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Tuesday 7 January 2014
Anthony, N.M., Man Pleads Guilty to Unlawful Possession of a Firearm and AmmunitionRead the Press Release
ALBUQUERQUE – Victor Manuel Carreon, 23, of Anthony, N.M., pleaded guilty this afternoon in Las Cruces federal court to being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition. Carreon entered his guilty plea without the benefit of a plea agreement.
Carreon and his brother Javier Orozco, 29, also of Anthony, were arrested on Sept. 5, 2013, based on a criminal complaint charging them with being felons in possession of firearms and ammunition. The two were subsequently indicted on these charges on Dec. 11, 2013. The indictment alleges that Carreon and Orozco unlawfully possessed firearms and ammunition in Doña Ana County, N.M., on June 19, 2013. At the time, the brothers were prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition because they were convicted felons. Carreon previously had been convicted for possession of a controlled substance and aggravated fleeing from a law enforcement officer, and Orozco had been convicted for shooting at a motor vehicle and aggravated assault.
According to the criminal complaint, on June 19, 2013, Carreon and Orozco were arrested on state charges by Doña Ana County Sheriff’s deputies who were seeking to arrest Carreon on state warrants. The deputies detained Orozco in the vicinity of a truck parked outside a residence in Anthony, and arrested Carreon inside the residence. At the time of his arrest, Carreon was near a trash can that contained a loaded handgun; he admitted ownership of the handgun during a post-arrest interview. The deputies arrested Orozco after they allegedly found a large amount of cash and a plastic bag containing methamphetamine in Orozco’s pockets. During a search of the truck, which allegedly was driven primarily by Orozco, officers allegedly found additional currency and a loaded handgun.
During today’s proceedings, Carreon pled guilty to Count 2 of the indictment charging him with being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition, and admitted that he unlawfully possessed a firearm and ammunition on June 19, 2013. Carreon has been in federal custody since his arrest in Sept. 2013, and remains detained pending his sentencing hearing, which has yet to be scheduled. Carreon faces a maximum penalty of ten years in prison when he is sentenced.
Orozco also has been in federal custody since his arrest in this case. Orozco has pleaded not guilty to the indictment, which is merely an accusation. Orozco is presumed innocent unless he is found guilty in a court of law.
This case was investigated by the Las Cruces office of the FBI and the Doña Ana County Sheriff’s Office, with assistance from the 3th Judicial District Attorney’s Office, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Maria Y. Armijo of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office.
Albuquerque Man Sentenced to Ten Years in Federal Prison for Child Enticement ConvictionRead the Press Release
ALBUQUERQUE – Raymond Berger, 32, of Albuquerque, N.M., was sentenced this morning to ten years in federal prison followed by 25 years of supervised release for his child enticement conviction. Berger will be required to register as a sex offender when he completes his prison sentence.
The sentence was announced by Acting U.S. Attorney Steven C. Yarbrough, 2nd Judicial District Attorney Kari E. Brandenburg, Special Agent in Charge Dennis A. Ulrich, II, of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in El Paso, Texas, Chief Allen Banks of the Albuquerque Police Department (APD), and Bernalillo County Sheriff Dan Houston.
Berger was arrested on May 26, 2013 by HSI agents on an indictment charging him with enticing a minor to engage in sexual activity. The indictment alleged that between May 2, 2013 and May 6, 2013, Berger used the Internet and a cellular telephone to coerce and entice an individual whom he believed to be a minor to engage in sexual activity. Berger was arrested on state charges of solicitation of a child with an electronic communications devise on May 6, 2013. The state charges were dismissed after Berger was federally charged.
On Sept. 25, 2013, Berger pled guilty to the indictment and admitted that he engaged in a text messaging relationship with a person whom he believed to be a 12-year-old girl and that he made multiple solicitations for a sexual relationship with the “girl.” Berger further admitted that he made arrangements to meet with the “girl” in a parking lot on May 6, 2013 and was arrested by APD officers when he arrived at the parking lot.
Court filings reflect that Berger initiated the text messaging with the “girl” on May 2, 2013, when he responded to an Internet ad that included a photograph of an undercover officer who appeared to be a minor. The ad was placed by an APD officer who represented to Berger that he was a 12-year-old girl.
This case was investigated by the Albuquerque office of HSI, APD and the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office, with assistance from the 2nd Judicial District Attorney’s Office. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Marisa A. Lizarraga as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice (DOJ) to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and DOJ’s Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/.
The case also was brought as part of the New Mexico Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force’s mission, which is to locate, track, and capture Internet child sexual predators and Internet child pornographers in New Mexico. There are 64 federal, state and local law enforcement agencies associated with the ICAC Task Force, which is funded by a grant administered by the New Mexico Attorney General’s Office. Anyone with information relating to suspected child predators and suspected child abuse is encouraged to contact federal or local law enforcement.
Monday 6 January 2014
Winterville Man Sentenced for Making False Statements While Purchasing FirearmsRead the Press Release
RALEIGH - United States Attorney Thomas G. Walker announced that in federal court today Chief United States District Judge James C. Dever III sentenced BRANDON JAMAL GREEN, 24,of Winterville, North Carolina, to 12 months in prison and 3 years of supervised released for making false statement to a federally licensed firearms dealer during the purchase of firearms. GREEN previously pled guilty to this charge on September 15, 2013.
The investigation revealed that between June 6 and June 27, 2011, GREEN purchased 3 firearms that he later provided to his co-defendant, Joel Devon WILLIAMS, a convicted felon. During the purchases, GREEN signed paperwork under oath swearing that the firearms were for his use. After GREEN gave the firearms to WILLIAMS, GREEN filed reports with the Greenville Police Department and Winterville Police Department alleging that the firearms were stolen. On January 27, 2012, one of the firearms purchased and reported stolen by GREEN was seized during a drug investigation in Washington, D.C. WILLIAMS pled guilty to charges arising from the investigation but WILLIAMS has yet to be sentenced. The investigation of this case was conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Greenville Police Department.
Willimantic Man Who Escaped from Halfway House Is SentencedRead the Press Release
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Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that SAMUEL VASQUEZ, 26, of Willimantic, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Stefan R. Underhill in Bridgeport to approximately five months of imprisonment, time already served, and three years of supervised release, for escaping from the custody of the Attorney General. VASQUEZ was ordered to spend the first six months of his supervised release in a halfway house.
According to court documents and statements made in court, in June 2011, VASQUEZ was sentenced to 24 months of imprisonment for illegally selling a stolen shotgun and two handguns. On May 7, 2013, the Bureau of Prisons transferred VASQUEZ to Watkinson House Residential Reentry Center in Hartford, an offender re-entry facility for individuals transitioning out of prison and into society. On July 12, 2013, less than three weeks before his release date, VASQUEZ walked away from Watkinson House and did not return. On July 25, 2013, he was arrested in Willimantic by the U.S. Marshals Service and the Willimantic Police Department.
VASQUEZ has been detained since his arrest. On September 17, 2013, he pleaded guilty to the escape charge.
VASQUEZ is also currently serving a state term of special parole based on an unrelated state court conviction.
This matter was investigated by the U.S. Marshals Service, with the assistance of the Willimantic Police Department, and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert M. Spector.
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[email protected]Westfield Resident Charged with Social Security Benefits FraudRead the Press Release
The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, announced today that charges have been filed against Rose M. Hager of Westfield, Pennsylvania.
According to United States Attorney Peter J. Smith, Hager, age 63, is charged in a one-count Information with conversion of government funds by receiving Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits from the Social Security Administration in March 2011 to which she was not entitled.
The investigation was conducted by the Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General, Office of Investigations. Assistant United States Attorney Wayne P. Samuelson is assigned to prosecute the case.
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 1 year imprisonment, a term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a fine of over $300,000 as well as significant tax penalties. 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.
****Twice Convicted Child Sex Offender Sentenced to over 23 Years for Online Distribution of Child PornographyRead the Press Release
WILMINGTON, Del. – Sean Lawrence, a 40-year-old, twice-convicted child sex offender from Kansas City, Missouri, was sentenced today to over 23 years in prison for transportation of child pornography, in violation of federal law. Lawrence also was sentenced to a life term of supervised release following his prison sentence. He also will be required to continue to register as a sex offender in any jurisdiction in which he lives, works, or attends school.
Lawrence was previously convicted in Missouri in 1995 and 2005 of sodomizing two young boys. He was sentenced to five years in prison for each offense and was required to register as a sex offender upon his release. He also was required to participate in sex offender therapy, from which he was twice discharged as non-compliant.
As a result of his prior convictions for child sex offenses, Lawrence faced an enhanced federal sentencing penalty that required imposition of a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years, to a maximum sentence of 40 years, in prison.
According to statements made and documents filed in court, Lawrence came to the attention of a Wilmington-based Homeland Security Investigations special agent in February 2013, during an online undercover investigation into non-public, peer-to-peer networks being used to distribute child pornography. Lawrence provided the undercover agent, who was posing as a man interested in trading images of child pornography, with access to his non-public, peer-to-peer network. The undercover agent then downloaded 11 video files of child pornography from Lawrence’s computer.
During the investigation, law enforcement agents determined that Lawrence was distributing child pornography from various locations via a wireless mobile device. On February 14, 2013, Special Agents of the Wilmington, Delaware and Philadelphia HSI offices partnered with Kansas City-based agents to apprehend Lawrence while he was actually transmitting and receiving images of child pornography via the Internet. The local agents conducted simultaneous online sessions with Lawrence in an effort to geo-locate him. Data associated with those online sessions indicated that Lawrence was then accessing the Internet from the second floor of Metropolitan Community College Library, in Kansas City, Missouri. The local agents quickly relayed this information to the Kansas City-based HSI Special Agents, who then found Lawrence in the back corner of the campus library. Lawrence had an open laptop in front of him and was downloading a video of child pornography set to music when he was apprehended.
A subsequent forensic examination of computer equipment seized from Lawrence in the library and at his residence resulted in the discovery of over 10,000 still images and 200 videos of child pornography that Lawrence had downloaded to those devices. The depictions of child pornography featured mostly prepubescent boys engaged in sexual acts with adult males or other boys. A number of the files depict violence, sadistic or masochistic abuse or bondage. In addition, forensic evidence established that Lawrence distributed child pornography to over 850 other individuals.
During an interview with law enforcement agents, Lawrence stated that he had traded hundreds of child pornography images and videos via file sharing programs and email each day since 1999, except during his time in prison. Lawrence estimated that he has traded 100-1,000 images of child pornography a day since 1998-1999. He further estimated that he traded child pornography files with an average of about 1-3 people per day via email. Lawrence also told the agents that he went to the Metropolitan Community College campus approximately 3-4 days a week to use the wireless Internet to receive and distribute child pornography. Lawrence said that he also utilized the wireless networks at the public library, and in McDonalds and Burger King locations to distribute and receive child pornography.
After today’s sentencing hearing before United States District Judge Sue L. Robinson, United States Attorney Charles M. Oberly, III stated, “This two-time offender will now have over 23 years in a federal prison to think about his crimes and children throughout this country will have one less predator stealing their youthful innocence. Again, I strongly urge parents to closely monitor their children’s use of computers. The rapid expansion of social media and the ease at which predators can contact children has never been easier. The best defense is to monitor as closely as possible what your children are doing on their computers and iPads and iPhones.”
"This case is a clear reminder of HSI’s determination to pursue predators who sexually exploit children, wherever they may be," said John Kelleghan, special agent in charge for the HSI Philadelphia. "The defendant expected the shield of anonymity to protect him in cyberspace, he was wrong. HSI and our law enforcement partners will unremittingly investigate these crimes and bring perpetrators to justice."
This case is being investigated by the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Edward J. McAndrew.Total Care Services to Pay $187,500 to Resolve False Claims AllegationsCompany, A D.C. Medicaid Provider, Was Accused of Billing for Services Without Proper DocumentationRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON – Total Care Services and its owner have agreed to pay $187,500 to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act by knowingly billing Medicaid for patient services for which they had no, insufficient, or inaccurate documentation.
The settlement, signed Jan. 2, 2014, was announced by U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr., Irvin B. Nathan, Attorney General for the District of Columbia, and Charles J. Willoughby, Inspector General for the District of Columbia. The agreement calls for $131,250 to be paid to the United States and for $56,250 to be paid to the District of Columbia.
Total Care Services, a non-profit company based in Northeast Washington, is a Medicaid provider under the District of Columbia’s Medicaid program. Drucella Wheeler Ndoye is the company’s owner, chief executive officer, and president.
Under the Medicaid program, the company provides services to individuals with cognitive and developmental disabilities. Such services include adult companion services, respite care, nutrition services, and speech, hearing and language services.
Total Care Services has a provider agreement with the District of Columbia. The agreement requires the company to maintain all relevant records for a period of six years or until audits are completed, whichever is longer. Such records include all documents originated or prepared pursuant to performance under the provider agreement. These include, for example, financial records, medical records, charts and other documents pertaining to costs, payments received and made, and services provided to Medicaid recipients.
The settlement agreement resolves allegations that Total Care Services and Ndoye billed the District of Columbia Medicaid program for patient services over a significant period knowing that they did not have adequate documentation for doing so. The agreement is neither an admission of liability by the company or Ndoye nor a concession by the United States that the claims are not well-founded. The parties agreed to resolve the matters without litigation.
In announcing the agreement, U.S. Attorney Machen, Attorney General Nathan, and Inspector General Willoughby commended the efforts of those who worked on the case, including Criminal Investigator Sandra Adams, of the District of Columbia’s Office of the Inspector General, Medicaid Fraud Control Unit; Civil Enforcement Investigator Karen Caudill, of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and Accountant Charles Ross, also of the U.S. Attorney’s Office. They also expressed appreciation for the assistance provided by the FBI’s Washington Field Office. Finally, they acknowledged the efforts of Assistant U.S. Attorney Beverly M. Russell, of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Attorney Stuart Silverman, of the District of Columbia’s Office of Inspector General, Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, and the Public Advocacy Section of the
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District of Columbia's Office of the Attorney General.Total Care Services to Pay $187,500 to Resolve False Claims AllegationsCompany, A D.C. Medicaid Provider, Was Accused of Billing for Services Without Proper DocumentationRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON – Total Care Services and its owner have agreed to pay $187,500 to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act by knowingly billing Medicaid for patient services for which they had no, insufficient, or inaccurate documentation.
The settlement, signed Jan. 2, 2014, was announced by U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr., Irvin B. Nathan, Attorney General for the District of Columbia, and Charles J. Willoughby, Inspector General for the District of Columbia. The agreement calls for $131,250 to be paid to the United States and for $56,250 to be paid to the District of Columbia.
Total Care Services, a non-profit company based in Northeast Washington, is a Medicaid provider under the District of Columbia’s Medicaid program. Drucella Wheeler Ndoye is the company’s owner, chief executive officer, and president.
Under the Medicaid program, the company provides services to individuals with cognitive and developmental disabilities. Such services include adult companion services, respite care, nutrition services, and speech, hearing and language services.
Total Care Services has a provider agreement with the District of Columbia. The agreement requires the company to maintain all relevant records for a period of six years or until audits are completed, whichever is longer. Such records include all documents originated or prepared pursuant to performance under the provider agreement. These include, for example, financial records, medical records, charts and other documents pertaining to costs, payments received and made, and services provided to Medicaid recipients.
The settlement agreement resolves allegations that Total Care Services and Ndoye billed the District of Columbia Medicaid program for patient services over a significant period knowing that they did not have adequate documentation for doing so. The agreement is neither an admission of liability by the company or Ndoye nor a concession by the United States that the claims are not well-founded. The parties agreed to resolve the matters without litigation.
In announcing the agreement, U.S. Attorney Machen, Attorney General Nathan, and Inspector General Willoughby commended the efforts of those who worked on the case, including Criminal Investigator Sandra Adams, of the District of Columbia’s Office of the Inspector General, Medicaid Fraud Control Unit; Civil Enforcement Investigator Karen Caudill, of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and Accountant Charles Ross, also of the U.S. Attorney’s Office. They also expressed appreciation for the assistance provided by the FBI’s Washington Field Office. Finally, they acknowledged the efforts of Assistant U.S. Attorney Beverly M. Russell, of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Attorney Stuart Silverman, of the District of Columbia’s Office of Inspector General, Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, and the Public Advocacy Section of the
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District of Columbia's Office of the Attorney General.Tampa Man Sentenced to 23 Years in Prison on Drugs and Weapons ChargesRead the Press Release
Tampa, FL – U.S. District Judge James S. Moody, Jr. today sentenced Charlie Vernon, Jr. (Tampa, 54) to 23 years in federal prison for possessing with the intent to distribute more than an ounce of crack cocaine and being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition. He was also ordered to forfeit various firearms and ammunition, which are traceable to the offenses.
Charlie Vernon, Jr. was found guilty by a jury on October 10, 2013.
According to court documents, the Tampa Police Department (TPD) executed a search warrant at Vernon’s residence on February 1, 2013, and recovered two ounces of crack cocaine, various quantities of powder cocaine, marijuana, and paraphernalia used to package and distribute those drugs, including scales, baggies, crack pipes, and cutting instruments. In addition to locating those items in Vernon’s bedroom, TPD also found four firearms and over 800 rounds of ammunition fitting those firearms. Prior to February 1, 2013, Vernon had previously been convicted of three felonies for drug trafficking offenses. As such, he was prohibited from possessing any firearms or ammunition under federal law.
This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (“ATF”) and the Tampa Police Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Matthew Jackson and Natalie Adams.
It is another case prosecuted as a part of the Department of Justice’s “Project Safe Neighborhoods” program - a nationwide, gun-violence reduction strategy. Acting United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III, along with Julie Leon, Special Agent in Charge, ATF, is coordinating the Project Safe Neighborhoods effort here in the Middle District of Florida in cooperation with federal, state, and local law enforcement officials.
This case is also a part of ATF’s Frontline strategy - an effective method in reducing violent crime and improving the quality of life in communities where law enforcement efforts are focused.
Springfield Man Agrees to Plead Guilty to Trafficking in Counterfeit GoodsRead the Press Release
BOSTON - A Springfield man was charged today in U.S. District Court in Springfield with selling counterfeit merchandise.
Josue Rivera, 38, was charged with trafficking in counterfeit goods. In a plea agreement also filed today, Rivera agreed to restitution of approximately $29,000 and forfeiture of two bank accounts worth approximately $79,000.
Rivera operated a retail merchandise business called Main Source, which was located in Springfield. In the course of this business, around April 11 until June 25, 2012, Rivera stocked and sold counterfeit merchandise, including clothing, footwear, and accessories that bore a variety of brand names and trademarks, including Gucci, Nike, Coach, Chanel, and Oakely. Rivera also stocked and sold unauthorized reproductions of digital video discs of movies and compact discs of music.
United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz, Bruce Foucart, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations, New England Division, and Springfield Police Commissioner William Fitchett, made the announcement today. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven H. Breslow of Ortiz’s Springfield Branch Office.
South Jersey Man Admits Distributing Images of Child Sexual AbuseRead the Press Release
CAMDEN, N.J. – A Gloucester County, N.J., man admitted today that he distributed images of child sexual abuse over the Internet, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.
Gerrett Conover, 48, of Woolwich Township, N.J., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Noel L. Hillman in Camden to Count Three of the indictment against him, distribution of child pornography. Conover has been in custody since his arrest.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
On Sept. 16, 2012, Conover was intercepted at the United States border on his way from Canada into New York and was found in possession of a laptop containing images of sexually exploited children. Agents obtained a search warrant for Conover’s home in Woolwich Township and seized various computers and other media containing additional images of child sexual abuse. The search also uncovered materials allegedly establishing Conover’s involvement in the Boy Scouts between 1990 and 2000.
At his guilty plea proceeding, Conover admitted that he knowingly distributed images of children engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
The distribution charge to which Conover pleaded guilty is punishable by a mandatory minimum penalty of five years in prison and a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Sentencing is scheduled for April 15, 2014.
U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Andrew M. McLees, with the investigation. He also thanked HSI Offices in Boston; Messina, N.Y.; Los Angeles; and San Bernardino, Calif.; as well as Customs and Border Protection in Ogdensburg, N.Y., for their roles.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Diana Carrig of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Camden.
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Defense counsel: Jerome Brown Esq., PhiladelphiaConover Indictment
Service Representative Sentenced in Identity Theft Tax Refund Fraud Scheme Involving Theft of Hundreds of Clients’ Personal Identifying InformationRead the Press Release
Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and José A. Gonzalez, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), announce that defendant Tobin Lamar Lyon, II, a/k/a/ Tobe Kasa, 27, of Charlotte, North Carolina, was sentenced today to 72 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. Lyon was also ordered to pay $118,602.52 in restitution.
Lyon and co-defendant Jeffrey Alexander Martin, 27, of Broward County, previously pled guilty to one count of wire fraud conspiracy, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1349, and one count of aggravated identity theft, in violation of Title l8, United States Code, Section 1028A(a)(1). Martin is scheduled to be sentenced on February 3, 2014 at 9:00 a.m. before U.S. District Judge Robin S. Rosenbaum in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
According to court documents, Lyon worked as a service representative for Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association - College Retirement Equities Fund (TIAA-CREF), a financial services company specializing in providing retirement services to those in the academic, research, medical and cultural fields. As an employee of TIAA-CREF, Lyon had access to the names, addresses, social security numbers, and dates of birth of TIAA-CREF's clients.
Court documents state that Lyon, in anticipation of a share of the proceeds, provided Martin with personal identifying information (PII) belonging to individual clients of TIAA-CREF for the purpose of filing fraudulent tax returns claiming tax refunds in those clients' names. Lyon sent over 500 different identities to Martin. For the tax years 2011 and 2012, the total amount of fraudulent refunds claimed by Martin as a result of the stolen PII he received from Lyon is approximately $304,611. From those fraudulent returns, Martin received approximately $5,776 in fraudulent refunds. Lyon knowingly possessed and transferred the victims' means of identification without authority and permitted Martin to use the stolen PII to file these fraudulent returns. During the time that Lyon was providing stolen PII of TIAA-CREF clients to Martin, he was also providing stolen PII to others in New York for the purpose of raiding the TIAA-CREF clients' bank accounts.
Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of IRS-CI, and thanked the Sunrise Police Department for its assistance in this case. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Alicia E. Shick.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.
Service Member at U.S. Naval Air Station in Lemoore Pleads Guilty to Sex Trafficking of A MinorRead the Press Release
FRESNO, Calif. —Charles Ray Benavidez, 33, an Aviation Ordnanceman Second Class, serving at the Naval Air Station Lemoore, pleaded guilty today to one count of sex trafficking of a minor, United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced.
According to court documents, in April 2013, Benavidez knowingly recruited a 17-year-old female to engage in commercial sex acts in Kings and Tulare Counties. Benavidez was indicted in May 16, 2013, and has been in federal custody since May 23, 2013.
“This office is committed to doing all we can to protect our children from the plague of prostitution,” said U.S. Attorney Wagner. “We will identify, prosecute and punish the criminals who treat young girls as if they were commodities in the sex trade.”
“This defendant was sworn to defend this country, yet his callous and calculating actions put a trusting teenager directly in harm’s way,” said Mike Prado, resident agent in charge for HSI Fresno. “HSI will continue to work closely with its federal and local partners to target sexual predators, like this individual, who ruthlessly exploit vulnerable young people for their own gratification and greed.”
Benavidez is scheduled to be sentenced by Senior United States District Judge Anthony W. Ishii on March 17, 2014. He faces a minimum statutory sentence of 10 years in prison. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.
This case is the product of an investigation by the Central California Internet Crimes Against Children task force, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS), and the Porterville, Tulare, and Lemoore police departments. Assistant United States Attorney Brian W. Enos is prosecuting the case.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the United States Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood Marshals, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute those who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc. Click on the “resources” tab for information about Internet Safety.
Plea Agreement
RBS Securities Japan Ltd Sentenced for Manipulation of Yen LiborRead the Press Release
RBS Securities Japan Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Royal Bank of Scotland plc (RBS) that engages in investment banking operations with its principal place of business in Tokyo, Japan, was sentenced today for its role in manipulating the Japanese Yen London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR), a leading benchmark used in financial products and transactions around the world.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brent Snyder of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division and Assistant Director in Charge Valerie Parlave of the FBI’s Washington Field Office made the announcement.
RBS Securities Japan was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Michael P. Shea in the District of Connecticut. RBS Securities Japan pleaded guilty on April 12, 2013, to one count of wire fraud for its role in manipulating Yen LIBOR benchmark interest rates. RBS Securities Japan signed a plea agreement with the government in which it admitted its criminal conduct and agreed to pay a $50 million fine, which the court accepted in imposing sentence. In addition, RBS plc, the Edinburgh, Scotland-based parent company of RBS Securities Japan, entered into a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) with the government requiring RBS plc to pay an additional $100 million penalty, to admit and accept responsibility for its misconduct as set forth in an extensive statement of facts and to continue cooperating with the Justice Department in its ongoing investigation. The DPA reflects RBS plc’s cooperation in disclosing LIBOR misconduct within the financial institution and recognizes the significant remedial measures undertaken by new management to enhance internal controls.
Together with approximately $462 million in regulatory penalties and disgorgement – $325 million as a result of a Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) action and approximately $137 million as a result of a U.K. Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) action – the Justice Department’s criminal penalties bring the total amount of the resolution with RBS and RBS Securities Japan to approximately $612 million.
“Today’s sentencing of RBS is an important reminder of the significant consequences facing banks that deliberately manipulate financial benchmark rates, and it represents one of the numerous enforcement actions taken by the Justice Department in our ongoing LIBOR investigation” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Raman. “As a result of the department’s investigation, we have charged five individuals and secured admissions of criminal wrongdoing by four major financial institutions. Our enforcement actions have had a lasting impact on the global banking system, and we intend to continue to vigorously investigate and prosecute the manipulation of this cornerstone benchmark rate.”
“By colluding to manipulate the Yen LIBOR benchmark interest rate, RBS Securities Japan reaped higher profits for itself at the expense of unknowing counterparties, and in the process undermined the integrity of a major benchmark rate used in financial transactions throughout the world,” said Deputy Assistant Attorney General Snyder. “Today’s sentence, in conjunction with the department’s agreement with parent company RBS, demonstrates the Antitrust Division’s commitment to prosecuting these types of far-reaching and sophisticated conspiracies.”
“The manipulation of LIBOR impacts financial products the world over, and erodes the integrity of the financial markets,” said Assistant Director in Charge Parlave. “Without a level playing field in our financial marketplace, banks and investors do not have a threshold to which they can measure their hard work. I commend the Special Agents, forensic accountants and analysts, as well as the prosecutors, for the significant time and resources they committed to investigating this case.”
According to court documents, LIBOR is an average interest rate, calculated based upon submissions from leading banks around the world, reflecting the rates those banks believe they would be charged if borrowing from other banks. LIBOR serves as the primary benchmark for short-term interest rates globally, and is used as a reference rate for many interest rate contracts, mortgages, credit cards, student loans and other consumer lending products. The Bank of International Settlements estimated that as of the second half of 2009, outstanding interest rate contracts were valued at approximately $450 trillion.
LIBOR is published by the British Bankers’ Association (BBA), a trade association based in London. At the time relevant to the conduct in the criminal information, LIBOR was calculated for 10 currencies at 15 borrowing periods, known as maturities, ranging from overnight to one year. The LIBOR for a given currency at a specific maturity is the result of a calculation based upon submissions from a panel of banks for that currency (the Contributor Panel) selected by the BBA.
According to the plea agreement, at various times from at least 2006 through 2010, certain RBS Securities Japan Yen derivatives traders engaged in efforts to move LIBOR in a direction favorable to their trading positions, defrauding RBS counterparties who were unaware of the manipulation affecting financial products referencing Yen LIBOR. The scheme included efforts to manipulate more than one hundred Yen LIBOR submissions in a manner favorable to RBS Securities Japan’s trading positions. Certain RBS Securities Japan Yen derivatives traders, including a manager, engaged in this conduct in order to benefit their trading positions and thereby increase their profits and decrease their losses.
The prosecution of RBS Securities Japan is being handled by Deputy Chief Patrick Stokes and Trial Attorney Gary Winters of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section, and New York Office Assistant Chief Elizabeth Prewitt and Trial Attorneys Eric Schleef and Richard Powers of the Antitrust Division. Deputy Chiefs Daniel Braun and William Stellmach and Trial Attorney Alex Berlin of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section, Trial Attorneys Daniel Tracer and Kristina Srica of the Antitrust Division, Jeremy Verlinda of the Antitrust Division’s Economic Analysis Group, Assistant U.S. Attorneys Eric Glover and Liam Brennan of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut, and the Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs have also provided valuable assistance in this matter. The investigation is being conducted by special agents, forensic accountants and intelligence analysts of the FBI’s Washington Field Office.
The investigation leading to these cases has required, and has greatly benefited from, a diligent and wide-ranging cooperative effort among various enforcement agencies both in the United States and abroad. The Justice Department acknowledges and expresses its deep appreciation for this assistance. In particular, the CFTC’s Division of Enforcement referred this matter to the department and, along with the FCA, has played a major role in the investigation. Various agencies and enforcement authorities from other nations are also participating in different aspects of the broader investigation relating to LIBOR and other benchmark rates, and the department is grateful for their cooperation and assistance. In particular, the Securities and Exchange Commission has played a significant role in the LIBOR investigation, and the department expresses its appreciation to the United Kingdom’s Serious Fraud Office for its assistance and ongoing cooperation.
This prosecution is part of efforts underway by President Barack Obama’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force. President Obama established the interagency Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force to wage an aggressive, coordinated and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes. The task force includes representatives from a broad range of federal agencies, regulatory authorities, inspectors general and state and local law enforcement who, working together, bring to bear a powerful array of criminal and civil enforcement resources. The task force is working to improve efforts across the federal executive branch, and with state and local partners, to investigate and prosecute significant financial crimes, ensure just and effective punishment for those who perpetrate financial crimes, combat discrimination in the lending and financial markets and recover proceeds for victims of financial crimes. For more information about the task force visit: www.stopfraud.gov.Pittsburgh Man Sentenced to 8 Years in Prison for Selling Kilo Quantities of CocaineRead the Press Release
PITTSBURGH - United States Attorney David J. Hickton announced today that a Pittsburgh resident, Darnell Edge, 38, was sentenced today in connection with his role in a conspiracy to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine.
According to the evidence presented to the court at the time Edge entered a guilty plea on Sept. 10, 2012, Edge was responsible for receiving multi-kilo loads of cocaine on a monthly basis, which he in turn sold to a regular group of customers in whole kilogram amounts. He acknowledged his responsibility for conspiring to distribute up to 150 kilograms of cocaine.
Judge Maurice B. Cohill sentenced Edge to 96 months in federal prison followed by 10 years of supervised release. Judge Cohill also ordered the forfeiture of more than $400,000 in cash, two handguns, a 2008 Infiniti M45 and a 2010 GMC Yukon.
Darnell Edge was one of 14 defendants charged in connection with a cocaine distribution group that was operating out of the eastern suburbs of Allegheny County. All 14 defendants have pleaded guilty.
The Drug Enforcement Administration, assisted by state and local law enforcement agencies, conducted the investigation which led to the indictment in this case.
Pittsburgh Man Sentenced to 4 Years in Prison for Selling Cocaine Purchased from His CousinRead the Press Release
PITTSBURGH - United States Attorney David J. Hickton announced today that a Pittsburgh resident, Marcus Edge, 26, was sentenced today in connection with his role in a conspiracy to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine.
According to the evidence presented to the court at the time Edge entered a guilty plea on Aug. 19, 2013, Edge was responsible for receiving and distributing cocaine which he purchased from his cousin, Darnell Edge, in whole kilogram amounts on a monthly basis. As a part of his plea he acknowledged his responsibility for conspiring to distribute up to five kilograms of cocaine.
Judge Maurice B. Cohill sentenced Marcus Edge to 48 months in federal prison followed by four years of supervised release.
Marcus Edge was one of 14 defendants charged in connection with a cocaine distribution group that was operating out of the eastern suburbs of Allegheny County. All 14 defendants have pled guilty.
The Drug Enforcement Administration, assisted by state and local law enforcement agencies, conducted the investigation which led to the indictment in this case.
Owner of Queen City Script Care Pleads Guilty to Fraud Involving Prescription Drug ProgramRead the Press Release
CONTACT: Fred Alverson
Public Affairs Officer
CINCINNATI – Thomas Fenske, 35, of Cincinnati pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court today to wire fraud for operating a scheme promising to help people obtain free prescription drugs through his company, Queen City Script Care.
Carter M. Stewart, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio and Kevin R. Cornelius, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Cincinnati Division announced the plea entered today before Chief U.S. District Judge Susan Dlott.
The plea is the result of a joint investigation by the FBI, DART, University of Cincinnati Police Department, Indiana State Police, Ohio Board of Pharmacy, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine’s Office, the Blue Ash Police Department and Hamilton County Sheriff Jim Neil’s Office.
According to court documents, Fenske marketed Queen City Script Care as a business that could help individuals obtain free prescription drugs through pharmaceutical manufacturers patient assistance programs. Fenske and others at his direction recruited hundreds of customers for Queen City Script Care, often at senior health fairs and retirement communities. Many of Fenske’s customers were senior citizens on a fixed income who either could not afford their prescription medication or who had high prescription drug costs.
Fenskecharged customers an initial fee and monthly fee for his services. The monthly fee depended upon the number of prescription drugs a customer received and generally ranged from $30 to $50 per month. Fenskerequired all of his monthly customers to submit to automatic withdrawals from their bank accounts. Fenskefalsely represented that customers could cancel their membership at any time and could receive a refund if they did not qualify for assistance through a PAP or did not receive their medication.
Unbeknownst to customers, Fenske debited some customers’ bank accounts multiple times a month without the customers’ approval. The unauthorized debits of customer accounts totaled between $30,000 and $70.000 and involved more than 50 victims, but less than 250 victims.
Wire fraud is punishable by up to 20 years in prison. Judge Dlott will determine the sentence following a pre-sentence investigation by the court. Judge Dlott could also order Fenske to pay restitution to the victims.
U.S. Attorney Stewart commended the cooperative investigation by the federal, state and local agencies, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Glatfelter, who represented the United States in the case.
Orange County, Texas Man Sentenced to Life in Prison for Racketeering MurderRead the Press Release
Department of Justice
Office of Public AffairsBEAUMONT, Texas – A 34-year-old Vidor, Texas man was sentenced today for his role in a March 2011 murder committed in as part of the SWS criminal enterprise in the Eastern District of Texas, announced U.S. Attorney John M. Bales today.
Tanner Lynn Bourque, a/k/a “Two Shoes,” a/k/a “Hitman” pleaded guilty on July 15, 2013, to murder in aid of racketeering and was sentenced to life in federal prison today by U.S. District Judge Marcia Crone.
According to information presented in court, Bourque ordered Kenny Don Stanley, 32, to shoot and kill James Lee Sedtal, a/k/a “Lil Bit,” on Mar. 14, 2011. Bourque, Kristopher Leigh Guidry, a/k/a “Hollywood”, 29, and Vicki Stark-Fitts, 49, assisted in the murder, which took place in Liberty County, Texas, at Stark-Fitts’s residence. Bourque, Guidry, Stanley, and Sedtal were members of the SWS. The defendants murdered Sedtal on behalf of SWS, after Sedtal assaulted an Aryan Brotherhood of Texas (ABT) associate. ABT was poised to retaliate against SWS, and Bourque, Guidry, and Stanley sought to maintain and increase their position within SWS by murdering Sedtal.
According to court documents, the SWS is a race-based organization operating inside and outside of jails and prisons in Texas and elsewhere. SWS was founded during the 1990s by inmates within the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. SWS is also known as “Solid Wood Soldiers” and “Separate White State.” Although the founders established SWS for protection of white inmates and advancement of white supremacy and white separatism, SWS expanded its objectives to include illegal activities for profit, including trafficking methamphetamine and firearms. SWS protects its power, territory, and profits through intimidation and violence, including assaults, robbery, and murder.
From September 2010 to January 2011, SWS members manufactured “shake and bake” methamphetamine for distribution in the Orange County area of Texas. In February 2011, Bourque, Guidry and other SWS members became closely associated with Stark-Fitts, who supplied them with crystal methamphetamine and firearms. Crystal methamphetamine is a purer form of methamphetamine. According to information presented in court, the defendants murdered Sedtal in connection with the methamphetamine conspiracy.
Stanley, Guidry and Stark-Fitts pleaded guilty this summer for their respective roles in the murder, and Judge Crone sentenced Stanley and Guidry to life in prison in October 2013. Stark-Fitts is awaiting sentencing and faces from 360 months to life in prison.
This case is being prosecuted as part of the Project Safe Neighborhood’s Time Machine Initiative. Time Machine is aimed at reducing gun and gang violence, deterring illegal possession of guns, ammunition and body armor, and improving the safety of residents in the Eastern District of Texas. Participants in the initiative include community members and organizations as well as federal, state and local law enforcement agencies.
The case is being investigated by the ATF, FBI, U.S. Marshals Service, U.S. Secret Service, U.S. Bureau of Prisons, DEA, Texas Rangers, Department of Public Safety CID, Texas Department of Criminal Justice OIG, Orange County Sheriff’s Office, Hardin County Sheriff’s Office, Jasper County Sheriff’s Office, Tyler County Sheriff’s Office, Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, and Beaumont Police Department, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney John B. Ross.
#######Operation Mercury CasesRead the Press Release
FRESNO, Calif. — Today, one marijuana cultivator entered a guilty plea and one was sentenced for their involvement in separate cases resulting from Operation Mercury, a six-county eradication and enforcement effort that focused on large-scale marijuana cultivation operations on agricultural land in the Central Valley, U.S. Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced.
4,011 Marijuana Plants Seized in Alpaugh (1:12-cr-234 LJO)
Bonifacio Cano Gutierrez, 20, of Colima, Mexico, was sentenced today to two years and six months in prison following his guilty plea last October to a marijuana cultivation conspiracy. He is subject to deportation to Mexico upon completion of his prison sentence. Cano was the seventh of eight defendants to plead guilty to conspiring to cultivate, distribute and possess with intent to distribute marijuana on 20-acres of agricultural land in Alpaugh owned by Saul Antonio Morales, 49. Cano was responsible for the cultivation of 899 marijuana plants in one of 14 plywood fenced plots on Morales’ property, which contained a total of 4,011 marijuana plants.Cano had an expired medical marijuana recommendation from a doctor he had never seen. (The doctor has been indicted in a separate federal case with the unlawful distribution of oxycodone and hydrocodone, as well as various financial crimes.) Court documents indicate that Cano would get a cut of the profits from the interstate sale of marijuana from Morales’ son, Gerardo Morales, 20, who was sentenced in November to three years and one month in prison for this drug conspiracy.
In October, a federal jury convicted Saul Morales, the property owner, of four narcotics offenses relating to the marijuana cultivation operation. He faces a mandatory minimum prison term of 10 years in prison, a maximum prison term of life, and a fine of up to $4 million. His sentencing is currently set for January 27, 2014. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.
This case was the product of an investigation by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms and explosives, and Tulare County Sheriff’s Office.
2,932 Marijuana Plants Seized in Fresno (1:12-cr- 341 LJO)Phonepaseuth Phaphilom, 27, of Fresno, pleaded guilty today to conspiring to cultivate, distribute and possess with intent to distribute marijuana grown on an agricultural parcel on Marks Avenue in rural southwest Fresno. During the execution of a federal search warrant there, narcotics agents found Phaphilom with four other men from out of the area, 2,932 marijuana plants, and a firearm. Phaphilom, who was detained pretrial based in part on a criminal history that included weapons and narcotics violations, said he was going to sell the marijuana “up North” for $800 a pound. Based on a conservative one pound per plant yield, the cultivation operation was valued at over $2.3 million. In addition, court records indicate that some of the marijuana was destined for Las Vegas.
Phaphilom is scheduled for sentencing on March 17, 2014. He faces a maximum prison sentence of 20 years and a fine of up to $1 million. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.
This case was the product of an investigation by the DEA and Fresno County Sheriff’s Office. Operation Mercury has so far resulted in the seizure of nearly half a million marijuana plants and the prosecution of 84 defendants in federal court in Fresno.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen A. Escobar is handling the above marijuana prosecutions.
Oklahoma Man Sentenced to One Year in Prison for Stealing $2.8 Million in TextbooksRead the Press Release
NEWARK, N.J. – An Oklahoma man previously employed as a textbook salesman for a New Jersey-based publisher was sentenced today to one year and one day in prison for stealing more than $2.8 million dollars in textbooks from his former employer through an elaborate scheme that involved diverting free educational samples intended for professors, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.
Christopher J. Brock, 45, of Yukon, Okla., previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Dennis M. Cavanaugh to wire fraud. Judge Cavanaugh imposed the sentence today in Newark federal court.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
Brock executed a scheme to defraud his former employer, John Wiley & Sons (Wiley), out of more than $2.8 million worth of textbooks, which he then resold for approximately $450,000. Wiley is based in Hoboken, N.J., and is one of the largest publishers of technical writing in the world, with an estimated market value of approximately $3 billion. A portion of Wiley’s publications are collegiate textbooks, which are distributed to schools and universities.
Brock lived in Oklahoma and was employed by Wiley, first as a higher education publishing representative, and most recently as a district sales supervisor based in Oklahoma. Brock accessed the corporate systems of Wiley — including computers located in New Jersey — and diverted to himself more than 16,000 textbooks and other items he fraudulently designated as free educational samples.
To avoid detection in a review of his employee records within the internal order system, Brock designated both actual and fabricated professors as the purported recipients of the items, and then Brock listed his own home address and other addresses that he controlled as alternate shipping addresses for those professors and directed that the books be shipped to those alternate addresses. This made it appear in the records of Wiley that the free education samples were legitimately going to professors when, in reality, they were being sent to Brock.
Once Brock received the diverted textbooks he sold them to resellers and received payment through PayPal accounts that he controlled. PayPal, in turn, would deposit the funds into bank accounts that Brock controlled.
In total, Brock made approximately $450,000 reselling the textbooks that he stole from Wiley. These textbooks had a retail value of over $2.8 million. The money that Brock earned as a result of the scheme was largely used for personal expenditures, including, among other things, high-end home furnishings and scuba diving equipment.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Cavanaugh sentenced Brock to two years of community service. Restitution will be determined at a later date.
U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Aaron T. Ford in Newark, for the investigation. U.S. Attorney Fishman also thanked John Wiley & Sons for its cooperation and assistance with the investigation.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel V. Shapiro of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Economic Crimes Unit in Newark.
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Defense counsel: Robert L. Johnston Esq. Oklahoma City, Okla.
Oklahoma Man Sentenced to Life in Prison for Sexually Exploiting A MinorRead the Press Release
Orlando, Florida – U.S. District Judge Roy B. Dalton, Jr. today sentenced Jonathan Daniel Adleta (26, Glenpool, Oklahoma) to life in federal prison for conspiring to transport and transporting a minor in interstate commerce, with intent to engage in sexual activity.
Jonathan Adleta was found guilty by a federal jury on September 12, 2013.
According to the evidence presented at trial, Jonathan Adleta conspired with his ex-wife, Sarah Adleta, to transport a three year-old child, with the intent of sexually abusing the child. On December 23, 2012, Sarah Adleta flew with the child from Orlando, Florida to Oklahoma, where Jonathan Adleta lived. Jonathan Adleta sexually abused the child during the child’s week-long stay at his home. Both before and after the trip, Sarah Adleta also sexually abused the child and sent pictures of the abuse to Jonathan Adleta and others.
Sarah Adleta (29, Oviedo, Florida) pleaded guilty to producing child pornography, and on October 28, 2013, Judge Dalton sentenced her to 54 years in federal prison, followed by a life term of supervised release.
“The sexual exploitation of children will not be tolerated at any level. We will continue to aggressively investigate those who choose to victimize innocence,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Paul Wysopal.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Karen L. Gable.
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 (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.
Modesto Man Pleads Guilty to Possession of Child PornographyRead the Press Release
FRESNO, Calif. —Alberto Morales, 31, of Modesto, pleaded guilty today to possessing child pornography, United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced.
According to court documents, on February 1, 2013, Morales possessed between 300 and 600 images depicting minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. The images also involved the portrayal of sadistic, masochistic, and other depictions of violence, and included depictions of pre-pubescent minors.
Morales is scheduled to be sentenced by United States District Judge Lawrence J. O’Neill on March 17, 2014. In light of a prior conviction, Morales faces a minimum statutory sentence of 10 years in prison. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.
This case is the product of an investigation by the Central California Internet Crimes Against Children Task force, including the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant United States Attorney Brian W. Enos is prosecuting the case.
“Tragically, this case is not an anomaly — it’s all too common for child sexual predators to reoffend,” said Mike Prado, resident agent in charge for Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Fresno. “That’s why HSI and its law enforcement partners must remain unceasingly vigilant. It’s the only way to protect our youth and ensure that individuals, like this defendant, are held accountable for their crimes.”
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the United States Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood Marshals, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute those who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc. Click on the “resources” tab for information about Internet Safety.
Plea Agreement
Missouri Man Sentenced to over Eight Years for Interstate StalkingRead the Press Release
Contact: Darcie N. McElwee
Assistant United States Attorney
Tel: (207) 780-3257Portland, Maine: The United States Attorney’s Office announced that Benjamin Lee,
52, of Springfield, Missouri, was sentenced in U.S. District Court by Judge D. Brock Hornby to
100 months in prison for interstate stalking. Lee was found guilty of the charges on September
17, 2013, following a jury trial.According to testimony presented at the five-day trial, Lee traveled across state lines
from Missouri to Maine with the intention of killing, injuring, harassing and surveilling his then-
estranged wife and her new boyfriend, placing them both in reasonable fear of death or serious
bodily injury.The evidence showed that between April and May 2012 Lee sent several threatening e-
mails; and later communicated verbal threats to kill the couple in Maine when speaking to his
friends and family between July and September 2012. On September 6, 2012, the couple
received a call from Lee’s sister who had not heard from him and believed he may be traveling
to Maine to cause the couple harm. Lee arrived outside the couple’s Limerick, Maine home at
dusk on September 7, 2012 resulting in a series of 911 calls reporting that Lee was presently
driving past their house in a white Cadillac and may have a gun.A short time later, Maine State Police troopers conducted a search of the white Cadillac
Lee was operating about four miles from the couple’s home and located, among other items, five
firearms, three of which were loaded, over 200 rounds of ammunition, a machete, duct tape,
rope, a roll of plastic sheeting, trash bags, an empty 10 gallon cooler and handcuffs.The investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Maine State
Police and the York County Sheriff’s Office.Meridian Man Pleads Guilty to Money Laundering in Treasure Valley “Spice” CaseRead the Press Release
BOISE – Mark A. Ciccarello, 36, of Meridian, Idaho, pleaded guilty today in United States District Court to count four of the indictment charging him with money laundering, U.S. Attorney Wendy J. Olson announced. Ciccarello and four co-defendants were indicted by a federal grand jury in May 2013 on charges of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance analogue; conspiracy to smuggle goods into the United States; conspiracy to sell and transport drug paraphernalia; and conspiracy to launder money. Ciccarello is scheduled to be sentenced on March 25, 2014, before U.S. District Judge Edward J. Lodge at the federal courthouse in Boise.
According to court proceedings, Ciccarello admitted to being a leader and organizer in a conspiracy to launder money between March 2011 and May 2013. The money laundering was related to his operation of a business called Zombie Matter. Ciccarello pleaded guilty to engaging in bank and other financial transactions through criminally derived property associated with the “spice” business. During this period, through a series of monetary transactions in amounts over $10,000, Ciccarello removed over $4.5 million in currency from three Zombie Matter accounts.
Co-defendant Robert A. Eoff, 31, and William Burr Mabry, 46, both of Boise, pleaded guilty to Conspiracy to Launder Money on December 17 and August 13, 2013, respectively. Eoff is set for sentencing on March 11, 2014; Mabry on March 25.
Two co-defendants, Troy L. Palmer, 43, of Boise, and Holly F. Ciccarello, 39, of Meridian, are set for trial on February 25.
The indictment is the result of a joint investigation of the Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), which included the cooperative law enforcement efforts of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation, Boise Police Department, Meridian Police Department, Ada County Sheriff’s Office, Canyon County Sheriff’s Office, and Nampa Police Department. Other federal agencies participating in the OCEDTF program include the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and U.S. Marshals Service.
The OCDETF program is a federal, multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional task force that supplies supplemental federal funding to federal and state agencies involved in the identification, investigation, and prosecution of major drug trafficking organizations.
Mercer Co. Man Sentenced to Nearly 2 Years in Prison for Federal Mine Safety ViolationRead the Press Release
BLUEFIELD, W.Va. – A Mercer County man who falsified mandatory mine safety reports while employed at several West Virginia mining operations was sentenced to 21 months in federal prison, U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin announced today. Craig Belcher, 37, of Bluefield, W.Va., previously pleaded guilty in July to providing a false statement, representation and certification in a Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) document. Belcher’s sentence was handed down today by Senior United States District Court Judge David A. Faber in Bluefield.
In January 2009, Belcher was hired to work as an underground mine foreman at Spartan Mining Company’s Road Fork No. 51 mine located in Wyoming County. Also in February 2009, Belcher was hired to perform mine foreman duties at Frasure Creek’s Mine No. 15 located in Fayette County. Belcher also performed similar foreman duties in May 2009 at Pay Car’s Mine No. 58 in McDowell County, and, in July 2010 at Double Bonus’s Mine No. 65 in Wyoming County.
Between January 27, 2009 and July 13, 2010, Belcher signed pre-shift and on-shift reports which indicated that he had properly examined particular sections at each mine. Belcher was not certified as a foreman when he completed the mine reports. Belcher also falsified information on pre-shift and on-shift reports by using foreman’s numbers that did not belong to him.
The investigation was conducted by MSHA. Assistant United States Attorney Blaire Malkin handled the prosecution.
Medical Center Agrees to $2 Million Settlement of Voluntary DisclosureRead the Press Release
The United States announces that it has settled claims under the False Claims Act with St. Mary Medical Center (SMMC) for improperly administering certain physician income guarantee agreements. SMMC voluntarily disclosed the allegations and has agreed to pay $2,339,224.70 to resolve the matter.
According to the self-disclosure and the investigation that followed, between January 2005 and August 2010, SMMC had 15 physician income guarantee agreements for recruited physicians and failed to properly administer the terms of certain recruitment contracts. This resulted in net overpayments to certain recruited physicians. Because those physicians and their practices referred patients to SMMC for medical treatment that was billed to federally funded programs, the United States alleges that false claims were submitted to the government. After it discovered the problem, SMMC took corrective action to resolve the improper payments, and disclosed the matter to the United States Attorney’s Office.
This matter was handled by Department Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General, including Attorney Sandra Sands and AATS Audit Manager Bernard Siegel with the Office of Audit Services, and Assistant United States Attorney Susan Dein Bricklin.
Settlement Agreement, Part 1.pdf | Settlement Agreement, Part 2.pdf
UNITED STATES ATTORNEY'S OFFICE, EASTERN DISTRICTof PENNSYLVANIA
Suite 1250, 615 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106
PATTY HARTMAN, Media Contact, 215-861-8525Madera and Merced County Men Sentenced for Methamphetamine Trafficking OffensesRead the Press Release
FRESNO, Calif. — Rafael Velasco, 36, of Madera, was sentenced today by United States District Judge Lawrence J. O’Neill to 14 years in prison for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine, United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced.
Velasco was the last of seven defendants charged in related cases. The other defendants sentenced are:
- Gonzalo Esquivel, aka “Gunner,” 34, of Los Banos, sentenced to 15 years and five months in prison on November 4, 2013;
- Efren Steve Jiminez, aka “Grande,” 33, of Los Banos, was sentenced to 10 years in prison on November 4, 2013;
- Kenneth Hernandez, aka “Kenny,” 30, of Dos Palos, was sentenced to 12 years and four months in prison on December 2, 2013;
- Gustavo Moreno, aka “Gus Gus,” 33, of Madera, was sentenced to 12 years and four months in prison on September 23, 2013;
- David Torres, 33, of Madera, was sentenced to 10 years in prison on September 23, 2013; and
- Juan Herrera, aka “Joker,” of Madera, was sentenced to 16 years in prison on November 1, 2013.
According to court documents, the defendants were members or associates of the Norteño criminal street gang, which is under the control of the Nuestra Familia prison gang (NF). The NF utilizes the Norteños to engage in narcotics sales.
“The collaboration of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies in this case was outstanding,” said U.S. Attorney Wagner. “Together, we have removed seven dangerous criminals from our neighborhoods for many years to come. The sentencing of Rafael Velasco concludes this case, but our collective efforts to root out and prosecute violent gang members who traffic in narcotics in the Central Valley continue to be vigorous.”
According to court documents, Velasco provided Juan Herrera with 1/8 of an ounce of methamphetamine to be included in a “package” to be delivered to individuals incarcerated at the Madera County Jail. On June 7, 2011, Velasco carried a Glock 9 mm Model 19 pistol in a lunch bag that also contained approximately one ounce of methamphetamine to his car. He was arrested within minutes of doing so, and the gun and methamphetamine was seized by law enforcement agents.
This case was the product of an investigation by the California Department of Justice Bureau of Investigation in coordination with the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Madera Narcotic Enforcement Team, the Merced Multi-Agency Narcotic Task Force, the Merced Multi-Agency Gang Task Force, the Los Banos Police Department, the Merced Police Department, the Madera Police Department, the Madera County Sheriff’s Office, and the Livingston Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Kimberly A. Sanchez prosecuted the case.These cases were brought as part of the Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) initiative that brings together federal, state and local law enforcement to combat gun and gang crime. At the core of PSN is increased federal prosecution to incapacitate chronic violent offenders as well as to communicate a credible deterrent threat to potential gun offenders.
Lockport Man Sentenced on Drug ChargesRead the Press Release
BUFFALO, N.Y.--U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Damian Ard, 33, of Lockport, N.Y., who was convicted of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and to distribute, cocaine base, was sentenced to six years in prison by Chief U.S. District Judge William M. Skretny.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary Catherine Baumgarten, who handled the case, stated that the defendant was arrested as a result of a long-term investigation into narcotics trafficking in Niagara County and the City of Buffalo conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration and Niagara County Drug Taskforce. The investigation involved several court-authorized wiretaps, including two cellular telephones used by Ard to conduct his drug-trafficking. The defendant distributed cocaine base, cocaine, heroin, prescription medications, and marijuana in the Lockport area from early 2009 through August 2010, some of which was supplied to him by co-defendant Eric Williams.
During the execution of a federal search warrant at Ard’s residence on August 17, 2010, law enforcement officers seized a Remington Model 597 rifle, two .22 caliber rifle magazines and a .22 caliber high capacity magazine; a RML 7.62 x 39 caliber semi-automatic rifle, two magazines and ammunition; a New England Firearms Pardner Model SBI 20 gauge shotgun, and ammunition.
In total, investigators charged 24 defendants in connection with this investigation, 23 of whom have been convicted. The leader of the narcotics trafficking operation, Will Johnson, was sentenced to 10 years in prison on September 13, 2013.
The sentencing is the culmination of an investigation by Task Force Officers and Special Agents of the United States Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of Brian R. Crowell, Special Agent in Charge, New York Field Division, and the Niagara County Sheriff’s Drug Task Force, under the direction of Sheriff James Votour.Lakewood Man Charged with Embezzling $1.8 Million from Credit UnionRead the Press Release
A Lakewood man was charged with embezzling more than $1.8 million from a Euclid credit union and using the money to pay approximately 15 personal credit card accounts, said Steven M. Dettelbach, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, and Stephen D. Anthony, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Cleveland office.
A two-count criminal information was filed charging William J. Memmer, 63, with one count of embezzlement and one count of making false entries in credit union records and reports.
“When those who hold trusted positions in financial institutions and those they work with betray the trust of the depositors, as is alleged in this matter, federal law enforcement will take all appropriate action to hold them accountable,” Dettelbach said.
“Memmer took advantage of his high-level position of trust by falsifying records and funneling money that was not his to himself,” Anthony said. “The FBI will continue efforts to see that fraudsters like Memmer are brought to justice.”
Memmer was employed as Assistant Manager/Treasurer of the GIC Federal Credit Union (GIC), which maintained an office at 26255 Euclid Avenue, in Euclid, Ohio.
From as early as 2006, Memmer maintained approximately 15 credit card accounts. He took blank GIC checks and drafted them payable to the credit card companies in payment of his personal obligation, then concealed the taking of the checks and embezzlement of the GIC funds. These actions caused a loss to the credit union of at least $1,843,007, according to the information.
As early as 2003, Memmer falsified quarterly financial reports to hide operating losses. He is also alleged to have falsified confirmations of GIC assets by as much as $5.7 million, according to the information.
Upon discovery of the fraud, the National Credit Union Administration closed GIC, and began the liquidation process in December 2012. The liquidation is ongoing.
An information is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
If convicted, the defendant’s sentence will be determined by the court after review of factors unique to this case, including the defendant’s prior criminal record, if any, the defendant’s role in the offense and the characteristics of the violation. In all cases, the sentence will not exceed the statutory maximum and in most cases it will be less than the maximum.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney James V. Moroney, following investigation by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Cleveland Office.
Kansas City, Kan., Man Pleads GuiltyTo Robbing Credit UnionRead the Press Release
KANSAS CITY, KAN. - A Kansas City, Kan., man pleaded guilty today to robbing a credit union, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said.
John Noon, 65, Kansas City, Kan., pleaded guilty to one count of armed bank robbery. In his plea, he admitted that on May 4, 2013, he robbed the Community America Credit Union at 10824 Parallel Parkway in Kansas City, Kan. At today’s hearing, prosecutors told the judge Noon gave a teller a note demanding money and stating he had a gun he would use. He brandished a firearm before fleeing the bank. After investigators released video surveillance photos from the robbery, they received tips leading to Noon.
Sentencing will be set for a later date. He faces a maximum penalty of 25 years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000. Grissom commended the FBI, the Kansas City, Kan., Police Department, law enforcement officers in St. Joseph, Mo., and Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott Rask for their work on the case.Insurance Broker, Former Toms River, N.J., Mayor, Sentenced in Separate Schemes Involving Toms River OfficialsRead the Press Release
TRENTON, N.J. — A New Jersey insurance broker and the former mayor of Toms River, N.J., were each sentenced today for offenses arising from separate schemes involving officials of Toms River and the former insurance broker for the Toms River Regional School District Francis X. Gartland, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.
Frank Cotroneo, 63, of Chester, N.J., an insurance broker with an office in Morristown, N.J., was sentenced to 37 months in prison and ordered to pay more than $12.4 million in restitution to the Toms River School District and in forfeiture to the United States. Cotroneo previously pleaded guilty before former Chief U.S. District Judge Garrett E. Brown Jr., to one count each of bribery and tax evasion arising from his participation in a scheme to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes to Michael J. Ritacco, 67, of Seaside Park, N.J., the former superintendent for the Toms River Regional School District, in exchange for his official assistance.
Carmine C. Inteso Jr., 47, of Toms River, was sentenced today to six months in prison and six months of house arrest for evading his income tax obligations. Inteso, who was arrested in July 2012 after returning from Afghanistan where he had been working as a contractor, pleaded guilty in December 2012 before U.S. District Judge Joel A. Pisano to one count of tax evasion.
From 2002 through 2007, Inteso held the positions of Township Committee member, mayor, deputy mayor, and councilman for the Township of Toms River, formerly known as Dover Township.
Inteso allegedly took a job in Afghanistan after learning he was the target of the tax investigation and, after returning to the United States, was taken into custody at New York’s John F. Kennedy International airport.
Judge Pisano imposed the sentences today in Trenton federal court.
According to documents filed and statements made in court:Cotroneo admitted that from 2002 to April 2009, he and co-conspirators Gartland and Frank D’Alonzo, a former administrator at the Toms River Regional School District, paid bribes and other benefits to Michael J. Ritacco, who was then the superintendent of the district. The payments were made to allow Cotroneo and Gartland, 72, of Baltimore, Md., – insurance co-brokers for the school district – to obtain and keep the lucrative insurance brokerage contracts with the district. To facilitate the scheme, Ritacco, Gartland and Cotroneo agreed to have Ritacco approve a workers’ compensation insurance contract between Gartland and the school district, which yielded between $500,000 and $600,000 annually in excess fees. Those proceeds were to be used to make hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes to Ritacco.
Cotroneo also admitted that for tax years 2005 to 2007, he evaded the assessment of hundreds of thousands of dollars of federal income taxes by concealing the illegal proceeds he received from Gartland and others during the course of the bribery scheme.
Ritacco and Gartland were ordered previously to pay $4,336, 987.91 in restitution to the school district. Judge Pisano today ordered Cotroneo to pay $3,275,677.65 in restitution, which represented the loss to the school district while he was an active participant in the scheme. In addition to ordering restitution, the court ordered that Cotroneo forfeit to the United States a sum of $9,126,200.16, which represented the proceeds derived from the scheme. D’Alonzo was ordered to pay $1,625,952.79 in restitution, and also ordered to forfeit a sum of approximately $4.3 million. Gartland was previously ordered to forfeit $11 million, which represented the total proceeds derived from the fraudulent scheme. Prior to his sentencing on Sept. 14, 2012, Ritacco forfeited to the United States $1 million, a 2010 Mercedes Benz, and $8,950 in cash.
In addition to the prison term and payments, Judge Pisano sentenced Cotroneo to serve three years of supervised release.
In a separate and unrelated scheme beginning in 2005 and continuing through 2008, Inteso accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in payments from Gartland, an insurance broker whose companies provided insurance brokerage services for New Jersey municipal entities including the Brick Township Board of Education and the Township of Toms River. Inteso directed Gartland to make the payments to a company Inteso controlled and that had ceased operating by 2007. Gartland pleaded guilty to charges of mail fraud, conspiracy to defraud the IRS and perjury and was sentenced to 135 months in prison.
Inteso used the funds to pay for his personal expenses and withdrew significant amounts of cash. Despite receiving approximately $291,000 in income from the insurance broker during calendar years 2006, 2007 and 2008, Inteso failed to file personal income taxes for those years.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Pisano sentenced Inteso to serve two years of supervised release.
U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Aaron T. Ford; and IRS-Criminal Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Shantelle P. Kitchen. The Office of International Affairs in the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and the Diplomatic Security Service’s Regional Security Office in Kabul, Afghanistan provided invaluable assistance in the Inteso case.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lee M. Cortes Jr., of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Special Prosecutions Division in Newark.14-006
Defense counsel:
Carmine Inteso: Scott A. Krasny Esq., West Trenton, N.J.
Frank Cotroneo: Howard Brownstein Esq., Union City, N.J.Husband and Wife Sentenced for Tax Defiance SchemeRead the Press Release
ATLANTA – Timothy Thomas, 51, and Mary Beth Thomas, 47, of Jackson County, Ga., have been sentenced for their respective roles in a criminal tax scheme.
“For over a decade, these two failed to file their federal tax returns and sent in a blizzard of obstructive correspondence to the IRS,@ said United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates. “Individuals who seek to obstruct the tax system and cheat hardworking taxpayers will be exposed and prosecuted.”
“The term voluntary compliance means that each of us is responsible for filing a tax return when required and for paying the correct amount of tax,” stated Special Agent in Charge, IRS Criminal Investigation, Veronica Hyman-Pillot. “That responsibility should not be taken lightly. The defendants chose to take extreme measures in order not to file and pay taxes and they are now convicted with a prison term to serve.”
According to United States Attorney Yates, the charges and other information presented in court: In the 1990s, Timothy and Mary Beth Thomas, who were married and jointly owned and operated a deck and patio construction business in Maysville, Ga., stopped filing federal income tax returns. They then hired American Rights Litigators (ARL), an organization that sold and promoted tax defiance schemes, to send obstructive and harassing materials to the IRS on their behalf. The IRS repeatedly sent notices to the couple notifying them that they had to pay their federal income taxes and that they had to comply with the tax laws.
After the IRS shut down ARL as a result of fraudulent anti-tax actions, Timothy and Mary Beth Thomas continued to send a variety of obstructive, frivolous and harassing documents to IRS and Department of Treasury officials instead of paying their taxes. These documents included statements that they were not United States citizens but instead were AAmerican citizens@; that they were not subject to the federal income tax laws; and that paying income tax was voluntary. At one point, Timothy Thomas sent a letter to the personal residence of an IRS revenue agent that stated he was “a non-tax payer” and then mailed the IRS a letter stating that a commercial lien had been filed against two IRS employees.
Finally, after a decade of not filing tax returns, the couple submitted four false tax returns claiming over $1,000,000 in fraudulent refunds from the IRS. That same year, they also submitted fictitious financial instruments to the federal government, to include a document purporting to be a $100 billion private registered bond, and instructed the government to use this bogus bond to pay any of their debts to the government.Timothy Thomas, 51 of Jackson County, Ga., was sentenced to serve two years in federal prison. Mary Beth Thomas, 47, also of Jackson County, Ga., was sentenced to ten months in federal prison by United States District Judge Thomas W. Thrash, Jr. On May 10, 2013, Timothy Thomas pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud the Internal Revenue Service and Mary Beth Thomas pleaded guilty to one count of wilfully failing to file an income tax return.
Despite earning substantial money from their business, Timothy Thomas and Mary Beth Thomas failed to pay over $350,000 in federal income taxes from 2003 to 2012. At sentencing, the couple was ordered to pay $506,350.57 in back taxes, interest, and penalties to the IRS.
In a separate case, Timothy Thomas’s brother, Stephen Paul Thomas, 47, and Patricia Denese Anderson, 52, both of Lawrenceville, Ga., were convicted for a similar tax defiance scheme and they were both sentenced January 3, 2013, here in the Northern District of Georgia. Stephen Paul Thomas was sentenced to five years in prison and Patricia Denese Anderson was sentenced to four years, three months in federal prison.
This case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation.
Assistant United States Attorneys Sally B. Molloy and Thomas J. Krepp prosecuted the case.
For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at [email protected] or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the home page for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia Atlanta Division is http://www.justice.gov/usao/gan/.
Houston Man Convicted of Distribution and Possession of Child PornographyRead the Press Release
HOUSTON - Ivan Geovanni Ramirez, 29, has entered guilty pleas to distribution and possession of child pornography, announced United States Attorney Kenneth Magidson. Ramirez was indicted in August 2013 and today admitted to both allegations as charged.
Ramirez was arrested on March 5, 2013, following an investigation which revealed Ramirez was using peer-to-peer file sharing software to distribute child pornography over the Internet.
In October 2012, an FBI special agent was able to download child pornography from Ramirez. Authorities obtained and executed a search warrant and seized his computer, among other items. Forensic analysis revealed 358 images and 112 videos containing child pornography which involved pre-pubescent females, some under the age of 12, engaging in sexually explicit conduct with adult males.
U.S. District Judge Lynn Hughes, who accepted the plea, has set sentencing for April 7, 2014, at which time he faces a minimum of five and up to 15 years for the distribution conviction as well as a maximum of 10 years for the possession of child pornography. Both convictions also carry a possible $250,000 fine. Upon completion of any prison term imposed, Ramirez also faces a maximum of life on supervised release during which the court can impose a number of special conditions designed to protect children. He will also have to register as a sex offender. Ramirez has been in custody since his arrest where he will remain pending that hearing.
This case, investigated by the FBI and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sherri L. Zack, 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."
Goodwin Announces Three Indicted for Scamming Senior CitizensRead the Press Release
Defendants posed as family members and clergymen to rip off Good-Samaritan victims
*Audio clip included*
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Three individuals who participated in an alleged scheme that netted more than $60,000 in one week from senior citizens in West Virginia and elsewhere have been indicted on multiple federal fraud charges, U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin announced today. According to a 12-count indictment unsealed today, Kacey K. Moise, 38, of Elmont, N.Y., Charnita E. Ryland, 21, of Montgomery, Md., and Sheray J. McKay, 21, of Suitland, Md., have been charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud. Kacey Moise was arrested today in Elmont, N.Y. The indictment describes the defendants’ fraudulent tactics, which included posing as family members of their elderly victims and pretending to be clergymen. After establishing their victims’ trust, the defendants claimed to be facing a financial emergency and asked the victims to wire money right away.
"Scams to steal from older West Virginians are downright shameful,” U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin said. “Protecting our state’s senior citizens is one of my top priorities, and in 2014, we’re going to work harder than ever to catch criminals who cheat seniors.”
According to the indictment, beginning in or about November 7, 2012, and continuing through November 13, 2012, Moise, Ryland and McKay allegedly participated in a scheme to solicit money from 18 elderly individuals who resided in West Virginia and other states. As part of the scheme, numerous elderly individuals were called at their homes and asked for money under false pretenses. It was a part of the scheme that the callers, posing as family members or clergymen of the elderly citizens, or lawyers for the so-called family members or clergymen, often falsely stated that they had been in car accidents, had been arrested for driving while intoxicated, and needed money to get out of jail, pay attorney’s fees, and make reimbursement for the damage allegedly caused by their accidents. The callers then provided specific instructions to wire the requested funds – including how much to wire and where to send the wire transfers. In many instances, the elderly individuals made several wire transfers at the repeated requests of the callers – despite their limited funds. The defendants charged in the indictment picked up the funds from the wire transfers in Maryland and New York. The victims targeted in the alleged scheme ranged in age from 70 to 95 years old.
Ryland and McKay were previously arrested in Maryland in December 2013, and are each scheduled to appear before United States Magistrate Judge Dwayne L. Tinsley this week to be arraigned.
Moise is expected to appear before Judge Tinsley on January 23, 2014, for arraignment.
Each defendant faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
Today’s charges are part of U.S. Attorney Goodwin’s work to protect West Virginia’s senior citizens. Over the past few years, Goodwin has visited senior center locations in nearly twenty West Virginia counties to offer tips to protect seniors in their homes and help them avoid financial scams like this one. Additional information regarding this initiative can be found at: http://www.justice.gov/usao/wvs/safe-seniors.html
Note: The charges contained in the indictment are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Click here to view a copy of the indictment
Click here to listen to an audio clip from U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin
Fresno Man Sentenced for Possession of A Pipe BombRead the Press Release
Fresno, Calif. — United States District Judge Anthony W. Ishii sentenced Jon Smilanick, 36, of Fresno, today to 30 months in prison for possession of a pipe bomb in violation of the National Firearms Act, United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced.
According to court documents, on January 9, 2013, police were called to Smilanick’s ex-neighbors’ home with the report of a bomb detonating. They found the remnants of a detonated pipe bomb. The ex-neighbors reported that they believed that Smilanick had detonated the device as they had had ongoing problems with him.
According to the plea agreement, police obtained a search warrant for Smilanick’s residence and found bomb-making materials in the garage and a live pipe bomb in the house. Smilanick’s wife said that she had hidden the bomb because she did not want him to have it. While at the residence, another neighbor came by and told police that on two occasions, he heard explosions from the area of Smilanick residence and had once seen a man matching Smilanick’s build throw something over the back fence and then heard a loud explosion. Officers went to the area to which the neighbor directed them and found remnants of two different devices.
Smilanick admitted to manufacturing the devices. He referred to them as “firecrackers.” He said he had been making them since he was in the sixth grade. He said he taught himself to make pipe bombs, and that he had made three this year. None of the devices were registered with the National Registration and Transfer Record.
“This investigation is an example of the excellent cooperation we have with both the Fresno Police Department and the community as a whole. Because of this cooperation, we were able to seize these dangerous explosive devices, and ensure the violator faces justice,” said ATF Special Agent in Charge Joseph Riehl
This case was the product of an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and Fresno Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Kimberly A. Sanchez prosecuted the case.
Fourth Former Bank Employee Pleads Guilty to Embezzling from A Bank in Grant CountyRead the Press Release
WICHITA, KAN. – A fourth former bank employee has pleaded guilty to embezzling from a bank in Grant County, Kan., U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said today.
Hattie Wiginton, 33, Ulysses, Kan., pleaded guilty Monday to one count of theft from a bank. In her plea, she admitted she stole from Western State Bank in Ulysses, Kan., while she worked there from 2008 to 2010.
Beginning in 2008, Wiginton aided and abetted co-defendants Ashley Cravens and Amber Gutierrez to steal from the bank. Together they stole an amount up to $84,200 from the bank by making deposits into each other’s bank accounts that were false. The shortage was covered by falsely representing the balance in the vault of the bank.
On July 24, 2010, Wiginton took part in a staged bank robbery with Cravens and Gutierrez. Wiginton pretended to be the victim of the robbery while Cravens acted the part of the bank robber. The purpose of the staged robbery was to cover up the shortage of cash in the bank vault.
Wiginton is set for sentencing March 24. She faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000.
Co-defendants are:
Amber Gutierrez, 32, Ulysses, Kan., who is set for sentencing Feb. 3.
Ashley Cravens, 29, Ulysses, Kan., who is set for sentencing Feb. 7.
Linda Wise, 60, Ulysses, Kan., who is set for sentencing Feb. 24.Grissom commended the FBI, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, the Grant County Sheriff’s Office, the Ulysses Police Department and Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron Smith for their work on the case.
Four Sentenced, One Pleads Guilty in Dodge City Gang Racketeering CaseRead the Press Release
WICHITA, KAN. - Four members of a Dodge City street gang were sentenced and another pleaded guilty Monday in a federal racketeering case, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said.
Sentenced were:
Gonzalo Ramirez, 28, Dodge City, Kan., who was sentenced to life plus 57 years.
Pedro Garcia, 27, Dodge City, Kan., who was sentenced to life plus 32 years.
Donte Barnes, 22, Dodge City, Kan., who was sentenced to 32 months.
Jesus Flores, 28, Dodge City, Kan., who was sentenced to time served of 20 months.Jayson Vargas, 31, Dodge City, Kan., pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful possession of a stolen firearm. In his plea, he admitted that on Aug. 20, 2011, he was driving a car in pursuit of his former girlfriend, who was in another car. During the chase, he pointed a handgun at her. Officers of the Ford County Sheriff’s Office stopped Vargas’ car and arrested him. They seized a .45 caliber handgun.
Vargas is set for sentencing March 24. He faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000.
Among the defendants who were sentenced:
Gonzalo Ramirez was convicted in a jury trial on count one (conspiracy to commit racketeering), count two (conspiracy to commit murder), count three (murder), count four (attempted murder), count five (assault with a dangerous weapon), count six (possession and discharge of a firearm during a violent crime), count seven (assault with a dangerous weapon), count eight (conspiracy to commit assault with a dangerous weapon), count nine (brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence), count ten (conspiracy to commit murder), count 11 (attempted murder), count 12 (assault with a dangerous weapon), and count 13 (possession and discharge of a firearm during a violent crime).
Pedro Garcia was convicted in a jury trial on count one (conspiracy to commit racketeering), count two (conspiracy to commit murder), count three (murder), count four (attempted murder), count five (assault with a dangerous weapon), count six (possession and discharge of a firearm during a violent crime), count seven (assault with a dangerous weapon), count eight (conspiracy to commit assault with a dangerous weapon), and count nine (brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence).
Donte Barnes pleaded guilty to one count of attempted murder in aid of racketeering.
Jesus Flores pleaded guilty to one count of assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering and one count of conspiracy to commit assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering.The defendants were among 23 members of the Norteno street gang indicted in May 2012. It was only the second time a federal RICO Act indictment (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act) had been filed in Kansas. Twenty two defendants have been convicted. Charges were dismissed without prejudice against defendant Adam Flores.
Grissom commended the Dodge City Police Department, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Ford County Sheriff?s Office, the Ford County Attorney’s Office, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, Assistant U.S. Attorney Lanny Welch and Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron Smith for their work on the case.Fort Myers Man Sentenced to 7 Years' Imprisonment for Distributing Child PornographyRead the Press Release
Fort Myers, Florida – U.S. District Judge John E. Steele today sentenced Charles Allen Nave, III (39, Fort Myers) to seven years in federal prison for distributing child pornography. The court also ordered him to forfeit a Dell Precision laptop and a 2 GB SD card, which were used in the facilitation of the offense.
Charles Allen Nave, III was found guilty on September 17, 2013.
According to court documents, on January 31, 2013, Nave knowingly distributed child pornography over the Internet, to an undercover agent that he met in an online chat room. Nave sent the undercover agent four emails, along with images of child pornography as attachments. Subsequent to the execution of a search warrant, Nave was found to possess in excess of 300 images and 20 videos of child pornography.
This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), with participation from the Sanibel Police Department, the Fort Myers Police Department, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and the Lee County Sheriff’s Office. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Yolande G. Viacava.
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.
Former Federal Air Marshal and Border Patrol Agent Sentenced to Ninety Years’ Imprisonment for Sexual Exploitation of ChildrenRead the Press Release
Earlier today, Michael J. McGowan, a former Federal Air Marshal and Border Patrol Agent, was sentenced to 90 years’ incarceration for three counts of Sexual Exploitation of Children. McGowan repeatedly sexually abused three boys over the course of four years between 2000 and 2004 and photographed the abuse. In 2005, McGowan was convicted in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York of one count of Attempting to Receive Child Pornography and sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment. In 2008, while serving his sentence, McGowan sought from prison to have the photographs destroyed, which led to their discovery and his current prosecution for Sexual Exploitation of Children.
The sentence was announced by Loretta E. Lynch, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York; John E. Dupuy, Assistant Inspector General for Investigations, Office of Inspector General in the Department of Homeland Security (OIG-DHS); and James T. Hayes, Jr., Special Agent-in-Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), New York.
“Michal J. McGowan, sexual predator of young boys for personal gratification, went so far as to use his position as a Federal Air Marshal to perpetrate his abuses. Moreover, his prior imprisonment did nothing to deter him from compounding his crimes by reaching out from prison in an attempt to subvert justice and destroy evidence,” stated United States Attorney Lynch. “McGowan’s effective life sentence will ensure that no other child faces abuse at his hands and serves as a warning to those who would commit such crimes that they will be pursued, prosecuted, and prevented from continuing to endanger our most precious resource.” Ms. Lynch expressed her grateful appreciation to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, and the Drug Enforcement Administration for their outstanding assistance in this investigation.
The initial charges against McGowan arose out of a 2004 United States Postal Inspection Service sting operation in which he ordered child pornography via computer to be delivered to him at his residence in Hicksville, New York. On June 30, 2004, a search warrant was executed at his residence, at which time McGowan claimed to have been investigating child pornography cases in his capacity as a Federal Air Marshal. McGowan was arrested on July 21, 2004, after an analysis of his computer revealed in excess of 1,300 images and videos of child pornography, predominantly of boys between the ages of 10 and 15 years’ old, engaged in sexual activity with other boys and adult males. McGowan pleaded guilty in United States District Court on July 11, 2005 to Attempted Receipt of Child Pornography.
Prior to imposition of sentence for the 2004 child pornography offense, McGowan contacted a then 15-year-old boy via telephone and mail from jail and engaged in a sexual conversation with the boy. The boy later disclosed to federal investigators that McGowan had abused him on a number of occasions when he was 13 years’ old, in Corpus Christi, Texas, where McGowan previously resided. In 2006, following the disclosure of this molestation, as well as McGowan’s calls and letters from jail to the boy, McGowan was sentenced by United States District Judge Sandra J. Feuerstein to 20 years’ imprisonment, to be followed by lifetime supervised release.
On November 27, 2008, while housed at the Federal Correctional Institute in Butner, North Carolina, McGowan wrote a letter to a second victim, a then 18-year-boy, requesting him to recover and destroy a hard drive containing child pornography which McGowan had hidden behind a sheetrock wall at his Hicksville residence. This effort was discovered by Bureau of Prisons personnel, and the boy was interviewed. During the course of the interview, the boy admitted that McGowan had molested him from ages 10 to 14 years’ old, and further led OIG-DHS and HSI investigators to seize the hidden hard drive. Upon examination, the hard drive was found to contain in excess of 1,000 images of child pornography, including images of children as young as five-years-old engaged in sexual conduct, as well as images of McGowan molesting three boys, ages 11 to 13. Several of the photographs were taken in hotel rooms that McGowan had access to as a result of his work as a Federal Air Marshal. Also recovered was a VHS videotape which depicted an unidentified minor boy engaged in sexual activities filmed by McGowan.
Following McGowan’s return to the Eastern District of New York to face the current charges, he repeatedly attempted to obstruct justice by sending threatening letters to one of the victims depicted in the child pornography that McGowan created.
On September 20, 2011, McGowan pleaded guilty to three counts of Sexual Exploitation of Children. Today’s sentence of 90 years’ imprisonment will be served consecutive to the remaining term of the 20 year sentence McGowan is currently serving. The sentencing proceeding was held before Judge Sandra J. Feuerstein at the federal courthouse in Central Islip, New York.
The government’s case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Allen Bode.
The Defendant:
MICHAEL J. MCGOWAN
Age: 41
Hicksville, New York
Corpus Christi, Texas
E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 09-653(SJF)
Former Air Guard Member Sentenced for Wire FraudRead the Press Release
WICHITA, KAN. - A former Kansas Air National Guard senior airman who was assigned to McConnell Air Force Base in Wichita was ordered Monday to pay $54,992 in restitution and sentenced to three years federal probation for wire fraud, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said.
Eledria J. Bradley, 29, Wichita, was tried and convicted in U.S. District Court in Wichita on one count of wire fraud. During trial, prosecutors presented evidence that Bradley collected more than $50,000 in travel reimbursements by claiming she lived in Arizona while she was working at McConnell. Evidence showed that Bradley accessed her file via an online personnel system in which military members can access and change their personal information, and changed her residential address from Wichita to Chandler, Ariz. The change in address placed her outside the commuting distance for McConnell Air Force Base. As a result, she received lodging and per diem benefits to which she was not entitled from April 22, 2009, to April 23, 2011, totaling $54,992.
Grissom commended the Air Force - OSI and Assistant U.S. Attorney Alan Metzger for their work on the case.Foreign Bribery Charges Unsealed Against<br /> Former Chief Executive Officers of Oil Services CompanyRead the Press Release
Two former chief executive officers of PetroTiger Ltd. – a British Virgin Islands oil and gas company with operations in Colombia and offices in New Jersey – have been charged for their alleged participation in a scheme to pay bribes to foreign government officials in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), to defraud PetroTiger, and to launder proceeds of those crimes. In addition, PetroTiger’s former general counsel pleaded guilty to bribery and fraud charges in connection with the same scheme.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman of the District of New Jersey and Special Agent in Charge Aaron T. Ford of the FBI’s Newark Division made the announcement after the charges and guilty plea were unsealed today.
“We have said – repeatedly and emphatically – that foreign corruption, whether committed by companies or by the individuals entrusted to run those companies, will not be tolerated. And, our track record in vigorously enforcing the FCPA has shown that message to be undeniably true,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Raman. “The charges unsealed today against two former CEOs of PetroTiger and the guilty plea announced today of the former General Counsel reaffirm our clear message that we will prosecute corruption and fraud wherever we find it. Bribery distorts what should be a level playing field and deprives corporations and governments of funds that should instead be used to strengthen those institutions. Today’s announcement should be a reminder to CEOs and other executives who seek to corrupt the system at the expense of honest businesses: we are not going away.”
“Bribery of public officials, whether at home or abroad, corrupts business opportunity and undermines trust in government,” said U.S. Attorney Fishman. “The under-the-table deals alleged in today’s charges are not an acceptable way of doing business.”
“The FBI is committed to pursuing those who disrupt the level playing field to which companies in the U.S. and around the world are entitled,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Ford. “We will continue to investigate these matters by working with law enforcement agencies, both foreign and domestic, to ensure that both corporations and executives who bribe foreign officials for lucrative contracts are punished.”
According to the charges, former co-CEOs of PetroTiger Joseph Sigelman, 42, formerly of Miami and the Philippines, and Knut Hammarskjold, 42, of Greenville, S.C.; former general counsel Gregory Weisman, 42, of Moorestown, N.J., and others allegedly paid bribes to an official in Colombia in exchange for the official’s assistance in securing approval for an oil services contract worth roughly $39 million.
Hammarskjold was arrested Nov. 20, 2013, at Newark Liberty International Airport. Sigelman was arrested on Jan. 3, 2014, in the Philippines and appeared this afternoon (ChST) in Guam before U.S. Magistrate Judge Joaquin V.E. Manibusan III. Sigelman will have an initial appearance in New Jersey federal court on a date to be determined. Sigelman and Hammarskjold were charged by sealed complaints filed in the District of New Jersey on Nov. 8, 2013, with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to violate the FCPA, conspiracy to launder money and substantive violations of the FCPA.
Weisman pleaded guilty on Nov. 8, 2013, to a criminal information charging one count of conspiracy to violate the FCPA and to commit wire fraud. The charges and guilty plea were also unsealed today.
The charges allege the defendants made three separate payments from PetroTiger’s bank account in the United States to the official’s bank account in Colombia to secure approval from Colombia’s state-owned and state-controlled oil company for a lucrative oil services contract in the country. According to the charges, to conceal the bribes, the defendants first attempted to make the payments to a bank account in the name of the foreign official’s wife, for purported consulting services she did not perform. The charges allege that Sigelman and Hammarskjold provided Weisman invoices including her bank account information. The defendants made the payments directly to the official’s bank account when attempts to transfer the money to his wife’s account failed.
In addition, court documents allege that the defendants attempted to secure kickback payments at the expense of PetroTiger’s board members. According to the criminal charges, the defendants were negotiating an acquisition of another company on behalf of PetroTiger, including on behalf of several members of PetroTiger’s board of directors who were helping to fund the acquisition. In exchange for negotiating a higher purchase price for the acquisition, two of the owners of the target company agreed to kick back to the defendants a portion of the increased purchase price. According to the charges, to conceal the kickback payments, the defendants had the payments deposited into Sigelman’s bank account in the Philippines, created a “side letter” to falsely justify the payments, and used the code name “Manila Split” to refer to the payments amongst themselves.
The conspiracy to commit wire fraud count carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of the greater of $250,000 or twice the value gained or lost. The conspiracy to commit violations of the FCPA count carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a fine of the greater of $250,000 or twice the value gained or lost. The FCPA counts each carry a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a fine of the greater of $250,000 or twice the value gained or lost. The conspiracy to commit money laundering count carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of the greater of $500,000 or twice the value of the property involved in the transaction.
The charges contained in the complaint are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
The department has worked closely with and has received significant assistance from its law enforcement counterparts in the Republic of Colombia and greatly appreciates their assistance in this matter. The department also thanks the Republic of the Philippines, including the Bureau of Immigration, for its assistance in this matter. Significant assistance was also provided by the Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs.
The case is being investigated by the FBI’s Newark Division. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant Chief Daniel S. Kahn of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron Mendelsohn of the District of New Jersey.
Additional information about the Justice Department’s FCPA enforcement efforts can be found at www.justice.gov/criminal/fraud/fcpa .
NOTE: The court documents are attached.Related Materials:
Hammarskjold Complaint
Sigleman Complaint
Weisman InformationForeign Bribery Charges Unsealed Against Former Chief Executive Officers of Oil Services CompanyRead the Press Release
NEWARK, N.J. — Two former chief executive officers of PetroTiger Ltd. – a British Virgin Islands oil and gas company with operations in Colombia and offices in New Jersey – have been charged for their alleged participation in a scheme to pay bribes to foreign government officials in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), to defraud PetroTiger, and to launder proceeds of those crimes. In addition, PetroTiger’s former general counsel pleaded guilty to bribery and fraud charges in connection with the same scheme.
U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman of the District of New Jersey, Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and Special Agent in Charge Aaron T. Ford of the FBI’s Newark Division made the announcement after the charges and guilty plea were unsealed today.
“Bribery of public officials, whether at home or abroad, corrupts business opportunity and undermines trust in government,” said U.S. Attorney Fishman. “The under-the-table deals alleged in today’s charges are not an acceptable way of doing business.”
“We have said – repeatedly and emphatically – that foreign corruption, whether committed by companies or by the individuals entrusted to run those companies, will not be tolerated. And, our track record in vigorously enforcing the FCPA has shown that message to be undeniably true,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Raman. “The charges unsealed today against two former CEOs of PetroTiger and the guilty plea announced today of the former general counsel reaffirm our clear message that we will prosecute corruption and fraud wherever we find it. Bribery distorts what should be a level playing field and deprives corporations and governments of funds that should instead be used to strengthen those institutions. Today’s announcement should be a reminder to CEOs and other executives who seek to corrupt the system at the expense of honest businesses: we are not going away.”
“The FBI is committed to pursuing those who disrupt the level playing field to which companies in the U.S. and around the world are entitled,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Ford. “We will continue to investigate these matters by working with law enforcement agencies, both foreign and domestic, to ensure that both corporations and executives who bribe foreign officials for lucrative contracts are punished.”
According to the charges, former co-CEOs of PetroTiger Joseph Sigelman, 42, of Miami and the Philippines, and Knut Hammarskjold, 42, of Greenville, S.C.; former general counsel Gregory Weisman, 42, of Moorestown, N.J.; and others allegedly paid bribes to an official in Colombia in exchange for the official’s assistance in securing approval for an oil services contract worth roughly $39 million.Hammarskjold was arrested Nov. 20, 2013, at Newark Liberty International Airport. Sigelman was arrested on Jan. 3, 2014, in the Philippines and appeared this afternoon (ChST) in Guam before U.S. Magistrate Judge Joaquin V.E. Manibusan III. Sigelman will have an initial appearance in New Jersey federal court on a date to be determined. Sigelman and Hammarskjold were charged by sealed complaints filed in the District of New Jersey on Nov. 8, 2013, with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to violate the FCPA, conspiracy to launder money and substantive violations of the FCPA.
Weisman pleaded guilty on Nov. 8, 2013, to a criminal information charging one count of conspiracy to violate the FCPA and to commit wire fraud. The charges and guilty plea were also unsealed today.
The charges allege the defendants made three separate payments from PetroTiger’s bank account in the United States to the official’s bank account in Colombia to secure approval from Colombia’s state-owned and state-controlled oil company for a lucrative oil services contract in the country. According to the charges, to conceal the bribes, the defendants first attempted to make the payments to a bank account in the name of the foreign official’s wife for purported consulting services she did not perform. The charges allege that Sigelman and Hammarskjold provided Weisman invoices including her bank account information. The defendants made the payments directly to the official’s bank account when attempts to transfer the money to his wife’s account failed.
In addition, court documents allege that the defendants attempted to secure kickback payments at the expense of PetroTiger’s board members. According to the criminal charges, the defendants were negotiating an acquisition of another company on behalf of PetroTiger, including on behalf of several members of PetroTiger’s board of directors who were helping to fund the acquisition. In exchange for negotiating a higher purchase price for the acquisition, two of the owners of the target company agreed to kick back to the defendants a portion of the increased purchase price. According to the charges, to conceal the kickback payments, the defendants had the payments deposited into Sigelman’s bank account in the Philippines, created a “side letter” to falsely justify the payments, and used the code name “Manila Split” to refer to the payments amongst themselves.
The conspiracy to commit wire fraud count carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of the greater of $250,000 or twice the value gained or lost. The conspiracy to commit violations of the FCPA count carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a fine of the greater of $250,000 or twice the value gained or lost. The FCPA counts each carry a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a fine of the greater of $250,000 or twice the value gained or lost. The conspiracy to commit money laundering count carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of the greater of $500,000 or twice the value of the property involved in the transaction.
The charges contained in the complaint are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
The department has worked closely with and has received significant assistance from its law enforcement counterparts in the Republic of Colombia and greatly appreciates their assistance in this matter. The department also thanks the Republic of the Philippines, including the Bureau of Immigration, for its assistance in this matter. Significant assistance was also provided by the Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs.
The case is being investigated by the FBI’s Newark Division. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron Mendelsohn of the District of New Jersey and Assistant Chief Daniel S. Kahn of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section.
Additional information about the Justice Department’s FCPA enforcement efforts can be found at www.justice.gov/criminal/fraud/fcpa.
14-005
Defense counsel:
Joseph Sigelman: Patrick Civille Esq., Guam (for purposes of initial appearance only)
Knut Hammarskjold: Assistant Federal Public Defender Lori M. Koch Esq., Camden
Gregory Weisman: Michael A. Schwartz Esq., Philadelphia
Sigelman Complaint
Hammarskjold Complaint
Weisman InformationFederal Judge Sentences "Jihad Jane" to 10 Years in Prison for Role in Plot to Commit Murder OverseasRead the Press Release
PHILADELPHIA - Colleen R. LaRose, aka "Jihad Jane," 50, was sentenced today to 10 years in prison for conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, conspiracy to kill in a foreign country, making false statements and attempted identity theft. LaRose, a former resident of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty to the charges on February 1, 2011. The sentence was handed down by U.S. District Court Judge Petrese B. Tucker. In addition to the prison term, LaRose was ordered to pay $2,500 fine, $400 special assessment, and must complete five years of supervised release.
The sentencing result was announced by Acting Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Carlin, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Zane David Memeger, and Special Agent‑in‑Charge Ed Hanko of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Philadelphia Division.
“This case clearly underscores the evolving nature of the terrorist threat we now face in this country,” said Memeger. “The Internet has made it easier for those who want to attack the American way of life to identify like-minded individuals to carry out their terroristic plans. While today's significant sentence will help protect the community from any future threat posed by the defendant, we as a nation must remain vigilant in identifying and stopping others who are susceptible to engaging in acts of homegrown violent extremism.”
“Today’s sentence sends a strong message to those attracted to a terrorist ideology,” said Special Agent in Charge Edward J. Hanko. “Our Joint Terrorism Task Forces and partners in the law enforcement and intelligence communities remain committed to tracking terrorists at every level, whomever and wherever they are.”
“Today, Colleen LaRose is being held accountable for her efforts to provide support to terrorists and encourage violence against individuals overseas,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Carlin. “I want to thank the many agents, analysts and prosecutors who helped bring about today’s result.”
LaRose was charged by indictment in March 2010. A superseding indictment was filed in April 2010, adding co‑defendant Jamie Paulin Ramirez, a U.S. citizen and former resident of Colorado. Ramirez pleaded guilty and will be sentenced on January 8, 2014.According to documents filed with the court, LaRose and her co‑conspirators recruited men on the Internet to wage violent jihad in South Asia and Europe, and recruited women on the Internet who had passports and the ability to travel to and around Europe in support of violent jihad.
LaRose and her co‑conspirators used the Internet to establish relationships with one another and to communicate regarding their plans, which included martyring themselves, soliciting funds for terrorists, soliciting passports and avoiding travel restrictions (through the collection of passports and through marriage) in order to wage violent jihad. LaRose also stole another individual's U.S. passport and transferred it in an effort to facilitate an act of international terrorism.
In addition, LaRose received a direct order to kill a citizen and resident of Sweden, and to do so in a way that would frighten Athe whole Kufar [non‑believer] world.@ LaRose agreed to carry out her murder assignment, and she and her co‑conspirators discussed that her appearance and American citizenship would help her blend in while carrying out their plans. LaRose later traveled to Europe and tracked the intended target online in an effort to complete her task.
This case was investigated by the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force in Philadelphia, the FBI Field Division in New York, the FBI Field Division in Denver, and the FBI Field Office in Washington, DC. Authorities in Ireland and Sweden provided assistance in this matter. The Office of International Affairs in the Justice Department=s Criminal Division also provided assistance. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams, in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, and Matthew F. Blue, Trial Attorney from the Counterterrorism Section in the Justice Department's National Security Division.
UNITED STATES ATTORNEY'S OFFICE, EASTERN DISTRICTof PENNSYLVANIA
Suite 1250, 615 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106
PATTY HARTMAN, Media Contact, 215-861-8525Federal Grand Jury IndcitmentsRead the Press Release
Contact Person: Beth Drake (803) 929-3000
Columbia, South Carolina ---- United States Attorney Bill Nettles stated today that a Federal Grand Jury in Columbia, South Carolina, returned Indictment(s) against the following:
Florence Woman Indicted for Bank Fraud
Tamara Leigh Taylor, of Florence, South Carolina was charged with Bank Fraud in a 1-count indictment. The maximum penalty Taylor could receive is 30 years. The case was investigated by agents of the Secret Service and is assigned to Assistant United States Attorney William E. Day, II of the Columbia office for prosecution.
The United States Attorney stated that all charges in these Indictments are merely accusations and that all defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.East Boston Man Guilty of Robbing Peabody BankRead the Press Release
BOSTON – An East Boston man pleaded guilty today to armed robbery of a bank in Peabody.
Mark Lepage, 51, pleaded guilty to armed bank robbery and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. Sentencing is scheduled for April 3, 2014.
On April 4, 2011, at approximately 1:14 p.m., Lepage walked into the Eastern Bank in Peabody brandishing a handgun, wearing sunglasses and a grey hooded sweatshirt pulled up over his head. He grabbed a male customer, held the gun to the customer's neck, and demanded money. After three bank tellers handed him $21,709, he fled the bank. He was arrested in East Boston two days later and indicted that month.
United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Vincent B. Lisi, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; Colonel Timothy P. Alben, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police; and Peabody Police Chief Robert St. Pierre, made the announcement today. The case is being prosecuted by David G. Tobin and Carlos A. López of Ortiz’s Major Crimes Unit.
Drug Trafficker Sentenced in Operation “No Quarter”Read the Press Release
RALEIGH - United States Attorney Thomas G. Walker announced that in federal court today Chief United States District Judge James C. Dever III sentenced JESUS TORRES PORTILLO, 23, of Burlington, North Carolina, to 120 months of imprisonment and 3 years of supervised release. PORTILLO previously pled guilty to conspiracy to distribute 5 kilograms or more of cocaine.
On November 9, 2011, PORTILLOarranged for approximately 5 kilograms of cocaine to be delivered to a DEA informant in Greenville, N.C. The two couriers were arrested after approximately 5 kilograms of cocaine were found in the trunk of the car they were driving. On November 14, 2013, PORTILLO arranged for approximately 3 kilograms of cocaine to be delivered to the informant in Goldsboro, N.C. PORTILLO was arrested after approximately 3 kilograms of cocaine were found in the truck in which he was a passenger. Further investigation revealed that, in addition to the approximate 8 kilograms of cocaine seized, PORTILLO was responsible for the distribution of 3,100 pounds of marijuana.
The Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) Operation "No Quarter" was designed to attack the infrastructure of the Mexican Drug Trafficking Organizations (DTO), including those of the Los Zetas, La Familia, Gulf and Sinaloa drug cartels, operating not only in the Eastern District of North Carolina, but throughout North Carolina, the United States and Mexico. These DTO's are responsible for the importation of large quantities of cocaine, marijuana, heroin, and methamphetamine into the United States, as well as the related remittance of illegal drug proceeds back into Mexico.
The investigation spanned ten years and five North Carolina counties. As part of the investigation, over 100 individuals have been charged by indictment or criminal information in the Eastern District of North Carolina and state courts. Law enforcement officials seized drugs with a street value $4.6 million, including 127 kilograms of cocaine, 53 pounds of crystal methamphetamine, 160 pounds of marijuana, and 32 grams of heroin. Additionally, $2.2 million in U.S. Currency, 35 firearms and 35 real properties valued at $1.5 million were seized by law enforcement authorities.
Investigation of this case was conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) - Raleigh and Greensboro Resident Offices, the New York Field Division and numerous other DEA offices in the United States and Mexico; the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigations; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) - Raleigh and Wilmington offices; the United States Marshals Service; the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) - Raleigh and Tampa, Florida offices; the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation; the North Carolina National Guard; the North Carolina State Highway Patrol; the Greenville Police Department; the Pitt County Sheriff's Office; the Pamlico County Sheriff's Office; the Lenoir County Sheriff's Office; the Craven County Sheriff's Office; the Carteret County Sheriff's Office; the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office; the New Bern Police Department, the Wayne County Sheriff's Office; the Person County Sheriff's Office; the Farmville Police Department; the Goldsboro Police Department; the Rocky Mount Police Department; the Burlington Police Department, the Alamance County Sheriff's Office, and the Wilson Police Department.The federal prosecutions were handled by Special Assistant United States Attorneys Glenn Perry and Augustus Willis, IV. Mr. Perry is a prosecutor with the Pitt County District Attorney’s Office. Mr. Willis is a prosecutor with the Carteret, Craven and Pamlico Counties District Attorney’s Office. District Attorneys Kimberly Robb and Scott Thomas have assigned Mr. Perry and Mr. Willis to the United States Attorney’s Office to prosecute federal Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force criminal matters. Their assignments to the United States Attorney’s Office have been made possible by grants funded by the Governor’s Crime Commission.
Douglas Man Sentenced on Child Pornography ChargesRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Deborah R. Gilg announced that Christopher L. Bohlen, age 51 of Douglas, Nebraska, was sentenced in federal court in Omaha for receiving and possessing child pornography. The Honorable Joseph F. Bataillon sentenced Bohlen to sixty months of imprisonment for receiving child pornography and a concurrent term of one year and one day for possessing child pornography. There is no parole in the federal system. After his release from prison Bohlen will begin a five year term of supervised release and be required to register as a sex offender.
Bohlen was identified as an individual interested in child pornography after the United States Postal Inspection Service noted correspondence to Bohlen from a website offering images of children. On June 28, 2012, an Investigator from the Postal Inspection Service accompanied by an Investigator with the Nebraska State Patrol approached Bohlen at his home.
Bohlen provided the investigators with verbal consent to search his computers for child pornography. He rescinded his consent after telling investigators that there was child pornography on each of his computers.
A federal search warrant was obtained for the contents of the computes. Approximately 47,000 image files of child pornography and child erotica were found on the computers. The child pornography included prepubescent children ranging from 2 to 12 years of age involved in sexual and sadomasochistic conduct.
United States Attorney Deborah R. Gilg expressed her appreciation to the United States Postal Inspection Service and the Nebraska State Patrol for their investigation.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys= Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
Doctor Admits Taking Bribes in Test-Referrals Scheme with New Jersey Clinical LabRead the Press Release
NEWARK, N.J. – A doctor with a family medicine practice in New Jersey admitted today to accepting bribes in exchange for test referrals as part of a long-running scheme operated by Biodiagnostic Laboratory Services LLC (BLS), of Parsippany, N.J., its president and numerous associates, New Jersey U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.
Joel Fischgrund, 60, of Livingston, N.J., pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Stanley R. Chesler in Newark federal court to one count of accepting bribes.
Including Fischgrund, 22 people – 11 of them physicians – have pleaded guilty in connection with the bribery scheme, which its organizers have admitted involved millions of dollars in bribes and resulted in more than $100 million in payments to BLS from Medicare and various private insurance companies.
According to documents filed in this and related cases and statements made in court:
Fischgrund today admitted he accepted bribes in return for referring patient blood specimens to BLS and was paid $1,500 a month under a sham consulting agreement. As part of the purported agreement with Advantech Sales LLC, he was required to fill out a sheet – titled “Consultant Advisory Board Data Sheet” – that only took minutes to complete. Fischgrund admitted he knew the questions on that sheet had no real value to Advantech and were designed to disguise the bribe payments.
The bribery count to which Fischgrund pleaded guilty carries a maximum potential penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Sentencing is scheduled for April 1, 2014. As part of his guilty plea, Fischgrund agreed to forfeit the bribes he received from BLS.
The investigation has recovered more than $7 million to date through forfeiture.
U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Aaron T. Ford; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Thomas O’Donnell; IRS–Criminal Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Shantelle P. Kitchen; and inspectors of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, under the direction of Inspector in Charge Maria L. Kelokates, with the ongoing investigation leading to today’s guilty pleas.
The government is represented by Senior Litigation Counsel Andrew Leven, Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Minish and Jacob T. Elberg, Chief of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Health Care and Government Fraud Unit in Newark, as well as Assistant U.S. Attorney Barbara Ward of the office’s Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Unit.
U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman reorganized the health care fraud practice at the New Jersey U.S. Attorney’s Office shortly after taking office, including creating a stand-alone Health Care and Government Fraud Unit to handle both criminal and civil investigations and prosecutions of health care fraud offenses. Since 2010, the office has recovered more than $520 million in health care fraud and government fraud settlements, judgments, fines, restitution and forfeiture under the False Claims Act, the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act and other statutes.
14-003Defense counsel: Edward Dauber Esq., Newark
Fischgrund Information
Dallas-Based Companies Agree to Pay Civil Penalty to Settle Clean Air Act Violations Stemming from Illegal Import of VehiclesRead the Press Release
A Dallas-based group of companies and their owner must either stop importing vehicles or follow a comprehensive compliance plan to settle Clean Air Act (CAA) violations stemming from the alleged illegal import of over 24,167 highway motorcycles and recreational vehicles into the United States without proper documentation, the Department of Justice and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced. The four parties are also required to pay a $120,000 civil penalty.
“Importers of foreign made vehicles and engines must comply with the same Clean Air Act requirements that apply to those selling domestic products,” said Robert G. Dreher, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “We will continue to vigorously enforce the law to ensure that imported vehicles and engines comply with U.S. laws so that American consumers get environmentally sound products and violators do not gain an unfair economic advantage.”
“Vehicles are one of the largest sources of pollution that significantly affect public health,” said Cynthia Giles, Assistant Administrator for EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. “Holding importers accountable for meeting U.S. emissions standards is critical to protecting the air we breathe, and to protecting companies that play by the rules.”
Savoia, BMX Imports and BMX Trading, and their owner, Terry Zimmer, allegedly imported the vehicles from several foreign manufacturers into the United States through the Port of Long Beach, Calif. The vehicles were then sold through the Internet and from a retail location in Dallas, Texas.
Today’s settlement requires that the companies either certify that they are no longer engaging in CAA-regulated activities or follow a comprehensive plan over the next five years that would include regular vehicle inspections, emissions testing, and other measures to ensure compliance at various stages of purchasing, importing, and selling vehicles. In addition, the companies are required to export or destroy 115 of their current vehicles that have catalytic converters or carburetors that do not adhere to the certificate of conformity that they submitted to EPA. The purpose of the certificate of conformity, required by the CAA, is to demonstrate that vehicles or engines meet applicable federal emission standards.
EPA discovered the alleged violations through inspections at Long Beach and other U.S. ports of entry, and through information provided by the company. EPA’s investigation showed that approximately 11,000 of the imported vehicles were not covered by an EPA certificate of conformity, which means that EPA is unable to confirm that the emissions from these vehicles meet federal standards. Other violations included approximately 23,000 vehicles sold without the required emissions warranty and approximately 500 vehicles that did not have proper emission control labels.
The CAA requires that all vehicles have certification, warranty and labeling prior to being imported or sold in the United States to demonstrate that they meet federal emission standards. Engines operating without proper emissions controls can emit excess carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides which can cause respiratory illnesses, aggravate asthma and contribute to the formation of ground level ozone or smog.
The consent decree, lodged today in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, is subject to a 30-day public comment period and court approval. The consent decree is available for review at www.justice.gov/enrd/Consent_Decrees.html information on the settlement:More information on the settlement: www2.epa.gov/enforcement/savoia-inc-bmx-imports-lp-bmx-trading-llc-and-terry-zimmer-clean-air-act-settlement
More information on EPA’s Clean Air Act mobile source enforcement programs: www2.epa.gov/enforcement/air-enforcement#mobile
Convicted Felon with Gun Range Membership and Ammunition Sentenced to Almost 10 YearsRead the Press Release
Jacksonville, Florida – U.S. District Judge Marcia Morales Howard today sentenced Maurice Futch (32, Middleburg) to nine years and ten months in federal prison for being a felon in possession of ammunition.
Futch pleaded guilty to the charge on August 28, 2013.
According to court documents, officers with the Clay County Sheriff’s Office and special agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) executed a search warrant at Futch’s home in Middleburg, on July 16, 2012. During the search, agents located over 50 rounds of 9mm ammunition, along with a drug scale and other narcotics paraphernalia. Agents also located a picture of Futch shooting a pistol at a local gun range and later discovered that Futch was, in fact, a member of the gun range. Futch had five prior felony convictions and is prohibited from possessing a firearm or ammunition under federal law.
This case was investigated by the Clay County Sheriff’s Office, DEA and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Frank Talbot.