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24 February 2016
Alabama Resident Sentenced to Prison for Involvement in Stolen Identity Tax Refund Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
Conspired with Others, Including Her Son, to Claim Fraudulent Tax Returns Claiming More Than $4 Million in Tax Refunds Using Stolen Names and Social Security Numbers
An Alabama woman was sentenced today to serve 51 months in prison for her role in a stolen identity refund fraud (SIRF) conspiracy, Acting Assistant Attorney General Caroline D. Ciraolo of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney George L. Beck, Jr. of the Middle District of Alabama announced.
According to court documents and evidence presented at the sentencing hearing, between 2007 and 2012, Pamela Ann Smith, 56, of Lanett, Alabama, led a large-scale SIRF scheme from her tax preparation business, Jaycal Tax Service, in Phenix City, Alabama. Smith recruited her son, Calvin Perry and his friend, Ernest Simmons Jr., to participate in the scheme. As part of the conspiracy, Smith, Perry and Simmons opened multiple bank accounts and post office boxes. They filed more than 1,200 federal income tax returns using the stolen personal identification information of actual individuals, which included their names and social security numbers. The tax returns filed by Smith and her co-conspirators sought more than $4 million in fraudulent refunds from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). U.S. Treasury checks were mailed to physical addresses and post office boxes under Smith’s control and subsequently deposited into multiple bank accounts controlled by Smith, Perry and Simmons. Smith personally received more than $300,000 from this scheme.
Smith pleaded guilty in November 2015 to one count of conspiracy to defraud the government with respect to filing false income tax refund claims and one count of aggravated identity theft. Perry and Simmons also pleaded guilty in December 2015 for their involvement in this SIRF scheme and are scheduled to be sentenced in April.
In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Judge John Antoon, II ordered Smith to serve three years of supervised release and pay restitution in the amount of $340,057.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Ciraolo and U.S. Attorney Beck commended special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation, who investigated the case and Trial Attorneys Gregory P. Bailey, Michael C. Boteler and Robert J. Boudreau of the Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Ross of the Middle District of Alabama, who prosecuted the case.
Additional information about the Tax Division and its enforcement efforts may be found on the division’s website.
Alabama Resident Sentenced to Prison for Involvement in Stolen Identity Tax Refund Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
Montgomery, AL – An Alabama woman was sentenced today to serve 51 months in prison for her role in a stolen identity refund fraud (SIRF) conspiracy, announced U.S. Attorney George L. Beck, Jr. of the Middle District of Alabama, and acting Assistant Attorney General Caroline D. Ciraolo of the Justice Department’s Tax Division.
According to court documents and evidence presented at the sentencing hearing, between 2007 and 2012, Pamela Ann Smith, 56, of Lanett, Alabama, led a large-scale SIRF scheme from her tax preparation business, Jaycal Tax Service, in Phenix City, Alabama. Smith recruited her son, Calvin Perry and his friend, Ernest Simmons, Jr., to participate in the scheme. As part of the conspiracy, Smith, Perry and Simmons opened multiple bank accounts and rented post office boxes. They filed more than 1,200 federal income tax returns using the stolen personal identification information of actual individuals, which included the victims’ names and social security numbers. The tax returns filed by Smith and her co-conspirators sought more than $4 million in fraudulent refunds from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). U.S. Treasury checks were mailed to physical addresses and post office boxes under Smith’s control and subsequently deposited into multiple bank accounts controlled by Smith, Perry and Simmons. Smith personally received more than $300,000 from this scheme.
Smith pleaded guilty in November 2015 to one count of conspiracy to defraud the government with respect to filing false income tax refund claims and one count of aggravated identity theft. Perry and Simmons also pleaded guilty in December 2015 for their involvement in this SIRF scheme and are scheduled to be sentenced in April.
In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Judge John Antoon, II ordered Smith to serve three years of supervised release and pay restitution in the amount of $340,057.
U.S. Attorney Beck and acting Assistant Attorney General Ciraolo commended special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation, who investigated the case and Trial Attorneys Gregory P. Bailey, Michael C. Boteler and Robert J. Boudreau of the Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan S. Ross of the Middle District of Alabama, who prosecuted the case.
Alabama Man Indicted on Child Pornography and Sex Tourism ChargesRead the Press Release
An Alabama native was indicted today and charged with multiple crimes involving travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct with minors and child pornography, announced Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Kenyen R. Brown of the Southern District of Alabama.
Clarence Edward Evers Jr., aka Bud, a technology teacher employed by the Conecuh County, Alabama, Board of Education, was arrested on Feb. 11, 2016, and was charged today with five counts of travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a minor, one count of attempted travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a minor, one count of production and attempted production of child pornography, one count of transportation of child pornography, one count of receipt of child pornography, one count of access with intent to view child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography.
According to the indictment, Evers allegedly traveled to Thailand in the summers of 2010 through 2014 for the purpose of engaging in illicit sexual conduct with a minor and allegedly attempted to make a similar trip in the spring of 2015. During the 2014 trip, Evers also allegedly photographed his victims’ abuse and then transported the images back to the United States. In addition, Evers allegedly had other images of child sexual exploitation on his computers and other electronic devices.
The charges contained in the indictment are only allegations. Evers is presumed innocent unless and until he is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
ICE-HSI is investigating this case. Trial Attorney James E. Burke IV of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sean P. Costello and Maria E. Murphy of the Southern District of Alabama are prosecuting the case.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
15 Arrested on Federal Drug Trafficking and Money Laundering Indictment in the Western District of Texas as Part of Operation Dream CatcherRead the Press Release
Fifteen individuals are in custody today charged federally with participating in a methamphetamine distribution and money laundering scheme announced United States Attorney Richard L. Durbin, Jr., and Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge Joseph M. Arabit, Houston Division.
A federal grand jury indictment, returned in Austin and unsealed today, charges the defendants with one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine. Arrested today include:
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Osiel Bautista, age 29, of Austin, TX, 500 grams or more;
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Luis Loza, age 24, of Austin, 500 grams or more;
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Alberto Munoz, age 29, an undocumented alien arrested in Austin, 500 grams or more;
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Alex Perez, age 25, an undocumented alien arrested in Austin, 500 grams or more;
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Adan Martinez, age 30, of Austin, 50 grams or more;
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Marty Lopez, age 26, of Alice, TX, 50 grams or more;
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Rickey Lincoln, age 30, of Austin, 50 grams or more;
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Jesus Vallejo, age 30, undocumented alien arrested in Austin, 50 grams or more;
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Eric Manning, age 34, of Waco, 50 grams or more;
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Aaron Bravo, age 39, of Granite Shoals, TX, 50 grams or more; and,
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Samuel Chavez, age 25, undocumented alien arrested in Austin, 50 grams or more.
Four defendants charged in the indictment were already in custody prior to today. They are:
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Raul Vallejo, age 34, an undocumented alien residing in Austin, 500 grams or more;
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Pedro Gomez, age 21, of Austin, 50 grams or more;
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Eden Gonzalez, age 25, an undocumented alien residing Austin, 50 grams or more; and,
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Antonio Tavera Vera, age 31, an undocumented alien, 50 grams or more.
The indictment also charges Bautista, Loza, Munoz, Raul Vallejo, and Perez with one count of money laundering. According to the indictment, since September 2014, the defendants have conspired to distribute methamphetamine across the Austin area.
During today’s arrests, authorities seized approximately ten kilograms of methamphetamine; approximately $5,000 U.S. Currency; and, eight firearms including an SKS rifle with four magazines and ammunition. Previously, authorities have seized approximately ten kilograms of methamphetamine and an estimated $155,000 in criminally derived assets attributed to these defendants.
“Methamphetamine is a vicious poison that has caused horrific and long-term damage to the quality of life in too many of our communities,” said DEA Special Agent in Charge Joseph M. Arabit. “These arrests, as part of Operation Dream Catcher, conclude an 18-month investigation and underscore DEA’s continued commitment to working with our Federal and local law enforcement partners to disrupt and dismantle drug trafficking organizations that negatively impact our neighborhoods and families.”
All of the defendants remain in federal custody. Upon conviction, Bautista, Loza, Munoz, Raul Vallejo and Perez face between ten years and life in federal prison on the drug trafficking conspiracy charge. The other defendants face between five and 40 years in federal prison upon conviction of the drug trafficking conspiracy charge. Bautista, Loza, Munoz, Raul Vallejo and Perez face up to 20 years in federal prison upon conviction of the money laundering conspiracy charge.
It is important to note that a criminal complaint is merely a charge and should not be considered as evidence of guilt. The defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
This case resulted from an investigation conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Task Force. Agencies participating in the HIDTA Task Force include: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), United States Marshals Service, Austin Police Department, Cedar Park Police Department, Georgetown Police Department, Round Rock Police Department, Granite Shoals Police Department, Bastrop County Sheriff’s Office, Hays County Sheriff’s Office, Travis County Sheriff’s Office, Williamson County Sheriff’s Office, Texas Department of Public Safety, Texas National Guard and the Travis County District Attorney’s Office. Assistant United States Attorneys Dan Guess and Matt Harding are prosecuting this case on behalf of the Government.
Other arrests and federal charges related to Operation Dream Catcher have taken place today in the Southern District of Texas and the Eastern District of Texas.
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23 February 2016
York City Man Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison on Drug Trafficking ChargesRead the Press Release
HARRISBURG- The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announces that a York man was sentenced to 10 years in prison today by Chief U.S. District Court Judge Christopher C. Conner in Harrisburg, for drug trafficking.
According to United States Attorney Peter Smith, the defendant, Charlie Rivera, age 26, previously pleaded guilty to possessing cocaine, crack cocaine, heroin, and oxycodone when arrested by the Pennsylvania State Police and York City Police on December 12, 2012. When arrested, he was also found in possession of a firearm. Rivera was wanted at the time of his arrest for failing to report to prison to serve a seven year sentence in another drug trafficking case.
Rivera was indicted by a federal grand jury in Harrisburg in January 2013, as a result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Pennsylvania State Police, and the York City Police Department.
Chief Judge Conner also ordered Rivera to be placed on three years of supervised release following his prison sentence. The court also directed that his sentence be served consecutively to the 7-14 years sentence he is currently serving.
Assistant United States Attorney Michael A. Consiglio prosecuted the case.
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.
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Woman Who Obtained Mortgages, Lying about Homes Being Her Primary Residences, Convicted of Making False Statements to BanksRead the Press Release
LOS ANGELES – A Lakewood woman has been found guilty of five felony charges for lying to banks that funded mortgages for three properties that later went into default, causing about $660,000 in losses to the lenders.
Felicia Muhammad, 45, who at the time of the criminal conduct was a licensed real estate broker living in Long Beach, was convicted Friday afternoon of five counts of making false statements to federally-insured financial institutions, specifically U.S. Bank, Countrywide Bank, and First Horizon Home Loans (a subsidiary of First Tennessee Bank).
United States Michael W. Fitzgerald, who presided over a four-day trial, is scheduled to sentence Muhammad on June 6, at which time she will face a statutory maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison.
“This defendant lied to three different financial institutions, causing significant losses to all of them,” said United States Attorney Eileen M. Decker. “The Department of Justice will continue to hold accountable those who would commit mortgage fraud and place U.S. financial institutions at risk.”
According to the evidence at trial, in the summer of 2008, Muhammad applied for three loans so she could purchase condominium units in North Hollywood and Canoga Park. The total value of the loans was more than $1.1 million.
In each loan application and in two occupancy certifications, Muhammad falsely stated that each condo would be her primary residence, even though she never intended to live in any of the condos.
Once the loans were funded and the purchased were completed, the titles to the properties were transferred to a trust administered by Muhammad’s former landlord, who had asked her to purchase the properties with her good credit. In exchange for purchasing the properties, Muhammad received $18,000.
After the properties were transferred to the trust, all three loans defaulted, all three condos went into foreclosure, and the three lenders lost a total of $662,000.
The case against Muhammad is the result of an investigation by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development – Office of the Inspector General and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Whitehorse Man Indicted for AssaultRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Randolph J. Seiler announced that a Whitehorse, South Dakota, man has been indicted by a federal grand jury for Assault with a Dangerous Weapon and Assault Resulting in Substantial Bodily Injury to an Intimate Partner
Shawn Traversie, age 31, was indicted on February 17, 2016. He appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark Moreno on February 19, 2016, and pled not guilty to the Indictment.
The maximum penalty upon conviction is up to 10 years in custody and/or a $250,000 fine, 3 years of supervised release, and $100 to the Federal Crime Victims Fund. Restitution may also be ordered.
The Indictment alleges that on November 30, 2015, Traversie unlawfully assaulted the victim with a belt and buckle. The Indictment also alleges that on December 10, 2015, Traversie unlawfully committed a domestic assault upon the victim, his spouse, that resulted in substantial bodily injury.
The charges are merely an accusation and Traversie is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
The investigation is being conducted by the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Law Enforcement Services. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jay Miller is prosecuting the case.
Traversie was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service pending trial. A trial date has not been set.
Wheeling man sentenced to 151 months for cocaine traffickingRead the Press Release
WHEELING, WEST VIRGINIA – Dondie Williams, 36, of Wheeling, was sentenced today to 151 months in prison for cocaine trafficking, United States Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld, II, announced.
Williams was discovered in possession of cocaine base in late 2014 in Ohio County, West Virginia. He was charged with one count of “Possession with Intent to Distribute Cocaine Base.” He pled guilty in January 2016 to a lesser included offense of the aforementioned charge.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Vogrin prosecuted the case on behalf of the government. The Ohio Valley Drug and Violent Crime Task Force, a HIDTA-funded initiative, investigated.
Senior U.S. District Judge Frederick P. Stamp, Jr. presided.
Virginia Man Pleads Guilty to Employment Tax FraudRead the Press Release
An Ashland, Virginia, man who operated two masonry contractor construction companies pleaded guilty today in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia to one count of failing to collect, account for and pay over employment taxes to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Caroline D. Ciraolo of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Dana J. Boente of the Eastern District of Virginia.
According to court documents, Michael Manning, 52, was the President of Manning Construction and Manning-Carhen Construction. Manning controlled the businesses’ finances and was responsible for filing the Employer’s Quarterly Federal Tax Returns, Forms 941 and paying over to the IRS the federal income, social security and Medicare taxes withheld from the wages of the businesses’ employees. For the third and fourth quarters of 2014, Manning willfully failed to comply with these legal obligations by failing to pay over more than $800,000 in withheld taxes to the IRS. Additionally, as part of his plea, Manning admitted that Manning Construction, regularly and deliberately created false financial statements for submission to financial institutions in order to comply with that business’s existing loan covenants, to encourage banks to lend new funds to the company, or to enable the renewal of existing loans.
Manning faces a statutory maximum sentence of five years in prison and a fine of $250,000. As part of his plea agreement, Manning also agreed to pay restitution to the IRS. The sentencing hearing is set for May 31.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Ciraolo and U.S. Attorney Boente commended special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation, who investigated the case and Trial Attorney Melanie Smith of the Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jasmine Yoon and Thomas Garnett of the Eastern District of Virginia, who are prosecuting the case.
Additional information about the Tax Division and its enforcement efforts may be found on the division’s website
United States Attorney Examines Financial FraudRead the Press Release
CEDAR RAPIDS, IA – United States Attorney Kevin W. Techau convened a second financial fraud training session today in Dubuque developed to examine various fraudulent schemes in an effort to strengthen prevention and detection efforts. The training brought together area financial institutions together with local, state and federal law enforcement partners. The first meeting was convened last week in Cedar Rapids with a future meeting scheduled in Waterloo on March 2nd. The Dubuque Financial Liaison Group assisted with organizing the training.
United States Attorney Kevin W. Techau stated, “Financial frauds are a serious crime that can result in federal prison time. Federal, state and local law enforcement agencies treat financial crimes very seriously.” Techau also noted, “The financial crimes training session will serve to strengthen communication between law enforcement, local banks and credit unions to protect the public and businesses in the greater Dubuque area. We caution anyone considering this type of criminal activity to reconsider.”
Bringing the partners together to discuss the types of fraud impacting banks, credit unions, local businesses and citizens strengthens the connections necessary to effectively respond. Without a coordinated approach, those who engage in fraudulent practices may go undetected. With a coordinated approach, prevention efforts are strengthened.
Representatives from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Secret Service and Postal Service, and the Internal Revenue Service discussed their areas of expertise and current trends. The Dubuque County Attorney’s Office focused on responding to signs of fraud to include elder abuse, counterfeit financial instruments and other common schemes seen locally. A bank insider crime case study was examined by an Assistant United States Attorney.
With all of the parties detailing their role and responsibilities to combat these crimes, they developed a better understanding of how to work more effectively together to prevent and detect fraudulent practices and engage prosecutors to hold those who commit the crime accountable.
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Two St. Croix Men Sentenced for Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute MarijuanaRead the Press Release
St. Croix, USVI – Senior District Court Judge Raymond L. Finch sentenced today Lamont Sweeney, 41, and Shawn Webster, 42, each to three years of probation, a fine of $500 and a $100 special monetary assessment, United States Attorney Ronald W. Sharpe announced.
Sweeney and Webster pleaded guilty on September 28, 2015. According to the plea agreement filed with the court, on March 17, 2014, an individual asked Sweeney to have Webster pick up a package from the Richmond Post Office, St. Croix. Sweeney called Webster, who agreed to pick up the package. Both Sweeney and Webster knew the package contained 4,980 grams of marijuana.
This case was investigated by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations with the assistance of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Rhonda Williams-Henry.
Two Men Sentenced in White Plains Federal Court in Connection with Sullivan County ArsonRead the Press Release
Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today that NICHOLAS MOTTA and DOMINIC MOTTA were sentenced today in White Plains federal court to prison terms of 15 months, and 12 months and one day, respectively, for their roles in a scheme to obtain insurance proceeds by committing arson. NICHOLAS MOTTA and DOMINIC MOTTA pled guilty on November 6, 2015, to attempted mail fraud in connection with the arson and insurance fraud scheme. The third defendant in the case, Anthony Perso, pled guilty to attempted mail fraud on October 23, 2015. All three defendants pled guilty before the U.S. District Judge Nelson S. Román, who imposed today’s sentences.
According to the allegations contained in the indictment and information adduced during the Court proceedings:
In the early morning hours of February 10, 2010, during a blizzard, a shuttered bar in Swan Lake, New York, formerly known as Kilcoin’s, was set ablaze and destroyed. Perso was among the individuals who set the fire. NICHOLAS and DOMINIC MOTTA owned the bar, and arranged the arson by having others, including Perso, travel to Sullivan County to set the bar afire, in order to make a claim to recover proceeds from the insurance company. In pursuing the insurance claim, DOMINIC MOTTA deceived the insurance company about the fire in order to attempt to obtain more than $100,000 in insurance proceeds. The insurance company, however, detected the arson, and ultimately denied DOMINIC MOTTA’s claim when MOTTA repeatedly failed to respond to requests by the insurance company that he answer questions about the fire under oath.
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In addition to their prison terms, DOMINIC MOTTA, 59, and NICHOLAS MOTTA, 43, both of Islandia, New York, were each sentenced to one year of supervised release and ordered to pay a $100 special assessment. NICHOLAS MOTTA was ordered to pay a fine of $7,500 and DOMINIC MOTTA was ordered to pay a fine of $5,000.
Anthony Perso, 32, of Medford, New York, is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Román on March 11, 2106, at 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Bharara praised the outstanding investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office, the Suffolk County Police Department, and the Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office.
The prosecution is being handled by the Office’s White Plains Division. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Benjamin Allee and George Turner are in charge of the prosecution.
Texas Man Pleads Guilty in New Mexico to Scheme to Defraud Social Security AdministrationRead the Press Release
ALBUQUERQUE – Dannelly Labogin, 68, of Amarillo, Texas, pleaded guilty today in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., to defrauding the Social Security Administration (SSA) of Social Security Child’s Insurance Benefits. Under the terms of his plea agreement, Labogin will be required to pay $82,483.00 in restitution to the SSA.
Labogin was charged in a two-count indictment on Sept.22, 2015. Count 1 of the indictment alleged that between June 2007 and Nov. 2013, Labogin executed a scheme to defraud the SSA by continuing to receive benefits on his daughter’s behalf even though the child had been adopted by others and was no longer in his care. As a result of this scheme, Labogin fraudulently received an aggregate of $82,483.00. Counts 2 through 36 of the indictment alleged that Labogin knowingly stole and embezzled an aggregate of $26,633.00 in Social Security Child’s Insurance Benefit payments from the SSA between Oct. 1, 2010 and Dec. 3, 2013. Labogin was arrested in Amarillo on Dec. 4, 2015, and was transferred to the District of New Mexico on Jan. 5, 2016, to face the charges against him.
During today’s plea hearing, Labogin pled guilty to Count 1 of the indictment. In entering the guilty plea, Labogin admitted that from June 2007 through Nov. 2013, he received Child’s Insurance Benefits from the SSA on behalf of his biological daughter even though he did not have custody of his biological daughter at the time he applied for and received the benefits.
At sentencing, Labogin faces a statutory maximum penalty of five years in prison. The sentencing hearing has yet to be scheduled.
This case was investigated by the SSA, Office of the Inspector General, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark A. Saltman of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office.
Spiro Man Sentenced to 168 Months for Methamphetamine DistributionRead the Press Release
MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA - The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, announced today that WILLIAM LYNN BURROUGH, age 45, of Spiro, Oklahoma, was sentenced to 168 months imprisonment, followed by 5 years of supervised release for POSSESSION WITH INTENT TO DISTRIBUTE METHAMPHETAMINE, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Sections 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(A).
The charge arose from an investigation by the Sequoyah County Sheriff’s Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration.
The Indictment alleges that on or about June 9, 2015, in the Eastern District of Oklahoma, the defendant, WILLIAM LYNN BURROUGH, did knowingly and intentionally possess with the intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine (actual), a Schedule II controlled substance.
The Honorable James H. Payne, 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 Dean Burris represented the United States.
Southwest Harbor Man Pleads Guilty to Operating Under the InfluenceRead the Press Release
Contact: Jim Moore
Assistant United States Attorney
Tel: (207) 945-0373Bangor, Maine: United States Attorney Thomas E. Delahanty II announced that Justin Bent, 28, of Southwest Harbor, Maine, pleaded guilty yesterday in U.S. District Court to operating under the influence of alcohol (OUI) and causing serious bodily injury, operating a vehicle without due care and destroying trees and other natural resources.
Court records reveal that Bent, while under the influence of intoxicants, drove off of a roadway and crashed a van in Acadia National Park, causing serious bodily injury to a passenger and destroying trees. Bent’s blood alcohol content measured .14%. The passenger was transported by life flight to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor where he underwent emergency surgery for a severe leg fracture.
Bent faces up to six years in prison and a $250,000 fine for OUI and up to six-months in prison for operating the vehicle without due care and destruction of park property. He will be sentenced after the completion of a presentence investigation report by the U.S. Probation Office.
The investigation was conducted by National Park Service Rangers as well as the Southwest Harbor and Mount Desert Island Police Departments.
Southport Man Pleads Guilty to Failing to Pay Taxes on Money He Stole from BenefactorRead the Press Release
Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, today announced that ORVAL FURLONG, 72, of Southport, waived his right to indictment and pleaded guilty yesterday in New Haven federal court to one count of tax evasion.
According to court documents and statements made in court, FURLONG was a life-long friend of a wealthy benefactor. Over the years, the benefactor paid some of FURLONG’s debts and financed tuition for FURLONG’s children’s schools. During the last years of the benefactor’s life, FURLONG hired home health aides to care for the benefactor. During this time, the benefactor provided FURLONG with a stipend of approximately $8,000 to $10,000 per month. The benefactor also employed the services of an attorney who acted as the benefactor’s power of attorney and oversaw the Benefactor’s finances. FURLONG provided the attorney with a detailed itemization of the hours worked by the home health aides, the hourly rates for their services, and the total funds needed to pay them for the services provided. The attorney then issued FURLONG checks from one of the benefactor’s bank accounts to pay the health aides.
From at least 2009 to 2011, FURLONG routinely inflated the true hours worked by the home health aides, and/or the applicable hourly rate. FURLONG then paid the home health aides in cash or by check in an amount significantly lower than FURLONG had represented to the attorney. FURLONG kept the difference and used the funds for his personal expenditures. Through this scheme, FURLONG failed to report more than $500,000 in income on his 2009 through 2011 federal tax returns.
FURLONG is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer on June 1, 2016, at which time he faces a maximum term of imprisonment of five years and a fine of up to $250,000. FURLONG also has agreed to pay $105,693 in back taxes, plus applicable interest and penalties.
This case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Division and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher W. Schmeisser.
Seven Defendants Plead Guilty to Roles in Violent South Minneapolis GangRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Andrew M. Luger today announced the guilty pleas of the remaining two defendants from an August 2015 indictment charging seven members of the 10z and 20z street gangs with crimes related to a multi-year gang war with their rivals, which included a shooting attack in August 2014 outside of the Hennepin County Medical Center in which the hospital was peppered with gunfire. The defendants include both leaders and other members of the 10z and 20z. Four defendants pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess firearms in the furtherance of a drug trafficking conspiracy, including the guilty pleas today of DANIEL ALFRED ADAMS, a/k/a “Funk,” and PERCY MINIFER LACEY, JR., a/k/a “P3.” Two defendants earlier this month pleaded guilty to illegally possessing ammunition and one pleaded guilty to distribution of cocaine base. Each defendant pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Patrick Schiltz in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis, Minn.
“Seven gang members are now behind bars,” said U.S. Attorney Luger. “Today’s guilty pleas are an important step forward for public safety, but our work is not done. Already this year, there have been dozens of shots-fired incidents across Minneapolis. Working together with all our law enforcement partners, including the ATF and Minneapolis Police Department, we are committed to ending the gun violence that disrupts the peacefulness of neighborhoods across Minneapolis.”
According to the defendants’ guilty pleas and documents filed in court, between at least January 2013 and August 2015, the 10z and the 20z gangs operated in South Minneapolis, primarily between Franklin Avenue, and Lake Street, and I-35W and Minnehaha Avenue. Their primary purpose was to make money for the gang members through the sale of illegal drugs, including crack cocaine, heroin, and marijuana. As part of their drug trafficking operation, members of the gangs routinely engaged in gun violence with rival gangs. The purpose of this violence was to protect drug dealing territory controlled by the 10z and 20z, to protect individual drug distributors from rival gang violence, to attack and seize drug dealing territory controlled by rival gangs, and to attack and rob drug distributors associated with rival gangs.
According to the defendants’ guilty pleas and documents filed in court, the 10z and 20z were involved in a gang war with their primary rival gangs, the Bloods and the Bogus Boys. The gang war was very violent and resulted in shootings of gang members on both sides, some of which caused the death of gang members. Virtually all of these shootings were the product of disputes over territory, robberies of rival drug dealers, or retaliatory violence.
This case is the result of an investigation conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the Minneapolis Police Department.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Calhoun-Lopez.
Defendant Information:
DANIEL ALFRED ADAMS, a/k/a “Funk,” 29
Minneapolis, Minn.
Convicted:
Conspiracy to possess firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, 1 count
CLARENCE JAMES DICKENS, JR., a/k/a “Claro,” a/k/a, “Sneaky,” 24
Roseville, Minn.
Convicted:
Conspiracy to possess firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, 1 count
ANTHONY PIERRE DOSS, a/k/a “Two Tone,” a/k/a “Tony,” 25
Brooklyn Park, Minn.
Convicted:
Conspiracy to possess firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, 1 count
PERCY MINIFER LACEY, JR., a/k/a “P3,” 22
Richfield, Minn.
Convicted:
Conspiracy to possess firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, 1 count
THOMAS DUPREE BENNETT, a/k/a “Deandre Clay,” a/k/a “Trigga,” 28
Minneapolis, Minn.
Convicted:
Felon in possession of ammunition, 1 count
ANDREW INDELICATO PETERSON, a/k/a “Boo Boo,” 25
St. Louis Park, Minn.
Convicted:
Felon in possession of ammunition, 1 count
PAUL ANTONIO EARLY, a/k/a “Stamps,” a/k/a, “Man Man,” 23
Minneapolis, Minn.
Convicted:
Distribution of cocaine base, 1 count
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United States Attorney’s Office, District of Minnesota: (612) 664-5600
Sebago Man Pleads Guilty to Possessing Child PornographyRead the Press Release
Contact: Michael J. Conley
Assistant United States Attorney
Tel: (207) 780-3257Portland, Maine: United States Attorney Thomas E. Delahanty II announced that William Duffy, 58, of Sebago, Maine pled guilty today in U.S. District Court to possessing child pornography.
According to court records, in May 2015, deputies with the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office executed a search warrant for Duffy’s laptop computer at his Sebago residence. A forensic analysis revealed numerous still images and video files depicting minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, many of whom were younger than 12 years of age.
Duffy faces up to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and supervised release for between five years and life. He will be sentenced after the completion of a presentence investigation report by the U.S. Probation Office.
The investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office and the Maine State Police Computer Crimes Unit.
Scotland Neck Man Sentenced for Selling HeroinRead the Press Release
RALEIGH – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina announced that in federal court today, Chief United States District Judge James C. Dever, III, sentenced GERALD WHITAKER, 41, of Scotland Neck, North Carolina, to 120 months in prison and 3 years of supervised released for distribution of heroin. WHITAKER previously pled guilty to these charges on November 23, 2015.
Between June 21, 2013, and July 22, 2013, the Halifax County Sheriff’s Office and the North Carolina Alcohol Law Enforcement used an informant to buy 182 doses of heroin from WHITAKER on four occasions in Scotland Neck, N.C.
WHITAKER received an enhanced punishment as a career offender based on his four prior state convictions for selling cocaine.
The investigation of this case was conducted by the Halifax County Sheriff’s Office and the North Carolina Alcohol Law Enforcement. The federal prosecution was handled by Special Assistant United States Attorney Glenn Perry. Mr. Perry is a prosecutor with the Pitt County District Attorney’s Office. Pitt County District Attorney Kimberly Robb has assigned Mr. Perry to the United States Attorney’s Office to prosecute federal Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force criminal matters. Mr. Perry’s assignment to the United States Attorney’s Office has been made possible by grants funded by the Governor’s Crime Commission.
San Diego Man Who Stole Thousands of Pounds of Copper Wire from Midway Post Office SentencedRead the Press Release
Assistant U. S. Attorney Meghan E. Heesch (619) 546-9442
NEWS RELEASE SUMMARY – February 23, 2016
SAN DIEGO – James Stephen Dudley, who caused over $100,000 in damage to the Midway Post Office by breaking in and stealing copper wire, has been sentenced to 30 months in custody. U.S. District Court Judge Janis L. Sammartino also ordered Dudley to pay back the U.S. Postal Service for the cost to repair the building damages as restitution.
Dudley was charged in October 2015 with theft of government property, theft of postal service property, and forcibly breaking into a post office with intent to commit larceny after U.S. Postal Inspectors saw him break into the Midway Post Office located at 2535 Midway Drive on September 16, 2015. According to court records, Dudley had cut the lock on the fence of the Post Office to get inside.
After spending several hours in the Post Office stripping copper wire in the middle of the night, Postal Inspectors saw Dudley drive his vehicle onto Postal property and load approximately 673 pounds of copper wire inside it. Dudley was arrested but had planned to scrap the copper wire from the Post Office for cash as he had done on at least five prior occasions during 2015. Dudley pleaded guilty to theft of government property in December 2015.
Judge Sammartino, in sentencing Dudley on February 19, 2016, ordered him to pay restitution to the U.S. Postal Service for the full amount of the damage to the Midway Post Office, $123,984.08.
U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy said, “This office is committed to protecting the integrity of government buildings which ensures the employees who serve the public have a safe place to do their important work.”
“Today's sentence should send a clear message,” said Los Angeles Postal Inspector in Charge Robert Wemyss. “The Postal Inspection Service will not tolerate attacks on our facilities. Postal Inspectors will aggressively investigate these cases and bring the thieves to justice.”
DEFENDANT Case Number 15cr2685-JLS
James Stephen Dudley Age 40
SUMMARY OF CHARGES
Title 18, United States Code, Section 641 (theft of government property) - Maximum penalty: 10 years in prison; $250,000 fine
Title 18, United States Code, Section 1707 (theft of postal service property) - Maximum penalty: 3 years in prison; $250,000 fine
Title 18, United States Code, Section 2115 (forcibly breaking into a post office with intent to commit larceny) - Maximum penalty: 5 years in prison; $250,000 fine
AGENCIES
U.S. Postal Inspection Service
San Diego Police Department
Rosebud Woman Indicted on Assault ChargesRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Randolph J. Seiler announced that a Rosebud, South Dakota, woman has been indicted by a federal grand jury for Assault with a Dangerous Weapon and Assault Resulting in Serious Bodily Injury.
Tianna Arellano, age 29, was indicted on February 17, 2016. She appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark A. Moreno on February 19, 2016, and pled not guilty to the Indictment.
The maximum penalty upon conviction for each charge is up to 10 years in custody and/or a $250,000 fine, 3 years of supervised release, and $100 to the Federal Crime Victims Fund. Restitution may also be ordered.
The Indictment alleges that on or about December 26, 2015, Tianna Arellano assaulted an individual with a knife with intent to do bodily harm and that said assault resulted in serious bodily injury.
The charges are merely an accusation and Arellano is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
The investigation is being conducted by the Rosebud Sioux Tribe Law Enforcement Services. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kirk W. Albertson is prosecuting the case.
Arellano was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service pending trial. A trial date has not been set.
Rosebud Man Indicted for Assaulting a Federal OfficerRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Randolph J. Seiler announced that a Rosebud, South Dakota, man has been indicted by a federal grand jury for Assaulting a Federal Officer.
Dustin Bear Heels, age 27, was indicted on February 17, 2016. He appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark A. Moreno on February 19, 2016, and pled not guilty to the Indictment.
The maximum penalty upon conviction is up to 20 years in custody and/or a $250,000 fine, 3 years of supervised release, and $100 to the Federal Crime Victims Fund. Restitution may also be ordered.
The Indictment alleges that on or about February 2, 2016, Dustin Bear Heels assaulted a Federal Officer by using a dangerous weapon and inflicting bodily injury.
The charge is merely an accusation and Bear Heels is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
The investigation is being conducted by the Rosebud Sioux Law Enforcement Services. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kirk W. Albertson is prosecuting the case.
Bear Heels was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service pending trial. A trial date has not been set.
Rochester Man Pleads Guilty to Heroin and Gun PossessionRead the Press Release
CONTACT: Barbara Burns
PHONE: (716) 843-5817
FAX #: (716) 551-3051ROCHESTER, N.Y. - U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul Jr. announced today that Mario Velasquez, 36, pleaded guilty before U-S District Judge Charles J. Siragusa to possession with intent to distribute heroin and possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking activities. The charges carry a mandatory minimum penalty of five years in prison, a maximum of life, a fine of $1,000,000, or both.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas E. Gregory, who is handling the case, stated that in June 2015, agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Greater Rochester Area Narcotics Enforcement Team (GRANET) and the Rochester Police Department conducted an investigation into Mario Velasquez and the sale of heroin from his residence and a nearby residence on Electric Avenue in Rochester. After making a series of undercover purchases of heroin from Velasquez, a search warrant was executed at both locations. Officers recovered over 350 individual bags of heroin packaged for street level sales, a loaded handgun, assorted live ammunition and approximately $2,400 in cash. Velasquez was arrested at his residence.
The plea is the culmination of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge James J. Hunt, New York Field Division, and the Rochester Police Department, under the direction of Chief Michael Ciminelli, and the Greater Rochester Area Narcotics Enforcement Team (GRANET).
Sentencing is scheduled for May 26, 2016 before Judge Siragusa.
Restaurant Manger Sentenced for Harboring Undocumented WorkersRead the Press Release
KANSAS CITY, KAN. – A man who managed a restaurant in Ottawa, Kan., was sentenced Tuesday for harboring undocumented workers, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said today. He was sentenced to six months in federal custody, followed by six months home confinement and a fine of $4,000. After serving his sentence, he will be on supervised release for three years.
Alex Sanchez, Jr., 36, who was the manager of El Mezcal Mexican Restaurant in Ottawa, Kan., pleaded guilty to one count of harboring undocumented workers for commercial advantage. In his plea, he admitted that in 2011 he paid a fine of $22,589 fine when Immigration and Customs Enforcement found him in violation of rules for I-9 employee eligibility verification forms.
Despite the fine, he continued to employ workers in 2012 who he knew were not legally in the United States. He provided housing for the undocumented workers and paid them in cash.
Grissom commended Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Assistant U.S. Attorney Chris Oakley and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Colin Wood for their work on the case.
Repeated Illegal Re-Entry Results in 28 Months Imprisonment for Mexican NationalRead the Press Release
HONOLULU -- United States District Judge Leslie E. Kobayashi sentenced Palemon Alexander Delatorre, age 37, to 16 months imprisonment and three years of supervised release on February 16, 2016, for re-entering the United States from Mexico without permission. In a related hearing conducted immediately after his sentencing, Judge Kobayashi revoked Delatorre's supervised release in another criminal immigration case and sentenced him to an additional 12 months imprisonment to be served consecutively to the 16 months imprisonment.
United States Attorney Florence T. Nakakuni said that according to court documents and information presented in court, Delatorre was previously convicted in this district court in September 2014, of re-entering the United States in May 2014 after having been deported in April 2014 following his apprehension by the Hawaii Police Department in Kona. Only two months prior to that deportation, in February 2014, Delatorre had been allowed to voluntarily leave the United States after being arrested by the Hawaii Police Department in Kona for contempt and traffic-related offenses.
According to information produced to the court, after he served approximately three and a half months in prison on his prior conviction for illegal re-entry, Delatorre, who also was sentenced to a one-year term of supervised release, was again deported back to Mexico in September 2014. Subsequently, Delatorre unlawfully re-entered the United States and was again arrested by the Hawaii Police Department in March 2015, resulting in the illegal re-entry charge and violation of a term of supervised release for which he was sentenced on February 16.
The investigation was conducted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, assisted by the Hawaii Police Department. The prosecution was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Tracy Hino.
Registered Sex Offender Indicted on Child Pornography ChargesRead the Press Release
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Jason D. Boudreau, 41, of Woonsocket, was arraigned on Monday in U.S. District Court in Providence on a 33-count federal indictment charging him with 33 counts of allegedly accessing with intent to view child pornography. A federal grand jury returned the indictment on February 16, 2016.
Boudreau has been detained in federal custody since his arrest and initial appearance before U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Lincoln D. Almond on December 29, 2015, on a federal criminal complaint issued in this matter.
Boudreau’s indictment and arraignment is announced by United States Attorney Peter F. Neronha; Colonel Steven G. O’Donnell, Superintendent of the Rhode Island State Police; Matthew J. Etre, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) for New England; and Woonsocket Acting Police Chief Captain Michael R. Lemoine.
According to court documents, it is alleged that between August 16 and October 9, 2015, Boudreau digitally accessed more than 750 images of alleged child pornography with the intent to view.
An indictment is merely an allegation and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
According to court documents and information presented to the court, Boudreau was convicted in Rhode Island state court in March 2012 for 2nd degree child molestation and in January 2014 for possession of child pornography. At the time of sentencing for possession of child pornography, Boudreau was ordered to register as a sex offender.
Accessing child pornography is punishable by a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison, with a maximum of 20 years imprisonment.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard W. Rose.
The matter was investigated by the Rhode Island State Police Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, Homeland Security Investigations and the Woonsocket Police Department.
Homeland Security Investigations agents were assisted by members of the Branford, Conn., police department at the time the defendant was located and arrested in Connecticut on December 29, 2015.
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Contact:
Jim Martin (401) 709-5357
email: [email protected]
on Twitter @USAO_RI
Recruiter in Multi-Million Dollar Mortgage Fraud Sentenced to PrisonRead the Press Release
LOS ANGELES – A Los Angeles man who recruited churches into a $4.2 million mortgage scheme that defrauded Broadway Federal Bank has been sentenced to serve one year and one day in federal prison.
Chester Peggese, 59, received the prison sentence yesterday from United States District Judge Manuel L. Real, who also ordered the defendant to pay $4.2 million to Broadway Federal Bank and $38,609 to the Internal Revenue Service.
Peggese pleaded guilty in 2015 to one count of bank fraud and one count of subscribing to a false tax return.
“It is beyond dispute that mortgage fraud does significant harm to the country,” said United States Attorney Eileen M. Decker. “Crimes like these in the aggregate place financial institutions in jeopardy, which in turn places the entire economy in jeopardy.”
According to the plea agreement filed in the case, Peggese acted as a “consultant” who targeted Los Angeles-area churches with promises of new mortgages to purchase property or refinanced mortgages from Broadway Federal Bank. Between 2007 and 2009, Peggese met with representatives of churches and obtained financial information required for the loan applications. Others involved in the scheme altered the financial information to make it appear the churches were more financially sound than they actually were, and Peggese caused these false loan applications to be submitted to Broadway Federal Bank.
A bank insider, Paul Ryan, provided a template for presenting financial information for the churches that ensured the loan applications would be approved. Based on the false information concerning the financial status of the churches, Broadway Federal Bank issued loans to the churches. Peggese received his payment from the escrow accounts and paid kickbacks to Ryan.
Ryan, 48, also of Los Angeles, pleaded guilty in 2014 to one count of receiving bribes and rewards as a bank employee. Ryan is scheduled to be sentenced by United States District Judge S. James Otero on May 9, at which time he will face a statutory maximum sentence of 30 years in federal prison. Ryan has agreed to pay restitution of $353,925 to Broadway Federal Bank.
When Peggese pleaded guilty, he admitted submitting false financial information for an unidentified church to Broadway Federal Bank in 2007. As a result of this false information, Broadway Federal Bank issued a $1.33 million loan. When the church defaulted on the loan, Broadway Federal Bank suffered a $403,010 loss.
In relation to the tax count, Peggese admitted he failed to report $106,325 of business income that he received in 2008, at least a portion of which was derived from the scheme to defraud Broadway Federal Bank. In addition, for calendar years 2007 and 2009, Peggese had additional gross business receipts not reported on his tax returns of $39,900 and $13,536, respectively. As a result of this unreported income, the total taxes owed by Peggese for the years 2007 through 2009 is $38,609.
The investigation into Peggese and Ryan was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, IRS Criminal Investigation, the Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP), and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s Office of Inspector General.
Portage Man Pleads Guilty in Money Laundering SchemeRead the Press Release
JOHNSTOWN, Pa. - A resident of Portage, Pa. pleaded guilty in federal court in Johnstown on a charge of conspiring to commit money laundering, United States Attorney David J. Hickton announced today.
Gary E. Vaughn, 41, pleaded guilty to the indictment before United States District Judge Kim R. Gibson.
In connection with the guilty plea, from Jan. 1, 2012, to Jan. 22, 2014, Vaughn, along with co-defendants, conspired with one another, and with others, to commit certain offenses against the United States, that is, to knowingly conduct and attempt to conduct financial transactions affecting interstate and foreign commerce, which involved property representing the proceeds of a specified unlawful activity, that is, mail fraud, with the intent to promote the carrying on of the specified unlawful activity, and that while conducting and attempting to conduct such financial transaction knew that that property involved in the financial transaction represented the proceeds of some form of unlawful activity.
It was part of the conspiracy that the direction of and business decisions at Gary’s Steals and Deals were made by Tonia Vaughn and/or Gary E. Vaughn. It was further part of the conspiracy that, on a daily basis, customers would bring stolen new merchandise [aka “new in package (NIP)” or “new in box (NIB)”] to Gary’s Steals and Deals for purchase by Gary’s Steals and Deals. It was further part of the conspiracy that, on a daily basis, employees of Gary’s Steals and Deals would purchase the stolen new merchandise, knowing it had been stolen. It was further part of the conspiracy that employees at Gary’s Steals and Deals would tender a monetary percentage of the retail value of the stolen new merchandise back to the customer. It was further part of the conspiracy that on frequent occasions, the same customer(s) would bring numerous identical stolen new items of merchandise to Gary’s Steals and Deals (including but not limited to razor blades, pet products, teeth whitening strips, ink cartridges, jackets, Lego sets), which were repetitively purchased from the customer(s) by employees at Gary’s Steals and Deals. It was further part of the conspiracy that the stolen merchandise that had been purchased from the customers by Gary’s Steals and Deals was thereafter sold by Gary’s Steals and Deals over the Internet on websites such as Ebay and Amazon. It was further part of the conspiracy that Gary’s Steals and Deals utilized the mail to deliver the stolen merchandise to persons who had purchased such merchandise over the Internet. It was further part of the conspiracy that Gary’s Steals and Deals would receive monetary payments for the stolen merchandise that had been sold over the Internet. It was further part of the conspiracy that, in connection with the above-described offense (mail fraud) the named defendants obtained proceeds of such conduct.
Judge Gibson scheduled sentencing for June 9, 2016, at 11 a.m. The law provides for a maximum total sentence of 20 years in prison, a fine of $500,000, or both. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed would be based upon the seriousness of the offense and the prior criminal history of the defendant.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie L. Haines is prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.
The Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Laurel Highlands Resident Agency, conducted the investigation that led to the prosecution of Vaughn.
Pittsburgh Man Sentenced to 5 Years in Prison for Dealing Crack CocaineRead the Press Release
PITTSBURGH -A Pittsburgh resident of Pittsburgh, PA, has been sentenced in federal court to five years (60 months) imprisonment, to be followed by four years of supervised release, on his conviction of violations of federal narcotics laws, United States Attorney David J. Hickton announced today.
United States District Judge Mark R. Hornak imposed the sentence on Dwayne Allen, aka Dewayne Allen, 41.
According to information presented to the court, in 2013 and 2014, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other agencies targeted Allen and other drug traffickers in the Homewood section of Pittsburgh. On Dec. 5, 2013, the agents utilized a confidential informant to purchase one ounce of crack cocaine from Allen for $1,300. The informant made another slightly larger purchase of crack cocaine for $1,900 from Allen on Jan. 28, 2014. And on Feb. 14, 2014, the informant paid $4,000 to Allen and obtained 3 ounces of crack cocaine.
Assistant United States Attorney Troy Rivetti prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.
U.S. Attorney Hickton commended the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the FBI Greater Pittsburgh Safe Streets Task Force, Wilkinsburg Police Department, Allegheny County Sheriff’s Office, Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General, Munhall Police Department, Duquesne Police Department, Monroeville Police Department, Allegheny County Police Department, West Mifflin Police Department, Bellevue Police Department, and the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police conducted the investigation leading to the prosecution of Allen.
The investigation was funded by the federal Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force Program (OCDETF). The OCDETF program supplies critical federal funding and coordination that allows federal and state agencies to work together to successfully identify, investigate, and prosecute major interstate and international drug trafficking organizations and other criminal enterprises.
Pain Doctor Sentenced to 6 Years in Prison for Overprescribing Controlled SubstancesRead the Press Release
JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – A resident of Johnstown, Pa., pleaded guilty in federal court to charges of violating federal narcotics laws, United States Attorney David J. Hickton announced today.
Glenn Davis, 63, of Johnstown, Pa., pleaded guilty to 24 counts of the Indictment before United States District Judge Kim R. Gibson.
In connection with the guilty plea to Counts one through 24, from June 4, 2012 to August 29, 2012, Dr. Davis prescribed and distributed thousands of Schedule II controlled substances (i.e., Oxycodone and Methadone) to “Patient A” outside the usual course of professional practice.
Immediately following his guilty plea, Dr. Davis was sentenced by Judge Gibson to 72 months imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, and a $2,400 special assessment.
Assistant United States Attorney Stephanie L. Haines prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.
The Laurel Highlands Resident Agency of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Office of the Pennsylvania Attorney General, the Cambria County Drug Task Force, and the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division conducted the investigation that led to the prosecution of Davis.
Owner of Burley Income Tax Preparation Business Pleads Guilty to Preparing Falsified Income Tax Returns for ClientsRead the Press Release
BOISE – Cruz “Kelly” Chacon, 42, of Burley, Idaho, pleaded guilty yesterday in United States District Court to preparing false income tax returns for clients of her business, “Kelly’s Tax Service,” U.S. Attorney Wendy J. Olson announced.
Chacon pleaded guilty to one count of assisting, advising, and counseling clients to submit materially false federal income tax returns to the IRS. According to the plea agreement, the IRS estimates that from 2008 through 2011, Chacon and some of her employees at Kelly’s Tax Service submitted over 2,500 federal falsified income tax returns. They did this primarily by claiming tax credits to which their clients were not entitled. Specifically, Chacon and her employees would prepare tax returns that claimed the “child tax credit” and the “additional child tax credit” for taxpayers who did not qualify for these credits. This had the effect of increasing clients’ tax refunds, which helped the defendant to generate business. As part of her plea agreement, Chacon has agreed to pay $81,384.00 in restitution.
Sentencing is set for May 9, 2016, before Chief U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill.
“Those who intentionally submit falsified income tax returns to the IRS victimize all taxpayers because we all share the costs of paying for the improper tax refunds,” said Olson. “We will continue to work closely with the IRS to root out this illegal activity, especially where a tax preparation business assists individuals in breaking the law.”
“Choose carefully when hiring a tax preparer and avoid tax preparers who claim they can obtain larger refunds than other preparers,” said Stephen Boyd, IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge for the State of Idaho. For tips on Choosing a Tax Professional go to www.irs.gov.
Advising, assisting, and counseling in the preparation of a false income tax return punishable by up to three years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, a term of supervised release of one year, and a $100 special assessment.
The case was investigated by the IRS Criminal Investigations division.
Otero County Prison Inmate Sentenced to 12.5 Years in Federal Prison for Scheme to Smuggle Drugs into Otero County PrisonRead the Press Release
ALBUQUERQUE – An inmate formerly housed at the Otero County Prison Facility (OCPF) in Chaparral, N.M., was sentenced today in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., for his participation in a conspiracy to smuggle methamphetamine and heroin into the OCPF. Gary Borja, 28, of Albuquerque, N.M., was sentenced to 151 months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release.
Borja was one of six individuals charged in April 2014, in a criminal complaint with conspiracy to violate the federal narcotics laws by smuggling controlled substances into the OCPF. The other defendants charged with participating in the conspiracy were Luis Delgadillo, 39, of El Paso, Texas, who was a corrections officer at OCPF during the conspiracy, Ana Lopez, 26, of Albuquerque, N.M., Nancy Salas, 37, of Alamogordo, N.M., and Armando Lopez, 29, of Anthony, Texas and Eric Lovato, 32, of Alamogordo, who were both inmates at the OCPF. All six defendants subsequently were indicted on Aug. 20, 2014, and charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and heroin from Dec. 2013 through April 26, 2014, in Otero County, N.M.
The FBI initiated an investigation into the case in Jan. 2014, after receiving information from the New Mexico Corrections Department showing that Delgadillo was smuggling heroin and methamphetamine into the OCPF. The investigation, which included a review of recorded inmate telephone calls and OCPF surveillance video, physical surveillance and the results of inmate drug testing, identified the six defendants as members of a conspiracy who smuggled narcotics into the OCPF between Jan. 2014 and April 2014.
Borja pled guilty to the indictment on Nov. 12, 2014, and admitted to conspiring with his co-defendants to smuggle drugs into the OCPF, more specifically, Borja admitted recruiting Delgadillo to help smuggle the drugs into the jail. In Dec. 2013, Delgadillo smuggled one ounce of methamphetamine into the jail; on Feb. 5, 2014 and March 14, 2014, Delgadillo smuggled one ounce of heroin into the jail; and on April 26, 2014, a co-conspirator of Borja’s met with Delgadillo and gave him 25 grams of methamphetamine, 11 grams of heroin and ten Suboxone pills to smuggle into the jail.
The five co-defendants have entered guilty pleas to the indictment. On Jan. 12, 2016, Delgadillo was sentenced to 40 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release. On June 24, 2015, Ana Lopez was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison followed by two years of supervised release. On Feb. 18, 2016, Armando Lopez was sentenced to 84 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release and Lovato was sentenced to 70 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release. Salas has yet to be sentenced.
This case was investigated by the Las Cruces office of the FBI and the New Mexico Corrections Department and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark A. Saltman of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office.
This case is being prosecuted pursuant to the New Mexico Heroin and Opioid Prevention and Education (HOPE) Initiative. The HOPE Initiative is a collaborative effort between the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center that is partnering with the Bernalillo County Opioid Accountability Initiative with the overriding goal of reducing the number of opioid-related deaths in the District of New Mexico. The HOPE Initiative comprised of five components: (1) prevention and education; (2) treatment; (3) law enforcement; (4) reentry; and (5) strategic planning. The law enforcement component of the HOPE Initiative is led by the Organized Crime Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the DEA in conjunction with their federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement partners. Targeting members of major heroin trafficking organizations for investigation and prosecution is a priority of the HOPE Initiative.
Northeast Pennsylvania Check Casher Charged in Stolen Identity Refund Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
SCRANTON - The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced today that Diego Rojas, age 42, of Dunmore, Pennsylvania, was indicted on January 19, 2016 by a federal grand jury in Scranton for conspiracy to make false claims against the government. The case was unsealed on February 19, 2016 following Rojas’ initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Joseph F. Saporito, Jr.
Rojas owned and operated Dunmore Cash Checking, a check-cashing, tax preparation and money transfer business in Dunmore. In 2013 Rojas deposited more than 350 United States treasury checks, at least 250 of which were identified as Stolen Identitiy Refund Fraud (SIRF) checks. The approximate value of these checks was $1,600,000. Each of these checks was deposited into a bank account that Rojas owned under the name of Dunmore Cash Checking between January and November 2013.
According to United States Attorney Smith, the prosecution of fraudulent tax refund schemes that rob tax payers as well as the government is a high priority in this district.
The Department of Justice views the prosecution of Stolen Identity Refund Fraud, or “SIRF,” as vital. These schemes disrupt the orderly administration of the income tax system for hundreds of thousands of law abiding taxpayers nationwide and have cost the United States Treasury billions of dollars. SIRF crimes are often perpetrated by criminal enterprises with key individuals at all stages of the scheme: those who steal Social Security Numbers and other personal identifying information, those who file false returns with the Internal Revenue Service, those, including check cashers, who facilitate obtaining the refunds, and those who promote the schemes. These criminal enterprises exploit the highly automated systems for storing personal information, preparing and filing tax returns electronically, and generating income tax refunds quickly—often in the form of electronic payments. Everyone with a Social Security Number is potentially vulnerable to having his or her identity stolen. The IRS estimates that during the 2013 filing season alone, over 5 million tax returns were filed using stolen identities, claiming approximately $30 billion in refunds.
The charges in the present case are the result of ongoing investigations by the Scranton Office of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, with assistance from the Pennsylvania State Police, the Hazelton, Taylor, Dickson City, Dunmore and Olyphant Police Departments, and the Lackawanna and Luzerne County District Attorneys’ Offices. The case is assigned to Assistant United States Attorney Evan Gotlob for prosecution.
Indictments are only allegations. All persons charged are presumed to be innocent unless and until found guilty in court.
A sentence following a finding of guilt is imposed by the Judge after consideration of the applicable federal sentencing statutes and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.
The maximum penalty under federal law is 20 years imprisonment, a term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a $500,000 fine. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the Judge is also required to consider and weigh a number of factors, including the nature, circumstances and seriousness of the offense; the history and characteristics of the defendant; and the need to punish the defendant, protect the public and provide for the defendant's educational, vocational and medical needs. For these reasons, the statutory maximum penalty for the offense is not an accurate indicator of the potential sentence for a specific defendant.
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North Carolina Grocery Store Owner Sentenced to Prison for ConspiracyRead the Press Release
A Wendell, North Carolina, man was sentenced to 20 months in prison today following his plea of guilty to commit theft of government funds, Acting Assistant Attorney General Caroline D. Ciraolo of the Department of the Justice’s Tax Division and Acting U.S. Attorney John Stuart Bruce of the Eastern District of North Carolina announced.
According to court documents, Jose Alfonso Rodriguez Collado, 54, operated two grocery stores in Middlesex and Siler City, North Carolina. In 2012, co-conspirators brought Rodriguez fraudulently obtained U.S. Treasury checks, which Rodriguez cashed without receiving identification for the individuals listed on the checks, or any other source of authority for the co-conspirators to cash the checks. Rodriguez initially was not a licensed check casher, but one co-conspirator gave him $50,000 to qualify for a check-cashing license. In exchange for cashing the fraudulently obtained U.S. Treasury checks, Rodriguez was paid a fee for cashing the checks in excess of that allowed for under North Carolina law. In addition, Rodriguez cashed checks in excess of $10,000 and failed to file Currency Transaction Reports as required by law. The conspiracy caused a loss to the government of $2,502,348.
In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Court Judge Louise W. Flanagan of the Eastern District of North Carolina ordered Rodriguez to serve three years of supervised release following his prison term, and pay restitution to the IRS in the amount of $2,502,348.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Ciraolo and Acting U.S. Attorney Bruce commended special agents of Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation who investigated the case and Trial Attorneys Lauren Castaldi and Nathan Brooks of the Tax Division, who prosecuted the case.
More information about the Tax Division and its enforcement efforts can be found on the division’s website.
North Carolina Grocery Store Owner Sentenced to Prison for ConspiracyRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON – A Wendell, North Carolina man was sentenced to 20 months in prison today following his plea of guilty to commit theft of government funds, Acting Assistant Attorney General Caroline D. Ciraolo of the Department of the Justice’s Tax Division and Acting U.S. Attorney John Stuart Bruce of the Eastern District of North Carolina announced.
According to court documents, Jose Alfonso Rodriguez Collado, 54, operated two grocery stores in Middlesex and Siler City, North Carolina. In 2012, co-conspirators brought Rodriguez fraudulently obtained U.S. Treasury checks, which Rodriguez cashed without receiving identification for the individuals listed on the checks, or any other source of authority for the co-conspirators to cash the checks. Rodriguez initially was not a licensed check casher, but one co-conspirator gave him $50,000 to qualify for a check-cashing license. In exchange for cashing the fraudulently obtained U.S. Treasury checks, Rodriguez was paid a fee for cashing the checks in excess of that allowed for under North Carolina law. In addition, Rodriguez cashed checks in excess of $10,000 and failed to file Currency Transaction Reports as required by law. The conspiracy caused a loss to the government of $2,502,348.
In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Court Judge Louise W. Flanagan of the Eastern District of North Carolina ordered Rodriguez to serve three years of supervised release following his prison term, and pay restitution to the IRS in the amount of $2,502,348.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Ciraolo and Acting U.S. Attorney Bruce commended special agents of Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation who investigated the case and Trial Attorneys Lauren Castaldi and Nathan Brooks of the Tax Division, who prosecuted the case.
More information about the Tax Division and its enforcement efforts can be found on the division’s website.
Mount Jackson Man Pleads Guilty to Cocaine ChargeRead the Press Release
HARRISONBURG, VIRGINIA – United States Attorney John P. Fishwick Jr. announced today the guilty plea of a Mount Jackson man to a federal cocaine charge.
Victor Enrique Velez-Sellas, 31, of Mount Jackson, Va., waived his right to be indicted and pled guilty yesterday in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Harrisonburg to one count of conspiring to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine.
“It is a priority of the United States Attorney’s Office to prosecute those individuals who distribute illegal drugs in our communities,” United States Attorney John P. Fishwick Jr. said today.
According to evidence presented at yesterday’s guilty plea hearing by Assistant United States Attorney Jeb Terrien, between 2013 and February 2015 Velez-Sellas participated in a conspiracy to distribute cocaine. The defendant often obtained drugs from sources in Puerto Rico, North Carolina and West Virginia. He then sold the drugs, or provided them on consignment, to other drug dealers located in and around Winchester, Virginia.
Velez-Sellas was arrested on February 18, 2015 by law enforcement officer on Interstate 81 in Frederick County, Virginia while the defendant was in the process of traveling to make a sale of cocaine. At the time of his arrest, the defendant was in possession of a digital scale, a Ruger P89 9mm pistol and 568.2 grams of cocaine.
The investigation of the case was conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Northwest Virginia Regional Drug and Gang Task Force. Assistant United States Attorney Jeb Terrien is prosecuting the case for the United States.
Missouri Tax Preparation Business Owner Indicted for Tax EvasionRead the Press Release
The owner of a St. Louis, Missouri, tax return preparation business was arrested today after a federal grand jury sitting in St. Louis returned an indictment on February 18 charging two counts of tax evasion, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Caroline D. Ciraolo of the Justice Department’s Tax Division.
According to the indictment, from 2005 to 2011, Semere Tsehaye, 38, was the owner and operator of at least 20 Instant Tax Service (ITS) franchise locations operating in and around East Saint Louis, Illinois; Kansas City, Kansas; Kansas City and Saint Louis, Missouri. ITS was a brand name of ITS Financial LLC, a nationwide tax preparation business headquartered in Dayton, Ohio. Tsehaye owned and operated his ITS franchise locations using two entities named A&S Tax Service LLC (A&S) and ERI Enterprises, LLC (ERI).
During the years 2010 and 2011, Tsehaye generated fraudulent financial summaries that understated the gross receipts generated by A&S and ERI and provided them to his tax return preparer. Tsehaye’s tax return preparer used these financial summaries to prepare Tsehaye’s individual income tax returns, which Tsehaye then filed with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). These tax returns were false in that they underreported A&S and ERI’s gross receipts by a total of approximately $506,000 in 2010 and $1.03 million in 2011.
If convicted, Tsehaye faces a statutory maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each count of tax evasion.
An indictment merely alleges that crimes have been committed. Defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Acting Assistant Attorney Ciraolo commended special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation, who investigated the case and Senior Litigation Counsel Corey Smith and Trial Attorney Mark McDonald of the Tax Division, who are prosecuting the case. Acting Assistant Attorney Ciraolo also thanked the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri for their assistance.
Additional information about the Tax Division and its enforcement efforts may be found on the division’s website.
Missouri Man Sentenced for Theft, Lacy Act ViolationsRead the Press Release
KANSAS CITY, KAN. – A Missouri man was sentenced Tuesday to two years on federal probation during which he is banned from hunting for stealing a tractor and hunting in Kansas in violation of the federal Lacy Act, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said. In addition, he was ordered to pay a $5,000 fine, and $6,894 in restitution.
Thomas Morgan, 31, Blue Springs, Mo., pleaded guilty to one count of transporting a stolen vehicle across state lines and one count of violating the Lacy Act, which prohibits interstate transportation of wildlife that was illegally taken. In his plea, Morgan admitted a Rice County deputy stopped him in November 2013 after Morgan had been hunting deer in Stafford County without a license or deer permits. Morgan had been illegally hunting in the dark. Investigators found deer heads in his car. A search warrant at his home turned up heads, antlers, skulls and capes of deer.
During the investigation, agents of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service learned Morgan was involved in the theft of a Kubota tractor in Miami County. The tractor was found at Morgan’s residence.
Grissom commended the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism, the Rice County Sheriff’s Department, the Miami County Sheriff’s Department and Assistant U.S. Attorney Chris Oakley for their work on the case.
Michigan pair charged with attempting to provide marijuana to federal inmateRead the Press Release
A federal grand jury returned a three-count indictment charging Kauba Simpson, 28, and Makoyia D. Jenkins, both of Dearborn, Michigan, with attempt to provide marijuana to a federal inmate and attempt to possess marijuana by a federal inmate, said Carole S. Rendon, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio.
The indictment alleges that on or about August 30, 2014, Jenkins attempted to provide marijuana to Simpson, an inmate in the Elkton Federal Correctional Institution, which he attempted to possess. It also alleges that Jenkins made a false and fraudulent statement to a correctional officer at Elkton FCI, in that she indicated the marijuana was not in her possession, when in fact, it was.
If convicted, the defendants’ sentences will be determined by the Court after review of factors unique to this case, including the defendant’s prior criminal record, if any, the defendant’s role in the offense and the characteristics of the violations. In all cases, the sentence will not exceed the statutory maximum and, in most cases, it will be less than the maximum.
The investigation preceding the indictment was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Elkton Federal Correctional Institution. The matter is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jason M. Katz.
An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
McLaughlin Man Charged with Child AbuseRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Randolph J. Seiler announced that a McLaughlin, South Dakota, man has been indicted by a federal grand jury for Child Abuse.
Fritz Wallace Eagle Shield, III, age 40, was indicted on February 17, 2016. He appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge William D. Gerdes on February 19, 2016, and pled not guilty to the Indictment.
The maximum penalty upon conviction is up to 15 years in custody and/or a $250,000 fine, 3 years of supervised release, and $100 to the Federal Crime Victims Fund. Restitution may also be ordered.
The Indictment alleges that on or about December 27, 2015, Eagle Shield abused, exposed, tortured, tormented, and cruelly punished a child who had not attained the age of seven.
The charge is merely an accusation and Eagle Shield is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
The investigation is being conducted by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Standing Rock Agency. Assistant U.S. Attorney Troy R. Morley is prosecuting the case.
Eagle Shield was released on bond pending trial. A trial date has not been set.
Mark Berger Convicted of Drug TraffickingRead the Press Release
LYNCHBURG, VIRGINIA – United States Attorney John P. Fishwick Jr. announced today that following a jury trial in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Lynchburg, Mark Berger has been convicted on federal drug trafficking charges.
Mark Andrew Berger, 42, of Roanoke, Va., was convicted yesterday evening following a jury trial in United States District Court in Lynchburg. Berger was convicted of conspiracy to traffic in cocaine.
“The United States Attorney’s Office continues to be vigilant in our investigation and prosecution of drug trafficking offenses,” United States Attorney John P. Fishwick Jr. said today. “This conviction shows our commitment to making our communities safer by taking those individuals who distribute illegal drugs off our streets.”
According to evidence presented at trial by Assistant United States Attorney Donald Wolthuis, Berger, and others, conspired to distribute cocaine between 2000 and February 2015. Berger also maintained a property, specifically 1118 Tompkins Avenue in Roanoke, Va., for the purpose of manufacturing, distributing and using crack cocaine.
The investigation of the case was conducted by Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Assistant United States Attorney Donald Wolthuis prosecuted the case for the United States.
Man Pleads Guilty to Drug, Gun ChargesRead the Press Release
DANVILLE, VIRGINIA – United States Attorney John P. Fishwick Jr. announced that a local man pled guilty yesterday in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Danville to drug and gun charges.
Gordon Lawrence Penn, 62, Martinsville, Va., pled guilty yesterday to one count of possession with the intent to distribute cocaine and one count of possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
“The United States Attorney’s Office will continue to prosecute those individuals who deal in illegal drugs and possess illegal firearms,” United States Attorney John P. Fishwick. “Keeping drugs off our streets is paramount to keeping our communities safe.”
The investigation of the case was conducted by the Martinsville Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Assistant United States Attorney Andrew Bassford is prosecuting the case for the United States.
Lynchburg Woman Pleads Guilty to Fraud ChargesRead the Press Release
LYNCHBURG, VIRGINIA – United States Attorney John P. Fishwick Jr. announced today the guilty plea of a Lynchburg woman charged with a variety of fraud charges.
Catherine Pankey, 62, of Lynchburg, Va., pled guilty today in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Lynchburg to one count conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and two counts of student loan fraud.
“Today’s conviction holds accountable a number of individuals who committed a variety of frauds,” United States Attorney John P. Fishwick Jr. said today. “The United States Attorney’s Office will continue to pursue federal charges in cases involving financial fraud.”
The investigation of the case was conducted by The investigation of the case was conducted by the United States Department of Education- Office of the Inspector General, the United States Secret Service, the Virginia State Police, the Campbell County Sheriff’s Office and the Lynchburg Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer R. Bockhorst will prosecute the case for the United States. Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer Bockhorst is prosecuting the case for the United States.
Louisville Chiropractor Guilty of Health Care FraudRead the Press Release
Billed private insurance companies and government health care agencies for services that were not performed
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – A Louisville chiropractor pleaded guilty to numerous charges today, including health care fraud, obstruction of a criminal investigation, and tampering with a witness for his role in billing private insurance companies and government health care agencies for services that were never performed, announced United States Attorney John E. Kuhn, Jr.
According to the plea agreement, Devin Thauberger, age 46 , conspired to submit fraudulent claims to Medicare, Passport, Anthem, Humana, Geico, Shelter, Nationwide, Allstate and other insurance carriers, that falsely and fraudulently sought reimbursement for services which were never provided to patients, including times in which Thauberger was out of the country and unable to provide services.
Between April 2009 and March 2014 the defendant admits to knowingly executing a scheme to defraud health care benefit programs by submitting claims for services, which were never performed. According to the charges, false claims were submitted and billed on at least thirteen occasions and totaled nearly $214,672.11. Then between May 2015 and July 2015, Thauberger, while being on bond, aided and abetted by others, submitted claims to Allstate, a health care benefit program, for services which were never performed.
Also, beginning in August 2013, and continuing until at least July 2014, Thauberger admitted to willfully obstructing the criminal investigation of Federal health care violations by altering or causing patient records to be altered and attempting to influence the testimony of witnesses.
During all times relevant to this indictment, Thauberger was a doctor of chiropractic, licensed to practice in the state of Kentucky, and had been a chiropractor for approximately nine (9) years. Thauberger Chiropractic, P.S.C. (TCP) was a Kentucky corporation located at 8511 Preston Highway, in Louisville, Kentucky. Defendant Thauberger was the president and sole owner of TCP from 2005 through all times relevant to this Indictment.
Co-defendant Trisha Muir, pleaded guilty to a single charge on September 1, 2015, before District Judge Greg N. Stivers. According to the plea agreement, beginning in 2010, she became employed by TCP and reported directly to defendant Thauberger. By April 2011, Muir was responsible for billing for services purportedly provided by TCP, which included submitting reimbursement claims to insurance companies and patients for chiropractic services purportedly provided by TCP. After Muir became aware of the investigation, she admitted to participating in concealing the fraud, and instructed others to do the same, by making changes to patient files and other documentation to support the fraudulent billings.
At sentencing, the United States has agreed to dismiss counts 3, 4, 5, and 6 of the Second Superseding Indictment, agree that a sentenced of 41 months in prison is the appropriate disposition of this case, not object that the last 5 months of the sentence be served on home incarceration and stipulate that the amount of loss involved in this case is $214,672.11 which the defendant must pay by the date of sentencing. Sentencing is scheduled before Judge Stivers on June 2, 2016, in Louisville.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Lettricea Jefferson-Webb and Joe Ansari and is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General and the Kentucky Office of Attorney General’s Kentucky Medical Fraud Control Unit.
Local Woman Pleads Guilty to Counterfeit ChargesRead the Press Release
ABINGDON, VIRGINIA – United States Attorney John P. Fishwick Jr. announced today that a local woman has pled guilty to a pair of counterfeiting charges in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Abingdon last Friday.
Kendra Lane Dalton, 38, pled guilty last week to two counts of attempting to use counterfeit United States.
“No matter the scale of the operation, bringing charges against those who attempt to undermine our financial system by counterfeiting money must be taken seriously,” United States Attorney John P. Fishwick Jr. said today.
Last week in District Court, Dalton admitted to attempting to pass counterfeit U.S. currently on two separate occasions, November 8, 2015 and November 9, 2015.
The investigation of the case was conducted by the Washington County Sheriff’s Office and the United States Secret Service. Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer Bockhorst is prosecuting the case for the United States.
Local Man Pleads Guilty to Methamphetamine ChargesRead the Press Release
ROANOKE, VIRGINIA – United States Attorney John P. Fishwick Jr. announced today the guilty plea of a local man charged in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Roanoke to drug charges.
Derek Ryan McGhee, 38, Roanoke, Va. pled guilty yesterday in District Court to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.
“Methamphetamine is a drug that has ravaged parts of Southwest Virginia for years. The United States Attorney’s Office will continue to identify and prosecute those individuals who distribute this dangerous substance,” United States Attorney John P. Fishwick Jr. said today.
The investigation of the case was conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and the Virginia State Police. Assistant United States Attorney Andrew Bassford is prosecuting the case for the United States.
Local Daycare Worker and Brownsville Man Get Significant Sentences for Producing Child PornographyRead the Press Release
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Christina Cortez, 39, of Corpus Christi, and Matthew Harbin, 30, of Brownsville, have been handed long prison terms for producing child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson. Harbin was also sentenced for child pornography charges stemming from the Northern District of Alabama. Cortez and Harbin pleaded guilty Sept. 23, 2015.
Today, Senior U.S. District Judge Hayden Head sentenced Harbin to a total of 35 years in federal prison. He was ordered to serve 300 months for the Corpus Christi charges and another 120 months for the Alabama case which will be served consecutively for a total of 420 months in federal prison. The sentence will be followed by a lifetime of supervised release. Cortez was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison to be immediately followed by 20 years of supervised release. Both must register as sex offenders. At the hearing, the victim’s mother gave a statement explaining how the crime affected her daughter and family.
The court also heard that the case began after Harbin was identified as providing images to an undercover officer in England. Using the email address [email protected], Harbin provided three photos of a child clothed and not sexually posed, but that appeared to be taken at a daycare facility. Harbin told the undercover officer he had more pictures, wanted to trade and asked the undercover officer if they had a daughter and how young they were “in to.” Harbin later sent five more pictures of what appears to be the same female child, but that were sexually explicit in nature. One image depicts the child laying down on a blue mat with her dress lifted and her lower body exposed. Other images depicted an adult female’s hand making contact with a child’s private area.
Further investigation revealed Harbin had previously received the images from Cortez in July 2014. In their communications, Cortez claimed to work at a daycare facility where she produced the images. Cortez admitted taking and sending the images of the same female child involved in sexually explicit conduct to Harbin. The child’s genitals appear to be the focus of all three of the aforementioned images, one of which includes the child fondling herself.
In their communications, both Harbin and Cortez indicated a desire to engage with children. During one conversation, Cortez told Harbin “I would love to watch us with her. 2 & half.”
Today, the court also heard from a Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agent from Alabama. The agent testified Harbin is a convicted sex offender from Alabama who fled to Brownsville following the issuance of a federal arrest warrant for child. In that case, Harbin admitted to trading child pornography two or three times per month with individuals online. The agent also testified that a search of Harbin’s email accounts uncovered multiple conversations with other individuals regarding the sexual abuse of children. Agents seized various electronic devices from Harbin on which forensic analysis revealed more than 2800 images and more than 130 videos of child pornography.
A Brownsville HSI agent also provided testimony today. The agent explained that when Harbin was arrested in Brownsville, a search of his email accounts also uncovered multiple conversations with more individuals regarding the sexual abuse of children. A forensic analysis of Harbin’s electronic devices from his Brownsville arrest revealed more than 3,500 images and more than 360 videos of child pornography.
Both Cortez and Harbin have remained in custody since their arrest and will remain there pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
The charges are the result of an investigation by HSI, U.S. Secret Service and the Corpus Christi Police Department - Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.
This case, prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Hugo R. Martinez, was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab "resources."
Leader of Marijuana Trafficking Network Sentenced to Almost 25 Years in PrisonRead the Press Release
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The leader of a drug trafficking network responsible for transporting more than one ton of marijuana to the Charlotte area and laundering over $1.7 million in drug proceeds was sentenced today by Chief U.S. District Judge Frank D. Whitney, announced Jill Westmoreland Rose, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. Ryan Tucker, 31, of Charlotte, was ordered to serve 292 months in federal prison, to be followed by 10 years of supervised release.
U.S. Attorney Rose is joined in making today’s announcement by Nick Annan, Special Agent in Charge of ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Atlanta and the Carolinas; Thomas J. Holloman III, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division (IRS-CI); and Chief Kerr Putney of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department.
According to filed court documents and court proceedings, from in or about 2008 to in or about 2014, Tucker used individuals operating as “couriers” to transport well in excess of 2,000 pounds of marijuana from California to the Charlotte area. Court records indicate that Tucker’s network of drug couriers included Tucker’s father, Frederick Elwood Tucker, a retired SBI narcotics agent, and an unindicted commercial pilot who used a private jet to transport a shipment. According to court records, in most instances, Tucker’s couriers transported the packaged marijuana in vehicles and commercial freight carriers.
Court documents show that Tucker also utilized his and other individuals’ bank accounts to launder more than $1.7 million of the proceeds of his drug trafficking. In court today, Tucker’s prison sentence was enhanced, based on other relevant factors, including Tucker’s possession of firearms, his leadership role, his extensive criminal history, and an incident in which he shot and killed a person who was attempting to rob his residence of drugs or drug money.
Ryan Tucker’s father, Frederick Elwood Tucker, 69, of Lead, South Dakota, was previously sentenced to 37 month in prison, and three years of supervised release for his role in the drug conspiracy.
The defendant will be transferred to the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons upon designation of a federal facility. All federal sentences are served without the possibility of parole.
This case is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation, codenamed “All Tuckered Out,” which is being led by HSI, IRS, and CMPD. OCDETF is a joint federal, state and local cooperative approach to combat drug trafficking and is the nation’s primary tool for disrupting and dismantling major drug trafficking organizations, targeting national and regional drug trafficking organizations and coordinating the necessary law enforcement entities and resources to disrupt or dismantle the targeted criminal organization and seize their assets.
The ongoing investigation and prosecution for the government is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven R. Kaufman of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte.
Leader of A Colombian Drug Trafficking Organization Sentenced to 25 Years in PrisonRead the Press Release
Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that ERICSON VARGAS CARDONA, a/k/a “Sebas,” was sentenced in Manhattan federal court to 25 years in prison for conspiring to traffic in cocaine and using a semiautomatic assault weapon in furtherance of the cocaine trafficking conspiracy. In October 2013, VARGAS CARDONA was extradited to the United States from Colombia, where he was arrested pursuant to a provisional arrest warrant that was issued in response to a request by the U.S. Government in connection with this case. VARGAS CARDONA pled guilty on April 14, 2015, and was sentenced today by Chief U.S. District Judge Loretta A. Preska.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said: “Ericson Vargas Cardona led a criminal enterprise that specialized in cocaine and violence – and lots of both. Armed with machine guns, explosives, and a grenade launcher, Vargas Cardona distributed his drugs all over the world, including the United States. Thanks to the incredible dedication of the agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Vargas Cardona is no longer a global threat.”
According to the Indictment, documents publicly filed in Colombia in extradition proceedings, publicly filed documents in Manhattan federal court, and statements made at court proceedings in this case, including today’s sentencing:
From 2000 to August 2012, VARGAS CARDONA was a member of La Oficina de Envigado (“La Oficina”), a Colombia-based narcotics trafficking organization that began as a debt-collection agency associated with the United Self-Defenses Forces of Colombia (“AUC”), a right-wing paramilitary organization. La Oficina collected debts on behalf of narcotics traffickers, invested in narcotics shipments, and eventually began producing cocaine independently. La Oficina distributed thousands of kilograms of cocaine from Colombia to locations worldwide, including the United States. In addition, La Oficina engaged in the systematic bribery of Colombian officials.
As a member of La Oficina, VARGAS CARDONA, among other things, worked as a sicario, or assassin, engaged in debt collection activities, and established a cocaine laboratory. In 2009, VARGAS CARDONA assumed control of La Oficina. At the time of VARGAS CARDONA’s arrest by Colombian authorities on August 8, 2012, he was found at a property that was used to store an arsenal of weapons and explosives. Colombian authorities recovered, among other things, 69 bars of C4 explosive, over 190 electrical detonators, more than 2,900 manual detonators, one rocket-propelled grenade launcher, one M-60 machine gun, nine submachine guns, over 50 hand grenades, 28 rifles, nine silencers, and thousands of rounds of ammunition.
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In addition to his prison term, VARGAS CARDONA, 42, was sentenced to five years of supervised release.
Mr. Bharara praised the outstanding efforts of the New York Field Office of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”) and the DEA’s Bogotá, Colombia, Country Office.
The case is being handled by the Office’s Terrorism and International Narcotics Unit. Assistant United States Attorneys Edward Y. Kim and Michael Ferrara are in charge of the prosecution.
Kuna Man Pleads Guilty to Possession of Child PornographyRead the Press Release
BOISE – Jonathan Dillard, 49, of Kuna, Idaho, pleaded guilty today in United States District Court to possession and access with intent to view child pornography, U.S. Attorney Wendy J. Olson announced. Dillard was indicted by a federal grand jury on July 15, 2015.
According to the plea agreement, Dillard admitted accessing a Yahoo chat group to access and view images of child pornography in November and December of 2013. In January of 2014, investigators with the Idaho Attorney General's Office Internet Crimes Against Children Unit executed a search warrant at Dillard's residence in Kuna, Idaho and seized computers and electronic storage devices. In his plea agreement, Dillard admitted possessing 57 images of child pornography, and 13 videos containing child pornography, on his laptop computer, a flash drive, and two DVDs. Dillard also admitted that he had previously been convicted of Possession of Child Pornography in U.S. District Court in 2003. Sentencing will be scheduled at a later date before U.S. District Judge Stanley A. Bastian, serving by designation from the Eastern District of Washington.
Possession and access with intent to view child pornography is punishable by a mandatory minimum 10 years, and up to 20 years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, a term of supervised release of not less than five years and up to life, and a $100 special assessment. As part of his plea, Dillard also agreed to forfeit a laptop computer, a flash drive, and 2 DVDs used in the commission of the charged offense.
The case was investigated by the Idaho Attorney General's Office's Internet Crime Against Children (ICAC) Unit, with assistance from the Ada County Sheriff's Office. The ICAC Unit is a coalition of state and local law enforcement agencies that works with the ICAC Task Force to investigate and prosecute individuals who use the internet to criminally exploit children.
The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “resources.”