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28 October 2014
Charleroi Woman Helped Pass Counterfeit Cash at Western PA Retail StoresRead the Press Release
PITTSBURGH – A resident of Washington County pleaded guilty in federal court to a charge of conspiracy, United States Attorney David J. Hickton announced today.
Cheryl Leigh Johnson, 36, of Charleroi, Pa., pleaded guilty to one count before United States District Court Judge Cathy Bissoon.
In connection with the guilty plea, the court was advised that during the period from July 1, 2014, through July 28, 2014, Johnson conspired with codefendants John Viloria, Barry Robert Youger, Jr. and Eric Seighman, to pass thousands of dollars of counterfeit Federal Reserve notes at various retail store locations in the Western District of Pennsylvania.
Judge Bissoon scheduled sentencing for March 2, 2015 at 10 a.m. The law provides for a maximum total sentence of not more than five years in prison, a fine of $250,000, or both. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed would be based upon the seriousness of the offense and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.
Pending sentence, the court released Johnson on bond.
Assistant United States Attorney Mary McKeen Houghton is prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.
The United States Secret Service conducted the investigation that lead to the prosecution of Johnson.
Cayuga County Man Indicted on Federal Child Enticement and Child Pornography ChargesRead the Press Release
Charges include possession, distribution and receipt of child pornography
SYRACUSE, NEW YORK – Auburn, NY resident MICHAEL J. MAHANNAH, age 31, was formally charged today in federal court in Syracuse on multiple counts, including attempted coercion and enticement of a minor, according to United States Attorney Richard S. Hartunian. Following an initial appearance before United States Magistrate Judge Andrew T. Baxter, Mahannah is being held without bond.
The twelve-count indictment returned by the federal Grand Jury charged Mahannah with the following crimes: Count 1 – Attempted Coercion and Enticement of an individual the defendant believed to be a twelve year-old male child (who was in fact an undercover police officer); Count 2 – Felony Offense Against a Minor by a Registered Sex Offender; Counts 3-7 – Distribution of Child Pornography; Counts 8-11 – Receipt of Child Pornography; and Count 12 – Possession of Child Pornography.
If found guilty of Counts 1 and 2, Mahannah faces a statutory minimum of at least 20 years in prison and a maximum term of life in prison. On Counts 3-11, the defendant faces a statutory minimum of at least 5 years in prison and a maximum of 20 years in prison. On Count 12, the defendant faces a maximum of 20 years in prison. Mahannah may be fined up to $250,000 on each count of conviction. Upon release from prison, he would be placed on Supervised Release for a mandatory minimum of at least five years and up to life. He would also be required to register as a sex offender.
The charges in the indictment are merely accusations and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
This case is being investigated by the United States Secret Service, the New York State Police, the Syracuse Police Department, and the Cayuga County District Attorney’s Office, as part of Project Safe Childhood.
Project Safe Childhood is a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice, and led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Lisa Fletcher and Nicolas Commandeur.
California Woman Sentenced for Conspiracy to Defraud Internal Revenue Service and Wire FraudRead the Press Release
A Fresno, California, resident was sentenced to serve 18 months in prison and pay $703,537 in restitution for conspiring to defraud the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) by aiding to obtain payment of fraudulent tax refund claims and committing wire fraud, the Justice Department and IRS announced today.
Pursuant to a plea agreement, Kathryn Darlene Coryell pleaded guilty to two counts of a 44-count indictment on June 26. Her co-defendant, Noemi Baez, pleaded guilty on Oct. 31, 2013, to charges of conspiring to defraud the IRS and committing aggravated identity theft.
According to the plea agreement, beginning around Feb. 28, 2008, and continuing through April 16, 2012, Coryell and Baez participated in a scheme to obtain and help others to obtain payment of false claims for tax refunds from the IRS by electronically filing fraudulent federal income tax returns. Using the names and social security numbers of numerous individuals, Coryell and Baez fabricated income information and filed materially false income tax returns claiming tax refunds derived from credits, including the Earned Income Credit, the Additional Child Tax Credit and the Making Work Pay Credit. In the plea agreement, Coryell admitted that, during the conspiracy, she and her co-defendant filed more than 150 false tax returns claiming fraudulent tax refunds totaling more than $400,000.
The case was investigated by special agents of the IRS-Criminal Investigation and was prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Erin S. Mellen, Sonia M. Owens and Charles A. O’Reilly of the Tax Division.
California Man Sentenced to 1½ Years in Prison for Theft and Embezzlement from the Passamaquoddy TribeRead the Press Release
Contact: F. Todd Lowell
Assistant United States Attorney
Tel: (207) 945-0373Bangor, Maine: United States Attorney Thomas E. Delahanty II announced that Charles
Fourcloud, a/k/a “Arlynn E. Knudsen,” 59, of San Jose, California, was sentenced today in
U.S. District Court by Judge George Z. Singal to 1½ years in prison and three years of supervised release for stealing and embezzling funds from the Passamaquoddy Tribe at Pleasant
Point. He was also ordered to pay $22,571.61 in restitution. Fourcloud pleaded guilty on June
26, 2014.Court records show that in May 2013, the defendant was hired by the tribe to serve as its chief financial officer (CFO). He applied for the CFO position using a fictitious employment history and fake references. He also concealed the facts that in 1997 he was convicted in federal court in the Western Division of South Dakota of conspiracy to defraud the United States, theft from an Indian tribal organization, theft from a program receiving federal funds, money laundering and structuring and that he served an eight year prison sentence. From April through
August 2013, the defendant fraudulently obtained and stole about $20,000 from the tribe by submitting fraudulent travel expense reports and supporting documentation and by submitting fraudulent documentation related to moving expense reimbursement.The investigation was conducted jointly by the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services Office of Inspector General and the Pleasant Point Police Department.Bullhead Man Charged with Failure to Register as A Sex OffenderRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Brendan V. Johnson announced that a Bullhead, South Dakota, man has been indicted by a federal grand jury for Failure to Register as a Sex Offender.
Miles Yellow Earrings, age 31, was indicted on October 15, 2014. He appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge William D. Gerdes on October 17, 2014, and pled not guilty to the Indictment.
The maximum penalty upon conviction is up to 10 years in custody and/or a $250,000 fine, a mandatory minimum period of at least 5 years of supervised release, and $100 to the Federal Crime Victims Fund. Restitution may also be ordered.
The Indictment alleges that between May 10, 2014, and June 18, 2014, Yellow Earrings, a person required to register under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, failed to register and update his registration.
The charge is merely an accusation and Yellow Earrings is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
The investigation is being conducted by the U.S. Marshals Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Troy R. Morley is prosecuting the case.
Yellow Earrings was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service pending trial, which has been set for December 16, 2014.
Brunswick Women Sentenced to 20 Months in Prison for Federal Program and Tax FraudRead the Press Release
Contact: Donald E. Clark
Assistant United States Attorney
Tel: (207) 780-3257Portland, Maine: United States Attorney Thomas E. Delahanty II announced that Stacey
A. Backman, 41, of Brunswick, Maine, was sentenced in U.S. District Court by Judge D. Brock
Hornby to 20 months in prison for federal program and tax fraud. She was also ordered to pay
$365,168 in restitution. She pled guilty to the offenses on June 9, 2014.According to court records, the defendant was a fund accountant at Coastal Enterprises, Inc. (CEI). CEI is a private, nonprofit, charitable Community Development Corporation and
Community Development Financial Institution based in Wiscasset, Maine that received more than $10,000 in federal funds each year. From 2010 to January 2014, the defendant embezzled
$365,168 from CEI and failed to report the embezzled income on her federal income tax returns. CEI learned of the embezzlement in January 2014 and terminated the defendant’s employment.The case was investigated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (OIG); the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigations Division; the
U.S. Department of Agriculture, OIG; and the Wiscasset Police Department.Brattleboro Man Sentenced to Prison for Child Pornography OffenseRead the Press Release
The Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont stated that Grant Klein, 33, of Brattleboro, Vermont, was sentenced on October 27, 2014, in United States District Court in Rutland, Vermont, to serve a term of 12 months and one-day imprisonment and a 10-year period of supervised release following his conviction on one count of possession of child pornography, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2252(a)(4)(B). Judge Geoffrey C. Crawford also ordered Klein to pay a $100 special assessment.
According to court records and proceedings, law enforcement executed a warrant to search Klein’s residence for evidence of child pornography offenses after a computer located at that residence was identified as accessing and downloading child pornography over the Internet. Klein admitted that he possessed child pornography on his cell phone, he had earlier destroyed the hard drive to his desktop computer to avoid detection by law enforcement, he derived sexual gratification from looking at child pornography, and he described himself as a pedophile. A forensic examination of his cellphone revealed approximately 71 images of child pornography were on it. Some of the images in Klein’s collection depicted the rape of infants and other sadistic and masochistic conduct.
United States Attorney Coffin commended the efforts of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Brattleboro Police Department, and the Vermont Internet Crimes Against Children Task in the investigation and prosecution of Klein.
The prosecution of Klein was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Barbara A. Masterson. Klein was represented by Assistant Federal Defender David L. McColgin.
U.S. Attorney Coffin noted that this prosecution is part of the U.S. Department of Justice=s 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.
Blairsville Man Sentenced to Prison for Participating in Heroin Trafficking ConpiracyRead the Press Release
Johnstown, Pa. - A resident of Blairsville, Pa., has been sentenced in federal court to 24 months in prison and five years supervised release on his conviction of violating federal narcotics laws, United States Attorney David J. Hickton announced today.
United States District Judge Kim R. Gibson imposed the sentence on Clifford Bernard Camut, Jr., 21.
According to information presented to the court, from the spring of 2011 to May 15, 2012, Camut, along with multiple co-defendants, conspired to distribute and possess with intent to distribute one kilogram or more of heroin.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie L. Haines prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.
Mr. Hickton commended the Laurel Highlands Resident Agency of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Pennsylvania State Police and the Indiana Police Department for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Camut. Other agencies participating in this investigation included the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office, the Cambria County Drug Task Force, the Cambria County Sheriff’s Department, the Cambria County District Attorney’s Office, the Indiana County Drug Task Force, and the Indiana County District Attorney’s Office.
Biddeford Maine Man Sentenced to 15 Years on Drug ChargesRead the Press Release
CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE – Frederick Drane, 48, of Biddeford, Maine, was sentenced on Monday in the United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire on one count of conspiracy to possess in excess of 28 grams of crack cocaine with the intent to distribute it, and one count of possessing crack cocaine with the intent to distribute it. The Court imposed a term of 15 years’ imprisonment, to be followed by 8 years of supervised release.
In October 2012, Drane was pulled over by the New Hampshire state police for a motor vehicle infraction. During the ensuing stop, authorities located a crack pipe and more than 28 grams of crack cocaine in the vehicle, already packaged for sale.
The case was investigated by the New Hampshire State Police, and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Seth Aframe and Nick Abramson.
Bangor Man Sentenced to Five Years on Firearms ChargeRead the Press Release
Contact: Andrew McCormack
Assistant United States Attorney
Tel: (207) 945-0373Bangor, Maine: United States Attorney Thomas E. Delahanty II announced that Perrin
Oliver, 44, of Bangor and formerly of Brooklyn, New York, was sentenced today in U.S.
District Court by Judge George Z. Singal to five years in prison and three years of supervised release for being a felon in possession of a firearm. Oliver pleaded guilty to the charge on
December 19, 2013.According to court records and proceedings, on July 4, 2013, Oliver, a previously convicted felon, was arrested by the police after a stand-off at his Bangor apartment. During the course of that stand-off, Oliver fired multiple rounds of ammunition from his apartment. After his arrest, officers found a Rossi .38 Special revolver in Oliver’s waistband. A safe located in
Oliver’s apartment contained a SIG Sauer .380 semi-automatic pistol and crack cocaine belonging to Oliver.The investigation was conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and
Explosives and the Bangor Police Department.Aubrey Lee Price, Former Bank Director Who Faked His Own Death, Sentenced to 30 Years in PrisonRead the Press Release
Statesboro, GA: Edward J. Tarver, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia, and Loretta E. Lynch, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, announced that Aubrey Lee Price, 48, was sentenced today in Statesboro federal court to 30 years in federal prison for perpetrating a Ponzi scheme that resulted in millions of dollars of losses to dozens of Price’s investors and led to the collapse of a federally insured bank. Today’s sentencing took place before the Honorable B. Avant Edenfield, United States District Judge for the Southern District of Georgia.
“Through a web of lies and deceit, Aubrey Lee Price conned his elderly investors and a federally insured bank of more than $70 million, and then attempted to further his con and avoid accountability by faking his own death. However, his life on the lam ended with a routine traffic stop. Today’s sentence sends a strong message to those who seek to defraud the investing public and our financial institutions that we will pursue them and bring them to justice,” stated United States Attorney Lynch.
“The sentence imposed today reflects the magnitude of Aubrey Lee Price’s fraud,” said United States Attorney Tarver. “Price engaged in a staggering betrayal of trust, leaving his elderly investors practically penniless, and at the same time, contributing to the collapse of a federally insured bank. For his crimes, Price richly deserves the heavy sentence handed down today by the Court.”George Venizelos, Assistant Director in Charge, FBI New York Field Office, along with J. Britt Johnson, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Atlanta Field Office, stated: “While today’s sentencing of former banker Aubrey Lee Price concludes a lengthy investigation as well as an extensive and resource-intensive manhunt, it does not restore the financial harm done to his many victims. The FBI would like to express its gratitude to those many and varied law enforcement agencies whose efforts in the investigation and apprehension of Mr. Price made today’s sentencing possible. We are hopeful that this announcement will provide some solace to his victims.”
Jason T. Moran, Special Agent in Charge, FDIC Office of Inspector General, stated: “The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Office of Inspector General is pleased to have joined the United States Attorney’s Office and our law enforcement colleagues in investigating the fraud that led to the conviction of Aubrey Lee Price. It is particularly troubling when bank insiders violate the public trust and engage in activities that impact the safety and soundness of our nation’s banks.”
“Theft of employee benefit assets jeopardizes the benefits of workers. This case reaffirms the Labor Department’s commitment to protect workers’ benefits by identifying criminal activity wherever and whenever it occurs,” said Isabel Colon, Regional Director of the United States Department of Labor Employee Benefit Security Administration’s Atlanta Regional Office.
According court filings and evidence presented at the guilty plea and sentencing hearings, Price embezzled over $21 million in capital from MB&T, and lost much of it by investing in risky equity securities and options. To cover up his fraud, Price provided MB&T officials with bogus account statements and other false documents which falsely indicated the bank’s capital was safely held in an account at a financial services firm, when in truth, most of the money was gone. A further investigation of Price revealed that between June 2009 and June 2012, he also defrauded approximately 115 individual investors who had invested $51 million in two investment funds he managed. Price lost almost all of that money through speculative trading, and to cover up his losses, Price posted fake account statements on a secure web site that fraudulently reflected fictitious assets and fabricated investment returns for each investor.In mid-June 2012, Price sent acquaintances “suicide letters” in which he admitted he had defrauded MB&T Bank and Price’s individual investors, and that he planned to kill himself by throwing himself off a high-speed ferry boat after it left Key West, Florida. As a result of the suicide claim, the United States Coast Guard searched to no avail for Price’s body. Shortly after sending the letters, Price disappeared. After more than a year of searching for Price, he was arrested on December 31, 2013, after he presented a false identification during a routine traffic stop in Brunswick, Georgia.
Price has been in custody since his arrest on December 31, 2013. In addition to being sentenced to 30 years’ imprisonment, Price was also sentenced to serve a term of 5 years of supervised release. Tarver noted that there is no parole in the federal system. As part of his sentence, Price will also be ordered to pay restitution to the victims of his crimes in an amount to be determined at a restitution hearing to be held by February 1, 2015. In addition, Price was ordered to forfeit a total of $51 million, representing the proceeds of his crimes.
U. S. Attorneys Tarver and Lynch credited the FBI in Georgia, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Johnson, and in New York, under the direction of Assistant Director in Charge Venizelos, with the investigation leading to today’s sentencing. They also thanked the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida; the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia; the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Atlanta Regional Office; the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC); the Federal Reserve Board, Office of Inspector General; the United States Coast Guard; the United States Department of Labor; the Lowndes County Georgia Sheriff’s Department; the Glynn County Georgia Sheriff’s Department; the Toombs County Georgia Sheriff’s Department; and the Marion County Florida Sheriff’s Department for their cooperation and assistance in the investigation and prosecution of Price.
The government was represented by Assistant United States Attorney Brian T. Rafferty of the U. S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Georgia, and Assistant United States Attorneys Shannon C. Jones and Brian Morris of the U. S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of New York.
This prosecution was the result of efforts by President Barack Obama’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force (FFETF), which was created in November 2009 to wage an aggressive, coordinated, and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes. With more than 20 federal agencies, 94 U. S. Attorneys’ Offices, and state and local partners, it’s the broadest coalition of law enforcement, investigatory, and regulatory agencies ever assembled to combat fraud. Since its formation, the task force has made great strides in facilitating increased investigation and prosecution of financial crimes; enhancing coordination and cooperation among federal, state, and local authorities; addressing discrimination in the lending and financial markets; and conducting outreach to the public, victims, financial institutions, and other organizations. Over the past three fiscal years, the Justice Department has filed more than 10,000 financial fraud cases against nearly 15,000 defendants. For more information on the task force, visit http://www.StopFraud.gov.The Defendant: AUBREY LEE PRICE
Age: 48
Valdosta, Georgia
S.D.G.A. Docket No. 612-CR-10
E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 13-CR-058Aubrey Lee Price, Former Bank Director Who Faked His Own Death, Sentenced to 30 Years in PrisonRead the Press Release
BROOKLYN, NY – Edward J. Tarver, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia, and Loretta E. Lynch, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, announced that Aubrey Lee Price, 48, was sentenced today in Statesboro federal court to 30 years in federal prison for perpetrating a Ponzi scheme that resulted in millions of dollars of losses to dozens of Price’s investors and led to the collapse of a federally insured bank. Today’s sentencing took place before the Honorable B. Avant Edenfield, United States District Judge for the Southern District of Georgia.
“Through a web of lies and deceit, Aubrey Lee Price conned his elderly investors and a federally insured bank of more than $70 million, and then attempted to further his con and avoid accountability by faking his own death. However, his life on the lam ended with a routine traffic stop. Today’s sentence sends a strong message to those who seek to defraud the investing public and our financial institutions that we will pursue them and bring them to justice,” stated United States Attorney Lynch.
“The sentence imposed today reflects the magnitude of Aubrey Lee Price’s fraud,” said United States Attorney Tarver. “Price engaged in a staggering betrayal of trust, leaving his elderly investors practically penniless, and at the same time, contributing to the collapse of a federally insured bank. For his crimes, Price richly deserves the heavy sentence handed down today by the Court.”
George Venizelos, Assistant Director in Charge, FBI New York Field Office, along with J. Britt Johnson, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Atlanta Field Office, stated, “While today’s sentencing of former banker Aubrey Lee Price concludes a lengthy investigation as well as an extensive and resource-intensive manhunt, it does not restore the financial harm done to his many victims. The FBI would like to express its gratitude to those many and varied law enforcement agencies whose efforts in the investigation and apprehension of Mr. Price made today’s sentencing possible. We are hopeful that this announcement will provide some solace to his victims.”
Jason T. Moran, Special Agent in Charge, FDIC Office of Inspector General, stated, “The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Office of Inspector General is pleased to have joined the United States Attorney’s Office and our law enforcement colleagues in investigating the fraud that led to the conviction of Aubrey Lee Price. It is particularly troubling when bank insiders violate the public trust and engage in activities that impact the safety and soundness of our nation’s banks.”
“Theft of employee benefit assets jeopardizes the benefits of workers. This case reaffirms the Labor Department’s commitment to protect workers’ benefits by identifying criminal activity wherever and whenever it occurs,” said Isabel Colon, Regional Director of the United States Department of Labor Employee Benefit Security Administration’s Atlanta Regional Office.
According court filings and evidence presented at the guilty plea and sentencing hearings, Price embezzled over $21 million in capital from MB&T, and lost much of it by investing in risky equity securities and options. To cover up his fraud, Price provided MB&T officials with bogus account statements and other false documents which falsely indicated the bank’s capital was safely held in an account at a financial services firm, when in truth, most of the money was gone. A further investigation of Price revealed that between June 2009 and June 2012, he also defrauded approximately 115 individual investors who had invested $51 million in two investment funds he managed. Price lost almost all of that money through speculative trading, and to cover up his losses, Price posted fake account statements on a secure web site that fraudulently reflected fictitious assets and fabricated investment returns for each investor.
In mid-June 2012, Price sent acquaintances “suicide letters” in which he admitted he had defrauded MB&T Bank and Price’s individual investors, and that he planned to kill himself by throwing himself off a high-speed ferry boat after it left Key West, Florida. As a result of the suicide claim, the United States Coast Guard searched to no avail for Price’s body. Shortly after sending the letters, Price disappeared. After more than a year of searching for Price, he was arrested on December 31, 2013, after he presented a false identification during a routine traffic stop in Brunswick, Georgia.
Price has been in custody since his arrest on December 31, 2013. In addition to being sentenced to 30 years’ imprisonment, Price was also sentenced to serve a term of 5 years of supervised release. Tarver noted that there is no parole in the federal system. As part of his sentence, Price will also be ordered to pay restitution to the victims of his crimes in an amount to be determined at a restitution hearing to be held by February 1, 2015. In addition, Price was ordered to forfeit a total of $51 million, representing the proceeds of his crimes.
U. S. Attorneys Tarver and Lynch credited the FBI in Georgia, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Johnson, and in New York, under the direction of Assistant Director in Charge Venizelos, with the investigation leading to today’s sentencing. They also thanked the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida; the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia; the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Atlanta Regional Office; the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC); the Federal Reserve Board, Office of Inspector General; the United States Coast Guard; the United States Department of Labor; the Lowndes County Georgia Sheriff’s Department; the Glynn County Georgia Sheriff’s Department; the Toombs County Georgia Sheriff’s Department; and the Marion County Florida Sheriff’s Department for their cooperation and assistance in the investigation and prosecution of Price.
The government was represented by Assistant United States Attorney Brian T. Rafferty of the U. S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Georgia, and Assistant United States Attorneys Shannon C. Jones and Brian Morris of the U. S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of New York.
This prosecution was the result of efforts by President Barack Obama’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force (FFETF), which was created in November 2009 to wage an aggressive, coordinated, and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes. With more than 20 federal agencies, 94 U. S. Attorneys’ Offices, and state and local partners, it’s the broadest coalition of law enforcement, investigatory, and regulatory agencies ever assembled to combat fraud. Since its formation, the task force has made great strides in facilitating increased investigation and prosecution of financial crimes; enhancing coordination and cooperation among federal, state, and local authorities; addressing discrimination in the lending and financial markets; and conducting outreach to the public, victims, financial institutions, and other organizations. Over the past three fiscal years, the Justice Department has filed more than 10,000 financial fraud cases against nearly 15,000 defendants. For more information on the task force, visit http://www.StopFraud.gov.
The Defendant:
AUBREY LEE PRICE
Age: 48
Valdosta, Georgia
S.D.G.A. Docket No. 612-CR-10
E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 13-CR-058
Assistant U.S. Attorneys to be on Duty Election Day for Voting Rights or Election Fraud AbusesRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Steven M. Dettelbach announced today that Assistant United States Attorneys Ann C. Rowland and Ava R. Dustin will lead the efforts of his office in connection with the Justice Department’s nationwide Election Day Program for the upcoming November 4, 2014, general elections.
In order to respond to complaints of voting rights or election fraud abuses on November 4, 2014, and to ensure that such complaints are directed to the appropriate authorities, Rowland and Dustin will be on duty in this District while the polls are open. Rowland can be reached by the public at 216-622-3847 while Dustin can be reached at 419-259-0767. The local FBI field office can be reached by the public at 216-522-1400.
Complaints about possible violations of the federal voting rights laws can be made directly to the Civil Rights Division’s Voting Section in Washington by phone at 1-800-253-3931 or (202) 307-2767, by fax at (202) 307-3961, by email to [email protected] or by complaint form at http://www.justice.gov/crt/complaint/votintake/index.php.
Ashtabula Man Faces Federal Charges Related to Firearms and HeroinRead the Press Release
A federal grand jury returned a four-count indictment charging Michael G. Relliford, 31, of Ashtabula, with distribution of heroin, possessing with the intent to distribute heroin, being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, said Steven M. Dettelbach, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio.
Count 1 of the indictment alleges that on or about July 16, 2014, Relliford distributed less than 100 grams of heroin.
Count 2 of the indictment alleges that on or about July 17, 2014, Relliford possessed with the intent to distribute more than 100 grams of heroin.
Count 3 of the indictment alleges that on or about July 17, 2014, Relliford possessed a Ruger, model P90DC, .45 caliber pistol, and ammunition, after having been previously convicted of Illegal Manufacture of Drugs, in the Ashtabula County Court of Common Pleas, Ohio.
Count 4 of the indictment alleges that on or about July 17, 2014, Relliford possessed the above mentioned Ruger firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
If convicted, the defendant’s sentence will be determined by the court after review of 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 violations. In all cases, the sentence will not exceed the statutory maximum and, in most cases, it will be less than the maximum.
The investigation preceding the indictment was conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Ashtabula Police Department. The matter is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jason M. Katz.
An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Alabama Tax Preparers Indicted for Stolen Identity Refund FraudRead the Press Release
Two women from Phenix City, Alabama, were indicted yesterday for their involvement in a stolen identity refund fraud scheme (SIRF), Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Larry J. Wszalek for the Justice Department's Tax Division and U.S. Attorney George L. Beck Jr. for the Middle District of Alabama announced today following the unsealing of the indictment.
Teresa Floyd and her daughter, Lasondra Davis Miles, were charged with conspiracy to submit false claims, wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. Floyd was also charged with theft of public money.
According to the superseding indictment, Floyd and Davis operated several tax preparation businesses in the Phenix City area, including T & L Tax Service and T & C Used Cars & Tax Service. Floyd and Davis obtained stolen identities and used those identities to file more than 900 federal income tax returns that claimed more than $2.5 million in tax refunds. To obtain the money from the scheme, the defendants applied for bank products from various financial institutions, which provided to the defendants blank check stock. The bank products allow a tax preparer to deduct their fees directly from a tax refund and then print out the remainder of the refund as a check. Floyd and Davis created fictitious identification documents and bills to provide to the financial institutions in an attempt to verify that the returns were filed in the names of legitimate customers. The defendants caused the fraudulent checks to be cashed at several businesses in Alabama and Georgia. Floyd also deposited fraudulent income tax refund checks into her bank account.
If convicted, the defendants face a statutory maximum sentence of 10 years in prison for the conspiracy to file false claims count, a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for each wire fraud count, a statutory maximum sentence of 10 years in prison for each theft of public money count and a mandatory sentence of two years in prison for the aggravated identity theft counts. The defendants are also subject to fines, forfeiture and mandatory restitution if convicted.
The case was investigated by special agents of the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation. Trial Attorney Michael Boteler of the Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Todd Brown for the Middle District of Alabama are prosecuting the case.
An indictment merely alleges that crimes have been committed and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Additional information about the Tax Division and its enforcement efforts may be found on the division’s website.
17 Arrested in Tuba City Drug SweepRead the Press Release
PHOENIX – Following a coordinated federal, tribal and state task force investigation into drug trafficking on the Navajo Nation, 20 individuals have been charged with federal drug trafficking crimes. Five remain fugitives. In addition to the 15 arrested on drug trafficking charges, 2 individuals were arrested for alleged violations of the terms of their pretrial release having been arrested in May on assault-related charges, along with 10 other individuals, during the Tuba City violent offender initiative—the first phase of this community impact initiative.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Navajo Nation Department of Public Safety, the Coconino County METRO Drug Task Force and the Drug Enforcement Administration led this enforcement action, with substantial assistance from the United States Marshals Service, the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Arizona Department of Public Safety.
United States Attorney John S. Leonardo said, “This joint investigation is an example of the impact that federal, state and tribal law enforcement agencies can have in disrupting drug trafficking activity in Indian Country when they coordinate their resources.”
FBI Special Agent in Charge Douglas G. Price stated he wanted “to thank our law enforcement partners not only for the assistance they provided during this specific drug operation but the assistance they provide on a regular basis.”
Navajo Nation Captain Harry Sombrero, who currently serves as Director of Criminal Investigations, also said, “The undercover drug investigation was conducted over a period of months and involved hundreds of hours of team investigative work. It is believed that these arrests will have a significant impact on the local drug trafficking network. The credit goes to the field investigators for their commitment, dedication and hard work to keep the community safe.”
Convictions for the drug offenses currently charged, which involve trafficking of methamphetamine and cocaine, carry penalties up to 20 years in prison and $1,000,000 in fines.
Although these individuals have been charged with federal crimes by way of Complaint or Indictment, these charging documents are simply methods by which a person is charged with criminal activity and raise no inference of guilt. An individual is presumed innocent until competent evidence is presented to a jury that establishes guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.The prosecution is being handled byDimitra H. Sampson of Phoenix and Adam Zickerman of Flagstaff, Assistant U.S. Attorneys, District of Arizona.
RELEASE NUMBER: 2014-060_Tuba City
For more information on the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/az
Follow the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, on Twitter @USAO_AZ for the latest news.
27 October 2014
Yucca Valley Man Who Worked at Local Schools Sentenced to 23 Years in Federal Prison in Federal Child Pornography CaseRead the Press Release
RIVERSIDE, California – A school custodian who sexually abused a child over a period of several years and uploaded visual images of the molestations to the Internet has been sentenced to 276 months in federal prison for his conviction on child pornography charges.
Matthew Frazer, 39, of Yucca Valley, was sentenced Friday by United States District Judge Virginia A. Phillips.
Frazer pleaded guilty in July to one count of distribution of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography. In a plea agreement, Frazer admitted filming the molestation of the victim, who was between 4 and 8 at the time, and uploading the films onto the internet to share with others.
Prior to his arrest on January 31, Frazer was employed as a custodian with the Morongo Unified School District. The victim did not attend the schools where Frazer worked.
The investigation into Frazer was initiated last year after the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children provided to the FBI a series of pornographic images depicting a young girl being sexually abused. For several months, investigators attempted to identify the adult male in the images, and the FBI identified Frazier as the suspect earlier this year.
Frazer pleaded guilty to the two felony charges pursuant to a plea agreement, in which he admitted filming sexual explicit images of the young female victim from 2008 through 2012. He specific admitted making a video in October 2009, when the victim was 6 years old, and again in 2010 when she was 7.
According to court documents, the images have been found in the possession of more than 250 people who collect child pornography. “The magnitude of such harm to [the victim] is difficult to appreciate and cannot be overstated,” prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memorandum filed with the court.
This case is the result of an investigation by the FBI. The following agencies provided assistance during the investigation: the Riverside Police Department, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, the San Bernardino Police Department, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, and the San Bernardino County Probation Department.
Release No. 14-142
Virginia Beach Man Indicted in Major Health Care Fraud of Virginia Medical Assistance ProgramRead the Press Release
NORFOLK, Va. – Baffour E. Opoku, owner and operator of Progressive Counseling Services, LLC, a Virginia Beach based counseling business, and nine other current and former employees were indicted on Wednesday by a federal grand jury for their alleged roles in a scheme to defraud the Virginia Medical Assistance Program. Court documents were unsealed today.
Dana J. Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Mark R. Herring, Virginia Attorney General; Royce E. Curtin, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Norfolk Field Office; Clark E. Settles, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Washington; Thomas J. Kelly, Special Agent in Charge, IRS-Criminal Investigation, Washington, D.C. Field Office; and Bill Jones, Special Agent in Charge for the Washington Regional Office of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General – Office of Labor Racketeering and Fraud Investigations, made the announcement after the defendants made their initial appearances in federal court this afternoon.
The nine of the ten defendants were arrested today, and are currently awaiting further proceedings. The defendants are: Baffour E. Opoku, 48, of Virginia Beach, Virginia; Doretha Selby-Diggs, 40, of Portsmouth, Virginia; Lisa Barrett, 49, of Norfolk; Barbara Bing Banks, 34, of Hampton, Virginia; Corey Etheridge, 42, of Chesapeake, Virginia; Jacqueline Harris, 34, of Portsmouth; Verline Harris, 48, of Virginia Beach; Arlette Johnson, 58, of Virginia Beach; Alfreda Stallion, 52, of Virginia Beach; and Johnny Stallion, 34, of Las Vegas, Nevada.
According to the 105 count indictment, the defendants conspired to obtain reimbursement payments from the Virginia Medical Assistance Program by submitting false claims for mental health support services in 2011 and 2012. Opoku owned and operated Progressive Counseling Services, LLC. He hired the other nine defendants to provide mental health support services to Medicaid-eligible clients in the Tidewater area. According to the indictment, Opoku, along with an unindicted co-conspirator, created fraudulent assessments of Progressive clients to obtain authorization to bill Medicaid for mental health support services. Once Progressive obtained this authorization, Opoku submitted false and fraudulent Medicaid reimbursement claims on behalf of mental health support services purportedly provided by the co-defendants. The indictment alleges these reimbursement claims were bogus because most of the counselors were unqualified to serve as mental health professionals, the counseling sessions never occurred, and progress notes used to document the sessions were fabricated.
In addition, Opoku faces charges that he failed to report nearly $450,000 in taxable income to the IRS over two tax years and that Opoku, along with Doretha Selby-Diggs and Corey Etheridge, submitted false documents to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, part of the Department of Homeland Security, with respect to a pending immigration matter.
The indictment further alleges that Lisa Barrett, Barbara Bing, Jacqueline Harris, and Arlette Johnson testified falsely before a federal grand jury that was investigating this matter.
This case was investigated by the FBI’s Norfolk Field Office; the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit of the Virginia Attorney General’s Office; Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); IRS-Criminal Investigation; and the Department of Labor, Office of Labor Racketeering and Fraud Investigations. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joseph L. Kosky and V. Kathleen Dougherty are prosecuting the case.
Criminal indictments are only charges and not evidence of guilt. All defendants are presumed to be innocent until and unless proven guilty.
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. 2:14-CR-137.Tweet
Upper Marlboro Man Sentenced to 30 Years in Prison for Sexually Abusing A Child to Produce Child PornographyRead the Press Release
Greenbelt, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow sentenced Eugene Lewandowski, age 27, of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, today to 30 years in prison followed by lifetime supervised release for sexual exploitation of a minor to produce child pornography and for transportation of child pornography. Judge Chasanow ordered that upon his release from prison, Lewandowski must register as a sex offender in the place where he resides, where he is an employee, and where he is a student, under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA).The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge William Winter of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); and Colonel Marcus L. Brown, Superintendent of the Maryland State Police.
According to information presented at Lewandowski’s sentencing hearing, Lewandowski took six videos of himself engaged in sexual acts with a sleeping five year old female, as well as additional videos of the child, including sexually explicit videos.
In addition, analysis of Lewandowski’s computers and other digital media revealed at least 14,000 images and videos documenting the sexual abuse of children. Lewandowski admitted using a file sharing program on his computer to distribute some of these images and videos.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc. For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.justice.gov/psc and click on the "resources" tab on the left of the page.
United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the HSI Baltimore and Maryland State Police Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force for their work in the investigation, and thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristi N. O’Malley, who prosecuted the case.
Union County Resident Pleads Guilty to Methamphetamine OffenseRead the Press Release
Follow @SDILNewsOn October 22, 2014, Jonathan E. Merydith, 26, of Cobden, Illinois, pled guilty to a one-count indictment charging conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, Stephen R. Wigginton, announced today.
Evidence at the plea hearing established that Merydith was involved with co-defendant Rusty Smith and others in the manufacture of methamphetamine. The offense occurred between 2012 and March 2014, in Union, Williamson, and Jackson Counties. Merydith is currently being held without bond pending a February 15, 2015, sentencing hearing, at which time he will face up to 20 years in federal prison, to be followed by 3 years’ supervised release, and a fine of $1,000,000. Co-defendants Smith and Ruth Diane Wiseman have previously pled guilty and are awaiting sentencing. One co-defendant has pled not guilty and is awaiting a jury trial.
The ongoing investigation is being conducted by the Union County Sheriff’s Office, Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, Illinois State Police, Williamson County Sheriff’s Office, Marion Police Department, Carbondale Police Department, Illinois State Police Methamphetamine Response Team and Drug Enforcement Administration. The 19th Judicial District Drug Task Force (Tennessee) assisted in the investigation.
The case is assigned to Assistant United States Attorney Amanda A. Robertson for prosecution.
U.S. Attorney Invites Senior Citizens to Fraud Workshop in Allen, TexasRead the Press Release
Department of Justice
Office of Public AffairsALLEN, Texas – The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Texas will provide a free presentation to senior citizens on Thursday, November 20, 2014, at the Allen Public Library, announced U.S. Attorney John M. Bales.
The presentation will discuss ways to identify and prevent Medicare fraud. Seniors will be advised of common schemes used by fraudsters and given real-life examples of previous fraudulent activity. While the U.S. Attorney’s Office will not be able to advise seniors regarding their individual medical benefits or claims, seniors will be given important information on how to protect their personal information and who to contact if they suspect they are being victimized.
The event will be held from 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm on Thursday, Nov. 20, 2014, at the Allen Public Library located at 300 N. Allen Drive, Allen, Texas. While the event is free, seating is limited to approximately 40 people. To reserve a seat, or for more information, please contact Ann Williams at 972-423-3932.
U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom to Speak at Wichita State UniversityRead the Press Release
WICHITA, KAN. U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom will speak on the fifth anniversary of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr., Hate Crime Prevention Act Wednesday, Oct. 29, at Wichita State University.
Grissom’s speech will be titled, “Protecting Our Communities Against Violence and Bigotry.” The presentation will begin at 1 p.m. in Room 209 of Hubbard Hall at Wichita State University
Five years ago, President Barack Obama signed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr., Hate Crimes Prevention Act into law. Written as a response to the brutal murders of Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr., the act makes it a federal crime to injure anyone because of the victim’s actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability. Grissom will talk about how the act marked a new milestone in the pursuit of the goal of equal justice for all.
The School of Community Affairs at Wichita State University is hosting the free event.
Grissom was appointed by the president and confirmed by the U.S. Senate in 2010. The U.S. Attorney has three offices in Kansas – Kansas City, Kan., Topeka and Wichita – and a staff of approximately 100 employees, including about 50 Assistant U.S. Attorneys.
Two Williamson County Residents Plead Guilty to Methamphetamine ConspiracyRead the Press Release
Follow @SDILNewsOn October 22, 2014, Michael A. Boyt, Sr., 42, of Marion, and Matthew S. Beers, 31, of Johnston City, pled guilty to a one-count indictment charging them with conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, Stephen R. Wigginton, announced today.
The offense occurred between 2012 and January 2014, in Williamson, Perry, Jackson, and Randolph Counties. Evidence at the plea hearings established that Beers and others were supplying pseudoephedrine pills to Boyt for use in the manufacture of methamphetamine. During a November 2013 traffic stop, officers located an active methamphetamine lab in Beers’ vehicle. Beers was transporting the lab for Boyt. Boyt is currently being held without bond pending a February 11, 2015, sentencing hearing. The district court allowed Beers to remain on bond pending sentencing.
The methamphetamine offense carries a penalty of up to 20 years in federal prison, to be followed by 3 years’ supervised release, and a fine of $1,000,000.
The ongoing investigation is being conducted by the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, Southern Illinois Enforcement Group, Illinois State Police/Southern Illinois Drug Task Force, Murphysboro Police Department, and Drug Enforcement Administration. The Illinois State Police Methamphetamine Response Team assisted in the investigation.
The case is assigned to Assistant United States Attorney Amanda A. Robertson for prosecution.
Two Inmates Sentenced in Murder Case at Terre Haute Federal Correctional FacilityRead the Press Release
Pair sentenced for their roles in murdering a fellow inmate
TERRE HAUTE – Acting United States Attorney Josh J. Minkler announced today the sentencing of two men for their roles in the murder of an inmate at the Terre Haute Federal Correctional Institute. U.S. District Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson sentenced William J. Bell, 39, to life without parole for first degree murder and Lenard Dixon, 35, was sentenced to 156 months (13 years) for one count of accessory after the fact.
“Protecting all citizens from senseless violence is important. We owe it to the employees of our federal prisons to do what we can to keep their work places as safe and secure as possible,” said Minkler.
According to evidence presented at trial, Bell entered the cell of a fellow inmate on June 18, 2011 and stabbed him to death. Bell’s cellmate, Dixon, concealed evidence of the crime, including the murder weapon.
Both Bell and Dixon had extensive criminal histories. Bell had nine prior convictions accumulated across Illinois, Arkansas, and Kansas. At the time of the murder, he was serving a nearly 8-year sentence for carjacking. Dixon had several convictions in Kansas and, at the time of the murder, was serving a 35-year sentence for robbery.
“Even those who reside in our prison system deserve a safe living environment,” said Minkler. “One person’s refusal to obey the law should not result in the end of another person’s life.”
According to Assistant United States Attorneys Will McCoskey and Matthew Brookman who prosecuted the case for the government, Dixon’s sentence will be served consecutive to his current sentence.
Topeka Man Sentenced in CarjackingRead the Press Release
TOPEKA, KAN. – A Topeka man was sentenced Monday to 70 months in federal prison on a carjacking charge, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said.
Shaun Lee Kendall, 29, Topeka, Kan., pleaded guilty to one count of carjacking. In his plea, Kendall admitted that on Jan. 29, 2014, he and a co-defendant threatened a driver with violence in order to steal a 1999 Dodge Dakota truck.
Co-defendant Michael Richard Wilkins is set for sentencing Dec. 15.
Grissom commended the Topeka Police Department, the FBI and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jared Maag for their work on the case.
Three People Charged in Monroe County-Based Heroin Trafficking ConspiracyRead the Press Release
The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced the unsealing of an indictment of three Monroe County residents issued by a federal grand jury in Scranton on October 14 for participating in a conspiracy that allegedly distributed heroin between November 2011 and the date of the indictment.
According to United States Attorney Peter Smith, the grand jury alleges that Victor Tello, age 23; Jabril Greggs, age 24; and Yashmir Greggs, age 27, all of Tobyhanna, conspired with each other and with others to distribute and possess with intent to distribute heroin during a three-year time period.
The Indictment alleges that the suspects arranged to obtain heroin in New Jersey and transported it to the Monroe County area for further distribution. The indictment further alleges that the suspects communicated with each other and drug customers by cell phones.
Each defendant is also charged in separate counts with distribution and possession with intent to distribute heroin.
The indictments were sealed until today pending the defendants being taken into custody. Tello is incarcerated and is scheduled to make his initial appearance in Court on October 30. Yashmir Greggs was arrested on October 22 and is being held pending a detention hearing scheduled for October 29. Jabril Greggs surrendered on October 23 and was released on bail.
The charges stem from an investigation by special agents and task force officers of the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Pennsylvania State Police, and Pocono Mountain Regional Police.
If the defendants are convicted of the charges, they each face a possible maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Francis P. Sempa.
Indictments and Criminal Informations are only allegations. All persons charged are presumed to be innocent unless and until found guilty in court.
A sentence following a finding of guilty is imposed by the Judge after consideration of the applicable federal sentencing statutes and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.
Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the Judge is also required to consider and weigh a number of factors, including the nature, circumstances and seriousness of the offense; the history and characteristics of the defendant; and the need to punish the defendant, protect the public and provide for the defendant’s educational, vocational and medical needs. For these reasons, the statutory maximum penalty for the offense is not an accurate indicator of the potential sentence for a specific defendant.
Tampa Man Sentenced to More Than Ten Years for Tax Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
Tampa, Florida – U.S. District Judge Elizabeth A. Kovachevich has sentenced Edwaldo Louis Oliveiri to 10 years and 11 months in federal prison for wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. As part of his sentence, the Court also entered a money judgment in the amount of $307,721, the proceeds obtained from the scheme. Oliveiri pleaded guilty on June 24, 2014.
According to court documents, between September 4, 2012, and September 11, 2013, Oliveiri sold marijuana and guns to an undercover officer on multiple occasions. He believed that the undercover officer worked for the Veterans Affairs hospital and solicited the officer for personal identifying information from the hospital to use as part of a tax fraud scheme. Between January 23, 2013, and September 9, 2013, Oliveiri participated in a tax fraud scheme that submitted 437 false and fraudulent tax returns to the Internal Revenue Service seeking a total of $3,511,702, and resulting in the IRS paying out $307,721.
“Today’s sentencing is the result of a successful joint law enforcement investigation to hold accountable those who use stolen veterans’ personally identifiable information to engage in identity theft,” said Special Agent in Charge Monty Stokes of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General - Southeast Field Office.
This case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service; the Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of the Inspector General; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; and the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Mark E. Bini and Sara Sweeney.
- Straw Purchasing and Other Charges Sends Dallas LPR to Federal Prison
Shiprock Man Sentenced to Ten Years for Federal Child Sexual Abuse ConvictionRead the Press Release
ALBUQUERQUE – Gerald A. Tso, 25, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation who resides in Shiprock, N.M., was sentenced this afternoon to ten years in federal prison followed by five years of supervised release for his aggravated sexual assault conviction. Tso will be required to register as a sex offender after he completes his prison sentence.
Tso was arrested on Feb. 26, 2014, on a criminal complaint charging him with aggravated sexual abuse of a child, and subsequently was indicted on that same charge on March 26, 2014. According to court filings, Tso sexually assaulted a seven-year-old Navajo child on Feb. 26, 2014, in Shiprock, which is located within the Navajo Indian Reservation.
On July 24, 2014, Tso pleaded guilty to a felony information charging him with aggravated sexual abuse. In entering his guilty plea, Tso admitted engaging in a sexual act with a child. Tso further admitted that the child was under the age of 12 years at the time he victimized the child.
This case was investigated by the Farmington office of the FBI and the Shiprock office of the Navajo Nation Division of Public Safety, and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Novaline D. Wilson.
The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice (DOJ) to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and DOJ’s Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/.
Return Preparer Sentenced in Identity Theft Tax Refund Scheme Involving Personal Identification Information of Miami-Dade County Public School StudentsRead the Press Release
Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Kelly R. Jackson, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), Paula Reid, Special Agent in Charge, United States Secret Service (USSS), Miami Field Office, and J. Scott Dennis, Chief, North Miami Beach Police Department, announce that Donald Claude, 34, of Miramar, was sentenced to 40 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay restitution of $210,120.
Claude previously pled guilty to one count of wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343, and one count of aggravated identity theft, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1028A(a)(1).
According to court documents, Claude was the Chief Executive Officer of J&D Tax Services, LLC. Claude obtained an Electronic Filing Identification Number (EFIN) for J&D Tax Services, LLC which permitted Claude and co-defendant James Jean-Baptiste to file tax returns electronically in the names of other individuals. Claude also obtained a Preparer Tax Identification Number (PTIN) as a tax preparer that permitted him to identify himself as the preparer on tax returns electronically filed in the names of other individuals.
Claude and Jean-Baptiste obtained the personal identification information (PIl) of students from an employee of Miami-Dade County Public Schools. Claude and Jean-Baptiste used the students’ stolen identities to file false and fraudulent tax returns with the IRS to fraudulently obtain tax refunds for their personal use and benefit. Claude and his co-conspirators caused over $200,000 in false and fraudulent tax refund claims to be submitted to the IRS from 2009 through 2011 through his EFIN and PTIN.
James Jean-Baptiste was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1349, seven counts of wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343, and seven counts of aggravated identity theft, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1028A(a)(1). Jean-Baptiste remains at large.
Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of IRS-CI, USSS, and the North Miami Beach Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Gera R. Peoples.
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.
Queens Man Sentenced in Manhattan Federal Court to 15 Years in Prison for Conspiracy and Attempting to Provide Material Support to HizballahRead the Press Release
Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that PATRICK NAYYAR, 50, an Indian citizen who was residing illegally in the United States, was sentenced today in Manhattan federal court to 15 years in prison for crimes related to support he attempted to provide Hizballah, a designated foreign terrorist organization. NAYYAR was convicted in March 2012 after a seven-day jury trial, and he was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Robert W. Sweet.
According to the Superseding Indictment filed in Manhattan federal court and the evidence presented at trial:
Between July 2009 and September 2009, NAYYAR and his co-conspirator, Conrad Stanisclaus Mulholland, agreed to provide weapons, ammunition, and vehicles to Hizballah, a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization based in Lebanon. During a series of meetings with a confidential informant working with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), who represented himself as able to deliver materials to Hizballah, NAYYAR and Mulholland agreed to sell guns, ammunition, vehicles, bulletproof vests, and night-vision goggles to the confidential informant. During these meetings, NAYYAR and Mulholland also provided the confidential informant with a handgun, a box of ammunition, and a pick-up truck, believing that the confidential informant would deliver the items to Hizballah in Lebanon.
NAYYAR’s co-conspirator Mulholland, 47, who is not a citizen of the U.S. and resides abroad, left the U.S. before charges were filed, and remains at large. The charges against Mulholland are pending, and he is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Mr. Bharara praised the investigative work of the FBI’s New York Joint Terrorism Task Force.
The case is being handled by the Office’s Terrorism and International Narcotics Unit. Assistant United States Attorneys Sean Buckley and Stephen Ritchin are in charge of the prosecution.
Press Release by United States Attorney Relating to November 2014 ElectionsRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Deborah R. Gilg announced today that Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) Laurie Kelly will lead the efforts of her Office in connection with the Justice Department’s nationwide Election Day Program for the upcoming November 4, 2014, general elections. AUSA Kelly has been appointed to serve as the District Election Officer (DEO) for the District of Nebraska, and in that capacity is responsible for overseeing the District’s handling of complaints of election fraud and voting rights abuses in consultation with Justice Department Headquarters in Washington.
United States Attorney Gilg said, “Every citizen must be able to vote without interference or discrimination and to have that vote counted without it being stolen because of fraud. The Department of Justice will act promptly and aggressively to protect the integrity of the election process.”
The Department of Justice has an important role in deterring election fraud and discrimination at the polls, and combating these violations whenever and wherever they occur. The Department’s long-standing Election Day Program furthers these goals, and also seeks to ensure public confidence in the integrity of the election process by providing local points of contact within the Department for the public to report possible election fraud and voting rights violations while the polls are open on election day.
Federal law protects against such crimes as intimidating or bribing voters, buying and selling votes, impersonating voters, altering vote tallies, stuffing ballot boxes, and marking ballots for voters against their wishes or without their input. It also contains special protections for the rights of voters and provides that they can vote free from acts that intimidate or harass them. For example, actions of persons designed to interrupt or intimidate voters at polling places by questioning or challenging them, or by photographing or videotaping them, under the pretext that these are actions to uncover illegal voting may violate federal voting rights law. Further, federal law protects the right of voters to mark their own ballot or to be assisted by a person of their choice.
The franchise is the cornerstone of American democracy. We all must ensure that those who are entitled to the franchise exercise it if they choose, and that those who seek to corrupt it are brought to justice. In order to respond to complaints of election fraud or voting rights abuses on November 4, 2014, and to ensure that such complaints are directed to the appropriate authorities, United States Attorney Gilg stated that AUSA/DEO Kelly will be on duty in this District while the polls are open. She can be reached by the public at the following telephone numbers: (800) 889-9124 or (402) 661-3700.
In addition, the FBI will have special agents available in each field office and resident agency throughout the country to receive allegations of election fraud and other election abuses on election day. The local FBI field office can be reached by the public at (402) 493-8688.
Complaints about possible violations of the federal voting rights laws can be made directly to the Civil Rights Division’s Voting Section in Washington by phone at 1-800-253-3931 or (202) 307-2767, by fax at (202) 307-3961, by email to [email protected] or by complaint form at http://www.justice.gov/crt/complaint/votintake/index.php.
United States Attorney Gilg said, “Ensuring free and fair elections depends in large part on the cooperation of the American electorate. It is imperative that those who have specific information about discrimination or election fraud make that information available immediately to my Office, the FBI, or the Civil Rights Division.”
Parkersburg Woman Who Aided Heroin and Cocaine Dealer Enters Federal Guilty PleaRead the Press Release
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – A Parkersburg woman who disposed of heroin and cocaine at the direction of a drug dealer in October 2013 pleaded guilty today to a federal drug charge, announced U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin. Gerri Raye Parker, 30, pleaded guilty in federal court in Charleston to using a communication facility to facilitate heroin and cocaine trafficking.
On October 24, 2013, Parker received a call on her cell phone from a person she knew was a heroin and cocaine dealer. The drug dealer told her that the police were coming to search her apartment and that she needed to get rid of a bag that contained drugs and drug paraphernalia that he had hidden in the apartment. Parker put the bag in an outside trash can of a nearby vacant apartment so the drug dealer could pick it up. Police officers conducting surveillance on Parker’s residence watched her dispose of the bag and seized it before the drug dealer could retrieve it. The bag contained heroin, cocaine, and other drug paraphernalia.
Parker faces up to 4 years in federal prison when she is sentenced on February 2, 2015.
This case arose from the investigation of a heroin trafficking ring from Marion, Ohio, and Chicago, Illinois. Other individuals prosecuted and convicted in federal court as a part of this investigation include Mario Felder, Keith Irons, Cordaro Johnson, Zena Wakefield, and Daquarri Coates.
The Parkersburg Police Department along with the Parkersburg Narcotics and Violent Crimes Task Force conducted the investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Joshua Hanks is in charge of the prosecution.
This case was brought as part of an ongoing effort led by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia to combat the illicit sale and misuse of heroin and prescription drugs. The U.S. Attorney’s Office, joined by federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, is committed to aggressively pursuing and shutting down illegal pill trafficking, eliminating open air drug markets, and curtailing the spread of opiates and heroin in communities across the Southern District.
Oakdale Man Pleads Guilty to Possession of Child PornographyRead the Press Release
FRESNO, Calif. —Timothy Brian Werlhof, 24, of Oakdale, pleaded guilty today to possession of material involving the sexual exploitation of prepubescent minors, United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced.
According to court documents, Werlhof knowingly possessed pictures of children under the age of 12 involved in sexually explicit conduct. He possessed over 600 images, some of which were of vulnerable victims and sadomasochistic conduct. In addition to possessing the images, Werlhof made them available to others over the Internet.
The investigation in this case began when a MicroSD card was found in a parking lot in Oakdale and dropped off at the Oakdale Police Department. The card was found to contain child pornography. The police departments of Oakdale and Ceres determined that Werlhof was the owner by matching “selfies” contained on the card with a photograph of Werlhof on file with the Oakdale Police Department.
This case is the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Oakdale Police Department, and the Ceres Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Megan A. S. Richards is prosecuting the case.
Werlhof has been in custody since May 22, 2014. He is scheduled to be sentenced by United States District Judge Anthony W. Ishii on January 5, 2015. Werlhof faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.
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 those who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. Click on the “resources” tab for information about Internet safety education.
November 2014 ElectionsRead the Press Release
LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Assistant U.S. Attorney (AUSA) Sarah E. Griswold will lead the efforts of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Nevada in connection with the Justice Department’s nationwide Election Day Program for the upcoming Nov. 4, 2014 general elections, announced U.S. Attorney Daniel G. Bogden. AUSA Griswold has been appointed to serve as the District Election Officer (DEO) for the District of Nevada, and in that capacity is responsible for overseeing the District’s handling of complaints of election fraud and voting rights abuses in consultation with Justice Department Headquarters in Washington.
United States Attorney Bogden said, “Every citizen must be able to vote without interference or discrimination and to have that vote counted without it being stolen because of fraud. The Department of Justice will act promptly and aggressively to protect the integrity of the election process.”The Department of Justice has an important role in deterring election fraud and discrimination at the polls, and combating these violations whenever and wherever they occur. The Department’s long-standing Election Day Program furthers these goals, and also seeks to insure public confidence in the integrity of the election process by providing local points of contact within the Department for the public to report possible election fraud and voting rights violations while the polls are open on Election Day.
Federal law protects against such crimes as intimidating or bribing voters, buying and selling votes, impersonating voters, altering vote tallies, stuffing ballot boxes, and marking ballots for voters against their wishes or without their input. It also contains special protections for the rights of voters and provides that they can vote free from acts that intimidate or harass them. For example, actions of persons designed to interrupt or intimidate voters at polling places by questioning or challenging them, or by photographing or videotaping them, under the pretext that these are actions to uncover illegal voting may violate federal voting rights law. Further, federal law protects the right of voters to mark their own ballot or to be assisted by a person of their choice.In order to respond to complaints of election fraud or voting rights abuses on Nov. 4, 2014, and to ensure that such complaints are directed to the appropriate authorities, U.S. Attorney Bogden stated that the U.S. Attorney’s Office, as part of the Nevada Election Integrity Task Force, will be working with the Nevada Secretary of State, the Nevada Attorney General, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, and the FBI to investigate complaints regarding questionable voter registration practices, potential voter fraud, and enforcement of laws regarding voter intimidation. On Election Day, there will be command posts in Carson City and Las Vegas staffed by members of the Task Force. Additionally, AUSA/DEO Griswold will be available while the polls are open on Nov. 4, 2014, to assist with the investigation of any complaints of election fraud or voting rights abuses, and to ensure that such complaints are directed to the appropriate authorities. AUSA Carla Higginbotham will be available in Reno to assist with any complaints in the northern Nevada area.
Law enforcement officials, election workers and citizens can file complaints in a number of ways.
1) By Completing the Election Law Violation Form on the NV Secretary of State's website, http://nvsos.gov/index.aspx?page=256;
2) By calling the NV Secretary of State at (775) 684-5705; or
3) By calling the FBI in Las Vegas at (702) 385-1281 and asking for Special Agent Michael B. Elliott.
4) Complaints about possible violations of the federal voting rights laws can be made directly to the Civil Rights Division’s Voting Section in Washington by phone at 1-800-253-3931 or (202) 307-2767, by fax at (202) 307-3961, by email to [email protected] or by complaint form at ;
North Carolina Man Convicted in Fraud Scheme Involving International Precious Metals InvestmentsRead the Press Release
Jacksonville, Florida – United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III announces that a federal jury has found Rondell Scott Hedrick (48, Lexington, N.C.) guilty of wire fraud. Hedrick faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison. He was indicted on December 18, 2013.
According to the testimony and evidence presented at trial, Hedrick used a website to advertise his expertise in several high yield international investment programs, including international gold transactions. He provided detailed information about the worldwide precious metals markets; mining operations in Mali, North Africa, and Accra, Ghana; and refinery operations in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Hedrick made representations to investors and provided documents purportedly showing that he had legitimate relationships with international banks and businesses involved in mining and refinery operations. He also represented that, because of his stature in the precious metals markets, he was able to procure large returns on investments. Hedrick took money from investors and converted it to his own use. He also met with an FBI informant in March 2013 and made representations about his significant experience in traveling internationally to close lucrative gold trading deals. Hedrick stated that he was able to obtain gold at below market prices because he was willing to travel to dangerous locations in Africa to obtain the gold and then transport it to refineries in Dubai.
After Hedrick made these representations to the informant, he solicited a $500,000 investment. When FBI agents approached Hedrick after the meeting, Hedrick maintained his ability to close such large gold transactions in Dubai, and he continued to solicit investor funds. He also contacted legitimate refineries in Dubai, claiming to have gold from Mali and Ghana that he was capable of transporting if appropriate contracts could be consummated.
This case was investigated by the FBI, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney A. Tysen Duva.
New Haven Man Sentenced to 57 Months in Federal Prison for Distributing CrackRead the Press Release
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Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that RICHARD MASON, 33, of New Haven, was sentenced today by Senior U.S. District Judge Warren W. Eginton in Bridgeport to 57 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for distributing crack cocaine.
According to court documents and statements made in court, this matter stems from an investigation conducted by the FBI New Haven Safe Streets Task Force, the New Haven Police Department and the Connecticut State Police into drug distribution and related violence allegedly being committed by members and associates of the Grape Street Crips in New Haven. During the investigation, MASON was identified over a court-authorized wiretap conducting narcotics transactions with Donald Ogman, who has been identified in court proceedings as the alleged leader of the Grape Street Crips. MASON regularly obtained quantities of crack Ogman and then sold the drug to customers in the Hill section of New Haven.
On April 9, 2012, a grand jury returned an indictment charging MASON and 17 other individuals with narcotics distribution and related offenses stemming from this investigation. Two additional individuals were later charged in the case.
All of the defendants have pleaded guilty. On March 21, 2014, MASON pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine base (“crack cocaine”).
MASON has been detained since his arrest on April 11, 2012.
Ogman awaits sentencing.
This matter was investigated by the FBI’s New Haven Safe Streets Task Force, the New Haven, Hamden and Milford Police Departments, the Connecticut State Police and the State of Connecticut Department of Correction. The investigation has been assisted by the U.S. Marshals Service and the Westerly (R.I.) Police Department.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Anthony E. Kaplan and H. Gordon Hall.
PUBLIC AFFAIRS CONTACT:
U.S. ATTORNEY'S OFFICE
Tom Carson
(203) 821-3722 [email protected]New Bedford Man Sentenced to Four Years in Prison for Computer Hacking and Credit Card TheftRead the Press Release
BOSTON – A New Bedford man was sentenced today for hacking into computer networks around the country, including networks belonging to law enforcement agencies and a local college.
Cameron Lacroix, 25, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Mark L. Wolf to four years in prison, and three years of supervised release. In June 2014, Lacroix pleaded guilty to two counts of computer intrusion and access device fraud.
Between May 2011 and May 2013, Lacroix illegally obtained and possessed payment card data for more than 14,000 account holders. For some of these account holders, Lacroix also unlawfully obtained other personally identifiable information. From August 2012 through November 2012, Lacroix repeatedly hacked into law enforcement computer servers containing sensitive information including police reports, intelligence reports, arrest warrants, and sex offender information. In September 2012, Lacroix hacked into a computer server operated by a local Massachusetts police department and accessed an e-mail account belonging to the chief of police.
Additionally, between September 2012 and November 2013, Lacroix, who was a student at Bristol Community College (BCC), repeatedly hacked into BCC’s computer servers and used stolen log-in credentials belonging to three instructors to change grades for himself and two other students.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California has also filed hacking charges against Lacroix. That case has been transferred to the District of Massachusetts and is before U.S. Chief Judge Saris.
Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Vincent B. Lisi, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; and Colonel Timothy P. Alben, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police made the announcement today. The case is being prosecuted by Senior Trial Attorney Mona Sedky from the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam Bookbinder of Ortiz’s Cyber Crime Unit.
Nanny Sentenced to Three Years in Prison for Stealing over $430,000 from A Montgomery County CoupleRead the Press Release
Greenbelt, Maryland – U.S. District Judge George J. Hazel sentenced Kadiatu Sahid Kamara, age 50, of Gaithersburg, Maryland today to three years in prison followed by threeyears of supervised release for mail fraud and aggravated identity theft, arising from a two year scheme in which she wrote herself approximately 118 checks from her employers’ bank account. Judge Hazel also entered orders that Kamara pay $431,542 in restitution and forfeiture.
The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Kathy A. Michalko of the United States Secret Service - Washington Field Office; and Chief J. Thomas Manger of the Montgomery County Police Department.
According to her plea agreement, Kamara was a nanny caring for the children of a married couple living in Montgomery County. Kamara had access to checks linked to the victims’ money market account, though she had never been authorized to write checks from this account. From May 2011 to May 2013, Kamara wrote herself approximately 118 checks from the victims’ account, totaling approximately $431,542. She forged the signature of one of the victims on each check, and deposited the checks into her own bank account. Kamara used some of the money to buy a house in Africa, to send money transfers, and to play games at a casino in Charles Town, West Virginia.United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein praised the U.S. Secret Service and Montgomery County Police Department for their work in the investigation and thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas P. Windom, who prosecuted the case.
Mobile Man Sentenced to Three Years Imprisonment on Cocaine Conspiracy ChargeRead the Press Release
MOBILE, AL-- The United States Attorney, Kenyen R. Brown, announces that Kevin Marion was sentenced to thirty-six months imprisonment on October 24, 2014 by United States District Court Judge William H. Steele, after pleading guilty to conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute cocaine in violation of Title 21 USC '846. Marion’s co-defendant, David Henley, was sentenced in January. The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Mercer County Man Pleads Guilty to Possessing Child PornographyRead the Press Release
Bluefield, W.Va. - A 19-year-old Mercer County man faces up to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty today to possession of child pornography, U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin announced. Joshua Dwayne Poff, of Bluefield, West Virginia, entered a guilty plea before Senior United States District Court Judge David A. Faber.
Poff admitted that on January 10, 2014, he possessed pictures of prepubescent minors engaged in sexual acts. The images were located on his personal computer at his home. Poff also admitted to trading video files containing child pornography via the Internet to another person who had a Google email account. U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin said, “We are committed to the fight against criminals like Joshua Dwayne Poff who contribute to the exploitation and abuse of children. We will use every available tool to track them down and prosecute them to the fullest extent allowed by law.”
The court scheduled sentencing for Poff for 11:30 a.m. on March 15, 2015, in Bluefield, West Virginia.
The West Virginia Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, the West Virginia State Police, the Mercer County Sheriff’s Department, and United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement conducted the investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Lisa G. Johnston is in charge of the prosecution.
This case is being brought as part of U.S. Attorney Goodwin’s ongoing initiative to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse in the Southern District of West Virginia.
Members of Upstate Robbery Crew Plead Guilty to Federal Robbery and Firearms ChargesRead the Press Release
Contact Person: Andrew Moorman (864) 282-2100
Columbia, South Carolina ---- United States Attorney Bill Nettles announced today that Juan Manuel Hernandez, age 39, and Arturo Mendez-Gomez, age 27, pled guilty to Conspiring to Interfere with Interstate Commerce by Robbery and two counts of Brandishing, Carrying, Using, and Possessing a Firearm in Furtherance of a Crime of Violence. The Government’s evidence indicated that beginning at least on December 7, 2013, and ending on February 21, 2014, Hernandez and Mendez-Gomez, both citizens of Mexico, worked together to rob Hispanic grocery stores operating in the Upstate of South Carolina and western North Carolina. Typically, Mendez-Gomez would enter the store first and distract the clerk. Hernandez would then enter the store, walk around the counter, and point a semi-automatic pistol at the clerk, demanding money. After the clerk complied with the demand, Hernandez and Mendez-Gomez would tie up the clerk in the rear of the store and make their getaway. The investigation culminated on February 20, 2014, when law enforcement spotted a getaway car the two men had used in some of the robberies. On February 25, 2014, law enforcement arrested Mendez-Gomez while conducting surveillance on the getaway car. Hernandez fled, but was later apprehended in Columbus, Ohio. Pursuant to their guilty pleas, Hernandez and Mendez-Gomez face a minimum of 32 years in prison and a maximum of life imprisonment.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office, the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office, the Greenwood County Sheriff’s Office, the Laurens County Sheriff’s Office, and the Henderson County, North Carolina, Sheriff’s Office investigated the case. Andy Moorman with the U.S. Attorney’s Office is the prosecutor assigned to the case.Massachusetts Man Sentenced to Four Years in Prison for Computer Hacking Involving Stolen Credit Card Numbers and Altered Academic RecordsRead the Press Release
A Massachusetts man was sentenced to serve four years in prison today for hacking into computer networks around the country – including networks belonging to law enforcement agencies and a local college – to obtain highly sensitive law enforcement data and to alter academic records, as well as for possessing stolen credit and debit card numbers.
Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz of the District of Massachusetts, Special Agent in Charge Vincent Lisi of the FBI’s Boston Division and Colonel Timothy P. Alben of the Massachusetts State Police made the announcement.
Cameron Lacroix, 25, of New Bedford, Massachusetts, pleaded guilty on June 25, 2014, to two counts of computer intrusion and one count of access device fraud. Lacroix was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Mark L. Wolf of the District of Massachusetts.
Lacroix admitted that, between May 2011 and May 2013, he obtained and possessed payment card data for more than 14,000 unique account holders. For some of these account holders, Lacroix also obtained other personally identifiable information.
Additionally, from August 2012 through November 2012, Lacroix repeatedly hacked into law enforcement computer servers containing sensitive information including police reports, intelligence reports, arrest warrants, and sex offender information. In one such instance, in September 2012, Lacroix hacked into a computer server operated by a local Massachusetts police department and accessed an e-mail account belonging to the chief of police.
Lacroix, who was a student at Bristol Community College (BCC), also admitted that between September 2012 and November 2013, he repeatedly hacked into BCC’s computer servers and used stolen log-in credentials belonging to three instructors to change grades for himself and two other students.
The case was investigated by the FBI’s Boston Division Cyber Task Force. The case is being prosecuted by Senior Trial Attorney Mona Sedky from the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam Bookbinder of the District of Massachusetts.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California has also filed hacking charges against Lacroix. That case has been transferred to the District of Massachusetts and is before Chief Judge Saris.
Marion Prison Inmate Charged with Assaulting A Correctional OfficerRead the Press Release
Follow @SDILNewsErick Roman, 38, an inmate at the United States Penitentiary at Marion, Illinois, appeared today for arraignment in United States District Court in Benton on an indictment charging him with assaulting a correctional officer at that facility, Stephen R. Wigginton, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, announced today. The indictment, returned by a Federal Grand Jury on October 7, 2014, alleged that the offense occurred on August 20, 2014.
An indictment is a formal charge against a defendant. Under the law, a defendant is presumed to be innocent of a charge until proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt to the satisfaction of a jury.
At the time of the assault, Roman was serving a 60 year sentence from the District of Maryland for conspiring to participate in a racketeering enterprise. If convicted of the assault offense, Roman faces up to an additional 8 years in federal prison, a $250,000 fine, and 3 years of supervised release to follow his incarceration.
Following his arraignment, Roman was ordered held without bond and was returned to the custody of the Attorney General to await further proceedings. Roman’s next scheduled court appearance is a final pretrial conference on December 17, 2014, at 9:30 a.m. at the United States Courthouse in Benton. A trial date of December 29th at 9:00 a.m. was also set.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation with the assistance of the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney James M. Cutchin.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Files Healthcare Fraud Lawsuit Against Computer Sciences Corp. and the City of New York for Orchestrating A Multimillion-Dollar Medicaid Billing Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today that the United States has filed a civil healthcare fraud lawsuit in Manhattan federal court against COMPUTER SCIENCES CORP. (“CSC”) and the CITY OF NEW YORK (the “CITY”). The Government’s Complaint seeks treble damages and civil penalties under the False Claims Act against CSC and the CITY for orchestrating billing fraud schemes that used computer programs to automatically alter billing data. Two of the schemes involved CSC and the CITY using computer programs to circumvent the requirement that Medicaid should be billed after private insurance coverage had been exhausted, and a third scheme involved the use of a defaulting program to systematically falsify diagnosis codes submitted to Medicaid. According to the Complaint, these fraud schemes caused the submission of tens of thousands of false claims to Medicaid and allowed the CITY, through CSC, improperly to obtain millions of dollars of Medicaid reimbursements.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said: “As alleged, CSC and the City created computer programs that systematically, and fraudulently, altered billing data in order to get paid by Medicaid as quickly as possible and as much as possible. Billing frauds like those alleged undermine the integrity of public healthcare programs like Medicaid. All public healthcare program participants, whether they are healthcare providers, localities like the City, or contractors like CSC, should understand that they must comply with the applicable billing rules.”
The following allegations are based on the Complaint filed today in Manhattan federal court:
In New York State, early intervention program (“EIP”) services are available to children under the age of three who demonstrated developmental delay or have been diagnosed with medical conditions likely to cause delay. For children in New York City receiving EIP services, the CITY was responsible for processing and paying claims submitted by service providers, then seeking coverage from private insurers or Medicaid or billing New York State for its 49% share of the costs not covered by private insurance or Medicaid.
To minimize its share of the costs of the EIP services, the CITY set annual targets for Medicaid payments and made it a priority to obtain Medicaid payments as soon as possible and for as much as possible. The CITY contracted with CSC to process service provider claims and then seek coverage from private insurers, Medicaid, or the State. To ensure that CSC would focus on obtaining Medicaid payments, the CITY offered CSC financial incentives for exceeding certain targets for Medicaid payments and imposed penalties when CSC failed to meet the CITY’s goals for Medicaid payments. To meet those targets, CSC and the CITY implemented billing fraud schemes using computer programs that automatically altered billing data.
Two of these schemes were designed to circumvent Medicaid’s secondary payor requirement, which required the CITY and CSC to exhaust private insurance coverage before billing Medicaid. In the first scheme, rather than obtaining correct private insurance policy IDs for children who had missing or incomplete policy IDs, CSC developed a program to identify missing insurance policy IDs and then applied a default policy number of 999-999-999, which CSC and the CITY knew would result in denials by private insurers. This scheme enabled CSC and the CITY to submit tens of thousands of false claims to Medicaid without exhausting private insurance coverage and to obtain millions of dollars from Medicaid improperly.
In a second scheme, CSC and the CITY used defaulting programs so that they could bypass waiting for private insurance claims to be adjudicated and, instead, submit claims to Medicaid before private insurers had made a determination regarding payment. CSC developed computer programs that identified all private insurance claims that had been pending for a period of time (initially 90 days, and then 120 days) and then submitted those claims to Medicaid by improperly using a code – 0Fill – to indicate that private insurers either did not cover those services or had adjudicated the claims with zero payment. CSC and the CITY did this even where they knew that the lack of adjudication was due to the CITY’s failure to respond to the private insurers’ requests for information from the CITY in connection with adjudicating the claims. This scheme also resulted in the submission of tens of thousands of false claims to Medicaid without exhausting private insurance coverage and allowed the CITY improperly to obtain millions of dollars in Medicaid reimbursement in violation of Medicaid’s secondary payor requirement.
A third scheme was designed to enable CSC and the CITY to evade their responsibility to ensure that EIP service providers supplied accurate and complete diagnosis data, which was required before CSC or the CITY could seek Medicaid coverage on behalf of the providers. Instead of setting up procedures for validating the diagnosis data supplied by service providers, CSC and the CITY developed computer programs to identify diagnosis codes from service providers that they expected Medicaid to reject and then replace those codes with 315.9, a generic diagnosis that CSC and the CITY knew would be accepted by Medicaid. As part of this scheme, CSC and the CITY submitted tens of thousands of claims containing false diagnosis data, including diagnoses that were not accurate, to Medicaid. This enabled the CITY to obtain millions of dollars from Medicaid improperly.
The Complaint seeks treble damages and penalties under the False Claims Act for the millions of dollars in reimbursements that Medicaid paid as a result of the false claims that CSC and the CITY submitted in connection with their billing fraud schemes. In addition, the United States seeks compensatory damages under the common law theories of unjust enrichment and mistake of fact.
Mr. Bharara praised the investigative work of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General, and thanked it for its ongoing assistance. He also thanked the New York State Medicaid Fraud Control Unit for its active cooperation and assistance in the investigation.
The case is being handled by the Office’s Civil Frauds Unit. Mr. Bharara established the Civil Frauds Unit in March 2010 to bring renewed focus and additional resources to combating healthcare and other types of frauds. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Li Yu and Rebecca C. Martin are in charge of the case.
US v CSC and City of New York Complaint
Man Sentenced to 50 Years for Producing Child PornographyRead the Press Release
BOSTON – A Pittsfield man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Springfield for producing material involving the sexual exploitation of minors.
Jason Gendron, 34, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge William G. Young to 50 years in prison to be followed by 10 years of supervised release. On July 29, 2014, Gendron pleaded guilty to 16 counts of sexual exploitation of minors by producing child pornography and one count of possessing child pornography.
Between May 13, 2011 and August 24, 2012, Gendron created16 video clips of Gendron raping three girls, aged approximately three, eight, and 13 years old, and sexually explicit photographs of another girl, aged approximately two years old, all of whom were in his direct care. Gendron also possessed approximately 20,000 digital files of child pornography, including videos files depicting the rape and sexual torture of very young children.
At today’s sentencing, Judge Young told Gendron, “I have been a judge longer than you have been alive. But for cold-blooded murder, I have never seen a case that descends to the depths of depravity that this case demonstrates. You are a serial child abuser of the worst sort.”
In a related state case, on Oct. 16, 2014, in connection with this abuse, the defendant pleaded guilty to six counts of rape and abuse of a child aggravated by age difference and four counts of indecent assault and battery on a child under the age of 14, in Berkshire Superior Court. Gendron will be sentenced in the state case on Oct. 28, 2014.
United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Colonel Timothy Alben, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police; Bruce M. Foucart, Special Agent in Charge of the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations in Boston; Chief Michael Wynn of the Pittsfield Police Department; and Berkshire District Attorney David F. Capeless made the announcement. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven H. Breslow.
Man Pleads Guilty to Stealing from Army's Family and Morale FundRead the Press Release
TOPEKA, KAN. - A man pleaded guilty Monday to stealing public funds from the Army’s family and morale fund at Ft. Riley, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said.
Michael Steffens, 59, Junction City, Kan., pleaded guilty to one count of stealing public money. In his plea, he admitted the crime occurred while he was a business manager at Ft. Riley for the U.S. Army’s Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation program (MWR). The fund provides programs and services to soldiers and their families.
Steffens managed the change fund, which consisted of non-appropriated funds generated from MWR sponsored programs and activities. From August 2013 through August 2014, he stole approximately $62,000 in cash and coins.
Sentencing is set for Feb. 9. Both parties have agreed to recommend two years’ probation and restitution in an amount yet to be determined. Grissom commended the FBI and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jared Maag for their work on the case.
Lecanto Ophthalmologist Pleads Guilty to Visa FraudRead the Press Release
Tampa, Florida – United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III announces that Ashish Sanon (51, Lecanto) pleaded guilty today to visa fraud. He faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison. A sentencing date has not yet been set. Sanon has also agreed to forfeit assets, which specifically includes, but is not limited to, a money judgment in the amount of $250,000, representing the proceeds he obtained as a result of his offense.
According to the plea agreement, Sanon is a naturalized citizen of Canada who was born in Chandigarh, India. In 1987, Sanon obtained his Doctor of Medicine from the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. From 1998 until 2012, he was repeatedly granted temporary status in the United States, pursuant to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Admitted applicants, such as Sanon, receive what is known as Treaty NAFTA (TN) nonimmigrant status. All TN status professionals are prohibited from establishing a business or practice in the United States in which they are self-employed. Specifically, physicians who are granted TN status may only teach or conduct research while in the United States.
In early 2012, investigators received information that Sanon had been engaging in full medical practice for more than 10 years, in violation of the rules and regulations of his TN visa. Interviews with former employees of Sanon corroborated this information. Investigators ultimately discovered that Sanon had several provider numbers assigned to him for medical practice, which indicated that he was billing for services and practicing medicine.
"Visa fraud takes jobs away from U.S. citizens and others who are legally allowed to work in this country. Through cases like this one, HSI is helping to protect our economy and preserve job opportunities from being lost due to fraud," said Susan L. McCormick, special agent in charge of HSI Tampa.
“This case underscores the importance of applying Medicare’s rules and regulations to ensure that only qualified physicians are permitted to provide services,” stated Acting Special Agent in Charge Derrick Jackson of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General’s Miami Regional Office.
This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services - Office of Inspector General; and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Carlton C. Gammons.
Leaders of Violent Gang Convicted on All Counts in Racketeering and Murder CaseRead the Press Release
Earlier today, following three weeks of trial, a federal jury in Brooklyn, New York, returned guilty verdicts against Harvey Christian, Anthony Christian and Jason Quinn, on charges of racketeering – including murder conspiracies and, against Anthony Christian, the murder of Jerome Estella as racketeering acts – as well as firearms possession and multiple counts based on their trafficking in crack cocaine. The charges arose out of the defendants’ long-time dominance of a drug crew that operated in the Park Hill housing complex in the Clifton neighborhood of Staten Island. When sentenced by United States District Judge Eric N. Vitaliano, Harvey Christian faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 40 years’ imprisonment and a maximum sentence of life imprisonment; Anthony Christian faces a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment; and Quinn faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 65 years’ imprisonment and a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
The verdicts 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).
“For all of their adult lives, the Christian brothers and their associates terrorized the residents of Park Hill, forcing them to live in fear of violence,” stated United States Attorney Lynch. “Today, their ability to earn money through crime comes to an end, and so does their rule of the streets. This verdict sends the message that that violence and drug-dealing have no place in our communities.” Ms. Lynch extended her grateful appreciation to the FBI, New York City Police Department and the Richmond County District Attorney for their outstanding assistance in this case.
For over two decades, Harvey Christian, also known as “Black,” and his brother, Anthony Christian, also known as “Nitty,” led a violent narcotics distribution ring. Jason Quinn was one of their most trusted associates. In the mid-1990s, the Christian brothers and their associates, including Quinn, sought to take control of more drug territory in Park Hill. To achieve this, the defendants engaged in massive gun battles for months. During one of the battles, in May 1995, law enforcement recovered 77 shell casings inside a residential building, outside on the street, and on the roof. In 1999, Anthony Christian ordered another member of the enterprise to murder a rival drug dealer named Corey Brooker. In the course of looking for Brooker, the enterprise member had a dispute with Brooker’s associate Jerome Estella. Anthony Christian then authorized the other enterprise member to murder Estella, and provided him with the 9 millimeter handgun he used to then murder Estella.
In the year before their arrests in 2011, multiple search warrants and arrests related to members of the organization and their associates were executed in and around Park Hill and elsewhere in New York. These searches and arrests resulted in the seizure of firearms and ammunition, including a Mac-11 pistol, as well as large quantities of crack and powder cocaine. During a search of the Christian brothers' apartment in the Park Hill housing complex in February 2010, the NYPD recovered multiple bullet-proof vests, crack-cocaine and marijuana.
The government’s case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Allon Lifshitz, Richard Tucker and Kevin Trowel.
The Defendants:
HARVEY CHRISTIAN
Age: 42 years
Staten Island, New York
ANTHONY CHRISTIAN
Age: 41 years
Staten Island, New York
JASON QUINN
Age: 40 years
Staten Island, New York
E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 11-CR-425
Johnston Resident Sentenced to Federal Prison for Possession of Child PornographyRead the Press Release
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Nicholas Pislowski, 26, of Johnston, was sentenced on Friday to 18 months in federal prison for possessing more than 2,000 images of child pornography, announced United States Attorney Peter F. Neronha and Colonel Steven G. O’DonnellSuperintendent of the Rhode Island State Police.
At sentencing, U.S. District Court Chief Judge William E. Smith also ordered Pislowski to serve 5 years supervised release upon completion of his prison term. Pislowski pleaded guilty on May 8, 2014, to one count of possession of child pornography.
According to information presented to the court, in April 2012, members of the Rhode Island State Police Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force executed a court authorized search warrant for computers at Pislowski’s residence. A forensic examination of a laptop seized from Pislowski’s home resulted in the discovery of more than 2,200 videos and images depicting minor children engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard W. Rose.
The Rhode Island ICAC Task Force is comprised of members of the Rhode Island State Police Computer Crimes Unit along with detectives from the Coventry, Warwick, North Smithfield, Pawtucket, North Kingstown, Portsmouth, Bristol, South Kingstown and Woonsocket Police Departments, and special agents from Homeland Security Investigations and United States Postal Inspection Services.###
To assist the media and the public, a glossary of federal judicial terms and procedures is available at http://www.justice.gov/usao/justice101/
Contact: 401-709-5357
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