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27 January 2015
Honduran National Charged with Illegal ReentryRead the Press Release
U.S. Attorney Kenneth A. Polite announced that JOSE EDGARDO CANALES-MADRID, age 25, a citizen of Honduras, was charged today in a one-count Bill of Information with illegal reentry of a removed alien.
According to the Bill of Information, CANALES-MADRID reentered the United States on or about December 1, 2014, after having been previously removed therefrom on or about October 6, 2011.
If convicted, CANALES-MADRID faces a maximum term of imprisonment of two years, a fine of up to $250,000, one year supervised release after imprisonment, and a $100 special assessment.
U. S. Attorney Polite reiterated that a Bill of Information is merely a charge and that the guilt of the defendant must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
U.S. Attorney Polite praised the work of the United States Customs and Border Protection in investigating this matter. Assistant United States Attorney Irene González is in charge of the prosecution.
Fort Myers Man Pleads Guilty to Possessing Child PornographyRead the Press Release
Fort Myers, Florida – United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III announces that Kevin Charles Kaszynski (49, Fort Myers) today pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography. He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison. A sentencing date has not yet been set.
According to the plea agreement, while going through boxes that had been stored in a leased storage unit, Kaszynski’s estranged wife found a computer hard drive among other items belonging to her husband. On August 27, 2013, she accessed the hard drive and opened a file that depicted a prepubescent girl in a sexual pose. The hard drive was turned over to law enforcement for further investigation. On September 5, 2013, agents obtained a search warrant for the hard drive and discovered more than 7,000 images and 400 videos depicting child pornography. On January 27, 2014, agents obtained a search warrant for Kaszynski’s computer and found 300 images and 15 videos depicting child pornography.
This case was investigated by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, with the participation of the Fort Myers Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Yolande G. Viacava.
It is another case brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
Former Waldo Chiropractor Sentenced for $3 Million Medicare FraudRead the Press Release
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that the former owner of a Kansas City, Mo., clinic was sentenced in federal court today for a $3 million Medicare fraud scheme.
Michael Kelly Miller, 59, of Temple Terrace, Fla., formerly the owner of Waldo Rehabilitation Health & Wellness in Kansas City, Mo., was sentenced by U.S. Chief District Judge Greg Kays to 15 months in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered Miller to pay $879,582 in restitution to Medicare.
On April 29, 2014, Miller pleaded guilty to health care fraud for submitting Medicare claims for nerve block injections that were not medically necessary.
Miller was a licensed chiropractor and the owner of Brookside Health Services, doing business as Waldo Rehabilitation Health & Wellness at 7337 Broadway, Kansas City, during the time period of February 2009 to December 2011. He later practiced at Miller Clinic for Optimal Health in Temple Terrace. Under the terms of his plea agreement, Miller has surrendered his chiropractic license.
Miller admitted that he submitted claims to Medicare for nerve block injections that were false and fraudulent because the nerve block injections were not medically indicated and necessary for the patients’ health per Medicare coverage guidelines. Between February 2009 and December 2011, the clinic billed Medicare approximately $3,083,454, and Medicare paid the clinic approximately $879,582 for nerve block injections.
Beginning in 2009, the clinic shifted its focus from primarily providing chiropractic services to purportedly diagnosing and treating neuropathy. This shift in focus was due, in part, to information Miller received from a third party promoting a new, “cutting edge” treatment for neuropathy, which included nerve block injections. At the time, Medicare had no specific coverage guidelines regarding the use of nerve block injections for peripheral neuropathy. Miller did not investigate or inquire whether Medicare considered nerve block injections to be medically indicated and necessary for patients experiencing neuropathy.
Miller’s patients typically received nerve block injections, anodyne infrared light and electrical stimulation therapies two or three times per week for four to eight weeks. The clinic’s purported treatment of neuropathy was not supported by medical research studies or peer-reviewed medical publications, and would be considered an experimental or investigational treatment or alternative medicine.
During this time, most of the clinic’s patients were Medicare beneficiaries, and most of the clinic’s revenues were received from Medicare. Medicare will not cover experimental or investigational procedures and treatments or alternative medicine. Miller was aware of these Medicare requirements.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Cindi S. Woolery and Daniel M. Nelson. It was investigated by the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General and the FBI.
Former Sycamore Resident Pleads Guilty to Child Pornography ChargesRead the Press Release
ROCKFORD — A former Sycamore, Ill. resident pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Frederick J. Kapala to possessing child pornography. MICHAEL PODOLSKY, 27, now of Elkader, Iowa, admitted in the written plea agreement that on and prior to July 12, 2013, he owned and was in possession of a computer at his home in Sycamore that contained more than 600 images of children engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
Podolsky faces a maximum of 10 years in prison for possessing child pornography, a term of supervised release following imprisonment of at least 5 years and up to life, and a fine of up to $250,000. The actual sentence will be determined by a United States District Court Judge, guided by the United States Sentencing Guidelines. Sentencing for Podolsky is set for April 29, 2015, at 2:30 p.m.
The guilty plea was announced today by Zachary T. Fardon, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Robert J. Holley, Special Agent‑in‑Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and Glenn Theriault, Chief of the Sycamore Police Department.
The government is represented by Assistant United States Attorney Michael D. Love.
Plea Agreement
Former Morgan County Judge-Executive Sentenced to 87 Months for Kickback SchemeRead the Press Release
FRANKFORT, KY - Timothy Alexander Conley, the former Morgan County Judge-Executive, was sentenced today to 87 months in federal prison for soliciting and accepting over a hundred thousand dollars in illegal kickbacks from a bridge contractor.
U.S. District Judge Gregory Van Tatenhove sentenced Conley for honest services mail fraud and ordered him to pay $130,000 in restitution. Judge Van Tatehnove ordered that Conley pay $104,000 to the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet and $26,000 to Morgan County. Under federal law, Conley will have to serve at least 85 percent of his prison sentence.
“Mr. Conley's reprehensible scheme betrayed the trust placed in him by the people of Morgan County,” said Kerry B. Harvey, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky. “He transformed his high public office into a criminal enterprise designed to line his pockets, at the expense of the citizens who elected him. The sentence imposed is an appropriate punishment for a man who so thoroughly abused the public trust, at a time when his community most needed honest leadership. Our office and our law enforcement partners will continue to use every tool available to fight public corruption in our district.”
Conley admitted at his guilty plea in August 2014 that, between early 2009 through August 2013, he rigged the county’s competitive bidding process to ensure that contracts for certain Morgan County bridges were awarded to PBTHNOJJ Construction, a Salyersville, Ky., bridge contractor owned by Kenneth and Ruth Gambill. Conley admitted that, as part of that scheme, he directed Kenneth Gambill to deliver kickbacks to him from the proceeds of PBTHNOJJ Construction’s bridge contracts. For example, in 2013, Conley secretly altered bid documents for three bridges to ensure that PBTHNOJJ Construction would receive the contract to build each bridge. Conley solicited $15,000 per bridge and accepted $45,000 in cash from Kenneth Gambill for the three bridges.
According to the plea agreement, these kickbacks were part of a scheme to defraud the citizens of Morgan County of their right to Conley’s honest services.
Kenneth and Ruth Gambill have each pleaded guilty and have been sentenced for conspiring to launder the proceeds of Conley’s kickback scheme.
Kerry B. Harvey, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky; Howard Marshall, Special Agent in Charge, FBI; and Jack Conway, Kentucky Attorney General, jointly announced the sentence today.
The investigation was conducted by the FBI and the Kentucky Attorney General’s Office. This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew T. Boone and trial attorney Jennifer Blackwell with the Public Integrity Section of the United States Department of Justice.
Former Lincoln Bank Employee Sentenced to Nearly Four Years in Prison for Embezzling from BankRead the Press Release
Springfield, Ill. – The former head teller at a Lincoln, Ill., bank, Nancy J. Huskins, 63, was sentenced today for embezzling approximately $2 million from the bank over a 17-year period. U.S. District Judge Sue Myerscough sentenced Huskins to 45 months (3 years, 9 months) in federal prison and ordered that she pay restitution to the bank in the amount of $2,042,782. Huskins was also ordered to pay a fine of $10,000 and to remain under supervised release for a period of five years upon her release from prison. Huskins, who remains on bond, was ordered to self-report to the federal Bureau of Prisons on a date to be determined by BOP. Judge Myerscough also ordered that funds held in various bank accounts, including a retirement account, and personal checking and savings accounts, be immediately applied as a lump sum to the payment of restitution.
In July 2014, Huskins pled guilty to an information charging her with one count of bank embezzlement. Huskins admitted that during her employment as the head teller at the State Bank of Lincoln, from about January 1996 to November 2013, she embezzled the funds for her personal use. Huskins admitted that in her position as head teller, she had access to the bank’s vault and was entrusted with significant access to portions of the vault that maintained large amounts of cash. Huskins admitted that she disguised the embezzlement by personally participating in audits of cash amounts and engaging in other fraudulent acts designed to further conceal her embezzlement.
The investigation was conducted by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation with the full cooperation of the State Bank of Lincoln. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney John E. Childress.Former IRS Employee Pleads Guilty to Tax FraudRead the Press Release
SAN FRANCISCO – Valorie Shaw pleaded guilty in federal court in San Francisco today to conspiracy to file false claims, announced United States Attorney Melinda Haag and Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge José M. Martinez.
In pleading guilty, Shaw, 38, of Oakland, admitted that for the past three years she was employed as a tax return preparer at “Kwiktax”. Prior to working at Kwiktax, she held a variety of jobs, including working as a document transporter for the IRS.
According to the plea agreement, during 2011 and 2012, Shaw prepared false tax returns that she filed with the IRS. She received personal identifying information of Kwiktax clients, including their names, dates of birth, and Social Security numbers. The purported filers listed on those tax returns were not entitled to tax refunds because the wage and tax withholding information listed on the returns was fictitious. Shaw filed false W-2 information that reported to the IRS that the purported filers worked for the employers listed on the W-2’s, even though she knew that information was false. Shaw filed the false tax returns using both Kwiktax client and non-client personal information, all of which she obtained illegally. When Shaw filed the false tax returns, she asked that the tax refunds be deposited onto debit cards and sent to various mailboxes that Shaw rented in the Bay Area. Shaw admitted that she personally picked up the debit cards from those mailboxes and in some cases agreed to split the tax refunds with others. During 2011, Shaw assisted in filing false tax returns requesting refunds in an amount no less than $487,248, for the 2010 tax year. During 2012, Shaw assisted in filing false tax returns requesting refunds totaling amount $495,789, for the 2011 tax year.
Shaw was indicted on August 14, 2014. She was charged with conspiracy to file false claims. Under the plea agreement, Shaw pleaded guilty to that charge.
Shaw’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for May 22, 2015, before The Honorable Jon S. Tigar, U.S. District Court Judge. The maximum statutory penalty for each count of conspiracy to file false claims, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 286, is 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000. However, any sentence will be imposed by the court only after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C. § 3553.
Thomas Newman is the Assistant U.S. Attorney who is prosecuting the case. The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation.
Former Funeral Home Owner Faces up to 20 Years in Federal Prison on Food Stamp Benefit Fraud ConvictionRead the Press Release
DALLAS — A Mansfield, Texas, woman appeared today in federal court this morning before U.S. Magistrate Judge David L. Horan and pleaded guilty to one count of food stamp benefit fraud, announced John Parker, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas
Rachel Hardy, 35, faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine or twice the pecuniary gain to Hardy or loss to the victims, and restitution. Sentencing is set for May 13, 2015, before U.S. District Judge Barbara M. G. Lynn. Hardy remains on pre-trial release.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Stamp Program is known as the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP). The Texas Health and Human Services Commission (THHSC) administers SNAP in Texas.
The investigation began in 2012 when the Southwest Region USDA, Office of the Inspector General, received a referral about an individual who was receiving SNAP benefits who had failed to disclose a change in household composition and income from the ownership of two businesses. That individual was later identified as Hardy.
The investigation revealed that Hardy and her husband, who is the father of her youngest child, were married on February 14, 2010, in Las Vegas, Nevada. On April 8, 2010, Hardy submitted a SNAP benefits application, certifying she was a “single-parent-mother,” with no income, living in a household that consisted only of her children. Hardy’s application was approved, and she began receiving SNAP benefits.
On December 1, 2010, Hardy registered with Tarrant County as the owner operator of a tax refund and estate planning business called “Mighty Dollar Tax,” in Arlington, Texas. From April 8, 2010, through June 5, 2011, Hardy completed and submitted THHSC certifications reporting no income and claiming to live alone with her children.
On February 21, 2011, Hardy purchased a 2006 H2 Hummer for $26,000 and a 2008 Mercedes Benz CL S500 sedan for $41,700; she paid for each with a cashier’s check. At the time she purchased these vehicles, Hardy reported to THHSC that she was an unemployed, single-parent-mother living alone at home with her children.
On April 19, 2011, Hardy registered with Tarrant County as the owner operator of the Johnson Family Mortuary in Fort Worth, Texas. Again, on June 14, 2011, Hardy reported to THHSC that she was an unemployed single-parent-mother living alone at home with her children.
That same day, Hardy went to the Dallas County THHSC office where she completed and submitted a THHSC Application for Assistance Form. In doing so, she certified she was a “single-parent-mother” with no income living in a household that consisted only of her children.
On February 11, 2012, Hardy purchased a 2008 Land Rover Range Rover from Park Place Motors with a $53,000 cashier’s check. A few days later, on February 22, 2012, Hardy again certified to THHSC that she was an unemployed single-parent-mother living at home with her children.
The THHSC re-certifications and interviews revealed Hardy neither claimed a spouse nor any other income provided to her, or to anyone else in the household. Hardy admits that she failed to disclose material facts to THHSC and admits unlawfully receiving SNAP benefits to which she was not entitled.
The THHSC, OIG; USDA, OIG; U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, OIG; and U.S. Department of Education, OIG are investigating.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron Wiley is in charge of the prosecution.
Former DEA Employee Pleads Guilty to EmbezzlementRead the Press Release
PHILADELPHIA - Kim M. Costello, 55, of Harrisburg, PA, pleaded guilty on January 22, 2015, to one count of embezzlement of government funds, announced United States Attorney Zane David Memeger. In September 2012, Costello was the impress funds manager for the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Harrisburg Resident Office when she embezzled $2,079 in government funds.
U.S. District Court Judge Sylvia H. Rambo will schedule a sentencing hearing at a future date. Costello faces a maximum possible sentence of 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release, a $100 special assessment, and a fine of up to $250,000.
The case was investigated by the Department of Justice Office of Inspector General New Jersey Area Office, and is being prosecuted in the Middle District of Pennsylvania by Assistant United States Attorney Kishan Nair, from the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
Former Countryside Police Chief, Kankakee County Sheriff’s Deputy Pleads Guilty to Mail Fraud,money Laundering, Tax EvasionRead the Press Release
Urbana, Ill. -- Sentencing has been set for May 29, 2015, before Chief U.S. District Judge James E. Shadid, in Peoria, for Timothy J. Swanson, the former Chief of Police of Countryside, Ill., who later served as a deputy with the Kankakee County Sheriff’s Office. Today, Swanson, 56, of Bourbonnais, Ill., entered open pleas of guilty to two counts of mail fraud, one count of money laundering, two counts of tax evasion, and two counts of filing a false tax return, as announced by Jim Lewis, U.S. Attorney for the Central District of Illinois. Swanson remains on bond pending sentencing.
During the change of plea proceeding today, before U.S. Magistrate Judge David G. Bernthal, the government provided the following factual basis to the Court in support of the defendant’s open plea of guilty to all seven charged counts in the indictment:- In 2005 and 2006, Swanson was employed as the City of Countryside, Illinois, Chief of Police. In 2009, the defendant left this position and joined the Kankakee County Sheriff’s Office. During 2005 and 2006, Swanson obtained the use of two U.S. Department of Defense helicopters to be used for certain law enforcement activities. To obtain funds to operate the helicopters, Swanson established the Illinois Regional Air Support Service (IRASS). IRASS was a tax-exempt organization and no officer or director was to profit from its operation.
- From at least 2005 through 2012, Swanson solicited police departments, corporations and individuals to make contributions to IRASS. From 2006 to 2010, Swanson used a credit card in the name of IRASS to make personal purchases in excess of $259,000, and used money donated or awarded to IRASS to make payments on the credit card. Swanson also used this money to purchase a business, Rotors & Wings, LLC., that Swanson operated.
- The United States seeks $189,128 by way of a personal judgment against Swanson representing the amount of property involved in or traceable to the property involved with the offenses involving the IRASS.
- Based on Swanson’s tax returns for 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010, Swanson should have paid additional income tax of $27,371 for 2007; $9,437 for 2008; $16,886 for 2009, and $1,446 for 2010.
Swanson faces up to 20 years in prison for each count of mail fraud (two counts) and money laundering (one count); up to five years in prison for each count of income tax evasion (two counts); and up to three years in prison for each count of filing a false income tax return (two counts).
The charges are the result of an investigation by the U.S. Department of Defense, Defense Criminal Investigative Service; the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Office of Inspector General; and Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Eugene L. Miller.
Evansville man sentenced for two eastside robberiesRead the Press Release
Evansville – Josh J. Minkler, Acting United States Attorney, announced today that David J. Nalley, 41 of Evansville, Indiana, was sentenced to 84 months (seven years) in prison by U.S. District Chief Judge Richard L. Young following his guilty plea to two counts of robbery and violation of supervised release. This case was the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation Safe Streets Task Force and the Evansville Police Department.
“The reduction of violent crime remains one of the highest priorities in my office,” said Minkler. “Those who choose to disrupt our lives with violence will be held accountable.”
Immediately before sentencing, Nalley admitted that on March 21, 2013, he entered the Chuckles Convenience Store located on South Weinbach Avenue in Evansville, Indiana. He approached the cash register clerk and said “I am robbing you,” with one hand in a jacket pocket. The clerk surrendered the cash to Nalley.Nalley also admitted that on the following day, he entered the CVS Pharmacy on Covert Avenue in Evansville, and approached a CVS cash register clerk and said “give me all the money in the register.” Evansville police investigators examined the videos from the stores and identified Nalley as the robber.
Nalley was a resident of an Evansville federal work release facility based on a prior federal firearms conviction at the time of the robberies. Nalley admitted violating his supervised release conditions by committing the robbery offenses during the hearing. He further stated, he used the robbery proceeds to purchase illegal drugs.
According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Todd S. Shellenbarger, who prosecuted the case for the government, Judge Young imposed 3 years of supervised release following Nalley’s release from prison and ordered restitution of $95 be paid to CVS Pharmacy and $103 to Chuckles Convenient Store. Nalley must submit to drug testing and treatment while on supervision.
Empresario Se Declara Culpable De Conspirar Para Distribuir Esteroides Anabolicos Como Suplementos Dieteticos Y Etiquetar Incorrectamente Los ProductosRead the Press Release
Memphis, TN –Sr. Joseph De Melo, 59, de New Orleans, LA, se declaró culpable en una corte federal de dos cargos de información criminal que lo acusa de un cargo de conspiración para distribuir esteroides anabólicos y un cargo de utilizar falsas etiquetas intencionalmente para un suplemento dietético supuestamente vendido bajo el nombre de "Vertical", anunció Edward L. Stanton III, Fiscal Federal para el Distrito Oeste de Tennessee.
De acuerdo a los hechos revelados en la información y declaraciones hechas en audiencia pública, Sr. Joseph De Melo, propietario de Rezultz Distribution LLC, con sede en Carrollton, Texas, vendió suplementos dietéticos por todos los Estados Unidos y el Distrito Oeste de Tennessee.
A partir de septiembre de 2012 y continuando hasta septiembre de 2013, De Melo conspiró con individuos para distribuir 40,000 pastillas de esteroides anabólicos, que son Schedule III sustancias controladas. De Melo también distribuyó en el comercio interestatal un suplemento dietético supuestamente llamado Vertical, que enumera los ingredientes falsos y engañosos. Vertical de hecho contenía medicamentos para la disfunción eréctil que no figuraban en la etiqueta de la droga, que està en violación del Título 21, Código de los Estados Unidos, Secciones 331(a) y 333(a)(2).
Como parte de la conspiración De Melo depositó los ingresos de las ventas en diferentes cuentas financieras y los instrumentos que él controlaba. De Melo aceptó la confiscación de màs de $ 650,000, que fueron los ingresos obtenidos como resultado de estas violaciónes. De Melo serà sentenciado el 30 de abril de 2015, por el Juez de Distrito de EE.UU. S. Thomas Anderson.
El caso fue investigado por la Oficina de Administración de Alimentos y Medicamentos de Investigación Criminal. Los Fiscales Federales Auxiliares Tony R. Arvin y Damon K. Griffin representaron el gobierno.
Version en Inglés
Elkhorn Resident Sentenced for Possessing Child PornographyRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Deborah R. Gilg announced that Trevor P. McLaurine, 25, formerly of Richland, Washington, but residing in Elkhorn, Nebraska, was sentenced today in Lincoln, Nebraska, to 60 months in prison by Senior United States District Judge Richard G. Kopf for possession child pornography. McLaurine will also pay $3,500 in restitution to the victims and be on supervised release from 5 years after serving his prison sentence. This conviction will also require him to register as a sex offender once released.
In April of 2013, investigators with the Nebraska Attorney General’s Office became aware of a computer using a file-sharing network with an IP address that was identified as offering to participate in the sharing of files that had been classified as being of interest in a child pornography investigation. Investigators then set up automated software to make contact with this computer and to request those files of interest. Between April and July of 2013, investigators were able to downloaded numerous files which showed children under the age of 18 engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
Investigators then identified the address of the subscriber of that IP address and a search warrant was obtained. During the search, investigators made contact with McLaurine and located a desktop computer and external hard drive in the bedroom belonging to McLaurine. The desktop computer was found to have file-sharing software installed on the hard drive.The items that were seized during the execution of the search warrant at McLaurine’s residence were then examined at the Nebraska AG’s computer lab, and over 8,000 files affiliated with Child Sexual Exploitation were located.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc for more information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab "resources."
This case was investigated by the Lincoln Police Department and the Nebraska Attorney General’s Office.
Doctor from Effingham, Illinois Convicted of Illegal Dispensation of Controlled SubstancesRead the Press Release
Follow @SDILNewsNAEEM MAHMOOD KOHLI, 60, of Effingham, Illinois, was convicted of seven counts of illegal dispensation of a Schedule II Controlled Substance following a 17-day jury trial held in federal district court, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, Stephen R. Wigginton, announced today.
Kohli faces up to 20 years for each of the seven counts of illegal dispensation of a Schedule II Controlled Substance. Sentencing is scheduled forMay 20, 2015. Evidence showed that from May 2009 through May 2013, Kohli wrote prescriptions out of Kohli Neurology and Sleep Center in Effingham, Illinois for Schedule II Controlled Substances including Oxycodone and Hydromorphone, outside the usual course of medical practice and not for a legitimate medical purpose.
The successful prosecution is the result of an investigation conducted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General; the Drug Enforcement Administration; the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation; the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Illinois State Police, Medicaid Fraud Control Bureau. The prosecution was being handled by Assistant United States AttorneysMichael J. Quinley and Ranley R. Killian.
Deborah Williamson Imprisoned for Embezzling from Grocery EmployerRead the Press Release
The Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont announced that Deborah Williamson, 37, a former resident of Wheelock who now lives in Florida, was sentenced today in United States District Court in Brattleboro to four months of imprisonment following her guilty plea to a charge of mail fraud. U.S. District Judge J. Garvan Murtha also ordered that Williamson serve three years of supervised release following completion of her prison term and pay restitution in the amount of $69,905. As a condition of supervised release, the court ordered Williamson to serve an additional four months of home confinement. The court directed Williamson to surrender to the Bureau of Prisons on February 24 to begin serving her sentence.
On March 20, 2014, a federal grand jury in Burlington returned a one-count indictment accusing Williamson of wire fraud. According to the indictment, Williamson was employed as the manager of White Market, a grocery store in Lyndonville. Her duties included regularly cashing checks drawn against the company's bank account to obtain one dollar bills and coins for the cash registers. The indictment alleges that between 2010 and 2012, Williamson stole nearly $70,000 in cash from the store's safe. She allegedly tried to cover up these thefts by not recording, or underreporting, the amount of cash and coins received from the bank in the store's computerized accounting system.
This case was investigated by the Lyndonville Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Williamson is represented by Brooks McArthur. The prosecutor is Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregory Waples.
DOJ Public Integrity Section Chief to Take Number Two Post at U.S. Attorney's Office in NashvilleRead the Press Release
Jack Smith, the head of the Department of Justice’s Public Integrity Section, will leave his post at the end of the month to become the First Assistant U.S. Attorney in Nashville, Tenn., announced David Rivera, U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee.
The First Assistant U.S. Attorney position has been vacant since David Rivera was named U.S. Attorney.
“We are most fortunate to be gaining someone with such exceptional talent and experience in leading the prosecution of an array of criminal cases including violent criminal enterprises, white collar crimes, international crimes and public corruption,” said U.S. Attorney David Rivera. “Jack’s leadership ability and prosecutorial experience will greatly enhance our current staff of exceptional prosecutors the office.”
Smith has been the Chief of the Public Integrity Section in Washington, D.C. since 2010, where he has lead a team of 30 prosecutors in litigating complex public corruption cases throughout the United States, including the conviction yesterday of former CIA Officer Jeffrey Sterling, for illegally disclosing national defense information and obstructing justice. Smith’s unit also recently secured bribery and extortion convictions of former Virginia Governor Robert McDonnell and racketeering, bribery and extortion convictions of former Arizona U.S. Representative Rick Renzi.
Before taking the helm of the Public Integrity Section, Smith served as the investigation coordinator for the Office of the Prosecutor with the International Criminal Court, where he lead the investigative teams conducting international investigations of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.
Smith previously served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of New York from 1999-2008, where he held increasing responsible positions including Chief of the Criminal Litigation Unit. Prior to joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office he was a prosecutor in the New York County District Attorney’s Office for five years. Smith is a 1994 graduate of Harvard Law School.“I have had the extraordinary privilege of working for the American people in a variety of offices and alongside some of the most dedicated public servants,” said Smith. “I look forward to beginning the next chapter and serving the people of the Middle District of Tennessee as we continue the great work of this office in seeking justice for our constituents.”
Smith assumes the role as First Assistant on February 9, 2015.
Convicted Sex Offender Faces up to 60 Years in Federal Prison for Producing Child PornographyRead the Press Release
DALLAS — A 42-year-old Irving, Texas, man appeared this morning in federal court, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul D. Stickney, and pleaded guilty to an indictment charging one count of production of child pornography and one count of enhanced penalties for registered sex offenders, announced Acting U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.
Shannon Buck, who remains in federal custody, faces a maximum statutory penalty, for the two counts of conviction, of at least 35 years and up to 60 years of imprisonment. Each count also carries a maximum statutory penalty of a $250,000 fine and a lifetime of supervised release. Sentencing is set for May 13, 2015, before U.S. District Judge Jane J. Boyle.
According to documents filed in the case, in June 2014, Buck used Jane Doe, a real female under the age of 18, to engage in sexually explicit conduct, and then used his camera to record that conduct. In addition, Buck admitted that in February 2010, he pleaded guilty in the 195th District Court of Dallas County to two felony offenses of possession of child pornography, and he was sentenced to an eight-year period of deferred adjudication.
The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative, which was launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice, to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals, who sexually exploit children, and identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/. For more information about internet safety education, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/ and click on the tab “resources.”
The Irving Police Department and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney Camille Sparks is in charge of the prosecution.
Columbus Woman Sentenced for Cashing Stolen Treasury ChecksRead the Press Release
Michael J. Moore, United States Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia, announced that, Wytrenia Reynolds, aged 44, of Columbus, Georgia, was sentenced on January 27, 2015 to serve 5 years (61 months) in federal prison for theft of government property, aggravated identity theft, and possession of stolen United States Treasury checks. She was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $39,000.00. The sentence was handed down by Chief U.S. District Court Judge Clay D. Land in Columbus, Georgia.Ms. Reynolds was found guilty of the charges on September 25, 2014 following a four-day jury trial. Evidence presented at trial showed that in September 2010, Ms. Reynolds cashed or attempted to cash three stolen treasury checks at Navy Federal Credit Union in Columbus, Georgia. All three of these checks were payable to individuals living in the metro Atlanta, Georgia area. All three checks bore forged endorsements and were presented by Ms. Reynolds without the permission or authority of the intended recipient.
In October and November of 2010, Ms. Reynolds cashed thirteen stolen Treasury checks at a package store in Columbus, Georgia. The payees for these checks primarily were residents of the Atlanta, Georgia area, although two lived Alabama.
In January 2011, agents recovered three stolen Social Security checks in a vehicle leased by Ms. Reynolds. These checks were payable to elderly victims living in Thomaston, Georgia, and Ellenwood, Georgia.
In addition to the checks listed above, other government checks were found in Ms. Reynolds’ possession. These checks were determined to be stolen by a worker or workers at the United States Post Office in Atlanta, Georgia. The total face value of the checks possessed, cashed, or attempted to be cashed by Ms. Reynolds was approximately $515,000.
U.S. Attorney Michael Moore said, “Identity theft is an ever-increasing problem across the country. Victims have their lives invaded in a way that often causes long lasting financial consequences; businesses are forced to implement costly security procedures; and consumers are left looking over their shoulders for fear that someone has stolen their personal information. With every check that is issued or every credit card that is swiped, we are vulnerable to criminals who are willing to steal our personal information for their own gain. As we put our resources into these cases, we are sending the message that if prosecuting identity thieves is a way to protect other victims, then that is exactly what my office will do.”
Special Agent in Charge Thomas Caul, Office of the Inspector General, Social Security Administration stated, “Social Security payments are a lifeline for many Americans who are unable to work due to a temporary or permanent disability. Our office is gratified by the U.S. Attorney’s shared commitment to investigate and prosecute those who defraud Social Security trust funds. One of our highest priorities is ensuring that those who steal SSA payments are swiftly detected and prosecuted. Social Security fraud affects all Americans. The individual convicted today is a testament to our serious commitment to pursuing those who would victimize Social Security beneficiaries."
“The Secret Service remains committed to protecting our nation’s financial security, to include aggressively investigating those responsible for stealing and cashing United States Treasury checks. Along with our law enforcement partners we will continue to pursue those committing these crimes,” said Clint A. Bush, Resident Agent in Charge, Albany, Georgia Resident Office, United States Secret Service.
The case was investigated by Special Agent Teresa Hudson of the United States Secret Service and Special Agent Pablo Griffiths of the Social Security Administration, Office of the Inspector General. Assistant United States Attorney Mel Hyde prosecuted 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.
Columbia Man Sentenced to 20 Years for Child PornRead the Press Release
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Columbia, Mo., man who used a false identity as a woman to trick seven minor victims, whom he knew through his involvement in the Boy Scouts of America, was sentenced in federal court today for producing, receiving and distributing child pornography.
Ian Francis Burow, 25, of Columbia, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Brian C. Wimes to 20 years in federal prison without parole. The court also sentenced Burow to serve the rest of his life on supervised release following his prison term.
Burow, who pleaded guilty on Feb. 3, 2014, admitted that he used the alias “Sarah McGee” to communicate online (through Facebook, Skype and Yahoo) and via cell phone with several Boy Scouts, ranging in age from 14 to 17. Burow tricked the minor victims into sending him pornographic photos of themselves in inappropriate poses, or make videos or live broadcast themselves engaged in sexually explicit behavior over the Internet (through Skype or a Windows movie media attachment).
Burow sent the victims photos of a woman (claiming it was “Sarah McGee”) in various poses, including nudity, to encourage the victims to send similar photos. Once he received victims’ photos and movies, he frequently distributed some of them to one of the minor victims and to others. He also sent photos of three of the minor victims to a fourth minor victim.
Burow, who was also a Boy Scout, told persons asking about “Sarah McGee” that he knew her, that she was a good friend and that she lived in the same housing complex. In fact, she did not exist.
According to court documents, witnesses saw Burow carrying and displaying nude photos of young boys on his phone, and at least one caught him in an inappropriate communication over the Internet. When confronted by this person, Burow falsely claimed he was working for a task force investigating Internet predators. He suggested to her that he was assisting law enforcement in its efforts to capture persons who were predators of young people.
Law enforcement investigators identified many persons (not all of whom were minors) who were solicited by Burow to produce photos and videos of themselves engaging in sexually explicit conduct and send them to “Sarah McGee.” Not all of these persons sent the requested materials, but many did.
Burow pleaded guilty to seven counts – involving six different victims, ages 14 through 17 – of receiving and distributing child pornography between Dec. 27, 2010, and Aug. 1, 2011. Burow also pleaded guilty to one count of producing child pornography on Oct. 14, 2011, when he used a 15-year-old victim to engage in sexually explicit conduct, which was transmitted live over the Internet by using Skype.
Burow must forfeit to the government any property used to commit the offenses, including an Apple iPad, a laptop computer, an Apple iTouch, a Blackberry Curve, two external hard drives and other items.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Anthony P. Gonzalez. It was investigated by the FBI and the Boone County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department.
Project Safe Childhood
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc . For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab "resources."
Co-Owner of Italian Village Pizza Stores Sentenced for Skimming Cash from Businesses and Evading TaxesRead the Press Release
PITTSBURGH – An Allegheny County business owner has been sentenced in federal court to four years probation, which will include one year of home confinement, and ordered to pay a $45,000 fine, on his conviction of conspiracy and tax evasion, United States Attorney David J. Hickton announced today.
Senior United States District Judge Gustave Diamond imposed the sentence on John R. Miller of South Park, Pennsylvania.
According to information presented to the court, Miller and his partner, Frank Veltri, owned certain Italian Village pizza stores, and licensed the Italian Village name to owners of other stores. Miller and Veltri skimmed cash from the businesses which was not reported as income, and also did not report license fees paid in cash by some of the 15 to 20 licensees. Some expenses were also paid in cash, and not reported on the tax returns, in order to maintain an appropriate balance between sales and expenses.
The stipulated tax loss for Miller was $92,916. The criminal tax loss includes both the amounts owed to the IRS for personal tax due (Form 1040) and employment tax due for the businesses (Form 941). At the time of sentencing, Miller had paid this amount to the government, as well as interest and penalties.
Assistant United States Attorney Stephen R. Kaufman prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.
U.S. Attorney Hickton commended the Internal Revenue Service for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Miller.
Cleveland Metal Plating Company Fined for Making Illegal Discharges into Sewer SystemRead the Press Release
A metal plating company in Cleveland was fined $50,000 for making illegal discharges with high concentrations of metals such as chrome and zinc into the sewer system, which in turn, after treatment, discharges to Lake Erie, said Steven M. Dettelbach, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio.
Kelly Plating Company, a metal-plating operation located in Cleveland, also agreed to make a $25,000 charitable donation to the Cleveland Foundation, which will be used to improve water quality in Northeast Ohio.
Thomas E. White, of Fairview Park, pleaded guilty earlier this year to two counts of making improper discharges. He is scheduled to be sentenced April 16.
White was an employee at Kelly Plating and responsible for operating the equipment which reduced the amount of pollutants discharged into the sewer system to an acceptable level. Starting around January 28, 2012, White changed the way wastewater at the Kelly Plating facility was processed. During the weekdays, White ensured that the pollution control equipment was operated properly, according to court documents.
However, on the weekends White bypassed the pollution control equipment and discharged partially treated wastewater and sludge directly into the sewer system. These discharges contained high concentrations of chrome and zinc. This practice ended on May 19, 2012, according to court documents.
“We here in Northeast Ohio know the importance of clean water, both for our economy and our quality of life,” Dettelbach said. “We will aggressively investigate and prosecute cases in which people pollute Ohio’s streams, rivers and lakes.”
“Discharging untreated and partially treated industrial wastewater into the sewer system is illegal and endangers human health, wildlife, and the environment,” said Randall Ashe, Special Agent in Charge of EPA’s criminal enforcement program in Ohio. “Today’s sentence reflects the seriousness of this offense and EPA’s commitment to protecting our natural resources and the communities that rely upon them.”
“Illegal dumping into Ohio sewers can result in severe consequences both for our environment and for human health,” said Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine. “My office is committed to bringing to justice violators who knowingly participate in illegal dumping.”
“It was through the continuous water quality monitoring of the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District that it identified rising levels of pollution at its Westerly Wastewater Treatment Plant. The Sewer District then took action and identified the source, and then worked with the U.S. EPA, the Ohio EPA and the Ohio BCI to determine the extent of the wrongdoing by Kelly Plating,” said Julius Ciaccia, NEORSD Chief Executive Officer. “The sentencing of Kelly Plating should be a swift reminder that violating and jeopardizing the health of our waterways will not be tolerated by the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District.”
“Today’s sentencing concludes a successful investigation and prosecution of the discharge of chrome and zinc into waters of the state, which violated the federal Clean Water Act,” said Ohio EPA Director Craig W. Butler. “I’m proud of the work done by our Office of Special Investigations and all of our partners, including the U.S. EPA Criminal Investigation Division, the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation and the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District.”
This case is being prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Brad Beeson following an investigation by the Ohio EPA, U.S. EPA, the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation, and Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District.
Clay County Man Convicted in Overdose Death CaseRead the Press Release
Conviction First of its Kind in the Eastern District of KentuckyLONDON, KY - A Clay County man has been convicted by a federal jury of illegally distributing prescription drugs that resulted in the death of another individual, Patty Smallwood.
Terry Smith, 54, was found guilty on Monday of distribution of a controlled substance resulting in death. The jury also convicted Terry's wife, Gerry, of conspiring with Terry and others to distribute oxycodone. In addition, Terry Smith was found guilty on a charge of possession of firearms by a convicted felon. The jury returned the verdict after four hours of deliberation, following five days of trial.
Of all the convictions in overdose death cases, this is the first one in the Eastern District of Kentucky that occurred without an autopsy report being used as evidence.
"This is an important victory in the effort to hold drug dealers accountable for the carnage they cause in our communities,” said Kerry B. Harvey, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky. “Overdose deaths are an unfortunate, but all too common, consequence of illegal drug trafficking. Federal law imposes a heavy penalty on drug dealers who cause a death. Our office and our law enforcement partners intend to seek that penalty whenever the proof warrants, even in the absence of an autopsy. Drug dealers should take heed-they will pay a heavy price for their callous disregard for human life."
Evidence at trial established that on or about September 9, 2011, Terry Smith had sponsored Patty Smallwood and others to travel to an out-of-state pain clinic called Georgia Health Associates in Tucker, Georgia to obtain oxycodone pills. Upon their return, Smith then paid for them to fill these prescriptions at the Community Drug Pharmacy in Manchester, Ky. These individuals then gave the pills to Smith who kept a portion for himself and divided the rest among the people that had made the trip.
The evidence further showed that Patty Smallwood took a portion of her pills that night, went to bed, and never woke up. She was found dead the following morning by her live-in boyfriend. Although an autopsy was not performed, toxicology reports reflected that, along with smaller levels of several other drugs, Smallwood had four times the therapeutic level of oxycodone in her system. In support of its case, the United States offered the testimony of a forensic toxicologist, who offered his expert opinion concerning the levels of drugs present in Ms. Smallwood’s system. The toxicologist testified that the oxycodone use was the likely cause of Ms. Smallwood’s death.
Kerry B. Harvey, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky and Joseph P. Reagan, Special Agent in Charge, Drug Enforcement Administration jointly announced the conviction.
The investigation was conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Sentencing is scheduled for May 15, 2015. Terry Smith faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison for the overdose death offense. Gerry Smith faces a maximum of 20 years on the conspiracy offense. However, the court will carefully consider the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and federal statutes before imposing sentence.
Chicago Twins’ Cooperation Against Sinaloa Cartel Yields 14-Year Prison Terms; New Charges Target Cartel’s Top EchelonRead the Press Release
CHICAGO — Twin brothers PEDRO and MARGARITO FLORES, regarded as Chicago’s most significant drug traffickers who rose from street level dealers to the highest echelons of the Mexico-based Sinaloa Cartel and a rival cartel before they began providing unparalleled cooperation to the Drug Enforcement Administration, were each sentenced today to 14 years in federal prison. The sentencing marked the Flores brothers’ first public court appearance since they entered protective federal custody in 2008. Their August 2012 guilty pleas to a narcotics distribution conspiracy were unsealed in November 2014.
Also today, federal law enforcement officials announced the unsealing of an expanded eighth superseding indictment in the case in which the Flores brothers and leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel were initially indicted here in 2009. The eighth superseding indictment and three separate new indictments announced today, add significant new defendants, including two alleged cartel money laundering associates who were arrested in the United States, and extend the government’s efforts in Chicago and elsewhere to dismantle the Sinaloa Cartel under JOAQUIN GUZMAN LOERA, 60, also known as “Chapo,” and ISMAEL ZAMBADA GARCIA, 67, aka “Mayo.”
“The persistent determination of DEA special agents and leadership in Chicago, coupled with the efforts of those in DEA offices worldwide, is having a significant impact on the global operations of the Sinaloa Cartel,” said Zachary T. Fardon, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois. “This case put an end to the Flores brothers’ Chicago hub for transshipment of cartel narcotics nationwide. Our investigation and prosecution of cartel members is continuing,” Mr. Fardon said.
“The extraordinary work in this investigation continues,” said Dennis A. Wichern, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration. “Agents, investigators, prosecutors and our worldwide law enforcement partners continue to expand this investigation against members of the Sinaloa Cartel ― working to bring them to justice and in doing so ― helping to make the great city of Chicago a safer place.”
James C. Lee, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division in Chicago, said, “IRS Criminal Investigation is committed to working together with the DEA and the United States Attorney’s Office to fight the war on drugs. IRS CI brings, and will continue to bring, its financial expertise to disrupt and dismantle the Sinaloa Cartel’s drug trafficking organization.”
Flores Brothers Sentencing
In sentencing the 33-year-old Flores brothers, U.S. District Chief Judge Ruben Castillo said that but for the Flores brothers’ cooperation, he would have imposed a life sentence, and noted that because of the peril their ongoing cooperation poses to them and their families, they effectively “are going to leave here with a life sentence.” If the City of Chicago had walls, Judge Castillo said, the brothers’ operation “devastated the walls of this city,” adding that their operation “became just a highway of drugs into this city.”
But, Judge Castillo added, “It is never too late to cooperate,” which is what earned the Flores brothers a significant discount in their sentences.
Judge Castillo ordered the Flores brothers to forfeit more than $3.66 million that was seized from them and a sport utility vehicle. In addition, more than $400,000 worth of assorted jewelry, several luxury automobiles, smaller amounts of cash, and electronics equipment were seized and forfeited in administrative proceedings by the DEA. The brothers left behind millions of dollars in additional assets in Mexico after they began cooperating.
The judge also placed each of the brothers on court supervision for five years when they are released from prison after serving at least 85 percent of their sentences.
Between 2005 and 2008, the Flores brothers and their crew operated a Chicago-based wholesale distribution cell for the Sinaloa Cartel and a rival drug trafficking organization controlled by Arturo Beltran Leyva, receiving on average 1,500 to 2,000 kilograms of cocaine per month. Approximately half of this cocaine was distributed to the Flores’ customers in the Chicago area, while the other half was distributed to customers in Columbus, Cincinnati, Detroit, Milwaukee, New York, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and Vancouver, among other cities. In total, the brothers admitted to facilitating the transfer of approximately $1.8 billion of drug proceeds from the United States to Mexico, primarily through bulk cash smuggling.
At great personal risk to themselves and their families, the Flores brothers began cooperating with the government in October 2008 and recorded conversations, including two directly with Chapo Guzman. Their cooperation resulted in indictments against leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel and the Beltran Leyva organization, as well as the complete dismantling of the brothers’ own Chicago-based criminal enterprise. In late 2008 alone, their cooperation facilitated approximately a dozen seizures in the Chicago area totaling hundreds of kilograms of cocaine and heroin and more than $15 million in cash, as well as the seizure of more than 1,600 kilograms of cocaine in the Los Angeles area that was bound for Chicago.
Further cooperation by the Flores brothers and members of their dismantled crew resulted in the convictions of more than a dozen of their high-level customers who received on average 50 to 100 kilos of cocaine per month. “While not as high-profile as the cartel figures, the successful prosecution of these defendants made a very real difference in combating the scourge of drug trafficking that fuels so much violence and the destruction of communities in Chicago,” prosecutors said in recommending a sentence at or near the low end of the agreed 10- to 16-year sentencing range.
“The Flores brothers (and their families) will live the rest of their lives in danger of being killed in retribution,” prosecutors stated in a sentencing memo. “The barbarism of the cartels is legend, with a special place reserved for those who cooperate.” In 2009, the brothers’ father was kidnapped and presumed killed when he reentered Mexico despite the U.S. government warning him not to do so.
The Primary ― Eighth Superseding ― Indictment
The eighth superseding indictment unsealed today charges a total of nine defendants, including Chapo Guzman, Mayo Zambada, and Guzman’s son, JESUS ALFREDO GUZMAN SALAZAR, 31, aka “Alfredillo” and “JAGS,” each of whom was among the initial group of co-defendants in the original indictment in 2009. Mayo Zambada and Guzman Salazar are fugitives, while Chapo Guzman remains in Mexican custody following his arrest last February.
Co-defendant, JESUS RAUL BELTRAN LEON, 31, aka “Trevol” and “Chuy Raul,” was arrested in Mexico this past November and remains in Mexican custody. The remaining co-defendants, all fugitives, are: HERIBERTO ZAZUETA GODOY, 54, aka “Capi Beto;” VICTOR MANUEL FELIX BELTRAN, 27, aka, “Lic Vicc;” HECTOR MIGUEL VALENCIA ORTEGA, 33, aka “MV;” JORGE MARIO VALENZUELA VERDUGO, 32, aka “Choclos;” and GUADALUPE FERNANDEZ VALENCIA, 54, aka “Don Julio” and “Julia.”
This indictment alleges that all nine defendants conspired between May 2005 and December 2014, when the indictment was returned under seal, to import and distribute narcotics and to commit money laundering. They allegedly conspired to smuggle large quantities of cocaine from Central and South America, as well as heroin, methamphetamine, and marijuana from Mexico to the United States and through Chicago for distribution nationwide. The indictment seeks forfeiture of $2 billion.
The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Asset Control today announced the designation of Felix Beltran, who is Guzman Salazar’s brother-in-law, pursuant to the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act, freezing all of his assets in the U.S. or in the control of U.S. persons, and generally prohibiting any U.S. persons from engaging in transactions with him. A second designation was announced today against Alfonso Limon Sanchez, an alleged Sinaloa Cartel associate under federal indictment with Mayo Zambada and others in San Diego. Other alleged cartel leaders, including Chicago defendants Chapo Guzman, Mayo Zambada, Guzman Salazar, and Zazueta Godoy, were previously designated drug kingpins.
Charges brought in earlier versions of this primary indictment remain pending against three additional co-defendants: FELIPE CABRERA SARABIA, 44, who is in custody in Mexico; GERMAN OLIVARES, age unknown and a fugitive; and EDGAR MANUEL VALENCIA ORTEGA, 27, aka “Fox,” and Hector Miguel Valencia Ortega’s brother, who was arrested last year in the United States and is in federal custody in Chicago. His next court date is Feb. 19 for a status hearing.
In addition to the Flores brothers, ALFREDO VASQUEZ HERNANDEZ, 59, pleaded guilty and was sentenced last November to 22 years in prison. Two other co-defendants, Mayo Zambada’s son, VICENTE ZAMBADA NIEBLA, 39, and TOMAS AREVALO RENTERIA, 45, have pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing in Chicago. Altogether, 18 defendants have been charged in the primary case in Chicago.
Three New Indictments
Those 18 are among a total of 62 defendants, most of whom have been convicted and sentenced, who were indicted in nearly two dozen related cases in Chicago since 2009. Two new defendants, ALVARO ANGUIANO HERNANDEZ, 38, aka “Panda,” and JORGE MARTIN TORRES, 38, were arrested separately in the U.S. in November and are facing separate indictments here alleging they were high-level money laundering associates of the Sinaloa Cartel and participated in money laundering conspiracies. Anguiano Hernandez’s indictment seeks forfeiture of $950,000.
Torres allegedly conspired to launder in excess of $300,000 of drug proceeds from Mexico to the United States to purchase, refurbish, and transfer from Ohio to Mexico, a 1982 Cessna Turbo 210 to promote the cartel’s alleged narcotics conspiracy. His indictment seeks forfeiture of $1 million.
A third separate indictment announced today charges VENANCIO COVARRUBIAS, 26, aka “Benny,” of Elgin, who was arrested last October, with being a high-level cartel customer in the Chicago area. In September 2013, law enforcement, including U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers in Laredo, Tex., seized 159 kilograms of cocaine that was allegedly destined for a warehouse in Elgin leased by Covarrubias. The cocaine, wrapped in 118 brick-shaped packages, was hidden in a tractor-trailer containing a shipment of fresh tomatoes from a fictitious Mexican business called Tadeo Produce. The charges allege that during the prior year, Covarrubias wire transferred drug proceeds to Tadeo Produce while receiving narcotics disguised as tomato shipments. His indictment seeks forfeiture of $2.89 million.
The money laundering conspiracy charges against Anguiano Hernandez, Torres and Covarrubias carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, a $500,000 fine, or an alternate fine totaling twice the amount of the funds involved in illegal activity. The narcotics importation and distribution conspiracy charges against Covarrubias and each defendant in the primary indictment carry a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years to a maximum of life in prison and a $10 million fine. If convicted, the court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal statutes and the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines. The defendants against whom charges are pending are presumed innocent and are entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Total Seizures Since 2008
Overall, the Chicago-based investigation of the Sinaloa Cartel has resulted in seizures of approximately $30.8 million, approximately 11 tons of cocaine, 265 kilograms of methamphetamine, and 78 kilograms of heroin. Law Enforcement in Chicago has worked closely with federal agents and prosecutors in San Diego to target the senior leadership of the Sinaloa Cartel. This partnership yielded the prosecutions here as well as 14 indictments announced this month in San Diego against 60 alleged Sinaloa leaders, lieutenants, and associates, including Mayo Zambada, two of his four sons, and another of Chapo Guzman’s sons.
The investigation in Chicago has been led by the DEA, joined by the IRS Criminal Investigation Division and the Chicago Police Department. Also assisting were DEA offices worldwide, including in Los Angeles, San Diego, and Mexico City, and its El Paso Intelligence Center; the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF); the Chicago High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) task force, the U.S. Attorney’s Offices in San Diego, Springfield, Ill., and Milwaukee and the Milwaukee Police Department; the Chicago and Peoria offices of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the Chicago office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. Marshals Service; the U.S. State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service; the Cook County Sheriff’s Department; suburban police departments in Calumet City, Evergreen Park, Oak Park, and Palos Heights; and the Beverly Hills, Calif., Police Department. The investigation was assisted by agents and analysts of the Justice Department Criminal Division’s Special Operations Division (SOD), and attorneys from the Criminal Division’s Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section, and Office of International Affairs.
The government is being represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael J. Ferrara, Erika Csicsila, Naana Frimpong, Georgia Alexakis, Kathryn Malizia, and Thomas D. Shakeshaft.
"Chapo" Guzman Loera et al Indictment
Hernandez Indictment
Covarrubias Indictment
Torres Indicment
Chicago Twins’ Cooperation Against Sinaloa Cartel Yields 14-Year Prison Terms; New Charges Target Cartel’s Top EchelonRead the Press Release
Twin brothers Pedro and Margarito Flores, regarded as Chicago’s most significant drug traffickers who rose from street level dealers to the highest echelons of the Mexico-based Sinaloa Cartel and a rival cartel before they began providing unparalleled cooperation to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), were each sentenced today to 14 years in federal prison. The sentencing marked the Flores brothers’ first public court appearance since they entered protective federal custody in 2008. Their August 2012 guilty pleas to a narcotics distribution conspiracy were unsealed in November 2014.
Also today, federal law enforcement officials announced the unsealing of an expanded eighth superseding indictment in the case in which the Flores brothers and leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel were initially indicted here in 2009. The eighth superseding indictment and three separate new indictments announced today, add significant new defendants, including two alleged cartel money laundering associates who were arrested in the United States and extend the government’s efforts in Chicago and elsewhere to dismantle the Sinaloa Cartel under Joaquin Guzman Loera, 60, also known as “Chapo,” and Ismael Zambada Garcia, 67, aka “Mayo.”
“The persistent determination of DEA special agents and leadership in Chicago, coupled with the efforts of those in DEA offices worldwide, is having a significant impact on the global operations of the Sinaloa Cartel,” said U.S. Attorney Zachary T. Fardon of the Northern District of Illinois. “This case put an end to the Flores brothers’ Chicago hub for transshipment of cartel narcotics nationwide. Our investigation and prosecution of cartel members is continuing,”
“The extraordinary work in this investigation continues,” said Special Agent in Charge Dennis A. Wichern of the Chicago Field Division of the DEA. “Agents, investigators, prosecutors and our worldwide law enforcement partners continue to expand this investigation against members of the Sinaloa Cartel ― working to bring them to justice and in doing so ― helping to make the great city of Chicago a safer place.”
“IRS Criminal Investigation is committed to working together with the DEA and the United States Attorney’s Office to fight the war on drugs,” said Special Agent in Charge James C. Lee of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division (IRS CI) in Chicago. “IRS CI brings, and will continue to bring, its financial expertise to disrupt and dismantle the Sinaloa Cartel’s drug trafficking organization.”
Flores Brothers Sentencing
In sentencing of the 33-year-old Flores brothers, U.S. District Chief Judge Ruben Castillo said that but for the Flores brothers’ cooperation, he would have imposed a life sentence and noted that because of the peril their ongoing cooperation poses to them and their families, they effectively “are going to leave here with a life sentence.” If the city of Chicago had walls, Judge Castillo said the brothers’ operation “devastated the walls of this city,” adding that their operation “became just a highway of drugs into this city.”
But, Judge Castillo added, “it is never too late to cooperate,” which is what earned the Flores brothers a significant discount in their sentences.
Judge Castillo ordered the Flores brothers to forfeit more than $3.66 million that was seized from them and a sport utility vehicle. In addition, more than $400,000 worth of assorted jewelry, several luxury automobiles and smaller amounts of cash and electronics equipment were seized and forfeited in administrative proceedings by the DEA. The brothers left behind millions of dollars in additional assets in Mexico after they began cooperating.
The judge also placed each of the brothers on court supervision for five years when they are released from prison after serving at least 85 percent of their sentences.
Between 2005 and 2008, the Flores brothers and their crew operated a Chicago-based wholesale distribution cell for the Sinaloa Cartel and a rival drug trafficking organization controlled by Arturo Beltran Leyva, receiving on average 1,500 to 2,000 kilograms of cocaine per month. Approximately half of this cocaine was distributed to the Flores’ customers in the Chicago area, while the other half was distributed to customers in Columbus, Cincinnati, Detroit, Milwaukee, New York, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C. and Vancouver, among other cities. In total, the brothers admitted to facilitating the transfer of approximately $1.8 billion of drug proceeds from the United States to Mexico, primarily through bulk cash smuggling.
At great personal risk to themselves and their families, the Flores brothers began cooperating with the government in October 2008 and recorded conversations, including two directly with Chapo Guzman. Their cooperation resulted in indictments against leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel and the Beltran Leyva organization, as well as the complete dismantling of the brothers’ own Chicago-based criminal enterprise. In late 2008 alone, their cooperation facilitated approximately a dozen seizures in the Chicago area totaling hundreds of kilograms of cocaine and heroin and more than $15 million in cash, as well as the seizure of more than 1,600 kilograms of cocaine in the Los Angeles area that was bound for Chicago.
Further cooperation by the Flores brothers and members of their dismantled crew resulted in the convictions of more than a dozen of their high-level customers who received on average 50 to 100 kilos of cocaine per month.
“While not as high-profile as the cartel figures, the successful prosecution of these defendants made a very real difference in combating the scourge of drug trafficking that fuels so much violence and the destruction of communities in Chicago,” said the prosecutors in recommending a sentence at or near the low end of the agreed 10- to 16-year sentencing range.
“The Flores brothers (and their families) will live the rest of their lives in danger of being killed in retribution,” prosecutors stated in a sentencing memo. “The barbarism of the cartels is legend, with a special place reserved for those who cooperate.”
In 2009, the brothers’ father was kidnapped and presumed killed when he reentered Mexico despite the U.S. government warning him not to do so.
The Primary ― Eighth Superseding ― Indictment
The eighth superseding indictment unsealed today charges a total of nine defendants, including Chapo Guzman, Mayo Zambada and Guzman’s son, Jesus Alfredo Guzman Salazar, 31, aka “Alfredillo” and “Jags,” each of whom was among the initial group of co-defendants in the original indictment in 2009. Zambada and Salazar are fugitives, while Guzman remains in Mexican custody following his arrest last February.
Co-defendant, Jesus Raul Beltran Leon, 31, aka “Trevol” and “Chuy Raul,” was arrested in Mexico this past November and remains in Mexican custody. The remaining co-defendants, all fugitives, Heriberto Zazueta Godoy, 54, aka “Capi Beto,” Victor Manuel Felix Beltran, 27, aka “Lic Vicc,” Hector Miguel Valencia Ortega, 33, aka “Mv,” Jorge Mario Valenzuela Verdugo, 32, aka “Choclos” and Guadalupe Fernandez Valencia, 54, aka “Don Julio” and “Julia.”
This indictment alleges that all nine defendants conspired between May 2005 and December 2014, when the indictment was returned under seal, to import and distribute narcotics and to commit money laundering. They allegedly conspired to smuggle large quantities of cocaine from Central and South America, as well as heroin, methamphetamine and marijuana from Mexico to the United States and through Chicago for distribution nationwide. The indictment seeks forfeiture of $2 billion.
The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Asset Control today announced the designation of Felix Beltran, who is Salazar’s brother-in-law, pursuant to the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act, freezing all of his assets in the U.S. or in the control of U.S. persons and generally prohibiting any U.S. persons from engaging in transactions with him. A second designation was announced today against Alfonso Limon Sanchez, an alleged Sinaloa Cartel associate under federal indictment with Zambada and others in San Diego. Other alleged cartel leaders, including Chicago defendants Guzman, Zambada, Salazar and Godoy, were previously designated drug kingpins.
Charges brought in earlier versions of this primary indictment remain pending against three additional co-defendants: Felipe Cabrera Sarabia, 44, who is in custody in Mexico; German Olivares, age unknown and a fugitive; and Edgar Manuel Valencia Ortega, 27, aka “Fox,” and Hector Miguel Valencia Ortega’s brother, who was arrested last year in the United States and is in federal custody in Chicago. His next court date is Feb. 19, 2015 for a status hearing.
In addition to the Flores brothers, Alfredo Vasquez Hernandez, 59, pleaded guilty and was sentenced last November to 22 years in prison. Two other co-defendants, Mayo Zambada’s son, Vicente Zambada Niebla, 39, and Tomas Arevalo Renteria, 45, have pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing in Chicago. Altogether, 18 defendants have been charged in the primary case in Chicago.
Three New Indictments
Those 18 are among a total of 62 defendants, most of whom have been convicted and sentenced, who were indicted in nearly two dozen related cases in Chicago since 2009. Two new defendants, Alvaro Anguiano Hernandez, 38, aka “Panda,” and Jorge Martin Torres, 38, were arrested separately in the U.S. in November and are facing separate indictments here alleging they were high-level money laundering associates of the Sinaloa Cartel and participated in money laundering conspiracies. Anguiano Hernandez’s indictment seeks forfeiture of $950,000.
Torres allegedly conspired to launder in excess of $300,000 of drug proceeds from Mexico to the United States to purchase, refurbish, and transfer from Ohio to Mexico, a 1982 Cessna Turbo 210 to promote the cartel’s alleged narcotics conspiracy. His indictment seeks forfeiture of $1 million.
A third separate indictment announced today charges Venancio Covarrubias, 26, aka “Benny,” of Elgin, who was arrested last October, with being a high-level cartel customer in the Chicago area. In September 2013, law enforcement, including U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers in Laredo, Texas, seized 159 kilograms of cocaine that was allegedly destined for a warehouse in Elgin leased by Covarrubias. The cocaine, wrapped in 118 brick-shaped packages, was hidden in a tractor-trailer containing a shipment of fresh tomatoes from a fictitious Mexican business called Tadeo Produce. The charges allege that during the prior year, Covarrubias wire transferred drug proceeds to Tadeo Produce while receiving narcotics disguised as tomato shipments. His indictment seeks forfeiture of $2.89 million.
The money laundering conspiracy charges against Anguiano Hernandez, Torres and Covarrubias carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, a $500,000 fine, or an alternate fine totaling twice the amount of the funds involved in illegal activity. The narcotics importation and distribution conspiracy charges against Covarrubias and each defendant in the primary indictment carry a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years to a maximum of life in prison and a $10 million fine. If convicted, the court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal statutes and the advisory United States sentencing guidelines. The defendants against whom charges are pending are presumed innocent and are entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Total Seizures Since 2008
Overall, the Chicago-based investigation of the Sinaloa Cartel has resulted in seizures of approximately $30.8 million, approximately 11 tons of cocaine, 265 kilograms of methamphetamine and 78 kilograms of heroin. Law Enforcement in Chicago has worked closely with federal agents and prosecutors in San Diego to target the senior leadership of the Sinaloa Cartel. This partnership yielded the prosecutions here as well as 14 indictments announced this month in San Diego against 60 alleged Sinaloa leaders, lieutenants and associates, including Zambada, two of his four sons and another of Guzman’s sons.
The investigation in Chicago has been led by the DEA, joined by the IRS Criminal Investigation Division and the Chicago Police Department. Also assisting were DEA offices worldwide, including in Los Angeles, San Diego, Mexico City and its El Paso Intelligence Center, the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force the Chicago High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area task force, the U.S. Attorney’s Offices in San Diego, Springfield, Illinois and Milwaukee and the Milwaukee Police Department, the Chicago and Peoria offices of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Chicago office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. Marshals Service, the U.S. State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service, the Cook County Sheriff’s Department, suburban police departments in Calumet City, Evergreen Park, Oak Park, Palos Heights and the Beverly Hills Police Department. The investigation was assisted by agents and analysts of the Justice Department Criminal Division’s Special Operations Division, the attorneys from the Criminal Division’s Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section and Office of International Affairs.
The government is being represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael J. Ferrara, Erika Csicsila, Naana Frimpong, Georgia Alexakis, Kathryn Malizia and Thomas D. Shakeshaft.
California Woman Pleads Guilty to Wire Fraud and Aggravated Identity Theft for Retail Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
BOISE – Arleen Gadrina Cifuentes, 31, of Riverside, California, pleaded guilty today to one count of wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft, U.S. Attorney Wendy J. Olson announced. Sentencing is set for April 27, 2015, before Chief U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill.
Cifuentes was indicted, along with Rocio Contreras-Loya, 40, of Sante Fe Springs, California, and Ivan Fonseca, 30, of Richmond, California, in September 2014, for wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and possession of 15or more unauthorized access devices. According to the plea agreement, Cifuentes engaged in a retail scheme between July 2013 and July 2014, whereby she defrauded retail stores by applying for, and obtaining, credit accounts in the identities of unknowing third party victims. Cifuentes then used the credit accounts to fraudulently purchase merchandise and gift cards. Cifuentes admitted obtaining victim identification information from a third party, running credit reports on the victims, and obtaining California driver's licenses in the victims' names, containing her photo, or a photo of her co-defendants. Cifuentes admitted that she and her co-defendants executed the scheme on at least 15 occasions in the District of Idaho. Cifuentes and Contreras-Loya were arrested shortly after executing the scheme at the Boise Town Square Mall.
Wire Fraud is punishable by up to 20 years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, a term of supervised release of not more than three years, and a $100 special assessment. Aggravated identity theft is punishable by a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of two years, a term of supervised release of not more than one year, a maximum fine of $250,000, and a special assessment of $100. As part of her plea, Cifuentes also agreed to forfeit $26,777.13 in cash proceeds of the charged offenses.
Co-defendant Rocio Contreras-Loya is scheduled for a change of plea hearing on January 30, 2015. Co-defendant Ivan Fonseca remains a fugitive.
The case was investigated by the United States Secret Service and the Boise Police Department.
Businessman Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy to Distribute Anabolic Steroids as Dietary Supplements and Mislabeling ProductsRead the Press Release
Memphis, TN – Joseph De Melo, Sr., 59, of New Orleans, LA, pleaded guilty in federal court to a two-count criminal information charging him with one count of conspiracy to distribute anabolic steroids and one count of intentionally misbranding a purported dietary supplement sold under the name “Vertical,” announced Edward L. Stanton III, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee.
According to the facts revealed in the information and statements made in open court, Joseph De Melo, Sr. owned Rezultz Distribution LLC, located in Carrollton, Texas, which sold purported dietary supplements throughout the United States and the Western District of Tennessee.
Beginning in September of 2012 and continuing through September of 2013, De Melo conspired with individuals to distribute 40,000 pills of anabolic steroids, which are Schedule III controlled substances. De Melo also distributed into interstate commerce a purported dietary supplement called Vertical, which listed false and misleading ingredients. Vertical in fact contained erectile dysfunction drugs that were not listed on the label of the drug, which is in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Sections 331(a) and 333(a)(2).
As part of the conspiracy De Melo deposited proceeds of the sales into various financial accounts and instruments he controlled. De Melo agreed to forfeit over $650,000, which were proceeds obtained as a result of these violations. De Melo will be sentenced on April 30, 2015, by U.S. District Judge S. Thomas Anderson.
The case was investigated by the Food and Drug Administration Office of Criminal Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Tony R. Arvin and Damon K. Griffin represented the government.
Spanish Version
Buffalo Man Arrested, Charged with Production AndRead the Press Release
CONTACT: Barbara Burns
PHONE: (716) 843-5817
FAX: (716) 551-3051
BUFFALO, N.Y. -- U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Daniel Huzinec, 23, of Buffalo, NY, was arrested and charged by criminal complaint with production and possession of child pornography. The charges carry a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison, a maximum of 30 years, and a $250,000 fine.Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie O. Lamarque, who is handling the case, stated that according to the complaint, in December 2014, the defendant shared photographs of male children engaged in sexually explicit conduct on a peer to peer website. This conduct included the sexual abuse of male children by adult males and male children engaging in sexual activity with other male children.
On January 27, 2015, a search warrant was executed at the defendant’s Marilla St. residence. Numerous items were seized from the residence including a laptop computer. A preliminary forensic analysis located visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
It was indicated in Court that Huzinec works at two different organizations involving minor age children: Child and Family Services and the Boy Scouts of America. Anyone with information regarding Mr. Huzinec is urged to contact the Buffalo Office of Homeland Security Investigations at (716) 565-2039 extension 105, and ask for Special Agent Leroy Oswald.
The defendant made an initial appearance this afternoon before U.S Magistrate Judge Hugh B. Scott. Huzinec was detained pending a detention hearing scheduled for January 29, 2015 at 10:30 a.m.
The indictment is the culmination of an investigation by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge James C. Spero.
The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
Brownsville Man Ordered to Prison in Money Laundering ConspiracyRead the Press Release
BROWNSVILLE, Texas – Oscar J. Aguilar, 38, a Mexican citizen legally residing in Brownsville, has been sentenced to 14 years in federal prison for conspiring to commit international money laundering, announced United States Attorney Kenneth Magidson along with Janice Ayala, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in San Antonio. Aguilar pleaded guilty May 16, 2014.
Today, U.S. District Judge Andrew S. Hanen, handed Aguilar the 168-month sentence. He was further ordered to pay a $1,893,170 money judgment which represented the proceeds of drug smuggling that were laundered in the scheme. He is expected to face deportation proceedings following his release from prison.
“HSI special agents often investigate complex financial schemes in order to disrupt and dismantle the ongoing operations of transnational criminal organizations,” said Ayala. “These investigations deprive the organizations from enjoying the fruits of their illicit crimes while preventing them from furthering the ongoing criminal enterprise. HSI will continue to aggressively investigate schemes that jeopardize the integrity of our financial system.”
Aguilar admitted to recruiting nine others, some of whom were family members, to open bank accounts at Bank of America in Brownsville. Later, co-conspirators in Florida would deposit money from narcotics sales into the accounts. Aguilar’s recruits withdrew the money in amounts under the $10,000 reporting requirement and would give that money to Aguilar or other co-conspirators. The recruits were paid for moving the money through their bank accounts.
After Aguilar received the money, he facilitated its crossing from Brownsville to Matamoros, Mexico, where it was delivered to the Gulf Cartel.
From September 2008 through November 2012, the conspirators moved approximately $1,893,170 through nine bank accounts, with nearly $1.5 million from September 2011 through November 2012 alone.
Nine others have been convicted in relation to this case. With the exception of Francisco Jesus Arambul-Cortez, who also pleaded to conspiracy to commit International money laundering, the eight others entered guilty pleas to operating an unlicensed money transmitting business.
Aguilar will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Karen Betancourt and Joseph Leonard.
Boise Man Pleads Guilty to Possession of Firearms in Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking CrimeRead the Press Release
BOISE – Anton Philip Raider, 22, of Boise, Idaho, pleaded guilty to one count of possessing firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, U.S. Attorney Wendy J. Olson announced.
According to court proceedings, a search warrant was served on the defendant’s Boise residence on May 9, 2014. Law enforcement found approximately three pounds of marijuana in a safe in the defendant’s bedroom. Next to the safe, law enforcement found four firearms: a .32 semi-automatic pistol, a semi-automatic AK-47 Kalshnikov variant, a semi-automatic SKS rifle, and a bolt-action rifle. Raider admitted that he knowingly possessed the firearms in furtherance of his drug trafficking crime of possession with intent to distribute marijuana.
The maximum penalty for possession of firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime is at least five years in prison and not more than life, which must be consecutive to any other sentence, a $250,000 fine, at least five years of supervised release and $100 special assessment. The sentencing is set for April 20, 2015, before U.S. District Judge Edward J. Lodge.
The case was investigated by the Boise City Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Attorney Matthew Libous Found Guilty in White Plains Federal Court of Subscribing to False Federal Tax ReturnsRead the Press Release
Preet Bharara, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Caroline D. Ciraolo, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the U.S. Department of Justice’s Tax Division, announced that Matthew Libous, an attorney licensed to practice in New York, was found guilty yesterday of three counts of subscribing to false tax returns for the 2007, 2008, and 2009 tax years following a bench trial before U.S. District Judge Vincent L. Briccetti. Judge Briccetti also found that Libous was not guilty of false subscription counts for his 2010, 2011, and 2011 amended returns and not guilty of one count of obstructing the Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”).
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said: “Yesterday’s verdict was a just conclusion for Matthew Libous’s repeated, willful failures to report all his income to the IRS over a period of years. As a practicing attorney, Libous knew better. My Office will continue to make every effort to ensure that everyone pays his or her fair share of taxes.”
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Caroline D. Ciraolo said: “Yesterday’s conviction should serve as clear notice that the Tax Division, working with IRS Criminal Investigation and the Offices of the U.S. Attorneys, will vigorously enforce our nation’s criminal tax laws and prosecute those individuals, including legal professionals, who willfully file false federal tax returns.”
According to the Superseding Indictment and the evidence presented at trial, Libous engaged in the practice of law from 2006 through 2008. Libous deposited the fees he received into his personal bank account but never reported them on his tax return. In 2008, Libous became a minority partner and manager of Wireless Construction Solutions, LLC ("WCS"), a company that maintained cellular telephone towers. Libous caused WCS to pay thousands of dollars in his personal expenses on his behalf from 2008 to 2011. In returning his verdict yesterday, following a three-day bench trial, Judge Briccetti said that he found that Libous willfully failed to report the income from his law practice in 2007 and 2008 and the income he received as a result of his causing WCS to pay his personal expenses in 2008 and 2009.
Each of the three false subscription counts of which Libous was found guilty carries a maximum sentence of three years in prison. The maximum potential sentences are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the judge. Sentencing is scheduled for April 29, 2015.
This prosecution is being handled by the Office's White Plains Division. Assistant U.S. Attorney James McMahon and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Kameros of the Justice Department’s Tax Division are in charge of the prosecution.
Attorney General Holder Statement on the Nomination of Stuart Delery as the Associate Attorney GeneralRead the Press Release
Attorney General Eric Holder released the following statement today on Stuart F. Delery’s nomination to be Associate Attorney General:
“I am delighted to join President Obama in congratulating Stuart Delery on his nomination as Associate Attorney General – an office in which he has distinguished himself in an acting capacity over the last four months.
“Throughout his tenure at the Department of Justice – from his time as Chief of Staff to the Deputy Attorney General, to his service as Senior Counselor in my office, and his leadership of the Department’s Civil Division, Stuart has proven himself to be an outstanding attorney, an extraordinarily dedicated public servant, and an indispensable part of our senior leadership team.
"In the last few years alone, Stuart has made significant contributions in our ongoing efforts to ensure the integrity of America’s financial system, to safeguard the health and safety of our citizens, to protect consumers throughout the nation, and to bolster national security. I am confident that, should he be confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Stuart will continue to build on the record of progress he has already established – and to uphold the standards of excellence that have always defined his work. I join the President in urging Senate leaders to confirm Stuart Delery as Associate Attorney General in a timely manner, and look forward to all that he will help this Department achieve in the days ahead.”
Anamosa Man Sentenced to 14 Years Imprisonment for Manufacturing Meth Near A SchoolRead the Press Release
Contact: Steve Young
A man who attempted to manufacture methamphetamine near a school, was sentenced on January 26, 2015, to 14 years in federal prison.
Zackery Smock, 37, from Anamosa, received the prison term after a July 1, 2014, guilty plea to one count of attempted manufacture of methamphetamine by a drug felon near a school.
At the guilty plea, Smock admitted that, on March 7, 2014, he attempted to manufacture methamphetamine at a residence in Anamosa. During the course of his manufacturing, he started a fire at the residence. The residence was within 1000 feet of St. Patrick’s school in Anamosa. Evidence at sentencing showed that over 80 separate one-pot methamphetamine cooks were recovered from the basement area where Smock manufactured methamphetamine. The fire resulted in the total destruction of the residence.
Smock was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge Linda R. Reade to 168 months’ imprisonment. A special assessment of $100 was imposed. He must also serve a 6-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
Smock is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Lisa C. Williams and investigated by Anamosa Police Department, Anamosa Fire Department, Iowa Division of State Fire Marshal, and the Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement.
Court file information is available at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. The case file number is 14-cr-57.
Alien Smuggler Pleads Guilty in Death of Two Mexican CitizensRead the Press Release
SAN DIEGO, CA – Nicholas George Zakov pleaded guilty to immigration crimes in federal court today, admitting that he acted with “extreme disregard” for the lives of two Mexican citizens who perished while being smuggled across the U.S.-Mexico border in Zakov’s trunk.
Zakov, 43, a U.S. citizen, admitted that on August 12, 2014, he attempted to transport two Mexican citizens, Tarcisio Casas-Blanco and Jose Aurelio Quiroz-Casas, into the United by hiding them within the trunk of his 2012 Dodge Challenger. Zakov was going to be paid $3,500 for his actions.
Zakov further admitted that he continued to drive the vehicle through the San Ysidro, California Port of Entry while ignoring the two Mexican citizens’ pleas to be let out of the trunk because of the extreme heat. At the Port of Entry, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers discovered the two Mexican citizens unresponsive in Zakov’s trunk. Casas-Blanco and Quiroz-Casas later died of hyperthermia and mechanical asphyxiation.
Zokov entered his plea before U.S. Magistrate Judge David H. Bartick. He pleaded guilty to two counts of encouraging and inducing illegal aliens resulting in death and two counts of bringing illegal aliens into the United States for financial gain. According to his plea agreement, Zakov admitted that Casas-Blanco and Quiroz-Casas died as a result of being concealed in his trunk.
Zakov faces up to life imprisonment, a mandatory minimum sentence of three years in prison, and a $250,000 fine. Sentencing is scheduled for April 10, 2015 before U.S. District Judge Anthony J. Battaglia.
DEFENDANT Case Number: 14CR2363-AJB Nicholas George Zakov Age: 43 Hawthorne, California CHARGES Counts 1 and 2: Encouraging and Inducing Illegal Aliens, Aiding and Abetting, Resulting in Death, 8 U.S.C. §1324(a)(1)(A)(iv), (v)(II), and (a)(1)(B)(iv)Counts 3 and 4: Bringing in Illegal Aliens for Financial Gain, Aiding and Abetting 8 U.S.C. §1324(a)(2)(B)(ii) and 18 U.S.C. § 2
INVESTIGATING AGENCIESU.S. Customs and Border Protection
Homeland Security InvestigationsAlbuquerque Woman Sentenced for Attempted Theft from Laguna Pueblo’s Route 66 CasinoRead the Press Release
ALBUQUERQUE – Charlene Baca, 44, of Albuquerque, N.M., was sentenced today to time-served (189 days in custody) followed by three years of supervised release for her conviction for theft from an Indian gaming establishment.
Baca was arrested on Oct. 5, 2013, on a criminal complaint charging her with threatening a cashier and attempting to rob the Route 66 Casino located on Laguna Pueblo in Cibola County, N.M. According to the complaint, Baca told the cashier that she had a bomb in the casino and demanded money.
On Sept. 17, 2014, Baca entered a guilty plea to a felony information and admitted that she attempted to steal money belonging to the Route 66 Casino on Oct. 5, 2013, by suggesting to the cashier that there was a destructive device in the Casino that would explode in seconds and that she could remotely deploy the bomb if the cashier did not give her money. Baca was arrested by officers of the Pueblo of Laguna Trial Police Department shortly thereafter. No explosive device was found during the course of the investigation.
This case was investigated by the Albuquerque office of the FBI, the Laguna/Acoma Agency of the BIA’s Office of Justice Programs, the Pueblo of Laguna Pueblo Tribal Police Department, the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office, the New Mexico State Police and the Albuquerque Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Niki Tapia-Brito.
Albuquerque Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Commercial Robbery and Firearms ChargesRead the Press Release
ALBUQUERQUE – Gilbert Gonzales, 34, of Albuquerque, N.M., pleaded guilty today to violating the Hobbs Act and federal firearms laws. Under the terms of his plea agreement, Gonzales will be sentenced to 156 months (13 years) in federal prison followed by a term of supervised release to be determined by the court.
Gonzales was arrested in June 2013, on a criminal complaint alleging that he unlawfully possessed a firearm and ammunition on May 25, 2013, in Bernalillo County, N.M. According to the criminal complaint, an officer of the Albuquerque Police Department found a firearm and ammunition in a vehicle Gonzales was driving following a routine traffic stop. At the time, Gonzales was prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition because he previously had been convicted of numerous felony offenses in the 2nd Judicial District Court for the State of New Mexico.
Gonzales subsequently was indicted in April 2014, in a five-count superseding indictment charging him with two counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm, one count of possession of a stolen firearm, one count of commercial robbery , and using and brandishing a firearm in relation to a crime of violence. The indictment alleged that Gonzales unlawfully possessed firearms in Bernalillo County on May 25, 2013 and June 5, 2013. It further alleged that he possessed a stolen firearm on May 25, 2013. It also alleged that Gonzales interfered with interstate commerce by robbing a commercial business at gunpoint on May 29, 2013, and brandishing a firearm at an employee of the business during the robbery.
During today’s proceedings, Gonzales pled guilty to the armed robbery of a business engaged in interstate commerce and to brandishing a firearm during the robbery. In his plea agreement, Gonzales admitted that on May 29, 2013, he obstructed interstate commerce by robbing Southwest Communications, located at 120 San Pedro SE in Albuquerque. Gonzales further admitted brandishing a firearm at an employee of that business during the armed robbery.
Gonzales has been in federal custody since his arrest and remains detained pending his sentencing hearing which has yet to be scheduled.
This case was investigated by the Albuquerque office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Albuquerque Police Department with assistance from the 2nd Judicial District Attorney’s Office. Assistants U.S. Attorneys David M. Walsh and Louis E. Valencia are prosecuting this case.
This case is being prosecuted as part of a federal anti-violence initiative that targets “the worst of the worst” offenders for federal prosecution. Under this initiative, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and federal law enforcement agencies work with New Mexico’s District Attorneys and state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies to target violent or repeat offenders for federal prosecution with the goal of removing repeat offenders from communities in New Mexico for as long as possible.
Adams County Woman Sentenced to Three Years in Federal Alien Smuggling CaseRead the Press Release
The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that on January 26 Chief Judge Christopher C. Conner sentenced Martha Ortiz, 46, of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania to 36 months in prison for her participation in alien smuggling. On July 23, 2014, Ortiz pleaded guilty to bringing aliens to the United States and conspiring with her husband and others to carry out the scheme.
According to U.S. Attorney Peter Smith, in August and September 2013, Ortiz and others smuggled aliens across the United States-Mexico border by commercial aircraft, in a vehicle with a hidden compartment or “trap” to conceal their presence from law enforcement and on foot. At least two of these aliens, including a 7 year old boy, traveled from Mexico, through Texas and ultimately into Central Pennsylvania. Ortiz was paid for bringing aliens across the border. On September 24, 2013, Ortiz and her husband were stopped with tickets to Mexico City at the Harrisburg International Airport by agents from DEA and taken into custody.
This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Meredith A. Taylor.
13 Bay Area Defendants Charged in Four Separate Tax Fraud SchemesRead the Press Release
SAN FRANCISCO – The grand jury returned indictments charging 13 people in connection with four separate tax fraud schemes, announced United States Attorney Melinda Haag and Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, Special Agent in Charge José M. Martinez.
On January 6, 2015, San Francisco residents Josiah Larkin, 38, Monica Cobbins, 47, Krishell Robinson, 25, Thomalyn Virden, 51, and Ursula Choice, 28, were charged in a 32 count indictment with conspiracy to file false claims and filing false claims. According to the indictment, Larkin owned and operated a tax preparation business in San Francisco that he called Colbert Ball Tax Service. “Colbert/Ball Tax Service” is a national income tax preparation service with over 283 locations. The indictment alleges that Larkin did not have a franchise or other licensing arrangement with Colbert/Ball and used its name without authority from the company. Cobbins, Robinson, Virden, and Choice were hired by Larkin and prepared tax returns for his Colbert Ball Tax Service. Between November 2012 and August 2013, the defendants filed with the IRS, or assisted in filing, federal income tax returns falsely claiming that education expenses had been paid and the taxpayers were therefore eligible for the American Opportunity Tax Credit and a corresponding tax refund. Larkin directed that the tax refunds be paid in a manner that allowed him to control the refunds and collect his fee, which was approximately half the refund.
Cobbins made her initial appearance in federal court in San Francisco on January 21, 2015, and was released on bail set at $20,000. Larkin, Choice, and Robinson made their initial appearance in federal court in San Francisco on January 22, 2015. Larkin was released on bail set at $200,000. Choice and Robinson were released on bail set at $50,000. These defendants appeared before the Honorable Jacqueline Scott Corley, U.S. Magistrate Court Judge. Virden made her initial appearance in federal court in San Francisco on January 26, 2015, before the Honorable Joseph Spero, U.S. Magistrate Court Judge. The next scheduled appearance for Larkin, Cobbins, Choice, Robinson, and Virden is a status conference set at 2:30 on January 30, 2015, before the Honorable Susan Illston, U.S. District Court Judge.
On January 8, 2015, Jamillah Thompson, 23, of Antioch, was charged in a four count indictment with conspiracy to file false claims and wire fraud, unrelated to the conspiracy alleged in the indictment of Cobbins, Robinson, Virden, and Choice. According to the indictment charging Thompson, between January 2010 and February 2012, Thompson and others filed or helped file false claims with the IRS requesting refunds in the names of others. The indictment alleges that, as part of the scheme, Thompson procured the names and identities of taxpayers through illegal means or by agreement with participants in the scheme. The tax returns were electronically filed and included fictitious Forms W-2 to support the wages reported on the false tax returns filed.
Thompson was arrested in Antioch on January 21, 2015, and made her initial appearance in federal court the same day. Thompson was released on a $50,000 unsecured bond. Thompson appeared before the Honorable Kandis A. Westmore, U.S. Magistrate Court Judge in Oakland. Her next scheduled appearance is set for January 29, 2015.
On January 8, 2015, Kenneth Brown, 49, of Oakland, and Kenya Brown, 30, of Dublin, were charged in a nine count indictment with conspiracy to file false claims, wire fraud, theft of public money, and aggravated identity theft. Between April 2009 and June 2011, the defendants filed or help file false claims with the IRS requesting refunds in the names of others. The indictment alleges that the defendants electronically filed with the IRS or assisted in filing with the IRS false federal income tax returns using personal information obtained by illegal means. The returns falsely claimed that the people listed on the returns earned wages in amounts specified on a fictitious Form W-2 that was filed with the tax return. The defendants forged the purported filers’ electronic signature on the filed tax returns.Kenneth Brown was arrested in Oakland on January 21, 2015, and made his initial appearance in federal court the same day before Judge Westmore in Oakland. He was released on a $100,000 unsecured bond and is set to appear next at a status conference on January 30, 2015, before the Honorable Jon S. Tigar, U.S. District Court Judge. Kenya Brown has not made her initial appearance in federal court.
On January 15, 2015, Cassandra Tompkins, of Oakland, Cordia Spearman, of Vacaville, Damien Mitchell, of El Sobrante, and Tanya Keith, of Oakland, were charged in a 13 count indictment with conspiracy to file false claims. Tompkins was also charged with theft of government property, filing false claims, and aggravated identity theft. Keith was also charged with wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. Mitchell was also charged with theft of government property and aggravated identity theft. The indictment alleges that between January 15, 2011, and May 15, 2012, these defendants conspired to defraud the IRS by obtaining and aiding to obtain the payment of false claims. According to the indictment, as part of the scheme, the defendants filed or helped others file false federal income tax returns with the IRS requesting refunds. These federal income tax returns falsely reported that taxpayers earned wages in amounts specified on fictitious Forms W-2 filed with each return. The false income tax returns reported that taxes had been withheld by employers and falsely claimed refunds from the IRS.
Tompkins and Spearman made their initial appearances in federal court in Oakland on January 20, 2015, and were released on bail set at $50,000. Mitchell made her initial appearance in federal court in Oakland on January 21, 2015, and was released on bail set at $50,000. The defendants all appeared before Judge Westmore. Keith has not made her initial appearance in federal court. The next scheduled appearance for Tompkins, Spearman, and Mitchell is on March 20, 2015, before the Honorable James Donato, U.S. District Court Judge.
An indictment merely alleges that crimes have been committed, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. The maximum sentence for conspiracy to file false claims, in violation of 18 U.S.C § 286, is 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000. The maximum penalty for each count of false claims, in violation of a Title 18, U.S.C § 287, is five years in prison and a fine of $250,000. The maximum penalty for theft of public money, in violation of Title 18, U.S.C § 641, is 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000. The maximum penalty for wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, U.S.C § 1343, is 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000. The maximum penalty for each count of identity fraud, in violation of a Title 18, U.S.C § 1028A, is two years in prison, consecutive to the underlying felony and a fine of $250,000. However, any sentence following conviction would be imposed by the court after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C. § 3553.
Thomas Newman and Cynthia Stier are the Assistant U.S. Attorneys who are prosecuting these cases. The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation.
26 January 2015
Woman Sentenced to Prison for Defrauding St Albert the Great’s Parent Teacher Organization of More Than $67,000Read the Press Release
DAYTON – Jennifer Boggan, 41, of Centerville, Ohio, was sentenced in U.S. District Court to one year in prison for wire fraud, placed on three years of supervised release and ordered to make restitution in the amount of $50,464.02.
Carter M. Stewart, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, Mark Porter, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Secret Service, and Kettering Police Chief James M. O’Dell announced the sentence handed down today by U.S District Judge Walter H. Rice.
According to court documents, from approximately September 2010 until February 2012, Boggan served as the volunteer treasurer for St. Albert The Great Catholic School Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) in Kettering, Ohio. During that time, Boggan embezzled funds from the PTO’s bank account by a variety of methods, including preparing and endorsing checks to herself and her mother. Boggan attempted to conceal her fraudulent activities by falsely coding the checks as legitimate expenditures. She also made unauthorized cash withdrawals and purchases of gift cards from Target and the Greene Town Center using money from the PTO’s bank account.
As a result of Boggan’s scheme, she caused a loss of approximately $67,329.98 to the St. Albert PTO.
Boggan pleaded guilty on March 14, 2014 to wire fraud.“Boggan stole money raised by elementary school kids that was used to help offset the costs of school field trips, purchase teaching supplies, acquire ‘Smart Boards,’ fund scholarships and arrange for guest speakers,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Alex Sistla told the court. “Her entire tenure as the PTO’s volunteer treasurer was marked by deceit and fraud.”
U.S. Attorney Stewart commended the cooperative investigation by the Secret Service and Kettering Police Department, as well as Assistant United States Attorney Alex R. Sistla, who is representing the United States in this case.
West Jordan Woman Pleads Guilty to Using the Personal Identifiers of Deceased Individuals to Get Tax ReturnsRead the Press Release
SALT LAKE CITY - Jacquelin Boyd, aka Jacquelyn Boyd, age 37, of West Jordan, entered a guilty plea to making a false claim to the IRS in U.S. District Court Friday afternoon. Boyd admitted that from May 2, 2012, through about Oct. 13, 2012, she worked with others to obtain the names, addresses, social security numbers and other personal identifiers of deceased individuals and used the information to file false and fraudulent tax returns with the IRS.
Boyd admitted that she created false records of employers, wages, and Utah addresses to submit with the returns. She directed that the refunds, based on the fraudulent information, be deposited to various bank accounts under her control. She withdrew the money after it was deposited in the accounts.
She pled guilty to a count involving a false tax return filed on Oct. 13, 2012, in the name of A.B., who is deceased. A return of $2,444 was mailed to Boyd.
“IRS Criminal Investigation, along with our law enforcement partners and the United States Attorney's Office, continue to do our part in protecting the integrity of the tax system and those individuals whose identities were stolen, as well as recovering any monetary loss against the U.S. Treasury”, stated John G. Collins, IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge of Utah.
The plea agreement includes a recommendation for a sentence of one year and a day, which is subject to court approval. Boyd also agreed to pay $32,243 in restitution to the IRS.
A scheduling hearing has been set for April 15, 2015, at 2:30 p.m., in Judge Tena Campbell’s courtroom.
Webb County, Texas Commissioner Sentenced to 76 Months in Prison for Accepting Bribes in Exchange for Official ActionsRead the Press Release
An elected county commissioner for Precinct 1 of the Webb County Commissioners Court in Texas was sentenced today to 76 months in prison for accepting bribes in exchange for official actions.
Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and Special Agent in Charge Christopher Combs of the FBI’s San Antonio Division made the announcement. U.S. District Judge Marina Garcia Marmolejo of the Southern District of Texas imposed the sentence.
Kristopher Michael Montemayor, 37, of Laredo, Texas, pleaded guilty to one count of federal programs bribery on June 19, 2014. In addition to the prison sentence, he was ordered to pay a fine of $109,405.72 and to forfeit $13,721.16.
In his plea agreement, Montemayor admitted that he solicited and accepted multiple bribes in exchange for promising to perform official acts. Specifically, Montemayor admitted that he accepted three separate bribe payments totaling $11,000 and over $2,700 in electronics and other merchandise, including two Apple iPads and two pairs of Dr. Dre Beats Solo HD headphones, from a businessman who, unbeknownst to Montemayor, was an undercover law enforcement agent. In exchange for the cash and the other items, Montemayor promised to take various forms of official action to promote the business interests of the undercover agent.
Montemayor also admitted to accepting a 2012 Ford F-150 pick-up truck, worth approximately $37,000, in exchange for providing government jobs to the vehicle owner and his spouse. As a result of these appointments, the vehicle owner and his wife received salaries of $26,000 and $45,553 from Webb County. Montemayor admitted that the vehicle owner performed little or no work in exchange for his government salary.
The case was investigated by the Laredo Resident Agency of the FBI’s San Antonio Division. The case was prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Emily Rae Woods and Mark J. Cipolletti of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section.
Virginia man sentenced on heroin chargeRead the Press Release
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – United States Attorney Booth Goodwin announced today that Justin M. Kent, 32, of Richmond, Virginia, was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison.
Kent pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute heroin in October 2014. During a traffic stop on Aug. 14, 2012, members of the Huntington Violent Crime and Drug Task Force found Kent to be in possession of 10 individually wrapped packets of heroin. Kent was also involved in sales of heroin to a confidential informant on two separate occasions in May and June 2012.
Chief United States District Judge Robert C. Chambers imposed the sentence.
The case was investigated by the Huntington Violent Crime and Drug Task Force. Assistant United States Attorney Greg McVey was in charge of the prosecution.
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Two convicted of tax fraudRead the Press Release
CLARKSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA – Two West Virginia residents were convicted of tax fraud today in federal court, United States Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld, II, announced.
Connie Sue Cole, 71, of Bruceton Mills, West Virginia, ran a tax preparation service from her home. Cole repeatedly falsified tax returns by either understating the true income earned by her clients or inflating and overstating the expenses incurred by her clients to fabricate deductions. She admitted today to falsifying a specific tax return in March 2013. The client was entitled to claim business expenses in the amount of $3,682.00. Cole filed a tax return on behalf of the client fraudulently claiming nearly $36,000.00 in business expenses. Cole pled guilty today to a criminal Information charging her with one count of “Aiding and Assisting the Preparation of Fraudulent Tax Returns.” She faces up to three years in prison and a fine of up to $1,000,000.00.
Morgantown, West Virginia businessman Michael A. Vecchio, Jr., 53, of Morgantown, West Virginia, admitted today that he repeatedly misappropriated profits from his various businesses. He diverted corporate income into his personal bank accounts, used business income to pay his personal credit card debt, and used his business credit card for personal living expenses. He failed to declare any of these payments as corporate or personal income. Vecchio pled guilty today to a criminal Information charging him with one count of “Attempts to Interfere with the Administration of the Internal Revenue Laws.” He faces up to three years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.00.
Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed will be based upon the seriousness of the offenses and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendants.
“Those that don’t comply with the federal tax laws, are in reality stealing from honest tax paying Americans who comply with their tax obligations,” said Guy Ficco, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation, Washington, D.C. Field Office. “We should not forget that we are the ultimate victims of tax fraud.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Cogar is prosecuting Cole and Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert McWilliams is prosecuting Vecchio on behalf of the government. The Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation is leading the investigations.
U.S. Magistrate Judge John S. Kaull presided.
Two Wheeling men sentenced for cocaine traffickingRead the Press Release
WHEELING, WEST VIRGINIA – Jackie Byrd, 25, and Marisol Rodriguez, 34, both of Wheeling, were sentenced today for cocaine trafficking, United States Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld, II, announced.
An investigation by the Ohio Valley Drug and Violent Crime Task Force, a HIDTA-funded initiative, revealed that Byrd and Rodriguez sold crack cocaine in the Northern District of West Virginia throughout 2014. Additionally, Byrd stabbed a confidential informant in July 2014.
Byrd and Rodriguez each pled guilty in November 2014 to one count of “Conspiracy to Possess with Intent and to Distribute Cocaine Base.” Byrd further pled guilty to one count of “Retaliation Against a Cooperating Witness.” Byrd was sentenced today to 46 months in prison on each count. The sentences will run concurrently for a total of 46 months in prison. Rodriguez was sentenced to 6 months in prison.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Randy Bernard prosecuted the case on behalf of the government.
Senior U.S. District Judge Frederick P. Stamp presided.
Texas Man Arrested in Kansas Charged in Federal Court with KidnapingRead the Press Release
WICHITA, KAN. – A Texas man was charged with kidnapping in federal court in Wichita Monday, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said.
Joseph Andrew DeRusse, 24, Austin, Texas, was charged in a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Wichita.
The complaint alleges that on Jan. 23, 2015, DeRusse kidnaped a victim identified as HMM. He intended to force her to spend three weeks with him at a bed and breakfast in Narka, Kan., during which time he intended to convince her to marry him. He is alleged to have abducted her at gunpoint in Austin. He handcuffed her and blindfolded her before driving her from Texas to Kansas. It was not until later she learned that the weapon was a BB gun.
DeRusse’s car was tracked by GPS during the drive to Kansas. On Friday, the Newton Police Department used the GPS information to find his car and pull him over on northbound I-135 at milepost 41, where they freed the victim. In the car, they found an engagement ring DeRusse had purchased.
If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of life in federal prison. The Newton Police Department and the FBI investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron Smith is prosecuting.
In all cases, defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty. The indictments merely contain allegations of criminal conduct
Tennessee Man Convicted at Trial for Failure to Register as A Sex Offender to Serve 30 Months in Federal PrisonRead the Press Release
Follow @SDILNewsRonald Douglas, a 59-year old, Memphis, Tennessee, man was sentenced on January 23, 2015, in federal district court in East St. Louis, Illinois, for violation of the Sex Offender Notification and Registration Act, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, Stephen R. Wigginton, announced today. Douglas was convicted by a jury following a three day trial which started on September 17, 2014. Douglas was sentenced to 30 months’ in prison. Additionally, he will serve a five year term of supervised release following service of his sentence. Douglas was also fined $250 and ordered to pay a $150 special assessment.
The violation was discovered after local officers conducting a sex offender registration compliance check on October 25, 2012, at Douglas’ registered address in Granite City, Illinois, were informed by a live-in girlfriend that Douglas had moved to Memphis, TN in September 2012. Douglas was required to register because of a June 5, 1992, conviction for Aggravated Criminal Sexual Abuse in Third Judicial Circuit Court in Madison County, Illinois. He violated federal registration requirements by crossing a state line and by failing to register or to update a registration within three days.
Further information about federal sex offender registration requirements is available here: http://www.justice.gov/criminal/ceos/citizensguide/citizensguide_sorna.html
The case was investigated by the Granite City Police Department and the United States Marshals Service. Assistant United States Attorneys’ Daniel T. Kapsak and Nathan D. Stump prosecuted the case.
Sex Offender Sentenced for Failure to RegisterRead the Press Release
The United States Attorney for the Southern District of Alabama, Kenyen R. Brown, announces that Sulayman Basim Akbar was sentenced for failing to register as a sex offender in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2250A. Judge Charles R. Butler sentenced Akbar to time served imprisonment and five years supervised release. The defendant also has to pay a $100 Special Assessment.
This case was investigated by the United States Marshal’s Service. The case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney=s Office for the Southern District of Alabama, AUSA Maria E. Murphy.
Severn Man Sentenced to 25 Years in Prison for Producing Child PornographyRead the Press Release
Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Ellen L. Hollander sentenced Darrius Carr, age 22, of Severn, today to 25 years in prison followed by a lifetime of supervised release for producing child pornography arising from his sexual assault of a toddler on March 7 and 11, 2014. Judge Hollander ordered that upon his release from prison, Carr 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; Anne Arundel County Police Chief Tim Altomare; and Anne Arundel County State’s Attorney Wes Adams.
According to his plea agreement, in March 2014, Carr did not have a place to stay. Carr moved in with a family in order to provide daycare for the couple’s young children on March 6, 2014.
The next day, while the parents were at work, Carr was alone with the children. During a four minute time span, Carr produced six photos and a video of himself and the girl engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
On March 11, 2014, Carr was again left alone with the children. Carr produced another video of himself and the victim. The video is a close up of the victim’s genitals, and during the video Carr touches her.
Additionally, since at least 2012, Carr used his email accounts, online storage accounts, and Instagram account to store and distribute child pornography. The distributed files of child pornography included more than 600 images of prepubescent minors, and videos.
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, Anne Arundel County Police Department and Anne Arundel County State’s Attorney’s Office for their work in the investigation. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul E. Budlow, who prosecuted the case.
Saratoga County Man Pleads Guilty to Receipt and Possession of Child PornographyRead the Press Release
ALBANY, NEW YORK – JOHN J. TIGHE, age 57, of Milton, New York, pled guilty today in Albany before United States District Judge Thomas J. McAvoy to one count of receipt of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography, announced United States Attorney Richard S. Hartunian and Andrew W. Vale, Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
TIGHE faces at least 5 years and up to 20 years of imprisonment, as well as a term of supervised release of at least 5 years and up to life. He also faces a maximum fine of $250,000 and mandatory registration as a sex offender. TIGHE will be sentenced in Albany, New York on June 8, 2015.
As part of his guilty plea, TIGHE admitted that in June 2013 he knowingly received child pornography and that in October 2013 he knowingly possessed child pornography involving prepubescent minors and minors who had not attained 12 years of age.
This case was investigated by the New York State Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation and is being prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Amanda W. Cox.
Saranac Lake, NY Fraud Scheme Nets Man 144 Month Prison TermRead the Press Release
ALBANY, NY –A Ventura, California man has been sentenced to 144 months in federal prison after admitting his participation in an $8 million investment scheme luring investors with false promises relating to the development of an alternative energy technology, announced United States Attorney Richard S. Hartunian, the United States Attorney for the Northern District of New York. This case, based out of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York, was resolved in the Central District of California as a result of a change in venue.
William A. Stehl, 70, received the following sentences from Senior United States District Judge Terry J. Hatter, Jr. in Federal Court in Los Angeles on January 21:
144 months for conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud; 60 months for lying to federal agents; 60 months each for evading federal income taxes in 2003 and 2004; and
36 months for subscribing to a false federal income tax return in 2003.All sentences were ordered to run concurrently. Stehl was also ordered to pay $8,118,037.18 restitution to more than 300 victims of the fraud, and to serve a term of supervised release for 3 years upon his release from prison.
Stehl and a co-defendant, Richard M. Rossignol, 64, of Los Angeles, California, were arrested in Oxnard, California four years ago in connection with an indictment filed in the Northern District of New York. Both men were charged with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud. Additionally, Stehl was charged with several tax charges and lying to federal agents.
The conspiracy count alleged that from 2001, up to the time of the indictment in March 2010, Stehl, Rossignol, and others induced victims to invest money in companies that were purportedly developing or utilizing an alternative energy source Stehl claimed he had developed. Investors were told that one of Stehl’s applications related to the processing of precious metals, allegedly contained in a slag pile in Silver City, New Mexico.
Stehl and Rossignol were charged with fraudulently obtaining money from investors by making false representations about the status of the process, claiming that contracts and licensing agreements had either been signed, or were about to be signed, that would result in significant financial returns for the investors. Stehl, Rossignol, and others obtained more than $8 million from more than 300 victims, and attempted to obtain at least an additional $50 million. None of the investors received the returns promised by Stehl and Rossignol. Most of the money obtained was used for personal expenditures.
Stehl was living near Saranac Lake, New York, when the scheme started, and moved to Southern California in late 2005. Fraud victims lived all across the United States.
Although the indictment was originally filed in Federal Court in Binghamton, New York, in October 2012, the case was transferred to the Central District of California to accommodate Stehl, who received injuries in an explosion that occurred in a building in Sylmar, California, on August 9, 2011.
Judge Hatter ordered Stehl to surrender himself at the facility designated by the Bureau of Prisons on March 20, 2015.
Trial and Sentencing of Co-Defendant Richard Rossignol
Rossignol’s case went to trial in Los Angeles on January 14, 2014. On February 28, the jury convicted Rossignol of the sole count he faced, conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud. On July 28, the Court sentenced Rossignol to 20 years – the maximum statutory sentence – and immediately remanded him into custody. The Court also ordered Rossignol to pay more than $8.1 million in restitution to the fraud victims, describing the fraud as being among the most egregious it had seen in 20 years.
The investigation in this case was conducted by Special Agents of the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation, New York Field Office, and the Albany, New York, Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kevin P. Dooley of the Binghamton branch office in the Northern District of New York. Additional inquiries can be directed to Marilyn Morey or Assistant United States Attorney Elizabeth Coombe at 518-431-0247.
Saranac Lake Fraud Scheme Nets Man 144 Month Prison TermRead the Press Release
ALBANY, NY –A Ventura, California man has been sentenced to 144 months in federal prison after admitting his participation in an $8 million investment scheme luring investors with false promises relating to the development of an alternative energy technology, announced United States Attorney Richard S. Hartunian, the United States Attorney for the Northern District of New York. This case, based out of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York, was resolved in the Central District of California as a result of a change in venue.
William A. Stehl
, 70, received the following sentences from Senior United States District Judge Terry J. Hatter, Jr. in Federal Court in Los Angeles on January 21:
144 months for conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud;
60 months for lying to federal agents;
60 months each for evading federal income taxes in 2003 and 2004; and
36 months for subscribing to a false federal income tax return in 2003.
All sentences were ordered to run concurrently. Stehl was also ordered to pay $8,118,037.18 restitution to more than 300 victims of the fraud, and to serve a term of supervised release for 3 years upon his release from prison.
Stehl and a co-defendant, Richard M. Rossignol, 64, of Los Angeles, California, were arrested in Oxnard, California four years ago in connection with an indictment filed in the Northern District of New York. Both men were charged with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud. Additionally, Stehl was charged with several tax charges and lying to federal agents.
The conspiracy count alleged that from 2001, up to the time of the indictment in March 2010, Stehl, Rossignol, and others induced victims to invest money in companies that were purportedly developing or utilizing an alternative energy source Stehl claimed he had developed. Investors were told that one of Stehl’s applications related to the processing of precious metals, allegedly contained in a slag pile in Silver City, New Mexico.
Stehl and Rossignol were charged with fraudulently obtaining money from investors by making false representations about the status of the process, claiming that contracts and licensing agreements had either been signed, or were about to be signed, that would result in significant financial returns for the investors. Stehl, Rossignol, and others obtained more than $8 million from more than 300 victims, and attempted to obtain at least an additional $50 million. None of the investors received the returns promised by Stehl and Rossignol. Most of the money obtained was used for personal expenditures.
Stehl was living near Saranac Lake, New York, when the scheme started, and moved to Southern California in late 2005. Fraud victims lived all across the United States.
Although the indictment was originally filed in Federal Court in Binghamton, New York, in October 2012, the case was transferred to the Central District of California to accommodate Stehl, who received injuries in an explosion that occurred in a building in Sylmar, California, on August 9, 2011.
Judge Hatter ordered Stehl to surrender himself at the facility designated by the Bureau of Prisons on March 20, 2015.
Trial and Sentencing of Co-Defendant Richard Rossignol
Rossignol’s case went to trial in Los Angeles on January 14, 2014. On February 28, the jury convicted Rossignol of the sole count he faced, conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud. On July 28, the Court sentenced Rossignol to 20 years – the maximum statutory sentence – and immediately remanded him into custody. The Court also ordered Rossignol to pay more than $8.1 million in restitution to the fraud victims, describing the fraud as being among the most egregious it had seen in 20 years.
The investigation in this case was conducted by Special Agents of the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation, New York Field Office, and the Albany, New York, Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kevin P. Dooley of the Binghamton branch office in the Northern District of New York. Additional inquiries can be directed to Marilyn Morey or Assistant United States Attorney Elizabeth Coombe at 518-431-0247.