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2 June 2017
Rio Grande Valley Area DME Company Owner Sentenced in Health Care Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
McALLEN, Texas ‐ The owner of a Rio Grande Valley area durable medical equipment (DME) company has been ordered to federal prison following her conviction in a scheme to defraud Texas Medicaid through fraudulent billings, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Abe Martinez. Elva Acevedo Santos, 37, of McAllen, pleaded guilty April 8, 2016, admitting she submitted false and fraudulent claims to Texas Medicaid for DME that was not authorized and/or not provided.
Today, U.S. District Judge Randy Crane handed Santos a 21-month sentence to be immediately followed by three years of supervised release. She was further ordered to pay $581,743.39 in restitution to the Texas Medicaid program as a result of the fraudulent claims she submitted.
Santos was the owner of Hope & Miracle DME in Mission. As part of her plea, Santos admitted she forged and/or caused others to forge the signatures of physicians on the required DME prescription forms also known as Title XIX forms. Santos subsequently used the fraudulent forms as the basis to submit claims to Texas Medicaid and Medicare in order to receive reimbursements.
Santos further admitted she submitted or caused others to submit false or fraudulent claims with Medicare for a patient who was deceased on dates that Santos claimed to have provided diabetic supplies to the patient. The delivery tickets maintained by Hope & Miracle DME contained forged signatures of the deceased beneficiary after the date of her death.
Previously released on bond, Santos was permitted to remain on bond and voluntarily surrender to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
The Texas Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services‐Office of Inspector General conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael Day and Andrew Swartz are prosecuting the case.
Ridgeview Man Charged with AssaultRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Randolph J. Seiler announced that a Ridgeview, South Dakota, man has been indicted by a federal grand jury for Assault Resulting in Serious Bodily Injury.
Sterlyn Bartlett, age 19, was indicted on May 16, 2017. He appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark A. Moreno on June 2, 2017, and pled not guilty to the Indictment.
The maximum penalty upon conviction is up to 10 years in custody and/or a $250,000 fine, 3 years of supervised release, and $100 to the Federal Crime Victims Fund. Restitution may also be ordered.
The Indictment alleges that on January 10, 2017, Bartlett assaulted his dating partner, causing serious bodily injury.
The charge is merely an accusation and Bartlett is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
The investigation is being conducted by the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Law Enforcement Services. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jay Miller is prosecuting the case.
Bartlett was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service pending trial. A trial date has not been set.
Prisoner-Transport Officer Arrested for Sexual AssaultRead the Press Release
Eric Scott Kindley, 49, a prisoner-transport officer, was arrested yesterday in Stockton, California on charges related to sexually assaulting females in his custody, and threatening them with a firearm while doing so. During his initial appearance today, a federal judge in Sacramento, California ordered that Kindley be detained over the weekend, pending potential transport to Phoenix, Arizona, from where the complaint was issued.
According to the complaint and probable cause affidavit, Kindley operates Special Operations Group 6, a company that contracts with local jails throughout the country to transport individuals who have been arrested on out-of-state warrants. The probable cause affidavit alleges that from January through May of this year, Kindley engaged in sexual misconduct in his Dodge Caravan with three different female prisoners during three different transports. The transports were from California to Arizona, Alabama to Arizona, and Mississippi to New Mexico. In each instance, the victim was handcuffed and restrained, and taken to secluded locations where Kindley sexually assaulted her. All the while, Kindley threatened each victim with his firearm and warned them that he will get away with his conduct because no one will believe them.
The probable cause affidavit further alleges that during the transports, Kindley bragged to the victims about sexually assaulting other female prisoners during prior transports.
A complaint is only an allegation, and Kindley is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
This investigation remains ongoing. Anyone with additional information is encouraged to call the Phoenix Division of the FBI at (623) 466-1999, or can email the Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice at [email protected].
This case is being investigated by the Phoenix Division of the Federal Bureau Investigation and is being prosecuted by Special Litigation Counsel Fara Gold and Trial Attorney Maura White of the Criminal Section of the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice and Assistant United States Attorney Abbie Broughton Marsh of District of Arizona.
Pennsylvania Man Sentenced for AssaultRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Randolph J. Seiler announced that a Greensburg, Pennsylvania, man charged with Assault by Striking, Beating, and Wounding pled guilty and was sentenced on June 1, 2017, by U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark A. Moreno.
Marwan Sadekni, age 67, was sentenced to a $5,000 fine and $25 to the Federal Crime Victims Fund. Sadekni also needs to report this judgment to his current employer and the medical board.
The conviction stems from an incident that took place on February 25, 2015, when Sadekni, who worked as a doctor for several weeks at the Rosebud Indian Health Service Hospital in Rosebud, South Dakota, became upset with the victim, a nurse at the facility. He began swearing at the victim, pounded on the desk and then slammed his hand down, over the victim’s hand. The victim pushed Sadekni away with her elbow and ran out of the office.
The investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Troy R. Morley.
Oglala Man Convicted of AssaultRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Randolph J. Seiler announced that Samuel Kills Crow Indian, a/k/a Samuel High Hawk, 29, of Oglala, South Dakota, was found guilty of Assault with a Dangerous Weapon and Assault Resulting in Serious Bodily Injury at the conclusion of a two-day federal jury trial in Rapid City. The jury returned their verdict on June 1, 2017.
The maximum penalty is ten years of imprisonment and/or a $250,000 fine, three years of supervised release, a $200 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund, and restitution.
The conviction stems from Kills Crow Indian stabbing and cutting a man multiple times with a knife, causing serious injuries.
This case was investigated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs Office of Justice Services and the Oglala Sioux Tribe Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ben Patterson prosecuted the case.
A presentence investigation was ordered and a sentencing date will be scheduled. The defendant was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
North Dakota Man Sentenced for AssaultRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Randolph J. Seiler announced that a Bismarck, North Dakota, man convicted of Assault Resulting in Substantial Bodily Injury to a Spouse or Intimate Partner was sentenced on May 31, 2017, by U.S. District Judge Charles B. Kornmann.
Christopher Plenty Chief, age 31, was sentenced to 24 months in custody, followed by 3 years of supervised release, and a special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund in the amount of $100.
Plenty Chief was indicted by a federal grand jury on October 12, 2016. He pled guilty on January 6, 2017.
The conviction stems from an incident on January 10, 2014, when Bureau of Indian Affairs Law Enforcement was summoned to a residence in Wakpala, South Dakota, upon receiving a report of a domestic violence situation involving Christopher Plenty Chief and his intimate partner. Upon arrival, officers determined that the victim was in need of medical care and summoned an ambulance.
The victim told law enforcement that she and Plenty Chief got into an argument. Plenty Chief began to strike the victim with a closed fist to her face. Someone attempted to stop the assault, but was unsuccessful. Plenty Chief then drug the victim back to his family’s residence and continued to assault her by kicking her several times to the head and body. Plenty Chief’s brother attempted to intervene, which gave an opportunity for the victim to escape the residence and go to her aunt’s house, where law enforcement was summoned. As a result of the assault, the victim suffered multiple facial fractures.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Standing Rock Agency. Assistant U.S. Attorney Troy R. Morley prosecuted the case.
Plenty Chief was immediately turned over to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
New York Resident Charged with $3.5 Million Theft from City of Miami BeachRead the Press Release
A resident of Syracuse, New York was charged with stealing over $3.5 million from the City of Miami Beach’s bank account through unauthorized electronic transfers.
Benjamin G. Greenberg, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, and Daniel J. Oates, Chief, City of Miami Beach Police Department, made the announcement.
David J. Miller, 44, of Syracuse, New York, was charged by criminal complaint with bank fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1344; and aggravated identity theft, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1028A(a)(1). The bank fraud offense carries a maximum penalty of twenty years’ imprisonment and a $250,000 fine. The aggravated identity theft offense carries a mandatory, consecutive two-year term of imprisonment and a $250,000 fine.
According to the complaint, Miller was responsible for the theft of approximately $3.5 million from the City of Miami Beach’s general depository account at SunTrust Bank. The complaint alleges that Miller caused the electronic transfer of these stolen funds to an account opened in the name of “Company A.” According to the complaint, Company A provides a service that allows customers to purchase, sell, and transfer seat licenses and seat location rights at sporting venues around the United States, including National Football League (NFL) stadiums.
The complaint alleges that between July 2016 and October 2016, Miller used the identity of victim “R.W.” in connection with the bank fraud scheme. Specifically, Miller used R.W.’s identity to create an online profile on Company A’s website. Miller also supplied Company A with the bank account number and routing number for one of the City of Miami Beach’s SunTrust Bank accounts.
Using funds from the City of Miami Beach’s account, Miller purchased approximately 157 seat licenses at NFL stadiums around the country. Miller also used stolen funds to purchase season and individual game tickets at NFL games and other sporting events. According to the complaint, Miller further used the City of Miami Beach’s money to pay his utilities bills. In one instance, Miller caused a counterfeit check, purportedly issued by the City of Miami Beach, to be deposited into a family member’s bank account.
According to court records, Miller is currently in custody in Onondaga County, New York, on state identity theft charges.
Mr. Greenberg commended the investigative efforts of the FBI and the City of Miami Beach Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Christopher B. Browne, Harold E. Schimkat, and Nalina Sombuntham.
A criminal complaint is only an accusation and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.
Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov
New York Man Charged After Greenwich Overdose Sentenced to 16 Months in Federal PrisonRead the Press Release
Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that ISAIAH HART, 22, of Brooklyn, N.Y., was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Michael P. Shea in Hartford to 16 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for distributing heroin. Judge Shea also ordered HART to perform 96 hours of community service while he is on supervised release.
This matter stems from an ongoing statewide initiative targeting narcotics dealers who distribute heroin, fentanyl or opioids that cause death or serious injury to users.
According to court documents and statements made in court, in the early morning of December 8, 2015, Greenwich Police officers and emergency medical personnel responded to a Greenwich residence on the report of an unresponsive man. The man, who was 26, was pronounced dead. Within the residence, officers located and found opened and unopened wax folds (“bags”) with a green colored label “Emerald City” stamped on them.
The Connecticut Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection’s Division of Scientific Services later analyzed the unopened bags and determined the powder contained heroin, and according to the Connecticut Chief Medical Examiner’s Office, the victim’s death was caused by acute heroin toxicity.
Investigators determined that, shortly before his death, the victim had contacted “Tony” to order heroin in response to a Craig’s List advertisement for “dog food.” The victim then drove from Greenwich to Brooklyn and purchased two bundles (20 bags) of heroin from HART for $185.
HART was arrested on a federal criminal complaint on April 14, 2016. On February 22, 2017, he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and to distribute, heroin.
HART has related drug charges pending in Brooklyn stemming from his selling heroin, in bags stamped “Emerald City,” to an undercover law enforcement officer on December 8, 2015. He is scheduled to be sentenced on June 5 in King’s Country Supreme Court in Brooklyn and is expected to receive a two-year sentence.
HART, who had been released on bond, was remanded at the conclusion of today’s court proceeding.
This matter was investigated by the DEA’s New Haven Task Force and the Greenwich Police Department. The Task Force includes DEA agents and task force officers from the North Haven, East Haven, West Haven, New Haven, Hamden, Branford, Ansonia, Derby and Meriden Police Departments. U.S. Attorney Daly also acknowledged the significant assistance of the New York Police Department in this investigation.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter S. Jongbloed.
Monroe woman sentenced to 12 months in connection with scheme to defraud insurance companyRead the Press Release
MONROE, La. – Acting U.S. Attorney Alexander C. Van Hook announced that a Monroe woman was sentenced Thursday to 12 months and one day in prison for mail fraud for a scheme wherein she lied on U.S. Bankruptcy Court filings and insurance documents.
Lasandra Laverne Edwards, 54, of Monroe, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge S. Maurice Hicks Jr. on one count of mail fraud. She was also sentenced to three years of supervised release and must pay $9,126.70 in restitution. According to the February 13, 2017 guilty plea, Edwards filed for bankruptcy in October 2013 and valued her furniture and clothing at $1,000. In November of 2013, Edwards purchased a renters’ policy that valued her assets at $100,000. Edwards’ house caught fire and burned on December 1, 2013. The defendant attended a creditors’ hearing associated with her bankruptcy case on December 10, 2013. She reaffirmed the information in the previous filings that her furniture and clothing were valued at $1,000. However, the next day on December 11, 2013, Edwards filed a claim under her insurance policy with State Farm falsely stating that her personal property was valued at $116,063.
The U.S. Trustee’s Office – Region V, Louisiana State Police and Monroe Fire Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Cytheria D. Jernigan and Tennille M. Gilreath prosecuted the case.
Mississippi Corrections Officers Sentenced for Inmate Assault and Cover-UpRead the Press Release
Deonte Pate, 24, was sentenced to 5 years of probation with 12 weeks of weekend confinement for conspiring to cover up the beating of an inmate identified by his initials, K.H. Pate acknowledged that he submitted false reports and lied to the FBI in order to prevent knowledge of the beating from reaching outside authorities. Romander Nelson, 44, was sentenced to 5 years of probation, 14 weeks of weekend confinement, and a $500 fine for failing to protect the victim during the beating.
The victim, was temporarily blinded by the attack and suffered severe blood loss, a broken orbital bone, and permanent partial vision loss.
Pate and Nelson were charged in 2016 along with two other officers: Lawardrick Marsher, 28, and Robert Sturdivant, 47. All four were officers at Mississippi State Penitentiary, in Parchman, Mississippi.
Marsher has pleaded guilty to carrying out the assault; Sturdivant, a supervisor, has pleaded guilty to conspiring to cover the assault up. Marsher and Sturdivant are scheduled to be sentenced on June 15 for their roles in the crime.
“Every corrections officer owes a duty of honesty and integrity to the individuals under his or her protection,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Tom Wheeler. “The Department of Justice is committed to ensuring the rights of all citizens, including those in our nation’s jails and prisons.”
"The FBI's mission is to protect the American people and uphold the constitution of the United States," said Christopher Freeze, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI in Mississippi. "This protection extends to those serving time for various offenses in jails and prisons throughout the United States. The constitution provides no protection to those hiding behind a correctional officer uniform and abusing the authority given to them. The FBI will continue to aggressively investigate any allegations of civil rights violations."
This case was investigated by the FBI’s Jackson Division, with the cooperation of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Coleman of the Northern District of Mississippi and Trial Attorney Dana Mulhauser of the Civil Rights Division’s Criminal Section.
Metairie Man Charged with Receipt of Child PornographyRead the Press Release
Acting U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced today that BRIAN LISTER, age 41, of Metairie, was charged in a one-count Indictment with receipt of images and videos depicting the sexual exploitation of children.
If convicted, LISTER faces a mandatory minimum of 5 years and a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years, followed by up to a lifetime of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine. LISTER can also be required to register as a sex offender.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
Acting U.S. Attorney Evans reiterated that the Indictment is merely a charge and that the guilt of the defendant must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
Acting U.S. Attorney Evans praised the work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in investigating this matter. Assistant United States Attorney Jordan Ginsberg is in charge of the prosecution.
Member of Bronx Gang Sentenced to 42 Years in Prison for Murder, Racketeering, and Drug TraffickingRead the Press Release
Joon H. Kim, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today that JAMES CAPERS, a/k/a “Mitch,” was sentenced to 42 years in prison for the murder of Allen McQueen and participating in racketeering and narcotics conspiracies, all in connection with a violent street gang known as the “Leland Avenue Crew,” which is based primarily in and around the New York City’s 43rd Precinct in the Bronx, New York. The sentence was imposed by United States District Judge William H. Pauley III, after CAPERS was convicted following a jury trial in December 2016.
Acting Manhattan U.S. Attorney Joon H. Kim said: “Gangs do enormous damage to our communities through drug dealing and the violence that often accompanies it. Today, James Capers, a gang member who sold drugs and participated in that violence, was sentenced to 42 years in prison for the horrific murder of a rival gang member, whom Capers shot and killed while the victim was holding his one-year-old daughter. Our Office remains committed to eradicating senseless violence from our city streets.”
According to the Indictment and other documents filed in the case, as well as evidence presented at trial and statements made during the sentencing proceedings:
CAPERS was a member of the Leland Avenue Crew, which controlled the distribution of crack cocaine in and around Leland Avenue in the Bronx, New York. As a member of the Crew, CAPERS sold crack cocaine and marijuana, carried weapons, and committed robberies of unsuspecting members of the public. To protect its drug-selling turf, the Leland Avenue Crew engaged in a long-running dispute with members of a rival gang based two streets over on Taylor Avenue. This dispute resulted in multiple shootings, some of which were fatal. On or about July 7, 2015, in connection with the ongoing dispute between Leland and Taylor, CAPERS went looking for Allen McQueen, a rival gang member on Taylor Avenue. After finding McQueen, who was walking down the street holding his one-year-old daughter, CAPERS ran up behind McQueen and fired several shots, striking McQueen once and killing him.
* * *
Mr. Kim praised the extraordinary investigative work of the New York City Police Department, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and Homeland Security Investigations. He also thanked the Bronx County District Attorney’s Office for their participation and support in this case.
The case is being handled by the Office’s Violent and Organized Crime Unit. Assistant United States Attorneys Scott Hartman, Jessica Lonergan, and Jason Swergold are in charge of the prosecution.
Medical Office Manager Charged with Healthcare Fraud, and in Conspiracy with Thirteen Defendants to Distribute OxycodoneRead the Press Release
An indictment was unsealed today, charging defendant Michael Milchin, 37, of Philadelphia, PA, with one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and five counts of health care fraud, announced Acting United States Attorney Louis D. Lappen. In addition, the indictment charges Milchin and the 13 defendants listed below with one count of conspiracy to distribute oxycodone:
NAME
ADDRESS
YEAR OF BIRTH
Augustine Lee
Philadelphia PA
1975
Nikita Latychev
Feasterville-Trevose PA
1988
Yaroslav Stadniychuk
Philadelphia PA
1989
Bryant Bishop
Philadelphia PA
1969
Ning Jian Du
Philadelphia PA
1984
Taras Trushchenko
Jamison PA
1978
Armen Khimoian
Warwick PA
1978
Linda Flamer
Philadelphia PA
1955
Igor Khavulya
Philadelphia PA
1981
Nik Palatnik
Feasterville-Trevose PA
1994
Vannarat Xayavongsithideth
Philadelphia PA
1982
Thearack Tham Kith
Philadelphia PA
1985
Sebastian Moeung
Philadelphia PA
1980
Each of the 13 defendants listed above is also charged with one count of distribution of oxycodone. In addition, Milchin is charged with fifteen counts of possession of oxycodone with the intent to distribute.
According to the indictment, Milchin became involved in two criminal agreements: first, from approximately June 2010 until approximately July 2012, a conspiracy to commit health care fraud with a chiropractor, John Vira, who is charged elsewhere; and second, from approximately May 2012 until approximately March 2015, a separate conspiracy with the other 13 charged defendants listed above, to distribute oxycodone.
Concerning the health care fraud conspiracy and substantive health care fraud charges, the indictment alleges that Milchin, who is not a medical professional, was the business manager at Vira’s office, Central Bucks Health Associates, located in Southampton PA. The indictment charges that Milchin and Vira worked together to defraud private insurance companies, Independence Blue Cross and Aetna, Inc., by billing those insurers more than $700,000 for chiropractic services that were never provided.
Concerning the drug distribution charges, the indictment alleges that Milchin conspired with the 13 defendants listed above to fill hundreds of fraudulent prescriptions for oxycodone at various pharmacies in and around Philadelphia. Milchin then sold the fraudulently obtained pills to others. The indictment charges that while the fraudulent prescriptions purported to be written by a physician with Central Bucks Health Associates, the physician in question had no affiliation with Central Bucks Health Associates and never authorized any of the prescriptions.
"The exploitation of the healthcare system through fraudulent claims for personal gain affects all of us who rely on that system,” said Acting United States Attorney Louis D. Lappen. “The trafficking of oxycodone completely devastates individuals, their families and all of our communities. We remain dedicated to prosecuting those who illegally exploit the healthcare system and fuel the opioid epidemic.”
If convicted, defendant Michael Milchin faces a maximum possible sentence of 5 years’ imprisonment for conspiracy to commit health care fraud and 10 years’ imprisonment for each count of health care fraud. In addition, each defendant faces a maximum possible sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment for conspiracy to distribute oxycodone and 20 years’ imprisonment for each count of distributing oxycodone or possessing oxycodone with the intent to distribute. Milchin also faces full restitution on the health care fraud charges.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Mary Kay Costello.
An Indictment is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
McLaughlin Man Sentenced for AssaultRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Randolph J. Seiler announced that a McLaughlin, South Dakota, man convicted of Domestic Assault by an Habitual Offender was sentenced on May 31, 2017, by U.S. District Judge Charles B. Kornmann.
Kyle White Bull, age 30, was sentenced to 27 months in custody, followed by 3 years of supervised release, and a special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund in the amount of $100.
White Bull was indicted by a federal grand jury on January 19, 2017. He pled guilty on March 9, 2017.
The conviction stems from an incident on December 21, 2016, when White Bull and his wife were involved in an argument at their home in McLaughlin. The victim awoke that day to White Bull asking her questions, calling her names, and accusing her of sleeping with other men to which the victim denied the allegations. The victim told White Bull that she was going to leave the marital home, but White Bull told her that if she left, he was going to kill her. The couple then continued arguing and proceeded to shove each other, causing the victim to end up on the ground. White Bull grabbed the victim by the neck and held her down, while she continued struggling, attempting to get away. When she would attempt to get up, White Bull would push her back down, causing her to repeatedly hit her head on the floor.
Eventually the victim was able to escape the residence and reported the matter to the Bureau of Indian Affairs law enforcement. Law enforcement documented various injuries to the victim, including a large lump on the left front of her forehead, a scratch on her toe, a bruised ankle, and bruises to both knees.
At the time of this incident, White Bull had at least two final convictions in Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Court for offenses that would have been, if subject to federal jurisdiction, an offense against a spouse or intimate partner.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Standing Rock Agency. Assistant U.S. Attorney Troy R. Morley prosecuted the case.
White Bull was immediately turned over to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
McLaughlin Man Charged with AssaultRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Randolph J. Seiler announced that a McLaughlin, South Dakota, man has been indicted by a federal grand jury for Assault with a Dangerous Weapon and Assault Resulting in Substantial Bodily Injury to an Intimate Partner.
Johnathan Guggolz, age 41, was indicted on May 16, 2017. He appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge William D. Gerdes on May 30, 2017, and pled not guilty to the Indictment.
The maximum penalty upon conviction is up to 10 years in custody and/or a $250,000 fine, 3 years of supervised release, and up to $200 to the Federal Crime Victims Fund. Restitution may also be ordered.
The Indictment alleges that on March 22, 2017, Guggolz knowingly assaulted his significant other with shod feet, with the assault resulting in substantial injury.
The charges are merely accusations and Guggolz is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
The investigation is being conducted by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Standing Rock Agency. Assistant U.S. Attorney Troy R. Morley is prosecuting the case.
Guggolz was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service pending trial. A trial date has not been set.
McAllen Man Convicted of Receiving Child Pornography VideosRead the Press Release
McALLEN, Texas – A 29-year old resident of McAllen has entered a guilty plea to one count of receipt of child pornography, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Abe Martinez.
Rodrigo Garcia-Fuentes came to the attention of law enforcement following an investigation which began Feb. 12, 2016, into persons using the Internet to traffic in child pornography. A special agent with Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) was able to locate and identify a computer as offering to participate in the receipt of child pornography videos through a peer-to-peer network on the Internet. Through the investigation, it was determined that the computer was located at a residence in McAllen.
On July 29, 2016, HSI agents executed a federal search warrant at the McAllen residence, during which time they seized a computer. A forensic examination on the computer revealed 218 videos and 730 images of child pornography involving minor children engaged in sexually explicit conduct. These videos included children under the age of 12 involved in sadistic conduct and other depictions of violence. Some of the videos are of known victims as identified through the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
Garcia-Fuentes admitted he downloaded and viewed child pornography from the Internet, thereby receiving the child pornography found on his computer. He admitted he had been downloading child pornography for approximately four years.
U.S. District Judge Randy Crane accepted the guilty plea and set sentencing for Aug. 15, 2017. At that time, Garcia-Fuentes faces a minimum of five and up to 20 years in federal prison and a possible $250,000 fine. He will remain in custody pending that hearing.
HSI conducted the investigation.
This case, prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney David Paxton, 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."
Manchester Man Convicted of Threatening Federal Probation OfficerRead the Press Release
Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, today announced that a federal jury in Hartford has found PETER J. SANTOS, 41, of Manchester, guilty of one count of threatening a federal official. The trial before U.S. District Judge Alvin W. Thompson began on May 30 and the jury returned the verdict this afternoon.
According to the evidence at trial, in January 2014, SANTOS was sentenced in the Southern District of New York to 25 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for conspiring to transport stolen goods, conspiring to receive stolen goods and conspiring to commit wire fraud. On December 31, 2015, after completing his period of incarceration, he began serving his three-year period of supervised release, which was transferred to the U.S. Probation Office in the District the Connecticut.
While on supervised release, SANTOS tested positive for controlled substances on multiple occasions. On August 31, 2016, SANTOS appeared before U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton in New Haven for a supervised release violation hearing. Judge Arterton revoked SANTOS’ supervised release and imposed a penalty of six months of imprisonment to be followed by 24 months of additional supervised release. As the U.S. Marshals were walking SANTOS out of the courtroom, SANTOS looked at his supervising U.S. Probation Officer and stated “When I get out, I’m coming for you.” The Probation Officer responded, “Excuse me?” SANTOS responded, “You heard me.”
After they left the courtroom, a Deputy U.S. Marshal said to SANTOS, “That’s not smart.” SANTOS responded by stating that he did not care and he was tired of it, adding that, “Everyone has to meet their maker whether it is by me or some other way.”
The investigation revealed that SANTOS made additional threats while he was incarcerated on the supervised release violation.
Judge Thompson scheduled sentencing for August 29, 2017, at which time SANTOS faces a maximum term of imprisonment of six years.
This matter has been investigated by the U.S. Marshals Service and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney John H. Durham.
Lower Brule Man Acquitted of Several ChargesRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Randolph J. Seiler announced that a Lower Brule, South Dakota, man was acquitted of Assaulting, Resisting, and Impeding a Federal Officer, Assault with a Dangerous Weapon, and Brandishing of a Firearm During a Crime of violence as a result of a federal jury trial in Pierre, South Dakota, on June 1, 2017.
Philip Anthony Battese, age 36, was indicted by a federal grand jury on January 19, 2017, for resisting a law enforcement officer with a pistol.
The investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Lower Brule agency. The U.S. Attorney's Office prosecuted the case.
Lowell Man Indicted for Passport FraudRead the Press Release
Boston – A Lowell man was indicted yesterday in federal court in Boston for passport fraud.
Jairus Devarie, 41, was indicted on one count of making false statements in a passport application. It is alleged that in November 2016, Devarie submitted an application for a U.S. passport and that during an interview with federal agents regarding the pending application, Devarie admitted that he submitted the application on behalf of another person.
The passport fraud charge provides for a sentence of no greater than 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based on the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Acting United States Attorney William D. Weinreb and David W. Hall, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Diplomatic Security, Boston Field Office, made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Richardson of Weinreb’s Major Crimes Unit is prosecuting the case.
The details contained in the indictment are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Lake Providence woman pleads guilty to stealing $5,000 in HUD fundsRead the Press Release
MONROE, La. – Acting U.S. Attorney Alexander C. Van Hook announced that a Lake Providence woman pleaded guilty Thursday to stealing more than $5,000 from a housing development by falsifying receipts for work that was never performed.
Stephanie R. Threats, 46, of Lake Providence, La., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge S. Maurice Hicks Jr. to one count of conspiracy to commit federal program theft. According to the guilty plea, Threats worked for an Oak Grove, La., elderly housing apartment company, which received funds from the Office of Housing and Urban Development through Section 202 of the Federal Housing Program. From July 2009 until July 2012, Threats stole $5,000 from the program by creating false invoices for work performed for the benefit of the apartments and the HUD program recipients, when in reality no work had been performed.
Threats faces up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine. The court set the sentencing date for September 27, 2017.
The Office of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Inspector General, conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brandon B. Brown is prosecuting the case.
Jury Convicts Buffalo Man of Damaging Government PropertyRead the Press Release
CONTACT: Barbara Burns
PHONE: (716) 843-5817
FAX: (716) 551-3051BUFFALO, N.Y.-Acting U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that a federal jury found Justin Vazquez, 30, of Buffalo, NY, guilty of damaging government property. The charge carries a maximum penalty of one year in prison.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael J. Adler, who is handling the case, stated that on October 20, 2016, during a status conference prior to trial on a firearm’s charge, Vazquez carved a vulgar obscenity into a wooden table in the courtroom of Chief U.S. District Judge Joseph P. Geraci.
In May of 2017, defendant was convicted of the firearm charge and sentenced to 72 months in prison.
The verdict is the result of an investigation by the U.S. Marshal’s Service, under the direction of Marshal Charles Salina.Sentencing is scheduled for September 14, 2017, at 11:00 a.m. before Judge Geraci who presided over the trial.
Judge Sentences Erie County Man to 4 Years in Federal Prison for Possessing Child PornographyRead the Press Release
ERIE, Pa. - A resident of Fairview, Pennsylvania, has been sentenced in federal court to 48 months in jail, to be followed by 10 years of supervised release, and was ordered to make restitution in the amount of $2,500 on his conviction of possession of child pornography, Acting United States Attorney Soo C. Song announced today.
United States District Judge David S. Cercone imposed the sentence on Ian Matthew Ahenger, 43.
According to information presented to the court, Ahenger possessed computer images depicting minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct.
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.justice.gov/psc.
Assistant United States Attorney Christian A. Trabold prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.
Acting United States Attorney Song commended the Pennsylvania State Police for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Ahenger.
Indictment: Pizza Shop Owner Ran Drug Trafficking OperationRead the Press Release
TOPEKA, KAN. – A Topeka pizza shop owner and nine other people have been indicted on federal drug trafficking charges, U.S. Attorney Tom Beall said today.
A 35-count indictment unsealed Thursday alleges Adolfo Barragan-Rodriguez, owner of Pronto Pizza at 1121 SE 6th Ave. in Topeka, set up a trafficking organization that obtained methamphetamine from California and distributed it to buyers through a network of street dealers in Topeka.
The indictment alleges:
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Barragan-Rodriguez used his restaurant as a front for the drug trafficking organization. Investigators kept conspirators under surveillance as they came and went from Pronto Pizza with packages.
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Barragan-Rodriguez, who was known by the conspirators as Big Mike, managed the logistics of buying pounds of methamphetamine in California and shipping the drugs to Topeka, leaving other conspirators to handle street sales to users.
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Barragan-Rodriguez used Federal Express as a tool for his trafficking operation. For instance, a 4-pound package of meth and a package containing $14,900 in cash that were transported via Federal Express were seized during the investigation.
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Conspirators laundered drug proceeds through transactions at the Prairie Band Pottawattamie Casino north of Topeka.
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One of the defendants is charged with unlawful possession of 92 firearms.
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Some drugs were stored at a location within 1,000 feet of Mater Dei Catholic School.
Charges in the indictment include conspiracy, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, interstate transportation in furtherance of drug trafficking, use of a telephone in furtherance of drug trafficking, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine within 1,000 of a school, money laundering and unlawful possession of firearms.
In addition to Barragan-Rodriguez, defendants named in the indictment include:
Michelle Belair, 34, Topeka.
Jose Medina-Benuto, 20, Topeka.
Michael Price, 42, Topeka.
Joseph Jones, 41, Topeka.
Linda Hardin, 48, Topeka.
Heather Hurley, 29, Topeka.
Daniel A. Rice, 57, Topeka.
Nicholas Casarona, 41, Topeka.
Jose Ruiz, 37, Topeka.
Upon conviction, the crimes carry the following penalties (see attached indictment for details):
Counts 1, 10, 11, 30, 32: Not less than 10 years in federal prison and a fine up to $10 million.
Counts 7 and 20: Not less than five years and not more than 40 years and a fine up to $5 million.
Counts 4, 6, 9, 13, 18 and 31: Up to 20 years and a fine up to $1 million.
Count 35: Not less than a year and not more than 40 years and a fine up to $2 million.
Count 12: Up to five years and a fine up to $250,000.
Counts 2, 3 and 5: Up to 20 years and a fine of more than $500,000.
Count 8: Up to 10 years and a fine of more than $500,000.
Counts 14-17 and 21-29: Up to four years.
Count 34: Up to 10 years and a fine up to $250,000.
Count 35: Up to 40 years and a fine up to $2 million.
The investigation was led by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Topeka Police Department with assistance from the Shawnee County Sherriff’s Office, the Kansas Highway Patrol, the ATF, the FBI, and the Department of Homeland Security. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Skip Jacobs is prosecuting.
In all cases, defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty. The indictments merely contain allegations of criminal conduct.
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Independence Man Faces Additional Charges of Child Sexual ExploitationRead the Press Release
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tom Larson, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that an Independence, Mo., man previously charged with producing child pornography has been indicted by a federal grand jury on additional charges of child sexual exploitation of five additional child victims.
Travis Howard White, 24, of Independence, was charged in an 11-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Kansas City, Mo., on Thursday, June 1, 2017. The indictment replaces a federal criminal complaint filed against White on May 10, 2017.
White is charged with enticing a minor (identified as Minor Victim 1) to engage in illicit sexual activity from Feb. 5, 2016, to March 1, 2017. The indictment also charges White with two counts of using Minor Victim 1 to produce child pornography. White also is charged with two counts of transferring obscene material to Minor Victim 1, including numerous images depicting horses and dogs engaged in sexual activity with humans.
The indictment also charges White with one count of receiving child pornography over the Internet and five counts of transferring obscene material to a minor under the age of 16, which occurred from August 2016 to January 2017. These charges are related to five additional child victims.
According to an affidavit filed in support of the original criminal complaint, the investigation began when law enforcement agents learned Minor Victim 1 was living with White. She told investigators that she met White online in January 2016, when she was 13 years old and living in Kansas. They began “sexting” and exchanging sexually explicit nude photographs, she said. When she and her mother moved to Kansas City, Mo., in September 2016, they stayed at a hotel for a few days before her mother returned to Kansas and left her with White. The victim was placed in emergency police protective custody on March 1, 2017.
Investigators found numerous Facebook messages between White and the victim. Their conversations were of a sexual nature, the affidavit says, including instructions from White to the victim about what sorts of pictures to take and what sort of activity to engage in. The victim allegedly sent White several sexually explicit images of herself, the affidavit says, and White in turn sent her a nude image of himself. White also sent the victim approximately three dozen images depicting horses and dogs engaged in the sexually explicit abuse of females of varying and indeterminate age, according to the affidavit.
White told investigators he engaged in sexual activity with the victim at numerous locations in the metropolitan area, the affidavit says. White said he engaged in similar sexual discussions with approximately “50 to 100” other females, a number of whom were underage, via Facebook and other means.
Larson cautioned that the charges contained in this indictment are simply accusations, and not evidence of guilt.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick D. Daly. It was investigated by the FBI.
Project Safe Childhood
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."
Harrison County man sentenced for heroin distributionRead the Press Release
CLARKSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA – Steven A. Helms, II, 36, of Clarksburg, West Virginia was sentenced to 51 months incarceration for distributing heroin, Acting United States Attorney Betsy Steinfeld Jividen announced.
Helms pled guilty to one count of “Conspiracy to Possess With the Intent to Deliver Heroin” in November 2016.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Traci M. Cook prosecuted the case on behalf of the government. The Greater Harrison County Drug and Violent Crime Task Force, a HIDTA-funded initiative, investigated.
U.S. District Judge Irene M. Keeley presided.
Fresno Man Charged with Sexual Exploitation of Children Through Musical.Ly, Kik, and other AppsRead the Press Release
FRESNO, Calif. — On Thursday, a federal grand jury returned a six-count indictment against Jacob Eric Blanco, 25, of Fresno, charging him with five counts of sexual exploitation of children and one count of distributing child pornography, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.
According to court documents, Blanco is alleged to have used apps on his phone and computer, including Musical.ly and KIK, to target and communicate with girls under the age of 12 for the purpose of having the girls create and transmit images of themselves engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Blanco came to the attention of law enforcement after the parents of a six-year-old girl in Nassau County, New York stated to local police that someone using the app Musical.ly, alleged to be Blanco, had solicited sexually explicit images of the girl. Investigators are actively attempting to identify additional victims.
This case is the product of an investigation by the Central California Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorney David Gappa is prosecuting the case.
If convicted, Blanco faces a mandatory minimum of 15 years in prison and a maximum of 30 years in prison for each sexual exploitation count and 5–20 years in prison for the one count of distribution of child pornography. For all counts there is a potential $250,000 fine and lifetime supervised release. 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.
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 those who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. Click on the “resources” tab for information about internet safety education.
Fredericksburg Hospitalist Group Pays $4.2 Million to Settle Civil Fraud CaseRead the Press Release
RICHMOND, Va. – Fredericksburg Hospitalist Group, P.C. (FHG), and 14 of its member shareholders have agreed to pay approximately $4.2 million to settle a federal False Claims Act (FCA) case brought under the qui tam whistleblower provisions of the FCA.
“Rooting out fraudulent billing by healthcare providers is a priority,” said Dana J. Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. “This office will continue to pursue such matters vigorously.”
The whistleblower complaint, which was originally filed under seal, alleged that FHG and its member hospitalists knowingly and intentionally upcoded evaluation and management (E&M) codes to the highest code levels in billing Medicare and other federal healthcare payors in connection with their providing hospitalist services to patients at Mary Washington Hospital and Stafford Hospital. After an investigation into the matter, the United States alleged that from January 2010 through April 2015, the defendants knowingly and intentionally increased the level of E&M codes to the highest code levels, resulting in increased reimbursement amounts paid by the federal healthcare payors to the billing defendants.
“Whether it’s upcoding, billing for undelivered services, or delivery of substandard care, our nationally renowned Medicaid Fraud Control Unit will never stop working to root out fraud, waste, and abuse that steals from taxpayers and weakens these important programs for Virginians who need these services,” said Mark Herring, Virginia Attorney General.
The whistleblower, also known as a “relator,” alleged that the defendants’ conduct violated the FCA. In such cases, the United States has an opportunity to investigate the claims. Under the FCA relators may be awarded up to 25 percent, or more, of amounts collected.
The resolution obtained in this matter was the result of a coordinated effort between the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, the Virginia Medicaid Fraud Control Unit within the Office of the Virginia Attorney General, the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, and the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, Office of the Inspector General.
The matter was investigated by Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert McIntosh, and Assistant Attorney Generals Vincent J. Vaccarella and Adele M. Neiburg. The civil claims settled by this FCA agreement are allegations only; there has been no determination of civil liability.
A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.
Fort Thompson Woman Sentenced for Child AbuseRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Randolph J. Seiler announced that a Fort Thompson, South Dakota, woman convicted of Child Abuse was sentenced on May 15, 2017, by U.S. District Judge Roberto A. Lange.
Bonita Keeble, a/k/a Bonita Hare, age 35, was sentenced to 14 months in custody, followed by 2 years of supervised release, and a special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund in the amount of $100.
Keeble was indicted by a federal grand jury on April 13, 2016. She pled guilty on February 21, 2017.
The conviction stems from an incident on July 27, 2015, when an officer with the Bureau of Indian Affairs was flagged down by Keeble standing in front of a residence. Keeble stated she was drunk and needed a ride home. The officer agreed to give her a ride, but Keeble then wanted to stop by her babysitter's house who was keeping her 24-day old son. The officer agreed to stop by the residence. The babysitter agreed to let Keeble in as long as she would go to sleep. When Keeble went into the home, her son was asleep in his car seat in a back bedroom with the babysitter. Keeble, who when interviewed, indicated she was very intoxicated, took her son, woke him up and tried to unsuccessfully nurse him. Keeble then got into the top twin bunk bed with him in her right arm. They eventually went to sleep. Keeble woke up the next morning, and her son was not breathing, and had her hair clenched in his fist. He was pronounced dead at the clinic. Keeble consented to a blood draw which indicated a BAC of .098% several hours after assuming care for her child.
This case was investigated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Crow Creek Agency. Assistant U.S. Attorney Meghan N. Dilges prosecuted the case.
Keeble was immediately turned over to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
Former General Secretary of Guatemalan Soccer Federation Pleads Guilty to Wire Fraud ChargesRead the Press Release
Earlier today in federal court in Brooklyn, Héctor Trujillo, general secretary of the Guatemalan soccer federation (the “federation”) from 2009 to 2015 and a former judge of the Constitutional Court of Guatemala, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud conspiracy and one count of wire fraud in connection with his participation in a scheme to accept hundreds of thousands of dollars in kickbacks. Trujillo also agreed to forfeit $175,000. Trujillo faces a maximum sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment for each count. Today’s plea proceeding took place before United States District Judge Pamela K. Chen.
The guilty plea was announced by Bridget M. Rohde, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York; William F. Sweeney, Jr., Assisting Director in Charge, FBI New York Field Office; and Special Agent in Charge R. Damon Rowe, IRS Criminal Investigation, Los Angeles Field Office.
According to court filings and facts presented during the plea proceeding, Trujillo and other officials of the federation agreed to accept hundreds of thousands of dollars in kickbacks from Media World, a sports marketing company based in Miami, in exchange for media and marketing rights to the Guatemalan soccer team’s home World Cup qualifier matches leading up to the 2018 and 2022 World Cup tournaments. Over a period of years, Media World transmitted these kickbacks from its U.S. bank accounts. After Media World wired some of the kickback money to a United States bank account controlled by Trujillo’s associate, the associate wired the money from that account to an account in Guatemala, where Trujillo received his share.
The guilty plea announced today is part of an investigation into corruption in international soccer being led by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, the FBI New York Field Office, and the IRS-CI Los Angeles Field Office. The prosecutors in Brooklyn are receiving considerable assistance from attorneys in various parts of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division in Washington, D.C., including the Office of International Affairs, the Organized Crime and Gang Section, the Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section, and the Fraud Section, as well as from INTERPOL Washington.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Paul Tuchmann, Samuel P. Nitze, M. Kristin Mace, Keith D. Edelman, and Brian D. Morris of the Eastern District of New York are in charge of today’s prosecution.
The government’s investigation is ongoing.
The Defendant:
HÉCTOR TRUJILLO
Age: 63
Nationality: Guatemala
E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 15 CR 252 (S-1)
Former Firearms Dealer Sentenced to Prison for Illegally Possessing a MachinegunRead the Press Release
ERIE, Pa. – A former resident of Port Allegany, Pennsylvania, has been sentenced in federal court to 21 months in jail, to be followed by 3 years of supervised release on his conviction of violating federal firearms laws, Acting United States Attorney Soo C. Song announced today.
United States District Judge David S. Cercone imposed the sentence on James William McMichael, 72.
According to information presented to the court,McMichael possessed a machinegun not registered to him in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record. McMichael, who was a former federally licensed firearms dealer, ordered various firearm parts which were then fully assembled into a functioning machinegun. The machinegun was then hidden in the ceiling of McMichael’s Port Allegany home.
Assistant United States Attorney Marshall J. Piccinini prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.
Acting United States Attorney Song commended the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Port Allegany Police Department for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of McMichael.
Former Federal Prison Guard Sentenced to One Year in Prison for Lying to Federal Agents Investigating His Inappropriate Behavior with InmatesRead the Press Release
HONOLULU – Diego Contreras, 31, formerly of Haleiwa, was sentenced to one year in prison on June 1, 2017, and ordered to pay a $5,000 fine. Contreras pleaded guilty in federal court to Making False Statements during an investigation into his inappropriate behavior with inmates.
Acting United States Attorney Elliot Enoki said that, according to information presented to the court, on June 1, 2016, the United States Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General (DOJ OIG) interviewed Contreras, who was then employed as a guard with the Federal Bureau of Prisons. DOJ OIG was investigating Contreras for having inappropriate relationships with two female inmates of the Federal Detention Center at Honolulu (FDC). Contreras lied to investigators, by denying, among other things, that he had contacted the inmates through the use of alias e-mail addresses while they were incarcerated, and by claiming that he had not had contact with one of the inmates after her release from the FDC. One of the relationships was discovered after a photo of Contreras and the former inmate was posted to her Facebook page.
In imposing sentence, United States District Judge Helen Gillmor pointed to Contreras’ "abuse of power," and emphasized the importance of sending a message of deterrence by remarking, "[o]ther people in positions of trust need to know that if they violate that trust there will be repercussions."
This case was investigated by DOJ OIG and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jill Otake.
Former Bath Man Pleads Guilty to Interstate Travel to have Sex with a MinorRead the Press Release
Portland, Maine: Acting United States Attorney Richard W. Murphy announced that David Miller, 54, of Flushing, Michigan (and formerly of Bath, Maine) pleaded guilty yesterday in U.S. District Court to transportation of a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity.
Court records reveal that during the summer of 1995, Miller, then 33, was working as a long-haul truck driver. In June and July of 1995, Miller took a thirteen-year-old relative with him on two interstate trips. During these trips, he engaged in sexual activity with this relative. Federal agents began investigating Miller in 2015 when the relative reported the abuse to authorities after seeing a Facebook photograph of Miller with a five-year-old child sitting on his lap. In October 2016, Miller was interviewed by federal agents in Michigan and admitted sexually abusing his relative during the 1995 interstate trips.
Under federal law, the statute of limitations for the offenses did not expire before Congress extended it to the life of the child in 2003. Where a statute of limitations has been extended by Congress, it may be applied to crimes that preceded enactment so long as the prior statute of limitations has not expired.
The defendant faces a sentence of between 10 years and life in prison and a $250,000 fine. He will be sentenced after the completion of a presentence investigation report by the U.S. Probation Office.
The investigation was conducted by the Bath Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. 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 U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
Financial Advisor Sentenced for $1.1 Million Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Mark F. Speakman, 60, of Grove City, Ohio, was sentenced in U.S. District Court today to 60 months in prison for an investment fraud scheme that defrauded his clients out of more than $1.1 million.
Benjamin C. Glassman, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, Frank S. Turner II, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Criminal Investigation, Cincinnati Field Office, and Grove City Police Chief Jeff Pearson announced the sentence handed down today by Senior U.S. District Judge James L. Graham.
According to court documents, between 2000 and 2015, Speakman was a financial advisor at Ameriprise Financial, and between 2002 and 2015 he defrauded his clients by misappropriating their funds.
Speakman persuaded his clients to remove their funds from their Ameriprise Financial accounts and invest them in Centrax, a fraudulent real estate investment trust. Rather than investing the funds in real estate, he stole the money. He took $870,000 from seven victims for the real estate scheme and used the money to pay his own expenses.
For example, Speakman persuaded one victim to move $125,000 outside of her normal Ameriprise account and invest instead in Centrax. He did not invest the funds in Centrax, but instead used them for his personal benefit. The victim later developed terminal cancer, and she detailed her physical decline in emails to Speakman and instructed him to write checks to an estate-planning attorney and to a “local crematorium and burial society” where she was pre-purchasing cremation services.
The dying victim told Speakman she counted on the Centrax trust to avoid placing a burden on her family members when she died and intended to use her Centrax investment in order to pay off the mortgage on her home.
Because the Centrax trust did not in fact exist, Speakman convinced the victim not to liquidate her purported Centrax investment and upon her death tried to convince the victim’s family to do the same. When he could no longer postpone their wishes to liquidate, he avoided communication with the family altogether.
As part of his scheme to defraud, Speakman stole from others to avoid detection by a client he had previously defrauded. In 2014, one of his clients who had previously agreed to invest in Centrax told Speakman that he wanted to cash out his investment. Speakman had already misappropriated those funds and had no way to pack back his client.
As a result, Speakman convinced another client and three of his family members to invest in gold coins. Speakman did not invest in gold coins and instead diverted the money in order to pay back the previous victim.
In total, Speakman received nearly $1.2 million from others in furtherance of his fraudulent scheme.
In addition, Speakman filed a false federal income tax return with the IRS for the 2014 income tax year on which he omitted $275,000 in income generated by his illegal conduct. The total tax loss to the IRS for 2002 through 2014 was approximately $300,000.
Speakman pleaded guilty in December 2016 to one count each of wire fraud, money laundering and filing a false federal income tax return with the IRS. As part of his plea, he agreed to pay nearly $1.2 million in restitution to the victims of his investment fraud scheme and approximately $300,000 in restitution to the IRS.
“Mark Speakman committed a serious fraud that lasted more than a decade,” U.S. Attorney Glassman said. “He used his position as a financial advisor to take advantage of clients. Appallingly, he even lied about the final financial wishes of a client who was dying of cancer. The sentence he received today reflects the seriousness of his illegal actions.”
“When you knowingly mix deceit and trickery into the financial well-being of individuals, you create a recipe for devastation that could last a lifetime,” said Frank S. Turner II, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Criminal Investigation, Cincinnati Field Office. “Today's sentencing demonstrates how the IRS, U.S. Attorney’s Office, and the Grove City Police Department banded together to help put an end to the criminal behavior of Mr. Speakman who preyed on investors for his own personal financial gain.”
U.S. Attorney Glassman commended the investigation of this case by the IRS and the Grove City Police Department, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter K. Glenn-Applegate, who is prosecuting the case.
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Eritrean National Indicted for Visa FraudRead the Press Release
PLATTSBURGH, NEW YORK – Mohammed Nurey Ibrahim, age 41, an Eritrean national and resident of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, appeared yesterday on an indictment charging him with presenting a fraudulently obtained visa to a Border Patrol Agent.
The announcement was made by United States Attorney Richard S. Hartunian and Acting Director Christian J. Schurman of the State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service.
According to the indictment, on January 5, 2017, Ibrahim presented a fraudulently obtained United States non-immigrant tourist visa to a United States Border Patrol Agent in Champlain, New York. The charges in the indictment are merely accusations. The defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Ibrahim will be arraigned Tuesday in Plattsburgh, New York, before United States Magistrate Judge Gary L. Favro. He is detained pending arraignment and a detention hearing.
If convicted, Ibrahim would face up to 5 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. A defendant’s sentence is imposed by a judge based on the particular statute the defendant is charged with violating, the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, and other factors.
This case is being investigated by the Department of State Diplomatic Security Service, United States Customs and Border Protection, United States Border Patrol, and Homeland Security Investigations, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Horsman.
El Paso Drug Trafficker Sentenced to 293 Months in Federal PrisonRead the Press Release
In El Paso, an El Paso man was sentenced to 293 months in federal prison for conspiring to distribute thousands of kilograms of marijuana announced United States Attorney Richard L. Durbin, Jr. and Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge Will R. Glaspy, El Paso Division.
In addition to the prison term, United States District Judge Philip R. Martinez ordered 56-year-old David Lopez to pay a $50,000 fine. Judge Martinez also ordered that Lopez forfeit to the Government proceeds and property derived from his drug transportation business including $2.4 million in U.S. Currency, various tractor trailers, personal vehicles, and his residence.
On January 26, 2017, a jury convicted Lopez of one count of conspiracy to possess over 1,000 kilograms of marijuana and one count of possession of over 100 kilograms of marijuana. Evidence presented at trial revealed that David Lopez had been transporting marijuana from El Paso, Texas to cities in the United States from August 2001 until August 2015. Lopez utilized commercial tractor trailers driven by himself and other hired drivers. In total, the DEA was able to connect significant marijuana seizures in Sierra Blanca (TX), Abilene (TX), Alamogordo (NM), and Pratt County (KS), totaling over 3,300 kilograms of marijuana, to Lopez. Additional evidence was presented that Lopez attempted to hire a confidential source and an undercover officer to transport marijuana for him.
Furthermore, in 2010, Lopez was stopped in Clark County, KS. After a K-9 alerted to his vehicle, officers found $130,000 in his suitcase. Lopez denied any knowledge of the cash, though the cash was packaged similar to the $53,000 cash found in his safe after a search of his residence in 2015.
Lopez has remained in federal custody since his arrest on June 3, 2016.
“With this conviction, DEA and our law enforcement partners are working together to have a positive impact at the local level. We are sending a strong and unified message that drug dealing, at all levels, will not be tolerated, and, in turn, we are making our communities safer,” said Will R. Glaspy, DEA Special Agent in Charge.
This case resulted from an investigation conducted by DEA El Paso, DEA Kansas City, El Paso County Sheriff’s Office, El Paso Police Department, Anthony Police Department, United States Border Patrol, Kansas Highway Patrol, Clark County Kansas Sheriff’s Office, Kansas Bureau of Investigation, and Homeland Security Investigations with the assistance of The Document and Media Exploitation (DOMEX) El Paso Branch.
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Dominican National Pleads Guilty to Illegal Reentry After DeportationRead the Press Release
BOSTON - A Dominican national pleaded guilty today in federal court in Boston to illegal reentry after deportation.
Jimmy Jonathan Sanchez-Moreta, 40, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge Denise J. Casper, who scheduled sentencing for Sept. 12, 2017. In April 2013, Sanchez-Moreta was deported from the United States. Federal authorities encountered Sanchez-Moreta in January 2015 and determined him to be unlawfully present in the U.S.
Sanchez-Moreta faces a sentence of no greater than 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. He is subject to deportation upon completion of his sentence. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Acting United States Attorney William D. Weinreb and Matthew J. Etre, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston, made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenneth G. Shine of Weinreb’s Major Crimes Unit is prosecuting the case.
Dominican National Pleads Guilty to Heroin and Fentanyl ChargesRead the Press Release
BOSTON – A Dominican national pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court in Boston to supplying heroin and fentanyl to traffickers in Taunton and surrounding communities.
Jonathan Ruiz, 33, a Dominican national residing in Lawrence, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute heroin and fentanyl. U.S. District Court Judge George A. O’Toole Jr. has not yet scheduled sentencing.
In April 2016, Ruiz was arrested and charged in a superseding indictment along with 25 others, who had been charged the previous October, in connection with a heroin trafficking ring operating primarily in southeastern Massachusetts. Ruiz trafficked in narcotics from Lawrence, supplying distributers in Taunton, Fall River and other locations. The charges are the result of a 15-month investigation into heroin and fentanyl trafficking in Taunton and surrounding communities, which have seen a steep increase in overdoses and related deaths since 2013.
Ruiz and co-defendants, Dedwin Cruz-Rivera, a heroin supplier based in Taunton, Manuel Romero-Gonsalez, a heroin supplier based in Providence, R.I., and Eric Matos, a heroin and fentanyl supplier based in Lawrence, supplied co-conspirators, Oniel Rivera, Cory Nickerson, and Maria Elena Ocasio, among others, with heroin and occasionally fentanyl for distribution. Ruiz also supplied fentanyl and heroin to Cruz-Rivera.
More than half of the conspirators charged have pleaded guilty, including Matos, Ocasio, and Nickerson, whose sentencings are scheduled throughout June 2017; and eight of the defendants have already been sentenced, including Romero-Gonsalez. Cruz-Rivera pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial.
The charge of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute heroin and fentanyl provides for a sentence of no greater than 20 years in prison, a minimum of three years and up to a lifetime of supervised release and a fine of up to $1 million. Ruiz will be subject to deportation upon completion of his sentence. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Acting United States Attorney William D. Weinreb and Michael J. Ferguson, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, New England Field Division, made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Thomas E. Kanwit, Karen Beausey, Katherine Ferguson and Ann Taylor of Weinreb’s Narcotics and Money Laundering Unit are prosecuting the cases.
Dominican National Charged with Illegal Reentry After DeportationRead the Press Release
BOSTON - A Dominican national was charged yesterday in federal court in Boston with illegally reentering the United States after being deported.
Rafael Tejeda, 54, was deported in April 2013, and in May 2017, federal agents in Boston discovered Tejeda and found him to be illegally present in the United States.
Tejeda faces a sentence of no greater than 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release, a fine of $250,000 and will be subject to deportation upon completion of his sentence. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Acting United States Attorney William D. Weinreb and Matthew J. Etre, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston, made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney David G. Tobin of Weinreb’s Major Crimes Unit is prosecuting the case.
The details contained in the indictment are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Dominican National Charged with Illegal Reentry After DeportationRead the Press Release
BOSTON - A Dominican national was charged yesterday in U.S. District Court in Boston with a federal immigration crime.
Manuel Bienvenido Pimentel-Pimentel, 54, was charged with illegally reentering the United States after being deported. Pimentel-Pimentel was deported in August 2010, and in May 2017, federal agents discovered Pimentel-Pimentel and found him to be illegally present in the United States.
Pimentel-Pimentel faces a sentence of no greater than two years in prison, one year of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. He will also be subject to deportation upon completion of his sentence. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Acting United States Attorney William D. Weinreb and Matthew J. Etre, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston, made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney David G. Tobin of Weinreb’s Major Crimes Unit is prosecuting the case.
The details contained in the indictment are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Dominican National Charged with Illegal Reentry After DeportationRead the Press Release
BOSTON - A Dominican national was charged yesterday in U.S. District Court in Boston with illegally reentering the United States after being deported.
Sandy Saul Pena, 35, was deported in February 2012, and in December 2016, federal agents in Boston discovered Pena and found him to be illegally present in the United States.
Pena faces a sentence of no greater than 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. He will also be subject to deportation upon completion of his sentence. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Acting United States Attorney William D. Weinreb and Matthew J. Etre, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston, made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney David G. Tobin of Weinreb’s Major Crimes Unit is prosecuting the case.
The details contained in the indictment are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Dominican National Charged with Illegal Reentry After DeportationRead the Press Release
BOSTON - A Dominican national was charged yesterday in federal court in Boston with a federal immigration crime.
Victor Melo, 49, a Dominican national residing in Boston, was charged with illegally reentering the United States after being deported.
According to the indictment, Melo was deported in March 1991 for unlawfully entering the United States. In May 2017, federal agents in Boston discovered Melo and found him to be again illegally present in the United States.
The charge of illegal reentry after deportation provides for a sentence of no greater than 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. Melo will be subject to deportation upon completion of his sentence. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Acting United States Attorney William D. Weinreb and Matthew J. Etre, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston, made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenneth G. Shine of Weinreb’s Major Crimes Unit is prosecuting the case.
The details contained in the indictment are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
District Man Pleads Guilty to Sexually Assaulting Six of His StudentsRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON – Manuel Fernandez, 35, of Washington, D.C., pled guilty today to sexually assaulting six of his students while working as a teacher at the Latin American Montessori Bilingual Charter School (L.A.M.B.), announced U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips and Peter Newsham, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).
Fernandez pled guilty in the Superior Court for the District of Columbia to two charges of Second Degree Child Sexual Abuse, one charge of Attempted Second Degree Child Sexual Abuse, and three charges of Misdemeanor Sexual Abuse of a Child. The plea, which is contingent upon the Court’s approval, calls for a prison term of 1.5 to 8 years. Upon release, Fernandez would be required to register as a sex offender for the remainder of his life. The Honorable Judith Bartnoff scheduled sentencing for September 7, 2017 at 2:00 pm.
According to the plea documents, while Fernandez was a teacher at L.A.M.B., he touched multiple students on their genitalia while in his classroom and in the school basement. He touched both male and female students, both under and over their clothing.
In announcing the plea, U.S. Attorney Phillips and Chief Newsham commended the work of those who investigated the case from the Metropolitan Police Department. They acknowledged the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Tracy Owusu, Lezlie Richardson and Elsa Maltese, all of the Victim/Witness Assistance Unit, former Intern Emma McArthur, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jessi Camille Brooks and J. Matt Williams, who prosecuted the case.
Detroit One Collaboration Leads to Lengthy Sentences for Detroit Gang MembersRead the Press Release
The collaboration of local, state, and federal law enforcement under the Detroit One program continued its aggressive pursuit of local street gangs by obtaining a 30- year sentence for Victor Vasquez, a/k/a “Vic,” a leader of the Latin Count street gang and a 20-year sentence for Michael Gardner, a/k/a "Sosa," a member of the Vice Lord street gang announced Acting United States Attorney Daniel L. Lemisch.
Lemisch was joined in the announcement by David Gelios, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), S. Robin Shoemaker, Special agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Steve Francis, Special Agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and Detroit Police Chief James Craig whose departments led the collaborative investigation into these violent street gangs.
Over the past several years, FBI, ATF, HSI agents, Detroit Police detectives and officers, other law enforcement agents, the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office, and the United States Attorney’s Office have worked collaboratively to bring to justice members of both of these gangs for their varied criminal misconduct, including murders, racketeering activity, armed robberies, drive-by-shootings, assaults with dangerous weapons and narcotics distribution.
On May 31, 2017, Victor Vasquez, 26, of Detroit, was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison on his conviction for Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) conspiracy. As part of his plea to RICO conspiracy, Vasquez took responsibility for causing the death of Mustafa Al-Yasiry at the Big Apple Market in southwest Detroit on April 18, 2014. According to the indictment, several Latin Counts assaulted Al-Yasiry, at Vasquez’s direction, while another Latin Count came up from behind and shot and killed Al-Yasiry. Four other gang members have also pleaded guilty for their roles in this murder.
According to the racketeering indictment, the Latin Counts gang operates in southwest Detroit and the downriver communities of Lincoln Park and Ecorse. The indictment alleges that eleven defendants committed assaults, murder, selling illegal narcotics and stolen firearms, breaking and entering homes and businesses and robbery. The indictment alleges that the gang uses violence to stake out its “turf” and intimidate both rival gang members and the citizens of southwest Detroit.
On June 1, 2017, Michael Gardner, 21, of Detroit and Radcliff, Kentucky, was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison on his convictions for sex trafficking a minor (using force, fraud and coercion) and production of child pornography. Evidence produced during his trial in October 2016 showed that Gardner used violence to force a minor victim to engage in commercial sex acts. Gardner also published explicit photographs of the minor in the prostitution advertisements that he created. Moreover, Gardner used his status as a Vice Lord gang member to intimidate the minor to continue to engage in prostitution and to put her in fear of reporting the activity. These convictions are just one component of the federal government’s prosecution of the Vice Lords street gang, which has led to the arrests and convictions of over two dozen Vice Lords leaders and members over the last few years.
These investigations stem from the Detroit One initiative—a combined effort between law enforcement and the community to reduce homicide and other violent crime in Detroit. By working collaboratively, local, state and federal law enforcement are striving to maximize their ability to identify and arrest the persons and groups initiating the violence in Detroit. Since Detroit One started in 2013, this effort has had led to significant indictments, convictions, and sentences against a number of street gangs who are responsible for much of the violent crime in Detroit, including members of the Latin Counts, Vice Lords, and many others. The current convictions and sentences are a tangible and significant result of this joint effort.
Victor Vasquez was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Matthew Roth, Andrea Hutting, and Louis Crisostomo. Michael Gardner was prosecuted by Sara Woodward and Benjamin Coats.
Couple Charged with Wire Fraud for Investment Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
SUNG HONG, 45, and HYUN JOO HONG, 41, a Clyde Hill, Washington couple were arrested this morning on federal charges they defrauded multiple clients out of hundreds of thousands of dollars, announced U.S. Attorney Annette L. Hayes. SUNG HONG, aka LAURENCE HONG or LAWRENCE HONG, and his wife, HYUN JOO HONG, aka GRACE HONG, held themselves out as experienced investment advisors with a track record of performance in order to solicit investor funds for their hedge fund, Pishon Holdings, and for management through separately managed accounts. Authorities are still assessing the total amount of fraud in the case, but since 2011, the HONGs have solicited several million dollars in investor funds from numerous clients, and the losses to just three victims exceed $500,000. The HONGs will make their initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Seattle at 2:00 today.
According to records filed in the case, the HONGs recruited investors using religious organizations and shared religious beliefs. The couple claimed that LAURENCE HONG privately invests money for wealthy Korean families and that GRACE HONG holds a Series 65 securities license and previously worked for a large international investment firm. None of these statements appear to be true. Nor was LAURENCE HONG’s past history disclosed. The couple sent potential customers misleading and false investment prospectuses that contained an inaccurate record of their past investment performance and other plagiarized investment outlooks. They further misled investors as to the advisor fees they would charge and the amount of their funds that would be at risk.
The HONGs used investor funds for their own benefit. One church in California invested $1 million with the HONGs and lost about $300,000 on a single trade. Still, despite the steep losses and a fee arrangement based on investment gains, the HONGs withdrew almost $150,000, ostensibly as advisor fees, from the church’s account. Another couple allowed the HONGs to manage their $180,000 in retirement funds only to lose $100,000 within less than a year. After meeting with the HONGs, that couple then invested their remaining retirement funds in the HONGs’ hedge fund, only for those funds to be redirected into GRACE HONG’s personal account. The HONGs used those funds to pay credit card bills and other personal expenses, including a $16,000 payment to a resort in the Bahamas for a HONG family vacation.
Investigators have identified over $2 million in additional losses in several other investor accounts managed by the HONGs. The financial investigation to date has revealed investor money was used to pay for the HONGs’ extravagant lifestyle, which included a 9,000 square foot rental home in Clyde Hill; a 45-foot yacht; multiple high-end vehicles, such as BMWs, a Maserati, and a Lamborghini; and lavish vacations.
The FBI is investigating the case and is still determining the number of victims and the amount of fraud loss. Those who believe they have information about this case, please contact [email protected] or call 206-622-0460.
The charges contained in the complaint are only allegations. A person is presumed innocent unless and until he or she is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Wire fraud is punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Justin Arnold and Steven Masada.
Connecticut Business Owner Pleads Guilty to Export ViolationRead the Press Release
Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, today announced that IMRAN KHAN, 43, of North Haven, waived his right to be indicted and pleaded guilty yesterday in Hartford federal court to violating U.S. export law.
According to court documents and statements made in court, from at least 2012 to December 2016, KHAN and others were engaged in a scheme to purchase goods that were controlled under the Export Administration Regulations (“EAR”) and export those goods without a license to Pakistan, in violation of the EAR. KHAN conducted business as Brush Locker Tools or as Kauser Enterprises-USA. When asked by U.S. manufacturers about the end-user for a product, KHAN either informed the manufacturer that the product would remain in the U.S., or he completed an end-user certification indicating that the product would not be exported.
After the products were purchased, they were shipped by the manufacturer to KHAN’s North Haven residence or Cerda Market in New Haven, a business owned by KHAN. The products were then shipped to Pakistan on behalf of either the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (“PAEC”), the Pakistan Space & Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (“SUPARCO”), or the National Institute of Lasers & Optronics (“NILOP”), all of which were listed on the U.S. Department of Commerce Entity List. KHAN never obtained a license to export any item to the designated entity even though he knew that a license was required prior to export.
KHAN pleaded guilty to one count of violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. In pleading guilty, KHAN specifically admitted that, between August 2012 and January 2013, he procured, received and exported to PAEC an Alpha Duo Spectrometer without a license to do so.
KHAN is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Vanessa L. Bryant on August 25, 2017, at which time he faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years. KHAN has been released on a $100,000 bond since he was arrested on December 13, 2016.
“The U.S. Attorney’s office in Connecticut is committed to working with our law federal law enforcement partners to ensure that sensitive technology, manufactured in the U.S. and elsewhere, does not fall into the wrong hands,” said U.S. Attorney Deirdre Daly. “Repeated violations of our export laws will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”
“The illegal exportation of sensitive technology to prohibited entities such as PAEC, SUPARCO and NILOP, poses a significant threat to our national security,” said Leigh-Alistair Barzey, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS), Northeast Field Office. “Today’s guilty plea demonstrates DCIS’s ongoing commitment to work in partnership with the DOJ, FBI, HSI, Commerce Export Enforcement and the Postal Inspection Service, to protect our national security by prosecuting those who violate our export laws.”
This matter is being investigated by the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Office of Export Enforcement. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jacabed Rodriguez-Coss.
Chicago Man Sentenced to 9 Years in Prison for Conspiring to Murder U.S. Citizen in Bali, IndonesiaRead the Press Release
A Chicago man was sentenced to serve nine years in prison, and four years supervise for conspiring with his cousin and his cousin’s girlfriend to kill a U.S. citizen at an Indonesian resort in 2014.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Blanco of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Acting U.S. Attorney Joel R. Levin of the Northern District of Illinois and Special Agent in Charge Michael J. Anderson of the FBI’s Chicago Division made the announcement.
Robert Ryan Justin Bibbs, 26, of Chicago, was sentenced before U.S. District Judge Rebecca R. Pallmeyer of the Northern District of Illinois. On Dec. 13, 2016, Bibbs pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit the foreign murder of a U.S. national.
According to admissions made in connection with his plea agreement, in 2014, Bibbs’s cousin Tommy Schaefer informed Bibbs that Heather Mack, Schaefer’s girlfriend, had offered Schaefer approximately $50,000 to kill her mother, Sheila Von Wiese. In approximately late July or early August 2014, Mack told Bibbs that she wished her mother was dead and she asked Bibbs whether he knew someone who would kill her mother in exchange for money. Bibbs knew that Von Wiese was wealthy and that she and Mack were taking a vacation in Indonesia in early August 2014. Schaefer had conveyed to Bibbs that Mack was planning to kill her mother while they were overseas and that Schaefer intended to travel to Indonesia to join Mack.
According to the plea agreement, while Schaefer waited for his flight to depart O’Hare International Airport, he exchanged text messages with Bibbs, which Bibbs understood to mean that Von Wiese’s murder was imminent, that Schaefer expected to receive millions of dollars as a result of the murder, and that Schaefer would spend some of this money on Bibbs. According to the plea agreement, after Schaefer arrived in Bali, he informed Bibbs that Mack had unsuccessfully attempted to kill Von Wiese. Bibbs then provided advice to Schaefer via text message on alternative ways to kill Von Wiese, including by drowning or suffocation. In addition, Bibbs admitted that he counseled Schaefer that he should murder Von Wiese as long as no cameras were present, that he counseled Schaefer to be careful, and that he further encouraged his cousin to kill Von Wiese.
A short time later, Schaefer bludgeoned Von Wiese to death, then, with Mack, stuffed Von Wiese’s body into a suitcase, placed the suitcase into a taxi cab and fled the resort. Schaefer and Mack were subsequently arrested and convicted in Indonesian court, and are serving respective 18-year and 10-year sentences in prison.
Deputy Chief Hope Olds and Trial Attorney Christine Duey of the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Bolling Haxall of the Northern District of Illinois prosecuted the case. The FBI investigated the case. The Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs provided substantial assistance in this matter as well.
Chicago Man Sentenced to 9 Years in Prison for Aiding His Cousin and Heather Mack in the Murder of Mack’s Mother in Bali, IndonesiaRead the Press Release
CHICAGO — A Chicago man was sentenced today to nine years in federal prison for aiding his cousin and Heather Mack in the 2014 killing of Mack’s mother at an Indonesian resort.
ROBERT RYAN JUSTIN BIBBS, also known as “Ryan Bibbs,” admitted in a plea agreement last year that he advised his cousin, Tommy Schaefer, and Mack about how to kill Mack’s mother, Sheila A. Von Wiese. Von Wiese, 62, was bludgeoned to death in her hotel room at the St. Regis Bali resort on Aug. 12, 2014.
Bibbs acknowledged in his plea agreement that he was aware of the couple’s plot to carry out the murder, and he counseled Schaefer on how to get away with it. Bibbs believed Schaefer would gain access to Von Wiese’s estate through Mack, and that Schaefer would share a portion of the inheritance with him, according to the plea agreement.
Bibbs, 26, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit the foreign murder of a U.S. national. U.S. District Judge Rebecca R. Pallmeyer imposed the nine-year sentence in federal court in Chicago.
The sentence was announced by Joel R. Levin, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Blanco of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; and Michael J. Anderson, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Indonesian law enforcement provided valuable assistance.
“Repeatedly, the prospect of Von Wiese’s killing was broached and defendant elected to push the plot forward, rather than stop it or extricate himself from it,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Bolling Haxall argued in the government’s sentencing memorandum. “When Schaefer stood at the precipice, defendant provided a push forward.”
Evidence revealed that Bibbs, Schaefer and Mack discussed the murder during a meeting in Bibbs’ Chicago home prior to Mack and Schaefer traveling to Indonesia. Mack and her mother shared a hotel room in Bali, and Schaefer arrived at the resort on the morning of the murder. Soon after his arrival, Schaefer sent a text message to Bibbs, who was in the United States. The message stated that Mack had unsuccessfully attempted to kill Von Wiese, Bibbs’ plea agreement states. Bibbs replied with advice about alternative ways to carry out the murder, including by drowning, the plea agreement states.
Later that morning Schaefer sent a text message to Bibbs, stating, in part, “She wants me to right now… While she snoozing,” which Bibbs understood to mean that Mack had asked Schaefer to help her kill Von Wiese, the plea agreement states. Bibbs texted back to Schaefer, “Go sit on her face wit a pillow then,” according to the plea agreement. Bibbs intended this message to mean that Schaefer should go and suffocate Von Wiese, the plea agreement states. Subsequent messages from Bibbs encouraged Schaefer to kill Von Wiese but to be careful while doing so, the plea agreement states.
A short time later, Schaefer entered the hotel room occupied by Mack and Von Wiese and bludgeoned Von Wiese to death, Bibbs’ plea agreement states. Schaefer and Mack subsequently stuffed Von Wiese’s body into a suitcase, placed the suitcase in a taxicab and fled the resort, the plea agreement states.
Schaefer and Mack were arrested the following day by police in Indonesia. An Indonesian court in 2015 convicted Schaefer and Mack of charges related to Von Wiese’s murder. Schaefer was sentenced to 18 years in an Indonesian prison, while Mack was sentenced to ten years.
The government in Bibbs’ case is represented by Mr. Haxall, as well as Christine Duey, a trial attorney in the U.S. Department of Justice’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section.
Cedar Rapids Man Charged with Distribution, Receipt, and Possession of Child PornographyRead the Press Release
Scott Ristine, age 40, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, has been charged with distribution, receipt, and possession of child pornography. The charges are contained in an Indictment unsealed on May 30, 2017 in United States District Court in Cedar Rapids.
The Indictment alleges that, in 2015, Ristine distributed child pornography, received child pornography, and possessed child pornography on a cell phone, a memory card, a computer, and two flash drives. The Indictment also alleges that Ristine was convicted of receipt of child pornography in the Northern District of Iowa in 2002.
If convicted, Ristine faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years’ imprisonment and a possible maximum sentence of 180 years’ imprisonment, a $1,750,000 fine, $35,700 in special assessments, and at least five years and up to life on supervised release following any imprisonment.
Ristine appeared today in federal court in Cedar Rapids for a detention hearing and was held without bond. Ristine’s next appearance for trial is set for July 31, 2017.
As with any criminal case, a charge is merely an accusation and a defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Mark Tremmel and is being investigated by the Cedar Rapids Police Department and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation.
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.”
Court file information is available at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. The case file number is CR 17-37.
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Canadian Man Charged with Alien SmugglingRead the Press Release
The Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont stated that yesterday the Grand Jury returned an indictment charging Viatcheslav Kim, of Montreal, with one count of transporting aliens in furtherance of their illegal presence in the United States. Court records show that agents of the United States Border Patrol apprehended Kim during the early morning of May 31, 2017 in Derby Line, Vermont, as he was driving two persons who appeared to have just illegally entered the U.S. from Canada, on foot. Neither of Kim’s passengers were U.S. citizens, and neither had permission to be inside the United States.
Kim is charged with violating section 1324(a)(1)(A)(ii) of Title 8 of the United States Code. Should Kim be convicted as charged he faces a maximum possible sentence of a five-year term of incarceration. Kim is presumed innocent unless and until he is convicted at trial or by plea.
The United States sought to detain Kim during the pendency of the prosecution based upon a risk of not appearing at future court proceedings. United States Magistrate Judge John M. Conroy denied the United States’ motion, and released Kim on conditions which included the posting of a $3000 cash bond.
“These arrests highlight the importance of our profession and display the unique talents Border Patrol Agents put forth to disrupt transnational criminal activity while securing our nation’s northern border,” said Chief Patrol Agent John C. Pfeifer.
The Assistant United States Attorney is Michael P. Drescher. Kim is represented by Elizabeth Quinn, of the Office of Federal Public Defender.
Burley Father and Son Found Guilty of Conspiracy to Distribute MethamphetamineRead the Press Release
BOISE — A federal jury found father, Sergio Chavez-Verduzco, 42, and son, Sergio Chavez-Macias, 20, of Burley, Idaho, guilty yesterday evening of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, Acting U.S. Attorney Rafael Gonzalez, Jr. announced. Chavez-Verduzco was also convicted of participating in a continuing criminal enterprise. A third defendant, Armando Orozco-Guillen, 21, of Jerome, Idaho, was acquitted. The jury’s decision came after a five-day trial in United States District Court in front of Chief U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill.
The evidence presented during the trial showed that in 2015 and early 2016, Chavez-Verduzco and Chavez-Macias were the source of supply to multiple large scale drug traffickers in the Treasure Valley. The evidence specifically identified Brian Weaver Cluff of Caldwell, Idaho, and James Piersol of Garden City, Idaho, as traffickers supplied by Chavez-Verduzco and Chavez-Macias. The evidence showed that Chavez-Verduzco and Chavez-Macias were sending double digit pound quantities of methamphetamine to both Cluff and Piersol on a regular basis in exchange for tens of thousands of dollars.
Chavez-Verduzco and Chavez-Macias’ sentencings are scheduled for August 25, 2017, before Chief U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill. Because of Chavez-Verduzco’s conviction for participating in a continuing criminal enterprise, he faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years in prison. Chavez-Macias faces a mandatory minimum sentence of ten years for his role in the conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.
The case was investigated by the Ada County Sheriff’s Office, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the City County Narcotics Unit of Canyon County, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Gooding County Sheriff’s Office, the Federal Bureau of Investigations, and the Idaho State Police.
The case was prosecuted by the Special Assistant U.S. Attorney hired by the Ada County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office with funds provided by the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) program. HIDTA is part of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) created by Congress with the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988. It provides assistance to federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies operating in areas determined to be critical drug-trafficking regions of the United States. Idaho is part of the Oregon-Idaho HIDTA. HIDTA in southwest Idaho is a collaboration of local, multi-jurisdictional law enforcement drug task forces, and prosecuting agencies dedicated to addressing regional drug trafficking organizations that operate in Ada, Canyon, and Malheur County.