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13 February 2015
Colombian Brothers Sentenced to Prison for Smuggling FirearmsRead the Press Release
Orlando, Florida – Chief U.S. District Judge Anne C. Conway has sentenced two brothers, Nelson Cartagena (41, Rockledge) and Dairo Cartagena (38, Rockledge), for their roles in a conspiracy to smuggle firearms to Colombia, and for unlawfully dealing in firearms. Nelson Cartagena was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison and Dairo Cartagena was sentenced to 5 years and 3 months’ imprisonment. The Court also ordered the Cartagenas to forfeit all firearms intercepted by law enforcement during the investigation.
Nelson Cartagena and Dairo Cartagena pleaded guilty to the charges and were adjudicated guilty on October 30, 2014, and November 24, 2014, respectively. Two other conspirators, Karen Chan and Julian Roland, previously pleaded guilty for their roles in this case. They are scheduled to be sentenced on March 5, 2015.
According to court documents, beginning as early as November 2013, and continuing through July 2014, Nelson Cartagena and his brother bought firearms and high-capacity magazines from various Federal Firearms Licensees and private sellers at gun shows in central Florida. They smuggled many of them to Colombia, hidden inside the motor housing of exercise machines. Law enforcement agents seized 88 firearms and 49 high-capacity magazines that had been purchased by the Cartagenas and had been shipped, or were packaged and ready for shipment, to Colombia. The intercepted shipments included high-powered military style assault rifles, pistols that shoot .223 caliber armor-piercing rifle rounds, and a variety of 9 mm pistols. Based on evidence collected during the investigation, agents estimated that more than 100 firearms were purchased by the brothers and sent to Colombia during this conspiracy. One box containing three assault rifles and a pistol was intercepted in Colombia and a shipment of 15 firearms was intercepted in Miami. An additional two boxes, containing a total of 30 firearms and 49 magazines, were found in Dairo Cartagena’s apartment ready for shipment to Colombia.
Testimony at the sentencing hearing indicated that the firearms and magazines were destined for delivery to an unknown drug cartel in Colombia.
This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Bruce S. Ambrose.
Clay County Man Sentenced to Eighteen Years on Methamphetamine ChargesRead the Press Release
Follow @SDILNewsA Jefferson County man was sentenced today to federal prison on methamphetamine charges, Stephen R. Wigginton, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, announced today.
Jason L. Shadle, 40, of Flora, Illinois, was sentenced to 216 months in federal prison, to be followed by four years’ supervised release, and fined $200. Shadle had previously pleaded guilty to four counts in a federal indictment. Count 1 charged that from January 2011, until on or about April 8, 2014, in Clay County, Shadle conspired with others known and unknown to the Grand Jury to manufacture more than 50 grams of methamphetamine. Count 2 charged that on May 3, 2012, in White County, Shadle possessed equipment, chemicals, products, or materials which may be used to manufacture methamphetamine, knowing, intending, and having reasonable cause to believe, that those items would be used to manufacture methamphetamine. Count 3 charged that on April 7, 2014, in Crawford County, Shadle possessed equipment, chemicals, products, or materials which may be used to manufacture methamphetamine, knowing, intending, and having reasonable cause to believe, that those items would be used to manufacture methamphetamine. Count 4 charged that from January 2010, to on or about March 25, 2014, in Clay County, and elsewhere, Shadle possessed Pseudoephedrine pills, knowing and having reasonable cause to believe that the pills would be used to manufacture methamphetamine.
The investigation in this case was conducted by the Flora Police Department, the Clay County Sheriff’s Office, and the Southeastern Illinois Drug Task Force.
The case is being handled by Assistant United States Attorney George Norwood.
Clarksville Woman Sentenced for Filing False Tax ReturnsRead the Press Release
Traci Lynne Howes, 41, of Clarksville, Tennessee, was sentenced on February 9, 2015, by Chief United States District Court Judge Kevin H. Sharpe, to serve 18 months in prison for filing a false tax return, announced David Rivera, U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee.
Howes pleaded guilty in May 2014 to failing to report income of more than $605,000, which she embezzled from her former employer, Drywall Systems, Inc., in Gallatin, Tenn. Chief Judge Sharpe also ordered Howes to pay restitution in the amount of $538,932.33 for funds embezzled from her former employer, and $139,525 to the IRS for funds withheld from the IRS employee trust fund taxes and employer payroll taxes.
“The U.S. Attorney’s Office will aggressively pursue and prosecute individuals who intentionally evade their tax responsibility,” said U.S. Attorney David Rivera.
“With tax season underway, let this sentencing serve as a reminder, no matter what the source of income, all income is taxable,” said Christopher A. Henry, Special Agent in Charge of the Nashville Office of the IRS-Criminal Investigation. “The prosecution of individuals who intentionally conceal income and evade taxes is a vital element of the IRS' enforcement strategy.”
The investigation was conducted by IRS-Criminal Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Stephanie N. Toussaint and Kathryn Ward Booth prosecuted the case.
Chicago Psychiatrist Pleads Guilty to Taking Kickbacks to Prescribe Anti-Psychotic Drug; Will Also Pay U.S. and Illinois $3.79 MillionRead the Press Release
CHICAGO — A long-time Chicago psychiatrist pleaded guilty today to a federal crime for receiving illegal kickbacks and benefits totaling nearly $600,000 from pharmaceutical companies in exchange for regularly prescribing the anti-psychotic drug clozapine to his patients. The defendant, Dr. MICHAEL J. REINSTEIN, also agreed to pay the United States and the State of Illinois $3.79 million to settle a parallel civil lawsuit alleging that, by prescribing clozapine in exchange for kickbacks, Reinstein caused the submission of at least 140,000 false claims to Medicare and Medicaid for the clozapine he prescribed for thousands of elderly and indigent mentally ill patients in at least 30 area nursing homes and other facilities, federal and state law enforcement officials announced today.
Reinstein, 71, of Skokie, pleaded guilty to one count of violating the federal Medicare and Medicaid Anti-Kickback Statute at his arraignment in U.S. District Court after he was charged on February 3. His cooperation plea agreement calls for the government to recommend a sentence of 18.5 months in prison when he is sentenced on a date to be determined by U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman.
Both the criminal and civil cases involve the promotion of generic clozapine, a rarely prescribed anti-psychotic drug that has serious potential side effects and is generally considered a drug of last resort, particularly for elderly patients. While clozapine has been shown to be effective for treatment-resistant forms of schizophrenia, it is also known to cause numerous side effects, including a potentially deadly decrease in white blood cells, seizures, inflammation of the heart muscle, and increased mortality in elderly patients.
Reinstein, a psychiatrist in the Chicago area since 1973 with an office in Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood since at least 1999, quickly became one of the largest prescribers of generic clozapine in the country after obtaining a consulting agreement worth $50,000 per year, plus other compensation, from the manufacturer of the drug.
Under the civil settlement, Reinstein will pay the United States $1,837,968 and the State of Illinois $1,956,741 within 10 days. The settlement resolves a civil lawsuit that the United States filed in November 2012, and the State of Illinois joined in March 2013, on behalf of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services. United States v. Reinstein, 12 C 9167 (NDIL).
“Physicians must prescribe medications for their patients solely on the basis of the patient’s best medical interests and not because those decisions were improperly influenced by kickbacks and other financial favors,” said Zachary T. Fardon, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois.
“The Department of Justice is committed to ensuring that physicians who accept payments from pharmaceutical manufacturers to influence prescribing decisions are held accountable,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Civil Division Joyce R. Branda. “Schemes such as this one undermine the health care system and take advantage of elderly patients who are among the most vulnerable health care recipients.”
“The defendant put his patients at great risk of serious health problems to benefit his personal interests at taxpayer expense,” said Attorney General Lisa Madigan, whose office handled the civil litigation.
In March 2014, Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc., and IVAX Pharmaceuticals LLC, paid the United States and the State of Illinois $27.6 million to settle allegations that they violated state and federal False Claims Acts by making payments to Reinstein in return for his prescriptions of clozapine to his patients.
The civil lawsuit against Reinstein alleged that he solicited and accepted kickbacks from IVAX and Teva in exchange for prescribing clozapine to Medicare and Medicaid patients between August 2003 and July 2011. Reinstein violated the federal and state False Claims Acts by causing the submission of prescription drug claims to the Medicare and Medicaid programs for clozapine prescriptions generated by the kickbacks IVAX and Teva paid Reinstein, the suit alleged.
Reinstein also submitted and/or caused to be submitted to both Medicaid and Medicare claims for his professional services involving “pharmacologic management” of those patients for whom he prescribed clozapine. However, Reinstein allegedly did not engage in meaningful pharmacological management, because his prescribing decisions for his clozapine patients were based on the kickbacks he received rather than his independent medical judgment or the individual needs of his patients.
Apart from the admissions Reinstein made in his guilty plea to criminal conduct, the civil settlement is neither an admission of liability by Reinstein nor a concession by the United States or the State of Illinois that their claims were not well-founded.
In pleading guilty in the criminal case, Reinstein admitted that until 2003, he prescribed Clozaril, the brand name version of the clozapine molecule, even though less expensive, generic versions of the drug were available after 1997, because the manufacturer of Clozaril paid Reinstein thousands of dollars annually for speaking engagements to promote the drug. After the patent for Clozaril expired, Reinstein resisted pharmacy and drug company efforts to switch his patients to generic clozapine and he continued to be the largest prescriber of Clozaril to Medicaid recipients in the United States. In July 2003, the manufacturer of Clozaril stopped paying Reinstein for speaking engagements and he agreed to meet with IVAX representatives about switching his patients to generic clozapine.
Shortly later in 2003, Reinstein agreed to switch his patients to IVAX’s generic clozapine after IVAX agreed to pay him $50,000 per year under a consulting agreement and to fund a clozapine research study by a Reinstein-affiliated entity. IVAX renewed its annual consulting agreement with Reinstein and Teva continued paying Reinstein consulting and speaker fees realted to clozapine after acquiring IVAX in January 2006. Teva and IVAX employees renewed consulting and speaking agreements with Reinstein for $50,000 each year between 2004 and 2007, $40,000 for 2008, and $24,000 for 2009. Between 2004 and 2009, Teva and IVAX paid Reinstein a total of approximately $234,000 for consulting and speaking related to clozapine.
Between 2004 and 2009, the manufacturer of an orally disintegrating form of the clozapine molecule also paid Reinstein for speaking engagements, totaling approximately $135,000. In addition, this same manufacturer paid Reinstein’s research company at least $20,000 for a study related to orally disintegrating clozapine, with Reinstein acting as the principal investigator and using his patients. In part because of these payments, between January 2005 and March 2006, Reinstein switched more than half of his patients from generic clozapine to the orally disintegrating clozapine.
Further, employees of Teva and IVAX caused the pharmaceutical companies to pay entertainment expenses for Reinstein and his associates, including expensive meals, tickets to sporting events, and all-expense-paid trips to Miami, all as part of an effort to induce him to prescribe IVAX/Teva clozapine. These entertainment expenses totaled approximately $30,000.
In March 2006, during an all-expense-paid trip to Miami, Teva and IVAX employees asked Reinstein what they could do to get him to prescribe more clozapine and less of the orally disintegrating clozapine to his patients. Reinstein told them that Teva should hire Individual A, whom he described as an important source of patient referrals for him. In May 2006, Teva hired Individual A to a part-time position entering white blood cell count data for some of Reinstein’s patients into the national clozapine registry at a rate of $20 per hour for a maximum of 30 hours per week. Over the next several months, Reinstein switched hundreds of his patients from the orally disintegrating clozapine to generic clozapine, knowing that Teva’s hiring of and payments to Individual A were illegal because they were at least partly in return for his prescriptions of clozapine. Between July 2006 and July 2011, Teva paid Individual A approximately $112,000.
In July 2006, Teva paid a research company affiliated with Reinstein for another clozapine study. The payments to the research company by IVAX in 2004 and Teva in 2006 totaled approximately $61,000. During this time period, the research company made monthly payments to Reinstein for rent and medical director fees. Overall, Reinstein admitted receiving payments totaling approximately $592,000 through various forms of illegal remuneration. In each scenario, Reinstein knew that the compensation was illegal because the payments were at least partly in exchange for his prescriptions of clozapine.
The civil settlement resulted from of a coordinated effort by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois, the Civil Fraud Section of the Commercial Litigation Branch of the Justice Department’s Civil Division, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Illinois Attorney General’s Office.
In the civil case, the United States was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric S. Pruitt, and the State of Illinois was represented by Assistant Illinois Attorney General Robert Barba. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan S. Hedges is representing the government in the criminal case.
Plea Agreement
California Man Sentenced to 12 Years in Meth Trafficking ConspiracyRead the Press Release
KANSAS CITY, KAN. - A California man who was convicted on federal methamphetamine trafficking charges in Kansas was sentenced Friday to 146 months in federal prison, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said.
Tino Soriano, 33, Coachella, Calif., pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. In his plea, he admitted that on March 22, 2012, he was one of the occupants of a car that fled from a house in the 800 block of South 72nd Street in Kansas City, Kan., after investigators made a controlled delivery of a package containing almost two pounds of methamphetamine. Investigators had seized the package at a FedEx facility in Kansas City after a drug dog alerted to the contents. Soriano and two co-defendants left the package behind because they realized they were under surveillance.
Officers pursued Soriano’s vehicle, eventually finding it abandoned at a residence in the 16000 block of 182nd Street in Tonganoxie, Kan. A birth certificate and other documents belonging to Soriano were found in the car. In addition, investigators learned that on March 21, 2012, Soriano was present with co-defendant Leslie Kingsley during a drug deal at a strip club off K-7 Highway in Bonner Springs, Kan. Kingsley fronted 14 grams of meth to co-defendant Kristy Sherley so she could provide samples to other buyers.
Co-defendants include:
Leslie Kingsley, who is awaiting sentencing.
Kristy Sherley, who was sentenced to 60 months.
Michael Loveland, who was sentenced to 92 months.
Jose Del Refugio Sanchez, who was sentenced to 38 months.
Grissom commended the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department, the Kansas City, Kan., Police Department, the Drug Enforcement Administration, Deputy Chief Assistant U.S. Attorney Jay Robinson of the U.S. Attorney’s office in Riverside, Calif., and Assistant U.S. Attorney Sheri McCracken for their work on the case.
Brooklyn, New York Man, Residing in Fair Haven, Sentenced to 29 Months Prison for Heroin and Crack Cocaine DistributionRead the Press Release
The Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont stated that Ras Foster, 25, of Brooklyn, New York has been sentenced on his conviction for distributing heroin in the Fair Haven, Vermont area. Foster previously pled guilty to this offense which involved selling heroin and crack cocaine in Fair Haven in March and April of 2014. One of the two charged sales took place in the parking lot of the Stewart’s convenience store.
Chief United States District Court Judge Christina Reiss sentenced Foster to 29 months imprisonment to be followed by three years of supervised release. The United States Attorney’s Office requested a sentence of 37 months imprisonment, which was the low end of the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines. The maximum sentence for the drug distribution offense to which Foster was convicted is 20 years.
In sentencing Foster, Judge Reiss noted that heroin is “ravaging the community” and “enslaving” addicts by selling them drugs. Judge Reiss further stated that there need to be significant “consequence[s]” to those who “come up to” Vermont to sell drugs.
The United States is represented in this matter by Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Perella. Foster is represented by William Christman, Esq. of St. Albans. Esq. The investigation was conducted by the Vermont State Police Drug Task Force, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Baltimore Man Sentenced to 3 Years in Prison for Possession of Child PornographyRead the Press Release
Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge George L. Russell, III sentenced Jason Lewis Schwamberger, age 39, of Baltimore, today to three years in prison, followed by 20 years of supervised release. Judge Russell ordered that upon his release from prison, Schwamberger must register as a sex offender in the place where he resides, where he is an employee, and where he is a student, under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA).
The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Stephen E. Vogt of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and Lt. Colonel Anthony C. Satchell, Acting Superintendent of the Maryland State Police.
According to his plea agreement, on two occasions in May 2013, an investigator with the Maryland State Police downloaded files containing child pornography that Schwamberger made available through a file sharing program. On September 13, 2013, a search warrant was executed at Schwamberger’s residence and law enforcement seized his desktop computer, two external hard drives, a thumb drive and numerous CDs and DVDs. A subsequent forensic examination of the seized items revealed that the file sharing program had been used to download child pornography and there were more than 1,000 images and 180 video files depicting minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct,
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc. For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.justice.gov/psc and click on the "resources" tab on the left of the page.
United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the FBI and Maryland State Police for their work in the investigation. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul E. Budlow, who prosecuted the case.
Akron Doctor Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison for Illegally Prescribing Painkillers, Even After Patients DiedRead the Press Release
An Akron physician was sentenced to 10 years in prison for illegally prescribing hundreds of thousands of doses of painkillers and other pills to customers for no legitimate medical purpose, even after at least eight customers died from overdose-related deaths, law enforcement officials said.
Adolph Harper, Jr., 64, was also ordered to pay $417,060 in restitution. He pleaded guilty last year to one count of conspiracy to traffic drugs, four counts of health care fraud and 16 counts of drug trafficking.
Previously, Adria Harper, 35, of Akron, was sentenced to more than four years in prison after pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to traffic drugs and 25 counts of drug trafficking. Patricia Laughman, 52, of Barberton, was sentenced to more than a year in prison after pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to traffic drugs and 14 counts of drug trafficking. Tequilla Berry, 35, of Akron, pleaded guilty last year to one count of conspiracy to traffic drugs and seven counts of drug trafficking. She was sentenced to five years of probation.
Together, they distributed hundreds of thousands of doses of prescription medications -- including Oxycontin, Percocet, Roxicet, Opana, and others -- from Adolph Harper’s medical officers in Akron between 2009 and 2012, according to court documents.
“Harper may have been a doctor, but he sold drugs like a common street-level dealer. People who saw him became addicted, and some of them died from overdoses,” Dettelbach said. “We will continue to prosecute those who contribute to the heroin and opioid epidemic in our state.”
Steven D. Anthony, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Cleveland office, said: “Harper is deserving of every day of this sentence. Harper took the trust he received simply for being a physician and used it to take advantage of those who were already suffering. We want to thank our partners at the U.S. Health and Human Services, the DEA and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for working together to bring this case to light and this man to justice.”
“Dr. Harper ignored his primary responsibility of protecting his patient’s health and instead looked to exploit and take advantage of their condition. His actions were criminal and put the public’s safety at risk as well as vital taxpayer dollars,” said Lamont Pugh III, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General – Chicago Region. “The OIG and its partners will continue our efforts to identify instances where physicians abuse the public’s trust and ensure that they are held accountable.”
All four defendants conspired to distribute addictive controlled substances, including prescription painkillers and anti-anxiety medication, outside the usual course of professional practice and without any legitimate medical purpose, according to court documents.
Adolph Harper’s customers, many of whom were drug addicts exhibiting clear signs of drug addiction during their visits to his office, came to his office and received “prescriptions” for addictive prescription medications without being examined by Harper and often without seeing him at all, according to the court documents.
Harper continued to distribute prescriptions for controlled substances after he learned that some of his customers had died from overdose-related deaths. He also continued to distribute narcotics to customers who had overdosed on controlled substances he had earlier prescribed, according to the court documents.
For example, a customer identified in court documents as K.C. was hospitalized several times after overdosing on drugs prescribed by Harper. The hospital and others notified Harper of this fact, but he continued to prescribe narcotics to K.C. She died from an overdose of oxycodone less than a week after Harper prescribed even more oxycodone and alprazolam to her, according to court documents.Adria Harper, Laughman and Berry distributed prescriptions to these customers when Adolph Harper was out of the office and also used Adolph Harper’s pre-signed prescription pad to distribute prescriptions for addictive painkillers to themselves, according to the court documents.
Additionally, Adolph Harper executed four separate schemes to defraud health insurance providers by (1) submitting insurance claims for services using a higher billing code than the service justified; (2) submitting insurance claims for unperformed services; (3) billing an insurance provider for a service after collecting a cash payment for the same service; and (4) causing the submission of insurance claims for prescriptions for controlled substances that were issued outside the usual course of professional practice and not for a legitimate medical purpose, according to court documents.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Margaret A. Sweeney, Edward F. Feran, and Rebecca C. Lutzko following an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Health and Human Services -- Office of the Inspector General, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Ohio Board of Pharmacy and the Akron Police Department.
Additional Ms-13 Gang Member Indicted for Murder of 19-Year-Old Man in Long IslandRead the Press Release
Yesterday, a superseding indictment was unsealed charging the defendant, Oscar Wellman Espinoza-Merino, along with a previously-charged co-defendant, Byron Lopez, with conspiracy to commit murder in-aid-of racketeering, murder in-aid-of racketeering, obstruction-of-justice murder, and firearms offenses.1 If convicted, the defendant will face mandatory life imprisonment. Espinoza-Merino, who was arrested yesterday morning, was presented for arraignment yesterday afternoon at the United States Courthouse in Brooklyn, New York.
The charges and arrest were announced by Loretta E. Lynch, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York; Anthony Scandiffio, Deputy Special Agent-in-Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations, New York Field Office (HSI); Delano A. Reid, Special Agent-in-Charge, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Explosives and Firearms, New York Field Division (ATF); and William J. Bratton, Commissioner, New York City Police Department.
“This Office has a long history of prosecuting and convicting members of the MS-13 gang, which for years has pursued its particularly brutal brand of violence and lawlessness in neighborhoods throughout Queens and Long Island,” stated U.S. Attorney Lynch. “This prosecution, which brings another alleged member of the gang to justice for a murder that disrupted one of our communities earlier this year, is part of our ongoing mission to dismantle MS-13 wherever and whenever it rears its head in this District.” Ms. Lynch thanked the Suffolk County Police Department for its assistance with the investigation and the United States Marshals Service Regional Fugitive Task Force for its assistance in locating Espinoza-Merino.
“The indictment of two alleged members of the violent MS-13 street gang related to the brutal murder of a fellow gang member is another step in dismantling this transnational gang that has wreaked havoc on our neighborhoods,” said HSI Deputy Special Agent-in-Charge Scandiffio. “HSI will continue to aggressively work with our local, state, and federal law enforcement partners in New York to target MS-13 and other transnational gangs that threaten the safety of our communities.”
ATF Special Agent-in-Charge Reid stated, “As part of our Frontline strategy, the ATF has placed one of its highest priorities in the fight to combat violent crime. As alleged, this gang investigation involved depraved individuals who had no regard for human life. We are happy that yesterday’s arrest can now bring some consolation to the victim’s family, and we look forward to working with our law enforcement partners to swiftly locate and arrest any others who participated in this criminal enterprise.”
“Violent gangs such as MS-13 show complete disdain for life by carrying out heinous acts, such as the murder charged in this indictment, only to instill fear in our communities,” said Police Commissioner Bratton. “The NYPD along with our federal law enforcement partners will continue to aggressively pursue these gang members and bring them to justice.”
As alleged in court documents, Espinoza-Merino is a member of the Brentwood, Long Island chapter of the violent street gang La Mara Salvatrucha, also known as “MS-13.” On February 25, 2014, Espinoza-Merino, Lopez, and other members of the gang directed the victim, fellow gang member Sidney Valverde, to travel to Long Island under the false pretense that they needed him to assist in gang business there. In fact, the co-conspirators planned to kill Valverde because they believed that he was providing information about the gang’s activities to federal law enforcement. After Valverde traveled to Long Island, the conspirators shot him in the back of the head and left his body on Miller Place Beach in Suffolk County, where it was discovered by a beachcomber approximately two weeks later.
The indictment of Espinoza-Merino is the latest in a series of federal prosecutions by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York targeting members of the MS-13, a violent international street gang comprised primarily of immigrants from El Salvador and Honduras. With numerous chapters, or “cliques,” through the United States, MS-13 has a significant presence in Queens and is the largest street gang in Long Island. Since 2003, more than 250 MS-13 members, including dozens of clique leaders, have been convicted on federal felony charges in the Eastern District of New York. More than 150 of those MS-13 members have been convicted on federal racketeering charges. Since 2010 alone, this Office has obtained indictments charging MS-13 members with carrying out more than 20 murders in the Eastern District of New York and has convicted more than 35 MS-13 members in connection with those murders.
The government’s case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Darren A. LaVerne and Alixandra E. Smith.
_______________________
1 The charges contained in the indictments are merely allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
The Defendant:
OSCAR WELLMAN ESPINOZA-MERINO, also known as “Speedy” and “Petey”
Age: 32
A Palm Beach County Man Sentenced for Unlawfully Transporting Endangered Sea TurtlesRead the Press Release
A Palm Beach County resident was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Kenneth Marra for unlawfully transporting endangered sea turtles.
Wifredo A. Ferrer, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and William H. Calvert, Supervisory Law Enforcement Officer, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, West Palm Beach, made the announcement.
On August 15, 2014, James Odell McGriff, 56, of Riviera Beach, Florida, dug into two sea turtle nests and unlawfully took 299 endangered sea turtle eggs. Twelve of the eggs were held as evidence, and the remaining 287 sea turtle eggs were returned to the nests, in an effort to allow the eggs to continue to develop and possibly hatch. All species of sea turtles are protected by the Endangered Species Act, as either threatened or endangered species. McGriff intended to sell the illegally obtained eggs for $20.00 a dozen. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimates that the black market value is between $3.00 and $5.00 per stolen egg, for a total profit of between $897.00 and $1,495.00.
McGriff was sentenced to 14 months imprisonment, to be followed by three years of supervised release. Additionally, Judge Marra ordered that McGriff not go east of the Intercoastal Waterway while he is on supervised release.
Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Department and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lauren Jorgensen.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.
12 February 2015
Wooster Man Faces Child Pornopgraphy ChargesRead the Press Release
Bruce A. Grubb, 56, from Wooster, was charged with receiving, distributing and possessing visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, said Steven M. Dettelbach, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio.
The indictment charges that from on or about October 4, 2014, through on or about October 13, 2014, Grubb knowingly received and distributed in interstate and foreign commerce, by computer, numerous computer files, which files contained visual depictions of real minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
The indictment also charges that on January 21, 2015, Grubb possessed computer disks that contained child pornography.
If convicted, the sentence in this case will be determined by the court after consideration of the Federal Sentencing Guidelines which depend upon a number of factors unique to each case, including the defendant’s prior criminal record, if any, the defendant’s role in the offense and the unique characteristics of the violation. In all cases the sentence will not exceed the statutory maximum and in most cases it will be less than the maximum.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael A. Sullivan. The case was investigated by the Canton Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Canton Police Department.
An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Woman Pleads Guilty to Filing over 1100 Fraudulent Tax ReturnsRead the Press Release
Michael J. Moore, United States Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia, announced that Patrice Taylor, age 33, of Ashburn, Georgia, entered a plea of guilty on February 11, 2015 to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft before the Honorable W. Louis Sands, Senior U.S. District Court Judge, in Albany, Ga.As a part of her plea agreement, Mrs. Taylor admitted she conspired with her husband, Antonio Taylor, and Jarrett Jones to file over 1,100 fraudulent tax returns between January 2011 and February 2013. At least 1,089 of the returns were filed electronically from two IP addresses registered to Mrs. Taylor, both located at their home. From January 2012 to October 2012, a cell phone subscribed to Mrs. Taylor was used to call the Internal Revenue Service’s Automated Electronic Filing PIN Request 114 times.
In January 2012, Mrs. Taylor filed her own fraudulent federal income tax return requesting a refund in the amount of $6,776. She claimed a dependent that she was not authorized by law to claim. Mrs. Taylor also fraudulently used the data of 14 real people.
For conspiracy to commit wire fraud, the defendant faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, a maximum fine of $250,000, or both. For aggravated identity theft, she faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 2 years in prison, consecutive to any other sentence, a maximum fine of $250,000, or both.
“We are seeing an alarming amount of identity theft across the country. We will use every resource at our disposal to make sure that those who use stolen identities to file phony tax returns and steal money end up with an identification form unique to them – one issued by the federal prison system,” said U.S. Attorney Michael Moore.The case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service, assisted by the Ashburn Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Jim Crane is prosecuting the case for the Government.
Questions concerning this case should be directed to Pamela Lightsey, Public Information Officer, United States Attorney’s Office, at (478) 621-2603.
West Hartford Woman Pleads Guilty to Tax EvasionRead the Press Release
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Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that STEPHANIE ELLIOTT, 42, of West Hartford, pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Alvin W. Thompson in Hartford to one count of tax evasion.
This matter stems from an Internal Revenue Service investigation into State of Connecticut employees who had little or no federal withholding taken out of their paychecks and who failed to file income tax returns. The investigation revealed that certain state employees submitted fraudulent W-4 forms claiming numerous exemptions and had no money withheld from their wages.
According to court documents and statements made in court, ELLIOTT has been employed by the Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services at the Connecticut Valley Hospital since 1999, first as a mental health assistant and later as a nurse. ELLIOTT submitted a false Form W-4 to the state indicating that she had 99 exemptions and was exempt from tax withholding. As a result, no money was withheld from her wages. During the 2007 through 2012 tax years, ELLIOTT paid no federal income taxes on more than $515,000 in income she received, resulting in a federal tax loss of $73,599.
Judge Thompson scheduled sentencing for May 11, 2015, at which time ELLIOTT faces a maximum term of imprisonment of five years and a fine of up to $250,000. She also is required to pay back taxes, plus interest and penalties.
ELLIOTT was charged by indictment on April 9, 2014, and is currently released on bond.
This ongoing investigating is being conducted by the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Division. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Susan Wines.
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(203) 821-3722 [email protected]Wakefield Woman Pleads Guilty to Misprision of a FelonyRead the Press Release
U.S. Attorney Kenneth A. Polite announced that LINDSEY DOOLEY, age 24, of Wakefield, pleaded guilty today to a one-count superseding Bill of Information which charged her with misprision of a felony. DOOLEY and STEPHEN FARRELL were previously charged with conspiracy, making false statements in connection with a firearm purchase, transfer of a firearm to a prohibited person, possession of a firearm by a felon and possession with intent to distribute heroin.
According to court documents, on May 8, 2013, while conducting a related heroin investigation, Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office detectives searched FARRELL and DOOLEY’s residence located at in Metairie. During the search, detectives found a loaded Taurus International .380 caliber firearm and drug paraphernalia. FARRELL previously pled guilty in this case to possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Court records reveal that DOOLEY concealed FARRELL’s heroin distribution activities by providing a place for FARRELL to store and package the heroin.
DOOLEY faces a maximum term of imprisonment of three years, a maximum fine of $250,000 and up to one year of supervised release following any term of imprisonment. U.S. District Judge Jane Triche Milazzo scheduled sentencing for May 7, 2015.
U.S. Attorney Polite praised the work of the ATF New Orleans Division Office and the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office in investigating this matter. Assistant United States Attorney Nolan D. Paige is in charge of the prosecution.
Venezuelan Man Who Made Threatening Calls to Newtown Residents Is SentencedRead the Press Release
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Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, and Patricia M. Ferrick, Special Agent in Charge of the New Haven Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, announced that WILFRIDO A. CARDENAS HOFFMANN, 31, of El Hatillo, Venezuela, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Michael P. Shea in Hartford to 12 months and one day of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for making threatening phone calls to residents of Newtown, Connecticut, shortly after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting tragedy in December 2012.
According to court documents and statements made in court, on December 16, 2012, two days after the shooting that claimed 26 lives at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CARDENAS HOFFMANN used a voice over IP application on an iPod to make numerous phone calls from his home in Venezuela to Newtown residences. In one of the telephone calls, CARDENAS HOFFMANN stated: “This is Adam Lanza. I’m gonna [expletive] kill you. You’re dead. You’re dead. You hear me? You’re dead.” In another phone call, CARDENAS HOFFMANN stated: “This is Adam Lanza. I’m gonna kill you. You’re dead. With my machine gun. You’re dead [expletive].”
The investigation revealed that CARDENAS HOFFMANN made more than 90 calls to approximately 47 telephone numbers of Newtown residences. Not all of the calls were successfully placed and answered.
CARDENAS HOFFMANN was charged by criminal complaint on May 20, 2013. The complaint remained sealed until CARDENAS HOFFMANN was arrested on June 21, 2014, in Miami as he transitioned through Miami International Airport en route to Mexico from Venezuela. He has been detained since his arrest and pleaded guilty to the offense on December 11, 2014.“Threatening Newtown residents just two days after their tragedy was inexplicably cruel,” stated U.S. Attorney Daly. “This defendant’s senseless crimes re-victimized a brave yet fragile community that was already suffering a profound loss. Together with the FBI, our office is committed to tracking down individuals who commit such hoax crimes wherever they are, and bringing them to justice.”
“With today’s sentence, Mr. Hoffmann has been held accountable for his despicable actions that only served to perpetuate the pain and suffering the families living in Newtown have endured,” stated Special Agent in Charge Patricia M. Ferrick. “I would like to thank the investigators and prosecutors for their commitment to bring Mr. Hoffmann to justice.”
This matter has been investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with the assistance of the Newtown Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Krishna Patel and Edward Chang.
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(203) 821-3722 [email protected]Upper Darby Man Charged with Transporting Child PornographyRead the Press Release
PHILADELPHIA - David A. Seiver, 77, of Upper Darby, PA, was charged today by indictment with transportation of child pornography, announced United States Attorney Zane David Memeger. According to the indictment, Seiver transported and shipped a video file of an adult male raping a child.
If convicted the defendant faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison with a maximum possible sentence of 40 years in prison, and a fine of up to $250,000.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Virgil B. Walker.
United States Attorney's Office to Sponsor the 12th Annual Project Sentry Logo ContestRead the Press Release
Contact Person: Lance Crick (864) 282-2100
United States Attorney's Office to Sponsor the 12th Annual Project Sentry Logo Contest
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GREENVILLE, South Carolina ---- The United States Attorney's Office is sponsoring its 12th Annual Project Sentry Logo Contest. The statewide contest allows students an opportunity to design logos on school safety, gun violence awareness and prevention, and submit their illustrations for upcoming Project Sentry publications. The contest is open to any student (elementary, middle, or high school age) in South Carolina. Entries will be divided into four grade categories. A winner will be selected from each of the four grade categories and will each receive a $50.00 cash award. The overall winning logo, which will be chosen from among the four grade division category winners, will receive an additional $50.00 cash award (for a total of $100.00), and will be featured in Project Sentry publications. The awards are sponsored by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Officers Association (SCLEOA).
Entries should be consistent with the theme "Preventing Gun Violence at Your School." The deadline for submissions is Friday, April 3, 2015. Contest information has been distributed to schools throughout South Carolina. Therefore, if your child or student is interested in participating, contact your school and/or local law enforcement agency as contest information has been provided to them as well. Additionally, if your child?s school is not participating in the contest, your child may still submit an entry. Application and contest rules may be found on our website at: http://www.justice.gov/usao-sc/programs/ceasefire/project-sentry/contest-winners
Project Sentry, which is part of the district?s Project Safe Neighborhoods/Project Cease Fire program, is a vital step in strengthening our ability to prevent gun crimes among our young people and to ensure a safe learning atmosphere for our children.U.S. Citizen Extradited from Costa Rica in Connection with International-Based Business Opportunity Fraud VenturesRead the Press Release
A U.S. citizen charged in connection with the operation of a series of fraudulent business opportunities was extradited from Costa Rica to the United States, the Justice Department announced today.
John White was charged in a Nov. 29, 2011, indictment in the Southern District of Florida with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, five counts of mail fraud and 13 counts of wire fraud. White was arrested on Feb. 9, 2012, in Costa Rica pursuant to the indictment, which charges that White and his co-conspirators sold fraudulent beverage and greeting card business opportunities, including assistance in establishing, maintaining and operating such businesses, to victims in the United States. The charges in the indictment form part of the government’s continued nationwide crackdown on business opportunity fraud.
In addition to White, 11 other defendants have been charged in connection with related business opportunity fraud ventures that operated in Costa Rica. Nine of those other defendants have been convicted in the United States with sentences ranging from three to 16 years in prison. Two remaining defendants have yet to be received into the custody of the United States.
“Business opportunity fraud takes a heavy financial toll on victims who believe they are buying a piece of the American dream,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Joyce R. Branda of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “The Department of Justice will continue its push to prosecute those who defraud consumers whether from here in the United States or abroad.”
Beginning in May 2005, White and his coconspirators are alleged to have fraudulently induced purchasers in the United States to buy business opportunities in USA Beverages Inc., Twin Peaks Gourmet Coffee Inc., Cards-R-Us Inc., Premier Cards Inc. and The Coffee Man Inc. According to the indictment, the business opportunities the defendant sold cost thousands of dollars each, and most purchasers paid at least $10,000. Each company operated for several months, and after one company closed, the next opened. The various companies used bank accounts, office space and other services in the Southern District of Florida and elsewhere, according to the indictment.
The indictment alleges that the defendant, using aliases, participated in a conspiracy that used various means to make it appear to potential purchasers that the businesses were located entirely in the United States. In reality, White and his co-conspirators operated out of Costa Rica to fraudulently induce potential purchasers in the United States to buy the purported business opportunities, the indictment alleges.
According to the indictment, the companies made numerous false statements to potential purchasers of the business opportunities. Among the misrepresentations alleged in the indictment are: that purchasers would likely earn substantial profits; that prior purchasers of the business opportunities were earning substantial profits; that purchasers would sell a guaranteed minimum amount of merchandise, such as greeting cards and beverages; and that the business opportunity worked with locators familiar with the potential purchaser’s area who would secure or had already secured high-traffic locations for the potential purchaser’s merchandise stands. Potential purchasers were also told that the profits of the companies were based in part on the profits of the business opportunity purchasers, thus creating the false impression that the companies had a stake in the purchasers’ success and in finding good locations.
The indictment alleges that the companies employed various types of sales representatives, including fronters, closers and references. A fronter spoke to potential purchasers when the prospective purchasers initially contacted the company in response to an advertisement. A closer subsequently spoke to potential purchasers to close deals. References spoke to potential purchasers about the financial success they purportedly had experienced since purchasing one of the business opportunities. The companies also employed locators, who were typically characterized by the sales representatives as third parties who worked with the companies to find high-traffic locations for the prospective purchaser’s merchandise display racks. The indictment alleges that White, using assumed names, worked as a fronter and a reference.
Each of the companies was registered as a corporation and rented office space to make it appear to potential purchasers that its operations were fully in the United States. USA Beverages was registered as a Florida and New Mexico corporation and rented office space in Las Cruces, New Mexico; Twin Peaks was registered as a Florida and Colorado corporation and rented office space in Fort Collins, Colorado; Cards-R-Us was registered as a Nevada corporation and rented office space in Reno, Nevada; Premier Cards was registered as a Colorado and Pennsylvania corporation and rented office space in Philadelphia; and The Coffee Man was registered as a Colorado corporation and rented office space in Denver.
White faces a statutory maximum sentence of 25 years in prison, a possible fine and mandatory restitution on the conspiracy count. He also faces a statutory maximum sentence of 25 years in prison on each of the mail and wire fraud counts, possible fines and mandatory restitution.
“Business opportunity fraud hurts those who are simply trying to fulfill their dream of running their own business.” said U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer of the Southern District of Florida. “We will continue to prosecute those who seek to enrich themselves by committing fraud at the expense of innocent victims.”
“The Postal Inspection Service will continue to aggressively investigate and combat business and investment fraud through the use of the U.S. mail,” said Postal Inspector in Charge Ronald Verrochio of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service Miami Division.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Branda and U.S. Attorney Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs provided assistance with the extradition. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Alan Phelps of the Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch.
An indictment is merely an allegation, and every defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
U.S. Citizen Extradited from Costa Rica in Connection with International-Based Business Opportunity Fraud VenturesRead the Press Release
A U.S. citizen charged in connection with the operation of a series of fraudulent business opportunities was extradited from Costa Rica to the United States, the Justice Department announced today.
John White was charged in a Nov. 29, 2011, indictment in the Southern District of Florida with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, five counts of mail fraud and 13 counts of wire fraud. White was arrested on Feb. 9, 2012, in Costa Rica pursuant to the indictment, which charges that White and his co-conspirators sold fraudulent beverage and greeting card business opportunities, including assistance in establishing, maintaining and operating such businesses, to victims in the United States. The charges in the indictment form part of the government’s continued nationwide crackdown on business opportunity fraud.
In addition to White, 11 other defendants have been charged in connection with related business opportunity fraud ventures that operated in Costa Rica. Nine of those other defendants have been convicted in the United States with sentences ranging from three to 16 years in prison. Two remaining defendants have yet to be received into the custody of the United States.
“Business opportunity fraud hurts those who are simply trying to fulfill their dream of running their own business.” said U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer of the Southern District of Florida. “We will continue to prosecute those who seek to enrich themselves by committing fraud at the expense of innocent victims.”
“Business opportunity fraud takes a heavy financial toll on victims who believe they are buying a piece of the American dream,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Joyce R. Branda of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “The Department of Justice will continue its push to prosecute those who defraud consumers whether from here in the United States or abroad.”
Beginning in May 2005, White and his coconspirators are alleged to have fraudulently induced purchasers in the United States to buy business opportunities in USA Beverages Inc., Twin Peaks Gourmet Coffee Inc., Cards-R-Us Inc., Premier Cards Inc. and The Coffee Man Inc. According to the indictment, the business opportunities the defendant sold cost thousands of dollars each, and most purchasers paid at least $10,000. Each company operated for several months, and after one company closed, the next opened. The various companies used bank accounts, office space and other services in the Southern District of Florida and elsewhere, according to the indictment.
The indictment alleges that the defendant, using aliases, participated in a conspiracy that used various means to make it appear to potential purchasers that the businesses were located entirely in the United States. In reality, White and his co-conspirators operated out of Costa Rica to fraudulently induce potential purchasers in the United States to buy the purported business opportunities, the indictment alleges.
According to the indictment, the companies made numerous false statements to potential purchasers of the business opportunities. Among the misrepresentations alleged in the indictment are: that purchasers would likely earn substantial profits; that prior purchasers of the business opportunities were earning substantial profits; that purchasers would sell a guaranteed minimum amount of merchandise, such as greeting cards and beverages; and that the business opportunity worked with locators familiar with the potential purchaser’s area who would secure or had already secured high-traffic locations for the potential purchaser’s merchandise stands. Potential purchasers were also told that the profits of the companies were based in part on the profits of the business opportunity purchasers, thus creating the false impression that the companies had a stake in the purchasers’ success and in finding good locations.
The indictment alleges that the companies employed various types of sales representatives, including fronters, closers and references. A fronter spoke to potential purchasers when the prospective purchasers initially contacted the company in response to an advertisement. A closer subsequently spoke to potential purchasers to close deals. References spoke to potential purchasers about the financial success they purportedly had experienced since purchasing one of the business opportunities. The companies also employed locators, who were typically characterized by the sales representatives as third parties who worked with the companies to find high-traffic locations for the prospective purchaser’s merchandise display racks. The indictment alleges that White, using assumed names, worked as a fronter and a reference.
Each of the companies was registered as a corporation and rented office space to make it appear to potential purchasers that its operations were fully in the United States. USA Beverages was registered as a Florida and New Mexico corporation and rented office space in Las Cruces, New Mexico; Twin Peaks was registered as a Florida and Colorado corporation and rented office space in Fort Collins, Colorado; Cards-R-Us was registered as a Nevada corporation and rented office space in Reno, Nevada; Premier Cards was registered as a Colorado and Pennsylvania corporation and rented office space in Philadelphia; and The Coffee Man was registered as a Colorado corporation and rented office space in Denver.
White faces a statutory maximum sentence of 25 years in prison, a possible fine and mandatory restitution on the conspiracy count. He also faces a statutory maximum sentence of 25 years in prison on each of the mail and wire fraud counts, possible fines and mandatory restitution.
“The Postal Inspection Service will continue to aggressively investigate and combat business and investment fraud through the use of the U.S. mail,” said Postal Inspector in Charge Ronald Verrochio of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service Miami Division.
U.S. Attorney Ferrer and Acting Assistant Attorney General Branda commended the investigative efforts of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs provided assistance with the extradition. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Alan Phelps of the Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch.
An indictment is merely an allegation, and every defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.
Two Managers of Telemarketing Room Charged with Fraud and Money LaunderingRead the Press Release
Orlando, Florida – United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III announces the unsealing of an indictment charging Mark Gardner (28, Osteen, Florida) and Tammie Lynn Cline (32, Leominster, MA) with one count of conspiracy, five counts of wire fraud, and four counts of money laundering. If convicted, each faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison for each conspiracy and wire fraud count and up to 10 years in federal prison for each money laundering count.
According to the indictment, Gardner and Cline operated a telemarketing room in Central Florida. They, along with the telemarketers who worked at their call center, made unsolicited calls to owners of timeshare properties located throughout the United States. In those calls, they claimed that they worked for Universal Timeshare Sales Associates (UTSA) out of Beaverton, Oregon, that UTSA had a purchaser who was interested in buying a timeshare, and that the timeshare owner just needed to pay a fee of between $1,600 and $2,200 for the sale to proceed. To convince timeshare owners to pay the fee, Gardner, Cline, and their telemarketers sometimes claimed that an interested purchaser was present in the showroom ready to buy a timeshare, that a buyer had already deposited money into an escrow account for the sale, or that the sale would take place in about 90 days. Those representations were false. The timeshares were not sold as had been promised, and Gardner, Cline, and their conspirators denied or ignored requests for refunds and disputed chargebacks with the credit card companies.
In May 2013, the Federal Trade Commission and the Florida Attorney General’s Office filed a civil action against Gardner, Cline, and others in federal court in Orlando. In June 2014, the Court entered a permanent injunction against them related to certain telemarketing practices.
An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal criminal law, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty.
This case was investigated by Federal Bureau of Investigation. It will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg.
Two Defendants Convicted for their Involvement in a $100,000-Plus Tax Refund Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
After a ten-day trial, a federal jury convicted Marlan L. Copeland, of Miramar, and Brannoc K. Rudd, of Miami Gardens, for their involvement in a tax refund fraud scheme that resulted in the cashing of over $100,000.00 in tax refund checks.
Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Kelly R. Jackson, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), and Paula Reid, Special Agent in Charge, United States Secret Service (USSS), Miami Field Office, made the announcement.
As shown at trial, between January 2010 and April 2010, Copeland and Rudd brought over twenty checks into a Wachovia bank in Miami Gardens, Florida. Each check reflected a tax refund issued by the U.S. Department of the Treasury. At the bank, the defendants cashed the checks and left with the money, which totaled over $100,000.00. Although each check had been purportedly signed by the taxpayer, at trial the taxpayers identified the signatures at forgeries.
At sentencing, which is currently set for April 20, 2015, at 3:00 p.m., before U.S. District Judge Joan A. Lenard, Copeland faces a maximum term of 12 years in prison and Rudd faces a maximum term of five years in prison.
Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the IRS-CI and USSS. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys John Gonsoulin and John Byrne.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.
Three Women Plead Guilty in Armenian Alien Smuggling RingRead the Press Release
SAN DIEGO, CA – Three Glendale, California women pleaded guilty today in federal court to smuggling Armenian nationals into the United States as part of an international smuggling organization.
Varduhi Avagyan, 42, Meri Avetsiyan, 40, and Maria Yanakopulus, 57, all admitted their roles in a transcontinental conspiracy to bring undocumented Armenian nationals illegally into the United States in exchange for thousands of dollars.
As part of their guilty pleas, the three admitted to conspiring to traffic Armenian nationals from Armenia to the United States by way of Moscow, Russia and Cancun, Mexico. The Armenian nationals were charged up to $18,000 each to be brought into the United States. The three would procure valid U.S. entry documents and attempt to bring the Armenian nationals into the United States as imposters to those documents.
Avagyan and Avetisyan were arrested on November, 1, 2013 attempting to smuggle two Armenian nationals into the country. Yanakopulus was arrested on September 5, 2014.
All three pleaded guilty to conspiracy to bring in illegal aliens for financial gain and encouraging and inducing illegal aliens. They are scheduled to be sentenced before U.S. District Judge Michael M. Anello on May 11, 2015.
DEFENDANTS Case Number: 14CR1646-MMA Varduhi Avagyan Age: 42 Glendale, California Meri Avetsiyan Age: 40 Glendale, California Maria Yanakopulus Age: 57 Glendale, California CHARGESConspiracy, 18 U.S.C. § 371 Five year maximum sentence, $250,000 fine
INVESTIGATING AGENCIESHomeland Security Investigations
Three Importers to Pay over $3 Million to Settle False Claims Act Suit Alleging Evaded Customs DutiesRead the Press Release
The Department of Justice announced today that California-based C.R. Laurence Co. Inc., Florida-based Southeastern Aluminum Products Inc. and Texas-based Waterfall Group LLC have agreed to pay $2,300,000, $650,000 and $100,000, respectively, to resolve a lawsuit brought by the United States under the False Claims Act alleging that the companies engaged in schemes to evade customs duties on imports of aluminum extrusions from the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The companies sell shower doors and shower enclosures made with the PRC-manufactured aluminum extrusions.
“The nation’s customs laws are designed to protect domestic manufacturers from unfair competition abroad,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Joyce R. Branda of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “The Department of Justice will pursue those who seek an unfair advantage in U.S. markets by evading the duties owed on goods imported into this country.”
The government’s complaint alleged that C.R. Laurence, Southeastern and Waterfall made false declarations to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to avoid paying antidumping and countervailing duties on aluminum extrusions imported from manufacturer Tai Shan Golden Gain Aluminum Products Ltd. in the PRC. The Department of Commerce assesses, and CBP collects, antidumping and countervailing duties to protect U.S. businesses and level the playing field for domestic products. Antidumping duties protect against foreign companies “dumping” products on U.S. markets at prices below cost, while countervailing duties offset foreign government subsidies. C.R. Laurence, Southeastern, and Waterfall allegedly misrepresented that the “country of origin” of the aluminum extrusions was Malaysia, when the goods were manufactured in the PRC and merely shipped through Malaysia – a practice called “transshipping.” Imports of PRC-manufactured aluminum extrusions have been subject to antidumping and countervailing duties since 2010. No such duties are due on imports of such items from Malaysia.
The government’s complaint also alleged that C.R. Laurence, Southeastern and Waterfall purchased PRC-made aluminum extrusions imported by other domestic companies and caused or conspired with those importers to make false declarations to CBP to evade duties.
“Countervailing and antidumping duties are designed to provide a level playing field between companies that purchase products domestically and those that import products from countries which subsidize their production,” said U.S. Attorney A. Lee Bentley III for the Middle District of Florida. “Importers who use fraud to avoid paying these duties gain an unfair business advantage over competitors who abide by the rules. This settlement reaffirms our commitment to ensuring that business competition remains fair in our district.”
“Antidumping and countervailing duties are critical to ensure fair competition for U.S. manufacturers,” said Commissioner R. Gil Kerlikowske of CBP. “U.S. Customs and Border Protection works diligently with the Department of Justice, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations, and the U.S. Department of Commerce to aggressively pursue duty evasion.”
The allegations resolved by the settlements announced today were originally brought by whistleblower James F. Valenti Jr. in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act. The act permits private parties to sue on behalf of the government those who falsely claim federal funds or, as in this case, avoid paying funds owed to the government. The United States may intervene in and take over the lawsuit, as it did in this case. The act allows the whistleblower to receive a share of any funds recovered through the lawsuit. Valenti will receive $555,100 as his share of these settlements.
The case was handled by the Civil Division’s Commercial Litigation Branch, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida, CBP, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration.
The lawsuit is captioned United States ex rel. Valenti v. Tai Shan Golden Gain Aluminum Products Ltd., et al., Case No. 11-cv-368 (M.D. Fla.). The claims resolved by the settlements are allegations only; there has been no determination of liability.
Three Importers to Pay over $3 Million to Settle False Claims Act Suit Alleging Evaded Customs DutiesRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON – The Department of Justice announced today that California-based C.R. Laurence Co. Inc., Florida-based Southeastern Aluminum Products Inc. and Texas-based Waterfall Group LLC have agreed to pay $2,300,000, $650,000 and $100,000, respectively, to resolve a lawsuit brought by the United States under the False Claims Act alleging that the companies engaged in schemes to evade customs duties on imports of aluminum extrusions from the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The companies sell shower doors and shower enclosures made with the PRC-manufactured aluminum extrusions.
“The nation’s customs laws are designed to protect domestic manufacturers from unfair competition abroad,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Joyce R. Branda of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “The Department of Justice will pursue those who seek an unfair advantage in U.S. markets by evading the duties owed on goods imported into this country.”
The government’s complaint alleged that C.R. Laurence, Southeastern and Waterfall made false declarations to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to avoid paying antidumping and countervailing duties on aluminum extrusions imported from manufacturer Tai Shan Golden Gain Aluminum Products Ltd. in the PRC. The Department of Commerce assesses, and CBP collects, antidumping and countervailing duties to protect U.S. businesses and level the playing field for domestic products. Antidumping duties protect against foreign companies “dumping” products on U.S. markets at prices below cost, while countervailing duties offset foreign government subsidies. C.R. Laurence, Southeastern, and Waterfall allegedly misrepresented that the “country of origin” of the aluminum extrusions was Malaysia, when the goods were manufactured in the PRC and merely shipped through Malaysia – a practice called “transshipping.” Imports of PRC-manufactured aluminum extrusions have been subject to antidumping and countervailing duties since 2010. No such duties are due on imports of such items from Malaysia.
The government’s complaint also alleged that C.R. Laurence, Southeastern and Waterfall purchased PRC-made aluminum extrusions imported by other domestic companies and caused or conspired with those importers to make false declarations to CBP to evade duties.
“Countervailing and antidumping duties are designed to provide a level playing field between companies that purchase products domestically and those that import products from countries which subsidize their production,” said U.S. Attorney A. Lee Bentley III for the Middle District of Florida. “Importers who use fraud to avoid paying these duties gain an unfair business advantage over competitors who abide by the rules. This settlement reaffirms our commitment to ensuring that business competition remains fair in our district.”
“Antidumping and countervailing duties are critical to ensure fair competition for U.S. manufacturers,” said Commissioner R. Gil Kerlikowske of CBP. “U.S. Customs and Border Protection works diligently with the Department of Justice, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations, and the U.S. Department of Commerce to aggressively pursue duty evasion.”
The allegations resolved by the settlements announced today were originally brought by whistleblower James F. Valenti Jr. in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act. The act permits private parties to sue on behalf of the government those who falsely claim federal funds or, as in this case, avoid paying funds owed to the government. The United States may intervene in and take over the lawsuit, as it did in this case. The act allows the whistleblower to receive a share of any funds recovered through the lawsuit. Valenti will receive $555,100 as his share of these settlements.
The case was handled by the Civil Division’s Commercial Litigation Branch, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida, CBP, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration.
The lawsuit is captioned United States ex rel. Valenti v. Tai Shan Golden Gain Aluminum Products Ltd., et al., Case No. 11-cv-368 (M.D. Fla.). The claims resolved by the settlements are allegations only; there has been no determination of liability.
Three Convicted in Five-Year Drug ConspiracyRead the Press Release
BROWNSVILLE, Texas – Mario Enrique Patlan, 45, Cristina Patlan, 23, and Reymundo Abel Brown Jr., 27, have all entered guilty pleas today in a long-running effort to smuggle drugs via UPS, announced U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson. All three are Brownsville residents.
Mario Patlan and Brown pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute more than 100 kilograms of marijuana and 500 grams of cocaine. As part of his plea, Mario Patlan is also forfeiting his interest in two residences in Brownsville. The conspiracy ran from 2007 to 2012.
Mario Patlan’s daughter - Cristina Patlan - entered her plea to possessing 37 kilograms of marijuana with intent to distribute in November 2011.
Evidence presented in support of the pleas demonstrated that Mario Patlan and Brown used their positions at UPS to receive and forward drug-ladened packages via UPS air and ground transportation. The packages were received in the area of Cameron County and were shipped throughout the U.S. During the time of the conspiracy, more than 1000 kilograms of marijuana was shipped via UPS to states such as Minnesota, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Florida, Ohio, Michigan and New York.
As part of her plea, Cristina Patlan admitted she worked as a recruiter or go-between for her father and various drug trafficking organizations.
The trio will remain in custody pending sentencing, which is set for May 18, 2015, before U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen. At that time, Mario Patlan and Brown face a minimum of five and up to 40 years in federal prison and a possible $5 million fine. Cristina Patlan faces up to five and a possible $250,000 fine.
The charges are the result of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration and Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys David Lindenmuth, Lori Roth and Charles Lewis are prosecuting the case.Three Arkansas Men Sentenced to A Total of over 27 Years for Unrelated Drug Trafficking OffensesRead the Press Release
Texarkana, Arkansas - Conner Eldridge, United States Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas, announced that Antoine C. Cook, aka “Twan”, age 42, of Junction City, Arkansas, was sentenced to 168 months imprisonment followed by five years of supervised release for Conspiracy to Distribute Methamphetamine; James A. Barron, aka “Aunt C”, age 40, of Hot Springs, was sentenced to 108 months imprisonment followed by three years of supervised release for Distribution of Cocaine Base; and Brodney Dixon, age 28, of Texarkana, Texas, was sentenced to 57 months imprisonment followed by three years of supervised release for Distribution of Methamphetamine. The Honorable Susan O. Hickey handed down the sentences in United States District Court in Texarkana.
U.S. Attorney Eldridge commented, “The trafficking of illegal drugs represents a tremendous problem in our communities by bringing crime and violence onto our streets and exposing our children to serious risks. These sentences pronounced today show that our office, joined by federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies, is committed to aggressively identifying, investigating, and prosecuting illegal drug trafficking in communities across the Western District of Arkansas. ”
“The law enforcement organizations in our state and the U.S. Attorney’s Office have successfully collaborated in order to put these three defendants in jail for a very long time as a result of their desire to supply methamphetamine and crack to citizens in Western Arkansas,” stated Assistant Special Agent in Charge James Hendricks, “We are here, we are working together, and we are committed to investigating these illegal operations.”
“Once again, thanks to the efforts of the state, federal and local law enforcement agencies in investigating and bringing to justice upper level drug offenders,” said David Butler, Prosecuting Attorney for the 13th Judicial District. “These cases demonstrate the benefits associated with the multi-agency task force approach in apprehending and prosecuting drug dealers.”
Further information concerning each defendant is below:
Antoine Cook: Agents with the FBI and FBI Task Force initiated an estimated one year investigation targeting gang members who were involved in the trafficking of narcotics and firearms in El Dorado, Arkansas and surrounding areas. During the investigation, agents identified the defendant, Antoine Cook, as a major distributor of methamphetamine in Union County, Arkansas and elsewhere in the Western District of Arkansas. From June 17, 2013 until August 16, 2013, pursuant to orders of United States District Judge Susan O. Hickey of the Western District of Arkansas, agents intercepted numerous electronic and wire communications in which Cook, using coded language, discussed the distribution of methamphetamine and collection of drug debts. During the investigation, agents were able to make a controlled purchase of approximately four ounces of methamphetamine from Cook for $4,400. A Federal Grand Jury issued the indictment for Cook on September 18, 2013, and in February, 2014, Cook pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute over 500 grams of methamphetamine. The investigation revealed that he was responsible for distributing between 1.5 kilograms and 5 kilograms of methamphetamine. As a five time convicted felon with at least two prior felony convictions of a controlled substance offense, Cook is a career offender.
James Barron: According to court records, in October, 2012, during the course of an ongoing investigation, law enforcement arranged for a controlled purchase of a quarter ounce of crack cocaine from Barron. With officers maintaining surveillance, Barron arrived at a local Hot Springs business to conduct the drug transaction. Officers were then able to observe Barron exchange crack cocaine for U.S. currency. The suspected crack cocaine was submitted to the Arkansas State Crime lab where it was confirmed to contain cocaine base. During the course of the investigation, several other purchases of crack cocaine were arranged and made with the defendant before and after October, 2012. Barron pleaded guilty to the charge on August 15, 2014.
Brodney Dixon: According to court records, law enforcement agents utilized a confidential informant to arrange for a controlled purchase of methamphetamine from Dixon on May 2, 2012. While under officer surveillance, the informant met with Dixon in Hempstead County, Arkansas, where Dixon provided a baggie containing a substance he represented to be methamphetamine in exchange for U.S. currency. The suspected methamphetamine was submitted to the Arkansas State Crime Laboratory where it was confirmed to contain methamphetamine. A Federal Grand Jury issued an indictment for Dixon on January 29, 2014, and he pleaded guilty to one count of distribution of methamphetamine on August 21, 2014.
These cases were investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Hot Springs Police Department, the South Central Drug Task Force, and the Arkansas State Police. The investigation into Cook’s Drug Trafficking Organization was a joint operation between the 13th Judicial Drug Task Force, the Union County Sheriff’s Office, the El Dorado Police Department, the FBI, the FBI Task Force, the Camden Police Department, the Magnolia Police Department, the Ouachita County Sheriff’s Office, the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office, the Ashley County Sheriff’s Office, the Arkansas State Police, and the Drug Enforcement Administration. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ben Wulff, Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenny Elser, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Ross prosecuted the cases for the United States.
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Related court documents may be found on the Public Access to Electronic Records website @ www.pacer.gov
Tennessee Resident Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison for Sex Trafficking of A MinorRead the Press Release
A Memphis, Tennessee, man was sentenced today to 15 years in prison for the sex trafficking of a 16-year-old girl, announced Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Edward L. Stanton III of the Western District of Tennessee and Special Agent in Charge Todd McCall of the FBI’s Memphis Division.
Laron Matlock, 33, of Memphis, admitted during his plea hearing that, with the assistance of a co-defendant, he facilitated the travel of a 16-year-old girl from Chicago to Memphis in July 2012 for the purpose of prostitution. Matlock then transported the minor from Memphis to Nashville, Tennessee, where she engaged in prostitution. Matlock admitted that he facilitated the online advertisement of the minor on www.backpage.com by paying the cost associated with the posting. Matlock was arrested on Aug. 1, 2012, after he returned to Memphis with the victim and attempted to take her to a customer’s house for the purpose of prostitution.
U.S. District Judge Jon Phipps McCalla of the Western District of Tennessee imposed the sentence.
This case was investigated by the Civil Rights Human Trafficking Taskforce, the FBI’s Memphis Division and the Shelby County Sheriff’s Department. This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian K. Coleman of the Western District of Tennessee and Trial Attorney Mi Yung Park of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section.
Tampa Man Convicted of Commercial Armed RobberyRead the Press Release
Tampa, Florida – United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III announces that a federal jury today found Shamorcus Brandan Nesbitt (28, Tampa) guilty of conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery, interference with commerce by robbery, carrying a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, and being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition. Nesbitt faces a mandatory minimum penalty of 37 years in federal prison. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for May 19, 2015. He was indicted on June 19, 2014.
According to evidence presented at trial, law enforcement officers identified Nesbitt and England Alexander Wilson as suspects in several commercial armed robberies in the Tampa Bay area. On May 20, 2014, Nesbitt and Wilson robbed a Little Caesar’s Pizza in Tampa. After tracking their movements, investigators recovered items used in the robbery, including clothing, gloves, and the firearm. Ultimately, both Nesbitt’s and Wilson’s DNA was found on gloves used in the robbery.
This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, the Citrus County Sheriff’s Office, the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office, and the Tampa Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Carlton C. Gammons and Josephine W. Thomas.
Syracuse Man Sentenced to 30 Years on Child Pornography ChargesRead the Press Release
SYRACUSE, NEW YORK - United States Attorney Richard S. Hartunian announced that RONALD J. RICHARDS, 59, of Syracuse, New York was sentenced today in United States District Court following his earlier plea of guilty to a six-count Information charging him with receipt, distribution, and possession of child pornography.
United States District Judge David N. Hurd sentenced RICHARDS to a total of 30 years imprisonment, to be followed by 20 years of supervised release. The sentence consists of concurrent 20 year terms on two counts of distribution of child pornography to run consecutively to concurrent 10 year terms on four counts of receiving and possessing child pornography. RICHARDS will also be required to register as a sex offender.
RICHARDS’ arrest came about as a result of an investigation by the United States Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations. Agents discovered that RICHARDS had been using his email account to trade child pornography over the Internet with other individuals, including two men, one in Indiana and one in Utah, who had disclosed to RICHARDS that they produced the images they sent to him. Agents later discovered that RICHARDS had also engaged in sexually explicit chats with two minor female children, one 15, and one 13 years old, solicited illicit images from them, and later distributed the images to others. In all, agents recovered from RICHARDS’ computers and thumb drives more than 3,700 images and 48 video files depicting the abuse of children, some as young as one and three years old.
RICHARDS 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.
Sturgis Couple Sentenced in Visa Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Brendan V. Johnson announced that a Sturgis. South Dakota, couple were sentenced on January 29, 2015, by Chief Judge Jeffrey L. Viken, U.S. District Court.
Scott Kaubisch, age 51, convicted of False Swearing in Immigration Matter, was sentenced to 14 months in custody, 3 years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.
Shiela Kaubisch, a/k/a Maria Shiela Santos Kaubisch, age 54, convicted of Misprison of a Felony, was sentenced to 60 months of probation and was ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund. The Kaubisches were also ordered to pay $154,586 in restitution to victims of the fraud.
The convictions stem from several occasions wherein Scott Kaubisch sought and received payments from alien workers seeking H-2B visas, yet falsely declared on the Application for Temporary Employment Certification filed with the USCIS, the DOL Form 9142, and the Department of Homeland Security form I-129, that he had not sought or received such payments. Shiela Kaubisch knew that Scott Kaubisch was falsifying official documents and did conceal that fact.
The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Department of State - Diplomatic Security Service, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations , U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General - Office of Labor Racketeering and Fraud Investigation, and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services – Fraud Detection and National Security. Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah B. Collins prosecuted the case.
St. Petersburg Man Convicted of Federal Firearms Charge, Witness Tampering, and Obstruction of JusticeRead the Press Release
Tampa, Florida – United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III announces that a federal jury has found Demetrius Sharron Davis (33, St. Petersburg) guilty of being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition, tampering with a witness, and obstruction of justice. He faces a maximum penalty of life in federal prison. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for May 4, 2015.
Davis was originally indicted on May 13, 2014, for being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition. A superseding indictment was returned on October 21, 2014, charging him with the witness tampering and obstruction offenses.
According to testimony and evidence presented at trial, on October 27, 2013, Davis threatened the mother of his children with a loaded firearm. During the altercation, Davis said to her that the “kids are about to see you in a body bag” and that the “kids won’t have a mother or a father.” He made these statements while pointing the firearm at her as she held their four-year-old daughter in her lap. Davis had previously been convicted of a felony, and was therefore prohibited from possessing a firearm or ammunition under federal law.
As the original trial date approached in October 2014, Davis called his 10 year-old daughter, who had also witnessed him with the firearm and was scheduled to be a witness at trial. During the phone call, Davis attempted to prevent his daughter from testifying by telling her that “you don’t need to get on the stand 'cause that'll make daddy go to jail for a long time.” He also made further statements in an attempt to persuade her not to testify.
This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the St. Petersburg Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Shauna S. Hale and Adam M. Saltzman.
It is another case prosecuted as a part of the Department of Justice’s “Project Safe Neighborhoods” Program - a nationwide, gun-violence reduction strategy. United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III, along with Regina Lombardo, Special Agent in Charge, ATF, is coordinating the Project Safe Neighborhoods effort here in the Middle District of Florida in cooperation with federal, state, and local law enforcement officials. It is another example of ATF’s Frontline Strategy to impact violent crime within our communities.
South Euclid Woman Charged for Falsely Claiming $1 Million in Tax ReturnsRead the Press Release
A one-count criminal information was filed against Victoria Mason, 31, of South Euclid, charging her with conspiracy to defraud the government with respect to filing fraudulent income tax refund claims, said Steven M. Dettelbach, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, and Kathy Enstrom, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service, Cincinnati Field Office.
Mason, acting together with separately charged defendants Veronica Mason, Tenisha Cleveland, and other individuals not yet charged, engaged in a false tax refund scheme in which they prepared at least 64 false income tax returns for the years 2008 through 2011, for approximately 27 persons, which claimed income tax refunds that were greater than the actual refunds, if any, to which the taxpayers were entitled, according to the information.
On each return, Mason and her cohorts generated false refund claims, at least in part, by reporting a falsely inflated or fictitious wage income and a resulting false earned income credit, according to the information.
On some returns, Cleveland and her confederates also claimed false dependents and/or reported false or inflated amounts of tax withholding, sometimes supported by fictitious Wage and Tax Statements, Form W-2. Mason and Veronica Mason, who has been charged in a separate criminal information, filed the returns electronically on behalf of taxpayers, through private and public internet connections. Generally, the co-conspirators did not provide a copy of the return to the taxpayer, and the taxpayer did not know the amount of the refund claimed, according to the information.
The electronic filings included requests that the IRS direct-deposit refunds into bank accounts owned or controlled by Cleveland, Veronica Mason and their co-conspirators, or provide the refunds on pre-paid debit cards purchased by the co-conspirators. After receiving the refunds, Mason, Cleveland, Veronica Mason and their co-conspirators paid only a portion of the refund, if any, to the taxpayer, according to the information.
According to the information, Mason and her co-conspirators inflated the refund claims on the 64 charged returns by a total of approximately $114,930. Additionally, Mason and her co-conspirators falsely filed an additional 823 fictitious claims for tax refunds with the IRS, which inflated the total refund claims by the conspirators by an additional $1,079,750. The IRS issued refunds totaling approximately $815,577.27 to Mason and her co-conspirators.If convicted, the defendant’s sentence will be determined by the Court after review of the factors unique to this case, including the defendant’s prior criminal record, the defendant’s role in the offense and the characteristics of the criminal conduct. In all cases, the sentence will not exceed the statutory maximum and in most cases it will be less than the maximum.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Om Kakani, following an investigation by the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigations.
An information is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government’s burden to prove the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
South Dakota Woman Sentenced to 22 Years for MurderRead the Press Release
BILLINGS – The United States Attorney’s Office announced that today, in U.S. District Court in Billings, a Rapid City, South Dakota woman received 22 years in federal prison for her role in a 2013 murder on the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation. Eugenia Ann Rowland, 42, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Susan Watters to 264 months in custody followed by 5 years of supervised release in connection with her October 2014 guilty plea to second degree murder. In addition, Rowland was ordered to pay $13,215 in restitution.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Lori Suek told the court that Eugenia Rowland and her common-law husband were drinking with the victim in an abandoned trailer in Lame Deer on the Fourth of July, 2013. After not coming home, the victim was reported missing by family members. Initially treated as a missing person investigation, Rowland and her husband were interviewed several times by Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) law enforcement. The victim’s body was found on July 8, 2013 near the Lame Deer rodeo grounds.
Before the victim’s body was found, Rowland and her husband left the Northern Cheyenne reservation to stay with relatives near the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming. Law enforcement officers learned that the couple had borrowed a car from a family member and had returned the car with a very strong odor emanating from the back seat. After a search of the car, the victim’s DNA was found on a rear seat cushion taken from the car.
U.S. Attorney Mike Cotter said that “Today’s sentence closes a sad and tragic chapter in the senseless death of a young woman. We hope the family finds some degree of solace in the fact that justice has come to one of the individuals responsible for their loss.”
The investigation was a collaborative effort between the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Lake County Sheriff’s Office, Flathead Tribal Police Department, Wind River Police Department, Rapid City Police Department, Pine Ridge Criminal Investigations, BIA Rapid City Drug Unit and Pennington County Sheriff’s Office.
Smithville Man Sentenced to Time Served, Home Detention, $1,600 for Post Office BurglaryRead the Press Release
Muskogee, Oklahoma - The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, announced that BRANDON ANDREW DUNCAN, age 24, formerly of Smithville, Oklahoma, was sentenced in federal court today for POST OFFICE BURGLARY, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2115. DUNCAN was given credit for time served, approximately 7 ½ months incarceration. The defendant was also sentenced to 4 months of home detention, 2 years of supervised release and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $1,636.50.
The charges arose from an investigation by the McCurtain County Sheriff’s Office and the United States Postal Service. DUNCAN was indicted in June, 2014 and pled guilty in September, 2014.
The Indictment alleged that between December 21, 2013, and December 23, 2013, the exact date unknown, within the Eastern District of Oklahoma, the defendant, BRANDON ANDREW DUNCAN, did forcibly break into a post office located at Smithville, Oklahoma, with the intent to commit a larceny in such post office.
The Honorable James H. Payne, District Judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, in Muskogee, presided over the hearing.
Assistant United States Attorney Dean Burris represented the United States.
Shipping Company and Chief Engineer Charged with Dumping Oil in Alaska's Exclusive Economic ZoneRead the Press Release
Anchorage, Alaska – Karen L. Loeffler, U.S. Attorney, announced today that AML Ship Management GMBH, a German company, and Nicolas Sassin, Chief Engineer of a vehicle carrier ship it operated, the M/V City of Tokyo, were both charged with knowingly dumping oil into United States’ waters off the coast of Alaska in August 2014 in violation of the Clean Water Act.
AML and Chief Engineer Nicolas Sassin have also been charged in separate cases filed in the District of Oregon with violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS) for knowingly creating and presenting false records to the U.S. Coast Guard when it arrived in port in Portland, Oregon in September 2014. The Clean Water Act charges in Alaska and the APPS charges in Oregon are felony offenses.
Under the terms of a plea agreement filed in federal court today, AML will plead guilty to the Clean Water Act and APPS charges, pay a total of $800,000 in fines and community service payments, implement a comprehensive Environmental Compliance Plan, and will be placed on probation for three years. Chief Engineer Sassin also signed a plea agreement filed in court today agreeing to plead guilty to the Alaska and Oregon charges.
Defendant AML is the operator of the Motor Vessel City of Tokyo. The M/V City of Tokyo is a vehicle carrier vessel that operates under the flag of the Republic of Liberia. It was built in 1987, weighs approximately 42,247 gross tons, and is 603 feet long. Defendant Nicolas Sassin worked as the Chief Engineer of the M/V City of Tokyo between May 28, 2014 and September 6, 2014, when the vessel arrived in Oregon and was contacted by the U.S. Coast Guard.
On August 22, 2014, the M/V City of Tokyo departed South Korea and travelled through the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of the United States off the coast of Alaska arriving in Canada on September 2, 2014. The vessel departed Canada on September 3, 2014. The M/V City of Tokyo arrived in Tacoma, Washington on September 4, 2014, and remained there until departing for Portland, Oregon. The M/V City of Tokyo arrived in Portland, Oregon on September 5, 2014.
As the operator of the M/V City of Tokyo, AML was responsible for operating the Oil Water Separator (OWS) and maintaining an accurate Oil Record Book (ORB). As the Chief Engineer, Nicolas Sassin was responsible for the pollution control equipment in the M/V City of Tokyo’s engine room, including running the OWS and maintaining the Oil Record Book (ORB).
The federal charges allege that on or about August 29, 2014, Chief Engineer Sassin knowingly discharged oily bilge water into the United States’ Exclusive Economic Zone off the coast of Alaska which may have affected natural resources belonging to, appertaining to, and under the exclusive management authority of the United States and in a quantity that may be harmful.
Specifically, AML admits that while the M/V City of Tokyo was approximately 165 nautical miles south of the Aleutian Islands, specifically Sanak Island, Alaska, the Chief Engineer used an illegal pump system to knowingly discharge approximately 4,500 gallons of oily bilge water directly overboard. The illegal pump system consisted of a fabricated flanged fitting that connected the overboard discharge valve and pipe to a pneumatic Wilden pump. The pump’s suction was connected to a hose that was fed down the sounding tube for the bilge holding tank. The illegal pump system allowed the vessel’s crew to discharge oily bilge water from the bilge holding tank directly overboard without processing it through the required pollution prevention equipment (OWS and oil content meter). The overboard discharge created a sheen in the water off the stern of the vessel, and this was witnessed by crewmembers aboard the M/V City of Tokyo. The illegal pump system was dismantled prior to the vessel’s arrival in Portland.
AML knowingly failed to maintain an accurate ORB as required by the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS).
Chief Engineer Sassin and AML are also charged with failing to record this discharge of oil into the sea by way of the illegal pump system and overboard discharge valve in the M/V City of Tokyo’s ORB, and with knowingly presenting the false and fictitious ORB to the U.S. Coast Guard and/or had it available for inspection by the U.S. Coast Guard when the M/V City of Tokyo arrived in Portland, Oregon on September 5, 2014.
The M/V City of Tokyo was initially inspected and detained in Portland, Oregon by the U.S. Coast Guard marine inspectors. These cases were investigated by the U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service and are being prosecuted jointly by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Alaska, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon, and the Department of Justice’s Environmental Crimes Section.
Sentencings for February 6-10, 2015Read the Press Release
Ryon Rudy James Herbst, 27, of Lander, Wyoming, was sentenced by Chief Federal District Court Judge Nancy D. Freudenthal on February 10, 2015, for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute heroin. Herbst was arrested in Cheyenne, Wyoming. He received 70 months imprisonment, to be followed by four years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay a $100.00 special assessment. This case was investigated by the Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office, the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
Juan Claudio Ontiveros, 28, of Greeley, Colorado, was sentenced by Federal District Court Judge Scott W. Skavdahl on February 6, 2015, for being a felon in possession of a firearm. Ontiveros was arrested in Greeley, Colorado. He received 108 months imprisonment, to be followed by three years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay a $200.00 fine and a $100.00 special assessment. This case was investigated by the Casper Police Department, the Natrona County Sheriff’s Office and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Scranton Man Charged with Attempt to Entice A Minor via the InternetRead the Press Release
The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, announced that a felony Criminal Information charging Hugo Perez Banda, age 27, of Scranton, Pennsylvania, was filed today in the United States District Court in Scranton.
According to United States Attorney Peter Smith, Perez was charged with allegedly attempting to entice a minor to engage in an unlawful sexual act by use of the internet during January 2014.The government filed a plea agreement with the defendant which is subject to approval by the Court.
The offense call for a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years, a maximum sentence of up to life and a $250,000 fine.
The investigation was conducted by the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Scranton, Pennsylvania Police Department. The case is assigned to Assistant United States Attorney Todd K. Hinkley.
Indictments and Criminal Informations are only allegations. All persons charged are presumed to be innocent unless and until found guilty in court.
A sentence following a finding of guilty is imposed by the Judge after consideration of the applicable federal sentencing statutes and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.
Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the Judge is also required to consider and weigh a number of factors, including the nature, circumstances and seriousness of the offense; the history and characteristics of the defendant; and the need to punish the defendant, protect the public and provide for the defendant’s educational, vocational and medical needs. For these reasons, the statutory maximum penalty for the offense is not an accurate indicator of the potential sentence for a specific defendant.
Rochester Man Pleads Guilty to Producing Counterfeit Military Id Cards and Making False StatementsRead the Press Release
CONTACT: Barbara Burns
PHONE: (716) 843-5817
FAX: (716) 551-3051
ROCHESTER, N.Y. U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced that Mark Allen Kelly, 54 of Rochester, NY, pleaded guilty to possessing and producing counterfeit military ID cards and making false statements to federal agents before U.S. District Court Judge Frank P. Geraci. Each charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, or both.Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig R. Gestring, who is handling the case, stated that Kelly repeatedly lied about being an Officer in the United States Navy. Kelly regularly wore naval uniforms around town as well as to work, where he falsely told his employer that he was working at area Reserve Centers after his shift. The defendant lied about being on active duty with the Navy when he rented an apartment in Rochester and received a military discount on his rent as well as other financial benefits as a result of his false statements.
The defendant’s landlord became suspicious about Kelly’s military affiliation when his first month’s rent check bounced. The landlord also had a friend, who was a former United States Marine Corps Officer, who questioned the many ribbons and awards displayed on Kelly’s uniforms which included the Silver Star and a Bronze Star awarded for Valor. Kelly also wore Naval Flight Officer’s Wings. They confronted Kelly in June of 2014 in the presence of a Rochester Police Officer and Kelly presented a counterfeit, but authentic looking military Common Access Card to support his false personation.
In addition to wearing a Navy uniform around town, the defendant also regularly wore full dress naval uniforms at Veterans and ceremonial events. This included a memorial for a fallen Marine killed in Afghanistan in August 2014, where Kelly presented a flag to the Marine’s parents. When questioned, the defendant supported his false claims by presenting an authentic looking, but fraudulently made, military ID card.
The defendant’s conduct came to the attention of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) who began a criminal investigation after getting a tip from the defendant’s landlord. During the investigation, NCIS Agents from Naval Weapons Station Earle traveled to Rochester to interview witnesses. In September 2014, Kelly was interviewed by NCIS Agents and he made several false material statements. Kelly lied to the agents about his status with the Navy, his rank, his dates of service, and the characterization of his discharge. Each time agents confronted Kelly about his false statements, he would change his story to try to alter the facts to mislead the agents.
At the time agents interviewed Kelly, he was wearing a naval uniform without rank insignia or ribbons. He initially claimed he liked wearing the unmarked uniform because it was comfortable. However, Agents noticed that his uniform shirt had fresh holes consistent with recent wearing of rank insignia and a rack of ribbons. When confronted, Kelly produced a rack of ribbons which he had removed from his shirt before meeting with the agents. The rack contained 28 ribbons including awards for service in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as for service in support of Operation Desert Storm and the liberation of Kuwait. Kelly also had several Navy uniforms in his apartment including a Navy Dress Blue Uniform, a Dress White Uniform, and a Digital Pattern Camouflage Uniform, all with Officer Rank insignia attached. Kelly also had multiple awards and framed certificates on his walls commending his bravery and valor for Combat Operations in both Iraq wars as well as Afghanistan.
However, during the investigation, NCIS Agents reviewed Kelly’s official military record and learned that Kelly was actually discharged under Other Than Honorable conditions from the Navy in 1981 for misconduct. At the time of his discharge, Kelly held the rank of Seaman Recruit or E-1, the lowest enlisted rank in the Navy. Records showed that during the two and a half years Kelly was actually in the Navy, he was never a commissioned Officer or a Chief Petty Officer as he had claimed to investigators.
Naval criminal investigators also recovered several false military ID cards in various stages of production from the defendant’s place of employment after he was terminated. These authentic looking, but counterfeit, cards contained the defendant’s photograph in uniform, and contained various fraudulent ranks including Master Chief Petty Officer and Lieutenant Commander.
The plea is the culmination of an investigation by Special Agents of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Leo Lamont, NCIS Northeast Field Office.
Sentencing is scheduled for May 6, 2015 at 3:30 p.m. before Judge Geraci.
Residente De Memphis Condenado A 15 Años Por Trafico Sexual De Un MenorRead the Press Release
MEMPHIS, Tennessee. - En el día de hoy, el Juez Superior del Distrito Jon Phipps McCalla condenó a Laron Matlock, de 33 años de edad, de Memphis, TN, a 15 años de prisión por tráfico sexual de un menor de edad, anunció Edward L. Stanton III, Fiscal Federal para el Distrito Oeste de Tennessee; Leslie R. Caldwell, Fiscal Federal Auxiliar de la División Criminal del Departamento de Justicia; y Todd McCall, Agente Especial a Cargo de la Oficina Federal de Investigaciones (FBI).
Matlock, con la asistencia de uno de los acusados, facilitó el viaje de una menor de edad de dieciséis años para viajar de Chicago, Illinois a Memphis en julio de 2012 para fines de prostitución. Matlock transportó la menor de Memphis a Nashville, Tennessee, donde se dedicaba a la prostitución como consecuencia de ella estar promoviéndose en www.backpage.com. Matlock facilitó la publicidad en línea mediante el pago de los costos asociados con el destino. Matlock condujo posteriormente a la menor de vuelta a Memphis y, antes de ser detenido, la transportó a la casa de un cliente en un intento para que se dedique en mayor medida a la prostitución.
El Fiscal Federal Auxiliar Brian K. Coleman y el Abogado Litigante Mi Yung Park, con la Sección de Explotación y Obscenidad del Departamento de Justicia (CEOS) representaron a Estados Unidos en el caso. Este caso es el resultado de los esfuerzos de la investigación de la Oficina Federal de Investigaciones División de Memphis, el Grupo de Misiones Especiales de los Derechos Civiles de la Trata de Humanos y el Departamento del Sheriff del Condado de Shelby.
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Rapid City Man Sentenced for EscapeRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Brendan V. Johnson announced that a Rapid City, South Dakota, man convicted of Escape from Custody was sentenced on February 4, 2015, by Chief Judge Jeffrey L. Viken, U.S. District Court.
Benjamin Kitteaux, age 26, was sentenced to 6 months in custody and ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.
In August 2014, Kitteaux left Community Alternatives of the Black Hills, where he was serving the remainder of a federal prison sentence, and did not return as required.
The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Marshals Service. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ben Patterson.
Kitteaux was immediately turned over to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
Providence Woman Convicted of Fraudulently Collecting More Than $47,000 in Social Security Widower’s BenefitsRead the Press Release
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – A federal court jury in Providence on Tuesday convicted a Providence woman of making false statements regarding her marital status in order to collect more than $47,000 in widower’s benefits from the Social Security Administration following the death of her former husband, announced United States Attorney Peter F. Neronha and Scott E. Antolik, Special Agent in Charge of the Boston field office of the Social Security Administration, Office of the Inspector General/Office of Investigations.
Sandra Money, 68, was found guilty of one count each of false statement to a government agency and theft of government funds. Money faces statutory penalties of up to 15 years in federal prison and a fine of up to $500,000 when she is sentenced by U.S. District Court Chief Judge William E. Smith on May 18, 2015.
According to the government’s evidence presented at trial, on October 19, 2011, Sandra Money telephoned the Providence office of the Social Security Administration to apply for widower’s benefits, reporting that her husband, Thomas Money, passed away in March 2011. She stated that she was married to Thomas Money since June 28, 1986, and that their marriage ended at the time of his death in March 2011.
Following the completion of the telephone application, a written notice was sent to the defendant setting forth that the information provided in the telephone application was true. The notice directed the defendant to contact the Social Security Administration within 10 days if she disagreed with any of the information contained in the notice. The defendant did not contact the Social Security Administration to dispute the information contained in the notice.
Government records show that every month, between December 2011 until January 2014, the U.S. Treasury electronically deposited between $1,837 and $1,903 into a bank account belonging to Sandra Money. In total, the U.S. Treasury deposited more than $47,000 into Ms. Money’s account.
Based on information developed at a later date by Social Security Administration agents, it was determined that Sandra Money and Thomas Money were not married at the time of Mr. Money’s death. R.I. Family Court records show that a Judgment of Divorce was entered on July 24, 1990, based on a complaint filed by Sandra Money.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Zechariah Chafee.
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[email protected]Port Arthur Businessman Sentenced for Disaster Loan FraudRead the Press Release
Department of Justice
Office of Public AffairsBEAUMONT, Texas – The former owner of a Port Arthur, Texas business has been sentenced for disaster loan fraud in the Eastern District of Texas, announced U.S. Attorney John M. Bales today.
Kenneth W. Matthews, 59, of Fort Pierce, Florida pleaded guilty to on Mar. 12, 2014 to conspiracy to defraud the Small Business Administration of disaster loan funds and was sentenced to 5 years probation today by U.S. District Judge Thad Heartfield. Matthews was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $500,000 to the SBA.
According to information presented in court, from January 2008 to May 2010, Matthews conspired with his general contractor and subcontractor to submit falsely inflated invoices and checks for repair work done after Hurricanes Humberto and Ike in order to obtain low interest disaster repair loans extended by the Small business Administration. Matthews, the former owner of MegaBowl in Port Arthur, received SBA disaster loan proceeds of $750,000 after Hurricane Humberto and $760,000 after Hurricane Ike. After receiving the loan disbursements based upon the false invoices, the general contractor and a subcontractor would receive from Matthews a lesser amount than invoiced for the work actually done, or would kickback to Matthews a portion of the loan disbursement paid to them. The loan funds were disbursed solely for repairs and other expenses associated with the hurricanes and were not allowed for other general business or personal use. Matthews’ declining health was a factor in his sentencing.
In September 2005, the U.S. Department of Justice created the Hurricane Katrina Fraud Task Force, designed to deter, investigate and prosecute disaster-related federal crimes such as charity fraud, identity theft, procurement fraud and insurance fraud. The Hurricane Katrina Fraud Task Force includes members of the FBI, the Federal Trade Commission, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the Executive Office for United States Attorneys, among others.
This case was investigated by the Small Business Administration-OIG and the Federal Bureau of Investigation and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert L. Rawls.Pine Ridge Woman Indicted for TheftRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Brendan V. Johnson announced that a Pine Ridge, South Dakota, woman has been indicted by a federal grand jury for Theft of Government Property.
Bonita Ghost Dog, age 54, was indicted on January 21, 2015. She appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Veronica Duffy on January 29, 2015, and pleaded not guilty to the Indictment.
The maximum penalty upon conviction is 10 years imprisonment and/or a $250,000 fine, 3 years of supervised release, and a $100 assessment to the Federal Crime Victims’ Fund. Restitution may also be ordered.
The Indictment charges that between May 2006 and September 2013, at Pine Ridge, Ghost Dog sold items belonging to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food Distribution Program, and kept the money for her personal gain.
The charge is merely an accusation and Ghost Dog is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
The investigation was conducted by the U.S Department of Agriculture. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ben Patterson is prosecuting the case. Ghost Dog was released pending trial. A trial date has not been set.
Pharmacy Owner Pleads Guilty to Drug and Money Laundering OffensesRead the Press Release
Fort Myers, Florida – United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III announces that Jorge Otano (53, Cape Coral) has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute oxycodone, and distributing the drug outside the usual course of professional practice for other than legitimate medical purposes. He also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit structuring, evading a currency-transaction reporting requirement, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and money laundering. He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison for the conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and the distribution charges, up to 5 years in federal prison for the conspiracy to commit structuring charge, and a maximum of 10 years’ imprisonment for each of the evading currency-transaction reporting, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and money laundering offenses.
According to court documents, from August 2009 to November 15, 2012, St. Jude’s Pharmacy in Cape Coral was owned and operated by Otano and his wife, Martha. During that period, the pharmacy made a significant profit by filling fraudulent prescriptions for oxycodone and charging $4.00 to $12.00 per pill.
From April 2011 to November 15, 2012, the Otanos made structured cash deposits of the proceeds of the illegal narcotics sales into a domestic financial institution. They knew that the money obtained from the sale of oxycodone through the pharmacy was the proceeds of unlawful narcotics distribution. They used drug proceeds to purchase two residences in Cape Coral, a 2012 Chevrolet truck, and a 2013 Mercedes Benz vehicle.
Martha Otano previously pleaded guilty for her role in this case. She was sentenced on July 21, 2014, to three years and one month in federal prison.
This case was investigated by the United States Secret Service and the Drug Enforcement Administration. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys David G. Lazarus and Yolande G. Viacava.
Pennsylvania man sentenced for possessing firearms while using drugsRead the Press Release
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – United States Attorney Booth Goodwin announced today that Seth Grim, 21, of Emmaus, Pennsylvania, was sentenced to two years in federal prison.
In December 2014, Grim pleaded guilty to being an unlawful user of drugs in possession of firearms.
On Aug. 22, 2014, Grim was involved in a single vehicle accident on I-79 near Amma, Roane County, West Virginia.
The Roane County Sheriff’s Department responded to the accident, and once on scene a deputy observed fuses running from cardboard tubes inside a bag. The discovery led to the closure of I-79 in the vicinity of the accident while the explosives were safely removed from Grim’s vehicle.
Further search of the vehicle uncovered three semi-automatic rifles with high-capacity magazines, five explosive devices, a bullet proof vest, a gas mask and hundreds of rounds of ammunition. Around five ounces of marijuana were also found, which Grim admitted was for his personal use. As an illegal drug user, Grim was prohibited from possessing firearms.
At the time of the accident Grim was moving from Pennsylvania to Kentucky. His vehicle was doubling as his moving van, and in addition to the drugs, firearms, tactical gear and explosives, he was also transporting all his personal belongings, which included more than 30 chickens and his dog.
United States District Judge John T. Copenhaver, Jr. imposed the sentence.
The case was investigated by the Roane County Sheriff’s Department, West Virginia State Police and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Assistant United States Attorney Steven I. Loew handled the prosecution.
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Pennsylvania Man Pleads Guilty to Illicit Sexual Conduct Charges, Receiving Child PornographyRead the Press Release
COLUMBUS – Jason C. Kozlowski, 32, of Glen Rock, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to traveling interstate with the intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct and receiving child pornography.
Carter M. Stewart, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, Grove City Police Chief Steve Robinette, Pickaway County Sheriff Robert B. Radcliff, and members of the Franklin County Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force announced the plea entered into today before U.S. District Chief Judge Edmund A. Sargus, Jr.
According to court documents, on October 10, 2014, Grove City police officers observed Kozlowski in his vehicle behind a Target store nude from the waist down with a 15-year-old female.
Upon interviewing Kozlowski and the minor female, investigators discovered the two had been communicating since approximately March of 2014 by Facebook, e-mails, text messages and telephone calls. Text messages found on the phones of Kozlowski and the minor female revealed that Kozlowski had sent the girl sexually explicit messages. Kozlowski was aware of the female’s age and the laws in the state of Ohio regarding consent.
Kozlowski told law enforcement officials the 15-year-old was going to get a letter from her parents giving him permission to “be with” with the girl. The defendant admitted to driving from Pennsylvania to Ohio to pick up the female and explained they went to dinner, shopping, and then parked behind the Target store and engaged in sex acts.
Investigators discovered nude photographs of both the defendant and the victim had been exchanged vita text. They also discovered pornographic images of a different, 13-year-old female on Kozlowski’s computer.
Traveling in interstate commerce with the intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct is a crime punishable by up to 30 years in prison. Receiving child pornography is punishable by up to 20 years imprisonment.
The Franklin County ICAC Task Force is a multi-agency effort dedicated to the fight against computer facilitated crimes against children. The following agencies are members:
Franklin County Sheriff’s Office Upper Arlington Police Department Grove City Police Department Columbus Police Department Grandview Heights Police Department Whitehall Police Department Hilliard Police Department Westerville Police Department Homeland Security Investigations U.S. Secret Service Ohio ICAC Franklin County Prosecutor's OfficeThis case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorneys Offices, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov/.
U.S. Attorney Stewart commended the cooperative investigation by law enforcement, as well as Assistant United States Attorneys Heather Hill and Jessica Kim, who are representing the United States in this case.
Owner of Mortgage Company and Four Others Sentenced on Mortgage Origination Fraud ChargesRead the Press Release
PHOENIX – On Feb. 11, 2015, Kevin Grant Lee, 35, formerly of Mesa, was sentenced by U.S. Senior District Judge Roslyn O. Silver to 12 months in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for his role in assisting his brother, Scott Thomas Lee, in committing mortgage loan origination fraud. Late last year, Judge Silver sentenced Scott Thomas Lee, 46, former owner of Summit Capital Mortgage, LLC, to 60 months in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release. The brothers previously pleaded guilty to conspiring together and with others to commit mortgage fraud involving high-end residential loans and custom-home construction loans. Both were also ordered to pay millions in restitution to lenders.
Scott Lee owned and operated Summit Capital, located in Mesa where he employed Kevin Lee and several other family members. Leading up to the real estate crash of 2008, Summit Capital specialized in high-end residential mortgage loans and custom-home construction loans. Through Summit Capital, Scott Lee and Kevin Lee originated dozens of fraudulent loans by providing false information on loan applications, forging signatures, and creating false financial and construction-related documents. Summit Capital and Scott Lee received nearly $1.5 million in commissions based on these bogus loans and caused millions in losses to a variety of lenders.
Three co-conspirators who were involved in several of the fraudulent loans through their Gilbert company, The Reserve at Greenfield, LLC, also pleaded guilty and were sentenced by Judge Silver late last year. Chad Brian Kennedy, 43, of Gilbert, pleaded guilty to fraud charges based on his involvement in using a fictitious buyer on several loans, and he was sentenced to nine months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release. Shalynn K. Loar, 43, of Gilbert, and Jackson Wesley Skousen, 42, previously of Gilbert, pleaded guilty to fraud charges based on similar activity, and each received a sentence of five years of probation with six months of home confinement. All three were also ordered to pay substantial restitution to lenders.
The investigation in this case was conducted by the FBI, Phoenix Division. The prosecution was handled by Monica Beerling Klapper, Assistant U.S. Attorney, District of Arizona, Phoenix.
CASE NUMBER: CR-13-00824-PHX-ROS
RELEASE NUMBER: 2015-013_Lee et al
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Orlando Man Convicted of Carjacking and Firearm ChargesRead the Press Release
Orlando, FL – United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III announces that a federal jury has found Nester Leon (26, Orlando) guilty of carjacking, and using and carrying a firearm that was discharged in relation to that carjacking. Leon faces a maximum penalty of 15 years in federal prison for the carjacking conviction, and a mandatory minimum of 10 years’, up to life imprisonment, for the firearm conviction. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for May 1, 2015.
According to evidence presented at trial, during the early morning of June 28, 2014, Leon’s friend “L.P.” drove to the McCoy Federal Credit Union located at 2075 Central Florida Parkway in Orlando. When L.P. exited his car to use the ATM, Leon slid over from the passenger’s seat, got behind the wheel, and started to leave the parking lot. When L.P. ran after his car, Leon pulled out his gun and fired a single shot at L.P. L.P. then ran to a nearby convenience store and called 911.
Because L.P.’s car was equipped with GPS, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office was able to track the vehicle to an apartment complex in Orlando. When deputies found the car, Leon was sitting behind the wheel. After seeing the marked patrol car pull up behind him, Leon jumped out of the car and fled. Deputies then chased Leon through the parking lot and into the street.
Leon then tried to discard evidence of his crimes, including a necklace he had stolen from L.P., into a nearby pond. When deputies caught up with Leon, he resisted, but was ultimately detained. During a subsequent search of the car, a freshly-fired, small-caliber shell casing was recovered from the front seat.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Orange County Sheriff’s Office. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Joseph M. Schuster and Kara Wick.
Orlando Area Men Sentenced for String of Armed RobberiesRead the Press Release
Orlando, Florida – United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III, announces that United States District Judge Anne C. Conway today sentenced Keenan Davis (27, Poinciana), Kelsey Coffee (28, Kissimmee), Tiandre Rogers (25, Poinciana), Moses Patterson (23, Poinciana), and Danoris Scott (24, Poinciana) for their involvement in a string of armed robberies. Davis and Coffee were convicted following a jury trial in November 2014. Specifically, Davis was convicted of six counts of robbery and two counts of using a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. Today, he was sentenced to 33 years and 4 months in federal prison. Coffee was convicted of four counts of robbery and one count of using a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. He was sentenced to 19 years and 6 months in federal prison.
Patterson, Scott, and Rogers each previously pleaded guilty to two counts of robbery and two counts of using a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. Patterson was sentenced to 14 years and 3 months in federal prison, Scott received a sentence of 11 years and 3 months’ imprisonment, and Rogers was sentenced to 16 years and 5 months in federal prison. Another individual, Jamal Tillman (23, Poinciana), was previously sentenced on November 20, 2014, to 80 months in federal prison.
All of the individuals were originally indicted on June 26, 2014.
According to evidence presented at trial, the defendants were involved in robbing multiple retail establishments, including a McDonald’s restaurant and a Sweetbay Supermarket, in 2013. During the trial, many of the victims testified that they had been pepper-sprayed, zip-tied, and duct-taped while Davis, Coffee, and the other co-defendants conducted the robberies.
On September 7, 2013, after committing several other robberies, Davis and Coffee entered a Nike Factory Outlet Store at the Ellenton Outlets with a gun in Manatee County, while Patterson, Scott, Rogers, and Tillman acted as lookouts. Following this robbery, all six were arrested by deputies from the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office.
This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, the Apopka Police Department, the Plant City Police Department, and the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Shawn P. Napier.
This is another case prosecuted as part of the Department of Justice’s “Project Safe Neighborhoods” Program - a nationwide, gun-violence reduction strategy. United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III, along with Regina Lombardo, Special Agent in Charge, ATF, are coordinating the Project Safe Neighborhoods effort here in the Middle District of Florida in cooperation with federal, state, and local law enforcement officials. It is also a part of ATF’s Frontline Strategy on reducing violent crime in communities.
Ohio man charged with traveling to have sex with minorRead the Press Release
WHEELING, WEST VIRGINIA – A federal grand jury returned an indictment alleging that Patrick W. Ganim, 29, of, Chagrin Falls, Ohio, traveled across state lines to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a minor female, United States Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld, II, announced.
Ganim is alleged to have used various online messaging services to communicate with a minor female residing in the Northern District of West Virginia. In October 2014, Ganim allegedly traveled across state lines from Ohio to West Virginia and engaged in illicit sexual conduct with the victim. Following their initial meeting, Ganim allegedly continued to utilize online messaging services to communicate with the minor victim, planning a subsequent meeting and sending explicit material to the victim.
Ganim is charged with:
• One count of “Travel to Engage in Illicit Sexual Conduct,” for which he faces up to 30 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.00.
• One count of “Using Means of Interstate Commerce to Attempt to Entice Minor to Engage in Sexual Activity,” for which he faces between 10 years and life in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.00.
• One count of “Transfer of Obscene Materials to a Minor,” for which he faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.00.Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Montoro is prosecuting the case on behalf of the government. The Preston County Sheriff’s Office, the Bainbridge Township, Ohio Police Department, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation are leading the investigation.
An indictment is merely an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.