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9 November 2015
North Charleston Automobile Dealer Sentenced to Prison for Money LaunderingRead the Press Release
Contact Person: Eric Klumb (843) 727-4381
Columbia, South Carolina---- United States Attorney Bill Nettles today announced that Huger resident John Nick, age 60, was sentenced to a year and a day in prison for Money Laundering in violation of 18 U.S.C. §1956 . The sentence was imposed by United States District Court Judge Patrick Michael Duffy. Nick owned and operated Nick’s Auto Sales located at 4154 Rivers Avenue, North Charleston. From 2008 to 2010, Nick took payments of approximately $97,000 in cash from five individuals who were drug dealers or claimed to be drug dealers, all to purchase cars. Nick then covered up the transaction by titling the cars in the name of a nominees or creating false liens to protect the cars from forfeiture for violations of drug laws.
The case was investigated by Special Agents with the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Eric Klumb prosecuted the case.
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Norfolk Man Sentenced to 18 Years in Prison for Tax Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
NORFOLK, Va. – Ronald Chisholm, 53, of Norfolk, was sentenced today to 218 months in prison, followed by 3 years of supervised release for his convictions on 19 counts of conspiracy, mail fraud, and aggravated identity theft in connection with a scheme to defraud the IRS.
Chisholm was found guilty by a federal jury on July 28, 2015. According to court records and evidence presented at trial, Chisholm’s scheme was discovered in 2013 after a local check cashing business noticed one of its employees had cashed over $2 million in U.S. Treasury checks. The employee of the check cashing business identified Ronald Chisholm as the person who paid her $200 per check to cash the treasury checks in violation of the company’s policies. A subsequent IRS investigation determined that Chisholm, along with unidentified co-conspirators, stole the personal identifying information of numerous people and filed at least 698 fraudulent income tax returns. As a result of these false returns, Chisholm and his co-conspirators received a total of $2.2 million in fraudulent income tax refunds.
Chisholm’s co-conspirators have both already pleaded guilty. Tanya Evans, the employee of the check cashing business, was sentenced to 87 months and Mark J. Jones, Sr., will be sentenced on Nov. 16, 2015 and faces a sentence of 87-102 months.
Dana J. Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; and Thomas J. Kelly, Special Agent in Charge, Washington, D.C. Field Office, IRS-Criminal Investigation, made the announcement after sentencing by Senior U.S. District Judge Robert G. Doumar. Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph L. Kosky prosecuted the case.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 2:14-cr-132.
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Nineteen indicted for conspiracy that brought heroin to Cleveland, then sent it to Ashtabula and ConneautRead the Press Release
A 61-count indictment was filed in federal court charging 19 people for their roles in a drug conspiracy that brought large shipments of heroin to the Cleveland area and then distributed the drug in Ashtabula, Conneaut and Bellaire, Ohio and Wheeling, West Virginia, law enforcement officials said.
Prosecutors are seeking to forfeit 14 firearms, three vehicles, nearly $100,000 in cash and the proceeds of a $50,000 winning lottery ticket seized as part of the investigation.
Indicted are: Rayshone Mitchell, 37, of Euclid; Jermaine King, 39, of Warrensville Heights; T-Shawn Yarber. 35, of Ashtabula; Ashley Washburn, 29, of Ashtabula; John Sabo, 44, of Conneaut; Jeanie Sabo, 44, of Conneaut; Brenda Burdick, 55, of Conneaut; Jacob Payne, 23, of Ashtabula; Laroo Wells, 22, of Ashtabula; Francis Mitchell, 34, of Cleveland; Dawn Perry, 44, of Cleveland; Arthur Ezell, Jr., 24, of Ashtabula, Dymond Williams, 22, of Ashtabula; Julius Mitchell, 35, of Cleveland; Jacob Moser, 25, of Conneaut; Curry Williams, 24, of Ashtabula; Claude Bernard, 24, of Ashtabula; Michael Mlynek, 54, of Powhatan Point and Trayshon Kimbrough, 30.
Rayshone Mitchell and Jermaine King obtained heroin from outside Ohio from early 2014 through this year. Rayshone Mitchell supplied heroin to John and Jeanie Sabo, who in turn transported it to Ashtabula and Conneaut and redistributed it to Yarber, Washburn, Burdick, Payne, Well, Ezell, Dymond Williams, Moser, Curry Williams and Bernard to distribute in those cities. King provided heroin to Perry and Mlynek, who distributed it to individuals in Bellaire, Ohio, and Wheeling, West Virginia, according to the indictment.
Drug proceeds were then transported from those cities back to Rayshone Mitchell and King, according to the indictment.
All 19 defendants are charged in count one with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute heroin.
Counts 2-24 charge various individuals with distribution of heroin. Counts 25-56 charge various individuals with use of a telephone to facilitate commission of a felony. Count 57 charges Perry with using a residence to store heroin and Count 58 charges Francis Mitchell with the same.
Count 59 charges Rayshone Mitchell with being a felon in possession of a firearm, for having five firearms despite convictions for aggravated robbery with a firearms specification, felonious assault and other convictions.
Count 60 charges Julius Mitchell with being a felon in possession of a firearm, for having two firearms despite convictions for drug trafficking with schoolyard specifications.
Count 61 charges T-Shawn Yarber with being a felon in possession of a firearm, for having a firearm despite convictions for drug trafficking, criminal gang activity and escape.
“These defendants profited off the pain and addiction of others,” said U.S. Attorney Steven M. Dettelbach. “They left behind a trail of broken lives and damaged families from Cleveland to Conneaut, Ashtabula and elsewhere.”
“This investigation demonstrates that the disruption of heroin trafficking is a top priority to DEA and our law enforcement partners,” said DEA Special Agent in Charge Joseph P. Reagan. “We continue to focus on identifying and bringing to justice those individuals that are responsible for the increasing heroin problem in Ohio and across the United States.”
“We’re committed to working together with our partners to stay ahead of this problem,” Ashtabula County Sheriff William Johnson said. “These investigations are lengthy but help us reduce the drug and major crime problems in our county.”
“We are thankful for the state and federal partnerships we have that assist us in removing drug dealers from our community,” said Capt. Jeff Orr, commander of the Trumbull Ashtabula Group Law Enforcement Task Force.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Henry F. DeBaggis and Daniel J. Riedl and following an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Ashtabula Police Department, the Ashtabula County Sheriff’s Office and the Trumbull Ashtabula Group Law Enforcement Task Force, with assistance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Belmont County Sheriff’s Office, the Conneaut Police Department, the Cleveland Heights Police Department, the Ohio State Highway Patrol, the Cleveland Division of Police, the Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Office and the Euclid Police Department.
If convicted, the defendants’ sentences will be determined by the court after a review of the federal sentencing guidelines and factors unique to the case, including the defendant’s prior criminal record (if any), the defendant’s role in the offense and the characteristics of the violation.
An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Newark Man Sentenced to Incarceration for 14 RobberiesRead the Press Release
WILMINGTON, Del. – Charles M. Oberly, III, United States Attorney for the District of Delaware, announced that Kent Buckson, age 36, of Newark, Delaware, was sentenced today by United States District Court Judge Sue L. Robinson to 70 months incarceration for 14 robberies, eight occurring in Delaware, three in Pennsylvania and three in Maryland.
According to statements made at the sentencing hearing and documents filed in court, over an approximate six-week period beginning in June 2014, in a tri-state area Buckson robbed six stores, three pharmacies, and five banks, as follows:
DATE
LOCATION
June 8
7-Eleven, Elkton, MD
June 10
Lampost Liquors
June 12
7-Eleven, 100 Four Seasons Parkway, Newark, DE
June 13
7-Eleven 284 Christiana Road, Newark, DE
June 15
Rite Aid, Bear, DE
June 17
Wawa, Newark, DE
June 18
Sunoco Mini-Mart, Chadds Ford, PA
June 19
WSFS, Bear, DE
July 5
Wells Fargo, Lancaster, PA
July 8
PNC Bank, Glen Mills, PA
July 10
PNC Bank, Wilmington, DE
July 17
Rite Aid, Millsboro, DE
July 17
Rite Aid, Delmar, MD
July 23
National Penn Bank, Rising Sun, MD
In each of the store robberies, Buckson wore a mask and brandished a knife. In the two pharmacy robberies of July 17, 2014, committed four hours apart, Buckson robbed the clerks of approximately 1,236 Oxycodone pills, having a value of over $4,000.00.
In each of the five bank robberies and the two pharmacy robberies of July 17, 2014, Buckson disguised himself as a woman and presented the teller/clerk a note threatening a gun and the shooting of the teller/clerk. In addition, to the value of the Oxycodone pills, Buckson’s robberies resulted in financial losses of $25,250.00. When Buckson was arrested, $31,125.00 was recovered from the robbery at the National Penn Bank in Rising Sun, Maryland.
Following the sentencing, Charles M. Oberly, III, United States Attorney for the District of Delaware, stated, “This serious multi-state crime spree was ended and Buckson apprehended in Newark, Delaware on July 24, 2014, due to the swift and cooperative efforts of the Delaware State Police, Pennsylvania State Police, Maryland State Police, Elkton, Maryland Police Department, and Delmar, Maryland Police Department.”
“A dangerous criminal has been brought to justice after the determined work of investigators. The work of law enforcement is only as good as the partnerships we create and maintain, and this case proves that to be true,” said Kevin Perkins, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI in Wilmington.
This case was investigated by the Delaware State Police, Pennsylvania State Police, Maryland State Police, Elkton, Maryland Police Department, Delmar, Maryland Police Department, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Edmond Falgowski.
Ministry Volunteer Sentenced to More than Seven Years in Prison for Engaging in Illicit Sexual Conduct with Honduran MinorsRead the Press Release
An Ohio man was sentenced today to 90 months in prison for sexually abusing three Honduran minors, announced Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Steven M. Dettelbach of the Northern District of Ohio.
Corey L. Bryant, 26, of Norton, Ohio, was a volunteer at two different homeless ministries in Honduras that provided housing and supportive services for impoverished children. Bryant admitted that between August 2011 and November 2014, he traveled between the United States and Honduras 10 times. Bryant further admitted that while serving as a resident volunteer at one of these ministries and teaching fourth grade at a local private school, he repeatedly sexually abused three Honduran minors who resided at these ministries. On Aug. 7, 2015, Bryant pleaded guilty to three counts of engaging in illicit sexual conduct abroad as a U.S. citizen.
The investigation was conducted by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement-Homeland Security Investigations Cleveland Field Office. Trial Attorney Amy E. Larson of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) and Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan of the Northern District of Ohio prosecuted the case.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
McAllen Area Marketer Sentenced in Health Care Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
McALLEN, Texas ‐ A marketer for several area home health agencies has been ordered to federal prison following her conviction of conspiracy to commit health care fraud for her role in a scheme to defraud the Medicare program, announced U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson. Martha Lidia Flores, 51, of Pharr, pleaded guilty Aug. 28, 2015, admitting to engaging in a kickback scheme of exchanging referrals of Medicare beneficiaries for money.
Today, U.S. District Judge Randy Crane, who accepted the plea today, handed Flores a sentence of 24 months in federal prison to be immediately followed by three years of supervised release. She was further ordered to pay $267,981.16 in restitution.
From Nov. 15, 2010, to July 9, 2012, Flores issued 11 illegal kickback checks to co-conspirator Argentina Cavazos, 57, of Hidalgo, in exchange for referrals of Medicare beneficiaries. The information was then used by home health care companies to bill Medicare. Cavazos previously pleaded guilty to illegal remunerations for her role in the scheme and was sentenced to six months of home confinement and three years of probation.
Flores admitted to using the patient information she bought from Cavazos to create fraudulent referral forms to submit to the numerous home health companies where she was employed. Claims were subsequently filed with Medicare based on the fraudulent referral forms.
Flores admitted she forged the signatures of physicians on the referral forms, knowing that the physicians did not authorize the need for home health services and/or that the beneficiaries did not need or qualify for home health services. Flores also admitted that she was illegally compensated for the patient referrals.
Previously released on bond, Flores was permitted to remain on bond and voluntarily surrender to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
The investigation leading to the charges was conducted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services ‐ Office of Inspector General and the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Day is prosecuting the case.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Announces Charges Against Three Individuals for Participating in Large-Scale Stolen Identity Refund Fraud Tax SchemeRead the Press Release
Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Shantelle P. Kitchen, Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division (“IRS-CI”), announced today the unsealing of a criminal complaint charging three defendants with participating in a large-scale tax refund scheme that used stolen identities to file fraudulent returns to obtain fraudulent tax refund checks. TRISTON PHILLIP, GREGORY MERCADO, a/k/a “George Merchant,” and JOSUE TORRES are charged in a tax fraud scheme involving millions of dollars in claimed fraudulent returns. PHILLIP, MERCADO, and TORRES were charged in a complaint unsealed today. MERCADO was arrested in Rhode Island, where he appeared in federal court, and PHILLIP and TORRES were arrested in the Bronx and will appear in Manhattan federal court today.
According to the Complaint[1]:
From at least in or about 2011 up to and including in or about November 2015, PHILLIP, MERCADO, and TORRES conspired and engaged in a scheme to steal the names, dates of birth, and social security numbers of individuals, which the defendants then used to file fraudulent income tax returns that claimed tax refunds to which the defendants were not entitled.
PHILLIP, 31, MERCADO, 28, and TORRES, 36, are each charged with one count of conspiracy to steal government funds, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison, theft of government funds, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, and one count of aggravated identity theft in connection with the tax fraud scheme, which carries a mandatory sentence of two years in prison, to be served consecutively to any other sentence imposed. In addition, TORRES is also charged with one count of theft and receipt of stolen mail, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. The maximum potential sentences are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencings of the defendants would be determined by the Court.
Mr. Bharara praised the outstanding investigative work of IRS-CI and thanked the United States Postal Inspection Service for their assistance.
This case is being handled by the Office’s General Crimes Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorney Alex Rossmiller is in charge of the prosecutions.
The charges and allegations contained in the Complaint are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
[1] As the introductory phrase signifies, the entirety of the text of the Complaint and the description of the Complaint set forth herein constitute only allegations, and every fact described should be treated as an allegation.
Man Who Put Gun to Girlfriend’s Head Sentenced to 77 Months in Federal PrisonRead the Press Release
WICHITA, KAN. - A Wichita man who was arrested after putting a gun to his girlfriend’s head was sentenced Monday to 77 months in federal prison on a firearm charge, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said.
Teagan C. Gulley, 35, Wichita, Kan., pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful possession of a firearm following a felony conviction. In his plea, he admitted that Wichita police officers responding to a report of domestic violence saw him pointing a gun at his girlfriend. He was arrested and officers seized a .45 caliber handgun. He was a previously convicted felon at the time and he was prohibited by federal law from possessing a firearm.
Grissom commended the Wichita Police Department and Assistant U.S. Attorney Matt Treaster for their work on the case.
Las Cruces Resident Sentenced to Ten Years for Trafficking Heroin in Doña Ana CountyRead the Press Release
ALBUQUERQUE – Esther Soliz, 51, of Las Cruces N.M., was sentenced today in Las Cruces federal court to ten years in federal prison followed by five years of supervised release for heroin trafficking charges in connection with five cases filed in 2013, as the result of a multi-agency investigation into drug trafficking in Doña Ana County, N.M.
Soliz, together with a Mexican national and 19 other Las Cruces residents, were charged with heroin trafficking offenses in five indictments filed in Nov. 2013, as a result of a multi-agency investigation led by the FBI that targeted the heroin trafficking activities of Jovita Belmonte-Gonzalez in Doña Ana County. Belmonte-Gonzales, 46, a Mexican national from Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico, was named as the lead defendant in four of five indictments which charged her with supplying heroin to five drug trafficking organizations that distributed heroin in Doña Ana County.
The lead defendant, Belmonte-Gonzalez, pled guilty to heroin trafficking charges in four of the five cases in June 2014, and admitted conducting frequent heroin transactions with her co-defendants between June 2013 and Oct. 2013. Court records reflect that Belmonte-Gonzalez typically negotiated heroin sales by telephone from Juarez and her co-defendants traveled from Doña Ana County to Juarez where they purchased the heroin from her and later distributed the drugs in Doña Ana County. Belmonte-Gonzales faces a mandatory minimum of ten years in prison and a maximum of life in prison, and will be deported after she completes her prison sentence. She remains in federal custody pending her sentencing hearing, which has yet to be scheduled.
Soliz entered a guilty plea to the indictment on Dec. 5, 2014, and admitted conspiring, purchasing and transporting heroin for Belmonte-Gonzalez to distribute in Doña Ana County from Sept. 25, 2013 through Oct. 27, 2013.
All 21 of the defendants arrested as a result of the investigation have entered guilty pleas. Nineteen defendants have been sentenced, and the remaining two are currently awaiting sentencing hearings.
These cases are being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney E. Garreth Winstead, III, of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office. The investigation leading to the charges in the four cases was led by the Las Cruces office of the FBI in collaboration with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the U.S. Border Patrol, the Las Cruces office of the DEA, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Las Cruces Police Department and the Doña Ana County Sheriff’s Office.
The investigation was designated as part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) program, a nationwide Department of Justice program that combines the resources and unique expertise of federal agencies, along with their local counterparts, in a coordinated effort to disrupt and dismantle major drug trafficking organizations.
This case is being prosecuted pursuant to the New Mexico Heroin and Opioid Prevention and Education (HOPE) Initiative. The HOPE Initiative is a collaborative effort between the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center that is partnering with the Bernalillo County Opioid Accountability Initiative with the overriding goal of reducing the number of opioid-related deaths in the District of New Mexico. The HOPE Initiative comprised of five components: (1) prevention and education; (2) treatment; (3) law enforcement; (4) reentry; and (5) strategic planning. The law enforcement component of the HOPE Initiative is led by the Organized Crime Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the DEA in conjunction with their federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement partners. Targeting members of major heroin trafficking organizations for investigation and prosecution is a priority of the HOPE Initiative.
Las Cruces Man Sentenced to Fourteen Years for Violating Federal Narcotics Trafficking LawsRead the Press Release
ALBUQUERQUE – Mario Orlando Jude Serrano, 34, of Las Cruces, N.M., was sentenced today in federal court to 168 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for his methamphetamine trafficking conviction.
Serrano was arrested on Dec. 19, 2012, on a criminal complaint charging him with conspiracy and possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute on Dec. 18, 2012, in Doña Ana County, N.M. According to the criminal complaint, on Oct. 18, 2012, HIDTA Regional Interagency Drug Task Force/Metro Narcotics Task Force officers executed a traffic stop on Serrano’s vehicle based on information from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) that Serrano was trafficking methamphetamine from Truth or Consequences, N.M., to Las Cruces. Further investigation revealed that Serrano and his wife were carrying quantities of methamphetamine inside their body cavities when they were stopped by law enforcement officers on Oct. 18, 2012.
Serrano was subsequently indicted on Dec. 11, 2013, and charged with conspiracy to possess methamphetamine with intent to distribute on Oct. 18, 2012, possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute from Oct. 18, 2012 through Oct. 22, 2012, and being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition on Oct. 18, 2012. All crimes alleged in the indictment took place in Doña Ana County. Serrano was prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition because of his previous felony convictions of possession of a controlled substance, felon in possession of a firearm, distribution of marijuana, burglary and receiving stolen property.
On July 15, 2014, Serrano pled guilty to the indictment and admitted that on Oct. 18, 2012, a total amount of 106.9 grams of pure methamphetamine was recovered from inside his and his wife’s bodies. Serrano further admitted that on Oct. 18, 2012, law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at a house where Serrano had been staying and found a handgun and ammunition which belonged to Serrano. Serrano admitted that it was illegal for him to possess a firearm and ammunition because he had been convicted of multiple felonies.
This case was investigated by the Las Cruces offices of the DEA, HSI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the HIDTA Regional Interagency Drug Task Force/Metro Narcotics Task Force and the Las Cruces Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Renee L. Camacho and Terri J. Abernathy of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office prosecuted this case.
The HIDTA Regional Interagency Drug Task Force/Metro Narcotics Task Force is comprised of officers from the Las Cruces Police Department, the Doña Ana County Sheriff’s Office, the FBI, HSI and the New Mexico State Police. The High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) program was created by Congress with the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988. HIDTA is a program of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) which provides assistance to federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies operating in areas determined to be critical drug-trafficking regions of the United States and seeks to reduce drug trafficking and production by facilitating coordinated law enforcement activities and information sharing.
Lakeland Teacher Pleads Guilty to Attempted Child EnticementRead the Press Release
Tampa, FL – United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III announces that Alecia Kay Dotson (46, Lakeland) has pleaded guilty to attempted child enticement. She faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years, up to life, in federal prison.
According to court documents, on June 28, 2015, officers from the Lakeland Police Department responded to a call from the mother of an 11-year-old boy. The mother had viewed her son’s text messages, saw sexual texts, and confronted her son. The child advised that the text messages were from Dotson, his teacher at Highlands Grove Elementary School. Law enforcement officers took over the child’s cellphone and continued communicating with Dotson. During her previous communications with the child, and again with law enforcement posing as the child, Dotson made graphic sexual comments and discussed performing specific sexual acts with the child. Dotson made arrangements to meet the child at the movies where she planned to engage in sex acts with him in her car. The boy told the officers he was nervous and scared of Dotson.
On June 30, 2015, when Dotson arrived at the Lakeland movie theater to meet the child, she was arrested. Officers located a pink .380 caliber semi-automatic pistol located inside her vehicle’s glove compartment. During her interview with law enforcement, Dotson explained that she had started out in a “caring” relationship with the child and was like a “mother” figure to him. She stated that the relationship had progressed to a “crush” and then to “romance.”
This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations and the Lakeland Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Amanda C. Kaiser.
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 United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), 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.justice.gov/psc.
Justice Department Sues Lakewood, Colorado, Apartment Complex for Discriminating Against Families with ChildrenRead the Press Release
The Justice Department filed a lawsuit today against the owners and manager of the Westland Apartments (Westland), a 28-unit apartment complex in Lakewood, Colorado, alleging that they have discriminated against families with children in violation of the Fair Housing Act.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado in Denver, alleges that the defendants have implemented a policy of generally not allowing families with children to live in the front building at Westland, and generally restricting them to apartments in the rear building instead. The suit was filed against Roger and Eileen Loecher, who own Westland, and Miriam Yehudah, the resident property manager.
“Apartment owners cannot limit where children live in their apartment complexes,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta, head of the Civil Rights Division. “If an apartment is within their budget and meets their needs, the family, not the landlord, should be able to decide whether it is appropriate for them.”
“The Fair Housing Act ensures that all Americans have equal access to housing, a basic human need,” said U.S. Attorney John F. Walsh of the District of Colorado. “This case involved a shocking and direct violation. The complaint filed in federal district court demonstrates that the U.S. Attorney’s Office, working with our partners at the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, will not allow those who rent properties to discriminate against families with children.”
The lawsuit arose from a complaint filed with the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) by the Denver Metro Fair Housing Center, a non-profit organization that works to promote equal housing opportunities in the Denver metropolitan area. The center sent testers posing as prospective renters to Westland to determine whether they were complying with the Fair Housing Act. The center’s testing revealed that Westland’s property manager told prospective renters that families with children were generally placed in apartments in the rear building, and did not offer prospective renters with children the opportunity to consider available apartments in the front building. After investigating the complaint, HUD determined that Westland was violating the Fair Housing Act and issued a charge of discrimination. After one of the parties chose to have the charge litigated in federal court, the matter was referred to the Justice Department.
“Families looking for a safe place to call home shouldn’t have that housing limited to certain units of a complex,” said HUD Assistant Secretary Gustavo Velasquez of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity. “That kind of steering is not only unfair – it is against the law. HUD will continue to work with the Justice Department to take action when the rental policies of housing providers violate the rights of families with children.”
The suit seeks monetary damages for the Fair Housing Center and other persons who were harmed by the defendants’ conduct, civil penalties and a court order barring future discrimination and requiring additional preventive measures.
The complaint is an allegation of unlawful conduct. The allegations must still be proven in federal court.
Individuals who believe they may have been discriminated against at Westland because they have children, or who may have other information about this lawsuit should contact the Justice Department toll-free at 1-800-896-7743, mailbox 92, or e-mail the Justice Department at [email protected]. Westland is located at 9905 West 21st Avenue in Lakewood.
The federal Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in housing on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, familial status, national origin and disability. More information about the Civil Rights Division and the laws it enforces is available at www.justice.gov/crt. Persons who believe that they have experienced unlawful housing discrimination elsewhere can contact the Justice Department at 1-800-896-7743, e-mail [email protected] or contact the Department of Housing and Urban Development at 1-800-669-9777.
Loecher Complaint
Justice Department Convenes Summit on Digital Currency and the BlockchainRead the Press Release
SAN FRANCISCO – The U.S. Department of Justice sponsored a day-long conference today on digital currency at the Federal Reserve Bank in San Francisco, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Brian J. Stretch. The event brought together approximately 175 participants involved with digital currency and blockchain—the public ledger of all bitcoin transactions. With the goal of identifying and examining effective strategies to reduce criminal activity on digital currency platforms, the conference was attended by representatives from law enforcement, government regulators, major financial institutions, technology companies, legislative staff, non-profits, and universities.
The summit represents a large scale outreach by government enforcement and regulators on the one hand, and industry participants on the other, to discuss common goals. Today’s formal program included four panels that described emerging issues in digital currency from the perspective of: (1) the digital currency industry, (2) law enforcement, (3) regulators, and (4) the blockchain industry.
Acting U.S. Attorney Brian J. Stretch gave the keynote address. “As emerging technologies such as digital currency and block chains expand into new and legitimate applications, it becomes all the more critical for industry leaders and government agencies to share insights and perspectives in order to combat the illicit use of these technologies,” said Mr. Stretch. “The exchange of ideas at today's summit is an important step toward allowing creative thinkers to responsibly develop innovative tools to service the world economy.” Mr. Stretch recognized many of the participates in the conference who, he pointed out, included Assistant U.S. Attorneys from other districts around the country.
“FinCEN [Financial Crimes Enforcement Network] was the first regulator to address virtual currency.” said FinCEN Director Jennifer Shasky Calvery. “But we only opened the door for the hundreds of other questions beyond our anti-money laundering perspective. It is vitally important that government regulators and law enforcement agencies engage with the leaders of the virtual currency sector to make sure we understand each other. Working together will benefit all sides.”
The summit was planned by the Digital Currency Task Force, a multi-agency task force comprised of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California, the U.S. Secret Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Homeland Security, and local partners, and based in San Francisco. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Northern District of California is one of a number of districts that has developed an expertise in investigating and prosecuting crimes using digital currency, the dark net, and related technologies.
Jasper Pain Clinic Physician Pleads Guilty to Illegally Dispensing NarcoticsRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM -- A Vestavia Hills physician and owner of a Jasper neurology and pain clinic pleaded guilty today in federal court to illegal drug distribution charges for dispensing narcotic painkillers without a legitimate medical reason, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance and Drug Enforcement Administration Assistant Special Agent in Charge Clay A. Morris.
Dr. MUHAMMAD WASIM ALI, 51, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge L. Scott Coogler to 10 counts of unlawfully distributing controlled substances "outside the scope of professional practice and not for a legitimate medical purpose" to three people working undercover with law enforcement. Ali owns and practiced at the Walker Rural Health Care/Jasper Neurological Care clinic. Following his March arrest, Ali voluntarily surrendered his DEA Controlled Substances Registration, which enabled him to write prescriptions. Ali’s sentencing date has not been set.
According to the charges and Ali’s plea, he dispensed 1,100 oxycodone pills to three undercover officers between August 2014 and November 2014 without conducting acceptable medical examinations or requesting and/or reviewing medical records. Ali’s medical files for the three individuals listed multiple falsified examinations and multiple falsified and baseless diagnoses, according to the plea agreement.
“Proper use of prescribed opioids for pain management is an important part of the practice of medicine, but abuse of these drugs is deadly,” Vance said. “Alabama leads the nation in the number of per capita prescriptions for opioid painkillers, and prescription-drug abusers often shift to heroin abuse. This tragic trend contributes to our epidemic overdose death rates,” she said. “My office and our law enforcement partners are working to ensure that doctors don’t turn into illegal drug dealers.”
“The use, abuse and distribution of opioid-based controlled pharmaceutical drugs are at epidemic proportions in Alabama and across the United States,” Morris said. “Unfortunately, a small number of physicians have abandoned their Hippocratic oath and responsibilities to their patients and communities. Blinded by the allure of greed, deadly and highly addictive pharmaceutical drugs were distributed without regard. The abuse of opioid-based drugs can, and often does have deadly consequences,” he said. “The DEA is committed to protecting our communities from the destruction that comes from drug abuse. Today's court actions should send a clear message to anyone who illegally distributes drugs that law enforcement will work tirelessly in the pursuit of justice and to protect our most important resources -- our communities, children and families.”
Ali was scheduled to go to trial today on a 36-count indictment that included the 10 counts of dispensing controlled substances without a legitimate medical purpose to undercover officers, 26 similar counts of dispensing controlled substances without a legitimate medical purpose to patients, plus two counts of illegally possessing with intent to distribute controlled substances, mostly opioid painkillers. He reached a plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office on Friday.
As part of that agreement, Ali pleaded guilty to the 10 counts of prescribing oxycodone without a legitimate medical purpose, consented to forfeit $2,450 to the government as proceeds of that illegal activity, and to pay a fine of $85,000. In exchange, the government agreed to dismiss the remaining counts in the indictment. Further, in the plea agreement, the parties agree that Dr. Ali should be sentenced to 30 months in prison. Judge Coogler accepted Ali’s guilty plea today, but reserved his decision on whether to accept the 30-month prison sentence until Ali’s sentencing hearing. The agreement between Ali and the government is a binding plea agreement, so either party may withdraw from it if the court does not accept the stipulated sentence.
Ali was one of three Birmingham-area physicians charged this spring as part of DEA's Operation Pilluted in Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi, which focused on reducing trafficking and abuse of pharmaceuticals.
Last month, U.S. District Judge Virginia Emerson Hopkins sentenced a Birmingham physician, PETER ALAN LODEWICK, 73, to four years’ probation for illegally supplying controlled substances. She also prohibited him from ever seeking reinstatement of his DEA registration. Lodewick, a physician at Lodewick Diabetes Center on Montclair Road, pleaded guilty to one count of assisting someone else in acquiring the narcotic painkiller, oxycodone, by "misrepresentation, fraud, forgery, deception, and subterfuge."
In September, Judge Hopkins sentenced ERNEST ALBERT CLAYBON, 72, a physician in Midfield, for distributing methadone without a legitimate medical purpose. She sentenced him to four years' probation, fined him $20,000 and ordered him to surrender his medical license and his DEA registration.
The DEA, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, and the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorneys Chinelo Diké-Minor, Robin Beardsley Mark and Elizabeth A. Holt are prosecuting.
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Independence Man Pleads Guilty to Stealing $247,000 from EmployerRead the Press Release
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that the former financial comptroller of a North Kansas City, Mo., business pleaded guilty in federal court today to a wire fraud scheme in which he embezzled more than $247,000 from his employer over five years.
John S. Kruse, 48, of Independence, Mo., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Dean Whipple to wire fraud.
Kruse was employed as the financial comptroller of BCC Merchant Solutions, a North Kansas City firm that provides electronic payment systems, e-commerce systems, business capital and marketing services to other companies.
By pleading guilty today, Kruse admitted that he engaged in a scheme to steal at least $247,508 from BCC Merchant Solutions from April 2010 until his resignation in July 2014. Kruse made at least 213 unauthorized wire transfers from his employer’s bank account into his personal bank account. Through his scheme, Kruse embezzled $5,776 in 2010; $36,989 in 2011; $71,868 in 2012; $76,225 in 2013; and $56,648 in 2014.
Kruse used the money to pay for extravagant trips for his family to Las Vegas, Nev., and to Disneyworld. He spent $50,934 at convenience stores and for gasoline; $41,197 on entertainment; $138,186 for groceries and general merchandise; $65,416 through PayPal; $49,105 for travel and leisure; $49,773 for miscellaneous; and $50,934 for cash.
As the financial comptroller, Kruse was in charge of paying out sales commissions and bank reconciliations, along with keeping records within QuickBooks. In the course of his job, Kruse was authorized to access BCC Merchant Solutions’ bank account. To hide his embezzlement, Kruse manipulated the QuickBooks records to falsely reflect that the money he transferred into his account was being used elsewhere. Kruse falsified who the deposits were made to, indicating they were payments made on sales commissions and bank reconciliations.
Under federal statutes, Kruse is subject to a sentence of up to 20 years in federal prison without parole, plus a fine up to $250,000 and an order of restitution. Kruse must also forfeit to the government a money judgment of $247,508. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel M. Nelson. It was investigated by the U.S. Secret Service and the North Kansas City, Mo., Police Department.
Huntington woman sentenced on Federal heroin chargeRead the Press Release
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – A Huntington woman was sentenced today in federal court in Huntington, West Virginia, to two years and nine months in federal prison for participating in a heroin distribution conspiracy in 2012 and 2013, announced United States Attorney Booth Goodwin. Pricilla Lee Dylan, 21, had previously entered a guilty plea to maintaining a residence for the purpose of distributing and using heroin.
Between November of 2012 and March of 2013, Dylan was the tenant of an apartment located at 1231 10th Avenue in Huntington. During that period, Dylan allowed others to store heroin at her apartment after it was transported to Huntington from Detroit. Dylan also allowed others to distribute heroin from her apartment to various customers.
On March 8, 2013, agents with the Huntington FBI Drug Task Force executed a search warrant at Dylan’s apartment. During the search, agents seized heroin, a .32 caliber revolver, ammunition, and other items associated with the sale of heroin.
The Huntington FBI Drug Task Force conducted the investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Joseph F. Adams is responsible for the prosecution.
This case is being prosecuted as part of 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 pill trafficking, eliminating open air drug markets, and curtailing the spread of opiate painkillers and heroin in communities across the Southern District.
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Heroin and Cocaine Dealer Sentenced to 18 1/2 Years in PrisonRead the Press Release
NORFOLK, Va. – Allen Andre Brown, 36, of Portsmouth, was sentenced today to 222 months in prison for conspiracy to distribute cocaine and heroin. In connection with this conviction, Brown forfeited $3,365 in U.S. Currency, a para-ordnance .45 caliber semi-automatic pistol, ammunition, and is subject to a monetary judgment of $555,850.
Brown pleaded guilty on May 20, 2015. According to court documents, Brown manufactured, distributed and possessed in excess of 13 kilograms of cocaine and 478 grams of heroin from approximately November 2013 to November 2014. After an investigation into Brown’s drug conspiracy, and a controlled purchase, a search warrant was executed at Brown’s Portsmouth residence. During the execution of the warrant, officers recovered 181 grams of heroin, 37 grams of cocaine, a digital scale, a security camera, thousands of dollars in U.S. currency, a .45 caliber semi-automatic pistol, and ammunition. Brown admitted to profiting in excess of $5,000 per kilogram of cocaine and the approximate street value of the drugs he sold throughout the conspiracy was in excess of a half a million dollars.
Dana J. Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Mark R. Herring, Attorney General of Virginia; and Karl C. Colder, Special Agent in Charge for Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Washington Office, made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Mark S. Davis. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney John F. Butler and Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph E. DePadilla prosecuted the case.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 2:15-cr-54.
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Henderson County, Kentucky, Man Sentenced to Ten Years in Prison for Human TraffickingRead the Press Release
Recruited minors through a social networking website to engage in commercial sex acts
OWENSBORO, Ky. – A Henderson County, Kentucky, man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court by Chief Judge Joseph H. McKinley Jr., to ten years in prison after pleading guilty to human trafficking for recruiting two minors to engage in commercial sex acts, announced U.S. Attorney John E. Kuhn, Jr.
“Prosecution of those who exploit the young and vulnerable in our community is a top priority of this Office,” stated U.S. Attorney Kuhn. “We know that every instance of human trafficking forces the victims into a crucible of suffering. We also know this crime is occurring far more than it’s being reported. I hope today’s sentence not only sends a message to potential traffickers, but also shines a light on this underreported and heinous crime.”
According to the plea agreement, beginning in March 2014, defendant Jathar Williams, who was then 31 years old, made contact with a female who was then 15 years old, through Tagged, a social networking website. Williams arranged to meet the 15-year-old female and her 17-year-old female friend. Williams picked them up in Evansville, Indiana, and drove them to his residence in Henderson and told the minor females he could help them make between $700 and $800 a day performing commercial sex acts.
Williams admitted that between March 16, 2014 and March 21, 2014, he drove the two minor females to the Sugar Creek Inn in Henderson where he arranged for men to come to the hotel to engage in sex acts with the two minor females in exchange for money.
Williams admitted that he knowingly recruited, enticed, harbored, transported, provided, obtained, and maintained by any means, the two minor females, who had not attained the age of 18 years, and caused the minors to engage in commercial sex acts.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Amanda Gregory and was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Henderson, Kentucky Police Department.
Guilty Verdict Against Essex County, New Jersey, Man for Possessing Firearm as A Previously Convicted FelonRead the Press Release
NEWARK, N.J. – A Newark, New Jersey, man was convicted today by a federal jury of possessing a firearm as a previously convicted felon, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.
Caliph Barr, 25, was convicted of possessing a firearm despite his previous conviction in Essex County Superior Court. Barr was convicted today following a three-day trial before U.S. District Judge Kevin McNulty in Newark federal court. The jury deliberated for two hours before returning the verdict.
According to documents filed in this case and the evidence at trial, on June 2, 2014, Barr was found in possession of a Russian Nagant .32 caliber revolver along with six rounds of ammunition.
The charge of which Barr was convicted carries a maximum potential penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Sentencing is not yet scheduled.
U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), under the direction of Special Agent in Charge George P. Belsky, with the investigation leading to today’s guilty verdict.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Courtney A. Howard and David Feder of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Newark.
Defense counsel: Assistant Federal Public Defenders K. Anthony Thomas Esq. & Carol Gillen Esq., Newark
Frederick Man Pleads Guilty to Fire Bombing of Loudoun County Government BuildingRead the Press Release
ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Jonathan Ernesto Godoy, 25, of Frederick, Maryland, pleaded guilty today to charges relating to a November 2012 arson at the Loudoun County Department of Community Corrections building.
According to court documents and court proceedings, in the fall of 2012, Godoy was on supervised probation in Loudoun County stemming from possession of narcotics charges. In danger of violating his conditions of probation due to missed appointments, adulterated urine samples, and positive drug tests, Godoy, along with a co-conspirator, made two destructive devices using glass bottles, gasoline, and scraps of cotton t-shirt, commonly known as “Molotov cocktails,” and attempted to throw the devices into Godoy’s probation officer’s window.
According to court documents, at least one of the devices exploded inside of the Loudoun County Department of Corrections building and caused severe fire damage. The fire, which occurred during the early morning hours of Nov. 14, 2012, caused such destruction that the occupants of the Corrections building had to move to an alternate location. The fire caused over $300,000 in property damage and relocation costs.
In July 2014, Godoy was served with four felony state warrants related to the fire at the probation office, and he was incarcerated at the Loudoun County Adult Detention Center. While there, in a series of telephone calls and letters, Godoy expressed his belief that if his friend and a Loudoun County Assistant Fire Marshal, who was involved in the investigation, were eliminated as witnesses, then the criminal case against him would collapse. Thereafter, Godoy solicited a fellow inmate to murder the two. Unbeknownst to Godoy, however, the fellow inmate was cooperating with law enforcement and kept them informed of Godoy’s plot.
Godoy was indicted by a federal grand jury on Sept. 8, 2015, and he pleaded guilty to one count of conducting an arson affecting interstate commerce and one count of using a fire or explosive device in the commission of a felony. Godoy faces a mandatory minimum term of 15 years in prison and a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison when he is sentenced on Feb. 19, 2016.
Dana J. Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Linda Hale, Chief Fire Marshal, Loudoun County Department of Fire, Rescue, and Emergency Management; and Charles E. Smith, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ (ATF) Washington Field Division, made the announcement after the plea was accepted by U.S. District Judge Anthony J. Trenga. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael E. Rich and William M. Sloan are prosecuting the case.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 1:15-cr-234.
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Former Religious Services Worker at Federal Jail Pleads Guilty to Passing Unauthorized Information and Benefits to InmatesRead the Press Release
CHICAGO — A former religious services assistant at the downtown Metropolitan Correctional Center pleaded guilty today to providing sensitive information to inmates about fellow prisoners in the federal corrections system.
TOMMY HAIRE, 34, performed unauthorized searches on the MCC’s internal computer system to obtain personal information about several prisoners being housed elsewhere, and then relayed that information to inmates in the MCC, according to a plea agreement. The searches revealed various data, including the outside inmates’ psychological information, their status as sex offenders, their location within the prison system, and other personal identifying items. Haire admitted in the plea agreement that such information would be valuable to the MCC inmates as a means of extorting the other prisoners or for committing identity and tax fraud against them.
Haire, of Chicago, pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count of conversion of government property. The charge carries a maximum sentence of one year in prison and a maximum fine of $100,000. U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael T. Mason scheduled a sentencing hearing for February 2, 2016.
In addition to obtaining the sensitive information of other prisoners, Haire also used his position to provide perks to MCC inmates. According to the plea agreement, Haire allowed the inmates to use his computer to surf the Internet, and to use his cellular phone to place calls outside of the jail. He also mailed letters on behalf of inmates, in violation of the MCC’s rules on screening prisoners’ correspondence.
The guilty plea was announced by Zachary T. Fardon, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; and John F. Oleskowicz, Special Agent-in-Charge of the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General, Chicago Field Office.
The government is represented by Assistant United States Attorneys Lindsay Jenkins and Maureen Merin.
Plea Agreement
Former High School Teacher Sentenced to 45 Months in Prison for Possessing Child PornographyRead the Press Release
Greenbelt, Maryland – U.S. District Judge George J. Hazel sentenced Peter Flynn, age 61, of Silver Spring, Maryland today to 45 months in prison, followed by 15 years of supervised release, for possessing child pornography. Judge Hazel also ordered Flynn to pay a fine of $12,500.
The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Colonel William M. Pallozzi, Superintendent of the Maryland State Police; and Special Agent in Charge Andre Watson of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
Flynn is a former special education teacher in Montgomery County. According to his plea agreement, on April 3, 2014, a Maryland State Police Corporal was conducting an online investigation into individuals sharing child pornography on a file sharing network. The MSP Corporal downloaded approximately 205 images and videos of children engaged in sexually explicit conduct that Flynn made available through the file sharing network.
On September 30, 2014, law enforcement executed a search warrant at Flynn’s residence and seized two computers from his basement. Flynn also agreed to be interviewed and admitted that law enforcement would find child pornography on his computer. A subsequent forensic analysis revealed approximately 28,785 images and 795 videos of child pornography and child erotica on the two computers, the majority of which constituted child pornography. Some of the images documented the sexual abuse of prepubescent children, including bondage and violence.
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.justice.gov/psc. For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.justice.gov/psc and click on the "resources" tab on the left of the page.
United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the Maryland State Police Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and HSI Baltimore for their work in the investigation. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristi N. O’Malley, who prosecuted the case.
Former Employee of the Scottsville Baptist Church Charged with Embezzling More Than $270,000 to Pay for Personal ExpensesRead the Press Release
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – United States Attorney John E. Kuhn, Jr. announced the recent charge by Information of an Allen County, Kentucky woman with three counts of wire fraud for embezzling more than $270,000 from her former employer, the Scottsville Baptist Church.
According to the charges, Patricia Barlow, age 49, was a secretary at the Scottsville Baptist Church (SBC), located at 301 East Main Street, in Scottsville, Kentucky, and on numerous occasions made unauthorized wire transfers to pay for personal expenses using SBC funds. The alleged scheme to defraud SBC occurred between January 7, 2011 and January 18, 2015. Three of the alleged wire transfers were made on January 1, 2007, in the amount of $512.29; January 14, 2011, in the amount of $1,400; and a wire transfer of $425.00 on January 28, 2015.
If convicted at trial, Barlow could be sentenced to no more than 20 years in prison, fined $250,000, ordered to serve a three year period of supervised release and a payment of restitution.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney David Weiser and is being investigated by the United States Secret Service and Scottsville (Kentucky) Police Department.
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The charge of a person by an Information is an accusation only and that person is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
Former Canaan Man Sentenced to over Six Years for Cocaine and Oxycodone DistributionRead the Press Release
Contact: Joel B. Casey
Assistant United States Attorney
Tel: (207) 945-0373Bangor, Maine: United States Attorney Thomas E. Delahanty II announced that Frank Curtis, 35, formerly of Canaan, Maine, was sentenced today U.S. District Court by Judge John A. Woodcock, Jr., to 80 months in prison and three years of supervised release for conspiring to possess with the intent to distribute and to distribute cocaine and oxycodone.
According to court records, between January 2010 and March 2012, Curtis conspired with Maurice McCray, William Waters and others in Waterville, Maine and surrounding communities. Curtis, McCray and Waters would obtain the drugs from out of state sources, have them transported to Central Maine, and then distribute the drugs. Curtis is the twenty second person to be convicted and sentenced in the federal investigation into drug distribution in the Waterville, Maine area.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency with assistance from the Waterville Police Department.
Florida Man Pleads Guilty to Investment Fraud ConspiracyRead the Press Release
SYRACUSE, NEW YORK –Burton Greenberg, 75, of Plantation, Florida pled guilty on November 6, 2015, in Federal Court in Fort Lauderdale, Florida to a Northern District of New York indictment charging him with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, announced United States Attorney Richard S. Hartunian and FBI Special Agent In Charge Andrew W. Vale. Greenberg faces a maximum term of twenty years imprisonment, a fine of up to $250,000, an order of restitution in the amount of over $10 million and a forfeiture money judgment of over $10 million. Sentencing is scheduled for January 22, 2016 in federal court in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Greenberg is President/CEO of M&P Global Financial Services, Incorporated, a Florida based corporation that entered into agreements in 2001 with Global Financial Fund 8, LLP, a company that solicited and received over $10 million from investors located throughout the United States, including residents of the Northern District of New York. As part of his guilty plea, Greenberg admitted that rather than investing the money in a secure investment as promised, he instead used the funds to make separate investments on his own behalf. In an effort to avoid detection and allow him to continue to divert money for his own use, Greenberg helped orchestrate the payment of phony "profit" distributions to investors in 2004 and 2005 which were merely a partial return of their principal investment. Further, from 2004 to 2013 Greenberg repeatedly assured the investors via e-mail that their investments were secure and profitable when he knew this was false.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Geoffrey Brown.
Executive Office for Immigration Review Swears in Two Immigration JudgesRead the Press Release
FALLS CHURCH, VA – The Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) today announced the investiture of two immigration judges. Acting Chief Immigration Judge Print Maggard presided over the investiture during a ceremony held Nov. 6, 2015, at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces in Washington D.C.
After a thorough application process, then-Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. appointed Daniel J. Daugherty to his new position, and Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch appointed Jonathan S. Simpson to his new position.
“We are committed to an effective and efficient immigration court process and we are happy that Congress has given us the funding to hire additional immigration judges, as well as the support staff they need,” said Maggard. “These new immigration judges, along with their 19 colleagues who were invested in June, strengthen our immigration judge corps and will help our agency work towards decreasing our current backlog of more than 450,000 pending cases.”
Daniel J. Daugherty, Immigration Judge, Las Vegas Immigration Court
Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. appointed Judge Daugherty to begin hearing cases in November 2015. Judge Daugherty received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1984 from Defiance College and a Juris Doctor in 1987 from the University of Toledo, College of Law. From 2008 through 2015 and 2002 through 2005, Judge Daugherty was a member of the Navy-Marine Corps Trial Judiciary, serving in capacities including chief trial judge and circuit judge. Prior to 2008, and when not serving as a member of the Navy-Marine Corps Trial Judiciary, Judge Daugherty served in the Marine Corps in various capacities including deputy staff judge advocate, chief trial counsel (prosecution), prosecutor, senior defense counsel, defense counsel, and special assistant U.S. attorney. Judge Daugherty also has provided legal services in a number of other positions within the Marine Corps and has served as an assistant county prosecutor. Judge Daugherty is a member of the Ohio Bar.
Jonathan S. Simpson, Immigration Judge, San Francisco Immigration Court
Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch appointed Judge Simpson to begin hearing cases in November 2015. Judge Simpson received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1995 from Wabash College and a Juris Doctor in 1998 from Seton Hall University. From 2006 through September 2015, Judge Simpson served as assistant chief counsel, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Department of Homeland Security, in Los Angeles and San Diego, Calif. From 1997 through 2006, both domestically and abroad, Judge Simpson served in various capacities as a member of the U.S. Navy’s Judge Advocate General’s Corps, including branch chief, officer in charge, and attorney. Judge Simpson is a member of the New Jersey Bar.
- EOIR -
The Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) is an agency within the Department of Justice. Under delegated authority from the Attorney General, immigration judges and the Board of Immigration Appeals interpret and adjudicate immigration cases according to United States immigration laws. EOIR's immigration judges conduct administrative court proceedings in immigration courts located throughout the nation. They determine whether foreign-born individuals—whom the Department of Homeland Security charges with violating immigration law—should be ordered removed from the United States or should be granted relief from removal and be permitted to remain in this country. The Board of Immigration Appeals primarily reviews appeals of decisions by immigration judges. EOIR's Office of the Chief Administrative Hearing Officer adjudicates immigration-related employment cases. EOIR is committed to ensuring fairness in all of the cases it adjudicates.
Doña Ana County Man Sentenced to Federal Prison for Methamphetamine Trafficking ConvictionRead the Press Release
ALBUQUERQUE – Mark Jessie Rodriguez, 25, of Las Cruces, N.M., was sentenced today in Las Cruces federal court to 108 months in prison followed by four years of supervised release for his methamphetamine trafficking conviction.
Rodriguez and co-defendant Derek Cruz Rubalcava, 25, also of Las Cruces, were arrested on a criminal complaint on July 25, 2014, in Doña Ana County, N.M. The two men subsequently were indicted on methamphetamine trafficking charges in a four-count indictment filed in Nov. 2014.
Count 1 of the indictment charged Rubalcava and Rodriguez with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine in July 2014. Count 2 charged Rubalcava with distributing methamphetamine on July 24, 2014. Counts 3 and 4 each charged Rubalcava with possessing methamphetamine with intent to distribute on July 25, 2014. According to the indictment, the two men committed these crimes in Doña Ana County, N.M.
On Jan. 6, 2015, Rodriguez entered a guilty plea to a felony information charging him with possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute. In his plea agreement, Rodriguez admitted supplying the methamphetamine that Rubalcava sold to the undercover agent on July 24, 2014. He also admitted supplying the methamphetamine seized from Rubalcava and from Rubalcava’s residence on July 25, 2014.
Rubalcava also pled guilty on Jan. 6, 2015, to a felony information charging him with possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute. In entering his guilty plea, Rubalcava admitted selling approximately six ounces of methamphetamine to an undercover FBI agent for $4,600.00 on July 24, 2014. Rubalcava also admitted negotiating the sale of approximately eight ounces of methamphetamine to the same FBI agent for $6,400.00. He was arrested before the transaction was completed. At the time of his arrest, Rubalcava was in possession of a portion of the methamphetamine that he intended to sell to the FBI agent and the rest of the methamphetamine was seized from his residence pursuant to a search warrant. Rubalcava was sentenced on Oct. 8, 2015.
This case was investigated by the Las Cruces office of the FBI and the HIDTA Regional Interagency Drug Task Force/Metro Narcotics Task Force. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda Gould of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office.
The HIDTA Regional Interagency Drug Task Force/Metro Narcotics Task Force is comprised of officers from the Las Cruces Police Department, the Doña Ana County Sheriff’s Office, the FBI, HSI and the New Mexico State Police. The High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) program was created by Congress with the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988. HIDTA is a program of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) which provides assistance to federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies operating in areas determined to be critical drug-trafficking regions of the United States and seeks to reduce drug trafficking and production by facilitating coordinated law enforcement activities and information sharing.
Detroit man sentenced in Federal court for selling heroinRead the Press Release
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – A Detroit man who sold heroin to undercover agents on multiple occasions in March of 2015 was sentenced today in federal court in Huntington, West Virginia, to two years and three months in federal prison, announced United States Attorney Booth Goodwin. Bryant D. Long, II, 29, of Detroit, previously pleaded guilty to distributing heroin.
On March 13, 2015, Long agreed to meet with undercover Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents in Huntington, where he sold them 8.5 grams of heroin for $1,200. During the meeting, Long also made arrangements with the agents for future heroin sales. The heroin distributed by Long was confirmed through laboratory testing to contain heroin and Fentanyl, a schedule II painkiller that is particularly dangerous when mixed with heroin. On March 23, 2015, Long met with agents again, and sold an additional 9.8 grams of heroin in exchange for $1,250.
On March 30, 2015, Long was arrested after agents executed a search warrant at 504 Marcum Terrace in Huntington. Agents seized additional heroin during the search and Long admitted that he had been in Huntington for the prior month distributing heroin and crack cocaine.
The United States Drug Enforcement Administration conducted the investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Joseph F. Adams is responsible for the prosecution.
This case is being prosecuted as part of 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 pill trafficking, eliminating open air drug markets, and curtailing the spread of opiate painkillers and heroin in communities across the Southern District.
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Delaware Port Employee Admits to Drug ChargesRead the Press Release
PHILADELPHIA - Ronald Mays, 63, of Wilmington, Delaware, pleaded guilty today to three counts of attempted possession of cocaine with intent to distribute. Mays worked for the Port of Wilmington in Delaware at the time. U.S. District Court Judge Michael Baylson scheduled a sentencing hearing for February 11, 2016. Mays faces a possible advisory sentencing guideline range of 57 to 71 months in prison.
Mays was working at the Port of Wilmington in Delaware and had access to the ships that came into the port. In October of 2013, agents with Homeland Security Investigations were investigating possible drug smuggling involving ships that traveled to the port from countries in Central and South America. After a cooperating defendant contacted Mays and told Mays that a group of traffickers that they both knew would resume running drugs out of the port, Mays agreed to look in to security at the port. Mays and the cooperating defendant had several meetings about unloading the drugs from a ship and also conducted a dry run. On December 29, 2013, an HSI special agent placed sham cocaine in a container on a ship docked at the Port of Wilmington. On January 6, 2014, Mays told the cooperating defendant that he had the drugs and the two met for Mays to deliver the package. Similar transactions were completed in February and March of 2014, with Mays receiving a total of $24,000 to retrieve 12 kilos of what he believed was cocaine from ships docked at the port. After the March transaction, officers followed Mays and pulled him over on I-95.
In addition to the prison term, Mays faces possible fines, at least four years of supervised release, and a special assessment of $300.
The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Sozi Pedro Tulante.
Cranberry Twp. Woman Charged with Defrauding Allegheny Valley BankRead the Press Release
PITTSBURGH – A Butler County resident has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh on a charge of bank fraud, United States Attorney David J. Hickton announced today.
The one-count indictment named Jennifer Colamarino, 33, of Cranberry Township, Pa., as the sole defendant.
According to the indictment, from October 2014 through March 2015, Colamarino defrauded Allegheny Valley Bank by using a closed PNC Bank account to make approximately 94 online payments towards her husband’s Allegheny Valley Bank credit card account. Colamarino then used the Allegheny Valley Bank credit card at various locations to make numerous purchases. During the relevant time period, Colamarino made no legitimate payments towards the Allegheny Valley Bank credit card account, and Allegheny Valley Bank suffered a loss of approximately $62,842.57 as a result of the fraud.
The law provides for a maximum total sentence of 30 years in prison, a fine of $1,000,000, or both. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed would be based upon the seriousness of the offense and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.
Assistant United States Attorney Lee J. Karl is prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted the investigation leading to the indictment in this case.
An indictment is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Conspirator Admits to Kidnapping and Brandishing a Gun in Connection with the Robbery of a Pikesville Jewelry StoreRead the Press Release
Baltimore, Maryland – Igor Yasinov, age 26, of Baltimore, Maryland, pleaded guilty on November 6, 2015, to a robbery conspiracy, kidnapping, and brandishing a firearm in relation to a crime of violence, in connection with the robbery of a jewelry store, including a carjacking and kidnapping.
The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Kevin Perkins of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Chief James W. Johnson of the Baltimore County Police Department; and Baltimore County State’s Attorney Scott Shellenberger.
According to his plea agreement, Yasinov was part of a conspiracy to rob a Pikesville jewelry store. Specifically, in the fall of 2012, a co-conspirator devised a plan to commit an armed robbery of a jewelry store, known to be owned and operated by members of the Russian community of Northwest Baltimore.
A co-conspirator recruited Yasinov, Peter Magnis, Grigoriy Zilberman and others to participate in the robbery. In preparation for the robbery, on December 25, 2012, Yasinov and others committed a burglary of a residence in Baltimore, during which they stole a shotgun and semiautomatic handgun. The handgun was used in the robbery of the jewelry store on January 16, 2013. Prior to the robbery, the conspirators gathered intelligence, including conducting surveillance and attaching a GPS device to the car of an employee of the jewelry store in order to learn the employee’s travel routine and habits. Zilberman also exploited his friendship with the employee to obtain information about the operation of the jewelry store and the habits of the employee. Yasinov participated in the obtaining of two rental vehicles for use during the crime.
According to Yasinov’s plea agreement, on January 15, 2013, Zilberman enticed the employee to visit his home, in order to alert the other co-conspirators of the employee’s whereabouts. Early in the morning on January 16, 2013, as the employee was driving from Zilberman’s home, Yasinov, Magnis and two other co-conspirators driving in one of the rental cars obtained by Yasinov, used a law enforcement-type light bar and a loudspeaker to impersonate a police officer and pull over the employee. Brandishing firearms, Yasinov, Magnis and the other co-conspirators removed the employee from his car, bound and blindfolded the employee, put him into the trunk of his own car, and drove him to a predetermined location. According to the plea agreement, once at the location, Yasinov and the co-conspirators continued to brandish firearms and threatened to kill the employee’s family if he did not comply with their demands or if he reported the incident to police. The employee complied and at approximately 3:52 a.m., two co-conspirators drove the employee’s vehicle from the remote location to the jewelry store, while Yasinov and Magnis stayed with the employee. While they were with the employee, Yasinov and Magnis brandished a sawed-off shotgun. Additional co-conspirators were stationed near the jewelry store to act as “look-outs.” Two co-conspirators entered the jewelry store and stole jewelry, stones, and watches, valued at about $500,000, then drove back to the remote location. The employee was then placed back into the trunk of his car and driven to another location, where he was left. The employee was able to kick his way out of the trunk through the back seat of his car.
On January 18, 2013, one of the conspirators sold a portion of the stolen jewelry for approximately $29,000 to an FBI informant. On January 19, 2013, the conspirator traveled to Brooklyn, New York to sell some of the jewelry and stones taken during the robbery, receiving over $100,000. On January 21, 2013, the conspirator returned to Maryland and divided the cash proceeds among the members of the conspiracy and others. Yasinov received more than $5,000 for his role in the crimes.
Yasinov faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for the robbery conspiracy; a maximum of life in prison for kidnapping; and a minimum mandatory sentence of seven years, and a maximum of life in prison for branishing a firearm in relation to a crime of violence. U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz has scheduled sentencing for March 8, 2016 at 9:30 a.m.
Grigoriy (Greg) Zilberman, age 24, of Owings Mills, Maryland, and Peter Aleksandrov Magnis, age 27, of Hydes, Maryland, previously pleaded guilty to their roles in the robbery conspiracy and are scheduled to be sentenced on December 18, and December 22, 2015, respectively.
United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein praised the FBI, Baltimore County Police Department, and Baltimore County State’s Attorney’s Office for their work in the investigation. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant United States Attorney Paul E. Budlow and Aaron S. J. Zelinsky, who are prosecuting the case.
Charleston man pleads guilty in Federal court to murdering witnessRead the Press Release
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – A Charleston man who murdered a witness against him pleaded guilty today, announced United States Attorney Booth Goodwin. Marlon Dewayne Dixon, 39, entered his guilty plea in federal court in Charleston, West Virginia, to witness tampering by killing.
At approximately 3:00 a.m. on July 12, 2014, Dixon lured Branda Mae Delight Basham, the murder victim, to a secluded section of railroad track in Charleston near the 700 block of Breece Street. At gunpoint, Dixon forced Basham to admit working with police to make undercover purchases of heroin from him. He then repeatedly shot Basham with a 9 mm pistol, killing her. She was 22 years old. After the murder, Dixon went to a nearby residence on Madison Street where he cleaned himself and disposed of his clothing. The next day, police interviewed a local woman who identified the Madison Street residence where she had seen Dixon shortly before the time of the murder.
Detectives from the Charleston Police Department executed a search warrant at the Madison Street residence. Police seized video from a surveillance camera that recorded Dixon wiping down the front door of the residence and carrying away several bags. Detectives also seized a pair of Dixon’s shoes found at the residence. Basham’s DNA was recovered from bloodstains on the shoes.
On July 17, 2014, Dixon surrendered to Charleston Police. He waived his Miranda rights and confessed to killing Basham. He admitted that he intended to retaliate against Basham for cooperating with law enforcement and to prevent her from testifying against him.
At the time of the murder, Dixon had been previously convicted of several felony offenses. These included federal drug trafficking convictions in 1999 and 2006, and a Kanawha County conviction of malicious wounding in 2007.
Dixon faces a mandatory sentence of life in federal prison when he is sentenced on March 17, 2016.
“The murder of Branda Basham is another tragic reminder of the horrible impact that heroin and opioid trafficking has had on our community. I want to join the prosecutors and law enforcement involved in this investigation to express my deepest condolences to the Basham family,” said U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin. “My office remains committed, along with our partners in law enforcement, to aggressively prosecuting violent drug dealers like Marlon Dixon and to supporting treatment and recovery for those suffering from opioid addiction. I also want to commend the bravery of those citizens who came forward and provided invaluable information that led to the arrest and successful prosecution of Dixon. Their willingness to cooperate with this investigation has made it possible for justice to be served.”
This case was investigated by the Charleston Police Department, the Metropolitan Drug Enforcement Network Team, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. Assistant United States Attorney Joshua Hanks is in charge of the prosecution.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, a nationwide commitment to reduce gun crime in the United States by working with existing local programs targeting gun violence. This cases was also prosecuted as part of an ongoing effort led by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia to combat illegal drugs in our communities, including 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 drug trafficking, eliminating open air drug markets, and curtailing the spread of opiate painkillers and other drugs in communities across the Southern District.
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Centralia Woman Sentenced on Federal Drug ChargesRead the Press Release
Stephen R. Wigginton, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, announced that Dusty Jo Gambill, 40, of Centralia, Illinois, was sentenced today for her role in a Conspiracy to Manufacture and Distribute Methamphetamine which operated from February 28, 2014, through October 1, 2014, in Clinton and Marion Counties, and for Possession of a Listed Chemical (Pseudoephedrine) Knowing It Would Be Used to Manufacture Methamphetamine. Gambill was sentenced to 57 months in federal prison, 3 years’ supervised release, a $400 fine, and a $200 special assessment. Supervised release follows service of imprisonment. There is no parole in the federal system.
Sentencing followed Gambill’s guilty plea to the charges on July 31, 2015. The charges were brought by a Federal Grand Jury in December 2014. Gambill has been in custody since July 21, 2015, when her bond was revoked. Also charged in the Conspiracy were Michael Alan Flanagan, James Perry Horton, David Leroy Altom, Jayme Lee Barnes and Kathy Sue Tomes. Flanagan, Horton, Altom and Tomes, have all pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing. Barnes was sentenced in September to 5 years in prison, 4 years’ supervised release, a $200 fine and a $200 special assessment.
Information leading to the charges against Gambill and the others was obtained in an investigation conducted by the FBI, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, and the Clinton County Sheriff’s Department, assisted by the Illinois State Police Methamphetamine Response Team, and the Centralia Police Department. The case is being handled by Assistant United States Attorney Kit Morrissey.
Centralia Husband/Wife Each Sentenced on Drug ChargesRead the Press Release
Stephen R. Wigginton, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, announced that Franklin J. Johnson, 33, and his wife, Deanna A. Johnson, 32, both of Centralia, Illinois, were sentenced today to the Federal Bureau of Prisons for the commission of methamphetamine related crimes. Franklin Johnson was sentenced to 188 months in federal prison, 4 years’ supervised release, an $800 fine, and a $400 special assessment. Deanna Johnson was sentenced to 77 months in federal prison, 4 years’ supervised release, a $600 fine, and a $300 special assessment. Supervised release follows service of imprisonment. There is no parole in the federal system.
The Johnsons’ sentences follow their guilty pleas on July 30, 2015, to an Indictment returned against them by a Federal Grand Jury in November 2014. The Johnsons were both charged with Conspiracy to Manufacture and Distribute Methamphetamine, Distribution of Methamphetamine, and Possession of Chemicals, Products and Materials with the Intent to Manufacture Methamphetamine. The Conspiracy operated from January 2014, through August 13, 2014, in Clinton and Marion Counties. The remaining crimes took place in Marion County. The Johnsons have been in custody, held without bond, since their arrests on January 8, 2015.
Information leading to the charges against Franklin and Deanna Johnson was obtained in an investigation conducted by the FBI, the Illinois State Police Methamphetamine Response Team, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, and the Clinton County Sheriff’s Department. The case is being handled by Assistant United States Attorney Kit Morrissey.
Cabot Man Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison Following Shootout with Law EnforcementRead the Press Release
LITTLE ROCK—Christopher R. Thyer, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, announced today that U.S. District Court Judge J. Leon Holmes sentenced Mark Lyle Dodson, age 54, of Cabot, Arkansas, to five years’ imprisonment for assault with a deadly weapon to be followed by 10 years’ imprisonment for discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, for a total sentence of 15 years’ imprisonment. Three years of supervised release will follow the prison sentence.
A Grand Jury indicted Dodson following a November 2013 shootout with members of the Jacksonville Police Department Special Response Team (SRT), who were assisting agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) execute a narcotics search warrant at Dodson’s Cabot home. When uniformed SRT members entered Dodson’s residence shouting "police" and "search warrant," he barricaded himself in an interior bedroom and twice fired a 16-gauge shotgun through a closed bedroom door while SRT members tried to enter. Pellets from his blasts struck three SRT members, hospitalizing one, and prompted return fire that hit Dodson. Minutes later, members of the same SRT team that Dodson fired upon gave him life-saving aid as he sat injured and bleeding on the bedroom floor.
Dodson pled guilty to the assault and discharge offenses on May 12, 2015. Under the terms of his plea agreement, the parties agreed upon a 15-year sentence, and the United States dismissed charges for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and two additional counts each for assault and discharge that stemmed from the shootout.
The DEA Little Rock Field Office, Jacksonville Police Department SRT, and Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office investigated this matter. Assistant United States Attorneys Alexander D. Morgan and Anne Gardner prosecuted the case for the United States.
CEO of Broker-Dealer Pleads Guilty in Manhattan Federal Court to Obstructing Regulatory Examination by Producing False Invoices to SEC Exam TeamRead the Press Release
Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that CHARLES J. MOORE, former Chief Executive Officer of broker-dealer Crucible Capital, Inc. (“Crucible”), pled guilty today before United States District Judge Colleen McMahon to obstructing a regulatory examination. MOORE was arrested on August 8, 2014, based on a criminal Complaint alleging, among other things, that he caused a Crucible employee to give falsified invoices to Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) personnel who were conducting a regulatory examination of Crucible. MOORE is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge McMahon on February 18, 2016.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said: “Charles Moore, the CEO of a broker-dealer, admitted today that he obstructed the SEC’s examination of his company, concealing the truth about his firm’s finances. Moore’s deceit, which included providing falsified documents to the SEC, has criminal consequences, and he now awaits sentencing for his acknowledged wrongdoing.”
According to the agreement pursuant to which MOORE entered his plea of guilty today, the underlying criminal Complaint filed August 7, 2014, the Indictment filed on September 30, 2014, and statements made during court proceedings:
MOORE was at all relevant times the Chief Executive Officer of Crucible, an SEC-registered broker-dealer that maintained no customer securities trading accounts, but held itself out as a “boutique” investment bank helping small businesses to raise capital and financing. Crucible used its status as an SEC-registered broker-dealer to solicit business.
MOORE was also at all relevant times the CEO of an affiliated company, Angelic Holdings LLC (“Angelic”), which was not registered with the SEC and conducted “due diligence” for Crucible-related business. Crucible and Angelic shared employees and office space. They also shared expenses, under an agreement that had Crucible paying Angelic a monthly fee and Angelic paying vendors of certain specified services on behalf of both Angelic and Crucible.
As an SEC-registered broker-dealer that maintained no customer accounts, Crucible was required to maintain net capital of at least $5,000 at all times. It was also required to file monthly “FOCUS” reports with the SEC reporting its net capital.
In the fall of 2013, the SEC opened a regulatory examination of Crucible to explore, among other things, the accuracy of the net capital figures that Crucible had supplied in its FOCUS reports from in or about February 2013 through in or about September 2013. As part of that examination, the SEC requested all 2013 invoices to Angelic for Crucible-related expenses.
MOORE, responding to this request, caused a Crucible employee to create falsified invoices to deliver to the SEC. Specifically, he directed the employee to take original invoices that had been sent to Crucible personnel, and create versions of those invoices that omitted references to large, unpaid debts appearing on the originals. MOORE then caused the employee to hand the falsified invoices to the SEC. The purpose of this obstruction was to hide the true extent of Crucible’s debts from the regulatory examination team, and thus make it appear, falsely, that Crucible’s net capital figures, as reported in its 2013 FOCUS reports, were accurate.
* * *
MOORE, 63, pled guilty to Count One of a three-count Indictment. Count One charges obstruction of a regulatory examination and carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. The maximum potential sentence in this case is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the judge.
Mr. Bharara praised the investigative work of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation and thanked the SEC, which has filed civil charges in a separate action.
The charges were brought in connection with the President’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force. The task force was established to wage an aggressive, coordinated and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes. With more than 20 federal agencies, 94 U.S. attorneys’ offices, and state and local partners, it is the broadest coalition of law enforcement, investigatory and regulatory agencies ever assembled to combat fraud. Since its formation, the task force has made great strides in facilitating increased investigation and prosecution of financial crimes; enhancing coordination and cooperation among federal, state and local authorities; addressing discrimination in the lending and financial markets; and conducting outreach to the public, victims, financial institutions and other organizations. Since fiscal year 2009, the Justice Department has filed over 18,000 financial fraud cases against more than 25,000 defendants. For more information on the task force, please visit www.StopFraud.gov.
This case is being handled by the Office’s Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sarah Eddy McCallum and Andrew B. Bauer are in charge of the prosecution.
Bronx Man Charged in Oil Futures Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
HOUSTON – A man from the Bronx, New York, has been indicted in Houston on charges of mail and wire fraud, announced U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson.
Christopher Donrick Daley, 32, was indicted in the Southern District of Texas on Sept. 22, 2015. He surrendered Oct. 30, 2015, in New York. He is expected to make his appearance in Houston federal court today at 2:00 p.m. before U.S. Magistrate Judge Nancy Johnson.
The indictment alleges that between June 2010 and November 2011, Daley falsely represented to investors that he operated a commodity pool which invested in oil futures contracts. According to the indictment, the pool would pay investors a return of at least 20% per month and never had a losing month. However, Daley allegedly paid returns to investors with money received from other investors. He used funds received from investors for his own benefit, according to the allegations.
The indictment also contains a notice of forfeiture and seeks forfeiture of $1,569,797, as alleged proceeds of the illegal scheme.
Each count of wire and mail fraud carries a maximum penalty of 20 years imprisonment and a fine of up to $250,000.
The charges are the result of an investigation conducted by the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorney John Braddock is prosecuting the case.
An indictment is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence.
A defendant is presumed innocent unless convicted through due process of law.Bremerton, Washington, Man Sentenced for Anti-Gay Hate Crime on Seattle’s Capitol HillRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON – A Bremerton, Washington, man has been sentenced to 30 months in prison following his conviction of a federal hate crime, announced Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta, head of the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, and U.S. Attorney Annette L. Hayes of the Western District of Washington.
Troy Deacon Burns, 38, was charged with violating the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act. Burns pleaded guilty on Aug. 5, 2015, and admitted that just after midnight on Jan. 25, 2015, he attacked three gay men who were walking in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood.
Burns admitted in his plea agreement that he came up behind the three men and shouted homophobic slurs. Burns then raised a knife over his head in a stabbing position. Fearing for their safety, the men started running. As Burns caught up to one of the men, he again used a slur and attempted to stab the man. One of the other men was able to pull his friend away from Burns. The third man located Seattle police officers who took Burns into custody. While detained in the police car, Burns continued to yell homophobic slurs. During the plea hearing, Burns said he was under the influence of drugs and alcohol at the time of the assault and claimed that he does not remember his actions.
“The Department of Justice will continue to vigilantly protect the rights of victims who are targeted simply because of their sexual orientation,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Gupta. “Six years have passed since the enactment of the Hate Crimes Prevention Act, and it continues to serve as an important tool for federal law enforcement.”
“No one should have to fear attack because of their sexual orientation when they walk down the streets of the cities and towns in Western Washington,” said U.S. Attorney Hayes. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office is committed to working closely with the Civil Rights Division to ensure cases like this are prosecuted and that the common decency that is at the heart of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act is respected by all.”
The case was investigated by the Seattle Police Department and the FBI. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Bruce Miyake of the Western District of Washington and Trial Attorney Saeed Mody of the Civil Rights Division. The King County, Washington, Prosecuting Attorney’s Office provided significant assistance with the case as well.
Bremerton, Washington, Man Sentenced for Anti-Gay Hate Crime on Seattle’s Capitol HillRead the Press Release
A Bremerton, Washington, man has been sentenced to 30 months in prison following his conviction of a federal hate crime, announced Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta, head of the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, and U.S. Attorney Annette L. Hayes of the Western District of Washington.
Troy Deacon Burns, 38, was charged with violating the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act. Burns pleaded guilty on Aug. 5, 2015, and admitted that just after midnight on Jan. 25, 2015, he attacked three gay men who were walking in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood.
Burns admitted in his plea agreement that he came up behind the three men and shouted homophobic slurs. Burns then raised a knife over his head in a stabbing position. Fearing for their safety, the men started running. As Burns caught up to one of the men, he again used a slur and attempted to stab the man. One of the other men was able to pull his friend away from Burns. The third man located Seattle police officers who took Burns into custody. While detained in the police car, Burns continued to yell homophobic slurs. During the plea hearing, Burns said he was under the influence of drugs and alcohol at the time of the assault and claimed that he does not remember his actions.
“The Department of Justice will continue to vigilantly protect the rights of victims who are targeted simply because of their sexual orientation,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Gupta. “Six years have passed since the enactment of the Hate Crimes Prevention Act, and it continues to serve as an important tool for federal law enforcement.”
“No one should have to fear attack because of their sexual orientation when they walk down the streets of the cities and towns in Western Washington,” said U.S. Attorney Hayes. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office is committed to working closely with the Civil Rights Division to ensure cases like this are prosecuted and that the common decency that is at the heart of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act is respected by all.”
The case was investigated by the Seattle Police Department and the FBI. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Bruce Miyake of the Western District of Washington and Trial Attorney Saeed Mody of the Civil Rights Division. The King County, Washington, Prosecuting Attorney’s Office provided significant assistance with the case as well.
Berkeley County woman convicted of heroin traffickingRead the Press Release
MARTINSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA – Ariana Shanae Parker, 24, of Martinsburg, was convicted of heroin trafficking today in federal court, United States Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld, II, announced.
Parker sold heroin in Berkeley County, West Virginia. She pled guilty today to one count of “Aiding and Abetting Distribution of Heroin.” She faces up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $1,000,000. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed will be based upon the seriousness of the offenses and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.
Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie Taylor prosecuted the case on behalf of the government. The Eastern Panhandle Drug and Violent Crime Task Force, a HIDTA-funded initiative, investigated.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert W. Trumble presided
Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch Announces Return of Forfeited Public Corruption Assets to Korean Minister of Justice Kim Hyun-WoongRead the Press Release
The Department of Justice returned $1,126,951.45 in forfeited assets to the government of the Republic of Korea today. The forfeited assets were the profits of a public corruption scheme orchestrated by former Korean President Chun Doo Hwan in the 1990s, and were laundered to the United States by Chun’s family members and associates. The assets were forfeited in two recent United States civil forfeiture actions as part of the Department of Justice’s Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative, which is coordinated by the department’s Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section.
“The return of these assets is a powerful vindication of the rule of law, and an important victory for the people of the Republic of Korea,” said Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch. “Since it was established in 2010, the Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative has been an effective tool in our ongoing efforts to curb high-level public corruption around the world. As we move forward, the Department of Justice will remain committed to using all the resources at its disposal to ensure that government funds go to their lawful purposes; that stolen assets are returned to state coffers; and that corrupt officials are held fully accountable for abusing their positions.”
Immigration and Customs Enforcement-Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI) and the FBI investigated the cases leading to the U.S. forfeiture of the assets being returned to Korea and served as the seizing agencies.
“The FBI is committed to tracing, seizing and forfeiting the assets of corrupt foreign politicians who have abused their power to enrich themselves and use the United States financial markets to launder their ill-gotten gains,” said Assistant Director Joseph Campbell of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division. “The funds returned represent a successful and important collaboration between the United States and the Republic of Korea.”
“I commend the men and women of our Homeland Security Investigations Regional Attaché Office in Korea and the Special Agent in Charge Office in Philadelphia who worked tirelessly to bring this foreign corruption case to fruition,” said Director Sarah R. Saldaña of ICE. “Let this case be a message that corruption on all levels will be investigated and that the United States will work multilaterally with countries throughout the world to protect citizens from the wrongs caused by public servants motivated by greed.”
In 1997, a criminal court in Korea convicted former President Chun of accepting more than $200 million in bribes from Korean corporations and ordered him to pay approximately $212 million in criminal penalties. In 2013, the Anti-Corruption Division of the Korean Supreme Prosecutor’s Office opened a money laundering investigation regarding the potential laundering of the bribery proceeds into the United States by Chun and his associates through the acquisition of U.S. real estate and opening of U.S. bank accounts.
Prosecutors assigned to the Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative initiated their own investigation, aided by agents from ICE-HSI and the FBI. In January 2014, FBI investigators in the Central District of California seized $726,951.45 held in a California escrow account, which was traced to the sale of real estate property acquired by Chun’s son and his girlfriend in 2005 in Orange County, California. In February 2015, Kleptocracy prosecutors filed a second civil forfeiture action in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania seeking to forfeit a secured investment worth approximately $500,000 in a Pennsylvania company, which also was traced to Chun’s corruption scheme. On March 4, 2015, the department reached a settlement agreement of its civil forfeiture actions, resulting in the forfeiture of a total of $1,126,951.
The investigation was conducted jointly by ICE-HSI’s Philadelphia Office, ICE-HSI’s Regional Attaché Office for Korea and Japan at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, the FBI Los Angeles Division’s West Covina Resident Agency and the Criminal Division’s International Corruption Unit-FBI Kleptocracy Program. Kleptocracy prosecutors worked closely with Korean law enforcement authorities, principally through the Seoul Central District Prosecutor’s Office, the Supreme Prosecutor’s Office and the Ministry of Justice. The cases were prosecuted by Assistant Deputy Chief Woo S. Lee and Trial Attorney Della Sentilles of the Criminal Division’s Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section, Assistant U.S. Attorneys Katharine Schonbachler and Steven R. Welk of the Central District of California and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joseph Minni and Alvin Stout of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. The Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs provided substantial support.
This case was brought under the Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative by a team of dedicated prosecutors in the Criminal Division’s Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section, working in partnership with federal law enforcement agencies to forfeit the proceeds of foreign official corruption and, where appropriate, return those proceeds to benefit the people harmed by these acts of corruption and abuse of office.
Armed Marijuana Dealers Sentenced in Federal CourtRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Kenyen R. Brown of the Southern District of Alabama announced that Tony and Tommy Nguyen, brothers who live in Mobile, were sentenced today in federal court for their participation in a marijuana distribution conspiracy. The brothers pled guilty to gun and drug charges in June of 2015.
Tony Nguyen, 24, pled guilty to being a prohibited person (drug user) in possession of a firearm and conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute marijuana. Tommy Nguyen, 23, pled guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute marijuana and using, carrying, and possessing a firearm in relation to and in furtherance of a drug trafficking felony. Court documents reflect that Tony Nguyen traveled to the United States post office on St. Joseph Street in Mobile to pick up a package that had been identified as suspicious. He was confronted at the post office by Mobile County sheriff’s deputies and consented to the deputies’ request to open the package. It contained five pounds of high-grade marijuana. The sheriff’s deputies obtained search warrants for two apartments leased in Tony Nguyen’s name, and discovered three guns, six boxes identical to the one in the package where the marijuana had been shipped, 191 plastic bags identical to the ones used to package individual pounds of marijuana in the shipments, eight more pounds of marijuana, scales, packaging materials and other paraphernalia used in the consumption and distribution of marijuana. A second package identical to the one picked up by Tony Nguyen was also intercepted by postal investigators, and it was also found to contain five additional pounds of the same type of marijuana. Tommy Nguyen claimed residence in one of the two apartments leased in Tony Nguyen’s name. The apartment where Tommy Nguyen lived was where the bulk of the packaging and distribution of the drugs took place. He was present there when the sheriff’s deputies arrived to pursue the investigation. A third conspirator, Nick Somphonphakdy, 19, of Bayou La Batre, was also present in that apartment with Tommy Nguyen and admitted that he lived there with Tommy. Somphonphakdy was sentenced in September of this year to 90 months imprisonment.
United States District Court Judge William H. Steele imposed a sentence of 21 months in Tony Nguyen’s cases, and ordered that that the sentences run concurrently. He did not impose a fine, but ordered that Tony Nguyen pay $100 in special mandatory assessments. Tony was ordered to serve a three-year term of supervised release, which will commence when he is released from prison. As for Tommy Nguyen, Judge Steele imposed a sentence of 75 months imprisonment, consisting of 15 months on the drug charge consecutive to 60 months on the gun charge. Tommy was ordered to serve a five-year term of supervised release, which will commence on his release from prison. He is also required to pay $200 in special mandatory assessments.
The case was investigated by the United States Postal Inspectors and the Mobile county Sheriff’s Office. It was prosecuted in the United States Attorney’s Office by Assistant United States Attorney Gloria Bedwell.
Arizona Man Sentenced to Three Years in Federal Prison for Wire Fraud Conviction in New MexicoRead the Press Release
ALBUQUERQUE – Joseph Lawler, 55, of Peoria, Ariz., was sentenced today in federal court in Albuquerque, N.M., to 36 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for his wire fraud conviction. Lawler also was ordered to pay $478,510.00 in restitution to the victims of his crime. The sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney Damon P. Martinez and Special Agent in Charge Carol K.O. Lee of the FBI’s Albuquerque Division.
On June 26, 2015, Lawler pled guilty to all 12 counts of a superseding indictment that was filed on June 9, 2015, and alleged that between Aug. 2010 and July 2014, Lawler engaged in an illegal scheme to defraud investors of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Lawler executed the scheme by causing others to create a company, Projaris Management, LLC (Projaris), that purported to provide investment services. He also caused others to open four accounts for Projaris at a bank in Farmington, N.M., and one account at a bank in Phoenix, Ariz. Although the bank accounts were not in Lawler’s name and he was not an authorized signer, Lawler exercised sole control over the bank accounts.
The superseding indictment alleged that Lawler used Projaris and the bank accounts to execute a scheme to defraud investors in Projaris by making false representations to obtain investment funds which he used for other purposes. Lawler falsely represented to investors that their funds would be invested in gold, silver, real estate, or real estate investment trust funds. Instead, Lawler used investors’ funds to pay other Projaris investors who threatened to report him to law enforcement authorities. Lawler also used investors’ funds to pay for his living expenses and vehicles.
The superseding indictment includes forfeiture allegations which assert that Lawler derived at least $288,889.50 as a result of his criminal conduct and which require that Lawler forfeit money or assets in that amount.
This case was investigated by the Albuquerque office of the FBI and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Tara C. Neda.
Arizona Man Sentenced to Federal Prison for Heroin Trafficking Conviction in New MexicoRead the Press Release
ALBUQUERQUE – David Mendez Bojorquez, 60, of Phoenix, Ariz., was sentenced this afternoon in federal court in Albuquerque, N.M., to 33 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for his heroin trafficking conviction.
Mendez Bojorquez was arrested on Dec. 8, 2014, at the Greyhound Bus Station in Albuquerque, N.M., after DEA agents and task force officers executed a federal search warrant on his suitcase and found a package containing more than a gross kilogram of heroin. Mendez Bojorquez subsequently was indicted on Dec. 16, 2014, and charged with possession of a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of heroin.
On Jan. 26, 2015, Mendez Bojorquez pled guilty to a felony information charging him with possession with intent to distribute a mixture and substance containing a detectible amount of heroin. In his plea agreement, Mendez Bojorquez admitted that he had heroin in his suitcase when he was encountered by law enforcement officers at the Greyhound Bus Station on Dec. 7, 2014. He further admitted that the officers found and seized the heroin after obtaining a search warrant for his suitcase.
This case was investigated by the Interdiction Unit of the DEA’s Albuquerque office which focuses on disrupting the flow of narcotics, weapons, and the proceeds of illegal activities as they are smuggled into or through New Mexico in passenger buses, passenger trains, commercial vehicles and automobiles. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney David M. Walsh.
This case is being prosecuted pursuant to the New Mexico Heroin and Opioid Prevention and Education (HOPE) Initiative. The HOPE Initiative is a collaborative effort between the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center that is partnering with the Bernalillo County Opioid Accountability Initiative with the overriding goal of reducing the number of opioid-related deaths in the District of New Mexico. The HOPE Initiative comprised of five components: (1) prevention and education; (2) treatment; (3) law enforcement; (4) reentry; and (5) strategic planning. The law enforcement component of the HOPE Initiative is led by the Organized Crime Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the DEA in conjunction with their federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement partners. Targeting members of major heroin and opioid trafficking organizations for investigation and prosecution is a priority of the HOPE Initiative.
6 November 2015
Yonkers Man Convicted in White Plains Federal Court of Kidnapping and Sex Trafficking A 19-Year-Old VictimRead the Press Release
Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Diego Rodriguez, Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), and Charles Gardner, the Commissioner of the Yonkers Police Department, announced that, yesterday afternoon, CLYDEDORO GRAHAM was found guilty of kidnapping a 19-year-old victim (the “Victim”), conspiring to engage in sex trafficking of the Victim, and attempting to engage in sex trafficking of the Victim. CLYDEDORO GRAHAM was convicted after a seven-day jury trial before United States District Judge Nelson S. Román.
U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara stated: “Clydedoro Graham preyed on a young, vulnerable victim. Together with his accomplices, he lured a 19-year-old to his apartment, kidnapped her, and tried to force her to work as a prostitute for him. This young woman endured a nightmare at the hands of the defendant. But thanks to the outstanding work of the FBI and the Yonkers Police Department, he did not get away with it and a unanimous jury has found him guilty of all charges.”
FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Diego Rodriguez stated: “Graham lay in wait as his co-conspirators set a trap for their victim. Unbeknownst to her, the harrowing situation would play out for days before help arrived to save her from her captors’ plans. Although there are many who become entangled in a life of prostitution, this should not serve as an excuse for others to violate them and force them into sex trafficking schemes. Today’s conviction is proof of the FBI’s efforts to stop this type of illegal activity.”
Yonkers Police Commissioner Charles Gardner stated: “I want to thank the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York and the FBI for their efforts in this investigation and successful prosecution of this suspect. This case was initiated by our Patrol Officers who remained vigilant in searching for a missing person, who turned out to be the victim in this heinous crime. The verdict should be a warning to all who chose to engage in sex trafficking here in Yonkers and abroad that a substantial sentence in federal prison may be the result of your actions.”
According to the allegations in the Complaint and Superseding Indictment filed in federal court, and the evidence presented at trial:
On the evening of June 16, 2014, CLYDEDORO GRAHAM was at his apartment in Yonkers, New York (the “Apartment”), with his girlfriend and accomplice, Alisa Papp. His cousin, Kevin Graham, and his friend, Hector Garcia, were also present. As Papp, Kevin Graham, and Garcia knew, CLYDEDORO GRAHAM was a “pimp.” That night, the four co-conspirators agreed to lure a prostitute to the Apartment for the purpose of forcing her to work for them.
CLYDEDORO GRAHAM was the leader of this scheme. Using his cellphone, he went to Backpage.com, a website where prostitutes post advertisements. He trolled through the advertisements searching for a target, and eventually decided on the Victim. Kevin Graham called the Victim and led her to believe, falsely, that he wanted to hire her for a prostitution “date.”
When the Victim arrived, the co-conspirators were lying in wait. Papp served as the lookout, making sure the Victim did not arrive with anyone else. Kevin Graham met her outside and led her into the Apartment, while CLYDEDORO GRAHAM and Garcia hid inside. Once inside the Apartment – and at the direction of CLYDEDORO GRAHAM – the co-conspirators took away the Victim’s purse and phone, removed the battery from her phone, and told her that she was there to work as a prostitute for them. The Victim asked repeatedly to leave, but CLYDEDORO GRAHAM and his accomplices refused.
The co-conspirators told the Victim that she had no choice but to have sex with each of the men. She refused and asked again to go home. CLYDEDORO GRAHAM said she could give it up or they would “take it.” CLYDEDORO GRAHAM, Kevin Graham, and Hector Garcia took turns having sex with the Victim, against her will.
Later that night, Kevin Graham and Garcia left the Apartment. For the next two days and two nights, CLYDEDORO GRAHAM and Papp held the Victim captive in the Apartment. Among other coercive measures, CLYDEDORO GRAHAM removed the doorknob from the interior side of the Apartment’s front door to prevent the Victim from escaping. He then made plans to bring the Victim out onto the streets of Yonkers to prostitute her for his own benefit.
CLYDEDORO GRAHAM’s scheme unraveled on June 18, 2014, when two Yonkers police officers arrived at the Apartment after receiving a tip from individuals who had been searching for the Victim. The officers demanded to speak with the Victim, immediately determined that she was being held against her will, and brought her to safety.
* * *
On or about December 4, 2014, CLYDEDORO GRAHAM, Alisa Papp, Kevin Graham, and Hector Garcia were charged in a three-count Superseding Indictment with sex trafficking and kidnapping offenses. Papp, Kevin Graham, and Garcia entered pleas of guilty before trial and are awaiting sentencing.
CLYDEDORO GRAHAM proceeded to trial on October 27, 2015. Yesterday, the jury found him guilty of all charges: one count of conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison; one count of attempted sex trafficking, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison and a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison; and one count of kidnapping, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison. The maximum potential sentences in this case are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by a judge.
CLYDEDORO GRAHAM is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Román on April 15, 2016.
Mr. Bharara praised the outstanding investigative work of the FBI’s Westchester Violent Crimes Task Force, which comprises agents and detectives of the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, the City of Yonkers Police Department, the Westchester County Police, and the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office. He also thanked the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office.
The prosecution is being handled by the Office’s White Plains Division. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kathryn Martin, Douglas Zolkind, and Daniel Filor are in charge of the prosecution.
Winsted Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Firearm OffensesRead the Press Release
Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, today announced that JAMES CAVE, 44, of Winsted, pleaded guilty yesterday in New Haven federal court to federal firearm offenses.
According to court documents and statement made in court, in 2014 and early 2015, CAVE obtained a Norinco MAK 90, 7.62 x 39 caliber semi-automatic rifle, a Smith & Wesson M&P, .40 caliber handgun, and a Shooters Arms Mfg. M1911GI, .45 caliber handgun, all of which he transported into Connecticut and sold to another individual.
On April 4, 2015, CAVE sold a Smith & Wesson 586, .357 caliber handgun to an individual who was cooperating with law enforcement. Investigators subsequently determined that the handgun had been stolen from a residence in Connecticut.
On April 7, 2015, CAVE met an undercover ATF agent at a location in Torrington and sold him a Webley, model Mark IV .455 caliber revolver in exchange for $700 in cash. This firearm also had been stolen from a residence in Connecticut.
CAVE sustained a felony conviction in Connecticut state court in October 2003.
CAVE pleaded guilty to one count of possession of a firearm by a previously convicted felon, and one count of engaging in the business of dealing firearms without a license. When he is sentenced by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Alker Meyer, CAVE faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 15 years. A sentencing date has not been scheduled.
CAVE was arrested on a criminal complaint on April 30, 2015, and is released on a $100,000 bond.
This matter was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Torrington Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Gabriel J. Vidoni.
Virginia Couple Convicted of Conspiracy, Tax Crimes and FraudRead the Press Release
A Bedford, Virginia couple was convicted today in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia of theft of government funds and other federal crimes, announced Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Larry J. Wszalek of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Anthony P. Giorno of the Western District of Virginia.
Edgar and Contina Foxx were convicted by a federal jury after a four-day trial. In addition to the theft of government funds charge, Edgar Foxx was convicted of one count of making a false 2008 tax return and three counts of failure to file a tax return and Contina Foxx was convicted of one count of providing false statements for federal health care program benefits.
According to the indictment, during the years 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011, Edgar Foxx transported and sold scrap metal which resulted in gross receipts in excess of $500,000. The jury found that Edgar Foxx filed a false 2008 joint individual income tax return, which failed to report to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) significant amounts of income he earned that year. For the tax years 2009 through 2011, Edgar Foxx did not file any individual income tax returns. The jury found as charged in the indictment that Edgar and Contina Foxx misrepresented or failed to report income to the Social Security Administration (SSA) in order to qualify to receive Medicaid benefits which resulted in their unlawful receipt of social security benefits for the years 2010 through 2012. Contina Foxx was further convicted of making false statements to the Department of Health and Human Services in the application for benefits involving Medicaid by underrepresenting her total household income.
Sentencing is scheduled on Feb. 23, 2016, before U.S. District Judge Norman K. Moon of the Western District of Virginia, who presided over the trial. Edgar and Contina Foxx face a statutory maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 for the theft of government funds charge. Edgar Foxx also faces a statutory maximum of one year in prison and a fine of up to $100,000 for each failure to file charge and three years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 for the false return charge. Contina Foxx faces a statutory maximum of five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 for the false statements for federal health care program benefits charge.
Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Wszalek and U.S. Attorney Giorno commended special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation, special agents of the Office of Inspector General for SSA and special agents of the Office of Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services, who investigated the case and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Patrick Hogeboom and Charlene Day of the Western District of Virginia and Trial Attorney Joseph M. Giannullo of the Tax Division, who prosecuted the case.
Union County, New Jersey, Man Charged with Distribution of Images of Child Sexual AbuseRead the Press Release
NEWARK, N.J. – A Union County, New Jersey man was charged today with distributing images of child sexual abuse online, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.
Lenin Eugenio Basantes, 30, of Elizabeth, New Jersey, is charged by complaint with one count of distribution of child pornography. He had his initial court appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge James B. Clark III in Newark federal court and was detained without bail.
According to the complaint:
On June 19, 2013, Basantes distributed 18 video files and approximately 70 image files of child sexual abuse via a peer-to-peer file sharing network on the Internet, to which others had access in shared directories. During an undercover operation, a special agent of the FBI communicated with Basantes via the peer-to-peer network. Basantes provided this agent with a password to a file containing the images and video files. The undercover agent was able to access and download these images. On Nov. 4, 2015, FBI agents interviewed Basantes, who admitted that that he shared pornographic images of children with other people via the peer-to-peer network.
The charge of distribution of child pornography carries a mandatory minimum penalty of five years in prison, a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison, and a $250,000 fine.
U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Richard M. Frankel in Newark, with the investigation leading to the charges.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Meredith Williams of the U.S. Attorney’s Office General Crimes Unit in Newark.
Defense counsel: Chester Keller Esq., First Assistant Federal Public Defender, Newark
UOG’s MAED Class Invites U.S. Attorney’s Office to Speak on Bullying and CyberbullyingRead the Press Release
ALICIA A.G. LIMTIACO, U.S. Attorney for the Districts of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands (NMI), was invited to speak at the University of Guam’s (UOG) School of Education Masters Class (MAED) on October 26, 2015, at the University of Guam.
U.S. Attorney Limtiaco gave a presentation on cybercrime, including child pornography, child sexual exploitation, sexting and cyberbullying, and shared resources and safety tips.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office is often invited by elementary, middle and high schools to make presentations on bullying and cyberbullying. Bullying and cyberbullying are prevalent issues in today’s youth and are priorities of the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Photo of U.S. Attorney Alicia Limtiaco taken at UOG’s MAED Class:Twice Convicted Pedophile Pleads Guilty to Possession of Child PornographyRead the Press Release
Baltimore, Maryland – William Sylvia, age 71, of Hagerstown, Maryland, pleaded guilty today to possession of child pornography.
The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein and Special Agent in Charge Kevin Perkins of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
According to Sylvia’s plea agreement, in approximately 1995, Sylvia was convicted of raping a child in Massachusetts, and sentenced to 7 to 10 years’ incarceration. On September 3, 2004, in the Circuit Court of Berkeley County, West Virginia, Sylvia was convicted of sexual abuse by a parent, custodian or guardian, and of third degree sexual abuse, and was sentenced to one to five years in prison.
Sylvia admitted that from April 1, 2013 through July 13, 2014, he used a computer to send, receive and collect child pornography. For example, on April 1, 2013, Sylvia sent another user six visual depictions of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct. On September 4, 2014, law enforcement obtained a search warrant for Sylvia’s email account which revealed emails sent and received by Sylvia that included attachments of child pornography.
During the time of this investigation, Sylvia was a registered sex offender living at a motel in Hagerstown. On February 20, 2015, a search warrant was executed at Sylvia’s residence at the motel and law enforcement seized a desktop computer, camera, flash drive and other digital media. A forensic examination of the desktop computer and the flash drive recovered additional images of minors – including prepubescent minors – engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
As part of his plea agreement, Sylvia must continue to register as a sex offender in the place where he resides, where he is an employee, and where he is a student, under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA).
Sylvia and the government have agreed that if the Court accepts the plea agreement Sylvia will be sentenced to 10 years in prison followed by a lifetime of supervised release. U.S. District Judge George L. Russell III has scheduled sentencing for January 29, 2016 at 11:30 a.m.
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.justice.gov/psc. For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.justice.gov/psc and click on the "resources" tab on the left of the page.
United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the FBI for its work in the investigation. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul E. Budlow who prosecuted the case.