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Thursday 16 January 2014
Sacramento Man Indicted in Tax Refund SchemeRead the Press Release
SACRAMENTO, Calif. —A federal grand jury returned a 20-count indictment today charging Manuel Ruiz, 47, of Sacramento, with making false claims for tax refunds on federal income tax returns.
The indictment alleges that Ruiz made false claims on federal income tax returns that he filed on his own behalf and on behalf of eight other individuals for a total of $106,547.
Ruiz is scheduled for arraignment on February 6, 2014.
This case is the product of an investigation by the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Sherry Hartel Haus is prosecuting the case.
If convicted, Ruiz faces a maximum statutory penalty of up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each count. 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 defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Rochester Man Sentenced in Large Tax Refund SchemeRead the Press Release
ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Juan Marie Delvalle, 26, of Rochester, N.Y., who was convicted of conspiracy to commit tax fraud in connection with a large nationwide tax refund scheme, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge David G. Larimer to 12 months in prison and ordered to pay restitution of $1,644,202 to the Internal Revenue Service.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard A. Resnick, who handled the case, stated that from February 1, 2011 to October 31, 2011, Delvalle was involved in a scheme to obtain income tax refunds by the filing of fraudulent federal income tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service. Specifically, stolen identities were utilized to file the fraudulent federal income tax returns, and the wages and related tax withholdings reported on the federal income tax returns were fabricated in order to obtain the refunds. Most of the returns were filed in the names and social security numbers of individuals residing in Puerto Rico without their knowledge. Refund checks issued as a result of the fraudulent returns were sent to various addresses in Rochester and other locations in the country.
Approximately 600 federal returns with Rochester area addresses were filed by a company in Bronx, New York. These 600 tax returns claimed tax refunds totaling $3,555,302 of which $1,644,202 was paid out by the IRS. The refund checks were sent by the IRS to various locations in the Rochester area. Delvalle participated in the scheme by retrieving many of the refund checks which were sent to Rochester and forwarding the money to individuals in the New York City area who were responsible for filing the false tax returns. The defendant was paid a fee for his participation in the scheme.
The sentencing is the culmination of a joint investigation on the part of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Brian P. Boetig, and the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigations, under the direction of Toni M. Weirauch, Special Agent in Charge.Remaining San Antonio Businessman Charged in Connection with $133 Million Real Dollar Loss Fraud and Tax Case Pleads GuiltyRead the Press Release
In San Antonio this morning, 61-year-old San Antonio businessman Larry W. Kimes pleaded guilty to his role in what is believed to be the largest real dollar loss fraud and tax related case ever prosecuted in the Western District of Texas announced United States Attorney Robert Pitman, FBI Special Agent in Charge Armando Fernandez and IRS-Criminal Investigation Special Agent In Charge Steve McCollough.
Appearing before United States Chief District Judge Fred Biery, Kimes, the manager of AccounTex Financial Services, LLC, pleaded guilty to a Klein tax fraud conspiracy charge and a mail fraud conspiracy charge. Kimes admitted that between 2002 and 2008, he and other co-conspirators stole more than $133 Million from the clients of a series of Professional Employer Organizations (PEOs) that he and co-defendant Charles Pircher operated. The PEOs controlled by Kimes and Pircher, which included Service Professionals, entered into staff leasing agreements with various client companies to manage the companies’ payroll and insurance programs. Kimes and co-conspirators diverted to their own use and benefit clients’ monies that should have been paid for payroll taxes and insurance premiums.
Kimes faces up to 20 years in federal prison on the mail fraud conspiracy charge and up to five years in federal prison on the Klein tax fraud conspiracy charge. Kimes also agreed that full restitution in this case amounts to $133,401,713. Sentencing has yet to be scheduled.
“This guilty plea brings to justice the six perpetrators of a scheme that stole over $133 Million from clients and taxpayers. The defendants, including Kimes, managed to conceal their crimes behind the complexity of the scheme. Through the hard work of FBI and IRS-CI agents and Tom McHugh in this office, the defendants’ crimes have been revealed and they will be held accountable,” stated United States Attorney Robert Pitman.
Kimes’ co-defendants—Pircher; John D. Walker, II; John Bean; Mike Solis; and, Pat Mire—are all scheduled to be sentenced on February 21, 2014, at 8:30am before Judge Biery.
This case was investigated by agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Thomas J. McHugh is prosecuting this case on behalf of the Government.Registered Child Sex Offender Pleads Guilty to Receipt of Child PornographyRead the Press Release
WILMINGTON, Del. – William Zimmerman, age 64, of Georgetown, Delaware, pled guilty today to Receipt of Child Pornography, in violation of federal law. Charles M. Oberly, III, United States Attorney for the District of Delaware, announced the guilty plea following a hearing in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware.
Zimmerman was previously convicted in Delaware of Unlawful Sexual Contact Second Degree in 1988 and Possession of Child Pornography in 1993. He served 4 years in prison for the child pornography offense, and was released from custody in 1997. At the time of the instant offense, he was registered as a sex offender as required by Delaware and federal law.
As a result of his prior convictions, Zimmerman faces enhanced sentencing penalties under federal law, including a mandatory minimum sentence of fifteen years, and a maximum sentence of forty years, in prison. Zimmerman also faces a term of supervised release of five years to life following his prison sentence, and he will be required to register as a sex offender in any U.S. jurisdiction in which he lives, works, or attends school. Zimmerman will be sentenced on April 22, 2014 by Chief United States District Judge Gregory M. Sleet.
According to statements made and documents filed in court, Zimmerman came to the attention of the Delaware Child Predator Task Force (the “Task Force”) after it began an investigation into two other registered child sex offenders living in Delaware. That investigation began in October 2012, after the Task Force received a cybertip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). The cybertip reported that an AOL user, subsequently identified as Roger Cordero, a registered child sex offender from New Castle, Delaware, had uploaded files containing child pornography through an AOL server.
On December 20, 2012, Task Force officers executed a state search warrant at Roger Cordero’s New Castle residence, where they found computers containing thousands of images of child pornography featuring mostly prepubescent and adolescent children. They also found that Cordero had been trading child pornography with David Pennington, another registered child sex offender whom Cordero had met while both were incarcerated in the Smyrna Correctional Institution for child sex offenses. The men shared the images of child pornography by mailing digital photographs saved to thumb drives back and forth to one another.Later on the day of December 20, 2012, Task Force officers executed a state search warrant at Pennington’s Georgetown residence. Pennington, who was then wearing an electronic monitoring device due to a state probation violation, was present for the search. During the search, Task Force members recovered evidence relating to the mailing of child pornography and child sexual abuse stories between Pennington and Cordero. A Delaware State Police forensic examiner also recovered from Pennington’s cell phone two images of child pornography and related text messages between Pennington and Zimmerman. The images depicted a prepubescent boy engaged in a sex act with an adult male. During a January 2013 interview with Task Force detectives, Pennington told investigators that he received the two images of child pornography found on his cell phone from Zimmerman, whom Pennington had met in a child sex offender therapy group. Pennington also told investigators that he would go to Zimmerman’s house, where Zimmerman had a computer that they used to access child pornography.
On January 8, 2013, Task Force officers executed a state search warrant at Zimmerman’s Georgetown residence. They recovered several pieces of computer equipment found to contain hundreds of images of child pornography. The images featured children ranging in age from infancy to mid-teen being posed or engaged in sexual acts with adult males.
As intended by the United States Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood Program, federal and state child exploitation prosecutors and investigators have worked together to investigate and prosecute Zimmerman, Cordero and Pennington. On October 11, 2013, David Pennington was sentenced to 28 years in prison by Delaware Superior Court Judge T. Henley Graves after pleading guilty to Dealing in Child Pornography, in violation of Delaware law. On June 13, 2013, a federal grand jury indicted Roger Cordero on various child pornography crimes, including production, transportation, receipt and possession of child pornography, in violation of federal law. If convicted of the most serious charges, Cordero faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 35 years in prison, to a maximum sentence of 60 years in prison. Cordero’s case remains pending before the United States District Court for the District of Delaware.
All three cases were brought as part of the United States Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood Program, which was launched in May 2006 to combat the growing epidemic of online child sexual exploitation and abuse. Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue child victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/. For more information about reporting online child exploitation to the national CyberTipline, visit the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s website at: www.missingkids.com.
This case is being investigated by the Delaware Child Predator Task Force and the United States Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Edward J. McAndrew.Quitman Man Indicted on Child Pornography Production ChargesRead the Press Release
MONROE, La. – United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced today that a federal grand jury indicted Christopher Nixon, 21, of Quitman, La., Wednesday for production of child pornography.
According to the indictment, between February 1, 2012 and March 30, 2012, Nixon produced child pornography using a male under the age of 18. Nixon faces 15 to 30 years in prison, a fine of $250,000, and five years of supervised release for production of child pornography. He also faces forfeiture of the equipment used to produce and store the child pornography. A trial date will be set at a later date.
“This indictment was made possible by the tireless efforts of local, state and federal law enforcement agencies and the public who provided information sought in this case,” Finley stated. “I would like to thank all who are involved and dedicated to halting the production of child pornography in this district. The damage to victims that these crimes inflict cannot be calculated. This office will continue to prosecute these cases to the fullest extent of the law.”
“This case shows anyone who produces child pornography can and will be held accountable for their criminal actions regardless of where in the world the investigation leads or how much time has passed,” said Raymond R. Parmer Jr., Special Agent in Charge of HSI New Orleans. “Sexual abuse scars children for life, and HSI will continue to do all it can to identify the perpetrators of these horrendous acts and seek justice on behalf of their victims.”
An indictment is merely an accusation and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Homeland Security Investigations, the Louisiana State Police, and the Jackson Parish Sheriff’s Office investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Earl M. Campbell is prosecuting the case.
Pittsburg Mother and Son Sentenced to Prison for Conspiring to File False Claims, Second Son Pleads Guilty to Impeding the IRS InvestigationRead the Press Release
OAKLAND – Yesterday, Tonya Gilard was sentenced to 37 months in prison and her son, Tierre Crummie, was sentenced to 15 months in prison and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $688,687 for conspiring to file false tax returns. Kingsley Murdoch, who is also Gilard’s son, pleaded guilty to obstructing the IRS investigation, United States Attorney Melinda Haag and Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, Special Agent in Charge José M. Martinez announced.
According to Gilard’s and Crummie’s plea agreements, in January 2009, Gilard and Crummie assisted in filing false federal income tax returns with the IRS. Gilard obtained the personal identifying information of others, including Crummie, which she used to file false federal income tax returns. Gilard and Crummie also filed tax returns in their own names that falsely claimed entitlement to the first-time homebuyer’s credit.
In furtherance of the conspiracy, Crummie provided Gilard with individuals’ bank account information and e-mail addresses, while another person provided names to use on the false tax returns. On April 30, 2009, a search warrant was executed at the defendants’ residence. IRS agents uncovered $69,800 during the search, and found notebooks with names and personal identifying information of others. The evidence obtained during the course of the investigation also showed that Gilard filed the false returns from various locations, recruited others to join the scheme, and received the payments into bank accounts she controlled.
In total, 91 false federal income tax returns were filed as part of this scheme, claiming $688,687 in false refunds.
According to Murdoch’s plea agreement, in November 2009, he was interviewed by IRS Special Agents regarding tax returns filed with the IRS that listed his bank account to receive tax refunds. During the interview, he told the IRS Agents that he provided his bank account information and e-mail address to a person named “Spoogie.” Murdoch further stated that he provided names to “Spoogie” to include on tax returns that were filed with the IRS. He also said that he did not know Tonya Gilard or Tierre Crummie. In December 2009, he testified before the Grand Jury and provided false testimony in order to impede the investigation related to Gilard’s conduct according to his plea agreement.
Gilard, 45, and Crummie, 25, both of Pittsburg, Calif., were indicted on August 8, 2012, and charged with one count of conspiracy to file false claims. They pleaded guilty on May 9, 2013, to the sole count in the indictment.
Murdoch, 27, of Pittsburg, Calif., was charged on August 8, 2012, with Perjury and Obstruction of Justice. He pleaded guilty to one count of Obstruction of Justice. Murdoch’s sentencing is scheduled for May 8, 2014. The maximum statutory penalty for Obstruction of Justice, in violation of 18 U.S.C §1503(a), is 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Thomas Newman is the Assistant U.S. Attorney who is prosecuting this case. The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation.
(Gilard Indictment)
(Murdoch Indictment)
Pike 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 49-year-old Dingmans Ferry resident who admitted to receiving and distributing child pornography during January through May of 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, Richard A. Lewis, pleaded guilty to the crime on September 5, 2013.
Lewis was indicted by a federal grand jury in May 2013 for using a computer to receive child pornography from a resident of Ontario, Canada, and distribute the child pornography to others.
The charge against Lewis resulted from an investigation by the Department of Homeland Security and the Ontario Provincial Police.
Judge Mannion also ordered that Lewis be placed on supervised release for life following his prison sentence. Lewis 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.
Pearl Resident Pleads Guilty to Theft of Government FundsRead the Press Release
Jackson, Miss –Jason Zebert, 44, of Pearl, pled guilty in federal court on January 15, 2014 to theft of government funds, U.S. Attorney Gregory K. Davis announced today. Zebert, who worked as an attorney and fiduciary representing veterans, admitted stealing funds which had been entrusted to him by the Department of Veterans Affairs to spend solely on behalf of the veterans he represented.
The case was investigated by the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Pat Lemon.
Zebert will be sentenced on April 25, 2014 and faces a maximum penalty of ten years in prison and a $250,000 fine.If you believe you have been a victim of fraud from a person or an organization soliciting relief funds on behalf of storm victims, contact the National Center for Disaster Fraud toll free at:
(866) 720-5721
You can also fax information to:
(225) 334-4707
or e-mail it to:
Making sure that victims of federal crimes are treated with compassion, fairness and respect.
Training and seminars for Federal, State, and Local Law Enforcement Agencies.
Help us combat the proliferation of sexual exploitation crimes against children.
Our nation-wide commitment to reducing gun crime in America.
Parmelee Man Sentenced for Child Related Sexual Abuse and Sexual ContactRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Brendan V. Johnson announced that a Parmelee, South Dakota, man convicted of Aggravated Sexual Abuse of a Minor, Abusive Sexual Contact of a Child, Aggravated Sexual Abuse of a Child, and Abusive Sexual Contact While Registered as a Sex Offender was sentenced on January 14, 2014, by U.S. District Judge Roberto A. Lange.
Randy Never Misses A Shot, age 49, was sentenced to 444 months in custody, 5 years of supervised release, and a $500 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.
Never Misses A Shot was indicted by a federal grand jury on January 16, 2013. A Superseding Indictment was filed on March 13, 2013. On September 10, 2013, Never Misses A Shot appeared before the Honorable Roberto A. Lange for a jury trial. On September 12, 2013, a jury found him guilty on all charges.
The conviction stems from several incidents which occurred between January 1, 1993, and May 15, 2007, in which Never Misses A Shot sexually abused multiple victims under the ages of 12.
During the years of 1993 through 1997, Never Misses A Shot visited Child Victim A, a young relative, who was staying on the Rosebud Indian Reservation. While visiting her, Never Misses A Shot would sexually abuse her. In addition, Never Misses A Shot engaged in sexual acts with Child Victim A in a wooded area near the He-Dog housing community. As a result of this conduct, Never Misses A Shot was convicted of Aggravated Sexual Abuse of a Child and Abusive Sexual Contact of a Child.
In the summer of 2000, Never Misses A Shot was staying with relatives at a housing complex near Parmelee. While there, Never Misses A Shot sexually abused Child Victim B, another young relative. As a result of this conduct, Never Misses A Shot was convicted of Abusive Sexual Contact of a Child.
The final incident occurred over Mother’s Day weekend of 2007. Never Misses A Shot was on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, traveling with a woman and her young daughter, Child Victim C. They stopped at Pine Ridge for the weekend, and while there, Never Misses A Shot grabbed child victim C behind a trailer, forced her to the ground, and abused her in a sexual manner. As a result of this conduct, Never Misses A Shot was convicted of Abusive Sexual Contact of a Child and Abusive Sexual Contact of a Child While Required to Register as a Sex Offender.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Rapid City Police Department, Sioux Falls Police Department, Rosebud Sioux Tribal Law Enforcement, Brooking Police Department, Jefferson County’s Sheriff’s Office, Washington, and the U.S. Marshals Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Troy R. Morley prosecuted the case.
Never Misses A Shot was immediately turned over to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
Owner of Forty Fort GM Foodmart Store Charged with Money LaunderingRead the Press Release
The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that it has charged a 47-year-old Forty Fort businessman with conspiracy to commit money laundering related to the distribution of synthetic marijuana.
According to United States Attorney Peter J. Smith, his office filed a criminal Information yesterday against Mastan Mathan, charging him with conspiring to launder the proceeds of synthetic marijuana sales between October 2011 and July 2012.
The Information alleges that Mathan and/or his co-conspirators obtained synthetic marijuana from out-of-state suppliers; sold synthetic marijuana to customers from the GM Foodmart Store in Forty Fort; and deposited the proceeds of drug sales into at least two bank accounts in order to conceal the illegal nature of the proceeds and to promote the carrying on of the illegal drug business.
The charge against Mathan resulted from an investigation by the IRS Criminal Investigative Division, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Pennsylvania State Police.
If convicted of the charge, Mathan faces up to 20 years in prison and a $500,000 fine.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Francis P. Sempa.
Indictments and Criminal Informations are only allegations. All persons charged are presumed to be innocent unless and until found guilty in court.
A sentence following a finding of guilty is imposed by the Judge after consideration of the applicable federal sentencing statutes and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.
In this case, the maximum penalty under the federal statute is 20 years’ imprisonment, a term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a fine. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the Judge is also required to consider and weigh a number of factors, including the nature, circumstances and seriousness of the offense; the history and characteristics of the defendant; and the need to punish the defendant, protect the public and provide for the defendant’s educational, vocational and medical needs. For these reasons, the statutory maximum penalty for the offense is not an accurate indicator of the potential sentence for a specific defendant.
Ottawa Man Sentenced to 15 YearsFor Methamphetamine TraffickingRead the Press Release
KANSAS CITY, KAN. An Ottawa man was sentenced Wednesday to 15 years in federal prison for trafficking in methamphetamine.
James New, 47, Ottawa, Kan., pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. In his plea, he admitted that from December 2010 to March 21, 2012, he and others conspired to distribute methamphetamine in Franklin County, Kan. When law enforcement officers stopped his car on March 21, 2012, they seized methamphetamine, scales, plastic baggies and more than $22,000 in cash. Investigators learned that New was spending $10,000 for 10 ounces of methamphetamine twice a week and distributing to customers in Franklin County.
Co-defendants include:
Jessica Blackstone, who was sentenced to 116 months in federal prison.
Nicholas Griffin, who was sentenced to 75 months.Grissom commended the Franklin County Drug Enforcement Unit and Assistant U.S. Attorney Sheri McCracken for their work on the case.
Oklahoma City Man Pleads Guilty to Child Sex Trafficking/Exploitation ChargeRead the Press Release
TULSA, Okla. — An Oklahoma City man pleaded guilty in federal court today to charges stemming from a sex trafficking sting conducted by the Tulsa Police Department’s Vice Unit, announced United States Attorney Danny C. Williams, Sr.
Ronald Everett Spivey, Jr, 47, of Oklahoma City, pleaded guilty to Attempted Coercion and Enticement of a Minor before United States District Court Judge Claire V. Eagan. A federal grand jury had previously returned a four-count Superseding Indictment in December 2013, charging Spivey with various trafficking and child exploitation related violations. Kimberly Haven, a co-defendant, previously pled guilty to Interstate Transportation and Racketeering charges stemming from the same investigation. She will be sentenced on January 30, 2013.
During the Summer of 2013, Spivey and his co-defendant, Kimberly Haven, worked together in a commercial sex trafficking venture, during which they attempted to recruit and prostitute a female under 18 years of age. In late July of 2013, Spivey and Haven traveled from Oklahoma City to Tulsa for the purpose of recruiting for their prostitution business a girl whom Spivey believed to be 17 years of age. In actuality, Spivey was communicating with an undercover Tulsa Police Department officer. Spivey exchanged multiple text messages with the undercover officer in which he asked her birthday and even offered to take her to Vegas or Florida to work for him and make money. On July 31, 2013, Spivey and Haven were arrested in Tulsa at a location where they had arranged to meet the “17 year old girl.”
Spivey faces a statutory mandatory minimum of 10 years imprisonment up to life and a fine of $250,000. His sentencing hearing is set for April 17, 2014.
The Tulsa Police Department in coordination with Oklahoma City Police Department investigated this case. Assistant United States Attorneys R. Trent Shores and Clinton J. Johnson prosecuted this matter on behalf of the United States.
“We will continue to aggressively prosecute those who seek to traffic and exploit teenaged girls in the Northern District of Oklahoma. I commend the Tulsa Police Department’s Vice Unit for their excellent work in investigating this matter,” stated United States Attorney Williams.
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."
Oil Well Operators in Hart County, Kentucky Sentenced for Violations of the Safe Drinking Water ActRead the Press Release
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – Two oil well operators in Hart County, and Logsdon Valley Oil Co. Inc., were sentenced today in United States District Court by Senior Judge Joseph H. McKinley Jr., for continued violations of the Safe Drinking Water Act, announced David J. Hale, United States Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky.
Charles L. Stinson, 75, of Horse Cave, Kentucky, and Ralph Dowell, 75, of Edmonton, Kentucky, operators of Logsdon Valley Oil Co. Inc., were sentenced to two years’ probation. Stinson and Logsdon Valley Oil Co. Inc., were ordered to pay fines for the continued conspiracy to inject fluids, without a permit, into sinkholes and wells, located in Hart County, Kentucky, from March 13, 2008 through July 18, 2012, in violation of the Safe Drinking Water Act.
According to the plea agreement, Stinson and Logsdon Valley Oil Co. Inc., agreed to a fine of $45,000 to be paid at sentencing. According to the terms, Stinson was to pay the fine personally, with $25,000 paid to the Commonwealth of Kentucky, $10,000 to the Environmental Protection Agency, and $10,000 to the United States. Also, as part of the terms, Stinson agreed to provide adequate documentation to EPA that the Stinson #6 (the well used for illegal injection) is plugged and abandoned in such a manner that protects underground sources of drinking water from contamination.
Stinson and Dowell were charged in an eight count federal Superseding Indictment, on August 15, 2012, with conspiring to violate the Safe Drinking Water Act. They pleaded guilty to violating a requirement of an applicable underground injection control program. Specifically, they configured piping to inject produced brine water (fluids brought to the surface in connection with oil production) from the tank battery to sinkholes, and injected produced brine water into a sinkhole, and conveyed fluids into sinkholes, in violation of the Safe Drinking Water Act, Title 42, United States Code, Section 300h-2(b)(2) and Title 40, Code of Federal Regulations, Section 144.11.
In furtherance of the conspiracy, on May 24, 2010, the defendants improperly conveyed fluids into a sinkhole at the Carter-Cheney (McGee) lease; and on May 24, 2010, they improperly conveyed fluids into sinkholes on Payton #7 East lease, both located in Hart County, Kentucky.
“America’s environmental laws are designed to protect clean and safe water sources,” said Maureen O’Mara, Special Agent in Charge of EPA’s criminal enforcement program in Kentucky. “The defendants ignored orders to stop discharging hazardous wastewater into a nearby sinkhole, thereby threatening groundwater quality by allowing harmful materials to enter below-ground aquifers. Today’s sentencing demonstrates that EPA and its partner agencies will actively pursue those who flout environmental laws designed to protect the public.”
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Joshua Judd, and it was investigated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency/Criminal Investigations Division and the Kentucky Department of Environmental Protection.
Ohio Woman Sentenced to 27 Months in Prison for Submitting More Than $164,000 of False Insurance Claims to the U.S. Postal Service-Falsely Claimed That Parcels Were Damaged or Lost in the Mail-Read the Press Release
WASHINGTON – Levette J. Douglas, 35, of Toledo, Ohio, was sentenced today to a 27-month prison term for her role in a scheme that defrauded the U.S. Postal Service out of more than $164,000 through the submission of false insurance claims.
The sentencing, which took place in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, was announced by U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr. and Paul L. Bowman, Special Agent in Charge, Capital Metro Area Field Office, U.S. Postal Service, Office of the Inspector General.
Douglas pled guilty in October 2013 to a charge of conspiracy to commit mail fraud. As part of the plea agreement, Douglas agreed to pay $164,859 in criminal forfeiture and restitution. She was sentenced by the Honorable Rudolph Contreras. Upon completion of her prison term, Douglas will be placed on three years of supervised release.
According to the government’s evidence, from April 2010 to July 2013, Douglas and her co-conspirators submitted false claims to the Postal Service for allegedly damaged or lost parcels. As part of this scheme, Douglas and others purchased insurance for approximately 325 parcels that were sent through the mail. They later falsely claimed that the parcels were damaged or lost, often submitting forged or fictitious documents to support their claims.
For example, on one occasion, Douglas submitted a false affidavit purporting to be from a postal letter carrier in support of a claim that a parcel was not delivered. The affiant, allegedly a postal letter carrier with the initials M.M., stated that she had not delivered any parcels to the recipient for several months. The affiant also provided a phone number in case there were questions. That phone number was Douglas’s phone number. In fact, the parcel in question was delivered and the recipient signed a delivery receipt.
As a final part of this scheme, Douglas also mailed to the Postal Service’s accounting department forged internal postal forms purporting to be from Postal Service employees verifying the false claims. In total, the Postal Service paid $164,859 based on these false claims.
In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Machen and Special Agent in Charge Bowman commended the investigative work of Special Agent Jason Manning of the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General. They also praised the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Paralegal Specialists Corinne Kleinman and Nicole Wattelet; Criminal Investigator Matthew Kutz; Assistant U.S. Attorney Diane Lucas, who worked on forfeiture issues, and Assistant U.S. Attorney David Johnson, who prosecuted the case.
14-011Ninnekah Woman to Serve 24 Months in Prison and Pay over $227,000 in Restitution for Embezzlement from EmployerRead the Press Release
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma – Pamela D. Mills, 53, of Ninnekah, Oklahoma, was sentenced today by Chief United States District Court Judge Vicki Miles-LaGrange to serve 24 months in federal prison for embezzlement from her employer, announced Sanford C. Coats, United States Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma. In addition, Mills was ordered to pay $227,015.07 in restitution to her former employer.
According to court records, Mills was employed by Gerald Welding Fabrication and Construction Company for approximately six years and was responsible for handling the accounts payable and receivable. Although she was not authorize to sign the company checks, Mills prepared checks for payment of the company bills, including the payment of credit card bills. From December of 2008 through August of 2012, Mills prepared checks for her manager to sign which included checks to Capitol One for the payment of her personal credit card statements.
On July 29, 2013, Mills pled guilty to a one-count Information charging her with operating a mail fraud scheme. Mills was ordered to report to federal prison to begin serving her sentence on February 18, 2014.
This case was the result of an investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kerry A. Kelly.
New York-Based Hair Product Companies That Violated Bank Secrecy Act Agree to Pay $15 Million, Make Compliance Reforms in Settlement with New Jersey U.S. AttorneyRead the Press Release
Companies Failed to Report Millions In Cash From Customers
NEWARK, N.J. – Shake-N-Go Fashion Inc., and Model Model Hair Fashion Inc. – wholesale hair product companies based in Port Washington, N.Y. – entered into an agreement today to resolve claims brought by the New Jersey U.S. Attorney’s Office that they enabled the structuring of cash transactions to avoid reporting requirements in violation of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), announced U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman.
After an investigation conducted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the companies – referred to together in court documents as “SNG” – have agreed to forfeit $15 million and to enact a number of compliance reforms as part of the settlement. The settlement agreement and forfeiture complaint were filed today in Newark federal court.
“It doesn’t matter what your business is; you are required to follow the financial reporting requirements of the United States,” said U.S. Attorney Fishman. “Shake-N-Go learned that the hard way, forfeiting millions and enacting stringent compliance reforms as a result of the government’s investigation. Criminals structure cash transactions to hide all manner of illegal activity, and businesses must be vigilant to be sure they are not providing the haven for doing so.”
According to documents filed in this case:
SNG willfully engaged in business practices that permitted customers to conduct cash transactions with SNG of more than $10,000 while avoiding the filing of mandatory forms documenting those transactions with the United States Department of the Treasury.
The BSA requires financial institutions involved in cash transactions in amounts greater than $10,000 to file Currency Transaction Reports (CTRs) for each transaction. Similarly, businesses that receive more than $10,000 in cash in one or related transactions are required to file an IRS 8300 form. Many individuals involved in illegal activities, such as tax evasion and money laundering, are aware of these reporting requirements and take active steps to cause financial institutions and businesses to fail to file the necessary forms. These active steps are usually referred to as “structuring,” which is a violation of the BSA.
Although SNG never knowingly received illicit funds, SNG permitted and enabled its customers and employees to structure millions of dollars in cash transactions into SNG’s bank accounts without the filing of CTRs, broke up customer invoices totaling more than $10,000 and willfully failed to file a single 8300 form prior to the government’s investigation.
In 2012, SNG had over $300 million in gross sales receipts. Of that amount, approximately $80 million was made in the form of cash deposits.
Beginning in 2007, SNG instituted a policy that permitted its customers to purchase hair products by depositing cash directly into SNG’s bank accounts. This policy enabled SNG’s customers to regularly structure cash deposits into SNG’s accounts. SNG’s employees also structured funds into SNG’s accounts after collecting the funds from customers. SNG employees were instructed not to issue an invoice or receipt that exceeded $10,000, even when a customer ordered more than $10,000 in hair products at one time.
In addition to the forfeiture, SNG has agreed to implement a number of remedial measures:
SNG has appointed and will continue to engage a general counsel to oversee and consult on all legal and compliance issues. SNG will also retain a qualified independent consulting firm, as approved by the United States, to oversee the implementation of a BSA compliance program and SNG’s continued compliance with that program and the terms of SNG’s agreement with the United States.
For a two-year period from the date of the filing of the Complaint, SNG will: provide quarterly reports to the United States, to be authored by the independent consulting firm, describing the state of SNG’s compliance program; appoint a qualified individual, approved by the United States, to serve as a senior level executive to oversee all day-to-day compliance issues – removing that responsibility from the Chief Financial Officer; and establish and enforce written policies on how to receive and process cash payments and how to otherwise comply with the BSA, including the timely filing of any and all 8300 forms.
SNG will also implement mandatory employee training on BSA compliance; will not permit its customers to deposit cash directly into accounts controlled by SNG; and will agree to cooperate with any and all future investigations by the United States and/or other state and local authorities.
The $15 million forfeiture amount includes $2,502,218 previously seized by the United States from SNG on June 25, 2013, and an additional $9,497,782 that SNG has surrendered pursuant to the agreement. As part of that nearly $9.5 million, individual shareholders of SNG have contributed $6 million as claw-backs of profit distributions. Recognizing the extensive costs associated with the remedial measures, the United States has agreed to provide a $3 million credit to SNG. However, in the event that SNG knowingly fails to comply with the agreement, SNG has agreed to surrender that $3 million to the United States.
U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents from HSI’s El Dorado Task Force, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge James T Hayes Jr., New York Field Office.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Evan S. Weitz of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Unit and Aaron Mendelsohn of the office’s Economic Crimes Unit in Newark.14-022
Defense counsel: Alex Lipman Esq., New YorkShake-N-Go Complaint
Shake-N-Go SettlementNew Hampshire Resident Pleads Guilty to Armed Bank Robbery ChargesRead the Press Release
Contact: Donald E. Clark
Assistant United States Attorney
Tel: (207) 780-3257Portland, Maine: United States Attorney Thomas E. Delahanty II announced today that
Marvin Eugene Ansteth, Jr. 40, of Somersworth, New Hampshire pled guilty in U.S. District
Court in Portland to armed bank robbery charges. The charges arise from the armed bank
robberies of Peoples United Bank in Exeter, New Hampshire on October 7, 2013; of Meredith
Village Savings Bank in Alton, New Hampshire on October 10, 2013; and of Kennebunk
Savings in Eliot, Maine on October 19, 2013.According to court records, Ansteth was the getaway driver for the three armed bank
robberies. Peoples United Bank was robbed of $1,451; Meredith Village Savings Bank was
robbed of $9,740 and Kennebunk Savings was robbed of $7,896.Ansteth faces up to 25 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, or both, for each robbery. He
will be sentenced after the completion of a presentence investigation report by the United States
Probation Office.This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Maine State
Police, and the Eliot, Kittery, Sanford, Berwick, York, Maine and Exeter, Somersworth, Alton
and Pembroke, New Hampshire police departments. U.S. Attorney Delahanty praised the
cooperation among these law enforcement agencies noting that "these armed bank robberies
were quickly solved because local, state, county and federal law enforcement agencies across
two states worked closely together."Nassau County Man Arrested on Federal Charges of Producing Child PornographyRead the Press Release
Jacksonville, Florida – Acting United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III announces the arrest and charge by criminal complaint of John Dewey Todd (60, Fernandina Beach) for producing and attempting to produce child pornography. If convicted, he faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years, up to 30 years in federal prison.
According to the complaint, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations and Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office executed a search warrant at the residence of Todd on November 15, 2013, in Fernandina Beach, Florida. During the execution of the warrant, Todd voluntarily spoke with law enforcement and admitted to collecting child pornography for the past “couple years.” Todd explained that he saves his child pornography on two computers, discs, thumb drives and external hard drives. Law enforcement seized electronic media during their search and a preliminary examination of some of the seized materials revealed that they contained at least 12,000 files of child pornography.
During a forensic examination of one thumb drive seized during the search, law enforcement recovered three videos of suspected child pornography. Two of the videos depict Todd adjusting a video camera that appears to be concealed in a plant or planter, focused on a bathtub. Two minor, prepubescent females are recorded with their genitalia displayed.
A criminal complaint is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed a violation of the federal criminal laws, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty.
The case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, with the assistance from the Nassau County Sheriff’s Office. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kelly S. Karase.
It is another case brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov. For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov and click on the tab "other resources."
Michigan Man Sentenced for Stealing Trade SecretsRead the Press Release
A former employee of Wacker Chemical Corporation, whose American facilities are located in Adrian, Michigan, was sentenced today to 24 months in federal prison after having pleaded guilty to stealing trade secrets from that company and disclosing them to KCC Silicones, a Korean-based chemical company, announced U.S. Attorney Barbara L. McQuade.
McQuade was joined in the announcement by Paul Abbate, Special Agent in Charge of the Detroit Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.U.S. District Judge Patrick J. Duggan imposed sentence on Michael Agadoa, 62 of Midland and also ordered that he pay a fine of $7,500.00.
According to the factual basis offered to support the plea, Michael Agadoa worked for Wacker as an engineer for a number of years and left the company’s employment in 1997. Agadoa admitted that he took numerous formulas used in the production of silicone-based and rubber products sold by Wacker when he left. In early 2010, as he was negotiating employment with KCC, Agadoa provided copies of the Wacker formulas to KCC. Later, from March of 2010 to April of 2012, while Agadoa was employed by KCC, he used stolen Wacker formulas to assist KCC in the development of silicone-based products.
"This defendant has admitted to stealing formulas from a chemical company, which invested time, effort and money to develop these trade secrets," McQuade said. "Stealing trade secrets harms Michigan businesses and costs jobs. We are committed to protecting Michigan's technology, and we hope that this prosecution will send a message that stealing proprietary information from an employer or competitor is a serious crime."“Theft of trade secrets and commercial innovations is a serious criminal offense, whether prompted by personal greed or a desire to exploit shortcuts to economic and technological pre-eminence,” stated Mr. Abbate. “These criminal acts negatively impact U.S. industry and the hard-working people and businesses of Michigan. The FBI will continue to work with our partners to bring these criminals to justice and send a message that they will be held accountable for this type of illegal conduct."
U.S. Attorney McQuade thanked the FBI for the successful investigation of the case.
Mccomb Woman Pleads Guilty to Possession with Intent to Distribute Crack CocaineRead the Press Release
Jackson, Miss – Latoya Renae Bonds, 30 of McComb, pled guilty on Wednesday, January 15, 2014, to possession with intent to distribute cocaine base (“crack”), announced U.S. Attorney Gregory K. Davis. She will be sentenced on April 25, 2014 and faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $1,000,000.00 fine.
Bonds was indicted along with co-defendants Jermaine Henderson and Craig Lemark Kaho. Henderson and Kaho are charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute more than 280 grams of cocaine base and attempted possession with intent to distribute cocaine base. They are scheduled for trial on March 3, 2014 before U.S. District Judge Carlton W. Reeves.
This case is the result of an investigation carried out by the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics and the Drug Enforcement Administration with assistance from the U.S. Marshals Service and Mississippi Highway Patrol. The investigation, dubbed “Operation the Night the Lights went out in PG”, infiltrated an organization that was distributing cocaine base in Southwest Mississippi. Assistant U.S. Attorney Erin Chalk is prosecuting the case.If you believe you have been a victim of fraud from a person or an organization soliciting relief funds on behalf of storm victims, contact the National Center for Disaster Fraud toll free at:
(866) 720-5721
You can also fax information to:
(225) 334-4707
or e-mail it to:
Making sure that victims of federal crimes are treated with compassion, fairness and respect.
Training and seminars for Federal, State, and Local Law Enforcement Agencies.
Help us combat the proliferation of sexual exploitation crimes against children.
Our nation-wide commitment to reducing gun crime in America.
Maryland Man Sentenced to More Than Eight Years in Prison for Traveling to the District of Columbia to Have Sex with Under-Aged ChildRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON - John Vanathayan, 42, of Silver Spring, Md., was sentenced today to 100 months in prison for traveling interstate to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a minor, 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).
Vanathayan pled guilty in November 2012 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and was sentenced today by the Honorable Amy Berman Jackson. Upon completion of his prison term, Vanathayan will be placed on 10 years of supervised release.
According to the government's evidence, on July 19, 2012, Vanathayan contacted a citizen on a telephone chat line. During the course of the conversation, Vanathayan requested that the citizen provide a female child, between the ages of six and nine, for the purpose of sex. The citizen agreed to try to comply with the request. Instead, the citizen contacted MPD and reported the communication. An MPD officer, along with FBI's Child Exploitation Task Force, began to investigate. During the course of the investigation, Vanathayan arranged with the citizen to meet for the purpose of engaging in sexual acts with a child. On July 20, 2012, Vanathayan traveled from Silver Spring to a pre-arranged meeting place in Washington, D.C. When Vanathayan arrived at the meeting place, he was arrested.
This case was brought as part of the Department of Justice's Project Safe Childhood initiative and investigated by the FBI's Child Exploitation Task Force, which includes members of the FBI's Washington Field Office and MPD.
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 people 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 sentence, U.S. Attorney Machen, Assistant Director Parlave and Chief Lanier praised the MPD Detectives and Special Agents of the FBI Child Exploitation Task Force. They also commended Assistant U.S. Attorney Julieanne Himelstein, who prosecuted the case, and Legal Intern Matthew Kerr, who provided assistance.
14-013Manhattan U.S. Attorney Announces Forfeiture of $28 Million Worth of Bitcoins Belonging to Silk RoadRead the Press Release
Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, today announced the forfeiture of approximately 29,655 Bitcoins (which, at today’s Bitcoin exchange rate, are worth approximately $28 million) that were seized from the Silk Road server, as well as the forfeiture of the Silk Road hidden website. The Silk Road hidden website and the Bitcoins that were forfeited yesterday had been seized in connection with the civil forfeiture action previously filed in Manhattan federal court on September 30, 2013, seeking the forfeiture of all assets of Silk Road, including its website and all of its Bitcoins because those assets allegedly were used to facilitate money laundering and constitute property involved in money laundering. In addition to the civil action, a criminal Complaint against Ross William Ulbricht, a/k/a “Dread Pirate Roberts,” a/k/a “DPR,” a/k/a “Silk Road,” the alleged owner and operator of the Silk Road hidden website, was filed in September 2013 in Manhattan federal court charging him with one count of narcotics conspiracy, one of count of conspiracy to commit computer hacking, and one count of money laundering conspiracy. The forfeiture order was signed yesterday by United States District Judge J. Paul Oetken.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said: “With today’s forfeiture of $28 million worth of Bitcoins from the Silk Road website, a global cyber business designed to broker criminal transactions, we continue our efforts to take the profit out of crime and signal to those who would turn to the dark web for illicit activity that they have chosen the wrong path. These Bitcoins were forfeited not because they are Bitcoins, but because they were, as the court found, the proceeds of crimes.”
The Silk Road hidden website was designed to enable its users to buy and sell illegal drugs and other unlawful goods and services anonymously and beyond the reach of law enforcement. In connection with the civil forfeiture action, and in addition to the Bitcoins that were forfeited yesterday, the Government seized an additional 144,336 Bitcoins (which, at today’s Bitcoin exchange rate, are worth over $130 million) that were found on computer hardware belonging to Ulbricht. Ulbricht has filed a claim in the civil forfeiture action, asserting that he is the owner of the Bitcoins found on his computer hardware, and contesting the forfeiture of those Bitcoins.
The prosecution of this case is being handled by the Office’s Complex Frauds Unit. Assistant United States Attorney Serrin Turner is in charge of the prosecution, and Assistant United States Attorney Christine Magdo is in charge of the forfeiture aspects of the case.
The charges contained in the criminal Complaint against Ulbricht are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
U.S. v. Silk Road Partial Default Judgment and Order of Forfeiture
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Announces Charges Against Former Warehouse Manager of A Prescription Drug Wholesale Distribution Company for False Prescription Drug Pedigree Scheme Involving More Than $49 Million Worth of Diverted Prescription DrugsRead the Press Release
Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and George Venizelos, the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), announced today the unsealing of a criminal complaint (the “Complaint”) against STEPHEN COX, the former warehouse manager of a prescription drug wholesale distribution company (the “Wholesaler”), for his alleged participation in a scheme to falsify pedigrees for prescription drugs sold to pharmacies all over the country, including at least six pharmacies in New York City. The prescription drugs were diverted from illegal sources and made to appear, through pedigrees falsely documenting their transaction histories, as though they were obtained legitimately from authorized distributors through licensed wholesalers. The defendant allegedly, through the Wholesaler, based in St. George, Utah, conspired with others to sell to pharmacies more than $49 million worth of illegally obtained prescription drugs through several wholesale distribution companies controlled by co-conspirators, some of whom have pled guilty pursuant to cooperation agreements with the Government. COX surrendered to the FBI this morning in New York City in connection with the charges announced today and was presented in Manhattan federal court before U.S. Magistrate Judge Ronald L. Ellis this afternoon.
The Complaint is a result of the continuing investigation into a scheme that defrauded Medicaid out of more than $500 million through the diversion of prescription drugs. On July 17, 2012, 48 defendants were charged in connection with United States v. Viera, et al., 11 Cr. 1072 (DLC), all but five of whom have been arrested and have pled guilty.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said: “As alleged, in his position as a warehouse manager for a prescription drug wholesaler, defendant Stephen Cox played an integral role in a multimillion-dollar prescription drug diversion scheme by helping his employer to falsify the pedigrees of second-hand prescription drugs and dispense them to pharmacies across the country. People in need of medicine walk into a pharmacy to untainted, safe prescription drugs; they should not walk out with black market pills, a risk the alleged conduct makes very real.”
FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge George Venizelos said: “Every operation has a conductor whose job it is to ensure all players work together and all parts are delivered on time. As alleged, Stephen Cox acted as a conductor in this massive Medicaid fraud, working with his co-conspirators to manage the shipment and delivery of illegally obtained prescription drugs to the tune of more than $49 million. By providing advice on how to falsify required FDA documents, he continued to defraud the Medicaid system, which is funded by tax dollars to provide healthcare to lower income individuals, and put at risk those unwitting customers who would eventually purchase these secondhand pills. The FBI remains committed to working with our law enforcement partners on our Health Care Fraud Task Force to ensure the public’s safety and investigate those who seek to defraud government program.”
The following allegations are based on the Complaint and other publicly filed documents in the Viera case:
For years, a large network of individuals operated a nation-wide scheme to illegally launder and resell second-hand prescription drugs (typically HIV/AIDs drugs) purchased from Medicaid beneficiaries on street corners and out of bodegas in and around New York City. The drugs had been dispensed in manufacturers’ bottles with pharmacy patient labels affixed to them. Once they purchased the second-hand drugs, the conspirators, who often held the drugs in uncontrolled and unsanitary conditions, used solvents to dissolve the adhesive on the patient labels to remove them and make the bottles look like new bottles, straight from the manufacturer. Once enough bottles were collected, the New York-based conspirators sold them, through Florida-based groups, to individuals in Texas, who operated several corrupt wholesale companies, such as those identified in the Complaint.
The Wholesaler, through COX and others, purchased more than $49 million worth of prescription drugs that they knew had been purchased illegally by the corrupt wholesale companies run from Texas. COX and others then sold them to unsuspecting pharmacies all over the United States, including to some pharmacies in New York City, which, in turn, sold and dispensed the second-hand drugs to unsuspecting patients who were unaware that their medications had previously been dispensed and may have had diminished efficacy or contained contaminants.
Federal law requires prescription drug wholesalers to create and maintain transaction histories, or “pedigrees,” that correctly document each transaction involving prescription drugs. COX and an uncharged co-conspirator who owned the Wholesaler (“CC-1”) instructed co-conspirators affiliated with the corrupt wholesale companies how to falsify these pedigrees to create paperwork that concealed from FDA inspectors and pharmacies purchasing the drugs that the drugs were illegally obtained and previously had been dispensed. Backed by these false pedigrees, the Wholesaler sold illegally obtained prescription drugs to pharmacies all over the country, including to the six in Manhattan and the Bronx referred to in the Complaint.
From at least 2009 through November 4, 2011, STEPHEN COX, the defendant, worked for CC-1 at the Wholesaler as its warehouse manager. At the Wholesaler, COX received by fax from co-conspirators lists of prescription drugs available from unlicensed sources. COX communicated with co-conspirators concerning orders and shipments of prescription drugs from unlicensed sources, and passed along instructions to co-conspirators concerning how to construct false pedigrees. At the Wholesaler and at two subsequent corrupt wholesale distribution companies, COX received and inspected shipments of prescription drugs from unlicensed sources and facilitated the sale of those drugs to pharmacies all around the country, ultimately to be dispensed to unsuspecting patients. COX is the first individual associated with a wholesale distribution company that sold directly to pharmacies to be charged as part of this ongoing investigation.
COX, 34, of Sugarland, Texas, is charged with one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States, falsify pedigrees, and commit misbranding offenses, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. He is also charged with six counts of pedigree falsification relating to prescription drugs the Wholesaler sold to six pharmacies in Manhattan and the Bronx, each of which carries a maximum sentence of three years in prison.
Mr. Bharara praised the efforts of the FBI’s Health Care Fraud Task Force. The New York FBI Health Care Fraud Task Force was formed in 2007 in an effort to combat health care fraud in the greater New York City area. The task force is comprised of agents, officers, and investigators from the FBI, New York City Police Department, the New York State Insurance Fraud Bureau, U.S. Department of Labor, U.S. Office of Personnel Management Inspector General, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, New York State Attorney General’s Office, New York State Office of Medicaid Inspector General, New York State Health and Hospitals Inspector General, and the National Insurance Crime Bureau.
The case is being prosecuted by the Office’s Organized Crime Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jason A. Masimore, Russell Capone, and Edward B. Diskant are in charge of the prosecution. Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander Wilson of the Office’s Asset Forfeiture Unit is responsible for the forfeiture of assets.
The charges contained in the Complaint are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
U.S. v. Stephen Cox Complaint
Manhattan Physician Pleads Guilty to Unlawfully Prescribing Prescription DrugsRead the Press Release
TOPEKA, KAN. A Manhattan, Kan., physician pleaded guilty today to unlawfully prescribing prescription drugs, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said.
Michael P. Schuster, 54, Manhattan, Kan., pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances.
In his plea, Schuster admitted the crime occurred from April 2007 to Aug. 2012, while he was doing business as Manhattan Pain and Spine at 1135 Westport Drive in Manhattan. To carry out daily operations at his clinic he employed up to 12 office staff members at a time, none of whom had lawful authority to distribute controlled substances. He directed and allowed staff members to distribute controlled substances to his patients using blank prescription pads he had signed in advance.
Investigators documented approximately 540 patients who received prescriptions for controlled substances while Schuster was out of his office, including times when he was traveling to Canada, Russia, South Africa, Uruguay, New York, Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Brazil and Israel.
Sentencing is set for April 7. Both parties have agreed to recommend a sentence of five years in federal prison, restitution of $100,772 and a fine of $25,000. He also has agreed to forfeit his clinic building at 1135 Westport Drive, a 2012 Ford pickup and more than $11,000 contained in two bank accounts. In addition, he agreed to a forfeiture money judgment of $400,000.
In addition, Schuster also agrees to surrender his medical license, not to re-apply for a medical license in Kansas, to surrender his DEA registration number for prescribing controlled substances and not to re-apply for a DEA registration number.
According to court documents, the investigation began early in 2012 when the Riley County Police Department received reports that Schuster was issuing prescriptions for high dosages of scheduled drugs based on minimal or cursory physical examinations.
Grissom commended the Riley County Police Department; the FBI; the Department of Defense, Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS); the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG); the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA); the Department of Homeland Security - Homeland Security Investigations (DHS-HSI); the Diplomatic Security Service (DSS), Assistant U.S. Attorney Tanya Treadway, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jared Maag, and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Robin Graham for their work on the case.Manager of Multi-Million Dollar Mortgage Fraud Conspiracy Pleads Guilty Defendant’s Scheme Caused Losses of over $6 MillonRead the Press Release
SAN DIEGO, CA - United States Attorney Laura E. Duffy announced that Kathryn Sylvester of San Diego pleaded guilty today to participating in a mortgage fraud conspiracy in which she and several co-conspirators caused over $6 million in losses associated with various properties in San Diego County and elsewhere. Sylvester entered her guilty plea to one count of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud before Magistrate Judge William V. Gallo, and is scheduled to appear before U.S. District Court Judge Cathy Ann Bencivengo on April 1, 2014 for sentencing.
As defendant admitted in today’s hearing and in court documents, between June 2005 and May 2008, she recruited “straw buyers” to submit falsified mortgage loan applications to purchase properties and obtain home equity loans. Sylvester herself provided false documents to support the straw buyers’ misrepresentations regarding their income and employment, and added straw buyers to unrelated bank accounts so they could inflate the value of their assets on loan applications. Sylvester helped convince lending institutions to fund loans for which Sylvester and the straw buyers would not otherwise qualify. Although Sylvester promised some straw buyers that she would “flip” a number of the properties for a 2 profit, she systematically drained equity from the properties for her own benefit. The straw buyers included Claudia Montes, Tad Lent, and Roderick Michener, all residents of San Diego.
Montes, a former notary public, notarized the signatures of other straw buyers on the loan applications. On April 12, 2013, Montes pleaded guilty to a two-count information (13CR1313-JLS) before Magistrate Judge William McCurine, Jr. She admitted conspiring with Sylvester to submit false loan applications to lenders to obtain the properties and transferring proceeds to Sylvester. She is scheduled to be sentenced before U.S. District Court Judge Janis L. Sammartino on February 14, 2014.
Michener pleaded guilty before Magistrate Judge Barbara L. Major on April 4, 2013, to conspiring with Sylvester to commit bank fraud (13CR1130-CAB). Michener admitted that he permitted co-conspirators to claim an ownership interest in his bank account in order to include the account as an asset on their respective mortgage loan applications. He also admitted transferring fraud proceeds to Sylvester. Michener is scheduled to be sentenced before District Court Judge Cathy A. Bencivengo on March 14, 2014.
Lent pled guilty to conspiring with Sylvester to submit falsified loan applications to mortgage lenders by misrepresenting the amount of his assets (12CR3744-L). Lent entered his guilty plea on January 28, 2013, before District Court Judge M. James Lorenz, and is scheduled to be sentenced on January 21, 2014.
United States Attorney Duffy added, “As our economy slowly improves, it is important for us to address criminal conduct that helped spawn the financial crisis. These mortgage fraud cases are further evidence of our dedication to investigating and prosecuting the fraud that plagued the mortgage loan processes for too long.”
DEFENDANT Case Number: 13CR1355-CAB Kathryn Sylvester Age: 44 SUMMARY OF CHARGESCount 1: Title 18, United States Code, Section 1349 (conspiracy to commit wire fraud and
bank fraud)
Maximum penalty: 30 years of custody; $1,000,000 fineCount 5: Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343 (wire fraud)
AGENCY
Maximum penalty: 20 years of custody; $250,000 FineFederal Bureau of Investigation
Man Who Conspired with Female Friend to Solicit ‘Hit Man’ to Kill Her Daughter’s Boyfriend Sentenced to 7 Years in Federal PrisonRead the Press Release
SANTA ANA, California – A Hawthorne man who pleaded guilty in a murder-for-hire scheme targeting a man who was dating the daughter of his co-conspirator was sentenced today to seven years in federal prison.
Antonio Quevedo, 35, was sentenced by United States District Judge Josephine L. Staton.
The second defendant in the case – Adelina Cristobal, 56, of Lawndale, who also pleaded guilty last year to conspiracy to use interstate commerce facilities in the commission of murder-for-hire – is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Staton on January 31.
The murder-for-hire scheme was uncovered during an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Los Angeles Police Department. Investigators initiated the investigation after receiving information that the two defendants were attempting to solicit someone to commit a murder on their behalf. An undercover officer posing as the hired “hit man” met with the defendants, who offered the undercover officer $6,500 to kill the intended victim. Cristobal was to pay Quevedo an additional $500 for arranging the meeting with the “hit man.”
Quevedo conspired with Cristobal to hire someone to murder the boyfriend of Cristobal’s daughter, prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memorandum that noted “Had the government not been able to infiltrate the conspiracy, [Quevedo] may well have found a willing assassin to murder the victim and successfully collected his broker’s fee.”
Release No. 14-006
Man Sentenced in Identification Fraud CaseRead the Press Release
The United States Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Alberto Hernandez-Torres, formerly of Hazleton, Pennsylvania, was sentenced today by United States District Court Judge Malachy Mannion in Scranton to 27 months’ imprisonment after having pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit identification fraud and conspiracy to commit alien smuggling for financial gain. Hernandez-Torres was also ordered to forfeit $40,000 to the United States. At the conclusion of the proceeding, Judge Mannion entered an order of removal requiring that Hernandez-Torres be removed from the United States to his home country of Mexico.
According to United States Attorney Peter Smith, the multi-jurisdictional, transnational investigation in this case was conducted by investigators of the Department of Homeland Security-Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the United States Postal Inspection Service, the Internal Revenue Service and the United States Department of State. The investigation included 18 court-authorized wiretaps and a nationwide coordinated case take-down that included 260 search warrants, including a search warrant in Hazleton. Fifty-three persons were charged in the case of whom forty-nine were arrested. All 49 persons arrested so far have entered guilty pleas.
The investigation and prosecutions in this case were coordinated by James Yoon, Hope Olds, Courtney Schaefer and Christina Giffin, attorneys in the United States Department of Justice, Criminal Division, Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section. The case was handled locally in the Middle District of Pennsylvania by Assistant U.S. Attorney William Houser.
Maine Man Sentenced for Wildlife Trafficking ViolationsRead the Press Release
BOSTON – A former Maine resident was sentenced yesterday for violating federal wildlife protection laws which prohibit the illegal purchase and transportation of wildlife.
Senior U.S. District Court Judge Mark L. Wolf sentenced Eric Zeng, 49, to two years of probation and ordered to pay a fine of $5,000. In addition, the court ordered the forfeiture of Zeng’s vehicle. In October 2013, Zeng pleaded guilty to two counts of violating the Lacey Act, a federal wildlife protection statute which prohibits, among other things, the interstate purchase, sale and transportation of wildlife which was obtained in violation of federal, state or local law.
“Protecting the wildlife of our region is critical to ensuring the security of our precious environment,” said United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz. “It is our duty to prosecute individuals who senselessly exploit and traffic wildlife, and we will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to prevent these crimes.”
At the time of the offenses, Zeng was living in Presque Isle, Maine where he owned and operated a restaurant. He was actively engaged in the illegal purchase and sale of bear and deer parts in Maine, and continued the illegal trafficking by completing two purchases in Massachusetts.
On two occasions, Zeng bought what he was told were illegally obtained wildlife parts, specifically, black bear gall bladders and bear paws. He then traveled to Massachusetts to complete the purchase. After reviewing the items and paying in cash, Zeng transported them to locations in Connecticut where he sold them to third parties. Zeng drove a Cadillac Escalade, valued at $70,000, to both meetings and, as a result, the vehicle was subsequently seized by law enforcement and was forfeited as part of the sentence.
“We attribute the success of this case to the excellent working relationship we have with the U.S. Attorney’s Office and our counterparts in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Office of Law Enforcement,” said Colonel Joel Wilkinson of the Maine Warden Service.“This sentence represents the gravity of such crimes committed against our wildlife, conservation and the hunting heritage,” said U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Northeast Region Special Agent in Charge Honora Gordon. “The case is another fine example of how our partnership with the Maine Warden Service and the Boston U.S. Attorney's Office is crucial in protecting black bears and other North American species from commercial exploitation."
U.S. Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Colonel Joel Wilkinson of the Maine Warden Service; and Honora Gordon, SAC of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service made the announcement today. The investigation leading to Zeng’s arrest was a joint effort between the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, Maine Warden Service, and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Office of Law Enforcement. The case was prosecuted by Nadine Pellegrini of Ortiz’s Major Crimes Unit.
Louisville Felon Guilty of Bank Fraud and Illegal Possession of A FirearmRead the Press Release
– Accomplices cashed more than 300 counterfeit checks totaling $200,000
– 70 area business were affectedLOUISVILLE, Ky. – A Louisville felon pleaded guilty, in United States District Court this week, to making more than 300 counterfeit checks totaling over $200,000 and recruiting 15 co-conspirators to pass the counterfeit checks at businesses and financial institutions in Jefferson County and the surrounding area announced David J. Hale, United States Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky.
Phillip Walker, age 40, pleaded guilty to 26 charges in two federal indictments including one count of conspiracy, 19 counts of bank fraud, and one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. According to the plea agreement, Walker admitted from July 2011 through August 2013, that he manufactured approximately 300 counterfeit checks totaling over $200,000. Walker recruited approximately 15 co-conspirators, to pass the checks and would split the proceeds of the checks with the co-conspirators after the checks were successfully negotiated. Walker also caused an unnamed co-defendant to open bank accounts at Your Community Bank and U.S. Bank for the purpose of negotiating counterfeit checks. During the course of the fraud more than 70 area retail outlets were affected. Walker made the counterfeit checks utilizing a computer and two printers, at his home located on West Kentucky Street in Louisville. In furtherance of the crime, Walker admitted to buying stolen driver’s licenses or state identification cards and would make the counterfeit check payable to that person’s name. Walker would then attempt to recruit people who looked similar to the photo of the person on the stolen driver’s license or state identification card to cash the counterfeit check. Further, on August 16, 2013, in Jefferson County, Walker knowingly possessed an American Tactical C45 pistol and eight rounds of .45 caliber ammunition, as well as numerous rounds of assorted ammunition. Walker had previously been convicted of a crime punishable by a term of imprisonment exceeding one year.
If convicted at trial, Walker faced a combined maximum sentence of 325 years, a fine of $9.5 million and a five year term of supervised release.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Bryan R. Calhoun and Special Assistant Attorney Sungtae Kang and is being investigated by the United States Secret Service, the Louisville Metro Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Local Gang Member, Associates Sentenced for Federal Drug Trafficking CrimesRead the Press Release
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Three men working with the Texas Mexican Mafia (TMM) to distribute heroin and cocaine in the Corpus Christi area have been sentenced to federal prison, announced United States Attorney Kenneth Magidson. Alejandro Guerrero, 39, of Corpus Christi, was found guilty of conspiracy to distribute heroin after a two-day jury trial in October 2013.
Today, Senior U.S. District Judge Hayden W. Head sentenced Guerrero to a total term of 188 months in federal prison which will be immediately followed by five years of supervised release.
Jose Miguel Zuniga aka Slick, 33, also of Corpus Christi, and Alberto Donicio Galindo aka Crazy Horse, 38, of Laredo, had previously entered respective guilty pleas to possession with intent to distribute heroin and conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine. Zuniga and Galindo were also sentenced today to 74 and 24 months in federal prison, respectively. Both will serve three years of supervised release.
The remaining defendants in this case, Ruben Esparza aka Popo, 36, and Ernesto Villarreal aka Crash, 36, both of Robstown, have also pleaded guilty to their involvement in the heroin conspiracy and are scheduled for sentencing in Houston before U.S. District Judge Nancy F. Altas in February.
Jurors in the trial of Guerrero heard testimony that Esparza, a local leader of the TMM, had been receiving shipments of narcotics from Laredo in 2011. Investigators learned of the time and place of drug shipments and witnessed Guerrero meet with a courier from Laredo at a Corpus Christi Walmart on two occasions. After a traffic stop, law enforcement discovered a loaded handgun in the passenger compartment of Guerrero’s vehicle. “Black tar” heroin was also found hidden in a secret compartment of Guerrero’s vehicle.
Galindo was another courier for the Laredo drug source. He delivered 4 ½ ounces of cocaine to Esparza in April 2011. Zuniga, another member of the TMM, admitted to purchasing an ounce of heroin from Esparza in May 2011, which Zuniga then intended to distribute.
All defendants have been and will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
This case was investigated through a joint effort by the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Texas Department of Public Safety and the Corpus Christi Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael Hess.Leader of Group from New York Charged with Offering to Sell Women Sentenced to 36 Months’ ImprisonmentRead the Press Release
NORFOLK, Va. – Prince Lee, 21, of New York, was sentenced today to 36 months in prison, followed by 5 years of supervised release, for conspiracy to transport persons for prostitution.
Dana J. Boente, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Royce E. Curtin, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Norfolk Field Office and James Cervera, Chief of Police, Virginia Beach Police Department, made the announcement after sentencing by United States District Judge Raymond A. Jackson.
Lee pleaded guilty on October 3, 2013. According to court documents, on May 15, 2013, Prince Lee and a young woman posted an advertisement on craigslist.com in Hampton Roads offering to sell the woman as a “sex slave” for $10,000. The Virginia Beach Police Department was monitoring the site and came across the advertisement and responded. An undercover officer spoke with Prince Lee and Lee agreed to sell three women for approximately $225,000. They agreed to meet in Virginia Beach on June 1, 2013. Prince Lee and codefendant Henry Olson recruited Jane Doe 1, a 30 year old also from New York, and told the woman she would receive $10,000 just to “hang out” with a friend of Prince Lee’s in Virginia. After much persuasion, she agreed. Codefendant Arielle Pierre and Prince Lee also recruited Jane Doe 2 to spend a few hours with the man. Neither of the women was told that they were being “sold” to the man. Lee, Olson, Pierre and two others drove with the Jane Does from New York and arrived in Virginia Beach on the morning of June 1, 2013. Under observation by the police, Lee and Pierre were seen yelling at and grabbing the Jane Doe 2, trying to force the woman to remain and go to the “date.” Jane Doe 2 eventually ran into a nearby hotel, where employees hid her in the back room. Prince Lee also threatened to desert Jane Doe 1 in Virginia and throw away her car keys if she did not go forward with the plan. In the afternoon of June 1, the undercover officer arrived for the “date” and all defendants were arrested. Pierre was sentenced on January 8, 2014 to 12 months in jail. Olson is scheduled to be sentenced on January 29, 2014.
This case was investigated by the Virginia Beach Police Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Elizabeth Yusi 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.
Koito Manufacturing Co. Ltd. Agrees to Plead Guilty to Price Fixing on Automobile Parts Installed in U.S. CarsRead the Press Release
Koito Manufacturing Co. Ltd., a Tokyo-based company, has agreed to plead guilty and to pay a total of $56.6 million in criminal fines for its roles in separate price-fixing conspiracies involving automobile lighting fixtures and lamp ballasts installed in cars sold in the United States and elsewhere, the Department of Justice announced today.
A ccording to a two-count felony charge filed today in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan in Detroit, Koito engaged in separate conspiracies to rig bids for, and to fix, stabilize and maintain the prices of automobile lighting fixtures and automotive high-intensity discharge (HID) lamp ballasts sold to automakers in the United States and elsewhere. In addition to the criminal fine, Koito has also agreed to cooperate with the department’s ongoing auto parts investigations. The plea agreement is subject to court approval.
“The conspirators engaged in long-term conspiracies to fix the prices of essential components used in the production of automobiles,” said Brent Snyder, Deputy Assistant Attorney General of the Antitrust Division’s criminal enforcement program. “Today’s criminal fine demonstrates the Antitrust Division’s continued commitment to hold companies accountable for collusive behavior that impacts American consumers.”
According to the charges, Koito and its co-conspirators sold the lighting fixtures and ballasts at noncompetitive prices to automakers in the United States and elsewhere. Koito and its co-conspirators carried out the conspiracies through meetings and conversations in which they discussed and agreed upon bids and price quotations and agreed to allocate among the companies certain sales of automotive lighting fixtures and HID lamp ballasts sold to automobile and component manufacturers. Koito’s involvement in the conspiracy to fix prices of automotive lighting fixtures lasted from at least as early as June 1997 until about July 2011. Koito’s involvement in the conspiracy to fix prices of automotive HID lamp ballasts lasted from at least as early as July 1998 until at least February 2010.
Koito manufactures and sells automotive lighting fixtures, which include automobile headlamps and rear combination lamp assemblies that employ various bulb technologies and are used for forward illumination, visibility and to signal various vehicular functions, such as braking, reversing direction and turning.
Koito also manufactures and sells HID lamp ballasts – electrical devices that are essential for the operation of an HID headlamp. HID lamp ballasts regulate the electrical current used to ignite and control the electrical arc that generates the intensely bright light emitted by an automotive HID headlamp fixture.Including Koito, 24 corporations have pleaded guilty or agreed to plead guilty in the department’s investigation into price fixing and bid rigging in the auto parts industry, and have agreed to pay a total of more than $1.8 billion in fines. Additionally, 26 individuals have been charged.
Koito is charged with price fixing in violation of the Sherman Act, which carries a maximum penalty of a $100 million criminal fine for corporations. The maximum fine may be increased to twice the gain derived from the crime or twice the loss suffered by the victims of the crime, if either of those amounts is greater than the statutory maximum fine.
Today’s prosecution arose from an ongoing federal antitrust investigation into price fixing, bid rigging and other anticompetitive conduct in the automotive parts industry, which is being conducted by each of the Antitrust Division’s criminal enforcement sections and the FBI. Today’s charges were brought by the National Criminal Enforcement Section, with the assistance of the Detroit Field Office of the FBI and the FBI headquarters’ International Corruption Unit. Anyone with information concerning this investigation should contact the Antitrust Division’s Citizen Complaint Center at 1-888-647-3258, visit www.justice.gov/atr/contact/newcase.html or call the Detroit Field Office of the FBI at 313-965-2323.Jury Convicts Mexican Truck Driver in Methamphetamine/Heroin ConspiracyRead the Press Release
LAREDO, Texas - A federal jury has returned a guilty verdict against Juan Manuel Reyes Vasquez, 36, of Nuevo Laredo, for engaging in a conspiracy to posses with intent to distribute in excess of a kilogram of heroin and 500 grams of methamphetamine, announced United States Attorney Kenneth Magidson. The verdicts were returned following four days of trial and approximately 10 hours of deliberation.
Vasquez and others were identified during a long term Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (ICDETF) investigation as being part of conspiracy that was engaged in smuggling multiple kilograms of methamphetamine and heroin from Nuevo Laredo to Laredo for further distribution to other areas to include Dallas.
The jury heard evidecne that Vasquez was a tractor-trailer driver who was employed with a legitimate company and who would travel regularly between Nuevo Laredo to Laredo to deliver goods for the company. Unbeknownst to his employer, Vasquez was also illegally importing heroin in his tractor. After delivering the company’s goods in Laredo, he deviated from his route to meet a co-conspirator and exchange narcotics.
Agents were able to identify and locate the tractor in question and observe a meeting between Vasquez and co-conspiractor Blanca Abundez. Following the meeting, officers conducted a traffic stop of her vehicle and discovered two separate bags each containing eight bundles of drugs. Abundez had transported eight bundles of methamphetamine believing she was going to deliver the drugs to Vasquez, but instead Vasquez delivered eight bundles of Heroin to her.
Following the traffic stop and arrest of Abundez, agents were able to discover that several bundles of drugs still remained at the Abundez residence. A search warrat was executed which resulted in the discovery of an additional 17 bundles of methamphetamine.
The total weight of drugs seized for the two days was approximately 28 kilograms of methamphetamine and nine kilograms of heroin. The overall long-term OCDETF investigation yieled a total of 61, 23 and nine kiolgrams of methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin, respectively.
Four others previously entered pleas of guilty and are awaiting sentencing - Christian Abundez, 23, and Blanca Abundez, 28, both of Laredo; Ilmar Sierra, 35, of Dallas; and Rolando Salinas Apac, 33, of Nuevo Laredo. Vasquez will remain in custody pending sentencing which will be set at a later date before U.S. District Judge George P. Kazen.
The case was investigated by DEA with the assistance of the Webb County District Attorney’s Office and the Laredo Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Mary Lou Castillo prosecuted the case.
Jury Convicts Cincinnati Man of Producing Child PornographyRead the Press Release
CONTACT: Fred Alverson
Public Affairs Officer
CINCINNATI – A U.S. District Court jury today convicted James O. Napier, 39, of Cincinnati of producing child pornography involving an 11-month old infant and an approximately nine-year old child and placing the videos and images on the internet.
Carter M. Stewart, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, Kevin Cornelius, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and agencies in the Greater Cincinnati Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force announced the verdict returned today following a trial that began January 13 before Chief U.S. District Judge Susan Dlott.
Trial testimony showed that in November 2009 Napier used an 11-month old infant for sexual gratification, molested the infant and made a video recording of it before placing it on the internet. Other testimony showed that as recently as November 2012 Napier sexually exploited a girl who was approximately nine years-old and produced videos of those acts.
FBI agents began investigating Napier based on information from the FBI office in Phoenix that Napier was advertising the sale of child pornography on a website. FBI agents arrested Napier on January 18, 2013. He has been held without bond.
After less than one hour of deliberation, the jury convicted Napier of nine counts of production of child pornography, each punishable by at least 15 and up to 30 years in prison. The jury also convicted Napier of one count each of transportation of child pornography, distribution of child pornography and receipt of child pornography. Each of those crimes is punishable by at least five years and up to 20 years in prison. Judge Dlott will schedule a date for sentencing.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorneys Offices, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov/.
Stewart commended the investigation by FBI agents and investigators with the Greater Cincinnati ICAC as well as Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christy Muncy and Ben Glassman, who are prosecuting the case.
Agencies participating in the Greater Cincinnati ICAC, in addition to FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office include the U.S. Marshals Service, U.S. Secret Service, Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters, Hamilton County Sheriff Jim Neil and the police departments in Amberley Village, Blue Ash, Cincinnati, and West Chester.
Judge Sends Armed Robber to Prison for 30 YearsRead the Press Release
PHILADELPHIA - Hakeem Paris, 23, of Philadelphia, was sentenced today to 30 years and one month in prison for two armed robberies which he committed in 2010. A federal jury convicted Paris, on December 12, 2012, of one count of conspiracy to commit robbery which interfered with interstate commerce, one count of robbery which interfered with interstate commerce, one count of attempted robbery which interfered with interstate commerce, two counts of using and carrying a firearm during a crime of violence, and one count of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm.
On May 10, 2010, Paris conspired with another person to commit a gun-point robbery of Bridesburg Pizza, located at 4776 Richmond Street, in Philadelphia, where he ordered the employees of the pizza shop to move to the back of the store while holding them at gunpoint. One of the victims later stated “I thought we were dead. I truly believed he was going to kill all of us because he kept saying he was going to shoot us.” Less than two weeks later, on May 23, 2010, he attempted to rob the Wawa convenience store located at 4371 Richmond Street, in Philadelphia.
In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Court Judge Mary McLaughlin ordered three years of supervised release, and a $600 special assessment.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Philadelphia Police Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas M. Zaleski.
UNITED STATES ATTORNEY'S OFFICE, EASTERN DISTRICTof PENNSYLVANIA
Suite 1250, 615 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106
PATTY HARTMAN, Media Contact, 215-861-8525Johnson County Woman Sentenced to 5 Years in Fatal Prescription Drug OverdoseRead the Press Release
KANSAS CITY, KAN. A Johnson County woman was sentenced Wednesday to five years in federal prison in connection with the death of a 20-year-old man who died from a prescription drug overdose, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said.
Stacy Ashley, 37, Edgerton, Kan., pleaded guilty to one count of distributing oxymorphone, a prescription painkiller.
In her plea, she admitted that on July 30, 2011, she distributed oxymorphone and amphetamine to the victim, resulting in his death. The victim also obtained oxycodone, morphine and alprazolam from co-defendant Tammy Redel. He crushed up several pills obtained from the two women and snorted the drugs. He drifted in and out of consciousness throughout the evening before police and emergency medical personnel were called.
Co-defendant Tammy Redel is awaiting sentencing.
Grissom commended the Garnett Police Department, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation and Assistant U.S. Attorney Sheri McCracken for their work on the case.
Jackson County Man Sentenced for Methamphetamine ConspiracyRead the Press Release
On January 9, 2014, Charles W. Scallion, 41, of Carbondale, Ill., was sentenced in United States District Court in Benton on a one-count indictment charging conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine, announced Stephen R. Wigginton, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois.
Scallion, who had previously pled guilty to the methamphetamine offense, was sentenced to 151 months in federal prison, to be followed by 6 years of supervised release, and fined $300. The offense occurred between May 2012, and March 28, 2013, in Jackson County. Evidence at the plea and sentencing hearings established that Scallion was involved with others in the manufacture of methamphetamine. During the conspiracy, other individuals supplied Scallion with pseudoephedrine to use to cook methamphetamine. The district court determined that Scallion’s relevant conduct involved more than 165 grams of pseudoephedrine.
The investigation was conducted by the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, Murphysboro Police Department, and the Drug Enforcement Administration.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Amanda A. Robertson.
Hudson County, N.J., Man Sentenced to Eight Years in Prison for Distribution of Child PornographyRead the Press Release
NEWARK, N.J. - A Hudson County, N.J., man was sentenced today to 96 months in prison for distributing images and videos of child sex abuse over the Internet, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.
Jonathan Martin, 24, of Jersey City, N.J., and Short Hills, N.J., previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Stanley R. Chesler to Count One of an indictment charging him with knowing distribution of child pornography. Judge Chesler imposed the sentence today in Newark federal court.
According to documents filed in the case and statements made in court:
Martin admitted that on April 30, 2012, he made images and videos of child sexual abuse that were stored on his home computer available for others to download via an online peer-to-peer file-sharing network. On that date, an undercover law enforcement agent successfully downloaded from Martin 15 images files of child pornography via the file sharing network.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Chesler sentenced Martin to five years of supervised release and ordered him to pay $35,000 in restitution.
U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the FBI’s Child Exploitation Task Force, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Aaron T. Ford, and the Jersey City Police Department, under the direction of Chief Robert Cowan, with the investigation leading to today’s sentencing.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Danielle Alfonzo Walsman of the U.S. Attorney's Office Criminal Division in Newark.
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Defense counsel: Alan Zegas Esq., Chatham, N.J.Guam and CNMI Commemorates Prevention and Awareness of Human Trafficking and Stalking MonthRead the Press Release
January 18, 2014January 2014 has been proclaimed as National Slavery and Prevention and Awareness of Human Trafficking Month by President Barack Obama. On January 10, 2014, Governor of Guam Eddie Baza Calvo and Governor Eloy S. Inos of the CNMI proclaimed “Stalking and Human Trafficking” month. Communities nationwide join together to raise awareness about the ills of human trafficking, slavery and stalking.
The Guam Human Trafficking Task Force (HTTF) has organized the following events to commemorate Human Trafficking Awareness and Prevention Month in Guam:
WAVE in front of Skinner Plaza, Hagatna from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m- Friday January 17, 2014
- Wednesday, January 22, 2014
The CNMI Human Trafficking Intervention Coalition has planned a community outreach for January 23, 2014, from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at the Thursday Night Market in Garapan, and a Human Trafficking Awareness Workshop on January 29, 2014, from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. to be held at Commonwealth Health Care Corporation.
The Guam Human Trafficking Task Force and the CNMI Human Trafficking Intervention Coalition comprised of representatives from federal and local law enforcement agencies, victim service providers, social service providers, medical and health professionals, faith based organizations, and other community partners, will continue to respond to the needs of human trafficking victims and their families and to hold offenders accountable.
For more information about the events, please contact Mae Blas at (671) 477-4144 or via email at [email protected].
Attached are photos taken at the Proclamation Signing in Guam and in the CNMI.
Guam photo of some of the Human Trafficking Task Force members,
courtesy of Cynthia Cabot from the Guam Coalition Against Sexual
Assault & Family Violence.
CNMI photo of Human Trafficking Intervention Coalition, courtesy of
Angel Demapan from the CNMI Governor’s Office.Greenville Man Pleads Guilty to Child Pornography OffenseRead the Press Release
A Greenville man pled guilty in federal district court on January 16, 2014, to Attempt to Access with Intent to View Visual Depictions of Minors Engaged in Sexually Explicit Conduct, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, Stephen R. Wigginton, announced today. Terry L. Adcock, 65, Greenville, Illinois, faces a term in federal prison of not more than ten (10) years, a fine up to $250,000, and a term of supervised release of five (5) years to life when he is sentenced. Sentencing is scheduled for May 16, 2014, in East St. Louis, Illinois. Adcock also agreed to forfeit the computers which contained the visual depictions. In addition, upon his release from prison, Adcock must register as a sex offender as a condition of his supervised release. Adcock is being held without bond pending sentencing.
An FBI nationwide investigation revealed IP addresses that accessed a web forum known to contain links to images and/or videos of visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. The web forum listed a detailed description of the image and/or video file that a user could link to. This investigation revealed that, between October and November, 2011, an IP address assigned to Adcock tried to access the web forum on five (5) separate occasions.
On December 18, 2012, FBI Special Federal Officers spoke with Adcock at his residence about the results of the investigation. Adcock admitted that he had been searching for and viewing images of child pornography on the internet since he bought his first computer approximately twenty years prior, and that he was interested in prepubescent girls between the ages of 10 and 12. He said that, by googling a search term commonly associated with child pornography, he would gain access to thousands of websites that contained child pornography. Adcock gave consent to the officers to search and seize, among other things, a Gateway desktop computer and a Dell Inspiron laptop computer which he used to access and view child pornography.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in 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 investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Springfield Child Exploitation Task Force (SCETF). The case is assigned to Assistant United States Attorney Angela Scott.
Freeport Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Tax FraudRead the Press Release
ROCKFORD — A Freeport, Ill. man pleaded guilty today in federal court before U.S. District Judge Frederick J. Kapala to a federal charge relating to his preparation of fraudulent federal income tax returns. The defendant, JASON BOOTH, 32, admitted that he conspired with others to defraud the United States Department of the Treasury by obtaining payments through fraudulent claims for individual income tax refunds.
According to the written plea agreement, between March 2006 and January 2008, Booth created false returns, knowing that the taxpayers whose names he put on the false returns had not authorized him to use false information in the returns. Some of the taxpayers had authorized Booth to create income tax returns for them, but many did not know Booth. Due to the false information, the income tax returns claimed refunds that were not actually owed to the taxpayers. After creating the false returns, Booth filed them electronically with the IRS. When claimed refunds were approved and disbursed by the IRS, the refunds were wired to bank accounts that had been designated by Booth when he electronically filed the false returns. Some of those accounts were owned by Booth, but several were owned by others that conspired with Booth. The co-conspirators were allowed to keep a portion of each refund in exchange for the use of their accounts for the deposit of the refunds. They delivered the balance of the refunds to Booth. Booth used the co-conspirators accounts because he was not always able to open accounts in his name and because using varied accounts made discovery of his filing false returns less likely. Booth admitted that as a result of the filing of the false federal income tax returns, $159,926.98 was disbursed by the IRS into the accounts he designated.
Booth is scheduled to be sentenced on April 23, 2014, at 2:30 p.m. Booth faces up to 10 years’ imprisonment, up to 3 years of supervised release, and a maximum fine of $250,000. The Court may also impose a term of probation of between 1 and 5 years, and must order restitution to the victims of the offense in an amount determined by the Court.
The guilty plea was announced by Zachary T. Fardon, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and James C. Lee, Special Agent-In-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation Division.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael D. Love.
Plea Agreement
Four Sentenced for Sale of Heroin in MorgantownRead the Press Release
1125 Chapline Street, Federal Building, Suite 3000 ● Wheeling, WV 26003
(304) 234-0100 ● Contact: Chris Zumpetta-Parr, Public Affairs SpecialistCLARKSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA – Four members of a Morgantown heroin distribution ring, including three men from Detroit, were sentenced to federal prison.
According to United States Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld, II, the following individuals had prison sentences imposed by U.S. District Court Judge Irene Keeley for their roles in the trafficking of heroin:
- SEAN MILLER PHILLIPS, JR., age 31, of Eastpoint, Michigan was sentenced to 63 months in prison and six years of supervised release for “Aiding and Abetting in the Distribution of Heroin within 1000 feet of a Protected Location.”
- JAMILA MCLAUGHRY, age 25, of Morgantown, West Virginia, was sentenced to 37 months in prison and six years of supervised release for “Distribution of Heroin within 1,000 Feet of the North Elementary School” in Monongalia County.
- EDDIE PICKETT, age 20, of Detroit, Michigan, was sentenced to 37 months in prison and three “Possession with Intent to Distribute Heroin.”
- WILLIAM ANDERSON, age 20, of Detroit, was sentenced to 37 months in prison and three “Possession with Intent to Distribute Heroin.”The case was investigated by the Mon Valley Drug & Violent Crime Task Force, consisting of officers from the Morgantown Police Department, the Monongalia County Sheriff’s Department, and the Drug Enforcement Administration.
In other sentencing hearings before Judge Keeley, Ihlenfeld said that FRANKLIN MOORE, age 43, of Procious, West Virginia, was sentenced to 92 months in prison and three years of supervised release as a result of his conviction of “Felon in Possession of a Firearm.” MOORE was remanded to the custody of the United States Marshal pending designation to a Federal institution. This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
SPAYNE SWINDLE, age 19, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was sentenced to 57 months in prison and six years of supervised release for “Distribution of Cocaine within 1,000 Feet of the Pierpont Community and Technical College.” The Court also ordered the forfeiture of $1,968 in U.S. currency and four cellular telephones seized from SWINDLE. SWINDLE was remanded to the custody of the United States Marshal pending designation to a Federal institution. The case was investigated by the Greater Harrison County Drug and Violent Crime Task Force.
AARON MONTREAL RIGGIN, age 37, of Raleigh, North Carolina, was sentenced to 37 months in prison and three years of supervised release for “Conspiracy to Distribute Oxycodone” in Morgantown, WV, between September of 2011 to April 21, 2012. The Court also ordered the forfeiture of $10,000 seized from RIGGIN. This case was investigated by the West Virginia State Police-Bureau of Criminal Investigations.
JOHN CHAMBERS, age 62, of Clarksburg, was sentenced to 36 months in prison and six years of supervised release for “Possession of Child Pornography.”
SASHA PEGGUES, age 28, of Morgantown, was sentenced to 27 months in prison and five years of supervised release for “Aggravated Identity Theft.” PEGGUES forged checks belonging to an elderly man for whom she was providing care-giving services for her personal use. The Court also ordered PEGGUES to make restitution in the amount of $27,960.90. PEGGUES was remanded to the custody of the United States Marshal pending designation to a Federal institution. This case was investigated by the United States Postal Inspection Service and the Morgantown Police Department.
Judge Keeley also took several guilty pleas, according to Ihlenfeld, as follows:
MATTHEW VANHORN, 27, and MEGAN COUNTS, age 24, of Stonewood, West Virginia, entered pleas of guilty to “Possession with Intent to Distribute Heroin within 1,000 Feet of the Stonewood City Park.” CHARLES COUNTS, age 42 and ONDREA KATHERINE COUNTS, age 41, of Stonewood, entered pleas of guilty to “Distribution of MDMA (Ecstasy) within 1,000 Feet of Oakmound Apartments,” and MARY WILCOX, age 43, of Stonewood; entered a plea of guilty to “Maintaining a Drug-Involved Premise.” VANHORN, who is in custody pending sentencing, and MEGAN COUNTS, CHARLES COUNTS and ONDREA COUNTS, who are free on bond pending sentencing, face up to 40 years in prison. WILCOX, who is in custody sentencing, faces up to 20 years in prison.
EVAN MICHAEL SHAW, age 22, of Bridgeport, West Virginia, entered a plea of guilty to “Distribution of Buprenorphine within 1,000 Feet of West Virginia Junior College.” As part of his plea, SHAW will forfeit $906 in United States currency which constitutes proceeds obtained from the illegal activity. SHAW, who is free on bond, faces up to 20 years in prison.
The VANHORN and SHAW cases were investigated by the Greater Harrison Drug and Violent Crime Task Force.
The cases referenced herein were prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Shawn Morgan, Zelda Wesley, and Andrew Cogar.
Four Members of Jewelry Theft Ring Plead GuiltyRead the Press Release
Four men have pleaded guilty for their roles in a highly sophisticated and violent organization that targeted jewelry couriers in Georgia and Texas. The defendants were caught as part of a national effort to find and prosecute roving groups of robbers who travel around the country targeting jewelry couriers and other business people.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman and U.S. Attorney Sally Quillian Yates of the Northern District of Georgia made the announcement.
Honorio Sanchez-Valencia, 46, of Gwinnett, Ga., and Jose Vicente Ramirez-Rodriguez, 38, John Rodriguez, 37, and Ali Alejandro Godoy-Maximo, 25, each of Los Angeles, Ca., pleaded guilty this week in the Northern District of Georgia to Hobbs Act robbery for participating in the robbery of a jewelry courier on Jan. 31, 2013, at a QuikTrip gas station in Buford, Ga. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. In addition, Rodriguez pleaded guilty to being an illegal alien in possession of a handgun, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. Sentencing has not been scheduled.
Court records show that on Jan. 31, 2013, as part of a plan to identify and rob a jewelry courier, the courier-victim was followed by Ramirez-Rodriguez to a QuikTrip gas station. As he was following the courier, Ramirez-Rodriguez contacted Sanchez-Valencia to help him with the robbery. Sanchez-Valencia, in turn, contacted the other defendants, all of whom came to the gas station together. When the courier was putting gas in his vehicle, two of the defendants approached him, with one restraining him with a knife while another smashed the vehicle window and took a briefcase containing over $125,000 in assorted jewelry.
Sanchez-Valencia also admitted his involvement in a similar robbery that occurred in Dallas on Aug. 27, 2012. In that robbery, two jewelry couriers were at a restaurant when Sanchez-Valencia briefly came into the restaurant to conduct surveillance on them and to determine the layout of the restaurant. Within a few minutes after Sanchez-Valencia left, three masked men with a gun came into the restaurant and robbed the jewelry couriers of two briefcases containing over $500,000 of jewelry. Some of that jewelry was recovered during the execution of a search warrant at a storage unit rented by Sanchez-Valencia.
This case was investigated by the FBI, ICE and the Gwinnett County Police Department, with assistance from the Dallas Police Department. This case is being prosecuted by Laura Gwinn of the Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Gang Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Kim Dammers of the Northern District of Georgia.Former Veterans Affairs Police Chief Pleads Guilty in Manhattan Federal Court to Participating in Kidnapping ConspiraciesRead the Press Release
Preet Bharara, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that RICHARD MELTZ pled guilty today to charges arising from his involvement in two separate conspiracies to kidnap, rape, and murder specific women. MELTZ, at the time the Chief of Police, United States Department of Veterans Affairs, at the Bedford Veterans Affairs Medical Center, conspired to kidnap, rape, and murder the wife of a man he had met over the Internet, and a female Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”) agent working in an undercover capacity. MELTZ was charged in April 2013 and pled guilty today before U.S. District Court Judge Paul G. Gardephe.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said: “Richard Meltz, a former law enforcement officer, now stands convicted of serious federal crimes for his involvement in two sadistic kidnapping, rape, and murder conspiracies. Prosecuting and bringing to justice perpetrators of such depraved and violent crimes is at the core of this Office’s mission. Meltz’s guilty plea today furthers that mission and brings us one step closer to resolving this case.”
According to the Information to which MELTZ pled guilty, statements made during the plea proceeding, and other court documents:
Between the spring of 2011 and January 2013, MELTZ, Robert Christopher Asch, and Michael Van Hise engaged in a series of electronic email and instant message communications during which they discussed and planned the kidnapping, torture, and murder of Van Hise’s wife and other members of Van Hise’s family. Van Hise sent to MELTZ and Asch photographs of these family members, and the approximate location of their residence. MELTZ engaged in detailed discussions about kidnapping and brutalizing the proposed victims, and ultimately assisted Van Hise and Asch in planning a kidnapping, rape, and murder. The co-conspirators ceased active planning of the kidnapping when the FBI arrested New York City Police Officer Gilberto Valle for a related kidnapping conspiracy, and began investigating Van Hise.
In addition, beginning in approximately January 2013, MELTZ, Asch, and an FBI agent working in an undercover capacity (“UC-1”) began discussions about kidnapping a woman, who unbeknownst to MELTZ and his co-conspirators, was also an FBI agent working in an undercover capacity. MELTZ participated in multiple conversations with both UC-1 and Asch about the conspiracy’s objective to kidnap and commit acts of violence against the intended victim and other women. He advised Asch to obtain a stun gun to subdue the intended target, and based on MELTZ’s direction, Asch purchased a high-voltage Taser gun at a gun show in Pennsylvania, which they intended to use in the commission of the kidnapping offense. Charges against the two alleged co-conspirators, Michael Van Hise and Robert Christopher Asch, remain pending, and they are scheduled to begin trial in early 2014.
MELTZ, 65, of Linden, New Jersey, pled guilty to two counts of engaging in a conspiracy to commit kidnapping. He faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Gardephe on May 22, 2014, at 2:30 PM.
Mr. Bharara praised the investigative work of the FBI. He also thanked the Department of Veterans Affairs and the New Jersey State Police for their assistance in the investigation.
The case is being prosecuted by the Office’s Violent Crimes Unit. Assistant United States Attorneys Brooke E. Cucinella and Hadassa Waxman are in charge of the prosecution.
The charges against Van Hise and Asch are merely accusations, and those defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
U.S. v. Richard Meltz S5 Information
Former U.S. Secret Service Agent Indicted for Stealing and Using Counterfeit Currency and Making False StatementsRead the Press Release
Jacksonville, Florida – Acting United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III announces the unsealing of an indictment charging Anthony Eugene Preissig (47, St. Johns County) with stealing counterfeit currency from the United States Secret Service (USSS), passing it at a gas station, and later making false statements about his crimes. If convicted on all counts, Preissig faces a maximum penalty of up to 35 years in federal prison.
According to the indictment, Preissig was a USSS Special Agent assigned to investigate violations of federal criminal laws. Using his position, he stole counterfeit United States currency that the Marion County Sheriff’s Office had seized and submitted to the USSS - Jacksonville office. Preissig then took a counterfeit $100 bill and tried to use it at a gas station in St. Johns County. When confronted, he lied to law enforcement agents about his crimes. Preissig retired from the USSS in 2012.
David Nieland, Special Agent in Charge of the Miami Field Office, Department of Homeland Security, Office of Inspector General, said, “Whenever a law enforcement officer engages in illegal activity, it erodes the public trust. Such actions by few can tarnish the badges of the many who serve to protect America each day. Corruption remains a top priority of the DHS OIG and we remain committed to holding those who violate the public’s trust accountable for their illegal actions.”
An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed a violation of the federal criminal laws, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty.
This case was investigated by the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of the Inspector General, the United States Secret Service’s Inspections Division, and the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office. It will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Vincent A. Citro.
Former Stockbroker Arrested for Perpetrating Investment FraudRead the Press Release
BOSTON – A Cape Cod man was charged today with defrauding three people out of $800,000 as part of a long-term investment scam.
Jeffrey M. Semanscin, 38, of Marstons Mills, was charged in a criminal complaint with violating the 1940 Investment Advisers Act. The charges allege that between 2007 and late 2013, Semanscin ran an investment fraud scheme in which he pretended to be the managing director of a private equity fund called "Ibex Omega Private Equity." Three investors invested a total of about $800,000 with him. While Semanscin, a previously registered stockbroker, sent the investors periodic performance summaries and other financial information for the purported fund, the fund did not exist. Semanscin simply used the investors' money for his own personal expenses. By November 2013, Semanscin had dissipated all but $450 of the investor funds entrusted to him.
The case was referred to the United States Attorney’s Office by the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC), which became aware of the scheme in October 2013 through a tip submitted through the SEC’s web site.
If convicted, Semanscin faces a maximum sentence under the statute of five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $10,000 fine. The government will also seek $800,000 in restitution to Semanscin’s victims.
United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz and Vincent B. Lisi, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division, made the announcement today. The case is being prosecuted by Andrew E. Lelling of Ortiz’s Economic Crimes Unit.
The details contained in the complaint are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Former Springdale Borough Police Officer Sentenced to Prison for Deprivation of Civil RightsRead the Press Release
PITTSBURGH - A former Springdale Borough police officer has been sentenced in federal court to one year and one day of imprisonment, to be followed by three years of supervised release, on his conviction of deprivation of civil rights, United States Attorney David J. Hickton announced today.
United States District Judge Mark R. Hornak imposed the sentence on Mark E. Thom, Jr., 32.
According to information presented to the court, on or about Dec. 17, 2011, Thom, a police officer of the Springdale Borough Police Department, punched and used a Taser on a man who was in handcuffs after Thom had arrested him for driving under the influence and driving with a suspended license.
U.S. Attorney Hickton said, “The vast majority of law enforcement officials uphold the highest standard of public trust. But when someone abuses his position, we will aggressively hold him accountable. We argued that a prison sentence was especially just, not only for the crime he committed, but also because he was discouraging other police officers from cooperating with us and providing information.”
Assistant United States Attorney Shaun E. Sweeney prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.
U.S. Attorney Hickton commended the Federal Bureau of Investigation for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Thom.
Former Raleigh Real Estate Developer Receives 27 Years for Multi-million Dollar Fraud Upon Investors and BanksRead the Press Release
RALEIGH – The United States Attorney’s Office announces that in federal court yesterday Chief United States District Judge James C. Dever III sentenced former real estate developer JAMES THOMAS WEBB, 52 of Leland to 327 months imprisonment followed by 5 years of supervised release. The Court further ordered that WEBB make total restitution of $11,946,739.80 to his victims.
“James Webb betrayed the trust of investors and left neighborhoods in two states blighted with dilapidated homes. His lengthy prison sentence emphasizes the severity and impact of this type of crime on our communities and should reassure the public of the FBI’s commitment to hold these offenders accountable,” said John Strong, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI in North Carolina.
“The FDIC OIG is pleased to join the U.S. Attorney’s Office and our law enforcement colleagues in announcing the sentencing of this individual whose criminal actions caused serious harm to the community, individual investors, and financial institutions. Mr. Webb’s sentencing should deter others who may pursue criminal behavior. This sentencing confirms that those who undermine the integrity of the financial system will be brought to justice and held accountable for their crimes,” commented Jason T. Moran, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s Office of Inspector General.
At the sentencing hearing evidence established that between 2002 and 2006 WEBB operated various real estate companies, including Alpine Properties, LLC and Webb Builders, LLC for a profit. WEBB, who took out a full page advertisement in the Triangle Business Journal in 2004, promised investors in multiple states quick, large, and safe financial gains by investing money with him. WEBB promised investors that he would use their money to purchase, renovate, and resell properties to first-time home buyers in various states, including North Carolina, Virginia, and Tennessee. WEBB also convinced investors located in various states to purchase properties from his companies. The properties were supposed to have been fully renovated and worth approximately $65,000 each. WEBB further promised to maintain the properties for investors and collect rent for them which would be used to fund mortgage payments.
The evidence established that despite his alleged philanthropic and humanitarian objectives, WEBB carried out a fraud upon both the investors who gave cash to WEBB and the banks and lenders who WEBB caused to disburse loan proceeds. Evidence showed that the properties purchased by Webb’s investors were not fully renovated as WEBB had promised. Evidence also showed that WEBB took money from one investor to pay other investors, instead of using all of the money for the promised renovations. WEBB also failed to maintain and rent the properties, as he promised. In spite of this, the evidence showed that WEBB lived lavishly, residing in a multi-million dollar mansion, driving expensive vehicles including a Bentley, traveling extensively, and otherwise paying himself handsomely.
The evidence further established that WEBB conspired with former attorney, Amy Robinson, to systematically falsify closing statements associated with properties WEBB caused investors to purchase. The Government presented evidence that instead of paying off prior lienholders out of the sales proceeds, as represented on the settlement statements, Robinson diverted the funds to the benefit of WEBB.
The evidence also showed that WEBB conspired with a former West Virginia appraiser, Larry Max McDaniel, and his associate, Jackie Gale Weaver, to falsify the appraisals associated with the properties purchased by investorsAlthough the appraisals stated that McDaniel physically inspected the properties, in fact, McDaniel never went to any of the more than 200 properties that WEBB was supposed to have renovated. Instead, the appraisals and their contents were generated by Weaver, with the assistance of WEBB’s employees and contractors. To justify WEBB’s requested value of $65,000 per property; McDaniel and Weaver frequently used other WEBB properties as comparable sales.
Evidence established that investors began to have difficulty reaching WEBB when WEBB failed to pay them the promised returns, or when investors began to receive notices from city governments regarding the state of the properties. The Government presented evidence that WEBB abruptly left his north Raleigh mansion for Florida in 2004, where he eventually stopped taking calls from his investors. Even after causing catastrophic losses to his victims, and leaving neighborhoods blighted with abandoned homes, WEBB continued to market his investment strategies in Florida, on the internet, and in a book he authored, entitled “Save Your Neighborhood.”
Although WEBB took the witness stand at the sentencing hearing in his defense, he admitted upon cross examination that he committed the fraud, and that all of the losses alleged by the United States were a foreseeable consequence of his crime. Multiple investors from North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and California also appeared and spoke out against WEBB at the hearing.
Investigation of this case was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Postal Inspection Service, the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development Office of the Inspector General, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Office of the Inspector General, with the assistance of the North Carolina Appraisal Board. Assistant United States Attorney William M. Gilmore prosecuted the case.Former Portsmouth Sheriff’s Office Sergeant Sentenced for Conspiracy and BriberyRead the Press Release
NORFOLK, Va. – A former sergeant of the Portsmouth Sheriff’s Office (PSO) was sentenced to serve 15 months in prison today for accepting bribes in exchange for favors and referrals.
Dana J. Boente, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division made the announcement.
Melvin Hike, 65, of Portsmouth, Va., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Arenda L. Wright Allen of the Eastern District of Virginia. Hike was also sentenced to serve three years of supervised release and to pay a $10,000 fine.
On Oct. 8, 2013, Hike pleaded guilty to conspiracy and federal programs bribery. According to court documents, throughout the relevant time period of 2008 to 2012, Hike was a PSO sergeant assigned to the warrant squad. Ulysses Stephenson, aka “Tugger,” was a bail bondsman based in Portsmouth whose income depended on the number of arrestee clients he served. At various times between 2008 and 2012, Stephenson gave Hike cash payments and other items of value, and in exchange, Hike referred arrestees to Stephenson as prospective clients. Stephenson previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy and federal programs bribery in connection with bribing Hike and he was sentenced to 30 months in prison on Nov. 2, 2012.
This case was investigated by the FBI. The case was prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Monique Abrishami and Peter Mason of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Amy E. Cross of the Eastern District of Virginia.
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.Former Portsmouth Sheriff’s Office Sergeant <br /> Sentenced for Conspiracy and BriberyRead the Press Release
A former sergeant of the Portsmouth Sheriff’s Office (PSO) was sentenced to serve 15 months in prison today for accepting bribes in exchange for favors and referrals.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and Acting U.S. Attorney Dana J. Boente of the Eastern District of Virginia made the announcement.
Melvin Hike, 65, of Portsmouth, Va., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Arenda L. Wright Allen of the Eastern District of Virginia. Hike was also sentenced to serve three years of supervised release and to pay a $10,000 fine.
On Oct. 8, 2013, Hike pleaded guilty to conspiracy and federal programs bribery. According to court documents, throughout the relevant time period of 2008 to 2012, Hike was a PSO sergeant assigned to the warrant squad. Ulysses Stephenson, aka “Tugger,” was a bail bondsman based in Portsmouth whose income depended on the number of arrestee clients he served. At various times between 2008 and 2012, Stephenson gave Hike cash payments and other items of value, and in exchange, Hike referred arrestees to Stephenson as prospective clients. Stephenson previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy and federal programs bribery in connection with bribing Hike, and he was sentenced to 30 months in prison on Nov. 2, 2012.
This case was investigated by the FBI. The case was prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Monique Abrishami and Peter Mason of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Amy E. Cross of the Eastern District of Virginia.