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26 May 2016
Convicted Felon Indicted for Illegally Possessing AmmunitionRead the Press Release
SYRACUSE, NEW YORK – Hanza Muhammad, 25, of North Syracuse, NY was indicted for being a convicted felon in possession of ammunition, announced United States Attorney Richard S. Hartunian.
The indictment alleges that on March 26, 2016, Mr. Muhammad, a previously convicted felon, was in possession of twenty-five rounds of .32 caliber pistol ammunition. The charge carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000 and a term of supervised release of up to 3 years. A defendant’s sentence is imposed by a judge based on the particular statute the defendant is charged with violating, the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other factors.
The charges in the indictment are merely accusations. The defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Mr. Muhammad appeared in court on May 23, 2016 in Syracuse, New York, before United States Magistrate Judge Thérèse Wiley Dancks, subsequent to his arrest. Following a hearing, the defendant was ordered detained without bail pending a trial scheduled for July 18, 2016.
This case is being investigated by the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Syracuse Police Department, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert S. Levine.
Connecticut Man Sentenced for Possessing Marijuana & $1 Million in Drug MoneyRead the Press Release
BOSTON – A Connecticut man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Springfield in connection with distributing marijuana.
Connor Cipolla, 31, of Granby, Conn., was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Mark G. Mastroianni to one year and one day in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $15,000. In February 2016, Cipolla pleaded guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute marijuana involving between 100 and 400 kilograms of marijuana.
In October 2014, Cipolla drove to his storage locker at Uncle Bob’s Storage in Agawam. While there, he saw federal agents conducting a search of another locker. Mistakenly believing that agents were searching his locker, Cipolla immediately fled by car, eventually abandoning his car in an effort to evade police. Agents later obtained a search warrant for Cipolla’s storage locker and discovered over $1 million in cash and 111 pounds of marijuana.
United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Michael J. Ferguson, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Boston Field Division; Agawam Police Chief Eric Gillis; and Southwick Police Chief David A. Ricardi, made the announcement today. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Deepika Bains Shukla of Ortiz’s Springfield Branch Office.
Cleveland man faces drug and firearms chargesRead the Press Release
A Cleveland man was indicted in federal court for possessing with intent to distribute crack cocaine and being a felon in possession of a firearm, said Carole S. Rendon, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio.
Juan J. Hiraldo, 26, possessed approximately 26 grams of cocaine base (crack) and a Kahr .40 Caliber pistol with ammunition on May 3. Hiraldo had previously been convicted ason and domestic violence in Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas, according to the indictment.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Marisa T. Darden following an investigation by the Lakewood Police Department and the Northern Ohio Law Enforcement Task Force.
If convicted, the defendant’s sentence will be determined by the court after review of factors unique to this case, including the defendant’s prior criminal record, if any, the defendant’s role in the offense, and the characteristics of the violation. In all cases, the sentence will not exceed the statutory maximum and in most cases it will be less than the maximum.
An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Citrus County Man Sentenced to More Than 11 Years for Distributing Child PornographyRead the Press Release
Ocala, Florida – Senior United States District Judge Wm. Terrell Hodges has sentenced Alan Kenneth Thompson, Jr. (33, Crystal River) to 11 years and 4 months in federal prison for distributing child pornography.
According to court documents, agents from U.S. Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations determined that Thompson had been using a mobile app to post and receive images depicting child pornography online. The agents tracked the activity to Thompson’s residence. On September 10, 2015, a search warrant was executed at the residence and a cellphone and two laptop computers were seized. More than 4,500 images and 84 video files depicting child pornography were identified during forensic analyses of Thompson’s devices.
During an interview with law enforcement, Thompson admitted that he had been receiving and distributing child pornography, including some in which the victims were only four or five years old. Thompson further stated that he recently had begun to take non-pornographic photographs of neighborhood children without their knowledge, including more than 3,000 images of a minor girl.
“This criminal had thousands of horrible images, each of which represented an atrocious crime on a child,” said Susan L. McCormick, special agent in charge of HSI Tampa. “This sentencing should stand as a warning to child predators that you will be held accountable for your crimes.”
This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Robert E. Bodnar, Jr.
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.justice.gov/psc.
Citizen of Mexico Pleads Guilty to Immigration ChargeRead the Press Release
ROANOKE, VIRGINIA – United States Attorney John P. Fishwick Jr. announced today the guilty plea of a Mexican citizen for violating the immigration laws of the United States.
Aureliano Valentin-Concepcion, a.k.a. “Jose Ramerez-Monteicia,” 36, of Mexico, pled guilty today in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Roanoke to one count of illegally reentering the United States after previously being removed.
“We will continue to enforce the immigration laws of the United States and remove those individuals who repeatedly break those laws,” United States Attorney John P. Fishwick Jr. said today.
According to evidence presented at today’s guilty plea hearing by Assistant United States Attorney C. Patrick Hogeboom III, Valentin-Concepcion has been removed from the United States three times previously, most recently on August 23, 2000 from El Paso, Texas.
The investigation of the case was conducted by the Department of Homeland Security, Enforcement and Removal Operations. Assistant United States Attorney C. Patrick Hogeboom III prosecuted the case for the United States.
Child Pornography Charge Brought Against Philadelphia ManRead the Press Release
PHILADELPHIA - Thomas C. Rambo, 37, of Philadelphia, PA, was charged today by Indictment with accessing child pornography with intent to view, announced United States Attorney Zane David Memeger. According to the indictment, on May 31, 2015, Rambo viewed images of child pornography on an internet website.
If convicted the defendant faces a maximum possible sentence of 100 years’ incarceration, a minimum of five years of supervised release up to a lifetime of supervised release, a $1,250,000 fine and a $500 special assessment.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov. The case was investigated by DHS Homeland Security Investigations and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Andrew J. Schell.
An Indictment is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Chaves County Man Pleads Guilty to Violating Federal Firearms LawsRead the Press Release
ALBUQUERQUE – Abel Montoya, 53, of Lake Arthur, N.M., pled guilty late yesterday afternoon in Las Cruces, N.M., federal court to violating the federal firearms laws. Under the terms of his plea agreement, Montoya will be sentenced to 36 months in federal prison followed by a term of supervised release to be determined by the court.
Montoya was arrested on Oct. 21, 2015, on a criminal complaint charging him with being a felon in possession of a firearm on Feb. 27, 2014. On that day, the Pecos Valley Drug Task Force (PVDTF) executed a search warrant at Montoya’s residence and seized two firearms.
Montoya was subsequently indicted on Jan. 20, 2016, and charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm. At the time, Montoya was prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition because he previously had been convicted of cocaine trafficking and possession of methamphetamine.
During yesterday’s change of plea hearing, Montoya pled guilty to the indictment and admitted that on Feb. 27, 2014, he possessed two firearms, one of which had an obliterated serial number. Montoya acknowledged that he was prohibited from possessing firearms because of his status as a convicted felon.
Montoya remains in custody pending a sentencing hearing which has yet to be scheduled.
This case was investigated by the Las Cruces office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the PVDTF with assistance from the 5th Judicial District Attorney’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Randy M. Castellano is prosecuting the case.
The Pecos Valley Drug Task Force is comprised of officers from the Eddy County Sheriff’s Office, Carlsbad Police Department and Artesia Police Department and is part of the HIDTA Region VI Drug Task Force. The High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) program was created by Congress with the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988. HIDTA is a program of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) which provides assistance to federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies operating in areas determined to be critical drug-trafficking regions of the United States and seeks to reduce drug trafficking and production by facilitating coordinated law enforcement activities and information sharing.
Brewster Man Sentenced for Assaulting a Park Ranger on Cape Cod BeachRead the Press Release
BOSTON – A Brewster man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Boston for assaulting a Park Ranger on a Cape Cod National Seashore beach in Eastham, Mass.
Donald L. Savage, 57, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton to 27 months in prison and three years of supervised release. In February 2016, Savage was convicted by a federal jury of assaulting a federal officer.
On June 6, 2015, Savage and his wife requested permission to park in a restricted lot at Coast Guard Beach, which is part of the Cape Cod National Seashore in Eastham. Park attendants granted Savage permission to park for 10 minutes, and instructed him not to go on the protected beach. After 30 minutes, Savage had not left the beach and the gate attendants requested assistance from a Park Ranger. When the Ranger arrived and spoke with Savage, he refused to provide identification despite repeated requests. Savage became hostile and the Ranger requested that he sit on the ground. Eventually, Savage provided a driver’s license, but after a few minutes of sitting he got up and began a physical altercation with the Ranger. During the altercation, which was captured on the Ranger’s body camera, Savage bit the Ranger’s right ring finger causing a significant injury. The Ranger drew his Taser and ordered Savage to the ground. After sitting on the ground for five minutes, Savage got up and again physically confronted the Ranger at which point the Ranger tased Savage. Within minutes, additional law enforcement officers arrived.
United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Leslie Reynolds, Chief Ranger of Cape Cod National Seashore; and Eastham Police Chief Edward Kulhawik, made the announcement today. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenneth G. Shine of Ortiz’s Major Crimes Unit.
Berkeley County Sheriff’s deputies to carry naloxoneRead the Press Release
MARTINSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA – The Berkeley County, West Virginia Sheriff’s Department is embracing a new resource that will enhance efforts to reduce the number of drug overdose deaths in the region, United States Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld, II, announced.
Deputies in Berkeley County will soon be trained and equipped to utilize naloxone, a medication that reverses overdoses resulting from heroin, prescription painkillers, and other opioids. As part of the program, all deputies will be trained how to quickly identify the symptoms of an opioid overdose, how to administer naloxone, and how to protect fellow officers that might be exposed to opioid drugs in the field.“The use of naloxone by Berkeley County deputies will save lives and allow for critical prevention, education, and treatment resources to be provided to individuals who are battling addiction,” noted U.S. Attorney Ihlenfeld. “Providing law enforcement with the knowledge and the tools needed to reverse overdoses will reduce the time between when an overdose victim is discovered and when they receive lifesaving assistance.”
Opioids cause death by slowing, and eventually stopping, the person’s breathing. When administered, naloxone restores respiration within two to five minutes, and may prevent brain injury and death. Naloxone works on overdoses caused by opioids, which includes prescription painkillers and street drugs like heroin. Naloxone, sometimes referred to as Narcan, has no potential for abuse.
Law enforcement agencies and community organizations interested in learning more about naloxone or scheduling training sessions regarding the legal framework surrounding it are encouraged to contact the United States Attorney’s Office at (304) 234-0100.
Austin Businessman Found Guilty in Fraudulent Tax Return CaseRead the Press Release
In Austin today, 48-year-old Sean James Hager was found guilty on three counts of aiding and assisting the preparation of false tax returns announced United States Attorney Richard L. Durbin, Jr., and Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Special Agent in Charge William Cotter. Hager was also found guilty of two counts of mail fraud, two counts of wire fraud and one count of money laundering.
A jury sitting before U. S. District Judge Lee Yeakel found Hager guilty of fraudulently reporting his total income to a tax preparer for tax years 2008, 2009, and 2010. According to court records, Hager was employed by Velocity Electronics to locate computer parts for resale to Dell Computer. Unbeknownst to Velocity, Hager and his wife also operated Echt Electronics, LLC, through which he acquired and sold computer parts to Velocity at a significant mark up. Hager provided to his tax preparer for reporting to IRS only the W-2s he received from Velocity, and failed to report the income received from Echt Electronics. As a result, he caused and assisted the preparation of false tax returns to the IRS.
“The sum of all parts on Sean Hager’s theft from his employer and cheating on his taxes is simple – guilty on all counts,” said William Cotter, IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge. “Taxpayers deserve our vigilance in the investigation and prosecution of allegations of those who hide income and evade the payment of their fair share of taxes.”
Hager is scheduled for sentencing August 19, 2016.
This case was investigated by the IRS-CI. Assistant United States Attorneys Alan Buie and Elizabeth Cottingham prosecuted this case on behalf of the Government.
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Atchinson Man Pleads Guilty to Kidnapping, Killing 5-Year-Old GirlRead the Press Release
KANSAS CITY, KAN. – An Atchison man pleaded guilty Thursday to federal charges of kidnapping and killing a 5-year-old girl. The charges carry a penalty of life in prison, Acting U.S. Attorney Tom Beall and Leavenworth County Attorney Todd Thompson said.
Marcas McGowan, 32, Atchison, Kan., pleaded guilty to one count of kidnapping resulting in death, and one count of discharging a firearm during a crime of violence. In his plea, he admitted that on July 18, 2014, he shot and killed the girl after he kidnapped her and exchanged gunfire with police.
The incident began with a domestic dispute between McGowan and his girlfriend, Christina Harris, the mother of the 5-year-old victim. During the argument McGowan threatened Harris with a gun and she called 911. McGowan put Harris’ daughter in his car and drove away as police arrived.
Police pursued McGowan as he drove through downtown Atchison, across the river into Missouri and then back to Leavenworth, Kan., at speeds up to 95 miles an hour. While fleeing from law enforcement, McGowan fired his gun at the officers. On a highway near the northwest corner of Leavenworth he crashed through a barricade and stopped the car. When he got out of the car, he ignored police orders to drop the weapon. The officers returned fire and shot McGowan, who eventually stopped pointing his gun at the officers.
In the car, police found the girl dead from a gunshot wound. Forensic evidence revealed McGowan had shot her at close range with a 9 mm handgun while she was in the car.
Sentencing is set for Sept. 6. Both parties have agreed to recommend a sentence of life on the kidnapping charge, which is the statutory minimum penalty. The firearm count requires a statutory minimum penalty of 10 years consecutive to the other sentence.
Leavenworth County Attorney Todd Thompson was appointed as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney for the purpose of the federal prosecution. Beall commended Thompson, the Atchison Police Department, the Platte County (Mo.) Sheriff’s Office, the Weston (Mo.) Police Department, the Leavenworth Police Department, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, the FBI, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott Rask for their work on the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Wins Meritorious Service AwardRead the Press Release
NEWARK, N.J. – U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced that Assistant U.S. Attorney Melissa L. Jampol will be recognized by the New Jersey Women In Law Enforcement Inc. (NJWLE) with a 2016 Meritorious Service Award at a ceremony today at the organization’s annual conference in New Brunswick.
“I am proud to celebrate this extremely talented member of our staff,” said U.S. Attorney Fishman. “And I’m delighted that NJWLE recognizes the important contributions our office makes to law enforcement.”
Jampol was honored for her exceptional achievement in carrying out her duties. Since joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office in 2005, she has served with distinction in the office’s Violent Crimes Unit, Organized Crime & Gangs Unit, and the Health Care and Government Fraud Unit. She is being recognized for her excellent advocacy and litigation skills and her unwavering dedication to justice.
Jampol led the prosecution team that obtained the 2015 convictions of Carolyn Jackson and John E. Jackson for subjecting the three young, developmentally delayed children that they fostered and adopted to an ongoing course of physical abuse, cruelty, malnourishment, and neglect. Jampol has investigated and prosecuted numerous members of the Fruit Town and Brick City Brims Sets of the Bloods Street gang in northern New Jersey for racketeering, conspiracy to commit murder, and distribution of narcotics. She has also prosecuted a multimillion-dollar health care fraud scheme carried out by a blood laboratory company, which paid doctors bribes in exchange for patient referrals and for ordering unnecessary tests.
Founded in 2004, the NJWLE is a professional organization of both men and women who work together to strengthen public recognition of the unique contributions of women to the profession of law enforcement through the celebration of diversity and collaborative leadership.
Armed Crack Cocaine Trafficker SentencedRead the Press Release
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Marcus E. Johnson, 44, of Fall River, Mass., was sentenced on Wednesday to 92 months in federal prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm and trafficking crack cocaine, announced United States Attorney Peter F. Neronha and Harold H. Shaw, Special Agent in Charge of the Boston Field Office of the FBI.
At sentencing, U.S. District Court Judge John J. McConnell, Jr., also ordered Johnson to serve 4 years supervised release upon completion of his prison term. Johnson, arrested by members of the R.I. FBI Safe Streets Task Force on March 26, 2014, pleaded guilty on February 1, 2016, to one count each of being a felon in possession of a firearm and distribution of 28 grams or more of crack cocaine.
At the time of his guilty plea, Johnson admitted to the court that on October 25, 2013, he sold a .22 caliber handgun to an individual working on behalf of the FBI Safe Street Task Force for $600. Additionally, Johnson admitted to the court that between August 30, 2013, and March 3, 2014, he sold at total of 150.89 grams of crack cocaine to an individual working on behalf of the FBI Safe Street Task Force in exchange for $7,300.
Johnson has been detained in federal custody since his arrest on March 26, 2014.
Providence Police assisted the R.I. FBI Safe Streets Task Force in the investigation of this matter.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul F. Daly, Jr.
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Allenwood Federal Prison Inmate Charged with Threatening Federal OfficialRead the Press Release
WILLIAMSPORT - The United States Attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced today that charges have been filed against Dakota Gardner who is currently confined at the U.S. Penitentiary, Allenwood, Pennsylvania.
According to United States Attorney Peter Smith, Gardner, age 25, is charged in a six-count Indictment with threatening to harm a prosecutor who previously brought charges against him, as well as threatening the prosecutor’s family and making additional threats against the President and other government officials. The threats were communicated in a series of letters written by Gardner in 2015 and 2016 that were intercepted by prison officials.
The investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Bureau of Prisons Special Investigative Service. Assistant United States Attorney Geoffrey W. MacArthur has been assigned to prosecute the case.
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 statues and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines. In this case, the maximum penalty under the federal statutes is 70 years imprisonment, a term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a fine of $1,500,000.
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 necessarily an accurate indicator of the potential sentence for a specific defendant.
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Albuquerque Resident Sentenced to 80 Months for Federal Conviction Arising Out of January 2015 Pharmacy RobberyRead the Press Release
ALBUQUERQUE – Joseph Montano, 23, of Albuquerque, N.M., was sentenced today in federal court to 80 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for his conviction arising out of a pharmacy robbery in Jan. 2015. Montano was also ordered to pay $1,831 in restitution to the pharmacy.
Montano’s sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney Damon P. Martinez, 2nd Judicial District Attorney Kari E. Brandenburg, Special Agent in Charge Terry Wade of the FBI’s Albuquerque Division, Special Agent in Charge Will R. Glaspy of the DEA’s El Paso Division, Chief Gorden Eden, Jr., of the Albuquerque Police Department, and Chief Pete N. Kassetas of the New Mexico State Police.
Montano and his co-defendant Victor Hurtado, 21, also of Albuquerque, were charged in April 2015 with crimes arising from the Jan. 6, 2015, armed robbery of the Smith’s Pharmacy located at 4016 Louisiana Blvd. NE in Albuquerque. The indictment alleged that the two men (1) violated the Hobbs Act by interfering with interstate commerce by robbery and violence; (2) brandished a firearm during a crime of violence; (3) violated the Controlled Substance Registrant Act by robbery involving controlled substance; (4) violated the Safe Doses Act by theft of medical products; and (5) possessed Oxycodone with intent to distribute.
On Jan. 19, 2016, Montano pled guilty to violating the Hobbs Act by interfering with interstate commerce by robbery and violence, violating the Controlled Substance Registrant Act by robbery involving controlled substances, violating the Safe Doses Act by theft of medical products and possession of Oxycodone with intent to distribute. Montano admitted that on Jan. 6, 2015, he acted as a lookout while his accomplice jumped over the pharmacy counter at the Smith’s Pharmacy located at 4016 Louisiana Blvd. NE in Albuquerque, pointed a firearm at pharmacy employees and bagged bottles of Oxycodone pills. Montano further admitted that he and his accomplice intended to distribute the controlled substances to other individuals and that the replacement value to Smith’s Pharmacy for the stolen pills is approximately $1,831.00.
On July 1, 2015, co-defendant Hurtado pled guilty to robbing a commercial business engaged in interstate commerce; brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence, and possession of Oxycodone with intent to distribute. Hurtado also pled guilty to possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute, and admitted that he was arrested on state charges on March 5, 2015, after the New Mexico State Police found 54 grams of heroin and 133 grams of methamphetamine in the vehicle Hurtado was driving. Hurtado was sentenced on Dec. 11, 2015, to 141 months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release. Hurtado was also ordered to pay restitution to the pharmacy.
This case was investigated by the Albuquerque office of the FBI, the Tactical Diversion Squad of the DEA in Albuquerque, the Albuquerque Police Department and the New Mexico State Police, with assistance from the 2nd Judicial District Attorney’s Office in Bernalillo County. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joel R. Meyers and Shaheen P. Torgoley.
DEA’s Tactical Diversion Squads combine DEA resources with those of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies in an innovative effort to investigate, disrupt and dismantle those suspected of violating the Controlled Substances Act or other appropriate federal, state or local statutes pertaining to the diversion of licit pharmaceutical controlled substances or listed chemicals.
The case was prosecuted as part of a federal anti-violence initiative that targets “the worst of the worst” offenders for federal prosecution. 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 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 Bernalillo County, under this initiative.
This case also was prosecuted as part of the New Mexico Heroin and Opioid Prevention and Education (HOPE) Initiative. The HOPE Initiative was launched in January 2015 by the UNM Health Sciences Center and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in response to the national opioid epidemic which has had a disproportionately devastating impact on New Mexico. Opioid addiction has taken a toll on public safety, public health and the economic viability of our communities. Working in partnership with the DEA, the Bernalillo County Opioid Accountability Initiative, Healing Addiction in our Community (HAC), the Albuquerque Public Schools and other community stakeholders, HOPE’s principal goals are to protect our communities from the dangers associated with heroin and opioid painkillers and reducing the number of opioid-related deaths in New Mexico.
The HOPE Initiative is comprised of five components: (1) prevention and education; (2) treatment; (3) law enforcement; (4) reentry; and (5) strategic planning. HOPE’s law enforcement component is led by the Organized Crime Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the DEA in conjunction with their federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement partners. Targeting members of major heroin and opioid trafficking organizations for investigation and prosecution is a priority of the HOPE Initiative. Learn more about the New Mexico HOPE Initiative at http://www.HopeInitiativeNM.org.
Albuquerque Man Sentenced to Seven Years in Federal Prison for Firearms and Counterfeiting ConvictionRead the Press Release
ALBUQUERQUE – Phillip Pacheco, 30, of Albuquerque, N.M., was sentenced this morning in federal court to 84 months in federal prison for being a felon in possession of firearms and counterfeiting U.S. securities. Pacheco will be on supervised release for three years after completing his prison sentence.
Pacheco was indicted on May 28, 2015, and charged with being a felon in possession of firearms and counterfeiting U.S. securities on July 1, 2013, in Bernalillo County, N.M. At the time, Pacheco was prohibited from possessing firearms because he previously had been convicted of marijuana trafficking, armed robbery, conspiracy to commit armed robbery, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Pacheco was arrested in Aug. 2015, after he was transferred to federal custody from state custody where he was being held on related state charges. The state charges have since been dismissed in favor of federal prosecution.
On Feb. 23, 2016, Pacheco pled guilty to the indictment. In entering the guilty plea, Pacheco admitted that on July 1, 2013, he possessed three firearms even though he was prohibited from possessing firearms because of his status as a convicted felon. Pacheco further admitted that he fraudulently made 147 counterfeit Federal Reserve Notes with a total face value of $9,820.00.
This case was investigated by the Albuquerque office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Albuquerque Police Department, with assistance from the 2nd Judicial District Attorney’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney David M. Walsh prosecuted the case.
Alabama Man Pleads Guilty in Government Mischarging InvestigationRead the Press Release
Gulfport, Miss – Randy Mitchell Wilson, 63, of Grand Bay, Alabama, pled guilty on Tuesday, May 24, 2016, to one count of making a materially false and fraudulent statement to government agents, U.S. Attorney Gregory K. Davis announced.
Randy M. Wilson, a former Director of Manufacturing Services at Huntington Ingalls Industries ("HII"), in Pascagoula, Mississippi, pled guilty to intentionally making a false and material statement, in March of 2014, to special agents of the U. S. Navy, Naval Criminal Investigative Service, and the U. S. Coast Guard for the purpose of misleading the agents, when he was questioned as to his knowledge regarding an ongoing investigation relating to government mischarging at HII.
Wilson will be sentenced on August 23, 2016, at 10:00 a.m., by Chief U. S. District Judge Louis Guirola. He faces a maximum sentence of 5 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
This case was investigated by Special Agents of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, Defense Criminal Investigative Service, and the U.S. Coast Guard. Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrea Jones is prosecuting the case.
Airgas Doral, Inc. Sentenced for Hazmat Transportation Permit Violations and Ordered to Pay RestitutionRead the Press Release
Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Marlies Gonzalez, Special Agent in Charge, Department of Transportation (DOT-OIG), Office of Inspector General, announced that Airgas Doral, Inc. (Airgas Doral) was sentenced today by United States District Judge Robert N. Scola, Jr., to a $4,300,000 criminal fine, two years organizational probation, with a special condition of a hazardous materials compliance program, including an independent monitor and periodic reporting, and was ordered to pay a total of $2,700,000 in restitution ($900,000 is to be paid to each of the estates of the three stevedores who died from asphyxiation on May 20, 2008, as a result their exposure to argon gas in the hold of a cargo vessel at Port Everglades).
Airgas Doral pled guilty on May 5, 2016 to a fourteen count criminal information, charging it with willfully and recklessly violating the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act, Title 49, United States Code, Sections 5124(a), (c)-(d), based on its violations of hazardous materials regulations (HMR), and DOT Special Permit (SP) 11186. Under the terms of a plea agreement with the Government, Airgas Doral had agreed to imposition of the 2 year term of probation, including the hazardous materials compliance plan with independent monitor and periodic reporting requirements. The plea agreement also recommended the imposition of a $7,000,000 organizational fine to be paid by Airgas Doral, and guaranteed by its corporate parent and 100% owner, Airgas, Inc., that could be offset by the amount of any restitution awarded to the victims of the violations, as long as the total penalty amounted to $7,000,000. Airgas Doral and the Government recommended the $2,700,000 restitution award, which Judge Scola then imposed. According to court records, the estates of the three stevedores had previously recovered approximately $9,000,000 in total civil settlements against various parties, including Airgas South.
According to the court record, Airgas Doral, a Delaware corporation, is wholly owned by Airgas, Inc., which is a leading U.S. distributor of industrial, medical and specialty gases. Airgas Doral is also the successor in interest to the former Airgas South, Inc. (Airgas South), which made eight shipments of refrigerated liquefied argon gas in portable tanks, between March 12, 2008 and May 14, 2008, but failed to comply with regulatory and permit requirements for transporting that hazardous material, including training hazardous materials employees and managers at its Miami fill plant on required pre-transportation functions, such as conducting visual inspections of the tanks for deficiencies, and the taking of required pressure and temperature readings. These failures came to light when the means of containment of a tank shipped by Airgas South failed in the hold of a vessel at Port Everglades on May 20, 2008, and three stevedores who entered the vessel’s hold asphyxiated and died. A subsequent investigation revealed the tank’s pressure relief devices were corroded, defective, and damaged so as to prevent normal operation, but that since the hazardous material personnel at the Miami fill plant had not received required function specific training, the required inspections had not been conducted, resulting in Airgas South offering for transportation a portable tank that should not have been shipped.
Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of DOT-OIG, and the technical and support assistance provided by the DOT-Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA). The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jose A. Bonau of the Economic and Environmental Crimes Section.
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.
Accokeek Man Sentenced to over Three Years in Prison for Conspiracy to Fraudulently Obtain over $300,000 in Vehicle LoansRead the Press Release
Greenbelt, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow sentenced Robert Anthony Fitzgerald Lathan, age 48, of Accokeek, Maryland, today to 42 months in prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for a bank fraud conspiracy in which the conspirators obtained fraudulent vehicle loans. Judge Chasanow also ordered Lathan to forfeit and pay a money judgment of $169,385.83.
The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Andre R. Watson of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); and Chief Hank Stawinski of the Prince George’s County Police Department.
According to his plea agreement and other court documents, from January 2009 to April 29, 2015, Lathan and others applied for vehicle loans with financial institutions and lenders using false information as to employment history at shell entities created by the conspirators, addresses, dates of birth and social security numbers. Lathan and others created and submitted fake documents, such as lien releases, utility bills, paystubs, letters of recommendation and a police report. The defendants often applied for vehicle loans on the same vehicle with different lenders. They sold the vehicles, obtained money from the sales and then did not provide the vehicles to the buyers. They deposited the loan funds into bank accounts and cashed loan checks at liquor stores. Lathan and his co-conspirators failed to pay the vehicle loans, which often resulted in the vehicles being repossessed by the lenders. Lathan knew that he had no intention of purchasing a vehicle and that the loan proceeds would be split between himself and his co-conspirators.
One of Lathan’s roles in the conspiracy was to create fake documents for other co-conspirators to use when making fraudulent loan applications. For example, Lathan created a fake lien release for a vehicle, a deal worksheet with false information, and fake paystubs. Lathan sent the fake documents to a co-conspirator, who either used the documents himself or provided them to other conspirators to use while applying for fraudulent loans. In addition, Lathan permitted co-conspirators to use his name and other information on fraudulent loan applications.
The total intended loss resulting from Lathan’s conduct in the scheme was at least $304,560.83.
Four co-defendants have pleaded guilty to their roles in the conspiracy and are awaiting sentencing.
The Maryland Identity Theft Working Group has been working since 2006 to foster cooperation among local, state, federal, and institutional fraud investigators and to promote effective prosecution of identity theft schemes by both state and federal prosecutors. This case, as well as other cases brought by members of the Working Group, demonstrates the commitment of law enforcement agencies to work with financial institutions and businesses to address identity fraud, identify those who compromise personal identity information, and protect citizens from identity theft.
Today’s announcement is part of the efforts undertaken in connection with the President’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force. The task force was established to wage an aggressive, coordinated and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes. With more than 20 federal agencies, 94 U.S. attorneys’ offices, and state and local partners, it’s the broadest coalition of law enforcement, investigatory and regulatory agencies ever assembled to combat fraud. Since its formation, the task force has made great strides in facilitating increased investigation and prosecution of financial crimes; enhancing coordination and cooperation among federal, state and local authorities; addressing discrimination in the lending and financial markets; and conducting outreach to the public, victims, financial institutions and other organizations. Since fiscal year 2009, the Justice Department has filed over 18,000 financial fraud cases against more than 25,000 defendants. For more information on the task force, please visit www.StopFraud.gov.
United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended HSI Baltimore and the Prince George’s County Police Department for their work in the investigation. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Thomas P. Windom and Joseph R. Baldwin, who are prosecuting the case.
11 Alleged Members of a Drug Trafficking Organization Charged in Federal CourtRead the Press Release
Greenbelt, Maryland – A federal grand jury indicted 11 defendants, including four family members, for conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute drugs:
Mario Finesse Wright, a/k/a Super and Finesse, age 27, of New Jersey; Nikko Taylor Wright, age 25, of Germantown, Maryland; Clayton Dion Hollywood Wright, a/k/a Hollywood, and Harrison Wright, age 22, of New Jersey; Maximillan Kabir Bradford Wright, age 21, of New Jersey; Shahryar Talebi-Nejad, a/k/a Skeet, age 27, of North Potomac, Maryland; Matthew Joseph Hochman, a/k/a Greasy, age 28, of Gaithersburg, Maryland; Daniel Rocco Famulare, age 28, of Gaithersburg, Maryland; Brandon Alexander Ade, age 24, of Germantown, Maryland; Arian Siasi, a/k/a The Prince of Persia, age 25, of Silver Spring, Maryland; Ilya Bechutsky, age 29, of Boyds, Maryland; and
Terrence Devon Taylor, a/k/a Scoop, and T, age 27, of Clinton, Maryland.The indictment was returned yesterday and unsealed today upon the arrests of the defendants and the execution of search warrants at over 20 locations in Maryland and New Jersey by over 250 members of law enforcement.
The indictment was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Karl C. Colder of the Drug Enforcement Administration - Washington Field Division; Special Agent in Charge Carl J. Kotowski of the Drug Enforcement Administration – New Jersey Field Division; and Chief J. Thomas Manger of the Montgomery County Police Department.
According to the indictment and evidence presented to the court, from at least March 2014 to May 2016, the defendants conspired to distribute heroin and cocaine. The government contends that the three New Jersey-based brothers, Mario, Clayton, and Max Wright, supplied their Maryland-based brother, Nikko Wright, with large quantities of heroin and cocaine over the course of several years, and that Nikko Wright in turn distributed those drugs to a network of dealers in the Maryland and Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.
The Wright brothers, Shahryar Talebi-Nejad, and Matthew Hochman, all face sentences of up to 40 years in prison, with a mandatory minimum of five years. The other defendants all face sentences of up to 20 years in prison. Initial appearances are being held today in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt.
An indictment is not a finding of guilt. An individual charged by indictment is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty at some later criminal proceedings.
United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the DEA and the Montgomery County Police Department for their work in the investigation. U.S. Attorney Rosenstein also recognized the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the United States Marshal Service, Calvert County Police Department, Howard County Police Department and Prince George's County Police Department for their assistance. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael T. Packard and Ray D. McKenzie, who are prosecuting this Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force case.
25 May 2016
Wynne Woman Sentenced to 12 Years in Prison for Prostituting Her Minor CousinsRead the Press Release
LITTLE ROCK—Christopher R. Thyer, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, Special Agent in Charge Diane Upchurch, of the Little Rock Field Office for the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), and Colonel William J. Bryant, Director of the Arkansas State Police, announced today that Amber Johnson, age 30, of Wynne, Arkansas, was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment for sex trafficking of children.
Johnson was indicted on July 7, 2015, for one count of sex trafficking of children, and pleaded guilty on November 3, 2015. On Wednesday, Johnson was sentenced by United States District Judge D.P. Marshall, Jr., to 12 years imprisonment and five years supervised release.
"This defendant took advantage of two young relatives who trusted her," Thyer said. "These young girls turned to her in a time of need, and the defendant instead chose to satisfy her own needs by prostituting these children for money. There is no more important issue to my office than protecting the children of Arkansas, and we will continue to find and prosecute those who take advantage of children."
The charge in the indictment was based upon an investigation that began after two female minors, who were Amber Johnson’s cousins, ran away from their foster home in November 2014. They lived in various hotels, first in Jonesboro and later in North Little Rock, with Johnson and her own two young children. Johnson would leave her cousins, ages 15 and 17, in charge of her two children while she visited other locations to meet men. Johnson would give the men her phone number so they could contact her later to meet for sex.
When the male customers contacted Johnson, she would let them select which girl they wanted to have sex with: the 15-year-old, the 17-year-old, or herself. The men would come to the hotel, pick up the girl they chose, and either rent another hotel room or drive the girl to their home for sex. Johnson began by charging $20, but increased to $50 and sometimes charged $100. She told the Judge Marshall at her change of plea hearing in November that she used the money for hotel rooms, food, and "things we needed." Arkansas State Police located and arrested Johnson on April 29, 2015.
"We’re making the fight against human trafficking a priority and backing up the pledge to place all available resources on the streets and highways searching for the victims used in barter for sex and drugs," Bryant said. "In this case it is noteworthy that state troopers worked alongside civilian investigators of the Crimes Against Children Division, as well as federal, state and local law enforcement agencies and the Arkansas Department of Human Services. It is this commitment of multi-jurisdictional forces that will be necessary to identify and arrest those individuals who would prey on the lives of minors and others who are most vulnerable."
"Forcing young children into prostitution is beyond deplorable and today’s sentencing demonstrates those that commit any form of child exploitation will pay a harsh price for their actions," Upchurch said. "We will continue to pursue and punish these offenders to the fullest extent of the law. We appreciate the unfaltering efforts of the United States Attorney’s Office, the Arkansas State Police, the Jonesboro Police Department and the Arkansas Department of Human Services."
The investigation was conducted by Arkansas State Police and the Little Rock Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation with assistance from Jonesboro Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Allison W. Bragg.
Wife of Hell’s Angels Member Sentenced for Methamphetamine TraffickingRead the Press Release
CONTACT: Barbara Burns
PHONE: (716) 843-5817
FAX: (716) 551-3051ROCHESTER, N.Y.-U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul Jr. announced today that Donna Boon, 50, of Oakfield, NY, who was convicted of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and to distribute, methamphetamine, was sentenced to three years probation which includes 12 months home detention by U.S. District Judge Charles J. Siragusa.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Brett A. Harvey, who handled the case, stated that between 2002 through July 9, 2010, the defendant’s husband, James Henry McAuley, Jr. – at the time a member and Vice President of the Rochester Hell’s Angels – was the leader of a methamphetamine trafficking network. In 2002, McAuley located a source of methamphetamine supply in the Monterey, California area. McAuley and other members of the conspiracy traveled to California on numerous occasions to obtain pound-size quantities of methamphetamine from the supplier they then transported or shipped from California to the Rochester area where another member of the conspiracy would sell it to their customers.
Boon distributed quantities of methamphetamine to others, including an individual in Genesee County, who further distributed the drugs to customers in the Genesee County area. Boon admitted to trafficking up to 30 grams of methamphetamine.
McAuley was convicted and is scheduled to be sentenced on July 12, 2016. He faces up to 327 months in prison.This case is part of a larger investigation that resulted in the indictment and arrest of members and associates of the Rochester and Monterey (California) Hell's Angels for drug trafficking and racketeering-related offenses in February 2012. Seven defendants were charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and to distribute, 500 grams or more of methamphetamine. In addition to Boon and McAuley, Richard W. Mar, Jeffrey A. Tyler, Richard E. Riedman, Gordon Montgomery and Paul Griffin, have been convicted for their roles in the methamphetamine conspiracy.
The sentencing is the culmination of an investigation on the part of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Adam Cohen, the Genesee County Sheriff's Office, under the direction of Sheriff Gary T. Maha, the Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge James J. Hunt, New York Field Division, the New York State Police, under the direction of Major Craig Hanesworth, the City of Batavia Police Department, under the direction of Chief Sean Shawn Heubusch, and the Village of LeRoy Police Department.
West Virginia Business Owners Indicted for Failing to Pay Employment TaxesRead the Press Release
A federal grand jury sitting in Charleston, West Virginia returned an indictment on May 25, charging two West Virginia business owners with federal employment tax violations, Acting Assistant Attorney General Caroline D. Ciraolo of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and Acting U.S. Attorney Carol A. Casto for the Southern District of West Virginia announced today.
The indictment charges Michael Taylor and Jeanette Taylor, a married couple who reside in Wayne, West Virginia, with one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States by impeding the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in the collection of employment taxes withheld from the wages of the employees of their businesses, Taylor Contracting/Taylor Ready-Mix LLC and Bluegrass Aggregates LLC, which were in the business of transporting steel and the sale of gravel and concrete. The couple is also charged with one count of willfully failing to truthfully account for and pay over employment tax withheld for their employees at Taylor Contracting/Taylor Ready-Mix LLC.
According to the indictment, both Michael Taylor and Jeanette Taylor had the responsibility to collect, truthfully account for and pay over to the IRS federal income, social security and Medicare taxes withheld from the wages of their employees. From the quarter ending Sept. 30, 2007, through the quarter ending Dec. 31, 2009, the Taylors withheld approximately $1,002,392 in payroll taxes from employees’ paychecks at Taylor Contracting/Taylor Ready-Mix LLC and during the 2010 calendar year, they withheld approximately $161,218 in payroll taxes from employees’ paychecks at Bluegrass Aggregates LLC. However, the Taylors failed to fully pay over these taxes to the IRS and instead used the money to make expenditures for their personal benefit, such as making payments towards their personal credit cards and a horse farm.
If convicted, the Taylors face a statutory maximum sentence of five years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000 for each count. They also face a term of supervised release and an order of restitution.
An indictment merely alleges that crimes have been committed. The defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Ciraolo and Acting U.S. Attorney Casto commended special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation, who investigated the case and Trial Attorneys Mara Strier and Alexander Effendi of the Tax Division, who are prosecuting this case.
Additional information about the Tax Division and its enforcement efforts may be found on the division’s website.
Valparaiso Man Sentenced to 30 YearsRead the Press Release
HAMMOND – United States Attorney for the Northern District of Indiana, David A. Capp, announced that Zachary Berkshire, 32, of Valparaiso, Indiana was sentenced before District Court Judge Rudy Lozano for one count of enticement of a minor child and two counts of production of child pornography.
Berkshire was sentenced to 30 years imprisonment and Supervised Release for life. He is also required to register as a sex offender upon his release from prison.
According to documents filed in this case, between June 2014 continuing through August 2014, Berkshire used a computer connected to the Internet and a cell phone to contact a minor between the ages of 12 and 15 years old. Berkshire persuaded the victim to meet him at a park in Northwest Indiana for the purpose of engaging in sexual activity. Despite knowing the victim was under the age 15 and after he had sex with her in the park, Berkshire continued to maintain contact with her online and via text message. Between January 12, 2015 and January 14, 2015, Berkshire sent text messages to the victim requesting close up pictures of her private parts which he received. During the investigation, a second victim was found to be targeted on August 12, 2013, when Berkshire recorded her with a hidden camera in a bathroom of his house without her knowledge for the express purpose of obtaining sexually explicit footage. Berkshire sent this information via his personal email address to another individual.
This case was the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Indiana State Police. This case was handled by Assistant United States Attorney Toi Denise Houston.
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United States Intervenes in False Claims Act Lawsuit Against Prime Healthcare Services Inc. and its CEO Alleging Unnecessary Inpatient Admissions from Emergency RoomsRead the Press Release
The United States has intervened in a lawsuit against Prime Healthcare Services Inc. (Prime); the company’s founder and chief executive officer, Dr. Prem Reddy; and 14 Prime hospitals in California that alleges Emergency Departments at Prime facilities improperly admitted patients to the hospitals and submitted false claims to Medicare, the Justice Department announced today.
The lawsuit alleges that Dr. Reddy directed the corporate practice of pressuring Prime’s Emergency Department physicians and hospital administrators to raise inpatient admission rates, regardless of whether it was medically necessary to admit the patients. The lawsuit alleges that Prime’s corporate officers, at Reddy’s direction, exerted immense pressure on doctors in the Emergency Departments to admit patients who could have been placed in observation, treated as outpatients or discharged. As a result of these medically unnecessary admissions from the Emergency Departments, Prime hospitals allegedly submitted false claims to federal health care programs, such as Medicare.
“The Department of Justice is committed to ensuring that health care providers do not inappropriately seek to profit at the expense of federal health care programs,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Benjamin C. Mizer, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “Schemes such as this one can contribute significantly to the rising cost of health care delivery and create needless patient risk.”
“Fraudulent billing practices, such as those alleged in this civil lawsuit, harm taxpayers who fund health care programs, such as Medicare,” said U.S. Attorney Eileen M. Decker for the Central District of California. “The Justice Department works collaboratively with law enforcement agencies, regulators and, in some cases, private citizens to ensure the integrity of a system that provides healthcare to millions of Americans.”
“Charging for medically unnecessary services, as alleged in this case, raises costs in government health programs and remorselessly passes that bill along to taxpayers,” said Special Agent in Charge Christian J. Schrank of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG). “Our investigation into the allegations in this case, along with our law enforcement partners, led to the government’s decision to intervene.”
The lawsuit, United States ex rel. Berntsen v. Prime Healthcare Services, et al., CV11-8214-PJW (MG), was filed in the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles by relator Karin Bernsten, who worked at one of the Prime hospitals where the allegedly improper inpatient admissions allegedly took place. The lawsuit was filed under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act, which permit private parties to sue on behalf of the United States when they believe that a party has submitted false claims for government funds, and to receive a share of any recovery. The False Claims Act permits the government to intervene in such a lawsuit, as it has done in a portion of this case.
The government’s intervention in this matter illustrates its emphasis on combating health care fraud and marks another achievement for the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT) initiative, which was announced in May 2009 by the Attorney General and the Secretary of Health and Human Services. The partnership between the two departments has focused efforts to reduce and prevent Medicare and Medicaid financial fraud through enhanced cooperation. One of the most powerful tools in this effort is the False Claims Act. Since January 2009, the Justice Department has recovered a total of more than $29 billion through False Claims Act cases, with more than $17.5 billion of that amount recovered in cases involving fraud against federal health care programs.
These matters were investigated by the Civil Division’s Commercial Litigation Branch, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, HHS-OIG and the FBI.
The claims asserted against Prime and Dr. Reddy are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.
United States Intervenes in False Claims Act Lawsuit Against Prime Healthcare Services Inc. and its CEO Alleging Unnecessary Inpatient Admissions from Emergency RoomsRead the Press Release
LOS ANGELES – The United States has intervened in a lawsuit against Prime Healthcare Services Inc.; the company’s founder and chief executive officer, Dr. Prem Reddy; and 14 Prime hospitals in California that alleges Emergency Departments at Prime facilities improperly admitted patients to the hospitals and submitted false claims to Medicare, the Justice Department announced today.
The lawsuit alleges that Reddy directed the corporate practice of pressuring Prime’s Emergency Department physicians and hospital administrators to raise inpatient admission rates, regardless of whether it was medically necessary to admit the patients. The lawsuit alleges that Prime’s corporate officers, at Reddy’s direction, exerted immense pressure on doctors in the Emergency Departments to admit patients who could have been placed in observation, treated as outpatients or discharged. As a result of these medically unnecessary admissions from the Emergency Departments, Prime hospitals allegedly submitted false claims to federal health care programs, such as Medicare.
“Fraudulent billing practices, such as those alleged in this civil lawsuit, harm taxpayers who fund health care programs, such as Medicare,” said U.S. Attorney Eileen M. Decker for the Central District of California. “The Justice Department works collaboratively with law enforcement agencies, regulators and, in some cases, private citizens to ensure the integrity of a system that provides healthcare to millions of Americans.”
“The Department of Justice is committed to ensuring that health care providers do not inappropriately seek to profit at the expense of federal health care programs,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Benjamin C. Mizer, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “Schemes such as this one can contribute significantly to the rising cost of health care delivery and create needless patient risk.”
The lawsuit, United States ex rel. Berntsen v. Prime Healthcare Services, et al., CV11-8214-PJW, was filed in United States District Court in Los Angeles by relator Karin Berntsen, who worked at one of the Prime hospitals where the allegedly improper inpatient admissions allegedly took place. The lawsuit was filed under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act, which permit private parties to sue on behalf of the United States when they believe that a party has submitted false claims for government funds, and to receive a share of any recovery. The False Claims Act permits the government to intervene in such a lawsuit, as it has done in a portion of this case.
“Charging for medically unnecessary services, as alleged in this case, raises costs in government health programs and remorselessly passes that bill along to taxpayers,” said Special Agent in Charge Christian J. Schrank of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG). “Our investigation into the allegations in this case, along with our law enforcement partners, led to the government’s decision to intervene.”
The government’s intervention in this matter illustrates its emphasis on combating health care fraud and marks another achievement for the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT) initiative, which was announced in May 2009 by the Attorney General and the Secretary of Health and Human Services. The partnership between the two departments has focused efforts to reduce and prevent Medicare and Medicaid financial fraud through enhanced cooperation. One of the most powerful tools in this effort is the False Claims Act. Since January 2009, the Justice Department has recovered a total of more than $29 billion through False Claims Act cases, with more than $17.5 billion of that amount recovered in cases involving fraud against federal health care programs.
This matter was investigated by the DOJ Civil Division’s Commercial Litigation Branch, the United States Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles, HHS-OIG and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The claims asserted against Prime and Reddy are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.
Ukrainian Man Pretending to Be U.S. Citizen Indicted Federally for Passport and Social Security FraudRead the Press Release
HARRISBURG - The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced today that a Ukrainian man has been indicted by a federal grand jury for passport fraud and social security fraud.
According to United States Attorney Peter Smith, the indictment alleges that Artur Samuel Samarin, age 23, a Ukrainian citizen, using the identity of Asher Samuel Potts, fraudulently applied for a United States passport at the Main Post Office in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania on December 7, 2015. Samarin also allegedly submitted false and misleading information to the Social Security Administration resulting in his obtaining a social security card in the name of Asher Potts in July 2014 and he applied for and received a replacement card in November 2015.
This case is part of a continuing investigation by the Department of State Diplomatic Security Service, the Harrisburg Bureau of Police and the Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General, and being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Daryl F. Bloom.
Samarin was arrested on state charges in February 2016 for statutory sexual assault, corruption of minors, identity theft, falsification to authorities, and tampering with public records. Samarin was detained and remains in local custody.
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 passport fraud is 10 years’ imprisonment, a term of supervised release of three years and a $250,000 fine. The maximum penalty under federal law, for social security fraud is five years’ imprisonment, a three term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a $250,000 fine. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the Judge is also required to consider and weigh a number of factors, including the nature, circumstances and seriousness of the offense; the history and characteristics of the defendant; and the need to punish the defendant, protect the public and provide for the defendant’s educational, vocational and medical needs. For these reasons, the statutory maximum penalty for the offense is not an accurate indicator of the potential sentence for a specific defendant.
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U.S. Attorney Zachary T. Fardon Hosts Fourth Community Roundtable to Discuss Strengthening Trust Between the Public and Law EnforcementRead the Press Release
CHICAGO — Civic, religious and community leaders joined top law enforcement personnel today to continue an ongoing dialogue about building trust between law enforcement and the Chicagoland community.
The Community Roundtable was convened by Zachary T. Fardon, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois. It was held at Kennedy-King College in the Englewood neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side. Today’s event was the fourth such discussion, following up on productive sessions in December 2014, March 2015 and November 2015.
“Today’s roundtable brought together fervent leaders from various experiences and backgrounds,” said Mr. Fardon. “We all share the collective goal of cultivating community trust and making Chicago an even stronger and safer place. We had a candid and inspiring conversation about how to maximize the resources of the many talented service providers our city has to offer, and how to better incorporate law enforcement into their efforts to serve our most at-risk communities.”
Among the more than 50 participants in today’s meeting were Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie T. Johnson and other top members of the Chicago Police Department, as well as representatives from the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Cook County Sheriff’s Department, Chicago Independent Police Review Authority, U.S. Marshal’s Service, KLEO Community Family Life Center, Chicago Board of Rabbis, Bowen High School, A Better Chicago, Purpose Over Pain, Chicago Community Trust, University of Chicago Crime Lab, YMCA, Mikva Challenge, Chicago Violence Reduction Strategy, YWCA Metropolitan Chicago, Chicago Urban League, Back of the Yards Neighborhood Council, Better Boys Foundation, Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago, and Becoming A Man.
The U.S. Department of Justice has made the issue of community policing a top priority. The Community Roundtables focus on developing tangible initiatives for improving the relationship between law enforcement and the community.
Kennedy-King College, one of seven City Colleges of Chicago, is named after slain civil rights leaders Robert F. Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. It is located at 6301 S. Halsted St. in Chicago.
Two Men Sentenced to 13 Years and 7 1/2 Years in Prison for Carjackings and Attempted Carjacking in Greenfield and Oak CreekRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Gregory J. Haanstad announced today that two Milwaukee men were sentenced for a series of carjackings that occurred in Greenfield and Oak Creek, Wisconsin in August 2015. The superseding indictment charged Devonte Hayes (age: 19) and Norman Howard (age: 18) with attempted motor vehicle robbery in Greenfield, Wisconsin, on August 18, 2015, and brandishing a firearm during that crime, which carries a 7-year mandatory minimum. They were also charged with a motor vehicle robbery on August 12, 2015, in Oak Creek, Wisconsin. Lastly, defendant Hayes was charged with a motor vehicle robbery in Greenfield on August 11, 2015.
The defendants used carjacked cars to commit further carjackings. During the carjacking on August 18, 2015, Hayes pointed a firearm at the victim while he demanded keys to her car. After speeding away from the scene, the defendants engaged in a high-speed chase with law enforcement and were apprehended after a foot pursuit.
Devonte Hayes, pleaded guilty to two counts of motor vehicle robbery, one count of attempted motor vehicle robbery, and one count of brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. On March 10, 2016, the Honorable J.P. Stadtmueller sentenced Hayes to 156 months (13 years) in prison, followed by three years of supervised release.
Norman Howard, pleaded guilty to one count of motor vehicle robbery and one count of attempted motor vehicle robbery. On May 19, 2016, the Honorable J.P. Stadtmueller sentenced Howard to 90 months (7 ½ years) in prison, followed by three years of supervised release.
This matter was investigated by the FBI’s Milwaukee Area Violent Crimes Task Force, the Greenfield Police Department, the Oak Creek Police Department, the West Allis Police Department, and the Milwaukee Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Margaret B. Honrath.
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Two Kansas City Area Men Sentenced in $93,000 Drug DealRead the Press Release
KANSAS CITY, KAN. - Two Kansas City area men who set up a $93,000 drug deal have been sentenced to federal prison, Acting U.S. Attorney Tom Beall said.
Timothy Wilson, 51, Kansas City, Mo., and John Hernandez, 38, Kansas City, Kan., pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute cocaine. Wilson was sentenced Wednesday to 90 months in federal prison. Hernandez was sentenced Tuesday to 57 months.
In their pleas, they admitted they arranged to buy three kilograms of cocaine at a price of $31,000 per kilogram. They were not aware that the sellers were undercover agents of Immigration and Customs Enforcement from El Paso, Texas. Wilson and Hernandez were arrested Sept. 3, 2015, in the parking lot of a Mexican restaurant at 542 Southwest Boulevard in Kansas City, Kan., when they attempted to exchange the money for the cocaine.
Beall commended Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney James Ward for their work on the case.
Two Charged in Manhattan Federal Court with Cocaine OffensesRead the Press Release
Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, James J. Hunt, Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”), William J. Bratton, the Commissioner of the New York City Police Department (“NYPD”), and Joseph A. D’Amico, the Superintendent of the New York State Police (“NYSP”), announced today the arrest of MARC HENRY JOHNSON and JAMES HOLDER, a/k/a “Pepsi,” for cocaine-related charges. JOHNSON and HOLDER were arrested last night and will be presented in Manhattan federal court before U.S. Magistrate Judge Gabriel W. Gorenstein today.
U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said: “Drugs destroy lives and communities. The charges unsealed today against James Holder and Marc Henry Johnson are a reminder of that. And the work of the DEA, NYPD, and State Police in this investigation is also a reminder of law enforcement’s commitment to stem the distribution of dangerous drugs in our communities.”
DEA Special Agent in Charge James J. Hunt said: “Drug overdoses take too many lives too soon and become a family’s worst nightmare. DEA is committed to dismantling drug trafficking organizations and those responsible for putting poison in the hands of users. By retracing alleged crimes, the DEA Strike Force has sent a message to dealers that the consequences of their actions affect them as well as the families of drug users. DEA commends our law enforcement partners who have worked diligently throughout this investigation.”
NYPD Commissioner William J. Bratton said: “As alleged, the defendants’ apparent disregard for a victim of this poison is frankly, unimaginable. As alleged, when the defendants realized someone was unresponsive after an apparent overdose, they dragged her body down to a building lobby in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood. We will continue to pursue those who pour this poison into our streets with every single judicial tool at our disposal.”
State Police Superintendent Joseph A. D’Amico said: “The hard work of our partners on the New York Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Strike Force has led to the arrests of two subjects who have allegedly been dealing or buying cocaine in the city for years, with little regard for the impact of their actions on users or the rest of the community. We will continue to work with our partners to disrupt the supply of dangerous narcotics in our communities and put those responsible behind bars.”
According to the allegations contained in a criminal Complaint[1] unsealed today in Manhattan federal court:
From approximately 2003 to October 4, 2015, HOLDER lived in and sold cocaine from a third-floor apartment in Chelsea. He also delivered cocaine to customers at other locations. Since 2003, HOLDER distributed a total of more than five kilograms of cocaine.
HOLDER and JOHNSON are longtime friends. JOHNSON regularly bought cocaine from HOLDER, used cocaine, and provided cocaine to others in social situations. JOHNSON also introduced HOLDER to other individuals as a potential supplier of cocaine. HOLDER then provided cocaine to those individuals in exchange for money, and those individuals, in turn, introduced still more cocaine buyers to HOLDER.
During the night of October 3, 2015, and the early morning hours of October 4, 2015, JOHNSON sent text messages saying he “may go to Pepsi for a pickup” “in chelsea,” and later met up with a 38-year-old woman (“Individual-1”) and others at a bar in Manhattan. Individual-1 had been using cocaine before JOHNSON arrived. JOHNSON told Individual-1 and others at the bar that he had a significant amount of cocaine, which he offered to share.
Later, JOHNSON and Individual-1 left the bar together in a taxi. They arrived at the Chelsea building where HOLDER lived at approximately 4:25 a.m., and walked upstairs to HOLDER’s apartment. Video surveillance footage shows hours later, JOHNSON and HOLDER dragged Individual-1’s apparently unconscious body into the building’s first-floor vestibule. HOLDER then left the building, carrying an object as he walked away.
JOHNSON called 911 to summon an ambulance at approximately 8:30 a.m. He declined to provide his name to the 911 operator, and neither identified Individual-1 nor described his relationship to her, nor did he explain what had happened to her and why she needed medical assistance. Emergency Medical Technicians (“EMTs”) responded and found Individual-1 unresponsive in the Chelsea building’s vestibule. JOHNSON left the building soon after the EMTs arrived.
Individual-1 was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead later on October 4, 2015. Her death was caused by, among other things, cocaine use.
HOLDER moved out of the Chelsea building after October 4, 2015, but continued to sell cocaine in Manhattan until at least January 2016.
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HOLDER is charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute at least five kilograms of cocaine. The charge carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison, and a maximum potential sentence of life in prison. JOHNSON is charged with one count of attempting to distribute cocaine, which carries a maximum potential sentence of 20 years in prison; and one count of acting as an accessory after the fact in relation to the conspiracy charge against HOLDER, which carries a maximum potential sentence of 15 years in prison. The maximum potential sentences in this case are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendants will be determined by the judge.
Mr. Bharara praised the outstanding investigative work of the DEA’s New York Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Strike Force, which comprises agents and officers of the DEA, the New York City Police Department, Immigration and Customs Enforcement – Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the New York State Police, the U. S. Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Secret Service, the U.S. Marshal Service, New York National Guard, the New York Department of Taxation and Finance, the Rockland County Sheriff’s Office, the Clarkstown Police Department, the Port Washington Police Department, and the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision. The Strike Force is partially funded by the New York/New Jersey High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA), which is a federally funded crime fighting initiative.
The case is being prosecuted by the Office’s Narcotics Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Margaret Garnett and David Abramowicz are in charge of the prosecution.
[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.
Two Anchorage Residents Charged with 14 Counts of Wire FraudRead the Press Release
Anchorage, Alaska – U.S. Attorney Karen L. Loeffler announced today that an Anchorage husband and wife were indicted by a federal grand jury on 14 charges of wire fraud and a scheme to defraud. In a separate indictment, the husband was charged with narcotics and firearms crimes.
Arnold Wesley Flowers II, 41, and Miranda May Flowers, 31, were the named defendants in the wire fraud indictment. Arnold Wesley Flowers II was named as a sole defendant in the narcotics and firearm indictment.
On January 19, 2016, Arnold Wesley Flowers II and Miranda May Flowers reported that their residence had been burglarized. On January 22, 2016, they contacted State Farm Insurance and filed a claim for $82,000 worth of damages to their residence and stolen electronics, jewelry, and clothing. During the month of January the Flowers contacted State Farm Insurance by telephone and email regarding the value of the items allegedly taken during the burglary and damage done to their residence. On March 29, during a search of a storage unit associated with the Flowers, law enforcement found many of the items the Flowers claimed had been stolen during the January 19 burglary. The investigation revealed that the Flowers had transported the items to the storage unit on January 17, 2016, prior to reporting the burglary at their residence.
During a search of the Flowers’ residence on March 29, 2016, Arnold Wesley Flowers II was found in possession of cocaine and firearms. Mr. Flowers has prior convictions for crimes punishable by more than one year imprisonment.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation, Anchorage Police Department, and the State of Alaska Division of Insurance conducted the investigation leading to the indictment in this case.
An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government must prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Tremaine Barnett Sentenced for Distribution of HeroinRead the Press Release
FORT WAYNE – United States Attorney for the Northern District of Indiana, David Capp, announced that Tremaine J. Barnett, 32, of Fort Wayne, Indiana, was sentenced before District Court Judge Theresa L. Springmann for possession with intent to distribute Heroin.
Barnett was sentenced to 92 months imprisonment and 4 years supervised release.
According to documents filed in the case, on or about April 29, 2015, Barnett knowingly and intentionally possessed with intent to distribute more than 100 grams of Heroin.
This investigation was conducted by the United States Drug Enforcement Administration. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Anthony W. Geller.
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Three Men Indicted in Federal Court for CarjackingRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Gregory J. Haanstad announced today that three Milwaukee men were indicted for the July 15, 2015 armed carjacking near Wick Field in Milwaukee. Sean Harvey (age: 24), Broderick Moore, (age: 23), and Robert Ellis, (age: 25), were charged with one count of motor vehicle robbery and one count of brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. Harvey is also charged with possession with intent to distribute cocaine base and felon in possession of a firearm.
If convicted, each man faces up to 15 years in prison on the motor vehicle robbery count and a minimum mandatory sentence of 7 years and up to life in prison on the charge of brandishing of a firearm during a crime of violence.
This case is being investigated by the FBI’s Milwaukee Area Violent Crimes Task Force and the Milwaukee Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Margaret B. Honrath.
The public is cautioned that an indictment is merely a charge and the defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
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Texas men sentenced for roles in transporting 28 kilograms of cocaineRead the Press Release
SHREVEPORT, La. – United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced today that two Texas men were sentenced for conspiring to transport approximately 28 kilograms of powder cocaine.
Ricardo Garcia, 28, and Jesus Christian Martinez, 34, both of Brownsville, Texas, were sentenced by U.S. District Judge Elizabeth E. Foote to 72 months and 62 months in prison respectively on one count of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute powder cocaine. They were also sentenced to five years of supervised release. According to the December 21, 2015 guilty pleas, Louisiana State Police conducted a traffic stop on February 3, 2015 on a vehicle Garcia and Martinez were traveling in that was heading eastbound on I-20 in Bossier Parish. The vehicle displayed North Carolina license plates but was not registered to either the driver or the passenger. After further investigation, troopers searched the vehicle and found 28 kilogram-size packages of powder cocaine inside of a speaker box in the trunk.
The DEA-Shreveport Office and Louisiana State Police-Troop G conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Allison D. Bushnell prosecuted the case.
Texas Tax Return Preparer Indicted for Aiding and Assisting in the Preparation of False Tax ReturnsRead the Press Release
A DeSoto, Texas, resident was indicted on 29 counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation of false income tax returns and three counts of willfully failing to file income tax returns, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Caroline D. Ciraolo of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney John R. Parker of the Northern District of Texas.
According to court documents, Vicki Louise Walker, was a tax preparer doing business under the name Vicki Walker Tax Services LLC in Dallas, Texas. Walker is alleged to have prepared numerous tax returns for tax years 2010 through 2013 on which she reported false items, including false filing status, false business expenses, false capital losses and false charitable donations. It is further alleged that Walker willfully failed to file her own tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for tax years 2011 through 2013.
If convicted, Walker faces a statutory maximum sentence of three years in prison for each count of aiding and assisting in the preparation of false tax returns and a statutory maximum sentence of one year in prison for each count of failing to file her own tax returns. She also faces monetary penalties and restitution.
An indictment merely alleges that crimes have been committed and the defendant is presumed innocent until proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Ciraolo and U.S. Attorney Parker commended special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation, who investigated the case and Trial Attorney Robert J. Boudreau of the Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Stokes of the Northern District of Texas, who are prosecuting this case.
Additional information about the Tax Division and its enforcement efforts may be found on the division’s website.
Tahlequah Man Pleads Guilty to Firearm PossessionRead the Press Release
MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, announced that MARK ALAN FRENCH, age 48, of Tahlequah, Oklahoma, pled guilty to PROHIBITED PERSON IN POSSESSION OF FIREARM, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 922(g)(9) and 924(a)(2), punishable by not more than 10 years imprisonment, up to $250,000.00 fine or both.
The Indictment alleged that from on or about January 2, 2016, in the Eastern District of Oklahoma, the defendant, having been convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence, did knowingly possess in and affecting commerce, firearms which had been shipped and transported in interstate commerce.
The charges arose from an investigation by the Stilwell Police Department, the Adair County Sheriff’s Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
The Honorable Steven P. Shreder, Magistrate Judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, in Muskogee, accepted the plea and ordered the completion of a presentence investigation report. The defendant will remain in the custody of the United States Marshal Service pending sentencing.
Assistant United States Attorney Dean Burris represented the United States.
Sweetwater Resident Arrested for Snapchat Extortion SchemeRead the Press Release
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – On May 24, 2016, Brandon Douglas Shanahan, 22, of Sweetwater, Tenn., was arrested and charged with intent to extort money and other things of value from a female victim through a Snapchat communication which threatened to injure her reputation.
Shanahan had his initial appearance on May 25, 2016, before the Honorable Dennis Inman, U.S. Magistrate Judge, and pleaded not guilty. He was released on bond pending his next court appearance in the case.
A detailed account of Shanahan’s conduct leading to his arrest is included in the criminal complaint and supporting affidavit on file with U.S. District Court in Knoxville.
According to the above-referenced affidavit, Shanahan conversed via Snapchat with the female victim using the name “Camsutton2323.” The victim believed she was communicating with Cameron Sutton, a University of Tennessee football player, since the display name for Camsutton2323 was “Cameron Sutton” and the number 23 is Sutton’s University of Tennessee jersey number. The investigation by law enforcement revealed that Sutton himself was a victim of criminal impersonation. Sutton had not conversed with the victim via Snapchat or any other method of communication and had no knowledge of Shanahan’s impersonation of him.
If convicted, Shanahan faces a maximum of two years in prison.
The investigation indicates that there may have been numerous other female victims who have been contacted by Shanahan. Please contact the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) office at 865-744-0751, if you believe that you may have been a victim of extortion by Shanahan through his use of the Snapchat name “Camsutton2323.”
This ongoing investigation is being conducted by the FBI Cyber Crimes Task Force, consisting of members of the Knoxville Police Department, Knox County Sheriff’s Office, and the University of Tennessee Police Department, with the assistance of the Sweetwater Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Cynthia Davidson represents the United States.
Members of the public are reminded that a criminal complaint constitutes only charges and that every person is presumed innocent until his or her guilt has been proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
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San Jose Man Sentenced to 27 Months’ Imprisonment for Money LaunderingRead the Press Release
SAN JOSE – Maxito Pean was sentenced to 27 months in prison and ordered to pay $233,200 in restitution for money laundering announced United States Attorney Brian J. Stretch. The sentence was handed down late yesterday by the Honorable Lucy H. Koh, U.S. District Judge.
Pean, 52, who is from Haiti and had been residing in Florida, pleaded guilty on February 24, 2016, to one count of engaging in monetary transactions using criminally derived property. According to the plea agreement, Pean admitted that in January and February of 2013, he recruited people to open two bank accounts for the purpose of receiving proceeds of criminal activity. For the first account, Pean arranged for a homeless man from Florida to open a bank account in Lauderhill, Florida, in the name of "Southeastern Capital Group, Inc." For the second account, Pean arranged for a person to open an account in the name of "Meade Financial Services." Pean acknowledged he intended to use those accounts to receive and transfer the funds in a way he hoped would not be traceable back to him.
Further, according to the plea agreement, Pean admitted an unknown person fraudulently caused an employee at Deutsche Bank in San Francisco to transfer $233,200 from a victim’s bank account to one of the accounts controlled by Pean. Pean admitted that the money was, in fact, the proceeds of wire fraud committed against the victim of an email takeover scam.
Pean was indicted on October 29, 2014, for conspiracy to commit wire fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1349; wire fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1343; conspiracy to commit money laundering, in violation of 18 U.S.C.§ 1956(h); money laundering, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1956(a)(1)(B)(i); engaging in monetary transactions using the proceeds of specified unlawful activity, in violation of 18 U. S.C. § 1957; and aiding and abetting, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2.
In addition to the prison term and restitution, Judge Koh also sentenced the defendant to a 3-year period of supervised release.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Cynthia Frey prosecuted the case with the assistance of Elise Etter. The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the IRS and the Regional Enforcement Allied Computer Team (REACT) task force.
Russian Banker Sentenced in Connection with Conspiracy to Work for Russian IntelligenceRead the Press Release
Evgeny Buryakov, aka Zhenya, 41, was sentenced to 30 months in prison today for conspiring to act in the United States as an agent of the Russian Federation without providing prior notice to the Attorney General.
The sentence was announced by Assistant Attorney General for National Security John P. Carlin and U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara of the Southern District of New York.
“Evgeny Buryakov is being held accountable for his efforts to secretly operate as a Russian foreign intelligence officer in the United States,” said Assistant Attorney General Carlin. “Foreign intelligence officers attempting to illegally collect information pose a direct threat to our national security. Working with our law enforcement and intelligence partners at tracking down and disrupting these clandestine operations against our country will continue to remain one of the National Security Division’s highest priorities.”
“Evgeny Buryakov, in the guise of being a legitimate banker, gathered intelligence as an agent of the Russian Federation in New York,” said U.S. Attorney Bharara. “He traded coded messages with one of his Russian spy co-defendants, who sent the clandestinely collected information back to Moscow. So long as this type of Cold War-style spy intrigue continues to go on in present-day New York City, the FBI and the prosecutors in my office will continue to investigate and prosecute it.”
According to the complaint, indictment, other court filings and statements made during court proceedings:
Beginning in at least 2012, Buryakov worked in the United States as an agent of Russia’s foreign intelligence agency, known as the SVR. Buryakov operated under non-official cover, meaning he entered and remained in the United States as a private citizen, posing as an employee in the New York office of a Russian bank, Vnesheconombank (VEB). SVR agents operating under such non-official cover (NOCs) are typically subject to less scrutiny by the host government and, in many cases, are never identified as intelligence agents by the host government. As a result, an NOC is an extremely valuable intelligence asset for the SVR.
Federal law prohibits individuals from acting as agents of foreign governments within the United States without prior notification to the Attorney General. Department of Justice records indicate that Buryakov never notified the Attorney General that he was, in fact, an agent of the Russian Federation.
Buryakov worked in New York with at least two other SVR agents, Igor Sporyshev and Victor Podobnyy. From on or about Nov. 22, 2010, to on or about Nov. 21, 2014, Sporyshev officially served as a trade representative of the Russian Federation in New York. From on or about Dec. 13, 2012, to on or about Sept. 12, 2013, Podobnyy officially served as an attaché to the Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations. The investigation, however, showed that Sporyshev and Podobnyy also worked as officers of the SVR.
The directives from the SVR to Buryakov, Sporyshev and Podobnyy, as well as to other covert SVR agents acting within the United States, included requests to gather intelligence on, among other subjects, potential U.S. sanctions against Russian banks and the United States’ efforts to develop alternative energy resources.
During the course of their work as covert SVR agents in the United States, Buryakov, Sporyshev and Podobnyy regularly met and communicated using clandestine methods and coded messages in order to exchange intelligence-related information while shielding their associations with one another as SVR agents.
In the summer of 2014, Buryakov met multiple times with a confidential source working for the FBI and an FBI undercover employee, both of whom purported to be working on a casino development project in Russia. During these meetings, Buryakov accepted documents that were purportedly obtained from a U.S. government agency and which supposedly contained information potentially useful to Russia, including information about U.S. sanctions against Russia.
For their alleged roles in the conspiracy, Sporyshev and Podobnyy are charged with conspiracy to act in the United States as an agent of a foreign government without first notifying the Attorney General, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. They are also charged with aiding and abetting Buryakov’s actions in the United States as an agent of a foreign government without first notifying the Attorney General, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. These maximum potential sentences are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendants will be determined by a judge. The charges against Sporyshev and Podobnyy are merely accusations, and those defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. Sporyshev and Podobnyy no longer live in the United States and have not been arrested. By virtue of their prior positions in the United States on behalf of Russia, both of them were afforded diplomatic immunity from arrest and prosecution while in the United States.
Assistant Attorney General Carlin joined U.S. Attorney Bharara in praising the investigative work of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division.
The prosecution is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Stephen J. Ritchin, Emil J. Bove III, Brendan F. Quigley, Anna M. Skotko and Ian McGinley of the Southern District of New York, with assistance provided by Senior Trial Attorney Heather Schmidt of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section.
Russian Banker Sentenced in Manhattan Federal Court to 30 Months in Prison for Conspiring to Work for Russian IntelligenceRead the Press Release
Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and John P. Carlin, Assistant Attorney General for National Security, announced that EVGENY BURYAKOV, a/k/a “Zhenya,” who worked for a Russian bank in Manhattan, was sentenced today to 30 months in prison for conspiring to act in the United States as an agent of the Russian Federation without providing prior notice to the Attorney General. BURYAKOV pled guilty on March 11, 2016, before U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman, who imposed today’s sentence.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said: “Evgeny Buryakov, in the guise of being a legitimate banker, gathered intelligence as an agent of the Russian Federation in New York. He traded coded messages with one of his Russian spy co-defendants, who sent the clandestinely collected information back to Moscow. So long as this type of Cold War-style spy intrigue continues to go on in present-day New York City, the FBI and the prosecutors in my office will continue to investigate and prosecute it.”
Assistant Attorney General John P. Carlin said: “Evgeny Buryakov is being held accountable for his efforts to secretly operate as a Russian foreign intelligence officer in the United States. Foreign intelligence officers attempting to illegally collect information pose a direct threat to our national security. Working with our law enforcement and intelligence partners at tracking down and disrupting these clandestine operations against our country will continue to remain one of the National Security Division's highest priorities.”
According to the Complaint, the initial and superseding Indictments, other documents publicly filed in this case, and statements made during court proceedings, including today’s sentencing:
Beginning in at least 2012, bURYAKOV worked in the United States as an agent of Russia’s foreign intelligence agency, known as the “SVR.” BURYAKOV operated under “non-official cover,” meaning he entered and remained in the United States as a private citizen, posing as an employee in the Manhattan office of a Russian bank, Vnesheconombank, also known as “VEB.” SVR agents operating under such non-official cover – sometimes referred to as “NOCs” – typically are subject to less scrutiny by the host government, and, in many cases, are never identified as intelligence agents by the host government. As a result, an NOC is an extremely valuable intelligence asset for the SVR.
Federal law prohibits individuals from acting as agents of foreign governments within the United States without prior notification to the United States Attorney General. Department of Justice records indicate that BURYAKOV never notified the United States Attorney General that he was, in fact, an agent of the Russia Federation.
BURYAKOV worked in New York with at least two other SVR agents, Igor Sporyshev and Victor Podobnyy. From on or about November 22, 2010, to on or about November 21, 2014, Sporyshev officially served as a Trade Representative of the Russian Federation in New York. From on or about December 13, 2012, to on or about September 12, 2013, Podobnyy officially served as an Attaché to the Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations. The investigation, however, showed that Sporyshev and Podobnyy also worked as officers of the SVR.
BURYAKOV’s Co-Conspirators Are Recorded Inside the SVR’s New York “Residentura”
During the course of the investigation, the FBI recorded Sporyshev and Podobnyy speaking inside the SVR’s offices in New York, known as the “Residentura.”
The FBI obtained the recordings after Sporyshev attempted to recruit an FBI undercover employee (“UCE-1”), who was posing as an analyst from a New York-based energy company. In response to requests from Sporyshev, UCE-1 provided Sporyshev with binders containing purported industry analysis written by UCE-1 and supporting documentation relating to UCE-1’s reports, as well as covertly placed recording devices. Sporyshev then took the binders to, among other places, the Residentura.
During subsequent recorded conversations, Sporyshev and Podobnyy discussed, among other things, Sporyshev’s SVR employment contract and his official cover position, their work as SVR officers, and the FBI’s July 2010 arrests of ten SVR agents in the United States, known as the “Illegals.”
Sporyshev and Podobnyy also discussed BURYAKOV’s prior service with the SVR in South Africa. BURYAKOV worked in South Africa between approximately 2004 and 2009, officially as a representative of VEB. During a conversation about Sporyshev’s cover position in New York, Podobnyy related that, when BURYAKOV was working in South Africa, Podobnyy had dinner with an SVR official and BURYAKOV’s supervisor at VEB and that, during the dinner, the SVR official told the VEB official that BURYAKOV was an “employee of the Service,” i.e., the SVR.
Further, Sporyshev and Podobnyy were recorded discussing, among other things, their (i) attempting to recruit New York City residents as intelligence sources for Russia; (ii) tasking BURYAKOV to gather intelligence; and (iii) transmitting intelligence reports prepared by BURYAKOV back to SVR headquarters in Moscow.
The directives from the SVR to BURYAKOV, Sporyshev, and Podobnyy, as well as to other covert SVR agents acting within the United States, included requests to gather intelligence on, among other subjects, potential United States sanctions against Russian banks and the United States’ efforts to develop alternative energy resources.
BURYAKOV’s Intelligence Taskings
Sporyshev was responsible for relaying intelligence assignments from the SVR to BURYAKOV.
BURYAKOV Drafts a Proposal for the SVR’s “Active Measures Directorate”
For example, in May 2013, Sporyshev and Podobnyy were recorded discussing a proposal that BURYAKOV had drafted about a planned deal in which Bombardier Aircraft Company in Canada would manufacture certain airplanes in Russia. Sporyshev noted that Canadian “unions were resisting” and that BURYAKOV’s “proposal [was] for MS” – the SVR’s Active Measures Directorate – to “pressur[e] the unions and secur[e] from the company a solution that is beneficial to us.” Other evidence developed during the investigation showed that, around the time of this conversation, BURYAKOV had conducted Internet searches relating to Bombardier and labor unions and, earlier, had obtained news articles regarding the planned deal and attended a conference in Canada that Bombardier personnel also attended.
BURYAKOV Assists Sporyshev in Attempting to Obtain Sensitive Information About the New York Stock Exchange
Also, on May 21, 2013, Sporyshev called BURYAKOV, greeted him, and then described a tasking from “top sources” relating to three questions that ITAR-TASS, a Russian news agency, could put to the New York Stock Exchange. Sporyshev called the defendant back approximately 20 minutes later. During the call, BURYAKOV proposed questions regarding (i) Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), including the “mechanisms of their use to destabilize the market”; (ii) “curbing of trading robot activities”; and (iii) “technical parameters” and “other regulations directly related to the exchange.” On July 8, 2013, a purported “Bureau Chief” for ITAR-TASS sent an email to an employee of the New York Stock Exchange that parroted the questions that BURYAKOV proposed to Sporyshev.
BURYAKOV Assists Sporyshev in Analyzing the Effect of Sanctions
Another example of an intelligence tasking occurred in late March 2014. Specifically, on or about March 28, 2014, Sporyshev was recorded telling BURYAKOV that Sporyshev needed help researching the “effects of economic sanctions on our country,” among other things. A few days later, on April 2, 2014, Sporyshev called BURYAKOV and stated, in an intercepted conversation, that he had not seen BURYAKOV in a while, and asked to meet BURYAKOV outside VEB’s office in Manhattan in 20 minutes. A court-authorized search of BURYAKOV’s computer at VEB revealed that, at around the time of this telephone call, BURYAKOV conducted the following internet searches: “sanctions Russia consiquences” [sic] and “sanctions Russia impact.”
Two days later, on April 4, 2014, BURYAKOV called Sporyshev and, in an intercepted conversation, stated that he “wrote you an order list,” and suggested that they meet. Approximately 20 minutes later, Sporyshev met BURYAKOV in the driveway of BURYAKOV’s home. Their encounter, which was captured by a video surveillance camera located near BURYAKOV’s residence, lasted approximately two minutes. On the video footage, the defendants appeared to exchange a small object.
Clandestine Meetings and Communications
During the course of their work as covert SVR agents in the United States, BURYAKOV, Sporyshev, and Podobnyy regularly met and communicated using clandestine methods and coded messages, in order to exchange intelligence-related information while shielding their associations with one another as SVR agents. These efforts were designed, among other things, to preserve their respective covers as an employee of VEB (BURYAKOV), a Trade Representative of the Russian Federation in New York (Sporyshev), and an Attaché to the Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations (Podobnyy).
During the investigation, the FBI intercepted numerous calls between BURYAKOV and Sporyshev in which one of the men told the other that he needed to meet for some purpose, such as to transfer an item (such as a “ticket,” “book,” or “list,”) or for a purported social purpose. In fact, BURYAKOV and Sporyshev used this coded language to signal that they needed to exchange intelligence information.
FBI surveillance revealed that, at some of these meetings between BURYAKOV and Sporyshev, they exchanged documents or other small items. Notably, despite discussing on approximately one dozen occasions the need to meet to transfer “tickets,” BURYAKOV and Sporyshev were – other than one occasion where they discussed going to a movie – never observed attending, or discussing in any detail, events that would typically require tickets, such as a sporting event or concert.
BURYAKOV’s Receipt of Purported Official United States Government Documents
In the summer of 2014, BURYAKOV met multiple times with a confidential source working for the FBI (“CS-1”) and an FBI undercover employee (“UCE-2”). Both CS-1 and UCE-2 purported to be working on a casino development project in Russia.
During a conversation recorded on July 22, 2014, Sporyshev warned BURYAKOV that meeting with UCE-2 might be a “trap” but authorized BURYAKOV to go ahead so he could make a better assessment.
During the course of the subsequent meetings, and consistent with his interests as a Russian intelligence agent, BURYAKOV demonstrated his strong desire to obtain information about subjects far outside the scope of his work as a bank employee. During these meetings, BURYAKOV also accepted documents that were purportedly obtained from a U.S. government agency and which purportedly contained information potentially useful to Russia, including information about United States sanctions against Russia.
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In addition to the prison sentence, Judge Berman ordered BURYAKOV, 41, to pay a $10,000 fine and a $100 special assessment. BURYAKOV was also sentenced to three years of supervised release. Judge Berman also ordered that BURYAKOV be removed from the United States to the Russian Federation promptly upon the completion of his prison sentence.
For their alleged roles in the conspiracy, Sporyshev, 41, and Podobnyy, 28, are charged in two counts. The first count charges Sporyshev and Podobnyy with a conspiracy to act in the United States as agents of a foreign government without first notifying the Attorney General, and carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison. The second count charges Sporyshev and Podobnyy with aiding and abetting BURYAKOV’s actions in the United States as an agent of a foreign government without first notifying the Attorney General, and carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. These maximum potential sentences are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendants will be determined by a judge. Sporyshev and Podobnyy no longer live in the United States and have not been arrested. By virtue of their prior positions in the United States on behalf of Russia, both of them were afforded diplomatic immunity from arrest and prosecution while in the United States. The charges against Sporyshev and Podobnyy are merely accusations, and these defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Mr. Bharara praised the investigative work of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division.
The prosecution has being handled by the Office’s Terrorism and International Narcotics Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Stephen J. Ritchin, Emil J. Bove III, Brendan F. Quigley, Anna M. Skotko, and Ian McGinley are in charge of the prosecution, with assistance provided by Deputy Chief Richard Scott and Trial Attorney Heather Schmidt of the Counterintelligence and Export Control Section of the Department of Justice’s National Security Division.
Romanian Hacker “Guccifer” Pleads Guilty to Computer Hacking CrimesRead the Press Release
Marcel Lehel Lazar, 44, of Arad, Romania, a hacker who used the online moniker “Guccifer,” pleaded guilty today to unauthorized access to a protected computer and aggravated identity theft.
Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Dana J. Boente of the Eastern District of Virginia, Assistant Director in Charge Paul M. Abbate of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, Director Bill A. Miller of the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) and Special Agent in Charge Brian J. Ebert of the U.S. Secret Service’s Washington Field Office made the announcement.
“Cybercriminals like Marcel Lazar believe they can act with impunity from safe havens abroad, but the Justice Department’s partnerships with law enforcement agencies around the world ensure that they can be brought to justice,” said Assistant Attorney General Caldwell. “Lazar sought fame by hacking the private online accounts of Americans and releasing their personal information to the public; instead, he has been convicted in United States federal court.”
“Mr. Lazar will be punished for violating the personal privacy of dozens of Americans,” said U.S. Attorney Boente. “These convictions show that cybercriminals cannot hide from justice. The United States will vigorously pursue these offenders, wherever they may hide.”
“Marcel Lazar, who hacked under the moniker ‘Guccifer,’ has now been brought to justice before a United States court,” said Assistant Director in Charge Abbate. “As a direct result of our global technological and investigative reach and strong international partnerships, we were able to successfully identify Guccifer and his criminal activities, and bring him to justice here in America. The FBI will continue to relentlessly hunt down criminals in cyberspace and around the world. I would like to commend the dedicated efforts of the agents, analysts, prosecutors and international partners who worked tirelessly to resolve this highly complex cyber investigation.”
“The success of this international investigation is the direct result of our long established partnerships with our federal and foreign law enforcement partners,” said Special Agent in Charge Ebert. “By working with our law enforcement partners around the world, we have disrupted and brought to justice some of the most prolific transnational cyber-criminals operating around the world. These continued partnerships will enable us to pursue cyber criminals wherever they operate.”
Lazar pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge James C. Cacheris of the Eastern District of Virginia, who set sentencing for Sept. 1, 2016.
In a statement of facts filed with his plea agreement, Lazar admitted that from at least October 2012 to January 2014, he intentionally gained unauthorized access to personal email and social media accounts belonging to approximately 100 Americans, and he did so to unlawfully obtain his victims’ personal information and email correspondence. His victims included an immediate family member of two former U.S. presidents, a former member of the U.S. Cabinet, a former member of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff and a former presidential advisor, he admitted. Lazar admitted that in many instances, he publically released his victims’ private email correspondence, medical and financial information and personal photographs.
The FBI, DSS and the Secret Service investigated the case. Senior Counsel Ryan K. Dickey and Peter V. Roman of the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Maya D. Song and Jay V. Prabhu of the Eastern District of Virginia are prosecuting the case. The Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs has provided significant assistance. The Justice Department thanks the government of Romania for their assistance in this matter.
Romanian Hacker “Guccifer” Pleads Guilty to Computer Hacking CrimesRead the Press Release
ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Marcel Lehel Lazar, 44, of Arad, Romania, a hacker who used the online moniker “Guccifer,” pleaded guilty today to unauthorized access to a protected computer and aggravated identity theft.
“Mr. Lazar will be punished for violating the personal privacy of dozens of Americans,” said Dana J. Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. “These convictions show that cybercriminals cannot hide from justice. The United States will vigorously pursue these offenders, wherever they may hide.”
“Cybercriminals like Marcel Lazar believe they can act with impunity from safe havens abroad, but the Justice Department's partnerships with law enforcement agencies around the world ensure that they can be brought to justice,” said Leslie Caldwell, Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Lazar sought fame by hacking the private online accounts of Americans and releasing their personal information to the public; instead he has been convicted in United States federal court.”
“Marcel Lazar, who hacked under the moniker ‘Guccifer,’ has now been brought to justice before a United States court,” said Paul M. Abbate, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office. “As a direct result of our global technological and investigative reach and strong international partnerships, we were able to successfully identify Guccifer and his criminal activities, and bring him to justice here in America. The FBI will continue to relentlessly hunt down criminals in cyberspace and around the world. I would like to commend the dedicated efforts of the agents, analysts, prosecutors, and international partners who worked tirelessly to resolve this highly complex cyber investigation.”
“The success of this international investigation is the direct result of our long established partnerships with our federal and foreign law enforcement partners,” said Brian J. Ebert, Special Agent In Charge of the United States Secret Service’s Washington Field Office. “By working with our law enforcement partners around the world, we have disrupted and brought to justice some of the most prolific transnational cyber-criminals operating around the world. These continued partnerships will enable us to pursue cyber criminals wherever they operate.”
In a statement of facts filed with his plea agreement, Lazar admitted that from at least October 2012 to January 2014, he intentionally gained unauthorized access to personal email and social media accounts belonging to approximately 100 Americans, and he did so to unlawfully obtain his victims’ personal information and email correspondence. His victims included an immediate family member of two former U.S. presidents, a former member of the U.S. Cabinet, a former member of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff and a former presidential advisor, he admitted. Lazar admitted that in many instances, he publically released his victims’ private email correspondence, medical and financial information and personal photographs.
Lazar was indicted by a federal grand jury on June 12, 2014, and will be sentenced on September 1, 2016. He faces a mandatory sentence of two years in prison for the aggravated identity theft conviction, to be added to any sentence he receives on the conviction for unauthorized access to a protected computer, for which he faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison. 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; Leslie R. Caldwell, Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; Paul M. Abbate, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office; Bill A. Miller, Director of the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service (DSS); and Brian J. Ebert, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Secret Service’s Washington Field Office, made the announcement after the plea was accepted by U.S. District Judge James C. Cacheris. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Maya D. Song and Jay V. Prabhu, and Senior Counsel Ryan K. Dickey and Peter V. Roman of the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section. The Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs has provided significant assistance. The Justice Department thanks the government of Romania for their assistance in this matter.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 1:14-cr-213.
Robstown Man Sent to Prison for Distributing Child PornographyRead the Press Release
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – A 37-year-old Robstown man has been ordered to federal prison following his conviction of distribution of child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson. Jorge Betancourt, of Robstown, pleaded guilty March 1, 2016.
Today, Senior U.S. District Judge Hayden Head took into consideration Betancourt’s statement in court that he understood how the peer-to-peer software worked and that he intended to distribute the material. Betancourt was handed a 180-month-sentence. He will also be ordered to register as a sex offender and will serve 15 years of supervised release following completion of his prison term, during which time he will have to comply with numerous requirements designed to restrict his access to children and the Internet.
At the time of his plea, the court heard that the case began when a detective with the Corpus Christi Police Department was able to successfully download various files containing child pornography from an IP address that was associated with Betancourt. As a result, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) was contacted to assist in the investigation.
In June 2015, authorities executed a search warrant at Betancourt’s residence, at which time they seized several digital devices. Forensic analysis on the digital devices revealed more than 530 videos and more than 540 images of child pornography. Betancourt admitted to using peer-to-peer software to download child pornography for approximately 11 years.
Betancourt was arrested on the federal charges in October 2015 and has been in custody since that time where he will remain pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
The charges against Betancourt are the result of an investigation conducted by the Corpus Christi Police Department-Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force with the assistance of Homeland Security Investigations.
This case, prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Hugo R. Martinez, was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab "resources."
Robstown Man Sent to Prison for Distributing Child PornographyRead the Press Release
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – A 37-year-old Robstown man has been ordered to federal prison following his conviction of distribution of child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson. Jorge Betancourt, of Robstown, pleaded guilty March 1, 2016.
Today, Senior U.S. District Judge Hayden Head took into consideration Betancourt’s statement in court that he understood how the peer-to-peer software worked and that he intended to distribute the material. Betancourt was handed a 180-month-sentence. He will also be ordered to register as a sex offender and will serve 15 years of supervised release following completion of his prison term, during which time he will have to comply with numerous requirements designed to restrict his access to children and the Internet.
At the time of his plea, the court heard that the case began when a detective with the Corpus Christi Police Department was able to successfully download various files containing child pornography from an IP address that was associated with Betancourt. As a result, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) was contacted to assist in the investigation.
In June 2015, authorities executed a search warrant at Betancourt’s residence, at which time they seized several digital devices. Forensic analysis on the digital devices revealed more than 530 videos and more than 540 images of child pornography. Betancourt admitted to using peer-to-peer software to download child pornography for approximately 11 years.
Betancourt was arrested on the federal charges in October 2015 and has been in custody since that time where he will remain pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
The charges against Betancourt are the result of an investigation conducted by the Corpus Christi Police Department-Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force with the assistance of Homeland Security Investigations.
This case, prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Hugo R. Martinez, was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab "resources."
Retired Marine Sentenced to 26 Years in Prison for Fatally Stabbing his Girlfriend, Dismembering her Body with a Machete and Dumping her Remains in the Panamanian JungleRead the Press Release
Assistant U.S. Attorneys W. Mark Conover (619) 546-6763 or Shane P. Harrigan (619) 546-6981
NEWS RELEASE SUMMARY – May 25, 2016
SAN DIEGO – Just a few hours after murdering his girlfriend in Panama and chopping up her body with a machete, retired Marine Brian Karl Brimager sent an email to a friend: “Hey bro, whatcha up to? I got stories for days. I’m living on an island off the coast of panama loving life and living semper free!!!!!!”
A few days later, after he’d disposed of Yvonne Baldelli’s body in the Panamanian jungle, Brimager accessed her bank account and used the money to buy rounds of drinks for female friends at a bar. “Thanks Vonnie,” he announced, as he raised his glass in a toast.
After returning to the United States, Brimager received an email from another friend who told him to say hello to Baldelli. In his reply, Brimager wrote that he’d “ditched the bitch.” In a social media post about the sale of the machete he used to sever Baldelli’s limbs, Brimager joked: “I only dismembered one stripper with it – it’s hardly used.”
Because of the heinous nature of the crime and his actions afterward – particularly the way he celebrated her death and tormented Baldelli’s family with his elaborate cover up - Brimager was sentenced in federal court by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey T. Miller today to 26 years in prison, ending a long and legally challenging FBI-led investigation and prosecution spanning thousands of miles, multiple countries and more than four years.
“The day of reckoning has come for Brian Brimager,” said U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy. “Not only did he show a callous disregard for Yvonne Baldelli’s life by viciously beating, stabbing, dismembering and dumping her in the jungle, but his words and actions in the hours, days and months following his horrendous crime exhibited an extreme lack of remorse. He stole a precious daughter, sister, aunt and friend, and now he is paying the price.”
“I hope today’s sentencing brings some closure to Ms. Baldelli’s family, knowing that her murderer will serve a very long prison sentence for her cruel and vicious murder,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Eric S. Birnbaum. “I commend the professionalism and dedication of our international law enforcement partners, the prosecutors and the FBI agents here in San Diego and Panama who worked tirelessly to obtain justice for Yvonne Baldelli.”
Judge Miller also ordered Brimager to pay $11,132 in restitution to Baldelli’s father and a $10,000 fine.
At the sentencing hearing, prosecutors argued that the circumstances of the crime – including mutilation of the body and Brimager’s multiple attempts to convince Baldelli’s family that she was still alive - amounted to “extreme conduct,” a legal term of art that merits an enhanced sentence.
Prosecutors told the court at today’s hearing that eight witnesses in Panama related separate incidents to the FBI in which they saw Brimager beating, punching, choking and threatening to kill Baldelli. When the 220-pound ex-Marine killed the 110-pound Baldelli on November 27, 2011, the evidence showed that he broke her teeth and nose and stabbed her multiple times before dragging her lifeless body to the shower, where he mutilated her.
Judge Miller agreed that these actions amounted to extreme conduct and handed down a sentence that is stronger than a typical second-degree murder term. “This murder was particularly cruel and depraved,” the judge said. “The lengths Mr. Brimager went to to avoid detection were particularly brazen and ultimately shattering to the Bardelli family. I dare say they will never recover. A day may never go by without them thinking of Ms. Baldelli’s murder and the images seared in to their psyches.”
During the hearing, nine members of Baldelli’s family, including her parents, sister, nieces and closest friends, told the court how they have suffered emotionally and physically because of the loss, the way in which she was killed, and the torture of not knowing her whereabouts. Some described in wrenching detail their search for her body in the muddy spider-infested swamps of the Panamanian jungle – too afraid to find her, too afraid not to.
During the court hearing, Brimager faced family members seated in the gallery and said he was sorry. But the family wasn’t receptive. “Don’t look at us!” someone fired back. “Sure,” scoffed another.
During her victim impact statement before the court, Michelle Faust, Baldelli’s sister, said: “Today we got an apology – a hollow last-minute attempt to save himself. Last night we talked about forgiveness. But forgiveness is for those who repent, not for those who cover their crimes, not for those who confess only when their back’s against the wall.”
According to sentencing documents, after dismembering her body, Brimager stuffed her torso into a military duffle bag and shoved her lower limbs into garbage bags. He then hiked approximately 1.5 miles to the other side of the island where he threw the duffle bag and garbage bags down an embankment into the remote Panamanian jungle -- where they remained for 21 months until a local Panamanian stumbled onto the duffle bag containing her skeletonized remains.
Brimager pleaded guilty on February 24, 2016 before U.S. District Judge Jeffrey T. Miller to Foreign Murder of a United States National. In his guilty plea, Brimager also admitted that he obstructed the investigation into her murder by destroying, concealing and disposing of evidence, including a blood-stained mattress, clothes and jewelry; killed Baldelli’s two dogs; accessed Baldelli’s email account after her murder and impersonated Baldelli in emails sent from her account to friends and family; withdrew money from Baldelli’s bank account in Costa Rica after her death; and provided false statements to an FBI agent – all in an attempt to make it seem as though Baldelli were alive and well and traveling with another man in Costa Rica.
Brimager has been in custody since June 2013.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Conover told the court that Brimager killed Baldelli in order to silence her. She’d discovered that Brimager had a girlfriend and daughter in San Diego. Baldelli could’ve ruined it for Brimager by revealing their relationship to the girlfriend. Within two weeks of returning to San Diego after Baldelli’s murder, Brimager married the girlfriend.
DEFENDANT Case Number: 13CR2381-JM
Brian Karl Brimager Age: 40
SUMMARY OF CHARGE
Foreign Murder of a United States National – Second Degree, Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1119 and 1111; Maximum Penalties: Life imprisonment, $250,000 fine, restitution
AGENCIES
Federal Bureau of Investigation, San Diego Division and Panama City Legal Attaché Office
U.S. Embassy, Panama City
Office of International Affairs, U.S. Department of Justice
Human Rights and Special Prosecution Section, U.S. Department of Justice
Rapid City Man Charged with Multiple Counts in Relation to Shooting a Rosebud Police OfficerRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Randolph J. Seiler announced that a Rapid City, South Dakota, man has been indicted by a federal grand jury for two counts of Assaulting, Opposing, Resisting and Impeding a Federal Officer; Assault with a Dangerous Weapon; Assault Resulting in Serious Bodily Injury; two counts of Using and Carrying a Firearm During and in Relation to a Crime of Violence; two counts of Child Abuse; and Kidnapping.
Linn Cross Dog, III, age 22, was indicted on May 17, 2016. He appeared before United States Magistrate Judge Mark Moreno on May 25, 2016, and pled not guilty to the Indictment.
The maximum penalty upon conviction is life imprisonment and/or a $250,000 fine, 5 years of supervised release, and $100 to the Federal Crime Victims Fund. Restitution may also be ordered.
It is alleged that on May 11, 2016, during a routine traffic stop of a vehicle, Cross Dog, who was a passenger, took control of the vehicle at gun point and drove away with the remaining passengers in the vehicle, including two children. After a short vehicle pursuit, Cross Dog exited the vehicle, shot and wounded a Rosebud Sioux Tribe Police Officer, and fled on foot.
Based on this incident, Cross Dog was charged by criminal complaint with one count of Assault with a Dangerous Weapon, and a federal arrest warrant was issued.
It is further alleged that on May 13, 2016, as agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and United States Marshals Service were executing the arrest warrant at a house in Parmelee, South Dakota, Cross Dog was in possession of a firearm and forcibly resisted arrest.
The charges are merely accusations and Cross Dog is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
The investigation is being conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Rosebud Sioux Tribe Law Enforcement Services. Numerous additional agencies were involved in the search for Cross Dog between May 11 and 13, 2016, including the United States Marshals Service; the Bureau of Indian Affairs; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Rosebud Sioux Tribe Game, Fish and Parks Department; the South Dakota Highway Patrol; the South Dakota National Guard; the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation; the Mellette County Sheriff’s Office; the Stanley County Sheriff’s Office; and the Pierre Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kirk W. Albertson is prosecuting the case.
Cross Dog was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service pending trial. A trial date has not been set.
Prior Felon from Los Lunas Pleads Guilty to Violating Federal Firearms LawsRead the Press Release
ALBUQUERQUE – Dennis Chavez, 30, of Los Lunas, N.M., pleaded guilty today in federal court in Albuquerque, N.M., to being a felon in possession of a firearm and possession of a stolen firearm.
Chavez was arrested on June 12, 2015, on an indictment charging him with being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition and possession of a stolen firearm. The indictment alleged that Chavez committed the two crimes on Jan. 10, 2015, in Bernalillo County, N.M. At the time, Chavez was prohibited from possessing a firearm or ammunition because he previously had been convicted of aggravated assault on a peace officer. According to court filings, Chavez was arrested after he shot himself in the leg while trying to evade law enforcement officers by tripping over a short fence as he attempted to shoot at the officers.
During today’s change of plea hearing, Chavez entered a guilty plea to the indictment and acknowledged unlawfully possessing a firearm even though he was prohibited from possessing a firearm because of his prior felony conviction.
At sentencing, Chavez faces a statutory maximum penalty of ten years in federal prison. He remains in custody pending a sentencing hearing which has yet to be scheduled.
This case was investigated by the Albuquerque office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives with assistance from the 2nd Judicial District Attorney’s Office and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Mysliwiec.
Poplar Grove Man Charged with Selling MethamphetamineRead the Press Release
ROCKFORD — A Poplar Grove, Ill. resident was indicted yesterday in federal court in Rockford on a charge of distributing 448 grams of methamphetamine, announced U.S. Attorney Zachary T. Fardon, Boone County Sheriff David Ernest, and Belvidere Police Chief Jan Noble.
According to the indictment, ARMAN M. DINO, 45, distributed the methamphetamine on May 19, 2016, in Poplar Grove. A criminal complaint filed on May 19, 2016, stated that Dino sold the drugs at his residence in Candlewick Lake to an individual who was cooperating with the government. After that sale, law enforcement agents executed a search warrant on Dino’s residence. According to the complaint, additional methamphetamine, the original $10,000 in “buy money,” and more currency were found inside the residence. According to the complaint, Dino was arrested that same day.
Dino appeared before United States Magistrate Judge Iain D. Johnston on May 23, 2016, in Rockford, and was ordered detained pending trial. His arraignment on the indictment is set for May 26, 2016, at 11:00 a.m. before Magistrate Judge Johnston. The charge carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 5 years and a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison.
The multi-jurisdictional investigation was conducted by the Belvidere/Boone County Metro Narcotics Unit, along with agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Drug Enforcement Administration and Rockford Police Department Detectives. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joseph C. Pedersen and John G. McKenzie are prosecuting the case.
The public is reminded that an indictment contains only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Indictment
Plainfield Board of Education Employee Admits Conspiring with Vendor to Defraud His EmployerRead the Press Release
TRENTON, N.J. – A Piscataway, New Jersey, man today admitted conspiring with employees of Bayway Lumber in Linden, New Jersey, to use phony invoices to defraud the Plainfield Board of Education, resulting in losses of $19,927, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.
Robert E. Banks, 54, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Peter G. Sheridan in Trenton federal court to an information charging him with one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
From 2007 to September 2015, Bayway Lumber had contracts with the Plainfield Board of Education to provide certain products at specified discounts from the manufacturer’s listed prices. Banks was a carpenter and locksmith in the Plainfield Board of Education’s maintenance department and was responsible for purchasing supplies from vendors.
During that time, Bayway Lumber charged the Plainfield Board of Education prices that did not include the contractual discounts and, at times, even charged the Plainfield Board of Education for items it did not receive. Afterwards, Banks signed off on the fraudulent and overbilled invoices. In return, the Bayway Lumber employees used a portion of the proceeds to purchase over $9,000 in valuable items for Banks, including a laptop computer, a lawnmower, construction materials, and a dishwasher.
The charge to which Banks pleaded guilty carries a maximum potential penalty of five years in prison and $250,000 fine, or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense. Sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 29, 2016.
Robert R. Dattilo, a part owner of Bayway Lumber, pleaded guilty before Judge Sheridan on Feb. 18, 2016, to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud in connection with this and other fraudulent activity. He is scheduled to be sentenced on July 12, 2016.
U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents with the Office of Inspector General, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Christina Scaringi; special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Timothy Gallagher in Newark; and the Office of Inspector General, Amtrak, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Robert Koons, as well as investigators of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, with the investigation leading to today’s guilty plea.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Barbara R. Llanes and Cari Fais of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Special Prosecutions Division in Newark.
Defense counsel: Lorraine Gauli-Rufo Esq., Verona, New Jersey