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Wednesday 30 April 2014
South Carolina Woman Sentenced for Bank Robbery Spree in VirginiaRead the Press Release
NORFOLK, Va. – Nicole Racquel Drakeford, 44, of Fountain Island, S.C., was sentenced today to 147 months in prison, followed by a term of supervised release, for armed bank robbery and using, carrying and brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.
Dana J. Boente, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia and Royce E. Curtin, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Norfolk Field Office, made the announcement after sentencing by Senior United States District Judge Henry Coke Morgan, Jr.
Drakefordpleaded guilty on January 27, 2014. According to the statement of facts that were filed with her plea agreement, Drakeford took responsibility for committing a series of bank robberies across Virginia. Drakeford admitted that she robbed the Bank of America in Fairfax County, Virginia on July 15, 2013 and walked away with $5598.00. She admitted that on July 20, 2013, she robbed the United Bank in Fairfax County and took $1321.00. She also admitted that on July 31, 2013 she robbed a Chartway Federal Credit Union (FCU) in Chesapeake, Virginia with a gun and took approximately $302.00.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Norfolk Field Office and the Chesapeake Police Department. Managing Assistant United States Attorney Benjamin L. Hatch prosecuted the case on behalf of the United States.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.justice.gov/usao/vae. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.vaed.uscourts.gov or on https://pcl.uscourts.gov.Silver City Man Sentenced to Prison for Violating Federal Firearms LawsRead the Press Release
ALBUQUERQUE – Jeremy Cuevas, 35, of Silver City, N.M., was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., to 77 months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release for being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition. The sentence was announced by Acting U.S. Attorney Damon P. Martinez, 6th Judicial District Attorney Francesca Martinez-Estevez and Special Agent in Charge Dennis A. Ulrich, II, of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in El Paso, Texas.
Cuevas was arrested in Nov. 2013 in a criminal complaint alleging that Cuevas unlawfully possessed a handgun and ammunition in Grant County, N.M., on Oct. 4, 2012. According to the complaint, state probation officers who were conducting a field visit at Cuevas’ residence on Oct. 4, 2012, contacted the Silver City Police Department after learning that Cuevas was in possession of methamphetamine. The Silver City Police Department obtained a search warrant for Cuevas residence. When the officers executed the search warrant, they seized a handgun and ammunition, a small amount of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia.
Court records reflect that Cuevas was prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition in Oct. 2012 because he previously had been convicted of the following felony offenses in the 6th Judicial District Court for the State of New Mexico: trafficking in cocaine in 1999; attempted aggravated battery in 2000; possession of methamphetamine in 2010; and tampering with evidence in 2011.
On Jan. 22, 2014, Cuevas entered a guilty plea to a felony information charging him with being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition.
This case was investigated by the Deming office of HSI, the Silver City Police Department, and the Probation and Parole Division of the New Mexico Corrections Department, and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Maria Y. Armijo of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office.
Cuevas was prosecuted as part of a federal anti-violence initiative that targets “the worst of the worst” offenders for federal prosecution. Under this initiative, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and federal law enforcement agencies work with New Mexico’s District Attorneys and state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies to target violent or repeat offenders for federal prosecution with the goal of removing repeat offenders from communities in New Mexico for as long as possible.
Shrewsbury Woman Sentenced for Filing False Tax ReturnsRead the Press Release
BOSTON – A Shrewsbury woman was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Worcester for underreporting income on her federal tax returns.
Roberta I. Crudale Blute, 56, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Timothy S. Hillman to one year probation and 100 hours of community service. Judge Hillman further ordered her to pay $114,576 in restitution to the IRS and to cooperate with the IRS to file amended tax returns and pay the taxes owed. In January 2014, Blute pleaded guilty to filing false federal tax returns for tax years 2007 and 2008.
Blute omitted from her tax returns hundreds of thousands of dollars in income she earned from numerous employers in 2007 and 2008. Specifically, she failed to report income she earned from four companies in 2007 and five companies in 2008.
United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; William P. Offord, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation in Boston; Vincent B. Lisi, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; and Phillip M. Coyne, Special Agent in Charge of the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, Office of Investigations, made the announcement today. The case was prosecuted by Amanda P.M. Strachan and Miranda Hooker of Ortiz’s Health Care Fraud Unit.
San Francisco Woman Sentenced to 74 Months in Prison for Distribution of Crack CocaineRead the Press Release
SAN FRANCISCO – Thomasha Mayfield was sentenced yesterday to more than 6 years in prison, announced U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag and FBI Special Agent in Charge David J. Johnson.
Mayfield, 39, of San Francisco, and Tony Patton, 47, of San Mateo, were indicted by a federal grand jury on Jan. 8, 2013. Mayfield and Patton were charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and distribution of cocaine base in the form of crack cocaine (Count One), and possession with the intent to distribute and distribution of cocaine base in the form of crack (Counts Two through Eight). Mayfield was charged with a total of seven drug trafficking counts. Tony Patton was charged with three counts of drug trafficking.
Mayfield pleaded guilty on Jan. 21, 2014, to Count Seven for possession with the intent to distribute and distribution of cocaine base in the form of crack, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a). According to the plea agreement, Mayfield admitted to distributing approximately 100 grams of crack cocaine to another individual on Feb. 18, 2010. Mayfield also admitted that the total amount of crack cocaine attributable to her in the case is approximately 472 grams, as she also sold crack cocaine on numerous other occasions between September 2008 and February 2010.
The sentence was handed down by the Honorable Richard Seeborg, United States District Court Judge in San Francisco, following a guilty plea on Count Seven of the Indictment in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a). Judge Seeborg also sentenced the defendant to a 4 year period of supervised release. Mayfield has been in federal custody since her remand on March 11, 2014. Patton pleaded guilty on June 25, 2013, and was sentenced on Sept. 24, 2013.
Chinhayi Coleman Cadet is the Assistant U.S. Attorney who is prosecuting the case with the assistance of Yanira Osorio. The prosecution is the result of a an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
(Mayfield indictment )
San Bernardino Man Admits Smuggling Counterfeit Levi Labels for $192,000 Worth of JeansRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Laura E. Duffy announced today that Angel Garcia Hernandez pled guilty to smuggling labels, tags and buttons for counterfeit Levi jeans Tuesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Karen S. Crawford. In pleading guilty, the defendant admitted that on December 28, 2012, he smuggled counterfeit Levi Strauss & Co. labels, buttons and tags, enough to make $192,000 worth of counterfeit jeans.
Within an hour of Garcia’s border crossing, another defendant, Amadeo Calderon Valdivinos, also attempted to smuggle counterfeit Levi Strauss & Co. labels, buttons and tags into the United States through the San Ysidro Port of Entry. Calderon had enough labels to manufacture $128,000 worth of counterfeit jeans. Examination of the labels smuggled by both Garcia and Calderon by representatives of Levi Strauss & Co. revealed the same defects in the labels, suggesting that they came from the same source. According to court filings, although Garcia and Calderon both denied knowing each other at the time they crossed the border with the counterfeit labels, their cell phone records showed numerous calls between them. Calderon pled guilty to smuggling and was sentenced to time served (four months).
Sentencing for Garcia Hernandez is set for August 1, 2014, at 10:00 a.m. before the Honorable Barry Ted Moskowitz.
DEFENDANT Case Number: 14cr1034-BTM Angel Garcia Hernandez Age: 55 CHARGESSmuggling, in Violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 545 Maximum Penalty: 20 years in custody and/or $250,000 fine and a $100 special assessment
INVESTIGATING AGENCYDepartment of Homeland Security Investigations
*Indictments and complaints are not evidence that the defendant committed the crime charged. All defendants are presumed innocent until the United States meets its burden in court of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Owners of Ukiah Restaurants Charged with Tax FraudRead the Press Release
SAN FRANCISCO –Yaowapha Ritdet and Steve Walter were arraigned today in court on five counts of filing false tax returns. Yaowapha Ritdet was also arraigned on two counts of willfully failing to report a foreign bank account, announced U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag and Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, Special Agent in Charge José M. Martinez.
According to the Indictment, unsealed today, Ritdet and Walter were residents of Ukiah, Calif. and owners of Tuen Tong Thai Cuisine and Walter Café. For the tax years 2007 through 2011, Ritdet and Walter willfully signed Form 1040 U.S. Individual Income Tax Returns which they did not believe to be true and correct. The returns failed to disclose rental income, foreign bank accounts, and gross receipts or sales and income received from their business activities.
The Indictment also alleges that from 2009 through 2010, Ritdet maintained a passbook savings account at Kasikorn Bank, Public Company Limited, a bank organized under the laws of Thailand and operating in Thailand. In 2009 and 2010, Ritdet failed to file a Foreign Bank Account Report (FBAR) disclosing her financial interest in the passbook savings account, which had a value of greater than $10,000 during the calendar years 2008 and 2009.
Ritdet, 53, and Walter, 52, both of Ukiah were indicted on April 15, 2014. They were arrested this morning and made their initial appearance before the Honorable Nandor J. Vadas in Eureka, United States Magistrate Court Judge. Ritdet and Walter’s next court appearance is on May 7, 2014 at 9:30 a.m. before the Honorable Jacqueline Scott Corley, United States Magistrate Court Judge in San Francisco.
The maximum penalty for each count of failure to file a FBAR, in violation of Title 31, U.S.C §§ 5314 and 5322(a) is five years in prison and a fine of $250,000. The maximum penalty for filing a false tax return, in in violation of Title 26, U.S.C § 7206(1) is three years in prison and a fine of $250,000.
Assistant US Attorney Thomas Moore is prosecuting the case. The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation.
Please note, an indictment contains only allegations and, as with all defendants, Yaowapha Ritdet and Steve Walter must be presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
(Ritdet and Walter indictment )
Otero County Corrections Officer Charged in Narcotics Smuggling SchemeRead the Press Release
ALBUQUERQUE – A corrections officer at the Otero County Prison Facility (OCFP) in Chaparral, N.M., has been charged with violating the federal narcotics laws, Acting U.S. Attorney Damon P. Martinez, Special Agent in Charge Carol K.O. Lee of the Albuquerque Division of the FBI and Department Secretary Gregg Marcantel of the New Mexico Corrections Department announced.
The correction officer, Luis Delgadillo, 37, of El Paso, Texas, is one of six individuals charged in a criminal complaint with conspiracy to violate the federal narcotics laws by smuggling controlled substances into the OCPF. The criminal complaint also charges Nancy Salas, 35, of Alamogordo, N.M., Ana Lopez, 24, of Albuquerque, N.M., and three OCPF inmates, Eric Lovato, 30, of Boles Acres, N.M., and Armando Lopez, 27, and Gary Borja, 26, both of Albuquerque, with participating in the conspiracy.
Delgadillo and Ana Lopez were arrested by the FBI on April 26, 2014. During court proceedings this morning, a U.S. Magistrate Judge in Las Cruces ordered Delgadillo detained pending trial while Ana Lopez was released on conditions of release and under pretrial supervision. Salas, who was arrested on April 28, 2014, made her initial appearance in federal court this morning and remains in custody pending a detention hearing which has yet to be scheduled. The three inmates, who remain in state custody, will be transferred to federal custody to face the charges in the criminal complaint.
According to the criminal complaint, the FBI initiated its investigation into the case in Jan. 2014, after receiving information from the New Mexico Corrections Department allegedly showing that Delgadillo was smuggling heroin and methamphetamine into the OCPF. The investigation, which included a review of recorded inmate telephone calls and OCPF surveillance video, physical surveillance and the results of inmate drug testing, identified the six defendants as members of a conspiracy that allegedly smuggled narcotics into the OCPF between Jan. 2014 and April 2014.
The criminal complaint generally alleges that Ana Lopez and Salas purchased narcotics at the behest of the inmate defendants and transferred the narcotics to Delgadillo, who was paid to smuggle the narcotics to the inmate defendants. In late Jan. and early Feb. 2014, Ana Lopez, Armando Lopez, Salas and Lovato allegedly participated in a series of telephone calls during which they arranged for Salas to purchase narcotics that would be smuggled into the OCPF by Delgadillo.
The criminal complaint further alleges that in Feb. and March 2014, Salas, Borja and Lovato participated in a series of telephone calls during which they arranged for Salas to purchase narcotics and to transfer the narcotics to Delgadillo so that he could smuggle the narcotics into the OCPF. On March 14, 2014, the FBI conducted surveillance of a meeting between Salas and Delgadillo. On March 15, 2014, OCPF video surveillance cameras allegedly recorded an interaction during which Delgadillo handed a package to Borja which Borja took to his bunk area where he was joined by Armando Lopez. During a telephone call later that day, Armando Lopez allegedly told Ana Lopez that Delgadillo had smuggled the narcotics into the OCPF. On March 18, 2014, the OCFP performed inmate drug tests which allegedly revealed that Borja, Armando Lopez and another inmate tested positive for opiates.
According to the criminal complaint, in April 2014, Borja participated in in a series of telephone calls with Ana Lopez during which they made plans for Ana Lopez to purchase narcotics and to transfer the narcotics to Delgadillo. On April 26, 2014, the FBI conducted surveillance of a meeting between Delgadillo and Ana Lopez. Shortly thereafter, the FBI arrested Delgadillo and Ana Lopez. During a search of Delgadillo’s vehicle, the FBI allegedly found a box containing 38.9 grams of a substance that tested positive for methamphetamine; 12.5 grams of a substance that appeared to be heroin; and 10 Suboxone pills.
If convicted of the offense charged in the criminal complaint, each of the six defendants faces a prison sentence of not less than five years and not more than 40 years. Charges in criminal complaints are merely accusations and criminal defendants are presumed innocent unless convicted in a court of law.
This case was investigated by the Las Cruces office of the FBI and the New Mexico Corrections Department and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark A. Saltman of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office.
- Delgadillo Complaint
Oregon Man Indicted for Traveling to MO to Engage in Sex with a MinorRead the Press Release
Project Safe Childhood
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a LaGrande, Ore., man was indicted by a federal grand jury today for traveling across states lines to Missouri to engage in illicit sex with a minor.
Abdul Lamont Gamble, 39, of LaGrande, Ore., was charged in a single-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Kansas City, Mo. Today’s indictment replaces a federal criminal complaint that was filed against Gamble on April 10, 2014.
The indictment alleges that Gamble traveled from Oregon to Missouri between March 25 and April 9, 2014, to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a minor and a commercial sex act with a minor.
According to the affidavit filed in support of the original criminal complaint, Gamble contacted an undercover law enforcement officer through a Website on Oct. 28, 2013, and offered to have sex with her fictitious 11-year-old and 15-year-old daughters. He allegedly continued to communicate with the undercover officer sporadically, via e-mail, texts and phone calls, until late March 2014.
Gamble’s communications allegedly included explicit descriptions of the sexual acts he intended to perform on and with the two minor girls, as well as an agreement to pay $250 in exchange for his sexual activities with the two minor girls. Gamble traveled to Kansas City, Mo., on a Greyhound bus, the affidavit says, and arrived on April 9, 2014. The undercover officer met him at the bus station. According to the affidavit, Gamble paid the undercover officer $100 upfront and stated he would pay the remaining $150 after he completed the sex acts with the minor girls. Gamble also reconfirmed the sexual acts he intended on performing on and with the two minor girls.
They stopped at a CVS on Independence Avenue. As he exited the car and began to approach the CVS, police officers arrested Gamble.
Dickinson cautioned that the charge contained in this indictment is simply an accusation, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charge must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick D. Daly. It was investigated by the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department and the FBI.
Project Safe Childhood
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc . For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab "resources."Olathe Man Pleads GuiltyTo Computer FraudRead the Press Release
KANSAS CITY, KAN. – An Olathe man pleaded guilty Wednesday to computer fraud, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said.
Ryan Cauble, 41, Olathe, Kan., pleaded guilty to one count of computer fraud. In his plea, he admitted he committed the crime while he worked for G.E. Consumer Finance, a saving and loan holding company with an office in Merriam, Kan. Cauble sent an email to a vice president of the company claiming there was a security breach and credit card numbers of the company’s customers had been compromised. The email – sent from an address of [email protected] – included 20 credit card numbers. The email stated, “If you want to identify the person who is responsible, message me immediately to discuss compensation for the information.”
Sentencing is set for Aug. 19. He faces a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000. Grissom commended the U.S. Secret Service and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jabari Wamble for their work on the case.
A review of the 20 account numbers confirmed that there were fraudulent ATM transactions on those accounts in New York and California. Cauble used various employee credentials to login to the company’s databases and transfer account numbers and information including customers’ names, dates of birth and Social Security numbers in exchange for Bitcoins. He told investigators he sold the account numbers in batches of 40 for $1,000. He said that over time he sold 250 to 300 account numbers.Oklahoma Attorney Pleads Guilty to Failing to Pay Employment TaxesRead the Press Release
Assistant Attorney General for the Tax Division Kathryn Keneally, U.S. Attorney Sanford C. Coats for the Western District of Oklahoma, and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced today that Larry Douglas Friesen pleaded guilty to three counts of willfully failing to pay employment taxes.
On March 21, 2014, a criminal information was filed in federal district court that alleged Friesen willfully failed to pay over to the IRS the federal income taxes and the Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) taxes due and owing during three tax quarters in the 2007 calendar year. According to the criminal information, Friesen, who was the owner of the Law Office of Doug Friesen, deducted and collected federal income taxes and FICA taxes from his employees’ paychecks but failed to pay these taxes to the IRS.
Under the terms of the plea agreement, Friesen agreed to pay restitution in the amount of $320,000 to the IRS. Friesen faces a statutory maximum penalty of one year in prison per count, one year of supervised release per count and a maximum fine of $100,000 per count. A sentencing hearing will be set by the court in approximately 90 days.
The case was investigated by Special Agents from IRS-Criminal Investigation and prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Christopher Maietta and Sonia Owens of the Tax Division, with valuable support from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Oklahoma.
New Jersey Regional Medical Center Pays Hundreds of Thousands to Resolve Kickback AllegationsRead the Press Release
NEWARK, N.J. – Somerset Medical Center – a regional medical center located in Somerville, N.J. – has paid $435,640 to settle allegations that it violated the federal False Claims Act by making improper rental payments to a cardiology group that referred large numbers of patients to the hospital, New Jersey U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced today.
The civil settlement agreement is between the United States of America – acting through the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey and on behalf of the Office of Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS-OIG) – and Somerset Medical Center.
“Making inflated rental payments to induce referrals is no better than slipping a doctor an envelope stuffed with cash,” U.S. Attorney Fishman said. “Kickback arrangements undermine the physician-patient relationship and can lead to unnecessary treatment and higher costs. There is no room in our healthcare system for hospitals that abuse federal health care programs to boost their bottom line.”
“Today’s settlement reaffirms our commitment to investigate all matters relating to kickbacks and inducements, which have no place in the healthcare arena,” Special Agent in Charge Tom O’Donnell from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General said.
According to the contentions of the United States contained in the settlement agreement:
From Oct.1, 2006, to Sept. 30, 2013, Somerset paid Medicor Cardiology, a practice based in Hillsborough, N.J., rental amounts that were above fair market value for the leased space. The cardiology practice was a significant source of patient referrals to Somerset.
At least one purpose of the payments was to induce the referral of patients to Somerset, and they were successful. Somerset’s subsequent billings of the Medicare program for services resulting from those tainted referrals were therefore false claims in violation of federal anti-kickback and self-referral laws.
Somerset has agreed to pay $435,640, which includes interest, to the United States to settle the federal civil claims. The settlement resolves allegations against Somerset in a False Claims Act suit that was brought by two formerSomerset employees, a physician and an administrator.
The whistleblower – or qui tam – provisions of the federal False Claims Act permit private individuals, known as relators, to file such whistleblower actions and share in a portion of the proceeds recovered by the federal government.
U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of HHS-OIG, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge O’Donnell, for the investigation leading to today’s settlement.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Graybow of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Health Care and Government Fraud Unit.
The claims settled by these agreements are allegations; there have been no admissions of liability.U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman reorganized the health care fraud practice at the New Jersey U.S. Attorney’s Office shortly after taking office, including creating a stand-alone Health Care and Government Fraud Unit to handle both criminal and civil investigations and prosecutions of health care fraud offenses. Since 2010, the office has recovered more than $535 million in health care fraud and government fraud settlements, judgments, fines, restitution and forfeiture under the False Claims Act, the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act and other statutes.
14-148Counsel for Somerset Medical Center: Jack Wenik Esq., Newark
Counsel for Relators: John E. Riley Esq., PhiladelphiaSomerset Medical, Executed Settlement Agreement
Monroeville Man Sentenced to 14 Years in Prison for Drug and Gun Law ViolationsRead the Press Release
PITTSBURGH - A Monroeville man has been sentenced in federal court to 108 months in prison at Count One of the Superseding Indictment, and 60 months in prison at Count Four of the Superseding Indictment to run consecutively, for a total 168 months imprisonment, followed by four years of supervised release on his conviction of violating federal firearms and drug trafficking laws, United States Attorney David J. Hickton announced today.
United States District Judge Cathy Bissoon imposed the sentence on Antonio Hardin, 32.
According to information presented to the court, and as reflected in Count One of the Superseding Indictment, from April, 2012 to February 2013, Hardin conspired together with his charged co-defendants Brandon Thompson, James Walker, Richard Wood, Gregory Harris, Jr., Luther Harper and others to possess with the intent to distribute and distribute, 100 grams or more of heroin. In total, Hardin agreed to accept responsibility for between 900 and 990 grams of heroin. All of the abovementioned co- conspirators, except for Richard Wood, have pleaded not guilty to the charges against them.
Specifically, the Court learned that in April, 2012, Hardin received heroin from co- conspirator Brandon Thompson. Hardin then supplied this heroin to an uncharged co-conspirator who was later shot by Thompson and Edward Cook at Club Pink in Munhall on or about Aug. 12, 2012. Cook has pleaded guilty to this shooting, and he was sentenced to 12 years in prison. The Court also learned that Hardin, acting together with Brandon Thompson, James Walker, and Joseph Thompson, shared a heroin “stash house” in Pitcairn at which these persons packaged raw heroin into stamp bags that would later be sold on to other dealers, and eventually, to individual users. In addition, the Court learned that Hardin, over the course of the conspiracy, sold heroin to other charged distributors, including Richard Wood, Gregory Harris, Jr., and Luther Harper. The Court heard intercepts of a call in which Luther Harper and Bryce Harper discussed purchasing 25 brick quantities (40 gram quantities) of heroin from Hardin that the Harpers then planned to distribute to individual users. Last, Hardin acknowledged that during his drug trafficking crimes he possessed a firearm, including a 9mm Glock, to protect himself and to protect his drugs. As a result, Hardin possessed a firearm in furtherance of the abovementioned drug trafficking crimes.
Assistant United States Attorney Eric S. Rosen prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.
U.S. Attorney Hickton commended the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General, Pittsburgh Bureau of Police, Pennsylvania State Police, Allegheny County Sheriff's Office, McKeesport Police Department, Munhall Police Department, and the West Homestead Police Department for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Antonio Hardin.
Maryland Owner of Loan Brokerage Firms Indicted on Fraud ChargesRead the Press Release
Indictment Seeks Forfeiture of Over $14 Million
Baltimore, Maryland - A federal grand jury has indicted Jeong Joon Moon, a/k/a Patrick Moon, age 46, of Germantown, Maryland, on charges arising from a scheme to defraud financial institutions who loaned money to small businesses. The indictment was returned on April 24, 2014, and unsealed today. Moon was arrested yesterday and his initial appearance is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. today in federal court in Baltimore.
The indictment was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Small Business Administration (SBA) Inspector General Peggy E. Gustafson; Postal Inspector in Charge Gary R. Barksdale of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service - Washington Division; Assistant Director in Charge Valerie Parlave of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Washington Field Office; and Acting Inspector General Fred W. Gibson, Jr. of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
Moon owned and operated JM Capital Solutions, Inc. and RNB Consulting, Inc., which were loan brokerage firms with offices located in Annandale and Springfield, Virginia. These firms specialized in securing loans for individuals interested in purchasing or refinancing small businesses in Maryland, Virginia, the District of Columbia and elsewhere.
Moon encouraged prospective borrowers to apply for business loans through the SBA’s Section 7(a) program, which authorizes SBA to help small businesses obtain financing by guaranteeing 75 to 90 percent of qualified loans made by commercial lenders. Small business owners are required to invest a certain amount of their own money into the business before they can qualify for the loan. Moon compiled and submitted to lenders the documentation necessary to substantiate the borrowers’ equity injection and ability to repay loans guaranteed by SBA, as well as documentation needed for other commercial loans.
According to the 25 count indictment, from 2006 to April 2014, Moon and others defrauded financial institutions by submitting false copies of the borrowers’ monthly bank statements to reflect more money than was actually in the borrowers’ bank accounts. Moon and others also allegedly prepared and submitted false tax returns for the borrowers which inflated the borrowers’ income. The financial institutions relied on the false information to lend funds to the borrowers, which resulted in loan broker commissions being paid to JM Capital and RNB Consulting.
The indictment also alleges that on July 12 and 15, 2013, Moon altered, destroyed or concealed documents relating to six loans guaranteed by SBA for six small businesses, intending to impede the federal investigation of such loans.
The indictment seeks the forfeiture of $14,708,000, the amount of fraudulently obtained loans.
Moon faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison for conspiracy to commit bank fraud, and for each of the 18 counts of bank fraud; and 20 years in prison on each of six counts for destruction of records in a federal investigation
An indictment is not a finding of guilt. An individual charged by indictment is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty at some later criminal proceedings.
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’s the broadest coalition of law enforcement, investigatory and regulatory agencies ever assembled to combat fraud. Since its formation, the task force has made great strides in facilitating increased investigation and prosecution of financial crimes; enhancing coordination and cooperation among federal, state and local authorities; addressing discrimination in the lending and financial markets and conducting outreach to the public, victims, financial institutions and other organizations. Over the past three fiscal years, the Justice Department has filed more than 10,000 financial fraud cases against nearly 15,000 defendants including more than 2,700 mortgage fraud defendants. For more information on the task force, visit www.stopfraud.gov.
United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein praised the SBA - OIG, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, FBI and FDIC for their work in the investigation. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant United States Attorneys Leo J. Wise and Marty Clarke, who are prosecuting the case.
Man Convicted of Child Sex Trafficking in Grand RapidsRead the Press Release
GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN – Eddie Allen Jackson, 31, of Grand Rapids, was convicted yesterday in federal court on three counts of child sex trafficking. From July to August 2012, Jackson recruited teenage girls in Muskegon to work for him as child prostitutes. He drove them back and forth to Grand Rapids, where he put them out on the street to solicit men for sex. He also took them to semi-vacant houses to perform acts of prostitution with men. The teens, whose identities are protected, were in 8th, 9th, and 10th grades. The jury convicted Jackson on all three counts after a two-day trial. He was returned to custody following the trial and will be sentenced in September. He faces a mandatory sentence of ten years to life in prison.
“This was the first child sex trafficking case to be prosecuted federally in Western Michigan. The local, state, and federal authorities are committed to working together to locate and stop sex traffickers. Any type of child exploitation is of course a top priority in our district, and those who prey on children will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” said U.S. Attorney Patrick A. Miles, Jr.
Jackson targeted vulnerable girls with troubled backgrounds. An agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) testified that the victims in this case share qualities common for child victims of sex trafficking. Specifically, he explained that pimps often target teenage girls who are unlikely to tell on the pimp and who are easy to manipulate and control because the pimp fills a void in their lives. Jackson controlled his victims by making them feel like he loved and cared about them, interspersed with threats and violence.
“The sexual exploitation of children is a heinous crime,” said Paul M. Abbate, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Detroit Field Office. “As part of the nationwide Project Safe Childhood initiative, the FBI’s West Michigan Based Child Exploitation Task Force will remain vigilant in combating perpetrators who attempt to prey upon the children of West Michigan, and bring to bear the full weight of the federal criminal justice system upon those who exploit the vulnerabilities of our children.”
This case is part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from exploitation and abuse. The U.S. Attorney's Office; county prosecutor's offices; the Internet Crimes Against Children task force (ICAC); and federal, state, and local law enforcement are working closely together to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children. The partners in Project Safe Childhood work to educate communities about the dangers of online child exploitation and to teach children how to protect themselves. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov. Individuals with information or concerns about possible child exploitation should contact local law enforcement.
The FBI, in conjunction with the West Michigan Based Child Exploitation Task Force (WEBCHEX), the Grand Rapids Police Department, and the Muskegon Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Tessa K. Hessmiller and Russell A. Kavalhuna prosecuted the case.
END
Madison Firearms Dealer SentencedRead the Press Release
TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA– Chad Eric Jones, 43, of Madison, Florida, was sentenced on April 29, 2014, to one year in federal prison by U.S. District Court Judge Robert Hinkle following acceptance of his guilty plea in November of last year. Jones, a federally licensed firearms dealer, pleaded guilty to multiple counts of selling firearms to a convicted felon and a single count of selling a handgun to a person under 21 years of age.
In September of last year, agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, with the assistance of the Madison County Sheriff’s Office and the Madison Police Department, executed a search warrant at Jones’ residence and place of business, Gunslingers Pawn and Gun on Duval Street in Madison.
While executing the search warrant at Gunslingers Pawn and Gun, agents seized 67 firearms not listed in the Gunslingers acquisition and disposition book. Jones ultimately forfeited all of these firearms to the government and surrendered his federal firearms license.
During the course of the investigation, agents obtained an audio recording in which Jones admitted that he intentionally kept certain firearms out of his acquisition and disposition book to conceal the fact that he was selling firearms to prohibited persons. If a firearm was not in his acquisition and disposition book, Jones believed that government agents would be unable to determine that he had sold the firearm to a convicted felon.
This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Madison County Sheriff’s Office, and the Madison Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jason S. Beaton.Los Angeles Woman Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy and Identity TheftRead the Press Release
ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Doree McGee, 39, of Los Angeles, California, pleaded guilty to conspiracy and aggravated identity theft charges before U.S. Magistrate Judge Marian W. Payson. The charges carry a mandatory minimum penalty of two years in prison, a maximum of 32 years, a fine of $250,000, or both.
Assistant U.S. Attorney John J. Field, who is handling the case, stated that in 2010 and 2011, McGee conspired with Cassandra Montrevel, and others, to defraud Bank of America. The scheme involved the defendants posing as actual Bank of America account holders. They used fake driver’s licenses and other means of identification, and made cash withdrawals from actual customer accounts. Traveling from California to cities around the nation, McGee and others defrauded Bank of America of more than $325,000. The scheme came to an end on March 18, 2011, when Montrevel was arrested in a bank branch in Irondequoit, N.Y. Montrevel was convicted and sentenced to 70 months in prison for her role in the scheme.
The plea is the culmination of an investigation on the part of the United States Secret Service, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Tracy Gast, the Monroe County Sheriff's Office, under the direction of Sheriff Patrick O'Flynn, the Gates Police Department, under the direction of Chief James VanBrederode, the Irondequoit Police Department, under the direction of Chief Richard V. Tantalo, and the Batavia Police Department under the direction of Chief Shawn Heubusch.
A sentencing date will be scheduled at a later date.Local Couple Sentenced for Selling Stolen MerchandiseRead the Press Release
St. Louis, MO – CHRISTIAN OUNANIAN and GINA VOGEL were sentenced to 63 and 42 months in prison, respectively on charges of selling merchandise stolen from Walgreens and CVS drug stores. In addition to the prison sentences, they were ordered to pay restitution of $1,008,890.
According to court documents, Ounanian owned Xtra Wholesale, located on Southwest Avenue, St. Louis City. Between 2007 and September 2012, Ounanian and Vogel hired people to steal over-the-counter drugs and other items from Walgreens and CVS stores. The shoplifters were paid for the items and Ounanian and Vogel conspired to resell the items.
Christian Ounanian and Gina Vogel, St. Louis City, pled guilty in December to one felony count of conspiracy to transmit stolen goods and one felony count of interstate transportation of stolen goods. Christian Ounanian appeared today before United States District Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh, Jr. Gina Vogel was sentenced in March.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Anthony Franks handled the case for the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Local Attorney Sentenced for Theft from ClientsRead the Press Release
Memphis, TN – Attorney Sharon Anderson, 51, of Oakland, Tennessee, was sentenced to twenty months in federal prison yesterday after pleading guilty in September 2013 to theft from her clients’ trust accounts, announced U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee, Edward L. Stanton III.
From August 2010 to September 2011, Anderson stole nearly $200,000 from two clients, soliciting them to make what they believed were four separate short-term “hard money” loans for investors purchasing properties and awaiting conventional financing from banks. Anderson provided the victims with fraudulent documents, including settlement statements, notes, and deeds of trust, creating the impression that the victims had issued valid loans for true sales of properties by actual buyers, and that the victims had secured interests in the properties. In one instance, Anderson used the identity of another client as the supposed “buyer” for these nonexistent loans and victimized this additional client by apparently forging the client’s name on the loan documents. In reality, Anderson herself already owned each of the properties for which the victims believed they had made loans. There were no actual loans, no sales, and no buyers. Instead, Anderson used the victims’ money to purchase a $499,500 condominium at the Caribe Resort in Orange Beach, Alabama and, apparently, a $725,000 waterfront home in Orange Beach as well as a second condominium at the Caribe Resort.
Over the course of the following three years, Anderson engaged in an ongoing series of communications lying to the victims to lead them to believe that the “buyers” to whom they issued loans were finally going to obtain conventional financing and pay the victims. Anderson told the victims at various times that refinances were “in process,” that she had learned that “a couple of credit glitches” were “being addressed,” and that the property “was sold and is being refinanced.” All of these statements were lies because there were no sales, no buyers, and no loans to be refinanced. Anderson made sporadic interest payments to the victims during this time. As the victims followed up to obtain the payments, Anderson responded with such statements as “Take a breath!!” and made explanations for late payments or nonpayments such as, “I’m out of town and recovering from the flu,” “I didn’t listen to my voicemail at the office on Friday,” “our computers have been on the blink all morning,” I have been tied up all day in closings,” and “[m]y husband . . . is 200 miles out at sea.”
Each of the victims independently caught on to Anderson’s fraud when they checked the website for the register of deeds and realized they had no secured interests in the properties for which they had made loans. After the first victim threatened litigation and a report to the board of professional responsibility, Anderson paid the victim off by stealing additional money from the client trust account for the payoff. After the second victim caught Anderson, they reached an agreement that Anderson would give the victim a second mortgage on her residence at Anderson Farms in Fayette County and that Anderson would sell assets to pay off the loans. Even after the agreement, Anderson continued lying to the victim, concealing her $435,000 sale of one of the Caribe Resort condominiums in July 2013. Finally, after Anderson gave the victim a $26,744 check in November 2013 that bounced, Anderson agreed to satisfy the debt to avoid reporting of the bounced check. The victim accepted a reduced settlement from Anderson to avoid being left at a total loss.
At the sentencing hearing, Anderson asked United States District Court Judge Samuel H. Mays to consider, among other things, her role in her family, her business success, and her role in the Fayette County community, hosting and paying for events such as a Wounded Warriors event at Anderson Farms. The government noted that Anderson’s thefts were not based on any emergency need, but rather for greed. Anderson owns numerous properties, and used the money she stole to buy more. In addition, her failure to repay the victims was not apparently the result of an inability to make repayment but simply because the defendant did not want to. She had the means to host charitable events and owned multiple properties and a yacht.
One victim made a statement at the hearing reflecting the stress Anderson imposed on her. Fifty thousand dollars of the money Anderson stole from the victim came from the victim’s mother, who had gone into a nursing home while the victim was seeking repayment. Even after the victim told Anderson that fifty thousand dollars of the money was her mother’s, and that her mother had entered a nursing home, Anderson did not repay the loss until more than fifteen months later and after the victim threatened to report the bounced check. The victim stated she agreed to a partial repayment because she did not want to risk getting no payment at all. The victim added that she did not believe Anderson ever intended to repay her and that if Anderson wanted to do the right thing, she would have paid the loan in full. The victim expressed the hope that Anderson never be allowed to use her position to harm anyone else in the future.
Anderson’s attorney stated at the sentencing hearing that Anderson has agreed with the Tennessee Board of Professional Responsibility to be disbarred from the practice of law.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney John Fabian represented the government.Konn Convicted of Child Pornography OffensesRead the Press Release
Retired State Worker’s Child Pornography Collection Included
Thousands of Images and Over 800 MoviesALBANY, NEW YORK – Today, a federal jury trial that began Monday ended in the conviction of STEPHEN J. KONN, 63, of Clifton Park, New York, of the felony offenses of distribution of child pornography, receipt of child pornography, and possession of child pornography, announced United States Attorney Richard S. Hartunian and Andrew W. Vale, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Albany Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
KONN faces a statutory mandatory minimum sentence of imprisonment for five years and a maximum sentence of imprisonment for twenty years for each of the distribution and receipt convictions, and a maximum sentence of imprisonment for ten years for the possession conviction, as well as a lifetime term of supervised release, a maximum fine of $250,000, and mandatory registration as a sex offender. KONN, who was remanded, will be sentenced in Albany on September 4, 2014 by United States District Judge Mae A. D’Agostino.
The evidence presented at trial showed that KONN, a retired employee from the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, used a peer-to-peer file trading program to distribute child pornography to an undercover FBI agent via the Internet. A subsequent search of KONN’s Clifton Park residence uncovered a computer containing over 4,000 images and 800 videos of child pornography, and evidence that KONN had been trading child pornography over the Internet for years.
This prosecution resulted from an investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Albany Division. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Wayne A. Myers.
Killeen Brothers Sentenced to Lengthy Federal Prison Terms for Cocaine DistributionRead the Press Release
In Waco, 30-year-old Christopher Andrew and 32–year-old Cornelius Tywarren Wilson were sentenced to 35 years and 30 years in federal prison, respectively, for their roles in a cocaine distribution operation based in Killeen, Texas, announced United States Attorney Robert Pitman, Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge Christopher H. Combs, San Antonio Division and Killeen Police Chief Dennis M. Baldwin.
In addition to the prison terms, United States District Judge Walter S. Smith, Jr. ordered that the brothers pay a fine—Chris, $2000; Cornelius, $1,500—and be placed under supervised release for a period of ten years after completing their respective prison terms.
On March 10, 2014, a federal jury in Waco found Christopher Wilson, Cornelius Wilson and 29–year-old Bryant Keith Pressley guilty of multiple drug charges. The jury also found Cornelius Wilson guilty of possession of a Ruger handgun during a drug trafficking crime on May 14, 2013. Presley is scheduled to be sentenced on May 28, 2014.
Evidence presented during trial revealed that from April 2011 to May 2013, the organization led by the Wilson brothers was responsible for the distribution of close to 30 kilograms of cocaine and “crack” cocaine in Killeen and the surrounding area.
The Wilson brothers and Presley were among eight Killeen residents indicted and convicted of federal drug charges in connection with this cocaine distribution operation. The other five defendants--39-year-old Jamel Azar Singleton, 31–year-old Jason Eugene Jackson, 31-year-old Katrie Deshone Simpson, 39–year-old Michael Anthony Mango and 34–year-old Kevin Elthonda Lee--entered guilty pleas prior to jury selection and received federal prison sentences ranging from 18 months to 151 months.
This case resulted from an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) together with the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Killeen Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Mark Frazier and former Assistant United States Attorney Sean Condron are prosecuting this case on behalf of the Government.
KC Man Indicted for Maryville Bank RobberyRead the Press Release
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Kansas City, Mo., man was indicted by a federal grand jury today for robbing a Maryville, Mo., bank.
Ronald David Brown, Jr., 39, of Kansas City, was charged in a single-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Kansas City, Mo.
Today’s indictment alleges that Brown stole $1,480 from Bank Midwest, 1016 S. Main St., Maryville, on Nov. 13, 2013.
Dickinson cautioned that the charge contained in this indictment is simply an accusation, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charge must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Christina Y. Tabor. It was investigated by the FBI and the Maryville, Mo., Police Department.Illinois Residents Charged in Identity Theft SchemeRead the Press Release
PITTSBURGH - Two Illinois residents have been indicted by a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh on charges of conspiracy, using unauthorized access device in aggregate of $1,000, possessing device- making equipment, possessing 15 or more access devices, and aggravated identity theft, United States Attorney David J. Hickton announced today.
The six-count superseding indictment, returned on April 29, named Joel M. Cosey, 25, of Chicago, Illinois, and Monique S. Morris, 33, of Bolingbrook, Illinois.
According to the indictment, Cosey was charged with conspiracy, possessing device- making equipment, possessing 15 or more access devices, aggravated identity theft, and two counts of using unauthorized access device in aggregate of $1,000 on or about Aug. 9, 2013.
According to the indictment, Morris was charged with conspiracy and two counts of using unauthorized access device in aggregate of $1,000 on or about Aug. 9, 2013.
The law provides for a maximum total sentence of 52 years in prison, a fine of $1,500,000 or both for Cosey. The law provides for a maximum total sentence of 25 years in prison, a fine of $750,000 or both for Morris. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed would be based upon the seriousness of the offenses and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.
Assistant United States Attorney Shardul S. Desai is prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.
The United States Secret Service conducted the investigation leading to the indictment in this case.
An indictment is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Hogsett Announces Kokomo Man’s Petition to Plead Guilty to Distribution of Child PornographyRead the Press Release
Prosecution represents more results in U.S. Attorney’s ongoing "Operation Community Watch"
INDIANAPOLIS - Joseph H. Hogsett, the United States Attorney, announced today that Brandon Tooley, age 32, of Kokomo, has been charged by information with one count of distribution of sexually explicit material involving minors. Tooley has filed a petition to plead guilty, along with entering into a plea agreement and stipulated factual basis for the offense. This prosecution comes as the U.S. Attorney’s Office has recommitted to Operation Community Watch, a federal effort which aims to reduce the abuse of Hoosier children through innovative investigative techniques and aggressive prosecution.
“The type of behavior alleged in this case exploits children and will not be tolerated by federal law enforcement,” Hogsett said. “That is why we launched Operation Community Watch last year – to protect Hoosier families and send a message to criminals that they cannot hide online.”
The information alleges that between on or about August 1, 2013 and on or about October 7, 2013, Tooley sent emails to others containing visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Court documents indicate that the government has filed a forfeiture allegation identifying computer equipment used in the offense that the government will seek to seize from Tooley if he is convicted.
According to Assistant U.S. Attorney MaryAnn T. Mindrum, who is prosecuting the case for the government, Tooley faces no less than five and up to twenty years in federal prison if the Court accepts a guilty plea. Federal law also mandates that individuals convicted of child exploitation pay restitution to their victims. In addition, Tooley faces a sentence of up to lifetime supervised release, and must comply with state and federal requirements as a registered sexual offender.
This arrest comes one year after Hogsett announced a comprehensive crackdown on child exploitation in Indiana. In 2013, he launched "Operation Community Watch," which has allowed prosecutors and investigators to use cutting-edge techniques to identify and charge people in Hoosier communities who are engaged in the receipt and trafficking of child pornography materials. In this case, those efforts were facilitated by the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
"The sexual exploitation of children is abhorrent and is one of the most disturbing crimes we investigate at HSI,” said Gary Hartwig, special agent in charge of HSI Chicago. "Once a pornographic image of a child is shared online, it multiplies and is virtually impossible to remove. Protecting our youth in the digital age requires us all to be vigilant."
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a larger nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Hogsett pointed out that in the last Project Safe Childhood reporting year, the Office prosecuted 52 defendants, an increase of 37% over the prior year, and 49 defendants were convicted and sentenced. These are all-time records for the Office.
The greatest measure of the PSC program's impact, however, is the identification and rescue of child victims of sexual exploitation and abuse. Over the last two years, the U.S. Attorney's Office successfully identified more than 120 child victims, including minors in Indiana, numerous places in the United States, Canada, Switzerland, and other countries around the world.
Led nationally by United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
An information or indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government must prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Hogsett Announces Child Pornography Charges Against Westfield ManRead the Press Release
Pornography allegations against volunteer wrestling coach
INDIANAPOLIS - Joseph H. Hogsett, the United States Attorney, announced today federal child pornography charges against Christopher Rennard, 28, of Westfield. Rennard serves as a volunteer wrestling coach at Westfield High School and faces charges including, two counts of shipping or transporting by means of computer visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, as well as possessing and distributing child pornography.
“When the most vulnerable of our citizens are victimized, my office will aggressively do everything in its power to protect them,” said Hogsett. “Child predators around the state are on notice; we will find you, investigate you and prosecute you with the full force of federal law.”
According to the criminal complaint affidavit, a report was submitted to the Cyber Tip Line by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The report was submitted by Dropbox, Inc. and indicated that a user on their online data storage service had uploaded and stored files that contained child pornography between January 15-27, 2014. Investigators determined Rennard was the subscriber and traced the IP address to his residence in Westfield.
A federal search warrant was issued and served on Rennard’s residence on April 17, 2014 by special agents of Homeland Security Investigations and task force officers of the Hamilton County Metropolitan Child Exploitation Task Force. The affidavit alleges that Rennard was present during the search and admitted to collecting and distributing child pornography.
The affidavit further alleges Rennard would make contact with other persons interested in child pornography using an iPhone application called Omegle. Once he found someone to trade with, they would specify if they preferred boys or girls. Rennard would then post links to child pornography images and videos which could be used to access the files stored in his and other individual’s Dropbox accounts. This would make files available for viewing, downloading and copying.
According to Assistant U.S. Attorney MaryAnn Mindrum, who is prosecuting the case for the government, Rennard could face up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000.00 fine if convicted.
“Through our Operation Community Watch initiative, we have joined with state and local partners to make clear that we will not tolerate child exploitation in Indiana,” Hogsett said. “With innovation and vigilance, we are unmasking these online predators and holding them accountable for their criminal activity.”
This arrest comes one year after Hogsett announced a comprehensive crackdown on child exploitation in Indiana. In 2013, he launched "Operation Community Watch," which has allowed prosecutors and investigators to use cutting-edge techniques to identify and charge people in Hoosier communities who are engaged in the receipt and trafficking of child pornography materials. In this case, those efforts were facilitated by United States Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations and the Hamilton County Metropolitan Child Exploitation Task Force.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a larger nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice.
The greatest measure of the PSC program's impact, however, is the identification and rescue of child victims of sexual exploitation and abuse. Over the last two years, the U.S. Attorney's Office successfully identified hundreds of child victims, including minors in Indiana, numerous places in the United States, Canada, Switzerland, and other countries around the world.
Led nationally by United States Attorney’s' 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.
A complaint is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which time the government must prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Hercules Resident Pleads Guilty to Transporting Multiple Minors Around the United States for ProstitutionRead the Press Release
SAN JOSE – Jamal Raphael Broussard pleaded guilty in federal court today, to transportation of minors for prostitution, announced U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag and FBI Special Agent in Charge David J. Johnson.
In pleading guilty, Broussard admitted that beginning in the summer of 2010 and continuing at least through May 2013, he recruited and transported two minor females and caused them to engage in commercial sex acts, knowing that they were high school students younger than 18-years-old. Broussard admitted that he received the money from the minors for their engaging in these commercial sex acts as he acted as a “pimp” for these minors, providing them with clothing, giving them instructions, and advertising their services on the Internet using pictures of the minors to solicit customers. Further, Broussard admitted to having arranged or induced the travel of these minor victims, providing the minors with fake identifications and sending them from California to almost every state across the country for the express purpose of engaging in prostitution.
Broussard, 24, of Hercules, CA, was indicted by a federal Grand Jury on Oct. 16, 2013. He was charged with two counts of sex trafficking of children in violation of Title 18, United States Code Section 1591, two counts of transportation of minors for prostitution in violation of Title 18 United States Code Section 2423, and two counts of coercion and enticement for prostitution in violation of Title 18 United States Code Section 2422. Under the plea agreement, Broussard pled guilty to the two counts of transportation of minors for prostitution.
Broussard, who has been in custody since his arrest on Oct. 30, 2013, is currently being held in Santa Clara County Main Jail pending his sentencing.
Broussard’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for Aug. 13, 2014, at 9:30 a.m., before The Honorable Lucy H. Koh, United States District Court Judge, in San Jose. The maximum statutory penalty for each count in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2423 is 30 years, with a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years imprisonment, and a fine of $250,000, plus restitution if appropriate. However, any sentence will be imposed by the court only after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C. § 3553.
Amie Rooney is the Assistant U.S. Attorney who is prosecuting the case with the assistance of Nina Williams and Tracey Andersen. The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the San Jose Police Department Human Trafficking Task Force.
Anyone who suspects instances of human trafficking are encouraged to call the FBI or the Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888. Anonymous calls are welcome.
In addition, suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, via its toll-free 24-hour hotline, 1-800-843-5678.
(Broussard indictment )
Haynesville Man Sentenced to 96 Months in Prison for Illegally Possessing A FirearmRead the Press Release
SHREVEPORT, La. –United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced today that Ricky Nikki Beene, 38 of Haynesville, La., was sentenced Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Elizabeth E. Foote to 96 months in prison and three years of supervised release for possessing a firearm after being convicted of a felony.
According to evidence presented at the guilty plea on January 24, 2014, Haynesville Police officers responded to a call on June 1, 2012 that a man with a gun was seen at an apartment complex. The man was later identified as Beene. Police waited for Beene at his home, and when he arrived, he was driving a car matching the description of one seen at the apartment complex. The car was searched, and a loaded .380 caliber pistol, more than $900, and crack cocaine and marijuana were found.
The Haynesville Police Department, the Claiborne Parish Sheriff’s Office, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert W. Gillespie Jr. is prosecuting the case as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods. Project Safe Neighborhoods is a nationwide program to reduce violence by aggressively enforcing existing federal firearms and explosives laws.
Greensburg Man Took $172K in Deceased Aunt’s Social Security Benefit PaymentsRead the Press Release
PITTSBURGH – A Westmoreland County resident pleaded guilty in federal court to a charge of theft of government money, United States Attorney David J. Hickton announced today.
Kelly McGuire, 54, of Greensburg, Pa., pleaded guilty to one count before Senior United States District Court Judge Maurice B. Cohill.
In connection with the guilty plea, the court was advised that from Nov. 3, 1993 to Oct. 3, 2011, McGuire converted to his own use $172,375 in Social Security Title II, Old Age, Survivor’s Disability Insurance benefit payments of his aunt, Lucille McGuire, who died on Oct. 2, 1993, benefits he knew he was not entitled to receive.
Judge Cohill scheduled sentencing for Aug. 6, 2014 at 2 p.m. The law provides for a maximum total sentence of not more than 10 years in prison, a fine of $250,000, or both. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed would be based upon the seriousness of the offense and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.
Pending sentence, the court released McGuire on bond.
Assistant United States Attorney Mary McKeen Houghton is prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.
The Social Security Administration, Office of Inspector General, conducted the investigation that lead to the prosecution of McGuire.
Getaway Driver in Milford Mini-Market Robberies Sentenced to 90 Months’ ImprisonmentRead the Press Release
The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced yesterday that Senior United States District Court Judge Richard P. Conaboy sentenced Daviandra Gwendolyn Green, age 28, formerly of Port Jervis, New York, to 90 months’ imprisonment for her participation in the robberies of six convenience stores between April and October 2011.
According to United States Attorney Peter J. Smith, Green previously pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Scranton to acting as a getaway driver when a confederate robbed (1) the Hilltop Sunoco/Extra Mart located at 238 State Route 6, Milford, Pennsylvania on April 6, 2011; (2) the Turkey Hill Minit Market, 912 Pennsylvania Avenue, Matamoras, Pennsylvania, on April 11, 2011; (3) the Hilltop Sunoco/Extra Mart located at 238 State Route 6, Milford, Pennsylvania on April 17, 2011; (4) the Citgo Mart, 220 Dolson Road, Middletown, New York on May 1, 2011; and (5) the Turkey Hill Minit Market, 912 Pennsylvania Avenue, Matamoras, Pennsylvania, on May 5, 2011. Green’s confederate brandished a weapon during the robberies.
Green and Jeremiah Anderson also entered the Hilltop Sunoco/Extra Mart, in Milford, Pennsylvania on October 5, 2011, and attempted to rob it without success. Anderson, age 29, also of Port Jervis, recently pleaded guilty in federal court to attempted robbery of that store and will be sentenced later this year.
Green’s two other confederates in the string of robberies were also convicted in federal court for their involvement in the scheme. Daniel Ortiz, age 28, of Watertown, New York, was sentenced to 80 months’ imprisonment. Simon Shomo, age 28, of Port Jervis, New York received a 70 months’ imprisonment term.
Judge Conaboy ordered that Green be placed on supervised release for three years following the service of her 90-month prison sentence.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Eastern Pike Regional Police Department, and the Pennsylvania State Police. Assistant United States Attorney John Gurganus prosecuted the case.
Fugitive Charged with Selling Heroin That Caused A Death in CustodyRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM -- A Birmingham man and federal fugitive charged in connection with a 2013 heroin overdose death in Tuscaloosa was arrested this month in Atlanta and arraigned today in U.S. District Court in Birmingham, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance and Drug Enforcement Administration Assistant Special Agent in Charge Clay A. Morris.
PATROPIUS FOSTER, 34, had been a fugitive since a law enforcement roundup aimed at heroin dealers in north Alabama in September. Foster is the last defendant to be arrested among 49 people indicted in 2013 as part of an ongoing initiative between law enforcement and the U.S. Attorney's Office to attack the supply side of the spiraling heroin problem.
U.S. Magistrate Judge John E. Ott arraigned Foster on the charges against him and ordered he remain in custody pending trial.
The charges include that Foster distributed heroin on March 19, 2013, that resulted in the death of a 20-year-old University of Alabama student the following day. The charge of distributing heroin that results in a death carries a minimum mandatory sentence of 20 years in prison.
"The U.S. Attorney's Office is fighting the growing availability of heroin and alerting the community that the problem is here and growing ever more deadly," Vance said. "The rising use of heroin is a public health crisis. It ruins lives and is killing our children. My office prosecutes heroin dealers. Those who sell heroin that causes a death are looking at a mandatory 20-year sentence in federal prison," she said.
Another Birmingham man arrested in the September roundup also was charged with selling heroin that resulted in a death. Harold Donnell Mims, 31, pleaded guilty in February to selling heroin that caused the death of a 28-year-old Tuscaloosa resident. Mims is scheduled for sentencing May 27.
The two overdose deaths Foster and Mims are charged with causing occurred at the same Tuscaloosa apartment complex within the span of one month in 2013.
As of today, 39 of the 49 people indicted in the 2013 sweep have pled guilty and 36 have been sentenced. The sentences have ranged from probation for first-time offenders to 12 1/2 years for the dealers who qualify as career offenders under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.
Law enforcement agencies working with DEA in the months-long investigation leading to the 2013 indictments and arrests included the Hoover, Pelham, Gardendale, Vestavia Hills, Tuscaloosa, Hueytown, Bessemer and Pleasant Grove police departments, Marshall County Drug Task Force, Gulf Coast HIDTA Task Force, Alabama Beverage Control Board, Alabama Bureau of Investigation, Jefferson and Shelby County sheriff's offices, and district attorney's offices for Jefferson, Shelby and Tuscaloosa counties and the Bessemer Cutoff. Assistant U.S. Attorney L. James Weil Jr. is prosecuting the cases.
The public is reminded that an indictment contain only charges. Defendants are presumed innocent and it is the government's responsibility to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.
Former Detroit Man Pleads Guilty to Selling Heroin on Charleston's East EndRead the Press Release
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – A man who sold heroin on Charleston’s East End pleaded guilty today in federal court in Charleston, announced U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin. Darrell Shawton Collins, 36, originally from Detroit, Michigan, faces up to 20 years in prison for heroin distribution. In December of 2013, detectives with the Charleston Police Department Special Enforcement Unit used a confidential informant to buy heroin from Collins. The drug deal took place at the corner of Washington Street East and Thompson Street. At the time of the drug deal, Collins was on federal supervised release for a prior drug trafficking offense. His supervised release was revoked today following his guilty plea. Sentencing is scheduled for August 14, 2014.
The Charleston Police Department conducted the investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer Rada is in charge of the prosecution.
This case is being prosecuted as part of an ongoing effort led by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia to combat the illicit sale and misuse of 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 opiate painkillers and heroin in communities across the Southern District.
Former Clovis Teacher Sentenced to 38 Years in Prison for Producing Child PornographyRead the Press Release
FRESNO, Calif. — Senior United States District Judge Anthony W. Ishii sentenced former Clovis Unified School District teacher Neng Yang, 46, of Clovis, today to 38 years in prison for sexual exploitation of a minor, United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced. On March 24, 2014, Yang pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor.
According to court documents, Yang used an I-Phone and a computer to record and store videos depicting the sexual abuse of a minor on multiple occasions in January of 2012. At the time, the minor was under 12 years of age. The incidents involved sexual contact between the minor and Yang and took place while the minor was under Yang’s supervisory control. Yang was charged with four counts of producing child pornography and has been in federal custody since January 27, 2012.
US Attorney Wagner stated: “Law enforcement at all levels worked together to achieve today’s result. This office will continue to vigorously prosecute those who target innocent and vulnerable victims for sexual exploitation.”
“The unconscionable acts perpetrated by a trusted teacher on a youngster under the age of 12, in addition to producing child pornography, are crimes that must be addressed with a lengthy prison sentence. Clovis Police detectives, some with young children of their own, worked tirelessly to gather evidence and put together a solid case to keep Neng Yang locked up and away from innocent children. This man should never be in a position to victimize a child like this again,” said Clovis Police Chief Matt Basgall.
“For most people, criminal acts against children are impossible to comprehend,” said Mike Prado, resident agent in charge of HSI Fresno. “For a child who has been tricked and sexually exploited by a trusted teacher — while at school — the physical and emotional scars will be with them forever. Thanks to a parent’s vigilance and outstanding law enforcement cooperation, this predator was apprehended before he could further abuse his position of trust to hurt other vulnerable children. As this sentence makes unmistakably clear, child sex predators will be caught, prosecuted, and meted the justice they deserve for their despicable actions.”
This case was the product of an investigation by the Central California Internet Crimes Against Children Task force, specifically the Clovis Police Department and the Fresno U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). Assistant United States Attorney Brian W. Enos prosecuted the case.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the United States Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood Marshals, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute those who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc. Click on the “resources” tab for information about Internet safety.
Florida Resident Sentenced in Connection with International Lottery Scheme That Defrauded Elderly AmericansRead the Press Release
Charmaine Anne King was sentenced yesterday in connection with her role in a fraudulent international lottery scheme that targeted U.S. citizens, the Justice Department announced. King was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge K. Michael Moore in Miami to serve 57 months in prison and five years of supervised release. A hearing on restitution has been scheduled for June 5, 2014. King was convicted by a federal jury in Miami on Feb. 5, 2014, of one count of conspiracy, three counts of mail fraud, and two counts of wire fraud.
King’s prosecution is part of the Department of Justice’s effort, working with federal and local law enforcement, to combat international lottery fraud schemes preying on American citizens. According to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Americans have lost tens of millions of dollars to fraudulent foreign lotteries.
“International lottery fraudsters have cheated Americans out of tens of millions of dollars,” said Wifredo Ferrer, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida. “In this particular scheme, the fraudsters convinced the victims to deposit counterfeit checks into their bank accounts in order to pay fees to collect their purported lottery winnings. After the victims sent the money to King, the counterfeit cashier’s checks bounced and they lost their money. Such fraud will not be tolerated. Together with federal and local law enforcement, we are working to put an end to this type of scheme.”
“The Justice Department will continue to hold criminals accountable for fraudulent lottery schemes,” said Stuart F. Delery, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “This illegal conduct creates significant financial harm to people throughout the country, and we will continue to investigate and prosecute such crime, and bring those responsible to justice.”
A federal grand jury in Miami returned an indictment against King and co-conspirator Althea Angela Peart on Oct. 31, 2013. Judge Moore adopted a report and recommendation accepting Peart’s guilty plea on Feb. 4, 2014, and on March 20, 2014, he sentenced Peart to 33 months’ incarceration. As part of her plea agreement, Peart acknowledged that a co-conspirator, believed to be located in Canada, mailed letters to elderly victims in the United States falsely informing the victims that they had won more than a million dollars in a lottery. These letters purported to be from an actual sweepstakes company in the United States.
The evidence at King’s trial showed that a co-conspirator sent fraudulent lottery letters to the victims and included counterfeit cashier’s checks made out to the victims for thousands of dollars. These letters instructed victims to call “claims agents” who were actually co-conspirators, and when the victims called the purported claims agents, the agents informed the victims that they had to pay several thousand dollars in fees in order to collect their purported lottery winnings. The claims agents told the victims to deposit the cashier’s checks in the victims’ bank accounts in order to purportedly cover the money they had to pay. The co-conspirators instructed the victims on how to send and wire this money to King and others. The cashier’s checks that victims received from the fraudulent lottery had no value. The evidence demonstrated that after the victims sent money to King, the counterfeit cashier’s checks bounced. Victims never received any lottery winnings.
Evidence presented at trial showed that King kept a percentage of the money she received from victims and sent the rest of the money to a co-conspirator. King continued to participate in this scheme even after the U.S. Postal Inspection Service verbally informed her that she was participating in unlawful activity, and after she later signed a Cease and Desist Order requiring that she stop receiving money from victims of fraud. The order that King signed described the lottery related activity that the U.S. Postal Inspection Service explained was unlawful.
Assistant Attorney General Delery commended the investigative efforts of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Homeland Security Investigations, and the U.S. Marshals Service. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant Director Jeffrey Steger and Trial Attorney Kathryn Drenning with the Department of Justice’s Civil Division, Consumer Protection Branch.
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.
Five Men Indicted for Producing and Distributing Counterfeit Government Identification DocumentsRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM -- A federal grand jury today indicted five men in connection with the production and distribution of counterfeit Social Security and Permanent Resident Alien cards in three Alabama counties, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent in Charge Raymond R. Parmer Jr.
The men are charged in three separate indictments filed in U.S. District Court.
PEDRO MONTANEZ-MENDEZ, 39, is charged with providing counterfeit Social Security and Permanent Resident cards to three people in Calhoun County between Feb. 18 and March 26. Montanez-Mendez also is charged with illegally re-entering the United States after previously having been deported.
AMANCIO GONZALEZ-PEREZ, 44, of Tuscaloosa, is charged with transferring counterfeit Social Security and Permanent Resident cards to two individuals in Tuscaloosa on Feb. 5. He is charged with producing and transferring Social Security and Resident cards to a third individual on Feb. 26 in Tuscaloosa, and another set to a fourth individual in March.
Gonzalez-Perez and a co-defendant, ROBERTO ZAMUDIO-SANCHEZ, 25, of Tuscaloosa, face one count of possessing document-making implements on April 23, with the intent to produce counterfeit identification documents.
A third indictment charges EUTIQUIO FRANCO-IBARRA, 25, and JUAN BENITEZ-PACHECO, 33, both of Albertville, with counterfeiting the government identification documents in Marshal County.
Franco-Ibarra is charged with producing, and Benitez-Pacheco with transferring, counterfeit Social Security and Permanent Resident cards to an individual in Marshal County on Feb. 4.
Franco-Ibarra also is charged with transferring a false Social Security card to a second individual on Feb. 27, and Benitez-Pacheco is charged with providing both a Social Security and a Permanent Resident card to a third individual on March 27. Both men are charged with possessing document-making implements on April 22.
Benitez-Pacheco also is charged with illegally re-entering the United States after previously having been deported.
Homeland Security Investigations investigated the cases, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Melissa K. Atwood is prosecuting.
The public is reminded that an indictment contains only charges. It is the government's responsibility to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.
Five Indicted for Conspiracy to Defraud Gulf Oil Spill FundRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM -- A federal grand jury today indicted five people in connection to a family run scheme to defraud the claims fund established by British Petroleum for victims of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance and FBI Special Agent in Charge Richard D. Schwein Jr.
MARCELLA TRUSS, 53, her husband, MARTEE DAVIS, 41, both of Grand Bay, Ala.; ROBERT TRUSS III, 26, Marcella Truss' son, of Houston; HOWARD LENARD CARROWAY, 42, Marcella Truss' brother, of Mobile; and CEDRIC DION RAVIZEE, 37, of Birmingham; all are charged with conspiring to commit wire and mail fraud in order to make false claims of more than $2.4 million from the Gulf Coast Claims Facility. Davis recruited Ravizee into the scheme, according to the indictment. BP, which owned the Macondo Oil Well where the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded, established the GCCF in June 2010 to administer and settle claims made against the company by individuals or business for losses, damages or other costs resulting from the massive oil spill.
"This indictment, coming the same week as a series of deadly and destructive tornadoes in Alabama, should be a strong warning to anyone who considers taking advantage of a disaster to fraudulently enrich themselves that we watch closely for this kind of crime," Vance said. "We place a high priority on the prompt investigation and prosecution of fraud related to natural and man-made disasters to ensure that funds available to help victims of those tragedies do not fall into the hands of criminals."
“Disasters bring out the best in people, who volunteer to help with clean-up or make charitable donations. Sadly, disasters can also bring out the worst in people, like scam artists," Schwein said. "I encourage anyone with information about possible disaster fraud to contact the Disaster Fraud Hotline at 866-720-5721, or the Disaster Fraud e-mail at [email protected]. You can also report criminal activity to us at 1-800-CALL-FBI.”
The five people charged with the conspiracy to defraud the oil-spill fund also face various other charges in the 60-count indictment, including two counts of obstruction of justice against Carroway. The indictment charges that Carroway tried to persuade two people to call the U.S. Attorney's Office to provide false information, intending to hinder communication with prosecutors about the possible commission of a felony offense.
In the Northern District of Alabama, 15 other people have been charged and pleaded guilty since April 2013 to aiding and abetting the scheme to defraud the GCCF outlined in today’s indictment. Those 15 people were recruited by others to provide personal information that was used to file false claims. They then received claim payments and provided a portion of the payments to those who recruited them, according to the overt acts outlined in today's indictment and court records in the other cases.
Today's indictment charges Marcella and Robert Truss, Davis, Carroway and Ravizee as the recruiters. Many of the multiple wire and mail fraud counts against those five defendants are based on their conduct with the 15 people who have pleaded guilty to charges of mail or wire fraud, conspiracy to commit mail or wire fraud or to engaging in prohibited monetary transactions.
Marcella Truss faces 31 wire fraud and one mail fraud count, two aggravated identity theft counts and one money-laundering count. Davis faces three wire fraud counts, two aggravated identity theft counts and two money-laundering counts. Robert Truss faces three wire fraud counts, two aggravated identity theft counts and two money-laundering counts. Carroway faces five wire fraud counts, two aggravated identity theft counts and the two obstruction counts. Ravizee faces two wire fraud counts.
According to the indictment, the GCCF paid about $1.4 million on the scheme's fraudulent claims, all made between Aug. 27, 2010, and Dec. 5, 2011. All the claims falsely stated that the individual had worked for a company called Built by Request and had lost wages because of the Deepwater Horizon incident.
Thirty-one of the BBR claims were filed by computer from an Internet Protocol address in Center Point, according to the indictment. BBR was a company registered with the State of Alabama by Marcella Truss. She and Davis lived in Center Point during the period relevant to this indictment.
The indictment charges that all five defendants recruited individuals to provide personal identification information and pose as claimants with the GCCF. Marcella Truss used the claimants' identification information and filed the fraudulent claims, and Robert Truss and Ravizee helped claimants open bank accounts for receiving claim funds, according to the charges.
All five defendants accompanied claimants to banks to obtain proceeds from the claim funds, and all five received portions of the false claims that were paid, according to the indictment.
The maximum penalty for each of the following counts charged is: conspiracy, five years in prison and $250,000 fine; wire fraud, 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine; mail fraud, 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine; aggravated identity theft, two years in prison added to any sentence imposed for the underlying felony; and obstruction of justice, 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
The money-laundering charge against Davis carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a maximum fine of $500,000 or twice the value of the money involved in the crime, whichever is greater.
The money-laundering charge against Marcella and Robert Truss carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and $250,000 fine.
The FBI investigated this case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Henry Cornelius is prosecuting.
The public is reminded that an indictment contains only charges. Defendants are presumed innocent and it is the government's responsibility to prove guilt beyond a shadow of a doubt at trial.Felon on Supervised Release Charged with Illegally Possessing Gun and AmmoRead the Press Release
PITTSBURGH – A Pittsburgh resident has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh on a charge of violating federal firearms laws, United States Attorney David J. Hickton announced today.
The one-count indictment named Jason, T. Korey, 31, as the sole defendant.
According to the indictment and other court records, on April 17, 2014, while on federal supervised release for a prior felony conviction, Jason Korey was in possession of a firearm and ammunition.
The law provides for a maximum total sentence of not more than 10 years in prison, a fine of $250,000 or both. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed would be based upon the seriousness of the offense and the prior criminal history of the defendant.
Assistant United States Attorney Barbara K. Doolittle is prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.
The United States Probation Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives conducted the investigation leading to the indictment in this case.
An indictment is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Felon Charged with Illegally Possessing PistolRead the Press Release
PITTSBURGH – A Pittsburgh man has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh on a charge of violating federal firearms laws, United States Attorney David J. Hickton announced today.
The one-count indictment, returned on April 29, named Diontai L. Moore, 30, as the sole defendant.
According to the indictment, on or about Aug. 25, 2013, Moore, being a convicted felon, illegally possessed a FEG, model PA-63, 9mm short caliber pistol. Federal law prohibits anyone who has been convicted of a crime punishable by a term of imprisonment exceeding one year from possessing a firearm or ammunition.
The law provides for a minimum sentence of 15 years in prison to a maximum of life, a fine of $250,000, or both. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed would be based upon the seriousness of the offense and the prior criminal history of the defendant.
Assistant United States Attorney Barbara K. Doolittle of the United States Attorney’s Office is prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police conducted the investigation leading to the indictment of Moore.
An indictment is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Federal Grand Jury Indicts North Carolina Man for Discharging A Handgun Near J.e. Robbins Elementary SchoolRead the Press Release
Charleston, W.Va. – A 20-year-old Charlotte, North Carolina man was indicted today by a federal grand jury in Charleston. According to the three-count indictment, on March 25, 2014, Aric Adams, Jr. is alleged to have possessed and discharged a handgun within 1000 feet of J.E. Robins Elementary School, on Charleston’s West Side. The indictment further alleges that Adams was prohibited from possessing the handgun because he is an unlawful user of a controlled substance. Adams allegedly discharged eight rounds from the handgun within 1000 feet of J.E. Robins school shortly after students were released at the end of the school day. Adams was arrested on April 4, 2014 on a federal criminal complaint and is detained without bond pending trial.
If convicted, Adams faces up to 20 years imprisonment and up to $750,000.00 in fines.
The investigation was conducted by the Charleston Police Department.
Note: The charges contained in the indictment are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Fairfax Tax Return Preparer Convicted of Tax and Wire FraudRead the Press Release
Defendant Filed False Income Tax Returns in Names of Clients and Pocketed the Refunds
ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Thuy Tien Le, 40, of Sterling, Va., pleaded guilty today to aiding in the preparation of false income tax returns and to wire fraud, in connection with her operation of a tax return preparation business called T2 Advantage Services, LLC.
Dana J. Boente, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; and Thomas J. Kelly, Special Agent in Charge, Washington, D.C. Field Office, IRS-Criminal Investigation, made the announcement after the plea was accepted by U.S. District Judge Claude M. Hilton.
Le faces a maximum penalty of three years in prison on the tax charge and 20 years in prison on the wire fraud charge when she is sentenced on July 18, 2014.
In a statement of facts filed with her plea agreement, Le admitted that from 2005 through 2013, she owned T2 Advantage Services, LLC, a tax return preparation business she operated from her home in Fairfax, Va. Le prepared federal income tax returns for her clients and led them to believe she had electronically filed legitimate returns with the IRS. Le admitted, however, that prior to filing, she altered the returns by adding false itemized deductions in order to generate large income tax refunds. Le admitted that she prepared and filed false income tax returns in this manner for at least 50 clients, without their knowledge or consent, and that she caused the fraudulently generated income tax refunds to be deposited electronically into bank accounts she controlled. She further admitted that she caused $454,455 in losses to the IRS.
This case was investigated by IRS Criminal Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul J. Nathanson is prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.justice.gov/usao/vae. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.vaed.uscourts.gov or on https://pcl.uscourts.gov.FBI Arrests Moorpark Man in ‘Sextortion’ Case That Targeted Fans of Teen Music Acts Such as One Direction and Justin BieberRead the Press Release
LOS ANGELES – A Moorpark man accused of using social networking websites to trick and extort more than a dozen girls and boys into sending him naked photos and videos was arrested today on federal child pornography charges.
Jeremy Brendan Sears, 23, was arrested this morning without incident by the Ventura Sexual Assault Felony Enforcement Task Force (the Ventura S.A.F.E. Team), which is made up of agents and officers with the FBI and Ventura County Sheriff's Office.
Sears, who was named in a two-count criminal complaint filed yesterday, made his initial appearance this afternoon in United States District Court.
According to the affidavit in support of the complaint, Sears approached many of his victims after finding them active in social-networking groups for fans of music acts popular with young teenagers, such as Justin Bieber or One Direction. Sears set up fake profiles on Facebook, Meetme, and other social networking websites that appeared to be from teenage boys and girls. Sears allegedly used the bogus profiles to communicate with real-life teenagers, sometimes beginning online romantic relationships with the real-life teens and then encouraging them to send him sexually explicit videos and photos of themselves.
On other occasions, Sears threatened to harm the real-life teens or their loved-ones unless they sent him naked images. In some cases, after receiving the images of the underage victims, Sears would distribute those images, along with the victims’ names and personal information, to other members of his online social networking groups or to publicly accessible websites. In one case, Sears gained access to a victim’s Facebook account and posted naked photos of her on her own profile page, where they could be seen by her friends and schoolmates. Once Sears had photos of a victim, he commonly used the threat of further harassment and distribution to extort more images.
The federal criminal complaint unsealed at Sears’ court appearance this afternoon charges him with two counts of producing child pornography. During today’s hearing, United States Magistrate Judge Alka Sagar ordered Sears detained (held without bond) and scheduled an arraignment for May 20. Sears was not asked to enter a plea.
According to the affidavit, Sears is also the subject of an ongoing investigation by the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office. The Ventura County District Attorney’s Office last year charged Sears for targeting a Ventura County teenage boy by claiming to be a teenage girl, encouraging the boy to send him naked images, and then insisting that they meet in a park so that he could take the boy to a non-existent girl. Sears was arrested and released on bail in that case in August, but investigators recently determined that he continued to solicit and receive naked images from at least one teenager after that time, according to the affidavit.
Investigators believe that Sears victimized several dozen teenagers — many in Southern California, and some are believed to be overseas — but authorities have not identified all of the victims. Anyone who believes they may have been a victim in this case should contact the FBI in Ventura at (805) 642-3995 or the Ventura County Sheriff's Department at (805) 654-9511.
A criminal complaint contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent until and unless proven guilty in court.
The charge of producing child pornography carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in federal prison and a statutory maximum penalty of 30 years.
The investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office.
Release No. 14-053
Downtown Pittsburgh Convenience Store Owners Defrauded Food Stamp ProgramRead the Press Release
PITTSBURGH – The owners of a local convenience store pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and food stamp fraud, United States Attorney David J. Hickton announced today.
Hadi and Wesam Ibrahim, brothers and owners and operators of City News & Arcade on Wood Street, Pittsburgh, Pa., each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy before Senior United States District Judge Maurice B. Cohill. The defendants also executed civil settlement agreements for violations of the False Claims Act, and agreed to pay to the United States the sum of $199,605.38.
In connection with the guilty plea, the court was advised that City News & Arcade participated in the United States Department of Agriculture's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as the food stamp program. Food stamp recipients could purchase eligible food items using food stamp benefit cards at City News & Arcade. As a condition of participation in the food stamp program, the defendants certified that they would comply with all rules and regulations of the program and were aware that program rules strictly prohibited the exchange of food stamp benefits for cash and/or for ineligible items. Despite this knowledge, on multiple occasions, the defendants exchanged food stamp benefits with customers in exchange for cash on a discounted basis, usually giving the customers only .50 cents on the dollar for their food stamp benefits. The defendants also permitted food stamp customers to purchase ineligible non- food items, such as cigarettes, with food stamp benefits.
Judge Cohill scheduled sentencing for Aug. 14, 2014. The law provides for a total sentence of five years in prison, a fine of $250,000, or both for each defendant. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed is based upon the seriousness of the offense and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendants.
Pending sentencing, the court released the defendants on bond.
Assistant United States Attorney Tonya Sulia Goodman is prosecuting these cases on behalf of the government. Assistant United States Attorney Colin Callahan is litigating the cases on behalf of the Affirmative Civil Enforcement Section of the United States Attorney's Office.
The Office of the Inspector General for the United States Department of Agriculture and the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations conducted the investigation that led to the prosecution of the Ibrahim brothers.
Detroit-Area Physical Therapist, Physical Therapy Assistant and Unlicensed <br /> Doctor Convicted in $14.9 Million Medicare Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
A federal jury in Detroit today convicted a physical therapist, physical therapy assistant and unlicensed doctor for their participation in a nearly $15 million Medicare fraud scheme.Acting Assistant Attorney General David A. O’Neil of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Barbara L. McQuade of the Eastern District of Michigan, Special Agent in Charge Paul M. Abbate of the FBI’s Detroit Field Office and Special Agent in Charge Lamont Pugh III of the Detroit Office of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General’s (HHS-OIG) Office of Investigations made the announcement.
Shahzad Mirza, 43, a physical therapist; Jigar Patel, 30, a physical therapy assistant; and Srinivas Reddy, 38, a foreign medical school graduate without a license to practice medicine were each found guilty of one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud in connection with a scheme perpetrated from approximately July 2008 through September 2011 at Detroit area companies Physicians Choice Home Health Care LLC (Physicians Choice), Quantum Home Care Inc. (Quantum), First Care Home Health Care LLC (First Care), Moonlite Home Care Inc. (Moonlite) and Phoenix Visiting Physicians. In addition, Mirza and Patel were each found guilty of two counts of health care fraud in connection with the submission of false claims to Medicare for home health services, and Reddy was found guilty of three counts of health care fraud in connection with the submission of false claims to Medicare for home health services and physician home visits. Patel was found guilty of one count of money laundering in connection with his laundering of the proceeds of the fraud through his company MI Healthcare Staffing.
The defendants were charged in a superseding indictment returned Feb. 6, 2012. Three other individuals charged in the indictment remain fugitives.
According to evidence presented at trial, Physicians Choice, Quantum, First Care and Moonlite operated a fraudulent scheme to bill Medicare for home health care services that were never provided. The home health care companies paid kickbacks to recruiters who in turn paid Medicare beneficiaries cash and promised them access to narcotic prescriptions. The conspirators created the company Phoenix Visiting Physicians, which employed unlicensed individuals, including Reddy, to visit patients and provide them with narcotic prescriptions as well as obtain the information necessary to fill out paperwork to refer them for medically unnecessary home health care services.
Evidence presented at trial showed that beneficiaries pre-signed medical paperwork that was provided to Patel and other physical therapist assistants to fill in with false information purporting to show that the care was provided, when it was not. Patel, registered physical therapist Mirza and others would sign this paperwork as though they had provided services. In the course of the conspiracy, Patel incorporated his own staffing company, MI Healthcare Staffing, through which he laundered proceeds of the fraud from home health care companies and a shell company owned and operated by his co-conspirators.
Physicians Choice and the related companies were paid nearly $15 million in the course of the conspiracy.
Sentencing for all three defendants has not yet been scheduled.
The investigation was led by the FBI and HHS-OIG, and was brought by the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, a joint effort of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan. The case was prosecuted by Assistant Chief Catherine K. Dick and Trial Attorneys Matthew C. Thuesen and Rohan A. Virginkar of the Fraud Section.
Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, now operating in nine cities across the country, has charged more than 1,700 defendants who have collectively billed the Medicare program for more than $5.5 billion. In addition, HHS’s Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with HHS-OIG, is taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.
To learn more about the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT), go to www.stopmedicarefraud.gov.
Corrections Officer Arrested on Federal Bribery Charge, Accused of Taking Cash to Smuggle Contraband into FacilitySecond Officer Was Arrested Last Week in Related CaseRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON - Lenard Fleming, 33, a corrections officer with the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), has been arrested and charged with bribery following an undercover FBI investigation in which he allegedly accepted money for smuggling contraband into the District of Columbia’s Correctional Treatment Facility.
The charge was announced by U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr.; Valerie Parlave, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office; and Thomas N. Faust, Director of the District of Columbia Department of Corrections.
Fleming was arrested today by the FBI and appeared this afternoon in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. He pled not guilty and was released on personal recognizance pending a hearing on May 14, 2014.
Fleming had worked for CCA as a corrections officer at the Correctional Treatment Facility. CCA, a private company, has a contract to provide services to the D.C. Jail.
The arrest came nine days after another CCA corrections officer, Darren Malry, 51, was apprehended and charged with bribery in a related investigation. Malry also worked for CCA at the Correctional Treatment Facility. He has pled not guilty to the charge.
According to the charging documents that were filed today, on Jan. 5, 2014, Fleming met with an undercover FBI agent in the parking lot of a shopping center in Capitol Heights, Md. The undercover agent gave Fleming a cellphone and cigarettes for Fleming to deliver to an inmate housed at the Correctional Treatment Facility. The undercover agent also provided Fleming with $750 in cash at that meeting, which was given in exchange for Fleming smuggling the contraband into the facility and delivering it to the inmate. The FBI recovered the contraband from the inmate shortly after Fleming gave the items to the inmate.
Fleming was terminated by CCA in February 2014 following a complaint that he was smuggling contraband into the facility for another inmate.
A criminal complaint is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed a violation of criminal laws. Every defendant is presumed innocent until, and unless, proven guilty.
The case is being investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office with assistance from the District of Columbia Department of Corrections Office of Investigative Services. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard DiZinno, of the Fraud and Public Corruption Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, with assistance from Assistant U.S. Attorneys Catherine K. Connelly and Allessandra Stewart, of the Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section.
14-103Connecticut Man Sentenced to More than 16 Years on Crack Cocaine ChargesRead the Press Release
Contact: David B. Joyce
Assistant United States Attorney
Tel: (207) 780-3257Portland, Maine: United States Attorney Thomas E. Delahanty II announced that
Markevin Faucette, 41, of Hartford, Connecticut, was sentenced today in United States District
Court by Judge D. Brock Hornby to more than 16 years in prison and 8 years of supervised
release for conspiracy to distribute cocaine base, that is, crack cocaine, and possession with
intent to distribute cocaine base. Faucette pleaded guilty to the charge on October 2, 2013.According to court records, on January 9, 2013, Faucette, Margoliz Velazquez, and
Amanda Rodriguez transported about 47 grams of cocaine base from Connecticut to Auburn,
Maine where it was seized by police. Based on that seizure and on other drug trips made
between Connecticut and Maine, Faucette was held responsible for over 500 grams of cocaine
base.Faucette received an enhanced sentence as a “career offender” because he had five prior
felony drug trafficking convictions in Connecticut, Virginia, and North Carolina.This case was investigated by the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency with assistance from
the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Lewiston, Auburn, and Lisbon
Police Departments.Complaints Filed, Warrants Served to Stop Sales of Synthetic MarijuanaRead the Press Release
1125 Chapline Street, Federal Building, Suite 3000 ● Wheeling, WV 26003
(304) 234-0100 ● Contact: Chris Zumpetta-Parr, Public Affairs SpecialistMORGANTOWN, WEST VIRGINIA – Civil actions have been filed against two Morgantown businesses that are alleged to have made millions of dollars by selling large quantities of synthetic marijuana.
United States Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld, II, was joined by other law enforcement leaders on Wednesday morning in announcing the action that was taken against businesses in Morgantown, West Virginia known as Mid-Nite Adult and the X-Hale Hookah Lounge. Federal search warrants were executed at each of the businesses on Tuesday afternoon, and on Wednesday morning Ihlenfeld filed civil complaints seeking to prevent X-Hale and Mid-Nite Adult from selling synthetic marijuana. The civil actions also seek to seize certain assets from the entities, including the business licenses of each as well as all inventory containing a controlled substance or a controlled substance analogue.
X-Hale is alleged to be owned and operated by Nicholas and Steven Graziano and is located at 218 Walnut Street, Morgantown, West Virginia. The business is incorporated under the name of Hookabuy, Inc., and was issued a business license by the State of West Virginia on July 20, 2010.
Mid-Nite Adult is alleged to be owned and operated by Daniel and Sally Kocan and is located at 275 Spruce Street in Morgantown. The business is incorporated under the name of Pit-ERI, LLC, and was issued a business license by the State of West Virginia on April 29, 2009.
The civil actions allege that both entities were selling significant amounts of synthetic marijuana, also known as synthetic cannabinoids. These are Schedule I controlled substances with similar effects as traditional marijuana. Synthetic cannabinoids are commonly packaged and labeled as “Spice”, “Herbal incense”, or “K2.” As part of the investigation, undercover controlled purchases were made from both businesses and then the substances acquired were submitted to the DEA’s Mid-Atlantic Laboratory for analysis.
It is alleged that Mid-Nite Adult generated approximately $3.2 million over a 20 month period from the sale of synthetic marijuana. X-Hale is alleged to have generated just over $1 million over the same time period for selling the same product. The owners of X-Hale also are alleged to have purchased automobiles with proceeds from its enterprise, including a 2011 BMW 750I for $95,900.
In addition to searching Mid-Nite Adult and X-Hale, agents also searched the Morgantown business known as Dahlia’s on Walnut. Searches were conducted of the homes of the owners of the businesses, and bank accounts of the businesses and their owners were seized.
Ihlenfeld was joined in making the announcement on Wednesday by Chief Ed Preston of the Morgantown Police Department, Monongalia County Sheriff Al Kisner, and Jason Gandee, Supervisory Special Agent with Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigations.
“There is a common misperception that synthetic marijuana is safe to smoke,” said Ihlenfeld. “In fact the opposite is true, as the substance is unpredictably dangerous and can cause serious medical problems, including excessive heart rate, kidney failure, seizures, and psychoses. And because every batch is different, and because there is no regulation or oversight, there’s no way for a user to know what effect it will have until it’s too late.”
“Synthetic marijuana is a public health risk, and the action taken by law enforcement this week provides us with an excellent opportunity to educate the public about the harm that it can cause,” said Chief Preston.
As a result of the searches on Tuesday evidence was recovered and is being processed by the Mon Valley Drug Task Force, which is leading the investigation. The Task Force consists of officers and agents from the Morgantown Police Department, the Monongalia County Sheriff’s Department, and the DEA. Agents from Internal Revenue Service- Criminal Investigations, and the Three Rivers Drug Task Force are also assisting with the matter. Officers from the Greater Harrison County Drug and Violent Crime Task Force assisted with the execution of the search warrants.
According to Ihlenfeld, no criminal charges have been filed, and the investigation is ongoing.
Chicago Man Sentenced to 27 Months in Prison for Threatening Police Officers and Others Before and After 2008 Cougar KillingRead the Press Release
CHICAGO — A Chicago man was sentenced today to more than two years in federal prison for mailing more than 90 threatening and/or harassing letters to Chicago police officers, other government and law enforcement officials, private individuals, schools, and religious institutions in the Chicago area between November 2003 and December 2012. The defendant, RICHARD HYERCZYK, had pleaded guilty in January to one count of mailing a threatening communication.
Hyerczyk, 54, of Chicago’s Garfield Ridge neighborhood, was ordered to begin a 27- month prison term on July 29, followed by three years on supervised release, and he was fined $10,000 by U.S. District Judge Gary Feinerman. In imposing the sentence, the judge cited the “cold-blooded nature of the threats and the fear, harm, and apprehension that was created by these threats.”
When he was charged in January, prosecutors said Hyerczyk had been cooperative in the investigation and was not believed to be a danger to the community or a risk of flight. The prosecution followed a lengthy investigation by the FBI-led Chicago Joint Terrorism Task Force.
In pleading guilty, Hyerczyk admitted mailing a letter on April 21, 2008, that threatened to kill Chicago Police Department officers and members of their families. That letter followed local news media reports on April 15, 2008, that Chicago police officers had shot and killed a cougar that was located on the city’s north side. Hyerczyk admitted that he drafted letters containing threats to kill and commit violence against CPD officers and members of their families.
The plea agreement detailed one such letter, which began with the salutation, “Dear Cougar Killers (aka Chicago PIG Police),” and included the following threatening messages: “Prepare to DIE like the Cougar you killed. On May 4th at your St. Jude Memorial March several PIGS will be shot by snipers.”; “BURN down the Daley house in Michigan.”; and “Kill any Police Officer, where ever they are found, like they killed the Cougar.”
Hyerczyk admitted that he drafted a second letter, which contained a title that referenced a severely injured former Chicago police officer by name and referred to the officer as the “PARALIZED [sic] PIG,” and which title contained the phrase “St. Jude Memorial PIG March.” This second letter threatened that: “A police officer will be SHOT DEAD, like they shot the cougar, at the May 4th St. Jude Memorial PIG March.”; “A celebration of DEAD police officers. Ha ha ha ha you are all better off DEAD.”; and “When the PIGS are at the parade, we will be at their homes. You can=t guard every PIGS house...watch your young children.”
After drafting these letters, Hyerczyk printed multiple copies of each and placed them into envelopes bearing first class postage and addressed to, among others: a university in Orland Park; the same university’s office of graduate studies in Chicago; the same university’s English Department in Chicago; and a Chicago Police officer and executive officer of a Fraternal Order of Police lodge in Chicago.
Hyerczyk admitted that he mailed these letters knowing and intending that they would be interpreted as threatening by the intended victims, including Chicago Police officers and their families.
The Chicago Joint Terrorism Task Force began investigating the threatening letters in this case after they were first received in 2003. The investigation resulted in a federal search warrant being executed on Hyerczyk’s residence and automobile, as well as for his DNA, in January 2013. The JTTF is composed of special agents of the FBI, officers of the Chicago Police Department, and representatives from an additional 20 federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies.
The sentence was announced by Zachary T. Fardon, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Robert J. Holley, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The government was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christopher Veatch and Steven Dollear.
Chester County Couple Charged with Sex Trafficking of Two ChildrenRead the Press Release
PITTSBURGH - Two Chester County residents have been indicted by a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh on charges of conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking and sex trafficking of a child, United States Attorney David J. Hickton announced today.
The three-count superseding indictment, returned on April 29, named Rasul Abernathy, 32, and Poshauntamarin Walker, 35, formerly of Coatesville, Pa. as the defendants.
According to the superseding indictment, beginning in at least July of 2012, and continuing through on or about March 1, 2013, Abernathy and Walker did knowingly conspire to recruit for sex trafficking and did in fact traffic a male and female minor, both under the age of 18 years, in Pittsburgh for commercial sex acts.
The law provides for a maximum total sentence of life in prison, a fine of $750,000 or both. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed would be based upon the seriousness of the offenses and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendants.
Assistant United States Attorney Jessica Lieber Smolar is prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Allegheny County Police Department conducted the investigation leading to the indictment in this case.
An indictment is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
California Men Sentenced to Prison for Transporting Minor Girls from California to Nevada to Work as ProstitutesRead the Press Release
LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Two men were sentenced to prison today for transporting minor girls from the northern California area to Las Vegas, Nev., in 2013 to work as prostitutes, announced Daniel G. Bogden, United States Attorney for the District of Nevada.
In separate unrelated cases, Andrew West, 27, of Hayward, Calif., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge James C. Mahan to eight years in prison and 20 years of supervised release. West pleaded guilty in January to one count of transportation of a minor for prostitution. Ray Darnell Webb, 20, also of Hayward, Calif., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Kent J. Dawson to eight years in prison and 10 years of supervised release. Webb pleaded guilty in January to one count of coercion and enticement. Both men will also have to register as sex offenders when they are released from prison.
“Transporting minors across state lines to work as prostitutes is a federal felony crime with serious penalties,” said U.S. Attorney Bogden. “We are working with our federal, state and local law enforcement and community partners to ensure that the persons who commit these types of crimes are prosecuted.”
According to the court records in West’s case, on May 3, 2013, West and a 16-year-old girl victim and others, traveled in several vehicles from San Jose, Calif., to Las Vegas. The next day, West and the 16-year-old girl, and another male, checked into a motel on the Boulder Highway. West told the girl to make money (by committing sex acts) to pay for the room. The girl walked the Boulder Highway in search of dates, and solicited separate dates with four men who she took back to the motel room. The girl earned a total of $260, part of which was provided to West after each date. The girl was arrested on May 4, 2013, when she attempted to solicit a date from an undercover Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Officer in the motel parking lot.
According to the court records in Webb’s case, in early 2013, Webb and a co-defendant, Seagram Miller, met one of the victims, a 12-year-old female, in Oakland, Calif. where she was working as a prostitute. Shortly thereafter, the 12-year-old began working as a prostitute for Webb and Miller, and provided the money she made working as a prostitute to them. In about April 2013, Miller met a 16-year-old female on Facebook, and she also began working as a prostitute for Miller and Webb. In April 2013, Miller, Webb, and the two minor girls, decided to travel to Las Vegas to make money. Before leaving, Webb and the 16-year-old girl posted an advertisement on MyRedbook.com so that they would have dates lined up when they arrived in Las Vegas. The advertisement contained photographs of the 16-year-old. On April 29, 2013, Webb, Miller, and the two minor girls drove from Oakland to Las Vegas and stayed in a rented hotel room on Las Vegas Boulevard. Both girls worked as prostitutes on April 30 and in early May.
Miller also pleaded guilty and is scheduled to be sentenced on May 20, 2014.
The cases were investigated the FBI and Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, as part of the Innocence Lost Task Force. The cases are being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Nicholas D. Dickinson and Phillip N. Smith, Jr.The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood (PSC), 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, PSC 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 PSC, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc.California Banker Charged with Helping U.S. Taxpayers Conceal Secret Israeli Bank AccountsRead the Press Release
Shokrollah Baravarian, of Beverly Hills, California, was charged today in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California with conspiracy to defraud the United States, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced.
According to the indictment, Baravarian, a former senior vice president at the Los Angeles branch of a bank headquartered in Tel Aviv, Israel, conspired to conceal the existence of undeclared accounts owned and controlled by U.S. customers in Israel. The indictment alleges that these accounts were concealed from the IRS by opening them under pseudonyms, code names and the names of nominee entities set up in the British Virgin Islands and the island of Nevis.
“This charge results from an ongoing and extensive investigation into the use of undeclared bank accounts in Israel, and demonstrates the department’s determination to find and prosecute those who help U.S. taxpayers evade taxes through offshore accounts located anywhere in the world,” said Deputy Attorney General James M. Cole.
“IRS-Criminal Investigation and Tax Division prosecutors have been investigating the use of undeclared bank accounts globally, and charges have been brought against not only the U.S. taxpayers with undeclared Israeli bank accounts but also those who facilitate the hiding of assets and income abroad,” said Assistant Attorney General Kathryn Keneally for the Tax Division. “Whether it be Israel, Switzerland, the Caribbean or elsewhere, the Justice Department is finding the hiding places and is committed to prosecuting tax cheats.”
“The defendant assisted others to hide the true ownership of offshore bank accounts through the use of code names and nominee entities,” said Chief of IRS-Criminal Investigation Richard Weber. “Our special agents unraveled the complex financial transactions used to disguise the funds in the undeclared accounts. Those who help others commit tax evasion risk prosecution and substantial monetary penalties.”
The indictment further alleges that Baravarian assisted U.S. customers in secretly accessing the funds in their undeclared accounts by obtaining back-to-back loans from the Los Angeles branch of the bank. According to the indictment, a back-to-back loan was a loan that was secured by funds in an undeclared account in Israel and issued by the Los Angeles branch to a U.S. customer. Baravarian is alleged to have helped conceal the fact that U.S. customers were using their own funds as collateral by purposely not keeping copies of loan-related documents in the files at the Los Angeles branch. These documents included Israeli account information and pledge agreements used to secure the loans. As detailed in the indictment, some U.S. customers obtained back-to-back loans from the Los Angeles branch by transferring funds to Israel from other foreign countries, including Switzerland and China.
The indictment further alleges that a banker in Israel would periodically travel to Los Angeles and meet with U.S. customers to discuss their account statements. Prior to making these trips, the banker would redact the names of the U.S. customers reflected on the account statements.
Baravarian is the latest in a series of defendants charged in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California with conspiring to defraud the United States in connection with using undeclared bank accounts in Israel to obtain back-to-back loans in the United States.
U.S. citizens and residents who have an interest in, or signature or other authority over, a financial account in a foreign country with assets in excess of $10,000 are required to disclose the existence of such account on Schedule B, Part III, of their individual income tax returns and on a Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Reports filed with the U.S. Treasury.
If convicted, Baravarian faces a potential maximum prison term of five years and a maximum fine of $250,000. The charge contained in the indictment is only an allegation. The defendant is presumed innocent and it is the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
The case was investigated by special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation. Senior Litigation Counsel John E. Sullivan and Assistant Chief Elizabeth C. Hadden of the Tax Division are prosecuting the case with the assistance of Assistant U.S. Attorney Sandra R. Brown, Chief of the Tax Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California.
Additional information about the Tax Division and its enforcement efforts may be found at the division website .
Buffalo Man Sentenced on Drug ChargeRead the Press Release
BUFFALO, N.Y.—U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Joseph Lopez, 44, of Buffalo, N.Y., who was convicted of possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, was sentenced to nine years in prison by Chief U.S. District Court Judge William M. Skretny.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy C. Lynch, who handled the case, stated that on November 3, 2011, law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at the defendant’s residence on Hertel Avenue in Buffalo. During the search, officers seized approximately 400 grams of cocaine, approximately $8,000 in U.S. currency, and three firearms.
The sentencing is the culmination of an investigation on the part of the Buffalo Police Department, under the direction of Commissioner Daniel Derenda and the Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of James J. Hunt, Acting Special Agent in Charge, New York Field Division.Buffalo Man Pleads Guilty to Clean Air Act Violation Involving Kensington Towers ProjectRead the Press Release
BUFFALO, N.Y. – U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul announced today that Ernest Johnson, 42, of Buffalo, N.Y., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge Richard J. Arcara, to violating the Clean Air Act asbestos work practice standards. The charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison, a fine of $250,000 or both.
Assistant U. S. Attorney Aaron J. Mango, who is handling the case, stated that the defendant was the president of Johnson Contracting of WNY, Inc., an asbestos abatement company that was hired to conduct asbestos abatement activities at six buildings at the Kensington Towers Apartment Complex, located at 1827 Fillmore Avenue in Buffalo. In a pre-abatement asbestos survey, each building at Kensington Towers was found to contain 63,000 square feet of regulated asbestos containing material. The asbestos abatement project lasted from June 2009 to January 2010.
During the asbestos abatement of building A-1, the defendant, and employees working under his direction, violated the Clean Air Act asbestos work practice standards by failing to adequately wet Regulated Asbestos during stripping and removal operations and by failing to ensure that Regulated Asbestos remained wetted until placed in leak-tight containers. The defendant also caused Regulated Asbestos to be dropped down holes cut through the floors in Building A-1.
Johnson is the fifth defendant to plead guilty as part of the Kensington Towers asbestos abatement project. In addition to Ernest Johnson, other charged defendants include Rai Johnson, JMD project monitors Evan Harnden, Chris Coseglia, Henry Hawkins and Brian Scott, and current and former public officials responsible for certifying the project’s compliance with applicable laws and regulations, including Donald Grzebielucha, William Manuszewski, and Theodore Lehmann. The remaining defendants are expected to go on trial May 13, 2014 before U.S. District Court Judge Richard J. Arcara. 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 plea is the culmination of an investigation on the part of Special Agents of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency - Criminal Investigation Division, under the direction of Acting Special Agent-In-Charge, Vernesa Jones-Allen; Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Special Agents of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development - Office of Inspector General, under the direction of Special Agent-In-Charge Christina Scaringi; and Investigators of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Police, BECI, under the direction of Captain David Bennett. Additional assistance was provided by the New York State Department of Labor, Asbestos Control Bureau.
Sentencing is scheduled for August 15, 2014, 2014 at 1:00 p.m. before Judge Arcara.