of supervised release.
Mr. Berman and Mr. Demers praised the investigative work of the FBI’s New York Joint Terrorism Task Force – which principally consists of agents from the FBI and detectives from the New York City Police Department. He also thanked the U.S. Department of Justice’s National Security Division and Office of International Affairs, and the U.S. Department of State, for their assistance.
This case is being handled by the Office’s Terrorism and International Narcotics Unit. Assistant United States Attorneys Andrew J. DeFilippis and Shawn G. Crowley, and Trial Attorney Raj Parekh of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section, are in charge of the prosecution.
U.S. Obtains $114 Million Judgment Against Three Individuals for Paying Kickbacks for Laboratory Referrals and Causing Claims for Medically Unnecessary TestsRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON – On May 23, 2018, the United States District Court in the District of South Carolina entered judgment for the United States in the amounts of $111,109,655.30 against defendants LaTonya Mallory, Floyd Calhoun Dent III and Robert Bradford Johnson, and for an additional $3,039,006.56 against Johnson and Dent, the Department of Justice announced today. The judgment follows the January 31, 2018, jury verdict finding the three individuals liable for violating the False Claims Act (FCA) by paying remuneration to physicians in exchange for patient referrals, in violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute, and causing two laboratories to bill federal health care programs for medically unnecessary testing.
“Improper financial relationships between physicians and laboratories can distort a physicians’ best judgment for their patients, in addition to undermining patient health and trust,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Civil Division Chad Readler. “Executives and other individuals who break the law will be held personally accountable for their actions.
During a two-week jury trial held in Charleston, South Carolina, the government introduced evidence that the defendants paid physicians remuneration disguised as processing and handling fees of between $10 and $17 for each patient they referred to two blood testing laboratories: Health Diagnostics Laboratory Inc. (HDL), of Richmond, Virginia; and Singulex Inc., of Alameda, California. The government also introduced evidence that the kickback scheme resulted in physicians referring patients to HDL and Singulex for medically unnecessary tests, which were then billed to federal health care programs.
The jury found Mallory, HDL’s former CEO, and Johnson and Dent, who marketed and sold HDL’s and Singulex’s tests, jointly and severally liable for causing the submission of 35,074 false claims, worth $16,601,591, submitted to Medicare and TRICARE by HDL. The jury also found defendants Dent and Johnson jointly and severally liable for an additional 3,813 false claims, worth $467,935, submitted by Singulex. As provided by the FCA, the Court trebled those damage amounts, offset settlement payments received from HDL and Singulex for the same claims, and awarded $63.8 million in penalties requested by the United States, for a total judgment of $114,148,661.86.
The Anti-Kickback Statute prohibits offering, paying, soliciting or receiving remuneration to induce referrals of items or services covered by federally funded programs. The Anti-Kickback Statute is intended to ensure that a physician’s medical judgment is not compromised by improper financial incentives and is instead based on the best interests of the patient.
“The Court’s damages award in this case recognizes the seriousness of what these defendants did,” said Sherri A. Lydon, U.S. Attorney for the District of South Carolina. “Paying kickbacks to cause unnecessary tests injures patients, the Medicare Program, and American taxpayers and the District of South Carolina will continue to pursue those who participate in such conduct.”
“This judgment affirms that individuals who cheat Medicare and TRICARE will not be allowed to enjoy their ill-gotten gains,” said U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jessie K. Liu. “This office joins with its Department of Justice colleagues in our mutual commitment to investigate misconduct and recover funds unlawfully obtained from federal healthcare programs.”
“Laboratories that pay kickbacks to physicians in exchange for referrals of business exploit patients and taxpayer-funded health care programs,” said Special Agent in Charge Derrick L. Jackson, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General. “Our agency is dedicated to investigating such corrosive kickback schemes, as they undermine the public’s trust in medical professionals, and the integrity of government health care programs.”
“The FBI will continue to aggressively investigate allegations of criminal misconduct between companies and individuals who engage in kickback schemes at the expense of the U.S. government,” said Acting Assistant Director of the Criminal Investigative Division Chris Hacker. “We recognize the importance of those who came forward and brought allegations to light and realize that we cannot do our work without the public’s help.”
The claims resolved by the court’s order were originally brought in three lawsuits filed by Dr. Michael Mayes, Scarlett Lutz, Kayla Webster, and Chris Reidel under the qui tam, or whistleblower, provisions of the False Claims Act. Under the Act, private citizens can bring suit on behalf of the government for false claims and share in any recovery. The Act permits the United States to intervene in and take over the whistleblower suit, as the United States did, in part, in the three consolidated actions against Mallory, Dent, Johnson and others in August 2015. The whistleblowers’ share of any recovery has yet to be determined.
The cases were litigated by the Civil Division’s Commercial Litigation Branch, and the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices for the District of South Carolina and the District of Columbia. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of North Carolina, HHS-OIG, the FBI’s Columbia Field Office and FBIHQ’s Major Provider Response Team, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management’s Office of Inspector General, and the Department of Defense’s Office of Inspector General Defense Criminal Investigative Service assisted with the investigation.
The cases are captioned United States ex rel. Mayes v. Berkeley HeartLab Inc., et al., Case No. 9:11-CV-01593-RMG (D.S.C.); United States ex rel. Riedel v. Health Diagnostic Laboratory, Inc., et al., Case No. 1:11-CV-02308 (D.D.C.); and United States, et al. ex rel. Lutz, et al. v. Health Diagnostic Laboratory, Inc., et al., Case No. 9:14-CV-0230-RMG (D.S.C.).
U.S. Military Base Employee Admits Bribery Scheme Involving Government ContractsRead the Press Release
NEWARK, N.J. – A civilian employee at Picatinny Arsenal today admitted his role in a scheme that traded bribes and other gratuities for favorable treatment on government contracts, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.
Joseph Gooch, 60, of Morristown, New Jersey, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge John Vazquez in Newark federal court to an information charging him with accepting or receiving things of value in return for favorable assistance with government contracts and making false claims against the United States.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
Gooch was assigned as a general engineer and was authorized by the U.S. Army to act as its representative on contracts made with federal contracting companies. As such, he had the authority to evaluate a contracting company’s work and could influence whether additional contracts should be granted.
From January 2006 through December 2017, Gooch conspired with other Picatinny Arsenal employees and employees of a defense contracting firm identified in the information as “Company A” to seek and accept gifts and other items of value, such as Apple products, luxury handbags, Beats headphones, and tickets to a luxury sky box at professional sporting events, valued at least $150,000 to $250,000, in exchange for government contracts and other favorable assistance for Company A at Picatinny Arsenal.
Gooch also conspired with other Picatinny Arsenal and Company A employees to file false bills to the United States that wrote off the cost of the bribes as “materials” needed on the government contracts.
The conspiracy charge to which Gooch pleaded guilty carries a maximum potential penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense. Sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 11, 2018.
Irene Pombo, a Company A employee, and her daughter, Nicole Pier, another Picatinny Arsenal employee, pleaded guilty to their roles in the conspiracy in March 2018 and await sentencing.
U.S. Attorney Carpenito credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Gregory W. Ehrie in Newark; the U.S. Department of Defense, Defense Criminal Investigative Service, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Leigh-Alistair Barzey; and the U.S. Army, Major Procurement Fraud Unit, Criminal Investigation Command, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge L. Scott Moreland, with the ongoing investigation.
The government is represented by Senior Litigation Counsel Margaret Ann Mahoney of the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s National Security Unit in Newark.
Defense counsel: Stacy Biancamano Esq., Chatham, New Jersey
U.S. Attorney Joins Forces with Federal, State and Local Leaders and Experts to Combat the Devastating Environmental Effects of Public-Land Marijuana GrowsRead the Press Release
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Today, federal, state, and local leaders joined with experts to highlight the devastating damage that illegal, public-land marijuana grows do to our national forests, the wildlife who inhabit them, and the streams and waterways that flow through them.
Making the announcement today were U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott; U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service Director of Law Enforcement and Investigations Tracy Perry; California Attorney General Xavier Becerra; U.S.D.A. Pacific Southwest Regional Forester Randy Moore; Integral Ecology Research Center Director Dr. Mourad Gabriel; California National Guard Major General David Baldwin; Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims; Siskiyou County Sheriff Jon Lopey; and the Director of High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) program Bill Ruzzamenti.
Every year, acres of marijuana are illegally planted throughout the nation’s pristine public lands; the damage is widespread and long-lasting. While law enforcement have worked for years to eradicate these illegal marijuana grows, new data has emerged to show how they cause far-reaching harm to the environment and threaten public safety.
“Growing marijuana on federal public lands is, and has always been, illegal, and the destruction it wreaks on the environment must be stopped,” said U.S. Attorney Scott. “Our national parks and forests are priceless treasures held in trust for the public to enjoy for generations to come. But these assets are being destroyed by criminal organizations that cultivate millions of marijuana plants on these lands each year for profit. The growing scientific evidence showing the depth and scale of this destruction to the forests, wildlife and waterways is a wake‑up call that we must heed. My office is committed to raising awareness about this issue and joining with our partners to put an end to this profound problem.”
U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service Director of Law Enforcement and Investigations Tracy Perry stated, “The illegal cultivation of marijuana on National Forest System lands poses a significant risk to the public, to Forest Service employees, and to the environment. The Forest Service is committed to working in partnership with our federal, state and local cooperators to ensure that our National Forests are a safe place to visit and that our precious natural resources are protected for present and future generations.”
“The illegal growth of cannabis is undeniably a major threat to public safety. It is also killing our wildlife, polluting our waters, and destroying our public lands,” said Attorney General Xavier Becerra. “At the California Department of Justice, we work hard with our federal and local law enforcement partners to combat illegal marijuana planting under our Campaign Against Marijuana Planting (CAMP) program. We will enforce California’s cannabis laws to protect our people and those who play by the rules in this emerging industry and we will hold accountable those who don’t.”
Dr. Gabriel of the Integral Ecology Research Center said: “California now has contaminated water, soil, plants and wildlife due to the clandestine actions of those cultivating marijuana on our public lands. We are at a precipice where we can either ignore the prologue of the past when public resources were illegally exploited for monetary gain or proactively conserve these national public lands for future generations to use and enjoy.”
Those who plant and tend the illegal grows use toxic fertilizers, pesticides, and rodenticides that find their way into the soil and streams, and consequently infect, poison, and kill plants and wildlife. Research shows that these poisons are carried away from the grow sites and are ingested by threatened species as well as species that are hunted and consumed by humans for food. One of the deadliest pesticides, carbofuran, which is banned on all crops grown for human consumption, has been increasingly used at these sites with experts finding signs of it at 78 percent of all known grow sites. According to Dr. Gabriel, of the Integral Ecology Research Center, who presented today, 70 percent of northern spotted owls, a federally listed species, tested positive for pesticides. The poisons also find their way into water supplies for towns and cities downstream.
Those responsible for the illegal cultivation also leave behind piles of garbage and waste, including PVC pipes, irrigation lines, gardening tools and human waste, which add to the blight on these previously undisturbed habitats. In addition to the poison and waste, the cultivators divert water to the marijuana plants, drying up streams and reservoirs used for plants, animals and humans. According to Dr. Gabriel, by even a conservative estimate, a single marijuana plant uses about six gallons of water per day. The 1.1 million illegal marijuana plants removed in California in 2016 would have used approximately 1.3 billion gallons of water, which is as much as the consumption of up to three months in the municipality of San Francisco.
According to HIDTA Director Bill Ruzzamenti: “Many public land trespass marijuana cultivation sites and complexes are operated by drug trafficking organizations that are ultimately controlled by Mexican drug cartels. Every year, agents arrest scores of Mexican nationals illegally growing marijuana. While relatively few suspects talk to police, some do, and some claim to be affiliated with Mexican drug cartels, usually naming the Sinaloa Cartel. In 2017, an investigation of a public land marijuana grow site complex in Siskiyou County yielded indications of involvement by the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG or Jalisco New Generation).”
By bringing together subject matter experts, federal, state, and local law enforcement can reclaim illegal marijuana grow sites, and protect the environment and the public. These efforts will be supported by Congress’s recent appropriate of money to the Forest Service to use in combating this problem.
Two Foreign Nationals Sentenced for Illegally Reentering the United StatesRead the Press Release
Defendants were from Guatemala and Mexico and both had prior illegal entry convictions
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Two men, Roberto Tulul-Ambrocio and Victor Santa Maria-Cleofas were both sentenced for the felony offense of Reentry of a Removed Alien, given credit for the time they spent incarcerated, and were both immediately remanded for deportation proceedings, announced United States Attorney Mike Stuart. Tulul-Ambrocio, 30, of Guatemala, has been in federal custody since January 16, 2018. Santa Maria-Cleofas, 47, had been in custody since March 15, 2018. United States Attorney Mike Stuart praised the work of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
“I embrace legal immigration,” said United States Attorney Mike Stuart. “But we will not tolerate those who time and time again try to evade the system and enter the United States illegally.”
On January 16, 2018, Mr. Tulul-Ambrocio, was arrested by ICE officers in Hurricane traveling to a restaurant where he worked. The ICE agents confirmed that Tulul-Ambrocio, was not in the United States legally, and he was taken into federal custody. Fingerprints taken from the defendant matched him to two prior removals in 2011. He was also convicted of illegally entering the United States in Arizona. After this conviction, Tulul-Ambrocio, was again deported from the United States on November 25, 2011 Tulul-Ambrocio then reentered the United States without legal permission from the Secretary of Homeland Security. Tulul-Ambrocio is a citizen of Guatemala.
On March 15, 2018, Mr. Santa Maria-Cleofas, was arrested by ICE officers in Hurricane also traveling to the same restaurant. The ICE agents confirmed that Santa Maria-Cleofas, was not in the United States legally, and he was taken into federal custody. Fingerprints taken from the defendant matched him to four prior removals in 2001, 2004, 2008 and 2010. He was also convicted of illegally entering the United States in Arizona in 2010. After this conviction, Santa Maria-Cleofas was again deported from the United States on December 1, 2010. Santa Maria-Cleofas then reentered the United States without legal permission from the Secretary of Homeland Security. Santa Maria-Cleofas is a citizen of Mexico.
Assistant United States Attorney Erik S. Goes prosecuted both matters. United States District Judge Robert C. Chambers presided over the sentencing hearing.
Follow us on Twitter: @SDWVNews and @USAttyStuart
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Tahlequah Man Pleads Guilty to Possession of Material Involving Sexual Exploitation of MinorsRead the Press Release
MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma announced that Eric Lynn Garman, age 35, of Tahlequah, Oklahoma, pled guilty to Possession Of Certain Material Involving The Sexual Exploitation Of Minors, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 2252(a)(4)(B) and 2252(b)(2), punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment, up to a $250,000.00 fine, or both.
The Indictment alleged that between on or about August 14, 2017, to on or about November 30, 2017, in the Eastern District of Oklahoma, the defendant did knowingly possess, attempt to possess and access with intent to view, matters which contained visual depictions, as that term is defined in Title 18, United States Code, Section 2256(5), which said visual depictions involved the use of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct, as that term is defined in Title 18, United States Code, Sections 2256(2)(A)-(B), and said visual depictions were of such sexually explicit conduct and had been transported in interstate commerce by computer.
The charges arose from an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The Honorable Steven P. Shreder, U.S. Magistrate Judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, in Muskogee, accepted the plea and ordered the completion of a presentence investigation report.
Assistant United States Attorney Edward Snow represented the United States.
Southern California Drug Trafficker Sentenced to 17 Years in Federal PrisonRead the Press Release
PORTLAND, Ore. – Francisco Nuno-Urenda, 41, of Los Angeles, California, was sentenced today to 17 years in federal prison for his role in a drug trafficking scheme that brought distribution quantities of methamphetamine, marijuana, cocaine, and heroin into Oregon. Nuno-Urenda was also ordered to pay $75,000 and will be on supervised release for five years at the conclusion of his prison sentenced.
According to court documents, Nuno-Urenda was a drug trafficker based in California who sourced drugs from Mexico and shipped them throughout the U.S. He supplied numerous drug trafficking organizations including a network that operated in the Portland metropolitan area. Nuno-Urenda was indicted along with 15 other codefendants, most of whom were lower level conspirators. Investigators determined that Nuno-Urenda maintained contact with approximately 15 suppliers in Mexico who were connected to two or three different Mexican drug cartels.
Nuno-Urenda previously pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine on Thursday, February 15, 2018.
This case was investigated by the FBI and was prosecuted by Kemp L. Strickland, Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon.
South Florida Resident Pleads Guilty to Impersonating a Member of the Saudi Royal FamilyRead the Press Release
On May 25, 2018, Anthony Gignac, a/k/a “Khaled Al-Saud,” a/k/a “Khalid Al-Saud,” a/k/a “Khalid Bin Al-Saud,” a/k/a “Khalid Bin Sultan Al-Saud,” a/k/a “Sultan Bin Khalid Al Saud,” 47, of Miami, pled guilty to one count of impersonating a foreign diplomat or foreign government official, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 915, one count of aggravated identity theft, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1028A(1)(a), and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 922(g)(1).
Defendant Gignac fraudulently assumed the identity of a member of the Saudi Royal family in order to build relationships worldwide, including in South Florida, receive gifts and conduct a large-scale scheme to defraud would-be investors.
Benjamin G. Greenberg, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Fred Stolper, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Department of State, Diplomatic Security Service (DSS), made the announcement.
In June of 2015, Gignac and one of his co-conspirators created a fraudulent investment company, Marden Williams International LLC (“MWI”). MWI sought financial investments from individuals and businesses worldwide for purported business opportunities that did not in fact exist. As part of their efforts, Gignac and his co-conspirators falsely represented to potential financial investors that the defendant was a member of the Saudi Royal family and had exclusive business opportunities for them to invest in, because of the defendant’s royal status. One of the fraudulent investment schemes was purported to be a pre-initial private offering of a legitimate private Saudi Arabian business. One victim invested approximately $5,000,000 into the fraudulent scheme.
Beginning in March of 2017, Gignac presented himself as a member of the Saudi Royal family in an attempt to purchase a multi-million dollar hotel in Miami. Gignac stayed at the hotel using a credit card in the name of a member of the Saudi Royal family, without that individual’s authorization. When visiting the hotel, Gignac drove a Ferrari with diplomatic license plates.
Gignac also claimed ownership of a residence on Fisher Island and had a “Sultan” nameplate at the front door. He falsely told others that he had diplomatic immunity and was required to check in with the U.S. Department of State every few hours. Gignac was given gifts, including expensive paintings and jewelry, based on his false representations.
In addition, on November 19, 2017, Gignac flew into John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, from London, using a passport in the name of another individual.
As a result of this fraudulent scheme, law enforcement executed a search warrant at Gignac’s residence in Miami and discovered two fraudulent diplomatic license plates, a fraudulent DSS Special Agent badge, unauthorized credit cards and financial documents in the name of a member of the Saudi Royal family, ammunition, thousands of dollars in U.S. currency, jewelry and artwork.
According to the court record, Gignac had falsely claimed, in the past, to be a member of the Saudi Royal family.
The defendant faces a maximum of 10 years in prison for impersonating a foreign diplomat or foreign government official, a maximum of 20 years in prison for conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and a mandatory consecutive term of 2 years in prison for the aggravated identity theft charge of conviction.
Mr. Greenberg commended the investigative efforts of the DSS in this matter. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Trinity Jordan.
Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov
Roanoke Rapids Man Sentenced for Felon in Possession of a Firearm and Possession of a Firearm in Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking CrimeRead the Press Release
RALEIGH – The United States Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, Robert J. Higdon, Jr., announced that today in federal court, United States District Judge Terrance W. Boyle sentenced MICHAEL RAKIM BELFIELD, 30, of Roanoke Rapids to 144 months of imprisonment followed by 5 years of supervised release.
BELFIELD was named in a three-count Indictment filed on December 13, 2016. On May 9, 2017, BELFIELD pled guilty to one-count of Possession of a Firearm by Convicted Felon and one-count of Possession of a Firearm in Furtherance of a Drug-Trafficking Crime.
The investigation began in 2015 when the Roanoke Rapids Police Department received information that BELFIELD was selling cocaine at his residence in Roanoke Rapids. A confidential source (CS) made three controlled purchases of cocaine from BELFIELD at his residence.
On April 16, 2015, officers with the Halifax City/County Drug Task Force executed a search warrant at BELFIELD’S residence, where BELFIELD was present. BELFIELD informed officers that a firearm was in his bedroom. Officers subsequently located a .40 caliber handgun loaded with 13 rounds of ammunition, 38 bindles of heroin inside the ammunition box, .5 gram of crack cocaine, a digital scale with white powder residue, razor blade with white powder residue, and plastic baggies from BELFIELD’S bedroom.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. 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.
In support of PSN, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina has implemented the Take Back North Carolina Initiative. This initiative emphasizes the regional assignment of federal prosecutors to work with law enforcement and District Attorney’s Offices on a sustained basis in those communities to reduce the violent crime rate, drug trafficking, and crimes against law enforcement.
The Roanoke Rapids Police Department, Halifax County Sheriff’s Office, and the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and the North Carolina Crime Laboratory conducted the criminal investigation of this case. Assistant United States Attorney S. Katherine Burnette handled the prosecution of this case for the government.
Pueblo Resident Sentenced for Stealing Mail from Back of Mail TruckRead the Press Release
DENVER – Guadalupe Joseph Huerta, age 35, of Pueblo, Colorado, was sentenced late last week to serve 21 months in federal prison by U.S. District Court Judge Raymond P. Moore for stealing mail from the back of a mail truck, U.S. Attorney Bob Troyer and U.S. Postal Inspector in Charge of the Denver Division Craig Goldberg announced. After serving his prison sentence, Huerta was ordered to serve 3 years on supervised release. There was no order of restitution as law enforcement recovered mail before Huerta could leave the area. The defendant appeared at the sentencing hearing in custody and was remanded at its conclusion.
Huerta was indicted by a federal grand jury in Denver on June 6, 2017. He pled guilty on February 21, 2018, and was sentenced on May 23, 2018.
On April 25, 2017 at approximately 3:20 p.m., a Pueblo resident saw a man taking a bin of mail from the back of a Postal vehicle. The resident called her spouse, who notified the Pueblo Police Department. When a police officer arrived on scene, he observed the described male, the defendant, on his phone and standing with a bin of mail at his feet. When the officer exited his vehicle, the defendant took off running and dropped his jacket. A foot chase ensued and backup arrived. The defendant jumped fences, ran through a cemetery, and eventually ended up in a shed. When officers ordered the defendant out of the shed, he burst through the back of the shed and continued running. At some point, the defendant tried to use an appliance on the street to jump a six-foot privacy fence. He slipped and officers engaged in a physical struggle. The defendant eventually ended up on the ground, but had to be Tasered twice to be handcuffed. Shortly after, the resident positively identified the defendant as the person who had broken into the postal vehicle.
The black leather coat dropped on the ground by the defendant after seeing the police officer had a set of keys marked “US Mail”. It also had 6 items of mail, 7 checks totaling $33,218, and 2 credit cards among other items. In total, there were 100 victims.
“For more than 240 years, the United States Postal Service has worked to provide everyone in the United States with secure, efficient and affordable mail service,” said U.S. Attorney Bob Troyer. “Mail thieves like Huerta deprive us of this essential service. Thanks to an engaged community member, excellent law enforcement, and our prosecutors, even this mail got delivered.”
“The Postal Inspection Service applauds the efforts of our Colorado Springs Postal Inspectors and the Pueblo Police Department, as they worked together to apprehend a subject related to an obvious mail theft,” said Craig Goldberg, Inspector In Charge of the Denver Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. “Postal Inspectors are dedicated to protecting the mail from all those who seek to use or obtain mail for illegal purposes, and we will continue working with our law enforcement partners to identify and hold accountable those individuals who attempt to disrupt the safe delivery of the U.S. Mail,” said Goldberg.
This case was investigated by the Pueblo Police Department and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. The defendant was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Hetal J. Doshi.
Previously Convicted Felon from Newark Sentenced to 162 Months in Prison for Firearms Possession, Drug Distribution OffensesRead the Press Release
NEWARK, N.J. – A Newark man with at least six felony convictions in New Jersey courts was sentenced today to 162 months in prison on multiple counts of illegal firearms possession and drug distribution, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.
Carlos Bess, 39, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Susan D. Wigenton to an indictment charging him with two counts of illegal possession of a firearm as a convicted felon and four counts of distribution and possession with intent to distribute heroin and cocaine. Judge Wigenton imposed the sentence today in Newark federal court.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
Since June 2015, agents with the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) have been investigating the sales of narcotics, including heroin and cocaine, as well as the unlawful possession of firearms by convicted felons. The investigation has revealed that on July 23, 2015, Bess unlawfully possessed two Rebel Arms AR-15 rifles. On Sept. 30, 2015, and Dec. 1, 2015, Bess sold heroin to another individual in Newark. During a search of a residence controlled by Bess in Newark, federal agents recovered an additional five firearms illegally possessed by Bess—a loaded .357 revolver, 2 loaded .380 pistols, a loaded 9 millimeter pistol, a 12-gauge shotgun. Agents also recovered more heroin and more than 500 grams of cocaine.
U.S. Attorney Carpenito credited special agents with the ATF, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge John Devito in Newark, and special agents with the DEA, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Valerie A. Nickerson, with the investigation leading to today’s sentencing.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Melissa Wangenheim of the OCDETF/Narcotics Unit in Newark.
Defense Counsel: Frank P. Arleo Esq., West Orange, New Jersey
Prattville Man, Shelby County Woman Indicted for Child Pornography, EnticementRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – A federal grand jury today indicted an Alabama couple on child pornography charges, announced U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town and ICE Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent in Charge Jere T. Miles.
A two-count indictment filed in U.S. District Court charges KENNETH EARL HOOKS, 35, of Prattville, and SARAH PAULINE MORRIS, 28, of Shelby County, with producing child pornography and enticing a young child to engage in sexual activity for the purpose of creating obscene images between December 2016 and August 2017.
Police in California found Hooks and Morris living in a desert area on the southern tip of the state after locating a red Mitsubishi Montero with an Alabama license plate there, according to a May 4 federal criminal complaint and arrest affidavit issued for Hooks in the Northern District of Alabama. The red Mitsubishi was registered to Morris and police were searching for it because security cameras at a Walmart in Brawley, Calif., caught her driving it on March 30 when security officers at the store saw Morris attempting to film two young girls in a bathroom stall, according to the affidavit.
“ICE-HSI and U.S. Marshals proved in this case that federal law enforcement is resolved to see child predators prosecuted, and that resolve doesn’t waiver when fugitives flee across state lines,” Town said. “Our net will always be bigger than their map.”
Producing child pornography carries a penalty of 15 to 30 years in prison and a maximum $250,000 fine. Enticing a minor to engage in sexual activity in order to produce child pornography carries a sentence of 10 years to life in prison and a maximum $250,000 fine.
Immigrations and Customs Enforcement’s HSI investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Xavier Carter is prosecuting.
An indictment contains only charges. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
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Parma man sentenced to 16 years in prison for leading cocaine conspiracyRead the Press Release
A Parma man was sentenced to 16 years in prison for leading a cocaine conspiracy.
Gilbert Mendez, 40, previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, distribution of cocaine and related crimes.
Mendez obtained at large amounts of cocaine from suppliers. Mendez and co-conspirators then cooked the drug into crack cocaine, which they stored at stash houses on West 54th Street and Finn Avenue, according to court documents.
Mendez and others sold the drugs from an auto body shop on West 63rd Street and other locations, according to court documents.
This case was investigated by Northern Ohio Law Enforcement Task Force. The NOLETF is a task force comprised of investigators from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Cleveland Division of Police, Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority, Drug Enforcement Administration, Internal Revenue Service, Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Office, Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation and the police departments of Cleveland Heights, Euclid, Lakewood, the Regional Transit Authority, Westlake and Shaker Heights. The NOLETF is also one of the initial Ohio High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area initiatives, which supports and helps coordinate numerous Ohio drug task forces in their efforts to eliminate or reduce drug trafficking in Ohio.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michelle M. Baeppler, Margaret A. Sweeney and Patrick P. Burke.
Operator of North Jersey Tax Preparation Business Convicted of Tax FraudRead the Press Release
NEWARK, N.J. – A Kissimmee, Florida, man was convicted at trial today of tax fraud, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.
Sixto Rodriguez, 55, was found guilty of all 17 counts of an indictment charging him with three counts of filing false tax returns on behalf of himself and fourteen counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation and presentation of false tax returns on behalf of his tax preparation clients. He was convicted following a one-week trial before U.S. District Judge Kevin McNulty.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
From 2004 through 2012, Rodriguez operated a tax preparation business in Teaneck, New Jersey, by the name of 1-2-3 Taxes. Rodriguez personally met with clients, prepared their individual income tax returns and filed the returns with the IRS.
Rodriguez inflated education credits, charitable donations, unreimbursed business expenses and rental losses that he knew his clients had not actually incurred. On average, for the clients charged in the indictment, this resulted in his clients receiving more than $4,000 in refunds per return, to which they were not entitled. Rodriguez also failed to report more than $230,000 in net profits he made from his business from 2007 through 2009 and personally avoided paying more than $89,000 in taxes as a result.
The charges on which Rodriguez was convicted each carry a maximum potential penalty of three years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 21, 2018.
U.S. Attorney Carpenito credited special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Bryant Jackson, with the investigation leading to today’s conviction.
The government is represented by Senior Litigation Counsel Daniel V. Shapiro of the Economic Crimes Unit in Newark and Assistant U.S. Attorney David M. Eskew, Deputy Chief of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division.
Operation Kryptonite: Savanna Man Pleads Guilty to Drug ConspiracyRead the Press Release
MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma announced that Dustin Lee Hall, age 31, of Savanna, Oklahoma, pled guilty to Drug Conspiracy, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Sections 846, 841(a)(1), 841(b)(1)(A), punishable by not less than 10 years imprisonment, up to a $10,000,000 fine, or both.
The Indictment alleged that beginning in or about April 17, 2017, and continuing until on or about December 26, 2017, in the Eastern District of Oklahoma and elsewhere, the defendant, did willfully and knowingly combine, conspire, confederate and agree, and with others known and unknown to the Grand Jury, to commit offenses against the United States.
The charges arose from a joint investigation entitled “Kryptonite” coordinated by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) of the Eastern District of Oklahoma. OCDETF is an initiative led and coordinated by the Office of the United States Attorney. The agencies involved in the investigation were the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and the Drug Enforcement Administration.
The Honorable Steven P. Shreder, U.S. Magistrate Judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, in Muskogee, accepted the plea and ordered the completion of a presentence investigation report.
Assistant United States Attorney Kristin Harrington represented the United States.
Old Town Woman Sentenced to 3½ Years for Maintaining a Drug Involved PremisesRead the Press Release
Bangor, Maine: United States Attorney Halsey B. Frank announced that Alialin Doughty, 29, of Old Town, Maine, was sentenced in U.S. District Court by Chief Judge Nancy Torresen to 3½ years in prison and three years of supervised release for maintaining a drug involved premises. Doughty pled guilty on October 25, 2017.
According to court records, between April 2013 and July 2015, Doughty allowed her Bangor apartment to be used by Yanel Greene, Mario Lee and others to store, package and sell over 2.2 kilograms of cocaine base, commonly known as “crack,” 154 grams of heroin and oxycodone.
In sentencing the defendant, Chief Judge Torresen said that “a lot of poison had been pumped into the community” through the defendant’s apartment and that the defendant’s conduct was aggravated by her 2009 state drug conviction for essentially the same kind of conduct -- making her apartment available as a location for drug dealers to operate.
The case was investigated by the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and prosecuted as part of the Department of Justice’s Strategy to Combat the Opioid Epidemic.
North Alabama Man Indicted for Trafficking Drugs, Including FentanylRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – A federal grand jury today indicted a Madison man for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, Fentanyl and Alprazolam in Madison County and elsewhere in the Northern District of Alabama, announced U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town and U.S. Postal Inspection Service Inspector in Charge Adrian Gonzalez.
A seven-count indictment filed in U.S. District Court charges JOSEPH WILLIAM DAVIS, 25, with the drug-distribution conspiracy in 2016 and 2017, and with possessing firearms, a Glock G22 semi-automatic handgun and a Bushmaster Carbon 15 semi-automatic rifle, in furtherance of the conspiracy. As part of the conspiracy, Davis possessed with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine on March 2, 2017, in Madison County, and both possessed and attempted to possess with the intent to distribute Alprazolam, an anti-anxiety medication, on March 8, in Cullman County, according to the indictment.
On March 2, the indictment also charges, Davis possessed with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid at least 50 times more potent than heroin, and possessed with intent to distribute both cocaine and Alprazolam.
“Drug traffickers bring gun violence to our neighborhoods and peddle their deadly poison without regard to the pain and ruin they leave behind,” Town said. “The Postal Inspection Service is one of the many law enforcement agencies working with the U.S. Attorney’s Office to ensure these drug dealers are caught, prosecuted and sent to prison.”
The penalty for the conspiracy charge and for the distribution charge involving 50 grams or more of methamphetamine is 10 years to life in prison and a maximum $10 million fine. The penalty for possessing firearms in furtherance of drug-trafficking crimes is five years to life in prison, served consecutively to any other prison term imposed, and a maximum $250,000 fine.
Possessing with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of Fentanyl carries a five- to 40-year prison sentence and a maximum $5 million fine. Possessing cocaine with intent to distribute carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Possession of Alprazolam with intent to distribute carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
U.S. Postal Inspectors, the Drug Enforcement Administration, Huntsville-Madison County STAC, and the Cullman County Sheriff's Department investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan S. Keim is prosecuting.
An indictment contains only charges. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
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New Orleans Man Pleads Guilty to Producing Child PornographyRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Duane A. Evans announced today that JON C. BALLAY, age 58, of New Orleans, Louisiana, pleaded guilty today before United States District Judge Jay Zainey to one count of producing images depicting the sexual exploitation of a fourteen-year-old female.
According to court documents, on May 23, 2017, law enforcement authorities executed a search warrant at the Olde Town Inn, located at 2311 North Rampart Street, in New Orleans, Louisiana. During the execution of the search warrant, authorities found and recovered the victim with BALLAY and seized several electronic devices belonging to BALLAY, including a Samsung Galaxy Express Prime cellular telephone affiliated with a local phone number. BALLAY used cellular phones to take approximately twenty (20) sexually explicit images of the victim between May 15, 2017 and May 22, 2017, at multiple hotels in the greater New Orleans area.
Sentencing before Judge Zainey has been scheduled for August 28, 2018. BALLAY faces a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of fifteen (15) years and a maximum term of thirty (30) years, followed by up to a lifetime of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine. He can also be required to register as a sex offender.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorney’s= Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
U.S. Attorney Evans praised the work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in investigating this matter, and specifically the FBI New Orleans Violent Crimes Against Children Task Force, which includes members of the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office, the Kenner Police Department, and the Louisiana State Police. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Jordan Ginsberg and David Howard Sinkman.
Navajo Woman from Navajo, N.M., Sentenced to Ten Years for Federal Assault and Child Abuse ConvictionRead the Press Release
ALBUQUERQUE – Elmira Curley, 22, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation who resides in Navajo, N.M., was sentenced today in federal court in Albuquerque, N.M., to 120 months in prison for her conviction on assault and child abuse charges. Curley will be on supervised release for five years after completing her prison sentence.
The FBI and Navajo Nation Division of Public Safety arrested Curley on July 6, 2016, on an indictment charging her with abusing a child resulting in great bodily harm. The indictment alleged that Curley committed the crime on the Navajo Indian Reservation in McKinley County, N.M., on March 14, 2016.
On Feb. 13, 2018, Curley pled guilty to a two-count felony information charging her with assault resulting in serious bodily harm and child abuse. In her plea agreement, Curley admitted that on March 14, 2016, she committed the crimes of assault and child abuse in Navajo, N.M., which is on the Navajo Indian Reservation. Curley admitted committing these crimes by putting the legs and feet of a nine-month-old infant into a bathtub of scalding hot water and causing the infant to sustain severe burns. Curley acknowledged that the infant-victim was hospitalized for several weeks for medical treatment and received skin grafts to repair some of the second- and third-degree burns she sustained as the result of the assault and abuse.
The Gallup, N.M., and Phoenix, Ariz., offices of the FBI and the Window Rock, Ariz., office of the Navajo Nation Division of Public Safety investigated this case, which was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Marshall.
Mexican National Pleads Guilty to Illegal Reentry After DeportationRead the Press Release
BOSTON - A Mexican national pleaded guilty today in federal court in Boston to illegally reentering the United States after being deported.
Carlos Altunar-Rueda, 25, pleaded guilty to one count of illegal reentry of a deported alien. U.S. Senior District Court Judge Douglas P. Woodlock scheduled sentencing for Sept. 4, 2018.
On Feb. 8, 2017, law enforcement officers in Boston encountered Altunar-Rueda and determined him to be illegally present in the United States. Altunar-Rueda was previously deported on Feb. 23, 2013.
Altunar-Rueda faces a sentence of no greater than 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release, a fine of $250,000, and will be subject to deportation 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 Thomas P. Brophy, Acting Field Office Director, Boston, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations, made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney David G. Tobin of Lelling’s Major Crimes Unit is prosecuting the case.
Mexican National Pleads Guilty to Illegal ReentryRead the Press Release
U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that JOEL FLORES-GONZALES, age 42, a native of Mexico, pled guilty today to a one-count Indictment charging him with illegal entry of a removed alien.
According to the court documents, FLORES-GONZALES previously removed from the United States on June 20, 2016. He was later found in the Eastern District of Louisiana on March 12, 2018, and had not received permission from the Attorney General of the United States or the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security to reenter.
FLORES-GONZALES faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 2 years, a fine of $250,000, one year of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment fee. U.S. District Judge Jay C. Zainey set sentencing for July 17, 2018.
U.S. Attorney Evans praised the work of the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency in investigating this matter. Assistant United States Attorney Jon Maestri is in charge of the prosecution.
Mexican Businessman Sentenced to 75 Months in Prison for Orchestrating Fraud Scheme Against the Mexican Government to Obtain over $20 MillionRead the Press Release
Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that CARLOS DJEMAL NEHMAD was sentenced today to 75 months in prison for orchestrating a scheme to fraudulently obtain over $20 million in tax refunds from the government of Mexico by creating the appearance of legitimate business activity through the transfer of over $100 million through dozens of shell companies in the United States and Mexico. DJEMAL’s sentence was imposed today in Manhattan federal court by U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein. In addition to his prison sentence, DJEMAL was ordered to forfeit cash, artwork, and his shareholdings of Investabank, a Mexican bank in which DJEMAL was part owner.
U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said: “Carlos Djemal Nehmad created an international network of shell companies in the United States and Mexico to defraud the Mexican government of millions of dollars. Today’s sentence is the cost of Djemal’s attempt to use the United States financial system to perpetrate fraud.”
According to the allegations in the Indictment and other documents filed in federal court, as well as statements made in public court proceedings:
Beginning in or about June 2011 through in or about at least May 2016, DJEMAL orchestrated a scheme to defraud the Mexican government of tax revenue relating to Mexico’s value added tax (“VAT”). The Mexican government imposes VAT on goods sold from one Mexican company to another; however, when certain goods (such as cellular phones) are exported from Mexico, the previously paid VAT is refunded to the exporter. DJEMAL created companies in Mexico and recruited individuals in the United States to create and control dozens of companies in the United States (“Front Companies”) purportedly doing business as importers and exporters of cellular phones in order for DJEMAL to fraudulently obtain VAT refunds from the Mexican government.
In order to carry out the scheme, DJEMAL caused Front Companies in Mexico to purchase outdated cellular phones from other companies seeking to sell outdated inventory. DJEMAL then caused these phones to be exported to Front Companies in the United States owned and operated by others that he recruited to the scheme. During the export process, DJEMAL obtained fraudulent invoices and created export documents that falsely inflated the value of the phones being exported, thereby enabling him to fraudulently seek inflated VAT refunds from the Mexican tax authority.
Once the phones were shipped to the United States, they were transferred to one or more Front Companies in the United States only to be shipped back to a different Front Company in Mexico. Through this process, the phones were shipped repeatedly in a circular fashion between Front Companies controlled by DJEMAL and his co-conspirators in Mexico and the United States, enabling DJEMAL to obtain multiple fraudulent VAT refunds for the same phones.
In order to create the appearance of legitimate cell phone sales, each transfer of phones was generally accompanied by a transfer of funds to and from accounts held in the name of the relevant Front Companies. Between approximately June 2011 to approximately May 2016, DJEMAL and his co-conspirators moved more than $100 million through dozens of accounts maintained by Front Companies in this fashion, including through accounts maintained at a financial institution in the Southern District of New York, in order to obtain over $20 million in VAT refunds from the Mexican government.
In addition to the 75-month prison term, DJEMAL was sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered to forfeit and pay restitution in the amount of $21 million.
* * *
Mr. Berman praised the outstanding investigative work of Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigations, Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations and Customs and Border Protection, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Office of the Inspector General, and the helpful assistance of the Mexican Tax Administration Service, the Mexican Secretary of Finance and Public Credit, and the Mexican Office of the General Prosecutor.
This case is being handled by the Office’s Money Laundering and Asset Forfeiture Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel M. Tracer is in charge of the prosecution.
Media Advisory: Press Conference to Announce Project Safe Neighborhood Gun Charges and ArrestsRead the Press Release
CEDAR RAPIDS, IA – There will be a press conference held on Wednesday, May 30, 2018, at 1:30 p.m. at the United States Attorney’s Office in the federal courthouse, 111 Seventh Ave SE, in Cedar Rapids. United States Attorney Peter E. Deegan, Jr. and representatives from federal and local law enforcement, including the Cedar Rapids, Waterloo, and Dubuque police departments, will be present at the press conference. The purpose of the press conference is to announce recent Project Safe Neighborhood gun charges and arrests in Eastern Iowa.
Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) is 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.
Event Details
When: May 30, 2018
Where: United States Attorney’s Office, 111 Seventh Ave SE
Time: 1:30 p.m.
A press release will be provided and interview opportunities will be available. Follow us on Twitter @USAO_NDIA.
McKean-FCI Inmate Sentenced to Spend 3 More Months in Prison for Possessing MarijuanaRead the Press Release
ERIE, Pa. - An inmate at the McKean Federal Correctional Institution in Bradford, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty and was sentenced in federal court to three months in jail on his conviction of possession of contraband in prison, United States Attorney Scott W. Brady announced today.
United States District Judge David S. Cercone imposed the sentence on Jarrod William Burrell, 40. The sentence was imposed to run consecutively to the sentence Burrell is currently serving.
According to information presented to the court, on or about August 29, 2017, Burrell was in possession of contraband, namely a quantity of marijuana while an inmate at the McKean Federal Correctional Institution.
Assistant United States Attorney Christian A. Trabold prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.
United States Attorney Brady commended officers of the McKean Federal Correctional Institution for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Burrell.
Massachusetts Man Sentenced to Nearly 8 Years for Bank and Credit Card Fraud and Tax EvasionRead the Press Release
Bangor, Maine: United States Attorney Halsey B. Frank announced that Steven Nygren, 51, of Salem, Massachusetts, was sentenced Friday in U.S. District Court by Judge John A. Woodcock, Jr. to 95 months in prison and five years of supervised release for bank fraud, unauthorized use of credit card numbers, and tax evasion. He was also ordered to pay over $815,000 in restitution.
According to court records, from June 2014 through August 2015, Nygren used his position as financial manager of a Brooklin, Maine business to embezzle and forge 63 business checks worth over $732,000 and to charge $62,000 to business credit cards for unauthorized personal purchases. From 2010 through 2016, Nygren also evaded the payment of over $1,000,000 in previously assessed federal taxes and penalties for tax years dating back to 1996.
In announcing the lengthy sentence, Judge Woodcock noted that “cheating others has been a way of life for [Nygren].”
The investigation was conducted by the Maine State Police, the FBI, and the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation.
Mason County Man Sentenced to Prison for Federal Gun CrimeRead the Press Release
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – A Mason County man was sentenced today to 18 months in prison, announced United States Attorney Mike Stuart. Conrad D. Berkley, II, 37, of Gallipolis Ferry, previously pled guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm. Stuart commended the investigation conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).
“It’s simple – convicted felons are prohibited from possessing guns,” said United States Attorney Mike Stuart. “As part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), we are working with ATF and state and local law enforcement partners to identify and prosecute felons like Berkley that have chosen to ignore federal gun laws.”
On April 3, 2017, Special Agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives went to Drew’s Jewelry, Gun and Pawn in Gallipolis Ferry, West Virginia to determine if anyone had recently sold an AK-47 rifle to the store. Agents discovered that Berkley had sold a Century Arms, model RAS 47 to the store on March 27, 2017 for $148.00. Berkley was prohibited from possessing any firearm under federal law because of a 2007 conviction in Cabell County Circuit Court for Unlawful Wounding.
Assistant United States Attorney Stephanie S. Taylor is responsible for the prosecution.
United States District Judge Robert C. Chambers imposed the sentence.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. 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.
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Maryland Man Indicted for Cyberstalking and Attempted Sexual Exploitation of A ChildRead the Press Release
WILLIAMSPORT - The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced today that Marc Punzalan, age 24, of Rockville, Maryland, was indicted on May 24, 2018, by a federal grand jury on one count of stalking and one count of the attempted sexual exploitation of a minor.
According to United States Attorney David J. Freed, the indictment alleges that in June 2013, Punzalan used an internet messaging service to harass and intimidate a 13-year-old female in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, causing her substantial emotional distress and resulting in her death. The indictment also alleges that Punzalan attempted to persuade, entice and induce the minor female to engage in sexually explicit conduct using a video web camera.
The case was investigated by the South Williamsport Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Geoffrey W. MacArthur is prosecuting the case.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab "resources."
Indictments and Criminal Informations are only allegations. All persons charged are presumed to be innocent unless and until found guilty in court.
A sentence following a finding of guilt is imposed by the Judge after consideration of the applicable federal sentencing statutes and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.
Punzalan faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison and a potential 30-year maximum sentence for the attempted sexual exploitation of a child, and up to life imprisonment for cyberstalking the victim. The maximum possible fine for these offenses is $250,000. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the Judge is also required to consider and weigh a number of factors, including the nature, circumstances and seriousness of the offense; the history and characteristics of the defendant; and the need to punish the defendant, protect the public and provide for the defendant's educational, vocational and medical needs. For these reasons, the statutory maximum penalty for the offense is not an accurate indicator of the potential sentence for a specific defendant.
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Local Man Charged with Producing Child PornographyRead the Press Release
DAYTON – A federal grand jury has charged Travis E. Walker, 35, of Miami Township, Ohio, with producing, distributing and possessing child pornography in a six-count indictment returned here.
Benjamin C. Glassman, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, Angela L. Byers, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Cincinnati Division, Montgomery County Sheriff Phil Plummer and Miami Township Police Chief Ronald L. Hess announced the charges.
According to the indictment, beginning in at least January 2018 and continuing through May 7, 2018, Walker allegedly sexually abused a minor in order to create child pornography. He is also charged with distributing and possessing child pornography.
Producing child pornography is punishable by 15 to 30 years in prison. Distributing child pornography carries a potential sentence of five to 20 years in prison. Possessing child pornography is punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
U.S. Attorney Glassman commended the investigation of this case by the FBI, Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office RANGE Task Force and Miami Township Police, as well as Assistant United States Attorney SaMee Harden, who is prosecuting the case.
An indictment merely contains allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.
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Justice Department Secures Largest Negotiated Merger Divestiture Ever to Preserve Competition Threatened by Bayer’s Acquisition of MonsantoRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON – The Department of Justice announced today that it is requiring Bayer AG to divest businesses and assets collectively worth approximately $9 billion in order to proceed with its proposed $66 billion acquisition of Monsanto Company. The proposed divestiture to BASF, an experienced chemical company with a substantial crop protection business, will fully resolve all horizontal and vertical competition concerns. As a result, American farmers and consumers will continue to benefit from competition in this industry.
“This comprehensive structural solution to significant horizontal and vertical competition concerns—the largest negotiated merger divestiture ever required by the United States—preserves competition in the sale of these critical agricultural products and protects American farmers and consumers,” said Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim of the Antitrust Division. “We commend the parties for working with the Antitrust Division to resolve our concerns on behalf of American consumers.”
The Department’s Antitrust Division today filed a civil antitrust lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to block the proposed transaction while simultaneously filing a proposed settlement that, if approved by the court, would resolve the Department’s competitive concerns.
Bayer, based in Leverkusen, Germany, and Monsanto, headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, are two of the largest agricultural companies in the world. They compete to provide farmers with a broad range of seed and crop protection products. Bayer and Monsanto also have been leaders in developing technologies that have allowed farmers to increase significantly crop yields and improve efficiency. Without the agreed-to divestitures, the proposed merger would likely result in higher prices, lower quality, and fewer choices across a wide array of seed and crop protection products. The merger also threatened to stifle the innovation in agricultural technologies that has delivered significant benefits to American farmers and consumers.
Under the terms of the proposed settlement, Bayer must divest those Bayer businesses that compete with Monsanto today. These include Bayer’s cotton, canola, soybean, and vegetable seed businesses, as well as Bayer’s Liberty herbicide business, a key competitor of Monsanto’s well-known Roundup herbicide.
The settlement also requires structural divestitures to remedy the competitive harm that would result from the vertical integration of certain significant Bayer seed treatment businesses with Monsanto’s leading seed businesses. Additionally, because Bayer and Monsanto currently compete to develop new products and services, the settlement requires the divestiture of certain intellectual property and research capabilities, including “pipeline” R&D projects. Finally, in order to fully prevent competitive harm from the merger, the settlement requires the divestiture of additional complementary assets that are needed to ensure that BASF has the same innovation incentives, capabilities and scale that Bayer would have as an independent competitor including, most notably, Bayer’s nascent “digital agriculture” business.
The settlement also includes, consistent with other settlements in this Administration, several provisions designed to improve the effectiveness of the decree and the Division’s future ability to enforce it.
The Department expressed thanks to its enforcement partners around the world, especially its counterparts at the European Commission, the Canadian Competition Bureau, and the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE) of Brazil, for their close and constructive collaboration on this matter.
As required by the Tunney Act, the proposed settlement, along with the Department’s competitive impact statement, will be published in the Federal Register. Any person may submit written comments concerning the proposed settlement within 60 days of its publication to Kathleen S. O’Neill, Chief, Transportation, Energy & Agriculture Section, Antitrust Division, U.S. Department of Justice, 450 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 8000, Washington, D.C. 20530. At the conclusion of the 60-day comment period, the court may enter the final judgment upon a finding that it serves the public interest.
NOTE: The original version of this release inadvertently did not include the term 'negotiated' in the title of the release or the Assistant Attorney General's quote.
Jury Convicts Two Men of North Country Crack Cocaine ConspiracyRead the Press Release
ALBANY, NEW YORK - A jury on Friday voted to convict Gary Dickens, age 29, of Brasher Falls, New York, and Richard Cruz, age 36, of the Bronx, New York, of conspiracy to traffic cocaine base (crack cocaine) in the Massena, New York, area.
The announcement was made by United States Attorney Grant C. Jaquith and Kevin M. Kelly, Special Agent in Charge of the Buffalo Field Office of Homeland Security Investigations.
The evidence presented at the 5-day trial demonstrated that between January 2017 and September 4, 2017, Cruz supplied Dickens with crack cocaine on a regular basis. Dickens picked up the crack cocaine himself and transported it to Massena or employed couriers, including Andre Murray and Emely Rosario, to transport the cocaine to Massena. Dickens then distributed the drugs throughout the greater Massena area. Carri Poliski and Tammy Phillips drove Dickens around the Massena area to help him distribute the drugs. Dickens also directed the wiring of money via Western Union to Cruz in order to purchase more crack cocaine.
The jury found Dickens not guilty of being a felon in possession of a firearm.
The following people have pled guilty or been convicted at trial of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute and to distribute cocaine base, before United States District Judge Mae A. D’Agostino:
Name
Age
Residence
Charge
Sentencing Date
Gary Dickens
29
Brasher Falls, NY
Cocaine base conspiracy > 28 grams
10/5/2018
Richard Cruz
36
Bronx, NY
Cocaine base conspiracy > 28 grams
10/5/2018
Andre Murray
19
Bronx, NY
Cocaine base conspiracy
8/7/2018
Emely Rosario
30
Bronx, NY
Cocaine base conspiracy
7/12/2018
Tammy Phillips
48
Norwood, NY
Cocaine base conspiracy
7/12/2018
Carri Poliski
46
Norwood, NY
Cocaine base conspiracy
6/28/2018
Dickens faces at least 5 years and up to 40 years in prison, a fine of up to $5 million, and a term of post-imprisonment supervised release of at least 5 years and up to life. Cruz faces at least 10 years and up to life in prison, a fine of up to $8 million, and a supervised release term of at least 8 years and up to life. A defendant’s sentence is imposed by a judge based on the particular statute the defendant is charged with violating, the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other factors.
This case is the result of the close cooperative efforts of HSI, led by the Massena Resident Office, in conjunction with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Border Patrol, New York State Police, St. Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office, Massena Police Department, Potsdam Police Department, and Ogdensburg Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Elizabeth Rabe and Katherine Kopita.
Judge Sentences Federal Inmate to 2 Additional Months in Prison for Possessing ContrabandRead the Press Release
ERIE, Pa. - An inmate at the McKean Federal Correctional Institution in Bradford, Pennsylvania pleaded guilty and was sentenced in federal court to two months in jail on his conviction of possession of contraband in prison, United States Attorney Scott W. Brady announced today.
United States District Judge David S. Cercone imposed the sentence on Francisco Uresti, 43. The sentence was imposed to run consecutively to the sentence Uresti is currently serving.
According to information presented to the court, on or about August 31, 2017, Uresti was in possession of contraband, namely a quantity of marijuana while an inmate at the McKean Federal Correctional Institution.
Assistant United States Attorney Christian A. Trabold prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.
United States Attorney Brady commended officers of the McKean Federal Correctional Institution for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Uresti.
International Hacker-For-Hire Who Conspired with and Aided Russian FSB Officers Sentenced to 60 Months in PrisonRead the Press Release
Karim Baratov, aka Kay, aka Karim Taloverov, aka Karim Akehmet Tokbergenov, 23, was sentenced to five years in prison and ordered to pay a fine, which encompasses all of his remaining assets.
Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers, Acting U.S. Attorney Alex G. Tse for the Northern District of California, and Special Agent in Charge John F. Bennett of the FBI’s San Francisco Field Office made the announcement. The sentence was handed down today by U.S. District Judge the Honorable Vince Chhabria.
“Criminal hackers and the countries that sponsor them make a grave mistake when they target American companies and citizens. We will identify them wherever they are and bring them to justice,” said Assistant Attorney General Demers. “I would like to thank Canadian law enforcement authorities for their tremendous assistance in bringing Baratov to justice. We will continue to work with our foreign partners to find and prosecute those who would violate our laws.”
“The sentence imposed reflects the seriousness of hacking for hire,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Tse. “Hackers such as Baratov ply their trade without regard for the criminal objectives of the people who hire and pay them. These hackers are not minor players; they are a critical tool used by criminals to obtain and exploit personal information illegally. In sentencing Baratov to five years in prison, the Court sent a clear message to hackers that participating in cyber attacks sponsored by nation states will result in significant consequences.”
“It's difficult to overstate the unprecedented nature of this conspiracy, in which members of a foreign intelligence service directed and empowered criminal hackers to conduct a massive cyber-attack against 500 million victim user accounts,” said Special Agent in Charge Bennett. “Today's sentencing demonstrates the FBI's unwavering commitment to disrupt and prosecute malicious cyber actors despite their attempts to conceal their identities and hide from justice.”
Baratov, a Canadian national and resident, and three other defendants, including two officers of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), Russia’s domestic law enforcement and intelligence service, were charged with a number of offenses relating to the hacking of webmail accounts at Yahoo and other service providers. In particular, the defendants were charged in a computer hacking conspiracy in which the two Russian FSB officers hired criminal hackers to collect information through computer intrusions in the United States and abroad, which resulted in the unauthorized access of Yahoo’s network and the spear phishing of webmail accounts at other service providers between January 2014 and December 2016.
Baratov’s role in the charged conspiracy was to hack webmail accounts of individuals of interest to his coconspirator who was working for the FSB and send those accounts’ passwords to Dokuchaev in exchange for money.
The Indictment is available here, and its allegations are summarized in greater detail in the press release that attended the unsealing of the Indictment on March 15, 2017.
Baratov has been detained since his arrest in Canada in March 2017. Baratov waived extradition to the United States and was transferred to the Northern District of California in August 2017. In November 2017, Baratov pleaded guilty to Count One and Counts Forty through Forty-Seven of the Indictment. Count One charged Baratov, Dokuchaev, Sushchin and Belan with conspiring to violate the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act by stealing information from protected computers and causing damage to protected computers. Counts Forty through Forty-Seven charged Baratov and Dokuchaev with aggravated identity theft. As part of his plea agreement, Baratov not only admitted to agreeing and attempting to hack at least 80 webmail accounts on behalf of one of his FSB co-conspirators, but also to hacking more than 11,000 webmail accounts in total from in or around 2010 until his March 2017 arrest by Canadian authorities. In addition to any prison sentence, Baratov agreed to pay restitution to his victims, and to pay a fine up to $2,250,000, at $250,000 per count, with any assets he has remaining after satisfying a restitution award.
The FBI, led by the San Francisco Field Office, conducted the investigation that resulted in the charges in the Indictment. The case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California and the U.S. Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section, with support from the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs.
International Hacker-For-Hire Who Conspired with and Aided Russian FSB Officers Sentenced to Five Years in PrisonRead the Press Release
SAN FRANCISCO – Karim Baratov, aka Kay, aka Karim Taloverov, aka Karim Akehmet Tokbergenov, 23, was sentenced to 60 months in prison and ordered to pay a $250,000 fine, which encompasses all of his remaining assets.
The sentence was announced by Acting U.S. Attorney Alex G. Tse for the Northern District of California, Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers, and Special Agent in Charge John F. Bennett of the FBI’s San Francisco Field Office. The sentence was handed down today by the Honorable Vince Chhabria, U.S. District Judge.
“The sentence imposed reflects the seriousness of hacking for hire,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Tse. “Hackers such as Baratov ply their trade without regard for the criminal objectives of the people who hire and pay them. These hackers are not minor players; they are a critical tool used by criminals to obtain and exploit personal information illegally. In sentencing Baratov to five years in prison, the Court sent a clear message to hackers that participating in cyber attacks sponsored by nation states will result in significant consequences.”
“Criminal hackers and the countries that sponsor them make a grave mistake when they target American companies and citizens. We will identify them wherever they are and bring them to justice,” said Assistant Attorney General Demers. “I would like to thank Canadian law enforcement authorities for their tremendous assistance in bringing Baratov to justice. We will continue to work with our foreign partners to find and prosecute those who would violate our laws.”
“It's difficult to overstate the unprecedented nature of this conspiracy, in which members of a foreign intelligence service directed and empowered criminal hackers to conduct a massive cyber-attack against 500 million victim user accounts,” said Special Agent in Charge John F. Bennett. “Today's sentencing demonstrates the FBI's unwavering commitment to disrupt and prosecute malicious cyber actors despite their attempts to conceal their identities and hide from justice.”
Baratov, a Canadian national and resident, and three other defendants, including two officers of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), Russia’s domestic law enforcement and intelligence service, were charged with a number of offenses relating to the hacking of webmail accounts at Yahoo and other service providers. In particular, the defendants were charged in a computer hacking conspiracy in which the two Russian FSB officers hired criminal hackers to collect information through computer intrusions in the United States and abroad, which resulted in the unauthorized access of Yahoo’s network and the spear phishing of webmail accounts at other service providers between January 2014 and December 2016.
Baratov’s role in the charged conspiracy was to hack webmail accounts of individuals of interest to his coconspirator who was working for the FSB and send those accounts’ passwords to Dokuchaev in exchange for money. The Indictment and additional documents setting out the allegations are available at www.justice.gov/usao-ndca/us-v-dmitry-dokuchaev-et-al.
Baratov has been detained since his arrest in Canada in March 2017. Baratov waived extradition to the United States and was transferred to the Northern District of California in August 2017. In November 2017, Baratov pleaded guilty to Count One and Counts Forty through Forty-Seven of the Indictment. Count One charged Baratov, Dokuchaev, Sushchin, and Belan with conspiring to violate the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act by stealing information from protected computers and causing damage to protected computers. Counts Forty through Forty-Seven charged Baratov and Dokuchaev with aggravated identity theft. As part of his plea agreement, Baratov not only admitted to agreeing and attempting to hack at least 80 webmail accounts on behalf of one of his FSB co-conspirators, but also to hacking more than 11,000 webmail accounts in total from in or around 2010 until his March 2017 arrest by Canadian authorities. In addition to any prison sentence, Baratov agreed to pay restitution to his victims, and to pay a fine up to $2,250,000, at $250,000 per count, with any assets he has remaining after satisfying a restitution award.
The FBI, led by the San Francisco Field Office, conducted the investigation that resulted in the charges in the Indictment. The case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California and the U.S. Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section, with support from the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs.
Illegal Alien Sentenced to More Than 20 Years for Carjacking and Firearms OffensesRead the Press Release
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Rodolfo Joel Ulloa-Paz, 30, of Mexico, was sentenced today to 247 months in prison on carjacking and firearms offenses, announced R. Andrew Murray, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.
Wayne Dixie Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Charlotte Field Division; Colonel Glenn McNeill, Commander of the North Carolina State Highway Patrol; and Chief Kerr Putney of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department join U.S. Attorney Murray in making today’s announcement.
According to filed court documents and today’s court proceedings, on the evening of August 10, 2016, CMPD officers located a GMC Sierra truck whose passengers were suspected of being involved in multiple shootings. Court records show that Paz was the driver of the truck, and his co-conspirator, Alan Israel Chavez-Cruz, also an illegal alien, was the front seat passenger. There were four other passengers in the back of the truck. Court records show that when CMPD officers attempted to stop the truck, Paz sped off and attempted to flee. During the flight, the truck was involved in two traffic collisions, however Paz did not stop following either collision.
According to court records, after the truck became inoperable Paz pulled it into the driveway of a residence on East W.T. Harris Boulevard, in Charlotte. Paz then exited the truck holding a Mossberg 12-gauge shotgun. Cruz also got out of the vehicle holding a black 9mm handgun. The remaining four passengers fled the scene. Court records show that Paz and Cruz decided to steal a vehicle in order to flee the scene. Cruz approached the homeowner, R.B., placed his handgun against R.B.’s stomach, and demanded the keys to his nearby 2016 Mazda. R.B. told Cruz that he did not have the keys on him and Cruz rummaged through R.B.’s pockets but was unable to find the car keys.
Paz then attempted to carjack a 2003 Ford Ranger traveling southbound on W.T. Harris Boulevard. E.H. was driving the vehicle and L.B. was the front seat passenger of the moving Ford Ranger. Paz fired his shotgun at the Ford Ranger’s window, and was yelling for E.H. and L.B. to get out of the truck. Birdshot from the shotgun discharge struck the Ford Ranger’s windshield, causing bodily injury to both victims. E.H. continued driving the vehicle down W.T. Harris.
Next, Paz and Cruz approached a parked 2001 Chevrolet Silverado truck. As he approached, Paz fired his shotgun in the air. Cruz, with his handgun visible, told the passenger of the vehicle, K.T., to leave and K.T. fled on foot. With Paz as the driver and Cruz in the front passenger seat, the two men fled the scene.
CMPD officers located the two men. After attempting to stop the vehicle several times, the stolen Chevy Silverado drove erratically and in excess of the speed limit. While traveling down Highway 16, Cruz disassembled his handgun and discarded the parts out of the window and along the side of the road. The vehicle entered Catawba County, and Paz eventually lost control and struck a power pole that left the truck disabled.
After the collision, Cruz got out of the passenger side of the truck and was arrested immediately. Paz got out of the truck holding the 12-gauge shotgun, which he pointed at surrounding officers. Three CMPD officers discharged their weapons, striking Paz who continued to struggle while the officers were trying to arrest him. Ultimately, law enforcement apprehended Paz.
Ulloa-Paz pleaded guilty in November 2017 to conspiracy to commit carjacking, two counts of attempted carjacking, carjacking, and discharging a firearm during, in relation to and in furtherance of a crime of violence. In March 2018, Cruz was sentenced to 147 months in prison. Both men will be subject to deportation proceedings upon the completion of their federal sentence.
In making today’s announcement, U.S. Attorney Murray thanked the ATF, CMPD, and the North Carolina State Highway Patrol for their investigation of the case.
The prosecution was handled by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney (SAUSA) Erik Lindahl. Mr. Lindahl is a state prosecutor with the Mecklenburg County District Attorney’s Office, and was assigned to serve as a Special Assistant United States Attorney (SAUSA) with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. 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.
Huntsville Man Indicted for February Robbery of Woodforest BankRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – A federal grand jury today indicted a north Alabama man for a February bank robbery in Huntsville, announced U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town and FBI Special Agent in Charge Johnnie Sharp Jr.
A one-count indictment filed in U.S. District Court charges KEON LADELL REED, 38, with the Feb. 15 robbery of a Woodforest Bank branch on University Drive in Huntsville.
The maximum penalty for bank robbery is 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
The FBI investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Russell E. Penfield is prosecuting.
An indictment contains only charges. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
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Huntington Man Sentenced for Role in Federal Pill ConspiracyRead the Press Release
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – A Huntington man caught in 2017 assisting in the illegal sale of pain pills was sentenced to 24 months in federal prison, announced United States Attorney Mike Stuart. Joseph W. Melbar, 54, previously pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting the possession with intent to distribute oxycodone in federal court in Huntington. U.S. Attorney Stuart commended the investigative efforts of the Drug Enforcement Administration and the West Virginia State Police.
“We continue to shut down drug networks in Huntington – no matter the size of the organization or whether the dealers are local or out-of-state -- one by one, we are putting them out of business,” said United States Attorney Mike Stuart.
On September 15, 2017, Melbar helped arrange the sale of oxycodone pills to a confidential informant working with the DEA. The drug deal was scheduled to take place at Melbar’s residence on Collis Avenue in Huntington, where the informant met with Melbar and codefendants Lorie Mayhon and Curtis Holcomb to complete the transaction. After discussing the terms of the deal – 500 oxycodone pills in exchange for $20,000 cash, Mayhon and Holcomb left Melbar’s residence to pick up another codefendant to acquire the pills. After the codefendants picked up the pills, a trooper with the West Virginia State Police conducted a traffic stop on their vehicle on Artisan Avenue in Huntington. During the stop, the trooper seized 454 thirty mg oxycodone pills that Holcomb had concealed in his sock.
Holcomb was sentenced to 57 months in federal prison on May 14, 2018, after pleading guilty to possession with intent to distribute oxycodone.
Mayhon is scheduled to be sentenced on June 4, 2018, after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute oxycodone.
Assistant United States Attorney Joseph F. Adams is responsible for the prosecutions. The sentence was imposed by United States District Judge Robert C. Chambers.
This case is being prosecuted as part of an ongoing effort led by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia to combat the illicit sale and misuse of prescription drugs and heroin. The U.S. Attorney’s Office, joined by federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, is committed to aggressively pursuing and shutting down pill trafficking, eliminating open air drug markets, and curtailing the spread of opiate painkillers and heroin in communities across the Southern District.
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Harrison County man admits to role in heroin distribution operationRead the Press Release
CLARKSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA – A Bridgeport, West Virginia man has admitted to his role in a heroin distribution operation, United States Attorney Bill Powell announced.
David C. Chalfant, age 25, pled guilty to one count of “Aiding and Abetting the Distribution of Heroin” Chalfant admitted to selling heroin in March 2016 in Harrison County.
Chalfant faces up to 20 years incarceration and a fine of up to $1,000,000. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed will be based upon the seriousness of the offenses and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Traci M. Cook is prosecuting the case on behalf of the government. The Greater Harrison Drug and Violent Crimes Task Force, a HIDTA-funded initiative, investigated.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael John Aloi presided.Guntersville Man Indicted for Distributing MethamphetamineRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – A federal grand jury today indicted a Guntersville man on charges of distributing methamphetamine in Blount County, announced U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town and FBI Special Agent in Charge Johnnie Sharp Jr.
An indictment filed in U.S. District Court charges DANIEL DAVID GUGER, 35, with four counts of possessing with intent to distribute or distributing methamphetamine in March 2017. Two counts charge Guger with distributing five grams or more of the drug, and one count charges him with possessing with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine. A fourth count charges distribution of the drug without specifying an amount.
The penalty for possessing with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years, and up to life in prison, and a maximum $10 million fine. Distributing or possessing with intent to distribute five grams or more of methamphetamine carries a prison penalty of at least five and up to 40 years in prison and maximum $5 million fine. Distributing or possessing with intent to distribute methamphetamine carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine.
The FBI investigated the case in conjunction with the Blount County Sheriff’s Office and the Marshall County Drug Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mohammad Khatib is prosecuting the case.
An indictment contains only charges. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Greenwich Store Agrees to Comply with ADA and Permit Service AnimalsRead the Press Release
John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, today announced that the U.S. Attorney’s Office has reached a settlement agreement with The UPS Store #1217 in the Riverside section of Greenwich (the “Riverside UPS Store”), to resolve allegations that the store was not operating in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (“ADA”).
The settlement agreement resolves an ADA complaint filed by an individual with disabilities alleging that the Riverside UPS Store required her to remove her service animal from the store as a condition of service. As a result of the settlement agreement, the store is in the process of posting signage indicating “Service Animals Welcome,” implementing a “Service Animal Policy,” which includes the types of legally permissible inquiries store employees may make of a customer who enters the store with a service animal, and training employees regarding the policy. Additionally, the Riverside UPS Store will compensate the complainant in the amount of $1,000.
Under federal law, private entities that own or operate places of “public accommodation,” including retail stores, are prohibited from discriminating on the basis of disability. The ADA authorizes the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate complaints and undertake periodic reviews of compliance of covered entities. The Justice Department is also authorized to commence a civil lawsuit in federal court in any case that involves a pattern or practice of discrimination or that raises issues of general public importance, and to seek injunctive relief, monetary damages and civil penalties.
U.S. Attorney Durham noted that the owner of the Riverside UPS Store has worked cooperatively with the U.S. Attorney’s Office to promptly address the ADA issues without litigation.
“The Americans with Disabilities Act ensures that individuals are able to access our state’s retail stores, service establishments and other places of public accommodation,” said U.S. Attorney Durham. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office is committed to enforcing the ADA, which requires businesses to appropriately serve the diverse populations of patrons who live, work and visit Connecticut. We appreciate the Riverside UPS Store’s commitment to increasing access to its store for individuals with disabilities who require service animal assistance.”
Any member of the public who wishes to file a complaint alleging that any place of public accommodation or public entity in Connecticut is not accessible to persons with disabilities may contact the U.S. Attorney’s Office at 203-821-3700.
Additional information about the ADA can be found at www.ada.gov, or by calling the Justice Department’s toll-free information line at (800) 514-0301 and (800) 514-0383 (TTY). More information about the Civil Rights Division and the laws it enforces is available at www.justice.gov/crt.
This matter was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica H. Soufer of the District of Connecticut in coordination with the Disability Rights Section of the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division.
Green Bay Man Charged with Child Pornography OffensesRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Mathew D. Krueger announced that on May 22, 2018, a federal grand jury returned an indictment against Luca DaPra (age: 34) of Green Bay, Wisconsin, charging him with attempted production of child pornography in violation of Title 18 United States Code Section 2251. If convicted of the charge, DaPra faces a mandatory minimum term of 15 years and up to 30 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and five years to life of supervised release.
DaPra was also charged with distribution of child pornography in violation of Title 18 United States Code Section 2252A(a)(2)(A) and possession of child pornography in violation of Title 18 United States Code Section 2252A(a)(5)(b). The distribution of child pornography charge subjects DaPra to a five year mandatory minimum and up to 20 year maximum term of imprisonment and the possession of child pornography charge subjects him to a 20 year maximum term of imprisonment.
On May 24, 2018, DaPra appeared before the Honorable James Sickel, Magistrate Court Judge, and was ordered to be held in jail pending trial in the matter. A trial date is set for July 16, 2018, before the Honorable Chief Judge William C. Griesbach and a final pretrial conference is set for July 3, 2018 at 2:30 p.m.
This case was investigated by the Green Bay Police Department, Brown County Sheriffs Department and Neenah Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney William Roach.
An indictment is 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 must prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
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Gerard Terry, Former Chairman of the North Hempstead Democratic Party and Nassau County Board of Elections, Sentenced to Three Years in Prison for Tax EvasionRead the Press Release
Earlier today, in federal court in Central Islip, Gerard Terry, former Chairman of the Democratic Party in North Hempstead and head of the Nassau County Board of Elections, was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment, to be followed by three years’ supervised release, $992,057 in restitution and $31,000 in forfeiture, following his guilty plea on October 12, 2017 to tax evasion. The sentencing proceeding was held before United States District Judge Joanna Seybert.
Richard P. Donoghue, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, William F. Sweeney, Jr., Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI), and James Robnett, Special Agent-in-Charge, Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, New York (IRS-CI), announced the sentence.
“Gerard Terry lived by a different standard than the taxpayers he served, taking money from them in payment for the numerous governmental and quasi-governmental jobs he held, while failing to pay the taxes he owed on those jobs,” stated United States Attorney Donoghue. “Together with our law enforcement partners, we will continue to work to ensure that there is one standard and one standard only — that taxpayers, regardless of who they are, will have to pay their fair share or be held to account.”
“While reaping the benefits of a salary funded by taxpayer dollars, Gerard Terry rendered himself exempt from paying taxes on this earned income,” stated FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Sweeney. “It seems today he has learned his lesson—the time to pay up has come.”
“Our politicians and county officials hold positions of trust in the eyes of the public,” stated IRS-CI Special Agent-in-Charge Robnett.” “Mr. Terry, a licensed attorney, went to great lengths to evade his tax obligations with the United States, but he ultimately hurt all American citizens who work for a living and pay their fair share for the government services and protections we enjoy.”
Terry, an attorney licensed to practice in New York State, willfully evaded substantial income tax owed by him, having earned income from numerous government and quasi-government positions in Nassau County, including the Democratic Party in the Town of North Hempstead, the Nassau County Board of Elections, the Town of North Hempstead, the Long Beach Housing Authority, the North Hempstead Housing Authority, the Freeport Community Development Agency, the Roosevelt Public Library, the Village of Port Washington, and the Village of Manorhaven. Since January 2000, Terry has failed to pay a federal tax debt of almost $1.4 million, despite earning over $250,000 per year.
According to court documents, during the period charged in the indictment, Terry failed to file personal Form 1040 tax returns, filing years later and only after vigorous pursuit by the IRS. Even then, Terry filed Forms 1040 that contained false information and failed to report income. Terry has still failed to file returns for tax years 2009 and 2010.
Terry also evaded the IRS’s attempts at levy collection, cashing hundreds of wage and compensation checks worth over $500,000, rather than depositing them into checking or savings accounts where they could be seized. When he did deposit checks into his checking account, he did so in the minimum amounts necessary to cover checks and payments for his own personal expenses, making sure there were not sufficient funds upon which the IRS could levy. Terry also created and utilized a checking account in the name of a corporate shell and had one of his employers make direct payments to his credit card rather than issuing him a paycheck. He also pressured colleagues at his various government and publicly funded jobs not to report wages paid to him and not to comply with IRS notices of levy.
The government’s case is being handled by the Office’s Long Island Criminal Division. Assistant United States Attorney Artie McConnell is in charge of the prosecution.
The Defendant:
GERARD TERRY
Age: 62
Roslyn, New YorkE.D.N.Y. Docket No. 17-CR-37 (JS)
Franconia Man Pleads Guilty to Fentanyl ChargesRead the Press Release
CONCORD- United States Attorney Scott W. Murray announced that Jared Peterson, 28, of Franconia, pleaded guilty in federal court fentanyl trafficking charges.
According to court documents and statements made in court, on March 18, 2017, law enforcement officers from the Franconia, Sugar Hill, and Littleton, New Hampshire police departments executed a search warrant for an apartment in Franconia, New Hampshire that was leased by Peterson. In that apartment, officers found approximately 118 grams of fentanyl. The defendant admitted that he traveled to Massachusetts to purchase the fentanyl and bring it to Franconia, where he and others intended to sell it.
Peterson pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess fentanyl with intent to distribute and possession of fentanyl with intent to distribute. He is scheduled to be sentenced on September 11, 2018.
“Fentanyl continues to present a very serious threat to public safety in New Hampshire,” said U.S. Attorney Murray. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office is committed to working without our law enforcement partners throughout the Granite State to identify and prosecute those who are distributing this deadly drug. I am grateful for the work of the law enforcement officers in this case whose efforts prevented the distribution of a very sizable amount of fentanyl.”
This matter was investigated by the Franconia Police Department, with assistance from the Sugar Hill and Littleton Police Departments. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Anna Dronzek.
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Four people sentenced to prison for taking job training money from Toledo-based nonprofit and using it to fund lavish lifestylesRead the Press Release
Four people were sentenced to prison for taking federal money earmarked for job training and instead using the money to pay for personal expenses, including vacations, investments, real estate purchases and salaries for people who did not work at the company.
James D. Moody, 58, of Toledo, was sentenced today to 66 months in prison. Victoria Hawkins, 31, of Grand Rapids, Michigan, was sentenced last week to 54 months in prison. Angela Bowser, 46, of Toledo, was sentenced last week to 36 months in prison.
All three were convicted by a jury late last year for their activities related to Toledo-based Business Rehabilitation Informed Decisions Guiding Employment Strategies, Inc. d/b/a B.R.I.D.G.E.S., Inc..
Company founder and general manager Daniel E. Morris, 68, of Maumee, previously pleaded guilty to his crimes and was sentenced to 46 months in prison.
“These defendants stole millions of dollars targeted to help the least among us learn job skills, and instead used the money to fund lavish lifestyles and pay for no-show jobs,” said U.S. Attorney Justin E. Herdman said. “They ripped off taxpayers and betrayed the trust placed in them.”
“This was a transparent scheme to defraud the taxpayers of Northwest Ohio,” said IRS Special Agent in Charge Ryan Korner. “Today’s guilty verdicts brings justice to thieves who enriched themselves on the backs of those struggling to survive.”
According to court documents and trial testimony:
BRIDGES operated at 242 Reynolds Road and 310 Reynolds Road. The company was in the business of providing work placement and work training services to public assistance recipients, and nearly all of its revenue came from public funds.
Morris was the co-founder and general manager of BRIDGES. Moody was co-founder and sole-shareholder. Hawkins was an employee from 2008 through 2012, while Bowser was an employee from 2008 through 2014.
BRIDGES was funded through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. TANF was a welfare program that provided cash assistance to qualifying households with minor children or pregnant women. TANF provided federal block grants to states each year to cover benefits, administrative expenses and services targeted to needy families.
One of TANF’s goals was reducing the dependency of needy parents by promoting job preparation, work and marriage. TANF recipients must work as soon as they are job ready and no later than two years after commencing assistance. BRIDGES placed public assistance recipients at “job sites,” where the recipients would work for free to obtain job training and as a condition of receiving public assistance benefits like cash assistance or SNAP benefits (formerly food stamps).
BRIDGES received more than $15.7 million in funding from several entities between 2004 and 2015, including the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, the Lucas County Department of Job and Family Services, Ohio Works First and others. This funding was based in part on BRIDGES’ grant proposals. The majority of BRIDGES’ stated administrative costs were payroll and transportation.
BRIDGES provided job training and work placement services but at substantially lower costs than those stated in its budgets and invoices. The defendants fraudulently inflated BRIDGES payroll costs, transportation and mileage.
Morris, BRIDGES and others maintained false personnel files, timesheets, mileage records and reimbursement forms for nonexistent employees. They included fake, former or nonexistent employees on the payroll. For example, BRIDGES paid Moody a salary even though he did not work there, and later continued to pay him by issuing payroll checks to Moody’s wife.
During trial, Moody testified that he placed the salary in his wife’s name in order to distance himself from BRIDGES while running for mayor in 2009 and so that she could receive Social Security benefits despite not otherwise being eligible. Moody also received non-payroll checks, which he used to purchase and rehabilitate an investment property in Toledo, purchase an interest in his real estate company, Flex Realty, and pay for legal fees.
BRIDGES, Morris, Moody, Hawkins and Bowser used TANF funds to pay for personal living expenses including groceries, dental care, medical care, resort vacations, pharmaceuticals, clothing, toys, designer bags, furniture, video streaming services, credit card bills, legal fees unrelated to BRIDGES’ business, tattoos, cosmetic surgery, real estate, vehicles, investments and jewelry, according to court documents and trial testimony.
For example, between February 2013 and October 2014, Hawkins accessed a BRIDGES business account to make approximately $18,200 in cash withdrawals. Hawkins also had access to a debit card through which she accessed and spent approximately $750,000 in a two-year timeframe. Hawkins and co-defendant Morris also purchased two houses, including a $400,000 house in the Point Place neighborhood of Toledo.
Bowser, a program manager at BRIDGES, received numerous non-payroll checks from the company, some of which were used to purchase a house in Toledo. Bowser continued to receive bi-weekly payments from the company after she stopped working there in 2014.
Each defendant that went to trial was convicted of conspiracy to commit federal program theft, conspiracy to commit money laundering offenses, substantive federal program theft counts, and substantive money laundering counts.
Morris pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit federal program theft and mail fraud, aggravated identity theft, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and willful failure to pay over withheld payroll tax.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Noah P. Hood and Gene Crawford following an investigation by the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigations with the assistance of the Ohio Auditor of State’s Office, Public Integrity Assurance Team.
Former Treasurer for Newark Mayor Election Campaign Admits Embezzling over $220,000Read the Press Release
NEWARK, N.J. – An Essex County, New Jersey, man today admitted embezzling over $220,000 in campaign funds while serving as the treasurer for a Newark mayoral campaign, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.
Frederick Murphy Jr., 56, of Bloomfield, New Jersey, pleaded guilty before Chief U.S. District Judge Jose L. Linares in Newark federal court to Counts One, Two, and Five of an information charging him with wire fraud, bank fraud, and tax evasion.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
Between January 2014 and March 2017, Murphy served as the treasurer for election campaign accounts associated with a Newark mayoral candidate. Murphy admitted that during that time, he embezzled over $220,000 from those accounts by writing phony checks in the names of various consultants and vendors for services that were never performed.
Murphy cashed the checks by presenting them to a bank in Essex County with the forged signature of the check payees as well as Murphy’s own signature as a double endorsement. Murphy then reported the fraudulent checks as legitimate campaign expenditures in quarterly filings with the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission. The false reports were uploaded by the Election Law Enforcement Commission onto its website for public reference.
Murphy also admitted under-reporting $102,954 in embezzled campaign funds on his personal income tax return for 2016.
The wire fraud charge carries a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The bank fraud charge carries a maximum potential penalty of 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine. Murphy also faces a maximum potential penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine on the tax evasion charge. Sentencing is currently scheduled for Sept. 11, 2018.
U.S. Attorney Carpenito credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Gregory W. Ehrie in Newark, and IRS–Criminal Investigation, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Bryant Jackson in Newark, with the investigation.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jacques S. Pierre and Jihee G. Suh of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Special Prosecutions Division.
Defense counsel: Alan Dexter Bowman Esq., Newark