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17 May 2017
Bridgeport Man Admits Selling Heroin to Overdose VictimRead the Press Release
Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that DARRYCK NORRIS, 23, of Bridgeport, waived his right to be indicted and pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Stefan R. Underhill in Bridgeport to one count of distribution of heroin.
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, at approximately 8:49 p.m. on October 27, 2016, Milford Police and emergency medical personnel responded to a residence in Milford and found an unresponsive 37-year-old male slumped over in the downstairs living area of the residence. Emergency personnel attempted lifesaving measures and administered two doses of the opiate antidote Narcan (Naloxone), which had no effect. The victim was pronounced deceased. Officers searched the immediate area and seized four empty baggies and one full baggy that contained suspected heroin. Each of the bags was stamped with the same brand stamp.
Officers also seized the victim’s iPhone. Analysis of text messages revealed that the victim had ordered heroin from NORRIS earlier that day. Witness interviews and further cellphone analysis revealed that the victim had purchased heroin from NORRIS for several months prior to the victim’s overdose.
On November 1, 2016, members of the DEA and Milford Police Department conducted a controlled purchase of heroin from NORRIS in Bridgeport. The heroin bags purchased were stamped with the same stamp that was found on the bags seized from the overdose victim’s residence.
NORRIS was arrested on a federal criminal complaint on November 3, 2016.
The offense carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years. A sentencing date has not been scheduled.
NORRIS is released on a $50,000 bond.
This matter is being investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Bridgeport Resident Office, the DEA’s New Haven Tactical Diversion Squad and the Milford and Bridgeport Police Departments. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas P. Morabito.
Berkeley Man Convicted of Murder for HireRead the Press Release
St. Louis, MO - The United States Attorney=s Office announced today that William “Chuckie” Clarett was convicted of federal conspiracy to commit murder for hire involving the murder of Travis Hayden.
On April 22, 2015, Travis Hayden was murdered in Berkeley, MO. A witness identified William Clarett, a/k/a “Chuckie” as the shooter. That same day, the witness gave a written statement to police and picked Clarett out in a photospread. On December 31, 2015, investigators arrested Clarett for the murder of Travis Hayden. A complaint was issued on January 1, 2016, charging Clarett with Murder 1st Degree and Armed Criminal Action. Clarett was detained at the St. Louis County Justice Center.
On February 10, 2016, the witness testified before a grand jury in St. Louis County and the Grand Jury returned a true bill on the murder and ACA counts. The witness’ name and address were publicly disclosed in connection with the indictment. While Clarett was detained in the Justice Center on the murder, Clarett began talking to an inmate that he knew from the neighborhood. The inmate advised authorities that Clarett was asking him to help find someone to kill the witness. ATF then arranged to have an Undercover Officer (UC) pose as a potential hitman. Between June 14, 2016 and June 30, 2016, Clarett spoke to UC six times over the phone about killing the witness. On July 1, 2016, Clarett met with UC at the Justice Center and told him he would provide UC with the down payment for the murder. Thereafter, Clarett released $500 from his commissary which was later given to the UC along with the photograph of the witness.
Clarett, 34, Berkeley, MO, was convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit murder for hire. The three-day trial was held before United States District Judge Audrey Fleissig. Sentencing has been set for September 2017.
Clarett is facing a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. In determining the actual sentences, a Judge is required to consider the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, which provide recommended sentencing ranges.
This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives and the Cottleville Police Department.
Beam Brothers Trucking, Beam Brother Holding Company Plead Guilty to a Pair of Federal Felony Conspiracy ChargesRead the Press Release
Harrisonburg, VIRGINIA – A Mount Crawford based trucking company that formerly hauled United States mail, as well as four of its officers, the President, Vice-President, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer, pled guilty yesterday in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Harrisonburg to federal conspiracy charges, Acting United States Attorney Rick A. Mountcastle announced.
Beam Brothers pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States, that is falsification of records in contemplation of a federal matter. Beam Brothers Holding, the parent company of Beam Brothers Trucking, also pled guilty today to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
As part of the plea agreement, Beam Brothers agreed to pay a fine of $250,000 and forfeit $2,000,000 of fraudulently obtained proceeds. Beam Brothers will also pay approximately $1,000,000 in restitution to drivers who were defrauded of their pay.
In addition, the four most senior officers of the company pled guilty to related misdemeanor conspiracy charges. In separate Informations, Gerald Wayne Beam, 67, Garland Crawford Beam, 62, Shaun Crawford Beam, 36, all of Mount Crawford, and Nickolas Gene Kozel, 40, of Harrisonburg, each pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States, to knowingly violate the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) highway safety regulations.
According to evidence presented by Assistant United States Attorneys Stephen J. Pfleger and Christopher Kavanaugh, between 1999 and 2017, Beam Brothers Trucking knowingly violated the FMCSA safety regulations by encouraging, permitting, causing or requiring drivers for Beam Brothers Trucking to make trips in violation of federal safety regulations designed to prevent commercial motor vehicle crashes caused by fatigued drivers. .
Those violations included; falsely recording their duty statuses; encouraging and permitting some Beam Brothers Trucking commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers to falsify their time sheets to report fewer hours worked than they actually worked; telling some Beam Brothers Trucking CMV drivers that they would not be paid for short rest periods, for time waiting for their trailers to be loaded or unloaded at postal facilities; failing to inform some Beam Brothers Trucking CMV drivers of pay requirements of the mail contracts; failing to review and consider some Beam Brothers Trucking CMV drivers’ request for additional pay and failing to pay some Beam Brothers Trucking CMV drivers as required under the federal Service Contract Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act and the mail contracts.
The investigation of the case was conducted by the U.S. Postal Service, Office of the Inspector General, the Department of Transportation, Office of the Inspector General, the Department of Labor, Office of the Inspector General and the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigations. Assistant United States Attorney Stephen J. Pfleger and Christopher Kavanaugh prosecuted the case for the United States.
Bay Area Residents Charged in Drug Distribution Conspiracy and Related CrimesRead the Press Release
SAN FRANCISCO- A federal grand jury indicted 23 individuals, 22 of whom are Bay Area residents, for their respective roles in a conspiracy to engage in an extensive drug trafficking network, announced United States Attorney Brian J. Stretch and U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Special Agent in Charge John J. Martin. The indictment was unsealed today.
The seventeen-count indictment charges that between March 22, 2016, and April 27, 2017, nineteen of the defendants engaged in a conspiracy to distribute at least 500 grams of methamphetamine and more than five kilograms of cocaine and heroin. In addition, the indictment accuses all but one of the defendants of possession with intent to distribute drugs. The defendant not accused of possessing and distributing drugs is charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm. The precise charges against each defendant, as well as their ages and places of residence, are set out in the chart below.
Defendant
Age/
Residence
Charges
Statute
Felix Galindo
32/
San Francisco
Conspiracy to Possess With Intent to Distribute 5 Kilograms or More of Cocaine, 500 Grams or More of Methamphetamine, and Heroin
21 U.S.C. §§ 846, 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(A)
Possession With Intent to Distribute 5 Kilograms or More of Cocaine
21 U.S.C.
§§ 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(B)(ii)(II)
Natalie Hernandez
21/
San Francisco
Conspiracy to Possess With Intent to Distribute 5 Kilograms or More of Cocaine, 500 Grams or More of Methamphetamine, and Heroin
21 U.S.C. §§ 846, 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(A)
Possession With Intent to Distribute 5 Kilograms or More of Cocaine
21 U.S.C.
§§ 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(B)(ii)(II)
Pedro Lopez-Galindo
30/
San Francisco
Conspiracy to Possess With Intent to Distribute 5 Kilograms or More of Cocaine, 500 Grams or More of Methamphetamine, and Heroin
21 U.S.C. §§ 846, 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(A)
Possession With Intent to Distribute 5 Kilograms or More of Cocaine
21 U.S.C.
§§ 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(B)(ii)(II)
Carolina Soto
28/
Daly City
Conspiracy to Possess With Intent to Distribute 5 Kilograms or More of Cocaine, 500 Grams or More of Methamphetamine, and Heroin
21 U.S.C. §§ 846, 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(A)
Possession With Intent to Distribute 5 Kilograms or More of Cocaine
21 U.S.C.
§§ 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(B)(ii)(II)
Rafael Romero-Rodriguez
20/
Fresno
Conspiracy to Possess With Intent to Distribute 5 Kilograms or More of Cocaine, 500 Grams or More of Methamphetamine, and Heroin
21 U.S.C. §§ 846, 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(A)
Possession With Intent to Distribute Cocaine 500 Grams or More of Cocaine
21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(B)(ii)(II)
Ismael Rodriguez Loreto
33/
Fresno
Conspiracy to Possess With Intent to Distribute 5 Kilograms or More of Cocaine, 500 Grams or More of Methamphetamine, and Heroin
21 U.S.C. §§ 846, 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(A)
Possession With Intent to Distribute Cocaine 500 Grams or More of Cocaine
21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(B)
Possession With Intent to Distribute 5 Kilograms or More of Cocaine
21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(B)(ii)(II)
Carlos Ferran Leon
33/
Hayward
Conspiracy to Possess With Intent to Distribute 5 Kilograms or More of Cocaine, 500 Grams or More of Methamphetamine, and Heroin
21 U.S.C. § 846, 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(A)
Possession With Intent to Distribute 500 Grams or More of A Mixture and Substance Containing Methamphetamine
(2 Counts)
21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(A)(viii)
Possession With Intent to Distribute 28 Grams or More of Cocaine Base
21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(B)(iii)
Possession With Intent to Distribute 50 Grams or More of A Mixture and Substance Containing Methamphetamine
(5 counts)
21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(B)(viii)
Possession With Intent to Distribute Heroin
(2 counts)
21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(C)
Jesus Chavez Espinoza
26/
San Jose
Conspiracy to Possess With Intent to Distribute 5 Kilograms or More of Cocaine, 500 Grams or More of Methamphetamine, and Heroin
21 U.S.C.
§§ 846, 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(A)
Possession With Intent to Distribute 500 Grams or More of A Mixture and Substance Containing Methamphetamine
21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(A)(viii)
Efrain Torres
28/
San Jose
Conspiracy to Possess With Intent to Distribute 5 Kilograms or More of Cocaine, 500 Grams or More of Methamphetamine, and Heroin
21 U.S.C. §§ 846, 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(A)
Possession With Intent to Distribute 500 Grams or More of A Mixture and Substance Containing Methamphetamine
21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(A)(viii)
Henry Javier Lopez Alverto
29/
San Francisco
Conspiracy to Possess With Intent to Distribute 5 Kilograms or More of Cocaine, 500 Grams or More of Methamphetamine, and Heroin
21 U.S.C. §§ 846, 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(A)
Xavier Eriberto Sanchez Hernandez
25/
San Francisco
Conspiracy to Possess With Intent to Distribute 5 Kilograms or More of Cocaine, 500 Grams or More of Methamphetamine, and Heroin
21 U.S.C. §§ 846, 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(A)
Possession With Intent to Distribute 50 Grams or More of A Mixture and Substance Containing Methamphetamine
21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(B)(viii)
Juan Jose Flores Jr.
38/
Daly City
Conspiracy to Possess With Intent to Distribute 5 Kilograms or More of Cocaine, 500 Grams or More of Methamphetamine, and Heroin
21 U.S.C. §§ 846, 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(A)
Yader Rubi-Morales
25/
San Pablo
Conspiracy to Possess With Intent to Distribute 5 Kilograms or More of Cocaine, 500 Grams or More of Methamphetamine, and Heroin
21 U.S.C. §§ 846, 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(A)
Branko Budimir
29/
San Francisco
Felon in possession of a firearm
18 U.S.C. § 922(g)
Julio Covarrubias
38/
San Francisco
Conspiracy to Possess With Intent to Distribute 5 Kilograms or More of Cocaine, 500 Grams or More of Methamphetamine, and Heroin
21 U.S.C. §§ 846, 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(A)
Possession With Intent to Distribute Heroin
(3 counts)
- U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(C)
Possession With Intent to Distribute 50 Grams or More of A Mixture and Substance Containing Methamphetamine
(5 counts)
- U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(B)(viii)
Possession With Intent to Distribute 500 Grams or More of A Mixture and Substance Containing Methamphetamine
21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(A)(viii)
Theresa Carter
27/
San Francisco
Possession With Intent to Distribute 28 Grams or More of Cocaine Base
21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(B)(iii)
Jose Villanueva-Canchola
28/
San Francisco
Conspiracy to Possess With Intent to Distribute 5 Kilograms or More of Cocaine, 500 Grams or More of Methamphetamine, and Heroin
21 U.S.C. §§ 846, 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(A)
Anthony Balenzuela
56/
San Francisco
Possession with Intent to Distribute 50 Grams or More of a Mixture and Substance Containing Methamphetamine
21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(B)(viii)
Lillian Larios
37/
San Francisco
Conspiracy to Possess With Intent to Distribute 5 Kilograms or More of Cocaine, 500 Grams or More of Methamphetamine, and Heroin
21 U.S.C. §§ 846, 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(A)
Antonio Serranorivas
21/
San Francisco
Conspiracy to Possess With Intent to Distribute 5 Kilograms or More of Cocaine, 500 Grams or More of Methamphetamine, and Heroin
21 U.S.C. §§ 846, 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(A)
Possession With Intent to Distribute 500 Grams or More of A Mixture and Substance Containing Methamphetamine
21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(A)(viii)
Stephen Asmus
25/
Redding
Possession With Intent to Distribute Heroin
21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(C)
Lucy Lopez
40/
San Leandro
Conspiracy to Possess With Intent to Distribute 5 Kilograms or More of Cocaine, 500 Grams or More of Methamphetamine, and Heroin
21 U.S.C.
§§ 846, 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(A)
Robert Zander Seaton
33/
San Francisco
Possession With Intent to Distribute 50 Grams or More of A Mixture and Substance Containing Methamphetamine
21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(A)
The indictment follows the filing of a criminal complaint on April 25, 2017, and updates the charges against the six defendants who were named in that original complaint: Pedro Lopez-Galindo, Felix Lopez-Galindo, Natalie Hernandez, Carolina Soto, Ismael Rodriguez-Loreto, and Rafael Romero-Rodriguez. According to the complaint, the DEA had been investigating a drug trafficking organization since November of 2016, and believed that the organization distributed large quantities of heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine in California and other states. The complaint accuses Felix Lopez-Galindo of running the organization with the help of his brother, Pedro Lopez-Galindo. Pedro is described in the complaint as Felix’s “right-hand man.” Also described in the complaint are two seizures by the DEA of cocaine. As a result of the first seizure, on April 13, 2017, the DEA intercepted at least 500 grams of cocaine headed from Fresno to Northern California. The second seizure occurred April 20, 2017, and resulted in the confiscation of more than 5 kilograms of cocaine.
The indictment unsealed today includes all the charges made in the original complaint and adds an additional 17 defendants. The indictment also describes more than a dozen additional transactions in which two or more of the defendants are alleged to have possessed, purchased, or sold cocaine, heroin, or methamphetamine.
An indictment merely alleges that crimes have been committed, and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. The maximum statutory penalties for the crimes of which the defendants have been accused are as follows:
Conspiracy to Possess With Intent to Distribute 5 Kilograms or More of Cocaine, 500 Grams or More of Methamphetamine, and Heroin
21 U.S.C. §§ 846, 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(A)
Minimum 10 years prison
Maximum lifetime imprisonment
Minimum 5 years supervised release following incarceration
Maximum lifetime supervised release
Maximum $10,000,000 fine
Possession With Intent to Distribute Cocaine 500 Grams or More of Cocaine
21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(B)(ii)(II)
Minimum 5 years prison
Maximum 40 years
Minimum 4 years supervised release following incarceration
Maximum lifetime supervised release
Maximum $5,000,000 fine
Possession With Intent to Distribute Cocaine 5 Kilograms or More of Cocaine
- U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(A)(ii)(II)
Minimum 10 years prison
Maximum lifetime imprisonment
Minimum years supervised release following incarceration
Maximum lifetime supervised release
Maximum $10,000,000 fine
Possession With Intent to Distribute 500 Grams or More of A Mixture and Substance Containing Methamphetamine
21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(A)(viii)
Minimum 10 years imprisonment
Maximum lifetime imprisonment
Minimum 5 years supervised release following incarceration
Maximum lifetime supervised release
Maximum $10,000,000 fine
Possession With Intent to Distribute 28 Grams or More of Cocaine Base
21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(B)(iii)
Minimum 5 years prison
Maximum 40 years
Minimum 4 years supervised release following incarceration
Maximum lifetime supervised release
Maximum $5,000,000 fine
Possession With Intent to Distribute 50 Grams or More of A Mixture and Substance Containing Methamphetamine
21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(B)(viii)
Minimum 5 years prison
Maximum 40 years
Minimum 4 years supervised release following incarceration
Maximum lifetime supervised release
Maximum $5,000,000 fine
Possession With Intent to Distribute Heroin
- U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(C)
Maximum 20 years imprisonment
Maximum lifetime supervised release following incarceration
Minimum 3 years supervised release
Maximum $1,000,000 fine
Felon in Possession of a Firearm
18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1)
Maximum 10 years in prison
Maximum 3 years supervised release
Maximum $250,000 fine
Further, additional fines, forfeitures, denial of federal benefits, deportation, and restitution may be ordered; however, any sentence following conviction would be imposed by the court only after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C. § 3553.
Several of the defendants were arrested yesterday as part of a criminal enforcement operation. The coordinated arrests and searches took place in San Francisco, Daly City, and San Jose. The first district court appearance for defendants is on June 15, 2017, before the Honorable William H. Orrick
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sheila Armbrust and Rita Lin are prosecuting the case. The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the DEA with assistance from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; the U.S. Marshals Service; Daly City Police Department Redwood City Police Department; San Francisco Police Department; South San Francisco Police Department; California Highway Patrol; San Bruno Police Department; San Mateo Narcotics Task Force; Alameda County Sheriffs Office; Richmond Police Department; San Francisco Sherriff’s Department; and the Long Beach Police Department. The investigation is part of this district’s Organized Drug Enforcement Task Force program.
Atlanta man sentenced to Federal Prison for unlawfully possessing a sawed-off shotgunRead the Press Release
ATLANTA - Edward Tororis Carter has been sentenced to two years and nine months in federal prison for unlawfully possessing a sawed-off shotgun. The defendant sold seven firearms to an undercover federal agent, including the twelve-gauge shotgun.
“Carter indiscriminately sold firearms to any buyer without regard for their potential use,” said U.S. Attorney John Horn. “In his quest to make money, the defendant never considered that the outcome might have been deadly.”
“An individual brazen enough to sell weapons such as a sawed-off shotgun to buyers on the street poses a clear and present danger to our community. This sentence demonstrates ATF’s continued dedication to identify these individuals and remove them from our neighborhoods,” said ATF Special Agent in Charge Wayne Dixie.
According to U.S. Attorney Horn, the charges and other information presented in court: In 2014, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) commenced an investigation of a convicted felon who was attempting to purchase firearms for subsequent sale and distribution. The investigation led federal agents to make several undercover firearms purchases from Carter who conducted the actual hand-to-hand firearms transactions.
Between May 2014 to August 2014, an undercover federal agent purchased seven firearms from Carter, including one sawed-off shotgun with a barrel length of only twelve inches and total length of only twenty-five inches. At the time of the sawed-off shotgun sale, in response to a comment about the gun, Carter said that the firearm was “ready to go,” suggesting that it was ready to be concealed and put to deadly use.
Edward Tororis Carter, 30, of Atlanta, Georgia, has been sentenced to two years and nine months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release. Carter was convicted on these charges on December 22, 2016, after he pleaded guilty.
This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan M Christian prosecuted the case.
For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at [email protected] or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.
Appointment of Special CounselRead the Press Release
Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein today announced the appointment of former Department of Justice official and FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III to serve as Special Counsel to oversee the previously-confirmed FBI investigation of Russian government efforts to influence the 2016 presidential election and related matters.
“In my capacity as acting Attorney General, I determined that it is in the public interest for me to exercise my authority and appoint a Special Counsel to assume responsibility for this matter,” said Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein. “My decision is not a finding that crimes have been committed or that any prosecution is warranted. I have made no such determination. What I have determined is that based upon the unique circumstances, the public interest requires me to place this investigation under the authority of a person who exercises a degree of independence from the normal chain of command.”
Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein added, “Each year, the career professionals of the U.S. Department of Justice conduct tens of thousands of criminal investigations and handle countless other matters without regard to partisan political considerations. I have great confidence in the independence and integrity of our people and our processes. Considering the unique circumstances of this matter, however, I determined that a Special Counsel is necessary in order for the American people to have full confidence in the outcome. Our nation is grounded on the rule of law, and the public must be assured that government officials administer the law fairly. Special Counsel Mueller will have all appropriate resources to conduct a thorough and complete investigation, and I am confident that he will follow the facts, apply the law and reach a just result.”
Special Counsel Mueller has agreed to resign from his private law firm in order to avoid any conflicts of interest with firm clients or attorneys.
A copy of the order is attached.
13 Members of Violent Drug Trafficking Organization Charged in Manhattan Federal Court with Narcotics Trafficking and Firearms OffensesRead the Press Release
Joon H. Kim, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, William F. Sweeney Jr., the Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), and James P. O’Neill, the Commissioner of the Police Department for the City of New York (“NYPD”), announced today the unsealing of an Indictment charging 13 members of a Bronx-based drug trafficking organization with narcotics trafficking and firearms offenses.
Acting Manhattan U.S. Attorney Joon H. Kim said: “As alleged, these defendants, many of them members of the violent and dangerous Crips street gang, used gun violence to control their territory in the North Bronx and to flood the streets with heroin, crack cocaine, and cocaine. Together with our partners at the FBI and NYPD, we are committed to making our city safer from drug-related violence.”
FBI Assistant Director in Charge William F. Sweeney Jr. said: “Our most important job as the FBI NY Metro Safe Streets Task Force is to protect the community from dangerous gangs that use threats and violence to maintain control. Gangs impact innocent people’s lives every day, people who often have no way to rid their neighborhoods of the dealers on the street corners. Our agents and investigators from our partner law enforcement agencies will be dogged in our pursuit of these criminals.”
NYPD Commissioner James P. O’Neill said: “Today’s arrests are the latest example of the NYPD’s commitment to combatting narcotics trafficking and violent gun crimes. The dismantling of this crew and the amount of evidence seized represents a significant blow to criminal networks operating in the Bronx. Thanks to FBI and U.S. Attorney in the Southern District—our partners on this and many other cases.”
According to the Indictment[1] unsealed in Manhattan federal court and other publicly filed documents:
The members of the Davidson Avenue drug trafficking organization (the “Davidson Avenue DTO”) controlled narcotics trafficking on Davidson Avenue between West Tremont Avenue and West Burnside Avenue in the Bronx, New York (the “Davidson Block”). From 2012 to May 2017, members of the Davidson Avenue DTO sold heroin, crack cocaine, and cocaine, among other illegal narcotics, on the Davidson Block, and prevented others from doing the same by the threat of violence.
Members of the Davidson Avenue DTO are also members and associates of the “55” and “Wildcard” neighborhood sets of the nationwide Crips street gang. Members of the Davidson Avenue DTO possessed firearms, and planned and engaged in acts of violence to, among other reasons, protect and maintain their drug business. In particular, members of the Davidson Avenue DTO used their firearms in territory battles with members and associates of the rival Bloods gang, as well as during internal disputes over authority within the Crips sets that composed the DTO.
Count One of the Indictment charges OVED VEGA, a/k/a “O,” a/k/a “Mantha,” FRANKIE REYES, a/k/a “Biscuit,” HENRY MEJIA, a/k/a “Bigs,” FELIX CASTILLO, a/k/a “Spyder,” JUSTIN RODRIGUEZ, a/k/a “Poochie,” JESSICA GLENN, a/k/a “J,” GABRIEL CRUZ, a/k/a “Gabe,” ISIAH PEREZ, a/k/a “Izzy,” NOEL PEREZ, a/k/a “Lito,” ALFREDO RODRIGUEZ, a/k/a “Fetti,” MARKEEN JORDAN, a/k/a “Kingo,” STEFAN CROMARTIE, a/k/a “Stef,” and DAYQUAN SALAMAN, a/k/a “Domo Gz,” with participating in a conspiracy to distribute narcotics, including heroin, crack cocaine, and cocaine.
Count Two of the Indictment charges OVED VEGA, a/k/a “O,” a/k/a “Mantha,” FRANKIE REYES, a/k/a “Biscuit,” HENRY MEJIA, a/k/a “Bigs,” FELIX CASTILLO, a/k/a “Spyder,” JUSTIN RODRIGUEZ, a/k/a “Poochie,” JESSICA GLENN, a/k/a “J,” GABRIEL CRUZ, a/k/a “Gabe,” ISIAH PEREZ, a/k/a “Izzy,” NOEL PEREZ, a/k/a “Lito,” ALFREDO RODRIGUEZ, a/k/a “Fetti,” MARKEEN JORDAN, a/k/a “Kingo,” STEFAN CROMARTIE, a/k/a “Stef,” and DAYQUAN SALAMAN, a/k/a “Domo Gz,” with possessing and discharging firearms in furtherance of the narcotics conspiracy charged in Count One.
* * *
In a coordinated operation, 10 defendants were arrested in New York on Tuesday afternoon and earlier today. They will be presented this afternoon in Manhattan federal court. Defendant MARKEEN JORDAN was already in federal custody on a violation of supervised release. Defendant DAYQUAN SALAMAN is in custody on state charges and will be transferred to federal custody. FELIX CASTILLO remains at large. Charts identifying each defendant, the charges, and the maximum penalties are attached to this release.
The case is assigned to U.S. District Judge Loretta A. Preska.
Mr. Kim thanked the FBI and NYPD for their work on the investigation.
The Office’s Violent and Organized Crime Unit is overseeing the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Gina Castellano and Hagan Scotten are in charge of the prosecution.
The charges contained in the Indictment are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
United States v. Oved Vega et al.
Count
Charge
Defendant
Maximum Penalty
1
Conspiracy to Distribute Narcotics
OVED VEGA,
a/k/a “O,”
a/k/a “Mantha,”
FRANKIE REYES,
a/k/a “Biscuit,"
HENRY MEJIA,
a/k/a “Bigs,”
FELIX CASTILLO,
a/k/a “Spyder,”
JUSTIN RODRIGUEZ,
a/k/a “Poochie,”
JESSICA GLENN,
a/k/a “J,”
GABRIEL CRUZ,
a/k/a “Gabe,”
ISIAH PEREZ,
a/k/a “Izzy,”
NOEL PEREZ,
a/k/a “Lito,”
ALFREDO RODRIGUEZ,
a/k/a “Fetti,”
MARKEEN JORDAN,
a/k/a “Kingo,”
STEFAN CROMARTIE,
a/k/a “Stef,”
DAYQUAN SALAMAN,
a/k/a “Domo Gz,”
Life in prison with a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison
2
Discharge of Firearms in Furtherance of Narcotics Trafficking
OVED VEGA,
a/k/a “O,”
a/k/a “Mantha,”
FRANKIE REYES,
a/k/a “Biscuit,"
HENRY MEJIA,
a/k/a “Bigs,”
FELIX CASTILLO,
a/k/a “Spyder,”
JUSTIN RODRIGUEZ,
a/k/a “Poochie,”
JESSICA GLENN,
a/k/a “J,”
GABRIEL CRUZ,
a/k/a “Gabe,”
ISIAH PEREZ,
a/k/a “Izzy,”
NOEL PEREZ,
a/k/a “Lito,”
ALFREDO RODRIGUEZ,
a/k/a “Fetti,”
MARKEEN JORDAN,
a/k/a “Kingo,”
STEFAN CROMARTIE,
a/k/a “Stef,”
DAYQUAN SALAMAN,
a/k/a “Domo Gz,”
Life in prison with a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison
Defendants
Age
Oved Vega
39
Frankie Reyes
22
Henry Mejia
37
Felix Castillo
29
Justin Rodriguez
24
Jessica Glenn
33
Gabriel Cruz
23
Isiah Perez
29
Noel Perez
32
Alfredo Rodriguez
26
Markeen Jordan
24
Stefan Cromartie
18
Dayquan Salaman
25
[1] As the introductory phrase signifies, the entirety of the text of the Indictment, and the description of the Indictment set forth herein, constitute only allegations, and every fact described should be treated as an allegation.
16 May 2017
Worcester Man Pleads Guilty to Child Pornography ChargesRead the Press Release
BOSTON – A Worcester man pleaded guilty today in federal court in Worcester to attempting to solicit a minor, who was actually an undercover federal agent, to engage in illicit sexual conduct.
Timothy Biddy, 38, pleaded guilty to one count of attempted interstate travel to engage in illicit sexual conduct and attempted transfer of obscene images to a minor. U.S. District Court Judge Timothy S. Hillman scheduled sentencing for September 11, 2017.
From October 2016 to November 2016, an undercover federal agent posing as a 13-year-old girl began chatting with Biddy through an online text messaging service. During the communications, Biddy proposed to meet the minor to engage in illicit sexual conduct in Sioux Falls, S.D., and graphically described sexual acts he wished to perform with her. He also sent her a video of himself masturbating. Biddy was arrested in November 2016.
The charge of attempted interstate travel to engage in illicit sexual conduct provides for a sentence of no greater than 20 years in prison, a minimum of five years and up to a lifetime of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000; the charge of attempted transfer of obscene images to a minor provides for a sentence of 10 years in prison, a minimum of five years and up to a lifetime of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based on the United States Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Acting United States Attorney William D. Weinreb and Mathew J. Etre, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston, made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark J. Grady of Weinreb’s Worcester Branch Office is prosecuting the case.
The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood. In 2006, the Department of Justice created Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and DOJ’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov/.
Wheeling man convicted of illegal possession of a firearmRead the Press Release
ELKINS, WEST VIRGINIA – Jeffrey Moran, 45, of Wheeling, West Virginia, was convicted today of illegally possessing a firearm, Acting United States Attorney Betsy Steinfeld Jividen announced.
Moran, who had previously been convicted of a felony offenses of drug possession in Ohio County and a misdemeanor conviction of domestic violence, is prohibited from possessing a firearm. He admitted to possessing a .22 caliber pistol, a 12-gauge shotgun and a 20-gauge shotgun in Ohio County, West Virginia in December 2016.
Moran pled guilty to one count of “Unlawful Possession of a Firearm.” He faces up to 10 years incarceration and a $250,000 fine. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed will be based upon the seriousness of the offenses and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.
Assistant U.S. Attorney David J. Perri prosecuted the case on behalf of the government. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the West Virginia Department of Natural Resources investigated.
U.S. District Judge John Preston Bailey presided.
Webster County man sentenced for failing to register as a sex offenderRead the Press Release
WHEELING, WEST VIRGINIA – Timothy A. Yeigh, 28, of Camden on Gauley, West Virginia was sentenced in federal court today to 96 months incarceration for failing to register as a sex offender, Acting United States Attorney Betsy Steinfeld Jividen announced.
Yeigh admitted to traveling in interstate commerce from West Virginia to Florida and failing to update his registration as a sex offender. He entered a guilty plea to one count of “Failure to Register as a Sex Offender” in December 2016.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah W. Montoro prosecuted the case on behalf of the government. The United States Marshals Service investigated.
U.S. District Judge John Preston Bailey presided.
United States Intervenes in Second False Claims Act Lawsuit Alleging that UnitedHealth Group Inc. Mischarged the Medicare Advantage and Prescription Drug ProgramsRead the Press Release
For the second time in two weeks, the United States has filed a complaint against UnitedHealth Group Inc. (UHG) that alleges UHG knowingly obtained inflated risk adjustment payments based on untruthful and inaccurate information about the health status of beneficiaries enrolled in UHG’s Medicare Advantage Plans throughout the United States, the Justice Department announced today. Today’s action follows the government’s filing of a complaint earlier this month in United States ex rel. Swoben v. Secure Horizons, a related action that also alleges that UHG submitted false claims for payment to the Medicare Program.
“The Department of Justice’s pursuit of this matter illustrates its firm commitment to ensure the integrity of the Medicare Program, including those parts of the program that rely on the services of Medicare Advantage Organizations,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Chad A. Readler of the Justice Department’s Civil Division.
UHG is the nation’s largest Medicare Advantage Organization, with more than 50 Medicare Advantage and Drug Prescription plans providing healthcare services and prescription drug benefits to millions of Medicare beneficiaries throughout the United States. receives a monthly “risk adjustment” payment from Medicare for each enrolled beneficiary. The risk adjustment payments are based, in significant part, on the health status of the beneficiary, which are reflected by diagnosis that receives from treating physicians and subsequently submits to Medicare for each beneficiary.
The complaint filed today by the United States alleges that UHG knowingly disregarded information about beneficiaries’ medical conditions, which increased the risk adjustment payments UHG received from Medicare. In particular, the lawsuit contends that, for many years, UHG conducted a national Chart Review Program designed to identify additional diagnoses not reported by treating physicians that would increase UHG’s risk adjustment payments. However, UHG allegedly ignored information from these chart reviews showing that hundreds of thousands of diagnoses provided by treating physicians and submitted by it to Medicare were invalid and did not support the Medicare payments it had previously requested and obtained. By ignoring this information, UHG avoided repaying Medicare monies to which it was not entitled.
The complaint also alleges that UHG ignored information about invalid diagnoses from health care providers with financial incentives to furnish such diagnoses. These providers received payments from UHG tied to the amount of payments that UHG received from Medicare, and thus benefitted financially from any increase in Medicare payments resulting from the diagnoses they provided. UHG allegedly knew that its financial arrangements with these providers created a strong incentive for and increased the risk of these providers to report invalid diagnoses. UHG’s own reviews of these providers’ medical records confirmed that the providers were reporting invalid diagnoses. But upon obtaining such evidence, UHG knowingly avoided further efforts to identify invalid diagnoses from these providers and repay Medicare monies to which neither it nor these providers were entitled.
“To ensure that the program remains viable for all beneficiaries, the Justice Department remains tireless in its pursuit of Medicare fraud perpetrated by healthcare providers and insurers,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Sandra R. Brown for the Central District of California. “The primary goal of publicly funded healthcare programs like Medicare is to provide high-quality medical services to those in need – not to line the pockets of participants willing to abuse the system.”
“As the nation’s largest Medicare Advantage Organization, UHG received substantial overpayments based upon untruthful and inaccurate information about the health status of those enrolled in its plans,” said Acting U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy Jr. for the Western District of New York. “Such fraudulent spending of taxpayer’s dollars will not be tolerated.”
“With approximately one third of Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans, careful investigation of charges is more important than ever,” said Special Agent in Charge Scott J. Lampert of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG). “People receiving health care through these programs and taxpayers deserve nothing less.”
The lawsuit was filed by Benjamin Poehling, the former finance director for the UHG group that managed UHG’s Medicare Advantage Plans. The lawsuit was filed under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act, which permit private parties to sue on behalf of the United States for false claims for government funds, and to receive a share of any recovery. The False Claims Act permits the government to intervene in such a lawsuit, as it has done, in part, in this case.
The government’s intervention in this matter illustrates the government’s emphasis on combating healthcare fraud. One of the most powerful tools in this effort is the False Claims Act. Tips and complaints from all sources about potential fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement, can be reported to the Department of Health and Human Services, at 800-HHS-TIPS (800-447-8477).
This matter was investigated by the Civil Division’s Commercial Litigation Branch, the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices for the Western District of New York and the Central District of California and HHS-OIG.
The claims asserted against UHG are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.
The case is captioned United States of America ex rel. Benjamin Poehling v. UnitedHealth Group, Inc., No. 16-08697. The Swoben complaint is captioned United States ex rel. Swoben v. Secure Horizons, et al., 09-5013. Both are pending in the United States District Court for the Central District of California.
U.S. Intervenes in Second ‘Whistleblower’ Lawsuit Alleging UnitedHealth Mischarged the Medicare Advantage and Prescription Drug ProgramsRead the Press Release
LOS ANGELES – For the second time in two weeks, the United States this afternoon filed a complaint against UnitedHealth Group Inc. that alleges the company knowingly obtained inflated risk adjustment payments based on untruthful and inaccurate information about the health status of beneficiaries enrolled in UnitedHealth’s Medicare Advantage Plans throughout the United States.
Today’s action follows the government’s filing of a complaint earlier this month in United States ex rel. Swoben v. Secure Horizons, a related action that also alleges UnitedHealth submitted false claims for payment to the Medicare Program.
United Health is the nation’s largest Medicare Advantage Organization, with more than 50 Medicare Advantage and Drug Prescription plans providing healthcare services and prescription drug benefits to millions of Medicare beneficiaries throughout the United States. UnitedHealth receives a monthly “risk adjustment” payment from Medicare for each enrolled beneficiary. The risk adjustment payments are based, in significant part, on the health status of the beneficiary, which are reflected by diagnosis that UnitedHealth receives from treating physicians and subsequently submits to Medicare for each beneficiary.
The complaint filed today by the United States alleges that UnitedHealth knowingly disregarded information about beneficiaries’ medical conditions, which increased the risk adjustment payments the company received from Medicare. In particular, the lawsuit contends that, for many years, UnitedHealth conducted a national Chart Review Program designed to identify additional diagnoses not reported by treating physicians that would increase its risk adjustment payments. However, UnitedHealth allegedly ignored information from these chart reviews showing that hundreds of thousands of diagnoses provided by treating physicians and submitted by it to Medicare were invalid and did not support the Medicare payments it had previously requested and obtained. By ignoring this information, UnitedHealth avoided repaying Medicare monies to which it was not entitled.
The complaint also alleges that UnitedHealth ignored information about invalid diagnoses from health care providers with financial incentives to furnish such diagnoses. These providers received payments from UnitedHealth tied to the amount of payments that UnitedHealth received from Medicare, and thus benefitted financially from any increase in Medicare payments resulting from the diagnoses they provided. UnitedHealth allegedly knew that its financial arrangements with these providers created a strong incentive for and increased the risk of these providers to report invalid diagnoses. UnitedHealth’s own reviews of these providers’ medical records confirmed that the providers were reporting invalid diagnoses. But upon obtaining such evidence, UnitedHealth knowingly avoided further efforts to identify invalid diagnoses from these providers and repay Medicare monies to which neither it nor these providers were entitled.
“To ensure that the program remains viable for all beneficiaries, the Justice Department remains tireless in its pursuit of Medicare fraud perpetrated by healthcare providers and insurers,” said Acting United States Attorney Sandra R. Brown. “The primary goal of publicly funded healthcare programs like Medicare is to provide high-quality medical services to those in need – not to line the pockets of participants willing to abuse the system.”
“The Department of Justice’s pursuit of this matter illustrates its firm commitment to ensure the integrity of the Medicare Program, including those parts of the program that rely on the services of Medicare Advantage Organizations,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Chad A. Readler of the Department’s Civil Division.
“With approximately one-third of Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans, careful investigation of charges is more important than ever,” said Special Agent in Charge Scott J. Lampert of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General. “People receiving health care through these programs and taxpayers deserve nothing less.”
The lawsuit was filed by Benjamin Poehling, the former finance director for the group that managed UnitedHealth’s Medicare Advantage Plans. The lawsuit was filed under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act, which permit private parties to sue on behalf of the United States for false claims for government funds, and to receive a share of any recovery. The False Claims Act permits the government to intervene in such a lawsuit, as it has done, in part, in this case.
The case is captioned United States of America ex rel. Benjamin Poehling v. UnitedHealth Group, Inc., CV16-8697. The Poehling and Swoben cases are pending in the United States District Court for the Central District of California.
This matter was investigated by the United States Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles, the Civil Division’s Commercial Litigation Branch, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General.
The government’s intervention in this matter illustrates the government’s emphasis on combating healthcare fraud. One of the most powerful tools in this effort is the False Claims Act. Tips and complaints from all sources about potential fraud, waste, abuse and mismanagement can be reported to the Department of Health and Human Services, at 800-HHS-TIPS (800-447-8477).
The claims asserted against UnitedHealth are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.
Two South Florida Residents Charged with Shooting at a U.S. Postal Service Letter CarrierRead the Press Release
Two South Florida residents are charged with shooting at a U.S. Postal Service Letter Carrier during the performance of his official duties.
Benjamin G. Greenberg, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Antonio J. Gomez, Postal Inspector in Charge, United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), Miami Division, Juan J. Perez, Director, Miami-Dade Police Department (MDPD) made the announcement.
Jacoby Myrick, 19, of Miami, and Marques Brown, 19, of Miami, are charged in a two count indictment with Assaulting a Federal Employee, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 111(a)(1) and (b), and Discharging a Firearm in Furtherance of a Crime of Violence, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 924(c)(1)(A)(iii). Brown was arraigned today before U.S. Magistrate Judge William C. Turnoff. Brown was ordered detained pending trial. Myrick is pending an appearance before a U.S. Magistrate Judge.
According to the court record, including the indictment, on March 2, 2017, a U.S. Postal Service Letter Carrier was delivering mail at a residence in Southwest Miami-Dade County, as the home was being burglarized. Defendants Myrick and Brown allegedly fled the scene of the burglary in a single vehicle. While driving from the crime scene, one of the defendants shot at the letter carrier. The letter carrier was unharmed.
Mr. Greenberg commended the investigative efforts of the USPIS and MDPD. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Beranton J. Whisenant, Jr.
Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.
Two Men Plead Guilty to Drug ChargesRead the Press Release
CONTACT: Barbara Burns
PHONE: (716) 843-5817
FAX: (716) 551-3051ROCHESTER, N.Y. - Acting U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that two men, Connor Dempsey, 20, and Joel C. Jacob, 21, both of Buffalo, NY, pleaded guilty before U.S District Judge Elizabeth Wolford. Dempsey and Jacob each pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges, which carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $1,000,000 fine. Dempsey pleaded to conspiring to maintain a drug involved premises, while Jacob pled to conspiring to possess with intent to distribute MDMA, also known as “Molly.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Patricia Astorga, who is handling the case, stated that on August 17, 2016, defendant Jacob signed for a parcel addressed to him during a controlled delivery by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. The delivery was made to Jacob’s residence on Campus Drive in Buffalo, a residence he shared with Dempsey. The package, which was ordered over the internet using bitcoins, was sent from Munchen, Germany and contained over 180 grams of MDMA.
During a search of the Campus Drive apartment, officers recovered quantities of: marijuana; LSD; cocaine; THC; Xanax; and ketamine. They also found a digital scale, baggies, empty capsules, other drug paraphernalia, and another mail parcel addressed to a third co-defendant.
The pleas are the result of an investigation by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security investigations, under the direction of Acting Special Agent-in-Charge Kevin Kelly; and the United States Postal Inspection Service, under the direction of Inspector-in-Charge Shelly Binkowski of the Boston Division.
Sentencing is scheduled for August 16, 2017, at 9:30 a.m. before Judge Wolford.
Two KC Men Plead Guilty to $1.2 Million Oxycodone ConspiracyRead the Press Release
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tom Larson, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that two Kansas City, Mo., men pleaded guilty in federal court today to their roles in a $1.2 million conspiracy to distribute oxycodone that was obtained by using forged and fraudulent prescriptions.
Gary D. Dickinson, also known as “James DeJong,” 50, and Douglas R. Parker, 51, both of Kansas City, pleaded guilty in separate appearances before U.S. Chief District Judge Greg Kays to the charge contained in a Feb. 2, 2016, federal indictment.
By pleading guilty today, Dickinson and Parker admitted they participated in a conspiracy that lasted from June 2013 to January 2016 to distribute, and to possess with the intent to distribute, oxycodone. Conspirators obtained prescription-quality paper commonly used by authorized health care providers to write prescriptions. They also obtained the DEA registration numbers of health care providers, which they used to prepare fraudulent prescriptions for oxycodone.
Conspirators took the false prescriptions to pharmacies in Kansas City metropolitan area and elsewhere. They commonly sold the oxycodone 30mg pills for between $15 to $25 per pill.
Following several undercover purchases of fraudulent prescriptions from Dickinson, law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Dickinson’s residence on Dec. 23, 2013. Detectives recovered several prescription pill bottles and drug paraphernalia (including pipes, syringes and scales). They also recovered two laptop computers, false prescriptions, blank prescription paper, contact lists and other documentation, including what appeared to be a written instructions on what to say if a pharmacist called to confirm the validity of a prescription.
Dickinson said he obtained false prescriptions from co-defendant Robert G. Joy, also known as “Bear,” 34, of Kansas City, Mo. Dickinson said he filled prescriptions for Joy, then gave him the Oxycodone in exchange for $175 to $225. On Dec. 26, 2013, Dickinson was arrested while attempting to fill a false prescription at The Drug Store in Odessa, Mo. Dickinson admitted that he passed, and attempted to pass, fraudulent prescriptions at several more locations in the months following his arrest. Dickinson was arrested on several occasions, including while attempting to pass more fraudulent prescriptions and after a car stop while he was driving a stolen truck and in possession of 65 Oxycodone pills, 6.5 grams of cocaine and .85 grams of methamphetamine.
On May 19, 2014, law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Dickinson’s room at the Argosy Hotel. Officers found numerous items associated with the manufacture of false prescriptions, including a laptop computer with stored templates for prescriptions and checks, over 200 sheets of blank prescription quality paper, false prescriptions and other items.
During Dickinson’s involvement in the conspiracy, he was aware of at least 60 grams of Oxycodone being fraudulently obtained for distribution. Under the terms of today’s plea agreement, Dickinson must forfeit to the government a money judgment in an amount to be determined by the court at sentencing, which represents his share of proceeds from the criminal activity.
Parker was arrested on Dec. 17, 2013, while attempting to fill a false prescription at the Drexel Pharmacy in Drexel, Mo. Parker told investigators he received the prescription from Dickinson. Parker admitted he began filling false prescriptions for Dickinson about two weeks earlier, bringing the pills back to Dickinson and being paid $150. Parker was directly involved in at least 21.6 grams of Oxycodone being fraudulently obtained for distribution. Under the terms of today’s plea agreement, he must forfeit to the government $14,400, which represents the proceeds of his criminal activity.
Dickinson and Parker are among 11 defendants to plead guilty in this case. Joy, Katherine E. Beaven, 33, Timothy D. Kroenke, 27, and Nicholas Destefano, 38, all of Kansas City, Mo., Christopher J. Neale, 28, of Harrisonville, Mo.; and Thomas Poindexter, 42, of Olathe, Kan., have pleaded guilty and await sentencing. Co-defendants Jermaine C. Brooks, 30, Michelle C. Newton, 46, and Felicita A. San Miguel, also known as “Cassandra Jasso,” “Susan Hernandez,” and “Sarah Buckner,” 38, all of Kansas City, Mo., pleaded guilty and have been sentenced.
Under federal statutes, Dickinson and Parker are each subject to a sentence of up to 20 years in federal prison without parole. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes, as the sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. Sentencing hearings will be scheduled after the completion of presentence investigations by the United States Probation Office.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jess E. Michaelsen. It was investigated by the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Missouri State Highway Patrol, and the police departments of Riverside, Blue Springs, Independence, Kearney, Odessa, Nevada, Higginsville, Drexel Lee’s Summit and Butler.
Stamford Man Sentenced to 3 Years in Prison for Federal Gun OffenseRead the Press Release
Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that CALEEB BROWN, 26, of Stamford, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton in New Haven to 36 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for illegally possessing a firearm.
According to court documents and statements made in court, on October 8, 2015, Stamford Police searched BROWN’s residence and seized a .22 caliber handgun, a 6.35 mm pistol, 14 rounds of .22 caliber ammunition, a quantity of heroin and items used to package narcotics for distribution.
Prior to October 2015, BROWN had sustained multiple felony convictions for possessing with intent to distribute narcotics. It is a violation of federal law for a person previously convicted of a felony offense to possess a firearm or ammunition that has moved in interstate or foreign commerce.
BROWN has been in federal custody since February 10, 2016. On November 3, 2016, he pleaded guilty to one count of possession of a firearm by a previously convicted felon.
This matter was investigated by the Stamford Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas P. Morabito.
Smith County Constable Guilty of Federal Tax ViolationsRead the Press Release
TYLER, Texas – A long-time Smith County Precinct One Constable has pleaded guilty to federal criminal tax violations in the Eastern District of Texas, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Brit Featherston today.
Henry Phillip Jackson, 65, of Tyler, Texas pleaded guilty to four counts of willful failure to file federal income tax returns today before U.S. Magistrate Judge K. Nicole Mitchell.
According to information presented in court, Jackson, who has served as an elected constable since 1999, received income from 2010-2013 that required him to file federal income tax returns for those years. However, Jackson failed to file those returns and now owes more than $160,000 in taxes.
Under federal statutes, Jackson faces up to one year in federal prison for each count at sentencing. The maximum statutory sentence prescribed by Congress is provided here for information purposes, as the sentencing will be determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the U.S. Probation Office.
This case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigations and the Federal Bureau of Investigation and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Frank Coan.
Six People Sentenced in $172,000,000 Insurance Fraud Scheme Court Ordered a Total of over $130,000,000 in RestitutionRead the Press Release
Six defendants were recently sentenced to prison for their participation in a massive insurance fraud scheme that resulted in federal judicial orders for more than $130 million in restitution.
Benjamin G. Greenberg, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Adolphus P. Wright, Special Agent in Charge, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Miami Field Division, Kelly R. Jackson, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), and Michael J. Satz, Broward State Attorney, announced the sentencing of six of sixteen defendants who were previously charged in a five-count criminal Information.
A criminal Information charged sixteen defendants for their participation in a complex fraud scheme regarding the manufacture and distribution of compounded medications. The fraud involved material misrepresentations to health insurance providers and illegal payments to coconspirators and medical professionals, including physicians. The fraud generated in excess of $172,000,000 in criminal proceeds for the members of the criminal enterprise.
All sixteen defendants have pled guilty for their participation in the fraudulent scheme. Most recently, six defendants were sentenced to prison by United States District Judge Daniel T. K. Hurley, for their roles in the insurance fraud. The six defendants received the following sentences: Rhett Gordon, 36 months’ imprisonment; Brett Nadel, 36 months’ imprisonment; Lisa Goldberg, 46 months’ imprisonment; Dr. John Johnson, 60 months’ imprisonment; Frederick Thomas Giampa, 30 months’ imprisonment and Timothy Clinton, 60 months’ imprisonment. In relation to the fraudulent scheme, the Court has ordered restitution totaling in excess of $130 million dollars. In addition, the defendants have forfeited over $30 million in assets.
According to the court record, the defendants participated in a two-year conspiracy, which they used various business entities, including Numed Care, LLC, Clinical Corp, LLC, RX of Boca, and American Custom Compound Pharmacy, to perpetrate a complex fraud on numerous health care insurance providers. The defendants prepared medications in bulk quantities, which they alleged to be compounded medications for specific individualized patient needs. The defendants falsely represented to the health insurance providers that these medications were prepared in limited quantities for individual patients and were exempt from FDA inspection.
The health insurance providers compensated the defendants for the alleged costs of the ingredients for such medications. The defendants concealed from the health insurance providers that the defendants paid illegal kickbacks to physicians for the issuance of the compounded medications. The defendants unlawfully provided the physicians with pre-printed prescription pads. In order to facilitate the fraudulent scheme, the defendants used mass-marketing techniques and call centers, which made material misrepresentations in order to solicit potential patients. defendants induced owners of failing pharmacies throughout the United States to participate in the scheme in order to perpetuate the fraud.
Mr. Greenberg commended the investigative efforts of the DEA, IRS-CI, and the Broward State Attorney’s Office in connection with the investigation of this matter. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Paul F. Schwartz and Jeffrey N. Kaplan.
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
Scranton Tax Preparer Charged with Defrauding Taxpayers of More Than $250,000Read the Press Release
SCRANTON - The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced today that Donald Royce, age 40, of Scranton, Pennsylvania, was indicted by a federal grand jury for tax preparation fraud charges.
According to United States Attorney Bruce D. Brandler, Royce was a tax preparer in Scranton who defrauded a number of local residents in 2014. The indictment alleges that Royce prepared fraudulent tax returns for multiple taxpayers causing more than $250,000 in losses. Royce gave the taxpayers a client copy of their tax return, then made material fraudulent changes to the client copy, and submitted the false return to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for his financial benefit. The indictment further alleges that Royce took clients’ IRS payment checks and deposited them directly in to his own account without ever remitting the amount to the IRS, all without the taxpayers’ knowledge.
The case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigations. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Evan Gotlob.
The maximum penalty under federal law for this offense is 23 years of imprisonment, a term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a maximum fine of $2,250,000. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the Judge is also required to consider and weigh a number of factors, including the nature, circumstances and seriousness of the offense; the history and characteristics of the defendant; and the need to punish the defendant, protect the public and provide for the defendant's educational, vocational and medical needs. For these reasons, the statutory maximum penalty for the offense is not an accurate indicator of the potential sentence for a specific defendant.
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San Antonio Man Sentenced to 30 Years in Federal Prison for Production of Child PornRead the Press Release
In San Antonio this morning, 33-year-old Kevin Clay Montgomery was sentenced to the statutory maximum of 30 years in federal prison followed by ten years of supervised release for production of child pornography announced United States Attorney Richard Durbin, Jr. and FBI Special Agent in Charge Christopher Combs, San Antonio.
On October 15, 2016, Montgomery pleaded guilty to the charge. By pleading guilty, Montgomery admitted that in September 2014, he used his cell phone to produce child pornography that depicted the abuse and exploitation of an approximate 2-year-old female toddler. After receiving information concerning the transmission and storage of potential child pornography, agents from the FBI’s San Antonio Division obtained a search warrant for the defendant’s residence. On January 27, 2015, agents executed the warrant and seized two cellular telephones belonging to the defendant. A subsequent forensics evaluation of the seized phones revealed the presence of approximately 369 images of child pornography produced using those phones from October 2014 to December 2014.
Montgomery has remained in federal custody since his arrest on January 27, 2015.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted this investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Tracy Thompson prosecuted this case on behalf of the Government.
Ring Leader of Gas-Pump Skimming and Identity-Theft Scheme Sentenced to 12 Years in Federal PrisonRead the Press Release
Scheme Stretched from Texas into Colorado, Indiana, Wisconsin, Ohio and Michigan
GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN — Antonio DeJesus Perez-Martinez, 44, formerly of Austin, Texas, was sentenced today to serve 144 months, or exactly 12 years, in the Federal Bureau of Prisons for his leadership of a scheme that involved the installation of hidden data-skimming devices inside gas pumps, encoding credit-account data that was harvested by those devices onto "cloned" credit cards, and use of the cards to bulk-buy gift cards and prepaid debit cards at self-checkout lanes of major retailers. Perez-Martinez was convicted of conspiracy to commit wire-fraud, credit-account fraud, and aggravated identity-theft after a trial in U.S. District Court during January 2017, and he is the last of eight defendants charged in a long-running investigation that was conducted by the Lansing office of the FBI, with assistance from the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Grand Rapids Metro Fraud and Identity-Theft Team, and the Grand Ledge Police Department.
The evidence at trial established that Perez-Martinez, a Cuban citizen and lawful permanent resident of the United States ("green-card" holder), recruited numerous recently-arrived Cuban citizens – all of whom had entered the United States in 2014 under a special "parole" program that admitted Cuban citizens who presented themselves to immigration authorities at the border – into a fraud scheme that initially involved obtaining compromised credit-account data from illicit websites. During the Summer of 2015, Perez-Martinez switched from acquiring account data online to using "skimming" devices that his accomplices secretly installed inside gas-pumps, and also extended his group’s operation into West Michigan. Skimming devices capture the account data of any card used to purchase gas without interfering with the purchase, leaving the account holder unaware that the data has been compromised until it has been re-encoded onto cloned cards and used to make unauthorized purchases.
Perez-Martinez’ sentence is the seventh prison term imposed in the case: Raul Gonzalez Falcon (29), Yunier Carballo-Pupo (34), Manuel Perez-Cabrera (38), and Michel Velazquez-Gregori (30), none of whom had prior criminal records and all of whom agreed to plead guilty and to cooperate with the investigation, all received sentences of 21 months in prison. Pedro Sanchez-Pupo (32) received a sentence of 37 months. A seventh defendant, Juan Estrada-Galvez, was allowed to plead guilty to a state misdemeanor in Kent County when the investigation determined that his involvement in the scheme had been minimal.
"Perez-Martinez has learned the hard way that West Michigan is the wrong place to visit if you’re engaged in a gas-pump skimming scheme," stated Acting U.S. Attorney Andrew Birge. "The odds of getting caught here are good, and if you are caught, then your case will be prosecuted in Federal court and the investigative resources of the FBI will be brought to bear against you. That applies both to those who are caught in the act and to people like Perez- Martinez who might never set foot in West Michigan, but who send their subordinates here. The long arms of federal law caught Perez-Martinez. And those arms aren’t letting go until he serves his time."
"The guilty verdict and subsequent lengthy sentence in this case demonstrate that criminals who engage in identity theft will be held accountable for their crimes. The FBI, along with our local, state and federal law enforcement partners, is committed to safeguarding the public against such crimes and working to ensure the American public is secure in its financial transactions," said David P. Gelios, Special Agent in Charge of the Detroit Division of the FBI.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Hagen W. Frank.
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Randolph County woman sentenced for illegal possession of a firearmRead the Press Release
WHEELING, WEST VIRGINIA – Alexis McDonald, 19, of Elkins, West Virginia, was sentenced to 37 months incarceration for illegally possessing a firearm, Acting United States Attorney Betsy Steinfeld Jividen announced.
McDonald, who had previously been convicted of a felony offense in Pennsylvania, is prohibited from possessing a firearm. She admitted to possessing a .9mm caliber pistol in Barbour County, West Virginia in July 2016.
McDonald pled guilty to one count of “Felon in Possession of a Firearm” in January 2017.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen D. Warner prosecuted the case on behalf of the government. The Mountain Region Drug and Violent Crime Task Force investigated.
U.S. District Judge John Preston Bailey presided.
Previously Convicted Felon from Union County, New Jersey, Admits Illegally Possessing FirearmsRead the Press Release
TRENTON, N.J. – An Elizabeth, New Jersey, man today admitted possessing a shotgun, a rifle, and two handguns despite being a previously convicted felon, Acting U.S. Attorney William E. Fitzpatrick announced.
Daniel Bigelow, 28, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Anne E. Thompson in Trenton federal court to an information charging him with three counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
Bigelow admitted that despite having prior felony convictions in Union County Superior Court and New York State Supreme Court, he knowingly possessed firearms on three separate occasions. Bigelow admitted that he possessed a Savage Arms Stevens Model 320 12-gauge shotgun on Dec. 29, 2015 and a Hi-Point Model C9 9mm pistol on March 31, 2016. Bigelow also admitted to having a Hi-Point Model 995 9mm rifle and a Smith and Wesson Model 686 .357 revolver in his possession on April 12, 2016.
The felon in possession of a firearm charge carries a maximum potential penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 21, 2017.
Acting U.S. Attorney Fitzpatrick credited ATF special agents, under the direction Acting Special Agent in Charge Marcus S. Watson in Newark, with the investigation. He also thanked the Elizabeth Police Department for its assistance.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jihee G. Suh of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Newark.
Defense counsel: Patrick McMahon Esq., Assistant Federal Public Defender, Newark
Philadelphia Man Pleads Guilty to Defrauding Pittsburgh-area BanksRead the Press Release
PITTSBURGH, PA – A resident of Philadelphia, PA, has pleaded guilty in federal court on a charge of fraud conspiracy, Acting United States Attorney Soo C. Song announced today.
Darein Clark, 23, pleaded guilty to one count before United States District Judge David S. Cercone.
According to the indictment, Clark and others agreed to defraud Pittsburgh area banks by depositing counterfeit checks by remote mobile deposit, and then making a series of withdrawals against funds credited from the deposited checks.
Judge Cercone scheduled the sentence for sentencing for October 6, 2017. The law provides for a maximum total sentence of not more than 30 years in prison, a fine of $1,000,000, or both. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed would be based upon the seriousness of the offenses and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.
Assistant United States Attorney Gregory C. Melucci is prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.
The Western Pennsylvania Financial Crimes Task Force (WPFCTF), conducted the investigation that led to the successful prosecution of this defendant. The WPFCTF was established as a collaborative, multi-agency effort to effectively combat financial crimes, including identity fraud, in Western Pennsylvania. Partnering in this effort are the United States Attorney's Office for the Western District of Pennsylvania, the United States Secret Service, the United States Postal Inspection Service, the Department of Homeland Security, the Allegheny County District Attorney's Office, the Allegheny County Police Department, the City of Pittsburgh Bureau of Police and the Pennsylvania State Police.
Owner of Sunland Park Smoke Shop Pleads Guilty to Selling Drug ParaphernaliaRead the Press Release
ALBUQUERQUE – Brenda Riveroll, 36, of El Paso, Texas, pled guilty today in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., to selling drug paraphernalia. The plea agreement recommends that Riveroll be sentenced to a five-year term of probation.
Riveroll was arrested on April 3, 2017, on an indictment charging her with selling drug paraphernalia. The indictment charged Riveroll with selling drug paraphernalia on May 3, 2016, and offering to sell drug paraphernalia on May 12, 2016. According to the indictment, Riveroll committed the crimes in Dona Ana County, N.M.
During today’s change of plea hearing, Riveroll pled guilty to the indictment. In her plea agreement, Riveroll acknowledged that she was the owner and sole employee of “The Smoke Shop,” located on Palomas Court in Sunland Park, N.M. Riveroll admitted that on May 3, 2016, she sold two pipes, designed for and intended for use in smoking marijuana, to undercover law enforcement officers. Riveroll also admitted that on May 3, 2016, and May 12, 2016, she had a large inventory of drug paraphernalia for sale at her place of business. The plea agreement states that on May 12, 2016, law enforcement officers searched “The Smoke Shop” and seized 1,409 assorted smoking instruments, including bongs, glass pipes and metal pipes, 80 grinders for grinding marijuana, and five scales for weighing controlled substances. Riveroll admitted knowing that the merchandise she sold and offered for sale at “The Smoke Shop” was likely to be used with illegal drugs.
This case was investigated by the Las Cruces office of the DEA and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Brock E. Taylor of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office.
Omnicare Inc. Agrees to $8 Million Settlement in False Claims Act CaseRead the Press Release
NEWARK, N.J. – The U.S. Attorney’s Office of the District of New Jersey, the U.S. Department of Justice and 28 states have reached an $8 million settlement with Omnicare Inc. resolving allegations arising from a whistle-blower suit filed under the False Claims Act. The agreement was announced today by Acting U.S. Attorney William E. Fitzpatrick.
The settlement follows an investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the District of New Jersey and the Commercial Litigation Branch of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. The United States alleged that Omnicare, in an effort to increase business efficiency and profit, designed and implemented an automated label verification system at certain locations that utilized a less specific drug code – known as “MEDID” – during its automated Stage II pharmacist verification process, instead of the more specific National Drug Code (NDC).
This system resulted in the submission by Omnicare of claims for generic drugs different from those actually dispensed to Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries. It also resulted in the dispensing of drugs with patient-specific labels displaying the incorrect manufacturer or NDC. The government alleged that the false manufacturer and NDC information on the labels, and within Omnicare’s electronic dispensing information, affected Omnicare’s ability to properly track and, if necessary, conduct patient-level recalls of such drugs.
“Ensuring accuracy in the dispensing of and billing for medication in the Medicare Part D and Medicaid Programs, especially to long-term care patients, is vital to public safety,” Acting U.S. Attorney Fitzpatrick said.
The relators, or whistler-blowers, in the underlying qui tam will receive more than $2 million as their statutory share of the recovery and to resolve their employment based claims in accordance with the False Claims Act. The civil lawsuit was filed in the District of New Jersey and is captioned U.S. et al. ex rel. Elizabeth Corsi and Christopher Ezzie v. Omnicare Inc.
Acting U.S. Attorney Fitzpatrick credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Timothy Gallagher in Newark, and special agents from the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Scott J. Lampert, for the investigation leading to the settlement.
The government is represented by the U.S. Attorney’s Office District of New Jersey, Deputy Chief, Civil Division, David Dauenheimer and Assistant U.S. Attorney Bernard Cooney of the Office’s Health Care and Government Fraud Unit, and the Department of Justice’s Civil Division, Senior Litigation Counsel Laurie A. Oberembt. The Office of Inspector General and the Office of the General Counsel for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services of the Department of Health and Human Services also participated in the investigation and settlement.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office reorganized its health care practice in 2010 and created a stand-alone Health Care and Government Fraud Unit to handle both criminal and civil investigations and prosecutions of health care fraud offenses. Since that time, the office has recovered more than $1.33 billion in health care and government fraud settlements, judgments, fines, restitution and forfeiture under the False Claims Act, the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, and other statutes.
For more information about the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey, visit its website at http://www.justice.gov/usao-nj.
Counsel for relators: Charles C. Goetsch Esq., New Haven, Connecticut.
Counsel for defendant: Michael Martinez Esq., New YorkOhio man sentenced for heroin, cocaine traffickingRead the Press Release
WHEELING, WEST VIRGINIA – Rayshawn L. Ball, 31, of Columbus, Ohio, was sentenced today in federal court to 41 months incarceration for heroin and cocaine trafficking, Acting United States Attorney Betsy Steinfeld Jividen announced today.
Ball engaged in heroin and cocaine trafficking in Ohio County, West Virginia throughout late 2014 and early 2015. Ball pled guilty to one count of “Possession with Intent to Distribute Schedule I and Schedule II Controlled Substances” in December 2016.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah W. Montoro prosecuted the case on behalf of the government. The Marshall County Drug Task Force, a HIDTA-funded initiative, investigated.
U.S. District Judge John Preston Bailey presided.
New York Man Sentenced for Credit Card FraudRead the Press Release
HARRISBURG- The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Shavouy Paisley, age 25, of Queens, New York, was sentenced today by United States District Judge William W. Caldwell to 17 months’ imprisonment for credit card fraud. Paisley was convicted after a jury trial in September 2016, for conspiracy to possess 15 or more counterfeit or unauthorized access devices.
According to United States Attorney Bruce D. Brandler, Paisley and his co-defendants were arrested on September 28, 2014, in Cumberland County by Hampden Township Police Department after making several suspicious purchases at CVS and Rite Aid establishments located on the Carlisle Pike in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. The Hampden Township Police Department seized more than 100 counterfeit Visa cards from the vehicle the three men had been traveling in, along with 25 cartons of cigarettes and multiple gift cards. During the investigation, the United States Secret Service determined the account numbers associated with the magnetic strips on the cards belonged to account holders from dozens of banks and institutions across the country. After reviewing bank records, the United States Secret Service identified more than a half a dozen retail establishments on the Carlisle Pike where the defendants attempted to or actually did make purchases using these unauthorized account numbers. The intended loss was $50,500 and the actual loss was $6,414.
Codefendant Rushane Kennedy pled guilty on September 12, 2016, and is awaiting sentencing. Vernal Moffat remains a fugitive.
The case was investigated by the United States Secret Service and the Hampden Township Police Department. Assistant United States Attorneys Meredith A. Taylor and Joseph J. Terz prosecuted the case.
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Nevada Woman Sentenced for Taking 'Food Stamps' for Meth, CashRead the Press Release
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Tom Larson, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Nevada, Mo., woman was sentenced in federal court today for her role in a conspiracy to exchange “food stamps” for methamphetamine or cash.
Julie M. Drake, 48, of Nevada, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool to nine years in federal prison without parole.
On Jan. 30, 2017, Drake pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of possessing methamphetamine with the intent to distribute. Drake admitted that she participated in a conspiracy from Aug. 30 to Oct. 14, 2015, in Bates and Vernon Counties. Drake accepted Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, better known as “food stamps,” in exchange for methamphetamine or a percentage of the benefits in cash. Drake then used the EBT cards and PINs belonging to others to buy her own food.
Vernon County Sheriff’s Department officers executed a search warrant at Drake’s residence on Oct. 14, 2015. During a search of the master bedroom, officers found a purse that contained 22 baggies of methamphetamine, weighing approximately 100 grams, packaged for distribution. Officers also found two digital scales in the bedroom closet, as well as a safe that contained $4,720. Four EBT cards belonging to four other individuals were found on the dresser.
Investigators then reviewed video surveillance from the Wal-Mart stores in Nevada and Lamar, Mo., which showed Drake using the EBT cards found in her bedroom that she obtained through the sale of methamphetamine.
In interviews with federal agents, one of the recipients of the EBT cards admitted he used his EBT benefits to buy methamphetamine from Drake. He told investigators that a $55.94 transaction was payment for the methamphetamine, which would have cost approximately half the value of the transaction. Another one of the recipients admitted to selling his EBT benefits to Drake for 50 cents per each $1 in benefits. She would come to his residence to retrieve the EBT card, call the 1-800 number on the back of the EBT card to verify the balance, and then give him half of the value in cash.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Nhan D. Nguyen and Patrick Carney. It was investigated by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of Inspector General and the Vernon County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department.
Milford, Iowa Man Sentenced to Federal Prison for Drug ConvictionRead the Press Release
A man who conspired to distribute methamphetamine in the Milford area was sentenced on May 16, 2017, to 10 years in federal prison.
Jeremy Hoffman, age 29, from Milford, Iowa, received the prison term after a January 11, 2017, guilty plea to one count of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.
In a plea agreement, Hoffman admitted he and others conspired to distribute methamphetamine from about 2014 through October 18, 2016, in the Northern District of Iowa and elsewhere. Hoffman was personally involved in the distribution of at least 1.3 kilograms of methamphetamine, selling as much as a half-pound to a single customer per week. During the conspiracy, Hoffman sent text messages detailing an incident in which someone stole “ten grand” from him. In those text messages, Hoffman stated that he retaliated against that individual by violently assaulting him with the handle of a pickaxe.
Hoffman was sentenced in Sioux City by United States District Court Judge Leonard T. Strand. Hoffman was sentenced to 120 months’ imprisonment. A special assessment of $100 was imposed. He must also serve a five-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
Hoffman is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.
The case was prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Ajay Alexander and investigated by the Dickinson County Sheriff’s Office, the Clay County Sheriff’s Office, and the O’Brien County Sheriff’s Office.
Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.
The case file number is CR16-4091.
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Miami-Dade Police Department Officer Charged with Unlawfully Exporting FirearmsRead the Press Release
Miami-Dade Police Department Officer Michael Freshko has been charged in a criminal information with conspiracy to unlawfully export firearms from the United States to the Dominican Republic, on flights from Miami International Airport.
Benjamin G. Greenberg, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida; George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office; and Juan J. Perez, Director, Miami-Dade Police Department (MDPD), made the announcement.
Freshko, 48, had his initial appearance today before U.S. Magistrate Judge William C. Turnoff. The case is assigned to U.S. District Judge Darrin P. Gayles.
According to the allegations in the criminal information, after receiving firearms from a co-conspirator, Freshko used his official position as a MDPD officer to transport the firearms past the passenger screening area and into the portion of Miami International Airport that housed the departure gates. The criminal information further alleges that Freshko thereafter would deliver the firearms to a co-conspirator, who in turn would store the firearms within carry-on baggage. Next, a co-conspirator would travel to the Dominican Republic aboard a commercial flight, with the firearms within carry-on baggage. After arriving in the Dominican Republic, a co-conspirator would deliver the firearms to an associate.
The criminal information states that one or more firearms were smuggled in this manner on October 5, 2012, and multiple firearms were smuggled on December 7, 2012. The information alleges that Freshko and the members of the conspiracy smuggled six firearms from Miami International Airport to the Dominican Republic. The smuggled firearms consisted of four Glock .9 mm pistols, one Sig Sauer .9 mm pistol, and one Sig Sauer 5.56 rifle.
The case was investigated by law enforcement officers in South Florida and New Jersey. Mr. Greenberg thanked the FBI Miami Area Corruption Task Force; the MDPD Professional Compliance Bureau; the FBI Newark Division-Franklin Township Resident Agency; the Drug Enforcement Administration Newark Division-Patterson Post of Duty; and the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, Newark Field Office. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Davis.
A criminal information 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.
Miami Resident Sentenced to 6 Years in Prison for his Role in Cashing Fraudulently Obtained Large-Dollar Tax Refund ChecksRead the Press Release
A Miami resident was sentenced to 72 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release for his involvement in a stolen identity refund fraud scheme involving the cashing of fraudulently obtained large-dollar tax refund checks.
Benjamin G. Greenberg, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Kelly R. Jackson, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, and Mark Selby, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcements Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI), Miami Field Office, made the announcement.
Silvio Galvez, Jr., 30, of Miami, previously pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit theft of government money, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 371, and one count of aggravated identity theft, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1028A(a)(1).
According to court documents, from 2013 to 2014, co-conspirators of Galvez submitted hundreds of fraudulent tax returns with stolen personal identity information to the IRS requesting over $50 million in large-dollar tax refunds (each refund requested ranged in value from $130,000 to $170,000). As a result of these fraudulent filings, the IRS paid out approximately $4.3 million in tax refunds by mailing out tax refund checks to various Miami addresses connected to this scheme. Galvez knew these fraudulent returns were being filed and furthered the scheme by serving as the source to cash these fraudulently obtained large-dollar tax refund checks at check cashers and at various banks. The defendant also participated in the scheme by recruiting a bank employee to open up bank accounts using stolen personal identity information where these fraudulent checks could be deposited.
Mr. Greenberg commended the investigative efforts of IRS-CI, the FBI, and ICE-HSI. This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael N. Berger.
Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov .
Medford Man Sentenced for Oxycodone ConspiracyRead the Press Release
BOSTON – A Medford man, and co-defendant of former NHL player Kevin Stevens, was sentenced in federal court in Boston today in connection with an oxycodone conspiracy.
Christopher Alonardo, 36, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge George A. O’Toole Jr. to 18 months in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $10,000. In December 2016, Alonardo pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute oxycodone and possession with intent to distribute oxycodone. On May 4, 2017, co-defendant and former NHL player Kevin Stevens was sentenced to three years of probation and ordered to pay a fine of $10,000.
From approximately August 2015 through March 2016, Stevens and Alonardo conspired to distribute oxycodone in southeastern Massachusetts and the Boston area. Stevens supplied wholesale quantities of oxycodone to Alonardo who resold the drugs. On Nov. 5, 2015, Stevens was stopped by police and found in possession of 175 30mg pills of oxycodone that were intended for redistribution by Alonardo.
Acting United States Attorney William D. Weinreb; Harold H. Shaw, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; and Colonel Richard D. McKeon, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police, made the announcement today. The Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation, the Massachusetts Department of Correction, and the Boston, Medford and Quincy Police Departments provided assistance with the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy E. Moran of Weinreb’s Organized Crime and Gang Unit prosecuted the case.
Martinsburg man accused of stealing government moneyRead the Press Release
MARTINSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA – A Martinsburg, West Virginia man was indicted today by a federal grand jury on charges he stole money from the government, Acting United States Attorney Betsy Steinfeld Jividen, announced.
Paul A. Bradley, age 52, was indicted on one count of “Theft of Government Money,” and two counts of “Making a Material False Statement.” Bradley allegedly falsely claimed mileage reimbursement for travel to the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Martinsburg from a Virginia address. The crimes occurred from November 2010 to July 2015.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Shawn M. Adkins is prosecuting the case on behalf of the government. The Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Inspector General and the United States Department of Veterans Affairs Police investigated.
An indictment is merely an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Manchester Man Sentenced to 54 Months for Child Pornography PossessionRead the Press Release
CONCORD, N.H.: Allan Yianakopolos, 49, of Manchester, New Hampshire, was sentenced to serve 54 months in federal prison for possessing child pornography, announced Acting United States Attorney John J. Farley.
According to court records, law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at the Manchester residence of Yianakopolos in February of 2016. Among the items seized was a cellular telephone that contained hundreds of images and videos of child pornography.
Yianakopolos pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography on January 26, 2017. After serving his54-month prison sentence, he will be on supervised release for ten years.
In February 2006, the Department of Justice introduced Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorney’s Offices, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
The case was investigated by the New Hampshire Crimes Against Children Task Force in conjunction Homeland Security Investigations Manchester, and the police departments of Manchester and Bedford, New Hampshire. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Georgiana Konesky.
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Louisiana Residents Plead Guilty to Illegal Hunting on Delta National Wildlife RefugeRead the Press Release
Acting U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that ROBERT “BOOZIE” COSSE, JR., age 40, from Port Sulphur, and DEAN “DINO” OCKMOND, JR., age 36, of Vacherie, pled guilty today to crimes related to illegal hunting on the Delta National Wildlife Refuge.
The Delta National Wildlife Refuge is located on the east bank of the Mississippi River Delta in lower Plaquemines Parish, southeast of Venice. The Refuge is comprised of 48,000 acres of marsh and wetlands that were set aside in the early 1930’s in order to serve as a refuge and breeding grounds for migratory birds and other wildlife.
After receiving complaints of illegal hunting on the Refuge, Special Agents of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service conducted a months-long investigation and determined that COSSE was illegally maintaining a deer stand and a feeder that expelled corn to attract deer and hogs on a difficult-to-access portion of the Delta National Wildlife Refuge. COSSE and his associates repeatedly hunted with firearms at the illegal feeder on the refuge during the winter of 2015-16.
On January 17, 2016, federal agents observed OCKMOND shoot and kill an 11-point white-tailed buck at the illegal feeder. COSSE and OCKMOND then transported the illegally harvested deer in violation of the Lacey Act, which prohibits the transportation or acquisition of wildlife taken in violation of any Federal law or regulation. Both COSSE and OCKMOND pled guilty to one count of violating the Lacey Act.
COSSE pled guilty to 16 misdemeanor counts of violating the Refuge Systems Administration Act related to repeated violations involving: illegal use of a bait to hunt deer or hogs on a refuge; illegal use of a motor vehicle on a refuge; illegal hunting of deer or hogs during a closed season on a refuge; and, the illegal use of a firearm to hunt deer or hogs on a refuge.
COSSE was fined $8,775 and agreed to forfeit to the government a Polaris All-Terrain Vehicle and a John Deere tractor that he was using to illegally traverse the refuge. The Court also placed COSSE on probation for three years, and forbade COSSE from entering any National Wildlife Refuge or engaging in any type of hunting activity during that time.
OCKMOND was fined $2,025 and agreed to forfeit the mounted 11-point buck to the government. The Court also placed OCKMOND on probation for two years, and forbade OCKMOND from entering any National Wildlife Refuge or engaging in any type of hunting activity during that time.
Acting U.S. Attorney Evans praised the work of the Special Agents from the United States Fish and Wildlife Service office located in Lacombe in investigating this matter. Assistant U.S. Attorney Myles Ranier was in charge of the prosecution.
Logansport Man Sentenced to 275 Months ImprisonmentRead the Press Release
HAMMOND-Acting United States Attorney Clifford D. Johnson announced that Johnny Clay Amos, 52, of Logansport, Indiana was sentenced before District Court Judge Philip P. Simon for production of child pornography.
Amos was sentenced to 275 months’ imprisonment followed by 10 years of supervised release.
According to documents in this case, between July 2014 and January 2016, Amos paid individuals in the Philippines to provide minor children to perform sex shows via live-streaming webcam. During this time, Amos made more than 100 money transfers to the Philippines and, on at least ten separate occasions, induced young females to engage in sexually explicit conduct over the internet. On March 18, 2016, a search warrant was executed on Amos’s residence where over 800 videos and images of child pornography were found.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and was handled by Assistant United States Attorney Abizer Zanzi.
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Leesburg Gang Member Arrested on Federal Carjacking and Firearms ChargesRead the Press Release
Ocala, Florida – Acting United States Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow announces the unsealing of an indictment charging Jonathan Kyle Lanier (23, Leesburg) with carjacking, conspiracy to commit carjacking, brandishing a firearm in furtherance of carjacking, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 15 years in federal prison for the carjacking count, up to 5 years’ imprisonment for the conspiracy count, a minimum mandatory 7-year penalty for brandishing a firearm, and up to 10 years in federal prison for the felon in possession charge. The indictment also notifies Lanier that the United States intends to forfeit three firearms that are alleged to have been used in facilitating the offense. Lanier made his initial appearance in Ocala today and was ordered detained pending trial.
According to the indictment, on December 23, 2016, Lanier and three other individuals conspired to rob a male victim of his money, other personal property, and his automobile by arranging a meeting at a remote location in Leesburg between the victim and a female co-conspirator. The victim believed that he was going to meet the woman only; however, shortly after he arrived, Lanier and two other men, Avery Tumer (23, Leesburg) and Timotheus Reed (29, Leesburg), pulled the victim from his car and stole his wallet and other personal property. During the robbery, the three men wore masks and pointed firearms at the victim; Tumer later pistol-whipped the victim and took his car. Thereafter, Tumer, Reed, Lanier, and the female co-conspirator drove the female’s car and the victim’s car back to a residence in Leesburg. They took the victim’s personal property into the residence, and hid the firearms in an attic.
An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal criminal law, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty.
Tumer is currently detained on state charges, awaiting transfer to federal custody. Timotheus Reed faces federal charges and remains at-large.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation Jacksonville Field Office (Daytona Beach Resident Agency), the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, and the Leesburg Police Department, with assistance from task force members from the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office and the Daytona Beach Police Department. It will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Dale Campion.
Kaufman Man Sentenced to 84 Months in Federal Prison for Transporting and Possessing Child PornographyRead the Press Release
DALLAS — Mitchell Weston Miller, 23, of Kaufman, Texas, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge David C. Godbey to serve a total of 84 months in federal prison, following his guilty plea to one count of transporting and shipping child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.
Miller has been in custody since his arrest in August 2016.
According to the factual resume filed in the case, on November 23, 2015, Miller used his email account and the Internet to send and transmit files of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
On December 22, 2015, Miller’s Google mail (Gmail) account uploaded eight images of child pornography. A search warrant for this same Gmail account showed the email account was used to trade child pornography and approximately fifty-five emails contained attachments of child pornography. Miller’s cell phone also contained child pornography.
These cases were brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorney’s 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 sexually exploit children, and identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/. For more information about internet safety education, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/ and click on the tab “resources.”
The Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Shane Read prosecuted the case.
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Jefferson County man indicted for illegal firearm chargeRead the Press Release
MARTINSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA – A Charles Town, West Virginia man was indicted today by a federal grand jury for unlawful possessed a firearm, Acting United States Attorney Betsy Steinfeld Jividen, announced.
Darnell Antonio Gardner, age 38, was indicted on one count of “Unlawful Possession of a Firearm.” Gardner, having previously been convicted of a felony in Prince George’s County, Maryland, allegedly had a .40 caliber pistol in Jefferson County in June 2016.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Lara Omps-Botteicher is prosecuting the case on behalf of the government. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office are investigating.
An indictment is merely an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Inmate at Central Virginia Regional Jail Pleads Guilty to Heroin DistributionRead the Press Release
Charlottesville, VIRGINIA – An inmate, who smuggled heroin into the Central Regional Jail and then distributed the drug to other inmates, pled guilty today to federal drug charges, Acting United States Attorney Rick A. Mountcastle and Colonel Frank E. Dyer III, Superintendent of the Central Virginia Regional Jail, announced.
Derrick Lamont Colbert, 39, of Orange, Va., pled guilty this afternoon in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Charlottesville to three counts of distribution of heroin. Colbert will be sentenced on August 25, 2017 at 11:00 a.m.
According to evidence presented at today’s hearing by Assistant United States Attorney Ronald M. Huber, Colbert was sentenced by a state court on April 28, 2016 for gun and drug charges and received a 12-month active sentence. After sentencing, Colbert was immediately transported from court to the Central Virginia Regional Jail to serve his sentence. The following morning, Colbert was assigned to an “open” cell block, a block that housed many inmates.
Within hours of Colbert being assigned to his cell block, correctional officers at the Central Virginia Regional Jail responded to reports of a sick inmate in that same cell block. Officers discovered Victim A having what appeared to be a seizure. While medical personnel attended to Victim A and called emergency services, other correctional officers screened inmates housed in the cell block and identified four other inmates displaying similar symptoms of drug intoxication. All five inmates were transported to UVA Culpeper Hospital for treatment.
While the affected inmates were being treated at the hospital, other jail personnel conducted an investigation into the source of any drugs that may have been brought into the facility. Ultimately it was determined that Colbert had secreted heroin on his person prior to his sentencing hearing on this previous day and brought the substance into the jail where he distributed the narcotic to other inmates.
The investigation of the case was conducted by the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Central Virginia Regional Jail. Assistant United States Attorney Ronald M. Huber prosecuted the case for the United States.
Independence Man Sentenced for Meth ConspiracyRead the Press Release
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Tom Larson, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that an Independence, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for his role in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine in Boone, Cooper, Lafayette and Jackson counties.
Joseph Nicko Winters, 45, of Independence, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Bough to 10 years in federal prison without parole.
On Dec. 15, 2016, Winters pleaded guilty to participating in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, one count of distributing methamphetamine, one count of possessing methamphetamine with the intent to distribute, and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm.
According to court documents, Winters sold an ounce of methamphetamine for $1,400 in a controlled drug buy on Jan. 12, 2016. Law enforcement officers then executed a search warrant at his residence, where they noticed a Hercules 12-gauge shotgun propped up against the bedroom wall. Winters also had a loaded Taurus 9mm pistol in a safe. Officers found several containers with a total of 137.661 grams of pure methamphetamine, as well as drug paraphernalia and approximately $1,200 of the buy money that had been used by a cooperating individual to purchase methamphetamine earlier in the day.
Winters told investigators he had purchased more than a pound of methamphetamine from his supplier two weeks earlier. He admitted he had purchased a half-pound of methamphetamine every week or week and a half for the past three to four months.
Under federal law, it is illegal for anyone who has been convicted of a felony to be in possession of any firearm or ammunition. Winters has prior felony convictions for possession of a controlled substance and distribution of a controlled substance.
Winters is the first defendant to be sentenced in this case. Co-defendants Douglas Marion Pryor, 55, of Columbia, Mo., and Matthew Allen Hampton, 35, of Franklin, Mo., each pleaded guilty to his role in the drug-trafficking conspiracy and awaits sentencing. Co-defendant Gregory Alan Kennedy, 53, of Boonville, Mo., pleaded guilty to possessing methamphetamine with the intent to distribute and awaits sentencing.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lawrence E. Miller. It was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the Cooper County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department, the Lafayette County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department, the Jackson County Drug Task Force and the East Central Drug Task Force.
Illegal Alien Sentenced to 50 Years in Federal Prison for Production of Child PornographyRead the Press Release
Edwin Velasquez Curuchiche, 40, of Guatamala, formerly residing in Lebanon, Tenn., was sentenced on Friday by United States District Court Judge Waverly Crenshaw to 50 years in prison, for two counts of production of child pornography, announced Jack Smith, Acting United States Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee.
Curuchiche was indicted on these charges on August 24, 2016, and pleaded guilty on February 21, 2017.
The defendant’s conduct here is among the most egregious that I have ever seen,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Jack Smith. “It is almost unimaginable that an innocent child and her family were subjected to such horrific acts by an intruder who masked himself as a family friend. The sentence ultimately imposed by the Court should insure that the defendant never has another opportunity to victimize another child.”
According to court documents, Curuchiche lived in a trailer park in Lebanon, Tenn. and in 2015, he befriended a family who lived nearby. During the course of several months, Curuchiche established a relationship with the family and their three children, which included a nine year-old boy, a six year-old girl and an infant. Curuchiche gave them video gaming systems and other electronic devices, taught them how to play the games and offered to play with them when their father was not home.
In September 2015, Curuchiche used a ruse to trick the mother into letting him borrow her house key, after which he copied the key, without her knowledge, before returning it to her. Also in 2015, he learned that the six-year old daughter was running a fever and he took a bag of medicine to the mother and encouraged her to give the child an adult dose of Valium. The parents of the child did not give the medication to their daughter and Curuchiche later attempted to pay the girl’s nine-year-old brother to give her the medication.
On September 23, 2015, Curuchiche snuck into the family’s home during the night and recorded himself sexually molesting the six-year-old girl while she slept. Again, on October 1, 2015, Curuchiche snuck into the home and recorded additional videos of himself sexually molesting the child as she slept.
In late October of 2015, the six-year-old child awoke during the night and went to her parent’s bedroom crying that someone had been touching her while she slept. One of her parents checked her bedroom and finding nothing, they assumed the child was imagining things.
On the evening of October 29, 2015, the family returned to their home, after a trip to the store. After entering the home, the daughter went to her bedroom to get a toy. Curuchiche was hiding under the bed and tried to grab her by the arm and quiet her by telling her to play a game on a cell phone, which he had previously given to her. The girl ran to her parents and the father found Curuchiche hiding in his daughter’s bedroom closet, where he held him until police arrived and took him into custody.
Court documents also show that Curuchiche was apprehended in June 2013 when he unlawfully entered the United States. He subsequently failed to appear for an immigration hearing and was living in the U.S. unlawfully when he committed this offense.
This matter was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and the Lebanon Police Department. The United States was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney S. Carran Daughtrey.
Identity Documents Broker Sentenced on Identification Fraud and Conspiracy ChargesRead the Press Release
A broker of identity documents who conspired with others to provide fraudulently-obtained Puerto Rican documents to customers was sentenced to prison today.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Blanco of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Rosa E. Rodríguez-Vélez of the District of Puerto Rico, Acting Director Thomas D. Homan of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Chief Postal Inspector Guy J. Cottrell of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), Acting Director Christian J. Schurman of the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) and Chief Richard Weber of the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) made the announcement.
Alejandro Tello-Rojas, 36, a Mexican citizen, formerly of Lawrenceville, Georgia, was sentenced to serve 51 months in prison and three years’ supervised release. The defendant was sentenced before U.S. District Judge Juan M. Perez-Gimenez in the District of Puerto Rico. The defendant pleaded guilty on Sept. 14, 2016, to conspiracy to commit identification fraud, to commit human smuggling for financial gain, and to possessing a means of identification of another person in relation to a felony.
According to admissions made in connection with the plea, identity document runners located in the Savarona area of Caguas, Puerto Rico, obtained Puerto Rican identities and corresponding identity documents. As part of the scheme, individuals identified as document runners, located in the Savarona area of Caguas, Puerto Rico, obtained Puerto Rican identities and corresponding identity documents. Other conspirators, identified as identity document suppliers and brokers, located in various cities throughout the United States allegedly solicited customers and sold Social Security cards and corresponding Puerto Rico birth certificates for prices ranging from $400 to $1200 per set.
According to admissions in the plea agreement, Tello-Rojas’ role in the scheme was to act as an identity broker from his home in Georgia, where he usually conducted his business. Tello-Rojas admitted to making arrangements to purchase identity documents from other co-conspirators to facilitate their sale in Georgia. The defendant further admitted possessing and transferring these fraudulent documents to other individuals or “customers,” which were then illegally sold to other individuals living in the United States. The defendant admitted that he knew that these individuals would use these documents to commit Social Security fraud and to illegally impersonate United States citizens.
The Chicago offices of ICE-HSI, USPIS, DSS and IRS-CI led the investigation, dubbed Operation Island Express II, with assistance from HSI San Juan and the DSS San Juan Resident Office. The ICE-HSI Assistant Attaché office in the Dominican Republic and International Organized Crime Intelligence and Operations Center (IOC-2) as well as various ICE, USPIS, DSS and IRS-CI offices around the country provided invaluable support.
Trial Attorneys Marianne Shelvey of the Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Gang Section and Frank Rangoussis of the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section prosecuted the case, with the support of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Puerto Rico.
Potential victims and the public may obtain information about the case at: www.justice.gov/criminal/vns/caseup/beltrerj.html. Anyone who believes their identity may have been compromised in relation to this investigation may contact the ICE toll-free hotline at 1-866-DHS-2ICE (1-866-347-2423) and its online tip form at www.ice.gov/tipline. Anyone who may have information about particular crimes in this case should also report it to the ICE tip line or website.
Anyone who believes that they have been a victim of identity theft, or wants information about preventing identity theft, may obtain helpful information and complaint forms on various government websites including the Federal Trade Commission ID Theft Website, www.ftc.gov/idtheft. Additional resources regarding identity theft can be found at www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ovc/pubs/ID_theft/idtheft.html; www.ssa.gov/pubs/10064.html; www.fbi.gov/about-us/investigate/cyber/identity_theft; and www.irs.gov/privacy/article/0,,id=186436,00.html.
Husband Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison for Stabbing Wife to Death on Fort McDermitt Indian ReservationRead the Press Release
RENO, Nev. – A member of the Fort McDermitt Paiute-Shoshone Tribe of Nevada and Oregon was sentenced on Monday to 120 months in prison for his conviction for voluntary manslaughter in his wife’s death at their home on the Fort McDermitt Indian Reservation, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Steven W. Myhre for the District of Nevada. His wife was a member of the Te-Moak Tribe of the Western Shoshone.
Following a six-day jury trial, Nelson Ray McKee, 45, was found guilty of voluntary manslaughter. According to the indictment, on Dec. 31, 2014, McKee stabbed his wife in the chest which resulted in her death. United States District Judge Robert C. Jones presided over the jury trial and sentencing hearing.
The case was investigated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office, and FBI. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Shannon M. Bryant and Carla B. Higginbotham.
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Henderson Man Pleads Guilty to Sex Trafficking ChargeRead the Press Release
CONTACT: Barbara Burns
PHONE: (716) 843-5817
FAX: (716) 551-3051ROCHESTER, N.Y.- Acting U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that Carl Burdick, 58, of Henderson, NY, pleaded guilty, before U.S. District Judge Charles J. Siragusa, to transporting a minor across state lines for the purpose of engaging in sexual conduct. The charge carries a minimum penalty of 10 years in prison, a maximum of life and a $250,000 fine.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle Rossi, who is handling the case, stated that Burdick, a long haul truck driver, utilized text messaging and social media to develop a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old female living in the Western District of New York. The defendant engaged in grooming activity over a period of several months in 2015, during which he solicited nude photographs from the victim. In the summer of 2015, Burdick took the victim from her home in Wayne County to the State of Montana in his tractor-trailer, during which time the defendant engaged in criminal sexual activity with the victim.
The plea is the result of an investigation by the Wayne County Sherriff’s Department, under the direction of Barry Virts; the Monroe County Sherriff’s Department, under the direction of Sheriff Patrick O’Flynn; the New York State Police, under the direction of Major Richard Allen; and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Adam S. Cohen. Additional assistance was also provided by the Bivona Child Advocacy Center.
Sentencing is scheduled for August 16, 2017, before Judge Siragusa.
Hauser, Idaho Man Sentenced to 10 Years in Federal Prison for Attempted Enticement of a MinorRead the Press Release
Spokane – Joseph H. Harrington, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington, announced that today United States District Judge Rosanna Malouf Peterson sentenced
Jerry William Lindsey, Jr., age 34, of Hauser, Idaho, for Attempted Enticement of a Minor, which a jury found him guilty of committing. Judge Peterson sentenced Lindsey to a ten-year term of imprisonment, to be followed by a five-year term of court supervision after he is released from federal prison. Lindsey will be required to register as a sex offender.
According to information disclosed during the February, 2017 jury trial, Lindsey posted an ad entitled, “18 or so” on a well-known local website in December of 2015. The ad contained explicit photographs and described sexual acts. An undercover detective working with the Southeast Regional Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (“ICAC”) and Homeland Security Investigations responded to the ad, posing as a local thirteen year old. During the course of the communications with the undercover officer, Lindsey repeatedly discussed the graphic sexual acts that he wished to engage in with the purported thirteen year old and sent explicit images of himself to accompany the descriptions of such acts.
Lindsey, a mechanic with a plumbing company, also sought to meet the purported minor on two occasions when he traveled to the Tri-Cities area for work. On one such occasion, Lindsey directed the purported thirteen year old to a residence in Pasco where he was working to engage in sexual acts. He initially suggested that she sneak out to meet him after her parents were asleep, but later provided directions to the purported minor child to meet him that afternoon. Law-enforcement-members of the ICAC team subsequently surveilled Lindsey waiting outside of the residence. Lindsey was later arrested and interviewed by ICAC officers and agents with Homeland Security Investigations. Lindsey advised during the interview that if the purported thirteen-year-old child had arrived at the Pasco residence, he “would have been in a lot of trouble.” Lindsey was charged with Attempted Enticement of a Minor, tried by a jury in Richland, Washington, and found guilty.
Harrington stated, “The sentence imposed in this case reflects how serious the crime of enticement of a minor is, including attempts to do so. The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Washington continues to prioritize the investigation and prosecution of child sexual exploitation and abuse cases. The officers and agents with the Southeast Regional Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and Homeland Security Investigations must be commended for their strong working partnership and tireless commitment to investigating this case.”
This case was pursued as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May, 2006 by the United States 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. The Project Safe Childhood Initiative (“PSC”) has five major components:
• Integrated federal, state, and local efforts to investigate and prosecute child exploitation cases, and to identify and rescue children;
• Participation of PSC partners in coordinated national initiatives;
• Increased federal enforcement in child pornography and enticement cases;
• Training of federal, state, and local law enforcement agents; and
• Community awareness and educational programs.
For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc.
For information about internet safety education, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc and click on the tab "resources."
This investigation was conducted by Homeland Security Investigations and the Southeast Regional Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. The case was prosecuted by Laurel J. Holland and Stephanie J. Lister, Assistant United States Attorneys for the Eastern District of Washington.
Glastonbury Man Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy and Tax Offenses Related to Kickback SchemeRead the Press Release
Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that JAVED CHOUDHRY, 59, of Glastonbury, waived his right to be indicted and pleaded guilty today in New Haven federal court to conspiracy and tax offenses related to a kickback scheme.
According to court documents and statements made in court, CHOUDHRY was employed by a construction company in the Stamford area. Between 2011 and 2014, CHOUDHRY received cash kickbacks from construction contractors in exchange for steering them contracts for work on a project in Stamford. The scheme caused millions of dollars in losses to the victim construction company.
In addition, CHOUDHRY failed to report to the Internal Revenue Service most of the income he received through the kickback scheme.
CHOUDHRY pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, which carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years, and one count of filing a false tax return, which carries a maximum term of imprisonment of three years. He is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Alvin W. Thompson in Hartford on August 18, 2017.
CHOUDHRY also is required to pay back taxes, plus interest and penalties.
CHOUDHRY is released on a $50,000 bond.
This ongoing investigation is being conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Division. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas P. Morabito.
Geneva Man Arrested on Cocaine Charge at the BorderRead 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 Joel Torres Diaz, 29, of Geneva, NY, was arrested and charged by criminal complaint with possession with intent to distribute cocaine. The charge carries a mandatory minimum term of 5 years imprisonment and a maximum penalty of 40 years in prison and a $5,000,000 fine.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul C. Parisi, who is handling the case, stated that according to the complaint, on May 12, 2017, the defendant attempted to enter the United States from Canada at the Peace Bridge Port of Entry. Diaz was referred for secondary inspection, and during that inspection, officers searched the 2001 silver Honda Civic that the defendant was driving and found three gray packages inside a shoebox. The packages contained approximately one kilogram of a white powdery substance, which field-tested positive for cocaine.
The defendant made an initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge H. Kenneth Schroeder and is being held pending a detention hearing on May 22, 2017, at 10:30 a.m.
The complaint is the result of an investigation by Customs and Border Protection, under the direction of Director of Field Operations Rose Brophy; and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Kevin Kelly.
The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
Fort Wayne Man Sentenced to 151 Months ImprisonmentRead the Press Release
FORT WAYNE – The Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Indiana, Clifford D. Johnson, announces that Marlon Cole, 40, of Fort Wayne, Indiana was sentenced before Fort Wayne District Court Chief Judge Theresa Springmann after pleading guilty to possession with the intent to distribute less than 100 grams of heroin.
Cole was sentenced to 151 months imprisonment followed by 3 years supervised release.
According to documents in this case, on July 21, 2016 Cole was in possession with the intent to distribute less than 100 grams of heroin.
This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives with the assistance of the Fort Wayne Police Department. This case was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Stacey Speith.
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