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Wednesday 11 May 2016
Little Eagle Man Sentenced for Assault with a Dangerous WeaponRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Randolph J. Seiler announced that a Little Eagle, South Dakota, man convicted of Assault with a Dangerous Weapon was sentenced on May 9, 2016, by U.S. District Judge Charles B. Kornmann.
Dace Bobtail Bear, a/k/a Dace Little Dog, age 19, was sentenced to 28 months in custody, followed by 3 years of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.
Bobtail Bear was indicted by a federal grand jury on December 8, 2015. He pled guilty on February 17, 2016.
The conviction stemmed from an incident on October 11, 2015, when during the early morning hours, Bobtail Bear was arguing with some people at a home in Little Eagle. He knocked a woman to the ground, causing her to call for help. The victim came out from a bedroom in the home to assist the woman. Bobtail Bear began to assault the victim, knocking him to the ground, jumping on top of him, and repeatedly striking him. Others in the home unsuccessfully attempted to get Bobtail Bear to stop. During the assault, Bobtail Bear grabbed a steak knife and stabbed the victim multiple times.
Bobtail Bear admitted to the officers the next day that he did, in fact, stab the victim and that he was not acting in self-defense. As a result of the assault, the victim was treated at Mobridge Regional Hospital. He suffered a collapsed lung and was required to have a chest tube inserted.
This case was investigated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Standing Rock Agency. Assistant U.S. Attorney Troy R. Morley prosecuted the case.
Bobtail Bear was immediately turned over to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
KC Man Sentenced for Meth After Leading Officers on 100 MPH ChaseRead the Press Release
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Kansas City, Mo., man – who led law enforcement officers on a 100-miles-per-hour chase before being arrested – was sentenced in federal court today for distributing methamphetamine.
Aaron N. Whitworth, 31, of Kansas City, was sentenced by U.S. Chief District Judge Greg Kays to 11 years and three months in federal prison without parole.
On Oct. 20, 2015, Whitworth pleaded guilty to distributing methamphetamine. According to court documents, a confidential informant made multiple purchases of methamphetamine from Whitworth in April 2011. Those purchases led to a search warrant of his residence, which resulted in the seizure of 1.232 kilograms of methamphetamine and of many items associated with the process of manufacturing methamphetamine. Following Whitworth’s indictment, a warrant was issued for his arrest.
Whitworth arrived at the Maple Woods Care Center at 724 N.E. 79th Terr., Kansas City, Mo., on the afternoon of April 22, 2015. He fled when he saw several Deputy U.S. Marshals positioning to arrest him. During his attempted escape, Whitworth reversed his vehicle and accelerated rapidly in an attempt to escape capture. He collided with a deputy’s vehicle then accelerated forward and collided with another deputy’s vehicle and forcefully pushed it out of his way. Whitworth then left the parking lot of the Maple Woods Care Center and drove through the grass of Oak Park High School to avoid another deputy, who was also attempting to stop him from escaping. Whitworth led law enforcement officers on an extended chase, during which he drove at speeds in excess of 100 miles per hour and forced other motorists to maneuver in order to avoid a collision. Whitworth was captured only after stop sticks were deployed and his vehicle disabled.
Various items of drug paraphernalia consistent with the consumption of methamphetamine were found in Whitworth’s vehicle after his arrest.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Edwards. It was investigated by the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department.
Judge Sentences Pittsburgh Man to Prison for Cocaine Trafficking ConspiracyRead the Press Release
PITTSBURGH - One resident of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, has been has been sentenced in federal court to 18 months’ imprisonment, followed by 4 years’ supervised release, on his conviction of violating federal narcotics laws, United States Attorney David J. Hickton announced today.
United States District Judge Mark R. Hornak imposed the sentence on Liban Dirie, 47, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
According to information possessed by the Court, from in and around January, 2014, and continuing thereafter to on or about Feb. 11, 2015, in the Western District of Pennsylvania and elsewhere, Dirie conspired with others to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of cocaine.
Assistant United States Attorney Katherine A. King prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.
The Pennsylvania State Police, the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Narcotics Enforcement Team (DANET), and a task force led by the Drug Enforcement Administration conducted the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Dirie. The task force also was comprised of police officers from the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police, the Baldwin Police Department, the Munhall Police Department, Scott Township Police Department, Allegheny County Police, the Pennsylvania State Police, the Duquesne Police Department, and the West Homestead Police Department.
Joint Investigation Leads to Indictment of Tyrone Man for Possession of Child PornographyRead the Press Release
JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – A Blair County resident was indicted today by a federal grand jury in Johnstown on a charge of possession of child pornography, United States Attorney David J. Hickton announced today.
The indictment named Joseph A. Mattern, 21, of Tyrone, Pa., as the sole defendant.
According to the indictment presented to the court, on August 19, 2015, he knowingly possessed pictures and videos in individual computer graphic files which were produced using prepubescent minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct. The computer graphic files were shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce.
The law provides for a maximum total sentence of 20 years in prison, a fine of $250,000 or both. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed would be based upon the seriousness of the offense and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.
Assistant United States Attorney John J. Valkovci, Jr., is prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.
The Laurel Highlands Resident Agency of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Pennsylvania State Police and Altoona Police Department conducted the investigation leading to the indictment in this case.
An indictment is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
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 better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
Jicarilla Apache Man Sentenced for Federal Assault ConvictionRead the Press Release
ALBUQUERQUE – Christian Quintana, 20, an enrolled member of the Jicarilla Apache Nation who resides in Dulce, N.M., was sentenced this morning in federal court in Albuquerque, N.M., to 18 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for his federal assault conviction.
Quintana was arrested on March 2, 2015, on an indictment charging him with assault with a dangerous weapon and assault resulting in serious bodily injury. The crimes charged in the indictment took place on July 19, 2014, on the Jicarilla Apache Reservation in Rio Arriba County, N.M.
On Oct. 27, 2015, Quintana pled guilty to the assault with a dangerous weapon charge. In entering the guilty plea, Quintana admitted that on July 19, 2014, he stabbed the victim with a knife during a physical confrontation.
This case was investigated by the Jicarilla Apache Tribal Police Department and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney David Adams.
Huntington drug dealer pleads guilty to Federal heroin crimeRead the Press Release
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – A Huntington man pleaded guilty today to a federal heroin charge, announced Acting United States Attorney Carol Casto. Jeremiah Eugene Caldwell, 32, entered his guilty plea to possession with intent to distribute heroin.
On September 9, 2015, deputies with the Cabell County Sheriff’s Department executed a search warrant at Caldwell’s residence located at 1400 Cedar Crest Drive in Huntington. Deputies recovered approximately 30 grams of heroin, a set of digital scales, and four firearms. During the execution of the search warrant, law enforcement found Caldwell at his residence and arrested him. Caldwell admitted that he possessed the heroin and the firearms seized in the search. He further admitted that he had been distributing heroin for approximately six months.
Caldwell faces up to 20 years in federal prison when he is sentenced on August 8, 2016.
The Cabell County Sheriff’s Department conducted the investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Joseph F. Adams is handling the prosecution. The plea hearing was held before Chief United States District Judge Robert C. Chambers.
This prosecution is part of an ongoing effort led by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia to combat the illicit sale and misuse of prescription drugs and heroin. The U.S. Attorney’s Office, joined by federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, is committed to aggressively pursuing and shutting down illegal pill trafficking, eliminating open air drug markets, and curtailing the spread of opiate painkillers and heroin in communities across the Southern District.
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Guatemalan Man Sentenced to 24 Months for Illegally Re-entering the United StatesRead the Press Release
ALBANY, NEW YORK – William Heriberto Reyes-Morales, age 43, was sentenced today to serve 24 months in prison for illegally re-entering the United States.
The announcement was made by United States Attorney Richard S. Hartunian and Michael T. Phillips, Buffalo Field Office Director of Enforcement & Removal Operations for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Reyes-Morales, a Guatemalan citizen living in Amsterdam, New York, pled guilty in January 2016 to illegally re-entering the United States after having been previously deported.
In July 2015, ICE officers encountered Reyes-Morales at the Montgomery County Jail, where he was being held for a violation of state law. A check of Reyes-Morales’s record indicated that he had been deported from the United States to Guatemala four times, the most recent being in July 2012, after being convicted of possession with intent to distribute marijuana in the United States District Court for the District of Arizona. Reyes-Morales was also deported to Guatemala in 2004, 2007 and 2008.
This case was investigated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Edward P. Grogan.
Greenwood Woman Pleads Guilty to Money Transmission CrimeRead the Press Release
Contact Person: Bill Watkins (864) 282-2100
Columbia, South Carolina ---- United States Attorney Bill Nettles stated today that Linda B. Massey, age 70, of Greenwood, pled guilty yesterday in federal court in Greenville, to operating an illegal money transmission business, a violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1960. United States District Judge Bruce Howe Hendricks, of Charleston accepted the plea and will impose sentence after she has reviewed the presentence report which will be prepared by the U.S. Probation Office.
Evidence presented at the change of plea hearing established that a co-conspirator, who is currently believed to be residing on the Indian subcontinent, contacted Linda Massey and told her he needed someone in the US to open a bank account, receive payments, and send money to him in India. He told Massey she could keep 10 percent of the funds collected if she transmitted the 90 percent to him. He instructed her on creating a limited liability company known as Prime Technologies. She agreed to work with him.
Operatives from a call center in India then contacted American citizens over the telephone or through a pop-up advertisement appearing on victims’ computers, convinced them that their computers were infected with a virus, and then installed worthless or malicious software on the computers to “fix” the problem. The computer owners paid for these services by sending a check made out to Prime Technologies to an address controlled by Massey. Massey deposited the checks and wired a portion of the monies to India.
Law enforcement estimates that the losses to the victims exceed $500,000.
Mr. Nettles stated the maximum penalty Massey can receive is a fine of $250,000 and/or imprisonment for 5 years, plus a special assessment of $100.
The case was investigated by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Bill Watkins of the Greenville office handled the case.
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Granite City Chiropractor Pleads Guilty to Healthcare Fraud and Money LaunderingRead the Press Release
James L. Porter, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, announced today, that Bridget Brasfield, 45, of Edwardsville, Illinois, pled guilty to a two-count information charging Health Care Fraud and Money Laundering. Sentencing has been set for August 30, 2016, in U.S. District Court in Benton, Illinois. At that time Brasfield will face up to 20 years in prison, a fine of up to $500,000, and up to 3 years of supervised release.
During her plea hearing, Brasfield, who was a chiropractic physician licensed in Illinois, who practiced in Granite City, admitted that between January of 2011 and January of 2014, she submitted approximately $500,000 in false and fraudulent bills to various health care benefit plans. The fraudulent submissions to Medicaid, Medicare, Tricare, Federal Employees Health Benefit Program, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois and Coventry Insurance claimed that a Medical Doctor had provided services to patients at her Granite City Office when in fact the Doctor was out of the country when the services were claimed to have been provided. Brasfield also admitted that she had engaged in a financial transaction that involved criminally derived proceeds from her health care fraud. The specific transaction involved $12,000 in criminally derived funds that she transferred in violation of federal money laundering statutes.
The investigation was conducted by the Southern Illinois Health Care Fraud Task Force with active investigations by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services - Office of Inspector General, the Illinois State Police -Medicaid Fraud Control Bureau, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, Office of the Inspector General, the United States Postal Service Office of Inspector General, the U.S. Department of Labor – Office of Inspector General – Office of Labor Racketeering and Fraud Investigations, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, the Department of Labor Employee Benefits Security Administration and the US Railroad Retirement Board, Office of Inspector General. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Ranley R. Killian and Scott A. Verseman.
If you suspect or know of an individual or company that is not complying with healthcare laws or public aid programs, you may report this activity to the local office of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, or you may call 1.800.447.8477.
Glendale Doctor Agrees to Plead Guilty to Distributing Addictive Painkiller and to Forfeit Nearly $100,000 in Criminal ProceedsRead the Press Release
LOS ANGELES – In a plea agreement filed this morning, a Glendale doctor has agreed to plead guilty to a federal drug trafficking charge for illegally distributing hydrocodone, a powerful painkiller best known by the brand names Vicodin and Norco.
Dr. Manasseh Nwaigwe, 72, who resides in Glendale and operated a medical office in Boyle Heights, agreed to plead guilty to one count of illegal distribution of hydrocodone. As part of the agreement with the government, Nwaigwe will forfeit to the government more than $97,000 in cash that Nwaigwe admits were proceeds derived from his illegal prescriptions.
In the plea agreement, Nwaigwe admits that, on five occasions in May and July 2015, he wrote prescriptions for drugs to undercover law enforcement officers in exchange for cash.
Nwaigwe prescribed the drugs hydrocodone, clonazepam (commonly known by the brand name Klonopin), and promethazine with codeine (a narcotic cough syrup known on the streets as “purple drank” or “sizzurp”) to undercover agents who “did not in fact have a medical need for those prescriptions.” In exchange, Nwaigwe received $90 cash for each prescription.
“The issuance of prescriptions without a legitimate medical purpose fuels the prescription drug abuse epidemic and the related problem of heroin use across the United States,” said United States Attorney Eileen M. Decker. “Doctors who choose illegal profits instead of dispensing sound medical care are no better than street corner drug dealers.”
“Prescription drug abuse continues to plague our communities – it’s a nationwide epidemic and the effects have taken a horrific toll on public health and safety across the U.S.,” said John S. Comer, Special Agent in Charge of DEA’s Los Angeles Field Division. “The DEA remains committed to identifying and investigating doctors prescribing potentially lethal substances outside the scope of legitimate medical practice.”
Under the terms plea agreement, Nwagiwe will cooperate with the Medical Board of California by surrendering his medical license, which will effectively resolve a pending action filed by the Medical Board against Nwaigwe earlier this year. On March 8, the Medical Board filed an accusation against Nwaigwe that alleged sexual misconduct, prescribing without an appropriate exam and gross negligence.
Under the plea agreement, Nwaigwe also will surrender his DEA registration, which is the federal license that all physicians must have to prescribe controlled substances.
Nwaigwe is expected to appear in United States District Court in Los Angeles on June 7 for an arraignment, at which point a hearing to enter his guilty plea will be scheduled.
The drug distribution charge against Nwagiwe carries a statutory maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison.
The investigation into Nwaigwe was conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Medical Board of California, the Los Angeles Police Department, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, the Torrance Police Department, and the Redondo Beach Police Department.
German Shipping Company Charged with Covering up Illegal Dumping of Oily Waste Water into Great LakesRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Andrew M. Luger today announced an indictment charging MST MINERALIEN SCHIFFAHRT SPEDITION UND TRANSPORT GMBH (“MST”), a German company and operator of the M/V Cornelia, with violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS) by failing to maintain an accurate ship record about the disposal of oil-contaminated waste. The defendant is also charged with presenting falsified records to the U.S. Coast Guard.
According to the indictment and documents filed in court, from February 2015 through October 2015, the M/V Cornelia, a German-owned commercial vessel, experienced significant leakages of oily waste-water. As a result, the M/V Cornelia was accumulating a substantial volume of machinery space bilge water.
On at least ten occasions during the indicted period, the M/V Cornelia’s Chief Engineer and/or Second Engineer instructed members of the engine room crew to transfer machinery space bilge water from the dirty bilge tank to the clean bilge tank, which is a separate tank that is supposed to contain only clean, oil-free water, and then discharge the oily waste-water overboard. At least one occasion when machinery space bilge water was transferred to the clean bilge tank and then discharged overboard occurred in approximately May 2015 while the ship was in the Great Lakes.
On each occasion in which oily waste-water was transferred internally and then discharged overboard, the Chief Engineer intentionally failed to record the transfers and subsequent discharges of oily waste-water in the M/V Cornelia’s Oil Record Book (ORB). This gave the false impression in the ORB that all of the oily waste-water had been properly handled and disposed.
On November 3, 2015, the M/V Cornelia called upon the Port of Duluth to load grain for transport to Africa. At that time, U.S. Coast Guard inspectors boarded the vessel to conduct a Port State Control examination and were presented with the M/V Cornelia’s ORB containing the omissions and false entries.
The indictment is the result of an investigation conducted by the U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Benjamin F. Langner and John Kokkinen.
Defendant Information:MST MINERALIEN SCHIFFAHRT SPEDITION AND TRANSPORT GMBH
Schnaittenbach, GermanyCharges:
- Violation of the Act to Prevent Pollution From Ships, 1 count
- False Entries/Omissions in Records in a Federal Investigation, 8 counts
Four South Dakotans Charged with Social Security FraudRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Randolph J. Seiler announced that four people have been indicted by a federal grand jury for Theft of Government Funds.
Darrell Duane Vik, age 71, of Beresford, South Dakota; Norwood Baybridge, age 64, of Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Michele Kelliher, age 48, of Watertown, South Dakota; and Tanyel Rippentrop, age 40, of Brandon, South Dakota, were each indicted on March 9, 2016, on the charge of Theft of Government Funds. In addition, Rippentrop was also charged with Access Device Fraud.
They all appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Veronica L. Duffy on May 6, 2016, and pled not guilty to the Indictments.
The maximum penalty upon conviction for the theft charge is up to 10 years in custody and/or a $250,000 fine, 3 years of supervised release, and $100 to the Federal Crime Victims Fund. Restitution may also be ordered. The maximum penalty upon conviction for Ripptentrop’s access device fraud charge is up to 5 years in custody and/or a $250,000 fine, 3 years of supervised release, and $100 to the Federal Crime Victims Fund. Restitution may also be ordered.
Each defendant is accused of converting to his or her own use the Social Security benefits meant for a family member’s care. Rippentrop is also accused of using a prepaid debit card belonging to the family member to draw on those funds.
The charges are merely accusations and the defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
The investigations are being conducted by the Social Security Administration – Office of the Inspector General. Criminal Chief Dennis R. Holmes is prosecuting Rippentrop and Kelliher; Assistant U.S. Attorney Connie Larson is prosecuting Vik; and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey C. Clapper is prosecuting Baybridge.
The defendants were released pending trial. Trial dates have not been set.
Fort Thompson Man Charged with Felon in Possession of FirearmsRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Randolph J. Seiler announced that a Fort Thompson, South Dakota, man has been indicted by a federal grand jury for Felon in Possession of Firearms.
Conrad Fleury, age 34, was indicted on April 13, 2016. He appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark A. Moreno on May 6, 2016, and pled not guilty to the Indictment.
The maximum penalty upon conviction is up to 10 years in custody and/or a $250,000 fine, 3 years of supervised release, and $100 to the Federal Crime Victims Fund. Restitution may also be ordered.
The Indictment alleges that on or about February 13, 2016, Fleury, having been convicted of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year, knowingly possessed and received firearms.
The charge is merely an accusation and Fleury is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
The investigation is being conducted by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Crow Creek Agency. Assistant U.S. Attorney Meghan N. Dilges is prosecuting the case.
Fleury was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service pending trial. A trial date has not been set.
Fort Thompson Man Charged with Conspiracy to Distribute MethamphetamineRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Randolph J. Seiler announced that a Fort Thompson, South Dakota, man has been indicted by a federal grand jury for Conspiracy to Distribute a Controlled Substance.
Lucas Paul Evans, a/k/a Abdul Evans, a/k/a Lucas Harrison, a/k/a Abdul Salom Harrison, a/k/a Abubarker Harrison, a/k/a Abubarker Shabazz Evans, age 28, was indicted on April 19, 2016. He appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark A. Moreno on May 9, 2016, and pled not guilty to the Indictment.
The maximum penalty upon conviction is at least 5 years up to 40 years in custody and/or a $5,000,000 fine, at least 4 years of supervised release, and $100 to the Federal Crime Victims Fund. Restitution may also be ordered.
The Indictment alleges that between December 1, 2013, and April 19, 2016, Evans knowingly and intentionally combined, conspired, confederated and agreed with other persons to knowingly and intentionally distribute, and possess with intent to distribute, methamphetamine in South Dakota.
The charges are merely an accusation and Evans is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
The investigation is being conducted by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Office of Justice Services, Crow Creek Agency, and the Northern Plains Safe Trails Drug Enforcement Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorney SaraBeth Donovan is prosecuting the case.
Evans was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service pending trial. Trial has been set for July 6, 2016.
Former Tribal Corrections Officer Sentenced for Sexually Abusing an Inmate and Violating Her Civil RightsRead the Press Release
ALBUQUERQUE – U.S. Attorney Damon P. Martinez, Special Agent Terry Wade of the FBI’s Albuquerque Division and Chief Herman Silva of the Laguna Pueblo Tribal Police Department announced today the sentencing of Trevor Hunt for his conviction on sexual assault and criminal civil rights charges. Hunt, 22, of Paguate, N.M., was a detention officer at the Laguna Pueblo Detention Facility (LPDF) when he committed these crimes. Hunt will serve a 30-month term of imprisonment followed by five years of supervised release and will be required to register as a sex offender for 15 years after completing his prison sentence.
Hunt pled guilty on Jan. 28, 2016, to a two-count felony information charging him with sexual abuse of a ward, an inmate who was under Hunt’s supervision, and violating her civil rights. The plea agreement states that on May 23, 2015, while Hunt was on duty at the LPDF, he sexually assaulted the victim in the facility’s laundry room. In entering the guilty plea, Hunt admitted that the victim was in official detention and under his custodial and supervisory control when he sexually assaulted her. Hunt also admitted willfully violating the victim’s constitutional rights when he assaulted her.
This case was investigated by the Albuquerque office of the FBI and the Pueblo of Laguna Tribal Police Department, and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys David Adams and Holland S. Kastrin.
This case was brought as part of the Tribal Special Assistant U.S. Attorney (Tribal SAUSA) Pilot Project in the District of New Mexico, which is sponsored by the Justice Department’s Office on Violence Against Women under a grant administered by the Pueblo of Laguna. The Tribal SAUSA Pilot Project seeks to train tribal prosecutors in federal law, procedure and investigative techniques to increase the likelihood that every viable violent offense against Native American women is prosecuted in either federal court or tribal court, or both. The Tribal SAUSA Pilot Project was largely driven by input gathered from annual tribal consultations on violence against women, and is another step in the Justice Department's on-going efforts to increase engagement, coordination and action on public safety in tribal communities.
Former Roxse Homes Workers Plead Guilty to Taking BribesRead the Press Release
BOSTON – Two former employees of Roxse Homes, a subsidized housing development in Boston, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Boston in connection with a scheme to rent apartments at the housing development to individuals who were not qualified in exchange for cash bribes.
Mathis Lemons, 42, of Brockton, pleaded guilty today and Ismael Morales, 36, of Jamaica Plain, pleaded guilty on Monday, May 2, 2016 to one count each of conspiracy and seven counts each of corrupt receipt of payments by a federally funded organization. Lemons is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 20, 2016 and Morales on Aug. 3, 2016.
Lemons was the assistant property manager and Morales worked as a maintenance technician for Roxse Homes, a subsidized housing development on Tremont Street in Roxbury. At Roxse Homes, eligible low-income families and individuals can obtain rental housing for a subsidized rate with Section 8 housing benefits from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. In 2014, there was a shortage of federally subsidized Section 8 housing in Massachusetts, and Roxse Homes maintained a long waitlist of applicants desiring apartments in the complex. The Roxse Homes waitlist had been closed to external applicants since 2009.
From September 2014 to February 2015, Lemons and Morales conspired to rent apartments to individuals who were not eligible for subsidized Roxse Homes apartments because they were not on the waitlist. Morales solicited and accepted money from individuals, and provided those individuals with blank rental applications. Morales also instructed some of the individuals not to date their applications, or to date their applications in 2006 or 2009, when in fact the applications were completed in 2014. Lemons then added the unqualified individuals to the Roxse Homes computerized waitlist, and falsely inputted their application dates as 2006 or 2009.
The charge of conspiracy provides a sentence of no greater than five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. The charge of bribery provides a sentence of no greater than 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Christina Scaringi, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of the Inspector General, New York Regional Office; Matthew J. Etre, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston; Glenn A. Cunha, Inspector General of Massachusetts; and Boston Police Commissioner William B. Evans, made the announcement today. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kristina E. Barclay and Eugenia M. Carris of Ortiz’s Public Corruption Unit.
Former Postal Employee Pleads Guilty to Stealing MailRead the Press Release
NORFOLK, Va. – Tiffany Gordon, 32, of Norfolk, pleaded guilty today to theft of mail matter by a postal employee.
According to a statement of facts, Gordon had been employed by the U.S. Postal Service since December 2010 and worked as a mail processing clerk at the Norfolk Processing and Distribution Center. In September 2015, the U.S. Postal Service’s Office of the Inspector General received a complaint regarding missing mail that contained gift cards. The investigation revealed that Gordon, in the performance of her duties, had been stealing greeting cards that appeared to contain gift cards. Based on a search of her car, personal bag, and apartment, she was found to have stolen 295 pieces of mail containing more than $5,000 in gift cards.
Gordon was indicted by a federal grand jury on April 6, and faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison when sentenced on September 8. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes, as the sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Dana J. Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; and Paul L. Bowman, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Postal Service, Office of Inspector General, made the announcement after the plea was accepted by Senior U.S. District Judge Robert G. Doumar. Assistant U.S. Attorney Randy Stoker is prosecuting the case.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 2:16cr53.
Former North Charleston, South Carolina, Police Officer Michael Slager Charged with Federal Civil Rights OffenseRead the Press Release
Contact Person: Public Affairs (202) 514-2007
Washington – Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta, head of the Civil Rights Division, and U. S. Attorney Bill Nettles of the District of South Carolina announced today that a federal grand jury returned a three-count indictment charging former North Charleston, South Carolina, Police Department (NCPD) Officer Michael Slager with federal offenses related to his fatal shooting of Walter Scott on April 4, 2015. The indictment includes charges for a federal civil rights offense, using a firearm during the commission of the civil rights offense and obstruction of justice.
The indictment alleges that Michael Slager, while acting as an NCPD Officer, used excessive force when he shot and killed Walter Scott without legal justification. Slager was also charged with obstruction of justice for making false statements to South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) investigators with the intent to impede the investigation into the shooting. The indictment alleges that Slager intentionally misled SLED investigators by claiming that Scott was coming toward him with a taser at the time that Slager fired his weapon, when in truth, Scott was running away.
An indictment is merely an allegation, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. If convicted, Slager faces a maximum sentence of 1ife in prison for the civil rights violation, as well as a potential $250,000 fine.
The case is being investigated by the FBI’s Columbia Division and SLED. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Klumb of the District of South Carolina and Trial Attorney Jared Fishman of the Civil Rights Division’s Criminal Section.
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DO NOT REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE. IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS, PLEASE USE THE CONTACTS IN THE MESSAGE OR CALL THE OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS AT 202-514-2007.
Former North Charleston, South Carolina, Police Officer Michael Slager Charged with Federal Civil Rights OffenseRead the Press Release
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta, head of the Civil Rights Division, and U. S. Attorney Bill Nettles of the District of South Carolina announced today that a federal grand jury returned a three-count indictment charging former North Charleston, South Carolina, Police Department (NCPD) Officer Michael Slager with federal offenses related to his fatal shooting of Walter Scott on April 4, 2015. The indictment includes charges for a federal civil rights offense, using a firearm during the commission of the civil rights offense and obstruction of justice.
The indictment alleges that Michael Slager, while acting as an NCPD Officer, used excessive force when he shot and killed Walter Scott without legal justification. Slager was also charged with obstruction of justice for making false statements to South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) investigators with the intent to impede the investigation into the shooting. The indictment alleges that Slager intentionally misled SLED investigators by claiming that Scott was coming toward him with a taser at the time that Slager fired his weapon, when in truth, Scott was running away.
An indictment is merely an allegation, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. If convicted, Slager faces a maximum sentence of 1ife in prison for the civil rights violation, as well as a potential $250,000 fine.
The case is being investigated by the FBI’s Columbia Division and SLED. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Klumb of the District of South Carolina and Trial Attorney Jared Fishman of the Civil Rights Division’s Criminal Section.
Michael Slager Indictment
Former Executive Indicted for Role in Automotive Parts ConspiracyRead the Press Release
A federal grand jury in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan returned an indictment against Nobuhiko Niwa, a former automotive parts executive, for his alleged participation in a conspiracy to fix prices, rig bids and allocate the market for ceramic substrates sold in the United States and elsewhere, and used in catalytic converters supplied to automobile manufacturers in the United States and elsewhere, announced the Justice Department today.
The one-count indictment, filed today in Detroit, charges Niwa, a Japanese national, with conspiring to fix prices, rig bids and allocate the market for ceramic substrates used in automotive emissions control systems to reduce pollution. Automotive emissions control systems containing affected substrates were supplied to automobile manufacturers including General Motors, Ford, Chrysler and Honda, and certain of their subsidiaries, affiliates and suppliers in the U.S. and elsewhere.
“Those who corrupt the competitive process must be held accountable,” said Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brent Snyder of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. “Today’s indictment reaffirms our commitment to vigorously prosecute corporate executives who scheme to harm their customers, such as those in the U.S. auto industry.”
“Mr. Niwa’s role in rigging bids and fixing prices to increase revenues subverted the free market structure of our economy,” said Special Agent in Charge David P. Gelios of the FBI’s Detroit Division. “The scheme came at a cost to auto manufacturers, suppliers, and ultimately, consumers. Criminal acts that negatively impact consumers and damage our economy will be actively investigated and prosecuted.”
Niwa is charged with participating in the conspiracy from July 1999 to July 2011, when he served as Director and Senior Director of the mobile emissions division of a Japanese subsidiary of a Fortune 500 company based in Corning, New York. The U.S. company manufactures substrates in the United States and sells those products in the United States and elsewhere. Its Japanese subsidiary, which employed Niwa, markets and manages sales of substrates manufactured in the United States. Some of the affected substrates were installed in catalytic converters for vehicles sold to U.S. consumers.
Today’s charge is the result of an ongoing federal antitrust investigation into price fixing, bid rigging, and other anticompetitive conduct in the automotive parts industry, which is being conducted by the Antitrust Division’s criminal enforcement sections and the FBI. Including Niwa, a total of 59 individuals and 39 companies have been charged and have agreed to pay more than $2.6 billion in criminal fines.
This indictment was brought by the Antitrust Division’s Washington Criminal I Section and the FBI’s Detroit Division with the assistance of the FBI’s International Corruption Unit. Anyone with information on price fixing, bid rigging and other anticompetitive conduct related to the automotive parts industry should contact the Antitrust Division’s Citizen Complaint Center at 1-888-647-3258, visit http://www.justice.gov/atr/contact/newcase.html or call the FBI’s Detroit Field Office at 313-965-2323.
Niwa Indictment
Former CEO of Investment Firm with Main Office in Spain to Pay $8 Million as Part of Agreement to Resolve Criminal AllegationsRead the Press Release
LOS ANGELES – The former chief executive officer of Absolute Capital Holdings Ltd., which had its primary office in Palma on the Spanish island of Majorca, has entered into an agreement with federal prosecutors in which he will forfeit $8 million that federal prosecutors contend was derived from a fraud scheme conducted by fugitive hedge fund manager Florian Homm, who is accused of overseeing a stock manipulation scheme that caused investors to lose approximately $200 million.
Sean Ewing, 51, a resident of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, has agreed to forfeit $8 million in a civil settlement, and he has agreed to appear in United States District Court on a criminal case that charges him with books and records violations under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940.
Prosecutors filed a criminal information and a Deferred Prosecution Agreement against Ewing on May 5, and those documents became publicly available today. Prosecutors entered into the agreement, in part, because Ewing, who resides in the United Arab Emirates, has agreed to voluntarily travel to the United States to resolve this matter, and he is taking responsibility for the actions alleged in the criminal case.
According to government filings, Ewing, who along with Homm was a co-founder of Absolute Capital, was the company’s chief executive officer and chairman. Ewing was also a substantial shareholder of Absolute Capital, which traded on the Alternative Investment Market in the London Stock Exchange. From January 30, 2006 through September 10, 2007, Absolute Capital was a registered investment adviser with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, and Ewing was listed on SEC filings as chief compliance officer. Absolute Capital managed eight hedge funds (the Absolute Funds) involved in an alleged stock manipulation scheme that was designed to artificially prop up the value of the Absolute Funds and Absolute Capital’s stock price.
The Deferred Prosecution Agreement, which resolves the government’s investigation as to Ewing, provides that the government will not pursue Ewing in the stock manipulation scheme. The criminal information filed last week charges Ewing with causing Absolute Capital to fail to keep certain records required by the SEC, namely certain annual securities holdings reports and quarterly transaction reports from persons within the company who had access to confidential information, as well as records of pre-approval of securities trades by such access persons. These records were meant to identify material conflicts of interest between Absolute Capital access persons and Absolute Capital clients, which including the Absolute Funds operated by the company.
In the Deferred Prosecution Agreement, Ewing admits that he was named as the Absolute Capital’s chief compliance officer in SEC filings, but he failed to adequately discharge responsibilities of that position. Among other things, Ewing failed to require Homm and other senior executives at Absolute Capital who had access to confidential information to provide annual holdings reports and quarterly transaction reports, and he did not ensure that they secured pre-approval of securities trades in order to identify any material conflicts of interest with the Absolute Funds raised by such securities trading.
“The United States is continuing to pursue justice and restitution for investors who suffered from the collapse of Absolute Capital,” said United States Attorney Eileen M. Decker. “Mr. Ewing has admitted that he failed to fulfill duties prescribed by U.S. securities laws that are designed to protect investors, and he has agreed to forfeit the monies we believe he obtained as a result.”
Homm was arrested in Italy in 2013 at the request of the United States, and he was subsequently named in an indictment that accused him of orchestrating a stock manipulation scheme designed to “pump up” the reported returns of his hedge funds, while self-dealing for his own benefit and to the detriment of the funds. The United States sought Homm’s extradition to the United States. Homm was ordered extradited by the Italian Ministry of Justice, but he was released from custody and is believed to have fled to Germany, where he remains a fugitive.
In December 2015, a federal grand jury returned a superseding indictment against Homm and three additional defendants. The superseding indictment outlines a penny stock manipulation scheme designed to pump up the reported returns of the eight Absolute Funds and alleges that the fraud caused investors to lose approximately $200 million. The superseding indictment also charges Homm and the other defendants with money laundering.
As part of a Deferred Prosecution Agreement, Ewing will pay the settlement, but will not admit any criminal liability or concede knowledge of any allegedly illegal acts by Homm and others at Absolute Capital.
The Deferred Prosecution Agreement requires Ewing to appear in federal court in Los Angeles soon after he pays the $8 million settlement. In return, the government will dismiss certain seizure warrants filed to restrain Ewing-related assets in the Bailiwick of Guernsey and – if Ewing abides by all of the terms of the agreement, which includes cooperating truthfully with the FBI’s ongoing investigation – will dismiss the criminal case within one year.
The case against Ewing is the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The Bailiwick of Guernsey Law Enforcement and the United Kingdom Financial Conduct Authority provided assistance to the FBI’s investigation.
Former Bowie Man Indicted for Fraudulent Investment SchemeRead the Press Release
Greenbelt, Maryland – A federal grand jury indicted Sidney J. Charles, Jr., age 49, of Raceland, Louisiana, formerly of Bowie, Maryland, on mail and wire fraud charges arising from an investment fraud scheme. The indictment was returned on April 27, 2016 and unsealed on May 10, 2016, after Charles was arrested late on May 9, 2016, in Levelland, Texas.
The indictment was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein and Special Agent in Charge Kevin Perkins of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office.
According to the three-count indictment, in August 2009 Charles founded The Borrowing Station, a Nevada limited liability company with its principal place of business in Bowie. From October 2009 through July 2011 Charles served as the president and chief executive officer of the business. Charles marketed The Borrowing Station as an established investment firm that offered significant returns on investments.
The indictment alleges that from at least October 2009 through July 2011, The Borrowing Station, acting through Charles and others, orchestrated and operated a scheme to solicit investors with false promises of high rates of guaranteed return on their investments. Specifically, The Borrowing Station, through Charles and others, solicited investors directly and through its website to participate in a pooled investment plan that traded off-exchange leveraged or margined foreign currency contracts (“forex” or “foreign currency”). The solicitation included false promises, including: that investors could earn substantial investment returns such as 25% per year or 10% per month; that The Borrowing Station was an established, successful, and safe investment firm; and that pool participant funds were guaranteed against trading losses. For example, The Borrowing Station website stated: “If for any reason we do not reach a return of 25%, we will subsidize your account with our money.” The indictment alleges that as a result, The Borrowing Station obtained at least $368,628.37 from at least 17 individuals.
The indictment alleges that The Borrowing Station, through Charles: paid pool participants with other pool participants’ funds rather than from any funds generated by trading forex, and deposited only a portion of pool participant funds into actual trading accounts; hid trading losses from pool participants, including substantial losses resulting from unsuccessful forex trades; and used pool participant funds to pay for Charles’s personal expenses, and to fund The Borrowing Station’s operations.
According to the indictment, to conceal the scheme Charles communicated false information to pool participants in response to their requests for the return of their funds. In addition, Charles and others allegedly issued lulling payments to pool participants that typically approximated the return of 10% per month that Charles, directly and through others, had promised pool participants.
If convicted, Charles faces a sentence of 20 years in prison for each of two counts of wire fraud and for mail fraud. An initial appearance was held on May 10, 2016, in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas. Charles is scheduled to have an initial appearance U.S. District Court in Greenbelt on June 8, 2016, at 1:30 p.m. before U.S. Magistrate Judge Timothy J. Sullivan.
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.
Today’s announcement is part of the efforts undertaken in connection with the President’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force. The task force was established to wage an aggressive, coordinated and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes. With more than 20 federal agencies, 94 U.S. attorneys’ offices, and state and local partners, it’s the broadest coalition of law enforcement, investigatory and regulatory agencies ever assembled to combat fraud. Since its formation, the task force has made great strides in facilitating increased investigation and prosecution of financial crimes; enhancing coordination and cooperation among federal, state and local authorities; addressing discrimination in the lending and financial markets; and conducting outreach to the public, victims, financial institutions and other organizations. Since fiscal year 2009, the Justice Department has filed over 18,000 financial fraud cases against more than 25,000 defendants. For more information on the task force, please visit www.StopFraud.gov.
United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the FBI for its work in the investigation and recognized the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission for its assistance. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Sujit Raman, and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Mara Senn, of the U.S. Justice Department’s Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section, who are prosecuting the case.
Former Bank CEO Pleads Guilty to Nine Million Dollar Bank FraudRead the Press Release
Jackson, TN – A former Savanah, Tennessee bank CEO has pleaded guilty in federal court to a one count information charging him with conspiracy to commit bank fraud. Edward L. Stanton III, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee announced the guilty plea today.
According to the information presented in court, Christopher Brent Jerrolds, age 54, of Savanah, Tennessee was Central Bank’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and President until his termination from the bank in 2012. Jerrolds became the President and CEO of Central Bank in 1996 and a member of the Bank’s Board of Directors in 1998. According to the information, beginning in 2009 and continuing until March 2012, Jerrolds, acting in his capacity as President and CEO of Central Bank, gave preferential treatment to Tennessee Materials Corporation. As a result of the criminal conspiracy, Central Bank, Wayne County Bank, and First Metro Bank lost more than $9,000,000.
The information states that from March 31, 2009 until October 18, 2010, Jerrolds allowed TMC to deposit insufficiently funded checks ("bad checks") into TMC’s account at Central Bank. These "bad checks" were deposited into TMC’s account to cover overdraft balances in TMC’s account. When a previously deposited "bad check" in TMC’s account was returned for insufficient funds, another "bad check" drawn on one of TMC’s other bank accounts was deposited to replace the previously deposited "bad check(s)." The deposited amounts and the frequency of deposits increased each month, and at times, multiple checks were deposited on a single occasion.
By October 18, 2010, Jerrolds was responsible for accepting and approving TMC’s deposit of 161 "bad checks" with a total transaction amount of $116,169,218. The deposit of the "bad checks" created "false balances" in TMC’s account which enabled TMC to use funds in TMC’s checking account that belonged to Central Bank. The fraudulent account balances created by the deposit of the "bad checks" enabled TMC to take approximately $3.9 million dollars belonging to Central Bank, without the knowledge or approval of the Central Bank’s Board of Directors.
The information further states that on July 11, 2011, Jerrolds made a $1,079,338 advance to TMC without the knowledge and approval of the Bank’s Board of Directors. During the same time, Jerrolds released to TMC $500,000 that Central Bank held as security on a prior loan to TMC. Jerrolds released the monies to TMC despite the fact that TMC made no payments on the loan and without the approval of the Bank’s Board of Directors.
The information further provides that in 2011 and 2012 Jerrolds issued to TMC Letters of Credit in the amount of $2,000,000 and $1,783,000. Jerrolds, among other things, concealed the issuance of the Letters of Credit from Central Bank, did not enter the Letters of Credit into the books and records of Central Bank, and did not obtain approval from the Bank’s Board of Directors to issue the Letters of Credit. The borrower used the Letters of Credit as collateral to obtain a $2,000,000 dollar loan from Wayne County Bank and a $1,783,000 loan from First Metro Bank. Wayne County Bank and First Metro Bank made a demand on the Letters of Credit after the borrower defaulted on the loans.
Jerrolds faces a sentence of up to five years imprisonment, a fine of not more than $250,000 and a period of up to three years of supervised release. The Court can also order Jerrolds to pay restitution to Central Bank, Wayne County Bank and First Metro Bank. Jerrolds is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Breen in Jackson, Tennessee on August 11, 2016.
This case was investigated by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporaton and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The government’s case is being prosecuted by First Assistant U.S. Attorney Larry Laurenzi .
Floridian Sentenced to Prison for Hiding Assets from Bankruptcy CourtRead the Press Release
PITTSBURGH - A Florida resident has been sentenced in federal court to 30 months imprisonment to be followed by a three-year term of supervised release and restitution in the amount of $48,260.00 on his conviction concealment of bankruptcy assets, United States Attorney David J. Hickton announced today.
United States District Judge Arthur J. Schwab imposed the sentence on Gregory M. Makozy, Sr., 55, of Port St. Lucie, FL.
According to the information presented to the court, the government represented to the court that Makozy concealed assets from the bankruptcy court in a Chapter 7 Petition in bankruptcy filed in 2013 by transferring assets he owned to others, including a 2005 Aston Martin automobile, and real estate located in Butler County, PA.
Assistant United States Attorney Gregory C. Melucci prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.
U.S. Attorney Hickton commended the Office of the United States Trustee, the United States Postal Inspection Service and the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation for the successful prosecution of Gregory M. Makozy.
Florida Man Indicted for Operating Sex Trafficking EnterpriseRead the Press Release
Defendant Allegedly Used Fraudulent Scheme to Import Foreign University Students in Furtherance of Prostitution and Erotic Massage Enterprise
Jeffrey Jason Cooper, 46, of Miami Beach, Florida, was charged late yesterday in an 11-count indictment in the Southern District of Florida with sex trafficking and attempted sex trafficking by fraud, wire fraud, importation of aliens for prostitution or immoral purposes and use of a facility of interstate commerce to operate a prostitution enterprise.
According to allegations in the indictment and criminal complaint, Cooper recruited foreign students from Kazakhstan through the State Department’s Summer Work Travel Program, using false and fraudulent promises of clerical jobs in a fictitious yoga studio in order to bring the students into the United States and advertise them to customers of his prostitution and erotic massage enterprise. As alleged in the indictment and complaint, Cooper recruited the foreign university students on false pretenses, knowing that no such yoga studio existed.
An indictment is merely an accusation, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty. If convicted of sex trafficking, Cooper faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison. The wire fraud charges carry a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. Importing or attempting to import an alien for immoral purposes carries a statutory maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, and using a facility of interstate commerce to promote an unlawful activity carries a statutory maximum sentence of five years in prison.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service, Miami-Dade Police Department and North Bay Village, Florida, Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Seth M. Schlessinger of the Southern District of Florida and Trial Attorney Matthew T. Grady of the Civil Rights Division’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit.
The Southern District of Florida was selected as one of six Phase I Anti-Trafficking Coordination Teams (ACTeams) through the interagency ACTeam Initiative of the Departments of Justice, Homeland Security and Labor. Designated ACTeams focus on developing high-impact human trafficking investigations and prosecutions involving forced labor, international sex trafficking and sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion through interagency collaboration among federal prosecutors and federal investigative agencies.
Jeffrey Cooper Indictment
Florida Man Indicted for Operating Sex Trafficking EnterpriseRead the Press Release
Jeffrey Jason Cooper, 46, of Miami Beach, Florida, was charged late yesterday in an 11-count indictment in the Southern District of Florida with sex trafficking and attempted sex trafficking by fraud, wire fraud, importation of aliens for prostitution or immoral purposes and use of a facility of interstate commerce to operate a prostitution enterprise.
According to allegations in the indictment and criminal complaint, Cooper recruited foreign students from Kazakhstan through the State Department’s Summer Work Travel Program, using false and fraudulent promises of clerical jobs in a fictitious yoga studio in order to bring the students into the United States and advertise them to customers of his prostitution and erotic massage enterprise. As alleged in the indictment and complaint, Cooper recruited the foreign university students on false pretenses, knowing that no such yoga studio existed.
An indictment is merely an accusation, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty. If convicted of sex trafficking, Cooper faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison. The wire fraud charges carry a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. Importing or attempting to import an alien for immoral purposes carries a statutory maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, and using a facility of interstate commerce to promote an unlawful activity carries a statutory maximum sentence of five years in prison.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service, Miami-Dade Police Department and North Bay Village, Florida, Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Seth M. Schlessinger of the Southern District of Florida and Trial Attorney Matthew T. Grady of the Civil Rights Division’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit.
The Southern District of Florida was selected as one of six Phase I Anti-Trafficking Coordination Teams (ACTeams) through the interagency ACTeam Initiative of the Departments of Justice, Homeland Security and Labor. Designated ACTeams focus on developing high-impact human trafficking investigations and prosecutions involving forced labor, international sex trafficking and sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion through interagency collaboration among federal prosecutors and federal investigative agencies.
Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov
Five Sentenced for Cocaine Trafficking Conspiracy in Eastern North CarolinaRead the Press Release
WILMINGTON – The United States Attorney’s Office announces that five individuals were sentenced for their involvement in a cocaine trafficking conspiracy. All five were part of the same drug trafficking organization operating in the Rocky Mount area.
The following individuals were indicted on October 22, 2015. Count 1 charged conspiracy possess with the intent to distribute cocaine from August 2015 to October 22, 2015. Counts 2, 4, & 5 charged carrying and using a firearm during and in relation to a drug-trafficking crime and possession of such firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime on August 26, 2015. Count 3 charged possession of a firearm by a felon on August 26, 2015. DERRICK PITTMAN, GUILLERMO ESPINOSA, RAMIRO CALIXTRO, and ALEXIS CALIXTRO-CASAS pled guilty and were sentenced to the following. JORGE ESPINOSA was convicted after a jury trial and was sentenced to the following. The count(s) of the indictment in which each defendant was convicted is shown below:
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Derek Pittman, 32, of Battleboro, NC – Counts 1 & 4, 197 months imprisonment; 5 years supervised release
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Guillermo Monge Espinosa, 44, of Tarboro, NC – Count 1, 236 months imprisonment; 5 years supervised release
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Ramiro Calixtro, 43, of Rocky Mount, NC – Count 1, 60 monthsimprisonment; 5 years supervised release
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Alexis Calixtro-Casas, 21, of Rocky Mount, NC – Counts 1 & 5, 81 months imprisonment; 3 years supervised release
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Jorge Espinosa, 23, of Greenville, NC – Count 1, 188 months imprisonment; 5 years supervised release
In August 2015, federal and local law enforcement agencies utilized a confidential informant (CI) to arrange a two-kilogram purchase of cocaine from ALEXIS CALIXTRO-CASAS. CALIXTRO-CASAS contacted his uncle, RAMIRO CALIXTRO, a drug associate of GUILLERMO ESPINOSA, to supply the two kilograms of cocaine for the transaction. On August 26, 2015, while under the surveillance of several law enforcement agencies, CALIXTRO-CASAS and the CI met in the Wal-Mart parking lot in Rocky Mount to complete the transaction. Shortly thereafter, GUILLERMO ESPINOSA and RAMIRO CALIXTRO arrived in the parking lot. GUILLERMO ESPINOSA led the CI to the residence of DERRICK PITTMAN in the Battleboro community of Rocky Mount. GUILLERMO ESPINOSA telephoned his son, JORGE ESPINOSA, who, along with an unidentified and unindicted coconspirator, soon arrived at the PITTMAN residence with one kilogram of cocaine for the CI to inspect for quality. When they arrived, GUILLERMO ESPINOSA received a handgun and the cocaine from either the unidentified/unindicted coconspirator or from PITTMAN. After the CI was satisfied with the quality of the cocaine, the CI left PITTMAN’S residence with the intent to return with cash to purchase two kilograms of cocaine from GUILLERMO ESPINOSA. Because the number of participants involved in this transaction was much greater than law enforcement officers anticipated, the officers decided to execute simultaneous traffic stops of the vehicles driven by GUILLERMO ESPINOSA and CALIXTRO-CASAS.
Within minutes of these stops, officers raided PITTMAN’S residence and PITTMAN was apprehended. Officers seized 993.74 grams of cocaine and a loaded handgun from PITTMAN’S property. Approximately $2,000 in cash was seized from PITTMAN’S person.
Around this time, officers established surveillance at a residence on Deer Run Road in Rocky Mount where ROSA HERNANDEZ (who was initially indicted but passed away from an illness while awaiting disposition) and her daughter, GLORIA SOLANO (awaiting sentencing), were staying. Through the investigation, law enforcement linked HERNANDEZ to GUILLERMO ESPINOSA. While conducting surveillance at the Deer Run Road residence, law enforcement observed ADAN ESPINO, II (awaiting sentencing) driving the GMC onto the property. GLORIA SOLANO and ROSA HERNANDEZ also arrived at the property in a separate vehicle. Hernandez went inside the house and returned to place a bag inside the GMC. ESPINO left the property in the GMC and was stopped by officers. Numerous packages containing $141,014 in cash were seized from inside the GMC. Seven packages containing a total of $139,580 were located inside the hidden compartment.
A search of the Deer Run Road property yielded a ledger, a money-counting machine, money-packaging materials, and $8,000 in cash were seized. The investigation revealed that they packaged and delivered approximately $140,000 in cash to ESPINO at GUILLERMO ESPINOSA’S residence on August 25, 2015. Examination of the ledger revealed that 26 kilograms of cocaine were received in Rocky Mount from Texas on August 24, 2015, and that $910,000 in cash was to be transported to Texas as payment for the cocaine.
The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Edgecombe County Sheriff’s Office; the Nash County Sheriff’s Office; the Rocky Mount Police Department; the Tarboro Police Department; and the Pine Tops Police Department. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick B. Weede and Assistant United States Attorney Toby Lathan prosecuted the case for the government.
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Final Two Individuals Sentenced in String of Armed RobberiesRead the Press Release
Tampa, Florida – U.S. District Judge Susan C. Bucklew today sentenced Samuel Lee Lynch (29, Temple Terrace) to life imprisonment and Reo Thomas Nance (31, Temple Terrace) to 52 years’ imprisonment for conspiracy, armed robbery, and firearms offenses in connection with five Tampa Bay area armed robberies occurring in March and April of 2015. As part of their sentences, the Court also entered money judgments in the amount of $93,519, the proceeds of the armed robberies. Lynch and Nance were found guilty on January 29, 2016.
According to evidence presented at trial, Lynch, Nance, and co-defendants Christopher Marquis Fruster (21, Tampa) and Brittany Jenae Hall (27, Tampa) targeted check cashing businesses that kept large amounts of cash on hand, ultimately stealing more than $93,000. During each robbery, Lynch and Nance brandished firearms. During the March 26, 2015 robbery of the Nebraska Food Market, Lynch shot an accomplice and bystander.
Both Fruster and Hall previously pleaded guilty in relation to this case. On March 22, 2016, Fruster was sentenced to 13 years in federal prison, and on April 12, 2016, Hall was sentenced to three years in federal prison.
This case was investigated by Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Tampa Police Department, and the Temple Terrace Police Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Carlton C. Gammons.
Final Defendant in Stockton Methamphetamine Conspiracy Sentenced to 12 Years in PrisonRead the Press Release
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Thomas Jaime Orozco, 35, of Stockton, was sentenced Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller to 12 years in prison for conspiring to distribute methamphetamine, Acting United States Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.
According to court documents, Orozco was the leader of a methamphetamine distribution conspiracy in San Joaquin County in 2012. He supplied five co-defendants with methamphetamine that they, in turn, sold to an undercover agent and others. On two occasions, an undercover agent purchased a total of about 1.7 pounds of methamphetamine from Orozco’s co-conspirators. On November 29, 2012, the undercover agent agreed to meet with Orozco in Lodi to purchase 10 pounds of methamphetamine. Co-conspirators Vincent Camarillo, 29, and Theodore Ohagen IV, 25, both of Stockton, came with Orozco. Agents arrested all three at the site of the deal and discovered that Camarillo was carrying a stolen, loaded handgun concealed in his waistband.
After the arrests, police found at the site of the last deal, which was a home occupied by co-conspirator Jeffrey Lamendola, 53, of Lodi, two additional loaded handguns, four pistol magazines, 70 rounds of ammunition, 55 grams of methamphetamine, a digital scale, baggies, needles, and 215 grams of marijuana. A Lodi residence shared by Camarillo and Ohagen contained two bulletproof vests, seven rifle magazines, one pistol magazine, about 700 rounds of ammunition, nearly $15,000 in cash, 12 cellphones, 24 grams of cocaine, and nearly 10 kilograms of marijuana.
This case was the product of an investigation by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). Assistant United States Attorney Amanda Beck prosecuted the case.
“This sentence is a direct result of the tireless work HSI agents and our local law enforcement partners have carried out to disrupt and dismantle drug trafficking rings in a joint effort to keep our communities safe,” said Ryan L. Spradlin, Special Agent in Charge of HSI San Francisco.
After pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, Camarillo was sentenced to 10 years in prison on October 28, 2016, and Lamendola was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison on January 6, 2016.
The following defendants in the conspiracy pleaded guilty to using a cellphone for the purpose of drug trafficking and were sentenced as follows: On January 20, 2016, Sarah Torreblanca, 29, of San Jose, was sentenced to four years in prison; on April 9, 2014, Lisa Elliott, 55, of Lodi, was sentenced to three years in prison; and on March 2, 2016, Ohagen was sentenced to four years in prison.
Federal Court Shuts Down South Florida Tax Return PreparerRead the Press Release
Return Preparer Allegedly Claimed Fraudulent Credits and Deductions
A federal court has ordered West Palm Beach-area tax return preparer Paul Jean not to prepare federal tax returns for anyone except himself, the Justice Department announced today. The order was entered after Jean failed to respond to the United States’ civil complaint.
According to the complaint, Jean has operated under the business names Whiz Tax and Rejoice Tax Services. The complaint alleges he has prepared returns that claim fabricated or inflated tax credits including claiming improper earned income tax credits, education credits, or fuel credits. In addition, Jean allegedly prepared returns that report false or inflated deductions on Schedule A (Itemized Deductions), such as deductions for mortgage interest paid or charitable contributions, or on Schedule C (Profit or Loss From Business), such as expenditures for supplies or office expenses.
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) estimates that Jean, directly or indirectly, has prepared and filed more than 3,000 tax returns since 2012, according to the complaint, and that the harm Jean’s conduct has inflicted on the U.S. Treasury may be in the millions of dollars.
Return preparer fraud is one of the IRS’s Dirty Dozen Tax Scams for 2016. The IRS has some tips on their website for choosing a tax preparer and has launched a free directory of federal tax preparers. In the past decade, the Tax Division has obtained injunctions against hundreds of unscrupulous tax preparers. Information about these cases is available on the Justice Department’s website. An alphabetical listing of persons enjoined from preparing returns and promoting tax schemes can be found on this page. If you believe that one of the enjoined persons or businesses may be violating an injunction, please contact the Tax Division with details.
East Pittsburgh Man Sentenced to 6 Years in Prison for Participating in Drug Trafficking SchemeRead the Press Release
PITTSBURGH - A resident of East Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, has been sentenced in federal court to a term of imprisonment of 72 months (6 years), to be followed by six years of supervised release, on his conviction of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute heroin and crack cocaine, United States Attorney David J. Hickton announced today.
United States District Judge David S. Cercone imposed the sentence on Allen William Turner, 48, of East Pittsburgh, PA.
According to information presented to the court, from September 2013 to December 2013, Turner conspired to distribute and possess with intent to distribute more than 100 grams of heroin, and more than 28 grams of crack cocaine.
Assistant United States Attorney Troy Rivetti prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.
This prosecution is the result of a federal Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Drug Enforcement Administration. Other participating agencies include the Allegheny County Police Department, Pennsylvania State Police, Allegheny County Sheriff's Office, Pittsburgh Bureau of Police, Munhall Police Department and Wilkinsburg Police Department.
Eagle Butte Woman Sentenced for Assault with a Dangerous WeaponRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Randolph J. Seiler announced that an Eagle Butte, South Dakota, woman convicted of Assault with a Dangerous Weapon was sentenced on May 9, 2016, by U.S. District Judge Roberto A. Lange.
Rikki Hill, age 21, was sentenced to 36 months in custody, 3 years of supervised release, and a special assessment of $100 to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.
Hill was indicted by a federal grand jury on December 8, 2015. She pled guilty on February 9, 2016.
The conviction arose from an August 12, 2015, incident when Hill and her sister got into a verbal argument that escalated into a physical fight. After the girls’ parents broke up the fight, Hill grabbed a knife from the kitchen. Her parents pushed Hill out of the house and locked the door behind her, but Hill crawled through a basement window and re-entered the house. Once she was inside, Hill grabbed another knife and lunged at her sister, stabbing her in the arm. Hill attempted to stab her sister in the heart, but her sister blocked it and was cut in the arm instead.
This case was investigated by the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Law Enforcement Services. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jay Miller prosecuted the case.
Hill was immediately turned over to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
Eagle Butte Man Charged with Three Counts of Assaulting an Intimate PartnerRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Randolph J. Seiler announced that an Eagle Butte, South Dakota, man has been indicted by a federal grand jury for Assault with a Dangerous Weapon, Assault by Strangulation, and Assault Resulting in Substantial Bodily Injury to an Intimate Partner.
Darrell Clown, age 48, was indicted on April 13, 2016. He appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark A. Moreno on May 10, 2016, and pled not guilty to the Indictment.
The maximum penalty upon conviction is 10 years in custody and/or a $250,000 fine, 3 years of supervised release, and $100 to the Federal Crime Victims Fund. Restitution may also be ordered.
The Indictment alleges that on or about December 10, 2015, Clown unlawfully assaulted his spouse with a broomstick and strangled her, resulting in substantial bodily injury.
The charges are merely accusations and Clown is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
The investigation is being conducted by the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Law Enforcement Services. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jay Miller is prosecuting the case.
Clown was released on bond pending trial, which has been set for June 21, 2016.
District Man Indicted on Murder and Other Charges in July 4, 2015 Slaying of Kevin SutherlandRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON – Jasper Spires, 19, of Washington, D.C., has been indicted on murder and other charges stemming from the July 4, 2015 slaying of Kevin Sutherland on a Metrorail train, U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips announced today. Spires also was indicted on charges involving the robberies of two other passengers and an assault of a fourth victim on the train.
Spires was indicted on May 10, 2016 by a grand jury in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia on charges of first-degree murder while armed (premeditated and felony murder), with aggravating circumstances; assault with a dangerous weapon; armed robbery of a senior citizen; armed robbery, and carrying a weapon outside a home or business.
Spires is to be arraigned on May 13, 2016 at a hearing before the Honorable Robert E. Morin. He faces a maximum of life in prison.
According to the government’s evidence, on July 4, 2015, at about 12:50 p.m., Spires was among people on a Metrorail train approaching the NOMA/Gallaudet University station, in the 200 block of Florida Avenue NE. While on the train, Spires is accused of attempting to rob Mr. Sutherland, 24, and repeatedly and fatally stabbing him. He also is charged with robbing two others on the train, including a senior citizen, and assaulting a fourth passenger.
Following the attacks, Spires allegedly walked off the train and left the station. He was arrested on July 6, 2015 and has been in custody ever since.
At the time of the alleged offenses, Spires was on release in a pending assault case in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia.
An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed a violation of criminal laws and every defendant is presumed innocent until, and unless, proven guilty.
In announcing the charges, U.S. Attorney Phillips commended the work of those investigating the case from the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) and the Metro Transit Police. He also expressed appreciation for the assistance provided by the District of Columbia Department of Forensic Sciences and Bode Cellmark Forensics. He acknowledged the efforts of those who are working on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Criminal Investigators Durand Odom and Mark Crawford; Investigative Analyst Zachary McMenamin; Victim/Witness Advocate Jennifer Clark; Paralegal Specialists Karen Hansen and Kelly Blakeney, and former Paralegal Specialist Vanessa Trent-Valentine. Finally, he commended the work of Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christine Macey and Kathryn Rakoczy, who are investigating and prosecuting the case.
Defendants Sentenced in Money Laundering and Crystal Meth Drug Trafficking OperationRead the Press Release
Possessed 26 firearms and 3,700 rounds of ammunition
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – The final defendants in a drug trafficking operation were sentenced this week in United States District Court, by United States District Judge Greg N. Stivers, to prison sentences for their roles in a money laundering and methamphetamine distribution network operating from Fresno, California, to Allen County, Kentucky, and included the illegal possession of 26 firearms and more than 3,700 rounds of ammunition, announced United States Attorney John E. Kuhn, Jr.
Bradley Burton Brown 37, of Allen County, and Ashley Dawn Kendall, 25, of Franklin, Kentucky, directed a conspiracy that distributed more than 80 grams of crystal methamphetamine and diverted the proceeds through pre-paid bank cards, with co-defendants Adam Scott Gallagher and Kevin Joseph Willey, between March 2014, and February 26, 2015.
Brown, who was in custody, was sentenced to 120 months in federal prison and a five year term of supervised release and Kendall was taken into custody following her sentencing of 48 months in prison and a three year term of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system.
Co-defendant Willey was sentenced to 110 months in prison and a five year period of supervised release, and Gallagher, who was living in California, was sentenced to 36 months in prison and a five year term of supervised release. Both were sentenced on March 10, 2016, by Judge Stivers in Bowling Green.
According to the plea agreements, Brown and Kendall would direct Willey to ship packages of crystal methamphetamine from Fresno, CA to Gallagher, located here in the Western District of Kentucky. Once the methamphetamine was received by Gallagher, he would then deliver it to Brown and Kendall to distribute. Brown and Kendall would conceal payments to Willey for the methamphetamine by using prepaid Green Dot Bank cards. They would load the cards with the proceeds from the sale of methamphetamine here in the Western District of Kentucky and then provide Willey with the card's pin number allowing him to obtain the loaded cash in California. According to DEA chemical analysis, the 81.2 grams of methamphetamine recovered from Brown and Kendall on September 17, 2014, tested at over 95 percent purity resulting in a total of 77.7 grams of actual methamphetamine.
Further, on September 17, 2015, Brown, then an unlawful user of a controlled substance, possessed the following firearms: 1. Llama (Gabilondo & Cia), .40 caliber pistol, model XII; 2. High Standard, .22 caliber revolver, model Sentinel; 3. Jennings Firearms, .22 caliber pistol; 4. Keltec, CNC Industries, .380 caliber pistol, model P3A T; 5. Phoenix Anns Co., .25 caliber pistol, model Raven; 6. Marlin Firearms Co., .30-.30 caliber rifle, model336CS; 7. Savage, .243 caliber rifle, model Stevens 200; 8. Browning, 12 gauge shotgun, model Light 12; 9. Ruger, .22 caliber rifle, model 10/22; 10. Marlin Firearms Co., .22 caliber rifle, model Golden 39A; 11. Mossberg, 12 gauge shotgun, model 835 Ulti-Mag; 12. New England Firearms, 12 gauge shotgun, model Pardner; 13. Savage, 20 gauge shotgun, model Stevens 94; 14. Marlin Firearms Co., .22 caliber rifle, model XT-22; 15. Winchester, .30-.30 caliber rifle, model 94 (stolen); 16. Marlin Firearms Co., .22 caliber rifle, model 80; 17. Mossberg, 410 gauge shotgun, model500E; 18. Winchester, .22 caliber rifle, model 190; 19. Winchester, .22 caliber rifle, model190; 20. Winchester, .22 caliber rifle, model 190; 21. Keystone Sporting Arms, .22 caliber rifle, model Cricket; 22. Savage, .22 caliber rifle, model Stevens 87A; 23. Winchester, .22 caliber rifle, model67; 24. Marlin Firearms Co., .22 caliber rifle, model 75C; and 3,707 rounds of assorted ammunition.
Also, on September 17, 2014, Kendall, being an unlawful user of a controlled substance possessed a Romarm/Cugir, .762 rifle, model GP WASR 10/63 and a Marlin Firearms Co., .22 caliber rifle, model 99M1.
Assistant United States Attorney Mac Shannon prosecuted the case. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Barren River Drug Task Force conducted the investigation.
Defendant Charged with Conspiring and Attempting to Provide Material Support to ISILRead the Press Release
Earlier today, a superseding indictment was unsealed in federal court in the Eastern District of New York charging Azizjon Rakhmatov with conspiring and attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), a designated foreign terrorist organization, and conspiring to use a firearm. The defendant, who is charged with four others whose arrests and indictments have previously been announced, is scheduled to be arraigned at 2:00 p.m. today before United States Magistrate Judge James Orenstein at the U.S. Courthouse, 225 Cadman Plaza East, Brooklyn, New York.
The charges were announced by Robert L. Capers, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York; John P. Carlin, Assistant Attorney General for National Security; Diego G. Rodriguez, Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), New York Field Office; William J. Bratton, Commissioner, New York City Police Department (NYPD); and Angel M. Melendez, Special Agent-in-Charge, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), New York.
As alleged in the third superseding indictment and other court filings, the investigation began when Abdurasul Juraboev, one of Rakhmatov’s co-conspirators, came to the attention of law enforcement. Juraboev posted on an Uzbek-language website that propagates ISIL’s ideology his offer to engage in an act of martyrdom on U.S. soil on behalf of ISIL, such as killing the President of the United States. The investigation subsequently revealed that Juraboev and another co-defendant, Akhror Saidakhmetov, planned to travel to Turkey and then to Syria for the purpose of waging violent jihad on behalf of ISIL. Saidakhmetov was arrested on February 25, 2015, at John F. Kennedy International Airport where he was attempting to board a flight to Istanbul, Turkey. Juraboev previously purchased a plane ticket to travel from New York to Istanbul and was scheduled to leave the United States in March 2015. Rakhmatov and three other co-defendants – Abror Habibov, Dilkhayot Kasimov, and Akmal Zakirov – are charged with funding Saidakhmetov’s efforts to join ISIL. Juraboev pleaded guilty on August 14, 2015, to conspiring to provide material support to ISIL.
As alleged in the third superseding indictment and other court filings, Rakhmatov helped to fund Saidakhmetov’s efforts to join ISIL. Specifically, Rakhmatov and Habibov discussed providing their own money to cover Saidakhmetov’s travel expenses and to purchase a firearm for Saidakhmetov once he arrived in Syria. Rakhmatov also agreed to raise money from others to fund Saidakhmetov’s travel. In the week leading up to Saidakhmetov’s scheduled departure, Rakhmatov transferred money into Zakirov’s personal bank account, which funds were intended to facilitate Saidakhmetov’s travel to join ISIL.
If convicted, Rakhmatov faces a maximum sentence of 50 years in prison. The charges in the superseding indictment are allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
The government’s case is being handled by the Office’s National Security & Cybercrime Section. Assistant United States Attorneys Alexander A. Solomon, Douglas M. Pravda, and Peter W. Baldwin are in charge of the prosecution, with assistance provided by Assistant United States Attorney Stephen Reynolds of the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut and Trial Attorney Danya Atiyeh of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section.
The Defendant:
AZIZJON RAKHMATOV
Age: 28
Nationality: UzbekiE.D.N.Y. Docket No. 15-CR-95 (S-3)
Crownpoint Man Sentenced to Prison for Federal Statutory Rape ConvictionRead the Press Release
ALBUQUERQUE – Emanuel Yazzie, 23, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation who resides in Crownpoint, N.M., was sentenced this morning in federal court in Albuquerque, N.M., to 36 months in prison followed by ten years of supervised release for his sexual abuse of a minor conviction. Yazzie also will be required to register as a sex offender.
Yazzie was arrested on March 5, 2015, on an indictment charging him with sexual abuse of a minor. According to the indictment, Yazzie engaged in a sexual act with the victim who was under 16 years of age in spring of 2014. The indictment alleged that Yazzie committed the crime on the Navajo Indian Reservation within San Juan County, N.M. On Dec. 15, 2015, Yazzie entered a guilty plea to the indictment.
This case was investigated by the Crownpoint office of the Navajo Nation Division of Public Safety and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle T. Nayback.
This case is being prosecuted as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice (DOJ) to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and DOJ’s Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/.
Cresson Man Charged with Making False Statements on Loan ApplicationsRead the Press Release
JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – On May 11, 2016, a Cambria County resident was indicted by a federal grand jury in Johnstown on charges of making false statements on loan applications, United States Attorney David J. Hickton announced today.
The three-count indictment named Justin M. Hickox, 28, of Cresson, Pa., as the sole defendant.
According to the indictment presented to the court, on Sept. 4, Sept. 18 and Oct. 23, 2014, Hickox knowingly made false statements in applications for vehicle and personal loans from G.A.P. Federal Credit Union and Your Choice Federal Credit Union.
The law provides for a maximum total sentence of 90 years in prison, a fine of $3,000,000 or both. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed would be based upon the seriousness of the offenses and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.
Assistant United States Attorney John J. Valkovci, Jr., is prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.
The Laurel Highlands Resident Agency of the Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted the investigation leading to the indictment in this case.
An indictment is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Corpus Man Indicted in Undercover Firearms and Meth OperationRead the Press Release
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – A federal grand jury has returned an indictment today charging a local man with possession with the intent to distribute methamphetamine and making a false statement on a firearms purchasing form, announced U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson along with Special Agent in Charge Robert Elder of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).
Authorities had charged Kevin Joseph Pacacha, 53, of Corpus Christi, on April 14, 2016, following his arrest the day prior. He appeared in federal court April 19, 2016, at which time the court heard that law enforcement had been investigating Pacacha since 2013. Law enforcement believed he had been dealing firearms without a license. Agents met with Pacacha to notify him that he needed to obtain a federal firearms license if he wished to deal in firearms.
The government also detailed the undercover investigation that commenced following the arrest of a firearms trafficker in Brownsville in 2015. According to testimony presented in court, the undercover ATF agent allegedly made five separate purchases involving 13 firearms from Pacacha. At the time of the final sale, Pacacha also allegedly requested to purchase a large quantity of methamphetamine. According to court records, the undercover agent and Pacacha ultimately agreed to a deal in which Pacacha would provide four DPMS rifles and one LWRC rifle to the undercover officer in exchange for a half pound of crystal methamphetamine and $2,000 in cash. Following the exchange, agents arrested Pacacha.
“The tenacity and courage of the undercover agent in pursuing a suspect who seemed to have no regard for the ultimate destination of these guns highlights exemplary actions by ATF's finest,” said Elder.
If convicted of the methamphetamine charge, Pacacha faces a minimum of 10 years and up to life in federal prison as well as a possible $10 million fine. The firearms charge carries and additional five-year-maximum sentence, upon conviction.
ATF investigated the case along with Texas Department of Public Safety, Corpus Christi Police Department Gang Unit, Border Patrol and the U.S. Marshals Service.
An indictment is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence.
A defendant is presumed innocent unless convicted through due process of law.Connecticut Man Pleads Guilty to Tobacco Tax FraudRead the Press Release
BOSTON – A West Hartford, Conn. man pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Springfield today in connection with evading taxes on the sale of tobacco products.
Sukhdev Singh, 63, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge Mark G. Mastroianni to one count of conspiracy, three counts of wire fraud and one count of money laundering. The sentencing hearing has not yet been scheduled.
From 2008 to 2012, Singh worked with several co-conspirators to evade payment of tobacco excise tax by a wholesale business in Berlin, Conn. to the State of Connecticut. To achieve this, co-conspirators sold smokeless tobacco and cigars to convenience stores and gas stations from a “no-tax” computer and a “tax” computer, and then filed false tobacco tax returns with Connecticut tax authorities.
The charge of conspiracy provides for a sentence of no greater than five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. The charges of wire fraud provide 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 money laundering provides for a sentence of no greater than 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Daniel J. Kumor, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, Boston Field Division; Joel P. Garland, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation in Boston; and Matthew Etre, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston, made the announcement today. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Alex J. Grant of Ortiz’s Springfield Branch Office.
Clarksburg, WV man sentenced for heroin traffickingRead the Press Release
CLARKSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA – Randy Joe Jones, 33, of Clarksburg, was sentenced today to 30 months in prison for heroin trafficking, United States Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld, II, announced.
Jones sold heroin near Harrison Street Park in Harrison County, West Virginia. He pled guilty in January 2016 to one count of “Distribution of Heroin within 1,000 feet of a Protected Location.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Shawn Adkins prosecuted the case on behalf of the government. The Greater Harrison County Drug and Violent Crime Task Force, a HIDTA-funded initiative, investigated.
U.S. District Judge Irene M. Keeley presided.
Clairton Man Sentenced to 12 Years in Prison for Sex Trafficking a ChildRead the Press Release
PITTSBURGH - A resident of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, has been sentenced in federal court to 12 years imprisonment, followed by 5 years supervised release, on a charge of Sex Trafficking of a Child, United States Attorney David J. Hickton announced today.
United States District Judge Arthur J. Schwab imposed the sentence on Robert Allen Middlebrook, 41, of Clairton, Pennsylvania.
According to information presented to the court, the court was advised that in February 2015, Middlebrook knowingly recruited, enticed, harbored, transported, provided and obtained female minors to engage in commercial sex acts.
Assistant United States Attorneys Jessica Lieber Smolar and Katherine A. King prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.
U.S. Attorney Hickton commended the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Pennsylvania State Police for conducting the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Middlebrook.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
Chinese Citizen Admits Selling $1.5 Million in Counterfeit Cell Phone PartsRead the Press Release
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Nicholas W. Pilchak (619) 546-9709 and Mark W. Pletcher (619) 546-9714
NEWS RELEASE SUMMARY – May 11, 2016
SAN DIEGO – A Chinese citizen pleaded guilty today to selling at least $1.5 million of counterfeit cell phone parts to an Imperial County business as part of a years-long conspiracy.
Hongwei “Nick” Du, a Chinese national, pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge M. James Lorenz to conspiring to traffic in counterfeit goods and related money laundering charges. According to the plea agreement, Du sold at least $1.5 million worth of counterfeit Chinese cell phone parts from Shenzhen to Spanish national Octavio Cesar Sana, in order to supply Sana’s former business, “Flexqueen.com.”
Du was arrested on February 3, 2015 at the Imperial Valley Airport. Du had traveled to the United States from Shenzhen in order to meet with Sana and others to coordinate further counterfeit trafficking ventures. Du arrived for the meeting bearing samples of counterfeit Apple iPhone components. According to emails that Du had sent before his arrival, he brought the iPhone samples despite concerns about clearing customs because they were “copy ones” with “apple logo.”
The investigation leading to Du and Sana’s arrests was spearheaded by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigations. HSI executed a series of nationwide searches in connection with the arrests, including those in Tampa, Florida; Brownsville, Texas; Boston, Massachusetts; Atlanta, Georgia; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Nashville, Tennessee; and Orange, San Diego and Imperial counties in California. These searches resulted in the seizure of more than 55,000 counterfeit items, and additional criminal charges in several jurisdictions.
According to the plea agreement, since 2007, Sana’s businesses sold approximately $6.5 million in cell phone parts and accessories to businesses and consumers throughout the United States. In turn, Sana paid approximately $3.1 million to Du, his primary Chinese supplier. Du admitted that roughly half of those parts were counterfeit. Sana pled guilty to similar charges in September 2015.
Du also admitted in his plea agreement that he and his co-conspirators used extensive methods to frustrate the ability of U.S. Customs and Border Protection to detect, inspect and intercept their imported counterfeit goods, such as shipping merchandise with “protective stickers” strategically placed to obscure the products’ infringing trademarks. The plea agreement also explains that Du and Sana utilized a dedicated shipping channel for branded goods to avoid attention from Chinese customs officials.
As part of his plea agreement, Du has agreed to forfeit $1.5 million.
“Trafficking in counterfeit goods threatens consumers and the marketplace,” said U.S. Attorney Laura E. Duffy. “Customers buying trademarked products for their personal devices should be able to have confidence that the products aren’t sophisticated forgeries.” U.S. Attorney Duffy noted that the counterfeit goods business is booming; U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reported that in 2014 alone, it intercepted an estimated $1.2 billion of counterfeit goods in more than 23,000 seizures.
Duffy commended the close coordination between the investigating agencies—the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations; the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigations; and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service—during the lengthy investigation of this case. The Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs also provided invaluable assistance.
“This investigation underscores HSI’s commitment to pursuing transnational criminals seeking to exploit the U.S. economy,” said Dave Shaw, special agent in charge for ICE HSI in San Diego. “I commend the work by HSI and our federal law enforcement partners for their outstanding efforts that uncovered a counterfeit scheme which threatened the U.S. marketplace and defrauded consumers.”
“As previously alleged, the defendants ran a sophisticated multi-million dollar counterfeit and money laundering scheme whose reach stretched from China to the Imperial Valley. Counterfeit cellphone parts imported from China were sold to the American consumer with U.S. Dollars going back to China in an effort to promote their counterfeit goods trafficking venture,” stated acting Special Agent in Charge Anthony J. Orlando with IRS Criminal Investigation. “Today’s plea demonstrates that IRS CI will remain an integral part of the U.S. Government’s commitment to maintaining the integrity of the international financial system.”
Du will appear for sentencing on August 15 at 9 a.m. before Judge Lorenz. Octavio Sana is set to be sentenced by Judge Lorenz on May 23, 2016.
DEFENDANT Case No. 16-cr-00930
Hongwei Du 33 years old Shenzhen, People’s Republic of China
CHARGES
Conspiracy to Traffic in Counterfeit Goods - 18 U.S.C. § 371
Maximum penalty: 5 years’ imprisonment and $250,000 fine
Money Laundering Conspiracy – 18 U.S.C. § 1956(h)
Maximum penalty: 20 years’ imprisonment and $500,000 fine
RELATED DEFENDANTS
Case No. 15-cr-612-L
Angela Rose Vela 36 years old El Centro, CA
Case No. 15-cr-2316-L
Octavio Cesar Sana 42 years old El Centro, CA
AGENCIES
Homeland Security Investigations
Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigations
U.S. Postal Inspection Service
Child Pornography Charges Filed Against Philadelphia ManRead the Press Release
PHILADELPHIA – An information was filed today charging Ulric Miller, 34, of Philadelphia, PA, with possession of child pornography, announced United States Attorney Zane David Memeger. The indictment charges Miller with one count of possession of child pornography on July 17, 2015.
If convicted the defendant faces a maximum statutory sentence of 20 years in prison, a possible fine, forfeiture, restitution, at least five years of supervised release, a special assessment of $100 and, if not indigent, an additional $5,000.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Albert S. Glenn.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys= Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
An Information is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Charlestown Man Sentenced on Drug Trafficking, Firearms ChargesRead the Press Release
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Jason D. Smith, 32, of Charlestown, R.I., was sentenced today to 72 months in federal prison on drug and firearms charges. Smith was arrested in September 2015 by members of the Rhode Island State Police High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Task Force after court authorized searches of Smith’s residence and a storage unit rented by Smith resulted in the seizure of five loaded handguns, a shotgun, and significant quantities of heroin, cocaine, ketamine, loose marijuana, mature marijuana plants, and oxycodone and Adderall pills. Law enforcement also discovered two fully functioning marijuana grows.
At sentencing, U.S. District Court Judge John J. McConnell, Jr., also ordered Jason Smith to serve three years supervised release upon completion of his prison term. Smith pleaded guilty on December 4, 2015, to possession with intent to distribute heroin, and possession of firearms and ammunition in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
Smith’s sentence is announced by United States Attorney Peter F. Neronha, Rhode Island State Police Superintendent Colonel Steven G. O’Donnell, Daniel J. Kumor, Special Agent in Charge of the Boston Field Division of ATF, and Charlestown Police Chief Jeffrey S. Allen.
According to information presented to the court, as a result of information developed by the HIDTA Task Force during an investigation into Smith’s drug trafficking activities, law enforcement obtained and executed court authorized search warrants at Smith’s residence and a storage unit rented by Smith.
From Smith’s residence, which he shared with his girlfriend and a young child, and which was equipped with several exterior surveillance cameras, law enforcement seized five loaded handguns, a shotgun, several extended capacity magazines of ammunition, 383 grams of heroin – some mixed with fentanyl and ketamine, 101 grams of ketamine, 52 grams of cocaine, 227 oxycodone pills, 27 Adderall pills, more than 10 kilograms of loose marijuana, and a fully functioning marijuana grow which contained 63 mature marijuana plants. Law enforcement also seized numerous items used in the packaging and distribution of drugs.
Inside a storage unit rented by Smith, law enforcement discovered a fully functioning marijuana grow with 29 mature marijuana plants. Law enforcement also seized an expired Rhode Island Medical Marijuana Caregiver Card with Smith’s picture and a valid Rhode Island Medical Marijuana Patient Card with Smith’s picture.
Smith has been detained since his arrest.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Adi Goldstein.
Agents from ATF assisted the HIDTA Task Force in the investigation of this matter. The HIDTA Task Force is managed by the Rhode Island State Police and comprised of members from Providence Police, Pawtucket Police, Johnston Police, Central Falls Police, North Providence Police, West Warwick Police, United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and the United States Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement-Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
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Contact:
Jim Martin (401) 709-5357
email: [email protected]
on Twitter @USAO_RI
Cartel Connected Kidnapper Sentenced to 56 YearsRead the Press Release
Contact Person: JD Rowell (803) 929-3000
Columbia, South Carolina ---- United States Attorney Bill Nettles stated today that Ruben Ceja-Rangel, age 59, a Mexican national whose last known residence was Groveland, Florida, was sentenced late yesterday in federal court in Columbia, South Carolina. Ceja-Rangel was convicted October 23, 2015, of 7 charges related to the armed abduction of a St. Mathews man that occurred in July of 2014.
United States District Judge J. Michelle Childs of Columbia, South Carolina, sentenced Ceja-Rangel to a term of imprisonment of 677 months (293 months on kidnapping and related charges, 7 years consecutive on use of a firearm in furtherance of kidnapping and 25 years consecutive on a second use of a firearm in furtherance of kidnapping), followed by a term of 5 years supervised release.
Evidence presented during the trial established that Ruben Ceja-Rangel (age 58) traveled from his home in Groveland, Florida, in early June or July of 2014, for the purpose of conspiring with Luis Castro-Villeda (24) and Juan Fuentes-Morales (age 27) to kidnap the victim from St. Mathews, South Carolina. During the trial evidence was presented that the victim was forcibly taken from his truck in the early morning hours of July 14, 2014 at gunpoint by Ceja-Rangel. Ceja-Rangel and another co-defendant then blindfolded and transported the victim to a residence near Garland, NC, where the victim was held for several hours at gunpoint. The victim testified that at one point, he attempted to escape and Juan Fuentes-Morales struck him and pointed a .25 caliber gun at the victim's head. Evidence presented proved that around 8:00 pm, the victim was moved from Garland to a residence located near Rosoboro, NC on Highway 210.
While held at the second location, the victim was blindfolded and chained to a workout bench, where he was made to lay on the floor from July 9, 2014, until his rescue by the FBI on July 15, 2014. In the early morning hours of July 15, 2014, a compliment of the Charlotte, NC FBI SWAT Team executed a search warrant at the Highway 210 residence near Roseboro. When the SWAT team made entry, they located the victim chained up and blindfolded on the floor. Ruben Ceja-Rangel attempted to run out of the back of the residence but he was quickly detained by FBI Charlotte SWAT operators.
Prior to locating the victim, Operators with the FBI's Hostage Rescue Team (HRT) executed a search warrant at 5363 Old Fayetteville Road, Garland NC. During the execution of this search warrant, Agents located a cellular phone that Juan Fuentes-Morales used during the kidnapping to communicate with individuals in Mexico who were demanding a ransom for the victim's return. Agents also located a .25 caliber pistol that Fuentes-Morales had used to hold the victim during his initial abduction on July 9, 2014.
Evidence presented at trial proved that the victim's father owed a drug debt to members of a Mexican Drug Trafficking organization, or cartel, related to the father's inability to sell over 200 pounds of marijuana. Jurors heard multiple phone calls that were recorded by FBI hostage negotiators, wherein the Mexican drug traffickers threatened to gouge out the victim's eyes and ultimately kill him if the father did not pay the ransom.
Ceja-Rangel was convicted of conspiracy to commit kidnapping, substantive kidnapping, hostage taking, brandishing firearms in furtherance of crimes of violence, lying the FBI, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Evidence at the sentencing hearing also established that Ceja-Rangel was previously convicted of Importation of Marijuana in United States District Court in the Southern District of Texas.
Mr. Nettles stated that “this case is the perfect example of how drug trafficking leads to violent crime and brings the real life violence associated with Mexican Drug Trafficking Organizations to the United States. The continued commitment to the war on drugs is the only way to ensure that Mexican Drug Trafficking Organizations know that the United States Government and the FBI will do whatever it takes to ensure that lives are not lost as a result of drug trafficking and the violence associated with it.”
The case was initiated by the Calhoun County Sheriff’s Department and was investigated by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation from the Columbia Field Division and the Charlotte Field Division. Assistant United States Attorney JD Rowell of the Columbia office is prosecuting the case.
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Business Owner Pleads Guilty to Wire Fraud for Stealing $809,205.43 from VictimsRead the Press Release
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Mark Allen Hartley, the owner of Patriot Computers, a Virginia corporation, entered pleas of guilty today, in United States District Court, before Chief Judge Joseph H. McKinley Jr., to multiple wire fraud charges related to the theft of $809,205.43 from 434 victims, announced United States Attorney John E. Kuhn, Jr.
According to the four count indictment and facts admitted today during his guilty plea, from December 1, 2012, through April 14, 2014, Hartley, age 55, devised a scheme to defraud First Citizens Bank and its customers. At the time, Hartley operated a business called Spartan Group Inc., dba Patriot Computers. Patriot Computers sold computer equipment to its customers on installment sales contracts. Customers of Patriot Computers agreed to have specified amounts of money taken from their paychecks on a regular basis until their purchases were paid in full. These customers completed payment authorization forms for these payment arrangements, and then Patriot Computers submitted these forms to First Citizens Bank in Hardin County, Kentucky. First Citizens Bank, through its bill payment service, would then transfer the payments from each customer’s paycheck to Patriot Computers’ account at Wells Fargo Bank until the customer’s contract with Patriot Computers was paid in full.
As part of the scheme and artifice to defraud, Hartley created fraudulent payment authorization forms and transmitted those, by e-mail, to First Citizens Bank. This caused the bank to transfer unauthorized payments from victims’ paychecks to an account at Wells Fargo Bank, controlled by Hartley. These unauthorized payments totaled approximately $809,205.43.
In entering his pleas of guilty, Hartley agreed that the United States could put Patriot Computers’ accounts receivable into receivership, with collections from those accounts being directed to pay restitution to victims.
Hartley, a Florida resident, faces a sentence of up to 80 years in prison and fines of up to $1,000,000, along with up to 3 years of supervised release.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Jason Snyder and Jessica R.C. Malloy and is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
Buffalo Man Sentenced on Drug and Gun ChargesRead 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 Ricky Lee Pyzikiewicz, 29, of Buffalo, NY, who was convicted of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute cocaine and being a felon in possession of a firearm, was sentenced to 37 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Elizabeth Wolford.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary Catherine Baumgarten, who handled the case, stated that on November 15, 2010, law enforcement officers searched the defendant’s residence on Maurice Street in Buffalo. Officers seized baggies later determined to contain cocaine and marijuana as well as a rifle and ammunition.
The search was part of an ongoing criminal investigation into narcotics trafficking by Pyzikiewicz and co-defendant Ashley Marie Gnocchini, 29, of Cheektowaga, NY. During the morning hours of November 15, 2010, officers had set up an undercover purchase with the defendants. As Pyzikiewicz and Gnocchini drove to the area of Milestrip Road and McKinley Parkway in Hamburg, NY, Orchard Park, NY police officers pulled over the car the two were riding in. Pyzikiewicz appeared to hide something under his seat. A Hamburg Police Department canine unit responded to the scene, and alerted for the presence of narcotics. A subsequent search was conducted and quantities of cocaine were recovered.
Gnocchini was convicted of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and was sentenced to 15 months in prison.
The sentencing is the result of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge James J. Hunt, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, under the direction Special Agent in Charge Delano A. Reid, the Orchard Park Police Department, under the direction of Chief Mark Pacholec, and the Hamburg Police Department, under the direction of Chief Gregory Wickett.Buffalo Man Sentenced for Escaping from Halfway HouseRead 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 Michael Bobbitt, 28, of Buffalo, NY, who was convicted of escape from a halfway house, was sentenced to 12 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara.
Assistant U.S. Attorney George C. Burgasser, who handled the case, stated that the defendant was in the custody of the Bureau of Prisons and staying at the Buffalo Halfway House because of a prior racketeering conviction. On August 13, 2015, Bobbitt fled from the halfway house. On August 19, 2015, the United States Marshal Service located and arrested the defendant.
The sentencing is the result of an investigation by the United States Marshal Service, under the direction of Charles Salina.
Browning Man Convicted of AssaultRead the Press Release
GREAT FALLS – Yesterday, Seivert Daydrill Running Crane, 30, of Browning, was convicted of assault resulting in serious bodily injury. Running Crane was convicted by a Great Falls jury following a two-day trial. U.S. District Court Judge Brian Morris presided over the trial. Sentencing has been set for August 18, 2016.
Eye witnesses testified that on May 29, 2015, the victim in the case was in a fight with Running Crane’s co-defendant. Running Crane joined the altercation by punching the victim in the back of the head causing the victim to lose consciousness and fall to the ground in a sitting position. According to one witness, Running Crane then kicked the victim in the face “like a football.” Multiple witnesses testified that after the victim fell to the ground, both Running Crane and his co-defendant continued to punch and kick the victim in the head.
The victim was transported to the emergency room in Browning, Montana and then was life-flighted to Kalispell for additional treatment. The victim suffered bleeding inside his brain, facial contusions and lacerations, and a hemorrhage in his left eye. The victim remained in the ICU for two days. The victim testified at trial that he continues to suffer from dizzy spells and flashes on the sides of his eyes.
This case was investigated by the Blackfeet Law Enforcement and the FBI. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Danna Jackson and Jeffrey Starnes.