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20 April 2016
Rochester Men Sentenced for Their Roles in Burglary That Led to Death of Elderly Medina Comic Book CollectorRead the Press Release
CONTACT: Barbara Burns
PHONE: (716) 843-5817
FAX: (716) 551-3051BUFFALO, N.Y.—U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Rico Vendetti, 45, of Rochester, NY, who was convicted of racketeering following a home invasion robbery that led to the death of an elderly Medina, NY man, was sentenced to 240 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara. In addition, Donald Griffin, 28, also of Rochester, who was convicted of committing murder in aid of racketeering, was sentenced to 240 months in prison as well.
“This case - which began with shoplifting and ended with murder – justly earned the defendant a lengthy sentence in federal prison,” said U.S. Attorney Hochul. “As the case also demonstrates, this Office will utilize all of the tools given by Congress, including the racketeering laws, to bring organized criminals to justice. While unfortunately nothing law enforcement does can restore Mr. Marciniak to his family, certainly today’s sentence brings a measure of closure in that justice has been served.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott S. Allen, Jr., who, along with retired Assistant U.S. Attorney Anthony M. Bruce, handled the case, stated that beginning in approximately 2005, the defendant utilized a number of shoplifters who engaged in shoplifting of items from stores such as Walmart, Sears, Target, JoAnn Fabrics, Home Depot, Tops Markets, Wegman's, and various chain drug stores, most of which were located in Monroe and Genesee Counties.The shoplifters stole merchandise that Vendetti told them he needed which he subsequently sold through eBay accounts he maintained. The defendant paid the shoplifters would buy from the boosters, the defendant told them he would pay them about 25¢ on the dollar of the normal retail price of the merchandise. Using the defendant's merchandise lists, the shoplifters went into the stores, at times alone and at times in teams, to shoplift. Among the items stolen in this fashion were breast pumps, Crest Whitestrips, cross stitch and needlepoint kits, electric toothbrushes and replacement heads, computer memory sticks and flash drives, pet supplements and DNA tests for pets, razors, razor blades and replacement razor heads, tool sets, vacuum cleaners, binoculars, batteries, plumbing fixtures and KitchenAid mixers. In total, Vendetti obtained and then sold over $700,000 in merchandise.
In July 2010, the defendant, the former owner of Eastside Gold & Car Audio, formerly in Rochester, hired co-defendant Arlene Combs to travel from Rochester to the Medina, NY home of 78 year old Homer Marciniak to steal Marciniak’s valuable comic book collection. Combs recruited co-defendants Griffin, Albert Parsons, and Juan Javier for the home invasion, promising each $1,000.
In executing their plan, in the early morning hours of July 4, 2010, Combs, along with Griffin, Parson, and Javier, drove from Rochester to Medina and cut Marciniak’s phone line. In the early morning hours of the following day, July 5, 2010, the gang returned to Marciniak’s home. Wearing ski masks and gloves, Griffin, Parsons, and Javier forcibly entered Marciniak’s home through a first story window. During the course of the burglary, Marciniak, who had a serious heart condition, woke and confronted the burglars. Griffin struck Marciniak in the face and then, along with Javier, bound his hands with bed linens. Javier then verbally threatened Marciniak with a BB gun in hand. Griffin, Parsons, and Javier ultimately located the comic book collection along with several strong boxes containing cash, coins, and other valuables.
After Griffin, Parsons, and Javier fled the scene with Combs, Marciniak freed himself and was taken to Medina Memorial Hospital for treatment of his facial injuries. After Marciniak was treated and released, however, he suffered a heart attack, was re-admitted to the hospital, and died shortly thereafter. Medical experts concluded that the blow Griffin struck, as well as the emotional trauma caused by the burglary, directly contributed to Marciniak’s cardiac arrest and resulting death.
Griffin, Parsons, and Javier gave the comic books to Combs who, along with another codefendant, Terry Stewart, took the comic books to Vendetti later in the day on July 5. When Vendetti learned that the burglary resulted in Marciniak’s death, Vendetti disposed of the comic books.
Law enforcement officials within the Rochester Police Department identified the defendants during the course of a separate investigation in October 2010. The defendants were arrested soon thereafter. Soon after the arrest, Vendetti attempted to obstruct justice by agreeing to have a phony witness submit a false affidavit, and by telling codefendant Brandon Meade to “keep his mouth shut” if approached by law enforcement.
Convicted in connection with this case:
• Rico Vendetti was convicted of racketeering and sentenced to 240 months in federal prison on April 20, 2016.
• Donald Griffin was convicted of committing a violent crime in aid of racketeering: murder, and sentenced to 240 months in federal prison on April 19, 2016.
• Arlene Combs was convicted of racketeering and sentenced to 240 months in federal prison on March 22, 2016.
• Albert Parsons was convicted of a violent crime in aid of racketeering: assault resulting in bodily injury, and is scheduled to be sentenced on June 9, 2016.
• Juan Javier, who was 17 at the time of the burglary, was prosecuted as an adult in Orleans County, and sentenced to seven years in state prison.
• Terry Stewart was convicted of racketeering and was sentenced to 55 months in federal prison.
• Dayon Shaver was convicted of conspiring to traffic in stolen goods across state lines on March 21, 2016, and was sentenced to 46 months in federal prison.
• Brandon Meade was convicted of conspiring to traffic in stolen goods across state lines and was sentenced on January 21, 2016 to time-served after serving nine months in federal prison.The sentencing is the result of an investigation on the part of Special Agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Adam S. Cohen, the New York State Police, under the direction of Major Craig Hanesworth, the Orleans County Sheriff’s Department, under the direction of Sheriff Scott Hess, the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, under the direction of Sheriff Patrick O’Flynn, the Medina Police Department, under the direction of Chief Jose Avila and Officers from the Rochester Police Department, under the direction of Chief Michael Ciminelli. Special assistance was provided by Orleans County District Attorney Joseph Cardone.
Ride or Die Gang Member Sentenced on Firearm and Drug ViolationsRead the Press Release
U.S. Attorney Kenneth A. Polite announced that MORRIS SUMMERS, age 25, a resident of New Orleans, was sentenced today after having previously pled guilty to federal firearm and drug violations.
U.S. District Judge Susie Morgan sentenced SUMMERS to 60 months in prison, to be followed by four years of supervised release.
SUMMERS was one of twelve defendants charged with conspiring to distribute cocaine base in the St. Roch neighborhood. In addition, all twelve defendants were charged with conspiring to possess firearms in furtherance of their drug trafficking crimes. Three defendants were also charged with conspiring to violate the Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organization Act, as well as substantive acts of violence.
To date, nine defendants charged in this case have pled guilty to various charges and have been sentenced. Co-defendant ANDREALIE LEWIS was previously sentenced to 48 months incarceration; TYONE BURTON was previously sentenced to 121 months of incarceration; ERVIN SPOONER was previously sentenced to 108 months of incarceration; PERRY WILSON was previously sentenced to 108 months of incarceration; TRE CLEMENTS was previously sentenced to 96 months of incarceration; NYSON JONES was previously sentenced to 87 months of incarceration; ROMALIS PARKER was previously sentenced to 70 months of incarceration; and TYRONE BURTON was previously sentenced to 60 months of incarceration. Three defendants were convicted following trial and are awaiting sentencing: DELOYD JONES, a/k/a “Puggy,” age 23; BYRON JONES, a/k/a/ “Big Baby,” age 25; and SIDNEY PATTERSON, a/k/a “Duda Man,” age 24.
According to court documents and evidence presented at the above-stated trial, the defendants were members and associates of the “Ride or Die” gang, which they also referred to as “R.O.D.” The Ride or Die gang was initially formed in or about 2007 and continued to exist through in or about 2013. During the course of the federal investigation into the gang, agents learned that the defendants used a house, located at 1632 Mandeville Street, among other locations, as a base of operations to package, sell, and store narcotics, as well as store firearms.
U.S. Attorney Polite praised the work of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives as part of the metro area’s Multi-Agency Gang Unit (MAG) in investigating this matter. As an integral component of NOLA FOR LIFE’s Group Violence Reduction Strategy, the MAG Unit consists of a partnership with New Orleans Police Department (NOPD); Orleans Parish District Attorney’s Office (DA); Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office (OPSO); Louisiana State Police (LSP); Parole Board of the Louisiana Department of Corrections; United States Attorney’s Office (USAO); Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA); United States Marshal’s Service (USMS); and the United States Probation & Parole Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana. Assistant United States Attorneys Nolan D. Paige and Marquest Meeks, along with former Special Assistant United States Attorney Brian Ebarb, who was assigned from the Orleans Parish District Attorney’s Office, were responsible for the prosecution.
Redding Man Sentenced to Prison for Interstate Marijuana Trafficking and Money LaunderingRead the Press Release
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — John James Kash, 53, of Redding, was sentenced today by United States District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller to six and a half years in prison for conspiracy to distribute marijuana, manufacturing marijuana, and conspiracy to launder monetary instruments, United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced.
Kash was convicted on November 18, 2015, after a six-day jury trial. The evidence at trial demonstrated that Kash was part of an interstate marijuana trafficking conspiracy that diverted marijuana from California to Pennsylvania from 2009 through 2013. Kash was arrested in 2013 after being found in a warehouse in Redding, California that had been converted into an indoor marijuana grow. The warehouse contained four separate marijuana grow rooms with plants in various stages of development to allow for year-round marijuana production.
Kash and his co-conspirators shipped marijuana that had been grown in the Redding area to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Kash, a native of Pennsylvania, coordinated the marijuana distribution in the Pittsburgh area. In May 2013, Kash and co-defendant James Massery shipped 158 one-pound bags of marijuana concealed within shrink-wrapped barrels from California to Pennsylvania. Kash and co-conspirators Massery, Glen Meyers, and Aimee Burgess were all arrested in Pennsylvania as they were unloading the marijuana from the barrels.
Kash recruited his family and friends to assist with the concealment and transport of the cash proceeds of drug trafficking. During an eight-month period between August 2010 and April 2011, Kash and others attempted to launder $382,000 in drug proceeds through credit unions in Pittsburgh and Redding. Kash was arrested in May 2012 in Utah attempting to drive $60,000 in cash from Pittsburgh to Redding.
The United States ultimately seized approximately $1 million in drug proceeds from various bank accounts and other assets that Kash and his co-conspirators controlled.
This case was the product of an investigation by the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation and the Sacramento Valley Financial Crimes Task Force, with assistance from the Pennsylvania State Police, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Drug Enforcement Administration, Pennsylvania’s Washington County Drug Task Force, and the Utah Highway Patrol. Assistant United States Attorneys Michele Beckwith, Christiaan Highsmith, Kevin Khasigian, and Justin Lee prosecuted the case.
Kash is the last of four defendants to be sentenced. Co-defendant Glen Meyers was sentenced to eight years and two months in prison; James Massery was sentenced to six years and three months in prison; and Aimee Burgess was sentenced to five years in prison.
Redding Man Sentenced to 14 Years in Prison for Receiving Child PornographyRead the Press Release
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Nicholas Torrieri, 43, of Redding, was sentenced today by United States District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller to 14 years in prison for receiving child pornography, United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced. Upon release, he will be required to register as a sex offender and will be supervised by the court for the rest of his life.
According to court documents, in October 2014 and again in January 2015, agents identified a computer offering files depicting minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct through a file-sharing network. The computer’s Internet Protocol address was traced to Torrieri’s residence. On February 11, 2015, agents searched the residence and seized several digital devices. A subsequent forensic review of these devices uncovered more than 600 images and 240 videos containing child pornography.
During the course of the investigation, law enforcement discovered a videotape of a 1998 television talk show about how to protect children from sexual abuse. Torrieri appeared on the show and claimed that he had participated in hundreds of incidents of victimizing children, including both encouraging minors to expose themselves and actual molestation. At today’s sentencing, Judge Mueller noted that he has “a compulsion that he has been unable to control.”
“Criminals who create and distribute pornographic images of children often fuel the behavior of like-minded predators who covet this despicable content. Innocent victims are left with permanent scars that can never be entirely healed,” said Ryan L. Spradlin, special agent in charge for HSI San Francisco. “This sentencing is a testament to the dedicated HSI agents and our law enforcement partners who work tirelessly to root out predators and make them face the judgment they deserve.”
This case was the product of an investigation by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). Special Assistant United States Attorney Josh F. Sigal prosecuted the case.
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 those who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. Click on the “resources” tab for information about Internet safety education.
Raymore Man Indicted for Armed Bank RobberyRead the Press Release
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Raymore, Mo., man was indicted by a federal grand jury today for the armed robbery of United Missouri Bank in Raymore earlier this month.
Charles O. Jones, 52, of Raymore, was charged with one count of armed bank robbery in an indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Kansas City, Mo.
Jones allegedly stole $1,330 at gunpoint from United Missouri Bank, 315 S. Dean, Raymore, on April 4, 2016.
Dickinson cautioned that the charge contained in this indictment is simply an accusation, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charge must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Q. McCarther. It was investigated by the FBI and the Raymore, Mo., Police Department.
Puerto Rico resident charged with assaulting federal officers, failing to register as sex offender and firearms offensesRead the Press Release
A four-count indictment was filed in federal court charging a Puerto Rican man with assaulting federal officers and failing to register as a sex offender, as well as firearms offenses, law enforcement officials said.
Luis Cruz-Ramos, 30, was indicted on one count each of assaulting federal officers, brandishing a firearm in furtherance of crime of violence, failing to register as a sex offender, and being a felon in possession of ammunition.
“This defendant is a threat and does not belong in society,” said Carole S. Rendon, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio.
“The U.S. Marshals Service and the members of our task force will not rest when it comes to dangerous fugitives like Cruz-Ramos,” said U.S. Marshal Peter Elliott. “We, along with local police departments and the U.S. Attorney’s Office, will make sure that Cruz-Ramos will answer for his heinous charges in Puerto Rico and to the U.S. government for crimes he committed while on the run.”
Ramos was wanted on an arrest warrant when he was assaulted two special deputy U.S. Marshals on April 1, and brandished a firearm to do so, according to the indictment.
Ramos also failed to register as a sex offender between 2013 and 2016 after traveling to Ohio. He also possessed ammunition on April 1, despite a prior conviction for sexual assault that precluded him from having ammunition, according to the indictment.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney David M. Toepfer following an investigation by the U.S. Marshals Service, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and Ohio State Highway Patrol.
If convicted, the defendant’s sentence will be determined by the court after a review of the federal sentencing guidelines and factors unique to the case, including the defendant’s prior criminal record (if any), the defendant’s role in the offense, and the characteristics of the violation.
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.
Postal Worker Pleads Guilty to Theft of MailRead the Press Release
U.S. Attorney Kenneth A. Polite announced that ANISHA LYNN GALLIN, age 27, of New Orleans, pled guilty today to one count of theft of mail.
According to the Indictment, on or about July 18, 2014 and again on or about July 22, 2014, GALLIN, a United States Postal employee, stole the contents of four first-class letters.
If convicted, GALLIN faces a maximum term of imprisonment of five years, followed by three years of supervised release, a maximum fine of $250,000, and restitution, as to each count.
U.S. Attorney Polite praised the work of the U.S. Postal Service, Office of Inspector General for investigating this matter. Assistant U.S. Attorney G. Dall Kammer is in charge of the prosecution.
Pair Plead Guilty to Huddle House RobberyRead the Press Release
G.F. Peterman, III, Acting United States Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia, announces that Brandon Perry, age 24, from Jeffersonville, Georgia entered a guilty plea on April 20, 2016, to Interference with Commerce by Robbery and Possession of a Firearm During and in Relation to a Crime of Violence before the Honorable Marc T. Treadwell, United States District Judge, in Macon, Georgia.
Mr. Perry’s sentencing is scheduled for July 6, 2016. Mr. Perry faces a maximum penalty of twenty years imprisonment on the robbery charge and a minimum mandatory consecutive sentence of seven years to life on the firearms charge.
Gabriel Bell, Mr. Perry’s co-defendant, age 21, from Warner Robins, Georgia, previously entered a guilty plea to the same charges on April 2, 2015. His sentencing is scheduled for April 27, 2016. Mr. Bell faces a maximum penalty of twenty years imprisonment on the robbery charge and a minimum mandatory consecutive sentence of five years to life on the firearms charge.
As part of their guilty pleas, Mr. Perry and Mr. Bell both admitted to robbing the Huddle House Restaurant located at 5218 Highway 96 West in Jeffersonville, Georgia. Mr. Perry and Mr. Bell entered the store wearing masks and pointed firearms at the employees of the store. Mr. Perry brandished a short-barreled shotgun and stood by the door while Mr. Bell, carrying a pistol, went behind the counter and took money from the cash register as well as the purse belonging to an employee. The purse contained a bank bag with money belonging to the store.
The two men then left the store on foot and ran to Mr. Bell’s vehicle. While approaching his residence, Mr. Bell lost control of the vehicle and crashed. Investigators responded to the scene and observed broken glass and blood on the deployed airbags. Investigators suspected that the vehicle was involved with the robbery and obtained consent to search Mr. Bell’s bedroom. During the search investigators located a pair of shorts and a pair of pants that matched those worn by the robbery suspects, both of which contained blood and glass. The shorts also had a large amount of cash and the keys to the wrecked vehicle in the pockets.
Investigators also recovered the employee’s purse with the bank bag and the short-barreled shotgun, the latter being found in a path leading from Mr. Bell’s residence to the location where it was reported Mr. Perry was picked up following the car accident.
This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, and the Twiggs County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant United States Attorney Beth Howard is prosecuting the case for the Government.
For more information contact Pamela Lightsey, U.S. Attorney’s Office, at 478-621-2603 or [email protected].
Ohio man indicted on firearms charge, failing to register as sex offenderRead the Press Release
A federal grand jury returned a two-count indictment charging Joseph W. Basham, Jr., 32, of Rome, Ohio, with being a felon in possession of firearms and failing to register as a sex offender, said Carole S. Rendon, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio.
Basham possessed a Winchester, model 50, 12 gauge shotgun in June 2015 after having been convicted of multiple felonies between 2007 and 2012. He also traveled in interstate commerce and knowingly failed to register or update a registration pursuant to the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, according to the indictment.
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 Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Ashtabula County Sheriff’s Department and the United States Marshals Service. The case 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.
North Carolina Man Sentenced for Theft and Embezzlement from the Passamaquoddy TribeRead the Press Release
Contact: F. Todd Lowell
Assistant United States Attorney
Tel: (207) 945-0373Bangor, Maine: United States Attorney Thomas E. Delahanty II announced that Stephen E. Crawford, 68, of Beaufort, North Carolina, was sentenced yesterday in U.S. District Court by Judge John A. Woodcock, Jr. to one year of probation for stealing and embezzling funds from the Passamaquoddy Tribe at Pleasant Point. The defendant paid $26,373.72 in restitution in advance of the sentencing.
Court records show that between February 2003 and February 2012, the defendant served as the tribe’s environmental director. Between 2006 and 2012, the defendant fraudulently obtained and stole over $25,000 from the tribe by submitting fraudulent travel expense reports and supporting documentation.
In imposing the probationary sentence, Judge Woodcock noted that the defendant was now a federal felon, had lost his job and career and reputation, and would be barred from working on federal contracts for a period of time. Judge Woodcock said that the fact that the defendant had paid full restitution before sentencing also played a significant role in his determination of the appropriate sentence.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Inspector General.Norfolk Man Pleads Guilty to Illegally Distributing InsulinRead the Press Release
ABINGDON, VIRGINIA – A Norfolk, Virginia man, who sold insulin on Craigslist to an undercover FDA agent, pled guilty today in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Abingdon, United States John P. Fishwick Jr. announced.
Patrick Simanjuntak, 40, of Norfolk, Virginia, pled guilty today in District Court to one count of misbranding a drug and selling a drug outside of a legitimate supply chain. The defendant will be sentenced on August 1, 2016 at 2:30 p.m. in Abingdon, Virginia.
“Prescription medications, such as insulin, are only safely administered under the care of a licensed physician,” United States Attorney John P. Fishwick Jr. said today. “We will continue to work with our partners in law enforcement to maintain the integrity of our prescription drug supply.”
“U.S. consumers rely on FDA to ensure that their prescription drugs are safe and effective,” said Mark S. McCormack, Special Agent in Charge, FDA Office of Criminal Investigations’ Metro Washington Field Office. “Our office will bring to justice those criminals who endanger unsuspecting consumers by purchasing and reselling these products outside the legitimate supply chain.”
According to evidence presented at previous hearings by Assistant United State Attorney Randy Ramseyer, in November 2015, the Food and Drug Administration [FDA], was advised that a person, later identified as the defendant, was advertising the sale of insulin on multiple Craigslist sites in the mid-Atlantic region. In these advertisements, Simanjuntak claimed the insulin had been obtained from medical facilities, specifically nursing homes.
On November 16, 2015, an undercover FDA agent contacted Simanjuntak at the telephone provided in the ads. Subsequent to this contact, the agent made five separate purchases of pre-filled insulin injection pens from the defendant. Cumulatively, between November 2015 and February 2016, FDA’s undercover agent purchased 17 boxes of pre-filled insulin pens, each box containing five pens, for which the agent paid a total of $1,870 to the defendant through Paypal. At no time during these transactions did Simanjuntak ask for, or require, the special agent to provide a valid prescription for the insulin. On two occasions, the agent received boxes of insulin from the defendant which still had affixed to them prescription labels for other patients.
Simanjuntak is neither a licensed medical professional nor licensed to distribute prescription medication. All the transactions between the defendant and the special agent were mailed from Norfolk to Abingdon, Virginia.
The investigation of the case was conducted by the Food and Drug Administration, Office of Criminal Investigations. Assistant United States Attorney Randy Ramseyer prosecuted the case for the United States.
Miami-Dade County Resident Sentenced to Prison for Unlawfully Possessing a Credit Card Skimmer and Using Another Individual’s Account InformationRead the Press Release
On April 18, 2016, Rolando Aguilar Conde, a resident of Miami, Florida, was sentenced to 36 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release for unlawfully possessing a credit card skimmer and account information belonging to another individual.
Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Robert C. Hutchinson, Acting Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcements Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI), Miami Field Office, and Tony Pustizzi, Chief, Coral Springs Police Department, made the announcement.
Conde pled guilty on February 25, 2016 to one count of possession of device-making equipment, in violation of Title 18 United States Code, Sections 1029(a)(4) and one count of aggravated identity theft, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1028A(a)(1).
According to court documents, on October 22, 2015, pursuant to a warrant, law enforcement searched Conde’s residence. During the search, law enforcement found twenty-nine (29) fraudulent cards embossed with the Conde’s name and containing account numbers of others persons. Within the defendant’s room, law enforcement found one of the fraudulent cards and a credit card skimming device.
An analysis of the credit card skimming device showed that it contained an account number that did not belong to Conde. The account number on the credit card skimming device matched the account number encoded on a fraudulent credit card that had been embossed with the defendant’s name and recovered from his residence. Bank records confirmed that the credit card was used to make two fraudulent charges, on September 26, 2015, at Sam Ash Music at the Dolphin Mall in Miami, Florida. Store records indicate Conde provided his name and address in connection with these fraudulent purchases.
Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of ICE-HSI and the Coral Springs Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Joshua S. Rothstein.
Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.
Miami Resident Sentenced to 57 Months in Prison for Participating in A Conspiracy to Burglarize A Kentucky Cigarette WarehouseRead the Press Release
Ordered to pay $1,486,164.45 in restitution for theft of cigarettes from Leitchfield, Kentucky warehouse
OWENSBORO, KY – A Miami resident was sentenced this week in United States District Court by Chief Judge Joseph H. McKinley4 Jr., to 57 months in prison and ordered to pay restitution of $1,486,164.45 - for conspiracy and theft charges stemming from the defendant’s participation in a warehouse burglary in Leitchfield, Kentucky, announced United States Attorney John E. Kuhn, Jr.
Ivan Romero, a/k/a El Negro, 42, pleaded guilty to a two count federal indictment, in January of this year. Romero admitted that he and others stole more than a million dollars in cigarettes from the Coremark Cigarette Warehouse in Leitchfield, Kentucky, in March of 2011, and that he and others received the stolen cigarettes (which constitute an interstate and foreign shipment of property valued at over $1,000) with the intent to convert the property to their own use.
During the theft, Romero and his co-conspirators gained entry into the warehouse through the roof, disabled the alarm system and loaded the stolen goods into a stolen tractor trailer. Specifically, between March 18, 2011, to March 20, 2011, defendant Camilo Rodriguez-Hernandez allegedly rented three hotel rooms in Elizabethtown, Kentucky, where the co-conspirators, who traveled to Kentucky from Miami, Florida, resided during the burglary and theft. Between March 19, 2011, and March 20, 2011, Amuary Villa, Ivan Romero, Amed Villa, and other co-conspirators allegedly unloaded a stolen tractor trailer and loaded it with cigarettes. Defendant Romero admitted to providing transportation for the stolen cigarettes and driving them to the New Jersey/New York area.
Romero, a legal permanent resident from Cuba who last resided in Miami, has been serving a state sentence from Florida, before being transferred to federal custody. Romero’s federal sentence is 11 months concurrent with a six year sentence for similar crimes in Florida. Further, Romero received 46 months to run consecutive to the six years he is serving in the state of Florida. Restitution will be paid to Coremark and the insurance company for Coremark. Co-defendants Amaury Villa and Camillo Rodriguez Hernandez have trials pending.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Joshua Judd and the investigation of the Kentucky theft is being led by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) with assistance from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Leitchfield and Elizabethtown Police Departments, and New Jersey and Kentucky State Police Departments.
Mexican Man Pleads Guilty to Illegally Re-Entering the United States After Previous DeportationsRead the Press Release
CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE – Ricardo Silva-Hernandez, of Mexico, has pleaded guilty to illegally re-entering the United States after having been previously deported announced U.S. Attorney Emily Gray Rice.
Silva-Hernandez was encountered by the Hooksett Police Department on February 24, 2016, after the police responded to a burglar alarm at Silva-Hernandez’s place of employment. When an officer asked Silva-Hernandez for identification, he produced a Mexican identification card. Further questioning by the police led to Silva-Hernandez’s admission that he was illegally in the United States and had re-entered the United States after being deported.
The Hooksett Police sought the assistance of officers from Immigration and Customs Enforcement – Enforcement and Removal (ICE-ERO) in positively identifying Silva-Hernandez. Fingerprints taken from Silva-Hernandez were compared to fingerprints on file with the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. That comparison definitively proved that Silva-Hernandez had been previously deported in 1997 and again in 2009.
Silva-Hernandez will be sentenced at 11:00 AM on August 9, 2016, and will be deported after serving his sentence.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Hooksett Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Alfred Rubega is prosecuting this case.
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Massachusetts woman pleads guilty to lying to purchase firearmsRead the Press Release
MARTINSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA – Curtessa Monet Franklin, 21, of Canton, Massachusetts, pled guilty in federal court in Martinsburg today to conspiring to provide false information while attempting to purchase a firearm, United States Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld, II, announced.
Franklin conspired with two West Virginia residents and attempted to purchase a firearm by falsely indicating that the West Virginia residents were the intended purchasers of the firearm. In fact, Franklin was in the intended purchaser of the firearm. Franklin pled guilty today to one count of “Conspiracy to Provide a False Statement During the Attempted Purchase of a Firearm.” She faces up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed will be based upon the seriousness of the offenses and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Shawn Adkins prosecuted the case on behalf of the government. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert W. Trumble presided.
Maryland man pleads guilty to heroin traffickingRead the Press Release
MARTINSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA – William Tillman, 50, of Annapolis, Maryland, pled guilty in federal court in Martinsburg today to heroin trafficking, United States Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld, II, announced.
Tillman sold heroin in Berkeley County, West Virginia in April 2014. He pled guilty today to one count of “Aiding and Abetting the Distribution of Heroin.” He faces up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $1,000,000. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed will be based upon the seriousness of the offenses and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.
Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Lara K. Omps-Botteicher, also of the West Virginia Attorney General’s Office, prosecuted the case on behalf of the government. The Eastern Panhandle Drug and Violent Crime Task Force, a HIDTA-funded initiative, investigated.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert W. Trumble presided.
Man Sentenced to Eight Years in Prison for Post Office SchemeRead the Press Release
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Chief U.S. District Judge Frank D. Whitney sentenced today Jimmy Lee Williams, 48, of Charlotte to 105 months in prison for orchestrating a fraudulent check scheme that netted the conspiracy more than $650,000 in postage stamps and other merchandise, announced Jill Westmoreland Rose, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. Judge Whitney also ordered Williams to serve two years under court supervision following the prison term and to pay $646,993.61 to the United States Postal Service as restitution.
Thomas L. Noyes, Inspector in Charge of the Charlotte Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service; John A. Strong, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Charlotte Division; and Janie Sutton, Acting Director of the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation join U.S. Attorney Rose in making todays’ announcement.
According to court documents and statements made in court, in two separate time periods between November 2010 to present, Williams used a network of 16 accomplices to defraud U.S. Post Offices and other businesses in North and South Carolina, Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia. Court records show that Williams and/or his accomplices used counterfeit or fraudulent checks and fraudulent identification to purchase postage stamps, gift cards and other merchandise with a total face value of more than $650,000.
To execute the fraudulent scheme, Williams used counterfeit checks and checks drawn on his own closed accounts and the bank accounts of accomplices he met in prison and through youth football leagues in the Concord, North Carolina area. According to court records, Williams’ accomplices gave the stamps they obtained to Williams, who then sold them to an Internet company in California as well as a North Carolina pawn shop, typically for 50%-70% of the face value. Williams recruited his accomplices from prison and wrote instructions on how to commit the charged postal fraud while serving a prison sentence for violating conditions of his supervised release from a previous federal conviction.
Williams pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy and one count of money laundering. He is currently in federal custody and will be transferred to the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons upon designation of a federal facility. All federal sentences are served without the possibility of parole.
USPIS, the FBI, and NC SBI investigated the case.Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Savage, of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte, prosecuted the case.
Macon Attorney Pleads GuiltyRead the Press Release
G.F. Peterman, III, Acting United States Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia, announces that Holly Hogue Edwards, age 36, an attorney from Macon, Georgia, today entered a guilty plea to distribution of oxycodone and methamphetamine before the Honorable Marc T. Treadwell, United States District Judge, in Macon.
Ms. Edwards faces a maximum sentence of up to 20 years’ imprisonment and a $1,000,000.00 fine. Sentencing is scheduled for July 6, 2016 at 9:00 am in Macon.
In pleading guilty, Ms. Edwards admitted that on June 4, 2015, after being introduced to a Georgia Bureau of Investigation undercover agent through a confidential informant, she made arrangements to sell the undercover agent ten (10) tablets of oxycodone and an “eight ball” (three and a half grams) of methamphetamine. Ms. Edwards met the undercover agent in the parking lot of fast food restaurant and provided the undercover agent with a sample of methamphetamine to try, explaining it was from a different source of supply from the source she typically uses. The agent then provided Ms. Edwards with $500 of official funds for the “eight ball” of methamphetamine and the ten (10) oxycodone tablets. Ms. Edwards left to meet with her source of supply. Agents observed Ms. Edwards travel to a nearby gas station and meet with her source of supply. Ms. Edwards then returned and handed the undercover agent the ten (10) oxycodone tablets, stating that she did not get the “eight ball” of methamphetamine but would get it to him later in the day.
United States Attorney Peterman said “So often we see people become involved in the drug trade because of lack of education, skills or opportunity to support themselves otherwise. This was obviously not the situation here and it is all the more sad because of that.”
Daniel R. Salter, the Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Atlanta Field Division commented, “Ms. Edwards distributed oxycodone and methamphetamine, both of which could be deadly when used and/or abused. Because of spirited law enforcement cooperation in this case, she will now spend time in prison for her criminal actions, proving that no one is above the law.”
Vernon Keenan, Director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said, “Drug investigations like this one require a collaborative effort. This case highlights the excellent job done by law enforcement and prosecutors on all levels. The GBI remains committed to working with our law enforcement partners at the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the US Attorney’s Office.”
This case was investigated by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, and the Drug Enforcement Administration. Assistant United States Attorney Beth Howard is handling the prosecution for the Government.
Questions concerning this case should be directed to Pamela Lightsey, Public Information Officer, United States Attorney’s Office, at (478) 621-2603.
Local Woman Sentenced on Embezzlement and Tax ChargesRead the Press Release
St. Louis, MO – Anastasia Grzeskowiak was sentenced to 51 months imprisonment for embezzling $2.9 million from the account of a disabled individual whose financial affairs she was entrusted with managing.
According to court documents, beginning in 2000, an individual with whom Grzeskowiak was previously acquainted developed a blinding eye disease that significantly impaired his vision and ability to read, and thus to manage his own financial affairs. In June 2003, that individual asked Grzeskowiak to assist him in paying his personal bills, which she did until April 2013.
Between June 2006 and continuing through April 2013, Grzeskowiak forged her victim’s signature on more than 800 checks which she made out to herself, endorsed and used to pay her personal expenses, the expenses of others and to gamble. In total, she obtained more than $2,916,091 from the victim without his authorization, as well as causing him to incur substantial legal and accounting expenses in order to uncover the fraud.
Additionally, Grzeskowiak filed false tax returns for 2010 through 2012, understating her gross income from the illegal activity described above, resulting in a tax loss of $506,496.
Grzeskowiak, St. Charles, MO, pled guilty in January to one felony count of wire fraud and three felony counts of filing false tax returns. She appeared today for sentencing before United States District Judge Carol E. Jackson. In addition to her prison sentence, Grzeskowiak was ordered by Judge Jackson to make restitution to the victims of her crimes in the total amount of $3,558,993.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Richard Finneran handled the case for the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Lizella Resident Pleads Guilty to Assaulting Federal OfficersRead the Press Release
G.F. Peterman, III, Acting United States Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia, announces that Bobby Leon Parrish, age 25, from Lizella, Georgia, entered a guilty plea on April 20, 2016, to assaulting a Federal law enforcement officer and using a firearm in relation to a crime of violence before the Honorable Marc T. Treadwell, United States District Judge, in Macon, Georgia.
Through his guilty plea, Mr. Parrish admitted that on August 24, 2015, Deputy U.S. Marshals attempted to take Mr. Parrish into custody for several outstanding state warrants and failure to report to his state probation officer. Mr. Parrish pulled a firearm from his waistband and aimed it at the officers. A search of Mr. Parrish revealed a small container of marijuana, two digital scales, two shotgun shells and crushed substance Mr. Parrish claimed was Xanax, along with the single shot shotgun. Mr. Parrish stated that he brandished the gun because it was falling down his pants and he wanted to catch it. He then thanked the officers for not shooting him.
Mr. Parrish’s sentencing is scheduled for July 6, 2016. He faces a maximum penalty of twenty (20) years’ imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, or both, on the first charge and a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of not less than five (5) years and not more than life in prison, a fine of $250,000, or both, on the second charge.
This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Assistant United States Attorney Kimberly S. Easterling is prosecuting the case for the Government.
Kosmos Cement Company d/b/a Cemex Voluntarily Pleads Guilty to Violating the Mine Safety and Health Act at Its Kosmosdale FacilityRead the Press Release
Company agrees to pay $400,000 fine and repair and/or upgrade elevators and escalators to meet safety standards
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Kosmos Cement Company d/b/a Cemex voluntarily pleaded guilty today in United States District Court, and was sentenced by Magistrate Judge Colin H. Lindsay, to pay an agreed upon $400,000 fine, with $200,000 payable immediately, for its willful failure to comply with a mandatory health or safety standard, which is a violation of The Mine Safety and Health Act, announced United States Attorney John E. Kuhn, Jr.
“This is one of the worst cases of negligence on the part of a company,” stated United States Attorney John Kuhn. “Improper maintenance resulted in an employee’s death. This agreement will ensure the proper maintenance of the cement facility and safety for the employees through mandatory on-sight inspections and a written Maintenance Control Program,” concluded U.S. Attorney Kuhn.
According to the plea agreement, Kosmos Cement Company, d/b/a Cemex agreed to pay a fine of $400,000 with $200,000 due immediately and the balance due at the end of three years’ time if the company does not complete agreed upon repairs. The defendant agrees that all elevators will be constructed and/or upgraded to meet safety code; that doors of all automatic elevators shall be equipped with interlocking switches to prevent a door from opening when the elevator is not at a landing; that a written Maintenance Control Program shall be in place to achieve safe and reliable operation of the elevators; and that on-site inspection of elevators by the Kentucky Department of Housing And Construction be permitted in accordance with applicable state law. If the company makes the agreed upon repairs, and otherwise follows the term of the plea agreement, payment of the remaining $200,000 portion of the agreed upon settlement will be dispensed with.
The United States agreed to forego prosecution of agents and employees of the defendant for the facts which form the basis of this prosecution as described in the Information and the factual basis in the Plea Agreement.
In court today, agents of the company admitted that between March 6, 2012, and February 21, 2014, Kosmos Cement Company, d/b/a Cemex, Inc., through its agents and employees, was aware of defects in the Old Finish Mill Elevator, at its Kosmosdale, Kentucky facility; namely that the elevator was defective and in need of repair at the time of the death of F.M. and that the company which serviced the elevators at the plant had made repeated offers to renovate the elevator prior to the death. These repairs had not occurred. This was in violation of federal regulations of The Mine and Safety Act requiring that “Defects on any equipment, machinery (or) tools that affect safety shall be corrected in a timely manner to prevent the creation of hazards to others.”
This plea agreement arises from a single charge in an Information taken on March 25, 2016. According to the Information, on or about February 21, 2014, F. M., a contract employee at the Kosmosdale cement production facility, operated by Kosmos Cement Company, d/b/a Cemex, fell to his death in the Old Finish Mill, owing to a defect on the elevator at that facility, which permitted the outer door of said elevator to be opened without the elevator itself actually being present.
Cemex is a Mexican Corporation with U.S. headquarters in Houston, Texas. Cemex operates cement plants throughout the United States, Mexico and Puerto Rico, including, as part of a partnership, Kosmos Cement Company, located at 15301 Dixie Highway in Louisville. Throughout the period of time of the negligence and up to and including the date of the contract employee’s death, the plant was operated under the name CEMEX.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Randy Ream and was investigated by the Department of Labor, Mine Safety & Health Administration (MSHA).
KCK Man Charged with 11 Additional Counts Related to Kidnapping Three VictimsRead the Press Release
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that a Kansas City, Kan., man who was previously charged with kidnapping and robbing three women was indicted by a federal grand jury today and charged with additional crimes.
Jamerl M. Wortham, 30, of Kansas City, Kan., was charged in a 15-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Kansas City, Mo. Today’s indictment replaces a federal criminal complaint that was filed against Wortham on April 11, 2016, and includes 11 additional counts.
The federal indictment retains the original kidnapping charge, but adds an additional kidnapping count and an additional count of conspiracy to kidnap all three victims. Today’s indictment also retains the original complaint’s two counts of possessing a sawed-off shotgun in relation to carjacking and kidnapping but adds three counts of possessing a sawed-off shotgun in furtherance of a crime of violence or a drug-trafficking crime. The indictment retains the original carjacking charge but adds additional charges of an armed robbery conspiracy and attempted armed robbery (related to forcing the victims to withdraw money from ATMs), distributing PCP, being a felon in possession of a firearm, possessing an unregistered firearm and possessing a firearm with an obliterated serial number.
According to an affidavit filed in support of the original criminal complaint, Kansas City, Kan., police officers attempted to stop a 2004 silver Jaguar in the area of 3rd and Central on Saturday, April 9, 2016. The Jaguar had been reported as stolen. During the traffic stop the vehicle fled and struck a bridge median. The driver, Wortham, was taken into custody after a foot pursuit. Inside the Jaguar, officers found a loaded sawed-off Coast To Coast Master-Mag 20-gauge shotgun with the serial number filed off.
Also in the vehicle was a woman identified as T.J., who was released from the scene. According to the affidavit, T.J. later arrived at the Central Patrol Division in Kansas City, Mo., to report that she and her roommate, identified as Y.C., were crime victims. She told police that they had been carjacked and that two unidentified men had kidnapped them and forced them to drive around in her roommate’s car, a red 2009 Toyota Camry. She also told police officers there was a third kidnapping victim, identified as M.M. She stated that Y.C. and M.M. were forced to ride with the other two men in Y.C.’s Toyota while T.J. was forced to ride with Wortham in the stolen Jaguar.
T.J. did not mention the kidnapping to police officers at the time of Wortham’s arrest, she said, because Wortham and the other two men had threatened to harm the other girls if anyone spoke to the police. She believed the other two men were watching as Wortham was apprehended and the other two victims’ lives were in danger. T.J. went home after she left the crash scene to check and see if Y.C. was home. When she arrived home and Y.C. was still missing, T.J. contacted the police department to report the carjacking, robbery and kidnapping.
According to the affidavit, T.J. and Y.C. were approached by two unknown men while they were depositing their paychecks at an ATM at about 2 a.m. Saturday, April 9, 2016. One of the men walked up to the driver’s side, grabbed Y.C. and demanded her money. The other man approached the passenger side door and pointed a shotgun at T.J. He forced T.J. into the backseat of the Camry and got into the vehicle. The first man forced Y.C. into the passenger seat as he got into the driver’s seat.
While the second man held the shotgun, the affidavit says, the first man demanded the women’s money, ATM cards and bags. He drove the Camry, with the two women still in the vehicle, to an apartment complex in Kansas City, Kan. They allegedly met Wortham, who was driving the Jaguar he had stolen earlier. Wortham and the third victim, M.M. (who had been in the Jaguar), got into the Camry. They drove to another ATM, the affidavit says, and T.J. and Y.C. were forced to withdraw money using their ATM cards. They drove to a gas station and purchased some drugs, the affidavit says, and made several other stops before eventually returning to the Jaguar.
During the drive, the affidavit says, one of the men forced the victims to smoke PCP as he used methamphetamine. When they reached the apartment complex, T.J. was forced to get into the Jaguar with Wortham, who also took the shotgun. The other two victims remained in the Camry with the other two men. Both vehicles left together. Soon after that, police officers stopped Wortham and arrested him. The other men watched as Wortham was taken into the custody, the affidavit says, and fled in the opposite direction.
According to the affidavit, the two men drove the victims to the Blue Springs, Mo., area, where they again stopped to buy drugs. One of the men was dropped off near a gas station in Kansas City, Kan., and Y.C. was told to get into the driver’s seat and drive to the bus stop. At about 9 a.m. they arrived at 108 Askew Avenue in Kansas City, Mo., where M.M. jumped out of the car and ran away.
After M.M. escaped, the affidavit says, the man told Y.C. to drive away and she did. As they drove away, they began to argue. Y.C. slammed on the brakes and caused the man to hit his face. She attempted to force him out of her car, while at the same time trying to get someone’s attention by hitting the horn with her knee. When that didn’t work, she attempted to run from the car but the man grabbed her by the hair. Once she freed herself from his grip, she ran from the car as he chased her. Y.C. used the keys to set off the vehicle alarm in an attempt to get someone’s attention. She ran several blocks and flagged down a motorist who took her back to her car.
The third victim, M.M., later told police that she was at Harpo’s Bar, 4109 Pennsylvania Ave., Kansas City, Mo., around 11 p.m. on Friday, April 8, 2016. She went outside to wait on the curb and got into a car she thought was her Uber car, but actually was the stolen Jaguar driven by Wortham.
Dickinson cautioned that the charges contained in this indictment are simply accusations, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charges must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Q. McCarther. It was investigated by the FBI, the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department and the Kansas City, Kan., Police Department.
Justice Department Settles Lawsuit Against West Virginia-Based Union for Violating Reemployment Rights of Army National GuardsmanRead the Press Release
The Justice Department announced today it has reached a settlement agreement with Laborers Local No. 1149, based in Wheeling, West Virginia, resolving claims that the union violated the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) when it failed to reinstate U.S. Army National Guardsman Elliot Ferrell as an apprentice laborer after his return from three months of basic training in 2014. As a result of that failure, Ferrell was ineligible to continue to receive job referrals through the union’s “hiring hall.”
USERRA gives service members the right to be reemployed in the civilian position that they would have attained if they had not been absent for military service, subject to certain conditions. Under federal regulations, when a union operates a hiring hall that refers employees to jobs with employers, both the union and the employers have reemployment obligations to returning service members.
According to the Justice Department’s complaint, which was filed with the settlement agreement, Ferrell was gainfully employed through a series of job referrals from the hiring hall operated by the union until his departure for military duty. The complaint alleges that Ferrell notified the union of his impending military duty and was told that his obligation to pay dues would be suspended for the duration of his duty. Then, while Ferrell was attending basic training, the union notified his aunt that it had terminated his apprenticeship because one month’s payment of dues was late. Though she immediately sent a check for the full amount owed, the union returned it and refused to rescind the termination. The union’s action disqualified Ferrell from further hiring-hall job referrals. Under the terms of the consent decree, which is still subject to approval by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia, the union must pay Ferrell compensation for lost income and further agrees that the hiring hall that it operates will comply with its obligations under USERRA, including its reemployment provisions.
“The civilian careers of the men and women in the National Guard should never be adversely affected because they volunteer to serve our country,” said Acting Associate Attorney General Bill Baer. “Through the Servicemembers and Veterans Initiative, the Department of Justice will continue devoting times and resources to protect the men and women who serve in our Armed Forces from unjust actions and illegal burdens.”
“Men and women who defend our freedom should receive our highest level of gratitude, not face barriers of discrimination,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The Department of Justice will continue to vigorously enforce USERRA to ensure that not only employers, but also unions operating hiring halls that refer employees to jobs, do not violate the rights of service members when they return to civilian life.”
“National Guard members, taking leave to serve our country, must be protected from overt as well as less readily apparent unlawful employment practices upon their return,” said U.S. Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld II of the Northern District of West Virginia. “Our office is committed to ensuring that all service members may return to their pre-service employment without demotion or penalty.”
Ferrell initially filed a complaint with the U.S. Labor Department’s Veterans’ Employment and Training Service, which investigated this matter and then referred it to the Justice Department after attempts at resolution failed.
The Civil Rights Division has given a high priority to the enforcement of service members’ rights under USERRA. Additional information about USERRA can be found on the Justice Department’s websites at http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/emp and http://www.servicemembers.gov, as well as on the Labor Department’s website at http://www.dol.gov/vets/programs/userra/main.htm.
Ferrell Complaint
Ferrell Joint Motion to Approve Consent Decree
Ferrell Consent Decree
Justice Department Hosts Interagency Community Initiative in Birmingham to Combat Religious Discrimination in EmploymentRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM — The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Alabama, in partnership with other federal agencies, hosted a community roundtable at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute on Wednesday that focused on religiously-motivated discrimination in hiring and in the workplace, and on ways the federal government can improve its efforts in these critically important areas, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance.
“The civil rights movement in Birmingham began in large part in our religious community,” Vance said. “The religious community in Birmingham, as across the nation, is now more diverse. Today’s opportunity to listen to the concerns and issues people of varied faiths encounter at the intersection of the exercise of their religion and their employment will help us all to better understand and respect the wide range of worship and belief that coexist in our great democracy,” she said.
About 20 representatives from various faiths and faith-based organizations in the Birmingham Area gathered around a table with Vance and officials with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department, and the Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs to discuss short and long-term goals on how the federal government can better address the problem of religious discrimination in employment. Government representatives sought specific recommendations on steps the federal government might take to improve the way it responds to this issue.
Topics for the afternoon’s discussion were:
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Religion Discrimination and Harassment in the Workplace
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Data Collection and Reporting
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Accommodation of Religion
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Education Regarding Workplace Religious Discrimination
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Issues Involving Religious Institutions
The discussion underscored that issues exist in hiring and employment, particularly for those who are physically identifiable, like women who cover their heads or Sikhs who wear Turbans.
Participants also raised issues of prayer in the workplace, including Muslims who struggle to get accommodations for their daily prayers, to Jews, Muslims and non-believers who are ostracized for not joining in Christian prayer.
“We need to make it kosher to complain” about discrimination and subtle pressure to conform, said a Birmingham rabbi.
This roundtable is the third in a series of roundtables being held throughout the country as part of the Department’s new interagency community engagement initiative designed to promote religious freedom, challenge religious discrimination and enhance enforcement of religion-based hate crimes. This new initiative supplements the Department’s long-standing criminal and civil enforcement efforts to prevent religious discrimination and religion-motivated hate crimes.
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Jury Convicts Cahokia Man of Stealing Firearms from Swansea Rural KingRead the Press Release
James L. Porter, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, announced that late Wednesday morning, a federal jury in East St. Louis found Rodney A. Mathes, 49, of Cahokia, Illinois, guilty of stealing firearms from a federal firearms licensee and possession of firearms by a felon.
Evidence at trial showed that on January 19, 2015, Mathes and his brother-in-law, Michael Khoury, broke into the Rural King in Swansea, Illinois, stealing sixteen firearms before fleeing the scene. Mathes, a previously convicted felon, faces a minimum of fifteen years in prison based upon his criminal history. Sentencing has been scheduled for September 8, 2016, in front of the Honorable Michael J. Reagan.
The investigation into this crime was conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Swansea Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Laura V. Reppert and Special Assistant United States Attorney Shane B. Kelbley.
Juneau Man indicted of receipt of child pornographyRead the Press Release
Anchorage, Alaska – U.S. Attorney Karen L. Loeffler announced today that Juneau man was indicted yesterday for the receipt of child pornography.
Jim Wayne Thornhill, 38, of Juneau, Alaska was indicted on a single count for receipt of child pornography between the dates of November 3, 2014 and December 25, 2014. Thornhill is currently incarcerated for violating his conditions of state probation related to a prior sexual abuse of a minor conviction.
Assistant U. S. Attorney Jack S. Schmidt, who is prosecuting the case, indicated that Thornhill faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years and a potential maximum sentence of 40 years in prison, and a $250,000 fine, or both. Thornhill also faces a minimum of five years up to life on supervised release. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed will be based upon the seriousness of the offense and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.
The charges against Thronhill are the result of an investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). If the public has any further information, questions, or concerns about the activities of Thornhill please contact the FBI at (907) 265-8254.
This case is being brought as part of Project Safe Childhood. In May 2006, DOJ launched Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices, Project Safe Childhood combines federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov
An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government must prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Jicarilla Apache Man Sentenced for Federal Statutory Rape ConvictionRead the Press Release
ALBUQUERQUE – Raylon Castillo, 20, an enrolled member of the Jicarilla Apache Nation who resides in Dulce, N.M., was sentenced this morning for his statutory rape conviction. Castillo was sentenced to serve 30 months in federal prison followed by a five-year term of supervised release. Castillo will be required to register as a sex offender when he completes his prison sentence.
Castillo was arrested on Dec. 18, 2014, on a criminal complaint charging him with sexually assaulting a Native American minor who was between the age of 12 and 16 years on July 25, 2014, on the Mescalero Apache Indian Reservation in Otero County, N.M. Castillo was arrested on tribal charges on July 25, 2014, and remained in tribal custody until his arrest on the federal complaint in Dec. 2014.
Castillo was indicted on May 20, 2015, and charged with sexual abuse of a minor on July 25, 2014, in Otero County. On July 1, 2015, Castillo pled guilty to the indictment. In entering his guilty plea, Castillo admitted engaging in a sexual act with the victim, who was 14 years old and at least four years younger than Castillo. Castillo admitted committing the crime on the Mescalero Apache Reservation.
This case was investigated by the Las Cruces office of the FBI and the Mescalero Agency of the BIA’s Office of Justice Services. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron O. Jordan of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice (DOJ) to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and DOJ’s Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/.
Jefferson City, Columbia Men Plead Guilty to Illegal FirearmsRead the Press Release
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Jefferson City, Mo., man and a Columbia, Mo., man pleaded guilty in federal court today, in separate and unrelated cases, to illegally possessing firearms.
USA v. Tyler
Carlton Terron Tyler, 33, of Jefferson City, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge William A. Knox to being a felon in possession of a firearm.
By pleading guilty today, Tyler admitted that he was in possession of a loaded Smith & Wesson .40-caliber pistol on March 21, 2015. According to today’s plea agreement, Tyler was at a residence in Jefferson City on that date when he became involved in an argument and left the residence. He returned a short time later with a firearm and fired two shots, then left the residence in a pickup truck. A Jefferson City police officer, responding to the shots-fired call, saw Tyler drive past him and stopped him. The officer searched the pickup truck and found the firearm in the middle console.
Under federal law, it is illegal for anyone who has been convicted of a felony to be in possession of any firearm or ammunition. Tyler has prior felony convictions for unlawful use of a weapon, possession of a controlled substance and stealing.
Under federal statutes, Tyler is subject to a sentence of up to 10 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 Jim Lynn. It was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Jefferson City, Mo., Police Department.
USA v. Gordon
R’Landis Glenn Gordon, 26, of Columbia, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge William A. Knox to being a felon in possession of a firearm.
By pleading guilty today, Gordon admitted that he was in possession of a loaded Colt .22-caliber long rifle “officer’s model” revolver and ammunition on July 28, 2015. Columbia police officers stopped the vehicle Gordon was driving on that date due to an expired registration. Gordon was arrested for driving with a revoked driver’s license, and officers found a box of .22-caliber long rifle ammunition on him during a search. Officers then searched his vehicle and found the revolver, which was fully loaded and cocked.
Under federal law, it is illegal for anyone who has been convicted of a felony to be in possession of any firearm or ammunition. Gordon has prior felony convictions for theft, resisting arrest, robbery and armed criminal action.
Under federal statutes, Gordon is subject to a sentence of up to 10 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 Anthony P. Gonzalez. It was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Columbia, Mo., Police Department.
Jacksonville Man Sentenced to 4 Years in $2.1 Million Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
Jacksonville, Florida – United States District Judge Marcia Morales Howard has sentenced Andrew A. Rooks (59, Jacksonville) to 48 months in federal prison for his role in two separate conspiracies to commit mail and wire fraud. The Court also entered a forfeiture judgment in the amount of $ 2,187,049. A separate restitution hearing is scheduled for July 5, 2016.
According to court documents, from 2001 until July 2011, Rooks worked for Sea Star Line, LLC, in its Jacksonville office. Sea Star, now called Tote Maritime Puerto Rico, transports goods by vessel in interstate and foreign commerce and has operations at the Port of Jacksonville. Rooks last served as the assistant vice president of operations. Beginning no later than November 2005, Rooks authorized the payment of phony invoices submitted on behalf of co-conspirator Keith Beavers. The invoices were for container and equipment decals that were never provided by Sea Star. The total payments Sea Star made to Beavers exceeded $1 million. During the same time period, Rooks also carried on a second conspiracy. He authorized the payment of phony invoices to two companies controlled by co-conspirator Russell Cody. The invoices, totaling more than $1 million, were for inspection and transportation services of Sea Star’s containers and equipment. They were false because those services were never provided by Tiburon Transportation Services and Lancer Logistics, which were front companies that Cody controlled. Instead, Beavers and Cody made kickback payments to Rooks, and to a company Rooks controlled.
After Rooks was terminated by Sea Star, he got a job with another Jacksonville company, TrailerBridge, Inc., and continued the fraud scheme. TrailerBridge paid approximately $107,000 as a result of phony invoices.
Beavers and Cody previously pleaded guilty to their roles in the conspiracies.
This case was investigated by the Jacksonville office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Dale Campion.
Inmate at USP Lee Sentenced for Having Weapon in FacilityRead the Press Release
ABINGDON, VIRGINIA – An inmate at the USP Lee in Jonesville, Virginia, who previously pled guilty to unlawfully possessing a weapon inside the prison, was sentenced yesterday in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Abingdon, United States Attorney John P. Fishwick Jr. announced today.
Jemel Jordan, 28, of Jonesville, Virginia, pled guilty last week to one count of possessing contraband in prison, a weapon and one count of making an obscene display or exposure. Yesterday in District Court, Jordan was sentenced to 40 months in prison.
“Inside the walls of Federal prison law and order will still be upheld,” United States Attorney John P. Fishwick Jr. said today. “When individuals refuse to follow the law, they will be punished.”
The investigation of the case was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Prisons. Special Assistant United States Attorney Debbie H. Stevens prosecuted the case for the United States.
Houston Tax Return Preparer Convicted of Falsifying Personal and Client Tax ReturnsRead the Press Release
HOUSTON – Frances King Diaz has entered a plea of guilty for falsifying personal and client tax returns, announced U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson along with Special Agent in Charge Rick Goss of Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI).
According to the factual basis in support of the plea, Diaz claimed false deductions for herself and for clients of A&F Tax Service that generated fraudulent tax refunds totaling approximately $411,722 for tax years 2008 through 2012.
“While most return preparers provide excellent service to their clients, a few unscrupulous tax preparers file false and fraudulent returns to defraud the government, the honest tax-paying public and their own clients,” said Goss. “CI will continue to work to ensure that all tax practitioners adhere to professional standards and follow the law.”
During today’s hearing, Diaz admitted she filed tax returns for herself that substantially understated the business income of A&F Tax Service. The most egregious was a 2009 tax return that reported business income of only $11,205 from the tax preparation service when approximately $164,526 should have been reported. The plea agreement stipulated that this understatement alone cost the National Treasury $53,895. Diaz admitted that similar understatements in her 2010 thru 2012 tax returns cost the National Treasury another $144,756 for a total of approximately $198,651. Diaz has already made full restitution to the IRS for these losses.
Diaz also acknowledged that she sought to enhance the reputation of A&F Tax Service by generating large income tax refunds for her clients. In doing so, Diaz admitted she had inflated various deductions, credits and business losses in at least 35 tax returns for at least 15 clients for tax years 2008 through 2012 causing losses to the National Treasury of approximately $213,071. While these losses can be recovered from the taxpayers who received the refunds, Diaz could also be ordered to pay restitution at the time of sentencing.
U.S. District Judge David Hittner, who accepted the guilty plea, has set a sentencing date of July 15, 2016, at which time Diaz faces up to three years in prison and $250,000 fine. She was permitted to remain on bond until that hearing.
The investigation leading to these charges was conducted by IRS-CI. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jimmy Sledge Jr. is prosecuting the case.
Honduran National Pleads Guilty to Illegal Rentry and Conspiracy to Sell Identification DocumentsRead the Press Release
U.S. Attorney Kenneth A. Polite announced that JORGE MALDONADO-RIOS, age 29, a citizen of Honduras, pled guilty today to illegal reentry of a removed alien and conspiracy to transfer identification documents.
According to court documents, MALDONADO-RIOS illegally reentered the United States after he was deported on August 16, 2012. Additionally, the court documents also indicated that MALDONADO conspired with two other individuals to sell a social security card and birth certificate to a confidential informant working with special agents of the Department of Homeland Security.
At sentencing, MALDONADO faces a maximum term of imprisonment of two years, a maximum fine of $250,000, a maximum term of supervised release of one year, and a mandatory $100 special assessment on the reentry charge. MALDONADO faces a maximum term of fifteen years, a maximum fine of $250,000, a maximum term of supervised release of three years, and a mandatory $100 special assessment on the conspiracy charge. U.S. District Judge Sarah S. Vance has scheduled sentencing for June 1, 2016.
U.S. Attorney Polite praised the work of the United States Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations, in investigating this matter. Assistant U.S. Attorney Spiro G. Latsis is in charge of the prosecution.
Honduran Man Sentenced for Illegal Use of a Social Security NumberRead the Press Release
U.S. Attorney Kenneth A. Polite announced that NOE FRANCISCO MARADIAGA-MIRANDA, a/k/a “ISAAC LISBOA MORALES,” a/k/a “NOE FRANCISCO MARADIAGA,” a/k/a “NOE FRANCISCO,” a/k/a “ISAAC LISBOA,” age 34, a Honduran citizen, was sentenced today for falsely representing a social security number in order to obtain employment.
U.S. District Judge Sarah S. Vance sentenced MARADIAGA-MIRANDA to 8 months in prison, to be followed by one year of supervised release. Following completion of his sentenced, MARADIAGA-MIRANDA will be surrendered to the custody of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for removal proceedings.
According to the court documents, from on or about April 30, 2012, until on or about September 15, 2015, MARADIAGA-MIRANDA falsely represented that Social Security Number XXX-XX-5102 was assigned to him by the Commissioner of Social Security to obtain employment when in truth and in fact it was not.
U.S. Attorney Polite praised the work of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement in investigating this matter. Assistant United States Attorney Emily K. Greenfield was in charge of the prosecution.
Henderson Man Sentenced to 241 Months for String of Robberies in Granville CountyRead the Press Release
RALEIGH – The United States Attorney’s Office announced that today in federal court, United States District Judge Terrence W. Boyle sentenced JOHNNIE ANTHONY MANSON, 24, of Henderson to 241 months imprisonment, followed by 5 years of supervised release.
MANSON was named in a Criminal Information filed on August 14, 2015, charging him with Armed Bank Robbery, Aiding and Abetting; two counts of Hobbs Act Robbery and Aiding and Abetting; and Discharging a Firearm in Furtherance of a Crime of Violence and Aiding and Abetting. On September 28, 2015, MANSON pled guilty to all four counts and he agreed to pay restitution of $1,715 to SunTrust Bank, $2,815.02 to Bowen’s Mini Mart, and $3,847 to Berea Mini Mart. Shaquan Manson was previously sentenced to 166 months imprisonment on November 17, 2014, for his involvement in the Bowens Mini Mart robbery and discharge of a firearm.
On March 20, 2013, JOHNNIE MANSON and another entered the SunTrust Bank located in Creedmoor, wearing masks and possessing a firearm. They left the bank with $1,715 in U.S. Currency.
On July 7, 2013, MANSON and his brother, Shaquan Manson, entered Bowen’s Mini Mart located in Oxford, North Carolina, wearing ski masks and possessing a handgun. The two left with $2,500 in U.S. currency. While leaving Bowen’s, a shot was fired back in to the store.
On August 2, 2013, JOHNNIE MANSON, and another, entered the Berea Mini Mart located in Oxford, North Carolina, wearing a mask and gloves. The two approached the cashier, pointed the firearm at the cashier, and demanded money. The cashier complied and provided them with $3,847 in U.S. currency.
This case was part of the Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) initiative which encourages federal, state, and local agencies to cooperate in a unified “team effort” against gun crime, targeting repeat offenders who continually plague their communities.
Investigation of this case was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Creedmoor Police Department, the State Bureau of Investigation, and the Granville County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant United States Attorney S. Katherine Burnette prosecuted the case for the government.
Hastings Resident Sentenced for Aiding the Unlawful Hiring of an AlienRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Deborah R. Gilg announced that Stephanie Hagemeier, age 43 of Hastings, Nebraska, was sentenced upon her conviction for aiding and abetting the unlawful hiring of an alien. Senior United States District Court Judge Lyle E. Strom sentenced Hagemeier to one year of probation and ordered her to pay a fine of $500. Paul Younes and Kearney Hospitality, Inc. previously entered pleas of guilty for their roles in this matter and sentencing has been set for May 9, 2016, for those cases.
The investigation revealed that Blanca Gama, a citizen of Mexico who was not lawfully in the United States, was employed as the supervisor of housekeeping at the Holiday Inn Express in Hastings where Hagemeier was employed as the manager. In 2014, Hagemeier learned Gama was under investigation by the Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General. Gama quit her job at the Holiday Inn Express but later met with Younes who arranged for her to be employed in the housekeeping department at the Fairfield Inn & Suites in Kearney under the name Elizabeth Gomez. Hagemeier was aware that Gama had been hired under those circumstances.
At Gama’s request, Younes later authorized Gama’s re-hire at the Holiday Inn Express in Hastings under the name Jacqueline Lopez even though she continued to be referred to as Blanca Gama at that location. Hagemeier signed the I-9 form even though she knew that Gama was not Jacqueline Lopez and that she was not authorized to work in the United States.
This case was investigated by the Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General, and the Department of Homeland Security Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Glenview Man Pleads Guilty to Perjury Charge for Lying to Federal Grand Jury Investigating Possible Hiring Violations in Cook County Circuit Court Clerk’s OfficeRead the Press Release
CHICAGO — A Glenview man who was hired by the Cook County Circuit Court Clerk’s Office after loaning $15,000 to a company controlled by the Clerk’s husband pleaded guilty to a perjury charge today for lying during testimony before a federal grand jury.
SIVASUBRAMANI RAJARAM admitted in a plea agreement that in August 2014 he loaned $15,000 to Goat Masters Corp., whose president was the husband of the Cook County Circuit Court Clerk. The following month, Rajaram was hired by the Clerk’s Office as a level four Senior Clerk, according to the plea agreement. Rajaram had previously worked in the Clerk’s Office but had been living in India for several years.
On or about Oct. 1, 2015, Rajaram testified before a federal grand jury that was investigating possible criminal violations in connection with the purchasing of jobs and promotions within the Clerk’s Office. During his testimony, Rajaram said he had not spoken to the Circuit Court Clerk after his 2014 hiring. He also testified that he had spoken to another high-ranking employee of the Clerk’s Office only “three or four times” since returning to Chicago from India. Rajaram admitted in the plea agreement that both statements were false.
Rajaram, 48, of Glenview, pleaded guilty to one count of making a false declaration before a grand jury. The charge is punishable by up to five years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000. U.S. District Judge John W. Darrah scheduled a sentencing hearing for Sept. 14, 2016, at 1:30 p.m.
The guilty plea was announced by Zachary T. Fardon, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Anita Alvarez, Cook County State’s Attorney; Patrick M. Blanchard, Cook County Inspector General; and Michael J. Anderson, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The government is represented by Assistant United States Attorneys Heather McShain and Ankur Srivastava.
Plea Agreement
Gerald Wayne Jackson Sentenced to 14.5 Years in Federal Prison for Attempted Armed Jewelry Store RobberyRead the Press Release
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - On April 20, 2016, Gerald Wayne Jackson, 27, of Chattanooga, Tenn., was sentenced by the Honorable Curtis L. Collier, Senior U.S. District Judge, to serve 175 months in federal prison. Jackson pleaded guilty to an attempted Hobbs Act robbery and discharge of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence in October 2015.
In April 2013, Jackson and his associate Diontre Danforth, 21, of Chattanooga, Tenn., who was also charged in this case, attempted to commit an armed robbery of the Kennedy Jewelry Store in Chattanooga, Tenn. Jackson entered the jewelry store wearing a mask covering his face and armed with a .223 caliber Saiga assault rifle loaded with a magazine. Jackson immediately fired the rifle toward the back of the store where several employees and a customer were standing. He demanded the employees hand “all of it” over to Danforth, who had entered the store with his face covered carrying a laundry basket and pillow case. But, before they had time to take any merchandise, one of the store managers heard gunfire, grabbed his 9mm handgun and returned fire. Jackson fired several shots toward the manager before he and Danforth left the store. Jackson proceeded to fire several more shots into the store. In total, seven .223 caliber shell casings were recovered from the scene. Several days later, an alert Chattanooga police officer conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle occupied by Danforth and Jackson, which matched the description of the vehicle used in the robbery. Subsequent investigation of evidence recovered from the crime scene and a residence further linked both Danforth and Jackson to the robbery. Danforth previously pleaded guilty and was sentenced to serve nine years in federal prison.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Chattanooga Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Meredith Edwards represented the United States.
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Fort Myers Man Sentenced to More Than 15 Years in Federal PrisonRead the Press Release
Fort Myers, Florida – United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III announces that U.S. District Judge Sheri Polster Chappell has sentenced Tavares E. Felton (41, Fort Myers) to 15 years and 8 months in federal prison for the illegal possession a firearm by a convicted felon. Felton, a three-time convicted felon, was subject to enhanced penalties under the Armed Career Criminal statute. The Court also ordered him to forfeit two firearms, high-capacity magazines, and ammunition associated with the offense, namely a Sig Sauer 5.56mm semi-automatic rifle and a Saiga AK-47 style 7.62mm semi-automatic rifle.
According to court documents, a member of the Fort Myers Police Department was investigating a domestic incident at a residence where Felton resided. Officers obtained a search warrant in connection with the domestic incident, and later procured a second warrant. During the execution of the second warrant, police found large quantities of heroin, sealed for distribution, Alprazolam pills, a bag containing $18,000 in bundled cash, and two assault rifles in Felton’s bedroom.
At the time of the incident, Felton had already been convicted of selling controlled substances, including heroin, on three prior occasions. Therefore, he was prohibited from possessing a firearm or ammunition under federal law.
This case was investigated by the Fort Myers Police Department, the Drug Enforcement Administration Task Force, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Charles D. Schmitz.
Former U.S. Army Sergeant Sentenced to Federal Prison for Stealing over $120,000 Through Processing of Fraudulent Travel VouchersRead the Press Release
In Waco today, 34-year-old Justin Neal Watson was sentenced to 16 months in federal prison after admitting to stealing money from the Government through the processing of fraudulent travel vouchers announced United States Attorney Richard L. Durbin, Jr., and Special Agent in Charge Scott Wilk, U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command Southwestern Fraud Field Office.
In addition to the prison term, United States District Judge Walter S. Smith, Jr. ordered that the former U.S. Army Sergeant stationed at Ft. Hood, TX, pay $121,797.96 restitution to the Government and be placed on supervised release for a period of three years following the completion of his prison term.
On December 17, 2015, Watson pleaded guilty to one count of theft of government property. According to court records, Watson was assigned as the Authorizing Official for the Defense Travel System (DTS). As such, he maintained the authority to review, authorize, and approve expenditures of U.S. Government funds for official travel.
By pleading guilty, Watson admitted that between November 2011 and April 2012, he engaged in a scheme to defraud the United States Army by creating and approving fraudulent vouchers in the DTS which resulted in payments to his bank account that he later converted to his own use.
This case was investigated by agents with the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command Southwestern Fraud Field Office. Assistant United States Attorney Greg Gloff prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.
Former St. Charles District Attorney Harry Morel Pleads Guilty to Obstruction of JusticeRead the Press Release
U.S. Attorney Kenneth A. Polite announced today HARRY J. MOREL, JR., age 73, pled guilty to obstruction of justice in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1512(d)(1).
According to court records, MOREL served as the elected prosecutor of St. Charles Parish, Louisiana from on or about January 1, 1979 until May 31, 2012. Thereafter, he became an Assistant District Attorney in the Office of the District Attorney for St. Charles Parish and remained in that position until January 11, 2013. MOREL resided in, and his office was located in, St. Charles Parish, Louisiana, in the Eastern District of Louisiana.
As District Attorney and as an Assistant District Attorney for St. Charles Parish, MOREL was responsible for prosecuting individuals charged with criminal and traffic offenses against the State of Louisiana. As the District Attorney, MOREL had the authority and discretion to, among other things, make bail recommendations, make sentence recommendations and bring dismiss, forego or reduce charges.
MOREL freely admitted that he is guilty of Obstruction of Justice in that he harassed Individual "A" and attempted to prevent and dissuade Individual "A" from attending or testifying in an official proceeding, i.e., the federal grand jury, by telling Individual "A" to "get rid of” and to "destroy" the evidence of a meeting they had and to deny the inappropriate nature of the meeting to law enforcement officials. Furthermore, based on Individual "A"'s representations, MOREL believed there would be a federal Grand Jury investigation, and as a result asked her to conceal information that would have likely led to her being a witness before that body.
MOREL also admitted that on other occasions, between 2007 and 2009, he solicited sex from other individuals who were defendants or who had family members who were defendants in the St. Charles Parish criminal justice system. While soliciting sex from these individuals, MOREL likewise used the office of the District Attorney to provide benefits to these other individuals, including falsifying community service reports.
MOREL faces a maximum term of imprisonment of three years, a fine of $250,000 and one year of supervised release following any term of imprisonment. Under the terms of his Rule 11(c)(1)(B) plea agreement, MOREL acknowledges that the Government will recommend that the Court impose the maximum sentence of three years in prison. U.S. District Judge Kurt D. Engelhardt set sentencing for August 17, 2016.
U.S. Attorney Polite noted that the investigation has not implicated any other former or current employees of the St. Charles Parish District Attorney's Office.
U.S. Attorney Polite praised the work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, particularly Special Agent Michael Zummer, and the St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office in investigating this matter. Assistant U.S. Attorneys James Baehr and Mark Miller are in charge of the prosecution.
Former Shreveport chiropractor, son plead guilty to operating illegal bitcoin exchange businessRead the Press Release
SHREVEPORT, La. – United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced that a former Shreveport chiropractor and his son pleaded guilty Tuesday to funneling money through an unlawful bitcoin financial scheme.
Randall Bryan Lord, 58, and his son, Michael Aaron Lord, 29, both of Shreveport, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge S. Maurice Hicks Jr. They pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money servicing business. In addition, Michael Lord pleaded guilty to one count of drug conspiracy for agreeing to distribute controlled dangerous substances to include alprazolam, a Schedule IV controlled substance. According to the guilty plea, from at least 2013 to 2015, the defendants were accepting currency, money orders and money paks and exchanging those funds for bitcoin, a decentralized form of electronic or digital currency, existing entirely on the Internet and not in any physical form. Contrary to law, the Lords were not registered with FinCEN or licensed to operate as a money service business with the State of Louisiana. The Lords also failed to report the receipt of more than $10,000 in U.S. currency. Also, beginning in March 2015, Michael Lord was involved in a drug conspiracy to distribute alprazolam.
The defendants face five years in prison for the conspiracy count, and Michael Lord faces five years in prison for the drug count. They also face three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine. A sentencing date of August 1, 2016 was set.
The IRS, FBI, U.S. Department of Homeland Security-Homeland Security Investigations and U.S. Postal Inspection Service conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Cytheria D. Jernigan is prosecuting the case.
Former School Teacher Pleads Guilty to Transportation of PornographyRead the Press Release
U.S. Attorney Kenneth A. Polite announced that DON FRANCIS, JR., age 45, of Metairie, pled guilty today for crimes involving the sexual exploitation of children.
According to court records, on February 5, 2014, Special Agents with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security-Homeland Security Investigations (“HSI”) assisted the Louisiana Department of Justice and the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office with the execution of a search warrant at FRANCIS’s residence in Metairie. HSI computer forensic agents located 5,378 images and 362 videos depicting the sexual victimization of children (some of whom were infants) on FRANCIS’s computer.
FRANCIS faces a mandatory term of imprisonment of fifteen years, followed by up to a lifetime term of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine pursuant to his plea agreement. U.S. District Judge Sarah S. Vance set sentencing on August 3, 2016.
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 special agents from the U. S. Department of Homeland Security-HSI, the Louisiana Department of Justice, and the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office, in investigating this matter. Project Safe Childhood Coordinator and Fraud Unit Chief, Assistant U. S. Attorney Brian M. Klebba is in charge of the prosecution.
Former President of Auto Parts Company Pleads Guilty to Participating in Body Sealing Products Bid-Rigging ConspiracyRead the Press Release
The former president of an automotive parts company pleaded guilty today and was sentenced to serve 18 months in a U.S. prison for his role in a conspiracy to fix prices and rig bids for the sale of automotive body sealing products sold in the United States, the Justice Department announced.
Keiji Kyomoto, a former executive of an automotive body sealing products supplier based in Hiroshima, Japan, and former president of its U.S. joint venture, pleaded guilty today in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky to a single-count indictment charging him with bid rigging and price fixing. As part of his plea agreement, Kyomoto also agreed to pay a $20,000 criminal fine.
“Today’s plea is yet another example of our commitment to holding senior-level executives accountable for corporate wrongdoing,” said Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brent Snyder of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. “Whether collusion has affected automobile parts, shipping services, financial products, electronic components or even heir location services, the department has a strong and ever increasing record of prosecuting individuals in order to deter criminal antitrust practices.”
“The FBI is committed to aggressively investigating individuals who engage in criminal conduct that corrupts the global marketplace,” said Special Agent in Charge Howard S. Marshall of the FBI’s Louisville Division. “We will continue our work with the Department of Justice Antitrust Division to uncover schemes aimed at creating an unfair competitive advantage by way of price fixing, bid rigging or other illegal means.”
On Oct. 8, 2015, a federal grand jury in Covington, Kentucky, returned an indictment against Kyomoto and two other individuals, charging them with conspiring to rig bids for and fix the prices of body sealing products sold to Honda Motor Company Ltd., Toyota Motor Corp. and certain of their subsidiaries and affiliates for installation in vehicles manufactured and sold in the United States and elsewhere. Automotive body sealing products consist of body-side opening seals, door-side weather-stripping, glass-run channels, trunk lids and other smaller seals, which are installed into automobiles to keep the interior dry from rain and free from wind and exterior noises.
According to the indictment, Kyomoto and his co-conspirators instructed subordinates at their respective companies to communicate with co-conspirators at other companies in order to allocate sales of, rig bids for and fix the prices of automotive body sealing products; were aware that employees under their supervision were engaging in such communications; and condoned such communications. The indictment further alleged that Kyomoto attended meetings in the United States with co-conspirators during which Kyomoto and the co-conspirators reached agreements regarding sales of automotive body sealing products to Honda and Toyota. The indictment charged Kyomoto with participating in the conspiracy beginning at least as early as September 2003 until at least October 2011. For most of this period, Kyomoto resided in the United States and served as president of an unnamed joint venture with offices in Indiana and Michigan, which manufactured and sold automotive body sealing products.
Today’s guilty plea is the result of an ongoing federal antitrust investigation into price fixing, bid rigging and other anticompetitive conduct in the automotive parts industry, which is being conducted by the Antitrust Division’s criminal enforcement sections and the FBI. A total of 58 individuals and 39 companies have been charged and have agreed to pay more than $2.6 billion in criminal fines. This case was brought by the Antitrust Division’s Chicago Office and the FBI’s Louisville Division, Covington Resident Agency, with the assistance of the FBI’s International Corruption Unit and the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Eastern District of Kentucky. Anyone with information about anticompetitive conduct in the automotive parts industry should contact the Antitrust Division’s Citizen Complaint Center at 888-647-3258, visit www.justice.gov/atr/contact/newcase.html or call the FBI’s Louisville Division at 502-263-6000.
Former Owner and President of Pennsylvania Consulting Companies Pleads Guilty to Bribing Official at European Bank for Reconstruction and DevelopmentRead the Press Release
The former owner and president of Chestnut Consulting Group Inc. and Chestnut Consulting Group Co. (the Chestnut Group) pleaded guilty today to bribing an official at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).
Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Zane David Memeger of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and Special Agent in Charge William F. Sweeney of the FBI’s Philadelphia Division made the announcement.
Dmitrij Harder, 43, of Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania, a U.S. legal permanent resident, pleaded guilty to two counts of violating the FCPA before U.S. District Judge Paul S. Diamond of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Sentencing is scheduled for July 21, 2016.
According to admissions made in connection with Harder’s plea, the EBRD was a multilateral development bank headquartered in London that was owned by more than 60 sovereign nations and provided financing for development projects in emerging economies, primarily in Eastern Europe. Harder admitted that between 2007 and 2009, he engaged in a scheme to pay approximately $3.5 million in bribes to an EBRD official to corruptly influence the official’s actions on applications for EBRD financing submitted by the Chestnut Group’s clients and to influence the official to direct business to the Chestnut Group.
The EBRD ultimately approved applications for financing from two of the Chestnut Group’s corporate clients; the first resulted in the EBRD providing an $85 million investment and a 90 million Euro loan, while the second resulted in a $40 million investment and a $60 million convertible loan, according to the plea. Harder admitted that the Chestnut Group earned approximately $8 million in “success fees” as a result of the EBRD’s approval of these two applications.
In a related action, the EBRD official, Andrey Ryjenko, and his sister, Tatjana Sanderson, have been charged by the United Kingdom’s Crown Prosecution Service and are pending trial. A status conference in that matter is set for June 8, 2016.
The FBI’s Philadelphia Division is investigating the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle Morgan of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and Senior Trial Attorney Jason Linder of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section are prosecuting the case. The City of London Police’s Overseas Anti Corruption Unit and the Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs provided assistance. Germany, Jersey and Guernsey also provided assistance in this matter.
Additional information about the department’s FCPA enforcement efforts can be found at www.justice.gov/criminal/fraud/fcpa.
Former Office Manager Pleads Guilty to Stealing over $150,000 from ChurchRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON – Barry Tillman, 59, who worked as the office manager for a church and its affiliated non-profit organization, pled guilty today to a federal charge stemming from a scheme in which he embezzled over $150,000, U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips announced.
Tillman, of Washington, D.C., pled guilty to wire fraud in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The charge carries a statutory maximum of 20 years in prison and potential financial penalties. Under federal sentencing guidelines, Tillman potentially faces up to 27 months in prison and a fine of up to $95,000. He also has agreed to pay a total of $153,754 in restitution. The Honorable Rudolph Contreras scheduled sentencing for July 13, 2016.
According to the government’s evidence, Tillman began work in 2008 as an office manager for the Wisconsin Avenue Baptist Church, as well as City Gate, an affiliated non-profit organization that provided support for youth through after-school and summer educational programs. The organization also provided support to low-income families by supplying meals and job training. Tillman’s responsibilities included bookkeeping and accounting duties.
From January 2009 through May 2013, Tillman processed salary payments to himself through both direct deposit and salary checks. He allowed the direct deposits knowing that he was receiving his salary by check, which resulted in him being paid twice. He kept a total of $153,754 of these electronic transfers for himself for his own use and benefit.
In announcing the plea, U.S. Attorney Phillips commended the work of those who investigated the case, including Criminal Investigator Juan Juarez of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD). He also expressed appreciation for the assistance provided by Criminal Investigator Stephen Cohen, Paralegal Specialist Jessica Mundi, and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Julia Jarrett, all of the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Finally, he acknowledged the efforts of Assistant U.S. Attorney Teresa A. Howie, who investigated and prosecuted the case.
Former NMMI Cadet from California Pleads Guilty to Federal Child Pornography Charge in New MexicoRead the Press Release
ALBUQUERQUE – Joshua Adam Williams, 20, of Lakeside, Calif., entered a guilty plea today in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., to a possession of child pornography charge. Under the terms of his plea agreement, Williams will be sentenced to ten years in prison followed by a 15-year term of supervised release. He will be required to register as a sex offender after completing his prison sentence.
Williams’ guilty plea was announced by U.S. Attorney Damon P. Martinez, Special Agent in Charge Terry Wade of the FBI’s Albuquerque Division and New Mexico State Police Chief Pete N. Kassetas.
Williams was arrested on Nov. 4, 2015, in Lakeside, Calif., on a criminal complaint alleging child pornography charges that was filed on Oct. 27, 2015, in federal court in Las Cruces. He was transferred from California to Las Cruces on Dec. 11, 2015, to face the charges against him.
The criminal complaint charged Williams with distribution, possession and attempted production of videos and images depicting minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. It alleged that Williams committed these crimes in May 2015 in Roswell, N.M., when he was enrolled as a cadet at the New Mexico Military Institute (NMMI).
Court filings reveal that the investigation into Williams began in Aug. 2014, when a father and minor child disclosed to the FBI that the child had been self-producing child pornography and sharing it with others through an internet chat room. The father surrendered the child’s cellular phone to the FBI and the FBI found it to contain alleged child pornography that had been shared with a specific account identified by a particular username.
Subsequent investigation revealed that Williams, who was then a NMMI cadet, was the subscriber to aforementioned account and search warrants were obtained for Williams’ computers, cellphone and other digital media. Forensic examinations of Williams’ computer and cellphone revealed that they contained videos and images consistent with child pornography.
During today’s proceedings, Williams pled guilty to a felony information charging him with possession of child pornography. In his plea agreement, Williams admitted that on May 5, 2015, he possessed a computer and cellular telephone that contained videos and images of child pornography. The plea agreement states that Williams’ computer contained a video of a toddler being sexually molested by an adult and his cellular phone contained approximately 100 videos of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
Williams remains in custody pending his sentencing hearing, which has yet to be scheduled. In his plea agreement, Williams agreed to pay $210,012 in restitution to any victim associated with the charges identified in the criminal complaint who requests restitution prior to the sentencing hearing.
This case was investigated by the Roswell office of the FBI, New Mexico State Police, New Mexico Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force and the New Mexico Regional Computer Forensic Laboratory with assistance from the FBI in San Diego, Calif., and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Marisa A. Lizarraga of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office is prosecuting the case as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice (DOJ) to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and DOJ’s Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/.
The case also was brought as a part of the New Mexico ICAC Task Force’s mission, which is to locate, track, and capture Internet child sexual predators and Internet child pornographers in New Mexico. There are 82 federal, state and local law enforcement agencies associated with the New Mexico ICAC Task Force, which is funded by a grant administered by the New Mexico Office of the Attorney General. Anyone with information relating to suspected child predators and suspected child abuse is encouraged to contact federal or local law enforcement.
Former Immigration Court Prosecutor Sentenced to Prison for Falsifying DocumentRead the Press Release
A former immigration court prosecutor who used a falsified document in an immigration proceeding, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to 30 days in prison, 100 hours of community service, one year of supervised release, and a 10-year ban on practicing law, announced U.S. Attorney Annette L. Hayes. JONATHAN M. LOVE, 58, pleaded guilty in January 2016 to deprivation of constitutional rights under color of law. At sentencing Magistrate Judge Brian A. Tsuchida said, “This is a very sad day . . . for no good reason you did great harm to this victim.”
According to records filed in the case, in May 2009, LOVE represented to an immigration judge that a particular immigration form had been signed by a person facing deportation in 2000. The evidence indicates that between July 2008 and May 2009, the form was fabricated and altered by LOVE to appear as though it had been signed in 2000, when in fact it had been signed in 2008. The falsified form impacted the person facing deportation by foreclosing a particular form of relief from deportation. When a new attorney noted the irregularities in the form, the case was reopened and the deportation was stayed. The person facing deportation was granted lawful permanent resident status in 2014.
An investigation by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations’ Office of Professional Responsible (OPR) did not uncover any other falsified documents in cases LOVE handled.
The plea agreement calls for LOVE to resign from any bar associations of which he is a member, and prohibits his re-application for ten years. Prosecutors argued the ban was appropriate noting that defendants in immigration court have a “right to proceedings free from false and fabricated evidence knowingly presented against them. When that right is denied, a real harm is inflicted both on society, which loses faith that its government plays fair, and the individual who suffers directly.” LOVE has agreed to pay $12,000 in restitution to the victim for the legal fees spent battling for legal status.
The case was investigated by ICE’s Office of Professional Responsibility.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Matthew Diggs.
Former FPC-Greenville Inmate Sentenced for EscapeRead the Press Release
James L. Porter, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, announced today that on April 19, 2016, Shelia B. Hatfield, 52, formerly an inmate at the Federal Prison Camp located in Greenville, Illinois (FPC-Greenville), was sentenced for Escape. Hatfield received 15 additional months in federal prison, followed by 3 years supervised release. Hatfield has been held without bond since her arraignment on the Indictment on May 12, 2015.
The offense occurred on March 9, 2015, when Hatfield, who was an inmate at FPC-Greenville at the time, was found in the parking lot of a Buchheit store outside the prison camp’s grounds without having received authorization to leave. Evidence introduced at sentencing revealed that, when she was captured, she was found with a bottle of whiskey, two bottles of vodka, fifteen packs of cigarettes, rolling papers, a cigarette lighter, and three packs of gum, all of which are prohibited items at FPC-Greenville. Hatfield had purchased the items from a convenience store that was approximately 1.5 miles from the prison camp. Despite Hatfield’s claim that she was forced to leave the camp to buy the contraband because of the abuse and harassment that she suffered at the hands of other inmates in her unit, she had never reported any abuse or harassment.
The case was investigated by the Bureau of Prisons’ Special Investigations Section. The case was assigned to Assistant United States Attorney Angela Scott.
Former Evanston Man Sentenced to over 19 Years for Robbing First Federal Savings Bank in Rock FallsRead the Press Release
ROCKFORD — A former Evanston, Ill. man was sentenced Tuesday in federal court on a federal bank robbery charge.
The defendant, CONRAD J. GONZALEZ, 48, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Frederick J. Kapala to 234 months in federal prison, and ordered to serve 3 years of supervised release following his term of imprisonment.
On January 7, 2016, following a three-day trial before Judge Kapala, Gonzalez was found guilty by a federal jury of robbing the First Federal Savings Bank, located at 701 1st Ave., in Rock Falls, Ill. on Oct. 30, 2013.
According to the indictment and evidence at trial, at approximately 1:00 p.m. on Oct. 30, 2013, Gonzalez entered First Federal wearing a baseball cap and Chicago Bears sweatshirt. Gonzalez approached a bank teller and handed her a note demanding money. When the teller attempted to retrieve the note from the counter, Gonzalez said, “That was a stupid thing to do,” and took the note back. The teller then handed $1,870 to Gonzalez, who then walked out of the bank on foot.
The sentencing was announced by Zachary T. Fardon, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Michael J. Anderson, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of Federal Bureau of Investigation. The Rock Falls and Sterling Police Departments assisted in the investigation.
The government was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joseph C. Pedersen and Monica V. Mallory.
Former Employee of Iowa City Pipe Dreamz Head Shop Sentenced on Federal Synthetic Drug ChargesRead the Press Release
A man who worked for the owner of a head shop in Iowa City was sentenced to more than nine years in federal prison yesterday in federal court in Cedar Rapids.
Wayne Christopher Watkins, age 40, from Peoria, Illinois, received the prison term after an October 8, 2015 guilty plea to conspiring to manufacture and distribute a synthetic drug called AB-FUBINACA. The owner of Pipe Dreamz in Iowa City, Robert Carl Sharp, pled guilty on October 5, 2015, but has since filed a motion to withdraw his guilty plea.
In a plea agreement, Watkins admitted that shortly after Sharp was released from federal prison in 2012, he began selling, and later manufacturing, smokeable synthetic cannabinoid products which are commonly known as “Spice,” “incense,” or K2. Watkins initially worked for Sharp at a store in Peoria, Illinois, called Smoke-N-Ink. Both men moved to Iowa in 2013 when Sharp opened a head shop called Pipe Dreamz in Iowa City.
Sharp would order synthetic cannabinoid chemicals and also purchase bulk quantities of dried damiana leaves, a plant material that resembles dried marijuana. Watkins admitted Sharp would purchase the chemicals, packaging materials, and plant material (typically damiana leaf), from various suppliers and then they would manufacture the product. Watkins admitted he would dilute the chemical in acetone, and then spray the mixture onto the leaves. Watkins would then add some flavoring and package the substances into the various brands sold by Sharp.
Watkins and Sharp sold these products in packets that marketed the substances as incense, and contained a warning that the products were “not for human consumption,” although both men admitted they knew the products were actually intended for human consumption. The synthetic cannabinoids in these products were actually research chemicals that have not been tested or approved as safe for human consumption, and which have unpredictable short-term effects and unknown long-term effects on users.
On May 7, 2014, Sharp’s store, his house and storage unit in Center Point, Watkins’s house in Cedar Rapids, and the Pipe Dreamz store in Iowa City, were all searched by federal law enforcement. During the searches, officers seized thousands of synthetic cannabinoid products, including the sprayed-on plant variety and a liquid form of the chemicals that was designed for use in e‑cigarettes. Officers seized an active manufacturing operation in Watkins’s house, as shown in photographs admitted at an earlier hearing, /media/799201/dl?inline
Watkins claimed Sharp told him that the chemicals they were using were legal. However, Watkins admitted he believed there was a high probability that the substances he received and distributed were regulated by federal drug laws and he deliberately avoided learning of the true identity of the substances.
Watkins was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge Linda R. Reade. Watkins was sentenced to 115 months’ imprisonment. A special assessment of $100 was imposed. He must also serve a three-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
The case was investigated by the Iowa City Police Department and as part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) program of the United States Department of Justice through a cooperative effort of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Task Force consisting of the DEA, the Linn County Sheriff's Office, the Cedar Rapids Police Department, the Marion Police Department, the Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement, and the Sixth Judicial District Department of Correctional Services; and the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Dan Chatham.
Court file information available https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. The case file number is 15-CR-31-LRR.
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