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Friday 22 April 2016
Nevada Business Owner and Bookkeeper Plead Guilty to Federal Employment Tax CrimesRead the Press Release
The owner of several Reno, Nevada landscaping and rock hauling businesses pleaded guilty in federal court today to one count of failure to file over employment taxes, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Caroline D. Ciraolo of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Daniel G. Bogden of the District of Nevada. The bookkeeper for the businesses pleaded guilty to one count of willful failure to file taxes.
According to court documents, Kyle Archie, 44, of Reno, was the part owner of Reno Rock Inc., GKPA Inc. and D Rockeries Inc. during the years 2001 through 2010. As part of his plea, Kyle Archie admitted that he was responsible for the day-to-day operations of the businesses and therefore had a legal duty to collect, truthfully account for and pay over to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) federal income taxes and Federal Insurance Contribution Act taxes that were withheld from the wages of the businesses’ employees during the years 2003 through 2009. Kyle Archie further admitted that although he collected these taxes from his employees’ wages and held them in trust, he failed to pay over the employment taxes to the IRS for the third quarter of 2008.
Linda Archie, 67, of Reno, who is Kyle Archie’s mother, worked as the bookkeeper for Reno Rock Inc., GKPA Inc. and D. Rockeries Inc. during the years 2001 through 2010. In that capacity, she was responsible for maintaining the books and records of the companies and filing documents with various government agencies. In her plea agreement, Linda Archie admitted that between 2003 and 2009 she failed to file Employer’s Quarterly Federal Tax Returns (Forms 941) on behalf of these businesses to account for the taxes that were withheld from the employees’ wages.
U.S. District Judge Miranda M. Du of the District of Nevada set sentencing for Aug. 15. Kyle Archie faces a statutory maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Linda Archie faces a statutory maximum sentence of one year in prison and a $100,000 fine. Both defendants have also agreed to pay restitution to the IRS. In the plea agreement, the government asserts that the tax loss is $1,242,260. The defendants have admitted that their actions caused a loss to the IRS of at least $545,000.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Ciraolo and U.S. Attorney Bogden commended special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation, who investigated the case and Assistant U.S. Attorney Carla B. Higginbotham of the District of Nevada and Trial Attorney Kathleen M. Barry of the Tax Division, who prosecuted the case.
Additional information about the Tax Division’s enforcement efforts can be found on the division’s website.
National Prescription Drug Take Back Day, April 30, 2016Read the Press Release
United States Attorney ALICIA A.G. LIMTIACO, U.S. Attorney for the Districts of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands (NMI), together with Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Resident Agent in Charge Michael Puralewski, announced that the next National Prescription Drug Take Back Day will be on Saturday, April 30, 2016, from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM.
The following sites have been designated to receive unused prescription drugs:
- Naval Base Guam (Navy Exchange Food Court)
- Agana Shopping Center (Across Vitamin World)
- Agat Village Mayor's Office
- Andersen Air Force Base (Exchange & Commissary)
- Dededo Village Mayor’s Office
- Rota Health Center
- Saipan Commonwealth Health Center
- Tinian Health Center
We would like to remind the public that:
- Unused or expired prescription medications are a public safety issue, leading to accidental poisoning, overdose, and abuse.
- Pharmaceutical drugs can be just as dangerous as street drugs when taken without a prescription or a doctor’s supervision.
- The non-medical use of prescription drugs ranks second only to marijuana as the most common form of drug abuse in America.
- The majority of teenagers abusing prescription drugs get them from family and friends – and the home medicine cabinet.
- Unused prescription drugs thrown in the trash can be retrieved and abused or illegally sold. Unused drugs that are flushed contaminate the water supply. Proper disposal of unused drugs saves lives and protects the environment.
- Take-back programs are the best way to dispose of old drugs.
The first National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day event was held nationwide in September 2010. Guam and the NMI have participated every year since. The purpose of the National Drug Take-Back Initiative is to help prevent increased pill abuse and theft, to encourage the public to rid their household of unused prescription drugs that pose a safety hazard and can contribute to prescription drug abuse, and to provide a venue for persons who want to dispose of unwanted and unused prescription drugs for safe disposal by DEA.
For more information on prescription drug abuse, go to: www.dea.gov, www.getsmartaboutdrugs.com, or www.justthinktwice.com.
Mexican National Sentenced to Lengthy Prison Term for Trafficking Large Quantities of Crystal MethamphetamineRead the Press Release
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Santiago Sanchez, 39, of Mexico, was sentenced today to 210 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release for trafficking large quantities of crystal methamphetamine, announced Jill Westmoreland Rose, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. Sanchez pleaded guilty in December 2015 to one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.
U.S. Attorney Rose is joined by Daniel R. Salter, Special Agent in Charge of the Atlanta Field Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), which oversees the Charlotte District Office; Janie Sutton, Acting Director of the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation; Sheriff Charles S. McDonald of the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office; Sheriff Donald J. Hill of the Polk County Sheriff’s Office; Sheriff Dudley Greene of the McDowell County Sheriff’s Office; Chief Allen Lawrence of the Marion Police Department; and Chief Tammy Hooper of the Asheville Police Department.
“Through the homemade meth production operation Sanchez devised and ran, he was able to produce and sell large quantities of crystal meth. Sanchez even involved his own children in his illegal activities using them to translate to further his drug manufacture and distribution. Sanchez illegally entered our country and began to poison our citizens through distribution of this illegal and devastating drug,” said U.S. Attorney Rose. “We now welcome him to the confines of the United States Bureau of Prisons where he will serve a lengthy and well-deserved sentence.”
Special Agent in Charge Salter stated, “All participating agencies played a crucial role in the eradication of this criminal network. Sanchez’s methamphetamine trafficking activities posed a significant threat to the quality of life in Buncombe, Henderson, Polk Counties and surrounding areas. The removal of this dangerous individual makes these communities safer today. I want to thank our federal, state and local law enforcement counterparts and the United States Attorney’s Office, who had a direct impact in making this investigation a success.”
According to filed court documents and statements made in court, from at least March 2015 to May 2015, Sanchez was responsible for trafficking large amounts of crystal methamphetamine in Buncombe, Henderson and Polk Counties and elsewhere. Over the course of the investigation, law enforcement observed Sanchez conducting numerous drug transactions, at times using his minor children as translators on the phone or even handing him the container with the narcotics. Law enforcement executed a search warrant at Sanchez’s residence and an adjacent outbuilding located in Polk County and seized more than a pound of crystal methamphetamine, an Igloo thermos containing 1,680.9 grams of liquid methamphetamine, a burner, a pot with a lid, cutting agents and other drug paraphernalia used by Sanchez to convert the liquid methamphetamine into crystal methamphetamine. Law enforcement also seized from the residence several firearms, ammunition and $3,200 in cash.
Sanchez is in federal custody and will be transferred to custody of the Bureau of Prisons upon designation of a federal facility. Federal sentences are served without the possibility of parole. In addition to the imposed sentence, U.S. District Judge Martin Reidinger ordered the defendant be deported to Mexico upon completion of his prison term.
In making today’s announcement, U.S. Attorney Rose noted that multiple agencies worked together to bring this prolific crystal methamphetamine trafficker to justice and thanked the DEA, the SBI, the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office, the Polk County’s Sheriff’s Office, the McDowell County Sheriff’s Office, the Marion Police Department and the Asheville Police Department for investigating this case.
Assistant United States Attorney Thomas Kent of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Asheville handled the prosecution.
Louisiana Company to Pay over $700,000 in Penalties and Costs to Settle U.S. and Louisiana Claims for Atchafalaya River Basin Oil Spills and Violations of Spill Prevention RulesRead the Press Release
In the most recent federal-state coordinated enforcement efforts against oil spills in and around the Gulf of Mexico, ORB Exploration LLC (ORB) has agreed to pay civil penalties and state response costs and to implement corrective measures to resolve alleged violations of the Clean Water Act and state environmental laws stemming from three crude oil spills that occurred in 2013 and 2015 from two of ORB’s Louisiana facilities at Frog Lake and Crocodile Bayou – both located in the Atchafalaya River Basin – as well as violations of Spill Prevention, Control and Countermeasure (SPCC) regulations at ORB’s Frog Lake oil storage barge, announced the Department of Justice, U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Under a consent decree lodged today in federal court, ORB will pay $615,000 in federal civil penalties for the spills and other Clean Water Act violations, pay the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) $100,000 for civil penalties and response costs and carry out injunctive relief measures to improve spill response preparedness and prevent future oil spills.
“This settlement holds ORB accountable for the harms to the environment caused by its oil spills into threatened, sensitive natural areas and requires the company to take important corrective measures including improving its environmental compliance and preventing future spills from its oil production facilities,” said Assistant Attorney General John C. Cruden for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “I am grateful for the close relationship with our federal and state partners that brought such a successful resolution to this case”
“Discharges of oil into the navigable waters of the United States are an ongoing concern as they pose an obvious and serious risk to the marine environment,” said Rear Admiral Dave Callahan, Eighth Coast Guard District Commander. “This enforcement action emphasizes our dedication to protecting our natural resources and preventing future pollution from these facilities.”
“Louisiana’s wetlands are vital to the state’s economy, communities and ecology, providing protection from storm surges and habitat for wildlife,” said Regional Administrator Ron Curry for EPA. “Companies must be held accountable when their actions threaten these important natural resources.”
“This joint action shows that LDEQ is committed to pursuing anyone who does something to harm our state’s environment,” said Dr. Chuck Carr Brown, LDEQ Secretary. “Our mission is to protect human health and the environment and those two things are too precious to risk by allowing unscrupulous operators to flout environmental laws in the name of profit.”
As part of a joint action filed with LDEQ, the complaint alleges that ORB spilled over 1,000 barrels of Louisiana crude oil into the Atchafalaya River Basin during the three spills. The largest occurred at Frog Lake in 2013, after a corroded oil transfer pipeline ruptured in a flooded wetland area. The cleanup took over a year and a half and required significant state-federal cooperation. The other two releases occurred in September and October of 2015, from ORB’s Frog Lake and Crocodile Bayou oil production facilities into bayou waters surrounding the facilities.
In the complaint, the United States asserts penalty and injunctive relief claims for the spills. It also alleges Clean Water Act violations for ORB’s failure to comply with a USCG order addressing the 2013 cleanup. The SPCC violations were discovered during a 2015 EPA inspection of ORB’s Frog Lake oil production barge. For its part, LDEQ asserts state-law claims for civil penalties for the discharges, failure to file a timely report and failure to provide updated notice to the state hotline and for reimbursement of LDEQ’s response costs.
The corrective measures ORB is required to take include improving secondary containment capability at the Frog Lake facility, increasing the frequency of facility inspections and monitoring for oil spills, providing additional advance notice to the USCG before any future oil transfer operation and installation of accurate gauges on production and transfer equipment to allow for and improve accountability and spill detection capabilities.
The Clean Water Act makes it unlawful to discharge oil or hazardous substances into or upon the navigable waters of the United States or adjoining shorelines in quantities that may be harmful to the environment or public health. EPA’s SPCC regulations establish procedures, methods and equipment requirements and also require facilities to develop and implement SPCC Plans toward the goal of preventing oil from reaching navigable waters and adjoining shorelines. The penalty paid to the United States will be deposited in the federal Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund managed by the National Pollution Funds Center. Those funds will be available to pay for federal response activities and to compensate for damages when there is a discharge or substantial threat of discharge of oil or hazardous substances to waters of the United States or adjoining shorelines.
The proposed consent decree, lodged in the Middle District of Louisiana, is subject to a public comment requirements and court review and approval. A copy of the consent decree is available on the Department of Justice website at https://www.justice.gov/enrd/consent-decrees.
Los Lunas Man Sentenced to 60 Months for Federal Methamphetamine Trafficking ConvictionRead the Press Release
ALBUQUERQUE – James Sparks, 38, of Los Lunas, N.M., was sentenced today in federal court in Albuquerque, N.M., for his methamphetamine trafficking conviction. Sparks was sentenced to 60 months in federal prison followed by a four-year term of supervised release.
Sparks was charged in an indictment filed on Nov. 5, 2015, with possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute on June 16, 2014, in Valencia County, N.M. He was arrested on Nov. 10, 2015, after he was transferred to federal custody from state custody where he was being held on related state charges which were later dismissed in favor of federal prosecution.
On Jan. 22, 2016, Sparks pled guilty to the indictment. In entering his guilty plea, Sparks admitted that on June 16, 2014, Valencia County Sheriff’s deputies stopped him for speeding on his motorcycle. He attempted to run from deputies when they discovered that Sparks was in possession of more than five grams of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia, but was eventually apprehended and arrested by the deputies.
This case was investigated by the Albuquerque office of the DEA and the Valencia County Sheriff’s Office with assistance from the 13th Judicial District Attorney’s Office.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Rumaldo R. Armijo prosecuted the case as part of the federal “worst of the worst” anti-violence initiative. Under this initiative, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and federal law enforcement agencies work with New Mexico’s District Attorneys and state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies to target violent or repeat offenders primarily based on their prior felony convictions for federal prosecution with the goal of removing repeat offenders from communities in New Mexico for as long as possible. Because New Mexico’s violent crime rates, on a per capita basis, are amongst the highest in the nation, New Mexico’s law enforcement community is collaborating to target repeat offenders from counties with the highest violent crime rates, including Valencia County, under this initiative.
Last Week of April Designated as 2016 National Reentry WeekRead the Press Release
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The Department of Justice has designated April 24-30, 2016, as National Reentry Week, to focus on ex-offenders reentering communities post-incarceration. U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch supports the position that the successful reentry of ex-offenders is an essential component of the department’s mission to promote public safety because crime can be reduced and neighborhoods made better places to live by helping individuals lead productive law abiding lives after they have paid their debt to society through incarceration.
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Tennessee will participate in several reentry events throughout the district during National Reentry Week. On Monday, April 25, 2016, Tuesday, April 26, 2016, and Thursday, April 28, 2016, the U.S. Attorney's Office, U.S. Probation Office, and other partners will host call-in meetings in Chattanooga, Knoxville and Johnson City, where ex-offenders meet with various community service providers to seek assistance in making a positive and law abiding transition into their community.
National Reentry Week is one part of a much larger effort known as the Smart on Crime Initiative. This initiative includes a concerted effort by law enforcement and community partners to be both smart and tough on crime. The initiative has three major components that include crime prevention, rigorous prosecution of the most serious and violent criminals, and the successful reentry of ex-offenders. Acting U.S. Attorney Nancy Harr implemented an ongoing Smart on Crime program for the district in January 2016. This program is overseen by Assistant U.S. Attorney Brooklyn Sawyers in the Knoxville headquarters office.
For more information on National Reentry Week, please see: https://www.justice.gov/opa/blog/national-reentry-week. For more information on Smart on Crime, including reentry, go to: https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/ag/legacy/2013/08/12/smart-on-crime.pdf.
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Justice Department Releases Investigative Findings on University of New Mexico’s Response to Sexual Assault AllegationsRead the Press Release
ALBUQUERQUE – The Justice Department today announced that according to its comprehensive investigation, the University of New Mexico’s (UNM) handling of reports by students of sexual harassment – including sexual assault – fail to comply with federal law. The Justice Department delivered a letter setting forth these findings to President Robert G. Frank of UNM this morning.
The investigation was launched on Dec. 5, 2014, in response to complaints from multiple students alleging that UNM did not adequately respond to their reports of sexual assault. It was conducted under Title IV of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, both of which prohibit sex discrimination in education programs. The investigation examined UNM’s policies and practices for preventing sexual assault and sexual harassment, as well as for investigating and responding to student complaints of sexual assault, sexual harassment and retaliation.
The investigation found that although UNM had strengthened its response to sexual harassment and sexual assault over the past year, it remains out of compliance with Title IX and Title IV in key respects. The department specifically found that students, faculty and staff lacked basic understanding about reporting options, duties and obligations, as well as where to turn for help. The investigation also found significant gaps in UNM’s procedures, training and practices for investigating and resolving allegations of sexual assault and harassment, resulting in a grievance process that complainants and respondents alike described as confusing, distressing and rife with delays. More generally, in focus groups and interviews, many UNM students expressed reluctance to report sexual assault to UNM because they lacked confidence in the school’s response.
The department also found that students who have experienced harassment and assault have difficulty accessing services and supports. Without appropriate supports in place, some of these students experienced severe and lasting educational impacts, including suspending their academic coursework, dropping out of extracurricular activities, losing scholarships and even withdrawing from UNM.
The department found that UNM must take the following measures to fully comply with these laws:
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Provide comprehensive and effective training to all students, faculty and staff that gives notice of UNM’s prohibition on sexual harassment, including sexual assault; information about reporting options, duties and obligations; details on where to go for assistance; and information on grievance procedures and potential outcomes;
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Revise UNM’s policies, procedures and investigative practices to provide a grievance procedure that ensures prompt and equitable resolution of sexual harassment and sexual assault allegations;
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Adequately investigate or respond to all allegations by students who have alleged sexual assault or sexual harassment, including allegations of retaliation for reporting sexual assault or sexual harassment;
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Take prompt and effective steps to eliminate a hostile environment, prevent its reoccurrence and address its effects; and
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Ensure that the individuals designated to coordinate Title IX efforts receive adequate training and coordinate these efforts effectively.
“Our findings reveal how a flawed system for responding to sexual assault fails all those involved – from victims seeking adequate protection, to accused students demanding fair hearings, to faculty looking for clear instruction,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta, head of the department’s Civil Rights Division. “These failures diminish educational opportunities and threaten community confidence in the integrity and fairness of the university’s policies and practices. The Justice Department commends UNM officials for starting to implement key changes in a number of areas, and we look forward to working closely with them to expand and enhance these early steps of progress.”
“Campus sexual assault and sexual harassment are civil rights issues,” said U.S. Attorney Damon P. Martinez of the District of New Mexico. “They are primarily perpetrated against women and undermine their basic rights. When perpetuated against students, sexual assault and sexual harassment deny them the right to live and learn in a safe educational environment. Colleges and universities are obligated to stop and prevent sexual violence against their students and to respond effectively when they receive reports of sexual assault. We appreciate the university’s continuing efforts to address the serious deficiencies identified by our investigation so that we can improve the safety of women and other students and reduce barriers in education.”
UNM cooperated fully with the department’s investigation, and has committed to continue to cooperate with the department to timely resolve these findings under mutually agreeable terms that will provide accountability to the public and accomplish the remedial measures within a fixed period of time.
The investigation was conducted jointly by the Civil Rights Division’s Educational Opportunities Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the District of New Mexico. Additional information about the Civil Rights Division is available on its website at www.justice.gov/crt. Additional information about the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the District of New Mexico is available on its website at www.justice.gov/usao/nm.
The enforcement of Title IV and Title IX are top priorities of the Civil Rights Division. For more information about the administration’s efforts on prevention and response to sexual assault and sexual harassment on college and university campuses, please visit www.notalone.gov.
UNM Findings Letter
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Justice Department Releases Investigative Findings on University of New Mexico’s Response to Sexual Assault AllegationsRead the Press Release
The Justice Department today announced that according to its comprehensive investigation, the University of New Mexico’s (UNM) handling of reports by students of sexual harassment – including sexual assault – fail to comply with federal law. The Justice Department delivered a letter setting forth these findings to President Robert G. Frank of UNM this morning.
The investigation was launched on Dec. 5, 2014, in response to complaints from multiple students alleging that UNM did not adequately respond to their reports of sexual assault. It was conducted under Title IV of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, both of which prohibit sex discrimination in education programs. The investigation examined UNM’s policies and practices for preventing sexual assault and sexual harassment, as well as for investigating and responding to student complaints of sexual assault, sexual harassment and retaliation.
The investigation found that although UNM had strengthened its response to sexual harassment and sexual assault over the past year, it remains out of compliance with Title IX and Title IV in key respects. The department specifically found that students, faculty and staff lacked basic understanding about reporting options, duties and obligations, as well as where to turn for help. The investigation also found significant gaps in UNM’s procedures, training and practices for investigating and resolving allegations of sexual assault and harassment, resulting in a grievance process that complainants and respondents alike described as confusing, distressing and rife with delays. More generally, in focus groups and interviews, many UNM students expressed reluctance to report sexual assault to UNM because they lacked confidence in the school’s response.
The department also found that students who have experienced harassment and assault have difficulty accessing services and supports. Without appropriate supports in place, some of these students experienced severe and lasting educational impacts, including suspending their academic coursework, dropping out of extracurricular activities, losing scholarships and even withdrawing from UNM.
The department found that UNM must take the following measures to fully comply with these laws:
- Provide comprehensive and effective training to all students, faculty and staff that gives notice of UNM’s prohibition on sexual harassment, including sexual assault; information about reporting options, duties and obligations; details on where to go for assistance; and information on grievance procedures and potential outcomes;
- Revise UNM’s policies, procedures and investigative practices to provide a grievance procedure that ensures prompt and equitable resolution of sexual harassment and sexual assault allegations;
- Adequately investigate or respond to all allegations by students who have alleged sexual assault or sexual harassment, including allegations of retaliation for reporting sexual assault or sexual harassment;
- Take prompt and effective steps to eliminate a hostile environment, prevent its reoccurrence and address its effects; and
- Ensure that the individuals designated to coordinate Title IX efforts receive adequate training and coordinate these efforts effectively.
“Our findings reveal how a flawed system for responding to sexual assault fails all those involved – from victims seeking adequate protection, to accused students demanding fair hearings, to faculty looking for clear instruction,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta, head of the department’s Civil Rights Division. “These failures diminish educational opportunities and threaten community confidence in the integrity and fairness of the university’s policies and practices. The Justice Department commends UNM officials for starting to implement key changes in a number of areas, and we look forward to working closely with them to expand and enhance these early steps of progress.”
“Campus sexual assault and sexual harassment are civil rights issues,” said U.S. Attorney Damon P. Martinez of the District of New Mexico. “They are primarily perpetrated against women and undermine their basic rights. When perpetuated against students, sexual assault and sexual harassment deny them the right to live and learn in a safe educational environment. Colleges and universities are obligated to stop and prevent sexual violence against their students and to respond effectively when they receive reports of sexual assault. We appreciate the university’s continuing efforts to address the serious deficiencies identified by our investigation so that we can improve the safety of women and other students and reduce barriers in education.”
UNM cooperated fully with the department’s investigation, and has committed to continue to cooperate with the department to timely resolve these findings under mutually agreeable terms that will provide accountability to the public and accomplish the remedial measures within a fixed period of time.
The investigation was conducted jointly by the Civil Rights Division’s Educational Opportunities Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the District of New Mexico. Additional information about the Civil Rights Division is available on its website at www.justice.gov/crt. Additional information about the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the District of New Mexico is available on its website at www.justice.gov/usao/nm.
The enforcement of Title IV and Title IX are top priorities of the Civil Rights Division. For more information about the administration’s efforts on prevention and response to sexual assault and sexual harassment on college and university campuses, please visit www.notalone.gov.
Jason Loera Pleads Guilty to Federal Receipt of Child Pornography ChargeRead the Press Release
ALBUQUERQUE – Jason Loera, 47, a former political consultant and resident of Albuquerque, N.M., who currently resides in Los Angeles, Calif., pled guilty today in federal court in Albuquerque to receiving a visual depiction of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Loera entered his guilty plea under a plea agreement that permits him to appeal from a court order denying his motion to suppress evidence.
Loera was arrested in Los Angeles in June 2013 on an indictment filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico. The indictment charged Loera with two counts of receiving child pornography and one count of possessing child pornography. According to the indictment, Loera committed these offenses in in Bernalillo County, N.M.
The indictment against Loera subsequently was superseded twice, most recently on March 8, 2016. The six-count second superseding indictment charged Loera with three counts of receiving child pornography and three counts of possessing child pornography. It alleged that Loera received child pornography on three occasions between March 31, 2010 and April 15, 2010, and that he possessed child pornography on a laptop computer and two CDs on Nov. 20, 2012, in Bernalillo County.
During today’s change of plea hearing, Loera entered a guilty plea to Count 3 of the second superseding indictment charging him with receiving child pornography on April 15, 2010. In his plea agreement, Loera admitted using his laptop computer to download from the internet an electronic file that he knew contained child pornography. The file contained 45 images of a prepubescent girl, many of which showed the girl engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Loera also admitted that when the FBI searched his residence on Nov. 20, 2012, he knowingly possessed child pornography on his laptop computer and two CDs. Loera admitted that he had more than 600 images of child pornography, some of which depicted violence.
Loera, who had been on conditions of release under pretrial supervision since June 2013, was ordered to surrender himself to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service by June 1, 2016. Thereafter, he will remain in federal custody pending his sentencing hearing, which has yet to be scheduled. At sentencing, Loera faces a statutory mandatory minimum of five years and a maximum of 20 years in prison followed by a term of supervised release to be set by the court. Loera will be required to register as a sex offender after completing his prison sentence.
The case was investigated by the Albuquerque Division of the FBI and the New Mexico Regional Computer Forensic Laboratory. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Dean S. Tuckman and Kristopher N. Houghton 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/.
Information: Federal Court ArraignmentsRead the Press Release
The United States Attorney’s Office announced that those persons listed below were arraigned before the U.S. Magistrate and the indictments handed down by the Grand Jury unsealed.
Appearing before U.S. Magistrate Lynch in Missoula on April 21, 2016 and entering pleas of Not Guilty were:
- CHRISTOPHER CONVERSE HARLING, of Missoula, appeared on charges of receipt of child pornography. If convicted of the charge contained in the indictment, HARLING faces 20 years in prison, $250,000 in fines, and lifetime supervised release. The case was investigated by the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, Montana Division of Criminal Investigation and Missoula Police Department. PACER Case Reference. 16-18
Appearing before U.S. Magistrate Johnston in Great Falls on April 19, 2016 and entering pleas of Not Guilty were:
- FX DRILLING COMPANY, of Shelby, appeared on charges of negligent discharge of oil into waters of the United States in a quantity that may be harmful. If convicted of the charge contained in the indictment, FX DRILLING COMPANY faces 5 years in prison, $500,000 in fines, and 1 year supervised release. The case was investigated by the Environmental Protection Agency. PACER Case Reference. 16-20
- ERIC J. MARTELL, a 44-year-old resident of Wolf Point, appeared on charges of obstruction of the mail. If convicted of the charge contained in the indictment, MARTELL faces 6 months in prison and $5,000 in fines. The case was investigated by the United States Postal Service Office of Inspector General. PACER Case Reference. 16-02
Appearing before U.S. Magistrate Johnston in Great Falls on April 13, 2016 and entering pleas of Not Guilty were:
- JACQUELINE MARIE KIRKALDIE, a 29-year-old resident of Harlem, appeared on charges of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. If convicted of the most serious charge contained in the indictment, KIRKALDIE faces life in prison, $10,000,000 in fines, and 5 years supervised release. The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration. PACER Case Reference. 16-32
Appearing before U.S. Magistrate Ostby in Billings on April 13, 2016 and entering pleas of Not Guilty were:
- DAVID LAWRENCE SCHEIN, a 59-year-old resident of Billings, appeared on charges of conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, and manufacturing methamphetamine. If convicted of the most serious charges contained in the indictment, SCHEIN faces 20 years in prison, $1,000,000 in fines, and 4 years supervised release. The case was investigated by the Bureau of Land Management. PACER Case Reference. 16-39
Appearing before U.S. Magistrate Ostby in Billings on April 12, 2016 and entering pleas of Not Guilty were:
- MATTHEW STONEY OLSON, a 37-year-old resident of Circle, appeared on charges of receipt of child pornography, and possession of child pornography. If convicted of the most serious charge contained in the indictment, OLSON faces 20 years in prison, $250,000 in fines, and lifetime supervised release. The case was investigated by the Homeland Security Investigations and Montana Division of Criminal Investigation. PACER Case Reference. 16-30
Appearing before U.S. Magistrate Johnston in Great Falls on April 11, 2016 and entering pleas of Not Guilty were:
- CLIFFORD AIMSBACK, a 21-year-old resident of Browning, appeared on charges of assault resulting in serious bodily injury and assault with a dangerous weapon. If convicted of the most serious charge contained in the indictment, AIMSBACK faces 10 years in prison, $250,000 in fines, and 3 years supervised release. The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. PACER Case Reference. 16-33
- CHRISTIE MARIE FARMER, a 37-year-old resident of Browning, appeared on charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, and distribution of methamphetamine. If convicted of the most serious charges contained in the indictment, FARMER faces 20 years in prison, $1,000,000 in fines, and 3 years supervised release. The case was investigated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Drug Enforcement Administration and Federal Bureau of Investigation. PACER Case Reference. 16-28
- THOMAS BLACKFACE GRANT, a 67-year-old resident of Heart Butte, appeared on charges of aggravated sexual abuse. If convicted of the most serious charge contained in the indictment, GRANT faces life in prison, $250,000 in fines, and lifetime supervised release. The case was investigated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. PACER Case Reference. 16-34
- JOHN ALVIN HODSON, a 44-year-old resident of Browning, appeared on charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, and distribution of methamphetamine. If convicted of the most serious charges contained in the indictment, HODSON faces life in prison, $10,000,000 in fines, and 5 years supervised release. The case was investigated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Drug Enforcement Administration and Federal Bureau of Investigation. PACER Case Reference. 16-25
- JOSIE MARIE MAFFITT, a 38-year-old resident of Great Falls, appeared on charges of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, and distribution of methamphetamine. If convicted of the most serious charges contained in the indictment, MAFFITT faces 40 years in prison, $5,000,000 in fines, and 4 years supervised release. The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration. PACER Case Reference. 16-31
- LAVONNIE JEAN MCMANUS, a 39-year-old resident of Hungary Horse, appeared on charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, and distribution of methamphetamine. If convicted of the most serious charges contained in the indictment, MCMANUS faces 20 years in prison, $10,000,000 in fines, and 5 years supervised release. The case was investigated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Drug Enforcement Administration, and Federal Bureau of Investigation. PACER Case Reference. 16-26
If any of the above cases are of interest to your media organization and the community it serves, we encourage you to monitor the progress of the case regularly through the U.S. District Court calendar and the PACER system so that you stay current and not miss any important developments in the case.
To establish a PACER account, which will allow you to review documents filed in the case, please go to, http://www.pacer.gov/register.html. To access the district court’s calendar, please go to https://ecf.mtd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/PublicCalendar.pl.
Indictment Unsealed Charging Drug and Gun Conspiracies Involving Eastside Hollygrove ResidentsRead the Press Release
U.S. Attorney Kenneth A. Polite announced today’s unsealing of a two-count Indictment charging JONATHAN LAWRENCE, a/k/a “Chop,” a/k/a “Mego,” age 29; DONALD MARCELIN, a/k/a “Snook,” a/k/a “Black,” a/k/a “Golfer,” age 39; BRANDON HALL, a/k/a “B-Hilly,” age 26; and BRIAN MAXSON, a/k/a “Chin,” age 32, all of New Orleans, with violations of the Federal Controlled Substances Act and the Federal Gun Control Act. Count One charges all four defendants with a conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute a quantity of heroin. Count Two charges defendants LAWRENCE, HALL, and MAXSON with a conspiracy to possess a firearm in furtherance of their drug-trafficking activities.
If convicted of the drug charge, each defendant faces a maximum sentence of twenty years of imprisonment, a $1,000,000 fine, and at least three years of supervised release. If convicted of the firearm charge, each defendant faces a maximum sentence of twenty years of imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, and not more than three years of supervised release.
U.S. Attorney Polite reiterated that the Indictment is merely a charge and that the guilt of the defendants must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
U.S. Attorney Polite praised the work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s New Orleans Division’s Violent Gang Task Force, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD), and the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office (JPSO) in investigating this matter. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brandon Long is in charge of the prosecution.
Identity Thief Goes to Federal PrisonRead the Press Release
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - Paul Michael Dye, 49, of Corpus Christi, has been sentenced to federal prison for identity theft, announced U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson. Dye pleaded guilty Oct. 29, 2015.
Today, U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos ordered Dye to serve 30 months for possessing five or more identification documents with the intent to defraud as well as another 24 months for the identity theft which must be served consecutively. The court also revoked his supervised release he was serving for a prior securities fraud conviction resulting in another 21 months in prison, six months of which will be served consecutively to his new sentence. The total five-year sentence will be followed by three years of additional supervised release. Dye was further ordered to pay full restitution to his victims.
Dye was arrested March 16, 2015. At that time, he was in possession of numerous identity documents in the names of others including three Texas driver’s licenses, three Texas ID cards, one Florida ID, five Social Security cards, two Medicare health insurance cards, seven credit cards and a variety of other student IDs, heath plan IDs and work IDs. Dye also had an assortment of stolen, counterfeit and forged checks. The documents found in Dye’s possession included a fraudulent Texas driver’s license bearing Dye’s photograph but the name and identifying information of another individual.
Agents discovered that between March 8, 2015, and March 11, 2015, 22 counterfeit checks in the name appearing on Dye’s fraudulent driver’s license totaling $5,818.58 were passed at retailers in Corpus Christi and Portland. The routing number and account number on all of these checks actually belonged to an individual whose stolen identifying information was found in Dye’s possession.
An examination of a notebook found in Dye’s vehicle revealed pages of identifying information including names, addresses, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers, driver’s license issue and expiration dates, bank account routing and account numbers and other information for dozens of individuals. Through the course of the investigation, agents discovered that a number of the driver’s licenses and ID cards had been used to pass or cash counterfeit and forged checks in the Corpus Christi area and Dye had additional fraudulent checks ready to be passed in his possession.
Dye was also found to be on federal supervised release as the result of a prior conviction for making, possessing and uttering counterfeited securities.
He has been and will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
The charges are the result of an investigation conducted by the Corpus Christi Police Department and the U.S. Secret Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert D. Thorpe Jr. is prosecuting the case.
Harrisburg Man Indicted on Federal Drug and Firearm ChargesRead the Press Release
HARRISBURG – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced today that Andre Hairston, age 34, of Harrisburg, was indicted by a federal grand jury in Harrisburg on April 20, 2016, on charges of being a convicted felon illegally in possession of a four firearms which were also stolen, selling one of the stolen firearms, possession with the intent to distribute synthetic marijuana and criminal conspiracy.
According to U.S. Attorney Peter Smith, the charges arise out of the arrest of Hairston in July 2015 when he sold a stolen handgun. Another stolen handgun was recovered from Hairston’s car. Further investigation led to the recovery of two other stolen handguns and synthetic marijuana that was packaged for distribution.
The investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigations Violent Crimes Task Force, the Harrisburg Police Department, the Pennsylvania State Police, the Lower Paxton Township Police, and the Dauphin County Probation and Parole Office. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney William A. Behe.
This case was brought as part of the Violent Crime Reduction Partnership (“VCRP”), a district wide initiative to combat the spread of violent crime in the Middle District of Pennsylvania. Led by the United States Attorney’s Office, the VCRP consists of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies whose mission is to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who commit violent crimes.
Indictments are only allegations. All persons charged are presumed to be innocent unless and until found guilty in court.
A sentence following a finding of guilt is imposed by the Judge after consideration of the applicable federal sentencing statutes and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.
The maximum penalty under federal law for each firearm count of the indictment is a 10 year term of imprisonment, a term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a fine. The drug counts of the indictment carry 20 year maximum terms of imprisonment. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the Judge is also required to consider and weigh a number of factors, including the nature, circumstances and seriousness of the offense; the history and characteristics of the defendant; and the need to punish the defendant, protect the public and provide for the defendant's educational, vocational and medical needs. For these reasons, the statutory maximum penalty for the offense is not an accurate indicator of the potential sentence for a specific defendant.
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Grandview Man Sentenced to 27 Months in Prison for Methamphetamine DistributionRead the Press Release
BOISE - Jose Antonio Diaz-Juarez, 45, of Grandview, Idaho, was sentenced yesterday in United States District Court to 27 months in prison for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, U.S. Attorney Wendy J. Olson announced. Chief U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill also ordered Diaz-Juarez to forfeit $8,200 in drug proceeds. He will be deported to Mexico at the end of his prison term. Diaz-Juarez pleaded guilty on January 14, 2016.
According to his plea agreement, Diaz-Juarez, who was living in Grandview Idaho, conspired to distribute methamphetamine in the state of Idaho between July 24, 2015, and September 8, 2015. The defendant and his co-conspirators arranged for three separate deliveries of methamphetamine to the Boise area. An investigating officer discovered the conspiracy and was able to intervene.
Codefendant, Daniel Valdenegro-Zafiro, 24, of Elko, Nevada, was sentenced on April 19, 2016, to 52 months in prison for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. Judge Winmill also ordered Valdenegro-Zafiro to forfeit $8,200 in drug proceeds. He will be deported to Mexico at the end of his prison term. Valdenegro-Zafiro pleaded guilty on January 20, 2016.
Codefendant, Diego Alejandro Alcantar-Armenta, 29, of Elko, Nevada, was sentenced on March 21, 2016, to 42 months in prison for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. Judge Winmill also ordered Alcantar-Armenta to forfeit $8,200 in drug proceeds. He will be deported to Mexico at the end of his prison term. Alcantar-Armenta pleaded guilty on January 11, 2016.
The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, Ada County Sheriff’s Office, Elmore County Sheriff’s Office, Owyhee County Sheriff’s Office, and the Elko Combined Narcotic Unit of Elko, Nevada.
The case was prosecuted by the Special Assistant U.S. Attorney hired by the Ada County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office and the Idaho High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Board. The Idaho High Intensity Drug Trafficking Board is a collaboration of local law enforcement drug task forces and prosecuting agencies dedicated to addressing regional drug trafficking organizations that operate in Ada, Canyon, and Malheur County.
Grand Prairie Man Sentenced to More Than 17 Years in Federal Prison on Enticement of a Minor ConvictionRead the Press Release
DALLAS — Michael Joseph Carr, 25, of Grand Prairie, Texas, was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Judge Jane J. Boyle to serve 210 months (17.5 years) in federal prison, following his guilty plea in December 2015 to one count of enticement of a minor, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.
Carr has been in federal custody since his arrest in May 2015 on a related federal criminal complaint.
According to documents filed in the case, on March 24, 2015, officers with the Grand Prairie Police Department responded to a call regarding a 15-year-old female who was missing from her guardian’s residence. While driving through the neighborhood, officers observed a suspicious vehicle parked at a church on Tamara Lane in Grand Prairie. Two individuals occupied the rear passenger area. The male occupant, later identified as Carr, opened the door and immediately began apologizing. The other occupant was identified as the missing girl, Jane Doe, who stated she and Carr met on an online social media website.
A subsequent search of Jane Doe’s mobile device revealed that she was using the Kik instant messaging application to engage in sexually explicit communications with another Kik user, later identified as Carr. Carr admits that he used the Internet, Kik and his cell phone to entice Jane Doe to engage in sexual activity with him.
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Project Safe Childhood (PSC) initiative. PSC is a department initiative launched in May 2006 that aims to combat the proliferation of technology-facilitated sexual exploitation crimes against children. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, PSC marshals federal, state, tribal and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. Since FY 2011, the Department of Justice has filed 20,260 Project Safe Childhood (PSC) cases against 19,111 defendants. These cases include prosecutions of child sex trafficking; sexual abuse of a minor or ward; child pornography offenses; obscene visual representation of the sexual abuse of children; selling or buying of children; and many more statutes. To learn more about PSC’s work, please visit: https://www.justice.gov/psc.
For more information regarding the National Strategy to Combat Child Exploitation, Prevention and Interdiction, please visit: https://www.justice.gov/psc/national-strategy-child-exploitation-prevention-and-interdiction.
The Grand Prairie Police Department and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney Camille Sparks was in charge of the prosecution.
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Georgia Husband and Wife Plead Guilty in Stolen Identity Tax Refund Fraud Scheme Involving IRS “Get Transcript” DatabaseRead the Press Release
Used Stolen Personally Identifiable Information to Gain Access to the Get Transcript Database
An Austell, Georgia husband and wife pleaded guilty today to charges relating to their involvement in a stolen identity income tax refund fraud scheme, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Caroline D. Ciraolo of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney John A. Horn of the Northern District of Georgia.
Anthony Alika, 42, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. His wife Sonia Alika, 27, pleaded guilty to one count of illegally structuring cash withdrawals to evade bank reporting requirements.
“With the number of stolen identity refund fraud victims increasing at an alarming rate, the Justice Department, working with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and its other federal, state and local law enforcement partners, remains committed to investigating these abusive schemes and criminal networks, prosecuting these offenders, and seeking lengthy prison terms and monetary penalties,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Ciraolo. “The guilty pleas of Anthony Alika, Sonia Alika and Rapheal Atebefia in connection with their attempt to infiltrate and abuse the “Get Transcript” database are yet another example of these continued efforts. The investigation and successful prosecution of these defendants sends a clear message to those individuals engaged in, or considering, this criminal conduct that the Department will bring all available resources to bear to hold them accountable.”
“The IRS is committed to working with our law enforcement partners to pursue identity thieves, and we continue to make important progress in Georgia as well as elsewhere across the country,” said IRS Commissioner John Koskinen. “The IRS is also continuing to strengthen its operations and working with state revenue departments and the tax industry to provide further protections for taxpayers against identity theft.”
“Criminals continually discover more sophisticated methods of stealing personal information and unfortunately seek to capitalize on this theft by filing phony tax returns demanding excessive refunds,” said U.S. Attorney Horn. “Because this is a growing problem, we are applying additional resources to help stem the tide and protect both our personal information and precious tax dollars.”
In January 2016, Anthony Alika and Sonia Alika were charged with laundering the proceeds from a stolen identity refund fraud scheme. The indictment alleged that Anthony Alika, along with Rapheal Atebefia, 33, of Austell, Georgia, obtained means of identification of actual individuals, including their names and social security numbers, and used this information to access the IRS “Get Transcript” database. The indictment further alleged that Anthony Alika, Atebefia, and others obtained prepaid debit cards from stores located in multiple states, registered the cards in the names of the stolen identities, filed false income tax returns using the stolen identities and information obtained from the Get Transcript database, and directed the IRS to deposit the tax refunds onto these cards. To conceal their fraud, Anthony Alika, Atebefia and others were alleged to have used the prepaid debit cards to purchase money orders, which Anthony Alika, Sonia Alika and Atebefia deposited into bank accounts and then structured cash withdrawals of the proceeds in order to prevent the bank from filing Currency Transaction Reports (CTRs).
As part of his guilty plea, Anthony Alika admitted that during 2015 he received money orders from several individuals and deposited those money orders into bank accounts in his name or had his wife deposit them into bank accounts in her name. Anthony Alika would then structure out cash withdrawals from his bank accounts in amounts less than $10,000 to evade the bank reporting requirements. Anthony Alika admitted that the funds used to purchase the money orders were the proceeds of illegal activity, including the filing of fraudulent tax returns using stolen identities. Sonia Alika admitted as part of her guilty plea that between February and June 2015, she withdrew more than $250,000 from multiple bank accounts she controlled in amounts less than $10,000 to prevent the bank from filing CTRs.
U.S. District Judge Thomas W. Thrash, Jr. set sentencing for July 27. Anthony Alika faces a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and Sonia Alika faces a statutory maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. They also face substantial monetary penalties, restitution and forfeiture. In March, Atebefia pleaded guilty to one count of money laundering for his role in this scheme. He is scheduled to be sentenced on June 22.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Ciraolo and U.S. Attorney Horn commended special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, who investigated the case and Trial Attorneys Michael C. Boteler and Charles M. Edgar, Jr. of the Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Pearce of the Northern District of Georgia, who are prosecuting this case.
Additional information about the Tax Division and its enforcement efforts may be found on the division’s website.
Former Teacher Sentenced for Possession of Child PornographyRead the Press Release
DAYTON – William Foreman, 71, of Kettering, Ohio was sentenced in U.S. District Court to 60 months in prison for possessing child pornography.
Benjamin C. Glassman, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio and Marlon V. Miller, Special Agent in Charge, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), announced the sentence handed down today by U.S. District Judge Thomas M. Rose.
According to court documents, the case stemmed from a child exploitation investigation in the United Kingdom that included emails with a subject named “Bill.” In the communication, “Bill” – later identified as Foreman – discussed his attraction to young children and his access to them through his business. Investigators discovered Foreman had been certified/licensed to teach in the state of Ohio since 1975. Specifically, the records indicated he was certified to teach handicapped children in grades Kindergarten through 12th grade and all students in grades Kindergarten through 8th grade.
It was discovered that Foreman’s username was associated with several websites that contained stories of child erotica, including more than 70 stories authored by Foreman and posted as early as 1998.
While visiting Foreman’s home, the defendant told investigators he was a teacher with Dayton Public Schools and currently tutored special needs students at hospitals or in their homes.
Upon executing forensic analysis of Foreman’s computer and memory cards, investigators discovered multiple pornographic pictures and videos of young girls approximately seven to 11 years old.
“Possession of child pornography is a real crime that harms real children,” Acting U.S. Attorney Glassman said. “The facts of this case are all the more egregious because they involve a school teacher spending his private time watching the rape of school-aged children.”
“The facts of this case are particularly troubling given the defendant’s career choice and ready access to children,” said Miller. "Cases like these only heighten our resolve to seek out predators, especially those in positions of trust, to ensure they are held accountable."
Foreman pleaded guilty on November 30, 2015 to one count of possession of child pornography.
Acting U.S. Attorney Glassman commended the cooperative investigation by HSI, as well as Assistant United States Attorney Sheila G. Lafferty, who is representing the United States in this case.
Former Office Manager Pleads Guilty to Stealing over $300,000 from EmployerRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON – Bianca Bush-Bronson, 37, the former office manager for a consulting and lobbying firm, pled guilty today to a federal charge stemming from a scheme in which she embezzled more than $300,000 from her employer, announced U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips and Paul M. Abbate, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office.
Bush-Bronson, of Washington, D.C., pled guilty to a charge of wire fraud in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The charge carries a statutory maximum of 20 years in prison and potential financial penalties. Under federal sentencing guidelines, Bush-Bronson faces a likely range of 30 to 37 months in prison and a fine between $10,000 and $100,000. As part of her plea agreement, she must pay $303,972 in restitution. The Honorable Tanya S. Chutkan scheduled sentencing for July 7, 2016.
According to the government’s evidence, Bush-Bronson worked from April 2011 to October 2012 for a business identified in court documents as “Company A,” a consulting and lobbying firm in the District of Columbia. She maintained responsibility for the company’s day-to-day financial operations, including preparing checks, depositing funds, performing reconciliation of funds in bank accounts, and serving as a point of contact with the bank.
From June 2011 through October 2012, according to the government’s evidence, Bush-Bronson issued checks drawn on the company’s account to herself, to cash, and to third parties for her own benefit. To conceal this activity, she made false entries in internal books and records. In total, she issued at least $45,786 in checks in this manner, using the money for, among other things, a down payment on a car, a mortgage payment, and a payment to her dentist.
Bush-Bronson also used the company’s credit card to make $258,186 in unauthorized purchases for her own personal use at various retailers, including a jewelry store, department stores, and a salon, as well as for restaurants, airline tickets, and hotel stays.
In announcing the plea, U.S. Attorney Phillips and Assistant Director in Charge Abbate commended the work of those who investigated the case from the FBI’s Washington Field Office. They also acknowledged the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Paralegal Specialist Tasha Harris, Legal Assistant Angela Lawrence, and former Paralegal Specialist Heather Sales. Finally, they commended Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michelle A. Zamarin and David A. Last, who prosecuted the case.
Former Morgan City Housing Authority director, employee plead guilty to conspiracy chargeRead the Press Release
LAFAYETTE, La. – United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced today that the former director of the Morgan City Housing Authority and a former employee pleaded guilty to charges related to theft of more than a half a million dollars.
Charles E. Spann, 78, of Kingsport, Tenn., and Tori D. Johnson, 38, of Morgan City, La., pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Carol B. Whitehurst to one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States. The plea will become final when accepted by U.S. District Judge Donald E. Walter. According to the guilty plea, Spann, Johnson and two other Morgan City Housing Authority employees received $514,764.14 in bonus payments to which they were not entitled from 2007 to 2013. In 2007, a one-time bonus for work performed in the wake of hurricanes Katrina and Rita was granted. After the one-time bonuses were sent to all employees of the housing authority, Johnson requested from Spann, who was director of the housing authority, that she, Spann and two other employees, Diana L. Pace, 64, and Sandra L. Greene, 59, both of Morgan City, continue to receive bonuses. Johnson wrote false justifications for the bonuses and Spann signed off on them. The bonuses were not approved by the civil service board or the Morgan City Housing Authority Board of Directors. Span received $111,657.47, and Johnson received $100,040.23 to which they were not entitled.
The defendants face five years in prison, three years of supervised release, a $250,000 fine and restitution. A sentencing date of June 27, 2016 was set for Spann and Johnson.
The U.S. Office of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Investigations, conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kelly P. Uebinger and Robert F. Moore are prosecuting the case.
Foreign National Sentenced to 36 Months in Prison for Human SmugglingRead the Press Release
A Guatemalan woman was sentenced today to 36 months in federal prison for conspiracy and human smuggling related to a scheme to smuggle undocumented migrants from India into the United States.
Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson of the Southern District of Texas and Special Agent in Charge Shane Folden of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in San Antonio made the announcement.
Rosa Astrid Umanzor-Lopez, 36, was extradited to the United States from Guatemala and later pleaded guilty to one count each of conspiracy to smuggle undocumented migrants into the United States for profit and human smuggling in the Southern District of Texas. Umanzor-Lopez was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Ewing Werlein Jr. of the Southern District of Texas. She is expected to face deportation proceedings following her release from prison.
At the plea hearing and in related court documents, Umanzor-Lopez admitted that between January 2011 and her arrest in Guatemala on Feb. 4, 2014, she and other conspirators recruited individuals in India who were willing to pay large sums of money to be smuggled into the United States. For their smuggling operations, Umanzor-Lopez and her co-conspirators used a network of facilitators to transport groups of undocumented migrants from India through South America and Central America and then into the United States by air travel, automobiles, water craft and foot, she admitted. Umanzor-Lopez also admitted that many of these smuggling events involved illegal entry into the United States via the U.S.-Mexico border near McAllen and Laredo, Texas.
Three other members of the conspiracy have also been convicted and sentenced, and a fourth remains a fugitive.
HSI agents in McAllen and Houston investigated the case with the assistance of U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Alien Smuggling Interdiction Unit. Trial Attorney Ann Marie E. Ursini of the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Leo J. Leo III and Casey MacDonald of the Southern District of Texas prosecuted the case. The Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs provided significant support with the defendant’s extradition.
The investigation was conducted under the Extraterritorial Criminal Travel Strike Force (ECT) program, a joint partnership between the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and HSI. The ECT program focuses on human smuggling networks that may present particular national security or public safety risks, or present grave humanitarian concerns. ECT has dedicated investigative, intelligence and prosecutorial resources. ECT coordinates and receives assistance from other U.S. government agencies and foreign law enforcement authorities.
Foreign National Sentenced for Human SmugglingRead the Press Release
HOUSTON - A Guatemalan woman was sentenced today to 36 months in federal prison for conspiracy and human smuggling related to a scheme to smuggle undocumented migrants from India into the United States.
U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson made the announcement along with Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and Special Agent in Charge Shane Folden of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in San Antonio.
Rosa Astrid Umanzor-Lopez, 36, was extradited to the United States from Guatemala and later pleaded guilty to one count each of conspiracy to smuggle undocumented migrants into the United States for profit and human smuggling. U.S. District Judge Ewing Werlein Jr. sentenced Umanzor-Lopez today. She is expected to face deportation proceedings following her release from prison.
At the plea hearing and in related court documents, Umanzor-Lopez admitted that between January 2011 and her arrest in Guatemala on Feb. 4, 2014, she and other conspirators recruited individuals in India who were willing to pay large sums of money to be smuggled into the United States. For their smuggling operations, Umanzor-Lopez and her co-conspirators used a network of facilitators to transport groups of undocumented migrants from India through South America and Central America and then into the United States by air travel, automobiles, water craft and foot, she admitted. Umanzor-Lopez also admitted that many of these smuggling events involved illegal entry into the United States via the U.S.-Mexico border near McAllen and Laredo.
Three other members of the conspiracy have also been convicted and sentenced, and a fourth remains a fugitive.
HSI agents in McAllen and Houston investigated the case with the assistance of U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Alien Smuggling Interdiction Unit.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Leo J. Leo III and Casey MacDonald prosecuted the case along with Trial Attorney Ann Marie E. Ursini of the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section. The Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs provided significant support with the defendant’s extradition.
The investigation was conducted under the Extraterritorial Criminal Travel Strike Force (ECT) program, a joint partnership between the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and HSI. The ECT program focuses on human smuggling networks that may present particular national security or public safety risks, or present grave humanitarian concerns. ECT has dedicated investigative, intelligence and prosecutorial resources. ECT coordinates and receives assistance from other U.S. government agencies and foreign law enforcement authorities.
Fitzgerald Physician Indicted on Drug ChargesRead the Press Release
On Tuesday, April 12, 2016, Dr. Edd Colbert Jones, III, from Fitzgerald, Georgia, was indicted on 17 counts of narcotics charges in the Middle District of Georgia, announced Acting United States Attorney G.F. Peterman, III.
The Grand Jury charged Dr. Jones with one count of conspiracy to distribute and dispense controlled substances including Oxycodone, Alprazolam and Diazepam and sixteen counts of unlawful dispensation of controlled substances.
Dr. Jones made his initial appearance before U.S. District Court Judge Charles H. Weigle on April 22, 2016. At that time, he was advised of the charges against him, his rights and maximum possible penalties. Dr. Jones pled not guilty and was granted terms of release on bond.
The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Ben Hill County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant United States Attorney Leah E. McEwen is prosecuting the case for the government.
A copy of the indictment is attached. The indictment is only an allegation of criminal conduct. Dr. Jones is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty in a court of law. If convicted, Dr. Jones faces a potential maximum penalty of twenty (20) years imprisonment, a $1 million fine, or both.
For additional information, contact Pamela Lightsey, Public Information Officer, at 478-621-2603 or [email protected].
Federal Court Bars Mississippi Tax Return Preparer from Preparing Returns for OthersRead the Press Release
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi permanently barred Teresa Chism of Durant, Mississippi, from preparing federal tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced today.
According to the government’s civil complaint, Chism, who operated her business as Lady T. Taxes, prepared federal income tax returns that fraudulently overstated her customers’ claims for refunds. She did so by claiming refundable credits, including the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and credits for education expenses, that her customers either were ineligible to receive, or were not entitled to receive in the amounts claimed on the returns, the complaint alleged. The complaint further alleged that Chism frequently fabricated Forms W-2 and submitted them with a tax return as evidence of a customer’s eligibility for the EITC.
The United States alleged in the complaint that Chism prepared at least 2,845 returns since 2010. Audits of 220 returns prepared by Chism claiming the EITC and/or other refundable credits revealed that 98 percent of these returns claimed credits totaling more than $1 million that Chism’s customers were not eligible to receive, according to the complaint.
Return preparer fraud is one of the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) 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.
EOIR Swears in Two Immigration JudgesRead the Press Release
FALLS CHURCH, VA – The Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) today announced the investiture of two immigration judges. Acting Chief Immigration Judge Michael C. McGoings presided over the investiture during a ceremony held April 21, 2016, at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces in Washington, D.C.
After a thorough application process, Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch appointed Kuyomars Golparvar and Robin J. Rosche to their new positions.
“We are pleased to welcome these appointees to the immigration judge corps,” said McGoings. “We look forward to continuing to hire qualified people to fill these important public service positions.”
Biographical information follows.
Kuyomars Golparvar, Immigration Judge, York Immigration Court
Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch appointed Kuyomars Golparvar to begin hearing cases in April 2016. Judge Golparvar received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1998 from The George Washington University and a Juris Doctor in 2002 from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. From 2004 through April 2016, Judge Golparvar served in various capacities, including: division chief, section chief, senior advisor to the principal legal advisor, deputy chief counsel, and assistant chief counsel for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Department of Homeland Security. From 2003 through 2004, Judge Golparvar was an associate attorney for Deasy & Whitehill PC, in Pittsburgh. In 2013, Judge Golparvar joined the faculty at The George Washington University Law School where he serves as an adjunct professor. Judge Golparvar is a member of the District of Columbia and Pennsylvania Bars.
Robin J. Rosche, Immigration Judge, Chicago Immigration Court
Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch appointed Robin J. Rosche to begin hearing cases in April 2016. Judge Rosche received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1997 from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, a Juris Doctor in 2000 from Marquette University Law School, and a Master of Laws in 2005 from the University of London, University College. From 2014 through March 2016, Judge Rosche served as a general attorney for Customs and Border Protection, Department of Homeland Security (DHS). From 2005 through 2014, Judge Rosche served as an assistant chief counsel for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, DHS. From 2000 through 2004, Judge Rosche served as an assistant district attorney for the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office. From 1988 through 1997, Judge Rosche served in various capacities including: uniformed patrol officer, undercover officer and detective for the Milwaukee Police Department in Wisconsin. From 1983 through 1987, Judge Rosche served as a security police investigator for the U.S. Air Force at Ramstein Air Base, in Germany. Judge Rosche is a member of the State Bar of Wisconsin.
- EOIR -
The Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) is an agency within the Department of Justice. Under delegated authority from the Attorney General, immigration judges and the Board of Immigration Appeals interpret and adjudicate immigration cases according to United States immigration laws. EOIR's immigration judges conduct administrative court proceedings in immigration courts located throughout the nation. They determine whether foreign-born individuals—whom the Department of Homeland Security charges with violating immigration law—should be ordered removed from the United States or should be granted relief from removal and be permitted to remain in this country. The Board of Immigration Appeals primarily reviews appeals of decisions by immigration judges. EOIR's Office of the Chief Administrative Hearing Officer adjudicates immigration-related employment cases. EOIR is committed to ensuring fairness in all of the cases it adjudicates.
District Man Sentenced to Six Years in Prison for Beating a Man and Joining in Slashing a Bystander Who Attempted to Stop the AttackRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON – Frank G. Smith, 34, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced today to six years in prison on charges of aggravated assault and simple assault for his role in an attack of two men that took place in December 2013 near the entrance to the U Street Metro station in Northwest Washington, U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips announced.
Smith was found guilty by a jury in February 2016, following a trial in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. He was sentenced by the Honorable Florence Pan. Following completion of his prison term, he will be placed on three years of supervised release.
According to the government’s evidence, in the early morning hours of Dec. 21, 2013, Smith and others attacked a man who had been involved in a traffic dispute with one of Smith’s friends. That man was taken down to the ground near the U Street Metro entrance, at 10th and U Streets NW, and Smith and his friends began kicking him as he lay on the ground defenseless.
A second man, a Good Samaritan, saw the beating taking place. He yelled at Smith and Smith’s friends to stop kicking the man on the ground, who appeared unconscious. When they refused to stop, the Good Samaritan intervened by pushing Smith and the others away from the man on the ground. One of Smith’s friends then began fighting with the Good Samaritan. As the Good Samaritan separated from his first attacker, he noticed that he was cut and bleeding across the right side of his chest. Smith then continued attacking him, at which point the Good Samaritan felt and saw that his left hand had been cut to the bone between his index finger and thumb. As the police arrived on the scene, Smith stopped his attack and attempted to walk away, but he was stopped by the police and identified at the scene by the victim who was cut.
No knife or sharp object was recovered from Smith, but he had blood on his face and clothes. Subsequent DNA analysis revealed that the Good Samaritan’s DNA was found on Smith’s clothes.
In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Phillips commended the work of those who investigated the case from the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD). He also expressed appreciation for the assistance provided by Bode Technologies. He acknowledged the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Victim/Witness Advocate Jennifer Clark; Paralegal Specialists Lynda Randolph, Donville Drummond, and Allison Daniels; Criminal Investigator Melissa Matthews; Litigation Technology Supervisor Joshua Ellen, and Patricia A. Riley, Special Counsel to the U.S. Attorney, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Chrisellen Kolb. Finally, he praised the work of former Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathleen Connolly, who secured the indictment, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Laura Crane and Fernando Campoamor-Sanchez, who tried the case.
District Man Pleads Guilty to Second-Degree Murder of Man During Noontime Robbery in Northeast WashingtonRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON – Tavon Pinkney, 20, William Bass, 18, and Kalif Brown, 22, all of Washington, D.C., pled guilty today to charges stemming from the shooting death of a man last year in Northeast Washington, U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips announced.
Pinkney pled guilty in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia to a charge of second-degree murder while armed. The plea, which is contingent on the Court’s approval, calls for a sentence of 17 years in prison. Bass pled guilty to assault with intent to rob while armed. His plea, which also is contingent on the Court’s approval, calls for a sentence consistent with the District of Columbia Voluntary Sentencing Guidelines. Finally, Brown pled guilty to robbery. His plea, also contingent on the Court’s approval, calls for five years in prison.
All three defendants will be sentenced by the Honorable Robert E. Morin on July 8, 2016.
According to the government’s evidence, just before noon on February 16, 2015, the defendants were driven to the 300 block of 61st Street NE for purposes of conducting a PCP transaction with the victim, Rico Myers, 25, and his friend. Once there, the defendants entered an alley and Pinkney pulled a gun, demanding the victim’s possessions.
Bass began going through Mr. Myers’s pockets, while Brown robbed Mr. Myers’s friend. Mr. Myers began struggling to defend himself and Pinkney then shot him four times. The defendants ran to the waiting car on 61st Street NE, which then drove off.
Mr. Myers ran out of the alley and collapsed on a sidewalk in the 300 block of 61st Street NE. He was taken to a hospital, where all efforts to save his life were unsuccessful. An autopsy performed by the Maryland Office of the Chief Medical Examiner determined the cause of death to be multiple gunshot wounds and the manner of death to be homicide.
In announcing the guilty pleas, U.S. Attorney Phillips commended the work of the detectives of the Criminal Investigations Division, Homicide Branch, crime scene officers, and the Sixth Police District of the Metropolitan Police Department, as well as Special Agent Benjamin Inman of the FBI’s Cellular Analysis Survey Team. He also expressed appreciation for the work of the D.C. Department of Fire and Emergency Medical Services and the Maryland Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. He acknowledged the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Victim/Witness Advocate Diana Lim, Victim/Witness Security Specialist M. Laverne Forrest, and Paralegal Specialist Lashone Samuels. Finally, he praised the work of Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Spence, who investigated and prosecuted the case.
Department of Justice to Launch Inaugural National Reentry WeekRead the Press Release
Attorney General Lynch and Secretary Castro to Kickoff National Reentry Week in Philadelphia
Justice Department to Announce New Efforts to Improve Outcomes for Justice-Involved Individuals Including Youth
As part of the Obama Administration’s commitment to strengthening the criminal justice system, the Department of Justice designated the week of April 24-30, 2016, as National Reentry Week. Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro will travel to Philadelphia on MONDAY, APRIL 25, 2016, to hold events as part of National Reentry Week with public housing advocates, legal services providers and community leaders where they will announce new efforts to improve outcomes for justice-involved individuals including youth.
Later in the week, the Attorney General will visit a Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) facility in Talladega, Alabama, to highlight reentry programs in prison. Similarly, Deputy Attorney General Sally Q. Yates will visit a federal women’s prison in Texas and will later hold a media availability at Santa Maria Hostel, a specialized residential substance abuse, mental health and trauma facility. Acting Director Thomas Kane of the Bureau of Prisons will accompany both Attorney General Lynch and Deputy Attorney General Yates on their visits.
“Too often, justice-involved individuals who have paid their debt to society confront daunting obstacles to good jobs, decent housing, adequate health care, quality education, and even the right to vote,” said Attorney General Lynch. “National Reentry Week highlights the many ways that the Department of Justice – and the entire Obama Administration – is working to tear down the barriers that stand between returning citizens and a meaningful second chance – leading to brighter futures, stronger communities, and a more just and equal nation for all.”
The Obama Administration has taken major steps to make our criminal justice system fairer, more efficient and more effective at reducing recidivism and helping formerly incarcerated individuals contribute to their communities. Removing barriers to successful reentry helps formerly incarcerated individuals compete for jobs, attain stable housing, and support their families. An important part of that commitment is preparing those who have paid their debt to society for substantive opportunities beyond the prison gates, and addressing collateral consequences to successful reentry that too many returning citizens encounter.
Leadership from across the Administration are traveling during National Reentry Week in support of these many events and are encouraging federal partners and grantees to work closely with stakeholders like federal defenders, legal aid providers and other partners across the country to increase the impact of this effort. National Reentry Week events are being planned in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. U.S. Attorney’s Offices alone are hosting over 200 events and BOP facilities are holding over 370 events.
ATTORNEY GENERAL LYNCH AND SECRETARY CASTRO HOLD NATIONAL REENTRY WEEK EVENT
WHO: Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro
WHEN: MONDAY, APRIL 25, 2016
2:30 p.m. EDT
WHERE: Raymond Rosen Manor Auditorium
2301 W. Edgley St.
Philadelphia, PA 19121
OPEN PRESS (Media Gather Time: 1:30 p.m. EDT; Final Access: 2:00 p.m. EDT)
NOTE: All media must present government-issued photo I.D. (such as a driver’s license) as well as valid media credentials. Members of the media must RSVP for the above events to Heather Fluit at [email protected] and [email protected] by Monday, Apr. 25, 2016, at 9:00 a.m. EDT. Space is limited and not guaranteed. Press inquiries regarding logistics should be directed to Heather Fluit at [email protected] and [email protected]. Following the event, Attorney General Lynch and Secretary Castro will hold a media availability.
ATTORNEY GENERAL LYNCH VISITS FEDERAL BUREAU OF PRISONS FACILITY IN ALABAMA
WHO: Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch
Acting Director Thomas Kane of the Bureau of Prisons
WHEN: FRIDAY, APRIL 29, 2016
WHERE: FCI Talladega
565 East Renfroe Road
Talladega, AL 35160
POOLED PRESS
NOTE: This event is pooled press. There is no RSVP for this event. Press inquiries should be directed to the Office of Public Affairs at [email protected].
DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL YATES VISITS FEDERAL WOMEN’S PRISON FACILITY AND HOLDS MEDIA AVAILABILITY AT REENTRY CENTER
Federal Women’s Prison
WHO: Deputy Attorney General Sally Q. Yates
Acting Director Thomas Kane of the Bureau of Prisons
WHEN: TUESDAY, APRIL 26, 2016
WHERE: FPC Bryan
1100 Ursuline Avenue
Bryan, TX 77803
OPEN TO PRE-CREDENTIALED MEDIA
NOTE: This event is open only to pre-credentialed media. There is no RSVP for this event.
Media Availability at Reentry Center
WHO: Deputy Attorney General Sally Q. Yates
WHEN: TUESDAY, APRIL 26, 2016
4:30 p.m. CDT / 5:30 p.m. EDT
WHERE: Santa Maria Hostel
2605 Parker Road
Houston, TX 77093
OPEN PRESS (Media Gather Time: 3:30 p.m. CDT / 4:30 p.m. EDT; Final Access: 4:00 p.m. CDT / 5:00 p.m. EDT)
NOTE: All media must present government-issued photo I.D. (such as a driver’s license) as well as valid media credentials. Members of the media must RSVP for the above events to [email protected] by Monday, Apr. 25, 2016, at 5:00 p.m. EDT. Space is limited and not guaranteed. Press inquiries regarding logistics should be directed to Emily Pierce at [email protected] and Wyn Hornbuckle at [email protected].
OTHER WHITE HOUSE AND DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE EVENTS SURROUNDING NATIONAL REENTRY WEEK INCLUDE:
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On Monday, April 25, 2016, the White House will hold an event with the Brennan Center on the costs of incarceration.
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On Monday, April 25, 2016, Deputy Attorney General Sally Q. Yates will deliver remarks before a screening of “Pull of Gravity” a documentary that follows returning inmates as they encounter reentry obstacles, hosted by the Justice Department as part of National Reentry Week. Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Criminal Division will also participate.
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On Monday, April 25, 2016, Director Lisa Foster of the Office for Access Justice will hold a joint event in Los Angeles with the Department of Housing and Urban Development to announce new efforts to improve outcomes for justice-involved youth.
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On Monday, April 25, 2016, Director Lisa Foster of the Office for Access Justice will attend a Conviction and Sentence Alternatives (CASA) Program Graduation Ceremony in Los Angeles.
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On Tuesday, April 26, 2016, Assistant Attorney General Karol V. Mason of the Office of Justice Programs will attend a girls mentoring event at a local detention facility. The event is sponsored by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.
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On Tuesday, April 26, 2016, Acting Associate Attorney General Bill Baer will deliver remarks at a reentry event at Central Union Mission, sponsored by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. Assistant Attorney General Karol V. Mason of the Office of Justice Programs will participate in Q+A.
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On Tuesday, April 26, 2016, Second Chance Fellow Daryl Atkinson of the Office of Justice Programs will deliver remarks at a reentry simulation in Birmingham sponsored by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Alabama.
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On Wednesday, April 27, 2016, the White House will host the Fair Chance Opportunities Champions of Change event in South Court Auditorium.Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch will deliver remarks and Deputy Attorney General Sally Q. Yates will moderate a panel at the event.
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On Thursday, April 28, 2016, the head of the Civil Rights Division, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta of the Civil Rights Division will deliver remarks at a reentry event at Mickey Leland Transitional Housing Facility, sponsored by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.
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On Friday, April 29, 2016, Principal Deputy Director Bea Hanson of the Office on Violence Against Women will visit a federal women’s prison in West Virginia.
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On Friday, April 29, 2016, the Department of Labor will host a celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Bonding Program.Deputy Attorney General Sally Q. Yates will deliver remarks at the event.
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Department of Justice and EPA Announce $50 Million Settlement to Clean up Contamination at Eastern Tennessee Superfund SiteRead the Press Release
The Department of Justice and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced that OXY USA Inc., a subsidiary of Occidental Petroleum Company, has agreed to clean up contaminated water and sediments in the Ocoee River and one of its watersheds at the Copper Basin Mining District Superfund Site in Polk County, Tennessee. The settlement requires the company to spend an estimated $40 million to maintain and operate a water treatment system, prevent access by the public to contaminated water and monitor contamination in the Ocoee River.
In addition, OXY USA Inc. will reimburse EPA approximately $10.8 million toward costs incurred in its past cleanup actions at the site. The company will also reimburse EPA and the state of Tennessee for costs incurred by those agencies in overseeing the work required by the settlement
“This settlement is the product of excellent cooperation between private parties, and the state and federal government to find a long term solution to cleaning up the contamination at the Copper Basin site,” said Assistant Attorney General John Cruden of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “This agreement will yield lasting benefits for water quality in this Ocoee River watershed.”
“This settlement marks a significant turning point in the remediation and restoration of an area that has borne the brunt of contamination from industrialized operations for over a century,” said Regional Administrator Heather McTeer Toney of EPA’s Southeast Region. “The provisions incorporated by these consent decrees exemplifies the hard work by multiple federal agencies, the state of Tennessee, Tennessee Valley Authority and OXY USA to ensure the remediation and recovery of the Ocoee River and the North Potato Creek and Davis Mill Creek Watersheds continues well into the future.”
“This settlement formalizes the cooperation and commitments exhibited between the company and regulators over the past two decades,” said Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation Commissioner Bob Martineau. “This major project follows a shared goal of compliance and achievement of long-term water quality performance in the Copper Basin that benefits our natural resources and the citizens of Tennessee.”
Pursuant to earlier agreements with EPA and the state of Tennessee, OXY constructed and installed a system to collect and treat contaminated water and sediments from the Davis Mill Creek watershed prior to discharge in the Ocoee River. Under the settlement lodged today, OXY will continue to operate and maintain the system, including any necessary refurbishments of the plant. In addition, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) agreed to implement measures at its dams along a 38-mile stretch of the Ocoee River in order to prevent contaminants from becoming airborne. EPA will oversee the work, which will implement the cleanup remedy required by the agency’s 2011 and 2014 Records of Decision for the Ocoee River and the Davis Mill Creek watershed, respectively.
From the mid-1800s until 1989, the Copper Basin Mining District Superfund Site was the location of extensive copper, iron and sulfur mining operations, mineral processing and sulfuric acid production. Throughout that time, wastes generated through those operations, which included sulfuric acid, lead, mercury, PCBs and other contaminants, were disposed of in, on and around Davis Mill Creek and North Potato Creek, both of which discharge to the Ocoee River. These contaminants can still be found in the sediments and surface water at the site.
EPA, the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation and OXY began response work at the Copper Basin Mining District Superfund Site in 1990. Over the last 25 years, EPA has overseen extensive work at the site, including the construction of two water treatment plants (WTPs). The first WTP went online in 2002 and the second in 2005. To date, 535,231 kilograms of hazardous waste, oil, equipment and soil contaminated with lead and polychlorinated biphenyls have been removed from the site and properly disposed. The volume of water treated to date is 8,266,257,000 gallons at the London Mill Wastewater Treatment Plant, 9,761,564,000 gallons at the Cantrell Flats Wastewater Treatment Plant, and 49,362,271,000 gallons at the North Potato Creek Water Treatment Plant, totaling 67,390,092,000 gallons.
Also under the consent decree, the United States, on behalf of the Department of Defense and the Department of Commerce, agreed to pay OXY approximately $12.6 million to settle claims for OXY’s past and future cleanup costs, based primarily on the United States’ ownership and operation of a portion of the site between 1941 and 1946.
Taking into account the settlement being lodged today and the work previously performed at the site, over $217 million is being devoted to cleaning up the contamination at this site.
The settlement, lodged in the Eastern District of Tennessee today as two consent decrees, will be posted in the Federal Register and available for public comment for a period of 30 days. The consent decree can be viewed on the Justice Department website: www.justice.gov/enrd/Consent_Decrees.html. The Justice Department also concurrently filed a complaint initiating the case that the consent decrees resolve.
For more information on the site, please visit: https://cumulis.epa.gov/supercpad/cursites/csitinfo.cfm?id=0406638
Department of Justice Designates April 24-30, 2016, as National Reentry Week in Support of Its Smart on Crime InitiativeRead the Press Release
The United States Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of Tennessee is smart on crime, and aggressive in pursuit of justice. Our office is composed of attorneys, paralegals, legal assistants and support staff who are dedicated to the mission of the Department of Justice. In 2013, the U.S. Department of Justice launched a comprehensive review of the criminal justice system to ensure that federal law is administered fairly, equitably, and effectively. We were directed to target the most serious offenses, prosecute the most dangerous criminals, direct assistance to crime ‘hot spots,’ and pursue new ways to promote public safety, deterrence, efficiency, and fairness. This initiative from former Attorney General Holder came to be known as Smart on Crime.
We knew we had excelled for many years at these tasks, but we saw the challenge of finding new ways to look at deterrence, efficiency and fairness. We were also challenged to facilitate the successful reentry of former offenders, who have paid their debt to society through incarceration.
In 2015, the U.S. Attorney’s Office developed its Smart on Crime Initiative by devoting a fulltime Assistant U.S. Attorney, Brooklyn Sawyers, to coordinate the initiative across East Tennessee. Our initiative includes a crime prevention program in which the U.S. Attorney’s Office provides a live presentation about positive living and choices and consequences to juvenile offenders in Knox County Juvenile Court and the Richard Bean Juvenile Detention Center. One goal of the prevention program is to dismantle the proverbial school-to-prison pipeline in East Tennessee. The initiative also includes rigorous prosecution of criminals who violate federal law and whose bad acts will likely only be curtailed through a federal prison sentence.
The initiative also seeks to help former offenders who return to East Tennessee live law-abiding lives. While it may seem like new business for the U.S. Attorney’s Office to provide assistance to these former offenders, it is not new at all. The U.S. Attorney’s Office has always been involved when returning former offenders seek early release for good behavior while incarcerated. Our Assistant U.S. Attorneys have gone to prisons and half-way houses to explain the consequences of further criminal behavior after release. Another way to protect this community and seek justice is to remove obstacles that stand in the way of any citizen living a law-abiding life. Our Smart on Crime Initiative allows us to do just that by partnering with Chief U.S. Probation Officer, Tony Anderson, and his office. Through that partnership, we convene community resource providers who are already in the business of providing services that former offenders need, and have them explain their services to the former offenders who may avail themselves of those services. The meetings occur across the district in Chattanooga, Knoxville, and Johnson City on a monthly or quarterly basis. Topics thus far have included substance abuse treatment, how to obtain a driver’s license, housing options, and much more.
Community service providers who have contributed to the Chattanooga effort include: the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Chattanooga; Bureau of Prisons Half-Way House; United Way 2-1-1; Tennessee Department of Human Services; Pastor Ternae Jordan and Mt. Canaan Baptist Church; Tennessee Career Center; Chattanooga State Community College; BlueCross BlueShield; Marion County Chaplain; Father to the Fatherless; Stephen’s Table; Northside Neighborhood House; Christian Women’s Job Corp; Behind the Bars; and Joe Johnson Mental Health Center. Community service providers who have contributed to the Knoxville reentry effort include: Knoxville Leadership Foundation; Tennessee Department of Safety; Knox County Health Department; Knoxville Police Department; Federal Bureau of Investigation, Knoxville Division; Susannah House; Helen Ross McNabb; Cokesbury Church; Focus Group Ministries; and Pastor James Davis and Eternal Life Harvest Center. Community service providers who have contributed to the Johnson City reentry effort include: Grace Fellowship Church; Summit Leadership Foundation; Frontier Health; Families Free; Drug Enforcement Administration, Johnson City; and Johnson City Police Department.
The importance of these community service organizations coming together to help former offenders cannot be understated. Convening these organizations in a central location for former offenders increases accessibility and the likelihood that they will use the services. Further, by understanding what their communities offer, former offenders are better prepared to live law abiding lives, which impacts the safety of all the residents of East Tennessee.
Attorney General Loretta Lynch echoed similar sentiment when she designated the week of April 24-30, 2016, as National Reentry Week. She emphasized the importance of preparing those who have paid their debt to society for substantive opportunities beyond the prison gates, and addressing obstacles to successful reentry.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office will participate in National Reentry Week, because we all have an interest in reducing crime in our communities. By encouraging former offenders to live crime-free lives and become productive citizens supporting their families and their communities, we can make a difference. Our activities this week will include in-house training and our regularly scheduled call-in meetings throughout the week. There are many opportunities for the community to become involved as well. If you are interested in this initiative, please consider volunteering for a community-based organization that is dedicated to serving all people. By working together, we can all be smart on crime.
Nancy Harr, Acting U.S. Attorney
Danville Real Estate Agent Sentenced to Four Years in Prison for Bank Fraud and Money Laundering SchemeRead the Press Release
OAKLAND – Anthony Keslinke, 48, of Danville, was sentenced to four years in prison today for his leadership role in a large-scale bank fraud conspiracy and a separate money laundering conspiracy, announced United States Attorney Brian J. Stretch, Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge John J. Martin, and Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, Special Agent in Charge Michael T. Batdorf.
Keslinke pleaded guilty in May of 2015 to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. In pleading guilty, Keslinke admitted that he used straw buyers to purchase real estate throughout Northern California between 2011 and 2014. Keslinke identified properties, including his own properties, that were potential candidates for a “short sale.” A “short sale” is a sale of real estate in which the sale proceeds are less than the balance owed on the mortgage loan pertaining to the property and often occurs when a borrower cannot pay the mortgage loan.
In furtherance of the scheme, Keslinke submitted offers to the financial institutions on behalf of straw buyers. In order to induce a bank to accept a short sale offer, Keslinke would draft fraudulent financial hardship letters and submit them on behalf of the seller of a property. In addition, in order to give the appearance to the financial institutions that the properties were worth significantly less than true fair market value, Keslinke often altered engineering and pest reports associated with the properties. Moreover, in furtherance of his scheme, Keslinke often altered bank account documents to create the appearance that the straw buyers had sufficient funds to purchase the properties in cash. Once a financial institution accepted a particular property for a short sale, Keslinke used his own funds to purchase the property in the name of the straw buyer. After a short sale was completed on a particular property, Keslinke maintained control of the property and often sold the property for a significant financial gain. Keslinke admitted using this mortgage fraud scheme to orchestrate the short sale of properties in Danville, Walnut Creek, and Kings Beach, California.
Keslinke also admitted that between August of 2013 and February of 2014, he met on multiple occasions with an undercover agent purporting to be a drug dealer. Keslinke accepted a total of $550,000 from the undercover agent. In an attempt to conceal the true source of the funds, Keslinke repeatedly deposited the money received from the undercover agent into business bank accounts under his control. Keslinke then attempted to launder the money by wiring it from his business bank accounts to an account controlled by the undercover agent. Keslinke routinely kept 8-10% of the money provided to him from the undercover agent as a fee for his services.
The sentence was handed down by United States District Judge Jon S. Tigar. In addition to the prison term, Judge Tigar also ordered the defendant to pay a forfeiture judgment in the amount of $2,086,405 and a fine of $50,000. Keslinke also agreed to forfeit $1,722,426 in cash seized from his residence and his bank accounts. Judge Tigar also ordered Keslinke to pay $1,427,916 in restitution to the victims of the charged crimes. Judge Tigar also sentenced Keslinke to a three-year period of supervised release.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Aaron Wegner and David Countryman are prosecuting the case with the assistance of Vanessa Vargas and Carolyn Jusay. The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the DEA and IRS. The Contra Costa Sheriff’s Office and Livermore Police Department also provided assistance during the investigation. The investigation was conducted and funded by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), a multi-agency task force that coordinates long-term narcotics trafficking investigations.
Daniel E. Lurye Sentenced for Distribution of MethamphetamineRead the Press Release
FORT WAYNE – The United States Attorney for the Northern District of Indiana, David Capp, announces that on April 21, 2016, Daniel E. Lurye, 39, of Phoenix, AZ was sentenced to 140 months imprisonment and 5 years supervised release following his plea of guilty to distribution of methamphetamine.
According to documents filed in the case, on or about April 4, 2014, Lurye knowingly and intentionally distributed more than 50 grams of methamphetamine.
This investigation was conducted by the United States Drug Enforcement Administration and United States Postal Inspection Service along with the assistance of the Indiana State Police, LaGrange County Sheriff’s Department and Kendallville Police Department. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Lovita Morris-King.
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Corporate Executive Sentenced to Six Months in Federal Prison and Fined $5,000Read the Press Release
DALLAS — Helen Tantillo, 59, of Austin, Texas, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks of the Western District of Texas to serve six months in federal prison, to be followed by a three-year term of supervised release, and pay a $5,000 fine. Tantillo was convicted in January 2016 in federal court in Austin on an indictment charging two counts of lying to Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the public corruption investigation of Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price and others. The announcement was made today by U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas and U.S. Attorney Richard L. Durbin, Jr., of the Western District of Texas.
Tantillo was an executive at BearingPoint when the firm won a contract in 2005 to digitize Dallas County records. She will remain on bond; no reporting date was set.
At trial, the jury found that Tantillo lied in an interview with the FBI in June 2014, when she falsely claimed that a temporary $10,000 increase in Christian Campbell’s consulting fees was to make a charitable donation to the favorite charity of another Dallas County Commissioner. Contrary to her false statement, Tantillo knew that the increase was at least, in part, in order to pay Kathy Nealy.
The jury also determined that Tantillo told a second lie to FBI agents in that same interview when she claimed that, after an earlier interview with FBI agents, she called her former BearingPoint supervisor, who supposedly reminded her that the charitable donation was the reason for Campbell’s increased monthly payment. Phone records and other evidence at trial demonstrated that this call never happened.
The FBI and Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Walt M. Junker and J. Nicholas Bunch and Deputy Criminal Chief Assistant U.S. Attorney Katherine Miller prosecuted the case.
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Child Molester Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison for Online Child Pornography OffenseRead the Press Release
Ocala, Florida – Senior U.S. District Judge Wm. Terrell Hodges yesterday sentenced Robert Toole (51, Ocala) to 20 years in federal prison for the online receipt of child pornography. Toole pleaded guilty on November 6, 2015.
According to court documents, in 2014, a Marion County Sheriff’s Office investigation into online child pornography resulted in the execution of a search warrant at Toole’s house in Ocala. There, deputies discovered computer equipment that contained more than 10,000 images of child pornography, many involving prepubescent children under the age of 12. In addition, Toole had many images of child pornography that he had taken of himself violating his daughter when she was a child. In powerful testimony during the sentencing hearing, Toole’s daughter described how her father’s conduct had begun when she was as young as three years old, and continued through her teenage years.
“This prosecution lent a voice to one of the many victims of child pornography, and gave closure to a young woman who has carried these wounds for many years,” said U.S. Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III.
“This criminal has committed one of the most heinous crimes imaginable,” said Susan L. McCormick, special agent in charge of HSI Tampa. “Because of the hard work of our HSI special agents, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office and the U.S. Attorney’s Office, this predator will spend the next 20 years in federal prison contemplating his crimes.”
This case was investigated by the Marion County Sheriff’s Office and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Daniel C. Irick.
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 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 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.projectsafechildhood.gov.
California Man Sentenced for Marijuana and Money Laundering ConspiraciesRead 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 James Parish, 31, of Carlsbad, California, who was convicted of conspiracy to distribute 100 kilograms or more of marijuana and money laundering conspiracy, was sentenced to 120 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Frank T. Pimentel, who handled the case, stated that between January and September 2014 the defendant sent packages of marijuana from the Carlsbad, California area to Western New York. The marijuana was then distributed and more than $800,000 in proceeds shipped back from Western New York to the defendant in California.
The investigation featured numerous successful law enforcement interceptions and discoveries. For example, On August 21, 2014, the Drug Enforcement Administration seized a package that a person was attempting to ship at a local shipping company. The package contained $66,705 in United States currency. On that same date, the DEA seized a second package containing $77,000 in United States currency that was shipped to a shipping company in Carlsbad, California. On September 26, 2014, DEA agents executed a search warrant at co-conspirator Benjamin Golembiewski’s Buffalo residence and seized $224,123 in United States currency.
Regarding seizures of drugs, on September 18, 2014, Parish dropped off two large boxes at the shipping company in Carlsbad to be shipped to the Buffalo area. These boxes were seized by the DEA and found to contain a total of 30 pounds of marijuana.
The investigation concluded on September 30, 2014, when the defendant traveled from California to Buffalo to collect approximately $600,000 in payments for the shipped marijuana. Parish, who was arrested at the Buffalo Niagara International Airport, was planning to stay at a hotel on Genesee St. in Cheektowaga. The investigation determined that Parish shipped a box to the hotel in his name, and upon locating the box, discovered that it contained an AirSoft Gun, a taser, a bullet proof vest, a knife, handcuffs, a flashlight, a tourniquet strap, a bandage kit and a GPS tracking device.
Defendant Golembiewski was sentenced to 37 months in prison.
Today’s sentencing is the result of an investigation on the part of the Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of James J. Hunt, Special Agent in Charge, New York Field Division, and the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority Police, under the direction of Chief George W. Gast.
Businessman Indicted for Fraud and Money Laundering Involving Charter School ConstructionRead the Press Release
BATON ROUGE, LA - United States Attorney Walt Green announced today that a federal grand jury has returned an indictment against NATHIAN D. HOSSLEY, age 50, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The indictment charges the defendant with five counts of wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343, one count of mail fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1341, and one count of engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from specified unlawful activity, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1957. The indictment also includes a forfeiture allegation which requires the defendant to forfeit the proceeds of his fraud if convicted.
The Indictment alleges that the defendant engaged in a scheme to defraud Bouma Construction ("Bouma"), a full-service construction company headquartered in Grand Rapids, Michigan, from March 2014 through December 2014. According to the Indictment, Bouma hired a company owned by the defendant, First Millennium Construction ("FMC"), to serve as a subcontractor in the construction of the Impact Charter School in Baker, Louisiana.
The Indictment further alleges that, unbeknownst to Bouma, the defendant provided false information in a "Qualification Statement" submitted to Bouma in connection with FMC’s bid for the Impact Charter School project. Additional allegations in the Indictment state that, without knowledge of the defendant’s history of federal convictions, Bouma hired FMC and agreed to pay over $1.2 million for its work on the project.
The Indictment further alleges that, after being hired, the defendant submitted, or caused to be submitted through FMC employees, multiple applications for disbursements of payments by Bouma to FMC in accordance with their contractual agreement. These applications for payments allegedly made false representations related to the amount of work that had been completed by FMC and the amount of money that FMC had paid and still owed to certain subcontractors. It also allegedly omitted the names of numerous subcontractors to which the defendant owed money for work on the project.
The defendant also allegedly forged and caused to be forged signatures of certain FMC subcontractors on joint check agreements and lien waivers for the purpose of obtaining $96,125 in joint checks from Bouma. According to the Indictment, the defendant then forged or caused to be forged the subcontractors’ endorsements on these checks, which were then deposited into the FMC’s bank account. This money was allegedly intended for the four subcontractors, not FMC. Finally, the Indictment alleges that the defendant arranged for another individual to submit a false affidavit claiming responsibility for the forged signatures, which was then sent to the District Attorney for the 19th Judicial District.
The Indictment alleges further that Bouma ultimately paid over $948,000 to FMC, less than half of which was paid to subcontractors to which the defendant owed money for work on the Impact Charter School project and that, during the relevant time period, the defendant diverted tens of thousands of dollars from FMC’s bank account to sources which benefitted him personally.
United States Attorney Green stated: "My office is committed to rooting out and aggressively pursuing dishonest businesspeople who seek to advance themselves through fraud. We look forward to continuing to work closely with the FBI and our other federal, state, and local partners to appropriately address any such criminality."
This matter is being handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Louisiana and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Ryan Crosswell and Rene Salomon.
NOTE: An indictment is an accusation by the Grand Jury. The defendant is presumed innocent until and unless adjudicated guilty at trial or through a guilty plea.
Baltimore Man Pleads Guilty to Conspiring to Commit Sex Trafficking of a MinorRead the Press Release
Baltimore, Maryland – Derrel Pitts, a/k/a “Foolish,” age 27, of Baltimore, pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to commit sex trafficking in connection with his prostituting of a minor female.
The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Kevin Perkins of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Chief James W. Johnson of the Baltimore County Police Department; Colonel William M. Pallozzi, Superintendent of the Maryland State Police; and Baltimore County State’s Attorney Scott Shellenberger.
According to court documents and statements at today’s plea hearing, from November 2014 through February 19, 2015, Pitts conspired with his “bottom” girl, a prostitute who also worked for Pitts, and others to commit sex trafficking of a 17 year old minor. Specifically, Pitts admitted that he instructed the minor victim on pricing for different sexual activities and that he received a portion of the money the victim received from sex customers for performing commercial sex acts.
On February 18 through February 19, 2015, Pitts transported and arranged for the transportation of the minor victim to a motel on Joppa Road in Towson, Maryland, where he directed the victim to engage in commercial sex acts with customers. Pitts rented the motel room and used, or allowed the victim to use, his cell phone to post photographs of the minor victim on an online website advertising her for prostitution and providing a telephone number where the victim could be reached for a “date,” or a commercial sex act.
On February 19, 2015, members of the Maryland Child Exploitation Task Force (MCETF), which included officers/agents from the Baltimore County Police and the Maryland State Police (MSP), rescued the victim at the motel in Towson after undercover officers made a “date” for prostitution with the victim, who directed them to her location. Prior to entering the motel room, law enforcement observed Pitts walking away from the room and towards the front of the motel.
As a result of his guilty plea, Pitts will be required register as a sex offender in the place where he resides, where he is an employee, and where he is a student, under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA).
Pitts and the government have agreed that if the Court accepts the plea agreement Pitts will be sentenced to between 78 and 96 months in prison followed by up to a lifetime of supervised release. U.S. District Judge George L. Russell III has scheduled sentencing for August 18, 2016 at 9:30 a.m.
The case was investigated by the FBI-led Maryland Child Exploitation Task Force, created in 2010 to combat child prostitution, with members from10 state and federal law enforcement agencies. The Task Force coordinates with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the Maryland State Police Child Recovery Unit to identify missing children being advertised online for prostitution.
MCETF partners with the Maryland Human Trafficking Task Force, formed in 2007 to discover and rescue victims of human trafficking while identifying and prosecuting offenders. Members include federal, state and local law enforcement, as well as victim service providers and local community members. For more information about the Maryland Human Trafficking Task Force, please visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/md/priorities_human.html.
United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the FBI, Baltimore County Police Department, Maryland State Police and Baltimore County State’s Attorney’s Office for their work in the investigation. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Ayn B. Ducao, who is prosecuting the case.
Attorney General, White House Champion of Change Coming to Alabama for National Reentry WeekRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – U.S. Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch and Daryl Atkinson, a White House Champion of Change and the Department of Justice’s first Second Chance Fellow, will be in north Alabama next week to participate in National Reentry Week events that will focus attention on the importance of helping ex-offenders build successful lives when they come out of prison, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance.
The attorney general will visit the Federal Correctional Institution in Talladega on Friday to highlight reentry programs in the prison.
Atkinson, an Alabama native, served three and a half years in an Alabama prison after pleading guilty in 1996 to a first-time, non-violent drug crime. He is now an attorney at the Southern Coalition for Social Justice in North Carolina, where he focuses on criminal justice reform issues, particularly removing the legal barriers triggered by contact with the criminal justice system.
The Justice Department designated April 24-30 as National Reentry Week to encourage and highlight work being done across the country to make the nation’s criminal justice system more fair, efficient and effective at reducing recidivism, and to help ex-offenders build fruitful lives and contribute to their communities. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Alabama has organized events throughout the week across the district, including a reentry simulation, a roundtable discussion with former inmates, and reentry programs for inmates nearing the end of their sentences at both Talladega FCI and the women’s Federal Correctional Institution in Aliceville.
“As Alabama struggles to reform its prison system, we should use proven methods to support people returning to the community from prison find employment and lead law-abiding lives,” Vance said. “Our events this week are designed to educate the community about barriers to successful reentry and the benefits to society when we help overcome those barriers, including reduced crime, lower prison costs and an expanded work force.”
Atkinson will speak at the beginning of the reentry simulation on Tuesday, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., at the National Alumni House on the University of Alabama at Birmingham Campus. He is a living example of someone who served his sentence, faced many obstacles when he left prison, but overcame them and now works to shape reentry policy and practice at the federal level.
The reentry simulation is a role-playing exercise designed to give participants an understanding of the often overwhelming day-to-day barriers that someone coming out of prison faces in seeking a job, a driver’s license, housing, or transportation.
Another key event during the week is a reentry and employment roundtable at The Dannon Project from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Thursday. The Dannon Project is a non-profit organization that provides services, including counseling and job training, to people coming out of prison. Dannon also works with employers to find appropriate job placements and provides support to both employer and employee to encourage success on the job.
The roundtable will serve as a listening session for local businesses and civic leaders to hear from Dannon’s clients about the importance of having job opportunities so that they can support themselves and their families and become positive role models in their communities.
Other events throughout the week will include two law enforcement crime intervention call-ins and a dinner gathering for recently released individuals and their families at the new state day reporting center in Birmingham to discuss the importance of family support to successful reentry.
The call-in as part of the Birmingham Violence Reduction Initiative will be held on Wednesday. This call-in of people identified as high-risk for committing or becoming a victim of violent crime will be the fourth call-in for the Birmingham VRI. Law enforcement will offer the opportunity for participants, who already are under probation or parole supervision, to connect with community resources, but also will deliver a strong message of hard consequences for individuals or the members of any group they associate with if the call-in participants engage in violent crime, particularly gun crime.
The Jefferson County call-in is scheduled for Monday. Participants called in for that meeting with law enforcement will be recently released state and federal offenders who are returning to Jefferson County. They will be provided information about community service providers that can help them successfully reintegrate into society.
Atlantic County, New Jersey, Man Sentenced to 18 Years in Prison for $3 Million Time-Share Mortgage Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
CAMDEN, N.J. – An Absecon, New Jersey, man was sentenced today to 18 years in prison for his role in a $3 million conspiracy to scam customers by offering phony consulting services to owners of timeshares through the New Jersey-based Vacation Ownership Group LLC, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.
Ian Resnick, 41, was previously convicted in September 2013 of one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, three counts of mail fraud and three counts of wire fraud. He was convicted following a seven-week trial before U.S. District Judge Noel L. Hillman, who imposed the sentence today in Camden federal court.
According to documents filed in this case and the evidence presented at trial:
Resnick and his codefendants schemed to defraud hundreds of timeshare owners by offering fraudulent consulting services through their company, the Vacation Ownership Group (now VO Financial). Adam Lacerda, 32, of Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey, the company founder, president and chief executive officer, devised the company’s fraudulent sales pitches. He directed his sales force to tell numerous lies to VO customers, including that VO worked with the banks holding the customers’ loans, would use money sent by customers to pay off the customers’ loans on their timeshares, and could cancel customers’ timeshares with money back.
His wife, Ashley Lacerda, 36, the company vice president and chief operating officer, sent fraudulent contracts to customers and managed the office. Resnick, a convicted bank robber, started as a salesman giving the fraudulent sales pitch but became Adam Lacerda’s enforcer, with the title “director of compliance.” Genevieve Manzoni, 50, of Lake Worth, Florida, was a top VO sales representative who falsely told one victim she worked with a bank, another victim that she worked with a timeshare developer.
All four defendants were convicted at the same trial. The 14 victims who testified – including business executives, veterans, senior citizens, a lawyer and a professor – were defrauded out of tens of thousands of dollars by the defendants’ sophisticated scheme.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Hillman sentenced Resnick to three years of supervised release. Restitution will be determined at a later date.
Adam Lacerda was sentenced to 27 years in prison on June 25, 2015. Ashley Lacerda is scheduled to be sentenced June 3, 2016; Manzoni was sentenced in December 2015 to 42 months in prison.
U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of FBI’s Atlantic City Resident Agency, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Timothy Gallagher in Newark; and special agents from the Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, Office of Labor Racketeering and Fraud Investigations, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Jonathan Mellone, New York Region, for the investigation. He also thanked the N.J. Department of Labor and Workforce Development for its assistance.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney R. David Walk Jr. of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Camden.
Defense counsel:
Ian Resnick: Michael E. Reilly Esq., Philadelphia
Adam Lacerda: Mark E. Cedrone Esq., Philadelphia
Ashley Lacerda: Charles Nugent Esq., Marlton, New Jersey
Genevieve Manzoni: Ralph A. Jacobs Esq., Philadelphia
April Grand JuryRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Deborah R. Gilg announced the federal Grand Jury for the District of Nebraska has returned 19 indictments charging 23 defendants. Indictments are charging documents that contain one or more individual counts that are merely accusations, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
* Raul Arce-Flores, age 34, of Omaha, is charged with illegal reentry into the United States on or about March 26, 2016, following deportation. The maximum possible penalty if convicted is 10 years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, a 3 year term of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment.
* Estevan Armstrong, of Omaha, is charged with felon in possession of a firearm on or about March 14, 2016. The maximum possible penalty if convicted is 10 years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, a 3 year term of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment.
* Joel Beltran is charged in a three-count Indictment. Count I charges Beltran with false representation of a social security number on or about March 15, 2016. The maximum possible penalty if convicted is 5 years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, a 3 year term of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment. Count II charges the defendant with false representation of U.S. Citizenship on or about March 15, 2016. The maximum possible penalty if convicted is 5 years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, a 3 year term of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment. Count III charges that on or about March 15, 2016, Beltran used a State of Nebraska Identification Card and Social Security card knowing said documents were not issued lawfully for the use of the defendant. The maximum possible penalty if convicted is 5 years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, a 3 year term of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment.
* Baltazar Cabrera-Reyes, age 33, is charged with illegal reentry into the United States on or about April 8, 2016, following deportation. The maximum possible penalty if convicted is 2 years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, a 1 year term of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment.
* Carlos Alonso Carrazco-Peralta, age 27, Jose Martinez-Pena, age 39, of York, Nebraska, and Naysa Bermudez-Ulloa, age 22 are charged with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of a mixture containing methamphetamine between on or about March 1, 2016, and continuing to in or about April 2016. The maximum possible penalty if convicted is Life imprisonment, a $10,000,000 fine, a 5 year term of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment.
* Carrie Case, age 41, of Omaha, is charged with obtaining in an unauthorized manner, individually identifiable health information under false pretenses on or about February 11, 2015. The maximum possible penalty if convicted is 5 years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, a 3 year term of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment.
* Demetrio Cortez-Jacinto, a/k/a Demetrio Cortes, age 42, of Omaha, is charged in a two-count Indictment. Count I charges Cortez-Jacinto with false representation of a social security number on or about December 18, 2012. The maximum possible penalty if convicted is 5 years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, a 3 year term of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment. Count II charges the defendant with false representation of U.S. Citizenship on or about December 18, 2012. The maximum possible penalty if convicted is 5 years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, a 3 year term of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment.
* Mark Hannan , age 19, of South Sioux City, Nebraska is charged with theft by an officer or employee of a gaming establishment owned and operated by the Winnebago Indian Tribe of Nebraska beginning on or about November 1, 2015, and continuing to on or about February 15, 2016. The maximum possible penalty if convicted is 20 years imprisonment, a $1,000,000 fine, a 5 year term of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment.
* Kathy Hansen, age 35, of Ralston, is charged with theft of government funds on or about, during and between February 12, 2014 an March 26, 2014. The maximum possible penalty if convicted is 10 years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, a 3 year term of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment.
* Maria Luisa Jiminez-Beza, age 48, is charged with illegal reentry into the United States on or about March 16, 2016, following deportation after a felony conviction. The maximum possible penalty if convicted is 10 years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, a 3 year term of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment.
* Amanda M. Karstens, age 32, of Avoca, Nebraska, Stanley D. Adkins, age 38 of Nehawaka, Nebraska, and Paul A. Hraben, age 33, of Avoca, are charged in a four-count Indictment. Count I of the Indictment charges the defendants with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute a mixture containing methamphetamine between on or about December, 2013, and continuing to in or about April, 2016. The maximum possible penalty if convicted is 20 years imprisonment, a $1,000,000 fine, a 3 year term of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment. Count II of the Indictment charges Karstens with distribution of a mixture containing methamphetamine on or about May 23, 2015.
The maximum possible penalty if convicted is 20 years imprisonment, a $1,000,000 fine, a 3 year term of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment. Count III of the Indictment charges Hraben with distribution of a mixture containing methamphetamine on or about January 8, 2015. The maximum possible penalty if convicted is 20 years imprisonment, a $1,000,000 fine, a 3 year term of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment. Count IV of the Indictment charges Adkins with distribution of a mixture containing methamphetamine on or about May 3, 2015. The maximum possible penalty if convicted is 20 years imprisonment, a $1,000,000 fine, a 3 year term of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment.
* Fidel Martinez, a/k/a Hector Vaga, age 38, of Greeley, Colorado is charged with possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of a mixture of methamphetamine on or about March 11, 2016. The maximum possible penalty if convicted is 40 years imprisonment, a $5,000,000 fine, a 4 year term of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment.
* Ruben Mendoza, age 44, is charged with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of a mixture containing methamphetamine beginning on or about April 27, 2015, and continuing to on or about February, 2016. The maximum possible penalty if convicted is 40 years imprisonment, a $5,000,000 fine, a 4 year term of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment.
* Arcadio Olivar-Rodriguez, age 34, of Omaha, is charged in a two-count Indictment. Count I charges the Olivar-Rodriguez with false representation of a social security number on or about July 12, 2013. The maximum possible penalty if convicted is 5 years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, a 3 year term of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment. Count II charges the defendant with false representation of U.S. Citizenship to unlawfully obtain employment in the United States on or about July 12, 2013. The maximum possible penalty if convicted is 5 years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, a 3 year term of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment.
* Carey Dean Phillips, Jr., age 22, of Sioux City, Iowa, is charged with failure to register as a sex offender from on or about March 10, 2016, and continuing to on or about March 27, 2016. The maximum possible penalty if convicted is 10 years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, 5 years to life supervised release, and a $100 special assessment.
* William H. Rich , age 46, of Stromsburg, Nebraska is charged in a four-count Indictment. Count I of the Indictment charges the defendant with use of a facility and means of interstate commerce to attempt to persuade, induce, and entice a minor to engage in sexual activity between on or about October 8, 2015 up to and including December 4, 2015. The maximum possible penalty if convicted is Life imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, supervised release for Life, and a $100 special assessment. Count II of the Indictment charges Rich with production of child pornography between on or about October 8, 2015 up to and including December 4, 2015. The maximum possible penalty if convicted is no less than 15 years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, supervised release for Life, and a $100 special assessment. Count III of the Indictment charges the defendant with possession of child pornography on and between August 2015, and December 4, 2015. The maximum possible penalty if convicted is 10 years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, supervised release for Life, and a $100 special assessment. Count IV of the Indictment charges Rich with production of child pornography between on or about October 8, 2015 up to and including December 4, 2015. The maximum possible penalty if convicted is 30 years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, supervised release for Life, and a $100 special assessment.
* Julio L.Rivera, age 33, of Lincoln, is charged with conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of a mixture of methamphetamine between on or about July 3, 2014 and on or about November 11, 2015. The maximum possible penalty if convicted is Life imprisonment, a $10,000,000 fine, a 5 year term of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment.
* Leonardo Rodriguez Palomino, age 60, is charged with illegal reentry into the United States on or about April 14, 2016, following deportation after a felony conviction. The maximum possible penalty if convicted is 10 years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, a 3 year term of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment.
* Brian Wyatt, age 40, is charged in a three-count Indictment. Counts I and II of the Indictment charge the defendant with distribution of a mixture containing methamphetamine on or about March 30, 2016 and April 5, 2016. The maximum possible penalty if convicted is 20 years imprisonment, a $1,000,000 fine, a 3 year term of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment for each count. Count III of the Indictment charges Wyatt with felon in possession of a firearm on or about April 13, 2016. The maximum possible penalty if convicted is 10 years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, a 3 year term of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment.
Thursday 21 April 2016
Woodbridge Man Pleads Guilty to Receipt of Child PornographyRead the Press Release
ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Christopher Craft, 41, of Woodbridge, pleaded guilty today to receipt of child pornography.
In a statement of facts filed with the plea agreement, from July 25, 2014, through Oct. 8, 2014, Craft used a peer-to-peer file sharing program to receive and collect child pornography videos and images, including videos of children as young as 5 years-old being sexually abused. In total, Craft’s child pornography collection included 480 images and 111 videos of children being sexually exploited, including images and videos depicting sadistic or masochistic conduct.
Craft faces a mandatory minimum penalty of five years in prison, and a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison when sentenced on July 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 M. Abbate, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, made the announcement after the plea was accepted by U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis, III. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kellen S. Dwyer and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott Claffee are prosecuting the case.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 1:16-cr-47.
Virginia man pleads guilty to failing to update sex offender registrationRead the Press Release
MARTINSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA – Convicted sex offender Milton Stuart Kendall, Jr., 35, of Roanoke, Virginia, pled guilty in federal court in Martinsburg to failing to update his registration status, United States Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld, II, announced.
Kendall was previously convicted of “Sexual Battery” in the Circuit Court of the City of Staunton, Virginia. As a result of that conviction, Kendall is required to register as a sex offender. In late 2014 or early 2105, Kendall moved from West Virginia to Virginia and failed to update his sex offender registration.
Kendall pled guilty to one count of “Failure to Register as a Sex Offender.” He faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed will be based upon the seriousness of the offenses and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Anna Krasinski and Paul Camilletti prosecuted the case on behalf of the government. The United States Marshals Service investigated.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert W. Trumble presided.
Violent Harvey Hustlers Gang Members Sentenced to Lengthy Prison SentencesRead the Press Release
U.S. Attorney Kenneth A. Polite announced that three members of the Harvey Hustlers organization were sentenced today for their participation in four murders, multiple shootings, and extensive drug distribution on the Westbank of Jefferson Parish. ISAAC SMITH, age 22, FRANKIE HOOKFIN, age 25, and TERRENCE KELLEY, age 29, all of Waggaman, received sentences of life, 35 years, and 40 years in prison, respectively.
SMITH pled guilty to being a drug distributor and gunman for the organization, and admitted to his role in four murders, including a vicious double murder of a couple whose children, were unharmed while in the backseat of their vehicle when the shooting occurred, and a 74 year old woman whose grandson was the target of the attack. During the sentencing hearing today, family members of the victims had the opportunity to address SMITH about the pain that the loss of the victims had caused to them and their families. After hearing the testimony, Judge Africk sentenced SMITH to serve the rest of his life in federal prison, emphasizing that in the federal system there is no parole. SMITH was also ordered to pay restitution to the victims’ families.
HOOKFIN also admitted to his participation in two murders, including the killing of a 74 year-old woman, and two other non-fatal shootings, as well as extensive drug dealing. Judge Africk sentenced HOOKFIN to serve 35 years in federal prison. HOOKFIN also has pending charges in Jefferson Parish related to his participation in shooting that left five people injured.
KELLEY admitted to participating in the murder of a 58 year-old man, two other non-fatal shootings, as well as dealing over a kilogram of heroin on the streets of Jefferson Parish. Judge Africk sentenced KELLEY to serve 40 years in federal prison.
This case is a product of an ongoing investigation into the violent acts in furtherance of the drug trafficking by the Harvey Hustler gang and its various offshoots on the West Bank. It represents the continued coordinated effort of the federal and state law enforcement authorities, including the United States Attorney’s Office, the Jefferson Parish District Attorney’s Office, Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s New Orleans Gang Task Force, and officers of the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office.
Assistant United States Attorneys Greg Kennedy, David Haller, and Myles Ranier and Special Assistant United States Attorney Collin Sims, who is a former Assistant United States Attorney and the Criminal Chief at the St. Tammany Parish District Attorney’s Office, are in charge of the prosecution.
Vallejo Business Owner Arrested for Alleged Foreclosure-Rescue Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Sergio Roman Barrientos, 62, of Poway, was arrested on Wednesday in San Diego. On Thursday, April 14, a federal grand jury returned a six-count superseding indictment against Barrientos that added co-defendant Zalathiel Aguila, 42, of Fairfield, to the indictment originally brought on March 3, 2016, United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced.
According to the indictment, Barrientos, Aguila, and Omar Anabo, 53, of Vallejo, engaged in a foreclosure rescue fraud scheme that began in September 2004 and continued to February 2008. Barrientos and Aguila are charged with conspiracy to commit and the commission of wire fraud affecting a financial institution, bank fraud, and conspiracy to make and making false statements on loan applications. On January 15, 2016, Anobo pleaded guilty to conspiring to make false statements on loan applications (case number 2:16-cr-001 GEB). He is scheduled for sentencing on November 4, 2016.
According to court documents, Barrientos owned Capital Access LLC, in Vallejo, and along with Aguila and Anabo, preyed on homeowners nearing foreclosure. The defendants’ “Keep Your Home” program purported to be a temporary rescue plan whereby “qualified investors” took over the mortgages while the homeowners paid rent and worked on rebuilding their credit. It is alleged that he defendants convinced homeowners to sign over title to their homes, which were then sold to straw buyers. The straw buyers obtained loans under fraudulent pretenses by claiming on loan applications that, for example, they intended to occupy the homes as primary residences and that no part of the down payment for the purchase was borrowed. In fact, it is alleged that Capital Access provided the down payment amounts, and the straw buyers never intended to live in the properties. The defendants stripped the equity from the homes and used it to pay the operational expenses of the scheme and personal expenses. Vulnerable homeowners across California lost their homes as a result of the alleged scheme, and lenders lost an estimated $10.47 million from the fraud.
This case is the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States Postal Inspection Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Yelovich is prosecuting the case.
If convicted, the defendants face a maximum statutory penalty of 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine for each count of wire fraud, bank fraud, and false statement, as well as for the conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud count. If convicted of conspiracy to make false statements on loan applications, they face a maximum statutory penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Any sentence, however, would be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables. The charges are only allegations; the defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Utah Man Arrested and Charged in Manhattan Federal Court with Commodities FraudRead the Press Release
Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Diego Rodriguez, the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), announced today that SCOTT A. BEATTY was arrested this morning on commodities fraud and wire fraud charges stemming from his scheme to defraud more than 49 investors of more than $825,000 through a fraud scheme in which BEATTY solicited investments for off-exchange foreign currency contracts known as “forex.” BEATTY was arrested this morning in Roy, Utah, and will be presented at 4:30 EST today in federal court in Salt Lake City, Utah.
U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said: “As alleged, Scott Beatty perpetrated one of the oldest financial crimes in the book – lying to investors about his plans for their money and instead, spending it on himself and to pay other investors. Through alleged misleading representations on his website, Beatty lured close to 50 investors interested in foreign exchange trading and defrauded them out of close to a million dollars. I thank the FBI and Commodity Futures Trading Commission for their work in this case.”
FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Diego Rodriguez said: “When investors look for help finding wise and lucrative investments, they put trust in experts who should have their best interests in mind. Beatty allegedly abused that trust and spent his clients’ money on himself. Investors should have a healthy skepticism when investing in high yield investments, and ask questions about how their money is being invested. If the answers don't add up, call the FBI.”
According to the Complaint unsealed today in Manhattan federal court[1]:
From January 2011 through June 2014, BEATTY, through his investment companies Peak Capital Management Group, Inc., and Peak Capital Group, Inc., engaged in a fraudulent scheme to obtain investments from individual investors purportedly for the purpose of trading in forex. In connection with the scheme, BEATTY made a series of false and misleading representations to investors, on the website www.peakforex.com (the “Website”) and through email, including: (a) that BEATTY was using investors’ funds to conduct forex trading when in, in fact, BEATTY used just $125,000 of the $825,000 in investor funds for trading; (b); that BEATTY’s forex trading was generating consistently positive annualized returns as high as 43.9 percent when, in fact, his limited trading was consistently unsuccessful; and (c) that BEATTY had created individual accounts for each investor on whose behalf BEATTY purported to execute forex trading, when in fact, BEATTY failed to create such individualized accounts. In addition to false and misleading representations made on the Website and over email, BEATTY generated wholly fictitious account statements that he provided to his clients through a client portal on the Website.
As a result of these misrepresentations, BEATTY obtained more than $825,000 in investments from more than 49 investors, the majority of whom were Japanese citizens who, under the Commodity Exchange Act, were not authorized to trade leveraged, margined, or financed forex in individually managed accounts. BEATTY routinely converted investor funds to his own use in the form of cash withdrawals and debit card purchases, including at least $517,000 for, among other things, BEATTY’s personal expenses such as restaurant bills and retail purchases. In addition, to hide his trading losses and continue to fund his personal lifestyle, BEATTY used new investor funds to pay back other investors in a Ponzi-like fashion. In total, BEATTY distributed approximately $184,000 back to investors.
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BEATTY, 40, of Roy, Utah, is charged with one count of commodities fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum fine of $1 million, or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense; and one count of wire fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a maximum fine of $5 million, or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense. The maximum potential sentences in this case are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the judge.
Mr. Bharara praised the work of the FBI and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. He added that the investigation is continuing.
The charges were brought 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 is 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.
This case is being handled by the Office’s Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrea M. Griswold is in charge of the prosecution.
The allegations contained in the Complaint are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
[1] As the introductory phrase signifies, the entirety of the text of the Complaint, and the description of the Complaint set forth herein, constitute only allegations, and every fact described should be treated as an allegation.
USNCB Strengthens State Access to International SystemsRead the Press Release
For almost a decade, INTERPOL Washington, the United States National Central Bureau (USNCB), has empowered the nation’s law enforcement to utilize both national and INTERPOL criminal indices. The process of linking states together to use INTERPOL systems, known as federation, will assist officers across the country in making determinations about persons or items they encounter in the field: suspected fugitives, victims, stolen vehicles, stolen travel documents, etc.
The national goal of federation is to streamline law enforcement queries into single requests, accessible via an officer’s vehicle or handheld device. Those queries would be routed through various national systems, such as the International Justice and Public Safety Network (Nlets) and National Criminal Information Center (NCIC). Such systems provide information such as a suspect’s name, charges, and threat level. That information enhances the effectiveness of all police action, from an officer’s safety during a traffic stop to informational support for an investigation.
To date, 12 states and the District of Columbia have become consistent users of these services. Their combined 67 million queries for people, vehicles, firearms, and/or travel documents have allowed for the dissemination of information about dangerous criminals, who may be moving within or outside the United States. As more states utilize this service, the likelihood of successfully identifying a suspect increases. Since 2006, the total number of queries made by states has grown exponentially, a growth assisted by the cost to federate being minimal: personnel training, administration, and other ‘soft’ costs. As the program grows, it may be used to increase U.S. law enforcement’s situational awareness in the period following terrorist attacks.
Following the San Bernardino attack in 2015, the USNCB is discussing a federation pilot with the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS). The component’s close relationship with state and local law enforcement will allow it and the USNCB to identify grants and/or funding streams for federating states.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection Officers Arrest Georgia Man Attempting to Smuggle Marijuana to the Virgin IslandsRead the Press Release
St. Thomas, USVI – Keenan Powell-Ryder, 20, of Gainesville, Georgia, made his initial appearance April 20, 2016, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Ruth Miller after being charged in a complaint with possession with intent to distribute marijuana, United States Attorney Ronald W. Sharpe announced. At a preliminary hearing held today, probable cause was found to arrest Powell-Ryder, who was subsequently released on an appearance bond with numerous conditions of release.
According to the complaint, on April 19, 2016, Powell-Ryder arrived at the Cyril E. King International Airport, St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, on board a Delta Airlines flight from Atlanta, Georgia. U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers approached Powell-Ryder and asked him if he had any checked luggage, which he denied. He was taken to secondary inspection where CBP officers matched luggage containing 14.99 kilograms of marijuana to Powell-Ryder.Under federal law if convicted of possession with intent to distribute 14.99 kilograms of marijuana, Powell-Ryder faces a maximum of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. This case is being investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney David White.
United States Attorney Sharpe reminds the public that a complaint is merely a formal charging document and is not evidence of guilt. Every defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York Recovers Nearly $12 Billion in Forfeitures and Civil Actions During Two-Year Period from January 1, 2014, Through December 31, 2015Read the Press Release
Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today that the Office obtained recoveries of more than $8.6 billion in forfeiture actions, more than $3 billion in civil actions, and more than $1.3 billion from restitution, criminal fines, and special assessments, between January 1, 2014, and December 31, 2015. The amounts collected include criminal and civil forfeitures of nearly $3.44 billion for calendar year 2014 and more than $5.24 billion for 2015.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said: “Our Office’s more than $12 billion in forfeitures, penalties, and fines for the calendar years 2014 and 2015 includes more than $8.6 billion in forfeitures, the most that this Office or any U.S. Attorney’s Office has forfeited in a two-year period. These recoveries demonstrate that those who break the law or commit civil offenses, whether institutions or individuals, are not free to profit from their misconduct. These recoveries not only serve to deter bad conduct. These recoveries not only serve to deter bad conduct, but also a significant portion of the money recovered will go toward compensating victims of crime or other misconduct who suffered real financial loss.”
Forfeitures
Forfeited funds are generally deposited into the Department of Justice Assets Forfeiture Fund (the “Assets Forfeiture Fund”) and the Department of Treasury Forfeiture Fund. The forfeited funds are used to restore money to crime victims and for a variety of law enforcement purposes.
BNP Paribas
$8.8336 billion forfeiture order; $3.8388 billion collected; total financial penalties collected $8.9736 billion
In July 2014, BNP Paribas S.A. (“BNPP”) pled guilty to conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and the Trading with the Enemy Act by knowingly and willfully moving more than $8.8 billion through the U.S. financial system on behalf of Sudanese, Iranian, and Cuban entities subject to U.S. economic sanctions. In May 2015, BNPP was sentenced to forfeit $8.8336 billion, with penalties paid to the Federal Reserve Bank, New York State Department of Financial Services, and the New York County District Attorney to be credited against that forfeiture money judgment. After crediting those penalties, $3.8 billion was forfeited to the United States in connection with the case in 2015. Pursuant to recently enacted legislation, a substantial portion of these funds will be placed in a Congressionally-created terror victim compensation fund.
JPMorgan Chase
$1.7 billion forfeited
On January 7, 2014, as part of a deferred prosecution agreement, JPMorgan Chase agreed to pay a non-tax deductible penalty of $1.7 billion, in the form of a civil forfeiture for its violations of the Bank Secrecy Act committed in connection with the Bernard Madoff multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme. The full amount was forfeited to the United States in 2014.
Toyota Motor Corporation
$1.2 billion forfeited
In March 2014, the Toyota Motor Corporation entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with this Office based on charges that Toyota misled U.S. consumers by concealing and making deceptive statements regarding two safety issues affecting its vehicles, each of which caused a type of unintended acceleration. Pursuant to the agreement, Toyota, among other things, agreed to a $1.2 billion penalty in the form of a civil forfeiture, constituting the largest criminal penalty ever imposed by the Department of Justice on an automotive company. This amount was forfeited to the United States in 2014.
General Motors
$900 million forfeited
In September 2015, the General Motors Company (“GM”) entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with this Office based on charges that GM concealed a potentially deadly safety defect from its U.S. regulator, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and, in the process, misled consumers concerning the safety of certain of GM’s cars. Pursuant to the deferred prosecution agreement, GM, among other things, agreed to the forfeiture of $900 million to the United States, which was completed in 2015.
Commerzbank
$300 million forfeited
In March 2015, Commerzbank entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with this Office and other components of the Department of Justice, including the Department’s Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section, based in part on this Office’s charges that Commerzbank violated the Bank Secrecy Act (“BSA”) by willfully failing to have an effective anti-money laundering program, willfully failing to conduct due diligence on its foreign correspondent accounts, and willfully failing to file suspicious activity reports, which allowed the perpetrators of a major accounting fraud involving the Olympus Corporation to transfer more than $1.6 billion through Commerzbank in furtherance of the fraud. Pursuant to the deferred prosecution agreement, Commerzbank, among other things, agreed to the forfeiture of $300 million to the United States based on the BSA charges, which was completed in 2015.
SAC Capital Advisors, L.P.
$284 million forfeited
In July 2013, this Office filed a civil money laundering and forfeiture action seeking the forfeiture of all of the assets of the SAC Companies (“SAC”) on the basis that SAC engaged in money laundering by commingling the illegal profits from insider trading with other assets, using the profits to promote additional insider trading, and transferring the profits with the assistance of financial institutions. In November 2013, this Office entered into an agreement with SAC in which SAC, among other things, agreed to forfeit $900 million to the United States, including the $616 million payment to the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). The agreement also involved a criminal fine of another $900 million, resulting in a total penalty of approximately $1.2 billion, on top of the $616 million SEC fine. The Stipulation and Order of Settlement in connection with the civil case was entered on November 6, 2013, and the Judgment in a Criminal Case was entered on April 11, 2014. $284 million was forfeited to the United States in 2014.
PokerStars and Related Cases
$213,047,848 forfeited
In July 2012, the United States reached an agreement with the two largest online poker companies in the United States, Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars. The United States had brought a civil forfeiture and money laundering action against these companies and their assets. Under the terms of the settlement, Full Tilt forfeited essentially all of its assets to the United States. PokerStars agreed to forfeit $547 Million, to be paid in several installments, and to reimburse the approximately $184 million owed by Full Tilt to foreign players. The settlement further provides that PokerStars will acquire the Forfeited Full Tilt Assets from the Government. In 2014 and 2015, $197 million was forfeited to the United States by PokerStars and more than $16 million was forfeited by other parties in related actions. To date, in excess of $1.2 billion has been forfeited in the PokerStars civil forfeiture action and related cases.
US v. Tokhtakhounov, et al.
$39,455,928 forfeited
In April 2013, this Office brought charges against more than 30 alleged members and associates of two related Russian-American organized crime enterprises, including a Russian “Vor,” for a range of offenses including the operation of at least two international bookmaking organizations – or “sportsbooks” – that catered to multimillionaires and billionaires in the U.S., Russia, and Ukraine – and the laundering of tens of millions of dollars from Russia and Ukraine through Cyprus and into the U.S. Thirty-one of the defendants have since been convicted and sentenced to up to five years in prison and forfeiture of the proceeds of the offenses and all property involved in the money laundering operation. In 2014 and 2015, the United States forfeited nearly $40 million in connection with the case.
US v. Robert C. Trosten
$30,742,072 forfeited
On February 20, 2008, Robert C. Trosten, the former Chief Financial Officer of Refco, pled guilty to five counts charged in a superseding indictment to a $2.4 billion fraud. Pursuant to the plea agreement, Trosten agreed to forfeit $2.4 billion, along with other funds and property, to the United States. Trosten was sentenced on June 5, 2014. $30,742,072 was forfeited to the United States in 2014. To date, in excess of $680 million has been forfeited to the United States.
Silk Road
$18,742,916 forfeited
On September 30, 2013, the United States filed a civil action against the assets of Silk Road, the subject of a criminal prosecution, including its domain name and approximately 173,991 Bitcoins. The civil complaint alleges that Silk Road was a global illegal cyber business designed to broker criminal transactions. On January 14, 2014, a forfeiture order was entered forfeiting 29,655 Bitcoins to the United States. The remaining 144,336 Bitcoins are restrained pending the conclusion of the criminal appeal in United States v. Ross William Ulbricht. Since the entry of the forfeiture order, a portion of the Bitcoins have been auctioned and sold for a total of $18,742,916.
Civil Actions and Restitution, Criminal Fines, and Special Assessments
From January 1, 2014, through December 31, 2015, the Office also has recovered more than $1.3 billion in restitution, criminal fines, and special assessments, and more than $3 billion from civil actions.
The $3 billion collected in civil actions came from a combination of cases in which the Office recouped government money lost due to fraud or other misconduct, collected fines imposed on individuals and/or corporations for violations of federal health, safety, civil rights, or environmental laws, or recovered funds owed to the Internal Revenue Service.
Below are summaries of some of the civil actions in which the Office has obtained significant recoveries:
Tronox bankruptcy; United States and Tronox v. Anadarko Petroleum Corp., et al.
More than $5.15 billion in total recovery, with more than $1.8 billion paid directly to the United States
This Office and a litigation trust created in the bankruptcy of Tronox, Inc., obtained a $5.15 billion settlement of a fraudulent conveyance lawsuit. The United States and the litigation trust alleged that Tronox’s predecessor, the Kerr-McGee Corporation, had transferred billions of dollars of assets to companies that became subsidiaries of Anadarko Petroleum Corp., and that as a result of these transfers, Tronox was left insolvent and unable to clean up contaminated sites around the country for which it was liable. After a lengthy bench trial, the bankruptcy court found Anadarko’s subsidiaries liable. Thereafter, a settlement was reached. On January 23, 2015, defendants paid $5.15 billion (plus interest since April 3, 2014) to the litigation trust, which then distributed the funds to the United States, certain states, and four environmental response trusts created in the Tronox bankruptcy to clean up contaminated sites. The total distribution to the United States was more than $1.8 billion.
Bank of America and Countrywide
More than $1 billion paid to the United States
The Office conducted investigations into the origination of defective residential mortgage loans by Countrywide’s Consumer Markets Division and Bank of America’s Retail Lending Division, as well as the fraudulent sale of such loans to the government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The Office’s investigation into these practices, as well as three private whistleblower lawsuits filed under seal in the Southern District of New York pursuant to the False Claims Act, were resolved in connection with a broad settlement with Bank of America announced by the Department of Justice in Washington in August 2014. As part of the settlement, Countrywide and Bank of America paid $1 billion to resolve their liability under the False Claims Act in the SDNY cases. Bank of America also paid a total penalty of $5 billion to settle the Department of Justice’s claims under the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act of 1989 (“FIRREA”).
JPMorgan Chase Bank
$614 million paid to the United States
In February 2014, the Office filed, and simultaneously settled, a civil fraud lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase for improperly approving thousands of residential home mortgage loans for government insurance and refinancing. In the settlement, JPMorgan Chase admitted, acknowledged, and accepted responsibility for, among other things, submitting false certifications to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”), the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (“VA”), and the Federal Housing Administration (“FHA”) that induced HUD-FHA and the VA to accept for government insurance and refinancing thousands of loans that were not eligible for such insurance or refinancing, and ultimately resulted in substantial losses to the Government when the loans defaulted. JPMorgan Chase also admitted to failing to self-report to HUD-FHA hundreds of loans that it had identified as fraudulent or otherwise deficient, and to submitting loan data to HUD-FHA that lacked integrity. To resolve the claims against it, the bank agreed to pay $614 million to the United States under the False Claims Act and to implement an enhanced quality control program to address the misconduct concerning the integrity of loan data submitted to HUD-FHA.
Bank of New York Mellon
$167.5 million paid to the United States
In March 2015, the Office settled civil fraud charges filed in 2011 against Bank of New York Mellon (“BNYM”) and David Nichols, one of its former executives, as part of a $714 million global settlement with private litigants and other regulators concerning BNYM’s foreign exchange practices. In October 2011, this Office filed a civil fraud action against BNYM seeking civil penalties under FIRREA and alleging that BNYM had defrauded clients using one of its foreign exchange products. In April 2014, the district court issued a landmark ruling affirming the novel FIRREA theory that a bank could be “affected” by its own fraudulent conduct. The case was coordinated with a multi-district litigation involving class actions brought by BNYM customers and a lawsuit filed by the New York State Attorney General (“NYAG”). Under the settlement, BNYM paid $167.5 million to this Office as a FIRREA penalty. BNYM also paid $167.5 million to the NYAG and $335 million to customer classes, as well as $30 million to the SEC and $14 million to the Department of Labor, which had ongoing investigations. As part of the settlement, BNYM and Nichols admitted and accepted responsibility for conduct alleged in this Office’s complaint, including that, contrary to statements to clients that BNYM offered “best rates” and “best execution,” it actually assigned clients the worst interbank rates available during the trading day or session. BNYM was also required to reform its business practices and terminate employment relationships with responsible individuals, including Nichols. The settlement proceeds were held in escrow pending approvals by the court and disbursed in October 2015.
Fifth Third Bankcorp.
$84.9 million paid to the United States
In October 2015, this Office filed and simultaneously settled a civil fraud lawsuit against Fifth Third Bancorp and its subsidiaries (“FTB”) for misconduct in connection with FTB’s origination of residential mortgage loans insured by FHA. FTB made a voluntary disclosure to this Office and HUD of approximately 1,400 mortgage loans that the bank had certified as eligible for FHA insurance, later determined were materially defective and thus ineligible for FHA insurance, but never self-reported to HUD, resulting in millions of dollars in HUD losses. As part of the settlement, FTB paid $84,911,018 to cover federal losses on approximately 500 of the loans that defaulted and for which HUD paid insurance claims, and agreed to indemnify HUD for all losses HUD may incur on the other approximately 900 defective loans that had not yet defaulted. FTB admitted and accepted responsibility for failing to self-report mortgage loans it knew to be defective, contrary to HUD requirements. FTB also reformed its business practices and terminated the employment of responsible employees.
Accredo
$45 million paid to the United States
In April 2015, the Office settled civil fraud claims against Accredo Healthcare Group, Inc. (“Accredo”) relating to Accredo’s participation in an alleged kickback scheme with Novartis in connection with Accredo’s distribution of the blood chelation drug Exjade. In the settlement, Accredo admitted and accepted responsibility for participating in a patient referral allocation system created by Novartis under which, in order to get more patient referrals and related benefits from Novartis, Accredo assigned a nurse to call Exjade patients and tell them that it was extremely important to continue taking Exjade, but without advising patients about the less common and more severe adverse reactions associated with Exjade. Accredo also paid $45.06 million to resolve its liability to the United States for this conduct.
L-3/EOTech
$25.6 million paid to the United States
In November 2015, the Office filed and simultaneously settled a civil fraud lawsuit against L-3 Communications EOTech, Inc. (“EOTech”), L-3 Communications Corporation (“L-3”), and EOTech president Paul Mangano for selling defective holographic weapon sights to the U.S. Department of Defense (“DOD”), the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The sights were designed to allow users to quickly acquire targets, return fire, and hit targets, in a range of extreme environmental conditions. In the settlement, L-3 and EOTech admitted that EOTech knew the sights failed in extreme temperatures and humid environments, but delayed disclosure of these defects to the Government for years, despite EOTech’s representations to DOD that the sights performed in hot, cold, and humid conditions, and despite EOTech’s contractual obligation to disclose to DOD performance-related data affecting the reliability of the sights. Mangano also admitted knowing that the sights experienced failures in cold temperatures or humid environments. EOTech and L-3 agreed to pay $25.6 million to resolve their liability to the United States under the False Claims Act.
Qualitest
$22.4 million paid to the United States
In December 2015, the Office settled civil fraud claims against Endo Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and subsidiaries of Endo that, doing business as Qualitest Pharmaceuticals (collectively, the “Qualitest entities”), manufactured and sold chewable fluoride tablets that contained less than half of the amount of fluoride ion indicated by the product labeling. In the settlement, the Qualitest entities admitted and accepted responsibility for their manufacturing and labeling practices that caused children, including children covered by Medicaid, to receive only approximately 44% of the fluoride ion as recommended by guidelines issued by the American Dental Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics. The Qualitest entities also paid $22.44 million to the United States, as well as $16.56 million to plaintiff states, to resolve their liability for this conduct.
Lyondell
$18.8 million paid to the United States
In 2014, the Office recovered more than $18 million pursuant to a previously approved bankruptcy settlement agreement between federal and state environmental regulators and Lyondell Chemical Company and its subsidiaries. Pursuant to the 2010 settlement, Lyondell paid approximately $162 million to the United States and an environmental response trust on account of federal and state environmental claims at certain sites and provided the government an unsecured bankruptcy claim for clean-up costs at other sites. The 2014 recovery of $18.8 million was a partial payment by Lyondell, through a stock distribution, on the bankruptcy claim. Prior to its bankruptcy, Lyondell had been one of the largest chemical manufacturers in the United States and was liable for contamination at numerous sites around the country.
HSBC
$10 million paid to the United States
In June 2014, the Office settled civil fraud claims against HSBC Bank USA and other HSBC entities (collectively “HSBC”) relating to HSBC’s failure to oversee the reasonableness of foreclosure-related charges HSBC submitted for reimbursement to FHA and Fannie Mae, contrary to program requirements and HSBC’s certifications that it had done so. In the settlement, HSBC accepted responsibility for failing to create or maintain systems to review fees and charges submitted by outside counsel and other third-party providers to HSBC during 2009 and 2010, fees and charges which HSBC then submitted to FHA and Fannie Mae for reimbursement without the requisite oversight and review. HSBC also paid $10 million to resolve its liability to the United States for this conduct.
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The Criminal Division’s Money Laundering and Asset Forfeiture Unit is led by Chief Jason Cowley and Deputy Chief Alexander Wilson and handles all criminal and civil forfeiture actions for the Office. Civil recoveries are handled by the Office’s Civil Division, which is led by Sara L. Shudofsky. Criminal and civil collections are handled by the Civil Division’s Financial Litigation Unit, which is led by Kathleen Zebrowski.
For further information, the United States Attorneys’ Annual Statistical Reports can be found online at http://www.justice.gov/usao/reading_room/foiamanuals.html.
Two Individuals Plead Guilty in Conspiracy to Defraud over Ten Federal AgenciesRead the Press Release
Brian J. Garrahan, 42, and Kelly A. Spillman 34, both of Delray Beach, Florida, pled guilty today for their participation in a conspiracy to defraud over ten federal agencies by issuing fraudulent bonds to insure government contracts.
Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Jerry Polk, Special Agent in Charge, United States Environmental Protection Agency, Office of the Inspector General (EPA-OIG), Atlanta Field Office, made the announcement.
Garrahan and Spillman each pled guilty, before U.S. District Judge Kenneth L. Ryskamp, to one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 371. The defendants are scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Ryskamp on June 29, 2016 at 1:30 p.m. in West Palm Beach.
According to court documents, from approximately June 2008 through June 2013, Garrahan and Spillman conspired with each other and others to obtain payments from government contractors for issuing fraudulent bonds, that is, insurance, for large government contracts. The fraudulent bonds were individual surety bonds, usually signed by Garrahan and two other co-conspirators, a relative of Garrahan, and an individual who had prior experience with government bonds.
Individual surety bonds require collateral. The collateral used was land or cash or cash equivalent assets held in bank accounts. However, Garrahan and Spillman knew that the claims of ownership of land and the claims of possessing funds were false. In addition, the supporting documents related to these assets were fraudulent.
Garrahan and Spillman also knew that a co-conspirator, who was directing them, had a prior fraud conviction. They also knew that this was the reason his name was not included in any of the paperwork.
Garrahan, Spillman and their co-conspirators issued a large number of bonds dealing with over 100 contractors and at least 15 federal agencies, and other entities. Often contracts had “modifications,” that is, contract expansions, that led to more bonds being issued.
Over ten federal agencies reimbursed contractors over $4.3 million in bond fees for the fraudulent bonds issued by Garrahan, Spillman and their co-conspirators. The federal agencies included, among others:
a. The United States Army;
b. The United States Department of Energy;
c. The United States Environmental Protection Agency;
d. The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development;
e. The United States Department of State; and
f. The United States Department of Veterans Affairs.
Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of EPA-OIG and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs-OIG, together with the Criminal Investigation Command of the U.S. Army; U.S. Department of Defense-OIG, Defense Criminal Investigative Services; U.S. Department of Energy-OIG; General Services Administration-OIG; U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development-OIG; and U.S. Department of State-OIG;. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ana Maria Martinez.
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.
Two Individuals Charged in Superseding Indictment with Conspiring to Commit Acts of Terrorism Transcending National BoundariesRead the Press Release
Today, David Daoud Wright, aka Dawud Sharif Abdul Khaliq, aka Dawud Sharif Abdul Khaliq, 26, of Everett, Massachusetts, and Nicholas Alexander Rovinski, aka Nuh Amriki, aka Nuh Andalusi, 25, of Warwick, Rhode Island, were charged in a superseding indictment with conspiracy to commit acts of terrorism transcending national boundaries.
The announcement was made by Assistant Attorney General for National Security John P. Carlin, U.S. Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz of the District of Massachusetts and Special Agent in Charge Harold H. Shaw of the FBI’s Boston Division.
This charge, as well as additional conspiracy allegations, were included in a new superseding indictment against Wright and Rovinski today. A grand jury in June 2015, charged them with conspiracy to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). The indictment also charged Wright with conspiracy to obstruct justice and obstruction of justice.
Wright and Rovinski are charged with conspiring with each other, known and unknown conspirators, and Usaamah Abdullah Rahim, 26, Wright’s uncle, to provide material support to ISIL and commit acts of terrorism that transcended national boundaries. On June 2, 2015, Rahim was shot and killed after he attacked law enforcement officers in a Roslindale, Massachusetts, parking lot.
The superseding indictment alleges that, beginning in at least February 2015, Wright began discussing ISIL’s call to kill non-believers in the United States with Rahim and Rovinski and they began plotting and recruiting members for their “martyrdom” operation. In March 2015, Wright drafted organizational documents for a “Martyrdom Operations Cell” and conducted Internet search queries about firearms, the effectiveness of tranquilizers on human subjects and the establishment of secret militias in the United States. Simultaneously, Rahim was communicating with ISIL members overseas, including Junaid Hussain. On Aug. 24, 2015, Hussain was killed in an airstrike in Raqqah, Syria.
As alleged in the indictment, beginning in or about May 2015, Hussain allegedly communicated directly with Rahim. Rahim in turn communicated Hussain’s instructions to Wright, with regard to the murder of an individual residing in New York. Wright, Rovinski and Rahim each allegedly conspired to commit attacks and kill persons inside the United States on behalf of ISIL. In preparation for their attack, Rovinski conducted research on weapons that could be used to behead their victims. Since being arrested, Rovinski has sought to continue their planned attacks and has written letters to Wright from prison discussing ways to take down the U.S. government and decapitate non-believers.
The charge of conspiracy to provide material support provides a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, a lifetime term of supervised release and a $250,000 fine; conspiracy to obstruct justice provides a maximum sentence of five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine; obstruction of justice provides a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine; conspiracy to commit acts of terrorism transcending national boundaries provides a maximum sentence of life in prison, lifetime supervised release and a $250,000 fine. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
This investigation is being conducted by the Boston Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) and the Rhode Island JTTF with critical assistance from the Boston Police Department; Boston Regional Intelligence Center; Massachusetts State Police; Commonwealth Fusion Center; Everett Police Department; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations; Rhode Island State Police; Warwick, Rhode Island, Police Department; Rhode Island Fusion Center; Naval Criminal Investigative Service; and member agencies of the JTTF.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney B. Stephanie Siegmann of the District of Massachusetts’s National Security Unit and Trial Attorney Greg R. Gonzalez of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section.
The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The defendants are presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in the court of law.
Wright Indictment
Two Former Houston Medical Clinic Owners Convicted of Defrauding Medicare of $5.4 MillionRead the Press Release
HOUSTON – Two former owners of medical clinics in Houston have entered pleas of guilty to defrauding Medicare of $5.4 million, announced U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson.
Zaven Pogosyan, 37, and Edvard Shakhbazyan, 40, were the former owners of medical clinics located at 2110 Jefferson, 2112 Pease and 6892 Southwest Freeway, Suite 2A, in Houston. They pleaded guilty yesterday to multiple counts related to the fraud scheme. Two others charged in the case - Seryan Mirzakhanyan, 31, and Frank Montgomery, 66, of Houston, previously entered pleas of guilty.
Pogosyan and Shakhbazyan admitted they opened the three clinics with the intention to defraud Medicare. They admitted that the majority of the diagnostic tests allegedly done at the three clinics were either not done or not medically necessary and that the medical equipment, patient files and doctors were all there only to make it appear legitimate. They further admitted hiring doctors for that purpose and that they paid marketers to bring patients to the fraudulent clinics.
There was allegedly only one doctor working at the three different medical clinics in Houston which Pogosyan managed. Pogosyan also admitted he hired two other doctors to travel to Houston once a month to review patient files at the clinic located on Pease Street.
Mirzakhanyan, Pogosyan and Shakhbazyan paid recruiters/marketers like Montgomery who brought the patients to the clinics.
U.S. District Judge Lynn N. Hughes has set sentencing for Pogosyan and Shakhbazyan on July 25, 2016. At that time, both men each face a maximum penalty of 10 years in a federal prison and a $250,000 fine for each of the 42 health care fraud convictions as well as the conspiracy. In addition, they face a maximum of five years for the conspiracy to pay and receive kickbacks.
Montgomery and Mirzakhanyan will be sentenced Oct. 11, 2016.
The criminal charges are the result of a joint investigation conducted by agents of the FBI, Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services - Office of the Inspector General and the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit of the Texas Attorney General's Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney (AUSA) Al Balboni and Special AUSA Rodolfo Ramirez are prosecuting the case.