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8 January 2015
Tahlequah Man Sentenced to 65 Months for Possession of Destructive DeviceRead the Press Release
Muskogee, Oklahoma - The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, announced that JOBY TUCSON NORTHINGTON, age 34, of Tahlequah, Oklahoma, was sentenced to 65 months imprisonment, followed by 3 years of supervised release for POSSESSION OF UNREGISTERED FIREARM (DESTRUCTIVE DEVICE), in violation of Title 26, United States Code, Sections 5861(d), 5841 and 5871.
The charge is a result of an investigation by the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The defendant was indicted in July, 2014 and pled guilty in August, 2014.
The Indictment alleged that on or about April 12, 2014, within the Eastern District of Oklahoma, the defendant did knowingly possess a destructive device, which is a firearm, as defined in Title 26, United States Code, Section 5845, not registered to him in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record.
The Honorable James H. Payne, District Judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, in Muskogee, presided over the hearing. The defendant will remain in the custody of the United States Marshal Service pending transportation to the designated federal facility at which he will serve his nonparolable sentence.
Assistant United States Attorney Chris Wilson represented the United States.
Staten Island Physician’s Assistant Pleads Guilty in Manhattan Federal Court to Massive Oxycodone Distribution ConspiracyRead the Press Release
Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today that LEONARD MARCHETTA, a physician’s assistant, pled guilty in Manhattan federal court to conspiring to distribute a massive quantity of oxycodone out of a Staten Island-based medical clinic he oversaw. During a period of approximately three years, in exchange for cash payments, MARCHETTA wrote medically unnecessary prescriptions for more than 125,000 30-milligram oxycodone pills to individuals claiming to be “patients,” and on a number of occasions MARCHETTA issued prescriptions in the names of fictitious individuals or individuals whom he had never seen. MARCHETTA was charged in September 2014, and pled guilty today before U.S. District Judge P. Kevin Castel.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said “As Leonard Marchetta oversaw the day-to-day operations of the Staten Island clinic where he worked as a physician’s assistant, he also sat at the center of a scheme to dole out medically unnecessary prescriptions for more than 125,000 oxycodone pills to fake ‘patients.’ His guilty plea today ensures that he will be punished for contributing to the prescription pill abuse epidemic.”
According to the allegations contained in the Indictment and statements made at today’s plea proceeding:
As a physician’s assistant, MARCHETTA, under the supervision of a physician or surgeon, was able to diagnose and treat illnesses and prescribe medications. From at least 2012 until his arrest, MARCHETTA was employed by and oversaw the day-to-day operations of a Staten Island-based medical clinic (the “Clinic”), which advertised itself to the public as a family medical clinic.
During an approximately three-year period, MARCHETTA prescribed oxycodone to “patients” who had no medical need for oxycodone and no legitimate medical record documenting an ailment for which oxycodone would be prescribed. MARCHETTA’s fee for his participation in the scheme was typically approximately $250 in cash for “doctor visits” that usually lasted just a minute or two, involved no actual physical examination, and consistently resulted in the issuance of a prescription for large doses of oxycodone, typically 150 30-milligram tablets. MARCHETTA also received a separate fee of approximately $500 in cash for each medically unnecessary oxycodone prescription he issued. On a number of occasions, MARCHETTA issued prescriptions in the names of fictitious individuals or individuals whom he never saw in exchange for cash. In total, MARCHETTA wrote medically unnecessary prescriptions for more than 125,000 30-milligram oxycodone pills during a period of approximately three years.
As part of the scheme, MARCHETTA’s co-conspirators recruited and paid individuals to pose as “patients” in order to receive medically unnecessary prescriptions from MARCHETTA. On a number of occasions, MARCHETTA wrote a prescription in the name of the “patient” without the “patient” setting foot in the Clinic.
After MARCHETTA issued a medically unnecessary oxycodone prescription in the name of the “patient,” the “patient” was taken or referred to a pharmacy to fill the oxycodone prescription – that is, to obtain the oxycodone tablets – in part for distribution. The patients were paid, typically $150 to $200 in cash, for obtaining and handing over the oxycodone tablets that MARCHETTA had prescribed to them. At times, the “patients,” some of whom were addicted to oxycodone, were paid with oxycodone tablets for their services.
MARCHETTA, 47, of Staten Island, New York, pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute oxycodone, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. He also agreed to forfeit the proceeds that he received from the scheme. MARCHETTA is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Castel on April 16, 2015, at 11:30 a.m. The maximum potential sentence in this case is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of MARCHETTA will be determined by the judge.
Mr. Bharara thanked the United States Department of Health and Human Services, the New York State Department of Financial Services, and the DEA Tactical Diversion Squad New York – comprising agents and officers from the DEA, the New York City Police Department, Town of Orangetown Police Department, and Westchester County Police Department – for their work in the investigation, which he noted is ongoing.
The case is being prosecuted by the Office’s Narcotics Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorney Edward A. Imperatore is in charge of the prosecution.
St. Thomas Man Sentenced to 25 Years in Prison for Child Exploitation OffensesRead the Press Release
St. Thomas, USVI - District Court Judge Curtis V. Gomez today sentenced Raheem T. Creque, 37, of St Thomas, to 25 years in prison and a lifetime of supervised release for production of child pornography, United States Attorney Ronald W. Sharpe announced. Gomez also sentenced Creque to 60 months in prison and three years of supervised release for escape from custody. Both sentences will run concurrently.
Creque was arrested on January 21, 2014 by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and charged with enticing and coercing a minor to engage in sexual activity through use of a facility of interstate commerce. After his detention hearing on January 22, 2014, U.S. Magistrate Judge Ruth Miller ordered Creque held without bail, and remanded him to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service. On January 23, 2014, Creque escaped from the V.I. Bureau of Corrections at the Alexander A. Farrelly Criminal Justice Complex. On January 24, 2014, Judge Gomez issued an arrest warrant for Creque, and after an aggressive, multi-agency manhunt, Creque was arrested on February 28, 2014. On July 9, 2014, he pleaded guilty to three counts of child pornography and one count of escape from custody.
According to court records, Creque came to the attention of law enforcement when a female minor contacted the V.I. Police Department (VIPD) and complained that the defendant had extorted her for sex, threatening to place nude images of her on the Internet. Creque first contacted the minor when she was 15 years old, and told her that he had a sexually explicit video of her, and that he would post it on Facebook if she did not have sex with him. The female minor begged Creque not to release the video, but he continued to threaten her until she complied with his demands. During his sexual assault of the female minor, Creque took a photo of the minor, which he used to further extort her by threatening to post it on Facebook.
Court records also reveal that searches of Creque’s cell phone and Facebook account revealed multiple nude images of other minor females, the youngest being 12, with some of the minors engaged in sexual contact with Creque. When he made his initial contact with the female minors, Creque pretended to be a teenage boy named “Carlos,” and would send images of “Carlos” to the minor victims.
This case was investigated by HSI and VIPD, and prosecuted by Assistant U.S Attorney Everard E. Potter.
St. Louis County Man Indicted on Tax ChargesRead the Press Release
St. Louis, MO – JOHN WEHRLE was indicted for tax evasion and filing false tax returns.
According to the indictment, Wehrle transferred more than $700,000 to his personal bank account during 2008 and 2010 from an account he controlled with funds generated by venture capital investment management companies he lead. When questioned about the transfers during an IRS audit, Wehrle is alleged to have created backdated loan documents to support his contention that the transfers were loans rather than income.
Wehrle’s business partner in the venture capital management businesses, Burton Douglas Morriss, pleaded guilty to tax evasion in 2013 and is serving a five-year sentence for his offense.
"Honest taxpayers need to be reassured that everyone is paying their fair share," said Tanya Brewer, Acting Special Agent in Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation, St. Louis Field Office.
Wehrle, St. Louis County, was indicted by a federal grand jury Wednesday on two counts of tax evasion and two counts of filing a false tax return.
If convicted, Wehrle faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison on each of two tax evasion counts and up to three years in prison on each of two counts of filing a false tax return. Each of the four counts carries a maximum fine of $100,000. Restitution will also be sought for the defendant’s additional tax liability. In determining the actual sentences, a Judge is required to consider the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, which provide recommended sentencing ranges.
This case was investigated by Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Tom Albus is handling the case for the U.S. Attorney's Office.
As is always the case, charges set forth in an indictment are merely accusations and do not constitute proof of guilt. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty.Spiro Woman Sentenced to 150 Months for Drug Conspiracy (Methamphetamine Distribution)Read the Press Release
Muskogee, Oklahoma - The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, announced that DONNA JEAN SCHAFER, age 53, of Spiro, Oklahoma, was sentenced to 150 months imprisonment, followed by 48 months of supervised release for Drug Conspiracy, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Section 846 and 841(a)(1) and 841(b)(1)(A).
The charge is a result of an investigation by the District 16 District Attorney’s Drug Task Force and the Drug Enforcement Administration. The defendant was indicted in March, 2014 and pled guilty in August, 2014.
The Indictment alleged that from in or about the beginning of 2011, the exact date being unknown to the Grand Jury, and continuing until on or about December 31, 2013, in the Eastern District of Oklahoma, and elsewhere, DONNA JEAN SCHAFER, did willfully and knowingly combine, conspire, confederate and agree together, and with others known and unknown to the Grand Jury, to commit offenses against the United States, to wit: to knowingly and intentionally possess with intent to distribute and distribute 500 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine, a Schedule II controlled substance.
The Honorable Ronald A. White, District Judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, in Muskogee, presided over the hearing. The defendant will remain in the custody of the United States Marshal Service pending transportation to the designated federal facility at which she will serve her nonparolable sentence.
Assistant United States Attorney Shannon Henson represented the United States.
Seven Defendants Arrested for Multimillion-Dollar Tax Fraud Scheme Involving Purchase of Children’S Identities from Corrupt New York City EmployeeRead the Press Release
Preet Bharara, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Thomas E. Bishop, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the New York Office of the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation (“IRS-CI”), and Mark Peters, Commissioner of the New York City Department of Investigation (“DOI”), announced today the arrests of NOEL CUELLO, LUZ C. RICARDO, a/k/a “Lucy,” FRANCISCO ABREU, a/k/a “Seyayin,” ARISMENDY CUELLO, a/k/a “Cheito,” JONATHAN ORBE, a/k/a “Jigga,” CATHERINE RICART, a/k/a “Cathy,” and JOEL VARGAS in connection with a large-scale identity theft and tax fraud scheme through which identifying information of minors, including social security numbers, was obtained, including through corrupt payments to ABREU, who worked as a fraud investigator with the New York City Human Resources Administration, and was then used to file thousands of fraudulent tax returns, resulting in millions of dollars in estimated loss to the United States Treasury. The defendants were arrested today and presented in Manhattan federal court before U.S. Magistrate James L. Cott.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said: “As alleged, these defendants committed wholesale tax fraud by falsely claiming minor dependents on thousands of tax returns. That they committed this alleged massive fraud with the assistance of a city agency fraud investigator adds an element of galling irony. We are grateful to our partners in this investigation for exposing the scheme and stopping it.”
IRS-CI Acting Special Agent in Charge Thomas E. Bishop said: “IRS-CI remains committed to the fight against stolen identity tax refund fraud. Large stolen identity tax refund fraud schemes require volumes of personal information to succeed and it is unfortunate when people who have access to such information are willing to sell their positions for personal gain. We are appreciative of the opportunity to work with our law enforcement partners in this investigation.”
DOI Commissioner Mark Peters said: “The first obligation of government officials is to protect the private information of the people we serve. Violating this trust is not only illegal, but affects government’s ability to perform its core functions.”
According to the allegations contained in the Complaint unsealed today in Manhattan federal court:
Under federal law, taxpayers may be entitled to claim certain tax credits, including the Earned Income Tax Credit (“EITC”) available to qualifying low and moderate income working individuals and families. If the individual claims the EITC based on having a child, the individual must list the name and social security number (“SSN”) of the child on his or her tax return, along with completing a separate schedule that contains the child’s name, SSN, year of birth, relationship to the taxpayer, and how many months the child lived with the taxpayer during the tax year.
Between at least approximately 2009 and spring 2014, through a tax preparation business in the Bronx, New York, with multiple locations, the defendants, assisted by co-conspirators, charged individual taxpayers a cash fee in return for which the business would prepare and file tax returns that falsely claimed that the taxpayer had one or more minor dependents, to take fraudulent advantage of the EITC. The business filed thousands of such returns, resulting in refunds of millions of dollars.
The business, which went by several names over the years, was principally operated by NOEL CUELLO and RICARDO, with the assistance of ARISMENDY CUELLO, ORBE, RICART, and VARGAS, who played various roles, including bringing taxpayers to the business, preparing fraudulent returns, and receiving cash payments from clients. ABREU, who worked at the time as a fraud investigator with the New York City Human Resources Administration, sold identifying information of minors to be used in the scheme, including names, dates of birth, and SSNs.
The scheme continued even after IRS-CI executed multiple search warrants on the business, with ORBE claiming to have purchased the business from NOEL CUELLO, and ORBE and RICART establishing new electronic filer accounts with the IRS, and opening new bank accounts, which were used to continue the scheme.
In addition to accepting cash in return for assisting other taxpayers to file fraudulent returns, RICARDO, ARISMENDY CUELLO, ORBE, RICART, and VARGAS filed their own fraudulent returns in multiple years, falsely claiming to have one or more minor dependents.
Each of the defendants, NOEL CUELLO, 31, LUZ C. RICARDO, 33, FRANCISCO ABREU, 43, ARISMENDY CUELLO, 28, JONATHAN ORBE, 25, CATHERINE RICART, 36, and JOEL VARGAS, 28, all of the Bronx, New York, is charged with one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States with respect to claims, which carries a maximum term of 10 years; one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, which carries a maximum term of 20 years; and one count of aggravated identity theft, which carries a mandatory minimum term of 24 months, to be served consecutively to the sentence imposed for any other count. In addition, RICARDO is charged with two counts of subscribing to a false return; ARISMENDY CUELLO is charged with three counts of subscribing to a false return; ORBE is charged with two counts of subscribing to a false return; RICART is charged with five counts of subscribing to a false return; and VARGAS is charged with two counts of subscribing to false return. Each of the false return counts carries a maximum term of three years. The maximum potential sentences in this case are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendants will be determined by the judge.
Mr. Bharara praised the outstanding work of IRS-CI and DOI in the investigation. Mr. Bharara also thanked the Social Security Administration-Office of Inspector General for its assistance in the case, which he noted is ongoing.
The case is being handled by the Office’s Public Corruption Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Daniel C. Richenthal and Sarah R. Krissoff are in charge of the prosecution.
The charges contained in the Complaint are merely accusations and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
USA v. Noel Cuello, et al., Complaint 15 Mag. 41
Sentencings for January 5 - 8, 2015Read the Press Release
Darren Olson, 27, of Rock Springs, Wyoming, was sentenced by Chief Federal District Court Judge Nancy D. Freudenthal on January 8, 2015, for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and to distribute, heroin. Olson was arrested in Rock Springs, Wyoming. He received 41 months imprisonment, to be followed by four years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay a $100.00 special assessment and a $200.00 fine. This case was investigated by the Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office, the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
Erica J. Ganino, 26, of Green River, Wyoming, was sentenced by Chief Federal District Court Judge Nancy D. Freudenthal on January 8, 2015, for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute heroin. Ganino self-surrendered. She received 60 months imprisonment, to be followed by four years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay a $100.00 special assessment. This case was investigated by the Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office, the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
Gerardo Sanchez-Morales, 29, of Mexico, was sentenced by Chief Federal District Court Judge Nancy D. Freudenthal on January 7, 2015, for illegal re-entry of a previously deported alien into the United States. Sanchez-Morales was arrested in Jackson, Wyoming. He received time served, plus ten days, was ordered to pay a $100.00 special assessment, and is subject to deportation upon release from custody. This case was investigated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Amanda Alcon, 33, of Cheyenne, Wyoming, was sentenced by Federal District Court Judge Scott W. Skavdahl on January 5, 2015, for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and to distribute, methamphetamine. Alcon was arrested in Cheyenne, Wyoming. She received 78 months imprisonment, to be followed by three years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay a $100.00 special assessment and a $100.00 fine. This case was investigated by the Cheyenne Police Department.
Andrew J. Ebert, 27, of Green River, Wyoming, was sentenced by Chief Federal District Court Judge Nancy D. Freudenthal on January 5, 2015, for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and to distribute, heroin. Ebert was arrested in Green River, Wyoming. He received 70 months imprisonment, to be followed by five years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay a $100.00 special assessment and restitution in the amount of $17,167.50. This case was investigated by the Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office, the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
San Antonio Man Sentenced to 70 Months in Federal Prison for Receipt of Child PornographyRead the Press Release
In San Antonio today, U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia sentenced 43-year-old Raul Salazar to 70 months in federal prison followed by a 20 years of supervised release for receipt of child pornography announced Acting United States Attorney Richard L. Durbin, Jr., and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Special Agent in Charge Janice Ayala.
On August 28, 2013, federal and state authorities executed a search warrant at the defendant’s residence. An analysis of computer related equipment collected by authorities revealed that on August 25, 2013, Salazar downloaded and viewed over 150 images depicting child pornography. On March 3, 2014, Salazar pleaded guilty to the receipt of child pornography charge.
“By conducting these types of investigations, HSI is taking child predators off the Internet, off the streets, and putting them behind bars,” said Special Agent in Charge, Janice Ayala, HSI San Antonio. “Targeting these crimes against children is a high priority for HSI. We will continue to dedicate law enforcement resources to identify and bring to justice child predators that traumatize and victimize children.”
This investigation was conducted by HSI together with the Texas Department of Public Safety. Assistant United States Attorney Tracy Thompson prosecuted this case on behalf of the Government.
Remarks by U.S. Attorney Damon P. Martinez at Second Bernalillo County Opioid Accountability SummitRead the Press Release
Remarks as Prepared for Delivery
Thank you, Dr. Bill Wiese, for your kind introduction. I want to start by thanking Commissioner Maggie Hart Stebbins and her team for their leadership in confronting the crisis posed by opioid abuse not only in Bernalillo County but throughout New Mexico. I also want to thank the Coordinating Committee for the Bernalillo County Opioid Accountability Initiative, including Dr. Wiese, Dr. Harris Silver and Marsha McMurray-Avila, for all that they have been doing every day for the past two years to forge safer and healthier communities in New Mexico.
Thank you also for including the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the UNM Health Sciences Center in the Bernalillo County Opioid Accountability Initiative, and for giving Chancellor Paul Roth and me the opportunity to participate in today’s Summit for the purpose of discussing how our organizations can contribute to and build on the good work that is already being done here in Bernalillo County.
Let me start by telling you that Chancellor Roth and I recently agreed to have our organizations collaborate on the New Mexico Heroin and Opioid Prevention and Education Initiative, which we call the HOPE Initiative. Although the HOPE Initiative will gradually be implemented state-wide, we decided to begin implementation here in Bernalillo County because we knew we would be able to capitalize on the infrastructure provided by the County’s Initiative.
The County’s Opioid Abuse Accountability Initiative already has brought together many experts, advocates, leaders and other critical stakeholders from our public health, research and education, law enforcement, and substance use disorder prevention and treatment communities who are dedicated to confronting heroin and prescription drug abuse. Your commitment to improving and saving lives is inspiring, and the guidance and expertise you bring comes at a time when much is at stake. You know the challenges we face are daunting. You also know that it makes sense to focus on the most dangerous types of drugs. And right now, few substances are more lethal than prescription opioids and heroin.
Between 2006 and 2010, across America, heroin-related deaths increased by 45 percent. During that same period, here in New Mexico, the increase in heroin-related deaths paralleled the national increase but at a rate that was two times greater. These shocking statistics – which do not include death resulting from prescription opioid abuse – are clear indications that we are up against an urgent public safety and public health crisis. This is a crisis that affects Americans in every state, in every region, and from every background and walk of life. Accordingly, the overriding goal of the HOPE Initiative is to reduce the number of opioid-related deaths in New Mexico.
The HOPE Initiative is an integral part of my office’s implementation of the federal Smart on Crime Initiative announced by the U.S. Attorney General in August 2013. This nationwide initiative seeks to achieve better outcomes throughout the federal criminal justice system, especially with regard to nonviolent, drug-related crimes. It recognizes that we cannot simply arrest our way out of the drug problem. While effective law enforcement will always play a critical role in protecting our cities and neighborhoods from drug-related crime, reducing crime requires a broader, multi-dimensional approach. Science clearly demonstrates that addiction is a progressive disease of the brain that can be prevented and treated and from which people can recover. With this in mind, we must treat substance abuse and the disease of addiction as a public health issue, not just a criminal justice issue.
Accordingly, under the Smart on Crime Initiative, the Justice Department is focusing federal resources on investigations and prosecutions that serve a significant federal interest while strengthening diversion programs and community service initiatives that provide alternatives to incarceration for some individuals and offer treatment and rehabilitation to those who need it. It strives to improve and reinforce reentry programs and initiatives so that formerly incarcerated individuals can return to their communities better prepared to become full and productive members of society. It recognizes that education, prevention, and treatment, along with vigorous law enforcement, must all be significant components of any comprehensive solution. It also calls on U.S. Attorneys to modify their charging policies to ensure that stringent mandatory minimum sentences are reserved for the most serious criminals and that those who commit low-level, non-violent crimes will face sentences appropriate to their individual conduct.
When I was confirmed as U.S. Attorney in May of last year, I made implementation of the Attorney General’s Smart on Crime Initiative one of my top priorities. The HOPE Initiative is a key part of the implementation of the Smart on Crime Initiative here in New Mexico. The HOPE Initiative is comprised of five components: (1) prevention and education; (2) treatment; (3) law enforcement; (4) reentry; and (5) strategic planning. The U.S. Attorney’s Office has long participated in prevention and education programs, and it will expand on those efforts as part of this Initiative. It also fully supports efforts to expand on available treatment options. Today I will touch on what the U.S. Attorney’s Office is doing with regard to the HOPE Initiative’s reentry and law enforcement components, and Chancellor Roth will discuss the prevention, education and treatment components of the Initiative.Under our Project Safe Neighborhood program that focuses on the Urban Indian community in Bernalillo County, we are working with the Pueblo of Isleta to establish one of the country’s first reentry programs in Indian Country. This program is a pilot project for Pueblo members who are returning to Isleta Pueblo after being incarcerated in federal, state and juvenile facilities. The program seeks to ensure that reentering Pueblo members have access to education, housing and employment in addition to the substance abuse treatment and counseling they will need so they can successfully return to their community. These components are also critical to avoid relapse to addictive behaviors, and to reduce the likelihood of recidivism to the criminal justice system.
The Isleta Pueblo reentry program is our first step into the reentry arena. We intend to expand our reentry efforts to other Pueblos and Tribes as well as support the State’s reentry programs. To facilitate this expansion, in April of this year, we will partner with DOJ’s Bureau of Justice Assistance to host one of three Indian Country reentry training programs that will be offered to tribal communities throughout the country. We will encourage New Mexico’s tribal leaders to participate in the training as preparation for establishing reentry programs in their communities.
The law enforcement component of the HOPE Initiative makes clear that the U.S. Attorney’s Office will never waver in its commitment to act aggressively to keep our streets safe and our children free from drug addiction and abuse. It makes clear that we will never stop being tough on crime and the choices that breed it. But it also recognizes that we must be smart, efficient, and effective as we strive to disrupt and diminish the scourge of addiction – along with the underlying conditions that trap too many individuals in a vicious cycle of drugs, criminality, and incarceration.
We will focus our law enforcement efforts to combat the opioid abuse problem in New Mexico against the backdrop of the broader goals of our Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force program, known as the OCDETF program. Those goals include identifying, disrupting and dismantling the most significant criminal organizations responsible for the manufacture and distribution of heroin and illegally trafficked opioids. They also include facilitating the coordination of law enforcement efforts against heroin and opioid traffickers, and dismantling the financial infrastructure of these criminal organizations. To achieve those goals, we will continue to target cartels and other drug trafficking organizations that have significantly expanded their production of heroin and its distribution in the United States as well as the heroin traffickers who have expanded into areas with existing prescription drug abuse problems. Focus on the cartels and drug trafficking organizations is imperative because the amount of heroin seized along the southwest border increased by more than 320% between 2008 and 2013.
Our situation, however, is not simply a problem of drugs crossing our borders or another country’s bad actors harming us. It is OUR problem. Practitioners who illegally dispense prescriptions painkillers, those who operate pill mills for prescription painkillers, and pharmacists who fill fraudulent prescriptions while knowing their true purpose, are drug dealers no different from street-level heroin dealers. And so we will also investigate and prosecute prescription drug diversion schemes, pill mills, rogue clinics and pharmacies, and prescription drug rings.
In conjunction with our “worst of the worst” initiative, we will continue to work with our local District Attorneys to target heroin and opioid traffickers with prior convictions for federal prosecution with the goal of removing them from our communities for as long as possible. This year, Albuquerque has experienced a sharp increase in the number of pharmacies robbed at gunpoint for opioid painkillers. These offenders will also be targeted under the HOPE Initiative. We will continue to work with corrections officials to investigate and prosecute those who interfere with and obstruct rehabilitation and treatment efforts within custodial settings by introducing drugs into our prisons and jails.
The law enforcement community’s commitment to the HOPE Initiative and the County’s Opioid Abuse Accountability Initiative is apparent by their participation in this Summit. Will members of the law enforcement community please stand up? Please join me in a round of applause to thank these officers for putting themselves on the front lines for us and our families. The agencies represented by these fine men and women are committed to thoroughly investigating drug-fueled crime and violence, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office will vigorously prosecute those cases.
As I mentioned earlier, the crisis we face is not just a crime problem. It is a community public health problem. Whenever people look at this problem, they come to the same conclusions: (1) there is no simple answer; (2) we cannot stand by and do nothing; (3) we cannot arrest and prosecute our way out of it; and (4) the stigma associated with the disease of addiction helps perpetuate the problem. This crisis demands that we join together to employ a comprehensive strategy that addresses every aspect, every phase, and every cause of this crisis.
As elected and appointed officials, law enforcement officers, medical providers, and prevention and treatment experts, each of us stands on the front lines of the effort to protect our communities from the devastating impact of illegal drug use. Together, through collaboration and cooperation among stakeholders at every level, we can make significant strides to build a better, brighter, and more secure future for ourselves and our children.
Before turning the podium over to Chancellor Roth, I want to mention a couple of related matters that will be of interest to you. First, last year the U.S. Attorney General announced that federal law enforcement agencies, including the DEA, FBI, ATF and U.S. Marshals Service, are to review their policies and procedures to determine whether their agents should be equipped and trained to recognize and respond to opioid overdose, including the use of Narcan. This announcement paves the way for federal officers to begin carrying and dispensing this lifesaving drug. We cannot overstate the importance of Narcan to our core mission of saving lives: from 2008 to 2014, the number of documented overdose reversals with Narcan tripled from 250 to 800. A Narcan program established by the New Mexico Department of Health can be fairly credited for saving those lives. Soon federal officers will join that lifesaving effort.
Second, last month, the Justice Department announced a new National Heroin Initiative under its OCDETF program. The primary purpose of the National Heroin Initiative is to provide funding to support local and regional initiatives like the HOPE Initiative in developing coordinated law enforcement plans to disrupt the flow of heroin into communities that have been profoundly impacted by heroin trafficking and overdoses. We will move expeditiously to secure some of these resources and put them to good use in New Mexico.
Finally, the Department of Justice and other federal agencies periodically offer grants that fund community-based coalitions that organize to prevent and treat substance abuse. My office will let the Coordinating Committee of the County’s Initiative know about available grant opportunities and will be available to provide technical assistance with grant applications.
In closing, I remind you of the obvious – progress will not come easily, and positive change will not occur as quickly as we might like. But as long as we keep our commitments to one another; as long as we keep seeking new ways to work together; as long as we keep striving to build on the promising work that so many of you are leading, there is good reason for confidence in where these efforts will take us from here. I am proud to count you as partners in the considerable work that lies ahead and I thank you for all that you’re doing – today and every day – to combat drug abuse and to protect our young people. I look forward to next year’s Summit when we will discuss what we have accomplished together in 2015 through the County’s Initiative and the HOPE Initiative, and continue to develop proactive strategies for the work that must be done.
Provider of Home Health Care Services and Spouse Sentenced for Medicaid FraudRead the Press Release
NORFOLK, Va. –W. Wayne Perry, Jr., 56, and his wife Angela Perry, 52, formerly of Suffolk, Virginia, were sentenced today for charges including health care fraud, false statements relating to health care matters, alteration of records and aggravated identity theft to W. Wayne Perry, Jr. was sentenced to 63 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. Angela Perry was sentenced today to 25 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. In addition, together they are to pay $1,459.451.08 in restitution.
Dana J. Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Virginia Attorney General Mark R. Herring and Acting Special Agent in Charge Michael F. Paul of the FBI’s Norfolk Field Office made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Mark S. Davis.
W. Wayne Perry, Jr. and Angela Perry were found guilty by a jury on September 16, 2014, following a three week trial. According to court documents and evidence, W. Wayne Perry, Jr., was the owner and operator of Community Personal Care, a Norfolk business authorized to provide home health care services that were reimbursable by Medicaid, including personal care and respite care services. Angela Perry, his wife, was an office administrator and executive assistant. Over a four year period, W. Wayne Perry, Jr. and Angela Perry orchestrated a massive false billing scheme. Approximately 7,800 fraudulent claims were submitted to the Virginia Medicaid program, falsely representing that personal care and respite care services had been provided to 78 Medicaid recipients by Community Personal Care. As a result of the fraudulent billing scheme, the defendants obtained health care benefit payments from Medicaid to which they were not entitled, in the approximate amount of $1.4 million. To conceal the fraudulent payments, the defendants directed employees to alter the company’s office records, including home health aide time sheets.
This case was investigated by the FBI and the Virginia Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alan M. Salsbury and Melissa E. O’Boyle are prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 2:13-cr-156.Pennsylvania Man Sentenced to Five Years in Prison for Traveling to Engage in Illicit Sexual Conduct with A MinorRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON – Matthew Nori, 34, of Shippensburg, Pa., was sentenced today to five years in prison for traveling interstate to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a minor, announced U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr., Andrew G. McCabe, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, and Cathy L. Lanier, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).
Nori pled guilty in October 2014 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. He was sentenced by the Honorable Rudolph Contreras. Upon completion of his prison term, Nori will be placed on 10 years of supervised release. He also will be required to register as a sex offender for a period of at least 15 years.
According to the government's evidence, on April 29, 2014, Nori contacted an undercover officer with the FBI's Child Exploitation Task Force, through an online website. Over a three-day period, Nori engaged in text messaging and other conversations with the undercover officer, whom he believed was the father of an under-aged girl. During the course of these conversations, Nori arranged with the undercover officer to meet for the purpose of engaging in sexual acts with the child. On May 1, 2014, Nori traveled to a pre-arranged meeting place in Washington, D.C. When he arrived at the meeting place, he was arrested.
This case was brought as part of the Department of Justice's Project Safe Childhood initiative and investigated by the FBI's Child Exploitation Task Force, which includes members of the FBI's Washington Field Office and MPD. In February 2006, the Attorney General created Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorney's Offices, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Machen, Assistant Director in Charge McCabe, and Chief Lanier commended the work of the MPD Detectives and Special Agents of the FBI’s Child Exploitation Task Force. They also expressed appreciation for the efforts of Assistant U.S. Attorney Cassidy Kesler Pinegar, who prosecuted the case.
15-008Oxford Men Sentenced for Shooting of Federal WitnessRead the Press Release
NEW BERN - United States Attorney Thomas G. Walker announced that in federal court today, United States District Judge Louise W. Flannagan sentenced ANTONIO O’DARIAN REED, 20,of Oxford, North Carolina, to 196 months in prison and 5 years of supervised release for attempt to kill with intent to retaliate against an informant and discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence and aiding and abetting. REED previously pled guilty to these charges on January 14, 2014. On November 7, 2014, Judge Flannagan sentenced REED’S co-defendant, ANTHONY RODRIGUEZ CROWELL, 23, of Oxford, North Carolina, to 128 months in prison and 5 years of supervised release for obstruction of justice by retaliating against an informant, and using and carrying a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.
The investigation revealed that on July 10, 2013, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives utilized a cooperating witness to attempt a controlled purchase of heroin and cocaine base (crack) from CROWELL and REED. On August 29, 2013, the cooperating witness was standing in the parking lot of a Granville County gasoline station when a vehicle approached occupied by CROWELL in the driver’s seat, REED in the front-passenger seat, and an unindicted individual in the back seat. As the cooperating witness pumped gas into his vehicle, REED brandished a firearm and discharged two rounds in the direction of cooperating witness. The cooperating witness was struck and sustained serious, but non-life-threatening injuries.
The investigation of this case was conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Henderson Police Department, and the Oxford Police Department. The prosecution of the case was handled by Assistant United States Attorney Toby Lathan.
One Arrested and Another Convicted in Smuggling Organization Spanning from Brownsville to HoustonRead the Press Release
BROWNSVILLE, Texas – With the guilty plea today of Ruth Fernandez Morales-Lopez, 32, six people have now been convicted for their roles in an alien smuggling operation operating throughout South Texas, announced U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson along with Special Agent in Charge Janice Ayala of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in San Antonio. The seventh and final defendant - Alfredo Prieto, 43, was arrested yesterday and made his initial appearance in Houston before U.S. Magistrate Judge Stephen Smith this morning. Prieto and Morales-Lopez are both illegal aliens who resided in Houston and Laguna Vista, respectively.
Morales-Lopez and Prieto were charged along with Abram Erasmo Rodriguez, 21, a U.S. citizen from Los Fresnos, Olegario Reyes-Bonola, 50, Esteban Castro-Molina, 40, Digma Salinas-De Rivera, 41, and Jose Antonio Marin-Sanchez, 43, in a 14-count indictment returned in Brownsville Dec. 11, 2014. All were charged for their roles in a conspiracy to transport undocumented aliens to stash houses in the Brownsville area, where they were concealed until being transported north to Houston.
Reyes-Bonola, Castro-Molina and Salinas-De Rivera, all illegal aliens who resided in San Benito, were arrested in San Benito at a stash house harboring 30 aliens on Nov. 19, 2014. All admitted they were responsible for concealing and harboring the aliens at the direction of Morales-Lopez. Marin-Sanchez, also an illegal alien himself who resided in Brownsville, was arrested the same day as he was transporting undocumented aliens to the San Benito stash house.
Further investigation into the organization revealed more than $1 million in smuggling fees being laundered through bank accounts and money services businesses.
“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 these illicit proceeds and prevent them from furthering the ongoing criminal enterprise. HSI will continue to aggressively investigate fraudulent financial schemes that jeopardize the integrity of our financial system.”
Morales-Lopez pleaded guilty to bringing in and harboring aliens and money laundering. She admitted she was the person who decided who could stay and who could go at the San Benito stash house based on whether they paid their smuggling fees. She further admitted $1,091,229.90 in her bank account was for alien smuggling fees and that she structured her withdrawals from that account to circumvent the Bank Secrecy Act.
Rodriguez previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to bring into and transport certain aliens within the United States, admitting that from November 2013 through August 2014 he participated in the conspiracy. Specifically, he was instructed to pick up the aliens and transport them to the stash house. The plea agreement further indicates that he opened a bank account at the direction of Morales-Lopez. He then accepted cash deposits from families of the smuggled aliens as payment and turned it over to Morales-Lopez.
Castro-Molina, Reyes-Bonola, Salinas-De Rivera and Marin-Sanchez all pleaded guilty to bringing in and harboring certain aliens.
The six convicted are all set for sentencing on April 7, 2015, before U.S. District Judge Hilda G. Tagle. Morales-Lopez faces up to 10 years in federal prison for the smuggling charge and up to 20 years for money laundering. The remaining five each face up to 10 years of federal imprisonment.
The charges against Prieto are pending. He is presumed innocent unless and until convicted through due process of law.
HSI led the investigation with assistance from Border Patrol. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ana Cano and Karen Betancourt are prosecuting the case.
Oceana man sentenced for structuring financial transactionsRead the Press Release
BECKLEY, W.Va. – United States Attorney Booth Goodwin announced today that Jerry H. Harvey, Jr., 51, of Oceana, West Virginia, was sentenced to 36 months in federal prison, followed by a three-year term of supervised release.
Harvey pleaded guilty in July 2014, to aiding and abetting the structuring of financial transactions for the purpose of evading bank reporting requirements. He admitted that for more than a year, he and others intentionally made multiple bank withdrawals not exceeding $10,000 so the bank would not report the withdrawals. Banks are required to report withdrawals exceeding $10,000 to the Internal Revenue Service.
Harvey further admitted that the withdrawn funds were profits he made while engaged in the interstate transportation and receipt of stolen property. He admitted he gained more than $100,000 from the illegal activity. The crime took place near Harvey’s home in Oceana.
The case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
United States District Judge Irene C. Berger imposed the sentence.
Assistant United States Attorney Miller Bushong handled the prosecution of this case.
Norfolk Man Sentenced to Four Years for Possessing Child PornographyRead the Press Release
NORFOLK, Va. – Daniel Brown, 39, of Norfolk, was sentenced today to four years in prison, followed by a ten-year term of supervised release for possessing child pornography.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 2:14cr106.
Dana J. Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia and Clark E. Settles, Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations Washington, D.C., made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Mark S. Davis.
Brown pled guilty to possessing child pornography on September 23, 2014. According to court documents, Brown was discovered during an investigation into a photo sharing website known to be used for sharing child pornography. Brown was a registered user of the site and posted suggestive pictures of young girls with comments implying he was creating pornographic images of these girls and was willing to trade images with other users. The investigator further revealed that Brown had posted over 4,000 sexually suggestive comments regarding images of children that had been posted by other users on this particular website.
Based upon Brown’s activities on the website, investigators obtained a search warrant for Brown’s residence and his email account. Agents found that Brown possessed child pornography in his email account as well as on the electronic devices in his home. In addition, Brown was routinely using his email account to trade child pornography with other users from the photo sharing website. Brown was active duty Army stationed at Little Creek Amphibious Base when he was arrested.
This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations. Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph L. Kosky is prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States.New Haven Man Sentenced to More Than 14 Years for Attempting to Cover-up Son's Arson That Killed ThreeRead the Press Release
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Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that HECTOR MORALES, 51, of New Haven, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton in New Haven to 174 months of imprisonment to be followed by 3 years of supervised release. After a four-week trial, Morales was convicted of being an accessory after the fact to the March 2011 arson of a two-family house in Fair Haven that caused the deaths of three residents, 41-year-old Wanda Roberson, her 8-year-old son Quayshaun Roberson and her 21-year-old niece Jaqueeta Roberson. The jury convicted Morales’s son Hector Natal of setting the arson that killed these three members of the Roberson family. Morales was also convicted of conspiring with Natal to distribute narcotics and to obstruct justice in their joint attempt to undermine law enforcement’s efforts to investigate the fatal arson.
“As the victims’ families so aptly described today, this crime was a senseless tragedy in which three innocents, Wanda Roberson, her young son Quayshaun and her niece Jaqueeta, were killed by a brutal and reckless drug dealer,” stated U.S. Attorney Daly. “This lengthy sentence is appropriate as Hector Morales literally drove his son’s criminality – driving him to drug deals, assisting him in his escape from the arson, and making every to avoid the detection of law enforcement by altering evidence and tampering with and intimidating witnesses. Our law enforcement partners, particularly the New Haven Fire and Police Departments, the FBI and the Connecticut State Police, expertly investigated this tremendously difficult case. We thank them for ensuring justice for the Roberson family who continue to suffer from an incomprehensible loss.”
“Today’s sentencing is a step toward closure and healing for the Fair Haven community and the Roberson family,” stated FBI Special Agent in Charge Patricia M. Ferrick. “It also demonstrates that disrespect of our judicial system will not be tolerated.”
On April 18, 2013, Natal and Morales were found guilty on all counts of an 11-count indictment. According to the evidence presented during trial, Natal was a New Haven drug dealer who sold cocaine, crack cocaine, pills and marijuana. Morales served as Natal’s driver, facilitating his sales of narcotics and collection of drug proceeds. Early on the morning of March 9, 2011, Natal set fire to 48-50 Wolcott Street in New Haven in retaliation for a customer’s failure to pay a small drug debt. Seventeen people, including three toddlers, two pregnant women and two grandmothers, were in the house at the time the fire was set. Morales and Natal lived close to the Wolcott house. After the fire was set, Morales drove Natal away from the scene in his blue van. Hearing reports that a blue van was seen leaving the scene, Morales painted his van black in an effort to obstruct the investigation of the fatal fire. Natal and Morales then schemed with other family members to testify falsely before the grand jury in an effort to prevent the grand jury from developing evidence regarding their complicity in the arson.
The evidence at trial also showed that, months before the fatal fire, Natal attempted to set a fire in the same Wolcott Street house.
Natal was found guilty of three counts of arson resulting in death, and one count of attempted arson. Natal and Morales were both convicted of conspiring to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute narcotics, conspiring to tamper with witnesses and witness tampering. Morales was found guilty on three counts of being an accessory after the fact to the arson, and one count of destruction and concealment of evidence.
Morales has been detained since his arrest on July 19, 2012.
Natal, 29, has been detained since his arrest on June 14, 2011. He is scheduled to be sentenced on February 10.
This matter was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the New Haven Police Department, the Connecticut State Police Major Crimes Unit, Office of the State Fire Marshal, the New Haven Fire Department – Office of Fire Marshal, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Inspector General. The case is being prosecuted by U.S. Attorney Deirdre M. Daly and First Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael J. Gustafson, with assistance and support from the New Haven State’s Attorney’s Office.
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(203) 821-3722 [email protected]Nevada Man Pleads Guilty to Sex Trafficking a 15-Year-Old GirlRead the Press Release
ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Lenny Paul Haskins, aka “2 Much,” 34, of Las Vegas, Nevada, and Richmond, California, pleaded guilty today to sex trafficking of a child.
Dana J. Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Andrew G. McCabe, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office; and Colonel Edwin C. Roessler, Jr., Chief of the Fairfax County Police Department, made the announcement after the plea was accepted by U.S. District Judge Claude M. Hilton.
Haskins faces a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes, as the sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
In a statement of facts filed with the plea agreement, since at least 2005, Haskins has been a pimp and has derived his income primarily from prostituting women and girls. Haskins has prostituted women and girls in numerous cities and states, including New York, Nevada, Maryland, Louisiana, Tennessee, Colorado, Utah, California, and various places in Virginia (including Herndon, Reston, Vienna, Sterling, Falls Church, Tysons Corner, Dulles, Fairfax County, Arlington, and Alexandria).
Around June 2014, Haskins encountered two juveniles at a hotel around Sacramento, California. One was 15 years old and the other was 17 years old. Both were runaways from foster care. Haskins provided marijuana and eventually recruited them to prostitute for him. Once he recruited them, Haskins performed sex acts with the victims.
In August 2014, Haskins instructed the victims to take a bus to Herndon, Virginia, for the purposes of being prostituted there. Haskins arranged for advertisements to be posted on the Internet site Backpage.com to obtain sex customers for the juveniles. The juveniles sent prostitution proceeds to Haskins using various money transfer businesses. The Las Vegas Police Department arrested Haskins in August 2014 but he continued to call the victims and give them directions from jail.
This case was investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office and the Fairfax County Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael J. Frank is prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 1:14-CR-432.
Muldrow Man Sentenced to 97 Months for Possession of Materials Involving Sexual Exploitation of MinorsRead the Press Release
Muskogee, Oklahoma - The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, announced that JAMES CHRISTOPHER COOKE, age 38, of Muldrow, Oklahoma, was sentenced to 97 months imprisonment, followed by 60 months of supervised release for Possession of certain Material Involving the Sexual Exploitation of Minors, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 2252(a)(4)(B) and 2252(b)(2).
The charges are a result from an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The defendant was indicted in March, 2014 and pled guilty in June, 2014.
The Indictment alleged that from between in or about September, 2012 and December 5, 2012, in the Eastern District of Oklahoma, and elsewhere, the defendant, did knowingly possess and attempt to possess matters which contained visual depictions, as that term is defined in Title 18, United States Code, Section 2256(5), the production of said visual depictions involved the use of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct, as that term is defined in Title 18, United States Code, Sections 2256(2)(A)-(B), and said visual depictions were of sexually explicit conduct, and had been transported in interstate commerce by computer.
The Honorable Ronald A. White, District Judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, in Muskogee, presided over the hearing. The defendant will remain in the custody of the United States Marshal Service pending transportation to the designated federal facility at which he will serve his nonparolable sentence.
Assistant United States Attorney Edward Snow represented the United States.
Monroe County Man Sentenced for Possession with the Intent to Distribute HeroinRead the Press Release
MOBILE, AL-- United States Attorney Kenyen R. Brown announces that Rickey Lorenzo Vaughn was sentenced on January 8, 2014 to five months and one day confinement by United States District Court Judge Callie V.S. Granade. Vaughn was sentenced for the federal felony offense of Possession with the Intent to Distribute Heroin. Vaughn would have received a twelve month sentence but the Court structured his sentence to give him credit for the seven months he had already served.
The case was investigated by the 35th Judicial Circuit Task Force.
Moldovan National Sentenced for Passport FraudRead the Press Release
CONTACT: Barbara Burns
PHONE: (716) 843-5817
FAX: (716) 551-3051ROCHESTER, N.Y.-- U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Vasile Leu, 34, of Chisinau, Moldova, who was convicted of using a fraudulent Czech Republic passport to open bank accounts, was sentenced to 24 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Charles P. Siragusa. The defendant was also ordered to pay restitution of $147,850 to victims of a related fraud.
Assistant U.S. Attorney John J. Field, who handling the case, stated that in 2012, Leu entered the United States and, over a period of months, opened bank accounts at different banks in Wisconsin and California using false Czech Republic passports issued to him under various aliases. The bank accounts were used to receive proceeds from an internet fraud that targeted online purchasers of motor vehicles. The defendant then transferred the proceeds of the fraud back to Eastern Europe.
Upon completing his prison sentence, Leu is expected to be immediately deported from the United States back to Moldova.
This sentencing is the culmination of an investigation by Special Agents of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge James C. Spero.
Miami-Dade County Residents Sentenced in Identity Theft and Unemployment Insurance FraudRead the Press Release
Two brothers and Miami residents were sentenced for identity theft and unemployment insurance fraud. These brothers used over 600 fraudulently obtained identities to fraudulently receive approximately $815,700 in unemployment claims.
Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Brian McGlamery, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Atlanta Regional Office, United States Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, Office of Labor Racketeering and Fraud Investigations, Jesse Panuccio, Executive Director, State of Florida’s Department of Economic Opportunity, and J.D. Patterson, Director, Miami-Dade Police Department (MDPD), made the announcement.
Stanley Fertil, 20, and Steven Fertil, 19, were sentenced to 111 months and 148 months, respectively, in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release. The brothers were also ordered to pay $815,700.00 in restitution. According to court records, the Fertil brothers conspired to possess the personal identifying information (PII) of over four thousand unwitting individuals. The PII included individuals’ names, dates of birth and social security numbers. During the course of the scheme, the brothers used over 600 identities to fraudulently receive approximately $815,700 in unemployment claims. The individuals victimized included public and private sector employees. The defendants each previously pled guilty to conspiracy to commit access device fraud, access device fraud, and aggravated identity theft.
Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, Office of Labor Racketeering and Fraud Investigations, the State of Florida’s Department of Economic Opportunity and the MDPD Public Corruption Unit. This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan E. Kobrinski.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.
Mexican Woman Sentenced for Passport FraudRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Deborah R. Gilg announced that Marcela Vallin Barajas, age 42 of Omaha, Nebraska, was sentenced after having previously pled guilty to providing a false statement in an application for a passport and falsely representing a Social Security number to be hers. The Honorable Joseph F. Bataillon sentenced Barajas to time served, after she had been in custody since August 21, 2014. She will be deported.
Barajas is in the United States illegally. She first applied for and obtained a passport using a Texas woman’s name and Social Security number in 2002. From 2002 through 2011 she used the passport for travel from the United States to Mexico 10 times. On November 26, 2012, Barajas applied for a renewal passport in the same name using the same number and a passport was subsequently issued to her. As part of the application, she stated the Texas woman’s name was hers and declared under penalty of perjury that she was a citizen or non-citizen national of the United States.
The case was investigated by the Homeland Security Investigations and the U.S. Department of State Diplomatic Security Service.
Mexican National Pleads Guilty to Immigration OffenseRead the Press Release
U.S. Attorney Kenneth A. Polite announced that MOISES VAZQUEZ-ALVARADO, age 31, a citizen of Mexico, pled guilty today to a one-count Indictment for illegal entry of a removed alien.
According to court documents, VAZQUEZ-ALVARADO was found in the United States on May 16, 2014, after having been previously removed from the United States on July 18, 2007.
VAZQUEZ-ALVARADO faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 2 years, as well as a fine of $250,000. U.S. District Court Judge Carl J. Barbier set sentencing for March 19, 2015.
U.S. Attorney Polite praised the work of the Special Agents of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in investigating this matter. Assistant United States Attorney Jon Maestri is in charge of the prosecution.
Mason City Man Pleads Guilty to Child Sexual Exploitation OffensesRead the Press Release
Contact: Steve Young
A man who sexually exploited a child and possessed child pornography pled guilty today in federal court in Cedar Rapids.
Micheal Jones, age 40, from Mason City, Iowa, was convicted of one count of sexual exploitation of a child and one count of possession of child pornography.
At the plea hearing, Jones admitted that, in April 2013, he sexually exploited a child by producing sexually explicit depictions of that child. He also admitted that, between April 2013 and September 2014, he possessed child pornography.
Sentencing before United States District Court Chief Judge Linda R. Reade will be set after a presentence report is prepared. Jones remains in custody of the United States Marshal pending sentencing. Jones faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years’ imprisonment and a possible maximum sentence of 40 years’ imprisonment, a $500,000 fine, a $200 special assessment, and supervised release for 5 years to life following his imprisonment.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Mark Tremmel and was investigated by the Mason City Police Department.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “resources.”
Court file information is available at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. The case file number is CR 14-3060.Marion Man Pleads Guilty to Production of Child Pornography While Being Required to Register as A Sex OffenderRead the Press Release
Contact: Steve Young
A man who produced child pornography while being legally required to register as a sex offender pled guilty today in federal court in Cedar Rapids.
Kevin Andrew Jauron, age 39, from Marion, Iowa, was convicted of one count of production of child pornography and one count of committing an offense involving a minor while being required to register as a sex offender.
At the plea hearing, Jauron admitted that, between no later than 2013 and continuing to about May 10, 2014, he persuaded a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing visual depictions of the conduct. Jauron also admitted that, at the time, he was required by law to register as a sex offender.
Sentencing before United States District Court Chief Judge Linda R. Reade will be set after a presentence report is prepared. Jauron remains in custody of the United States Marshal pending sentencing. Jauron faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years’ imprisonment and a possible maximum sentence of 40 years’ imprisonment, a $500,000 fine, $200 in special assessments, and at least 5 years and up to life on supervised release following any imprisonment.
Court file information is available at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. The case file number is 14-128.Man Who Fled Newark Bank Robbery in Taxi Sentenced to Two Years in PrisonRead the Press Release
NEWARK, N.J. - An Essex County, New Jersey, man who robbed a New York Community Bank in Newark and fled by hailing a cab was sentenced today to 24 months in prison, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.
Willie Chestnut Jr., 62, of Newark, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Katharine S. Hayden to an information charging him with one count of bank robbery. Judge Hayden imposed the sentence today in Newark federal court.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
Chestnut robbed the New York Community Bank in Newark on Oct. 11, 2013, by intimidating the teller and another bank employee who attempted to intercede. He approached the teller and told her he needed to make a withdrawal. After the teller handed him a withdrawal slip, Chestnut demanded bills from the top teller drawer.
Chestnut was arrested by officers of the Newark Police Department shortly after fleeing the scene in a taxi cab, wearing the same clothes he wore during the robbery and with the stolen money and the withdrawal slip in his pocket.
In addition to the prison terms, Judge Hayden sentenced Chestnut to serve three years of supervised release.
U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Aaron T. Ford, with the investigation leading to today’s sentencing. He also thanked the Newark Police Department for its contribution.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Cari Fais of the U.S. Attorney’s Office General Crimes Unit in Newark.
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Defense counsel: Lisa Mack Esq., Assistant Federal Public Defender, Newark
Madill Woman Sentenced to 36 Months Probation, $15,900 Restitution for Wire FraudRead the Press Release
Muskogee, Oklahoma - The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, announced that KRISTEN RENEA BROWN, age 19, of Madill, Oklahoma, was sentenced to 3 years of probation and restitution of $15,923.60 for WIRE FRAUD, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343.
The charges arose from an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
BROWN pled guilty in September, 2014 to an Information alleging that from on or about September 23, 2013 to on or about October 1, 2013, KRISTEN RENEA BROWN, within the Eastern District of Oklahoma and elsewhere, the defendant herein, did execute a scheme to defraud Victim #1, an account holder at Landmark Bank in the Eastern District of Oklahoma, to-wit: the defendant transferred money from the bank account of Victim #1 into Defendant’s own bank account at Landmark Bank, and by means of debit card used said money to purchase items for her own use and benefit and the use and benefit of others. As part of the scheme to defraud, the defendant transmitted and caused to be transmitted by means of wire communication in interstate commerce, writings, signs, signals, pictures, or sounds, for the purpose of executing and attempting to execute the aforesaid scheme and artifice to defraud.
The Honorable James H. Payne, District Judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, in Muskogee, presided over the hearing.
Assistant United States Attorney Chris Wilson represented the United States.
Lincoln County Man Sentenced on Tax ChargesRead the Press Release
St. Louis, MO – PETER GIAMBALVO was sentenced to 16 months in prison for filing false tax returns from 2003-2010.
According to testimony presented at trial, Giambalvo was an employee of The Boeing Company. For eight years beginning in 2003 through 2010, Giambalvo claimed zero earnings, when in fact he had earned wages, salaries, tips, etc. of approximately $498,540 for those years.
"The legality of our income tax laws has been challenged time and time again and the courts have consistently upheld these laws," said Tanya Brewer, Acting Special Agent in Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation.
Giambalvo, Hawk Point, MO, was convicted last August on one felony count of interfering with the administration of the Internal Revenue laws, and eight felony counts of filing false tax returns. He appeared today for sentencing before United States District Judge Rodney W. Sippel.
This case was investigated by IRS Criminal Investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Steven Muchnick handled the case for the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Leaders of Violent Gang Sentenced to Life in Racketeering and Murder CaseRead the Press Release
Earlier today, Antoine Mayes was sentenced before Judge Allyne Ross in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, New York, to 110 years in prison, and on December 23, 2014, Anthony Mayes, Jr. was sentenced before Judge Ross to life plus 30 years in prison, for charges of racketeering, murder (against Anthony Mayes, Jr.), attempted murder (against Antoine Mayes), murder conspiracy, and firearm- and narcotics-related offenses. The defendants were convicted after trial in May 2014.
The sentences were announced by Loretta E. Lynch, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, and George Venizelos, Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI).
“The Mayes brothers led a violent and lucrative drug organization that instilled fear and destroyed lives in the East New York community for more than a decade. They expanded their operation to the State of North Carolina and came to dominate the drug trade in a community there as well. Violence was the organization’s calling card – led by the defendants, the organization killed or sought to kill those who threatened their income or their reputation on the street,” stated United States Attorney Lynch. “The sentences imposed appropriately reflect the seriousness of the crimes of conviction, which include murder and attempted murder, the defendants’ long histories of crime, and their complete disregard for human life.” Ms. Lynch extended her grateful appreciation to the FBI’s New York Field Office, the New York City Police Department, and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation for their outstanding work in this case.
Between 1998 and 2010, the Mayes brothers led a group of violent drug dealers that sold crack cocaine and was based on Ashford Street in East New York. The criminal enterprise used violence and the threat of violence to maintain its source of income. Specifically, on June 18, 1999, Anthony Mayes, Jr. shot and killed Dave Martin at a party in East New York, in retaliation for Martin having previously stabbed Mayes. This, and other acts of violence, were well known in the community and allowed the enterprise to dominate the local drug trade. After the Martin murder, Anthony Mayes, Jr. moved to Williamston, North Carolina, where, using the alias Gus Rascoe Jr., he quickly came to dominate the drug trade in that area, selling crack cocaine that he transported from New York and elsewhere. On January 27, 2003, Anthony Mayes, Jr. murdered Eric Rayshawn Keel, and on February 29, 2004, he murdered Keith Cofield, both in North Carolina. Keel was murdered for purportedly stealing drugs belonging to the Mayes brothers’ criminal enterprise. Cofield was murdered because he owed a drug-related debt to the enterprise. His corpse was dumped into a river.
Antoine Mayes was convicted of three separate counts of attempted murder based on the enterprise’s drug and turf-related disputes in Brooklyn.
The government’s case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Berit W. Berger, Richard M. Tucker, and Alicyn Cooley.
The Defendants:
ANTHONY MAYES, JR.
Age: 34
Brooklyn, New York
ANTOINE MAYES
Age: 31
Brooklyn, New York
E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 12 CR 385 (ARR)
Leader of Multi-State Scheme to Obtain Real Driver's Licenses with Fraudulent Documents Sentenced to Six Years in PrisonRead the Press Release
Criminal Enterprise Provided Illegal Aliens and Others with Stolen Immigration Documents, Falsified Visas, Passports, Utility Bills and Bank Statements
NEWARK, N.J. – The leader of a criminal organization who ran a multi-state scheme to fraudulently obtain driver’s licenses for illegal aliens and other ineligible individuals was sentenced today to 72 months in prison, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.
Young-Kyu Park, 58, formerly a resident of Fort Lee, New Jersey, and later a resident of Los Angeles, California, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Faith S. Hochberg to Counts One through Three of an indictment charging him with conspiracy to produce identification and false identification documents; conspiracy to steal government property and transport stolen property in interstate commerce, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Judge Hochberg imposed the sentence today in Newark federal court.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
Park was the leader of a criminal enterprise (the Park Criminal Enterprise) operating in Palisades Park, New Jersey, Fort Lee and in other states. He was one of 22 people charged in June 2012 with allegedly providing a suite of unlawful services to individuals illegally residing in the United States, including fraudulently obtaining driver's licenses, and investor and student visas. Federal agentsarrested defendants in New Jersey, New York, California, Nevada, Virginia, and Georgia B including a contract employee of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) charged with and later convicted of stealing and providing forms used to aid in the scheme.
The Park Criminal Enterprise illegally obtained driver's licenses genuinely issued by New Jersey, New York, Virginia, Nevada, and elsewhere. To do so, it acquired, created, and counterfeited a variety of documents for sale to customers. Members of the Park Criminal Enterprise also escorted customers to various state motor vehicle agencies and coached them on obtaining the licenses. In return, customers each paid the Park Criminal Enterprise a fee of $3,000 to $4,500 for the unlawful services.
Park fraudulently obtained, completed and sold genuine I-797 forms for customers to get licenses. An I—797 form is used by the federal government B including USCIS, a division of the Department of Homeland Security B to communicate with others or convey an immigration benefit. State agencies that issue driver’s licenses rely on these forms to verify the authenticity of an applicant’s foreign passport and to verify the applicant’s lawful presence in the United States. One version of this form can be used to show eligibility for in-state college tuition.
The Park Criminal Enterprise also altered and counterfeited other immigration documents, including passports, and created and provided fictitious documents to customers B such as fictitious utility bills and bank statements used to establish residency requirements.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Hochberg sentenced Park to two years of supervised release, fined him $10,000 and ordered forfeiture of $1.2 million.
U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Aaron T. Ford; Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge John P. Woods; the Department of Homeland Security, Office of Inspector General, Special Agent in Charge Gregory K. Null of the Philadelphia field office; and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, under the direction ofNew Jersey District Director John E. Thompson, with the investigation leading to today’s sentencing.
U.S. Attorney Fishman noted the work of the N.J. Motor Vehicle Commission, under the direction of Chief Administrator Raymond P. Martinez; the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office, under the direction of Prosecutor John L. Molinelli; and the N.J. State Police, under the direction of Colonel Joseph R. Fuentes, for their assistance.
He also thanked the FBI field offices in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, New York, Atlanta, and Richmond, Va., as well as U.S. Attorney's Offices for the District of Nevada and the Central District of California for their support.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Anthony Moscato, Lisa M. Colone and David M. Eskew of the U.S. Attorney’s Criminal Division in Newark.
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Defense counsel: Mark Waecker, Los Angeles, Calif.
Las Vegas "Cinched Hoodie Robber" Sentenced to Life in PrisonRead the Press Release
LAS VEGAS, Nev. – A Las Vegas man who robbed 13 convenience stores and a small casino in the Las Vegas area during 2013, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Gloria M. Navarro to multiple life terms in prison, announced U.S. Attorney Daniel G. Bogden for the District of Nevada.
Abdul Howard, 49, was convicted by a jury last June of one count of felon in possession of a firearm, 14 counts of interference with commerce by robbery, and 12 counts of possession of a firearm during, in relation to, and in furtherance of a crime of violence. A number of the life terms were ordered to be served consecutively. There is no parole in the federal system.
“This defendant, who has a lengthy criminal history, terrorized convenience store employees in Las Vegas over a four month period during 2013, and it is fortunate that no one was killed,” said U.S. Attorney Bogden. “With his federal sentence of life in prison, Mr. Howard’s violent crime reign on Nevada streets and in our community is now over and done.”
Howard robbed 13 convenience stores and one casino in the Las Vegas area between January 15 and April 16, 2013. Howard robbed most of the businesses late at night using a semi-automatic handgun which he used to threatened store employees and some customers. In some of the robberies, Howard pointed the handgun at an employee or stuck a gun into the employee’s body or head. In one instance, Howard fired a handgun at an employee, and in another, Howard shot an employee in the neck. Investigators dubbed Howard the “Cinched Hoodie Robber,” because he typically entered the businesses wearing a hooded sweatshirt with the hood “cinched” up around his face in an effort to conceal his identity.
Howard has at least five prior felony convictions in New York, Florida, and Nevada related to robbery, burglary, cocaine distribution and sexually motivated coercion.
This case was investigated by the FBI, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, and North Las Vegas Police Department, as part of the Safe Streets Task Force and Project Safe Neighborhoods program, and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Phillip N. Smith, Jr. and Cristina D. Silva.
Jon Harder Former CEO of Sunwest Management, Enters Guilty Pleas to Federal Fraud OffensesRead the Press Release
Government’s Evidence Shows This Is the Largest Investor Fraud Case in Oregon historyPORTLAND, Ore. – Jon Michael Harder, 49, a resident of North Dakota, plead guilty today before the Honorable Michael Simon to one felony count of mail fraud and one felony count of money laundering.
Harder controlled a network of companies which bought, constructed, and managed a nationwide collection of assisted living facilities. At its height, the corporate organization that Harder controlled, Sunwest Management and its related companies, owned approximately 300 assisted living facilities, serving over 15,000 residents with an average age of 85. Harder admitted in federal court today that beginning in late 2007 through February 2008, he lied to more than 50 investors to obtain more than five million dollars. In committing his fraud, Harder promised the investors that their money would go towards specific assisted living facilities when in fact the money was going to pay Harder’s personal expenses and the business expenses of other Sunwest entities.
The entire scope of the defendant’s fraud will be determined by the court following a multi-day sentencing hearing set to begin on May 12, 2015. The government believes and intends to prove to the court that, beginning no later than 2006 and continuing through 2008, Harder defrauded more than 1,000 investors out of approximately $130 million, making this the largest investor fraud prosecution in Oregon history. The scheme to defraud was based on materially false promises made to investors, including that they would be investing money in specific assisted living facilities and that the Sunwest enterprise was a successful business. In reality, the money that investors thought was going into specific facilities was commingled with money coming in from all investors and banks and Harder laundered the proceeds of this fraud by diverting large amounts of money to support his lavish lifestyle. Additionally, at least as far back as 2006, Sunwest was losing millions of dollars despite Harder’s representations that Sunwest was a successful business.
“The scope of the defendant’s fraud is truly staggering, as are the effects it has had on the victims of his crime,” stated U.S. Attorney Amanda Marshall. “This conviction demonstrates that no one – regardless of title or position – is above the law and that individuals who steal and defraud investors will be held accountable.”
Under the terms of the plea agreement, the government will ask the Court to impose a sentence of not less than 15 years in prison and have the Court order the defendant pay full restitution to his victims.“The FBI's investigation has proven that, over a number of years, Jon Harder was responsible for running one of the largest frauds in Oregon history,” said Greg Bretzing, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI in Oregon. “A fraud of this size brings with it many victims – more than 1,000 in this case. Today represents an important step as we work to bring justice to those victims, many of whom watched their life savings disappear.”
“Investment frauds such as the one perpetrated by Harder undermine the integrity of our economy causing a rippling effect of financial ruin and distrust,” stated Special Agent in Charge Teri Alexander of IRS Criminal Investigation. “But as destructive as this scam was to the overall economy, the untold harm to the victim investors is simply heartbreaking. IRS Criminal Investigation is devoted to fighting alongside our law enforcement partners to bring to justice those like Harder whose greed erodes the trust and pilfers the resources of would-be investors.”
This case was investigated by the U. S. Postal Inspection Service, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, and the United States Bankruptcy Trustee’s Office. The case is being prosecuted by Allan M. Garten, Senior Litigation Counsel, and Assistant U. S. Attorney Michelle Holman Kerin
Jicarilla Apache Man Sentenced to Eight Years for Involuntary Manslaughter ConvictionRead the Press Release
ALBUQUERQUE – Isaiah Dean Trujillo, 24, a member of the Jicarilla Apache Nation who resides in Dulce, N.M., was sentenced this morning to eight years in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release for his conviction on two counts of involuntary manslaughter. The sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney Damon P. Martinez and Chief Kendell Vicenti of the Jicarilla Apache Tribal Police Department.
Trujillo was arrested on May 6, 2013, on a criminal complaint alleging involuntary manslaughter charges arising out of a single motor vehicle collision occurring on April 24, 2013, in Dulce, N.M., within the Jicarilla Apache Nation. Two women, both members of the Jicarilla Apache Nation, died as a result of injuries sustained during the collision. Trujillo, the driver of the vehicle, was intoxicated at the time of the collision.Trujillo entered a guilty plea to two involuntary manslaughter charges on March 12, 2014. In his plea agreement, Trujillo admitted that on April 24, 2013, he drove a vehicle in excess of 70 miles per hour on a road with a 35 mile per hour speed limit after consuming a large amount of alcohol. Trujillo further admitted that he lost control of the vehicle and the vehicle flipped over. Two of the four passengers in the vehicle were killed and the other two suffered serious bodily injuries. Trujillo further admitted that his blood alcohol concentration was .29 following the collision.
This case was investigated by the Jicarilla Apache Tribal Police Department and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer M. Rozzoni.International Wildlife Investigation Results in Felony Conviction and Loss of Guiding and Hunting PrivilegesRead the Press Release
Anchorage, Alaska – U.S. Attorney Karen Loeffler announced today that John Katzeek, 65, a Haines area big game guide was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Timothy M. Burgess for a felony violation of the Lacey Act to four years of probation along with the loss of hunting and guiding privileges. The felony conviction resulted from a trial in Juneau, Alaska last January where a jury convicted the guide for falsifying paperwork in order to conceal illegal hunting activity.
In 2014, the United States filed charges against Katzeek, a long-time big game guide in the Haines area, for the illegal take of wildlife and concealing the illegal nature of guided hunts by falsification of paperwork to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Katzeek went to trial and was convicted for providing false information to the state of Alaska on guide-required paperwork. Specifically, Katzeek falsified the paperwork by intentionally failing to list the assistant guide who actually conducted the hunt, provided the name of another assistant guide who did not participate on the hunt, and claimed that he guided the hunt when he remained in town while the hunt took place. Katzeek also falsified the amount of meat that was harvested from the animal when in fact little to no meat was harvested.
The guided hunt occurred in May 2011, in the Haines, Alaska area. As part of his felony conviction, Katzeek was sentenced to four years of probation due to his age and certain medical reasons, fined $2,000 and was ordered to perform 200 hours of community service. During the term of probation, Katzeek is prohibited from guiding big game hunters and is prohibited from hunting game anywhere in the world, including for subsistence in Alaska and Canada. Because of the felony conviction, Katzeek is precluded from possessing any firearms.
The conviction was the result of an extensive joint United States-Canadian investigation. Starting in January 2013, Canada Crown prosecutors in Alberta, and Yukon Territory Canada, charged approximately 17 subjects with 55 violations under Wild Animal and Plant Protection and the Regulation of International and Interprovincial Trade Act (WAPPRIITA). As of this date, eight defendants have been charged and sentenced in Canada, Alaska, and federal court, which resulted in the issuance of over $146,000 in fines, the forfeiture of 10 wildlife trophies, $6800 in restitution to the state of Alaska, the forfeiture of a Piper Supercub aircraft, and over $100,000 in forfeited equipment. Several Canadian trials and United States trials are scheduled for the spring and summer of 2015.
Ms. Loeffler commends the United States Fish and Wildlife Service; Alaska Wildlife Troopers; Environment Canada; Yukon Conservation Officer Service; Alberta Fish and Game; Parks Canada; British Columbia Conservation Officer Service; and the Public Prosecution Service of Canada for the international cooperation extended in the investigation of these cases.
Insurance Adjuster Sentenced to 32 Months in Prison for Defrauding NJ Turnpike Authority, Insurance Companies, of $900,000Read the Press Release
NEWARK, N.J. – The owner of a New Jersey-based insurance adjusting company was sentenced today to 32 months in prison for his role in a scheme to defraud the N.J. Turnpike Authority (NJTA) and various insurance companies of at least $900,000, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.
Robert Napolitano, 55, of Clifton, New Jersey, owner of Dawn to Dusk LLC, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Kevin McNulty to an information charging him with using the mail to facilitate a scheme to defraud the NJTA and insurance companies through false and fraudulent pretenses, representations and promises. Judge McNulty imposed the sentence today in Newark federal court.
According to the documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
In October 2011, Napolitano reached an agreement with Gerardo Blasi, 56, of Clifton, New Jersey, a claims manager for the NJTA. It was Blasi’s job to negotiate and recover the costs of repairs from insurance companies of motorists who caused damage to property belonging to the NJTA. As part of the agreement, it was Napolitano’s responsibility to evaluate the damage caused by the insured motorist, create an estimate of the cost to repair the damage, and negotiate with the particular insurance company to arrive at the repair amount. Napolitano would request that the checks issued by the insurance companies for the costs of repairing the damage be made payable to Dawn to Dusk and mailed to Napolitano’s business.
Once Napolitano received these checks he would keep a portion of the proceeds for himself, provide Blasi with a share of the proceeds, and sometimes send the remaining amount to the NJTA as payment for the damages caused by the insured motorist. However, on several occasions, he and Blasi simply kept all of the proceeds. As a result of this scheme, Napolitano and others defrauded the NJTA and various insurance companies of approximately $900,000.
In addition to the prison term, Judge McNulty sentenced Napolitano to serve three years of supervised release.
Blasi previously pleaded guilty to his role in the scheme and was sentenced on Nov. 12, 2014, to 45 months in prison and three years of supervised release.U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents from the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Aaron T. Ford in Newark, with the investigation leading to today’s sentence. He also thanked the N.J. Turnpike Authority, under the direction of Veronique Hakim, for its cooperation during the investigation.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney David L. Foster of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Special Prosecution’s Division.
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Defense counsel: John Yauch Esq., Assistant Federal Public Defender, NewarkInmate Accused of Threatening the PresidentRead the Press Release
An indictment was filed charging Michael D. Vaughn II, 26, an inmate at the Ohio State Penitentiary in Youngstown with threatening the President of the United States and the First Family, Steven M. Dettelbach, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio.
If convicted, the defendant’s sentence will be determined by the Court after reviewing factors unique to this case, including the defendant’s prior criminal record, if any, the defendant’s role in the offense and the characteristics of the violation. In all cases, the sentence will not exceed the statutory maximum and in most cases it will be less than the maximum.
The investigating agency in this case is the United States Secret Service, Toledo, Ohio. The case is being handled by Assistant United States Attorney Michael J. Freeman.
An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. Defendants are entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Illegal Criminal Alien Sentenced to Federal PrisonRead the Press Release
Repeat Illegal Reentry Offender Caught During I-5 Traffic Stop and Drug SeizureMEDFORD, Ore. –Julio Gonzalez-Zamudio, 44, from Mexico was sentenced to federal prison for illegally reentering the United States. Senior United States District Judge Owen M. Panner sentenced Gonzalez-Zamudio to 72 months in prison following earlier deportations and his recent arrest by Oregon State Police for drug trafficking.
On January 30, 2014, the Oregon State Police stopped a vehicle during the early morning hours for a traffic violation on I-5 in Douglas County, Oregon. Gonzalez-Zamudio, a passenger in the vehicle, initially identified himself with a false name and Mexican driver’s license. Following the arrest of the driver for possessing a methamphetamine pipe, defendant took off running across I-5 when the officer attempted to arrest him. He was subsequently tackled by police and arrested. A search of the vehicle resulted in the seizure of over two and a half pounds of methamphetamine.
Immigration and Custom Enforcement agents found Gonzalez-Zamudio lodged in the county jail. They determined that he had been deported from the United States on four previous occasions. During the various times he has been in the United States, he has repeatedly committed various drug offenses and crimes of violence including residential burglaries and menacing with a firearm and he served a 65 month sentence in state prison. Following his release from prison in 2006, he was again deported. In 2010, he was found in the United States in the Washington County Jail, Oregon and was later convicted of illegal reentry in Federal District Court in Portland. Defendant received a lower 27-month fast-track sentence and was warned about not illegally returning again to the United States. He was deported in November 2011. In sentencing Gonzalez-Zamudio, the Court sentenced him to 57 months for his current illegal reentry conviction and 15 months for violating the terms and conditions of his release from custody in 2011, both sentences served consecutively.
The case was investigated by the Oregon State Police and Immigration and Customs Enforcement and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Byron Chatfield.
High-Speed Chase Results in Extensive Prison for Alien TraffickerRead the Press Release
LAREDO, Texas - Felipe Pena, 40, of Laredo, has been ordered to prison for 67 months for transporting illegal aliens for profit, announced U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson. Pena pleaded guilty Aug. 27, 2014.
Pena was arrested at the Border Patrol (BP) Checkpoint on US 83 near the 35-mile marker for alien smuggling on Aug. 14, 2014. At that time, Pena had approached the checkpoint in a Ford F-150 vehicle where a BP canine alerted to the presence of humans inside his vehicle.
Pena then accelerated his vehicle and fled the scene, nearly injuring on-duty BP agents. Pena led authorities on a high-speed chase for three miles, reaching speeds of 90 miles per hour. Upon apprehension, agents discovered one female hiding behind the driver’s seat and one male hiding underneath a tool box. Both subjects were illegal aliens and citizens of Honduras and Mexico who had paid Pena for their transportation.
U.S. District Judge Marina Garcia Marmolejo previously accepted the plea and sentenced Pena to 67 months today, which included an upward variance for almost injuring the officers. The court further noted that Pena is a violent individual and should show respect to law enforcement and the United States of America.
BP, Homeland Security Investigations and FBI conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Sanjeev Bhasker is prosecuting the case.
Haskins Man Charged with Bank FraudRead the Press Release
A criminal information was filed charging Nicholas W. Bradley, 34, of Haskins, Ohio, with conspiracy to commit bank fraud and filing a false tax return from March 2006 and through December 2008, said Steven M. Dettelbach, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio.
If convicted, the defendant’s sentence will be determined by the Court after reviewing factors unique to this case, including the defendant’s prior criminal record, if any, the defendant’s role in the offense and the characteristics of the violation. In all cases the sentence will not exceed the statutory maximum and in most cases it will be less than the maximum.
The investigating agency in this case is the Internal Revenue Service, Toledo, Ohio. The case is being handled by Assistant United States Attorney Gene Crawford.
An information is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. Defendants are entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Get Away Driver Sentenced to over 7 Years in Prison for Three Bank RobberiesRead the Press Release
Committed Three Bank Robberies While on Supervised Release for Previous Gun Convictions
Greenbelt, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Peter J. Messitte sentenced Dillian Nathaniel Tucker, age 36, of Greenbelt, Maryland, today to 92 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for three bank robberies. Judge Messitte also ordered Tucker to pay restitution of $10,108.
The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Stephen E. Vogt of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and Chief Mark A. Magaw of the Prince George’s County Police Department.
According to Tucker’s plea agreement, on April 6, Tucker drove himself and co-defendant Reginald Lasley to a SunTrust bank in Landover, Maryland. Lasley entered the bank, presented the teller with a note demanding money and took $4,810. Lasley got into the black van being driven by Tucker and they left the scene. On April 9 Tucker drove himself and Lasley to a Sun Trust Bank in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, in the same black van. Lasley again presented the teller with a note demanding money and stole $5,370, leaving the area in the van driven by Tucker.Two days later, on April 11, 2012, Tucker drove himself and Lasley in the same black van to the M&T Bank, in Largo, Maryland. Tucker entered the bank, approached a teller window, and asked for change. Tucker then exited the bank and advised Lasley to enter the bank to rob it. Several minutes later, Lasley entered the bank and handed the teller a note demanding money. The teller complied and Lasley stole $1,390. Lasley exited the bank, got into the black van, and Tucker drove away from the bank.
Later on April 11, 2012, Prince George’s County police officers saw the black van and attempted to pull it over. Tucker, who was still driving the van, made a quick U-turn and attempted to flee. After a short chase, Tucker stopped the van, and Tucker and Lasley attempted to run away. Police officers caught and arrested Tucker immediately. Lasley was caught later that day, and law enforcement officers recovered from Lasley a robbery demand note and the money stolen earlier from the M&T Bank. Officers also recovered from the black van another robbery demand note and the hat and shirt that Lasley wore during the M&T bank robbery.
Tucker committed each of the robberies while on supervised release in connection with firearm convictions in the Superior Court for the District of Columbia.
U.S. District Judge Peter J. Messitte previously sentenced Reginald Anthony Lasley, age 42, of Silver Spring, Maryland, to a total of 18 years in prison - 16 years for the robbery of a store and three bank robberies and an additional two years in prison for violating his supervised release in connection with previous federal bank robbery convictions. Judge Messitte also ordered Lasley to pay restitution of $29,150.
United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein praised the FBI and Prince George’s County Police Department for their work in the investigation. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam K. Ake, who prosecuted the case.
Georgia Man Indicted on Federal Charge of Failure to Register as a Sex OffenderRead the Press Release
Jacksonville, Florida – United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III announces the return of an indictment charging Rodney Joel Neal (53, Montezuma, Georgia) with failing to register as sex offender after traveling from Georgia to Florida. If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine. Neal has been in custody since his arrest on related state charges on October 10, 2014.
According to the indictment, in May 1988, Neal was found guilty and sentenced for committing two criminal offenses, aggravated child molestation and child molestation, in Macon County, Georgia. Subsequent to his conviction, Neal traveled from Georgia to Florida and failed to register in Florida as a sex offender as required by the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act.
The Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act is part of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006. The Adam Walsh Act provides for the use of federal law enforcement resources, including the United States Marshals Service, to assist state and local authorities in locating and apprehending non-compliant sex offenders.
This case was investigated by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, the United States Marshals Service, and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney D. Rodney Brown.
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, 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.
An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal criminal law, and every defendant is presumed innocent until, and unless, proven guilty.
Gang Member Sentenced to 40 Years for Participating in Drive-By MurderRead the Press Release
U.S. Attorney Kenneth A. Polite announced that LAVELL STOVALL, 22, of New Orleans, was sentenced today after previously pleading guilty to federal drug and firearms charges. STOVALL was one of seven defendants that were charged in a gang indictment that was returned on October 4, 2013.
U.S. District Judge Ivan L.R. Lemelle sentenced STOVALL to 480 months imprisonment, followed by 5 years of supervised release.
On August 7, 2014, STOVALL pled guilty to Counts 1 and 2 of a superseding Bill of Information. As part of the written plea agreement, STOVALL acknowledged his participation in a conspiracy to distribute 100 grams or more of heroin and a conspiracy to possess firearms in furtherance of his drug trafficking activities.
According to court documents, STOVALL admitted that on June 14, 2010, he participated in a drive-by shooting which resulted in the murder of Ms. Eula Mae Ivey. STOVALL admitted that he, CHARLES JOHNSON, CAREY JONES, NORMAN RATCLIFF, THERON GOLSTON, and CHARLES CANNON used two vehicles to search with the intent to kill a rival gang member. As they drove past the rival gang member’s house the defendants saw their rival and opened fire. The defendants missed their target and hit Ms. Ivey, who was standing in her driveway. Ms. Ivey was pronounced dead at the scene. To date, JONES, GOLSTON AND RATCLIFF have all pled guilty to participating in this murder. JONES and GOLSTON were each sentenced to life in prison, RATCLIFF was sentenced to serve 396 months, and CANNON pled guilty in state court. CHARLES JOHNSON is scheduled to go to trial in February 2015.
U.S. Attorney Polite praised the work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation as part of the MAG Unit in investigating this matter. Assistant United States Attorney Maurice E. Landrieu, Jr. is in charge of the prosecution.
Four Marijuana Dealers, Including Colorado Pilot, Sentenced After Extensive Wiretap InvestigationRead the Press Release
Contact: Steve Young
Four individuals, including a man who grew marijuana in his Breckenridge, Colorado home and flew it to Eastern Iowa in his private airplane were each sentenced this week for their roles in a marijuana trafficking conspiracy. They are the latest defendants to be sentenced as a result of an extensive DEA wiretap investigation.
James Allen, Matthew Fritz, Mark Swanson, and Cory Kintzel all pled guilty to conspiracy to distribute marijuana and were sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge Linda R. Reade.
- Allen, 53, from Belton, Missouri, was sentenced on January 8, 2015 to six months’ imprisonment followed by three months’ home detention. Allen pled guilty on August 18, 2014 and will report to the Bureau of Prisons on a later date.
- Fritz, 39, from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, was sentenced on January 8, 2015 to five years’ probation. Fritz was also fined $3,000. Fritz pled guilty on August 18, 2014.
- Kintzel, 39, from Vinton, Iowa, was sentenced on January 6, 2015 to 12 months’ imprisonment. Kintzel pled guilty on September 16, 2014 and will report to the Bureau of Prisons on a later date.
- The pilot, Swanson, 55, from Breckenridge, Colorado, was sentenced on January 7, 2015 to 24 months’ imprisonment and fined $10,000. The fine was in addition to a $35,000 money judgment that Swanson was required to pay. Swanson’s airplane was also forfeited.
In addition to their sentences and fines, all five were ordered to pay special assessments of $100. Those serving prison sentences must also serve three-year terms of supervised release after their prison terms. There is no parole in the federal system.
The four individuals were among a group of about a dozen persons federally charged for their involvement in a marijuana trafficking organization that moved large quantities of high-grade marijuana from Colorado and California to the Cedar Rapids, Iowa area from November 2011 through April 2013. The organization was dismantled through a DEA investigation that involved court-authorized wiretaps on multiple cellular phones. During the latter stages of the conspiracy, Swanson was the source for most of the marijuana. In March 2013, he flew a load containing 25 pounds of marijuana from Colorado into the Iowa City airport. Swanson was accompanied by Shannon Ehlts, who along with Matthew Fritz was going to sell the marijuana to customers in the Cedar Rapids area. Swanson grew most of this marijuana at his home. The marijuana was sold at a price of $3,450 or more per pound. Swanson admitted that he alone had made at least $35,000 from growing and selling marijuana.
Five other individuals have already been sentenced by Chief Judge Reade as a result of the investigation:
- Nels Nelson, 34, from Cedar Rapids, was sentenced on April 21, 2014 to 41 months’ imprisonment.
- Chad Straub, 40, from Salinas, California, was sentenced on May 29, 2014 to 13 months’ and one day imprisonment.
- Robert Leonard, 55, from Oak Run, California, was sentenced on September 25, 2014 to 46 months’ imprisonment.
- Brenda Leonard, 51, from Oak Run, California, was sentenced on September 25, 2014 to two years’ probation.
- Tyler Scheer, 26, from Cedar Rapids, was sentenced on December 22, 2014 to nine months’ imprisonment and fined $3,000.
Three participants in the conspiracy still await sentencing:
- Jesse Tolen, 36, from Castella, California, is scheduled to be sentenced on January 15, 2015 at 10:30 a.m. Tolen pled guilty on July 1, 2014 to conspiracy to distribute marijuana and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
- Corey Marx, 29, from Cedar Rapids, is scheduled to be sentenced on January 15, 2015 at 4:15 p.m. Marx pled guilty on September 16, 2014 to conspiracy to distribute marijuana.
- Shannon Ehlts, 38, from Lowden, Iowa, awaits sentencing on his August 18, 2014 guilty plea to conspiracy to distribute marijuana. A sentencing date has not yet been set.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Matthew Cole and Justin Lightfoot, and investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Task Force as part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) program of the United States Department of Justice. The DEA Task Force consists of the DEA; the Linn County Sheriff's Office; the Cedar Rapids Police Department; the Marion Police Department; the Iowa City Police Department; 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 numbers are as follows: Swanson 14-CR-66; Nelson 14-CR-6; Straub 14-CR-20; Robert and Brenda Leonard 14-CR-37; Tolen 14-CR-39; Fritz 14-CR-78; Ehlts 14-CR-79; Scheer 14-CR-82; Marx 14-CR-85; Allen 14-CR-86; and Kintzel 14-CR-92.Former state employee sentenced for fraudRead the Press Release
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – United States Attorney Booth Goodwin announced today that Shannon Collins, 41, of Logan, West Virginia, was sentenced to five years of probation, with a condition that she spend one year in home confinement.
Johnston also ordered Collins to pay restitution of $58,264 to the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources.
In 2009, Collins, also known as Shannon Varney, was a caseworker in the Logan DHHR office. She used the social security numbers of two deceased individuals to set up false accounts from which she claimed benefits from a state fund established to transport children to and from medical care. Collins also fraudulently charged expenses to two Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Mountain State cards (also known as food stamp cards) to which she was not entitled.
The investigation was conducted by the West Virginia DHHR, assisted by the United States Postal Inspection Service, the Offices of Inspector General, DHHR, Social Security Administration and the Department of Agriculture.
United States District Judge Thomas E. Johnston imposed the sentence.
Assistant United States Attorney Erik Goes handled the prosecution of this case.
Former V.i. Army National Guard Major Indicted for Theft of Public Funds and Related ChargesRead the Press Release
St. Thomas, USVI – A federal grand jury has returned a 38-count indictment charging former Virgin Islands National Guard Major Sherrymae Morales, 54, with theft of public money, wire fraud and false statements, United States Attorney Ronald W. Sharpe announced today. The indictment was returned on December 4, 2014, but was unsealed Wednesday when Morales appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Ruth Miller and entered a plea of not guilty. She was released on an unsecured $25,000 bond.
According to the indictment, from 2010 until 2011, Morales was employed as a full-time employee with the Virgin Islands National Guard (VING) on St. Croix. At the same time she was employed as a full-time VING employee, Morales also held a full-time contract position with the Military Personnel Services Corporation (MPSC), which provides employee support services to members of the VING. The indictment alleges that Morales submitted time sheets to both the MPSC and VING for the same 40-hour work weeks over a period of 14 months. If convicted, Morales faces up to 20 years in federal prison.
United States Attorney Sharpe reminds the public that an indictment is merely a formal charging document and is not evidence of guilt. Every defendant is presumed innocent until and unless found guilty.
The case is being investigated by the United States Army Criminal Investigation Command-Major Procurement Fraud Unit, Defense Criminal Investigative Service and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Everard E. Potter.
Former Savannah-Chatham Police Officer Indicted on Drug Conspiracy ChargeRead the Press Release
Savannah, GA: Derrick Andre Fullmer, 27, of Pooler, Georgia, was indicted this week by a federal grand jury sitting in Savannah on charges related to a conspiracy involving the illegal possession and distribution of the controlled substance MDMA, more commonly known as “ecstasy” or “molly.” Fullmer was charged with conspiring to distribute molly as well as aiding and abetting other conspirators. During much of the time of the charged conspiracy, Fullmer was an officer with the Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Department (SCMPD).
Fullmer was arraigned before United States Magistrate Judge G.R. Smith today. The charge against Fullmer carries a 20-year maximum prison sentence. U. S. Attorney Ed Tarver emphasized that an indictment is only an accusation and is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is entitled to a fair trial, during which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
The investigation of this case was conducted by the FBI, the Chatham Savannah Counter Narcotics Team (CNT) and SCMPD. Assistant United States Attorney Scarlett S. Nokes is prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States. For additional information, please contact First Assistant United States Attorney James D. Durham at (912) 201-2547.
Former International Program Director of Adoption Agency Pleads Guilty to Ethiopian Adoption Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
The former International Program Director of International Adoption Guides Inc. (IAG), an adoption agency, pleaded guilty today to conspiring with others to defraud the United States by submitting fraudulent documents to the State Department for adoptions from Ethiopia and paying bribes to foreign officials.
Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Bill Nettles of the District of South Carolina made the announcement.
James Harding, 55, of Atlanta, Georgia, admitted as part of his guilty plea that, between 2008 and 2009, he and his co-conspirators submitted fraudulent documents to the State Department to facilitate adoptions of Ethiopian children by U.S. parents. Harding admitted that, in support of U.S. visa applications for the Ethiopian children, he and others submitted false documentation, including contracts of adoption signed by orphanages that could not properly give the children up for adoption because, for example, the child in question was never cared for or never resided at the orphanage.
In entering his guilty plea, Harding also admitted that he and others paid bribes to two Ethiopian officials so that those officials would help with the fraudulent adoptions. Specifically, Harding admitted that an audiologist and teacher at a government school was given money and other valuables in exchange for non-public medical information and social history information for potential adoptees. Additionally, Harding and his co-conspirators provided cash and all-expense paid travel to the head of a regional ministry for women’s and children’s affairs in exchange for his approval of IAG’s applications for intercountry adoptions and ignoring IAG’s failure to maintain a properly licensed adoption facility.
Harding pleaded guilty before Senior U.S. District Court Judge Sol Blatt Jr. of the District of South Carolina, and a sentencing hearing will be scheduled at a later date.
This ongoing investigation is being conducted by the Bureau of Diplomatic Security. The department appreciates the assistance of the Office of Children’s Issues at the U.S. Department of State. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney John W. Borchert of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jamie Lea Schoen of the District of South Carolina.
Former International Program Director of Adoption Agency Pleads Guilty to Ethiopian Adoption Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
Contact: (202) 514-2007
Washington ---- The former International Program Director of International Adoption Guides Inc. (IAG), an adoption agency, pleaded guilty today to conspiring with others to defraud the United States by submitting fraudulent documents to the State Department for adoptions from Ethiopia and paying bribes to foreign officials.
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Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Bill Nettles of the District of South Carolina made the announcement.
James Harding, 55, of Atlanta, Georgia, admitted as part of his guilty plea that, between 2008 and 2009, he and his co-conspirators submitted fraudulent documents to the State Department to facilitate adoptions of Ethiopian children by U.S. parents. Harding admitted that, in support of U.S. visa applications for the Ethiopian children, he and others submitted false documentation, including contracts of adoption signed by orphanages that could not properly give the children up for adoption because, for example, the child in question was never cared for or never resided at the orphanage.
In entering his guilty plea, Harding also admitted that he and others paid bribes to two Ethiopian officials so that those officials would help with the fraudulent adoptions. Specifically, Harding admitted that an audiologist and teacher at a government school was given money and other valuables in exchange for non-public medical information and social history information for potential adoptees. Additionally, Harding and his co-conspirators provided cash and all-expense paid travel to the head of a regional ministry for women’s and children’s affairs in exchange for his approval of IAG’s applications for intercountry adoptions and ignoring IAG’s failure to maintain a properly licensed adoption facility.
Harding pleaded guilty before Senior U.S. District Court Judge Sol Blatt Jr. of the District of South Carolina, and a sentencing hearing will be scheduled at a later date.
This ongoing investigation is being conducted by the Bureau of Diplomatic Security. The department appreciates the assistance of the Office of Children’s Issues at the U.S. Department of State. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney John W. Borchert of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jamie Lea Schoen of the District of South Carolina.
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DO NOT REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE. IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS, PLEASE USE THE CONTACTS IN THE MESSAGE OR CALL THE OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS AT 202-514-2007Financial Advisor Charged with Structuring Financial Transactions, Mail and Wire FraudRead the Press Release
COLUMBUS – A federal grand jury has charged Jason W. Cox, 39, of Dublin, with structuring cash withdrawal transactions, and with mail and wire fraud in an indictment returned in Columbus.
Carter M. Stewart, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio and Kathy A. Enstrom, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation announced the indictment returned today.
The indictment alleges that Cox structured cash withdrawals of $10,000 or under to avoid currency transaction reports between January 3, 2014 and March 30, 2014. He is charged in eight counts of aggravated structuring of $ 107,000 total.
In late 2012 through early 2013, the defendant also allegedly used his position as a financial advisor with a national financial services company to defraud an investor. Cox allegedly obtained funds for his own purposes while fraudulently representing that the funds were an investment in a business and that the investment had a guaranteed 10% rate of return. The defendant allegedly convinced the investor to give him a $10,000 check for the “off the books” investment.
Cox allegedly used the same fraudulent business scheme to obtain $10,000 via wire transfer from a second investor on or about March 15, 2013.
Structuring financial transactions is a crime punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Mail fraud and wire fraud are crimes punishable by up to 20 years imprisonment.
Cox was arrested on December 11, 2014.
U.S. Attorney Stewart commended the investigation of this case by the IRS Criminal Investigation Division, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Deborah A. Solove, who is prosecuting the case.
An indictment merely contains allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.
Federal Court Prohibits Georgia Tax Preparers from Preparing Tax Returns for OthersRead the Press Release
A federal court in Columbus, Georgia, has permanently barred Natashia and Detrick Tucker and their business, T&T Express Tax, from preparing federal tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced today.
The civil injunction order, to which the defendants consented, was signed by Chief Judge Clay D. Land of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia.
According to the complaint, the Tuckers prepared federal income tax returns for customers that understated the taxes due or generated inappropriate tax refunds. The understatements were caused by improper earned income tax credits and education credits that the Tuckers claimed for their customers. According to the complaint, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) examined 337 returns of the 2,239 returns prepared by the Tuckers for the tax years 2009 through 2011. Of those returns, the IRS determined that adjustments were needed on more than 87 percent of the examined returns.
On Jan. 9, 2014, Natashia Tucker pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud the United States in the assessment and collection of federal income taxes and Detrick Tucker pleaded guilty to aiding and assisting in the preparation of false tax returns. Natashia Tucker was later sentenced to serve 46 months in federal prison and was ordered to pay $1,483,025 in restitution to the IRS. Detrick Tucker was sentenced to serve 12 months and one day in federal prison and ordered to pay $66,235 in restitution to the IRS.
Return preparer fraud is one of the IRS’s Dirty Dozen Tax Scams for 2014. The IRS has some tips on their website for choosing a tax preparer. In the past decade, the Tax Division has obtained injunctions against hundreds of unscrupulous tax preparers. Information about these cases is available on the Justice Department website. An alphabetical listing of persons enjoined from preparing returns and promoting tax schemes can be found on this page. If you believe that one of the enjoined persons or businesses may be violating an injunction, please contact the Tax Division with details.