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24 March 2016
U.S. Marshals Service National Operation Nets More Than 8,000 FugitivesRead the Press Release
NEW ORLEANS – For the second consecutive year, the U.S. Marshals Service conducted a high-impact national fugitive apprehension initiative focusing on the country’s most violent offenders. This six-week initiative, called Operation Violence Reduction12 (Operation VR12), was conducted between February 1 and March 11. While Operation VR12 was conducted nationwide in all 94 federal judicial districts, U.S. Marshals focused special attention on 12 selected locations, designated as priority cities by the U.S. Department of Justice: Baltimore, Maryland; Brooklyn, New York; Camden, New Jersey; Chicago, Illinois; Compton, California; Fresno, California; Gary, Indiana; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Oakland, California; Savannah, Georgia; Washington, D.C.; and New Orleans, LA.
The U.S. Marshals Service used its multi-jurisdictional investigative authority and fugitive task force nationwide network to arrest more than 648 gang members and others wanted on criminal charges including 559 for homicide and 946 for sexual offenses. Investigators seized 463 firearms, $390,360 in currency, more than 71 kilograms of illegal narcotics and recovered 17 children who had been abducted and reported missing.
“We applied a strategically focused approach to locate and apprehend the nation’s most dangerous fugitives. By removing these violent offenders from the streets, the communities they preyed upon can immediately feel more secure.” said U.S. Marshals Service Deputy Director David Harlow. “Operation VR12 was about using our expertise and law enforcement partnerships to significantly impact our communities by focusing on the worst of the worst violent criminals.”
Locally, the operation in the Eastern District of Louisiana resulted in the arrest of 151 fugitives, gang members, sex offenders and violent criminals who met the OVR12 operational criteria. This closed 211 warrants, including 40 for Homicide, 35 for Robbery, 27 Sex Offenses and 19 Weapons Violations. “The success of this Operation is a testimony to the strength and determination of our law enforcement partnerships,” said Genny May, the United States Marshal for the Eastern District of Louisiana. She continued that “We want the public to know that this task force has the support of every local, state and federal agency in this region. We will continue to work together to take dangerous, violent offenders off the streets to ensure the safety and security of this community.”
The agencies who participated in OVR12 and the USMS Task Force are New Orleans Police Department, Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office, Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office, St Charles Parish Office, St John Parish Sheriff’s Office, St Bernard Parish Sheriff’s Office, Plaquemine Parish Sheriff’s Office, Slidell Police Department, Kenner Police Department, Louisiana Probation and Parole, Louisiana State Police, Housing Authority of New Orleans, Washington Parish Sheriff’s Office, U.S. Border Patrol, Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General, Department of Homeland Security/Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, New Orleans Emergency Medical Services, and Crimestoppers.
Some notable arrests in the Eastern District of Louisiana include:
On February 29th, 2015, Lionel Trumble escaped form the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office custody after attending a hearing in Municipal Court. After significant media coverage many hours of investigative work, task force officers developed information that Trumble was hiding in a residence located in the 2400 block of Milan Street in New Orleans. Trumble was arrested without incident on March 9th, 2016, still wearing the leg irons from his court appearance.
Dave Turner was wanted by St. Charles Sheriff’s Office for attempted first degree murder, first degree rape and second degree kidnapping. On February 1st, Turner forced entry into a residence where he assaulted and strangled the victim, causing her to lose consciousness. He then kidnapped the victim, forcing her into his vehicle. While driving, the victim unsuccessfully tried to escape, resulting in Turner opening the passenger side door and pushing her out of the moving vehicle. Turner was arrested without incident in New Orleans, LA, on February 2nd by the U.S. Marshals Task Force.
Michael and Terrell Monroe Michael and Terrell Monroe were wanted by the New Orleans Police Department for the November 25th, 2015 murder of Joe Dorsey, who succumbed to multiple gunshot wounds after the brazen, daylight attack on a city street. After extensive work conducted during this operation, local investigators developed information that the suspects were hiding in southwest Georgia. U.S. Marshals in Georgia arrested both Monroe brothers at separate locations on March 7th, 2016 and recovered a .40 caliber pistol, the same caliber used in the murder.
Ricky McKeel, a known member of the Harvey Hustlers street gang, allegedly assaulted a known female leading the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office to charge him with Aggravated Assault with a Firearm, Felon in Possession of a Firearm and two counts of Assault. Investigative efforts led task force officers to a residence in Harvey, LA where McKeel had barricaded himself in the attic, resulting in a three hour standoff with the JPSO SWAT team until he ultimately surrendered. A subsequent search warrant uncovered a Taurus 9mm semi-automatic handgun.
“This initiative highlights the success that our law enforcement partners can have when we come together – across federal, state, and local lines – to address violent crime in our region,” stated U.S. Attorney Polite.
The concept behind interagency law enforcement operations such as Operation VR12 evolved largely from regional and district task forces. Since the 1980s, the Marshals Service has combined their resources and expertise with local, state and federal agencies to find and apprehend dangerous fugitives. Operation VR12 continued this tradition.
For more information about Operation VR12, including photographs and B-roll footage, visit www.usmarshals.gov or www.usmarshals.gov/district/la-e/index.html.
U.S. Bureau of Prisons Corrections Officer Sentenced in Connection with Assault of Prison Inmate and Falsifying ReportsRead the Press Release
The Justice Department announced today that U.S. Bureau of Prisons Corrections Officer William Houghton, 32, was sentenced to one year and a day in prison in connection with the beating of a federal inmate and the subsequent submission of false reports.
Houghton previously pleaded guilty to violating the civil rights of an inmate inside the Coleman Correctional Facility in Coleman, Florida, on March 22, 2014, by striking the inmate repeatedly in the head and face. Houghton admitted that the inmate did not make any physically aggressive movements, show signs of imminent violence towards the defendant or clench his fists prior to the assault. While the inmate was on the ground, Houghton continuously told the inmate to stop resisting even though he was not resisting in any way, the defendant admitted. Houghton also pleaded guilty to submitting two false reports in connection with the incident, falsely stating that the inmate had attempted to assault him and omitting the fact that Houghton had repeatedly punched the inmate.
“When correction officers violate the civil rights of those they pledge to protect, they threaten the trust that all of us place in law enforcement to keep us safe and secure,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The Department of Justice will continue its vigorous efforts to ensure that when people abuse their law enforcement authority to break the law, we hold them accountable for their actions.”
This case was investigated by the FBI and the Justice Department’s Office of Inspector General, and prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Jared Fishman and Maura White of the Civil Rights Division’s Criminal Section.
Two Soldotna Men indicted for "spice" traffickingRead the Press Release
Anchorage, Alaska – U.S. Attorney Karen L. Loeffler announced today that a federal grand jury returned an indictment against two Soldotna men, charging them with trafficking in synthetic cannabinoids, informally known as “spice.” The two men are also charged with firearms offenses, in connection with Spice trafficking.
Philip Drake Kneeland, 33, of Soldotna, Alaska, allegedly doing business as Tobacco Distress, Inc., and William Donald Vincent Dooley, 27, of Soldotna, Alaska, are named in the indictment.
According to the indictment, in 2015, law enforcement authorities searched the premises of Tobacco Distress, located at Mile 91.5 of the Sterling Highway, Soldotna, and Kneeland’s Soldotna residence, seizing spice containing illegal “cannabimimetic agents,” including synthetic cannabinoids such as JWH-018, JWH-073, JWH-250 and others packaged as “Judgment Day,” “Armageddon,” “Big Bang,” “California Dreams” and other spice “brands” with flavor labels such as “Mango,” “Grape,” and “Cotton Candy.”
Spice consists of plant material laced with psychotropic drugs. Usually marketed in flashy foil packaging, spice is falsely sold as “herbal incense,” “potpourri,” and mislabeled as “not intended for human consumption.” The indictment alleges that using spice has caused escalating and frequent emergency room visits nationwide, for agitation, anxiety, nausea, vomiting, tachycardia, hypertension, seizures, and hallucinations.
Kneeland is named in five counts, and if convicted could face up to 20 years in prison on the three spice charges, and an additional mandatory minimum 30 years on firearms charges, consecutive to any sentence imposed for the drug charges. Dooley is named in three counts, and if convicted could face up to 20 years on the spice charges, and an additional mandatory five years in prison on a firearms charge. The indictment also seeks the forfeiture of real property, more than $75,000.00 in currency, several firearms and a 2014 GMC Sierra pickup truck.
U.S. Attorney Loeffler commends the Kenai Police Department, the Alaska State Troopers, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives for the investigation preceding the indictment.
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.
Two Men Indicted for Armed Robbery of Five Stores in St. Mary’s CountyRead the Press Release
Greenbelt, Maryland – A federal grand jury indicted Quantaz Lamar Shields, age 28, of Leonardtown, Maryland; and Trevone Damone Butler, age 25, of Lexington Park, Maryland, on charges that they conspired to rob businesses in St. Mary’s County. The indictment was returned on March 21, 2016 and unsealed today after Butler’s arrest. Shields is in custody on other charges.
The indictment was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Kevin Perkins of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; St. Mary’s County Sheriff Tim Cameron; and St. Mary’s County State’s Attorney Richard Fritz.
According to the 10 count indictment, on five occasions from October 20 to 28, 2015, Shields brandished a firearm and demanded money from employees of a liquor store, motel, pizza store, convenience store and pharmacy in Lexington Park and Leonardtown. Shields took store proceeds, tip money and cigarettes. Prior to leaving the pizza store and pharmacy, Shields phoned Butler so that Butler could pick him up from the scene of the robberies.
A detention hearing was held this morning for Butler before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jillyn K. Schulze in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt. Butler was detained pending trial. An initial appearance is scheduled for Shields on May 2, 2016 at 10:00 a.m.
Shields and Butler face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for the robbery conspiracy and on each count of robbery. Shields also faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 7 years in prison for the first count of brandishing a firearm during a robbery, consecutive to any term of imprisonment for the robberies, a consecutive mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years in prison for each additional count of brandishing a firearm during a robbery, and 10 years in prison for being a felon in possession of a gun.
An indictment is not a finding of guilt. An individual charged by indictment is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty at some later criminal proceedings.
United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the FBI, St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office and St. Mary’s County State’s Attorney’s Office for their work in the investigation. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant United States Attorneys Kelly O'Connell Hayes and Leah Jo Bressack, who are prosecuting the case.
Two Men Charged with Armed Robbery after Shoot-out with Law Enforcement Results in FatalityRead the Press Release
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that two men were charged in federal court today for the armed robbery of a Walgreens in Blue Springs, Mo., which resulted in a third suspect being fatally shot by law enforcement officers.
Shannon R. Thomas, 25, of Shawnee, Kan., and Deonte J. Collins-Abbott, 21, of Grandview, Mo., were charged in a federal criminal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Mo.
Today’s criminal complaint charges both Thomas and Collins-Abbott with the armed robbery of a Walgreens located at 9th and Duncan in Blue Springs. Thomas and Collins-Abbott are also charged with aiding and abetting each other to possess a firearm during a crime of violence.
According to an affidavit filed in support of today’s criminal complaint, law enforcement officers were conducting surveillance on Thomas and Collins-Abbott as part of an investigation into a series of 21 armed robberies of businesses in Independence, Mo., Raytown, Mo., North Kansas City, Mo., Kansas City, Mo., and Kansas City, Kan., since Jan. 2, 2016. In all of these robberies, the affidavit says, the suspects have consistently displayed handguns in a threatening manner and behaved in a violent and aggressive fashion physically toward their victims, including shooting one victim at the Conoco located at 4656 Prospect Ave., Kansas City, Mo., on March 15, 2016. The robberies appear to have been committed consistently by at least four suspects who appear in surveillance video in most of the incidents.
Law enforcement officers saw Collins-Abbott leave his apartment and travel to the apartment of Jermon Seals in Shawnee early this morning. When Collins-Abbott and Seals left the apartment, the affidavit says, they both appeared to be holding handguns and were dressed in all black clothing. They left in Seals’s 2001 BMW X5 SUV and eventually stopped to pick up Thomas.
At approximately 3:09 a.m., the affidavit says, they stopped at the Phillips 66 at 1005 N.W. Coronodo Dr., Blue Springs. They entered the business and quickly left. According to the affidavit, they had attempted to rob the business.
They then drove to the area of 9th and Duncan in Blue Springs. The affidavit says they left the vehicle and walked up to the Walgreens, where they confronted an employee outside the business and forced the employee inside at gunpoint. Once inside, one of the robbers placed a firearm to the back of the employee’s head and took money from the front register. The other two robbers went over the pharmacy counter and took prescription grade cough syrup at gunpoint from the pharmacist. They then exited the business.
Law enforcement officers confronted them as they were walking back to the vehicle, the affidavit says. They failed to comply with the officers’ commands, according to the affidavit, and turned towards the officers, pointing a gun in their direction. Officers returned fire and Seals was struck in the exchange. Collins-Abbott and Thomas were apprehended by officers after a short foot pursuit.
Dickinson cautioned that the charges contained in this complaint 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 Adam Caine. It was investigated by the FBI, the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department, the Independence, Mo., Police Department, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the U.S. Marshals Service.
Twenty Seven South End Alleged Gang Members Charged with Drug and Firearm OffensesRead the Press Release
Boston – Twenty seven individuals, many of whom are affiliated with the Lenox Street Cardinals, and other street gangs operating in the Lenox Street Housing Development area of Boston’s South End, have been charged with federal and state drug and firearms offenses.
Seventeen federal indictments and one criminal complaint were unsealed today in U.S. District Court in Boston, charging 19 defendants with distribution and possession of drugs and firearms in the Lenox Street Housing Development. In addition, eight individuals from the same area were charged in criminal complaints with drug distribution by state authorities.
“Through their sale of weapons and drugs, these defendants bring violence, fear and intimidation to a community in the heart of this City,” said United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz. “Lenox Street’s residents, surrounded by illegal activity and the violence that accompanies it, are made to feel like prisoners in their own homes. As the Department of Justice, we are committed to assisting residents in reclaiming their right live in a peaceful environment free from drugs, guns and violence.”
“ATF will continue to aggressively partner with its federal, state, and local law enforcement counterparts to dismantle criminal street gangs, and their drug trafficking and violence committed through the use of firearms”, said Daniel Kumor, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, Boston Field Division. “Furthermore, it demonstrates that law enforcement will not standby and allow these criminal street gangs to get away with such acts, which creates fear for the residents within the community.”
“These arrests send a strong message that illegal drugs and guns have no place on the streets of Boston,” said Boston Police Commissioner William B. Evans. “I want to commend all of my officers and our partners from the ATF, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office for their coordinated efforts during this lengthy investigation.”
“The children and families who live at the Lenox Street Housing Development deserve a safe, healthy environment free of the violence that goes hand in hand with the drug trade. Local, state, and federal authorities will never waver in our commitment to those families and their right to live free of fear,” said Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley.
The investigation was initiated in January 2015 with the principal goal of curtailing drug and gun trafficking that tyrannizes the Lenox Street Housing Development and severely disrupts the lives of residents. The Development and surrounding areas have historically suffered from the violence that accompanies these illegal activities. According to the Boston Police Department’s Boston Regional Intelligence Center (BRIC), the Lenox area was one of the City’s top 10 hotspots for violence in 2015. In fact, there were 30 shootings and more than 75 reports of shots fired in the area from March 2012 to June 2015.
The following defendants were charged in federal indictments or criminal complaint with:
Distribution of controlled substances within 1,000 feet of a public housing project:
1) Byron Alexander, aka “Shizz”
2) Dontane Bryant, aka “Tane”;
3) Tyler Deloach, aka “Tek”;
4) John Depina, aka “Dough”;
5) Stephen Freeman, aka “Stizz”;
6) Perry Hasberry, aka “Percy”
7) Rasean Hills, aka “Bleed”;
8) Keron-Randall Lewis, aka “Talent”;
9) Frank Melo, aka “Cuts”;
10) Pablo Moreta, aka “Migo”;
11) Anthony Nunez, aka “Dizzo”;
12) Hassan Parham, aka “Hizzy”;
13) James Richardson, aka “9-Ball”;
14) Derek Roberts, aka “Keas”;
15) Ellis Santos, aka “Slim Black”;
16) Anthony Williams aka “Batz.”
Distribution of a controlled substance:
17) Lawrence Bogarty, aka “LB”; and
18) Daryl Tolbert, aka “Blaze.”
Felon-in-possession of a firearm and ammunition:
19) George Deeble, aka “Smiley”; and
20) Pablo Moresta, aka “Migo.”
Ten of the nineteen federal defendants were arrested this morning and will appear later this afternoon in federal court.
The charge of distribution of controlled substances within 1,000 feet of a public housing project provides a mandatory minimum sentence of one year and no greater than 40 years in prison, a minimum of six years of supervised release and a fine of up to $2 million. The charge of distribution of a controlled substance provides a sentence of no greater than 20 years in prison, a minimum of three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $1 million. The charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition provides a sentence of no greater than 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office charged the following individuals in criminal complaints:
Distribution of cocaine:
1) Spencer Oyeyemi
2) Danielle Stokes
3) Monique McFarlin
4) Marquetta Matthews
Distribution of heroin:
5) Hector Delvalle
Distribution of methamphetamine:
6) Shomari Copeland
Possession of a firearm:
7) Markus Perry
Possession and illegal sale of firearm and ammunition:
8) Steven Allen
The investigation is continuing.
The case is being investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Boston Field Division; Boston Police Department’s Youth Violence Strike Force and District D-4 Drug Control Unit; and the Boston Housing Authority Police. The federal cases are being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys in Ortiz’s Organized Crime and Gang Unit. The state cases are being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys in Conley’s Gang and Drug Units.
The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The defendants are presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Tulsa Man Sentenced to 30 Months for Firearm PossessionRead the Press Release
MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA - The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, announced that JOSHUA JOHN KILLBLANE, age 33, of Tulsa, Oklahoma, was sentenced to 30 months imprisonment, followed by 3 years of supervised release for FELON IN POSSESSION OF FIREARM, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 922(g)(1) and 924(a)(2).
The Indictment alleged that on or about May 21, 2015, in the Eastern District of Oklahoma, the Defendant, JOSHUA JOHN KILLBLANE, having been convicted of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year, did knowingly possess in and affecting commerce, firearms, which had been shipped and transported in interstate commerce.
The charges arose from an investigation by the Muskogee Police Department, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The defendant pled guilty in November, 2015.
The Honorable Ronald A. White, District Judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, in Muskogee presided over the hearing. The defendant will remain in the custody of the United States Marshal Service pending transportation to the designated federal facility at which he will serve his nonparoleable sentence.
Assistant United States Attorney Kristin Harrington represented the United States.
Tohono O’odham Man Sentenced to 139 Months of ImprisonmentRead the Press Release
TUCSON, Ariz. – On March 21, 2016, Cameron Carl Saraficio, 34, of Santa Cruz, Ariz., a member of the Tohono O’odham Indian Nation, was sentenced by Chief U.S. District Judge Raner C. Collins to 139 months of imprisonment. Saraficio had previously pleaded guilty to two counts of assault with a deadly/dangerous weapon.
On Dec. 25, 2014, Tohono O’odham police officers responded to a report of a domestic incident in progress. Saraficio had struck his girlfriend on the head with a large rock multiple times causing severe facial and head lacerations. As a result of a prior felony conviction for assaulting the same victim, Saraficio had been released from prison just seven months earlier. Citing the need to protect the public and the victims from further acts of violence Sarafico, the court sentenced Saraficio to 115 months in prison for his new crimes and revoked Saraficio’s supervised release on his previous conviction adding two years to be served consecutively for a total of 139 months of imprisonment. The victim is also a member of the Tohono O’odham Indian Nation.
The investigation in this case was conducted by the Tohono O’odham Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The prosecution was handled by Serra M. Tsethlikai and Rui Wang, Assistant U.S. Attorneys, District of Arizona, Tucson.
CASE NUMBER: CR-15-0773-TUC-RCC and CR 12-1205-TUC-JGZ
RELEASE NUMBER: 2016-027_Saraficio
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For more information on the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/az/
Follow the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, on Twitter @USAO_AZ for the latest news.
Three Men Charged in $1.2M Corporate Embezzlement SchemeRead the Press Release
PHILADELPHIA – An indictment was filed today charging Daryl Stevens, 45, of Bethlehem, PA, with four counts of mail fraud, and an information was filed charging Justin Jordan, 34, of East Brunswick, NJ, and Christopher Cook, 40, of Ocean Township, NJ, with multiple counts of mail fraud, in connection with a million-dollar fraud scheme, announced United States Attorney Zane David Memeger.
Jordan and Stevens were employees of “Company A,” which was located in Radnor, Pennsylvania, and provided storeroom management services for industrial, commercial, and educational facilities throughout the United States. Cook was employed by “Company B,” which was international pharmaceutical company based in New York City, New York, with offices in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Company B hired Company A to provide inventory management and purchasing services for Company B’s New Brunswick, New Jersey offices. Jordan and Stevens were working on-site at Company B in their employment with Company A. It is alleged that they, along with Cook, created, registered, and incorporated a total of seven sham vendor companies, obtained mailing addresses for their respective sham vendor companies, and set up and controlled bank accounts for their respective sham vendor companies. Jordan allegedly controlled four of the sham vendor companies; Stevens allegedly controlled two of the sham vendor companies; and Cook allegedly controlled one of the sham vendor companies.
According to the charging documents, between July 2008 and December 2014, Jordan, Stevens, and Cook caused Company A to purchase bogus and non-existent products on behalf of Company B from the seven sham vendor companies that they controlled. Invoices were submitted by the sham vendor companies to Company A, which caused Company A to pay the sham vendor companies by mailing checks or wiring funds into the bank accounts controlled by the defendants. Additionally, the defendants allegedly caused Company A to “sell” approximately $1.2 million of bogus product purchased from the defendants’ sham vendor companies to Company B.
If convicted, each defendant faces a maximum statutory sentence of 20 years in prison per charged count, a special assessment, up to three years of supervised release, and a potential fine.
This case was investigated by the FBI. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney James Petkun.
An indictment or information is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Three Individuals Arrested for Conspiracy to Distribute 5,588 Bags of HeroinRead the Press Release
WILLIAMSPORT – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced today that a federal grand jury in Williamsport returned a two-count indictment charging two Philadelphia men and a Williamsport women with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 5,588 bags of heroin following their arrest by the Pennsylvania State Police on January 1, 2016 in Loyalsock Township, Lycoming County.
According to U.S. Attorney Peter Smith, the grand jury charged Stacy Donte Morgan, age 26, Samuel Darius Woodlyn, age 27, and Hadiyah Shadiah Bell-Evans, age 20 with conspiring to distribute and distribution of 100 grams or more of heroin. The indictment alleges that they utilized a rental vehicle and a motel room to store, transport and distribute heroin.
The federal investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Pennsylvania State Police, with the assistance of the Lycoming County District Attorney’s Office. Assistant United States Attorney George J. Rocktashel has been assigned to the prosecution of this matter.
This case was brought as part of a district wide initiative to combat the nationwide epidemic regarding the use and distribution of heroin. Led by the United States Attorney’s Office, the heroin initiative targets heroin traffickers operating in the Middle District of Pennsylvania and is part of a coordinated effort among federal, state and local law enforcement agencies.
Indictments are only allegations. All persons charged are presumed to be innocent unless and until found guilty in court.
A sentence following a finding of guilt is imposed by the sentencing judge after consideration of the applicable federal sentencing statutes and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.
The maximum penalty under federal law is 40 years of imprisonment, a term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a fine. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the sentencing judge is also required to consider and weigh a number of factors, including the nature, circumstances and seriousness of the offense; the history and characteristics of the defendant; and the need to punish the defendant, protect the public and provide for the defendant's educational, vocational and medical needs. For these reasons, the statutory maximum penalty for the offense is not an accurate indicator of the potential sentence for a specific defendant.
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Three California Men Indicted for Nationwide Conspiracy to Commit Identity, Bank, and Wire FraudRead the Press Release
WILLIAMSPORT – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced today that a federal grand jury in Williamsport indicted three California men on November 12, 2015, charging them with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, bank fraud, and fraud in connection with identification documents in an alleged nationwide scheme to defraud five banks and over 40 jewelry stores, including stores in State College and Camp Hill, Pennsylvania.
According to U.S. Attorney Peter Smith, the new Indictment is the result of a continuing investigation. The indictment alleges that Thung Van Huynh, age 46, Tung Thanh Doan, age 48, and John Quangchoang Nguyen, age 55, used counterfeit California driver’s licenses to purchase and attempt to purchase Rolex, Omega, and Breitling watches from the victim jewelry stores throughout the United States. The watches are allegedly valued at approximately $528,614.
The indictment charges that the conspirators submitted fraudulent applications for loans and credit, totaling approximately $463,400, using the counterfeit driver’s licenses. The victims include a jewelry store in State College and another one in State College, in addition to 25 individual identity theft victims and five financial institutions. At the time of the alleged offenses, Thung Van Huynh and John Quangchoang Nguyen were residents of Garden Grove, California, and Tung Thanh Doan was a resident of Stanton, California.
The indictment was unsealed yesterday following the arrests and initial appearances of Huynh and Doan before U.S. District Court Judge Malachy E. Mannion. Nguyen’s initial appearance was held February 9, 2016.
Another alleged participant in the conspiracy and scheme to defraud, Phil Nguyen, was previously indicted and entered a guilty plea to wire fraud. Nguyen is awaiting sentencing before United States District Judge Malachy E. Mannion in Scranton.
The federal investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation with the assistance of the Police Departments of Patton Township and Hampden Township, and the Jeweler’s Security Alliance. Assistant United States Attorney George J. Rocktashel has been assigned to the prosecution of the case.
Indictments are only allegations. All persons charged are presumed to be innocent unless and until found guilty in court.
A sentence following a finding of guilt is imposed by the sentencing judge after consideration of the applicable federal sentencing statutes and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.
The maximum penalty under federal law is 30 years of imprisonment, a term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a fine. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the sentencing judge is also required to consider and weigh a number of factors, including the nature, circumstances and seriousness of the offense; the history and characteristics of the defendant; and the need to punish the defendant, protect the public and provide for the defendant's educational, vocational and medical needs. For these reasons, the statutory maximum penalty for the offense is not an accurate indicator of the potential sentence for a specific defendant.
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Texas Man Pleads Guilty to Multiple Bank Robbery ChargesRead the Press Release
St. Louis, MO – Nader Jaser Abdullah, Houston, TX, pled guilty to the armed robberies of five banks spanning five states, including the Lindell Bank here on July 14, 2015. Abdullah entered his plea today before United States District Judge E. Richard Webber. He is scheduled for sentencing June 23, 2016.
According to court documents, in addition to the July 14th robbery, Abdullah robbed a bank in Hendersonville, North Carolina, three days later on July 17, 2015. Previous to those robberies, he admitted to the robberies of three other banks in Phoenix, Arizona; Las Vegas, Nevada; and Glenview, Illinois, also in July, before being arrested in Wisconsin.
He now faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and/or fines up to $250,000. In determining the actual sentences, a judge is required to consider the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, which provide recommended sentencing ranges.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in multiple jurisdictions and the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Tom Mehan is handling the case for the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Syracuse Attorney Sentenced for Social Security Disability FraudRead the Press Release
SYRACUSE, NEW YORK – Richard S. Hartunian, United States Attorney for the Northern District of New York announced today that Christopher Chadick, 63, of Syracuse, N.Y. was sentenced today by Chief United States District Judge Glenn T. Suddaby to a five (5) year term of probation with 6 months of intermittent weekend confinement in connection with his plea of guilty to Social Security Fraud. Chadick was also ordered to pay restitution to the Social Security Administration in the amount of $247,269.40.
As part of his guilty plea on November 23, 2015, Chadick admitted that from April 2003 through August 2010, he was engaged in significant gainful employment as an attorney. He did not disclose to the Social Security Administration that he was working in any capacity after the year 2000. The evidence in the case showed that Chadick operated a law firm, handled bankruptcy actions, appeared in town courts, and later was employed by a law firm. He further admitted that he concealed his employment to fraudulently secure his monthly disability benefits. Chadick never informed the Social Security Administration of any improvement in his medical condition or that he was able to work as a lawyer while receiving Social Security Disability benefits.
The case was investigated by the Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General, based on a referral from the U.S. Bankruptcy Trustee for the Northern District of New York and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Tamara B. Thomson.
St. Croix Man Pleads Guilty to Unlawful Mailing of a FirearmRead the Press Release
St. Croix, USVI – On Thursday, March 24, 2016, Shawki Thomas, 25, pleaded guilty in federal court before the Honorable George W. Cannon to one count of unlawful mailing of a firearm, United States Attorney Ronald W. Sharpe announced.
According to the plea agreement filed with the court, between August 1, 2015, and August 14, 2015, Thomas knowingly caused three firearms to be shipped through the U.S. Mail inside of a large screen television. The television and firearms were shipped from Florida to St. Croix.
The defendant faces a maximum of two years in prison and a $250,000 fine. A sentencing date has been set for July 27, 2016. The defendant remains out of custody pending sentencing.
The charges are the result of investigative work of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Christian Stringer.
Springfield MO Woman Sentenced to 30 Months for Heroin DistributionRead the Press Release
MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA - The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, announced that AMBER LYNN BRAKE, age 24, of Springfield, Missouri, was sentenced to 30 months imprisonment, followed by 3 years of supervised release for POSSESSION WITH INTENT TO DISTRIBUTE HEROIN, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Sections 841(a)(1) and 841(b)(1)(B).
The Indictment alleged that on or about December 2, 2014, within the Eastern District of Oklahoma, the defendant did knowingly and intentionally possess with intent to distribute 100 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of Heroin, a Schedule I Controlled Substance.
The charges arose from an investigation by the Atoka County Sheriff’s Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration. The defendant pled guilty in November, 2015.
The Honorable Ronald A. White, District Judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, in Muskogee, presided over the hearing. The defendant will remain in the custody of the United States Marshals Service pending transportation to the designated federal facility at which she will serve her nonparoleable sentence.
Assistant United States Attorney Shannon Henson represented the United States.
Somerset County, New Jersey, Man Arraigned on Child Pornography ChargesRead the Press Release
TRENTON, N.J. – A Branchburg, New Jersey, man appeared in federal court today to face charges for his alleged role in a conspiracy to produce sexually explicit images of children through a website he operated from his home computer, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.
Jonathan Soto, 26, was arraigned this morning before U.S. District Judge Freda L. Wolfson in Trenton federal court and pleaded not guilty to both counts of an indictment charging him with conspiracy to produce child pornography and possession of child pornography. He was previously arrested and charged by federal complaint on April 16, 2015, and remains in federal custody pending the charges.
According to the indictment:
From July 2014 through April 2015, Soto administered and operated a website designed to produce child pornography by tricking minor victims into engaging in sexually explicit activity on web cameras. Users of the website created false profiles on popular social media websites purporting to be young children, aged from about 10 to 16.
Using these false profiles, the users chatted with actual minor children and lured the minor victims to other websites to engage in private chats. Once in a private chat room, users then persuaded child victims to engage in sexually explicit activity. Unbeknownst to the victims, when they engaged in sexually explicit activity, they were secretly recorded, and those videos were shared with other users on Soto’s website.
FBI special agents executed a search warrant at Soto’s residence on or about April 15, 2015, and discovered computer equipment containing multiple videos of child pornography which had been downloaded from Soto’s website.
The conspiracy to produce child pornography count carries a minimum penalty of fifteen years in prison, a maximum potential penalty of thirty years in prison, and a $250,000 fine. The possession of child pornography count carries a maximum potential penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Timothy Gallagher in Newark, and the Branchburg Township Police Department, under the direction of Chief David Young, with the investigation.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Melissa Wangenheim of the U.S. Attorney’s Office General Crimes Unit in Newark.
The charges and allegations contained in the indictment are merely accusations, and the defendant is considered innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Defense counsel: Assistant Federal Public Defender Lisa Mack Esq., Newark
SoCal Doctor Agrees to Plead Guilty to Distributing Addictive Painkiller and Laundering Proceeds of His Drug TraffickingRead the Press Release
LOS ANGELES – In a plea agreement filed this morning, a San Gabriel Valley doctor has agreed to plead guilty to a federal drug trafficking charge for illegally distributing the powerful painkiller best known by the brand name OxyContin.
Dr. Daniel Cham, 48, of Covina, has agreed to plead guilty to one count of distribution of oxycodone and one count of money laundering.
In the plea agreement, Cham admits to unlawfully prescribing oxycodone to an undercover agent posing as a patient in March 2014 in exchange for $300 in money orders, which Cham then deposited into a bank account held in the name of another business. Cham made the deposit “knowing that the transaction was designed to conceal and disguise the nature and source of the money orders,” according to the plea agreement.
“Painkillers like oxycodone can be life-threatening to those who abuse them,” said United States Attorney Eileen M. Decker. “Many of the prescription drugs that find their way to the street come from doctors who prescribe them without medical justification. This defendant put lives at risk for money, making him no different than street-level drug dealer.”
Cham was initially charged in this case in October 2014 when a federal grand jury returned an indictment alleging narcotics trafficking, money laundering, fraud and making false statement to authorities. The indictment focused on prescriptions Cham wrote at various locations, including his medical offices in La Puente and Artesia.
As part of the investigation investigators in May 2014 executed federal search warrants at 13 locations, including Cham’s residence and medical offices. According to the affidavit in support of the search warrants, the doctor often saw patients between 8 p.m. and 2 a.m. on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, and he post-dated prescriptions to make them appear to have been written on weekdays. Over the course of a year that ended in March 2014, Cham issued more than 5,500 prescriptions for controlled substances – primarily for oxycodone, hydrocodone, alprazolam and carisoprodol – and he issued more than 42,000 such prescriptions since July 2010, according to the affidavit.
The affidavit also discussed how an undercover officer made three visits to Cham’s La Puente office in 2014, and how Cham wrote prescriptions for controlled substances in exchange for $200 or $300 in cash or money orders. As discussed in the affidavit, Cham issued a prescription for oxycodone even though the undercover operative said he “had been high and drunk while receiving controlled substance prescriptions” previously from Cham. On another occasion, Cham prescribed oxycodone even though the undercover law enforcement officer presented, in lieu of photo identification, a written notice that his license had been suspended for driving under the influence.
Cham’s case is pending before United States District Judge Dean D. Pregerson, who has scheduled an April 4 hearing for Cham to enter his guilty plea.
The drug trafficking and money laundering charges that Cham has agreed to plead guilty to each count carry a statutory maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison.
In his plea agreement, Cham also agrees to forfeit to the government more than $60,000 in cash that he admits are “proceeds of [his] illegal activity.”
The investigation into Cham was conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration, IRS Criminal Investigation, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Health Authority Law Enforcement Task Force, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the California Medical Board, and the Los Angeles Police Department.
Seventeen Individuals Indicted on Drug Conspiracy ChargesRead the Press Release
“The following named individuals have been charged with a federal crime or crimes. An Indictment does not constitute evidence of guilt. An Indictment is a method of bringing charges against a defendant. A defendant is presumed innocent of the charges and may not be found guilty unless evidence establishes guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. United States Sentencing Guidelines may be considered, upon conviction, by the sentencing court. Federal prison sentences are non-parolable.”
MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, announced that the following individuals were indicted on charges stemming from a drug conspiracy. All defendants are charged with DRUG CONSPIRACY, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Section 846; and various defendants are charged with related crimes, including, CONTINUING CRIMINAL ENTERPRISE, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Sections 848(a), 848(b), 848(c), 848(d) and 848(s); POSSESSION WITH INTENT TO DISTRIBUTE METHAMPHETAMINE, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Section 841(a)(1); DISTRIBUTION OF METHAMPHETAMINE, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Section 841(a)(1); USE OF A COMMUNICATION DEVICE IN FURTHERNACE OF DRUG TRAFFICKING, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Section 843(b); POSSESSION OF FIREARM IN FURTHERANCE OF A DRUG TRAFFICKING CRIME, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 924(c)(1)(A) and 2; and FELON IN POSSESSION OF FIREARM, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 922(g)(1), 924(a)(2) and 2 and a DRUG FORFEITURE allegation:
CODY McCLENDON, age 35, of Tahlequah, Oklahoma
MICHAEL LINCOLN, age 39, of Tulsa, Oklahoma
AMBER CLAPHAN, age 33, of Stilwell, Oklahoma
DONALD TRAMMEL, age 40, of Tahlequah, Oklahoma
SAMANTHA SMITH, age 21, of Muskogee, Oklahoma
TERESA CHAGOLLA, age 54, of Tahlequah, Oklahoma
JACOB HORTON MASTERS JR, age 54, of Tulsa, Oklahoma
NATHAN ROWDEN GREEN, age 27, of Hulbert, Oklahoma
DUSTY ALLEN DRYWATER, age 33, of Tahlequah, Oklahoma
ASHLEY NOEL STEELE, age 29, of Tahlequah, Oklahoma
JIMMY W. SEQUICHIE JR., age 24, of Tahlequah, Oklahoma
REGINA ANN BALLARD, age 37, of Stilwell, Oklahoma a/k/a REGINA HUMMINGBIRD
MATILDA KAY BIRDTAIL, age 20, of Tahlequah, Oklahoma
FREDERIC PETERSEN BECK JR., age 53, of Tahlequah, Oklahoma
GARY WAYNE WILDER, age 35, of Tahlequah, Oklahoma
BRENDA AILEEN AIRINGTON, age 54, of Kellyville, Oklahoma
BRYAN STEVEN LAFAVOR, age 34, of Checotah, Oklahoma
The Superseding Indictment alleges that from beginning in or about the end of 2013, the exact date being unknown to the Grand Jury, and continuing until on or about January 27, 2016, within the Eastern District of Oklahoma and elsewhere, the Defendants did knowingly and intentionally conspire, confederate and agree with each other, and with others known and unknown to the Grand Jury, to possess with intent to distribute and distribute methamphetamine.
The Investigation revealed that Cody McClendon III, a/k/a Cody-Mac, an Indian Brother Hood (IBH) gang member, while an inmate with the Oklahoma Department of Corrections in McAlester, Oklahoma, was utilizing a contraband cellular phone that he kept hidden on his person and inside his prison cell to facilitate the sale and distribution of methamphetamine. McClendon was doing this by using the cellular phone to communicate with co-conspirators via audio phone calls, text messages, and by communicating on the social media website Facebook. The Defendants, through their affiliation with the IBH prison gang, promoted a climate of fear through threats of violence and attempted to commit acts of violence to protect and expand the drug organization’s criminal operations.
The charges arose from a joint investigation entitled “Home of the Brave” coordinated by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) of the Eastern District of Oklahoma. OCDETF is an initiative led and coordinated by the Office of the United States Attorney. The agencies involved in the investigation were the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics, the McAlester Police Department, the Tahlequah Police Department, the Muskogee Police Department, the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Department, Districts 13, 18, 25 and 27 District Attorney’s Drug Task Forces and Violent Crime Task Forces, the Muskogee County District Attorney’s Office, the Seminole Nation Lighthorse Police Department, the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the McAlester and Tulsa Offices of the Drug Enforcement Administration.
The Honorable Kimberly E. West, Magistrate Judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, in Muskogee, presided over the hearings. All defendants were remanded into the custody of the United States Marshals Service.
Assistant United States Attorney Shannon Henson represented the United States.
Seven Iranians Working for Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Affiliated Entities Charged for Conducting Coordinated Campaign of Cyber Attacks Against U.S. Financial SectorRead the Press Release
One Defendant Also Charged with Obtaining Unauthorized Access into Control Systems of a New York Dam
A grand jury in the Southern District of New York indicted seven Iranian individuals who were employed by two Iran-based computer companies, ITSecTeam (ITSEC) and Mersad Company (MERSAD), that performed work on behalf of the Iranian Government, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, on computer hacking charges related to their involvement in an extensive campaign of over 176 days of distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks.
Ahmad Fathi, 37; Hamid Firoozi, 34; Amin Shokohi, 25; Sadegh Ahmadzadegan, aka Nitr0jen26, 23; Omid Ghaffarinia, aka PLuS, 25; Sina Keissar, 25; and Nader Saedi, aka Turk Server, 26, launched DDoS attacks against 46 victims, primarily in the U.S financial sector, between late 2011 and mid-2013. The attacks disabled victim bank websites, prevented customers from accessing their accounts online and collectively cost the victims tens of millions of dollars in remediation costs as they worked to neutralize and mitigate the attacks on their servers. In addition, Firoozi is charged with obtaining unauthorized access into the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems of the Bowman Dam, located in Rye, New York, in August and September of 2013.
The indictment was announced today by Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch, Director James B. Comey of the FBI, Assistant Attorney General for National Security John P. Carlin and U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara of the Southern District of New York.
“In unsealing this indictment, the Department of Justice is sending a powerful message: that we will not allow any individual, group, or nation to sabotage American financial institutions or undermine the integrity of fair competition in the operation of the free market,” said Attorney General Lynch. “Through the work of our National Security Division, the FBI, and U.S. Attorney’s Offices around the country, we will continue to pursue national security cyber threats through the use of all available tools, including public criminal charges. And as today’s unsealing makes clear, individuals who engage in computer hacking will be exposed for their criminal conduct and sought for apprehension and prosecution in an American court of law.”
“The FBI will find those behind cyber intrusions and hold them accountable — wherever they are, and whoever they are,” said Director Comey. “By calling out the individuals and nations who use cyber attacks to threaten American enterprise, as we have done in this indictment, we will change behavior.”
“Like past nation state-sponsored hackers, these defendants and their backers believed that they could attack our critical infrastructure without consequence, from behind a veil of cyber anonymity,” said Assistant Attorney General Carlin. “This indictment once again shows there is no such veil – we can and will expose malicious cyber hackers engaging in unlawful acts that threaten our public safety and national security.”
“The charges announced today respond directly to a cyber-assault on New York, its institutions and its infrastructure,” said U.S. Attorney Bharara. “The alleged onslaught of cyber-attacks on 46 of our largest financial institutions, many headquartered in New York City, resulted in hundreds of thousands of customers being unable to access their accounts and tens of millions of dollars being spent by the companies trying to stay online through these attacks. The infiltration of the Bowman Avenue dam represents a frightening new frontier in cybercrime. These were no ordinary crimes, but calculated attacks by groups with ties to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard and designed specifically to harm America and its people. We now live in a world where devastating attacks on our financial system, our infrastructure and our way of life can be launched from anywhere in the world, with a click of a mouse. Confronting these types of cyber-attacks cannot be the job of just law enforcement. The charges announced today should serve as a wake-up call for everyone responsible for the security of our financial markets and for guarding our infrastructure. Our future security depends on heeding this call.”
According to the indictment unsealed today in federal court in New York City:
DDoS Attacks
The DDoS campaign began in approximately December 2011, and the attacks occurred only sporadically until September 2012, at which point they escalated in frequency to a near-weekly basis, between Tuesday and Thursdays during normal business hours in the United States. On certain days during the campaign, victim computer servers were hit with as much as 140 gigabits of data per second and hundreds of thousands of customers were cut off from online access to their bank accounts.
Fathi, Firoozi and Shokohi were responsible for ITSEC’s portion of the DDoS campaign against the U.S. financial sector and are charged with one count of conspiracy to commit and aid and abet computer hacking. Fathi was the leader of ITSEC and was responsible for supervising and coordinating ITSEC’s portion of the DDoS campaign, along with managing computer intrusion and cyberattack projects being conducted for the government of Iran. Firoozi was the network manager at ITSEC and, in that role, procured and managed computer servers that were used to coordinate and direct ITSEC’s portion of the DDoS campaign. Shokohi is a computer hacker who helped build the botnet used by ITSEC to carry out its portion of the DDoS campaign and created malware used to direct the botnet to engage in those attacks. During the time that he worked in support of the DDoS campaign, Shokohi received credit for his computer intrusion work from the Iranian government towards his completion of his mandatory military service requirement in Iran.
Ahmadzadegan, Ghaffarinia, Keissar and Saedi were responsible for managing the botnet used in MERSAD’s portion of the campaign, and are also charged with one count of conspiracy to commit and aid and abet computer hacking. Ahmadzadegan was a co-founder of MERSAD and was responsible for managing the botnet used in MERSAD’s portion of the DDoS campaign. He was also associated with Iranian hacking groups Sun Army and the Ashiyane Digital Security Team (ADST), and claimed responsibility for hacking servers belonging to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in February 2012. Ahmadzadegan has also provided training to Iranian intelligence personnel. Ghaffarinia was a co-founder of MERSAD and created malicious computer code used to compromise computer servers and build MERSAD’s botnet. Ghaffarinia was also associated with Sun Army and ADST, and has also claimed responsibility for hacking NASA servers in February 2012, as well as thousands of other servers in the United States, the United Kingdom and Israel. Keissar procured computer servers used by MERSAD to access and manipulate MERSAD’s botnet, and also performed preliminary testing of the same botnet prior to its use in MERSAD’s portion of the DDoS campaign. Saedi was an employee of MERSAD and a former Sun Army computer hacker who expressly touted himself as an expert in DDoS attacks. Saedi wrote computer scripts used to locate vulnerable servers to build the MERSAD botnet used in its portion of the DDoS campaign.
For the purpose of carrying out the attacks, each group built and maintained their own botnets, which consisted of thousands of compromised computer systems owned by unwitting third parties that had been infected with the defendants’ malware, and subject to their remote command and control. The defendants and/or their unindicted co-conspirators then sent orders to their botnets to direct significant amounts of malicious traffic at computer servers used to operate the websites for victim financial institutions, which overwhelmed victim servers and disabled them from customers seeking to legitimately access the websites or their online bank accounts. Although the DDoS campaign caused damage to the financial sector victims and interfered with their customers’ ability to do online banking, the attacks did not affect or result in the theft of customer account data.
DDoS Botnet Remediation
Since the attacks, the Department of Justice and the FBI have worked together with the private sector to effectively neutralize and remediate the defendants’ botnets. Specifically, through approximately 20 FBI Liaison Alert System (FLASH) messages, the FBI regularly provided updated information collected from the investigation regarding the identity of systems that been infected with the defendants’ malware and operating as bots within the malicious botnets. In addition, the FBI conducted extensive direct outreach to Internet service providers responsible for hosting systems that have been infected with the defendants’ malware to provide them information and assistance in removing the malware to protect their customers and other potential victims of the defendants’ unlawful cyber activities. Through these outreach efforts and the cooperation of the private sector, over 95 percent of the known part of the defendants’ botnets have been successfully remediated.
Bowman Dam Intrusion
Between Aug. 28, 2013, and Sept. 18, 2013, Firoozi repeatedly obtained unauthorized access to the SCADA systems of the Bowman Dam, and is charged with one substantive count of obtaining and aiding and abetting computer hacking. This unauthorized access allowed him to repeatedly obtain information regarding the status and operation of the dam, including information about the water levels, temperature and status of the sluice gate, which is responsible for controlling water levels and flow rates. Although that access would normally have permitted Firoozi to remotely operate and manipulate the Bowman Dam’s sluice gate, Firoozi did not have that capability because the sluice gate had been manually disconnected for maintenance at the time of the intrusion.
Remediation for the Bowman Dam intrusion cost over $30,000.
* * *
All seven defendants face a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison for conspiracy to commit and aid and abet computer hacking. Firoozi faces an additional five years in prison for obtaining and aiding and abetting unauthorized access to a protected computer at the Bowman Dam.
An indictment is merely an accusation and all defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.
The case was investigated by the FBI, including the Chicago; Cincinnati; New York; Newark, New Jersey; Phoenix; and San Francisco Field Offices. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy T. Howard of the Southern District of New York, with the substantial assistance of Deputy Chief Sean M. Newell of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section.
Fathi et al Indictment.pdf
Sentencings for March 21 - March 22, 2016Read the Press Release
Amber Blane Redick, 32, of Riverton, Wyoming, was sentenced by Chief Federal District Court Judge Nancy D. Freudenthal on March 22, 2016, for distribution of 50 grams or less of methamphetamine and aiding and abetting. Redick was arrested in Fremont County, Wyoming. She received 24 months imprisonment, to be followed by three years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay a $100.00 special assessment and restitution in the amount of $200.00. This case was investigated by the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation.
Ann Reed, 24, of Highlands Ranch, Colorado, was sentenced by Chief Federal District Court Judge Nancy D. Freudenthal on March 21, 2016, for conspiracy to distribute 50 grams or less of methamphetamine. Reed was arrested in Denver, Colorado. She received three years of supervised release and was ordered to pay a $100.00 special assessment. This case was investigated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Richard Shelby Schutt, Jr., 48, of Lingle, Wyoming, was sentenced by Chief Federal District Court Judge Nancy D. Freudenthal on March 21, 2016, for conspiracy to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine. Schutt was arrested in Torrington. He received 78 months imprisonment, to be followed by four years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay a $100.00 special assessment and restitution in the amount of $500.00. This case results from an ongoing Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) joint investigation conducted by the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking, weapons trafficking and money laundering organizations, and those primarily responsible for the nation’s illegal drug supply.
Second Man Pleads Guilty to Tying Rope Around Neck of James Meredith Statue on Ole Miss CampusRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON – A second man pleaded guilty to a federal civil rights crime for tying a rope and Confederate flag around the neck of the James Meredith Statue at the University of Mississippi. Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, U.S. Attorney Felicia C. Adams of the Northern District of Mississippi and Special Agent in Charge Donald Alway of the FBI’s Jackson, Mississippi, Division made the announcement.
Austin Reed Edenfield, of Kennesaw, Georgia, pleaded guilty to one count of using a threat of force to intimidate African-American students and employees because of their race or color. Edenfield was charged by information shortly before the plea. His sentencing date has not yet been set.
A second defendant, Graeme Phillip Harris, of Alpharetta, Georgia, pleaded guilty to the same charge in June 2015 and was sentenced to six months in prison.
“The Department of Justice is committed to ensuring that our universities and our workplaces are free from threats of racial violence,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Gupta. “We will hold accountable those who attempt to turn places of learning into places of intimidation and fear.”
Edenfield and Harris acknowledged that they used the cover of darkness to tie the rope and an outdated version of the Georgia state flag – which prominently depicts the Confederate battle flag – around the neck of the statue in the early morning hours of Feb. 16, 2014. The statue honors Meredith’s role as the University of Mississippi’s first African-American student after its contentious 1962 integration. At the time of the incident, both men were students at the University of Mississippi.
Edenfield admitted as part of his plea that he knew the appearance of the rope and flag would be threatening and intimidating to African-American students.
This case was investigated by the FBI’s Jackson Division’s Oxford Resident Agency and the University of Mississippi Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Northern District of Mississippi.
Second Man Pleads Guilty to Tying Rope Around Neck of James Meredith Statue on Ole Miss CampusRead the Press Release
A second man pleaded guilty to a federal civil rights crime for tying a rope and Confederate flag around the neck of the James Meredith Statue at the University of Mississippi. Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, U.S. Attorney Felicia C. Adams of the Northern District of Mississippi and Special Agent in Charge Donald Alway of the FBI’s Jackson, Mississippi, Division made the announcement.
Austin Reed Edenfield, of Kennesaw, Georgia, pleaded guilty to one count of using a threat of force to intimidate African-American students and employees because of their race or color. Edenfield was charged by information shortly before the plea. His sentencing date has not yet been set.
A second defendant, Graeme Phillip Harris, of Alpharetta, Georgia, pleaded guilty to the same charge in June 2015 and was sentenced to six months in prison.
“The Department of Justice is committed to ensuring that our universities and our workplaces are free from threats of racial violence,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Gupta. “We will hold accountable those who attempt to turn places of learning into places of intimidation and fear.”
Edenfield and Harris acknowledged that they used the cover of darkness to tie the rope and an outdated version of the Georgia state flag – which prominently depicts the Confederate battle flag – around the neck of the statue in the early morning hours of Feb. 16, 2014. The statue honors Meredith’s role as the University of Mississippi’s first African-American student after its contentious 1962 integration. At the time of the incident, both men were students at the University of Mississippi.
Edenfield admitted as part of his plea that he knew the appearance of the rope and flag would be threatening and intimidating to African-American students.
This case was investigated by the FBI’s Jackson Division’s Oxford Resident Agency and the University of Mississippi Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Northern District of Mississippi.
Roanoke Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Gun ChargeRead the Press Release
ROANOKE, VIRGINIA – A Roanoke man, who came to be in possession of firearms stolen from a local home last summer, pled guilty today in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Roanoke, United States Attorney John P. Fishwick Jr. announced today.
Brian Collins, 43, of Roanoke, Virginia, pled guilty today to one count of being a previously convicted felon illegally in possession of a firearm.
“This case, like so many others we prosecute, involves a prohibited user possessing a firearm, something that we will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to combat,” United States Attorney John P. Fishwick Jr. said today. “I firmly believe that keeping illegal guns off our streets is an important step in keeping our communities safe and we continue to work every day toward that goal.”
According to evidence presented at today’s hearing by Assistant United States Attorney Charlene R. Day, on August 24, 2015 a home in Vinton, Virginia was burglarized and at least six firearms were stolen. Following a thorough investigation by the Bedford County Sheriff’s Office, the Virginia State Police, the Rockbridge County Sheriff’s Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, it was determined that Collins, who was not involved in the burglary, was in possession of some of the firearms taken during the burglary.
The investigation of the case was conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Bedford County Sheriff’s Office, the Rockbridge County Sheriff’s Office and the Virginia State Police. Assistant United States Attorney Charlene R. Day prosecuted the case for the United States.
Reading Resident Charged with Illegal Reentry After DeportationRead the Press Release
PHILADELPHIA - Marcos Arana, 44, of Reading, PA, was charged today by Indictment with illegal reentry after deportation, announced United States Attorney Zane David Memeger. The indictment alleges that on or about February 29, 2016, Arana, an alien, and native and citizen of Mexico, was found in the United States after having been deported from the United States on or about September 5, 2000.
If convicted the defendant faces a maximum possible sentence of 20 years in prison.
The case was investigated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Enforcement and Removal Operations (“ERO”), and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Nelson S.T. Thayer, Jr.
An Indictment is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Raleigh Man Sentenced to 15 Years for Human TraffickingRead the Press Release
RALEIGH – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina announced that in federal court, United States District Judge Terrence W. Boyle sentenced MAURICE MALIK SPENCER, 22, of Raleigh, North Carolina, to 180 months imprisonment, followed by 10 years of supervised release.
SPENCER was named in a six count Indictment filed on June 9, 2015. On December 9, 2015, SPENCER pled guilty to one count of Use of the Internet to Promote Prostitution and one count of Interstate Transportation for Prostitution (Mann Act).
The investigation revealed that SPENCER transported two female victims, one of whom was a 14-year-old female, from New York to North Carolina to engage in prostitution. Once in North Carolina, the defendant prostituted a third female victim as well. The defendant prostituted the two adult victims in September and November 2014; he also prostituted the 14-year-old victim in November 2014.
The defendant promoted his business by advertising the victims on internet websites and through social media websites such as Facebook. He also used websites such as Facebook to recruit his victims.
Throughout, the defendant used violence and threats of violence to control his victims and coerce them into continuing in prostitution. After his arrest, the defendant continued to threaten two victims.
Investigation of this case was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Greenville Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Erin Blondel represented the government.
This case was part of the Project Safe Childhood initiative, a national program aimed at ensuring that criminals exploiting children are effectively prosecuted by making full use of all available law enforcement resources at every level. For more information about this important national project, Project Safe Childhood, go to www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
Project Safe Childhood - Massachusetts Men Sentenced for Human TraffickingRead the Press Release
CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE: U.S. Attorney Emily Gray Rice, Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent in Charge Matt Etre and Salem Police Department Chief Paul Donovan today announced that Hansel German, 25, of Boston, Massachusetts, and Andy Pena, 21 of Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, were sentenced to eight years in federal prison for their involvement in the trafficking of a minor for prostitution. Enoc Ayuso of Dorchester, Massachusetts was also sentenced to five years in federal prison for his role in the trafficking conspiracy. A fourth individual, Rafael Reyes, will be sentenced next week in the United States District Court.
United States Attorney Rice stated: “One of the highest priorities of the Department of Justice is protecting our children from predators. Today, we are announcing the results arising out of our prosecution of four individuals who were engaged in a particularly heinous form of child exploitation – human trafficking. It is only through the collaborative work of law enforcement at the federal, state and local levels and the bravery of a minor child to come forward and tell her story that this case was successfully prosecuted.”
Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent in Charge Matt Etre said: “The announcement of the sentencing of the four individuals today brings a positive end to the USA’s prosecution and to HSI’s and its partners investigation, but the healing of a child victim is still a work in progress. HSI’s primary goal in pursuing these types of cases is to end this form of modern-day slavery and bring the victims out of the shadows in collaboration with our law enforcement agencies and non-government organizations. So let this case be a warning to those who feel that they can sexually exploit children and other vulnerable members of our community in New Hampshire that HSI and its partners will use all of their tools to identify you, bring you to justice and help rescue those victims that are living in the shadows.”
In February of 2014, Homeland Security Investigations, Manchester, New Hampshire, and the Salem, New Hampshire Police Department, with the assistance of the Boston Police Department, rescued a fifteen-year-old female who was engaging in prostitution from a Salem hotel room. Upon further investigation, authorities identified multiple individuals who were involved in the scheme to transport the female from Boston, Massachusetts to Salem, New Hampshire for prostitution. Today’s announcement is the result of the successful prosecution of those cases.
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Prisoner Sentenced in Plot to Smuggle Heroin into Attica PrisonRead the Press Release
UTICA, NEW YORK - Ramsi Uthman (42), an inmate with the New York State Department of Corrections, was sentenced today to serve 24 months in prison and three years of supervised release in connection with his guilty plea to a one-count indictment charging him with conspiring to smuggle heroin into Attica Correctional Facility, announced United States Attorney Richard S. Hartunian and Shelly Binkowski, Inspector in Charge, United States Postal Inspection Service, Boston Division.
Ramsi Uthman is currently serving a 25-year jail sentence as a the result of his 2003 conviction in Onondaga County Court from an arson he committed at Temple Beth El in Syracuse. At the sentencing hearing today, United States District Judge David N. Hurd ordered 12 months of Mr. Uthman’s federal sentence on the heroin conspiracy conviction to run consecutive to his state prison sentence.
Uthman’s sentence today in Federal Court was in connection with his guilty plea to conspiring with his ex-wife, Twanda Uthman (40), of Liverpool, New York, and Jonathan Lind (29), of New York City, to possess with intent to distribute and to distribution of heroin. Uthman admitted that he arranged for Lind to mail a package containing approximately .948 grams of heroin to Twanda Uthman, which she then planned to smuggle into Attica Correctional Facility during a conjugal visit with Ramsi Uthman. At sentencing, Uthman admitted that he previously received illegal drugs in a similar manner while incarcerated at least 40 or 50 times. Twanda Uthman pled guilty to the one-count indictment and is scheduled to be sentenced in June.
Jonathan Lind is scheduled for trial in April 20161.
This case was investigated by the United States Postal Inspection Service and the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, Office of Special Investigations- Narcotics Unit, with the assistance of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and the New York State Police, Community Narcotics Enforcement Team (CNET). It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael F. Perry.
1 Johnathan Lind is charged by indictment. The charges therein are merely accusations and he is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Pennsylvania Man Sentenced to Prison for Conspiracy to Smuggle Turtles out of the United StatesRead the Press Release
U.S. Attorney Kenneth A. Polite announced that JOHN TOKOSH, age 54, from Pennsylvania, was sentenced yesterday after previously pleading guilty to conspiracy to smuggle turtles out of the United States and to violation of the Lacey Act, as well as using a fictitious name and address in a mailing.
U.S. District Judge Ivan L.R. Lemelle sentenced TOKOSH to two years in prison, followed by six years of supervised release.
According to court records, TOKOSH admitted that he was part of a group of individuals involved in capturing North American Wood turtles, which are a threatened species, from the wild in Pennsylvania, shipping the turtles by mail though the United States, and then illegally exporting the turtles to Hong Kong. TOKOSH’s role in the conspiracy was to capture the North American Wood turtles from their native habitat in Pennsylvania, where it is illegal to hunt them, and then to ship them to a middleman in Covington, Louisiana.. TOKOSH also admitted to using the alias “Jay Rockington” in an effort to disguise that he was the source of the turtles.
“This case illustrates our commitment to fighting the illegal wildlife trade. The unlawful international trade in turtles fuels an unsustainable market that will drive our wild native species to extinction,” said U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Special Agent in Charge Luis Santiago. “I’d like to commend investigators with the US Fish and Wildlife Service, Homeland Security Investigations, United States Postal Inspection Service, and the Department of Justice for their dedication in this investigation.”
“The trafficking of illegal goods, whether it is guns, drugs, or in this case a threatened species of wildlife, Homeland Security Investigations is focused on protecting the security of our nation’s borders and will continue to prioritize cases of illegal smuggling and trafficking,” said Raymond R. Parmer Jr., Special Agent in Charge of HSI New Orleans. "The illicit trade of wildlife is not only a financial crime, but poses health and safety issues as well through these illegal transactions that can potentially transfer disease and other threats around the world."
“The Postal Inspection Service has sought for hundreds of years those who use the Postal Service for illegal gain,” stated Inspector in Charge Christopher M. Stifflemire, U.S. Postal Inspection Service. “The ability to use the mail in a safe and secure manner is at the core of the Postal Inspection Service’s mission. When criminals use the mail to defraud, Postal Inspectors will not hesitate to ensure they are brought to justice.”
U.S. Attorney Polite praised the work of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Homeland Security Investigations, and the United States Postal Inspection Service in investigating this matter. Assistant United States Attorney David Haller is in charge of the prosecution.
Pakistani Man Sentenced in Federal Court to More Than 3 Years in Prison for Scheme to Steal More Than $800,000 in Tax Refunds from the IRSRead the Press Release
Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Shantelle P. Kitchen, Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigations Division (“IRS-CI”), announced today that NISAR SAHI was sentenced today by United States District Judge Denise L. Cote to 37 months in prison for stealing government funds.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said: “For four years, Nisar Sahi stole hundreds of thousands of dollars in tax refunds that rightfully belonged to honest, hardworking American taxpayers. Now, thanks to the excellent investigation by the IRS, Sahi will face time in federal prison for stealing from the U.S. government.”
IRS-CI Special Agent in Charge Shantelle P. Kitchen said: “IRS-Criminal Investigation is committed to the investigation of fraudulent tax refund schemes. The investigation and prosecution of Nisar Sahi is just another example of the government’s diligence and persistence in identifying individuals who use other people’s personal information to file fraudulent tax returns for their own financial benefit and bringing them to justice.”
According to the Information to which SAHI pled guilty, and other court documents filed in this case:
From 2011 to 2015, SAHI devised and executed a scheme to obtain false and fraudulent tax returns totaling $803,995 from the IRS. SAHI carried out this scheme by preparing and submitting to the IRS federal income tax returns — using the names and social security numbers of others — and directing that the refunds be sent to bank accounts and addresses that he controlled.
In addition to the prison sentence, SAHI, 50, of Pakistan, was ordered to forfeit $319,712 in ill-gotten gains, and to pay restitution to the IRS in the same amount.
Mr. Bharara praised the outstanding investigative work of IRS-CI. Mr. Bharara also thanked the U.S. Department of Justice’s Tax Division for its assistance.
The case is being prosecuted by the Office’s General Crimes Unit. Assistant United States Attorney Rebekah Donaleski is in charge of the prosecution.
Pacifica Man Sentenced to Ten Years in Prison for Possession of Child PornographyRead the Press Release
SAN FRANCISCO – Robert Spence II was sentenced yesterday to ten years in prison for possession of child pornography, announced Acting United States Attorney Brian J. Stretch and Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge David J. Johnson.
Spence, 66, of Pacifica, pleaded guilty on December 1, 2015, to one count of possession of pornography depicting minors under the age of 12 engaging in sexually explicit conduct. According to his guilty plea, Spence acknowledged that, beginning no later than September 15, 2013, he communicated with individuals in the Philippines to obtain child pornography. Papers filed by the government reveal that a search warrant executed by FBI agents and Pacifica Police Department officers at Spence’s home found more than 1,200 images and videos of child pornography, including images depicting the sexual abuse of children as young as three and four years old. A federal grand jury indicted Spence on June 2, 2015, with possession of child pornography, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2252(a)(4)(B).
The sentence was handed down by the Honorable Vince Chhabria, U.S. District Judge. Judge Chhabria concluded that, because defendant had sustained prior convictions for sexual battery pursuant to California Penal Code § 243.4(a), he was subject to the mandatory minimum ten year term of imprisonment in 18 U.S.C. § 2252(b)(2). Spence has been ordered to self-surrender to begin serving his sentence no later than May 5, 2016. Judge Chhabria also imposed a seven year period of supervised release.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Sheila A.G. Armbrust prosecuted the case with the assistance of Patricia Mahoney. The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the Pacifica Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, via its toll-free 24-hour hotline, 1-800-843-5678.
Owner of Tunnel House in Calexico Arrested Today in ArizonaRead the Press Release
Assistant U. S. Attorney Sherri Walker Hobson (619) 961-0287
NEWS RELEASE SUMMARY – March 24, 2016
CALEXICO, California - Augustin Enrique Cruz, the owner of the house in Calexico where a subterranean drug tunnel exit was discovered yesterday, was arrested today in Tucson, Arizona and charged with various narcotics trafficking, money laundering and tunnel-related crimes.
Enrique Cruz, also known as “Tinky,” was taken into custody by agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations and is expected to be arraigned in the District of Arizona before his transfer to the Southern District of California.
Yesterday, about 100 federal, state and local law enforcement officials seized the tunnel following an extensive, multi-agency investigation. In total, agents have arrested five people including Enrique Cruz and seized almost 3,000 pounds of marijuana. Agents continued to investigate the 415-yard tunnel which originated in El Sarape restaurant in Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico. Also yesterday, U.S. Border Patrol agents stood guard at the tunnel house.
According to a criminal complaint, Enrique Cruz traveled from Arizona to the Calexico area on multiple occasions in November and December 2014 to look for property that would serve as the exit point of a tunnel from Mexicali in Baja California, Mexico. In January 2014, Cruz purchased the property at 902 E. Third Street in Calexico. It is the first time in this district that drug traffickers are known to have purchased property and constructed a house for the sole purpose of concealing the exit of a drug tunnel.
To finance the purchase of the parcel, Cruz’s coconspirators arranged for various cash pickups in Arizona and California. Cruz also met with the title company for the closing. The parcel was placed in Enrique Cruz’s name on July 1, 2015.
In addition to purchasing the property, Enrique Cruz and his coconspirators hired local contractors to build a new house. Based on federal wiretaps, the construction of the residence was expected to cost $86,000. Enrique Cruz’s boss directed the contractor to leave a space in the foundation for a floor safe, which was intended to be the exit point for the tunnel. According to court documents, Enrique Cruz rented a walk-behind saw and concrete blade on January 27, 2016, to widen the exit point of the tunnel.
In the fall of 2015, Cruz and his coconspirators traveled to Calexico to meet with the contractor to make payments for the construction of the new residence and construction subsequently began. Throughout October 2015 and November 2015, crews continued with the construction of the residence which was completed in late December 2015.
Unbeknownst to the alleged traffickers, the purchase of the property and construction of the house and tunnel were completed under the watchful eye of Homeland Security Investigation (HSI) agents in Calexico.
Agents learned from monitoring court-authorized wiretaps of phones and from surveillance that Enrique Cruz and his coconspirators began smuggling narcotics through the tunnel on or after February 28, 2016. Agents intercepted several calls in which Enrique Cruz and his father discussed the conditions inside the tunnel.
According to the complaint, Enrique Cruz also arranged for the purchase of multiple vehicles that were used to transport marijuana. from the 3rd Street newly built residence to the secondary stash residence at 1056 Horizon Street in Calexico and another warehouse at 260 Avenida Campillo, Suite A, also in Calexico.
On March 7, 2015, HSI agents seized approximately 1,350 pounds of marijuana that was smuggled through the tunnel inside the Third Street residence, transported initially to the Horizon residence, and eventually to the Avenida Campillo warehouse before it landed in a Los Angeles warehouse – all under the eyes of law enforcement.
On March 23, 2016, multiple search warrants were executed by multiple federal agencies, led by HSI Special Agents. A tunnel was located inside the living room of the newly built Third Street residence. In addition, approximately 1,532 pounds of marijuana were found inside the Horizon stash location. Two individuals, Joel Duarte Medina and Manuel Gallegos Jiminez, were arrested in connection with the tunnel.
Duarte Medina, who was arrested at the Horizon stash location on March 23, 2016, and Gallegos Jiminez, who was arrested inside the Third Street residence where the tunnel was seized, were arraigned today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Peter C. Lewis in federal court in El Centro, California. They were charged with conspiracy to import marijuana (21 U.S.C. 952,960, 963, conspiracy to distribute (21 U.S.C 841, 846) and Conspiracy to Maintain Drug Premises (21 U.S.C. 856(a)(1).
Another defendant, Eva Duarte De Medina, was also arrested in Arizona in connection with this tunnel. She was charged with conspiracy to import marijuana (21 U.S.C. 952,960, 963, conspiracy to distribute (21 U.S.C 841, 846) and conspiracy to maintain drug premises (21 U.S.C. 856(a)(1). She was arraigned yesterday in the District of Arizona and was expected to be transferred to the Southern District of California for prosecution.
DEFENDANT
Augustin Enrique Cruz, aka Tinky
United States Citizen
Residence Tucson, Arizona
PENDING CHARGES AGAINST DEFENDANT ENRIQUE CRUZ
Conspiracy to Import Controlled Substances (Title 21, United States Code, Section 952, 960, 963)
Maximum Penalty: 20 years in custody; 3 years of supervised release, $1,000,000 fine
Conspiracy to Distribute Controlled Substances (Title 21, United States Code, Sections 841 and 846)
Maximum Penalty: 20 years in custody; 3 years of supervised release, $1,000,000 fine
Conspiracy to Maintain Drug Related Premises (Title 21, United States Code, Sections 845(a)(1) and 846)
Maximum Penalty: 20 years in custody; 3 years of supervised release, $250,000 fine
Conspiracy to Launder Money (Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1956(h) and 1956(a)(1)(A)(i)
Maximum Penalty: 20 years in custody; 3 years of supervised release, $500,000 fine
Aiding and abetting the construction, finance, and use of a narcotics tunnel (Title 18, United States Code, Sections 555 and 2)
Maximum Penalty: 20 years in custody; 3 years of supervised release, $500,000 fine
For visuals please see:
https://www.dvidshub.net/search?q=calexicotunnel
AGENCIES
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations
Homeland Security Investigations, Calexico
U.S. Border Patrol, El Centro Sector
Drug Enforcement Administration
Customs and Border Protection
IRS Criminal Investigations
El Centro Police Department
Brawley Police Department
*The charges and allegations contained in an indictment or complaint are merely accusations, and the defendants are considered innocent unless and until proven guilty.
**This case stems from an ongoing Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) joint investigation conducted by the agencies noted above. The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking, weapons trafficking and money laundering organizations, and those primarily responsible for the nation’s illegal drug supply.
Oklahoma City Man Sentenced to 210 Months for Drug ConspiracyRead the Press Release
MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA - The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, announced that BRANDON MICHAEL JONES, age 37, of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, was sentenced to 210 months imprisonment, followed by 5 years of supervised release for DRUG CONSPIRACY, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Sections 841(a)(l) and 841(b)(l)(A).
The Indictment alleged that beginning in or about July 2014, the exact date being unknown to the Grand Jury, and continuing until on or about April 7, 2015, within the Eastern District of Oklahoma and elsewhere, the defendant did knowingly and intentionally conspire, confederate and agree together with others, to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute 500 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine, a Schedule II controlled substance.
The charges arose from an investigation by the Oklahoma City Police Department, Oklahoma Highway Patrol, McAlester Police Department, Checotah Police Department, McIntosh County Sheriff’s Department, District 18 District Attorney’s Drug Task Force, Bureau of Indian Affairs, United States Marshal Service, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Drug Enforcement Administration.
The Honorable Ronald A. White, District Judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, in Muskogee, presided over the hearing. The defendant will remain in the custody of the United States Marshals Service pending transportation to the designated federal facility at which he will serve his nonparoleable sentence.
Assistant United States Attorney Shannon Henson represented the United States.
North Carolina Registered Sex Offender Sentenced to 30 Years forCoercion and Enticement of a MinorRead the Press Release
NORFOLK, Va. – Adam Cain, 41, of Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina, was sentenced today to 360 months in prison for coercion and enticement of a minor. He was also sentenced to 30 years’ supervised release.
Cain pleaded guilty on Dec. 10, 2015. According to court documents, in August 2015, a concerned relative of a 15 year old girl contacted the Windsor Police Department because she found sexually explicit conversations on a computer tablet between the girl and Cain. Cain was a registered sex offender living in Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina, and also a relative of the 15 year old girl. The investigation revealed that Cain and the girl had been speaking online for some months. Then, Cain drove to Windsor, picked up the girl, and then drove back to his residence in North Carolina. There, they engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Cain also took sexually explicit pictures with his phone of the girl. Later on, Cain drove the girl back to Windsor.
Dana J. Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; and John S. Adams, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Norfolk Field Office, made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Arenda L. Wright Allen. Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth M. Yusi prosecuted the case.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 2:15-cr-130.
New Lenox Man Sentenced to More Than Ten Years in Federal Prison for Trading Dozens of Photos and Videos of Child PornographyRead the Press Release
CHICAGO — A New Lenox man who traded dozens of photos and videos of child pornography was sentenced today to more than ten years in federal prison.
Using the screen name trckgirl69, TERENCE MEAGHER traded the images and videos with others via a peer-to-peer file-sharing network on the Internet. Many of the images depicted real prepubescent minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, including portrayals of sadistic and masochistic activity. Unbeknownst to Meagher, one of the users with whom he shared 88 pornographic images was an undercover law enforcement officer.
Meagher, 47, pleaded guilty last year to one count of transportation of child pornography. U.S. District Judge Rebecca R. Pallmeyer imposed the 124-month sentence in federal court in Chicago.
“By distributing child pornography, through trades with others who sought child pornography, Defendant continued the victimization of children who have been filmed or photographed engaging in acts no child should be part of,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott Edenfield argued in the government’s sentencing memorandum. “Defendant’s distribution of child pornography was frequent and extremely serious.”
In addition to sharing the pornographic images, Meagher admitted in a plea agreement that on Jan. 2, 2008, he surreptitiously photographed the private area of a minor child who was under the age of 12.
The sentencing was announced by Zachary T. Fardon, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Michael J. Anderson, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and Cook County Sheriff Thomas J. Dart.
The government is represented by Mr. Edenfield.
Milwaukie Man Pleads Guilty to Stealing from his Disabled CousinRead the Press Release
PORTLAND, Ore. – The former legal guardian for his cognitively disabled cousin, pled guilty for stealing more than $570,000 in annuity payments that were intended for the cousin’s care. Michael R. Braun, 67, pled guilty to wire fraud before U.S. District Court Judge Anna Brown, and admitted committing the theft for approximately 12 years. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for August 15, 2016.
According to court records, Braun was appointed as A.M.’s legal guardian in 1984, following the death of A.M.’s parents, when A.M. was in his 20s. At that time, A.M. was the beneficiary of monthly annuity payments from the Defense Finance and Accounting Services (DFAS) with payments ranging from $1,500 - $2,709 each month. As A.M.’s legal guardian, Braun was required to use the annuity payments for A.M.’s care and to advise DFAS if he was no longer A.M.’s legal guardian.
In 1990, Braun was discharged as A.M.’s guardian by the Circuit Court of Washington County; however, Braun failed to notify DFAS that he had been removed as A.M.’s legal guardian. Between January 1990 and February 2013, Braun submitted a Certificate of Eligibility to DFAS each year certifying he was A.M.’s legal guardian, when in fact he knew he was not and knew he was not using the annuity payments for A.M.’s care. Additionally, in 1998, Braun directed DFAS to deposit A.M.’s annuity payments into Braun’s bank account. As a result of Braun’s repeated false statements and concealments, DFAS continued to deposit A.M.’s annuity payments each month into Braun’s own bank account.
Between January 1990 and December 2012, Braun received $573,604 in annuity payments which he converted to his own use.
The case was investigated by the Washington County Sheriff’s Office. The case is being prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Helen Cooper as part of a partnership venture between the Seattle Region, SSA Office of the General Counsel and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Portland, Oregon.
See the attached indictment below for additional information.
Mescalero Apache Man Sentenced to Seven Years for Federal Assault ConvictionRead the Press Release
ALBUQUERQUE – Christopher Bigmouth, 25, an enrolled member of the Mescalero Apache Nation who resides in Mescalero, N.M., was sentenced this morning in Las Cruces, N.M., to 84 months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release for his conviction on an assault charge.
Bigmouth was arrested on Feb. 20, 2015, on a criminal complaint charging him with assaulting a 14-month-old child on Aug. 22, 2014, by dropping the victim on her head three times. It alleged that the assault occurred on the Mescalero Apache Indian Reservation in Otero County, N.M. The victim was seriously injured and required emergency brain surgery to reduce swelling of the brain.
On Aug. 25, 2015, Bigmouth pled guilty to a felony information charging him with assault resulting in serious bodily injury. In entering the plea, Bigmouth admitted that on Aug. 22, 2014, he intentionally dropped the victim on the floor three times, and that his actions resulted in several injuries to the victim including significant brain swelling requiring emergency surgery and long term cognitive, motor and visual impairment.
This case was investigated by Las Cruces office of the FBI and the Mescalero Agency of the BIA’s Office of Justice Services and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron O. Jordan of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office.
Mastermind of Salvage Yard Scandal SentencedRead the Press Release
Memphis, TN – The mastermind of a salvage yard scandal that defrauded a metal company of more than $750,000 has been sentenced. Edward L. Stanton III, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee, announced the sentence today.
According to information presented in court, Nick Wright, 44, of Halls, Tennessee, owned and operated Wright’s Auto Parts and Metals, a salvage yard business based in Gates, Tennessee.
In May 2011, Wright contracted with a metal company, Apex, to remove scrap metals from its Springdale, Arkansas facility. Each month, Wright mailed an invoice to Apex that described the type of metal, the total weight of each load, and the weight multiplied by the contract price per pound. Each invoice was accompanied by a check which represented Wright’s payment to Apex for the metal removed by Wright.
Between June 2013 and February 2014, Wright falsified the weights of scrap metal and sent invoices via mail with checks for the falsified amount. He reportedly defrauded Apex of more than $750,000.
In December 2015, Wright pled guilty before U.S. District Judge Samuel H. Mays to one count of mail fraud.
Wright was sentenced by Judge Mays to 36 months imprisonment on Thursday, March 24, 2016. The defendant also consented to forfeiture in the amount of more than $400,000.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); Tennessee Highway Patrol; and the 25th District Attorney General’s Office.
Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Samuel Stringfellow prosecuted this case on the government’s behalf.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Announces Charges Against Seven Iranians for Conducting Coordinated Campaign of Cyber Attacks Against U.S. Financial Sector on Behalf of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Sponsored EntitiesRead the Press Release
Loretta E. Lynch, the Attorney General of the United States, Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, James B. Comey, Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), and John P. Carlin, Assistant Attorney General for National Security, announced today the unsealing of an indictment charging seven Iranians – AHMAD FATHI; HAMID FIROOZI; AMIN SHOKOHI; SADEGH AHMADZADEGAN, a/k/a Nitr0jen26; OMID GHAFFARINIA, a/k/a PLuS; SINA KEISSAR; and NADER SAEDI, a/k/a Turk Server – who were employed by two Iran-based computer companies, ITSecTeam (“ITSEC”) and Mersad Company (“MERSAD”), which were sponsored by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps – for conducting a coordinated campaign of distributed denial of service (“DDoS”) attacks against 46 major companies, primarily in the U.S. financial sector, from late 2011 through mid-2013. These attacks, which occurred on more than 176 days, disabled victim bank websites, prevented customers from accessing their accounts online, and collectively cost the banks tens of millions of dollars in remediation costs as they worked to neutralize and mitigate the attacks on their servers. In addition, FIROOZI is also charged with obtaining unauthorized access into the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (“SCADA”) systems of the Bowman Dam, located in Rye, New York, in August and September of 2013.
Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch said: “In unsealing this indictment, the Department of Justice is sending a powerful message: that we will not allow any individual, group, or nation to sabotage American financial institutions or undermine the integrity of fair competition in the operation of the free market. Through the work of our National Security Division, the FBI, and U.S. Attorney’s Offices around the country, we will continue to pursue national security cyber threats through the use of all available tools, including public criminal charges. And as today’s unsealing makes clear, individuals who engage in computer hacking will be exposed for their criminal conduct and sought for apprehension and prosecution in an American court of law.”
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said: “The charges announced today respond directly to a cyber-assault on New York, its institutions, and its infrastructure. The alleged onslaught of cyber-attacks on 46 of our largest financial institutions, many headquartered in New York City, resulted in hundreds of thousands of customers being unable to access their accounts and tens of millions of dollars being spent by the companies trying to stay online through these attacks. The infiltration of the Bowman Avenue dam represents a frightening new frontier in cybercrime. These were no ordinary crimes, but calculated attacks by groups with ties to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard and designed specifically to harm America and its people. We now live in a world where devastating attacks on our financial system, our infrastructure, and our way of life can be launched from anywhere in the world, with a click of a mouse. Confronting these types of cyber-attacks cannot be the job of just law enforcement. The charges announced today should serve as a wake-up call for everyone responsible for securing our financial markets and for guarding our infrastructure. Our future security depends on heeding this call.”
FBI Director James B. Comey said: “The FBI will find those behind cyber intrusions and hold them accountable — wherever they are, and whoever they are. By calling out the individuals and nations who use cyber-attacks to threaten American enterprise, as we have done in this indictment, we will change behavior.”
Assistant Attorney General John P. Carlin said: “Like past nation state-sponsored hackers, these defendants and their backers believed that they could attack our critical infrastructure without consequence, from behind a veil of cyber anonymity. This indictment once again shows there is no such veil – we can and will expose malicious cyber hackers engaging in unlawful acts that threaten our public safety and national security.”
According to the allegations contained in the Indictment[1] unsealed today in Manhattan federal court:
DDoS Attacks
The DDoS attacks against the U.S. financial sector began in approximately December 2011, and occurred sporadically until September 2012, at which point they escalated in frequency to a near-weekly basis, occurring between Tuesdays and Thursdays during normal business hours in the United States through in or about May 2013. On certain days during the campaign, victim computer servers were hit with as many as 140 Gigabits of data per second, and hundreds of thousands of customers were cut off from online access to their bank accounts.
For the purpose of carrying out the attacks, the defendants built botnets that consisted of thousands of compromised computer systems that had been infected with the defendants’ malware, and were subject to their remote command and control. The defendants and their co-conspirators ordered their botnets to direct significant amounts of malicious traffic at computer servers used to operate the websites for victim corporations, which overwhelmed victim servers and prevented customers from accessing the websites or their accounts online during the period of the attacks. Although the DDoS campaign damaged and disrupted the businesses of the financial sector victims and interfered with their customers’ ability to do online banking during the course of the attacks, the attacks did not affect or result in the theft of customer account data.
FATHI, FIROOZI, and SHOKOHI were responsible for ITSEC’s portion of the DDoS attack campaign against the U.S. financial sector. FATHI was the leader of ITSEC and was responsible for supervising and coordinating ITSEC’s portion of the DDoS campaign, as well as managing computer intrusion and cyberattack projects being conducted for the government of Iran. FIROOZI procured and managed computer servers that were used to coordinate and direct DDoS attacks for ITSEC. SHOKOHI is a computer hacker who helped build ITSEC’s botnet and created malware used to direct the botnet to engage in DDoS attacks. During the time that he worked in support of the DDoS campaign, SHOKOKI received credit for his computer intrusion work from the Iranian government towards his completion of his mandatory military service requirement in Iran.
AHMADZADEGAN, GHAFFARINIA, KEISSAR, and SAEDI were responsible for MERSAD’s portion of the DDoS attack campaign against the U.S. financial sector. AHMADZADEGAN was a co-founder of MERSAD and was responsible for managing the MERSAD botnet. He was also a member of Iranian hacking groups Sun Army and the Ashiyane Digital Security Team (“ADST”), and claimed responsibility for hacking servers belonging to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (“NASA”) in February 2012. AHMADZADEGAN has also provided training to Iranian intelligence personnel. GHAFFARINIA was the other co-founder of MERSAD and created malicious computer code used to build MERSAD’s botnet for the DDoS campaign. GHAFFARINIA was also a member of Sun Army and ADST, and has also claimed responsibility for hacking NASA servers in February 2012, as well as thousands of other servers in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Israel. KEISSAR procured computer servers used to access, manipulate, and test MERSAD’s botnet. SAEDI wrote computer scripts used to locate vulnerable servers to build MERSAD’s botnet. SAEDI was also a former Sun Army computer hacker who expressly touted himself as an expert in DDoS attacks.
Bowman Dam Intrusion
Between August 28, 2013, and September 18, 2013, FIROOZI repeatedly obtained unauthorized access to the SCADA systems of the Bowman Dam, in Rye, New York, which allowed him to repeatedly obtain information regarding the status and operation of the dam, including information about the water levels and temperature, and the status of the sluice gate, which is responsible for controlling water levels and flow rates. Although that access would normally have permitted FIROOZI to remotely operate and manipulate the Bowman Dam’s sluice gate, unbeknownst to FIROOZI, the sluice gate had been manually disconnected for maintenance at the time his intrusion.
* * *
FATHI, 37; FIROOZI, 34; SHOKOHI, 25; AHMADZADEGAN, 23; GHAFFARINIA, 25; KEISSAR, 25; and SAEDI, 26, all citizens and residents of Iran, are each charged with one count of conspiracy to commit and aid and abet computer hacking, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. FIROOZI is also charged with an additional count of obtaining and aiding and abetting unauthorized access to a protected computer, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
Mr. Bharara praised the outstanding investigative work of the FBI and the multiple FBI Field Offices that participated in the investigation, which included agents from the Chicago, Cincinnati, New York, Newark, Phoenix, and San Francisco FBI Field Offices. Mr. Bharara also thanked the Department of Homeland Security for its work to remediate the intrusion at the Bowman Dam.
The prosecution of this case is being handled by the Office’s Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit. Assistant United States Attorney Timothy T. Howard is in charge of the prosecution, with assistance provided by Deputy Chief Sean M. Newell of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section.
The charges contained in the Indictment are merely accusations and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
[1] As the introductory phrase signifies, the entirety of the text of the Indictment, and the description of the Indictment set forth herein, constitute only allegations, and every fact described should be treated as an allegation.
Manhattan Man Sentenced to More Than 24 Years in Prison for Attempted Enticement of A MinorRead the Press Release
Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today that STEPHEN P. BROWN was sentenced to 292 months in prison and supervised release for life for attempting to entice a minor to engage in sexual activity. United States District Judge Nelson S. Román imposed the sentence.
U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara stated: “Over the course of three decades, Stephen Brown sexually abused four boys. His predatory activity ended when he used email and text messages in an attempt to lure an individual he believed was his most recent 11-year-old victim. That child victim he thought he was going to meet and have sex with, was in fact an undercover officer. This case underlines the urgent and serious need for law enforcement to continue its efforts to protect vulnerable children from those who seek to prey on them.”
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in related court proceedings:
Between January 14, 2014 and March 4, 2014, BROWN, engaged in sexually explicit online communications with a New York State Police Investigator who was acting in an undercover capacity and posing as an 11-year old boy. During these communications, BROWN discussed various sexual acts he wished to perform on the boy, requested that the boy provide BROWN with sexually explicit photographs of himself, and made a plan to meet the boy in a Westchester County, New York, hotel for the purpose of engaging in sexual activity.
On March 4, 2014, BROWN was arrested in Westchester when he arrived at the designated meeting place to meet the boy. After his arrest, BROWN admitted, among other things, that he had exchanged emails and instant messages with a boy and discussed meeting the boy to engage in sexual acts. BROWN admitted that he asked the boy for sexually explicit photos and that he wanted such photos. He stated that he brought his camera to the hotel because he intended to take sexually explicit photos of the boy.
After his arrest, a search of BROWN’s home revealed BROWN’s possession of thousands of images and videos of child pornography. Further, the investigation of BROWN revealed that, over the last 30 years, BROWN sexually abused four boys.
BROWN, 64, of Manhattan, New York, was also ordered to pay a $50,000 fine.
Mr. Bharara praised the efforts of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the New York County District Attorney’s Office, the Sullivan County District Attorney’s Office, the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office, the Albany County District Attorney’s Office, the City of New York Police Department, the New York State Police, and the Rockland County Computer Crimes Task Force in connection with this investigation.
The prosecution is being handled by the Office’s White Plains Division. Assistant United States Attorney Marcia S. Cohen is in charge of the prosecution.
Malian National Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy to Murder U.S. DiplomatRead the Press Release
Alhassane Ould Mohamed, aka Cheibani, 46, a citizen of Mali, pleaded guilty in the Eastern District of New York to conspiring to murder a U.S. diplomat stationed in Niamey, Niger, in December 2000.
The guilty plea was announced by Assistant Attorney General for National Security John P. Carlin, U.S. Attorney Robert L. Capers of the Eastern District of New York and Assistant Director in Charge Diego Rodriguez of the FBI New York Field Office.
According to court filings and facts presented during the plea proceeding, in the early morning hours of Dec. 23, 2000, Mohamed and a co-conspirator accosted a group of employees of the U.S. Embassy in Niger as they left a restaurant in Niamey. Carrying a pistol and an AK-47 assault rifle, the two men approached Department of Defense official William Bultemeier as he was about to enter his car, which displayed diplomatic license plates clearly indicating that it belonged to the U.S. Embassy. After demanding that Bultemeier turn over the keys to the diplomatic vehicle, the defendant and his co-conspirator shot Bultemeier and Staff Sergeant Christopher McNeely, the Marine Detachment Commander for the U.S. Embassy in Niger at the time, who had run to Bultemeier’s aid. Mohamed and his fellow assailant then drove away in the U.S. Embassy vehicle.
Bultemeier died of the injuries inflicted by the gunshot wounds. Staff Sergeant McNeely survived the shooting and later retired from the Marine Corps as a Master Sergeant.
Today’s plea took place before U.S. District Judge William F. Kuntz II of the Eastern District of New York. At sentencing on April 26, 2016, as part of the agreement, the defendant faces an agreed-upon sentence of 25 years in prison.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Zainab Ahmad, Margaret Lee and Melody Wells of the Eastern District of New York with assistance provided by Trial Attorney Jennifer Levy of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section.
Malian National Pleads Guilty in Brooklyn Federal Court to Conspiracy to Murder U.S. DiplomatRead the Press Release
Earlier today, Alhassane Ould Mohamed, also known as “Cheibani,” a citizen of Mali, pled guilty at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn, New York, to conspiring to murder a United States diplomat stationed in Niamey, Niger, in December 2000.
The guilty plea was announced by Robert L. Capers, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, and Diego G. Rodriguez, Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation.
According to court filings and facts presented during the plea proceeding, in the early morning hours of December 23, 2000, the defendant and a co-conspirator accosted a group of employees of the United States Embassy in Niger as they left a restaurant in Niamey, Niger. Carrying a pistol and an AK-47 assault rifle, the two men approached Department of Defense official William Bultemeier as he was about to enter his car, a white sport-utility vehicle bearing diplomatic license plates clearly indicating that it belonged to the United States Embassy. After demanding that Mr. Bultemeier turn over the keys to the diplomatic vehicle, the defendant and his co-conspirator shot Mr. Bultemeier and Staff Sergeant Christopher McNeely, the Marine Detachment Commander for the United States Embassy in Niger at the time, who had run to Mr. Bultemeier’s aid. The defendant and his fellow assailant then drove away in the United States Embassy vehicle.
Mr. Bultemeier died of the injuries inflicted by the gunshot wounds. Staff Sergeant McNeely survived the shooting, and later retired from the Marine Corps as a Master Sergeant.
Today’s plea took place before United States District Judge William F. Kuntz, II. When sentenced on April 26, 2016, the defendant faces an agreed-upon term of 25 years’ imprisonment.
The government’s case is being prosecuted by the Office’s National Security & Cybercrime Section. Assistant United States Attorneys Zainab Ahmad, Margaret Lee, and Melody Wells are in charge of the prosecution, with assistance provided by Trial Attorney Jennifer Levy of the Justice Department’s Counterterrorism Section.
The Defendant:
ALHASSANE OULD MOHAMED
Age: 46E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 13-527 (WFK)
Mail thief sentenced in federal courtRead the Press Release
Indianapolis – United States Attorney Josh J. Minkler announced today the sentencing of a Huntington, Indiana, man for stealing mail from the main post office in Downtown Indianapolis. Bryon Fisher, 35, was sentenced to 41 months (over three years) in federal prison by U. S. District Judge Tanya Walton Pratt.
“Most of us still get our mail through home delivery or at a post office box,” said Minkler. “People should have confidence that their mail will be delivered safely and untampered with. Stealing mail is a serious crime that puts people’s privacy, money, and confidence in the mail system at risk. We will hold people who steal mail accountable.”
In the early morning hours of October, 14, 2014, Fisher entered the U.S. Post Office located at 125 West South Street in Indianapolis with a plan to break into post office boxes and steal mail from them. He used a small metal crowbar to break open the P.O boxes and steal the contents. After breaking several boxes and gathering dozens of letters, law enforcement, who had been observing him via a surveillance camera, approached Fisher and apprehended him.
Further investigation revealed that this was not the only time Fisher tried to steal mail from this post office. He targeted these post office boxes because he knew they would contain a high volume of mail containing checks or other monetary instruments. His plan was to obtain checks from the letters, alter the checks, and attempt to pass them at retail locations in exchange for cash, gift cards, or other items.
Investigators recovered a large quantity of mail from Fisher, which he had stolen on multiple occasions during 2014. The stolen mail was originally intended for businesses, including utility companies, as well as charities. As a result of the theft, payments and donations were never received, which wreaked havoc for senders and recipients of these mail items. In some cases, people’s utilities were disconnected for non-payment. Law enforcement has recovered all of the stolen mail items that were in Fisher’s possession and has notified all of those whose mail was affected – both senders and recipients.
“The U.S. Postal Inspection Service will continue to vigorously investigate those who would attempt to violate the public’s trust in the U.S. Mail. Mr. Fisher has been held accountable for trying to damage this trust,” said E.C. Woodson, Inspector in Charge Detroit Division.
According to Assistant United States Attorney Nick Linder who prosecuted this case for the government, Fisher must also pay restitution and serve three years of supervised release after his prison sentence.
Lynn Tax Preparer Pleads Guilty to Fraud and Identity TheftRead the Press Release
BOSTON – A Lynn tax preparer pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Boston in connection with a scheme to file fraudulent tax returns without her clients’ knowledge and pocket the excess refunds.
Claudia Carredano, 46, pleaded guilty to a criminal Information charging her with one count of wire fraud and one count of identity theft. U.S. District Court Judge George A. O’Toole, Jr. scheduled sentencing for June 23, 2016.
Carredano co-owned Maya Multi Services, a tax return preparation business operating on the North Shore. From 2008 to 2011, Carredano devised and executed a scheme to defraud the Internal Revenue Service by filing false tax returns on behalf of her clients. To do this, Carredano filed dozens of false tax returns for her clients, and, without their knowledge, included fraudulent dependents in order to increase the refund amount. She then directed the inflated portion of the refunds to be deposited into her bank account. In order to conceal the scheme, Carredano gave her clients versions of their tax returns which did not reflect the fraudulent dependents and sought smaller refunds than the returns she actually filed with the IRS.
The charge of wire fraud provides for a sentence of no greater than 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain to the defendant or loss to the victims, whichever is greater. The charge of identity theft provides for a sentence of no greater than 15 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain to the defendant or loss to the victims, whichever is greater. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than maximum penalties. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based on the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
If you were one of Carredano’s clients between 2008 and 2011 and believe you may have been affected by the fraud described above, please send an email to: [email protected].
United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz and Manny J. Muriel, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation in Boston, made the announcement today. The case was investigated with the cooperation of the Massachusetts Department of Revenue. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian A. Pérez-Daple of Ortiz’s Economic Crimes Unit.
Louisiana Check Cashers Plead Guilty to Conspiracy, Tax Charges and Agree to Forfeit $4.12 MillionRead the Press Release
Two residents of Kenner, Louisiana, pleaded guilty today before Federal District Court Judge Lance M. Africk of the Eastern District of Louisiana for crimes related to the operation of their check cashing business, VJ Discount Inc., announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Caroline D. Ciraolo of the Department of Justice’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Kenneth A. Polite for the Eastern District of Louisiana.
Susantha Wijetunge, aka VJ, 52, pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud the United States by impeding and impairing the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), to file false reports with government agencies regarding these transactions and to commit mail and wire fraud. His spouse, Manula Wijetunge, aka Manu, 48, pleaded guilty to willfully filing a false tax return. As part of their guilty pleas, the defendants and certain corporate entities they control agreed to the forfeiture of approximately $4.12 million dollars.
According to publicly filed documents, defendants Susantha Wijetunge and Manula Wijetunge owned VJ Discount Inc., a Louisiana corporation that operated a convenience store and check cashing business in Kenner. Susantha Wijetunge, VJ Discount Inc. and others cashed fraudulently obtained tax refund checks for multiple co-conspirators, for which they charged a higher fee than normal. Often, these transactions involved multiple checks and tens of thousands of dollars. In order to conceal this illegal activity, Susantha Wijetunge and others filed false reports with the government, or failed to file them as required by law.
Susantha Wijetunge also admitted to filing multiple false tax returns that underreported business and individual income to the IRS. Both Susantha Wijetunge and Manula Wijetunge admitted that VJ Discount Inc. had third party check deposits of more than $59 million in 2011; $47 million in 2012; and $66 million in 2013. Despite this large volume of business, the defendants’ individual income tax returns reported total individual income of less than $100,000 per year. Manula Wijetunge pleaded guilty to willfully filing a false 2013 individual income tax return.
Susantha Wijetunge faces a statutory maximum term of five years in prison and Manula Wijetunge faces a statutory maximum term of three years in prison. They also face fines, forfeiture, the costs of prosecution and restitution. Sentencing is set for July 14.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Ciraolo and U. S. Attorney Polite commended special agents of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations and IRS-Criminal Investigation, who investigated the case and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Hayden Brockett and David Haller and Trial Attorney Michael Hatzimichalis of the Tax Division, who are prosecuting the case.
Louisiana Check Cashers Plead Guilty to Conspiracy, Tax Charges and Agree to Forfeit $4.12 MillionRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON – Two residents of Kenner, Louisiana, pleaded guilty today before Federal District Court Judge Lance M. Africk of the Eastern District of Louisiana for crimes related to the operation of their check cashing business, VJ Discount Inc., announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Caroline D. Ciraolo of the Department of Justice’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Kenneth A. Polite for Eastern District of Louisiana.
Susantha Wijetunge, aka VJ, 52, pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud the United States by impeding and impairing the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), to file false reports with government agencies regarding these transactions and to commit mail and wire fraud. His spouse, Manula Wijetunge, aka Manu, 48, pleaded guilty to willfully filing a false tax return. As part of their guilty pleas, the defendants and certain corporate entities they control agreed to the forfeiture of approximately $4.12 million dollars.
According to publicly filed documents, defendants Susantha Wijetunge and Manula Wijetunge owned VJ Discount Inc., a Louisiana corporation that operated a convenience store and check cashing business in Kenner. Susantha Wijetunge, VJ Discount Inc. and others cashed fraudulently obtained tax refund checks for multiple co-conspirators, for which they charged a higher fee than normal. Often, these transactions involved multiple checks and tens of thousands of dollars. In order to conceal this illegal activity, Susantha Wijetunge and others filed false reports with the government, or failed to file them as required by law.
Susantha Wijetunge also admitted to filing multiple false tax returns that underreported business and individual income to the IRS. Both Susantha Wijetunge and Manula Wijetunge admitted that VJ Discount Inc. had third party check deposits of more than $59 million in 2011; $47 million in 2012; and $66 million in 2013. Despite this large volume of business, the defendants’ individual income tax returns reported total individual income of less than $100,000 per year. Manula Wijetunge pleaded guilty to willfully filing a false 2013 individual income tax return.
Susantha Wijetunge faces a statutory maximum term of five years in prison and Manula Wijetunge faces a statutory maximum term of three years in prison. They also face fines, forfeiture, the costs of prosecution and restitution, if convicted. Sentencing is set for July 14.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Ciraolo and U.S. Attorney Polite commended special agents of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations and IRS-Criminal Investigation, who investigated the case and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Hayden Brockett and David Haller and Trial Attorney Michael Hatzimichalis of the Tax Division, who are prosecuting the case.
Local Man Sentenced for Role in Detroit-to-Pittsburgh Oxycodone RingRead the Press Release
PITTSBURGH - A Pittsburgh man has been sentenced in federal court to four years of probation, which includes eight months of community confinement, on his conviction of violating the federal narcotics laws, United States Attorney David J. Hickton announced today.
United States District Judge Nora Barry Fischer imposed the sentence on Max Matthew Guardalabene, 31.
According to information presented to the court, Guardalabene was a lower-level distributor for a Detroit-to-Pittsburgh oxycodone ring operated by Telano White and Brandy Bara.
Assistant United States Attorney Stephen R. Kaufman prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.
U.S. Attorney Hickton commended the Drug Enforcement Administration, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office, Pennsylvania State Police, and the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Guardalabene.
Lewiston Man Pleads Guilty to Tax ChargeRead 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 Jon DiBernardo, 51, of Lewiston, NY, who was convicted of tax evasion, was sentenced to three years probation by U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara.
Assistant U.S. Attorney MaryEllen Kresse, who handling the case, stated that the defendant was the owner of Water Street Landing, a restaurant in Lewiston, NY. Between 2006 and 2009, DiBernardo submitted tax returns to the Internal Revenue Service understating business revenues thereby evading payment of income tax. In addition, the defendant paid employees off the books and as a result failed to pay employment taxes.
DiBernardo failed to report a total of $419,221 in taxable income resulting in a loss of $111,377 to the IRS. In addition, the defendant failed to report $285,705 in employee wages resulting in a loss of $43,712 to the IRS.
The sentencing is the culmination of an investigation by Special Agents of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division, under the direction of Special Agent-In-Charge Shantelle P. Kitchen.
Lewes Woman Sentenced to Two Years in Prison for $430,000+ EmbezzlementRead the Press Release
WILMINGTON, Del. - Charles M. Oberly, III, United States Attorney for the District of Delaware, announced that Penni Enama, age 50, of Lewes, Delaware, was sentenced yesterday by the Honorable Gregory M. Sleet, United States District Judge for the District of Delaware, to 24 months in prison, and full restitution. The defendant pleaded guilty to violations of wire fraud and tax evasion, in December 2015.
According to court filings and statements made at the sentencing hearing, the defendant was employed by a law firm in Delaware. In May 2007, she began embezzling funds from the firm’s escrow account. The defendant was a real estate paralegal, and she used her access to a closing escrow account to divert at least $439,824.40 to her personal use. The defendant fabricated additional real estate closing parties in the firm’s records, and she used the additional funds to pay her personal credit cards and/or deposit the funds into her personal bank accounts. The defendant did not declare the embezzled funds on her federal income tax returns for the 2011-2013 tax years.
Judge Sleet commented that the defendant’s conduct was “quite involved, quite calculated, and disturbingly so.”
U.S. Attorney Oberly stated, “In yet another case involving a major breach of trust, Ms. Enama stole substantial funds from her employer, causing injury to both the law firm and its attorneys. While Ms. Enama was, until caught, living a dream life with stolen funds, she will now dream for the next two years that crime does not pay.”
“Today’s sentence shows the strong impact of when the bond of trust between an employer and employee is violated by greed. The Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division will work diligently so that the American public can trust that those who commit such crimes will be held accountable.” said Akeia Conner, Internal Revenue Service, Special Agent in Charge.
This case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation, and it is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Lauren Paxton.
Leader of Atlanta ATM Machine Theft Ring SentencedRead the Press Release
ATLANTA - Ovino Harris has been sentenced to 10 years, 10 months in federal prison for attempting to rob the Wellesley Inn Atlanta Airport Hotel, in what was believed to be one of a string of ATM machine thefts in the Atlanta, Georgia, area.
“Harris and his group were so audacious that they even threatened to shoot a hotel clerk in order to steal an ATM,” said U. S. Attorney John Horn. “This group has been dismantled thanks to the tremendous work of the Atlanta Police Department and the FBI.”
“The sentencing of Mr. Harris to federal prison will not only hold him accountable for his criminal actions as well as removing him from our streets, but it also clearly illustrates that Atlanta law enforcement will bring all of its resources to bear in addressing these aggressive theft rings,” said J. Britt Johnson, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Atlanta Field Office.
“Each time we’re able to get a criminal off the streets, it’s a good day,” said Atlanta Police Chief George Turner. “The arrest and conviction of Ovino Harris is yet another example of why the partnership between the Atlanta Police Department and the FBI is critical to making Atlanta the safest big city in the nation.”
According to U.S. Attorney Horn, the charges and other information presented in court: Harris was believed to be the leader of a group known as the “Green Team,” that operated out of the Pittsburgh area of Atlanta and engaged in various criminal activities including the theft of ATM machines from local businesses. Green Team members would frequently break into closed businesses, attach chains or ropes to an ATM machine while attaching the other end to a van or truck, and pull the ATM machine from the store.
During the early morning hours of December 4, 2013, however, Harris traveled to the Wellesley Inn Atlanta Airport Hotel where he and four other Green Team members attempted to steal the ATM machine from within the hotel lobby by threatening to shoot the hotel clerk. Law enforcement was called to the area, and the men fled before they could be apprehended.
Then, on December 22, 2013, and again on December 27, 2013, members of the Green Team traveled to the CVS Pharmacy located on North Highland Avenue in Atlanta where they attempted to steal the ATM machine from inside the store. Harris was arrested and arraigned on July 9, 2014.
Ovino Harris, 35, of Atlanta, Georgia, has been sentenced by United States District Judge Amy Totenberg to 10 years, 10 months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release. Harris was convicted on these charges on December 15, 2015, after he pleaded guilty. All of Harris’ co-defendants have also pled guilty in this matter. Five of Harris’ co-defendants have already been sentenced, with one additional co-defendant awaiting sentencing.
This case was investigated by the Atlanta Police Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Assistant United States Attorneys Matthew S Carrico and Kim S. Dammers prosecuted the case.
For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at [email protected] or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.
Last of Five Defendants Pleads Guilty in Multimillion-Dollar Medicare Fraud Scheme involving Detroit-Area Home Health CompaniesRead the Press Release
The last of five defendants pleaded guilty for his role in a $33 million Medicare fraud scheme involving Detroit-area home health care and hospice companies. The other four defendants have all pleaded guilty since March 15, 2016.
Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Barbara L. McQuade of the Eastern District of Michigan, Special Agent in Charge David P. Gelios of the FBI’s Detroit Division and Special Agent in Charge Lamont Pugh III of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) Chicago Region made the announcement.
Muhammad Tariq, 60, of West Bloomfield, Michigan, an owner of home health care and hospice companies in the Detroit area, pleaded guilty yesterday before U.S. District Judge Sean F. Cox of the Eastern District of Michigan to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud. On March 15 and March 18, 2016, respectively, Shahid Tahir, 45, and Manawar Javed, 40, both of Bloomfield, Michigan, two other owners of the home health care and hospice companies, each pleaded guilty before Judge Cox to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud. On March 18 and March 22, 2016, respectively, Waseem Alam 60, of Troy, Michigan, and Hatem Ataya, 47, of Flushing, Michigan, two physicians involved in the fraud scheme, pleaded guilty before Judge Cox to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud. Alam additionally pleaded guilty to an additional count of structuring. The defendants are scheduled to be sentenced in July 2016. All five defendants were charged in an indictment returned on June 11, 2015.
According to admissions made as part of their guilty pleas, Tahir, Javed and Tariq paid kickbacks, bribes and other inducements to Alam, Ataya and other physicians, as well as to marketers and patient recruiters, for beneficiary referrals to companies they owned, including A Plus Hospice and Palliative Care, At Home Hospice and At Home Network Inc. Tahir, Javed and Tariq admitted that they would then bill Medicare for home care and hospice services that were often medically unnecessary and not provided.
Alam was the top referring physician to the entities owned by the defendants and as such, was responsible for millions in Medicare reimbursements, he admitted. As part of his guilty plea, Alam admitted that he received kickbacks and other inducements from the owners of At Home Network in exchange for home health referrals. Alam bribed his patients into accepting services from At Home Network by providing them with medically unnecessary controlled substance prescriptions both personally and through unlicensed individuals, he admitted. Co-owner Tariq admitted that he knew about Alam’s controlled substances bribes to patients. Alam also instructed others to falsify patient files to hide the fact that the prescriptions were medically unnecessary, according to his plea agreement.
Ataya was the second-highest referring physician to At Home Network and the top referring physician to At Home Hospice. As part of his guilty plea, he admitted that he accepted kickbacks and other inducements in exchange for home health and hospice referrals. Ataya also admitted that the Tahir-associated companies would submit false billing based on his referrals for purported home health and hospice services, when, at times, these services were neither medically necessary nor provided.
The FBI and HHS-OIG investigated the case, which was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, supervised by the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Eastern District of Michigan. Trial Attorneys Shubhra Shivpuri, Malisa Dubal and Tom Tynan of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section prosecuted the case.
Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, now operating in nine cities across the country, has charged nearly 2,000 defendants who have collectively billed the Medicare program for more than $6 billion. In addition, the HHS Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the HHS-OIG, are taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.
To learn more about the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT), go to www.stopmedicarefraud.gov.