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Wednesday 21 September 2016
Georgia Woman Pleads Guilty to Methamphetamine ChargesRead the Press Release
U.S. Attorney Kenneth A. Polite announced that APRIL NICOLE GRIZZARD, age 32, of Atlanta, pled guilty today to two counts of a Superseding Indictment, which charged her with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute fifty grams or more of methamphetamine, and possession with intent to distribute fifty grams or more of methamphetamine.
According to court documents, in September of 2014, a woman in Atlanta agreed to deliver one-half pound of methamphetamine to an undercover Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Special Agent in Metairie. The woman employed an individual named ALLISON CHRISWELL to deliver the drugs. GRIZZARD, who assisted in obtaining the drugs for delivery, accompanied CHRISWELL to Metairie to deliver the drugs. When GRIZZARD and CHRISWELL arrived in Metairie with the methamphetamine, they were arrested by DEA Agents.
For each count, GRIZZARD faces a minimum term of ten years imprisonment, a maximum of life imprisonment, and a fine of $10,000,000. U.S. District Judge Martin L.C. Feldman set sentenced for January 25, 2017.
U.S. Attorney Polite praised the work of the Drug Enforcement Administration in investigating this matter. Assistant U.S. Attorney Andre’ Jones is in charge of the prosecution.
Fugitive Sentenced in Absentia to More Than Eight Years for Dealing in Synthetic CannabinoidsRead the Press Release
Orlando, FL – U.S. District Judge Paul G. Byron today sentenced Imad Rawhi Al-Qattawi (47, Ramallah, Palestine) in absentia to eight years and one month in federal prison for distributing and possessing with the intent to distribute UR-144, a synthetic cannabinoid. Synthetic cannabinoids are a group of drugs that are often marketed by such names as “K2” and “Spice.” Al-Qattawi pleaded guilty on October 29, 2015, but later failed to appear at his sentencing hearing on January 13, 2016.
According to court documents, Al-Qattawi was a manufacturer and dealer of “Bizarro,” a brand of synthetic cannabinoid containing UR-144. During the investigation, agents purchased more thanb 5 kilograms of “Bizarro” from Al-Qattawi over a series of transactions. When Al-Qattawi was arrested, agents found over 5 additional kilograms of “Bizarro” in his van belonging.
This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Vincent S. Chiu.
Former School Teacher Sentenced to 15 Years Imprisonment for Transportation of PornographyRead the Press Release
U.S. Attorney Kenneth A. Polite announced that DON FRANCIS, JR., age 46, of Metairie, was sentenced today after previously pleading guilty to crimes involving the sexual exploitation of children.
U.S. District Judge Sarah S. Vance sentenced FRANCIS to serve 15 years imprisonment to be followed by a lifetime term of supervised release. FRANCIS was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $8,000 and he will be required to register as a sex offender under the Sex Offender Registration Notification Act.
According to court records, on February 5, 2014, Special Agents with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security-Homeland Security Investigations (“HSI”) assisted the Louisiana Department of Justice and the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office with the execution of a search warrant at FRANCIS’s residence in Metairie. HSI computer forensic agents located 5,378 images and 362 videos depicting the sexual victimization of children (some of whom were infants) on FRANCIS’s computer.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab "resources."
United States Attorney Polite praised the work of the U. S. Department of Homeland Security-HSI, the Louisiana Department of Justice, and the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office in investigating this matter. Project Safe Childhood Coordinator and Fraud Unit Chief, Assistant U. S. Attorney Brian M. Klebba was in charge of the prosecution.
Former Director of World Ambassadors, LTD Sentenced for Tax EvasionRead the Press Release
CEDAR RAPIDS, IA--A Cedar Rapids man who admitted filing a fraudulent income tax return was sentenced yesterday to 8-months imprisonment.
Jon S. Petersen, 55, from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, received the prison term after a guilty plea to one count of filing a false tax return.
At his guilty plea hearing, Petersen admitted to filing a fraudulent income tax return for calendar year 2013. The return failed to include as income donations he diverted from World Ambassadors into his own personal checking account. In a plea agreement, Petersen admitted he used approximately $114,581 of those funds in 2013 for his own personal use, and such funds constituted taxable income to him. From 2005-2015, Petersen claimed to struggle with a sex addiction. It became costly so Petersen would pay for this addiction through his credit cards, home equity lines of credit, and World Ambassadors donations. World Ambassadors is a nonprofit corporation.
Petersen was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge Leonard T. Strand. Petersen will serve three months in Bureau of Prisons custody and five-months home confinement. A special assessment of $100.00 was imposed, and he was ordered to make $79,732.35 in restitution to donors of World Ambassadors. He must also serve a one-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
Petersen was released on the bond previously set and is to surrender to the Bureau of Prisons on a date yet to be set.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Matt Cole and investigated by the Internal Revenue Service. Court file information at: https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. The case file number is 16-CR-39-LTS.
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Five Indicted for Massive Fraud Perpetrated Against Starkey LaboratoriesRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Andrew M. Luger today announced a federal indictment charging JEROME RUZICKA, SCOTT NELSON, LAWRENCE MILLER, JEFFREY TAYLOR, and LAWRENCE HAGEN with conspiring to steal more than $20 million from Eden Prairie-based Starkey Laboratories, Inc. (Starkey) and its principal owner William F. Austin. The defendants are expected to make initial appearances in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis later this week.
“This indictment describes a massive and long running fraud scheme against a corporation by those in positions of trust,” said U.S. Attorney Luger. “The defendants carried out a complex scheme to accomplish a simple goal: to embezzle funds for their own benefit. Our federal law enforcement partners at the FBI, IRS, and U.S. Postal Inspection Service conducted a thorough investigation that exposed the defendants’ greed and abuse of trust.”
“The charges today demonstrate an unrelenting effort by the FBI and our law enforcement partners to bring to justice those who are involved in corporate fraud schemes,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge for the Minneapolis Division Richard T. Thornton. “The FBI will continue to aggressively investigate business executives and others who misuse their positions for personal enrichment.”
“The indictment of these executives alleges the misuse of their positions of trust within their corporations,” said SAC Shea Jones IRS Criminal Investigation of the St. Paul Field Office. “High-ranking corporate officials hold positions of trust not only in their companies but also in the eyes of the public. That trust is broken when such officials abuse their power and commit crimes.”
“Postal Inspectors take very seriously their mission to deter the illegal use of the mail for any criminal activity,” said Postal Inspector in Charge, Craig Goldberg. “We are committed to working together with our law enforcement partners to identify, investigate and bring to justice those who would attempt to mask their criminal activity through the use of the mail.”
According to the indictment, between 2006 and September 2015, the defendants conspired to embezzle and misappropriate money and business opportunities belonging to Starkey and Sonion, a major supplier of hearing aid components to Starkey. The co-conspirators deployed various tactics to steal from Starkey, including controlling a complicated web of sham companies and dummy entities, surreptitiously awarding themselves restricted stock in Starkey’s retail affiliate, and embezzling money from the company by causing payments to be made by Starkey for the benefit of the co-conspirators and others.
According to the indictment, in 2006, RUZICKA and TAYLOR created a sham company called, Archer Consulting. RUZICKA caused Starkey to pay Archer Consulting “commission” payments for purported sales of hearing aid components from Sonion, where TAYLOR served as president. In 2010, RUZICKA and TAYLOR changed the description of the fraudulent payments from “commissions” to “consulting fees.” Thereafter, RUZICKA caused Starkey to begin paying consulting fees to Archer Consulting of $75,000 per month. Between 2006 and 2015, RUZICKA and TAYLOR stole approximately $7,650,000 through their sham company.
According to the indictment, RUZICKA, TAYLOR and HAGEN controlled two dummy entities, Claris Investments and Archer Acoustics. TAYLOR falsely represented to Sonion that these entities were Starkey affiliates, thereby securing Starkey’s discounted pricing on hearing-aid components for Claris and Archer Acoustics. RUZICKA, TAYLOR, and HAGEN, used their entities to purchase the discounted products that they later re-sold to other manufacturers to obtain illicit profits. At times, the illicit profits came in the form of fraudulent commissions and rebates. The defendants obtained at least $600,000 in profits, commissions and rebates by fraudulently leveraging Starkey’s purchasing power for their own benefit.
Another facet of this scheme was related to Starkey’s retail affiliate, Northland US, LLC, which Austin created in 2002. He was the sole owner. The purpose of Northland LLC was to acquire and operate retail hearing aid establishments. In 2006, without Austin’s knowledge, RUZICKA and NELSON surreptitiously transferred Northland LLC’s assets to a new entity they controlled, Northland Hearing Centers, Inc. They forged Austin’s signature to complete the transfer of assets, later awarded themselves restricted stock, and ultimately paid themselves and another individual approximately $15 million in exchange for terminating the restricted stock grants.
According to the indictment, RUZICKA, NELSON and MILLER also abused their positions of authority as Starkey executives to embezzle money and fraudulently obtain benefits from Starkey. RUZICKA awarded himself and other co-conspirators hidden bonuses that were concealed from Austin by falsifying compensation reports.
For example, according to the indictment, in 2014, RUZICKA embezzled $200,000 from Starkey under the guise of “officer’s insurance.” He used those funds to pay his state and federal personal income taxes. RUZICKA also stole a 2011 Jaguar automobile that Starkey purchased for his use at a cost of $119,188.77. Starkey paid the fees, insurance premiums, and other costs associated with the automobile. Nevertheless, in July 2015, RUZICKA transferred ownership of the car from Starkey to himself by signing the title as both representative of the seller and also as the buyer. He did not pay Starkey for the vehicle, nor was it reported as a taxable benefit.
According to the indictment, NELSON used more than $200,000 in Starkey funds to purchase a condominium so that he could carry on a clandestine personal relationship with a Starkey employee. He further stole $225,000 to replenish his personal investment account after he bought a home in Prior Lake, Minn. To conceal this theft, NELSON prepared a phony “promissory note” to disguise this illicit payment as a loan from Starkey. He never reported the “loan” on Starkey’s loan register and has made no payments on the “loan.”
In total, RUZICKA, NELSON, MILLER, TAYLOR and HAGEN are alleged to have conspired to steal more than $20 million from Starkey and Sonion.
When some details of the scheme were discovered in September 2015, RUZICKA, NELSON and MILLER were terminated by Starkey. TAYLOR was also terminated by Sonion when Sonion became aware of the fraud.
This case is the result of an investigation conducted by the FBI, Criminal Investigation Division of the IRS, and the United States Postal Inspection Service.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Benjamin Langner and Lola Velazquez-Aguilu are prosecuting the case.
Defendant Information:
JEROME C. RUZICKA, 59
Plymouth, Minn.
Charges:
- Conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud, 1 count
- Mail fraud, 6 counts
- Wire fraud, 16 counts
- Conspiracy to commit money laundering, 2 counts
- Financial transactions involving fraud proceeds, 4 counts
SCOTT A. NELSON, 58
Prior Lake, Minn.
Charges:
- Conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud, 1 count
- Mail fraud, 2 counts
- Wire fraud, 2 counts
- Financial transactions involving fraud proceeds, 1 count
W. JEFFREY TAYLOR, 55
Cologne, Minn.
Charges:
- Conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud, 1 count
- Mail fraud, 4 counts
- Wire fraud, 10 counts
- Conspiracy to commit money laundering, 2 counts
- Financial transactions involving fraud proceeds, 4 counts
LAWRENCE W. MILLER, 63
Chanhassen, Minn.
Charges:
- Conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud, 1 count
- Wire fraud, 4 counts
LAWRENCE T. HAGEN, 63
Minnetonka, Minn.
Charges:
- Conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud, 1 count
- Wire fraud, 3 counts
- Conspiracy to commit money laundering, 1 count
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United States Attorney’s Office, District of Minnesota: (612) 664-5600
The charges contained in the indictment are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Five Correction Officers Charged with Federal Crimes in Beating of Inmate at Downstate Correctional Facility and Cover-UpRead the Press Release
Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, William F. Sweeney Jr., the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), William V. Grady, the District Attorney of Dutchess County, and Anthony J. Annucci, Acting Commissioner of the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (“DOCCS”), announced today criminal charges against five New York State correction officers relating to the November 12, 2013 beating of Kevin Moore, an inmate at the Downstate Correctional Facility (“Downstate”) in Fishkill, New York, and a conspiracy to cover-up the beating. Two of the correction officers have pled guilty to the charges filed against them.
Three defendants are charged by Indictment: a former Sergeant named KATHY SCOTT, also known as Kathy Todd, and former correction officers GEORGE SANTIAGO JR. and CARSON MORRIS. All three defendants are charged with federal civil rights offenses, including conspiring to deprive the victim of his Constitutional rights and depriving the victim of his Constitutional rights under color of law, as well as two counts of obstructing justice by conspiring to file false reports and filing false reports with DOCCS.
Two defendants, former correction officers DONALD COSMAN and ANDREW LOWERY, are charged by felony Informations. They have both pled guilty to four counts: conspiring to deprive the victim of his Constitutional rights; depriving the victim of his Constitutional rights under color of law; obstructing justice by conspiring to file false reports; and filing false reports.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said: “Today’s charges allege a brutal beating and a brazen cover-up by five state correction officers that left Kevin Moore, a 54-year-old inmate, with life-threatening injuries and in the hospital for 17 days. Inmates may be walled off from the public, but they are not walled off from the Constitution. And when correction officers viciously beat an inmate in their charge, then collude among themselves to cover it up – as alleged here – they trample on the Constitution and the very laws they have sworn to uphold.”
FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge William F. Sweeney Jr. said: “What we see in this case is the sheer deprivation of liberty without due process of law. As charged, the defendants were relentless in their approach to admonish Moore for speaking up – brutally beating him with their boots and batons. In an outward symbol of inner immorality, one of the officers allegedly boasted of the group’s illicit conduct by referring to the dreadlocks ripped from Moore’s scalp as souvenirs. This type of behavior is outrageous, and it won’t be tolerated within our criminal justice system.”
Dutchess County District Attorney William V. Grady said: “The Grand Jury indictment and existing pleas in this case would not have happened were it not for the close cooperation and partnership between my Office and United States Attorney Preet Bharara and his staff. I sincerely compliment Mr. Bharara for his willingness to take the lead in this investigation after it became apparent that existing New York State Law would make it extremely difficult, if not impossible, for us to conduct an effective investigation at the State level.”
Department of Corrections and Community Supervision Acting Commissioner Anthony J. Annucci said: “These five individuals not only allegedly broke the trust placed in them by their fellow correction officers – they broke the law as well. DOCCS has zero tolerance for any criminal activity involving staff or inmates within our facilities. This announcement sends a strong message that we will pursue anyone that fails to uphold the integrity and professionalism that we place in our Department. I commend DOCCS Office of Special Investigations, the FBI, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for their cooperation in bringing these individuals to justice.”
As alleged in the Indictment unsealed today[1], on November 12, 2013, a 54-year-old inmate named Kevin Moore was brutally beaten by a group of Downstate correction officers, causing life-threatening injuries. As a result of the beating, Moore suffered five fractured ribs, a collapsed lung, and several facial fractures. The officers also injured Moore’s back, hands, legs, and feet, and they ripped a clump of dreadlocks from his head. Moore was ultimately hospitalized for approximately 17 days.
At approximately 5:00 p.m. that day, Moore and other Downstate inmates were escorted to the 1-Delta Housing Unit to be confined overnight. Moore and another inmate were instructed to remove their shoelaces because they were going to be confined in Forensic Diagnostic Unit cells, which are designed for inmates with mental health issues. SCOTT, SANTIAGO, MORRIS, COSMAN, LOWERY, and other correction officers were surrounding the inmates when Moore objected to being confined in a mental health cell, saying he had a good lawyer and that he was “a monster.” MORRIS punched Moore and struck him with his correction officer baton. Several of the officers then threw Moore to the floor.
After the officers forced Moore to the ground, the defendants beat Moore for several minutes, striking him dozens of times. Defendant SANTIAGO kicked and punched Moore multiple times, and at one point, reared back and kicked Moore in the face, and then laughed. Defendant MORRIS punched and struck Moore with his knee multiple times while Moore was prone on the floor. Moore’s pants fell down during the beating, and COSMAN and LOWERY punched and kicked him in his exposed groin as he lay on the floor. Both SCOTT and SANTIAGO taunted Moore by saying, “Who’s a monster now?” During the beating, dreadlocks were ripped from Moore’s head and SANTIAGO later retrieved the dreadlocks, saying that he wanted to keep them as a souvenir for his motorcycle.
Sergeant SCOTT was present for and watched over the entire beating without stopping the violence. At one point while Moore was on the floor being beaten, SCOTT grabbed him herself. She also directed that Moore be held in place on the ground, rendering him even more exposed to punches and kicks. While Moore was being beaten, he cried out in pain, begged for the beating to stop, and pleaded with Sergeant SCOTT, “Why, Sarge, why? Make it stop.”
After the beating, the correction officers needed to physically lift Moore from the ground, where he was lying in a pool of his own blood. Moore suffered several fractured ribs, several facial fractures, and a collapsed lung, in addition to other injuries. Instead of being sent to the hospital for treatment, Moore was locked into solitary confinement to suffer in pain overnight.
Soon afterward, defendants SANTIAGO, MORRIS, and COSMAN met to fabricate a story to justify the excessive force used against Moore. Although they knew it was not true, SANTIAGO, MORRIS and COSMAN agreed that COSMAN would pretend to have been injured by Moore at the beginning of the incident, in order to justify the excessive force used against Moore. To substantiate that cover story, SANTIAGO struck COSMAN on the back with a baton, causing marks. SCOTT took photographs of the marks to document the group’s cover story. SCOTT, SANTIAGO, MORRIS, LOWERY, and COSMAN also agreed to make false reports supporting the cover story.
Defendants KATHY SCOTT, GEORGE SANTIAGO JR., and CARSON MORRIS were taken into custody today. SCOTT and SANTIAGO will be presented before United States Magistrate Judge Lisa Margaret Smith today in federal court in White Plains, New York. MORRIS was arrested in Coconut Creek, Florida, and was presented today before a federal judge in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.
SCOTT, 42, of Saugerties, New York, SANTIAGO, 34, of Fremont Center, New York, and MORRIS, 31, of Coconut Creek, Florida, are each charged with one count of deprivation of rights under color of law, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison; one count of conspiracy to deprive civil rights, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison; one count of falsifying documents, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison; and one count of conspiring to falsify documents, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison.
The statutory maximum penalties are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencings of the defendants would be determined by the judge.
Mr. Bharara praised the investigative work of the FBI, the Criminal Investigators at the United States Attorney’s Office, the Dutchess County District Attorney’s Office, and the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision’s Office of Special Investigations.
This case is being handled by the Office’s White Plains Division and the Civil Rights Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Daniel P. Filor and Pierre G. Armand are in charge of the prosecution.
The charges contained in the Indictment are merely accusations, and SCOTT, SANTIAGO, and MORRIS are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
[1] As the introductory phrase signifies, the entirety of the text of the Indictment, and the description of the Indictment set forth herein, constitute only allegations, and every fact described should be treated as an allegation.
Federal jury finds Florida man guilty of sexually assaulting Fort Polk officerRead the Press Release
LAKE CHARLES, La. – United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced that a federal jury found a Florida man guilty Tuesday of sexually assaulting a female officer stationed at the Fort Polk Military Base.
Maurice Antuan Speights, 32, of Tallahassee, Fla., was found guilty of one count of sexual abuse. United States District Judge Patricia Minaldi presided over the trial, which started Monday and ended Tuesday with the jury returning the guilty verdict after deliberating for 50 minutes. According to testimony and evidence admitted at trial, the defendant, a civilian, was an acquaintance who was temporarily residing at a relative’s home in Leesville. Speights, the victim and a female friend went out for a night of drinking on October 20, 2013. At trial, the female friend testified about the events of the evening. She stated that the victim was so intoxicated that by the time the three returned to the female friend’s home, the victim passed out. The female friend and Speights had to carry the victim to an upstairs bedroom. An FBI agent testified that during an interview, Speights acknowledged engaging in sexual intercourse with the victim but claimed it was consensual. The victim took the stand during the two-day trial and testified that she had no memory of anything that occurred until she woke up in the middle of the night with the defendant sexually assaulting her.
The case was brought by the U.S. Attorney’s Office because the crime occurred on the Fort Polk Military Base where the United States has exclusive jurisdiction.
Speights faces up to a lifetime in prison, life of supervised release, registration as a sex offender and a $250,000 fine. Sentencing has been set for January 12, 2017.
The U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command and the FBI conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys John Luke Walker and David C. Joseph are prosecuting the case.
Federal inmate sentenced for weapons violation at FCI BeckleyRead the Press Release
BECKLEY, W.Va. – A prison inmate was sentenced today to a year and three months for possession of a weapon, announced United States Attorney Carol Casto. Elliott Tubbs, Jr., 30, previously pleaded guilty in July 2016 to the federal crime. This new sentence will run consecutively to the sentence of five years that Tubbs is serving for being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Tubbs admitted that on February 20, 2016, while serving time as an inmate at the Federal Correctional Institution at Beckley, a staff member at the prison searched him and found a sharpened wooden object in his sock. The object, a handcrafted weapon, is commonly called a “shank.”
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Assistant United States Attorney John File is responsible for the prosecution. United States District Judge Irene C. Berger imposed the sentence.
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Federal Jury Convicts Fort Hall Man of Unlawful Possession of AmmunitionRead the Press Release
POCATELLO - Frank R. Ish, 58, of Fort Hall, Idaho, was convicted yesterday by a federal jury in Pocatello of unlawful possession of ammunition, U.S. Attorney Wendy J. Olson announced. Ish was charged by indictment on January 27, 2015.
According to the evidence presented at trial, on October 15, 2014, Fort Hall Police officers observed a box of 30-06 ammunition in Ish’s vehicle, during an investigation of a disturbance at Ish’s residence. Because Ish had been previously convicted of a felony, he was prohibited from possessing ammunition under federal law.
Sentencing is set for December 14, 2016, before Chief U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill at the federal courthouse in Pocatello. Ish faces up to ten years in prison, a maximum fine of $250,000, and up to three years of supervised release.
The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Fort Hall Tribal Police.
The case was prosecuted as part of Idaho’s Project Safe Neighborhoods Program, which seeks to reduce gun violence in Idaho.
Federal Grand Jury Indicts Baltimore Man for Series of Commercial RobberiesRead the Press Release
Baltimore, Maryland – A federal grand jury charged Sean Hill, age 26, of Baltimore, today to with 11 counts of commercial robbery committed over a three month period. The indictment was returned on September 20, 2016.
The indictment was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Kevin Perkins of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; Commissioner Kevin Davis of the Baltimore Police Department; Chief James W. Johnson of the Baltimore County Police Department; and Chief Gary Gardner of the Howard County Police Department.
According to the 11-count indictment, from November 13, 2015 to January 6, 2016, Hill robbed six check cashing stores, three motels, a shoe store, and a garage. Specifically, the indictment alleges that Hill robbed the following Baltimore stores: Dolfield Money Center on Dolfield Avenue; Ace Cash Express stores on Patapsco, Clifton (twice), and Greenmount Avenues; America’s Cash Express on York Road; Payless Shoe Source on Liberty Road; Motel 6 on Whitehead Court; Gwynns Falls Auto on Gwynns Falls Parkway; and the Knights Inn on Security Boulevard. Hill also allegedly robbed the Holiday Inn on Washington Boulevard in Jessup.
If convicted, Hill faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison on each of the 11 counts. No court appearance has been scheduled for Hill in U.S. District Court in Baltimore. Hill is currently detained on related state charges.
An indictment is not a finding of guilt. An individual charged by indictment is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty at some later criminal proceedings.
United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the FBI, Baltimore City, Baltimore County and Howard County Police Departments for their work in the investigation. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney John W. Sippel, Jr., who is prosecuting the case.
Executive Office for Immigration Review Announces New Chief Immigration JudgeRead the Press Release
FALLS CHURCH, Va. – The Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) today announced Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch’s appointment of MaryBeth Keller to the position of chief immigration judge. In this capacity, Judge Keller is responsible for overseeing the administration of EOIR’s 58 immigration courts across the United States.
“After a very careful selection process, I am pleased to announce EOIR’s next chief immigration judge,” said Director Juan P. Osuna. “Judge Keller’s 28 years of experience at EOIR provide her with an in-depth knowledge of the agency’s history and operations, which will greatly assist her in leading our immigration judge corps during this time of tremendous change, challenge, and opportunity for the Nation’s immigration court system.”
Biographical information follows.
MaryBeth Keller, Chief Immigration Judge
Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch appointed MaryBeth Keller as the chief immigration judge in September 2016. Immediately prior to her current position, and beginning in February 2008, Judge Keller served EOIR as the assistant chief immigration judge (ACIJ) for issues of judge conduct and professionalism. She also supervised courts and served as the agency representative and chief negotiator dealing with the National Association of Immigration Judges employee union. Judge Keller received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1984 from the Catholic University of America and a Juris Doctor in 1987 from the University of Virginia School of Law. From July 2004 to February 2008, Judge Keller served as general counsel at EOIR. During that time, from July 2006 to February 2008, she served as acting ACIJ for Conduct and Professionalism, and from October 2004 to April 2006, she served as acting chief administrative hearing officer. From 1988 to 2004, Judge Keller served as a senior manager and as an attorney at the Board of Immigration Appeals, EOIR. From 1987 to 1988, she served as a judicial law clerk in the 5th Judicial District of Iowa, in Des Moines, Iowa. Judge Keller is a member of the Iowa State Bar.
East Carondelet Man Pleads Guilty to Distribution and Receipt of Child Pornography and Possession of Prepubescent Child PornographyRead the Press Release
Donald S. Boyce, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, announced today that on September 20, 2016, Richard Lee Doerr, III, 29, formerly of East Carondelet, IL, pled guilty to a five-count Superseding Indictment charging him with Distribution of Child Pornography (Count 1), three counts of Receipt of Child Pornography (Counts 2-4), and Possession of Prepubescent Child Pornography (Count 5). On Counts 1-4, Doerr faces a term of imprisonment of not less than five but not more than twenty years, a fine up to $250,000, and a term of supervised release of five years to life. On Count 5, Doerr faces a term of imprisonment of not more than twenty years, a fine up to $250,000, and a term of supervised release of five (5) years to life. Doerr has been detained since his arraignment on February 12, 2016. His sentencing date is January 13, 2017, in East St. Louis, Illinois.
The investigation of Doerr began in December 2013 when the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received a report from Tumbler regarding an individual who had uploaded images that appeared to be child pornography. Law enforcement eventually tracked the e-mail address associated with the Tumbler account to Doerr. In voluntary statements to investigating law enforcement agents, Doerr admitted to downloading, possessing, and sharing child pornography over the internet. A forensic review of Doerr’s cellular telephone and tablet computer revealed numerous images and video files of child pornography.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab "resources."
The case was investigated by the FBI’s Springfield Child Exploitation Task Force. The case is assigned to Assistant United States Attorney Angela Scott.
Dominican Man Pleads Guilty to Illegally Reentering the United States After Having Been Previously DeportedRead the Press Release
CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE –United States Attorney Emily Gray Rice announced today that Filipe Villar-Arias, of the Dominican Republic, has pleaded guilty to reentering the United States after having been deported previously.
Villar-Arias pleaded guilty before United States District Chief Judge Joseph Laplante to an indictment that had been returned by a federal grand jury on July 27, 2016.
According to court filings and statements in court, a New Hampshire State Police Trooper contacted an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Deportation Officer for assistance in identifying the defendant who was suspected of having previously obtained a New Hampshire driver’s license by presenting fraudulent identification and who was attempting to renew that license at the Manchester DMV. Records checks ultimately revealed that the defendant had been deported once previously to the Dominican Republic.
Villar-Arias will be sentenced at 10:00 AM on January 3, 2017, and faces likely deportation after serving his sentence.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Alfred Rubega is prosecuting this case.
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District Man Pleads Guilty to Attacking Woman at Southeast Washington ParkRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON - Tayshawn Sellers, 18, of Washington, D.C., pled guilty today to a charge of assault with intent to kill while armed for attacking a woman earlier this year at a Southeast Washington park, U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips announced.
Sellers pled guilty in the Superior Court for the District of Columbia. The charge carries a statutory maximum of 30 years in prison. Under the court’s voluntary sentencing guidelines, he could face a range of 7 ½ to 15 years in prison; however, the court could impose a sentence outside of that range if it finds a substantial and compelling aggravating or mitigating factor. The Honorable Michael Ryan scheduled sentencing for Nov. 30, 2016.
According to the government’s evidence, on the evening of April 21, 2016, Sellers and his 18-year-old cousin went with the victim to a wooded area behind the baseball field in Benning Park, in the 5100 block of Southern Ave SE. During their encounter with the victim, Sellers and his cousin started to kick, punch, and hit her all over her body. They left her lying naked from the waist down, badly injured, bleeding, and unable to move.
Sellers later returned to the crime scene, where the victim was still lying motionless in the wooded area where he had left her. Sellers repeatedly smashed a glass bottle into the victim’s face as she lay on the ground. When she was found by law enforcement at about 7:30 the next morning, she was naked from the waist down, bleeding, on broken glass. She could not communicate with the officers. She had severe trauma to her head and face, including major swelling and multiple lacerations to her face. She suffered extensive injuries from the defendant’s actions and remains disabled. Sellers was arrested April 22, 2016 and has remained in custody ever since.
In announcing the plea, U.S. Attorney Phillips commended the work of the detectives of the Metropolitan Police Department’s Sexual Assault Unit. He also expressed appreciation to those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Victim/Witness Advocate Lezlie Richardson, Paralegal Specialists Tierra Nanches and Angelina Slagle, and Michael Ambrosino, Special Counsel for DNA and Forensic Evidence Litigation. Finally, he acknowledged the efforts of Assistant U.S. Attorneys Julianne Johnston, Kenya Davis, and Anwar Graves, who are prosecuting the case.
District Court Awards Civil Penalties and Enters Permanent Injunction Against Former Vice President of Texas Debt Collection Company to Stop Deceptive PracticesRead the Press Release
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas entered a stipulated order for permanent injunction and civil penalty judgment against David J. Devany, former vice president of Commercial Recovery Systems Inc. (CRS), of Plano, Texas, to prevent future deceptive and abusive debt collection practices, the Department of Justice announced today.
“Deceptive debt collection practices are an all too common problem,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Benjamin C. Mizer, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “We at the Department of Justice will continue to work with the Federal Trade Commission and others to ensure that these practices stop and that those who engage in them are held accountable.”
CRS is a third-party debt collector that primarily collects auto loan and credit card debts on behalf of creditors. On Jan. 21, 2015, the United States filed a complaint against CRS, its president, Timothy Ford, and its former vice president, Devany. The complaint alleges that, in numerous instances, collectors at CRS called consumers and falsely claimed to be attorneys or judicial employees. According to the complaint, collectors also falsely stated that lawsuits had already been filed against consumers and offered to resolve the fictitious lawsuits “out of court.” They left voicemail messages falsely representing that a failure to return the collector’s call would result in a waiver of rights. The government alleges that, in some instances, collectors told consumers that their wages, taxes and 401(K) plans would be garnished if they did not pay. In reality, CRS had neither the intent nor the authority to file lawsuits against the consumers or attempt to have their wages garnished.
Prompted by numerous consumer complaints of deceptive and abusive debt collection practices, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) launched an investigation. The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas at the request of the FTC and alleges violation of the Federal Trade Commission Act and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. The government sought civil monetary penalties and a permanent injunction to prevent the defendants from further engaging in such violations.
In previous rulings, U.S. District Judge Amos L. Mazzant III for the Eastern District of Texas found that CRS had engaged in numerous, widespread violations of the law and entered a permanent injunction against the company and its president, Ford. U.S. District Judge Mazzant further found Ford liable for civil penalties, to be determined by the court in a later proceeding.
On Sept. 9, the United States and Devany filed a proposed stipulated order for permanent injunction and civil penalty judgment, by which they agreed to resolve the litigation as between those two parties. The stipulated order, entered by the district court, permanently bans Devany from engaging in debt collection and other related activities. It assesses a partially suspended judgment in the amount of $496,000, which approximates Devany’s earnings from 2011 to 2014, during which Devany served as vice-president and numerous violations took place. The stipulated order also assesses an immediate civil penalty payment of $10,000, which is based upon Devany’s current ability to pay. The partial suspension of judgment is to remain in effect as long as Devany abides by the all requirements of the stipulated order.
The government is represented by Trial Attorney Heide L. Herrmann of the Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch, with the assistance of Attorneys Anne D. LeJeune and Reid A. Tepfer of the FTC’s Southwest Region.
A complaint is merely a set of allegations that, if the case were to proceed to trial, the government would need to prove by a preponderance of the evidence.
Denver Man Sentenced to 18 Years in Federal Prison for Illegal Possession of a Firearm and Methamphetamine Distribution CrimesRead the Press Release
DENVER – Dillon James Goff, age 32, of Denver, was sentenced late last week by U.S. District Court Judge Philip A. Brimmer to serve 18 years (216 months) in federal prison for firearms violations and methamphetamine trafficking, Acting U.S. Attorney Bob Troyer and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Special Agent in Charge Ken Croke announced. Following his prison sentence, Goff was ordered to serve 5 years on supervised release. The defendant, who appeared at the sentencing hearing in custody, was remanded at its conclusion.
Goff was first charged by Criminal Complaint on September 18, 2015. He was indicted by a federal grand jury in Denver on October 19, 2015. He pled guilty before Judge Brimmer on June 9, 2016 to possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of actual methamphetamine, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense. He was sentenced on September 16, 2016.
According to court documents, including the stipulated facts contained in the plea agreement, on September 16, 2015, at noon, Denver Police officer Tony Lopez, Jr. conducted a traffic stop of a vehicle being driven by Goff. Officer Lopez noticed Goff acting suspiciously, and then after learning his name, remembered a fellow detective providing information that Goff is known to traffic drugs and carry firearms. After clearing Goff’s name, a warrant for his arrest came up. As a result, the DPD Officer Lopez took Goff into custody. During the search of the defendant, incident-to-arrest, Officer Lopez found $3,953 in cash and a drug ledger in his pockets.
Because of the condition and location of the vehicle, a Denver Police officer ordered that it be impounded. A lawful search of the vehicle then revealed a .380 caliber pistol under the driver’s seat, a black backpack in the rear seat of the car that contained 1,599 grams of 100 percent pure methamphetamine and a 9 mm pistol. A gray backpack was also located, and it contained another 125.5 grams of 97 percent pure methamphetamine, 84.7 grams of heroin, 10 grams of cocaine, and psilocybin mushrooms. Also, officers found a card/ID printer, another $516 in cash and a ballistic vest, all inside the car. In total, the defendant knowingly possessed at least 500 grams of actual methamphetamine with the intent to distribute. Goff, a convicted felon, also knowingly possessed two firearms, both of which were possessed in furtherance of the drug trafficking crime.
Goff has prior felony convictions, including a 2003 conviction in Jefferson County for distribution of a Schedule II controlled substance. In August 2006 his probation on that charge was revoked, and he served six years in the state Department of Corrections. In November 2006 he was charged in Jefferson County with controlled substance special offender deadly weapon and possession with intent to distribute a Schedule II controlled substance. For those crimes he was sentenced to serve 15 years in the state Department of Corrections, although he only served 10 years after completion of state-run “Boot Camp.”
“Thanks to the outstanding police work of Officer Tony Lopez, Jr., and the Denver Police Department in concert with the ATF, an armed drug dealer will spend his next 18 years in federal prison – and there is no possibility of parole this time,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Bob Troyer.
“Denver is cleaner and safer with an established drug dealer like Goff behind bars for the next 18 years,” said ATF Special Agent in Charge Ken Croke. “This sentence illustrates how the valuable partnership between ATF, Denver PD and the U.S. Attorney’s Office can noticeably improve our community.”
This case was investigated by the ATF and the Denver Police Department as part of Denver’s Crime Gun Intelligence Center.
Denver’s Crime Gun Intelligence Center uses cutting-edge technology and a dedicated investigative team to stop shooters and identify their source of crime guns before they can commit further criminal acts. This is a partnership between ATF, Denver Police Department, Aurora Police Department, Lakewood Police Department, the District Attorney’s Offices for Denver, Arapahoe, Adams and Jefferson Counties, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado.
This defendant was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Rebecca Weber and Edwin Garreth Winstead, III.
Denver Gang Member Involved in Car Wash Shooting Sentenced to Federal Prison for Being a Felon in Possession of AmmunitionRead the Press Release
DENVER – Dedric Delaine Mayfield, age 39, of Denver, Colorado, was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Court Judge Lewis T. Babcock to serve 57 months in federal prison for being a felon in possession of ammunition, Acting U.S. Attorney Bob Troyer and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Special Agent in Charge Ken Croke announced. Following his prison sentence, Mayfield was ordered to serve 3 years on supervised release. The defendant, who appeared at the sentencing hearing in custody, was remanded at its conclusion.
Mayfield was indicted by a federal grand jury on January 25, 2016. He pled guilty before Judge Babcock to being a felon in possession of ammunition on June 28, 2016. He was sentenced yesterday, September 20, 2016.
According to court documents, including the stipulated facts contained in the plea agreement, on September 22, 2015, in the middle of the afternoon, the defendant and his friend were at a carwash near 35th and Downing in Denver, Colorado, washing a Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV). The carwash was next to a gas station and a convenience store. A group of rival gang members arrived at the carwash. The defendant observed them and signaled for his friend to leave the carwash bay and join him in the open parking lot. His friend did and, shortly thereafter, gunfire erupted. Mayfield’s friend exchanged gunfire with the rival gang members and was struck. The defendant and his friend returned to the carwash bay and got inside the SUV. The defendant took the gun from his friend and then fired the gun repeatedly from the carwash bay. Shell casings fell on and near the SUV. The firearm was not recovered. The defendant drove his friend to the general area of the Denver Health Medical Center and left him for people passing by to take inside for medical care. The defendant’s friend died, as did one of the rival gang members. Investigators recovered 9mm shell casings from the area of the carwash by where the defendant fired the gun. The defendant, a convicted felon, was not allowed to possess ammunition.
“Our mission is community safety,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Bob Troyer. “People should be able to go to a carwash in the middle of the day without bullets flying past their heads. If you're pulling that trigger you’re going straight to federal prison, it is that simple.”
“Two young men died senselessly that day, but when I think back to that shooting, I only think that Mayfield and the other gang members had zero regard for the lives of the people with them in that busy carwash,” said ATF Special Agent in Charge Ken Croke. “They were far too busy being offended by people who wear the wrong clothes and hang with the wrong people to be concerned with anyone but themselves. Putting these types of violent criminals behind bars goes to the core mission of ATF, and is the reason we will keep fighting against violent crime with our local partners, like Denver Police Department. No one should be scared of getting shot while peacefully living their lives.”
This case was investigated by the ATF and the Denver Police Department as part of Denver’s Crime Gun Intelligence Center.
Denver’s Crime Gun Intelligence Center uses cutting-edge technology and a dedicated investigative team to stop shooters and identify their source of crime guns before they can commit further criminal acts. This is a partnership between ATF, Denver Police Department, Aurora Police Department, Lakewood Police Department, the District Attorney’s Offices for Denver, Arapahoe, Adams and Jefferson Counties, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado.
DEA Announces “360 Degree Strategy” to Address Opiate Epidemic in LouisvilleRead the Press Release
-Program serves as a model for communities struggling to break cycle of drug trafficking, drug abuse and associated violence
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) today announced Louisville’s selection as the fourth city in America to take part in a comprehensive law enforcement and prevention “360 Degree Strategy” to assist cities dealing with the heroin and prescription drug abuse epidemic. Timothy J. Plancon, Special Agent in Charge of the DEA’s Detroit Field Division, and John E. Kuhn, Jr., United States Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky, announced this strategy today. Joining DEA and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the announcement were Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer, Louisville Chief of Police Steve Conrad, and Dr. Toni Ganzel, Dean of the UofL School of Medicine, and representatives from the law enforcement, medical, and substance abuse prevention and treatment communities.
DEA’s Plancon said, “We are striving to find innovative strategies to confront the epidemic of heroin and prescription drug addiction in our society. DEA is collaborating with professionals from law enforcement, drug prevention, drug treatment, and the medical community, to attack this problem from a holistic approach.
“The heroin epidemic, ravaging communities across America, brings with it violence, addiction and death,” stated U.S. Attorney Kuhn. “We must do more, and today we announce new initiatives to improve our community education efforts and to get heroin dealers off our streets.”
The DEA 360 Degree Strategy comprises a three-fold approach to fighting drug traffickers and the current opiate abuse epidemic:
- Enforcement – Actions that target drug trafficking organizations supplying opioids to the neighborhoods of Louisville. These efforts will include a strategy to specifically address those traffickers that supply opioids resulting in fatal and non-fatal overdoses.
- Diversion Control – By engaging drug manufacturers, wholesalers, practitioners and pharmacists to increase awareness of the heroin and prescription drug problem and push for responsible prescribing and use of these medications throughout the medical community.
- Community Outreach – By partnering with medical professionals, governmental and community service organizations to proactively educate the public of the dangers of prescription drug and heroin abuse, and to guide individuals to treatment services when needed.
In November 2015, the 360 program was launched in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, followed by St. Louis, Missouri, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, earlier this year. Louisville represents the fourth city nationally to launch this initiative.
“The community outreach portion of this initiative is critical to long term success in reducing drug use and addiction,” Plancon said. “We have to continuing working to find ways to effectively communicate to our community members the risks and dangers of substance abuse to curb the rates of addiction, overdose and death.”
“UofL is instructing its students in treating patients with realistic goals in mind. We are incorporating guidelines from the CDC on opioid prescription into the curriculum and instructing students in principles that will help them as physicians to limit opioid prescribing, limit opioid overuse and lessen the risk of harm from opioid treatment. These steps will help physicians in dealing with both the epidemic of chronic pain and the epidemic of opioid addiction, abuse and death,” stated Dr. Toni Ganzel, Dean of the UofL School of Medicine.
By bringing together experts in substance abuse and prevention, the DEA 360 Strategy aims, in part, to address the opioid and heroin threat posed to the community by focusing on providing resources and programs designed to educate youth and those most influential to youth including; parents, caregivers, and educators to the harms of drug abuse.
Officials will work to form a “Community Alliance” that will comprise key leaders from law enforcement, prevention, treatment, the judicial system, education, business, government, civic organizations, faith communities, media, and social services, to form the foundation of a long-term group that will help carry the prevention and treatment messages throughout metropolitan Louisville.
In December, DEA, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Kentucky and its partners plan to host a summit to bring community leaders together to look for sustainable, impactful efforts to address drug abuse, addiction, trafficking and the violence that accompanies it.
Plancon stated, “DEA’s 360 Strategy recognizes that we need to utilize every resource possible to reach everyone in our community, and attack the prescription drug and heroin epidemic from all directions.”
Connecticut Man Pleads Guilty to Concealing Income from Undeclared Panamanian Bank AccountRead the Press Release
Defendant to Pay Full Restitution to IRS and Civil Penalty of More Than $850,000
A Weston, Connecticut man, who used a Panamanian bank account to conceal over $1.5 million in income from the sale of duty-free alcohol and tobacco products pleaded guilty today to one count of conspiring to conceal assets and income from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), announced Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Caroline D. Ciraolo, head of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman for the District of New Jersey.
Saul Hyatt, 53, pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Freda L. Wolfson of the District of New Jersey to an Information charging him with conspiracy to conceal assets in an undeclared bank account held in Panama for his benefit. According to documents filed with the court, Hyatt conspired with another individual in the United States and others to conceal his assets and income derived from the sale of duty-free alcohol and tobacco products. To execute the scheme, Hyatt used a registered Panamanian corporation, Centennial Group, to buy and sell the duty-free products. The alcohol shipped through a customs-bonded warehouse in the Foreign Trade Zone in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The tobacco products, Chinese-brand cigarettes sold under the names “Chung Hwa” and “Double Happiness,” passed through a customs-bonded warehouse in North Bergen, New Jersey. From 2006 to 2012, Hyatt directed that $1,627,832 in profits from the sale of duty-free alcohol and tobacco products be wired to his undeclared bank account in Panama. Hyatt repatriated money from the Panamanian bank account to buy a Mercedes Benz SL 550R automobile and to pay for $19,000 in interior design goods and services.
U.S. persons are required to report to the IRS on Schedule B of a U.S. Individual Income Tax Return any financial interest in, or signature authority over, a financial account in a foreign country by checking “Yes” or “No” in the appropriate box and identifying the country where the account was maintained. U.S. persons also must report all income earned from foreign financial accounts and, if the accounts have an aggregate value of more than $10,000 at any time during the calendar year, file with the Department of the Treasury a Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR).
Hyatt failed to report income earned on his Panamanian account, and failed to file an FBAR for the years at issue. Hyatt admitted that this scheme resulted in a tax loss of $521,986.
“The Department continues to vigorously pursue and prosecute those who conceal their assets and income in offshore accounts in an effort to evade paying their fair share of taxes,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Ciraolo. “Nearly eight years after the IRS announced its first offshore voluntary disclosure program, individuals who fail to disclose their interests in foreign accounts and report income earned on these accounts should be well aware that there are significant consequences for this criminal conduct.”
“The Panamanian banking system should not be a haven to hide profits made from United States businesses,” said U.S. Attorney Fishman. “When American taxpayers use foreign bank accounts to hide their assets, we will investigate and prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law.”
“Concealing income and assets offshore is not tax planning,” said Special Agent in Charge Jonathan D. Larsen of IRS-Criminal Investigation, Newark Field Office. “Plain and simple, this is international tax fraud. The facts in this case are clear. Mr. Hyatt earned income through the sale of duty-free alcohol and tobacco products and intentionally had over $1.6 million of profits wired into an undeclared offshore bank account in Panama. Today’s plea shows how determined we are at the IRS and Department of Justice in uncovering this type of international tax fraud and putting a stop to it.”
Judge Wolfson set sentencing for Jan. 6, 2017. Hyatt faces a statutory maximum sentence of five years in prison, as well as a term of supervised release and monetary penalties. Hyatt has agreed to file true and accurate tax returns and to pay the IRS all taxes and penalties owed, in addition to paying an $854,465.50 penalty for failure to disclose his foreign accounts.
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Ciraolo and U.S. Attorney Fishman commended special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation, who conducted the investigation, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Mack and Tax Division Trial Attorney Michael C. Vasiliadis, who are prosecuting the case.
Connecticut Man Admits Conspiring to Conceal Income in Undeclared Panamanian Bank AccountRead the Press Release
Will Pay $1.3 Million in Penalties, Restitution
TRENTON, N.J. – A Weston, Connecticut, man who used a Panamanian bank account to conceal more than $1.5 million in income from the sale of duty-free alcohol and tobacco products pleaded guilty today to one count of conspiring to conceal assets and income from the IRS, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman and Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Caroline D. Ciraolo of the Justice Department’s Tax Division announced.
Saul Hyatt, 53, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Freda L. Wolfson in Trenton federal court to an information charging him with conspiracy to conceal assets in an undeclared bank account held in Panama for his benefit.
“The Panamanian banking system is not a haven to hide profits made from U.S. businesses,” U.S. Attorney Fishman said. “When U.S. taxpayers use foreign bank accounts to hide their assets, we will investigate and prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law.”
“The Department continues to vigorously pursue and prosecute those who conceal their assets and income in offshore accounts in an effort to evade paying their fair share of taxes,” Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Ciraolo said. “Nearly eight years after the IRS announced its first offshore voluntary disclosure program, individuals who fail to disclose their interests in foreign accounts and report income earned on these accounts should be well aware that there are significant consequences for this criminal conduct.”
“Concealing income and assets offshore is not tax planning,” Special Agent in Charge Jonathan D. Larsen of IRS-Criminal Investigation, Newark Field Office, said. “Plain and simple, this is international tax fraud. The facts in this case are clear. Mr. Hyatt earned income through the sale of duty-free alcohol and tobacco products and intentionally had over $1.6 million of profits wired into an undeclared offshore bank account in Panama. Today’s plea shows how determined we are at the IRS and Department of Justice in uncovering this type of international tax fraud and putting a stop to it.”
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
Hyatt conspired with another individual in the United States and others to conceal his assets and income derived from the sale of duty-free alcohol and tobacco products. He used a registered Panamanian corporation, Centennial Group, to buy and sell the duty-free products. The alcohol shipped through a customs-bonded warehouse in the Foreign Trade Zone in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The tobacco products, Chinese-brand cigarettes sold under the names “Chung Hwa” and “Double Happiness,” passed through a customs-bonded warehouse in North Bergen, New Jersey. From 2006 to 2012, Hyatt directed that $1,627,832 in profits from the sale of duty-free alcohol and tobacco products be wired to his undeclared bank account in Panama. Hyatt repatriated money from the Panamanian bank account to buy a Mercedes Benz SL 550R automobile and to pay for $19,000 in interior design goods and services.
Americans are required to report to the IRS on Schedule B of a U.S. Individual Income Tax Return any financial interest in, or signature authority over, a financial account in a foreign country by identifying the country where the account was maintained. They are also required to report all income earned from foreign financial accounts and, if the accounts have an aggregate value of more than $10,000 at any time during the calendar year, file with the Department of the Treasury a Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR).
The count to which Hyatt pleaded guilty carries a maximum potential penalty of five years in prison and a fine of $250,000 or twice his gain from the offense. Because he failed to file an FBAR report, he is obligated to pay $854,466 in penalties for failing to disclose the account and has agreed to file true and accurate tax returns. He must also pay restitution to the IRS of $521,986. Sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 6, 2017.
U.S. Attorney Fishman and Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Ciraolo credited special agents with IRS-Criminal Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in‑Charge Jonathan D. Larsen, with the investigation leading to the guilty plea.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Mack, Deputy Chief of the U.S. Attorney’s Healthcare and Government Fraud Unit, and Trial Attorney Michael C. Vasiliadis of the Department of Justice Tax Division.
Defense counsel: Dennis Kainen Esq.
Cleveland man sentenced for distributing heroinRead the Press Release
WHEELING, WEST VIRGINIA – John Johnson, Jr., 39, of Cleveland, Ohio, was sentenced today to 15 months in prison for distribution of heroin, United States Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld, II, announced.
Johnson distributed heroin in October 2015 in Ohio County, West Virginia. pled guilty in July 2016 to one count of “Distribution of Heroin.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Danaë DeMasi-Lemon prosecuted the case on behalf of the government. The Drug Enforcement Administration and the Ohio Valley Drug and Violent Crime Task Force investigated.
Senior U.S. District Judge Frederick P. Stamp, Jr. presided.
Chicago Man Pleads Guilty to Heroin OffensesRead the Press Release
Lacey Snead, 52, of Chicago, Illinois, pled guilty to distribution of heroin and conspiracy to distribute heroin on September 19, 2016 in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois.
Snead was indicted on December 16, 2015. He was charged with participating in a heroin deal that occurred on March 5, 2013, and he was further charged with conspiracy to distribute more than 100 grams of heroin for an incident occurring on June 18, 2015. Snead was indicted along with two co-defendants, Alfred Vernon Reeves, Jr. and Ciera McNeal, both residents of East St. Louis, Illinois. Reeves, 41, was also charged with distributing heroin on March 5, 2013, and for participating in a conspiracy to distribute more than a kilogram of heroin over a three-year period of time. McNeal, 27, was charged with conspiracy to distribute more than 100 grams of heroin and also for possessing heroin with the intent to distribute on June 18, 2015.
McNeal pled guilty on January 11, 2016, while Reeves pled guilty on May 6, 2016. Reeves faces up to 20 years in prison for distributing heroin, and he faces a minimum sentence of 10 years to life for conspiracy. McNeal and Snead face a minimum of 5 to 40 years in prison. The United States Sentencing Guidelines must be considered by the Court during sentencing. Reeves will be sentenced on October 7, 2016. McNeil will be sentenced on December 9, 2016. It is anticipated that Snead will be sentenced in March of 2017.
The investigation which resulted in Snead’s arrest and conviction was conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Steven D. Weinhoeft.Caney Man Sentenced to 24 Months Probation for Methamphetamine PossessionRead the Press Release
MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, announced that, TIMOTHY DEWAYNE TAYLOR, age 24, of Caney, Oklahoma, was sentenced to 2 years of probation for POSSESSION OF METHAMPHETAMINE, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Section 844(a).
The Indictment alleged that from on or about December 14, 2015, in the Eastern District of Oklahoma, the defendant did knowingly and intentionally possess methamphetamine, a Schedule II controlled substance. The defendant pled guilty in May, 2016.
The charges arose from an investigation by the McAlester Army Ammunition Plant Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The Honorable Kimberly E. West, Magistrate Judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, in Muskogee, presided over the hearing.
Assistant United States Attorney Timothy Hammer represented the United States.
California Man Indicted for MethRead the Press Release
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a California man who tried to pass through Kansas City on a Greyhound bus with more than five pounds of methamphetamine taped to his midsection was indicted by a federal grand jury today.
Felipe Hernandez, 20, of Los Angeles, Calif., was charged with possessing methamphetamine with the intent to distribute in an indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Kansas City, Mo. Today’s indictment replaces a federal criminal complaint that was filed against Hernandez on Sept. 8, 2016. Hernandez remains in federal custody without bond.
According to an affidavit filed in support of the original criminal complaint, officers with the MOWIN (Missouri Western Interdiction and Narcotics) Task Force saw Hernandez get off a Greyhound bus originating from Los Angeles at the Greyhound Bus Terminal located at 1101 Troost Ave., Kansas City, Mo., on Sept. 7, 2016. An officer spoke to Hernandez, whom the affidavit says was nervous, would not make eye contact, was not able to stand still, was looking around and offered only short responses to questions.
Hernandez began walking away through the parking lot but was stopped again by officers, who noticed a bulge in his midsection. Officers searched Hernandez and found two long, flat bundles that were wrapped in duct tape and affixed around his midsection. The bundles allegedly contained a total of 5.4 pounds of methamphetamine.
Hernandez told investigators he was delivering the methamphetamine to Boston.
Dickinson cautioned that the charge contained in this indictment is simply an accusation, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charge must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily A. Orsinger. It was investigated by the MOWIN (Missouri Western Interdiction and Narcotics) Task Force, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Platte County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department and the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department.
Buffalo Man Pleads Guilty to Gun and Drug Charges Involving A HomicideRead 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 Alexander Duarte, 23, of Buffalo, NY, pleaded guilty to discharge of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking and conspiracy to distribute heroin before U.S District Judge Lawrence J. Vilardo. The charge carries a mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years in prison, a maximum of life and a $250,000 fine.
“This case demonstrates yet again the violence frequently associated with the illegal narcotics trade,” said U.S. Attorney Hochul.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Thomas S. Duszkiewicz and Joel L. Violanti, who are handling the case, stated that in June 2012, Duarte, co-defendant Jose L. Ramirez-Merced and others sold heroin on the West Side of Buffalo. On July 15, 2012, the group planned a home invasion robbery targeting the residence of heroin dealer Jose Rivera. However, the defendants and others invaded the wrong residence and stole cocaine and cash.
As a result, Jose Rivera began making threats against individuals in the group and attempted to kill one of the individuals known as L.B. In response, the group decided to murder Rivera. On July 31, 2012, Duarte and Merced obtained two guns and proceeded to a residence on West Avenue in Buffalo where they opened fire, killing Rivera and wounding a female.
Today’s plea is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation Safe Streets Task Force, under the direction Special Agent in Charge Adam S. Cohen and the Buffalo Police Department, under the direction of Commissioner Daniel Derenda. The task force includes representatives of the Amherst Police Department; the Buffalo Police Department; U.S. Border Patrol, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; the Cheektowaga Police Department; the Erie County Sheriff’s Department; the Hamburg Police Department; the Lancaster Police Department; the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority Police; the New York State Department of Correctional Services; the New York State Police; and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations.
Sentencing is scheduled for January 12, 2017 at 10:00 a.m. before Judge Vilardo. Merced was also convicted and is scheduled to be sentenced on November 7, 2016 before U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara.Bloomington Man Sentenced to 33 Years in Prison for Trafficking 12-Year Old and 16-Year-Old Girls for Commercial SexRead the Press Release
United States Attorney for the District of Minnesota Andrew M. Luger today announced the sentencing of LEE ANDREW PAUL, a/k/a “Black,” 36, to 33 years in prison for sex trafficking three victims, two minor girls and one young woman. On March 18, 2015, a superseding indictment charged PAUL with trafficking all three victims. On December 11, 2015, following a five-day trial before U.S. District Judge Ann D. Montgomery, a federal jury convicted PAUL of all charged counts.
“I remain amazed at the courage and fortitude shown by the young victims who stood up to Paul and who took back from him the power he tried to exert over them. Everything about Paul’s conduct belies any notion that he can be trusted to walk the streets ever again. My office is committed to prosecuting human traffickers like Paul and bringing to justice anyone who would exploit and abuse the most vulnerable in our community,” said U.S. Attorney Andrew M. Luger.
“The defendant is a remorseless predator. He is a rapist, an exploiter of women and children, and an unquestionable danger to our society. Every day the defendant is behind bars is a day that our community is safer” said Assistant United States Attorney Melinda A. Williams.
“The buying and selling of children for commercial sex acts is among the most despicable of crimes and Mr. Paul's conviction represents a great victory in taking such criminals off our streets and out of our communities,” said Special Agent in Charge Alex Khu of HSI St. Paul. “HSI has had the honor of working with some of the best law enforcement partners available to see that this criminal spends a long time behind bars.”
As proven at trial, PAUL is a self-proclaimed “pimp.” During Memorial Day weekend of 2013, PAUL sought out a 12-year-old sixth grader to join his sex trafficking “family.” He lured the 12-year-old and a 16-year-old girl to a party at a motel in Rochester, Minn., where he gave them marijuana and alcohol. PAUL announced that he was a pimp and told the young victims they would be working for him. PAUL took the girls to the Twin Cities where they knew no one. PAUL sexually assaulted the 16-year-old victim and brutally raped the 12-year-old.
As proven at trial, while at a motel in Maple Grove, Minn., that same weekend, the 16-year-old victim escaped PAUL and found a police officer and reported what had happened to her. However, PAUL had been tipped off that the 16-year-old victim was trying to find the police and PAUL fled the scene. He then directed another victim, this one 19-years-old, to take the 12-year-old victim to Alexandria, Minn., to “show her the ropes.” The 12-year-old was sold two times that night for sex with men. Law enforcement arrested PAUL on the morning of May 27, 2013, and was in jail pending state charges in Olmsted and Anoka Counties until he made bail on August 26, 2013. PAUL fled in July 2014 on the eve of his Olmsted County trial.
As proven at trial, while on the run, PAUL got rid of his cell phone and shut down his Facebook page to avoid being tracked by law enforcement. He fled first to Chicago, Ill., and then Atlanta, Ga., where he lived under two different assumed identities and used “burner” phones to avoid being tracked by law enforcement. He was arrested on January 14, 2015 by the U.S. Marshals Service and brought back to Minnesota to face federal charges.
This case is the result of an investigation conducted by Homeland Security Investigations, the United States Marshal’s Service, Rochester Police Department, Alexandria Police Department, Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, Anoka County Sheriff’s Office, Pope County Sheriff’s Office, and the Maple Grove Police Department.
This case was prosecuted by U.S. Attorney Andrew M. Luger, Assistant U.S. Attorney Melinda A. Williams, and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Erin Gustafson. The United States Attorney’s Office thanks the Olmsted County Attorney’s Office for its substantial assistance in the prosecution of this case.
Defendant Information:
LEE ANDREW PAUL, a/k/a “Black,” 36
Bloomington, Minn.
Convicted:
- Sex Trafficking of a Minor by Force, Fraud, and Coercion, 2 counts
- Sex Trafficking by Force, Fraud, and Coercion, 1 count
Sentenced:
- 33 years in prison
###
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United States Attorney’s Office, District of Minnesota: (612) 664-5600
Bergen County, New Jersey, Sentenced to 51 Months in Prison for Multimillion-Dollar Investment Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
NEWARK, N.J. – A Bergen County, New Jersey, man was sentenced today to 51 months in prison for conspiring to defraud 15 victims of more than $3 million, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.
Paul Mancuso, 50, of Glen Rock, New Jersey, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge William J. Martini to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Judge Martini imposed the sentence today in Newark federal court.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
On Aug. 21, 2014, a federal grand jury in Newark indicted Mancuso on one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and five counts of wire fraud. It also charged Pasquale Stiso, 55, of West Harrison, New York, with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of wire fraud.
Since 2009, Mancuso posed as a real estate investor, broker and developer, as well as a “hard money” lender for other investments. Stiso, a disbarred New York attorney, held himself out as an individual working with Mancuso on various investment projects.
Mancuso admitted that he and Stiso fraudulently obtained financing for projects that did not exist or in which they had no actual involvement. Some of the purported projects touted by Mancuso, Stiso, and other conspirators included investments in a phony ticket scam, the development of a pizzeria at a resort in the Bahamas, the development of a casino in Atlantic City, the development of a commercial shopping center, and the “flipping” of a piece of real estate in Matawan.
Victims lost all of their investments in Mancuso’s schemes. Instead of funding the purported projects, Mancuso and Stiso used the money for personal expenses and to finance their involvement in illegal gambling.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Martini sentenced Mancuso to three years of supervised release and ordered him to pay restitution of $3,266,250.
Stiso was tried and convicted of all 10 counts of a superseding indictment charging him with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, six substantive counts of wire fraud, and three counts of money laundering following a seven-day trial before U.S. District Judge William J. Martini. He was sentenced in June 2016 to 43 months in prison.
U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Timothy Gallagher; special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Jonathan D. Larsen, and criminal investigators from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the investigation leading to today’s guilty plea.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Francisco J. Navarro and Anthony Mahajan of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Newark.
Defense counsel: Stacy Ann Biancamano Esq., Newark
Beatrice Man Sentenced for Conspiracy to Distribute MethamphetamineRead the Press Release
United States Attorney, Deborah R. Gilg, announced that on September 21, 2016, Creston Lee Christlieb, 30, of Beatrice, was sentenced to 10 years and one month (121 months) in prison for his involvement in a conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of a substance containing methamphetamine between January of 2013 and September of 2015. Information obtained by law enforcement indicated that Christlieb was responsible for the distribution of at least 5 kilograms (11 pounds) of methamphetamine in the Lincoln and Beatrice areas.
Following the prison term, Christlieb will serve five years on supervised release.
This case was investigated by the Lincoln/Lancaster County Drug Task Force.
Auto Parts Industry Executives Indicted for Obstruction of JusticeRead the Press Release
More Than 100 Charged in Wide-Spread Auto Parts Investigation
A federal grand jury in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan returned an indictment charging one current automotive parts industry executive and one former automotive parts industry executive with conspiring to obstruct a federal investigation. The current executive also was charged with attempted obstruction of justice, the Justice Department announced today.
The indictment, filed today in Detroit, charges Futoshi Higashida and Mikio Katsumaru with conspiring to obstruct a federal investigation. Higashida is also charged with attempted obstruction of justice. During the charged conspiracy, Katsumaru was employed by an automotive parts company in Japan, and Higashida worked there and in Novi, Michigan, as president of that company’s U.S. joint venture with another company.
According to the indictment, the defendants, along with their co-conspirators, conspired from at least as early as June 2008 until at least September 2012 to delete emails and electronic records and to destroy documents referring to communications with competitors. In addition, according to the indictment, Higashida instructed another individual on or about September 25, 2012, to ensure that no phone numbers or call records remained on his cellular telephone and that no data remained on his computer that would reflect competitor communications. The charges contained in the indictment are allegations and not evidence of guilt. The defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
“Individuals will not escape prosecution by covering up or destroying evidence of their own or their company’s wrong-doing,” said Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brent Snyder of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. “Obstructing a federal antitrust investigation – criminal or civil – is a serious criminal violation that the Antitrust Division will vigorously pursue.”
“Federal investigations are serious matters, and we will pursue any individuals who are involved in destroying evidence to keep it from the FBI,” said Howard S. Marshall, Special Agent in Charge of the Louisville office of the FBI. “The FBI is committed to aggressively investigating companies and individuals who engage in criminal conduct that corrupts the global marketplace. We will continue our work with the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division to uncover schemes aimed at creating an unfair competitive advantage by way of price fixing, bid rigging or other illegal means."
A total of 65 individuals and 46 companies have been charged in the Antitrust Division’s investigations into the automotive parts industry. This indictment was brought by the Antitrust Division’s Chicago Office and the FBI’s Louisville Field Office, Covington Resident Agency, with the assistance of the FBI’s International Corruption Unit and the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Eastern District of Michigan and the Eastern District of Kentucky. Anyone with information about anticompetitive conduct in the automotive parts industry should contact the Antitrust Division’s Citizen Complaint Center at 888-647-3258, visit www.justice.gov/atr/contact/newcase.html or contact the FBI’s Louisville Field Office at 502-263-6000.
Higashida Indictment
Tuesday 20 September 2016
“Untapped Workforce” Job Fairs Offer Ex-Offenders a Second ChanceRead the Press Release
CEDAR RAPIDS and SIOUX CITY—Two upcoming job fairs will provide individuals with a criminal record the opportunity to meet with employers willing to give them a second chance. The “Untapped Workforce” job fairs, sponsored by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Iowa, are free to attend, and will feature employers from multiple industries. Participating employers include employers in the food industry, retail, manufacturing, public sector, staffing agencies and more.
Nearly one out of every four adults in this country has a criminal record. Because of their criminal record, some of these individuals have a difficult time finding employment, making it hard for them to support themselves and their families. Because employment has been shown to dramatically reduce the likelihood that an individual will commit another crime, employment opportunities for these individuals not only helps them reintegrate into society, but also increases community safety and lowers the prison population. Ex-offenders often possess valuable workforce skills and are routinely cited as some of the most loyal and hard-working employees, when given a second chance.
The job fairs are the second phase of an initiative to decrease recidivism through increased employment. This first phase of the initiative featured three employer workshops that were held in Cedar Rapids, Fort Dodge, and Sioux City in late July. During these workshops, hundreds of employers learned about the benefits of hiring individuals with criminal records, and how to mitigate any associated risks.
United States Attorney Kevin W. Techau addressed the importance of this initiative stating, “The public and private sectors across the country and across Iowa are collaborating to help break the cycle of crime by promoting employment opportunities for those who have served their period of incarceration. The Department of Justice supports successful reentry as an essential part of its mission to promote public safety. Public safety is enhanced when we help individuals return to productive, law-abiding lives. That’s a mission we can all get behind.”
The job fairs will be held on Friday, September 23 at the Hotel at Kirkwood Center in Cedar Rapids, and on Monday, September 26 at the Stoney Creek Hotel and Conference Center in Sioux City. Both job fairs will run from 9:30 a.m. through 12:30 p.m. Job seekers do not need to pre-register. There are a limited number of spaces still available for employers. Interested employers should contact Assistant United States Attorney Justin Lightfoot at 319-363-6333, as soon as possible. There is no charge for employers to reserve a booth at the job fair.
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York Man Is Sentenced to 92 Months in Jail for Drug Trafficking and Firearms OffensesRead the Press Release
HARRISBURG- The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that a York City man was sentenced today by U.S. District Court Judge Yvette Kane in Harrisburg, for selling drugs and possessing weapons in October 2013.
According to United States Attorney Peter Smith, the defendant, Brandon Dawson, age 31, or York, previously was indicted for drug trafficking and weapons offenses arising from an October 23, 2013, search warrant executed by the York City Police Department at Dawson’s Cottage Place apartment. During the search of the apartment, police recovered heroin, marijuana packaged for sale, drug distribution materials, and a stolen Colt .45 semiautomatic pistol. Dawson entered a guilty plea to drug trafficking and possession of a stolen firearm. Dawson was sentenced by Judge Kane to 92 months in prison for his involvement in this offense.
At the time of the crime, Dawson was being supervised by the United States Probation Office for a previous drug trafficking crime. Because he committed this offense while on supervision, Judge Kane imposed additional punishment on Dawson. She sentenced him to an 24 months in jail, which must be served consecutively to his 92-month sentence.
This case was brought as part of the Violent Crime Reduction Partnership (“VCRP”), a districtwide initiative to combat the spread of violent crime in the Middle District of Pennsylvania. Led by the United States Attorney’s Office, the VCRP consists of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies whose mission is to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who commit violent crimes.
This case was also brought as part of a district wide initiative to combat the nationwide epidemic regarding the use and distribution of heroin. Led by the United States Attorney’s Office, the heroin initiative targets heroin traffickers operating in the Middle District of Pennsylvania and is part of a coordinated effort among federal, state and local law enforcement agencies.
The case was investigated by the York City Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Consiglio prosecuted this case.
# # #
Worcester Man Sentenced for Child Pornography ChargesRead the Press Release
BOSTON – A Worcester man pleaded guilty and was sentenced yesterday in U.S. District Court in Worcester on child pornography charges.
Jared Bissell, 24, pleaded guilty to receipt and possession of child pornography. U.S. District Court Judge Timothy S. Hillman sentenced Bissell to five years in prison and five years of supervised release.
On July 28, 2014, law enforcement officers executed a federal search warrant at Bissell’s residence in Worcester. Bissell immediately told law enforcement officers that he knew why they were present and that they would find what they were looking for on a computer in his bedroom. An initial forensic review of the computer revealed hundreds of videos and images containing child pornography, some of which involved children as young as three years old. Bissell also gave authorities a recorded confession during which he admitted to seeking out and downloading child pornography from the internet.
United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Harold H. Shaw, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; Matthew Etre, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston; Colonel Richard D. McKeon, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police; and Worcester Police Chief Steven M. Sargent, made the announcement. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Grady of Ortiz’s Worcester Branch Office.
The case is brought as part of Project Safe Childhood. In 2006, the Department of Justice created Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the DOJ’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
Westchester Neurologist Sentenced to Prison for Tax FraudRead the Press Release
Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that DAVID S. YOUNGER, a neurologist with a private medical practice in Manhattan, was sentenced yesterday in Manhattan federal court to four months in prison for tax fraud in connection with his falsely classifying and deducting, in 2007 and 2008, over $580,000 in personal expenses – including golf and country club dues, property taxes for his home, and the purchase of a Mickey Mantle baseball card – as business expenses attributable to his medical professional corporation. YOUNGER pled guilty on May 19, 2016, before United States District Judge Jed S. Rakoff, who also imposed sentence.
According to the Information and statements made in open court:
YOUNGER, a resident of Westchester County, is a board-certified neurologist engaged in private medical practice in Manhattan through the David S. Younger M.D., P.C. professional corporation (the “Younger P.C.”). In 2007 and 2008, Younger filed both personal tax returns on behalf of himself and his wife, and corporate tax returns on behalf of the Younger P.C. In 2007, YOUNGER used approximately $250,000 of corporate funds to pay personal expenses, and in 2008, YOUNGER used approximately $335,000 of corporate funds to pay personal expenses. YOUGNER caused all of these expenses falsely to be recorded as business expenses such as medical supplies, office expenses, and professional fees in the books and records of the Younger P.C. YOUNGER caused these expenses falsely to be deducted from income on tax returns of the Younger P.C., and YOUNGER also fraudulently omitted these personal expenses as income on his personal tax returns.
Among the personal expenses that YOUNGER falsely categorized as business expenses and deducted on his corporate tax returns in 2007 and 2008 are the following: approximately $100,000 in fees to a private golf and country club, approximately $53,000 in property taxes for YOUGNER’s residence, a $4,300 placement fee for a nanny/housekeeper, approximately $17,000 for the construction of an electric gate at YOUNGER’s residence, $345 for a Mickey Mantle baseball card, approximately $26,000 for the restoration of a piano that was picked up from and delivered to YOUNGER’s residence, approximately $37,000 for a vendor to perform construction work at YOUNGER’s residence, approximately $18,000 for furniture delivered to YOUNGER’s residence, and at least approximately $20,000 of airfare for members of YOUNGER’s family.
* * *
In addition to his prison sentence, YOUNGER, 62, of Scarsdale, New York, was ordered to pay a fine of $25,000 and restitution to the IRS to be determined.
Mr. Bharara praised the work of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation.
This case is being prosecuted by the Office’s Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit. Assistant United States Attorney Richard Cooper is in charge of the prosecution.
West Monroe woman pleads guilty to embezzling money from bankruptcy clientsRead the Press Release
MONROE, La. – United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced that a West Monroe woman pleaded guilty Monday to stealing bankruptcy clients’ Chapter 13 payments.
Jessica M. Millwood, 39, of West Monroe, La., pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Karen L. Hayes to one count of embezzlement against a bankruptcy estate. The plea will become final when accepted by U.S. District Judge S. Maurice Hicks Jr. According to testimony presented during the guilty plea, Millwood worked for a Monroe bankruptcy attorney, Glay H. Collier II, who himself was previously convicted of bankruptcy fraud against his clients. Millwood dealt directly with the clients and took money from debtor-clients. A client filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy in March of 2014 and began paying $1,105 per month to settle debts. Millwood began embezzling the money from the client for her own use in May of 2014 rather than remitting the plan payments to the Chapter 13 trustee. In August of 2014, the client’s case was dismissed for failure to pay. Milwood embezzled funds from approximately 10 debtor-clients during her employment with Glay Collier.
Millwood faces a maximum penalty of up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release, restitution and a $250,000 fine. Sentencing is scheduled for January 26, 2017.
The FBI and the U.S. Trustee’s Office – Region 5 conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Cytheria D. Jernigan is prosecuting the case.
Wabasha Antiques Dealer Sentenced to Pay $100,000 Fine for Smuggling Elephant IvoryRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Andrew M. Luger today announced the sentencing of JAY ANTHONY ANDERSON, 66, for smuggling elephant ivory from the United States in violation of the Lacey Act. ANDERSON, who pleaded guilty on June 6, 2016 to one count of smuggling and one count of violating the Lacey Act, was sentenced on September 20, 2016 before U.S. District Judge Susan R. Nelson in U.S. District Court in St. Paul, Minn.
ANDERSON was the owner and operator of an antique business, located in Wabasha, Minn., as well as a website used to sell items through various online auctions. According to the defendant’s guilty plea and documents filed in court, from January 2011 through May 2013, ANDERSON sold more than $200,000 worth of elephant ivory, domestically and abroad. The defendant used online advertising to target buyers located in Asia and used third-party shippers so that he would not have to personally ship the ivory internationally.
According to the defendant’s guilty plea and documents filed in court, on June 10, 2011, ANDERSON, knowingly attempted to export a carving made from elephant ivory to a buyer located in Foshan City, China for approximately $1,356.00. ANDERSON attempted to export the elephant ivory through the United States Postal Service declaring the object as “RESIN CARVINGS” valued at $30.00, when in fact the defendant knew the object was made from elephant ivory and held a much higher monetary value. On June 23, 2011, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials inspected and intercepted the package at an International Mail Facility in Chicago, Ill.
According to the defendant’s guilty plea and documents filed in court, from January 29, 2012 through December 31, 2012, ANDERSON knowingly violated the laws and regulations of the United States by buying and selling an object made from elephant ivory with a market value of more than $350.00. Specifically, on January 29, 2012, ANDERSON purchased an object made from elephant ivory from an auction house in Montreal, Canada for approximately $300.00. ANDERSON subsequently sold the elephant ivory object for approximately $700.00, describing it as an “18th/19th CENTURY IVORY & EBONY EUROPEAN CRUCIFIX.” At the time the elephant ivory object was purchased and imported, ANDERSON failed to submit a declaration to USFWS, as required by law.
"Dealers in the United States often begin illegally buying and selling rare wildlife after being lured by the prospects of huge profits. They choose to disregard how their greed fuels the black market and how the market affects living populations," said U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Resident Agent in Charge Pat Lund, supervisor for Minnesota, Iowa, and Wisconsin. "We also find that many people think they won’t get caught or if they do, the consequences will be minimal. This sentence should serve as a reminder that this is not always the case," continued Lund.
Under the Lacey Act, it is unlawful to import, export, transport, sell or purchase wildlife, fish or plants that were taken, possessed, transported or sold in violation of a state, federal or foreign law. When it was passed in 1900, the Lacey Act became the first federal law protecting wildlife.
This case is the result of an investigation by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew S. Dunne.
Defendant Information:
JAY ANTHONY ANDERSON, 66
Wabasha, Minn.
Convicted:
- Smuggling, 1 count
- Violation of the Lacey Act, 1 count
Sentenced:
- $100,000 fine payable to the Lacey Act Reward Fund
- Two years’ probation
- Forfeiture of elephant ivory totaling $85,000
- 200 hours community service
###
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United States Attorney’s Office, District of Minnesota: (612) 664-5600
Vinton Man Indicted on Federal Fraud ChargesRead the Press Release
ROANOKE, VIRGINIA – United States Attorney John P. Fishwick Jr. announced today the indictment of a Vinton man on a pair of fraud charge related to this alleged theft of funds from the Social Security Administration.
Robert Wozniak, 48, of Vinton, Va., was indicted under seal last week by a federal grand jury sitting in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Roanoke. That indictment was unsealed this morning when the defendant made his initial court appearance in federal court.
The grand jury has charged Wozniak with one count of theft of government property and one count of social security fraud. The indicted claims that from July 2015 through April 2016 the defendant stole Social Security Administration funds, namely retirement benefit payments, intended for Wozniak’s deceased grandmother, for which he was not entitled. The indictment specifically claims that Wozniak intentionally concealed his grandmother’s death in order to continue to receive and spend the retirement benefit payments made by the Social Security Admiration to his grandmother.
The investigation of the case was conducted by the Department of Health and Human Services, the Social Security Administration and the Bedford County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant United States Attorney Charlene R. Day will prosecute the case for the United States.
A Grand Jury Indictment is only a charge and not evidence of guilt. The defendant is entitled to a fair trial with the burden on the government to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
U.S. Attorney’s Office shares with students the dangers of heroin and opioidsRead the Press Release
SHREVEPORT, La. — United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced that her office is observing National Heroin and Opioid Awareness Week by bringing the discussion to Shreveport and surrounding high schools.
Today’s program at Northwood High School in Shreveport kicks off similar events that begin this week and will continue throughout the year. Students at schools in the Western District of Louisiana will view the FBI and DEA documentary “Chasing the Dragon: The Life of an Opiate Addict.” There will be a discussion of the film followed by presentations from an Assistant U.S. Attorney, U.S. Attorney’s Office staff, members of law enforcement, counselors and others. A discussion guide will also be made available to classroom teachers for use after the events.
“I want to thank the Caddo Parish School Board, Superintendent Theodis Lamar Goree and Northwood High School Principal Darlene Simons for hosting the first of these presentations,” Finley stated. “Our goal is to have many more of these programs at local schools and expand them to university and technical college campuses. Addiction to these substances affects all of us on some level, young and old. We want to do everything we can to make sure that the young people of this District are aware of the dangers and pitfalls so that they can have great futures.”
The White House, Department of Justice and U.S. Attorney’s Offices have joined with law enforcement, schools and other public and private agencies to observe National Heroin and Opioid Awareness Week. It provides the chance to educate the public about the dangers of heroin and opioid abuse, as well as how they can help stop the epidemic that is killing so many of children, friends and neighbors. Many people are not aware how pervasive opioids have become and do not know how rapidly the opioid threat is evolving.
The prescription opioid and heroin epidemic has taken a toll on many Americans and their families, while straining resources of law enforcement and treatment programs. More Americans now die every year from drug overdoses than they do in motor vehicle crashes—and most of those involve prescription opioids or heroin. More than 27,000 lives were lost in 2014 to heroin and opioids, and reports from the field indicate that this number has increased in 2015 and this year. The largest share of this toll comes from the abuse of prescription opioids, but the number of deaths from heroin has increased dramatically over the last several years. Particularly disturbing is the recent rise of deaths caused by fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that is estimated to be 80 times the potency of morphine.
More information is available at www.fbi.gov/ChasingTheDragon.
U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida Supports National Heroin and Opioid Awareness WeekRead the Press Release
Tampa, FL - Attorney General Loretta Lynch has designated the week of September 19, 2016, as National Heroin and Opioid Awareness Week. Accordingly, a large number of U.S. Attorney’s offices, including the Middle District of Florida (MDFL), are joining with law enforcement to engage local community stakeholders, and collaborate with public health professionals to help combat this growing epidemic.
This week, the USAO/MDFL will participate in panel discussions on opioid addiction problems in Florida and the law enforcement and prosecutorial efforts to combat the crisis. Each forum will include a viewing of Chasing the Dragon: The Life of an Opiate Addict, a collaboratively produced documentary by the FBI and DEA to help educate students and young adults about the dangers of opioid addiction. The 45-minute film, whose title refers to the never-ending pursuit of the original or ultimate high, features stark first-person accounts, as told by individuals who have abused opioids or whose children have abused the drugs, with tragic consequences.
The video, Chasing the Dragon: The Life of an Opiate Addict, can be found on either the FBI or DEA websites using the following links:
https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/raising-awareness-of-opioid-addiction or
https://www.dea.gov/media/chasing-dragon.shtml.
The rise of heroin use and the abuse of prescription opioids in the United States is currently a huge challenge to public health and safety. It threatens our communities, families, and children. The Department of Justice has compiled additional resources to assist in combatting the heroin, fentanyl, and prescription drug problems in the United States. They can be found at: https://www.justice.gov/opioidawareness.
U.S. Attorney Charges Property Manager for Stealing from Condominium AssociationsRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – Federal prosecutors on Monday charged a Birmingham woman with stealing more than $350,000 from homeowner associations, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance and FBI Special Agent in Charge Roger C. Stanton.
In a one-count information filed in U.S. District Court, the U.S. Attorney’s Office charged JILL ROUSE BOOTHBY, 42, with one count of wire fraud. The U.S. Attorney’s Office also filed a plea agreement with Boothby. According to the agreement, Boothby will plead guilty to the charge and pay restitution in the amount of $375,750.
According to the information, Boothby was employed as a property manager at Boothby Realty from 2008 through January 2015. Boothby Realty is a real estate and property management company located in Birmingham. Boothby also owned and operated an interior design business called Jill Boothby Designs. The design company is a separate and independent company from Boothby Realty and is run solely by Boothby.
As a property manager at Boothby Realty, Boothby was personally responsible for the management of 11 condominium associations within the Birmingham metropolitan area. Boothby attended homeowner association meetings, assisted with the use and accounting of the homeowner association funds, coordinated maintenance services at the properties, helped bid contracts for maintenance and improvements to the properties, and assisted the associations with budgeting. As expenses were incurred by the various associations, Boothby would advise Boothby Realty’s accounting personnel of the invoices and expenses to be paid from the homeowner associations’ funds.
The government’s plea agreement with Boothby states that, beginning in late 2012 and continuing to about January 2015, Boothby created false and fraudulent invoices for goods and services in the name of her company, Jill Boothby Designs, and submitted the various invoices to the 11 condominium associations that she managed. The Jill Boothby Designs invoices contained descriptions of items billed to the various associations, however, neither Boothby nor her design company actually purchased the items. Boothby submitted the fraudulent invoices to her employer, Boothby Realty, with a copy to the homeowner associations for payment out of the homeowner associations’ funds. The realty company paid the fraudulent invoices to Boothby out of the associations’ funds. To further conceal the fraud, Boothby altered the monthly financial statements that were submitted to Boothby Realty to be mailed or emailed to the associations.
The maximum punishment for wire fraud is 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
The FBI investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Robin Beardsley Mark is prosecuting.
Two Tennessee Women Plead Guilty to Tax Return Preparation FraudRead the Press Release
A Nashville, Tennessee, resident and a LaVergne, Tennessee, resident pleaded guilty in separate cases this week to assisting in the preparation of false tax returns, announced Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Caroline D. Ciraolo, head of the Justice Department’s Tax Division, and U.S. Attorney David Rivera for the Middle District of Tennessee.
According to documents filed with the court, Tracey Brown, 48, of Nashville, operated a tax return preparation business, Total Tax Services, from her residence. Brown admitted that from at least January 2006 through December 2010, she routinely filed false tax returns on behalf of her clients in order to increase their refunds, without her clients’ knowledge or permission. She further admitted that on these false returns she claimed a variety of false items, such as false medical expenses, charitable contributions and business losses, with an intended tax loss of approximately $443,605.
According to court documents, Michelle Theus, 42, of LaVergne, was a tax return preparer operating under the name Cole Tax Services in LaVergne. Theus admitted that from 2009 through 2012 she filed false tax returns on behalf of her clients for the 2008 through 2011 tax years. Unbeknownst to her clients, Theus routinely reported false items on the tax returns she prepared, such as false dependents and false education and childcare credits, in order to increase her clients’ refunds. Theus further admitted that often she would prepare and provide the client with an accurate return and then prepare and file a false tax return in the client’s name that claimed an inflated refund. In most cases, Theus directed the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to split the fraudulently-inflated refunds into separate bank accounts, having the portion expected by the client deposited into the clients’ bank accounts and having the inflated portion of the refund deposited into one of her or her family members’ accounts. Theus took steps to conceal her wrongdoing from the IRS and her clients by not signing the tax returns she prepared, which gave the IRS the impression that the clients prepared the tax returns themselves and by listing her and her family members’ addresses on the tax returns to divert correspondence from the IRS away from the clients. Theus admitted that she prepared approximately 206 tax returns for her clients and that the intended tax loss for these returns is approximately $450,959.
In addition to preparing false tax returns for her clients, Theus admitted that she prepared and filed false 2009 and 2010 income tax returns for herself that substantially underreported the income she earned from her tax preparation business. Theus failed to report more than $95,000 in income for 2009 and 2010, which resulted in additional tax loss of $37,275.
Brown is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 21 and Theus is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 11, 2017. They each face a statutory maximum sentence of three years in prison, as well as a term of supervised release and monetary penalties.
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Ciraolo and U.S. Attorney Rivera commended special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation, who conducted the investigations and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Tom Jaworski and S. Carran Daughtrey and Trial Attorneys Alexander Effendi and Nathan Brooks of the Tax Division, who are prosecuting these cases.
Additional information about the Tax Division and its enforcement efforts may be found on the division’s website.
Two Tennessee Women Plead Guilty to Tax Return Preparation FraudRead the Press Release
A Nashville, Tennessee resident and a LaVergne, Tennessee resident pleaded guilty in separate cases this week to assisting in the preparation of false tax returns, announced U.S. Attorney David Rivera for the Middle District of Tennessee and Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Caroline D. Ciraolo, head of the Justice Department’s Tax Division.
According to documents filed with the court, Tracey Brown, 48, of Nashville, operated a tax return preparation business, Total Tax Services, from her residence. Brown admitted that from at least January 2006 through December 2010, she routinely filed false tax returns on behalf of her clients in order to increase their refunds, without her clients’ knowledge or permission. She further admitted that on these false returns she claimed a variety of false items, such as false medical expenses, charitable contributions and business losses, with an intended tax loss of approximately $443,605.
According to court documents, Michelle Theus, 42, of LaVergne, was a tax return preparer operating under the name Cole Tax Services in LaVergne. Theus admitted that from 2009 through 2012 she filed false tax returns on behalf of her clients for the 2008 through 2011 tax years. Unbeknownst to her clients, Theus routinely reported false items on the tax returns she prepared, such as false dependents and false education and childcare credits, in order to increase her clients’ refunds. Theus further admitted that often she would prepare and provide the client with an accurate return and then prepare and file a false tax return in the client’s name that claimed an inflated refund. In most cases, Theus directed the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to split the fraudulently-inflated refunds into separate bank accounts, having the portion expected by the client deposited into the clients’ bank accounts and having the inflated portion of the refund deposited into one of her or her family members’ accounts. Theus took steps to conceal her wrongdoing from the IRS and her clients by not signing the tax returns she prepared, which gave the IRS the impression that the clients prepared the tax returns themselves and by listing her and her family members’ addresses on the tax returns to divert correspondence from the IRS away from the clients. Theus admitted that she prepared approximately 206 tax returns for her clients and that the intended tax loss for these returns is approximately $450,959.
In addition to preparing false tax returns for her clients, Theus admitted that she prepared and filed false 2009 and 2010 income tax returns for herself that substantially underreported the income she earned from her tax preparation business. Theus failed to report more than $95,000 in income for 2009 and 2010, which resulted in additional tax loss of $37,275.
Brown is scheduled to be sentenced on December 21, 2016 and Theus is scheduled to be sentenced on January 11, 2017. They each face a statutory maximum sentence of three years in prison, as well as a term of supervised release and monetary penalties.
U.S. Attorney Rivera and Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Ciraolo commended special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation, who conducted the investigations and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Tom Jaworski and S. Carran Daughtrey and Trial Attorneys Alexander Effendi and Nathan Brooks of the Tax Division, who are prosecuting these cases.
Two Co-Conspirators Sentenced for Roles in Tax Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
Memphis, TN – Two Memphians have been sentenced for their roles in a tax fraud scheme that defrauded the government of more than $100,000. Edward L. Stanton III, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee; Tracey D. Montaño, Special Agent in Charge of IRS-Criminal Investigation; and Tom Noyes, Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service – Charlotte Division announced the sentences today.
According to information presented in court, Kevin Travell Gray, 45, and Mary Payne Curtis, 54; both of Memphis, Tennessee; prepared fraudulent income tax returns between 2011 and 2015.
During the tax scheme, Curtis operated "Right Now Taxes," a tax preparation company in Memphis. Curtis conspired with Gray to use the company to prepare fraudulent income tax returns. The tax returns included false home-based business expenses, education credits and other material misrepresentations on clients’ tax returns. The fraudulent information was used to boost tax refund amounts.
As a result of the fraudulent returns prepared, the IRS approved numerous fraudulent refunds. The investigation revealed that more than $100,000 of false claims were filed during the scheme.
In May 2016, Gray and Curtis both pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge John T. Fowlkes Jr. to one count of willfully assisting in the preparation of fraudulent income tax returns.
In August 2016, Judge Fowlkes sentenced Curtis to nine months of home detention and ordered her to pay $105,555 in restitution.
On Tuesday, September 20th, U.S. District Court Judge Sheryl H. Lipman sentenced Gray to 33 months in federal prison and ordered him to pay $151,552 in restitution.
This case was investigated by IRS-Criminal Investigation and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Hall prosecuted this case on the government’s behalf.
Tufts Medical Center & Local Pharmacy Chain Settle Alleged Violations of Controlled Substances Act During National Prescription Opioid Awareness WeekRead the Press Release
BOSTON – In concurrence with National Prescription Opioid and Heroin Epidemic Awareness Week, the U.S. Attorney’s Office has reached separate civil settlements with Tufts Medical Center and Eaton Apothecary to resolve allegations of violations of the Controlled Substances Act.
Today, the U.S. Attorney’s Office reached a $100,000 civil settlement with Tufts Medical Center in connection with the hospital’s negligent recordkeeping of its controlled substances.
“We are committed to using all the tools at our disposal to combat the opioid crisis in Massachusetts,” said United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz. “Tufts Medical Center’s willingness to work with the DEA to strengthen controlled substances recordkeeping and security has brought this investigation to a successful conclusion.”
“DEA registrants are responsible for handling controlled substances and ensuring that complete and accurate records are being properly kept and accounted for in compliance with the Controlled Substances Act. When these responsibilities are not adhered to, it allows for the diversion of prescription pain medication, which contributes to the widespread abuse of opiates, is the gateway to heroin addiction, and is devastating our communities,” said Special Agent in Charge Michael J. Ferguson. “In response to the ongoing opioid epidemic, DEA’s obligation is to improve public safety and public health, and we are committed to working with our law enforcement and regulatory partners to ensure that these rules and regulations are followed.”
According to the settlement agreement, the hospital failed to maintain accurate inventories of controlled substances and associated records, to keep tight control of prescription pads, and to make required reports to the DEA about thefts or significant losses of controlled substances associated with three former nurses. Tufts Medical Center agreed to pay $100,000 to settle these claims and to permit the DEA to perform administrative inspections of the hospital for the next three years without a warrant.
Upon learning of the violations of the Controlled Substances Act at the hospital, Tufts Medical Center cooperated fully with the federal investigation. It also initiated the implementation of new recordkeeping procedures and security measures, including the installation of cameras and lockboxes, to ensure compliance with regulations and to avoid diversion of controlled substances from medical offices.
On September 2, 2016, the U.S. Attorney’s Office reached a $100,000 civil settlement with Eaton Apothecary in connection with its improper distribution of addictive narcotics.
“Controlled substances that are handled by pharmacies are subject to strict requirements because of their potential for harm and abuse, which fuels the opioid epidemic,” stated U.S. Attorney Ortiz. “For the sake of patient safety, and to ensure that medications are not stolen or sold on the street, we will continue to monitor pharmacies to ensure that they comply with all legal requirements related to the handling, dispensing, and recordkeeping of controlled substances.”
“Pharmacies put patients at risk when they dispense Schedule II narcotics, which have a high potential for abuse and are extremely addictive, without a valid prescription from a physician,” said DEA SAC Ferguson. “This settlement demonstrates DEA’s pledge to work with our law enforcement and regulatory partners in Massachusetts to ensure that these rules and regulations are followed.”
Eaton Apothecary operates 13 retail pharmacies in eastern Massachusetts. According to the settlement, from January 2012 to January 2016, Eaton Apothecary in Canton dispensed Schedule II medications without a signed prescription on more than 2,000 occasions to Boston-area nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and adult day care centers. On each occasion, the pharmacy received a faxed request from a facility operated by Upham’s Elder Service Plan/PACE, and delivered the drugs to the facility. Then the pharmacy prepared and printed a computer-generated prescription for each order and delivered the printed prescriptions in bulk to Upham’s Medical Director, who signed them after the drugs had already been dispensed. In addition, on two occasions, the pharmacy accepted partly opened blister packs containing unused controlled substances, in violation of DEA regulations. DEA regulations allow unused controlled substances to be returned to a pharmacy only in tamper-proof envelopes that the pharmacy accepts by mail and destroys without opening, or through a locked collection receptacle located in the pharmacy.
These matters were brought as part of the federal response to the growing opioid abuse epidemic in Massachusetts and other New England states. The addictive quality of opioids has contributed to a recent surge in the theft, sale, distribution and misuse of prescription pain medication. As a result, federal, state and local law enforcement and public health authorities are collaborating to support safe prescribing and dispensing of opioid medications.
For more information on National Prescription Opioid and Heroin Epidemic Awareness Week, visit the Department of Justice’s website.
U.S. Attorney Ortiz and DEA SAC Ferguson made the announcements today. The Tufts Medical Center case was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kriss Basil and Jessica Driscoll, and the Eaton Apothecary case was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine Wichers, of Ortiz’s Civil Division.
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Three Cape Cod Men Plead Guilty to Heroin Trafficking and Firearms ChargesRead the Press Release
BOSTON – Three Cape Cod men have pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Boston in connection with trafficking heroin and conspiring to possess a firearm in furtherance of heroin trafficking.
Sean Pratt, 28, of Marstons Mills, pleaded guilty on Friday, Sept. 16, 2016 to conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute 100 grams or more of heroin and possession of heroin with the intent to distribute. U.S. District Court Chief Judge Patti B. Saris scheduled sentencing for Dec. 16, 2016. Benjamin Roderick, 20, of Hyannis, pleaded guilty yesterday to conspiracy to possess a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking. Judge Saris scheduled sentencing for Jan. 10, 2017.
In October 2015, law enforcement initiated an effort to address the rising opiate epidemic in Massachusetts and on Cape Cod in particular. As alleged in a criminal complaint, Denzel Chisholm, Christopher Wilkins and other co-conspirators are responsible for a significant quantity of the heroin that has been distributed on Cape Cod. Pratt purchased large quantities of heroin from Chisholm and sold it to other distributors. During a search of Pratt’s home, law enforcement officers recovered heroin and a firearm. Roderick regularly purchased heroin from Wilkins for distribution and personal use. On March 7, 2016, Roderick attempted to trade Wilkins a firearm for 10 grams of heroin, however, Roderick was arrested prior to exchanging the gun with Wilkins.
Richard Serriello, 30, of West Dennis, pleaded guilty on Friday, Sept. 16, 2016 to possession of heroin with the intent to distribute. U.S. District Court Senior Judge Mark L. Wolf scheduled sentencing for Dec. 20, 2016.
On May 21, 2015, law enforcement officers recovered approximately 400 grams of heroin from Serriello that he had stowed in his motorcycle. Earlier that day, investigators observed Serreillo engage in a drug transaction. When police attempted to stop Serriello, he took off on his motorcycle, swerved into oncoming traffic and evaded law enforcement. Later that day, Serriello’s motorcycle was found in parked in Dennis and the concealed heroin was discovered.
Chisholm and Wilkins have pleaded not guilty to the charges against them.
The charge of conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute 100 grams or more of heroin provides for a mandatory minimum sentence of five years and no greater than 40 years in prison, a minimum of four years and up to a lifetime of supervised release, and a fine of $5 million. The charge of conspiracy to possess a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking provides for a sentence of no greater than 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. The charge of possession of heroin with the intent to distribute provides for a sentence of no greater than 20 years in prison, a minimum of three years and up to a lifetime of supervised release and a fine of $1 million. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Mickey D. Leadingham, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, Boston Field Division; Michael J. Ferguson, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Boston Field Division; Cape and Islands District Attorney Michael O’Keefe; and Barnstable Police Chief Paul MacDonald, made the announcement today. These cases are being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric S. Rosen of Ortiz’s Narcotics and Money Laundering Unit.
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Three Bakersfield Residents Charged in a Scheme to Defraud Bakersfield Pipe & Supply Inc.Read the Press Release
FRESNO, Calif. — Bakersfield residents Lynnsi Marguerite Dunbar, 29; and Daniel Harte, 50, were arrested today after a federal grand jury returned a multicount indictment, charging them with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and other charges related to a scheme to defraud Bakersfield Pipe and Supply Inc., (BPS), Acting United States Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced. Lynnsi Dunbar’s husband Kye Aaron Dunbar, 30; is also charged in the scheme, and is already in custody on an unrelated charge.
According to court documents, between March 17, 2014, and October 22, 2014, the three defendants conspired together to defraud BPS, which is headquartered in Bakersfield, by creating false invoices for payment. Lynnsi Dunbar was an employee of BPS who, with the help of Kye Dunbar and Harte, created a fictitious trucking company in the name of Harte Trucking. Harte Trucking existed in name only and was created by the defendants for the sole purpose of submitting fraudulent invoices to BPS for payment for services never performed. As a result of this conspiracy, the defendants were able to defraud BPS out of $287,000.
This case is the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Brian K. Delaney is prosecuting the case.
If convicted, defendants face a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Any sentence, however, would be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables. The charges are only allegations; the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Suspended DeKalb Doctor Pleads Guilty to Illegally Dispensing Prescription Drugs and Income Tax FraudRead the Press Release
ROCKFORD - A suspended DeKalb, Ill. doctor pleaded guilty today in federal court before U.S. District Judge Frederick J. Kapala to illegally dispensing controlled substances and federal income tax fraud, and his wife pleaded guilty to income tax fraud.
According to the plea agreements, RICHARD H. NG, 64, owned and operated the Sauk Medical Clinic’s DeKalb and Sterling, Illinois locations. LEE LEE FOONG, 57, also known as “Audrey,” was married to Ng and was the office manager for the Sauk Medical Clinic. Every patient at Sauk Medical Clinic received a prescription for a scheduled controlled substance. Ng accepted only cash, credit cards, or checks for Sauk Medical Clinic patient visits and required 100% payment for the visit prior to the patient receiving a prescription. Ng admitted in his plea agreement that he dispensed controlled substances, such as Hydrocodone, Oxycodone, and Morphine Sulphate, outside the course of professional practice and without a legitimate medical purpose. Ng also admitted that he was aware of obvious “red flags” that his patients were abusing or misusing the controlled substances.
Ng admitted that between December 10, 2010 and February 7, 2011, he dispensed outside the course of professional practice and without a legitimate medical purpose three prescriptions for Hydrocodone to an undercover federal agent. Ng also dispensed outside the course of professional practice and without a legitimate medical purpose six prescriptions for controlled substances to two additional undercover federal agents. Ng did so after performing a minimal examination and learning from both undercover agents that they were sharing their pills with others.
According to the plea agreements, Ng and Foong filed a false federal individual tax return for 2011, which failed to report a total of $284,890 in cash received from Sauk Medical Clinic and rental receipts. Ng and Foong admitted that the unreported income would have resulted in additional federal income tax due of $92,646.10.
Ng faces a maximum sentence of 13 years’ imprisonment, a term of supervised release up to life following imprisonment, and a fine of up to $1.1 million. Sentencing for Ng is set for December 19, 2016, at 9:30 a.m. before U.S. District Judge Frederick J. Kapala.
Foong faces a maximum sentence of 3 years’ imprisonment, a term of supervised release up to one year, and a fine of up to $100,000. Sentencing for Foong is set for December 20, 2016, at 2:30 p.m. before U.S. District Judge Frederick J. Kapala.
The guilty plea was announced by Zachary T. Fardon, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Dennis A. Wichern, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration; and James D. Robnett, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation Division. The Sterling, Ill. Police Department assisted in the investigation.
The government is being represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott R. Paccagnini.
Stockton Man Arrested, Charged with Unemployment FraudRead the Press Release
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Herbert Alexander, 69, was arrested today at his Stockton residence after a federal grand jury returned a four-count indictment, charging him with unemployment fraud, Acting United States Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.
According to court documents, Alexander operated a “fictitious employer” scheme by creating a fictitious employer with the California Employment Development Department (EDD) that did not conduct any business. Alexander then caused the submission of information to the EDD falsely indicating that various persons were employed by the fictitious employer. Alexander subsequently filed unemployment claims in the names of the fake employees.
This case is the product of an investigation by the United States Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the California Employment Development Department, Investigations Division. Assistant United States Attorney Jared C. Dolan is prosecuting the case.
This is the second indictment returned as a result of the investigation. On December 30, 2015, Deborah Hollimon of Stockton and West Memphis, Arkansas, was charged with unemployment fraud and identity theft. Hollimon is currently a fugitive. Anyone with information on her whereabouts should call (415) 625-2685.
If convicted, Alexander faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Any sentence, however, would be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables. The charges are only allegations; the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
St. Croix Man Pleads Guilty to Possession of Cocaine with Intent to DistributeRead the Press Release
St. Croix, USVI – Daniel Santiago-Colon, 46, of St. Croix, Virgin Islands, pleaded guilty on September 19, 2016, in federal court on St. Croix to possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, United States Attorney Ronald W. Sharpe announced.
On November 13, 2015, Santiago-Colon and other co-defendants, who were on a boat, retrieved a load of cocaine mid-sea from another boat. They transported the drugs to St. Croix and offloaded them at a beach called Knight’s Bay. Law enforcement tracked the boat to St. Croix and apprehended three co-defendants on the beach in close proximity to suitcases, containing 87 kilograms of cocaine. Two of the three co-defendants, Gamalier Rohlsen-Arizmendi and Alejandro Marva-Romero have entered guilty pleas. The third co-defendant is awaiting a trial scheduled for October 31, 2016.
Santiago-Colon faces up to life imprisonment for the offense and a fine of up to $10,000,000. A sentencing date has been set for January 18, 2017.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Alphonso Andrews, Jr.
St. Croix Correction Officer Pleads Guilty to Providing Contraband in Prison and Conflict of Interest ChargesRead the Press Release
St. Croix, USVI – Abdul Robinson, 39, of St. Croix, Virgin Islands, pleaded guilty today in federal court on St. Croix to providing contraband in prison and conflict of interest charges, United States Attorney Ronald W. Sharpe announced.
On April 5, 2013, Robinson, then a correction officer at the Golden Grove Adult Correctional Facility, received a cellular telephone along with $100 from an undercover agent and agreed to deliver the telephone to an inmate housed at the facility. He delivered the telephone to the inmate who, unbeknownst to Robinson, was working as a government informant. It was contrary to Robinson’s duty to allow an inmate to possess contraband such as a cellular telephone or to deliver contraband to inmates.
Robinson faces up to one year of imprisonment and a fine of up to $100,000 for the offense of providing contraband in prison. He also faces a mandatory minimum period of imprisonment of one year up to a maximum of five years plus a fine of up to $5,000 for the conflict of interest offense. A sentencing date has been set for January 19, 2017.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Alphonso Andrews, Jr.
St. Croix Correction Officer Pleads Guilty to Attempted Possession of a Controlled SubstanceRead the Press Release
St. Croix, USVI – Kalomi Kambui, 40, of St. Croix, Virgin Islands, pleaded guilty today in federal court on St. Croix to attempted possession of a controlled substance, United States Attorney Ronald W. Sharpe announced.
On June 12, 2013, Kambui, then a correction officer at the Golden Grove Adult Correctional Facility, received what she believed to be ecstasy pills from an undercover agent, along with payment, for the purpose of delivering it to an inmate housed at the facility. Ecstasy is a street name for the controlled substance methamphetamine. The substance was not ecstasy, however, and Kambui did not make the delivery but was arrested.
Kambui faces up to five years’ imprisonment for the offense and a fine of up to $250,000. A sentencing date has been set for January 19, 2017.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Alphonso Andrews, Jr.