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Friday 21 October 2016
Sterling Mail Carrier Indicted by Federal Grand Jury for Delay and Destruction of MailRead the Press Release
DENVER – Tayson Adam Hidalgo, age 22, of Sterling, Colorado, was arrested following the return of a one count indictment by a federal grand jury in Denver charging him with delay or destruction of mail, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General announced. Hidalgo appeared before a U.S. Magistrate Judge on October 20, 2016, where he was read his rights and advised of the charge pending against him. He was then released on a $5,000 unsecured bond. He is due next in court on October 25, 2016 at 10:00 a.m. for arraignment.
According to the indictment, returning on October 18, 2016, between October 3, 2014 and April 21, 2016, the defendant, a U.S. Postal Service officer and employee did unlawfully secret, destroy, detain, delay and open letters, post cards, packages, bags and mail entrusted to him and which came into his possession with the intention that he or any carrier deliver the mail to intended recipients.
If convicted of delay or destruction of mail, Hidalgo faces not more than 5 years in federal prison, and up to a $250,000 fine, plus restitution if applicable. The defendant is no longer an employee of the U.S. Postal Service.
Approximately 26,000 pieces of undelivered mail was located during this investigation. The recovered mail was addressed to residents within the city limits of Sterling, Colorado and several local postal routes in Fort Morgan, Colorado. Due to the large volume of recovered mail and its potential impact, a Town Hall Meeting is scheduled for Monday, November 7, 2016 at 6:00 p.m. at Sterling Middle School, 1177 Pawnee Avenue, Sterling, Colorado 80751. Town Hall Meeting attendees will be briefed about the investigation, victim notification, and when the seized mail will be returned to its intended recipients.
If you believe you’re a victim of this crime, please visit the U.S. Attorney’s website at www.justice.gov/usao-co for case updates which will be available starting Monday, October 24, 2016.
Executive Special Agent in Charge Joanne Yarbrough said, “The American public trusts that U.S. Postal Service employees will obey the law. When an employee of the Postal Service violates that trust, the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General (USPS OIG) thoroughly investigates those matters. This type of behavior within the Postal Service is not tolerated and the overwhelming majority of Postal Service employees, which serve the public, are honest, hardworking, and trustworthy individuals who would never consider engaging in any type of criminal behavior. The USPS OIG appreciates the partnership with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in holding accountable anyone responsible for such violations.”
This case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Service Office of the Inspector General and the Sterling Police Department. The defendant is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason St. Julien.
The charge contained in the indictment is an allegation, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Statement by United States Attorney Relating to November 2016 ElectionsRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Eric S. Miller announced today that Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) William B. Darrow will lead the efforts of his Office in connection with the Justice Department’s nationwide Election Day Program for the upcoming November 8, 2016, general elections. AUSA Darrow has been appointed to serve as the District Election Officer (DEO) for the District of Vermont, and in that capacity is responsible for overseeing the District’s handling of complaints of election fraud and voting rights abuses in consultation with Justice Department Headquarters in Washington.
United States Attorney Miller said, “Every citizen must be able to vote without interference or discrimination and to have that vote counted without it being stolen because of fraud. The Department of Justice will act promptly and aggressively to protect the integrity of the election process.”
The Department of Justice has an important role in deterring election fraud and discrimination at the polls, and combating these violations whenever and wherever they occur. The Department’s long-standing Election Day Program furthers these goals, and also seeks to ensure public confidence in the integrity of the election process by providing local points of contact within the Department for the public to report possible election fraud and voting rights violations while the polls are open on election day.
Federal law protects against such crimes as intimidating or bribing voters, buying and selling votes, impersonating voters, altering vote tallies, stuffing ballot boxes, and marking ballots for voters against their wishes or without their input. It also contains special protections for the rights of voters and provides that they can vote free from acts that intimidate or harass them. For example, actions of persons designed to interrupt or intimidate voters at polling places by questioning or challenging them, or by photographing or videotaping them, under the pretext that these are actions to uncover illegal voting may violate federal voting rights law. Further, federal law protects the right of voters to mark their own ballot or to be assisted by a person of their choice.
The franchise is the cornerstone of American democracy. We all must ensure that those who are entitled to the franchise exercise it if they choose, and that those who seek to corrupt it are brought to justice. In order to respond to complaints of election fraud or voting rights abuses on November 8, 2016, and to ensure that such complaints are directed to the appropriate authorities, United States Attorney Miller stated that AUSA/DEO Darrow will be on duty in this District while the polls are open. He can be reached by the public at the following telephone number: 802-951-6725.
In addition, the FBI will have special agents available in each field office and resident agency throughout the country to receive allegations of election fraud and other election abuses on election day. The local FBI field office can be reached by the public at 802-863-6316.
Complaints about possible violations of the federal voting rights laws can be made directly to the Civil Rights Division’s Voting Section in Washington, DC by phone at 1-800-253-3931 or (202) 307-2767, by fax at (202) 307-3961, by email to [email protected] or by complaint form at http://www.justice.gov/crt/complaint/votintake/index.php.
United States Attorney Miller said, “Ensuring free and fair elections depends in large part on the cooperation of the American electorate. It is imperative that those who have specific information about discrimination or election fraud make that information available immediately to my Office, the FBI, or the Civil Rights Division.”
Southern California Man Convicted of Tax Evasion and Lying to IRS After Fraudulently Applying for a Passport While Attempting to FleeRead the Press Release
SANTA ANA, California – A former resident of Orange County who now lives in northern San Diego County has been found guilty of tax evasion and lying to the IRS after applying for a passport in a false name as he attempted to flee from the prosecution.
Louis Joseph Vadino, 75, currently of Ramona and formerly of Lake Forest, was convicted yesterday by a federal jury after a five-day trial. He had previously pleaded guilty to failing to appear for court, conspiracy, two counts of passport fraud, and two counts of aggravated identity theft.
From 2002 to 2006, the IRS was actively attempting to audit and assess Vadino’s taxes owed. Vadino had purchased five residential properties in Lake Forest between 1999 and 2002 under the name of a shell company. Vadino, his three adult daughters, and his mother resided in these homes. In the fall of 2006, Vadino directed his daughter to obtain refinance loans on three of the Lake Forest properties and sold a fourth Lake Forest property, resulting in $2.1 million in loan and sale proceeds being wire transferred to a bank account in Greece controlled by Vadino.
From 2006 to 2011, defendant took steps to evade his 1999 taxes, including concealing and attempting to conceal the nature and extent of his assets and the location thereof, lying to Special Agents of the IRS’s Criminal Investigation Division, placing funds and property in the names of others, and using offshore accounts to place funds and property beyond the reach of the IRS.
When scheduled to go to trial in the case, Vadino cut off his ankle bracelet and absconded. In October 2014, he applied for a U.S. passport using another person’s identity. Vadino was captured in December 2014 and has been in custody since then.
“This defendant went to great lengths to hide income from the IRS and to attempt to escape justice,” said United States Attorney Eileen M. Decker. “This case demonstrates the dedication of the IRS and the Department of Justice to ensuring that tax evaders face serious consequences for their actions.”
After the jury returned its verdicts, United States District Judge Andrew Guilford set Vadino’s sentencing for February 6, 2017, at which time Vadino will face a statutory maximum sentence of 44 years in prison and a mandatory minimum sentence of two years in prison.
“As the jury’s verdict shows, this was a well-hidden, but ultimately transparent scheme to defraud the United States government,” stated Acting Special Agent in Charge Anthony J. Orlando for IRS Criminal Investigation. “Mr. Vadino hid assets from the IRS by placing funds and property in the names of family members and shell corporations, and funneling loan proceeds from those properties to an offshore bank account. Using intricate schemes and offshore bank accounts to commit tax evasion is a dangerous shell game played by swindlers like Mr. Vadino. Unfortunately for them, they don’t realize the odds are heavily stacked against them.”
Steven Ness, 44, of Long Beach, was also charged in the case with counts related to assisting Vadino in his attempt to obtain the passport with Ness’s father’s identity. The case against Ness is pending.
The investigation into Vadino and Ness was conducted by IRS Criminal Investigation, and the case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Greg Staples and Daniel Ahn of the Santa Ana Branch.
Southern California Man Convicted of Tax Evasion and Lying to IRS After Fraudulently Applying for a Passport While Attempting to FleeRead the Press Release
SANTA ANA, California – A former resident of Orange County who now lives in northern San Diego County has been found guilty of tax evasion and lying to the IRS after applying for a passport in a false name as he attempted to flee from the prosecution.
Louis Joseph Vadino, 75, currently of Ramona and formerly of Lake Forest, was convicted yesterday by a federal jury after a five-day trial. He had previously pleaded guilty to failing to appear for court, conspiracy, two counts of passport fraud, and two counts of aggravated identity theft.
From 2002 to 2006, the IRS was actively attempting to audit and assess Vadino’s taxes owed. Vadino had purchased five residential properties in Lake Forest between 1999 and 2002 under the name of a shell company. Vadino, his three adult daughters, and his mother resided in these homes. In the fall of 2006, Vadino directed his daughter to obtain refinance loans on three of the Lake Forest properties and sold a fourth Lake Forest property, resulting in $2.1 million in loan and sale proceeds being wire transferred to a bank account in Greece controlled by Vadino.
From 2006 to 2011, defendant took steps to evade his 1999 taxes, including concealing and attempting to conceal the nature and extent of his assets and the location thereof, lying to Special Agents of the IRS’s Criminal Investigation Division, placing funds and property in the names of others, and using offshore accounts to place funds and property beyond the reach of the IRS.
When scheduled to go to trial in the case, Vadino cut off his ankle bracelet and absconded. In October 2014, he applied for a U.S. passport using another person’s identity. Vadino was captured in December 2014 and has been in custody since then.
“This defendant went to great lengths to hide income from the IRS and to attempt to escape justice,” said United States Attorney Eileen M. Decker. “This case demonstrates the dedication of the IRS and the Department of Justice to ensuring that tax evaders face serious consequences for their actions.”
After the jury returned its verdicts, United States District Judge Andrew Guilford set Vadino’s sentencing for February 6, 2017, at which time Vadino will face a statutory maximum sentence of 44 years in prison and a mandatory minimum sentence of two years in prison.
“As the jury’s verdict shows, this was a well-hidden, but ultimately transparent scheme to defraud the United States government,” stated Acting Special Agent in Charge Anthony J. Orlando for IRS Criminal Investigation. “Mr. Vadino hid assets from the IRS by placing funds and property in the names of family members and shell corporations, and funneling loan proceeds from those properties to an offshore bank account. Using intricate schemes and offshore bank accounts to commit tax evasion is a dangerous shell game played by swindlers like Mr. Vadino. Unfortunately for them, they don’t realize the odds are heavily stacked against them.”
Steven Ness, 44, of Long Beach, was also charged in the case with counts related to assisting Vadino in his attempt to obtain the passport with Ness’s father’s identity. The case against Ness is pending.
The investigation into Vadino and Ness was conducted by IRS Criminal Investigation, and the case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Greg Staples and Daniel Ahn of the Santa Ana Branch.
South Dakota Woman Charged with First Degree Murder, Second Degree Murder, Assault Resulting in Serious Bodily Injury to a Child, and Child AbuseRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Randolph J. Seiler announced that a South Dakota, woman has been charged with the federal offenses of First Degree Murder, Second Degree Murder, Assault Resulting in Serious Bodily Injury to a Child, and Child Abuse by an Indictment filed October 18, 2016.
Desarae Makes Him First, age 25, appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge William D. Gerdes on October 20, 2016, and pled not guilty to the Indictment.
The maximum penalty upon conviction is a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment and/or a $1,000,000 fine, 5 years of supervised release, and $400 to the Federal Crime Victims Fund. Restitution may also be ordered.
The Indictment alleges that on or about between October 11th and October 12th, 2016, Makes Him First repeatedly struck her child, causing injuries which led to the child’s death. It is further alleged that these acts were committed while Makes Him First was committing the act of Felony Child Abuse.
The charges are merely accusations and Makes Him First is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
The investigation is being conducted by the Bureau of Indian Affairs – Standing Rock Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Troy R. Morley is prosecuting the case.
Makes Him First was remanded to the custody of the United States Marshals Service pending trial. A trial date has not been set.
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Sisseton Woman Sentenced for Theft of Government PropertyRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Randolph J. Seiler announced that a Sisseton, South Dakota, woman convicted of Theft of Government Property was sentenced on October 17, 2016, by U.S. District Judge Charles B. Kornmann.
Sharon M. Nelson, age 62, was sentenced to 5 years of probation, $6,648.75 in restitution, and a special assessment of $100 to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.
Nelson was indicted by a federal grand jury on December 8, 2015. She pled guilty to Theft of Government Property on July 11, 2016.
The conviction arose out of a land sale as part of the Land Buy Back Program for Tribal Nations, administered by the Office of the Special Trustee within the United States Department of the Interior. Through the Land Buy Back Program, tribal members are able to sell their land to the Federal Government, who in turn moves the land into trust for that particular Tribe. Nelson sold some of her land as part of the Land Buy Back Program, and a check was issued to her by the United States Treasury for $8,889.17. When Nelson claimed that the check was never received, the Office of the Special Trustee deposited the same amount of money, $8,889.17, directly into her personal bank account, cancelled the original check, and told Nelson if she ever received the original check at a later date to bring it to the office and not attempt to cash it. Approximately six months later, Nelson cashed the original check of $8,889.17. The monies were drawn out of the U.S. Treasury, and all but $2,000 was quickly spent by Nelson. The Office of the Special Trustee had to reimburse the U.S. Treasury for the amount of the cashed check and was still owed $6,889.17 after Nelson paid them the $2,000 in unspent funds. Nelson has since paid the Office of Special Trustee $240.42 towards the debt.
This case was investigated by the United States Department of the Interior Office of the Inspector General. Assistant U.S. Attorney SaraBeth Donovan prosecuted the case.
Nelson was released following sentencing.
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Ship’s Owner and Operator Ordered to Pay $1.3 Million Fine and $200,000 Community Service Payment for Violating Pollution Laws, Falsifying Records and Scheming to Defraud the U.S.Read the Press Release
Ship Discharged Oily Waste on Voyage from China to Seattle; False Log Books given to Coast Guard Inspectors
The companies that own and operate a Greek shipping vessel were sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle, Washington, to a $1.3 million fine for the dumping of oily waste at sea, announced U.S. Attorney Annette L. Hayes for the Western District of Washington. The ship operator, Angelakos (Hellas) S.A., and the ship owner, Gallia Graeca Shipping Ltd., were found guilty in June 2016 of violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships, Falsification of Records in a Federal Investigation and engaging in a Scheme to Defraud the United States. In imposing the monetary penalty, U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour for the Western District of Washington said he hoped the sanctions “would resonate and cause other companies to pause when they think about creating a corporate culture that encourages deception.”
“These companies promoted a culture of lies and lawlessness that left a trail of pollution in the Pacific Ocean,” said U.S. Attorney Hayes. “Knowing that the Coast Guard was going to do an inspection of their shipping vessel, corporate managers allowed the Chief Engineer to present falsified documents. The significant fines imposed in this case send a clear message that those who spoil our environment by putting their business interests ahead of our laws will be held responsible.”
According to records filed in the case and testimony at trial, a cargo ship named the M/V Gallia Graeca travelled from China to Seattle in October 2015. During the voyage, a pollution-control device known as an oil water separator was inoperable. On Oct. 16, 26 and 27, 2015, the defendants discharged overboard approximately 5,000 gallons of oily bilge water. The defendants concealed these incidents from the Coast Guard by making false statements to inspectors and making false statements and omissions in the ship’s oil record book. When Coast Guard inspectors asked the engineers to operate the oil water separator during the inspection, the engineers did so in such a way that the equipment appeared to be working properly even though it was not.
When Coast Guard inspectors examined the oil water separator they found its filters were clogged with oil and found oil residue in the overboard discharge piping. Records indicated the oil water separator had not been serviced for months prior to the voyage from China. The defendants presented the Coast Guard with an official oil record book stating that bilge water had not been discharged during the voyage to Seattle. However, the Coast Guard investigation discovered evidence that oily water had been discharged into the sea three times on its voyage from China.
Calling it “a voyage of deception and pollution,” prosecutors argued that the engineers tried to hide the pollution from the Coast Guard to avoid having the ship detained in Seattle. Keeping the ship on schedule was a benefit to the owners and operators who had a contract to move $25 million in goods out of Seattle. Shipping company executives had been in contact with the engineers about how they should present the log book for the Coast Guard inspection.
“Through strong partnerships with the Department of Justice, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and our Coast Guard Investigative Service, this case demonstrates our commitment to hold accountable shipping companies engaged in illegal activities,” said Captain Joe Raymond, Coast Guard Captain of the Port Puget Sound. “The Coast Guard will protect our marine environment through coordination with international, national, regional and local partners and will promote sustainable development of our nation’s ocean resources by enforcing pollution prevention laws and regulations and maintaining a robust vessel inspection program.”
The companies were placed on five years of probation and required to have environmental compliance plans in place which will ensure they are abiding by anti-pollution policies and regulations.
In addition to the $1.3 million fine, U.S. District Judge Coughenour ordered a $200,000 community service payment to be shared between the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and the National Parks Foundation. The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation is a congressionally-chartered non-profit organization that works to “further the conservation and management of fish, wildlife, plants and other natural resources.” The payment will go to fund marine restoration and preservation projects in the Pacific Ocean, the site of defendants’ pollution. The National Parks Foundation does significant ocean beach clean-up – particularly on the ocean beaches of Washington’s Olympic Peninsula.
The two engineers who operated the ship’s equipment and falsified the log books were sentenced to short prison terms before returning to Greece.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Seth Wilkinson and Matthew Diggs and by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Bor. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Bor is an attorney with the U.S. Coast Guard specially appointed to prosecute criminal cases in federal court.
The case is being investigated by the U.S. Coast Guard and the Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigation Division.
Ship’s Owner and Operator Ordered to Pay $1.3 Million Fine and $200,000 Community Service Payment for Violating Pollution Laws, Falsifying Records and Scheming to DefraudRead the Press Release
The companies that own and operate a Greek shipping vessel were sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to a $1.3 million fine for the dumping of oily waste at sea, announced U.S. Attorney Annette L. Hayes. The ship operator, ANGELAKOS (HELLAS) S.A., and the ship owner, GALLIA GRAECA SHIPPING LTD, were found guilty in June 2016 of violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships, Falsification of Records in a Federal Investigation, and engaging in a Scheme to Defraud the United States. In imposing the monetary penalty, U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour said he hoped the sanctions “would resonate and cause other companies to pause when they think about creating a corporate culture that encourages deception.”
“These companies promoted a culture of lies and lawlessness that left a trail of pollution in the Pacific Ocean,” said U.S. Attorney Annette L. Hayes. “Knowing that the Coast Guard was going to do an inspection of their shipping vessel, corporate managers allowed the Chief Engineer to present falsified documents. The significant fines imposed in this case send a clear message that those who spoil our environment by putting their business interests ahead of our laws will be held responsible.”
According to records filed in the case and testimony at trial, a cargo ship named the M/V Gallia Graeca travelled from China to Seattle in October 2015. During the voyage, a pollution-control device known as an oil water separator was inoperable. On October 16, 26 and 27, 2015, the defendants discharged overboard approximately 5,000 gallons of oily bilge water. The defendants concealed these incidents from the Coast Guard by making false statements to inspectors, and making false statements and omissions in the ship’s oil record book. When Coast Guard inspectors asked the engineers to operate the oil water separator during the inspection, the engineers did so in such a way that the equipment appeared to be working properly even though it was not.
When Coast Guard inspectors examined the oil water separator they found its filters were clogged with oil and found oil residue in the overboard discharge piping. Records indicated the oil water separator had not been serviced for months prior to the voyage from China. The defendants presented the Coast Guard with an official oil record book stating that bilge water had not been discharged during the voyage to Seattle. However, the Coast Guard investigation discovered evidence that oily water had been discharged into the sea three times on its voyage from China.
Calling it “a voyage of deception and pollution,” prosecutors argued that the engineers tried to hide the pollution from the Coast Guard to avoid having the ship detained in Seattle. Keeping the ship on schedule was a benefit to the owners and operators who had a contract to move $25 million in goods out of Seattle. Shipping company executives had been in contact with the engineers about how they should present the log book for the Coast Guard inspection.
“Through strong partnerships with the Department of Justice, the U.S. Attorney's Office and our Coast Guard Investigative Service, this case demonstrates our commitment to hold accountable shipping companies engaged in illegal activities,” said Captain Joe Raymond, Coast Guard Captain of the Port Puget Sound. “The Coast Guard will protect our marine environment through coordination with international, national, regional and local partners, and will promote sustainable development of our Nation's ocean resources by enforcing pollution prevention laws and regulations and maintaining a robust vessel inspection program.”
The companies were placed on five years of probation and required to have environmental compliance plans in place which will ensure they are abiding by anti-pollution policies and regulations.
In addition to the $1.3 million fine, Judge Coughenour ordered a $200,000 community service payment to be shared between the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and the National Parks Foundation. The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation is a congressionally-chartered non-profit organization that works to “further the conservation and management of fish, wildlife, plants, and other natural resources.” The payment will go to fund marine restoration and preservation projects in the Pacific Ocean, the site of defendants’ pollution. The National Parks Foundation does significant ocean beach clean-up – particularly on the ocean beaches of Washington’s Olympic Peninsula.
The two engineers who operated the ship’s equipment and falsified the log books were sentenced to short prison terms before returning to Greece.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Seth Wilkinson and Matthew Diggs and by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Bor. Mr. Bor is an attorney with the United States Coast Guard specially appointed to prosecute criminal cases in federal court.
The case is being investigated by the U.S. Coast Guard and the Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigation Division.
Sex Trafficker Heads to PrisonRead the Press Release
HOUSTON – A 45-year-old Honduran woman has been ordered to federal prison following her conviction of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking, announced U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson. Maria E. Gonzales Munoz aka “Merci,” co-owned numerous brothels, including Cocodrillos, that posed as bars in and around the Houston area which facilitated commercial sex. She pleaded guilty Jan. 21, 2016.
Today, U.S. District Judge Nancy Atlas, who accepted the guilty plea, handed Munoz a 151-month sentence. She was further ordered to pay a total of $2145 in restitution will be ordered to register as a sex offender.
The undercover operation revealed Munoz offered a female to as a prostitute at Cocodrillos. Even though the young female reported to be underage and had illegally entered the United States, Munoz still said she could work at Cocodrillos and even offered to provide living arrangements at her residence. Gonzales also informed the female that she could help her appear older through use of make-up and help her obtain a fraudulent identification card.
Munoz will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
The investigation leading to the filing of criminal charges was the result of an investigation conducted by members of the Human Trafficking Rescue Alliance (HTRA) in Houston, which includes the FBI, Harris County Sheriff’s Office, Immigration and Customs-Enforcement - Homeland Security Investigations, Texas Alcoholic and Beverage Commission, Department of State, Texas Department of Public Safety and the Houston Police Department.
Assistant United States Attorney Ruben R. Perez is prosecuting the case.
Schenectady Man Indicted for Perjury in Arson Homicide InvestigationRead the Press Release
ALBANY, NEW YORK – An indictment unsealed today charges Bryan Fish, age 22, of Schenectady, New York, with three counts of making false declarations before a federal grand jury investigating an arson that killed four people in Schenectady.
The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Richard S. Hartunian and Special Agent in Charge Ashan M. Benedict of the New York Field Office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF).
Fish was arraigned today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Christian F. Hummel, entered a plea of not guilty, and was held pending a detention hearing on Monday, October 24 at 1:30 p.m.
The indictment alleges that the false declarations were made before a grand jury investigating the fire on or about May 2, 2013 at 438 Hulett Street in Schenectady, New York, that caused the deaths of David Terry and three young children, seriously injured another child, and destroyed the building and the personal property inside. The charges in the indictment are merely accusations. The defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
The indictment charges three counts of making false declarations before the grand jury in sworn testimony on May 24, 2013. Count One alleges that Fish testified falsely regarding a person who purportedly drove Fish, Jennica Duell and Robert Butler from Saratoga Springs to 438 Hulett Street on May 2, 2013 and conversation with that person about the reason for the trip. Count Two alleges that Fish testified falsely regarding the presence and role of that same person when the fire was set at 438 Hulett Street, as well as discussion of a false alibi. Count Three alleges that Fish testified falsely regarding how he contacted that same person to arrange for the ride on May 2, 2013.
If convicted, Fish faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 5 years and a $250,000 fine on each count, and a term of supervised release of up to 3 years. If convicted on all three counts, Fish faces a total maximum sentence of imprisonment of 15 years and a $750,000 fine (in addition to supervised release for up to 3 years). A defendant’s sentence is imposed by a judge based on the particular statute the defendant is charged with violating, the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other factors.
The charges announced today result from an ongoing investigation into the fatal fire conducted by ATF, the Schenectady Police Department, and the Schenectady Fire Department. This case is being prosecuted by First Assistant U. S. Attorney Grant C. Jaquith and Assistant United States Attorney Wayne A. Myers.
The ATF notes that there is a reward of up to a total of $40,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person(s) responsible for the arson that occurred on May 2, 2013 at 438 Hulett Street in Schenectady, resulting in personal injury and death. All information will be treated confidentially and the callers will remain anonymous if requested. Anyone having information is encouraged to call ATF at 1-888-ATF-FIRE (1-888-283-3473), or email [email protected], or contact ATF through its web site at www.atf.gov/contact/atf-tips. Tips may also be submitted to ATF through the “report it” app, available on both Google Play and the Apple App Store, or by visiting www.reportit.com.
Saratoga Springs Man Indicted for Perjury in Schenectady Arson Homicide InvestigationRead the Press Release
ALBANY, NEW YORK – An indictment unsealed today charges Richard Ramsey, age 47, of Saratoga Springs, New York, with four counts of making false declarations before a federal grand jury investigating an arson that killed four people in Schenectady.
The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Richard S. Hartunian and Special Agent in Charge Ashan M. Benedict of the New York Field Office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF).
Ramsey had his initial appearance today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Christian F. Hummel, and was held pending his arraignment and detention hearing on Monday, October 24 at 1:30 p.m.
The indictment alleges that the false declarations were made before a grand jury investigating the fire on or about May 2, 2013 at 438 Hulett Street in Schenectady, New York, that caused the deaths of David Terry and three young children, seriously injured another child, and destroyed the building and the personal property inside. The charges in the indictment are merely accusations. The defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
The indictment alleges that Ramsey testified under oath before the grand jury on October 11, 2013, January 10, 2014, and May 5, 2016, and gave four sets of statements that were irreconcilably contradictory and inconsistent to the degree that one of them was necessarily false.
Count One of the indictment alleges that on October 11, 2013, Ramsey testified that he allowed Robert Butler to use his car on May 2, 2013, and then, on May 5, 2016, gave irreconcilably contradictory testimony about having done so. Count Two alleges that on January 10, 2014, Ramsey testified that he drove his car to a specific location so that Robert Butler could later use it to drive to Schenectady on May 2, 2013, and then, on May 5, 2016, gave irreconcilably contradictory testimony about having done so. Count Three alleges that on January 10, 2014, Ramsey testified that he affixed a New York license plate he found in a barn to his car and that license plate was on his car on May 2, 2013, but then, on May 5, 2016, gave irreconcilably contradictory testimony about the license plate. Count Four alleges that on October 11, 2013 and January 10, 2014, Ramsey testified that he took his car to a junkyard to be scrapped because he believed it had been used by Robert Butler to drive to 438 Hulett Street to set the fire, but then, on May 5, 2016, gave irreconcilably contradictory testimony about why he took the car to a junkyard to be scrapped.
If convicted, Ramsey faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 5 years and a $250,000 fine on each count, and a term of supervised release of up to 3 years. If convicted on all four counts, Ramsey faces a total maximum sentence of imprisonment of 20 twenty years and a $1,000,000 fine (in addition to supervised release for up to 3 years). A defendant’s sentence is imposed by a judge based on the particular statute the defendant is charged with violating, the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other factors.
The charges announced today result from an ongoing investigation into the fatal fire conducted by ATF, the Schenectady Police Department, and the Schenectady Fire Department. This case is being prosecuted by First Assistant U.S. Attorney Grant C. Jaquith and Assistant United States Attorney Wayne A. Myers.
The ATF notes that there is a reward of up to a total of $40,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person(s) responsible for the arson that occurred on May 2, 2013 at 438 Hulett Street in Schenectady, resulting in personal injury and death. All information will be treated confidentially and the callers will remain anonymous if requested. Anyone having information is encouraged to call ATF at 1-888-ATF-FIRE (1-888-283-3473), or email [email protected], or contact ATF through its web site at www.atf.gov/contact/atf-tips. Tips may also be submitted to ATF through the “report it” app, available on both Google Play and the Apple App Store, or by visiting www.reportit.com.
Roswell Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Conspiracy and Drug Trafficking ChargesRead the Press Release
ALBUQUERQUE – James H. Lewis, 51, of Roswell, N.M., pled guilty today in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., to methamphetamine trafficking charges.
Lewis is one of 41 individuals charged in Sept. 2015, with drug trafficking offenses as a result of an eight-month multi-agency investigation by the FBI, the DEA, Chaves County Metro Narcotics Task Force, Roswell Police Department, Chaves County Sheriff’s Office and New Mexico State Police. Twenty-one of the defendants were charged with federal offenses and the remaining 20 were charged with state offenses. Lewis is the final of the 21 federal defendants to enter a guilty plea to federal charges.
The investigation, which was designated as part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) program, initially targeted a drug trafficking organization (DTO) led by Joseph Ray Mendiola,35, that distributed methamphetamine in Chaves County. It later expanded to include drug traffickers who supplied methamphetamine to the Mendiola DTO and other drug traffickers operating in Chaves County. The OCDETF program 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.
Lewis, Mendiola and 14 other federal defendants were charged in a 24-count indictment filed on Sept. 22, 2015. Count 1 of the Indictment charged 15 of the 16 defendants with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine between June 2015 and July 2015. Count 2 charged three defendants with conspiracy to distribute cocaine in July 2015. Counts 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 charged certain defendants with possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute in July 2015. Counts 8 through 24 charged certain defendants with using communications devices (telephones) to facilitate drug trafficking crimes. All crimes charged in the federal indictment occurred in Chaves County.
During the course of the investigation, law enforcement officers executed 14 federal search warrants for 10 residences in Roswell, one residence in Dexter, N.M., and three vehicles. During the execution of those search warrants, the officers seized approximately 5600 grams of methamphetamine, $35,960.00 in cash, and multiple firearms including two assault rifles.
During today’s proceedings, Lewis pled guilty to conspiracy and possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute. In entering the guilty plea, Lewis admitted conspiring to distribute methamphetamine in Chaves County from June 2015 through July 31, 2015. Lewis also admitted that on July 31, 2015, he received a bag containing approximately seven pounds of methamphetamine from his co-defendants.
At sentencing, Lewis faces a statutory maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison. A sentencing hearing has yet to be scheduled.
All of Lewis’ co-defendants have entered guilty pleas and are awaiting sentencing hearings which have yet to be scheduled.
The federal cases were investigated by the Roswell office of FBI’s Albuquerque Division, the Las Cruces office of DEA, Roswell Police Department, Chaves County Sheriff’s Office, the Chaves County Metro Narcotics Task Force, the New Mexico State Police and the U.S. Marshals Service. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Randy M. Castellano and John Balla are prosecuting the federal cases.
The HIDTA Chaves County Metro Narcotics Task Force is comprised of investigators from the Roswell Police Department, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the FBI and the Chaves County Sherriff’s Office. 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.
Pasquotank County Drug Trafficker Found GuiltyRead the Press Release
ELIZABETH CITY – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina announced that in federal court yesterday, a jury convicted DAVON KELLY BENNETT, 41, from Elizabeth City, N.C., of conspiracy to distribute 5 kilograms or more of cocaine, 100 grams or more of heroin and marijuana; possession with the intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine, 100 grams or more of heroin and marijuana; possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime; and money laundering by concealment. United States District Judge Terrence W. Boyle presided over the three day trial and scheduled BENNETT’S sentencing hearing in January 2017.
On March 4, 2015, detectives with the Pasquotank County Sheriff’s Office and other agencies executed a search warrant at BENNETT’S residence located at 1300 Brothers Lane, Elizabeth City, N.C. During the search, $81,047 was seized from BENNETT’S washing machine. Detectives found more than $10,000 in U.S. currency, three firearms, and titles to multiple motor vehicles registered in the names of nominee owners in BENNETT’S bedroom. Detectives located 92 grams of marijuana, a vacuum sealer, two sets of digital scales and two money counters in the house, and approximately 180 grams of marijuana in a shed on the property. Motor vehicles parked at the residence, including a Honda Odyssey, were searched the following day. Detectives recovered 3 kilograms of cocaine, 789 grams of heroin, $60,100 and a stolen .38 caliber revolver from a hidden compartment in the floor board of the Honda Odyssey.
Evidence presented at trial established that BENNETT had conspired to traffic narcotics since 2000 and had paid associates to register motor vehicles in their names to conceal his drug proceeds. BENNETT and his associates had been subjects of a long-term investigation conducted by several federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation Division, the Pasquotank County Sheriff’s Office, the Dare County Sheriff’s Office, the Greenville Regional Drug Task Force, the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, North Carolina Alcohol Law Enforcement, the Nags Head Police Department, the Kill Devil Hills Police Department, the Kitty Hawk Police Department, the Elizabeth City Police Department, and North Carolina Wildlife Enforcement.
The federal prosecution was handled by Special Assistant United States Attorney Glenn Perry and Assistant United States Attorney Brad Knott. Mr. Perry is a prosecutor with the Pitt County District Attorney’s Office. Pitt County District Attorney Kimberly Robb has assigned Mr. Perry to the United States Attorney’s Office, pursuant to funding provided by the North Carolina Conference of District Attorneys, to prosecute federal Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force criminal matters.
Owner of Offshore Brokerage Firm Guilty of Money Laundering ConspiracyRead the Press Release
ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Michael J. Randles, 49, a Canadian citizen and permanent resident of Costa Rica, pleaded guilty today to charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering.
According to the statement of facts filed with the plea agreement, Randles controlled and operated Moneyline Brokers, later known as Trinity Asset Services, with his co-conspirator Harold Bailey Gallison II. Moneyline was an offshore brokerage company located in San Jose, Costa Rica, that did business under the names of various shell companies, including Sandias Azucaradas CR, S.A., Vanilla Sky, Inc., Bastille Advisors, Inc., and Jurojin, Inc. The purpose of Moneyline was to trade securities, primarily microcap or “penny stocks,” through United States and offshore accounts, often in connection with market manipulation or “pump-and-dump” and “boiler room” securities fraud schemes. Randles’ managed Moneyline’s office in Costa Rica, operated Moneyline’s unregistered securities business in Europe, and exercised authority over banking and financial transactions. Randles opened United States and offshore brokerage and bank accounts, including in Panama and in Europe that were used to facilitate pump-and-dump and boiler room schemes. Three of Randles’ co-conspirators, Harold Bailey Gallison II, Ann Marie Hiskey, and Roger G. Coleman, have previously pleaded guilty in the case. Gallison was sentenced to 216 months, and Hiskey and Coleman were each sentenced to two years’ probation.
Randles faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison when sentenced on Jan. 25, 2017. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes, as the sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Dana J. Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; and Paul M. Abbate, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, made the announcement after the plea was accepted by U.S. District Judge Anthony J. Trenga. Assistant U.S. Attorney Grace L. Hill and Special Assistant U.S. Attorneys N. Nathan Dimock and Michael O’Neill are prosecuting the case.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 1:15-cr-178.
Nigerian Man Pleads Guilty to $1.5 Million Fraud of DoD ContractorsRead the Press Release
ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Babatunde Aniyi, 33, of Lagos, Nigeria pleaded guilty today to charges of conspiracy to defraud U.S. defense contractors and impersonation of U.S. officers.
According to the statement of facts filed with the plea agreement, Aniyi and a co-conspirator in Nigeria, impersonated U.S. Department of Defense (U.S. DoD) officials using fake U.S. DoD email accounts and websites. The U.S. based co-conspirators would order computers and smart phones in the name of U.S. DoD officials and divert the packages to Nigeria. Two of the U.S.-based co-conspirators, Solomon Oyesanya and Oludayo Edgal, pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges and were sentenced to sixty and twenty-seven months in prison, respectively. According to court documents, losses caused by the conspiracy exceed $1.5 million.
Aniyi was indicted by a federal grand jury on Sept. 11, 2014, and was arrested in India in November 2015, while visiting to attend a course on computer hacking. Aniyi was extradited to the United States in July 2016. Aniyi faces a maximum penalty of eight years in prison when sentenced on February 3, 2017. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes, as the sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Dana J. Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Jeffery Thorpe, Special Agent in Charge of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service Cyber Field Office; and Gordon B. Johnson, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Baltimore Field Office, made the announcement after the plea was accepted by U.S. District Judge Claude M. Hilton. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Maya D. Song and Kellen S. Dwyer are prosecuting the case.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 1:14-cr-311.
New York Doctor Pleads Guilty to Falsely Certifying Physical Examinations for Commercial DriversRead the Press Release
Earlier today Gerald Surya, M.D., pleaded guilty to falsely certifying physical examinations for commercial drivers. Specifically, Dr. Surya certified that he had examined applicants for commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs) and found them physically fit to drive heavy commercial vehicles when in fact he had not performed those examinations. When sentenced, Surya faces up to 15 years in prison.
The guilty plea was announced by Robert L. Capers, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, and Douglas Shoemaker, Regional Special Agent-in-Charge, United States Department of Transportation-Office of Inspector General (USDOT-OIG).
As set forth in court filings and facts presented at the guilty plea proceeding, drivers of certain commercial vehicles, such as school buses and heavy transportation trucks, must possess a CDL issued by the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) pursuant to regulations set forth by the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT). Before obtaining a CDL, all applicants must pass written and road tests related to safely driving such large vehicles. In addition, the applicants must be examined and certified fit to drive those vehicles by a physician or other qualified medical personnel authorized by the USDOT to conduct such examinations. Upon receipt of the certification, the applicant must file a copy with the DMV. Further, on a monthly basis, USDOT-certified medical examiners are required to electronically transmit to USDOT copies of certifications they have executed for CDL applicants.
Dr. Surya was authorized to conduct USDOT mandated medical examinations and certifications for CDL applicants and purportedly performed such examinations at his office located at John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens, New York. In fact, the applicants were not examined by Dr. Surya, but instead by other office staff members who had little or no medical training and were not authorized to conduct the mandated medical examinations.
Today’s guilty plea took place before United States District Judge LeShann DeArcy Hall.
The government’s case is being prosecuted by the Office’s Public Integrity Section. Assistant United States Attorney Michael H. Warren is in charge of the prosecution.
The Defendant:
GERALD SURYA
Age: 47
Residence: New Hyde Park, New YorkE.D.N.Y. Docket No. 16-CR-194 (LDH)
National Prescription Drug Take Back Day TomorrowRead the Press Release
CONTACT: Barbara Burns
PHONE: (716) 843-5817
FAX: (716) 551-3051BUFFALO, NY – The Drug Enforcement Administration holds its 12th National Prescription Drug Take Back Day tomorrow, Saturday October 22 between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. The public can dispose of their unused, unwanted prescription medications at one of 4,700 collection sites nationwide, operated by 3,800 local law enforcement agencies and other community partners. The service is free of charge, no questions asked.
America is presently experiencing an epidemic of addiction, overdose and death due to abuse of prescription drugs, particularly opioid painkillers. 6.4 million Americans age 12 and over—2.4 percent of the population—abuse prescription drugs, according to the 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health released last month, more than abuse cocaine, heroin, hallucinogens, and methamphetamine combined. Drug overdoses are now the leading cause of injury-related death in the United States, eclipsing deaths from motor vehicle crashes or firearms. The majority of prescription drug abusers report that they obtain their drugs from friends and family, including from the home medicine cabinet.
Last April, during its 11th Take Back Day, the DEA and over 4,200 of its national, tribal, and community law enforcement partners collected 893,498 pounds (about 447 tons) of unwanted prescription drugs at almost 5,400 collection sites. Since the program began six years ago, about 6.4 million pounds (about 3,200 tons) of drugs have been collected. That’s more than a quarter pound of pills for each of the 25 million children aged 12 to 17 in America, pills that won’t result in abuse or overdose.
Only pills and other solids, like patches, can be brought to the collection sites—liquids and needles or other sharps will not be accepted. For more go to DEA.gov.Mexican citizen sentenced to six months in prison for lying on passport applicationRead the Press Release
LAFAYETTE, La. – United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced today that a man from Mexico was sentenced to six months in prison for submitting false information when applying for a passport.
Juan Carlos Guzman, 36, of San Lui Potosi, Mexico, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Patricia Minaldi on one count of making a false statement on a passport application in an attempt to illegally obtain a U.S. passport. According to the July 26, 2016 guilty plea, Guzman used another individual’s name, birthdate and social security number and submitted the documents to the Iberia Parish Clerk of Court on March 31, 2015 to process a passport application. Guzman is in the country illegally.
The U.S. State Department conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Dominic Rossetti prosecuted the case.
Mexican National Sentenced to 18 Months in Federal Prison for Conspiracy to Manufacture MarijuanaRead the Press Release
BOISE – Rogelio Arevalo-Villasenor, 24, a Mexican national, illegally residing in Parma, Idaho, was sentenced today to 18 months in prison for conspiracy to manufacture a controlled substance, more than 1,000 marijuana plants, with the intent to distribute it, U.S. Attorney Wendy J. Olson announced. Visiting Senior U.S. District Judge Dee V. Benson also ordered Arevalo-Villasenor to serve one year of supervised release. Arevalo-Villasenor will likely be deported to Mexico following completion of his prison sentence. Arevalo-Villasenor pleaded guilty on July 14, 2016.
According to court documents, co-defendant Martin Diaz-Lara and Carlos Avalos-Cervantes were arrested on September 23, 2015, in a canyon half a mile from the North Fork of Payette River, ten miles north of Banks, in Boise County, Idaho. Agents were able to document a total of 6,870 live and harvested marijuana plants on state lands in the canyon. According to court proceedings, Diaz-Lara and Avalos-Cervantes each possessed handguns in furtherance of the drug trafficking crime. Agents discovered that those working in the grow used a banned Mexican pesticide, carbofuran. Carbofuran was banned by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 1991, after its use resulted in the death of millions of birds per year. Arevalo-Villasenor admitted to supplying Diaz-Lara, Avalos-Cervantes and other workers with groceries on at least three occasions, by dropping off food and supplies at the trailhead located just off Highway 55. All of those responsible for the public land outdoor marijuana grow are Mexican nationals who entered the United States illegally.
Co-defendants Avalos-Cervantes and Diaz-Lara pleaded guilty to conspiracy to manufacture marijuana with intent to distribute and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. Avalos-Cervantes was sentenced on April 19, 2016 to 180 months in prison. Avalos-Cervantes was believed to have been involved in another public land marijuana grow in Umatilla County, Oregon in 2007. Diaz-Lara was sentenced to 97 months in prison on June 15, 2016.
The arrests and complaints are the result of a joint investigation and cooperative law enforcement efforts of the Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), led by the Drug Enforcement Administration, Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Nampa Police Department Special Investigations Unit (SIU). Other agencies include Ada County Sheriff’s Office, United States Forest Service (USFS), Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), U. S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Boise County Sheriff’s Office, Boise Police Department, Gooding County Sheriff’s Office, Idaho Department of Fish and Game, Idaho National Guard—Counterdrug Support Office, Meridian Police Department, Milton-Freewater Police Department, Oregon State Police, Power County Sheriff’s Office, Spokane Police Department, Valley County Sheriff’s Office, Walla Walla Police Department, and Washington State Patrol.
The OCDETF program is a federal multi agency, multi-jurisdictional task force that supplies supplemental federal funding to federal and state agencies involved in the identification, investigation, and prosecution of major drug trafficking organizations.
Member of an Orlando-Area Heroin Trafficking Organization Pleads GuiltyRead the Press Release
Orlando, Florida – United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III announces that Alexis Fontanez Nieves (29, Orlando) today pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute heroin. He faces a minimum mandatory sentence of 10 years, up to life, in federal prison.
Nieves was indicted on March 23, 2016, along with co-conspirators Angel Manuel Fontanez, Ernesto Cabanas-Torres, Zuleyka Jeanette Colon-Rivera, Pedro Juan Rivera-Aviles, Wilbert Joel Alequin-Pagan, Robert Sautner, and Emmanuel Verges. To date, seven of the eight defendants have been convicted of a federal drug offense. A trial date for the remaining individual, Colon-Rivera, is currently set for October 24, 2016.
According to court documents, a drug trafficking organization whose members referred to themselves as “La Compania” or “the Company” used a telephone number (“the heroin line”) that frequently changed to sell heroin to customers primarily in the Orlando tourist district, near International Drive. Customers would call the heroin line and arrange to purchase heroin from a member of the organization. The heroin line changed hands from one member of the organization to the next, as heroin was sold during two 12-hour shifts, seven days a week. The organization distributed approximately one kilogram of heroin every two weeks.
Nieves’ brother, Angel Manuel Fontanez, was the leader of the organization. During the conspiracy, Nieves helped his brother re-package bulk heroin into smaller baggies for street-level sales, inside hotel rooms in Orlando. Nieves also supplied cocaine to the organization’s sellers, who would then sell it using the same methods they used to sell heroin. After Fontanez was arrested by officers from the Orlando Police Department for trafficking heroin, Nieves became more involved in the organization’s day-to-day activities by controlling the heroin line, providing heroin to the organization’s low-level sellers, and collecting money from the sellers at the end of their shifts.
This case is the result of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation entitled “La Compania.” The investigation was conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration, with assistance from the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, the Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation, the United States Marshals Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Orlando Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Andrew C. Searle.
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.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Announces $5.31 Million Civil Settlement Against Hematology-Oncology Medical Practice for Submitting False Claims to Medicare and MedicaidRead the Press Release
Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Scott Lampert, Special Agent-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General’s (“HHS-OIG”) New York Region, announced a $5.31 million settlement of a civil fraud lawsuit against HUDSON VALLEY ASSOCIATES, R.L.L.P. (“HUDSON VALLEY”). This settlement resolves claims brought under the False Claims Act, alleging that HUDSON VALLEY routinely waived copayments without lawful basis and fraudulently billed Medicare for these copayments, and systematically submitted false claims for services that it did not provide and/or were not permitted under the Medicare and Medicaid program rules.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said: “Hudson Valley Hematology Oncology Associates improperly billed Medicare and Medicaid for reimbursement, costing the taxpayers millions of dollars. This settlement not only restores those funds, but involves detailed admissions by Hudson Valley and the imposition of safeguards to ensure against fraudulent billing in the future.”
HHS-OIG Special Agent-in-Charge Scott Lampert said: “Hudson Valley, like all Medicare and Medicaid providers, must be held to a high standard of ethical behavior. Billing for services that are not medically necessary or not provided potentially threatens the health of both the patients and these programs and will not be tolerated.”
The Government simultaneously intervened in and settled this lawsuit, which was initially filed by a whistleblower. As alleged in the Government’s complaint, from approximately 2010 through June 2015, HUDSON VALLEY engaged in two false and fraudulent schemes to defraud the Government. In the first scheme, HUDSON VALLEY routinely waived Medicare beneficiaries’ required copayments and instead fraudulently billed Medicare for those copayments. In the second scheme, HUDSON VALLEY submitted claims for payment by Medicare and Medicaid for services that were not actually performed, were not medically necessary, and/or were not properly documented.
As part of the settlement, HUDSON VALLEY admitted, acknowledged, and accepted responsibility for engaging in the following conduct from 2010-2015:
- Routinely waiving Medicare beneficiaries’ copayments without an individualized documented determination of financial hardship or exhaustion of reasonable collection efforts;
- Billing Medicare for the waived copayments, resulting in higher reimbursement amounts from Medicare than HUDSON VALLEY was entitled to;
- Overbilling Medicare and Medicaid for evaluation and management services codes, in addition to billing for routine procedures (such as chemotherapy, injections or venipunctures) on the same date, even though Hudson Valley had not documented that it provided any significant, separately identifiable evaluation and management services to the beneficiaries; and
- Billing Medicare and Medicaid for evaluation and management services codes without documenting in the medical record that those services were medically necessary and/or that those services were actually performed.
* * *
United States District Judge Kenneth M. Karas approved the settlement stipulation on October 19, 2016, resolving the Government’s claims against HUDSON VALLEY. Under that settlement, HUDSON VALLEY admits to and accepts responsibility for misconduct alleged in the complaint and agrees to pay $5.31 million to the United States. In addition, Hudson Valley entered into a corporate integrity agreement with HHS-OIG, through which it commits to establishing a compliance program, submitting to monitoring by HHS-OIG for five years, and taking other specified steps to ensure future compliance with Medicare and Medicaid rules.
Mr. Bharara praised the extensive investigative work performed by HHS-OIG.
The case is being handled by the Office’s Civil Frauds Unit. Mr. Bharara established the Civil Frauds Unit in March 2010 to bring renewed focus and additional resources to combating healthcare and other types of frauds. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kirti Vaidya Reddy is in charge of the case.
Man Sentenced to 10 Years in Federal Prison for Running Real Estate Investment Scheme Targeting Senior CitizensRead the Press Release
DALLAS — Carl Keith Battie, a/k/a “Carl Hampton,” 60, was sentenced this morning by U.S. District Judge Sidney A. Fitzwater to 10 years in federal prison and ordered to pay $11,407,794 in restitution, following his guilty plea in June 2016 to a superseding indictment charging one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.
Battie’s sentence will run concurrently with any sentence imposed in People of the State of California v. Carl Keith Battie, in the Superior Court of California, County of San Diego. Battie has been in custody since his arrest on this related state case while he was living in Atlanta. Battie must also forfeit property that was seized from his home in Atlanta, including a vehicle, U.S. and Iraqi currency, numerous jewelry items, and more than $100,000 seized from bank accounts.
According to documents filed in the case, from approximately May 2011 to March 2014, Battie conspired with others, including “Person A,” to defraud investors in connection with the fraudulent sale, and offer of sale, of real estate investments. Part of his scheme involved inducing victim investors to purchase mortgage notes based on material misrepresentations about the true value of the mortgage notes and the real property underlying the notes, for the personal enrichment of Battie, Person A, and others.
To further his scheme, Battie owned and operated several businesses entities, out of offices in Dallas, including Lien Exchange TX, LLC; Lien Exchange, Inc.; Family First NV, LLC; Loving Life Studios, LLC; WCM Direct, Inc.; and Entrust. Person A also operated multiple business entities in Addison, Texas, in furtherance of the scheme.
Battie located and purchased distressed and dilapidates real estate, mostly in the St. Louis, Missouri, area, which had already been foreclosed upon by other financial institutions. Battie, using the various business entities, flipped the properties one or more times over the course of several months or years to create the appearance of a market and inflate the appraised values of the properties. At Battie’s direction, associates falsified signatures and notaries on property records that were later filed with the St. Louis County Clerk’s office and the City of St. Louis Recorder of Deeds. In turn, Person A sold the fraudulently inflated mortgage notes to victim investors and then paid one of Battie’s companies from funds received from victim investors.
Battie directed Person A on how to “pitch” the investment opportunity to potential investors, typically senior citizens, at investment seminars at high-end restaurants. Among other things, Person A made numerous factual and material misrepresentations about the value of the properties underlying the mortgage notes and the solvency of the company and omitted details about the condition of the properties. For instance, Person A misrepresented that investors were purchasing a mortgage note for a rehabilitated property that had a stable, civil servant residing in the property who would make rent payments, when in reality, as Battie and Person A knew, many of the properties did not have any tenants, or in cases where tenants were living in the properties, they were not civil servants with steady income.
Over the course of the scheme, Battie acquired approximately 120 properties that he used in furtherance of his scheme. Between June 2010 and February 2014, Battie and Person A, and others, raised approximately $12.5 million from victim investors and caused more than $7 million in losses. In fact, at least 40 victim investors suffered significant financial hardship as a result of his scheme.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the California Department of Insurance, the California Department of Business Oversight, and the San Diego District Attorney’s Office.
Assistant U.S. Attorney J. Nicholas Bunch was in charge of the prosecution.
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Local and Federal Law Enforcement Team up to Indict and Arrest Violent Members of Bloods GangRead the Press Release
DENVER – Eight members of the Bloods street gang have been indicted by a federal grand jury this week on charges of Violent Crimes in Aid of Racketeering (VICAR), Acting U.S. Attorney Bob Troyer, Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF) Special Agent in Charge Ken Croke, Denver Police Chief Robert White and Aurora Police Chief Nick Metz announced today. Of the eight indicted, six were previously in custody with the other two recently arrested. This is the first time the VICAR statute has been used in the District of Colorado. Law enforcement employed cutting-edge forensic tools to identify the most violent Bloods gang members, including shell-casing analysis, acoustic gunshot detection technology, and cell phone and social media exploitation.
The VICAR indictment alleges the Bloods are an enterprise whose business is violence, including murder. The indictment charges five counts of violent crimes in aid of racketeering; those violent crimes include conspiracy to commit two different murders, an attempted murder, and two different assaults with a dangerous weapon. The indictment also charges three counts of using firearms to commit violence in aid of the racketeering enterprise. Finally, the indictment charges three counts of unlawful gun possession.
In the early 1970’s, the Bloods gang was formed in Los Angeles, California. The gang initially was comprised of smaller individual street gangs that unified as the Bloods to protect themselves from a larger street gang, the Crips. Over time, Blood gang “sets” developed across the country. Despite differing geographic regions, the sets maintain common tattoos, communication codes, language, and graffiti markings. Members wear the color red to identify themselves as Bloods and to distinguish themselves from members of the Crips, who commonly wear blue and with whom the Bloods have an often lethal rivalry. Bloods are involved in a variety of criminal activities including threats, witness intimidation, aggravated assault, and murder in the District of Colorado. They have operated here since approximately the early 1990’s.
New Bloods members are recruited, generally as juveniles, and are “quoted” into the gang by being beaten by existing Bloods members. Members earn respect by engaging in violence and through a variety of criminal activities including robberies and drug dealing. Members typically tattoo their bodies to identify their membership in, and allegiance to, the Bloods. New recruits are indoctrinated in the Bloods’ rules, which are enforced. One prominent rule encourages Bloods members to confront, fight, and kill rival gang members, particularly the Crips.
Another prominent rule commands silence about gang activity and forbids cooperation with law enforcement. The sanction for violating the code of silence is a “green light.” A “green light” is the signal that the gang approves the beating or killing of someone suspected of cooperating with law enforcement.
The indictment alleges that the defendants participated in the conduct of the Bloods’ business by the following means and methods:
a. Members of the Bloods and their associates used intimidation, violence, and threats of violence, including murder and assault, to preserve, expand, and protect the enterprise’s territory and activities.
b. Members of the Bloods and their associates used intimidation, violence, and threats of violence, including murder and assault, to promote and enhance its prestige, reputation, and position in the community.
c. Members of the Bloods and their associates promoted a climate of fear through intimidation, violence, and threats of violence.
d. Members of the Bloods and their associates used intimidation, violence, and threats of violence, including murder and assault, against various individuals, including known and suspected members of rival gangs and against those who challenged their members or associates.
e. Members of the Bloods and their associates used intimidation, violence, and threats of violence, including murder and assault, to discipline enterprise members and associates who had violated enterprise rules.
f. Members of the Bloods and their associates used intimidation, violence, and threats of violence, including murder and assault, to punish enterprise members and associates who had been disloyal.
g. Members of the Bloods and their associates advertised women, including those under the age of 18, for companionship on websites in order to rob the responding parties.
h. Members of the Bloods and their associates procured and shared firearms for their use and protection.
i. Members of the Bloods and their associates sold controlled substances, including cocaine, ecstasy, codeine, Xanax, and marijuana.
Those charged in the VICAR indictment are: Jason Harris, age 20 (a.k.a. Whoopti, a.k.a. Murder Whoop); Isaac Jonathan Hernandez, age 20 (a.k.a. JB, a.k.a. Hillsidx Hitta); Xavier Davon Claypool, age 22 (a.k.a. X); Michael Byrd, age 22 (a.k.a. Rich Porter, a.k.a. Mike Savage); Theophus Williams, age 20 (a.k.a. Low Chapo, a.k.a. William Theophus), Keandre Mims, age 22 (a.k.a. Hillside Suave); Bryce Wilhite, age 22 (a.k.a. Kapone, a.k.a. Kapone Makaveli Hound, a.k.a. Kapone Poloninethe, a.k.a. Polosaucxtwin Dutch); and Aaron Wilhite, age 22 (a.k.a. Twin NoSurrender NoRetreat). Some defendants face mandatory minimum sentences between seven and ten years, with maximum sentences of up to 20 years. Others face penalties of not more than ten years in federal prison.
Nine additional felons in possession of firearms were previously indicted as part of the ATF’s specific investigation in this Bloods criminal enterprise, including: Brandon Laeraye Nelson, age 28; Dedric Delaine Mayfield, age 39; Isaiah Dumar Claypool, age 25; Keon Anthony Nixon, age 24; Michael Aaron Smith, age 39; Michael Isiah Pierrie, age 22; Michael Lee Sanders, age 38; and Omari Tavon Martin, age 20.
“One violent act can ruin several generations of lives,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Bob Troyer. “The desire for citizen safety is the deepest common bond between communities, law enforcement, and this office. Fueled by teamwork and forensics-led policing, these prosecutions prove our top priority: to ensure safety and restore trust by taking apart violent criminal organizations and removing their members, especially those committing gun violence, from our streets.”
“This historical indictment is a major success for the citizens of Denver and particularly North Park Hill. Over a year ago, ATF, Denver PD, Aurora PD, Lakewood PD and the U.S. Attorney’s Office committed to using the Crime Gun Intelligence Center and NIBIN to target serial gang shooters we believed were responsible for a disproportionate amount of rising gun violence in our community,” said ATF Special Agent in Charge Ken Croke. “Thanks to this partnership, they are no longer anyone’s next door neighbor.”
This case was investigated by ATF, the Denver Police Department, the Aurora Police Department, the Lakewood Police Department and the U.S. Marshals Service.
The charges contained in the Indictment are allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Lafayette man sentenced to 55 months in prison for possessing stolen firearmsRead the Press Release
ALEXANDRAI, La. – United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced that a Lafayette man was sentenced Wednesday to 55 months in prison for possessing two stolen pistols.
James Martin Jr., 21, of Lafayette, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Dee D. Drell on one count of possession of stolen firearms. He was also sentenced to three years of supervised release. According to the May 23, 2016 guilty plea, Lafayette Police responded to reports of gunfire at the 200 block of East Clinton Street. After arriving at the scene, an officer saw Martin holding a firearm. When told to drop the weapon, Martin instead pointed it at the officer. The officer fired twice at Martin hitting him once in the shoulder. Martin fled the scene dropping one of the guns. He was later found in possession of a second firearm. He admitted they were both stolen. The two recovered pistols were a Sig Sauer, model P220, .45 caliber pistol and a Sig Sauer, model P224, .40 caliber pistol.
This investigation and prosecution is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, which is a Department of Justice initiative to promote firearm safety and to reduce firearm crimes by preventing the possession and use of firearms by dangerous and persistent felons and others not authorized to possess a firearm.
The ATF and Lafayette Police Department conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Dominic Rossetti and Joseph T. Mickel prosecuted the case.
KC Man, Linked to Drive-By Murder of 3-Year-Old, Sentenced for Illegal FirearmRead the Press Release
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Kansas City, Mo., man – charged in state court for his role in the murder of a 3-year-old boy killed in a drive-by shooting – was sentenced in federal court today for illegally possessing a firearm.
Sulif I. Wilkins, 26, of Kansas City, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Howard F. Sachs to 10 years in federal prison without parole, the maximum statutory penalty for the offense.
On June 28, 2016, Wilkins pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm. By pleading guilty, Wilkins admitted that he was in possession of a Taurus .40-caliber handgun on June 17, 2015.
According to court documents, Wilkins was identified during an investigation into the death of a 3-year-old boy who was murdered in his bed in a drive-by shooting on May 31, 2015. (Wilkins is charged in state court with murder, unlawful use of a weapon and armed criminal action related to that crime.) Kansas City police officers went to an apartment complex to execute a pick-up order on Wilkins on June 17, 2015. At the apartment complex, Wilkins was seen walking to a blue Chevrolet Cavalier. As officers approached him, Wilkins pulled the gun from his waistband, threw it in the car, and ran towards the apartments. Wilkins was taken into custody and the Taurus handgun was recovered.
According to court documents, the firearm had been stolen. Wilkins previously used the same firearm to shoot at the mother of his child due to a minor argument over a cellphone. After Wilkins shot at the woman, he threatened her life and the lives of her mother and siblings if she ever went to the police.
Under federal law, it is illegal for anyone who has been convicted of a felony to be in possession of any firearm or ammunition. Wilkins has prior felony convictions for robbery, resisting arrest and assault.
In November 2006, Wilkins robbed and carjacked someone at gunpoint then fled from police. While on probation for that crime, in May 2008 Wilkins fired numerous shots into an automobile occupied by two individuals at a BP gas station. Some of the bullets hit an occupied postal truck. In May 2013, according to court documents, Wilkins got into an argument with the woman he was dating and threatened her, destroyed her property, pulled her hair and smacked her repeatedly in the face. Four days later, according to court documents, Wilkins got into another argument with individuals standing outside of a residence and attempted to kill the individuals by firing numerous shots at them as they stood on the porch of the residence. In May 2015, Wilkins got into a heated argument with his girlfriend, took a knife and slashed the tires on her car. One day after that incident, according to court documents, a 3-year-old boy was murdered in his bed, due in part to Wilkins’s actions.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Q. McCarther. It was investigated by the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Justice Department Announces DEA Prescription Drug Take-Back for Oct. 22ndRead the Press Release
BEAUMONT, Texas –Acting United States Attorney Brit Featherston and Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge Joe Arabit announced today that DEA will reprise one of its most popular community programs this weekend: National Prescription Drug Take Back Day. On Saturday October 22 between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. the public can dispose of their unused, unwanted prescription medications at one of 4,700 collection sites nationwide, operated by 3,800 local law enforcement agencies and other community partners. The service is free of charge, no questions asked.
America is presently experiencing an epidemic of addiction, overdose and death due to abuse of prescription drugs, particularly opioid painkillers. 6.4 million Americans age 12 and over—2.4 percent of the population—abuse prescription drugs, according to the 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health released last month, more than abuse cocaine, heroin, hallucinogens, and methamphetamine combined. Drug overdoses are now the leading cause of injury-related death in the United States, eclipsing deaths from motor vehicle crashes or firearms. The majority of prescription drug abusers report that they obtain their drugs from friends and family, including from the home medicine cabinet.
Last April, during its 11th Take Back Day, the DEA and over 4,200 of its national, tribal, and community law enforcement partners collected 893,498 pounds (about 447 tons) of unwanted prescription drugs at almost 5,400 collection sites. Since the program began six years ago, about 6.4 million pounds (about 3,200 tons) of drugs have been collected. That’s more than a quarter pound of pills for each of the 25 million children aged 12 to 17 in America, pills that won’t result in abuse or overdose.
The DEA Beaumont office, along with the Cleveland, Jasper, Lamar University, Liberty, Lumberton, Orange, Port Arthur, Silsbee and Sour Lake Police Departments, will set up collection sites at the following locations:
Cleveland PD- 226 Peach Street, Cleveland, Texas 77327
Jasper PD- 555 S Main Street. Jasper, Texas 75951
Lamar University PD- 211 Red Bird Lane, Beaumont, Texas 77710
Liberty PD- 1906 Lakeland Drive, Liberty, Texas 77575
Lumberton PD-120 East Chance Rd #A, Lumberton, Texas 77657
Orange PD- 201 8th Street, Orange, Texas 77630
Port Arthur PD- 645 4th Street, Port Arthur, Texas 77641
Silsbee PD- 1104 North 5th Street, Silsbee, Texas 77656
Sour Lake PD- 625 Highway 105 West, Sour Lake, Texas 77659
Beaumont Rogers Park- 1455 Dowlen Rd, Beaumont, Texas 77706Collection sites across the nation can be found by going to www.dea.gov. This site is continuously updated with new take-back locations.
Jury Finds Texas Lawyer and Others Guilty of International Money Laundering and Fraud ConspiraciesRead the Press Release
Tampa, Florida – United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III announces that a federal jury today found Perry Don Cortese (53, Little River, Texas), Priscilla Ann Ellis (51, Killeen, Texas), and Kenietta Rayshawn Johnson (35, Leavenworth, Kansas) guilty of conspiracy to commit international money laundering and conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud. Each faces a maximum penalty of 40 years in federal prison. Their sentencing hearings will be scheduled at a later date.
Cortese, Ellis, and Johnson were named in a superseding indictment on September 24, 2015.
According to the evidence presented at trial, Cortese, Ellis, and Johnson were members of an international criminal organization that defrauded dozens of victims across the United States and then laundered the funds, much of which were sent overseas. The fraud schemes took several forms. Many victims were law firms solicited online to perform legal work, provided counterfeit cashier’s checks for deposit into the firms’ trust accounts, and then directed to wire money to third-party shell businesses controlled by the conspirators. Others were title companies defrauded in phony real estate transactions. Other victims were targeted and defrauded by fake suitors on dating websites. The conspiracy also employed hackers who compromised both individual and corporate e-mail accounts, ordering wire transfers from brokerage and business accounts to shell accounts controlled by conspirators.
Victims were instructed to wire money into funnel accounts held by conspirators, known as “money mules.” The funds were then quickly moved to other accounts in the United States and around the world before the victims could discover the fraud. Bank records presented at trial indicate that, from 2012 to 2015, several millions dollars’ worth of wires were received in such accounts to be laundered. Conspirators in Canada, Nigeria, South Korea, Senegal, and elsewhere helped coordinate the fraud and money laundering activity from abroad.
Cortese, a licensed attorney in Texas, worked for the conspirators by laundering victim money through his interest on lawyers trust accounts (“IOLTAs”). He also met with individuals in person to retrieve cash withdrawn from receiver accounts. Cortese recruited his paralegal and others to open such accounts to launder funds. The evidence further showed that Johnson, then a bank employee at Capital One, helped create counterfeit checks and monitor money flows between accounts controlled by conspirators.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with assistance from various federal and local law enforcement partners throughout the country, including the United States Postal Inspection Service and the Toronto Police Service in Ontario, Canada. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Patrick Scruggs and Eric Gerard.
Jacksonville Woman Pleads Guilty to Sex Trafficking by Force, Conspiracy to Distribute Crack Cocaine, and A Firearm OffenseRead the Press Release
Jacksonville, Florida – United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III announces that Shaquana Quenella Brookins (31, Jacksonville) today pleaded guilty to sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion; conspiracy to manufacture and distribute cocaine base; and possession of a firearm as a convicted felon. She faces a minimum mandatory penalty of 15 years, up to life, in federal prison. A sentencing date has not yet been set.
According to the plea agreement, from the summer of 2013 through late 2015, Brookins was trafficking illegal drugs, including crack cocaine, heroin, and flakka, in Jacksonville and routinely carried firearms for intimidation purposes. She also engaged in commercial sex trafficking.
Around March 2014, Brookins met a woman with the initials D.C., who began working for Brookins in the commercial sex industry. D.C. was addicted to crack cocaine, and Brookins controlled D.C. by exploiting her addiction. Brookins repeatedly beat D.C. in order to cause her to engage in commercial sex and to punish her if she stole drugs or withheld money. On several occasions, D.C. attempted to escape from Brookins, but was forced by Brookins to return.
Brookins’s criminal enterprise included a driver who would take D.C. and others to commercial sex “dates” in exchange for crack cocaine. Brookins also used crack cocaine to compensate an attorney who represented D.C. and another sex trafficking victim in various criminal cases brought against the victims. Additionally, Brookins obtained a Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum revolver from the attorney, which she paid for with crack cocaine. Brookins was previously convicted of four felonies, and therefore was prohibited from possessing a firearm or ammunition under federal law.
Brookins and several co-conspirators distributed at least 200 grams of crack cocaine as part of their conspiracy during this time.
This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Laura Cofer Taylor.
Houston Man Sentenced in Large-Scale Interstate Transportation of Stolen Goods OperationRead the Press Release
HOUSTON – A 37-year-old legal permanent resident from Lebanon who resides in Houston has been ordered to federal prison following his conviction of conspiracy to traffic in the interstate transportation of stolen goods, announced U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson. Wassim Hassan Elsaleh aka Sam Saleh pleaded guilty Feb. 11, 2016.
Today, U.S. District Judge Keith Ellison ordered him to serve 24 months in federal prison and must pay a $10,000 fine. Others charged in relation to the case have all also pleaded guilty and were sentenced previously.
Elsaleh was a “fence” in the Houston area that received stolen merchandise from “boosters” and sold to various businesses. A booster is a criminal who steals goods and merchandise not for personal use but for re-sale to a fence for a fraction of its retail value, while a fence is a person who receives stolen goods and merchandise from boosters and others. The fence then re-sells the stolen goods and merchandise to third parties for a profit. The goods often include, but are not limited to, over-the-counter medication (OTC) and infant formulas from retail stores. OTC is medicine that does not require a prescription and includes non-prescription personal hygiene products that can be readily sold in a secondary market as well as items such as Prilosec, Zantac, Claritin and Mucinex.
The conspiracy ran from on or about April 10, 2012, through May 31, 2014. During this time, the boosters would steal OTC and infant formulas from pharmacies and retail stores, such as Walmart, Walgreens, CVS, HEB and Kroger, among others. One or more conspirators would buy the stolen merchandise from several traveling booster crews that usually consisted of undocumented aliens from Mexico, Central and South America and then attempt to profit from their sale of stolen merchandise to others. Boosters were paid in cash in order to aid in concealing the nature of the alleged criminal activity.
Elsaleh was the owner and registered agent of Payless Wholesale and Discount Wholesale LLC and Titanium Trading LLC, respectively located at 3612 Mangum#106 and 2121 Brittmoore Road #1800 in Houston. Elsaleh used the Mangum and Brittmoore locations as the warehouses for storing, repackaging and shipping the stolen goods received from the boosters.
Once Elsaleh received the OTC and stolen infant formula, co-conspirators would remove the retailers’ security labels markings and stickers to disguise the true origin of the infant formulas so it would be easier to sell and more profitable for the business. When the merchandise was received at the warehouses, Elsaleh directed employees to sort, repackage and ship stolen infant formulas out-of-state wholesalers. Elsaleh sold the merchandise to co-conspirators and directed the payment to be made via wire transfer to bank accounts.
If discovered by law enforcement, Elsaleh would shut down the current working warehouse and re-open it at another location. On Feb. 14, 2013, Payless Wholesale shut down operations and Titanium Trading later opened in December 2013.
The FBI, Houston Police Department-Major Offenders Division and the Harris County Sheriff’s Office conducted the investigation with the cooperation of CVS, Walgreens, Wal-Mart, Kroger, Mead Johnson and Abbott Nutrition. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Suzanne Elmilady and Joe Magliolo prosecuted the case.
Hamburg Man Charged with Running A Used Textbook ScamRead the Press Release
CONTACT: Barbara Burns
PHONE: (716) 843-5817
FAX: (716) 551-3051BUFFALO, N.Y.-U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul Jr. announced today that Jeffrey Tomasik, 31, of Hamburg, NY, was arrested and charged by criminal complaint with mail and wire fraud. The charges carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth R. Moellering, who is handling the case, stated that according to the complaint, the defendant ran a used textbook scheme. Tomasik rented textbooks from various companies and then sold the textbooks, primarily on eBay. The defendant did not return the textbooks when the rental contracts expired, instead ignoring the collection notices and making it difficult for the companies to find him by using aliases. Tomasik used at least 20 online accounts and email addresses to perpetrate the alleged fraud.
In addition, Tomasik entered into a sizeable contract with two victims in California. After receiving a $50,000 down payment for used textbooks from the victims via PayPal, the defendant allegedly sent a single textbook and removed his bank information from his PayPal account so that the victims could not recoup their money.
The defendant made an initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael J. Roemer and was released on his own recognizance with certain conditions.
The criminal complaint is the result of an investigation by the United States Postal Inspection Service, under the direction of Boston Division Inspector in Charge Shelly A. Binkowski.
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.
Guatemalan Man Sentenced for Illegal Reentry into the United StatesRead the Press Release
ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Juan Abel Belteton-Barrios, 46, a citizen of Guatemala, was sentenced today to 14 months in prison for illegal reentry into the United States. Belteton-Barrios was also sentenced to three years of supervised release.
“Illegal reentry into the United States is a serious offense,” said Dana J. Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. “Unlawful reentry after deportation or removal is an offense with significant cost to law enforcement that erodes the lawful immigration process. It is my hope that this sentence will promote respect for the law, provide just punishment, and serve to deter similar criminal conduct.”
Belteton-Barrios pleaded guilty on August 5. According to court documents, Belteton-Barrios first entered the United States in 1991 and applied for asylum in 1993. After being denied asylum in 1998, Belteton-Barrios was ordered to voluntarily deport, however, he failed to follow the court order and remained in the United States undetected until his arrest for felony driving while intoxicated in June 2008. After serving a prison sentence, Belteton-Barrios was deported back to Guatemala in October 2008. He returned to the United States approximately seven months later, in May 2009, and remained undetected until his arrest by U.S. Border Patrol agents in May 2015. Belteton-Barrios was again deported back to Guatemala in September 2015. Three months later, in December 2015, Belteton-Barrios entered the United States illegally for the third time. He was immediately detected at the border and deported. Approximately one month later, he again returned to the United States and was detected by Border Patrol agents and immediately returned. In April 2016, Belteton-Barrios again illegally re-entered the United States and remained undetected until his arrest in May 2016.
Dana J. Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; and Clark E. Settles, Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Washington, made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis, III. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Rachel E. Nonaka prosecuted the case.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 1:16-cr-139.
Green Grass Man Indicted for AssaultRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Randolph J. Seiler announced that a Green Grass, South Dakota, man has been indicted by a federal grand jury for Assault Resulting in Serious Bodily Injury.
Andrew Frost, age 20, was indicted on October 12, 2016. He appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark Moreno on October 14, 2016, and pled not guilty to the Indictment.
The maximum penalty upon conviction is up to 10 years in custody and/or a $250,000 fine, 3 years of supervised release, and $100 to the Federal Crime Victims Fund. Restitution may also be ordered.
The Indictment alleges that on June 25, 2016, in Ziebach County, Frost unlawfully assaulted the victim, and that the victim sustained serious bodily injury as a result.
The charge is merely an accusation and Frost is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
The investigation is being conducted by the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Law Enforcement Services. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jay Miller is prosecuting the case.
Frost was released on conditions pending trial. A trial date has not been set.
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Ft. Thompson Man Charged with Kidnapping and AssaultRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Randolph J. Seiler announced that a Ft. Thompson, South Dakota, man has been indicted by a federal grand jury for Kidnapping, Assault with Intent to Commit Murder, Assault with a Dangerous Weapon, and Assault Resulting in Serious Bodily Injury.
Matthew Long Crow, age 38, was indicted on October 12, 2016. He appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark A. Moreno on October 19, 2016, and pled not guilty to the Indictment.
The maximum penalty upon conviction is up to any term of years up to life in custody and/or a $250,000 fine, 5 years of supervised release, and $100 to the Federal Crime Victims Fund. Restitution may also be ordered.
The Indictment alleges that between March 10, 2016, and March 19, 2016, Long Crow kidnapped and assaulted his girlfriend with a knife, with the intent to murder her. As a result of the assault she suffered serious bodily injury.
The charge is merely an accusation and Long Crow is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
The investigation is being conducted by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Crow Creek Agency. Assistant U.S. Attorney Meghan N. Dilges is prosecuting the case.
Long was released on bond pending trial. A trial date has not been set.
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Franklin Insurance Agent Pleads Guilty to Fraud Against Elderly ClientRead the Press Release
Scott Rolin, 55, of Franklin, Tenn., pleaded guilty today to one count of wire fraud, announced United States Attorney David Rivera. During a plea hearing before U.S. District Court Judge Waverly Crenshaw, Rolin admitted stealing more than $50,000 from an elderly client of Steele Rolin Co., his Franklin-based insurance agency.
Specifically, Rolin admitted that, between 2011 and 2015, he made unauthorized withdrawals from certain annuity policies that he controlled on behalf of this client, and did so without this client’s knowledge or permission. Rolin forged his client’s endorsement signature on the resulting checks, and deposited funds derived from these checks into his personal checking account and into a business account he controlled. Rolin used these embezzled funds to pay various personal expenses.
Rolin faces up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. In addition, the Court will order Rolin to pay restitution to his former client. Rolin will be sentenced by Judge Crenshaw on January 27, 2017. Rolin’s sentence will be imposed by the Court after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and applicable federal statutes.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney William F. Abely.
Former United States Tax Court Judge Pleads Guilty to Conspiring to Defraud the IRS of $450,000 in TaxesRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Andrew M. Luger today announced the guilty plea of DIANE L. KROUPA, 61, to conspiring to defraud the United States. KROUPA, who was indicted on April 4, 2016, pleaded guilty today before United States District Judge Wilhelmina M. Wright in U.S. District Court in St. Paul, Minn.
“Abusing her position of public trust, Diane Kroupa conspired to defraud the government and break the very tax laws she was sworn to uphold,” said United States Attorney Andrew Luger. “My Office remains committed to prosecuting individuals who engage in fraud schemes such as this, regardless of their position or profession.”
“Those charged with upholding the laws are not above the law. While serving as a United States Tax Court Judge, Diane Kroupa conspired to break the law by evading the taxes she owed. Her actions were not only unlawful and dishonest, but they were a theft from the American public. No matter what your position, it is unacceptable to cheat the system that provides the government services and protections that we all enjoy. IRS Special Agents will continue to pursue tax cheats at all levels of society, regardless of position or status,” said Shea Jones, Special Agent in Charge of the St. Paul Field Office.
According to the plea agreement and KROUPA’s testimony at the plea hearing, KROUPA was a former judge who was appointed to the United States Tax Court on June 13, 2003 for a term of 15 years. During the same period, KROUPA was married to Robert E. Fackler, a self-employed lobbyist and political consultant who owned and operated a business known as Grassroots Consulting. From 2004 to 2013, KROUPA and Fackler owned a home in Plymouth, Minnesota. From 2007 to 2013, they also leased a second residence in Easton, Maryland, where KROUPA lived while fulfilling her duties as a Tax Court Judge in Washington DC.
According to the plea agreement and KROUPA’s testimony at the plea hearing, between 2002 and 2012, KROUPA and Fackler conspired to obstruct the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) from accurately determining their joint income taxes. As part of the conspiracy, KROUPA and Fackler worked together each year to compile numerous personal expenses for inclusion as supposed “business expenses” for Grassroots Consulting in their joint tax return. Those expenses included: rent and utilities for the Maryland home; utilities, upkeep and renovation expenses of the Minnesota home; pilates classes; spa and massage fees; jewelry and personal clothing; wine club fees; Chinese language tutoring; music lessons; personal computers; and expenses for vacations to Alaska, Australia, the Bahamas, China, England, Greece, Hawaii, Mexico and Thailand. In total, from 2004 through 2010, the defendants fraudulently deducted at least $500,000 of personal expenses as purported Schedule C business expenses. At times, KROUPA prepared and provided to Fackler summaries of personal expenses falsely described according to business expense categories. On other occasions, KROUPA herself compiled and provided to their tax preparer the fraudulent personal expenses.
According to the plea agreement and KROUPA’s testimony at the plea hearing, KROUPA made a series of other false claims on their tax returns, including failing to report approximately $44,520 that she received from a 2010 land sale in South Dakota. KROUPA also falsely claimed financial insolvency to avoid paying tax on $33,031 on cancellation of indebtedness income that she and her husband received.
According to the plea agreement and KROUPA’s testimony at the plea hearing, KROUPA and Fackler purposely concealed documents from their tax preparer and an IRS Tax Compliance Officer during an audit for their 2004 and 2005 tax returns.
According to the plea agreement and KROUPA’s testimony at the plea hearing, during a second audit in 2012, KROUPA and Fackler caused false and misleading documents to be delivered to an IRS employee in order to convince the IRS employee that certain personal expenses were actually business expenses of Grassroots Consulting. After the IRS requested documents pertaining to their tax returns, KROUPA and Fackler removed certain items from their personal tax files before giving them to their tax preparer because the documents could reveal they had illegally deducted numerous personal expenses. During the audit, KROUPA also falsely denied receiving money from the 2010 land sale. Later, when they learned the 2012 audit might progress into a criminal investigation, KROUPA instructed Fackler to lie to the IRS about her involvement in preparing the portion of their tax returns related to Grassroots Consulting.
According to the plea agreement and KROUPA’s testimony at the plea hearing, between 2004 and 2010, KROUPA and Fackler purposely understated their taxable income by approximately $1,000,000 and purposely understated the amount of tax they owed by at least $450,000.
This case is the result of an investigation conducted by the Criminal Investigation Division of the IRS and the United States Postal Inspection Service.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Benjamin Langner and Timothy Rank are prosecuting the case.
Defendant Information:
DIANE L. KROUPA, 61
Minnetonka, Minn.
Convicted:
- Conspiracy to Defraud the United States, 1 count
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United States Attorney’s Office, District of Minnesota: (612) 664-5600
Former State Senator Ronald Calderon Sentenced to 42 Months in Federal Prison for Receiving over 150,000 Dollars in BribesRead the Press Release
LOS ANGELES – Former California State Senator Ronald S. Calderon was sentenced today to 3½ years in federal prison after pleading guilty to a federal corruption charge and admitting that he accepted tens of thousands of dollars in bribes in exchange for performing official acts as a legislator.
Ron Calderon, 59, of Montebello, received the 42-month sentenced this afternoon from United States District Judge Christina A. Snyder, who also ordered the defendant to serve 150 hours of community service.
Ron Calderon pleaded guilty in June to one count of mail fraud through the deprivation of honest services. In a plea agreement filed in this case, Ron Calderon admitted accepting bribe payments from the owner of a Long Beach hospital who wanted a law to remain in effect so he could continue to reap tens of millions of dollars in illicit profits from a health care fraud scheme. Ron Calderon also admitted taking bribes from undercover FBI agents who were posing as independent filmmakers who wanted changes to California’s Film Tax Credit program.
Ron Calderon’s brother, Thomas M. Calderon, 62, also of Montebello, a former member of the California State Assembly who became a political consultant, was sentenced last month to 10 months in custody for his conviction on a money laundering charge for allowing bribe money earmarked for his brother to be funneled through his company.
“Former Senator Calderon repeatedly violated the trust of the voters by taking nearly $160,000 in bribes in exchange for abusing his position as an elected official,” said United States Attorney Eileen M. Decker. “The Calderons are now being punished for their roles in a bribery scheme that involved multiple forms of payments, as well as the attempted concealment of the scheme through money laundering and lies made to residents of his district. Politicians who violate their oaths by selling their offices will be discovered and will be prosecuted.”
“Mr. Calderon used the power of the state Senate to dole out favors in exchange for bribe payments and a flashy lifestyle, rather than governing honestly for the people of California,” said Deirdre Fike, the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office. “I’m proud of the agents and prosecutors who made this case a success using innovative techniques to uncover a variety of schemes and abject corruption by a state official.”
“At the heart of this case are two brothers – one a politician, the other the facilitator – who thought they were above the law and could exchange political favors for bribery payments,” stated IRS Criminal Investigation’s Acting Special Agent in Charge, Anthony J. Orlando. “Regardless of circumstances, no one is granted an exemption to commit crimes with impunity. As today’s sentence shows, the government will hold accountable those who use fraud and deceit to line their pockets with money, especially when those individuals are serving the California public.”
Ron Calderon admitted participating in a bribery scheme involving two areas of legislation and the hiring of a staffer who was also an undercover FBI agent.
In the first part of the bribery scheme, Ron Calderon took bribes from Michael Drobot, the former owner of Pacific Hospital in Long Beach, which was a major provider of spinal surgeries that were often paid by workers’ compensation programs. The spinal surgeries are at the center of a massive healthcare fraud scheme that Drobot orchestrated and to which he previously pleaded guilty. Ron Calderon was not charged in the healthcare fraud scheme that led to well over $500 million in fraudulent billings. Drobot, who was described in court papers filed by prosecutors as “a greedy fraudster robbing taxpayer-funded federal programs,” was a client of Tom Calderon’s political consulting firm.
California law known as the “spinal pass-through” legislation allowed a hospital to pass on to insurance companies the full cost it had paid for medical hardware it used during spinal surgeries. As Drobot admitted in court, his hospital exploited this law, typically by using hardware that had been purchased at highly-inflated prices from companies that Drobot controlled and passing this cost along to insurance providers.
Drobot bribed Ron Calderon so that he would use his public office to preserve this law that helped Drobot maintain a long-running and lucrative healthcare fraud scheme, which included Ron Calderon asking a fellow senator to introduce legislation favorable to Drobot and attempting to recruit other senators to support Drobot. The payments from Drobot came in the form of summer employment for Ron Calderon’s son, who was hired as a summer file clerk at Pacific Hospital and received a total of $30,000 over the course of three years, despite the son doing little actual work at the hospital.
In another part of the bribery scheme, Ron Calderon accepted bribes from people he thought were associated with an independent film studio, but who were in fact undercover FBI agents. In exchange for the payments – including $30,000 in payments to Ron Calderon’s daughter for services she never provided – Ron Calderon agreed to support an expansion of a state law that gave tax credits to studios that produced independent films in California. The Film Tax Credit applied to productions of at least $1 million, but, in exchange for bribes, Ron Calderon agreed to support new legislation to reduce this threshold to $750,000, according to the plea agreement.
Ron Calderon took several official actions with respect to reducing the threshold for the Film Tax Credit. Ron Calderon signed a letter on his official Senate letterhead indicating that he would propose legislation lowering the threshold, introduced a “spot bill” he told an undercover agent would be used to propose such legislation, and promised that he would vote in favor of that proposed legislation.
In addition to the payments to his daughter for work she did not do, Ron Calderon had one of the undercover agents make a $5,000 payment toward his son’s college tuition and a $25,000 payment to Californians for Diversity, a non-profit entity that Ron Calderon and his brother used to improperly pay themselves.
In a sentencing memorandum filed with the court, prosecutors write that Ron Calderon “sold his vote not just to help pay for the expenses of living beyond his means, but for the more banal and predictable aims of corruption -– fancy luxuries, fancy parties, and fancy people.”
The memorandum further argues that a significant term of imprisonment was necessary to send a message to other political officials and the electorate because, without such a sentence, “the trust already eroded by individual detections of corrupt politicians will spread like cancer and threaten the fundamentals of a trusted democracy. It is not hyperbole to insist that nothing less is at stake in defendant’s sentencing.”
As part of the agreement with the undercover agents, Ron Calderon performed official acts that led to the hiring of another undercover agent as a staffer in his district office at an annual salary of $45,105.
Ron Calderon “knowingly concealed his bribery scheme from the public by submitting a false Statement of Economic Interest, California Form 700, to the California Fair Political Practices Commission, which failed to disclose the money and other financial benefits defendant he had received from Drobot” and the undercover agents, Ron Calderon admitted in his plea agreement.
Tom Calderon pleaded guilty to money laundering and admitted that he agreed to conceal bribe payments for his brother from the two undercover FBI agents by having the money go through his company, the Calderon Group. Tom Calderon allowed payments to be made to the Calderon Group “to conceal and disguise the fact that the money represented the proceeds of bribery,” according to his plea agreement.
The investigation into the Calderons was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and IRS Criminal Investigation. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Mack E. Jenkins of the Public Corruption and Civil Rights Section.
Former Pinnacle Director Pleads Guilty to Insider TradingRead the Press Release
Former lead director of Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc. (“Pinnacle”) and Rutherford County Attorney, James Cope, 67, of Murfreesboro, Tenn., pleaded guilty today to insider trading in connection with Pinnacle’s 2016 acquisition of Avenue Financial Holdings Inc. (“Avenue”), announced Jack Smith, Acting U.S. Attorney for the administration of this case.
“Mr. Cope abused his position of trust as a member of Pinnacle’s board of directors to make a quick profit” said Acting United States Attorney Jack Smith. “His actions undermine the investing public’s confidence in our securities markets. This office will continue to vigorously investigate and prosecute all manner of securities fraud in the Middle District of Tennessee.”
“This plea is the outcome of an aggressive investigation by the FBI and our law enforcement partners into the unfair, fraudulent and illegal activity of an individual who abused his position of trust for personal profit,” said Michael T. Gavin, Special Agent in Charge of the Memphis Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. “Trading on inside information undermines confidence in our financial markets, and the FBI will continue to work to detect, disrupt and dismantle these types of schemes.”
In a parallel case, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission today announced civil charges against Cope.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court, James Cope is a licensed attorney with more than 20 years of experience as a bank director. Pinnacle is a publicly-traded bank headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee. The defendant was a member of the Board of Directors of Pinnacle, served as Chair of the Pinnacle Board of Directors Compensation Committee, and had previously served as Lead Director for Pinnacle.
Pinnacle maintained and enforced a policy prohibiting insider trading by its employees and directors. Under Pinnacle’s “Statement of Policy on Prevention of Insider Trading,” utilization of inside information to transact personal investment decisions was expressly forbidden. Pinnacle’s policy specifically stated that “it is illegal to engage in ‘insider trading,’ which is purchasing or selling securities when one is in possession of material nonpublic information relating to those securities.”
In December 2015, executives of Pinnacle and Avenue began discussions regarding a potential acquisition of Avenue by Pinnacle. On December 1, 2015, the Executive Committee of Pinnacle’s Board of Directors, including Cope, was informed by Pinnacle’s CEO that he had reached out to executives at Avenue to express interest in a merger between Pinnacle and Avenue.
In late December 2015, Cope and other Pinnacle directors were provided certain information in advance of an upcoming Executive Committee meeting to be held on January 5, 2016. This material was not publicly available and discussed a potential acquisition of an unnamed bank. This material also discussed a potential price per share of $19.00 for the proposed acquisition.
On January 5, 2016, Pinnacle executives briefed the Executive Committee on a potential acquisition of Avenue, using the aforementioned information. Cope was present for and participated in this meeting. This meeting included discussion of the proposed Pinnacle/Avenue transaction, including discussion of financial specifics of the target acquisition price of $19.00 per share of Avenue stock. During this meeting, all of the Executive Committee members, including Cope, stated that they were in favor of Pinnacle acquiring Avenue.
On the same day, after learning the aforementioned information regarding Pinnacle’s interest and efforts to acquire Avenue, Cope purchased 6,179 shares of Avenue stock. The approximate price per share for these purchased shares was $13.81. Six days later, on January 11, 2016, he purchased another 4,000 shares of Avenue stock.
On January 29, 2016, after Pinnacle publicly announced its agreement to acquire Avenue, Avenue’s stock price rose to $19.24 per share, resulting in an unrealized profit of over $56,000 for Cope.
According to the terms of his plea agreement, Cope will serve two years of federal probation, the first nine months to be served on home confinement. Cope will also pay a fine of $55,000. Cope will be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Aleta Trauger on November 14, 2016.
Pinnacle disclosed Cope’s conduct and cooperated fully with the federal investigation. The investigation did not reveal any indication of wrong-doing by Pinnacle or any of its other board members or employees.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with assistance from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission’s Atlanta Regional Office. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Henry Leventis.
Former Effie Post Office employee pleads guilty to stealing more than $6,000Read the Press Release
ALEXANDRIA, La. – United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced that a Cottonport woman pleaded guilty Wednesday to stealing more than $6,000 from the Effie Post Office.
Chelsa Dobison, 26, of Cottonport, La., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Dee D. Drell to one count of issuing fraudulent money orders. According to the guilty plea, Dobison was an employee of the Post Office in Effie, La. From January 2016 to April 2016, she issued $6,631.55 in money orders to herself without prepaying for them. This caused a financial loss to the Post Office. She resigned her position in April of 2016.
Dobison faces five years in prison, three years supervised release, restitution and a $250,000 fine. A sentencing date of January 26, 2017 was set.
The U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary J. Mudrick is prosecuting the case.
Former Cook County Correctional Officer Charged with Federal Civil Rights ViolationRead the Press Release
CHICAGO — A former correctional officer for the Cook County Sheriff’s Office has been indicted on a federal civil rights charge for allegedly using unreasonable force against a detainee while on duty.
ROBERT DARTT, 46, of Jacksonville, Fla., is charged with one count of deprivation of rights under color of law, and one count of filing a false report. Dartt is alleged to have used unreasonable force while on duty as a correctional officer for the Cook County Sheriff’s Office on Oct. 31, 2011. The victim suffered bodily injury as a result of the unreasonable force, the indictment states.
The false report charge arises from false statements Dartt filed with the Sheriff’s Office and the Cook County Department of Corrections after the incident, according to the indictment.
The indictment was returned Thursday in federal court in Chicago. An arraignment date has not yet been set.
The indictment was announced by Zachary T. Fardon, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; and Michael J. Anderson, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Deprivation of rights is punishable by up to ten years in prison, while filing a false report carries a maximum sentence of 20 years. If convicted, the Court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal statutes and the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines.
The public is reminded that an indictment is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Kutcher.
Former Chairman of the Board of Payroll Services Company Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy ChargesRead the Press Release
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Frank Alton Moody, II, 56, of Arden, N.C., pleaded guilty to federal charges for his role in conspiring to steal over $2 million from client companies and using the money to fund their exorbitant salaries, announced Jill Westmoreland Rose, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. Two of Moody’s conspirators, Jerry Wayne Overcash, 67, of Charlotte, and John Bernard Thigpen, 60, of Rock Hill, S.C., previously pleaded guilty and were sentenced for their roles in the conspiracy.
U.S. Attorney Rose is joined in making today’s announcement by Thomas L. Noyes, Inspector in Charge of the Charlotte Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) and Thomas J. Holloman III, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division (IRS-CI).
According to documents filed with the court, Moody was the Chairman of the Board of CenterCede Services Inc. (CenterCede), a payroll services company with clients in Charlotte and elsewhere. CenterCede was established in August 2010 by Overcash and Moody, to assume business operations of The Resource Solutions Group (TRSG). Court documents in related cases indicate that, similar to CenterCede, TRSG had been a payroll services company until it was shut down by IRS in August 2010, for failing to pay more than $9 million in federal payroll taxes TRSG collected from its clients. Moody served as Chairman of the Board at TRSG.
Court documents show that from November 2010 to November 2011, CenterCede purportedly provided payroll preparation and processing services to its clients. As such, CenterCede collected funds from its clients to pay the client companies’ federal tax obligations, gross payroll for the clients’ employees, worker’s compensation, and unemployment insurance, among others, as well as fees due to CenterCede. Contrary to their representations to clients, the conspirators did not pay the clients’ federal taxes in appropriate amounts and by the applicable deadlines.
Instead, Moody and his co-conspirators agreed, with the intent to defraud the company’s clients and the IRS, not to remit to the IRS the full tax liabilities of CenterCede’s clients. Client funds were then diverted to pay the salaries of Moody, Overcash and others, and to cover CenterCede’s growing liabilities.
To keep the scheme afloat, the conspirators paid only those obligations necessary to keep their ongoing cash flow crisis a secret from clients. As reflected in court documents, the conspirators favored what they called “priority” clients, attempted to keep those priority clients from learning about monthly cash shortfalls and frequently paid those clients’ obligations ahead of other non-priority clients. “Priority” clients generally had large payrolls with deposits necessary to fund CenterCede’s short-term cash needs and keep the scheme afloat.
Court records show that when clients inquired about failures to pay obligations, the conspirators took steps to conceal the fraud by providing false excuses and misleading explanations. According to the indictment to which Moody pleaded guilty, when a client company asked why its tax payments had not been paid, Moody wrote “John [Thigpen] has told me it was a over site [sic] in the Tax department and all is fixed. No problems with [victim client company].” In truth and fact, that client’s taxes had been intentionally unpaid in favor of the payment of “priority” client obligations.
The conspiracy charge carries a maximum of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. As part of his plea agreement, Moody has agreed to pay restitution to his victims, the amount of which will be determined by the Court.
The investigation for the case is being handled by USPIS and IRS-CI. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Corey F. Ellis and Taylor J. Phillips of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte are in charge of the prosecution.
Federal jury finds Raleigh County man guilty of crimes involving witness tampering and obstruction of justiceRead the Press Release
BECKLEY, W.Va. – A federal jury sitting in Beckley returned a guilty verdict yesterday in the trial of a Raleigh County man for conspiracy to tamper with a witness and aiding and abetting obstruction of justice, announced United States Attorney Carol Casto. Mark Radcliffe, 59, of Shady Spring, was convicted following a three-day jury trial.
On December 23, 2015, Seth Radcliffe, the son of Mark Radcliffe, was facing kidnapping charges in an unrelated case. Witnesses for the United States testified that Mark Radcliffe directed Jimmie Harper, a codefendant, to take actions to illegally influence Seth Radcliffe’s case. Harper testified that immediately following Seth Radcliffe’s arrest for kidnapping on December 23, 2015, he and Mark Radcliffe began discussing how they needed to get a witness to minimize Seth Radcliffe’s actions. Harper further testified that he and Mark Radcliffe formed a plan on December 24, 2015, to have a witness lie to law enforcement about the kidnapping.
Harper additionally testified that on January 24, 2016, he met with witnesses in Seth Radcliffe’s case in an attempt to influence testimony before a federal grand jury. Before the meeting, Harper testified that he spoke to Mark Radcliffe about the plan and obtained a letter written by Seth Radcliffe that was read aloud during the meeting. Harper also testified that during the same meeting, at Mark Radcliffe’s direction, he emphasized that the kidnapping charges against Seth Radcliffe needed to go away because of the severe penalties. Harper additionally testified that he suggested, also at Mark Radcliffe’s direction, limiting answers that could be damaging to Seth Radcliffe by responding with “I don’t know” or “I don’t remember.” Harper testified that Seth Radcliffe’s letter was not factually correct, and that he and Mark Radcliffe intended to corruptly influence witness testimony.
Text messages and phone calls admitted into evidence during the trial showed significant communication between Mark Radcliffe and Jimmie Harper prior to Harper’s meeting with the witnesses. Additionally, calls between Seth Radcliffe and Mark Radcliffe that were also admitted into evidence showed extensive communication regarding an unlawful strategy to get Seth Radcliffe’s charges dismissed.
Radcliffe faces up to 20 years in federal prison for conspiracy to tamper with a witness and up to 10 years in federal prison for aiding and abetting the obstruction of justice. He is scheduled to be sentenced on February 1, 2017. Harper was sentenced in August 2016 to seven years for an unrelated federal arson crime, followed by a consecutive sentence of two years for the witness tampering crime.
The West Virginia State Police, the Raleigh County Sheriff’s Office, and the FBI conducted the investigation. Assistant United States Attorneys Monica D. Coleman and Haley Bunn handled the prosecution and tried the case before a federal jury. United States District Judge Irene C. Berger presided over the trial.
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Evansville man convicted at trial in child pornography caseRead the Press Release
Evansville – United States Attorney Josh J. Minkler announced today that Alan E. Claridge, Jr., 46, of Evansville, Indiana, has been convicted of two counts of possession of sexually explicit material involving minors and three counts of receipt of sexually explicit material involving minors. Claridge was convicted following a two-day jury trial before United States District Court Chief Judge Richard L. Young, in Evansville. The investigation which led to the charges against Claridge was a cooperative effort by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Evansville Police Department.
“Protecting the most vulnerable of our society is a responsibility I take personally and remains a high priority in this office,” said Minkler. “Every time child pornography is viewed on the internet it revictimizes a child.”
Government attorneys presented evidence at trial that on August 10, 2012, an FBI task force officer (“TFO”) conducted an online investigation to identify persons possessing and sharing suspected child pornography using the internet. The TFO connected to a computer which contained child pornography that was made available for downloading by others through a shared folder accessible to the public. Several files from the computer were downloaded from the internet and determined to depict minors engaged in sexual poses and sex acts.
A subpoena was issued to the internet service provider and determined that the IP address was assigned to a customer named Alan E. Claridge, with an address in Evansville, Indiana. On February 19, 2013, the United States District Court issued a search warrant for the Evansville address based on the evidence law enforcement had gathered during their on-line investigation.
On February 19, 2013, the TFO and agents assisting him executed the search warrant at the Evansville address. Claridge was alone in his residence at the time of the search. When law enforcement executed the search, they observed that Claridge had been actively downloading file names indicative of child pornography.
Claridge agreed to make a statement about his computer use after being advised of the nature of the investigation. Claridge verified that he used the internet to search for and download pornography and further told investigators that he used a search term commonly associated with child pornography to search for material on the internet.
After the search was completed, the laptop computer and other storage media devices found during the search were examined and Claridge was arrested. During the forensic examination, numerous videos depicting minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct were discovered on the laptop and storage media devices.
According to Assistant United States Attorneys Todd Shellenbarger and Kyle Sawa who are prosecuting this case for the government, Claridge faces a term of imprisonment up to 20 years. A sentencing hearing has been set for January 17, 2017, before Chief Judge Richard L. Young.
Dupree Man Indicted for AssaultsRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Randolph J. Seiler announced that a Dupree, South Dakota, man has been indicted by a federal grand jury for Assault with a Dangerous Weapon, Assault Resulting in Serious Bodily Injury, and two counts of Assaulting, Resisting, Opposing, and Impeding a Federal Officer.
Miles Condon, age 25, was indicted on October 12, 2016. He appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark Moreno on October 14, 2016, and pled not guilty to the Indictment.
The maximum penalty upon conviction of the two non-officer related assault charges is up to 10 years in custody. The maximum penalty upon conviction of the two officer-related assault charges is up to 8 years in custody. In each instance, the maximum fine is up to $250,000 fine, 3 years of supervised release, and $100 to the Federal Crime Victims Fund. Restitution may also be ordered.
The indictment alleges that on August 3, 2016, in Dupree, Condon unlawfully assaulted the victim with a golf club, and that the victim sustained serious bodily injury as a result. The indictment also alleges that on August 3, 2016, and again on September 7, 2016, in Dupree, Condon forcibly assaulted, resisted, opposed, impeded, intimidated and interfered with a federal law enforcement officer who was engaged in, and on account of, the performance of his official duties, and that said conduct involved physical contact with the federal officer.
The charge is merely an accusation and Condon is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
The investigation is being conducted by the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Law Enforcement Services, and the Ziebach County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jay Miller is prosecuting the case.
Condon was remanded to the custody of the United States Marshals Service pending trial. A trial date has not been set.
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Drug Arrests Lead to Recovery of 119 Pounds of Cocaine and Stacks of CashRead the Press Release
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – Criminal charges were filed this morning in Newport News against four men for their alleged involvement in a large-scale cocaine trafficking conspiracy. When the men were arrested on Thursday law enforcement officers seized approximately 54 kilograms (119 pounds) of cocaine and 100 bundles of shrink wrapped cash containing $5,000 to $10,000 each.
Marvin O’Neal Carter, Sr., 49, of Newport News; Daniel Rodriguez, aka Daniel Lopez-Rodriguez, 49, of California; Hilario Rodriguez, aka Hilario Lopez-Rodriguez, 50, of California; and Michael Stephen Kuna, 42, of Canada, were charged by criminal complaint with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine. The men are scheduled to make their initial appearances today at 4 p.m. at the federal courthouse in Norfolk.
According to the affidavit on support of the criminal complaint, yesterday agents observed the arrival of a tractor trailer at a garage leased by Carter. The tractor trailer eventually off-loaded the trailer next to the garage, and shortly thereafter agents observed Michael Kuna, and Daniel and Hilario Rodriguez arrive and park in Carter’s garage parking lot. The four men then allegedly worked together to unload cocaine from hidden compartments located underneath the trailer. A short time later, Kuna was observed loading two large duffel bags with green straps into a vehicle before leaving the area. Law enforcement agents conducted a traffic stop on Kuna and located the two duffle bags which emanated with the odor of wet currency.
According to the affidavit on support of the criminal complaint, as Kuna was being detained, members of the DEA, FBI, and Newport News Police executed two federal search warrants on the garage and on the trailer. During the search, agents recovered approximately 54 kilograms of cocaine and 100 bundles of cash in $5,000 to $10,000 stacks. The search of the garage also led to the recovery of a firearm and a quantity of heroin, in addition to approximately $42,000 in cash from a safe.
Each defendant faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life in prison, if convicted. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes, as the sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Dana J. Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Karl C. Colder, Special Agent in Charge for the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Washington Field Division; Jonathan F. Trimble, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Norfolk Field Office; Richard W. Myers, Chief of Newport News Police; and Terry L. Sult, Chief of Hampton Police Division, made the announcement after the charges were filed. Assistant U.S. Attorney Howard J. Zlotnick and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Amy E. Cross are prosecuting the case.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 4:16-mj-200.
A criminal complaint contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent until and unless proven guilty in court.
District Man Sentenced to 60 Years in Prison for Home Invasions and Sexual AssaultRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON – Antwon Pitt, 22, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced today to 60 years in prison on charges involving two home invasions, including one in which he sexually assaulted a woman in Southeast Washington, announced U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips and Peter Newsham, Interim Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).
In one of the two incidents, Pitt was found guilty by a jury on June 8, 2016, of charges of first-degree sexual abuse, kidnapping, first-degree burglary, robbery, threats, and felony assault. In the other, he pled guilty on Sept. 29, 2016, to a charge of second-degree burglary.
The Honorable Florence Pan sentenced Pitt to the 60-year prison term. Following completion of that time, he will be placed on supervised release and required to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.
“Antwon Pitt terrorized two women in separate attacks over one week, invading their homes while one was sleeping and the other doing work,” said U.S. Attorney Phillips. “Today’s sentence will protect our community from this dangerous predator for decades.”
According to the government’s evidence, the first incident took place on Oct. 6, 2015, at approximately 6:15 a.m. Pitt entered an apartment unit on Michigan Avenue NE, with the intent to steal. Once inside the apartment, he entered a bedroom where a young woman was sleeping. She woke up and saw the defendant, whom she did not know, with her cell phone in his hand. After a brief verbal exchange, Pitt left the apartment, taking with him several items belonging to the woman, including her cell phone, a tote bag, her wallet, multiple identification cards, a debit card, a Metro card, and other personal items. This case led to Pitt’s guilty plea.
The second incident took place on Oct. 13, 2015, at approximately 2:10 p.m. According to the government’s evidence, the victim was alone and working at home on her computer. Suddenly she saw Pitt standing in her apartment. He had entered through an unlocked door. After learning that the woman was alone, he grabbed her and slammed her onto the floor. He proceeded to violently press his hand over the victim's mouth and nose as he forced her down the hall with his other hand around her throat. Once in the victim's bedroom, he raped the victim on her own bed. After the rape, he took the victim's phone, demanded her passcode, and left. The victim was taken to the hospital where she was treated for her injuries, which included fractured facial bones requiring surgery.
The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) obtained surveillance footage from the alley by the victim's building showing a suspect walking through the alley after the rape wearing a backpack and bright orange shoelaces. MPD was then able to track the victim's phone to a gas station in Mitchellville, Md., where Pitt, who matched the description of the person in the surveillance footage and the description provided by the victim, was stopped. At the time of his stop, Pitt had the victim's phone and checks made out to the victim's husband, as well as a pair of gloves. Pitt’s DNA and the victim's DNA were found on gloves. Pitt also had the wallet and various other items belonging to the victim of the first home invasion.
At the time of the crimes, Pitt was on release in a pending drug case. He has remained in custody since his arrest.
In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Phillips and Interim Chief Newsham commended the work of those who investigated the case from the Metropolitan Police Department. They also expressed appreciation for the assistance provided by the U.S. Secret Service, the FBI, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Metro Transit Police Department, the District of Columbia Department of Forensic Sciences, Sorenson Forensics, and Signature Science, LLC. He acknowledged the efforts of a team that worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Paralegal Specialists Donhue Troy Griffith and D’Yvonne Key, Victim/Witness Advocates Tracey Hawkins and Veronica Vaughan, and Criminal Investigator John Marsh. Finally, they commended the work of Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sarah McClellan and Luke Jones, who investigated and prosecuted the case.
District Man Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison for Shooting in Northeast WashingtonRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON – Jason Edwards, 32, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced today to 15 years in prison on charges stemming from an incident last Halloween in Northeast Washington in which he shot a man, U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips announced.
Edwards was found guilty in June 2016 by a jury in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia of one count of assault with intent to kill while armed, one count of assault with significant bodily injury while armed, two counts of possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, and one count of unlawful possession of a firearm. He was sentenced by the Honorable Anita Josey-Herring. After his prison term, he will be placed on five years of supervised release.
According to the government’s evidence, on October 31, 2015, Edwards arranged to purchase marijuana from the victim, his former coworker. The two men communicated via text message to set up the meeting. Edwards had the victim meet him in the 3100 block of Channing Street, NE. Instead of purchasing marijuana, Edwards—who was wearing a Batman costume—took out a gun and shot the victim in the upper chest. As the victim ran away, Edwards chased him down the street and fired six additional shots, one of which struck the victim in his leg. Fortunately, neither gunshot wound was fatal. The victim was able to identify Edwards by first name within minutes of police arriving on the scene. During its investigation, the government obtained cell site data from Edwards’ phone that placed him in an area consistent with where the shooting took place.
In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Phillips praised the work of those who worked on the case from the Metropolitan Police Department, the District of Columbia Department of Forensic Sciences, and the FBI. He also expressed appreciation to those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Victim/Witness Advocates Jennifer Clark and Jennifer Allen; Litigation Technology Specialists Leif Hickling, Anisha Bhatia and Aneela Bhatia; Investigative Analyst Zachary McMenamin, and Paralegal Specialist Donville Drummond, Nicole McGhee, and Kalisha Johnson-Clark. Finally, he commended the work of Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kondi Kleinman and Laura Crane, who investigated and prosecuted the case.
District Elections Officers Available Nov. 8 to Receive Complaints of Election Fraud or Voting Rights AbusesRead the Press Release
U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance announced today that Assistant U.S. Attorneys Pat Meadows and Ramona Albin will lead the efforts of her office in connection with the Justice Department’s nationwide Election Day Program for the upcoming Nov. 8 general elections.
Vance appointed Meadows and Albin to serve as the district election officers for the Northern District of Alabama, and in that capacity they are responsible for overseeing the district’s handling of any complaints of election fraud or voting rights abuses in consultation with Justice Department headquarters in Washington, D.C.
“Every citizen must be able to vote without interference or discrimination, and to have that vote counted without it being stolen because of fraud,” Vance said. The Department of Justice will act promptly and aggressively to protect the integrity of the election process.”
The Department of Justice has an important role in deterring election fraud and discrimination at the polls, and combating these violations whenever and wherever they occur. The department’s long-standing Election Day Program furthers these goals, and also seeks to ensure public confidence in the integrity of the election process by providing local points of contact within the department so the public may report possible election fraud and voting rights violations while the polls are open on election day.
Federal law protects against such crimes as intimidating or bribing voters, buying and selling votes, impersonating voters, altering vote tallies, stuffing ballot boxes, and marking ballots for voters against their wishes or without their input. It also contains special protections for the rights of voters and provides that they can vote free from acts that intimidate or harass them. For example, actions designed to interrupt or intimidate voters at polling places by questioning or challenging them, or by photographing or videotaping them under the pretext that these are actions to uncover illegal voting, may violate federal voting rights law. Further, federal law protects the right of voters to mark their own ballot or to be assisted by a person of their choice.
The right to vote is the cornerstone of American democracy. We all must ensure that those who are entitled to the franchise exercise it if they so choose, and that those who seek to corrupt it are brought to justice. In order to respond to complaints of election fraud or voting rights abuses on Nov. 8, and to ensure that such complaints are directed to the appropriate authorities, Vance said that the district election officers, Meadows and Albin, will be on duty in the Northern District while the polls are open. The public can reach them at the following telephone number: (205) 244-2001.
In addition, the FBI will have special agents available in each field office and resident agency throughout the country to receive allegations of election fraud and other election abuses on election day. The public can reach the local FBI field office at 205-326-6166.
Complaints about possible violations of the federal voting rights laws can be made directly to the Civil Rights Division’s Voting Section in Washington, D.C., by phone at 1-800-253-3931 or (202) 307-2767, by fax at (202) 307-3961, by email to [email protected] or by complaint form at http://www.justice.gov/crt/complaint/votintake/index.php.
“Ensuring free and fair elections depends in large part on the cooperation of the American electorate,” Vance said. “It is imperative that those who have specific information about discrimination or election fraud make that information available immediately to my office, the FBI, or the Civil Rights Division.”
Dauphin County Couple Charged with Social Security Fraud, Harboring an Illegal Alien and Confiscating A Passport for Forced Labor and ServicesRead the Press Release
HARRISBURG - The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced today that a Dauphin County couple was indicted by a federal grand jury on October 19, 2016, for social security fraud, harboring an illegal alien and confiscating a passport for forced labor and services.
According to United States Attorney Bruce D. Brandler, the grand jury alleges that Stephayne McClure-Potts, age 51, provided false information to the Commissioner of Social Security on numerous occasions with the intent to obtain a social security card with a fictitious identity for another person. Additionally, the grand jury alleged that McClure-Potts confiscated the passport and immigration documents of that citizen of Ukraine for labor and services and threatened to have that individual deported.
Finally, Stephayne McClure-Potts and her husband, Michael McClure-Potts, age 60, are both charged with harboring an illegal alien from March 2013 through August 2015. The indictment was unsealed today following the arrest of the defendants.
This case was investigated by the Department of State Diplomatic Security Service, the Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General and the City of Harrisburg Bureau of Police. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Daryl F. Bloom.
Indictments are only allegations. All persons charged are presumed to be innocent unless and until found guilty in court.
A sentence following a finding of guilt is imposed by the Judge after consideration of the applicable federal sentencing statutes and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.
The maximum penalties under federal law, for each of Counts 1 and 3 is five years’ imprisonment, a term of supervised release of three years and a $250,000 fine. The maximum penalty under federal law, for Count 2 is ten years’ imprisonment, a three term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a $250,000 fine. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the Judge is also required to consider and weigh a number of factors, including the nature, circumstances and seriousness of the offense; the history and characteristics of the defendant; and the need to punish the defendant, protect the public and provide for the defendant’s educational, vocational and medical needs. For these reasons, the statutory maximum penalty for the offense is not an accurate indicator of the potential sentence for a specific defendant.
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Colorado Energy Company Executive Pleads Guilty to Filing a False Claim Against the U.S.Read the Press Release
PITTSBURGH – The President and owner of North American Power Group Ltd. (NAPG) pleaded guilty in federal court to a charge of filing a False Claim against the United States, United States Attorney David J. Hickton announced today.
Michael J. Ruffatto, 70, of Englewood, Colorado, pleaded guilty to one felony count before United States Chief District Court Judge Joy Flowers Conti.
In connection with the guilty plea, the court was advised that on Dec. 8, 2009, the Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory, located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, awarded a multi-million dollar cooperative agreement to NAPG, a corporation headquartered in Denver, Colorado, that is owned and controlled by Ruffatto, an attorney and graduate of Stanford University.
The purpose of the agreement was to study the carbon sequestration potential of an 880-acre site in Campbell County, Wyoming. The agreement required NAPG to conduct field studies and to drill wells necessary for the study.
Instead of performing the work required under the cooperative agreement, Ruffatto fraudulently transferred millions of dollars of award monies into his personal bank account and used the award monies to fund an extravagant lifestyle. Ruffatto secretly filtered millions of dollars of award monies through Ruffatto’s wholly owned subsidiary, North American Land and Livestock, LLC, while falsely representing to the Department of Energy that the subsidiary was doing work on the project.
“Protecting federal taxpayer funds dedicated to energy-related development projects is an important responsibility,” stated U.S. Attorney Hickton. “Recovery Act funds were awarded to spur job creation, not to provide personal enrichment.”
Chief Judge Conti scheduled sentencing for Feb. 3, 2017. The law provides for a maximum total sentence of five years in prison, a fine of $250,000 or both. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed would be based upon the seriousness of the offense and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.
Pending sentence, the court released Ruffatto on bond.
Assistant United States Attorney Mary McKeen Houghton is prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.
The United States Department of Energy, Office of Inspector General, conducted the investigation leading to the conviction in this case.
Chicago Woman Arrested in $5 Million Fraud Scheme Involving Bogus Business to Re-Sell Tickets to Concerts and Sporting EventsRead the Press Release
CHICAGO — A Chicago woman was arrested today for allegedly operating a multi-million dollar fraud scheme that duped investors into believing she could earn profits on the secondary market for concert and sporting event tickets.
TRACY MONTI fraudulently obtained more than $5 million from investors by misrepresenting that she would purchase tickets for sporting events and concerts from primary market sources at face value and then re-sell them for a profit on the secondary market, according to a nine-count indictment returned Thursday in federal court in Chicago. In reality, Monti used the victims’ funds to purchase a house in Chicago and a vehicle, and to make Ponzi-type payments to other investors, according to the indictment.
Monti, 42, of Chicago, was arrested this morning. She pleaded not guilty during an arraignment today before U.S. District Judge Manish S. Shah. Monti was ordered released on a recognizance bond, and a status hearing was scheduled for Nov. 9, 2016.
The indictment charges Monti with seven counts of wire fraud and two counts of money laundering. Each count of wire fraud is punishable by up to 20 years in prison, while each money laundering count carries a maximum sentence of ten years.
The indictment was announced by Zachary T. Fardon, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Michael J. Anderson, Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and James D. Robnett, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division.
According to the indictment, Monti misrepresented to investors that she had business relationships with multiple primary market sources, such as event promoters and venues, through which she purportedly purchased tickets at face value. The indictment alleges that these relationships didn’t actually exist, and that Monti did not purchase tickets at face value.
The indictment seeks forfeiture of a house in the Austin neighborhood of Chicago and approximately $5.02 million in cash.
The public is reminded that an indictment is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. If convicted, the Court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal statutes and the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica Romero.