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Friday 18 May 2018
New Brunswick Man Pleads Guilty to Importing Illegally-Harvested Moose Antlers and HideRead the Press Release
Bangor, Maine: United States Attorney Halsey B. Frank announced that Daniel F. Dyer, 57, of Plaster Rock, New Brunswick, Canada pled guilty yesterday in U.S. District Court to importing illegally-taken moose antlers and a hide.
According to court records, on September 28, 2013, Daniel Dyer, a Canadian outfitter and guide, arranged for Richard Eaton, a West Virginia resident, to unlawfully harvest a moose in New Brunswick using a license issued to a New Brunswick resident. Dyer later brought the hide and antlers of the moose through Maine. Dyer delivered the hide to a taxidermist in Pennsylvania and the antlers to Eaton in West Virginia. In 2014, Eaton was convicted in federal court of receiving the illegally-taken moose.
The defendant faces up to 5 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and three years of supervised release. He will be sentenced after the completion of a presentence report by the U.S. Probation Office.
The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Wildlife Enforcement Division of Environment Canada (New Brunswick).
Morgan City man sentenced to 63 months in prison for possessing child pornographyRead the Press Release
ALEXANDRIA, La. – United States Attorney David C. Joseph announced that a Morgan City man was sentenced Thursday to five years and three months in prison for using the internet to download and possess child pornography.
Joshua Landry, 40, of Morgan City, Louisiana, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Dee D. Drell on one count of receiving child pornography. He was also sentenced to serve 10 years of supervised release following his incarceration, and upon his release from custody he will be required to register as a sex offender. According to the October 26, 2017 guilty plea, law enforcement agents identified Landry as downloading child pornography to an electronic device in his home. Agents searched Landry’s home on February 8, 2017, and found Landry’s cell phone, which contained child pornography videos. Landry also admitted to agents that he downloaded child pornography.
This case is part of Project Safe Childhood, a U.S. Department of Justice nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood combines 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.
Those concerned may leave tips with the FBI at tips.fbi.gov. Tips may be submitted anonymously. The Lafayette FBI office number is (337) 262-2164.
The FBI conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert C. Abendroth prosecuted the case.
Monongalia County man sentenced for firearms chargeRead the Press Release
CLARKSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA – Jason Perry, of Morgantown, West Virginia, was sentenced today to 21 months incarceration for a firearms charge, United States Attorney Bill Powell announced.
Perry, age 36, pled guilty to one count of “Unlawful Possession of a Firearm” in January 2018. Perry admitted to illegally possessing 9mm pistol in Monongalia County in March 2017.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Zelda E. Wesley prosecuted the case on behalf of the government. The Mon Metro Drug & Violent Crimes Task Force investigated.
The investigation was funded by the federal Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force Program (OCDETF). The OCDETF program supplies critical federal funding and coordination that allows federal and state agencies to work together to successfully identify, investigate, and prosecute major interstate and international drug trafficking organizations and other criminal enterprises.
Senior U.S. District Judge Irene M. Keeley presided.
McKinney Man Pleads Guilty to Scheme to Defraud Investors to Support Lavish LifestyleRead the Press Release
DALLAS — Gary Ronald Morris, 69, of McKinney, Texas, appeared in federal court yesterday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Rene Toliver and pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud, announced U.S. Attorney Erin Nealy Cox of the Northern District of Texas.
The filed Information alleged that during the period from at least 2008 through 2016, Morris owned and operated Greystone Digital Technologies, Inc. and Kiboga Systems Inc., based in Addison, Texas and registered in the state of Texas. Morris represented that Greystone developed and manufactured large bore cargo scanners capable of scanning cargo containers, and that Kiboga developed and maintained software that operated the large bore cargo scanners. It was also alleged that Morris falsely represented to investors that he completed his design and had actually built a fully functional “cargo scanner ”, and that this new “cargo scanner” had been built, tested and demonstrated a capacity to successfully scan vehicles, trucks, cargo containers, and other items for the detection of drugs, explosives and other contraband. In furtherance of the scheme, Morris made false representations to investors that he needed and used investor funds to finance the continued development of the software program for the cargo scanner.
The wire fraud count also alleged that the vast majority of the investor funds were used for Morris’ personal expenses and to support his lavish lifestyle. Among other things, Morris used investor funds for travel, to purchase luxury automobiles and two residences with a total value of nearly $1 million and as the source of funds for hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash withdrawals.
In his filed plea papers, Morris admitted that he engaged in a scheme to defraud investors for an extended period, from at least 2008 through 2016. Morris also admitted that as part of this scheme he made a series of false representations to investors in order to conceal from investors the true state of the business of Greystone Digital Technologies. Morris deceived investors in order to avoid demands for refunds of invested funds or possible lawsuits from investors. Specifically, Morris used a fraudulent email to falsely represent to investors that Greystone employees were physically on site and working on the cargo scanner project at the Federal Express facility in Memphis, Tennessee. In this fraudulent email, Morris also falsely represented that Greystone employees were engaged in ongoing activity with Federal Express employees focused on the development of a cargo scanner.
Morris faces a maximum penalty of imprisonment not to exceed twenty years and a $250,000 fine. Restitution could also be ordered. Sentencing has not been set.
The investigation was conducted by the Wichita Falls office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Assistant U.S. Attorney David Jarvis is in charge of the prosecution.
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MS-13 Member Pleads Guilty to RICO ConspiracyRead the Press Release
BOSTON – An MS-13 member pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court in Boston to racketeering conspiracy.
Modesto Ramirez, a/k/a “Snoopy,” 29, a Honduran national, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to conduct enterprise affairs through a pattern of racketeering activity, more commonly referred to as RICO or racketeering conspiracy. U.S. District Court Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV scheduled sentencing for Aug. 21, 2018.
After a multi-year investigation, Ramirez was one of dozens of alleged leaders, members, and associates of MS-13 named in a superseding indictment unsealed in January 2016 that targeted MS-13’s criminal activities in Massachusetts. Ramirez is the 47th defendant to be convicted as part of that ongoing prosecution.
Ramirez was a member of the Trece Locos Salvatrucha or TLS clique of MS-13. The evidence against Ramirez included a secretly-taped recording made by a cooperating witness in which Ramirez discussed his intention to kill a gang rival.
At today’s hearing, the Court accepted Ramirez’s guilty plea but deferred acceptance of the plea agreement until the sentencing hearing. Under the terms of the proposed plea agreement, Ramirez will be sentenced to 97 months in prison. Ramirez will also be subject to deportation upon the completion of his sentence.
United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Harold H. Shaw, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; Peter Fitzhugh, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston; Colonel Kerry A. Gilpin, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police; Commissioner Thomas Turco of the Massachusetts Department of Corrections; Essex County Sheriff Kevin F. Coppinger; Suffolk County Sheriff Steven W. Thompkins; Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley; Middlesex County District Attorney Marian T. Ryan; Essex County District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett; Boston Police Commissioner William Evans; Chelsea Police Chief Brian A. Kyes; Everett Police Chief Steven A. Mazzie; Lynn Police Chief Michael Mageary; Revere Police Chief James Guido; and Somerville Police Chief David Fallon made the announcement.
The remaining defendants charged in this case are presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Long Island Man Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy to Distribute OxycodoneRead the Press Release
Earlier today, at the federal courthouse in Central Islip, Terrance Belford pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute oxycodone, a Schedule II controlled substance. Belford was arrested in June 2017 for his participation in an oxycodone distribution ring active on Long Island and elsewhere in 2016. The guilty plea was entered before United States District Judge Joanna Seybert. When sentenced, Belford faces up to 30 years in prison and a fine of up to $2 million.
Richard P. Donoghue, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, and James J. Hunt, Special Agent-in-Charge, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), New York Division, announced the guilty plea.
“Using stolen prescription forms to acquire his drug supply, Belford distributed opioids in our community and beyond, fueling the opioid crisis to his financial benefit,” stated United States Attorney Donoghue. “This Office will continue to vigorously prosecute opioid dealers like the defendant who are motivated by greed and have no respect for the lives of others.” Mr. Donoghue expressed his gratitude to all the alert and responsible pharmacists nationwide, including those in Enterprise, Alabama, whose reports of the suspicious prescription forms presented by Belford and his co-conspirators were integral to the success of this prosecution.
“Belford didn’t have too much to hide since he boldly posted his drug trafficking activities on social media,” stated DEA Special Agent-in-Charge Hunt. “Too often, criminal organizations try to hide behind new communication platforms with false bravado that no one is watching, but in this case, law enforcement was watching. Today’s plea is a result of drug law enforcement’s commitment to investigating those who enable drug addiction and misuse.”
According to court filings and facts presented during the plea proceeding, beginning in late 2016 and continuing into early 2017, the DEA learned of a large number of New York State prescription forms that had been stolen and later filled at various pharmacies located within the Eastern District of New York, as well as in North Carolina, South Carolina and Alabama, among other locations. Belford and his co-conspirators filled out the stolen prescription forms and used them to obtain controlled substances, typically 30 milligram oxycodone tablets. They then sold the fraudulently acquired opioids at a substantial profit.
In December 2016, Belford attempted to fill one of the stolen prescriptions in Enterprise, Alabama, under a false name. An employee of the pharmacy refused to fill the prescription and called the local police, resulting in Belford’s arrest. Further investigation revealed that, via his Facebook account, Belford boasted of his ability to obtain multiple controlled substances unlawfully, including oxycodone, Percocet and powder cocaine. Belford stated on Facebook that, if he had not been intercepted in Alabama, he would have made up to $2,000 for each forged prescription through the resale of oxycodone.
This case was investigated by the DEA’s Long Island Tactical Diversion Squad comprising agents and officers of the DEA, Nassau County Police Department, Rockville Centre Police Department, Suffolk County Police Department, Port Washington Police Department and Internal Revenue Service.
The government’s case is being handled by the Office’s Long Island Criminal Division. Assistant United States Attorney J. Matthew Haggans is in charge of the prosecution.
The Defendant:
TERRANCE BELFORD
Age: 36
Bellport, New YorkE.D.N.Y. Docket No. 17-CR-399 (JS)
Local Union Official Sentenced to Five Years’ Imprisonment for Extorting Business Owner into Hiring Union MembersRead the Press Release
Earlier today, at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn, Roland Bedwell, the business manager of United Plant and Production Workers Local 175, was sentenced by United States District Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis to five years’ imprisonment and three years’ supervised release, following his guilty plea to extorting a construction business owner. Bedwell was arrested on the charges in December 2016 and pleaded guilty in August 2017.
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 Michael C. Mikulka, Special Agent-in-Charge, New York Region, U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General (DOL OIG), announced the sentence.
“Unions exist to protect workers, not to serve as vehicles for extortion. This sentence ends Bedwell’s career of extorting business owners and sends a clear message that others who attempt do so will suffer the same fate,” stated United States Attorney Donoghue. “This Office, working closely with our law enforcement partners, is committed to protecting hard-working business owners and ensuring that unions are not turned into criminal organizations.”
“For many of the cases investigated by our FBI New York Joint Organized Crime Task Force, the general public doesn’t see the real life impact of organized crime groups and their criminal acts,” stated FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Sweeney. “But this case illustrates how extortion and threats stopped progress at a public works project at one of the busiest airports in our region. The subject boasted about how he didn’t understand why he wasn’t in jail. After an outstanding investigation with our law enforcement partners, that’s exactly where he is going.”
“As the top union official of United Plant and Production Workers Local 175, Business Manager Roland Bedwell abused his position by threatening business owners with physical harm if they did not sign collective bargaining agreements with Local 175,” stated DOL OIG Special Agent-in-Charge Mikulka. “The U.S. Department of Labor Office of Inspector General will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to ensure that union officials lawfully represent the interests of their members and that businesses can operate in a fair and just environment, free from illegal extortionate demands.”
According to court filings and statements made in court, the extortion for which Bedwell was sentenced today was partly captured during a recorded conversation the defendant had at a restaurant in Queens with an individual who owned a construction business (the “victim’). Bedwell explained to the victim the financial pain he had previously inflicted on others when, for example, a delivery truck transporting trees was blocked causing the trees to die. Bedwell then warned the victim that if he did not employ Local 175 members, Bedwell would use a crew of 15 “ex-military” men, who were unafraid to serve time in prison, to interfere with the victim’s business, resulting in the loss of a “tremendous amount of money.” Bedwell added, “Honestly, whatever they do or don’t do – pretty much up to them . . . either you’re gonna sign the contract . . . or these boys are gonna do it again.” The business owner relented, making his workers sign with Local 175.
In connection with his guilty plea, Bedwell also admitted that he attempted to extort another construction business owner, telling him that he would not get asphalt delivered to a LaGuardia Airport job site if he did not agree to employ Local 175 members. When the owner refused to sign an agreement with Local 175, Bedwell and his co-conspirators stopped the asphalt-delivery trucks, harassed the drivers and slashed their tires.
The extortion and attempted extortion were part of a pattern in which Bedwell referred to his ties to a member and then-associate of the Gambino organized crime family of La Cosa Nostra, as well as his own reputation as a “muscle man,” to intimidate businesses into signing labor contracts with Local 175. Bedwell’s co-conspirators also physically assaulted workers associated with contractors who refused to sign with Local 175.
The government’s case is being handled by the Office’s Organized Crime and Gangs Section. Assistant United States Attorneys Nadia Shihata, Andrey Spektor and Nicholas J. Moscow are in charge of the prosecution.
The Defendant:
ROLAND BEDWELL
Age: 57
Residence: Freeport, New YorkE.D.N.Y. Docket No. 16-CR-608 (S-2) (NGG)
Local Builder Heads to Party Cove: Leaves Investors in His WakeRead the Press Release
St. Louis, MO - Paul Creager, 39, of St Louis County, Missouri was sentenced to 60 months imprisonment for defrauding two investors in his failed construction business during 2016. Creager pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud on December 21, 2017 and appeared before Chief Judge Rodney W. Sippel in St. Louis today for sentencing.
According to court records, Creager solicited $724,000 from two investors in exchange for equity interests in his construction firm. Creager admitted that during his negotiations with the victims, he presented false financial records which omitted a massive debt owed by his company to a hard money lender which lender possessed a secured interest in virtually all of Creager’s business and personal assets. Soon after receiving victims’ investments, Creager’s business was not able to meet its financial obligations and stopped operating. By mid-2017, Creager’s primary lender foreclosed on virtually all of his assets rendering the investors’ equity stakes in his business worthless. While Creager’s business was failing and his subcontractors and vendors went unpaid, Creager maintained a luxurious lifestyle which included homes in Wildwood and the Lake of the Ozarks as well as a host of vehicles including a Bentley automobile and a 52-foot yacht.
"When you invest in a business, you are entitled to an honest representation of the financial health of the business, and to know how your money will be spent," said Special Agent in Charge Richard Quinn of the FBI St. Louis Division. "Paul Creager knowingly defrauded his investors so he could use their money to live a lavish lifestyle."
In addition to the term of imprisonment, Creager will serve three years of supervised release after release from imprisonment. The Court also ordered Creager to repay the victims $724,024.14 pursuant to the Mandatory Victims Restitution Act. The U.S. Attorney’s office has seized numerous items of Creager’s personal property and will seek to liquidate the seized assets to help pay restitution to the victims.
Creager faces a second fraud Indictment which was filed in 2018 alleging fraud in the solicitation of another investor of more than $2,000,000 as well as fraud upon a title agency in connection with the closing of one of his properties. Creager has pleaded not guilty to those charges which have yet to be resolved.
William Glaser, a former financial advisor and an associate of Creager, is accused in a third case of wire fraud for defrauding his clients in the course of raising more than $1,000,000 in capital for Creager’s business. Glaser is not implicated in either of the criminal cases against Creager nor is Creager implicated in the criminal case against Glaser. Glaser has pleaded not guilty to the criminal charges against him.
As is always the case, charges set forth in an indictment are merely accusations and do not constitute proof of guilt. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty.
The St. Louis division of the FBI investigated this case. Tom Albus handled the case for the U.S. Attorney’s office.
Lawrence County Man Sentenced for Prohibited Person in Possession of a FirearmRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Ronald A. Parsons, Jr. announced that a Lead, South Dakota, man convicted of Prohibited Person in Possession of a Firearm was sentenced on May 15, 2018, by Chief Judge Jeffrey L. Viken, U.S. District Court.
AJ Bradshaw, age 31, was sentenced to 96 months in custody, followed by 3 years of supervised release and $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.
Bradshaw was indicted for Possession of Unregistered Firearms, Prohibited Person in Possession of Firearm, Prohibited Possession of Explosives, and Possession with Intent to Distribute a Controlled Substance by a federal grand jury on September 12, 2017. He pled guilty to Count II on January 5, 2018.
On August 26, 2017, the Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle operated by Bradshaw. Inside the vehicle, law enforcement found numerous firearms, methamphetamine, marijuana, $12,400 cash, and other drug paraphernalia. Law enforcement further searched the defendant’s residence and seized additional firearms, drugs and drug paraphernalia. A total of 41 firearms were seized.
This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives Taskforce, South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigations, Rapid City Police Department, Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office, and Butte County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathryn N. Rich prosecuted the case.
Bradshaw was immediately turned over to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
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.
Las Vegas, Nevada Man Sentenced to Prison for E-Mail ThreatsRead the Press Release
COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa – On May 17, 2018, Glen S. Davis, age 48, of Las Vegas, Nevada, was sentenced by United States District Court Judge Stephanie M. Rose to one year and one day in prison for interstate communication of a threat, announced United States Attorney Marc Krickbaum. Following his prison term, Davis will serve three years of supervised release.
Davis pleaded guilty for sending emails that contained threats to injure another person. Davis sent the threatening e-mails to an individual who ordered the repossession of a vehicle leased by Davis, due to non-payment.
This matter was investigated by the Carter Lake Police Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.
Kingsmen President, Regional President, and Member Convicted by A Federal Jury of Murder and Racketeering Following Four Month TrialRead the Press Release
CONTACT: Barbara Burns
PHONE: (716) 843-5817
FAX #: (716) 551-3051BUFFALO, N.Y. - Following a four-month trial, a federal jury in Buffalo, New York, has convicted three leaders and members of the Kingsmen Motorcycle Club (KMC), including the National President, of multiple charges for their roles in a major racketeering operation that involved violence and murder.
Acting Assistant Attorney General John P. Cronan of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy Jr. for the Western District of New York and Special Agent in Charge Gary Loeffert of FBI Buffalo made the announcement.
David Pirk, 67, KMC National President, and Andre Jenkins aka Little Bear, 39, KMC member and Nomad, were convicted of RICO conspiracy, possession of firearms in furtherance of crime of violence, murder in aid of racketeering, possession and discharge of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, using and maintaining premises for drug dealing and possession of firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. Jenkins was also convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Timothy Enix, aka Blaze, 58, KMC member and Florida/Tennessee Regional President, was convicted of RICO conspiracy, possession of firearms in furtherance of a crime of violence, using and maintaining premises for drug dealing and possession of firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
“The defendants and their associates transformed the Kingsmen Motorcycle Club into a vicious gang that terrorized the Buffalo area, engaging in senseless murders, brutal violence, robberies, and drug trafficking,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Cronan. “But after today’s verdict, the Kingsmen Motorcycle Club’s reign of terror is coming to an end. The U.S. Department of Justice and our partners will aggressively pursue violent gangs wherever they are found and bring them to justice.”
“Today’s verdict demonstrates that the rule of law, as enforced by the dedicated men and women of this Office together with our partners in federal, state, and local law enforcement, is more powerful than even the murderous leaders of an outlaw biker gang,” said U.S. Attorney Kennedy. “Through the tireless work of our trial team, led by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joe Tripi, Chief of the Strategic Operations and Prosecutions Section, and Brendan Cullinane, of the Office’s Narcotics and Violent Crime Section, together with prosecutor Marianne Shelvey of DOJ’s Organized Crime and Gang Section and case agents, HSI Special Agent Gregory Mango and FBI Special Agent Steven Donnelly, the full truth has finally been revealed. The ringleaders of the Kingsmen Motorcycle Club have been exposed as the murderous, drug-dealing, gun-toting, misogynistic thugs that they are, and all of those responsible for the senseless murders of Paul Maue and Daniel ‘DJ’ Szymanski have been finally brought to justice.”
“Motorcycle gangs have evolved over 70 years from bar-room brawlers to somewhat sophisticated criminals,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Loeffert. “The Kingsmen's leadership not only voiced a desire to turn its club into a “one-percenter” gang, it acted on that desire when Paul Maue and DJ Szymanski were killed. Those murders told everyone that the Kingsmen do not want to be aligned with the vast majority of riders who are law-abiding citizens. With today’s verdicts, the repeated and regular acts of violence so inculcated into the culture of the Kingsmen Motorcycle Club are over.”
“The guilty verdicts issued today are a powerful example of justice being served against a ruthless and violent criminal gang,” said HSI Special Agent in Charge Kevin Kelly. “Cases like these demonstrate that the combined resolve of all of the participating law enforcement agencies is a vital force against criminal groups.”
According to court documents and evidence presented by the government at trial, beginning in 2013, certain KMC members, including defendant David Pirk, wanted to establish the KMC as a 1 percent club. The 1 percent refers to a previous statement by a representative of the American Motorcycle Association that 99 percent of motorcyclists were law-abiding citizens with the remaining 1 percent engaged in certain activities such as drug and firearm trafficking, and acts of violence. The defendants, and others, participated in, directly and indirectly, acts of murder, assault, robbery, kidnapping, drug trafficking, obstruction of justice, and witness tampering.Acts of violence committed by the KMC include:
• In September 2014, Pirk told defendant Jenkins to “take care of it.” This was in reference to KMC members Paul Maue and Daniel “DJ” Szymanski who were murdered behind the North Tonawanda KMC Chapter clubhouse on Sept. 6, 2014.
• On June 7, 2013, KMC forcibly shut down the Springville Chapter and strip members of their colors because they were non-compliant members. Brandishing firearms, KMC members struck a victim in the head with a blunt object and stole items from the Springville clubhouse. They then used bleach to clean areas where the victim bled and cut and removed portions of the rug, which contained blood.
• On Sept. 12, 2009, a female victim was punched repeatedly in the face by a KMC member and then held against her will for three days to conceal her facial injuries from police.
Sentencing is set for Sept. 25 before U.S. District Court Judge Elizabeth A. Wolford, who presided over the trial of the case.
The investigation was led by the FBI’s Safe Streets Task Force. Assisting in the investigation were the FBI Knoxville, Tennessee and Jacksonville, Florida Field Offices; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations; the Erie County Sheriff’s Office; the Buffalo Police Department; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the New York State Police; the Olean Police Department; the Lancaster Police Department; the Amherst Police Department; the Town of Tonawanda Police Department; the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority Police; the Cattaraugus County Sheriff’s Department; and the Hamburg Police Department. Trial Attorney Marianne Shelvey of the Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Gang Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joseph Tripi and Brendan Cullinane for the Western District of New York prosecuted the case.Kingsmen Motorcycle Club Gang President, Regional President, and Member Convicted by A Federal Jury of Murder and RacketeeringRead the Press Release
Following a four-month trial, a federal jury in Buffalo, New York, has convicted three leaders and members of the Kingsmen Motorcycle Club (KMC), including the National President, of multiple charges for their roles in a major racketeering operation that involved violence and murder.
Acting Assistant Attorney General John P. Cronan of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy Jr. for the Western District of New York, Special Agent in Charge Gary Loeffert of FBI Buffalo, and Special Agent in Charge Kevin Kelly of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) made the announcement.
David Pirk, 67, KMC National President, and Andre Jenkins aka Little Bear, 39, KMC member and Nomad, were convicted of RICO conspiracy, possession of firearms in furtherance of crime of violence, murder in aid of racketeering, possession and discharge of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, using and maintaining premises for drug dealing and possession of firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. Jenkins was also convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Timothy Enix, aka Blaze, 58, KMC Nomad, National Secretary/Treasurer, and Florida/Tennessee Regional President, was convicted of RICO conspiracy, possession of firearms in furtherance of a crime of violence, using and maintaining premises for drug dealing and possession of firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
“The defendants and their associates transformed the Kingsmen Motorcycle Club into a vicious gang that terrorized the Buffalo area, engaging in senseless murders, brutal violence, robberies, and drug trafficking,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Cronan. “But after today’s verdict, the Kingsmen Motorcycle Club’s reign of terror is coming to an end. The U.S. Department of Justice and our partners will aggressively pursue violent gangs wherever they are found and bring them to justice.”
“Today’s verdict demonstrates that the rule of law, as enforced by the dedicated men and women of this Office together with our partners in federal, state, and local law enforcement, is more powerful than even the murderous leaders of an outlaw biker gang,” said U.S. Attorney Kennedy. “Through the tireless work of our trial team, led by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joe Tripi, Chief of the Strategic Operations and Prosecutions Section, and Brendan Cullinane of the Office’s Narcotics and Violent Crime Section, together with prosecutor Marianne Shelvey of DOJ’s Organized Crime and Gang Section and case agents, HSI Special Agent Gregory Mango and FBI Special Agent Steven Donnelly, the full truth has finally been revealed. The ringleaders of the Kingsmen Motorcycle Club have been exposed as the murderous, drug-dealing, gun-toting, misogynistic thugs that they are, and all of those responsible for the senseless murders of Paul Maue and Daniel ‘DJ’ Szymanski have been finally brought to justice.”
“Motorcycle gangs have evolved over 70 years from bar-room brawlers to somewhat sophisticated criminals,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Loeffert. “The Kingsmen's leadership not only voiced a desire to turn its club into a “one-percenter” gang, it acted on that desire when Paul Maue and DJ Szymanski were killed. Those murders told everyone that the Kingsmen do not want to be aligned with the vast majority of riders who are law-abiding citizens. With today's verdicts, the repeated and regular acts of violence so inculcated into the culture of the Kingsmen Motorcycle Club are over.”
“The guilty verdicts issued today are a powerful example of justice being served against a ruthless and violent criminal gang,” said HSI Special Agent in Charge Kelly. “Cases like these demonstrate that the combined resolve of all of the participating law enforcement agencies is a vital force against criminal groups.”
According to court documents and evidence presented by the government at trial, beginning in 2013, certain KMC members, including defendant David Pirk, wanted to establish the KMC as a one percent club. The one percent refers to a previous statement by a representative of the American Motorcycle Association that 99 percent of motorcyclists were law-abiding citizens with the remaining one percent engaged in certain activities such as drug and firearm trafficking, and acts of violence. The defendants, and others, participated in, directly and indirectly, acts of murder, assault, robbery, kidnapping, drug trafficking, obstruction of justice, and witness tampering.
Acts of violence committed by the KMC include:
- In September 2014, Pirk told defendant Jenkins to “take care of it.” This was in reference to KMC members Paul Maue and Daniel “DJ” Szymanski who were murdered behind the North Tonawanda KMC Chapter clubhouse on Sept. 6, 2014.
- On June 7, 2013, KMC forcibly shut down the Springville Chapter and strip members of their colors because they were non-compliant members. Brandishing firearms, KMC members struck a victim in the head with a blunt object and stole items from the Springville clubhouse. They then used bleach to clean areas where the victim bled and cut and removed portions of the rug, which contained blood.
- On Sept. 12, 2009, a female victim was punched repeatedly in the face by a KMC member and then held against her will for three days to conceal her facial injuries from police.
- As part of the enterprise, members of the organization used women to deal narcotics and encouraged prostitution in the clubhouses as a way to entice members and the public to come to the clubhouses to further their profits.
Sentencing is set for Sept. 25 before U.S. District Court Judge Elizabeth A. Wolford, who presided over the trial of the case.
The investigation was led by the FBI’s Safe Streets Task Force. Assisting in the investigation were the FBI Knoxville, Tennessee and Jacksonville, Florida Field Offices; HSI Buffalo; the Erie County Sheriff’s Office; the Buffalo Police Department; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the New York State Police; the Olean Police Department; the Lancaster Police Department; the Amherst Police Department; the Town of Tonawanda Police Department; the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority Police; the Cattaraugus County Sheriff’s Department and the Hamburg Police Department. Trial Attorney Marianne Shelvey of the Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Gang Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joseph Tripi and Brendan Cullinane for the Western District of New York prosecuted the case.
- In September 2014, Pirk told defendant Jenkins to “take care of it.” This was in reference to KMC members Paul Maue and Daniel “DJ” Szymanski who were murdered behind the North Tonawanda KMC Chapter clubhouse on Sept. 6, 2014.
Kinderhook Podiatrist Sentenced for Health Care FraudRead the Press Release
ALBANY, NEW YORK – Perrin D. Edwards, D.P.M., age 65, of Kinderhook, New York, was sentenced today to 1 year of probation, 50 hours of community service, and a $5,000 fine for committing health care fraud.
The announcement was made by United States Attorney Grant C. Jaquith; Janelle M. Miller, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI);and Scott J. Lampert, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General’s New York Region (HHS-OIG).
As part of his guilty plea before United States District Judge Mae A. D’Agostino, Edwards admitted that he operated a podiatry practice with offices in Hudson and Albany, New York, and caused false and fraudulent claims to be submitted to Medicare and private insurance companies for podiatric medical services that he had not performed or that he knew would not be covered by insurance.
Edwards admitted that he performed routine foot care services that were not covered by insurers, and falsely represented that nail debridement services were performed for some patients. Nail debridement is the process of removing dead and diseased portions of a toenail in order to significantly reduce its thickness and length, with the aim of allowing the patient to move around without pain.
Edwards also submitted claims to insurers for the trimming of normal toenails for patients Edwards knew did not suffer from any systemic condition such that Medicare and other insurers would cover his services. In connection with these fraudulent claims, Edwards caused false information to be entered into the patients’ medical records indicating that the patients suffered from systemic conditions, and had reported symptoms that were not present.
In connection with a related False Claims Act civil settlement, Edwards has paid $410,000 to the United States and admitted that he submitted, or caused others to submit, false claims for payment to Medicare.
The criminal case was investigated by the FBI and HHS-OIG, and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Richard Belliss and Joseph Giovannetti. The United States was represented in the civil case by Assistant United States Attorney Adam J. Katz.
Joplin Man Sentenced to 25 Years for Jewelry Store Armed RobberyRead the Press Release
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – A Joplin, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for the armed robbery of a local jewelry store and a carjacking.
Paul Lloyd, 34, of Joplin, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Roseann Ketchmark to 25 years in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered Lloyd to pay $7,615 in restitution.
On Jan. 19, 2017, Lloyd pleaded guilty to one count of armed robbery, one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm, one count of discharging a firearm during a crime of violence and one count of transporting a stolen vehicle across state lines.
According to court documents, Lloyd entered Select Jewelers in Joplin on March 17, 2016. He approached an employee and asked to see several pieces of jewelry, selected a necklace for purchase, and walked to the cash register. Lloyd then produced a firearm and demanded that the clerk “give me all the jewelry.” Lloyd then stated “I’m not kidding,” and discharged the firearm into the wall. The clerk opened the cash register and gave him the money; Lloyd grabbed several pieces of jewelry from a display case and left the store.
The bullet fired by Lloyd penetrated the wall of the jewelry store and traveled into the adjoining restaurant, which was then occupied by a number of patrons. No one suffered any injuries.
Two days later, on March 19, 2016, Lloyd stole a Ford Mustang from its owner at gunpoint. The owner of the Mustang told law enforcement that Lloyd claimed his girlfriend had kicked him out of his home and that he needed a ride. The owner of the Mustang drove Lloyd to the intersection of Central and McKee in Joplin, where Lloyd asked to be dropped off. When the owner of the Mustang pulled to the side of the road, Lloyd produced a firearm and ordered him to get out. Lloyd then drove the vehicle away.
Law enforcement officers were able to determine that the vehicle was in Cherokee County, Kan., by tracing the location of the victim’s cell phone, which had been left in the Mustang. Cherokee County Sheriff’s deputies located the vehicle and attempted to conduct a traffic stop. Lloyd led the deputies on a chase until he crashed the vehicle into a fence and fled on foot. Deputies were able to apprehend Lloyd after his foot became entangled in a barbed wire fence and they deployed a taser. Deputies recovered a loaded SCCY 9mm firearm next to the driver’s side door of the Mustang.
Under federal law, it is illegal for anyone convicted of a felony to be in possession of any firearm or ammunition. Lloyd, who was released from prison six months prior to the jewelry store robbery, has three prior felony convictions for assault with a dangerous weapon, to prior felony convictions for attempting to elude a police officer, three prior felony convictions for tampering with a motor vehicle, and prior felony convictions for stealing a motor vehicle, burglary, escape from custody, running a roadblock and placing a bodily fluid on a police officer.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney James J. Kelleher. It was investigated by the Joplin, Mo., Police Department, the Cherokee County, Kan., Sheriff’s Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Jamaican Citizen Sentenced to 26 Months in Prison for Re-entering U.S. after being Deported Three TimesRead the Press Release
PHILADELPHIA – Vivian George Stewart, 49, who has used five aliases in his attempts to enter or remain in the United States, was sentenced May 16 to 26 months in prison for re-entering the country illegally, announced United States Attorney William M. McSwain. Stewart pled guilty in February.
Stewart had previously been convicted in 2006 of participating in a drug-trafficking conspiracy, and in 2009 of illegal reentry after deportation. In addition, Stewart has been deported on three separate occasions.
Most recently, Stewart was convicted of illegal reentry after deportation in the Southern District of Florida. Stewart was removed to Jamaica after serving his sentence, but he returned to the United States once again. In November 2017, the defendant was encountered in Philadelphia and identified from fingerprint analysis performed by agents with the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations, who concluded that Stewart had once again returned to this country unlawfully.
“This defendant has shown no regard for U.S. immigration laws and has been undeterred by prior criminal prosecution,” said U.S. Attorney McSwain. “This is a significant sentence and one that we hope will deter this kind of brazen disregard for U.S. law.”
The case was investigated by the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer Jordan.
Irving Man Sentenced to 155 Months in Federal Prison for his Role in a String of Armed RobberiesRead the Press Release
DALLAS — An Irving man, David Rice, age 32, who admitted that he and his co-conspirator, Kevin Iles, committed the armed robberies of four grocery stores in June 2015, was sentenced Thursday by U.S. U.S. District Judge Jane J. Boyle to 155 months (13 years) in federal prison for conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act robbery and for a firearm offense related to the conspiracy, announced U.S. Attorney Erin Nealy Cox of the Northern District of Texas.
Rice pleaded guilty in July 2017, to one count of conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery and to one count of using, carrying and brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence. He has been in custody since his arrest in October 2015.
According to the Factual Resume filed in the case, the two committed four armed robberies in Irving and Carrollton on June 4, 2015, at the following locations:
ALDI, Inc. 2926 North Beltline Road, Irving TX
TNL Superfoods 3113 North Beltline Road, Irving TX
Rainbow USA 2311 West Interstate Highway 20, Irving TX
Monaliza LLC 2625 Old Denton Road, Carrollton, Texas
All of these four robberies were committed in essentially the same manner, including Rice’s use and brandishing of a firearm to threaten and force store employees to comply with his demands. On June 4, 2015, Rice paid Iles cash from the robbery proceeds for Iles’ assistance in the above referenced robberies.
The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the Irving Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Keith Robinson and Gary Tromblay prosecuted.
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Inmate who Orchestrated Complex Tax Fraud Scheme from Multiple Corrections Facilities Sentenced to 8 Years in Federal PrisonRead the Press Release
PITTSBURGH, Pa. – A former resident of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, has been sentenced in federal court to 96 months of incarceration, followed by five years of supervised release, and payment of $246,170.03 in restitution, on his convictions for conspiracy to commit bank and mail fraud and conspiracy to defraud the United States, United States Attorney Scott W. Brady announced today.
United States District Judge Mark R. Hornak imposed the sentence on Reginald Harris, 51.
According to information presented to the court, from around September 2009 through December 2012, Harris, while imprisoned on state offenses at SCI-Cresson and other correctional facilities, conspired with others to defraud the Internal Revenue Service by filing fraudulent tax returns and collecting refunds in the names of other people, many of whom were fellow inmates at state facilities. After his release from state prison, Harris was charged with a federal drug-related offense. When serving that sentence and while awaiting sentencing on the tax-related offenses, Harris continued to commit tax offenses while in federal custody at North East Ohio Corrections Center. While in federal custody, he arranged for the filing of fraudulent tax returns of other individuals in federal custody at NEOCC.
The Court concluded that Harris was the leader of the complex tax fraud scheme, and that he was responsible for the filing of hundreds of tax returns that sought hundreds of thousands of fraudulent refunds. He coordinated the scheme through several non-incarcerated individuals who established banks accounts, mailed the tax returns, and obtained the information for the tax returns. Harris also taught other inmates how to conduct the scheme.
Prior to imposing sentence, Judge Hornak recognized that Harris was the hub for a complicated and substantial tax fraud scheme that affected many people and was hard to detect. He further emphasized that Harris recruited others who did not appear predisposed to commit this type of crime without Harris’s substantial direction. Judge Hornak also described Harris’s substantial criminal history as a ‘buffet of criminal conduct’ that included a wide array of offenses involving fraud, theft, drug sales, and threats of violence, and expressed concern that a prison sentence alone seemed unlikely to deter Harris’s further criminal conduct.
Assistant United States Attorney Brendan T. Conway prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.
United States Attorney Brady commended The Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation, United States Postal Inspection Service and the Department of Homeland Security – Homeland Security Investigations conducted the investigation that led to the prosecution of Harris.
Inmate Convicted of Conspiracy at Maryland’s Eastern Correctional InstitutionRead the Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact ELIZABETH MORSE
www.justice.gov/usao/md at (410) 209-4885
Baltimore, Maryland – A federal jury has convicted Ternell Lucas, a/k/a “T.L.,” a/k/a “Moon,” age 43, with racketeering at the Eastern Correctional Institution in Westover, Maryland. Lucas was found guilty of bribery conspiracy, bribery of a public employee, conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute suboxone and K2, and money laundering.
The conviction was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Robert K. Hur; Special Agent in Charge Gordon B. Johnson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; and Secretary Stephen T. Moyer of the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services (DPSCS).
The Eastern Correctional Institution (ECI) is the largest state prison in Maryland, operating since 1987 near Westover, in Somerset County, on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. ECI is a medium-security prison for men built as two identical compounds (East and West) on 620 acres, and housing more than 3,300 inmates. The East and West Compounds are further divided into Housing Units, 1 through 4 in the West and 5 through 8 in the East. Lucas was an inmate at ECI’s West Compound during the time of the conspiracy.
According to evidence presented at trial, from 2014 until October 5, 2016, correctional officers (COs) smuggled contraband into ECI, including narcotics, cell phones, pornographic DVDs, and tobacco. These items were distributed by inmates, and the COs managed the proceeds of the sales. The “going rate” for a CO to smuggle contraband into ECI was $500 per package, although some COs charged more and others charged less. According to evidence presented at trial, inmates and facilitators paid COs for smuggled contraband in cash, money orders, and through PayPal. Inmates were able to use contraband cell phones to pay COs directly using PayPal from within ECI. Inmates also received payments from other inmates for contraband through PayPal, often with the assistance of facilitators.
According to evidence presented at trial, Lucas acted as both a wholesaler and retailer of contraband and in the process made profits that far exceeded the profits that could be made by selling similar drugs on the street.
According to evidence presented at trial, ECI employees were required to pass through security screening at the entrance to ECI, but were able to hide contraband on their persons. Further, Cos took breaks during their shifts and returned to their cars to retrieve contraband. Once COs had the smuggled contraband inside the facility, they delivered it to: inmates in their cells; clerks’ offices, which were private offices within each housing unit where an inmate clerk worked; the officers’ dining room, where officers could interact with inmate servers and kitchen workers; and pre-arranged “stash” locations such as staff bathrooms, storage closets, laundry rooms, and other places where contraband could be hidden and then later retrieved by inmates.
Lucas faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for the racketeering conspiracy, and for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute drugs.
Correctional Officer Rozlyn Bratten, age 32, of Snow Hill, Maryland was acquitted of bribery conspiracy, and conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute K2.
United States District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow has scheduled sentencing for Lucas on August 13, 2018.
As of today’s conviction, 70 of the 80 defendants originally indicted in this case have pled guilty, including 14 of the 18 correctional officers who were charged.
United States Attorney Hur expressed appreciation to Secretary Moyer, whose staff initiated the ECI investigation and who has made the full resources of the DPSCS available to assist the three-year investigation.
United States Attorney Hur commended the FBI, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, the Baltimore Police Department, and the Maryland State Police for their work in the investigation. Mr. Hur thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Leo J. Wise, Robert R. Harding, and Daniel C. Gardner, who prosecuted this Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force case.
Honduran National Charged with Illegal ReentryRead the Press Release
U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that MIGUEL ANGEL ORTIZ-GUEVARA, age 42, a citizen of Honduras, was charged yesterday in a one-count Indictment with illegal reentry of a removed alien after deportation, in violation of Title 8, United States Code, Section 1326(a).
According to the Indictment, on April 16, 2018, ORTIZ-GUEVARA was found to have reentered the United States after having been previously removed.
If convicted, ORTIZ-GUEVARA faces a term of imprisonment of up to two years, a fine of up to $250,000, a maximum term of supervised release of one year, and a mandatory $100 special assessment.
U.S. Attorney Evans reiterated that the Indictment is merely a charge and that the guilt of the defendant must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
U.S. Attorney Evans praised the work of the United States Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Department in investigating this matter. Assistant United States Attorney Spiro Latsis is in charge of the prosecution.
Holyoke Man Sentenced for Distributing HeroinRead the Press Release
BOSTON - A Holyoke man was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Springfield for distributing heroin.
Angel Baez, 28, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Mark G. Mastroianni to four years in prison and three years of supervised release. In November 2017, Baez pleaded guilty to one count of distribution and possession with intent to distribute heroin.
Baez was arrested and charged following a five-month federal law enforcement investigation into drug trafficking in Springfield and Holyoke. Baez possessed and distributed heroin in Holyoke on April 20 and April 26, 2016.
According to court documents, Baez has three prior state court felony drug convictions, all including heroin: a 2014 conviction for possession with intent to distribute heroin and cocaine; a June 2011 conviction for distributing heroin; and a July 2011 conviction for possession with intent to distribute heroin and cocaine.
United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Harold H. Shaw, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; Colonel Kerry A. Gilpin, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police; Springfield Police Commissioner John Barbieri; and Holyoke Police Chief James M. Neiswanger made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Todd E. Newhouse of Lelling’s Springfield Branch Office prosecuted the case.
Health and Palliative Services of the Treasure Coast, Inc., the Hospice of Martin and St. Lucie, Inc., and Hospice of the Treasure Coast, Inc. Paid $2.5 Million to Settle False Claims AllegationsRead the Press Release
Health and Palliative Services of the Treasure Coast, Inc., The Hospice of Martin and St. Lucie, Inc., and Hospice of the Treasure Coast, Inc. have paid $2.5 million to settle allegations that they violated the False Claims Act by submitting false claims to Medicare for hospice patients.
“When individuals file false claims, they defraud Medicare’s hospice benefit program and divert taxpayer monies away from vital services,” stated U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida Benjamin G. Greenberg. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office will continue to aggressively pursue all health care providers who violate statutory and regulatory provisions that are designed to protect the citizens who depend upon the legitimate care provided by government-sponsored healthcare programs.”
“Those who would exploit Medicare’s hospice benefit to boost their profits in lieu of patient care expropriate precious tax dollars intended for terminal patients in a time of great need,” said Special Agent in Charge Shimon R. Richmond of the U.S. Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General (HHS-OIG). “Our Special Agents will relentlessly pursue health care professionals who threaten the integrity of Federal health care programs."
According to the record, Health and Palliative Services of the Treasure Coast, Inc., The Hospice of Martin and St. Lucie, Inc., and Hospice of the Treasure Coast, Inc. (“the defendants”) are providers of hospice services, in that they, among other things, operate and maintain hospice care facilities and provide home hospice care and hospice services in assisted living facilities and skilled nursing homes throughout the "Treasure Coast” of Florida (an area located on the state's Atlantic coast, comprised of Indian River, St. Lucie, and Martin Counties). The settlement, recently made public, resolved allegations that between 2005 and 2011, the defendants knowingly submitted or caused to be submitted false claims to Medicare, for services to hospice patients who were not eligible for all or part of their hospice care under Medicare requirements. Medicare’s hospice benefit is available for patients who elect palliative treatment (medical care focused on the patient’s relief from pain and stress) for a terminal illness and have a life expectancy of six months or less if their disease runs its normal course. Patients who elect the hospice benefit forgo the right to curative care (medical care focused on treating the patient’s illness).
The allegations settled in this case arose from a lawsuit filed by whistleblowers, John Simons, M.D. and Lewis Cook, M.D., under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act. Under the False Claims Act, private citizens can bring suit on behalf of the government for false claims and share in any recovery. The whistle blowers in this matter were medical doctors formerly employed by the defendants. The doctors alleged that the defendants’ hospice centers were submitting false claims to the United States in relation to hospice care for Medicare patients. The whistle blowers’ complaint alleged that the defendants billed for patients who were not terminally ill and thus did not qualify for the hospice benefit. The doctors received $476,373.73 from the announced recovery.
This case is captioned United States ex rel. John Simons and Lewis Cook v. Health and Palliative Services of the Treasure Coast, Inc., 11-14328-Martinez (S.D. Fla.). This matter was handled by Southern District of Florida Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Lavine and HHS-OIG.
Related court documents may be found on the website of the District Court for the southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov. or http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.
Harrison County man sentenced for health care fraudRead the Press Release
CLARKSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA – Kenneth Boyles, of Clarksburg, West Virginia, was sentenced today to six months incarceration and ordered to pay back more than $240,000 for health care fraud, United States Attorney Bill Powell announced.
Boyles, age 52, pled guilty to one count of “Health Care Fraud” in January 2018. Boyles admitted to falsely reporting symptoms related to his service in the United States Army Reserves to the Veterans Health Administration in order to fraudulently collect more than $224,000 in benefits. The crime occurred from 2008 to 2017 in Harrison County.
Boyles was ordered to pay $244,320.07 in restitution.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah E. Wagner prosecuted the case on behalf of the government. The Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General and the Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated.
Senior U.S. District Judge Irene M. Keeley presided.Garland Man Pleads Guilty to Failing to Register as Sex OffenderRead the Press Release
Bangor, Maine: United States Attorney Halsey B. Frank announced that Roger Edward Picard, 66, of Garland, Maine pled guilty yesterday in U.S. District Court to failing to register as a sex offender.
According to court records, in 1983, Picard was convicted in Massachusetts of Rape of a Child. As a result, he was required to register as a sex offender. On or before December 3, 2016, Picard moved to Garland but failed to register as required. He was arrested on March 1, 2018.
The defendant faces up to 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and three years on supervised release. He will be sentenced after the completion of a presentence report by the U.S. Probation Office.
The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Marshals Service.
Fourth Bronx Man Sentenced in Tax Refund Conspiracy CaseRead the Press Release
SYRACUSE, NEW YORK – Ronnie E. Mejia, age 28, of the Bronx, New York, was sentenced yesterday to serve 120 months in prison for leading a conspiracy that attempted to defraud the U.S. Treasury of $2.8 million through the filing of false tax returns using stolen identities.
The announcement was made by United States Attorney Grant C. Jaquith; James Robnett, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service (IRS)-Criminal Investigation New York Field Office; and Delany E. De Leon-Colon, Acting Inspector in Charge, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Boston Division. In addition to his prison term of 10 years, Mejia was also sentenced to a 3-year term of supervised release following his release from incarceration and was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $478,320.00. The sentence also included his guilty plea to two counts of aggravated identity theft.
In pleading guilty, Mejia admitted that he conspired to steal income tax refunds as part of a scheme involving fraudulent tax returns filed using stolen identities from residents of Puerto Rico. The IRS mailed refund checks generated from these false returns to residential locations (chosen by Mejia and his co-conspirators) of uninvolved residents in the Syracuse and Binghamton, New York areas. Mejia and three co-defendants were stopped by Town of Dewitt Police and U.S. Postal Inspectors on September 26, 2011, as they were in the process of stealing tax refund checks from mailboxes in Dewitt, New York. Mejia was driving a car that was later found to contain 8 unmailed fraudulent federal income tax returns as well as a laptop computer that was used to create false W-2 wage statements as part of the scheme to defraud the IRS. Following the discovery of the scheme, the IRS was able to prevent payment of many of the refunds. At sentencing it was determined that Mejia led the conspiracy and paid others for collecting addresses that were later used to file false tax returns using stolen identities.
Ronnie E. Mejia’s three co-defendants were previously sentenced as follows:
On May 2, 2018, Luis Morillo was sentenced to serve 45 months in prison to be followed by a 3-year term of supervised release and restitution.
On May 8, 2018, Cerrone Hall was sentenced to serve 60 months in prison to be followed by a 3-year term of supervised release and restitution.
On May 16, 2018, Jeffrey Carvajal was sentenced to serve 36 months in prison to be followed by a 3-year term of supervised release and restitution.
This case was investigated by Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation (Syracuse, New York), the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (Syracuse, New York), and the Town of Dewitt Police Department, and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Southwick.
Fort Edward Man Pleads Guilty to Sexual Exploitation of a ChildRead the Press Release
ALBANY, NEW YORK – James Mattison, age 46, of Fort Edward, New York, pled guilty yesterday to sexual exploitation of a child.
The announcement was made by United States Attorney Grant C. Jaquith and Janelle M. Miller, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
As part of his guilty plea, Mattison admitted that in October 2016, he exchanged more than 7,100 text messages with a 13-year-old boy whom he had met online using the Live.me phone application. Mattison claimed to be a teenage girl named Megan Mattison, and coerced the victim into taking and sending sexually explicit photographs of himself by threatening to commit suicide if the victim refused.
Mattison, who has been in custody since his arrest on September 8, 2017, is scheduled to be sentenced by Senior United States District Judge Gary L. Sharpe on September 10, 2018. He faces at least 15 years and up to 30 years in prison, at least 5 years and up to lifetime post-imprisonment supervised release, and a maximum $250,000 fine. He will also have to register as a sex offender when he is released from prison. 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.
The case was investigated by the FBI, with assistance from the New York State Police and Washington County Probation Department, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph A. Giovannetti.
This case is prosecuted as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/.
Former U.S. Postal Worker and Dark Web Vendor Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy to Distribute Heroin, Cocaine, and BuprenorphineRead the Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact ELIZABETH MORSE
www.justice.gov/usao/md at (410) 209-4885Baltimore, Maryland – Cory Nicholas Skinner, age 32, of Pikesville, Maryland, pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 100 grams of more of heroin as well as quantities of cocaine and buprenorphine.
The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Robert K. Hur; and Postal Inspector in Charge Robert B. Wemyss of the United States Postal Inspection Service’s Washington Division.
According to his plea agreement, while investigating the death of a University of Arkansas police officer, a detective with the Conway (Arkansas) Police Department found an opened Priority Mail package shipped from Baltimore, Maryland, under the decedent’s head (the “Arkansas Package”).
During the United States Postal Inspection Service investigation of the Arkansas Package, Maryland postal inspectors learned about a Priority Mail package destined for a North Carolina address (the “North Carolina Package”) and another headed to an Arizona address (the “Arizona Package”) that they had identified in connection with the Arkansas Package. The recipient of the North Carolina Package told investigators that he used bitcoin to purchase heroin from DoggFood, an online vendor, on the Dream Market, a site on the dark web. The North Carolina Package contained approximately 2.8 grams of heroin, and the Arizona Package contained approximately four buprenorphine units. Fingerprints found on the packages belonged to Skinner.
During their surveillance of Skinner between September 2017 and January 2018, Maryland postal inspectors intercepted over 20 packages containing controlled substances that Skinner sent through the United States mail. The approximate aggregate drug weights were 47.5 grams of heroin and 81 buprenorphine units.
Additionally, Maryland postal inspectors discovered that Skinner did not act alone when distributing controlled substances through the United States mail. Instead, Skinner, knowing that certain individuals were unusually vulnerable due to a physical or mental condition, involved those individuals in dropping off packages containing heroin and cocaine at Baltimore post offices in July 2017 and August 2017, respectively.
By January 2018, Skinner had sold approximately 290.5 grams of heroin, 97.5 grams of cocaine, and 216 units of buprenorphine as the dark web vendor DoggFood on the Dream Market.
When officers searched Skinner’s residence, they found the laptop he used to run the dark web vendor DoggFood on the Dream Market, printed labels, approximately $6,600 in cash, plastic baggies, a digital scale, heat and bag sealers, a large amount of Priority Mail and Priority Mail Express shipping supplies, $23.75 in postal stamps, a loaded Smith & Wesson 9mm firearm, and 12 rounds of Luger 9mm ammunition.
Skinner faces a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison with a statutory mandatory minimum 5-year term of imprisonment. U.S. District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow has scheduled sentencing for August 13, 2018 at 11:30 a.m.
United States Attorney Robert K. Hur commended the United States Postal Inspection Service’s Washington Division, which led the investigation, and the Postal Inspectors in other field divisions that provided assistance—including the Charlotte, San Francisco, Seattle, and Phoenix Divisions, as well as the Fort Worth Division - Little Rock Domicile, and the National Headquarters Cyber Crimes Unit—for their work in the investigation. Mr. Hur recognized the Conway (Arkansas) Police Department; the Brunswick County (North Carolina) Sheriff’s Office; the Baltimore County Police Department; the Maryland State Police; and the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Baltimore and Raleigh Field Offices for their contributions in the investigation. Mr. Hur thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Samika N. Boyd, who is prosecuting the case.
Former Soldier Sentenced for Child Pornography CrimesRead the Press Release
Anchorage, Alaska – U.S. Attorney Bryan Schroder announced today that Kaleb Lee Basey, 28, formerly assigned to Fort Wainwright, Alaska, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Ralph R. Beistline to 15 years in prison, followed by a life term of supervised release, for distribution and transportation of child pornography.
According to evidence presented at trial, in January 2014, Basey posted an advertisement in the “Casual Encounters” section of the Fairbanks Craigslist website that read: “any dads or moms want to share a daughter with me for the night?” Alaska State Troopers received a report about the ad and began an investigation, concerned that an actual minor might be in danger. In less than 24 hours, Troopers identified Basey as the person who posted. He was also identified as being an active duty solider on Fort Wainwright.
Troopers contacted Army Criminal Investigation Division (CID) agents and executed a search of the defendant’s barracks room. Law enforcement agents eventually contacted the FBI for assistance. FBI agents were able to identify additional sexually-explicit Craigslist postings by Basey in which he sought access to minor children, as well as email communications in which individuals had responded to these sexually-explicit posts. In one set of emails, the defendant included a picture of child pornography, and told the person with whom he was emailing that he enjoyed watching movies that showed “young girls 5-15yo” engaged in sexual acts with adults. To this email string, the defendant also attached a fully-nude selfie. In a second email, the defendant sent a picture of child pornography to himself.
In addition, the defendant’s computer contained multiple contacts with minors that the defendant made through social media platforms. In his conversations with underage girls, the defendant frequently propositioned the girls for sex, or to engage in sexual acts on camera for his benefit.
The defendant successfully enticed at least one 15-year-old to engage in sexual activity with him. On another occasion, the defendant met and paid a 17-year-old juvenile for sex, and asked this minor if he could film her engaged in sex acts.
At sentencing, Judge Beistline stated that his “primary concern [was] protection of the public.” “You are a pedophile,” Judge Beistline said, “someone who has an interest in having sex with children.” Judge Beistline went on to say that the defendant was “not just a voyeur…you actually seek to participate in it. That sets you apart from other people I have seen in this court.”
Judge Beistline also noted the impact the defendant’s crimes have upon their victims. “You victimize a young child just by looking at their pictures,” said Judge Beistline. “You have lost things because of choices you made,” Judge Beistline told the defendant, “the victims that you chose to victimize didn’t have these choices.” “[There was] no concern on your part for how this conduct impacted the victims,” said Judge Beistline.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Alaska State Troopers, and Army Criminal Investigation Division. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kyle Reardon.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorney’s Offices nationwide and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
Former Senior Living Facility Resident Pleads Guilty to Possession of RicinRead the Press Release
The Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont stated that Betty Miller, 70, formerly of Shelburne, Vermont, pled guilty today to a one count superseding information charging her with knowingly possessing Ricin in violation of 18 U.S.C. §175b(c). Miller’s plea came pursuant to a plea agreement filed by the parties which includes a binding sentencing recommendation of time served with a recommendation for a three year term of supervised release to include placement at a secure mental health treatment facility. The Hon. Christina Reiss deferred acceptance of the plea agreement until a pre-sentence report can be prepared. Sentencing in this matter is set for September 6, 2018.
AUSA Eugenia A. P. Cowles appeared for the government. Ms. Miller was represented by Paul S. Volk, Esq.
Former Rochester Man Indicted on Child Pornography ChargesRead the Press Release
CONTACT: Barbara Burns
PHONE: (716) 843-5817
FAX #: (716) 551-3051ROCHESTER, N.Y. - U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that a federal grand jury returned an indictment charging David Roy Jones, 52, formerly of Rochester, NY, with two counts of production of child pornography. The charges carry a mandatory minimum penalty of 15 years in prison, a maximum of 30 years, and a $250,000.
Assistant U.S. Attorney John J. Field, who is handling the case, stated that according to the indictment, on January 13, 2004, the defendant coerced minor Victim 1 to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing visual depictions of such conduct. Jones saved and stored the pictures and videos on several electronic media devices.
Subsequently, on July 9, 2006, Jones once again coerced minor Victim 1, as well as a second victim, minor Victim 2, to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing visual depictions of such conduct. Jones once again saved and stored the pictures and videos on several electronic media devices.
Members of the public who have specific information related to this case are urged to contact the FBI Buffalo Office at 716-856-7800. If any members of the public have general questions or concerns regarding sexual abuse of children or would like guidance on how to discuss this issue with children, please call the Bivona Child Advocacy Center at 1-585-935-7800.
The defendant was arraigned before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jonathan W. Feldman and is being detained.
The indictment is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Child Exploitation Task Force, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Gary Loeffert.
The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
Former New York City Department of Correction Investigator Sentenced to 10 Years’ Imprisonment for Transporting, Receiving and Possessing Child PornographyRead the Press Release
Earlier today, at the federal courthouse in Central Islip, Fernando Clarke, a former investigator with the New York City Department of Correction, was sentenced by United States District Judge Arthur D. Spatt to 10 years’ imprisonment, following his March 2018 jury trial conviction on seven counts of transportation, receipt and possession of child pornography. Clarke was also sentenced to pay a $13,682.43 fine, a special assessment of $5,600 and five years’ supervised release to follow his prison sentence, during which time he must register as a sex offender and will not be allowed unsupervised contact with minors. A restitution request from one of the victims depicted in child pornography images Clarke collected will be determined by the Court on or before June 1, 2018.
Richard P. Donoghue, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Acting Assistant Attorney General John P. Cronan of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, and Angel M. Melendez, Special Agent-in-Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), New York, announced the sentence.
“As the trial established, Clarke collected child pornography at his home for years, using a peer-to-peer file sharing system that allowed others to download child pornography from him,” stated United States Attorney Donoghue. “When his crimes came to light, Clarke lied and attempted to hide behind his badge, claiming that he had accessed child pornography for his job as an investigator for the New York City Department of Correction. This Office is committed to aggressively investigating and prosecuting consumers of child pornography.” Mr. Donoghue extended his grateful appreciation to the New York City Department of Investigation, Inspector General, Board of Correction, and the Department of Justice Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section and High Technology Investigative Unit for their assistance in this case.
“For years, and while entrusted to serve and protect society, Fernando Clarke compiled and shared thousands of images and videos of children being sexually abused and exploited,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Cronan. “With every horrific file Clarke downloaded or shared with others, he compounded the unspeakable harm endured by these vulnerable victims. Thanks to the outstanding efforts of our dedicated law enforcement partners and federal prosecutors, Clarke is now being held accountable for his crimes.”
“Individuals who take pleasure in watching videos and photos of children being sexually exploited should learn from the outcome of this case that we will find you and prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law, no matter who you are,” stated HSI Special Agent-in-Charge Melendez. “The fact that this individual used his law enforcement status to try to shield his crimes is particularly heinous, and a betrayal of all we stand for in protecting the children in our communities. But his knowledge of online sharing systems and assumption he could go undetected was undone by the excellent investigative team in this case.”
According to court filings and evidence introduced at trial, Clarke downloaded thousands of video files of the sexual abuse of pre-teen children, which he kept on computer equipment in his home. During a court-ordered search of his home on July 28, 2015, Clarke initially claimed that he was downloading child pornography in connection with his employment as a Department of Correction investigator. Clarke subsequently admitted during the search that he was not authorized to access or download child pornography for his employment. Clarke was fired from the Department of Correction after his conviction.
The government’s case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Allen L. Bode of the Office’s Long Island Criminal Division and Department of Justice Trial Attorney Lauren Kupersmith.
The Defendant:
FERNANDO CLARKE
Age: 64
East Meadow, New YorkE.D.N.Y. Docket No. 15-CR-426(S-1) (ADS)(AKT)
Former New York City Correction Department Investigator Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison for Transporting, Receiving and Possessing Child PornographyRead the Press Release
Earlier today, an investigator with the New York City Correction Department was sentenced to 120 months in prison at the federal courthouse in Central Islip, New York following his March 5 jury trial conviction on seven counts of transportation, receipt and possession of child pornography involving conduct at his East Meadow, New York residence.
Acting Assistant Attorney General John P. Cronan of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Richard P. Donoghue for the Eastern District of New York and Special Agent-in-Charge Angel M. Melendez of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI) New York, made the announcement.
Fernando Clarke, 64, of East Meadow, New York, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Arthur D. Spatt, who also ordered him to pay a $13, 682.43 fine and serve a five year term of supervised release to follow his prison sentence, during which time he must register as a sex offender and will not be allowed unsupervised contact with minors.
“For years, and while entrusted to serve and protect society, Fernando Clarke compiled and shared thousands of images and videos of children being sexually abused and exploited,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Cronan. “With every horrific file Clarke downloaded or shared with others, he compounded the unspeakable harm endured by these vulnerable victims. Thanks to the outstanding efforts of our dedicated law enforcement partners and federal prosecutors, Clarke is now being held accountable for his crimes.”
“As the trial established, Clarke collected child pornography at his home for years, using a peer-to-peer file sharing system that allowed others to download child pornography from him,” said U.S. Attorney Donoghue. “When his crimes came to light, Clarke lied and attempted to hide behind his badge, claiming that he had accessed child pornography for his job as an investigator for the New York City Department of Correction. This Office is committed to aggressively investigating and prosecuting consumers of child pornography.”
“Individuals who take pleasure in watching videos and photos of children being sexually exploited should learn from the outcome of this case that we will find you and prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law, no matter who you are,” said Angel Melendez, Special Agent in Charge, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), New York. “The fact that this individual used his law enforcement status to try to shield his crimes is particularly heinous, and a betrayal of all we stand for in protecting the children in our communities. But his knowledge of online sharing systems and assumption he could go undetected was undone by the excellent investigative team in this case.”
According to court filings and evidence introduced at trial, over several years Clarke downloaded thousands of video files of the sexual abuse of pre-teen children, including sadistic material, which he kept on computer equipment in his home. Clarke knew that these video files, some of which he watched repeatedly, also were available on his computers for others to download. During a court-ordered search of his home on July 28, 2015, Clarke initially claimed that he was downloading child pornography in connection with his employment as a Correction Department investigator. Clarke admitted at the time of the search that he was not authorized to access or download child pornography for his employment. Clarke was arrested at the time of the search and subsequently fired from the Department of Correction after his conviction.
The New York City Department of Investigation, Inspector General, Board of Correction, and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) and High Technology Investigative Unit assisted in the investigation. The government’s case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Lauren Kupersmith of the Criminal Division’s CEOS and Assistant U.S. Attorney Allen L. Bode of the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Long Island Criminal Division.
Former National Director of Anti-Corruption in Colombia Extradited to the United States to Face Wire Fraud and Money Laundering Charges Related to Foreign BriberyRead the Press Release
The former National Director of Anti-Corruption in Colombia and an attorney from Colombia were extradited yesterday to the United States to face wire fraud and money laundering charges related to the promotion of foreign bribery.
Benjamin G. Greenberg, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida and Adolphus P. Wright, Special Agent in Charge, United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Miami Field Division, made the announcement.
Luis Gustavo Moreno Rivera, 36, the former National Director of Anti-Corruption in Colombia and Leonardo Pinilla Gomez, 31, an attorney practicing in Colombia, were charged by superseding indictment on August 3, 2017 in the Southern District of Florida. The superseding indictment charges the defendants with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, two counts of wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to launder money in order to promote foreign bribery, and two counts of substantive money laundering. Both Rivera and Pinilla were arrested in Colombia pursuant to an Interpol Red Notice. Pinilla was arraigned this afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Alicia M. Otazo-Reyes in Miami. Moreno is scheduled to be arraigned in Miami on May 30, 2018, before a U.S. Magistrate Judge.
According to the criminal complaint, previously filed in the case, and the superseding indictment, beginning in November 2016, a cooperating source of information (CS) was approached by Moreno and Pinilla who attempted to entice a bribe from the CS. Specifically, in exchange for 100 million Colombian pesos, Moreno and Pinilla offered to give the CS copies of sworn statements taken from cooperators who had testified against the CS. In June 2017, Moreno and Pinilla traveled to Miami, Florida and met with the CS who, under the direction of the DEA, provided Moreno and Pinilla with a $10,000 deposit of the bribe money. Recorded conversations revealed that Moreno and Pinilla discussed Moreno’s ability to control the investigation into the CS and that Moreno could inundate his prosecutors with work so that they would be unable to focus on the CS’s investigation. In exchange, Moreno and Pinilla were asking for a 400 million Colombian peso payment with an additional $30,000 to be paid prior to Moreno leaving the United States.
The criminal complaint further alleges that several of the $100 bills from the $10,000 paid to Moreno and Pinilla were found on Moreno and his family as they boarded their flight back to Bogota from Miami.
An indictment and a criminal complaint merely contain allegations and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
The defendants face a maximum of 20 years in prison, per count of conviction.
Mr. Greenberg commends the DEA for their investigative assistance with this case. Mr. Greenberg also thanked the Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs and Office of Judicial Attaché in Colombia along with the DEA Bogota Country Office; the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigations (IRS-CI), Miami Field Office and Attaché Office in Colombia; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s, Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI), Miami Field Office and Attaché Office in Colombia; U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Miami Office of Field Operations; and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Legal Attaché Office in Colombia, for their assistance in this matter. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Juan Antonio Gonzalez and Lynn M. Kirkpatrick of the International Narcotics and Money Laundering Section in the Southern District of Florida are prosecuting this case.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office and our federal partners commend the Attorney General of Colombia and the Cuerpo Tecnico de Investigacion (CTI) for their cooperative efforts in this investigation.
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 or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.
Former Mobile Phone Industry Manager Sentenced in Manhattan Federal Court to 30 Months in Prison for Role in Multimillion-Dollar Consumer Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that CHRISTOPHER GOFF was sentenced today to 30 months in prison for his participation in a fraudulent scheme to charge mobile phone customers millions of dollars in monthly fees for unsolicited, recurring text messages without the customers’ knowledge or consent – a practice known as “auto-subscribing.” The fraud committed by GOFF and his co-conspirators resulted in the theft of over $50 million from consumers throughout the United States. In January 2018, GOFF pled guilty to one count of participating in a conspiracy to commit wire fraud. GOFF was sentenced today in Manhattan federal court by the U.S. District Judge Katherine B. Forrest.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said: “Christopher Goff conspired with others in an auto-subscribing scam that stole $50 million from unwitting consumers. In return for lists of mobile phone users to victimize, Goff netted more than $350,000 in short-term gain – and a substantial term in prison.”
According to the Superseding Information filed in Manhattan federal court, trials in related proceedings, and statements made in connection with GOFF’s sentencing:
GOFF was an account manager for Mobile Messenger, a U.S. aggregation company in the mobile phone industry. In the relevant time period, mobile aggregators like Mobile Messenger compiled, or “aggregated,” charges for premium text messaging services – such as monthly horoscopes, celebrity gossip, and trivia facts – on consumers’ mobile phone bills. Between 2011 and 2013, GOFF and others engaged in a massive scheme to defraud ordinary consumers by placing unauthorized charges for premium text messaging services on their cell phone bills, through a practice known as auto-subscribing.
The auto-subscribing scheme involved two main players in the mobile phone industry: mobile aggregators, such as Mobile Messenger, and content providers, which sent consumers the unwanted text messages that ultimately resulted in them being billed for services they had not authorized. Mobile Messenger worked with four different content providers in the scheme, each of which was essential to the scheme’s success. GOFF participated in auto-subscribing through one of those content providers, Tatto, which was operated by co-conspirator Lin Miao.
In or about 2010, Miao, who was the CEO of Tatto, decided to begin auto-subscribing mobile phone users to Tatto’s premium text messaging services in order to boost Tatto’s sagging revenues. Miao and others built a computer program that could spoof the required consumer authorizations for premium text messaging services – i.e., a program that could generate the text message correspondence that one would ordinarily see if a consumer were genuinely signing up to receive the services, which was operational by in or about the middle of 2011. In or about July 2011, Miao met with GOFF and asked him to provide large batches of phone numbers from Mobile Messenger’s databases in exchange for payment. GOFF agreed to assist Miao and knew that Miao intended to subscribe consumers without their permission. GOFF provided hundreds of thousands of mobile phone numbers to Miao by email from mid-2011 to mid-2012. When sending the stolen phone numbers to Miao, GOFF hid his involvement in the scheme by using email addresses other than his work email address at Mobile Messenger. Ultimately, Miao and other co-conspirators used the phone numbers that GOFF provided to auto-subscribe consumers. In total, Miao and Tatto took more than $50 million from consumers via the scheme.
GOFF received more than $350,000 from Miao for the phone numbers he provided. GOFF used a shell company called 5 Tool Services and sent false invoices for consulting services that he never provided to Miao to hide his receipt of the money and role in the scheme.
* * *
In addition to the 30-month prison term, GOFF was sentenced to two years of supervised release and ordered to forfeit $352,799.56.
To date, seven defendants other than GOFF – Andrew Bachman, Miao, Michael Pajaczkowski, Erdolo Eromo, Jonathan Murad, Francis Assifuah, and Jason Lee – have pleaded guilty in connection with their participation in the fraud. Two additional defendants, Fraser Thompson and Darcy Wedd, were convicted following three-week jury trials.
Mr. Berman praised the investigative work of the IRS-CI and the FBI, and expressed his sincere gratitude to the Federal Trade Commission for their support and assistance with the investigation.
If you believe you were a victim of this crime, including a victim entitled to restitution, and you wish to provide information to law enforcement and/or receive notice of future developments in the case or additional information, please contact the Victim/Witness Unit at the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, at (866) 874-8900. For additional information, go to:
http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/nys/victimwitness.html.
The prosecution of this case is being handled by the Office’s Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit. Assistant United States Attorneys Sarah E. Paul, Richard Cooper, Jennifer L. Beidel, and Jilan Kamal are in charge of the prosecution.
Former Maryland State Delegate and County Councilman Sentenced to More Than Four Years in Prison for Participation in Bribery SchemeRead the Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact ELIZABETH MORSE
www.justice.gov/usao/md at (410) 209-4885
Greenbelt, Maryland – United States District Judge Paula Xinis sentenced William Alberto Campos-Escobar (a/k/a “Will Campos”), age 43, of Hyattsville, Maryland, to 54 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for conspiracy and bribery in relation to a scheme to use County funds to obtain bribe payments. In addition, Judge Xinis ordered Campos to pay $340,000 in restitution.
In a related matter, Judge Xinis sentenced Young Jung Paig, age 63, of Capitol Heights, Maryland, to 41 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. Judge Xinis also ordered Paig to forfeit $265,000.
The sentences were announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Robert K. Hur; Special Agent in Charge Gordon B. Johnson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; Special Agent in Charge Thomas Jankowski of the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation, Washington, D.C. Field Office; and Chief Henry Stawinski III of the Prince George’s County Police Department.
Campos held the elected position of Prince George’s County Councilman, representing District 2, from November 2004 through approximately November 2014. As an elected County Councilman, Campos was authorized to act on behalf of, and serve as the representative to, the County government. In November 2014, Campos was elected as a Delegate to the Maryland General Assembly, representing District 47B.
Paig was the resident agent of Weeping Willow, Inc. and the owner of Central Avenue Restaurant & Liquor Store, located in Seat Pleasant, Maryland.
As described in his plea agreement and other court records, then-County Councilman Campos accepted bribes from business owners and others, often but not always facilitated by David Dae Sok Son, a Commissioner on the Prince George’s County Board of License Commissioners.
For example, during a meeting on April 4, 2014, Son informed an FBI Confidential Human Source (“CHS”) that Campos needed $10,000 to pay an expense related to Campos’s campaign for Maryland State Delegate. Son told the CHS that Son had spoken with Campos about the CHS giving cash to Campos in exchange for Campos arranging for another County grant to be awarded to a non-profit organization selected by the CHS.
On or about April 9, 2014, Son told the CHS that Son had told Campos to “hook [the CHS] up” with the developer of a new business in the County, so that the developer would retain the CHS’s business services. Son explained to the CHS that the business owed Campos, because Campos had obtained a tax benefit for the business. Son and the CHS then walked to the coffee shop’s parking lot, where the CHS’s vehicle was located. The CHS then retrieved $3,000 in U.S. currency from the CHS’s vehicle. The same day, Son gave Campos the $3,000 in U.S. currency that Son had received from the CHS. And later that day, Campos sent a text message to the CHS that stated, “I owe you big time my man.”
In a related matter, Paig made repeated bribe payments to Campos and Maryland State Delegate Michael Vaughn, in relation to a successful attempt to pass legislation permitting certain liquor stores in Prince George’s County to sell alcohol on Sundays. These bribe payments from Paig also were facilitated by Son. Other convicted individuals in this related matter include Shin Ja Lee, a liquor store owner, and Matthew Gorman, an attorney and lobbyist.
Delegate Vaughn was convicted of bribery and conspiracy at a trial that concluded in March 2018, and is pending sentencing. Son, Lee, and Gorman have all pleaded guilty and also are pending sentencing.
United States Attorney Robert K. Hur commended the FBI, IRS-CI, and the Prince George’s County Police Department for their work in the investigation. Mr. Hur thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Thomas P. Windom and James A. Crowell IV, who prosecuted Campos and Paig.
Former DPD Officer Sentenced to 20 Months in Prison for ExtortionRead the Press Release
Former Detroit Police Department Officer Jamil Martin was sentenced yesterday to 20 months’ imprisonment for accepting a bribe from an owner of an automobile collision shop in exchange for referring stolen and abandoned vehicles recovered in the City of Detroit to that shop, United States Attorney Matthew Schneider announced today.
Schneider was joined in the announcement by Timothy Slater, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Patricia Armstrong, U.S. Postal Inspector in Charge, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Detroit Division and Chief James Craig, Detroit Police Department. The defendant was actively employed with the Detroit Police Department at the time of the offense.
Jamil Martin, age 47, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Robert Cleland. Martin previously pleaded guilty to one count of extortion.
According to the facts alleged in the indictment and further developed at the plea hearing and in sentencing briefing, Martin accepted cash payments from the owner/operator of a Detroit collision shop in exchange for referring abandoned vehicles to that shop for repairs.
This is the fourth defendant to have been sentenced as a result of this investigation. The others awaiting sentencing or a trial are:
- Charles Wills, age 52, pleaded guilty to two counts of Extortion charged in a Superseding Indictment.
- Deonne Dotson, age 45, is awaiting trial.
All of the Officers were charged with engaging in extortion for using their official positions as Police Officers to refer cars to certain collision shops in exchange for cash payments.
“The vast majority of Detroit Police Officers are courageous, dedicated public servants and should not be overshadowed by the acts of the few officers who accepted these bribes,” U.S. Attorney Schneider said.
"Certainly we appreciate the partnership of the Federal Bureau of Investigations, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the United States Attorney’s Office. While the actions of this officer are troubling, we are relieved that this sentencing has brought some closure to a long standing issue that has plague this department." said Chief Craig.
“The actions of former DPD Officer Martin are disheartening to the many men and women in law enforcement, who work hard every day with integrity and commitment,” said Timothy R. Slater, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Detroit. “The FBI will continue to dedicate significant resources to the Detroit Police Department and all law enforcement partners toward investigating anyone who tarnishes their reputation by straying from his or her oath.”
The investigation was conducted by the FBI, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Detroit Police Department and the following agencies from the FBI Detroit Area Corruption Task Force: Michigan State Police and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Office of Professional Responsibility, Investigative Operation Division.
The FBI Detroit Area Corruption Task Force is comprised of personnel from the Detroit Division of the FBI; Michigan State Police; Michigan Department of Attorney General; Detroit Police Department; U.S. Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division; U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Office of Professional Responsibility, Investigative Operations Division; U.S. Postal Inspection Service; U.S. Department of Labor, Office of the Inspector General, Office of Labor Racketeering and
Fraud Investigations; U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of the Inspector General; U.S. Department of Transportation, Office of the Inspector General; U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Office of the Inspector General; U.S. Department of Education, Office of the Inspector General; and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of the Inspector General.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Sarah Resnick Cohen and Craig A. Weier.
Federal Jury Finds Illinois Motor Vehicle Employee Guilty on Conspiracy to Defraud and Mail Fraud ChargesRead the Press Release
St. Louis, MO – After a five-day trial, a federal jury returned five guilty verdicts for the United States finding that Melvin Harmon conspired to defraud the United States by assisting Missouri residents in registering their cars in Illinois.
According to evidence at trial, between January 1, 2015 and December 20, 2016, Melvin Harmon was employed at a Granite City, Illinois office registering vehicles for the State of Illinois Secretary of State. He used his employment to obtain fraudulent motor vehicle registrations for others in exchange for a fee. In March 2016, investigators with the Illinois Secretary of State discovered that Harmon had been charging Missouri residents $350.00 to $700.00 in order to fraudulently register their cars in Illinois. Doing so enabled the Missouri residents to evade payment of Missouri taxes. In addition, Harmon altered the price of the vehicles in order to reduce any payments that would be owed to the State of Illinois as a result of his fraudulent conduct. However, throughout the course of the investigation, officials determined that Harmon registered more than 380 vehicles for residents of Missouri and other states using assumed Illinois addresses. The State of Missouri estimated a loss of tax revenue in excess of $300,000.00 for vehicles associated with Missouri residents.
Harmon, 40, Belleville, IL, was indicted on September 13, 2017 in a superseding indictment charging him with six felony counts, including: conspiracy to defraud the United States; mail fraud; and interstate transportation of falsely made motor vehicle titles.
He faces up to 20-years of imprisonment for the convictions, and a potential fine of $250,000 per count. In determining the actual sentence, a Judge is required to consider the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, which provides recommended sentencing ranges.
Sentencing has been set for August 14, 2018 before the Honorable Henry E. Autrey.
The case was investigated by the Missouri Department of Revenue-Compliance and Investigation Bureau. This case was handled by Assistant United States Attorneys Tracy Berry and Dianna Collins.
Elmira Man Pleads Guilty to Receipt of Child PornographyRead the Press Release
CONTACT: Barbara Burns
PHONE: (716) 843-5817
FAX #: (716) 551-3051ROCHESTER, N.Y. - U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced that Taylor T. Sullivan, 21, of Elmira, NY, pleaded guilty to receipt of child pornography before U.S. District Judge David G. Larimer. The charge carries a minimum penalty of five years in prison, a maximum of 20 years, and a fine of $250,000.
Assistant U.S. Attorney John J. Field who is handling the case, stated that on April 4, 2017, Sullivan used the instant messaging app Kik to pose a 13 year-old minor female during online chats. The defendant solicited and received images and videos of child pornography. During this activity, commonly referred to as “catfishing,” Sullivan obtained a video from another individual that depicted the rape of a four-year-old girl. In addition to the video, the defendant received more than 600 other images and videos of child pornography, some of which involved prepubescent minors and depictions of violence.
The plea is the result of an investigation by the New York State Police, under the direction of Major Richard Allen, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Gary Loeffert.
Sentencing is scheduled for August 16, 2018, at 11:00 a.m. before Judge Larimer.
Eagle Butte Man Sentenced for AssaultRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Ron Parsons announced that an Eagle Butte, South Dakota, man charged with Simple Assault pled guilty and was sentenced on May 17, 2018, by U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark A. Moreno.
Sven Dyda, age 38, was sentenced to time served (30 days) in custody, and ordered to pay $10 to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.
The conviction stems from an incident that took place on September 2, 2017, when an officer with the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Law Enforcement Services was dispatched to a possible domestic violence situation in Eagle Butte. The officer responded and observed three individuals standing outside the residence. One was a white male, later identified as Dyda. The other two were Native American females, including the victim, standing away from Dyda.
The officer approached the residence and spoke with the victim, who advised she had been hit and shoved to the ground by Dyda when attempting to intervene between Dyda and the other female as they were arguing, and Dyda committed simple assault in the process.
The investigation was conducted by the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Law Enforcement Services. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Meghan N. Dilges.
Dupree Man Charged with Drug ChargesRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Ron Parsons announced that a Dupree, South Dakota, man has been indicted by a federal grand jury for Conspiracy to Distribute a Controlled Substance and Possession with Intent to Distribute a Controlled Substance.
Waylon Young Bird, age 49, was indicted on May 15, 2018. He appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark A. Moreno on May 17, 2018, and pled not guilty to the Indictment.
The maximum penalty upon conviction is up to life in custody and/or a $11,000,000 fine, 8 years of supervised release, and up to $200 to the Federal Crime Victims Fund. Restitution may also be ordered.
The Indictment alleges that beginning on or about January 1, 2016, Young Bird knowingly and intentionally combined, conspired, confederated, and agreed with others to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine, which is a Schedule II controlled substance. The Indictment also alleged that on or about March 9, 2018, Young Bird knowingly and intentionally possessed with the intent to distribute a detectable amount of methamphetamine.
The charges are merely accusations and Young Bird is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
The investigation is being conducted by the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Law Enforcement Services. Assistant U.S. Attorney Meghan N. Dilges is prosecuting the case.
Young Bird was released on bond pending trial which has not been set.
District Man Sentenced to 33 Years in Prison for Slayings of Two Housemates in Northeast WashingtonRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON – David Bright, 31, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced today to 33 years in prison for the slayings of two of his housemates at their rooming house in Northeast Washington, announced U.S. Attorney Jessie K. Liu and Peter Newsham, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).
Bright pled guilty in February 2018, in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, to two counts of second-degree murder while armed. The plea, which was contingent upon the Court’s approval, called for an agreed-upon sentence of 33 years in prison. The Honorable Ronna L. Beck accepted the plea and sentenced the defendant accordingly. Following his prison term, Bright will be placed on five years of supervised release.
According to a proffer of facts submitted at the plea hearing, on Feb. 18, 2016, Bright was staying in a rooming house in the 500 block of 58th Street NE. The victims, Clifton Francis and David Watkins, were Bright’s housemates. Two other individuals were also staying in the home at the time, one permanently and one temporarily.
At approximately 12:55 p.m., Bright entered the house, where Mr. Francis and Mr. Watkins were sitting in the living room watching television; one of the other housemates was in the kitchen. Bright went upstairs, where his bedroom was located, and then came running down the stairs. He pointed a gun in the direction of Mr. Francis and began firing at close range.
Mr. Francis, who received multiple gunshot wounds to the chest and head, immediately slumped over the arm of the couch and fell to the floor. Mr. Watkins started yelling words to the effect of “what are doing, are you crazy?” Bright then turned the gun towards Mr. Watkins and began firing, hitting him in the chest. Mr. Watkins managed to crawl to his bedroom, and yelled for the remaining housemate to call the police. Bright ran into the kitchen and came face-to-face with this housemate. He pointed the gun at his face, but the housemate was able to run into a bedroom and closed the door. Bright then fled the house.
The next day, Feb. 19, 2016, at approximately 10:40 a.m., Bright was arrested by the Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force as he walked out of a barbershop in Seat Pleasant, Maryland. Bright was exiting the barbershop after having shaved off his dreadlocks. He has remained in custody since his arrest.
Bright had driven a Mitsubishi Galant to the barber shop. Officers searched the car and recovered the murder weapon, a Glock 22 .40 caliber firearm, as well as 91 rounds of ammunition and three firearm magazines (two full, one empty).
Mr. Watkins, 45, and Mr. Francis, 51, both died as a result of the gunshot wounds.
In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Liu and Chief Newsham commended the work of those who investigated the case from the Metropolitan Police Department. They also expressed appreciation for the assistance provided by the Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force and the District of Columbia Department of Forensic Sciences. They acknowledged the work of those who handled the case at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Assistant U.S. Attorney Magdalena Acevedo, Victim/Witness Advocate Jim Brennan, Victim/Witness Services Coordinator Katina Adams-Washington, and former Paralegal Specialist Kendra Johnson. Finally, they commended the work of Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimberley C. Nielsen, who investigated and prosecuted the matter.
District Man Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison for Carjacking and Robbery at Towing Company LotRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON – Warren Stevenson, 25, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced today to a 15-year prison term for taking part in a robbery and carjacking at a towing company parking lot in Northeast Washington, as well as an additional four months of incarceration for later assaulting a corrections officer at the District of Columbia Jail, announced U.S. Attorney Jessie K. Liu and Peter Newsham, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).
Stevenson pled guilty in March 2018, in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, to one count each of carjacking, armed robbery, and simple assault. The plea, which was contingent upon the Court’s approval, called for a sentence between 15 and 18 years. The Honorable Judith Bartnoff accepted the plea and sentenced the defendant accordingly. Following his prison term, Stevenson will be placed on five years of supervised release.
According to the government’s evidence, on Nov. 12, 2015, at approximately 1 a.m., Stevenson and three co-conspirators ambushed four victims at District Towing, a business in the 900 block of Franklin Street NE. One victim was at the premises with his son to pick up his son’s car, which a tow truck driver had towed earlier that evening. Also on the premises were two District Towing employees who were awaiting service calls in a tow truck.
Stevenson and his accomplices rushed into the tow lot brandishing handguns and began their assault on the four victims. As Stevenson pointed a gun at the father and demanded the money on his person and any money in the car, another accomplice robbed the tow truck driver of his cell phone and money at gunpoint. The father offered Stevenson the keys to his Jaguar and then, fearing for his life, began to grapple with Stevenson for control of the gun.
In the midst of the robberies, the other two assailants approached the tow truck and began banging on the truck’s windows with the butts of their firearms, demanding that the District Towing employees open the doors. Frightened, one of the employees slammed on the gas and attempted to drive out of the lot. As the truck pulled away, the assailants began shooting at the truck. One employee was shot in his left arm and chest and the other was hit in the right cheek. The assailants, including Stevenson, then escaped in the carjacked Jaguar.
Stevenson was identified as being at the scene via GPS, and escaped from the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) when officers tracked him to a house in Northeast Washington later that morning. He was ultimately arrested on the evening of Dec. 9, 2015, at an acquaintance’s house in the 1400 block of Oglethorpe Road NW. The arrest followed a seven-hour barricade and stand-off with members of MPD. While watching the news broadcast of the barricade, the owner of the carjacked Jaguar recognized Stevenson as the carjacker. Stevenson has remained in custody since his arrest. No other arrests have been made to date in the case.
The carjacking and robbery charges stemmed from the incident at the towing company lot. Additionally, the simple assault charge stemmed from an incident on Feb. 10, 2018 at the District of Columbia Jail. During a fight between two other inmates at the jail, Stevenson pulled pepper spray away from a corrections officer who responded to the trouble. Stevenson discharged it, with some of the spray hitting the officer.
In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Liu and Chief Newsham commended the work of those who investigated the case from the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD). They also expressed appreciation for those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas Coleman; Information Technology Specialist Leif Hickling; Paralegal Specialist Lashaune Briggs, and Intern Natasha Harnwell-Davis.
Finally, they commended the work of Assistant U.S. Attorneys Seth M. Gilmore, Kamil E. Shields, and Melissa Price, who investigated and prosecuted the case.
Dallas Man Sentenced to 235 Months in Federal Prison for His Role in a Methamphetamine Distribution ConspiracyRead the Press Release
DALLAS —Juan Mauricio Araujo, Jr., aka “Pelon”, 35, was sentenced on Monday, May 14, 2018, before U.S. District Judge David C. Godbey for his role in a methamphetamine distribution conspiracy, announced U.S. Attorney Erin Nealy Cox of the Northern District of Texas.
Araujo was sentenced to 235 months in federal prison following his guilty plea in April 2017 to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute a controlled substance, said substance being 500 grams or more of methamphetamine. Araujo has been in custody since his arrest in September 2016.
Araujo was charged along with twenty-one others with various offenses related to a methamphetamine distribution conspiracy. Of the twenty-one charged, two are awaiting trial.
According to documents filed in the case, between January 1, 2015 through March 18, 2016, Araujo and his coconspirators conspired to distribute methamphetamine and on several occasions, discussed pick up and drop off plans.
Specifically, Araujo used coded language to purchase multiple kilograms of methamphetamine so that he could distribute the methamphetamine to other people. Araujo, not being happy about the quality of a kilogram of methamphetamine, provided instruction to have the bad kilogram of methamphetamine swapped out for a better quality.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated, with assistance from the Dallas Police Department and the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigations Division. Assistant U.S. Attorney George Leal prosecuted.
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Crips Gang Member Pleads Guilty to a Murder in BrooklynRead the Press Release
Earlier today, at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn, Tyvon Bannister, also known as “Turtle,” a member of the Crips-affiliated Cypress Gangsta Crips (CGC) street gang, pleaded guilty to a firearms-related murder charge in connection with his July 2014 fatal shooting of Rayvon Henriques. The guilty plea was entered before United States District Judge Brian M. Cogan.
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 P. O’Neill, Commissioner, New York City Police Department (NYPD), announced the guilty plea.
As set forth in prior court filings and statements in court, Bannister is a member of the CGC, which is comprised of individuals residing in and around the Cypress Hills Houses (“Cypress”), a large New York City Housing Authority complex in East New York, Brooklyn. Cypress has been plagued by gang and drug-related violence arising largely from a long-standing feud between the CGC, who hail from the “Backside” (buildings on Linden Boulevard) and “Teamside” (buildings on the western end of Sutter Avenue and the northern end of Fountain Avenue), and the Bloods-affiliated gang members who reside in the “Frontside” (buildings on the eastern end of Sutter Avenue). This feud dates to at least 2010, when a person from the Frontside was believed to have killed a member of the Backside.
On July 8, 2014, Bannister and another gang member shot and killed Henriques in front of a nightclub in East New York. Henriques, who was 26-years-old at the time of his death, was targeted because of his association with the CGC’s chief rivals, the Bloods-affiliated gang members from the “Frontside” section of Cypress.
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.
The government’s case is being handled by the Office’s Organized Crime and Gangs Section. Assistant United States Attorneys Margaret E. Gandy and Andrey Spektor are in charge of the prosecution.
The Defendant:
TYVON BANNISTER
Age: 25
Brooklyn, New YorkE.D.N.Y. Docket No. 17-CR-116 (BMC)
Council Bluffs Man Sentenced to Prison for Child Pornography ChargeRead the Press Release
COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa – On May 11, 2018, Robert W. Bennett, age 51, of Council Bluffs, appeared before United States District Court Judge Stephanie M. Rose and was sentenced to 121 months in prison for receipt of child pornography announced United States Attorney Marc Krickbaum. Bennett was ordered to serve five years of supervised release to follow his prison term.
Bennett pleaded guilty to the charge on January 2, 2018. The plea was the result of an investigation that began with a tip received by the Council Bluffs Police Department from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that Bennett’s cloud storage system contained child pornography. A search warrant served on Bennett’s residence located a computer, cell phones, tablets and numerous storage devices that contained images of child pornography.
This investigation was conducted by the Council Bluffs Police Department and was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.
Colombian Man Sentenced to More Than 17 Years for Transporting CocaineRead the Press Release
Tampa, FL – U.S. District Judge Steven Merryday has sentenced Luis Moreno-Valencia (45, Colombia, South America) to 17 years and 6 months in federal prison for conspiring with others to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine on vessels subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, and for conspiring with others to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine intending that it be unlawfully imported into the United States. He pleaded guilty on February 15, 2018.
According to court documents, Moreno-Valencia was the organizational head of a Colombian-based drug trafficking organization. He was responsible for arranging the transportation of several maritime smuggling ventures in international waters of the Eastern Pacific Ocean. In November 2014 and December 2015, the U.S. Coast Guard interdicted over 800 kilograms of cocaine aboard vessels commonly referred to as “go fast boats.”
This case was investigated by the Panama Express Strike Force, an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) comprised of agents and analysts from the U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the FBI, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, and U.S. Southern Command’s Joint Interagency Task Force South. The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt, and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking and money laundering organizations and those primarily responsible for the nation’s drug supply. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Thomas Palermo.
Cairo Convicted Felon Cary Brandon Smith Sentenced for Narcotics and Gun Charges Under Project Safe NeighborhoodsRead the Press Release
ALBANY: Charles E. Peeler, United States Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia, announces that on May 17, 2018, Senior United States District Court Judge W. Louis Sands sitting in Albany, Georgia, sentenced Cary Brandon Smith, age 33, of Cairo, GA, to 360 months imprisonment as the result of his plea of guilty earlier this year to 31 of 32 counts in an indictment charging him multiple counts of Conspiracy to Manufacture and Possess with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine and Other Controlled Substances, Possession of a Firearm in Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking Crime, Possession of a Stolen Firearm, Use of a Communications Facility in Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking Crime and Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon.
Court records reveal that on March 19, 2015, deputies with the Grady County Sheriff’s Office travelled to Cairo, Georgia, in search of a wanted person. Upon arrival, the officers observed Cary Brandon Smith running away from the residence and into a wooded area nearby. After obtaining a search warrant, agents found a methamphetamine lab with methamphetamine, ingredients for manufacture of the drug and evidence of prior manufacturing of the substance.
Arrest warrants were sworn out for Mr. Smith and he remained at large until September 2, 2015, when Grady County deputies travelled to a location on Old Egg Road in Cairo and arrested him following a foot chase. A search of the premises pursuant to a warrant revealed another methamphetamine lab, along with the drug itself and two firearms: a Ruger .357 Magnum revolver and an SKS high capacity semi-automatic rifle, which had been stolen in an earlier burglary.
Mr. Smith admitted to police at the time of this arrest that he manufactured and sold methamphetamine. He also admitted that he knew that the SKS rifle was stolen. Due to prior convictions in Georgia for Criminal Attempt to Manufacture Methamphetamine, Possession of Marijuana with the Intent to Distribute, and Burglary, it was a violation of federal law for Mr. Smith to possess any firearm, a fact he admitted he knew.
While awaiting trial for his crimes on the charges stemming from the March, 2015 and September, 2015 incidents described earlier, Mr. Smith continued dealing in methamphetamine and other illegal drugs, as well as possessing guns. On June 21, 2017, agents executed a search warrant at a Humble Road address in Cairo, where they discovered two handguns, methamphetamine, other illegal drugs and documents identifying Mr. Smith.
On June 23, 2017, officers arrested Mr. Smith during a traffic stop and discovered marijuana and components for manufacturing methamphetamine. Mr. Smith admitted that the marijuana was his. He also described obtaining large quantities of methamphetamine in Moultrie and having travelled to Atlanta to meet with the sources of supply.
“Cary Smith has been a one-man crime wave in South Georgia for several years, manufacturing and selling methamphetamine and other drugs despite numerous arrests and convictions for doing so. In addition, he committed these crimes while armed, knowing that he was prohibited from possessing firearms because of these previous convictions. Mr. Smith earned and deserves the harsh sentence he received, as he has proven beyond any doubt that incarceration is the only way to stop him from ravaging our community through the illegal manufacture and sale of methamphetamine and other highly addictive and destructive drugs,” said United States Attorney Peeler.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program that has been historically successful in bringing together all levels of law enforcement to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has made turning the tide of rising violent crime in America a top priority. In October 2017, as part of a series of actions to address this crime trend, Attorney General Sessions announced the reinvigoration of PSN and directed all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to develop a district crime reduction strategy that incorporates the lessons learned since PSN launched in 2001.
The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms; Georgia Bureau of Investigation; the Grady County Sheriff’s Office and the Cairo Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Leah E. McEwen prosecuted the case for the United States.
Questions concerning this case should be directed to Pamela Lightsey, Public Information Officer, United States Attorney’s Office, at (478) 621-2603.
Buffalo Man Pleads Guilty to Threatening to Kill Police Officers on Social MediaRead the Press Release
CONTACT: Barbara Burns
PHONE: (716) 843-5817
FAX #: (716) 551-3051BUFFALO, N.Y. - U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that Arthur Jordan, 24, of Buffalo, NY, pleaded guilty to interstate communication of threat to injure before Chief U.S. District Judge Frank P. Geraci, Jr. The charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott S. Allen, Jr., who is handling the case, stated that on July 6, 2016, the defendant used social media to threaten police officers. Specifically, using Facebook and the screenname “MacBmw Jordan” posted, “Let’s Start Killin Police Lets See How Dey Like It.” On July 14, 2016, the defendant possessed a loaded firearm while walking in the City of Buffalo.On May 3, 2018, Jordan was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison in Erie County Court following his plea to Attempted Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree.
“It is fitting that this plea was entered during National Police Week,” said U.S. Attorney Kennedy. “The courageous and professional men and women of state and local law enforcement need to know that they have the support and thanks of the United States Attorney’s Office and the entire Department of Justice. A threat to any one of them is a threat to our system of justice.”
Today’s plea is the result of an investigation by the Buffalo Police Department, under the direction of Commissioner Byron Lockwood.
Sentencing is scheduled for August 9, 2018, at 12:00 p.m. before Judge Geraci.
Buffalo Man Pleads Guilty to Operating A Cocaine Conspiracy Near A Buffalo SchoolRead the Press Release
CONTACT: Barbara Burns
PHONE: (716) 843-5817
FAX #: (716) 551-3051BUFFALO, N.Y. - U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that Aaron Hill, 31, of Buffalo, NY, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and to distribute, 500 grams or more of cocaine before U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara. The charge carries a mandatory minimum penalty of five years in prison, a maximum of 40 years, a $5,000,000 fine, or both.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Meghan A. Tokash, who is handling the case, stated that the defendant conspired with Stevie Alejandro who operated the Barberians Barber Shop at 1132 East Lovejoy Street, which is located directly across from Buffalo Public School #43, the Lovejoy Discovery School. Between May 2017 and October 18, 2017, the defendant participated in the cocaine conspiracy with co-defendants Alejandro, Cleophus Dentmond, Gilbert Guzman, Catherine Ramos, and others, to distribute cocaine in the Lovejoy District.
During the conspiracy, Alejandro conducted negotiations with an undercover law enforcement officer regarding the sale, cost, amount, and delivery of cocaine. Then, Hill, or one of his co-conspirators, would conduct the drug transaction with the undercover officer. All proceeds went back to Alejandro. The defendant was involved in a total of 14 cocaine sales, either direct hand to hand sales, or by facilitating the distribution via other co-conspirators.
Defendants Alejandro and Dentmond were previously convicted. Charges are pending against defendants Guzman and Ramos. The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
Today’s plea is the result of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of James J. Hunt, Special Agent-in-Charge, New York Field Division; the Buffalo Police Department, under the direction of Commissioner Byron Lockwood; the Cheektowaga Police Department, under the direction of Chief David Zak; and the Erie County Sheriff’s Office, under the direction of Sheriff Timothy Howard
Sentencing is scheduled for August 27, 2018, at 12:30 p.m. before Judge Arcara.
Buffalo Man Arrested and Charged with Firearms TraffickingRead the Press Release
CONTACT: Barbara Burns
PHONE: (716) 843-5817
FAX #: (716) 551-3051BUFFALO, N.Y. - U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that Robert L. Williams, Jr., 36, of Buffalo, NY, was arrested and charged by criminal complaint with illegal transportation of a firearm purchased outside of New York, and being a felon in possession of a firearm. The charges carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Emmanuel O. Ulubiyo and Timothy C. Lynch, who are handling the case, stated that according to the complaint, between November 2017, and May 2018, the defendant traveled from Buffalo, NY to the State of Ohio where he utilized multiple straw purchasers to acquire approximately 80 firearms. The straw purchasers bought the firearms, mainly pistols, at gun shows or from federal firearms licensees. Williams then returned to Buffalo and sold the firearms to multiple buyers.Law enforcement officers believe that at least two of the firearms have been used in acts of violence in Buffalo.
The defendant made an initial appearance this afternoon before U.S Magistrate Judge H. Kenneth Schroeder and is being held pending a detention hearing on May 22, 2018 at 10:00 a.m.
The defendant was previously convicted in New York State Court of a gun felony and two drug felonies and is legally prohibited from possessing firearms. Williams is currently on parole for the gun conviction.
The complaint is the result of an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Ashan Benedict, New York Field Division and the Buffalo Police Department, under the direction of Commissioner Byron Lockwood.
The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
Buffalo Couple Arrested, Charged with Cocaine ConspiracyRead the Press Release
CONTACT: Barbara Burns
PHONE: (716) 843-5817
FAX #: (716) 551-3051BUFFALO, N.Y. - U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that Kayode Yard, a/k/a Eric Thomas, 44, and Arlynda Ray, 46, both of Buffalo , NY, were arrested and charged by criminal complaint with conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute, and to distribute, 500 grams or more of cocaine. The charge carries a mandatory minimum penalty of five years in prison, a maximum of 40 years and a $5,000,000 fine.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Patricia Astorga, who is handling the case, stated that according to the complaint, Kayode Yard sold a quantity of suspected heroin to an individual working with the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Subsequently, on May 07, 2018, the New York State Police, while conducting routine patrol, stopped a 2018 Chevrolet Impala for vehicle and traffic violations on Interstate 90 in the Town of Glen, NY. This vehicle was being driven by defendant Ray and Yard was a passenger. During the traffic stop, the NYSP Trooper, a K9 handler, noticed the odor of marijuana coming from the vehicle and subsequently conducted an exterior search of the vehicle with his K9. The K9 alerted to the presence of a controlled substance emanating from the vehicle. A subsequent search of the vehicle led to the discovery of two kilogram-sized bricks containing a white powder substance in the trunk. Ray and Yard were immediately arrested. A field test of the substances seized from the vehicle indicated the presence of cocaine.
Yard and Ray made initial appearances before U.S Magistrate Judge H. Kenneth Schroeder. Yard is being detained. Ray was released on conditions.
The complaint is the result of an investigation by the New York State Police, under the direction of Major Robert Patnaude; and the Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge James J. Hunt, New York Field Division.
The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.