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Friday 7 February 2014
Brothers Sentenced to Life in Prison for Murder in Aid of Racketeering Involving False Identification Document RingRead the Press Release
CHICAGO — Two brothers were sentenced today to life in federal prison for murder in aid of racketeering and related crimes they were convicted of after a seven-week trial in U.S. District Court last year. JULIO and MANUEL LEIJA-SANCHEZ, who operated a lucrative, black-market counterfeit identification document business in Chicago’s Little Village community for at least 15 years, each received the mandatory life sentence from U.S. District Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer. There is no federal parole.
The Leija-Sanchez brothers were convicted together with GERARDO SALAZARRODRIGUEZ, whom they directed to commit an execution-style murder in Mexico of a fledgling competitor. The murder plot was intended to prevent two former employees from starting a competing business and to maintain control over employees of their enterprise, which generated annual revenues of at least $3 million. Salazar-Rodriguez also faces life imprisonment and is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 14.
“Julio and Manuel Leija-Sanchez were the kingpins of a decades-long, multimilliondollar international criminal organization and they killed to protect their own pocketbook and the empire they built,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle Nasser said at today’s sentencing hearing.
Evidence at trial showed that Salazar-Rodriguez, at the direction of Julio and Manuel Leija-Sanchez, fired more than a dozen shots in killing one of the victims in his taxi cab near Mexico City in April 2007, and the jury heard transcripts of intercepted telephone conversations in which he boasted to the brothers after the murder. He and Manuel Leija-Sanchez also hunted for a second victim whom they believed was in Mexico at the time but who was actually in federal custody in Chicago. That intended victim, who pleaded guilty to fraudulent identification document charges, cooperated and testified as a government witness at trial.
The case was part of Operation Paper Tiger, an investigation conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents, along with other federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies. In April 2007, the investigation resulted in charges against 24 defendants and the dismantling of the Leija-Sanchez fraudulent document organization that operated in and around the Little Village Discount Mall at West 26th and Albany in Chicago. All but three defendants who remain fugitives were convicted.
Manuel Leija-Sanchez, 46, and Salazar-Rodriguez, 41, were arrested later in Mexico and were extradited to the United States in 2010 and 2011 to stand trial, together with Julio Leija- Sanchez, 38, who was arrested in Chicago in 2007. A third Leija-Sanchez brother, Pedro, 41, was also arrested in Mexico and extradited to the U.S in 2011. He pleaded guilty in 2012 to racketeering conspiracy for operating the fraudulent ID ring with his brothers and was sentenced last March to 20 years in prison.
Evidence at trial showed that the three Leija-Sanchez brothers operated the bustling illegal business between 1993 and 2007. The organization was supervised by an overall leader living in Chicago, and the leadership position rotated among the Leija-Sanchez brothers. The organization sold as many as 100 sets of fraudulent identification documents each day, charging customers approximately $200 per “set,” consisting of a Social Security card and either an immigration “green card” or a state driver’s license.
Manuel and Julio Leija-Sanchez and Salazar-Rodriguez conspired to murder Guillermo Jimenez-Flores, also known as “Montes,” a former member of their organization who became a rival and was shot to death by Salazar-Rodriguez in Mexico. The three trial defendants were also convicted of conspiracy to kill a second victim, Bruno Freddy Ramirez-Camela, who they believed was in Mexico but was actually incarcerated in Chicago.
The sentences were announced by Zachary T. Fardon, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Gary Hartwig, Special Agent-in-Charge of HSI in Chicago. Also participating in the investigation were the Chicago Police Department and the Galveston, Tex., Police Department, and the Chicago offices of the U.S. Secret Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The Government of Mexico and Mexican law enforcement partners also provided significant assistance.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michelle Nasser, Andrew Porter and William Ridgway.
Attorney General Will Not Seek the Death Penalty Against Pedersen or GrigsbyRead the Press Release
PORTLAND, Ore. - U. S. Attorney Amanda Marshall announced today that Attorney General Eric Holder has decided not to seek the death penalty against defendants David Joseph “Joey” Pedersen or Holly Ann Grigsby for the 2011 murders of David Jones “Red” Pedersen of Everett, Washington, Leslie Mae “Dee Dee” Pedersen of Everett, Washington, Cody Faye Myers of Lafayette, Oregon, and Reginald Alan Clark of Eureka, California.
U.S. Attorney Marshall stated, “While I understand the public interest in this matter, we have rules that limit the release of information and the scope of public statements. The process by which this decision was made is confidential, and I cannot comment further about it except to say that it entailed a careful and detailed consideration of all the circumstances of this case.”
A federal grand jury indicted the pair in August 2012 on racketeering and other charges, including five potential capital offenses. Trial is set for July 7, 2014 before U. S. District Judge Ancer L. Haggerty. An indictment is only an accusation of a crime, and a defendant should be presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
The official notice is attached Here.
Anne Arundel County Drug Dealer Sentenced to over 17 Years in PrisonRead the Press Release
Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Ellen L. Hollander sentenced Donwand Cuppatino Harmon, age 37, of Annapolis, Maryland, today to 210 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute heroin. Judge Hollander also ordered Harmon to forfeit $27,895 in cash, a 2010 Porsche Panamera, a 2008 Mercedes Benz CL550, and jewelry, including a Breitling wrist watch with a diamond face and band.
The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Steven L. Gerido of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives - Baltimore Field Division; Annapolis Police Chief Michael A. Pristoop; Anne Arundel County Police Chief Kevin Davis; Commissioner Anthony W. Batts of the Baltimore Police Department; U.S. Marshal Johnny Hughes; and Anne Arundel County State’s Attorney Anne Colt Leitess.“Heroin is a powerful drug that is affecting communities, destroying lives and tearing apart families,” said Anne Arundel County Police Chief Kevin Davis. “I am committed to collaborating with our law enforcement partners on a local, state and federal level in an effort to rid our neighborhoods of this drug and to take distributors off the streets and this case is an example of that.”
According to Harmon’s plea agreement, from at least August 2012 until August 2013, Donwand Harmon conspired with Damian Brown and others to distribute heroin in the Baltimore and Anne Arundel County, Maryland areas.
As part of the conspiracy, Harmon obtained and distributed bulk quantities of heroin to a number of individuals in the area. On five occasions from August 30, 2012 through October 18, 2012, investigators purchased a total of 49.8 grams of heroin directly from Harmon. On November 17, 2012, a confidential source contacted Harmon about another purchase of heroin. Harmon was not available but agreed to send an associate to complete the sale. At that meeting, the confidential source purchased approximately 10.2 grams of heroin from Damian Brown. On three occasions from December 12, 2012 through April 9, 2013, Harmon arranged for the confidential source to purchase an additional 42.1 grams of heroin directly from Damian Brown.
On June 13, 2013, agents tracked Mr. Harmon to a motel in Baltimore. There, agents saw a female previously associated with Mr. Harmon leaving the hotel. She drove slowly around the parking lot, looking at all the cars parked there, then pulled into a parking spot. Agents saw Harmon leaving the motel and ran after him, but Harmon got away. The woman got out of her car in a crouched position, and Agents saw her remove a black duffel bag from the rear driver’s side of the car and place the bag under the car next to hers. Agents retrieved the bag, which contained a black nylon holster, a box of ammunition, a black loaded magazine for a Glock handgun, and several digital scales that appeared to have residue on them.
Agents obtained a search warrant for Harmon’s room at the motel and recovered: a black men’s wallet with a Maryland identification for Donwand Harmon; a set of car keys for a Porsche driven by Harmon; $16,000 in cash; and three large bags containing approximately 1.7 kilograms of heroin.
On August 23, 2013, Deputy U.S. Marshals tracked Mr. Harmon to a residence in Suitland, Maryland, an arrested him as he left the home. A search incident to arrest revealed keys to the residence, $845 in cash, and a Washington, D.C. driver’s license in the name of Paul Simmons with Mr. Harmon’s picture. Members of the U.S. Marshals Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives then obtained and executed a search warrant at the residence. From the first floor of the home law enforcement recovered, among other things: $10,050 in cash, wrapped in foil, and approximately 205.5 grams of crack cocaine found in the freezer; one 20-ton shop press with kilogram and half-kilogram sized molds with cocaine and heroin residue, approximately 516 grams of heroin in the mold on the press, and two bags containing approximately 625.1 grams of heroin that was found in the dining room closet. On the second floor law enforcement recovered a loaded .45 caliber handgun, a .loaded .357 caliber handgun, and a loaded 5.56 caliber firearm, as well as additional ammunition for all three guns; over six kilograms of cocaine; seven cell phones; $1,000 in cash; men’s jewelry and watches; and tally sheets for suspected narcotics transactions.
Harmon admitted that during the conspiracy he was responsible for distributing at least 1 kilogram of heroin.
Damian Brown pleaded guilty to the same charge on February 3, 2014, and is scheduled to be sentenced on June 17, 2014 at 11:00 a.m.
United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein praised the ATF, Annapolis Police Department, Anne Arundel County Police Department, Baltimore Police Department, U.S. Marshals Service and Anne Arundel County State’s Attorney’s Office for their work in the investigation. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kenneth S. Clark and Scott Lemmon who are prosecuting this Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force case.
Thursday 6 February 2014
Watertown Man Sentenced for Unlawful Taking of Migratory Birds and Lacey Act ViolationsRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Brendan V. Johnson announced that a Watertown, South Dakota, man charged with Unlawful Taking of Migratory Birds and Lacey Act Violations pled guilty and was sentenced on February 4, 2014, by U.S. Magistrate Judge William D. Gerdes.
Roger Meyer, age 53, was sentenced to 2 years of unsupervised probation, no hunting or guiding for 2 years, $550 in restitution to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services, a $3,000 fine, and $35 to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.
The conviction stems from incidents that took place in 2008 and 2009 when Meyer, doing business as Meyer Guide Service, guided paying clients on duck hunts on two separate occasions. During these duck hunts, Meyer allowed and encouraged the hunters to exceed their daily limit of ducks. Following the hunts, the ducks were not tagged properly and transported in violation of federal law.
The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Meghan N. Dilges.
Warren County Man Pleads Guilty to Receiving and Possessing Child PornograhpyRead the Press Release
Defendant Used his Computer and the Internet to Download and Save Approximately 600 Child Pornography Files
ALBANY, NEW YORK — GARY MINER, age 45, of Glens Falls, New York, pled guilty today in Albany before United States District Court Judge Mae A. D’Agostino to one count of receiving child pornography and one count of possessing child pornography, announced United States Attorney Richard S. Hartunian and Andrew W. Vale, Special Agent-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Albany Division. On the child pornography receipt count, MINER faces at least five years of imprisonment and up to a maximum sentence of twenty years of imprisonment. On the child pornography possession count, MINER faces a maximum sentence of ten years of imprisonment. MINER was detained pending his sentencing.
During the plea hearing, MINER admitted that between January 2010 and November 29, 2011, he accessed the Internet and downloaded and possessed, from a website and other individuals who were distributing child pornography, approximately 600 files that contained child pornography.
Sentencing is scheduled for June 9, 2014, at 11:00 a.m. in Albany, New York. This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Rick Belliss.
U.S. Attorney’s Office Distributes $263,500 in Forfeited Proceeds of Interstate Marijuana Trafficking to El Dorado County Sheriff’s Department and District Attorney’s OfficeRead the Press Release
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The U.S. Attorney’s Office has distributed a portion of forfeited narcotics proceeds to the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Department and District Attorney’s Office, United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced. The final payment was made in January 2014. In total, the Sheriff’s Department received $230,600, and the District Attorney’s Office received $32,900. Both agencies assisted in the investigation of an interstate marijuana-trafficking ring that resulted in a federal prosecution.
Cash, bank accounts, and a house on 10 acres of land in Placerville were forfeited from two El Dorado County defendants. Robert Edward Mulready, 50, of Placerville, and Duane Patrick Petersen, 40, of Shingle Springs, were charged in U.S. District Court with conspiring to cultivate marijuana and distribute it out-of-state. Last year, Mulready was sentenced to three and a half years in prison, and Petersen was sentenced to 22 months in prison.
These funds were made available through the U.S. DOJ equitable sharing program. The program is designed to enhance cooperation among federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies through the sharing of proceeds resulting from federal forfeitures. State and local law enforcement agencies generally receive equitable sharing revenues by participating directly with DOJ agencies in joint investigations leading to the seizure or forfeiture of property. The amount shared with state and local law enforcement agencies is based on the degree of the agencies' direct participation in the case.
U.S. Attorney Wagner stated: “I particularly want to thank the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Department and the El Dorado County District Attorney’s Office for their outstanding cooperation and investigative work. Asset forfeiture is a powerful tool that deprives criminals of the proceeds of their illegal activities; the equitable sharing program equips law enforcement to better protect their communities.”
Sheriff D’Agostini said, “We are grateful for the investigation and prosecution efforts by the United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner and his staff. The arrest, prosecution and asset forfeiture of proceeds from this criminal operation should send a strong message that federal and local law enforcement will not allow such operations to continue.”
El Dorado County District Attorney Vern Pierson commented: “This case is a prime example of county, state, and federal law enforcement agencies working together to make El Dorado County a safer place to live.”
This case was the product of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Western El Dorado County Narcotics Enforcement Team (WENET). Assistant U.S. Attorney Todd A. Pickles prosecuted the case, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin C. Khasigian handled the forfeiture.
Two Women Ordered to Prison in Stolen Identity Tax Refund Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
HOUSTON – Yevette Lauren Walton and Lakisha Lashell Rogers have been handed prison sentences for conspiring to submit fraudulent tax refund claims in the names of 53 stolen identities during the 2013 tax season, United States Attorney Kenneth Magidson announced today along with Lucy Cruz, special agent in charge of Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI). Walton and Rogers were prosecuted as part of IRS-CI’s Stolen Identity Refund Fraud (SIRF) initiative that has resulted in arrests throughout the United States. They entered pleas of guilty May 10, 2013.
“Investigating identity theft and refund fraud is a priority for IRS-CI,” said Cruz. “Stealing identities and filing false tax returns is a serious crime that hurts innocent taxpayers. We, along with our law enforcement partners and the United States Attorney's Office, continue to do our part in protecting the sanctity and integrity of the tax system and those individuals whose identities were stolen, as well as recovering any monetary loss against the U.S. Treasury.”
Today, U.S. District Judge Lee H. Rosenthal, who accepted the guilty pleas, handed Walton and Rogers each a sentence of 24 months in federal prison. Both were further ordered to pay $60,000 in restitution to the IRS and to serve a term of three years of supervised release following completion of their prison terms. Judge Rosenthal previously sentenced co-defendant Antoinne Quinay Jackson to six months in federal custody. He has completed that term of imprisonment and is presently serving a three-year-term of supervised release.
Walton and Rogers acknowledged that between Feb. 15, 2013, and Feb. 27, 2013, they met with tax return preparer, Marlin Beckett, interviewed him and concluded he could prepare and electronically file false tax refund claims for them. Walton and Rogers provided this person with approximately 37 names, Social Security numbers and other means of identification. Walton and/or Rogers told the tax return preparer the names were “good” because they had previously been used to get refunds.
The women also provided automated teller machine debit card routing numbers. This way, the refunds, which were expected to total approximately $220,000, could be credited to the cards and easily used to withdraw funds in an untraceable manner. Walton and Rogers then engaged in a number of telephone conversations with the tax return preparer to check on the status of the refund claims.
Upon their arrests on March 8, 2013, Walton and Rogers had another 16 names and other means of identification on them intended to be used to file a second set of false and fraudulent refund claims approximately totaling an additional $200,000. Despite Walton’s and Rogers’ efforts, prompt action by federal law enforcement prevented any actual loss to the National Treasury from the use of the 53 stolen identities during 2013. However, actual losses of about $60,000 and attempted losses of approximately $120,000 have been traced to fraudulent tax refunds in 2012.
Both women will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
The tax return preparer, Marlin Beckett, was also sentenced today by Judge Nancy F. Atlas in a separate case. Judge Atlas sentenced Beckett to 36 months in prison and ordered him to make full restitution for preparing false tax returns that generated $196,923 in excessive client refunds. Beckett has been in custody since violating his bond conditions by continuing to prepare client tax returns after his guilty plea on April 10, 2013.
The investigation leading to these charges was conducted by IRS-CI and the United States Postal Inspection Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jimmy Sledge Jr. is prosecuting the case.
Two Women Ordered to Prison in Stolen Identity Tax Refund Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
HOUSTON – Yevette Lauren Walton and Lakisha Lashell Rogers have been handed prison sentences for conspiring to submit fraudulent tax refund claims in the names of 53 stolen identities during the 2013 tax season, United States Attorney Kenneth Magidson announced today along with Lucy Cruz, special agent in charge of Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI). Walton and Rogers were prosecuted as part of IRS-CI’s Stolen Identity Refund Fraud (SIRF) initiative that has resulted in arrests throughout the United States. They entered pleas of guilty May 10, 2013.
“Investigating identity theft and refund fraud is a priority for IRS-CI,” said Cruz. “Stealing identities and filing false tax returns is a serious crime that hurts innocent taxpayers. We, along with our law enforcement partners and the United States Attorney's Office, continue to do our part in protecting the sanctity and integrity of the tax system and those individuals whose identities were stolen, as well as recovering any monetary loss against the U.S. Treasury.”
Today, U.S. District Judge Lee H. Rosenthal, who accepted the guilty pleas, handed Walton and Rogers each a sentence of 24 months in federal prison. Both were further ordered to pay $60,000 in restitution to the IRS and to serve a term of three years of supervised release following completion of their prison terms. Judge Rosenthal previously sentenced co-defendant Antoinne Quinay Jackson to six months in federal custody. He has completed that term of imprisonment and is presently serving a three-year-term of supervised release.
Walton and Rogers acknowledged that between Feb. 15, 2013, and Feb. 27, 2013, they met with tax return preparer, Marlin Beckett, interviewed him and concluded he could prepare and electronically file false tax refund claims for them. Walton and Rogers provided this person with approximately 37 names, Social Security numbers and other means of identification. Walton and/or Rogers told the tax return preparer the names were “good” because they had previously been used to get refunds.
The women also provided automated teller machine debit card routing numbers. This way, the refunds, which were expected to total approximately $220,000, could be credited to the cards and easily used to withdraw funds in an untraceable manner. Walton and Rogers then engaged in a number of telephone conversations with the tax return preparer to check on the status of the refund claims.
Upon their arrests on March 8, 2013, Walton and Rogers had another 16 names and other means of identification on them intended to be used to file a second set of false and fraudulent refund claims approximately totaling an additional $200,000. Despite Walton’s and Rogers’ efforts, prompt action by federal law enforcement prevented any actual loss to the National Treasury from the use of the 53 stolen identities during 2013. However, actual losses of about $60,000 and attempted losses of approximately $120,000 have been traced to fraudulent tax refunds in 2012.
Both women will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
The tax return preparer, Marlin Beckett, was also sentenced today by Judge Nancy F. Atlas in a separate case. Judge Atlas sentenced Beckett to 36 months in prison and ordered him to make full restitution for preparing false tax returns that generated $196,923 in excessive client refunds. Beckett has been in custody since violating his bond conditions by continuing to prepare client tax returns after his guilty plea on April 10, 2013.
The investigation leading to these charges was conducted by IRS-CI and the United States Postal Inspection Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jimmy Sledge Jr. is prosecuting the case.
Two Sentenced to Prison for Student Loan Fraud SchemesRead the Press Release
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — United States District Judge Troy L. Nunley sentenced Brent W. Wilder, 44, of Antelope, today to two years and nine months in prison, and on Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Lawrence K. Karlton sentenced Michelle Wright, 32, of Stockton, to three years in prison and one year of home confinement, United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced. The defendants were charged in separate cases with conspiracy to commit student loan fraud. Wright was also convicted of aggravated identity theft.
In the first case, according to court documents, between February 2009 and April 2012, Wilder and Michael J. Huddleston, 44, of Sacramento, obtained Federal Student Assistant (FSA) funds by recruiting more than 50 straw students to apply for aid and caused the fraudulent disbursement of more than $200,000. The straw students applied for FSA at American River College, Sacramento City College and Consumnes River College. These applications contained false statements regarding the eligibility of the applicant. For the most part, all of the students signed up by Wilder and Huddleston withdrew from classes shortly after receiving the funds or received failing grades. While some of those students may have used the funds for legitimate educational expenses, Wilder and Huddleston demanded approximately half of those funds for their own purposes. Wilder has been ordered to pay $19,411 in restitution.
In the second case, Michelle Wright was part of a similar conspiracy to commit student loan fraud. She and her co-defendants recruited straw students to sign up for college classes for the purpose of receiving financial aid funds. Some of the individuals agreed to have their identities used to commit fraud; other individuals had their personal information used to commit fraud without their consent.
“I’m proud of the work of OIG special agents and our law enforcement colleagues for holding Michelle Wright and Brent Wilder accountable for their criminal actions and for shutting down two more student aid fraud rings in California,” said Natalie Forbort, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Education Office of Inspector General’s Western Regional Office. “As these two fraud ringleaders and their co-conspirators who have been sentenced for participating in these fraud rings know, stealing student aid is a crime. Tracking down those who prey on this program and the innocent students who rely on it to make their dreams of a higher education a reality is a priority of our office.”
Huddleston is scheduled to be sentenced by United States District Judge Troy Nunley on March 6, 2013. He remains out of custody on a $100,000 bond.
Five others have been convicted and sentenced in Wright’s case. Janeigh Mendoza, 32, of Tracy, was sentenced to four years and three months in prison. The others, including Michelle Wright’s husband Kenneth Wright, were sentenced to terms of probation. Michelle Wright was ordered to pay $129,171 in restitution.
These cases are the product of investigations by the United States Department of Education, Office of Inspector General. Assistant United States Attorney Jared C. Dolan is prosecuting the cases.
Two Retailers Plead Guilty to Food Stamp FraudRead the Press Release
Six Retailers Have Pleaded Guilty to Date
Baltimore, Maryland –Abdullah Aljaradi, age 52, and Ahmed Ayedh Al-Jabrati, age 58, both citizens of Yemen residing in Baltimore, have each pleaded guilty to wire fraud in connection with a scheme to illegally redeem food stamp benefits in exchange for cash. Aljaradi’s guilty plea was entered on February 5th and Al-Jabrati entered his plea today.
The guilty pleas were announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge William G. Squires, Jr. of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Office of Inspector General, Northeast Region; and Special Agent in Charge Stephen E. Vogt of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Aljaradi and Al-Jabrati operated two convenience stores, Second Obama Express and D&M Deli and Grocery, located next door to each other at 901 Harlem Avenue in Baltimore. According to their plea agreements and court documents, the stores participated in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), previously known as the Food Stamp Program. In Maryland, the program provides eligible individuals with an electronic benefit transfer (EBT) card called the Independence Card, which operates like a debit card. Recipients obtain EBT cards through the state Department of Human Resources, then use the EBT card to purchase approved food items from participating retailers.
Aljaradi and Al-Jabrati knew that it was a violation of SNAP regulations to trade cash for SNAP benefits. Nevertheless, from October 2010 to July 2013, Aljaradi and Al-Jabrati exchanged SNAP benefits for cash at less than face value of the EBT benefits, in violation of the food stamp program rules, and kept up to 50 percent of the benefits for themselves.
The indictment alleges that as a result of these unlawful cash transactions, Aljaradi and Al-Jabrati obtained more than $2 million in payments for food sales that never occurred. While the Court will determine the actual amount of the financial loss for the purpose of calculating the sentencing guidelines, restitution, and forfeiture, any money judgment ordered by the Court will not be less than $259,344.15, the funds seized from the stores and from two bank accounts associated with the stores.
Aljaradi and Al-Jabrati each face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. U.S. District Judge William D. Quarles, Jr. scheduled sentencing for Aljaradi on April 30, 2014, at 2:00 p.m. and for Al-Jabrati for March 25, 2014 at 1:00 p.m.Nine retail store owners or operators, including Aljaradi and Al-Jabrati, were indicted in September 2013 on federal charges of food stamp fraud and wire fraud in connection with schemes to illegally redeem food stamp benefits in exchange for cash. Dae Cho, age 67, and her son Hyung Cho, age 40, both of Catonsville, Maryland, pleaded guilty to food stamp and wire fraud arising out of the operation of K&S Food Market located at 3910 W. Belvedere Avenue and are scheduled to be sentenced on February 21, 2014. Amara Cisse, age 50, who owned Simbo Food Mart, located at 2103 West Pratt Street in Baltimore, and his wife Fanta Keita, age 45, who worked at the store, both of Windsor Mill, Maryland, have also pleaded guilty to food stamp fraud and are scheduled to be sentenced on March 6, 2014, at 3:00 p.m.
United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein praised USDA’s Office of Inspector General and FBI for their work in the investigation. U.S. Attorney Rosenstein expressed appreciation to Secretary Ted Dallas and the Maryland Department of Human Resources, as well as U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services - Office of Fraud Detection and National Security for their assistance in the investigation. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant United States Attorney Kathleen O. Gavin, who is prosecuting the case.
Two More Adult Day Care Center Operators Sentenced in Manhattan Federal Court for Conspiring to Bribe Former New York State Assemblyman Eric StevensonRead the Press Release
Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that IGOR BELYANSKY and DAVID BINMAN were sentenced today in Manhattan federal court to 20 and nine months in prison, respectively, for conspiring to pay approximately $20,000 in bribes to former New York State Assemblyman Eric Stevenson in exchange for Stevenson’s official acts, including drafting, proposing, and agreeing to enact legislation that favored the bribers’ business interests. BELYANSKY was also sentenced for conspiring to bribe former New York State Assemblyman Nelson Castro. BELYANSKY and BINMAN both pled guilty in September 2013 before U.S. District Judge William H. Pauley III, who also imposed today’s sentence.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said: “Igor Belyansky and David Binman were more than willing to break the law by paying tens of thousands of dollars in bribes to Eric Stevenson to advance their own business interests and to buy favorable legislation. Today, they learned that their corruption of the legislative process comes at a cost, time behind bars in a federal prison.”
According to the Complaint and the Indictment filed in Manhattan federal court, and statements made in Court:
Stevenson began serving as a member of the New York State Assembly in 2011 representing District 79, which includes various neighborhoods in the Bronx. The four businessmen – BELYANSKY, BINMAN, Rostislav Belyansky (“Slava”), and Igor Tsimerman – are individuals who, during 2012 and 2013, were seeking to open and manage adult day care centers in the Bronx, New York, including a center on Westchester Avenue (the “Westchester Avenue Center”), within Stevenson’s Assembly District, and a second center on Jerome Avenue (the “Jerome Avenue Center”), within then-Assemblyman Castro’s Assembly District. During that time period, they paid multiple bribes to Stevenson in connection with efforts to open and operate both centers.
For example, at a meeting on July 23, 2012, Stevenson, BELYANSKY, and Tsimerman discussed the opening of the Westchester Avenue Center. During this meeting, Stevenson said that on July 26, 2012, he was “having a night [event]” for “my reelection” and that he needed “support and help like everyone else.” Subsequently, on July 25, 2012, Slava provided a cooperating witness (the “CW”) with a check for $2,000 made out to Stevenson’s political action committee, which the CW provided to Stevenson. Stevenson did not disclose this check as a campaign contribution as required by New York State Law.
At a September 7, 2012 meeting at a steakhouse in the Bronx, Slava and BELYANSKY offered to pay Stevenson $10,000 in exchange for calling Con Edison to expedite the installation of a gas line and assisting with obtaining a Certificate of Occupancy from the New York City Buildings Department at the Jerome Avenue Center, and for assistance recruiting senior citizens to attend the Westchester Avenue Center. Stevenson agreed, but when BELYANSKY attempted to hand him the $10,000 in an envelope, Stevenson indicated that he was concerned that there might be surveillance cameras in the restaurant, so waited until he was outside of the restaurant to take the cash bribe. On September 18, 2012, Stevenson gave the CW a $1,500 cut of the $10,000 bribe in exchange for the CW’s assistance, and promised to pay the CW an additional $500.
On December 27, 2012, the CW met with Stevenson and showed Stevenson a copy of an email dated December 26, 2012, sent from the contractor for the Jerome Avenue Center to Slava and Tsimerman. In the email, the contractor stated that “[i]t is urgent . . . that we call the State Senator Eric Stevenson so that he can call the building department at once and ask them to have this application reviewed” in connection with getting “a permit to install the gas lines into the building.” After reviewing this email, Stevenson stated, “he’s not a smart guy . . . he’s not too bright, this guy” because “he put this in writing . . . why he got to put my name in it? . . . He shouldn’t have said that.” Stevenson said they needed to avoid creating a “paper trail.” During that meeting, the CW and Stevenson also discussed the possibility of Stevenson introducing legislation that would establish a temporary moratorium on the construction and/or opening of new adult day care centers (the “Moratorium Legislation”), which would have the effect of eliminating competition with the Jerome Avenue Center and the Westchester Avenue Center, thereby substantially increasing the profits earned by those two centers. Stevenson told the CW: “All you gotta do is tell me what you want in the bill, and the bill drafter will put it together…I just need you to tell me what they [the co-defendants] want; we prepare the bill. . . . You can write down the language, basically what you want.” Stevenson then asked: “Are Igor [BELYANSKY] and them putting together a nice little package [of money] for me, huh?” He said: “I got my inauguration I gotta take care of, I got a lot of sh*t man.” Stevenson then said to the CW, in reference to the legislation, “I’m telling you, it’s done. It’s no problem.” Subsequently, the CW met with Tsimerman and BELYANSKY. Tsimerman said that as a result of the Moratorium Legislation, the value of their adult day care centers was “gonna
skyrocket. . . . As long as [there’s a] moratorium, I can guarantee you at least a triple [in profits].”
On January 1, 2013, the CW and Stevenson spoke on the telephone and Stevenson referred to “Igor” [BELYANSKY] as “Santa,” in reference to the money he expected to receive. In a subsequent meeting on the same day in the CW’s car, Stevenson sought assurances that “Igor” [BELYANSKY] was going to “bless everything,” meaning pay Stevenson. He added that: “I got the inauguration, I want a blessing [payment] in place, man.” Two days later, the CW gave BELYANSKY and Slava a copy of a document titled “Proposed Adult Day Care Center Bill,” which contained a proposal for the Moratorium Legislation. On January 7, 2013, the CW provided the same proposal to Stevenson. Later that day, Tsimerman provided STEVENSON with another copy of the proposal containing Tsimerman’s notes. On January 9, 2013, the CW told BELYANSKY that Stevenson wanted $10,000 for the Moratorium Legislation, with $5,000 paid up front. Two days later, on January 11, 2013, at the Westchester Avenue Center, BELYANSKY, BINMAN, Slava, and Tsimerman gave the CW $5,000 cash. The CW then left the Westchester Avenue Center with the envelope of money and got in his car where Stevenson joined him, at which time the CW gave the envelope of money to Stevenson, after taking out his $500 cut.
On January 27, 2013, Stevenson met with the CW and told the CW that he was concerned that Tsimerman might be cooperating with law enforcement officials and recording their conversations. Stevenson expressed a concern that if “they bring me down … somebody’s going to the cemetery.”
Stevenson had a draft of the Moratorium Legislation prepared by January 31, 2013, which he showed the CW at a meeting in his office and which was consistent with the bullet points prepared by the CW and BELYANSKY, BINMAN, Slava, and Tsimerman. On February 11, 2013, Stevenson told the CW: “We got the bill [the Moratorium Legislation] back today . . . [t]he bill is done now, it’s going out to the members . . . to the committee and . . . we’re
gonna . . . try to push it to get it to the floor.” On February 16, in a hotel room in Albany, Slava gave $5,000 in cash to the CW, which the CW gave to Stevenson after taking a $500 cut. While the CW took out his $500 cut, Stevenson walked into the bathroom of the CW’s room and left the door open so that he could receive the $4,500 cash in the bathroom.
On February 20, 2013, Stevenson introduced and sponsored Bill Number A05139, which places a temporary moratorium on the construction and/or opening of new adult day care centers within New York City.
Two days later, in a meeting between the CW and BELYANKY, BINMAN, and Tsimerman, BELYANSKY said that the legislation would double the value of his share in the Jerome Avenue and Westchester Avenue Centers from approximately $350,000 to $700,000.
In addition to prison, BELYANSKY, 42, of Bronx, New York, was sentenced to three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay a $2,000 fine and a $200 special assessment fee. BINMAN, 52, of Glendale, New York, was also sentenced to three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay a $7,500 fine and a $100 special assessment fee.
Stevenson was convicted on January 13, 2014, of conspiring to commit honest services wire fraud, conspiring to commit federal programs bribery and to violate the Travel Act, committing federal programs bribery, and extortion under color of official right following a six-day jury trial before U.S. District Judge Loretta A. Preska. Stevenson is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Preska on May 20, 2014.
Tsimerman and Slava pled guilty in September 2013 to conspiring to commit honest services wire fraud in connection with their payment of bribes to Stevenson before Judge Pauley. On January 24, 2014, Judge Pauley sentenced Tsimerman principally to 24 months in prison, and sentenced Slava principally to 18 months in prison.
Mr. Bharara praised the work of the investigators from the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and the District Attorney’s Office for Bronx County.
This prosecution is being handled by the Office’s Public Corruption Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Paul M. Krieger and Brian A. Jacobs and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Pishoy Yacoub of the Bronx County District Attorney’s Office are in charge of the prosecution.
Two Found Guilty of Tax Fraud, Wire Fraud, and Identity TheftRead the Press Release
PANAMA CITY, FLORIDA – Following a six-day trial, a jury found Versiah M. Taylor, 33, and Tracy L. Collier, 48, guilty yesterday evening on multiple counts of tax fraud, wire fraud, and identity theft. Taylor and Collier are both from Panama City.
Evidence presented at trial proved that between September 9, 2011, and August 15, 2012, the defendants prepared and filed fraudulent tax returns seeking more than $500,000 in refunds. The defendants used the personally identifiable information (PII) of inmates of the Florida Department of Corrections, Bay County residents, and others to file fraudulent income tax returns. Collier, who was incarcerated during the conspiracy, provided the personal information of inmates by disguising the social security numbers and dates of birth as legal case citations and mailed them to Taylor. Taylor, operating out of a small office that he rented in the Steele Boys Bail Bond’s Plaza in Panama City, orchestrated the filing of multiple tax returns creating false employment information and using the PII of other individuals. These returns each claimed fraudulent refunds between $3,000 and $9,530 and were to be deposited onto prepaid debit cards, which were then mailed to various locations throughout Bay County, Florida.
Taylor and Collier each face up to 20 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, up to three years of supervised release, restitution, criminal forfeiture, and a $100 special monetary assessment. Additionally, for each count of aggravated identity theft, Taylor and Collier face a minimum mandatory sentence of two years in prison that is to be served consecutive to any other sentence imposed.
Sentencing for both defendants is scheduled for May 7, 2014, before United States District Judge Richard Smoak.
This case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Division.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Katy Risinger.
Two Defendants Convicted at Trial in Multi-Million Dollar Bank Fraud Scheme Involving Investment Properties in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach CountiesRead the Press Release
Wifredo Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Paula Reid, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Secret Service, Miami Field Office, announce that Darryl Burke, 50, and Vicki Garland, 50, both of Delray Beach, Florida, were convicted yesterday by a federal jury in Ft. Lauderdale of bank fraud and wire fraud conspiracy, after a two and half week trial before U.S. District Judge James I. Cohn. Burke was also convicted of four substantive counts of bank fraud, and Garland was convicted of three substantive counts of bank fraud.
Evidence at trial established that Burke and Garland created fictitious companies, including Next Level Development, and used an abandoned coin laundry in Delray Beach, to create an empire of fraudulently obtained investment properties. The abandoned coin laundry had a mailbox that served as the official address for the defendants, various fake companies, and other conspirators and fictitious individuals. Trial evidence established that Burke and Garland used fake documents, including false wage and tax documents, and false claims of employment and income, to obtain bank loans for investment properties in low-income neighborhoods. Garland was held out as the “President” of Next Level, and would sell properties to Burke, using his alias, “David Middleton.” The defendants would then enroll the properties in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Section 8 voucher program, and obtain proceeds from HUD and from low-income tenants. The defendants then used false claims of status for Burke and also for the fake name, “David Middleton,” as total and permanent disabled veterans to avoid property taxes on various fraudulently obtained properties. Burke and his fake alias were neither veterans nor disabled. Trial evidence established that the loans and rental proceeds totaled millions of dollars.
Defendants used the proceeds of the fraud to acquire a multi-residence waterfront compound in Delray Beach, as well as Bentley, Mercedes and Range Rover automobiles, luxury goods, and courtside season tickets for the Miami Heat, and to obtain large amounts of cash. Evidence further showed that Burke was convicted in 1997 in the Southern District of Florida of federal bank fraud charges, in relation to conduct that spanned the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Sentencing of Burke and Garland is set for April 18, 2014 before Judge Cohn.
Previously, four defendants were convicted in connection with the scheme to defraud multiple lenders. Three title agents, Osvaldo Sanchez, 38, Rafael Amador, 32, both of Miami, Florida, and Devon Fraser, 31, of Sunrise, Florida, and real estate investor Chiquita Alexis, 46, of Boca Raton, Florida, all pled guilty before to the same conspiracy involving Burke and Garland. Sanchez and Amador were each sentenced to 24 months in prison on November 5, 2013. Fraser and Alexis are scheduled for sentencing before U.S. District Judge Ursula Ungaro on February 19, 2014
Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the U.S. Secret Service. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jerrob Duffy.
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.
Three South Floridians Sentenced in $2.2 Million Identity Theft Tax Refund Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, José A. Gonzalez, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), Paula Reid, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Secret Service, Miami Field Office, and J. Dennis Scott, Chief, North Miami Beach Police Department, announce that Frantz Pierre, 34, of Parkland, Terry Pierre, 29, and Christmanie Bissainthe, 33, both of Miami, were sentenced today by U.S. District Court Judge Marcia G. Cooke after having been found guilty by a federal jury of charges relating to their participation in a stolen identity tax refund scheme that resulted in the submission of approximately $2.2 million in fraudulent refund claims to the Internal Revenue Service. Specifically, Frantz Pierre was sentenced to 208 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release; Terry Pierre was sentenced to 121 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised; and Christmanie Bissainthe was sentenced to 84 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised. A restitution hearing is scheduled for April 30, 2014 at 9:30 a.m.
On October 24, 2013, a federal jury in Miami convicted Frantz Pierre, Terry Pierre and Christmanie Bissainthe on 12 counts, including conspiracy to submit fraudulent claims to the government, access device fraud, and aggravated identity theft. According to trial evidence and testimony, 1,000 pre-paid debit cards were sent to Frantz Pierre’s business in the name of Tax Professors in May 2010. Co-conspirators subsequently caused approximately 338 fraudulent and unauthorized tax returns using stolen prisoners’ identities to be submitted to the IRS seeking $2.2 million in refunds for payment onto the Tax Professors’ debit cards. The IRS paid approximately $1.9 million in refunds in connection with these fraudulent returns to these debit cards. Evidence at trial included, among other things, video evidence of all three defendants withdrawing funds from these debit cards.
According to trial evidence and testimony, law enforcement executed a search warrant at defendant Frantz Pierre’s seven-bedroom residence in Parkland, Florida in July 2012. The evidence showed that this residence had been purchased primarily with fraudulent tax refund proceeds. After law enforcement announced their presence, an individual was observed tossing laptops from the second floor of Pierre’s residence towards the pool. Law enforcement found over 70 pre-paid debit cards and a thumb drive with over 2,000 people’s names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, and IRS pin numbers in Frantz Pierre’s bedside dresser.
Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the Identity Theft Tax Refund Strike Force, with special commendation to IRS-CI (Miami and St. Paul), the U.S. Secret Service, and the North Miami Beach Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael N. Berger and Cristina Moreno.
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.
Three Men, Including San Diego Father and Son, Indicted in Multi-million Dollar Conspiracy to Evade U.S. Sanctions on IranRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Laura E. Duffy announced that Hassan Rafiee and his son, Idin Rafiee, were arraigned today before United States Magistrate Judge Barbara L. Major in federal court in San Diego on an indictment charging them and a third man, Majid Nouri, with conspiracy to evade U.S. economic sanctions against Iran.
Under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act ("IEEPA"), and a series of Presidential Executive Orders, the United States has imposed economic sanctions against Iran. With limited exceptions, the sanctions generally prohibit U.S. persons from exporting, selling, and supplying goods, technology or services to Iran, or even facilitating such transactions.
According to the indictment, the Rafiees and Majid Nouri are U.S. citizens originally from Iran. The indictment alleges that the Rafiees – with Nouri’s assistance – operated two companies, Pasha International aka Surnyx, based in San Diego, and Pasha Tak, based in Iran. The defendants used these companies to carry out a multi-year conspiracy to evade the trade sanctions against Iran. Specifically, the indictment alleges that the defendants unlawfully procured more than $8 million in goods – primarily cooling equipment – for customers in Iran, without obtaining any approval from the United States Department of Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control.
In January 2014, Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigation (HSI) agents arrested Hassan and Idin Rafiee in San Diego and arrested Majid Nouri in Katy, Texas. The Rafiees have each been released on a $100,000 bond secured by property, home detention and GPS monitoring, and are scheduled to make their next appearance on March 7, 2014 before the Hon. Janis L. Sammartino for a motion hearing. Nouri is expected to make his initial appearance in federal court in San Diego on February 11, 2014.
DEFENDANT Case Number: 14CR0240-JLSHassan Rafiee
San Diego, California
Majid Nouri
Idin Rafiee
Katy, Texas
San Diego, California
Age 58
Age 41
Age 24 SUMMARY OF CHARGESTitle 50, U.S.C., Sections 1702 and 1705, and Title 31, C.F.R., Part 560 – Conspiracy to Export to Embargoed Country
INVESTIGATING AGENCY
Maximum penalties: 20 years in prison and a $1,000,000 fine.Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations
An indictment itself is not evidence that the defendants committed the crimes charged. The defendants are presumed innocent until the Government meets its burden in court of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Stone Child Theft Brings 18 Month SentenceRead the Press Release
The United States Attorney's Office announced that during a federal court session in Great Falls, on February 5, 2014, before U.S. District Judge Brian M. Morris, JOHN OWEN HOBBS, JR., 31, of the Box Elder, was sentenced to a term of 18 months probation, $8,657 restitution, and a special assessment of $100.
HOBBS, was sentenced in connection with his November 14, 2013 guilty plea to theft from an Indian tribal organization. In an Offer of Proof filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Danna Jackson, the government stated that on or around January 10, 2013, JOHN OWEN HOBBS, JR., along with two other individuals, broke into the bookstore at Stone Child College and knowingly stole $8,544.69 worth of merchandise and cash. The Defendant, and others, took seven iPod Touches, an iPod Nano, headphones, and several jackets.
Statement of Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara on the Conviction of Mathew MartomaRead the Press Release
“As the jury unanimously found, Mathew Martoma cultivated and purchased the confidence of doctors with secret knowledge of an experimental Alzheimer's drug, and used it to engage in illegal insider trading. Martoma bought the answer sheet before the exam – more than once – netting a quarter billion dollars in profits and losses avoided for SAC, as well as a $9 million bonus for him. In the short run, cheating may have been profitable for Martoma, but in the end, it made him a convicted felon, and likely will result in the forfeiture of his illegal windfall and the loss of his liberty. Mathew Martoma becomes the 79th person convicted of insider trading after trial or by guilty plea in this District in the last four years.”
Shiprock Man Pleads Guilty to Statutory Rape ChargeRead the Press Release
ALBUQUERQUE – Lancelot Lapahie, 26, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation who resides in Shiprock, N.M., pleaded guilty this morning to a statutory rape charge under a plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Lapahie was arrested in Nov. 2013 on an indictment charging him with statutory rape. According to the indictment, between Aug. 2010 and Dec. 2011, Lapahie engaged in a sexual act with a minor under the age of 16 years. During today’s hearing, Lapahie pleaded guilty to the indictment.
Under the terms of his plea agreement, Lapahie will be sentenced to 24 months in prison followed by a term of supervised release to be determined by the court. He also will be required to register as a sex offender. The 24-month prison sentence will be served concurrently with a 50-month prison sentence Lapahie is serving for his conviction on assault and firearms charges.
The 50-month prison sentence was imposed on Lapahie in May 2013, following Lapahie’s guilty plea to two assault charges and a possession of an unregistered firearm charge. In entering his guilty plea to those charges, Lapahie admitted that in March 2012, he stuck a man with a baseball bat and repeatedly struck another man about the head, arms and body with a machete. The victim of the machete attack suffered multiple stab wounds and cuts to his head, face, forearm, leg and back.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Novaline D. Wilson, and was investigated by the Albuquerque and Farmington offices of the FBI and the Shiprock office of the Navajo Nation Division of Public Safety with assistance from the Navajo Nation Division of Social Services.
Sentencing for January 31, 2014Read the Press Release
Nadel and Gussman Rockies, L.L.C., doing business in Tulsa, Oklahoma, was sentenced by Federal District Court Judge Alan B. Johnson on January 31, 2014, for negligent discharge of oil into waters of the United States. The company was ordered to pay a fine in the amount of $357,500.00; restitution in the amount of $430,500.00; $212,000.00 for community services; and a $125.00 special assessment. The company has also been placed on three years of probation. This case was investigated by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Ory J. Johnson, 36, of Laramie, Wyoming, was sentenced by Chief Federal District Court Judge Nancy D. Freudenthal on January 31, 2014, for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute at least 894 grams of methamphetamine. Johnson was arrested in Laramie, Wyoming. He received 60 months imprisonment, to be followed by five years supervised release, and was ordered to pay a $250.00 fine and a $100.00 special assessment. This case was investigated by the Albany County Sheriff’s Office and the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation.Salem Pharmacist Sentenced to Two Years in Prison for Health Care FraudRead the Press Release
A Salem, Ohio, pharmacist was sentenced to two years in prison and ordered to pay more than $300,000 in restitution after previously pleading guilty to health care fraud, said Steven M. Dettelbach, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio and Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine.
Bruce E. Franken, 53, will also be on supervised release for three years upon his release from federal prison.
“This sentence sends an important message that there will be consequences for those that try to game programs such as Medicaid,” Dettelbach said. “Our office will continue to stamp out waste, fraud and abuse of all federal programs, particularly those that affect our health care system.”
“This defendant filled these prescriptions with complete disregard for the law because he knew that he was legally prohibited from doing so,” said Attorney General DeWine. “Because of his previous crimes, he was not allowed to work with Medicaid recipients, and he had no right to completely ignore this restriction.”
Franken was excluded from filling prescriptions for patients enrolled in federally funded health care programs, such as Medicaid, following convictions on multiple criminal charges, including theft of drugs, in 2001.
From May 14, 2009, through July 14, 2011, Franken worked as a pharmacist at J.H. Lease Pharmacy, 229 North Ellsworth Avenue, Salem, Ohio. He filled prescriptions for Medicaid recipients even though he knew he was excluded from participation in all federal health care programs.
As a result of Franken’s unauthorized and fraudulent claims, Medicaid was billed and subsequently paid these prescriptions that Franken was prohibited from providing in the amount of $301,550, according to court documents.
This case is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Chelsea Rice and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Constance Nearhood following an investigation by the Ohio Attorney General's Health Care Fraud Section and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General.
Sabrena Karim Indicted for Preparing Bankruptcy Documents in Contempt of Court OrderRead the Press Release
Baltimore, Maryland - A federal grand jury has indicted Sabrena Karim, age 63, of Baltimore, Maryland, on charges that she is in contempt of a court order permanently enjoining Karim from preparing or assisting anyone in preparing any document for filing in any bankruptcy court.
The indictment was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; U.S. Trustee Judy Robbins and the Baltimore Office of the United States Trustee Program, the Department of Justice component that supervises the administration of bankruptcy cases; and Special Agent in Charge Stephen E. Vogt of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The four count indictment alleges that on March 21, 2011, at a hearing attended by Karim, a United States Bankruptcy Judge for the District of Maryland issued a verbal Order permanently enjoining Karim from acting as a bankruptcy return preparer and from accepting any money for preparing or assisting in the preparation of any document to be filed in any bankruptcy court. The Judge followed up with a written Order, which repeated the findings and prohibitions. The written Order was mailed to Karim’s address on March 31, 2011.
Despite that Order, a subsequent Civil Contempt Order, and two visits from a Special Agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation advising Karim that she was prohibited by the Bankruptcy Court’s Order from acting as a bankruptcy return preparer or otherwise assisting or advising anyone in connection with their bankruptcy matters, the indictment alleges that Karim continued to prepare bankruptcy petitions and other documents for filing in the Bankruptcy Court.
No court appearance is currently scheduled for Karim, who is released under the supervision of U.S. Pretrial Services.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.
United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein praised the U.S. Trustee’s Office and the FBI for their work in the investigation. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant United States Attorney Kathleen O. Gavin, who is prosecuting the case.
SAC Capital Portfolio Manager Mathew Martoma Found Guilty in Manhattan Federal Court of Insider Trading ChargesRead the Press Release
Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that MATHEW MARTOMA, a former portfolio manager of CR Intrinsic Investors, LLC, a division of S.A.C. Capital, was found guilty today in Manhattan federal court in connection with his participation in the most lucrative insider trading scheme ever charged, involving approximately $275 million in illegal profits and avoided losses. MARTOMA was convicted after a four-week jury trial presided over by U.S. District Judge Paul G. Gardephe.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said: “As the jury unanimously found, Mathew Martoma cultivated and purchased the confidence of doctors with secret knowledge of an experimental Alzheimer's drug, and used it to engage in illegal insider trading. Martoma bought the answer sheet before the exam – more than once – netting a quarter billion dollars in profits and losses avoided for SAC, as well as a $9 million bonus for him. In the short run, cheating may have been profitable for Martoma, but in the end, it made him a convicted felon, and likely will result in the forfeiture of his illegal windfall and the loss of his liberty. Mathew Martoma becomes the 79th person convicted of insider trading after trial or by guilty plea in this District in the last four years.”
According to the allegations in the Superseding Indictment filed in Manhattan federal court, other court documents, and the evidence presented at trial:
During the period of the insider trading scheme, MARTOMA was an S.A.C. Capital portfolio manager responsible for investment decisions in public companies in the health care sector, including pharmaceutical companies Elan and Wyeth, that were involved in the development of experimental drugs to combat Alzheimer’s Disease. At the time, scientists and investors alike were awaiting the results of a clinical trial being conducted by Elan and Wyeth for a drug called bapineuzumab, which offered a novel but untested approach to the treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease (the “Drug Trial”).
In order to obtain material nonpublic information (the “Inside Information”) about the Drug Trial, MARTOMA, shortly after starting his employment at S.A.C. Capital in the summer of 2006, began using expert networking firms to try to speak to doctors involved in the Drug Trial with access to confidential information. Through these efforts, MARTOMA arranged dozens of paid consultations with one of the Drug Trial’s principal investigators, Dr. Joel Ross, and the chairman of the Drug Trial’s Safety Monitoring Committee (“SMC”), Dr. Sidney Gilman. Through an exploitation of MARTOMA’s personal and financial relationships with these doctors, MARTOMA was able to obtain Inside Information about the Drug Trial.
The Inside Information that MARTOMA initially received from Dr. Ross included anecdotal reports concerning patients under Dr. Ross’s care. The Inside Information MARTOMA initially received from Dr. Gilman included generally positive safety data about which Dr. Gilman was aware through his chairmanship of the SMC. In fact, MARTOMA arranged a paid consultation shortly after each and every SMC meeting, in part to ensure that he would be among the first to learn if any substantial safety issues were emerging from the Drug Trial that could lead to the cancellation of the Drug Trial and decreases in the price of Elan and Wyeth stock. Based in part on the positive safety information, MARTOMA purchased and held shares of Elan and Wyeth, and further recommended that the owner of S.A.C. Capital (the “S.A.C. Capital Owner”) purchase and hold Elan and Wyeth securities, which the S.A.C Capital Owner did. By the spring of 2008, S.A.C. Capital held approximately $700 million worth of Elan and Wyeth equity securities.
Elan and Wyeth planned to release the full results of the Drug Trial to the investing public at the International Conference on Alzheimer Disease (the “ICAD Presentation”) on July 29, 2008. Dr. Gilman was selected to present the results on behalf companies and was “unblinded” to the full safety and efficacy results of the drug trial on July 15, 2008. Until that time, Dr. Gilman had only been privy to the safety results of the Drug Trial. On July 17, 2008, Dr. Gilman received a draft PowerPoint presentation that had been created for the ICAD meeting and that was marked “Confidential, Do Not Distribute.” The draft PowerPoint presentation showed that the Drug Trial results were negative, particularly in comparison with market expectations. The results raised serious questions about how well the drug worked and, in fact, whether it worked at all.
Later on July 17, 2008, MARTOMA called Dr. Gilman from his home and spoke to Dr. Gilman in detail about the draft PowerPoint presentation during a phone call that lasted one hour and forty-five minutes. Then, on Saturday, July 19, 20008, MARTOMA flew roundtrip from New York City to Detroit, Michigan, to meet Dr. Gilman in his University of Michigan office and review the draft PowerPoint presentation further.
The next day, Sunday, July 20, 2008, MARTOMA sent the owner of S.A.C. Capital (the “S.A.C. Capital Owner”) an email in which he wrote that “…It’s important [that we speak,]” which they did, for approximately 20 minutes. The S.A.C. Capital Owner then directed S.A.C Capital to sell Elan and Wyeth securities prior to the ICAD Presentation. Over the next seven days, S.A.C. Capital liquidated its entire equity position in Elan and almost all of its equity position in Wyeth – a total of 17.7 million shares worth approximately $700 million. S.A.C. Capital also shorted Elan and Wyeth by approximately 7.75 million shares. This trading represented over 20% of the reported U.S. trading volume in Elan and 11% of the volume in Wyeth.
MARTOMA also received information about the ICAD presentation from Dr. Joel Ross. In particular, on the evening of July 28, 2008, after Dr. Ross had been un-blinded to the Drug Trial results at a dinner for Principal Investigators, Dr. Ross met with MARTOMA in a hotel lobby to discuss the negative results. To Dr. Ross’s surprise, MARTOMA already seemed to have seen the Drug Trial results.
The day after the ICAD presentation, Elan stock closed approximately 42% lower, and Wyeth shares fell approximately 11%. Through this trading activity S.A.C. Capital earned profits and avoided losses of approximately $275 million.
MARTOMA, 39, was convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and two counts of securities fraud. He faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison for the conspiracy charge and 20 years in prison on each of the two securities fraud charges. With respect to the conspiracy charges, he faces a maximum fine of $250,000, or twice the gross gain or loss derived from the crimes, and for the securities fraud charges, he faces a maximum fine of $5 million, or twice the gross gain or loss derived from the crime on each charge.
Mr. Bharara praised the efforts of the FBI and also thanked the SEC for its assistance in the investigation. He added that the investigation is continuing.
This case was brought in coordination with President Barack Obama’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force, on which Mr. Bharara serves as a Co-Chair of the Securities and Commodities Fraud Working Group. The task force was established 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 nearly 10,000 financial fraud cases against nearly 15,000 defendants including more than 2,900 mortgage fraud defendants. For more information on the task force, please visit www.stopfraud.gov.
This case is being handled by the Office’s Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Arlo Devlin-Brown, Eugene Ingoglia, Megan Gaffney, and Andrea Griswold are in charge of the prosecution.
U.S. v. Mathew Martoma S1 Indictment.pdf
Repeat Felon Sentenced to Federal Prison for Gun with Obliterated Serial NumberRead the Press Release
BECKLEY, W.Va. – A convicted felon who possessed a gun with an obliterated serial number in July of 2013 was sentenced today to two years and six months in federal prison, United States Attorney Booth Goodwin announced. Benjamin Payne, 47, of Clear Creek, West Virginia, previously pleaded guilty in September of 2013 and admitted to possessing and storing a loaded revolver with an obliterated serial number in his car. Payne admitted he had acquired the firearm several weeks prior to his arrest. Payne had multiple prior convictions for burglary.
Homeland Security Investigations handled the investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Blaire L. Malkin handled the prosecution. The sentence was imposed by United States District Judge Irene C. Berger.
Raceland Man, Johnny Smith, Pleads Guilty to Sexual Exploitation of Children and Possession of Child PornographyRead the Press Release
JOHNNY SMITH, age 43, a resident of Raceland, Louisiana, pleaded guilty as charged yesterday before U.S. District Judge Sarah S. Vance to the sexual exploitation of children and possessing images depicting the sexual victimization of children under the age of twelve-years-old, announced U.S. Attorney Kenneth Allen Polite, Jr.
According to the court documents, after a lengthy investigation FBI special agents executed a search warrant on SMITH’S home on July 23, 2013, during which they seized several items of electronic evidence. During a review of the evidence, agents found videos SMITH recorded in which he engaged in sexually explicit conduct with a three-year-old girl. SMITH recorded the videos between about May 12, 2013, and June 23, 2013. Agents also found approximately seven videos of seventeen images depicting children under the age of twelve engaged in sexually explicit conduct that SMITH had downloaded and saved to his computer.
SMITH faces a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of fifteen (15) years and a maximum of thirty (30) years as to Count 1, and a maximum of twenty (20) years as to Count 2 followed by up to a life term of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine. He can also be required to register as a sex offender. Sentencing has been scheduled for May 14, 2004.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “resources.”
This case is being investigated by agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The prosecution of this case is being handled by Assistant United States Attorney Jordan Ginsberg.
(Download Factual Basis )
Plum Attorney Sentenced to 11 Years in Prison for Million Dollar Mortgage Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
PITTSBURGH - A Plum Borough resident has been sentenced in federal court to 135 months in prison on her convictions of filing false tax returns, failing to file tax returns, and mail fraud, United States Attorney David J. Hickton announced today.
United States District Judge Cathy Bissoon imposed the sentence on Lisa Gerideau-Williams, 47, of Kensington, Pa.
According to information presented to the court, Gerideau-Williams was an attorney who operated a mortgage broker business called Genesis Home Solutions, and two companies specializing in closing real estate transactions - Millennium Settlement Services and Professional Settlement Solutions. Through these companies Gerideau-Williams operated a complex and multi-faceted fraud scheme.
One aspect of the scheme involved the submission of loan applications to lenders. The loan applications were fraudulent because Gerideau-Williams submitted them without the authority of the borrowers and they contained false information related to the borrowers' financial condition. For example, Gerideau-Williams submitted loan applications on behalf of her brother and her elderly aunt that were not authorized by either. In addition, Gerideau-Williams represented to lenders that her elderly aunt owned and operated a lucrative cleaning business when, in fact, her aunt was a retired state worker. Gerideau-Williams also furthered the fraud by submitted fake documents supporting the misrepresentations in the loan applications and by forging the signature of her brother and her aunt.
Gerideau-Williams' fraud also related to her operation of businesses that closed real estate transactions. Gerideau-Williams received money from lenders into her trust account that was required to be disbursed to pay liabilities associated with the collateral. In that way the lender would stand in the first lien position related to the collateral. Gerideau-Williams, rather than paying those liabilities, would simply take the money and use it to support her lavish lifestyle.
Gerideau-Williams also defrauded borrowers. Borrowers paid for title insurance and for other services such as recording deeds and mortgages. Rather than providing these services, however, Gerideau-Williams simply took the fees for those services, but failed to actually provide those services.
Title insurance companies were also victimized by Gerideau-Williams' fraud. At closings, Gerideau-Williams collected fees from borrowers for title insurance. Gerideau-Williams, however, failed to remit those payments to the title insurance companies. In addition, some of the title insurance companies terminated Gerideau-Williams authority to issue title insurance under their names. Despite the termination, however, Gerideau-Williams continued to issue title insurance on fraudulent transactions as if she was authorized to do so.
Gerideau-Williams' fraud was particularly egregious related to property located in Pittsburgh, Pa. Prior to 2005, Gerideau-Williams rented that property and it was her residence. On Sept. 6, 2005, through her fraudulent businesses, she sold the property from the rightful owner to her elderly aunt without the knowledge of either the owner or her aunt. A lender financed the purchase, and Gerideau-Williams simply took all of the proceeds from the transaction for her personal benefit. Gerideau-Williams, however, did not record the deed or the mortgage related to the property and therefore the property still appeared on the public record to be owned by the rightful owner of the property free of any mortgages.
On March 13, 2006, Gerideau-Williams arranged to purchase the property in her own name financed through a fraudulently obtained loan. While she recorded the deed transferring ownership of the property to her own name, she did not record the mortgage and therefore, according to the public record, it appeared that she owned the property free of any liens.
On Aug. 7, 2006, Gerideau-Williams sold the property to her brother, and her brother financed the purchase through a fraudulently obtained loan secured by Gerideau-Williams. Gerideau-Williams received the proceeds from the sale, but she did not record the deed or the mortgage and therefore the public record still showed that she owned the property free of any liens.
On Jan. 19, 2007, Gerideau-Williams sold the property to her brother again, and her brother again financed the purchase through a fraudulently obtained loan secured by Gerideau-Williams. Gerideau- Williams again received the proceeds from the sale, but she again did not record the deed or the mortgage and therefore the public record still showed that she owned the property free of any liens.
Finally, on Feb. 20, 2007, Gerideau-Williams sold the property to her brother again, and her brother again financed the purchase through a fraudulently obtained loan secured by Gerideau-Williams. Gerideau-Williams again received the proceeds from the sale, but she again did not record the deed or the mortgage and therefore the public record still showed that she owned the property free of any liens.
Equally egregious are the various loans Gerideau-Williams secured in the name of her elderly aunt. As mentioned above, Gerideau-Williams arranged for her aunt to purchase property from the rightful owner. That purchase was financed through a loan fraudulently obtained by Gerideau-Williams.
Gerideau-Williams' aunt owned a home in Harrisburg, Pa. On Nov. 2, 2005, Gerideau-Williams arranged for a fraudulent refinance loan collateralized by her aunt's Harrisburg property. On Jan. 30, 2007, Gerideau-Williams arranged for a second fraudulent refinance transaction collateralized by that same property.
On March 12, 2007 and March 21, 2007, Gerideau-Williams, without the authority of her elderly aunt, secured two other refinance transactions collateralized by that same property. For each transaction, Gerideau-Williams took the proceeds from the loans and used those proceeds to support her lavish lifestyle. In neither of those transactions, however, did she record the mortgages. In connection with those transactions she issued title insurance without the authority of the title insurance companies, forged her aunt's signature on various documents, and failed to pay the liabilities associated with the collateral as required by the lenders.
For the 2004, tax year Gerideau-Williams, who took taxation classes at Georgetown University School of Law toward an advanced degree in tax law, filed tax returns that drastically understated her income because she failed to include the more than a million dollars earned in the course of her fraud schemes. For that 2005 and 2006 tax years, she did not file her income tax returns.
Assistant United States Attorney Brendan T. Conway prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.
U.S. Attorney Hickton commended the Mortgage Fraud Task Force for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Gerideau-Williams.
Placer County Woman Charged for an Investment Fraud Scheme That Targeted Investors in Failed Folsom Ponzi SchemeRead the Press Release
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Kari Sonovich, 42, was arrested today at her home in Meadow Vista, United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced. On January 31, 2014, a federal grand jury returned a three-count indictment, charging Sonovich with mail fraud. The indictment was unsealed today after her arrest. Sonovich is scheduled to be arraigned today in federal court in Sacramento at 2:00 p.m.
According to court documents, between July 2008 and April 2009, Sonovich recruited investors to invest with her Las Vegas company, B&B Consulting Group LLC, by telling them she could place their funds with an international trader who operated at an extremely high level, promising returns of up to 500 percent every 90 days. When investors deposited funds with her, Sonovich kept some or all of the funds for herself. The indictment alleges that Sonovich received more than $3 million from investors. To date, no investor has received the promised returns, and in most or all instances, no investor has received any of their initial investment back.
Some investors in Sonovich’s scheme became involved at the same time that an earlier investment fraud scheme in which they had invested was collapsing. Anthony Vassallo and Kenneth Kenitzer ran that Folsom-based Ponzi scheme through their company Equity Investment Management & Trading (EIMT). Both were convicted for that scheme, Vassallo is serving a 16-year prison sentence and Kenitzer is scheduled to be sentenced on February 14, 2014.
This case is the product of an investigation by the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Jean M. Hobler is prosecuting the case.
If convicted, Sonovich faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of up to twice the losses resulting from the scheme. Any sentence, however, would be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables. The charges are only allegations; the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Pilot Projects Allow Tribal Prosecution of Non-Indian AbusersRead the Press Release
PASCUA YAQUI TRIBE OF ARIZONA TO BE ONE OF THREE TRIBES TO
IMPLEMENT SPECIAL DOMESTIC VIOLENCE CRIMINAL JURISDICTION UNDER VAWA 2013
For the First Time in More Than Three DecadesWASHINGTON – The Pascua Yaqui Tribe of Arizona will be one of three American Indian tribes, joining the Umatilla Tribe of Oregon, and the Tulalip Tribe of Washington, to be the first in the nation to exercise special criminal jurisdiction over certain crimes of domestic and dating violence, regardless of the defendant’s Indian or non-Indian status, under a pilot project authorized by the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 (VAWA 2013).
“This is just the latest step forward in this administration’s historic efforts to address the public safety crisis in Indian country. Every day, we’re working hard to strengthen partnerships with tribal leaders and confront shared challenges – particularly when it comes to protecting Indian women and girls from the shocking and unacceptably high rates of violence they too often face,” said Attorney General Eric Holder. “With the important new tools provided by the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013, these critical pilot projects will facilitate the first tribal prosecutions of non-Indian perpetrators in recent times. This represents a significant victory for public safety and the rule of law, and a momentous step forward for tribal sovereignty and self-determination.”
“The VAWA Pilot Project provides the Pascua Yaqui Tribe the latitude to exercise a wider jurisdictional range to prosecute those who commit domestic violence crimes on the Pascua Yaqui Reservation,” stated U.S. Attorney John S. Leonardo. “The Pascua Yaqui now have the legal ability to prosecute such cases in tribal court without recourse to the federal courts thus affording the tribe more local control in its efforts to protect victims of domestic violence on its reservation. The Pascua Yaqui Tribe was one of only three tribes in the country chosen for this national pilot project, and I congratulate the Tribe on its implementation of this historic legislation.”
“Making the Pascua Yaqui Reservation safe and secure has been very important to the Pascua Yaqui Tribal Council. The Tribal Council has made stopping violence against Native American women a top priority issue. Our judicial system, like all other judicial systems, will now have the opportunity to address offenders for wrongs committed against our most vulnerable community members,” says Peter Yucupicio, Tribal Chairman. “We no longer have to simply stand by and watch our Native women be victimized with no recourse. I’m here to put the community on notice, perpetrators will be held accountable in the tribe’s own justice system,” adds Raymond Buelna, Councilmember and Chairman of the tribe’s Public Safety Committee.
Although the provisions authorizing the special jurisdiction take effect generally in March 2015, the law also gives the Attorney General discretion to grant a tribe’s request to exercise the jurisdiction earlier, through a voluntary pilot project. The authority to approve such requests has been delegated to Associate Attorney General Tony West. Associate Attorney General West today congratulated tribal leaders of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe of Arizona, the Umatilla Tribe of Oregon, and the Tulalip Tribe of Washington on this historic achievement in letters to the three tribes.
“The old jurisdictional scheme failed to adequately protect the public – particularly native women – with too many crimes going unprosecuted and unpunished amidst escalating violence in Indian Country,” stated Associate Attorney General West. “Our actions today mark an historic turning point. We believe that by certifying certain tribes to exercise jurisdiction over these crimes, we will help decrease domestic and dating violence in Indian Country, strengthen tribal capacity to administer justice and control crime, and ensure that perpetrators of sexual violence are held accountable for their criminal behavior.”
Since the Supreme Court’s 1978 opinion in Oliphant v. Suquamish Indian Tribe, tribes have been prohibited from exercising criminal jurisdiction over non-Indian defendants. This included domestic violence and dating violence committed by non-Indian abusers against their Indian spouses, intimate partners and dating partners. Even a violent crime committed by a non-Indian husband against his Indian wife, in the presence of her Indian children, in their home on the Indian reservation, could not be prosecuted by the tribe. In granting the pilot-project requests of the Pascua Yaqui, Umatilla, and Tulalip tribes today, the United States is recognizing and affirming the tribes’ inherent power to exercise “special domestic violence criminal jurisdiction” (SDVCJ) over all persons, regardless of their Indian or non-Indian status.
As described in the Department of Justice’s Final Notice on the pilot project, today’s decisions are based on a diligent, detailed review of application questionnaires submitted by the tribes in December 2013, along with excerpts of tribal laws, rules, and policies, and other relevant information. That review, conducted in close coordination with the Department of the Interior and after formal consultation with affected Indian tribes, led the Justice Department to determine that the criminal justice system in the Pascua Yaqui, Umatilla, and Tulalip tribes have adequate safeguards in place to fully protect defendants’ rights under the Indian Civil Rights Act of 1968, as amended by VAWA 2013.
The Department of Justice is posting notices of the pilot-project designation on the Tribal Justice and Safety Web site (www.justice.gov/tribal/) and in the Federal Register. In addition, each tribe’s application questionnaire and related tribal laws, rules, and policies will be posted on the Web site. These materials will serve as a resource for those tribes that may also wish to participate in the pilot project or to commence exercising SDVCJ in March 2015 or later, after the pilot project has concluded.
For more information on VAWA 2013, please visit www.justice.gov/tribal/vawa-tribal.html.
2014-009_VAWA
Parkersburg Drug Felon Pleads Guilty to Illegally Possessing 26 FirearmsRead the Press Release
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – A Parkersburg man, previously convicted of manufacturing a controlled substance pleaded guilty today to a federal gun crime, announced U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin. Alan Keith Philpott, 46, pleaded guilty to possessing 26 firearms in spite of his status as a convicted felon. Philpott offered his guilty plea before United States District Judge Thomas E. Johnston.
On November 1, 2012 and March 21, 2003 police executed search warrants at Philpott’s residence on Elm Tree Drive near Parkersburg. During the first search, police seized approximately 22 firearms. During the second search warrant, police seized an additional four firearms. Philpott had been previously convicted in December of 2006 in the Circuit Court of Wood County of the felony offense of manufacturing a controlled substance.
Philpott faces up to 10 years in federal prison when he is sentenced on May 15, 2014, at 10:00 a.m.
The West Virginia State Police, Parkersburg Police Department, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted the investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Joshua Hanks is in charge of the prosecution.
Ontario Man Sentenced on Drug Smuggling ChargeRead the Press Release
BUFFALO, N.Y.--U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Edman Ho, 28, of Timmins, Ontario, who was convicted of conspiracy to import 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) into the United States from Canada, was sentenced to 24 months in prison, by Chief U.S. District Judge William M. Skretny.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary Catherine Baumgarten, who handled the case, stated that case began with an investigation into narcotics smuggling by Ho from Canada. The drugs were primarily distributed in the City of Niagara Falls and other locations in Niagara County.
The sentencing is the culmination of an investigation by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge James C. Spero.
Omaha Man Sentenced to Ten Years in Federal Prison for Child PornographyRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Deborah R. Gilg announced that Joshua M. Meyer, 33, was sentenced in federal court in Omaha for distributing and possessing child pornography. The Honorable Lyle E. Strom, Senior United States District Court Judge, sentenced Meyer to a ten year term in federal prison. There is no parole in the federal system. After his release from prison Meyer will begin a ten year term of supervised release and will be required to register as a sex offender.
On January 27, 2013, Meyer displayed an image of child pornography involving a two year old victim during a webcam session. The incident was reported to law enforcement.
A search warrant was served on Meyer’s residence in Omaha on May 24, 2013. More than 300 videos of child pornography were recovered from computers seized from his home. The average age of the child victims was between five and ten years. Meyer admitted to collecting child pornography over eight years and deleting his collection six months earlier.
This matter was investigated by the Omaha FBIs Cyber Crime Task Force (CCTF), of which the Nebraska State Patrol is a partner. The Omaha CCTF is a multi-jurisdictional task force consisting of eleven federal, state and local law enforcement agencies from Nebraska and Iowa. The mission of the Omaha CCTF is to investigate and apprehend high technology criminals and to protect our communities by preventing high technology crime and national security threats involving computers and computer networks. The Omaha CCTF was established on the premise that the capabilities of law enforcement agencies to investigate computer and high technology related crimes are enhanced in a task force setting involving the sharing of resources and expertise.
The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led 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.
Officials Take Down Gang-affiliated Drug Traffickers; Take Dozens of Guns Off the StreetRead the Press Release
San Diego – Forty-five people with links to six criminal street gangs have been charged with gun and methamphetamine-trafficking crimes in indictments unsealed this week.
Following a yearlong investigation and a three-day gang sweep that concluded this morning, 40 defendants were in custody and 52 weapons were taken off the streets. A coalition of local, state and federal agents also conducted searches at eight locations – including sites in Linda Vista, Midtown, City Heights, Mid City, Clairemont Mesa and Oak Park.
Many of these locations are homes where drugs and guns were stored or sold – including an apartment across the street from Hoover High School. Agents and detectives seized $47,600 in cash at a house in Oak Park this morning, bringing the total of cash seized to almost $60,000.
Among the guns found during the investigation, dubbed Crystal Palace II: Numerous assault rifles; AR-15 magazine-fed, semi-automatic rifles; high-powered rifles, an SWD M11 9mm (Tec 9) with high capacity magazine and a couple Norinco Mak 90 7.62mm (AK-47) with high capacity magazines.
The 10 indictments describe five different conspiracies with overlapping players, including individuals with ties to the Oriental Killer Boys, the Oriental Mob Crips, the Viet Boys, the Tiny Oriental Crips, the Logan Heights Calle Treinta (KIE-yay TRAIN-tuh) and Linda Vista Crips.
According to indictments and search warrant affidavits, most defendants were drug traffickers selling methamphetamine. Some were felons in possession of firearms.
“We are absolutely committed to making our neighborhoods safe from violent gang activity and drug trafficking,” said U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy. “We will not allow our neighborhoods to become headquarters for drug-pushing, gun-toting gangsters.”
“HSI and our law enforcement partners have struck a serious blow to violent gang organizations in San Diego,” said Derek Benner, special agent in charge for HSI in San Diego. “The focus of Crystal Palace Part ll was on disrupting criminal gang activity in Southern California based on previously gathered intelligence. Today’s arrests, which included a number of high-level gang members who were taken off the streets, will immediately improve community safety.”
“This is exactly the type of criminal activity that DEA and its law enforcement partners want to ensure is not afflicting the streets of San Diego,” said Special Agent in Charge William R. Sherman of the San Diego Drug Enforcement Administration.
"Combating violent crime to make our communities safer is our first goal,” said John D'Angelo, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the ATF Los Angeles Field Division. “We best achieve that through effective partnerships and innovative enforcement. In this investigation, our agencies worked together, but uniquely applied our respective resources and enforcement jurisdictions to the overall effort. As a result, we made a far greater impact together than any of us could have alone.”
According to court documents, some of the defendants were distributing methamphetamine far beyond the borders of California – from Hawaii to Guam, and from central California to Minnesota.
This case is the latest in a series of federally-charged, large-scale multi-agency crackdowns on street gang activity in San Diego County neighborhoods. Including today’s indictments, almost 300 people have been charged in a number of major federal gang prosecutions since January 2012, with scores of guilty pleas entered.
What most of these cases have in common is methamphetamine. It’s the perfect commodity for gangs because there is no shortage of customers. It’s cheap, pure and so addictive you can get hooked after just one use. It’s prevalent among the young and old, rich and poor.
Federal prosecutions of methamphetamine drug crimes in the Southern District of California, which includes San Diego and Imperial counties, have increased more than 500 percent in the last five years, from 144 cases in FY 2008 to 910 cases in FY 2013.
While San Diego County was once known for its proliferation of meth labs, the supply of meth has shifted to “superlabs” operated by drug cartels in Mexico. As a result, meth seizures at U.S. ports of entry along the California-Mexico border have almost doubled. In fiscal 2013, nearly 12,000 pounds of meth were seized at the ports, compared to almost 6,700 pounds two years earlier, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection stats.
“Meth abuse and trafficking are tremendous problems in our country and our county – and they urgently require more resources and attention,” U.S. Attorney Duffy said. “For all of these reasons, in 2014-2015, my office will be taking a harder look at our role in attacking these problems.”
Many of the defendants are scheduled to make their initial appearances in federal court at 2 p.m. today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Karen S. Crawford.
DEFENDANTS Criminal Case No: 14-CR-0216-MMAName
Age HometownChien Van Nguyen, aka “Chino”
32 San Diego, CAIsrael Soto, aka “Izzy/EZ”
30 El Cajon, CAChristian Lomeli, aka “Chente”
23 Chula Vista, CALori Ann Rodriguez
43 San Diego, CAEric Allan Guffin, aka “White Boy”
50 San Diego, CAHa Thi Ngoc Nguyen, aka “Holly”
38 San Diego, CALorenzo Orozco, aka “Tony Baloney”
33 San Diego, CAAnthony Adam Cruz, aka “Tony”
37 San Diego, CAEric Hanesana, aka “Slim/Sleepy”
30 San Diego, CAJohn Van Trinh, aka “Ngo / Little John”
23 San Diego, CASomxay Souphalak, aka “Hay”
38 San Diego, CAThalina Perry,
32 San Diego, CAThomas Ai Sommay, aka “T-Black”
33 San Diego, CALeo Paschal,
32 El Cajon, CATheng Sonepaseuth Theimthath, aka “Theng / Baby Blue
36 San Diego, CA SUMMARY OF CHARGESConspiracy to Distribute Methamphetamine in violation of Title 21, U.S.C., Secs. 841(a)(1) and 846; Possession of Methamphetamine with Intent to Distribute in violation of Title 21, U.S.C., Sec. 841(a)(1); Felon in Possession of a Firearm in in violation of Title 18, U.S.C., Secs. 922(g)(1) and 924(a)(2) Maximum Penalties: Life in prison with a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years and a 10 million dollar fine.
DEFENDANTS Criminal Case No: 14-CR-0224-MMAName
Age Hometown Israel Soto, aka “Izzy/EZ” 30 El Cajon, CA *Aziel Viveros-Navarro, aka “Pariente” 56 Tijuana, Mexico Jessica Quezada, 23 El Cajon, CA *Nathan Derek Gardner, aka “Nick” 34 Chula Vista, CA Gale Mason, 42 San Diego, CA SUMMARY OF CHARGESConspiracy to Distribute Methamphetamine in violation of Title 21, U.S.C., Secs. 841(a)(1) and 846; Possession of Methamphetamine with Intent to Distribute in violation of Title 21, U.S.C., Sec. 841(a)(1); Felon in Possession of a Firearm in in violation of Title 18, U.S.C., Secs. 922(g)(1) and 924(a)(2)
Maximum Penalties: Life in prison with a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years and a 10 million dollar fine.
DEFENDANTS Criminal Case No: 14-CR-0219-MMAName
Age HometownMario Alberto Miranda-Verdugo
32 San Diego, CAIsrael Soto, aka “Izzy/EZ”
30 El Cajon, CA*Chad Namoc
29 Pahoa, HI SUMMARY OF CHARGESConspiracy to Distribute Methamphetamine in violation of Title 21, U.S.C., Secs. 841(a)(1) and 846; Maximum Penalties: Life in prison with a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years and a 10 million dollar fine.
DEFENDANTS Criminal Case No: 14-CR-0225-MMAName
Age Hometown Tam Minh Ta, aka “Tom” 30 San Diego, CA Trinh Bang Le, aka “Tyson” 42 San Diego, CA Jesus Efren Guzman, 33 San Diego, CA Giang Van Doan, aka “Shorty” 37 San Diego, CA *Christopher Sutphin Ibanez, 49 San Diego, CA Bounpheng Soryadvongsa, aka “Bulldog” 41 San Diego, CA Rick Minh Ta, aka “Ricky” 27 San Diego, CA Billy Minh Ta, 29 San Diego, CA Vong Vongdara, aka “Thigh” 33 San Diego, CA Jasmine Marie Cross, aka “Kitty” 19 San Diego, CA SUMMARY OF CHARGESConspiracy to Distribute Methamphetamine in violation of Title 21, U.S.C., Secs. 841(a)(1) and 846; Possession of Methamphetamine with Intent to Distribute in violation of Title 21, U.S.C., Sec. 841(a)(1); Felon in Possession of a Firearm in in violation of Title 18, U.S.C., Secs. 922(g)(1) and 924(a)(2) Maximum Penalties: Life in prison with a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years and a 10 million dollar fine.
DEFENDANTS Criminal Case No: 14-CR-0221-MMAName
Age Hometown Dung Van NGUYEN aka “Du” 36 San Diego, CA Israel Soto, aka “Izzy/EZ” 30 El Cajon, CA Javier Chavez 48 Riverside, CA Veovanh Insixengmay aka “Baby” 32 San Diego, CA Eric Allan Guffin, aka “White Boy” 50 San Diego, CA Dien Phong Vo 36 San Diego, CA Louie James Roberts 26 San Diego, CA Thuy Thu Tu 45 San Diego, CA *Sengnguen Koulavongsa aka “Nguen” 40 San Diego, CA Erin Lindsay Connelly 32 El Cajon, CA *Suzana Vera 39 San Diego, CA SUMMARY OF CHARGESConspiracy to Distribute Methamphetamine in violation of Title 21, U.S.C., Secs. 841(a)(1) and 846; Conspiracy to Import Methamphetamine in violation of Title 21, U.S.C. Secs. 952, 960 and 963; Importation of Methamphetamine in violation of Title 21, U.S.C., Secs. 952 and 960; Possession of Methamphetamine with Intent to Distribute in violation of Title 21, U.S.C., Sec. 841(a)(1); Felon in Possession of a Firearm in in violation of Title 18, U.S.C., Secs. 922(g)(1) and 924(a)(2)
Maximum Penalties: Life in prison with a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years and a 10 million dollar fine.
DEFENDANT Criminal Case No: 14-CR-0223-MMAName
Age Hometown Vincent Rubio 36 San Diego, CA SUMMARY OF CHARGESPossession of Methamphetamine with Intent to Distribute in violation of Title 21, U.S.C., Sec. 841(a)(1); Maximum Penalties: 40 years in prison with a mandatory minimum sentence of 5 years and a 5 million dollar fine.
DEFENDANT Criminal Case No: 14-CR-0220-MMAName
Age Hometown Dat Minh To aka “Tony” 33 San Diego, CA SUMMARY OF CHARGESPossession of Methamphetamine with Intent to Distribute in violation of Title 21, U.S.C., Sec. 841(a)(1); Felon in Possession of a Firearm in in violation of Title 18, U.S.C., Secs. 922(g)(1) and 924(a)(2) Maximum Penalties: 40 years in prison with a mandatory minimum sentence of 5 years and a 5 million dollar fine.
DEFENDANT Criminal Case No: 14-CR-0218-MMAName
Age Hometown Vinh Van Phan aka “Crack Baby” 33 San Diego, CA SUMMARY OF CHARGESFelon in Possession of a Firearm in in violation of Title 18, U.S.C., Secs. 922(g)(1) and 924(a)(2) Maximum Penalties: 10 years in prison and a $ 250,000 dollar fine.
DEFENDANT Criminal Case No: 14-CR-0217-MMAName
Age Hometown Khamsouk Inthavong aka “Speedy”” 35 San Diego, CA SUMMARY OF CHARGESFelon in Possession of Ammunition in in violation of Title 18, U.S.C., Secs. 922(g)(1) and 924(a)(2) Maximum Penalties: 10 years in prison and a $ 250,000 dollar fine.
DEFENDANT Criminal Case No: 14-CR-0222-MMAName
Age Hometown Cu Van Huynh aka “Ku Van Huynh/ Van Cu Huynh” 31 San Diego, CA SUMMARY OF CHARGESFelon in Possession of Ammunition in in violation of Title 18, U.S.C., Secs. 922(g)(1) and 924(a)(2) Maximum Penalties: 10 years in prison and a $ 250,000 dollar fine.
*Fugitives
AGENCIESImmigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations
San Diego Police Department
San Diego County Sheriff’s Department
Drug Enforcement Agency
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and ExplosivesAn indictment or complaint itself is not evidence that the defendants committed the crimes charged. The defendants are presumed innocent until the Government meets its burden in court of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Northern Arapaho Man Sentenced for Escape from CustodyRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Christopher A. Crofts announced today that on February 5, 2014, Garrett Blackburn, a 21-year-old enrolled Northern Arapaho man from Arapahoe, Wyoming, appeared in Federal District Court in Casper, Wyoming for sentencing before United States District Judge Scott W. Skavdahl on the charge of escape from custody. Blackburn had previously been sentenced to 16 months incarceration following his conviction for a charge of assault resulting in serious bodily injury. Blackburn was transferred from FCI Englewood to the Volunteers of America Community Corrections Center (VOACCC) in Gillette, Wyoming to complete his period of imprisonment. At the time of his escape from VOACCC, Blackburn had approximately nine weeks left to serve on his original sentence.
For this offense, Blackburn was sentenced to 13 months imprisonment, to be followed by two years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay a $100.00 special assessment. The case was investigated by the United States Marshals Service.
Norfolk Man Pleads Guilty to Theft of Military OrdnanceRead the Press Release
NORFOLK, Va. – David Karl Becker, 24, of Norfolk, Va., pleaded guilty today to theft of government property.
Dana J. Boente, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Charles T. May Jr., the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) Acting Executive Assistant Director for Atlantic Operations; and Charles E. Smith, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ (ATF) Washington Field Division, made the announcement after Becker’s plea was accepted today by United States Magistrate Judge Lawrence R. Leonard.
Becker was indicted on December 20, 2013 by a federal grand jury on charges of theft of government property, sale of stolen ammunition, and sale of stolen explosives. Becker is scheduled to be sentenced on May 9, 2014.
According to a statement of facts filed with the plea agreement, Becker, while an active duty Navy SEAL stationed in Virginia Beach, Virginia, was attempting to sell military property through an outdoor equipment auction website. NCIS agents observed Becker listing military M18 smoke grenades for sale online. On November 20, 2013, an undercover agent met Becker and purchased two M18 smoke grenades, which were explosive material under federal law and the property of the United States Navy. A second purchase was arranged for November 25, 2013 at Becker’s residence. That day, Becker offered to sell the undercover agent numerous firearms and items of military equipment. The undercover agent purchased two Special Forces grade gas masks and 200 rounds of 5.56 NATO ammunition from Becker. Everything purchased was property of the United States, taken by Becker from his Navy command.
The case was investigated by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Special Assistant United States Attorney Christopher A. George 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.Newport News Woman Sentenced to 33 Months for Role in MurderRead the Press Release
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – Tayvonna Licorish, 26, of Newport News was sentenced today to thirty-three months in prison for her part in the 2008 murder of Jonte Terry, in the K-mart parking lot located at Oriana Drive in Newport News.
Dana J. Boente, Acting 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 United States District Judge Arenda L. Wright Allen.
Licorish was charged on January 16, 2013, in a superseding indictment with accessory after the fact and misprision of a felony. Her boyfriend, Aronte Jarvis was indicted on October 10, 2012 on charges of murder in aid of racketeering activity, discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence, murder with a firearm and drug conspiracy. Jarvis was sentenced to life in prison on September 20, 2013. Licorish pled guilty on October 21, 2013 to misprision of a felony.
According to court records, Jarvis was a member of a criminal organization known as “Thug Relations,” operating in the Aqueduct Apartments, St. Michael’s Apartments, Warwick Lawns, Warwick Town Homes, Heritage Trace Apartments, Mariner’s Landing Apartments, Sharon Drive and the Savage Drive areas of Newport News. The defendant and others established the power and prestige of the gang through violence, including the murder of Jonte Terry on February 3, 2008. Terry, 22, was shot in the K-mart parking lot located at Oriana Drive in Newport News. Licorish was with Jarvis and their child at the time of the shooting and witnesses told agents that Licorish was driving the car as the victim tried to flee. Following the murder Jarvis, accompanied by Licorish, provided the black pistol used in the murder to an associate gang member who later disposed of it in an effort to hide the weapon from law enforcement officers. Licorish admitted to a number of witnesses that she was present when Jarvis shot Jonte Terry multiple times.This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with the assistance of the Newport News Police Department and the Virginia State Police. Assistant United States Attorneys Howard J. Zlotnick and Lisa R. McKeel 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.
New York Business must pay up to $1 Million, Pleads Guilty to Contraband Cigarette TraffickingRead the Press Release
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a New York business must pay up to $1 million in fines, forfeiture and restitution after pleading guilty in federal court today to its role in a conspiracy to transport hundreds of thousands of cartons of contraband cigarettes from the Kansas City, Mo., area to the state of New York, where they were sold primarily on Indian reservations.
AJ’s Candy & Tobacco, LLC, of Irving, N.Y., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Brian C. Wimes to participating in a conspiracy to commit wire fraud and traffic in contraband cigarettes from June 2010 to Jan. 26, 2012.
Under the terms of today’s plea agreement, the company must forfeit to the government $221,550 (which represents the proceeds of the offense) and pay a fine of $243,400. The court may also order the company to pay an additional $535,050 in restitution to the state of New York. The government and the defendant are in agreement that a sentence of two years of probation is appropriate. Also, as part of the agreement, AJ’s is prohibited from selling premium cigarettes for two years.
AJ’s, a tobacco wholesaler located on a reservation, is not licensed to bring untaxed cigarettes into the state of New York. By pleading guilty today, the company admitted that AJ’s ordered contraband cigarettes from co-conspirators and caused those cigarettes to be transported into New York, knowing that the state excise tax of $4.35 per pack would not be paid as required by state and federal law.
As a result of AJ’s role in this conspiracy, the amount of total excise tax loss to the state of New York was approximately $535,050.
According to the indictment, conspirators purchased more than $17 million worth of contraband cigarettes from ATF agents during an undercover operation. Approximately 620,600 cartons of cigarettes – containing 10 packs per carton – were transported to New York without paying the required $4.35 per pack excise tax. The untaxed cigarettes were sold by New York retailers and smoke shops on the reservations in the state of New York. The total state excise tax lost to the state of New York was more than $8 million.
In addition to the federal indictment, the undercover operation resulted in a $3.5 million civil forfeiture. Following the seizures that occurred as a result of the investigation, the U.S. Attorney’s Office started a $3.5 million civil forfeiture case naming the assets taken up to that point. On Oct. 23, 2012, the court entered a default order of forfeiture for more than $2 million seized from bank accounts and by agents, more than 300 cases of seized cigarettes, a 2009 Cessna T206H Stationair aircraft, two 2012 Peterbilt 389 trucks and two 2012 Peterbilt 386 trucks. The seized cigarettes have been sold at auction for $532,500. The 2009 Cessna Aircraft has been sold for $450,000. The four trucks have been sold for the following amounts: $115,000; $115,000; $113,000; and $113,000. The civil case has been stayed pending the resolution of the criminal case.
The operation also resulted in a non-prosecution agreement that requires HCI Distribution, a Winnebago, Neb., company, to pay a $300,000 penalty. HCI Distribution is a subsidiary of Ho-Chunk, Inc., a corporation operated by the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska, a federally recognized Indian tribe.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Paul S. Becker and Justin G. Davids. It was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, IRS – Criminal Investigation, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation – Office of Inspector General and the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department.New Jersey Man Sentenced to Nearly Five Years in Prison for Possessing Illegal PillsRead the Press Release
BECKLEY, W.Va. – U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin announced today that a New Jersey man was sentenced to four years and nine months in federal prison for possession with intent to distribute oxycodone, a powerful prescription painkiller. William Ponder, 24 of Teaneck, New Jersey previously pled guilty in October of 2013, admitting that he had illegally possessed the drugs. The oxycodone pills were seized during the execution of a search warrant at a home in Mabscott, West Virginia where Ponder was temporarily staying. Ponder’s sentence was handed down by United States District Judge Irene Berger.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the Beckley Police Department handled the investigation.
This case was 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. 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 in communities across the Southern District.
Mountaineer Highway Interdiction Team Expands into Harrison CountyRead the Press Release
1125 Chapline Street, Federal Building, Suite 3000 ● Wheeling, WV 26003
(304) 234-0100 ● Contact: Chris Zumpetta-Parr, Public Affairs SpecialistMHIT to patrol area roadways for drug traffickers
BRIDGEPORT, WEST VIRGINIA – Law enforcement officials announced the formation of a new interdiction team that will patrol the roads of Harrison County in order to slow the flow of illegal drugs into the region.
United States Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld, II, Captain James Merrill of the West Virginia State Police, and Chief John Walker of the Bridgeport Police Department unveiled the Mountaineer Highway Interdiction Team on Thursday. They also provided details regarding successful patrols by the unit that have already taken place.
According to Ihlenfeld, the team – also known as MHIT South - will have the primary purpose of enhancing interdiction operations in order to slow the flow of illegal drugs into and through North Central West Virginia. The team’s major focus will be on highways and state routes but it will also concentrate on airports, bus terminals, hotels, motels, and parcel and package interdiction. The member agencies are the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the West Virginia State Police, the Bridgeport Police Department and the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District.
Besides enhancing regional highway interdiction operations, MHIT South will have the added benefit of disrupting criminal organizations operating within West Virginia and of preserving citizen safety on West Virginia highways through effective traffic and commercial vehicle enforcement. It will also assist in investigating kidnappings, bank robberies, Amber Alerts and interstate theft; the detection and recovery of firearms; human trafficking and immigration violations; and fugitive apprehension.
MHIT South will support the Greater Harrison County Drug Task Force and other law enforcement agencies in the region and be available to act upon intelligence related to drug trafficking.
The unit is the second of its kind in West Virginia, with the first MHIT unit having been formed in the Northern Panhandle in 2011. MHIT North also consists of local, state and federal law enforcement agencies. In 2013, the northern version of MHIT made 235 arrests, with 98 of those for felonies It seized over 1,600 dosage units of prescription drugs in 2013, including oxycodone, hydrocodone, and other painkillers. It also seized large amounts of heroin, cocaine, and marijuana along with firearms and other stolen property. Nearly $40,000 in U.S. currency was recovered and forfeited as proceeds of illegal drug trafficking.
MHIT South has been in operation since the end of 2013 and its officers have made over 50 arrests, with nearly half of those arrests on drug-related charges. The unit has recovered large amounts of diverted prescription medication as well as over half a kilogram of marijuana. In addition, quantities of heroin and methamphetamine have been seized along with two firearms and $6,960 in U.S. currency. One fugitive was apprehended, two search warrants were obtained, and eight informants were developed. The team is presently made up of West Virginia State Troopers and City of Bridgeport police officers, including a K-9 officer. The MHIT executive board hopes to add more officers in 2014.
“MHIT South will provide an aggressive response to drug trafficking and other forms of criminal activity that we’re faced with in North Central West Virginia,” said Ihlenfeld. “It has been highly successful in other parts of the Northern District, and I’m confident that it will make a big impact here and change the way we fight crime in Harrison County.”
“Law enforcement must work together to implement a comprehensive strategy in order to combat the epidemic of drug abuse in our region,” said Captain Merrill. “The concept of highway interdiction, when practiced on a consistent basis, greatly increases the pressure placed upon drug dealers and makes them uncomfortable to the point that they often elect to go elsewhere to do business.”
“This multi-agency drug interdiction unit is about pooling our resources and working together with a common goal. That goal is to ensure the safety and protection of our citizens and precious future generations from the drug epidemic,” said Chief Walker. “We will seek out, arrest, and prosecute those individuals who choose to benefit financially from the sale of illegal narcotics in our community.”
Regular updates on the work of MHIT will be made via press releases from its member agencies as well as via the official Twitter feed of the United States Attorney’s Office, @NDWVnews.
Mcdowell County Woman Sentenced for Interfering with an Irs InvestigationRead the Press Release
Charleston, W.Va. – A McDowell County woman was sentenced to one year and one day in federal prison for attempting to interfere with the administration of internal revenue laws, U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin announced today. The defendant, Bonita Witt-Hird, 59, of Thorpe, West Virginia, was also sentenced to one year of supervised release and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $422,180.69, which includes $186,819.24 in tax loss and $235,361.46 in interest and penalties.
Witt-Hird was employed by Richmorr and Associates, an Elkview, West Virginia sewage treatment company. Between 2003 and 2009, Witt-Hird failed to file required employment tax returns and make tax deposits for taxes that had been collected from the wages of employees. When contacted by agents with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Witt-Hird provided false and altered records, checks, and receipts. These documents were provided to establish that she had satisfied her tax obligations when, in fact, she had not. A subsequent audit revealed that the required taxes had not been paid. The original records were also recovered and compared to the altered records provided by Witt-Hird. Witt Hird admitted to providing false records to IRS agents in an effort to obstruct their investigation. She admitted that she had failed to pay the IRS the employment taxes, and instead diverted money to pay other bills owed by Richmorr and Associates.
The Internal Revenue Service conducted the investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Erik S. Goes handled the prosecution, assisted by Jed Silversmith at the United States Department of Justice, Tax Division, Southern Criminal Enforcement Section. The sentence was imposed by United States District Judge John T. Copenhaver, Jr.
McLaughlin Man Sentenced for Assault by Striking, Beating and Wounding and Simple AssaultRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Brendan V. Johnson announced that a McLaughlin, South Dakota, man convicted of Assault by Striking, Beating and Wounding and Simple Assault was sentenced on February 4, 2014, by U.S. Magistrate Judge William D. Gerdes.
Conrad Little Bear, age 54, was sentenced to 60 days of custody on each count to be served concurrently, and a $20 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.
Little Bear was indicted by a federal grand jury on May 15, 2013. He pled guilty on January 7, 2014.
The conviction stems from an incident on October 18, 2012, when Little Bear was informed by his brother that someone had broken into his house. When he arrived at his home, the victim was asleep on a couch in his living room. Little Bear then proceeded to tie up the victim, awaiting the arrival of law enforcement. While waiting for law enforcement to arrive, Little Bear became irate about the situation and proceeded to strike the victim about the head and body, causing injury. When law enforcement arrived, they found the victim bound and tied with a thick rope. The victim was bleeding from the right ear, right eyebrow, and mouth.
This case was investigated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Standing Rock Agency. Assistant U.S. Attorney Troy R. Morley prosecuted the case.
Little Bear is to self-report to the U.S. Marshals Service on February 25, 2014.
Massachusetts Man Sentenced on Firearms ChargesRead the Press Release
CONCORD, N.H. –Christian Gonzalez, 35, of Lawrence, Massachusetts, was sentenced in United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire to 21 months in prison for aiding and abetting the making of false statements in connection with the acquisition of firearms, announced United States Attorney John P. Kacavas.
Gonzalez admitted that he was not able to legally purchase a firearm so he solicited another individual, or “straw purchaser,” to purchase firearms for him. On seven different occasions, Gonzalez drove the “straw purchaser” to a federally licensed firearms dealer in New Hampshire and provided him the money to purchase eleven firearms. Gonzalez took possession of the firearms immediately after the purchases were made. Two of the firearms were later recovered in Malden, Massachusetts.
The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Debra M. Walsh.Maryland Man Pleads Guilty to Traveling into the District of Columbia to Engage in Illicit Sexual ConductWith A Minor and Possession of Child PornographyRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON – Matthew Scanlon, 31, of Pasadena, Md., pled guilty today to charges of traveling interstate to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a minor and possession of child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr., Valerie Parlave, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, and Cathy L. Lanier, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).
Scanlon entered the guilty plea in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The Honorable Rudolph Contreras is to sentence him on May 21, 2014. Scanlon faces a statutory maximum sentence of 30 years of imprisonment for traveling interstate to engage in illicit sexual conduct and a maximum of 20 years for possession of child pornography, as well as potential fines.
According to the government's evidence, on July 10, 2013, Scanlon contacted an undercover officer with the FBI's Child Exploitation Task Force, who had posted an ad on a social network site. Over the next few days, Scanlon engaged in e-mail and text message conversations with the undercover officer whom the defendant believed was the father of an under-aged girl. During this period of time, Scanlon arranged with the undercover officer to meet for the purpose of engaging in sexual acts with the child.
During the course of their communications, Scanlon also sent the undercover officer one still image and two videos of child pornography. On July 16, 2013, Scanlon traveled from Maryland to a pre-arranged meeting place in Washington, D.C. When he arrived at the meeting place, he was arrested. Pursuant to a search of an external hard drive seized from the defendant’s residence, law enforcement recovered approximately 225 additional images of child pornography.
This case was brought as part of the Department of Justice's Project Safe Childhood initiative and investigated by the FBI's Child Exploitation Task Force, which includes members of the FBI's Washington Field Office and MPD. Project Safe Childhood is a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute those who exploit children, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov
In announcing the guilty plea, U.S. Attorney Machen, Assistant Director Parlave and Chief Lanier praised the work of the MPD Detectives and Special Agents of the FBI Child Exploitation Task Force. They also commended Assistant U.S. Attorney Ari Redbord, who is prosecuting the case.
14-034Manhattan U.S. Attorney Charges Swiss Asset Manager with Conspiring to Hide Millions of Dollars in Swiss Bank AccountsRead the Press Release
Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Toni Weirauch, the Special Agent-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (“IRS-CI”), announced the indictment today of PETER AMREIN, an asset manager at a Swiss asset management firm who assisted U.S. taxpayer-clients and others in hiding millions of dollars in offshore accounts from the IRS and evading U.S. taxes on the income earned in those accounts.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said: “As alleged, from his post in Switzerland, Peter Amrein aided and abetted U.S. taxpayers in their efforts to skirt the tax code and conceal their assets in offshore accounts. As today’s charges make clear, tax evasion is a serious offense. This Office is committed to prosecuting individuals, both U.S. citizens and non-citizens like Amrein, who engage in this illicit conduct.”
IRS Special Agent-in-Charge Weirauch said: “Offshore tax enforcement remains a top priority for the Internal Revenue Service. Individuals who choose to hide income outside of the United States, as well as those who assist them in hiding their assets, expose themselves to a variety of criminal charges and severe penalties. As we continue to gain access to more and more information about individuals involved in offshore tax evasion, potential violators can expect us to use all of our enforcement tools to stop this abuse.”
According to the allegations contained in the Indictment, which was unsealed today in Manhattan federal court, as well as other court documents previously filed:
AMREIN worked as a client adviser at a Swiss bank (“Swiss Bank No. 3) and, later, as an asset manager at a Swiss asset management firm (the “Swiss Asset Management Firm”). In those roles, between 1998 and 2012, AMREIN helped U.S. taxpayers evade taxes and hide millions of dollars in undeclared accounts at various Swiss banks, including, among others, Wegelin & Co. (“Wegelin”), which previously pled guilty in Manhattan federal court for conspiring with U.S. taxpayers to evade taxes.
In 1998, AMREIN began to work with Edgar Paltzer, a Zurich-based attorney, in the management of undeclared accounts for a number of U.S. taxpayers (collectively, the “Amrein/Paltzer Clients”). Paltzer has previously pled guilty in the Southern District of New York to conspiring to help U.S. taxpayers evade taxes. AMREIN requested that Paltzer establish sham foundations, organized under the laws of non-U.S. countries, such as Liechtenstein, so that the assets of the Amrein/Paltzer Clients could be maintained in accounts held in the names of these foreign foundations rather than in the names of the clients themselves. AMREIN made this request in order to help clients conceal their ownership of these undeclared accounts from the IRS.
In 2006, AMREIN left his position as a client adviser at Swiss Bank No. 3, and began to work as an asset manager at the Swiss Asset Management Firm. When AMREIN left Swiss Bank No. 3, he transferred the undeclared accounts of the Amrein/Paltzer Clients to another Swiss bank (“Swiss Bank No. 4”). At Swiss Bank No. 4, the accounts continued to be held in the names of the sham foundations created by Paltzer, and continued to be hidden from the IRS.
In 2008, it became publicly known that UBS AG (“UBS”) was being investigated by United States law enforcement for helping U.S. taxpayers maintain undeclared accounts. Because of the investigation of UBS, Swiss Bank No. 4 informed AMREIN that it was going to close the undeclared accounts of the Amrein/Paltzer Clients. In order to assist his clients in continuing to maintain undeclared accounts, AMREIN searched for and found another bank in Switzerland (“Swiss Bank No. 1”) that would maintain undeclared accounts of the Amrein/Paltzer Clients.
Thereafter, in 2009, AMREIN opened undeclared accounts for the Amrein/Paltzer Clients at Swiss Bank No. 1 in the name of sham foundations and transferred his clients’ assets from Swiss Bank No. 4 to these accounts at Swiss Bank No. 1. For some of these clients, AMREIN, with Paltzer’s assistance, helped send funds back to the United States and to other foreign jurisdictions in ways that were designed to prevent U.S. authorities from discovering the existence of the clients’ undeclared accounts. For instance, AMREIN and Paltzer instructed a client adviser at Swiss Bank No. 1 to empty one of the accounts by sending checks in amounts smaller than $9,900 to the beneficial owner of the account, i.e., the U.S. taxpayer. On another occasion, AMREIN and Paltzer instructed the same client adviser to transfer the balance of one of the accounts, which was then valued at over $2.4 million, to another account controlled by the U.S. taxpayer in Belize City, Belize.
AMREIN, 52, a Swiss citizen, resides in Switzerland and has not been arrested.
AMREIN is charged with one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and the IRS, and faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison, a maximum term of three years of supervised release, and a fine of the greatest of $250,000, twice the gross pecuniary gain derived from the offense, or twice the gross pecuniary loss to the victims.
Mr. Bharara praised the outstanding efforts of IRS-CI in the investigation, which he noted is ongoing. He also thanked the Department of Justice’s Tax Division for their significant assistance in the investigation.
This case is being handled by the Office’s Complex Frauds Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sarah E. Paul, Jason H. Cowley, and Jared Lenow are in charge of the prosecution.
The charge and allegations contained in the Indictment are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Charges Swiss Asset Manager with Conspiring to Hide Millions of Dollars in Swiss Bank AccountsRead the Press Release
Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Toni Weirauch, the Special Agent-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (“IRS-CI”), announced the indictment today of PETER AMREIN, an asset manager at a Swiss asset management firm who assisted U.S. taxpayer-clients and others in hiding millions of dollars in offshore accounts from the IRS and evading U.S. taxes on the income earned in those accounts.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said: “As alleged, from his post in Switzerland, Peter Amrein aided and abetted U.S. taxpayers in their efforts to skirt the tax code and conceal their assets in offshore accounts. As today’s charges make clear, tax evasion is a serious offense. This Office is committed to prosecuting individuals, both U.S. citizens and non-citizens like Amrein, who engage in this illicit conduct.”
IRS Special Agent-in-Charge Weirauch said: “Offshore tax enforcement remains a top priority for the Internal Revenue Service. Individuals who choose to hide income outside of the United States, as well as those who assist them in hiding their assets, expose themselves to a variety of criminal charges and severe penalties. As we continue to gain access to more and more information about individuals involved in offshore tax evasion, potential violators can expect us to use all of our enforcement tools to stop this abuse.”
According to the allegations contained in the Indictment, which was unsealed today in Manhattan federal court, as well as other court documents previously filed:
AMREIN worked as a client adviser at a Swiss bank (“Swiss Bank No. 3) and, later, as an asset manager at a Swiss asset management firm (the “Swiss Asset Management Firm”). In those roles, between 1998 and 2012, AMREIN helped U.S. taxpayers evade taxes and hide millions of dollars in undeclared accounts at various Swiss banks, including, among others, Wegelin & Co. (“Wegelin”), which previously pled guilty in Manhattan federal court for conspiring with U.S. taxpayers to evade taxes.
In 1998, AMREIN began to work with Edgar Paltzer, a Zurich-based attorney, in the management of undeclared accounts for a number of U.S. taxpayers (collectively, the “Amrein/Paltzer Clients”). Paltzer has previously pled guilty in the Southern District of New York to conspiring to help U.S. taxpayers evade taxes. AMREIN requested that Paltzer establish sham foundations, organized under the laws of non-U.S. countries, such as Liechtenstein, so that the assets of the Amrein/Paltzer Clients could be maintained in accounts held in the names of these foreign foundations rather than in the names of the clients themselves. AMREIN made this request in order to help clients conceal their ownership of these undeclared accounts from the IRS.
In 2006, AMREIN left his position as a client adviser at Swiss Bank No. 3, and began to work as an asset manager at the Swiss Asset Management Firm. When AMREIN left Swiss Bank No. 3, he transferred the undeclared accounts of the Amrein/Paltzer Clients to another Swiss bank (“Swiss Bank No. 4”). At Swiss Bank No. 4, the accounts continued to be held in the names of the sham foundations created by Paltzer, and continued to be hidden from the IRS.
In 2008, it became publicly known that UBS AG (“UBS”) was being investigated by United States law enforcement for helping U.S. taxpayers maintain undeclared accounts. Because of the investigation of UBS, Swiss Bank No. 4 informed AMREIN that it was going to close the undeclared accounts of the Amrein/Paltzer Clients. In order to assist his clients in continuing to maintain undeclared accounts, AMREIN searched for and found another bank in Switzerland (“Swiss Bank No. 1”) that would maintain undeclared accounts of the Amrein/Paltzer Clients.
Thereafter, in 2009, AMREIN opened undeclared accounts for the Amrein/Paltzer Clients at Swiss Bank No. 1 in the name of sham foundations and transferred his clients’ assets from Swiss Bank No. 4 to these accounts at Swiss Bank No. 1. For some of these clients, AMREIN, with Paltzer’s assistance, helped send funds back to the United States and to other foreign jurisdictions in ways that were designed to prevent U.S. authorities from discovering the existence of the clients’ undeclared accounts. For instance, AMREIN and Paltzer instructed a client adviser at Swiss Bank No. 1 to empty one of the accounts by sending checks in amounts smaller than $9,900 to the beneficial owner of the account, i.e., the U.S. taxpayer. On another occasion, AMREIN and Paltzer instructed the same client adviser to transfer the balance of one of the accounts, which was then valued at over $2.4 million, to another account controlled by the U.S. taxpayer in Belize City, Belize.
AMREIN, 52, a Swiss citizen, resides in Switzerland and has not been arrested.
AMREIN is charged with one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and the IRS, and faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison, a maximum term of three years of supervised release, and a fine of the greatest of $250,000, twice the gross pecuniary gain derived from the offense, or twice the gross pecuniary loss to the victims.
Mr. Bharara praised the outstanding efforts of IRS-CI in the investigation, which he noted is ongoing. He also thanked the Department of Justice’s Tax Division for their significant assistance in the investigation.
This case is being handled by the Office’s Complex Frauds Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sarah E. Paul, Jason H. Cowley, and Jared Lenow are in charge of the prosecution.
The charge and allegations contained in the Indictment are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
U.S. v. Peter Amrein Indictment
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Announces Return to Poland of Johann Conrad Seekatz Painting Stolen by the Nazis During World War IIRead the Press Release
Preet Bharara, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and James T. Hayes, Jr., the Special Agent-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (“ICE”) Homeland Security Investigations (“HSI”), announced today the return to the Polish Government of the Johann Conrad Seekatz painting, “St. Philip Baptizing a Servant of Queen Kandaki” (the “Seekatz Painting”), that was stolen from the National Museum of the City of Warsaw by Nazi forces during World War II.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said: “Decades ago, during World War II, this Johann Conrad Seekatz painting was removed from its home in a national Polish museum by Nazi forces. Since then it has crisscrossed the globe, but today, we are very pleased to finally be able to return this Polish national treasure to the country and its people.”
HSI New York Special Agent-in-Charge James T. Hayes, Jr. said: “We are deeply grateful to return this cherished painting to our partners from the Republic of Poland. Homeland Security Investigations will continue to work tirelessly to track down objects stolen during World War II and return them to their rightful owners.”
During World War II, Nazi forces invaded and occupied Poland and removed from the National Museum of the City of Warsaw numerous works of art, including the Seekatz Painting. The Seekatz Painting was never returned to the City of Warsaw following its removal by the Nazis during World War II. In 2006, the Seekatz Painting, erroneously labeled with another title, was sold to a gallery in London, England. In 2012, an evaluation of the Seekatz Painting was conducted and it was determined that it was, in fact, the painting stolen by the German Army from the National Museum of the City of Warsaw during World War II. On July 12, 2012, the U.S. Attorney’s Office submitted, and the U.S. District Court for the Southern District entered, a stipulation and order (the “Order”) providing for the seizure and return of the Seekatz Painting to the Republic of Poland. Subsequent to the entry of the Order, ICE HSI took possession of the painting in London, with the voluntary cooperation of the gallery in London, and returned the Seekatz Painting to New York.
The Seekatz Painting was returned to the Minister of Culture and National Heritage of Poland, Bogdan Zdrojewski, and the Polish Ambassador to the United States, Ryszard Schnepf, today at a repatriation ceremony at the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in New York, New York. Its return to the Government of Poland marks the seventh time that the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, in conjunction with ICE HSI, has returned important historical and cultural property and art work stolen during either World War I or World War II to its rightful owner.
Mr. Bharara praised the investigative work of ICE HSI in this matter, and its ongoing efforts to find and repatriate stolen and looted art and cultural property.
The case is being handled by the Office’s Money Laundering and Asset Forfeiture Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason H. Cowley is in charge of the case.
Man Pleads Guilty to Attempting to Destroy Beauty Supply Store by ArsonRead the Press Release
LAS VEGAS, Nev. – A man pleaded guilty today to maliciously attempting to destroy a local beauty supply store by fire and explosive devices, announced Daniel G. Bogden, United States Attorney for the District of Nevada.
Reynaldo Staana, 48, of Las Vegas, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge James C. Mahan to one count of arson of property used in or affecting interstate commerce. Sentencing is scheduled for May 6, 2014, at 10:00 a.m. Staana, who is in federal custody on the charges, faces a mandatory minimum of five years in prison and a maximum of 20 years in prison, as well as a fine of up to $250,000.
According to the court records filed in the case, Staana had been an assistant manager at Beauty Supply Warehouse located at 3310 South Nellis Boulevard in Las Vegas but was terminated from his position in August 2013. On about Sept. 8, 2013, Staana entered the business after hours without permission in order to commit theft of property, and while inside the business, intentionally and maliciously used fire to ignite a flammable liquid with intent to destroy the business. The fire caused more than $1 million in damage to structure and contents.
This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Clark County Fire Department, and the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Christina M. Brown.Luzerne County Man Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison for Receiving and Distributing Child PornographyRead the Press Release
The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that a 39-year-old former Luzerne Borough resident who admitted to receiving and distributing child pornography during 2012 through June 2013, was sentenced today to serve 15 years in prison by U.S. District Court Judge Malachy E. Mannion.
According to United States Attorney Peter J. Smith, the defendant, Michael Shaw, pleaded guilty to the crime on October 23, 2013.
Shaw was indicted by a federal grand jury in September 2013, for using a computer to receive and distribute child pornography.
The charge against Shaw resulted from an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Lackawanna County Detectives and the Luzerne County District Attorney’s Office.
Judge Mannion also ordered that Shaw be placed on supervised release for 10 years following his prison sentence. Shaw must also receive sex offender treatment and abide by sex offender registration requirements after his release from prison.
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."
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Francis P. Sempa.
Local Woman Sentenced on Fraud ChargesRead the Press Release
St. Louis, MO - THERESA MOORE was sentenced to 44 months in prison and ordered to pay $86,084 restitution to the victims of the crimes. Moore employed various aliases and claimed to be with law enforcement and the legal profession to induce victims to pay her money by convincing them that she could assist them with various legal matters. Moore contacted her victims by telephone and made false representations about non-existent legal matters.
According to court documents, in July 2009, Moore met an elderly widower through a telephone dating service. Soon after making the acquaintance, Moore, and her associates, using various aliases, began contacting him by telephone to inform him he was a victim of identity theft. Moore intentionally deceived him into believing that he was entitled to restitution and that he had to pay money up front in order to collect the restitution payment. At other times, Moore intentionally deceived him into believing that he would be receiving money as part of a legal settlement, but that he had to pay money up front in order to collect the settlement. In reliance on Moore's false representations, over the course of about three years the man made numerous payments to Moore totaling in excess of $61,473.
In May 2011, Moore and one of her associates contacted victim J.N. by telephone and told J.N. that there were several warrants out for the arrest of J.N.'s adult daughter, P.N., who had developmental learning disabilities. Moore stated to J.N. that Moore had paid fines on behalf of P.N. and needed to be reimbursed, when in fact, Moore was not aware of any such arrest warrants and had made no such payments. Moore enlisted an associate who posed as a police detective in order to lend credibility to her scheme. J.N. paid Moore in excess of $23,894 as a result of the fraud scheme.
Moore, St. Louis, Missouri, pled guilty last September to four felony counts of wire fraud. She appeared today for sentencing before United States District Judge John A. Ross.
This case was investigated by the United States Postal Inspection Service, the Hazelwood Police Department, the Clayton Police Department, The St. Louis County Police Department and the Missouri Attorney General’s Office. Assistant United States Attorney Reginald Harris handled the case for the U.S. Attorney’s Office.Lenoir City Residents Arrested on Federal ChargesRead the Press Release
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Joshua Hayworth, 23, and Timothy E. Chudley, 35, both of Lenoir City, Tenn., were charged on Feb. 5, 2014, with federal Hobbs Act violations for their roles in the Jan. 30, 2014, robbery of a Lenoir City Burger King restaurant.
Chudley was arrested in Knoxville on Feb. 5, 2014, without incident, and appeared in federal court the same day. Hayworth was arrested on state charges on Feb. 3, 2014, following a series of events which also resulted in federal carjacking charges against Hayworth. He will appear in federal court at a later date.
The criminal complaint on file with the U.S. District Court charges both men with federal Hobbs Act violations, while Hayworth is also charged with carjacking. The complaint alleges that Hayworth, with the assistance of Chudley, planned the robbery of the Lenoir City Burger King, which was carried out on Jan. 30, 2014. According to the complaint, on Feb. 3, 2014, Hayworth was observed driving a stolen vehicle in Knoxville, which Hayworth abandoned in a trailer park on Bob Gray Road, as law enforcement pursued.
Later the same day, Hayworth is accused of carjacking another vehicle from a pregnant female on Doubletree Lane in Knoxville, which he wrecked on Bob Gray Road. After fleeing on foot, it is alleged that Hayworth broke into a residence, where he was apprehended by law enforcement. Follow-up investigation by the multiple agencies involved uncovered Chudley’s role in the robbery scheme.
The arrests are the result of joint efforts by multiple law enforcement agencies, including the FBI Safe Streets Task Force (SSTF), composed of the FBI, Knoxville Police Department (KPD), and Knox County Sheriff’s Department (KCSO), the Lenoir City Police Department, KPD, KCSO, Loudon County Sheriff’s Office, and the Clinton Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kelly Norris will represent the United States.
Members of the public are reminded that the complaint constitutes only charges and that every person is presumed innocent until their guilt has been proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
Justice Department Announces Three Tribes to ImplementSpecial Domestic Violence Criminal Jurisdiction Under VAWA 2013Read the Press Release
Three American Indian tribes – the Pascua Yaqui Tribe of Arizona, the Tulalip Tribes of Washington, and the Umatilla Tribes of Oregon – will be the first in the nation to exercise special criminal jurisdiction over certain crimes of domestic and dating violence, regardless of the defendant’s Indian or non-Indian status, under a pilot project authorized by the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 (VAWA 2013).
“This is just the latest step forward in this administration’s historic efforts to address the public safety crisis in Indian country,” said Attorney General Eric Holder. “Every day, we’re working hard to strengthen partnerships with tribal leaders and confront shared challenges – particularly when it comes to protecting Indian women and girls from the shocking and unacceptably high rates of violence they too often face. With the important new tools provided by the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013, these critical pilot projects will facilitate the first tribal prosecutions of non-Indian perpetrators in recent times. This represents a significant victory for public safety and the rule of law, and a momentous step forward for tribal sovereignty and self-determination.”
Although the provisions authorizing the special jurisdiction take effect generally in March 2015, the law also gives the Attorney General discretion to grant a tribe’s request to exercise the jurisdiction earlier, through a voluntary pilot project. The authority to approve such requests has been delegated to Associate Attorney General Tony West. Associate Attorney General West today congratulated tribal leaders on this historic achievement in letters to the three tribes.“The old jurisdictional scheme failed to adequately protect the public – particularly native women – with too many crimes going unprosecuted and unpunished amidst escalating violence in Indian Country,” stated Associate Attorney General West. “Our actions today mark a historic turning point. We believe that by certifying certain tribes to exercise jurisdiction over these crimes, we will help decrease domestic and dating violence in Indian Country, strengthen tribal capacity to administer justice and control crime, and ensure that perpetrators of sexual violence are held accountable for their criminal behavior.”
Since the Supreme Court’s 1978 opinion in Oliphant v. Suquamish Indian Tribe, tribes have been prohibited from exercising criminal jurisdiction over non-Indian defendants. This included domestic violence and dating violence committed by non-Indian abusers against their Indian spouses, intimate partners, and dating partners. Even a violent crime committed by a non-Indian husband against his Indian wife, in the presence of her Indian children, in their home on the Indian reservation, could not be prosecuted by the tribe. In granting the pilot-project requests of the Pascua Yaqui, Tulalip, and Umatilla tribes today, the United States is recognizing and affirming the tribes’ inherent power to exercise “special domestic violence criminal jurisdiction” (SDVCJ) over all persons, regardless of their Indian or non-Indian status, for crimes committed on or after Feb. 20, 2014.
As described in the Department of Justice’s Final Notice on the pilot project, today’s decisions are based on a diligent, detailed review of application questionnaires submitted by the tribes in December 2013, along with excerpts of tribal laws, rules, and policies, and other relevant information. That review, conducted in close coordination with the Department of the Interior and after formal consultation with affected Indian tribes, led the Justice Department to determine that the criminal justice systems of the Pascua Yaqui, Umatilla, and Tulalip tribes have adequate safeguards in place to fully protect defendants’ rights under the Indian Civil Rights Act of 1968, as amended by VAWA 2013.
The Department of Justice is posting notices of the pilot-project designation on the Tribal Justice and Safety website and in the Federal Register. In addition, each tribe’s application questionnaire and related tribal laws, rules, and policies will be posted on the Web site. These materials will serve as a resource for those tribes that may also wish to participate in the pilot project or to commence exercising SDVCJ in March 2015 or later, after the pilot project has concluded.
For more information on VAWA 2013, please visit http://justice.gov/tribal/vawa-tribal.html.
Jury Returns Guilty Verdict Against Connecticut Man for Advertising and Distributing Child PornographyRead the Press Release
Anchorage, Alaska-U.S. Attorney Karen L. Loeffler announced that a Connecticut man was convicted in federal court in Anchorage on Thursday, February 6, 2014, for one count of Advertising Child Pornography and two counts of Distributing Child Pornography.
According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimberly Sayers-Fay, who prosecuted the case at trial, Michael J. Carroll, 59, a resident of Milford, Connecticut, was convicted by a jury of one count of Advertising Child Pornography and two counts of Distribution of Child Pornography. Trial evidence demonstrated that in late 2011, Carroll offered to trade sexually explicit images of children with other users involved in an international email group that an undercover agent in Alaska had infiltrated. Carroll also distributed close to 100 sexually explicit images on two occasions to the approximately fifty persons in this same email group, including the Alaskan undercover agent. The sexually explicit images of children that Carroll distributed involved victims ranging in age from infancy to prepubesence. Other offenders in the same email group were previously prosecuted in Alaska.
Carroll argued that remote control of his computer via “hacking” explained both the presence of hundreds of images and videos of child pornography on his multiple computers, as well as the distribution of child pornography from his Yahoo! email address. Carroll testified that he was a highly skilled computer technician with a very sophisticated network, and that despite this, hackers were able to cause his email to send messages reflecting the Internet Protocol (IP) address assigned to his home, and were also able to populate his computer system with sexually explicit images of children organized in a plethora of conspicuously named folders. Carroll likened his experience to that of Target, the retailer whose data was harvested by hackers. In convicting the defendant, the jury rejected the assertion that someone else was responsible for these crimes.
Chief U.S. District Court Judge Ralph R. Beistline scheduled Carroll’s sentencing for April 23, 2014. Carroll faces a mandatory minimum sentence of fifteen years’ imprisonment for advertising child pornography, and a maximum of thirty years’ imprisonment. For the distribution counts, Carroll faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years. Carroll may also be fined up to $250,000 for each count, and faces a minimum of five years of supervised release.
Ms. Loeffler commends Homeland Security Investigations in Alaska and Connecticut, the Alaska Bureau of Investigation and the Anchorage Police Department for the investigation that culminated in Carroll’s convictions.