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Wednesday 15 July 2015
Yonkers Gang Member Sentenced in White Plains Federal Court to Life in Prison for Racketeering, Murder, Conspiracy to Murder, Attempted Murder, Narcotics, and Firearms OffensesRead the Press Release
Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that STEVEN KNOWLES, 27, was sentenced on July 10, 2015, for various racketeering charges, murder, conspiracy to murder, attempted murder, narcotics conspiracy, and firearms charges. KNOWLES was sentenced to life in prison plus 35 consecutive years arising out of his involvement, from 2000 through 2013, in the criminal activities of the Elm Street Wolves gang (the “Wolves”) – a violent street gang that was involved in drug trafficking and multiple acts of violence, including murder and attempted murder, in Yonkers, New York. KNOWLES was convicted on July 1, 2013, after a four-week jury trial before U.S. District Judge Kenneth M. Karas, who imposed the sentence. In imposing sentence, Judge Karas emphasized the seriousness of Knowles’s criminal conduct, which included over 20 shootings of rival gang members, and the impact of the terror caused by Knowles and the Wolves on the community of southwest Yonkers.
According to the Superseding Indictment and evidence admitted at trial:
From 2000 through 2013, KNOWLES was a member, and then leader, of a racketeering enterprise – the Elm Street Wolves. As part of his participation in that enterprise, KNOWLES conspired to murder a member of a rival gang, the Strip Boyz, which culminated in the violent murder, by KNOWLES and others, of Christopher Cokley on July 4, 2009. KNOWLES also participated in a number of other gang-related shootings, including the October 14, 2007, attempted murder of Tremaine Garrison, a/k/a “Triggermain,” also a member of the Strip Boyz. KNOWLES also participated in more than a decade-long conspiracy to distribute kilograms of crack cocaine within a several block radius of Elm Street and Oak Street in Southwest Yonkers, New York. The evidence at trial also showed that KNOWLES and other members of the Wolves possessed, brandished, and discharged a number of firearms in connection with their drug trafficking and racketeering activities with the Elm Street Wolves gang.
KNOWLES was convicted of one count of racketeering, one count of racketeering conspiracy, one count of conspiracy to murder in aid of racketeering, one count of murder in aid of racketeering, one count of conspiracy to distribute or possess with intent to distribute 280 grams and more of crack cocaine, two counts of discharging a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence or a drug-trafficking crime, and one count of discharging a firearm in connection with the murder of Christopher Cokley on July 4, 2009.
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Since 2011, as part of the “Yonkers Gang Initiative,” this Office has charged over 150 members and associates of Yonkers street gangs, including 48 members and associates of the Elm Street Wolves.
Mr. BHARARA praised the outstanding investigative work of the FBI and the Yonkers Police Department. He also thanked the Westchester County Department of Public Safety and the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office for their assistance in the case. He added that the investigation into Yonkers gang activity is continuing.
The case is being handled by the Office’s Violent and Organized Crime Unit and the White Plains Division. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Andrew Bauer and Jessica Ortiz are in charge of the prosecution.
Wisconsin Man Indicted for Illegally Possessing A FirearmRead the Press Release
United States Attorney for the District of Minnesota Andrew M. Luger today announced an indictment charging JAMES RYAN FREI, 34, with illegal possession of a firearm. FREI is expected to make an initial appearance on July 16, 2015, before Magistrate Judge Franklin L. Noel in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis, Minn.
According to the indictment and documents filed in both state and federal court, on June 21, 2015, FREI attempted to steal a wireless speaker from a St. Paul Wal-Mart. The defendant was momentarily stopped and questioned by St. Paul Police Officer Michael Tschida as the defendant tried to leave the Wal-Mart. However, FREI pointed a handgun at Officer Tschida’s head before running to a pickup truck outside and recklessly driving away. The defendant led police officers on a high-speed chase, during which he repeatedly pointed a gun at the pursuing squad cars, sped through red lights and drove against traffic on Snelling Avenue. The chase ended when FREI crashed into a parked car and attempted to flee on foot.
According to the indictment and documents filed in both state and federal court, FREI was ineligible to possess firearms in Minnesota because of felony convictions from Oklahoma for robbery with firearms and assault, battery with a dangerous weapon, and escape. FREI also has been convicted in Wisconsin for burglary and escape.
This case is the result of an investigation conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jeffrey S. Paulsen.
Defendant Information:
JAMES RYAN FREI, 34
Tomah, Wis.
Charges:
- Felon in possession of a firearm, 1 count
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United States Attorney’s Office, District of Minnesota: (612) 664-5600
The charges contained in the indictment are merely allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Wichita Man Sentenced for Robbery at Dollar GeneralRead the Press Release
WICHITA, KAN. - A Wichita man was sentenced Wednesday to 71 months in federal prison for robbery, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said.
Eric Emmanuel Dear, 23, Wichita, Kan., pleaded guilty to one count of commercial robbery. In his plea, he admitted that on July 27, 2014, he robbed the Dollar General Store at 2747 E. Boulevard Plaza in Wichita.
He entered the store about 10:25 a.m., approached the cash register and demanded money. He carried what appeared to be a handgun in his right hand. During the robbery, he touched the counter with his left hand. Fingerprints taken from the counter were matched to three fingers on his left hand. No firearm was recovered.
Grissom commended the Wichita Police Department, the FBI and Assistant U.S. David Lind for their work on the case.
Wheeling man sentenced to 10 years in prison for possession of child pornographyRead the Press Release
WHEELING, WEST VIRGINIA – Bernie George Baier, 51, of Wheeling, was sentenced today to 120 months in prison for possession of child pornography, United States Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld, II, announced.
An investigation by the Wheeling Police Department, the West Virginia State Police, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation revealed that Baier obtained a wireless Internet password from his neighbor. He then used the neighbor’s wireless Internet connection to download images of child pornography throughout late 2014. Baier, who was previously convicted in 1995 of the felony offense of “Gross Sexual Imposition” in Belmont County, Ohio, pled guilty in March 2015 to one count of “Possession of Child Pornography.”
In another matter, Alex J. Galensky, 32, of, Martins Ferry, Ohio, was sentenced today to 30 months in prison. Galensky was discovered in May 2014 in possession of child pornography involving a minor under the age of 12. He pled guilty in February 2015 to a criminal Information charging him with one count of “Possession of Child Pornography,” following an investigation by the West Virginia State Police.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Vorgrin prosecuted the cases on behalf of the government.
U.S. District Judge John Preston Bailey presided.
West Virginia woman sentenced to two years for role in Bethany College extortion plotRead the Press Release
WHEELING, WEST VIRGINIA – Rachaelle Marie Weese, 27, of Moundsville, West Virginia, was sentenced today to 24 months in prison for her role in extorting more than $1,000,000.00 from a former Bethany College employee, United States Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld, II, announced.
Rachaelle Weese was previously convicted of “Extortion Conspiracy” after she and her husband, Jason Weese, extorted money from a female employee of Bethany College who was embezzling money from the school. Jason Weese exchanged sexually explicit text messages and photographs with the female employee. The couple then threatened to disclose the female employee’s theft as well as the existence of the relationship. They used the messages and photographs along with threats of physical force to coerce the female employee into giving them large amounts of the stolen money. They then used the embezzled funds to purchase automobiles, expensive jewelry, and illicit drugs.
Jason Weese was sentenced last year to 63 months in prison for his role in the conspiracy.
United States Attorney Ihlenfeld prosecuted the cases on behalf of the government. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Brooke County Sheriff’s Department investigated.
U.S. District Judge John Preston Bailey presided.
West Suburban Real Estate Broker Sentenced to 16 Months in Federal Prison for Mortgage Fraud ScamRead the Press Release
CHICAGO — A west suburban real estate broker was sentenced today to 16 months in federal prison for his role in a mortgage fraud scheme involving a pair of Chicago apartment buildings.
GEORGE DRAVILAS, 37, of Medinah, pleaded guilty in February to one count of bank fraud. In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Judge Gary Feinerman ordered Dravilas to pay $463,110 in restitution. Judge Feinerman ordered Dravilas to begin serving his sentence no later than Sept. 21, 2015.
Dravilas was arrested in May 2014 after a long-term federal undercover investigation exposed a scheme to defraud Standard Bank through fraudulent mortgage loan transactions. Dravilas admitted in his plea agreement that he knowingly provided false documents as part of mortgage loan applications to finance two residential properties in the name of straw buyers who Dravilas had arranged would receive a share of the seller’s loan proceeds. After fraudulently helping to secure the financing, Dravilas schemed to sell both apartment buildings for the inflated sale price of $275,000 each, while agreeing to kick back $100,000 on each transaction to the undercover straw buyers, keeping a fee for himself in the process.
The properties were two-flat apartment buildings located in the 6300 block of South Parnell Avenue and the 6600 block of South Sangamon Street in Chicago. Dravilas acknowledged in his plea agreement that the fair market value of the buildings was $45,000 and $47,000, respectively, and that Standard Bank stood to lose a combined $458,000 from the scam. In addition, as part of his plea agreement, Dravilas acknowledged that he engaged in additional mortgage fraud schemes involving two additional real estate properties in Chicago.
“Mortgage fraud is a crime that affects more than the lenders that funded the loans,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew S. Boutros. “It has a cascading, domino effect on a variety of property owners, neighborhoods, communities and other constituents.”
A co-defendant, BRIDGET HUTCHERSON, 40, of Chicago, pleaded guilty in April to one count of bank fraud. Hutcherson admitted in a plea declaration that she accepted $600 in December 2013 to supply a confidential informant with fraudulent W-2s, check stubs, and earnings statements in the names of the straw buyers. Hutcherson is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Feinerman on Aug. 10, 2015, at 10:30 a.m.
The sentence was announced by Zachary T. Fardon, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Robert J. Holley, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and Brad Geary, Special Agent-in-Charge of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Office of Inspector General in Chicago. HUD-OIG and FBI agents conducted the investigation through the South Suburban Financial Crimes Task Force, which includes the Cook County Sheriff’s Police Department, the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General.
The government is being represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew S. Boutros.
Weirton man sentenced for unlawful possession of firearmsRead the Press Release
WHEELING, WEST VIRGINIA – Michael Northcraft, 42, of Weirton, West Virginia, was sentenced to one year and one day in prison for unlawful possession of firearms, United States Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld, II, announced.
Northcraft was previously convicted in the Circuit Court of Hancock County, West Virginia of the felony offense of “Entering a Building Other than a Dwelling.” As a result of that conviction, he is prohibited from possessing a firearm. He was discovered in possession of multiple firearms in December 2014, including three pistols, one revolver, two shotguns, and two rifles.
Northcraft pled guilty in March 2015 to one count of “Prohibited Person in Possession of a Firearm.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Vogrin prosecuted the case on behalf of the government. The Brooke County Sheriff’s Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated.
U.S. District Judge John Preston Bailey presided.
Waco Businessman Sentenced to Federal Prison for Ponzi SchemeRead the Press Release
In Waco today, Charles D. Jones, 61-year-old owner of Charles D. Jones Capital Management, Inc. (CDJCM), was sentenced to six years in federal prison and ordered to pay $9,329,850.36 restitution for his role in a Ponzi scheme announced Acting United States Attorney Richard L. Durbin, Jr., U.S. Secret Service Special Agent in Charge Kathleen Hickman, Dallas Field Office, and Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw.
On February 19, 2015, Jones pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud. According to court records, CDJCM provided fee-only personalized financial planning and investment management for individuals, trusts, foundations and retirement plans. From 2005 to 2012, the defendant stole money and property from his victim clients and used the stolen proceeds for his own personal benefit. To further perpetuate his Ponzi scheme, the defendant created false account statements and mailed or e-mailed them to his victim clients. Jones also caused fraudulent tax returns to be filed in order to cover up his theft.
This investigation was conducted by the United States Secret Service and the Texas Department of Public Safety Special Crimes Unit. Assistant United States Attorney Greg Gloff prosecuted this case on behalf of the Government.
United States Settles False Claims Act Allegations Against Jacksonville-Based Compounding Pharmacy for More Than $8 MillionRead the Press Release
Jacksonville, Florida – U.S. Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III announces that the United States has settled allegations that a Jacksonville-based compounding pharmacy knowingly billed the government for improper and medically unnecessary compounding pain prescriptions. The allegations resolved included liability under the False Claims Act (FCA).
The government has reached a settlement with the defendant, Blanding Health Mart Pharmacy (“Blanding”). In reaching this settlement, the parties resolved allegations that, from February 9, 2015, to April 13, 2015, Blanding sought reimbursement for compounding pharmaceutical prescriptions that were not medically necessary and were written by physicians that had never actually seen the patients. The government agreed to accept $8,441,107 to resolve these allegations.
“This case was developed as part of a broader effort by our office to identify and target unscrupulous compounding pharmacies,” said U.S. Attorney Bentley. “Since the beginning of the year, we have been focusing on pharmacies that have abused the TRICARE program and defrauded the government.”
"This settlement highlights another step forward by the Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS) and its law enforcement partners to protect the integrity of the Department of Defense (DoD) health care program," said Special Agent in Charge John F. Khin, Southeast Field Office. "Fraud and abuse by pharmacies and medical providers which bill for compounded pain prescriptions is a significant threat to the DoD health care system. TRICARE beneficiaries must be made aware that any medications that are not individually prescribed or dispensed by a bona fide treating physician for a specific medical condition can be ineffective or unsafe."
This settlement illustrates the government’s emphasis on combating health care fraud and marks another achievement for the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT) initiative, which was announced in May 2009 by the Attorney General and the Secretary of Health and Human Services. The partnership between the two departments has focused efforts to reduce and prevent Medicare and Medicaid financial fraud through enhanced cooperation. One of the most powerful tools in this effort is the False Claims Act. Since January 2009, the Justice Department has recovered a total of more than $24 billion through False Claims Act cases, with more than $15.3 billion of that amount recovered in cases involving fraud against federal health care programs.
This case was investigated by the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Defense Health Agency Program Integrity Office, and Assistant United States Attorney Jason Mehta.
The claims resolved by this settlement are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.
Two Northwest Arkansas Sex Offenders Sentenced to Combined 60 Years for Child PornographyRead the Press Release
Fayetteville, Arkansas - Conner Eldridge, United States Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas, announced that Ronald John Griffin, age 47, of Huntsville, Arkansas, and Harry Robinson, age 51, of Springdale, Arkansas, were sentenced today to a combined total of 60 years in federal prison for unrelated sexual crimes involving minors. Griffin was sentenced to 20 years in prison without parole followed by 20 years of supervised release on one count of Distribution of Child Pornography. Robinson was sentenced to 40 years in prison without parole followed by a lifetime of supervised release on one count of Production of Child Pornography. The Honorable Timothy L. Brooks presided over the sentencing hearings in the United States District Court in Fayetteville.
U.S. Attorney Eldridge commented, “Our office is focused on prosecuting individuals that abuse children, create pornography from that abuse, and traffic in images of these children. Such conduct is horrific, despicable, and reprehensible. As a result of their abhorrent conduct in these cases, these two individuals are going off to prison for a very long time, as well they should.”
"These investigations highlight the continued successful partnership between HSI, the Springdale Police Department, and state and local members of the Arkansas Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force," said Cindy M. Johnson, acting special agent in charge of HSI New Orleans. "Identifying and investigating those who prey on innocent children via the Internet will continue to be one of HSI's highest priorities."
Ronald Griffin: According to court records, on January 1, 2015, Griffin contacted an undercover investigator with the Queensland Australia Police Service. Griffin then engaged the undercover officer in sexually explicit conversation, and subsequently emailed the undercover officer multiple images of child pornography. Among the images emailed by Griffin were two videos of a two-year-old child being sexually assaulted by an adult male. This information was sent to Homeland Security Investigations in Northwest Arkansas. On January 5, 2015, Homeland Security Agents executed a search warrant at the Madison County residence of Ronald Griffin, and at that time, Griffin admitted to setting up and utilizing the suspected email account which had been used to email the images of child pornography to the undercover investigator. In April of this year, Griffin pleaded guilty to distributing child pornography. At sentencing, the Government presented the Court with evidence that at the time of this offense, Griffin was required to register as a sex offender due to a previous state conviction related to Possessing Child Pornography.
Harry Robinson: According to court records, in October, 2014, the Springdale Police Department began investigating Robinson for secretly video-recording a minor while she showered. During the investigation, the Springdale Police department executed a search warrant on Robinson’s home. While executing the search warrant, officers confiscated an Olympus Digital Camera and a PNY brand flash drive. During a subsequent forensic examination of the flash drive, law enforcement discovered multiple nude images of minor females that were taken by Robinson at his residence. The images included minors from eight (8) years of age to approximately 14 years of age. At the time of this offense, Robinson was required to register as a sex offender due to a previous state conviction for Sexual Misconduct involving a minor.
These cases were investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, the Springdale Police Department, and the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force of Northwest Arkansas. Assistant United States Attorney Dustin Roberts prosecuted the cases for the United States.
The cases were brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and their Criminal Division Child Exploitation and Obscenity Sections (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
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Related court documents may be found on the Public Access to Electronic Records website @ www.pacer.gov
Two California Men Arrested on Federal Conspiracy Charges in the Eastern District of Missouri for Distributing Drugs via a Commercial Air CarrierRead the Press Release
St. Louis, MO – Two California men were arrested this morning in Los Angeles on charges of conspiring to import and distribute methamphetamine and cocaine into the St. Louis area via the commercial airlines. A third man remains at large.
POE PURCELL, CHALAMAR SCHULTZ TUIPELEHAK and FRANCIS FROST were indicted by a federal grand jury on July 8, 2015, on multiple felony counts, including conspiracy to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine, conspiracy to distribute 5 kilograms or more of cocaine and conspiracy to enter secured area of airport under false pretenses. Purcell and Tuipelehake were arrested in California and are awaiting court appearances. Frost remains at large and is being sought.
According to the indictment, Purcell began working as an American Airlines Cargo Fleet Service Clerk at Los Angeles International Airport in 2001. During the course of the conspiracy, including the time period between February and May 2015, Tuipelehake arranged for California drug traffickers to transport illegal controlled substances from Los Angeles, California, on commercial airliners using Purcell’s position with the airlines to avoid detection and facilitate the transport. Frost’s role involved retrieving the suitcases containing the drugs.
If convicted, these charges carry penalties ranging from ten years to life. In determining the actual sentences, a judge is required to consider the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, which provide recommended sentencing ranges.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Drug Enforcement Administration.
As is always the case, charges set forth in an indictment are merely accusations and do not constitute proof of guilt. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Three Owners and CEO of Falls Church Based Contracting Company Indicted in National Guard Bribery CaseRead the Press Release
ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Three owners and the CEO of a government contracting company headquartered in Falls Church, Virginia – all of whom are retired Army National Guard colonels – were indicted today for their alleged participation in a scheme to bribe an active-duty Army National Guard colonel in order to obtain millions of dollars of Army National Guard marketing, retention and recruitment contracts.
“These criminal charges reflect our continued commitment to rooting out public corruption wherever it occurs,” said Dana J. Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. “The public contracting process should be one of integrity and fairness, and these cases should send a strong message that public corruption will be vigorously prosecuted in the military as well as other areas of government.”
“As alleged in the indictment, four retired colonels have been charged with using their corporate marketing firm to funnel bribe payments to high-ranking accomplices in the Army National Guard to corruptly obtain lucrative marketing contracts,” said Leslie Caldwell, Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “This case is emblematic of the Criminal Division’s ongoing efforts to root out corruption wherever it may be found, including at the highest ranks of our armed services.”
“The FBI’s top criminal priority is investigating and stopping corrupt officials and the organizations they do business with,” said Andrew G. McCabe, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office. “These indictments outline a significant bribery scheme that undermined a fair government contracting process.”
“The actions of the defendants have brought them dishonor and erode confidence in the integrity of a contracting process intended to support their fellow citizen soldiers,” said Paul Sternal, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS) Mid-Atlantic Field Office. “The Defense Criminal Investigative Service, alongside its law enforcement partners and the U.S. Attorney's Office, remain vigilant and committed to bringing individuals who subvert the acquisition system to justice.”
“Today's indictment illustrates our commitment and cooperation shared between law enforcement agencies investigating this type of corruption and bribery,” said Frank Robey, Director of the U.S. Army Criminal Investigative Command’s Major Procurement Fraud Unit (Army-CID). “It is unconscionable how these former military officers betrayed the offices they once held for monetary gain.”
Edwin Stuart Livingston III, 67, of The Villages, Florida; Ronald Joseph Tipa, 68, of Sunny Isles Beach, Florida; Thomas Edward Taylor, 66, of Alexandria; and Ross Bernard DeBlois Sr., 55, of Fairfax Station, Virginia, were indicted by a federal grand jury today with one count of conspiracy to commit bribery, one count of bribery of a public official, one count of conspiracy to commit honest services fraud, and five counts of honest services fraud. Livingston, Tipa and Taylor are owners of a Military Personnel Services Corporation (MPSC). DeBlois is the company’s chief executive officer.
The National Guard Bureau (NGB) is a joint activity of the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD), the state units of the Army National Guard and the Departments of the Army and Air Force. The NGB, whose offices are located in Arlington, Virginia, oversees the distribution of federal funding provided to the Army National Guard and its state units.
The DOD provides millions of dollars of federal funds to the Army National Guard for, among other things, advertising, marketing and sponsorships in order to recruit new members. The NGB then uses these funds to promote the Army National Guard on a national level by entering into marketing contracts.
The indictment charges that Livingston, Tipa, Taylor and DeBlois corrupted the NGB’s contracting process by providing an Army National Guard colonel, Robert Porter, 51, of Columbia, Maryland, with 1 percent of the gross contract amount for all contracts he steered to MPSC.
According to the indictment, Livingston, Tipa and Taylor – along with John Jones, 77, of Stafford, Virginia – were each a 25 percent owner of MPSC and constituted MPSC’s board of directors. The indictment charges that in 2010 or 2011, Livingston and Tipa offered to pay Porter – a then active-duty Colonel in the Army National Guard who held a high level position at the NGB – 1 percent of the gross contract amount of any contracts that he steered to MPSC while he remained in uniform. As part of this alleged corrupt agreement, the 1 percent bribe payment would be paid to Porter only after he retired from the NGB and began working for MPSC, and the payment would be concealed as an “incentive fee” or “bonus” payment in MPSC payroll records.
The indictment charges that throughout 2011 and 2012, in his role as the director of NGB’s Guard Strength Directorate, Porter steered at least three NGB marketing contracts to MPSC, known as the Michael Jordan American Motorcycle Association Motorsports Program, the Trademark Licensing Agency Program contract and the Guard Strength Directorate’s Strength Readiness Support Center Services. These contracts were worth approximately $5.5 million in total, according to the indictment.
MPSC paid Porter his 1 percent bribe payment in three checks: $10,326.50 on July 23, 2015, $10,326.50 on Aug. 19, 2014, and $10,899 on Sept. 10, 2014, according to the indictment.
Porter pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery and bribery of a public official in September 2014. Jones, a retired brigadier general from the New York Army National Guard and founder of MPSC, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery and bribery of a public official in February 2015.
The case was investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office, DCIS’s Mid-Atlantic Field Office and Army-CID’s Major Procurement Fraud Unit. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Fahey, and Trial Attorney Alison L. Anderson of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section.
Individuals with allegations of bribery or corruption within the NGB’s retention and recruitment contracting or at MPSC are encouraged to contact the Criminal Division of the FBI’s Washington, D.C. Field Office at (202) 278–2000.
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.
An indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent until and unless proven guilty in court.
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Three Owners and CEO of Contracting Company Indicted for Bribing Army National Guard ColonelRead the Press Release
Three owners and the CEO of a government contracting company headquartered in Falls Church, Virginia, all of whom are retired Army National Guard colonels, were indicted today for their alleged participation in a scheme to bribe an active-duty Army National Guard colonel in order to obtain millions of dollars of Army National Guard marketing, retention and recruitment contracts.
Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Dana J. Boente of the Eastern District of Virginia, Assistant Director in Charge Andrew G. McCabe of the FBI’s Washington, D.C., Field Office, Acting Special Agent in Charge Paul Sternal of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS) Mid-Atlantic Field Office and Director Frank Robey of the U.S. Army Criminal Investigative Command’s Major Procurement Fraud Unit (Army-CID) made the announcement.
“As alleged in the indictment, four retired colonels have been charged with using their corporate marketing firm to funnel bribe payments to high-ranking accomplices in the Army National Guard to corruptly obtain lucrative marketing contracts,” said Assistant Attorney General Caldwell. “This case is emblematic of the Criminal Division’s ongoing efforts to root out corruption wherever it may be found, including at the highest ranks of our armed services.”
“These criminal charges reflect our continued commitment to rooting out public corruption wherever it occurs,” said U.S. Attorney Boente. “The public contracting process should be one of integrity and fairness, and these cases should send a strong message that public corruption will be vigorously prosecuted in the military as well as other areas of government.”
“The FBI’s top criminal priority is investigating and stopping corrupt officials and the organizations they do business with,” said Assistant Director in Charge McCabe. “These indictments outline a significant bribery scheme that undermined a fair government contracting process.”
“The actions of the defendants have brought them dishonor and erode confidence in the integrity of a contracting process intended to support their fellow citizen soldiers,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Sternal. “The Defense Criminal Investigative Service, alongside its law enforcement partners and the U.S. Attorney's Office, remain vigilant and committed to bringing individuals who subvert the acquisition system to justice.”
“Today's indictment illustrates our commitment and cooperation shared between law enforcement agencies investigating this type of corruption and bribery,” said Director Robey. “It is unconscionable how these former military officers betrayed the offices they once held for monetary gain.”
Edwin Stuart Livingston III, 67, of The Villages, Florida; Ronald Joseph Tipa, 68, of Sunny Isles Beach, Florida; Thomas Edward Taylor, 66, of Alexandria, Virginia; and Ross Bernard DeBlois Sr., 55, of Fairfax Station, Virginia, are each charged by indictment with one count of conspiracy to commit bribery, one count of bribery of a public official, one count of conspiracy to commit honest services fraud and five counts of honest services fraud.
According to the indictment, Livingston, Tipa, Taylor and John Jones, 77, a retired brigadier general from the New York Army National Guard, each owned 25 percent of MPSC and constituted MPSC’s Board of Directors. DeBlois was the company’s CEO.
The National Guard Bureau (NGB) is a joint activity of the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD), the state units of the Army National Guard and the Departments of the Army and Air Force. The NGB oversees the distribution of federal funding provided to the Army National Guard and its state units.
The DOD provides millions of dollars in federal funds to the NGB for, among other things, advertising, marketing and sponsorships in order to recruit new Army National Guard members. The NGB then uses these funds to promote the Army National Guard on a national level by entering into marketing contracts.
According to the allegations in the indictment, in 2010 or 2011, Livingston and Tipa offered Robert Porter, 50, who then was an active-duty colonel in the Army National Guard who held a high-level position at the NGB, a deal in which MPSC would pay Porter 1 percent of the value of all contracts he steered to MPSC. The indictment alleges that Porter was to receive the bribe payment after he retired from the NGB and began working for MPSC, and that the payment was to be concealed as an “incentive fee” or “bonus” payment in MPSC payroll records.
According to the indictment, during 2011 and 2012, Porter allegedly steered at least three NGB marketing contracts to MPSC, which were worth a total of approximately $5.5 million. The indictment alleges that, during a July 2014 meeting of MPSC’s board of directors, DeBlois confirmed that three contracts were awarded to MPSC while Porter was “in uniform.” Thereafter, Livingston, Tipa, Taylor and Jones allegedly unanimously voted to make the promised bribe payment to Porter. The indictment further alleges that, between July and September 2014, MPSC made three payments to Porter, each for over $10,000.
In September 2014, Porter pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery and bribery of a public official, and in February 2015, Jones pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery and bribery of a public official in connection with this scheme.
The charges and allegations contained in the indictment are merely accusations. The defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
The case was investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office, DCIS Mid-Atlantic Field Office and Army-CID’s Major Procurement Fraud Unit. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Alison L. Anderson of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Fahey of the Eastern District of Virginia.
Individuals with information regarding bribery or corruption within the NGB’s retention and recruitment contracting process or at MPSC should contact the FBI’s Washington Field Office at (202) 278–2000.
MPSC Indictment
Three Oklahoma City Men Sentenced in Aggravated Identity Theft and Counterfeit Check Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma –RICKY AURELL LINDSEY, 45, CHRISTOPHER TROY VICK, 44, and JUSTIN DANIEL ALSEPT, 24, all from Oklahoma City, have been sentenced for their roles in an aggravated identity theft and counterfeit check fraud scheme, announced Sanford C. Coats, United States Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma.
According to court records, from October 2013 through July 2014, the three men stole mail from mailboxes to obtain private banking information and also stole wallets to obtain drivers’ licenses and social security cards. Lindsey, Vick, and Alsept then used the stolen information to manufacture counterfeit checks, with which they purchased merchandise and gift cards at retail stores throughout the Oklahoma City area. They later returned some of the purchased merchandise for a cash refund.
On October 22, 2014, the three men were indicted. On January 7, 2014, all three pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit access device fraud; Lindsey and Vick also pleaded guilty to aggravated identity theft.
On May 13, 2015, Alsept was sentenced to serve 30 months in prison. On June 25, 2015, Lindsey was sentenced to serve 75 months in prison. On July 14, 2015, Vick was ordered to serve 64 months in prison. All three men were ordered to serve three years of supervised release following their release from prison and pay $221,203.07 in restitution to victims.
This sentence is the result of an investigation conducted by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Julia E. Barry.
Reference is made to court filings for further information.
Settlement with Interstate Power and Light to Reduce Emissions from Iowa Power Plants, Fund Projects to Benefit Environment and CommunitiesRead the Press Release
CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA — In a settlement announced today by the Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Interstate Power and Light, a subsidiary of Alliant Energy, has agreed to install pollution control technology and meet stringent emission rates to reduce harmful air pollution from the company’s seven coal-fired power plants in Iowa. The settlement also requires Interstate Power and Light to spend a total of $6 million on environmental mitigation projects and pay a civil penalty of $1.1 million to resolve alleged violations of the Clean Air Act. Linn County, Iowa, the state of Iowa and the Sierra Club join the United States as co-plaintiffs in the case.
“This settlement is a victory for air quality and public health in Iowa,” said Assistant Attorney General John C. Cruden for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “This agreement will cover all of Interstate’s coal-burning facilities in Iowa, requiring new pollution cutting technology and environmental projects to enhance air quality in surrounding communities, among other lasting benefits.”
“The emissions reductions required by this settlement will lead to cleaner air and significant environmental and public health benefits for Iowans," said U.S. Attorney Kevin W. Techau for the Northern District of Iowa. “This settlement will eliminate thousands of tons of harmful air pollution each year significantly improving air quality in Iowa and throughout the Midwest. The agreement demonstrates the Department of Justice’s strong efforts, along with EPA, to bring large sources of air pollution into compliance with the Clean Air Act.”
“To serve the communities in which they operate, power plants must protect clean air for those living nearby,” said Cynthia Giles, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. “This case delivers on the goals of EPA’s national enforcement initiative to reduce air pollution from the largest sources. By installing new equipment and funding mitigation projects, Interstate Power & Light can help conserve energy and cut pollution in communities across Iowa.”
Under the settlement, Interstate Power and Light will install and continuously operate new and existing pollution control technology at its two largest plants in Lansing and Ottumwa, Iowa, and will retire or convert to cleaner-burning natural gas its remaining five plants in Burlington, Cedar Rapids, Clinton, Dubuque, and Marshalltown, Iowa. The new, state-of-the-art pollution controls required by the settlement are expected to cost approximately $620 million. EPA estimates that the settlement will reduce sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions by 32,500 tons per year and nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions by 3,800 tons per year once the settlement is fully implemented.
Interstate Power and Light will also be required to spend $6 million on environmental mitigation projects. The company will choose from five potential projects, including solar energy and anaerobic digester installations, replacing coal-fired boilers at schools with lower-emission equipment, an alternative fuel vehicle replacement program and a residential program to change out wood burning stoves and fireplaces.
SO2 and NOx, two predominant pollutants emitted from power plants, have numerous adverse effects on human health and are significant contributors to acid rain, smog and haze. These pollutants are converted in the air to particulate matter that can cause severe respiratory and cardiovascular impacts and premature death.
This settlement is part of EPA’s national enforcement initiative to control harmful emissions from large sources of pollution, which includes coal-fired power plants, under the Clean Air Act’s New Source Review requirements. The total combined SO2 and NOx emission reductions secured from all these settlements will exceed 2 million tons each year once all the required pollution controls have been installed and implemented.
The settlement was filed with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District Court of Iowa for 30 days to allow for public comment. The company is required to pay the penalty within 30 days after the court approves the settlement.
More on the settlement: http://www.justice.gov/enrd/consent-decrees.
More information about EPA’s enforcement initiative: http://www.epa.gov/compliance/data/planning/initiatives/2011airpollution.html
Court file information is available at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. The case file number is C15-0061.
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Settlement with Interstate Power and Light to Reduce Emissions from Iowa Power Plants, Fund Projects to Benefit Environment and CommunitiesRead the Press Release
In a settlement announced today by the Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Interstate Power and Light, a subsidiary of Alliant Energy, has agreed to install pollution control technology and meet stringent emission rates to reduce harmful air pollution from the company’s seven coal-fired power plants in Iowa. The settlement also requires Interstate Power and Light to spend a total of $6 million on environmental mitigation projects and pay a civil penalty of $1.1 million to resolve alleged violations of the Clean Air Act. Linn County, Iowa, the state of Iowa and the Sierra Club join the United States as co-plaintiffs in the case.
“This settlement is a victory for air quality and public health in Iowa,” said Assistant Attorney General John C. Cruden for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “This agreement will cover all of Interstate’s coal-burning facilities in Iowa, requiring new pollution cutting technology and environmental projects to enhance air quality in surrounding communities, among other lasting benefits.”
“The emissions reductions required by this settlement will lead to cleaner air and significant environmental and public health benefits for Iowans," said U.S. Attorney Kevin W. Techau for the Northern District of Iowa. “This settlement will eliminate thousands of tons of harmful air pollution each year significantly improving air quality in Iowa and throughout the Midwest. The agreement demonstrates the Department of Justice’s strong efforts, along with EPA, to bring large sources of air pollution into compliance with the Clean Air Act.”
“To serve the communities in which they operate, power plants must protect clean air for those living nearby,” said Assistant Administrator Cynthia Giles for EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. “This case delivers on the goals of EPA’s national enforcement initiative to reduce air pollution from the largest sources. By installing new equipment and funding mitigation projects, Interstate Power and Light can help conserve energy and cut pollution in communities across Iowa.”
Under the settlement, Interstate Power and Light will install and continuously operate new and existing pollution control technology at its two largest plants in Lansing and Ottumwa, Iowa and will retire or convert to cleaner-burning natural gas its remaining five plants in Burlington, Cedar Rapids, Clinton, Dubuque and Marshalltown, Iowa. The new, state-of-the-art pollution controls required by the settlement are expected to cost approximately $620 million. EPA estimates that the settlement will reduce sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions by 32,500 tons per year and nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions by 3,800 tons per year once the settlement is fully implemented.
Interstate Power and Light will also be required to spend $6 million on environmental mitigation projects. The company will choose from five potential projects, including solar energy and anaerobic digester installations, replacing coal-fired boilers at schools with lower-emission equipment, an alternative fuel vehicle replacement program and a residential program to change out wood burning stoves and fireplaces.
SO2 and NOx, two predominant pollutants emitted from power plants, have numerous adverse effects on human health and are significant contributors to acid rain, smog and haze. These pollutants are converted in the air to particulate matter that can cause severe respiratory and cardiovascular impacts and premature death.
This settlement is part of EPA’s national enforcement initiative to control harmful emissions from large sources of pollution, which includes coal-fired power plants, under the Clean Air Act’s New Source Review requirements. The total combined SO2 and NOx emission reductions secured from all these settlements will exceed 2 million tons each year once all the required pollution controls have been installed and implemented.
The settlement was filed with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District Court of Iowa for 30 days to allow for public comment. The company is required to pay the penalty within 30 days after the court approves the settlement.
More on the settlement: http://www.justice.gov/enrd/consent-decrees
More information about EPA’s enforcement initiative: http://www.epa.gov/compliance/data/planning/initiatives/2011airpollution.html
Sandusky man faces charges related to fraudulent invoicesRead the Press Release
A criminal information was filed against charging a Sandusky man with conspiracy and wire fraud for allegedly submitting fraudulent invoices, said Steven M. Dettelbach, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, and Stephen D. Anthony, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Cleveland office.
Robert A. Bellamy, 43, worked at an auto dealership. He conspired with someone identified in the charges only as MKC. This person was a regular customer at the dealership where Bellamy worked, according to the information.
MKC was responsible for managing Castalia Farms, a recreational facility then owned by Owens-Illinois, Inc. The company equipped Castalia Farms with several automobiles, which MKC had serviced at the dealership where Bellamy worked, according to the information.
Bellamy, MKC and others devised a scheme to defraud Owens-Illinois in which Bellamy created invoices for vehice repairs that never occurred, repairs on vehicles owned by MKC, his family or his friends and auto parts never installed in vehicles owned by Owens-Illinois. Bellamy submitted the invoices to through his employer to MKC and Castalia Farms, and Owens-Illinois paid the fraudulent invoices, according to the information.
The investigation is ongoing.
If convicted, the defendant’s sentence will be determined by the Court after reviewing factors unique to this case, including the defendant’s prior criminal record, if any, the defendant’s role in the offense and the characteristics of the violation. In all cases the sentence will not exceed the statutory maximum and in most cases it will be less than the maximum.
The investigating agency in this case is the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Sandusky, Ohio. The case is being handled by Assistant United States Attorney Gene Crawford.
An information is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. Defendants are entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Russian National Sentenced to 24 Months in Prison for Online Wire Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
BOSTON – A Russian man known by the online nickname “Joga” was sentenced today for his role in an online fraud scheme that used stolen credit and debit card information to acquire more than $650,000 in consumer goods.
Alexey Svetlichnyy, 32, a Russian citizen living in Tewksbury, Mass., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Allison D. Burroughs to 24 months in prison. Additionally, Svetlichnyy was ordered to forfeit more than $425,000 in United States currency, along with a Lexus and other high-end consumer goods he obtained through the scheme. In March 2015, Svetlichnyy pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit wire fraud
According to court documents, Svetlichnyy and others obtained stolen credit and debit card data and related accountholder information using online forums dedicated to the trafficking of stolen information.
Svetlichnyy and his co-conspirators used the stolen data to make online purchases of numerous goods, including Apple iPads, Samsung cell phones, laptop computers, servers, computer processors, scuba diving equipment, high-end camera lenses, and water filtration equipment. They also used the stolen data to make online purchases of stored value cards issued by or on behalf of American Express, Visa, Budget Rental Car, Frontier Airlines, Macy’s and other retailers.
When making these online purchases, Svetlichnyy, along with his co-conspirators, frequently used the names and billing addresses associated with the stolen data, but then shipped the goods and stored value cards to addresses that Svetlichnyy controlled.
To avoid detection, Svetlichnyy and his co-conspirators utilized Russian language social networks to recruit accomplices, who were paid to receive these stolen consumer goods and re-ship the items to addresses controlled by Svetlichnyy in Chelmsford and North Reading, Mass., among other places. These addresses were primarily private commercial mailboxes that Svetlichnyy opened in the name of a Delaware company, Micaxr, LLC (Micaxr).
From March 2010 to October 2013, Svetlichnyy sold the stolen consumer goods and stored value cards for more than $427,000 on eBay. Svetlichnyy and his co-conspirators then wired a portion of the criminal proceeds overseas, including to Russian bank accounts.
United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Lisa Quinn, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Secret Service, Boston Field Office; Vincent B. Lisi, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; and Bruce M. Foucart, Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations in Boston, made the announcement today. Ortiz also thanked the U.S. Secret Service’s Cyber Investigative Section and the Tewksbury Police Department for their involvement in the investigation that led to today’s sentencing.
The case was prosecuted by Seth B. Kosto of Ortiz’s Cybercrime Unit and Eric Christofferson of Ortiz’s Economic Crimes Unit.
Rochester Radiologist Pleads Guilty to Defrauding Health Insurance ProgramsRead the Press Release
CONTACT: Barbara Burns
PHONE: (716) 843-5817
FAX: (716) 551-3051
ROCHESTER, N.Y.-U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul Jr. announced today that Thomas F. Stephenson, MD, 72, of Rochester, NY, pleaded guilty to committing health care fraud before U.S. District Judge Frank P. Geraci. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.Assistant U.S. Attorney John J. Field, who is handling the case, stated that Stephenson, a radiologist, owned and operated Westside Imaging in Rochester. From January 2007 to April 2010, the defendant engaged in a scheme to defraud Excellus Health, MVP Health and Medicare by double-billing certain x-rays. In total, Stephenson fraudulently sought reimbursements of approximately $135,961.77.
“It is an unfortunate fact that fraud directed at our health care system results in greater costs for everyone, including taxpayers,” said U.S. Attorney Hochul. “As this case demonstrates, law enforcement will vigorously investigate such fraud and will prosecute anyone – including doctors – found to have perpetrated the crime.”
The plea is the result of an investigation by Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Sentencing is scheduled for November 6, 2015, at 3:00 p.m. before Judge Geraci.
Raleigh Man Previously Charged with the Manufacturing of Child Pornography Pleads GuiltyRead the Press Release
NEW BERN – United States Attorney Thomas G. Walker announced that in federal court today WILLIAM TOWNER AKERS of Raleigh, North Carolina, pled guilty before United States Magistrate Judge Robert B. Jones, Jr., to one count of manufacturing child pornography, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2251(a)and (d).
According to the investigation, On January 5, 2014, a state search warrant was executed at Bailey Joe and Elizabeth Mills’ residence and several laptop computers, external hard drives and cellphones were seized. A subsequent computer forensics examination of the seized items located several homemade videos taken by the Mills. The Mills have previously pled guilty and been sentenced for Manufacturing Child Pornography. The videos show AKERS sexually molesting an eight year old female in August 2013. On March 10, 2015, a federal complaint charging “John Doe aka Peter Gilbert” with conspiracy to manufacture Child Pornography was obtained. AKERS was later identified as the perpetrator and arrested on March 12, 2015 after several tipline callers identified him. AKERS was the IT manager for a company located in Raleigh.
At sentencing, set for the October 2015, term of court AKERS faces up to 30 years imprisonment.
The criminal investigation of this case was conducted by the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations – Raleigh, the Harnett County Sheriff’s Office, and the Raleigh Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Ethan A. Ontjes is handling the prosecution on behalf of the Eastern District of North Carolina.
This case was part of the Project Safe Childhood initiative, a national program aimed at ensuring that criminals exploiting children are effectively prosecuted by making full use of all available law enforcement resources at every level. For more information about this important national project, Project Safe Childhood, go to www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
Prison Inmate Found Guilty of Conspiracy to Threaten WitnessRead the Press Release
HARRISBURG – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that a federal jury in Harrisburg today found Nicholas I. Stanishia, age 45, an Ohio prison inmate, guilty of conspiracy to transmit a threat to injure a central Pennsylvania witness who had testified against him. The case was tried before U.S. District Court Judge John E. Jones, III. Sentencing is deferred pending the preparation of a presentence report.
Co-defendants Marcia J. Weber, age 46, of Loveland, Ohio, and Martin Jay Wilson, age 43, of Kansas City, Missouri, both pled guilty to the conspiracy in April 2015. Jody Six, age 40 and Anthony Vaughn, age 41, both Ohio inmates, pled guilty to the conspiracy in July 2015. Sentencing dates have not been scheduled.
According to U.S. Attorney Peter Smith, the evidence presented by Assistant United States Attorney Daryl Bloom at the three-day trial established that Stanishia, while serving a sentence of life imprisonment plus 23 years at the Southeastern Correctional Institution in Lancaster, Ohio, for a murder conviction, developed an intimate relationship with clinical psychologist Marcia Weber who helped orchestrate Stanishia’s release from prison by attempting to get the sole witness who identified Stanishia at his Ohio murder trial to recant his trial testimony.
The surviving witness was also shot during the murder but was able to flee. Stanishia was able to escape and was captured three years later and tried for the murder. Stanishia was also convicted of a rape and burglary committed while on the run. He was sentenced to 54 years’ imprisonment for this offense.
Stanishia and Weber met in an Ohio correctional facility where he was participating in a work release program. Weber hired a private investigator to help obtain information about the witness, including where he and his wife lived, where he worked, and information about his children and other immediate family. Stanishia and Weber then hired Wilson to travel from Missouri to Pennsylvania, where Wilson rented a car, drove to the witness’s house near Harrisburg and placed a gas can filled with water at the witness’s porch.
Stanishia, with the help of Six and Vaughn - both other inmates - used a smuggled-in cellular telephone to contact the witness to get the victim/witness to sign an affidavit prepared by Stanishia. Stanishia stated in the call that the next time the gas can would not be filled with water. Stanishia referenced the gas can as a message to the victim conveying his ability to reach the witness even while imprisoned in Ohio. Stanishia used the address of the victim’s sister on the envelope that contained the mailed affidavit and mentioned the victim’s wife by name during the call to show his extensive knowledge of the victim and his family. In addition, during the call Stanishia claimed to be a high ranking member of the Aryan Brotherhood and that his release was being orchestrated by the Aryan Brotherhood. The contacts with the witness were subsequently reported to law enforcement agencies. Many of the phone calls were recorded at the prison and played during the trial.
Stanishia testified on his own behalf at the trial, admitting that he participated in the scheme but denying that he actually intended to threaten the witness. The jury found him guilty of all three charges in the Indictment.
This case was a collaborative effort between the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Field Offices in Philadelphia (Harrisburg RA), Cincinnati, and Columbus, Ohio, the Hampden Township Police Department, the Lower Paxton Police Department, the Ohio State Highway Patrol, and Investigators from the Southeastern Correctional Institution in Ohio.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Daryl F. Bloom.
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Owners of the Lawman Gun Shop SentencedRead the Press Release
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – María Del Carmen Rivera-Negrón and Julio Colón-Santiago, owners of Lawman Gun Shop, were sentenced to 24 months and 36 months in prison, respectively, for unlawful production of an identification document, specifically, a Puerto Rico Concealed Carry Weapons Permit announced Rosa Emilia Rodríguez-Vélez, United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico. The defendants pled guilty on August 11, 2014.
On or about the 21st day of May, 2012, in the District of Puerto Rico, the defendants aiding and abetting others, did willfully and knowingly cause, without lawful authority, production of identification documents, authentication features, and false identification documents, to wit, a Commonwealth of Puerto Rico Concealed Carry Weapons Permit under Weapons Permit Number XX129, with the help of Attorney and Notary Public Antonio Peluzzo-Perotin.
María Del Carmen Rivera-Negrón and Julio Colón-Santiago co-owned The Lawman Gun Shop, a federally licensed firearms (FFL) dealer. Using their positions, the defendants participated in a scheme to have Commonwealth of Puerto Rico Concealed Carry Weapons Permits issued without compliance with applicable law. Defendants’ scheme involved over 250 victims and more than $1,000,000 in losses, some to the Puerto Rico Department of Treasury.
Defendants used their special skills as owners of an armory and federally licensed firearms dealers in order to carry out the scheme. The Board of Directors of Rivera Pagán & Asociados, Inc., d/b/a The Lawman Gun Shop also authorized a guilty plea on behalf of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico Corporation.
María Del Carmen Rivera-Negrón, Julio Colón-Santiago, and Rivera Pagán & Asociados, Inc., d/b/a The Lawman Gun Shop admitted that the scheme permitted unqualified individuals to carry firearms without being properly vetted under the law thereby circumventing the statutory, judicial, and bureaucratic processes for obtaining a Puerto Rico Concealed Carry Weapons Permit.
“As federally licensed firearms dealers and gun shop owners, the defendants were placed in a unique position of trust by both local and federal authorities,” said Rosa Emilia Rodríguez-Vélez, U.S. Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico. “They were entrusted with ensuring that guns were placed only in the hands of those who should have them under the law. The defendants traded and abused that trust -- for cash. That is simply wrong, especially on our island where gun violence is a continuing concern.”
Former attorney Antonio M. Peluzzo-Perotin was sentenced on March 25, 2015, to 90 months in prison, and three years of supervised release. Julio Medina-Mojica, former President of the Humacao Shooting Range, was sentenced to 27 months in prison.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Puerto Rico Police Department (PRPD) are in charge of the investigation. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys José Capó-Iriarte and Luke Cass.
New York Man Sentenced to 10 Months for Credit Card FraudRead the Press Release
Contact: Halsey B. Frank
Assistant United States Attorney
Tel: (207) 780-3257Portland, Maine: United States Attorney Thomas E. Delahanty II announced that Gyadeen P. Ramdihall, 28, of Bronx, New York, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court by Judge D. Brock Hornby to 10 months in prison and three years of supervised release for conspiracy to commit access device fraud. He was also ordered to pay $17,987.56 in restitution. Ramdihall pleaded guilty on January 29, 2015.
According to court documents, on about September 4, 2013, Ramdihall, Jervis Hillaire and a third person travelled from New York to Maine with 38 credit, debit and gift cards that were counterfeit or fraudulently altered. In Maine, the three used cards to purchase gift cards and electronic devices from vendors including, among others, Best Buy, Apple, Target and Walmart. On October 10, 2013, an Ohio State Trooper stopped Ramdihall for speeding. Hillaire was his passenger. A total of 17 fraudulent access device cards in Hillaire’s name were found in the trunk of the vehicle under the spare tire. On January 24, 2014, the Biddeford Police stopped Ramdihall near the Walmart store in Biddeford. Hillaire was again his passenger. Ramdihall was arrested for driving with a suspended license; Hillaire was arrested for providing a false identity. Police discovered eight fraudulent access device cards in Hillaire’s boot.
In pronouncing sentence, Judge Hornby observed that the use of false credit cards was a serious problem, that he was concerned that Ramdihall did not understand the seriousness of his situation and that a sentence that would provide deterrence was required.
The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Secret Service, the Kittery and Biddeford Police Departments and the Ohio State Police.
New Orleans Man Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy Related to Falsifying Records for Gun PurchaseRead the Press Release
U.S. Attorney Kenneth A. Polite announced that ORONDE GABRIEL, age 30, of New Orleans, pled guilty today to one count of conspiring to falsify ATF records related to the purchase of a firearm.
According to court documents, GABRIEL conspired to assist two other individuals in the purchase of a firearm from Academy Sports in Elmwood on June 9, 2013. GABRIEL was a previously convicted felon and prohibited from buying a firearm. The individual who purchased the firearm falsified an ATF form regarding the true ownership of the firearm, which is a federal offense.
GABRIEL faces a maximum sentence of five years imprisonment, followed by 3 years of supervised release, and a maximum fine of $250,000. U.S. District Judge Sarah S. Vance set sentencing on November 18, 2015.
U.S. Attorney Polite praised the work of the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) led the investigation along with the St. Bernard Sheriff’s Office. Assistant United States Attorney Edward J. Rivera is in charge of the prosecution.
Ordone Gabriel Factual Basis.pdf (350.27 KB)
Navajo Woman from Arizona Sentenced to Probation for Federal Assault and Child Abuse Charges in New MexicoRead the Press Release
ALBUQUERQUE – Bridget Wilson, 22, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation who resides in Sawmill, Ariz., was sentenced this afternoon in federal court in Albuquerque, N.M., to three years of probation for her conviction on assault and child abuse charges.
Wilson was arrested on Feb. 10, 2015, on an indictment charging her with assault resulting in serious bodily injury and abuse of a child. According to the indictment, Wilson committed the offenses on April 4, 2014, within the Navajo Indian Reservation in San Juan County, N.M.
On April 15, 2015, Wilson pled guilty the indictment and admitted that on April 4, 2014, she assaulted the victim, causing the victim to suffer serious bodily injury. She also acknowledged putting the victim, who was under the age of 18 years, in a situation that endangered the victim’s life or health.
This case was investigated by the Shiprock office of the Navajo Nation Division of Public Safety, and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle T. Nayback.
Meridian Residents Plead Guilty to Stolen Identity Refund FraudRead the Press Release
Jackson, Miss - Joyce Knight, 38, and Daniel Kelley, 41, both of Meridian, pled guilty on Monday, July 13, 2015 to filing false claims for payment against the United States for their roles in using stolen identities to file false federal income tax returns, announced U.S. Attorney Gregory K. Davis and IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge Jerome R. McDuffie.
According to the evidence produced at the plea hearing, Kelley stole the names, social security numbers and dates of birth of inmates from 2009 through 2011 at the Greene County Correctional Facility and Central Mississippi Correctional Facility, while he was incarcerated at each prison. Kelley wrote down the stolen information in books he kept in his cell, including inside his Bible, and he would pass the information to Knight via cell phone which he had access to in prison. During the course of the scheme, 27 fraudulent federal income tax returns were filed, which resulted in the United States Treasury paying out $16,000 in bogus tax returns.
"Those who file false tax refund claims using stolen identities threaten the integrity of our federal income tax system and pose a real danger to the security of the individuals whose identities are stolen," said U.S. Attorney Gregory K. Davis. "Citizens of this district should know we are dedicated to prosecuting individuals like these and to deterring similar crimes."
Special Agent in Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation Jerome R. McDuffie stated: "Joyce Knight and Daniel Kelley have accepted responsibility for their actions, and we are pleased that they will now be held accountable for their wrongdoings. The sentencing in this matter now rests with the court. The Special Agents of IRS Criminal Investigation will continue to assist the United States Attorney’s Office and work toward a favorable conclusion which would ensure that this case serves as a deterrent to other unscrupulous individuals who would attempt to victimize the taxpaying citizens of this country."
Knight and Kelley will be sentenced on September 24, 2015 at 9:30 and 10:00 am respectively, by United States District Court Judge Henry T. Wingate. They each face a maximum penalty of up to five years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and restitution in the amount of $16,000. Kelley, who also pled guilty to aggravated identity theft, will also receive a mandatory sentence of two years in prison that will run consecutive to the sentence imposed for his conviction for filing false claims.
This case was investigated by IRS Criminal Investigation and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott Gilbert.
Major Computer Hacking Forum DismantledRead the Press Release
As Part of Coordinated Law Enforcement Efforts in 20 Countries, United States Charges 12 Defendants in Connection with Computer Fraud Conspiracy
The computer hacking forum known as Darkode was dismantled, and criminal charges have been filed in the Western District of Pennsylvania and elsewhere against 12 individuals associated with the forum, announced Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney David J. Hickton of the Western District of Pennsylvania and Deputy Director Mark F. Giuliano of the FBI.
“Hackers and those who profit from stolen information use underground Internet forums to evade law enforcement and target innocent people around the world,” said Assistant Attorney General Caldwell. “This operation is a great example of what international law enforcement can accomplish when we work closely together to neutralize a global cybercrime marketplace.”
“Of the roughly 800 criminal internet forums worldwide, Darkode represented one of the gravest threats to the integrity of data on computers in the United States and around the world and was the most sophisticated English-speaking forum for criminal computer hackers in the world,” said U.S. Attorney Hickton. “Through this operation, we have dismantled a cyber hornets’ nest of criminal hackers which was believed by many, including the hackers themselves, to be impenetrable.”
“This is a milestone in our efforts to shut down criminals’ ability to buy, sell, and trade malware, botnets and personally identifiable information used to steal from U.S. citizens and individuals around the world,” said Deputy Director Giuliano. “Cyber criminals should not have a safe haven to shop for the tools of their trade and Operation Shrouded Horizon shows we will do all we can to disrupt their unlawful activities.”
As alleged in the charging documents, Darkode was an online, password-protected forum in which hackers and other cyber-criminals convened to buy, sell, trade and share information, ideas, and tools to facilitate unlawful intrusions on others’ computers and electronic devices. Before becoming a member of Darkode, prospective members were allegedly vetted through a process in which an existing member invited a prospective member to the forum for the purpose of presenting the skills or products that he or she could bring to the group. Darkode members allegedly used each other’s skills and products to infect computers and electronic devices of victims around the world with malware and, thereby gain access to, and control over, those devices.
The takedown of the forum and the charges announced today are the result of the FBI’s infiltration, as part of Operation Shrouded Horizon, of the Darkode’s membership. The investigation of the Darkode forum is ongoing, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Western District of Pennsylvania is taking a leadership role in conjunction with the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS).
The charges announced today are part of a coordinated effort by a coalition of law enforcement authorities from 20 nations to charge, arrest or search 70 Darkode members and associates around the world. The nations comprising the coalition include Australia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Israel, Latvia, Macedonia, Nigeria, Romania, Serbia, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States. Today’s actions represent the largest coordinated international law enforcement effort ever directed at an online cyber-criminal forum.
The following defendants face charges in the Western District of Pennsylvania:
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Johan Anders Gudmunds, aka Mafi aka Crim aka Synthet!c, 27, of Sollebrunn, Sweden, is charged by indictment with conspiracy to commit computer fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. He is accused of serving as the administrator of Darkode, and creating and selling malware that allowed hackers to create botnets.Gudmunds also allegedly operated his own botnet, which at times consisted of more than 50,000 computers, and used his botnet to steal data from the users of those computers on approximately 200,000,000 occasions.
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Morgan C. Culbertson, aka Android, 20, of Pittsburgh, is charged by criminal information with conspiring to send malicious code. He is accused of designing Dendroid, a coded malware intended to remotely access, control, and steal data from Google Android cellphones. The malware was allegedly offered for sale on Darkode.
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Eric L. Crocker, aka Phastman, 29, of Binghamton, New York, is charged by criminal information with sending spam.He is accused of being involved in a scheme involving the use of a Facebook Spreader which infected Facebook users’ computers, turning them into bots which Crocker controlled through the use of command and control servers. Crocker sold the use of this botnet to others for the purpose of sending out massive amounts of spam.
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Naveed Ahmed, aka Nav aka semaph0re, 27, of Tampa, Florida; Phillip R. Fleitz, aka Strife, 31, of Indianapolis; and Dewayne Watts, aka m3t4lh34d aka metal, 28, of Hernando, Florida, are each charged by criminal information with conspiring to send spam. They are accused of participating in a sophisticated scheme to maintain a spam botnet that utilized bulletproof servers in China to exploit vulnerable routers in third world countries, and that sent millions of electronic mail messages designed to defeat the spam filters of cellular phone providers.
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Murtaza Saifuddin, aka rzor, 29, of Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan, is charged in an indictment with identity theft.Saifuddin is accused of attempting to transfer credit card numbers to others on Darkode.
The following defendant faces charges in the Eastern District of Wisconsin:
- Daniel Placek, aka Nocen aka Loki aka Juggernaut aka M1rr0r, 27, of Glendale, Wisconsin, is charged by criminal information with conspiracy to commit computer fraud.He is accused of creating the Darkode forum, and selling malware on Darkode designed to surreptitiously intercept and collect email addresses and passwords from network communications.
The following defendants face charges in the District of Columbia:
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Matjaz Skorjanc, aka iserdo aka serdo, 28, of Maribor, Slovenia; Florencio Carro Ruiz, aka NeTK aka Netkairo, 36, of Vizcaya, Spain; and Mentor Leniqi, aka Iceman, 34, of Gurisnica, Slovenia, are each charged in a criminal complaint with racketeering conspiracy; conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud; conspiracy to commit computer fraud, access device fraud and extortion; and substantive computer fraud.Skorjanc also is accused of conspiring to organize the Darkode forum and of selling malware known as the ButterFly bot.
The following defendant faces charges in the Western District of Louisiana:
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Rory Stephen Guidry, aka [email protected], of Opelousas, Louisiana, is charged with computer fraud. He is accused of selling botnets on Darkode.
The charges and allegations are merely accusations. A defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
This investigation, Operation Shrouded Horizon, is being conducted by the FBI with assistance from Europol and their European Cyber Crime Center (EC3). This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys James T. Kitchen and Charles A. Eberle of the Western District of Pennsylvania and Trial Attorneys Gavin A. Corn, Marie-Flore Johnson and Harold Chun of CCIPS, Assistant U.S. Attorney Erica O’Neil of the Eastern District of Wisconsin and Assistant U.S. Attorney Myers Namie of the Western District of Louisiana. The Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs also provided significant assistance.
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In a related case, Aleksandr Andreevich Panin, aka Gribodemon, 26, of Tver, Russia; and Hamza Bendelladj, aka Bx1, 27, of Tizi Ouzou, Algeria, pleaded guilty on Jan. 28, 2014, and June 26, 2015, respectively, in the Northern District of Georgia in connection with developing, distributing and controlling SpyEye, a malicious banking trojan designed to steal unsuspecting victims’ financial and personally identifiable information. Bendelladj and Panin advertised SpyEye to other members on Darkode. One of the servers used by Bendelladj to control SpyEye contained evidence of malware that was designed to steal information from approximately 253 unique financial institutions around the world. Panin and Bendelladj will be sentenced at a later date.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Steven Grimberg and Kamal Ghali of the Northern District of Georgia. All press inquiries relating to this case should be directed to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia at [email protected] or (404) 581-6016.
Ahmed et al Information - Western District of Pennsylvania
Crocker Information - Western District of Pennsylvania
Culbertson Information - Western District of Pennsylvania
Gudmunds Indictment - Western District of Pennsylvania
Saifuddin Indictment - Western District of Pennsylvania
Placek Information - Eastern District of Wisconsin
Panin et al Indictment - Northern District of Georgia
Skorjanc et al Complaint - District of Columbia
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Major Computer Hacking Forum DismantledRead the Press Release
As Part of Coordinated Law Enforcement Efforts in 20 Countries, United States Charges 12 Defendants in Connection with Computer Fraud Conspiracy
WASHINGTON – The computer hacking forum known as Darkode was dismantled, and criminal charges have been filed in the Western District of Pennsylvania and elsewhere against 12 individuals associated with the forum, announced Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney David J. Hickton of the Western District of Pennsylvania and Deputy Director Mark F. Giuliano of the FBI.
“Hackers and those who profit from stolen information use underground Internet forums to evade law enforcement and target innocent people around the world,” said Assistant Attorney General Caldwell. “This operation is a great example of what international law enforcement can accomplish when we work closely together to neutralize a global cybercrime marketplace.”
“Of the roughly 800 criminal internet forums worldwide, Darkode represented one of the gravest threats to the integrity of data on computers in the United States and around the world and was the most sophisticated English-speaking forum for criminal computer hackers in the world,” said U.S. Attorney Hickton. “Through this operation, we have dismantled a cyber hornets’ nest of criminal hackers which was believed by many, including the hackers themselves, to be impenetrable.”
“This is a milestone in our efforts to shut down criminals’ ability to buy, sell, and trade malware, botnets and personally identifiable information used to steal from U.S. citizens and individuals around the world,” said Deputy Director Giuliano. “Cyber criminals should not have a safe haven to shop for the tools of their trade and Operation Shrouded Horizon shows we will do all we can to disrupt their unlawful activities.”
As alleged in the charging documents, Darkode was an online, password-protected forum in which hackers and other cyber-criminals convened to buy, sell, trade and share information, ideas, and tools to facilitate unlawful intrusions on others’ computers and electronic devices. Before becoming a member of Darkode, prospective members were allegedly vetted through a process in which an existing member invited a prospective member to the forum for the purpose of presenting the skills or products that he or she could bring to the group. Darkode members allegedly used each other’s skills and products to infect computers and electronic devices of victims around the world with malware and, thereby gain access to, and control over, those devices.
The takedown of the forum and the charges announced today are the result of the FBI’s infiltration, as part of Operation Shrouded Horizon, of the Darkode’s membership. The investigation of the Darkode forum is ongoing, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Western District of Pennsylvania is taking a leadership role in conjunction with the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS).
The charges announced today are part of a coordinated effort by a coalition of law enforcement authorities from 20 nations to charge, arrest or search 70 Darkode members and associates around the world. The nations comprising the coalition include Australia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Israel, Latvia, Macedonia, Nigeria, Romania, Serbia, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States. Today’s actions represent the largest coordinated international law enforcement effort ever directed at an online cyber-criminal forum.
The following defendants face charges in the Western District of Pennsylvania:
- Johan Anders Gudmunds, aka Mafi aka Crim aka Synthet!c, 27, of Sollebrunn, Sweden, is charged by indictment with conspiracy to commit computer fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. He is accused of serving as the administrator of Darkode, and creating and selling malware that allowed hackers to create botnets. Gudmunds also allegedly operated his own botnet, which at times consisted of more than 50,000 computers, and used his botnet to steal data from the users of those computers on approximately 200,000,000 occasions.
- Morgan C. Culbertson, aka Android, 20, of Pittsburgh, is charged by criminal information with conspiring to send malicious code. He is accused of designing Dendroid, a coded malware intended to remotely access, control, and steal data from Google Android cellphones. The malware was allegedly offered for sale on Darkode.
- Eric L. Crocker, aka Phastman, 39, of Binghamton, New York, is charged by criminal information with sending spam. He is accused of being involved in a scheme involving the use of a Facebook Spreader which infected Facebook users’ computers, turning them into bots which Crocker controlled through the use of command and control servers. Crocker sold the use of this botnet to others for the purpose of sending out massive amounts of spam.
- Naveed Ahmed, aka Nav aka semaph0re, 27, of Tampa, Florida; Phillip R. Fleitz, aka Strife, 31, of Indianapolis; and Dewayne Watts, aka m3t4lh34d aka metal, 28, of Hernando, Florida, are each charged by criminal information with conspiring to send spam. They are accused of participating in a sophisticated scheme to maintain a spam botnet that utilized bulletproof servers in China to exploit vulnerable routers in third world countries, and that sent millions of electronic mail messages designed to defeat the spam filters of cellular phone providers.
- Murtaza Saifuddin, aka rzor, 29, of Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan, is charged in an indictment with identity theft. Saifuddin is accused of attempting to transfer credit card numbers to others on Darkode.
The following defendant faces charges in the Eastern District of Wisconsin:
- Daniel Placek, aka Nocen aka Loki aka Juggernaut aka M1rr0r, 27, of Glendale, Wisconsin, is charged by criminal information with conspiracy to commit computer fraud. He is accused of creating the Darkode forum, and selling malware on Darkode designed to surreptitiously intercept and collect email addresses and passwords from network communications.
The following defendant face charges in the District of Columbia:
- Matjaz Skorjanc, aka iserdo aka serdo, 28, of Maribor, Slovenia; Florencio Carro Ruiz, aka NeTK aka Netkairo, 36, of Vizcaya, Spain; and Mentor Leniqi, aka Iceman, 34, of Gurisnica, Slovenia are each charged in a criminal complaint with racketeering conspiracy; conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud; conspiracy to commit computer fraud, access device fraud, and extortion; and substantive computer fraud. Skorjanc also is accused of conspiring to organize the Darkode forum and of selling malware known as the ButterFly bot.
The following defendant faces charges in the Western District of Louisiana:
- Rory Stephen Guidry, aka [email protected], of Opelousas, Louisiana, is charged with computer fraud. He is accused of selling botnets on Darkode.
The charges and allegations are merely accusations. A defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
This investigation, Operation Shrouded Horizon, is being conducted by the FBI with assistance from Europol and their European Cyber Crime Center (EC3). This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys James T. Kitchen and Charles A. Eberle of the Western District of Pennsylvania and Senior Trial Attorneys Gavin A. Corn, Marie-Flore Johnson and Harold Chun of CCIPS, Assistant U.S. Attorney Erica O’Neil of the Eastern District of Wisconsin and Assistant U.S. Attorney Myers Namie of the Western District of Louisiana. The Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs also provided significant assistance.
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In a related case, Aleksandr Andreevich Panin, aka Gribodemon, 26, of Tver, Russia; and Hamza Bendelladj, aka Bx1, 27, of Tizi Ouzou, Algeria, pleaded guilty on Jan. 28, 2014, and June 26, 2015, respectively, in the Northern District of Georgia in connection with developing, distributing and controlling SpyEye, a malicious banking trojan designed to steal unsuspecting victims’ financial and personally identifiable information. Bendelladj and Panin advertised SpyEye to other members on Darkode. One of the servers used by Bendelladj to control SpyEye contained evidence of malware that was designed to steal information from approximately 253 unique financial institutions around the world. Panin and Bendelladj will be sentenced at a later date.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Steven Grimberg and Kamal Ghali of the Northern District of Georgia. All press inquiries relating to this case should be directed to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia at [email protected] or (404) 581-6016.
Kinmundy Man Sentenced to 84 Months on Firearm ChargeRead the Press Release
Stephen R. Wigginton, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, announced today that James C. Riley, 44, of Kinmundy, Illinois, was sentenced in federal district court in East St. Louis for the crime of Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon.
Riley was sentenced to 84 months in federal prison, to be followed by 3 years’ supervised release, a $100 special assessment, and a fine of $300. The charge relates to Riley’s possession of four firearms in April, 2009, at his home in Kinmundy, and his sale of the four firearms in Mt. Vernon, Illinois, in April, 2009. Riley was previously convicted of Retail Theft, in violation of Illinois State law on October 13, 2004, in Ogle County, Illinois.
The case was investigated by members of the Illinois Secretary of State Police and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen B. Clark.
Justice Department Obtains $251,500 Settlement in Housing Discrimination Lawsuit Against Effingham, Illinois, LandlordRead the Press Release
The Justice Department today announced an agreement with the owners and operators of Four Seasons Estates Mobile Home Park in Effingham, Illinois, to settle allegations of race and familial status discrimination. Under the consent order, which must still be approved by the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of Illinois, the defendants must pay $217,500 to victims of discrimination, who intervened in the lawsuit, to account for the harm they suffered and their attorneys’ fees, and an additional $34,000 to the government as a civil penalty.
The lawsuit alleged that the mobile home park’s manager, Barbara Crubaugh, refused to let an African-American individual be added as a resident at the park when he moved in with his white girlfriend and her uncle. The lawsuit also alleged that while the African-American individual was staying at the mobile home park, he was subjected to harassment by the manager’s son, David Crubaugh. The family moved out after the park threatened them with eviction if the African-American individual did not move out. They contacted HOPE Fair Housing Center, an organization in Illinois that advocates for equal opportunity in housing, who in turn contacted the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Justice Department. HUD referred the complaints to the Justice Department for further investigation as a potential pattern or practice of discrimination.
The lawsuit also alleged discrimination on the basis of race based on fair housing testing conducted by the Department of Justice’s Fair Housing Testing Program. The testing revealed that Barbara Crubaugh treated prospective residents differently based on their race by, for example, requiring African-American testers to fill out applications while not requiring white testers to do so, asking African-American testers if they had felonies but not asking the same of white testers, informing African-American testers that she would have to inspect their mobile home while not so informing white testers and quoting higher move-in costs to African-American testers.
Until this lawsuit was filed, there had been no African-American residents at the mobile home park since at least 2007, when Barbara Crubaugh became manager.
Additionally, the lawsuit alleged, and the defendants admitted, that they discriminated on the basis of familial status (having children under the age of 18) by prohibiting families with children from living on one of the four rows of lots at the mobile home park.
“Federal law guarantees everyone the right to housing on equal terms and the right to live free from harassment because of their race or color,” said head of the Civil Rights Division, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta. “Settlements such as this one help ensure that all people can enjoy that right.”
“I am pleased that the operators of this mobile home park agreed to do the right thing,” said U.S. Attorney Stephen R. Wigginton of the Southern District of Illinois. “In this era, discrimination on the basis of race or family situation should be nothing more than a bad memory of times past. A future free from discrimination will be a better future for all of the people of Southern Illinois.”
“Individuals and families looking for decent affordable housing shouldn't be treated differently just because of their race or because they have children,” said Assistant Secretary Gustavo Velasquez of HUD. “It unfairly limits their housing options and it violates the law. We will continue to work with our fair housing partners and the Justice Department to ensure that property owners and managers meet their obligation to comply with the requirements of the Fair Housing Act.”
In addition to monetary payments, the consent order requires defendants to implement a nondiscrimination policy, establish new nondiscriminatory application and rental procedures and undergo training on the Fair Housing Act.
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 they have experienced or witnessed unlawful housing discrimination may call the Housing Discrimination Tip Line at 1-800-896-7743, e-mail the Justice Department at [email protected], or contact HUD at 1-800-669-9777. More information about the Fair Housing Act can also be found at www.justice.gov/crt/housing or www.hud.gov/fairhousing.
Jury Finds Truck Driver Guilty of Alien SmugglingRead the Press Release
SYRACUSE, NEW YORK – Yesterday a jury found Ergys Metashi, 34, of Ontario, Canada, guilty of bringing an alien to the United States for the purpose of financial gain, announced United States Attorney Richard S. Hartunian, Homeland Security Investigations, Assistant Special Agent in Charge Nicholas DiNicola, and Timothy J. Walker, Area Port Director, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Area Port of Alexandria Bay.
Ergys Metashi, a commercial truck driver originally from Albania who lives and works in Canada, was charged with bringing an alien to the United States from Canada at the Alexandria Bay Port of Entry, New York, on March 31, 2015. The evidence at trial showed that Metashi agreed to smuggle the alien, a fellow Albanian, into the United States by hiding him in the sleeping compartment of a tractor trailer in exchange for the promise of a payment of several thousand American dollars. During a border inspection, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Officers found the alien hiding under a blanket in the truck and arrested Metashi.
This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and it was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael F. Perry.
Ergys Metashi will be sentenced in federal court in Syracuse on November 16, 2015 and faces at least three (3) years and up to ten (10) years in prison followed by a three (3) year term of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000.00.
For additional information, please contact Assistant United States Attorney Michael Perry at 315-448-0672.
Jury Convicts Sovereign Citizen of Retaliating Against a Federal Judge and ProsecutorRead the Press Release
In Houston today, a federal jury convicted 44–year-old Tyrone Eugene Jordan, a sovereign citizen residing in Houston, for retaliating against a federal judge and prosecutor by making false claims announced Acting United States Attorney Richard L. Durbin, Jr., and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Special Agent in Charge Perrye K. Turner, Houston Division.
The jury convicted Jordan of three counts of retaliation against a federal officer or employee by false claim. Evidence and trial testimony revealed that in October 2014, Jordan filed a fraudulent lien--a Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) Financial Statement--with the Texas Secretary of State which claimed that a federal prosecutor in the Southern District of Texas owed the defendant $6,534,500. Furthermore, in January 2015, the defendant knowingly filed two separate fraudulent documents (Affidavit of Obligation Commercial Lien) with the Harris County Clerk’s Office—Real Property Department claiming that the federal prosecutor mentioned above and a U.S. District Judge in the Southern District of Texas were Lien Debtors to the defendant. Testimony also revealed that the defendant filed the fraudulent documents against the victims in retaliation for their roles as prosecutor and sitting judge in a prior criminal case involving the defendant.
“Jordan’s sole purpose was to harass these public servants for having done their jobs. Such malicious harassment of public officials is intolerable,” stated Acting United States Attorney Richard L. Durbin, Jr.
In April 2010, Jordan was convicted following a jury trial of conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to commit alien smuggling. He was subsequently sentenced to 63 months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release.
As a result of today’s verdict, Jordan faces a maximum ten years in federal prison for each charge. Jordan, who remains in federal custody, is scheduled to be sentenced at 10:15am on October 9, 2015, in Houston before United States District Judge Gray H. Miller.
This case was investigated by the FBI together with the United States Marshals Service for the Southern District of Texas. Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Wannarka is prosecuting this case on behalf of the Government.
Jesup Man Sentenced to Fourteen Years for Distributing Child PornographyRead the Press Release
A man who distributed child pornography was sentenced July 14, 2015 to 14 years in federal prison.
William Smith, age 34, of Jesup, Iowa, received the sentence after a March 2, 2015 guilty plea to one count of distribution of child pornography. At the guilty plea hearing, Smith admitted that, in June 2013, he used a cell phone to distribute child pornography.
Smith was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge Linda R. Reade. Smith was sentenced to 168 months’ imprisonment. A special assessment of $100 was imposed, and he must also serve an eight-year term of supervised release. He must comply with all sex offender registration and public notification requirements.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Mark Tremmel and was investigated by the Marion Police Department.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “resources.”
Court file information is available at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. The case file number is CR 14-140.
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Jacksonville Tax Return Preparer Sentenced to Federal Prison for Fraudulent Tax ReturnsRead the Press Release
Jacksonville, Florida – Senior United States District Judge Henry Lee Adams has sentenced Thomas Bandzul to 18 months in federal prison for wire fraud. The Court also ordered him to pay restitution to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in the amount of $311,824, based on excessive refunds that Bandzul had claimed on behalf of taxpayer clients, as well as excessive refunds that he had claimed on his individual tax returns for 2008 and 2009.
Bandzul pleaded guilty in September 2014.
According to court records, from January 2008 through May 2011, Bandzul was a tax return preparer in Duval and St. Johns counties. He knowingly and willfully made false claims for deductions and credits on 32 tax returns on behalf of his clients, which resulted in additional IRS tax refunds. As part of a scheme to defraud, Bandzul would prepare and furnish one tax return to his taxpayer clients, but would then make separate false and fraudulent claims that he actually filed electronically with the IRS. By prearranged agreement with his clients, Bandzul was to be paid a specified fee out of the anticipated IRS refunds. In many cases, Bandzul caused the additional higher tax refunds to be paid to him without his clients’ knowledge or consent.
In addition, Bandzul also committed tax fraud on his individual federal tax returns for 2008 and 2009.
The case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Dale R. Campion.
Investment Executive Sentenced in Manhattan Federal Court to 21 Months in Prison for Multimillion-Dollar Insurance Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that ALLEN REICHMAN, a former Executive Director of Investments at a New York investment bank and financial services company, was sentenced today to 21 months in prison and $10 million in restitution for defrauding his employer in connection with the fraudulent purchase of an Oklahoma-based insurance company. REICHMAN pleaded guilty in February 2015 before Magistrate Judge Henry B. Pitman. U.S. District Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald imposed today’s sentence.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said: “To line his own pockets, Allen Reichman fraudulently induced his investment firm to enter into a $30 million loan transaction with an Oklahoma insurance company. His dishonest scheme caused the collapse of the insurance company, and has now led to his loss of liberty.”
According to the Information, other documents filed in Manhattan federal court, and statements made during court proceedings:
Background
During the relevant time period, REICHMAN was an executive at an investment bank and financial services company headquartered in New York, New York (the “Investment Firm”). From July 2008 to November 2009, REICHMAN conspired with Charles J. Antonucci, Sr., and Matthew L. Morris, the President and Senior Vice President, respectively, of Park Avenue Bank, a New York bank, and Wilbur Anthony Huff, a Kentucky businessman who controlled numerous entities located throughout the United States, to defraud the Investment Firm and Oklahoma insurance regulators regarding Antonucci’s purchase of Providence Property and Casualty Insurance Company (“Providence P&C”), an Oklahoma-based insurance company that was owed $5 million by a company Huff controlled. Providence P&C was licensed to operate by the Oklahoma Insurance Department (“OID”), which regulated various practices of Oklahoma insurance companies. Under the OID’s regulations and applicable Oklahoma law, Providence P&C was required to maintain a certain amount of assets to ensure that adequate funds were on hand to pay policyholders’ claims and anticipated claims.
REICHMAN and his co-conspirators schemed to defraud the Investment Firm into providing a $30 million loan to finance Antonucci’s purchase of Providence P&C and to defraud Oklahoma insurance regulators into approving the purchase. Antonucci’s purchase of Providence P&C was financed by a $30 million loan from the Investment Firm, which used Providence P&C’s own assets, including the reserve assets, as collateral for the loan. Because Oklahoma insurance regulators had to approve any sale of Providence P&C, and because Oklahoma law forbade the use of Providence P&C’s assets as collateral for such a loan, REICHMAN, Huff, Morris, and Antonucci made, and conspired to make, a number of material misstatements and material omissions to the Investment Firm and Oklahoma insurance regulators concerning the true nature of the financing for the purchase. Specifically, Investment Firm executives and others warned REICHMAN on several occasions that using Providence P&C’s assets as collateral for the loan was illegal and that he should not cause the loan to be issued.
At his guilty plea, REICHMAN admitted that he attended a meeting where he was advised by Providence P&C’s general counsel that “under Oklahoma regulations Providence's assets could not be pledged to secure a loan.” Reichman “never passed on to [the Investment Firm] what Providence’s lawyers had said at the meeting.” Instead, he provided misleading information to various individuals at the Investment Firm and elsewhere regarding the loan, including directing Antonucci to sign a letter that provided false information regarding the collateral that would be used for the loan. Despite the warnings from Investment Firm executives and others, and REICHMAN’s knowledge that the loan was in fact illegal, on January 30, 2009, REICHMAN caused the Investment Firm to issue the illegal $30 million loan, which was secured by the very assets that were supposed to be unencumbered and maintained in reserve to pay Providence P&C’s policyholder claims.
After deceiving the Investment Firm into issuing the $30 million loan, REICHMAN received at least $200,000 in commissions from the Investment Firm as a result of the illegal loan. Ultimately, in November 2009, encumbered by the $30 million loan, the insurance company became insolvent and was placed in receivership. The Investment Firm incurred losses totalling $10 million as a result of the insurance company’s insolvency. The amount of restitution ordered today as part of the sentencing is based on the $10 million loss.
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In addition to prison, REICHMAN, 54, of Irvington, New York, was sentenced to two years of supervised release, and ordered to forfeit $200,000 to the United States and to pay $10 million in restitution to the Investment Firm, his former employer.
Wilbur Anthony Huff, who pled guilty to his role in the above-described offense and other interrelated frauds in December 2014, was sentenced by Judge Buchwald on June 4, 2015, to 12 years in prison. Charles Antonucci and Matthew Morris pled guilty for their roles in the criminal conduct on October 8, 2010, and October 17, 2013, respectively. They are scheduled to be sentenced before Judge Buchwald on August 19, 2015, and August 20, 2015, respectively.
Mr. Bharara praised the investigative work of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the New York State Department of Financial Services, Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, and the Office of Inspector General of the FDIC.
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.
The case is being handled by the Office’s Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Janis Echenberg and Daniel Tehrani and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Tino Lisella are in charge of the criminal case.
Honduran National Sentenced for Illegal ReentryRead the Press Release
U.S. Attorney Kenneth A. Polite announced that EDIN ANTONIO PLEITES-ZAMORA, age 24, a citizen of Honduras, was sentenced today after pleading guilty today to a one-count indictment charging him with illegal reentry of a removed alien.
U.S. District Judge Sara S. Vance sentenced PLEITES-ZAMORA to time served and ordered to pay a $100 special assessment. PLEITES-ZAMORA will be surrendered to the custody of the U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement for removal proceedings.
According to court documents, PLEITES-ZAMORA reentered the United States on or about November 4, 2014, after having been previously removed on May 25, 2012.
U.S. Attorney Polite praised the work of the United States Department of Homeland Security, United States Border Patrol in investigating this matter. Assistant U.S. Attorney Spiro G. Latsis is in charge of the prosecution.
Four Jefferson City Men Indicted for Distributing MethRead the Press Release
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that a fourth Jefferson City, Mo., man has been charged along with three co-defendants who were earlier indicted following a police chase that resulted in the seizure of a large quantity of methamphetamine.
Matthew Raymond Eppenauer, 31, of Jefferson City, was charged in a four-count superseding indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Jefferson City. Today’s superseding indictment replaces a Feb. 25, 2015, federal indictment and adds Eppenauer as a co-defendant.
Co-defendants David Eugene Rodebaugh, 40, Michael Pearson, 32, and Hernan Hurtado, 24, all of Jefferson City, were charged in the original indictment and remain charged in identical counts in today’s superseding indictment. They have remained in federal custody without bond since their arrest on Feb. 13, 2015.
Today’s indictment alleges that Eppenauer, Rodebaugh, Pearson and Hurtado participated in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.
In addition to the conspiracy, Rodebaugh and Pearson are charged together in one count of possessing methamphetamine with the intent to distribute. Hurtado is also charged with one count of distributing methamphetamine. Eppenauer is also charged with one count attempting to possess methamphetamine with the intent to distribute.
According to affidavits filed in support of the original federal criminal complaints that were filed against Rodebaugh, Pearson and Hurtado, law enforcement officers were conducting surveillance of Rodebaugh on Friday, Feb. 13, 2015 as part of an ongoing drug-trafficking investigation. Rodebaugh and Pearson met with Hurtado in the parking lot at the Capital Mall in Jefferson City, the affidavit says, where Pearson took a plastic bag from the back cab area of Hurtado’s pickup and placed it in the back seat of the Acura he and Rodebaugh had driven to the mall.
Pearson drove the Acura, with Rodebaugh in the front passenger seat, as they left the mall. Police attempted to stop Pearson, the affidavit says, but he refused to stop and led officers in pursuit. The Acura was eventually rendered inoperable and Pearson fled on foot. Rodebaugh remained inside the Acura and was detained. Pearson was later located and arrested.
According to the affidavit, law enforcement officers found the plastic bag, which Rodebaugh later admitted he had thrown out the vehicle’s window during the pursuit, about 75 yards from where the Acura was stopped. Inside the plastic bag were two large bundles that contained approximately five pounds of methamphetamine.
Later that same afternoon, Hurtado called the Jefferson City, Mo., Police Department to report he had been robbed of $6,000 while at his home in Jefferson City. Hurtado voluntarily came to the police station, where he was questioned and arrested.
Dickinson cautioned that the charges contained in this indictment are simply accusations, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charges must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jim Lynn. It was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, MUSTANG (the Mid-Missouri Unified Strike Team and Narcotics Group) and the Jefferson City, Mo., Police Department.
Four Aliens Indicted on Illegal Reentry ChargesRead the Press Release
HARRISBURG - The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced today that Carlos Hernandez-Mejia, age 29, a citizen of El Salvador, Eduardo Hernandez-Lara, age 32, Anabel Maganda-Marcial age 37, and Miguel Salazar-Gomez, age 33, citizens of Mexico, were indicted separately today by a federal grand jury in Harrisburg on illegal re-entry charges.
According to United States Attorney Peter Smith, Hernandez-Mejia was previously convicted of an aggravated felony and removed from the United States in 2008. He was in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania at the time he was taken into custody. The maximum penalty under federal law is 20 years of imprisonment, a term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a fine.
This matter was investigated by the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). Prosecution has been assigned to Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph J. Terz.
Hernandez-Lara was taken into custody in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania and was allegedly previously deported from the United States in 2007. The maximum penalty under federal law is 2 years of imprisonment, a term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a fine.
Maganda-Marcial was taken into custody in York, Pennsylvania and was allegedly previously removed from the United States in 2006. The maximum penalty under federal law is 10 years of imprisonment, a term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a fine.
Both matters were investigated by the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and prosecution has been assigned to Assistant U.S. Attorney James T. Clancy.
Salazar-Gomez illegally re-entered the United States allegedly after having previously been deported in 2004, 2005 and 2014. Salazar was arrested in March of this year in Adams County and taken into the custody of the Department of Homeland Security. The maximum penalty under federal law is 10 years of imprisonment, a term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a fine.
This matter was investigated by the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). Assistant U.S. Attorney Gordon Zubrod has been assigned to prosecute the case.
Indictments are only allegations. All persons charged are presumed to be innocent unless and until found guilty in court.
A sentence following a finding of guilty is imposed by the Judge after consideration of the applicable federal sentencing statutes and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.
Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the Judge is also required to consider and weigh a number of factors, including the nature, circumstances and seriousness of the offense; the history and characteristics of the defendant; and the need to punish the defendant, protect the public and provide for the defendant’s educational, vocational and medical needs. For these reasons, the statutory maximum penalty for the offense is not an accurate indicator of the potential sentence for a specific defendant.
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Former Texas State Judge in Federal Judicial Corruption Case Sentenced to PrisonRead the Press Release
ALBUQUERQUE – A former Texas state district court judge in Bexar County, Texas, was sentenced this afternoon by U.S. District Judge Xavier Rodriguez of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas in San Antonio, Texas, for his conviction on an honest services wire fraud charge. Angus Kelly McGinty, 51, will serve a 24-month term of incarceration followed by a year of supervised release.
Alberto Acevedo, Jr., 61, a San Antonio attorney, who was convicted of bribing McGinty in exchange for favorable judicial rulings that benefited Acevedo and his clients, also was sentenced this afternoon. Noting that Acevedo provided substantial assistance to the United States in its investigation and prosecution of McGinty, Judge Rodriguez sentenced Acevedo to a year and a day in prison followed by three years of supervised release.
“Fairness and impartiality are the cornerstones of our judicial system, and judges are expected to protect the public’s trust in the system. Those who fail to do so will be held accountable,” said U.S. Attorney Damon P. Martinez. “We cannot and will not allow the public’s faith in our legal system to be shaken by judicial corruption.”
“Judge Angus McGinty is just one more name on a long list of public officials who have come to realize how committed the FBI is to investigating public corruption,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Christopher H. Combs of the FBI’s San Antonio Division.
McGinty initially was charged with conspiracy to commit federal programs bribery, federal programs bribery, extortion under color of official right, and honest services wire fraud in an indictment filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas in June 2014. In Feb. 2015, a five-count superseding indictment was filed charging McGinty with conspiracy to commit honest service wire fraud, three counts of honest services wire fraud, and extortion under color of official right. At the time of the events underlying the charges in the indictments, McGinty was a state district court judge in the criminal division of the 144th Judicial District Court in Bexar County, Texas. According to the superseding indictment, between Jan. 2013 and Sept. 2013, McGinty solicited and accepted bribes from Acevedo, an attorney who appeared before him, in exchange for favorable rulings for Acevedo’s clients. McGinty resigned from the bench on Feb. 14, 2014.
According to court documents, from Jan. 2013 through Sept. 2013, McGinty solicited and accepted bribes from Acevedo in exchange for favorable judicial rulings that benefited Acevedo and his clients. Acevedo’s bribes to McGinty included cash, car repairs, arranging the sale of McGinty’s vehicle, and registering a vehicle purchased by McGinty. In exchange, McGinty provided the favorable judicial rulings requested by Acevedo, including lenient sentences and less restrictive conditions of release for Acevedo’s clients. According to the indictments, McGinty received gifts, payments and other things of value totaling more than $6,655.00 from Acevedo.
McGinty pled guilty on April 13, 2015, to an honest services wire fraud charge and admitted depriving the State of Texas and citizens of Bexar County of his honest services by soliciting and accepting bribes intended to influence his judicial decisions.
Acevedo pled guilty on March 17, 2014, to a felony information charging him with bribery involving a program receiving federal funds. In entering his guilty plea, Acevedo admitted that he corruptly influenced McGinty by giving him things of value in exchange for favorable judicial rulings that benefitted him and his clients.
U.S. Attorney Damon P. Martinez praised the investigative work of the San Antonio Division of the FBI. The prosecution of this case in federal court in San Antonio, Texas, was handled by Special Attorneys Mark A. Saltman and Brock E. Taylor of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas was recused.
Former South Congaree Chief of Police SentencedRead the Press Release
Contact Person: Jay Richardson (803) 929-3000
Columbia, South Carolina ---- United States Attorney Bill Nettles stated today that Jason Amodio (46) of Lexington, South Carolina was sentenced to eight months of home confinement and four years of probation. Senior United States District Judge Joseph F. Anderson Jr. sentenced Amodio in federal court in Columbia, for Lying to a Federal Grand Jury, a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1623. Evidence established that during a joint federal and state investigation into illegal gambling, extortion under color of law, mail and wire fraud, and related public corruption in Lexington County, Amodio appeared before a federal grand jury. Asked about the purpose of a particular check payable to Amodio, Amodio claimed that the check was a loan. In fact, Amodio knew this was false and that the check was an improper payment from an attorney in Lexington. Amodio had assisted in convincing a family to hire that attorney to file a civil lawsuit after a car wreck had left one member of the family dead and one injured. When the attorney received a fee in return for his representation, that attorney then paid Amodio through an intermediary.
United States Attorney Bill Nettles stated, “We must ensure that the public has confidence that officials have integrity and are truthful. Mr. Amodio transported himself from the Chief of Police to a felon because he betrayed this basic tenant.”
The Court arrived at the sentence by factoring in the cooperation that Mr. Amodio has provided and is currently providing in an on-going public corruption probe. Additionally, Mr. Amodio has agreed to plead guilty in state court to a charge of misconduct in office. This case is part of a joint investigation of the FBI, SLED, the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office, and the United States Attorney’s Office into public corruption and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Jay N. Richardson and Jim May and Assistant Deputy Attorney Generals Creighton Waters and Brian Petrano.
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Former NMSU Student Sentenced to Probation for Hindering Investigation into Internet Threats to Shoot up the UniversityRead the Press Release
ALBUQUERQUE – Zachary Milton Hess, 20, of Las Cruces, N.M., was sentenced this afternoon in federal court to five years of probation for his conviction on a misdemeanor charge of being an accessory after the fact to the interstate transmission of an extortionate communication. Hess was also ordered to pay $77,934.00 in restitution to the university.
Hess was arrested on Aug. 25, 2014, on a criminal complaint charging him with sending in interstate commerce a threat to shoot up his college campus. According to the criminal complaint, on May 27, 2014, an individual anonymously threatened to “shoot [his] college campus up in 3 days” and identified his college as New Mexico State University (NMSU) while “chatting” on an Internet website. The threat subsequently was posted on to NMSU’s Facebook page and was passed onto law enforcement, including the FBI. The FBI’s investigation revealed that the IP Address from which the threat was posted was subscribed to Hess’s residence. An examination of Hess’s computer revealed that it had been used to visit the website on the same date and time on which the threat was posted.
The criminal complaint states that NMSU expended significant resources in responding to the threat. Among other things, NMSU officials informed approximately 18,774 students, facility, staff and private citizens about the anonymous threat; advised students, faculty and staff to depart the campus; and shut down its new student registration process. NMSU lost approximately 1,000 staff hours in responding to the threat.
On March 18, 2015, Hess pled guilty to being an accessory after the fact to the interstate transmission of an extortionate communication. In his plea agreement, Hess admitted that on May 29, 2014, he knew that communications had been sent over the Internet making threats to shoot up NMSU and that he assisted in hindering the investigation into the threats.
This case was investigated by the Las Cruces office of the FBI and the NMSU Police Department, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Marisa A. Lizarraga of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office.
Former Joplin Oncologist Sentenced for Dispensing Foreign, Misbranded DrugsRead the Press Release
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that an oncologist who operated a clinic in Joplin, Mo., was sentenced in federal court today for dispensing foreign, misbranded drugs to his cancer patients.
Robert L. Carter, 74, of Carthage, Mo., was sentenced by U.S. Magistrate Judge David P. Rush to five years of probation and ordered to pay $971,854 in restitution and a criminal forfeiture judgment of $1.2 million. Carter has already paid the full restitution amount to Medicare, Tri-Care, Missouri Medicaid, Oklahoma Medicaid and Kansas Medicaid. Carter has already paid $228,145 of the forfeiture judgment and still owes $971,854 in criminal forfeiture payment. Under the terms of his plea agreement, Carter must cease practicing medicine in Missouri during the probation period.
On March 30, 2015, Carter pleaded guilty to buying and selling misbranded prescription drugs. Carter was the president and medical practitioner of Robert L. Carter, M.D., in Joplin, from Oct. 23, 1991, to April 2, 2012. As a medical oncologist, Carter provided care and treatment for patients with cancer and blood diseases. The practice purchased prescription drugs, including chemotherapy drugs, which were prescribed by Carter and were administered and dispensed through the practice. Reimbursement for the drugs and their administration was sought from the Medicare and Medicaid programs, Tricare as well as other private health care benefit programs.
In April 2010, Carter began ordering prescription cancer drugs from Quality Specialty Products (QSP) in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. QSP sold drugs – which had been obtained from foreign sources and which had not been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for distribution or use in the United States – to physicians and other health care providers in the United States.
QSP shipped misbranded and FDA-unapproved drugs to Carter at his practice in Joplin. These misbranded and FDA-unapproved drugs were administered to Carter’s cancer patients and Carter was reimbursed by government and private health insurance programs.
The labeling for the prescription drugs that Carter purchased from QSP was different than the versions of the drugs the FDA had approved for distribution in the United States. Among other things, they did not have labels bearing the symbol “Rx only,” and the labeling for some of the drugs was in one or more foreign languages. Some of the prescription drugs lacked mixing and use instructions in the English language.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Abram McGull, II. It was investigated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Office of Criminal Investigations and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General.
Former Department of Corrections Employee Pleads Guilty to Stealing State Restitution FundsRead the Press Release
ATLANTA – Daynna Gregory, the last of three defendants charged with stealing state restitution funds, has pleaded guilty. Earlier this year, Tammi Stephens and Richard Cantrell also entered guilty pleas to theft of public funds and conspiracy stemming from a check fraud scheme to steal from a victims’ restitution fund controlled by the Georgia Department of Corrections where Stephens and Gregory formerly worked as an account paraprofessional and an accounting clerk, respectively.
“The State of Georgia created this fund for the honorable purpose of providing relief to victims of financial crime, and these defendants callously stole from this fund to enrich themselves,” said Acting U.S. Attorney John Horn. “This conduct is all the more disturbing because as Georgia Department of Corrections employees Stephens and Gregory were responsible for issuing restitution checks to the people they preyed upon.”
“When those within the criminal justice system so deliberately choose to engage in such corrupt criminal activity as seen in this case, it is truly disheartening. The FBI will continue to work with its various law enforcement partners, to include the Georgia Department of Corrections, to ensure that this type of criminal conduct is swiftly addressed,” said J. Britt Johnson, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Atlanta Field Office.
"The guilty plea by these former employees is a reflection of the professional and diligent work by our internal investigations team and their partnership with our colleagues at the FBI,” said Commissioner Homer Bryson. "We remain committed to our zero-tolerance policy for this type of conduct by employees entrusted with public funds," continued Bryson.
According to Acting U.S. Attorney Horn, the charges and other information presented in court: From September 2013 to June 2014, Stephens and Gregory were employees in the Georgia Department of Corrections’ banking unit where they were responsible for issuing checks drawn on a restitution fund set up to compensate victims of other crimes. The defendants formed and carried out a plan to steal victim restitution by having Stephens and Gregory use their access to the fund to issue fraudulent checks payable to a flower shop owned by Cantrell, who was not a Department employee. The checks were purposely issued to Cantrell's flower shop to hide the defendants’ involvement in the theft. Cantrell agreed to use his business to launder the stolen money.
After printing the fraudulent checks, Stephens and Gregory altered the Department’s financial records to further disguise their theft. Stephens and Gregory issued twenty-nine fraudulent checks to the flower shop, which were then delivered to Cantrell, who cashed them and split the proceeds with Stephens and Gregory. In total, the defendants stole more than $232,000 in restitution funds, which they then spent on a variety of retail purchases.
Each of the defendants pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge Steve C. Jones. Richard Cantrell, 54, of Marietta, Georgia, was sentenced by Judge Jones on July 10, 2015, to two years in prison followed by three years of supervised release. Tammi Stephens, 37, of Forsyth, Georgia, will be sentenced on July 31, 2015, at 3:00 p.m. Daynna Gregory, 41, of Lithonia, Georgia, will be sentenced on September 24, 2015 at 2:30 p.m.
This case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Georgia Department of Corrections.
Assistant United States Attorney Kurt R. Erskine and Special Assistant United States Attorney Trevor C. Wilmot are prosecuting the case.
For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at [email protected] or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the home page for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia Atlanta Division is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.
Five Defendants Charged in Extensive Tax Refund and Identity Theft Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
Five defendants were indicted on charges stemming from their participation in an extensive tax refund and identity theft fraud scheme.
Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Kelly R. Jackson, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), made the announcement.
Ronald Jerome Scriven, Danesa Latoya Webb, Walter Waitus Pressley, Fritznel Jacques, a/k/a “Glacier,” and Michael Dwight Brown, a/k/a “Big Mike,” were each charged with one count of conspiracy to defraud the government with respect to claims, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 286. Defendants Scriven, Webb, Jacques, and Brown were also charged with six counts of misusing Social Security numbers, in violation of Title 42, United States Code, Section 408(a)(8), and six counts of aggravated identity theft, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1028A(a)(1), (c)(11) and 2.
Scriven and Pressley had their initial appearances today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Barry S. Seltzer.
According to allegations contained in the indictment, Scriven created various tax preparation business entities using his name, the names of co-conspirators, or the names of individuals whose identities were stolen. Scriven and Webb obtained electronic filing identification numbers (EFINs) from the IRS for the purpose of electronically submitting false tax returns. Scriven, Webb, Pressley and Jacques recruited taxpayers and obtained their personal identifying information (PII), such as their names and Social Security numbers, for the purpose of submitting false tax returns to the IRS. Without authorization, the PII of living and deceased individuals was also obtained for the same fraudulent purpose.
The indictment also alleges that Scriven, Webb and Jacques prepared and filed false 2008, 2009 and 2010 federal income tax returns claiming false refunds on behalf of the taxpayers who were recruited or whose identities they had stolen. Tax preparers’ fees and other fees totaling $700,000 were deducted from the tax refunds and were deposited into bank accounts controlled by some of the co-conspirators.
According to allegations contained in the indictment, Scriven and Webb prepared refund checks or prepaid debit cards in the names of taxpayers whose names and Social Security numbers were used to file the false tax returns. Some of the co-conspirators accompanied taxpayers, whose identities they had used to file false tax returns, to cash the refund checks. The defendants would demand a substantial portion of the proceeds obtained from those cashed checks. In the instances where the stolen identities of individuals were used to file false returns, Scriven and Webb cashed the refund checks or negotiated them for reduced values.
If convicted, the defendants each face a maximum of ten years in prison for the conspiracy charge, five years in prison for each count of the misusing a Social Security number, and a mandatory term of two years’ imprisonment, consecutive to any other prison term, for the aggravated identity theft charges.
Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of IRS-CI. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lois Foster-Steers.
An indictment is merely an allegation, and every defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida at www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.
Financial Advisor Sentenced to 7 ½ Years in Prison for Stealing over $1.1 Million from His ClientsRead the Press Release
NORFOLK, Va. – Joshua Ray Abernathy, 37, of Chesapeake, was sentenced today to 90 months in prison, followed by 3 years of supervised release for mail fraud and unlawful money transactions. The Court also ordered Abernathy to pay $1,181,755.08 in restitution to his victims and to forfeit all of the proceeds from his offense.
Abernathy pleaded guilty on March 13, 2015. According to court documents, Abernathy, a licensed broker and financial advisory, engaged in a six-year Ponzi scheme. Abernathy convinced his clients to transfer funds from legitimate IRA accounts to his company “Omega Investment Group.” Abernathy claimed that he could invest the funds in “puts” and “calls” and reap fantastic returns. In reality, Abernathy invested only a tiny portion of the money in his personal E*Trade account and used the majority of the monies to fund his extravagant lifestyle including paying for living expenses, home furnishings, restaurants, sporting goods, electronics, clothing and entertainment. Abernathy also spent substantial investor funds for traveling including cruises, ski trips, vacations to Texas, Florida, Mexico, New York, and a three-month tour of England. Abernathy also spent over $250,000 of client monies renting luxury automobiles including a bright orange Lamborghini. After spending all of the client funds and with investors asking questions, Abernathy walked in to the FBI and confessed to running the Ponzi scheme.
Dana J. Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; David M. McGinnis, Acting Postal Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) – Washington Division, Thomas Jankowski, Special Agent in Charge, Washington, D.C. Field Office, IRS-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI); and John S. Adams, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Norfolk Field Office, made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Mark S. Davis.
This case was investigated by the Tidewater Complex Financial Crimes Task Force. Members of the Task Force include the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the IRS Criminal Investigations Divisions, and the FBI’s Norfolk Field Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Melissa O’Boyle is 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. 2:15-cr-21.
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Felon Sentenced to Five Years in Prison for Possessing A FirearmRead the Press Release
TULSA, Okla.—Ray Allen Cook, 31, was sentenced to 60 months in prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm, announced Danny C. Williams Sr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Oklahoma. United States District Chief Judge Gregory K. Frizzell also sentenced Cook to three years of supervised release following his prison sentence.
On September 13, 2014, Tulsa Police officers attempted to stop Cook for a traffic violation. Cook refused to stop and led the police on a high-speed chase. Eventually, Cook crashed into a parked vehicle, but not before he threw a .22 caliber pistol out the window. Cook then fled on foot; however, Tulsa police officers quickly apprehended him and recovered the firearm. Cook is a multiple-convicted felon, with several violent felonies on his record.
This case was investigated by the Tulsa Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Assistant United States Attorneys Neal C. Hong and Jan S. Reincke prosecuted the case.
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Federal jury finds Ville Platte man guilty of possessing, receiving child pornographyRead the Press Release
LAFAYETTE, La. – United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced that a federal jury found a Ville Platte man guilty Tuesday of possessing and receiving thousands of images of child pornography using an internet file sharing program.
Bradley Smith, 60, of Ville Platte, La., was found guilty of two counts of possession of child pornography and three counts of receiving child pornography. United States District Judge Elizabeth E. Foote presided over the trial. The defendant’s trial started Monday and ended Tuesday with the jury returning the guilty verdict after deliberating for 40 minutes. Evidence admitted at trial revealed that in September of 2012 law enforcement detected Smith using an internet file sharing program to download child pornography. The software is used to trade files on the internet among its members. Law enforcement searched Smith’s residence on September 24, 2012 and seized his computer and computer hard drives. After a forensic examination of the hardware was conducted, a total of 40 movies and 1,100 images of child pornography were found. Some of the material included very young children engaged in sexually explicit activities.
Smith faces up to 10 years in prison for the possession of child pornography counts and five to 20 years in prison for the receiving child pornography counts. He also faces five years to life of supervised release and a $250,000 fine. Sentencing has been set for September 24, 2015.
The FBI and Louisiana State Police conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys John Luke Walker and Robert C. Abendroth are prosecuting the case.
This case is part of Project Safe Childhood, a U.S. Department of Justice nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
Those concerned may also leave tips with the FBI at tips.fbi.gov. Tips may be submitted anonymously. The Lafayette FBI office number is (337) 232-2164.
Federal Indictments Returned Against Five Individuals for Two Separate Drug-Related HomicidesRead the Press Release
St. Louis, MO – Two separate indictments were returned today by the federal grand jury related to homicides occurring in the City of St. Louis.
The first indictment deals with a much older case and charges WALTER WALLACE JR. and JERRY B. CHAMBERS for their involvement in the December 18, 2010, murder of Michael Hayes. Mr. Hayes was found shot inside his residence located in the City of St. Louis. Each defendant has been charged with conspiracy to possess and distribute marijuana and charged with the possession and use of a firearm in furtherance of their drug trafficking, which resulted in the murder of Michael Hayes.
The second indictment deals with shootings occurring this past spring and charges JACOBI TEMPLE, DEMANTE SYMS and SAMUEL SPIRES for their respective roles in the March 27, 2015, murders of James Lacey, Paige Schaefer and Tammie Thurmond. Mr. Lacey and Ms. Schaefer were shot and killed inside a residence located in the City of St. Louis. Ms. Thurmond was found by police in an alley and died a short time later. Each of the three victims had been shot with the same weapon. In this second indictment, all three men have been charged with conspiracy to distribute heroin; conspiracy to possess a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking; and with the possession and use of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking, which resulted in the murder of Tammie Thurmond.
Jacobi Temple has been additionally charged with the possession and use of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking which resulted in the murders of Mr. Lacey and Ms. Schaefer. As is always the case, charges set forth in an indictment are merely accusations and do not constitute proof of guilt. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty. If convicted, these various charges carry penalties that include possible life sentences of imprisonment.
United States Attorney Richard Callahan noted that these two indictments represent an on-going coordinated effort between his Office, the St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office and the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department to address the rising homicide rate in the City of St. Louis. He also acknowledged federal law enforcement agencies’ broader contributions in responding to the rising violent crime rates and singled out the work of the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in these two particular investigations.
Federal Grand Jury IndictmentsRead the Press Release
Contact Person: Beth Drake (803) 929-3000
Columbia, South Carolina----United States Attorney Bill Nettles stated today that a Federal Grand Jury in Charleston, South Carolina, returned Indictment(s) against the following:
Area Couple Indicted for Manufacturing Counterfeit Gift Cards and Identity Theft
Javon Richardson, age 32, of Ladson, and Latoya Simpson, age 31, of North Charleston, were charged in a 2-count Indictment with Making Counterfeit Gift Cards and Aggravated Identity Theft, a violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1029 and 1028A. The maximum penalty that Richardson and Simpson could receive is 10 years imprisonment. The case was investigated by agents of the United States Secret Service and the North Charleston Police Department and is assigned to Assistant United States Attorney Rhett DeHart of the Charleston office for prosecution.Guatemalans Charged with Conspiracy to Transport Illegal Aliens
Juan Gomez-Calmo, age 30, and Romeo Sales-Lopez, age 32, both of Guatemala, were charged in a 2-count Indictment with conspiracy to transport illegal aliens and transportation of illegal aliens within the United States, in violation of Title 8, United States Code, Sections 1324(a)(1)(A)(ii), (a)(1)(A)(v)(I), and (a)(1)(B)(i). The maximum penalty Gomez-Calmo and Sales-Lopez could each receive is 10 years imprisonment and a maximum fine of $250,000 per count. The case was investigated by agents of the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations, and is assigned to Assistant United States Attorneys Dean H. Secor and Matt Austin of the Charleston office for prosecution.Mr. Nettles stated that the charges in these Indictments are merely accusations and that the defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
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Edmond Man to Serve 36 Months for Possession of Child PornRead the Press Release
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma –BRYAN ANDREW POWELL, 45, of Edmond, Oklahoma, was sentenced by United States District Judge Robin Cauthron to serve 36 months in prison for possession of child pornography, followed by five years of supervised release, announced Sanford C. Coats, United States Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma. Powell was indicted on March 3, 2015, and pleaded guilty on April 13, 2015.
This sentence is the result of an investigation conducted by the Edmond Police Department, Stillwater Police Department, and Moore Police Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Julia E. Barry.
Reference is made to court filings for further information.