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30 March 2017
Dinner Cruise Ship Captain Convicted of Using Stolen IdentityRead the Press Release
Galveston, Texas – A ship captain for Majestic Ventures, Majestic Dinner Cruises and Majestic Yacht Charters dinner cruise lines has entered a guilty plea to aggravated identity theft and making false statements in a passport application, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Abe Martinez.
Cynthia Lyerla, 53, of League City, admitted to obtaining the birth certificate of Christina White in 1992 and then using that identity to obtain a second Social Security number. She was also able to obtain driver’s licenses, passports, mariner licenses and Transportation Security Administration (TSA) documentation allowing her to enter secure port areas. Without a mariner license and TSA documentation, Lyerla would not be allowed to captain the ships for the dinner cruise companies.
The real Christina White died in 1965 on the same day she was born.
Cynthia Lynn Knox was born in 1964, later married Harold Lyerla and took his name. The marriage ended when Harold Lyerla was murdered in 1988 in Lompoc, California. Although another individual was convicted for that crime, Lyerla’s fingerprints were taken by the local police in the course of the investigation.
Since that time, Lyerla used the identity of Christina White, providing her date and place of birth, Social Security number and parents’ names in order to apply for and obtain various legal documentation.
Authorities discovered Lyerla’s true identity when her fingerprints were taken in connection with a mariner license application and compared to those taken in 1988 and 1989 during the investigation into the murder of her husband. Additionally, a retired California police detective, who investigated that murder, positively identified the defendant as Lyerla.
United States District Judge George C. Hanks accepted the plea and has set sentencing for June 7, 2017. At that time, Lyerla faces up to 10 years for making false statements in a passport application as well as a mandatory 24 months for the aggravated identity theft which must be served consecutively to any other prison term imposed.
She was permitted to remain on bond pending that hearing.
The Department of State - Diplomatic Security Service and U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam Goldman is prosecuting the case.
Detroit Resident Pleads Guilty to Unregistered Possession of Destructive DevicesRead the Press Release
A 30-year-old Detroit man pleaded guilty today to charges of unregistered possession of destructive devices, Acting United States Attorney Daniel L. Lemisch announced today.
Lemisch was joined in the announcement by Special Agent in Charge David P. Gelios, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Detroit Division.
Sebastian Gregerson pleaded guilty before United States District Judge Arthur J. Tarnow in Detroit.
According to court records, on July 31, 2016, defendant Gregerson and an FBI employee acting in an undercover capacity met at a gas station in Monroe, Michigan, where Gregerson traded his Beretta M9 handgun for grenade parts containing explosives that were designed or intended for use in grenades and from which grenades could be readily assembled. These grenades are considered destructive devices that must be registered in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record. Gregerson did not register the destructive devices.
According to the court records, Gregerson made statements, both online and in person, showing support for the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL), a designated foreign terrorist organization, and made statements relating to committing violent acts.
Gregerson was arrested on July 31, 2016, by FBI agents and remains in custody pending his sentencing which has been scheduled for June 30, 2017 at 2:30 pm.. Gregerson faces a term of up 10 years in federal prison.
Dedham Man Sentenced for Bank RobberyRead the Press Release
BOSTON – A Dedham man was sentenced yesterday in U.S. District Court in Boston for armed bank robbery.
Lawrence J. Costello, 54, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Nathan M. Gorton to seven years in prison, five years of supervised release and ordered to pay $17,687 in restitution. In March 2016, Costello pleaded guilty to one count of armed bank robbery.
On May 12, 2014, Costello and another individual, armed with what appeared to be semi-automatic weapons, entered a branch of Bank of America in Attleboro. Once inside, Costello jumped over the teller’s counter, and took $17,687 in cash while holding the tellers at gunpoint. The men fled in a green Ford pickup truck, which was recovered a short time later and determined to have been stolen. During the investigation, law enforcement recovered a pair of red and black gloves which testing revealed contained Costello’s DNA. Costello was arrested a few weeks later in Bourne, Mass.
Acting U.S. Attorney William D. Weinreb; Harold H. Shaw, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; Attleboro Police Chief Kyle Heagney; and Bourne Police Chief Dennis Woodside made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenneth G. Shine of Weinreb’s Major Crimes Unit prosecuted the case.
Cuban Man Sent to Prison for Selling Credit Card NumbersRead the Press Release
McALLEN, Texas – A Cuban citizen has been ordered to federal prison for conspiring to commit wire fraud, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Abe Martinez. Jorge Ernesto Blanco-Rodriguez, 43, a Cuban and Spanish citizen who resided in Havana, Cuba, pleaded guilty April 18, 2016.
Today, U.S. District Judge Randy Crane ordered he serve a total of 135 months in federal prison and to pay $602,864.13 in restitution. He is expected to face deportation proceedings following his release from prison.
Blanco-Rodriguez operated out of Cuba and was in the business of selling stolen credit and debit card numbers to various people over the Internet. The investigation began after authorities identified and arrested two Mexican nationals for credit card fraud. Information discovered following the execution of search warrants related to those arrests led to the identification of Blanco-Rodriguez as the individual selling the credit card information.
He was ultimately arrested as he traveled to Florida to visit family.
Authorities ultimately found more than 12,000 affected credit and debit card numbers in Blanco-Rodriguez’s possession for sale, many of which came from large data breaches. Approximately $788,000 in fraudulent transactions have been identified from the compromised accounts.
Blanco-Rodriguez will remain in custody pending his transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
The Secret Service and McAllen Police Department conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Leonard prosecuted the case.
Connecticut Woman Pleads Guilty to Stealing over $250,000 from Her EmployerRead the Press Release
BOSTON – A Windsor, Conn. woman pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Springfield, Mass. in connection with her theft of over $250,000 from her employer.
Angela M. Craig, 55, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and is set to be sentenced on June 22, 2017 by U.S. District Court Judge Mark G. Mastroianni.
From July 2012 through May 2014, Craig stole more than $250,000 from her Massachusetts employer by writing company checks to herself, forging her employer’s signature and then cashing or depositing the checks. Craig concealed her theft by entering false invoices in her employer’s accounting system and by failing to pay company bills and taxes.
The charge of wire fraud provides for a sentence of no greater than 20 years in prison, a maximum of three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Acting United States Attorney William D. Weinreb and Harold H. Shaw, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division, made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Deepika Bains Shukla of Weinreb’s Springfield Branch Office is prosecuting the case.
Columbus-area man charged with embezzling $183,000 in federal grants designed to help Native AmericansRead the Press Release
A Lewis Center man was charged with stealing more than $183,000 in federal grants designed to help Native Americans, said Acting U.S. Attorney David A. Sierleja and Lamont Pugh III, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Office of Inspector General.
A three-count criminal information charges Craig McGuire, 47, with one count of conspiracy to commit theft concerning programs receiving federal funds and two counts of theft of government funds.
“This defendant blatantly lied on grant applications to get money designated to help one of our most vulnerable populations,” Sierleja said. “He used the money to enrich himself nearly as fast as he got it.”
“The intentional falsification of information in a federal grant application in order to receive funds is a serious crime,” Pugh said. “Federal grant funds are limited and must be used for the purpose for which they are intended. The OIG will continue to identify, investigate and seek the prosecution of those individuals who improperly enrich themselves with vital taxpayer dollars.”
McGuire operated McGuire & Associates LLC, a company that wrote grant applications and provided evaluation services. A person identified only as R.R. served as executive director of the American Indian Education Center, a Parma-based nonprofit established in 1995 to support Native American causes in Northeast Ohio, according to the information.
McGuire & Associates entered into an agreement with R.R. in April 2011 to draft grant proposals on behalf of the AIEC. Later that year, McGuire submitted an application on behalf of the AIEC to receive a Circle of Care grant, offered through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The grant was designed to provide Native American communities with the tools and resources to design programs to support mental health and wellness for children and families, according to the information.
The AIEC’s application contained numerous false statements including: misrepresenting the date the AIEC was established; falsely claiming the AIEC had a wellness department and a “Positive Paths” afterschool program when no such department or program existed; fraudulently listing people the AIEC allegedly employed and mischaracterizing the description of the AIEC’s building and alleged physical amenities, according to the information.
SAMHSA awarded the AIEC a Circle of Care grant on Sept. 1, 2012 of approximately $302,340 for FY 2012. On June 26, 2012, SAMHSA awarded the second year of a Circle of Care grant in the amount of $308,040 for FY 2013, according to information.
The AIEC received approximately $482,766 from SAMHSA from 2011 through 2013. The AIEC did not receive full funding because SAMHSA placed it in “high risk” status, according to the indictment.
McGuire and R.R. embezzled at least $183,703 of those funds, according to the information.
The investigation is ongoing.
If convicted, the defendant’s sentence will be determined by the court after review of factors unique to this case, including the defendant’s prior criminal record, if any, the defendant’s role in the offense and the characteristics of the violations. In all cases, the sentence will not exceed the statutory maximum and, in most cases, it will be less than the maximum.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Robert J. Patton and Suzana Koch following an investigation by the Department of Health and Human Services – Office of Inspector General.
An information is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Colombian Man Sentenced to More Than 24 Years for Smuggling Cocaine on Board A Fishing VesselRead the Press Release
Tampa, FL – U.S. District Judge Charlene Honeywell has sentenced Carlos Eyder Paz-Utima (41, Colombia, South America) to 24 years and 4 months in federal prison for conspiring with others to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine on vessels subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, and for conspiring with others to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine intending that it be unlawfully imported into the United States. He pleaded guilty on December 19, 2016.
According to court documents, Paz-Utima was responsible for several marine smuggling ventures in international waters of the Caribbean Sea. In September 2011, the United States Coast Guard interdicted a load of over 1,000 kilograms of cocaine that was being smuggled aboard the fishing vessel Diamada. Paz-Utima was the organizer and an investor in the drug trafficking organization, and was responsible for at least three other maritime smuggling ventures aboard vessels traveling from Colombia to Honduras.
This case was investigated by the Panama Express Strike Force, an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) comprised of agents and analysts from the United States Coast Guard Investigative Service, Drug Enforcement Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, and U.S. Southern Command's Joint Interagency Task Force South. The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt, and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking and money laundering organizations and those primarily responsible for the nation’s drug supply. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Joseph Ruddy and Special Assistant United States Attorney Rebecca L. Castaneda.
Child Sexual Predator Sentenced to 25 Years in Federal PrisonRead the Press Release
PORTLAND, Ore. – On Thursday, March 30, 2017, United States District Court Judge Marco A. Hernández sentenced Kilunnun Adyden Chivoski, 41, to 25 years in federal prison followed by a lifetime of supervised release and sex offender registration. In September 2016, a federal jury in Portland convicted Chivoski of one count of transporting a minor across state lines with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity.
Evidence presented during the ten-day trial showed Chivoski engaged in the repeated, systematic sexual abuse of two children that he had taken steps to isolate and indoctrinate over a yearlong period. Chivoski’s crimes were discovered years later when his victims began disclosing the abuse. Investigators meticulously pieced together Chivoski’s extensive cross-country travel, seeking to establish locations where he committed the abusive acts.
Though the intervening years and Chivoski’s itinerant lifestyle presented difficulties for the prosecution, the government successfully presented evidence that he had sexually abused the children during a cross-country road trip terminating in Oregon in August 2010. Evidence further established that one of Chivoski’s dominant, significant, and/or motivating purposes for that trip was to facilitate his continued sexual abuse of one of the minors.
At sentencing, prosecutors urged the court to impose a thirty-year prison term, followed by lifetime supervised release and sex offender registration. Chivoski’s conduct, they argued, was "shockingly heinous," as he sought to isolate and brainwash his pre-teen victims to avoid detection and continue his abuse. In response, Chivoski sought the mandatory minimum sentence of ten years in prison.
"This sentence will protect children in Oregon and elsewhere from a sexual predator whose egregious crimes will have a lifelong impact on his victims," said Billy J. Williams, United States Attorney for the District of Oregon. "I am grateful for the dedication and collaboration of our federal, state, and local partners who diligently followed the evidence in this case as part of their continuing effort to protect children in our district. I am also grateful for the amazing bravery that Chivoski’s victims showed," added U.S. Attorney Williams, "in coming forward to seek justice. Thanks to their courage, our community is safer and a dangerous criminal is behind bars."
In imposing the twenty-five-year prison sentence, Judge Hernandez remarked, "it is always troubling to the court when you think about parents abusing their own children and while
Mr. Chivoski’s own paranoia and mental challenges contributed to his actions, it doesn’t make his children any less of victims. He needs to be held responsible for this abuse."
This case was investigated by the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office and the Department of Homeland Security’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and prosecuted by Jane Shoemaker and Ravi Sinha, Assistant United States Attorneys for the District of Oregon.
The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Launched in May 2006 by the U.S. Department of Justice and led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
Carroll County Man Sentenced on Federal Conspiracy ChargeRead the Press Release
Abingdon, VIRGINIA – The former store manager of the Carroll County Cooperative, who previously pled guilty to conspiring to defraud the Food and Drug Administration, was sentenced today in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Abingdon, Acting United States Attorney Rick A. Mountcastle announced.
Marlin Webb, 58, of Woodlawn, Virginia, who is now the company manager of Southwest Farm Supply, Inc., previously pled guilty to one felony count of conspiracy to defraud the FDA. Today in District Court, Webb was sentenced to probation for a term of one year. At the time of his guilty plea, Webb paid $125,000 in forfeiture and other payments.
According to evidence presented at previous hearings by Assistant United States Attorney Randy Ramseyer, Webb was the store manager at the Carroll County Cooperative, through which he illegally obtained, stored, and sold veterinary prescription drugs. Federal regulation of prescription veterinary drugs are not primarily to protect animals from the potential harms of prescription drugs, but are to protect the human food supply from unsafe drug residues in the edible tissues of animals sold for slaughter. Accordingly, veterinary prescription drugs must stay within the controlled chain of distribution to ensure the drugs’ safety and efficacy. Webb obtained and distributed prescription veterinary drugs outside of the controlled chain through his position at the store. The Carroll County Cooperative terminated Webb’s employment after a federal search warrant was executed at the store in April of 2015. Large quantities of prescription drugs were seized from Webb’s office during the search.
The investigation of the case was conducted by the Food and Drug Administration – Office of Criminal Investigations and the Virginia Department of Health Professions. Assistant United States Attorney Randy Ramseyer prosecuted the case for the United States.
Canadian Man Convicted of Multi-Million Dollar Fraud Targeting U.S. LawyersRead the Press Release
HARRISBURG - The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced today that Henry Okpalefe, age 49, of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, was convicted of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud and money laundering. The three-day bench trial was held before United States District Court Judge John E. Jones, III.
According to United States Attorney Bruce D. Brandler, between 2008 and 2010, Okpalefe and his co-conspirators stole over $23 million from hundreds of lawyers and law firms in the Middle District of Pennsylvania and nationwide. Under the guise of seeking legal representation, the conspirators contacted attorneys and law firms in the United States using fake email accounts. Once an attorney or law firm agreed to represent the purported client, the conspirators sent bank checks through the mail and instructed them to deposit the money into their IOLTA accounts. From there, the attorneys were provided with wire instructions and they wired their legitimate funds to Asian bank accounts. Before the counterfeit checks were returned as fraudulent, the money had already been withdrawn by co-conspirators in Asia and distributed to conspirators’ bank accounts in Nigeria and Canada. Okpalefe and his co-conspirators operated in Canada, Nigeria, Japan and South Korea.
The case was investigated by the United States Secret Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States Postal Inspection Service. The Toronto Strategic Partnership and the Toronto Police Service provided integral assistance in the investigation and prosecution of the case. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Chelsea Schinnour and Kim Douglas Daniel.
The maximum penalty under federal law is 20 years of imprisonment, a term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a fine. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the Judge is also required to consider and weigh a number of factors, including the nature, circumstances and seriousness of the offense; the history and characteristics of the defendant; and the need to punish the defendant, protect the public and provide for the defendant's educational, vocational and medical needs. For these reasons, the statutory maximum penalty for the offense is not an accurate indicator of the potential sentence for a specific defendant.
The United States Postal Inspection Service, Harrisburg Domicile, has reason to believe that this scheme is ongoing. The United States Postal Inspection Service encourages anyone receiving a check in the mail to be vigilant and to work closely with financial institutions to understand when a check has been verified as legitimate, even if funds are immediately made available upon deposit of the check. If you or someone you know has information about this please contact Inspector Rachel R. Heintz at 717-257-2342, 1425 Crooked Hill Road P.O. Box 60035, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17106-0035.
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California Resident Convicted of Supplying Fake IDs to Cash Stolen and Fraudulently Obtained U.S. Treasury ChecksRead the Press Release
A federal jury sitting in Oakland, California convicted Janel McDonald today for her role in a conspiracy to cash stolen and fraudulently obtained U.S. Treasury checks, announced Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Brian J. Stretch for the Northern District of California.
McDonald was charged, along with 10 codefendants in November 2015, with conspiracy to commit theft of public money, theft of public money and aggravated identity theft. According to the indictment and evidence presented at trial, from August 2013 through April 2015, McDonald’s co-conspirators stole deceased individuals’ personal identifying information from California death records and used it to file federal tax returns seeking refunds. They also obtained social security and refund checks that were stolen from the U.S. mail system. McDonald provided fake California IDs to her co-conspirators who used them to cash the stolen and fraudulently obtained U.S. Treasury checks.
Sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 1. McDonald faces a statutory maximum sentence of five years in prison for conspiracy to commit theft of public money, 10 years in prison for theft of public money and a mandatory minimum sentence of two years in prison for aggravated identity theft. She also faces a period of supervised release, restitution and monetary penalties.
Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Goldberg and U.S. Attorney Stretch thanked special agents of the Internal Revenue Service–Criminal Investigation, who conducted the investigation, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Newman and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jose Olivera and Trial Attorney Gregory Bernstein of the Tax Division, who are prosecuting the case.
Additional information about the Tax Division and its enforcement efforts may be found on the division’s website.
California Resident Convicted of Supplying Fake IDs to Cash Stolen and Fraudulently Obtained U.S. Treasury ChecksRead the Press Release
OAKLAND– A federal jury convicted Janel McDonald today for her role in a conspiracy to cash stolen and fraudulently obtained U.S. Treasury checks, announced U.S. Attorney Brian J. Stretch and Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division.
McDonald, 38, of Los Angeles, was charged, along with 10 codefendants in November 2015, with conspiracy to commit theft of public money, theft of public money, and aggravated identity theft. According to the indictment and evidence presented at trial, from August 2013 through April 2015, McDonald’s co-conspirators stole deceased individuals’ personal identifying information from California death records and used it to file federal tax returns seeking refunds. They also obtained social security and refund checks that were stolen from the U.S. mail system. McDonald provided fake California IDs to her co-conspirators who used them to cash the stolen and fraudulently obtained U.S. Treasury checks. On November 5, 2015, McDonald was charged in a superseding indictment with conspiracy to defraud the United States, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371; two counts of theft of public money, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 641 & 2; and two counts of aggravated identity theft, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1028A. Pursuant to today’s verdict, McDonald was found guilty of all the charges.
Sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 1. McDonald faces a statutory maximum sentence of five years in prison for conspiracy to commit theft of public money, 10 years in prison for theft of public money and a mandatory minimum sentence of two years in prison for aggravated identity theft. She also faces a period of supervised release, restitution and monetary penalties. However, any sentence following conviction will 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.
U.S. Attorney Stretch and Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Goldberg thanked special agents of the Internal Revenue Service–Criminal Investigation, who conducted the investigation, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Newman and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jose Olivera and Trial Attorney Gregory Bernstein of the Tax Division, who are prosecuting the case.
Brothers Sentenced to Federal Prison for Possessing Synthetic CannabinoidsRead the Press Release
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - Two brothers have been ordered to federal prison following their convictions of possession with intent to distribute a synthetic cannabinoid mixture or substance, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Abe Martinez. Roy Valent Jr., 31, and Arnold Ray Valent, 29, both of Corpus Christi, pleaded guilty Jan. 4, 2017.
Today, Senior U.S. District Judge Janis Graham Jack sentenced Roy Valent to serve 66 months in federal prison. His brother was determined to be a career offender and received a 110-month-term of imprisonment on March 15, 2017. At that hearing, a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) expert witness provided additional testimony including how the DEA handles newly emerging synthetic narcotics, the adverse effects of those substance and imminent hazards they present to public safety. In handing down the sentence, the court acknowledged the significant danger of synthetic narcotics, specifically their appeal to children. Both men will also serve three years of supervised release following completion of their sentences.
On Dec. 16, 2015, officers attempted to conduct a traffic stop of a vehicle leaving a residence, at which time Arnold Valent exited the vehicle and fled on foot. He was taken into custody after a short pursuit and officers discovered a backpack in the vehicle that contained 35 packages of synthetic cannabinoids, also known as “K2” or “Spice.”
When officers returned to the residence, they observed Roy Valent in a garage apartment with a firearm. Prohibited from possessing such, officers arrested him and also discovered 19 additional packages of synthetic cannabinoids. Laboratory analysis confirmed the presence of scheduled substances, AB-CHMINACA and XLR-11, and 5F-AMB, 5F-MDMB-PINACA, NM-2201, FUB-AMB, AB-CHMICA and PX-1 which are controlled under the Controlled Substance Analog Act.
The arrests and investigation were part of Operation City Shield that was a coordinated effort by federal, state and local law enforcement to identify violent offenders, stop gun violence and protect the community.
The Valent brothers will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be designated in the near future.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Drug Enforcement Administration and Corpus Christi Police Department conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Lance Watt prosecuted the case.
Bridgeport Man Pleads Guilty to Heroin Distribution Charge Stemming from Overdose Death InvestigationRead the Press Release
Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that DAQUONE JOHNSON, 24, of Bridgeport, waived his right to be indicted and pleaded guilty today in New Haven federal court 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, on May 9, 2016, a 30-year-old female was found unresponsive at a residence in Monroe. Police and medical personnel responded to the scene and administered multiple doses of Narcan to the victim. The victim, who did not respond to the Narcan, was transported to the hospital where she was pronounced deceased. While administering aide to the victim, hospital staff located unopened heroin folds on the victim’s person. The substance within the folds later tested positive for heroin and fentanyl, and the Connecticut Office of the Medical Examiner has determined the victim’s cause of death to be acute heroin and fentanyl toxicity.
The investigation, which included witness interviews and analysis of calls and text messages to and from the victim’s phone, revealed that the victim ordered heroin from JOHNSON on the day of her death.
JOHNSON was arrested on June 13, 2016, after law enforcement conducted a controlled purchase of heroin from him.
JOHNSON is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Alvin W. Thompson in Hartford on June 22, 2017, at which time he faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years. He is released on a $125,000 bond pending sentencing.
This matter has been investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration’s New Haven Tactical Diversion Squad, and the Monroe, Milford and Bridgeport Police Departments. The Tactical Diversion Squad includes participants from the New Haven, Hamden, Greenwich, Shelton, Bristol, Vernon, Wilton, Milford, Monroe, Fairfield and Manchester Police Departments, and the Connecticut State Police. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas P. Morabito.
Brandon Man Pleads Guilty to Paying Health Care KickbacksRead the Press Release
Tampa, FL – Acting United States Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow announces that Nikkos Hamlett (29, Brandon) has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to pay kickbacks in connection with a federal health care benefit program. He faces a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison. A sentencing date has not yet been set.
According to the plea agreement, Hamlett was an active duty Airman with the U.S. Air Force stationed at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa. Beginning in September 2014, he became a sales representative for Centurion Compounding Inc., a marketing firm located in Wesley Chapel. Centurion utilized sales representatives as independent contractors to market compounded medications, specifically creams for pain and scars, to health care benefit program beneficiaries. Centurion focused its promotional efforts on TRICARE beneficiaries based upon an understanding and belief that TRICARE would pay claims for these compounded creams.
Hamlett was initially recruited into the Centurion scheme by other active-duty military members to be a patient and to obtain compounded creams marketed by Centurion. Between September 2014 and January 2015, Hamlett caused TRICARE to pay $84,487.43 in claims for his prescriptions for pain cream and scar cream.
Hamlett agreed and conspired with other members of his Centurion sales marketing group, self-labeled “team cream,” to give and offer to give TRICARE beneficiaries incentives, such as cash, meals, entertainment, and travel expenses, to visit a doctor and obtain prescriptions for Centurion-marketed compounded creams for which Hamlett and other “team cream” members would receive commissions. Between September 2014 and February 2015, Hamlett caused TRICARE to be billed approximately $640,577 for these creams, from which Centurion and Hamlett received commissions. Hamlett received commissions from Centurion totaling approximately $30,000 and, at the time Centurion shut down in February 2015, he was owed an additional $66,000 in commissions.
This case was investigated by the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, the U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigation, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Health and Human Services – Office of Inspector General, and the Drug Enforcement Administration. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Mandy Riedel and Megan Kistler.
Atwater Penitentiary Cook Indicted for Conspiracy, Attempted Drug Distribution and Accepting a BribeRead the Press Release
FRESNO, Calif. — A three-count indictment was unsealed Thursday following the arrest of David G. Bruce II, 32, of Merced. Bruce is charged with conspiring to provide inmates with prohibited objects; attempting to possess marijuana and heroin with the intent to distribute; and taking a bribe as a public official, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.
According to court documents, Bruce was employed as a cook foreman at the Federal Bureau of Prisons’ United States Penitentiary Atwater (USP Atwater) in Merced County. Between May and December 2015, Bruce conspired with others to provide USP Atwater inmates with marijuana and heroin. In return, Bruce received $1,580 from associates of the inmates. On December 2015, Bruce attempted to possess marijuana and heroin.
This case is the product of an investigation by the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General. Assistant U.S. Attorney Vincenza Rabenn is prosecuting the case.
If convicted, Bruce faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine for possessing a controlled substance with intent to distribute. The maximum statutory penalty for conspiring to commit an offense against the United States is five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The maximum statutory penalty for a public official taking a bribe is 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Any sentence, however, would be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables. The charges are only allegations; the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Attorney General Sessions Announces Expansion and Modernization of Program to Deport Criminal Aliens Housed in Federal Correctional FacilitiesRead the Press Release
Attorney General Jeff Sessions today announced the expansion and modernization of the Department’s Institutional Hearing Program (IHP).
The IHP identifies removable criminal aliens who are inmates in federal correctional facilities, provides in-person and video teleconference (VTC) immigration removal proceedings, and removes the alien upon completion of sentence, rather than releasing the alien to an ICE detention facility or into the community for adjudication of status. Bringing an Immigration Judge to the inmate for a determination of removability, rather than vice versa, saves time and resources and speeds hearings.
The program is coordinated by the Department of Justice’s Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR), the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
“We owe it to the American people to ensure that illegal aliens who have been convicted of crimes and are serving time in our federal prisons are expeditiously removed from our country as the law requires,” said Attorney General Sessions. “This expansion and modernization of the Institutional Hearing Program gives us the tools to continue making Americans safe again in their communities.”
The expansion and modernization of the IHP program will occur in the following three ways:
1. ICE, BOP, and EOIR will expand the number of active facilities with the program to a total of 14 BOP and 6 BOP contract facilities;
2. EOIR and BOP will increase each facility’s VTC capabilities and update existing infrastructure to aid in the ability to conduct removal proceedings; and
3. EOIR and ICE will finalize a new and uniform intake policy. EOIR and ICE expect to have reached agreement on this new intake process by April 6, 2017.
These improvements will speed the process of deporting incarcerated criminal aliens and will reduce costs to taxpayers.
Armed Robber Sentenced to over 10 Years in Federal Prison for Violent Fast Food Restaurant RobberyRead the Press Release
Greenbelt, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Theodore D. Chuang sentenced Rodney Levon Davis, age 47, of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, today to 121 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for robbery, and for using, brandishing, and discharging a firearm during the robbery of a fast food restaurant in Prince George’s County.
The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Gordon B. Johnson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; Chief Hank Stawinski of the Prince George’s County Police Department; and Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Angela D. Alsobrooks.
According to his plea agreement, on December 24, 2014, Davis approached a fast food restaurant on Landover Road in Hyattsville, Maryland wearing a hooded jacket and an “Iron Man” mask. At the entrance, Davis brandished a revolver at an employee. The victim stated that he did not have a key to the safe and that the manager was not present. Davis shoved the revolver into the victim’s back and threatened to shoot the victim if the victim didn’t comply with his demands. Davis then hid behind a brick wall and waited for the manager to return to the restaurant.
Once the manager arrived, Davis used the revolver to enter the restaurant and directed the victim, manager and several other employees into the manager’s office. Davis demanded that the manager open the safe, from which Davis stole money.
While the employees were in the manager’s office, Davis discharged the revolver. He also sprayed lighter fluid on the wall and floor, and ignited the lighter fluid. Davis and the employees rushed out of the office to the front of the restaurant. Davis removed additional money from the cash registers and fled. The manager chased after Davis and Davis fired at least two shots, which struck the side of the restaurant.
Davis got into his vehicle and drove away. Prince George’s County police attempted to stop Davis’ vehicle, but Davis led them on a high speed chase. Eventually, Davis stopped his vehicle in the middle of the intersection of Marlboro Pike and Nova Avenue in Prince George’s County. Officers arrested Davis and seized the “Iron Man” mask, a bag containing $2,095, a revolver which contained three spent cartridges and three live rounds, and bottles of lighter fluid. Approximately $73 stolen from the restaurant was not recovered.
Davis subsequently admitted that he robbed the restaurant because he was upset that his employment with that restaurant had been terminated.
United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the FBI, Prince George’s County Police Department and Prince George’s County State’s Attorney’s Office for their work in the investigation and prosecution. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant United States Attorneys Thomas M. Sullivan and Menaka S. Kalaskar, who prosecuted the case.
Apopka Resident Pleads Guilty to Multiple Gun and Drug ChargesRead the Press Release
Orlando, Florida – Acting United States Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow announces that Jesse B. Ingram, Jr. (34, Apopka) yesterday pleaded guilty to two counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm; two counts of attempting to possess with the intent to distribute and attempting to distribute heroin; and one count of possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. He faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison for each count of being a felon in possession of a firearm, and up to 20 years in federal prison for each drug distribution charge. He also faces a mandatory minimum penalty of five years, consecutive to the sentence imposed for the other charges, for possessing a firearm in furtherance of his drug trafficking crime.
According to court documents, Ingram possessed a firearm while attempting to distribute a substance that he believed was heroin. As a previously convicted felon, he is prohibited from carrying a firearm or ammunition under federal law.
This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, and the Apopka Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Sean P. Shecter.
This is another case prosecuted as a part of the Department of Justice’s “Project Safe Neighborhoods” Program - a nationwide, gun-violence reduction strategy. Acting United States Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow, along with Daryl R. McCrary, Special Agent in Charge, ATF, is coordinating the Project Safe Neighborhoods effort here in the Middle District of Florida in cooperation with federal, state, and local law enforcement officials.
Anchorage Man Sentenced for Enticement of MinorsRead the Press Release
Anchorage, Alaska – Acting U.S. Attorney Bryan Schroder announced today that Steven Michael Maddox, 56, resident of Anchorage, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Ralph R. Beistline to serve 15 years and 8 months in prison, to be followed by a lifetime term of supervised release, for three counts of enticing and attempting to entice minors to engage in sex acts.
In 2014 and early 2015, the defendant provided drugs and alcohol to three different teenage girls, using the drugs and alcohol to entice the minors into engaging in sex acts.
At sentencing, Judge Beistline noted the defendant’s own troubled upbringing, but stated, “[a]ctions have consequences, and here you are dealing with the consequences of your actions.” Judge Beistline’s sentence was designed, in part, to deter the defendant from future misconduct, and to “reaffirm societal norms – let the world know that this kind of conduct is unacceptable.” “We have to protect teenagers,” said Judge Beistline, “because they are so darn vulnerable.”
Judge Beistline also commented on the “selfish, repugnant, [and] inexcusable” nature of the defendant’s conduct. “The result of this conduct,” said Judge Beistline, “is generational. These victims are going to be dealing with this for a long time.” To the victims, two of whom presented statements at sentencing, Judge Beistline said, “[h]e has hurt you badly. Rise above it. Don’t let him hurt you anymore.”
The case was the product of an investigation by the FBI and Anchorage Police Department, working together through the FBI’s Safe Streets/Crimes Against Children/Human Trafficking Task Force. task force marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children through sex trafficking, as well as to identify and recover victims. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle Reardon prosecuted the case.
Albuquerque Woman Pleads Guilty to Federal Mail Theft ChargeRead the Press Release
ALBUQUERQUE – JoAnn Bell, 36, of Albuquerque, N.M., pled guilty today in federal court to a theft of mail charge under a plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Bell was arrested on Sept. 19, 2016, on a criminal complaint charging her with theft of mail. The complaint alleged that Bell repeatedly stole mail from U.S. Postal Service (USPS) mail collection boxes located outside of U.S. Post Offices in Albuquerque by using a “fishing” device she fed into the mailbox to “fish” mail out. Bell was arrested after law enforcement officers found her asleep with the “fishing” device and stolen mail in her lap in a vehicle parked outside of a U.S. Post Office.
Bell was indicted on Oct. 12, 2016, and was charged with stealing and receiving stolen mail on Sept. 18, 2016 in Bernalillo County, N.M. During today’s change of plea hearing, Bell pled guilty to the indictment and admitted using a “fishing” device to pull mail out of USPS collection boxes on Sept. 17 and 18, 2016.
At sentencing, Bell faces a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison. A sentencing hearing has yet to be scheduled.
This case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas Jon Ganjei.
Albuquerque Man Sentenced to Federal Prison for Heroin Trafficking ConvictionRead the Press Release
ALBUQUERQUE – Reydecel Lopez-Ordonez, 23, of Albuquerque, N.M., was sentenced today in federal court to 60 months in prison followed by four years of supervised release for his conviction on heroin trafficking charges. Lopez-Ordonez also was ordered to forfeit $10,752 in drug proceeds to the United States in addition to forfeiting his ownership interest in a residence in southwest Albuquerque.
Lopez-Ordonez and co-defendants Gonzalo Montenegro-Coronel, 31, a Mexican national, Esther Ordonez, 48, and Miguel Ordonez, 23, both of Albuquerque, and Fernando Gomez-Campos, 21, of El Paso, Texas were charged in a 13-count indictment that was filed on Dec. 2, 2015. The indictment charged the defendants with participating in a heroin trafficking conspiracy between Nov. 2014 and Sept. 2015. The indictment also charged the defendants with distributing heroin on eight occasions between Nov. 2014 and Sept. 2015, and with using telephones to facilitate drug trafficking crimes. It also charged Esther Ordonez, Miguel Ordonez and Montenegro-Coronel with maintaining a residence for the purpose of manufacturing and distributing heroin between Nov. 2014 and Sept. 2015. According to the indictment, the defendants committed the crimes in Bernalillo County, N.M.
Lopez-Ordonez pled guilty on Oct. 19, 2016, to one count of distributing heroin and two counts of using a communication device to further the commission of a drug trafficking crime. In entering the guilty plea, Lopez-Ordonez admitted using a telephone on March 19, 2015 and June 10, 2015, to arrange heroin sales. Lopez-Ordonez also admitted selling 568 grams of heroin to an undercover agent in exchange for $26,000 on July 9 and 10, 2015.
On March 10, 2017, Gomez-Campos pled guilty to Count 1 of the indictment charging him with participating in a heroin trafficking conspiracy. In his plea agreement, Gomez-Campos admitted that on Oct. 13, 2015, law enforcement officers found approximately 2.67 kilograms (5.89 pounds) of heroin in the trunk of the vehicle in which Gomez-Campos was a passenger. Gomez-Campos admitted that he intended to deliver the heroin from El Paso to Albuquerque. Gomez-Campos also admitted that on April 28, 2015, he was paid to drive a similar quantity of heroin from Juarez, Mexico, to El Paso and then onto Albuquerque. At sentencing, Gomez-Campos faces a statutory mandatory minimum penalty of ten years and a maximum of life in federal prison. A sentencing hearing has yet to be scheduled.
The three remaining co-defendants have entered not guilty pleas to the indictment and are pending trial. Charges in indictments are merely accusations and defendants are presumed innocent unless found guilty in a court of law.
This case was investigated by the Albuquerque office of the DEA and the HIDTA Region I Drug Task Force as part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) program, which combines the resources and unique expertise of federal agencies, along with their local counterparts, in a coordinated effort to disrupt and dismantle major drug trafficking organizations. The HIDTA Region I Drug Task Force is comprised of officers from the Albuquerque Police Department, Rio Rancho Police Department, Valencia County Sheriff’s Office, Pueblo of Pojoaque Tribal Police Department and DEA. The High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) program was created by Congress with the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988. HIDTA is a program of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) which provides assistance to federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies operating in areas determined to be critical drug-trafficking regions of the United States and seeks to reduce drug trafficking and production by facilitating coordinated law enforcement activities and information sharing.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Shaheen P. Torgoley and Stephen R. Kotz are prosecuting this case as part of the New Mexico Heroin and Opioid Prevention and Education (HOPE) Initiative. The HOPE Initiative was launched in January 2015 by the UNM Health Sciences Center and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in response to the national opioid epidemic, which has had a disproportionately devastating impact on New Mexico. Opioid addiction has taken a toll on public safety, public health and the economic viability of our communities. Working in partnership with the DEA, the Bernalillo County Opioid Accountability Initiative, Healing Addiction in our Community (HAC), the Albuquerque Public Schools and other community stakeholders, HOPE’s principal goals are to protect our communities from the dangers associated with heroin and opioid painkillers and reducing the number of opioid-related deaths in New Mexico.
The HOPE Initiative is comprised of five components: (1) prevention and education; (2) treatment; (3) law enforcement; (4) reentry; and (5) strategic planning. HOPE’s law enforcement component is led by the Organized Crime Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the DEA in conjunction with their federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement partners. Targeting members of major heroin and opioid trafficking organizations for investigation and prosecution is a priority of the HOPE Initiative. Learn more about the New Mexico HOPE Initiative at http://www.HopeInitiativeNM.org.
23 Charged after DEA Investigation into Family-Run Heroin Trafficking OperationRead the Press Release
Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, and Michael J. Ferguson, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration for New England, today announced that a grand jury in Bridgeport returned a 13-count indictment yesterday charging 23 individuals with federal narcotics offenses related to the distribution of heroin in and around New Haven. The indictment also charges one of the defendants with a firearms offense.
According to allegations made in court, the investigation specifically targeted a drug trafficking organization led by Bienvenido Gonzalez and his brother, Antonio Gonzalez, both of New Haven. The investigation, which included court-authorized wiretaps, controlled purchases of narcotics and physical and video surveillance, revealed that Bienvenido and Antonio Gonzalez regularly purchased bulk quantities of heroin from suppliers located in the Bronx, New York, and sold the heroin through a network of redistributors, which included three of their younger brothers, on the streets of New Haven.
“We allege that this drug trafficking organization was responsible for distributing a tremendous amount of heroin on the streets of New Haven, heroin that undoubtedly also made its way to addicts in neighboring communities,” said U.S. Attorney Daly. “As the opioid epidemic is ruining lives in our state and across the nation, we and our partners in the DEA, and with the assistance of state and local police, will continue to dedicate resources to target those responsible for trafficking this deadly drug and put them out of business.”
“Those suffering from the disease of heroin addiction need access to treatment and recovery,” said DEA Special Agent in Charge Ferguson. “But, those responsible for distributing these lethal drugs to the citizens of Connecticut need to be held accountable for their actions. In response to the ongoing opioid epidemic DEA and its local, state and federal partners are committed to bringing to justice those that distribute this poison.”
Charged in the indictment are:
BIENVENIDO GONZALEZ, a.k.a. “Antonio” and “Julian, 44, of New Haven
ANTONIO GONZALEZ, a.k.a. “Bienve,” 46, of New Haven
LUIS GONZALEZ, 40, of New Haven
HERSON GONZALEZ, a.k.a. “Titi,” 37, of New Haven
ROBERTO GONZALEZ, 38, of New Haven
RAFAEL NEFTALI CASTILLO BAEZ, 23, of the Bronx, N.Y.
PABLO JOSE CRUZ, 44, of the Bronx, N.Y.
JULIO FLORES, 37, of Webster, Mass.
CHARLES MAY, 48, of New Haven
JOSE MEDINA, a.k.a., “Tito,” 46, of New Haven
ANDRE MILLER, 26, of New Haven
JOSE MINAYA-MELENDEZ, of the Bronx, N.Y.
MARCO PADILLA, 50, of New Haven
WANDA PISCIL, 50, of New Haven
ELVIN PLAZA, a.k.a. “Jordan,” 39, of New Haven
JOSE MANUEL RIOS, 42, of New Haven
LUIS ROBLES 40, of New Haven
EFRAIN ROLON-DONES, 29, of New Haven
MARIMAR ROMAN, 23, of New Haven
ISMAEL RUIZ, a.k.a. “Papo,” 50, of New Haven
JORGE LUIS RUIZ, a.k.a. “Pito,” 41, of New Haven
CARLOS SANTIAGO, a.k.a. “Carlito,” 52, of New Haven
ROBERTO TORRES, 32, of East HavenOn March 15, 2017, investigators arrested Bienvenido Gonzalez, Roberto Gonzalez, Herson Gonzalez, Jorge Luis Ruiz, Jose Manuel Rios, Pablo Jose Cruz, Jose Minaya-Melendez in New Haven. Investigators also arrested Antonio Gonzalez in Puerto Rico. A search of the vehicle that Minaya-Melendez had used to drive Cruz to a stash house used by Bienvenido Gonzalez led to the seizure of a kilogram of heroin. A search of the stash house resulted in the seizure of another 400 grams of heroin and $10,000 in cash. A search of Rios’ residence led to the seizure of 60 grams of heroin and $9,558 in cash.
On March 16, 2017, investigators arrested the remaining defendants named in the indictment, with the exception of Luis Gonzalez, who already was in custody on state charges. On that date, a search of Roberto Torres’ residence resulted in the seizure of approximately 50 grams of crack cocaine and $7,722 in cash, a search of Julio Flores’ residence resulted in the seizure of approximately $18,180 in cash, and search of Andre Miller’s residence resulted in the seizure of two loaded handguns and $4,737 in cash.
DEA agents arrested Rafael Baez on March 23, 2017, in the Bronx, and seized a large volume of heroin packaging materials, including stamps used to brand the heroin, from his residence.
Bienvenido Gonzalez, Antonio Gonzalez, Baez, Cruz, Padilla, Rios, Robles, Rolon-Dones, Ismael Ruiz, Jorge Ruiz, Santiago, Torres, and Minaya-Melendez have been in custody since the time of their arrest. The remaining defendants have been released on bond.
The indictment charges each of the defendants with conspiracy to distribute, and to possess with intent to distribute, heroin. If convicted of this charge, based on the type and quantity of narcotics charged, Bienvenido Gonzalez, Antonio Gonzalez, Baez, Cruz, Minaya-Melendez, Jorge Ruiz and Santiago face a minimum term of imprisonment of 10 years and a maximum term of imprisonment of life; Flores, Medina, Miller, Piscil, Plaza, Rios, Roman, Ismael Ruiz and Torres face a minimum term of imprisonment of five years and a maximum term of imprisonment of 40 years; and Luis Gonzalez, Roberto Gonzalez, Herson Gonzalez, May, Padilla, Robles and Rolon-Dones face a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years.
Bienvenido Gonzalez, Luis Gonzalez, Cruz, Medina, Minaya-Melendez, Rolon-Dones, Rios Roman, Jorge Ruiz and Santiago also are charged with one or more counts of possession with intent to distribute, and distribution of, various quantities of heroin. Torres also is charged with one count of possession with intent to distribute 28 grams or more of crack cocaine.
Finally, the indictment charges Miller with one count of being felon in possession of a firearm, an offense that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years.
U.S. Attorney Daly stressed that an indictment is not evidence of guilt. Charges are only allegations, and each defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
This matter is being investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration’s New Haven Tactical Diversion Squad, which includes officers from the Bristol, Greenwich, Hamden, Milford, New Haven, Shelton, Vernon and Wilton Police Departments. The New Haven, East Haven and West Haven Police Departments, together with the U.S. Coast Guard, provided valuable assistance to the investigation.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Amy C. Brown.
29 March 2017
White Plains Accountant Pleads Guilty to $23 Million Tax Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
Joon H. Kim, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that JOSEPH CERVONE, a certified public accountant, pled guilty to tax fraud charges before the U.S. District Judge Nelson S. Román this morning. CERVONE pled guilty to one count of endeavoring to obstruct and impede the due administration of the internal revenue laws and one count of subscribing to false tax returns.
According to the Information previously filed in White Plains federal court and court proceedings:
From 2009 through 2012, CERVONE, a certified public accountant with an office in White Plains, obstructed and impeded the IRS by filing false tax returns claiming more than $23 million of energy and coal credits on behalf of his clients in order to obtain tax refunds. In addition, CERVONE also filed false tax returns for the tax years 2010 and 2011 that failed to report more than $500,000 in income.
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CERVONE, 63, of White Plains, New York, is charged with one count of endeavoring to obstruct and impede the due administration of the internal revenue laws, and one count of subscribing to false tax returns, each of which carries a maximum sentence of three years in prison. The maximum potential sentences in this case are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the judge.
CERVONE’s sentencing is scheduled for June 29, 2017.
Mr. Kim praised the outstanding efforts of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division. He also thanked the U.S. Department of Justice’s Tax Division for its significant assistance in the investigation
This case is being handled by the Office’s White Plains Division. Assistant U.S. Attorney John P. Collins Jr. is in charge of the prosecution.
Webster City Woman to Federal Prison for Meth ConspiracyRead the Press Release
A woman who conspired to distribute methamphetamine was sentenced March 20, 2017, to more than 6 years in federal prison.
Deanna Ramirez-Trujillo, 31, from Webster City, Iowa, received the prison term after a November 2, 2016, guilty plea to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.
At the guilty plea, Ramirez-Trujillo admitted that beginning on or about June 2014 and continuing to on or about December 2014, she was involved in a conspiracy that distributed more than 4000 grams of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine, which contained 1500 grams or more of actual (pure) methamphetamine. On four occasions in September and October 2014, Ramirez-Trujillo distributed methamphetamine to individuals cooperating with law enforcement. Ramirez-Trujillo also admitted to aiding and abetting co-conspirator, Jose Alvarez distribute methamphetamine.
Ramirez-Trujillo was sentenced in Sioux City by United States District Court Judge Mark W. Bennett. Ramirez-Trujillo was sentenced to 78 months’ imprisonment. A special assessment of $100 was imposed. She must also serve a 3-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system. Ramirez-Trujillo is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until she can be transported to a federal prison.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Shawn S. Wehde and investigated by the Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement, Wright County Sheriff’s Office, Central Iowa Drug Task Force, Mid-Iowa Drug Task Force, and Iowa Division of Criminal Investigations.
Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.
The case file number is 14-3068. Follow us on Twitter @USAO_NDIA.
Visitor to USP Lee Pleads Guilty to Providing Inmate with Prohibited ObjectRead the Press Release
Abingdon, VIRGINIA – A woman visiting an inmate at the United States Penitentiary at Lee County, Virginia has pled guilty to providing that inmate with a prohibited object, Acting United States Attorney Rick A. Mountcastle announced today.
Raven Monique Goodwine, 23, of Washington, D.C., pled guilty today in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Abingdon to one count of being a visitor of a federal prison and while being a visitor, providing an inmate of a federal prison a prohibited object, specifically Suboxone film.
According to evidence presented at today’s hearing by Assistant United States Attorney Zachary T. Lee, Goodwine visited at inmate at USP Lee on June 18, 2016. During the visit, Goodwine passed a federal inmate being housed at USP Lee several balloons, which the inmate swallowed. It was later determined that the balloons contained Suboxone film.
The investigation of the case was conducted by United States Bureau of Prisons and the Bristol office of the Federal Bureau of Investigations. Assistant United States Attorney Zachary T. Lee prosecuted the case for the United States.
Undocumented Alien Pleads Guilty to Assaulting a Federal Deportation Officer in AustinRead the Press Release
In Austin today, 23-year-old Mexican National Hugo Baltazar-Ramirez pleaded guilty to assaulting a federal deportation officer last month in Austin announced United States Attorney Richard L. Durbin, Jr., and Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge Christopher Combs, San Antonio Division.
By pleading guilty, Baltazar-Ramirez admitted that on February 10, 2017, he forcibly assaulted a federal officer and employee of the United States who was engaged in the performance of his official duties. As a result of the intentional assault by the defendant, the federal deportation officer suffered bodily injury.
Baltazar-Ramirez remains in federal custody awaiting sentencing. A sentencing date has yet to be scheduled. He faces up to 20 years in federal prison.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted this investigation.
Two Pharmacists Convicted for Illegally Dispensing to Patients of a Pill MillRead the Press Release
ATLANTA - Rosemary Ofume and Donatus Iriele, the husband and wife owners of Medicine Center Pharmacy in Atlanta, Georgia, have been convicted after a three-week jury trial on federal drug and money laundering charges for illegally dispensing controlled narcotics to customers of the “pill mill” pain clinic across the street. They were convicted of a drug trafficking conspiracy, three counts of illegally dispensing controlled substances without a legitimate medical purpose and outside the usual course of professional practice, and a money laundering conspiracy, in connection with their operation of Medicine Center Pharmacy, in Atlanta, Georgia. Additionally, Iriele was convicted individually of five counts of concealment money laundering and laundering more than $10,000 of criminally derived property.
“Like the rest of the country, the state of Georgia continues to experience the devastating impact of the opiate epidemic,” said U.S. Attorney John Horn. “These defendants used their pharmacy to supply pills to patients of a known "pill mill." Physicians, pharmacists and other medical professionals that prey on drug addicts, and feed their addictions in order to make a profit, are simply drug dealers in white coats.”
Daniel R. Salter, the Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Atlanta Field Division said, “It is a sad commentary when trusted individuals in the medical community hide behind the veil of legitimacy to commit criminal acts. These pharmacists can no longer fill the opiate cravings of pill-seeking addicts with impunity. Owners and operators of pill mills spin a broad web of deception, reeling in casts of thousands who are addicted to pharmaceutical drugs. This investigation was a success because of the spirited level of law enforcement cooperation.”
“The reckless illegal dispensing of controlled substances results in addiction and death,” said James E. Dorsey, Acting Special Agent in Charge, IRS Criminal Investigation. “The abuse of Oxycodone and other controlled substances has become an epidemic which is destroying lives and communities throughout the country. Rosemary Ofume, Donatus Iriele and others who operate pill mills in the Northern District of Georgia can expect to be investigated, prosecuted, and sent to prison in the same way as other drug traffickers who push poison in our communities.”
“These convictions have removed a huge tumor from the cancer that illicit drug distribution has become during our lifetime. The hard work invested in this case by all parties, from the U.S. Attorney’s office to the boots on the ground front-line drug agents and everyone in-between proves what dedication, persistence and cooperation can accomplish. It’s proof positive that just because you have a license to practice pharmacy, you aren’t entitled to put illicitly prescribed drugs on the street and contribute to the skyrocketing opioid addiction and overdose death rates. All health care professionals are on notice to remember: you are to do no harm. And if you intentionally ignore this charge, you are going to be treated the same as a street-corner drug dealer in this war on opioid abuse,” said Rick Allen, Director, Georgia Drugs & Narcotics Agency.
According to U.S. Attorney Horn, the charges and other information presented in court: In May 2009, agents of the DEA, working with agents for the IRS, began investigating the AMARC pain clinic, located in Atlanta, Georgia, and nearby Medicine Center Pharmacy, after receiving information that the clinic and pharmacy were illegitimately prescribing and dispensing pain pills to drug addicts and drug dealers.
The investigation revealed that Godfrey Ilonzo financed and operated at least eight clinics in the metro Atlanta area under the “AMARC” name, including the Lakewood pain clinic and one in Tyrone, Georgia. Bona Ilonzo (Godfrey Ilonzo’s wife) served as the office manager at the Lakewood AMARC pain clinic. At various times, Dr. Nevorn Askari and Dr. William Richardson served as the primary doctors for the AMARC pain clinics. Rosemary Ofume and Donatus Iriele operated the Medicine Center Pharmacy across the street from one of the pain clinics. Both Godfrey and Bona Ilonzo, as well as Drs. Askari and Richardson, previously pleaded guilty to charges related to their conduct at the clinic.
Ofume and Iriele worked together with the Ilonzos and Drs. Askari and Richardson to facilitate the dispensing of Oxycodone pills and other opiates to addicts and distributors. After customers received prescriptions from Askari and Richardson for medically inappropriate and potentially lethal combinations of opiates and other controlled substances, clinic staff told customers to fill their prescriptions across the street at “Rosemary’s pharmacy” (Medicine Center Pharmacy operated by Ofume and Iriele). Many of those customers traveled to the AMARC clinics and Ofume/Iriele’s pharmacy from counties throughout Georgia and from other states (including Alabama and Ohio).
Customers waited for hours at the Lakewood AMARC pain clinic and paid cash to receive prescriptions for Oxycodone or Hydrocodone, Xanax, and Soma (the “holy trinity” for resale on the street) before purchasing the pills at high prices from Ofume and Iriele’s pharmacy. Employees at the AMARC clinics and Ofume and Iriele’s pharmacy received discounts and special treatment, including free office visits and reduced prices for pills dispensed at the pharmacy. Ofume lied to pharmaceutical distributors in order to procure astronomical quantities of Oxycodone and other prescription pain pills that were then dispensed to customers having obvious signs of addiction or drug diversion. Significantly, in 2009, Medicine Center Pharmacy purchased eleven times more Oxycodone than the average pharmacy in the state of Georgia.
During the course of the conspiracy, Ofume and Iriele generated more than $5.1 million dollars from unlawful prescriptions issued by doctors affiliated with the AMARC clinics (constituting more than 90% of the pharmacy’s revenue). Iriele used pharmacy proceeds to purchase three luxury vehicles for his and Ofume’s personal use. Iriele and Ofume also laundered pharmacy proceeds by purchasing vehicles in the United States for individuals in Nigeria while concealing that those customers then deposited local Nigerian currency into Iriele’s own Nigerian bank account.
Previously, in 2007, the Georgia Board of Pharmacy revoked Iriele’s pharmacy licensed (and temporarily suspended Ofume’s pharmacy license) after finding that Ofume and Iriele had failed to account for more than 600,000 controlled substances pills at their pharmacies and had dispensed controlled substances pursuant to more than 1,400 forged prescriptions.
Previously, Godfrey Ilonzo, 66, of Alpharetta, Georgia, and Bona Ilonzo, 54, of Alpharetta, Georgia, the husband-wife owners of the illegal pain clinic, and two doctors who worked at the clinic, pleaded guilty to federal drug and money laundering charges in connection with in the drug trafficking conspiracy.
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Godfrey Ilonzo pleaded guilty on February 16, 2017, to drug trafficking conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy.
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Bona Ilonzo pleaded guilty on February 16, 2017, to a drug trafficking conspiracy;
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Dr. Nevorn Askari, 61, of Monroe, Georgia, pleaded guilty on February 16, 2017, to a drug trafficking conspiracy;
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Dr. William Richardson, 63, of Atlanta, Georgia, pleaded guilty on February 1, 2017, to a drug trafficking conspiracy.
A federal grand jury returned a second superseding indictment against the defendants on September 5, 2013. The sentencings of Godrey and Bona Ilonzo, Dr. Askari, and Dr. Richardson are scheduled to take place throughout the day on May 16, 2017, before U.S. District Court Judge Steve C. Jones.
Based on the convictions, Ofume and Iriele will be ordered to forfeit to the United States $16,767 in cash seized from the pharmacy, $133,892.74 in funds seized from the pharmacy’s bank account, a 2009 BMW X5, a 2008 Mercedes Benz ML550, a 2007 BMW X5, and Rosemary Ofume’s Georgia Pharmacist license. In addition, the government also intends to seek money judgments equal to the amount of proceeds defendants obtained from their illegal drug trafficking and the amount of money laundered.
The sentencings of Ofume and Iriele are scheduled for June 13, 2017, at 10:00 a.m., before U.S. District Court Judge Jones.
This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation.
Assistant United States Attorneys Laurel Boatright, Cassandra Schansman, and Michael Brown are prosecuting the case.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Atlanta recommends parents and children learn about the dangers of drugs at the following web site: www.justthinktwice.com.
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.
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Two Loiza Boys Gang Members Sentenced on Drug ChargesRead the Press Release
CONTACT: Barbara Burns
PHONE: (716) 843-5817
FAX: (716) 551-3051
BUFFALO, N.Y. – Acting U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that Miguel Manso, 46, of Buffalo, NY, who was convicted of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute heroin, was sentenced to 60 months in prison by Senior U.S. District Judge William M. Skretny. In addition, Judge Skretny sentenced Ellis Colon, 32, also of Buffalo, to time served for his conviction of misprision of a felony.Assistant U.S. Attorney Wei Xiang, who handled the sentencing, stated that the defendants were members of a gang known as the Loiza Boys which has been distributing heroin and cocaine on Buffalo’s West Side since at least 2006.
The defendants were charged in 2013 along with eight co-conspirators following a long term investigation that involved the interception of telephone calls of the defendants and the use of undercover drug purchases from some of those charged. During the investigation, law enforcement officers seized over 450 grams of heroin, three firearms, and over $70,000 in U.S. currency.
Nine of the 10 defendants have been convicted. Charges are pending against Josbel Garcia. 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.
The sentencings are the culmination of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation Safe Streets Task Force, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Adam S. Cohen.
Tahlequah Man Sentenced to 120 Months for Firearm PossessionRead the Press Release
MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma announced that JULIUS FERRELL BLACK, age 30, of Tahlequah, Oklahoma, was sentenced to 120 months imprisonment and 3 years of supervised release for FELON IN POSSESSION OF FIREARM within the Eastern District of Oklahoma, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 922(g)(1) and 924(a)(2).
BLACK was convicted of this offense following a jury trial held on November 1-2, 2016. The offense took place on or about June 29, 2016.
The investigation was conducted by the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
The Honorable Ronald A. White, District Judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, in Muskogee, presided over the hearing. The defendant will remain in custody pending transportation to the designated federal facility at which the nonparoleable sentence will be served.
Assistant United States Attorney Timothy Hammer and Assistant United States Attorney Chris Wilson represented the United States.
Stilwell Woman Sentenced to 60 Months Supervised Release, $52,000 Restitution for Theft from Tribal OrganizationRead the Press Release
MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma announced that JEANA MARIE MARTINEZ, age 33, of Stilwell, Oklahoma, was sentenced to 60 months of supervised release and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $52,530.13 for EMBEZZLEMENT AND THEFT FROM INDIAN TRIBAL ORGANIZATION, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1163 and 2.
The Indictment alleged that from in or about January 2012 to on or about July 3, 2014, in the Eastern District of Oklahoma, the defendant, did embezzle, steal, knowingly and willfully convert to her own use, willfully misapply, and willfully permitted to be misapplied, monies, funds, credits, assets, and property, with a value in excess of $1,000.00, which had been entrusted to the custody and care of her brother, MICHAEL HILARIO MARTINEZ, as an employee of the Cherokee Nation, an Indian tribal organization.
The charge arose from an investigation by the Cherokee Nation Marshal Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The Honorable Ronald A. White, District Judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, in Muskogee, presided over the hearing.
Assistant United States Attorney Edward Snow represented the United States.
State Department Employee Arrested and Charged with Concealing Extensive Contacts with Foreign AgentsRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON – A federal complaint was unsealed today charging Candace Marie Claiborne, an employee of the U.S. Department of State, with obstructing an official proceeding and making false statements to the FBI, both felony offenses, for allegedly concealing numerous contacts that she had over a period of years with foreign intelligence agents.
The charges were announced by Acting Assistant Attorney General for National Security Mary B. McCord, U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips of the District of Columbia, and Assistant Director in Charge Andrew Vale of the FBI’s Washington Field Office.
The FBI arrested Claiborne, 60, of Washington, D.C., on March 28, 2017. She made her first appearance this afternoon in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
“Candace Marie Claiborne is a U.S. State Department employee who possesses a Top Secret security clearance and allegedly failed to report her contacts with Chinese foreign intelligence agents who provided her with thousands of dollars of gifts and benefits,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General McCord. “Claiborne used her position and her access to sensitive diplomatic data for personal profit. Pursuing those who imperil our national security for personal gain will remain a key priority of the National Security Division.”
“Candace Claiborne is charged with obstructing an official proceeding and making false statements in connection with her alleged concealment and failure to report her improper connections to foreign contacts along with the tens of thousands of dollars in gifts and benefits they provided, “ said U.S. Attorney Phillips. “As a State Department employee with a Top Secret clearance, she received training and briefing about the need for caution and transparency. This case demonstrates that U.S. government employees will be held accountable for failing to honor the trust placed in them when they take on such sensitive assignments”
“Candace Claiborne is accused of violating her oath of office as a State Department employee, who was entrusted with Top Secret information when she purposefully mislead federal investigators about her significant and repeated interactions with foreign contacts," said Assistant Director in Charge Vale. "The FBI will continue to investigate individuals who, though required by law, fail to report foreign contacts, which is a key indicator of potential insider threats posed by those in positions of public trust.”
According to the affidavit in support of the complaint and arrest warrant, which was unsealed today, Claiborne began working as an Office Management Specialist for the Department of State in 1999. She has served overseas at a number of posts, including embassies and consulates in Baghdad, Iraq, Khartoum, Sudan, and Beijing and Shanghai, China. As a condition of her employment, Claiborne maintains a TOP SECRET security clearance. Claiborne also is required to report any contacts with persons suspected of affiliation with a foreign intelligence agency.
Despite such a requirement, the affidavit alleges, Claiborne failed to report repeated contacts with two intelligence agents of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), even though these agents provided tens of thousands of dollars in gifts and benefits to Claiborne and her family over five years. According to the affidavit, the gifts and benefits included cash wired to Claiborne’s USAA account, an Apple iPhone and laptop computer, Chinese New Year’s gifts, meals, international travel and vacations, tuition at a Chinese fashion school, a fully furnished apartment, and a monthly stipend. Some of these gifts and benefits were provided directly to Claiborne, the affidavit alleges, while others were provided through a co-conspirator.
According to the affidavit, Claiborne noted in her journal that she could “Generate 20k in 1 year” working with one of the PRC agents, who, shortly after wiring $2,480 to Claiborne, tasked her with providing internal U.S. Government analyses on a U.S.-Sino Strategic Economic Dialogue that had just concluded.
Claiborne, who allegedly confided to a co-conspirator that the PRC agents were “spies,” willfully misled State Department background investigators and FBI investigators about her contacts with those agents, the affidavit states. After the State Department and FBI investigators contacted her, Claiborne also instructed her co-conspirators to delete evidence connecting her to the PRC agents, the affidavit alleges.
Charges contained in a criminal complaint are merely allegations, and every defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
The maximum penalty for a person convicted of obstructing an official proceeding is 20 years in prison. The maximum penalty for making false statements to the FBI is five years in prison. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes. If convicted of any offense, the sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
At her court appearance today, Claiborne pleaded not guilty before the Honorable Magistrate Judge Robin M. Meriweather. A preliminary hearing was set for April 18, 2017.
The FBI’s Washington Field Office is leading the investigation into this matter. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys John L. Hill and Thomas A. Gillice of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and Trial Attorney Julie Edelstein of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section.
State Department Employee Arrested and Charged with Concealing Extensive Contacts with Foreign AgentsRead the Press Release
A federal complaint was unsealed today charging Candace Marie Claiborne, 60, of Washington, D.C., and an employee of the U.S. Department of State, with obstructing an official proceeding and making false statements to the FBI, both felony offenses, for allegedly concealing numerous contacts that she had over a period of years with foreign intelligence agents.
The charges were announced by Acting Assistant Attorney General Mary B. McCord for National Security, U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips of the District of Columbia and Assistant Director in Charge Andrew W. Vale of the FBI’s Washington Field Office.
“Candace Marie Claiborne is a U.S. State Department employee who possesses a Top Secret security clearance and allegedly failed to report her contacts with Chinese foreign intelligence agents who provided her with thousands of dollars of gifts and benefits,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General McCord. “Claiborne used her position and her access to sensitive diplomatic data for personal profit. Pursuing those who imperil our national security for personal gain will remain a key priority of the National Security Division.”
“Candace Claiborne is charged with obstructing an official proceeding and making false statements in connection with her alleged concealment and failure to report her improper connections to foreign contacts along with the tens of thousands of dollars in gifts and benefits they provided,” said U.S. Attorney Phillips. “As a State Department employee with a Top Secret clearance, she received training and briefing about the need for caution and transparency. This case demonstrates that U.S. government employees will be held accountable for failing to honor the trust placed in them when they take on such sensitive assignments”
“Candace Claiborne is accused of violating her oath of office as a State Department employee, who was entrusted with Top Secret information when she purposefully mislead federal investigators about her significant and repeated interactions with foreign contacts," said Assistant Director in Charge Vale. "The FBI will continue to investigate individuals who, though required by law, fail to report foreign contacts, which is a key indicator of potential insider threats posed by those in positions of public trust.”
The FBI arrested Claiborne on March 28. She made her first appearance this afternoon in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
According to the affidavit in support of the complaint and arrest warrant, which was unsealed today, Claiborne began working as an Office Management Specialist for the Department of State in 1999. She has served overseas at a number of posts, including embassies and consulates in Baghdad, Iraq, Khartoum, Sudan, and Beijing and Shanghai, China. As a condition of her employment, Claiborne maintains a Top Secret security clearance. Claiborne also is required to report any contacts with persons suspected of affiliation with a foreign intelligence agency.
Despite such a requirement, the affidavit alleges, Claiborne failed to report repeated contacts with two intelligence agents of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), even though these agents provided tens of thousands of dollars in gifts and benefits to Claiborne and her family over five years. According to the affidavit, the gifts and benefits included cash wired to Claiborne’s USAA account, an Apple iPhone and laptop computer, Chinese New Year’s gifts, meals, international travel and vacations, tuition at a Chinese fashion school, a fully furnished apartment, and a monthly stipend. Some of these gifts and benefits were provided directly to Claiborne, the affidavit alleges, while others were provided through a co-conspirator.
According to the affidavit, Claiborne noted in her journal that she could “Generate 20k in 1 year” working with one of the PRC agents, who, shortly after wiring $2,480 to Claiborne, tasked her with providing internal U.S. Government analyses on a U.S.-Sino Strategic Economic Dialogue that had just concluded.
Claiborne, who allegedly confided to a co-conspirator that the PRC agents were “spies,” willfully misled State Department background investigators and FBI investigators about her contacts with those agents, the affidavit states. After the State Department and FBI investigators contacted her, Claiborne also instructed her co-conspirators to delete evidence connecting her to the PRC agents, the affidavit alleges.
Charges contained in a criminal complaint are merely allegations, and every defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
The maximum penalty for a person convicted of obstructing an official proceeding is 20 years in prison. The maximum penalty for making false statements to the FBI is five years in prison. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes. If convicted of any offense, the sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
At her court appearance today, Claiborne pleaded not guilty before the Honorable Magistrate Judge Robin M. Meriweather. A preliminary hearing was set for April 18.
The FBI’s Washington Field Office is leading the investigation into this matter. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys John L. Hill and Thomas A. Gillice for the District of Columbia and Trial Attorney Julie Edelstein of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section.
2017 03 29 Claiborne Complaint and Redacted AffidavitSouth Bend Man Sentenced to 15 Months ImprisonmentRead the Press Release
SOUTH BEND – Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Indiana, Clifford D. Johnson, announced that Isaiah Deonte Jovan Beavers, 26, of South Bend, Indiana was sentenced before South Bend District Court Judge Jon E. DeGuilio after entering a guilty plea for making a threat using the internet and sending a communication that contained a threat.
Beavers was sentenced to 15 months imprisonment and 2 years supervised release.
According to documents filed in this case, Beavers made a series of postings on social media referencing a rally scheduled in South Bend on July 9, 2016. There were a series of posts made by Beavers on July 7, 2016 with him stating he would attend a rally with bottles that had gasoline in them. The posts also include images of a gun, flames and buildings where Beavers added “lets burn this b**ch down”. Beavers also transmitted an electronic communication that contained a threat to injure another person and knew it would be viewed as a threat. He specifically posted an image of a person who appeared to be wearing a riot helmet and face shield. A hand is holding a revolver and material can be seen in the image blowing out of the back of the person’s head. The image said, “Speak to Cops in a Language They Understand”. Beavers was arrested before the rally took place and has been detained since his arrest.
This case was the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation with the assistance of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the South Bend Police Department; the St. Joseph County Police Department; and the St. Joseph County Prosecutor’s Office High Tech Crimes Unit. This case was being handled by Assistant United States Attorney Kenneth M. Hays.
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Socorro Man Sentenced to Prison for Federal Methamphetamine Trafficking ConvictionRead the Press Release
ALBUQUERQUE – Carlos Tafoya, Jr., 35, of Socorro, N.M., was sentenced today in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., to 13 years in prison for his conviction on methamphetamine trafficking charges. Tafoya will be on supervised release for five years after completing his prison sentence.
Tafoya was one of 34 individuals charged in December 2015, with federal and tribal drug offenses as the result of an 18-month multi-agency investigation led by the DEA and BIA into methamphetamine trafficking on the Mescalero Apache Reservation. Eighteen defendants, including five members of the Mescalero Apache Tribe and 13 non-Natives were charged in six federal indictments and a federal criminal complaint. Sixteen other members of the Mescalero Apache Tribe were charged in tribal criminal complaints approved by the Mescalero Apache Tribal Court.
The investigation leading to the federal and tribal charges was initiated in May 2014, in response to an increase in violent crime on the Mescalero Apache Reservation perpetrated by methamphetamine users. The investigation initially targeted a drug trafficking organization that was allegedly distributing methamphetamine within the Reservation, and later expanded to include two other drug trafficking organizations in southeastern New Mexico that allegedly served as sources of supply for the methamphetamine distributed within the Reservation. In Aug. 2014, the investigation was designated as part of the Justice Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) program, which combines the resources and unique expertise of federal agencies, along with their local counterparts, in a coordinated effort to disrupt and dismantle major drug trafficking organizations. The investigation is one of the first OCDETF investigations to utilize electronic surveillance (wiretaps) in Indian Country. More than ten kilograms of methamphetamine were seized during the course of the investigation.
Tafoya was arrested on Nov. 20, 2015, on an indictment charging him and seven other non-Natives with methamphetamine trafficking and money laundering offenses. The indictment charged Tafoya with participation in a methamphetamine trafficking conspiracy and possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute.
The indictment against Tafoya was superseded on Sept. 21, 2016, and charged Tafoya with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine from July 1, 2015 through Nov. 13, 2015; distribution of methamphetamine on Oct. 15, 2015; possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute on Nov. 13, 2015; and possession of a firearm in relation to a drug trafficking crime on Nov. 13, 2015. According to the superseding indictment, all offenses took place in Socorro County, N.M. The superseding indictment also included forfeiture provisions requiring Tafoya to forfeit $24,500 to the United States.
On Nov. 17, 2016, Tafoya pled guilty to distribution of methamphetamine and possession of methamphetamine. In entering the guilty plea, Tafoya admitted that on Oct. 15, 2016, he sold 364.2 grams of methamphetamine to an undercover law enforcement agent and on Nov. 13, 2015, he possessed approximately 1.2 kilograms of methamphetamine which he intended to sell. Tafoya further admitted that he was on supervised release for a prior conviction when he committed the methamphetamine trafficking offenses on Oct. 15, 2015 and Nov. 13, 2015.
Seventeen of the 18 federal defendants have entered guilty pleas. The remaining federal defendant has entered a not guilty plea. Charges in indictments are merely accusations and defendants are presumed innocent unless found guilty in a court of law.
The federal and tribal cases were investigated by the Las Cruces office of the DEA, District IV of the BIA’s Office of Justice Services (Mescalero Agency), BIA’s Division of Drug Enforcement, Mescalero Tribal Police Department, Hatch Police Department, FBI and Lea County Drug Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Terri J. Abernathy and Clara Cobos of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office are prosecuting the federal cases, and Mescalero Tribal Prosecutor Melissa Chavez is prosecuting the tribal cases.
Sanford Man Sentenced to One Month in Prison for Firearms ChargesRead the Press Release
Contact: Jody Mullis
Assistant United States Attorney
Tel: (207) 945-0373Bangor, Maine: Acting United States Attorney Richard W. Murphy announced that William Klingensmith, 47, of Sanford was sentenced yesterday in U.S. District Court by Judge John A. Woodcock, Jr., to one month in prison to be followed by two years of supervised release for unlawfully possessing firearms. Klingensmith pleaded guilty on August 4, 2016.
According to court records, Klingensmith possessed a total of eleven firearms at different times between February 20, 2015, and July 11, 2015. On or about June 13, 2015, Klingensmith used a 9 mm rifle and a Colt 38 revolver for target shooting at a range in Fairfield. On July 11, 2015, officers found another nine firearms, consisting of rifles and shotguns, hanging on the wall of Klingensmith’s former residence in Waterville. In imposing the sentence, Judge Woodcock stated that because of this felony conviction and Klingensmith’s prior misdemeanor conviction of domestic violence, there would be “no firearms for Mr. Klingensmith forever.”
The investigation was conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Waterville, Maine, Police Department.
San Francisco Resident Sentenced to over Three Years in Prison for Aggravated Identity TheftRead the Press Release
SAN FRANCISCO – Yee Man Lui was sentenced to serve 40 months in prison for aggravated identity theft and access device fraud announced U.S. Attorney Brian J. Stretch and United States Postal Inspection Service Inspector in Charge Rafael Nuñez. The sentence was handed down by the Honorable Maxine M. Chesney, U.S. District Judge, following Lui’s September 14, 2016, guilty plea.
According to the guilty plea, from February through July of 2014, Lui, 36, of San Francisco, engaged in a scheme to defraud several financial institutions by opening new credit accounts in the names of unsuspecting individuals. Lui admitted that as part of the scheme, she took over existing credit card and debit card accounts and then, using the personal identifying information of the account holders without their knowledge or consent, created and used new credit accounts. She acknowledged applying for 42 credit cards via the Internet using the personal identifying information of her victims. In addition, Lui admitted she used credit and bank cards in the names of at least two individuals to make purchases. In sum, Lui admitted causing over $30,000 in actual and over $120,000 in intended losses to her victims.
On August 6, 2015, Lui was charged in a five-count indictment with two counts of aggravated identity theft, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1028A(a)(1), two counts of access device fraud, in violation 18 U.S.C. § 1029(a)(2) and (b)(1), and one count of conspiracy to commit access device fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1029(b)(2). On September 14, 2016, Lui pleaded guilty to one count each of aggravated identity theft and access device fraud. The remaining charges were dismissed.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Chesney also ordered Lui to serve 36 months of supervised release and to pay restitution. Judge Chesney has not yet set a hearing date to determine the amount of restitution that Lui will be ordered to pay.
Assistant United States Attorney Sarah Hawkins is prosecuting the case with the assistance of Patricia Mahoney. This prosecution is the result of an investigation by the United States Postal Inspection Service.
Romanian Citizen Pleads Guilty in ATM Skimming ConspiracyRead the Press Release
A Romanian citizen pleaded guilty today to a scheme to defraud customers of Bank of America and PNC Bank through conduct known as “ATM skimming.”
Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Blanco of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; Acting U.S. Attorney William E. Fitzpatrick of the District of New Jersey; and Special Agent in Charge Terence S. Opiola of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations Newark, New Jersey, Division made the announcement.
Radu Bogdan Marin, 36, a Romanian citizen residing in Glendale, New York, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud before U.S. District Judge Esther Salas of the District of New Jersey.
According to admissions in the plea agreement, Marin and his co-conspirators sought to defraud financial institutions and their customers by illegally obtaining customer account information, including account numbers and personal identification numbers. Marin admitted that between March 2015 and July 2016, Marin and his co-conspirators used counterfeit ATM cards and stolen customer information to withdraw cash from compromised bank accounts at ATMs in New Jersey. Marin and his co-conspirators used more than 10 ATM cards to conduct cash withdrawals in New Jersey, withdrawing tens of thousands of dollars, $39,140 of which was personally atrributable to Marin.
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigation’s Newark, New Jersey, Division; U.S. Secret Service’s Boston Field Office; Longmeadow, Massachusetts, Police Department; Cambridge, Massachusetts, Police Department; and Medford, Massachusetts, Police Department investigated the case with assistance from Bank of America Security and Fraud Section and PNC Bank Security Division. The Middlesex County, Massachusetts, District Attorney’s Office; U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Eastern District of New York and U.S. Attorney’s Office of the District of Massachusetts Springfield Division assisted in the investigation and prosecution. Trial Attorney Marianne Shelvey of the Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Gang Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Kelly Graves of the District of New Jersey are prosecuting the case.
Rolla Man Sentenced to Seven Years in Prison for Forex Trading ScamRead the Press Release
St. Louis, MO – Daniel Keith Steele was sentenced today to seven years in prison in connection with a fraud scheme involving trading in foreign currencies. Steele pled guilty in October of last year to soliciting more than $2 million from more than 20 investors who had hoped to realize the extraordinary returns promised by Steele, which were sometimes as high as one percent to five percent per month.
As Steele previously admitted at his plea hearing, Steele invested only a fraction of the money he solicited in foreign currency markets. Instead, according to court documents, he spent investor funds on himself and his family, including the purchase of two different vehicles at a total cost of nearly $100,000, and repaid some later investors with funds contributed by earlier investors. Steele also admitted to generating false reports for investors that reflected returns that Steele had never achieved, and of creating and providing similar false documents when questioned by investigators. According to court documents, of the more than $2 million solicited from investors, only approximately $1.2 million was ever invested by Steele in foreign currency trading.
Steele, 57, Rolla, MO, pled guilty in October to one felony count of mail fraud and four felony counts of wire fraud. Steele appeared today for sentencing before United States District Judge Henry E. Autrey, in St. Louis.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. Assistant United States Attorney Richard E. Finneran handled the case for the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
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Rochester Man Sentenced in Connection with the Robbery of A 7-ElevenRead the Press Release
CONTACT: Barbara Burns
PHONE: (716) 843-5817
FAX: (716) 551-3051
ROCHESTER, N.Y.- Acting U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that Joseph Lowry, 22, of Rochester, NY, who pleaded guilty to Hobbs Act robbery, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, and possession of a stolen firearm, was sentenced to 128 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Charles J. Siragusa.Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas E. Gregory, who handled the case, stated that Lowry was sentenced for his role in the August 10, 2015, armed robbery of the 7-Eleven Convenience store at 1469 Lake Avenue in Rochester. Lowry and co-defendant Johnny Blackshell entered the 7-Eleven store intending to steal cash and goods. After entering the store, the defendant jumped over the service desk and ordered the employees to the ground. Blackshell pointed a silver handgun at the victim’s head and instructed the victim to open the cash register. The victim opened the cash register, which contained approximately $80 in U.S. currency, and Lowry removed the money. In addition to the money, the defendant and Blackshell took an unknown quantity of cigarettes, tobacco, chewing gum, and numerous rolls of scratch-off lottery tickets. Lowry and Blackshell then ran out of the store east toward Lake Avenue. Several of the stolen lottery tickets were redeemed by the defendant and others until the New York Lottery was able to invalidate the stolen tickets.
In addition to the charges related to the convenience store robbery, Lowry was also sentenced for possession of a stolen firearm. That charge related to a separate incident, which occurred on August 1, 2015—roughly a week-and-a-half before the 7-Eleven robbery—during which Lowry was found to possess a stolen shotgun. Specifically, on July 29, 2015, Rochester Police officers responded to 1070 Lake Avenue for a report of a burglary occurring at the residence. A resident told officers that intruders entered the house and stole a gun safe that contained three firearms including an AK-47 rifle, a .40 caliber rifle, and a 12-gauge shotgun. Subsequently, on August 1, 2015, officers responded to Lowry’s residence at 33 Phelps Avenue in Rochester on an unrelated call for service. While there, officers observed a 12-gauge shotgun on the front porch of the residence, loaded with one round of ammunition. After tracing the firearm's serial number, investigators determined the gun was one of the three stolen on July 29, 2015, from the Lake Avenue residence. One of the other stolen guns, the AK-47 rifle, was later determined to be the murder weapon used in the shooting at the Rochester Boys and Girls Club on August 19, 2015. Johnny Blackshell was convicted in June 2016 on three counts of First Degree Murder in New York State court in connection with that incident.
Federal charges of Hobbs Act robbery and carrying and brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence are still pending against Johnny Blackshell. The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
Today’s sentencing is the result of an investigation by the Rochester Police Department, under the direction of Chief Michael Ciminelli; the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Adam S. Cohen; and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, under the direction of Ashan Benedict, Special Agent-in-Charge, New York Field Division.
Rochester Couple Arrested, Charged with Armed RobberyRead 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 Fred Swan, Jr., 28, and Jessica Henton, 28, both of Rochester, NY, were arrested and charged by criminal complaint. Swan is charged with Hobbs Act Robbery, use of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. Henton is charged with aiding and abetting and Hobbs Act Robbery. Swan faces up to 25 years in prison; Henton up to 20 years in prison.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Katelyn Hartford, who is handling the case, stated that according to the complaint, on February 18, 2017, Swan, assisted by Henton, robbed Alice’s Market at 1477 South Avenue in Rochester. The complaint further states that on March 24, 2017, Swan robbed the Valero gas station at 931 South Clinton Avenue in Rochester. On both occasions, Swan was armed with a firearm.
A subsequent search of the defendants’ apartment uncovered a firearm, clothing, and other items all of which matched articles either worn by defendants or taken from the robberies of one or both of the convenience stores.
Swan and Henton made an initial appearance this afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jonathan W. Feldman. Henton was released; Swan is being detained.
The complaint is the result of an investigation by the Rochester Police Department, under the direction of Chief Michael Ciminelli, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Adam S. Cohen.
The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation and the defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
Rehoboth Woman Sentenced for Social Security FraudRead the Press Release
BOSTON – A Rehoboth woman was sentenced today in federal court in Boston in connection with illegally collecting more than $29,000 in Social Security benefits.
Joanna Boyer, 44, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Denise J. Casper to two years of probation, with the first nine months to be served in home detention, restitution of $29,927 and a fine of $5,000. Following a three-day trial in November 2016, Boyer was convicted of one count of Social Security fraud, two counts of making false statements and one count of theft of public money.
From 2010 to 2015, Boyer collected Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits, which are only available to people with limited financial means. While collecting these need-based benefits, Boyer concealed the fact that she owned a condominium in Fall River, Mass. On two occasions, when directly asked by Social Security personnel about her property ownership, she denied owning any real estate other than her house in Rehoboth. As a result, she collected more than $29,000 in benefits that she was ineligible to receive.
Acting United States Attorney William D. Weinreb and Scott Antolik, Special Agent in Charge of the Social Security Administration, Office of the Inspector General, Office of Investigations, Boston Field Division, made the announcement today. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Landry and Assistant U.S. Attorney Anne Paruti of Weinreb’s Major Crimes Unit prosecuted the case.
Putnam County man sentenced to federal prison for drug crimesRead the Press Release
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – A Putnam County man was sentenced today to four years in federal prison for drug charges, announced United States Attorney Carol Casto. Christian Garrett Thornton, 30, previously pleaded guilty to four counts of distributing oxymorphone and one count of possession of oxymorphone with intent to distribute.
Thornton admitted that on four occasions in February and March of 2015, he sold Opana pills to a confidential informant working with law enforcement. The drug deals took place in Kanawha and Putnam counties. Thornton additionally admitted that in March 2015, he possessed additional Opana pills that he intended to distribute.
The Metropolitan Drug Enforcement Network Team conducted the investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer Rada Herrald is in charge of the prosecution. United States District Judge Thomas E. Johnston imposed the sentence.
This case is part of an ongoing effort led by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia to combat the illicit sale and misuse of prescription drugs and heroin. The U.S. Attorney’s Office, joined by federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, is committed to aggressively pursuing and shutting down illegal pill trafficking, eliminating open air drug markets, and curtailing the spread of opiate painkillers and heroin in communities across the Southern District.
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Portland Man Pleads Guilty to Firearms ChargeRead the Press Release
Contact: David B. Joyce
Assistant United States Attorney
Tel: (207) 780-3257Portland, Maine: Acting United States Attorney Richard W. Murphy announced that Moses Okot, 28, of Portland, Maine, entered a guilty plea in U.S. District Court to being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Court records revealed that on November 16, 2015, Okot discharged a firearm in Portland’s Old Port district, striking two people standing on the sidewalk. Okot fled from the scene of the shooting in a vehicle. A Portland Police Officer followed the vehicle to a residence in Portland. Okot was later found hiding on a nearby third-story porch. The firearm used in the shooting was found in the vehicle.
At the time of the shooting, Okot was on state probation as a result of a 2011 conviction for felony murder. He was therefore prohibited under federal law from possessing firearms.
Okot faces a period of imprisonment of up to ten years and a fine of up to $250,000. However, the plea agreement in this case calls for imposition of a ten-year sentence to be served consecutively to a probation revocation sentence imposed in state court.
The investigation was conducted by the Portland Police Department and the Southern Maine Gang Task Force, which is comprised of agents and officers from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Drug Enforcement Administration; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations; and the Portland, South Portland, and Lewiston Police Departments.
Physician and Owner of Atlanta Pain Clinic Sentenced for Illegally Prescribing PainkillersRead the Press Release
ATLANTA –Nisar A. Piracha, the former primary physician and owner of Piracha Wellness Clinic in Atlanta, Georgia, has been sentenced to seven years and three months in federal prison for conspiring to distribute oxycodone, methadone, and alprazolam. While operating the clinic, Piracha illegally prescribed dangerous quantities of these prescription painkillers for no legitimate medical purpose.
“The defendant ignored the basic standards of his profession and preyed upon individuals addicted to prescription drugs in return for a steady cash flow,” said U. S. Attorney John Horn. “With every illegal prescription, the defendant not only abused the trust that society places in physicians, but also fed the cycle of prescription drug abuse and addiction that is devastating our communities.”
Daniel R. Salter, the Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Atlanta Field Division said, “This is a good example of the commitment DEA has made to aggressively go after ‘illegal pill mills’ and bring to justice criminals who take advantage of local communities. We are committed to ensuring that unethical physicians who violate their oath by indiscriminately and illegally prescribing dangerous drugs are no longer able to operate with impunity”.
According to U.S. Attorney Horn, the charges, and other information presented in court: Piracha, a former general surgeon and licensed physician, opened the Piracha Wellness pain clinic in Atlanta, Georgia, in 2012 as the owner and sole practitioner. In late 2012, Drug Enforcement Administration agents began investigating suspicious activity at the clinic and made numerous undercover visits to the clinic posing as patients over a five-month period.
During these undercover visits, Piracha conducted only brief physical examinations in the initial visit before prescribing high doses of oxycodone, methadone, and alprazolam. In follow-up visits, Piracha conducted no physical or medical examinations at all and continued to prescribe massive doses of painkillers, including additional prescriptions of medications at the patients’ request without a legitimate medical purpose. Data analysis of patient records also showed that many patients traveled long distances to obtain prescriptions for controlled substances from the clinic, including more than a dozen regular patients who traveled nearly 200 miles from Vidalia and Hazlehurst.
Nisar Piracha, 63, of Norcross, Georgia, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Eleanor L. Ross to seven years and three months in federal prison to be followed by three years of supervised release. Piracha also agreed to the forfeiture of over $425,000 in proceeds from his pill mill operation. Piracha was convicted on this charge on December 21, 2016, after he pleaded guilty.
This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Assistant United States Attorneys Nathan P. Kitchens and Michael Brown 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 home page for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia Atlanta Division is http://www.justice.gov/usao/gan/.
Owner of Medical Equipment Provider Sentenced to 12 Years in Federal Prison for Collecting A Debt by Extortion and for Tax and Health Care Fraud ConspiraciesRead the Press Release
Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Marvin J. Garbis sentenced Harry Crawford, age 57, of Baltimore, Maryland, on March 28, 2017, to 12 years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. Crawford previously pleaded guilty to collection of a debt by extortionate means from victim David Wutoh; conspiracy to commit health care fraud; and conspiracy to defraud the United States, for not reporting income from the health care fraud scheme on his taxes.
The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Nicholas DiGiulio, Office of Investigations, Office of Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services; Acting Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Holloman of the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation, Washington, D.C. Field Office; and Chief James W. Johnson of the Baltimore County Police Department.
According to his plea agreement, Crawford owned, and was President and CEO of RX Resources and Solutions (RXRS), a durable medical equipment provider located in Randallstown, Maryland. Beginning in 2012, co-defendant Matthew Hightower worked as a delivery driver for RXRS.
According to his plea agreement, in 2013 Crawford approached Hightower to facilitate a loan to Crawford’s longtime friend, David Wutoh. Wutoh promised Hightower an enormous rate of return. In exchange for $15,000 in cash, Wutoh would pay Hightower $20,000 within a short period of time. Crawford also loaned Wutoh at least $6,000 of his own money. Wutoh did not pay either man back the money he had borrowed, as a result, from May through September 2013, Crawford and Hightower used cellular telephones and electronic messaging to harass, threaten, and coerce Wutoh to repay the loans.
For example, according to the plea agreement, on June 7, 2013, Wutoh sent an electronic message to Crawford stating, “Battery dying.” Crawford responded, “You will be also. Stop playing with people’s money.” On September 13, 2013, Crawford sent an electronic message to Wutoh telling him to put him in his will. Wutoh responded to Crawford, “you are.” As of September 21, 2013, Wutoh had not repaid Crawford or Hightower all of the money he borrowed from them.
According to Crawford’s plea agreement, on the evening of September 21 and the early morning hours of September 22, 2013, Hightower traveled from West Baltimore to East Baltimore County in the area of Wutoh’s home. At about 2:50 a.m. on September 22, 2013, Wutoh was shot in the living room of his home, by an assailant who fired multiple shots through the front window. According to the plea agreement and evidence presented in court, moments later, Hightower answered a phone call on a phone registered in another person’s name. Records showed the phone was located in close proximity to the house where Wutoh was murdered.
During interviews conducted with Crawford by law enforcement officers investigating the murder, Crawford never disclosed Hightower’s outstanding loan to Wutoh, nor Crawford’s efforts to have Wutoh repay it. When asked directly whether Hightower had any reason to harm Wutoh, Crawford said, “No.”
Co-defendant Matthew Hightower, age 34, also of Baltimore, was convicted of extortion and the murder of David Wutoh on September 22, 2016, after a seven-day trial and sentenced to 380 months in prison. Health care fraud charges remain pending and a trial date has not been set.
Further, Crawford admitted that from 2010 through May 2014, he conspired with co-defendant Elma Myles, who was a biller at RXRS, to defraud Medicaid and other health benefit programs by having RXRS bill for adult incontinent supplies (diapers) that were never provided, overcharge for supplies actually delivered, and bill for supplies that were unneeded and had not been prescribed by a physician. Myles and Crawford lived together and were once domestic partners.
According to their plea agreements, Crawford and Myles used the personal identity information of clients to submit fraudulent claims to Medicaid and other health care benefits programs for disposable medical supplies that were not delivered to the beneficiary. In addition, Crawford and his co-conspirators delivered medical supplies to beneficiaries who did not need the supplies and whose physicians had not prescribed the supplies, even after the beneficiaries reported that they did not want or need the supplies. According to the plea agreement, a co-conspirator would sign or have someone else sign delivery tickets when deliveries had not actually taken place so that the records of RXRS would falsely document the delivery.
On February 4, 2014, federal agents executed a search warrant at RXRS and Crawford and Myles’s home. Agents recovered almost $60,000 in cash from a clothes bin beside the bed in Crawford’s room, and boxes of patient files from the house. A review of bank records shows that Crawford used the proceeds of the fraud directly for the accounts of RXRS, using a significant portion of the proceeds for his personal benefit, including mortgage payments, personal travel, restaurants, and social events. In addition, Myles had made a makeshift closet containing tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of clothing and designer shoes, including apparel for her then three-year-old granddaughter who competed in beauty pageants. From RXRS agents recovered emails documenting a criminal plan at the inception of RXRS, and fraudulent delivery tickets from December 2013 and January 2014.
An analysis of RXRS billing of Medicaid from 2007 through 2014 establishes that the loss to Medicaid just for incontinent supplies billed but not provided is approximately $1.2 million. A review of bank records shows that Crawford and Myles used the proceeds of the fraud directly for the accounts of RXRS, using a significant portion of the proceeds for their personal benefit, including clothing, personal cars, mortgage payments, payments to Myles’ daughter and to a business entity set up for the benefit of Myles’ daughter, to a private school for their granddaughter, personal travel, restaurants, and hosting social events. Finally, Crawford admitted that he conspired to defraud the United States by not reporting or paying taxes on the proceeds of the fraud. The IRS determined that Crawford owes $102,782.17 in federal taxes and $25,000 for state taxes for tax years 2010 through 2013. Judge Garbis ordered Crawford to pay restitution in those amounts.
On March 2, 2017, Judge Garbis sentenced Elma Myles, age 52, of Baltimore, to four years in prison, in connection with her role in a health care fraud scheme, aggravated identity theft, and conspiracy to defraud the United States for failing to file income tax returns. Judge Garbis also ordered Myles to pay restitution of $1,207,585.38 to Medicaid.
United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the HHS-OIG, IRS, and Baltimore County Police Department for their work in the investigation, and thanked the Maryland Attorney General’s Office Medicaid Fraud Control Unit for its assistance. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Aaron S.J. Zelinsky, Judson T. Mihok, and Sandra Wilkinson, who are prosecuting the case.
North Carolina Man Sentenced to Prison for Reshipping Counterfeit CurrencyRead the Press Release
PITTSBURGH - A resident of Raeford, North Carolina, has been sentenced in federal court to one year and one day on his conviction of conspiracy and transferring counterfeit currency, Acting United States Attorney Soo C. Song announced today.
United States District Judge Mark R. Hornak imposed the sentence on Robert T. Dent, a/k/a Bullionaire, 31, of Raeford, NC.
According to information presented to the court, Dent was a reshipper in the United States for the distribution of Ugandan manufactured counterfeit currency that was being sold online by an individual using the moniker Willy Clock.
Assistant United States Attorney Shardul S. Desai prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.
Acting United States Attorney Song commended the United States Secret Service, assisted by U.S. Postal Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Dent.
North Bay Area Credit Union Employee Sentenced to 33 Months in Prison for Embezzlement SchemeRead the Press Release
SAN FRANCISCO- Allison Bushart was sentenced today to 33 months in prison for misapplication and embezzlement of credit union funds and making and subscribing a false tax return announced United States Attorney Brian J. Stretch, Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge John F. Bennett, and Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, Special Agent in Charge Michael T. Batdorf. The sentence was handed down by the Honorable Richard Seeborg, U.S. District Judge, following Bushart’s December 20, 2016, guilty plea.
According to her plea agreement, Bushart, 54, of Rohnert Park, Calif., was employed at the Rohnert Park branch of Patelco Credit Union (Patelco) from approximately May 2003 to early 2015, where her duties included processing member transactions, including cash withdrawals. Bushart acknowledged that, beginning no later than 2010, she began taking cash withdrawals from numerous account holders’ accounts without their knowledge. Among the methods she used to complete the unauthorized withdrawals was to fill out withdrawal slips for specific amounts related to individuals’ accounts and then to forge the account holders’ signatures on the slips. She then took the corresponding amounts of cash home at the end of the day or deposited the cash into her own, or a relative’s, account. Bushart acknowledged that she made unauthorized withdrawals from the accounts of at least ten different individuals, some of whom were legally “vulnerable” because of their age and mental condition. Bushart also admitted that total amount of unauthorized withdrawals that she made pursuant to her embezzlement scheme exceeded $150,000. In imposing his sentence, Judge Seeborg concluded that the unauthorized withdrawals exceeded $250,000.
In addition, Bushart admitted as part of her plea agreement that she never declared as income any of the funds she obtained through the unauthorized withdrawals she made. As a result of failing to declare the income on her annual federal income tax returns, she failed to report $105,000 in income for tax year 2014, resulting in a tax loss suffered by the Internal Revenue Service that year in the amount of $24,469.
Bushart was charged by information on November 23, 2016, with one count of misapplication and embezzlement of credit union funds, in violation of 26 U.S.C. § 7206(l), and one count of making and subscribing a false tax return, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 981(A)(1)(C). Pursuant her plea agreement she pleaded guilty to both counts in the information.
In addition to the prison sentence, Judge Seeborg sentenced Bushart to three years of supervised release. The court scheduled a hearing on May 2, 2017, at 10:00 a.m., to determine the amount of restitution that Bushart will be ordered to pay. Bushart was ordered to surrender no later than May 26, 2017, to begin serving her sentence.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle Waldinger is prosecuting the case with the assistance of Patricia Mahoney. The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the FBI and IRS, Criminal Investigation.
Niagara Falls Man Sentenced to 27 Years in Prison on Child Pornography ChargeRead 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 Daniel Krull, 44, of Niagara Falls, NY, who was convicted of distribution of child pornography following a prior conviction under New York law for possessing a sexual performance by a child, was sentenced to 27 years in prison by U.S. District Judge Lawrence J. Vilardo.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron J. Mango, who handled the case, stated that the between November 6, 2015, and November 8, 2015, the defendant, using the Facebook profile “Danny Blaze,” distributed 11 images of child pornography to other individuals via a private group on Facebook. As a result, Facebook shut down the private group used by Krull and submitted a CyberTipline report to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children on February 28, 2016.
On August 23, 2016, the defendant’s cellular telephone was seized by the Niagara County Probation Department. A forensic examination revealed approximately 2,026 images and 20 videos of child pornography depicting minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct. Some of the images depicted prepubescent minors or minors less than 12 years of age and depictions of graphic violence. During the investigation, Krull admitted that he previously sexually molested three minor females. The defendant also admitted that on several occasions during the summer of 2016, he followed numerous minor females at a local retail store, would become sexually stimulated and once he was back in his car or his residence, Krull would engage in masturbation.
In March 2007, the defendant was convicted in state court of possessing a sexual performance by a child less than 16 years of age.
The sentencing is the result of an investigation by Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation at the direction of Adam S. Cohen, Special Agent-In-Charge, and Probation Officers of the Niagara County Probation Department.
New Orleans Man Sentenced for Violations of the Federal Gun Control Act and the Federal Controlled Substances ActRead the Press Release
Acting U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that STEPHEN ELLIS, age 53, of New Orleans, was sentenced today after previously pleading guilty to three counts charging violations of the Federal Gun Control Act and the Federal Controlled Substances Act.
U.S. District Judge Susie Morgan sentenced ELLIS to 117 months imprisonment, to be followed by 3 years of supervised release, and a $300 special assessment.
According to court documents, ELLIS possessed four firearms subsequent to being previously convicted of felony offenses; possessed firearms in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime; and possessed with the intent to distribute a quantity of cocaine hydrochloride, a Schedule II drug controlled substance.
Acting U.S. Attorney Evans praised the work of the Homeland Security Investigation, the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office, the New Orleans Police Department, and the Gretna Police Department in investigating this matter. Assistant United States Attorney Michael E. McMahon was in charge of the prosecution.