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Monday 2 March 2015
Owner of Middlesex County, New Jersey, Pawn Shop Admits Evading Taxes on over $340,000 in IncomeRead the Press Release
Separate Civil Complaint Alleges Business was a Front to Buy and Sell Stolen Jewelry
NEWARK, N.J. – A Middlesex County, New Jersey, man who owns and operates a pawn shop and jewelry business in North Brunswick, New Jersey, today admitted concealing more than $340,000 in taxable income from the IRS, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.
Mehran “David” Balazadeh, 53, of North Brunswick, New Jersey, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Esther Salas in Newark federal court to an information charging him with one count of tax evasion for failing to report income received from his business, Carpet and Futon Gallery of NJ LLC, a/k/a “More Cash 4 Gold LLC,” and other sources.According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
On April 28, 2014, Balazadeh filed a 2012 individual income tax return in which he falsely stated that his taxable income was negative $47,141 and that he owed no taxes. However, Balazadeh admitted that he actually earned taxable income of $340,144 in 2012. Balazadeh’s actions resulted in a loss to the United States of $90,849.
In a separate civil complaint for forfeiture in rem filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Balazadeh allegedly used More Cash 4 Gold as a front to receive large amounts of stolen jewelry and other items, including the proceeds of burglaries committed in Middlesex County and elsewhere. According to the complaint, Balazadeh sold the stolen property and used the proceeds to pay for the ongoing scheme as well as purchase real estate and other stolen items. The complaint alleges that Balazadeh directed members of the “Brown Pride Gang” to burglarize homes in North Brunswick and elsewhere and bring him stolen jewelry. During the course of the investigation, jewelry, gold and other inventory valued at approximately $800,000 was seized from Balazadeh’s business and residence.
The statements made in the civil forfeiture complaint are merely allegations and have not been admitted by Balazadeh in connection with his criminal guilty plea.
Although Balazadeh pleaded guilty to only one count of tax evasion for the 2012 tax year, his plea agreement requires that Balazadeh admit to evading income taxes for the years 2008 through 2012, and the Court will take this conduct into account at Balazadeh’s sentencing. Balazadeh faces a maximum potential penalty of five years in prison and a fine of $250,000 or twice his gain from the offense, together with the costs of prosecution. Balazadeh also agreed to file accurate tax returns and to pay the IRS all taxes and penalties owed. Sentencing is scheduled for June 8, 2015 at 10:30 a.m.
U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents with IRS-Criminal Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Jonathan D. Larsen, in Newark; and special agents of Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Newark Division, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Kevin Kelly, with the investigation leading to today’s guilty plea. He also thanked the N.J. Office of Homeland Security & Preparedness, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the N.J. State Commission of Investigation, the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office and the North Brunswick Township Police Department for their roles in the case.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Melissa M. Wangenheim of the U.S. Attorney’s Office General Crimes Unit.
15-073
Defense counsel: Joseph R. Donahue Esq., River Edge, New Jersey
Balazadeh, Mehran Information
Balazadeh, Mehran Civil ComplaintOhio woman pleads guilty in federal court to defrauding Huntington medical practiceRead the Press Release
Huntington, W. Va.- United States Attorney Booth Goodwin announced today that Teresa Lewis, 60, of South Point, Ohio, pleaded guilty in federal court in Huntington to two felony offenses.
Lewis was a billing assistant in the Huntington Retina Center, a medical practice specializing in the treatment of vision disorders, eye injuries, and eye diseases. From 2012 to 2014, Lewis used her position to gain access to credit cards issued to the practice and an associated physician. Lewis used the credit cards to buy personal items and pay personal expenses of more than $50,000.
Lewis faces a total of 20 years in prison and up to a $500,000 fine when she is sentenced on June 1, 2015. As part of her plea agreement, Lewis has agreed to pay $52,317 in restitution.
Chief United States District Court Judge Robert C. Chambers presided over the guilty plea.
The United States Postal Inspection Service, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Huntington Police Department are conducting the investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Erik S. Goes is responsible for the prosecution.
Ohio man sentenced in federal court for heroin distributionRead the Press Release
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - United States Attorney Booth Goodwin announced that Ralph Shoemaker, 36, of Gallipolis, Ohio, was sentenced today by Chief United States District Court Judge Robert C. Chambers to 15 months’ imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release. Shoemaker previously pled guilty in December of 2014 admitting that he sold heroin to a confidential informant working with the West Virginia State Police. Shoemaker also admitted that he and others distributed heroin in the Gallipolis, Ohio, and Mason County, West Virginia areas over a six-month period between the summer of 2012 and March of 2013.
This case was prosecuted as part of an ongoing effort led by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia to combat the illicit sale and misuse of heroin and prescription drugs. The U.S. Attorney’s Office, joined by federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, is committed to aggressively pursuing and shutting down illegal heroin and pill trafficking, eliminating open air drug markets, and curtailing the spread of opiate painkillers and heroin in communities across the Southern District.
The case was investigated by the West Virginia State Police and the United States Drug Enforcement Administration. Assistant United States Attorney John Frail was responsible for the prosecution.
Nine Year Sentence for Alabama Man Convicted of Defrauding Military Sub-ContractorRead the Press Release
Stanley P. Phillips, 48, of Dothan, Alabama, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Beth Bloom to nine years imprisonment after his conviction on eight counts of wire fraud in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Phillips was convicted on December 11, 2014, after an eleven day jury trial. The jury found that Phillips, an employee of Day and Zimmerman, International (D&Z), a large, multi-national company specializing in construction, engineering, and security for leading corporations and governments around the world, engaged in two schemes in which he attempted to fraudulently obtain almost $650,000.
Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), Miami Field Office, John F. Khin, Special Agent in Charge, Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS), and Frank Robey, Director, Major Procurement Fraud Unit (MPFU), U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command, made the announcement.
U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer stated “Stanley Phillips stole from his friends, his business partners, and his employer. He used his position of trust to compromise the ability of our military to fund necessary projects. We are committed to work with our law enforcement partners to prosecute those who corrupt the procurement process for their own personal benefit.”
“We cannot tolerate a system where crooked individuals seek to enrich themselves at taxpayer expense,” said Michael A. D’Alonzo, Assistant Special Agent in Charge, FBI Miami. “We will continue to aggressively investigate this type of conduct to ensure that government monies do not fall into the hands of the greedy and dishonest. Anyone who may have information about corruption is encouraged to come forward and report it.”
“Today’s sentencing sends a clear signal to those who defraud the Department of Defense,” said Special Agent in Charge John F. Khin, Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS) Southeast Field Office. “This individual, working in a position of trust, manipulated the contracting process for his own personal gain. DCIS continues to work with our investigative partners to tirelessly investigate the misuse or abuse of American taxpayer dollars needed to support our Warfighters.”
“We are very pleased with the sentencing and as equally proud of the hard work and tireless investigative efforts of our Special Agents,” said Frank Robey, Director of the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command’s Major Procurement Fraud Unit. “This sentencing is a strong message to all who would defraud the DoD and the Department of the Army and an example of our continued and relentless commitment to investigate and assist in holding accountable all those who attempt to commit fraud.”
According to evidence presented at trial, in the first scheme, Phillips, used his position as a construction foreman on a D&Z project to build a chemical plant in Pace, Florida, to steal more than $35,000. Phillips did so by convincing AWA Fabrication and Construction, LLC, (AWA) a family-owned vendor company that supplied certain piping materials to D&Z, to “hire” a company called Royal Global Services, LLC to install the piping being supplied. In fact, the installation was done by D&Z employees, and Royal Global Services, LLC was a shell company solely owned by the Phillips.
In the second scheme, Phillips, acting as the construction/site manager for a D&Z project to build a Weak Acetic Acid Recovery Facility Plant (WAARP) at the Holston Army Ammunition Plant in Kingsport, Tennessee, attempted to steal more than $600,000. Phillips did so by convincing a family-owned sub-contractor company called HSIII to “hire” a company called RGS Professional Services, LLC (RGSPS) to ostensibly do work on behalf of HSIII on the WAARP Project. In fact, Phillips was the 51% owner of RGSPS, which was actually a nursing registry not capable of providing any services on the WAARP Project.
Monies from both schemes were deposited into an account in the name of RGS, LLC, which was a separate company Phillips’ controlled but which had been opened in the name of his girlfriend. She was told that the monies were being deposited because Phillips’ was on the secret payroll of Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, and that the money from AWA and HSIII were repayments of loans made to them by Senator Johnson. Phillips maintained the trust of his girlfriend and others by telling them about his association with Senator Johnson, his work for the FBI, his background as a nuclear engineer, and his exploits as part of a secret military team who extracted General Noriega from the jungles of South America. None of this was true. Phillips stipulated that he had no association with any senators of any kind, and no law enforcement connections. He was in fact a high school graduate who had completed two entry level navigation classes while in the Coast Guard. He was discharged in 1986 after only two years because of sleepwalking. Operation Just Cause, in which General Noriega was retrieved, took place in 1989/1990.
In addition to the term of imprisonment, Phillips was also sentenced to three years supervised release, and was ordered to pay restitution to the proprietors of AWA and HSIII.
Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the FBI, DCIS, and the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command's MPFU. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Carolyn Bell.
Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.
New York Man Sentenced to 2 Years for Passing Counterfeit CurrencyRead the Press Release
Contact: Michael J. Conley
Assistant United States Attorney
Tel: (207) 780-3257Portland, Maine: United States Attorney Thomas E. Delahanty II announced that Andrew Cupidore, 21, of New York, New York, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court by Judge D. Brock Hornby to 2 years in prison for passing counterfeit U.S currency. Cupidore pleaded guilty on August 18, 2014.
According to court records, on April 21, 2014, a police officer patrolling the Maine Mall in South Portland located four female minors from New York who were using counterfeit $100 bills to pay for purchases in the mall. The officer seized over $1000 in counterfeit $100 bills from the minors. The investigation revealed that Cupidore gave the minors the counterfeit bills and told them to pass them in the mall and to return change from the transactions to him. Officers located Cupidore hiding in a mall restroom and seized nine counterfeit $100 bills from him.
The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Secret Service, the South Portland Police Department and the Seabrook and Newington, New Hampshire Police Departments.
New York Catholic Nursing Chain to Pay $3.5 Million to Resolve Allegations Concerning Claims for Rehabilitation TherapyRead the Press Release
BOSTON – A New York operator of skilled nursing facilities entered into an agreement with the United States to pay $3.5 million to resolve allegations concerning inflated Medicare claims for rehabilitation therapy.
The Catholic Health Care System, a/k/a ArchCare, entered into an agreement concerning claims for therapy purportedly provided by its subcontractor, Physical and Occupational Rehabilitation Therapy and Speech-Pathology Services, PLLC, an affiliate of RehabCare Group East, Inc. (RehabCare), and Kindred Healthcare, Inc.
ArchCare operates Terence Cardinal Cooke Health Care Center in New York City and Ferncliff Nursing Home in Rhinebeck, New York, and it previously operated Kateri Residence in New York City (collectively, the ArchCare facilities). This settlement resolves allegations that the three ArchCare facilities submitted claims to Medicare that sought inflated amounts of reimbursement based on either the provision of unreasonable or unnecessary rehabilitation therapy, or false reports of therapy being delivered.
The United States alleges that, prior to Oct. 1, 2011, the ArchCare facilities failed to take sufficient steps to prevent RehabCare from engaging in a pattern and practice of providing high levels of therapy that were not reasonable or necessary during so-called “assessment reference periods,” when Archcare was required to report to Medicare the amount of therapy it was providing to its patients. ArchCare billed Medicare patients at the highest therapy reimbursement level, but RehabCare then provided less therapy to those same patients outside the assessment reference periods, when the facilities were not required to report to Medicare the amount of provided therapy. As a result of this practice by RehabCare, ArchCare frequently billed Medicare for its patients’ care at the highest therapy-based levels, even though the patients often were not receiving therapy at those levels.
“This settlement is part of the government’s continuing effort to ensure that the provision of care in skilled nursing facilities is based on patients’ clinical needs and not tied to the financial targets of the companies providing their care,” said United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz. “To its credit, ArchCare cooperated with the government’s investigation and took steps to address the issues that were revealed during the investigation.”
This settlement further resolves allegations that ArchCare failed to prevent other RehabCare practices designed to inflate Medicare reimbursement, including: (1) presumptively placing patients in the highest reimbursement level unless it was shown that the patients could not tolerate that amount of therapy, rather than using individualized evaluations to determine the level of care most suitable for each patient’s clinical needs; (2) planning the minimum number of minutes of therapy required to bill at the highest reimbursement level while discouraging the provision of therapy in amounts beyond that minimum threshold, despite the Medicare requirement that the amount of care provided be determined by patients’ clinical needs; (3) arbitrarily shifting the number of minutes of planned therapy between different therapy disciplines to ensure targeted reimbursement levels were achieved; (4) reporting that time spent on initial evaluations was therapy time in order to avoid the Medicare prohibition on counting initial evaluation time as reimbursable therapy time; (5) reporting that time spent providing unskilled palliative care was time spent on reimbursable skilled therapy; and (6) reporting estimated or rounded minutes instead of reporting the actual minutes of therapy provided.
The government took ArchCare’s cooperation and its current practices into account in reaching the resolution being announced today.
This matter was investigated by the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Gregg Shapiro and Patrick Callahan of Ortiz’s Affirmative Civil Enforcement Unit and Department of Justice Trial Attorneys Christelle Klovers and Rohith Srinivas.
New Hartford Man Sentenced to 160 Months on Child Pornography ChargesRead the Press Release
SYRACUSE, NEW YORK - United States Attorney Richard S. Hartunian announced that WILLIAM P. MC COY, 66, of New Hartford, New York was sentenced today in United States District Court following his earlier plea of guilty to a four-count Information charging him with receipt and possession of child pornography.
United States District Judge Glenn T. Suddaby sentenced MC COY to concurrent terms of 160 months imprisonment on each of the four counts. Following his term of imprisonment, MC COY will be placed on supervised release for 20 years, and will be required to register as a sex offender.
MC COY’s arrest came about as a result of an investigation by the United States Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations, with assistance from the New York State Police and United States Postal Inspection Service. Agents discovered that MC COY had been using the Internet to obtain and share child pornography. They recovered nearly 1,200 images and 4 video files depicting the abuse of children from MC COY’s computers and other electronic devices. They also recovered evidence that MC COY created child pornography by morphing innocent images of children by adding objects to the images to make them sexually explicit. Additionally, agents also discovered that MC COY created his own videos of actual children by surreptitiously videotaping, on separate occasions, two minor children, capturing depictions of the children as they undressed.
MC COY was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Lisa Fletcher, Project Safe Childhood Coordinator for the Northern District of New York. 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 identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit
www.projectsafechildhood.gov
National Consumer Protection WeekRead the Press Release
CONTACT: Barbara Burns
PHONE: (716) 843-5817
FAX: (716) 551-3051
BUFFALO, N.Y. — The United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York is commemorating National Consumer Protection Week (NCPW) March 1-7, 2015. NCPW is a coordinated campaign that encourages consumers nationwide to take full advantage of their consumer rights and make better-informed decisions.
“While today may begin National Consumer Protection Week, our focus must be on People Protection, each and every day,” said U.S. Attorney Hochul. Financial predators from around the world target not just the most vulnerable, such as seniors, but the trusting and less technically savvy. Fortunately, there are simple strategies which can maximize your safety, and wonderful private and public partners willing to help. Remember, denial need not be an option, and loss of savings or identity need not be the end of the story.”
U.S. Attorney Hochul joined with representatives of the United States Postal Inspection Service and the Better Business Bureau to warn the public of potential scams and offer tips to consumers to avoid becoming a victim of fraud.
“Today’s consumer must be vigilant in their fight to protect themselves against fraud. We’re working every day to educate the public about the latest scams and attempts to steal personal identifying information because we know the best defense is a well-informed consumer,” said Warren Clark, president Better Business Bureau of Upstate New York. “BBB is proud to support National Consumer Protection Week. We vow to help the public take full advantage of their consumer rights and offer trusted information so they can make knowledgeable buying decisions.”
If consumers believe they have been the victim of a scam or fraud:
• File a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission at ftc.gov/complaint.
• Visit ftc.gov/idtheft for tips on minimizing the risk of identity theft.
• Contact the Better Business Bureau bbb.org/upstate-new-york/.
Milford Man Sentenced to 65 Months in Prison for Distributing Heroin Connected to Overdose DeathRead the Press Release
Follow @USAO_CT
Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, and Michael J. Ferguson, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration for New England, announced that RYAN RUSSOW, 29, of Milford, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton in New Haven to 65 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for distributing heroin connected to the overdose death of a Milford man.
“Working closely with the DEA and local police, we are continuing to prioritize investigations of heroin overdoses and the prosecution of dealers who traffic in heroin that results in a user’s death,” stated U.S. Attorney Daly. “We are committed to following all leads to the ultimate source of supply. Heroin traffickers are forewarned that a conviction for distributing heroin that results in a death carries a lengthy federal sentence.”
“Individuals who sell heroin have one motivation and that is to make money,” stated DEA Acting Special Agent in Charge Ferguson. “They ignore the countless overdoses and deaths that result from the use of heroin as well as the lingering destruction this drug brings to our families and communities. DEA and our law enforcement partners are committed to investigating overdose deaths to identify and bring to justice the source of this poison.”
According to court documents and statements made in court, from November 2013 to April 2014, RUSSOW obtained heroin from a source in New Haven and then distributed the drug out of his residence on Stone Manor Drive to customers. On March 12, 2014, RUSSOW sold a number of bags of heroin, stamped “Much Better,” to R.P., 26, of Milford. Later that day, R.P. was found deceased at his residence in Milford. In R.P.’s room, law enforcement officers located two empty bags of heroin stamped “Much Better,” and two full bags bearing the same stamp.
Drug Enforcement Administration analysis confirmed that the full bags contained heroin with a purity level of approximately 76 percent, and the Connecticut Office of the Chief Medical Examiner concluded that R.P. died of heroin toxicity.
On March 19, 2014, the DEA executed a search warrant at RUSSOW’s residence and seized more than $19,000 in cash, a digital scale and drug packaging materials.
RUSSOW has been detained since his arrest on April 23, 2014. On December 4, 2014, he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute heroin.
This matter was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Bridgeport High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Task Force and the Milford Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah P. Karwan.PUBLIC AFFAIRS CONTACT:
U.S. ATTORNEY'S OFFICE
Tom Carson
(203) 821-3722
[email protected]Manhattan U.S. Attorney Announces Conviction of High-Ranking Al Qaeda Terrorist for Conspiring to Kill Americans and Other Terrorism OffensesRead the Press Release
Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced the conviction on February 26 in Manhattan federal court of KHALED AL FAWWAZ, a citizen of Saudi Arabia, on multiple terrorism offenses relating to his participation in al Qaeda’s conspiracy to kill Americans. After a six-week jury trial before U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan that began on January 20, 2015, FAWWAZ was found guilty of all four counts in which he was charged, and faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said: “As a unanimous jury has found, for nearly a decade, Khaled al Fawwaz played a critical role for al Qaeda in its murderous conspiracy against America. Dedicating himself to al Qaeda in the early 1990s, Fawwaz was one of Osama bin Laden's original and most trusted lieutenants, serving first as the leader of an al Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan, then as a leader of al Qaeda's terrorist cell in Kenya, and finally as bin Laden's media adviser in London. From his position in London, Fawwaz served as bin Laden's bridge to the West in the pre-Internet era, facilitating interviews of bin Laden in Afghanistan by Western media and disseminating bin Laden's 1998 fatwah commanding followers to kill Americans anywhere in the world. That directive was followed by the 1998 bombings of our embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, which resulted in the murder of 224 innocent people, and the wounding of thousands more. From the time of the embassy attacks, all 10 defendants tied to those attacks have now been convicted by trial or guilty plea in a Manhattan courtroom. From his one-time place at the top of al Qaeda’s membership list, Fawwaz now joins the long membership list of convicted, jailed terrorists. That list includes two other major figures in the past year alone, Abu Ghayth and Abu Hamza, all of whom have received full justice in a Manhattan courtroom – the verdict of 12 ordinary Americans rendered after a fair and open trial. We hope this verdict gives some comfort to al Qaeda’s victims around the world.”
According to the evidence presented at trial:
During the early 1990s, FAWWAZ trained at al Qaeda’s Jawar military training camp in Afghanistan and then became the emir, or head, of al Qaeda’s al Siddiq military training camp in Afghanistan. In approximately 1993, FAWWAZ moved to Nairobi, Kenya, where he served as one of the leaders of the al Qaeda members there, during a time when al Qaeda was sending fighters through Nairobi to Somalia to fight, and to train Somalis to fight, United States and United Nations forces in Somalia. FAWWAZ was also a leader of al Qaeda in Nairobi when al Qaeda began its preparations to attack the United States Embassy there.
The evidence further showed that, in 1994, FAWWAZ began to act as Osama bin Laden’s media representative in London, England. FAWWAZ served as bin Laden’s conduit to Western media, screening requests for interviews of Bin Laden and facilitating travel to Afghanistan by journalists who were allowed to interview bin Laden. FAWWAZ also publicized bin Laden’s threats of violence against the United States. Among other things, FAWWAZ delivered bin Laden’s August 1996 Declaration of Jihad against the United States to a journalist for publication and helped arrange for the publication of a February 1998 fatwa, signed by bin Laden and others, that claimed it was the individual duty of every Muslim to kill Americans, civilian and military, in any country where it was possible to do so. In addition, FAWWAZ provided al Qaeda with advice about how best to disseminate to the West its message of terror, and helped obtain for al Qaeda items that were difficult to obtain in Afghanistan, such as generators, vehicles, and communications equipment. In addition, a list of al Qaeda members recovered in Kandahar, Afghanistan, by the United States military in late 2001 contained FAWWAZ’s alias, and had him numbered ninth on the list.
Following FAWWAZ’s arrest in England in September 1998, FAWWAZ challenged his extradition to the United States for over a decade. He arrived in the Southern District of New York in October 2012.
FAWWAZ, 52, was convicted of conspiring to kill United States nationals (Count One), conspiring to murder officers and employees of the United States (Count Three), conspiring to destroy buildings and property of the United States (Count Five), and conspiring to attack national defense utilities (Count Six). Counts One, Three, and Five each carry a maximum term of life in prison, and Count Six carries a maximum term of 10 years in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for May 15, 2015, at 10 a.m. The statutory maximum sentences are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the judge.
Mr. Bharara praised the outstanding efforts of the New York Joint Terrorism Task Force – which principally consists of agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and detectives from the New York City Police Department. Mr. Bharara also thanked the United States Marshals Service, the United States Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs, and the National Security Division for their efforts. Mr. Bharara additionally thanked New Scotland Yard for its cooperation in the investigation and prosecution.
The case is being prosecuted by the Office’s Terrorism and International Narcotics Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sean S. Buckley, Adam Fee, Nicholas J. Lewin, and Stephen J. Ritchin are in charge of the prosecution.
Larry Garrow, Jr. Sentenced to 30 Months in Connection with Burglary of Hardwick Gun StoreRead the Press Release
The Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont stated that Larry Garrow, Jr., 27, of Richford, Vermont was sentenced on Friday to 30 months of imprisonment on a charge of possession stolen firearms. Chief Judge Christina Reiss also ordered that Garrow pay $8,000 in restitution to the Rite Way Sports Shop, and serve a three-year period of supervised release following his term of imprisonment.
In his plea agreement with the government, Garrow stipulated that he stole thirty-two firearms from Rite Way Sports Shop on April 19, 2014. The firearms consisted of .380 caliber and 9 mm handguns. In the immediate aftermath of the gun store burglary, Garrow provided approximately twenty of the firearms to another individual. Those firearms have not been recovered. Law enforcement recovered nine handguns and two pellet guns on April 23, 2014, when Garrow’s father located them in the defendant’s bedroom and turned them over to the Vermont State Police. The serial numbers on the recovered handguns corresponded to the serial numbers on firearms reported stolen by Rite Way. Garrow was arrested on April 23, 2014, and charged with stealing firearms from a federally-licensed firearms dealer. He has remained in custody since his arrest.
This matter was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, with the assistance of the United States Border Patrol, the Vermont State Police, and the Hardwick Police Department. The United States was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Doyle. Garrow was represented by Jordana M. Levine, Esq., of the law firm Marsicovetere Law Group, P.C., of White River Junction, Vermont.
Kenner Man Arrested for Receipt of Child PornographyRead the Press Release
U.S. Attorney Kenneth A. Polite announced that STEVEN GAETA, age 41, of Kenner, was arrested by federal law enforcement authorities today for crimes involving the sexual exploitation of children.
According to court records, on February 27, 2015, GAETA was indicted by a federal grand jury as a result of a child exploitation investigation conducted by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security-Homeland Security Investigations (“HSI”). According to records unsealed today, HSI agents executed a federal search warrant at GAETA’s residence after determining he was downloading images depicting the sexual victimization of children through the use of Peer to Peer file sharing software.
If convicted, GAETA faces a mandatory minimum penalty of five years and a maximum penalty of twenty years, followed by up to a lifetime term of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine.
U. S. Attorney Polite reiterated that the Indictment is merely a charge and that the guilt of the defendant must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
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."
U.S. Attorney Polite praised the work of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security-HSI in investigating this matter. Project Safe Childhood Coordinator and Fraud Unit Chief, Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian M. Klebba is in charge of the prosecution.
Justice Department Surpasses $2 Billion in Awards Under the Radiation Exposure Compensation ActRead the Press Release
The Justice Department announced today that it has awarded more than $2 billion in compassionate compensation to eligible claimants under the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA).
The RECA was enacted in 1990 as a non-adversarial alternative to litigation for individuals who contracted certain illnesses following exposure to radiation as a result of the United States’ atmospheric nuclear testing program and uranium ore processing operations during the Cold War. Congress expanded the scope of the law’s coverage in 2000. In its present form, the RECA provides lump sum compensation awards to individuals who contracted specified diseases in three defined populations: uranium miners, millers and ore transporters who are eligible for $100,000 per claim; participants in atmospheric nuclear weapons tests who are eligible for $75,000 per claim; and individuals who lived downwind of the Nevada Test Site (downwinders) who are eligible for $50,000 per claim.
“RECA claimants worked in hazardous occupations and were subjected to increased risk of disease to serve the national security interests of the United States,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Benjamin C. Mizer of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “This extraordinary statute provides partial restitution to these individuals and their families for the sacrifices they made during a critical time in our nation’s history.”
Compensation has been awarded to individuals residing in every state. Since 1990, nearly 43,000 claims have been filed and 32,000 claims have been approved. Residents of the Four Corners Region of the American southwest have filed the majority of RECA claims. The department has awarded more than 9,400 claims filed by residents of Arizona, valued at more than $500 million. Approximately 3,800 claims filed by residents of New Mexico have been awarded, valued at nearly $350 million, and approximately 5,800 claims filed by Utah residents have been awarded, valued at approximately $330 million. Colorado residents have received awards in more than 3,200 claims, valued at more than $213 million.
Awards to Native American claimants total approximately $264 million distributed among members of 17 different tribes. The department has awarded more than 2,800 claims filed by members of the Navajo Nation, valued at more than $212 million. In addition, the department has awarded more than $24 million to members of the Laguna Pueblo Tribe and more than $9 million to members of the Apache Tribes.
Since 1990, the department has awarded more than 3,600 claims filed by veterans, civil servants and contractors who participated onsite in atmospheric nuclear tests, valued in excess of $266 million. Nearly $100 million of this compensation was awarded following a surge in claims filed in 2011 and 2012.
“This benchmark reflects the department’s efforts to help thousands of U.S. citizens reach closure on a unique chapter of our history,” said Deputy Assistant Attorney General Kali N. Bracey of the Civil Division’s Torts Branch. The RECA is administered by the Radiation Exposure Compensation Program, a component of the Constitutional and Specialized Torts Litigation section within the Torts Branch.
The Department of Justice is a part of a broad inter-agency network that includes the Departments of Defense, Veterans Affairs, Labor, Health and Human Services, and Energy, comprising the comprehensive federal radiation compensation system. Eligibility determinations are routinely coordinated with these agencies.
The RECA will expire on July 9, 2022, and claims received after that date will be barred. Individuals interested in filing a claim may visit the department’s RECA website or contact the Radiation Exposure Compensation Program at 800-729-7327.
Justice Department Reaches Agreement with Rapid City, South Dakota, to Improve Accessibility of Civic CenterRead the Press Release
The Department of Justice today announced an agreement with Rapid City, South Dakota, to remedy architectural accessibility issues that violate the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) at the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center (Civic Center). This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which the Civil Rights Division plays a critical role in enforcing.
Rapid City and the U.S. Department of Justice reached an agreement under Project Civic Access (PCA), the department’s wide-ranging initiative to ensure that cities, towns and counties throughout the country comply with the ADA. Under the agreement, Rapid City is required to ensure that the 11 parking areas surrounding the Civic Center will comply with the ADA’s 2010 Standards for Accessible Design.
The agreement with Rapid City will allow people with disabilities to access county buildings, such as Connie Whitley and Jim Nelson, who attended the Black Hills Works Gala, a formal event that brings nearly 800 people from the area together to honor people with disabilities. Upon arriving at the Civic Center, where the gala was taking place, the couples’ driver found a spot that was designated as accessible, but in practice was not. It lacked the required “access aisle,” leaving Ms. Whitley and Mr. Nelson no room to get out of the car with their wheelchairs. After finding another spot and maneuvering through the snow, the couple then found that a side entrance at the Civic Center as well as the door to the room where the gala was being held were also not accessible. The size of their wheelchairs requires both double doors to be held open – a difficult task with only one staff person present.
Experiences like this, however, will become a thing of the past over the next three years thanks to the PCA agreement. You can learn more about Ms. Whitley and Mr. Nelson’s story by checking out the Justice Department blog, where each month of 2015, the department is highlighting how PCA agreements have an impact on the everyday lives of people with disabilities.
Under the agreement, the Civic Center will have the required number of designated accessible parking spaces, including van-accessible spaces. Each space will be the appropriate size, have an access aisle and accessible signage, and be on the shortest accessible route to an accessible entrance.
“Connie and Jim’s story reminds us of the kinds of things people with disabilities face every day; the kinds of things that many of us take for granted,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta of the Civil Rights Division. “Something as simple as getting in the door should not become a Herculean feat. Under today’s agreement, in addition to getting in the door, more will be done by Rapid City to make its Civic Center accessible to persons with disabilities. The agreement addresses companion seating for wheelchair users, public restrooms, interior ramps, drinking fountains and even dressing rooms for performers with disabilities.”
For more information about the ADA, today’s agreement, the PCA initiative, individuals may access the ADA web page at http://www.ada.gov/civicac.htm or call the toll-free ADA Information Line at (800) 514-0301 or (800) 514-0383 (TTY).
Jury Convicts Excelsior Springs Man of Meth ConspiracyRead the Press Release
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that an Excelsior Springs, Mo., man who called law enforcement officers to his home for assistance – where he was helping to manufacture methamphetamine – was convicted by a federal trial jury today on charges related to his role in a conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine.
Anthony Trurice Grayson, 30, of Excelsior Springs, was found guilty of participating in a conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine from July 1 to July 16, 2013, attempting to manufacture methamphetamine, possessing pseudoephedrine to manufacture methamphetamine and maintaining a drug house.
Co-defendants Glenn Allen DiFalco, 51, of Kansas City, Mo., and Clarissa Nelson Cooper, 46, of Harrison, Mo., have pleaded guilty to their roles in the conspiracy. They admitted that, given the amount of pseudoephedrine seized by law enforcement officers, the conspiracy could have produced approximately three kilograms of pure methamphetamine. Three kilograms of pure methamphetamine would have a street value of more than $100,000.
Grayson contacted the Ray County Sheriff’s Department on July 16, 2013, and told officers he was being threatened by DiFalco. DiFalco and Cooper were homeless at the time and were staying at Grayson’s home for several days. Grayson, who had fled from his residence, told officers that DiFalco had a gun and that he feared for his life. Officers met Grayson about a half-mile from his residence; he gave them permission to enter his house and arrest DiFalco.
As officers were speaking to Grayson, DiFalco and Cooper approached in a Dodge truck. The vehicle abruptly turned and drove away and officers began pursuing them. When DiFalco’s vehicle stopped in a dead-end cul-de-sac, Cooper fled from the vehicle on foot and was chased by officers, who apprehended and arrested her. DiFalco was also arrested.
Officers searched DiFalco’s truck and found an airsoft gun and drug paraphernalia, including glass smoking pipes, syringes and a substance that was suspected to be crystal methamphetamine. DiFalco’s vehicle was so completely filled with debris and clutter that officers couldn’t adequately search it. The significant amount of items in the vehicle impeded law enforcement’s ability to recover and appropriately process the numerous items of drug paraphernalia and what was also suspected to be crystal methamphetamine. Officers therefore had DiFalco’s vehicle towed to a secured lot for further investigation.
Officers returned to Grayson’s home following the vehicle pursuit and observed, in plain view, numerous items of drug paraphernalia commonly used to smoke and manufacture methamphetamine. During a search of Grayson’s residence, officers located coffee filters with iodine and powder residue, a bottle of 100% household lye, small baggies normally used to package drugs, glassware/cookware and Mason jars with residue (which were altered to facilitate methamphetamine manufacture), tubing, glass smoking pipes, a white crystal-like unknown substance, weighing approximately 215.8 grams (not believed to be a controlled substance but some type of cutting agent), one bag of ground-up Cold Buster pseudoephedrine pills weighing approximately 88.8 grams and several plastic baggies containing methamphetamine, weighing approximately 53.2 grams. Officers also located a suspected explosive device, which was later identified as a “booby-trap” device.
When they searched DiFalco’s vehicle the next day, officers found approximately 80,000 pills of Cold Buster pseudoephedrine hydrochloride. These pills were contained in 91 one-gallon plastic bags. They found three bags containing ground-up pseudoephedrine hydrochloride pills with a total weight of 736 grams. They also found smoking pipes, numerous handwritten recipes for various methods of methamphetamine manufacture, a butane torch, a bottle of iodine solution and several packs of iodine swabs, a laptop computer and three cell phones.
Following the presentation of evidence, the jury in the U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Mo., deliberated for three hours before returning the verdict to U.S. Chief District Judge Greg Kays, ending a trial that began Monday, March 2, 2015.
DiFalco was sentenced on Sept. 17, 2014, to seven years and six months in federal prison without parole. Cooper awaits sentencing.
Under federal statutes, Grayson is subject to a sentence of up to 80 years in federal prison without parole, plus a fine up to $2.75 million. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph M. Marquez and Special Assistant US Attorney Jeffrey Q. McCarther. It was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Hurricane woman pleads guilty to defrauding small businessRead the Press Release
Huntington, W. Va. - United States Attorney Booth Goodwin announced today that Sandra Ball, 58, of Hurricane, West Virginia pleaded guilty to two felony counts of wire fraud. Ball was an auditor for Mountaineer 4X4, a small business in Hurricane, West Virginia that provides service and accessories for off-road vehicles. From 2008 to 2013, Ball transferred money from Mountaineer 4x4’s checking account to her personal credit card to pay for personal items and expenses. Ball made approximately 500 online transfers resulting in a loss to Mountaineer 4X4 of nearly $450,000.
Ball is scheduled to be sentenced on June 1, 2015. She faces a total of 40 years’ imprisonment and a fine of up to $500,000. As part of her plea agreement, Ball has also agreed to pay restitution of $445,164. Chief United States District Court Judge Robert C. Chambers presided over the plea hearing.
The Hurricane Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation are conducting the investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Erik S. Goes is responsible for the prosecution.
Humboldt County Marijuana Farmer Found Guilty of Murdering Immigrant Worker on His FarmRead the Press Release
SAN FRANCISCO – This morning, a federal jury found Mikal X. Wilde guilty of six felonies including Using a Firearm to Commit First Degree Murder, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(j), Murder in the Course of a Narcotics Offense, in violation of 21 U.S.C. ' 848(e)(1)(A), Conspiracy to Commit Marijuana Offenses, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 846 and 841, Marijuana Offenses, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841, and two counts of Using a Firearm During a Crime of Violence or Narcotics Trafficking Offense, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c), announced U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag and Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge David J. Johnson. The charges stemmed from the defendant’s murder of Mario Roberto Juarez-Madrid and the shooting of Pedro Fernando Lopez-Paz on August 25, 2010, on the defendant’s marijuana farm in Humboldt County, California.
Evidence at trial showed that Wilde, 33, of Kneeland, Calif., began a large marijuana grow with more than 1500 plants on over 800 acres of mountain property in Kneeland, California – close to Eureka – during the summer of 2010. In the course of his marijuana cultivation operation, Wilde hired three workers to water and care for the plants, including Mr. Juarez-Madrid and Mr. Lopez-Paz, both from Guatemala. During August of 2010, Wilde provided the workers with firearms to protect against robbery of the marijuana grow. In late August, the workers became unhappy and wanted to leave with payment for the work they had already performed after Wilde altered their work conditions. Rather than paying the workers, Wilde took the firearms away from them, and on August 25, 2010, returned to the property armed, and shot them. Wilde shot Mr. Lopez-Paz in the face, but he survived, hiding in the woods all night until he found help the following morning. Wilde shot Mr. Juarez-Madrid three times and hunted him down, with the final shot a contact wound to the back of Mr. Juarez-Madrid’s head. The third worker, Christopher Bigelow, also fled into the woods and hid until he was found by a jogger the following morning. The jury found the defendant guilty of a premeditated first degree murder, in addition to the other charges listed above.
Wilde is scheduled to be sentenced on June 3, 2015, by the Honorable Edward M. Chen, U.S. District Judge. The defendant faces a possible sentence of a mandatory minimum 55 years up to two terms of life in prison, a $1.5 million fine, and five years of supervised release. However, any sentence will be imposed by the court only after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C. § 3553.The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Kimberly Hopkins and William Frentzen, paralegal specialist Kevin Costello, and legal techs Lance Libatique, Ponly Tu, Daniel Charlier-Smith, and Marina Ponomarchuk. The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, San Francisco Division and Sacramento Division; Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office; Humboldt County District Attorney’s Office; United States Marshals Service; California Highway Patrol; CalFire; and Redding Police Department.
Gorham Man Sentenced to Almost 6 years on Drug Trafficking and Firearms ChargesRead the Press Release
Contact: Daniel J. Perry
Assistant United States Attorney
Tel: (207) 780-3257Portland, Maine: United States Attorney Thomas E. Delahanty II announced that Richard Magee, 58, of Gorham, Maine, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court by Judge George Z. Singal to 70 months in prison to be followed by 3 years of supervised release for distributing cocaine and possessing firearms after having been convicted of a felony. Magee pleaded guilty to these offenses on October 29, 2014.
In August and September 2013, agents with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) learned that Magee was acquiring cocaine from an out of state source and distributing it in Maine. In October 2013, agents executed a search warrant at Magee’s residence and found a cocaine processing station in his basement that was used to add a cutting agent to the cocaine and “re-rock” it. Agents also seized five firearms from his bedroom.
This case results from a joint investigation conducted by DEA, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Portland Police Department and the ongoing effort of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF), a partnership between federal, state and local law enforcement agencies. The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking, weapons trafficking and money laundering organizations, and those primarily responsible for the nation’s illegal drug supply.
Gaithersburg Woman Sentenced for Submitting Four Fraudulent Claims for Unemployment Insurance BenefitsRead the Press Release
Greenbelt, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow sentenced Rebecca Lynn Biglow, age 42, of Gaithersburg, Maryland today to 44 months in prison followed by four years and 10 months of supervised release for mail fraud and aggravated identity theft in connection with a fraud scheme to obtain unemployment insurance benefits, and for violating terms of her supervised release imposed after she had served time in prison for a previous federal conviction for bank fraud. Judge Chasanow also entered an order that Biglow pay forfeiture and restitution of $71,022, the total amount paid by DLLR on the four fraudulent claims.
The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Steven Anderson, of the Washington Regional Office, U.S. Department of Labor - Office of Inspector General, Office of Labor Racketeering and Fraud Investigations; and Gordon Cooley, Commissioner of the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation’s (DLLR) Division of Financial Regulation.
"Rebecca Biglow filed fraudulent unemployment insurance claims while she was already under court supervision for a previous crime," said U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein.
According to her plea agreement, on September 9, 2009, Biglow submitted an unemployment insurance benefits claim to DLLR, claiming that she had worked from April 2008 to September 2009 for a home cleaning service company, earning wages totaling $23,390. In fact, Biglow was incarcerated from October 2007 to August 2009, and had not worked for the company. From September 2009 to January 2011, DLLR paid Biglow a total of $17,272 on this claim.
On May 20, 2011, Biglow submitted another claim for unemployment insurance benefits, stating that she had worked for an individual at a business where she earned wages totaling $36,042.18. In fact, Biglow never worked for this individual. From May 2011 to December 2012, DLLR paid Biglow a total of $29,670 on this second claim.
On May 31, 2013, Biglow submitted a third unemployment benefits claim using the name, social security number and date of birth of another individual. Biglow falsely claimed that this individual had worked from June 2012 to May 2013 for a child care center, earning $54,370 in wages. From June to December 2013, DLLR paid a total of $13,330 on this claim.
Finally, on October 25, 2013, Biglow submitted a fourth unemployment benefits claim falsely stating that she had worked at a candle business, earning $36,798 in wages from February to October 2013. From October 2013 to May 2014, DLLR paid Biglow $10,750 on this claim.
Biglow was on supervised release during the time she submitted these false claims, after having served time in prison for a previous bank fraud scheme.
United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein praised the Department of Labor – OIG and DLLR for their work in the investigation and thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas P. Windom, who prosecuted the case.
Former Houston Banker Heads to Prison for Bank FraudRead the Press Release
HOUSTON - Quinhun Rollins, 42, of Houston, has been ordered to federal prison following her conviction of bank fraud. She pleaded guilty on Oct. 27, 2014, announced U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson.
Today, U.S. District Judge Kenneth Hoyt ordered Rollins to serve was 33 months in prison to be immediately followed by five years of supervised release. She was further ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $462,266.77.
Rollins had worked as an account manager and assistant vice president at Green Bank in Houston. At the time of her plea, she admitted that between January 2012 and February 2014, she fraudulently caused unauthorized payments totaling $517,479.01 from Green Bank to vendors of Green Bank to be deposited into her personal bank account at another bank in Houston.
At the hearing today, the chief financial officer for Green Bank made a victim impact statement to the court, explaining that Rollins had been a trusted bank employee whom he supervised. He told the court that Rollins betrayed the trust of those she worked for and those who worked for her at Green Bank. He further noted that Rollins gave gifts to fellow employees who now know those items and parties thrown at her house were funded with stolen money. “Many of Ms. Rollins’s colleagues who worked for her would have had to work for over 10 years to make the amount of money that Ms. Rollins stole from Green Bank," he said. He provided a final note to the court, saying "this crime hurt deeply.”
Rollins was permitted to remain on bond and voluntarily surrender to a U.S Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
The case was investigated by the Secret Service and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney John Braddock.Former City of Miami Police Officer Pleads Guilty to Two Counts of Hobbs Act ExtortionRead the Press Release
Jerry Sutherland, 28, of Miami-Dade County, Florida, a former officer with the City of Miami Police Department, pled guilty today to two counts of extortion.
Wifredo A. Ferrer, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, FBI, Miami Field Office, and Rodolfo Llanes, Chief, City of Miami Police Department (MPD), made the announcement.
As admitted in Sutherland’s factual proffer in support of his plea of guilty:
In early 2014, Sutherland, who, at the time, was an officer with MPD, managed a football team in his spare time. Sutherland requested that a vendor paint the football team’s helmets free of charge. Subsequently, Sutherland began to demand additional services from the vendor without payment. When the vendor balked at these demands, Sutherland, who erroneously believed that the vendor was involved in an illegal gambling operation that was located adjacent to the vendor’s business in Miami-Dade County, intimated that he would shut down the gambling operation if his demands were not met.
Sutherland represented to the vendor that he would provide the vendor with information about impending surveillance and other operations by MPD in the area of the gambling operation so that the vendor could pass on that information to the owners and operators of the gambling operation.
Several recordings were made of Sutherland receiving 10 bribe payments, many which he received while he was in uniform. Of these payments, 6 were made to Sutherland in exchange for his promise to provide protection for a gambling operation located in Miami-Dade County, that communicated the bets placed there to a gambling establishment in Las Vegas, Nevada; two were made to Sutherland in exchange for his promise to arrange for the dismissal of a criminal court case against an employee of the illegal gambling operation; one was made to Sutherland in exchange for his agreement to increase the visibility of police around a rival gambling location in order to discourage its customers from patronizing that rival location; and the remaining payment was for Sutherland’s promise to provide the vendor with a “case card” with a fictitious case number and officer’s name. Sutherland had been told that the fictitious case card would be used to falsely demonstrate that the gambling operation had been robbed so that the workers could keep for themselves the gambling proceeds that had been made that day. Sutherland received payments which totaled $3,400.
Sutherland is scheduled to be sentenced on May 11, 2015, at 8:30 a.m., before U.S. District Judge Cecilia M. Altonaga.
Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the FBI Miami Area Corruption Task Force and the City of Miami Police Department Internal Affairs Section. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Harry C. Wallace, Jr.
Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.
Federal Grand Jury Indicts Two Birmingham Men in Separate Business RobberiesRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM -- A federal grand jury late Friday indicted two Birmingham men in unrelated armed robberies of businesses in 2013 and 2014, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance, FBI Special Agent in Charge Roger C. Stanton, and Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Special Agent in Charge Glenn N. Anderson.
Separate indictments filed in U.S. District Court charge WILLLIAM BROWNLOW, 26, with two 2013 robberies in Talladega, and TOMMY LEON STEWART, 28, with two Birmingham area robberies in 2014.
The three-count indictment against Brownlow charges him with robbing both the Shoe Show on East Battle Street in Talladega and the Wesco gas station and convenience store on Fort Lashley Avenue in Talladega on Nov. 12, 2013. The indictment also charges Brownlow with brandishing a firearm during the Wesco robbery.
The three-count indictment against Stewart charges him with robbing a CVS Pharmacy on Center Point Parkway in Center Point on Oct. 21, 2014, and a CVS Pharmacy on Alabama Highway 75 in Pinson on Oct. 29, 2014. The indictment also charges Stewart with brandishing a firearm during the Oct. 29 robbery.
The maximum prison penalty for the robbery charge is 20 years. The charge of brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence carries a minimum mandatory prison sentence of seven years, which must be served after completion of any other sentence imposed for the crime.
ATF investigated the case against Brownlow. FBI investigated the case against Stewart. Assistant U.S. Attorney John B. Felton is prosecuting both cases.
The public is reminded that an indictment contains only charges. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Director of Operations of Retail Clothing Business Pleads Guilty to Failing to Pay Federal Tax WithholdingsRead the Press Release
HOUSTON - William John Shoemaker has been convicted of one count of willfully failing to truthfully account for and to pay federal tax withholdings to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), announced U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson along with Lucy Cruz, special agent in charge of IRS - Criminal Investigation (CI).
According to the plea agreement filed in the public record of the case, Shoemaker failed to truthfully account for and to pay over the trust fund portion of the employment taxes owed by AA Concepts Inc., for the fourth quarter of 2012.
The plea agreement also states that at all times relevant to the case, Shoemaker conducted a retail clothing business through AA Concepts Inc., which operated its retail clothing business under various trade names. Shoemaker held the title of director of operations of AA Concepts and had the duty to truthfully account for and to pay over the federal income taxes and FICA withheld from the wages of the employees of the corporation, according to court records.
Shoemaker also willfully failed to pay approximately $2.198 million in federal income tax withholdings and FICA withholdings for 22 quarters, from the third quarter of 2007 through the fourth quarter of 2012. The plea agreement also indicates that Shoemaker agreed that the relevant conduct, the intended tax loss, for purposes of sentencing is between $2.5 million and $7 million.
Shoemaker has agreed to pay $1,830,324.78 in restitution to the IRS.
U.S. District Court Judge Kenneth Hoyt has set sentencing for May 18, 2015, at which time Shoemaker faces up to five years in federal prison and a potential $250,000 fine.This case was investigated by IRS-CI and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles J. Escher.
Delaware Seafood Wholesaler and Company Fined and Owner Sentenced to 26 Months in Prison for Illegally Trafficking in OystersRead the Press Release
Mark Bryan, 59, of New Market, Maryland, and his Delaware-based seafood wholesale business, Harbor House Seafood, were sentenced on Friday in federal court in Camden, New Jersey, for trafficking in illegally possessed oysters, creating false health and safety records, and conspiracy charges.
Bryan was sentenced to serve 26 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release. Bryan was also ordered to pay a $62,500 fine and to pay New Jersey $140,000 for the restoration of oyster beds in Delaware Bay. Harbor House was ordered to pay a $250,000 fine and was sentenced to five years of probation. Friday’s sentences, in addition to the previous sentencing of Bryan’s co-conspirators and suppliers, brings the total fines and forfeitures in this matter to over $625,000, along with $194,000 of restoration costs..
Bryan and Harbor House were convicted in 2012 of multiple felony crimes related to dealings in illegal oysters from 2004 to 2007. The evidence showed that for more than four years, Bryan conspired with New Jersey oystermen Thomas Reeves and Todd Reeves to cover up the Reeves’ overharvest of oysters from the Delaware Bay. Bryan, through his company, Harbor House Seafood, purchased the illegal oysters from the Reeves, then assisted in covering up the Reeves’ overharvest by maintaining double-books, providing federal agents with false records, and by falsifying his FDA-mandated health and safety logs. The jury saw numerous instances of late-night faxes between Bryan and the Reeves which were used to coordinate their conspiracy and hide their wrong-doing from investigators. Bryan was also shown to have purchased illegal oysters from oyster harvester Kenneth Bailey of New Jersey. During the course of his crimes, Bryan moved, purchased and sold over $1.2 million worth of illegal oysters.
The Reeves and Bailey were previously sentenced on Feb. 11, 2015, to 26 months, 16 months, and 12 months in prison, respectively, for their roles.
“The defendants’ actions provided a market for dishonest oystermen who were willing to place natural resources at risk in the name of profit,” said Assistant Attorney General John C. Cruden of the Department of Justice’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “Today’s sentences send the message that those who knowingly deal in illegal natural resources will be held accountable.”
“Today's sentence underscores the value that state partnerships add to NOAA Office of Law Enforcement’s ability to complete its mission,” said Assistant Director Logan Gregory for NOAA Fisheries Office of Law Enforcement. “In this case, our partnership with New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife was crucial in protecting the oyster resource in New Jersey and leveling the playing field across multiple industry sectors throughout the mid-Atlantic Region.”
The Lacey Act prohibits creating or submitting false records for fish or wildlife moving in interstate commerce and also prohibits trafficking in fish or wildlife known to be illegally taken or possessed. The FDA and state health agencies require that oyster purchasers and sellers maintain accurate records of the amounts and locations of oyster harvest for all oysters they buy and sell in order to protect public health and minimize the impact of any oyster-borne outbreak of disease.
The case was investigated by the NOAA Office of Law Enforcement and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s Division of Fish and Wildlife. The case was prosecuted by Assistant Chief Wayne D. Hettenbach and Trial Attorney Patrick M. Duggan of the Environment and Natural Resources Division’s Environmental Crimes Section, with assistance from Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew T. Smith of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey.
Charleroi Woman Sentenced to Probation for Counterfeit Currency SchemeRead the Press Release
PITTSBURGH – A resident of Washington County, Pennsylvania, was sentenced today in federal court to two years probation, including eight months home confinement, on her conviction of conspiracy to possess and to pass counterfeit currency, United States Attorney David J. Hickton announced today.
United States District Court Judge Cathy Bissoon imposed sentence upon Cheryl Leigh Johnson, 36, of Charleroi, Pa.
In connection with the guilty plea, the court was advised that during the period from July 1, 2014, through July 28, 2014, Johnson conspired with codefendants John Viloria, Barry Robert Youger, Jr. and Eric Seighman, to pass thousands of dollars of counterfeit Federal Reserve notes at various retail store locations in the Western District of Pennsylvania.
Prior to imposing sentence, Judge Bissoon stated that Johnson’s crime of conspiracy to possess and to pass counterfeit currency was a serious offense. However, a term of probation with a condition of home detention was appropriate due to Johnson’s current employment, her plea of guilty, and her acceptance of responsibility for her crime.
Assistant United States Attorney Mary McKeen Houghton prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.
U.S. Attorney Hickton commended the United States Secret Service for the investigation that led to the successful prosecution of Johnson.
Brooklyn Man Sentenced to 36 Years for Attempting to Drug and Sexually Abuse ChildrenRead the Press Release
On Friday, February 27, 2015, in federal court in Brooklyn, Bebars Baslan was sentenced to 36 years’ imprisonment for his attempt to drug and sexually abuse three young children: a 7-year-old, an 18-month-old, and 3-month-old infant, and for his possession of over 76,000 images and videos of child pornography. Baslan was convicted on July 24, 2014, following a two-week trial of traveling with the intent to engage in sexual acts with a child under twelve years of age, conspiracy to produce child pornography, attempted production of child pornography, and attempted coercion and enticement of a child to engage in illegal sexual conduct.
The sentence was announced by Loretta E. Lynch, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York.
“Today, the defendant received just punishment for his depraved actions – a lengthy prison sentence that will protect other children from him and hopefully deter others from engaging in such crimes,” stated United States Attorney Lynch. Ms. Lynch expressed her grateful appreciation to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and New York City Police Department, who investigated this case.
The evidence at trial showed that in January 2013, Baslan attempted to involve a friend in a plan to sexually abuse children. That friend went to law enforcement and agreed to co-operate under the direction of the FBI. Over the course of the next two months, the friend recorded the defendant and his girlfriend discussing plans to take sexually explicit photographs and videos of children as young as 3 months old. The defendant planned to exploit his girlfriend’s history of working with children to convince parents to allow her to babysit their children so that he could drug and sexually abuse the children.
The defendant’s plan ended in the government’s sting operation. As part of the sting, the friend offered the defendant and his girlfriend the opportunity to sexually abuse the friend’s two young children and 7-year-old niece at a Jersey City hotel. On March 19, 2013, the defendant gave the friend Benadryl and instructed him to give his niece an excessive dose in order to “knock her out” so that the defendant could sexually abuse her. Later that night, Baslan and his girlfriend traveled to the Jersey City hotel with an array of cameras to photograph the planned sexual abuse. They were arrested by FBI agents as they were about to enter the room they believed contained the drugged children.
The defendant was also sentenced by lifetime supervised release to follow his sentence of imprisonment. He will also be required to register as a sex offender.
The government’s case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Tyler Smith, Tiana Demas, and Robert Polemeni.
The Defendant:
Name: BEBARS BASLAN
Age: 37
Brooklyn, New York
E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 13-220 (RJD)
Belle Vernon Man Gets Prison Sentence for Counterfeit Currency SchemeRead the Press Release
PITTSBURGH – A Fayette County resident was sentenced today in federal court to 30 months imprisonment followed by three years supervised release on his conviction of conspiracy to possess and to pass counterfeit currency, United States Attorney David J. Hickton announced today.
United States District Court Judge Cathy Bissoon imposed sentence upon Eric Seighman, 32, of Belle Vernon, Pa.
In connection with the guilty plea, the court was advised that during the period from July 1, 2014, through July 28, 2014, Seighman conspired with codefendants John Viloria, Barry Robert Youger, Jr. and Cheryl Johnson, to pass thousands of dollars of counterfeit Federal Reserve notes at various retail store locations in the Western District of Pennsylvania.
Assistant United States Attorney Mary McKeen Houghton prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.
U.S. Attorney Hickton commended the United States Secret Service for the investigation that led to the successful prosecution of Seighman.
Bank Manager Charged with Theft of Bank FundsRead the Press Release
Matthew S. Liebheit, 39, of Moro, IL, was charged Friday with a three count Complaint charging him with two counts of Theft, Embezzlement, or Misapplication by a Bank Officer or Employee, and one count of False Bank Entries.
The charges stem from a purported bank robbery at Liberty Bank in Bethalto, Illinois, on December 13, 2014. Liebheit, a bank manager at Liberty Bank, called police to report a bank robbery, indicating that a masked individual forced him into the bank at gun point prior to the bank opening. He gave a description of the suspect’s vehicle as being a tan station wagon or crossover style vehicle. He stated that he was forced to give that individual over $200,000 from the bank’s vault.
Further investigation revealed that Liebheit’s truck was used by the masked individual and a band of ten dollar bills was found in a search of Liebheit’s truck. Additional investigation showed that Liebheit had allegedly altered withdrawal documents from a Liberty Bank customer’s account to reflect a larger than intended withdrawal from that customer’s account. The day before the purported robbery, Liebheit allegedly falsified documentation to show a substantial deposit to that customer’s account.
Liebheit is scheduled for an initial appearance on the complaint today at 11 a.m. in federal court in East St. Louis.
If convicted, Liebheit faces a term in federal prison of not more than thirty years, a fine of up to $1,000,000, and a term of supervised release of not more than five years.
A criminal complaint is merely a document used to begin a federal prosecution. A defendant is presumed innocent of any charges unless or until a jury decides that the person is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bethalto Police Department. The case is assigned to Assistant United States Attorney Laura Reppert.
Attorney General Holder Statement on the Retirement Announcement of Senator Barbara MikulskiRead the Press Release
Attorney General Eric Holder released the following statement Monday after Senator Barbara Mikulski, the longest serving woman in Congress, announced that she would not be seeking re-election in 2016:
“For nearly four decades, Senator Mikulski has distinguished herself in the halls of Congress as a pioneering role model, a principled mentor and an inspiring force for positive change. She has demonstrated unparalleled leadership, unwavering dedication and vital skill. And she has exemplified the integrity, intelligence and constructive spirit that define public service at its best.
“From her days as a community organizer to her service as a city councilwoman to her distinction as the longest-serving woman in the history of the United States Congress, Senator Mikulski has been a fierce advocate for the people of Maryland, a trailblazer for women around the country and a champion on behalf of Americans who are too frequently overlooked and too often underserved. Her extraordinary contributions have left an indelible mark on her home state and on the nation she loves. Her commitment to progress has driven real and tangible change -from paycheck fairness to voting access and from domestic violence prevention to civil rights. And throughout my career at the Department of Justice, she has been a steadfast ally in the mission we share, a strong supporter of the department’s work and employees and a vocal proponent of equal justice under the law.
“I offer my thanks for her service, for her friendship and for the remarkable legacy she will leave behind. I wish her well for the remainder of her term in the United States Senate. And I look forward to all that she will achieve in the next chapter of her extraordinary career.”
Attorney General Holder Names Benjamin C. Mizer as Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General and Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Civil DivisionRead the Press Release
Attorney General Eric Holder today announced that he has named Benjamin C. Mizer as Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General and Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division.
Mizer replaces Joyce R. Branda, who will return to her permanent role as the Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Commercial Litigation Branch. Mizer and Branda assumed their positions today.
“Ben Mizer’s unassailable integrity, sound judgment and steadfast commitment to the mission of this department are just a few of the reasons he’s been chosen to serve as the new Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General and Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division – a critical and demanding post, and one in which he will undoubtedly thrive,” said Attorney General Holder “Ben’s work here in Washington and as Solicitor General for the state of Ohio has put him in some of the most challenging and demanding positions a lawyer can encounter. But in every instance, Ben has repeatedly demonstrated that he is both a gifted lawyer and a capable leader. I am confident that his stewardship of the Civil Division will build on the exceptional record he has already established – and reflect the high ideals that have animated him from the very beginning of his career. I congratulate Ben once again on his new role, and I look forward to all that he will achieve as he works to move this department, and this nation, toward an even brighter future.”
Prior to his selection to run the Civil Division, Mizer served as a senior advisor to Attorney General Holder on matters related to constitutional law, national security, civil rights, civil litigation, antitrust law and the Supreme Court.
Mizer has also served as Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Office of Legal Counsel. As a member of OLC’s leadership team, Mizer provided legal advice to the President, the Attorney General and other executive branch agencies on questions of constitutional law and other issues of particular complexity or importance. Before coming to the department, Mizer served as the Solicitor General of Ohio. As part of those responsibilities, he represented the state as counsel of record in hundreds of appeals. He argued three cases in the U.S. Supreme Court and many more in the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals and the Ohio Supreme Court on a broad array of issues, including election law, taxation, civil rights, criminal procedure, gun rights and the death penalty.
Mizer also previously worked as an associate at WilmerHale and as an associate legal officer at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in The Hague. Additionally, Mizer clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens and D.C. Circuit Judge Judith W. Rogers.
Mizer received his J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School and his B.A. from the College of Wooster.
Branda has served as Acting Assistant Attorney General for six months after Stuart Delery was named Acting Associate Attorney General in September 2014.
“I am indebted to Stuart Delery and Joyce Branda for their recent stewardship of the Civil Division,” Mizer said. “Both are exceptional public servants and even better people, and I am honored to be joining a Division that is stronger than ever because of their leadership.”
Ashland Man Charged with Distributing Methamphetamine and Being a Felon in Possession of a Firearm Facing up to 40 years in PrisonRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Deborah R. Gilg announced the unsealing of a 3 count Indictment charging Judas T. Crisman, age 39, of Schuyler, Nebraska, with distributing methamphetamine and being a felon in possession of a firearm. The maximum possible penalty for the offenses includes not less than 5 years and up to 40 years’ imprisonment, a fine of up to $5 million, a term of supervised release of at least 4 years, and a $100 special assessment.
The Indictment alleges that on two separate dates, Crisman distributed more than 5 grams of actual methamphetamine, and that on a third date he possessed a firearm having been previously convicted of a felony.
This case was the result of an investigation by the Omaha Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Antonio Bradley of Wilmington Sentenced for Drug Distribution and Firearms Violation 924(c)Read the Press Release
RALEIGH – United States Attorney Thomas G. Walker announced that today in federal court, United States District Judge Louise W. Flanagan sentenced, ANTONIO BRADLEY, 33, of Wilmington, to 262 months of imprisonment followed by 5 years of supervised release.
BRADLEY was named in an Indictment filed on March 18, 2014. On August 12, 2014, the Defendant pled guilty to Possession with the Intent to Distribute a Quantity of Heroin and Using, Carrying and Brandishing a Firearm During and In Relation to a Drug Trafficking Crime. According to the investigation and information presented in open court during the arraignment and sentencing, on February 1 and 4, 2014 detectives with the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office set up two controlled purchases of heroin from BRADLEY. Later on Feburary 4, 2014, detectives executed a search warrant at BRADLEY’S home wherein detectives found over 100 bags of heroin, $1500 and a firearm. Due to BRADLEY’S extensive criminal history, he was designated as a Career Offender.
Investigation of this case was conducted by the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Special Assistant United States Attorney Charity Wilson. Ms. Wilson is a prosecutor with the District 5 District Attorney’s Office encompassing New Hanover and Pender Counties. District Attorney Ben David has assigned her to the United States Attorney’s Office to prosecute violent crime, firearm related cases, and narcotic crimes.
Friday 27 February 2015
“Co Co Boys” Gang Member from Antioch Sentenced to over Sixteen Years in Federal Prison for Drug TraffickingRead the Press Release
OAKLAND – Alan Daniel Wilson, also known as “Al Pill,” was sentenced today to 200 months in prison for possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, announced United States Attorney Melinda Haag and Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge David J. Johnson.
Wilson pleaded guilty on October 2, 2014, to possessing methamphetamine with intent to distribute in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Section 841(a)(1). According to the plea agreement, Wilson admitted to possessing 616.4 grams of methamphetamine for sale as well as $14,969 in drug trafficking proceeds at the time of his arrest on October 23, 2013. According to the government’s sentencing memorandum, Wilson, a member of the Co Co Boys gang, was a parolee-at-large when he was arrested by the Antioch Police Department. Wilson was arrested following a high-speed chase through residential streets in Antioch. Wilson qualified as a “Career Offender” under federal sentencing guidelines due to his multiple prior drug trafficking convictions.
Wilson, 39, of Antioch, was indicted by a federal grand jury on December 19, 2013, for possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.
The sentence was handed down by the Honorable Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, U.S. District Judge, following a guilty plea on one count in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Section 841(a)(1). Judge Gonzalez Rogers also sentenced the defendant to a five-year period of supervised release and ordered Wilson to forfeit the $14,969 in drug trafficking proceeds in his possession at the time of his arrest as well as his Chevrolet pick-up truck. Wilson has been in custody since his arrest in October 2013 and will begin serving the sentence immediately.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Garth Hire is prosecuting the case with the assistance of Melissa Dorton. The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Antioch Police Department.
Woman Sentenced for Lynchburg Mortgage FraudRead the Press Release
LYNCHBURG, VIRGINIA – The former majority owner of a local construction company, who recruited a number of strawbuyers to defraud financial institutions of millions of dollars through an intricate mortgage fraud conspiracy, was sentenced today in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Lynchburg.
Susanne Helbig, 50, a former resident of Roanoke, Va. and majority owner of Genesis Mansions, previously pled guilty to one count of mortgage fraud conspiracy and one count of tax fraud. Today in District Court, Helbig was sentenced to 96 months in federal prison. The defendant has also agreed to pay $10,582,188 in restitution to the financial institutions that were defrauded and $179,593 to the Internal Revenue Service.
“These individuals executed a complex scheme that defrauded a number of local and national financial institutions,” Acting United States Attorney Anthony P. Giorno said today. “Ms. Helbig’s repeated acts of fraud and making false statements to banks allowed her to fraudulently obtain about $17 million in loans, the majority of which was lost. We continue to be committed to prosecuting those who commit mortgage and other financial frauds as a way of protecting our housing and credit markets.”
“The FBI is committed to investigating those who scheme to personally profit by defrauding the nation’s mortgage industry. The FBI and our law enforcement partners conduct these investigations to minimize the impact on the honest borrower who oftentimes has to absorb the costs of these illegal activities, and we will use every tool in our investigative toolbox to ensure solid financial markets for lenders and borrowers alike,” said Adam S. Lee, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Richmond Division.
“Helbig’s reckless conduct, and others like her, contributed to the financial crisis in 2008. Her greed and self-serving actions caused serious harm to financial institutions and U.S. taxpayers,” said Thomas J. Kelly, Special Agent in Charge, IRS Criminal Investigation, Washington DC Field Office. “IRS Criminal Investigation, together with our law enforcement partners, will continue to pursue those who engage in criminal actions that damage the integrity of our financial system.”
Helbig previously admitted that between March 2006 and December 2007 she, and others, conspired to defraud financial institutions through the submission of false and fraudulent mortgage loan applications and settlement statements in the name of strawbuyers. Helbig, and others, took these actions to induce financial institutions to finance the purchase and construction of approximately 30 properties near Smith Mountain Lake. The fraudulent actions of Helbig, and others, caused nearly $11 million in losses.
According to evidence presented at previous hearings by Assistant United States Attorney Laura Day Rottenborn, Helbig was the leader of a conspiracy who, along with her co-conspirators, recruited strawbuyers to pose as purchasers for properties Helbig owned near Smith Mountain Lake. Helbig paid the strawbuyers between $5,000 and $20,000 to pretend that they had purchased property from Helbig and needed a loan to build a primary residence on the land. In reality, however, the strawbuyers had no intention of owning or living in the house and instead Helbig took the loan disbursements for herself. She used some of the money to build homes on the land, which she intended to flip and sell for substantial profit but never did. She also used the loan money to pay herself; gave some of the money to her co-conspirators to incentivize their participation in the scheme; and took money from one loan institution to pay off debts she owed to other financial institutions.
To induce lenders to make the loans, Helbig and her co-conspirators helped the strawbuyers falsify their loan applications. The loan applications stated an artificially inflated value for the land, inflated the strawbuyer’s income and assets, misrepresented the strawbuyer’s employment, misrepresented that the property would be the strawbuyer’s primary residence, and misrepresented the true source of funds provided to the strawbuyer for closing. Helbig personally gave strawbuyers substantial sums of money to help them qualify for loans that they could not otherwise afford, as well as kickbacks to the strawbuyers for their services– without disclosing either such gifts to the lenders. In many instances, Helbig then took back the “gifts” used to inflate the strawbuyer’s assets as soon as the loan closed. Helbig further signed settlement statements and loan applications even though she knew they contained materially false information designed to trick the banks into making the substantial loans. She then filed false tax returns claiming improper deductions, resulting in a grossly underestimated tax liability.
When Helbig could no longer obtain additional financing, due in part to her supply of strawbuyers drying up and the tightening of the extension of credit in connection with the mortgage crisis of 2008, she stopped making payments on the loans, causing the properties to go into foreclosure and causing the lenders substantial loss. The strawbuyers were also put into financial ruin when the defaults and foreclosures were reported negatively on their accounts with the credit bureaus.
The investigation of the case was conducted by the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigations, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States Postal Inspection Service. Assistant United States Attorneys Laura Day Rottenborn and Heather Carlton prosecuted the case for the United States.
Week in Review – Fort WayneRead the Press Release
Fort Wayne, Indiana — The United States Attorney’s Office announced the following activity in Federal Court:
PLEAS
- Roland Beemer, 43, of Fort Wayne, Indiana pled guilty to the felony offense of possession with intent to distribute lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD). The magistrate is recommending that the district court accept the tendered guilty plea. Parties have 14 days in which to object to the magistrate judge’s recommendation. This charge was filed as a result of an investigation by the Department of Homeland Security, Allen County Drug Task Force and the Allen County Sheriff’s Department. Sentencing has not been set. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Tina L. Nommay and Nathaniel C. Henson.
- Prentice A. Bland, 39, of Indianapolis, Indiana pled guilty to the felony offenses of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. The magistrate is recommending that the district court accept the tendered guilty plea. Parties have 14 days in which to object to the magistrate judge’s recommendation. These charges were filed as a result of an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Drug Enforcement Administration, Warsaw Police Department, Fort Wayne Police Department, and the IMAGE Drug Task Force. Sentencing has not been set. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Anthony W. Geller.
- Jared Hochstedler, 39, of Fort Wayne, Indiana pled guilty to the felony offenses of filing a false income tax return and perjury. The magistrate is recommending that the district court accept the tendered guilty plea. Parties have 14 days in which to object to the magistrate judge’s recommendation. This charge was filed as a result of an investigation by the Internal Revenue Service. Sentencing has not been set. This case is being prosecuted by Department of Justice, Tax Division Trial Attorneys Christopher O’Donnell and Richard M. Rowling.
- Jacob Miller, 51, of Kendallville, Indiana pled guilty to the felony offense of selling a firearm to a convicted felon. The magistrate is recommending that the district court accept the tendered guilty plea. Parties have 14 days in which to object to the magistrate judge’s recommendation. This charge was filed as a result of an investigation by Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Image Drug Task Force and Warsaw Police Department. Sentencing has not been set. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Tina L. Nommay.
If convicted in court, any specific sentence to be imposed will be determined by the judge after a consideration of federal sentencing statutes and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.
DISPOSITIONS
- Christopher Seals, 24, of Fort Wayne, Indiana was sentenced to 272 months imprisonment with 2 years supervised release and ordered to $96,534.37 in restitution after being found guilty to the felony offenses of armed bank robbery, use of a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence and felon in possession of a firearm. According to documents filed in this case, on or about February 14, 2013, Seals did by use of a dangerous weapon rob the PNC Bank. This case was the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Northeast Indiana Federal Bank Robbery Task Force, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Fort Wayne Police Department. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Anthony W. Geller.
- Matthew Vanschoick, 29, of Fort Wayne, Indiana was sentenced to 92 months imprisonment with 1 year supervised release after pleading guilty to the felony offense of bank robbery. According to documents filed in this case, on or about October 28, 2011, Vanschoick did rob the PNC Bank by force, violence, and intimidation This case was the result of an investigation by the FBI Federal Bank Robbery Task Force, and the New Haven Police Department. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Lesley Miller Lowery.
- Derek Whetsel, 43, of Fort Wayne, Indiana was sentenced to 1 year probation after pleading guilty to the felony offense of selling a firearm to a convicted felon. According to documents filed in this case, on or about May 27, 2014, Whetsel did knowingly sell a firearm to a known convicted felon. This case was the result of an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Fort Wayne Police Department. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Lovita Morris King.
- Korean Daniels, 38, of Fort Wayne, Indiana was sentenced to 37 months imprisonment with 1 year supervised release after pleading guilty to the felony offense of being a felon in possession of a firearm. According to documents filed in this case, on or about June 14, 2014, Daniels, having been previously convicted, did knowingly possess a firearm and ammunition. This case was the result of an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Fort Wayne Police Department. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Anthony W. Geller.
Two Pine Ridge Men Convicted of Assault with A Dangerous Weapon and Assault Resulting in Serious Bodily InjuryRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Brendan V. Johnson announced that Wesley Running Shield, age 28, and Michael Alford, age 33, both of Pine Ridge, South Dakota, were found guilty of Assault with a Dangerous Weapon and Assault Resulting in Serious Bodily Injury, at the conclusion of a four-day federal jury trial in Rapid City, South Dakota.
Each charge carries up to 10 years in custody and/or a $250,000 fine, 3 years of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund. Restitution may also be ordered.
The convictions stem from Running Shield and Alford assaulting a male victim with a metal bar and shod feet on June 12, 2014, at Pine Ridge. The defendants utilized a metal bar to break the victim’s leg and hand and caused a large laceration on his head.
This case was investigated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Office of Justice Services, and the Oglala Sioux Tribe Department of Public Safety.Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sarah B. Collins and Kathryn N. Rich prosecuted the case.
A presentence investigation was ordered and a sentencing date was set for June 5, 2015. The defendants were remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
Two Miami Tax Preparers and Client Sentenced in Fraudulent Refund SchemeRead the Press Release
Three Miami residents were sentenced for their roles in a tax refund scheme, announced U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer of the Southern District of Florida, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Caroline D. Ciraolo of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and Special Agent in Charge Kelly R. Jackson of Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation’s (IRS-CI) Miami Office.
According to the indictment and facts established at his sentencing hearing, Sean Anthony Lopez, 35, of Miami, submitted false personal federal income tax returns claiming $625,320 in fraudulent refunds. Lopez received this refund in connection with his role as a client of an illicit tax preparation business located at 18710 SW 107th Street in Miami. Lopez was sentenced today to serve 30 months in prison. The court also ordered Lopez to pay restitution to the U.S. Treasury in the amount of $695,635.
Lopez’s co-defendants, Claudia Zuloaga, 43, and Sharon Elizabeth Angulo, 49, both of Miami, operated this South Miami-Dade County tax preparation business under the names Sterling Executive Associates Inc. and Sterling Executive (Sterling), and assisted Lopez in the preparation of his fraudulent tax returns, as well as numerous other similar false tax returns.
Angulo and Zuloaga were each previously sentenced to serve 60 months in prison. The court also ordered Angulo and Zuloaga to each pay restitution to the U.S. Treasury in the amount of $1,539,873.
According to the indictment and facts established at sentencing, beginning in approximately September 2008 and continuing through September 2012, Zuloaga and Angulo recruited numerous clients, including Lopez, by falsely representing that they could eliminate a substantial portion of their debts by obtaining sizable tax refunds for them. This would be accomplished through false and fraudulent tax returns prepared by Zuloaga and Angulo in exchange for a fee, usually amounting to 30 percent of the fraudulently obtained tax refund. Zuloaga and Angulo were responsible for causing the submission of multiple fraudulent tax returns claiming refunds totaling in excess of $5.4 million. As further established at their sentencing hearings, the IRS was fraudulently induced to issue refund checks in the aggregate amount of $2,305,081, a portion of which was disbursed to Lopez with respect to his fraudulent tax returns.
As further alleged in the indictment and established at their sentencing hearings, the tax returns prepared at Sterling by Zuloaga and Angulo falsely set forth that financial institutions at which the clients maintained accounts withheld sizable amounts of tax from falsely declared interest income, which was falsely claimed as having been earned by the clients. Through this fraudulent mechanism, each return gave the appearance of entitling the client to a significant tax refund due to over-withholding of tax payments in connection with their claimed interest earnings. In addition, in order to provide false substantiation for these fraudulent tax refund claims, the defendants caused fictitious IRS Forms 1099-OID to be created, which set forth the false interest and tax withholding amounts fraudulently reported upon their clients’ tax returns.
It was also established at sentencing hearings that Zuloaga and Angulo promoted the fictitious “redemption theory” to their clients as the purported justification for their fraudulent tax refund claims. Through this promotion, clients were falsely informed that the submission of tax returns in this manner allowed their clients to legitimately access large amounts of money allegedly contained in certain non-existent “straw man” accounts which the defendants claimed were being maintained by the U.S. Treasury for each individual who possessed a social security number.
U.S. Attorney Ferrer and Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Ciraolo commended special agents of IRS – Criminal Investigation, who investigated the case, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter B. Outerbridge of the Southern District of Florida and Trial Attorney Alexander Effendi of the Tax Division, who prosecuted the case.
A copy of this press release may be found on the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida’s website. Related court documents and information may be found on the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of Florida’s website or on Pacer.
Two Miami Residents Sentenced to 72 Months in Prison for Their Roles in $63 Million Medicare Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
Two Miami residents were sentenced to serve 72 months in prison for their roles in a $62 million Medicare fraud scheme involving intensive mental health treatment programs.
Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer of the Southern District of Florida, Special Agent in Charge George L. Piro of the FBI’s Miami Field Office and Special Agent in Charge Derrick Jackson of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General’s (HHS-OIG) Miami Regional Office made the announcement. U.S. District Judge Robert N. Scola Jr. of the Southern District of Florida imposed the sentence.
Blanca Ruiz, 61, and Alina Fonts, 49, both of Miami, were convicted of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud following a trial in November 2014. Fonts was also convicted of two counts of health care fraud.
According to the evidence presented at trial, both Ruiz and Fonts were employed at Health Care Solutions Network Inc. (HCSN), a now-defunct partial hospitalization program (PHP) that purported to provide intensive treatment for severe mental illness. The evidence at trial demonstrated, however, that from 2004 through 2011, HCSN billed Medicare and Medicaid for treatment that was not medically necessary and often not provided at all. In Florida, HCSN operated community mental health centers at two locations.
Evidence at trial showed that Ruiz and Fonts oversaw the alteration, fabrication and forgery of thousands of documents, including patient medical records, to support the fraudulent claims HCSN submitted to Medicare and Medicaid. Many of these medical records were created weeks or months after the patients were admitted to HCSN facilities for purported treatment. The evidence at trial demonstrated that the “therapy” at HCSN oftentimes consisted of nothing more than Disney movies and bingo games, and Ruiz and Fonts removed any references to these recreational activities in the medical records. Fonts also fabricated medical records for North Carolina-based patients whom she never met.
According to the evidence presented at trial, Ruiz and Fonts were also aware that HCSN paid illegal kickbacks to owners and operators of Miami-Dade County assisted living facilities in exchange for patient referrals to be used to submit false and fraudulent claims to Medicare and Medicaid. Ruiz and Fonts knew that many of the referred patients were ineligible for PHP services because they suffered from mental retardation, dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
From 2004 through 2011, HCSN billed Medicare and the Medicaid program approximately $63 million for purported mental health services.
This case was investigated by the FBI and HHS-OIG and was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, supervised by the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida. This case was prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Allan J. Medina, Brendan A. Stewart and Justin Goodyear of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section.
Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, now operating in nine cities across the country, has charged nearly 2,100 defendants who have collectively billed the Medicare program for more than $6.5 billion. In addition, the HHS Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the HHS-OIG, are taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.
To learn more about the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Team (HEAT), go to: www.stopmedicarefraud.gov.
Two Men Sentenced in Manhattan Federal Court for Racketeering and Firearm ChargesRead the Press Release
Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today that PAUL DIBIASE, a/k/a “Carmine Stanzione,” and DANIEL DIBIASE, were sentenced in Manhattan federal court to 27 years in prison and 15 years in prison, respectively. The defendants, who are brothers, previously pled guilty to racketeering and firearm charges arising out of their participation in 27 home invasions, including five gun-point robberies, and approximately two dozen other burglaries in Connecticut and New York between July 2011 and October 2012. In total, the defendants stole more than $2.5 million in jewelry, silver, and other valuables. They were sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said: “The DiBiase brothers committed crimes that involved not only theft but also threatened their victims with gun violence. Their cruel actions have earned them time in federal prison.”
According to the respective Superseding Information charging documents to which each defendant pled guilty, statements made at sentencing, and other court documents in the public record:
From July 2011 to October 2012, PAUL DIBIASE, DANIEL DIBIASE, and a third man (“CC-1”), were part of a criminal enterprise (the “DiBiase Home Invasion Crew”) engaged in a systematic scheme to locate vulnerable, upscale homes in New York and Connecticut; conduct coordinated, planned robberies and burglaries at those homes in order to steal jewelry, silverware, and other valuables; transport those stolen goods back to Dutchess County, New York; and launder the criminal proceeds through a fence in Manhattan’s Diamond District.
As part of the scheme, PAUL DIBIASE conducted extensive Internet research, reviewed newspapers and real estate listings, and did physical surveillance, for the purpose of identifying upscale homes of wealthy individuals in order to steal valuable goods from those homes. In July 2011, PAUL DIBIASE stole a firearm from the residence of a law enforcement officer, which he and CC-1 used along with other guns and replica guns during robberies and burglaries. PAUL DIBIASE typically decided which homes would be invaded, on the basis of his research. During the home invasions, PAUL DIBIASE and CC-1 entered the properties while DANIEL DIBIASE served as the getaway car driver.
In the majority of home invasions, the homes were unoccupied, and PAUL DIBIASE broke into the homes while CC-1 served as a lookout. On multiple occasions, the homes were occupied, including instances when the defendants knew occupants were inside and purposefully robbed them, and instances when the defendants came upon occupants after mistakenly thinking no one was home. During these home invasions, PAUL DIBIASE and CC-1 entered the homes together, and, at least five times, confronted and physically subdued occupants. On these occasions, PAUL DIBIASE was armed and, according to the victims, brandished firearms during the robberies. During one such incident, PAUL DIBIASE tied a female occupant’s hands and feet, demanded her diamond engagement ring, forced her to open a safe, hit her in the back, and threatened to “blow [her] head off.”
PAUL DIBIASE and CC-1 routinely returned to the waiting getaway car upon leaving the homes, and DANIEL DIBIASE drove the crew back to Dutchess County. There, the member of the DiBiase Home Invasion Crew sorted the stolen goods, compiling expensive jewelry and silver for later trips to a fence in Manhattan’s Diamond District, handpicking certain items for gifts to family members, and discarding costume jewelry and other less valuable items into a nearby lake.
PAUL DIBIASE, DANIEL DIBIASE, and CC-1 were arrested on October 18, 2012.
On February 24, 2014, DANIEL DIBIASE pled guilty before the Honorable Magistrate Judge Lisa Margaret Smith to one count of racketeering conspiracy, and one count of aiding and abetting the brandishing of a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence. On June 20, 2014, PAUL DIBIASE pled guilty before Judge Ramos to one count of racketeering conspiracy, and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm, after having previously been convicted of three separate violent felonies.
In addition to the prison terms, Judge Ramos sentenced PAUL DIBIASE, 59, who is a resident of Dutchess County, New York, to three years of supervised release. Judge Ramos sentenced DANIEL DIBIASE, 58, also a resident of Dutchess County, to three years of supervised release. The Court also imposed restitution in the amount of $2,517,997 on both defendants.
In imposing today’s sentences, Judge Ramos said that the conduct in this case “borders on sadism,” and that the DIBIASEs and their co-conspirators were responsible for a “reign of terror over those communities” they targeted.
Mr. Bharara praised the investigative work of the Westchester County Violent Crimes Task Force; the FBI; the Bedford, New York, Police Department; the Greenwich, Connecticut, Police Department; the Harrison, New York, Police Department; the New Canaan, Connecticut, Police Department; the New York State Police; the North Castle, New York, Police Department; the Westchester County, New York, Police Department; and the Ridgefield, Connecticut, Police Department. Mr. Bharara also thanked the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office for its assistance.
The case is being prosecuted by the White Plains Division. Assistant United States Attorneys Benjamin Allee and Ilan Graff are in charge of the prosecution.
Two Lackawanna Residents Arrested and Charged with Drug ChargesRead the Press Release
CONTACT: Barbara Burns
PHONE: (716) 843-5817
FAX: (716) 551-3051
BUFFALO, N.Y. -- U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Susan Dietrich, 52, and James Duncan, 50, both of Lackawanna, NY, were arrested and charged by criminal complaint with possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, cocaine, and hydrocone and maintaining a premises for drug trafficking. The charges carry a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison and a $1,000,000 fine.
Assistant U.S. Attorney John M. Alsup, who is handling the case, stated that according to the complaint, Lackawanna Police executed a search warrant at the residence of the defendants on Roland Avenue. Officers recovered methamphetamine, cocaine, hydrocodone, and approximately 50,000 in United States currency.
The defendants made an initial appearance this afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge H. Kenneth Schroeder, Jr. Duncan is detained pending.
The criminal complaint is the culmination of an investigation by the Lackawanna Police Department, under the direction of Chief James Michel and the Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge James J. Hunt, New York Field Division.
The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
Two Florida Men Sentenced for Stealing Identities and Filing Phony Tax ReturnsRead the Press Release
St. Louis, MO – TERRELL LANGSTON of Miami, Florida, and MONTRAIL AUSTIN of Pembroke Pines, Florida, were sentenced for their roles in a stolen identity tax refund scam. Langston was sentenced to six years imprisonment and Austin was sentenced to two years imprisonment. Both men were jointly ordered to repay the $492,868 loss to the U.S. government caused by their offense.
On December 1, 2014, Langston pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to steal government funds and one count of aggravated identity theft. Austin pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated identity theft on the same date.
According to the plea agreements and other court papers, Langston ran an identity theft ring from his residence in Tallahassee, Florida between February 2012 and May 2013. Langston used stolen names and identifiers to file false and fraudulent federal tax returns in the names of others. The tax returns all called for refunds. Langston enlisted Austin and others to coordinate the collection of these refunds at addresses in Florida, Missouri and elsewhere. It was Langston’s desire for refunds to be distributed to many addresses to avoid the suspicion that would arise should hundreds of tax refunds arrive at his residence. In exchange of Austin’s help in coordinating others to receive and liquidate refunds, Austin and others received a share of the proceeds of the crime. Austin and his cohorts are known in a scheme like this as a "cash out gang."
In all, Langston and his co-conspirators filed more than 450 returns for the 2011 and 2012 tax years, calling for more than $2.2 million dollars in refunds. The IRS paid out $492,868 of the claimed refunds.
"Stealing identities and filing false tax returns is a serious crime that hurts innocent taxpayers," said Sybil Smith, Special Agent in Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation, St. Louis Field Office. "I’d like to commend the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department for their diligence and assistance with this investigation."
The case was broken open when a member of one of the cash out gangs was stopped for a traffic violation by the St. Louis Police Department. The officer observed a number of debit cards in the names of others in the vehicle and seized them when the driver denied ownership of the cards. From there, the St. Louis police cooperated with IRS Criminal Investigation to determine that phony tax returns had funded the cards.
The case was investigated by the St. Louis office of the IRS-Criminal Investigation Division. Assistant United States Attorney Tom Albus handled the case for the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Turtle Creek Woman Sentenced to Time Served for Heroin Trafficking SchemeRead the Press Release
PITTSBURGH – An Allegheny County woman has been sentenced in federal court to time served, followed by three years supervised release, for conspiring to distribute and possession with the intent to distribute less than 100 grams of heroin, United States Attorney David J. Hickton announced today.
On Feb. 25, Chief United States District Judge Joy Flowers Conti imposed the sentence on Breya Bowles, 22, formerly of Turtle Creek, Pa.
According to information presented to the court, in the spring of 2014, Bowles conspired to distribute and possessed with the intent to distribute less than 100 grams of a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of heroin.
Assistant United States Attorneys Amy L. Johnston and Cindy K. Chung prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.
U.S. Attorney Hickton commended the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the FBI Greater Pittsburgh Safe Streets Task Force, Wilkinsburg Police Department, Allegheny County Sheriff’s Office, Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General, Munhall Police Department, Duquesne Police Department, Monroeville Police Department, Allegheny County Police Department, West Mifflin Police Department, and the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Bowles.
Tribal Member Convicted of Sex Crime Returned to Prison for Failing to Register as a Sex OffenderRead the Press Release
An enrolled member of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska was sentenced to an additional 12 months in prison today for failing to register as a sex offender, announced Acting United States Attorney Annette L. Hayes. THOMAS LEE PETERS, 52, failed to register as a sex offender when he moved back to the Swinomish Reservation near La Conner in Skagit County. In 2009, PETERS was sentenced to five years in federal prison for three counts of sexual abuse of a minor for molesting a young relative while residing on the Swinomish Reservation. After his release from prison, PETERS initially registered in King County, but fled his Seattle residence without notice, and failed to check in with his probation officer as required. At sentencing U.S. District Judge Robert S. Lasnik told him the original charges of conviction were very serious and that he needed to register as a sex offender.
According to records filed in the case, PETERS was released from federal custody and registered as a sex offender with the King County Sheriff in February 2014. He signed a statement acknowledging that if he moved from the residence he listed in Seattle he needed to notify law enforcement. In late June 2014, PETERS violated the terms of his ten years of supervision. The violations included consuming alcohol, and failing to report to his probation officer as directed. In August 2014, Swinomish Tribal Police located PETERS on tribal land and arrested him at the request of the U.S. Marshal Service for failing to register as a sex offender.
PETERS pleaded guilty November 25, 2014.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Marshals Service and the Swinomish Police Department.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney J. Tate London. Mr. London serves as a Tribal Liaison for the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Tilghman Island Fisherman Sentenced to Prison for Illegal Fish Harvesting in the Chesapeake BayRead the Press Release
U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett sentenced Michael D. Hayden, 43, of Tilghman Island, Maryland, today to 18 months in prison to be followed by six months of home detention and three years of supervised release for conspiring to violate the Lacey Act and defraud the United States through the illegal harvesting and sale of 185,925 pounds of striped bass. Judge Bennett also ordered that Hayden pay $498,000 in restitution and fined $40,000 to the state of Maryland for the damage caused to the striped bass.
The sentence was announced by Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division John C. Cruden, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein, Secretary-designee Mark Belton of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and Regional Special Agent in Charge Honora Gordon for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
“Mr. Hayden is being held justly accountable for his role at the head of a conspiracy to plunder protected striped bass from the Chesapeake Bay,” said Assistant Attorney General Cruden. “The Justice Department, working closely with our state partners, will continue to protect these shared resources for the law abiding watermen of the Bay with vigorous prosecution of those who do not follow the law.”
“I commend the men and women of the Natural Resources Police who, with our federal partners, are committed to upholding the laws that protect Maryland's fish and wildlife,” said Secretary-designee Belton. “And I thank the citizens who came forward with tips to aid this extensive investigation.”
According to his plea agreement and court documents, Hayden was a captain on fishing vessels owned by him and his company, d/b/a, Michael D. Hayden, Jr., and Michael D. Hayden, Jr., Inc. Hayden and co-defendant William J. Lednum, 41, of Tilghman Island, also employed numerous “helpers” as part of this operation, including co-defendants Kent Conley Sadler, 31, of Tilghman Island, and Lawrence “Daniel” Murphy, 37, of St. Michaels, Maryland.
From at least 2007 to 2011, Hayden and his co-conspirators illegally harvested at least 185,925 pounds of striped bass from the Chesapeake Bay in violation of Maryland regulations relating to harvest method, amounts, tagging and reporting. To conceal their crimes, Hayden and his co-conspirators falsified paperwork submitted to the state of Maryland relating to their harvests. The state in turn submits such paperwork to federal and interstate agencies responsible for setting harvest levels all along the eastern seaboard. Hayden and his co-conspirators shipped and sold the illegally harvested striped bass to wholesalers in Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania and Delaware who paid them a total of $498,293.
The investigation in this case started in February 2011 when the Maryland Department of Natural Resources found tens of thousands of pounds of striped bass snagged in illegal, anchored nets before the season officially reopened. The conspirators were seen on the water in the vicinity of the illegal nets. The subsequent investigation unveiled a wider criminal enterprise for which Hayden was sentenced today.
Co-defendants Lednum, Murphy, and Sadler previously pleaded guilty to their participation in the conspiracy. Lednum was sentenced to a year and a day in prison and ordered to pay a $40,000 fine and restitution of $489,293, Murphy was sentenced to three years’ probation and ordered to pay a $10,000 fine and $30,000 in restitution and Sadler was sentenced to 30 days in prison to be served on the weekends from Jan. 30, 2015 to May 17, 2015. Sadler was also ordered to pay a $5,000 fine and $20,000 in restitution.
Trial attorneys Todd W. Gleason and Shennie Patel of the Department of Justice’s Environmental Crimes Section, and Assistant U.S. Attorney P. Michael Cunningham prosecuted the case.
Tilghman Island Fisherman Sentenced to Prison for Illegal Fish Harvesting in the Chesapeake BayRead the Press Release
Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett sentenced Michael D. Hayden, age 43, of Tilghman Island, Maryland, today to 18 months in prison, followed by six months of home detention as part of three years of supervised release, for conspiring to violate the Lacey Act and defraud the United States through the illegal harvesting and sale of 185,925 pounds of striped bass. At today’s hearing Judge Bennett found that Hayden obstructed justice during the investigation, which increased his sentence. Judge Bennett ordered that Hayden pay $498,293.47 in restitution to the State of Maryland for the damage caused to the striped bass, as well as a $40,000 fine.
The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division John C. Cruden; Secretary-designee Mark Belton of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR); and Honora Gordon, Regional Special Agent in Charge for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
“Mr. Hayden is being held justly accountable for his role at the head of a conspiracy to plunder protected striped bass from the Chesapeake Bay,” said Assistant Attorney General Cruden. “The Justice Department, working closely with our state partners, will continue to protect these shared resources for the law abiding watermen of the Bay with vigorous prosecution of those who do not follow the law.”
“I commend the men and women of the Natural Resources Police who, with our federal partners, are committed to upholding the laws that protect Maryland's fish and wildlife,” said Mark Belton, Secretary-designate of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. “And I thank the citizens who came forward with tips to aid this extensive investigation.”
According to his plea agreement and court documents, Hayden was a “captain” on fishing vessels owned by him and his company, d/b/a, Michael D. Hayden, Jr., and Michael D. Hayden, Jr., Inc. Hayden and co-defendant William J. Lednum also employed numerous “helpers” as part of this operation, including co-defendants Kent Sadler and Lawrence Daniel Murphy.
From at least 2007 to 2011, Hayden and his co-conspirators illegally harvested at least 185,925 pounds of striped bass from the Chesapeake Bay in violation of Maryland regulations relating to harvest method, amounts, tagging and reporting. To conceal their crimes, Hayden and his co-conspirators falsified paperwork submitted to the State of Maryland relating to their harvests. The state in turn submits such paperwork to federal and interstate agencies responsible for setting harvest levels all along the eastern seaboard. Hayden and his co-conspirators shipped and sold the illegally harvested striped bass to wholesalers in Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania and Delaware who paid them a total of $498,293.47.
The investigation in this case started in February 2011 when the Maryland Department of Natural Resources found tens of thousands of pounds of striped bass snagged in illegal, anchored nets before the season officially reopened. The conspirators were seen on the water in the vicinity of the illegal nets. The subsequent investigation unveiled a wider criminal enterprise for which Hayden was sentenced today.
Co-defendants William J. Lednum, age 41, of Tilghman Island, Lawrence “Daniel” Murphy, age 37, of St. Michaels, Maryland, and Kent Conley Sadler, age 31, of Tilghman Island, previously pleaded guilty to their participation in the conspiracy. Lednum was sentenced to a year and a day in prison and ordered to pay a $40,000 fine and restitution of $489,293.47; Murphy was sentenced to three years’ probation and ordered to pay a $10,000 fine and $30,000 in restitution; and Sadler was sentenced to 30 days in prison to be served on the weekends from January 30, 2015 to May 17, 2015. Sadler was also ordered to pay a $5,000 fine and $20,000 in restitution.
United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein praised the Maryland Department of Natural Resources and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for their work in the investigation. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Todd W. Gleason and Shennie Patel of the Department of Justice’s Environmental Crimes Section, and Assistant U.S. Attorney P. Michael Cunningham, who prosecuted the case.
Three Face Federal Methamphetamine Conspiracy ChargesRead the Press Release
Erika Lynn Parker, age, 37 from Rockford, Iowa, and Shawn Benedict Zimmerman, age 42, from Clear Lake, Iowa, have been charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, and possessing methamphetamine with intent to distribute. The charges are contained in an indictment unsealed today in United States District Court in Cedar Rapids. In a separate indictment, also unsealed today in United States District Court in Cedar Rapids, William Allan Odell, II, 43, from Mason City, Iowa, was charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and possessing methamphetamine with intent to distribute.
Both indictments allege that from on or about June 2014, to December 2014, the three defendants conspired to distribute methamphetamine and possessed with intent to distribute methamphetamine.
If convicted on all charges, O’Dell faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment and a possible maximum sentence of life imprisonment, a $10,000,000 fine, $200 in special assessment, and 5 years up to life of supervised release following any imprisonment; Parker faces 20 years’ imprisonment, a $1,000,000 fine, $200 in special assessments, and 3 years of supervised release following any imprisonment; and Zimmerman faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 5 years’ imprisonment and a possible maximum sentence of 40 years’ imprisonment, a $5,000,000 fine, $200 in special assessment, and 4 years of supervised release following any imprisonment.
O’Dell, Parker, and Zimmerman appeared today in federal court in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Erika Parker was released on bond. Zimmerman and O’Dell were held without bond. Zimmerman’s next appearance is for a detention hearing set for March 3 2015.
As with any criminal case, a charge is merely an accusation and a defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jack Lammers and was investigated by the North Central Iowa Narcotics Task Force, Cerro Gordo County Sheriff’s Office, Mason City Police Department, and Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement.
Court file information is available at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov. The case file number for Parker and Zimmerman is 15-3011, and for O’Dell is 15-3010.
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Three Bakersfield Men Indicted for Conspiracy to Distribute MethamphetamineRead the Press Release
FRESNO, Calif. — A federal grand jury returned a three-count indictment Thursday against Bakersfield residents Guillermo Magallanes, 36; Pasqual Gonzales Magallanes, 44; and Juan Lascano Jr, 32, charging them with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced.
According to court documents, the three men conspired to distribute methamphetamine in the Bakersfield area. In addition to the criminal charges the United States is seeking the forfeiture of $31,242 in United States Currency, a 2014 Lexus IS250 F Sport, and a 2012 Acura TL sedan as proceeds of the illegal drug trafficking activity.
This case is the product of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Kern County Sheriff’s Office, and the Bakersfield Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Brian K. Delaney is prosecuting the case.
If convicted, the defendants face a maximum statutory penalty of life in prison and a $10 million fine. Any sentence, however, would be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables. The charges are only allegations; the defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Storm Lake Man Sentenced to Federal Prison for Credit Card ScamRead the Press Release
A man who committed multiple frauds in connection with fraudulent credit cards was sentenced February 27, 2015, to more than 4 years in federal prison.
Yoirlan Tome Rojas, 34, from Storm Lake, Iowa, received the prison term after an October 23, 2014, jury verdict finding him guilty of two counts of using a counterfeit access device; one count of possession of fifteen or more counterfeit access devices; one count of money laundering; and two counts of aggravated identity theft.
Evidence at trial showed Rojas manufactured credit cards using stolen data, and utilized those cards to conduct purchases at Walmart and various other places of business in the Storm Lake, Iowa, area. Rojas would use the manufactured credit cards to purchase gift cards to later use to make “legitimate” purchases. At least two of the cards Rojas utilized belonged to individuals who reported unauthorized use of their credit cards.
Rojas was sentenced in Sioux City by United States District Court Judge Mark W. Bennett. Rojas was sentenced to 51 months’ imprisonment. A special assessment of $600 was imposed. He must also serve a two-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
Rojas is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jamie Bowers and investigated by the Storm Lake Iowa Police Department and the United States Secret Service.
Court file information is available at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov. The case file number is 14-4015.
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St. Thomas Man Sentenced to 18 Months in Prison for Distribution of Crack CocaineRead the Press Release
St. Thomas, USVI – On Thursday, February 26, District Court Judge Curtis V. Gomez sentenced Kuaumi Jn-Baptiste, 28, of St Thomas, to 18 months in prison and three years of supervised release for possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine, United States Attorney Ronald W. Sharpe announced.
Jn-Baptiste was arrested on July 4, 2014 by task force officers of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration/High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program (DEA/HIDTA) after he was observed selling illegal narcotics in Cruz Bay, St. John. On November 26, 2014, he pleaded guilty to distribution of crack cocaine.
This case was investigated by DEA/HIDTA, and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Everard Potter.
Springfield Felon Sentenced for Making Threats with FirearmRead the Press Release
BOSTON – A Springfield man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Worcester in connection with using a firearm to threaten his parents.
Jamel Bolden, 22, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Timothy S. Hillman to 78 months in prison and three years of supervised release. In November 2014, Bolden pleaded guilty to conspiring to illegally possess a firearm and ammunition and conspiring to distribute cocaine.
On June 3, 2013, during a domestic dispute with his mother and his stepfather, Bolden brandished a silver long-barreled revolver and told his stepfather that he would “lay him down” (i.e., shoot him). Bolden had been previously convicted of three counts of armed robbery and was currently on probation for these offenses. Immediately after Bolden threatened to shoot his stepfather, Bolden fled from the police and hid the revolver at a nearby elementary school.
Bolden has also agreed to pleaded guilty to assault with a dangerous weapon in a related case in Hampden Superior Court.
United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Daniel J. Kumor, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, Boston Field Office; and Springfield Police Commissioner John Barbieri made the announcement today. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven H. Breslow of Ortiz's Springfield Branch Office.