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Wednesday 27 December 2017
Watsonville Man Charged with Production, Distribution, Receipt, and Possession of Child PornographyRead the Press Release
SAN FRANCISCO – Anthony Vega-Lobato appeared in court on Friday, December 22, on charges he produced, distributed, received, and possessed child pornography, announced United States Attorney Brian J. Stretch and Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Special Agent in Charge Ryan L. Spradlin. The appearance follows an indictment handed down by a federal grand jury yesterday.
According to the indictment, Vega-Lobato, 22, from Watsonville, has been involved in the production of child pornography since at least April 14, 2016. The indictment alleges Vega-Lobato produced four video files containing visual depictions of three minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. The indictment also alleges that in April of 2017, Vega-Lobato distributed child pornography in interstate and foreign commerce. Further, Vega-Lobato is charged with receiving child pornography at dates unknown until May 18, 2017, and with possessing child pornography until the same date.
In sum, Vega-Lobato is charged in the indictment with four counts of production of child pornography, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2251(a); one count of distribution of child pornography, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2251(a)(2); one count of receipt of child pornography, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2252(a)(2); and one count of possession and access with intent to view child pornography, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2252(a)(4)(B).
Vega-Lobato was arrested on Thursday, December 21, and made his initial appearance in federal court on Friday before the Honorable Joseph C. Spero, U.S. Magistrate Judge. He was remanded into the custody of the U.S. Marshal and remains in custody. The defendant’s next scheduled appearance is at 9:30 a.m. on December 29, 2017, before the Honorable Elizabeth D. Laporte, U.S. Magistrate Judge, for arraignment and identification of counsel.
An indictment merely alleges that crimes have been committed, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. If convicted of violating 18 U.S.C. § 2251, the defendant faces, per count, a mandatory minimum prison sentence of 15 years, a maximum sentence of 30 years, and a fine of $250,000 plus restitution, if appropriate. If convicted of violating 18 U.S.C. § 2252(a)(2), the defendant faces, per count, a mandatory minimum prison sentence of 5 years, a maximum sentence of 20 years, and a fine of $250,000 plus restitution, if appropriate. If convicted of violating 18 U.S.C. § 2252(a)(4), the defendant faces a maximum sentence of 20 years, a fine of $250,000, plus restitution, if appropriate. Additional fines and a term of supervised release also may be imposed, however, any sentence following conviction would be imposed by the court only after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C. § 3553.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott Simeon is prosecuting the case with the assistance of Ryka Barghi. The prosecution is the result of an ongoing investigation by the United States Department of Homeland Security.
If members of the public have any information relevant to this investigation or to suspected child predators or suspicious activity, HSI encourages them to contact HSI through the toll-free Tip Line at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE or by completing its online tip form at https://www.ice.gov/webform/hsi-tip-form. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators. Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may also be reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, via its toll-free 24-hour hotline, 1-800-THE-LOST.
Two Fort Worth Men Who Broke into Pharmacies and Stole Controlled Substances SentencedRead the Press Release
FORT WORTH, Texas — Two men who admitted breaking into pharmacies and stealing controlled substances, Nicholas Evans, aka “Nico,” and Darrien Jefferson, aka “Smoke,” were sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Reed C. O’Connor, announced U.S. Attorney Erin Nealy Cox of the Northern District of Texas.
Evans, 25, was sentenced to serve a total of 121 months in federal prison, and Jefferson, 36, was sentenced to a total of 168 months in federal prison. Each pleaded guilty in August 2017 to one count of conspiracy to commit interference with commerce by robbery and one count of using, carrying, and brandishing a firearm during and in relation to, and possessing and brandishing a firearm in furtherance of, a crime of violence.
Kenneth Sauls, aka “Smurf,” 23, also pleaded guilty to his role in the robbery and is scheduled to be sentenced on January 16, 2018.
Dion Clark, 36, was charged in a separate indictment and pleaded guilty to his role in the robbery. Clark is scheduled to be sentenced before U.S. District Judge John McBryde on February 14, 2018.
According to the factual resumes filed in the case, on April 9, 2016, Evans, Jefferson, Sauls, and Clark entered into an agreement to commit a robbery at the Walgreens Pharmacy located at 833 South Wilshire Blvd., Burleson, Texas. Clark waited in the vehicle as the get-a-way driver while Evans, Jefferson and Sauls entered the Walgreens, brandished firearms and “zip” tied the victims’ hands and feet. Collectively the group stole narcotics, cash, cigarettes, and approximately 150 booklets of stamps.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Megan Fahey prosecuted.
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Tucson Man Charged with Alien Smuggling, High Speed Flight, Assaults on Federal Officers, and Firearm OffensesRead the Press Release
TUCSON, Ariz. – Roberto Ramirez, 21, of Tucson, Ariz., was arrested on Dec. 24, 2017 and subsequently charged by complaint with multiple offenses, including transportation of illegal aliens resulting in serious bodily injury, high-speed flight from a border patrol checkpoint, assault on a federal officer, and use of a firearm in furtherance of a violent crime.
The complaint alleges that Ramirez arrived at the Border Patrol checkpoint on I-19 near Amado while transporting two suspected illegal aliens. When agents referred Ramirez for further inspection, Ramirez fled from the checkpoint and drove northbound on I-19 at a high rate of speed. Several border patrol agents pursued Ramirez in their vehicles. During the pursuit, Ramirez fired several gunshots at the agents and attempted to ram their vehicles. Ramirez eventually lost control of his vehicle and crashed. One of Ramirez’s passengers was ejected during the crash and suffered serious injuries.
At the initial appearance/detention hearing held today, the court ordered that Ramirez remain detained in custody.
Several of the charges carry a maximum penalty of 20 years of imprisonment and a $250,000 fine.
A criminal complaint is simply the method by which a person is charged with criminal activity and raises no inference of guilt. An individual is presumed innocent until competent evidence is presented to a jury that establishes guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
The investigation in this case was conducted by Homeland Security Investigations and the United States Border Patrol. The prosecution is being handled by Liza M. Granoff and Matthew C. Cassell, Assistant United States Attorneys, District of Arizona, Tucson.
CASE NUMBER: Mag#-17-MJ-06045M
RELEASE NUMBER: 2017-126_Ramirez
For more information on the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/az
Follow the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, on Twitter @USAO_AZ for the latest news.
Three-Time Convicted Felon from the Interior Sentenced for Illegally Possessing Firearms in FairbanksRead the Press Release
Fairbanks, Alaska – U.S. Attorney Bryan Schroder announced today that a three-time convicted felon was sentenced to 37 months in federal prison for illegally possessing firearms in Fairbanks, Alaska.
J Cobb Whitmore, 38, of Fairbanks and Nenana, Alaska, was sentenced yesterday by Senior U.S. District Judge Ralph R. Beistline, to 37 months, 3 years supervised release, and 80 hours of community service. On September 8, 2017, Whitmore pled guilty in federal court for being a felon in possession of firearms, and agreed to forfeit all rights to firearms and ammunition named in the forfeiture allegation.
According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrea Hattan, who prosecuted the case, in November 2015, Whitmore was a fugitive wanted on two active felony warrants in the following State of Alaska cases: (1) 4FA-15-01243CR (Assault 3); and (2) 4FA-15-02203CR (Escape 2). On November 19, 2015, after several days of surveillance and investigation, the U.S. Marshal Service’s Alaska Fugitive Task Force (AFTF) apprehended Whitmore at a Fairbanks property and executed the two outstanding warrants stemming from Whitmore’s aforementioned 2015 cases. At the time of his arrest, Whitmore was found in possession of two firearms, ammunition, and a ballistic vest, as well as a flatbed truck stolen from a nearby Fairbanks property.
Whitmore’s lengthy criminal history includes numerous violent assaults, DUIs, and other serious crimes, spanning more than 20 years. All of Whitmore’s contacts with the criminal justice system have been in Alaska, and Whitmore has committed nearly all of his crimes in either Nenana or Fairbanks.
At sentencing, Judge Beistline noted that Whitmore has victimized numerous Interior residents over the years via Whitmore’s numerous convictions, many of which involved violence, guns, or both. The Judge imposed the high-end of the advisory sentencing guideline range for Whitmore (i.e., 37 months) and ordered, among other things, that Whitmore complete 80 hours of community service and meet satisfy his child support obligations.
U.S. Attorney Schroder commended the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), the United States Marshal Service, both branches of the Department of Justice, and the Alaska State Troopers (AST) for their substantial assistance leading to the successful prosecution of this case.
Seven Men Indicted for Drug Trafficking and Firearms Offenses in Fox Valley RegionRead the Press Release
Gregory J. Haanstad, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, announced that on December 19, 2017, a federal grand jury returned a nine-count indictment against seven individuals allegedly involved in drug trafficking in the Fox Valley area of Northeastern Wisconsin. The indictment named the following individuals:
Name
Age
Residence
Robert Losse
34
Menasha, Wisconsin
Lee Carter
38
Fox Lake, Wisconsin
Craig Hannemann
34
Appleton, Wisconsin
Joshua Murphy
38
Bruce, Wisconsin
Zachary Dittmer
23
Black River Falls, Wisconsin
Andrew Thede
30
Appleton, Wisconsin
Anthony Cabrera-Santiago
30
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
All seven are charged in Count One with Conspiracy to Distribute Greater Than 500 Grams of Methamphetamine in violation of Title 21 United States Code Section 846. Each defendant faces a sentence on this count of a minimum of 10 years, and up to life, in prison; up to a $10 Million fine; and between 5 years and a lifetime of supervised release. Losse, Carter, Thede and Cabrera-Santiago also face charges of Possession of a Firearm in Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking Crime in violation of Title 18 United States Code Section 924(c). This charge has a mandatory minimum consecutive sentence of 5 years, and up to life in prison; up to a $250,000 fine; and up to 5 years of supervised release. Additional drug charges were issued against Carter, Hannemann, Thede, and Cabrera-Santiago.
According to the indictment, the defendants conspired amongst themselves and with others to obtain and distribute methamphetamine in the Fox Valley area of Northeastern Wisconsin.
The case was investigated by the Lake Winnebago Area Metropolitan Enforcement Group – Drug Unit, United States Drug Enforcement Administration, Federal Bureau of Investigation, with assistance from the Winnebago County District Attorney’s Office, Outagamie County District Attorney’s Office, and Calumet County District Attorney’s Office. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Andrew J. Maier.
An indictment is only a charge and not evidence of guilt. The defendants are presumed innocent and are entitled to a fair trial at which the government must prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
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For Additional Information Contact:
Public Information Officer Dean Puschnig 414-297-1700
New York Attorney Convicted of Securities Fraud and Wire Fraud ConspiraciesRead the Press Release
Evan Greebel, a former partner at the New York office of Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP who served as outside counsel to Retrophin Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, was convicted today by a federal jury in Brooklyn of two counts of a superseding indictment charging him with conspiracy to commit securities fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The verdict followed an 11-week trial before United States District Judge Kiyo A. Matsumoto.
Bridget M. Rohde, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, and William F. Sweeney, Jr., Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI), announced the verdict.
“By helping Retrophin CEO Martin Shkreli steal millions of dollars and cover up Shkreli’s fraud, the defendant Evan Greebel betrayed the trust placed in him by Retrophin’s board of directors to represent the company’s best interests,” stated Acting United States Attorney Rohde. “Today’s verdict sends a powerful message that this Office, together with our law enforcement partners, will hold lawyers accountable when they use their legal expertise to facilitate the commission of crimes.” Ms. Rohde thanked the Securities and Exchange Commission, New York Regional Office (SEC), and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc., Criminal Prosecution Assistance Group (FINRA CPAG), for their significant cooperation and assistance in this case.
“Greebel’s conviction highlights the deliberate actions he took in conspiring with hedge fund manager Martin Shkreli to defraud investors,” stated FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Sweeney. “While it’s become increasingly more evident that Greebel exploited his knowledge of the law in his efforts to break the law, today we finally see justice served in a case that’s spent no shortage of its time in the spotlight. Investment fraud remains a priority for the FBI’s New York Office.”
The evidence at trial established that between 2011 and 2014, Greebel conspired with Shkreli and others in a scheme to misappropriate Retrophin’s assets in order to pay off defrauded investors in Shkreli’s hedge funds, MSMB Capital Management LP (MSMB Capital) and MSMB Healthcare Management LP (MSMB Healthcare). As part of this scheme, Greebel negotiated and prepared so-called “settlement” agreements with certain defrauded MSMB Capital and MSMB Healthcare investors, which caused Retrophin to reimburse those investors more than $2 million in cash and stock for their lost investments in Shkreli’s hedge funds even though Retrophin was not responsible for those losses. Greebel also arranged for certain other defrauded investors to enter into sham consulting agreements with Retrophin as a means to settle liabilities owed by Shkreli and the hedge funds.
In addition, between 2012 and 2014, Greebel and Shkreli engaged in a scheme to defraud investors and potential investors in Retrophin by attempting to illegally control the price and trading volume of Retrophin’s stock. Greebel and Shkreli executed this scheme by, among other things, concealing Shkreli’s beneficial ownership and control of the majority of Retrophin’s free-trading shares. Greebel and Shkreli recruited associates of Shkreli to be nominee shareholders for the majority of Retrophin’s free-trading shares, and they also filed a false document with government regulators to hide the fact that Shkreli controlled those shares. Greebel and Shkreli not only prevented nominee employees from selling these shares, but also directed that some of the shares be used to settle liabilities owed by the MSMB hedge funds and Shkreli.
When he is sentenced, Greebel faces a maximum of 20 years in prison on the top count of conviction.
In August 2017, co-defendant Shkreli was convicted of securities fraud and securities fraud conspiracy by a federal jury following a six-week trial before Judge Matsumoto. Shkreli is awaiting sentencing.
The government’s case is being handled by the Office’s Business and Securities Fraud Section. Assistant United States Attorneys Alixandra Smith, David Pitluck and David K. Kessler are in charge of the prosecution.
The Defendants:
EVAN GREEBEL
Age: 44
Scarsdale, New York
MARTIN SHKRELI
Age: 34
Manhattan, New York
E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 15-CR-637 (KAM)Indictment unsealed charging additional man for labor trafficking conspiracy that forced minors to work at egg farms near MarionRead the Press Release
A federal court today unsealed charges against a fourth defendant for participating in a labor-trafficking scheme that forced minors to work at egg farms in central Ohio. The defendant, Pablo Duran Ramirez, was apprehended Saturday by Border Patrol while attempting to cross the border between Mexico and the United States. Three other defendants have previously been convicted for participating in the scheme.
The charges were announced by Justin E. Herdman, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio; Acting Assistant Attorney General John M. Gore of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division; and Special Agent in Charge Stephen D. Anthony of the FBI’s Cleveland Division.
The indictment unsealed today alleges that Duran Ramirez contracted to provide labor for Trillium Farms while knowing or being in reckless disregard of the fact that some of the workers were being trafficked. In addition to the charges for forced labor and for conspiracy, Duran Ramirez is facing a charge of encouraging another person to illegally enter the United States. Duran Ramirez, 49, is a United States citizen.
Three other defendants have pleaded guilty to participating in the trafficking scheme. Those defendants admitted to recruiting workers from Guatemala, some as young as 14 or 15 years old, falsely promising them good jobs and a chance to attend school in the United States. The defendants then smuggled and transported the workers to a trailer park in Marion, Ohio, where they ordered them to live in dilapidated trailers and to work at physically demanding jobs at Trillium Farms for up to 12 hours a day. The work included cleaning chicken coops, loading and unloading crates of chickens, de-beaking chickens and vaccinating chickens. Eight minors and two adults were identified as victims of the scheme.
Aroldo Castillo-Serrano, the lead smuggler and primary enforcer, was sentenced to 188 months in prison. Ana Angelica Pedro-Juan, who oversaw the victims in Ohio, was sentenced to 120 months. Conrado Salgado-Soto, who arranged jobs for the victims, was sentenced to 51 months. The indictment unsealed today alleges that Salgado-Soto was a subcontractor hired by Duran Ramirez.
At sentencing of the other defendants, Senior United States District Judge James G. Carr found that they threatened workers with physical harm and withheld their paychecks in order to compel them to work.
Three additional defendants, including Duran Ramirez’s son, pleaded guilty to encouraging illegal entry into the United States in connection to the scheme.
The trafficking and conspiracy counts that Duran Ramirez is charged with carry sentences of up to 20 years. The count of encouraging the entry of illegal aliens carries a sentence of up to five years.
An indictment is merely an accusation, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. The investigation is ongoing.
This case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Cleveland Office, Mansfield Resident Agency; and the Department of Homeland Security. The case is being jointly prosecuted by Civil Rights Division Trial Attorney Dana Mulhauser and Assistant U.S. Attorney Chelsea Rice.
Fourth Defendant Charged in Ohio Trafficking Scheme Involving Immigrant MinorsRead the Press Release
A federal court today unsealed charges against a fourth defendant for participating in a labor-trafficking scheme that forced minors to work at egg farms in central Ohio. The defendant, Pablo Duran Ramirez, was apprehended Saturday by Border Patrol while attempting to cross the border between Mexico and the United States. Three other defendants have previously been convicted for participating in the scheme.
The charges were announced by Justin E. Herdman, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio; Acting Assistant Attorney General John M. Gore of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division; and Special Agent in Charge Stephen D. Anthony of the FBI’s Cleveland Division.
The indictment unsealed today alleges that Duran Ramirez contracted to provide labor for Trillium Farms while knowing or being in reckless disregard of the fact that some of the workers were being trafficked. In addition to the charges for forced labor and for conspiracy, Duran Ramirez is facing a charge of encouraging another person to illegally enter the United States. Duran Ramirez, 49, is a United States citizen.
Three other defendants have pleaded guilty to participating in the trafficking scheme. Those defendants admitted to recruiting workers from Guatemala, some as young as 14 or 15 years old, falsely promising them good jobs and a chance to attend school in the United States. The defendants then smuggled and transported the workers to a trailer park in Marion, Ohio, where they ordered them to live in dilapidated trailers and to work at physically demanding jobs at Trillium Farms for up to 12 hours a day. The work included cleaning chicken coops, loading and unloading crates of chickens, de-beaking chickens and vaccinating chickens. Eight minors and two adults were identified as victims of the scheme.
Aroldo Castillo-Serrano, the lead smuggler and primary enforcer, was sentenced to 188 months in prison. Ana Angelica Pedro-Juan, who oversaw the victims in Ohio, was sentenced to 120 months. Conrado Salgado-Soto, who arranged jobs for the victims, was sentenced to 51 months. The indictment unsealed today alleges that Salgado-Soto was a subcontractor hired by Duran Ramirez.
At sentencing of the other defendants, Senior United States District Judge James G. Carr found that they threatened workers with physical harm and withheld their paychecks in order to compel them to work.
Three additional defendants, including Duran Ramirez’s son, pleaded guilty to encouraging illegal entry into the United States in connection to the scheme.
The trafficking and conspiracy counts that Duran Ramirez is charged with carry sentences of up to 20 years. The count of encouraging the entry of illegal aliens carries a sentence of up to five years.
An indictment is merely an accusation, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. The investigation is ongoing.
This case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Cleveland Office, Mansfield Resident Agency; and the Department of Homeland Security. The case is being jointly prosecuted by Civil Rights Division Trial Attorney Dana Mulhauser and Assistant U.S. Attorney Chelsea Rice.
Florida Resident Sentenced to Prison for Stolen Identity Refund FraudRead the Press Release
A Lauderhill, Florida, resident was sentenced to 48 months in prison for his role in a stolen identity refund fraud scheme, announced Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Richard Zuckerman of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and Acting United States Attorney Benjamin G. Greenberg of the Southern District of Florida.
According to documents and information provided to the court, from approximately 2008 through January 2015, in Broward and Miami-Dade Counties, Evens Julien, 53, and others, used stolen IDs, including the personal identifying information of prisoners and deceased individuals, to file over 2,000 tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). These fraudulent returns sought more than $2 million in refunds. Julien and his co-conspirators recruited others to obtain Electronic Filing Identification Numbers from the IRS in their names and used the EFINs to file the fraudulent returns. They directed the refunds to debit cards and treasury checks and had them mailed to South Florida addresses. They then cashed the fraudulently obtained refund checks at check cashing stores and used Western Union and ATMs to withdraw the funds.
Julien pleaded guilty in October to conspiring to defraud the IRS, commit wire fraud, and commit aggravated identity theft and aggravated identity theft. In addition to the term of prison imposed, U.S. District Judge Federico A. Moreno ordered Julien to serve four years of supervised release and to pay $1,169,000 in restitution to the IRS.
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Zuckerman and Acting U.S. Attorney Greenberg commended special agents of Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, who conducted the investigation, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Neil Karadbil of the Southern District of Florida and Assistant Chief Greg Tortella of the Tax Division, who prosecuted the case.
Additional information about the Tax Division’s enforcement efforts can be found on the division’s website.
Drug Trafficker Sentenced to Serve 188 Months in Federal Prison on Conspiracy ConvictionRead the Press Release
DALLAS — A defendant charged in a major drug distribution conspiracy that operated in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex and elsewhere was sentenced last week by U.S. District Judge Jane J. Boyle to 188 months in federal prison for his role in that conspiracy, announced U.S. Attorney Erin Nealy Cox of the Northern District of Texas.
Tony Ruvalcaba, a/k/a “Lil Tony,” 40, of Dallas, pleaded guilty in December 2015 to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute a schedule II controlled substance.
In July 2015, Ruvalcaba and 45 others were indicted, following a law enforcement operation. According to the plea agreement factual resume filed in Ruvalcaba’s case, beginning in November 2012, Ruvalcaba conspired with Javier Guerra, aka “Chop,” Eduardo Ruvalcaba, Jose Guerrero, aka “JD,” Eusebio Martinez Ramirez, Jr., aka “Sip,” Kenneth Johnson, aka “KJ,” Alex Gonzales, Noel Escamilla, and others to possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine. The defendants were supplied multi-kilogram amounts of methamphetamine which they then worked to distribute to various individuals.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation, Dallas Police Department, and Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation led the investigation with assistance from the Texas Department of Public Safety; the DFW Department of Public Safety; the U.S. Department of State; the Drug Enforcement Administration; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Transportation Security Administration; the U.S. Secret Service; U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations; and the Fort Worth, McKinney, Mesquite, and Plano Police Departments.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys George Leal and John de la Garza were in charge of the prosecution.
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Convicted Felon Who Fled Mt. Brook Police Indicted on Federal Gun ChargeRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – A federal grand jury today returned a federal gun charge against the Irondale man who last month crashed a stolen car in Mountain Brook after fleeing police there.
U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Special Agent in Charge Steven L. Gerido, Jefferson County District Attorney Mike Anderton and Mountain Brook Police Chief Ted Cook announced the indictment.
A one-count indictment filed in U.S. District Court charges ERIC DEVAUGHN McALPINE, 24, as a convicted felon in possession of firearms on Nov. 22 in Jefferson County. He possessed a Charter Arms .22-caliber revolver and a Stallard Arms 9mm pistol, according to the indictment. McAlpine previously was convicted of the felonies of first-degree robbery, second-degree assault and third-degree robbery in Jefferson County Circuit Court in December 2013, the indictment says.
“This is a great example of local, state and federal law enforcement working together to bring violent criminals to justice, especially those who illegally possess firearms,” said Town. “The partnerships forming between state and federal prosecutorial and investigative agencies is great news for every citizen of the Northern District, but will prove to be the bane of the worst offenders who have afflicted our neighborhoods for too long.”
“The partnerships fostered between ATF, the Mountain Brook Police Department and the District and U.S. Attorney’s offices have led to taking firearms off the streets from prohibited persons endangering the community,” Gerido said.
“This cooperative effort between local and federal agencies is truly a thing of beauty,” Anderton said. “This case, in particular, shows the dedication of prosecutors and law enforcement to take the most violent offenders and deal with them in a special way. My office looks forward to even better working relationships with agencies with which we normally do not interact. We are proud of these men and women.”
“Criminals have no regard for jurisdictional boundaries when committing crimes,” Cook said. “This case represents that, and how cooperation among the various law enforcement agencies works to take these violent criminals off the streets of our communities.”
Mountain Brook Police initially arrested McAlpine Nov. 22 on charges of first-degree receiving stolen property, certain persons forbidden to possess a pistol, unlawful possession of a controlled substance and attempting to elude.
Court documents indicate that Irondale Police identified McAlpine on a home security video on Nov. 20 after responding to a home burglary and car theft report. The vehicle stolen was a blue 2014 Hyundai Sonata.
On the afternoon of Nov. 22, a Mountain Brook Police officer attempted to stop a Sonata on Montclair Road after his radar clocked the car traveling 55 mph in a 25 mph zone, according to court documents. The Sonata sped away, exceeding 100 mph and recklessly weaving through traffic to avoid apprehension.
The car went off the road on the westbound side of Montclair Road, near Cresthill Road, and landed upside down in a wooded area. No one was in the vehicle when the officer pursuing it arrived at the crash, according to court documents. Another Mountain Brook police officer arrested McAlpine a short time later walking through a front yard on Cresthill Road.
Police recovered a loaded Charter Arms Pathfinder .22-caliber revolver and an unloaded Stallard Arms 9mm pistol in the Sonata, according to court documents.
The federal charge of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
ATF investigated the case in conjunction with Mountain Brook Police and the Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mohammad Khatib is prosecuting the case.
An indictment contains only charges. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
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Tuesday 26 December 2017
Kaleil Tuzman, Former Chairman and Ceo of Technology Start-Up Company Kit Digital, and Omar Amanat Found Guilty in Manhattan Federal Court of Securities Fraud Related OffensesRead the Press Release
Joon H. Kim, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that KALEIL ISAZA TUZMAN, the former chairman of the board of directors and chief executive officer of the technology start-up company KIT digital (“KITD”), and OMAR AMANAT, an associate of Tuzman’s, were found guilty this afternoon in Manhattan federal court of various securities fraud-related offenses, after a six-week trial presided over by U.S District Judge Paul G. Gardephe.
Acting Manhattan U.S. Attorney Joon H. Kim said: “Today, after a six-week trial, a New York jury convicted Kaleil Tuzman and Omar Amanat of securities and accounting fraud. Kaleil Isaza Tuzman built the company named after himself, Kit Digital, on a foundation of lies, working with his co-defendant Omar Amanat to defraud investors out of millions of dollars through years of deceit. The evidence of their criminal schemes was so overwhelming that Amanat actually tried to fool the jury by introducing fake emails into the record as exculpatory ‘evidence’ in this trial. Unfortunately for Tuzman and Amanat, the jury saw through their tangled web of lies, convicting them on all counts. Today, Tuzman and Amanat’s lies finally caught up to them, and they now must face what they have been desperately seeking to evade for years – justice.”
According to the Indictment and other filings in Manhattan federal court and the evidence presented at trial:
The Scheme to Defraud Maiden Capital Investors
Stephen Maiden was the managing member of Maiden Capital, an unregistered investment advisory firm that managed portfolios of securities. Between in or about February 2009 and in or about June 2012, AMANAT, along with Maiden and others, devised and carried out a scheme to hide the fact that investments by Maiden Capital clients in Enable, an investment vehicle for which AMANAT raised money (based, in part, on false and misleading representations), had been lost. To facilitate the scheme, Maiden, with the knowledge and approval of AMANAT, generated fictitious client account statements that failed to disclose the Enable losses. In addition, AMANAT wired hundreds of thousands of dollars to a Maiden Capital bank account to support Maiden Capital, including to allow Maiden to repay investors whose redemption requests could not be forestalled and thus to continue to keep secret from Maiden Capital investors the Enable losses for over three years.
Evidence at trial also revealed that AMANAT produced to the Government and entered into evidence at trial email communications that had been fabricated. After two evidentiary hearings into the issue, the Court allowed the Government to present to the jury evidence of AMANAT’s use of false and fabricated email evidence during the trial.
After the verdict, Judge Gardephe revoked AMANAT’s bail and ordered him remanded into custody, citing numerous factors, including that “substantial evidence was introduced at trial that Mr. Amanat fabricated emails” showing “disdain for the court” and its procedures.
The Market Manipulation Scheme
Between in or about December 2008 and in or about September 2011, TUZMAN, Maiden, and AMANAT engaged in efforts to artificially inflate the share price and trading volume of KITD shares. During this time period, during which KITD shares traded on the OTC Bulletin Board and on the NASDAQ, Maiden, at TUZMAN’s and AMANAT’s behest, purchased and sold shares of KITD through Maiden Capital, at times for the purpose of manipulating the stock price and at times for the purpose of creating the illusion of greater volume in the trading for KITD shares.
For instance, Maiden, with TUZMAN’s knowledge and approval, frequently engaged in match trading in which Maiden caused an account under Maiden’s control to buy or sell KITD stock, and on the same day caused an account under Maiden’s control to take the opposite position. TUZMAN also directed Maiden to make timely purchases of KITD stock in an effort to manipulate the price of KITD shares at certain critical moments, including, for example, when KITD was seeking to raise additional capital and in the weeks before KITD’s stock began trading on the NASDAQ. At times, Maiden was responsible for nearly all of the day’s trading activity in KITD stock.
Over the course of the scheme, TUZMAN caused KITD to invest approximately $1,150,000 in company cash in Maiden Capital but failed to disclose to KITD shareholders that these investments with Maiden Capital were not part of an arms-length relationship. Instead, TUZMAN portrayed these investments as efforts to safely invest assets of KITD. In reality, TUZMAN caused KITD to make these investments in order to help fund Maiden’s purchases of KITD shares, as part of the effort to manipulate the market described above. And, on one occasion, TUZMAN caused KITD to invest $250,000 in Maiden Capital so that Maiden could reimburse TUZMAN for a prior, personal investment that TUZMAN made with Maiden Capital, thereby using KITD as his personal bank.
The Accounting Fraud Scheme
From at least in or about 2010 through in or about 2012, TUZMAN, along with Robin Smyth, KITD’s former CFO, Gaven Campion, KITD’s former president,[1] and others, engaged in an illegal scheme to deceive KITD shareholders, members of the investing public, KITD’s independent auditors, and others concerning KITD’s true operating performance and financial results.
TUZMAN, working with others, including Smyth and Campion, devised and executed a scheme to inflate KITD’s revenue falsely. This scheme involved two principal methods: (a) the improper recognition of revenue from so-called “perpetual license” contracts for KITD software (contracts that gave the purchasing customer the right to use the licensed software indefinitely), and (b) the execution of fraudulent “round-trip” transactions that had the effect of using KITD’s own cash, rather than payments received from customers, to pay off bills, known as accounts receivable, that were due and owed to KITD, including those resulting from KITD’s improper revenue recognition practices, rather than disclose to KITD’s auditors and the investing public the fact that the bills were uncollectible or, in some cases, had resulted from fabricated contracts. These fraudulent practices caused KITD to materially overstate its reported revenue, which had the effect of materially overstating KITD’s net income and earnings on its annual and quarterly financial reports issued from the fiscal quarter ending June 30, 2010, through the fiscal quarter ending March 31, 2012.
* * *
TUZMAN, 45, was found guilty of one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud with respect to the market manipulation scheme. For the accounting fraud scheme, TUZMAN was found guilty of one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud, make false statements in annual and quarterly SEC reports, and make false statements to auditors. The Counts of which TUZMAN was convicted carry a combined maximum term of imprisonment of 30 years, which includes five years each on the conspiracies to commit securities fraud and 20 years on the conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
AMANAT, 44, was found guilty of one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, one count of wire fraud, one count of aiding and abetting investment advisor fraud, and one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud, all in relation to the market manipulation scheme. The Counts of which AMANAT was convicted carry a combined maximum term of imprisonment of 50 years, which includes five years each on the conspiracies to commit securities fraud and aiding and abetting investment advisor fraud and 20 years each on the conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud counts.
The maximum penalties are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencings of the defendants will be determined by the Court.
AMANAT is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Gardephe on April 25, 2018, at 12:30 p.m. TUZMAN is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Gardephe on April 26, 2018, at 12:30 p.m.
Mr. Kim praised the investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. He also thanked the SEC for its assistance.
This case is being handled by the Office’s Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Damian Williams, Andrea M. Griswold, and Joshua A. Naftalis are in charge of the prosecution.
[1] Maiden, Smyth, and Campion have pled guilty to various offenses for their roles in the schemes and cooperated with the Government.
KC Man Charged with Illegal FirearmsRead the Press Release
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tom Larson, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Kansas City, Mo., man was charged in federal court today for illegally possessing firearms.
Robert J. Gross, 66, of Kansas City, was charged in a criminal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Mo.
Today’s criminal complaint charges Gross with being a felon in possession of firearms. Gross allegedly was in possession of a Springfield 12-gauge shotgun and a Winchester 12-gauge shotgun on Friday, Dec. 22, 2017.
According to an affidavit filed in support of the federal criminal complaint, Gross has been destroying property and stalking individuals associated with massage parlors in Kansas, which led to him being placed under surveillance by law enforcement.
On Dec. 2, 2017, officers saw Gross purchase four sets of handcuffs, two black shirts with “SECURITY” written on them with badges on the front, and two balaclavas (a garment used to conceal facial identity) from a surplus store in Kansas City, Kan. The manager of the business told investigators that Gross had purchased two sets of handcuffs two weeks earlier.
On Dec. 16, 2017, officers saw Gross inquiring about the purchase of firearms at the Kansas City Gun Show located at the KCI Expo Center. Gross picked up and handled a 9mm Velocity Uzi-type firearm at one of the booths. The dealer at the booth told investigators that Gross, who approached his booth multiple times throughout the day, had asked about purchasing up to three firearms. The next day, the affidavit says, Gross visited the gun show again and was seen inquiring about the purchase of firearms. Gross visited a different booth, where he picked up a 9mm Luger handgun and asked about buying it.
On Dec. 22, 2017, Gross returned to the surplus store in Kansas City, Kan., and was observed purchasing four more sets of handcuffs and a balaclava. Gross also asked about purchasing a bulletproof vest.
On Dec. 22, 2017, officers observed Gross allegedly purchase two shotguns from an unidentified individual in the parking lot of the Lowe’s Home Improvement store in Liberty, Mo. According to the affidavit, Gross first drove to the Pizza Ranch parking lot, where he removed the license plate from the front of his car. The rear license plate had been removed as well. Then Gross drove to the nearby Lowe’s store, where he was met by an individual driving a white pickup truck. The unidentified individual allegedly sold Gross two shotguns, which he handed to Gross from his truck. As Gross was putting two shotguns in the trunk of his car, officers arrested him for being a felon in possession of firearms.
According to the affidavit, the individual who sold the shotguns to Gross told investigators that Gross called him the day before, after seeing the firearms advertised on a web site. Gross told him he wanted to buy two shotguns for $350 and they arranged to meet at Lowe’s to conduct the sale.
Under federal law, it is illegal for anyone who has been convicted of a felony to be in possession of any firearm or ammunition. Gross has prior felony convictions for possession with intent to distribute cocaine and making terroristic threats to a former girlfriend.
Larson cautioned that the charge contained in this complaint is simply an accusation, and not evidence of guilt.This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Valenti. It was investigated by the FBI, the Independence, Mo., Police Department, the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department, the Lawrence, Kan., Police Department, and the Douglas County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department.
High-Ranking Soccer Officials Convicted in Multi-Million Dollar Bribery SchemesRead the Press Release
On Friday, former high-ranking soccer officials Juan Ángel Napout and José Maria Marin were convicted of racketeering conspiracy and related crimes by a federal jury in Brooklyn. The crimes of conviction related to the defendants’ participation in schemes to accept millions of dollars in bribes in exchange for the media and marketing rights to various soccer tournaments. In addition to racketeering conspiracy, Napout was also convicted of two counts of wire fraud conspiracy, and Marin was convicted of three counts of wire fraud conspiracy and two counts of money laundering conspiracy. Today, the jury found the defendant Manuel Burga, former president of the Peruvian soccer federation, not guilty of racketeering conspiracy, the one count on which he was extradited from Peru.[1] After the jury rendered its verdict, which followed a six-week trial before United States District Judge Pamela K. Chen, Judge Chen remanded Napout and Marin into custody.
At the time of his arrest in December 2015, Napout was the president of the South American soccer confederation, known as CONMEBOL, a member of the FIFA Executive Committee, and a FIFA Vice President. He had also previously served as president of the Paraguayan soccer federation. At the time of his arrest in May 2015, Marin was the former head of the Brazilian soccer federation, known as the CBF, and a member of various FIFA standing committees. As proved at trial, the defendants and their co-conspirators accepted or agreed to accept tens of millions of dollars in bribe payments over the course of the conspiracy.
The guilty verdicts were announced by Bridget M. Rohde, Acting 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 R. Damon Rowe, Special-Agent-in-Charge, Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, Los Angeles Field Office (IRS).
“As the jury found, defendants Napout and Marin lined their own pockets with millions of dollars in bribes at the expense of the soccer organizations they represented and the people those organizations served,” said Acting United States Attorney Rohde. “Now these defendants have been brought to justice, like the others who have been convicted for corrupting a sport beloved across the world, and will face punishment for their criminal conduct. The guilty verdicts and the evidence at trial highlight the extent of the corruption and the continuing need for reform.” Ms. Rohde expressed her grateful appreciation to governments around the world, particularly the governments of Switzerland, Brazil, Peru, and Paraguay for their significant assistance in this case. Ms. Rohde also thanked the Office of International Affairs and the Organized Crime and Gang Section of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Criminal Division in Washington, D.C., for their assistance in this prosecution.
“So much about the game of soccer is ingrained in many cultures around the world, they watch and play it with an almost religious fervor,” stated FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Sweeney. “The many subjects we have charged in this expansive and complex investigation used the reverence of fans to make millions of dollars illegally while they thought no one was watching. Their mistakes were using banks and companies in the United States to hide their misdeeds, but they got caught. The FBI has worked side-by-side with our national and international partners, traveling all over the world to build this case that wouldn’t have been possible without the great coordination of all the agencies investigating. We will continue searching out everyone involved in these backroom handshakes, and lucrative bribes that were once just part of the game.”
“As the guilty verdicts reflect, Juan Angel Napout and Jose Maria Marin undermined the soccer-related contracting process by entering into corrupt arrangements with executives of sports marketing companies who were more than willing to pay self-serving bribes,” said Special Agent-in-Charge Rowe of IRS Criminal Investigation. “IRS Criminal Investigation, along with our law enforcement partners at the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the FBI, will continue to aggressively investigate those individual and corporate entities that use shell companies and financial accounts in bank secrecy jurisdictions, and in the process utilize the U.S. financial system to facilitate crooked practices within the world's favorite sport.”
The Enterprise the Evidence at Trial [2]
As proved at trial, FIFA and its six continental confederations, together with affiliated regional federations, national member associations, and sports marketing companies, constitute an enterprise of legal entities associated in fact for purposes of the federal racketeering laws. The principal – and entirely legitimate – purpose of the enterprise is to regulate and promote the sport of soccer worldwide. The enterprise financed its efforts in significant part by commercializing the media and marketing rights associated with various soccer events and tournaments, often through the sale of multi-year contracts covering multiple editions of the tournaments.
The evidence at trial, including witness testimony, contemporaneously kept ledgers, bank records, emails and text messages, and consensual recordings, established that the defendants and their co-conspirators had engaged in a conspiracy to corrupt the enterprise through racketeering activity. Specifically, the defendants and their co-conspirators corrupted the FIFA enterprise through the offer and receipt of tens of millions of dollars in bribes and kickbacks paid by sports marketing companies to soccer officials. In particular, the evidence at trial established that Napout and Marin accepted, or agreed to accept, millions of dollars in bribes in exchange for the media and marketing rights to: (a) multiple editions of the CONMEBOL-sponsored Copa América soccer tournament played periodically by South American national teams, including the Copa América Centenario, a special edition of the tournament played in the United States in 2016; and (b) multiple editions of the CONMEBOL-sponsored Copa Libertadores soccer tournament played annually by South American club teams.
The Copa América bribes were paid, variously, by principals of the sports marketing companies Traffic, Torneos y Competencias (“Torneos”), and Full Play. The Copa Libertadores bribes were paid by Torneos and related entities, using Full Play as an intermediary. In addition, the government proved that Marin agreed to receive millions of dollars worth of bribes in exchange for the media and marketing rights to the Copa do Brasil, a soccer tournament sponsored by the CBF for Brazilian soccer clubs. Marin received and agreed to receive these bribes from Traffic and a Brazilian sports marketing company named Klefer.
Defendants who have pleaded guilty and corporate entities that have entered agreements with the government have agreed to forfeit more than $200,000,000 in this and related cases, and the government has collected more than $60,000,000 of that figure to date. The government has also restrained assets around the world in connection with this and related cases, with the assistance of various foreign governments. As previously announced, all of the forfeited funds are being held in reserve, in order to ensure their availability to satisfy any orders of restitution entered at sentencing for the benefit of individuals or entities that qualify as victims under federal law.When sentenced by Judge Chen, the defendants convicted at trial face a maximum of 20 years in prison on each count of conviction. Each of the defendants also faces liability for millions of dollars in forfeiture and/or restitution, in amounts to be determined at the time of sentencing.
The government’s investigation is ongoing.
The government’s case is being handled by the Office’s FIFA Task Force. Assistant United States Attorneys Samuel P. Nitze, M. Kristin Mace, and Keith D. Edelman are in charge of the trial prosecution, with assistance from Assistant U.S. Attorneys Paul Tuchmann, Kaitlin T. Farrell, and Brian D. Morris.
The Defendants:
JUAN ÁNGEL NAPOUT
Age: 59
Citizenship: ParaguayJOSÉ MARIA MARIN
Age: 85
Citizenship: BrazilE.D.N.Y. Docket No. 15-CR-252 (S-2) (PKC)
[1] Burga was charged in a superseding indictment unsealed on December 3, 2015 with one count of racketeering conspiracy, two counts of wire fraud conspiracy, and two counts of money laundering conspiracy – the same offenses charged against defendant Napout. Peru extradited Burga on the racketeering conspiracy count. Accordingly, the second superseding indictment that served as the trial indictment charged Burga in that count alone.
[2] Facts described here are derived from the evidence put before the jury at trial, as well as publicly filed documents and statements made in open court in this and related cases.
Friday 22 December 2017
Uzbek National Living in New Britain Charged with Immigration OffensesRead the Press Release
John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, and Patricia M. Ferrick, Special Agent in Charge of the New Haven Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Michael Shea, Acting Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston, announced that SIDIKJON MAMADJONOV, 31, a citizen of Uzbekistan residing in New Britain, was arrested today on a criminal complaint charging him with immigration offenses.
MAMADJONOV appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah A. L. Merriam in New Haven and was ordered detained.
As alleged in court documents, MAMADJONOV immigrated to the U.S. in February 2009 and became a lawful permanent resident in September 2010. On September 8, 2014, MAMADJONOV submitted to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services an Application for Naturalization, Form N-400.
It is alleged that, on November 20, 2017, in an interview with the FBI, MAMADJONOV stated that on a trip to Turkey in May 2013, he was informed that his brother Saidjon had died in May or June 2013 while fighting in Syria with the “Nusra” group, which was affiliated with ISIS. When MAMADJONOV returned from Turkey, he received a FedEx package that contained what he believed to be Saidjon’s iPhone. The iPhone contained several videos and photographs depicting Saidjon in Syria. MAMADJONOV recalled a video in which Saidjon stated, “Join us brother, we are here.” Also contained on the phone were photographs of Saidjon cleaning weapons in military dress while armed with a weapon, as well as a photograph of Saidjon’s dead body and his bloodied face.
The complaint alleges that in FBI interviews on May 14 and May 29, 2014, and on November 28, 2014, MAMADJONOV responded to questions about the trip he took to Turkey in May 2013, and questions about his brother, Saidjon Mamadjonov. During all three interviews, MAMADJONOV stated that Saidjon Mamadjonov was still alive when he knew he was dead.
It is further alleged that in an FBI interview on August 17, 2016, MAMADJONOV stated that he did not know the whereabouts of Saidjon, had not overheard any discussions of Uzbeks in the U.S. going over to Syria to fight, and was not aware of any Uzbeks travelling to Syria.
It is alleged that in response to Part 11, Question 10 of the Form N-400 MAMADJONOV submitted in September 2014, “Have you ever been a member of, or in any way associated (either directly or indirectly) with: C. A terrorist organization?” MAMADJONOV responded “No.” Also, in response to Part 11, Question 31 of Form N-400, “Have you ever given any Government official information that was materially false, fraudulent or misleading?” MAMADJONOV responded “No.” MAMADJONOV signed the form below the statement “I certify, under penalty of perjury under the laws of the United States of America, that this application, and the evidence submitted with it, are all true and correct.”
It is further alleged that, on October 27, 2016, in an interview with a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services officer regarding his Form N-400, MAMADJONOV again provided false statements and concealed information about his association with a member of a known terrorist organization. At the conclusion of the interview, he swore an oath under penalty of perjury that his responses were true.
The complaint charges MAMADJONOV with the unlawful procurement of naturalization, and making a false oath or declaration under penalty of perjury, offenses that carry a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years. The complaint also charges MAMADJONOV with making false statements on a naturalization application, an offense that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of five years.
U.S. Attorney Durham stressed that a complaint is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. Charges are only allegations, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
This matter is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, Homeland Security Investigations, Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Division, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, New Britain Police Department and Hartford Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas P. Morabito, with the assistance of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section.
Two More “Southside” Gang Members Sentenced to PrisonRead the Press Release
HARRISBURG – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced today that two more members of a gang that operated for a decade in the City of York were sentenced to federal prison for racketeering and drug distribution conspiracies.
According to United States Attorney David J. Freed, U.S. District Court Judge Yvette Kane sentenced Richard Nolden, age 27, who was identified as a member of the “Southside” street gang to 25 years’ imprisonment on December 19, 2017. Nolden was already serving a 15-40 year sentence for Murder in the 3rd Degree, and this sentence was concurrent with that sentence. Pursuant to an agreement with the government, Nolden entered a guilty plea to racketeering conspiracy and the parties agreed to the sentence. When imposing sentence, Judge Kane noted Nolden’s role in the January 23, 2012, murder of Sherrod Snellings, a crime that was a part of the “Southside” and “Parkway” gang violence.
Judge Kane also sentenced Angel Schueg, a/k/a “Pocco,” age 28, to 165 months’ imprisonment on December 21, 2017. The government highlighted Schueg’s involvement progressed from trafficking small amounts of marijuana to a substantial trafficker of crack and heroin for the Southside gang. Judge Kane agreed and imposed the guideline sentence.
In November 2015, a jury convicted Schueg of drug trafficking conspiracy after a seven-week trial. It included over 100 witnesses called by the government, including York City Police officers and detectives, federal agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the FBI and gang members who had previously pleaded guilty and featured the presentation of over 500 exhibits. Among the exhibits were videos of violent incidents involving the Southside Gang, drugs, cash and property seized by police and ATF agents as part of the investigation.
The jury convicted the other 11 men who went to trial with Schueg.
Overall, the jury found seven of the 12 men on trial guilty of racketeering conspiracy and conspiracy to distribute drugs, mainly cocaine base (crack) and cocaine, but including heroin in some instances. Two others were found not guilty of the racketeering charge but were found guilty of the drug distribution conspiracy count of the indictment. Three of the defendants were found not guilty of either of the conspiracy counts. The jury found all 12 defendants guilty of possession of illegal drugs with the intent to distribute. Two defendants were also charged and found guilty of, possession of firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking.
The principal defendants, specifically the most violent and those in leading roles, were found guilty of the racketeering conspiracy charges.
The individual defendants previously sentenced in this matter are:
Rolando Cruz, Jr., “Mico,” age 32; racketeering conspiracy, drug trafficking conspiracy, drug possession with intent to deliver and possession of firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking (2 counts) was sentenced on October 3, 2017, to life in prison.
Marc Hernandez, a/k/a “Marky D,” age 32; racketeering conspiracy, drug trafficking conspiracy, drug possession with intent to deliver and possession of firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking (2 counts) was sentenced on October 25, 2017, to life in prison.
Douglas Kelly, a/k/a “Killer,” age 39, racketeering conspiracy, drug trafficking conspiracy, and drug possession with intent to deliver was sentenced on December 12, 2017, to life in prison.
Roscoe Villega, a/k/a “P Shawn,” age 44; racketeering conspiracy, drug trafficking conspiracy, and drug possession with intent to deliver was sentenced to 25 years in prison.
Brandon Orr, a/k/a “B Or,” age 23; drug possession with intent to deliver was sentenced to 34 months in prison on November 10, 2016,
Jabree Williams, a/k/a “Minute,” age 24; drug possession with intent to deliver was sentenced to 60 months in prison on May 15, 2017.
Eugene Rice, a/k/a “B Mor,” age 29; drug trafficking conspiracy, and drug possession with intent to deliver was sentenced to 200 months in jail on December 7, 2017,
Angel Schueg, a/k/a “Pocko,” age 28; drug trafficking conspiracy, and drug possession with intent to deliver was sentenced to 165 months in jail on December 21, 2017,
Jalik Frederick, a/k/a “Murder Cat,” age 22; drug possession with intent to deliver was sentenced to 33 months in prison on June 5, 2017,
The individual defendants previously convicted and awaiting sentencing in this matter are:
Tyree Eatmon, a/k/a “Ree,” age 29; racketeering conspiracy, drug trafficking conspiracy, and drug possession with intent to deliver is awaiting sentencing,
Maurice Atkinson, a/k/a “Mo,” age 30; racketeering conspiracy, drug trafficking conspiracy, and drug possession with intent to deliver is awaiting sentencing,
Anthony Sistrunk, a/k/a “Kanye,” age 29; racketeering conspiracy, drug trafficking conspiracy, and drug possession with intent to deliver is awaiting sentencing,
The following Southside gang members previously pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing:
James Abney, a/k/a “Doocs,” age 31.
Malik Sturdivant, a/k/a “Base,” age 25.
Jahkeem Abney, a/k/a “Foo,” age 27.
Ronald Payton, a/k/a “Ron Ron,” age 25.
Cordaress Rogers, a/k/a “Tank,” age 31.
Marquis Williams, a/k/a “Quis,” age 29.
Jerrod Brown, a/k/a “Boogie,” age 28.
Quintez Hall, a/k/a “Q,” age 25.
This case was brought as part of the Violent Crime Reduction Partnership (“VCRP”), a district wide initiative to combat the spread of violent crime in the Middle District of Pennsylvania. Led by the United States Attorney’s Office, the VCRP consists of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies whose mission is to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who commit violent crimes with firearms.
The case included the participation and assistance of the Pennsylvania State Police, West York Borough Police Department, Spring Garden Township Police Department, the York County Drug Task Force, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the U.S. Marshals Service. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael A. Consiglio, William Houser, and Joseph Terz prosecuted the case.
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Two Charged with Running $11 Million Sleep Study Scam that Billed UPS and Costco Health Care Benefit Programs for Unneeded TestsRead the Press Release
LOS ANGELES – The owner of a Studio City clinic and a driver for United Parcel Service have been indicted on health care fraud charges related to unnecessary – and sometimes never-performed – sleep studies that resulted in more than $11 million in bills being submitted to health care benefit programs, primarily for employees of UPS and Costco.
Anna Vishnevsky, 49, of Valley Village, the owner of Atlas Diagnostic Services, Inc., and Eddie Hernandez, 43, of Torrance, who is the UPS driver, were arrested on Tuesday pursuant to an 11-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury on December 14.
Vishnevsky and Hernandez were arraigned on the indictment Tuesday afternoon in United States District Court. After the two defendants entered not guilty pleas to the charges in the indictment, a trial was scheduled for January 30. Vishnevsky was released on a $200,000 bond, and Hernandez was freed on a $30,000 bond.
The case was announced today after United States District Judge George H. Wu signed an order late yesterday unsealing the indictment.
According to the indictment, Vishnevsky, Hernandez and others recruited “patients” by offering cash in exchange for participating in sleep study testing. They also allegedly offered additional cash to those who brought dependents and referred co-workers to participate in the scheme. Vishnevsky and Hernandez allegedly recruited patients knowing that no doctor had prescribed sleep study testing for them, and regardless of whether the testing was medically necessary.
Vishnevsky failed to score or interpret the data from the testing, or provide it to anyone who could score or interpret it, which is necessary for diagnosis and treatment, according to the indictment. Vishnevsky is further alleged to have billed insurance providers for two sleep studies for many patients, even though they went to her clinic on one night only.
Investigators believe that Vishnevsky and others submitted more than $11 million in fraudulent claims, most of which related to beneficiaries of the UPS and Costco health care benefit programs.
An indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent until and unless proven guilty in court.
Vishnevsky and Hernandez are each charged with 11 counts of health care fraud. If they were to be convicted, each would face a statutory maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison for each count in the indictment.
The case against Vishnevsky and Hernandez is the result of an investigation by the United States Department of Labor - Office of Inspector General, the Department of Labor - Employee Benefits Security Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Office of Personnel Management - Office of Inspector General.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kerry L. Quinn of the Major Frauds Section.
Two Charged in Marijuana Grow OperationsRead the Press Release
BOSTON – Two central Massachusetts men have been charged in federal court in Springfield in connection with marijuana grow operations.
Peter Molle, 35, of Holland, was arrested today and charged with manufacturing marijuana and possessing marijuana with intent to distribute. On Dec. 15, 2017, Eric Vallee, 38, of Sutton was arrested and charged with manufacturing marijuana and possessing marijuana with intent to distribute.
According to court documents, Vallee was featured in a magazine article noting that he regularly harvests 10 pounds of marijuana based on a cultivation timetable that would result in his harvesting hundreds of pounds of marijuana per year. The article noted that Vallee worked with Molle. Both Valle and Molle used bank accounts that featured large amounts of cash deposits that were consistent with the proceeds of drug sales.
In February 2017, agents executed search warrants at a house in Auburn where Vallee then resided, at a house in Sutton where Vallee had previously resided, and at a house in Holland where Molle resided. At each location, agents discovered commercial-style marijuana grow operations. More than 100 marijuana plants were found at Vallee’s Auburn residence, more than 100 marijuana plants at Molle’s Holland residence, and more than 30 marijuana plants were found at the residence in Sutton.
It is alleged that Vallee and Molle continued to engage in substantial marijuana cultivation even after the execution of the search warrants. On Dec. 12, 2017, additional search warrants were executed at Vallee’s house in Sutton and at Molle’s house in Holland. At both locations, significant commercial-style marijuana grow operations were found. In addition, marijuana packaged for sale was recovered at Vallee’s residence.
Each defendant faces a sentence of no greater than five years in prison, a minimum of two years and up to a lifetime of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling and Michael J. Ferguson, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, New England Field Office, made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Abely of Lelling’s Worcester Branch Office is prosecuting the case.
The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The defendants are each presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Two Aliens Plead Guilty in Connection with Labor Trafficking Scheme That Targeted Guatemalan National for Forced LaborRead the Press Release
Antonia Marcos Diego, 42, of Forks, Washington, pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court in Tacoma, Washington, to one count of document servitude in furtherance of forced labor, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General John M. Gore of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and U.S. Attorney Annette L. Hayes of the Western District of Washington. Antonio Francisco-Pablo, 60, of Forks, Washington, previously pleaded guilty on December 18, 2017, to one count of forced labor. U.S. District Judge Ronald B. Leighton scheduled sentencing for March 23, 2018.
According to documents filed in court, defendant Antonia Marcos Diego and her husband, Antonio Francisco-Pablo, lured Diego’s sister to enter the United States from Guatemala, falsely promising that they would provide her with a home, a job earning a lot of money, and a good life. Contrary to these promises, however, the defendants imposed a significant debt on the victim upon her arrival in the United States, and informed her that she would work off the debt by picking salal, a brush commonly used by florists. The defendants retained all of the victim’s earnings and increased her debt by imposing additional charges on her for food, housing, transportation, and utilities. The defendants also kept the victim’s identification documents and threatened her with deportation if she ever tried to leave them. According to court documents, the defendants similarly lured another relative to the United States from Guatemala, and also imposed a significant debt upon him after his arrival.
“These two defendants recruited their own family members on false and fraudulent promises, using the American dream of freedom and opportunity to lure their victims,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General John Gore. “The Department of Justice will continue to pursue labor traffickers like these defendants, who erode our ideals of freedom, opportunity, and the rule of law in order to exploit others for their own greed.”
“These defendants took advantage of a young non-English speaking relative, who was alone in a foreign country, and exploited her for their own enrichment,” said U.S. Attorney Annette L. Hayes. “Their actions were cruel and a clear violation of federal law. We will continue to prioritize protecting such vulnerable victims and prosecuting those who prey on them.”
Antonio Francisco-Pablo faces a possible sentence of up to 20 years in prison while Antonia Marcos Diego faces a possible sentence of up to five years in prison. Per the terms of the plea agreements, both defendants have agreed to make restitution to both victims in an amount to be determined at the time of sentencing.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Bruce F. Miyake and Trial Attorney Matthew T. Grady of the Civil Rights Division’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit. The case was investigated by the Department of Homeland Security’s Homeland Security Investigations and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with assistance from the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office, Port Angeles Police Department, and Washington State Patrol Crime Laboratory.
Transportation Operator Pleads Guilty to Defrauding the State DepartmentRead the Press Release
A local transportation operator pleaded guilty yesterday to stealing federal funds intended for a foreign exchange program maintained by the U.S. Department of State, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General John P. Cronan of the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Dana J. Boente of the Eastern District of Virginia and Inspector General Steve A. Linick of the U.S. Department of State.
Denon T. Hopkins, 49, of Germantown, Maryland, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit theft of public funds and engage in honest services wire fraud before U.S. Senior District Judge T.S. Ellis III of the Eastern District of Virginia. Sentencing is scheduled for April 6, 2018.
According to admissions made in connection with his plea, Hopkins was the operator and de facto owner of a transportation company that contracted with the State Department to provide bus and limousine services to Sports United Division, a State Department component devoted to sports diplomacy, which sponsored a foreign exchange program for emerging athletes and coaches from various countries. The exchange program was managed by George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, through a federal grant and cooperative agreement with the State Department. During a time period when Hopkins received $247,200 in grant funds for legitimate transportation services, he and a State Department official conspired to steal portions of the federal money allocated to the exchange program by, among other things, falsifying vendor-related invoices and making fraudulent checks payable to Hopkins. In total, Hopkins stole approximately $17,335 from the State Department. He also admitted that he used portions of the funds to pay kickbacks to the State Department official to retain his transportation contract.
The Department of State’s Office of Inspector General and the FBI’s Washington Field Office investigated the case. Trial Attorney Edward P. Sullivan of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimberly R. Pedersen of the Eastern District of Virginia are prosecuting the case. Former Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian D. Harrison provided assistance on the case.
Stratford Tax Preparer Pleads GuiltyRead the Press Release
John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, and Joel P. Garland, Special Agent in Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation in New England, today announced that JUAN SILVA, 37, of Stratford, waived his right to be indicted and pleaded guilty yesterday before U.S. District Judge Michael P. Shea in Hartford to preparing false federal income tax returns.
According to court documents and statements made in court, SILVA operated Oficina Hispana, a multi-service business that included tax return preparation. Between approximately 2011 and 2017, SILVA falsified itemized deductions and unreimbursed employee business expenses on numerous returns that he prepared for clients. In addition, for the 2011, 2012 and 2013 tax years, SILVA made substantial deposits of business receipts from his tax preparation business into his personal bank accounts, and failed to report to the IRS a total of more than $306,000 in income.
SILVA pleaded guilty to one count of aiding and assisting the filing of a false tax return. At sentencing, he faces a maximum term of imprisonment of three years, a fine of up to approximately $300,000, and restitution of $143,693. A sentencing date is not scheduled.
The IRS is taking action to recover unpaid taxes from SILVA’s clients.
This matter is being investigated by the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Division, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher W. Schmeisser.
Scott W. Brady Sworn in as U.S. Attorney for the Western District of PennsylvaniaRead the Press Release
PITTSBURGH – Scott W. Brady was sworn in today as the 58th United States Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania and began his duties immediately.
"I would like to thank President Trump for this great honor of being appointed U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania, and thank Senators Toomey and Casey for their strong support throughout the confirmation process," said U.S. Attorney Brady. "I look forward to working with the outstanding attorneys and staff of the U.S. Attorney’s Office to serve the people of Western Pennsylvania."
Chief U.S. District Judge Joy Flowers Conti administered the oath to Mr. Brady, 48, of Ohio Township, in a ceremony this morning.
Prior to becoming U.S. Attorney, Mr. Brady was head of litigation for Federated Investors, Inc. in Pittsburgh. From 2004 to 2010, he served an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Western District of Pennsylvania. He previously was an associate for the Jones Day and Reed Smith law firms. Mr. Brady also served as an Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Pittsburgh where he taught Constitutional Law.
Mr. Brady is a 1991 graduate of Harvard University and a 2001 graduate of the Pennsylvania State University’s Dickinson School of Law.
Mr. Brady was nominated for U.S. Attorney by President Donald Trump on September 8 and confirmed by the United States Senate on December 14. He will lead an office currently staffed with 59 Assistant U.S. Attorneys across the Criminal, Civil and Appeals divisions, and 57 support staff in offices in Pittsburgh, Erie and Johnstown.
The Western District of Pennsylvania covers the 25 westernmost counties in the Commonwealth.
Pocatello Man Sentenced to Federal Prison for Transporting Child PornographyRead the Press Release
POCATELLO – Craig Marshall Grayson, 31, of Pocatello, Idaho, was sentenced yesterday in federal court to 151 months in prison, followed by eight years of supervised release, for transportation of child pornography, U.S. Attorney Bart M. Davis announced. U.S. District Judge David C. Nye also ordered Grayson to pay a $5,000 fine, pay $5,100 in special assessments and forfeit the computer and storage devices used in the commission of the charged offense. Grayson pleaded guilty to the crime in September.
According to the plea agreement, law enforcement agents downloaded four sexually exploitative videos of a minor from an individual later identified as Grayson between July 5 and August 12, 2016. A search of Grayson’s home and computer devices revealed his additional possession of approximately 978 images and 65 videos of child pornography.
“This sentence is just punishment for Mr. Grayson’s criminal conduct,” said Davis. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office is dedicated to prosecuting and seeking long sentences for individuals who obtain, possess, view and share child pornography.”
“Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) is committed to bringing to justice those who sexually exploit children,” said Bradford A. Bench, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Seattle. “This case exemplifies the long reach of HSI, and its ability to coordinate and pursue investigative efforts that lead to predators like Grayson to be sentenced to a lengthy prison sentence.”
The case was investigated by HSI and the Idaho Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “resources.”
Perkinsville Man Pleads Guilty in Armed Pharmacy and Bank Robbery CaseRead the Press Release
The Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont stated that Michael Bickford, age 38, formerly of Perkinsville, Vermont, pled guilty on December 18, 2017 in the United States District Court in Burlington to charges stemming from the December 5, 2016 armed robbery of the River Street Pharmacy in Springfield, Vermont. Bickford also admitted to the armed robberies of the Windsor County South Credit Union in Springfield, Vermont on October 18, 2016 and the Mascoma Savings Bank in Springfield, Vermont on November 10, 2016. Bickford, who has been detained since his federal arrest in May 2017, appeared before District Judge William K. Sessions III and pled guilty to robbery and carrying and using a firearm.
As described during the change of plea proceedings, at about 8:30 a.m. on December 5, 2016, Bickford entered the River Street Pharmacy located at 100 River Street in Springfield, Vermont armed with a pistol and wearing a dark-colored mask. Bickford approached the counter, pointed the pistol at a pharmacy employee’s midsection, and demanded prescription medications.
While the employee went to get prescription medications, Bickford pointed the pistol at a second employee. After the first employee gave Bickford the prescription medications, Bickford exited. Later that day, law enforcement arrested Bickford and found the loaded pistol in his vehicle, along with the prescription medications and pill bottles stolen from the River Street Pharmacy.
During the change of plea proceedings, Bickford also admitted that on October 18, 2016, he robbed the Windsor County South Credit Union located at 383 River Street in Springfield, Vermont. During this robbery, Bickford was armed with a handgun and unlawfully took and obtained about $3,324. Bickford further admitted that on November 10, 2016, he robbed the Mascoma Savings Bank located at 270 River Street in Springfield, Vermont. During this robbery, Bickford was armed with a handgun and unlawfully took and obtained about $12,000.
Under federal law, the robbery charge carries a maximum sentence of twenty years, and the charge of using and carrying a firearm carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, but the plea agreement caps Bickford’s sentence at eight years. The sentence will be advised by the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.
The case was investigated by the Springfield, Vermont Police Department, the Weathersfield, Vermont Police Department, the Windsor County Sheriff’s Department, the Vermont State Police, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The Windsor County State’s Attorney’s Office also assisted in the investigation. “This is an excellent example of local, state, and federal law enforcement working together to keep our communities safe and bring violent criminals to justice. During this holiday season, we are thankful for our partnership with the F.B.I. and U.S. Attorney's Office,” said David J. Cahill, Windsor County State's Attorney.
Bickford is represented by Jordana Levine of Marsicovetere & Levine Law Group, P.C. The United States is represented by Assistant United States Attorney John J. Boscia.
New Prosecutor Added to Combat Violent CrimeRead the Press Release
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tom Larson, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a new Assistant U.S. Attorney will be hired to combat violent crime in the Kansas City metropolitan area.
The new position was created as part of the Department of Justice initiative against violent crime. U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions recently announced that 40 new Assistant U.S. Attorney positions have been created in 27 districts.
This additional staffing follows the designation of the Western District of Missouri as a Public Safety Partnership (PSP) Diagnostic Site to work with local law enforcement partners on public safety and violence reduction. Eight districts nationwide received this designation.
PSP was established in June 2017 and provides an innovative framework for the Department of Justice to enhance its support of state and local law enforcement officers and prosecutors in the investigation, prosecution, and deterrence of violent crime, especially crime related to gun violence, gangs, and drug trafficking. This approach serves as a platform to directly engage with cities to identify and prioritize resources that will help local communities address violent crime.
PSP enables cities to consult with and receive coordinated training and technical assistance and an array of resources from the Department of Justice to enhance local violence reduction strategies. PSP provides data-driven, evidence-based strategies tailored to the unique local needs of participating cities to address serious violent crime challenges tailored to their unique local needs.
PSP supports law enforcement, communities, and justice systems at the state and local level to prevent and reduce crime, combat violence and enhance public safety through the use of evidence-based practices. Among the components of a PSP Diagnostic Site are:
• Relationship building;
• Data collection and analysis;
• Training and technical assistance; and
• Community engagement in violence reduction strategies.
Modesto Man Arrested for Attempting to Provide Material Support to a Terrorist OrganizationRead the Press Release
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A federal complaint was unsealed today, charging Everitt Aaron Jameson, 26, of Modesto, with attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, Attorney General Jeff Sessions and United States Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.
According to court documents, Jameson had several online interactions with a confidential source in which he expressed support for the Oct. 31, 2017, terrorist attack in New York City and offered his services for “the cause.” In subsequent communications with an undercover agent, Jameson referred to his training in the U.S. military and noted he had been trained for combat and war. Jameson later met with another undercover agent whom he believed to be associated with the senior leadership of the foreign terrorist organization, ISIS (the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, also known as ISIL). During his interactions with this undercover agent, Jameson offered to carry out violent acts and to provide financial support for the terrorist organization.
“The Department of Justice works resolutely every day to prevent terrorist attacks,” said Attorney General Sessions. “In my time back at the Department, nothing has impressed me more. Today, our incredible law enforcement officers have once again helped thwart an alleged plot to kill Americans. I want to thank the FBI agents and federal prosecutors and everyone else who helped make this possible. The threat from radical Islamic terrorism is real — and it is serious — but the American people can be assured that the Department of Justice remains vigilant in protecting our homeland.”
U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert stated, “I want to express my thanks to the FBI for working in partnership with my office on this case. We are grateful that our hardworking law enforcement partners remain vigilant in protecting our communities, especially during this holiday season.”
This case is the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Dawrence W. Rice and Christopher D. Baker are prosecuting the case with Trial Attorney Brenda Sue Thornton from the U.S. Department of Justice’s National Security Division, Counterterrorism Section.
If convicted, Jameson faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Any sentence, however, would be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables. The charges are only allegations; the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Manchester Man Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy to Traffic Large Quantities of MethamphetamineRead the Press Release
CONCORD, N.H. - Acting United States Attorney John J. Farley announced today that
Brian O’Rourke, 54, of Manchester, pleaded guilty to participating in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.
According to court documents and statements made during today’s plea hearing, on or about April 19, 2017, U.S. Postal Inspectors intercepted a suspicious package mailed to O’Rourke from Las Vegas, Nevada, that they opened pursuant to a federal search warrant. Inside, they found 5.349 kilograms – approximately 12 pounds -- of highly potent methamphetamine. After removing the methamphetamine and substituting a “dummy” substance to restore the package to its original weight, Postal Inspectors arranged for the delivery of the package to O’Rourke. Surveilling law enforcement officers then watched O’Rourke as he drove to an area behind a Manchester furniture store, where O’Rourke met with Dustin Moss, and transferred the package to Moss. Four days later, O’Rourke received another package, which Postal Inspectors opened with O’Rourke’s consent. Inside was an additional 3.571 kilograms – or eight pounds -- of highly potent methamphetamine.
Dustin Moss, 29, of Manchester, Katrina Jones, 39, of Goffstown, and Sabrina Moss, 31, of Manchester, also face federal charges related to this methamphetamine trafficking conspiracy. Dustin Moss and Katrina Jones are scheduled for trial on March 6, 2018. Sabrina Moss is scheduled for trial on January 23, 2018.
O’Rourke’s sentencing has been scheduled for March 30, 2018.
“Although our state is facing a significant opioid crisis, other dangerous drugs continue to present a threat to the Granite State,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Farley. “Methamphetamine is a deadly drug that has been linked to overdoses in New Hampshire. I commend the law enforcement officers for their work in this case, which prevented a very substantial amount of methamphetamine from being distributed in our community.”
This matter was investigated by the United States Postal Inspection Service, the N.H. Attorney General’s Drug Task Force and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Bill Morse and John Davis.
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Lawful Permanent Resident from Uzbekistan Charged with Immigration OffensesRead the Press Release
John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, and Patricia M. Ferrick, Special Agent in Charge of the New Haven Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Michael Shea, Acting Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston, announced that SIDIKJON MAMADJONOV, 31, a citizen of Uzbekistan residing in New Britain, was arrested today on a criminal complaint charging him with immigration offenses.
MAMADJONOV appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah A. L. Merriam in New Haven and was ordered detained.
As alleged in court documents, MAMADJONOV was admitted to the U.S. in February 2009 and became a lawful permanent resident in September 2010. On September 8, 2014, MAMADJONOV submitted to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services an Application for Naturalization, Form N-400.
The complaint alleged that, on November 20, 2017, in an interview with the FBI, MAMADJONOV stated that on a trip to Turkey in May 2013, he was informed that his brother Saidjon had died in May or June 2013 while fighting in Syria with the “Nusra” group, which was affiliated with ISIS. When MAMADJONOV returned from Turkey, he received a FedEx package that contained what he believed to be Saidjon’s iPhone. The iPhone contained several videos and photographs depicting Saidjon in Syria. MAMADJONOV recalled a video in which Saidjon stated, “Join us brother, we are here.” Also contained on the phone were photographs of Saidjon cleaning weapons in military dress while armed with a weapon, as well as a photograph of Saidjon’s dead body and his bloodied face.
The complaint alleges that in FBI interviews on May 14 and May 29, 2014, and on November 28, 2014, MAMADJONOV responded to questions about the trip he took to Turkey in May 2013, and questions about his brother, Saidjon Mamadjonov. During all three interviews, MAMADJONOV stated that Saidjon Mamadjonov was still alive when he knew he was dead.
The complaint further alleged that in an FBI interview on August 17, 2016, MAMADJONOV stated that he did not know the whereabouts of Saidjon, had not overheard any discussions of Uzbeks in the U.S. going over to Syria to fight, and was not aware of any Uzbeks travelling to Syria.
The complaint alleged that in response to Part 11, Question 10 of the Form N-400 MAMADJONOV submitted in September 2014, “Have you ever been a member of, or in any way associated (either directly or indirectly) with: C. A terrorist organization?” MAMADJONOV responded “No.” Also, in response to Part 11, Question 31 of Form N-400, “Have you ever given any Government official information that was materially false, fraudulent or misleading?” MAMADJONOV responded “No.” MAMADJONOV signed the form below the statement “I certify, under penalty of perjury under the laws of the United States of America, that this application, and the evidence submitted with it, are all true and correct.”
The complaint further alleged that, on October 27, 2016, in an interview with a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services officer regarding his Form N-400, MAMADJONOV again provided false statements and concealed information about his association with a member of a known terrorist organization. At the conclusion of the interview, he swore an oath under penalty of perjury that his responses were true.
The complaint charges MAMADJONOV with the unlawful procurement of naturalization, and making a false oath or declaration under penalty of perjury, offenses that carry a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years. The complaint also charges MAMADJONOV with making false statements on a naturalization application, an offense that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of five years.
U.S. Attorney Durham stressed that a complaint is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. Charges are only allegations, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
This matter is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, Homeland Security Investigations, Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Division, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, New Britain Police Department and Hartford Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas P. Morabito, with the assistance of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section.
L.A. Fashion District Company and Two Owners Plead Guilty to Federal Charges Stemming from Money Laundering SchemeRead the Press Release
LOS ANGELES – In a case stemming from an investigation into Fashion District businesses using "Black Market Peso Exchange" schemes to launder narcotics proceeds for international drug cartels, an import-export textile business and two executives have pleaded guilty to federal money laundering and tax charges.
Pacific Eurotex Corp. and its owners – Morad "Ben" Neman and Hersel Neman – pleaded guilty yesterday to federal charges in an indictment that accused them of using the business to receive bulk cash that they knew or believed to be the proceeds of narcotics trafficking.
The defendants admitted in court documents that they failed to report to federal authorities the receipt of this bulk cash, and that they "structured" frequent deposits of the cash, in amounts less than $10,000, to avoid a bank reporting requirement that would have drawn the scrutiny of law enforcement.
The Nemans also pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud the United States by maintaining two sets of business records in order to conceal income for tax purposes.
A Black Market Peso Exchange scheme is designed to assist drug traffickers who have United States currency that they want to send to a foreign country, such as Mexico, and convert into pesos. As part of the scheme, a broker finds business owners in the foreign country who buy goods from U.S. companies and who need dollars to pay for those goods. The broker arranges for the illegally obtained dollars to be delivered to the United States-based vendors, such as Pacific Eurotex, and these illegally obtained dollars are used to pay for the goods purchased by the foreign customers. Once the goods are shipped to the foreign country and sold by the foreign business, the pesos are turned over to the broker, who then pays the drug trafficker in the local currency of the foreign country, thus completing the laundering of the illegally obtained dollars.
Pacific Eurotex received, laundered and structured approximately $370,000 in bulk cash delivered on four separate occasions over 2½ months in 2013 by an undercover agent posing as a money courier, according to court documents. The company laundered this money after being specifically advised by special agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations that bulk cash payments were frequently derived from illegal activity and that it was required to report cash transactions involving more than $10,000 in currency.
The defendants who appeared yesterday in United States District Court are:
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Pacific Eurotex, which pleaded guilty to conspiring to launder money and conspiring to structure monetary transactions with a domestic financial institution;
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Morad "Ben" Neman, 57, of Westwood, the chief executive officer of Pacific Eurotex, who pleaded guilty to four counts – conspiring to structure monetary transactions with a domestic financial institution, conspiring to defraud the United States by obstructing the lawful functions of the Internal Revenue Service, subscribing to and filing a false 2013 tax return understating income he received from Pacific Eurotex, and aiding and assisting in the filing of another false 2013 tax return; and
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Hersel Neman, 58, of Beverly Hills, the chief financial officer of Pacific Eurotex and brother of Morad Neman, who pleaded guilty to three counts – conspiring to launder money, conspiring to defraud the United States by obstructing the lawful functions of the IRS, and subscribing to and filing a false tax return.
All three defendants are scheduled to be sentenced by United States District Judge John A. Kronstadt on June 14.
In court documents, the defendants admitted that, as part of the money laundering scheme, they instructed other individuals to deposit the cash into the personal Wells Fargo bank account of Hersel Neman’s wife. "These deposits, 384 in all, were divided into increments less than $10,000 each with the intent to prevent Wells Fargo, a domestic financial institution, from filing Currency Transaction Reports," according to the documents. The defendants have agreed to forfeit to the United States nearly $3.18 million, which includes the narcotics proceeds they received and deposited in structured cash transactions into the Wells Fargo account.
When they are sentenced by Judge Kronstadt, Morad Neman will face a statutory maximum sentence of 21 years in federal prison, and Hersel Neman will face a sentence of up to 28 years. Pacific Eurotex faces a statutory maximum sentence of up to 10 years’ probation and almost $2 million in fines.
The indictment in this case names two other defendants who are scheduled to go on trial on March 6. Mehran Khalili, 49, of Beverly Hills, who is a brother in law of Hersel Neman, is charged with conspiring to structure cash transactions; and Alma Villalobos, 55, of Arleta, the in-house accountant and bookkeeper for Pacific Eurotex, faces several charges, including conspiracy to launder money.
An indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent until proven guilty in court.
The investigation into Pacific Eurotex was conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations and IRS - Criminal Investigation.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Julie J. Shemitz, Jamie A. Lang and Puneet V. Kakkar of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force.
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Kmart Corporation to Pay U.S. $32.3 Million to Resolve False Claims Act Allegations for Overbilling Federal Health Programs for Generic Prescription DrugsRead the Press Release
Kmart Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sears Holdings Corporation (SHC), has agreed to pay $32.3 million to the United States to settle allegations that in-store pharmacies in Kmart stores failed to report discounted prescription drug prices to Medicare Part D, Medicaid, and TRICARE, the health program for uniformed service members and their families, the Justice Department announced today.
The agreement resolves allegations arising from a lawsuit brought under the qui tam, or whistleblower, provisions of the False Claims Act, which permit private citizens with knowledge of fraud against the government to bring an action on behalf of the United States and to share in any recovery. The 2008 lawsuit, which was filed by James Garbe in the federal district in Los Angeles and later transferred to the Southern District of Illinois, alleged that Kmart pharmacies offered discounted generic drug prices to cash-paying customers through various club programs but knowingly failed to disclose those prices when reporting to federal health programs its usual and customary prices, which are typically used by those programs to establish reimbursement rates.
“Pharmacies that are not fully transparent about drug pricing can cause federal health programs to overpay for prescription drugs.” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Chad A. Readler for the Department’s Civil Division. “This settlement should put pharmacies on notice that there will be consequences if they attempt to improperly increase payments from taxpayer-funded health programs by masking the true prices that they charge the general public for the same drugs.”
“Pharmacies and other providers who receive funds from taxpayers have a duty to follow the law,” said U.S. Attorney Donald S. Boyce for the Southern District of Illinois. “If healthcare providers do not provide fair and transparent pricing as required under the law, the False Claims Act allows the government and whistleblowers to ensure that the Medicare, Medicaid, and TRICARE programs are made whole.”
The settlement agreement with the United States is a part of a global $59 million settlement that includes a resolution of state Medicaid and insurance claims against Kmart. Garbe, who litigated the case after the government declined to intervene in the action, will receive $9.3 million.
The case was handled by the Justice Department’s Civil Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Southern District of Illinois and Central District of California. Auditing assistance for the government’s investigation was provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California and the National Association of Medicaid Fraud Control Units. Investigative assistance was provided by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General.
The lawsuit is captioned U.S. ex rel. Garbe v. Kmart Corp., Case No. 12-CV-881-NJR-PMF (S.D. Ill.). The claims settled by this agreement are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.
The government’s resolution of this matter illustrates the government’s emphasis on combating health care fraud. One of the most powerful tools in this effort is the False Claims Act. Tips and complaints from all sources about potential fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement can be reported to the Department of Health and Human Services at 900-HHS-TIPS (800-447-8477).
Killingly Man Who Provided Firearm to Convicted Felon is SentencedRead the Press Release
John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that ALBERT BONNER, 31, of Killingly, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton in New Haven to eight months of imprisonment, followed by two years of supervised release, for providing a firearm to a convicted felon.
According to court documents and statements made in court, on January 4, 2017, law enforcement officers removed a loaded Beretta 9mm Nano handgun and an improvised explosive device from the Killingly home of Blain Kollbeck The handgun had an obliterated serial number, and was repainted orange. The investigation revealed that BONNER was the registered owner of the gun, and that BONNER provided the gun to Kollbeck, who BONNER knew was a convicted felon.
On July 31, 2017, BONNER pleaded guilty to one count of providing a firearm to a convicted felon.
Kollbeck, 33, was arrested on a federal criminal complaint on January 10, 2017. On December 18, he pleaded guilty to one count of possession of a firearm by a previously convicted felon. He is released on $100,000 bond pending sentencing, which is scheduled for March 12, 2018.
This matter has been investigated by the Connecticut State Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Anastasia E. King.
Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd. and U.S.-Based Subsidiary Agree to Pay $422 Million in Global Penalties to Resolve Foreign Bribery CaseRead the Press Release
Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd. (KOM), a Singapore-based company that operates shipyards and repairs and upgrades shipping vessels, and its wholly owned U.S. subsidiary, Keppel Offshore & Marine U.S.A. Inc. (KOM USA), have agreed to pay a combined total penalty of more than $422 million to resolve charges with authorities in the United States, Brazil and Singapore arising out of a decade-long scheme to pay millions of dollars in bribes to officials in Brazil. KOM USA pleaded guilty today in the Eastern District of New York in connection with the resolution. In addition, a guilty plea by a former senior member of KOM’s legal department was unsealed.
Bridget M. Rohde, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, John P. Cronan, Acting Assistant Attorney General of the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division, and Stephen E. Richardson, Assistant Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Criminal Investigative Division (FBI), made the announcement.
“The resolutions with KOM and its U.S. subsidiary are the result of a multinational effort to investigate and prosecute a corruption scheme that resulted in the payment by the defendant companies of over $50 million in bribes to Brazilian officials and in profits for the defendant companies of over $350 million from business corruptly obtained in Brazil,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Rohde. “In an attempt to conceal their crimes, the defendants used the global financial system – including the United States banking system – to disguise the source and disbursement of the bribe payments by passing funds through a series of shell companies. The United States, working with its law enforcement partners abroad, will continue to hold responsible those corporations and individuals who seek to enrich themselves through the corruption of government officials and legitimate governmental functions.”
“Today’s resolution once again underscores the importance of the Department of Justice’s collaboration with foreign authorities to hold corrupt companies and individuals accountable for their crimes, while ensuring the fair and appropriate allocation of fines and penalties,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Cronan. “This case also represents the first coordinated FCPA resolution with Singapore and the most recent of several coordinated resolutions with Brazil. The Criminal Division is committed to working with our international partners to ensure that honest, law abiding companies are able to compete on a level playing field across the globe.”
“The resolution to this investigation shows to those around the world that the FBI and our law enforcement partners are dedicated to work together to bring justice to companies who play outside the rule of law,” said FBI Assistant Director Richardson. “The FBI won’t stand by while individuals operate their business illegally using bribes.”
The Bribery Scheme
According to admissions and court documents, beginning by at least 2001 and continuing until at least 2014, KOM conspired to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) by paying approximately $55 million in bribes to officials at the Brazilian state-owned oil company Petrobras, and to the then-governing political party in Brazil, in order to win 13 contracts with Petrobras and another Brazilian entity. KOM effectuated and concealed the bribe payments by paying outsized commissions to an intermediary, under the guise of legitimate consulting agreements, who then made payments for the benefit of the Brazilian officials and the Brazilian political party. KOM USA participated in this conspiracy from approximately 2007 to 2014.
The Corporate Resolutions
KOM entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York (the “United States”) in connection with a criminal Information filed today in the Eastern District of New York charging the company with conspiracy to violate the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA. In addition, KOM USA pleaded guilty and was sentenced by the Honorable Kiyo A. Matsumoto on a one-count criminal Information charging the company with conspiracy to violate the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA. Pursuant to its agreement with the United States, KOM will pay a total criminal fine of $422,216,980, with a criminal penalty due to the United States of $105,554,245, including a $4,725,000 criminal fine paid by KOM USA. As part of the deferred prosecution agreement, KOM also committed to implement rigorous internal controls and to cooperate fully with the United States’ ongoing investigation.
In related proceedings, the company settled with the Ministério Público Federal (MPF) in Brazil and the Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC) in Singapore. The United States will credit the amount the company pays to Brazil and Singapore under their respective agreements, with Brazil receiving $211,108,490, equal to 50 percent of the total criminal penalty, and Singapore receiving $105,554,245, equal to 25 percent of the total criminal penalty.
In reaching the resolutions with the United States, KOM and KOM USA received credit for their substantial cooperation with the United States’ investigation and for taking extensive remedial measures. For example, KOM has terminated and otherwise disciplined employees involved in the criminal conduct, and it has implemented an enhanced system of compliance and internal controls to address and mitigate corruption risks. Accordingly, the criminal penalty reflects a 25 percent reduction off the bottom of the applicable U.S. Sentencing Guidelines fine range.
The United States also unsealed charges today against a former senior member of KOM’s legal department, who pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to violate the FCPA on August 29, 2017 in the Eastern District of New York. He is awaiting sentencing.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alixandra Smith and Patrick Hein of the Business and Securities Fraud Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, and Trial Attorneys Derek J. Ettinger and David M. Fuhr and Assistant Chief Christopher J. Cestaro of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section. The FBI’s International Corruption squad in Houston investigated this case.
The Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs also provided substantial assistance. The SEC and the Ministerio Publico Federal in Brazil the Departamento de Polícia Federal and the Office of the Attorney General in Switzerland provided significant cooperation.
Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd. and U.S. Based Subsidiary Agree to Pay $422 Million in Global Penalties to Resolve Foreign Bribery CaseRead the Press Release
Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd. (KOM), a Singapore-based company that operates shipyards and repairs and upgrades shipping vessels, and its wholly owned U.S. subsidiary, Keppel Offshore & Marine USA Inc. (KOM USA), have agreed to pay a combined total penalty of more than $422 million to resolve charges with authorities in the United States, Brazil and Singapore arising out of a decade-long scheme to pay millions of dollars in bribes to officials in Brazil. KOM USA pleaded guilty today in connection with the resolution. In addition, a guilty plea by a former senior member of KOM’s legal department was unsealed.
Acting Assistant Attorney General John P. Cronan of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Acting U.S. Attorney Bridget M. Rohde of the Eastern District of New York, and Assistant Director Stephen E. Richardson of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division made the announcement.
“Today’s resolution once again underscores the importance of the Department of Justice’s collaboration with foreign authorities to hold corrupt companies and individuals accountable for their crimes, while ensuring the fair and appropriate allocation of fines and penalties,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Cronan. “This case also represents the first coordinated FCPA resolution with Singapore and the most recent of several coordinated resolutions with Brazil. The Criminal Division is committed to working with our international partners to ensure that honest, law abiding companies are able to compete on a level playing field across the globe.”
“The resolutions with KOM and its U.S. subsidiary are the result of a multinational effort to investigate and prosecute a corruption scheme that resulted in the payment by the defendant companies of over $50 million in bribes to Brazilian officials and in profits for the defendant companies of over $350 million from business corruptly obtained in Brazil,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Rohde. “In an attempt to conceal their crimes, the defendants used the global financial system – including the United States banking system – to disguise the source and disbursement of the bribe payments by passing funds through a series of shell companies. The United States, working with its law enforcement partners abroad, will continue to hold responsible those corporations and individuals who seek to enrich themselves through the corruption of government officials and legitimate governmental functions.”
“The resolution to this investigation shows to those around the world that the FBI and our law enforcement partners are dedicated to work together to bring justice to companies who play outside the rule of law,” said FBI Assistant Director Richardson. “The FBI won’t stand by while individuals operate their business illegally using bribes.”
KOM entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with the Department in connection with a criminal information filed today in the Eastern District of New York charging the company with conspiracy to violate the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA. The case is assigned to U.S. District Judge Kiyo A. Matsumoto. In addition, KOM USA pleaded guilty and was sentenced by Judge Matsumoto on a one-count criminal information charging the company with conspiracy to violate the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA. Pursuant to its agreement with the Department, KOM will pay a total criminal fine of $422,216,980, with a criminal penalty due to the United States of $105,554,245, including a $4,725,000 criminal fine paid by KOM USA. As part of the deferred prosecution agreement, KOM also committed to implement rigorous internal controls and to cooperate fully with the Department’s ongoing investigation.
In related proceedings, the company settled with the Ministério Público Federal (MPF) in Brazil and the Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC) in Singapore. The United States will credit the amount the company pays to Brazil and Singapore under their respective agreements, with Brazil receiving $211,108,490, equal to 50 percent of the total criminal penalty, and Singapore receiving up to $105,554,245, equal to 25 percent of the total criminal penalty.
The Department also unsealed charges today against a former senior member of KOM’s legal department, who pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to violate the FCPA on Aug. 29, 2017 in the Eastern District of New York. He is awaiting sentencing.
According to admissions and court documents, beginning by at least 2001 and continuing until at least 2014, KOM conspired to violate the FCPA by paying approximately $55 million in bribes to officials at the Brazilian state-owned oil company Petrobras and to the then-governing political party in Brazil, in order to win 13 contracts with Petrobras and another Brazilian entity. KOM effectuated and concealed the bribe payments by paying outsized commissions to an intermediary, under the guise of legitimate consulting agreements, who then made payments for the benefit of the Brazilian officials and the Brazilian political party.
In reaching the resolutions with the Department, KOM and KOM USA received credit for their substantial cooperation with the Department’s investigation and for taking extensive remedial measures. For example, KOM has terminated and otherwise disciplined employees involved in the criminal conduct, and it has implemented an enhanced system of compliance and internal controls to address and mitigate corruption risks. Accordingly, the criminal penalty reflects a 25 percent reduction off the bottom of the applicable U.S. Sentencing Guidelines fine range.
The case is being investigated by the FBI’s International Corruption Squad in Houston. Trial Attorneys Derek J. Ettinger and David M. Fuhr and Assistant Chief Christopher J. Cestaro of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section, as well as Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alixandra Smith and Patrick Hein of the Eastern District of New York, are prosecuting the case.
The MPF in Brazil and the AGC in Singapore provided significant assistance in this matter, as did the Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs.
The Criminal Division’s Fraud Section is responsible for investigating and prosecuting all FCPA matters. Additional information about the Justice Department’s FCPA enforcement efforts can be found at www.justice.gov/criminal/fraud/fcpa.
Kmart Corporation to Pay U.s. $32.3 Million to Resolve False Claims Act Allegations for Overbilling Federal Health Programs for Generic Prescription DrugsRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON – Kmart Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sears Holdings Corporation (SHC), has agreed to pay $32.3 million to the United States to settle allegations that in-store pharmacies in Kmart stores failed to report discounted prescription drug prices to Medicare Part D, Medicaid, and TRICARE, the health program for uniformed service members and their families, the Justice Department announced today.
The agreement resolves allegations arising from a lawsuit brought under the qui tam, or whistleblower, provisions of the False Claims Act, which permit private citizens with knowledge of fraud against the government to bring an action on behalf of the United States and to share in any recovery. The 2008 lawsuit, which was filed by James Garbe in the federal district in Los Angeles and later transferred to the Southern District of Illinois, alleged that Kmart pharmacies offered discounted generic drug prices to cash-paying customers through various club programs but knowingly failed to disclose those prices when reporting to federal health programs its usual and customary prices, which are typically used by those programs to establish reimbursement rates.
“Pharmacies that are not fully transparent about drug pricing can cause federal health programs to overpay for prescription drugs.” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Chad A. Readler for the Department’s Civil Division. “This settlement should put pharmacies on notice that there will be consequences if they attempt to improperly increase payments from taxpayer-funded health programs by masking the true prices that they charge the general public for the same drugs.”
“Pharmacies and other providers who receive funds from taxpayers have a duty to follow the law,” said U.S. Attorney Donald S. Boyce for the Southern District of Illinois. “If healthcare providers do not provide fair and transparent pricing as required under the law, the False Claims Act allows the government and whistleblowers to ensure that the Medicare, Medicaid, and TRICARE programs are made whole.”
The settlement agreement with the United States is a part of a global $59 million settlement that includes a resolution of state Medicaid and insurance claims against Kmart. Garbe, who litigated the case after the government declined to intervene in the action, will receive $9.3 million.
The case was handled by the Justice Department’s Civil Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Southern District of Illinois and Central District of California. Auditing assistance for the government’s investigation was provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California and the National Association of Medicaid Fraud Control Units. Investigative assistance was provided by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General.
The lawsuit is captioned U.S. ex rel. Garbe v. Kmart Corp., Case No. 12-CV-881-NJR-PMF (S.D. Ill.). The claims settled by this agreement are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.
The government’s resolution of this matter illustrates the government’s emphasis on combating health care fraud. One of the most powerful tools in this effort is the False Claims Act. Tips and complaints from all sources about potential fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement can be reported to the Department of Health and Human Services at 900-HHS-TIPS (800-447-8477).
Justice Department Requires Vulcan to Divest 17 Aggregate Facilities in Order to Acquire Aggregates USARead the Press Release
The Department of Justice announced today that it has reached a settlement that will require Vulcan Materials Company to divest all of Aggregates USA, LLC’s active aggregate quarries, plants, and yards in the Knoxville, Tennessee, Tri-Cities, Tennessee, and Abingdon, Virginia areas in order for it to proceed with its proposed $900 million acquisition of Aggregates USA from SPO Partners.
The Department’s Antitrust Division and Tennessee’s Attorney General filed a civil antitrust lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to block the proposed transaction. At the same time, the department filed a proposed settlement that, if approved by the court, would resolve the department’s competitive concerns.
“Without relying on a regulatory behavioral decree, these divestitures will ensure that customers, and ultimately taxpayers, in Tennessee and Virginia continue to benefit from robust competition and competitive prices,” said Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim of the Antitrust Division. “The acquisition, as originally proposed, would have eliminated one of the two suppliers of coarse aggregate in parts of east Tennessee and southwest Virginia.”
According to the department’s complaint, Vulcan and Aggregates USA produce and sell coarse aggregate, a type of crushed stone, to customers such as the Tennessee and Virginia Departments of Transportation, highway construction contractors, and suppliers of asphalt concrete and ready mix concrete. Coarse aggregate, an essential input in asphalt concrete and ready mix concrete, is used to build, pave, and repair roads and highways, and is used widely in other types of construction. The complaint alleges that Vulcan and Aggregates USA are the only two producers of coarse aggregate in the Knoxville, Tennessee, Tri-Cities, Tennessee, and Abingdon, Virginia areas. According to the complaint, the loss of competition between Vulcan and Aggregates USA would likely result in higher prices and poorer customer service for aggregate customers in those areas.
Under the terms of the proposed settlement, Vulcan must divest Aggregates USA’s 13 active quarries and yards, and four inactive quarries, in the Knoxville, Tennessee, Tri-Cities, Tennessee, and Abingdon, Virginia areas to Blue Water Industries, or an alternate acquirer approved by the United States. The department said that the divestitures will remedy the acquisition’s anticompetitive effects by providing the acquirer with the quarries, including substantial reserves, and other assets necessary to compete in these local markets.
Vulcan, a New Jersey corporation headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, is one of the largest producers of coarse aggregate and construction materials in the United States, with facilities in 20 states and the District of Columbia. In 2016, Vulcan’s revenues were approximately $3.5 billion.
SPO Partners, a Delaware limited partnership headquartered in Mill Valley, California, invests in a wide range of industries, including industrial materials, media, telecommunications, energy, power, and real estate. SPO has more than $7 billion in assets under management. SPO acquired Aggregates USA in 2010.
Aggregates USA, a limited liability company headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, produces and sells aggregate in Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, and Virginia. In 2016, Aggregates USA’s revenues were approximately $124 million.
As required by the Tunney Act, the proposed consent decree, along with the department’s competitive impact statement, will be published in the Federal Register. Any person may submit written comments concerning the proposed settlement within 60 days of its publication to Maribeth Petrizzi, Chief, Defense, Industrials, and Aerospace Section, Antitrust Division, U.S. Department of Justice, 450 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 8700, Washington, D.C. 20530. At the conclusion of the 60-day comment period, the court may enter the final judgment upon a finding that it serves the public interest.
Information: Federal Court ArraignmentsRead the Press Release
The United States Attorney’s Office announced that those persons listed below were arraigned before the U.S. Magistrate and the indictments handed down by the Grand Jury unsealed.
Appearing before U.S. Magistrate Cavan in Billings on December 21, 2017 and entering pleas of Not Guilty were:
- VERNELLE LYNN BADBEAR, a 39-year-old resident of Wyola, appeared on charges of second degree murder. If convicted of the charge contained in the indictment, BADBEAR faces life in prison, $250,000 in fines and 5 years supervised release. The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. PACER Case Reference. 17-127
Appearing before U.S. Magistrate Johnston in Great Falls on December 21, 2017 and entering pleas of Not Guilty were:
- CALVIN RED THUNDER, JR., a 48-year-old resident of Brockton, appeared on charges of abusive sexual contact. If convicted of the charge contained in the indictment, RED THUNDER faces life in prison, $250,000 in fines and 5 years supervised release. The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Fort Peck Tribes Department of Law and Justice. PACER Case Reference. 17-85
Appearing before U.S. Magistrate Johnston in Great Falls on December 20, 2017 and entering pleas of Not Guilty were:
- DANIEL GONZALEZ, a 29-year-old resident of Great Falls, appeared on charges of prohibited person in possession of a firearm. If convicted of the charge contained in the indictment, GONZALEZ faces 10 years in prison, $250,000 in fines and 3 years supervised release. The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. PACER Case Reference. 17-80
- KAREEM HIDARA, a 33-year-old resident of Winnipeg, Manitoba, appeared on charges of conspiracy to export a controlled substance, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, and possession with intent to distribute cocaine. If convicted of the most serious charges contained in the indictment, HIDARA faces life in prison, $10,000,000 in fines and 5 years supervised release. The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration. PACER Case Reference. 14-30
If any of the above cases are of interest to your media organization and the community it serves, we encourage you to monitor the progress of the case regularly through the U.S. District Court calendar and the PACER system so that you stay current and not miss any important developments in the case.
To establish a PACER account, which will allow you to review documents filed in the case, please go to, http://www.pacer.gov/register.html. To access the district court’s calendar, please go to https://ecf.mtd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/PublicCalendar.pl.
Henderson Man Sentenced to 18 Months in Prison for Selling Stolen U.S. Military Ammunition, Smoke Grenades and EquipmentRead the Press Release
LAS VEGAS, Nev. – A Henderson, Nevada man was sentenced today to 18 months in prison and two years supervised release for selling military-issued ammunition, smoke grenades, and other equipment stolen from the U.S. Air Force, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Steven W. Myhre for the District of Nevada.
Temogen Tran Noguni, 38, was sentenced by U.S. District Chief Judge Gloria M. Navarro. He pleaded guilty on Aug. 18, 2017, to one count of unauthorized sale of property of the United States. Co-defendants Jonathan Owens, 27, a Staff Sergeant at Nellis Air Force Base Nevada, and Daniel Schwartz, 42, both previously pleaded guilty to criminal charges.
According to the plea agreement, Noguni admitted that, from August 2015 to November 2015, he purchased from Owens stolen smoke grenades; body armor plate carrier vests; a red dot optical rifle scope; a set of night vision binoculars and goggles; and military ammunition to include 9mm, 5.56x45mm, and .50 caliber cartridges, all from Nellis Air Force Base Nevada. The .50 caliber ammunition, which is not available for sale to the general public, is armor-piercing incendiary ammunition designed to pierce the shell of armored vehicles and explode inside. Noguni then listed the items for sale on the Internet.
The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jared L. Grimmer prosecuted the case.
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Former Lackawanna County Prison Employee Guilty of Providing Drugs and Other Contraband to InmatesRead the Press Release
SCRANTON - The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced today that Jerry Defazio, age 39, of Archbald, Pennsylvania, a former contract employee with the Lackawanna County Prison, pleaded guilty on December 21, 2017, before Senior U.S. District Court Judge A. Richard Caputo, to providing and attempting to provide prohibited objects, including illegal drugs, to inmates at the Lackawanna County Prison.
According to United States Attorney David J. Freed, Defazio admitted that between November 2015 and April 2016, while overseeing the food service at the prison, he provided and attempted to provide Oxycontin pills (oxycodone), suboxone, and tobacco to inmates on several occasions and received payments ranging from $50 to $600 for smuggling the drugs and tobacco into the prison.
Judge Caputo scheduled sentencing for April 23, 2018.
The investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Pennsylvania State Police. Assistant U.S. Attorney Francis P. Sempa is prosecuting the case.
The maximum penalty under federal law is 20 years’ imprisonment, a term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a fine. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the Judge is also required to consider and weigh a number of factors, including the nature, circumstances and seriousness of the offense; the history and characteristics of the defendant; and the need to punish the defendant, protect the public and provide for the defendant's educational, vocational and medical needs. For these reasons, the statutory maximum penalty for the offense is not an accurate indicator of the potential sentence for a specific defendant.
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Former Hershey Medical Center Research Technologist Sentenced for Making False Statements About Cancer TestsRead the Press Release
HARRISBURG – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Floyd Benko, age 62, of Palmyra, Pennsylvania, was sentenced today to 15 months’ imprisonment by United States District Court Judge Yvette Kane on false statement charges in connection with his performance of flawed genetic diagnostic tests for 124 cancer patients.
According to United States Attorney David J. Freed, Benko, a former Research Technologist at the Hershey Medical Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania, was indicted in July 2015, and charged with one count of health care fraud and two counts of making false statements in health care matters. Benko performed DNA gene mutation tests (known as Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR), KRAS gene mutation (KRAS), and BRAF gene mutation (BRAF) assays) for 124 advanced stage cancer patients at the Hershey Medical Center in 2013 and 2014. These genetic tests help physicians diagnose a patient’s particular type of cancer so specifically tailored treatments can be administered to the patient.
Benko failed to perform the assays in the manner called for by Hershey’s standard operating procedures. Subsequent retesting of the patients during summer 2014, revealed that 60 of the 124 patients had assay results discordant with results obtained by two outside laboratories.
Benko pleaded guilty in July 2017, to one count of making false statements in health care matters before Judge Kane. Benko admitted he lied to administrators at the Hershey Medical Center on April 11, 2014, about the manner by which he performed the genetic assays. Benko concealed the fact he did not follow Hershey’s standard operating procedures, procedures Benko co-authored, in performing the assays by failing to use a device known as a NanoDrop 2000 photo spectrometer to quantify the DNA and by failing to preserve the patients’ leftover tissue and DNA samples.
Judge Kane ordered Benko to serve three years of supervised release following his release from prison and to make restitution in the amount of $69,742 to the Hershey Medical Center for refunds Hershey paid for the flawed assays and for outside laboratory re-testing. Judge Kane also ordered Benko to surrender to the Bureau of Prisons for commencement of his sentence on January 22, 2018.
The case was investigated by the Harrisburg Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kim Douglas Daniel and Joseph J. Terz prosecuted the case.
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Former Felon Convicted of Unlawful Possession of FirearmsRead the Press Release
LAS VEGAS, Nev. – A jury convicted a former felon Thursday of unlawful possession of one Heckler & Koch machine pistol and one Sig Sauer automatic rifle after multiple prior felony convictions in California, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Steve W. Myhre for the District of Nevada.
Following a three-day jury trial, Jack Benjamin Hessiani, 39, of Ventura, California, was found guilty of one count of felon in possession of a firearm. United States District Judge Larry R. Hicks presided over the trial and scheduled sentencing for March 22, 2018. At the time of sentencing, Hessiani faces the statutory maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the U.S. Department of Labor Office of the Inspector General. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Phillip N. Smith Jr. and Alexandra Michael are prosecuting the case.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, a nationwide commitment by the Department of Justice to reduce gun and gang crime in America by networking local programs that target gun and gun crime and providing these programs with additional tools necessary to be successful. For more information about Project Safe Neighborhoods, visit www.justice.gov/usao-nv.
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Federal Jury Convicts Three Twin Cities Drug TraffickersRead the Press Release
Acting United States Attorney Gregory G. Brooker today announced the conviction of ALEJANDRO LLAMAS-DELGADO, 24, GREGORIO RAMIREZ-MALDONADO, 28, and ERICK PARRA-SALAZAR, 24, for drug trafficking-related offenses. Following a three-day trial before U.S. District Judge Joan N. Ericksen in Minneapolis, Minn., the jury found all three defendants guilty of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, and possession with intent to distribute cocaine. In July 2017, co-defendant COLIN BLAIR MCAFEE, 46, pleaded guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute cocaine. All four defendants will remain in federal custody pending their sentencing hearings.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Hollenhorst said: “This case involved the prosecution of one of the biggest methamphetamine and cocaine traffickers in the State of Minnesota. Mr. Llamas-Delgado’s drug trafficking organization spanned many states and involved numerous drug couriers and distributors. The community is safer with him behind bars.”
As proven at trial, since at least 2014, LLAMAS-DELGADO operated a drug trafficking organization responsible for transporting and distributing methamphetamine and cocaine from Texas and California into Minnesota. RAMIREZ-MALDONADO and PARRA SALAZAR assisted LLAMAS-DELGADO by transporting approximately two kilograms of cocaine from Texas to the Twin Cities.
As proven at trial, law enforcement agents in California seized approximately 17 pounds of suspected cocaine and 25 pounds of suspected methamphetamines concealed in hidden compartments under the front seats of a 2005 Mini-Cooper that had been loaded onto a vehicle transport carrier destined for LLAMAS-DELGADO in the Twin Cities area. During the spring of 2017, law enforcement agents in the Twin Cities area conducted surveillance of LLAMAS-DELGADO and his co-conspirators that revealed multiple residences linked to the conspiracy’s drug trafficking activities. On May 15, 2017, law enforcement agents conducted simultaneous searches of several residences, resulting in the seizure of more than $40,000 in cash, 28 pounds of marijuana, over 750 grams of cocaine, a firearm, and other drug trafficking paraphernalia.
This case is the result of an investigation by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Orono Police Department, Riverside County Sheriff’s Office (California), Albertville Police Department, Brooklyn Center Police Department, Wright County Sheriff’s Office, Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office, the Minnesota State Patrol, and the California Highway Patrol.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Thomas M. Hollenhorst and Sarah E. Hudleston prosecuted this case.
Defendant Information:
ALEJANDRO LLAMAS-DELGADO, 24
Brooklyn Center, Minn.
Convicted:
- Conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and cocaine, 1 count
- Possession with intent to distribute cocaine, 1 count
GREGORIO RAMIREZ-MALDONADO, 28
Houston, Texas
Convicted:
- Conspiracy to distribute cocaine, 1 count
- Possession with intent to distribute cocaine, 1 count
ERICK PARRA-SALAZAR, 24
Houston, Texas
Convicted:
- Conspiracy to distribute cocaine, 1 count
- Possession with intent to distribute cocaine, 1 count
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United States Attorney’s Office, District of Minnesota: (612) 664-5600
Federal Jury Convicts Leader of Armed Robbery Crew in Nine Heists of Chicago Retail Stores and BusinessesRead the Press Release
CHICAGO — A federal jury has convicted a Chicago man of leading an armed robbery crew that targeted retail stores and businesses on the city’s North and Northwest Sides.
ROBERT L. BERRIOS, 50, committed the nine armed robberies in 2012. His crew mainly struck at cellular telephone stores, often terrorizing store employees by wearing masks and brandishing firearms. In some of the heists, the robbers physically restrained store employees with zip ties. The heists netted the crew tens of thousands of dollars in cash and cell phones.
After an eight-day trial in federal court in Chicago, the jury on Thursday convicted Berrios on all twelve robbery, firearm and conspiracy charges against him. U.S. District Judge Matthew F. Kennelly set sentencing for March 22, 2018, at 1:30 p.m. Berrios faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 22 years in prison, and a maximum sentence of life in prison.
The conviction was announced by John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; and Jeffrey S. Sallet, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The Chicago Police Department provided valuable assistance. The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Angel M. Krull and Georgia Alexakis.
All four charged members of the robbery crew have now been convicted. The other charged members, JULIO RODRIGUEZ, 36, DAVID REVIS, 37, and LUIS DIAZ, 33, all of Chicago, previously pleaded guilty and admitted their roles in the heists. Revis was sentenced to 15 years in prison and Diaz was sentenced to three years. Rodriguez is awaiting sentencing.
Evidence at Berrios’ trial revealed that the crew worked together to identify businesses to target and obtain intelligence about the locations, including store hours and number of employees working at a given time. The crew communicated with one another via cell phone to plan the robberies and procure the necessary tools, including the masks, zip ties, firearms and getaway vehicles.
The jury convicted Berrios of leading the crew in nine robberies:
July 1, 2012: Walgreens store, 5935 W. Addison St., Chicago.
July 28, 2012: Currency Exchange, 2753 N. Ashland Ave., Chicago.
Aug. 15, 2012: Currency Exchange, 2814 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago.
Sept. 19, 2012: T-Mobile store, 1552 W. Chicago Ave., Chicago.
Sept. 28, 2012: T-Mobile store, 1958 W. Irving Park Rd., Chicago.
Oct. 2, 2012: T-Mobile store, 4000 W. Fullerton Ave., Chicago.
Oct. 13, 2012: T-Mobile store, 3951 N. Kimball Ave., Chicago.
Oct. 16, 2012: Cricket store, 3200 W. Armitage Ave., Chicago.
Oct. 22, 2012: AT&T store, 3955 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago.
Escambia County Man Receives One Year Probation and a $500.00 Fine for Failing to Report Income to Railroad Retirement BoardRead the Press Release
United States Attorney, Richard W. Moore, announces that Jesse Redmon, a 65-year-old resident of Brewton, Alabama, was sentenced today to a probationary term of one year and received a $500.00 fine for failing to report income after claiming disability retirement from the railroad.
Mr. Redmon began receiving disability benefits from the Railroad Retirement Board in November 2003 and continued receiving benefits until sometime in 2017. Prior to receiving benefits, Redmon agreed to and understood that he was required to report any work related activity. However, the defendant obtained an electrician’s license, started a business called Redmon Enterprises Inc. and began working as an electrician while receiving disability benefits. During the recertification process, Redmon stated that he had not returned to the work force during the time he received disability benefits. The defendant provided the following signed statement:
“I learned that the moneys that I made on a sideline business should have been reported to the RR Board. I didn’t work a regular job a forty hour week. This was part-time work here and there. I am not sure how much money was made at the time. The work was here and there. .This is my fault for not reading my paperwork in detail. I take full responsibility for my short sight. I will do my best to try and figure out how much money was made during the time and if I have to pay back to the RR Board, I am willing to pay back as I can. I apologize to the board for my oversight. I didn’t think those small amount[s] made a difference. Now I know . . . I realize that I started a business and didn’t notify the RR board.”This case was the result of investigation conducted by the U.S. Railroad Retirement Board/Office of Inspector General. Assistant United States Attorney, Gina S. Vann, from the United States Attorney’s Office – Southern District of Alabama led the prosecution.
East Stroudsburg Man Sentenced for Heroin Trafficking Near High SchoolRead the Press Release
SCRANTON- The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced today that on December 21, 2017, United States District Court Judge A. Richard Caputo sentenced Naajeh Torres, age 24, of East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, to 24 months’ imprisonment on drug trafficking charges.
According to United States Attorney David J. Freed, Torres pleaded guilty on October 25, 2017, to an indictment charging the distribution of heroin within 1,000 feet of Stroudsburg High School property in April 2016. Additionally, Torres admitted to distributing between 40 and 60 grams of heroin over a three-month period in 2016, which is the equivalent of between 1,600 and 2,400 individual doses.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Pennsylvania State Police, and the Stroud Area Regional Police Department and was being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean A. Camoni.
This case was brought as part of a district wide initiative to combat the nationwide epidemic regarding the use and distribution of heroin. Led by the United States Attorney’s Office, the Heroin Initiative targets heroin traffickers operating in the Middle District of Pennsylvania and is part of a coordinated effort among federal, state and local law enforcement agencies to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who commit heroin related offenses.
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Drug Counselor Under Contract with U.S. Probation and Pretrial Services Sentenced to 39 Months in Prison for Conspiring to Obstruct JusticeRead the Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact ELIZABETH MORSE
www.justice.gov/usao/md at (410) 209-4811
Baltimore, Maryland – Chief United States District Judge James K. Bredar sentenced licensed drug counselor Jennifer Hamersky, a/k/a Jennifer Maroney and Jennifer Hurt, age 34, of Severn, Maryland, to 39 months in prison, followed by 3 years of supervised release for obstruction of justice and conspiring to conceal alleged violations of pretrial release by one of Hamersky’s clients.
The sentence was announced by Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Stephen M. Schenning; Special Agent in Charge Gordon B. Johnson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; William F. Henry, Chief, U.S. Probation and Pretrial Services Office, District of Maryland; and Assistant Special Agent in Charge Don A. Hibbert of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Baltimore District Office.
According to the open plea Hamersky was a Clinical Professional Addictions Counselor, licensed by the State of Maryland’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and was contracted to provide services for United States Probation and Pretrial Service Office (“USPO”) pretrial offenders and supervised release defendants in United States District Court for the District of Maryland, including mental health and substance abuse counseling, and urinalysis testing.
Person A, who was on supervised release under the supervision of USPO, met Hamersky in September 2015, when she conducted an initial substance abuse screening as part of his pretrial release supervision. Hamersky recommended and USPO concurred, that Person A attend individual and group counseling sessions and submit to random urinalysis testing to be performed by her employer.
Hamersky served as Person A’s pretrial release substance abuse and mental health counselor from September 2015 through February 2016, and again from August 2016 through February 2017, with a break due to Person A’s incarceration. Hamersky was responsible for communicating Person A’s compliance with pretrial release conditions of counseling and urinalysis testing to USPO.
According to her open plea, during Hamersky’s initial supervision of Person A, they used oxycodone pills and smoked marijuana and on at least one occasion and Hamersky met Person A’s oxycodone dealer to pick up the oxycodone pills and deliver them to Person A. In addition, court documents show that Hamersky conspired to, and obstructed justice in an effort to conceal from USPO officers and United States Magistrate and District Court Judges, Person A’s violations of his conditions of release. The violations include: use of narcotic drugs or other controlled substances; failure to appear for urinalysis testing; and failure to appear for counseling sessions.
Specifically, court documents show that Hamersky included false information and material omissions in Person A’s monthly treatment reports which were submitted to USPO, and that she provided false information to Person A’s attorney and USPO regarding Person A’s compliance with conditions of release. In November of 2015, Hamersky forged the initials of the company urinalysis collector on reports in order to make it appear that Person A had participated in urinalysis testing, when in fact, he had not. To facilitate these false submissions, Hamersky communicated with Person A. to have him sign and complete the required urinalysis testing log for submission to USPO.
Between October 2015 and through February 2016, Hamersky conspired to prevent the communication to a law enforcement officer or judge. While Person A was incarcerated, Hamersky facilitated his obtaining narcotic drugs for his personal use, then sent a report to Person A’s attorney to be used in court, which she knew contained false representations.
On January 24, 2017, Hamersky discussed how to conceal from Person A’s USPO officer the fact that Person A had missed a urinalysis test. Hamersky then called Person A’s USPO and left a voice message, falsely indicating that Person A had not missed his urinalysis test.
Acting United States Attorney Stephen M. Schenning commended the FBI, USPO, and DEA for their work in the investigation. Mr. Schenning thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Philip Selden and Rachel Miller Yasser, who prosecuted the case.
Dominican National Sentenced for Role in Massachusetts RMV Identity Theft SchemeRead the Press Release
BOSTON – A Dominican national illegally residing in Jamaica Plain was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Boston for his role in a scheme to produce false identification documents through the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles (RMV).
Angel Miguel Beltre Tejeda, 32, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge George A. O’Toole, Jr. to two years in prison and one year of supervised release. Tejeda will be deported following completion of his sentence. Tejeda was arrested in August 2017 along with five others, and pleaded guilty to aggravated identity theft in October 2017.
The RMV issues identification documents such as drivers’ licenses, learners’ permits and state identification cards. To prevent people from obtaining a fraudulent identification document, the RMV maintains systems to verify whether applicants’ identity information is accurate.
From 2016 to the spring of 2017, Tejeda participated in a scheme to issue Massachusetts identification cards and driver’s licenses to individuals who presented identification documents in identities other than their own. These identification documents included Puerto Rican birth certificates and U.S. Social Security cards that were either counterfeit, genuine but fraudulently obtained, or genuine but altered.
The scheme involved several steps. First, Tejeda would obtain identification documents belonging to United States citizens in Puerto Rico and sell them to clients who were seeking legitimate identities in Massachusetts. These clients included illegal aliens, individuals who were previously deported, and an individual who admitted to previously facing drug charges. Tejeda received hundreds of dollars when he sold an identity document as part of this scheme.
RMV clerks participating in this scheme would then accept hundreds of dollars in cash to illegally issue authentic RMV documents, including Massachusetts licenses and ID cards. The clerks also accepted bribes to use the RMV’s system to run queries, including Social Security number audits, to confirm that the identities the clients were stealing actually belonged to verifiable individuals.
United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Michael Shea, Acting Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston; William B. Gannon, Special Agent in Charge of the Boston Field Office of the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service; and Colonel Kerry A. Gilpin, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police, made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Eugenia M. Carris of Lelling’s Public Corruption & Special Prosecutions Unit is prosecuting the case.
District Man Sentenced to 110 Months in Prison on Federal Firearms ChargeRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON – Marcellus Freeman, 27, of Washington, D.C., has been sentenced to 110 months in prison on a federal firearms charge, announced U.S. Attorney Jessie K. Liu, Andrew W. Vale, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, and Peter Newsham, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).
Freeman pled guilty in October 2017 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. He was sentenced on Dec. 21, 2017, by the Honorable Reggie B. Walton. The sentence is to run consecutively to a 308-month sentence that Freeman is serving in a federal armed carjacking and armored car robbery case prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland.
According to the government’s evidence, on Oct. 26, 2012, Freeman and three other men were involved in an armed robbery of an armored car, a carjacking, and shooting in Takoma Park, Md. The men shot at the armored car driver and a bystander who was the victim of the armed carjacking. The armored car driver was not injured. The bystander, however, was shot in the neck and arm, and required multiple surgeries. Freeman’s fingerprints were found on the armored car’s moneybag and a warrant was issued for his arrest.
On Feb. 18, 2013, Freeman was driving an automobile owned by his girlfriend when he was pulled over by police in the District of Columbia. He provided a false identification card and gave an address in Southeast Washington. Once officers realized the identification card was fake, Freeman provided yet another false name. Officers placed Freeman under arrest when they could not verify his information. Freeman told officers he lived with his girlfriend and asked the officers to call her to retrieve the car and his personal belongings. The girlfriend responded and retrieved the items. She provided the same Southeast Washington address as her place of residence. The FBI learned of Freeman’s arrest, confirmed the girlfriend’s address, and obtained a search warrant for the apartment in connection with the Maryland armored car investigation.
The FBI executed a search of the apartment on Feb. 20, 2013. During the search, the FBI recovered crack cocaine as well as a 50-round ammunition box that contained 42 rounds of .380 caliber ammunition. The agents then recovered a Smith & Wesson .380 caliber pistol that was loaded with eight rounds of ammunition, matching those found in the ammunition box, between the mattress and the box spring in the bedroom.
Forensic testing subsequently revealed Freeman’s fingerprints on the ammunition box that contained 42 rounds of ammunition. Freeman acknowledged, as part of his plea in this case, that he possessed the firearm in connection with his possession with the intent to distribute the crack cocaine.
In Maryland, Freeman previously pled guilty to robbery, discharging a gun during the robbery, and carjacking for his role in the crimes that took place in Takoma Park.
In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Liu, Assistant Director in Charge Vale, and Chief Newsham commended the work of those who investigated the case from the FBI’s Washington Field Office and the Metropolitan Police Department. They also acknowledged the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, including Paralegal Specialists Jeannette Litz and Mary Downing; Legal Assistants Kate Abrey, Holly Crouse, and Latoya Wade; Clerk Antonia Jackson, and Interns Jeslin Panicker and Max Ruocco. Finally, they expressed appreciation for the work of Assistant U.S. Attorneys George Eliopoulos and Akhi Johnson, who prosecuted the case.
Defense Contractors Sentenced to Prison for Defrauding the United StatesRead the Press Release
Assistant U.S. Attorney Rebecca S. Kanter (619-546-7304)
NEWS RELEASE SUMMARY – December 14, 2017
SAN DIEGO – Jeffrey Harrington and Michael Mayer, owners of several defense contracting firms, were each sentenced in federal court today to 15 months in custody for conspiring to commit wire fraud and file false claims, and to making false statements on their federal income tax returns.
Harrington was also ordered to pay a $10,000 fine, $141,113 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service, and to forfeit $708,679 in ill-gotten gains; likewise Mayer was ordered to pay a $10,000 fine plus $299,511 in restitution to the IRS and forfeit $708,678.
The defendants admitted fraudulently obtaining money from the United States by making false representations and false claims to the Department of Defense (“DoD”) for payment on items defendants knew had not been sold to the Navy, but which had been substituted with other, unauthorized products. Three of the companies owned by Harrington and Mayer – including San Diego-based Veteran Logistics, Inc. (“VLI”), Industrial Xchange, Inc. (“IXI”), and Boston Laser Technology, Inc. (“BLTI”) – were also ordered to forfeit over $1.4 million and pay a $1 million fine for their roles in the offenses.
According to court records, the defendants regularly sold supplies to the DoD, the Department of Navy, the General Services Administration and other federal departments and agencies. Each company had multiple contracts with DoD’s Defense Logistics Agency (“DLA”) to sell products to the federal government through “EMALL,” currently known as “FedMall,” which is a web-based electronic commerce site that allows authorized users to search, compare and purchase commonly used products. Each contract allowed the company to sell pre-approved goods at set, maximum prices. As detailed in court filings, however, the defendants fraudulently manipulated the EMALL system to substitute unapproved items for the goods purportedly sold to the government.
In one example, the defendants agreed on EMALL to supply Maritime Expeditionary Security Group Two at Norfolk Naval Shipyard with over 10,000 “Post-It” writing paper pads. After colluding with Navy personnel, the defendants replaced these approved items with 50 electronic transceivers they were not authorized to sell. By fraudulently substituting these products, the defendants were able to circumvent procurement controls and charge the military a 134% mark-up on the transceivers. The defendants repeatedly employed this fraudulent technique dozens of times, on a host of products, across a wide array of components in the military.
The scheme also allowed the defendants to conceal the sale of consumer electronics and other items that could be readily misused by corrupt military officials. For example, in one contract VLI agreed to supply the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier with industrial, motorized plumber snakes. VLI then fraudulently substituted that order with 100 29” Toshiba TVs, 60 32” Toshiba TVs and 160 TV tilt mounts. VLI purchased these items for only $39,558, then turned around and billed the government $66,807. In another example discussed in court, VLI fraudulently substituted an order for the USS Germantown with, among other things, two pink Nintendo gaming systems, two iPod Touch devices, and a PlayStation.
The plea agreements also detailed a series of transactions between October 2013 and April 2014, wherein IXI and another VLI-affiliated company, At Your Command (“AYC”), created approximately twenty EMALL carts for Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group #2 in Norfolk, Virginia, containing various items, including bags, canvas organizer bags, and pouches, for which the defendants billed DLA and received $1,303,024. In reality, the defendants actually provided EODG-2 group with parachutes, altimeters and other sky diving gear purchased for approximately $924,252, realizing a profit of $378,772 by substituting improperly procured parachuting equipment.
The defendants were hugely successful in their fraud, and received approximately $45 million for EMALL sales related to over 12,000 transactions between approximately March 1, 2008 and January 31, 2015. On a small sample of 60 of those transactions between August 2009 and October 2013, totaling approximately $2,868,590 in sales, the loss to the Navy was approximately $1,417,395, indicating a fraud loss of approximately 50%.
Harrington and Mayer also pleaded guilty to false statements on their tax returns for the tax years 2010 and 2014. Harrington and Mayer both used VLI to pay personal expenses in excess of $200,000 and $100,000, respectively, thereby underreporting their 2010 income on their personal tax returns. Both defendants, in contravention of the advice of their tax professionals, continued using VLI to pay for personal expenses and not declaring these benefits as income, causing their 2014 income tax returns to under-report their income by approximately $436,017 and $674,704, respectively. By under-reporting their income, Harrington underpaid taxes by $141,113, and Mayer underpaid taxes by $299,511, for 2010 and 2014.
In addition to these criminal sentences, all defendants will be suspended from government contracting.
United States Attorney Braverman observed: “Not only did the defendants inflict financial harm on the taxpayers by charging arbitrary mark-ups on these items, but they potentially compromised combat readiness by providing unauthorized, non-conforming parts. What’s more, their scheme posed a significant danger of corrupting Navy personnel and others by essentially creating a ‘slush fund’ to purchase non-military items, such as televisions, computers, gaming systems, cameras, iPhones and other electronics. This Office will continue to use all the tools available, including the District’s Procurement Fraud Working Group, to prevent and deter those who pose the threat of fraud and corruption to our procurement process.”
Chris Hendrickson, Special Agent in Charge of the Western Field Office, Defense Criminal Investigative Service, said, “The defendants in this case exploited their connections with the U.S. Navy and others to grossly inflate their profitability and otherwise cheat the taxpayers and their commercial competition over a period of many years. This type of fraud will be aggressively investigated by DCIS and our partners at every opportunity to preserve the integrity of the contracting process.”
“The success of this case is a direct result of the joint efforts of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, our Federal Law Enforcement Partners and the U.S. Attorney's Office,” said Edward Denion, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the NCIS Southwest Field Office. “Protecting our warfighters is one of the top priorities of NCIS, and this investigation is an example of how we do this. Anyone considering defrauding the Navy and taxpayers should know NCIS will aggressively pursue all such allegations and work with our partners to ensure the conviction of all those involved.”
FBI Special Agent in Charge Eric S. Birnbaum stated, “Today’s convictions are a result of federal partners teaming together to stop the loss of millions of government dollars as well as the greed and deceit employed in this case.” SAC Birnbaum continued, “The FBI will continue to work to root out fraud against our government and uncover the schemes to steal federal taxpayer dollars.” The FBI encourages the public to report allegations of public corruption to the FBI public corruption hotline at telephone number (877) NO-BRIBE (662-7423).
“The sentences handed down today should serve as a warning to the public that those who seek to defraud the United States government by lining their pockets through fraudulent procurement schemes will face severe consequences,” said IRS Criminal Investigation’s Special Agent in Charge R. Damon Rowe. “The agents who worked this case should be commended for their thorough investigation and for expertly following the paper trail that led to the unraveling of this complex fraud scheme.”
U.S. District Judge Michael M. Anello had previously sentenced two other co-defendants, Kimberlee and Natalee Hewitt, on October 16, 2017, to 3 years’ probation and $100,000 each in forfeiture, as well as $3,500 each in criminal fines.
CORPORATE DEFENDANTS
Veteran Logistics, Inc.
Industrial Xchange, Inc.
Boston Laser Technology, Inc.
INDIVIDUAL DEFENDANTS
Jeffrey Harrington Age: 55 San Diego, CA
Michael Mayer Age: 63 San Diego, CA
Kimberlee Hewitt Age: 45 Ridgewood, New York
Natalee Hewitt Age: 49 Virginia Beach, Virginia
Criminal Case No.
17CR0488-MMA
SUMMARY OF CHARGES
Count 1 (All):
Conspiracy to commit wire fraud and file false claims (18 U.S.C. § 371).
Maximum penalties: 5 years’ imprisonment; 3 years’ supervised release; a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or gross loss resulting from the offense, whichever is greatest; and a mandatory special assessment of $10.
Count 2 (Harrington):
False Statement on Tax Return (26 U.S.C. § 7206(1)).
Maximum penalties: 3 years’ imprisonment; 1 year supervised release; a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or gross loss resulting from the offense, whichever is greatest; and a mandatory special assessment of $100.
Count 3 (Mayer):
False Statement on Tax Return (26 U.S.C. § 7206(1)).
Maximum penalties: 3 years’ imprisonment; 1 year supervised release; a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or gross loss resulting from the offense, whichever is greatest; and a mandatory special assessment of $100.
AGENCIES
Defense Criminal Investigative Service
Defense Logistics Agency, Office of Inspector General
Federal Bureau of Investigation
General Services Administration, Office of Inspector General
Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation
Naval Audit Service
Naval Criminal Investigative Service
December 2017 Grand JuryRead the Press Release
Acting United States Attorney Robert C. Stuart announced the federal Grand Jury for the District of Nebraska has returned 43 indictments charging 53 defendants. Indictments are charging documents that contain one or more individual counts that are merely accusations, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
* Jose Celedon Luna, age 39, of Grand Island, is charged with illegal reentry after deportation on or about November 27, 2017. The maximum possible penalty if convicted is 2 years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, a 1 year term of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment.
* Manazheega Cleveland, age 18, of Winnebago, is charged in a two-count Indictment. Count I of the Indictment charges the defendant with interference with commerce by robbery on or about October 24, 2017. The maximum possible penalty if convicted is 20 years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, a 3 year term of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment. Count II charges Cleveland with using, carrying and brandishing a firearm during said robbery in Count I. The maximum possible penalty if convicted is 7-Life years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, a 3 year term of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment.
* Warren Dwayne Vasser, age 44, Warren Dwayne Copeland, age 27, and Angelo C. Douglas, age 25, are charged in a three-count Indictment. Count I of the Indictment charges the defendants with armed bank robbery and aiding and abetting on or about November 15, 2017. The maximum possible penalty if convicted is 25 years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, a 5 year term of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment. Count II of the Indictment charges Vasser, Copeland and Douglas with using, carrying and brandishing a firearm during said robbery on or about November 15, 2017, in Count I. The maximum possible penalty if convicted is 7-Life years imprisonment consecutive to any other imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, a 5 year term of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment. Count III of the Indictment charges Vasser with felon in possession of a firearm on or about November 15, 2017. The maximum possible penalty if convicted is 10 years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, a 3 year term of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment.
* Laura Cortez-Avila, age 42, of Omaha, is charged with falsely representing a Social Security number on or about October 26, 2016. The maximum possible penalty if convicted is 5 years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, a 3 year term of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment.
* James Charles Fentress-Dismuke, age 20, of Omaha, Jonathan Ramone Franklin, age 33, of Papillion, Vincent L. McGee, age 27, of Omaha, and Corita Yvonne Burnett, age 44, of Omaha, are charged in a three-count Indictment. Count I of the Indictment charges the defendants with bank robbery on or about November 22, 2017. The maximum possible penalty if convicted is 20 years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, a 3 year term of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment. Count II of the Indictment charges Fentress-Dismuke, Franklin, McGee, and Burnett, with using, carrying and brandishing a firearm during said robbery on or about November 22, 2017, in Count I. The maximum possible penalty if convicted is 7-Life years imprisonment imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, a 3 year term of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment. Count III of the Indictment charges Franklin with felon in possession of a firearm on or about November 22, 2017. The maximum possible penalty if convicted is 10 years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, a 3 year term of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment.
* Kaelyn Foster, age 31, is charged in a two-count Indictment. Count I of the Indictment charges Foster with false statement in acquiring a firearm on or about July 27, 2017. The maximum possible penalty if convicted is 10 years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, a 3 year term of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment. Count II of the Indictment charges Foster with false statement to a Federally Licensed Firearms Dealer on or about July 27, 2017. The maximum possible penalty if convicted is 5 years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, a 3 year term of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment.
* Jordan Gilreath, age 23, is charged with felon in possession of a firearm on or about November 12, 2017. The maximum possible penalty if convicted is 10 years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, a 3 year term of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment.
* Dustin Hansen, age 24, of Lincoln, is charged in a two-count Indictment. Count I of the Indictment charges the defendant with distribution of child pornography on or about April 17, 2016. The maximum possible penalty if convicted is 20 years imprisonment, there is a 5 year mandatory minimum sentence, a $250,000 fine, fe years term of supervised release, a $100 special assessment with an additional special assessment of $5,000. Count II of the Indictment charges Hansen with possession of child pornography on or about November 15, 2017. The maximum possible penalty if convicted is 20 years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, a 5-Life term of supervised release, a $100 special assessment with an additional special assessment of $5,000 for each count..
* Richard Allen Knight, age 47, of Omaha, is charged with failure to register as a sex offender on or about October 17, 2017 to on or about November 14, 2017. The maximum possible penalty if convicted is 10 years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, a 5 year term of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment.
* Lucas J. Lacy, age 33, of Omaha, is charged in a two-count Indictment with failure to register as a sex offender both in October 2016 and again in November 2017. The maximum possible penalty if convicted is 10 years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, a 5 year term of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment.
* Juan Pablo Limon Martinez, age 38, is charged with illegal reentry after deportation following an aggravated felony conviction on or about November 17, 2017. The maximum possible penalty if 0convicted is 20 years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, a 3 year term of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment.
* Antonio M. Luna, age 27, of Omaha, is charged in a three-count Indictment. Count I of the Indictment charges the defendant with possession with intent to distribute a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of cocaine on or about November 9, 2017. The maximum possible penalty if convicted is 20 years imprisonment, a $1,000,000 fine, a 3 year term of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment. Count II of the Indictment charges Luna with felon in possession of a firearm on or about November 9, 2017. The maximum possible penalty if convicted is 10 years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, a 3 year term of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment. Count III of the Indictment charges Luna with use of a firearm on or about November 9, 2017. The maximum possible penalty if convicted is 5 years-Life consecutive imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, a 5 year term of supervised release and $100 special assessment.
* Carlos Manriquez-Aviles, age 28, Jorge Antonio Alonzo-Lopez, age 28, Roman Lazcano-Acosta, age 28, and America Saucedo-Moreno, age 43, are charged in a fourteen-count Indictment. The defendants are charged in Count I with conspiracy to manufacture 500 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine between on or about September 2016 and November 15, 2017. The maximum possible penalty if convicted is 10-Life years imprisonment, a $10,000,000 fine, a 5 years term of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment. Manriquez-Aviles is charged in Count II with distribution of 500 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine on or about August 1, 2017. The maximum possible penalty if convicted is 10-Life years imprisonment, a $10,000,000 fine, a 5 year term of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment. Manriquez-Aviles is charged in Count III with possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine between on or about September 14, 2017. The maximum possible penalty if convicted is 10-Life years imprisonment, a $10,000,000 fine, a 5 years term of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment. Manriquez-Aviles is charged in Count IV with distribution of 50 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine between on or about September 17, 2017. The maximum possible penalty of convicted is 5-40 years imprisonment, a $5,000,000 fine, a 4 year term of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment. Alonzo-Lopez and Saucedo-Moreno are charged in Count V with Distribution of 500 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine between on or about October 28, 2017. The maximum possible penalty of convicted is 10-Life years imprisonment, a $10,000,000 fine, a 5 year term of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment. Manriquez-Aviles is charged in Count VI with distribution of 500 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine between on or about October 28, 2017. The maximum possible penalty of convicted is 10-Life years imprisonment, a $10,000,000 fine, a 5 year term of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment. Manriquez-Aviles is charged in Count VII with distribution of 50 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine between on or about November 11, 2017. The maximum possible penalty of convicted is 5-40 years imprisonment, a $5,000,000 fine, a 4 year term of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment. Lazcano-Acosta is charged in Count VIII with distribution of 50 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine between on or about November 11, 2017. The maximum possible penalty of convicted is 5-40 years imprisonment, a $5,000,000 fine, a 4 year term of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment. . Manriquez-Aviles is charged in Count IX with distribution of 500 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine between on or about October 28, 2017. The maximum possible penalty of convicted is 10-Life years imprisonment, a $10,000,000 fine, a 5 year term of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment. Lazcano-Aviles is charged in Count X with distribution of 500 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine between on or about November 15, 2017. The maximum possible penalty of convicted is 10-Life years imprisonment, a $10,000,000 fine, a 5 year term of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment. Lazcano-Acosta is charged in count XI with illegal reentry after deportation on or about November 16, 2017. The maximum possible penalty if convicted is 2 years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, a 1 year term of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment. Manriquez-Aviles is charged in Count XII with use of facilities in interstate commerce in aid of racketeering between on or about July 2017 and on or about November 15, 2017. The maximum possible penalty of convicted is 5 years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, a 3 year term of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment. Manriquez-Aviles is charged in Count XIII with money laundering between on or about October 24, 2017. The maximum possible penalty of convicted is 20 years imprisonment, a $500,000 fine, a 3 year term of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment. Manriquez-Aviles is charged in Count XIV with conspiracy to commit money laundering between on or about October 2017 and on or about November 15, 2017. The maximum possible penalty of convicted is 20 years imprisonment, a $500,000 fine, a 3 year term of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment. The Indictment also includes a Forfeiture Allegation for U.S. Currency.
* Chris Martinez, age 53, of Tilden, NE, is charged in a two-count Indictment. Martinez is charged in Count I with conspiracy to manufacture 500 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine between on or about January 1, 2014 and December 1, 2017. The maximum possible penalty if convicted is 10-Life years imprisonment, a $10,000,000 fine, a 5 years term of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment. Martinez is charged in Count II with possession with intent to distribute 5 grams or more of actual methamphetamine on or about August 13, 2017. The maximum possible penalty if convicted is 5-40 years imprisonment, a $5,000,000 fine, a 4 year term of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment.
* Darin Mason, age 41, is charged with felon in possession of a firearm on or about September 14, 2017. The maximum possible penalty if convicted is 10 years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, a 3 year term of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment.
* Kevin McRae, age 47, of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, is charged with cyberstalking from on or about December, 2015, and continuing until on or about October, 2016. The maximum possible penalty if convicted is 5 years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, a 3 year term of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment.
* Jose Mejia Lopez, age 40, of Fremont, is charged with illegal reentry after deportation on or about November 9, 2017. The maximum possible penalty if convicted is 2 years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, a 1 year term of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment.
* Edgar Israel Nino Nino, age 24, of Lincoln, is charged with illegal reentry after deportation following a felony conviction on or about November 24, 2017. The maximum possible penalty if convicted is 10 years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, a 3 year term of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment.
* Clemente Reyna Casimiro , age 25, of Omaha, is charged with illegal reentry after deportation following an aggravated felony conviction on or about November 20, 2017. The maximum possible penalty if convicted is 20 years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, a 3 year term of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment.
* Sandra Rivera-Manzo, age 43, of Council Bluffs, and Jose Manuel Lopez-Alvarado, age 27, of Omaha, are charged with possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine on or about December 8, 2017. The maximum possible penalty if convicted is life imprisonment, a $10,000,000 fine, a 4 year term of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment.
The indictment also alleges any and all property constituting or derived from any proceeds obtained directly or indirectly as a result of the violation alleged in the indictment and any property used to commit the offense should be forfeited to the United States.
* Wayne Devante Rolling, age 20, is charged in a three-count Indictment. Counts I through III of the Indictment charge the defendant with bank robbery on or about November, 7, 2017; on or about November 15, 2017; and on or about November 20, 2017. The maximum possible penalty if convicted is 20 years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, a 3 year term of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment for each count.
* Sara Ann Spencer. age 25, of Omaha, is charged in a two-count Indictment. Count I of the Indictment charges the defendant with possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine on or about September 17, 2017. The maximum possible penalty if convicted is 40 years imprisonment, a $5,000,000 fine, a 4 year term of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment. Count II of the Indictment charges Spencer with possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine on or about October 28, 2017. The maximum possible penalty if convicted is life imprisonment, a $10,000,000 fine, a 5 year term of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment.
* Marco Antonio Tovaldo-Valadez, age 26, of Wahoo, is charged in a two-count Indictment. Count I of the Indictment charges the defendant with fraud and misuse of identification documents on or about October 28, 2017. The maximum possible penalty if convicted is 5 years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, a 3 year term of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment. Count II of the Indictment charges Tovaldo-Valadez with false representation of a Social Security Number on or about October 28, 2017. The maximum possible penalty if convicted is 5 years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, a 3 year term of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment.
Clear Lake Man Sentenced to Nearly Three Years in Prison After Creating Fake Collateral Documents in Connection with $3.8 Million Loan RequestRead the Press Release
A man who created false documents to convince Farm Credit Services of America (FCSA) to give him and his son loans totaling more than $3.8 million was sentenced yesterday to 33 months in federal prison.
Michael Royster, 53, from Clear Lake received the prison term after a guilty plea to providing false documents to FCSA.
In a plea agreement, Royster admitted that, in an effort to get $3.8 million in credit for 2015 farming expenses, he created fake contracts to mislead FCSA into thinking that local cooperatives or other purchasers were storing more of his and his son’s corn and soybeans than what they actually had in storage. Royster created the fake documents by cutting and pasting additional digits on the actual contracts and then making photocopies of the altered documents. He admitted, for example, to falsifying a contract showing a cooperative had approximately 20,000 bushels of his corn by adding a 1 to make it appear as though the cooperative instead held 120,000 bushels. As part of the plea agreement, Royster admitted to creating and using similar fake documents to get loans in 2011, 2012, and 2013.
Royster was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge Linda R. Reade. Royster was sentenced to 33 months’ imprisonment, and a special assessment of $100 was imposed. He was also ordered to make $1,133,821.31 in restitution to FCSA. He must also serve a term of supervised release after the prison term.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jacob A. Schunk and investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.
The case file number is 17-CR-3018.
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