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Thursday 10 March 2016
20 Arrested and Charged Federally in Connection with Drug Trafficking in Central TexasRead the Press Release
Today, federal, state and local authorities arrested 20 individuals in connection with a methamphetamine trafficking operation in central Texas announced United States Attorney Richard L. Durbin, Jr., Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge Joseph M. Arabit, Houston Division, and Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge Christopher Combs, San Antonio Division.
A federal grand jury indictment, returned in Waco and unsealed today, charges 17 of those arrested with either conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance or distribution of a controlled substance. Other charges contained in the indictment include use of a communication device (cell phone) in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime; and, possession of a firearm during a drug trafficking crime. The indictment alleges that the defendants have distributed controlled substances, including methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana, in the Austin/Temple/Killeen areas since January 2013.
Defendants who are charged in this indictment include:
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Ramon Rodriguez, Jr. (aka “Bacon”), age 30, of Temple, TX, 500 grams or more of methamphetamine, cocaine, marijuana;
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Elias Mendoza (aka “Big E”), age 35, of Temple, 500 grams or more of methamphetamine, cocaine, marijuana;
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Eliodoro Denova Lopez, age 28, of Pflugerville, TX, 500 grams or more of methamphetamine, cocaine, marijuana;
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Joel Jaimes Denova, age 30, of Austin, TX, 500 grams or more of methamphetamine, cocaine, marijuana;
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Gabriel Rangel, age36, of Cameron, TX, 50 grams or more of methamphetamine;
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Jose Salomon, age 29, of Cameron, marijuana;
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Kenneth Montgomery (aka “Wege”) , age 57, of Cameron, cocaine;
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Nora Tijerina, age 35, of Temple, 500 grams or more of methamphetamine;
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Oscar Rodriguez, age 34, of Cameron, marijuana;
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Thomas Lee, age 30, of Temple, marijuana;
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Atilano Felipe Garcia, age 33, of Temple, less than 50 grams of methamphetamine;
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Crystal Beck Diggs, age 36, of Belton, TX, less than 50 grams of methamphetamine;
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Douglas Junior Taylor, age 37, of Temple, cocaine;
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Jonathan Salazar, age 29, of Cameron, 50 grams or more of methamphetamine;
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Kevin Kuehnle, age 50, of Killeen, less than 50 grams of methamphetamine;
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Tawuan Stewart (aka “Gator”), age 37, of Temple, cocaine; and,
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Rodney Jerome, age 46, of Temple, less than 50 grams of methamphetamine;
The indictment also charges Ramon Rodriguez, Elias Mendoza, Eliodoro Denova Lopez, Joel Jaimes Denova and Thomas Lee with one count of using a cell phone in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime; and, Jose Salomon with one count of possession of a 12 gauge shotgun in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
Upon conviction of the drug trafficking charge: Ramon Rodriguez, Mendoza, Lopez, Denova, and Tijerina face between ten years and life in federal prison; Rangel, Rollins, Salazar and Arthur face between five and 40 years in federal prison; Diggs, Garcia, Montgomery, Stewart, Kuehnle, Jerome, and Taylor face up to 20 years in federal prison; and, Salomon, Oscar Rodriguez and Lee face up to five years in federal prison based on their involvement, drug type and drug amount involved. Ramon Rodriguez, Mendoza, Lopez, Denova and Lee face up to four years in federal prison upon conviction of the use of a cell phone during a drug trafficking crime. Salomon faces five years in federal prison upon conviction for possession of a firearm during a drug trafficking crime.
In addition to those named above, authorities arrested three other Temple residents today. They are: Jerry Alexander, age 39; Carlos Brown, age 41; and, T.J. Olivarri, age 28.
Alexander is charged in a separate, but related, federal indictment with one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Allegedly, on August 18, 2015, Alexander was in possession of .380 caliber pistol. Alexander’s criminal history revealed three Bell County convictions—cocaine possession in 2000; cocaine possession in 2006; and, evading arrest in 2014. Upon conviction, he faces up to ten years imprisonment.
Olivarri is charge by a federal criminal complaint with making a false statement during the acquisition of a firearm. According to the affidavit, on January 8, 2016, Olivarri provided a false address on the ATF Form 4473 when purchasing a 9mm pistol from a local firearms dealer. Upon conviction, Olivarri faces up to five years in federal prison.
Brown is charged by a federal criminal complaint with one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. According to the affidavit, on March 10, 2016, Brown was found in possession of a .40 caliber handgun. His criminal history reveals a 2008 felony conviction in Bell County for Tampering or Fabricating Physical Evidence. Upon conviction, he faces up to ten years imprisonment.
During this investigation, authorities seized approximately two pounds of “crystal” methamphetamine, several ounces of heroin, approximately ½ pound of cocaine, several pounds of marijuana; approximately $45,000 in U.S. Currency; and between 10-15 firearms. Previously, authorities have seized approximately one kilogram of “crystal” methamphetamine and smaller amounts of cocaine and marijuana.
All of the defendants remain in federal custody. Detention hearings are expected to occur over the next two weeks before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeffrey C. Manske in Waco.
It is important to note that a criminal complaint is merely a charge and should not be considered as evidence of guilt. The defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
This case resulted from an investigation conducted by the DEA and the FBI together with the Texas Department of Public Safety, Temple Police Department, United States Marshals Service, Texas Department of Criminal Justice Office of Inspector General and the Bell County Task Force. Assistant United States Attorneys Stephanie Smith-Burris and Chris Blanton are prosecuting this case on behalf of the Government.
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Wednesday 9 March 2016
Youngstown man charged with robbing bank in CampbellRead the Press Release
A federal grand jury returned a one-count indictment charging Orlando Popa, 26, of Youngstown, with bank robbery, said Acting U.S. Attorney Carole S. Rendon.
The indictment alleges that on or about February 1, 2016, Popa robbed the Huntington Bank, in Campbell, Ohio, of approximately $1,000.
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 violations. In all cases, the sentence will not exceed the statutory maximum and, in most cases, it will be less than the maximum.
The investigation preceding the indictment was conducted by the Campbell Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the FBI Violent Crimes Task Force. The matter is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jason M. Katz.
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.
Yakima Man Sentenced to Thirty Years Imprisonment for Production of Child PornographyRead the Press Release
Spokane – Michael C. Ormsby, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington, announced that Raul Ulises Badillo-Guzman, age 49, of Yakima, Washington, was sentenced today for one count of Production of Child Pornography and one count of Attempted Production of Child Pornography. Chief United States District Court Judge Thomas O. Rice sentenced Badillo-Guzman to a thirty year term of imprisonment, to be followed by a life term of court supervision after he is released from federal prison. Badillo-Guzman will also be required to register as a sex offender.
According to information disclosed during the court proceedings, on October 30, 2013, a 14-year old female and her mother reported to the Yakima Police Department that they had discovered a black object, similar to a car door key fob, in the bathroom of their residence. The black object contained a small camera. They believed Badillo-Guzman had placed the camera in order to surreptitiously record the minor female when she was undressed. Yakima Police detectives obtained a search warrant to view the contents of the device. A recording on the device clearly showed Badillo-Guzman placing the camera in the bathroom. The camera contained images of the minor naked as she prepared to take a shower.
The Yakima Police Department searched Badillo-Guzman’s residence pursuant to a lawfully obtained search warrant and they seized several electronic devices. The Federal Bureau of Investigation subsequently searched the devices and discovered they contained child pornography images of other known victims. The FBI also found a great number of videos and images of Badillo-Guzman engaging in sexual acts with a prepubescent girl. They also discovered what appeared to be a school photo of this young girl. The Yakima Police Department and the FBI conducted a search of yearbooks from various local schools until the photo of the young girl was located and the victim was identified. The victim was between the ages of 8 and 10 years old at the time of the sexual abuse by Badillo-Guzman.
Michael C. Ormsby stated, “Badillo-Guzman raped and sodomized a child repeatedly and produced videos and images memorializing that abuse. Through his actions, Badillo-Guzman has proven himself a great danger to the community. The sentence handed down today provides fair and just punishment for this abhorrent offense.” Ormsby went on to note, “The lasting and devastating effects on the victims of these cases cannot be overstated. Prosecuting these difficult cases has been and continues to be a priority for the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Washington.” He further stated, “This joint federal, state and local agency investigation demonstrates the dedication of the officers and the willingness to utilize resources at every level of law enforcement to bring those who would victimize children to justice.”
This case was prosecuted as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in
May 2006 by the United States 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. The Project Safe Childhood Initiative (“PSC”) has
five major components:
· Integrated federal, state, and local efforts to investigate and prosecute child
exploitation cases, and to identify and rescue children;
· Participation of PSC partners in coordinated national initiatives;
· Increased federal enforcement in child pornography and enticement cases;
· Training of federal, state, and local law enforcement agents; and
· Community awareness and educational programs.
For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc . For
information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab
"resources."
This investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Yakima Police
Department. The case was prosecuted by Alison L. Gregoire, an Assistant United States Attorney
for the Eastern District of Washington, and Jared Boswell, a Deputy Prosecuting Attorney for
Yakima County.
Wichita Woman Pleads Guilty in Sex Trafficking CaseRead the Press Release
WICHITA, KAN. - A Wichita woman pleaded guilty Wednesday in a sex trafficking case in which a 17-year-old girl was the victim, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said.
Natasha L. Harper, 33, Wichita, Kan., pleaded guilty to one count of transporting the girl across state lines for the purpose of prostitution. In her plea, Harper admitted she transported the girl from Kansas to Michigan, Illinois and Iowa and back to Kansas so the girl could engage in sex acts for money. Harper, who placed ads on an adult Web site offering the girl’s services, received part of the money.
Sentencing is set for July 7, 2016. The parties have agreed to recommend a sentence of 90 months in federal prison followed by 10 years on supervised release. Grissom commended the Wichita Police Department and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Hart for his work on the case.
Whitaker Man Charged with Distributing Drugs Resulting in DeathRead the Press Release
PITTSBURGH – Justin Thornton has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh for acetylfentanyl and fentanyl trafficking resulting in the death of one person, United States Attorney David J. Hickton announced today.
The indictment charges Thornton, 32, of Whitaker, Pa., with distributing acetylfentanyl and fentanyl on August 7 and 8, 2015, that killed one person. The indictment also charges Thornton with possession with intent to distribute heroin, acetylfentanyl, fentanyl, crack cocaine and cocaine on August 13, 2015.
The law provides for a maximum total sentence of at least 20 years and up to life in prison, a fine of up to $6,000,000, or both. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed would be based upon the seriousness of the offenses and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.
Assistant United States Attorney Ryan K. Hart is prosecuting this case on behalf of the United States.
The Allegheny County Police Department, the West Mifflin Police Department and the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office conducted the investigation leading to the indictment in this case.
An indictment is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Weslaco Man Heads to Prison for Trafficking MarijuanaRead the Press Release
LAREDO, Texas – Santiago Martinez, 39, of Weslaco, has been ordered to prison for 10 years following his conviction of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute in excess of 1,000 kilograms of marijuana, announced United States Attorney Kenneth Magidson. Martinez pleaded guilty April 3, 2014.
Today, U.S. District Judge Marina Garcia Marmolejo, who accepted the guilty plea, handed Martinez a 120-month sentence to be immediately followed by five years of supervised release. The court also ordered that the judgment reflect that an order of forfeiture was entered against Martinez in the amount of $11,555,000 which was based on the amount of marijuana transported by the organization during the span of the conspiracy.
A Laredo grand jury returned an indictment Dec. 3, 2013, which alleged Martinez acted as a leader and organizer within a drug trafficking organization that purchased and transported marijuana from the United States-Mexico border to regional distributors in Memphis, Tenn., and Tampa, Fla.
According to court documents, the organization used “low boy” trailers and recreational camping trailers with hidden compartments to transport the marijuana, in 300 to 500 kilogram loads, twice per month. Proceeds from the sale and transportation of this marijuana were collected and sent back to South Texas. These proceeds were placed in hidden compartments in tractor trailers or recreational camping trailers or were deposited into numerous bank accounts.
Since 2001, law enforcement has seized more than 3,500 kilograms of marijuana and more than $1.3 million tied to this drug trafficking organization. The largest seizure of marijuana occurred on Jan. 7, 2011, at which time two tractors, hauling trailers, arrived approximately one hour apart at the U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint on Highway 1017 east of Hebbronville. Inside hidden compartments in the trailers, agents found more than a 1000 kilograms of marijuana. One tractor was headed to Memphis and the other to Tampa.
The largest cash seizure occurred on Aug. 4, 2012, in Florida when law enforcement officers found seven bundles of money, totaling $831,539 in a lead-lined hidden compartment in a camping trailer.
Martinez admitted he purchased marijuana and arranged for its transportation and that a number of the vehicles used by this organization were titled in his name. Martinez further admitted he conspired to move more than 10,000 kilograms of marijuana.
He will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
The case is being investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration with the assistance of the FBI. Former Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) Elizabeth R. Rabe prosecuted the case. AUSA Toni L. Trevino handled the sentencing today.
Walter Porter Found Guilty of Murder-For-Hire, Faces Mandatory Life SentenceRead the Press Release
U.S. Attorney Kenneth A. Polite announced that this afternoon, a jury returned a guilty verdict against WALTER PORTER, a/k/a “Moonie,” a/k/a “Urkel,” for his participation in the November 2010 murder of Christopher “Tiger” Smith.
The jury found PORTER, age 40, of New Orleans, guilty as charged for use of interstate commerce facilities in the commission of murder-for-hire, causing death through the use of a firearm, and conspiracy to possess firearms.
According to court documents, on Sunday, November 21, 2010 at 8:10 pm, Christopher Smith was found by Jefferson Parish Sheriff (“JPSO”) deputies lying in the doorway of his Gretna apartment, after having been shot at least twenty times. Smith was pronounced dead at the scene. JPSO’s investigation ultimately revealed that NEMESSIS BATES paid co-defendants, PORTER and AARON SMITH, a/k/a “Beadie,” a/k/a “Beedie,” $20,000 to murder Christopher Smith. AARON SMITH previously pled guilty and awaits sentencing. BATES was sentenced to life in prison.
“Today’s jury verdict ensures that Walter Porter, one of the city’s most lethal hit men, will spend the rest of his life behind bars,” stated U.S. Attorney Polite.
U.S. District Judge Sarah S. Vance set sentencing on June 29, 2016. PORTER faces a mandatory penalty of life imprisonment.
U.S. Attorney Polite praised the work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office in investigating this matter. Assistant United States Attorneys Liz Privitera and Greg Kennedy were in charge of the prosecution.
United States Settles Claim Against Surgeon Who Refused to Operate on an HIV- Positive PatientRead the Press Release
Robert L. Capers, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, announced today a settlement with Dr. William Sher, an otolaryngologist in Port Jefferson, New York, under title III of the Americans With Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. § 12181- 12189 (ADA). Title III prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in places of public accommodation such as hospitals. Individuals with HIV fall within the protection of the ADA.
The settlement resolves claims made by J.P.[1], who is HIV positive, that Dr. Sher refused to operate on him after Dr. Sher learned that J.P. was HIV positive. J.P. alleged that Dr. Sher was scheduled to perform a biopsy on a growth on his neck but cancelled minutes before the procedure was to begin, citing J.P.’s HIV status. Approximately three weeks later, another physician performed the biopsy on the growth, which turned out to be cancerous.
Under the settlement, Dr. Sher will pay $75,000 to J.P. and attend training on title III of the ADA, including training about HIV/AIDS and discrimination. Under the terms of the settlement, Dr. Sher does not admit to violating J.P.’s rights under the ADA.
“Discrimination against individuals with HIV is not permissible,” stated United States Attorney Capers. “The ADA requires that doctors and other health care professionals provide appropriate care and treatment to patients without regard to their HIV status. The settlement makes clear that this office will vigorously enforce the ADA against those who seek to discriminate against patients who fall under its protection.”
The matter was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jolie Apicella and Michael Goldberger.
[1] J. P. has asked that his identity remain confidential.
Two men charged with credit card fraudRead the Press Release
A two-count indictment was filed charging two men with crimes related to counterfeit credit cards, said Acting U.S. Attorney Carole S. Rendon.
Luis Diaz-Cordova, 43, of Phoenix, and Yandy Martinez-Guerra, 25, if Miami, were both indicted on one count each of possession of at least 15 unauthorized access devices (credit cards) and trafficking in unauthorized access devices.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Megan Miller and Robert Kern following an investigation by the Bureua of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
If convicted, their sentence will be determined by the court after review of factors unique to this case, including prior criminal records, if any, their role in the offenses and the unique characteristics of the violations. 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.
Two Cayman Island Financial Institutions Plead Guilty in Manhattan Federal Court to Conspiring to Hide More Than $130 Million in Cayman Bank AccountsRead the Press Release
Cayman Companies Admit to Helping U.S. Taxpayer-Clients Hide Assets in Offshore Accounts, and Agree to Produce Account Files of Non-Compliant U.S. Taxpayers
First Conviction of Non-Swiss Financial Institution For Tax Evasion Conspiracy
U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara for the Southern District of New York, Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division, and Chief Richard Weber for the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation, (IRS-CI), announced today the guilty pleas of Cayman National Securities Ltd. (CNS) and Cayman National Trust Co. Ltd. (CNT), two Cayman Island affiliates of Cayman National Corporation, which provided investment brokerage and trust management services to individuals and entities within and outside the Cayman Islands, including citizens and residents of the United States (U.S. taxpayers). CNS and CNT pleaded guilty to a criminal Information charging them with conspiring with many of their U.S. taxpayer-clients to hide more than $130 million in offshore accounts from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and to evade U.S. taxes on the income earned in those accounts. CNS and CNT entered their guilty pleas pursuant to plea agreements requiring the companies to, among other things, produce through the treaty process account files of non-compliant U.S. taxpayers who maintained accounts at CNS and CNT, and pay a total of $6 million in financial penalties. The plea proceeding took place today before the Honorable U.S. District Judge Thomas P. Griesa for the Southern District of New York.
“The guilty pleas of these two Cayman Island companies today represent the first convictions of financial institutions outside Switzerland for conspiring with U.S. taxpayers to evade their lawful and legitimate taxes,” said U.S. Attorney Bharara. “The plea agreements require these Cayman entities to provide this office with the client files, because we are committed to finding and prosecuting not only banks that help U.S. taxpayers evade taxes, but also individual taxpayers who find criminal ways not to pay their fair share. We will follow them no matter how far they go to hide their accounts, whether it is Switzerland, the Cayman Islands, or some other tax haven.”
“Today’s convictions make clear that our focus is not on any one bank, insurance company or asset management firm, or even any one country,” said Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division. “The Department and IRS are following the money across the globe – there are no safe havens for U.S. citizens engaged in tax evasion or those actively assisting them.”
“The veil of secrecy has been lifted from what was once a common place for criminals to hide their money offshore,” said Chief Weber. “The IRS and DOJ work aggressively to require banks to follow the laws and not turn a blind eye to criminal activity. When individuals and entities hide behind shell corporations and numbered bank accounts, they are not only cheating the U.S. government, they are cheating the honest taxpaying citizens who are obeying the law and doing the right thing.”
According to the information, statements made during the proceedings today and other documents filed in Manhattan federal court, including the statement of facts to the plea agreements:
From at least 2001 through 2011, CNS and CNT, which are both located in Grand Cayman and organized under the laws of the Cayman Islands, assisted certain U.S. taxpayers in evading their U.S. tax obligations to the IRS and otherwise hiding accounts held at CNS and CNT from the IRS (hereinafter, undeclared accounts). CNS and CNT did so by knowingly opening and maintaining undeclared accounts for U.S. taxpayers at CNS and CNT. Specifically, and among other things, in furtherance of a scheme to help U.S. taxpayers hide assets from the IRS and evade taxes:
- CNS and CNT opened, and/or encouraged many U.S. taxpayer-clients to open accounts held in the name of sham Caymanian companies and trusts (collectively, structures), thereby helping U.S. taxpayers conceal their beneficial ownership of the accounts.
- CNS and CNT treated these sham Caymanian structures as the account holders and allowed the U.S. beneficial owners of the accounts to trade in U.S. securities.
- CNS failed to disclose to the IRS the identities of the U.S. beneficial owners who were trading in U.S. securities, in contravention of CNS’s obligations under its Qualified Intermediary Agreement (QI) with the IRS.
- After learning about the investigation of Swiss bank UBS AG (UBS), in or about 2008, for assisting U.S. taxpayers to evade their U.S. tax obligations, CNS and CNT continued to knowingly maintain undeclared accounts for U.S. taxpayer-clients and did not begin to engage in any significant remedial efforts with respect to those accounts until 2011 and 2012.
The sham Caymanian structures that CNT set up for U.S. taxpayer-clients included trusts, which were nominally controlled by CNT trust officers, but which in fact were controlled by the U.S. taxpayer-clients; managed companies, for which CNT ostensibly provided direction and management services, but which in truth were shell companies that served only to hold the assets of the U.S. taxpayer-clients; and registered office companies, which were shell companies for which CNT simply supplied a Caymanian mailing address. CNS treated these sham Caymanian structures as the account holders and then permitted the U.S. taxpayer-clients to trade in U.S. securities, without requiring them to submit Form W-9s, which are IRS forms that identify individuals as U.S. taxpayers, as CNS was obligated to do under its QI obligations for accounts held by U.S. persons that held U.S. securities. CNS and CNT agreed to maintain these structures for U.S. taxpayer-clients after many of them expressed concern that their accounts would be detected by the IRS.
In or about April 2008, it became publicly known that the U.S. Department of Justice was investigating UBS for assisting U.S. taxpayers to evade their U.S. tax obligations. Thereafter, despite the public disclosure of the UBS case, and CNS’s awareness of it, CNS continued to assist U.S. taxpayer-clients in concealing their accounts from the IRS by, among other things, failing to require them to complete Form W-9s. Likewise, up through at least 2010, CNT continued to rely on account opening documentation that, rather than barring the creation of non-tax compliant structures, simply assigned higher “risk” points to such structures. In or about June 2011, CNT hired a new president, who spearheaded a review of CNT’s files. In the course of that review, not a single file was found to be complete and without tax or other issues. Moreover, with respect to the structures that had U.S. beneficial owners, CNT’s files contained little, if any, evidence of tax compliance.
At their high-water mark in 2009, CNS and CNT had approximately $137 million in assets under management relating to undeclared accounts held by U.S. taxpayer-clients. From 2001 through 2011, CNS and CNT earned more than $3.4 million in gross revenues from the undeclared U.S. taxpayer accounts that they maintained.
As part of their plea agreements with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York (the office), CNS and CNT have agreed to cooperate fully with the office’s investigation of the companies’ criminal conduct. To date, CNS and CNT have already made substantial efforts to cooperate with that investigation, including by: (1) facilitating interviews that the office conducted of CNS and CNT employees, including top level executives; (2) voluntarily producing documents in response to the office’s requests; (3) providing, in response to a treaty request, unredacted client files for approximately 20 percent of the U.S. taxpayer-clients who maintained accounts at CNS and CNT; and (4) committing to assist in responding to a treaty request that is expected to result in the production of unredacted client files for approximately 90 to 95 percent of the U.S. taxpayer-clients who maintained accounts at CNS and CNT.
In connection with their guilty pleas, CNS and CNT have agreed to pay the United States a total of $6 million, which consists of the forfeiture of gross proceeds of their illegal conduct, restitution of the outstanding unpaid taxes from U.S. taxpayers who held undeclared accounts at CNS and CNT, and a fine.
U.S. Attorney Bharara praised the outstanding investigative work of IRS-CI and thanked the Justice Department’s Tax Division for their assistance in the investigation.
This case is being handled by the office’s Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sarah E. Paul and Niketh Velamoor for the Southern District of New York are in charge of the prosecution.
Two Cayman Island Financial Institutions Plead Guilty in Manhattan Federal Court to Conspiring to Hide More Than $130 Million in Cayman Bank AccountsRead the Press Release
Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Stuart Goldberg, Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Tax Division, and Richard Weber, Chief, Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation, (“IRS-CI”), announced today the guilty pleas of Cayman National Securities Ltd. (“CNS”) and Cayman National Trust Co. Ltd. (“CNT”), two Cayman Island affiliates of Cayman National Corporation, which provided investment brokerage and trust management services to individuals and entities within and outside the Cayman Islands, including citizens and residents of the United States (“U.S. taxpayers”). CNS and CNT pleaded guilty to a criminal information charging them with conspiring with many of their U.S. taxpayer-clients to hide more than $130 million in offshore accounts from the United States Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”) and to evade U.S. taxes on the income earned in those accounts. CNS and CNT entered their guilty pleas pursuant to plea agreements requiring the companies to, among other things, produce through the treaty process account files of non-compliant U.S. taxpayers who maintained accounts at CNS and CNT, and pay a total of $6 million in financial penalties. The plea proceeding took place today before the Honorable Thomas P. Griesa, United States District Judge for the Southern District of New York.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said: “The guilty pleas of these two Cayman Island companies today represent the first convictions of financial institutions outside Switzerland for conspiring with U.S. taxpayers to evade their lawful and legitimate taxes. The plea agreements require these Cayman entities to provide this Office with the client files, because we are committed to finding and prosecuting not only banks that help U.S. taxpayers evade taxes, but also individual taxpayers who find criminal ways not to pay their fair share. We will follow them no matter how far they go to hide their accounts, whether it is Switzerland, the Cayman Islands, or some other tax haven.”
Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart Goldberg said: “Today’s convictions make clear that our focus is not on any one bank, insurance company or asset management firm, or even any one country. The Department and IRS are following the money across the globe –there are no safe havens for US citizens engaged in tax evasion or those actively assisting them.”
IRS Chief Richard Weber said: “The veil of secrecy has been lifted from what was once a common place for criminals to hide their money offshore. The IRS and DOJ work aggressively to require banks to follow the laws and not turn a blind eye to criminal activity. When individuals and entities hide behind shell corporations and numbered bank accounts, they are not only cheating the U.S. government, they are cheating the honest taxpaying citizens who are obeying the law and doing the right thing.”
According to the Information, statements made during the proceedings today, and other documents filed in Manhattan federal court, including the Statement of Facts to the plea agreements:
The Offense Conduct
From at least 2001 through 2011, CNS and CNT, which are both located in Grand Cayman and organized under the laws of the Cayman Islands, assisted certain U.S. taxpayers in evading their U.S. tax obligations to the IRS, and otherwise hiding accounts held at CNS and CNT from the IRS (hereinafter, “undeclared accounts”). CNS and CNT did so by knowingly opening and maintaining undeclared accounts for U.S. taxpayers at CNS and CNT. Specifically, and among other things, in furtherance of a scheme to help U.S. taxpayers hide assets from the IRS and evade taxes:
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CNS and CNT opened, and/or encouraged many U.S. taxpayer-clients to open, accounts held in the name of sham Caymanian companies and trusts (collectively, “structures”), thereby helping U.S. taxpayers conceal their beneficial ownership of the accounts.
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CNS and CNT treated these sham Caymanian structures as the account holders and allowed the U.S. beneficial owners of the accounts to trade in U.S. securities.
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CNS failed to disclose to the IRS the identities of the U.S. beneficial owners who were trading in U.S. securities, in contravention of CNS’s obligations under its Qualified Intermediary Agreement (“QI”) with the IRS.
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After learning about the investigation of Swiss bank UBS AG (“UBS”), in or about 2008, for assisting U.S. taxpayers to evade their U.S. tax obligations, CNS and CNT continued to knowingly maintain undeclared accounts for U.S. taxpayer-clients, and did not begin to engage in any significant remedial efforts with respect to those accounts until 2011 and 2012.
The sham Caymanian structures that CNT set up for U.S. taxpayer-clients included trusts, which were nominally controlled by CNT trust officers, but which in fact were controlled by the U.S. taxpayer-clients; managed companies, for which CNT ostensibly provided direction and management services, but which in truth were shell companies that served only to hold the assets of the U.S. taxpayer-clients; and registered office companies, which were shell companies for which CNT simply supplied a Caymanian mailing address. CNS treated these sham Caymanian structures as the account holders and then permitted the U.S. taxpayer-clients to trade in U.S. securities, without requiring them to submit Form W-9s, which are IRS forms that identify individuals as U.S. taxpayers, as CNS was obligated to do under its QI obligations for accounts held by U.S. persons that held U.S. securities. CNS and CNT agreed to maintain these structures for U.S. taxpayer-clients after many of them expressed concern that their accounts would be detected by the IRS.
In or about April of 2008, it became publicly known that the United States Department of Justice (“DOJ”) was investigating UBS for assisting U.S. taxpayers to evade their U.S. tax obligations. Thereafter, despite the public disclosure of the UBS case, and CNS’s awareness of it, CNS continued to assist U.S. taxpayer-clients in concealing their accounts from the IRS by, among other things, failing to require them to complete Form W-9s. Likewise, up through at least 2010, CNT continued to rely on account opening documentation that, rather than barring the creation of non-tax compliant structures, simply assigned higher “risk” points to such structures. In or about June of 2011, CNT hired a new president, who spearheaded a review of CNT’s files. In the course of that review, not a single file was found to be complete and without tax or other issues. Moreover, with respect to the structures that had U.S. beneficial owners, CNT’s files contained little if any evidence of tax compliance.
At their high-water mark in 2009, CNS and CNT had approximately $137 million in assets under management relating to undeclared accounts held by U.S. taxpayer-clients. From 2001 through 2011, CNS and CNT earned over $3.4 million in gross revenues from the undeclared U.S. taxpayer accounts that they maintained.
CNS and CNT’s Cooperation with the Government Investigation
As part of their plea agreements with the Office of the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York (the “Office”), CNS and CNT have agreed to cooperate fully with the Office’s investigation of the companies’ criminal conduct. To date, CNS and CNT have already made substantial efforts to cooperate with that investigation, including by: (1) facilitating interviews that the Office conducted of CNS and CNT employees, including top level executives; (2) voluntarily producing documents in response to the Office’s requests; (3) providing, in response to a treaty request, unredacted client files for approximately 20 percent of the U.S. taxpayer-clients who maintained accounts at CNS and CNT; and (4) committing to assist in responding to a treaty request that is expected to result in the production of unredacted client files for approximately 90 to 95 percent of the U.S. taxpayer-clients who maintained accounts at CNS and CNT.
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In connection with their guilty pleas, CNS and CNT have agreed to pay the United States a total of $6 million, which consists of the forfeiture of gross proceeds of their illegal conduct, restitution of the outstanding unpaid taxes from U.S. taxpayers who held undeclared accounts at CNS and CNT, and a fine.
Mr. Bharara praised the outstanding investigative work of IRS-CI, and thanked the Justice Department’s Tax Division for their assistance in the investigation.
This case is being handled by the Office’s Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sarah E. Paul and Niketh Velamoor are in charge of the prosecution.
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Two California Men Plead Guilty to Conspiracy to Distribute Oxycodone and HydromorphoneRead the Press Release
BOISE – Michael Kulikoff, 30, and Kenneth Miller, 57, both of California City, California, pleaded guilty yesterday to conspiracy to distribute oxycodone and hydromorphone, U.S. Attorney Wendy J. Olson announced. Co-defendants Diane Miller, 41, and Crystal Clark 43, also of California City, California, previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute oxycodone and hydromorphone. Diana Miller was sentenced on January 15, 2016, to 15 months in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release. All four were indicted by a federal grand jury in Boise on May 12, 2015.
According to the plea agreement and court proceedings, Kenneth Miller, Diane Miller, and Crystal Clark sold their prescriptions of oxycodone to Michael Kulikoff. Kulikoff admitted to distributing those and other prescription pills to Boise, Idaho. Kulikoff admitted that he distributed between 500 and 1750 30mg pills of oxycodone to a confidential informant and an undercover officer in Idaho.
The charge of conspiracy to distribute oxycodone and hydromorphone is punishable by not more than twenty years in prison, a maximum fine of $1,000,000, and at least three years of supervised release.
Sentencing for Clark is set for April 4, 2016, before Chief U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill at the federal courthouse in Boise. Judge Winmill will sentence Kenneth Miller and Michael Kulikoff on May 5, 2016.
The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Boise Police Department as an Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF partners include the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Drug Enforcement Administration; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE); Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation; and U.S. Marshals Service.
The case was initiated and investigated by the Boise Police Department, and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) led Tactical Diversion Squad which is comprised of law enforcement personnel from the DEA, Ada County Sheriff’s Office, Boise Police Department, Idaho State Police, Meridian Police Department, Nampa Police Department and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General.
Townsend Woman Pleads Guilty to Stealing over $200,000 in Government BenefitsRead the Press Release
BOSTON – Lucy Girard, 78, of Townsend, Mass., pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Boston to stealing over $200,000 in Social Security and federal housing benefits.
In February 2016, Girard was charged in a felony information. U.S. District Court Senior Judge Rya W. Zobel scheduled sentencing for June 1, 2016.
In 1994, Girard was listed as the informant of death on her mother’s death certificate when she passed away in Massachusetts. Girard did not properly notify the Social Security Administration of her mother’s death so the agency continued to mail her monthly checks. Although Girard was not entitled to this money, she routinely signed her late mother’s name on the back of the checks, cashed them, and spent the money. In January 2009, the payments were converted to a monthly direct deposit into an account that Girard controlled, and she spent the money after it was deposited each month for her own personal benefit. In 2014, in response to inquiries from Social Security, Girard falsely stated that her mother died very recently in Florida. In total, from 1994 to 2014, Girard stole $208,868.
In 2014, Girard applied to live at housing subsidized by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Although the application directed Girard to disclose all of her income, she did not disclose the Social Security money that she was illegally receiving on behalf of her late mother. Girard would have been ineligible for subsidized housing if she had disclosed that income.
This case was brought as part of an ongoing effort by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, in partnership with the Social Security Administration, to investigate and prosecute the posthumous fraud of Social Security benefits. In many of these cases, family members, knowing they are not entitled to government benefits, continue to withdraw and spend the funds after a relative has died. In the past year, the U.S. Attorney’s Office has prosecuted several similar cases involving a total of more than $1 million in stolen government money.
Last week, Brian Sandiford, of Jamaica Plain, was sentenced for stealing $70,811 from Social Security from 2010 to 2014.
On April 11, 2016, Richard Alan Hersey, of Winthrop, will be sentenced for stealing $444,287 in Social Security and federal pension benefits from 1991 to 2015. Hersey pleaded guilty in November 2015.
United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Scott Antolik, Special Agent in Charge of the Office of Inspector General, Social Security Administration, Office of Investigations, Boston Field Division; and Christina Scaringi, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of the Inspector General, Northeast Regional Office, made the announcement today. The Girard case is being prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Landry of Ortiz’s Major Crimes Unit.
Todd County, Kentucky Resident Sentenced to 228 Months in Prison for Possession and Distribution of Methamphetamine and Carrying A Firearm During A Drug Trafficking CrimeRead the Press Release
Defendant obtained 67 pounds of crystal meth (with an estimated street value of $3 million) in California and shipped the drug to his Todd County home
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – A Todd County, Kentucky resident, was sentenced today in United States District Court by District Judge Greg N. Stivers to 228 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release, for multiple charges associated with firearms, possession and distribution of methamphetamine announced U.S. Attorney John E. Kuhn, Jr. There is no parole in the federal system.
Scott Windell Harris, age 45, living in Allensville, purchased 67 pounds of crystal meth during approximately nine trips to California, then shipped the schedule II controlled substance to a residence off Russellville Road in Todd County. Harris, an unlawful user of methamphetamine, also carried a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking offense.
"Methamphetamine is a highly addictive drug with devastating consequences to users, their families and communities,” stated U.S. Attorney John Kuhn. “This prosecution closes a significant pipeline for dangerous drugs running from California to the streets of Western Kentucky. We are grateful to the many law enforcement agencies whose coordinated efforts assisted my Office in achieving this sentence.”
Law enforcement officials became aware of Harris’ criminal conduct in February 2015, when a package was intercepted at the Louisville hub of UPS. A search warrant executed on the package revealed 19.6 pounds of suspected methamphetamine being shipped from California to Todd County. Later forensic testing of the methamphetamine at the Drug Enforcement Administration Laboratory in Chicago, Illinois, revealed a purity level exceeding 100%. State and federal law enforcement officials conducted a controlled delivery of the package, and observed Harris taking possession of the package and placing it inside a black van. Later, a search of the van revealed a loaded Kel-Tec CNC Industries, Model P3AT, .380 caliber pistol with seven rounds of .380 ammunition in the van’s glove box. At the time, Harris was an unlawful user of methamphetamine and, therefore, prohibited from possessing a firearm.
According to Harris, he made multiple trips to Los Angeles, California, where he obtained a total of 67 pounds of crystal methamphetamine, with an estimated street value of approximately $3 million. Once he had the methamphetamine, Harris packaged the drugs and shipped them to his residence in Allensville, Kentucky. When law enforcement officials arrested Harris, they searched the residence and found an additional one and one-half pounds of crystal methamphetamine, scales, baggies and just over $14,000.00 in cash.
Harris previously pled guilty to the charges on October 13, 2015, in Bowling Green, before Judge Stivers.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jo E. Lawless and was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and Kentucky State Police Drug Enforcement/Special Investigations West, with assistance from the Drug Enforcement Administration Laboratory.
Texas Men Sentenced to Combined Total of 200 Months in Federal Prison for Drug TraffickingRead the Press Release
Fort Smith, Arkansas - Kenneth Elser, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas, announced that Adan Sanchez, age 45, of Rosenberg, Texas, and Omar Sanchez-Vasquez, age 49, of Guy, Texas, were sentenced today on one count each of Distribution of more than 50 Grams of a Mixture or Substance Containing Methamphetamine. Sanchez and Sanchez-Vasquez were sentenced to 100 months each in federal prison followed by four years of supervised release. The Honorable P. K. Holmes, III presided over the sentencing hearing in the United States District Court in Fort Smith.
Sanchez and Sanchez-Vasquez were both indicted by a federal grand jury on September 16, 2015 and both pleaded guilty to the charges in November, 2015.
This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration. Assistant United States Attorney Brandon Carter prosecuted the case for the United States.
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Related court documents may be found on the Public Access to Electronic Records website @ www.pacer.gov
Tax charges added to conspiracy involving undocumented workers at Akron restaurantRead the Press Release
A 13-count superseding indictment was unsealed in which tax charges were added to a conspiracy involving harboring undocumented and illegal aliens in relation to their operation of a restaurant in Akron, said Carole S. Rendon, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio
Named in the indictment are Chau Fang Lam, 57; Rui Xu, 28; Xin Hsu, 34, and Zhou Qiang Zou, 33, all of Akron. Added to the indictment is Yuan Lin, 24, of Fairlawn.
Lam, Xu, Hsu, and Zou owned and operated the Royal Buffet and Grill restaurant in the Chapel Hill area of Akron, Ohio. Lam, Xu, Hsu, and Zou conspired to harbor and harbored at least 10 undocumented workers for the purpose of commercial advantage and private financial gain. The conspiracy included employing the undocumented workers at the Royal Buffet and Grill, where they worked for below minimum wage or only for tips, according to the indictment.
The defendants also housed the undocumented worker at one of their residences on Annapolis Avenue in Akron and transporting them to and from the Royal Buffet and Grill as part of the conspiracy. At one time, Lam, Xu, Hsu, and Zou housed as many as 14 undocumented workers inside a single-family resident on Annapolis Avenue, according to the indictment.
Count 1 charges Lam, Xu, Hsu, and Zou with conspiracy to harbor illegal aliens, Count 2 charges Lam with harboring illegal aliens at her residence on Annapolis Avenue. Count 3 charges Xu with harboring illegal aliens at his residence on Annapolis Avenue. Count 4 charges Hsu and Xu with harboring illegal aliens by permitting them to be transported to and from their work at the Royal Buffet and Grill in their 2006 Dodge Caravan.
Lin also operated the Royal Buffet and Grill. Counts 5 alleges the defendants conspired between 2002 and 2013 to defraud the government by impeding the collection of federal taxes. They did this by not reporting the majority of cash receipts on their taxes, according to the indictment.
Counts 6 through 13 relate to the filing of false tax returns.
The indictment also seeks to seize more than $92,000 in U.S. currency seized as part of the investigation.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Teresa Riley following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Investigations and the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigations.
If convicted, their sentence will be determined by the court after review of factors unique to this case, including prior criminal records, if any, their role in the offenses and the unique characteristics of the violations. 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.
South Portland Man Sentenced to 16½ Years for Sexually Exploiting a MinorRead the Press Release
Contact: Craig M. Wolff
Assistant United States Attorney
Tel: (207) 780-3257Portland, Maine: United States Attorney Thomas E. Delahanty II announced that Wayne Niski, 29, of South Portland, Maine, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court by Judge Jon D. Levy to 16½ years in prison to be followed by 10 years of supervised release for sexually exploiting a minor. Niski pleaded guilty to the charge on September 10, 2015.
According to court records, in 2013, Niski took several sexually explicit photographs of an eight-year-old girl. In March 2015, investigators executed a search warrant at Niski’s residence in South Portland. Among the items found in the residence was a USB flash drive that contained copies of the images that Niski had taken in 2013.
The investigation was conducted by the Maine State Police Computer Crimes Unit and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.
Smithfield Man Sentenced to 235 Months for Distribution of Child PornographyRead the Press Release
WILMINGTON – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina announced that yesterday in federal court, Senior United States District Judge James C. Fox sentenced james owen hagins, 44, of Smithfield, North Carolina, to 235 months imprisonment, followed by a lifetime of supervised release.
HAGINS was named in a three count Indictment filed on September 9, 2015, charging him with one count of Distribution of Child Pornography and two counts of Receipt And Possession Of Child Pornography. On November 30, 2015, HAGINS pled guilty to the Distribution of Child Pornography.
The investigation revealed that on July 2, 2015, agents with the U.S. Marshal’s Service questioned HAGINS in regard to his relationship with an individual under investigation in Tennessee for the kidnapping and sexual abuse of a minor female. HAGINS is a registered sex offender who had been convicted previously of Indecent Liberties with a Child and Third Degree Sexual Exploitation of a Minor in Johnston County in 1995 and 2004, respectively. HAGINS admitted that he had been in contact with the suspect in Tennessee and met him in a chat room. The suspect has since been arrested and the minor child safely located and returned to her family.
On July 5, 2015, HAGINS admitted that he had exchanged images of child pornography for several months. He also admitted to exchanging images of child pornography with several other individuals he met in a chat room.
On July 10, 2015, agents with the Federal Bureau of Invetigation (FBI) executed a search warrant on HAGINS home in Smithfield and seized a computer, multiple cell phones, and multiple media storage devices. Forensic examination of these devices uncovered more than 2,000 images and 487 videos of child pornography.
Investigation of this case was conducted by the United States Marshal’s Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Johnston County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant United States Attorney Ethan Ontjes represented the government.
This case was part of the Project Safe Childhood initiative, a national program aimed at ensuring that criminals exploiting children are effectively prosecuted by making full use of all available law enforcement resources at every level. For more information about this important national project, Project Safe Childhood, go to www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
Sheriff and lieutenant colonel of New Iberia, Louisiana, charged in conspiracy to assault inmatesRead the Press Release
LAFAYETTE, La. – Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta, head of the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, and United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced today that Iberia Parish, Louisiana, Sheriff Louis Ackal and Lieutenant Colonel Gerald Savoy were charged today with civil rights violations arising out of the beatings of five pre-trial detainees at the Iberia Parish Jail (IPJ) on April 29, 2011. Ackal is charged with one count of conspiracy against rights and two counts of deprivation of rights under color of law, and Savoy is charged with one count of conspiracy against rights and one count of deprivation of rights under color of law.
The indictment alleges that Ackal and Savoy conspired with each other and with other officers to assault five inmates, identified by the initials C.O., S.S., A.T., A.D. and H.G., and that members of the conspiracy failed to intervene and stop the assaults.
Eight former Iberia Parish Sheriff Office employees have previously entered guilty pleas in related cases before U.S. District Judge Patricia Minaldi of the Western District of Louisiana. The eight officers are former IPJ Warden Wesley Hayes, former IPJ Assistant Warden Jesse Hayes, former Lieutenant Bret Broussard of the Narcotics Unit, former narcotics agent Wade Bergeron, former narcotics agent Jason Comeaux, former narcotics agent David Hines, former narcotics agent Byron Benjamin Lassalle and former K-9 handler Robert Burns.
An indictment is merely an allegation, and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty. If convicted, Ackal and Savoy each face a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison for each of the civil rights violations, as well as a potential $250,000 fine for each count.
The case is being investigated by the FBI’s Lafayette Resident Agency. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph G. Jarzabek of the Western District of Louisiana, Special Litigation Counsel Mark Blumberg and Trial Attorney Tona Boyd of the Civil Rights Division’s Criminal Section.
Sex Offender Convicted AgainRead the Press Release
The Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont stated that Michael E. Fisher, age 39, was convicted yesterday after a jury trial in Burlington of attempting to persuade, induce, entice or coerce a minor to engage in illegal sex, using a facility of interstate commerce.
In late February 2015, Fisher contacted several area middle school girls, aged 12-14, through Facebook. The girls reported the contacts to their parents and to the Burlington Police Department. Fisher has a 2003 State of Vermont felony conviction for luring minors, and a 2010 federal conviction for failing to register as a sex offender. In March 2015, the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (“ICAC”) initiated an investigation. An ICAC official and South Burlington Police Sergeant Andrew Chaulk made undercover contact with Fisher on Facebook, posing as a 13-year-old middle school student. Over the course of three days, Fisher sent a multitude of Facebook messages to the purported student, pressing her to have sex with him. He urged her to meet him at Dorset Street Park in South Burlington at noon on April 3, 2015, to have sex in a public restroom. Among other things, Fisher promised the girl that he would bring cigarettes, a beer, and a condom. He also sent her a Google Maps link to the location. Upon arrival at the park on April 3 at noon, he was arrested by a U.S. Secret Service agent assisting in the investigation, and Sgt. Chaulk. Along with the two mobile phones that Fisher had used to access the Internet and send the Facebook messages, he had brought cigarettes, a beer, and a condom.
At a jury trial this week before Chief United States District Court Judge Christina Reiss in Burlington, Vermont, the jury heard testimony from the three area middle school girls. The jury also heard testimony from Burlington Police officers, South Burlington Police officers, and the assisting U.S. Secret Service agent. The government also provided evidence of the many Facebook messages that Fisher sent to the undercover officer, along with evidence of Fisher contacting numerous young girls in early 2015. Yesterday the jury returned a guilty verdict.
Fisher has been detained by the U.S. Marshal’s Service since his arrest. Chief Judge Reiss scheduled sentencing for June 2016. Fisher was represented by Federal Public Defender Michael Desautels. The United States was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys William Darrow and Kunal Pasricha.
Senior Auction Official at Beverly Hills Gallery Pleads Guilty in Connection with $1 Million Wildlife Smuggling ConspiracyRead the Press Release
Joseph Chait, the senior auction administrator of a Beverly Hills, California, gallery and auction house, pleaded guilty to conspiring to smuggle wildlife products made from rhinoceros horn, elephant ivory and coral with a market value of at least approximately $1 million, announced Assistant Attorney General John C. Cruden for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division, U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara for the Southern District of New York and Director Dan Ashe for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS). Chait, 38, of Beverly Hills, pleaded guilty to a two-count information before U.S. District Judge J. Paul Oetken for the Southern District of New York.
“Rhinos and elephants have been on earth for millennia but are now at grave risk due to the illegal wildlife trade,” said John C. Cruden, Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division. “The United States and other destination markets have a special responsibility to help save these beloved creatures from extinction. Those in the auction industry need to be responsible and not turn a blind eye to the fact that trade in protected animal parts is highly regulated. Illegal wildlife trafficking takes many forms and those who deliberately break the rules and engage in smuggling will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”
“Joseph Chait and his co-conspirators trafficked in wildlife worth a market value of at least $1 million, deliberately flouting laws put in place to protect endangered species such as rhinoceros,” said U.S. Attorney Bharara. “We are grateful for the outstanding work of the FWS in this investigation, which is ongoing.”
“This case demonstrates the insidious nature of wildlife trafficking, showing how these activities permeate our society in many social, economic and cultural areas,” said Director Ashe. “One criminal at a time. One guilty plea at a time. Federal prosecutors, our devoted team of law enforcement officers, and their colleagues around the globe are helping reduce trade in illegal wildlife products that is decimating populations of some of our most cherished species.”
According to allegations contained in the Information and statements made in court filings and proceedings:
Chait and his co-conspirators engaged in illegal trafficking of wildlife with a market value of at least $1 million. Chait personally falsified customs forms by stating that rhinoceros horn and elephant ivory items were made of bone, wood or plastic. For example, during Asia Week in New York City in or about March 2011, Chait was approached about the potential sale of a carving of Guanyin, an East Asian spiritual figure made from rhinoceros horn (the Rhino Carving). Despite knowing that it was not a genuine antique, Chait and his co-conspirators accepted the Rhino Carving for consignment, advertised the sale to foreign clients in China and put the Rhino Carving on the cover of Auction House-1’s catalogue in connection with an auction of Asian art and antiques. After the Rhino Carving sold at auction for $230,000, Chait offered to make a false document for the buyer to help the buyer smuggle the item out of the country. The fake invoice falsely stated that the item cost $108.75 and was made of plastic.
Chait and his co-conspirators also sold ivory carvings to another foreign customer and provided those carvings to that customer’s courier, even after learning that the customer had been arrested in China for smuggling ivory purchased from Chait’s auction house.
In addition to falsifying customs forms by stating that rhinoceros horn and elephant ivory items were made of bone, wood or plastic, Chait and his co-conspirators conspired to aid smuggling in other ways:
- Wildlife items were shipped to or picked up by third party shippers, who then re-shipped the items out of the country to foreign buyers without the required declaration or permits.
- Members of the conspiracy provided packing materials to foreign wildlife buyers to assist them in hand carrying the wildlife out of the country.
- Foreign wildlife buyers where not charged a state sales tax if they showed a foreign passport and itinerary for an international flight as proof the item would be leaving the country which Chait and his co-conspirators knew was insufficient time to obtain an export permit.
- Protected wildlife was smuggled into the United States without declaration or permits and then sold at auction.
Rhinoceros are an herbivore species of prehistoric origin and one of the largest remaining mega-fauna on earth. They have no known predators other than humans. The trade in rhinoceros horn and elephant ivory has been restricted since 1976 under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), a treaty signed by over 170 countries around the world. Trade in protected wildlife such as rhinoceros horn and elephant ivory has been significantly restricted in the last two years as the result of a Presidential Executive Order except for those instances where sellers can prove that the item is a genuine antique that is more than 100 years of age.
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Chait faces a maximum of five years in prison for conspiring to smuggle wildlife products and a maximum of five years in prison for violating the Lacey Act. These statutory maximum sentences are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentence imposed on the defendant will be determined by the judge.
Chait’s sentencing is scheduled for June 22, 2016, in front of Judge Oetken.
This matter is part of Operation Crash, a continuing investigation by the Department of the Interior’s Fish and Wildlife Service, in coordination with the Department of Justice. A “crash” is the term for a herd of rhinoceros. Operation Crash is an ongoing effort to detect, deter, and prosecute those engaged in the illegal killing of rhinoceros and the unlawful trafficking of rhinoceros horns.
Assistant Attorney General Cruden and U.S. Attorney Bharara thanked the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for its outstanding work in this investigation as well as the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey for its assistance on this matter. This case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney Office’s Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit and the Environmental Crimes Section of the Department of Justice. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jennifer Gachiri and Elizabeth Hanft and Senior Litigation Counsel Richard A. Udell with the Environmental Crimes Section are in charge of the prosecution.
- Wildlife items were shipped to or picked up by third party shippers, who then re-shipped the items out of the country to foreign buyers without the required declaration or permits.
Senior Auction Official at Beverly Hills Gallery Pleads Guilty in Manhattan Federal Court in Connection with $1 Million Wildlife Smuggling ConspiracyRead the Press Release
Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, John C. Cruden, the Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the Department of Justice, and Dan Ashe, the Director of the United States Fish & Wildlife Service (“FWS”) announced today that JOSEPH CHAIT, the senior auction administrator of a gallery and auction house located in Beverly Hills, California (“Auction House-1”), pled guilty to conspiring to smuggle wildlife products made from rhinoceros horn, elephant ivory, and coral with a market value of at least approximately $1 million. CHAIT pled guilty to a two-count Information before U.S. District Judge J. Paul Oetken.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara stated: “Joseph Chait and his co-conspirators trafficked in wildlife, including rhinoceros horns, worth a market value of at least $1 million, deliberately violating laws put in place to protect endangered species. Critically endangered, rhinoceros have one primary predator, humans. And it is people like Chait who, through their criminal schemes, have fueled the trade of endangered wildlife products. We are grateful for the outstanding work of the Fish and Wildlife Service in this investigation, which is ongoing.”
Assistant Attorney General John C. Cruden stated: “Rhinos and elephants have been on earth for millennia but are now at grave risk due to the illegal wildlife trade. The United States and other destination markets have a special responsibility to help save these beloved creatures from extinction. Those in the auction industry need to be responsible and not turn a blind eye to the fact that trade in protected animal parts is highly regulated. Illegal wildlife trafficking takes many forms and those who deliberately break the rules and engage in smuggling will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”
Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dan Ashe stated: “This case demonstrates the insidious nature of wildlife trafficking, showing how these activities permeate our society in many social, economic and cultural areas. One criminal at a time. One guilty plea at a time. Federal prosecutors, our devoted team of law enforcement officers, and their colleagues around the globe are helping reduce trade in illegal wildlife products that is decimating populations of some of our most cherished species.”
According to allegations contained in the Information and statements made in court filings and proceedings:
CHAIT and his co-conspirators engaged in illegal trafficking of wildlife with a market value of at least $1 million. CHAIT personally falsified customs forms by stating that rhinoceros horn and elephant ivory items were made of bone, wood or plastic. For example, during Asia Week in New York City in or about March 2011, CHAIT was approached about the potential sale of a carving of Guanyin, an East Asian spiritual figure made from rhinoceros horn (the “Rhino Carving”). Despite knowing that it was not a genuine antique, CHAIT and his co-conspirators accepted the Rhino Carving for consignment, advertised the sale to foreign clients in China, and put the Rhino Carving on the cover of Auction House-1’s catalogue in connection with an auction of Asian art and antiques. After the Rhino Carving sold at auction for $230,000, CHAIT offered to make a false document for the buyer to help the buyer smuggle the item out of the country. The fake invoice falsely stated that the item cost $108.75 and was made of plastic.
CHAIT also sold rhinoceros ivory carvings to another customer, and provided those carvings to that customer’s courier, even after learning that the customer had been arrested in China for smuggling ivory purchased from CHAIT’s auction house.
In addition to falsifying customs forms by stating that rhinoceros horn and elephant ivory items were made of bone, wood or plastic, CHAIT and his co-conspirators conducted their wildlife smuggling using a variety of methods:
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Wildlife items were shipped to or picked up by third party shippers, who then re-shipped the items out of the country without the required declaration or permits.
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Members of the conspiracy provided packing materials to foreign wildlife buyers to assist them in hand carrying the wildlife out of the country.
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Foreign wildlife buyers were sold protected wildlife items without being assessed a state sales tax if they showed a foreign passport and itinerary for an international flight as proof the item would be leaving the country.
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Protected wildlife was smuggled into the United States without declaration or permits, and then sold at auction by members of the conspiracy.
As a result of a recent Presidential Executive Order, trade in protected wildlife such as rhinoceros horn and elephant ivory has been significantly restricted in the last two years, except for those instances where sellers can prove that the item is a genuine antique that is more than 100 years old.
Rhinoceros are an herbivore species of prehistoric origin and one of the largest remaining mega-fauna on earth. They have no known predators other than humans. All species of rhinoceros are protected under U.S. and international law. Since 1976, trade in rhinoceros horn has been regulated under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (“CITES”), a treaty signed by over 170 countries around the world to protect fish, wildlife, and plants that are or may become imperiled due to the demands of international markets.
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CHAIT, 38, of Beverly Hills, California, faces a maximum of five years in prison for conspiring to smuggle wildlife products, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 371, 554 and 16 U.S.C. §§ 3372(a) and (d) and 3373(d), and a maximum of five years in prison for violating the Lacey Act, 16 U.S.C. §§ 3372(d) and 3373(d)(3)(A)(i). These statutory maximum sentences are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentence imposed on the defendant will be determined by the judge.
CHAIT’s sentencing is scheduled for June 22, 2016, in front of Judge Oetken.
This matter is part of Operation Crash, a continuing investigation by the Department of the Interior’s Fish and Wildlife Service’s Office of Law Enforcement, in coordination with the Department of Justice. A “crash” is the term for a herd of rhinoceros. Operation Crash is an ongoing effort to detect, deter, and prosecute those engaged in the illegal killing of rhinoceros and the unlawful trafficking of rhinoceros horns.
U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara thanked the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for its outstanding work in this investigation as well as the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey for its assistance on this matter. This case is being prosecuted by the Office’s Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit and the Environmental Crimes Section of the Department of Justice. Assistant United States Attorneys Jennifer Gachiri and Elizabeth Hanft, and Senior Litigation Counsel Richard A. Udell with the Environmental Crimes Section of the Department of Justice are in charge of the prosecution.
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Sayre Woman Pleads Guilty to Methamphetamine DistributionRead the Press Release
MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA - The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, announced today that DIXIE ANN MORPHIS, age 36, of Sayre, Oklahoma, pled guilty to POSSESSION WITH INTENT TO DISTRIBUTE METHAMPHETAMINE, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Sections 841(a)(1) and 841(b)(1)(A)(viii).
The charge arose from an investigation by the McAlester Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration.
The Indictment alleges that on or about December 5, 2015, in the Eastern District of Oklahoma, the defendant, did knowingly and intentionally possess with intent to distribute fifty (50) grams or more of methamphetamine (actual), a Schedule II controlled substance.
The Honorable Steven P. Shreder, Magistrate Judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, in Muskogee, accepted the guilty plea and ordered the completion of a presentence report. Sentencing will be scheduled following its completion. The defendant will remain in the custody of the United States Marshals Service pending sentencing.
The statutory range of punishment is not less than 10 years or more than Life imprisonment, up to a $10,000,000.00 fine or both.
Assistant United States Attorney Edward Snow represented the United States.
Savannah Drug Dealer Convicted of Trafficking Heroin and Possessing FirearmsRead the Press Release
SAVANNAH, GA: Darius Andre “Arnie” Holmes, 41, of Savannah, Georgia, was convicted yesterday by a federal jury after a two-day trial before U.S. District Court Judge William T. Moore, Jr. for distributing heroin and possessing firearms as a felon on August 18, 2015.
According to the evidence presented during at trial, Holmes sold heroin to a confidential police informant on multiple occasions in August 2015. After Holmes expressed to the informant a desire to buy firearms, local law enforcement officers contacted the ATF and arranged for an undercover officer to allow Holmes to exchange drugs for semiautomatic weapons. Immediately after the trade, Holmes was arrested.
United States Attorney Edward J. Tarver stated, “It is appalling to believe that an individual with a criminal history that spanned parts of three decades was somehow able to continue his reign of crime in the community. The Department of Justice and this United States Attorney’s Office will continue to aggressively enforce federal firearms and narcotics laws. We will not surrender any community to drug dealers and individuals who have embraced crime as their life’s work. We will work hand-in-hand with our federal and state law enforcement partners to return to prison dangerous felons who pollute our community with guns, drugs and fear.”
Holmes’s criminal history in the Savannah area stretches back nearly 25 years. His prior felonies include seven separate Sales of Cocaine, Possession of Cocaine with Intent to Distribute, Robbery by Intimidation, Possession of a Firearm in Furtherance of a Felony, Possession of a Sawed-Off Shotgun, Aggravated Battery, Aggravated Assault, Use of a Communication Facility to Facilitate Sales of Controlled Substances, Possession of Tools with Intent to Commit Sales of Controlled Substances, and Obstruction.
If deemed to be an Armed Career Criminal, Holmes faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years to life in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, and 5 years of supervised release on the firearms count. He faces a maximum sentence of 20 years imprisonment, a fine of up to $1,000,000, and three years of supervised release on each of the heroin distribution counts. There is no parole in the federal system.
The case was investigated by the Chatham-Savannah Counter Narcotics Team (CNT) and the ATF. The Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Department SWAT team assisted with Holmes’ arrest, and the GBI and Chatham County Sheriff’s Office provided additional support. The case was prosecuted as part of Project Ceasefire, a joint federal, state and local firearms initiative involving the U.S. Attorney’s Office, ATF and various local police departments.
Assistant United States Attorneys Joseph D. Newman and Theodore S. Hertzberg prosecuted the case on behalf of the United States. For additional information, please contact First Assistant United States Attorney James D. Durham at (912) 201-2547.
Rock Island Man Sentenced to Prison for Felon in Possession of a Stolen Firearm ChargesRead the Press Release
DAVENPORT, IA – On March 3, 2016, Kelvin Dwayne Shaw, 33, of Rock Island, Illinois, was sentenced by Senior United States District Court Judge James E. Gritzner to 51 months in prison for felon in possession of a firearm and possession of a stolen firearm, announced Acting United States Attorney Kevin E. VanderSchel. Shaw was ordered to serve three years of supervised release following his prison term and to pay $200 to the Crime Victims’ Fund.
Shaw pleaded guilty to felon in possession of a firearm and possession of a stolen firearm on November 30, 2015. According to the Complaint Affidavit, on August 2, 2015, Davenport Police investigated a homicide that occurred at the 400 block of Marquette Street in Davenport, Iowa. During the investigation, officers found a loaded Tisas Zigana American Tactical 9mm firearm near the scene. Shaw was questioned about the gun and admitted he had stolen it from Rock Island, stored it in Davenport, and handled the firearm on the night of the murder.
Shaw has a prior felony conviction for obstruction in Rock Island County in 2013.
This matter was investigated by the Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Davenport Police Department. The case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa as part of the Project Safe Neighborhood Initiative.
Rochester Man Pleads Guilty to Drug ChargeRead the Press Release
CONTACT: Barbara Burns
PHONE: (716) 843-5817
FAX: (716) 551-3051
ROCHESTER, N.Y.-- U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Ronald Dodd, 32, of Rochester, NY, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Charles J. Siragusa to possession with intent to distribute heroin, and possession and brandishing of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. The charges carry a combined mandatory minimum penalty of seven years in prison, a maximum of life, a fine of $1,250,000 or both.Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert A. Marangola, who is handling the case, stated that shortly after midnight on August 15, 2015, Rochester Police Department Officers responded to a report of gunfire at 431 Lake Avenue in Rochester. Officers spoke to a witness who stated that an unknown black male on a bike had pulled out a handgun from his waist and yelled that this was “his hood” during an argument outside the residence. Shortly afterward, witnesses heard gunshots and the gunman left the area. Responding officers observed Dodd riding a bike a short distance away and pursued him. The defendant fled but officers apprehended him hiding behind a bush at 17 Phelps Avenue. Dodd had three bags of marijuana, two bags of heroin, and two bags of cocaine in his pants. There was a stolen, Bryco Arms .380 semi-automatic handgun on the ground next to a tree where Dodd was apprehended.
The conviction is the culmination of an investigation on the part of on the part of Special Agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives under the direction of Delano A. Reid, Special Agent in Charge, New York Field Division and the Rochester Police Department, under the direction of Chief Michael Ciminelli.
Sentencing is scheduled for June 10, 2016 at 10:45 a.m. before Judge Siragusa.
Rio Arriba Man Pleads Guilty to Failing to Update Sex Offender RegistrationRead the Press Release
ALBUQUERQUE – Glenn Gene Fernandez, 46, of Alcalde, N.M., pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court to violating the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA). The guilty plea was announced by U.S. Attorney Damon P. Martinez and U.S. Marshal Conrad E. Candelaria.
SORNA, also known as the Adam Walsh Protection and Safety Act, requires that a convicted sex offender register in each jurisdiction where the offender resides, where the offender is employed, or where the offender is a student, and that the sex offender maintain current registrations.
Fernandez was charged in a criminal complaint on Dec. 1, 2015, with violating SORNA by failing to update his sex offender registration. Fernandez was required to register as a sex offender as a result of a 2004 state conviction in Santa Clara, Calif., for criminal sexual battery involving a restrained person. Fernandez last complied with his sex offender registration requirements in California in Aug. 2011. In Nov. 2015, the U.S. Marshals Service received a request to assist the Rio Arriba County Sheriff’s Office with charging Fernandez with a SORNA violation. The U.S. Marshals Services’ investigation revealed that Fernandez had residing in New Mexico since at least Feb. 2013, and had not registered as a sex offender in New Mexico as required by SORNA.
During yesterday’s proceedings, Fernandez pled guilty to a felony information charging him with failing to update his registration between Feb. 2013 and Dec. 2015 in Rio Arriba County, N.M. Fernandez entered the guilty plea without the benefit of a plea agreement.
At sentencing, Fernandez faces a statutory maximum penalty of ten years in federal prison followed by a minimum of five years of supervised release. Fernandez will also be required to register as a sex offender following his term of incarceration. A sentencing hearing has yet to be scheduled.
This case was investigated by the U.S. Marshals Service and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Raquel Ruiz-Velez.
Previously Convicted Felon Found Guilty of Possession of FirearmsRead the Press Release
ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Josiah John Weiss, 36, of Suitland, Maryland, was convicted today by a federal jury on charges of possession of firearms as a convicted felon.
Weiss was indicted on Dec. 10, 2015. According to court records and evidence presented at trial, on April 25, 2015, Weiss purchased two semiautomatic pistols and an AR-15 rifle, along with magazines and gun cases for each, from a private seller at The Nation’s Gun Show in Chantilly. Weiss was observed doing so by Special Agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Due to his suspicious behavior, he was followed by ATF agents as he drove away from the parking lot of the Dulles Expo Center, where the gun show was being held. When Weiss discovered that he was being followed, he began driving erratically and at high speeds and eventually eluded the agents. Later that day agents executed a search warrant at an apartment Weiss had been living in at the time in Alexandria. Neither Weiss nor the three firearms were found there. Law enforcement remained unaware of Weiss’ whereabouts until Nov. 10, 2015, when he was arrested outside one of his two apartments in Suitland. Despite a search of those two apartments, the firearms were not recovered. Weiss had been convicted of aggravated identity theft and passport fraud, both felonies, in 2011, and thus was prohibited from possessing firearms.
Weiss faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison when sentenced on May 27, 2016. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes, as the sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Dana J. Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; and Michael F. Boxler, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ (ATF) Washington Field Division, made the announcement after the verdict was accepted by U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Carina A. Cuellar and Michael E. Rich are prosecuting the case.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 1:15-cr-354
Peter Hoffman and Susan Hoffman Sentenced for Roles in Film Infrastructure Tax Credit SchemeRead the Press Release
U.S. Attorney Kenneth A. Polite announced that PETER HOFFMAN and SUSAN HOFFMAN were sentenced today for their roles in a scheme to defraud the State of Louisiana out of film infrastructure tax credits.
U.S. District Judge Martin L.C. Feldman sentenced PETER HOFFMAN to five years probation, $40,000 fine and 300 hours of community service. SUSAN HOFFMAN was sentenced to 3 years probation, $10,000 fine, and 150 hours of community service.
According to evidence presented at trial, more than $13 million in purported expenditures were submitted to the State for tax credits even though the house at the center of the project, 807 Esplanade, was only valued at approximately $5 million after its renovation. In addition to repeated misrepresentations regarding construction expenditures throughout the scheme, the fraudulent expenditures claimed included $1,834,292 in non-existent film equipment, $962,856 in bogus interest payments on a non-existent $10 million dollar loan, $150,000 in fake rent costs, and over $1.5 million in various fraudulent fees.
“I thank the Assistant U.S. Attorneys and agents for their diligent, thorough, and ethical work in investigating and prosecuting this case,” stated U.S. Attorney Polite. “As a result of their collective efforts, a jury convicted Peter Hoffman, Susan Hoffman, and Michael Arata of fraud and conspiracy for their roles in a scheme that utilized bogus invoices, fake expenditures, and varied misrepresentations to defraud the State of Louisiana and its citizens out of millions of dollars. This criminality was compounded by the fact that, as the Court found during sentencing, Peter Hoffman and Michael Arata used sophisticated means and abused positions of trust in committing these felonies, and Hoffman committed perjury during the trial. We will review this matter and consider seeking appeal of the sentences of all three defendants.”
“At a time when Louisiana's state budget is bleeding and many critical government services are endangered, the fraud committed in this case is especially outrageous,” stated Louisiana State Inspector General Stephen Street. “Those who are brazen enough to defraud these tax credit programs should know that we will continue to come after them with every resource at our disposal and do everything in our power to make them suffer the consequences. Again, I want to thank our partners at the FBI and United States Attorney’s Office for their continued outstanding work on this case."
United States Attorney Polite praised the work of the Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Louisiana Office of the Inspector General in investigating this matter. Assistant U.S. Attorneys G. Dall Kammer, Chandra Menon and James Baehr were in charge of the prosecution.
Odessa Man Sentenced to 15 Years for Child PornRead the Press Release
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that an Odessa, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for attempting to receive child pornography over the Internet.
Anthony O. Terry, 37, of Odessa, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Gary A. Fenner to 15 years in federal prison without parole. The court also sentenced Terry to a lifetime of supervised release following incarceration.
On Sept. 16, 2014, Terry pleaded guilty to two counts of attempting to receive child pornography over the Internet.
On multiple occasions in December 2012 and January 2013 a law enforcement officer with the Nixa, Mo., Police Department identified Terry’s computer as making child pornography movies and images available for distribution through a peer-to-peer file-sharing network. Law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Terry’s residence and seized several computers and hard drives.
Examiners found 300 images and two videos of child pornography on Terry’s computers. Also discovered were forensic artifacts indicating that video titles indicative of child pornography were at least partially downloaded onto one of Terry’s computers. An incomplete download of a video from a file-sharing program was recovered, which depicted a prepubescent girl with her mouth duct-taped being apparently kidnapped and taken to a bedroom where an adult male pulls down her pants.
According to court documents, Terry admitted to using multiple file-sharing programs over several years to obtain child pornography. He supplemented this peer-to-peer activity by using a photosharing option in Yahoo! Messenger to also obtain images of the sexual abuse of children.
There is evidence, say court documents, that Terry admitted to sending photos of underaged girls clothed or in bikinis, pretending to be one of the girls, to other underaged girls. Terry does not dispute that he created Yahoo! profiles of females to get males to chat with him online.
Court documents refer to numerous allegations involving the sexual abuse of his children and other children that have been reported to authorities. Terry’s parental rights were previously terminated.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Teresa A. Moore. It was investigated by the Nixa, Mo., Police Department, the Odessa, Mo., Police Department, the Benton County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department and the FBI Cyber Crimes Task Force.
Project Safe Childhood
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc . For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab "resources."
North Fort Myers Felon Sentenced to Federal Prison for Possessing A Firearm and AmmunitionRead the Press Release
Fort Myers, Florida – U.S. District Judge Sheri Polster Chappell has sentenced Joseph Alan Milkey (38, North Fort Myers) to 3 years and 10 months in federal prison for possessing a firearm and ammunition as a convicted felon. The Court also ordered him to forfeit the .40 caliber pistol and 8 rounds of ammunition that were involved in the commission of the offense. Milkey pleaded guilty in November 2015.
According to court documents, on August 28, 2015, a sergeant from the Fort Myers Police Department responded to a call concerning a male and female engaged in an argument in the parking lot of the Sports Authority store located at 2317 Colonial Boulevard. Upon arrival, the sergeant approached the vehicle and made contact with Milkey and the female, and asked if they were both okay. The sergeant then asked Milkey to exit the vehicle; instead, he attempted to flee. Soon thereafter, he was apprehended by officers. Milkey then pulled his arm free from the officers’ grasp, and reached into the waistband of his pants, where the sergeant observed a handgun. The firearm was secured by the officers and later identified as a Smith and Wesson .40 caliber pistol, loaded with eight rounds of ammunition.
At time of the incident, Milkey had multiple prior felony convictions and therefore was prohibited from possessing a firearm or ammunition under federal law.
This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the Fort Myers Police Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Yolande G. Viacava.
This is another case prosecuted as a part of the Department of Justice’s “Project Safe Neighborhoods” Program - a nationwide, gun-violence reduction strategy. United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III, along with Regina Lombardo, Special Agent in Charge, ATF, is coordinating the Project Safe Neighborhoods effort here in the Middle District of Florida in cooperation with federal, state, and local law enforcement officials.
Newport News Man Pleads Guilty to Heroin ConspiracyRead the Press Release
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – Roosevelt Fox, aka Unc, 54, of Newport News, pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and distribution heroin.
In a statement of facts filed with the plea agreement, Fox admitted to participating in a conspiracy involving between one kilogram and three kilograms of heroin that were distributed in Newport News and Hampton. On Aug. 27, 2015, Fox supplied heroin to an individual who overdosed and suffered serious bodily injury. The individual survived the overdose and Fox continued to sell the individual heroin.
Fox was indicted by a federal grand jury on Feb. 10, 2016, and faces a mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years in prison and a maximum penalty of life in prison sentenced on June 17, 2016. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes, as the sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Dana J. Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Karl C. Colder, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Washington Field Division; and Richard W. Myers, Chief of Newport News Police, made the announcement after the plea was accepted by U.S. District Judge Arenda L. Wright Allen. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Howard J. Zlotnick and Lisa McKeel are prosecuting the case.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 4:15-cr-96.
New Orleans Man Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison for Possession of Child PornographyRead the Press Release
U.S. Attorney Kenneth A. Polite announced that DAVID MOREL, age 32, of New Orleans, was sentenced today for crimes involving the sexual exploitation of children.
U.S. District Judge Martin L.C. Feldman sentenced MOREL to ten years incarceration, to be followed by a life term of supervised release, and restitution in the amount of $1,000 to each of his five named victims.
According to court records, on June 25, 2015, MOREL was charged as a result of a child exploitation investigation conducted by the Louisiana Attorney General’s Office Cyber Crime Unit (“LAGO”) and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security-Homeland Security Investigations (“HSI”). According to court records, HSI and LAGO agents executed a search warrant at MOREL’s residence after determining MOREL was downloading images depicting the sexual victimization of children. MOREL was arrested during the execution of the search warrant after confessing to downloading and possessing images and videos depicting child pornography. HSI computer forensic examiners conducted a search of MOREL’s seized computer equipment and located over 2,500 images and videos depicting the sexual victimization of children on MOREL’s electronic devices.
According to a Notice of Sentence Enhancement filed in federal court records, in 2010, MOREL was convicted in Orleans Parish Criminal Court of 536 counts of possession of pornography involving juveniles. He received a ten year suspended sentence and, instead, was placed on home incarceration for a period of five years.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab "resources."
U.S. Attorney Polite praised the work of the Louisiana Attorney General’s Office Cyber Crime Unit and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security-HSI in investigating this matter. Project Safe Childhood Coordinator and Fraud Unit Chief Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian M. Klebba was in charge of the prosecution.
New Orleans Man Pleads Guilty to Drug and Firearms ChargesRead the Press Release
U.S. Attorney Kenneth A. Polite announced that THOMAS BROWN, age 45, of New Orleans, pled guilty as charged today to a Bill of Information charging one count of possession with intent to distribute acetyl fentanyl, heroin, and cocaine, and a second count of possession of firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking.
According to court records, in June 2015, while Drug Enforcement Administration agents were buying heroin undercover from an unnamed trafficker, they observed BROWN arrive on the scene and appear to supply heroin to the targeted trafficker. After further investigation, agents obtained and executed a search warrant BROWN’s residence and found 188 grams of acetyl fentanyl, 66 grams of heroin, 150 grams of cocaine hydrochloride, and 17.9 grams of marijuana. Most of the narcotics seized were found secreted in a void between a furnace and a wall in a hallway closet, and the drugs had been packaged for sale. Agents also located near the narcotics a loaded .45 caliber pistol, a .38 caliber revolver, and a loaded 20-guage shotgun.
U.S. District Judge Susie Morgan scheduled sentencing for June 15, 2016. BROWN faces a sentence of imprisonment of up to twenty years for the narcotics charge and sentence of at least five years and up to life for the firearms charge.
U.S. Attorney Polite praised the work of the New Orleans Field Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration in investigating this matter. Assistant United States Attorney Michael B. Redmann is in charge of the prosecution.
Muscatine Man Sentenced to Prison for Illegal Reentry and Failure to Update Sex Offender RegistryRead the Press Release
DAVENPORT, IA – On March 3, 2016, Francisco Antonio Araujo Coreas, 37, of Muscatine, Iowa, was sentenced by Senior United States District Court Judge James E. Gritzner to 57 months in prison for unlawful reentry into the United States after deportation and failure to update sex offender registry, announced Acting United States Attorney Kevin E. VanderSchel. Araujo Coreas was ordered to serve three years of supervised release following his prison term and to pay $200 towards the Crime Victims’ Fund. Araujo Coreas will be transferred to immigration officials after his prison sentence for deportation.
Araujo Coreas pleaded guilty to unlawful reentry after deportation and failure to update sex offender registry on November 30, 2015. According to the Complaint Affidavit, on about July 29, 2016, Araujo Coreas was arrested in Muscatine for interference with official acts and harassment of a public official. Authorities compared his fingerprints and discovered he was deported to El Salvador on September 9, 2011, after being convicted of two counts of indecent contact with a child on January of 2011 in Muscatine County. As part of that sentence, he was ordered to serve 90 days in jail and register as a sex offender. Further investigation revealed he did not update his information on the sex offender registry.
This matter was investigated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the Muscatine County Police Department. The case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.
Montgomery County Man Admits Threatening Law Enforcement Officer and FamilyRead the Press Release
PHILADELPHIA – Michael Anthony Nohl, 20, of Oaks, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty today to charges from a so-called “swatting” incident that targeted a law enforcement officer and the officer’s family, announced United States Attorney Zane David Memeger. U.S. District Court Judge Jan E. DuBois scheduled a sentencing hearing for June 9, 2016.
The term “swatting” is generally defined as the act of deceiving an emergency service, such as 911 or other emergency services dispatcher, into dispatching emergency response units, including police SWAT teams, fire departments and medical personnel, based on the false report of an ongoing critical incident.
On December 22, 2014, Nohl was involved in a phone call to the home of the officer in which the officer’s wife and daughter were threatened. The threats included threats to kidnap and murder them and threats to assault and kill the officer. Nohl was charged with, using a telephone or other instruments of interstate or foreign commerce to threaten the use of an explosive to kill, injure, or intimidate an individual, and transmitting any communication containing any threat to injure a person.
Nohl faces a statutory maximum sentence of 15 years in prison, a possible fine, up to three-years of supervised release, and a $200 special assessment.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney José Arteaga.
Marin Doctor Pleads Guilty to Illegally Prescribing OxycodoneRead the Press Release
OAKLAND – Dr. Michael Roger Chiarottino pleaded guilty in federal court in Oakland yesterday to distribution of oxycodone outside the usual course of professional practice and without a legitimate medical purpose, announced Acting United States Attorney Brian J. Stretch and Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge John J. Martin.
In pleading guilty, Dr. Chiarottino, 67, of San Rafael, admitted that on six occasions between February 12, 2013, and March 6, 2014, he prescribed large quantities of controlled substances (including oxycodone, oxymorphone, hydromorphone, methadone, and hydrocodone) to undercover DEA agents posing as patients in exchange for cash. On each occasion, Dr. Chiarottino failed to conduct an appropriate medical examination of, or obtain a sufficient patient medical history from, the undercover agent to support a prescription for such a large quantity of narcotics. In total, Dr. Chiarottino prescribed 46.8 grams of oxycodone which amounts to 1,530 thirty-milligram pills. Dr. Chiarottino admitted that in prescribing the pills, he did so with the intent to act outside the usual course of professional practice and without a legitimate medical purpose. Dr. Chiarottino also admitted that, as a licensed physician and DEA registrant, he abused a position of trust and used a special skill to intentionally prescribe controlled substances without a legitimate medical purpose.
Dr. Chiarottino was indicted by a federal grand jury on September 14, 2014. He was charged with fifteen counts of distribution of controlled substances in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Section 841(a)(1). Pursuant to the agreement, Dr. Chiarottino pleaded guilty to one count of distributing oxycodone, a Schedule II Controlled Substance.
Dr. Chiarottino is currently free on pretrial release on a $75,000 bond. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. on June 14, 2016, before the Honorable Jeffrey S. White, U.S. District Judge, in Oakland. The maximum statutory penalty for a violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(C) is twenty years’ imprisonment and a fine of $1,000,000. However, any sentence will be imposed by the court only after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C. § 3553.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Garth Hire is prosecuting the case with the assistance of Melissa Dorton. The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the DEA, the Livermore Police Department, the Pleasanton Police Department, and the Medical Board of California. This case is the product of an investigation by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force a focused multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional task force investigating and prosecuting the most significant drug trafficking organizations throughout the United States by leveraging the combined expertise of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies.
Marijuana Trafficker Pleads GuiltyRead the Press Release
BOISE - Jose Martin Diaz-Lara, 33, of Walla Walla, Washington, and originally from the State of Mexico, in Mexico, pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime and conspiracy to manufacture a controlled substance, more than 1,000 marijuana plants, with the intent to distribute it, U.S. Attorney Wendy J. Olson announced. Diaz-Lara was charged by a superseding indictment on December 8, 2015.
According to court documents, Diaz Lara was arrested on September 23, 2015, along with a co-conspirator Carlos Avalos-Cervantes, in a remote, timbered canyon north of Banks, in Boise County, Idaho. Agents were able to document a total of 6,870 live and harvested marijuana plants on state lands in the canyon. According to court proceedings, Diaz-Lara and Avalos-Cervantes each possessed a 9mm handgun in furtherance of the drug trafficking crime. The court documents also state that the marijuana operation was supported and supplied by other co-defendants. Diaz-Lara and Avalos-Cervantes and other co-conspirators are Mexican nationals who entered the United States illegally.
Co-defendant Avalos-Cervantes has pleaded guilty to the same charges as Diaz-Lara and both will be sentenced on April 19, 2016. Trial for the remaining defendants is scheduled for May 9, 2016, before Chief U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill.
The maximum penalty for manufacturing more than 1,000 marijuana plants with intent to distribute the drug is not to exceeded 20 years, as well as a $1,000,000 fine. The maximum penalty for possessing a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking crimes is not less than five years imprisonment consecutive to any other penalty, and a $250,000 fine.
The arrests and complaints are the result of a joint investigation and cooperative law enforcement efforts of the Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), led by the Drug Enforcement Administration, Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Nampa Police Department Special Investigations Unit (SIU). Other agencies include Ada County Sheriff’s Office, United States Forest Service (USFS), Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), U. S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Boise County Sheriff’s Office, Boise Police Department, Gooding County Sheriff’s Office, Idaho Department of Fish and Game, Idaho National Guard—Counterdrug Support Office, Meridian Police Department, Milton-Freewater Police Department, Oregon State Police, Power County Sheriff’s Office, Spokane Police Department, Valley County Sheriff’s Office, Walla Walla Police Department, and Washington State Patrol.
The OCDETF program is a federal multi agency, multi-jurisdictional task force that supplies supplemental federal funding to federal and state agencies involved in the identification, investigation, and prosecution of major drug trafficking organizations.
Leominster Restaurant Owner Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy to Commit ArsonRead the Press Release
BOSTON – The owner of West End Diner in Leominster pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Worcester in connection with setting fire to his restaurant in order to collect the insurance proceeds.
Jeffrey Cordio, 50, of Leominster, Mass. pleaded guilty to an Information charging him with one count of conspiracy to use fire to commit mail fraud. U.S. District Court Judge Timothy S. Hillman scheduled sentencing for June 1.
In January 2006, Cordio and his wife purchased the West End Diner at 270 West Street in Leominster. Due to significant financial distress and a desire to relocate to Florida, Cordio and an accomplice set fire to the diner and fled the scene during the afternoon of Nov. 13, 2013. The Leominster Fire Department responded to the alarm and was able to largely contain the blaze to the basement of the building. The following day, Cordio initiated an insurance claim with Norfolk & Dedham Mutual Fire Insurance Company; however, the claim was ultimately denied after investigators determined that the fire was intentionally set.
The charge of conspiracy to use fire to commit mail fraud provides for a sentence of no greater than 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. If the Court accepts the plea agreement, Cordio will serve a sentence of four years in prison and three years of supervised release. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Cordio’s accomplice previously pleaded guilty in state court to accessory before the fact.
United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Daniel J. Kumor, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, Boston Field Division; and Leominster Police Chief Michael Goldman, made the announcement today. The Massachusetts State Police Fire and Explosive Investigation Section, the Leominster Fire Department and the Worcester County District Attorney’s Office also assisted with the investigation. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Greg A. Friedholm of Ortiz’s Worcester Branch Office.
Laredo Man Sentenced on Firearms ChargeRead the Press Release
LAREDO, Texas – Ricardo Alberto Chaires, 34, has been ordered to federal prison following his conviction of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, announced U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson. The Laredo resident pleaded guilty Nov. 18, 2015.
Toda, U.S. District Judge Marina Garcia Marmolejo ordered he serve 41 months in federal prison.
On Aug. 30, 2015, law enforcement received a 911 call reporting shots fired from a passenger vehicle and reported to a residence on the 600 block of Valeria Loop. As they approached the residence, officers encountered Chaires driving a vehicle matching the description provided by various callers. Officers attempted to stop him, but Chaires refused and a high-speed chase ensued along Interstate Highway 83. The vehicle swerved in and out of lanes and drove on the shoulder to avoid apprehension, finally stopping on South Bartlett Avenue.
Within the vehicle, officers found a high-capacity, 60-round magazine for the rifle, loaded with a few rounds. They also discovered at least one expended round and an unfired round on the floor in the driver’s side and several loaded rounds scattered on the floor of the front passenger side. Chaires admitted to federal agents that although he knew it was against federal law for him to possess a firearm or ammunition, he had been compelled to acquire one illegally for personal protection. He refused to explain, however, what he was doing in the area with the loaded firearm.
Officers had also learned that someone had thrown a rifle out of the vehicle in a grassy area near the Border Patrol Station in South Laredo and responded to the scene. They soon recovered an AR-15 rifle, containing a single loaded round which was ready to fire.
Chaires has been in custody since his arrest where he will remain pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
The investigation leading to the charges was conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives with the assistance of the Laredo Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jose Homero Ramirez prosecuted the case.
Laredo Man Sentenced on Firearms ChargeRead the Press Release
LAREDO, Texas – Ricardo Alberto Chaires, 34, has been ordered to federal prison following his conviction of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, announced U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson. The Laredo resident pleaded guilty Nov. 18, 2015.
Toda, U.S. District Judge Marina Garcia Marmolejo ordered he serve 41 months in federal prison.
On Aug. 30, 2015, law enforcement received a 911 call reporting shots fired from a passenger vehicle and reported to a residence on the 600 block of Valeria Loop. As they approached the residence, officers encountered Chaires driving a vehicle matching the description provided by various callers. Officers attempted to stop him, but Chaires refused and a high-speed chase ensued along Interstate Highway 83. The vehicle swerved in and out of lanes and drove on the shoulder to avoid apprehension, finally stopping on South Bartlett Avenue.
Within the vehicle, officers found a high-capacity, 60-round magazine for the rifle, loaded with a few rounds. They also discovered at least one expended round and an unfired round on the floor in the driver’s side and several loaded rounds scattered on the floor of the front passenger side. Chaires admitted to federal agents that although he knew it was against federal law for him to possess a firearm or ammunition, he had been compelled to acquire one illegally for personal protection. He refused to explain, however, what he was doing in the area with the loaded firearm.
Officers had also learned that someone had thrown a rifle out of the vehicle in a grassy area near the Border Patrol Station in South Laredo and responded to the scene. They soon recovered an AR-15 rifle, containing a single loaded round which was ready to fire.
Chaires has been in custody since his arrest where he will remain pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
The investigation leading to the charges was conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives with the assistance of the Laredo Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jose Homero Ramirez prosecuted the case.
Kentucky Man Sentenced to 19 Years in Prison for Possession and Distribution of Methamphetamine and Carrying a Firearm During a Drug Trafficking CrimeRead the Press Release
Defendant Obtained 67 Pounds of Crystal Meth in California and Shipped the Drug to His Todd County Home
Scott Windell Harris, 45, of Allensville, Kentucky, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in the Western District of Kentucky to 19 years in prison followed by five years of supervised release for multiple charges associated with firearms, possession and distribution of methamphetamine, announced U.S. Attorney John E. Kuhn, Jr. for the Western District of Kentucky.
Harris purchased 67 pounds of crystal meth during approximately nine trips to California, then shipped the schedule II controlled substance to a residence off Russellville Road in Todd County. Harris, an unlawful user of methamphetamine, also carried a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking offense.
“Methamphetamine is a highly addictive drug with devastating consequences to users, their families and communities,” said U.S. Attorney Kuhn. “This prosecution closes a significant pipeline for dangerous drugs running from California to the streets of Western Kentucky. We are grateful to the many law enforcement agencies whose coordinated efforts assisted my office in achieving this sentence.”
Law enforcement officials became aware of Harris’ criminal conduct in February 2015, when a package was intercepted at the Louisville, Kentucky, hub of UPS. A search warrant executed on the package revealed 19.6 pounds of suspected methamphetamine being shipped from California to Todd County. Later forensic testing of the methamphetamine at the Drug Enforcement Administration Laboratory in Chicago, Illinois, revealed a purity level exceeding 100 percent. State and federal law enforcement officials conducted a controlled delivery of the package and observed Harris taking possession of the package and placing it inside a black van. Later, a search of the van revealed a loaded Kel-Tec CNC Industries, Model P3AT, .380 caliber pistol with seven rounds of .380 ammunition in the van’s glove box. At the time, Harris was an unlawful user of methamphetamine and, therefore, prohibited from possessing a firearm.
Harris made multiple trips to Los Angeles, California, where he obtained a total of 67 pounds of crystal methamphetamine, with an estimated street value of approximately $3 million. Once he had the methamphetamine, Harris packaged the drugs and shipped them to his residence in Allensville. When law enforcement officials arrested Harris, they searched the residence and found an additional one and one-half pounds of crystal methamphetamine, scales, baggies and just over $14,000 in cash.
Harris previously pleaded guilty to the charges on Oct. 13, 2015, in Bowling Green, Kentucky, before U.S. District Judge Stivers.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jo E. Lawless and was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and Kentucky State Police Drug Enforcement/Special Investigations West, with assistance from the Drug Enforcement Administration Laboratory.
Kansas Man Sentenced to 10 Years in Federal Prison for Sex Trafficking of a ChildRead the Press Release
Fort Smith, Arkansas - Kenneth Elser, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas, announced that Darnell James Winston, age 23, of Leavenworth, Kansas, was sentenced to 120 months in prison without the possibility of parole and five years of supervised release for one count of Sex Trafficking of a Child. The sentencing hearing took place before the Honorable P. K. Holmes, III in the United States District Court in Fort Smith.
According to court records, on August 26, 2015, the Fort Smith Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation received information from an individual that a 17-year-old female was being worked as a prostitute in the Fayetteville area. Law enforcement was able to identify the Facebook profile of the 17-year-old girl, which contained photographs of her with two men one of whom was identified as Darnell James Winston. An undercover Fort Smith Police detective began communicating with Winston online. Winston recruited the undercover to work as a prostitute for him and continued to do so even after the undercover advised Winston that they were only 16 years old. Winston stated that it was ok because the girl currently working for him was only “17”, referring to the minor female law enforcement had previously identified. Winston continued his recruitment of the undercover officer and discussed backpage.com, an internet website commonly used by sex traffickers to advertise prostitution. Arrangements were made between the undercover officer and Winston to meet at a hotel in Alma on August 28, 2015. When Winston arrived at the hotel with the 17-year-old female and another adult male, he was arrested, and she was recovered by police. Winston was indicted by a federal grand jury on September 16, 2015 and pleaded guilty to the charge on November 4, 2015.
This case was investigated by the Fort Smith Police Department, the Alma Police Department, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Assistant United States Attorney Aaron Jennen prosecuted the case for the United States.
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 U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and their Criminal Division Child Exploitation and Obscenity Sections (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.
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Related court documents may be found on Public Access to Electronic Records Website @www.Pacer.gov
KC Group Home Operator Pleads Guilty to $400,000 Tax Evasion SchemeRead the Press Release
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that the operator of several group homes for mentally and physically handicapped residents in Kansas City, Mo., pleaded guilty in federal court today to a nearly $400,000 scheme to evade paying taxes.
Dedree R. Carlisle, 53, of Kansas City, Mo., waived her right to a grand jury and pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Dean Whipple to a federal information that charges her with attempting to evade taxes.
Carlisle has owned and operated a group home health care business at multiple locations in Kansas City, Mo., since 2005. Originally Carlisle’s business was called “Carlisle – Garden of Peace” but she changed the name in 2009 to “Mracles Residential Care.” Mracles cares for mentally and physically handicapped residents in a group home setting, leasing multiple houses in residential neighborhoods, under contracts with the Missouri Department of Social Services. Mracles has had between 12 and 20 employees at its multiple residences.By pleading guilty today, Carlisle admitted that she engaged in a scheme to defraud the IRS and the state of Missouri for the purpose of evading payment of at least $397,213 in federal and state taxes, penalties and interest, beginning in 2006.
Carlisle failed to pay over employment taxes totaling $131,649 for her residential health care facilities from 2008 to 2010. Carlisle also willfully failed to file her 2009 and 2010 individual tax returns, and evaded state employment and income taxes during that period.
Carlisle admitted that she gambled heavily, including at 7th Street Casino in Kansas City, Kan., with funds debited directly from her business accounts. Carlisle used her business accounts as her personal charge accounts. She did not report, on her tax returns, many of these personal expenses as income, including charges for thousands of dollars made on business debit cards from 2006 through 2010 at Kansas City area casinos. Carlisle spent a total of $127,165 at 7th Street Casino from 2008 to 2010. Casino records show that Carlisle had winnings of $320,200 in 2010, $145,200 in 2009 and $29,219 in 2008.
Carlisle also wrote checks to herself from her business bank account in 2010 with references in the memo line to payroll, bonus, draws or advances totaling $65,000.
Carlisle was repeatedly notified of the amounts of her substantial taxes, penalties and interest due. Carlisle was notified in June 2011 that she was the subject of a criminal investigation. Although she continued to withhold taxes from her employees’ paychecks, Carlisle continued to fail to pay over employment taxes.
Under federal statutes, Carlisle is subject to a sentence of up to five years in federal prison without parole. 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. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel M. Nelson. It was investigated by IRS-Criminal Investigation and the Missouri Department of Revenue.
Jury finds Hancock County, WV man guilty of multiple child pornography offensesRead the Press Release
WHEELING, WEST VIRGINIA – A federal jury returned a guilty verdict today convicting Steve G. Singo, 35, of Weirton, West Virginia, of receiving, possessing, and distributing images of child pornography, United States Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld, II, announced.
Evidence presented at trial indicated that Singo utilized internet-based peer-to-peer file sharing technology to download and share files depicting minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. As the result of online surveillance and investigatory techniques, authorities discovered Singo in possession of various images of child pornography at his residence in Hancock County, West Virginia.
Following a two day trial, a jury found Singo guilty of one count of “Receipt and Distribution of Child Pornography,” for which he faces between five and twenty years in prison, and one count of “Possession of Child Pornography,” for which he faces up to twenty years in prison. He also faces a fine of up to $250,000 on each of the two counts. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed will be based upon the seriousness of the offenses and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Vogrin prosecuted the case on behalf of the government. The West Virginia State Police investigated.
U.S. District Judge Frederick P. Stamp, Jr., presided.
Jury Finds Air Force Veteran Guilty in First Conviction After Trial in the United States for Attempting to Travel Overseas to Join ISILRead the Press Release
Former U.S. Air Force Airplane Mechanic Convicted of Attempting to Provide Material Support to Terrorists and Obstruction of an Official Proceeding
A jury in the Eastern District of New York today found Tairod Nathan Webster Pugh, 48, of Neptune, New Jersey, a veteran of the U.S. Air Force, guilty of attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), a designated foreign terrorist organization, and obstructing an official proceeding.
The verdict was announced by Assistant Attorney General for National Security John P. Carlin, U.S. Attorney Robert L. Capers of the Eastern District of New York, Assistant Director in Charge Diego Rodriguez of the FBI’s New York Field Office and Commissioner William J. Bratton of the New York City Police Department.
“Pugh, an American citizen and former member of the U.S. Air Force where he served as an aircraft mechanic, attempted to travel to Syria to provide material support to ISIL,” said Assistant Attorney General Carlin. “This is the first conviction after a trial by jury in the United States involving an individual who attempted to travel to Syria to join ISIL, and further demonstrates our commitment to bring to justice all those who seek to provide material support to terrorists. I would like to thank all the members of law enforcement whose tireless efforts made this result possible.”
“Today’s verdict provides yet another example of a successful outcome in our national security effort, and demonstrates the crucial role that law enforcement action plays in that effort,” said U.S. Attorney Capers. “The evidence presented at trial and the jury’s verdict instill confidence that our law enforcement agencies and their many important partners at home and abroad work effectively to disrupt and defeat the deadly siren’s call of terrorist groups around the globe. Pugh has now been held accountable for his crimes by a jury and will not reach the terrorist group he sought to support.”
“As presented in trial, Tairod Nathan Webster Pugh was willing to become a martyr, using his U.S. military training as a weapon for ISIL,” said Assistant Director in Charge Rodriguez. “Instead, found guilty of his crimes, he is facing a lengthy incarceration. We are pleased the jury found his actions confirmed his expressed desire to cause violence and destruction on behalf of this terrorist organization. The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Forces continue to work globally with our partners to successfully stop such actions before they happen, keep communities safe and bring criminals to justice.”
“We applaud today’s verdict, finding the first ISIL defendant guilty after attempting to travel to Syria and wage jihad," said Commissioner Bratton. "Those who adhere to ISIL’s deadly terrorist agenda should be on notice: reject this ideology or face swift justice in American courts. It is fitting that the first ISIL conviction case is here in the Eastern District of New York, which has prosecuted more terrorism cases than any other district in the country. It is to them — and the many others on the Joint Terrorism Task Force — that New Yorkers owe their gratitude for the relentless efforts to keep our city safe.”
At trial, the government presented evidence that prior to traveling overseas to try to join ISIL, Pugh served in the Air Force as an avionics instrument system specialist and received training in the installation and maintenance of aircraft engines, navigation and weapons systems. After leaving the Air Force, the defendant worked for a number of companies in the United States and Middle East as an airplane mechanic. Pugh lived abroad for over a year before his arrest in this case.
On Jan. 10, 2015, the defendant traveled from Egypt to Turkey in an effort to cross the border into Syria to join ISIL to engage in violent “jihad.” However, Turkish authorities denied the defendant entry and returned him to Egypt. At the time of his detention, Pugh was carrying a laptop computer and four USB thumb drives that he had stripped of their plastic casings in an effort to destroy their contents and thereby make them unavailable to investigators. The defendant also was carrying solar power chargers, compasses and a black ski mask. Foreign government officials deported the defendant to the United States, where the FBI closely monitored him, relying in part on a covert undercover employee who encountered the defendant at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York. The defendant was arrested on Jan. 16, 2015, in Asbury Park, New Jersey, and thereafter indicted in the Eastern District of New York.
At trial, the government presented evidence obtained from the defendant’s laptop computer and social media posts. The defendant’s laptop contained Internet searches for “borders controlled by Islamic state.” The government also introduced evidence of the defendant’s Internet searches for “Flames of War” (an ISIL propaganda video) as well as terrorist videos he had downloaded, including one horrific video showing ISIL members executing prisoners. In addition, statements to coworkers and social media posts established Pugh’s empathy and support for ISIL’s cause and terrorist methods.
At trial, the government also introduced a letter drafted by Pugh on Jan. 5, 2015, shortly before he left Egypt for Turkey on his way to Syria. In that letter, the defendant proclaimed, “I am a Mujahid. I am a sword against the oppressor and a shield for the oppressed. I will use the talents and skills given to me by Allah to establish and defend the Islamic State. There is only 2 possible outcomes for me. Victory or Martyr.”
Based on his trial convictions, the defendant faces a maximum sentence of up to 35 years in prison. Sentencing has not yet been scheduled, but is expected to occur later this year.
Assistant Attorney General Carlin joined U.S. Attorney Capers in extending his grateful appreciation to the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF), as well as to the U.S. Department of State, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the District of New Jersey, the Asbury Park Police Department and the Neptune Police Department.
The government’s case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Samuel P. Nitze, Tiana A. Demas and Mark Bini of the Eastern District of New York, with assistance provided by Trial Attorney Larry Schneider of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section.
Jury Finds Air Force Veteran Guilty in First ISIL Conviction After Trial in the United StatesRead the Press Release
Today, a jury in Brooklyn returned a verdict finding defendant Tairod Nathan Webster Pugh, an American citizen and veteran of the United States Air Force, guilty of attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), a foreign terrorist organization, and obstruction of an official proceeding. The defendant will be sentenced on September 16, 2016, by Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis at the U.S. Courthouse, 225 Cadman Plaza East, Brooklyn, New York.
The verdict was announced by Robert L. Capers, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York; John P. Carlin, Assistant Attorney General for National Security; Diego G. Rodriguez, Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office; and William J. Bratton, Commissioner, New York City Police Department.
“Today’s verdict provides yet another example of a successful outcome in our national security effort, and demonstrates the crucial role that law enforcement action plays in that effort,” stated U.S. Attorney Capers. “The evidence presented at trial and the jury’s verdict instill confidence that our law enforcement agencies and their many important partners at home and abroad work effectively to disrupt and defeat the deadly siren’s call of terrorist groups around the globe. Pugh has now been held accountable for his crimes by a jury and will not reach the terrorist group he sought to support.” Mr. Capers extended his grateful appreciation to the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF), which comprises a large number of federal, state, and local agencies from the region. Mr. Capers also thanked the U.S. Department of State, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey, the Asbury Park, New Jersey Police Department, and the Neptune, New Jersey Police Department for their assistance. Mr. Capers expressed his appreciation to the U.S. Marshals Service and the Federal Protective Service for providing security during the trial.
“Pugh, an American citizen and former member of the U.S. Air Force where he served as an aircraft mechanic, attempted to travel to Syria to provide material support to ISIL,” said Assistant Attorney General Carlin. “This is the first conviction after a trial by jury in the United States involving an individual who attempted to travel to Syria to join ISIL, and further demonstrates our commitment to bring to justice all those who seek to provide material support to terrorists. I would like to thank all the members of law enforcement whose tireless efforts made this result possible.”
“As presented in trial, Tairod Nathan Webster Pugh was willing to become a martyr, using his U.S. military training as a weapon for ISIL. Instead, found guilty of his crimes, he is facing a lengthy incarceration. We are pleased the jury found his actions confirmed his expressed desire to cause violence and destruction on behalf of this terrorist organization. The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Forces continue to work globally with our partners to successfully stop such actions before they happen, keep communities safe, and bring criminals to justice,” stated FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Rodriguez.
“We applaud today’s verdict, finding the first ISIL defendant guilty after attempting to travel to Syria and wage jihad. Those who adhere to ISIL’s deadly terrorist agenda should be on notice: reject this ideology or face swift justice in American courts. It is fitting that the first ISIL conviction case is here in the Eastern District of New York, which has prosecuted more terrorism cases than any other district in the country. It is to them—and the many others on the Joint Terrorism Task Force—that New Yorkers owe their gratitude for the relentless efforts to keep our city safe,” said Police Commissioner Bratton.
At trial, the government presented evidence that, prior to traveling overseas to try to join ISIL, the defendant served in the U.S. Air Force as an avionics instrument system specialist and received training in the installation and maintenance of aircraft engines, navigation, and weapons systems. After leaving the Air Force, the defendant worked for a number of companies in the United States and Middle East as an airplane mechanic. The defendant lived abroad for over a year before his arrest in this case.
On January 10, 2015, the defendant traveled from Egypt to Turkey in an effort to cross the border into Syria to join ISIL to engage in violent “jihad.” Turkish authorities denied the defendant entry, however, and returned him to Egypt. At the time of his detention, the defendant was carrying a laptop computer and four USB thumb drives that he had stripped of their plastic casings in an effort to destroy their contents and thereby make them unavailable to investigators. The defendant also was carrying solar power chargers, compasses, and a black ski mask. Foreign government officials quickly deported the defendant to the United States, where the FBI closely monitored him, relying in part on a covert undercover employee who encountered the defendant at John F. Kennedy airport. The defendant was arrested on January 16, 2015, in Asbury Park, New Jersey, and thereafter indicted in the Eastern District of New York.
At trial, the government presented evidence obtained from the defendant’s laptop computer and social media posts, among other exhibits. The defendant’s laptop contained Internet searches for “borders controlled by Islamic state.” The government also introduced evidence of the defendant’s Internet searches for “Flames of War” (an ISIL propaganda video) as well as terrorist videos he had downloaded, including one horrific video showing ISIL members executing prisoners. In addition, statements to coworkers and social media posts established the defendant’s empathy and support for ISIL’s cause and terrorist methods.
The government also introduced into evidence at trial a letter, drafted by the defendant on January 5, 2015, shortly before he left Egypt for Turkey on his way to Syria. In that letter, the defendant proclaimed, “I am a Mujahid. I am a sword against the oppressor and a shield for the oppressed. I will use the talents and skills given to me by Allah to establish and defend the Islamic State. There is only 2 possible outcomes for me. Victory or Martyr.”
Based on his trial convictions, the defendant faces a maximum sentence of up to 35 years in prison.
The government’s case is being handled by the Office’s National Security & Cybercrime Section. Assistant United States Attorneys Samuel P. Nitze, Tiana A. Demas, and Mark Bini are in charge of the prosecution, with assistance provided by Trial Attorney Larry Schneider of the Counterterrorism Section of the Department of Justice.
The Defendant:
TAIROD NATHAN WEBSTER PUGH
Age: 48
Neptune, New JerseyE.D.N.Y. Docket Nos. 15-CR-116 (NGG)
Jacksonville Man Sentenced to 151 Months for Receipt of Child PornographyRead the Press Release
WILMINGTON – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina announced that today in federal court, Senior United States District Judge James C. Fox sentenced RONALD LESLIE PIERCE, Jr., 53, of Jacksonville, North Carolina, to 151 months imprisonment, followed by 10 years of supervised release.
RONALD LESLIE PIERCE, JR. was named in an eleven count Indictment filed on March 3, 2015, charging him with receipt and possession of child pornography. On November 2, 2015, PIERCE pled guilty to possession of child pornography and on November 9, 2015, PIERCE pled guilty to receipt of child pornography.
On November 6, 2013, Detectives with the Cabarrus County Sheriff’s Office identified a suspect computer sharing child pornography via an internet peer to peer file sharing network. Detectives were able to identify the IP address from the suspect computer to PIERCE and were able download images of child pornography from PIERCE. Agents with the SBI subsequently searched the computers and other devices from the defendant’s Jacksonville, North Carolina home, revealing that PIERCE had downloaded thousands of images and videos of child pornography.
Investigation of this case was conducted by the State Bureau of Investigation and the Cabarrus County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant United States Attorney Carrie Randa represented the government.
This case was part of the Project Safe Childhood initiative, a national program aimed at ensuring that criminals exploiting children are effectively prosecuted by making full use of all available law enforcement resources at every level. For more information about this important national project, Project Safe Childhood, go to www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
Irving, Texas, Man Sentenced to 216 Months in Federal Prison for Transporting Child PornographyRead the Press Release
DALLAS — A Irving, Texas, man was sentenced this morning by Chief U.S. District Judge Jorge A. Solis to 216 months in federal prison and 10 years supervised release on a child pornography conviction, announced U.S. Attorney John R. Parker of the Northern District of Texas.
Josue Osorio-Canales, 30, entered a plea of guilty in July 2015 to one count of transporting child pornography.
According to documents filed in the case, between January 31, 2015 and February 14, 2015 law enforcement identified a computer on a network sharing child pornography. A search warrant was executed on June 2, 2015. The analysis of the computer revealed over 1,400 videos and 21,000 images of child pornography.
The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative, which was launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice, to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals, who sexually exploit children, and identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/. For more information about internet safety education, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/ and click on the tab “resources.”
Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Plano Police Department Investigated. Assistant U.S. Camille Sparks prosecuted.
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Indictment: California Truck Driver Transported 15 Pounds of Meth to WichitaRead the Press Release
TOPEKA, KAN. - A truck driver from California was indicted Wednesday on a federal charge of transporting 15 pounds of methamphetamine to Wichita, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said.
Arnoldo Perez-Ortega, 33, Fontana, Calif., is charged with one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. According to court documents, police stopped Perez-Ortega’s truck on March 6, 2015, near I-235 and Central. In the truck, officers found approximately15.75 pounds of methamphetamine.
If convicted, he faces a penalty of not less than 10 years and a fine up to $250,000. The Wichita Police Department investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brent Anderson is prosecuting.
OTHER GRAND JURY INDICTMENTS
Scott L. Kemble, 44, who is being held in the Shawnee County Jail, is charged with one count of unlawful possession of a firearm following a felony conviction. The crime is alleged to have occurred Feb. 3, 2016, in Shawnee County, Kan.
If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney Tony Mattivi is prosecuting.
Kyler D. Hubert, 24, Topeka, Kan., is charged with one count of unlawful possession of a firearm following a felony conviction. The crime is alleged to have occurred Feb. 6, 2016, in Topeka, Kan.
If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney Duston Slinkard is prosecuting.
Maximo Corral-Garcia, 38, a citizen of Mexico, is charged with unlawfully re-entering the United States after being deported. He was found March 4, 2016, in Butler County, Kan.
If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of two years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brent Anderson is prosecuting.
In all cases, defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty. The indictments merely contain allegations of criminal conduct.