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17 July 2014
Former Sheriff Ordered to PrisonRead the Press Release
McALLEN, Texas - Guadalupe Trevino, aka Lupe Trevino, has been sentenced to federal prison following his conviction of conspiracy to commit money laundering, announced U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson. Trevino, 64, of McAllen, was the former sheriff of Hidalgo County and pleaded guilty April 14, 2014.
“No one is above the law,” said Magidson. “Those entrusted with protecting the public safety have a specific duty to guard against corruption. When they become crooked themselves, the interests of the people demand full accounting for their illegal activities.”
Calling this day a “sad” one for Hidalgo County, U.S. District Judge Micaela Alvarez upwardly departed from the recommended guidelines and handed Trevino a 60-month term of imprisonment. He was also ordered to pay a $60,000 fine and will serve a two-year-term of supervised release following completion of the prison sentence.
“The sentencing of the former Hidalgo County sheriff is the culmination of a long-term investigation into corruption and the violation of public trust,” said Special Agent in Charge Janice Ayala of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in San Antonio. “While the local community mourns this violation, they're now able to put this chapter behind them.”
Jose A. Padilla, of Weslaco, a former deputy commander with the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office who served under the leadership of Trevino pleaded guilty to receiving a bribe, in a separate, but related case. Nine others, including drug trafficker Tomas Reyes Gonzalez aka “El Gallo,” were convicted in relation to the underlying narcotics/money laundering conspiracy. They will all be sentenced Sept. 18, 2014, by U.S District Judge Randy Crane.
The investigation revealed that from 2007 to 2013, Reyes Gonzalez headed a drug trafficking organization responsible for the distribution of thousands of kilograms of marijuana and hundreds of kilograms of cocaine. The narcotics were transported from the Rio Grande Valley to Arkansas, Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia. Reyes Gonzalez used the resulting drug proceeds to purchase properties.
Trevino admitted he received cash contributions for his election campaign through Padilla from Reyes Gonzalez, acknowledging he accepted the money knowing it was from illegal activities. At the time of his guilty plea, Padilla also admitted he received cash from Reyes Gonzalez in exchange for providing information to him related to ongoing law enforcement activities.
Trevino admitted he accepted the monies directly and through others as donations to assist with his 2012 election campaign. Some of the monies received were subsequently deposited into bank accounts Trevino controlled and were comingled with other funds. During and after the transactions, Trevino and others acted to disguise and conceal the nature, location, source, ownership and control of the currency by filing false Candidate/Officeholder Campaign Finance Reports and producing other documents.
Trevino’s former chief of staff and campaign treasurer, Maria Patricia Medina, pleaded guilty to misprision of a felony, admitting she assisted Trevino in the concealment of the donations by falsifying election records. She will be sentenced July 23, 2014, by Chief U.S. District Judge Ricardo Hinojosa.
The overall investigation was conducted by Homeland Security Investigations, Drug Enforcement Administration, Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation and Texas Department of Public Safety, Rangers Division. Assistant United States Attorneys James Sturgis and Anibal Alaniz prosecuted the case.Former Pierce County Sheriff Sentenced to 93 Months in Prison for Providing Protection to Drug TraffickersRead the Press Release
WAYCROSS, GA – Randy Strickland, 55, a former Pierce County, Georgia Deputy Sheriff, was sentenced yesterday by United States District Court Judge William T. Moore, Jr. to 93 months in federal prison for providing protection for drug traffickers.
According to evidence presented during Strickland’s guilty plea and sentencing hearings, Strickland agreed to act as “security” for individuals he believed were dealing meth, by acting as the lookout. Strickland’s drug activities occurred while he was in uniform and armed, and while he was driving his police vehicle. After receiving information about Strickland’s apparent criminal activities, Pierce County Sheriff Ramsey Bennett immediately requested federal law enforcement assistance. As a result, Strickland’s last “protection detail” was for a confidential informant and under the watchful eyes of several federal agents. On that occasion, Strickland agreed to act as the lookout for who he believed to a drug dealer selling ounces of methamphetamine. Shortly after receiving his charged fee of $100, which at Strickland’s direction was placed in a potato chip bag on the side of a road, Strickland was arrested by federal authorities.
United States Attorney Edward Tarver stated, “Instead of protecting citizens, Strickland chose to serve drug dealers. His actions tarnished the badge and the community’s trust. While the public should be reminded that the vast majority of law enforcement officers live by their oaths, the public should also know that the U. S. Attorney’s Office will prosecute criminals dressed in police clothing.”
ATF Special Agent in Charge Christopher Shaefer said, “The criminal conduct of former Pierce County Deputy Sheriff Randy Strickland is unconscionable and unthinkable for those serving faithfully within the criminal justice community. Today’s sentencing of Strickland will serve as notice to others that this conduct will not be tolerated and ATF will use all resources to reduce violent crime.”
“Mr. Strickland compromised his integrity and the oath he took to uphold Georgia laws and protect members of society, not to mention putting other law enforcement officers in danger, through his corrupt scheme to provide security for drug traffickers,” said Ryan L. Spradlin, acting special agent in charge of U. S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Atlanta. “Thanks to the hard work of HSI special agents and our partners at the ATF, FBI, Pierce County Sheriff’s Office, and the U. S. Attorney's Office, Strickland is being held accountable for this betrayal of the public’s trust.”
J. Britt Johnson, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Atlanta Field Office, stated: “This case, while centering on a corrupt law enforcement officer, illustrates how the law enforcement community responds swiftly to such breaches of the public trust. The FBI will continue to work with those law enforcement partners in ensuring that the public’s trust in the criminal justice system is well founded and that those officers violating their oaths of office are identified and held accountable.”
Pierce County Sheriff Ramsey Bennett commented, “I’m pleased that justice was served and Mr. Strickland will pay his debt to society for the crimes he committed and his breach of trust to the people he swore to serve.”
This case was investigated by ATF, HSI, FBI and local law enforcement. Assistant United States Attorneys Greg Gilluly and Tania Groover prosecuted the case on behalf of the United States. For additional information, please contact First Assistant United states Attorney James D. Durham at (912) 201-2547.Former New Orleans Police Officers Sentenced in Conspiracy to Commit Theft and Wire FraudRead the Press Release
U.S. Attorney Kenneth Allen Polite, Jr. announced today that RAFAEL DOBARD, age 39, and QUINCY JONES, age 33, both former New Orleans Police Department (“NOPD”) narcotics detectives, were sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Nannette Jolivette Brown. DOBARD and JONES were each sentenced to eighteen months incarceration to be followed by three years of supervised release. Additionally, DOBARD and JONES were ordered to pay restitution to the City of New Orleans in the amount of $18,484.44 and $19,064.25, respectively.
On February 14, 2014, DOBARD and JONES pled guilty to conspiracy to commit theft from programs receiving federal funds and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. According to court documents, both defendants admitted that they conspired to enrich themselves and others by obtaining NOPD confidential informant funds by fraud and by corruptly making payments to other officers in their unit. They also admitted that they conspired to commit wire fraud by submitting NOPD timesheets that indicated they were working on duty for the NOPD when, in fact, they were working at non-NOPD detail jobs.
“The U.S. Attorney’s Office is committed to ensuring that no one is above the law,” stated U.S. Attorney Polite. “These officers, both of whom swore to uphold and enforce our laws, instead broke the law by stealing public funds.”
"Few breaches of the public trust rival law enforcement corruption so the FBI and the NOPD's Public Integrity Bureau will continue to ensure that all such matters receive our utmost attention with extensive investigative resources to match," stated Michael Anderson, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New Orleans Field Division.
The case was investigated jointly by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the NOPD Public Integrity Bureau. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Mark A. Miller and Special Assistant United States Attorney Michael B. Redmann, who is detailed to the U.S. Attorney’s Office from the Orleans Parish District Attorney’s Office.
Former MDC Corrections Officer Faces Federal Drug Trafficking ChargeRead the Press Release
ALBUQUERQUE – Lucas Segura, 22, of Los Lunas, N.M., made his initial appearance in federal court in Albuquerque, N.M., this morning on an indictment charging him with a heroin trafficking offense. Segura remains custody pending a detention hearing scheduled for July 18, 2014.
The indictment alleges that Segura unlawfully possessed heroin with intent to distribute in Bernalillo County, N.M., on April 1, 2014. At the time of the offense charged, Segura was a corrections officer at the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC).
According to state court filings, Segura was arrested on April 1, 2014, on related state charges of trafficking controlled substances, bringing contraband into a jail, and conspiracy. Segura was on conditions of release from the state charges when he surrendered himself to the FBI earlier today.
If convicted on the offense charged in the federal indictment, Segura faces a maximum statutory penalty of twenty years in federal prison. Charges in indictments are merely accusations and defendants are presumed innocent unless found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
This case was investigated by the Albuquerque office of the FBI, the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office, and MDC’s Threat Security Group with assistance from the 2nd Judicial District Attorney’s Office, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Reeve L. Swainston.
Former Florida Resident Sentenced on Fraud ChargesRead the Press Release
Boston – A former Florida resident who defrauded victims across the country, including in Massachusetts, was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Boston yesterday for his role in an advance-fee scheme.
John Condo, 62 of formerly of Clearwater, Fla., was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton to 90 months in prison and three years of supervised release. In March 2014, following his extradition from Italy, Condo pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and 14 counts of wire fraud.
Between 2007 and 2011, Condo participated in a conspiracy to defraud developers who were seeking financing for large-scale alternative energy and commercial projects by pretending to be a representative of a multi-billion dollar fund located in Luxembourg. Condo and his co-conspirators convinced developers to give deposits in amounts between $300,000 and $1 million to this fake fund with the promise that the deposit would be fully refundable. Condo and his co-conspirators spent the developers' deposit money, and the fake fund never financed any projects. In perpetrating this scheme, the defendant continually reassured developers about safety of their deposits even as the deposits were being spent.
Over $7 million was stolen from victims, including $600,000 which had originally been provided by the West Springfield financial adviser Sean Mansfield. Mansfield had stolen the funds from his clients. In 2011, Mansfield was sentenced to 60 months in prison for defrauding his clients.
Condo’s co-defendants, Evripides Georgiadis, Frank Barecich, and Michael Zanetti, have all been convicted. In June 2014, Zanetti was sentenced to 37 months in prison. Earlier this month, Barecich was sentenced to 12 months in prison. Georgiadis is awaiting sentencing.
United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; William P. Offord, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation in Boston; Susan Hensley, Regional Director of the U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration; and Vincent B. Lisi, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division, made the announcement. The case was prosecuted by Alex J. Grant and Karen L. Goodwin of Ortiz’s Springfield Branch Unit.
Former Executive of French Power Company Subsidiary Pleads Guilty in Connection with Foreign Bribery SchemeRead the Press Release
A former senior executive of a subsidiary of Alstom SA, the French power and transportation company, pleaded guilty today for his participation in a scheme to pay bribes to foreign government officials.
Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Acting U.S. Attorney Michael J. Gustafson of the District of Connecticut and Assistant Director in Charge Valerie Parlave of the FBI’s Washington Field Office made the announcement.
William Pomponi, a former vice president of regional sales at Alstom Power Inc., the Connecticut-based power subsidiary of Alstom, pleaded guilty today in federal court in New Haven, Connecticut, to conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) in connection with the awarding of the Tarahan power project in Indonesia. Pomponi was charged in a second superseding indictment on July 30, 2013. Pomponi is the fourth defendant to plead guilty to charges stemming from this investigation. Frederic Pierucci, the vice president of global boiler sales at Alstom, pleaded guilty on July 29, 2013, to one count of conspiracy to violate the FCPA and one count of violating the FCPA; and, David Rothschild, a former vice president of regional sales at Alstom Power Inc., pleaded guilty to conspiring to violate the FCPA on Nov. 2, 2012. Marubeni Corporation, Alstom’s consortium partner on the Tarahan project, pleaded guilty on March 19, 2014, to one count of conspiracy to violate the FCPA and seven counts of violating the FCPA, and was sentenced to pay a criminal fine of $88 million. FCPA and money laundering charges remain pending against Lawrence Hoskins, the former senior vice president for the Asia region for Alstom, and trial is scheduled for June 2, 2015.
“Three Alstom corporate executives and Marubeni, a major Japanese corporation, have now pleaded guilty to a seven-year scheme to pay bribes to Indonesian officials to secure a $118 million power contract,” said Assistant Attorney General Caldwell. “The Criminal Division of the Department of Justice will follow evidence of corruption wherever it leads, including into corporate boardrooms and corner offices. As this case demonstrates, we will hold both companies and their executives responsible for criminal conduct.”
According to the court filings, the defendants, together with others, paid bribes to officials in Indonesia, including a member of the Indonesian Parliament and high-ranking members of Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN), the state-owned and state-controlled electricity company in Indonesia, in exchange for assistance in securing a $118 million contract, known as the Tarahan project, to provide power-related services for the citizens of Indonesia from facilities in Tarahan. To conceal the bribes, the defendants retained two consultants purportedly to provide legitimate consulting services on behalf of Alstom and Marubeni in connection with the Tarahan project. In reality, the primary purpose for hiring the consultants was to use the consultants to pay bribes to Indonesian officials.
The first consultant retained by the defendants allegedly received hundreds of thousands of dollars in his Maryland bank account to be used to bribe the member of Parliament. The consultant then allegedly transferred the bribe money to a bank account in Indonesia for the benefit of the official. According to court documents, emails between Hoskins, Pomponi, Pierucci, Rothschild, and their co-conspirators discuss in detail the use of the first consultant to funnel bribes to the member of Parliament and the influence that the member of Parliament could exert over the Tarahan project.
However, in the fall of 2003, Hoskins, Pomponi, Pierucci and others determined that the first consultant was not effectively bribing key officials at PLN. One email between Alstom employees described PLN officials’ “concern that if we have won the job, whether their rewards will still be satisfactory or this agent only give them pocket money and disappear.” In another email, an employee at Alstom’s subsidiary in Indonesia sent an email to Hoskins asserting that the first consultant “has no grip on the PLN Tender team at all” and “is more or less similar to [a] cashier which I feel we pay too much.”
As a result, the co-conspirators retained a second consultant to bribe PLN officials, according to the court documents. The co-conspirators deviated from Alstom’s usual practice of paying consultants on a pro-rata basis in order to make a much larger up-front payment to the second consultant so that the consultant could “get the right influence.” An employee at Alstom’s subsidiary in Indonesia sent an email to Hoskins, Pomponi, Pierucci and others asking them to finalize the consultancy agreement with the front-loaded payments but stated that in the meantime the employee would give his word to a high-level official at PLN, according to the charges. The defendants and their co-conspirators were successful in securing the Tarahan project and subsequently made payments to the consultants for the purpose of bribing the Indonesian officials.
An indictment is merely an accusation, and defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
The case is being investigated by FBI agents who are part of the Washington Field Office’s dedicated FCPA squad, with assistance from the Meriden, Connecticut, Resident Agency of the FBI. Significant assistance was provided by the Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs, and the department has also received substantial assistance from its law enforcement counterparts in Indonesia, Switzerland and Singapore and greatly appreciates their cooperation. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant Chief Daniel S. Kahn of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney David E. Novick of the District of Connecticut.
Additional information about the Justice Department’s FCPA enforcement efforts can be found at www.justice.gov/criminal/fraud/fcpa.Former Executive of French Power Company Subsidiary Pleads Guilty in Connection with Foreign Bribery SchemeRead the Press Release
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WASHINGTON - A former senior executive of a subsidiary of Alstom SA, the French power and transportation company, pleaded guilty today for his participation in a scheme to pay bribes to foreign government officials.
Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Acting U.S. Attorney Michael J. Gustafson of the District of Connecticut and Assistant Director in Charge Valerie Parlave of the FBI’s Washington Field Office made the announcement.
William Pomponi, a former vice president of regional sales at Alstom Power Inc., the Connecticut-based power subsidiary of Alstom, pleaded guilty today in federal court in New Haven, Connecticut, to a criminal information charging him with conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) in connection with the awarding of the Tarahan power project in Indonesia. Pomponi was charged in a second superseding indictment on July 30, 2013. Pomponi is the fourth defendant to plead guilty to charges stemming from this investigation. Frederic Pierucci, the vice president of global boiler sales at Alstom, pleaded guilty on July 29, 2013, to one count of conspiracy to violate the FCPA and one count of violating the FCPA; and, David Rothschild, a former vice president of regional sales at Alstom Power Inc., pleaded guilty to conspiring to violate the FCPA on Nov. 2, 2012. Marubeni Corporation, Alstom’s consortium partner on the Tarahan project, pleaded guilty on March 19, 2014, to one count of conspiracy to violate the FCPA and seven counts of violating the FCPA, and was sentenced to pay a criminal fine of $88 million. FCPA and money laundering charges remain pending against Lawrence Hoskins, the former senior vice president for the Asia region for Alstom, and trial is scheduled for June 2, 2015.
“Three Alstom corporate executives and Marubeni, a major Japanese corporation, have now pleaded guilty to a seven-year scheme to pay bribes to Indonesian officials to secure a $118 million power contract,” said Assistant Attorney General Caldwell. “The Criminal Division of the Department of Justice will follow evidence of corruption wherever it leads, including into corporate boardrooms and corner offices. As this case demonstrates, we will hold both companies and their executives responsible for criminal conduct.”
According to the court filings, the defendants, together with others, paid bribes to officials in Indonesia, including a member of the Indonesian Parliament and high-ranking members of Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN), the state-owned and state-controlled electricity company in Indonesia, in exchange for assistance in securing a $118 million contract, known as the Tarahan project, to provide power-related services for the citizens of Indonesia from facilities in Tarahan. To conceal the bribes, the defendants retained two consultants purportedly to provide legitimate consulting services on behalf of Alstom and Marubeni in connection with the Tarahan project. In reality, the primary purpose for hiring the consultants was to use the consultants to pay bribes to Indonesian officials.
The first consultant retained by the defendants allegedly received hundreds of thousands of dollars in his Maryland bank account to be used to bribe the member of Parliament. The consultant then allegedly transferred the bribe money to a bank account in Indonesia for the benefit of the official. According to court documents, emails between Hoskins, Pomponi, Pierucci, Rothschild, and their co-conspirators discuss in detail the use of the first consultant to funnel bribes to the member of Parliament and the influence that the member of Parliament could exert over the Tarahan project.
However, in the fall of 2003, Hoskins, Pomponi, Pierucci and others determined that the first consultant was not effectively bribing key officials at PLN. One email between Alstom employees described PLN officials’ “concern that if we have won the job, whether their rewards will still be satisfactory or this agent only give them pocket money and disappear.” In another email, an employee at Alstom’s subsidiary in Indonesia sent an email to Hoskins asserting that the first consultant “has no grip on the PLN Tender team at all” and “is more or less similar to [a] cashier which I feel we pay too much.”
As a result, the co-conspirators retained a second consultant to bribe PLN officials, according to the court documents. The co-conspirators deviated from Alstom’s usual practice of paying consultants on a pro-rata basis in order to make a much larger up-front payment to the second consultant so that the consultant could “get the right influence.” An employee at Alstom’s subsidiary in Indonesia sent an email to Hoskins, Pomponi, Pierucci and others asking them to finalize the consultancy agreement with the front-loaded payments but stated that in the meantime the employee would give his word to a high-level official at PLN, according to the charges. The defendants and their co-conspirators were successful in securing the Tarahan project and subsequently made payments to the consultants for the purpose of bribing the Indonesian officials.
An indictment is merely an accusation, and defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
The case is being investigated by FBI agents who are part of the Washington Field Office’s dedicated FCPA squad, with assistance from the Meriden, Connecticut, Resident Agency of the FBI. Significant assistance was provided by the Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs, and the department has also received substantial assistance from its law enforcement counterparts in Indonesia, Switzerland and Singapore and greatly appreciates their cooperation. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant Chief Daniel S. Kahn of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney David E. Novick of the District of Connecticut.
Additional information about the Justice Department’s FCPA enforcement efforts can be found at www.justice.gov/criminal/fraud/fcpa.
PUBLIC AFFAIRS CONTACT:
U.S. ATTORNEY'S OFFICE
Tom Carson
(203) 821-3722 [email protected]Florida Man Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison on Child Pornography Charges<br />Read the Press Release
Robert Eugene Revay, 79, of Oakland Park, Florida, was sentenced to serve 15 years in prison for conspiring to produce child pornography and for possession of child pornography.
Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer for the Southern District of Florida and Inspector in Charge Ronald J. Verrochio of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) made the announcement. The sentence was imposed by U.S. District Judge Robert N. Scola of the Southern District of Florida. In addition to Revay’s prison term, he was sentenced to a life term of supervised release.
According to court documents and statements made at the plea hearing, in 2011, law enforcement initiated an investigation into an online chat group whose members traveled to engage in sex with prepubescent boys, and produced and distributed child pornography. Through the investigation, law enforcement obtained computer hard drives that belonged to two of the group’s members, Mark J. Newton and Peter Truong, who were sentenced to serve 40 years in prison and 30 years in prison, respectively, for their crimes. Forensic examination of the hard drives yielded images and videos of boys being sexually abused.
Revay was a member of that online chat group. In 1997, Revay and Truong were living together in an apartment in Germantown, Maryland, where they enticed a then-12-year-old child to come to their apartment. They sexually abused the victim on numerous occasions and took pictures and videos of the abuse.
On March 19, 2013, as part of the investigation, law enforcement officers executed a federal search warrant at Revay’s residence in Oakland Park, Florida. On Revay’s computer, law enforcement discovered child pornography in an encrypted container. Revay admitted that he had downloaded and possessed the child pornography. Revay also admitted that on previous occasions, he downloaded child pornography via the Internet.
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 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.
The case was investigated by USPIS, and prosecuted by LisaMarie Freitas and Michael Grant of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Olivia Choe of the Southern District of Florida.Florida Man Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison on Child Pornography ChargesRead the Press Release
Robert Eugene Revay, 79, of Oakland Park, Florida, was sentenced to serve 15 years in prison for conspiring to produce child pornography and for possession of child pornography.
U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer for the Southern District of Florida, Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, and Inspector in Charge Ronald J. Verrochio of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) made the announcement. The sentence was imposed by U.S. District Judge Robert N. Scola of the Southern District of Florida. In addition to Revay’s prison term, he was sentenced to a life term of supervised release.
According to court documents and statements made at the plea hearing, in 2011, law enforcement initiated an investigation into an online chat group whose members traveled to engage in sex with prepubescent boys, and produced and distributed child pornography. Through the investigation, law enforcement obtained computer hard drives that belonged to two of the group’s members, Mark J. Newton and Peter Truong, who were sentenced to serve 40 years in prison and 30 years in prison, respectively, for their crimes. Forensic examination of the hard drives yielded images and videos of boys being sexually abused.
Revay was a member of that online chat group. In 1997, Revay and Truong were living together in an apartment in Germantown, Maryland, where they enticed a then-12-year-old child to come to their apartment. They sexually abused the victim on numerous occasions and took pictures and videos of the abuse.
On March 19, 2013, as part of the investigation, law enforcement officers executed a federal search warrant at Revay’s residence in Oakland Park, Florida. On Revay’s computer, law enforcement discovered child pornography in an encrypted container. Revay admitted that he had downloaded and possessed the child pornography. Revay also admitted that on previous occasions, he downloaded child pornography via the Internet.
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 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.
The case was investigated by USPIS, and prosecuted by LisaMarie Freitas and Michael Grant of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Olivia Choe of the Southern District of Florida.
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.
Florence Man Pleads to Possession of Child PornographyRead the Press Release
Contact Person: Bill Day (803) 929-3000
Columbia, South Carolina -----United States Attorney Bill Nettles stated today that Andrew Stephen Jackson, age 44, of Florence, South Carolina has entered a guilty plea in federal court in Florence, to possession of child pornography, a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2252A(a)(5)(B) and (b)(2) . United States District Judge R. Bryan Harwell of Florence accepted the guilty plea and will impose sentence after he has reviewed the presentence report which will be prepared by the U.S. Probation Office.
Evidence presented at the change of plea hearing established that Jackson was trading child pornography with an individual in Australia in October 2010. A search warrant was executed at Jackson's residence and thousands of images of child pornography were found on Jackson's computers.
Mr. Nettles stated the maximum penalty for possession of child pornography is imprisonment for 10 years and/or a fine of $250,000.
The case was investigated by agents of the FBI. Assistant United States Attorney William E Day, II of the Columbia office is prosecuting the case.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ 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, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.# # #
Five Individuals Sentenced for Theft from Union FundRead the Press Release
Orlando, Florida – Senior U.S. District Judge G. Kendall Sharp yesterday sentenced five individuals for their roles in stealing from an employee benefit plan of a local union. James McCall (32, Orange City) was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison and was ordered to pay $93,405.89 in restitution. Ian Chase Dove (26, Orange City) was sentenced to 13 months in federal prison and was ordered to pay $18,662.70 in restitution. Jason Wesson (37, Orange City) was also sentenced to 13 months’ imprisonment. He was ordered to pay $19,975.32 in restitution. Michael Giesinger (36, Deltona) was sentenced to 1 year of probation, 6 months of home confinement, and was ordered to pay $20,009.62 in restitution. Shane Riley (32, Deland) was sentenced to 3 years of probation and was ordered to pay $18,374.64 in restitution. On April 23, 2014, all five pleaded guilty for their respective roles in this case.
According to court documents, Angela Deleon worked at Advance Administration, Inc. (AAI), which was the third-party administrator of an employee benefit plan for the Ironworkers Local 808. As the third-party administrator for the Ironworkers Local 808 Annuity Fund, AAI was responsible for processing members’ payment applications, paying the Fund’s bills, and speaking with union members. Deleon’s duties at AAI included data entry and the processing of payments.
Over a period of about 14 months, Deleon wrote 46 checks from the Fund, totaling over $427,000, to individuals who were not members of the Local 808 or participants in the Fund, including McCall, Dove, Wesson, Giesinger, and Riley. McCall, Dove, Wesson, Giesinger, and Riley cashed some of those checks and split some of the proceeds with Deleon.
In total, ten individuals have been charged in connection with this case. Deleon was previously sentenced to 2 years in federal prison for her participation in these crimes. Deleon was also ordered to pay $594,000 in restitution to the Ironworkers Local 808 Annuity Fund and to serve one year of supervised release. The $594,000 in restitution consists of more than $427,000 that she stole from the Fund, plus the amounts spent by the Fund to audit and reconstruct the records that were impacted by Deleon’s scheme.
Three others are scheduled for sentencing hearings on August 20, 2014. Brandon Alfonso (28, Orange City) pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy. Marta Blackmer (71, Orange City) pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy and ten counts of theft from an employee benefit plan. Phillip Simmons (50, Orange City) went to trial and was convicted of one count of conspiracy and two counts of theft from an employee benefit plan. Each of these individuals faces a maximum penalty of 5 years in federal prison for each count.
Lastly, Jason Ferrari (33, Orange City), is pending trial for one count of conspiracy and one count of theft from an employee benefit plan. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 5 years in federal prison for each count.
“These sentencings demonstrate the OIG’s commitment to work with our law enforcement partners to bring to justice those who seek to illegally enrich themselves by defrauding union benefit plans,” said Special Agent-in-Charge Richard Walker, U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, Office of Labor Racketeering and Fraud Investigations.
“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 Employee Benefits Security Administration’s Atlanta Regional Office and Miami District Office.
These cases were investigated by the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, Office of Labor Racketeering and Fraud Investigations, and the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration. They are being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg.
Denver Man Arrested for Pointing Laser at Denver Police Department HelicopterRead the Press Release
DENVER – Nathan James Finneman, age 26, of Denver, Colorado, will appear today before a U.S. Magistrate Judge to be advised that he faces charges of aiming a laser pointer at an aircraft, United States Attorney John Walsh and FBI Denver Division Special Agent in Charge Thomas Ravenelle announced. Finneman is scheduled to appear before U.S. Magistrate Judge Boyd N. Boland at 1:30 p.m. this afternoon in U.S. District Court in Denver for his initial appearance.
According to an indictment returned by a federal grand jury on July 2, 2014, twice on April 19, 2013 and once on April 20, 2013, Finneman allegedly aimed the beam of a laser pointer at an aircraft, namely a Bell helicopter operated by the Denver Police Department. The police helicopter, known as “Air One”, was able to use equipment on board to identify the source of the laser pointer.
“Pointing a laser at the pilot of a helicopter or airplane not only puts the pilot and passengers of the aircraft at risk, it exposes the public on the ground to the danger of an emergency landing or even a crash,” said U.S. Attorney John Walsh. “What might seem like a harmless prank is far from it – laser blinding of pilots is a serious and dangerous crime that we will prosecute.”
“This case demonstrates the FBI's commitment to ensuring the safety of the nation's aviation transportation system and those on the ground," said FBI Denver Special Agent in Charge Thomas Ravenelle. “With assistance from our law enforcement partners, the FBI will continue to aggressively investigate incidents involving laser attacks on aircraft.”
“Aiming a laser pointer at a helicopter or aircraft is not game – it is a crime,” said Denver Police Chief Robert White. “We are thankful that Air One has the technology to identify persons committing this type crime, as it did in this case.”
If convicted, Finneman faces not more than 5 years imprisonment, and up to a $250,000 fine, per count for each of his three counts.
This case was investigated by Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
Finneman is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney James Allison, Chief of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division.
The charges contained in the indictment are allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
For more information regarding the dangers associated with pointing lasers at aircraft please visit http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2014/february/protecting-aircraft-from-lasers .
Delaware County Business Owner Charged with Fraud Against the United StatesRead the Press Release
PHILADELPHIA – Kenneth Narzikul, 59, of Media, PA was charged today by information with major fraud against the United States, obstruction of audit, and making false claims to the government, in connection with operation of his business, NP Precision, Inc., a machine tool business located in Folcroft PA. .
According to the information, Narzikul was President and 85% owner of NP Precision, responsible for all aspects of NP Precision’s business, which included contracting with federal agencies to produce critical hardware components used in military helicopters and other aircraft. The information charges that as early as 2007, Narzikul began misusing progress payments on contracts with the United States, by failing to pay subcontractors and requesting progress payments under the contracts for costs that NP Precision had not actually incurred, and without the intention of using the progress payments for the costs and contracts at issue, in violation of Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR). The information charges that Narzikul schemed to fraudulently divert and steal approximately $1.2 million in progress payments that the United States paid NP Precision under two contracts to produce drive shaft couplings for the U.S. Army helicopter Model CH-47, commonly known as a Chinook helicopter. Consequently, it is alleged that the United States received a very belated and many times incomplete product, far later than required under the delivery schedules. According to the information, Narzikul made false statements and caused others at NP Precision to make false statements to government auditors, and made false claims to falsely reflect progress on numerous Army and Air Force contracts and to continue to receive progress payments from the United States. The information charges that, at the direction of Narzikul, NP Precision used the diverted funds to pay outstanding obligations on other contracts and other business and personal expenses of the defendant and his family.
“The fraud alleged here was uncovered by the diligent efforts of our agents along with our federal law enforcement partners,” said Frank Robey, Director of the United States Army Criminal Investigation Command’s Major Procurement Fraud Unit (MPFU). “Today’s charges should serve as a warning to others who might try to defraud the U.S. government -- no matter how deep you try to bury the evidence of your crime, we will find it.”
If convicted, the defendant faces a maximum possible sentence of 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, a fine of up to $1.5 million, and a $300 special assessment. Full restitution of up to approximately $1.2 million also may be ordered.
The case was investigated by the Major Procurement Fraud Unit (MPFU) of the United States Army Criminal Investigative Command (Army CID), the Defense Criminal Investigative
Service (DCIS); and the United States Air Force Office of Special Inspection (Air Force OSI). It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Mary E. Crawley.Click here to view the indictment
An Information is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
UNITED STATES ATTORNEY'S OFFICE, EASTERN DISTRICTof PENNSYLVANIA
Suite 1250, 615 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106
PATTY HARTMAN, Media Contact, 215-861-8525Dedham Man Charged in Three Bank RobberiesRead the Press Release
BOSTON – A Dedham man was indicted today for robbing three Boston area banks.
According to the indictment, in January of this year, Joseph Wilcox, 46, robbed three banks, stealing over $8,000. The indictment alleges that on Jan. 15, Wilcox stole $1,318 from the Blue Hills Bank in Brookline; on Jan. 22, he stole $839 from the Eastern Bank in Cambridge; and on Jan. 25, he stole $6,260 from the TD Bank in Brookline.
The charging statute provides a sentence of no greater than 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Vincent B. Lisi, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; Brookline Police Chief Daniel C. O’Leary; and Cambridge Police Commissioner Robert C. Haas, made the announcement today. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Carlos A. López of Ortiz’s Major Crimes Unit.
Corporate Executives, Registered Brokers and an Attorney Indicted for Orchestrating A $300 Million Market Manipulation Scheme Involving Four Publicly Traded CompaniesRead the Press Release
A ten-count indictment was unsealed this morning in federal court in Brooklyn, New York, against seven defendants, Abraxas J. Discala, also known as “AJ Discala,” the Chief Executive Officer of OmniView Capital Advisors LLC (“OmniView”); Marc Wexler, the Managing Director of OmniView; Ira Shapiro, the Chief Executive Officer of CodeSmart Holdings, Inc. (“CodeSmart”), a publicly traded company; Matthew Bell, a registered broker and investment adviser representative; Craig Josephberg, a registered broker; Kyleen Cane, an attorney; and Victor Azrak, the Vice President and Director of Excel Corp., a publicly traded company.1 The charges include securities fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy to commit securities fraud, mail fraud and wire fraud in connection with the fraudulent market manipulation of four publicly traded companies -- CodeSmart, trading under the ticker symbol ITEN; Cubed, Inc. (“Cubed”), trading under the ticker symbol CRPT; StarStream Entertainment Inc. (“StarStream”), trading under the ticker symbol SSET; and The Staffing Group, Ltd. (“Staffing Group”), trading under the ticker symbol TSGL. In addition, the government restrained Discala’s residence in Norwalk, Connecticut, worth over $1 million, and seized a dozen bank and brokerage accounts containing criminal proceeds.
Shapiro, Josephberg and Azrak will be arraigned later today before Magistrate Judge Robert M. Levy, at the United States Courthouse, 225 Cadman Plaza East, Brooklyn, New York. Discala, Wexler and Cane’s initial appearance for removal proceedings to the Eastern District of New York is scheduled for this afternoon at the United States Courthouse, 333 S. Las Vegas Blvd., Las Vegas, Nevada. Bell’s initial appearance for removal proceedings to the Eastern District of New York is scheduled for this afternoon at the United States Courthouse, 655 E. Cesar E. Chavez Blvd., San Antonio, Texas.
The indictment was 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).
“Discala and his company insiders, registered brokers, investment advisers, an attorney and corrupt investors designed an elaborate but fraudulent scheme built on lies, deceit and manipulated trading activity to defraud the securities markets and the investing public. They took companies with essentially no assets or activity and deceived the market into believing they were worth hundreds of millions of dollars through a dizzying round of insider and unauthorized trades. When the defendants stopped their criminal game of musical shares it was the unsuspecting investors who were left holding the bag. The defendants abused their positions of trust and preyed upon unsuspecting and elderly investors, oftentimes placing worthless stocks in their retirement accounts, to perpetrate this far-reaching fraud,” stated United States Attorney Lynch. “Today’s seven arrests, across five states, reflect the scope of this fraud and our commitment to aggressively locate and bring to justice those who abuse our financial markets in order to fraudulently enrich themselves.” Ms. Lynch expressed her grateful appreciation to the FBI, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and the Texas State Securities Board for their significant cooperation and assistance in the investigation.
“As outlined in the indictment, the defendants engaged in a coordinated and sophisticated scheme to manipulate the share price and trading volume of four publicly traded stocks for personal gain. This lucrative scheme to manipulate our financial markets made the defendants money, while draining the bank accounts of innocent investors. Their client-victims trusted them to manage their money as if it were their own, not to steal it. Together with our partners in both law enforcement and the private sector, to include the Securities and Exchange Commission, we remain vigilant in identifying and bringing to justice those who look to profit at the expense of hard-working Americans,” stated FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Venizelos.
I. Overview
As alleged in the indictment and other court filings, between October 2012 and July 2014, the defendants, together with others, agreed to defraud investors and potential investors in four public companies: CodeSmart, Cubed, StarStream and Staffing Group (collectively, the “Manipulated Public Companies”) by artificially controlling the price and volume of traded shares in the Manipulated Public Companies through, among other things: (a) false and misleading press releases; (b) false and misleading SEC filings; (c) fraudulent concealment of the defendants’ and their co-conspirators’ ownership interests; (d) engineering price movements and trading volume in the stocks; and (e) unauthorized purchases of stock in accounts of unwitting investors.
II. The CodeSmart Manipulation Scheme
In early May 2013, Discala and his co-conspirators engineered a reverse merger of CodeSmart, a private company, with a shell public company. After gaining control of CodeSmart’s three million unrestricted shares, Discala and his co-conspirators, on two occasions, fraudulently inflated CodeSmart’s share price and trading volume and then sold the unrestricted CodeSmart stock at a profit when the share price reached desirable levels -- a scheme commonly referred to as a “pump and dump.” The first pump and dump occurred between approximately May 13, 2013 and August 21, 2013. During this period, Discala and his co-conspirators manipulated CodeSmart’s stock price by raising it from $1.77 to a high of $6.94, before causing it to drop to $2.19. The second pump and dump occurred between approximately August 21, 2013 and September 20, 2013. During this period, Discala and his co-conspirators manipulated CodeSmart’s stock price by raising it from $2.19 to a high of $4.60, before causing it drop to $2.13.
CodeSmart’s market capitalization at its highest closing price of $6.94 per share on July 12, 2013 was $86,347,800. However, that same day, CodeSmart filed with the SEC an amended Form 10-K, signed by Shapiro, in which CodeSmart listed only $6,000 in total assets, $7,600 in revenue and a net loss of $103,141. By December 30, 2013, CodeSmart’s stock was trading at $0.66 per share, and on July 9, 2014, CodeSmart’s stock closed at $0.01 per share. On one occasion, Discala boasted that his manipulation of CodeSmart’s stock “should be in the hall of shame.”
To successfully orchestrate the two pumps and dumps, Discala and his co-conspirators coordinated their trading activity with the issuance of company press releases and public filings with the SEC, a number of which contained false and misleading information. Shapiro played a leading role in disseminating such information to the public. During the pump phase of the first pump and dump, CodeSmart issued a press release which stated that it was “the exclusive strategic partner” to provide medical coding and consulting services to the State University of New York at Binghamton. Contrary to this representation, CodeSmart was not the “exclusive strategic partner” for ICD-10 education courses at Binghamton University -- the university also offered courses through other providers and had no plans to exclusively market CodeSmart University to its students.
Similarly, during the pump phase of the second pump and dump, CodeSmart filed with the SEC a Form 8-K, signed by Shapiro, in which CodeSmart announced that Shapiro, its Chief Executive Officer, had purchased 25,000 shares of the company’s stock from the public market at the market value of $3.21 per share for a cost of $80,250. In this SEC filing, Shapiro extolled his purchase of CodeSmart stock, stating that it was “symbolic of [his] confidence in the Company and its mission.” In reality, Shapiro did not actually pay for the 25,000 CodeSmart shares purchased in his brokerage account -- the same day he paid $81,278 from his personal bank account to his brokerage firm for the 25,000 shares, Discala transferred $81,278 to Shapiro’s personal bank account.
Shapiro’s role in this scheme is further illustrated by his fluctuating revenue forecasts in SEC filings. After estimating $10 million in revenue over the next twelve months during the first pump, approximately one month later, on August 19, 2013, Shapiro stated that CodeSmart did not have sufficient funds and “may need to curtail or cease [its] operations” until it obtained sufficient funds. As the second pump began, a mere seven days later, Shapiro announced, “If we continue on the track we are on, I believe we will achieve our revenue and profit goals that were previously disclosed for 2013 and beyond.”
Discala and his co-conspirators profited by selling CodeSmart stock, issued to them at pennies, to investment adviser representative Bell’s clients and broker Josephberg’s customers. On some occasions, the CodeSmart shares were sold to Bell’s clients and Josephberg’s customers without their clients’ and customers’ knowledge and consent. Additionally, Bell and Josephberg were selling CodeSmart shares in their personal trading accounts at the same time that they were purchasing CodeSmart stock in their clients’ and customers’ accounts. During the first pump and dump, Discala and his co-conspirators sold approximately 800,000 shares of CodeSmart in their personal accounts while Bell and Josephberg purchased virtually the identical amount in their clients’ and customers’ accounts.
III. The Cubed Manipulation Scheme
In March 2014, Discala and his co-conspirators took Cubed public through an asset purchase agreement. On April 22, 2014, Cubed’s stock began trading in earnest. Between April 22, 2014 and April 30, 2014, Discala and his co-conspirators concocted trading volume in this stock by purchasing more than 50% of the total number of Cubed shares purchased during this period.
Between May 2, 2014 and June 29, 2014, law enforcement authorities conducted a judicially-authorized wiretap of Discala’s cellular telephone (the “Discala Wiretap”). The Discala Wiretap revealed that Discala, Wexler, Bell, Josephberg, Cane and Azrak, together with others, fraudulently manipulated Cubed’s stock by artificially controlling the price and volume of that stock through, among other things, wash trades and match trades.2 Rather than generating significant market interest and causing a quick pump and dump that would elicit regulators’ scrutiny this time, the defendants gradually increased the price of Cubed’s stock to give it the appearance of a legitimate company with genuine and steady market demand for the security. For example, on May 6, 2014, while Cubed was in a period of gradual increase from $5.20 on April 22, 2014 to $5.42 on May 22, 2014, Discala sent a text message to Josephberg stating, “Go 531. Please.” That day, Cubed’s stock closed at $5.32 per share.
The defendants used an escrow account maintained by Cane to successfully control the price and volume of Cubed’s stock. For example, on May 20, 2014, during a telephone call between Discala and Azrak, Discala emphasized his control over Cubed’s share price through the use of the escrow account, stating, “I’m the [expletive] brake and the gas, [expletive]. If I take my foot off the brake it’s 55 [dollars] tomorrow (laughter).”
On June 23, 2014, Cubed reached its highest closing price of $6.75 per share, resulting in a market capitalization of approximately $200 million. Previously, however, Cubed had filed with the SEC a Form 10-Q and reported less than $1,500 in cash, zero revenue, negative stockholders’ equity, a net loss of $15,000 and accrued professional fees of $131,824.
IV. The StarStream and Staffing Group Manipulation Schemes
In addition to the CodeSmart and Cubed stocks, Discala and his co-conspirators were simultaneously fraudulently manipulating StarStream’s and Staffing Group’s stocks by artificially controlling the price and volume of the stocks through the use of, among other things, text messages and telephone calls. Below are examples of text messages intercepted on the Discala Wiretap.
A. StarStream Manipulation
On May 7, 2014, Wexler sent a text message to Discala, stating, “We may need to buy SSET at close. I think EJA has some $. Got get it to 15 cents. LOL what a joke.” That day, StarStream’s stock price closed at $0.30 on 41,100 trading volume, a significant decrease from the previous day’s closing price of $0.48 on 16,200 trading volume. The following day, on May 8, 2014, StarStream’s stock price closed at $0.15 per share, exactly the price proposed by Wexler. Similarly, on May 13, 2014, before trading commenced, Discala sent a text message to Bell, stating, “We got good stuff going. Sset. Should be over a buck today.” That day, StarStream’s stock price, which opened at $0.35 per share, reached an intraday high of $1.05 per share, before closing at $0.80 per share.
B. Staffing Group Manipulation
On May 7, 2014, Bell sent a text message to Discala, stating, “TSGL is tanking. We still good?” In response, Discala stated, “Yes. Buy all u can at 20 or better. We’re cleaning it up.” That day, Staffing Group’s stock price closed at $0.25 on 178,300 trading volume, a significant decrease from the previous day’s closing price of $0.36 on no trading volume. Similarly, on May 30, 2014, Discala sent a text message to Wexler, stating, “Buy 5k more ts [TSGL] market im gonna get this thing flying.” That day, Staffing Group’s stock price closed at $0.42 per share on 187,300 trading volume, which was almost double the closing price of $0.23 on 6,000 trading volume on the previous day.
The government’s case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Winston M. Paes, Walter M. Norkin, Shannon C. Jones and Claire Kedeshian.
Today’s announcement is part of efforts underway by President 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 is 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 including more than 2,900 mortgage fraud defendants. For more information on the task force, visit www.stopfraud.gov.
The Defendants:
ABRAXAS J. DISCALA, also known as “AJ Discala”
Age: 43
Residence: Norwalk, Connecticut
MARC WEXLER
Age: 52
Residence: Colts Neck, New Jersey
IRA SHAPIRO
Age: 53
Residence: Congers, New York
MATTHEW BELL
Age: 47
Residence: Boerne, Texas
CRAIG JOSEPHBERG
Age: 41
Residence: New York, New York
KYLEEN CANE
Age: 59
Residence: Las Vegas, Nevada
VICTOR AZRAK
Age: 32
Residence: Brooklyn, New York
E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 14-CR-399
___________________________________________________________________________
1 The charges announced today are merely allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
2 Wash trades are purchases and sales of securities that match each other in price, volume and time of execution, and involve no change in beneficial ownership. For example, a wash trade occurs when Investor A buys 100 shares at $5.00 of Company A through Broker A while simultaneously selling 100 shares at $5.00 of Company A through Broker B. Match trades are similar to wash trades but involve a related third person or party who places one side of the trade. For example, a match trade occurs when Investor A buys 100 shares at $5.00 of Company A through a broker, while Investor B, who coordinates with Investor A, simultaneously sells 100 shares at $5.00 of Company A through a broker. Both wash trades and match trades are used to create the appearance that the stock price rose as a result of genuine market demand for the securities.
Businessman Sentenced in Mortgage Fraud CaseRead the Press Release
Sebastian Restum, a Detroit Area businessman, was sentenced to 51 months in prison today and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $4,992,082 by federal judge Marianne Battani for the role he played in a conspiracy to commit mortgage fraud, announced United States Attorney Barbara L. McQuade.
U.S. Attorney McQuade was joined in the announcement by Paul M. Abbate, Special Agent in Charge of the Detroit, Michigan office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The evidence in the case demonstrated that Restum recruited straw buyers to purchase high dollar properties, then facilitated the falsification of material information on mortgage loan applications with aggregate value in excess of $8 million, beginning in 2006. The falsified information included inflated statements of assets, fraudulent income documentation, false verification of employment and false verification of bank account balances.
Restum earlier pleaded guilty of conspiracy to commit bank fraud in a plea agreement with the government.
The case was investigated by the FBI, and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Graham Teall.
Bulgarian Man Pleads Guilty to Conspiring to use Counterfeit Access DevicesRead the Press Release
BUFFALO, N.Y.-- U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Petar Petrov, 42, a citizen of Bulgaria who resides Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Leslie G. Foschio, to conspiracy to possess and use counterfeit access devices with intent to defraud. The charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison, a fine of $250,000 or both.
Assistant U.S. Attorney John E. Rogowski, who is handling the case, stated that the defendant was arrested on September 2, 2013, as he entered the United States from Canada at the Lewiston Bridge. A Customs and Border Patrol officer found ten counterfeit access devices in Petrov’s car. The devices were gift cards which had been altered by having legitimate credit card numbers imbedded in the magnetic strips on the back of the cards. Agents determined that all 10 cards were counterfeit. The defendant and a co-conspirator placed “skimming devices” on ATMs in Canada to obtain account information.
The scheme also involved the use of a surreptitiously placed camera to record the personal identification numbers (PINS) used by customers to transact business on the ATM’s. The account information was then placed on the magnetic strips of various gift cards, creating counterfeit access devices. Petrov also used several counterfeit access devices in the Buffalo area between July and September 2013 to withdraw money from various bank accounts in Canadian Banks. The Royal Bank of Canada and the Imperial Bank of Canada suffered losses totaling over $80,000.
“The facts of this case - including the defendant placing a camera near an ATM to record a victim’s identification information – reminds us of the lengths criminals go to steal,” said U.S. Attorney Hochul. “It also should serve as a reminder to the public to use caution anytime an account or credit card is utilized. Helpful information to protect one’s identity and finances can be found at www.stopfraud.gov.”
Co-conspirator Evgeniy Bandarmiliev is also charged with conspiracy to possess and use counterfeit access devices with intent to defraud. The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
The sentencing will be scheduled by, and take place before, Chief United States District Court Judge William M. Skretny.
The plea is the culmination of an investigation on the part of Special Agents of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations, under the direction of James C. Spero, Special Agent in Charge.Buffalo Man Pleads Guilty to Drug ChargesRead the Press Release
BUFFALO, N.Y.—U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Travis Birdsong, 35, of Buffalo, N.Y., pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Leslie J. Foschio, to possession with intent to distribute 28 grams or more of crack cocaine. The charge carries a mandatory minimum penalty of five years in prison, a maximum of 40, a $5,000,000 fine or both.
Assistant U.S. Attorney George C. Burgasser, who is handling the case, stated that on June 5, 2013, Special Agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration searched a vehicle that the defendant was in and seized a quantity of crack cocaine. Also on June 5, law enforcement officers searched the defendant’s residence and seized a quantity of cocaine and scales and packaging materials. In addition, a confidential informant purchased cocaine from Birdsong on two separate occasions.
Sentencing will be scheduled at a later date.
The plea is the culmination of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge James J. Hunt, New York Field Division.Bradenton Woman Indicted for Production and Transportation of Child PornographyRead the Press Release
Tampa, Florida – United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III announces the return by a grand jury of an indictment charging Renee Gregg (35, Bradenton) with production and transportation of child pornography. If convicted, Gregg faces a mandatory minimum penalty of 15 years, up to 30 years in federal prison for the production charge. For the transportation charge, she faces a mandatory minimum of 5 years, up to 20 years’ imprisonment.
According to the indictment and criminal complaint, in August 2011, Gregg produced an image in which she sexually abused a female toddler. She then sent this image via text messaging to an individual in Queens, New York. Gregg and this individual also discussed having sexual contact with children.
An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed a violation of the federal criminal laws, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty.
This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the New York Police Department. It will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer L. Peresie.
It is another case brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
Beckley-area Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Drug ChargesRead the Press Release
BECKLEY, W.Va. – United States Attorney Booth Goodwin announced today that a Beckley-area man pled guilty to a drug charge in federal court in Beckley. Tyrone Amar, age 37, of Crab Orchard, pled guilty to distribution of oxycodone. Amar admitted that in October of 2013, he distributed a quantity of oxycodone to a person cooperating with law enforcement authorities. The drug deal took place on Cunningham Avenue in Stanaford, Raleigh County, West Virginia. Amar faces a sentence of up to twenty years and a $1,000,000 fine. This case was investigated by the Beckley Raleigh County Drug and Violent Crime Task Force and is being prosecuted under the Beckley Pill Initiative directed by the United States Attorney’s Office.
This case is 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 prescription drugs and heroin. 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 pills and heroin in communities across the Southern District.
United States District Court Judge Irene C. Berger set Amar’s sentencing for November 6, 2014.
Beckley Man Pleads Guilty to Distributing HeroinRead the Press Release
BECKLEY, W.Va. – United States Attorney Booth Goodwin announced today that a Beckley man pled guilty to a drug charge in federal court in Beckley. Jason Kaylor, age 31, pled guilty to distribution of heroin. Kaylor admitted that in October of 2013, he distributed a quantity of heroin to a person cooperating with law enforcement authorities. The drug deal took place on Cunningham Avenue in Stanaford, Raleigh County, West Virginia. Kaylor faces a sentence of up to twenty years in prison and a $1,000,000 fine. This case was investigated by the Beckley Raleigh County Drug and Violent Crime Task Force and is being prosecuted under the Beckley Pill Initiative directed by the United States Attorney’s Office.
This case is 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 prescription drugs and heroin. 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 pills and heroin in communities across the Southern District.
United States District Court Judge Irene C. Berger set the sentencing for October 30, 2014.
Attorney General Holder Announces Plans to Send Seven Additional ATF Agents to ChicagoRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON – Following his recent visit to Chicago where he participated in a roundtable discussion with Mayor Emanuel on recent reductions in youth violence, Attorney General Eric Holder today announced plans to send seven additional Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), agents to the field division office in Chicago.
The new ATF agents will coordinate efforts with U.S. Attorney Zachary T. Fardon, as well as federal, state and local law enforcement and community partnerships to advance proven strategies to reduce illegal gun trafficking and gun crime. There are currently 45 ATF agents assigned to Chicago.
"The Department of Justice will continue to do everything in its power to help the city of Chicago combat gun violence,” said Attorney General Eric Holder. "These new agents are a sign of the federal government's ongoing commitment to helping local leaders ensure Chicago's streets are safe.”
The deployment of new ATF agents represents the latest step in strengthening the partnerships with the Chicago Police Department and other local law enforcement agencies. In early June, ATF opened the Chicago Crime Gun Intelligence Center. The Center combines the gun enforcement efforts of the Chicago Police Department, Illinois State Police and ATF to provide additional leads that otherwise might go unnoticed and further addresses the illegal sales and possession of firearms in the State of Illinois.In addition, U.S. Attorney Zachary T. Fardon announced a restructuring of the Criminal Division in his office and in doing so named a team of prosecutors who will work specifically to reduce violent crime in the city. The FBI currently has over 100 agents in Chicago assigned to curb gang and violent crimes. During the summer months, the city temporarily assigned an additional 20 agents to supplement crime reduction efforts. Under the 12 current grants administered by our Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention alone, the City of Chicago and Cook County has access to more than $6.6 million to further these efforts to address youth violence.
Gun crime is the primary driver of homicide in Chicago, and sixty percent of the guns recovered in violent crimes in Chicago were originally sold in other states and trafficked into the city. Given the interstate nature of these crimes, it is critical that federal and local law enforcement work together to identify traffickers and enforce federal gun laws. ATF will continue to concentrate its criminal enforcement on firearms trafficking throughout the region while curbing the supply of illegal guns that end up in the hands of gang members and other violent criminals.
“ATF’s commitment to targeting traffickers and trigger pullers in Chicago is bolstered by these additional resources,” said ATF Director B. Todd Jones. “These resources, combined with ATF’s Crime Gun Intelligence Center, will strengthen and build on our outstanding partnership with the Chicago Police Department and other local, state and regional law enforcement to bring safety and justice back to the community."
“We have enjoyed an ever-improving and increasingly productive relationship with our federal partners,” said Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy. “We look forward to continuing that relationship and welcoming additional personnel in our ongoing efforts to ensure everyone in Chicago enjoys the same sense of safety.”
The Justice Department will continue to build on this work in the months ahead through initiatives like Project Safe Neighborhoods; the National Forum on Youth Violence Prevention; and innovative community oriented policing tools in the neighborhoods across Chicago.21 Year Fugitive Pleads Guilty for Failing to Appear for 1993 Court AppearanceRead the Press Release
SAN FRANCISCO – Francisco R. Legaspi pleaded guilty to failing to appear for his sentencing on Jan. 28, 1993, U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag and IRS-CI Special Agent in Charge José M. Martinez, announced.
According to the plea, Legaspi was indicted on August 19, 1992, on three counts of aiding and assisting in the presentation of false tax returns. He was released from custody with the condition that he appear in court for all hearings. He pleaded guilty on November 5, 1992, to one count of preparing a false tax return. Legaspi’s attorney told him that his sentencing was set for Jan. 28, 1993. On Jan. 27, 1993, IRS employees went to Legaspi’s business to collect unpaid withholding payroll taxes. During the visit an IRS employee and Legaspi discussed the fact that he was scheduled to appear in court the next day for his criminal case. The next day, Jan. 28, 1993, Legaspi intentionally did not appear for sentencing and fled to Mexico and later to Canada to avoid prison time for his tax crime.
Legaspi, 61, of London, Ontario, Canada, formerly of Daly City, was located in Canada in 2012, after the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security researched social media websites and found Legaspi’s Facebook page. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police used the information to apprehend Legaspi. Thereafter, he was extradited from Canada to the United States with the assistance of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs.
On July 1, 2014, Legaspi made his initial appearance in federal court in San Francisco for failing to appear for his Jan. 28, 1993, sentencing. Legaspi is scheduled to be sentenced on both charges on Oct. 2, 2014, before the Honorable William H. Orrick, United States District Court Judge in San Francisco.
The maximum penalty for aiding and assisting in the filing of false tax returns, in violation of Title 26 U.S.C. § 7206(2), is three years in prison and a fine of $250,000. The maximum penalty for failure to appear, in violation of Title 18 U.S.C. § 3146, is two years in prison and a fine of $250,000.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Moore is prosecuting the case with the assistance of Edward Solis. The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the IRS, Criminal Investigation with assistance from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police; United States Department of State, Bureau of Diplomatic Security; and United States Department of Justice, Office of International Affairs.
(Legaspi indictment )
10th Street Gang Member Pleads Guilty to RacketeeringRead the Press Release
BUFFALO, N.Y.—U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Derrick Yancey, 27, of Buffalo, N.Y., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara, to Racketeering Influenced Corrupt Organizations Conspiracy (RICO Conspiracy). The charge carries a maximum penalty of life in prison, a fine of $250,000, or both.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph M. Tripi, who handled the case, stated that from 2005 through 2010, the defendant was a member of the 10th Street Gang. As a part of his involvement in the gang, Yancey admitted driving fellow 10th Street Gang members to shoot rival 7th Street Gang members. Specifically, on September 15, 2008, the defendant drove armed 10th Street Gang members to shoot rival 7th Street Gang members, who were standing outside on Busti Avenue in Buffalo. While Yancey drove the car, his 10th Street Gang accomplices shot and killed Omar Fraticello-Lugo, and injured two others. The defendant then drove the shooters from the scene. Brandon Bobbitt was also convicted for his role in the murder of Omar Fraticello-Lugo.
Derrick Yancey is the 39th 10th Street Gang member or associate convicted as a result of this investigation which began in 2009.
The plea is the culmination of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Cannon, New York Field Division, the Buffalo Police Department, under the direction of Commissioner Daniel Derenda, and the New York State Police, under the direction of Major Michael Cerretto.
Sentencing is scheduled for October 22, 2014 at 1:30 p.m. before Judge Arcara.
16 July 2014
Woodbridge Attorney Admits Failing to Pay Nearly $400k in Federal Income TaxesRead the Press Release
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Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, today announced that JERRY GRUENBAUM, 59, of Woodbridge, waived his right to indictment and pleaded guilty yesterday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas P. Smith in Hartford to failing to pay taxes on more than $1.3 million in income over a six-year period.
According to court documents and statements made in court, from 2005 to 2010, GRUENBAUM, an attorney, failed to report approximately $1,310,100 in taxable income on his federal tax returns. For the 2005, 2006 and 2007 tax years, GRUENBAUM filed tax returns that he knew significantly understated his actual taxable income, and for the 2008, 2009 and 2010 tax years, he failed to file any tax returns. Through this scheme, GRUENBAUM failed to pay $394,226 in additional tax due.
In pleading guilty, GRUENBAUM also admitted that he took steps to make it difficult for the IRS to determine his true income, including calculating the gross receipt figures for one of his businesses by reviewing just one of a number of the business’s bank accounts that he knew had reportable income. He also utilized corporate bank accounts to pay his personal expenses, and received compensation for services rendered from at least three different corporations in the form of stock shares and salaries, and failed to report this income on his tax returns.
GRUENBAUM pleaded guilty to two counts of filing a false federal tax return. He faces a maximum term of imprisonment of six years when he is sentenced by U.S. District Judge Vanessa L. Bryant.
GRUENBAUM will also be required to pay approximately $877,646 in back taxes, penalties and interest.
This matter was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Division. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher W. Schmeisser.
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RALEIGH – United States Attorney Thomas G. Walker announced that in federal court today Chief United States District Judge James C. Dever, III, sentenced MICHAEL THOMAS BASSETT, JR., 33, of Portsmouth, Ohio, to 210 months imprisonment followed by 20 years supervised release.
On November 25, 2013, a Federal Grand Jury returned a Criminal Indictment charging BASSETT. On April 16, 2014, BASSETT pled guilty to receipt of child pornography, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 2252(a)(2).
According to the investigation, in March, 2013, law enforcement received a tip advising that an unknown individual had posted child pornography images on the social networking site known as Second Life. A subpoena was issued for subscriber information and the accountholder identified as BASSETT, a registered sex offender from Wilmington, North Carolina. The information was then relayed to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, BASSETT’s estranged wife was contacted, who surrendered a laptop. Forensic examination of the laptop revealed 250 images of child pornography and 105 videos of child pornography.
On September 3, 2013, BASSETT was arrested and his computer and multiple media storage devices seized. The computer and devices were examined and revealed a total of 8,950 images of child pornography.
The criminal investigation of this case was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Ethan A. Ontjes is handling the prosecution on behalf of the Eastern District of North Carolina.
This case was part of the Project Safe Childhood initiative, a national program aimed at ensuring that criminals exploiting children are effectively prosecuted by making full use of all available law enforcement resources at every level. For more information about this important national project, Project Safe Childhood, go to www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
White River Man Sentenced for First Degree BurglaryRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Brendan V. Johnson announced that a White River, South Dakota, man convicted of First Degree Burglary was sentenced on July 14, 2014, by U.S. District Judge Roberto A. Lange.
Christian Kelly, age 20, was sentenced to 12 months and 1 day of custody, 2 years of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.
Kelly was indicted for First Degree Burglary and Assault with a Dangerous Weapon by a federal grand jury on July 17, 2013. He pled guilty to First Degree Burglary on April 23, 2014.
On May 10, 2013, Kelly and his co-defendant went to the victim’s home in Lower Swift Bear in Mellette County. Once inside the house, Kelly found the victim asleep in a bedroom. The victim awoke and Kelly and the victim began to argue. Kelly remained inside the victim’s home without permission and punched and struck the victim several times before exiting the house. Kelly drove away from the house before law enforcement officers arrived.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Rosebud Sioux Tribe Law Enforcement Services. Assistant U.S. Attorney Marie H. Ruettgers prosecuted the case.
Kelly was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
Washington, D.C., Mother and Son Charged with Conspiring to Defraud Internal Revenue ServiceRead the Press Release
Sherri Davis and her son, Andre Davis, were charged in a superseding indictment with conspiring to defraud the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and with aiding and assisting in the preparation of false individual income tax returns, the Justice Department and IRS announced today. Sherri Davis was also charged with filing her own false individual income tax returns for tax years 2007 to 2009.
According to the superseding indictment, Sherri Davis was the previous owner and operator of 2FT Fast Facts Tax Service, a tax return preparation business located in Washington, D.C. Andre Davis is the current owner and operator of Davis Financial Services (DFS), a tax return preparation business also located in Washington, D.C. From January 2006 through April 15, 2013, Sherri Davis and Andre Davis conspired with others to defraud the IRS by preparing and filing false income tax returns that contained fraudulent deductions, expenses, losses and credits to which 2FT and DFS clients were not entitled, thereby generating fraudulent income tax refunds.
The superseding indictment alleges that Sherri Davis and Andre Davis falsified tax documents for 2FT and DFS clients in order to reduce their taxable income and to get a larger refund than what the client was entitled to receive. The superseding indictment also alleges that from 2007 through 2009, Sherri Davis filed her own false individual income tax returns which underreported 2FT’s gross receipts and falsely claimed business losses for 2FT.
An indictment merely alleges that crimes have been committed and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. If convicted of the conspiracy charge, the defendants face a statutory maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The charges of filing a false income tax return and aiding or assisting in filing a false return carry a statutory maximum sentence of three years in prison and a fine of $250,000 for each count.
The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Jessica Moran, Tiwana Fleming and Mark McDonald of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and was investigated by special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation.
Related Materials:
United States v. Sherri Davis, et al.
Superseding IndictmentVale Man Sentenced for Lacey Act ViolationsRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Brendan V. Johnson announced that a Vale, South Dakota, man charged with Lacey Act Violations pled guilty to and was sentenced on July 11, 2014, by U.S. Magistrate Veronica L. Duffy.
Glen Schummer, age 68, was sentenced to 1 year of unsupervised probation, $17,500 in restitution, a $500 fine, and a $10 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund. Schummer is also prohibited from hunting for one year.
The conviction stems from an incident that took place on February 5, 2014, when a hawk was observed trapped in a pole trap on a property owned by Schummer in Meade County. An investigation revealed that Schummer had 2 illegal pole traps on his property. He used the traps to illegally trap and kill great-horned owls and various species of hawks. Once the migratory birds were trapped, Schummer would either shoot and kill the birds, or club them, and then dispose of the birds by throwing them into the river on his property. Schummer admitted to trapping and killing at least 10 migratory birds, to include great-horned owls and hawks on his property for the last several years.
The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Meghan N. Dilges.
U.S. Settlement with Minnesota Coal-Fired Utility to Reduce EmissionsRead the Press Release
In a settlement with the United States, Minnesota Power (MP), an ALLETE company based in Duluth, Minnesota has agreed to install pollution control technology and meet stringent emission rates to reduce harmful air pollution from the company’s three coal-fired power plants located in Cohasset, Hoyt Lakes and Schroeder, Minnesota, the Department of Justice and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today. The settlement will resolve claims that the company violated the New Source Review provisions of the Clean Air Act by unlawfully constructing major modifications at its plants without obtaining required permits and installing and operating the best available air pollution control technology, as the Act requires.
EPA expects that the actions required by the settlement will reduce harmful emissions by over 13,350 tons per year, which includes approximately 8,500 tons per year of sulfur dioxide. The company estimates that it will spend over $500 million to implement the required measures.
The settlement also requires that the company pay a civil penalty of $1.4 million to resolve Clean Air Act violations and spend at least $4.2 million on environmental projects to benefit local communities. The state of Minnesota is co-plaintiff to the settlement and will receive $200,000 of the penalty.
“Today’s settlement will require system-wide controls to reduce harmful air pollution and will benefit Minnesota residents today and for years to come,” said Sam Hirsch, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “This innovative agreement will also fund projects that contribute to renewable energy production and restore valuable wetland habitat.”
“Reducing harmful emissions from large sources of air pollution is a national priority for EPA,” said Cynthia Giles, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. “By meeting some of the lowest emission rates in the country, Minnesota Power will continue to provide energy to communities across northeastern Minnesota, while at the same time, reducing sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide in the air, which can pose serious health risks.”
The settlement requires that the company install pollution control technology and implement other measures to reduce sulfur dioxide ( SO2 ), nitrogen oxide (NOx ), and particulate matter emissions from its three coal-fired power plants, which include nine operating units, as well as a biomass-and-coal-fired cogeneration plant which provides power and steam to an adjacent paper mill. Among other requirements, the company must install control technologies and meet emission rates that will be among some of the lowest in the country for SO2 at its largest unit and for both SO2 and NOx at the second largest unit.
In addition, the company must retire, refuel, repower, or reroute emissions at five other units, and must meet emission rates and install additional control technologies at remaining units. The company also must comply with declining system-wide annual tonnage limits for both SO2 and NOx.
SO2 and NOx, two predominant pollutants emitted from power plants, have numerous adverse effects on human health and are significant contributors to acid rain, smog, and haze. These pollutants are converted in the air to particulate matter that can cause severe respiratory and cardiovascular impacts, and premature death.
The settlement also requires that the company spend $4.2 million on projects that will benefit the environment and local communities, including $2 million to build a large-scale solar installation system to benefit a local tribe known as the Fond du Lac Band. In addition, the company will provide between $500,000 and $1 million to replace, retrofit, or upgrade wood burning appliances to reduce pollution, and $200,000 to the National Park Service to restore wetlands at Voyageurs National Park. For the remaining money, the company can select from the following four project types: land donation and restoration, electric vehicle charging stations, clean diesel projects, or installation of renewable energy.
This settlement is part of EPA’s national enforcement initiative to control harmful emissions from large sources of pollution, which includes coal-fired power plants, under the Clean Air Act’s New Source Review requirements. The total combined SO2 and NOx emission reductions secured from all these settlements will exceed two million tons each year once all the required pollution controls have been installed and implemented.
Minnesota Power provides electric service to approximately 143,000 people and 16 municipalities within a 26,000-square-mile area in northeastern Minnesota.
The settlement was lodged with the U.S. District Court for Minnesota and is subject to a 30-day public comment period and final court approval. It will be available for viewing at http://www.justice.gov/enrd/Consent_Decrees.html .
More information about EPA’s enforcement initiative: http://www.epa.gov/compliance/data/planning/initiatives/2011airpollution.htmlTwo Lawrence Men Sentenced to Lengthy Prison Terms for Firearm OffensesRead the Press Release
BOSTON - Two men, who pleaded guilty to illegally possessing firearms on Saratoga Street in Lawrence, were recently sentenced to lengthy prison terms in United States District Court in Boston.
Christopher Morales, 29, and Melvin Rivera, 26, pleaded guilty earlier this year to being felons in possession of a firearm and ammunition. On July 15, 2014, U.S. District Court Judge Denise J. Casper sentenced Morales to 180 months in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release. On July 8, 2014, Judge Casper sentenced Rivera to 96 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation; the Drug Enforcement Administration; ICE - Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Massachusetts State Police; the Lawrence Police Department and the Middlesex County Sheriff’s Department have been conducting a long-term investigation of violent kidnapping crews operating in Lawrence. This investigation revealed that these crews – commonly referred to as “Joloperros,” Spanish for “stick-up men” – targeted drug dealers for kidnapping.
On May 9, 2012, federal agents and detectives responded to Saratoga Street in Lawrence to investigate a possible kidnapping in progress. When they arrived, agents saw a van with two men inside. Agents observed and recovered duct tape and zip ties (or plastic handcuffs) from the van. Rivera and Morales were in a parked gray Acura behind the van, and were ordered out of the car. Agents recovered a loaded firearm from under Morales’s seat and a second loaded firearm from behind Morales’s seat (near Rivera). Both men were arrested and charged with firearm offenses in state court.
As agents sought to arrest Rivera on a federal arrest warrant at his home on Bennington Street in Lawrence, Rivera threw two loaded firearms from his bedroom window into a basement stairwell. Because of Morales’s criminal history, he was determined to be an armed career criminal and was subject to a 180-month mandatory minimum sentence.
United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Essex County District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett; Vince B. Lisi, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; Colonel Timothy P. Alben, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police; and Lawrence Police Chief James X. Fitzpatrick, made the announcement today. The case was prosecuted by Peter K. Levitt and Christopher Pohl of Ortiz’s Organized Crime Strike Force Unit.
Two Defendants Indicted for Identity Theft and Unemployment Insurance FraudRead the Press Release
Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Richard L. Walker, Special Agent in Charge of the Atlanta Regional Office, United States Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, Office of Labor Racketeering and Fraud Investigations, Jesse Panuccio, Executive Director, State of Florida’s Department of Economic Opportunity, and J.D. Patterson, Director, Miami-Dade Police Department (MDPD), announce the unsealing of a fourteen count indictment charging Stanley Fertil, 20, and Steven Fertil, 19, both of Miami, with access device fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1029(a)(2) and (a)(3), conspiracy to commit access device fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1029(b)(2) and aggravated identity theft, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1028A(a)(1). The defendants’ initial appearance was held today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Patrick White in Miami.
According to court records, Stanley and Steven Fertil possessed the personal identifying information (PII) of over a thousand unwitting individuals. The PII included such individuals’ names, dates of birth and social security numbers. The brothers are alleged to have conspired to receive State of Florida Unemployment Insurance benefits by fraudulently filing unemployment claims in the victims’ names using the victims’ PII. The individuals victimized included public and private sector employees.
Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, Office of Labor Racketeering and Fraud Investigations, the State of Florida’s Department of Economic Opportunity and the MDPD Public Corruption Unit. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan E. Kobrinski.
An indictment is only an accusation and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
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.
Travelers Rest Man Pleads Guilty to Possession of Child PornRead the Press Release
Contact Person: Bill Watkins (864) 282-2100
Columbia, South Carolina -----United States Attorney Bill Nettles stated today that Walter T. Alexander, age 31, of Travelers Rest, South Carolina, pled guilty today in federal court in Anderson, South Carolina, to possession of child pornography, a violation of 18 U.S.C. ' 2252A. United States District Judge Timothy M. Cain accepted the plea and will sentence Alexander once a pre-sentence investigation report has been prepared by the U.S. Probation Office.
Evidence presented at the change of plea hearing established that law enforcement began an investigation of Alexander after learning that an e-mail address associated with him had uploaded an image file containing child porn. The file was uploaded on October 10, 2012. A state law enforcement officer reviewed the upload and concluded that it did indeed contain child porn. Further investigation traced the IP address connected to the e-mail account to Alexander’s residence.
On April 22, 2013, law enforcement executed a search warrant on Alexander’s residence. They seized his computer and conducted a forensic examination of it. Approximately 90 child porn videos and 170 still images were found-- that is, images and videos of minors under the age of 18 engaged in sexually explicit conduct and the lascivious display of the genitals. Some of the minors had not attained the age of 12 and were prepubescent.
The case was investigated by agents of the Department of Homeland Security, Office of Investigations, and the State Law Enforcement Division. Assistant United States Attorney Bill Watkins of the Greenville office handled the case.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys 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, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.Tokutek Resolves Allegations Involving National Science Foundation Award MoneyRead the Press Release
BOSTON – Tokutek, Inc., a Lexington-based software development company, has agreed to pay $120,000 to resolve allegations that it failed to create and maintain accurate time records reflecting work allegedly performed by its employees related to a National Science Foundation (NSF) award.
In January 2011, NSF awarded Tokutek a Small Business Innovation Research grant to support the development and commercialization of Tokutek’s software technology for use with large databases. The United States alleged that Tokutek provided NSF with interim and final progress reports to document work pursuant to the award, and these reports caused NSF to release incremental award payments to Tokutek. According to the government’s allegations, the progress reports claimed certain labor costs expended in performance of the award that Tokutek could not have substantiated at the time the claims were made, because it failed during that time to maintain complete timekeeping records for its employees.
“It is critical that government grant funds are being used in accordance with the purposes for which they were intended,” said Carmen M. Ortiz, United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts. “In this instance, we credit Tokutek for promptly stepping forward to resolve this matter after the government brought its concerns to the company’s attention.”
NSF Inspector General Allison Lerner said, “Every year, billions of dollars in Federal funds are used to cover salary costs of individuals who work on Federal grants. This settlement agreement reflects my office’s robust oversight to ensure that such funds are not misused. I commend the U.S. Attorneys’ Office for its strong support in this case.”
This matter was investigated by the National Science Foundation, Office of the Inspector General, and was handled by District of Massachusetts Assistant United States Attorney Gregg Shapiro.
Three Indicted in Insurance Fraud Scheme Involving More Than $50 Million Worth of Unneeded Medical ProceduresRead the Press Release
SANTA ANA, California – A federal grand jury today indicted three Southern California residents in a scheme to defraud health insurance programs by submitting bills for more than $50 million in medically unnecessary medical procedures performed on insurance beneficiaries who received free or discounted cosmetic surgery.
The indictment outlines a scheme in which marketers or cappers lured patients to a surgery center in Orange known at various times as Empire Surgical Center, Vista Surgical Center and Princess Cosmetic Surgery. The marketers told patients that they could use their union or PPO health insurance plans to pay for cosmetic surgeries, which are generally not covered by insurance.
When patients came to the surgery center for a consultation, they were told that they could receive free or discounted cosmetic surgeries if they underwent multiple, medically unnecessary procedures that would be billed to their union or PPO health care benefit program, the indictment alleges. The unnecessary procedures typically performed on the “patients” were endoscopies (usually esophagogastroduodenoscopies, or EGDs), colonoscopies and cystoscopies. Once the health care benefit program paid the claims, the patients were given free or discounted cosmetic surgeries, including “tummy tucks,” breast augmentations, rhinoplasties (“nose jobs”) and liposuction. Further, according to the indictment, tummy tucks were billed as hernia repair surgeries, and rhinoplasties were billed as deviated septum repair surgeries.
The three defendants charged in today’s indictment are:
Vi Nguyen, 31, of Placentia, who was a consultant at the surgery center and who is charged with 10 counts of mail fraud;
Theresa Fisher, 44, of Tustin, who was another consultant at the surgery center and who is charged with five counts of mail fraud; and
Lindsay Hardgraves, 30, of San Pedro, who was a marketer and charged with two counts of mail fraud.
“As a result of the fraudulent scheme, defendants Nguyen, Fisher and Hardgraves caused losses to union and PPO health care benefit programs of more than $50 million in claims for functional procedures that were not medically necessary and in some cases not provided,” the indictment alleges.
The three defendants were arrested on July 1 pursuant to a still-under-seal criminal complaint. They made their initial court appearances on the same day, and all three were released on bond. The three defendants have been ordered to appear for an arraignment on July 28 at 10:00 a.m.
An indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty in court.
If convicted, the defendants each face a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison for each mail fraud count.
This case is the product of an ongoing investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Department of Labor – Office of Inspector General, and United States Department of Labor – Employee Benefits Security Administration.
Release No. 14-088
Spartanburg Man Pleads Guilty to Wire FraudRead the Press Release
Contact Person: Bill Watkins (864) 282-2100
Columbia, South Carolina -----United States Attorney Bill Nettles stated today that Michael L. Wolfenbarger, age 42, of Spartanburg, South Carolina, pled guilty today in federal court in Anderson, South Carolina, to wire fraud, a violation of 18 U.S.C. ' 1343. United States District Judge Timothy M. Cain accepted the plea and will sentence Wolfenbarger once a pre-sentence investigation report has been prepared by the U.S. Probation Office.
Evidence presented at the change of plea hearing established that Wolfenbarger acted as the middleman between various automotive dealerships and private individuals in the purchase and sale of used vehicles. Wolfenbarger utilized bank accounts at Branch Banking & Trust Company and The Palmetto Bank in his business affairs. Wolfenbarger would write checks drawn on bank accounts with insufficient funds or create counterfeit instruments and deposit these checks into other accounts. The pattern of depositing insufficient funds (“NSF”) checks and counterfeit instruments resulted in the books and records of the Banks showing inflated balances that permitted these NSF checks or counterfeit instruments to be honored rather than returned unpaid. Wolfenbarger would then withdraw monies from the Banks and/or write checks for goods and services based on inflated balances and thus take advantage of the time required for a check deposited in one bank to be physically presented for payment at the bank on which it was drawn. It was further part of the scheme and artifice to defraud that Wolfenbarger, rather than remitting funds to the automotive dealerships once a used vehicle had been sold, would deposit these funds in accounts with the Banks in an effort to perpetuate the kite and cover bad checks that he had written. Through this scheme an artifice, the victims lost in excess of $1 million.
The case was investigated by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigations and the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant United States Attorney Bill Watkins of the Greenville office handled the case.# # #
Sioux Falls Man Sentenced for Receipt of Child PornographyRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Brendan V. Johnson announced that a Sioux Falls, South Dakota, man convicted of Receipt of Child Pornography was sentenced on July 15, 2014, by U.S. District Judge Roberto A. Lange.
Avugwi Alvarez, age, 22, was sentenced to 168 months in custody, 5 years of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund. He must also register as a sex offender.
Alvarez was indicted by a federal grand jury on June 12, 2013, for Distribution and Receipt of Material Involving the Sexual Exploitation of Minors and Possession of Child Pornography. He pled guilty to Receipt of Child Pornography on January 13, 2014.
Alvarez operated with several aliases including: Clarence One Feather; Clarence NovaCane Edwards; “Baby.Gambo.Productions”; and “legionairesz.”
Between November 1, 2012, and January 7, 2013, as well as earlier times, Alvarez would use the Internet and computer devices to receive and possess images of child pornography. At times using an alias, Alvarez actively bartered and traded for the child pornography. Alvarez received numerous images of child pornography on different dates, and the images came into his possession from various locations, including locations in California. The child pornography images were produced and transported via computers, cellular telephones, Facebook, and other online services.
“The sentence handed down demonstrates that people who are involved in child pornography will face serious consequences. Sexual abuse of our children happens in many forms, and child pornography exploits children in some of the most humiliating and damaging ways,” said Johnson. “I commend all of the law enforcement agencies involved in this investigation, as well as their aggressive pursuit of any case where the welfare of children is on the line.”
The investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation, South Dakota Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, Rosebud Sioux Tribe Law Enforcement Services, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Pennington County Sheriff’s Office, Rapid City Police Department, Sioux Falls Police Department, and the U.S. Marshals Service. U.S. Attorney Brendan Johnson and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Tim Maher and Sarah Collins prosecuted the case.
Alvarez was immediately turned over to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, 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 U.S. 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.
Sex Offender Sentenced for Failure to RegisterRead the Press Release
BOSTON – A former Jamaica Plain man was sentenced yesterday for failing to register as a sex offender.
Gary Dixon, 49, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton to 33 months in prison, and five years of supervised release. In February 2014, Dixon pleaded guilty to failing to register as a sex offender.
In 1998 and 2003, Dixon was convicted in Massachusetts state courts for indecent assault and battery on a child, and in 2003 for open and gross lewd and lascivious behavior. He was required to register as a sex offender in Massachusetts and was designated a level three offender, the highest level. As such, Dixon was required to promptly inform law enforcement authorities of any change in his residence or employment. If he moved to another state, he was also required to appear in person within three days to inform local law enforcement authorities of his residency. During the summer of 2012, Dixon moved from his registered address in Jamaica Plain without informing Massachusetts authorities. Beginning as early as January 2013, Dixon resided in Maine where he was attempting to start a landscaping business without informing either Massachusetts or Maine law enforcement authorities of his move. In July 2013, he was located in Brunswick, Maine.United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz and John Gibbons, U.S. Marshal of the U.S. Marshals Service, District of Massachusetts, made the announcement today. The case was prosecuted by Victor A. Wild of Ortiz’s Economic Crimes Unit.
Seven Defendants Charged in Alleged Trafficking of Drugs and Firearms Between Suburban Harvey and Central OhioRead the Press Release
CHICAGO ― Seven defendants are facing federal charges here for their alleged participation in a drug and firearms trafficking operation between south suburban Harvey and Marion, Ohio, federal law enforcement officials announced today. At least 19 assorted firearms, many of them stolen from gun owners in central Ohio, were seized during the course of the investigation, which was led by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
One defendant was arrested today and one yesterday in Ohio, two were arrested last week (one here and one in Ohio), and three others are in state custody in Ohio. They were charged in three separate criminal complaints filed last week in U.S. District Court in Chicago, with the last complaint unsealed today.
One defendant, AUBREY BURKS, 22, of Harvey, allegedly led the trafficking operation. According to one of the complaints, five defendants conspired with Burks between January and April this year to distribute heroin and crack cocaine, some of which they obtained in the Chicago area, to drug customers in and around Marion, located approximately 50 miles north of Columbus. At times, Burks and five other defendants accepted firearms from their drug customers as payment. The defendants transported, or arranged for the transportation, of guns from Marion to Harvey, where they stored them at various residences. The defendants obtained drugs in the Chicago area by exchanging firearms for narcotics, or selling firearms for money they used to buy drugs, which they later sold to customers in Ohio, the charges allege.
Burks was charged alone in one complaint with being a felon-in-possession of firearms for allegedly possessing six firearms that were seized by Harvey police on Jan. 30, 2014, from a residence in Harvey. He was arrested last week in Ohio and is being transferred in custody to Chicago for prosecution.
Five defendants were charged together in a second complaint with conspiring with each other and Burks to possess and distribute heroin and crack cocaine, as well as to violate multiple federal firearms statutes, including dealing firearms without a federal license. They are: KIERRE WATERFORD, 24, also known as “Finess” and “Vaness;” KEVIN JACKSON, 23, aka “Ray-Ray” and “New York;” Burks’ brother, OMAR BURKS, 24, aka “T-O;” ANTHONY JACKSON, 20, aka “Smookie” and “B-D;” and DANIEL MURPHY, 28, all of whom have residential ties to Harvey and/or Marion.
Murphy was arrested today and Anthony Jackson was arrested yesterday, both in Ohio, while Waterford, Kevin Jackson, and Omar Burks are in state custody in Ohio.
The seventh defendant, ANTHONY GALVAN, 19, of Harvey, aka, “Ant,” was charged alone in a third complaint with selling firearms without a federal license. Galvan allegedly sold six firearms to an undercover police officer in a vehicle parked in front of his residence in Harvey during five transactions between Jan. 14 and Feb. 20, 2014. Galvan was arrested last week and remains in federal custody in Chicago without bond.
The arrests and charges were announced by Zachary T. Fardon, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Carl Vasilko, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. Also assisting in the investigation were the Chicago Police Department and the CPD/ATF Firearms Trafficking Task Force, the Illinois State Police, the Harvey Police Department, the Marion Metro Drug Enforcement Unit (MARMET), the Marion Police Department, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, the Ohio State Police, the Columbus Field Division of ATF, the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Northern and Southern District of Ohio, and the Chicago High Intensity Drug Trafficking Task Force (HIDTA).
Conspiracy and dealing firearms without a federal license each carry a maximum sentence of five years in prison, while the felon-in-possession count against Aubrey Burks carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. The drug distribution conspiracy against five defendants carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine. If convicted, the court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal statutes and the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines.
The government is being represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sharon Fairley.
The public is reminded that a complaint is not evidence of guilt. The defendants are presumed innocent and are entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Burks Complaint
Galvan Complaint
Waterford ComplaintRochester Man Sentenced for Drug TraffickingRead the Press Release
ROCHESTER, N.Y.—U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Reggie Bullock, 40, of Rochester, N.Y., who was convicted of possession with intent to distribute 28 grams or more of crack cocaine, was sentenced to 108 months prison by U.S. District Judge Frank P. Geraci, Jr. The sentenced was imposed concurrently to the remainder of a 36-month sentence the defendant is serving for a violation of state parole.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert A. Marangola, who handled the case, stated that on September 26, 2012, officers of the New York State Division of Parole and Rochester Police Department arrived at 119 Bradburn Street in Rochester execute a search warrant at Bullock’s residence. The defendant, who was stopped and searched as he departed the location, had approximately $3,220 in U.S. currency and approximately 31 grams of crack cocaine packaged in 17 individual bags for street sale in his possession. During the search of the residence, officers discovered digital scales, baggies and other drug processing paraphernalia, and $54,600 in U.S. currency inside a safe hidden within a stereo speaker. A .45 auto caliber semi-automatic rifle and over three dozen rounds of ammunition was also seized from an unregistered vehicle in the driveway at the residence. The firearm had been placed in the vehicle by Bullock’s cousin Liddon Young. Liddon Young was recently sentenced to 15 years in prison on federal gun trafficking charges for transporting firearms from the state of Georgia and distributing them to felons and criminals in Rochester. The cash has been forfeited by the Drug Enforcement Administration as drug money, and forfeiture of the firearm and ammunition were ordered as part of Bullock’s sentence.
The sentencing is the culmination of an investigation on the part of the New York State Division of Parole, under the direction of Anthony J. Annucci, the Rochester Police Department, under the direction of Chief Michael Ciminelli, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Cannon, New York Field Office.Prison Sentence UpheldRead the Press Release
“Personal Assistant” Fraud Case Where Patient Found Dead of Neglect is Affirmed By Court of Appeals
Follow @SDILNewsStephen R. Wigginton, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, announced today that on July 15, 2014, the four-year prison sentence imposed on Lisa C. Luckett, 50, of Cahokia, IL, was affirmed by a panel of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. The Appellate Court noted, quoting Chief Judge Herndon, that, “The judge commented that what concerned him the most about the case was that ‘it’s not just simply fraud; it’s fraud on fraud and perhaps on fraud.'”
Luckett pled guilty to a two-count indictment charging that she engaged in a scheme to commit health care fraud. Luckett admitted that she had submitted or caused to be submitted, false fraudulent bills in regard to providing personal assistant services in the Home Services Program, a Medicaid Waiver Program. The program is designed to provide a person with a disability with assistance in performing daily living activities in the home in order to allow the person to stay at home instead of entering into a nursing home. In the Appellate Opinion, the Court noted that [Luckett] was at the time the scheme was undertaken, receiving food stamps and social security payments, decided to take into her home, Dorothy Cooper, who was also receiving food stamps and social security. In addition, Cooper, who was disabled, was eligible for personal assistant services paid by the State of Illinois. It was the additional income and personal assistant funds that the defendant took significant steps to receive and to conceal. A responding EMT testified that upon entering the bedroom, he was assailed with an overpowering foul odor. He found the victim’s body wrapped in a comforter covered in fresh and old fecal matter and showed numerous bed sores, some of which were so severe as to reveal the outline of her hip bone. In deference to Luckett’s presumption of innocence on the state charges she faces, all federal courts only took into account the fraud she committed in arriving at her sentence.
The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General; Illinois State Police; and the St. Clair County Sheriff’s Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Ranley R. Killian, William E. Coonan, and Special Assistant United States Attorney Michael Hallock.
Portland Man Sentenced to 10 Years for Crack Cocaine TraffickingRead the Press Release
Contact: Michael J. Conley
Assistant United States Attorney
Tel: (207) 780-3257Portland, Maine: United States Attorney Thomas E. Delahanty II announced that
Abdullahi Nur, 26, of Portland, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court by Judge George Z.
Singal to 10 years in prison for crack cocaine trafficking. Nur was convicted following a jury trial in October 2013.According to court records, Nur regularly acquired crack cocaine in Boston and distributed it in the greater Portland area. He was involved in two traffic stops over three months in 2011 during which narcotics were seized. The Wells Police Department stopped Nur on July
31, 2011 and seized from the trunk 174 30 mg. Oxycodone pills located on top of a 9mm Smith and Wesson Sigma semi-automatic handgun on which Nur’s DNA was found. The weapon was used in a shooting in South Portland less than two weeks prior to the traffic stop. The
Scarborough Police Department stopped Nur at 2:00 a.m. on October 25, 2011. Nur got out of the vehicle and fled on foot into a nearby wooded area. Police officers eventually arrested him and seized crack cocaine. Nur admitted that he sold drugs to make money and travelled to
Boston weekly to pick up an ounce of crack for resale in Portland.
In imposing the lengthy sentence, Judge Singal noted, among other things, Nur’s lengthy criminal history, his long-time involvement in drug trafficking, his possession of a firearm during his drug trafficking, and his contemptuous conduct during his trial.The investigation was conducted by the Scarborough, Wells and South Portland Police
Departments; the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency; and the Southern Maine Gang Task Force which is comprised of investigators from the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the U.S. Drug
Enforcement Administration; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations; and the Portland and Biddeford Police Departments.Operation Check-Mate Defendant Sentenced to 30 Months in Federal PrisonRead the Press Release
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – John Sumo, 27, a Liberian national with no permanent address in the United States, was sentenced on Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Providence to 30 months in federal prison for his role in a sophisticated counterfeit check cashing scheme which resulted in the loss of more than $800,000 to financial institutions in at least four states. Sumo is one of thirteen defendants arrested as the result of a two-year federal, state and local law enforcement investigation dubbed Operation Check-Mate.
At sentencing, U.S. District Court Judge Mary M. Lisi also ordered Sumo to serve three years supervised release upon completion of his prison term and to pay restitution to the financial institutions in the amount of $814,208. Sumo pleaded guilty on April 4, 2014, to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud.
Four co-defendants in this matter are detained in federal custody, two of which have pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing; a third is scheduled to plead guilty on Friday; and a fourth is awaiting trial. Eight others are being prosecuted in Rhode Island state court.
Sumo’s sentence was announced by United States Attorney Peter F. Neronha, Rhode Island Attorney General Peter F. Kilmartin, Rhode Island State Police Superintendent Colonel Steven G. O’Donnell, Ted A. Arruda, Resident Agent in Charge of the Providence Office of the U.S. Secret Service, Warwick Police Chief Colonel Stephen M. McCartney and Providence Police Chief Colonel Hugh T. Clements, Jr.
According information and documents filed in federal court, an alleged sophisticated check cashing conspiracy from July 2011 to January 2014 involved the creation of hundreds of fraudulent checks drawn on accounts of legitimate businesses and individuals that were then deposited into bank accounts of dozens of individuals who agreed to participate in the scheme in exchange for cash. The deposits, totaling more than $800,000, were made in banks in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Pennsylvania.Criminal complaints and indictments are merely allegations and are 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.
Defendants charged in federal court in this matter are being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lee H. Vilker.
Operation Check-Mate was a joint federal, state and local law enforcement investigation conducted by the offices of the United States Attorney and the Rhode Island Attorney General, the U.S. Secret Service, Rhode Island State Police, Warwick Police Department and the Providence Police Department.
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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
[email protected]Northampton County Man Charged with Orchestrating A Ponzi Scheme and Tax OffenseofficersRead the Press Release
PHILADELPHIA - Walter P. Lambert, a/k/a “Buddy,” 73, of Pen Argyl, PA, was charged by information, filed yesterday, with 16 counts of mail fraud, five counts of wire fraud, and one count of interfering with the due administration of the Internal Revenue Service, announced United States Attorney Zane David Memeger.
The information alleges that Lambert, who at the time was the CEO of Blue Mountain Consumer Discount Company (“BMCDC”), a consumer loan company based in Wind Gap, Pennsylvania, defrauded individual lenders into loaning over $5 million to BMCDC by promising them a high rate of return (typically 9% or 10%), which Lambert usually paid to the investors in cash and failed to document with the IRS. Lambert told the individual lenders that BMCDC would use the lenders’ funds to issue high-interest loans to consumers (at an interest rate of approximately 23% to 26%), thereby allowing BMCDC to make a profit of approximately 13% to 16% after paying the individual lenders their 10% return. However, rather than using the individual lenders’ loan principal payments to issue new consumer loans, it is alleged that Lambert used the funds for his own benefit, including: to pay BMCDC’s overhead (including his own salary); to purchase a life insurance policy for himself; to purchase personal items and collectibles for himself and his family members; to pay for gasoline and repairs to personal cars owned and used by himself, his family members, and the owner of BMCDC; and to issue loans to himself, his children, and other “preferred” consumers at a rate of 6% interest per year or less, rather than the annual interest rate of 23% to 26% that the individual lenders were quoted. The information alleges that prior to borrowing the principal from the individual lenders, Lambert failed to disclose that their loan principal would be used as set forth above. The information alleges that in order to keep the scheme afloat, Lambert continued to borrow money from new individual lenders, lied to them about what he would do with the money, and used the new loans to pay the old lenders their interest, and to pay BMCDC’s salary and overhead expenses.
It is further alleged that to hide his fraud, Lambert doctored the books of BMCDC, submitted false annual reports to the Pennsylvania Department of Banking, and falsified BMCDC’s tax returns. According to the information, Lambert withdrew hundreds of thousands of dollars from BMCDC for the benefit of himself that he caused to be recorded as “loans” to himself and his family members. In falsely issuing these “loans” to his family members, Lambert forged the signatures of his family members on the loan paperwork and the checks issued by BMCDC, and deposited the checks into his personal bank accounts. Lambert allegedly documented fictitious payments to deceive the Pennsylvania Department of Banking into believing that BMCDC was financially sound and operating appropriately.
The information further alleges that in carrying out this scheme, Lambert interfered with the due administration of the Internal Revenue Service by, among other things, overstating corporate income, understating BMCDC’s salaries and wages by failing to record cash salary payments to BMCDC employees, understating BMCDC’s interest expenses by failing to record interest payments to individual lenders that were made in cash, and submitting false tax returns for BMCDC. Lambert is also alleged to have paid a 1% “kickback” to one of the individual lenders, Nicholas R. Sabatine, III, charged separately, a local area attorney who referred clients to Lambert. While Lambert paid Sabatine’s clients 9% interest by check and provided them and the IRS with accurate annual IRS Forms 1099, Lambert paid Sabatine his promised 1% kickback in the form of cash that neither Lambert nor Sabatine timely declared to the IRS.
Lambert allegedly caused over 20 individual lenders to sustain losses of approximately $2,269,503, and caused the IRS to sustain a tax loss of at least approximately $252,621 for tax years 2007 through 2009.
If convicted, Walter Lambert faces a maximum sentence of 423 years in prison, a three-year period of supervised release, a $5.5 million fine, and a $2,200 special assessment.
The case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigations and the FBI. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael S. Lowe.
Click here to view the indictment
An Indictment or Information is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guiltyUNITED STATES ATTORNEY'S OFFICE, EASTERN DISTRICTof PENNSYLVANIA
Suite 1250, 615 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106
PATTY HARTMAN, Media Contact, 215-861-8525North Carolina Recycling Business and Owner Sentenced to Unlawful Handling of PCB-Contaminated Oil, Tax Violations, and False StatementsRead the Press Release
Benjamin Franklin Pass, 61, and P&W Waste Oil Services Inc. (P&W), of Leland, North Carolina were sentenced today in federal court in Raleigh, North Carolina. Pass was sentenced to 42 months in prison and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $21,373,143.38 for clean-up costs associated with the environmental contamination at his business and an additional $538,857 to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for federal income taxes he failed to pay between 2002 and 2011.
Pass and the company previously pleaded guilty to crimes related to the unlawful handling and dilution of used oil contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB). Pass also pleaded guilty to failure to pay taxes and P&W pleaded guilty to material false statements.
The court also ordered P&W to pay restitution in the amount of $21,373,143.38 for losses incurred by Colonial Oil and International Paper as a result of the defendants’ mishandling of used oil contaminated with PCBs that led to widespread contamination and millions of dollars in clean-up costs. P&W was also ordered to serve a five-year term of probation and to take remedial action to address the environmental contamination at its facility and other leased property in eastern North Carolina, including but not limited to, the proper treatment and disposal of PCB-contaminated waste oil.
“Today’s sentence is just punishment for the defendant’s actions, which placed the health of North Carolina’s residents and their natural resources at risk,” said Sam Hirsch, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “ Environmental violations such as these are serious crimes, and the Justice Department and the U.S. Attorney’s Offices will continue to vigorously prosecute those individuals and companies who ignore the laws Congress enacted to protect people and our environment from toxic substances like PCBs.”
“This disregard of environmental protections resulted in significant contamination,” said U.S. Attorney Thomas G. Walker. “The defendant’s conduct placed an economic burden on the United States and an unreasonable risk to the health and safety of the citizens of North Carolina.”
According to information in the public record, Pass owned and operated P&W’s facility in Leland, North Carolina. The facility is located approximately 500 feet to the east of the Cape Fear River and a federally recognized wetland.
As part of its business operations, P&W collected, transported, processed, and marketed used oil that it received from small and large companies, such as automotive service stations, transformer repair companies and marinas. P&W also conducted tank cleaning and waste removal.
P&W, however, was not authorized to transport, store, or handle used oil containing more than two parts per million (ppm) of PCBs. PCBs are man-made organic chemicals that were manufactured domestically from 1929 to 1979 and were used in hundreds of industrial and commercial applications, such as thermal insulation in electrical transformers and capacitors. PCBs were determined to cause cancer and have been demonstrated to cause a variety of adverse health effects on the immune system, reproductive system, nervous system, and endocrine system. Accordingly, Congress banned the production of PCBs and mandated that no person may distribute in commerce, or use any PCBs other than in a totally enclosed manner, and directed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to promulgate rules phasing out the manufacture of PCBs and regulating their disposal. PCBs still exist in products produced before the 1979 ban and if mishandled and released into the environment, can remain for long periods of time in the air, water, and soil.
In July 2009, an employee of P&W transported used-oil contaminated with more than 500 ppm of PCBs from a business in Wallace, South Carolina to its Leland facility where the contaminated used oil was blended and diluted with other used oil. Testing results obtained by Pass in October 2009 revealed PCB contamination in excess of 4,925 ppm.
The contaminated product was eventually resold to Colonial Oil and International Paper. Colonial Oil discovered the contamination as part of its standard sampling and testing protocol. As a result, over three million gallons of contaminated used oil had to be transported and incinerated at a certified disposal site for PCBs. The costs to Colonial Oil for the proper disposal of the contaminated used oil exceeded $17 million in addition to significant disruption of its business operations.
The investigation further revealed that at the direction of Pass, employees of P&W continued to transport and dilute the PCB-contaminated used oil at the facility after the contamination was discovered. The EPA intervened and had the Leland facility designated a Superfund site. Superfund is the name given to the federal environmental program established to clean up the nation’s uncontrolled hazardous waste sites. Costs for the clean-up of the contaminated tanks at the facility exceeded $3.4 million.
Law enforcement also learned that in 2009 and again in 2010, Pass and P&W falsely certified that its employees had taken requisite training on the handling of hazardous wastes and that, between 2002 through 2011, Pass failed to pay his federal income taxes despite having the ability to pay.
“Today’s sentencing is a direct result of the strong collaboration between EPA-CID and its federal law enforcement partners,” said Maureen O’Mara, Special Agent in Charge of EPA’s criminal enforcement program in North Carolina. “In order to safeguard the environment and public health, it is essential that we hold companies and their corporate officers responsible for failing to accurately report violations to avoid penalty. We will continue to pursue those who fraudulently report information critical to human health and the environment to preserve the integrity of programs designed to protect the public.”
“Mr. Pass’s disregard to uphold his legal obligations in business and paying income taxes have come with a price,” said Chief Richard Weber of the IRS Criminal Investigation. “Today’s sentencing reinforces law enforcements collaborative efforts to enforce the law and ensure public trust.” Thomas J. Holloman, Special Agent in Charge IRS Criminal Investigation added, “A fraud of this magnitude requires a coordinated effort among law enforcement agencies to stop those involved from profiting from their wrongdoing. We are the stewards of our environment and anyone who knowingly pollutes it should be held accountable.”
Acting Assistant Attorney General Hirsch and U.S. Attorney Walker praised the continued joint efforts of the EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division and the IRS’s Office of Criminal Investigations and the U.S. Coast Guard’s Criminal Investigative Services for their diligent work in the investigation of this matter. Assistant U.S. Attorney Banumathi Rangarajan of the Eastern District of North Carolina and Trial Attorney Shennie Patel of the Justice Department’s Environmental Crimes Section of the Environment and Natural Resources Division are the prosecutors in charge of the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Norman Acker and the Financial Litigation Unit provided significant support to the prosecution team.New Boston, Texas Woman Sentenced for Ricin LettersRead the Press Release
Department of Justice
Office of Public AffairsTEXARKANA, Texas – A 35-year-old New Boston, Texas woman has been sentenced to 18 years in federal prison on a biological weapons charge in the Eastern District of Texas, announced U.S. Attorney John M. Bales and Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Carlin today.
On December 10, 2013, Shannon Guess Richardson pleaded guilty to an Information charging her with possession of a toxin for use as a weapon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Caroline M. Craven. Richardson was named in an indictment returned by a federal grand jury on June 27, 2013, charging her with threatening the President of the United States, mailing a threatening letter to New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and mailing a threatening letter to Mark Glaze in Washington, D.C.Richardson was sentenced to 216 months in federal prison today by U.S. District Judge Michael H. Schneider and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $367,222.29.
“Today's sentencing brings an appropriate and just end to what is surely one of our most unusual, even bizarre cases,” said U.S. Attorney Bales. “The investigation was also very challenging and I hope that East Texans are encouraged to know that their East Texas law enforcement proved to be amazingly resourceful, determined and focused in all facets of this prosecution. It was truly a great job.”
According to the information presented in court, during April-May 2013, Richardson made several online purchases of items for the purpose of producing ricin. These supplies included castor bean seeds and sodium hydroxide (lye). Ricin is a biological toxin that can be fatal if ingested, inhaled, or injected. There is no known antidote or cure for ricin poisoning.
Richardson subsequently placed ricin onto threat letters addressed to President Barack Obama, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Mark Glaze. On May 20, 2013, Richardson mailed the three threatening letters from the New Boston, Texas, Post Office. On May 30, 2013, Richardson traveled to the Shreveport, LA, Police Department and reported that her husband was responsible for the ricin-laced letters.
Richardson was arrested on June 7, 2013, in Mt. Pleasant, Texas, and has been detained since that time.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Secret Service, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Texas Department of Public Safety, the New Boston, Texas Police Department, the Shreveport, Louisiana, Police Department and the New York City Police Department. This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Frank Coan, Ryan Locker, and Brit Featherston as well as Trial Attorney Jolie Zimmerman of the Justice Department’s National Security Division.
Mortgage Lender Pleads Guilty in Multi-Million Dollar Mortgage Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, and Drew J. Breakspear, Commissioner, Florida Office of Financial Regulation, announce that Karl Oreste, 56, of Miramar, pled guilty today before U.S. District Judge Robert N. Scola, Jr., to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud affecting a financial institution, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1349.
Sentencing has been scheduled for November 14, 2014 at 8:30 a.m. At sentencing, Oreste faces a maximum possible statutory sentence of up to 30 years in prison.
According to documents filed with the court and statements made in court during the plea, Oreste, president of KMC Mortgage Corporation of Florida, a mortgage lending business in North Miami Beach, along with co-defendants, Okechukwu Josiah Odunna, a/k/a “O.J. Odunna,” Marie Lucie Tondreau, a/k/a “Lucie Tondreau”, and Kelly Augustin, operated a multi-million dollar mortgage fraud scheme in Miami-Dade and Broward Counties, between December 2005 and May 2008. Oreste and Tondreau hosted several radio show programs in the South Florida area which catered to the South Florida Haitian community. During these programs they advertised the services offered by KMC Mortgage. Oreste and Tondreau recruited and paid some of the listeners who responded to those advertisements, as well as other individuals, to pose as borrowers to purchase properties identified by Oreste. Augustin, an employee of KMC Mortgage, also recruited straw borrowers.
According to statements made in court, Oreste, Odunna and other co-conspirators prepared or caused to be prepared applications on behalf of straw borrowers. Odunna was an attorney previously licensed to practice law in Florida and president of O.J. Odunna, P.A. and Direct Title and Escrow Services. These loan applications included false information relating to employment, wages, assets and intent to make the property being purchased a primary residence. The loan applications and documents were submitted by co-conspirators to various mortgage lenders throughout the United States. Once the loan applications were approved, the defendant wired loan funds to O.J. Odunna, P.A., Direct Title or other title companies for closing.
In some instances Oreste, Odunna and other co-conspirators created and submitted duplicate HUD-Settlement Statement Forms, which grossly inflated the true purchase price of the properties. Lenders were not told how the loan proceeds were being disbursed.
At closing, a portion of loan proceeds were disbursed to Oreste through his company, JR Investment and Mortgage Corporation, or other bank accounts controlled by him. A portion was in some instances diverted to accounts controlled by O.J. Odunna, P.A. and Direct Title. Oreste disbursed some of the proceeds that he received to pay recruiters, such as Tondreau and Augustin, and straw borrowers. Oreste also transferred a substantial portion of the funds to the bank account of LTO Investment Corporation’s, a company controlled by Tondreau. Tondreau used funds deposited in LTO Investment Corporation’s bank accounts to make payments on the falsely and fraudulently obtained mortgages in order to maintain the loans, and to conceal and further the fraud. She also used a portion of the funds deposited into LTO Investment Corporation’s bank accounts for her own personal use and benefit.
Over the course of the conspiracy, the defendants fraudulently obtained loans on approximately 20 properties, for which the lenders have suffered losses in the amount of approximately $11,000,000.00.
Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the FBI and Florida Office of Financial Regulation. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lois Foster-Steers.
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.
Minnesota Man and Two Mobridge Women Charged with Kidnapping and Assault with A Dangerous WeaponRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Brendan V. Johnson announced that a Minneapolis, Minnesota, man and two Mobridge, South Dakota, women have been indicted by a federal grand jury for Kidnapping and Assault with a Dangerous Weapon.
Clayton Montreal, age 27, Yvette Montreal, age 47, and Wyndee Sitting Dog, age 30, were indicted on April 15, 2014. Yvette Montreal and Sitting Dog appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge William D. Gerdes on May 1, 2014, and pled not guilty to the Indictment. Clayton Montreal appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge William D. Gerdes on July 10, 2014, and also pled not guilty to the Indictment.
The maximum penalty upon conviction is up to life in custody and/or a $500,000 fine, 5 years of supervised release, and $200 each to the Federal Crime Victims Fund. Restitution may also be ordered.
The Indictment alleges that on or about March 25, 2014, the Defendants kidnapped and unlawfully assaulted a female adult victim with a dangerous weapon.
The charges are merely accusations and the Defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
The investigation is being conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Troy R. Morley is prosecuting the case.
Clayton Montreal and Yvette Montreal were released on bond. Sitting Dog was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service pending trial which has been set for August 26, 2014.
Minnesota Man and Two Mobridge Women Charged with Kidnapping and Assault with A Dangerous WeaponRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Brendan V. Johnson announced that a Minneapolis, Minnesota, man and two Mobridge, South Dakota, women have been indicted by a federal grand jury for Kidnapping and Assault with a Dangerous Weapon.
Clayton Montreal, age 27, Yvette Montreal, age 47, and Wyndee Sitting Dog, age 30, were indicted on April 15, 2014. Yvette Montreal and Sitting Dog appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge William D. Gerdes on May 1, 2014, and pled not guilty to the Indictment. Clayton Montreal appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge William D. Gerdes on July 10, 2014, and also pled not guilty to the Indictment.
The maximum penalty upon conviction is up to life in custody and/or a $500,000 fine, 5 years of supervised release, and $200 each to the Federal Crime Victims Fund. Restitution may also be ordered.
The Indictment alleges that on or about March 25, 2014, the Defendants kidnapped and unlawfully assaulted a female adult victim with a dangerous weapon.
The charges are merely accusations and the Defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
The investigation is being conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Troy R. Morley is prosecuting the case.
Clayton Montreal and Yvette Montreal were released on bond. Sitting Dog was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service pending trial which has been set for August 26, 2014.
Man Sentenced for Conspiracy to Distribute MarijuanaRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Deborah R. Gilg announced that Christopher Chramosta was sentenced to sixty months imprisonment by Judge John M. Gerrard following his conviction for conspiracy to distribute marijuana. Following his release from incarceration, he will serve four years of supervised release. Chramosta was ordered to forfeit to the United States certain computer equipment, $64,810.00 in cash, a 2012 BMW 550i sedan and a 1969 Mustang Mach 1. He will also be required to pay a money judgment in the amount of $120,000.00.
Between approximately June, 2011 through June 7, 2013, Chramosta and others were involved in the distribution of marijuana originating from California and distributed in the Lincoln, Nebraska area.
This case was investigated by the Lincoln-Lancaster County Narcotics Task Force.