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28 January 2016
Navajo Man from Buffalo Springs Pleads Guilty to Federal Voluntary Manslaughter ChargeRead the Press Release
ALBUQUERQUE – Jay Barton, 48, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation who resides in Buffalo Springs, N.M., pleaded guilty this morning in federal court in Albuquerque, N.M., to a voluntary manslaughter charge. Under the terms of his plea agreement, Barton will be sentenced within the range of 78 to 97 months in federal prison followed by a term of supervised release to be determined by the court.
Barton was arrested on Aug. 26, 2015, on a criminal complaint charging with killing a Navajo man on the Navajo Indian Reservation in McKinley County, N.M., on Aug. 21, 2015. The crime occurred during an argument between Barton and the victim while Barton and the victim were drinking alcoholic beverages. Barton was subsequently indicted on a voluntary manslaughter charge on Sept. 22, 2015.
During today’s proceedings, Barton pled guilty to the indictment charging him with voluntary manslaughter. In entering the guilty plea, Barton admitted killing the victim by stabbing him in the chest, abdomen and back during an argument that became physical. According to the plea agreement, both Barton and the victim were intoxicated when Barton committed the crime.
Barton remains in custody pending a sentencing hearing which has yet to be scheduled.
This case was investigated by the Gallup office of the FBI and the Navajo Nation Division of Public Safety and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Elaine Y. Ramirez.
Naples Woman Sentenced to A Year and A Day for Evading Financial Reporting RequirementsRead the Press Release
Fort Myers, Florida – U.S. District Judge John E. Steele has sentenced Lorie Ann Williams to one year and a day in federal prison for structuring financial transactions. As part of her sentence, the Court also entered a money judgment in the amount of $332,500, the proceeds traceable to the offense. Williams will be jointly and severally liable for the amount of the money judgment, along with her husband and co-defendant, Sydney Jackson Williams, Jr., who has not yet been sentenced.
Lorie Ann Williams pleaded guilty on October 27, 2015.
According to court documents, subsequent to two civil lawsuits being brought against him, Sydney Jackson Williams, Jr., transferred more than $3 million in joint marital assets into an account in Lorie Ann Williams’s name. Soon thereafter, she began withdrawing funds her account in structured cash withdrawals. Between March 3, 2010, and April 22, 2010, Lori Ann Williams made 35 separate cash withdrawals, totaling $332,500, from her solely-owned checking account. She wrote checks from the account, made payable to cash, each in the amount of $9,500.
Ultimately, on September 30, 2010, Sydney Jackson Williams, Jr. filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition with the United States Bankruptcy Court in the Middle District of Florida.
Pursuant to the Bank Secrecy Act, financial institutions are required to file a "Currency Transaction Report" with the United States Treasury Department for each financial transaction that involves United States currency in excess of $10,000. These transactions include deposits, withdrawals, check cashing, or other transactions involving the physical transfer of currency from one person to another.
This case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Yolande G. Viacava and Charles D. Schmitz.
Mississippi Man Charged in Murder-for-Hire SchemeRead the Press Release
U.S. Attorney Kenneth A. Polite announced that JEFFERY HOWARD, age 35, of Nicholson, Mississippi, was charged today in a one-count Indictment with use of interstate commerce facilities in the commission of murder-for-hire in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1958(a).
According to court documents, as a result of a Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”) Domestic Terrorism investigation, the New Orleans Joint Terrorism Task Force (“JTTF”) became aware of HOWARD, a known member of the Aryan Brotherhood, a violent white supremacy prison gang. HOWARD, who was allegedly involved in the trafficking of methamphetamine, sold drugs to an undercover law enforcement officer on numerous occasions. During one of the sales of drugs, HOWARD volunteered that he would be willing to commit a murder in exchange for money. HOWARD later accepted payment to commit a murder.
If convicted, HOWARD faces up to ten years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, and a three year term of supervised release.
U.S. Attorney Polite reiterated that the Indictment is merely a charge and that the guilt of the defendant must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
U.S. Attorney Polite praised the work of the FBI New Orleans Division JTTF for investigating this matter. Assistant United States Attorney Gregory M. Kennedy is in charge of the prosecution.
Mikhail Zemlyansky Sentenced to 15 Years for Racketeering, Securities Fraud, Mail Fraud, Wire Fraud, and Money LaunderingRead the Press Release
Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that MIKHAIL ZEMLYANSKY was sentenced today to 15 years in prison in connection with his operation, from 2007 through 2012, of a sprawling racketeering conspiracy that engaged in the largest single no fault automobile insurance fraud scheme ever charged, two investment fraud schemes that resulted in losses to nearly 300 victims of approximately $17 million, multiple complex money laundering operations, and illegal gambling. Zemlyansky was convicted on March 19, 2015, following a four-week jury trial, of racketeering conspiracy, securities fraud, wire fraud, and mail fraud. He was sentenced today by the United States District Judge J. Paul Oetken, who presided over the trial.
U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said: “Driven by an insatiable greed, Mikhail Zemlyansky operated a sophisticated criminal enterprise that, during a five-year span, preyed on hundreds of innocent victims, reaping tens of millions of dollars in illicit proceeds. Zemlyansky’s criminal schemes were wide-ranging, from insurance and securities fraud to illegal gambling. Thanks to the tireless work of the prosecutors and our partners at the FBI and NYPD, justice has now been served for Zemlyansky.”
According to the Superseding Indictment, evidence admitted at trial, court filings, and statements made in open court:
From at least 2007 through 2012, ZEMLYANSKY was a leader, along with co-defendant Michael Danilovich, of a criminal enterprise engaged in a pattern of racketeering that included a massive scheme to defraud automobile insurance companies under New York’s no fault insurance law, multiple securities fraud schemes, money laundering, and the operation of illegal gambling businesses (the “Zemlyansky/Danilovich Organization”).
As part of the enterprise, ZEMLYANSKY was convicted for operating two investment fraud schemes that swindled nearly 300 innocent victims out of approximately $17 million. Both schemes – Lyons Ward & Associates and the Rockford Group – purported to be settlement claims funding companies that invested in lawsuits in return for a portion of future settlements. As part of these schemes, ZEMLYANSKY, Danilovich, and their co-conspirators created bogus documents and account statements used by cold-callers working in boiler rooms to solicit victims through lies. In reality, there was no investment fund at all; instead, ZEMLYANSKY and his co-conspirators simply stole the money invested by victims and laundered the proceeds by wiring them overseas to shell companies in Eastern Europe, which were then converted into cash in the United States.
In addition to the investment fraud schemes, ZEMLYANSKY and his co-conspirators perpetrated a sophisticated scheme to steal hundreds of millions of dollars from automobile insurance companies. Under New York State law, every vehicle registered in the State is required to have no fault automobile insurance, which enables the driver and passengers of a registered and insured vehicle to obtain benefits of up to $50,000 per person for injuries sustained in an automobile accident, regardless of fault (the “No Fault Law”). The No Fault Law requires prompt payment for medical treatment, thereby obviating the need for claimants to file personal injury lawsuits in order to be reimbursed. New York State Law also requires that all medical clinics in the State be incorporated, owned, operated, and controlled by a licensed medical practitioner in order to be eligible for reimbursement under the No Fault Law. Insurance companies will not honor claims for medical treatments from a medical clinic that is not actually owned, operated, and controlled by a licensed medical professional.
From at least 2007 through 2012, the Zemlyansky/Danilovich Organization defrauded automobile insurance companies of hundreds of millions of dollars by, among other things, creating and operating medical clinics that provided unnecessary or excessive medical treatments in order to take advantage of the No Fault Law. The Organization fraudulently owned and controlled more than a dozen medical professional corporations (“PCs”) – including no fault clinics, MRI offices, and acupuncture and chiropractic PCs – by recruiting and paying licensed medical professionals to use their licenses to incorporate the PCs. ZEMLYANSKY and his co-conspirators paid kickbacks of thousands of dollars to runners to recruit patients to receive the same battery of tests and treatments, and received kickbacks from other co-conspirators for referring patients for additional unnecessary treatments. All told, the Organization billed insurance companies for hundreds of millions of dollars in fraudulent medical treatments. ZEMLYANSKY and his co-conspirators laundered the proceeds of the fraud through check cashing entities and shell companies, and used the money to pay for luxury cars, watches, and vacations.
Finally, the Zemlyansky/Danilovich Organization operated high-stakes illegal poker games in Brooklyn and New York City that netted profits of tens of thousands of dollars per game.
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As part of the sentence imposed today by Judge Oetken, ZEMLYANSKY, 39, of Hewlett, New York, was further sentenced to three years of supervised release and was ordered to pay a fine of $50,000 and forfeiture and restitution to the victims of his crimes in the amount of $29,575,846.30.
At ZEMLYANSKY’s first trial in the fall of 2013, a mistrial was declared on Count One – which charged ZEMLYANSKY with a different racketeering conspiracy – after the jury failed to reach a unanimous verdict. At that trial, ZEMLYANSKY was acquitted of eight counts of charges related to the no fault insurance fraud scheme and money laundering.
On November 5, 2015, co-defendant Michael Danilovich was convicted following a five-week trial before United States District Judge Deborah A. Batts of 16 counts of racketeering conspiracy, securities fraud, health care fraud, mail fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering charges related to the crimes committed by the Zemlyansky/Danilovich Organization. Danilovich is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Batts on March 8, 2016.
U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara thanked the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the New York City Police Department for their continued outstanding work in this investigation. Mr. Bharara also thanked the National Insurance Crime Bureau, the investigative units of the insurance companies, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, and the Alabama Securities Commission for their valuable assistance with the investigation.
The case is being prosecuted by the Office’s Violent & Organized Crime Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Daniel S. Goldman, Daniel S. Noble, and Joshua A. Naftalis are in charge of the prosecution.
Miami Resident Admits Participating in Conspiracy to Burglarize A Kentucky Cigarette WarehouseRead the Press Release
Stole more than $1.5 million in cigarettes from Leitchfield, Kentucky warehouse
LOUISVILLE, KY – United States Attorney John E. Kuhn, Jr. today announced the guilty plea, from a Miami resident, before Chief Judge Joseph H. McKinley, Jr., to federal conspiracy and theft charges stemming from his participation in a warehouse burglary in Leitchfield, Kentucky, in March 2011.
In pleading guilty to the two count federal indictment, Ivan Romero, a/k/a El Negro, 42, admitted that he and others stole more than $1.5 million in cigarettes from the Coremark Cigarette Warehouse in Leitchfield, Kentucky, and that he and others received the stolen cigarettes (which constitute an interstate and foreign shipment of property valued at over $1,000) with the intent to convert the property to their own use.
During the theft, Romero and his co-conspirators gained entry into the warehouse through the roof, disabled the alarm system and loaded the stolen goods into a stolen tractor trailer. Specifically, between March 18, 2011, to March 20, 2011, defendant Camilo Rodriguez-Hernandez rented three hotel rooms in Elizabethtown, Kentucky, where the co-conspirators, who traveled to Kentucky from Miami, Florida, resided during the burglary and theft. Between March 19, 2011, and March 20, 2011, Amuary Villa, Ivan Romero, Amed Villa, and other co-conspirators unloaded a stolen tractor trailer and loaded it with cigarettes. Defendant Romero admitted to providing transportation for the stolen cigarettes and driving them to the New Jersey/New York area.
Romero, a legal permanent resident from Cuba who last resided in Miami, has been serving a state sentence from Florida before being transferred to federal custody. If convicted at trial, Romero could have been sentenced to no more than 15 years in prison for both charges, fined $500,000 and been required to serve three years of supervised release. Romero is scheduled for sentencing before Chief Judge McKinley, on April 19, 2016 in Owensboro, Kentucky.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Joshua Judd and the investigation of the Kentucky theft is being led by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) with assistance from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Leitchfield and Elizabethtown Police Departments, and New Jersey and Kentucky State Police Departments.
Mexican National Indicted for Illegal Re-EnteryRead the Press Release
HARRISBURG – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced today that a federal grand jury in Harrisburg indicted Luciano Vasquez-Perez yesterday for illegally re-entering the United States after having been previously deported.
According to U.S. Attorney Peter Smith, Vasquez-Perez, a 32 year old Guatemalan national, has been deported on two previous occasions. In July of 2013, he was convicted of improperly entering the United States by the U.S. District Court for Arizona and subsequently deported. Later that month, he was again found near Nogales, Arizona and deported a second time.
The matter was investigated by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) and the case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott R. Ford.
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 for this offense under federal law is 2 years of imprisonment, a term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a 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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Maryland Woman Sentenced for Stealing $437,000 from EmployerRead the Press Release
ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Jennifer Xanten, 51, of Frederick, Maryland, was sentenced today to 18 months in prison for mail fraud relating to her stealing more than 550 checks totaling approximately $437,000 out of her employer’s incoming mail. Xanten was also ordered to pay $437,016.01 in restitution.
Xanten pleaded guilty on Oct. 14, 2015. According to court documents, Xanten, an employee of a rehabilitation center in Rockville, Maryland, admitted to stealing the checks out of the center’s incoming mail from February 2014 to July 2015. To effectuate her scheme, Xanten, who was responsible for mailing out the companies’ invoices, would send out invoices to collect payment for services the center performed. One such company who received invoices was located in Chantilly. She would then intercept the incoming check payments and deposit the checks into her personal account without authorization. Xanten, who was responsible for inputting entries into the bookkeeping records, falsified entries related to the stolen checks in order to conceal her scheme.
Dana J. Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; and Paul M. Abbate, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge James C. Cacheris. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jamar K. Walker prosecuted the case.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 1:15cr286.
Local Physician Convicted of Eight Counts of Tax Evasion After Earning over $1 MillionRead the Press Release
For Further Information, Contact: Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joseph J.M. Orabona (619)546-7951 and Melanie Pierson (619) 546-7976
NEWS RELEASE SUMMARY – January 28, 2016
SAN DIEGO – A federal jury today convicted Dr. William Bailey, a local physician of osteopathic medicine, on eight counts of tax evasion.
According to evidence presented at trial, between 2004 and 2011 Bailey earned over $1.1 million in compensation for his services as a physician at two different local clinics and paid no taxes. Bailey concealed his income by having his paychecks directed to an account in the name of a trust.
In his own testimony at trial, Bailey admitted that he cut and pasted other documents to create the trust himself and signed the name of another person as the creator of the trust. As the grantor, sole trustee and also the beneficiary of the so-called trust, the income was attributed to Bailey as an individual.
Bailey spent the $1.1 million he deposited in the trust account to pay his personal expenses, including the purchase of a home, two cars, a time share and approximately $400,000 in credit card bills. Despite earning a significant income, Bailey reported no taxable income on the tax returns he filed. Evidence presented at trial showed that Bailey owed a total of $315,000 in unpaid taxes for the period from 2004-2011.
“As today’s verdict shows, the law is clear on the issue of taxable income and who is required to file and pay taxes—there is no gray area on the subject,” said Special Agent in Charge Erick Martinez for IRS Criminal Investigation. “With filing season upon us, let this conviction serve as a warning to those who are considering similar conduct.”
Bailey is scheduled to be sentenced on April 20, 2016, at 9:00 a.m., before U.S. District Judge Cathy A. Bencivengo.
DEFENDANT Criminal Case No. 13CR3046-CAB
William Richard Bailey Age: 57 San Diego, California
SUMMARY OF CHARGES
Title 26, United States Code, Section 7201 B Tax Evasion
Maximum Penalties: 5 years of imprisonment and $250,000 fine per count
AGENCY
Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigations
Local Man Sentenced on Federal ChargesRead the Press Release
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VIRGINIA – A man who previously lived in Albemarle and Fluvanna counties and is a registered sex offender for previous convictions regarding child pornography, was sentenced today in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Charlottesville on a pair of federal charges to which he recently pled guilty.
Matthew Cody Williamson, 28, of Palmyra, Virginia, pled guilty in 2015 to one count of using a means of interstate commerce (including a cell phone) to persuade, induce, entice or coerce an individual under the age of 18 to engage in sexual activity and one count of committing one or more specified felony offenses involving a minor while being a registered sex offender.
Today in District Court, Williamson was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison and a lifetime of supervision thereafter.
“Protecting children from being sexually exploited, especially being exploited by repeat offenders like in this case, is of paramount importance to the United States Attorney’s Office,” United States Attorney John P. Fishwick Jr. said today. “We must continue to work with our federal, state and local partners to investigate and prosecute these cases while also educating the community on how to keep kids safe online.”
According to evidence presented at previous hearings by Assistant United States Attorney Nancy S. Healey, Williamson, who has previous child pornography convictions and is a registered sex offender, came to the attention of law enforcement in 2012 when the mother of a 14-year-old Canadian boy found sexually explicit pictures and communications with an adult male, later identified as Williamson, on her son’s phone.
An examination of the phone revealed that Williamson and the boy had been communicating via the internet and that during the course of those communications the defendant had sent the minor-boy pictures of himself with an erect penis, videos of him masturbating and other explicit images and videos. Further examination showed that Williamson encouraged the boy to send explicit images of himself to Williamson, who at the time was living in Fluvanna County. Details of the communications clearly showed that Williamson was aware the boy he was communicating with was a minor.
The investigation of the case was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Canada’s Southern Alberta Internet Child Exploitation Unit. Assistant United States Attorney Nancy S. Healey prosecuted the case for the United States.
Lincoln Man Sentenced for Conspiracy to Distribute MethamphetamineRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Deborah R. Gilg announced that on January 28, 2016, Kenneth Ali Carman, 43, of Lincoln, was sentenced to 57 months in prison for conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing methamphetamine between January of 2010 and April of 2015. Carman will serve five years on supervised release following the prison term.
Information provided to law enforcement indicated Carman was involved in the distribution of at least 500 grams, (approximately 18 ounces), of methamphetamine in the Lincoln area. In December of 2014 and January of 2015, Carman sold small amounts of methamphetamine to the confidential informant and/or the undercover officer working with the Lincoln/Lancaster County Drug Task Force. On April 3, 2015, a search warrant was executed at the Lincoln apartment which Carman shared with his co-defendant, Nicole Lynn Zabel. Over 95 grams of methamphetamine was found in the apartment. Carman was contacted by law enforcement the following day and admitted he had sold approximately one pound of methamphetamine over the prior six months to one year; that he had a number of regular customers; and that he sold methamphetamine for Zabel.
Zabel pled guilty to the conspiracy charge in December of 2015 and is scheduled for sentencing in March of 2016.
This case was investigated by the Lincoln/Lancaster County Drug Task Force.
Lewisburg felon sentenced for illegally possessing pain pillsRead the Press Release
BECKLEY, W.Va. – Acting United States Attorney Carol Casto announced that a Lewisburg man was sentenced today to a year and nine months in federal prison for possession with intent to distribute oxycodone and hydrocodone. Miles Gregory, 42, previously pleaded guilty to the federal drug charge in November of 2015.
Gregory admitted that on July 2, 2015, he was carrying 279 hydrocodone pills and 25 oxycodone pills in his vehicle. Law enforcement discovered the drugs in Gregory’s car during a traffic stop near Lewisburg. Gregory was also sentenced today to two years in federal prison for possessing the drugs while he was on supervised release after he served a prison sentence for a 2010 felony conviction for possession with intent to distribute crack. The sentences were ordered to be served consecutively.
The case was investigated by the Greenbrier Valley Drug and Violent Crime Task Force, the West Virginia State Police, and the Greenbrier County Sheriff’s Department. Assistant United States Attorney John File handled the prosecution. United States District Judge Irene C. Berger imposed the sentences.
This prosecution was brought as part of the Greenbrier Valley Heroin and Pill Initiative, an ongoing effort led by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia to combat the illicit sale and misuse of prescription drugs and heroin. The U.S. Attorney’s Office, joined by federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, is committed to aggressively pursuing and shutting down illegal drug trafficking, eliminating open air drug markets, and curtailing the spread of opiate painkillers in communities across the Southern District.
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Largest Methamphetamine Seizure in Corpus Christi Division Results in Federal IndictmentRead the Press Release
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – A grand jury sitting in Corpus Christi has returned an indictment against a California man for conspiring to possess with intent to distribute 132 kilograms of methamphetamine, announced U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson. This is believed to be the largest seizure of methamphetamine ever in the Corpus Christi Division.
The indictment against Deandre Bennett, 57, of San Bernadino, California, was returned today. He is expected to make his initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jason Libby next week, at which time the government expects to request his continued detention pending further criminal proceedings.
Bennett is charged with conspiring to possess with intent to distribute 132 kilograms of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine on Dec. 2, 2015. If convicted, he faces a minimum of 10 years and up to life in federal prison as well as a possible $10 million fine.
This charges are the result of an investigation through a joint effort by Homeland Security Investigations, Texas Department of Public Safety, Kingsville Specialized Crimes and Narcotics Task Force, Kleberg County District Attorney’s Office, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the U.S. Marshals Service.
Special Assistant U.S. Brittany Jensen is prosecuting the case.
An indictment is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence.
A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until convicted through due process of law.Landscaping Executive Admits to Scheming to Avoid Paying Union BenefitsRead the Press Release
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Steven F. Pagliarini, 57, Executive Vice-President and Treasurer of Central Landscaping Construction Company, located in Johnston, R.I., and Executive Vice-President of Central Nurseries, Inc., located in Chepachet and Johnston, R.I., pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Providence today to charges that he orchestrated a scheme in which Central Landscaping avoided paying contractually obligated union benefits for employees of two unions who worked on federally-funded projects.
In addition, Pagliarini pleaded guilty to charges that he provided false information to the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training (RIDLT) regarding the employment status of some of his Central Nursery employees. Based on the information provided to RIDLT, the employees were paid unemployment compensation they were not entitled to receive.
Pagliarini pleaded guilty to three counts of falsification of documents and one count of wire fraud. He is scheduled to be sentenced on April 15, 2016.
Pagliarini’s guilty plea is announced by United States Attorney Peter F. Neronha; Cheryl Garcia, Special Agent in Charge of the Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, Office of Labor Racketeering and Fraud Investigation, New York Region; Susan A. Hensley, Regional Director, U.S. Department of Labor Employee Benefits Security Administration; Todd Damiani, Special Agent in Charge of Region One U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General; Christina D. Scaringi, Special Agent in Charge of the Northeast Region of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Office of Inspector General; and Scott Jensen, Director of RIDLT.
Appearing before U.S. District Court Chief Judge William E. Smith, Pagliarini admitted to the court that at various times, between January 2007 and December 2010, he submitted false documents to union welfare and pension plan administrators of two unions that represent construction equipment operators and other employees of Central Landscaping. The documents did not accurately reflect the actual number of hours worked by some employees and the actual amount of wages paid to those employees.
The employees worked on federally-funded projects at the Hartford Park Project in Providence and the I-195 Relocation Project.
Pagliarini also admitted to the court that in a separate scheme, in order to avoid paying wages to some employees between November 2009 through April 2010, he falsely reported to the RIDLT that the employees of Central Nurseries had been laid-off because of a lack of work. Pagliarini admitted to the court that he required the employees to work part-time and he did not pay them. Based on documents filed with RIDLT, employees were paid a total of $68,487 in unemployment compensation.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Dulce Donovan.
The matter was investigated by the United States Attorney’s Office; U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, Office of Labor Racketeering and Fraud Investigation; U.S. Department of Labor Employee Benefits Security Administration; U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General; U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Office of Inspector General; and the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training.
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Contact:
Jim Martin (401) 709-5357
email: [email protected]
on Twitter @USAO_RI
Justice Department Settles with Alabama Moving Company over Hepatitis-C DiscriminationRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – The Justice Department reached an agreement today with Kemper Moving Systems Inc., a Huntsville franchise of Two Men and a Truck, to resolve allegations that the moving company violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) when it refused service because of a customer’s Hepatitis-C, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance.
Under the terms of a two-year consent decree filed today in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama, and still pending approval by the court, Two Men and a Truck will adopt a series of non-discrimination training and policy reforms. The company must also pay $10,000 in compensation to the victim and a $3,500 civil penalty to the United States.
“The Americans with Disabilities Act was passed just over 25 years ago with the promise of opening up all aspects of American life to individuals with disabilities,” Vance said. “Our office is committed to ensuring that this promise is kept and that those individuals with disabilities are given equal access to accommodations and services.”
“The ADA prevents public accommodations, including moving companies, from denying service to people because of their disability status,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The Department of Justice stands firmly committed to protecting the rights of people who live with Hepatitis-C by combating unlawful discrimination, addressing unfounded stereotypes and eradicating the painful stigma that interferes with their daily lives.”
Title III of the ADA prohibits public accommodations, such as moving companies, from discriminating against people with disabilities, including Hepatitis-C. Through its investigation, the department found that Two Men and a Truck discriminated against a customer when its employees cancelled a move because of the customer’s Hepatitis-C. The company cancelled the move because its employees feared they would get Hepatitis-C, even though the customer explained to both the movers and their supervisors that individuals cannot contract Hepatitis-C by moving furniture or through casual contact. As a result of Two Men and a Truck’s cancellation on the scheduled move-out date, the customer had to pay rent for two apartments, locate last minute replacement movers and incur various other expenses.
Widely accepted professional medical guidelines and standards, including those published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), clarify that Hepatitis-C is transmitted primarily through repeated exposures to infectious blood. According to the CDC, it is not spread through casual contact, including, sneezing, hugging, holding hands, coughing, sharing eating utensils or drinking glasses or through food or water. Two Men and a Truck’s refusal to move an individual with Hepatitis-C marked a clear violation of the ADA based on unfounded fears and stereotypes about a disability.
The agreement announced today requires Two Men and a Truck to implement a nondiscrimination policy along with additional procedures and employee training to prevent discrimination because of a customer’s disability, including Hepatitis-C. It also requires the company to hire or designate an ADA Compliance Official responsible for reviewing all disability-related decisions.
The consent decree, reached under Title III of the ADA – which prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities by public accommodations – requires Two Men and a Truck to report to the department on its compliance. The department will actively monitor compliance with the terms of the two-year consent decree.
For more information about the ADA or today’s agreement, individuals may access the ADA web page at http://www.ada.gov/ or call the toll-free ADA Information Line at (800) 514-0301 or (800) 514-0383 (TTY).
Justice Department Settles with Alabama Moving Company over Hepatitis-C DiscriminationRead the Press Release
The Justice Department reached an agreement today with Kemper Moving Systems Inc., a Huntsville, Alabama, franchise of Two Men and a Truck, to resolve allegations that the moving company violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) when it refused service because of a customer’s Hepatitis-C.
Under the terms of a two-year consent decree filed today in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama, and still pending approval by the court, Two Men and a Truck will adopt a series of non-discrimination training and policy reforms. The company must also pay $10,000 in compensation to the victim and a $3,500 civil penalty to the United States.
“The ADA prevents public accommodations, including moving companies, from denying service to people because of their disability status,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The Department of Justice stands firmly committed to protecting the rights of people who live with Hepatitis-C by combating unlawful discrimination, addressing unfounded stereotypes and eradicating the painful stigma that interferes with their daily lives.”
“The Americans with Disabilities Act was passed just over 25 years ago with the promise of opening up all aspects of American life to individuals with disabilities,” said U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance of the Northern District of Alabama. “Our office is committed to ensuring that this promise is kept and that those individuals with disabilities are given equal access to accommodations and services.”
Title III of the ADA prohibits public accommodations, such as moving companies, from discriminating against people with disabilities, including Hepatitis-C. Through its investigation, the department found that Two Men and a Truck discriminated against a customer when its employees cancelled a move because of the customer’s Hepatitis-C. The company cancelled the move because its employees feared they would get Hepatitis-C, even though the customer explained to both the movers and their supervisors that individuals cannot contract Hepatitis-C by moving furniture or through casual contact. As a result of Two Men and a Truck’s cancellation on the scheduled move-out date, the customer had to pay rent for two apartments, locate last minute replacement movers and incur various other expenses.
Widely accepted professional medical guidelines and standards, including those published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), clarify that Hepatitis-C is transmitted primarily through repeated exposures to infectious blood. According to the CDC, it is not spread through casual contact, including, sneezing, hugging, holding hands, coughing, sharing eating utensils or drinking glasses or through food or water. Two Men and a Truck’s refusal to move an individual with Hepatitis-C marked a clear violation of the ADA based on unfounded fears and stereotypes about a disability.
The agreement announced today requires Two Men and a Truck to implement a nondiscrimination policy along with additional procedures and employee training to prevent discrimination because of a customer’s disability, including Hepatitis-C. It also requires the company to hire or designate an ADA Compliance Official responsible for reviewing all disability-related decisions.
The consent decree, reached under Title III of the ADA – which prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities by public accommodations – requires Two Men and a Truck to report to the department on its compliance. The department will actively monitor compliance with the terms of the two-year consent decree.
For more information about the ADA or today’s agreement, individuals may access the ADA web page at http://www.ada.gov/ or call the toll-free ADA Information Line at (800) 514-0301 or (800) 514-0383 (TTY).
Two Men and a Truck Consent Decree
Justice Department Asks Federal Court to Shut Down Detroit-Area Liberty Tax Service FranchiseeRead the Press Release
The United States filed a complaint asking a federal court in Detroit to permanently bar a Liberty Tax Service franchise owner and his company from preparing federal tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced today. The civil complaint against Craig M. Comer of Royal Oak, Michigan, and his business, Comer Inc., alleges that Comer operates five Liberty Tax Service franchise locations in the Detroit area.
According to the complaint, the defendants prepare income tax returns for customers that fraudulently overstate refunds and claim refundable credits by, among other things, claiming false or inflated Schedule C income and expenses, bogus dependents, false filing statuses, improper education credits and false itemized deductions. Based on audit adjustments the IRS has made to tax returns prepared and filed by the defendants for 2008 to 2013, the defendants’ conduct has cost the U.S. Treasury approximately $4.5 million for those years alone, according to the suit.
The complaint also alleges that in order to increase their fees, the defendants have altered completed tax returns already signed by the customers and forged customers’ signatures on returns. Furthermore, the defendants have added false information to internal Liberty Tax Service documents to give the illusion that the franchises are properly verifying customer information when preparing customers’ tax returns, according to the complaint.
Return preparer fraud is one of the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS)’s Dirty Dozen Tax Scams. The IRS has some tips on their website for choosing a tax preparer. In the past decade, the Tax Division has obtained injunctions against hundreds of unscrupulous tax preparers. Information about these cases is available on the Justice Department website. An alphabetical listing of persons enjoined from preparing returns and promoting tax schemes can be found on this page. If you believe that one of the enjoined persons or businesses may be violating an injunction, please contact the Tax Division with details.
Jury Convicts Defendant in Los Zetas Money Laundering Case of Conspiracy and Bribery ChargesRead the Press Release
A federal jury today convicted 55-year-old Veracruz, Mexico businessman Francisco Antonio Colorado-Cessa (aka “Pancho”), of attempting to bribe a federal judge announced United States Attorney Richard L. Durbin, Jr., Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge Christopher Combs and Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge William Cotter.
The jury, seated in Shreveport, Louisiana, found Colorado-Cessa, the owner of ADT Petroservicios, an oil services company in Mexico doing business with the Mexican National Oil Company PEMEX, guilty of one count of conspiracy to bribe a public official and one substantive count of bribery, by offer or promise, of a public official. Evidence during trial revealed that Colorado-Cessa and others conspired in 2013 to pay a $1.2 million bribe to a federal judge in order to secure a reduced sentence for Colorado-Cessa in a related money laundering case. According to court records, at no time before or during this investigation was the federal judge involved in the alleged criminal activity.
On March 12, 2014, Colorado-Cessa, his son, Francisco Agustin Colorado Cebado (aka “Panchito”), and his business partner, Ramon Segura Flores, all pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to bribe a federal judge. On July 22, 2014, visiting United States District Judge Donald E. Walter of the Western District of Louisiana sentenced Colorado Cebado and Segura Flores in Austin to a year and a day in federal prison and ordered them to pay a $10,000 fine for their roles in the scheme. On February 2, 2015, Judge Walter sentenced Colorado-Cessa in Austin to five years in federal prison. However, in October 2015, the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed Colorado-Cessa’s conviction and sentence and remanded the case back to the District Court. On December 23, 2015, Judge Walter granted a defense motion for change of venue from Austin and ordered that jury selection and trial occur in Shreveport, LA.
In the related case, on December 10, 2015, a federal jury in Austin convicted Colorado-Cessa of one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering in connection with a scheme to launder millions of dollars in Los Zetas drug distribution proceeds through purchasing, training, breeding and racing American quarter horses in the United States. Testimony during that trial revealed a shell game by Colorado Cessa, a close associate of the Zetas drug cartel’s top leaders including Miguel Angel Trevino Morales (aka “Z-40”), Oscar Omar Trevino Morales (aka “Z-42”), and others involving straw purchasers and transactions worth millions of dollars in New Mexico, Oklahoma, California and Texas to disguise the source of the drug money and make the proceeds from the sale of quarter horses or their race winnings appear legitimate.
Over 400 quarter horses seized by federal authorities in June 2012 as part of the above mentioned money laundering operation have been sold for approximately $12 million. One of the seized horses, Tempting Dash, winner of the Dash for Cash at Lone Star Park race track in Grand Prairie, TX, in October 2009, sold at an auction for a record $1.7 million in November 2013.
As a result of both trial verdicts, Colorado-Cessa now faces up to 20 years in federal prison on the charge of conspiracy to commit money laundering; up to 15 years in federal prison for the charge of bribery by offer or promise; and, up to five years in federal prison for the charge of conspiracy to commit bribery. Colorado-Cessa remains in federal custody pending sentencing. No sentencing dates have been scheduled.
This investigation was conducted by agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation and the Drug Enforcement Administration with assistance from the United States Marshals Service, Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI) and U.S. Border Patrol. Other judicial districts involved in this matter include the Western District of Oklahoma, Central District of California, Southern District of Texas, District of New Mexico and the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
Houston Police Officer and Wife Plead Guilty to Transporting Undocumented AliensRead the Press Release
In Del Rio today, a Houston police officer and his wife pleaded guilty to transporting undocumented aliens announced United States Attorney Richard L. Durbin, Jr., Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent in Charge Shane Folden and U.S. Border Patrol Del Rio Sector Chief Patrol Agent Rodolfo Karisch.
Appearing before United States Magistrate Judge Collis White, 51-year-old Juan Carrillo and 42-year-old Rosa Lidia Carrillo of Cypress, TX, pleaded guilty to one count of transporting undocumented aliens. By pleading guilty, the Carrillos’ admitted that they were illegally transporting two undocumented aliens from Eagle Pass, TX, to Houston.
According to court documents, on November 8, 2015, U.S. Border Patrol agents from the Carrizo Springs station conducted an immigration inspection on a vehicle traveling on Highway 85 in Big Wells, TX. The defendants were in the front seat and there were four passengers in the back seat. Agents discovered that four of the occupants, including the defendants, were United States citizens. Two occupants were determined to be illegally present in the United States.
Court documents also reflect that Rosa Carrillo had previously wired $1,500 to an unknown individual in order to have a family member smuggled into the United States. The defendants, admittedly, had traveled that day to Eagle Pass to pick up the family member and his companion, another undocumented individual who was being harbored at the same location, and transport them to Houston.
Both defendants remain on bond pending sentencing. Each defendant faces up to five years in federal prison and a maximum $250,000 fine. Sentencing is scheduled for 9:00am on June 28, 2016 in Del Rio before Judge Moses.
The case resulted from a joint investigation by the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Eagle Pass and the U.S. Border Patrol. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Matthew Watters and Todd Keagle.
Honduran Man Charged with Illegal ReentryRead the Press Release
U.S. Attorney Kenneth A. Polite announced that HECTOR ORLANDO RECATE REYES, age 30, a citizen of Honduras, was charged today in a one-count Indictment with illegal reentry of a removed alien.
According to the Indictment, RECATE-REYES reentered the United States after having been previously deported on August 8, 2012. If convicted, RECATE-REYES faces a maximum term of imprisonment of two years, a maximum fine of $250,000, a maximum term of supervised release of one year, and a mandatory $100 special assessment.
U.S. Attorney Polite reiterated that an Indictment is merely a charge and that the guilt of the defendant must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
U.S. Attorney Polite praised the work of the United States Department of Homeland Security in investigating this matter. Assistant U.S. Attorney Spiro G. Latsis is in charge of the prosecution.
Former Tribal Corrections Officer Pleads Guilty to Sexual Abuse and Civil Rights Violations of InmateRead the Press Release
ALBUQUERQUE – Trevor Hunt, 22, of Paguate, N.M., a former detention officer with the Pueblo of Laguna’s Detention Facility (LPDF), pleaded guilty today in federal court in Albuquerque, N.M., on charges related to the sexual abuse of an inmate during the summer of 2015. Specifically, Hunt pled guilty to one count of sexual abuse of a ward and one count of violating the civil rights of the victim, who was an inmate under Hunt’s supervision at the time Hunt committed the crimes.
In announcing the guilty plea, U.S. Attorney Damon P. Martinez said, “Sexual assaults by corrections officers on those they are charged with keeping safe gravely undermine the very foundation of our judicial system. The Justice Department will vigorously prosecute these crimes and work to vindicate the rights of the courageous victims who report them.”
“Correction Officers fill important and challenging roles in the criminal justice system. While the majority perform their duties honorably, those who abuse their authority deserve to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” said Special Agent in Charge Terry Wade of the FBI’s Albuquerque Division. “The FBI is proud to have worked with the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Pueblo of Laguna Tribal Police Department on this case.”
“The Pueblo of Laguna and its Public Safety Department do not condone Hunt’s conduct as demonstrated by the immediate judicial and administrative action taken by the Pueblo upon learning about this unfortunate incident. Inmates of the Laguna Pueblo Detention Facility and other detention facilities deserve to feel safe and secure while incarcerated” said Director Jesse Orozco of the Pueblo of Laguna Public Safety Department. “I am proud of the fine work done by the Laguna Pueblo law enforcement officers on this case, and would like to express my gratitude for the assistance of the FBI and the U.S. Attorney's Office.”
According to the plea agreement, on May 23, 2015, Hunt was a corrections officer at the LPDF who supervised both male and female inmates. On that day, Hunt accompanied the victim to the LPDF’s laundry room where he sexually assaulted the victim. During today’s change of plea hearing, Hunt acknowledged that the victim was in official detention and under his custodial and supervisory control when he sexually assaulted her. Hunt also admitted that he was aware that he willfully violated the victim’s constitutional rights when he assaulted her.
Hunt was ordered to surrender to the U.S. Marshals Service on Feb. 1, 2016, and will be detained pending his sentencing hearing, which has yet to be scheduled.
This case was investigated by Albuquerque office of the FBI and the Pueblo of Laguna Tribal Police Department, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys David Adams and Holland S. Kastrin.
This case was brought as part of the Tribal Special Assistant U.S. Attorney (Tribal SAUSA) Pilot Project in the District of New Mexico which is sponsored by the Justice Department’s Office on Violence Against Women under a grant administered by the Pueblo of Laguna. The Tribal SAUSA Pilot Project seeks to train tribal prosecutors in federal law, procedure and investigative techniques to increase the likelihood that every viable violent offense against Native American women is prosecuted in either federal court or tribal court, or both. The Tribal SAUSA Pilot Project was largely driven by input gathered from annual tribal consultations on violence against women, and is another step in the Justice Department's on-going efforts to increase engagement, coordination and action on public safety in tribal communities.
Former State Parole Officer Sentenced to Prison for BriberyRead the Press Release
Jackson, Miss - Andra Lowmon Smith, 44, of Anguilla, Mississippi, was sentenced today by Senior U.S. District Judge Tom Lee to 10 months in federal prison followed by two years of supervised release for bribery, announced U.S. Attorney Gregory K. Davis and FBI Special Agent in Charge Donald Alway. Smith must also pay $800 in restitution, and a $100 special assessment.
Smith is a former Probation and Parole Officer with the Mississippi Department of Corrections who worked out of Madison County. He admitted that he solicited bribes from a parolee he was supervising from March, 2015 through June, 2015. He took the money in exchange for allowing the parolee to leave Mississippi to find employment.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Criminal Investigation Division of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. Assistant United States Attorneys Scott Gilbert and Mary Helen Wall prosecuted the case.
Former Real Estate Broker Pleads Guilty to Second Federal Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
BOSTON – A former real estate broker pleaded guilty on Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2016, in U.S. District Court in Boston, in connection a scheme to defraud a couple of the deposit they paid to purchase three properties in Randolph, Roxbury and Jamaica Plain.
Michael David Scott, 51, of Mansfield, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud. U.S. District Court Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton scheduled sentencing for March 25, 2016.
From February 2011 to October 2013, Scott fraudulently persuaded a couple to sign three Purchase & Sale Agreements to buy properties in Randolph, Roxbury and Jamaica Plain. The couple deposited $199,000 with Scott under the false promise that their funds would be held in escrow. However, Scott immediately spent the funds for his own use. Furthermore, Scott knew that the first property was taken off the market by the sellers, that the bank holding the mortgage had refused to approve the sale of the second property, and that he had sold the third property to someone else. Scott never informed the couple about the status of the properties, and when they tried to get a refund of their deposits, he falsely assured them their deals were still pending and refused to return their deposits.
The charging statute provides a sentence of no greater than 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
In a separate federal case, Scott was sentenced on November 12, 2015 to 135 months in prison in connection with a multi-year, multi-property mortgage fraud scheme in Boston. Scott was on pre-trial release in this earlier fraud case when he committed the aforementioned crimes.
United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Harold H. Shaw, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; and Kristina O’Connell, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation in Boston, made the announcement today. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Victor A. Wild and Ryan M. DiSantis of Ortiz’s Criminal Division.
Former Postal Carrier Pleads Guilty to BriberyRead the Press Release
CONTACT: Barbara Burns
PHONE: (716) 843-5817
FAX: (716) 551-3051BUFFALO, N.Y.-U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul Jr. announced today that Dennis Bernhard, 56, of Derby, N.Y., pleaded guilty to bribery before Senior U.S. District Judge William M. Skretny. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Wei Xiang, who is handling the case, stated that Bernhard was a mail carrier for the United States Postal Service for 16 years, working out of the Eastside Station Post Office for the last 10 years. The Eastside Station covers the east side of the City of Buffalo. The investigation began when law enforcement officials learned that Bernhard had previously been paid by drug dealers to provide addresses of unsuspecting citizens in the City of Buffalo in order to mail boxes of narcotics. These addresses were within the defendant’s mail delivery route, so that when the boxes arrived in Buffalo, Bernhard did not deliver the boxes to the listed recipient address, but held on to the boxes and handed them directly to the drug dealers in exchange for cash payments.
When police approached Bernhard during an undercover operation in 2015, the defendant indicated he was willing to continue the scheme. During one transaction, Bernhard even said that one of the prior drug dealers “treated me pretty good. . . . at the end he was giving me like a hundred. . . .” (referring to $100 per box).
The plea is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Adam S. Cohen, the United States Postal Inspection Service, under the direction of Inspector in Charge Shelly Binkowski, the United States Postal Service, Office of the Inspector General, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Monica Weyler, Eastern Area Field Office, Philadelphia, PA, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge James C. Spero.
Sentencing is scheduled for May 18, 2016, at 11 a.m. before Judge Skretny.
Former Postal Carrier Pleads Guilty to BriberyRead the Press Release
CONTACT: Barbara Burns
PHONE: (716) 843-5817
FAX: (716) 551-3051BUFFALO, N.Y.-U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul Jr. announced today that Dennis Bernhard, 56, of Derby, N.Y., pleaded guilty to bribery before Senior U.S. District Judge William M. Skretny. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Wei Xiang, who is handling the case, stated that Bernhard was a mail carrier for the United States Postal Service for 16 years, working out of the Eastside Station Post Office for the last 10 years. The Eastside Station covers the east side of the City of Buffalo. The investigation began when law enforcement officials learned that Bernhard had previously been paid by drug dealers to provide addresses of unsuspecting citizens in the City of Buffalo in order to mail boxes of narcotics. These addresses were within the defendant’s mail delivery route, so that when the boxes arrived in Buffalo, Bernhard did not deliver the boxes to the listed recipient address, but held on to the boxes and handed them directly to the drug dealers in exchange for cash payments.
When police approached Bernhard during an undercover operation in 2015, the defendant indicated he was willing to continue the scheme. During one transaction, Bernhard even said that one of the prior drug dealers “treated me pretty good. . . . at the end he was giving me like a hundred. . . .” (referring to $100 per box).
The plea is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Adam S. Cohen, the United States Postal Inspection Service, under the direction of Inspector in Charge Shelly Binkowski, the United States Postal Service, Office of the Inspector General, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Monica Weyler, Eastern Area Field Office, Philadelphia, PA, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge James C. Spero.
Sentencing is scheduled for May 18, 2016, at 11 a.m. before Judge Skretny.
Former Pine Lawn Lieutenant Convicted of Federal ChargesRead the Press Release
St. Louis, MO – Former Pine Lawn Lieutenant STEVEN BLAKENEY was convicted of criminal civil rights charges arising from his arrest in 2013 of a candidate for the office of Mayor of the City of Pine Lawn.
According to testimony presented at trial, on March 31, 2013, Blakeney, while a police officer with the City of Pine Lawn Police Department, conspired with others to cause the arrest of a mayoral candidate based on false allegations and without probable cause. Blakeney ordered another person to falsely report that the mayoral candidate had stolen a campaign poster from a local business and then arranged for the candidate to be arrested.
Blakeney was convicted of one felony count of conspiracy against rights, one count of deprivation of rights under color of law and one count of falsification of records. The four-day trial was held before United States District Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh, Jr. Sentencing has been set for May 4, 2016.
These charges carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and/or fines up to $250,000. In determining the actual sentence, a judge is required to consider the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, which provide recommended sentencing ranges.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant United States Attorneys Reginald Harris and Jennifer Winfield handled the case for the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Former Hilton Middle School Teacher Sentenced for Attempted Enticement of A MinorRead 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 Charles Kane, 46, of Spencerport, NY, who was convicted of attempted online enticement of minor, was sentenced to 120 months in prison and 240 months of supervised release by U.S. District Court Judge Elizabeth A. Wolford.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig R. Gestring, who handled the case, stated that the defendant, a middle school teacher in the Hilton School District, was arrested April 2, 2015 as he attempted to meet with a person he thought was a 14 year old girl.
The investigation determined that in October 2014, the defendant posted an ad on Craigslist which read “daddy/daughter. Love younger women.” A federal law enforcement officer, working in an undercover capacity, posed as the father of a young daughter and conversed with Kane online for the next several months. During these conversations, Kane discussed traveling to meet the undercover and engaging in sexual activity with the undercover’s ten year old daughter.
On January 26, 2015, another undercover officer noticed a different sexually explicit ad on Craigslist which was traced back, once again, to the defendant. The officer responded to the ad in the persona of a 14 year old girl. Kane responded that he was “down with it.” The defendant asked the girl where she lived and said he wanted to meet her. The two remained in contact through March of 2015. During online chats, Kane sent the undercover officer photos of himself, including one he took in the men’s room at the Middle School where he taught, and repeatedly asked for photos of the 14 year old girl. Also during the chats, the defendant repeatedly discussed engaging in sexually explicit activity with the child and traveling to and meeting with the child for sexual purposes. One message read “I could get a room and I could sneak you there.” Kane acknowledged that he could get in “big trouble” and told the girl “this is between you and me.”
Following repeated requests, the girl agreed to meet the defendant at a theatre in Webster on April 2, 2015. The defendant was observed entering a pharmacy just before meeting with the undercover, where they learned that Kane purchased a box of condoms. Kane was arrested as soon as he pulled up to the theatre parking lot. He has been in federal custody since his arrest, and was held following a detention hearing last month.
The sentencing is the culmination of an investigation by the New York State Police, under the direction of Major Craig Hanesworth and the Federal Bureau of Investigation Child Exploitation Task Force, under the direction of Adam S. Cohen. The task force includes the Buffalo Police Department, Cheektowaga Police Department, Niagara County Sheriff’s Office, Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, the Rochester Police Department, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement-Homeland Security Investigations.
Former Arvest Bank Executive Sentenced to over Eight Years in Federal Prison for Bank FraudRead the Press Release
Fayetteville, Arkansas – Kenneth Elser, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas, announced that Henry Dennis Smiley, Jr., age 52, of Rogers, Arkansas, was sentenced to 97 months in federal prison followed by two years supervised release, and ordered to pay over $4,900,000.00 restitution on one count of Bank Fraud. The Honorable P.K. Holmes, III presided over the sentencing hearing in the United States District Court in Fayetteville. Smiley pleaded guilty to the charge on August 25, 2015.
This case was investigated by Federal Bureau of Investigation. Acting United States Attorney Kenneth Elser prosecuted the case for the United States.
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.Related court documents may be found on the Public Access to Electronic Records website @ www.pacer.gov
Florida Man Admits Using Bogus Transportation Company to Defraud New Jersey Factoring Business Out of $220,000Read the Press Release
NEWARK, N.J. - A Seminole, Florida, man today admitted using phony invoices from his transportation company to obtain $220,000 from a New Jersey-based factoring business, U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman announced.
Karl Stehlin, a/k/a “Mark Sawyer,” 60, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge William J. Martini in Newark federal court to Count One of an indictment charging him with wire fraud.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in Court:
Stehlin admitted that from June 2014 through September 2014, he defrauded a Bergen County, New Jersey, factoring business that purchased accounts receivable in return for short term financing. Stehlin created a bogus Idaho-based company, Sawyer Express Transportation Inc., and emailed accounts receivable invoices to the factoring company for transportation services that were never provided. As a result, Stehlin was able to defraud the factoring company out of $220,000 in advance payment on those invoices.
During his plea hearing, Stehlin also admitted using the same methods to defraud a Glendale, California, factoring business out of $127, 953.34 and a Las Vegas factoring business out of $524,025.28.
The wire fraud charge to which Stehlin pleaded guilty is punishable by a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense. Sentencing is scheduled for May 24, 2016.
U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Richard M. Frankel in Newark, with the investigation leading to today’s plea. He also thanked special agents of the FBI Tampa Division, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Paul Wysopal, for their assistance.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lakshmi Srinivasan Herman and Andrew Kogan of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Economic Crimes Unit and Acting Chief Barbara Ward of the Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Unit in Newark.
Defense counsel: Michael Koribanics Esq., Clifton, New Jersey
Federal Jury Convicts Texas Men in Drug ConspiracyRead the Press Release
U.S. Attorney Kenneth A. Polite announced that a federal jury convicted JORGE PERRALTA, age 33, of Pasadena, Texas, and PAUL NORRIS, age 57, of Houston, Texas, of a drug conspiracy charge, following a four-day trial.
PERRALTA and NORRIS were convicted of conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute cocaine and heroin. According to the Indictment, beginning on a date unknown and continuing until on or about March 19, 2015, PERRALTA and NORRIS knowingly combined, conspired, confederated and agreed with persons known and unknown, to possess with the intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine hydrochloride and one kilogram or more of heroin.
The convictions of PERRALTA and NORRIS followed an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (“OCDETF”) investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration and Houston, Texas Police Department of a drug trafficking organization operating from Mexico into several of the United States, including Louisiana.
Both PERRALTA and NORRIS face a minimum term of imprisonment of ten years, a maximum term of life imprisonment, a fine of $10,000,000, a minimum of five years of supervised release after imprisonment, and a $100.00 special assessment. U.S. District Judge Lance M. Africk set sentencing for May 19, 2016.
U.S. Attorney Polite praised the work of the Drug Enforcement Administration in New Orleans and Houston, Texas along with the Houston Police Department in investigating this matter. Assistant United States Attorneys Andre’ Jones, Elizabeth Privitera, and Jeffrey Sandman were in charge of the prosecution.
Federal Criminal Charges Filed Against Two Pharmacists for Adulteration of Drugs in Connection with Alabama-Based Compounding PharmacyRead the Press Release
A criminal Information was filed today in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama against David Allen, former pharmacist-in-charge of the now-defunct compounding pharmacy Advanced Specialty Pharmacy doing business as “Meds IV,” and William Timothy Rogers, a pharmacist and the former president of Meds IV, the Department of Justice announced today. Allen and Rogers were charged in connection with the distribution of adulterated drugs, which were compounded at the Meds IV facility and distributed to Birmingham, Alabama-area hospitals in 2011.
“The compounding of sterile drug products requires significant care, and the distribution of contaminated drug products can cause serious harm to patients,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Benjamin C. Mizer, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “This criminal case demonstrates the Justice Department’s commitment to protecting consumers and patients, and making sure pharmaceutical drugs are safe and effective.”
Allen, 60, of McCalla, Alabama, and Rogers, 48, of Hoover, Alabama, have signed plea agreements, in which both individuals have agreed to plead guilty to two misdemeanor violations of the federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) as charged in the Information. Following today’s filing of the criminal charges; the U.S. District Court will schedule an arraignment, where the defendants will be formally advised of the charges against them. Another hearing will then be set in which the defendants can enter their guilty pleas to the Court.
As alleged in the Information, Meds IV compounded various drugs for human use, including an intravenous drug known as Total Parenteral Nutrition (TPN). TPN is liquid nutrition administered intravenously to patients who cannot or should not receive their nutrition through eating. The information alleges that beginning in or around February 2011, Meds IV compounded its own amino acid solution, which it then mixed with other ingredients to form TPN.
As charged in the information, amino acid used in compounding the TPN was adulterated in the following ways: it consisted in whole or in part of a filthy, putrid, or decomposed substance, namely Serratia marcescens (S. marcescens) and it was prepared, packed, or held under insanitary conditions whereby it may have been contaminated with filth or rendered injurious to health. S. marcescens is gram-negative bacteria that can cause bloodstream infections if introduced into the bloodstream through contaminated medications. These infections can cause serious medical complications, including death, because S. marcescens is resistant to many antibiotics.
“Meds IV was in the business of compounding drugs and IV nutrition that was supposed to help patients heal,” said U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance for the Northern District of Alabama. “Instead, because of unsanitary procedures in the mixing of liquid nutrition, contaminated IV fluid was sent to Birmingham area hospitals and a number of patients developed serious bloodstream infections. I thank the FDA and its Office of Criminal Investigations for their diligence in helping us prosecute those responsible for the failings at Meds IV which contributed to significant harm.”
According to the charging document, the amino acid was prepared by Meds IV outside a laminar airflow workbench and was kept unrefrigerated, in a room that was not sterile, in a large pot sitting on the floor, sometimes overnight, before it was sterilized and used.
As alleged in the information, between March 5 and 15, 2011, nine patients at various Birmingham-area hospitals who developed bloodstream infections caused by S. marcescens died, and several other hospital patients developed S. marcescens bloodstream infections but survived. According to the charges, all of these patients had been given TPN that was compounded and distributed by Meds IV. As alleged in the information, while a number of the patients who died had underlying conditions which may have contributed to their deaths, medical records of some patients suggest that the S. marcescens bloodstream infections were also a significant factor.
According to the information, Meds IV was notified on March 14, 2011, by a hospital in the Birmingham area, that four patients receiving TPN had tested positive for S. marcescens. The information alleges that the TPN was compounded and distributed by Meds IV and that this notification was the first time Meds IV was informed of a link between its TPN and patients testing positive for S. marcescens. The information alleges that on or around March 16, 2011, Meds IV began notifying some customers that compounding of TPN was suspended until further notice.
As noted in the information, during an inspection at Meds IV starting on March 22, 2011, investigators from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found S. marcescens that was indistinguishable to the outbreak strain on a tap-water faucet, in an open container of amino acid powder and on the surface of mixing equipment that had been used to make TPN. According to the charging document, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and CDC investigators linked the S. marcescens to TPN that had been compounded by Meds IV.
“Americans expect and deserve drugs that are safe, effective, and that meet appropriate standards for quality, yet Meds IV contaminated and distributed drug products that resulted in serious harm to patients,” said Acting FDA Commissioner Stephen Ostroff, MD. “Such conduct cannot be tolerated, and the FDA will continue to work with the Department of Justice to pursue aggressive enforcement actions against those who place American patients at risk.”
As alleged in the Information, Allen supervised all compounding at Meds IV, was specifically responsible for reviewing and approving TPN formulations, and was also responsible for filling the individual prescriptions Meds IV received for patient-specific TPN products. The information alleges that Rogers was ultimately responsible for overseeing all of the day-to-day operations of Meds IV. Both defendants have agreed to plead guilty to two misdemeanor counts, representing the two lots of amino acid which were determined to be adulterated in violation of the FDCA. For each count, the defendants face a statutory maximum sentence of up to one year in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, or both, and a term of supervised release after any imprisonment for up to one year.
The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Heide L. Herrmann of the Justice Department’s Consumer Protection Branch and Assistant U.S. Attorney Henry Cornelius of the Northern District of Alabama. They were assisted by Associate Chief Counsel Shannon M. Singleton of the Food and Drug Division, Office of General Counsel, Department of Health and Human Services. The case was investigated by the FDA’s Office of Criminal Investigations.
A criminal Information is merely an allegation and every defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Federal Criminal Charges Filed Against Two Pharmacists for Adulteration of Drugs in Connection with Alabama-Based Compounding PharmacyRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM – A criminal information was filed today in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama against David Allen, former pharmacist-in-charge of the now-defunct compounding pharmacy Advanced Specialty Pharmacy doing business as “Meds IV,” and William Timothy Rogers, a pharmacist and the former president of Meds IV, the Department of Justice and U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance announced. Allen and Rogers were charged in connection with the distribution of adulterated drugs, which were compounded at the Meds IV facility and distributed to Birmingham-area hospitals in 2011.
Allen, 60, of McCalla, and Rogers, 48, of Hoover, have signed plea agreements, in which both individuals have agreed to plead guilty to two misdemeanor violations of the federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) as charged in the Information. Following today’s filing of the criminal charges; the U.S. District Court will schedule an arraignment, where the defendants will be formally advised of the charges against them. Another hearing will then be set in which the defendants can enter their guilty pleas to the Court.
“The compounding of sterile drug products requires significant care, and the distribution of contaminated drug products can cause serious harm to patients,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Benjamin C. Mizer, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “This criminal case demonstrates the Justice Department’s commitment to protecting consumers and patients, and making sure pharmaceutical drugs are safe and effective.”
“Meds IV was in the business of compounding drugs and IV nutrition that was supposed to help patients heal,” Vance said. “Instead, because of unsanitary procedures in the mixing of liquid nutrition, contaminated IV fluid was sent to Birmingham area hospitals and a number of patients developed serious bloodstream infections. I thank the FDA and its Office of Criminal Investigations for their diligence in helping us prosecute those responsible for the failings at Meds IV which contributed to significant harm.”
As alleged in the Information, Meds IV compounded various drugs for human use, including an intravenous drug known as Total Parenteral Nutrition (TPN). TPN is liquid nutrition administered intravenously to patients who cannot or should not receive their nutrition through eating. The information alleges that beginning in or around February 2011, Meds IV compounded its own amino acid solution, which it then mixed with other ingredients to form TPN.
As charged in the information, amino acid used in compounding the TPN was adulterated in the following ways: it consisted in whole or in part of a filthy, putrid, or decomposed substance, namely Serratia marcescens (S. marcescens) and it was prepared, packed, or held under insanitary conditions whereby it may have been contaminated with filth or rendered injurious to health. S. marcescens is gram-negative bacteria that can cause bloodstream infections if introduced into the bloodstream through contaminated medications. These infections can cause serious medical complications, including death, because S. marcescens is resistant to many antibiotics.
According to the charging document, the amino acid was prepared by Meds IV outside a laminar airflow workbench and was kept unrefrigerated, in a room that was not sterile, in a large pot sitting on the floor, sometimes overnight, before it was sterilized and used.
As alleged in the information, between March 5 and 15, 2011, nine patients at various Birmingham-area hospitals who developed bloodstream infections caused by S. marcescens died, and several other hospital patients developed S. marcescens bloodstream infections but survived. According to the charges, all of these patients had been given TPN that was compounded and distributed by Meds IV. As alleged in the information, while a number of the patients who died had underlying conditions which may have contributed to their deaths, medical records of some patients suggest that the S. marcescens bloodstream infections were also a significant factor.
According to the information, Meds IV was notified on March 14, 2011, by a hospital in the Birmingham area, that four patients receiving TPN had tested positive for S. marcescens. The information alleges that the TPN was compounded and distributed by Meds IV and that this notification was the first time Meds IV was informed of a link between its TPN and patients testing positive for S. marcescens. The information alleges that on or around March 16, 2011, Meds IV began notifying some customers that compounding of TPN was suspended until further notice.
As noted in the information, during an inspection at Meds IV starting on March 22, 2011, investigators from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found S. marcescens that was indistinguishable to the outbreak strain on a tap-water faucet, in an open container of amino acid powder and on the surface of mixing equipment that had been used to make TPN. According to the charging document, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and CDC investigators linked the S. marcescens to TPN that had been compounded by Meds IV.
“Americans expect and deserve drugs that are safe, effective, and that meet appropriate standards for quality, yet Meds IV contaminated and distributed drug products that resulted in serious harm to patients,” said Acting FDA Commissioner Stephen Ostroff, MD. “Such conduct cannot be tolerated, and the FDA will continue to work with the Department of Justice to pursue aggressive enforcement actions against those who place American patients at risk.”
As alleged in the Information, Allen supervised all compounding at Meds IV, was specifically responsible for reviewing and approving TPN formulations, and was also responsible for filling the individual prescriptions Meds IV received for patient-specific TPN products. The information alleges that Rogers was ultimately responsible for overseeing all of the day-to-day operations of Meds IV. Both defendants have agreed to plead guilty to two misdemeanor counts, representing the two lots of amino acid which were determined to be adulterated in violation of the FDCA. For each count, the defendants face a statutory maximum sentence of up to one year in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, or both, and a term of supervised release after any imprisonment for up to one year.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Henry Cornelius of the Northern District of Alabama and Trial Attorney Heide L. Herrmann of the Justice Department’s Consumer Protection Branch. They were assisted by Associate Chief Counsel Shannon M. Singleton of the Food and Drug Division, Office of General Counsel, Department of Health and Human Services. The case was investigated by the FDA’s Office of Criminal Investigations.
A criminal Information is merely an allegation and every defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
information_allen_rogers.pdf (213.59 KB)
Fayetteville Man Sentenced to 12 Years in Federal Prison for Sex Trafficking of a 16 Year OldRead the Press Release
Fayetteville - Kenneth Elser, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas, announced that Gregory Lynnell Gibson, age 23, of Fayetteville, Arkansas, was sentenced to 144 months in prison without the possibility of parole and ten years of supervised release for one count of Sex Trafficking of Children. He was also ordered to pay a $4,900.00 fine. The sentencing took place before the Honorable Timothy L. Brooks in the United States District Court in Fayetteville.
In January, 2014, detectives with the Springdale Police Department were notified that a 16 year old runaway (“Jane Doe”) was at a hotel in Springdale working as a prostitute for Gibson. Officers confirmed that Gibson had rented two rooms there and made contact with a sixteen year old female who confirmed that she was working for Gibson as a prostitute. She told officers that she had known Gibson since the 8th grade and recently reconnected with him via Facebook. She said Gibson had convinced her to quit school and offered to split the proceeds from her prostitution with her 50/50, however, she stated she gave all of her money from her prostitution to Gibson. A search of Gibson’s phone revealed text messages relating to sixteen year old female’s prostitution detailing prices, time limits, and specific sex acts. There were also text messages on the phone relating to prostitution dating back to November, 2013 with other individuals in addition to the sixteen year old female, as well as messages between Gibson and the sixteen year old female discussing the fact that she was under the age of 18. Gibson pled guilty to the charge in August, 2015.
This case was investigated by the Springdale Police Department, the Fort Smith Police Department, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Assistant United States Attorney Aaron Jennen prosecuted the case for the United States.
The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and their Criminal Division Child Exploitation and Obscenity Sections (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
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Related court documents may be found on Public Access to Electronic Records Website @www.Pacer.gov
Evansville woman indicted on five counts of theftRead the Press Release
Evansville –United States Attorney Josh J. Minkler announced today that an Evansville woman who worked as the cafeteria manager at St Benedict Cathedral School, was indicted on five counts of theft concerning programs receiving federal funds. Mary Merrill, 49, Evansville, was arrested today and will appear before a federal magistrate judge for her initial appearance.
“Faith-based institutions are built around trust and honesty; Ms. Merrill betrayed both values,” said Minkler. “The Diocese of Evansville, as well as parishioners and students of St. Benedict, deserve better from their staff.”
Merrill served as the cafeteria manager since 2007, and controlled the cafeteria budget, managed accounts payable, purchased food and other supplies from vendors as well as supervised employees and volunteers. She controlled an account at an Evansville bank named the “St Benedict School Cafeteria” and was the only person with signatory power.
From February 2011, until March 2015, Merrill is alleged to have embezzled over $104,000 from the cafeteria account by making fraudulent claims for reimbursement, issuing unauthorized checks to herself and credit card companies, and creating false check registries with vendor names to conceal her personal expenditures. During this time period the school received federal funds as a participant in the Federal School Lunch Program.
This case was investigated by the Evansville Police Department, United States Secret Service, and the Vanderburgh County Prosecutor’s Office.
Evansville Police Chief Billy Bolin said, “It is unfortunate that someone would take advantage of a place of worship, especially one that is charged with educating young people in our community.”
According to Assistant United States Attorney Kyle M. Sawa, who is prosecuting the case for the government, Merrill could face up to 10 years imprisonment on each count if convicted.
An indictment is merely a charge and not evidence of guilt. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven otherwise in federal court.
No future court date has been set.
During National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month, United States Attorney’s Office Works to Raise Awareness of the Cruel Practice that Exploits the Most Vulnerable Members of SocietyRead the Press Release
LOS ANGELES – United States Attorney Eileen M. Decker marked January as National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month by renewing the commitment of the United States Attorney’s Office to combat all forms of human trafficking and to engage all of our diverse communities to raise awareness about the inhumane practice.
“Those who engage in any form of human trafficking are exploiting the most vulnerable among us by inducing or forcing their victims to engage in commercial sex or by subjecting them to forced labor,” United States Attorney Decker said.
Human trafficking takes many forms, but generally targets the most vulnerable in our society – our children, those who suffered past abuse, people with physical or mental disabilities, the poor and those without legal immigration status.
The United States Attorney’s Office and its federal, state, local, and tribal partners are working diligently to identify and support victims – and to bring their abusers to justice. Authorities are working to bring freedom to all victims of human trafficking – whether they are adults or children; male, female, or transgender individuals; citizens or noncitizens – regardless of the trafficking they endured.
Anti-trafficking efforts have been bolstered with the recent establishment of the multi-agency Los Angeles Human Trafficking Task Force, which is being jointly led by the United States Attorney’s Office and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. The Task Force was established in September 2015 as the result of $1.5 million grant from the Department of Justice (see: http://go.usa.gov/cPbAe). This partnership will enhance coordination and collaboration between agencies and will expand the capacity to provide comprehensive services to victims.
The United States Attorney’s Office is committed to prosecuting individuals who prey upon trafficking victims. Among the criminal cases recently in federal court:
• a Long Beach man received a 20-year federal prison sentence last year for running a sex trafficking operation that victimized young women (see: http://go.usa.gov/cPjuR);
• A former special agent with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations pleaded guilty in December to accepting a bribe from a man being investigated for human trafficking (see: http://go.usa.gov/cExGF);
• a mother and son team pleaded guilty to sex trafficking charges last year and admitted to trafficking in minors and young women in California and Nevada (see: http://go.usa.gov/cEabe);
• a South Bay man was sentenced to nearly five years in prison for lying to federal investigators about hiring a minor for commercial sex in the first federal prosecution in the Los Angeles-area of a “john” in a teen human trafficking investigation (see: http://go.usa.gov/cEavJ); and
• a trial began this week in the case of a man charged with travelling to Cambodia to have sex with children.
For more information on human trafficking and victim services, including a recently released video series and resource guide to raise awareness about the many forms of human trafficking in the United States, please visit the website of the Department of Justice’s Office for Victims of Crime website – http://ovc.ncjrs.gov/humantrafficking/. Materials are available in Spanish, Thai, Hindi and Tagalog.
President Obama issued a proclamation on New Year’s Eve that designated January as National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month (see: http://go.usa.gov/cPjJm). The President called upon all Americans to play a role to end all forms of human trafficking, and he pledged that the United States will continue to lead the effort to root out human trafficking around the world.
To report suspected human trafficking, connect with anti-trafficking services in your area or find anti-trafficking resources, contact the National Human Trafficking Resource Center hotline at 1-888-373-7888, [email protected], or www.traffickingresourcecenter.org. The toll-free hotline is available to answer calls from anywhere in the United States, 24 hours a day/7 days a week, in more than 200 languages.
Duenweg Sex Offender Charged with Online Child Sex ShowsRead the Press Release
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that a registered sex offender in Duenweg, Mo., has been charged in federal court with paying to watch online sex shows with children in the Philippines.
Paul L. Sipeer, 65, of Duenweg, was charged in a criminal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court in Springfield, Mo., on Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016. The complaint charges Sipeer with receiving child pornography over the Internet. Sipeer had his initial court appearance today and remains in federal custody pending a detention hearing on Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2016.
Sipeer is a registered sex offender with a 1992 conviction for sexual abuse in the first degree involving the physical harm of a 7-year-old child.
According to an affidavit filed in support of the federal criminal complaint, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents learned that Sipeer was conducting online money transfers between $10 and $20 several times a month during the summer of 2015 to individuals in the Philippines.
Money transfers, conducted through Western Union and MoneyGram, are often used to send funds to pay for sexual performances by children in the Philippines. In prior investigations conducted by HSI, small amounts of money, typically between $5 and $100, are often sent to individuals in the Philippines. In return, the recipients would have young children perform sexual acts on webcams for the senders. Often the senders would send additional payments for continued and/or repeat performances.
Upon further investigation, the affidavit says, agents learned that Sipeer had making money transfers to various individuals in the Philippines since January 2013, in amounts ranging up to $480.
On Jan. 26, 2016, law enforcement officers contacted Sipeer at his residence. According to the affidavit, Sipeer told the officers he sent money to the Philippines to pay for “sex shows.” Sipeer said he has sent approximately $1,200 to the Philippines in total.
Sipeer consented to a search of his residence, including his computer. Officers located images of child pornography during a preview of Sipeer’s computer.
Dickinson cautioned that the charge contained in this complaint is simply an accusation, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charge must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney James J. Kelleher. It was investigated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Southwest Missouri Cyber Crimes Task Force.
Project Safe Childhood
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc . For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab "resources."
Detroit Man Sentenced to 51 Months in Prison for Role in Smash-and-Grab Robbery of Stamford Jewelry StoreRead the Press Release
Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that DAJUHN GRIFFIN, 20, of Detroit, Michigan, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Victor A. Bolden in Bridgeport to 51 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release for his role in a smash-and-grab robbery of a Stamford jewelry store in November 2014.
According to court documents and statements made in court, on November 26, 2014, GRIFFIN and others stole a Stamford resident’s SUV and drove it to the Stamford Town Center Mall. GRIFFIN and two accomplices, armed with hammers, then entered Sidney Thomas Jewelers during regular business hours. Soon after entering, they used the hammers to smash open a jewelry display case and removed more than $250,000 worth of Rolex watches. The three then fled with security guards in pursuit. One of GRIFFIN’s accomplices, Richard Mathew Bailey, was caught and apprehended inside the mall while fleeing.
After the robbery, Stamford Police found the stolen SUV running in the mall’s parking garage.
GRIFFIN was arrested in Detroit on April 6, 2015. On September 4, 2015, he pleaded guilty to one count of interfering with commerce by robbery.
GRIFFIN, who had been released on bond, was remanded to custody at the conclusion of today’s sentencing.
Richard Mathew Bailey and Brian Moore, both from Detroit, previously pleaded guilty to the same charge. Moore helped organize and carry out the robbery by soliciting others to participate and partially funding it. He also drove accomplices from Detroit to Stamford to carry out the robbery and picked them up after the robbery in order to return to Detroit.
On November 23, 2015, Moore was sentenced to 48 months of imprisonment. Bailey awaits sentencing. A fourth defendant, also a resident of Detroit, has been charged and is awaiting trial.
This case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Stamford Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Gabriel J. Vidoni.
Delaware Woman Pleads Guilty to $600,000+ Embezzlement from Credit Card ProcessorRead the Press Release
WILMINGTON, Del. - Charles M. Oberly, III, United States Attorney for the District of Delaware, announced that Lisa Mose, age 43, of Bear, Delaware, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1343. Mose faces a maximum sentence of twenty years in prison, a fine of $250,000, and 3 years of supervised release following a prison sentence. She will be sentenced on April 27, 2016, by the Honorable Leonard P. Stark, Chief Judge, United States District Court for the District of Delaware,
According to statements made at the plea hearing and documents filed in court, Mose was employed by a credit card transaction processor, in New Castle, Delaware. Mose was a supervisor within the reconciliation and settlements department. She had access to initiate manual wire transfers from her employer’s operating accounts.
From January 2009 through June 2014, Mose made false entries into the company’s computerized system and initiated at least 325 wire transfers, totaling at least $618,075, to her personal bank accounts and bank accounts of known associates. Mose used a significant portion of the proceeds to purchase vacations and high-end consumer goods.
U.S. Attorney Oberly commented, “Ms. Mose was a trusted supervisor at her place of employment and she systematically, over a period of years, proceeded to steal over $600,000 from her employer. Such a breach of trust cannot go unpunished and a sentence of incarceration is necessary to deter others who might consider stealing from their employers.”
This case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Darkode Defendant Sentenced to ProbationRead the Press Release
PITTSBURGH - A resident of Tampa, Florida, has been sentenced in federal court to two years probation on his conviction of violating the CAN-SPAM ACT, United States Attorney David J. Hickton announced today.
Senior United States District Judge Maurice B. Cohill, Jr. imposed the sentence on Naveed Ahmed, 27. Ahmed is one of 12 individuals charged in connection with a significant computer hacking forum known as Darkode, which has been dismantled.
According to information presented to the court, Ahmed knowingly used a protected computer to relay or retransmit multiple commercial electronic mail messages with the intent to deceive or mislead recipients.
Assistant United States Attorney James T. Kitchen prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.
U.S. Attorney Hickton commended the Federal Bureau of Investigation for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Naveed Ahmed.
Columbia Man Pleads Guilty to Renting Room to Use HeroinRead the Press Release
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Columbia, Mo., man pleaded guilty in federal court today to renting the motel room where a 16-year-old female died of a heroin overdose.
Jon Patrick Washington, also known as “Doom,” 29, of Columbia, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Matt J. Whitworth to maintaining a drug-involved premise. Washington has been in federal custody since his arrest in 2014.
Washington admitted that he rented a room at the Providence Inn and Suites Motel, 1718 Providence Road in Columbia (now closed), for the purpose of using heroin from April 1 to April 3, 2014.
Columbia police officers responded to a suspected heroin overdose death at Washington’s motel room on April 3, 2014. The victim was a 16-year-old female. Based on information from a confidential informant, Washington was located later the same day and brought in for questioning by law enforcement. He admitted that he had injected the juvenile victim with heroin at about 8:30 p.m.
Washington told law enforcement officers that the juvenile was nodding off from a prior heroin injection, and that the juvenile and another individual (who Washington claimed supplied the heroin to the juvenile) kept asking him to help shoot the juvenile up again. Washington said the needle was already filled with heroin prior to him injecting the juvenile. Washington told officers that he found a vein on the juvenile on his second attempt.
Washington admitted that another individual and the juvenile victim gave him the money to rent the motel room. Washington had previously been renting another room at the motel, but moved into the new room on April 1. Washington admitted that he knew the room was being used by the juvenile to use heroin.
Under the terms of today’s plea agreement, which still must be accepted by the court, Washington will be sentenced to five years in federal prison without parole and is subject to a fine up to $500,000. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lawrence E. Miller. It was investigated by the Columbia, Mo., Police Department, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Missouri State Highway Patrol.
Cocktail Napkin Insider Tip Leads to Federal ConvictionRead the Press Release
BOSTON – Following a three-day trial, a Boston-area real estate developer was convicted today of engaging in insider trading for buying – and later selling – shares of Wainwright Bank & Trust Company (“Wainwright”) based on a tip that Wainwright would be acquired. Prior to the acquisition, shares of Wainwright traded on the Nasdaq Stock Market.
Robert H. Bray, 78, of Watertown, was convicted by a jury of one count of securities fraud. He was acquitted of a separate count of conspiracy. U.S. District Court Judge William G. Young scheduled sentencing for May 4, 2016.
Bray is the owner of R&B Construction, a construction and real-estate development company that operates in the Cambridge and Watertown area. As the government proved at trial, in June 2010, Bray was tipped by a friend who was an executive at Boston-based Eastern Bank Corp. (“Eastern Bank”) that Wainwright would be acquired. The tip – more than two weeks before the acquisition was publicly announced – was passed on a napkin slipped to Bray over drinks at a country club bar in Watertown where both men are members. On Monday, June 14, 2010, Bray called his broker to ask how he could buy 25,000 shares of Wainwright stock, which he acknowledged “kinda sounds crazy,” given how thinly the stock traded. Bray ultimately purchased a total of 31,000 Wainwright shares over the next two weeks, at prices between $8.85 and $9.90 per share, single-handedly accounting for some 56 percent of the total trading volume in Wainwright shares during that period. On June 29, 2010, Eastern Bank announced its agreement to acquire Wainwright for $19 per share in cash, a premium of nearly 100% over the stock’s prior closing price. Bray ultimately sold his shares for a profit of approximately $300,000.
United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz and Harold Shaw, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division, made the announcement today.
“Today’s conviction underscores our commitment to making sure that there is a level playing field for all securities investors – and that those who would pass on confidential corporate information on napkins at bars, in whispered conversations on golf courses or in any other way, are held accountable for their actions,” said U.S. Attorney Ortiz.
“Mr. Bray thought he could engage in a back-door deal to get rich quick. By capitalizing on insider information, he cheated the system established to protect hard-working investors. Financial fraud is not a victimless crime and the FBI will do everything it can to identify those individuals who are trying to undermine the integrity of the financial market,” said Special Agent in Charge Shaw.
The maximum sentence under the statute is 20 years in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release and a fine of up to five million dollars. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The United States Attorney’s Office received valuable assistance from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in the course of investigating this case. The case was prosecuted by Stephen E. Frank and Eric P. Christofferson of Ortiz’s Economic Crimes Unit.
Cincinnati Drug Ring Members Plead Guilty to Related ChargesRead the Press Release
CINCINNATI – Defendants involved in a major cocaine and heroin trafficking ring have pleaded guilty to related charges in U.S. District Court.
Carter M. Stewart, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, Angela L. Byers, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Cincinnati Field Division, Guy A. Ficco, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Criminal Investigation, Cincinnati Field Office and Cincinnati Police Chief Eliot K. Isaac, announced the final plea entered into yesterday before United States District Court Judge Timothy S. Black.
According to court documents, the defendants were charged in April 2015 in a 23-count indictment. The indictment outlined that the group conspired to facilitate an illegal drug business, primarily cocaine and heroin.
It was further part of the conspiracy that the defendants operated “stash” houses to process, cut, package and store the drugs as well as firearms and money. In order to conceal the money generated from the drug sales, defendants would launder the profits by purchasing real and personal property and place assets in the names of other individuals.
Upon executing search warrants in this case, investigators discovered more than $1 million in cash at the properties maintained by the narcotics trafficking organization.
Also included in forfeiture in this case are: seven firearms, three properties in Cincinnati, five vehicles including two luxury vehicles and a motorcycle, multiple pieces of jewelry, Gucci and Rolex watches, two ballistic vests, a number of “mink” fur coats and vests, 13 designer handbags and Beats headphones and ear buds.
The defendants and the charges to which they pled guilty include:
Name Age Residence Pleaded to Potential sentence
Christopher Whitfield 42 Cincinnati Conspiracy to commit money laundering 20 years in prison
Tonia Whitfield 41 Cincinnati Money laundering (3counts) 20 years in prison per count
Steven Griffin 40 Cincinnati Possession with intent to distribute 40 years in prison; 10 years in prison
herion; felon in possession of a firearm
Icierra Martin-Bronson 38 Cincinnati Money laundering (2counts) 20 years in prison
Griffin was sentenced on January 13, 2015 to 87 months in prison. Tonia Whitfield was sentenced on December 14, 2015 to 12 months and one day in prison.
“IRS Criminal Investigation follows the money so we can financially disrupt and dismantle major drug trafficking organizations, especially when individuals attempt to conceal the true source of their money,” said Guy A. Ficco, Acting Special Agent in Charge, IRS, Criminal Investigation. “Today's announcement is a direct result of the excellent partnership IRS, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the FBI, and the Cincinnati Police Department has in combating major drug trafficking organizations, which have such a negative impact on our community."
U.S. Attorney Stewart commended the cooperative investigation by local and federal law enforcement, including the IRS, FBI and Cincinnati Police Department, as well as Assistant United States Attorneys Karl Kadon and Jessica W. Knight, who are representing the United States in this case.
Chinese National Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy to Steal Trade SecretsRead the Press Release
DES MOINES, IA – On January 27, 2016, Mo Hailong, also known as Robert Mo, 46,
appeared before the Honorable Stephanie M. Rose and pleaded guilty to conspiracy to steal trade
secrets, announced Assistant Attorney General for National Security John P. Carlin and Acting
United States Attorney Kevin E. VanderSchel.
According to the plea agreement, Mo Hailong admitted to participating in a long term
conspiracy to steal trade secrets from DuPont Pioneer and Monsanto. Mo Hailong participated in
the theft of inbred corn seeds from fields in the Southern District of Iowa for the purpose of
transporting the seeds to China. The stolen inbred, or parent, seeds were the valuable intellectual
property of DuPont Pioneer and Monsanto.
During the course of the conspiracy, Mo Hailong was employed as the Director of
International Business of the Beijing Dabeinong Technology Group Company, commonly
referred to as DBN. DBN is a Chinese conglomerate with a corn seed subsidiary company, Kings
Nower Seed. Mo Hailong is a Chinese national who became a lawful permanent resident of the
United States pursuant to an H-1B visa.
The investigation was initiated when DuPont Pioneer security staff detected suspicious
activity and alerted the Federal Bureau of Investigation. DuPont Pioneer and Monsanto were
fully cooperative throughout the investigation.
Mo Hailong will be sentenced at a date to be determined in Des Moines, Iowa.
Conspiracy to steal trade secrets is a felony that carries up to 10 years of imprisonment
and up to a $250,000 fine. As part of the plea agreement in this case, the government agreed not
to seek more than a five year prison sentence.
This matter was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case was
prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa and the
National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section.
Carencro firearms dealer sentenced for failing to maintain accurate recordsRead the Press Release
LAFAYETTE, La. – United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced that a Carencro man was sentenced Tuesday to six months of home confinement for failing to maintain accurate records of firearms sales at his business.
Morgan Joseph Parlow Jr., 33, of Carencro, La., was sentenced by U.S. Magistrate Judge Patrick J. Hanna on one count of failure to maintain firearms inventory records. He was also sentenced to five years of probation and 600 hours of community service, and he was ordered to forfeit approximately $100,000 worth of firearm inventory, including a machinegun and numerous firearm silencers, and pay a $7,500 fine. Additionally, he agreed to forfeit his right to hold a Federal Firearms License. According to the August 18, 2015 guilty plea, Parlow was a licensed firearms manufacturer and dealer under investigation for theft when agents discovered that his Federal Firearms Licensee and Special Occupational Tax Number had expired. Law enforcement agents conducted a search on March 23, 2015, of Parlow’s home and the site of his business, Specialties of Acadiana. Agents found incomplete sales, purchase and inventory records, which he was required to keep and maintain under the Gun Control Act and the National Firearms Act. Specifically, the records failed to account for Parlow’s possession of seven silencers and one machine gun as well as Parlow’s acquisition of other firearms.
The ATF conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys David C. Joseph and Joseph T. Mickel prosecuted the case.
Camden County, New Jersey, Man Admits Possessing Child Pornography While on Federal Supervised Release, State ParoleRead the Press Release
CAMDEN, N.J. - A previously convicted sex offender from Bellmawr, New Jersey, today admitted possessing images of child pornography that he acquired through social media and email correspondence with two boys, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.
Robert Pelle, 50, pleaded guilty before Chief U.S. District Judge Jerome B. Simandle in Camden federal court to an information charging him with one count of knowingly possessing child pornography.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
From April 2013 through July 2013, Pelle was still on supervised release and state parole after being incarcerated for possession of child pornography and related state charges from 2007. Pelle admitted today that in July 2013, he used a public library computer to access social networks and sexually explicit websites, which he was not permitted to do under conditions of his parole.
In addition, Pelle admitted that from April 2013 through July 2013, he used social media accounts and email to pose as a minor and communicate with two young boys. During the correspondence, Pelle asked one boy to send nude images of himself, which he did. Pelle also admitted sending one of those images to the other boy.
As a previously convicted sex offender, Pelle faces a mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years in prison, a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison, a lifetime of supervised release and a $250,000 fine. Pelle also faces an additional five years in prison because the crime was committed while on federal supervised release. Sentencing is scheduled for May 6, 2016.
U.S. Attorney Fishman credited agents of the FBI’s South Jersey Resident Agency, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge William F. Sweeney Jr. in Philadelphia, with the investigation leading to today’s plea. He also thanked the parole officers of the New Jersey Department of Parole, under the direction of Chairman James Plousis, and detectives from the Bellmawr Police Department, under the direction of Chief William Walsh, for their assistance.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sara A. Aliabadi of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Camden.
Defense counsel: Lori M. Koch, Esquire and Edward J. Crisonino, Esquire, Camden
CBP Officer Charged with BriberyRead the Press Release
McALLEN, Texas – A U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer has been arrested on allegations he accepted a bribe and for exceeding his authorized access to gain information from a protected government computer, announced United States Attorney Kenneth Magidson.
Julio Trujillo, 30, of Mission, was taken into custody this morning. He is expected to make an initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Dorina Ramos tomorrow at 9:00 a.m.
The criminal complaint, filed Jan. 27, 2016, alleges Trujillo accepted $3,600 in exchange for agreeing to extend one individual’s visa and assisting another individual in obtaining a visa. After receiving the money, Trujillo also allegedly exceeded his access to a protected government computer. According to the charges, he performed a record query on one of the individuals on a government computer to obtain records from the Department of Homeland Security, Department of State and FBI relating to the individual.
If convicted of the bribery charge, he faces up to 15 years in federal prison. The exceeding access to a government computer carries a possible penalty of five years, upon conviction. Both convictions also carry as possible punishment a $250,000 fine.
The charges are the result of an investigation conducted by the FBI, and CBP - Internal Affairs. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Roberto Lopez Jr. and David Lindenmuth are prosecuting the case.
A criminal complaint is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence.
A defendant is presumed innocent unless convicted through due process of law.Bridgeville Man Sentenced for Making False Claims and Money LaunderingRead the Press Release
WILMINGTON, Del. – Charles M. Oberly, III, United States Attorney for the District of Delaware, announced that Gerald Nocks, age 44, of Bridgeville, Delaware was sentenced yesterday by the Honorable Sue L. Robinson to 18 months incarceration and three years of supervised release. Mr. Nocks was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $162,201 to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
The sentence follows Nocks’ April 15, 2015 guilty plea to one count of conspiring to make false claims against the government and one count of money laundering.
According to statements made in open court and documents filed in court, from March through April 2011, the defendant caused sixteen (16) false Forms 1120, U.S. Corporate Tax Returns to be mailed to the IRS, in the names of six non-existent corporations for the years 2008, 2009, and 2010. The fictitious returns listed Delaware addresses associated with Nocks, and at which he had access to U.S. mail. Each return claimed approximately $160,000 in gross income and a tax of $2,000. However, each return also claimed an approximate $14,000 fuel tax credit, off-setting the tax due and resulting in a $12,000 refund. The 16 false claims total $198,441.
In April 2011, before the scheme was detected, Nocks received 13 refund checks totaling $162, 201. He then laundered those proceeds through various bank accounts before wiring $150,000 to a settlement table in Georgia for the purchase of a home, where he was living at the time his fraudulent actions were detected.
“IRS Criminal Investigation is diligent when it comes to enforcing the laws directed at those who attempt to defraud our nation’s tax system," said Akeia Conner, Special Agent in Charge of Philadelphia Field Office. “Today’s sentencing shows how seriously the courts take federal tax crimes and it should serve as a deterrent to those who might contemplate similar fraudulent actions."
This case is the result of an investigation conducted by the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Edmond Falgowski.
Assessments of Public Confidence and Community Trust in the Seattle Police Department Filed with CourtRead the Press Release
SEATTLE – Assessments of the state of public confidence and community trust in the Seattle Police Department (SPD) were filed with the Court yesterday. These assessments are the seventh and eighth – of 15 total – formal assessments by the Federal Monitor overseeing whether SPD is complying with the specific requirements and overall goals of the consent decree. The public confidence and community trust surveys looked at progress towards a primary goal of reform: promoting public confidence in SPD, its officers and the services SPD delivers.
An assessment of SPD’s Office of Professional Accountability was filed last week and can be found here. Five previous assessments – which can be found here and here – related to SPD’s use of force reporting investigations and found that, with respect to four of them, SPD was in “initial compliance” with the requirements of the consent decree. The two assessments filed today were not designed to evaluate compliance with specific terms of the consent decree. Rather, these assessments surveyed the “many areas, initiatives, programs, and general characteristics that are commonly associated with community policing and public confidence in law enforcement – and [are] an evaluation of how SPD is doing with respect to each of them.”
“An overarching goal of reform is ensuring that the people of Seattle have trust and confidence in SPD’s ability to be responsive to a diverse community’s needs,” said Annette L. Hayes, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Washington. “The public confidence survey demonstrates that Seattle residents have increasing faith in SPD. At the same time, it also helps identify areas where there remains work to do, particularly in isolated and marginalized communities, where positive perceptions are lagging. The commitment of community stakeholders – including the Community Police Commission – to identify areas of concern and work with SPD to build strong public safety partnerships is to be commended.”
The assessments of public confidence and trust in SPD include two elements. The first is a statistically-valid survey of public confidence in the SPD and its officers. That survey – which found the overall approval of SPD improving, disapproval of the department decreasing, and fewer troubling interactions between officers and Seattle residents, particularly African Americans and Latinos and notably with respect to the excessive use of force – was filed with the Court in October and can be found here.
The second element of the assessment is a qualitative review of SPD’s efforts to build public confidence with the community. This review included conducting interviews over several months with SPD personnel; reviewing numerous documents and reports created by the SPD, Community Police Commission, and other governmental and community organizations; and interviewing community members from across Seattle. The goal of the review was “to ensure efforts to implement community policing and increase public trust are aligned with recognized best practices in the field of policing today.”
Overall, the Monitor found that, since the start of the consent decree, SPD “has not only fully embraced a community-oriented policing approach, but has demonstrated . . . a willingness to engage and join with the community in an effort that is impressive in focus and shows early signs of success.” That said, the Monitor also noted that these efforts “are just a beginning of the steps necessary to cementing an organizational culture capable of building and sustaining trust with the community,” particularly in isolated communities.
The full assessments are attached.
Aspects of community outreach and engagement have been tasked to the CPC as part of the consent decree process. For instance, following also study and community outreach, the CPC recently released a report on SPD’s recruitment, hiring, and training practices addressing how well they promote engagement with members of the city’s diverse racial, ethnic, immigrant, and refugee communities. This was the first of two reports the CPC was charged in the consent decree to complete. The CPC has announced that it expects to release an additional report in the spring of 2016 that will examine the formal and informal channels of communication between the SPD and these same communities.
Upcoming Assessments
The next assessment to be filed will address crisis-intervention and the dispatching of crisis-trained officers. Also filed in February will be an assessment of the Early Intervention System. In March, assessments relating to supervisors, stops and detentions, and three use of force-related assessments covering officer uses of force, use of force data and officer activity level will be filed.
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Amherst Doctor Pleads Guilty to Obtaining Controlled Substances by Fraud and Health Care FraudRead the Press Release
CONTACT: Barbara Burns
PHONE: (716) 843-5817
FAX: (716) 551-3051
BUFFALO, N.Y. – In the second case this week involving a doctor illegally prescribing narcotics, and the third case this week involving a medical professional, U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today Dr. Albert R. Cowie, 37, of Amherst, NY, pleaded guilty to obtaining controlled substances by fraud and health care fraud before U.S District Judge Lawrence J. Vilardo. The charges carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine or both.
“As stated several times before, this Office is committed to identifying and prosecuting all traffickers of narcotics – whether they be medical professionals or corner drug dealers,” said U.S. Attorney Hochul. “With this being the third case this week involving a medical professional, hopefully that focus will become known to those who contribute to the current opiate/opioid crisis.”
“DEA Special Agent in Charge James J. Hunt stated, “Three out of four people who use heroin previously abused prescription drugs. It is imperative to regulate the distribution of prescription medication; and this plea represents law enforcement’s commitment to keeping diverted prescription medication off the streets.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney George C. Burgasser, who is handling the case, stated that between January 2010 and March 22, 2014, the defendant, a practicing radiologist, wrote more than 200 illegal prescriptions for controlled substances such as Oxycodone, Percocet, and Hydrocodone. The prescriptions were distributed to an individual who then went to local pharmacies and had the scripts filled. The individual retained some of the controlled substances for personal use but returned the remainder of the narcotics to Cowie for his own use.
During a meeting between Cowie and a confidential witness, the defendant advised the witness to lie to insurance investigators about his alleged prescription fraud. The witness is quoted as saying to the defendant “okay so just say they were written for me even though they were written for you…is what you’re saying? Cowie replied “right.”
As a result of the prescription fraud, Univera Health Care and HealthNow New York were fraudulently billed $20,482.83.
On Monday, Dr. Pravin Mehta was sentenced to 24 months in prison for illegally prescribing massive quantities of pain medications. And on Wednesday, Leyla Samadi was convicted of illegally obtaining controlled substances by fraud.
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, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Adam S. Cohen, the New York State Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement, under the direction of NYS Health Commissioner Howard Zucker, and the Amherst Police Department, under the direction of Chief John Askey.
Sentencing is scheduled for May 6, 2016 at 11:00 a.m. before Judge Vilardo.Alfred Man Pleads Guilty to Possessing Child PornographyRead the Press Release
Contact: Craig M. Wolff
Assistant United States Attorney
Tel: (207) 780-3257Portland, Maine: United States Attorney Thomas E. Delahanty II announced that Kevin Millette, 43, of Alfred, Maine, pled guilty today in U.S. District Court to possessing child pornography.
According to court records, in November 2015, federal agents executed a search warrant at Millette’s residence in Alfred. Millette was present, agreed to be interviewed, admitted that he had accessed child pornography recently using his phone and estimated that he had thousands of child pornography images on the phone.
Investigators seized three cell phones and a memory card from the residence. One of the phones was in the process of downloading child pornography images when it was seized. A forensic analysis of the phone and its memory card revealed thousands of digital still images depicting children engaging in sexually explicit conduct, as well as a smaller number of child pornography videos. Another memory card was also found to contain child pornography images.
Millette faces a sentence of between 10 and 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and between five years and life on supervised release. He faces enhanced penalties because he has a prior child pornography conviction. He will be sentenced after the completion of a presentence investigation report by the U.S. Probation Office.
The investigation was conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations and the Maine State Police Computer Crimes Unit.Alabama Woman Sentenced to Prison for Involvement in Stolen Identity Tax Refund Fraud RingRead the Press Release
Filed 326 Fraudulent Tax Returns Seeking More than $450,000 in Tax Refunds
A Phenix City, Alabama resident was sentenced to serve 51 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $116,636 in restitution for her role in a stolen identity refund fraud (SIRF) scheme, 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 today.
“Prosecuting stolen identity refund fraud remains a top priority of the department,” said Assistant Attorney General Ciraolo. “Individuals engaged in this criminal conduct not only cause millions of dollars in financial losses to the IRS, but inflict long-term economic and personal consequences on those US taxpayers whose private information is stolen. The Tax Division will continue to work with its federal, state and local law enforcement partners to combat this serious fraud on the American public, and seek lengthy terms of incarceration for those responsible.”
“My office will continue to work with the IRS to vigorously prosecute those people who steal an innocent person’s identity, just to file a false tax return and steal the tax refunds,” said U.S. Attorney Beck. “These criminals need to be punished for the harm they cause to the person whose identity is stolen and the harm they cause to the U.S. taxpayer.”
According to court documents, during 2013, Benita E. Short, conspired with others to defraud the United States by filing false federal income tax returns using stolen identities. Short obtained personal identifiable information, including names, social security numbers, addresses and dates of birth, without the individuals’ authorization. A co-conspirator obtained the stolen personal identifiable information from an individual who had access to Alabama state databases and obtained Electronic Filing Identification Numbers (EFINs) in the names of several tax preparation businesses, and provided this information to Short. Short then used the stolen identities and EFINs to electronically file 326 fraudulent tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), causing a tax loss of $456,853. Short also caused income tax refund checks that were issued as a result of the fraudulent tax returns to be cashed at several businesses in Alabama and Georgia. For her role in the conspiracy, Short pleaded guilty in October 2015 to conspiracy to defraud the United States and aggravated identity theft.
In March 2015, one of Short’s co-conspirators, Keshia Lanier, the ringleader of a $24 million SIRF conspiracy, also pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft. On Sept. 25, 2015, Lanier was sentenced to serve 15 years in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release and ordered to forfeit $5,811,406.
In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Judge Myron H. Thompson of the Middle District of Alabama ordered Short to serve three years of supervised release and pay $116,636 in restitution to the IRS. Acting Assistant Attorney General Ciraolo and U.S. Attorney Beck Jr. commended special agents of IRS Criminal Investigation, who investigated the case and Trial Attorneys Michael C. Boteler and Michael P. Hatzimichalis of the Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Ross of the Middle District of Alabama, who are prosecuting the case.
Additional information about the Tax Division and its enforcement efforts may be found on the division’s website.